Mumbai Mirror 26042020

MUMBAI, SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2020 MUMBAIMIRROR.com

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THE SUNDAY READ

THE SOUND AND FURY OF SILENCE

HOW COVID-19 WILL CHANGE THE WORKPLACE

Anti-noise pollution activist Sumaira Abdulali on what the trill of birdsong replacing the noise of traffic says about our degradation of the environment

The lockdown has forced companies around the world to adapt to new ways of working and doing business, which experts believe will become the new normal

PAGES 11-12

PAGES 8-9

A question not being asked in the city’s Covid-19 battle

How often would you wash your hands if your family got only 60 litres water a day?

FROM TOMORROW

350 CLINICS IN DHARAVI TO REOPEN FOR COVID SCREENING

Members of Mahim Dharavi Medical Practitioners Association agree to reopen clinics for huge exercise that will replace door-to-door checks; BMC to provide gear

If every member of a family of six in these slums were to wash their hands five times a day, they would use up 15 litres or 25 per cent of their daily supply | Alka Dhupkar alaka.dhupkar@timesgroup.com TWEETS @alka_MIRROR

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hile voices on our phones, televisions, and radios don’t tire of telling us to wash our hands frequently, reminding us how important that simple act is in this battle against Covid-19, a simple fact of Mumbai life seems to have escaped all our experts and planners – lakhs of Mumbaikars don’t have access to enough water to do that.

According to a survey carried out

by Pani Haq Samiti, an NGO involved in fighting for water rights of underprivileged, there are at least 5 lakh slum-dwellers in Mumbai spread across 60 slum pockets who get less than 60 litres of water per family per day. To put things in perspective – as per the BMC’s 2017 policy, the municipal corporation is duty bound to provide a minimum of 150 litres of water per day, per CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 person.

| Chaitanya.Marpakwar @timesgroup.com TWEETS @chaitanya_pm

A The longer we deny water to people, the weaker we become in the fight against coronavirus.

A water queue at an Andheri-west slum

INSIDE » IN MMR TODAY

NEW CASES 287 DEATHS

–Sitaram Shelar, convener, Pani Haq Samiti

12 PAGES 2-7

round 350 doctors’ clinics in Dharavi that have been shut since the lockdown began will reopen as Covid-19 screening centres from Monday. At a time when general practitioners across the city have shut down their clinics out of fear of becoming infected, members of the Mahim Dharavi Medical Practitioners Association (MDMPA) met with BMC officials on Friday and agreed not only to reopen their clinics but also serve on the frontlines of the pandemic in Dharavi, one of the city’s most challenging hotspots.

Once the clinics reopen, the BMC plans to use them to conduct a mass screening exercise to determine how far the virus may have spread. BMC officials told Mirror that the civic body would provide all the required CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

City

State yet to take a call on MHA order

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he Maharashtra government is yet to decide whether shops will be allowed to remain open in view of the amended guidelines issued by the Central government.

An official said that the order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday night was under an “active consideration” of the state government.

The MHA order stated that “all shops, including neighbourhood shops and standalone shops, shops in residential complexes, within the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities, registered under the Shops and Establishment Act of the respective State and UT will be allowed to open during the lockdown”.

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Door-to-door screening takes a hit

Pvt docs a no-show at city’s 2nd biggest Covid-19 hotspot Four doctors volunteered to aid the BMC in E Ward which has 400 cases; IMA says two live far away, while two have joined BMC hospitals | Chaitanya.Marpakwar @timesgroup.com TWEETS @chaiMIRROR

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esidents of E Ward, the second biggest hotspot in the city with almost 400 cases, are at an added risk with door-to-door screening adversely affected after volunteer doctors either refused to report on duty or quit within a day. The ward covers high-density areas like Byculla Nagpada, Agripada and Madanpura.

Four doctors affiliated to Considering how vulnerable senior the Indian Medical citizens are to Covid-19 especially Association (IMA) were those with comorbidities like diabetes, supposed to join an overhypertension, asthma and heart disease, the burdened team of civic BMC will undertake a door-to-door survey doctors working roundin slum pockets. Those found at high-risk will the-clock in the area. be instructed to take medications regularly.

“The volunteer doc“The team will also check their oxygen tors were assigned doorsaturation with a pulse oximeter on the to-door screening of resispot, and if found low such citizens will dents in Byculla along with be referred to non-Covid hospitals a BMC team. Since the BMC with a referral note for further is short-staffed and there is an treatment,” an official urgent need to screen thousands said. of people, the IMA doctors were needed. But the BMC said they never turned up,” said Samajwadi showed up. When contacted, the Party MLA Rais Shaikh who is a corIMA clarified that two of the doctors porator from Madanpura. had been absorbed as Resident Officials said that of the four, two Medical Officers (RMO) in BMC hoscame to work for a day and then

SENIOR CITIZENS TO BE SURVEYED

The ministry also said shops located in registered markets located outside the municipal corporations and municipalities can open after following the drill of social distancing and wearing of masks but with 50 per cent of strength.

However, single and multibrands shall continue to remain closed in these areas also. And later Spokesperson Punya Salila Srivastava clarified that liquor shops, hair salons, and shops in markets/market complexes and shopping malls will not be allowed to open during the lockdown.

In the guidelines issued on April 17, the Maharashtra government allowed resumption of industrial activities, especially in the manufacturing sector in the non-containment zones.

However, this relaxation was withdrawn on April 21 for Mumbai and Pune regions, which have reported the maximum number of COVID-19 cases in the state.

The state government later allowed pre-monsoon and works related to Metro trains in these regions.

In an order issued earlier this week, the state government allowed shops selling electric fans to remain open.

It also allowed services of bedside attendants and care givers for senior citizens.

Similarly, food processing mills such as bread factories, milk processing plants, flour mills etc. were allowed to start operations on conditions of restricted staff and adherence to the lockdown norms.

—PTI

30% of Covid-19 cases in the city are from Worli, Byculla and Kurla

pitals, while the other two lived in Bandra West and couldn’t travel to Byculla during lockdown.

Thirty per cent of Covid-19 cases in the city are from three civic wards with Worli, Byculla and Kurla as hotspots. These three wards – G-South, E and L, had 1,267 of the 4,232 positive cases recorded in the city till Thursday. Cases in E ward, which includes Byculla and Mumbai Central, had risen to 421 cases, which was 53 more than a day before.

Prashant Gaikwad, Assistant Municipal Commissioner said they were now doing the screening with the help of trainee doctors from

BMC’s medical colleges.

Even then, the BMC’s in-house doctors were struggling to manage both contact tracing and door-todoor screening – both herculean tasks and both necessary for early detection and containing the spread of the virus, an official said.

Dr Shivkumar Utture, president of Maharashtra Medical Council who is coordinating the pooling of doctors with the BMC, clarified, “It’s not that IMA volunteers are not helping the BMC. We carried out screening of over 40,000 residents in Dharavi. Now, we will also look for doctors who live around Byculla to volunteer in E Ward.”

TWO BOOKED OVER WHATSAPP RUMOURS ABOUT CORPORATOR The two men claimed that the Shiv Sena leader was suffering from Covid-19 | Vinay.Dalvi @timesgroup.com TWEETS @VinayMIRROR

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olice in Khadakpada, Kalyan, have registered a case against t wo people for spreading WhatsApp rumours about the health of a corporator. The duo have been booked under the IT Act, the Disaster Management Act as well as the Indian Penal Code.

Rajendra Deolekar, a former mayor of Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), is currently a

Shiv Sena corporator from Milind Nagar and Gholap Nagar in Kalyan (West).

Deolekar told the police that the two – one Gajanan Patil and one Sunil Uttekar – were spreading rumours about him, claiming he was suffering from Covid-19. They allegedly sent news cuttings showing him in bad

light.

The corporator said he learned about the messages from friends who were members of the WhatsApp groups that were targeted. He claimed he asked the two men to delete the posts and retract their claims.

“I gave them enough time, but they wanted to just defame me. I had

The corporator said he learned about the messages from friends who were members of the groups that were targeted. He claimed he asked the two men to delete the posts

Rajendra Deolekar

no option but to approach the police,” said Deolekar.

The police said they had registered a first information report in the matter.

“We are going through the posts and taking the help of cyber experts,” an official from the Khadakpada station said.

City

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Sunday, April 26, 2020

NIA’s Pedder Road office sealed as official and his daughter test positive SATISH MALAVADE

They are being treated at Bombay Hospital; 15 other officials tested; office building disinfected | Abhishek.Sharan @timesgroup.com TWEETS @abhiMirror

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he National Investigation Agency (NIA)’s Mumbai office, located at Cumballa Hill on Pedder Road, was sealed after one of its officials tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday. The official’s daughter has also tested positive. Both of them have been admitted to Bombay Hospital.

The official’s wife, who is a healthcare provider, is also in quarantine at a government temporary facility in Mumbai Central, though she has not tested positive.

The official is not engaged in an investigative role, but as part of the protocol the NIA

has conducted Covid-19 diagnostic tests on at least 15 other NIA officials who may have come into contact with him. Their test results are awaited.

According to sources, the NIA office at Cumballa Hill is shuttered after getting disinfected. It is being used by only one official who is assigned to coordinate with the agency’s other units and Delhi-based headquarters.

“All mandatory protocols related to Covid-19 have been followed rigorously. The entire office has been disinfected by the BMC on our request after an official tested positive, along with his daughter,” an NIA source confirmed. “The other officials who were tested have also been advised to stay

in home-quarantine for now.

Others who may feel they should get tested have been encouraged to do so,” the source said. Since late March, when the national lockdown to contain Covid-19 began, only up to 10-15 per cent of the workforce was required to attend the NIA office for essential work.

The NIA office in Mumbai became operational on June 11, 2012 and is one of the eight branch offices of the agency across the country.

The Mumbai office has officers in investigative roles and are assisted by supporting staff from the executive, ministerial and technical cadres.

In all, NIA Mumbai has around 60 officers and personnel.

Activist Anand Teltumbde tests negative Dalit scholar and academic Anand Teltumbde has tested negative for Covid-19. He was arrested by the NIA on April 14 in the Elgar Parishad case after he surrendered following the Supreme Court directive. On Saturday, a special NIA lockdown court rejected Teltumbde’s temporary bail plea and remanded him to judicial custody till May 8.

He had sought bail in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

“Teltumbde’s test report was submitted to a special court today. He will be lodged at the Taloja prison,” an agency source said. Along with Teltumbde, activist Gautam Navlakha and nine others have been booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for alleged Maoist links.

According to the Pune police who booked them initially, the activists made

inflammatory speeches and provocative statements at the Elgar Parishad meet on December 31, 2017 in Pune, allegedly triggering violence the next day. The police have also claimed that these activists are active members of the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation. The activists have denied all allegations.

The probe was later transferred to the NIA.

The NIA building at Cumballa Hill

Thieves break into Bhikha Behram Well

Trustees of heritage structure file complaint with police alleging someone tried to break open their donation box | Vinay.Dalvi @timesgroup.com TWEETS @VinayMIRROR

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rustees of the Bhikha Behram Well, one of the most sacred places of worship for the Zoroastrian community in the city, have filed an online complaint with Azad Maidan police alleging someone tried to break open their donation box on Friday night.

The caretaker of the heritage structure, Nadar Tangree, cleaned the area on Friday morning, authorities said, adding that when he returned on Saturday he found signs of trespass.

“Tangree informed us about the incident. Somebody entered the premises and tried to break open a

donation box fitted in a wall. They even broke the wall, but could not succeed [in breaking open the box],” said Dr Veeraf Kapadia, one of the trustees.

Kapadia said they emailed a complaint to the police station due to the lockdown and visited the spot at Veer Nariman Road near Churchgate.

“We have CCTV cameras, but there was no watchman at the place due to the lockdown. Technical people are not available so we could not check footage,” said Kapadia.

“We will soon register a case and go through the CCTV footage to identify the accused,” said an officer.

The Bhika Behram Well is a Grade I heritage structure built in 1725.

SATISH MALAVADE

The Bhikha Behram Well is a sacred places of worship; (right) the donation box

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WORLD ‘No evidence’ recovered patients cannot be reinfected: WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that there was currently “no evidence” that people who have recovered from Covid-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second coronavirus infection.

In a scientific brief, the United Nations agency warned governments against issuing “immunity passports” or “riskfree certificates” to people who have been infected as their accuracy could not be guaranteed.

The practice could actually increase the risks of continued spread as people who have recovered may ignore advice about taking standard precautions against the virus, it said.

“Some governments have suggested that the detection of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, could serve as the basis for an ‘immunity passport’ or ‘riskfree certificate’ that would enable individuals to travel or to return to work assuming that they are protected against reinfection,” the WHO said.

“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” it said.

Chile said last week it would begin handing out “health passports” to people deemed to have recovered from the illness. Once screened to determine if they have developed antibodies to make them immune to the virus, they could immediately rejoin the workforce.

Most studies have shown that people who have recovered from infection have antibodies to the virus, the WHO said. However, some of them have very low levels of neutralizing antibodies in their blood, “suggesting that cellular immunity may also be critical for recovery”, it added.

— Reuters

Russia reports 5,966 new cases

The number of new coronavirus cases in Russia has risen by 5,966 over the past 24 hours, bringing its nationwide tally to 74,588, the country’s coronavirus crisis response centre said on Saturday.

It also reported 66 new deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, bringing the total death toll in Russia to 681.

The number of coronavirus cases in Russia began rising sharply this month, although it had reported far fewer infections than many western European countries in the early stages of the outbreak.

— Reuters

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State allows Kota students, parents to return

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he Maharashtra government has allowed nearly 1,600 students stuck at Kota in Rajasthan and their 400 parents to come back to the state. These students had gone for tutorials for their IIT joint entrance examinations.

The secretary for relief and rehabilitation, Kishor Nimbalkar, said he had personally spoken to the collector of Kota and some of the students had also got passes. “Many of these students have their own vehicles and I am told that some of them have also started their journey to Maharashtra,” he said.

The state disaster management director Abhay Yawalkar had also written to the additional chief secretaries of the home and disaster management departments of Rajasthan.

He has also said that these students will pass through Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat states and will be examined for coronavirus and quarantined in Maharashtra for 14 days.

Many of these students from Maharashtra had approached the youth Congress chief Satyajeet Tambe and minister Aditya Thackeray and had tagged them in tweets.

—Yogesh Naik

NATION No public gathering in UP till June 30: Yogi The Uttar Pradesh government will not allow any public gathering till June 30, well beyond the end of the current nationwide lockdown, officials said on Saturday.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has told officials that the situation will be reviewed after June 30.

“Chief Minister @myogiadityanth ji has directed officials not to allow any public gathering till June 30. After that a decision will be taken considering the circumstances,” the CM’s office tweeted in Hindi.

The current lockdown across the country is schedule to end on May 3, if no further extension is announced.

The chief minister’s media adviser also put out a similar tweet.

“Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathji has given strict instructions to officers that no crowd of any kind gathers anywhere till June 30. This decision has been taken with the intention of keeping coronavirus under check,” Mrityunjay Kumar said.

In a video conference with district magistrates and police chiefs, Adityanath also referred to the just-begun month of Ramzan, an official said.

“In view of the coronavirus outbreak, all religious leaders have appealed to Muslim brothers to offer namaz at their homes,” the official quoted the CM as saying.

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With zero staff infections, Fortis shows the way Hospital sets example by following a strict protocol for patients and staff | Lata.Mishra @timesgroup.com TWEETS @lata_MIRROR

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n a city where hospital after hospital has collapsed, Fortis in Mulund has set an example by following a strict protocol for patients and staff. It has reported zero infections so far. Apart from providing PPEs to every member of the staff dealing with Covid-19 or potential Covid-19 cases, the hospital has also introduced a 7/7 schedule for its doctors and nurses – seven days of work followed by seven days of home quarantine – and also reduced work hours from eight to six.

The hospital currently has 22 beds for Covid-19 patients, including eight in ICU, and started treating coronavirus cases exactly a month ago.

Dr Rahul Pandit, director, intensive care, said the decision to build the Covid-19 ward was not taken in a hurry. “It started with proper planning, identifying a separate place for screening, having separate isolation beds. It took more than two weeks to build the ward and we opened it on March 22,” Dr Pandit told Mirror.

The task force put together by the hospital has created a quarantine facility in the annex building, separate ICU set-ups and a screening clinic. The team comprises intensive care specialists Dr Pandit and Dr Charudatt Vaity; infectious disease specialists Dr Anita Mathew and Dr Kirti Sabnis; microbiologist Dr Sheetal Sawant; and general physicians Dr Sanjay Shah and Dr Naresh Mehta.

“There is distinct bifurcation

The Covid-19 task force put together by Fortis Hospital

between patients seeking regular medical aid and patients with upper respiratory tract infections, Covid-19 suspects and those who are Covid-19 positive,” said Dr Pandit.

“The sequence of screening begins at the entrance of the hospital premises; following principles of social distancing, patients and their relatives/family are scanned. If a patient needs detailed assessment, he/she is directed to the Covid-19 OPD. There the patient is assessed by infectious disease specialists and physicians and swabs are sent for testing.”

The hospital has separate assessment and treatment sections for patients and those suspected of hav-

ing the virus, emergency day care for those who have to stay back till test reports arrive, and a special isolation unit to provide critical care services.

“The teams that support these four sections are separate. They comprise separate medical and nursing staff, administrative staff and support staff. The medical and nursing teams were split into groups and they work in rotation; they work on a seven-day shift followed by sevenday isolation period. Each of these teams have also been also accommodated in separate designated areas in the hospital – in their isolated area, complete care of their lodging and boarding is taken,” added Dr Pandit.

Dr Pandit gave the example of

South Korea, where health workers are working in three-hour shifts.

“We can’t afford to have three-hour shifts since we don’t have that much staff. So we decided to reduced the shifts by two hours and now all staff work six hours.”

Some staff are staying in the campus and don’t go back to their family to avoid contact risk. “In such cases we provide counselling. Along with physical and mental health support, special focus is given to nutrition, ensuring that the teams consume high-nutrition and high-protein diet. These teams connect with other support teams through tele-consultation to minimise exposure,” said Dr S Narayani, zonal director, Fortis.

Travel permission to Wadhawans

State home dept recommends extension for committee probing IPS officer’s role Chief secretary Ajoy Mehta and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

TWEETS @yogeshMIRROR After the he state home Wadhawans travelled department has to Mahabaleshwar on recommended 15 April 8, they were put in days’ extension quarantine the next day. to the committee that is The state Home Amitabh Gupta Minister, Anil Deshmukh, probing lapses by senior IPS officer and Principal announced a probe in the Secretary (Home) Amitabh Gupta, case and appointed Additional Chief who had allowed the promoters of Secretary (Finance) Manoj Saunik to Dewan Housing Finance Limited complete the investigation.

(DHFL) to travel from Khandala to Now the Saunik committee has Mahabaleshwar during lockdown sought more time and Additional earlier this month. Following the Chief Secretary (Home) Sanjay incident, the state government had Kumar has recommended that it be sent Gupta on compulsory leave. granted.

The recommendation for extenSaunik refused to comment on sion came following the request of the development. the committee.

Gupta is an additional DG-rank The file will now pass through officer and was posted as principal | Yogesh.Naik @timesgroup.com

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secretary (law and order) in the home department. Soon after the incident came to light, he was questioned by chief secretary Mehta and he admitted to have given the letter.

The BJP-led Opposition demanded Gupta’s suspension, but the home minister said that such powers were vested only with the Centre as he was a central government employee.

RTI activist Anil Galgali pointed several cases of the past wherein IPS officers were suspended by the state government without approval from the Centre.

The ‘institutional quarantine’ of DHFL’s promoter director Kapil Wadhawan and his brother Dheeraj, who is the firm’s former non-executive director, ended on April 22, but it did not result in their release from quarantine as they are in home quarantine.

The CBI had on April 10, a day after the Wadhawans were quarantined for breaking the lockdown orders that places restrictions on inter-district travel, asked Satara’s superintendent of police and district magistrate, to not release them unless the agency gives its no-objection certificate for that or there is a court order.

DHFL, a non-banking finance company, has been under the scanner of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate since March for its suspicious transactions with Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor in 2018.

Leader of the opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis said, “I dont think the government is serious about the probe. Gupta is a very senior IPS officer and must have issued letter on someone’s reference.

This should be probed.”

City

SundayMumbaiMirror

CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Two more non-Covid SoBo hospitals hit roadblocks With Habib and Prince Aly Khan Hospital partially operational due to healthcare workers testing positive, the list of affected hospitals in south-central Mumbai has become longer Mumbai Mirror Bureau mirrorfeedback@timsgroup.com

We are getting to know of cases because there is testing. But the milk man, vegetable vendor and others need to be tested. That’s where the cases will be found

TWEETS @MumbaiMirror

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dding to the already hit health infrastructure in south- central Mumbai, two key private hospitals – Prince Aly Khan multi-speciality hospital and Habib Hospital in Dongri – have hit roadblocks with doctors and staff being placed in quarantine. Several other hospitals in and around wards B, C, D and E are not operational or are working with skeletal staff. These wards include areas like Dongri, Nana Chowk, Byculla and Mohammed Ali Road.

Saifee, Wockhardt, Noor, Saboo Siddique and Bhatia hospitals are already suffering after some of their medical staff tested positive in the past couple of months. Though Saifee and Wockhardt hospitals have reopened, they are admitting mainly coronavirus patients, with Saifee admitting only very serious non-Covid patients.

The other three hospitals are yet to reopen.

While at the 92-bed Habib Hospital in Dongri (B-ward), the source of virus was a pregnant emergency patient, the administration at Prince Aly Khan Hospital (E-ward) said the infection didn’t originate in the facility and they are not aware of the source.

Meanwhile, Habib’s medical director Dr Ejaz Thakur confirmed that their gynaecology ward has been sealed by the BMC and two resident medical officers and 14 staffers have been placed in quarantine. They will be tested today. Though the two hospitals are still functional and attending to emergency patients as per the revised BMC protocol, they are operating on skeletal staff.

Dr Thakur added that the health infrastructure will continue to collapse without random testing and sep-

— Dr Ejaz Thakur, Habib Hospital

Prince Aly Khan Hospital in E-ward says it doesn’t know the source of infection in the hospital

Ward locations of SoBo hospitals » Prince Aly Khan Hospital: E-ward » Saifee Hospital: C-ward » Noor Hospital, Habib Hospital, Saboo Siddique Hospital: B-ward »Wockhardt Hospital and Bhatia Hospital: D-ward arate isolation wards. “We are getting to know of cases because there is testing. But the milk man, vegetable vendor and others need to be tested.

That’s where the cases will be found,” he said, adding that non-Covid pa-

tients are bound to suffer. “I know of patients who have died in their cars waiting to be admitted. Imagine the agony of staff constantly having to be quarantined because of an asymptomatic patient,” he said.

Dr Nasir Ansari, the administrator at Saboo Siddique Hospital, said even though the facility has been shut since April 3, they will take another week to open the pathology lab and the X-ray unit. “One of our ward boys tested positive yesterday, after 14 whole days of being quarantined along with the rest of the staff (40 healthcare workers).

We will need at least a week more,” he said.

The administrator at Prince Aly Khan, Amin Jiwani said, “Our emergency is functional and we are admitting patients for dialysis, cardiac and oncology problems.” He added that three doctors have been admitted to Saifee and KJ Somaiyya hospitals, while four asymptomatic positive staffers have been placed in quarantine at a school. Nearly 25-30 doctors and staffers are in self-quarantine despite testing negative, he said. The front desk at Noor Hospital said they were not admitting patients till May 3.

As per the last bifurcation chart released by the BMC, E-Ward has 421 Covid patients of whom only 31have been cured. It is only second to GSouth ward that has the maximum number of Covid cases in the city (534 active patients, with 82 recovered cases). There are 253 positive cases in D-ward, while B and C (covering areas like Bhendi Bazaar, Dongri and Mohammed Ali Road) have 68 and 30 cases, respectively.

Constable dies two days after testing Covid-19 positive The 57-year-old, attached to the Vakola police station, was on ventilator at Nair hospital NILESH WAIRKAR

Vinay.Dalvi@timesgroup.com TWEETS @VinayMIRROR

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57-year-old head constable attached with the Vakola police station died of coronavirus on Saturday morning. According to the police, around 15 senior officers and 81 policemen have tested positive in the state of which around seven have been discharged. This is, however, the first fatality in the force.

The constable, a resident of Worli Naka, had tested positive on Thursday. He was on ventilator support at

Mumbai Police have also launched a special helpline for infected cops

the BYL Nair hospital in Mumbai Central.

“We have allotted work among our staff in such a way that officers from other wings don’t come in touch with each other and the possibility of spread is erased,” said Manjunath Singe, deputy commissioner of police, Zone VIII. The Vakola police have quarantined four constables who were in close contact with the 57-year-old.

“He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. We will also carry out their tests,” said the officer.

The family is presently in home quarantine.

The police suspect that he may have contracted the disease from

someone in his residential area as Worli has several containment zones.

The victim had been running a fever from the last two days. He was rushed to Nair hospital for testing, where he began having breathing problems and was put on ventilator.

In order to help at-risk personnel, the Mumbai police have started a helpline that will make it easier for cops to get details of available beds in Covid-19 hospitals. Senior police inspectors have also been instructed to ensure that their subordinates are provided with all the required facilities.

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WORLD

Singapore tally 12,693 with 618 new cases SINGAPORE on Saturday reported 618 new cases of novel coronavirus, taking the total number of infections to 12,693 with 12 deaths in the country. The vast majority of the new cases are among the work permit holders residing in dormitories for foreign workers, including Indian nationals, who work in the labour-intensive construction sector.

A total of 25 dormitories, housing foreign workers, have been gazetted as isolation areas. Singapore is going through a “circuit breaker” period to stem the spread of Covid-19. The period was at first scheduled to end on May 4 but will now last until June 1.

All the non-essential work places have been ordered to stay closed and residents are barred from leaving the house except to buy food and groceries or to exercise alone in the neighbourhood, Channel News Asia reported.

Meanwhile, Singapore has changed the dynamics of its care of Covid-19 patients by treating nine out of 10 in community isolation facilities instead of acute hospitals. The move not only differentiates those with mild illnesses from others with lifethreatening conditions, but also saves the hospitals from being deluged, the AGENCIES paper reported.

Vote to elect new German party leader delayed GERMANY’S Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was set to elect a new party leader on Saturday but the vote has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving an air of mystery around who Chancellor Angela Merkel’s heir will be.

“There will be no election now or in the coming months. Big events have been suspended. The next appointment will be the regular December congress. But right now forecasts are not valid,” Efe news quoted Friedrich Merz, of the CDU, as saying.

Merz is one of the contenders running for the leadership contest, along with Norbert Rottgen and Armin Laschet, North Rhine-Westphalia state premier, all of whom would have been fighting for the vote of 1,001CDU delegates on Saturday.

As of Saturday, Germany had reported 154,545 coronavirus cases, with 5,767 deaths. Meanwhile, German biotech company BioNTech, which has approval for human trials of potential coronavirus vaccines, has lately received several approaches about a possible takeover but has rejected them, a newspaper reported.

Without identifying any of the potential interested parties, BioNTech chief Ugur Sahin said the firm had been approached by several players in AGENCIES the industry.

City

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CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

350 clinics in Dharavi to reopen for Covid screening CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits to the medical workers and disinfect all the clinics before they reopen.

At the moment, the BMC is going door-to-door in Dharavi to screen the residents of Mumbai’s biggest slum. It has so far thermally screened 47,500 people there and referred close to 1,000 for testing. So far 241 Covid-19 cases have been reported from Dharavi, including 14 people who died. The population of Dharavi is estimated to be around 8.5 lakh.

Based on the addresses of the cases identified so far, five slum pockets within the slum have been earmarked as red zones and their residents segregated - to the extent possible - from the rest. The door-todoor screening is focussed on these five zones, namely Madina Nagar, Muslim Nagar, Mukund Nagar, Kalyanwadi and Social Nagar, which have a combined population of about 50,000.

Dr Anil Pachnekar, who owns a clinic in Dharavi and is a trustee of the MDMPA, was among those who met BMC officials on Friday. He said, “Our doctors were helping with door-to-door screening. But since it is so hot and humid now, it is not possible to move around in PPEs. So we have decided to reopen clinics in Dharavi. We will screen residents and refer them to the BMC’s quarantine centres if required. Those who display symptoms will be sent for testing,” Dr Pachnekar said.

“The BMC has said that they will not seal these clinics if any person who visits one of them later tests positive. They are giving us PPE kits too,” he added.

Suresh Kakani, additional mu-

nicipal commissioner, health, said, “This will be a mass screening exercise. These are local doctors, who have a good idea about the medical history of people in Dharavi. The patients also know them, which helps.

We want to involve them in screening the residents here to save time.”

Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner, G-North ward, said that since the clinics were spread across Dharavi, using them to screen residents made sense. “The doctors will screen the residents and refer suspected cases to the BMC. We will once against screen them and then take their samples for testing.

Those who are in the high-risk category will be moved to institutional quarantine,” he said.

A senior BMC official said the screening was essential as it would be impossible to test every resident of Dharavi.

“It will act as a filter and ensure that we are testing the right people.

Asymptomatic high risk patients will be moved to institutional quarantine. This way even those who need non-covid treatment will get medical help. With everything shut down [the residents] have had nowhere to go and have to rush to Sion hospital for even minor ailments and illnesses,” he said.

The official added that the civic body has prepared a quarantine centre with 300 beds at Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex for residents of Dharavi.

“Dharavi municipal school has also prepared 600 beds for quarantine. We have also acquired Sai Hospital at 90 Feet Road. It has 51 beds, including eight ICU beds, and 29 people on duty. So we are prepared for now and we are also increasing bed capacity by acquiring rooms in hotels and lodges in the area,” he said.

Hundreds of workers are busy in upkeep or repair of 260 rakes of local trains to keep them in working condition; RPF keeping constant vigil for safety of rakes Kamal Mishra @timesgroup.com TWEETS @MumbaiMirror

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assenger train services across the country have not been operating since late last month, but the railways has not stopped the maintenance work. Upkeep and repair of local trains, oiling and greasing of tracks and inspections are being carried on a daily basis.

In Central Railway, 82 EMU rakes have been stabled at various EMU sidings of the Mumbai division. Apart from this, 72 EMU rakes have been stabled at three car sheds of Mumbai Division of CR . Similarly, WR has 110 EMU rakes in the city.

“Each and every rake is being regularly checked by the dedicated staff.

Safety and security are of utmost importance during these difficult times.

Also, the rakes are moved up to 1 km a day for healthy functioning of traction motor bearing and axle bearing which could get jammed or damaged if kept idle for a long time,” said an officer of CR. “This helps to avoid solidification of gear case oil, traction motor bearing grease and axel box bearing grease,” he said. Apart from this, as a part of the monsoon preparedness, EMU rakes are being sealed to avoid water leakage in cab and compartment area. The sealing work is going on in all carsheds on the Western and the Central lines.

Similarly, Railway Protection Force (RPF personnel are also conducting regular patrols to ensure the safety of EMU rakes.

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“Out of 110 local trains, 106 trains are being regularly charged for maintaining battery health. This charging cycle is being done every seven days.

The fourth cycle completed on April 23. Remaining four rakes are under periodical overhaul as they required heavy repair,” said Ravinder Bhakar, chief public relations officer of Western Railway.

Central Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer Shivaji Sutar said, “Apart from the safety of EMU rakes at various sidings, we are maintaining the weekly movement of these rakes 600 to 800 metres as per availability of space to ensure that traction motor bearings remain functional.”

Sutar said, “All stabled rakes at various sidings are charged for maintain-

ing proper battery voltage. Safety check of these rakes is also ensured which includes checking of parking brakes, wooden wedges, and all cables.

Moreover, RPF is vigilant 24x7 to protect these moving assets.”

Equipment, batteries of locos and coaches of long-distance trains are also being maintained regularly, said an officer of WR. “While trains are parked, brakes of engines are applied.

At times, they get stuck so they need constant checking,” he said.

“During summers we also need to check humidity and air pressure. Besides, the pantograph on the engine rooftop needs to be lifted up and down to see it is collecting current. These activities are being carried out regularly,” said another official of WR.

In other news

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Maintenance work in progress at Kurla carsshed of Central Railway

Thieves take along cassettes on which CCTV cameras recorded the incident oc

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ewellery worth Rs 8 crore was stolen from a factory in Andheri East amid the lockdown. The thieves also took with them the cassettes on which the CCTV cameras had recorded the incident. The owner has registered a complaint with the MIDC police.

The factory, Sona Overseas, located in Neeraj Industrial estate had remained shut since the lockdown late last month. The owner, Rajkumar Luthra, told the police that he had come to the factory on Friday afternoon to check on a few ‘important things’ when he found the safe open and most of the jewellery missing.

“The shutter was untouched. It was locked – like I had left it a few weeks ago. Inside the factory, I found

Thieves took off with most of the jewellery kept in the safe

that the safe, where the jewellery was kept, had been cut with a cutter.

The machines had also been cleaned of all gold dust. A part of the

ceiling was broken, which would have been the entry point for the thieves,” Luthra said in his complaint. He said gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 8 crore had gone missing.

When Luthra reported the theft to the police, they tried to look for clues in the CCTV footage captured by the cameras inside the factory.

“We found the cassettes missing as well,” said an officer from MIDC police. He said a case of house breaking has been registered against unknown people under Sections 454 and 457 of Indian Penal code.

Further investigation into the matter is underway. “We are trying to check the CCTV footage from the cameras outside the factory and in nearby places to look for clues.

Statements of those in the know of the goings-on in the factory are also being recorded,” said the officer.

City

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K A E R B T U O S U IR V A N O R CO

Step up testing, especially in slums: Central team The team, which is visiting Mumbai and areas around it, also said that at least one in 10 Covid-19 treatment facilities must have oxygen cylinders to deal with emergencies Yogesh.Naik @timesgroup.com TWEETS @MumbaiMirror

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team of central government officers which is touring Mumbai and adjoining areas has suggested many changes in approach to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, such as ramping up testing, especially in slums. The union government has sent two teams – one for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and one for Pune.

The former has already visited hotspots such as Worli Koliwada and Dharavi.

On Saturday, the team visited places such as Thane and Mumbra and hospitals including Thane civil hospital, Horizon Hospital and Kaushalya hospital in Thane where Covid-19 patients are being treated. Their immediate advice to Thane municipal commissioner Vijay Singhal was to intensify testing. The committee also observed that social distancing and lockdown guidelines were barely being followed in Mumbra, and that They also noted that the Thane corporation didn’t have a network of its own hospitals and had taken over privately owned ones. The team, led by additional secretary Manoj Joshi of consumer affairs, arrived in Mumbai last Monday. It also comprises Dr S D Khaparde, advisor in public health, Dr Nagresh Kumar Singh, director in public health, and Anurag Rana, joint advisor in the National Disaster Management Authority.

Among other things, the team told BMC officers that at least one in 10 Covid-19 treatment facilities must have oxygen cylinders to deal with emergencies.

They also told the BMC and the state medical education department to urgently buy portable oximeters - devices that noninvasively monitor a person’s oxygen saturation. The state quickly sanctioned their purchase without administrative

Manoj Joshi with Thane police chief

approval. The team also told the BMC to us that the death rate in Mumbai has come increase the number of isolation facilities down and the rate of doubling has slowed. in Mumbai.

We will make facilities for 42,000 people.

In Mumbai, the team found that two Right now only 12,000 people are in instiprivate testing labs were not following tutional quarantine. They have also told us to increase testing in slums.’’ procedure in testing and that samples which had tested positive there had later tested negative. The BMC issued notices to both.

In Dharavi, the team told the BMC, all primary contacts and secondary contacts of Covid-19 positive patients must be moved to institutional quarantine as the chances The two central teams in Kolkata and of catching the infection in the Siliguri flagged several instances of densely populated area are non-cooperation by WB government high. On its advice, in providing logistical support and Chief Minister Uddhav relevant information. In letters to WB Thackeray asked assistant muChief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, the team nicipal commissioner Kiran complained about the absence of police Dighavkar to set up a quaranescort. They also raised questions tine facility for 5,000 people in about certain quarantine centres and Dharavi. The team gave similar asked the state to clear its stand about advice on Worli Koliwada. facilitating safety and security of the BMC commissioner Praveen central team.

Pardeshi said, “The central team told

How often would you wash your hands if your family got only 60 litres water a day? »

In short, entire families across 60 slum pockets are making do with less than half of the amount of water BMC believes one person needs to meet his basic hygiene needs. And this is when a nasty viral infection is raging in the city and the first wall of defence against it is washing one’s hands multiple times a day.

According to the Pani Haq Samiti, 20 seconds of washing hands – as mandated

by WHO to get rid of the virus – requires at least half-a-litre of water. Which means if every member of a family of six in one of these slums were to wash their hands five times a day, they would use up 15 litres or 25 per cent of their daily supply. The rest of the supply then must be rationed between drinking, bathing, washing clothes, and, most importantly, cooking food.

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Autorickshaw driver commits suicide Family says he used to drink to ease chronic pain

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n autorickshaw driver from Goregaon committed suicide by hanging inside his vehicle on Friday. The Dinsdoshi police have registered an accidental death report in the matter.

Though no suicide note was found, the family of the deceased said he was in excruciating pain because of pre-existing conditions that were compounded by the unavailability of alcohol during the lockdown.

According to officials, the body of Dayashankar Soni, 47, was spotted by some passers-by on Friday morning.

The autorickshaw was parked outside his residence at BMC colony, Santosh Nagar, in Goregaon East. They informed the police, who rushed him to

Siddharth Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

The victim is survived by his wife and four daughters.

His family told the police that he often slept in the autorickshaw to avoid cramming up their small house. They said he had gone to the auto as usual but didn’t suspect that he would end up taking the extreme step.

The family also told the police that he was undergoing treatment for chronic pain in his legs and back. “Under normal circumstances, he often consumed alcohol to ease the pain. Since the lockdown came into effect, he had not been able to drink, which worsened his condition,” a police officer said.

— PAYAL GWALANI

WB GOVT NOT COOPERATING: IMCT TEAM

— JAYATRI NAG

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Sharda Shinde, a resident of Rohidasnagar near Sitaram Compound in Lower Parel, said with all seven members of her family staying home the whole day because of the lockdown, the water crisis has become acute. Earlier, she and her neighbours used to bring water to their shanties in jerry cans once or twice a day from the nearby BDD chawls. “Now, because of the Covid-19 scare, access to BDD chawls has been blocked. All we have now is a tanker that arrives in our basti once in a week,” she said.

Rohidasnagar, which houses over 450 families, is among the over sixty slum clusters that the BMC does not recognise as legal. Which means the obligation of providing the minimum of 150 litres of water per day per person does not apply here.

It should not be so, though. In 2014, the Bombay High Court upheld the right to water as prerequisite to right to life and

directed the BMC to provide water to all those living within the municipal boundaries irrespective of the legality of their residential structures.

Pani Haq Samiti’s Sitaram Shelar says beyond the legal obligation, in the current scenario providing enough clean water to everyone should be one of the BMC’s priorities. “We are dealing with a pandemic. None of us are safe, unless all of us are safe. That is why our urgent appeal to the BMC to provide clean water to all slums in Mumbai,” he said.

On Saturday, the nayab tehsildars of M-east and S wards (Chembur-Govandi and Bhandup respectively) promised to write to the respective ward officers to ensure access to water in informal settlements. “We sincerely hope that the BMC will take swift action in this regard. The longer we deny water to people, the weaker we become in the fight against coronavirus,” said Shelar.

REAL STEEL A robot has been deployed to serve food and medicines to coronavirus patients at the Ernakulam government medical college hospital with an aim to reduce the risk of infections for doctors and health workers. Malayalam star Mohanlal’s Viswasanthi Foundation donated the autonomous robot named ‘KARMI-Bot’ which has been developed

by ASIMOV robotics, a company working under the Kerala start-up mission.

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF GREATER MUMBAI E-PROCUREMENTTENDER NOTICE

No. Dy. Ch. E. /CPD/ Advt. /06/AE-06 Dated 25.04.2020 Department

Office of D,M.C, (Central Purchase Department), Byculla, Mumbai-400 011

Section

Dy.Ch.Eng.(CPD)

EOI No.

Subject

EOVAE(06)/CPD-6/ 2020

EOI for Procurement of for Syringe Infusion Pump for various MCGM Hospital.

EOI Start Date

EOVAE(06)/CPD-6/2020 - From 26.04.2020 11:00 hrs.To 27.04.2020 10:00 hrs 'Tenderers shall note that any corrigendum issued regarding this EOI notice will be published on the MCGM portal only.No corrigendum will be published in the local newspapers.

Web site

http://portal mcom -gov.in

Contact Person Name Mr- Vinayak Nilpatrewar [Assistant Engineer-06] Central Purchase Dept. a) Office No. (022) 23083161 Ext No.206 b) E-mail ID ae06,cod @ mcom , 00v,in .,

FOR HornelesaftencledMiqrafflWVVorMra for food & shelters

PRO/36/ADV/20-21

By Order of the

Commissioner of Munici pal Corporation of Greater Mumbai Self4 Ch, Engineer (C, P.D)

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There will be more egalitarianism in companies’ cultures. Symbols of power will be less visible. Decentralisation of power will be more common —Yogi Sriram, group HR, L&T

Jobs like e-sales, where employees can sell products without having to physically meet customers, will be in great demand

How Covid-19 will change the workplace The lockdown has forced companies around the world to adapt to new ways of working and doing business, which experts believe will become the new normal | Labonita.ghosh @timesgroup.com TWEETS @laboghosh

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arlier this month, smack in the middle of the first lockdown, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) went ahead with its merger with GlaxoSmithkline (GSK). It took place entirely online, with everyone logging in, and the deal was done. “We had been working on the merger for over a year, and we didn’t want to push it back because of the lockdown,” says a senior manager. “A lot of people were sceptical that something as big as a merger could take place online.

But it all went smoothly.”

Covid-19 is forcing India Inc to reassess its priorities — and its workplaces. As Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, noted during a recent webinar: “We have no idea how these changes will compel us to look at things again. [Some things may be] feasible in the IT industry but for the rest of us, in the smokestack industries, we’ll have to rethink how we can do [things]….”

Experts believe the coronavirus — and enforce-

For companies, coming out of the lockdown will be about getting into survival mode...cutting costs, reducing salaries and pruning manpower, if needed —Mandeep Maitra, future of work specialist

because the priority of most companies will be to stay alive,” he says. “They are going to have serious cash flow problems, with capital disappearing, suppliers having gone bankrupt and downstream, non-loyal customers having switched to competitors. Globally, too, there will be a loss of jobs. If business shrinks by 20 per cent, and the demand in the market is unlikely to grow aggressively, why would any company retain people?” Companies will first do away with bonuses and increments, and then try to reduce all salaries to 80 per cent of what employees usually get. “There’s going to be a lot of grumbling about this, so they may eventually have to opt for 20 per cent layoffs instead.” Some HR consultants fear that companies who don’t need to sack staff, may still do so on the pretext of the pandemic.

There will be considerable learnings from the lockdown, too. “Corporates will review their requirements for office space,” says Yogi Sriram, advisor to the CEO and MD, group human resources at Larsen & Toubro. “There will be extensive use of digital communication, and travel will reduce. The use of e-learning platforms will increase and blended learning, with an increased emphasis on e-learning, webinars and podcasts, will also increase.” Work and home may merge into each other, Sriram adds. “People are saying that they are working harder from home than when they attended office. To that extent, productivity may also improve.”

According to Maitra, “I see a push for productivity increase, longer shifts and an increase in working hours for most people. Because of the lockdown, there is already a pent-up demand in the system, and past orders have to be fulfilled. In some industries, there is a huge migrant workforce that is currently missing, and a portion of that may never come back.”

Strategic HR advisor Hema Ravichandar says companies will now begin to invest in software for data security and privacy as well as ‘nearness centres’ — workspaces that are either closer to where employees live, or close to customers or the supply chain. “Traditionally, certain industries have embraced the idea of work from home, like the IT sector. But now it’s going to become a necessity,” says Ravichandar. “Even in sectors like manufacturing or pharma, where this is not

ments such as working from home or a suspension of business activities — will change the workplace forever. Not just in India, but also globally, and that the change will kick in as soon as the lockdown is lifted. But first, we’ll have to brace for considerable CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 redundancies, they say. Several IT and auto companies, as well as start-ups, have already begun to let go of people, and more layoffs are expected down the line. “For companies, coming out of the lockdown will be all about getting into survival mode,” says future of work specialist Mandeep Maitra. “This could mean cutting costs, reducing salaries and pruning manpower, if needed. The sectors that have already been in the red — auto and auto ancillaries, textiles, real estate and telecom — will now be joined by newer sectors like hospitality (including eateries and event management), travel and tourism, which will see largescale redundancies.”

K Ramkumar, CEO of Leadership Centre, agrees. “I don’t believe there will be any revolution at the workplace when Working remotely, and collaborating across the lockdown is lifted, countries, will become the new normal

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Sunday, April 26, 2020

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 entirely possible, organisations may pick certain functions, or a percentage of employees, to work remotely. But they will have to put protocols in place, like when and for how long employees will connect, or how consultants can bill clients.” Given these imperatives, the eight-hour work day may soon be replaced by 24/7 work in tranches.

Smaller companies looking to cut back on the overheads of running an office, as they grapple with loss of business, are more likely to opt for ‘WFH’, says Ramkumar; the larger organisations will still want employees back in office — so don’t get too comfortable on that couch.

“At this point, we’re seeing everything from the lens of what’s happening now, so we may feel that working from home is the only option,” says the HR head of an IT bellwether. “But there are lots of risks involved in confidential data leaving the office building and being accessed remotely by employees. The efficiency of privacy systems will have to be tested before work from home can be implemented.”

The most far-reaching effects of Covid will be in the job market. Having been forced to rely on technology to operate, every industry will now look for tech enablers and facilitators, says Pankaj Bansal, co-founder and CEO of PeopleStrong, an HR technology solutions firm. He lists the jobs that will be in great demand in the years to come:

Digital and tech jobs

Not just coding, but around intelligent systems, which can help an organisation become far more automated.

Global Development Centres

These are not BPOs but tech back offices, based in India, for global companies. The demand for these ‘technology builders’ is growing. A company hired some 100 people last week, says Bansal, adding that more and more jobs are coming to India, but we don’t know about it.

Automation specialists

People who can automate whatever can be automated rise to the top of the list; someone who can introduce 3D printing or 3D painting in the auto industry, for instance. Covid will only hasten the advance of automation in every sector.

E-sales specialists

After getting a taste of remote working, companies will look to hire people who can bring customers without having to meet them. People who have come up with models for, say, selling insurance or a selling a car without the buyer ever having to visit a showroom. Being able to sell without making sales calls increases the person’s efficiency; s/he can reach out to more customers in the same time.

Predictability analysts

Regardless of sector, any job with analytical capability which can map future trends, will become important. Whether you are in marketing, finance or HR, if you can convert data into future scenarios and help senior leadership take strategic decisions, you will be valued.

Marketing professionals with sales orientation

They will be in great demand. But this is a double-edged sword. If a company can prove it can overlap functions, it may trim the workforce more readily.

Aggregators

(Clockwise from top) A worker disinfects an office in south Mumbai; employees at a bank try to enforce social distancing; working from home may become a common practice even after the lockdown ends

People who can manage large projects and also coordinate with multiple partners. This is important because a post-Covid world will see competitors coming together to give consumers a package deal of the things they want, and share profits.

The common thread running through all these jobs is tech ability. Coding will become the new English language of the world.

People who can’t do it will be considered illiterate and unqualified

To receive all Newspapers on Whattapp’s Send hi on 9821112796 —Pankaj Bansal, CEO, PeopleStrong

That may be bad news for those in their 40s and older — or just for anyone who can’t adapt to technology.

More than ever, older employees will have to work with younger teams, with a mix of people from diverse backgrounds and even different geographies. Experts also believe that the new normal in offices will be a flat, hierarchy-less set up. “There will be more egalitarianism in companies’ cultures. Symbols of power will be less visible and decentralisation of power will be more common,” says Sriram. “People will not be able to flaunt the size of their cabin, or the artifacts kept there, on a video call.” In small to mid-sized businesses, the physical office itself may disappear as CXOs and teams begin to operate out of co-working spaces.

In a transformed workplace, employees will also be assessed by the tasks they perform, rather through annual performance reviews, predicts Bansal, adding that in the last 18 days, at least 50 companies have signed up with PeopleStrong seeking new metrics to evaluate staff, based on remote working and measuring outcomes on a weekly or monthly cycle. “Your creativity will become your new

social cachet, not your designation or the corner office,” he says. “You could be a highly creative person working at three companies simultaneously, but your worth in the new workplace will be measured by how much the companies value you.”

For the first time, organisations may also be compelled to offer more than the standard job to employees, in a quest for greater efficiency. Staff may be given the option of doing extra work on weekends for additional pay. It will be a win-win for all: Employees can make some money and perhaps learn new skills doing tasks that are outside their regular responsibilities, and companies can keep their costs low, and their systems safer, than if they hired freelancers. “I call it the internal gig,” says Bansal.

In the new, agile, tech-enabled workplace, the job most at risk will be that of the ‘managers’ manager’. “IT companies are already firing vice presidents and assistant vice presidents who draw hefty salaries and manage teams, but don’t really drive the business,” says Bansal. In the designation-less set up of the near future — sped up

by Covid — they will automatically become redundant.

Older employees willing to reinvent and reskill themselves — and shed their fancy titles and suits — will have a better chance of fitting in. “They may be forced to come back at lower compensations and work with younger teams to prove their worth,” adds Bansal. “It will be a struggle, but if they can’t change, they’ll be out.”

A global pandemic has also led to global collaboration, according to Naomi Climer, co-founder of the UK-based Institute for the Future of Work, who hopes that the spirit of coming together in adversity today, will continue at the workplace. “The crisis has reminded us all how easy it is to communicate and collaborate internationally, even when travel is impossible. Although companies will no doubt be assessing the risks in their international supply chains, I’m hopeful that the crisis has brought us all closer together,” she says. Climer also says she expects “companies to have more detailed disaster recovery plans and to look at business risk from a new perspective, which may mean that businesses will be more resilient than in the past”. Clearly organisations will have to change, and quite drastically, to survive in future.

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party’s at home

Since going out is not an option, many people are finding new and innovative ways to band together, listen to music and have a blast during the lockdown WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/RAFIKISOUNDS

Sohail Arora, DJ and founder of KRUNK, played a live set for an at-home online party last week | Vijayeta Basu mirrorfeedback@timesgroup.com TWEETS @MumbaiMirror

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You walk into a bar in Mumbai and you’re likely to meet someone you know — or make a new connection.

That’s missing from our lives now; we wanted to recreate it with virtual parties —Siddharth Bhansali, founder of Noesis.Tech

t’s 10 pm on a Friday night. You wear a nice outfit, perhaps put on some make-up. But instead of making your way to your favourite pub or club — because #LockdownLife — you pour yourself a drink and plonk in front a computer, facing a screen which reflects 40 or so people, who are in the same predicament as you. That’s the situation Anushka Sani, a founder of a design studio, found herself in last week, when she attended the Home Turf Gathering party on video conferencing app Zoom, thrown by the folks behind the Bandra pub Bonobo, known for its live music. “It really changed the mood. I got to zone out of work for an hour and dance a little bit. What was even better is that I didn’t have to worry about getting home, and I could get into my trusted PJs anytime,” she says with a laugh.

In the age of social distancing, the aim is not to churn out mindless content, but content one can connect with, because connection is paramount at the moment. A fact Nevil Timbadia, partner at Bonobo, and his good friend Siddharth Bhansali, founder of Noesis.Tech, seem to understand. “Mumbai is such a cosmopolitan city. You walk into a bar, and there is a high chance that you will bump into someone you know — or make a completely new connection. That’s what is missing from our lives right now, and we wanted to recreate it with our virtual party,” says Bhansali. “Conversations are drying out — how much can one talk about the dishes they washed?

Eventually, everyone talks about Covid-19, which is depressing. We want people to let go and enjoy themselves, just dancing and partying,” says Timbadia, who plans to host this every Friday.

The two experimented with the concept two weeks ago with a trial run of 25 friends and friends of friends.

Last week’s party drew a total of 70 revellers — with 46 being the highest number of people on screen at the same time. Many of them decorated their rooms, put on silly costumes (one wore a horse face mask à la BoJack Horseman) and used whacky Zoom backgrounds. One couldn’t talk to people, but you could type out messages in the chat or use creative signs. Bhansali says they work around this by prompting people to do activities. “For example, we put up an image of a dance move, and spotlight a person, who then has to do it. Last week, at some point, people started copying one another — it started a fun Mexican wave of sorts,” says Bhansali.

“It’s cool [be]cause everyone got to be a part of it,” says Sohail Arora, the founder of KRUNK, an artist management, event and booking agency, popular in the music scene for throwing mad fun electronica parties. Arora, under the moniker Rafiki, DJed a live set for the party, which was being streamed via Twitch. “I got to interact

with the people through the comment thread, which was fun,” he adds. Arora shares that most DJs favour a longer format — where they can set the mood for their audience and play their songs as well as other artists’ works — unlike some musicians who can work with 15 to 20 minutes of live streaming on Instagram, for example. This is why he gets DJs to play hour-long sets every Saturday on KRUNK’s Facebook page. “That’s a straightforward livestream though, where people can interact by commenting in the chat. It’s still in the early days, but the coronavirus is forcing us to think more creatively”. Agrees Roycin D’Souza, a photographer and a digital marketing consultant, who occasionally DJs. “I think more DJs and producers will experiment, especially when it comes to visuals,” says D’Souza, who entertains his friends and acquaintances by playing feel-good tunes on Facebook Live. He does this from his bedroom, while using a large TV screen in the background to show trippy visuals. “I finally had some time to assemble all the AV gear I had collected over the years. I even worked on the visuals myself,” he adds.

There is a reason why dance music is a communal experience, says Vivek Dudani, the programming head of Social and AntiSocial. “I remember going to a big warehouse in Kamala Mills, in 2002, for my first ever electronica party — where trance artist VOID performed. I had never felt such energy before. You could see each and every beat bring happiness to all the partygoers,” says Dudani, adding that dance music radiates energy, which is therapeutic. “It makes people come together as one”. Dudani shares that many have called him, lamenting the loss of the performance space, and, as a result, his team has been brainstorming ways in which to create an immersive audio-visual experience for patrons. Currently, they feature free live performances of artists across genres on their social media platforms at 6 pm daily, and plans in the pipeline include DJ performances by JBabe (aka Joshua Fernandez of The F16s), Oceantied, and Watashi, a DJ from Japan.

“If I get a notification for a livestream, from Social or Krunk, I’ll go check it out and see if I dig it,” shares Viraaj Braganza, an associate vice president at Star TV. Before the lockdown, he would attend three gigs a week, sometimes two in one night. “The chatrooms for these streams is also a great place to catch up with a lot of the people I usually bump into at gigs, and who I haven’t seen in a while,” he adds. He wonders, though, how much more interactive things can get. “Everyone is trying to figure out the possibilities using all the software available, but every app has its limitations. What do you do if you have a band? How many video streams will you have to integrate? These platforms need to evolve,” he says. Till they do, late-night revellers must settle for this sliver of happiness — crazy video parties, where you can’t talk; livestreams of their favourite DJs, where you can only type comments; and watching friends play funky tunes from their bedrooms. Hic, hic, hurray!

THE SUNDAY READ

SundayMumbaiMirror

Sunday, April 26, 2020

11

The sound and

fury of silence Anti-noise pollution activist Sumaira Abdulali on what the trill of birdsong replacing the noise of traffic says about our degradation of the environment

O

ne day, just like that, I wake up unexpectedly to the Bombay of my childhood. So familiar, yet unfamiliar. In 2020, a dystopian, distorted dream.

The full moon sets behind a swaying coconut tree in my window, and lights fluffy clouds red-gold. As summer approaches, the intense fragrance of clustered champa and song of the dayal, sweetest of the songbirds, greets me. A bulbul’s call drowns it out, piercing the still-dark dawn.

Forty years ago, my father-in-law, ornithologist Humayun Abdulali, on whose recommendation the Borivali National Park was carved out from the rapidly urbanising city of Bombay — and who mentored some of today’s best-known environmentalists — chose this flat in Bandra for the trees and birds surrounding it. For the first time in decades, the now everyday cacophony of Mumbai, one of the noisiest cities in the world, reverts to the sounds of nature, and birdsong dominates once again. This is the dreaded world of coronavirus, where close at hand, my brothers and sisters who make up our workforce, began long marches home, away from the city, in unbearable heat.

Hunger and fear. Uncertainty.

A car headed nowhere is washed by a security guard who lives here now. The splash of water, the sound of a broom sweeping leaves. Dawn breaks and silhouetted trees come to life, bursting golden peltophorum and dark green leaves.

My car hasn’t been washed in weeks.

When the lockdown began, I called my driver, Sanjay Salunke. He hasn’t honked in the 15 years he has driven for me. He has assisted me in recording noise levels in Mumbai for years. Soft-spoken and gentle, he loves the quiet, too. But now he is shouting over the phone. I struggle to hear him, with the crowd drowning out his voice. In his slum, everyone lives in close proximity, jostling for space, unable to get out. I hear crying children, loud TVs from several directions. “Nothing to do but watch TV,” he says. “The news is so depressing. When will it end?”

I walk down to the kirana shop on the corner. My bag is heavy. I cross the street

when a cyclist cautiously approaches, fearful of proximity. I remember my cough from months ago, when coronavirus was still a faraway disease, in faraway Wuhan. The World Health Organisation (WHO) now says that many more people have it than is reported, all over the world. Back then, it was just a cough.

No one could imagine this dystopian world, calm, beautiful and closed. All is still and peaceful here at this corner, where I once met ornithologist Salim Ali, my uncle, every day after school, binoculars around his neck. Mangalore-tile roofed bungalows, gardens without walls, a twisting narrow road, mangoes and gulmohar. A kingfisher flashes past, jewelbright. “There!” he raises his binoculars.

At this same corner where Ali once lived, surrounded by trees where he birdwatched, I hold my decibel meter, and measure noise. It is well within 45dB now in the daytime, which is the legally permissible level for noise at night. This noisy street, where cars constantly honk, where the daytime decibel level in last month’s world was constantly above 85dB and sometimes beyond 100dB. The WHO says exposure to noise above 85dB has serious affects on our health.

In my Mumbai home, I listen to leaves rustling; watch as my friends, without domestic staff, experience housework

SOUND CHECK: Sumaira Abdulali at her home in Bandra West

for the first time ever. I sympathise with those whose family were stuck in places all over the world, and who had to be evacuated by special flights. I know some of the women who captained those essential flights. They are heroes.

But non-essential flights have stopped now. My sister in England cannot come home indefinitely. My planned visit to see her this summer will not happen. I wonder what will happen to airline travel and whether it will ever resume as before. Carbon emissions from air travel were a large contributor to climate change. Still, our work meetings were important. Our holidays were important, too. In the never-ending cycle of work, we needed a break to experience other places, and to meet friends.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

SundayMumbaiMirror

Sunday, April 26, 2020

THE SUNDAY READ

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 We meet our work colleagues, friends and relatives online now, talk to them more than before, without travel. We conduct meetings and submit work assignments from home; there are no cars on the road. The Mumbai Police, who just last month released a viral video of deafening noise from honking in Mumbai and threatened punishment to indiscriminate honkers, released a video of the Mumbai of today asleep, beautiful. There is no traffic and no honking.

Air and noise pollution have both declined. A friend sends pictures of flamingos in record numbers in the mangroves surrounding Mumbai, a living sea of pink.

Will the new technologies we are embracing now, meeting people online and working from home, keep noise and air pollution levels permanently lower? Will they help with mitigating climate change?

I call the woman who cared for my children 20 years ago. She lives in Dharavi where coronavirus has spread widely after someone returned from a religious gathering in Delhi. Once again, there’s intolerable noise in the background. Everyone is home, crammed together. I don’t need a decibel meter to know it is above 85dB. I always knew every day noise pollution disproportionately affects the poor.

Just like the coronavirus, slum dwellers have no windows to block out noise.

Complaints to me over the last 20 years tell of their inability, unlike ‘buildingwalas’ to block honking, noise from construction, religious places and every day recreational activities. “When our

sleep is disturbed at night, we cannot work in the day. But we depend on them for work every single day”. I receive a phone call from a village bordering a river pleading for help to stop increasingly vigorous activity of sand mining during lockdown. “I’m a student. I don’t want to tell you my name, but I can’t bear to see how this river is being destroyed”. Looking at the cost of delays in other countries, the call to lock down India was swift and forceful. But some say the coronavirus pandemic will continue to spread worldwide for the rest of the year.

What will happen to the economy and to people’s livelihoods?

Mining, power plants and urbanisation destroy natural habitats, forests and wildlife. With their village homes destroyed, many migrant labourers come to Mumbai, often to fulfil our lifestyles. Many migrants live unendurable lives here at the best of

The superhero solution for coronavirus Nagraj, the popular comic book superhero, is all set to face-off with ‘Coronaman’, in a bid to raise awareness | Anuka.Roy @timesgroup.com TWEETS @anuka_MIRROR

W

e don’t need superpowers to beat the coronavirus.

We need to stay home.”

This isn’t a quote from a Covid-19 awareness speech. This is Raj Comics’ popular superhero Nagraj, first introduced in 1986, recognising the correct action to defeat his latest nemesis ‘Coronaman’. While health workers and authorities are pulling out all the stops to contain the spread of the virus, in the fictional city Mahanagar, Nagraj has already eradicated it.

Around the end of March, the Indian

comics publishing house released a nine-page special issue, Nagraj Strikes: The Attack Of Coronaman, on social media — the issue can be read on Instagram and can also be downloaded as a PDF, in Hindi and English, from their Facebook page. In this issue, Nagraj has been tasked to prevent the character Coronaman from infecting people with Covid-19.

Father-son duo Manoj Gupta (president, Raj Comics) and Ayush Gupta (brand manager for the comics publishing house) have conceptualised the story.

The idea came about when their social media and WhatsApp feeds were flooded with messages about Covid-19.

“We thought why not appeal to our readers through the medium of comics,” says Ayush of the issue, which is very much a tribute to everyone who is on the frontline, fighting this virus.

While a page of a comic book is typically created over two days, the team got this nine-page edition out in just 72 hours. “Initially, we thought that Nagraj will defeat Coronaman,” he says. “But on further discussion, we decided that we should reinforce the message that the government is trying to spread — people can help fight this disease by staying home. Hence, in this edition, the empha-

times, ten to a room, with staggered sleep time, ‘hot-bunking.’ Now, they struggle to get back to their homes, where nature has been destroyed by GDP-driven development, ruination of natural habitats and escalating conflict with wildlife.

This is that moment when people and nature look deep into each other’s souls, as the virus threatens our entire modern civilisation. This is the moment to strike a sustainable balance between our need to travel to office or work from home, as we become more familiar with video conferencing; our need for holidays in faraway exotic locations versus those involving sustainable travel forms; to choose whether we will rashly embrace unsustainable consumerism at the risk of other future calamities, or reduce luxuries obtained at the cost of destroying nature.

This suspended reality provides the opportunity to choose our next steps and

Ayush Gupta (Left) and Manoj Gupta

sis was more on the common people than on Nagraj.”

Case in point: In one of the chapters, when Coronaman tries to enter a selfquarantined home, he is unable to spread the virus because the family has acted responsibly and followed the necessary guidelines to stay safe. That’s when Nagraj realises, it’s not his superpower, but the wise decision of people to stay at home that can save his city.

The comic’s art creator Aswin Amarnath R was provided a page-bypage description with the chronology of the situations that take place and given creative liberty to create Coronaman. In the comic, Coronaman is brown and green in colour with pink spots on his body and spikes on his head. “Most of the images on Covid-19 that I see on TV influenced the look of the character,” says the artist. Ashwin imagined the villain to be spiky and big. “When I was drawing my pages, I thought that his power is to spread viruses. So, I included the element of particles coming out of him,” he says. The challenge, for Aswin, however, was to fit as much information as possible on a single page, without making it seem dense.

Going digital According to Ayush, since the lockdown began on March 25, the number of people purchasing the online versions of their comic books has gone up considerably. “Since the release of the special edi-

12

the course of our future, to recognise the real costs of destruction of nature, to choose investment in research of time and money in a circular economy.

Last year, it was apparent that climate change is one of the biggest challenges to the future of our world and of life, as we know it, even as world leaders gave climate change mere lip service. In the midst of a city, we live in nature. Development and environment are intertwined and the survival of each depends completely on the well-being of the other.

Many in today’s cities, which are under lockdown, are experiencing the extreme beauty and vengeance of nature for the first time. The Covid-19 virus mutated to infect humans through exploitation of wildlife, and rampant destruction of natural habitats and forests, leading to unnaturally close proximity of animals and humans. Scientific reports record other potentially lethal viruses trapped under the melting ice of the poles, which may be released as climate change continues.

Only the voices of people, including each and every one of us, will goad real action for decision-makers to realise the inter-connectedness of all things, respect nature as it deserves and embrace a more sustainable development model benefitting rich and poor, humans and wildlife alike.

A coppersmith barbet pecks at the tree.

Son-champa and mogra scent the air. The Mumbai skies are clear, bluer than I have seen them in decades. Amidst this stunning collapse of the world, as we know it, hope springs eternal.

tion, they have recorded around 1,500 downloads of the issue on Google play books app,” he shares. Taking the digital route like other publishers, Raj Comics had already digitised about 2,000 of its 3,500 comics about five years ago. These are available on their app. However, there are still a few takers for print copies. “Print was on the decline even before the lockdown,” says the 23-year-old.

“But there are collectors and readers who prefer a physical copy because of the nostalgia aspect.”

So, while the emphasis is on digital editions, they will continue with the print versions as well. The publishing house sees an approximate monthly sale of around 40,000 to 50,000 physical copies, which includes both new books as well as reprints.

And although they don’t have plans to create comics featuring their other popular superheroes such as Super Commando Dhruv and Parmanu to fight Coronaman, Ayush says, “We do want to create a special issue where a few of our popular characters will tell children how they can utilise their time at home.”

You

#

Almonds are a good source of magnesium, which helps in curing intestinal problems and type 2 diabetes

HEALTH TIP: Black turtle beans are packed with fibre and nutrients, which guard against cardiovascular diseases

SundayMumbaiMirror

13

Sunday, April 26, 2020 mirrorfeedback@timesgroup.com facebook.com/themumbaimirror @MumbaiMirror

Lockdown

ASK THE SEXPERT DR MAHINDER WATSA

1 I am a 53-year-old

man, working in the Indian Army. I am generally fit and healthy, except for the fact that I suffer from an erection problem.

If I do get an erection, it only lasts for a minute and then automatically disappears. Can you recommend a medicine?

Without an examination, and without understanding your medical history, it will be difficult for me to assess the problem. Visit a doctor.

treats With most restaurants shut and limited takeaway options open, a few easy-to-whip up recipes to make your favourite bites at home

ONE-POT CAULIFLOWER AND CHICKEN OAT ‘RISOTTO’

| Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal mirrorfeedback@timesgroup.com TWEETS @_MumbaiMirror

2 I am a 21-year-old

man. I am worried as my penis is bent downwards. Will this create difficulty while having sex?

Or is it good to have a bent penis for penetration?

Just get rid of your anxiety.

Intercourse, in most positions, is done with the penis downwards. Visit a sexologist to decide a suitable angle.

3 My wife is 50 years old

and is going through menopause. For the last three years or so, she has shown little interest in sex. I am frustrated and whenever I try to talk to her, she refuses to have this conversation. Sometimes I have forced her to have intercourse. Is her behaviour normal?

Kindly take her to a gynaecologist and have a thorough medical and gynaecological examination. Also, try to understand if some action of yours has hurt her.

4 I am 22 years old and

have been in a livein relationship with my girlfriend for a year. She, too, is 22 years old, and for the last six months we have sex almost every day. Sometimes six or seven times a week, and in rare cases, twice a day. Is it harmful in any way?

It is not harmful to either of you in any way. Frequency of sex is a personal choice.

Please be sure to practise safe sex by using a condom every time. Remember, an emergency pill is not a replacement for a condom.

SEND YOUR QUERIES TO Ask the Sexpert, Mumbai Mirror, Times Of India Building, Dr D N Road, Mumbai 400001 or email at drwatsa@timesgroup.com.

Contact Dr Watsa, send an email to mcwatsa@hotmail.com

HEARTY BEETROOT FETA BURGERS “I wanted to surprise my wife with brunch and snuck into the kitchen to see what I could whip up. Some beets, frozen feta and burger buns were all I had to work with. Burgers are my go-to. My trick is to cook them low and slow for the best texture,” says Rajesh Kumar, the chief marketing officer of a global robotics company, and proud weekend chef.

TIME: 30 minutes | SERVES: 4-6 INGREDIENTS

Beets, 3, peeled and grated Feta/paneer, 100 gms Onion, 1, chopped Coriander, 3 tbsp, chopped Garlic, 1 tbsp, minced Oats, 75 gms Salt, to taste Paprika/

chilli powder, to taste Breadcrumbs, 2 cups Oil, 3 tbsp or as required To serve Burger buns, 6 Spreads and toppings of choice.

TIME: 30 minutes | SERVES: 6

METHOD

the beets, feta, 1 Blend onion, coriander, garlic, oats, salt and paprika into a sticky dough using a food processor.

breadcrumbs 2 Spread on a plate. Coat

hands in olive oil, divide beet mixture into 6 portions, shape

into patties, and coat in breadcrumbs. oil in a non-stick 3 Heat pan on medium heat.

Lower flame and fry patties slowly (about 3 to 5 minutes on each side) until nicely browned all over.

Serve hot with buns, sauces and toppings.

METHOD

“It was my brother’s wedding anniversary. My sister-in-law wasn’t feeling well. So I surprised everyone with a celebratory meal. I don’t usually cook.

These chicken strips are my only speciality. But some foraging in the fridge and a dash of creativity, and there we were. Everyone loved it. My secret ingredient is the seasoned breadcrumbs — they really add flavour,” shares Gautam Heble, a design and engineering executive.

Eggs, 2, lightly whisked Boneless chicken strips, 500 gms Herb seasoning, 2 tsp Salt and pepper, to taste FOR ASSEMBLY FOR CHICKEN STRIPS

Bread, 3 slices, toasted crisp

Olive oil, 2 tsp Onion, 1, finely chopped Garlic, 2 tsp, finely chopped Baby potatoes ¼ cup, halved Cauliflower, 1, cut into small florets Capsicum, half, cubed Chicken breast, 1, diced bite size Instant oats, 3/4 cup Salt, to taste Chicken stock /water, 2 cups Grated cheese, 1/2 cup

METHOD

TIME: 40 minutes | SERVES: 4

Hung yoghurt, 1 cup Garlic, 1/2 tsp, grated Salt and pepper, to taste Fresh coriander/ Parsley, 2 tbsp, finely chopped

INGREDIENTS

Topping options Basil pesto, flavoured oils, nuts, chutneys

CHICKEN AND HERBY YOGHURT WRAPS

FOR SPREAD

“It’s difficult to satisfy everyone on the food front these days. My son Tugga was craving risotto. I didn’t have risotto rice, so I cooked up this jugaad ‘risotto’ as a festive meal to kick-start his online school sessions.

What I love about this recipe is that it can be personalised to individual tastes. Tugga topped his with basil pesto and my husband Anindya, chose spicy chilli oil and peanuts.

Everyone was happy, including me,” says Madhushree Basu Roy of the duo behind the blog Pikturnama.

Rotis, 8-12 Salad, 2 cups, sliced or shredded

1

Pre-heat oven to 180°. Line up the chicken and eggs for assembly.

spread, combine all the 2 For ingredients in a bowl. Mix well

and refrigerate until required.

3

Blend toast, seasoning and salt together using a food processor to make crumb mix. Spread evenly on a plate.

assemble, dip chicken into 4 To egg and coat with crumb mix. Place on parchment lined a baking tray and grill for 10 to 12 minutes on each side. Serve hot with yoghurt spread, salad and rotis.

oil in a heavy pan. Add 1 Heat onions and garlic. Cook

until soft. Add potatoes and cauliflower. Stir-fry on high for 2 to 3 minutes. Add salt, reduce heat and cover.

Cook until half done.

chicken. Stir-fry on 2 Add high. Lower flame to me-

dium and cover. Cook until almost done. Add capsicum and stir-fry for a minute.

oats and stock/water 3 Add (if using water, adding 1 tbsp of any soup powder will fortify flavour). When oats are cooked, stir in cheese. Serve hot with topping options.

Chai-Time

JOKE OF THE DAY

I rebel; therefore I exist

I recently decided to sell my vacuum cleaner as all it was doing was gathering dust

whereas for 9, it is the 2 boxes placed vertically under it that must add up to 9. No zeros are used here, only the digits 1through 9.

Note: A digit cannot appear more than once in any particular digit combination.

For instance, in the example, we cannot have the combination of 4+7+4 for 15.

Rules » Connect adjacent dots with vertical or horizontal lines, creating a single loop (Fig A). » Crossovers or branches are not allowed (As shown by dotted lines in Fig B). » Numbers in the puzzle indicate the number of lines that should surround it, while empty cells may be surrounded by any number of lines. » You can’t draw lines around zeros. » Each puzzle has just one unique solution.

Sunday, April 26, 2020 mirrorfeedback@timesgroup.com facebook.com/themumbaimirror @MumbaiMirror

Sudokuchallenge

LOOP

Kakuro The numbers in the grey 15 9 squares refer to the sums of the digits that you must fill into the empty spaces directly below or to the right of the grey square containing the number. For instance, in the given example, the 3 boxes horizontally next to 15 must contain 3 digits that add up to 15,

14

SundayMumbaiMirror

MINDCHOW

Not allowed (Fig B) (Fig A)

How to begin: Example (Fig A) – Begin with the zero next to 3. Since no lines can be drawn around zero, mark crosses around it, as shown. Now there is a cross in one space around 3.

So we know the three lines of 3 can only be drawn in the remaining three spaces. Next, these lines can only be extended in one direction each.

Continue, using the same logic.

Hints: Keep eliminating possibilities by marking crosses in spaces between dots where a line isn’t possible, i.e, if you have already completed required lines or where a line extension may create a branch or cause a dead-end (Fig B)

To solve a Sudoku puzzle, every digit from one to nine must appear in each of the nine vertical columns, in each of the nine horizontal rows and in each of the nine boxes.

Gofigure

Easy

Place the four numbers in 5 the first, third, fifth, and seventh boxes and Medium whatever operators you care to use in the second, fourth, and sixth boxes in 2 the correct order to get the answer. Use the Hard numbers only once.

The operators

This crossword has no clues and answer is there waiting for you. All you have to do is find it in each square. You have a choice of two letters, one of which you must strike out. If you choose correctly, you will be left with a grid that contains real words.

Across

Down

1Apparel (4)

1A rate of inclination or slope?

3 Mumbai's western suburb

(8)

(8)

2 Sum up (5)

9 Consents to (7)

4 Surprised reactions? (3)

10 English royal house (5)

5 Business builder, in a way

11Temporariness (12)

(12)

14 __ de plume : a writer's

6 Slaves to drugs (7)

pen-name? (3)

7 Standard (4)

16 Ethiopia's only walled city

8 Seizing or arresting; grasp-

(5)

ing (12)

17 Body of water (3)

12 Relating to gold (5)

18 Superior or supreme (12)

13 An extinct mammal (8)

21Ice cream flavour ___-frut-

15 Shivaji or his follower (7)

ti (5)

19 Senior in age (5)

22 Harassed or pursued (7)

20 Stumpy remnant (4)

23 Boastful person (8)

22 Of a female (3)

24 Grain husks (4)

Riddler

Across

Down

1Taros 6 Me EEC 7 Siren 8 Gaits 9 Sawed

1Wears 2 O Mage 3 Daric 4 I sees 5 Netts

6 =3

3

5

9 = 32

2

2

6

6

8

Hocusfocus

Fastfive How long do you think it will take you to unscramble the ten words shown below and fit them correctly into the grid in the order given? One letter has already been entered to get you started. On your marks, get set…

6

Differences: 1. Finger is moved. 2. Window is larger.

3. Leaf is moved. 4. Flower is missing. 5. Glove is missing. 6. Book is larger.

Strikeout

Quick

=1

Quoteuncode

Mensapuzzle

Bull’seye

Alphatriangle

This puzzle is a substitution cipher in which one letter stands for another. If you think that Q equals C, it will equal C throughout the puzzle.

Single letters, short words and words using an apostrophe give you clues to locating vowels.

Solution is by trial and error.

Which letter replaces the blank and completes the sequence?

How many words of four or more letters can you make from the letters shown? Every word must contain the central letter. There should be one seven-letter word. British English Dictionary is used as a reference.

Beginning at the top move towards the bottom seven-letter word by adding a letter at each step and rearranging. A correct and different word must be made at each step answering to the clue given.

120th letter 2 Bye! 3 Gobbled up 4 Evaluate 5 Acceptor 6 Jujitsu cousin 7 Consume

TODAY’S CLUE: I EQUALS T. WUUFGI IPF UPWNNFXOFD DV IPWI AVT UWX CFFN IPF FQPLNWJWILVX VC RLUIVJA.

T D

T T

U

T

V A

T

E L

T T

06verage; 07 Good; 09utstanding

T

Which Indian batsman might think of "Trivia Kohl"

DIFFICULT TO SOLVE? FIND THESE SOLUTIONS ON THE NEXT PAGE

»

ChaiTime

comics

SundayMumbaiMirror

15

Sunday, April 26, 2020

SIGN POST

BABY BLUES BY RICK KIRKMAN & JERRY SCOTT

Shirley Bose

If it’s your birthday today Business/ career do leave this slow karmic cycle, so be patient. However, continue having talks, negotiations and meetings in the manner that suits you (over the phone, video conferencing, e-mails). Just taking one day at a time is the best way to deal with life and circumstances. Travel is avoided unless really necessary. Do modify the diet accordingly if advised to do so

JUMPTHE PHANTOM BY LEE FALKSTART

BETTER HALF BY GLASBERGEN

Capricorn

Taurus

Virgo

Though a holiday was cancelled, but you still enjoy spending time together. There is too much work to deal with at home.

Lucky days: 26th, 27th, 29th, May 2nd.

Colours: grey/ scarlet

Be sure about what you want and the direction you want to take life in.

Then focus on these thoughts.

Lucky days: 26th, 27th, 29th, 30th, May 1st, 2nd.

Colours: green/ aquamarine

Some endings and new beginnings are inevitable. Don’t resist them. Let go of worries, living each day with faith, appreciation and with trust. Lucky days: 27th, 28th, May 2nd.

Colours: white/ red

Aquarius

Gemini

Libra

Some negotiations have an amazing outcome finally. The relationship with elders passes through a transformation. Health is good, but exercise regularly. Lucky days: 26th, 27th, 30th, May 2nd.

Colours: indigo/ black

Avoid getting into a new relationship.

What you say creates karma. So be careful with words. Talks/ negotiations are in your favour. Lucky days: 26th, 30th, May 1st, 2nd.

Colours: grey/ yellow

Trust your inner knowledge, acting on thoughts that emerge. Obstacles to a relationship end very soon.

Soon you receive legal/ karmic justice. Lucky days: 26th, 29th, May 1st, 2nd.

Colours: lavender/ brown

Pisces

Cancer

Scorpio

Though what you feel and say is quite right, but avoid being impatient, explaining your point of view again if needed.

Lucky days: 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, May 2nd.

Colours: green/ purple

Standing up for beliefs is as important as having an open mind, willing to listen to other points of view.

Lucky days: 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, May 1st, 2nd.

Colours: turquoise/ brown

Dreams and wishes are manifesting quicker than you realize. Major decisions should be deferred to the following week if possible. Think carefully. Lucky days: The entire week is ready.

Colours: turquoise/ lemon

Aries

Leo

Sagittarius

Keep obsessive thoughts away, just enjoying time with family. Try to direct the conversation away from combustible topics/ points of view. Lucky days: 26th, 27th, 28th, 30th, May 2nd.

Colours: pink/ purple

A closer bond of love is revealed as feelings are discussed/ shared. Life turns around for the better very soon. Be patient.

Lucky days: 26th, 28th, May 1st, 2nd.

Colours: white/ rust

Making a quick decision is something you are good at. Completing a project requires you spend some time working. Health is good. Lucky days: 26th to 30th, May 2nd.

Colours: plum/ orange

REDEYE BY BILL YATES & MEL CASSON

SOLUTIONS Easy 6 - 6 + 6 - 5 =1 Medium 2+9-3-5=3 Hard 2 x 2 x 6 + 8 = 32

Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.

lave, vale, valet, value, valued, vault, VAULTED, veal, veldt

QUOTE UNCODE

BULL’S EYE

GO FIGURE

Virat Kohli

RIDDLER

FAST FIVE

STRIKE OUT

QUICK

T, Ta, Ate, Rate, Taker, Karate, Partake

L. Going clockwise in each square, letters increase in value by the same amount.

ALPHA TRIANGLE

MENSA PUZZLE

SU DOKU

LOOP

KAKURO

Volume No 14, Issue No 1 REGD. NO. MAHENG/2008/24180 Published for the proprietors, Metropolitan Media Company Limited, by R Krishnamurthy at The Times of India Building, Dr D N Road, Mumbai 400 001and printed by him at (1) The Times of India Suburban Press, Akurli Road, Western Express Highway, Kandivli (E), Mumbai 400 101. Tel. Nos. 66353535, 22733535 and (2) The Times of India Print City, Plot No. 4, T.T.C. Industrial Area, Thane Belapur Road, Airoli, Navi Mumbai-400 708. Tel. No. (022) 2760 9999; Fax: (022) 2760 5275, Response - 66353636, 22733636, Email - mirrorfeedback@timesgroup.com, Fax - 22731160. Editor: Pankaj Upadhyaya (Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act). Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of the Publisher is prohibited.

SundayMumbaiMirror

HINDU?

WHO IS A

Sunday, April 26, 2020

16

BY DEVDUTT PATTANAIK

THE SUNDAY READ

A fortnightly column that filters the voices on all sides

How was Hindu rajdharma different from Turuku’s?

The concept became especially popular in India between 300 AD and 1,300 AD. It was in this period that temples played an important role

P

eople often speak of a civilisational rupture that took place when Islam came into India. The easiest way to understand this is to go back in history and figure out the different ways in which kingship was perceived, in medieval India and medieval Persia, before 1,000 AD. In other words, what constituted ‘Hindu rajdharma’, and how different was it from what was called Turuku rajdharma by Indian kings?

A thousand years ago, Indian kings followed, what was called, the Rajmandala concept. At the centre of the Rajmandala were the king and his kingdom, and his patron deity in a large temple complex. Around him were the people who paid him taxes and chieftains who paid him tribute, which constituted his kingdom. Beyond that, they were his rivals. And beyond them, his allies. So, the kingdom was organised as a series of concentric circle, which was surrounded by the rivals, the foes and the friends.

Beyond the enemies, lay the enemies’ enemy, who became friends of the kings.

This concentric structure of power was visualised by Chanakya in Arthashastra.

Since the time of Ashoka the Great,

2,300 years ago, India never had a great king controlling a large area. The only great king after Ashoka was perhaps Kushan, who was not from India, but from northwest India. After him, came the Gupta kings from Pataliputra. But these kingdoms lasted a generation or two, and fell back to the old game of multiple Rajmandalas in tension with each other.

The Rajmandala concept became especially popular between 300 AD and 1,300 AD. It was in this period that temples played an important role.

Temples were how the king’s power was established. The king was the viceroy of the deity, and when the king was conquered, symbolically, the king’s temple would be made subject to the temple of the victor. Thus, you find, across India, large temples, which encompass smaller shrines. These shrines have images brought from neighbouring kingdoms, following their conquest.

This model did not exist outside of India. Certainly, not in China and, more importantly, the Middle East. A new model of kingship known as the Persianate model of kingship came from the Middle East, via Central Asia,

Afghanistan and Persia. Here, at the centre of the world, was the Sultan, who was surrounded by elite warrior squads, known as ‘slaves’. These were men who had been uprooted from their homes and brought into the service of the king. They were trained in warfare and, since they had weapons in their hand, they were not really subordinate to the king, but were treated as equals. However, the only condition was that, they would not marry, and would live in service of the king. They were thus a private army, fiercely loyal, with no ties to any other family or land. They were mobile ready to travel with the king, and share in his bounty and fortune. This distinguished them from Hindu kings, whose army was made of people who had family-based and land-based loyalties, who were therefore not mobile, and the loyalty was torn between the king and their clan.

Turkish kings focused on raids at first (from 700 AD to 1200 AD). Thereafter, they settled in India. But land was not given. It was leased temporarily and the harvest given as salary. The ‘slaves’ used the harvest to raise army who were at the service of the sultan. The land was not ‘hereditary’. The land always belonged to

the king, unlike Hindu kingdoms, where land could belong to various families of chieftains, also to temples and brahmins, who were given ‘copper plate’ for perpetuity, indicated by the symbol sun and moon. One can say that the Turkish king had a professional army – and the soldiers were motivated to update their military skills, and were rewarded to be mobile and travel to different lands. They were motivated to upgrade their skills – learn new battle techniques, which Indian kings and their armies were not particular driven to.

The Hindu kings followed the system of varna-ashrama dharma that dispensed differential justice based on caste. The Muslim kings knew that their soldiers expected them to be fair and so the cornerstone of their practice was ‘justice and equality’. In Hindu courts, your caste decided how you were treated. In Muslim courts, all allegiance to clan and family was rejected on grounds of ‘slave’ system and Islamic system, where no human was higher or lower in the eyes of Allah.

The old Indian system was based on circular kings, on hereditary kingship, and justice based on dharma-shastra that favoured landowners over landless service-providers. It was based on connection with the land and family relationship. Loyalty mattered, more than skill. The Turkish system had no kingship ties, no tribal affiliations, and who were free to migrate and settle in foreign unfamiliar lands. They were completely loyal to the Sultan, and there was no conflict with family loyalty.

All that mattered was the king. And the king had to be just to his ‘slaves’, if he wanted to recruit talent that was key to his success.

TRISHA GUPTA

Takes weekly stock of what’s in and out at the movies Write to Trisha Gupta at mirrorfeedback@timesgroup.com

The rules of the game A neighbourhood chess tournament provides both setting and metaphor in the Ektara Collective’s sharp and delightful indie Turup (Checkmate), currently free to stream online

U

nless, like Thelma and Louise, you plunge off the side of a canyon, there is no escaping the everyday,” wrote Geoff Dyer in his marvellously idiosyncratic sort-of biography of DH Lawrence, Out of Sheer Rage (1997). “To be free is not the result of a moment’s decisive action but a project to be constantly renewed,” he added. “There are intervals of repose but there will never come a moment of definitive rest where you can give up because you have turned freedom into a permanent condition. Freedom is always precarious.”

Dyer’s riffs on freedom and the everyday came back to me this week as I watched, for the second time, a lovely film called Turup (Checkmate), made in 2017 by an unusual group of filmmakers who call themselves the Ektara Collective. Turup is currently freeto stream online in the ‘Viewing Room’ set up by the organisers of the Dharamshala International Film Festival and addresses both the precariousness of our freedoms and the mundane, unglamorous, repetitive settings in which we must fight for them.

Set in the Bhopal neighbourhood of Chakki Chauraha, the film uses a public neighbourhood chess-board as narrative and metaphorical anchor for its finegrained take on a set of interlocked lives.

It is very much a feature film, with a script, characters, and often sharp turns of dialogue — but it has a documentarystyle sensitivity to its chosen milieu, attending carefully to the faces, spaces and sounds that bring it to life.

Some of Turup’s attention to the everyday is about catching playful moments of enjoyment. A man pauses to watch a woman he likes tying up her hair. A child hides some ber where an old man can find them. One young man cajoles another into betting on a chess game he’s not even party to. More often, though, what the film places under its observational microscope are aspects of Indian daily life that too often go unnoticed. An upper caste man tells a little girl to move away from her spot at a public chessboard with a wordless gesture of caste distancing, adding that she should take “her pieces” with her. An upper middle class woman fails to recognise the sweeper who cleans the street outside her house.

A husband thinks nothing of conducting large financial transactions from a marital ‘joint’ account without consulting his wife. A younger brother invites a potential groom’s family home to ‘see’ his elder sister because he disapproves of her choice of romantic partner.

That quasi-anthropological gaze, defamiliarising the familiar, forcing us to look at the inequities to which we usually turn a blind eye, is one part of what makes the film powerfully political. The other thing I think Turup gets right is how the local, the personal and the everyday are inextricably wound up with wider social, public and historical currents flowing through the country and shaping our times. Like a well-executed piece of ethnography, the film’s focus is small — one urban neighbourhood — but its socio-political canvas is large. It also manages to gesture to the ways in which our ‘local’ reality is now in constant conversation with mass media (Though I am less optimistic than Turup’s makers about the relative reach and effect of newspaper journalism and bigotryfilled WhatsApp forwards).

Made three years ago, the film is attuned to the rising tide of rightwing Hindu majoritarianism that now threatens to drown out all other political voices. At several points in the film, we see the mobilising of men — especially those who are unemployed, poor or in whatever way insecure — around the totem of the endangered cow mother, and the endangered Hindu daughter. The bogey of ‘love jihad’ is the apposite bedrock of Turup’s plot, revealing gender as the fault

line along which fictional ‘us’ and ‘them’ narratives can most easily be spun. “Apni ladkiyon ko kaaboo mein nahi rakh paye toh izzat gawaayenge,” says one man.

“Nahi maan rahi hai? Arrey toh manwaao,” says another, talking of a girl who is resisting a forced arranged marriage in favour of studying further and eventually marrying the man of her choice. A young Dalit man is shown as susceptible to such gendered messaging, especially when religion is thrown into the mix — but the film also reveals how caste is often the limit of Hindutva’s imagined solidarities. The same young man, who thinks he’s being enjoined to be part of a movement for dharam raksha, finds himself being urged to sacrifice a morning’s work to ‘help out’ with a blocked septic tank.

Turup offers no large victories.

What it holds out are small incremental achievements in what the Italian political philosopher Antonio Gramsci would have called a War of Position, a process in which cultural activities and social interactions are the locales in which people can begin to imagine new ways of being. The young Dalit man refuses the work for which his caste is seen to make him automatically ‘qualified’. A woman starts to claw back some power in her marriage by re-establishing some professional self-worth. An upper caste local bigwig finds himself losing a final to the young ‘outsider’. The wresting of freedom, as Dyer suggested, is part of the daily grind. But it is also a game in a continuing tournament.