www.freepressjournal.in | twitter.com/fpjindia Reg. No. Mcs/048/2018-20; RNI No. 1541/1957 I M.p.c.s office Mumbai-400001 BEARS TAKE HOLD OF MARKET, SENSEX CRASHES 1,100 POINTS Pg 7 CORONAVIRUS: SCIENCE IS STILL STRUGGLING TO COPE OUCH! UN-FARE JAB I WILL MARRY... LOOKING FORWARD TO ABHINAV’S PLANS Pg 20 350c. 210c. Sunrise: 07:02 am Sunset: 06:42 pm Vol. 64 No. 253 | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 23, 2021 | 13 Pages | EDITIONS: Mumbai*, Pune, Indore, Bhopal, E-Paper EDIT Pg 15 As you await the vaccine, cab, auto fares to go up by Rs 3; hike of more than Rs 2 for every subsequent km Taxis SHASHANK RAO / Mumbai Base fare (old): ..Rs 22 New: ....................Rs 25 Per km (old): .Rs 14.84 New: ...............Rs 16.93 There’s a big ouch coming your way and it’s not just from the imminent two-dose vaccine jab, yet. Starting March 1, you will have to set aside a considerable chunk of your income to budget for travel by autorickshaw or taxi. The state government has cleared a fare hike for autorickshaws and taxis that will come into effect from this date, even as the unions are unsure about its impact. The minimum fare for autorickshaws will be Rs 21 while it will go up to Rs 25 for the black-and-yellow taxis Autorickshaws Base fare (old): ..Rs 18 New: ....................Rs 21 Per km (old): ..Rs12.19 New: ...............Rs 14.20 from next month. As if this were not enough, the fare increment per kilometre too has been spiked by over Rs 2 for both autos and taxis, which will make it an expensive ride for the public. Sources said that the last fare hike was in June 2015. The six-year delay in revising fares has now translated into this sudden surge in fares. On February 22, Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab confirmed the hike, saying, “The fare hike will be in place from March 1. From this day autos and , taxis will have three months to recalibrate their e-me- Pan-India, 4,421 cases in 24 hours – 3% spike 74% of active cases in Kerala, Maha STEEPEST JUMP SINCE END-NOV ETIQUETTE ON WHEELS: Mask must when with others PRATIP ACHARYA / Mumbai The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) clarified on Monday that clean-up marshals would not fine a person for being maskless in a private car, if they were the only person in the vehicle. “If a person is unmasked and driving but there is no co-passenger in the car, then that person will not be penalised by marshals,” clarified Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani on Monday . “But if there is more than one person in the car, including the driver, then it’s best that everyone is masked or else they will be penalised if caught by the marshals,” Kakani said. He emphasised that passengers travelling in kaali-peelis, app cabs, autorickshaws and two-wheelers had to necessarily be masked while on the go. Earlier in January the civic body had is, sued fresh guidelines stating clean-up marshals would no longer fine people for not wearing masks if they were in a private car. This move came after Mumbaikars complained on social media that they were being fined even when they were safely confined to their cars. CONTD. ON P12 SURGE, NO SECOND WAVE – BMC chief I would describe current increase as a surge and not a second wave. CM has made it clear we don't want a lockdown. BMC does not want one either. We are not looking at new curbs. We will ensure strict compliance to the existing curbs. Viral load has gone down in slums; additional load coming from the rich, super rich and middle class residential areas. Biggest problem is jump in asymptomatic patients. The next 15 days are critical. We might face problems two weeks later if Covid etiquette is not enforced. In the last 24 hours, Maharashtra reported 5,210 new infections and 18 COVID deaths -- a slight drop in the number of daily cases BETWEEN THE LINES MAHA UNDER GUJ SCANNER: In view of the rising number of coronavirus cases in neighbouring states, the Gujarat government has decided to set up border check posts for screening people arriving from Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Screening facilities have also been installed at railway stations and airports. The check posts will come up on road networks connecting Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra to Gujarat. SEC144 IN JODHPUR: The Rajasthan government has imposed Section 144 in Jodhpur till March 21 owing to a steep rise in coronavirus cases. A cap of 100 attendees has been made mandatory for all public gatherings, including weddings. Only essential services and schools and colleges have been allowed to function, according to the order issued by the Jodhpur Police. 8 INFECTED AT MANTRALAYA: At least eight employees attached to the Maharashtra Government’s revenue department and posted at the state secretariat have tested positive for COVID- 19. POLICE CUSTODY FOR DISHA: A Delhi court on Monday sent 21-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi, arrested in connection with the "toolkit" case, to one-day police custody. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate allowed her custodial interrogation after the police said she was required to be confronted with co-accused Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk. Officials claim that Disha Ravi was an editor of the "toolkit Google doc" and "key conspirator" in its formulation and dissemi-nation. Tit-for-tat curbs MVA ruled Maharashtra spars with BJP-ruled states in times of pandemic SANJAY JOG / Mumbai The sparring between neighbours Maharashtra and Karnataka continues. Days after the BJP-led government in Karnataka made negative RT-PCR reports compulsory for those coming from Maharashtra, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government has hinted that it will also insist on this requirement for those entering the state from Karnataka. This was announced on Monday by Minister of State for Home Satej Patil, who is also the Kolhapur district guardian minister. Now, the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh too has made compulsory thermal scanning of people entering their state from Maharashtra, in view of the rising Covid-19 cases in the latter. The MP home department, in an order issued on Monday , Cong loses Puducherry President’s rule likely has asked the district collectors of Bhopal, Indore, Baitul, Sivni, Chindwada, Balaghat, Badwani, Khandwa, Khargaon, Burhanpur and Alirajpur to hold district crisis management committee meetings and decide on the organisation of religious fairs at which devotees from Maharashtra are in attendance. The department has asked district collectors to take strong action against non-masking and non-observance of safe physical distancing. As far as the Maharashtra government is concerned, Patil said the state government could also impose such a curb. “The Karnataka government should not take a rigid stand. It should facilitate entry to the passengers travelling from Maharashtra who have undergone the Covid-19 test. If the Karnataka government bans entry , then the Maha Vikas Aghadi government will also have to take a similar decision for passengers returning from the neighbouring state,” he warned. CONTD. ON P12 The Narayanasamy-led Congress Government in Puducherry lost the trust vote in the House on Monday just two months ahead , of the next Assembly elections. With the opposition disinclined to stake claim to form an alternative Government – as election notification is hardly a few days away – the Union Territory is likely headed for a President’s rule. Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, who had called upon the Congress Government to prove its majority is learnt to have , passed on Narayanasamy’s resignation to the Home Ministry along with her report. Resignations of five Congress legislators, including two ministers and a DMK legislator, during the past month and disqualification of a Congress MLA had reduced the ruling party to a minority . CONTD. ON P12 and compared with existing studies of the general population, according to research published in medRxiv,  which is not peer-reviewed. The study was immediately picked up by for- eign journals; Indian publications latched onto it later. “This study showed that the risk of COVID was two to three times less in spectacle-wearing population than the population not using spectacles,” Amit Kumar Saxena said in the findings, the UK’s Mirror reported.“Protective role of the spectacles was found statistically significant, if those were used for (a) long period of the day Saxena added. ,” CONTD. ON P12 N CHITHRA / Chennai PEOPLE WHO WEAR GLASSES LESS LIKELY TO GET COVID LAST WORD P FPJ NEWS SERVICE London eople who wear glasses are two-to-three times less likely to get infected with COVID-19, a study has found. Interestingly the finding is , an outcome of a study conducted by Indian researchers; it had 304 patients under the scanner whose glasses-wearing habits were examined through a questionnaire ters.” On Monday after the , Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA) approved the fare hike, Parab made the announcement. The reason this fare hike will bleed the public is not just that the base fares have increased by Rs 3, but also the consecutive per kilometre fare, which is usually charged after the first 1.5kms, too has gone up substantially . For instance, the kaali-peeli taxis will charge Rs 2.09 more per kilometre while autorickshaws will charge Rs 2.01 more per kilometre. CONTD. ON P12 Can relax at road eateries A n individual would also be exempt from penalty if they were seen setting down their masks while eating or drinking at a roadside eatery. On February 20, the BMC had fined more than 16,000 individuals for not wearing masks, collecting a whopping Rs 32 lakh in fines, the highest single-day collection so far. Civic officials said many of the violators were fined at roadside eateries, tea stalls and gyms. CONTD. ON P12 For world peace first root out the vices from your mind. Brahma Kumaris Activist Varavara Rao, 82, gets 6 months' bail on medical grounds Aged can't live in a sub-human jail: HC NARSI BENWAL / Mumbai Observing that aged prisoners could not be forced to live a subhuman life in jail just because they were accused of serious offences, Bombay High Court granted six months' medical bail to Telugu poet-activist Varavara Rao on Monday The HC said . it could not abdicate its duty to protect human rights. "With all humility at our command, keeping in view human consideration, the well-recognised fundamental rights of the undertrial to have quality medical aid for serious ailments suffered by him, advanced age, inadequate facilities in the hospital attached to the Taloja Central Prison, we are of the opinion that this is a gen- uine and fit case to grant relief; or else, we will be abdicating our constitutional duty and function as a protector of human rights and right to health covered under right to life guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India," said a division bench of Justices Sambhaji Shinde and Manish Pitale. CONTD. ON P12 SC allows Karti to go abroad AGENCIES / New Delhi The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, who is facing criminal cases that are being probed by the ED and the CBI, to travel abroad. A bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, asked Chidambaram to deposit Rs 2 crore with the registry and submit details about the places to be visited and the place where he would stay . Opposing the application, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju said earlier Chidambaram was allowed to travel abroad, but with a deposit of Rs10 crore. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was appearing for Chidambaram, said the condition was not justified for a member of Parliament and he would not run away anywhere. 7-term MP found hanging SACHIN GAAD / Mumbai A seven-term member of Parliament (MP) from Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Mohan Delkar, 58, is alleged to have committed suicide at a hotel on Marine Drive on Monday morning. He was found hanging in his hotel room on the fifth floor of the sea-facing Sea Green South Hotel. Delkar was an Independent MP from Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Police have recovered a six-page suicide note written in Gujarati. According to sources, in the note he is reported to have named some officials from Dadra & Nagar Haveli, but the police refused to divulge details. "Prime facie it is suspected to be a case of suicide. We have also found a suicide note from the spot. However, the exact cause of death will be clear after the post-mortem examination. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Colaba division, will carry out further investigation,'' said Mumbai Police spokesperson DCP S Chaitanya. CONTD. ON P12