NATIONAL DEATH COUNT FROM TABLIGH MEETING NOW 15 — AND ALMOST A FIFTH OF TOTAL CASES

The Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi last month has emerged as the biggest hotspot, accounting for about one-fifth of the COVID-19 positive cases across the country so far. At least 15 across the country have been linked to the gathering.

In Delhi, the number of positive cases almost doubled on Thursday, fuelled largely by those evacuated from Markaz Nizamuddin on Tuesday and Wednesday testing positive. Of the 141 new cases in the Capital, 129 are people evacuated from Markaz Nizamuddin, the headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat, where a congregation of over 4,000 was held last month.

With 182 of the 293 cases in the Capital so far being linked to the congregation, the Delhi government is bracing for rigorous testing in the coming days.

At the daily briefing, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said about 9,000 people — those who attended the meet and their contacts — had been quarantined, including 1,306 foreigners. “As per information received so far, Tamil Nadu has 173 cases (linked to the congregation), Rajasthan 11, Andaman and Nicobar 9, Delhi 47, Puducherry 2, Jammu and Kashmir 22, Telangana 33, Andhra Pradesh 67 and Assam 16,” he said.

Meanwhile, 7,900 samples from across the country have been tested so far.

PM SPEAKS TO CMs THROUGH VIDEO CONFERENCE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday interacted with Chief Ministers of states via video-conferencing to discuss measures to combat Covid-19 and asked them to prepare a common exit strategy for staggered re-appearance of population after the lockdown ends.

Thanking the states for supporting the decision of lockdown due to which India has achieved some success in limiting the spread of COVID-19, he praised how all the states had worked together as a team to check the spread of the virus, an official release said.

The Prime Minister outlined that the common goal for the country is to ensure minimum loss of life. In the next few weeks, testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine should remain the areas of focus.

Highlighting the necessity of maintaining supply of essential medical products, availability of raw material for manufacture of medicines and medical equipment, he said it is necessary to ensure availability of separate, dedicated hospital facilities for COVID-19 patients.

He appealed to the leaders to reach out to community leaders and social welfare organizations at state, district, town and block levels to build up a united front based on community-approach in the battle against the pandemic.

The government shared information on the number of isolation beds and ventilators in Covid-19 dedicated hospitals during the video conference. The Centre and states, together, have 47,483 isolation beds and 4,809 ICU beds in 258 Covid-19 hospitals. It was pointed out that only 17 states have notified dedicated hospitals so far.

MHA TELLS STATE GOVTS TO PENALISE VIOLATORS OF LOCKDOWN MEASURES

With reports emerging about health workers being beaten up or chased away in various parts of the country while checking on coronavirus-infected patients, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday wrote to all states to penalise people who violate COVID-19 containment measures under the Indian Penal Code and the Disaster Management (DM) Act.

In a letter to chief secretaries of all states, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla stated that these penal provisions must be widely publicised. Bhalla had last reminded the states of these provisions on March 31 while asking them to strictly enforce lockdown measures in “letter and spirit”.

Bhalla also cited the Supreme Court’s observations on the issue: “While referring to the provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2005, and Indian Penal Code, the Hon’ble Supreme Court observed, ‘we trust and and expect that all concerned viz. State Governments, Public Authorities and citizens of this country will faithfully comply with the directives, advisories and orders issued by by Union of India in letter and spirit in the interest of public safety’.”

The letter had with it relevant provisions of the laws concerned attached.

Meanwhile, the government has blacklisted 960 foreigners, who are currently in India on tourist visas, for their involvement in Tablighi Jamaat activities and also cancelled their exiting visas.

'UNPLANNED' LOCKDOWN CAUSED CHAOS, SONIA GANDHI TELLS CWC; AMIT SHAH HITS BACK

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday extended her party's full support in combating Covid-19, but also stressed that an "unplanned" announcement by the Modi government of the nation-wide lockdown caused many difficulties to the people.

The Congress working president also demanded that the Centre frame a "common minimum relief programme" for the people. Addressing a CWC meeting via video conferencing, Gandhi urged the Congress chief ministers to call for better coordination and funds from the Centre, including early distribution of states' share of GST, for effectively combating Covid-19.

"The 21-day national lockdown may have been necessary but the unplanned manner in which it has been implemented has caused chaos and pain in the lives of millions of migrant workers all over India".

Soon after, Union Home Minister Amit Shah hit back accusing the opposition party of “playing petty politics” while Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to contain the novel coronavirus infection “are being lauded domestically and globally”. “130 crore Indians are united to defeat COVID-19. Yet, Congress is playing petty politics. High time they think of national interest and stop misleading people,” said Shah.

COVID-19 DASHBOARD – (Nos. IN INDIA / Nos. WORLDWIDE) at 0930 IST

(Indian data from covid19india / <covid19india%20/> and World Data from worldometers.info/coronavirus/ <https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/> )

Total Cases 2,552 (+538) / 1,015,877 (+79,920)

Total Deaths 72 (+16) / 53,218 (+5,973)

Total Recovered 191 (+22) / 212,992 (+18,706)

Active Cases 2,289 (+500) / 749,667 (55,241)

Serious / Critical Cases (Not Available) / 37,654 (+2,044)

Top 5 impacted nations so far:

(Country / Total No of cases / Deaths)

USA 2,45,193 / 6,088

Italy 115,242/ 13,915

Spain 1,12,065 / 10,348

Germany 84,794 / 1,107

China 81,620 / 3,322

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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OIL PRICE REBOUNDS ON HOPES SAUDI ARABIA AND RUSSIA WILL REACH DEAL

Global oil prices rebounded to more than $30 a barrel for the first time in almost a month on Thursday after Saudi Arabia and Russia signalled a possible truce in a price war that has triggered the fastest oil market collapse in decades.

The price of Brent crude leapt by 30% after the US president, Donald Trump, fanned hopes of a new deal between Riyadh and Moscow to help stabilise the oil market.

Oil prices fell to 18-year lows of $23 a barrel earlier this week as Russia and Saudi Arabia prepared to wrestle for a greater share of the market by increasing production despite falling energy demand because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trump tweeted on Thursday that he had spoken to Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and expected Riyadh and Moscow to cut output by as much as 15m barrels a day.

Hopes of renewed cooperation in the oil market were later dampened by a spokesman for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who reportedly told journalists that “no one has started talking about any specific or even abstract deals”.

Oil industry analysts said Trump’s plan would not go far enough to offset the devastating effect of the coronavirus pandemic that has sucked out demand for il.

US FIRES CAPTAIN WHO WARNED OVER INFECTED SHIP

The US Navy has removed a captain from his post after he warned that urgent action was needed to contain a coronavirus outbreak on his ship.

The captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Brett Crozier, wrote a letter to his bosses saying that urgent action was needed to prevent American troops from dying. The letter was later published in the San Francisco Chronicle, having apparently been leaked.

"He exercised extremely poor judgement," said Acting US Navy Secretary Thomas Modly.

He said the letter "created the impression the navy was not responding to his questions".

PAKISTAN COURT OVERTURNS MURDER CONVICTION IN DANIEL PEARL CASE

Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh, the terrorist convicted of the 2002 kidnapping and murder of journalist Daniel Pearl, had his death sentence commuted to a prison term of seven years by a Pakistani court on Thursday.

The Sindh high court delivered its ruling in response to appeals by Sheikh and three other men convicted in connection with the killing of the Wall Street Journal reporter in Karachi. The high court overturned the verdict of an anti-terrorism court.

Reacting to the ruling, US House foreign affairs committee tweeted, “Deeply concerned by Pakistan court’s overturning of convictions...It’s critical Pakistan demonstrate a real commitment to addressing its longstanding terrorism problem by holding those involved accountable.”

The murder conviction of Sheikh was overturned by the high court, which found him guilty of the lesser charge of kidnapping, for which he was given the seven-year prison term.

THE REST

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‘LOCKDOWN IN INDIA WAS EARLY, FAR-SIGHTED AND COURAGEOUS’: WHO ENVOY

There is no evidence to suggest that Covid-19 will disappear, says Dr David Nabarro, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) special envoy on the disease, adding that people may have to consider new norms for the foreseeable future.

“The lockdown in India was quite early on, when there was relatively a small number of cases detected. This was really a far-sighted decision because it gave the whole country the opportunity to come to terms with the reality of this enemy. People understood that there is a virus in our midst. It gave time to develop capacities at the local level for interrupting transmission and sorting out hospitals,” he said.

“Of course, there is a lot of debate and criticism, and inevitably with a lot of frustration and anger that life is being disturbed in this way. It is very, very upsetting. I think it is courageous of the government, honestly, to take this step and provoke this enormous public debate and let the frustration come out, to accept that there will be hundreds of millions of people whose lives are being disrupted. For poor people on daily wages, this is a massive sacrifice they are making. And to do it now at an early stage as opposed to waiting three or four weeks later when the virus is much more widespread, was very courageous.”

DOMICILE RIGHTS OF J-K: APNI PARTY SAYS PROMISES NOT KEPT

As the Centre defined the new domicile rules for Jammu and Kashmir and gave domicile rights to those who have lived in the Union Territory for 15 years, the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party said that the promises have not been kept.

The new political party that was set-up with blessings from the Centre and was ready to move beyond Article 370 says that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have given them assurances to protect the domicile rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

“When we went to meet (the Prime Minister), we put forward our demands, our apprehensions about the domicile laws. We were assured about protection of jobs and land,” Rafi Ahmad Mir, a senior leader of Apni Party said“When we talked about the domicile rights, he (Prime Minister Modi) said this will happen. On that assurance, we were optimistic that it would happen (that the domicile rights of people of Jammu and Kashmir would be protected),” he added.

Mir said that not only PM Modi but Home Minister Amit Shah also assured them of protection of domicile rights during his meet with the leaders of the party.

“We thought it would be a way forward, we thought, we will start from here, people will come along and other political parties would also support,” Mir said. “But when the notification was issued yesterday, it (assurance) was not there. It is not up to the mark, up to the expectations of the people. It is not alternate to what we had asked for – alternative to 35A,” he added. Mir said that the Centre’s decision to reserve class IV employments for the people of Jammu and Kashmir and keep the other post open for everyone is “below dignity” for the people of the Union Territory.

AFTER FIRST TWO CASES, MAHARASHTRA CANCELLED GO-AHEAD FOR TABLIGH MEET TIMED WITH DELHI

Around the same time members of the Tablighi Jamaat gathered at the Nizamuddin dargah in Delhi, a congregation was scheduled in Vasai, 50 km from Mumbai. The Maharashtra government, however, cancelled permission for the event, preventing what could have become a Delhi-like Covid-19 hotspot.

A Tablighi Jamaat ijtema or congregation “expecting attendance of 50,000 people” was planned at Suncity in Vasai on March 12-13. The organisers had received permission for the same earlier in the year. However, on March 6, four days after Maharashtra registered its first two Covid-19 cases, the state government realised it would be wise to cancel the event. The organisers also agreed, officials said.

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the organisation initially said they would go ahead with the congregation. “We told them if they went ahead, we will have to take legal action,” he said.

HAVE QUARANTINED MYSELF ON DOCTORS’ ADVICE: TABLIGHI JAMAAT LEADER

Amid a country-wide manhunt by police for participants of last month’s Tablighi Jamaat meet at Nizamuddin here, jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi on Thursday said he has quarantined himself on doctors’ advice. “We should help and support our government in dealing with this crisis. I have also quarantined myself in Delhi under instructions from doctors. This precautionary measure is not against the principle of faith so it’s important to adopt such steps,” he said in an audio clip.

“I appeal to all my jamaat to follow the instruction of our government,” Saad said in the clip.

“There’s no doubt that this pandemic is the result of sins we humans have been committing. We should pray to Allah for forgiveness while staying at home. This way, we will be able to please our lord to show mercy on humankind and save them from this pandemic,” Saad said.

Instructions of ulemas, government, and doctors need to be followed and no one should stray out of their home and organise gatherings, he said.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES RISING SINCE LOCKDOWN, SAYS NCW

The National Commission for Women has received over 250 complaints since the country-wide lockdown was imposed to control the spread of coronavirus out of which 69 were cases of domestic violence, which it said has been increasing since then.

Since the lockdown was imposed, a total of 257 complaints related to various offences against women were received, out of which 69 complaints are related to domestic violence, the data released by the NCW showed.

NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma said the number of cases of domestic violence must be much higher but the women are scared to complain due to constant presence of their abuser at home.

NEED FOR GREEN CLEARANCE WAY TO ACHIEVE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, SAYS SC

The Supreme Court was hearing an appeal against the January 8, 2016, decision of the National Green Tribunal bench for the western zone, which held a May 14, 2002 circular issued by the Union Environment and Forests Ministry as contrary to law.

The need for environment clearance for a project must be seen as a measure to achieve sustainable development, the Supreme Court has said. The court ruled that the “concept of an ex-post facto EC (environmental clearance) is in derogation of the fundamental principles of environmental jurisprudence”, “detrimental to the environment, and could lead to irreparable degradation”.

The reason why a retrospective EC or an ex post facto clearance is alien to environmental jurisprudence is that before the issuance of an EC, the statutory notification warrants a careful application of mind, besides a study into the likely consequences of a proposed activity on the environment, the bench held.

An EC can be issued only after various stages of the decision-making process have been completed. The court was hearing an appeal against the January 8, 2016, decision of the National Green Tribunal bench for the western zone, which held a May 14, 2002 circular issued by the Union Environment and Forests Ministry as contrary to law. The circular envisaged the grant of ex post facto environmental clearance.

AAROGYA SETU: GOVT'S COVID-19 TRACKER APP

The Indian government has unveiled an app called Aarogya Setu designed to alert users if they have come in close proximity with any Covid-19 positive patient.

The app tracks through a Bluetooth and location-generated social graph.

It calculates the user's risk of infection based on recency and proximity of COVID-19 patient."We understand the nature and sensitivity of the topic and have taken strong measures to ensure that your data is not compromised. Your data will be shared only with the Government of India. The app does not allow your name and number to be disclosed to the public at large at any time," said the app.

EMI DEFERMENT AS PART OF CORONAVIRUS RELIEF WILL NOT BE FREE; SBI CLARIFIES

State Bank of India (SBI), country's largest public sector financial institution, has said that the moratorium for the payment of interests on loans will come with an additional cost. The bank clarified that customers who are capable of making loan payments despite the lockdown, should go forward and do it.

The clarification came after RBI asked all the lending institutions to offer a three-month moratorium on repayment of term loans falling between 1 March and 31 May due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

SBI management has clarified that the deferral of interest payment and not the waiver hence it would come at a cost.

INDICATORS

(Indian market was closed yesterday on account of Ram Navami)

Nasdaq 7,487 (+127) Dow 21,413 (+470), S&P 2,527 (+56)

US$-Rs. 75.90 GBP-Rs. 94.10, Euro-Rs. 83.50, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.65, Can$-Rs. 53.61, Aus$- Rs. 46.06

GBP 0.80 /US$, Euro 0.91 /US$, Jap.Yen 107.56 /US$, Aus$ 1.64 /US$, Sing 1.43 /US$, Bang Taka 83.50 /US$, Can$ 1.41 /US$, Mal Ring 4.36 /US$,

Pak Re 165.53 /US$, Phil Peso 50.80 /US$, Russian Rouble 78.09 /US$, NZ$ 1.68 /US$, Thai Baht 32.95 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.58 /US$, Norway NOK 10.36 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 6,723

Dollar Index 100.28 Brent Crude 29.29 BDI 624

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,614 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,203 / 4,103, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 40,500

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity. - Arnold Bennett

OFF TRACK

One day, Uncle Joe got fired from his construction job. His nephew asked him what happened.

"You know what a foreman is?" he asked. "The one who stands around and watches the other men work?"

"What's that got to do with it?" the boy asked.

"Well, he just got jealous of me," Uncle Joe explained. "Everyone thought I was the foreman."