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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the Kerala Government is doing an excellent job in trying to contain the spread of the dreaded Covid-19, some disturbing developments are causing grave concern.

United States President Donald Trump has the distinction of being the last world leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugged. The next time the two come face to face, Trump will have a phalanx of his Secret Service to keep Modi at bay. And one of the reasons will be because Modi has not tested himself for Coronavirus while Trump has (tested negative!), and those who hover around him Modi also haven’t, a distinction that they share with the majority of 1.3 billion vulnerable Indians.

The highest single day detection of COVID-19 patients so far at 23 on Monday pushed the total count for India to 125, and the incidence of 25 doctors in Kerala quarantined, indicate that the country is running short of time before the pandemic enters into the third stage of ‘community transfer’. The situation is still under control and India has taken several policy decisions in the right direction, but the speed of government’s response is slower while the crisis is moving towards us faster than our initial assessments. Policy steps taken so far seem falling short of requirement.

A clear picture on the ramifications of the extraordinary coronavirus outbreak is yet to emerge. Till two weeks ago the virus was just a news story, but now it has touched the life of every ordinary citizen. From work to play to ‘what is for dinner today’, every aspect of the common man’s life has been affected. It has changed the normal routine as many are now working from home, give up socializing and stop going to restaurants or cinemas. It has resulted in focus on health to hygiene and public health ‘dos and don’ts.’ Right now, the situation seems to be spiralling, as no “bottom” is in sight.

The world has a Public Enemy No. 1, and it’s the novel coronavirus. Capable of causing severe pneumonia among those it infects, the virus first wreaked havoc on the city of Wuhan in China’s Hubei province and has since spread at an alarming rate. At present, thousands have died and over 100,000 have been infected in dozens of countries, leading the World Health Organization to declare an official pandemic.

The Modi government has been using the still ill-developed facial recognition technology to find out the persons who carried out the Delhi pogrom. This technology is used only in the case where the police has utterly failed to identify the goons. The gravity of the situation could be made out from the simple fact that Union home minister Amit Shah had to use this technology. True enough, the alacrity with which he has resorted to this system also gives rise to suspicion of his real intentions; whether it is meant to nab the real culprits or frame the innocent people who were victims of the mayhem.

The Narendra Modi government’s various measures on citizenship are running into difficulty. The Delhi government is the latest to oppose the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).

It is now almost 45 years since the high-profile Hathi Committee recommended the urgent need for manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) or bulk drugs in India for the country’s future health safety. The size of India’s pharmaceutical market at that time was less than Rs. 500 crore, dominated by multinational companies from the US and Europe. Time has vastly changed. India’s pharmaceutical market grew sharply over the last four decades. The production is now worth over Rs. 2,50,000 crore. And, India’s drugs export, mostly generics, in 2018-19 stood at US$ 19.13 billion or worth Rs.1,40,000crore and reached US$ 9.36 billion (Rs.70,000 crore) in 2019-20 (till October 2019). It is expected to grow by 30 per cent to reach US$ 20 billion by this year end. What did not change is India’s import dependence of APIs or bulk drugs. Only the key import sources changed — originally from western countries to a new Asian entrant, Communist China.

The parting shot of the young Jyotiraditya to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi was something of his maltreatment by the Gandhi family. It needs to be taken seriously, for Sonia was acquainted for a long time with his father Madhavrao Scindia. He had introduced her to Rajiv Gandhi in 1966. The young Scindia had also spent twenty years with the family after he was elected to Parliament after death of his father Madhavrao in a plane accident.

Kolkata: Javier Hernandez’s brace and Arindam Bhattacharja’s heroic goalkeeping ensured ensured a historic triumph for ATK in the Hero Indian Super League final against Chennaiyin at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Goa, on Saturday.