Innholdsfortegnelse for April 13, 2020 i India Today

Every country in the world is battling the novel corona-virus in its own way. Epidemiologists are churning out computer models of how the infection will spread and how many people will die. Scientists are struggling to understand the nature of the virus. Countries are looking at how each has fared and wondering which model to follow to minimise death and economic disruption. As the very articulate foreign affairs minister of Singapore, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, put it, “In fact, this is an acid test of every country’s quality of healthcare, the standard of governance and the social capital. And if any one of this tripod is weak, it will be exposed quite unmercifully.” Of course, India cannot be compared with Singapore, but the points he makes remain valid. India is unique…

Iron out administrative glitches. Fast-track permissions for food processing units for procurement, processing and supply of goods Establish a central control agency. This includes an online portal to apply for permissions and exemptions as well as uniform guidelines across the country Implement a clear system to issue passes. This incudes the documentation required, process guidelines and timelines for issuance. A dedicated helpline would be helpful Issue guidelines on sanitation. Clear rules for the handling of goods are also essential Improve connectivity to airports. This would facilitate better air cargo transport Increase inventories. Retailers need to beef up their stockpiles to ensure they can tide over unexpected delays in shipments…

Asaram came to New Delhi from Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, a decade ago. Before the lockdown, his family—wife, two sons and two daughters—survived on his monthly earnings of about Rs 12,000. With work drying up, Asaram’s savings won’t last beyond another 15 days. His landlord Mange Ram has waived the monthly rent of Rs 1,700 and even offered monetary help. But Asaram, who has no bank account and is not a beneficiary of any government scheme, knows he cannot depend on such mercies. He wears a mask, but finds it tough to maintain hand hygiene and social distancing. “Soap and water don’t come free, so I cannot keep washing my hands all the time. We take whatever little protection we can and have left the rest to God,” he says.…

Rajiv Khandelwal, co-founder and executive director, Aajeevika Bureau The Centre needs to urgently facilitate access to food and cash by universalising PDS at the local level and see to it that people have access to ration irrespective of documentation; it needs to ensure workers are paid their rightful wages. Immediate clearance of MGNREGA dues with advance cash payments through a rigid determination of universal basic income is needed. Restricting movement of migrants is unacceptable. Protocols for airports and railway stations need to be put in place to allow movement across borders. Avinash Kumar, executive director, Amnesty International India The government must implement respectful, people-friendly measures to battle the pandemic. Amnesty International India calls on the Centre and states to take measures to widen access to social security. Reetika Khera, development…

ANUJA CHAUHAN Self-isolation is my natural state. I was an early believer in JOMO (the joy of missing out) and I love being alone with my thoughts. As a writer, I alternate between two states, writing and lying fallow. Fallow times are more social, when you go out into the larger world and mingle with other folk to ‘gather life’, as Vikram Seth once said—and writing times are when you hunker down in your cave and hammer away with all your heart and soul. Both phases are equally important to keep the writing rich, informed and free-flowing. MEENA KANDASAMY To be honest and frank, I’ve not written a single line since the lock-down happened here. Even more shameful, I cannot find the head-space to finish reading 10 pages. Part of…

IT’S hard to restrain a jingoistic giggle when you learn that the exercise-oriented yoga practised all over the world first emerged as a reaction to cricket. According to Alistair Shearer in The Story of Yoga: From Ancient India to the Modern West, when the British brought cricket and gyms to the subcontinent to add muscle to the ‘weak’ Indians, nationalists created a form of exercise that combined the ancient principles of yoga with contemporary forms of physical training. This practice, nearly 200 years later, is a $25 billion fitness industry in the US alone. Sounds simple? Ha! As Shearer shows in this popular history, there is nothing simple about what yoga has been through since its first mention in ancient texts as a spiritual path to the ultimate realisation of…

Q. What was the hardest part about playing an Irani cafe owner in Maska? The abuses she comes up with. I have never cursed so much in my life. It was new. But these were the character’s nuances and one needed to say and do them correctly. Q. Where have you had the best bun maska? At Kyani’s in Mumbai. The owner was closing for the day when we arrived, but my Parsi dialect coach requested him to let us in. Q. Maska is your third project with Netflix. Has this platform given you a new beginning? Absolutely. I used to watch documentaries on Netflix when I was recovering from cancer in Virginia. My aunt was a subscriber. Soon the service would come to India. It’s a very professional set-up.…

As soon as the lockdown was announced, there was a complete breakdown of work for a day. Kumar says his delivery agents couldn’t get to warehouses. “There was complete chaos, everybody knew that essential services were allowed, but on the ground, there was a lot of confusion on day one. Getting permissions was cumbersome—we had to apply in each district we work in and each district had different rules.” His business now faces a labour shortage and problems ensuring a supply of goods. “Delivery to consumers will get sorted out, but getting raw materials to manufacturers and ensuring manpower and the supply of goods from brands are points of worry.” Most brands say they have their supply chains stocked for a month, but if the lockdown is extended, there could…

Implement the e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) since digital trade can be done even during a lock-down. But digitalisation levels are low, there are just 585 e-NAMs across the country. Karnataka is a model state, it also has 163 Rashtriya e-Market Services (ReMS). The 2,700 agricultural produce market committees (APMCs) countrywide closed during the lockdown. On March 27, the government issued fresh orders that all mandis must remain open. The APMCs are critical to revive the supply chain. They also protect the interests of the farmers. Sudha Narayanan, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) Agricultural procurement can be carried out with due lockdown protocols. But strict social distancing, sanitising of all vehicles, godowns, hazmat suits, etc. are essential. Digital payment schemes like PM-Kisan and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) are excellent…

Of the 209 km between Kolkata and his hometown Rejinagar in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, Sheikh Mirajul covered around 40 km on foot. After a lockdown was implemented in the state, Mirajul and 12 of his co-workers were evicted from their accommodation in Dum Dum. They walked 18 km to Sealdah railway station only to find that the trains had shut down operations and had to resort to booking an ambulance (at Rs 2,000 per person), to take them a distance of 122 km. “We reached Nadia around 10.30 pm on March 24. The ambulance dropped us on the highway. It was dark. There was not a single vehicle and our mobile phones had run out of charge. We kept lighting matches to read the signboards,” says Mirajul. “It was…

Feb. 27 A 16,000-strong gathering attends a Tablighi Jamaat event in Sri Petaling Mosque, Kuala Lumpur. Over 600 test positive for COVID-19 Mar. 10-13 Jamaat gathering in Delhi’s Nizamuddin draws 3,400; includes attendees in Malaysia Mar. 11 WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic Mar. 13 Delhi govt prohibits gatherings of more than 14 people Mar. 17 COVID-19 cases start surfacing among Jamaat attendees, including 10 in Telangana Mar. 26 An infected Jamaat member from Kashmir dies Apr. 1 Jamaat’s Nizamuddin HQ sealed; 2,361 people evacuated from premises…

The Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton The Faraway Tree series has been a favourite for children (and some adults) for decades. I used to read a chapter every night to my son and, now, as we complete two weeks of near-contactless life in London, we’re reading it to our five-year-old daughter. You might need to navigate some odd gender stereotypes, but what a fascinating, riveting yarn. Austerlitz, W.G. Sebald I find myself going back to bookmarked pages in Sebald’s masterpiece. The looping sentences that conjure up entire worlds, the gorgeous, moving passages describing the child refugee’s early years in Wales and the breathtaking beauty and tragedy of Sebald’s writing in the later stages of discovery and rediscovery transport you instantly. 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds in This Strange World, Elif Shafak Shafak’s…

LIGHT ON LIFE by B.K.S. Iyengar YELLOW KITE ₹254 (Kindle); 304 pages Described by the BBC as “the Michelangelo of yoga”, B.K.S. Iyengar looks back at his life in this book and explains how yoga postures and breathing techniques can help us in our quest for wholeness. THE BUSINESS CASUAL YOGI Take Charge of Your Body, Mind and Career by Vish Chatterjee & Yogrishi Vishvketu MANDALA PUBLISHING ₹672 (Kindle); 336 pages The authors of this book promise that yoga’s benefits are a certifiable ticket to professional growth and leadership development. Combining lifestyle philosophy and physical activity, they say, is the key. YOGA MYTHOLOGY 64 Asanas and Their Stories by Devdutt Pattanaik and Matthew Rulli HARPERCOLLINS INDIA ₹231 (Kindle), 344 pages How did yogic postures like Hanuman-asana and Ananta-asana get their…

The Union and state governments must work in close coordination so that the benefits can be delivered on time and without administrative hurdles. The PDS system should be streamlined for effective functioning Local administrations should quickly identify the unregistered labour force and devise a way to provide them with financial assistance The Centre must take advantage of the JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) infrastructure to transfer cash benefits to as many poor people as possible, without overlaps The Union government should unveil an economic package for small businesses to save them from collapsing and triggering massive unemployment A massive awareness programme should be conducted in slums and other congested urban clusters where social distancing is next to impossible. Regular supply of water and hygiene products should be ensured…

GRAPES Area under cultivation 300,000 hectares Export 197,000 metric tonnes Export destinations Netherlands, UK, Russia, Germany Nashik’s contribution to exports 80% Source: APEDA and Ravindra Borade, president of the Nashik division of the Maharashtra Rajya Draksh Bagaitdar Sangh POMEGRANATE Area under cultivation 164,000 hectares Key areas of cultivation Solapur, Nashik, Sangli, Satara, Ahmednagar and Pune KEY AREAS OF CULTIVATION MANGO  WILL BE IMPACTED IF LOCKDOWN EXTENDS BEYOND APRIL 14 Area under cultivation 157,000 hectares Key areas of cultivation Ratnagiri, Devgad Total production (2016-17) 515,000 metric tonnes Total turnover ₹ 2,500- ₹ 3,000 CR Source: National Mango Database; Dr Ganesh Hingmire…

Jai Prasad Sah is a busy man these days, distributing loans and advances to the hundreds of migrant workers who work for him. Sah sends hundreds of them every year to Ludhiana in Punjab, specifically to the Goyal rice mills. He worked there as a labour supervisor for 30 years and so understands the type of skills required at the mills. “This lockdown has come as the biggest challenge in the last decade for poor migrant farm workers of north Bihar,” admits Sah. “I give them advance money and loans, otherwise they will simply perish.” The workers usually migrate in two tranches: in March-April and October-November. They work for the Goyal rice mills during the kharif season and for procurement activities in the rabi season for crops such as wheat,…

Manoj Kumar and Karan Kumar were found walking, along with many others, to the Anand Vihar terminus for a bus to return to their hometown Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The two had been walking from their rented accommodation in South Delhi’s Rajokri Pahari, an urban migrant cluster adjacent to the posh farm houses of Vasant Kunj, after the lockdown threw their lives into disarray. Manoj, a plumber, and Karan, who does odd jobs, were working under a contractor in Delhi and earning around Rs 13,000 and Rs 9,000 a month, respectively. However, now, not only have they lost their jobs, but neither has been paid their last month’s salary. With their savings fast depleting, the two want to go home to their families. “We have some money left which will sustain…

My friendship with Satish Gujral feels eternal—did I know him for fifty years, or a thousand? I first met him around the early 1960s. S.H. Raza, who had already won the Prix de la Critique, visited his show, and we all wanted to know what this established artist thought. Satish described taking Raza around in a very funny manner. “He came to the first picture, and”—Satish pursed his lips, imitating Raza grunting. “At the second, he mumbled, ‘Hmm, hmm’, melting a bit. He came to the third. ‘Ae gal hui!’ he shouted.” Now we’re talking! Satish had a great sense of wit and humour—perhaps more so with me because I was Punjabi, like him. I also had the patience to get past his lack of hearing. Punjabi was his first…

Q. How do you normally isolate yourself in order to write? By writing when people have stopped importuning me. Most of my writing is done either after 11 pm, or on planes. Q. As a writer/ reader, how are you dealing with this current period of self-isolating? I’m using it to catch up on writing commitments I’m way behind on. I have just finished the manuscript of ‘Tharoorosaurus’, to be published by Penguin, and am starting work on a long-delayed, extended book-length essay on Indian nationalism for Aleph Book Co. Q. Is sealing yourself off from the world important for creativity? Yes, hugely important. Writing is about You (your mind, your thoughts, your spirit, your essence, the whole You!), the Word and the Page (or screen). Any intrusion into that…

The month of March was meant to be Tillotama Shome’s moment in the sun. TILLOTAMA SHOME FEELS THAT TO BE AN ACTOR, ONE NEEDS TO LEARN HOW TO BECOME INVISIBLE Angrezi Medium, a film in which she played a no-nonsense education consultant, had just released. She had made her web series debut in Alt Balaji’s Mentalhood, and when the country started locking down, she was promoting Sir, a film that had already won her much acclaim. “For a film like Sir to release theatrically was a huge act of defiance in any case,” she says. “And its getting pushed was unfortunate, as was the case with Angrezi Medium. But if I call the films not releasing ‘unfortunate’, what adjective do I use for the global pandemic that we face? How…

Sumukhi Suresh’s Pushpavalli is for Indian audiences what Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag perhaps was for the British. Both feature protagonists who revel in their flaws, both repeatedly go down the rabbit hole. In season two, Suresh and her team of writers are intent to not offer Pushpavalli any redemption. The mistakes of the past weigh heavily on her mind—stalking, kidnapping her crush’s dog, constantly lying—but rather than feel remorse, we see her want revenge. “All of us are bitches somewhere,” says Suresh. “Men are too. I don’t like women being portrayed as black or white.” Much like Biswa Kalyan Rath’s Laakhon Mein Ek, another Amazon Prime show created by a stand-up comic, Pushpavalli shows there’s more to Suresh than comedy. She can dig deep into our insecurities to present an honest,…