Month: May 2020

Bollywood In Red Zone

By Mahendra Ved

The loss in a single day last week of two Bollywood stalwarts, Irrfan and Rishi Kapoor, compels us to worry about the health and well-being of those on whom billions ride.

Equally important, and more urgent, is the need to see the potential impact of Coronavirus, or Covid-19 that is the new game-changer. Will India’s cinema/entertainment industry, especially Bollywood, dependent on crowds, survive and rise to entertain again with the same verve even as it suffers from stars dying, cinemas closed and filming stopped?

The worldwide pandemic is unlikely to leave soon. Having humbled societies and wrecked economies, it has imposed conditions that have already begun to influence our – including those who entertain us — behaviour, individually and collectively.   

My own perceptions are limited and the space here, even more so. But I am not alone when I ask how world’s largest cinematography, making 2000-plus feature films annually, that is estimated to have touched $3.7 billion this month, can respond to this mix of complex circumstances.   

Not all of India’s film-making centres follow the Bollywood model and not all have money-spinning stars. But all of them depend upon viewers in cinema theatres, on television and now, increasingly through streaming.

Covid-19 is only the latest health-scare. None asked “Was it Corona” about the two stars. It was well known they were cancer survivors back after being treated in the United States. Bollywood’s list of cancer patients/survivors currently includes Manisha Koirala 49, who has returned to the screen.

ALSO READ: How Coronavirus Will Change Our Lives

Precisely two years ago, Vinod Khanna had succumbed. With Rajesh Khanna, Bollywood’s “first superstar” who too died of cancer in 2012, Vinod strode the Bollywood scene in the 1970s.

Cancer is a killer. One of Rajesh Khanna’s most memorable roles was in and as ‘Anand’ (1971). Smiling his winsome smile he hid his agony instead of being overwhelmed by cancer, poking fun at “lymphosecoma of the intestine”. The last line was an ode to life amidst pain: “Anand maraa nahin; Anand martey nahin” (Anand is not dead – Anands do not die.) This was a significant departure from the suffering protagonist, staggering with eyes half-closed, do-gooding till the end, winning audience sympathy.

A social media post in the wake of Irrfan/Rishi deaths lists so many marquee names suffering from one complication or the other and offers a thought. Well-off, these stars hit the gym even before they debut, eat special diet and work hard to maintain their physique. They live well. They go abroad to relax and get the best treatment money can buy. What they can get is not available to the common man. Yet, they suffer like any ordinary being and go when their time comes, leaving their fans in tears. Disease and pain are great levelers.

Covid-19 has made everyone feel more vulnerable than ever. Bollywood appears to have responded well and fast, surprisingly, without waiting for a political diktat. All cinema theatres are closed. All indoor and outdoor shootings are off. Paparazzi are out-of-job since the stars are strictly indoors. Very few attended the two funerals.   Some Award Nites are cancelled. There’s no way Bollywood can shoot crowd scenes, anywhere.  Lockdown is complete and like other film-making centres, Mumbai remains in Covid-19’s “red zone.”

All this means losses in man/days, gate-money revenue, ad earnings and services worth billions. With the overall economy in doldrums and production jeopardized, the impact on entertainment business, public’s ability and inclination to spend on it and perhaps, the utility of the stars we adore remains uncertain.

ALSO READ: Can DD Re-Run Sustain Epic Magic

The stars seem to realize their own vulnerability. They use Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to stay in public eye every single day. Their unease is discernible the way some of them called cameramen to film their doing “jharoo-ponchha”, doing yoga and for a change, cooking their own frugal but healthy meals. This may have killed some of their glamour and closed the enormous gulf they maintain, both physically and in their lifestyle, from the public.     

Everyone fears that not all jobs lost may return. Covid-19 is changing basic norms that may stay substantially, if not fully. It has already forced us to work from home, to go digital in business and banking, to keep fit without gym and outdoor sports and to shop and be entertained without visiting malls.

The irony of empty roads that can’t be traversed and clear skies but no flying cannot be lost. How much of the present can be retained and how much of the past shall remain relevant is uncertain.

But I remain optimist about Bollywood’s ability to adapt. Hence, on a different note altogether, I am tempted to explore the past and wonder: can Bollywood make a disaster film on Covid-19? 

Frankly, there is not much to go by. Of man-made disasters, Burning Train (1980) showed journey of a brake-failed passenger train. Kaala Patthar (1979) sought to reenact mining disaster at Chasnala Colliery. Multi-starrers, they were essentially entertainers, with some serious moments.

In Aman (1980), a rare health-related disaster film, the mandatory entertainment quotient was high with love songs. It highlighted perils of a nuclear disaster Japan has suffered. But that came only in the second half. Even then, alas, the focus shifted from nuclear radiation to the dead hero’s journey back home. 

ALSO READ: Devdas, Show Isn’t Over Yet

To be fair, the hero saving fishermen caught in a nuclear zone was not about disaster, but about suffering that radiation victims endure and long-term damage caused by atomic weapons. This anti-war film featured a rare cameo by Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell. To its credit, Aman did not treat disaster as an amoral affliction.

Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946) took political/ideological route while India was still under the British rule. It was about an Indian doctor’s role in Chinese resistance to Japanese invasion during the World War II. It was filmed immediately after that war.

Producing, directing and playing the doctor, V Shantaram enacted a real-life story of Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis who responds to appeal by Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Bose to join the medical mission. While other Indians return sick, Kotnis, married to Chinese assistant, continues and eventually dies of epilepsy.

Kotnis’ sacrifice and Shantaram’s film have been India’s strongest bridge to Sino-Indian relations, winning praise from Mao Dzedong to Hu Jintao. Till she died in 2005, Guo Qinglan, the real Mrs Kotnis, was unique to the cultural ties between the two distrusting neighbours. The glow endured despite the numerous fluctuations, including the 1962 conflict. Alas, old memories are fading.

Wuhan figured in Kotnis’ journey — the same Wuhan where Modi met President Xi Jinping in 2018 — the same that is supposed to be the cradle of Covid-19. Described as heavenly then, the world now calls it hell. 

After 9/11 happened spiking Islam-phobia, Bollywood produced My Name is Khan. Does it really need a disaster like Covid-19 to make its presence felt? It will rise again in its full glory from this ashes as it has done many times before because it knows how to. Its creativity is its resilience.

The writer can be reached at mahendraved07@gmail.com

Covid-19 Curve In India Relatively Flattened: Ministry

By LokMarg

The COVID-19 curve in India is relatively flat as of now and if work is done collectively then the peak may never come, said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare during a press briefing on Monday.

“During lockdown and containment activities, we have been able to control cases relatively. The curve is relatively flat as of now. When the peak will come – that’s not the right way of looking at the situation. What is relevant is we know how to prevent the disease. If we work collectively in that direction, then the peak may never come. If we fail at any point, then we will witness a spike,” Agarwal said.

He also informed that India’s recovery rate has further moved to 27.52 per cent.

“A total of 1,074 people have been cured in the last 24 hours. This is the highest number of cured patient in a day. 11,706 people have been cured till to date. The recovery rate is 27.52 per cent,” Agarwal said.

(ANI)

Rahul Slams Govt For Charging Migrants Train Fare

By LokMarg

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday hit out at the Central government for charging migrant workers for rail travel during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Citing a media report, Rahul Gandhi said that the Railways is charging migrants for rail tickets at the same time donating money in the PM-CARES Fund.

“On the one hand, the Railways is charging ticket fare from migrant workers stranded in various states of the country, on the other hand, the Ministry of Railways is donating Rs 151 crore in PM-CARES Fund. Solve this puzzle!,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted (roughly translated from Hindi).

Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi had earlier today said that her party will bear the cost for rail travel of every needy migrant worker and labourer to their respective home towns during the lockdown.

(ANI)

Test Swab For Covid-19

India’s Coronavirus Count Reaches 42,533

By LokMarg

India’s count of COVID-19 cases has reached 42,533, including 1,373 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday.

2,553 more coronavirus cases were reported and 72 people succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours.

Currently, there are 29,453 active cases while 11,706 COVID-19 positive patients have been cured/discharged and one migrated.

Maharashtra has the highest number of cases with 12,974, followed by Gujarat with 5,428 cases and Delhi with 4,549 cases.

The country is under lockdown till May 17 to curb COVID-19 cases. (ANI)

Covid-19 – What Rest of India May Learn From Kerala

By Amit Sengupta

Fighting an epidemic like Corona requires scientific temper, humanism and a spirit for inquiry and reform. I strictly follow scientists and experts than those who eulogise on the imagined benefits of cow dung and cow urine.
–KK Shailaja, Health Minister of Kerala

As early as late March this year, impossible things were happening in Kerala. An old couple, aged 93 and 88, were admitted to the Kottayam Medical College. Their son and his family, upon return from Italy during the last week of February, had infected the elderly.

Placed in the high-risk category by international standards, considering the high mortality rate of older people globally due to the pandemic, they were already inflicted with multiple ailments, typical of old age. The man had heart and breathing problems, which deteriorated into a heart attack in the hospital; he was put under a ventilator.

Indeed, when the entire health system in the country and world over had put their hands up on old patients, especially those above 60, the medical staff and doctors at the Kottayam Medical College successfully saved the lives of the husband and wife. Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja ‘Teacher’ was directly in touch with the hospital staff, assuring total support of the government, and successfully implementing the policy of decentralized micro-management. Almost a month later, a warm farewell was given to the couple by the hospital staff as the two left for their destination to Pathanamthitta.

ALSO READ: How Covid-19 Will Change Our Lives

Indeed, India’s first three positive cases were reported from Kerala, in just about two days in early February this year. The three patients were discharged, totally cared, after 15 days.

Why Kerala has become a model state has many outstanding reasons of current and long-term achievements. For instance, the same health minister led from the front in 2018 and 2019, to combat the Nipah virus outbreak.

During the devastating floods in 2018 and 2019, the entire Kerala, the state, its citizens in the rest of India, and those working in the Gulf, pooled in resources even as the central government gave a pittance as relief. The state machinery worked from the grassroots onwards, one step forward and two steps back, and painstakingly managed to resurrect the ravaged landscape into a new and pulsating entity. Even secularism was strengthened when religious places opened their compounds for prayers, shelter and food for all concerned, even while the waters of the flood roared outside.

This is an era of the information, and we are so proud of the global village. That America is a democracy is proved every day when US President Donald Trump, who hates the hostile free press in his country, holds a press conference on the dot, and answers the most difficult questions. He does not always indulge in a monologue, like the rare ‘speeches’ of the president for life in China, Xi Jin Ping, of what is clearly a totalitarian advanced capitalist nation-state.

At home, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not addressed a single press conference since May 2014. And in the current bleak scenario, both his home minister and health minister seem to be decisively missing.

Even an otherwise accessible ‘aam aadmi’ chief minister like Arvind Kejriwal, ground reporters crib, is refusing to answer questions, not even on Whatsapp or in a digital press meet. He diverts questions, and reportedly indulges in a one-way discourse, thereby consolidating what is a total information clampdown, on good or bad news, or what is in store for the people in Delhi and elsewhere.

Not so in Kerala. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has spoken to the media almost every day with regular updates, good and bad, about the state health scenario. Mostly, it is good news, and future projects. The state government, indeed, had agreed to ease local transport for workers, open book shops and restaurants, but the Union home ministry reportedly shot it down, for reasons only they know.

ALSO READ: Langar In The Time Of Coronavirus

Indeed, it will be worthwhile to give credit to the low profile, hard-working, straight-talking, simple and stoic chemistry teacher-turned-politician called KK Shailaja ‘Teacher’.  A hands-on minister, she is at the frontlines with her resilient mantra of ‘science over superstition’ in the most highly literate state in India. In that sense, once can draw parallels the ‘woman of science’ – Germany’s Angela Merkel.

According to reports, as early as in the month of January, when the first ominous signs were emerging from distant Wuhan in China, the health minister noticed the ‘alarm calls’. Her first reaction was that there were students from Kerala out there, perhaps trapped. “I sat together with the health secretary and discussed what to do because we knew a lot of Malayalee medical students were in Wuhan. We had the experience of Nipah, whereby we could not identify the first patient before he transmitted it to four family members.”

Hence, emergency measures were taken from the beginning even as help was reached out to the students. The airports in the state were kept on high alert from the beginning; this reporter was stopped for enquiry at the Kochi airport in early March. What is the origin of your destination, I was asked. When told that it was Delhi, they let me pass, even as foreigners were quarantined in comfort.

ALSO READ: ‘Choked Toilets, Smelly Linen. Quarantine Was Jail’

In top international tourist destinations like at the Kovalam beach resort near Thiruvantharam, or at the bustling Fort Kochi with its exquisite sunsets, old churches, Chinese fishing nets and huge ships sailing into the horizon across the Arabian Sea, there was a heightened state of awareness about the epidemic. Social distancing was being practiced without any overt formality, and the foreigners were treated with utmost respect and friendliness, with the local administration going out of their way to make them comfortable. Indeed, most foreigners have reportedly chosen to stay back.

Kerala’s discharge rate is very high. The mortality rate too is low. Said Minister Shailja: “Coronavirus mortality rate in Kerala is below 0.5 per cent, but in the world it is more than 5 per cent. In some places, it is even more than 10 per cent. Most of the people who are in isolation in the hospitals are stable and very few are in critical stage. We are treating them with utmost care. The discharging or cure rate is also very high in Kerala because of our systematic work. We evaluate everything every day.”

Sources in Thrissur inform that the virus has been declared almost totally controlled in Thrissur, Kottayam and Idukki. This is no mean achievement when the entire world is reeling under the pandemic.

The latest is the robot, as in China. Now ‘Nightingale-19’, designed by young innovators with the solid backing of the health department, is being used to provide food and medicines at the health centres in Ancharakandi in Kannur district. This is also a first in a ‘model’ state, where atleast 4 lakh migrant workers, designated with dignity as ‘guest workers’, have been given rations for three months, comfortable shelters and health care and counseling. In that case, there was no crisis in Kerala, when it came to the ‘guest workers’. So much so, ‘Opposition’ MPs, Mohua Mitra and Shashi Tharoor, joined in to speak to the Bengali workers directly through video, in Bengali, asking them to feel comfortable and not to worry at all.

Indeed, this can only happen in Kerala.

Armed Forces Salute, Shower Petals On Covid-19 Warriors

By LokMarg

Indian Air Force choppers on Sunday showered flower petals on the National Police Memorial in New Delhi and hospitals treating COVID-19 patients to express gratitude and appreciation towards doctors, medical professionals, police officials and paramilitary forces who are at the forefront in the battle against the coronavirus.

This aerial salute was part of planned activities by India’s armed forces, which includes activities such as fly-pasts by fighter jets and transport aircraft of the IAF, playing of bands by the military and flashing warship lights, to express gratitude and honour the “corona warriors” of the country.

Early on Sunday morning, two C-130J Super Hercules special operations transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force conducted a fly-past over the Dal Lake in Srinagar followed by another over Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh.

The aircraft took off from Srinagar and will fly all the way to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala to show gratitude towards COVID-19 warriors.

IAF’s SU-30 aircraft conducted flypast across Marine Drive in Mumbai.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) choppers showered flower petals over hospitals treating coronavirus positive patients in Delhi, among locations across the country in order to express gratitude and appreciation to the COVID-19 warriors in the country.

“The list of hospitals include AllMS, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, GTB Hospital, Loknayak Hospital, RML Hospital, Safdarjang Hospital, Ganga Ram Hospital, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Max Saket, Rohini Hospital, Apollo Indraprastha Hospital, and Army Hospital R&R,” as per a statement by the Defence Ministry.

IAF also aircraft showered flowers on King George’s Medical University in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

This flying activity is combined along with the training activity of IAF and opportunity flight for transport planes and helicopters, which are involved in moving supplies related to the COVID-19 task.

The IAS also conducted a flypast over Rajpath among other locations in the national capital as a mark of respect for those at the frontline in the fight against coronavirus.

IAF

India Has Lowest Mortality Rate In World: Health Minister

By LokMarg

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that India’s COVID-19 mortality rate of 3.2 per cent is the lowest in the world and over 10,000 coronavirus patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the disease so far.

“Today more than 10,000 COVID-19 patients have been discharged. Those still admitted at hospitals are on the road to recovery. If in last 14 days doubling rate was 10.5 days, then today it is around 12 days,” the Minister told ANI after visiting Lady Hardinge Hospital.

“Our mortality rate of 3.2 per cent is the lowest in the world,” he said.

With 2,644 more COVID-19 cases and 83 deaths in the last 24 hours, the number of people infected from coronavirus in the country has reached 39,980 including 1,301 deaths, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

Currently, there are 28,046 active cases while 10,633 COVID-19 positive patients have been cured/discharged. (ANI)

Delhi Ready To Lift Covid-19 Lockdown: CM Kejriwal

By LokMarg

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that a suggestion has been made to the Centre to lift the coronavirus-induced lockdown in the national capital.

“I believe the lockdown can be lifted in Delhi. We have even suggested the Centre that the containment zones should remain sealed but the rest of Delhi should be declared as a green zone as it has affected the revenue that the government used to earn,” said Kejriwal during a video conference on Sunday.

He further said that they have even suggested that the formula of odd-even can be followed at the market places to avoid the overcrowding.

On the possibility of new COVID-19 cases if the lockdown is lifted, Kejriwal said: “There will indeed be some numbers of positive cases of coronavirus. However, we are prepared to treat them. We have even increased the number of COVID-19 tests to be able to keep an eye on those who are getting infected.”

“Hope we will be able to convince the Centre on lifting the lockdown,” he added.

The Delhi Chief Minister said the Center’s decision of lockdown on March 24 was very important. “If we had not implemented the lockdown, then the situation in the country could have been horrific now,” he said.

He said that earlier, the country was not ready to fight COVID19. “We had no idea of social distancing. Neither the people nor hospitals were ready. We had no personal protective equipment kits or testing kits either.”

Speaking about the future of Delhi if coronavirus cases continue to pour in, the Chief Minister said: “We have to understand that coronavirus has come to India. It will remain.”

“It is not possible that there will not be any coronavirus cases. We have to prepare ourselves accordingly. We have to take precautions to avoid contracting coronavirus.”

Kejriwal also said that they would not be able to sustain the lockdown for long as the economy is in peril.

“The revenue has fallen from Rs 3,500 crore in April month of the previous years to Rs 300 crore this year. How will the government function?”

As per the latest update by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of positive cases of coronavirus in Delhi is 4,122, including 1,256 recovered/migrated and 64 deaths.

(ANI)

Top LeT Commander, 5 Troops Die In J&K Encounter

By LokMarg

Top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Haider from Pakistan was neutralised here in Handwara encounter, said IG Kashmir Vijay Kumar on Sunday.

“Top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Haider from Pakistan killed in Handwara encounter,” Kumar said.

Earlier in the day, Army spokesperson said that two terrorists were neutralised in the encounter, which ensued between terrorists and security forces at Chanjmullah area of Handwara on Saturday.

The team of 21 Rashtriya Rifles had entered the house of a civilian to prevent a hostage situation when they came under attack from the terrorists who had already reached there.

While the four Army personnel, including a Colonel and a Major, and the police Sub Inspector lost their lives in the encounter, the civilians trapped in the house were safely evacuated, the Indian Army said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to security personnel for their supreme sacrifice while fighting and eliminating terrorists at Handwara in north Kashmir on Sunday.

“Tributes to our courageous soldiers and security personnel martyred in Handwara. Their valour and sacrifice will never be forgotten. They served the nation with utmost dedication and worked tirelessly to protect our citizens. Condolences to their families and friends,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.

Govt Extends Lockdown For 2 Weeks With Graded Relief

By LokMarg

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday extended lockdown for two weeks with effect from May 4.

“After a comprehensive review, and in view of the Lockdown measures having led to significant gains in the COVID-19 situation in the country, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India (GoI) issued an Order under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, today, to further extend the Lockdown for a period of two weeks beyond May 4, 2020,” MHA said in a press release.

The current lockdown period is scheduled to end on May 3.

MHA also issued new guidelines to regulate different activities in this period, based on the risk profiling of the districts of the country into Red (hotspot), Green and Orange Zones. The guidelines have permitted considerable relaxations in the districts falling in the Green and Orange Zones.

The ministry has said that the criteria for identification of districts as Red, Green and Orange Zones have been spelt out in detail in the letter on Thursday issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

“The Green Zones will be districts with either zero confirmed cases till date; or, no confirmed case in the last 21 days. The classification of districts as Red Zones will take into account the total number of active cases, doubling rate of confirmed cases, extent of testing and surveillance feedback from the districts,” the MHA said while explaining the criteria.

“Those districts, which are neither defined as Red nor Green, shall be classified as Orange zones. The classification of districts into Red, Green and Orange Zones will be shared by MoHFW with the States and Union Territories (UTs) on a weekly basis, or earlier, as required. While States and UTs can include additional districts as Red and Orange Zones, they may not lower the classification of a district included by MoHFW in the list of Red or Orange Zones,” the MHA said.

In Orange Zones, in addition to activities permitted in Red Zone, taxis and cab aggregators will be permitted with 1 driver and 2 passengers only’.

While asking the local authority to ensure 100 per cent coverage of Aarogya Setu app among the residents of the Containment Zone, the MHA said: “The most sensitive areas of the country, from the spread of COVID-19 point of view, and falling within the Red and Orange Zones, are designated as Containment Zones.”

The containment areas would be defined by respective District Administrations, taking into account the total number of active cases, their geographical spread, and the need to have well-demarcated perimeters from the enforcement point of view.

“The Containment Zones would have intensified surveillance protocols, with contact tracing, house to house surveillance, home/ institutional quarantining of persons based on their risk assessment, and clinical management. Strict perimeter control would need to be ensured, so that there is no movement of people in and out of these Zones, except for medical emergencies, and for maintaining supply of essential goods and services. No other activity is permitted within the Containment Zones,” MHA said.

The Home Ministry has said that a limited number of activities will remain prohibited throughout the country, irrespective of the zone under the new guidelines.

“These include travel by air, rail, metro and inter-State movement by road; running of schools, colleges, and other educational and training/ coaching institutions; hospitality services, including hotels and restaurants; places of large public gatherings, such as cinema halls, malls, gymnasiums, sports complexes etc; social, political, cultural and other kinds of gatherings; and, religious places/ places of worship for public,” read the order.

However, movement of persons by air, rail and road is allowed for select purposes, and for purposes as permitted by MHA.

According to the order, Local authorities shall issue orders under appropriate provisions of law, such as prohibitory orders [curfew] under Section 144 of CrPC, for this purpose, and ensure strict compliance.

In all zones, persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women, and children below the age of 10 years, shall stay at home, except for meeting essential requirements and for health purposes.

Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) and Medical clinics shall be permitted to operate in Red, Orange and Green Zones, with social distancing norms and other safety precautions; however, these will not be permitted within the Containment Zones.

The new guidelines also prescribe certain measures for well-being and safety of persons, hence Movement of individuals, for all non-essential activities, shall remain strictly prohibited between 7 pm to 7 am.

The announcement came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with chief ministers last month where some of them suggested extension of lockdown.

On March 24, the Prime Minister had announced a 21-day lockdown as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown was later extended till May 3. (ANI)