CII asks companies to comply with competition law amid Covid crisis

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CII asks companies to comply with competition law amid Covid crisis

As businesses and enterprises face a severe crisis amid the coronavirus pandemic, industry body CII has cautioned that although tough times may prompt companies to collaborate with their competitors, they must take decisions and operate as per the anti-trust law and the Competition Act of 2002.

In its competition law compliance manual for corporates in the wake of novel coronavirus, CII noted that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) would keep a close watch for any potential competition law infringement during this period.

“The current COVID-19 crisis has created unprecedented challenges in India and across the world. This impact of COVID-19 on the functioning of the economy may prompt companies to collaborate with their competitors to tackle the uncertainty and hardship faced. However, companies must note that antitrust laws continue to apply and all business decisions undertaken by companies must not fall foul of the provisions of Competition Act, 2002,” said the industry manual.

It said that companies must carefully evaluate their business operations during the COVID-19 period, especially if their business operations might require close collaboration with competitors.

“The concrete antitrust risks surrounding any such collaboration remain difficult to assess. Given the absence of any guidance from the CCI, companies should tread with caution and consult their antitrust lawyers as and when required or while exploring any collaboration,” the CII manual said.

It said that companies should reach out to their external counsel to assess these risks and must avoid information exchanges through trade associations or any other platforms.

It said that while entering into any form of collaboration, companies should take care that the collaborative efforts must be limited to products or services directly affected by the pandemic or the exigency measures.

“Particularly, pharmaceutical companies should limit their collaborations on R&D to anti-COVID-19 vaccines and should not, in its garb, collude on other drugs,” it said.

All negotiations and internal discussions must be documented by companies and all collaboration arrangements must be reviewed beforehand by external legal counsel for any risks of contravening competition law principles and only pursuant to this review, should they be implemented, according to the CII manual among other suggestions.

Shastri meets ‘ICC regulations’ in huddle with dogs

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Shastri meets ‘ICC regulations’ in huddle with dogs

India head coach Ravi Shastri has been spending lockdown days with his pet dogs at home. And in the wake of the International Cricket Council (ICC) recently putting forward protocols that will have to be followed when cricketing action resumes, Shastri decided to follow the same while getting into a huddle with his dogs.

Shastri shared two pictures with his dogs on social media and wrote: “After me being given a dressing down in the social distancing huddle (meeting @ICC regulations), Skipper skipping off for a ground inspection after a light drizzle.”

While the first picture shows him in a huddle with five dogs, the second one sees one walking off in style, wearing shades.

Shastri, recently, also jogged down the memory lane to post a picture with “Ranji Trophy giant” Amol Muzumdar. Along with the picture he posted on social media, Shastri said it was India’s loss not to see Muzumdar play Test cricket.

“With one of Ranji Trophy giants — Amol Muzumdar. My last season was his first. I still believe it was Team India’s loss to not see him in whites,” tweeted Shastri earlier in the week.

At a time when all the international cricketing activities across the world are at standstill due to coronavirus pandemic, Shastri has been regularly posting throwback pictures to keep fans engaged.

Salman Khan to share special music video on Eid

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Salman Khan to share special music video on Eid

As the release of his latest film “Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai” has been pushed due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the country, Bollywood’s superstar Salman Khan will be sharing a special music video for his fans on the occasion of Eid on Monday.

Salman has been surprising his fans every year on Eid by releasing his films such as “Wanted”, “Dabangg”, “Sultan”, “Bajrangi Bhaijaan'”. This year was no different as his film “Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai”, was supposed to hit the theatres, reports timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

According to the reports, this year the “Dabangg” star will not be able to release his film but keeping his date, he will be treating his fans with a special Eid song on Monday.

According to the portal Salman’s fans and followers have been tweeting about the Eid special and shared that they would miss the superstar on the silver screen.Old photographs and videos showing how fans celebrated his movies were shared too on social media.

“Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai” also features Disha Patani, Randeep Hooda and Jackie Shroff, and is directed by Prabhu Deva, who also made “Dabangg 3”.

This is not the first time Salman will be releasing a song.

The “Sultan” star launched two songs — “Pyaar Karona” and “Tere Bina” amid lockdown.

Maruti Suzuki employee tests positive for coronavirus

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Maruti Suzuki employee tests positive for coronavirus

An employee of the Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) at Manesar plant, has tested positive for coronavirus, an official spokesman of the company said.

He last worked at the plant on May 15 after which his residence came into a containment zone and he did not join work thereafter.

He tested positive for the COVID-19 on May 22.

The Company has informed the district administration about the employee who has since been admitted to a hospital and his condition is said to stable.

“We are providing all medical help and assistance to him as per government guidelines,” the spokesperson said.

“There may be a possibility of a second case of infection that has just been reported. More information is being sought”, he said.

“The company has identified other employees who are working in his team. All of them have been asked to stay at home quarantine,” the MSIL official said.

“We have undertaken a contact tracing exercise and out of abundant caution all employees who possibly could have come in contact have been advised to stay in home isolation. The company has in place a robust and carefully designed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for maximum safety against infection spread at the workplace and transit, which goes well beyond compliance requirements. In addition, there is also a COVID-19 Task Force that closely monitors adherence to the SOP in the Company,” he said.

“There is no impact on the business operations of the company,” he added.

Severe heatwave will sweep northern, central India: IMD

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Severe heatwave will sweep northern, central India: IMD

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Sunday that severe heatwave will sweep parts of Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana in the next five days.

IMD Scientist Dr N. Kumar said: “Temperatures will continue to rise in Punjab, Haryana, southern UP, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and coastal Andhra Pradesh. In the next five days, these areas will see a heatwave or severe heatwave, with temperatures likely touching 47 degree celsius at some places.”

The weather agency said that the maximum temperature in Delhi is expected to touch 46 degrees Celsius on May 25 and 26 with severe heatwave conditions that will persist due to dry and northwesterly winds prevailing over northwest India.

The mercury will, however, come down to 38 degrees by May 30.

According to Mahesh Palawat of Skymet weather, Delhi and its surrounding areas, and northern plains in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh will get relief due to commencement of pre-monsoon activities like rain and dust storm.

On Saturday, the national capital recorded a maximum of 46.2 degrees Celsius — the highest this season.

Besides, the overall air quality index in the national capital stood at 160 micrograms per cubic meter, with the particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 and 10 microns recorded at 68 and 204 micrograms per cubic meter respectively.

In Pune, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, the AQI stood at 57, 44 and 82 micrograms per cubic metre.

Iran celebrates Eid amid social distancing

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Iran celebrates Eid amid social distancing

Iranians held massive collective prayers on Sunday to celebrate Eid, amid social distancing measures including masks and gloves due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Group prayers had been cancelled in the country for almost three months, although this restriction was recently lifted in low-risk areas and for special ceremonies, reports Efe news.

The faithful were also allowed to visit mosques on three important dates during the month of Ramzan, following sanitary protocols imposed by the authorities.

Those who went to religious centres to celebrate Eid wore masks and gloves and placed their prayer mats at a minimum distance from each other to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Hundreds of people gathered at the Bagh-e-Feyz mosque in Tehran, happy to be able to participate in collective prayer again after so long.

Some were still fearful of the contagion and not all the city’s mosques held ceremonies, notably including the Grand Mosalla mosque which cancelled prayers which would have been led by Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Prayers at Bagh-e-Feyz were held outdoors in a large street in front of the building, something that is customary during Eid celebrations every year to accommodate the huge crowds that gather.

Iran, a former COVID-19 hotspot, has recorded more than 7,300 deaths and 133,000 infections, out of a population of almost 82 million.

Despite the fact that new daily infections remain high, another 1,869 cases were detected on Saturday, Iranian authorities have said the disease is contained and have eased a large part of the restrictions imposed.

Religious and cultural centres will reopen throughout the country after Eid celebrations, although with time limitations in a bid to avoid a resurgence of infections.

Museums, historical buildings and tourist sites have also reopened and all workers must return to their jobs from Saturday.

President Hassan Rouhani announced the reopening in a televised statement on Saturday.

He said last week that restaurants would reopen and sporting events resume after Ramzan.

NYT devotes front page to COVID-19 victims

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NYT devotes front page to COVID-19 victims

The New York Times has devoted its entire front page to the names of 1,000 of the COVID-19 victims as the US approaches nearly 100,000 virus deaths, the current highest in the world.

The Sunday edition’s front page comprises a simple list of names and personal details taken from obituaries around the US, the BBC reported.

The headline is “US deaths near 100,000, an incalculable loss”, with a sub-heading that reads: “They were not simply names on a list. They were us.”

New York state, the epicentre of the US coronavirus pandemic, has recorded 385,000 confirmed cases, with 23,195 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

New York City accounts for 197,000 infections and 16,149 fatalities.

As of Sunday, the US registered the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 1,622,670 and 97,087, respectively.

Creating an alpine kitchen

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Creating an alpine kitchen

As we face restrictions on global travel across the world, it is most natural for us to “Dream Now Travel Later”.

To get you loser to those dreams, why not whip up some cuisine from the various kitchens of around the globe for an authentic taste of a country while in quarantine?

It is a good idea to travel through world cuisine to get a taste of your most loved destination.

Here are the top easy to make recipes from the alpine nation Switzerland with ingredients available in our kitchen.

Alpine Macaroni
Known to the Swiss as Alplermagrone, is the ultimate comfort food one can find on the slopes of the famous Alps. This dish is found everywhere on restaurant menus from Appenzell to Zermatt, through Lugano and St. Moritz.

This Swiss version of Macaroni and cheese is best eaten after a long hike or trek, as most Swiss will tell you, it tastes better when you’ve earned it. But staying at home- keeping yourself and others away from harm’s way, it is safe to say that we have earned it. The ingredients for this wholesome dish are all simple and can be found easily in our pantry. Some vegetables, pasta and decent cheese, are the only things that you will need to re-create this alpine dish in the kitchen.

Cheese Fondue
If you have your air conditioners on then this taste of Switzerland is just right for you. Indulge in some fondue, a generous dose of creamy cheese with the pieces of bread just like the Swiss do. The country is known for its best fondues, however, there are many different styles and versions. One of the best variations is the Fribourg, the moitie-moitie, made from spicy Gruyères and softly melting Vacherin cheeses.

It’s great for a Saturday night cheat meal? Melt up the cheese and serve it with vegetables, lavash, croutons and potato wedges, giving it an interesting twist while you binge watch on your favorite shows.

Rosti
Also known as “Rostigraben” (Rosti ditch), originally a farmers’ breakfast from German-speaking Switzerland, is now a Swiss national dish with each region having its own version. The Bernese, for example, are known for their crispy Rosti fried in butter.

This classic comfort food is surprisingly easy to make, with some tricks along the way, and it turns potatoes into a main meal. The recipe can be summarized in five words: grate potatoes sauteed in butter. The resulting dish is a pancake of potato, crispy brown on the outside, gooey, buttery, potato-licious inside. This is a dish that is easy-peasy to create in your kitchens for a lazy Sunday brunch.

Meringue
A sweet kiss with egg whites and a sugary pastry invented around the year 1600. Since the delicate and airy pastry made from egg whites and the thick battered Gruyeres cream complement each other so well, one easily understands why Meringue is a favorite dessert in the land of Fribourg. You can enjoy your meringue in two ways one slowly baked, transforming into crisp cookies or as dessert on top of a cake.

E-exhibition explores London through past epidemics

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E-exhibition explores London through past epidemics

London, like the rest of the world, has been affected in unprecedented ways by the current COVID-19 crisis. Its past has been mired in many epidemics and pandemics over the centuries including plague, cholera, smallpox, influenza and HIV/AIDS.

A digital exhibition launched this week showcases vignettes of this part and offers a peek into historical remedies.

The Museum of London’s ‘Disease X: London’s next epidemic?’, that originally opened between November 2018 and March 2019, is now available online on the museum’s website, while its physical doors remain closed to visitors.

As per the museum, the opening of ‘Disease X’ in 2018 had marked the 100th anniversary of the second and most deadly wave of the so-called ‘Spanish Flu’. The digital exhibition shares the stories, objects and words of the original display to demonstrate what the past can tell us about historical maladies, their impact on London and its people and the different methods used to fight back.

Exhibits include the mourning dress worn by Queen Victoria to mark the shock passing of her grandson Prince Albert Victor due to ‘Russian Flu’; a 17th-century pomander used to waft away the foul smells thought to cause diseases like the plague and a poster advertising ‘Flu-Mal’, which dubiously claimed to combat both influenza and malaria.

“When we opened the exhibition in 2018, almost two years before the current global health crisis, we did not attempt to predict what might cause a future disease outbreak in London, or when it might occur. Instead, we aimed to link past, present and future together by using our historic collections, new historical research and interviews with top epidemiologists and public health experts to look at what impact any future outbreak may have on London,” said Vyki Sparkes, Curator of Social & Working History at the Museum of London, said in a statement.

Adding, “‘Disease X’ explored how London faced many epidemics through history for which it had no cure but also gave notes of hope, including the development of the first vaccine by Edward Jenner, the global eradication of smallpox in 1980 and the pioneering work in reducing HIV infections by 56 Dean Street sexual health clinic. It also provided an important reminder of the people behind the statistics through focusing on the personal stories of four Londoners who sadly died during the so-called ‘Spanish Flu’ epidemic.”

India helps Uganda to set up military war game centre

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India helps Uganda to set up military war game centre

Indian Association in Uganda, with help of the Indian Military training team, set up a military war game center in Jinja district. On Sunday, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni inaugurated the war game centre conceptualized by the Indian military team for Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF).

While commissioning the wargame centre at the Uganda Senior Command and Staff College in Kimaka in Jinja District, the President said, “This centre is also a great gesture of the wider cooperation and support we enjoy with the government and the people of India.”

He also hailed the relationship between the UPDF and the Indian army which he said has a lot of knowledge, experience and heroism.

“Our relationship with India has existed for centuries. We were colonized together by a small group of people who came from Europe, but when we all woke up, and the small groups ran away. During that time, we fought together first against the Japanese in Burma. The heroic Indians are the ones who stopped the westward expansion of Japan at the famous battle of Kohima,” he said.

The war game centre is named ‘INDIA’ and is a type of strategy game that simulates warfare realistically, as opposed to abstract strategy games such as chess.

Brigadier Ranjit Singh, Head of the Indian military team said that it is a fitting token of gratitude from the Indian community of Uganda for the UPDF, which has been the stabilizing force in Uganda and the region for over three decades.

The war game centre, constructed with an amount of over 1 billion Ugandan Shillings ($265,000), has been funded by voluntary contributions from Ugandans of Indian origin.

Lieutenant General Andrew Gutti, Commandant of Senior Command and Staff College, where the Wargame Centre has been constructed, highlighted that the Indian Military Training Team has been a trusted partner of UPDF over many years.

He said that the landmark training aid will help make the UPDF Senior Command and Staff College a centre of excellence in the entire region and it will remain a lasting symbol of the special bond that Indians in Uganda share with UPDF and India shares with Uganda.

Health Ministry team interacts with officials of 11 corona-hit municipal areas

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Health Ministry team interacts with officials of 11 corona-hit municipal areas

Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan along with other senior officials of the Health Ministry on Saturday interacted with representatives of 11 municipal areas from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan which have reported a high number of COVID-19 cases.

These areas alone account for 70% of India’s active case-load.

A presentation was made to highlight the trend in case trajectory with respect to total confirmed cases, the fatality rate, doubling time, tests per million and confirmation percentage.

The major challenge lies in those corporations having shorter doubling time, higher mortality rate and a higher confirmation rate than the national average.

They were briefed about the factors to be considered while mapping the containment and buffer zones; the activities mandated in containment zones such as perimeter control, active search for cases through house-to-house surveillance, contact tracing, testing protocol and clinical management of ‘active’ cases.

Surveillance activities in the buffer zone such as monitoring of SARI/ILI cases, ensuring social distancing and promoting hand hygiene were also stressed doing the interaction.

Key officials from the Health Ministry told the representatives of the municipal corporations to maintain high vigilance and monitoring in areas of old cities, urban slums and other high-density pockets along with camps or clusters of migrant workers.

Sudan’s team told the affected corporations that screening of high-risk population and groups and effective and sturdy clinical management of the admitted cases are necessary to reduce the fatality rate.

The ministry team also said that out of those 11 corporations, which are yet to create a 24/7 control room, must do it on priority.

Testing needs to be stepped up, Sudan’s team told the corporations, which can help in early detection of COVID-19 cases, timely clinical management and a reduction in fatality rate.

Also highlighted were better coordination and the use of local languages.

Some good examples were also shared: Mumbai Municipal Commissioner briefed about establishing close cooperation between private hospitals and municipal authorities for pooling in the health infrastructure such as the ICU and oxygen beds. The authorities in Indore focused on contact tracing and active house-to-house surveys.

GoAir to resume operations in phased manner

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GoAir to resume operations in phased manner

Budget passenger carrier GoAir on Saturday said it will start accepting ticket booking from May 25 onwards after receiving clarity on states’ flight acceptance and quarantine norms.

Accordingly, the company has received a modified flight schedule based on one-third of its pre-COVID approved summer 2020 network.

“This is in line with the calibrated ramp-up capacity allocation policy outlined by the Ministry of Civil Aviation,” the airline said in a statement.

“GoAir is ready and prepared to resume safe operations after the two-month lockdown.”

According to the company, it awaits clarity on the readiness of the respective states and their airports with regard to acceptance of flights, or the conditions applicable to passengers entering the respective states.

“Without clarity on these conditions, GoAir does not wish to inconvenience its passengers by putting on sale flights immediately post May 25 which they may book, that will not be permitted to operate to the respective states or may have conditions for arriving passengers of which they may be unaware,” the statement said.

“On receiving clarity GoAir will open its site for bookings post the 25th of May up to the 31st of May as and when & where appropriate.”

Besides, GoAir said that it has already been on sale for its entire network of flights commencing June 1 and appreciates the initial customer response which has been very positive.

South America becomes new epicentre of Covid-19: WHO (Ld)

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South America becomes new epicentre of Covid-19: WHO (Ld)

South America has become the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

With a total of 330,098 COVID-19 cases, Brazil has since surpassed Russia as the country with the second-highest number of infections after the US.

The rest of the continent has not fared much better. Peru has 108,769 cases, Chile 61,857, Ecuador 35,828 and Colombia 18,330 positive cases.

The rest of the continent is suffering in smaller numbers, but the rates of increase are not showing signs of flattening just yet.

“We’ve seen many South American countries with increasing numbers of cases and clearly there’s a concern across many of those countries, but certainly the most affected is Brazil at this point,” Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s emergencies program, said at a news briefing on Friday.

“In a sense, South America has become the new epicenter for the disease,” he added.

Brazil reached the grim milestone after it reported 20,803 new cases on Friday, while fatalities climbed by 1,001 to 21,048.

In Brazil, Sao Paulo state, home to 46 million of the country’s 210 million people, accounts for 76,871 cases and nearly 30 percent of the deaths.

Next comes Rio de Janeiro, whose capital city is experiencing a coronavirus mortality rate of 12.7 percent, almost double the national rate of 6.5 percent, according to the IBGE statistics agency.

The country now has its third health minister in a month.

Apart from promoting the use of chloroquine, the Brazilian government continues with lack of a clearly enunciated strategy to combat coronavirus, the peak of which in Brazil is expected in July.

President Jair Bolsonaro, meanwhile, continues to downplay the seriousness of the disease and is exerting pressure to reopen the country and resume economic activities of all sorts, this at a time when the country may be en route to surpassing the US as the world epicenter of the pandemic.

Kareena, Karisma share pic of their boys in lockdown

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Kareena, Karisma share pic of their boys in lockdown

B-Town siblings Karisma and Kareena Kapoor on Saturday shared a picture of their sons, giving a glimpse of what the star kids are upto amid lockdown.

In the snap, we see Kareena’s son Taimur watching his cousin Kiaan (Karisma’s son) as the latter hones his Taekwondo moves over a video call.

“Brothers in lockdown… Tim watching Kiaan during his taekwondo class …New normal! #purelove #myjaans #family,” Karisma captioned the image.

Re-sharing Karisma’s post, Kareena wrote: “Loves of my life …#MyBoysInLockdown.”

A few days ago, Kareena shared an image where her husband Saif Ali Khan can be seen holding a large piece of white cloth that has palm prints of the duo as well as Taimur’s.

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#quarantimdiaries 😘😍🥰🥰

A post shared by Kareena Kapoor Khan (@therealkareenakapoor) on

Hyderabad airport set to resume ops with focus on contactless boarding

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Hyderabad airport set to resume ops with focus on contactless boarding

After remaining shut for commercial operations for two months due to the Covid-19 lockdown, Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is all set to resume the domestic flight operations from Monday.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL), which operates the airport, on Saturday said it was geared up to provide a safe and healthy environment with a robust contact-less boarding experience for the passengers.

Commercial operations of domestic and international flights were suspended from March 24, in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The airport operator has taken a slew of measures with a focus on seamlessly contact-less boarding experience for passengers and stringent safety measures like thermal scanning of every departing passenger, the availability of automatic hand sanitizer dispensers at various places, placing floor markers, staggered seating arrangements, allocation of entry gates and check-in islands for departure passengers to encourage compliance of social distancing norms and minimize human contact.

“Already equipped with fully paperless e-boarding facility since long, Hyderabad International Airport will be offering technology-based contact-less boarding for passengers across all passenger touchpoints. The Hyderabad International Airport has undertaken robust deep-cleaning and sanitization across the entire terminal and passengers need not be in the least apprehensive, as passenger safety is our priority,” said SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL.

“We shall continue to work on spreading awareness about the new normal that has come into place and highlight the importance of social distancing and personal care and hygiene,” he added.

As per the government guidelines, provisions will be made for thermal scanning of passengers. In order to avoid close contact and crowding at the counters, passengers will be encouraged to check-in at home or use self-service facilities such as self-check-in facility, self-bag tag facility, and scan & fly.

Special disinfection systems have been put in place to disinfect all baggage moving through the airport’s baggage handling systems, passenger trolleys and hand baggage security screening trays, GHIAL official said.

Passengers departing will be able to personally collect freshly disinfected baggage trolleys on the departure ramp itself from the newly deployed trolley disinfection tunnels, ensuring that no one else touches the disinfected trolleys before collection by a passenger.

Similarly, each security screening hand baggage tray moves through a disinfection tunnel before arriving at the collection point for use by passengers, ensuring sanitized, untouched trays are available to every passenger for their use.

The airport has deployed 48 self check-in kiosks safely staggered as per social-distancing norms across the airport forecourt area and at check-in halls for a contact-less boarding experience.

GHIAL has enabled each self-check-in kiosks with a touch-less technology, with the help of which, passengers can scan a QR code displayed on each kiosk and capture the screen of self-check-in kiosk on their mobile phones to complete Check-in and receive the print of boarding card and baggage tags for bag drop in no time.

All these kiosks are capable of dispensing both boarding cards and baggage tags for the check-in luggage for all major airlines.

Working on shooting and physical training: Harvinder

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Working on shooting and physical training: Harvinder

Ace para archer Harvinder Singh said that he is now working on shooting and physical training with the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown in the country. Harvinder is currently training in Haryana and said that he had been planning to travel to the Czech Republic and Italy for competitions before travel restrictions came into place.

“I have tweaked my training routine and I’m now focusing on shooting and physical training,” Harvinder told the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). “Apart from shooting, I am working out with my physio – strengthening, conditioning and core exercises in the evening sessions,” said Singh, who shot into limelight with his marksmanship at the Indonesia 2018 Asian Para Games (APG), where he won India’s first-ever gold medal in Para archery.

“Before the Asian Para Games, nobody knew me. I was happy that I lived up to my promise and above everyone’s expectations,” said Harvinder, adding that he had put four years of relentless effort in his pursuit for gold.

“It was one of the most difficult phases in my life; I had lost my mother 20 days ahead of the Games. But I kept my focus going and never let my motivation down and gave my best. Though I had worked hard, the gold medal was surely a surprise and it was all for my mother,” he said, reminiscing his APG 2018 exploits.

Harvinder said that wind and humidity will be important factors at the Tokyo Paralympics. The event was scheduled to be held from August 25 to and September 6, 2020 but then got postponed to August 24 to September 5, 2021.

“I was a little disappointed as I have been training hard but now we have to look ahead and move on. Humidity and wind will be the key factors in Tokyo. How better I can fight these two factors will decide my fate in Tokyo,” he said.

“I was hoping to train in Europe before the Games and also take part in two competitions in Italy and the Czech Republic. Getting some competition practice before the Games will also be important. I had prepared my proposal accordingly. Now, we have to wait and watch.”

Lockdown diaries: Terence Lewis misses holding hands, stealing kisses

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Lockdown diaries: Terence Lewis misses holding hands, stealing kisses

Ace choreographer-dancer Terence Lewis feels the worst part about the lockdown is being single. Indeed, social distancing has taught the value of physical intimacy.

“The worst part about this lockdown is being single. I have realized the importance of physical intimacy and miss holding hands and stealing kisses every now and then,” said Lewis, about how he misses being in a relationship.

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown, Terence says the only thing that has kept him going is trying to stay surrounded with positivity. He keeps himself busy with work.

“I have worked more in the last two months than I ever have in the past two years,” he said.

Terence opens up about his lockdown period in a conversation with Kusha Kapila in an episode of “Go Fun Yourself”, which streams on Voot.

Earlier in an interview, the choreographer said his life in lockdown is pretty busy.

“Days are busy with lots of shoots, interviews and even online appearances and judging! With all the technology available today we are constantly active online. My institute is conducting classes online, with a big dance camp (May 18-23). I am busy with planning and promotions. And like everyone else — I have to cook and clean my house. I do make it a point to fit in some time for yoga and meditation as well, it’s so important for my well-being,” Lewis, who has judged many dance reality TV shows, told IANSlife.

Kerala reports record 62 new cases in single day

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Kerala reports record 62 new cases in single day

Kerala on Saturday reported a record 62 novel coronavirus cases in a single day.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in his Facebook post that of the 62 new cases, 18 had returned from abroad, 31 from within the country, and 13 got the infection from secondary contacts.

At present, there are 272 positive patients under treatment across the state. On Friday, the state reported 42 new cases.

But senior Indian Medical Association office-bearer S.M. Zulphi said there was no need to worry.

“It was expected. The figure may go into three digits as a large number of people from abroad and within the country arrive in Kerala. The state is fully geared and has an excellent system of tracking and tracing. So, there need be no serious worries at all,” said Zulphi.

Since May 7, hundreds of Keralites started arriving from abroad. By now, 7,303 people have arrived in Kerala and over 4 lakh others are registered to travel to their native state from abroad.

Around 78,000 of them over 2 lakh people who have registered for return to Kerala from within India have already arrived.

State Minister for Culture A.K. Balan said that everyone was aware that corona cases will increase once Kerala people start returning home and the only way to prevent the spread of coronavirus was to listen to the advice of health authorities.

“Life has to go on and economic activity has to take place. There is only one way out — listen to health authorities. We cannot always keep everything under lock and key; instead maintain social distancing and use sanitizers. Kerala did very well in the first two phases and now the cases will increase since people are returning. All people have to cooperate and adhere to protocols,” said Balan, whose Palakkad district reported 17 positive cases on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Kerala Police chief Loknath Behra on Saturday launched a new campaign ‘learn to live with Covid-19’ using 75,000 student cadets as volunteers along with their family members. it includes post-card campaigns and handing out face masks to members of the public.

Countries will have to compromise in current scenario, says Finch

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Countries will have to compromise in current scenario, says Finch

Australian limited-overs captain Aaron Finch anticipates a lot of compromises that stakeholders will have to make so as to get cricket up and running again after the coronavirus pandemic. International cricket, like most major sport, has been frozen since March with a number of international series and T20 franchise tournaments postponed.

“It will get to a point, not just for IPL (Indian Premier League) but for all cricket, there’ll be a compromise from a lot of different stakeholders — organizations, countries, players, the ICC — to get cricket back and countries thriving again,” Finch was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.

“I think the ICC are meeting next week to start discussing the FTP [Future Tours Program] again. In the next couple of weeks we’ll have more idea what that looks like, what compromises will be made for different tournaments and countries.

“Everyone working together to get the best result for everyone. In some situations where it’s not ideal for Australia we have to compromise and give. It will be one big effort, I think.

“With India coming out here this summer, Kevin (CA CEO Roberts) said it was a nine out of 10. I think there will be given and take in a lot of different things like that.”

Many corona cases in short time in Zee Media, extreme containment required: Admin

Telugu Bullet
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Many corona cases in short time in Zee Media, extreme containment required: Admin

The Gautam Buddh Nagar District Surveillance Officer has prepared a report on Covid-19 cases found in Zee Media and found that in a very short duration, a large number of cases have been detected in the organization.

The report has found that the transmission of the disease has occurred at the workplace in the Zee Media office in Sector 16, Noida.

It has recommended extreme containment measures to prevent the spread of the disease. The recommendations include keeping the fourth-floor area sealed till all reports of employees are received.

The other measures include active surveillance of all employees and surveillance of all family members of employees of Zee News, which is
being done.

The district administration has recommended that if there is any other patient who is positive, then the area will be sealed for sanitization and containment.

Contact tracing of all the employees will be done and a health department team will continue daily visits to screen the employees for
development of symptoms.

The report said that in Zee Media situated at Sector 16, a worker, who is a resident of Delhi, was tested for Covid-19 and found positive on May 15. This information was given to the District Surveillance Unit, G.B. Nagar.

Rapid response teams were immediately dispatched to the location and screening of all employees was undertaken. The close contacts of
positive patients were selected and sent for tests.

A total 51 samples were collected and sent for testing, of these 28 ‘positive’ patients were found.

Out of this, `15 patients were resident G.B. Nagar while the rest were residents of Delhi and Ghaziabad. They were all admitted in GIMS
Greater Noida.

For the last three days, a health camp for screening of all 400 employees of this company was undertaken to find close contacts of
positive patients. The entire building has been sanitized repeatedly daily since May 15 to prevent spread of the infection.

The report said that 267 employees were screened and given medication in the health camp. 50 employees were selected as close
contacts. They were sent for testing of Covid-19. All of them are currently in institutional quarantine.

As many as 252 employees who were in home-quarantine were listed out and put on surveillance. Every day, health personnel are calling them and collecting data regarding development of symptoms.

One more employee of Zee Media has tested positive yesterday. He has also been admitted in the hospital for treatment.

The entire fourth floor, where the index case was found has been sealed to prevent entry of employees and contain the infection.

As per assessment, the employees who tested positive were only working on the fourth floor of the building and all employees who worked on
this floor have been shifted to a neighbouring building.

Currently only 150-200 workers are reporting for work in this organization. They are asymptomatic. Medical teams are screening every
one coming for work.

The surveillance officer has noted that in a very short duration, a large number of cases have been detected in this organization.

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