After 31 top defaulters flee, India seeks to shut the gates

After 31 top defaulters flee, India seeks to shut the gates

Govt has compiled a list of people it is considering barring from leaving the country because of their involvement with companies that have defaulted on loans.
Bloomberg|Last Updated: Mar 15, 2018, 04.52 PM IST

By Shruti Srivastava and Anto Antony

From London to St. Kitts, India’s struggling to extradite businessmen it claims have fled the country after defaulting on billions of dollars of bank loans. Now it hopes to stop others from leaving.

The government has compiled a list of 91 people it is considering barring from leaving India because of their involvement with companies that have defaulted, said a person with knowledge of the matter.

The people were selected because of their roles as directors or owners of Indian companies which have been identified as so-called wilful defaulters, firms which refuse to repay loans despite having the means to do so, the person said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Some 400 Indian companies have been classified as wilful defaulters.

In addition he Governmebnt has asked Indian banks to provide passport details of a larger group of individuals who have signed applications or stood as guarantors for soured credits of more than Rs 50 crore ($7.7 million), the person said, declining to elaborate. Some individuals from that group may also be barred from leaving the country if they are found to have committed fraud or engaged in wilful defaults, the person added.

Mounting Anger
Pblic anger against the government is mounting after two prominent jewelers left the country just before their alleged involvement in the nation’s biggest bank fraud came to light. Less than a month after first details emerged, lawmakers introduced a bill that will give authorities power to impound the assets of fugitive offenders -- people who have fled the country after committing an economic offence involving 1 billion rupees or more.

Some 31 Indians have fled abroad to avoid prosecution, lawmakers were told in parliament on Wednesday. These include Vijay Mallya, the tycoon behind India’s best-selling beer, who’s becoming something of a fixture in London courts as he fights cases including extradition. Also named are Nirav Modi, his wife Ami Modi and brother Neeshal Modi, who’re accused in the Punjab National Bank fraud, and Jatin Mehta, another jeweler who allegedly fled to St. Kitts. The Modis deny any wrongdoing.

“It is logical that someone accused of an offence is not allowed to leave the country because extradition requires proof of criminal offence and it is difficult to establish this beyond doubt,” Aditya Puri, the chief executive officer of HDFC Bank Ltd., told the Times of India in an interview published last week. “Banks are custodians of public money"

With national elections due early next year, the government is under pressure to act against wealthy defaulters. India’s regulator has also stepped up efforts to clean up $210 billion of bad loans in the banking system, partly by tightening bankrupcy rules.

Tjhere is a lot of pressure on the industry right now,” said Arpinder Singh, a partner at EY who oversees fraud investigations across India and emerging markets. Finance Ministry spokesman D.S. Malik didn’t respond to calls made to his mobile phone seeking comment on the government’s steps.

"Those who had funneled money overseas hoping to flee if the recovery push comes to shove will be worried,” said Kranthi Bathini, director of Mumbai-based financial advisory company WealthMills Securities Pvt. “While some horses have already bolted to countries with tough extradition laws, it is not yet too late to close the gates.”

Zee News & News 18 India on Arab states, Ramdev breaks rules with ‘lauki’ juice on India TV

Zee News & News 18 India on Arab states, Ramdev breaks rules with ‘lauki’ juice on India TV
A quick take on what prime time TV news talked about.
KAIRVY GREWAL 30 April, 2020 9:49 am IST

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev | ANI Photo
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New Delhi: Prime time discussions Wednesday circled around the coronavirus (obviously!) and the remarks made by Delhi Minority Commission Chairman Zaraful-Islam Khan. Khan thanked Arab nations for their support to Indian Muslims Tuesday.

Most Hindi TV anchors were greatly agitated by this statement.


Zee News’ anchor Aman Chopra was feeling rather poetic, “Mere angne mein Muslim deshon ka kya kaam,” (What’s the need of Muslim nations in my land?).

Then he had a bad thought: “Ramzan ke mahine mein Hindustan ki barbaadi ke sapne dekh rahe hai,” (At the time of Ramzan, people are dreaming of India’s destruction).

Tarek Fateh, Pakistani journalist and occasional writer, sought to clarify what the Arabs actually meant, “Inko Arab mein pooch kaun raha hai. Yeh Arab unse baat nahi karte, yeh codeword hai Pakistan ka. Arabs ko toh pata nahi hai Hindustan kahan hai.” (Who is asking about them? This is all a codeword for Pakistan. Arabs don’t even know where India is.)

VDO.AI


News 18 India’s anchor Amish Devgan was angry, “Arab deshon ke naam par Hindustan ko dhamkaya ja raha hai,” (Indians are being threatened in the name of Arabs).

On the show, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, “Jo minority commission ne chitti daali hai woh unconstitutional aur anti-Indian statement hai,” (The letter and comments by the chairman of minority commission are both unconstitutional and anti-Indian.)

Patra continued, “He didn’t trust India’s judiciary so he felt the need to reach out to Arab Nations. He has threatened the sovereignty of India.”

Away from this, India TV had something very important to ask yoga guru Ramdev after he drank some lauki ka juice: “You had the juice right after doing yoga, can one drink the juice so quickly or should they wait for a while?”

Ramdev grinned — “Mera sharir ekdum swasth hai toh mujh par vishesh niyam lagu nahi hai, baaki jo yog abhyas karte hai woh 10 min baad le sakte hai,” (My body is very fit, so ordinary rules don’t apply to me. For others who do yoga, they should drink after 10 minutes).


He also suggested that viewers can add some lemon and mint to their lauki ka juice and promised that it would be so tasty that it would be hard to put it down. Okay then.



India Today’s anchor Rahul Kanwal had some “concrete evidence” and he didn’t let anyone forget that. Kanwal said, “Evidence has emerged that suggests China in early January knew about the fact that they had a raging contagion on their hands and that it could spread globally. Despite that for some mystifying reason the Chinese authority didn’t even reveal it to their own people so much so they went out to celebrate their Lunar New Year.”

“This is what has been insinuated so far. What’s new and very, very intriguing is that there are official documents that China knew and lied deliberately about,” he added.



ET Now’s Chandra R. Srikanth was in conversation with N.R. Narayan Murthy, founder of Infosys. Srikanth asked, “If you have to assess India’s response to Covid-19, are people happy about how we imposed the lockdown early?”

Murthy made a pros and cons list, “The positives are the fact that India recognised this danger pretty early and took steps to de-accelerate the virus. The PM has also taken a personal interest. The fact that political parties fully cooperated and didn’t politicise the issue is also a big positive.”

Listing the negatives, Murthy said, “But we have not been able to ramp up our testing facility. Even if we are able to test one lakh people a day, we would take 37 years to cover the entire population. It is a moving target.”

On NDTV 24×7, Vishnu Som came with some breaking news, “In a very important decision, the Home Ministry has decided that the movement of persons despite the lockdown will be allowed. This involves migrant workers, students, stranded tourists.”

Som noted, “This is a breakaway from what was decided earlier on the policy that wherever migrants or tourists or others were, they would stay over there in the interest of trying to prevent coronavirus.”

He also called for the need to designate nodal authorities and delegate standard protocol.

Midnight Order Allows More Shops: What Can Open, What Can't

Midnight Order Allows More Shops: What Can Open, What Can't
India coronavirus lockdown: Malls, cinemas and market complexes will stay closed, the government says.
All IndiaReported by Neeta Sharma, Edited by Arun NairUpdated: April 25, 2020 02:37 pm IST
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Midnight Order Allows More Shops: What Can Open, What Can't
New guidelines for lockdown: The Centre said e-commerce companies can only sell essential items.. (AFP)




New Delhi: From today, neighbourhood shops can reopen for business after the government announced new relaxations during the coronavirus lockdown in a late-night order. The new order comes as big relief for traders as well as residents after a month of the nationwide lockdown to check the spread of COVID-19, which is due to end on May 3. The relaxations will not apply to areas that are COVID-19 hotspots or containment areas, with a large number of infections. For the first time in a month, local shops selling both essential and non-essential goods can open. Malls, cinemas and market complexes will stay closed, the government says. However, with public transport still closed, employees of shops that can re-open could still find it tough to get to work.
The government, in the morning, clarified that e-commerce companies can only sell essential items.

The Home Ministry also says masks, gloves and social distancing norms will be a must for workers in establishments that open. States can decide whether they want to continue with the restrictions, the government said. Delhi, for example, has said it will decide in two days whether to reopen shops as allowed by the latest order.

Here is a look at what reopens from today:

Shops registered under the Shops and Establishment Act of the respective State/Union Territory, including shops in residential complexes and market complexes, outside the municipal corporations and municipalities, will be allowed to open
All shops in residential areas and neighbourhood markets will be open
In rural and semi-rural areas, all shops and markets that are registered can open. In cities, only standalone shops and residential shops can open
Shops in registered markets outside municipal corporations and municipalities can open only with 50 per cent staff
In urban areas, non-essential goods and services will be allowed to operate provided they are in residential areas or is a standalone shop
Market complexes, except those within the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities, are allowed to open
What will remain shut

Malls and cinemas
Salons, barber shops, restaurants
Complexes with clusters of shops like Mumbai's BKC or Delhi's Khan Market and Nehru Place
Shops in multi-brand and single-brand malls outside the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities
Shopping complexes, shops in market complexes, multi-brand and single-brand malls
Gymnasiums, sports complexes, swimming pools, theatres, bars and auditoriums
Liquor shops
Boutiques in malls cannot open

Centre to classify all districts into three categories based on cases reported,

Coronavirus Outbreak: Centre to classify all districts into three categories based on cases reported, 170 hotspots identified so far
FP Staff Apr 15, 2020 18:05 PM IST
   
The Union health ministry on Wednesday said that all districts across the country will be classified into three categories based on the occurrence of novel coronavirus cases in each of them.

Health ministry bulletin:

Health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal, during the daily media briefing on coronavirus, said that 1,076 new coronavirus cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the country's tally to 11,439 cases so far. While 377 deaths have been reported in total, 270 people have recovered from the infection, he added.

 Coronavirus Outbreak: Centre to classify all districts into three categories based on cases reported, 170 hotspots identified so farLav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry addressing the media. File image. ANI
"The percentage of patients who are recovering is 11.41 percent. This rate has been increasing in the past few days," he was quoted as saying.

Agarwal said that the aim of the exercise of classifying the districts is to "efficiently manage the fight against coronavirus pandemic".

"The districts of the country will be classified into three categories, which are hotspot districts, non-hotspot districts with cases being reported from there and the green zone districts," he said.

Follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak here

"The Union cabinet secretary held a video conference today with all chief secretaries, DGPs, health secretaries, collectors, SPs, municipal commissioners and CMOs in the hotspots and orientation on field level implementation of containment strategy was given," he added.

Agarwal defined the term 'hotspot district' as those where there are a high number of COVID-19 cases, "or rate of growth of cases is more", reports said.

Agarwal further said that around 170 districts have been categorised as hotspots as of Tuesday, whereas 207 have been categorised under as 'non-hotspot areas with some cases'.

He also reiterated that there is no instance of community transmission in the country yet. "We are seeing local outbreaks or clusters. We have implemented containment measures," he was quoted as saying by The News Minute. 

Meanwhile, Dr R Gangakhedkar of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that 73 private labs had been approved, and 22 private labs were currently conducting tests for coronavirus.

On being asked whether research had confirmed whether the COVID-19 strain had infected humans from bats, he said, "As per research in China, it was found that coronavirus might have originated due to mutation in bats. Bats might have transmitted it to pangolins, from pangolins it got transmitted to humans."

He added, "We also conducted surveillance, in which we found that there are two types of bats, and they carried coronavirus which was not capable of affecting humans. It's rare, maybe once in 1,000 years that it gets transmitted from bats to humans."

MHA bulletin:

In light of protests from migrant workers in Surat and Mumbai on Tuesday, the MHA was on Wednesday asked about the Centre's measures to make the workers aware about the extension of the lockdown.

In reply, an MHA official said that guidelines and advisories had been issued, The News Minute reported.

Additionally, the MHA said that revised guidelines for the extended lockdown included relaxations of the restrictions "in areas that are not sensitive or aren't hotposts, on two conditions: Lockdown measures and social distancing should be followed, and national COVID-19 guidelines should be followed," the report said.

With inputs from agencies

Nizamuddin Markaz head Maulana Saad agreed to vacate building after NSA Ajit Doval paid a visit

Nizamuddin Markaz head Maulana Saad agreed to vacate building after NSA Ajit Doval paid a visit at 2 AM: Sources
National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval was directed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to meet Maulana Saad, head of Nizamuddin Markaz, and convince him to vacate the Banglewali Masjid in New Delhi after repeated pleas by Delhi Police and other security agencies failed to impress Maulana Saad, who is also the head of Tablighi Jamaat.

Nizamuddin Markaz head Maulana Saad agreed to vacate building after NSA Ajit Doval paid a visit at 2 AM: Sources
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Written By:
Zee Media Bureau
Edited By:
Tanweer Azam
Updated:
Apr 01, 2020, 13:21 PM IST
National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval was directed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to meet Maulana Saad, head of Nizamuddin Markaz, and convince him to vacate the Banglewali Masjid in New Delhi after repeated pleas by Delhi Police and other security agencies failed to impress Maulana Saad, who is also the head of Tablighi Jamaat.

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officials told Zee News that Doval reached Nizamuddin Markaz at around 2.00 am on March 28-29 night to meet Maulana Saad and convinced him to get the people present inside the building tested for coronavirus COVID-19 infection and be quarantined. Sources said that Maulana Saad agreed to vacate the mosque after meeting NSA Doval.

The Union Home Minister swung into actoon after the security agencies found that nine Indonesians who tested positive at Karimnagar, in Telangana, on March 18 had visited Nizamuddin Markaz to attend a religious congregation.

In a related development, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday that Tablighi Jamaat's Markaz has been cleared after the evacuation of 2,361 people in the past 36 hours. Sisodia tweeted that out of the 2,361 people, 617 have been admitted to hospitals while the rest have been placed in quarantine.

On Tuesday (March 31), Crime Branch of Delhi Police lodged an FIR against Maulana Saad and others of Tablighi Jamaat for violation of government order issued in the wake of coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. The case was filed under three sections of Epidemic Disease Act 1897- Section 269, 270, 271, and 120-B of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for violation of directions given to the management of Markaz of Basti Nizamuddin. 

The order was issued for restriction of social/political/religious gathering and for taking safety measures, including social distancing for prevention and treatment of coronavirus COVID-19 infection.

Over 25,500 Linked To Delhi Sect Event Quarantined, Says Centre

Over 25,500 Linked To Delhi Sect Event Quarantined, Says Centre
Of a total 4,067 coronavirus cases in country, at least 1,445 cases are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event, the government said.
All IndiaEdited by Divyanshu Dutta Roy 
Updated: April 06, 2020 05:04 pm IST
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New Delhi: More than 25,500 local workers of the Islamic missionary group Tablighi Jamaat and people who came in contact with them have been quarantined amid the coronavirus pandemic, the government said on Monday.
The group had organised a massive congregation last month at Delhi's Nizamuddin and has emerged as the biggest hotspot of COVID-19 spread in the country.

Of a total 4,067 coronavirus cases in country, at least 1,445 cases are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event, the government said.

During the daily briefing, Joint Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava also told reporters that five villages in Haryana have been sealed and the residents quarantined as members of this Islamic organisation had stayed there.


She said that 1,750 foreign-based members of this the Jamaat, out of the total 2,083, have been blacklisted till now.

Ms Srivastava said that Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has written to all states and Union Territories asking them to ensure that the supply chain of medical oxygen, critical for treatment of COVID-19 affected people, should go on smoothly while following norms of social distancing.

Delhi govt bars assembly of over 50 people to contain spread of coronavirus

Delhi govt bars assembly of over 50 people to contain spread of coronavirus
While the government has allowed weddings, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said all weekly markets, gymnasiums, nightclubs and spas in the city will also remain shut till March 31 in addition to educational institutions, cinema halls and swimming pools.
DELHI Updated: Mar 17, 2020 07:03 IST
Sweta Goswami
Sweta Goswami
Hindustan Times, New Delhi
A deserted view of Hanuman Temple  at Connaught Place in New Delhi,  on Monday, March 16, 2020.
A deserted view of Hanuman Temple at Connaught Place in New Delhi, on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)





The Delhi government on Monday imposed a complete ban on social, religious, academic, cultural and political gatherings of more than 50 people in the national Capital in the third round of sweeping restrictions announced to contain the spread of coronavirus which has affected seven people in Delhi and 119 across the country so far.

While the government has allowed weddings, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said all weekly markets, gymnasiums, nightclubs and spas in the city will also remain shut till March 31 in addition to educational institutions, cinema halls and swimming pools.

On Thursday, the Delhi government had announced closure of all schools and cinema halls till March 31. The next day, the government barred all formal gatherings of over 200 people, including the IPL matches to be held in Delhi.

All restrictions have been imposed under the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897, which was invoked by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Thursday to exercise social distancing and avoid community spread of coronavirus. The Act allows district magistrates (DMs) to take action against people not following the rules. Defying the law can lead up to six months imprisonment and R 1,000 fine or both under Section 188 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code.


“I want to appeal to the people to cooperate with the authorities. The governments are doing whatever they can to contain the outbreak, but it is only with your cooperation that our efforts will be successful. Many countries have witnessed a major outbreak of the virus, which has fortunately not happened in our country. I will also request everyone to stop shaking hands with each other, ensure that you regularly wash your hands and sanitise them properly, and to not touch your face and eyes with hands,” Kejriwal said on Monday.

“The Delhi government has ordered that no social, cultural, family, political, and social gatherings should be held with more than 50 people present at a single gathering till March 31. Even though weddings have been kept out for now, I request people to postpone weddings to a later date, as a preventive measure to control the outbreak of the virus.”

The ban, effective from Monday, will also apply to protests, including the one at Shaheen Bagh.


Kejriwal said it has also been decided to order municipal commissioners and district officers to install mobile washbasins in public places so that people can keep their hands clean. Security guards at buildings would also be given hand sanitisers for people to use when they enter and exit the complex.

So far, Delhi has had seven positive cases of coronavirus out of which two have recovered and released from the hospital. One patient, a 68-year-old woman, has died and four are still undergoing treatment at Safdarjung hospital.

Kejriwal on Monday held a review meeting with all DMs and sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) of the city through video-conferencing.


Weekly bazars, gyms, nightclubs shut

The government also ordered the closure of all weekly markets, gyms, nightclubs and spas till March 31. This is in addition to previous orders under which schools, colleges, cinema halls, swimming pools and all other educations institutions were declared shut.

A senior government official, however, clarified that as of Monday, no orders were issued for closure of malls, restaurants, bars and pubs which means they will continue to operate as usual though most of the malls and restaurants have reported a drastic fall in the footfall post the emergence of coronavirus.

The L-G on Monday once again directed the revenue department and the municipal corporations to ensure all hotels, motels, guest houses, mall managements, banquet halls, restaurants, eateries, market associations and RWAs maintain proper sanitisation.

Taxis, rickshaws, other public service vehicles being sanitised

Informing about the steps taken by the city government to avoid the spread of the virus through public transport, the Delhi CM said free disinfection has been started by the Delhi government at all its cluster and DTC bus depots.


“All the private taxis, auto-rickshaws, e-rickshaws, Grameen seva and all other public service vehicles can avail our free sanitisation facility at the bus depots to prevent community transmission of the virus,” Kejriwal said.

Transport minister Kailash Gahlot said workers have been disinfecting all Delhi buses daily. Besides, buses which come from other states are not being allowed to enter without a ‘Certificate of Disinfection’ from the respective states.

“Disinfection of public service vehicles will be done at all the DTC and cluster bus depots on a daily basis in two shifts. The first shift will be from 10 AM to 12 PM, whereas the second shift will be from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM,” Gahlot said.

As the Delhi Metro handles lakhs of passengers every day, Kejriwal said his government will consider thermal screening at all Metro stations as a part of checking against coronavirus.

Action against overcharging, hoarding of masks/sanitisers

After receiving complaints from various residents’ welfare associations of sanitisers and masks not being available in the retail market, food and civil supplies minister Imran Hussain on Monday held a review meeting in which he directed officials to take action against shop owners and manufacturers found overcharging, hoarding or black marketing these essential items.

The Delhi government urged people not to hoard these items saying masks are not essential in prevention as it Covid-19 is not an airborne disease.

Pharmacists said that they are now rationing the sale of these items since people are placing bulk orders — 100 to 200 units of each item. “Every day we get customers demanding masks and hand sanitisers in large number. We have got clear instructions from the government and Drugs Control department to keep adequate stock and distribute them properly among the customers,” said Saddam, a pharmacist at Religare Wellness in Vasant Kunj.

Coronavirus | 42% of patients in India between 21 and 40 years

Coronavirus | 42% of patients in India between 21 and 40 years
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI , APRIL 04, 2020 23:48 IST
UPDATED: APRIL 05, 2020 08:31 IST
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Colleagues cheer as nurse Reshma Mohandas leaves the Kottayam Medical College Hospital on April 3, 2020 after being cured of COVID-19. She got infected while treating two elderly patients, who too have been discharged. Photo: Special Arrangement
Colleagues cheer as nurse Reshma Mohandas leaves the Kottayam Medical College Hospital on April 3, 2020 after being cured of COVID-19. She got infected while treating two elderly patients, who too have been discharged. Photo: Special Arrangement  

Only 17% of those testing positive were over 60; ICMR gives nod for rapid, antibody-based testing.
About 42% of those confirmed positive for COVID-19 in India are between the ages of 21-40 years old, the Union Health Ministry said on April 4, for the first time throwing light on the demography of the disease in India. Only 17% of those testing positive were over 60.

By comparison, data from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control said 29% of those affected were in the 20-44 age group and 32% were above 60. India recorded 2,904 cases and 75 deaths as on Saturday compared to the 2,79,355 cases and 7,451 deaths in the United States.

Interactive map of confirmed coronavirus cases in India | State-wise tracker for coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates | Helpline numbers


However, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal, who shared the data with the media, did not provide any age-specific analysis on mortality in the country, only saying that most of those who succumbed to the disease were “aged” and also had underlying complications such as the diabetes and cardiovascular disease.


Mr. Agarwal added that 9% of those testing positive were below 20 years.

The Ministry said the number of new cases recorded nationwide between Friday and Saturday was 601, with 58 critically ill in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi.

Coronavirus | 42% of patients in India between 21 and 40 years

The death toll from the outbreak, according to data from State Health Departments, rose to 103 with Maharashtra reporting the maximum at 32. The most number of active cases were also reported from Maharashtra at 551, followed by Tamil Nadu with 476 and Delhi with 431 of the total 3,196 cases.

India coronavirus lockdown: Day 11 updates | Download The Hindu’s multi-language e-book on essential COVID-19 information

Quick results
As the number of cases continued to rise, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued an advisory to start rapid antibody based blood tests in areas reporting clusters and in large migration gatherings or evacuee centres. The results of such tests will be available in 15-30 minutes.

The Health Ministry said nearly 30% of the cases were linked to last month’s Tablighi Jamaat meet in Delhi.

“About 1,023 positive cases linked to the organisation can be traced to 17 States. We couldn’t manage and understand this event and the cases increased due to this,” said Mr. Agarwal. Nearly 22,000 contacts related to the religious event had been quarantined. About 75,000 had so far been tested, an ICMR spokesperson at the press briefing said. “We are gradually increasing our testing capacity. Our capacity is now nearly 10,000 tests per day.”

Coronavirus | COVID-19 testing, treatment free for Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries at private labs, empanelled hospitals

The Health Ministry has also revised its advisory on the use of masks. The new guidelines accept the role of The health ministry's position has been that those who didn't feel sick and weren't visiting hospitals or tending to those diagnosed with the affliction needn't wear masks. On Saturday, however, the organisation released a set of guidelines accepting the role of “face covers.” Unlike the surgical masks and respirator masks used in hospitals, “face covers” are home made and made of cotton and could be re-used provided they were properly washed and dried.

“People who are not suffering from medical conditions or having breathing difficulties may use the handmade reusable face cover, particularly when they step out of their house. This will help in protecting the community at large,” a note from the Ministry said.

Coronavirus | Amid new research, U.S. CDC recommends face masks to stop virus spread

Last week, the office of India's Principal Scientific Adviser made public a manual that explained how such face covers could be made and recommended that they be widely used. While the general recommendation by the World Health Organisation has been to avoid masks — as they could deplete supplies for health personnel — opinion has changed over concerns that the infection had spread widely and people were increasingly likely to catch it when outside.

Japan - A nation built to withstand a pandemic

Japan - A nation built to withstand a pandemic
Pallavi AiyarAPRIL 04, 2020 21:14 IST
UPDATED: APRIL 05, 2020 10:25 IST
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A woman wearing a protective face mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), rests as she trips inside a train in Tokyo.
A woman wearing a protective face mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), rests as she trips inside a train in Tokyo.   | Photo Credit: Reuters

Long before COVID-19, social distancing, washing hands and mask-wearing were common in Japan
‘Rows of masked commuters line the train compartment, eyes trained on their phones, bodies held slightly away from each other.’ In Japan, this kind of a scene was par for the course on the metro long before coronavirus became a standard part of everyone’s lexicon. While the rest of the world dabbled in asymmetrical earrings and oversized handbags, in Japan, facemasks were the accoutrement à la mode for years. In 2017, Japan produced about 5.3 billion face-masks, up from 1.8 billion in 2008, according to Statista, a market and consumer data-providing firm.

Also read: Japan to set up coronavirus HQ, possible step to emergency declaration: media

What was behind this mask mania in pre-COVID times? The obvious answer is a heightened awareness and concern among the public for health and hygiene. Those with cold and cough wore them so as not to infect others. Healthy people wore them so as to lessen their chances of being infected by the sick.


Sociologically minded explanations centred on the desire among many Japanese to minimise social interaction. A mask could make the wearer invisible, less likely to be noticed or talked to.


But the history of mask-wearing in Japan is longer and more chequered than these quick explanations, traversing a century worth of past pandemics, natural disasters, air pollution, new kinds of flora, allergies and technology. A massive outbreak of influenza in the early years of the 20th century first kicked off the custom of covering the face with scarves. Then the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 triggered a massive fire that filled the sky of the capital with smoke and ash for weeks. Facemasks became a standard sight on the streets of Tokyo and Yokohama.

Also read: Coronavirus | Japan expands entry ban

In the 1950s, Japan’s rapid post-War industrialisation caused rampant air pollution and a concomitant spread of the pollen-rich Japanese cedar tree, which flourished due to rising ambient levels of carbon dioxide. Large parts of the population developed allergic reactions to the pollen emitted by these trees. In 2003, the SARS scare once again caused a spike in mask-wearing, helped by a technological innovation that popularised a new type of non-woven material for masks.

In many ways, Japan is a country built to withstand a pandemic. Other than its extreme hygiene consciousness, one of the greatest social challenges the nation faces is the “problem” of social recluses. Called hikikomori, this cohort of upwards of a million people have chosen to end all social contact, often refusing to leave their homes for years. Long before the COVID-19 outbreak, social distancing and washing hands were already Japan’s super power.

Fast forwarding to the present, thus far Japan does seem to be weathering the coronavirus better than many other nations despite its proximity to China, early exposure to the virus and population density (the greater Tokyo metropolitan area is home to 38 million people). Speculation about the reasons for the relatively limited number of cases in Japan has included epidemiological and climatic factors. But increasingly, experts and the average person on the street are converging on the country’s mask-wearing habit as at least one crucial part of the puzzle.

Misguided advice
Many Western countries, including the U.S., have actively discouraged people from wearing masks, claiming they are of limited efficacy and simultaneously, if contradictorily, asking that available masks be earmarked for medical personnel caring for the sick. But the prevalent expert opinion in East Asian countries like Japan and China is that such advice is misguided. The greatest benefit of masking the masses, they argue, comes not from stoppering the mouths of the healthy, but from covering the mouths of people already infected who may be asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic.

Also read: Japan says Tokyo Olympics may be postponed due to coronavirus

That said, masks cannot be the only ingredient in any coronavirus-containment strategy. Japan suddenly began to see a spike in infections towards the end of March, which indicates that the archipelago is not as immune as the data from earlier in the month indicated. Some analysts have suggested that widespread mask-wearing could have engendered a false sense of security among the general population. Large, albeit masked, gatherings took place in Tokyo to view the annual blossoming of cherry trees, for example, despite the government’s advice to avoid crowds. Cases began to rise soon after.

Nonetheless, when compared to countries in Europe and the U.S., Japan has, for now, managed to moderate the growth of cases while keeping much of its economy open. And there is a close-to-unanimous belief that the humble mask is to thank.

(Pallavi Aiyar is a journalist based in Tokyo)

Tablighi Jamaat - 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

2019–20 coronavirus pandemic
Further information: 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Asia
Tablighi Jamaat attracted significant public and media attention during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. Between 27 February and 1 March 2020, the movement organised an international mass religious gathering at a mosque in Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. The Tablighi Jamaat gathering has been linked to more than 620 COVID-19 cases, making it the largest-known centre of transmission of the virus in Southeast Asia.[83][84] The Sri Petaling event resulted in the biggest increase in Covid-19 cases in Malaysia, with almost two thirds of the 673 confirmed cases in Malaysia linked to this event by 17 March 2020.[85] Most of the Covid-19 cases in Brunei originated here, and other countries including Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines have traced their cases back to this event.[86][87][88] Despite the outbreak, Tablighi Jammat organised a second international mass gathering on 18 March in Gowa Regency near Makassar in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Though the organisers initially rebuffed official directives to cancel the gathering, they subsequently complied and cancelled the gathering.[89][90]

Pakistan
Further information: 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan
Yet another gathering was organised in Pakistan near Lahore at Raiwind, for 150,000 people.[91] The event was "called off" in response to the officials' requests, but the participants had already gathered and communed together. When they returned the virus travelled with them, including two cases in the Gaza strip.[92] During testing around 40 members of the jamat were found to be COVID infected. Another 50 people including 4 NIgerian women, suspected to be the carriers of the virus were quarantined 50 km from Lahore. In Hyderabad, Sindh 38 members of the jamaat were found to be positive for coronavirus. Raiwind, the place where the event was held has been locked down by Pakistani authorities while the police arrested members of Tablighi jamaat from their offices in Sindh and Punjab for violating the law.[93] Later during quarantine, one of the members of the jamaat stabbed a policemen while trying to escape from the isolation facility. He was later arrested in Khyber Pakthunwa while the policeman was hospitalized in Layyah town.[94] During this crisis, the Pakistan government has found itself in helpless situation. While initially the Prime minister Imran Khan downplayed the crisis, the country saw rapid rise in cases with limited testing facilities. The problem has further aggravated with doctors not reporting to work, clerics refusing to shut down mosques, parents unwilling to quarantine children in congested homes as they play on the streets.[95]

India
Further information: 2020 coronavirus pandemic in India
The Nizamuddin faction of the Tablighi Jamaat held a religious congregational program in Nizamuddin West, Delhi. There was an Ijtema (congregation) in every week of March till March 21.[96][97] On 13 March 2020, the Delhi Government ordered that no seminars, sports events like IPL, conferences or any big event (beyond 200 people) will be allowed in Delhi.[98][99] These preventive steps were taken by invoking the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.[100] There were also other violation of rules by foreign speakers including misuse of tourist visa for missionary activities and not taking 14-day home quarantine for travellers from abroad.[101]

At least 24 of the attendees had tested positive for the virus among the 300 who showed symptoms by 31 March 2020.[102] It is believed that the sources of infection were preachers from Indonesia.[103] Many had returned to their states and also provided refuge to foreign speakers without the knowledge of local governments.[104] and eventually started local transmissions especially in Tamil Nadu, Telengana, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam. The entire Nizamuddin West area has been cordoned off by the Police as of 30 March, and medical camps have been set up.[105] After evacuation from the markaz, of the scores of jamaat attendees, 167 of them were quarantined in a railway facility in south east Delhi amid concerns over their safety and transmission of the virus. There were further complications after the staff at the quarantine facility reported the Tablighi jamaat followers misbehaved with the staff and spat at the doctors looking after them.[106] FIRs were lodged against members of the jamaat quarantined in Ghaziabad after their misbehaviour was reported by the Chief medical officer. The officer reported that the inmates quarantined were roaming naked, playing vulgar songs and making lewd gestures and remarks at the female staff of the hospital. After this the UP government decided that they would not be treated by any female staff and also booked the jamaat members under the national security act.[107][108][109][110][111][112] The Tablighi Jamaat gathering emerged as one of India's major coronavirus hotspots in India,[113] after 389 people linked to Tablighi Jamaat tested positive by 2 April 2020.[114][115] Tablighi Jamaat became India's first coronavirus 'super-spreader', as 1023 coronavirus positive cases (almost 30% of total cases) were linked to Tablighi Jamaat in 17 states by April 4.[116][117]

Questions have been raised as to how the Delhi Police and the Government of India allowed this event to proceed in the midst of a pandemic,[118] while a similar event was prohibited in Mumbai by the Maharashtra Police.[119] Once the COVID lockdown came into effect in Delhi from 22 March onwards, the missionaries remaining in the Nizamuddin Markaz were trapped, and the functionaries began to seek assistance from the authorities for their evacuation.[120][121][122] On 31 March 2020, an FIR was filed against Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi and others by Delhi Police Crime Branch under Section 3 (penalty for offence) of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and Sections 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease), 271 (disobedience to quarantine rule) and 120b (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.[123][124][125

Who is Maulana Muhammad Saad Kandhalvi, chief of Tablighi Jamaat?

Who is Maulana Saad, chief of Tablighi Jamaat? 
 APR 02 2020, 07:40 IST UPDATED: APR 02 2020, 10:28 IST Maulana Saad Kandhalvi. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons) With Nizamuddin in Delhi becoming one of the hotspots of coronavirus infection. 

Nizamuddin:Delhi govt. orders FIR against Maulana Saad Kandhalvi
Over 100 people have been tested for Coronavirus and reports are awaited
POSTED BY RASIA HASHMI UPDATED: MARCH 31, 2020, 12:25 PM IST


Nizamuddin:Delhi govt. orders FIR against Maulana Saad Kandhalvi
 Pic courtesy: abnews24
New Delhi: The Delhi government on Monday has directed the police to register an FIR against Maulana Saad Kandhalvi of Nizamuddin Markaz after several cases of suspected coronavirus were found in the Nizamuddin area.




The Maulana has been accused of organising a Tableeghi Jamaat congregation in the area, even as the lockdown was announced, thus flouting the social distancing norms.



According to sources, when the 21-day nationwide lockdown was announced, there were thousands of persons present inside the Tableeghi Jamaat’s international headquarters in southwest Delhi.

The Delhi government said the lockdown was imposed in entire country from March 24 midnight, and “it was the duty of every owner and administrator of every hotel, guesthouse, hostel and similar establishment to maintain social distancing. It looks like social distancing and quarantine protocols was not practiced here”.

ALSO READ
Cops seal Nizamuddin as 200 people taken for Covid-19 test
The government said now it has come to knowledge that the organisers violated these conditions and several cases of corona positive patients have been found here.

“Strong action would be taken against those in charge of this establishment. By this gross act of negligence, many lives have been endangered. It was the responsibility of every citizen to proactively avoid such gathering of people during the lockdown and this is nothing but a criminal act.”

An FIR against the Maulana, in his early 50s, has been directed, it said.

The Delhi government added that after the Centre informed them about the first positive patient and requested assistance, “we moved all symptomatic patients to our medical facilities and as a safety precaution, all non symptomatic contacts have been moved to the quarantine centres”.

Over 100 people have been tested for Coronavirus and reports are awaited.

This is the largest single group being tested for Covid-19, which is transmitted easily from person to person.

On 11 March WHO declared Coronavirus as a pandemic

India ramps up efforts to contain the spread of novel coronavirus
Credits
On 11 March 2020, WHO declared Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak as a pandemic and reiterated the call for countries to take immediate actions and scale up response to treat, detect and reduce transmission to save people’s lives.

Situation update
As of 3 April 2020 (6:00 PM), according to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), a total of 2547 COVID-19 cases, (including 55 foreign nationals) have been reported in 29 states/union territories. These include 162 who have been cured/discharged, 1 who has migrated and 62 deaths. Hospital isolation of all confirmed cases, tracing and home quarantine of the contacts is ongoing.

On 24 March 2020, the Prime Minister announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown: “In order to protect the country, and each of its citizens, from midnight tonight, a complete ban is being imposed on people from stepping out of their homes.”

WHO Country Office for India support
WHO Country Office for India has been working closely with MoHFW on preparedness and response measures for COVID-19, including surveillance and contact tracing, laboratory diagnosis, risk communications and community engagement, hospital preparedness, infection prevention and control, and implementation of containment plan.

"India stands at an important turning point in its fight against COVID-19. Extraordinary situations demand extraordinary measures. The Prime Minister has taken bold and decisive steps to break the chain of transmission. It is equally vital that this window is used for further ramping up measures to find, isolate, test, treat and trace. WHO stands together in solidarity with India and its people and is committed to providing all the support that is needed," says Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India.

Asaduddin Owaisi steps up in defence of Markaz Nizamuddin event, says wrong to blame Muslims for COVID-19 spike

Asaduddin Owaisi steps up in defence of Markaz Nizamuddin event, says wrong to blame Muslims for COVID-19 spike
By: FE Online | Updated: April 2, 2020 1:03:52 PM
Defending the organisers of abligh Jammat congregation, Asaduddin Owaisi he said the day the event began, the Health Ministry had said that coronavirus was "not a health emergency".


Asaduddin Owaisi said Tabligh Jammat congregation is being exploited to “blame all the Muslims” for the rising COVID-19 cases.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Musilmeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi has slammed the alleged communalisation over the Markaz Nizamuddin incident that has apparently derailed the fight against coronavirus. According to Owaisi, the Tabligh Jammat congregation, which was attended by thousands of people including foreigners, is being exploited to “blame all the Muslims” for the rising COVID-19 cases.

Defending the organisers, he said the day the event began, the Health Ministry had said that coronavirus was “not a health emergency”

Tablighi Jamaat - Controversy or Conspiracy? - Organiser

Tablighi Jamaat - Controversy or Conspiracy?
    02-Apr-2020
  
Brig (Retd) GB Reddy

The movement has served as a fertile breeding ground for radical Islamic militancy in numerous countries.

Is the ongoing media coverage and focus of the controversy over the Tabligh Jamaat (Society for spreading faith) Markaz (meaning conference) critical to follow and understand or is there a need to carry out an in depth review of its activities that may provide leads into Islamist radical conspiracy?

To understand and appreciate the issue defined, one needs to recall the origins of Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) origins and its “primary purpose or end objective”.

De facto, TJ is a conservative global educational and missionary movement set up in 1926 by Maulana Muhammad Ilyas in Mewat (in present-day Haryana) and the grandfather of Amir Maulana Saad, its present head. TJ is able to operate in near secrecy because the leaders since Ilyas, have been related to him by blood or marriage.

Ab initio, TJ “primary purpose” is to urging Muslims to return to practicing their religion as it was practiced during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and particularly in matters of ritual, dress and personal behavior. It traces its roots the Deoband brand (most commonly practiced form of Islam in South Asia) of Hanafi Sunni School of jurisprudence. The movement aims for the spiritual reformation of Islam by working at the grassroots level.

TJ is the biggest Muslim movement in the world what with 150 million to 250 million adherents with presence in somewhere between 180 and 200 countries. Most of its followers are of South Asian origin, “though there are Tablighis from many different ethnic and national backgrounds”. It has been deemed as one of the most influential religious movements in 20th century Islam.

Next, the meaning of MARKAZ is simple – CONFERENCE. Outside of the Hajj, it is believed that its annual meetings, MARKAZ in countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, bring together the largest congregations of Muslims.

TJ denies any affiliation in politics and fiqh (jurisprudence), focusing instead on the Quran and Hadith. It states that it rejects violence as a means for evangelism. Many outside observers have described the group as "apolitical" at least in part because it avoids media and government notice, operates largely in secrecy, and has missionaries that lead austere lifestyles with principled stands against social ills.

In reality, the movement has served as a fertile breeding ground for radical Islamic militancy in numerous countries. As per the American Foreign Policy Council's report on TJ “the available data today indicates that TJ, at least in the preponderance of locations around the World where it is found, can be considered ipso facto a passive supporter of jihadist groups via its reinforcement of strict Islamic norms, intolerance of other religious traditions and unwavering commitment to Islamizing the entire planet. However, its eschewal of politics (at least publicly) has enabled TJ, in most venues, to escape suppression by wary government organs.

According to French Tabligh expert Marc Gaborieau, its philosophy and transnational goals include the "planned conquest of the World".

In France, as many as "80% percent of the Islamist extremists have come from TJ ranks prompting French intelligence officers to call TJ the antechamber of fundamentalism." Among those who have been members of TJ in France are Zacarias Moussaoui (the only person to be charged in the United States in 11 September attacks), Hervé Djamel Loiseau, a young Frenchman who died fleeing the 2001 American bombardment of Tora Bora in Afghanistan, and Djamel Beghal, an Algerian-born Frenchman and admitted member of Al Qaeda who was convicted in 2005 of plotting to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Paris.

In a foiled January 2008 bombing plot in Barcelona, Spain, "some media reports" stated that a Muslim leader in the city stated that the fourteen suspects arrested by police in a series of raids (where bomb-making materials were seized) were members of TJ.

Other terrorist plots and attacks on civilians that members of TJ have been connected with include the Portland Seven, the Lackawanna Six, the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot, the 7/7 London bombings, the 2007 London car bombs, and 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack.

Former Department of Homeland Security employee Philip Haney described TJ as part of a "trans-national Islamist network" that was also affiliated with the Dar Al Uloom al Islamiyah mosque in San Bernardino, which terrorist Syed Rizwan Farook attended frequently. Assistant FBI Director Michael Heimbach said "We have a significant presence of TJ in the United States and we have found that al Qaeda used them for recruiting."

Most important, TJ members have been involved in politics in Pakistan, and in the West, a number of young men have passed through the group on their way to an extreme, militant interpretation of the religion.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (whose father was a prominent Tabligh member and financier) helped Tabligh members take prominent political positions. For example, in 1998, Muhammad Rafique Tarar, a Tabligh sympathizer, took the ceremonial presidency while, in 1990, Lt. Gen. Javed Nasir assumed the powerful director-generalship of the Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's chief intelligence agency. Former Lieutenant General and head of Inter-Services Intelligence, General Mahmud Ahmed of the Pakistan Army also became a member of TJ during his service.

In 1995, after Benazir Bhutto, who was less sympathetic to Islamist causes, returned to the premiership, the Pakistani army thwarted a coup attempt by several dozen high-ranking military officers and civilians, some of whom were members of the Tabligh Jamaat and some of whom also held membership in Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen, a U.S. State Department-defined terrorist organization.

In January 2016, in what was "probably the first time that any restriction has been placed on TJ" in Pakistan, the Punjab government banned preaching on university campuses, and banned TJ (and other non-students) from preaching and staying in campus hostels.

Viewed in the background information available about TJ members terrorist activities, the MARKAZ organized at it campus in Nizamuddin Dargah, none can rule the possibility of conspiracy hatched during the even to further destabilize the Modi-led BJP government through spreading protests against CAA, NPR and NRC and plunging the nation into crisis.

Had 2019–20 Coronavirus pandemic not attracted significant public and media attention, all alike would have believed its purpose as the one oriented to the real purpose of the “Conference” to urge Muslim Maulvi to preach reverting Islam to its conservative ethos.

Let me also highlight the religious fathering that preceded the one at Nizamuddin in Delhi. Between 27 February and 1 March 2020, the movement organized an international mass religious gathering at the Sri Petaling Mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which has been linked to more than 600 COVID-19 cases, making it the largest-known centre of transmission of the virus in Southeast Asia.

Despite the outbreak, TJ organized a second international mass gathering on 18 March in Gowa Regency near Makassar in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Though the organizers initially rebuffed official directives to cancel the gathering, they subsequently complied and cancelled the gathering.

Yet another gathering was organized in Pakistan near Lahore, for 150,000 people. The event was "called off" in response to the officials' requests, but the participants had already gathered and communed together. When they returned the virus travelled with them, including two cases in the Gaza strip.

The Nizamuddin faction of the TJ held a religious congregational program in Nizamuddin West, Delhi. There was Ijtema (congregation) every week of March till March 21. There were also other violations of rules by foreign speakers including misuse of tourist visas for missionary activities and not taking 14-day home quarantine for travelers from abroad. It is suspected that some of these speakers were infected by the Coronavirus which later spread to the congregants.

Many had returned to their states and also provided refuge to foreign speakers without the knowledge of local governments and eventually started local transmissions especially in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam.
There are many TJ members who are on the missing list. Given the affiliations of its members, their speeches, the link between the TJ activists and Shaheen Bagh protest organizers cannot be ruled out.


Delhi government has ordered an FIR against Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi, the head of Nizamuddin faction of the TJ for disobeying quarantine rule and conspiracy. 

On 16 March 2020, Delhi Government ordered that no religious, social, political gatherings of over 50 will be allowed in Delhi till 31 March 2020. As of 30 March 2020 the entire Nizamuddin West area has been cordoned off by the Police and medical camps have been set up.

Administration of TJ had said they are willing to dispatch hundreds of missionaries to their respective nations & states but as the lockdown is in place they are helpless.

Now, Delhi government has ordered an FIR against Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi, the head of Nizamuddin faction of the TJ. On 31 March 2020, FIR was filed against Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi and others by Delhi Police Crime Branch under Section 3 (penalty for offence) of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and Sections 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease), 271 (disobedience to quarantine rule) and 120b (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

The TJ has no membership lists or formal procedures for membership which makes it difficult to quantify and verify affiliations. Viewed in the record of members' terrorist affiliations, record of Conferences and vituperative speeches, none can rule out the possibility of terror conspiracies behind the scenes. Can the linkage between the TJ activists and Shaheen Bagh protest organizers be ruled out?

Next, as per media reports there are over 40 TJ members who are on the ‘missing’ list. Who are they and where are they? Are they terrorists hiding in the TJ campus and now hiding in Mosques elsewhere? More important, where is Amir Maulana Muhammad Saad hiding? How has he escaped and where has he gone. His trail would also reveal a lot of intelligence.

Yet another key indicator that would reveal the activities of TJ is its finances to include receipt and disbursements.
Surely, the NIA must take over the investigations and obtain all recordings of speeches, particularly speeches made by foreign preachers during their visits in Telangana, Tamil Nadu and all other states.

Of course, politics of blame game will only further obfuscate the real conspiracy behind the TJ activities. Arvind Kejriwal hogging limelight daily on the TV screens (Press briefing) is following the script to hide his government’s failure and shifting the blame to the whipping boy – Delhi Police.

Arvind Kejriwal, Satyendar Kumar Jain (Home and Health Minister) and the AAP MLA of Jangpura constituency are all squarely responsible and accountable for the failure to monitor the activities of the Nizamuddin Dargah and the happenings behind the scenes of MARKAZ (Conference). Otherwise, political leaders go around in convoys accompanied by followers during poll campaigns and victory parades. But, they hide behind in AC Rooms and appear before TV screens boasting about announcements. Surely, effective leaders must lead from the front.

Kudos to Yogi Adityanath who has gone around Gautam Budh Nagar and adjoining districts and monitoring and reviewing developments and passing clear directions to the official machinery to act and deliver. High time for all CMs, Ministers and MLAs to be on the roads visiting Mohallas, Slums, Relief Camps, Hospitals and other facilities to monitor effective delivery of services.

In sum, TJ of Nizamuddin is an Islamic radical terrorist hub or time bomb in being and making. The controversy and blame games over COVID-19 spread apart, there is a need to investigate the conspiracy hatched during the Markaz.

https://www.organiser.org/Encyc/2020/4/2/Tablighi-Jamaat-Controversy-or-Conspiracy.html

'BJP may use Nizamuddin event to push its NRC, civil code agenda'

'BJP may use Nizamuddin event to push its NRC, civil code agenda'


Posted: Apr 03, 2020 11:36 AM (IST)


'BJP may use Nizamuddin event to push its NRC, civil code agenda'

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 3 

While corona numbers are expected to rise (as also revealed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today) after results of tests of those who attended Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Nizammuddin come forth,  observers are expecting some major political developments in near future in view of the current happenings in the country.

The Nizamuddin gathering has already been christened the "hotspot of deadly coronavirus".

Yesterday, BJP president JP Nadda slammed those “weakening” India’s fight against Covid19. He did not name anyone or a particular event, but it was clear who he was referring to. Today, quoting a Delhi government letter to the Commissioner of Police, leaders of the BJP's ideological fountainhead, the RSS, said patients from Markaz are creating ruckus in hospitals. “Deployment of more police personnel is sought at hospitals as well as at quarantine centres where those from Markaz have been put up,” they said, leading observers to believe that after CAA and NPR, the incident may be used to strengthen the saffron agenda—the NRC, a population control law and a uniform civil code.



Ratings and popularity of the ruling BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi depend upon how India manages and emerges from the corona crisis. The initial days of the lockdown that saw migrant labourers trudging on India’s highways to desperately reach home was a black mark that could and would have been used by the Opposition to pin the BJP on the mat, they say.

But the Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Nizammuddin has given the saffron party an opportunity to turn around the situation and perhaps also provide a perfect opening for the key Hindutva agenda (NRC, UCC etc), which had to be put on the back burner after anti-CAA protests.

After returning back to power in 2019, the Narendra Modi government and its new Home Minister Amit Shah set about methodically to implement and accomplish the Hindutva projects by bringing Constitutional changes in Jammu and Kashmir, setting in motion the construction of “grand” Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and working towards CAA. 

"Covid19 may have brought governance and economy back on centre stage, but the Tablighi event has given a perfect political opportunity to the saffron party to complete the rest. The PM is expected to bring India out of the crisis relatively less affected than the West, which is expected to add to his goodwill, say observers. Though his response to the pandemic, the health infrastructure and the state of Indian economy will be used by the Opposition to label it as another botched project like demonetisation," they say. 

Meanwhile, politics over Tablighi Jamaat gathering is in full swing.



Referring to Shaheen Bagh and similar anti-CAA protests in the country, leaders like Amit Malviya, Sangeet Som and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi are making no bones calling it “coronavirus terrorism”, “Taliban crime” and “Islamic insurrection” in past three months.

“Delhi’s dark underbelly is exploding! Last 3 months have seen an Islamic insurrection of sorts, first in the name of anti-CAA protests from Shaheen Bagh to Jamia, Jaffrabad to Seelampur. And now the illegal gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat at the markaz. It needs a fix!" Malviya said.

As per BJP detractors, it is an attempt to "brush under the carpet real issues like plight of migrant labourers".

swami drinks cow urine at Delhi party to piss off coronavirus,

Publicity-hungry swami drinks cow urine at Delhi party to piss off coronavirus, may go viral
Swami Chakrapani Maharaj and his outfit, known as the All India Hindu Mahasabha, held a "gaumutra party" today while India battles an epidemic of the new coronavirus disease, Covid-19. Read on. Want to protect yourself? We'll tell you what can really work.
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Ganesh Radha-Udayakumar
Ganesh Radha-Udayakumar 
New Delhi
March 14, 2020UPDATED: March 14, 2020 21:05 IST

GAU CORONA GAU: All India Hindu Mahasabha members drinking cow urine at a Delhi "gaumutra party", which according to them helps ward off the coronavirus disease, Covid-19. (Photo: Reuters/March 14)
HIGHLIGHTS
All India Hindu Mahasabha throws "gaumutra party"
Delhi event comes during Covid-19 outbreak
200 took part, organisers hope to host more events: Report
Kullads, garlands and saffron robes: it wasn't like any Delhi party you've seen. The only thing raging here? The enormous tongue of flame pouring out of "corona's" mouth.

Scary. But enter Swami Chakrapani Maharaj. Yes, the same gentleman who said a couple of years ago that flood victims in Kerala shouldn't receive help if they ate beef.

Today, he introduced a picture of a many-armed, lion-headed caricature -- "Corona", meant to represent the deadly new coronavirus -- to cow urine. (See photo below.)

Chakrapani Maharaj's outfit, known as the All India Hindu Mahasabha, hasn't been alone in peddling the gaumutra cure for the new coronavirus disease, Covid-19.

A BJP MLA from Assam, Suman Haripriya, recently suggested that cow urine and cow dung can be used to treat the infection. She also said gaumutra can cure cancer, echoing a claim made by party colleague and Bhopal MP Pragya Thakur -- one that prompted an opposition lawmaker to mock her as a potential candidate for the health ministry.

But let's get back to today's gaumutra party.

A report by Reuters says 200 people took part, and that the organisers "hoped to host similar events elsewhere in India".

Really? Perhaps they should take a look at advice tweeted recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi:

"We can break the chain of spread and ensure the safety of all by avoiding large gatherings."


All India Hindu Mahasabha chief Swami Chakrapani Maharaj pouring cow urine on a poster which features the new coronavirus as a demon. (Photo: AP/March 14)

Coronavirus | U.P. villages tense as many skip quarantine

Coronavirus | U.P. villages tense as many skip quarantine
Omar RashidLUCKNOW:, APRIL 03, 2020 20:39 IST
UPDATED: APRIL 04, 2020 07:39 IST
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Migrant workers returning from other cities and States are being kept in primary schools or other buildings outside the village for a designated period before being granted entry to their homes.
Migrant workers returning from other cities and States are being kept in primary schools or other buildings outside the village for a designated period before being granted entry to their homes.   | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The government estimates that around 2-2.5 lakh migrants returned to various districts of U.P. after it operated bus services to transport them back from Delhi and nearby cities.
Authorities in Uttar Pradesh are struggling to contain people within coronavirus (COVID-19) quarantine centres in rural areas.

Interactive map of confirmed coronavirus cases in India | State Helpline numbers

In many districts, migrants who returned home following the lockdown and consequent loss of jobs, and were kept inside these centres as per preventive protocol, have jumped quarantine or found reasons to leave the centres. The government estimates that around 2-2.5 lakh such migrants returned to various districts of U.P. after it operated bus services to transport them back from Delhi and nearby cities.


The administration has taken action against such persons in several districts including Hathras, Sultanpur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Rae Bareli, Sitapur, and Azamgarh.


Those returning from other cities and States are being kept in primary schools or other buildings outside the village for a designated period before being granted entry to their homes.

In Sultanpur, 26 persons out of 115 in a quarantine centre in Faridipur village in Gosaiganj escaped from the second floorwith the help of a cloth rope at night on March 31. However, the Sultanpur police said all 26 were were soon traced and arrested.

Also Read | Largest facility for migrants in U.P. district awaits first occupant

In Rae Bareli on Thursday, an FIR was lodged against nine persons in Kubna village in Maharajganj tehsil for escaping the isolation centre built inside the local primary school. The FIR invoked Sections 269, 270 and 188 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant clauses of the Disaster Management Act.

In his police complaint, Lekhpal Badrinath Tripathi said the nine persons should be charged as by escaping they risked spreading COVID-19 knowing well that it was a highly infectious disease. “They have violated the full lockdown in the State,” Mr. Tripathi said.

In Rae Bareli, the district magistrate also ordered FIRs against 19 persons in Salon, Deeh and Nasirabad areas for escaping the quarantine centres and not following "quarantine norms."

Hathras police officials on Thursday evening said they had lodged a case against 29 persons under Sections 269 and 270 of the IPC and Section 4 of the Epidemic Diseases Act for allegedly escaping the quarantine centre in Sarabar village in Sadabad. Thirty-five persons were kept at the quarantine centre with some of them coming there recently after the huge influx of migrants fleeing home from cities like Delhi.

“A panchayat secretary was put on duty there. After they had dinner, when the panchayat secretary moved from there, they proceeded towards the villages,” said District Magistrate Praveen Kumar Laxkar. The panchayat secretary was suspended and a case lodged under relevant sections, said the DM.

In Lakhimpur Kheri district, police are probing the death of a 25-year-old Dalit man Roshan who was found hanging in the fields of his village Thariya Pipriya on March 31 three days after he returned home from Gurgaon where he worked in a power tower firm. His family alleged that he was threatened and badly thrashed by policemen for allegedly escaping from the local quarantine centre, following which he hung himself. Roshan had left the quarantine centre after his sister-in-law asked him to go to local flour mill to grind the grains, his brother Sipahilal said in his police complaint.

Superintendent of Police, Lakhimpur Kheri, Poonam said Roshan was not present at the quarantine centre when the verification was going on. “He was roaming outside the village,” she said, adding that policemen of Maigalganj had an altercation with him. Both constables have been sent to the police lines while a circle officer is probing the matter, Ms. Poonam added.

While Roshan’s family alleged that he had fractured his arm in the police assault and received other injuries, Kheri police said in a statement that no such injury was found in the autopsy and that the reason of death was hanging.

Kranti Kumar Singh, a political activist associated with the Samajwadi Party, questioned the credibility of the police probe saying they did not file any FIR against the constables. Mr. Singh said locals had a video footage showing injury marks on Roshan’s body. “He left hand was fractured and had swelling marks on his hip and right hand. That’s why he wasn’t cremated but buried so that a fresh autopsy can take place through a court order after the lockdown phase,” Mr. Singh said.

Awanish Awasthi, additional chief secretary home, said 40-50 persons had also left the quarantine centre in Hapur, adding that action would be taken against officials for laxity. Mr. Awasthi appealed people to not leave the quarantine centres unnecessarily, saying it was in their interest, and even suggested that people can pass time by practicing yoga.

Briefing media on Friday, Mr. Awasthi also said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath instructed that the district police chief and district magistrate would be held accountable and action be taken against the concerned karmacharis if people escape from the quarantine centres.

Several activists from East U.P. raised concerns that the migrants may be giving the slip to the authorities due to the poor vigilance.

Vinod Yadav, an activist in Azamgarh, said things depend on the will and activism of the village heads. While some village heads and panchayat secretaries are closely monitoring the migrants, some are still not active or are absent from the village, he said

Village heads from East U.P. also acknowledged that the onus was on them to ensure that those quarantined stayed in the centres, as the protocol was not being strictly maintained and it was difficult to monitor the situation from a higher level.

Jagdamba Pal Dubey, a village head from Gorakhpur, said he had locked the gate of the school compound to ensure that the two migrants who were quarantined do not escape. “I keep going there to inquire about their health. In nearby villages, reports are that people escape the centres at night and return in the morning,” said Mr. Dubey.

ICMR changes strategy for coronavirus testing in India

ICMR changes strategy for coronavirus testing in India
ICMR has said foreign returnees must stay in quarantine for 14 days and tested only if they become symptomatic.
ET Online|Last Updated: Mar 21, 2020, 04.42 PM IST

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), on Friday, reiterated that there were no documented cases of community transmission of coronavirus in the country, and that it

ICMR Study Suggests Its Testing Strategy Was Flawed, Airport Screening a Miss
28/03/2020


PRIYANKA PULLA
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‘Help Us’: After Deaths on Coronavirus-Hit Ship, Guests Clamour to Leave
Bengaluru: As public health experts continue to wonder why India has such low rates of diagnostic tests for COVID-19 per capita, a recently published study by ICMR scientists indicates the council may have ignored its own analysis on the need for more aggressive testing.

A mathematical model prepared by ICMR scientists almost two months ago suggested that simply isolating symptomatic international air passengers could not have helped delay a COVID-19 epidemic in India.

In the model, published in a paper this month, scientists from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) compared a scenario of ‘no airport screening’ with three other scenarios in which airport screening detected all symptomatic cases. The researchers found that even flawless screening couldn’t have delayed a COVID-19 epidemic in India by more than 2.9 days because such screening wouldn’t capture infectious people who weren’t yet showing any symptoms (a.k.a. pre-symptomatic cases).

The model also suggested that the only strategy that could appreciably ‘flatten the curve’ for India would be extensive testing of symptomatic people with no travel history, allowing up to 50% of all COVID-19 infections to be identified.

These findings raise serious questions about ICMR’s reluctance to widen testing beyond people with a travel history until only last weekend.

Jacob John, a professor of community medicine at Vellore’s Christian Medical College, said, “I believe the testing of only travel-related cases was a serious error.” As of March 17, ICMR had tested only 500 community cases  of severe acute respiratory illness (SARI). The agency changed its strategy only on March 20, to include all SARI and pneumonia cases.

Further, after WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus asked all countries to “test, test, test”, ICMR officials claimed to have written to WHO’s India office that Ghebreyesus’s statement was unwarranted because it didn’t apply to countries like India with no evidence of community transmission.

When asked why ICMR waited so long to widen community testing, despite the agency’s own model suggesting otherwise, the paper’s coauthor and epidemiologist Tarun Bhatnagar said logistical constraints had played a part. “This is not Singapore or South Korea, which are like a single Indian state. We have to take a balanced approach to see that we are using our resources in an optimal manner,” he told The Wire Science.

However, by ICMR’s own admission, India had ample capacity to conduct tests for COVID-19, and so a shortage wasn’t the cause for the slow ramp-up. Raman Gangakhedkar, another coauthor of the paper, has said previously that ICMR was only using 10% of its testing capacity. The reason it wasn’t expanding further, he explained, was because there was no evidence of community transmission.

This conclusion was in turn seemingly based on negative test results from 500 SARI samples – a sample size that other experts have called inadequate for a country of over 1.3 billion people.

Coronavirus | Cases surge; ICMR denies community transmission
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, MARCH 29, 2020 23:37 IST
UPDATED: MARCH 30, 2020 09:18 IST
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A girl stands amid smoke as municipal workers fumigate an area in Ahmedabad on March 29, 2020.
A girl stands amid smoke as municipal workers fumigate an area in Ahmedabad on March 29, 2020.   | Photo Credit: AP

Since the lockdown was announced on March 24, India has added between 75-100 cases a day on average.
India on Sunday reported more than 100 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the overall case load to 979.

“There have been six deaths in the past 24 hours,” said Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Lav Agrawal at a briefing.

Coronavirus | Helpline numbers | Interactive map of confirmed coronavirus cases in India

“We have identified certain emerging hotspots and [will] investigate, on a war footing, what action can be taken there,” he added. However, none of the officials at the briefing specified the hotspots or the number of cases at these locations.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said testing for new cases has been stepped up to 30% of the nation’s capacity.

Coronavirus | Why are only a fraction of cases tested?

Director-General of ICMR Balram Bhargava had said earlier this month that the country could theoretically test upto 70,000 samples a week.

Head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at ICMR, Raman Gangakhedkar, said there was no estimate yet of whether the nationwide lockdown — now into its fifth day — had managed to check community transmission. “If we all observe the lockdown strictly then there’s a chance that we will soon reach the peak number of cases,” Dr. Gangakhedkar added. The ICMR continues to maintain that there are no instances of community transmission.

Coronavirus | Isolation is India's best weapon: ICMR

Reports from State health authorities put the death toll from COVID-19 at 29, with 1,121 positive cases. Maharashtra reported two fatalities, while J&K and Delhi reported one each on Sunday. Maharashtra and Kerala continued to have the most cases at 203 and 202 respectively. Kerala reported 20 new cases, while 1.41 lakh people are under observation, State Health Minister K.K. Shailaja said. Maharashtra had 22 new cases, with 10 from Mumbai.

Coronavirus | Cases surge; ICMR denies community transmission

Since the lockdown was announced on March 24, India has added between 75-100 cases a day on average. According to district-wise updated figures from the Union Health Ministry, Mumbai recorded the highest number of cases at 81, followed by Kasargod in Kerala with 78. Bangalore came next with 26.

Coronavirus | Why 21-day lockdown period?

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has asked States to coordinate with manufacturers of gloves, hand sanitisers and masks to address shortages in these products. The list mentions 35 manufacturers of gloves, 49 makers of sanitisers and 34 mask makers.

As of Sunday, coronavirus infections have been recorded in 188 countries. There were 6,83,694 cases according to covidindia.org, an independent tracker, and 32,155 deaths globally.

The thrust of the government is to ensure that the lockdown restrictions are strictly adhered to, said Mr. Agrawal. Delhi has seen a surge in migrants packing up and trying to leave the city for their homes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar mainly but stranded in the city want of transport. The Central government reiterated directions to States to ensure that people stayed put and they be provided food, water and shelter.


Government Drops First Hint of Community Transmission in India
30/03/2020


BANJOT KAUR AND RICHARD MAHAPATRA
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Coronavirus: Paying the Price of Science Denialism… Again
Some patients suffering from severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) without any history of international travel or contact with anybody infected by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) have tested positive for the virus, the government said on March 28, 2020.

The comments by Raman Gangakhedkar, head of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)’s epidemiology division, at a press conference in New Delhi were the first official indication that the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, may have infected patients outside the limited criterion of overseas travel history.

Gangakhedkar did not divulge the number of such patients who had tested positive but only said that they were “sporadic”. He downplayed that this could indicate community transmission of COVID-19.

Out of nearly 110-120 samples tested for SARI, as many as 10% had been confirmed positive for COVID-19, sources from ICMR said.

Stage 3 of the coronavirus epidemic in India, known as community transmission, is the phase in which the source of infection cannot not be known or traced either to international travel or contact history.

“Even if the number is small, this is an indicator that India is likely in stage 3,” T. Sundararaman, former head of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s National Health Systems Resource Centre, said.

It was wrong on the part of the government to deny such a ‘reality’ by taking refuge in the fact that such positive cases were less in number, he added.

“Absence of evidence is being used as evidence of absence. When one links it with our very [low] sampling, it is worrying,” he said.

“Despite being expanded on paper, the testing criteria remains limited in practice. It is difficult for an acute respiratory illness patient to be tested for COVID-19 in reality, despite guidelines saying so. I think it is no longer a matter of discussion in which stage we are but rather channelise all our resources in preparing hospitals for stage-3,” he told Down To Earth.

Emergency preparations afoot

Meanwhile, officials across India’s states seem to scrambling in order to prepare the health infrastructure for stage-3.

A WhatsApp message late on the night of March 27 to a senior official of Chhattisgarh jolted him out of his slumber. “Book all private hospitals, clear all roads from remote areas to district hospitals, count and clean all ICU instruments and please put all available ventilators at your direct control,” the message read.

The official is among those managing the state’s response to the pandemic. Within five minutes of him receiving the message, he also received a call from a senior official in neighbouring Odisha. “How many ventilators are there in Raipur? And how many affected people?”

In the next 20 minutes, senior officials directly in charge of the fight against COVID-19 in nine states, including Kerala, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, undertook an extensive assessment of the situation.

“Unofficially, Delhi [shorthand for ICMR, which comes under the government] has confirmed community transmission occurring at a speed and reach higher and wider than expected,” an official from UP said.

Also read: Four Reasons It’s Hard to Believe India Doesn’t Have Community Transmission

The influx of thousands of migrants to and from these above states since March 26 has added to the panic.

By the evening of March 28, official spokespersons of Odisha and Chhattisgarh hinted that community transmission was imminent.

Activities at the village-level in states like Odisha and Uttar Pradesh point to enhanced alertness. Odisha has granted panchayats Rs 5 lakh each for isolation exercises and critical medical expenditure. Focus on mapping out infrastructure has heightened.

While all these are standard practices of preparedness, the message originating from Delhi and being officially communicated with urgency to district collectors has added to the fear that government assessment of the situation is different than what it has been projecting.

“We all know stage 3 is a reality. With or without declaration, we have to prepare,” a senior official dealing with the Chhattisgarh chief minister’s team on COVID-19, said. “But the official internal communications of the last 24 hours are pointing to certainty about it.”

Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also posted a tweet to this effect: “I have received the report from the panel of doctors headed by Dr [S.K.] Sareen recommending measures to prepare for a potential stage-3 outbreak of COVID-19 in Delhi.”

The state government was ramping up capacity for an eventuality of 1,000 daily positive cases for testing, treatment and isolation, he added.

Also read: ICMR Study Suggests Its Testing Strategy Was Flawed

Thus far, India has had quite a few instances of people testing positive for COVID-19 without any prior international or contact history.

A 20-year-old man from Tamil Nadu had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on March 18.

The state’s health minister C. Vijaya Bhaskar described his case as “domestic”. The patient had a travel history of Delhi. “We have not been able to find any other contact or international travel history,” Sampath Palani from the state’s health department told Down To Earth on March 28.

Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, Chhattisgarh’s Raipur and Odisha’s Raipur have also reported such cases.

Banjot Kaur and Richard Mahapatra are reporters at Down To Earth magazine. This article was originally published on Down To Earth and has been republished here with permission.

Coronavirus: What is community transmission?
India says it won't hide the truth from its public if it enters what's called the community transmission stage, or Stage 3, of the coronavirus outbreak. But what exactly does that mean? Here's a detailed explainer.
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Ganesh Radha-Udayakumar
Ganesh Radha-Udayakumar 
New Delhi
March 29, 2020UPDATED: March 29, 2020 13:23 IST

The government recently said that if India's coronavirus outbreak reaches the community transmission stage, "we will tell people so that we can step up the level of alertness and awareness." We explain what that term means. (Photo by Reuters/Taken in Mumbai, on March 28, 2020)
HIGHLIGHTS
India's caseload crosses 1,000; over 2 dozen dead
Lockdown till April 14; migrant worker exodus a worry
Community transmission: We take a closer at a key concept
India's coronavirus caseload is growing fast -- over 1,000 people now have, or have had the virus -- but experts from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) say evidence of community transmission is scarce.

But what exactly is that?

Well, it's got to do with our ability to tell how patients got infected.

At the community transmission stage (the "Stage 3" you keep hearing about), a disease spreads in the population is such a way that people don't know how they were exposed to the contagion: they haven't travelled to a part of the world that's currently battling an outbreak, or haven't been in contact with someone they know has the coronavirus.

Chezney Schulte, a public health official in the US state of Missouri, put it like this to local channel KMIZ:

"You are racking your brain thinking, I must have gotten it out in the community by going about my day-to-day life...I just don't have that person I can pinpoint it down to where I would have gotten it."
'If India enters that stage, we won't hide it'

Back home, the Press Trust of India reports that three people who were found to be infected with the coronavirus -- after the ICMR announced a major expansion of its testing criteria -- had no exposure history.

But ICMR's Head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, Raman R Gangakhedkar, said there were "some sporadic cases where people are not revealing their exposure history", but the numbers weren't "significant enough to assume that the virus is spreading rapidly".

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"We can consider that we are in the community transmission stage only when there are about 20 to 30 per cent cases with no clue on how they got the virus."
- India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
CORONAVIRUS: QUICK FACTS
Previously unknown type called Sars-CoV-2. First detected in China.
Causes potentially fatal respiratory disease called Covid-19.
Elderly and patients with pre-existing conditions at greater risk.
On March 19, a few days before India imposed an ambitious nationwide lockdown to enforce social distancing, the ICMR said more than 800 random samples tested to detect community transmission had come out negative.

"We can consider that we are in the community transmission stage only when there are about 20 to 30 per cent cases with no clue on how they got the virus," said Lav Aggarwal, a joint secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, later in the week.

"If India enters that stage, we will not hide it. We will tell people so that we can step up the level of alertness and awareness."