April 13, 2020

Nagaland Post

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Vol XXX No. 126

DIMAPUR, MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2020 Pages 8 ` 4.00

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COVID case at GMCH from Dimapur

Staff Reporter

D I M A P U R , A pr 1 2 (NPN): Dimapur could be on the COVID-19 map if reports emanating from Guwahati confirm that one patient admitted to Guwahati Medical College Hospital was tested positive for COVID-19.

This report broke out late Sunday night, after Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed that a patient, who was reportedly referred to Guwahati Medical College and Hospital by a private hospital in Dimapur has tested positive for COVID-19.

"A private hospital in Dimapur, Nagaland referred a patient to GMCH after he was found with symptoms of #COVID19.

He has tested positive and is undergoing treatment," Sarma tweeted on Sunday night.

According to information from several sources here, the patient had reportedly flown in to Dimapur from Kolkata on March 24 and after few days, developed symptoms for COVID-19. The patient was then admitted to a private hospital in Dima-

Tremors felt in Delhi NEW DELHI, APR 12 (PTI): An earthquake of magnitude 3.5 with epicentre in Delhi shook the region on Sunday evening, prompting panic-stricken people to rush out of their homes.

According to the National Centre for Seismology, the quake occurred at 5.45 pm. Its epicentre was in NCT Delhi at the depth of 8 km.

There was no immediate report of any damage.

The tremors were felt for several seconds and many people rushed out.

“I felt my chair shaking and there was a loud rumbling sound. It was really frightening,” S Damle, a resident of East Delhi, said.

The epicentre was located at Latitude 28.7 N and Longitude 77.2 E. “Tremors felt in Delhi.

Hope everyone is safe. I pray for the safety of each one of you,” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.

“We were watching TV and suddenly felt the tremors. We ran out of the house. Few of our neighbours had also gathered outside. We greeted them from a distance and returned to the house,” said Arefa Sultana, a resident of Lajpat Nagar 1.

People have been staying at home due to the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus.

This is it!

"It's funy but true that prices have shot up due to less demand and no supply."

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pur and later referred to GMCH for test. According to the sources, the sample tested positive on April 11 at GMCH. Health minister S. Pangnyu Phom also rushed to the COVID Hospital Dimapur late Sunday night to take firsthand account of the report.

Meanwhile, reports of the case spread like wildfire across Dimapur city, leaving many to ask if current measures were effective in tracking suspected COVID19 cases?

As reported by Nagaland Post, the COVID-19 Hospital in Dimapur(DHD) was still under renovation for admitting COVID cases.

The patient from Dimapur tested positive for COVID in Guwahati is certain to throw a huge challenge on health authorities to pull up their socks.

Other frontline warriors against COVID-19 have expressed mild apprehension about the relaxation of the lockdown.

One factor that has led to such apprehension is on the transportation of various commodities from various states including nearby Golaghat where

nine(9) COVID-19 cases were reported.

Meanwhile, authorities in Dimapur are placed in a difficult situation of preventing entry of all vehicles into Dimapur since those exempted are mainly vehicles on essential duties. The government of Nagaland, has decided to establish two Bio Safety

Laboratory (BSL) one in Kohima (under Level 3) and Dimapur (under Level 2).

The case has also highlighted the need for a BSL 3 laboratory in Dimapur, which is the main transit for several thousand people travelling by road, trains and planes. The state government has decided to es-

tablish a BSL2 level( lower than BSL 3) at CISHR (Referral Hospital) Dimapur.

Dimapur district is also an endemic zone for many viral diseases and many medical specialists have opined that a BSL 3 laboratory should also be established in Dimapur along with Kohima (NHAK).

70 samples test -ve, results of 4 awaited: H&FW on Sunday, 70 had tested negative, while reports of FacilSl No. District ity Sl District Home the remaining four samples No. Screened Quar- quarNo. are awaited. antine 1. Kohima 416 antine The total number of 1. Kohima 7 2 2. Dimapur 155 persons presently under 2. Dimapur 0 18 home quarantine is 407, 3. M o k o k c 54 hung Mokokcof which 28 are at facility 3.

64 0 hung quarantine. The number 4. Longleng 4 4. Longleng 10 0 of persons who are out of 5. Peren 0 5. Peren 1 0 home quarantine now is 6. Phek 21 5,459.

6. Phek 0 0 7. Mon 10 However, those on 7. Mon 12 4 home quarantine or had 8. Tuensang 76 8. Tuensang 32 0 come out of quarantine, 9. Zunheboto 26 9. Z u n h e 52 0 but have developed signs boto 10. Wokha 20 and symptoms of cough, 10. Wokha 16 4 fever or have difficulty in 11. Kiphire 11 11. Kiphire 213 0 breathing have been asked 12. Total 793 Total 407 28 to contact the State helpD I M A P U R , A P R 1 2 the COVID-19 pandemic line numbers 9856071745 (NPN): Nagaland contin- as out of the 74 samples and 7005539653 of the ued to remain free from sent for testing till 5 pm health department.

Screening Status as on Apr 9, 2020:

No of people quarantined

HCQ consignment from India arrives in US international, Page 6

Over 900 coronavirus cases, 34 deaths reported in 24 hrs: Govt NEW DELHI, APR 12 (PTI): As many as 918 COVID-19 cases and 34 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of such cases to over 8900 and the death toll to 296 in the country till 6 p.m. of April 12, 2020.

Union Health Ministry on Sunday said that the government is “extra prepared” if there is an exponential rise in the number of coronavirus patients.

Addressing a press briefing, Health ministry joint secretary, Lav Agarwal said the government is expanding the COVID-19 testing capacity in state-run as well as private medical colleges.

Earlier during the day, Agarwal informed that a total of 909 new cases and 34 deaths were reported since Saturday. "The good news is that 716 people have recovered and have been discharged so far. Seventyfour people have been cured since Saturday. The government is extra prepared if the number of cases rises exponentially,” he added.

“We are working on

status REPORT AS ON APR 12, 2020 North East Confirmed Recovered Death Nagaland Nil Nil Nil Assam 29 Nil 1 Manipur 2 1 Nil Mizoram 1 Nil Nil Arunachal Pradesh 1 Nil Nil Tripura 2 Nil Nil India 8933 981 296 World 1,684,833 3,75,499 1,02,136 an urgent basis to expand the capacity for COVID-19 testing in government and private medical colleges across the country. Fourteen mentor institutes, including the AIIMS and NIMHANS, have been identified to mentor the medical colleges and expand the coronavirus testing capacity,” Agarwal added.

He said the recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases in China, Japan and Korea is a cause of concern and emphasised on the importance of social distancing, terming it the “social vaccine” against the dreaded virus. "...We should, therefore, ensure that we continue to follow our contain-

ment and social-distancing measures as we have been doing so far. Irrespective of the lockdown, it is important that we adopt a behavioural change and focus on social distancing, as it is an important component of managing the infectious disease,” Agarwal said.

COVID-19 cases world wide cross 1.8 million Globally, the death toll due to the coronavirus surpassed 108,865 and the number of infections have crossed 1.8 million. So far, over half a million people in the US have been infected by the novel coronavirus, and the death toll has surged past 20,000.

Centre plans to ease some restrictions Edn institutions to remain Patton appeals citizens to  States likely to designate distts, towns, cities into colours  Talks are underway with state govts to restart highway construction projects  To restart economic activities in a graded manner NEW DELHI, APR 12 (PTI): Centre on Sunday focused on plans to ease some restrictions during the likely extension of the unprecedented 21-day lockdown which will end on April 14.

Addressing a press briefing, Health Ministry’s Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said the government is expanding the COVID-19 testing capacity in state-run as well as private medical colleges.

Meanwhile, Centre in consultation with states is moving to restart economic

activities in a graded manner in what is seen as a nuanced change in strategy from saving lives a month ago to saving lives as well as livelihoods now in the fight against the pandemic.

It has sought inputs related to production, labour and logistics from clusters in five key sectors to ascertain expected output if they are made operational within a fortnight and procedural support required, official sources said.

The five sectors are textiles, chemicals, electronics,

steel and pharmaceutical, the sources said.

States are likely to designate districts, towns and cities as red, orange and green zones depending upon the number of COVID-19 case as part of efforts to allow differentiated restoration of normalcy with conditions like uses of masks and social distancing in public.

With 10 new containment zones announced on Sunday, the total tally of COVID-19 'red zones' in national capital Delhi rose to 43, with southeast Delhi having the most such areas.

Containment Zones, also known as the red zones, are the area sealed by the district administrations after coronavirus cases are found in the locality.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari said talks are underway with state governments to re-start highway construction projects where migrant labourers can be gainfully employed.

shut till further orders: govt adhere to all guidelines

KOHIMA, APR 12 (NPN): All types of educational institutions, including schools, colleges, universities, coaching, tuition classes, etc, that are presently closed under lockdown would continue to remain closed throughout Nagaland till further orders. This was stated in an update on COVID-19 by principal secretary Home, Abhijit Sinha.

Further, in an circular state chief secretary Temjen Toy has called for a meeting of administrative heads of departments (AHODs) and heads of departments (HODs) at Secretariat conference hall here at 11 a.m. on Monday in connection with resumption of functioning of civil secretariat and directorates at Kohima and Dimapur with skeletal staff.

The meeting will work out details for ensuring basic functioning of offices and prepare list of officers and staff to perform duties.

However, all other State government employees have been asked to remain at home and await further instructions from their concerned AHODs and HODs. Meanwhile, the state government also claimed that the position of availability of essential commodities and goods continued to be comfortable across the State. The government further thanked everyone for their continued support and adherence to the lockdown provisions.

Y Patton

DIMAPUR, APR 12 (NPN): Deputy chief minister Y Patton on Sunday appealed to every citizen of the State to adhere to all the guidelines and advisories issued by the government from time to time and not get complacent over reports of no coronavirus positive cases.

Patton said that the state government along with frontline workers and all stakeholders had been working tirelessly round the clock to contain the spread of the deadly COVID19 pandemic into Nagaland

since the start of the national lockdown.

In a message, Patton thanked almighty God for His unconditional providence upon the people thus far, besides the frontline workers for their sacrifices during these trying times.

The deputy chief minister further acknowledged the selfless services rendered by health workers, police, media personnel, district administration, village councils and numerous NGOs and the general public for their remarkable contribution in the fight against the global pandemic.

He also appealed to all BJP legislators and workers to continue their proactive roles in helping the needy ones during the crisis. Patton also expressed his appreciation to all police men and women for their selfless service by leaving behind their own families during this lockdown. This was stated in a DIPR release.

How IB sleuths tracked thousands of corona suspects Resurrection Sunday: Churches live stream sermons in Nagaland

NEW DELHI, APR 12 (IANS): In an unprecedented exercise of tracking down several thousand people in the shortest span of time, the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) saved the day for India by identifying suspected carriers of COVID-19, who gathered at the Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi last month, and later dispersed to various parts of the country. The IB further tracked those, who were not part of the Jamaat, but had been located near the Markaz during the period when the virus was spreading in the vicinity.

Top sources in the IB revealed to IANS that a huge data was dumped from several mobile towers located in the Nizamuddin area from March 14 to March 22 (2020), to precisely identify the ‘human traffic’ in the vicinity of the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz, where around 7,000 Jamaatis had gathered for a religious meeting in different dates. The hallmark of this

exercise was a quick decision and a much quicker zero error execution of the plan.

“The initial tip off came when trains originating from Nizamuddin station reached Hyderabad, in the second week of March. The local administration discovered that these trains were carrying passengers (mostly Jamaatis) and several amongst them tested positive for COVID-19. The IG, Intelligence Bureau, Vijayawada, communicated these scary developments to the higher ups,” highly placed sources in the government revealed. By March 20, 10 Indonesian Jamaatis, returning from the Markaz were tested positive in Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Delhi Police and the concerned civic authorities in south east Delhi were put on high alert.

On ground zero, the authorities found that by March 23, 1500 Jamaatis had left the Markaz, but another 1,000 of them con-

tinued to stay in the six-storey building of the Jamaat in the densely populated Nizamuddin Area. Through the official registers, the IB sleuths and the police traced mobile numbers and addresses of around 4,000 members of the Tablighi Jamaat, mostly from the southern states of India, who had attended the meeting at the Markaz from March 13 onwards.

Apprehending the possible spread of the virus in other parts of the country, the epidemic and infectious disease experts of the Union Health Ministry suggested the MHA to identify whole lot of people who visited the crowded the Nizamuddin area in second and third week of March, and put them through a COVID-19 test.

“It was a mammoth surveillance exercise, literally unheard in the department. However, the IB officials with help of cellular operators launched the operation. In a very short time the sleuths had to collate

and analyse the huge data and further disseminate it for the end users, across the country,” said a DG level IPS officer.

In a desperate bid to prevent community transmission of COVID-19, the Intelligence agency distributed a district wise list of people, who were spotted in and around Nizamuddin during the religious gathering of Jamaatis at Markaz. By March 30, lists containing thousands of names, mobile numbers and addresses were dispatched over to the police officials of concerned districts.

“Yes, we received a letter revealing phone numbers and addresses of people who had gone to that area in Delhi. We have traced these people and informed the health officials for necessary tests,” DIG Jajhar Range, Haryana, Ashok Kumar told IANS adding, “most of the people, traced in vicinity of Nizamuddin, had gone there for business related work. Still we got them tested.”

Staff Reporter

DIMAPUR, APR 12 (NPN): Amidst the lockdown, Christians across the state celebrated the resurrection Sunday from the confines of their homes due to the lockdown .

The unprecedented scenes of empty churches emerged, for the first time in the history of Nagaland, as Church leaders delivered sermons through live A group of people singing hymns on Sunday. (PTI streaming.

All churches in the The main annual event in state remained closed to prevent the state is held at the World War large gatherings. Religious gath- II cemetery, organized by the erings and processions too have Kohima Baptist Pastors’ Fellowbeen banned by the government ship. However, this year, president in the wake of the coronavirus KBPF and pastor Peraciezie Bapoutbreak. tist Church Kohima Dr. Kevichalie Resurrection Sunday, one of Metha said the Church adhered the holiest events for Christians, to the directive of the NBCC, to marks the resurrection of Jesus join the ‘Easter Sunrise Service’ Christ after crucifixion. online.

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FAC & ICFAI University begins online learning

DIMAPUR: In view nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and as advised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to utilize the time in developing online content, Fazl Ali College (FAC), Mokokchung and ICFAI University Nagaland, Dimapur have begun online teaching and evaluation.

In a press release, FAC stated that the faculty members have started working from home by adopting “Google Classroom to provide learning support to students, thus maintaining continuity in the teachinglearning process during the lockdown period”.

The college has informed that links for educational content have been

uploaded to the college website (http://fac.ac.in) for students to make the most of the lockdown time.

In addition to teaching-learning activities, the release said the college has also been utilizing their expertise by helping the district administration in producing hand sanitizers.

ICFAI University Nagaland Upon the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown of the nation and the state, ICFAI University which runs professional and other conventional courses have engaged the students as much as possible in academic activities by conducting online classes from homes for the

university students using digital platforms like Team link, Google class, Digital information server and Whatsapp.

A press release from ICFAI University Nagaland, registrar Khrieketu Kuotsu stated that faculty members resorted to sharing study materials through providing academic links, interactive classes through audio-video means, assignments besides providing emotional support to students. As an institution it is worth mentioning that every experience leads to a new learning experience and fortunately today with all technologies available, academic transactions can also take place besides classroom interface.

ZVSU condemns killing of innocent youth by Assam Police D I M A P U R : Z h e k i ye Village Students’ Union (ZVSU) has outrightly condemned the unlawful and arbitrary act of Assam Police on the night of April 4, which cost the life of Viloto Zhimo son of Khehuto Zhimo of Zekiye village.

In a condemnation issued by ZVSU president, president stated that the ZVSU strongly refuted the story planted by the Assam Police that the deceased was killed during exchange of gunfire. The union said that it is in the record of everyone that the victim was an educated unemployed

youth who had recently completed his M. Com. from Guwahati University and has no record of any crime in the past.

The ZVSU considered the acts of the Assam Police as “inhumane” and “intolerable”. The union expressed deep concern and anguish on the loss of precious life of the innocent youth and further demanded high level probe into the incident and ensure that justice is delivered to the victim at the earliest.

The ZVSU also conveyed its deep sympathies to the bereaved family members.

Phek bn contain forest fire

Personnel of AR containing the forest fire that broke out in Avangkhu village on April 5.

DIMAPUR: Phek Battalion assisted in averting a major forest fire in Avangkhu village, Phek district on April 5.

According to PRO HQ IGAR (N), on receiving information about a fire outbreak in Avangkhu village, a quick reaction team was mobilised from Avangkhu Company Operating Base comprising of 22 personnel.

The prompt response of troops and relentless effort, After oil tankers reached Zunheboto district on Tuesday afternoon, people started along with residents, averted any likelihood of the forest fire from damaging precious flora and fauna. rushing to fill oil on Wednesday causing a huge traffic at BOC.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2020

LTM demands aid for residents of Langpangkong range DIMAPUR, APR 12 (NPN): Langpangkong Tzukong Mungdang (LTM) has demanded immediate monetary aid and essential commodities for residents of Langpangkong range near the Assam border as they are facing untold hardship due to the current lockdown announced to combat the spread of COVID 19 pandemic.

In a memorandum to Mokokchung deputy commissioner, the organisation said people of the area, 90% of whom were daily wage earners, were on the verge of starvation as they had not received any aid from any source except on papers and media since the beginning of the lockdown.

LTM also demanded immediate setting up of permanent police check gates at Kangtsung (Nagaland) and Atkel (Assam) border by invoking the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. While appreciating the Mokokchung district administration and police for effectively monitoring Watiyongpang border check gate, the organisation said it also could not be denied that the porous border with Assam was about 10 km with Wameken Yimsen, Kangtsung Yimsen, Anaki Yimsen and Anaki (C) villages on

the stretch just miles away from Assam. As such, it strongly urged the district Administration to give equal importance to those areas and immediately establish a permanent police check gate by invoking the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.

The memorandum stated that additional deputy commissioner of Tuli had promulgated Section 144 of CrPC within two kilometre in border area and was in force till date.

However, due to shortage of enough police force on duty, the vast area could not be covered and anti-social elements took advantage of the situation as there were enough bypass roads in the area, posing a grave danger.

As such, the organisation demanded round-the-clock police patrolling.

Mentioning that the Langpangkong range had two community health centres (CHCs), two primary health centres (PHCs) and number of sub-primary health centres, the organisation however pointed out that the facilities and equipments available were not satisfactory, adding it feared that the available equipments would not be able to protect the people from the novel coronavirus pandemic. Hence, it called for supply of necessary

equipments and machineries like ventilators, oxygen cylinders, medicines, personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, first aid, etc, immediately to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The memorandum also sought PPE kits and N95 masks for doctors, nurses, medical staff in CHCs, PHCs and subcentres, police personnel and volunteers at check gates urgently.

Poi nti ng out tha t Langpangkong range was the biggest and had highest population ratio in Mokokchung district, the statement mentioned that it also served other districts in providing essential commodities and other logistical support. As such, it was imperative to have bulk stock of essential commodities before it was too late, the statement stressed.

Insisting on sanitisation of drivers, handymen and goods laden vehicle at all cost while delivering goods in the district, Langpangkong Tzukong Mungdang emphasised construction of a sanitisation station for vehicles immediately at Watiyongpang check gate.

The memorandum was signed by LTM president M Zulu Ozukum and general secretary Lanu Pongen.

Condolence messages on demise of Kaka D Iralu DIMAPUR: Several organisations and people from all walks of life have send condolences on the passing of Kaka D. Iralu, Naga activist and political commentator. Iralu, who passed away on the night of April 9 after a prolonged ailment, was laid to rest at Medziphema on April 10.

Poumai Hoho Nagaland: Poumai Hoho Nagaland (PHN) has expressed shock and sadness over the demise of Kaka D. Iralu on April 9 at Dimapur.

In a condolence note issued

by PHN has described late Kaka Iralu, as a well-known Naga patriotic writer and a philosopher. It stated that his demise has created a big vacuum for the Naga-family and find it difficult to fill up. “He has written books on struggle for the cause of Naga nation and many thought provoking articles for the Naga which will leave inspiration for the Nagas generations to come”, The Hoho stated.

The Hoho conveyed its deepest condolences to the bereaved family members and prayed that the departed soul may rest in eternal peace.

Mao Hoho Nagaland: Mao Hoho Nagaland has expressed deep pain over the untimely demise of Kaka D. Iralu at Dimapur.

A condolence note from Mao Hoho Nagaland general secretary, S. Hepuni John has described late Kaka as one who experienced the harsh reality of Naga nationalism even in childhood; he was the Naga chronicler who inscribed in his books incidents and events, with the very people and the very places, rendering them indelible before the world. His revisits, mostly in his very person, were both to verify and to relive the events which would otherwise have dimmed with time.

In his many articles, the Hoho said that Kaka provoked the readers into delineating Naga nationalism from the mundane life of outward peace Nagas have been sliding into.

The Hoho is saddened by the inability to pay its last respect to his mortal remains due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it truly mourned the death of such a son of the land, who will be greatly missed by the Naga people.

In this time of sorrow and pain, the Hoho reach out in solidarity to the bereaved family, his clan and to Khonoma and prayed that they be granted solace and strength to bear the irreparable loss. It further prayed for the noble soul to rest K Y M C

in peace.

AAGBA: All Angami Gaon Bura Association (AAGBA) has expressed deep sadness over the untimely demise of late Kaka D. Iralu, a prominent author and true voice of the Naga sovereignty movement.

In a condolence message, AAGBA said late Kaka was a brave man, selfless and the true colour of our Naga sovereignty. It also prayed to God Almighty to provide peace and comfort to the bereaved family and for the departed soul to rest in peace.

AYO: Angami Youth Organization (AYO) has paid its unrivalled tribute to Lt. Kaka D. Iralu, a man who had lived by his vision.

APO described late Kaka as a true patriot was undeterred by any circumstance and

chose to take the road “less travelled” with a mission of free Naga Nation. APO said late Kaka has left behind a legacy for the young generation to tread on.

While mourning the demise, APO also thanked late Kaka for dedicating his life to the Naga movement and for immortalizing the history of the Nagas through his writings.

APO has also conveyed deepest condolences to the bereaved family and fervently prayed that God grant solace to them at this time of pain and sorrow.

DDGIF: Dimapur District Gorkha Indigenous Forum (DDGIF) has expressed deep anguish, shock and sorrow at the untimely demise of Kaka D Iralu. The forum described late Kaka as a true Naga nationalist,

a true patriot and a man of conviction.

DDGIF has also prayed to the Almighty to grant solace to the bereaved family and for the departed soul to rest in peace.

DPON: Dimasa Public Organisation Nagaland (DPON) has expressed deep pain at the demise of late Kaka D Iralu, a prominent writer, Naga nationalist, intellect and a true patriot.

DPON while conveying condolences to the bereaved family, prayed to God to grant them peace and comfort and the rest to the departed soul.

The Naga Rising: The Naga Rising has expressed grief on learning the passing away of its elder patriot Kaka D. Iralu.

In a condolence message by The Naga Rising

stated has described late Kaka D Iralu as a man of deep conviction for their land and their freedom and stated that they have lost a voice for the Naga struggle. “Kaka kept the idea of Naga nation alive through his writings till the last and that will continue to motivate us and the gen-

erations to come”, it added.

The release also stated that late Kaka has left a deep legacy that they should not compromise the idea of Naga nation. Till his last breath, Kaka upheld the sovereignty of the Naga ancestral homeland, symbolized by the rainbow and the star flag

as the sign of the Naga nation.

The Naga Rising expressed its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and prayed that the Almighty God gives comfort, peace and strength during this difficult timew and further prayed for the departed soul to rest in peace.

Happy 75 th Birthday Khutovi Sema

Psalm 103:13 ‘As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him;’

As we celebrate this wonderful day , we celebrate your goodness , and the love and happiness you bring into our lives . Everyday with you is a blessing and we thank God for your presence.

May you be surrounded by love , May you find many peaceful moments , and may you be blessed with a long life.

Happy Birthday.

With love, Wife, children, in-laws and grandchildren.

DP-2244

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State

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2020

Distribution of food items & preventive measures continue amid lockdown Dimapur district

Jacob Zhimomi, Azheto Zhimomi and Basu Damani serving food to the members of needy Likya SHG members and Kailash Jain with police personnel at East Police Personnel of DCP Zone-II, Dimapur distributing Easter families in Dimapur on Saturday.

Station Dimapur after serving refreshment on April 12. (DIPR) eggs, biscuits, juice and water to its personnel.

Mind Blowers Club distributing Easter eggs to police Members of Nagaland Bihari Samaj with rations which was then donated to NPCC minority department and Dimapur District Congress Committee distributed personnels on duty in and around Dimapur on April 12. community kitchen on April 12. essential rations that covered 8 villages to help out 175 needy families on April 11.

DIMAPUR: In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and on the 19-day The SHG members also visited East Police Station, Traffic Police of the 21 day- nationwide lockdown (Easter Sunday), various organisa- office, West Police Station and all the media houses to encourage and tions and individual continue to play a vital role in their benevolent afford motivate them as they continue to sacrifice in their effort to fight the in providing food items to stranded people and needy people across the pandemic. state.

The group members expressed their heartfelt gratitude to Kailash Jain, Pappu Sharma and Star bakery for the support and cooperation extended towards Likya SHG as they continue to work for humanity.

In continued effort to help the poor and needy people affected by nationwide lockdown due to COVID19 pandemic, the Nagaland state unit Nagaland Bihari Samaj on April 12 donated rations to community of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) led by its president, Benjamin Yeptho provided meal to members of more than 430 families of migrant kitchen, so that the cooked food will be served to the homeless who are stranded at DDSC and different locations. labourers and daily wage workers in Dimapur on April 11.

A press release from NBS working president, Bihari Samaj Narottam A press release from Nagaland state unit BJYM stated that the initiative also saw people’s elected leaders of different political parties, Minister Jha stated that Nagaland Bihari Samaj has been doing all possible help to PHED, Jacob Zhimomi and MLA Azheto Zhimomi came together to serve the needy as per request/directions given by the district administration to look after the requirements of Sports Youth Hostel, opposite to Railway food to the poor, leaving aside their political affiliation.

The two leaders were joined by Basu Damani, a social worker and Station, Dimapur.

41 students from different parts of the country are stationed at Sports former official of a political party. “Coming together of leaders of different political backgrounds to serve humanity at such time is inspiring as there Youth Hostel, for which it has been manning their requirements. The Samaj is nothing greater than serving humanity”, It added. is also looking after the requirements of the needy whenever it comes or In a short speech, Jacob Zhimomi advised the people to maintain brought into its knowledge. social distance as a preventive measure to contain the pandemic virus and urged to cooperate with the government in its effort to check the spread of the virus.

Satoi Range Public Union Dimapur (SRPUD) has extended relief In a recent twitter messages on April 11, Union Minister Ravi Shankar to citizens and students of the area on April 11 in view of nationwide Prasad and MP Radha Mohan Singh (Former Union Agri Minister) lauded lockdown due to COVID-19. the BJYM Nagaland for its humanitarian service to people in need.

A press release from media affairs SRPUD, Vika Ayemi stated that essential commodities such as rice, dal and oil were distributed to around 135 families, including students who were staying at rented house in and Extending moral and prayer support and also to motivate the frontline around Dimapur town.

The union further acknowledged officials of Satoi Range Students workers who are rendering selfless service in the fight against COVID 19 on the occasion of Easter Sunday, Likya Self Help Group comprising of Union (SRSU) for volunteering and all those families and individuals seven ladies offered refreshment to all the policemen/traffic personnel on who have donated generously towards the relief and helping its members in times of crisis. duty from Chümoukedima stretch to Dillai gate and New Field gate.

The union also appealed general public to stay safe and to obey governAccording to DIPR report, to embrace the spirit of Easter Sunday, ment orders and guidelines to prevent and contain this deadly disease. the group also played Easter songs while serving them.

Nagaland BJYM

Nagaland Bihari Samaj

SRPUD extends relief

Likya SHG motivates frontline workers

nagalandpost.com Poll Q.: Are measures to take c a re o f d a i l y w a g e earners sufficient to help them?

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

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DCP Zone-II Dimapur distribute Easter eggs

Personnel of DCP Zone-II, Dimapur under the initiative of DCP, Aotula Imchen distributed Easter eggs, biscuits, juice and water on Sunday morning to its personnel stationed at different locations performing lockdown duty.

The effort was to spread the joyful message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and to encourage one another to be prayerful at all times.

LVC to continue sealing border

Pertaining to the lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, Lengrijan Village Council (LVC) conducted a joint meeting with Assam bordering councils of Aoyimsen, Mon Basti and Choto Lengr, on April 9 at LVC hall.

A press release from chairman LVC, N Meren Imchen stated that in the interest of public safety, all the councils have agreed to uphold the ongoing sealing borders between Assam and Nagaland. However, it has been exempting passes to medical staffs, law enforcement agencies, Nagaland government officials, media persons and bank personals (on duty) on producing valid documents, and serious medical patients.

AVC continue to monitor lockdown rules

In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, Aoyimti Village Council has left no stone unturned to make sure that the villagers stay home and be safe. To ensure the restriction of entry and exit of outsiders and insiders CCTV surveillance cameras have been installed in various strategic points of the village.

A press release from AVC chairman, Imnukloba and secretary, A. Polongnok Lkr stated that this initiative will not only check the implementation of the lockdown but also serve as a potential means to safeguard the adjoining Airport, which is now the only reliable location for resources.

It stated that since the lockdown, various organizations under the village have been playing a vital role in keeping the needy families and individuals to sustain the unprecedented situation.

Apart from the organizations many individuals have also contributed generously. In these times of spread, AVC said that it has been ensuring everyone to follow social distancing decisively and comprehensively.

Wokha district

Longleng district

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A

B

Yes. No. Can’t Say.

C

67% 0% 33%

Next poll

Q: W i l l r e l a x a t i o n o f

lockdown invite faster COVID spread?  Yes.  No.  Can’t Say.

WEATHER FORECAST April 13

(Temperature in ºC)

Max Min

Agartala Hazy sunshine and hot

38 21

Aizawl

Hazy sun

Guwahati Hot with hazy sunshine

31 15 36 18

Hazy sun

32 12

Itanagar Hazy sun and warmer

32 17

Shillong

Hazy sun

26 12

Kohima

Hazy sun

26 13

Imphal

Dimapur Hazy sun and very warm

35 18

Hazy sun

27 14

Tuensang Hazy sun

19 10

Hazy sun

28 17

Zunheboto Hazy sun

25 12

Mkg Wokha

Social media Whatsapp group members handing over cash to DC MLA & advisor Mhathung Yanthan and others after the distribution of Fr Alex Vizo with elders of Bahok ward and Catholic community Wokha collected from members for COVID-19 relief fund. food items to 150 families belonging to his constituency. members during the free distribution of rice. (NP)

Social media Whatsapp group donate towards COVID-19 relief fund

Lotha Mhonka Okho (LMO), a social media WhatsApp group has extended support and solidarity by donating cash towards the fight against COVID-19 through voluntarily contribution of money and handed over to DC Wokha.

In a letter addressed to the deputy commissioner of Wokha, the group stated they are all aware that COVID -19 pandemic has become an emerging global health crisis.

In the process of time it has affected the normal living of humanity in totality, be it the daily wage earners, business activities etc.

During these challenging times, the Lotha Mhonka Okho (LMO) Whatsapp group members have extend its support by donating a small amount of money collected through voluntary contributions within the members.

With deepest acknowledgment and appreciation to the deputy commissioner Wokha and everybody involved in the frontline, the Lotha Mhonka Okho said that it will always stand behind the district administration Wokha. “Together we shall overcome”, it quoted. It its letter, it has also attached the list of LMO donors and free will donors.

MLA & advisor Mhathung distributes food items

Seeing the suffering of the people living across the border in various Karbi Anglong villages viz.

Borlengri, Longki/Lama Basti, Mohan Basti, Balijan, Dudu etc., MLA and advisor (Horticulture and Border Affairs), Mhathung Yanthan distributed food items to more than 150 families belonging to his constituency (39-Sanis) to the daily wage earners and those whose lives were most affected by the lockdown.

A press release from public relation i/c to MLA & advisor, Chembemo Patton stated that the residents of these areas are seldom or not benefited by government relief from either state. The food package included 20 kgs of rice, 5 kgs of Potato, 2 kgs of onion, 2 kgs of dal and two bottles of 500 ml cooking oil.

Catholic Community of Longleng donate 21 bags of rice

Correspondent

As a part of the humanitarian and social service during the ongoing lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, Catholic Community of Longleng under the guidance of Parish Priest of St. Joseph’s Church, Rev. Fr. Alex Vizo donated 21 bags of rice (50 kg each) to the daily wage earners and needy people of Bahok Ward, Longleng Town on April 11.

During the humanitarian gesture, altogether, 103 households were benefited. On behalf of the ward, president of Bahok Ward, M. Chinglong Phom thanked Rev. Fr. Alex Vizo and community of St. Joseph’s Church, Longleng for their selfless service rendered towards the downtrodden people of the ward.

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OPINiON/EDITORIAL

Nagaland Post Vol. XXx NO. 126 Dimapur, MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2020

Virus, food and cash

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here is no debate on what the country needs to do as the need of the hour demands sacrifice from every Indian citizen. In this regard, the decision to suspend release of Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) for two years and also 30 percent pay cut for MPs for one year is laudable. That means a sum of Rs.7930 crore out of MPLADS will be saved and obviously used for fighting COVID-19. Also, the 30 percent cut on salaries of MPs including the prime minister, will add some Rs.29 crore. The above total sum may not be enough on its own but is a significant contribution to the huge requirement for funds that could total upto a lakh crore rupees. The 30 percent pay cut for ministers and MPs has sent a message that the elected representatives are showing the way.Politicians have hardly enjoyed appreciation for whatever reasons but their contribution for the ongoing fight against Covid19 is appreciated. True, charity begins at home as information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said. It would have made a difference if the decision to suspend MPLADS for two years and the 30 per cent pay cut for one year had been discussed while parliament was in session. Whether it was unforeseen or knowingly kept abeyance for the post-adjournment period only raises question on whether the executive has overridden Parliament n bypassing a protocol ?

However, for Indians today, what matters is to fight it out together since such issue are presently unimportant. The plight of daily wage earners has to be addressed especially those involved in agriculture and allied sectors. The government has to fight not only threat of death from COVID but later also from hunger. The fact of the matter is that India cannot feel satisfied about the present status where hardly a lakh have been tested for COVID 19 in a population of 134 crore. Unless a wider net is spread across the country to test for COVID-19; the meagre number of hardly 9000 positive COVID -19 cases will be a false sense of security. Fighting COVID 19 demands a huge amount of money, manpower and material. India cannot afford to live on the assumption that the meagre number of COVID-19 cases is a great achievement. More tests will require a much greater involvement of doctors and laboratories across India. In other countries, testing for COVID-19 have been done for huge numbers. India has conducted around 1,60,000 tests (as on April 8), according to ICMR data. The US, by comparison, has conducted 22 lakh tests, Iran conducted over two lakh and Italy etc around two lakh. In terms of tests per 10,000 people, India stands at a beggarly 0.04 slightly below UAE at 0.2. Spain conducted 18.3 tests per 10,000 people, followed by Italy with 15.8; UK with 7.9, Germany with 7.7, Canada with 3.8 , Australia with 1.3 and USA with 1.2.The above statistics do reveal that due to very less number of tests, the results have been surprisingly low. It is not to mean that COVID-19 cases should be high but certainly, the reality could be ascertained only when more tests are conducted nationwide. Much money is needed for COVID-19 , keeping agricultural farming alive and India finds itself in a Catch 22 situation.

DailyDevotion Complete and Effective Dominion

Death no longer has dominion over Him.…the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God… —Romans 6:9-11 Co-Eternal Life. Eternal life is the life which Jesus Christ exhibited on the human level. And it is this same life, not simply a copy of it, which is made evident in our mortal flesh when we are born again.

Eternal life is not a gift from God; eternal life is the gift of God. The energy and the power which was so very evident in Jesus will be exhibited in us by an act of the absolute sovereign grace of God, once we have made that complete and effective decision about sin.

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8)— not power as a gift from the Holy Spirit; the power is the Holy Spirit, not something that He gives us. The life that was in Jesus becomes ours because of His Cross, once we make the decision to be identified with Him. If it is difficult to get right with God, it is because we refuse to make this moral decision about sin. But once we do decide, the full life of God comes in immediately.

Jesus came to give us an endless supply of life— “… that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). Eternal life has nothing to do with time. It is the life which Jesus lived when He was down here, and the only Source of life is the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the weakest saint can experience the power of the deity of the Son of God, when he is willing to “let go.” But any effort to “hang on” to the least bit of our own power will only diminish the life of Jesus in us. We have to keep letting go, and slowly, but surely, the great full life of God will invade us, penetrating every part. Then Jesus will have complete and effective dominion in us, and people will take notice that we have been with Him.

Quotes

To destroy is still the strongest instinct in nature. ~ Max Beerbohm

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2020

Post-mortem

Nothing has changed as fast as corona virus N othing has changed as fast as corona virus. The world business scenario, office pattern, education delivery, online business to return to physical shopping, home from office to rising domestic violence across the world are giving new dimensions to connection or connect or not to connect. The world has never changed as fast as it is now.

It is making governments heartless and people helpless.

Panic is from official sources and fear psychosis grips the people. Old order changeth yielding place to new is the adage. But no order ever has changed that fast. It evolves with practices, food availability, technology, war and conflicts and relationships in the society. The peer pressure is there, pre-generational modes are there and postgenerational pressures shape up many things.

That is what the mankind is used to. In Indian context civilization is not same in Ramayan, Mahabharat, Buddhist, postBuddhist revival and the various phases of Muslim and European incursions and trade practices.

In the European context through various phases from Greek, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, medieval cross-country voyages to unknown not only

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changed behaviour but also changed the New World, from highly civilized pagan to a violent settlers from Europe. The indigenous people in the North and South Americas were eliminated through wars, germ wars and extreme subjugation.

The subsequent phases saw lot more faster world, splintered families, careeroriented gold diggers and well-knit societies to isolated self-centred individuals. But each took years or decades to have a new look. The two World Wars subsequent cold war, Iraq-Iran war, Kuwait war changed the world rapidly through 20th century.

Satellite war brought wars to the bedrooms through television during the Kuwait war – spectacle of arms and spectrum. The post-Kuwait rapid internet, intranet, 2G to 5G mobiles are agents or miscreants of that change phenomenon. Every morning and evening the world is changing, globalizing, bringing corporate closer and distancing people.

If the 17th to 19th century were the era of indentured labourers or slaves, 20th century changed that to mercenary soldiers fighting for their colonial masters, or evolving covenant corporate officials, public relations giving impression of a good

he words Lockdown and Blessings seem to be an oxymoron, two words that can never go together. However let us look at the positive side of this lockdown even during the Passion Week.

My message is for all Fathers, Mothers and children, families locked down together. This is the first time in recent history of the church that Christians are forced to stay away from their beloved Churches during such a momentous time as Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Even people who hardly stepped into the church at other times would make it a point to visit the church during these blessed occasions. But this year it was not possible.

It reminds me of the first Passover that was celebrated in Egypt. Exodus 12 gives us a detailed account of that Passover.

The Passover was meant to be observed by families behind locked doors.

The Passover Lamb was slaughtered by the father and its blood applied to the doorposts and lintels of the house. The Passover meal was prepared by the mother.

The children were told to be dressed up for the occasion. No one was allowed to step outside

(From previous issue) orld powers that arrogantly negate all transcendent powers and ethical values learn with humility that life is fragile and that we all need one another. It has brought home the truth in the saying, there is enough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed.

Science and technology alone cannot give purpose and meaning to human life.

More than anything, all powers can learn to acknowledge the presence of a Power that is above all. With great pain many countries realize that they have more soldiers in their countries in the business of killing than they have doctors who can save lives.

Humanity itself is on the way of the Cross. May this Cross lead all nations to consign enmity and war to fire and see resurrection in human solidarity, solidarity in sharing – material and human resources, knowledge and technology, moral qualities and humane principles.

Humanity and the Church have waded through valleys of tears before: the various plagues mentioned in the Bible, the Black Plague of the middle Ages, when half of European people perished

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work, Gulf labourers, to East Europeans taking up menial jobs in Western Europe, to cyber coolies dotting the world traveling to show Shivaji their ‘skill’ at jet speed leaving their families asunder.

Yes, the world never changed that fast. In never took to new norms in a matter of days. It took decades to switch over from hot metal printing process to computerized cold press, from wood and charcoal fire to liquefied gas to microwave cooking.

It took two generations to move from landline to mobile and not even half a generation from heavy, slow mobile phones to multimedia receiver – phone, radio, video, audio, television, cinema and many more on one platform. It has connected billions and disconnected families or those in their personal physical proximity.

Misinformation The corona is changing the world fast. It is causing disbelief, rise in distrust, woes of the working, nonworking, semi-working and poor migrant labourers.

Misinformation that spread by western official media that it hits the geriatric the most has caused distrust within families in the west and more so in the east.

In Delhi, a 30-yearold man on April 4 loged a police case against his 59year-old father for allegedly not following Sarkar the lockdown and repeatedly steeping out of their house in south Delhi’s Rajokri near Vasant Kunj. There are other reports of elderly persons almost being manhandled by their children for going out of their house. The reason is the suspicion that the elderly man can get the infection nad imperil the lives of the younger ones.

Th3e official agencies and social media are spreading misinformation.

A glaring example of the misinformation is by the power ministry. No sooner Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced nine-minute home black-out and lighting up of ‘dias’, the power ministry through an official release spread the confusion that the PM’s black-out call can disrupt electricity grid.

It was not corrected by the government till a senior journalist covering power for 30 years posted on facebook and twitter that low voltage home lights switching off cannot disrupt the grid. Power minister accepting it came out with the necessary clarification. A Delhi housing society imposing monetary penalties

on residents for moving out of the premises, forgetting that housing societies have no such powers. Women all over India found that home stay of family members was disturbing their schedules, privacy, leisure and even subjected to many violent behaviour by husbands, other members whether at their in-laws place or parental home. The UN Secretary General Gueterres has to issue worldwide appeal to protect the women.

Shifting office or schools to home online has its own problem. A study in India found 43 percent families do not have a computer. So is the case with many office workers, teachers or corporate employees.

Most do not have a system of their own. Will it change the system in future? If they have one and decide or told to work from home, would it be a convenience or domestic trouble? A trimmer office may have advantage on space but may act heavy on human relations.

The closure of hospital OPDs are also telling on patients. Is the patient-doctor relation to be on computer screens? So an informal chat or query would be difficult without digital payment.

In case of a mistake by the physician, who would bear

The Blessings of Lockdown

the house. The door would be locked and they would observe the Passover as a family partaking of the Passover meal, ready for flight at any moment. There was danger outside the door.

The Angel of Death would Passover Egypt that night, striking all the first born of man or animals to death if they were not behind the bloodstained door. It was a very compelling reason to be with your family inside the locked doors protected by the blood of the sacrificial lamb.

The sacrificial lamb was the main symbol of the Old Testament Passover. The Lord gave explicit instructions on what to do with the lamb: “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.

For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your

houses to strike you” (Exodus 12:21-23).

Once the head of the family decided to obey this commandment, he automatically brought his whole family into safety. Everyone inside that house which was covered by the blood of the sacrificial lamb was safe, because the father decided to put his family under the bolood.

The blood on the doorposts and the lintel also speak of the cross of Jesus, the true Lamb of God who went to the cross on Good Friday to shed His precious blood for us.

Today every family that comes under that blood is safe.

In fact your children are sanctified once you receive Jesus, The Bible says that the sanctified will sanctify the unsanctified (see 1 Corinthians 7:14). Yes, they will still need to personally receive Jesus as their Savior, but God has marked them for salvation because you are saved!

This Good Friday and Easter Sunday we all had to be under lockdown, having services in our own houses. Though we missed going to our beautiful churches and being blessed by the sermons of our Pastors, many fathers and mothers were forced to become

the priests of the family, calling all their children to worship. It was a Kairos time (Opportune time) for many families. Families who could never worship together were now worshipping together.

The darkness outside caused a certain solemnity inside, hearts were more open to God and to what He had to say, the true significance of applying the Blood of the Sacrificial Lamb Jesus Christ to our houses and to our lives became very personal. The story of the Passover was no longer just a story anymore, it was a means to life.

Families worshipping together during this time will become a source of great strength to the church as it opens.

Many of us who have been too busy to give time to our families are now getting that precious time with our loved ones. We are getting to know each other like never before. The busyness of life, for clergy, professionals, businessmen, alike gave us so little time to spend with our families. Sometimes our children grew up and left the nest before we even knew it.

Use this Kairos time to worship together. Everyone is at home. Choose a time that will

Easter Message 2020

and nearly half of the church personnel sacrificed their lives, the ‘Spanish’ Flu that took more than 50 million of world population. Nothing is new now.

COVID-19 will leave nothing unchanged. This angel of death, like the Seventh Seal of the Book of Revelation, brings a shattering message. Nothing will be same again. The way we worship, the way we relate with one another, the way we work, will all change.

We are at the dawn of a new consciousness, a radically fresh approach to our life as the human family in a fragile world. Social distance risks bringing social paranoia – fear of my brother and sister. Instead, we must insist that these measures arise from and lead to new forms of solidarity.

Pope Francis, deeply pained by the human suffering and the closing of the churches, diagnosed today’s humanity’s problem in his Urbi et Orbi exhortation : He said, When evening had come” (Mk 4:35). The Gospel passage we have just heard begins like this. For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it

has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice in people’s gestures, their glances give them away.

We find ourselves afraid and lost. Like the disciples in the Gospel we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm.

Our destiny, the Pope urges, is connected to each other. That is the message of Easter: We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other. On this boat...... are all of us. Just like those disciples, who spoke anxiously with one voice, saying “We are perishing”(v.38), so we too have realized that we cannot go on thinking of ourselves, but only together can we do this. Into that new world of human solidarity and love let a new Easter be Born!

Let us with Ravindranath Tagore pray Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by

narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead

the brunt? The patient?

Even the mohalla mom and pop shops have come into reckoning. Realisation is there that online shopping is not that simple if either here is physical lockdown or the computer or phone fails.

A great experiment is of living without a metro, public bus, taxis or trains. Can this be the “new normal”. If all these close down and those engaged lose jobs, would a new economy emerge or everything is doomed in a world fraught with many mysterious happenings.

So would the wage cut as announced, for prime minister, cabinet ministers and MPs by 30 percent could be the norm for all employees?

It has already happened in Telangana – 75 percent cut; Maharashtra – 50 percent; Rajasthan – 5 days’ wages; 15 to 25 percent in airlines in India and may many other corporate who have laid off workers or not.

Less spoken about the farmers, migrant workers and private education, the better.

Yes, the world is changing fast. Covid is just not a health virus it is sapping economy, society and bringing changes never dreamt of. It is to change human, industrial, medical, familial and social relationship. Await the new normal.

be suitable for everyone, if you have late risers I recommend you choose a later time, let no one feel stressed, let everyone be relaxed as you worship the Lord of the Passover together.

As the church opens its doors after the lockdown, because the assembling of the believers together is most important, the families will be rushing inside the church with testimonies of God’s favor, provision and love during the lockdown. This was a season that the devil meant for evil, but God has turned it around for good. The Bible tells us that all things work together for good to them that love Him. We will be having His Love Feast together, The Communion, with our hearts full of thanksgiving and joy.

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28 God is at work in every situation, every circumstance, let’s look for the blessings and not focus on the darkness. He is risen! You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart. Amen Nini Sekhose

habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action – Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let our world (my country) awake. This is possible with Christ and in Christ who died and rose again:

So let us say with hope and proclaim from the roof tops: “Alleluia – Christ is Risen, Christ is risen indeed Alleluia!”

(Concluded) Most Rev. Dr. James Thoppil Bishop of Kohima, Nagaland

Reader’s Post

Need for policies for those hit by COVID-19 Sir,

Undoubtedly, this ongoing outbreak Covid-19/SARS 2 pandemic is a highly contagious one which leaves no rooms for many compromises. The Authorities concerned are impressively doing their pivotal ‘Roles’ diligently. Despite everything on the go, I wish to draw a modest line @ this juncture; bringing ‘Daily Wage earners’ to the light.

Quite interestingly, Zomato (online eatery services) started this ‘free feeding initiative’ providing 1.5 million for the Daily Wage workers. Numerous states viz Kerela, Delhi, Punjab, U.P etc have candidly promised Social Security fulfilments, dropping rations door steps, etc in order to tackle economic challenges.

Apparently, here in our state too, with ever growing population engaging in the unorganised private sectors or working as daily wage earners, we ought to streamline certain viable policies in order to reach out especially the worst hit masses with profound care and concern. We shall overcome. God be with us.

W. Ren James Social Entrepreneur & Dev. Activist

Reader’s note: Articles or letters published in any of the columns do not reflect the view of this newspaper nor that of the Editor in any manner.

national/state

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2020

Godowns have enough food grains for 9 months: Paswan

New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI): The central government has enough grains to feed over 81 crore beneficiaries of the public distribution system (PDS) for nine months, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Sunday, expressing confidence that its granaries, expecting a boost from a “bumper” wheat crop, will have adequate stock for a much longer period.

With the government likely to extend the nation-wide lockdown till the month end, the Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution minister said that the transportation and distribution of food grains at an “unprecedented” scale has emerged as a “lifeline” during the crisis, with the poor being assured of their ration supply in time.

As of April 10, the government-run godowns have 299.45 LMT (lakh metric ton) rice and 235.33 LMT wheat, totalling 534.78 LMT of the two major grains supplied to the poor, Paswan told PTI in an interview.

The per month supply through the PDS amounts to 60 LMT, he said. Coarse grains and pulses are also supplied through the PDS in a limited quantity.

“There is no shortage of grains. We now have a bumper rabi harvest and

Ram Vilas Paswan

our estimate is that we will have adequate stock for up to two years,” he said.

Though the extended lockdown may have sparked a variety of concerns, including about economy, but any shortage of essential grains like wheat and rice is the least of them.

Paswan said in a lighter vein that the condition is akin to “the lawyer (Centre) being more keen about the case than the client (states)”, with the Union government constantly asking states to lift their quota of rations in time after it was announced that all PDS beneficiaries will get three months of supply free.

What has been seen is “unprecedented and historic”, he said about the mechanism put in for the distribution of grains, with trains playing a key role.

Recently in one day, over 20.19 LMT of grains

2 persons die after consuming spurious liquor in Kanpur

were moved through trains, a record, he noted.

The government has also made it easier for agencies, public or private, to purchase grains from it at a subsidised rate if they are involved in helping the poor.

“If in this lockdown there had been any issue regarding the supply of food grains, then it could have created a havoc. So the biggest satisfaction and relief is that it has all gone well,” Paswan, a member of the Group of Ministers overseeing the lockdown exercise, said.

Following the start of the three-week lockdown from March 24 midnight, the government had announced three months of free ration for the PDS beneficiaries and also allowed them to purchase their usual monthly quota on credit for three months.

The antyodaya (poorest in the lot) beneficiaries, who get 35 kg of food grains per month irrespective of their family size, were allocated an additional 5 kg per head in the family.

These measures have been of huge help in ensuring that nobody goes hungry during the lockdown, and the government’s steps to combat the pandemic get maximum support, he said.

3 killed in Pakistani shelling on LoC

Stop beating lockdown violators, NNagaDAO D I M APUR , APR 1 2 (NPN): Network of Nagaland Drugs and AIDS Organisations (NNagaDAO) has urged the State government to direct police and youth volunteers on duty to stop beating those who violate lockdown and then take their videos before sharing these on social media.

In a memorandum to the principal secretary (home) by its president Abou Mere, the network stressed that the court of law that should decide on the course of action as per the provisions of law. In “our efforts” to control the spread of COVID-19, universal human dignity and fundamental principles of human rights should not be undermined or violated in the context of individuals or groups, it emphasised.

Extending its deep appreciation to all health workers, law enforcement agencies, administrative officials and volunteers for risking their lives to protect “our people”, NNagaDAO observed that the entire nation and the State had been desperately try to halt the spread of COVID-19 during this lockdown by restricting human and vehicular movements. However, it noted that some people, including those who use drugs and alcohol, were not fully abiding with the lockdown advisories, as evidenced by some incidents recently when they were brought to task by the police and youth volunteers enforcing the lockdown.

The apex body of

NGOs and CBOs working in the field of drugs and HIV/AIDS in Nagaland explained that several measures were taken up by various agencies for decades to control drug use and alcoholism in Nagaland, but most of these failed to produce the desired results as they were not grounded in evidence-based clinical understanding of the issue. In a progressive move, the State government adopted the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Policy, based on scientific evidence and promoting a human rights approach, it added.

And at this critical phase of the pandemic, NNagaDAO said it felt that it was crucial for the State government to ensure a public health approach for treatment of drug users and alcoholics by ensuring availability and accessibility of treatment services, as well as referral to treatment centres, as also stated in the policy.

Appreciating all the efforts put in by the State government for ensuring safety and health of all sections of the population, the memorandum said it looked forward to collectively working towards ensuring that this protection and health services was extends to drug users and alcoholics in Nagaland. NNagaDAO is an issue-based advocacy platform constituted to address collective concerns and needs of organisations and key population communities involved in the sector of drugs and HIV/AIDS.

5

Punjab Police officer’s severed hand re-implanted

IG Jatinder Singh Aulakh with other police officers show sharp-edged weapons recovered from the arrested Nihangs at Balbera village in Patiala on Sunday. (PTI)

Chandigarh, Apr 12 (IANS): After nearly eight hours of surgery, a team of doctors at the PGI on Sunday successfully re-implanted the left hand of Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of Punjab Police that was chopped off in a clash by Nihang Sikhs in Patiala.

The 50-year-old patient had an amputation through the proximal wrist of left hand, said the PGI. The reimplantation was started around 10 a.m. after initial preparation of the amputated part. Both radial and ulnar arteries, the vena comitantes and

an extra dorsal vein were anastomosed (reconnection of blood verssels). All the flexors and extensor tendons were repaired, it said in a statement.

All the nerves at the wrist required bony fixation done using three Kwires.

T h e a p p r ox i m a t e time taken was about 7.5 hours.

The PGI said this was technically very complex and challenging surgery, which was successfully done.

It was evaluated at the end of surgery that hand is viable, warm with good

circulation, it added.

After a phone call from Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta, PGI Director Jagat Ram activated the emergency team at Advanced Trauma centre and he gave the responsibility to Ramesh Sharma, Head Department of Plastic Surgery, for hand re-implantation.

The surger y team comprised Sunil Gaba, Je r r y R . Jo h n , S u r a j Nair, Mayank, Chandra, Shubendu, Ankur, Abhishek and Purnima, while the nursing team comprised Arvind, Sneha and Arsh.

Wearing masks made compulsory in Haryana Dip in Delhi’s air quality New Delhi, Apr 12 (IANS): Air pollution in the national capital region increased a notch and stood in “moderate” category on Sunday.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), tiny particles in the air known as PM 2.5 are docked at 56, while PM 10 stood at 104 in the “moderate” range.

As per the data published by the Central pollution Control Board (CPCB),

AQI at Delhi Technological University stood at 108, 131 in Mundaka, 96 in Dwarka, 80 in ITO and 92 in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The quality of air was in the “good” category last week, but spiked on March 6 after people burst crackers to “challenge the darkness” as a sign of participation in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for switching off lights and lighting diyas and lamps to mark the fight against the coronavirus crisis.

Chandigarh, Apr 12 (PTI): Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Sunday said that wearing of face masks has been made compulsory while stepping outside homes in the state during the lockdown and anybody found violating the orders will face action as per law.

“I have issued orders with immediate effect that anyone who ventures outside home will have to wear a mask. Anyone violating the orders will face action,” Vij, who is also the Health Minister, said.

Those found violating the instructions will be punishable under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the IPC and the police authorities are empowered to take action against the violators, he said.

“People can wear a mask or cover their face with cloth, scarves etc,” he said. Earlier, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar too had appealed to people across the state to wear masks whenever they venture out.

Notably, Haryana has witnessed a spike in number of COVID-19 cases in the past few days and the total number of such cases on Sunday rose to 179 includ-

ing five health professionals with a doctor and two nurses among them.

The worst affected districts of the state with maximum number of positive cases are Nuh (45), Gurugram (32), Faridabad (31) and Palwal (29).

As many as 261 containment and buffer zones have been set up across the state including those falling in the four worst affected districts. These zones will be completely sealed as no movement of people inside these zones will be allowed as a measure to check the spread of infection, he said.

Vij has maintained that the spike in positive cases was due to a number of Tablighi Jamaat members testing positive.

On Sunday, he said that “107 Tablighi Jamaat members” are among those who have tested COVID-19 positive. With a majority of private clinics closed these days, Vij urged doctors to keep the establishments open in such difficult times.

“I am appealing to private doctors. During these difficult times, they should open their clinics in the state.

Over 70 per cent of them have closed their clinics.

Whether government or private doctors, both will have to discharge their duties,” he said. “There are many people

who suffer from ailments like diabetes, heart and kidney disease and other major and minor ailments for which they used to consult private doctors too. Many people have complained that they are unable to access the private doctors as they have shut down their clinics,” he pointed out.

The government was making an appeal to these doctors to open their clinics and provide their services, the minister said.

Replying to a question on possible measures, he said that the government can make the doctrs to open their clinics by invoking provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act and the Disaster Management Act. Yet, for the moment we want to request them that they should open clinics on their own, Vij said.

The minister, meanwhile, praised the way safai karamcharis (sanitary workers) are carrying out sanitisation work across the state to minimise chances of any infection in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.

The minister also sought to assure that there were sufficient stocks of personal protection equipment (PPE) needed by doctors, nurses and paramedical staff in government hospitals.

Seek money from cash-rich bodies: Fadnavis

Over 40 Covid-19 vaccines under development: ICMR

COVID-19 outbreak not to affect S-400 deliveries

Kanpur, Apr 12 (PTI): Two people died after consuming spurious liquor at Mawai Bachchan village in Sajeti area of the city, police said on Sunday.

Sajeti’s Station House Officer (SHO) Mukesh Solanki said six others, including village head Randheer Yadav, who had also consumed spurious liquor, are being treated at Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital. The deceased have been identified as Ankit Sachan (32), a health worker, and Anoop Sachan (30), a truck driver. Solanki said prima facie it appears that the victims had consumed the spurious liquor on Saturday

night and then started developing complications. “We are trying to find out from where Anoop had purchased liquor during the lockdown period,” he added. District Magistrate Dr Brahmdeo Ram Tiwari and Senior Superintendent of Police Anant Deo Tiwari visited the hospital to take stock of their health and investigate the matter.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Lucknow, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said strict action will be initiated and a three-day campaign will be carried out against those manufacturing spurious liquor.

17 Jamaatis sent to jail after quarantine ends

Bahraich (UP), Apr 12 (IANS): Seventeen Jamaatis have been sent to jail after their quarantine period ended on Sunday. After the quarantine period ended, they were presented before the magistrate and then sent to jail.

They were found guilty of violating visa and passport norms and all of them belong to Indonesia and Thailand.

According to the government spokesman, the police had arrested 21 Jamaatis including 17 foreign nationals from the Taj and Kuraish mosques and all of them were quarantined on March 31. Their test samples showed that they were Corona negative. The FIRs was registered against them under relevant IPC sections including 269, 270, 271, 188, Epidemic Diseases Act (1897) 03, Passport Act (1967) Section 12(3). All were detained after police, after getting a tip-off regarding their presence in the mosque.

Mumbai, Apr 12 (PTI): Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday asked the Uddhav Thackeray-led state government to borrow money from the cash-rich Mumbai civic body and MMRDA to buy the equipment required in the fight against coronavirus.

Money should not be an excuse for delay in procurement of such items, he said speaking to a Marathi news channel.

“The Brihanmumbai Municipal Cor poration (BMC) and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) have bank deposits worth thousands of crores, which can be utilised for raising money during the ongoing fight against the coronavirus outbreak,” the senior BJP leader said.

The BMC is controlled

Devendra Fadnavis

by the Shiv Sena, which is headed by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Fadnavis said the state can utilise these funds for buying more testing kits, personal protective equipment (PPE- needed by health staff) and other necessary equipment.

“Once wheels of the economy start moving after some months, the borrowed money can be refunded. In any situation, money should not be an excuse for delay in

Srinagar, Apr 12 (IANS): Three civilians were killed on Sunday in shelling by Pakistani troops on the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K’s Kupwara district on Sunday.

“Two civilians died in Kupwara and one in Handwara,” SSP, Kupwara, Shriram Ambarkar told IANS. Sources said three people, including a woman and a baby, were killed when a mortar shell fired

by Pakistani troops exploded in civilian area of Kupwara district close to the LoC. The Pakistan Army had violated the ceasefire on the LoC in Kupwara district on Sunday morning after which the Indian positions retaliated effectively.

Reports said firing exchanges have now stopped in the area and district officials including police are evacuating residents living close to the LoC in these areas.

The area has been tense for the last few days as there was heavy exchange of gunfire and shelling at the LoC in Keran sector in Kupwara since Friday.

procurement of such items,” the leader of opposition in the state Assembly said.

On the state government’s approach to curb the spread of the viral disease, he said, “The containment zone (system) seems to be working out. It is an important stage before we enter the third phase of community transmission,” he said.

He said the State Reserve Police Force can be used more effectively to keep people indoors during the lockdown. “At times, the state will have to be strict and take some unpopular decisions, but such strictness is necessary in the larger interest of the society. We are with this government,” he said.

“One of the reasons why people are coming out of their houses is irregular supply of food grains and fear of shortage. “The state

needs to work out some plan and set up a chain to supply food grains by rotation to every area. This would ensure its smooth supply and social distancing will also be maintained,” he said. There are many states in the country, where such measures have been undertaken, he added.

The state government also needs to take strong action against the food grain hoarders, Fadnavis said.

He also said that the state needs to work on the recommendations of the exit policy chalked out by the Centre, where it could offer some relaxations in areas where no coronavirus cases have been reported.

“The Centre’s recommendations are self-explanatory, but the state being the implementing agency, the (Thackeray- led) government needs to take some steps,” he added.

New Delhi, Apr 12 (IANS): The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said, here on Sunday, more than 40 vaccines were under development but none had reached the next stage.

Speaking to the media, Manoj Murhekar of the ICMR said, “There are more than 40 candidate vaccines under development. But none of them has reached the next stage. India is also making efforts to develop a vaccine. But as of now, there is no vaccine.” He said there were 219 -- 151 government and 68 private -- Covid-19 testing facilities in the country. “Till 2.30 p.m. Sunday, 1,86,906 samples were tested.

Of them, 7,953 (4.3 per cent), tested positive. In the last five days, 15,747 samples per day were being tested. Of this, 584 samples were coming positive per day,” Murhekar said.

Moscow, Apr 12 (PTI): All the major military contracts, including the deliveries of S-400 air defence missile systems, between Russia and India will be on schedule and the coronavirus pandemic will have no effect on their timeframe, according to India’s top diplomat.

“I don’t think there will be any impact. There has been slight dislocation of a couple of weeks but all the major contracts will be on schedule, we don’t anticipate any problem on that,” Indian Ambassador to Russia Bala Venkatesh Varma was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency on Saturday.

In October 2018, India had signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding warning from the Trump administra-

Shivraj’s govt unconstitutional: Congress MP to president

Bhopal, Apr 12 (PTI): Congress Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha has written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, alleging that the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh government is “unconstitutional” as it is functioning without the council of ministers. If Chouhan is not in a position to constitute his council of ministers, “then a case of breakdown of constitutional machinery would be self-evident in the state, warranting the union to consider imposition of President’s Rule in the state,” he said. Tankha has urged the president to use his powers to ensure that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan immediately forms a council of ministers, including a health minister in view of the coronavirus crisis. Chouhan took oath as chief minister for a record fourth term on March 23 after the collapse of the Kamal Nath- led government in the state.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown in the entire country, he has been unable to constitute his council of ministers. “It is unconstitutional as there is only chief minister who is operating without a council of ministers during this exigent time of the coronavirus disease,” Tankha said in his letter to Kovind on Saturday.

The S-400 had previously only been available to the Russian defence forces.

tion that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions.

Last year, India made the first tranche of payment of around USD 800 million to Russia for the missile systems.

In February, Deputy Director of the Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC), Vladimir Drozhzhov, said that Moscow will begin the delivery of the S-400 surface-to-air mis-

sile systems to India by the end of 2021 and there will be no delay in execution of the project.

“We will fulfil our delivery commitments,” Drozhzhov had said, adding that the defence cooperation between the two countries is very robust.

The ‘Triumf ’ interceptor-based missile system can destroy incoming hostile aircraft, missiles and even drones at ranges of up to 400 km.

6

international

HCQ consignment from India arrives in US

Washington, Apr 12 (PTI): A consignment of hydroxychloroquine from India has arrived in the US, days after New Delhi lifted a ban on export of the anti-malarial drug, seen as a possible cure for COVID-19, to America and some other countries on humanitarian grounds.

Earlier this week, India at the request of President Donald Trump cleared the export of 35.82 lakh tablets of hydroxychloroquine to the US along with nine metric tons of active pharmaceutical ingredient or API required in the manufacturing of the drug.

“Supporting our partners in the fight against COVID-19. Consignment of hydroxychloroquine from India arrived at Newark airport today (Saturday),” India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu tweeted.

Trump, during a phone call last week, asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lift the hold on American order of the anti-malarial drug, of which India is the major producer. India, which manufactures 70 per cent of the world’s supply of hydroxychloroquine, lifted the ban on April 7.

Hydroxychloroquine has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 and

Trump has bought more than 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients. it is being tested on more than 1,500 coronavirus patients in New York.

Anticipating that it will work, given initial positive results, Trump has bought more than 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The arrival of consignment was welcomed by Americans. “US will never forget this great humanitarian gesture by India. Under President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two largest democracies of the world have come together than ever in the past,” said New York-based Al Mason, a real estate consultant and a Trump

supporter.

“A wonderful gesture

by India to its friends in need,” tweeted Dr Sampat Shivangi. Describing this as a “wonderful gesture”, Steve Filipovic, who works in the construction industry, thanked the Indian Ambassador.

Meanwhile, according to a new French study of 1,061 hospitalised COVID19 patients showed a 91.7 per cent cure (viral shedding) within 10 days of hydroxychloroquine treatment along with anti-biotic. It also reported a 96 per cent cure rate after 15 days.

Early this week, the National Institute of Health reported that a clinical trial

to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of adults hospitalised with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has begun, with the first participants now enrolled in Tennessee.

Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat malaria and rheumatoid conditions such as arthritis. In various studies, the drug has demonstrated antiviral activity, an ability to modify the activity of the immune system, and has an established safety profile at appropriate doses, leading to the hypothesis that it may also be useful in the treatment of COVID-19, NIH said.

The drug is not with-

out risks as even short-term use can cause cardiac arrythmias, seizures, dermatological reactions, and hypoglycemia, it added.

“Many US hospitals are currently using hydroxychloroquine as first-line therapy for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 despite extremely limited clinical data supporting its effectiveness,” said Wesley Self, emergency medicine physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and PETAL Clinical Trials Network investigator leading the ORCHID trial.

“Thus, data on hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19 are urgently needed to inform clinical practice,” he added.

According to NIH, participants will be randomly assigned to receive hydroxychloroquine 400 mg twice daily for two doses (day one), then 200 mg twice daily for the subsequent eight doses (days two to five) or a placebo twice daily for five days.

COVID-19 cases were first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.

As of Saturday, more than 16 lakh people globally tested positive and more than one lakh have died. The United States has emerged as the hotspot with 20,000 deaths and 5.3 lakh cases.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur monDAY, APRIL 13, 2020

US now has highest COVID-19 deaths, surpasses Italy

A homeless woman on a wheelchair holding a help sign in Chicago, Saturday. (PTI) Washington, April 12 (IANS): The US has surpassed Italy as the country with the highest number of coronavirus deaths in the world as the fatalities as of Sunday reached 20,604, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

As of Sunday morning, Italy has reported 19,648 coronavirus deaths, placing it in the second position after the US, the data published by the university’s enter for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed.

The US also accounts for the highest number of confirmed cases with 529,887. Spain, where the number of confirmed infections stands at 163,027, is a distant second, followed by Italy with 152,271 cases.

New York state, the epicentre of the pandemic

in the US, has recorded the most deaths in the country, 8,627, which is followed by New Jersey and Michigan with 2,183 and 1,276, respectively, the CSSE data showed. A total of 32,001 patients in the country have recovered, it added.

US President Donald Trump’s administration, which earlier estimated that the pandemic would cause anywhere from 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the US, revised its projection downward this week to 60,000, reports Efe news.

Members of the White House coronavirus task force credit the more optimistic forecast to the success of the stay-at-home orders issued by 42 of the 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, covering around 316 million people. Trump, who

has repeatedly decried the economic cost of closing schools and businesses to contain the virus, said late last month that he hoped to re-open the country by Easter Sunday.

During Friday’s news briefing by the task force, Trump sought to reassure Americans that he would guided by medical experts as well as by recommendations from the “Opening Our Country Council” he plans to install next week.

“I want to get it open as soon as possible. The facts are going to determine what I do,” the president said.

“I’m going to have to make a decision, and I only hope to God that it’s the right decision. But I would say, without question, it’s the biggest decision I’ve ever had to make,” Trump said.

B’desh independence leader Rahman’s killer executed UAE has offered to fly stranded Indians: Ambassador

Abdul Majed New Delhi, April 12 (IANS): Nearly 45 years after the assassination, killer of Bangladesh’s independence leader Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman has been executed on Saturday midnight, media reports said.

The execution of Captain Abdul Majed, con-

Crossword

Su doku

KAKURO

victed killer of Rahman and his family members, was carried out at Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj at 12.01 a.m. on Saturday.

He was kept in solitary confinement on death row in Dhaka Central Jail.

Majed’s petition for presidential clemency was rejected by President Abdul Hamid on Thursday.

The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit of the police arrested him on April 7 from Gabtoli in the wee

hours, after decades of remaining absconding.

The Bangladesh Supreme Court on November 19, 2009, upheld the death sentences of Majed and 11 other self-confessed killers of Rahman. Of them, five were executed on January 27, 2010.

Majed was also found guilty and sentenced for life in the jail killing case, involving the murder of former Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed and three other imprisoned Awami League leaders.

Abu Dhabi, April 12 (IANS): The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has offered to fly stranded Indians who wish to be repatriated if they test negative for COVID-19, the country’s Ambassador to India Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al Banna said.

Speaking to the Gulf News on Saturday, the envoy said the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC) had sent out a “note verbale” in this regard to the embassies of all the countries in the UAE during the past couple of weeks.

“We have sent the note verbale and all the embassies have been informed including the Indian embassy

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in the UAE and even the Ministry of External Affairs in India,” Al Banna said. According to him, the UAE has offered to test those who want to be evacuated. The envoy told the Gulf News that those who test positive for COVID-19 will however, remain in the UAE. “They will be treated in our home facilities.”

Speaking on the same issue, Indian Ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor also told the Gulf News on Saturday that India was trying to protect the health of its overseas citizens and their families by not evacuating them during the lockdown. “At this stage, we feel that it is best for them (Indians wishing to return home) to

stay where they are (since) there is a complete lockdown in India,” he told the newspaper in an exclusive interview over phone.

“It is totally wrong to say that we are abandoning our citizens. Once the lockdown in India is lifted, we will certainly help them get back to their home towns and their families,” he said. The envoy said the Indian missions in the UAE were awaiting instructions from their government on when the travel restrictions can be lifted.

“Once we open it (passenger flight service), it (repatriation) has to be done in a phased manner. At this stage we can’t even think of opening it,” he told Gulf News.

Sri Lanka marks quiet Easter a year after deadly bombings

People largely stayed indoors and offered prayers from home with the Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, leading an Easter mass from a TV studio.

Colombo, April 12 (IANS): Sri Lanka celebrated a quiet Easter Sunday amid the coronavirus lockdown, while remembering the victims of the terror attacks that killed at least 270 people on the resurrection day last year.

People largely stayed indoors and offered prayers from home with the Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, leading an Easter mass from a TV studio because of the pandemic, reports Efe news.

During his service aired on national TV, Cardinal Ranjith remembered last year’s Easter when suicide bombers hit three churches and three luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, leaving a trail of death and destruction on one of the most important Christian festivals.

The Archbishop said the Catholics had forgiven these “misled youths (who) attacked our lives” that

killed Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims.

“But as Catholics what did we do? We remembered Jesus Christ’s message and we should love our enemies, we forgave and showed compassion. We asked them not to do the same again,” Cardinal Ranjith said.

Sri Lanka witnessed carnage last year on April 21, when eight suicide bombers rattled the island’s minority Christian community, which makes up for nearly 7.5 per cent of the country’s total population of 21.4 million.

The attacks wounded over 500 and deepened communal tensions in Sri Lanka.

The bombings, carried out by local Islamist extremists with suspected foreign ties, was claimed by the Islamic State.

Police said that they have killed or arrested all suspects in various counterterror operations carried out in the days after the

mayhem. The Archbishop’s House in Sri Lanka plans commemoration of those who died in the attacks on April 21.

“We planned weeklong events to commemorate the Easter Sunday attacks. But because of the health situation, we have canceled most of it but the main event will be held,” Fr. Jude Chrysantha Fernando said.

Cardinal Ranjith during his televised mass urged everyone to act responsibly and not to violate restriction orders put in place to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus infection.

Sri Lanka police have so far arrested nearly 20,000 violators and seized over 5,000 vehicles since the government imposed the prohibitory orders on March 19.

The island nation has 199 confirmed COVID-19 cases so far, with seven deaths.

NORTHEAST

NAGALAND POST, DIMAPUR MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2020

People in M’laya pray for COVID-19 pandemic to end Correspondent

SHILLONG, APR 12: Christians in Meghalaya celebrated Easter Sunday under COVID-19 lockdown with Church pews empty as priests and pastors went on live stream, marking the resurrection day of Lord Jesus Christ. Thousands of Christian’s faithful prayed for people suffering and dying from the contagious COVID-19 across the world.

They also offered prayers for the doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and administrations of hospitals around the world that God keep them safe in carrying out their services to ailing people. In ordinary times, the church is usually packed with Christian’s faithful to mark Easter Sunday.

N o n e t h e l e s s, t h e Christians community celebrated Easter Sunday with prayers as they quarantined themselves in their homes to battle out against the

Conrad Sangma (File)

COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is a different Easter Sunday as a whole. We are celebrating Easter with prayers for people suffering and dying from the deadly virus,” Julia Sohkhlet, a frequent churchgoer, said.

Clerics of the Roman Catholic Church held a closed-door Easter vigil Mass and Easter Sunday in their private chapels and broadcasted the prayers live via social media to parishioners. Other Christian denominations like the Presbyterian Church and the Baptist Church also

streamlined the Resurrection Day service through social media.

“Pascal commemoration with candlelight processions was held in many private chapels marking that Lord Jesus Christ has risen from death. However, there were no baptisms of newborns in our Easter celebration as we are continuing to celebrate our religious ceremonies under very difficult circumstances across the world,” Diocesan Administrator of the Shillong Catholic Archdiocese, Fr. John Madur, said.

Madur urged people across the state to continue to pray in order to help bring the epidemic to an end.

There have been no cong regations or mass prayers in view of the appeals made by the churches as the State restricted assembly of people as pre-emptive measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the State.

Create ‘Support Cell’, to assist North East people : Bezbaruah

IOC begins night shift in 2 Assam bottling plants government has decided to provide three 14.2-kg cylinders free of cost during April, May and June to the poor.

“However, we have the capacity to handle this additional load,” the official said. With restaurants and eateries closed due to the lockdown, people are cooking and eating at home, substantially increasing the demand of domestic cylinders, though the demand in the commercial segment has gone down drastically, the official said.

Meanwhile, the company in a statement announced that it has ramped up bottling capacity in the northeastern region by starting night shift in two major LPG bottling plants in north Guwahati and Silchar.

“A third shift from 10 pm to 6 am has been introduced in two high capacity plants at north Guwahati and Silchar to further increase the availability of cooking LPG cylinders,”IOC chief general manager (IndianOilAOD) G Ramesh said.

people, IRCTC provided nearly 11000 free meals till yesterday and other agencies provided about 38000 free meals to needy people in NFR area, which were distributed by RPF by maintaining social distancing.

On Saturday, IRCTC in NFR provided 1295 meals to needy people which were distributed by RPF in Katihar, Rangiya & Lumding divisions. Various other organizations / NGOs also provided meals to more than 2750 persons at places like

New Jalpaiguri, Siliguri, Samsi, Manihari, Alipurduar, New Coochbehar, New Bongaigaon, Azara, Changsari, Kamakhya, Guwahati, New Guwahati, Silchar, New Tinsukia and Dibrugarh station..

NFR stated that social distancing and hygiene is being strictly observed to minimise the chance COVID-19 contamination during delivery of meals. NFR stated Indian Railways more distributed than 12, 30,000 free meals till yesterday.

COVID-19: Assam all-party meet offers gratitude to frontline personnel

Mizoram to start virtual classes on television

Correspondent

COVID-19: Assam disinfects cemetery

GUWAHATI, APR 12 (PTI): The Assam government on Sunday decided to go with any decision to be taken by the Centre on extension of the 21-day lockdown, imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.

Following meeting of the Council of Ministers during which the decision was taken, Assam Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said there was no shortage of food items and enough stock was available in the state. “We discussed some other issues also related to the situation regarding the coronavirus outbreak. We are capable of handling any situation,” he added.

A release from the Chief Minister’s Office stated, “The state government will not take any decision of its own. The Assam government will proceed as per the rules and regulations by the Centre.” The nationwide lockdown is set to be extended at least till April 30 after a broad “consensus” on it emerged on Saturday during a meeting of chief ministers with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who stressed on “jaan bhi, jahaan bhi”, indicating that restrictions may be tweaked as it was important to save livelihoods along with lives.

SHILLONG, APR 12: Former Union Tourism Secretary M.P. Bezbaruah has asked the central government to create a “Support Cell” and a “Helpline number” to assist North East people in distress located in different parts of the country.

Following the spurt of racial attacks and discriminations on Northeasterners in different metropolitan cities, Bezbaruah dashed of two separate letters to Secretary for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr. Inder Jit Singh and Secretary North Eastern Council (NEC), Moses Challai seeking their intervention.

“In my letters, I have suggested NEC can create a support Cell and create a Helpline number which people in distress can access. This Cell should be directly linked to North East Cell of Delhi police and in other Cities,” he said.

The Cell should collate all information received from NE people and identify the problems.

“Such information should be shared with government agencies/ NGOs/ NE organizations/ State Bhawans who are providing/can provide, assis-

HAILAKANDI (ASSAM), APR 12 (PTI): The Assam government has sanitised a cemetery in Hailakandi district where the only person to die of novel coronavirus infection in the state so far was buried, an official release said.

The Fire and Emergency Services along with the Public Health Engineering Department had on Saturday also disinfected the roads that lead to the burial ground located around 10 km from Hailakandi town, it said.

“The burial ground and roads leading to it were disinfected. The public need not worry at all,” Deputy Commissioner Keethi Jalli said.

The ambulance in which the body was taken from Silchar Medical College and Hospital was also sanitised, the release said.

A 65-year-old former BSF personnel, who had travelled to Saudi Arabia and also attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi, died of novel coronavirus infection on April 10.

The locality in which he lived -- Borjurai on the outskirts of Hailakandi town -- has been sealed and declared a containment zone, it said.

tance. NEC could monitor action taken,” Bezbaruah’s letter reads.

The former IAS officer from Assam-Meghalaya said that many people are not aware of various assistance provided by governments. Therefore, he said the Cell should circulate relevant information among NE organizations in various places of the country.

“If possible NEC should get approval for some emergency fund for providing relief where necessary through NGOs now working on their own, under proper modalities to be framed by NEC,” Bezbaruah said.

Bezbaruah, who chaired the governmentconstituted committee, had in 2015 recommended the central government to apply full force of the law into incidents of racial profiling and abuse.

NE’s first COVID-29 patient discharged Correspondent

IMPHAL, APR 12: Days after she was declared cured, the 23-year-old girl who was the first COVID-19 patient not only in Manipur but in the entire Northeast was on Sunday discharged from the hospital.

The patient who hails from Imphal’s Thangmeiband was discharged from JNIMS hospital where she was treated after a meeting of JNIMS COVID Treatment Core Committee with IDSP (Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme) team of the state government today. “The first COVID-19 case of the state is now fully cured and discharged today from JNIMS hospital,” COVID-19 Common Control Room of Manipur government said, in a release. Upon discharge, she has advised to put herself under home quarantine for the next 14 days.

Her family members, especially her father was counselled by a team led the state surveillance officer and the guidelines for home quarantine were also K Y M C

handed over to them, the release added.

The girl was dropped to her home at Thangmeiband by an ambulance this afternoon. She had recently returned from United Kingdom (UK) where she studies via Delhi, Kolkata via Agartala on March 21. She tested positive for the disease on March 24 last.

State medical directorate as well as JNIMS authority declared her completely recovered from the disease on April 6 after her latest test result turned out to be negative. Acknowledging the priceless service of the JNIMS hospital in general, medical team in particular in the treatment of the first COVID-19 patient, the state government had announced a reward of Rs 35 lakh to the medical team.

Including the recovered patient, Manipur has only two COVID-19 confirmed cases so far. The second patient, a 65-year-old man, who has history of attending a religious congregation in Delhi, is undergoing treatment at RIMS hospital.

Last Friday, RIMS au-

thority had informed that the health condition of the second COVID-19 patient was improving and stable.

The authority had stated that he was admitted to the hospital as diabetes patient but tested positive for the virus after he was subjected to test when he developed symptoms of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the swab samples of the 19 persons, close contacts of a person from Moreh who was diagnosed and treated for COVID-19 at Bengaluru were tested at the VRDL, RIMS tested negative today, Common Control Room informed in a release.

Mention may be made that the persons who left the state (Manipur) on March 12 last was tested at Bengaluru on April 8 last and is currently treated at a hospital of the city.

On the other hand, status update of the state medical directorate on COVID19 stated that 212 out of 316 have completed their quarantine period today.

Out of 486 as 434 of them have completed their quarantine period.

NFR provides more than 48000 free meals during lockdown

GUWAHATI, APR 12 (PTI): Expecting a 70 per cent hike in LPG demand in Assam in April due to the government’s policy to give three free cylinders to PMUY beneficiaries over a three- month period, Indian Oil Corp on Sunday said it has introduced night shift in two of its major bottling plants to “handle the additional load”.

The free cooking gas cylinders was part of the package announced by the finance minister to deal with the economic impact of the lockdown imposed to curb spread of coronavirus.

While the rise in demand has been estimated at 57 per cent across the country for the current month compared to March, it is pegged at 70 per cent for Assam and 45 per cent for the northeastern region, a senior official at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas told PTI. Priority is being given to LPG customers under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) since the

Assam to support lockdown extension decision

M.P. Bezbaruah (File)

7

SHILLONG, APR 12: Wine shops will remain open in Meghalaya from Monday to Friday from morning 9 am to 4 pm on permitted days, an Excise official said on Sunday.

“Home delivery of liquor would be allowed in the areas without wine shops for which modalities could be worked by the respective Deputy Commissioners,” Excise Commissioner, Pravin Bakshi said.

In his order, the wine shops/ delivery partners who are interested to undertake home delivery of liquor must register themselves with the respective DCs and get the approval. Moreover, the order stated that the wine shops would be made personally responsible by deploying their staff to ensure maintaining social distancing. It stated that only one person per household will be allowed to visit wine shops for the purchase and movement from one locality to another shall be prohibited.

MALIGAON, APR 12: As part of the all-out effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, NFR is continuing provision of free meals to the poorer section of the society in addition to supplement the health care initiatives of Government of India by in-house production of Masks and Hand Sanitizer.

A press release by NFR chief public relations officer Subhanan Chanda stated that as part of the mission to help the needy

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal wearing a protective mask arrives to attend a special meeting on COVID-19 lockdown, in Guwahati, Sunday. (PTI)

GUWAHATI, APR 12 (PTI): An all-party meeting called by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday decided to proceed unitedly to tackle the challenges posed by COVID-19 and offer gratitude to the frontline personnel in this battle, including the health workers and police.

Apart from the BJP and its ruling alliance AGP and BPF, all major opposition parties such as the Congress, AIUDF and CPI(M) participated in the meeting and put forward suggestions in combatting the coronavirus outbreak.

Wine shops to open; home delivery in M’laya Correspondent

Meals distributed to the poor.

“Hosted an all-party meeting in Guwahati and discussed our united fight against #COVID19. I thanked them for their participation and valuable suggestions. We are all together in this fight. #TogetherWeCan,” Sonowal said in a tweet after the meeting.

Talking about the outcome of the discussion in another tweet, he said, “I am glad to share that leaders of all the political parties have taken a joint resolution to thank frontline health workers, security forces and all those who are leading our fight against #COVID19.

“In this hour of crisis, we are together as #TeamAssam, serving the people.” Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed the gathering about the state’s preparedness and steps taken to prevent the outbreak of the disease.

“At an all-party meeting convened by HCM @ sarbanandsonwal a collective decision was taken to extend our heartfelt gratefulness to frontline health workers, police, and all support staff who have displayed exemplary dedication in our battle against #Covid_19. We remain indebted,” he said in a tweet.

AIZAWL, APR 12 (PTI): In a move to reduce the inconvenience of students due to the lockdown, the Mizoram government has decided to introduce virtual classes on television from Monday.

The school education department has decided to give lessons to students via television, an official release said here on Saturday.

The lessons will be telecast daily from Monday to Saturday on Doordarshan Kendra Aizawl, the release said. The first daily halfhour lessons will begin from Monday at 3.05 pm for class 10 students on science and mathematics subjects, it said.

Televised classes will be held for students of other standards also, it said. Notably, the state government had on March 17 closed all educational institutions as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the state.

Meanwhile, the school education department has asked the students concerned to attend the televised classes from their homes along with notebooks and pens.

The department also urged the students to give priority to the televised classes as the lockdown may be extended due to the spike in novel coronavirus case in the country.

2ND DEATH ANNIVERSARY

of our beloved Late Moasenla Yimchunger Gone home on 13th April 2018

Dearest Moasen, You said “Thank you Jesus if this is what carrying the cross means, to bring glory to your kingdom” and you left behind beautiful Godly testimonies.

Your place in our hearts can never be replaced by anyone or anything; yet we rejoice and not grief today in the assurance that you are in the loving arms of our Father. We are joyful that one day we will all meet never to part again. Until then, we love you and miss you.

J e s u s s a i d t o h e r, “ I a m t h e resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believe in Me shall never die.” John 11:25-26

DP-2240

Love you forever, Parents, siblings and family members K Y M C

8

sports

Messi embarrassed me in CL final: Rio

Lionel Messi

L o n d o n, A p r 1 2 (Agencies): Rio Ferdinand has admitted he felt embarrassed after Manchester United lost the 2011 Champions League final to Barcelona.

Goals from Pedro, Lionel Messi and David Villa saw Pep Guardiola’s side run out 3-1 winners at Wembley, with United striking through Wayne Rooney.

Barca’s side that season is widely considered to be one of the best ever,

Rio Ferdinand

with the midfield trio of Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andres Iniesta arguably at their peak.

Ferdinand and United had faced Barca in the final two years previous and lost – and the defender knew all about Messi after his stunning header in that game.

“Messi was a killer,” Ferdinand told Copa90.

“Ronaldinho was unreal, the free-flowing magician. But with Messi, he’d do all of that but there was always a goal or an assist at

the end of it.”

Ferdinand revealed a conversation with United icons Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes following the 2011 showpiece, after Barca had dominated the game throughout to claim their second European title in three years.

“Barca gave us an absolute lesson at Wembley,” Ferdinand added.

“I was standing there watching them lift the trophy and me, Giggsy and Scholesy were standing to-

Can’t wait to get back to playing: Pogba

Paul Pogba

Manchester, Apr 12 (IANS): Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba missed most of the 2019/20 season due to injury and said that he is raring to go now that he is all but fully fit. “I’m already training and touching the ball,” Pogba told the club’s podcast.

Pogba said that he misses the matchday routine. “I don’t even know how it feels like any more. I can’t wait to have this feeling again,” he said.

“I’ve been frustrated, a long time ago. Now I’m almost there, so I’m just thinking about getting back

and training fully with the team and everything.”

Pogba admitted that he has never faced such a prolonged time on the sidelines in his career. “You think bad but I’ve never had something like this in my career, so I always take it in a good way. It makes me more hungry to come back and do well. And, yeah, it just shows me as well how much I love football,” he said.

“So I had a foot injury, which came in the game against Southampton. It was early this season and so I carried this for a long time, training and trying to be playing with it. After I stopped, I found I had a fracture. I had a cast on it, a plaster-cast, so it went very well but too well. The bone got bigger and so, when I came back again, I played those two games against Watford and Newcastle, I could feel something again.

So I had to have an operation and now here I am.”

gether with our hands over our mouths and I said: ‘I feel embarrassed lads’.

“He [Messi] took liberties.”

Ferguson, who won the Champions League in 1998-99 and 2007-08, was left with no doubts as to which side was the superior.

“They’re the best in Europe, no question about that,” he said at the time.

“In my time as a manager, I would say they’re the best team we’ve faced.

Everyone acknowledges that and I accept that. It’s not easy when you’ve been well beaten like that to think another way. No one has given us a hiding like that.”

“But how long it lasts, whether they can replace that team at some point... they certainly have the right philosophy, but it’s always difficult to find players like Xavi, Iniesta and Messi all the time.”

United’s team at the time were still one of the dominant forces in European football, with 2011 marking their third Champions League final in the space of four seasons.

As it stands, it was also their last appearance in the final – though Barcelona have only reached one in the same time period, when they beat Juventus 3-1 in 2014-15.

Sao Paulo eyeing Cavani move Rio de Janeiro, Apr 12 (IANS): Sao Paulo could make a formal bid to secure Paris Saint-Germain’s Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani in the European summer transfer window.

Cavani’s former Uruguay teammate, Diego Lugano, who is now a Sao Paulo director, refuted speculation that Argentinian giants Boca Juniors are frontrunners to sign the 33-year-old, who will be out of contract in July, Xinhua news reports.

“I think, before he goes to Boca, he will join me at Sao Paulo,” Lugano told reporters. “I’ve been saying it for a long time. It’s nothing new.”

Cavani has also reportedly attracted the interest of Brazilian clubs Flamengo, Internacional and Palmeiras.

Sao Paulo’s squad includes veteran right-back Dani Alves, who played with Cavani at Paris Saint-Germain.

BCCI awaits govt’s decision before taking a call on IPL New Delhi, Apr 12 (Agencies): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will wait for the government’s decision regarding the ongoing coronavirus crisis before taking a call on the Indian Premier League (IPL). “As of now IPL is postponed till April 15, we will wait for government decision and take a call accordingly,” a BCCI source told ANI. IPL was scheduled to commence on March 29, however, the threat of coronavirus forced the postponement of the league until April 15. On Thursday, Odisha became the first state to extend the lockdown till April 30. After that, several states such as Punjab, Telangana and Maharashtra extended the lockdown to combat COVID-19.

When asked about the chances of the IPL amid several states extending its lockdown, the source said: “As of now, I cannot comment on it. In the coming few days, we might talk to franchises again but as of now, no decision has been made. We are closely monitoring the situation.”

With 34 deaths and 909 new positive COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the total number of coronavirus cases in India on Sunday climbed to 8356.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

the IPL, there was a possibility of him playing the T20 World Cup in OctoberNovember.

Akhtar believes Dhoni is now in a limbo but deserves a grand send-off despite the anti-climactic turn of events.

“As a country, you should let him go with a lot of respect and dignity.

Give him a nice send off.

He has won you the World Cup and done wonders for India. He is a wonderful human being at the

same time. But right now, he seems to be stuck,” he said.

Akhtar said Dhoni should have ideally retired after last year’s 50-over World Cup. “When he could not finish the game in the semifinal (against New Zealand). I felt he should have retired but he can only answer why he didn’t,” he said. “ H e s h o u l d h ave played a farewell series after the World Cup may be

and then said goodbye in a manner befitting his great stature.”

Talking about the Indian team’s inability to win a global event since the 2013 Champions Trophy, Akhtar said Virat Kohli’s team needs match-winners in the middle-order.

“Winning tour naments is one thing but staying at top is another.

India is still the top-ranked Test team and is almost among the top teams in the limited-overs format. So, we should not base their performance only on their showing in ICC events. “ O f c o u r s e, t h e y should win ICC events and they have to. This team, when the top four score, they win more often than not. But if they don’t, then it is an issue. Another thing I noticed is that you need a match-winner like Yuvraj (Singh) or Dhoni in the middle-order,” he explained.

“When we toured India in 1998, we always thought we would run through India after getting the top order. There was no match winner until Yuvraj came in, followed

by Dhoni.

“Then you started seeing change in results. Right

IPL can be held without crowd, T20 World Cup can’t: Maxwell

Glenn Maxwell

Melbourne, Apr 12 (PTI): Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell believes a rescheduled IPL can be held behind closed doors but it will be difficult to justify conducting the upcoming T20 World Cup without fans cheering from the stands.

Both the 13th IPL and T20 World Cup are uncertain at the moment with the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than one lakh people globally.

One of the options for BCCI is to host the IPL in the October-November window if the ICC decides to postpone the T20 World Cup (October 18-November 15).

There has also been talks of conducting the tournaments behind closed doors.

One of the stalwarts of T20 cricket, Maxwell feels if crowds weren’t possible for either of the two events, the IPL would be a better option to go ahead. “... it’s going to be hard for us to have crowds. I think if IPL goes ahead they can probably survive without any crowds, but I can’t see the T20 World Cup surviving without any people there,” Maxwell told ABC Grandstand.

“It’s going to be hard for us to justify having a World Cup when we can’t get people into the grounds.

So I can’t see it happening in the near future. We’ve got to take care of everyone’s health and wellbeing.”

IPL, which was deferred till April 14, is headed towards an indefinite postponement as India braced for a lockdown extension to contain the rapidly-spreading coronavirus.

The T20 World Cup, on the other hand, is scheduled to be held Down Under in October-November but it all depends on how the coronavirus is contained by Australia and other nations.

The deadly disease has brought all sports activities, including cricket, to a halt across the globe.

RR, SRH to engage in online game battle

Hyderabad, Apr 12 (IANS): In an ideal world, Australian stars Steve Smith and David Warner would have led Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game on this day, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, all activities have come to a grinding halt.

The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly has admitted that the chances of the 2020 season of the IPL starting any time soon is bleak.

With the number of coronavirus infections and deaths continuing to rise, a number of states around the country have extended the lockdown which was initially supposed to end on April 15 -- the same date that IPL 2020 was postponed after the BCCI deemed that it would not be possible to start on March 29.

But to keep the heat

Dhoni should have retired after 2019 WC: Akhtar

New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI): Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar says he cannot fathom why Mahendra Singh Dhoni has “dragged it for so long” as the right time for the maverick ex-India skipper to call it quits was after last year’s ODI World Cup. Akhtar said he hopes the 38-year-old Dhoni gets a resounding farewell despite his resolute silence on what the future holds.

“This guy has served to the best of his ability. He should leave cricket with dignity. I don’t know why he dragged it for so long.

He should have retired after the World Cup,” Akhtar told PTI from Islamabad.

“If I would have been in his place, I would have hung up my boots. I could have played shorter formats for three-four years but I left (after the 2011 WC) as I wasn’t into the game 100 per cent. So why drag?” he asked.

Dhoni, who has not played a competitive game since the World Cup semifinal in July, was preparing to make a much-anticipated comeback with the IPL, which is now unlikely to take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

If he had done well in

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2020

now, the problem is lack of finishers,” opined the 44year-old.

Akhtar doesn’t see any cricket happening for the next six to eight months as coronavirus continues to wreak havoc around the world.

But if India’s tour of Australia takes place, Akhtar sees all four Tests going down the wire.

India had won their first ever Test series in Australia early last year. But this time, Australia will be a different kettle of fish in the presence of Steve Smith and David Warner, who were serving balltampering bans when India toured last.

“Despite the loss in New Zealand, I think India is a very, very good team and can give a tough time to Australia. But again, India have to prove that like they did the last time.

“However, I don’t see that series happening. My assessment is there won’t be any cricket for next one year. The T20 World Cup is not going to happen.

“We are dealing with a pandemic at the moment. Any industry, which requires crowd gathering, is going to suffer,” Akhtar added.

on, both franchises have decided to take on one another in a game of Battleship 4pm, when ideally the T20 match would have also kicked off here.

“MATCHDAY! We take on @SunRisers today in a game of Battleship!

Ship Crossed swords. Everyone will have the best seat in the house for this one,” Royals said in a tweet.”

“Today would’ve been #SRHvRR under normal circumstances! Instead of cricket, we’re bringing a game of #Battleship on Twitter to keep you all entertained today!” said Sunrisers on their Twitter

handle.

The world has come to a standstill due to the coronavirus outbreak and sporting events across the globe have either been cancelled or suspended. Those in position of strength have come together to help the needy in these trying times and Sunrisers were the latest to have donated in the fight against COVID-19 and that saw skipper Warner praise the outfit.

Taking to Twitter, Warner wrote: “Sun TV Group (SunRisers Hyderabad) is donating Rs 10 crore towards Covid-19 relief measures”.

Rogers Cup women’s event postponed to 2021

Nothing is in favour of any kind of sport: Ganguly

Montreal, Apr 12 (IANS): The women’s section of the Rogers Cup has been postponed to 2021, Tennis Canada and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has said. The event was scheduled to be held in Montreal from August 7-16 but had been under jeopardy since Quebec Province requested all sporting and cultural events be until August 31 be cancelled.

“As a result of the measures imposed by the Quebec government prohibiting holding events until August 31, 2020, the Coupe Rogers in Montreal will postpone their event to 2021,” the WTA said in its statement on Saturday.

“As it currently stands, the WTA Tour is suspended through July 12. We will continue to work with our tournament partners in evaluating when we will be able to get back on the court. We do not foresee any further decisions until next month.

“The tournament which was scheduled to take place from August 7 to 16, 2020 is now postponed to August 6 to 15, 2021,” said the tournament in its statement.

Warner’s teammate Steve Smith on Tuesday said that he was hoping that the IPL is played out at some stage this year rather than getting cancelled due to the pandemic.

“Plenty going on in the world at present, but hopefully we can get an IPL at some stage. The two seasons that I captained the Royals were both half seasons, Shane Watson gave me the captaincy in 2015 and then last year out of the blue I took over at the back end of the season. Looking at having a crack at it full time and the Royals have a pretty good squad,” he had said.

Sourav Ganguly

New Delhi, Apr 12 (IANS): The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly admitted that the chances of the 2020 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting any time soon is bleak.

Ganguly said that he will be able to give a concrete update on whether the IPL will be further deferred after speaking to BCCI office-bearers. “But practically speaking, when life has come to a standstill everywhere in the world, where does sport have a future in this,” he told the New Indian Express.

“We keep monitoring developments. At the present moment, we can’t say anything. And what is there to say anyway? Airports are shut, people are

stuck at home, offices are locked down, nobody can go anywhere. And it seems this is how it’s going to be till the middle of May,” said Ganguly.

“Where will you get players from, where do players travel. It’s just simple common sense that at the moment, nothing is in favour of any kind of sport anywhere in the world, forget IPL.” With the number of coronavirus infections and deaths continuing to rise, a number of states around the country have extended the lockdown which was initially supposed to end on April 15 -- the same date that IPL 2020 was postponed after the BCCI deemed that it would not be possible to start on March 29.

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