Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a nation-wide lockdown for 21 days to arrest the spread of coronavirus in his trademark 8 pm speech Tuesday, received almost full page coverage in newspapers across the country.
And the Olympics won’t be making any more news this year — newspapers report that the games have been postponed to next year.
The financial papers were equally interested by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s moves on the economic front.
Even with people quarantined across the country, The Times Of India still managed to make the mood festive by wishing people Happy Navratri, Gudi Padwa and Ugadi. Its logo shows people celebrating the festival, albeit from home.
Besides the festivities, the lead ‘India Under LockDown for 3 Weeks’ reiterates, for those who didn’t watch him last night, the prime minister’s words of a “Lakshman Rekha” at people’s doorsteps — “Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday ramped up the fight against coronavirus by announcing that the entire country was being placed under lockdown — he called it as good as curfew — for 21 days starting midnight in order to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission…”
Modi asked people not to panic but TOI reports what actually happened: “As the 21-day lockdown sent people rushing late Tuesday to groceries and convenience stories and triggered panic buying, the PM tweeted, “My fellow citizens, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO NEED TO PANIC.” In another tweet, he said, “By converging around shops, you are risking the spread of Covid-19. No panic buying please. Please stay indoors. Centre and state governments will ensure all essentials are available.”
But his pleas fell on deaf ears.
The paper also gives some bittersweet news: ‘Second death in Delhi, 3rd in Mum; slight dip in new cases’. “The Covid-19 outbreak claimed two more victims, a 65-year-old Mumbai resident and another one in Delhi, even though the rush of new infections slowed a bit to 64 on Tuesday, from 99 the previous day. The total number of Covid-19 cases reported from the states so far is 562.
The Indian Express notes the biggest takeaways from PM Modi’s speech — ‘1.3 billion, 21 days, lockdown is key’. The paper notes that this is the “Longest stay-at-home order…” Express quotes an evocative line from the speech: the lockdown is “essential for your safety and that of your family… jaan hai toh jahaan hai.”
The paper also reflects the furore his speech created as it failed to mention essential services would continue to function. In ‘Modi assures essentials open: rules underline adherence, with threat of penal action’, it writes, “Within minutes from his address, there were reports of panic buying for groceries and provisions from across the nation.”
As a result of the lockdown, another report, ‘Compliance norms eased for firms, FM says financial package sooner than later’, notes Sitharaman’s announcement of a “series of regulatory and compliance related relaxation for taxpayers.”
In other news, former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah was released from detention under the PSA, “Ten days after his father Farooq Abdullah’s detention was revoked.” The report (‘Freed after 7 months, Omar says virus fight first, will discuss J&K later’) is a must read.
An unintended victim of the coronavirus is Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh protest: ‘Hours into Delhi lockdown, on 101st day of sit in, Shaheen Bagh cleared, police cite curbs’. “Nine protestors, including six women were detained after they refused to leave,” writes Express of the police action
The anchor story is also a must-read — ‘First time since WWII, Olympics put off, Japan says next summer’ as the “coronavirus wrecked the world’s last sporting showpiece still standing this year.” The decision was made after months of internal discussions within the International Olympic Committee.
Note here the photograph of Prime Minister Modi holding a chart during his address to the nation, explaining corona as koi – road par – na nikle (no one should be on the roads) in HT‘s lead story: ‘MODI DRAWS LAXMAN REKHA’. The papers reports, “[The PM]… emphasised the importance of “social distancing”… acknowledged the economic costs of the lockdown but underlined that the priority was to save lives; announced a ₹15,000 crore fund to strengthen the health infrastructure to deal with the pandemic; and assured citizens that the Centre and state governments were working to ensure adequate supplies, minimise inconvenience, and help the poor.”
If Modi announced a nationwide curfew, Kejriwal in ‘Delhi offers income support to labourers’. HT reports, “Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced a compensation of ₹5,000 each for all construction workers in the Capital in an attempt to make up for loss of income for daily wage labourers who are among the worst hit by the lockdown announced in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.”
The Telegraph asks a relevant question: `Why 21 days…’. “The 21-day nationwide lockdown announced by Narendra Modi is a gamble to stop the exponential growth of patients infected by the novel coronavirus and allow the microbe to emerge slower in a better-prepared country, experts said. Senior epidemiologists and virologists said the choice of 21 days would have been influenced by a cost-benefit analysis that compared how best to curb the spread of the virus with possible collateral costs — on the economy and on people’s lives — of shutting down the country.”
The Kolkata daily also reports about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s payout for unaided workers. “A one-time assistance of Rs 1,000 will be given to workers of unorganised sectors in Bengal to cushion the impact of the virus-induced lockdown, according to a scheme announced on Tuesday by chief minister Mamata Banerjee.”
Mumbai Mirror: The Mumbai Mirror has a message for its readers: ‘STAY HOME, MUMBAI (IT IS WORKING QUITE WELL)’. To explain why, the Mumbai daily listed the results of staying at home. “Hospitals under less stress; Supervision of those quarantined more effective; chain of transmission weakening. BMC’s health workers had covered 800 houses when the first coronavirus positive case was identified in Mumbai. For the cases detected in the past couple of days, the number of contacts has been lower by 15 to 20 per cent.”
Also on page 1 is ‘Daughter of state’s second casualty tests positive’. The paper reports,”The 34-year-old daughter of the state’s second COVID-19 casualty—a 63-year-old man from Walkeshwar—has now tested positive for the virus, days after her test results came back negative… She is undergoing treatment at HN Reliance Hospital.”
The Tribune notes a different aspect of PM Modi’s speech in its lead (‘1.3 bn Indians under 21-day lockdown’) as he said, “The country will have to pay an economic price for it (lockdown), but to save the life of every citizen is a priority.”
Omar Abdullah’s release gets the second lead here as the paper notes “Eight months on, Omar walks free.” The report says “Soon after his release, Omar talked to reporters and urged the Centre to release other detainees and to restore high-speed internet services.”
Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s statement too made headlines (‘94k NRIs returned to Punjab, 30,000 in isolation’) as the report notes “The government has put 48,000 people including 30,000 NRIs in quarantine, mainly at their houses, besides imposing curfew in the state to check further spread of the pandemic.”
For some reasons, The Economic Times highlights what seems to be important to the Times Group — ‘PM Praises Papers, Calls on Media to Spread Awareness’. It quotes the prime minister’s remarks on newspapers having “tremendous credibility and, by acting as a link between the government and the people, play a critical role in creating awareness about the Covid-19 outbreak at both the national and regional levels.”
The anchor story (‘India Stares at a Crippling Supply Crisis’) notes “Arbitrary action by police and district authorities chokes supplies of essentials, prices of food items shoot up.” The report notes that a significant proportion of the population is unable to access essential services and unless, the government clarifies its stance, this will get worse.
The lead in Business Standard is the same as other papers, details about PM Modi’s speech and what the 21-day lockdown holds for India.
Another report on “Govt mulls suspending IBC process for 6 months” notes, “In relief for small and medium enterprises facing threat of insolvency, the government raised the threshold of invoking insolvency to Rs 1 crore from Rs 1 lakh.”
The anchor story points to what could be a major worry: ‘With no food or hope, traders stranded at borders across the country’ describes how “Trucks, even the ones carrying essential goods, are not being allowed to move following the government’s orders to seal borders and checkposts.”
Mint picks a different part of PM Modi’s speech noting, “Signalling the rising threat from the spread of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, PM Modi said this drastic measure was necessary to protect the state of India’s health and economy.
Another report (‘Food prices set to rise amid transport curbs to contain pandemic’) reads, “Inter-state goods transport is at risk as well, as truck drivers are harassed at borders, and casual labourers who sort, grade and load harvests are in short supply.”