Coronavirus scare continues to spread across newspapers with lead reports on fresh cases and those in quarantine.
The United Nations’ decision to interfere in the CAA matter in the Supreme Court and India’s angry reaction to that, also makes for strong headlines.
The top financial story of the day, is the rate cuts by US Federal Reserve to inoculate the world economy from catching cold from the epidemic.
The Times of India leads with “Corona scare: 5 Delhi-NCR schools shut as precaution” on its flap and the the legal battle over CAA (“UN body goes to SC on CAA; ‘internal matter’, says govt”) on its front page.
The corona lead on the schools closed in Delhi reports, “The schools’ management said: ‘The spring break has been advanced. The holidays will be utilised for sanitising the schools as a precautionary measure’.”
One effect of the growing scare is the cancellation of visas (“Visas to nationals of 4 more countries on hold”) as “India has suspended both regular (sticker) and e-visas granted to nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan on or before March 3, 2020.”
In ‘UN body goes to SC on CAA…’, TOI reports how “For the first time in India’s judicial history, a United Nations body — the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR)” will be intervening to help decide the constitutionality of the CAA. To which the MEA “swiftly hit back, saying it was an ‘internal matter’”.
Read the heartwarming anchor report on ‘Wife of Major killed in J&K op after Pulwama to join Army’ as “Nitika Kaul, widow of Major Vibhuti Dhoundiyal, who was killed in a military operation after the Pulwama terror attack, is all set to join the technical wing of the Indian Army.”
The Indian Express coronavirus lead provides information on the latest from the airports in ‘All international passengers arrivals on watchlist as coronavirus cases rise’. It says that now “All international passengers to India will now have to submit self-declaration forms on arrival” with detailed information about themselves.
A second report focuses on the patient from Delhi, who was tested positive for the virus — `Delhi patient was at a hotel party…’ The case prompted “two leading private schools in Noida to shut for the week” and “extensive fumigation of a five-star hotel in south Delhi”. The report details how the patient had hosted a party at the Hyatt Regency Hotel which was attended by children of the two schools.
In other Delhi news, there’s an exclusive on the police investigation into the Delhi riots, which says that according to Delhi police “members of both communities created several WhatsApp groups to circulate inflammatory texts, audio and video messages”.
There’s an interesting anchor story here too, on how “artificial turf fields have sprung up in cities as well as villages” of football-crazy Kerala. “The state has around 500 artificial turfs, of which 150 are in Kozhikode district, erected and managed by local men, mostly Gulf returnees,” the report reads.
Hindustan Times reports on the “Search on for infected, virus footprint expands” in its lead report. “At least 46 people in the Delhi-NCR region – and about 100 others across the country – have been quarantined, isolated or put under watch for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19)”, reveals the story.
But what really catches the eye in today’s HT is its exclusive on Pulwama on the flap (“Pulwama strike was pushed back a week, JeM man tells sleuths”). The report notes that the attack was “was originally set to be carried out in the first week of February,” however, “weather conditions forced a suspension of the convoy movements, and JeM terrorists had to wait until the next CRPF convoy passed on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.”
The Hindu decides to ignore corona in its leads. Instead, it chooses to focus on the “UN rights body to move SC on CAA”. Hindu also calls the move “unprecedented”. The report says, “(the) plan has been criticised by diplomatic and legal experts here, including one of the 22 petitioners in the case, as an ‘overreach’.”
And India’s ties with Iran have hit a rocky patch after Iran’s Foreign Minister Javed Zarif’s critical comments on the Delhi riots in which he called them “thuggery” and condemned the “violence against Muslims” India reacted sharply to this notes ‘Envoy summoned after Iran slams Delhi riots’ by ticking off the Iranian Ambassador after summoning him to the Ministry of External Affairs.
On coronavirus the paper focuses on “Italian tourist tests positive for COVID-19”. The report adds, “24 persons, including 21 Italian tourists and three Indians (bus driver, conductor and tourist guide), who had contact with the Italian national confirmed as COVID-19 positive in Jaipur, have been shifted to the ITBP facility for testing.”
The Telegraph launches another scathing attack on PM Modi and his announcement regarding Women’s Day in a Tuesday tweet — “This Women’s Day, I will give away my social media accounts to women whose life & work inspire us.” The paper notes, “Modi sought to take a dig at former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying some people get a ‘foul smell’ from the chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.”
The UN’s interference on CAA makes headlines here as well. The paper notes, “The application from the office of Michelle Bachelet Jeria, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Chile, has pointed out that there cannot be any discrimination in granting refugee status on the basis of religion or race.”
Apart from the main coronavirus report, The New Indian Express says that in view of the worldwide contagion, Japan Olympics minister said that games might be postponed till the end of the year if the “threat of the virus persists”.
Also read the shocking report about the Madras High Court ruling Thursday in which it said that “all officials and staff of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department must take a pledge within eight weeks that they profess Hindu religion“.
With the IPL cricket season upon us Mumbai Mirror says, “IPL halves play-off money to Rs 25 cr; franchises upset”. The report notes, “In a unilateral decision, the IPL and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have decided that these four franchises, which earlier shared Rs 50 crore between them, will now share Rs 25 crore.”
The Economic Times leads with US Federal Reserve slashing policy rate by 50 basis points “to help inoculate the global economy against a slowdown caused by the Covid-19 outbreak”. “The cut raised expectations of similar moves by global central banks for the first time since they coordinated to tackle the 2008 financial crisis,” the report notes. It says Malaysia and Australia have already cut rates “while central banks in Britain, Japan and France have signalled willingness to ease policy measures’’.
The second lead is odd for a financial newspaper: PM Modi calling for ‘peace, harmony and unity‘ during his address to BJP MPs. According to the report, “The PM also took a swing at the Congress and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, without naming the latter.” Swing?
And in a proactive move, the Income Tax department is on the front foot, urging taxpayers to opt for the Vivaad se Vishwas scheme. The page 1 report says letters are being sent, calls being made as the department is trying to “encourage” parties to “settle dispute under scheme”.
The rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve also remains in focus in Business Standard. The lead highlights an interview by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das to Bloomberg in which he said “there was a strong reason for coordinated policy action”.
In good news, “salaries of around 30 million industrial workers are set to rise as a government-led committee has approved a new base year for the consumer price index (CPI) for such workforce” The anchor story notes that “the move will also benefit around 4.8 million central government employees whose dearness allowance (DA)….is linked to this inflation index”.