On Friday morning, India’s national carrier, Air India, in coordination with the Indian Embassy, rescued 167 Indian Medical Students stranded in Dhaka, Bangladesh, using a special flight to Srinagar.
In a video testimony, one such student named Hadiya Rasheed has thanked the Indian High Commission in Dhaka and expressed her gratitude for being able to reach her home safely. She also mentioned that the Indian Embassy has been in touch with them throughout the time they were stuck in Dhaka.
Another student thanked the Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, for evacuating him and others, amidst the humanitarian crisis caused due to the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus. Another medical student informed that 15 people from her college were returning home to Srinagar from Dhaka on the same flight. She also heaped praise on the arrangements made at the airport by the Indian embassy to ensure a hassle-free journey.
Kashmiri students stranded in Bangladesh thank Indian Govt, EAM @DrSJaishankar & Indian High Commission in Dhaka for rescuing them amidst #COVID19 pandemic. First repatriation flight leaves for Srinagar from Dhaka at 11am today. 167 Indian Medical Students return home to Kashmir. pic.twitter.com/3PVI7e5ARi
Earlier, Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri had said that 64 flights will be operated in the first week of operation to bring Indians from different countries from May 7 to May 13. The Ministry of External Affairs has prepared a chart for the evacuation of 14,800 Indian nationals who are stranded in 12 foreign countries by 64 flights in the first week of operation. They will have to pay for the cost of the flights, and it will not be a free evacuation.
A research conducted by Chinese researchers, who tested the presence of the Wuhan coronavirus in the semen of COVID-19 affected patients found that a minuscule number of them had the new coronavirus in their semen, raising likelihood, although a slim one, of sexual transmission of the virus.
Doctors at China’s Shangqiu municipal hospital detected that out of 38 men hospitalised with the disease, six of them(16%), had tested positive for Sars-CoV-2 in their semen.
The researchers who carried out the research, however, claimed that the findings were preliminary and was based on only a small number of infected men. They added that more research needs to be conducted on the subject to ascertain if sexual transmission might be one of the ways in which the pandemic is spreading.
“More research is needed with respect to the detailed information about virus shedding, survival time and concentration in semen,” the team wrote in a study published on Thursday in JAMA Network Open.
“If it could be proved that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted sexually … (that) might be a critical part of the prevention,” the researchers said while adding, “especially considering the fact that SARS-CoV-2 was detected in the semen of recovering patients.”
The report is in stark contrast to the study conducted on 34 Chinese men suffering from COVID-19 that was published in the journal Fertility and Sterility last month. The Chinese researchers found no evidence of coronavirus present in semen tested between eight days and almost three months after diagnosis.
According to Allan Pacey, a professor of andrology at Britain’s Sheffield University, the latest study about the presence of coronavirus in semen should be viewed with caution citing technical difficulties faced by the researchers in testing semen for viruses. He stated that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in sperm is not an indicator of whether it is active and capable of transmitting infection.
Another academician, Sheena Lewis, a professor of reproductive medicine at Queen’s University Belfast, emphasised on the fact that the study was “very small” and its findings were consistent with other small studies that showed low or no SARS-CoV-2 in tests of semen samples.
Although it may sound obvious that a highly contagious virus like Novel Coronavirus will transit through sex also, actually different contagions spread through different routes. Coronavirus mainly attacks the respiratory system, and that’s why it is mostly found in the respiratory tract, and it spreads when the virus comes out of the body while coughing, sneezing, or in saliva. As the reproductive system in humans is a separate system, not every virus that is present in the respiratory system or the digestive system may be found in the reproductive system. But the latest study in China proves that Coronavirus is a highly contagious virus, as it has been able to make its way to the semen of some male patients.
National Executive Member of the Aam Aadmi Party, Preeti Sharma Menon, made a crass tweet targeting Union Minister for Railways on Friday. In a reference to an accident where migrants had lost their lives after being run over by a train while sleeping on railway tracks, Menon said, “Why are these migrants still walking? Doesn’t Piyush Goyal have a train to run them over with?”
Preeti Sharma Menon, of course, has a history of making indecent and obnoxious tweets. In the past, she has made a hoard of crass remarks against Prime Minister Modi, Smriti Irani and pretty much everything under the Sun. She has also made a habit of mocking the Hindu community and offending the religious sentiments of Hindus deliberately.
Tweet by Preeti S menon mocking Hindus
Preeti Sharma Menon has also claimed that the Indian Government ‘traded’ Princess Latifa for the extradition of alleged Augusta Westland Scam middleman Christian Michel and investments. She claimed that the Indian Government was now selling women to make deals.
Tweet by Preeti S Menon claiming Indian Govt was selling women
In another tweet, Preeti S Menon mocked the religious sentiments of Hindus and derogatorily referred to a congregation of Hindu Sadhus as the Chief Ministers of ‘New India’, as an obvious dig at Yogi Adityanath, who is the Mahant of Gorakhnath Muth in addition to being the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
The Hinduphobic tweet by Preeti S Menon
Preeti S Menon has also mocked the khaki shorts that RSS cadres wore as uniform.
The tweet by Preeti S Menon mocking the shorts worn by RSS cadres
Preeti Sharma Menon has also attacked Prime Minister Modi and Smriti Irani on Twitter.
Tweet by Preeti S Menon on Narendra Modi and Smriti Irani
Tweet by Preeti S Menon on Narendra Modi and Smriti Irani
The National Executive member of the Aam Aadmi Party appears to harbour deep-seated hatred against Smriti Irani and has made no efforts to hide it.
Sexually indecent tweet against Smriti Irani by Preeti S Menon
Having said that, her hatred for Prime Minister Modi comes close as well.
Hateful tweet against Narendra Modi by Preeti S Menon
In addition to all of this, Preeti S Menon has also defended people who made sexually perverted comments against women on social media.
Preeti S Menon defends Vidyut who made crass remarks against female supporters of Prime Minister Modi
As can be seen, by the above tweets, Preeti S Menon has a history of making crass, obnoxious and indecent remarks against politicians associated with the BJP. She is also known to make extremely Hinduphobic comments on social media. Despite her deplorable conduct, ‘Hanuman Bhakt‘ Arvind Kejriwal has taken no action against her and she continues to sit on the National Executive of the Aam Aadmi Party
A contentious video uploaded by a Youtube channel named Tech9587 had claimed that military lockdown would be imposed in the city of Mumbai between May 8 and May 17. The video which is now being widely shared on Whatsapp has also alleged that only dairy shops, pharmacies, and hospitals would remain open during the said period.
The person who made this public announcement in Marathi could be seen sitting on the back seat of an autorickshaw. To ensure that the information spread far and wide, he had also arranged for a loudspeaker. The man alleged that there is a positive case of the Wuhan Coronavirus, in every nook and corner of the city, due to people violating lockdown rules in the name of grocery shopping.
The video further claimed that if Mumbai was not shut down completely, then, cases in the country might rise up to a whopping 1 crore. The archived version of the said video can be accessed here.
The contentious video by a channel named Tech9587
What is the Truth?
On Friday, Press Information Bureau (PIB) took to Twitter to debunk the misleading claims made in the above-mentioned video. Labelling the information about “military lockdown” as fake, PIB reiterated that no army or navy personnel have been deployed for the maintenance of law and order situation in the city of Mumbai.
— PIB in Maharashtra ?? #MaskYourself ? (@PIBMumbai) May 8, 2020
Fake News Amidst Pandemic
Earlier, former Aaj Tak and ABP News journalist Punya Prasun Bajpai had posted an image that showed the chapped, rough feet of some children. He added the text, “Mother India ke panv dekhe hain kabhi”? which means, ‘have you ever seen the feet of mother India? As pointed out by Twitter user @theFirstHandle, Bajpai had used an image that was published in a 2018 report by The London Post, in an article titled “Real Face of Pakistani Democracy- Children need a sponsor for medical treatment”.
On May 8, a Twitter user named Hussain shared a video claiming that Air India, the national carrier of India, has charged three times the normal fare to its passengers under the pretext of social distancing. On Friday, Press Information Bureau (PIB) took to Twitter to clarify that the contentious video wherein passengers are seen complaining about lack of social distancing, despite high fares belonged to a “neighbouring country” (Pakistan).
Earlier today, there were some rumours of a second gas leakage incident in Vizag. However, the NDRF has denied such report.
National Disaster Response Force chief DG SN Pradhan refuted the reports of the second leakage in the polymer plant. He said that the experts are working on the ground to ensure complete plugging of the breach. DG said that there was no need to panic and the experts who reached the incident site on Thursday night are working on the ground to successfully plug the leakage.
NDRF DG said, “There are some rumours and media reports about a second leakage. I categorically clear that it is not true. It has nothing to do with leakage as such and hence there is no reason to believe that there is a second leakage.”
He claimed that the experts reached the site overnight from Pune and Nagpur and they visited the Vizag plant at night and then on Friday morning. Enough quantity of chemicals which are required to neutralize the leakage has been sent from Daman.
He stated, “experts are doing their technical work and I’m sure during the course of the day they will be able to update us about the success of the complete plugging process.”
Styrene Gas leak incident
The chemical gas leakage was reported early morning on Thursday at LG Polymers factory in Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. More than 200 were admitted to the hospitals following the leak of styrene gas from an LG Polymers facility located near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. 11 people were reported dead.
The police and the local administration came into action after locals reported throat and skin irritation and some toxic smell following the leak from the polymer plant. A team of NDRF and SDRF was deployed in the area.
As per reports, the NDRF team evacuated around 1000-1500 people, and more than 800 have been hospitalized after the gas leak incident at a chemical plant in Vishakapatnam.
FIR against the management
A criminal case has been registered against the management of LG Polymers. The FIR was filed under sections 278, 284,285, 337, 338, 304-II of the Indian Penal Code.
The National Green Tribunal has also asked the LG Polymers to pay a penalty of 50 crores due to the negligence that led to a hazardous gas leak incident. The NGT bench headed by Adarsh Kumar Goel asked the management to pay the amount to the DM of Vishakapatnam and also sought a reply from the centre.
The Tribunal has also formed a five-member committee to enquire about the issue. The committee will be headed by Neeraj Kumar Prasad, Special Chief Secretary (EFS and T department) and will have Karikal Valaven, Special Chief Secretary (Industries), Vinay Chand (Visakhapatnam district collector), RK Meena (Visakhapatnam Commissioner of Police) as members and Vivek Yadav (Member Secretary, AP Pollution Control Board) as member convenor.
The committee will have to report before May 18 on how the incident occured, and who were reposponsible for the incident.
In what can be seen as a stupendous service provided amidst the coronavirus outbreak, the India Railways operated around 201 Shramik Special trains till late Thursday and helped nearly 2 lakh stranded migrant workers, tourists and students to return to their home state. The Ministry of Railways confirmed that 52 special trains made the journey on Thursday alone.
Data released by Ministry of Railways
According to an internal railway ministry data, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were receiving a maximum number of migrants back. The data revealed that until Thursday, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had taken back around 38,000 migrants each. Both the states have received 37-38 trains till Thursday, ferrying nearly 1000 passengers each. It further confirmed that while forty-four more trains are scheduled to reach the states, there are 25 more in the pipeline.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are followed by Odisha and Jharkhand who have received 13 and 10 trains, respectively.
The special trains have so far departed from states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and Telangana carrying migrants home.
The Shramik Special trains are running from point X to point Y without any stoppages. Usually, they have 24 coaches, each carrying a little over 50 against the total capacity of 72. These trains are run for distances of over 500 km with at least 90 per cent occupancy.
The central government on May 1, had started ‘shramik’ special trains which are facilitating the return of migrant labourers back to their home states from the various states where they might be stranded due to the Coronavirus lockdown. Despite Railways and the Centre clarifying that the stranded migrant commuters will not have to pay for the travel, the Congress Party has been creating unnecessary controversy over the issue.
Congress creating needless controversy
On May 4 Congress leaders took to Twitter to claim that since the government is charging money for the railway fare of the stranded migrants going back home on Shramik Special trains, the party will chip in and bear the expenses for the same. This offer to pay for the migrants’ fare came two days after the Railway Ministry had clarified that the state and central governments are facilitating the movement of migrants through Shramik Special trains.
On May 2, 2020, the Ministry of Railways had clarified that no tickets will be sold at the railway station and that the movement of migrants is being arranged by the state governments.
Indian Railways wrote to Sonia Gandhi
Amidst this raging controversy over who will ultimately foot the bill to ferry stranded migrant labourers back home, All India Railway Federation had on May 7 written a letter to the Congress interim president, Sonia Gandhi requesting her not to play politics over the migrants’ rail fare.
It had clarified that railways have subsidised 85 per cent of ticket fare for special trains being run to transport migrant workers and the state government has to pay the remaining 15 per cent. This he said was necessary. Since the respective state governments will book the trains by making the payment, it would prevent commuters from huddling up at the stations which might have risked the lives of the railways’ staff as well.
Why Indian Railway ask passengers to pay?
The ‘Shramik’ trains are specials trains that have been started by the Railways to ferry stranded migrant labourers from various states across India to their home states. These trains were started after requests by the states and protests by migrant labourers amidst the Coronavirus lockdown and as such, are not open for the public at large. It is the state that has to ensure that migrant labourers in their state are registered and screened and then, they can be ferried through the Shramik train to their home state.
Even as the coronavirus crisis continues to rage, there are some delinquent individuals in our midst who are bent on indulging in perversely malicious behaviour. After scores of videos about vegetable and fruit-sellers spitting on their produce, presumably to spread coronavirus, went viral, recently, an equally appalling incident has come to light from a bakery in Maharashtra’s Amravati.
The video is from a bakery in the Amravati district of Maharashtra where an individual, Abdul Nazim Sheikh Mahmood (29), was seen slicing the loaves of bread and spitting on them. The video was uploaded on the popular social media app TikTok and it instantly went viral, causing revulsion and outrage among people across the country. The video caused a stir in Maharashtra, a state worst-afflicted by the menace of coronavirus outbreak.
The video of the accused spitting on the bread was uploaded on TikTok on Wednesday evening. As soon as the video was shared on the social media app, it drew criticism from the users who expressed their disgust over the content of the clip. The Achalpur police took cognisance of the video on the basis of the complaint filed by the owner of the bakery, Abdul Salam, after learning that the video was shot inside his bakery. With regards to the complaint, the police arrested Abdul Nazim Sheikh Mahmood along with a minor.
This is not the first time that videos of miscreants adulterating food items with their saliva have come to the fore. Since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, there have been umpteen cases where some individuals had been accused by people of salivating vegetables and fruits.
Video of Sheru Miyan contaminating fruits with his saliva had gone viral
Earlier in March, a video of a certain Sheru Miyan, licking the fruits which he displays in a cart for sale went viral on social media. In the video, the fruit vendor in Raisen, Madhya Pradesh, is seen arranging a variety of fruits on his cart, which he parks in the middle of a market place. While arranging the fruits on the cart, the vendor is seen picking up the fruit one at a time. And each time he picks up a fruit to arrange in the cart, he first purposely licks his hand and then uses the same hand, smeared with his saliva, to pick up the fruits and re-arrange on his cart.
The police registered the FIR on the basis of a complaint lodged by a youth named Bodhraj Tipt. The fruit vendor was booked by the police under IPC 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 270 (Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) on April 3.
A mosque in Bhuj made a midnight Azaan, the Islamic call for prayer, and announced that Muslims should come out of their homes and pick up weapons. A report by Sandesh states that the incident happened Bakali colony in Kokdi Road in Bhuj where a man from Sanjognagar made an unscheduled Azaan. The police have reportedly arrested him and further investigation is underway.
At the Masjid Imam-e-Rabbani at around 2:30 AM, one Mamad Abdullah Luhar allegedly entered the mosque and played an unscheduled Azaan on the speakers. Following the Azaan, in what seems like an intention to create communal discord, he made a provocative announcement. He reportedly announced, “I am the king of Kutch. Muslims should wake up and pick up weapons and come out of their homes.” Soon the police got into action and reached the spot. Further investigation is underway.
Ban on mass gatherings due to lockdown
It is notable here that mass gatherings and mass-prayers in Mosques, like all religious places have been banned in the country due to the ongoing lockdown amidst the coronavirus crisis.
In several states, local authorities are in constant touch with Mosque clerics and Imams to create awareness among the Muslim community over the pandemic. In such a situation, an unscheduled call inciting communal violence can be troublesome.
Previous instances of violence orchestrated from Mosques
Last month in Bengaluru, a group of ASHA workers and nurses were attacked by locals in the Sadiq layout area, a coronavirus hotspot. The health workers had alleged that locals had ganged up to attack and beat them when they went there for contact tracing and sample collection after coronavirus positive cases were discovered. They had alleged that the call to attack ground-level health workers had been given from the local Mosque.
On April 28, a police team was attacked by locals after Sehri near the Kasam Aala Mosque area in Gujarat’s Vadodara. When police personnel had tried to stop people from wandering about, they were allegedly slacked by a violent mob led by the main accused Nazir and his associates.
In another similar case, on 27 April, a large mob, including women, had gathered and attacked a police team in Aurangabad and injured policemen when they tried to implement lockdown rules and prevented a large gathering in a Mosque for prayers.
On April 2, a Muslim mob had surrounded the police and hurled stones at them in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh after the police asked them not to offer group namaz in a the Mosque in the Sarai Rahman area.
Perhaps, as an act of redemption, senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, who is accused of turning a green zone in Uttar Pradesh into a red zone after facilitating an illegal return of migrant workers from coronavirus-ravaged Rajasthan, has sent 1 lakh masks to the state of Uttar Pradesh for battling the scourge of coronavirus.
The development was announced by Congress Media Coordinator Lallan Kumar who said that the party will contact its various district presidents in Uttar Pradesh for prioritizing the distribution of masks in the state.
“The first lot has been sent to us by Ms Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. We will identify which districts need them and the masks will be sent accordingly. Masks and sanitisers, along with ration kits, had earlier been sent to Amethi and Rae Bareli,” he said.
Kumar further added that the Congress party is providing food to the needy and the destitute who are amongst the worst-hit by the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the pandemic. He claimed that Priyanka Gandhi is closely monitoring the ground situation in Uttar Pradesh and directing party workers to help the migrant workers.
A few days back, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had facilitated the illegal return of migrant workers from Rajasthan to Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi. One of the returnees was tested positive for the coronavirus, prompting the district administration to seal the area to contain the spread of the virus. Therefore, an area which could have enjoyed the relaxations from 4th May as a green zone had to go into restriction because the Wuhan Coronavirus was brought to the place from Rajasthan by the Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Priyanka Gandhi brought coronavirus to the green zone in UP
Recently, the Congress General Secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, violated the government-mandated Inter-state travel guidelines and employed her personal resources to extract 72 stranded migrant labours to Amethi from Rajasthan, one of the states worst affected by the coronavirus and ruled by the Congress party. The migrant workers were then sent to their respective homes after their medical check-up was carried out.
However, Priyanka Gandhi’s supposed act of benevolence, engineered to garner a sympathy wave for the Gandhi family from the migrant workers of Amethi, the district where her brother Rahul Gandhi was trounced by the BJP stalwart Smriti Irani in the 2019 General Elections, spelt doom for the region which was a green zone until the arrival of migrant workers from Rajasthan. One of the workers who travel from Rajasthan to Amethi was facilitated by Ms Vadra had tested positive for the coronavirus, ringing alarm bells for the local administration who had thus far managed to keep the virus at bay.
The Amethi District Magistrate, Arun Kumar, wrote a letter to the UP government, informing them about the arrival of migrant workers from Rajasthan and Coronavirus red zones such as Ajmer without any prior notice to the local administration. Citing the Home Ministry guidelines for Inter-district and Inter-state movement of individuals except for medical reasons and another provision that enables the transfer of migrant workers from one state to another with their mutual consultation and agreement, Kumar claimed that the Ajmer District Magistrate authorised travel pass in gross violation of the guidelines issued by the central government.
Another shocking incident is that while the migrants who came from Rajasthan were kept in quarantine by Amethi administration, district Congress president Pradeep Singhal and other local Congress leaders visited the camp to distribute relief material. People were kept in quarantine to prevent them from coming into contact with others, but Congress leaders went to the camp to meet them, an obvious and flagrant violation of norms. According to reports, Pradeep Singhal also managed to get the bus to cross the state border using his connections.
There is a way to turn the Wuhan Coronavirus into an opportunity. The crisis has finally given the Indian state the license to cut through the license quota permit raj that has been India’s greatest bane. And it is thrilling to see Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath rise to the challenge.
UP exempts businesses from all but 3 labour laws (Credit: Business Standard)
Big Bang reform. Just three labour laws remain on the books, dealing with basics such as protection of women and children, rights to timely payment of wages and workers compensation. But beyond that, nothing. Uttar Pradesh is open for business.
Welfare schemes, direct benefit transfers, etc, all have their place in keeping India afloat in crisis times. But those are more like life boats. There will never be an alternative to wealth creation. To get India back on track after the lockdown, the only way is to get business back on its feet.
The big bang labor reforms come just days after Yogi Adityanath announced sweeping changes to laws dealing with agricultural markets.
UP amends Mandi Act (Credit: Business Standard)
To understand what is happening, one has to have a working knowledge of the agricultural procurement system in our country. Generally speaking, a farmer must bring their produce to a board known as an Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) in order to be sold. In theory, the purpose of such a board is to protect farmers from “exploitation” by private purchasers. In practice, like every other socialist setup, these boards are hotspots of corruption by local politicians. Not surprising, because they have immense power over the lives of farmers.
The new laws in Uttar Pradesh now exempt 46 agricultural items from these boards. First of all, they allow direct procurement from farmers. Then, they let the private sector to operate mandis of their own. Additionally, existing warehouses and cold storages can now operate as market places in themselves. And farmers will no longer be at the mercy of the local APMC because they have a single license to sell at any marketplace in the state.
In other words, this shakes up the village economy and strikes at the heart of corruption ridden monopolies.
It must be noted that Madhya Pradesh passed a similar law just days ago.
A crisis is also an opportunity to change the world order. At the end of World War 2, the European empires collapsed and a vast swathe of independent nations emerged, from Asia to Africa. Among them, our own. The United States seized the moment and assumed the full leadership position in the world. Over the next several decades, the US established itself as the global leader in industry, innovation and culture.
Let’s be real. As the world entered a period of overall peace (however tense), following World War 2, India missed out. We could have used our newfound independence to become like Singapore. But we did not. Not just Singapore: one by one the ‘Asian tiger economies’ left us in the dust. We were too caught up in socialist superstitions to notice.
The boom that China experienced after 1979 could well have happened in India. Sigh.
There are three further observations to make here. First, over the next few days, you will see comrades begin an unprecedented level of chest-beating over these agricultural and labour law reforms. We have to be wary of their propaganda and guard against it. In a democracy, a government may be forced to respond to perception as much as it has to respond to reality. The comrades are very well trained at catching eyeballs with images and videos.
I say ‘trained’ for a reason. Obviously, there are vested interests of foreign governments in holding India back. They have a well paid and well-trained shadow army of “activists” operating within India. Which foreign government? Let’s just say a certain country that shares a land border with India.
Second, in order to develop towards a $5 trillion economy, India needs more “industrialized states.” Roughly speaking, India’s post-1991 economic boom has been concentrated in some states in the West and the South. To become a superpower, we are going to need more and bigger engines. And they don’t come any bigger than Uttar Pradesh with its 23 crore population. With a revamped legal framework for labour, land and agriculture, Uttar Pradesh has a huge opportunity to become an engine for wealth creation.
Third, in Uttar Pradesh, we see the clear advantage of having a powerful government with a big mandate. This cushions the government from short-sighted political interests. And gives it room to make big decisions, bring about structural change. On the other end, you have the shaky multi-party government in Maharashtra, where the driver’s seat is all but empty.
At the moment, nobody seems to like the year 2020. A hundred years from now, people will remember 2020 as the year of the virus. But can we turn it around? The world remembers 1979 as the year China woke up. Can we make 2020 the year that India seized its destiny?
