First india ahmedabad edition-05 march 2021

First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Even
as the Ease of Living
Index named
Ahmedabad and Su-
rat among the Top 5
cities to live in, data
revealed during the
ongoing Budget ses-
sion in the Gujarat
Legislative Assembly
showed that these two
cities are emerging as
major centres of
crime in the state.
On average, Gujarat
has seen two murders,
four rapes, and six kid-
nappings every day for
the past two years, Min-
ister of State for Home
Pradipsinh Jadeja told
the House. Most of
these crimes were re-
ported in Ahmedabad
and Surat.
As many as 1,944
murders, 1,853 inci-
dents of an attempt to
murder, 3,095 rapes,
4,829 abductions, and
over 14,000 cases of
suicide were reported
across the state in the
two years ended De-
cember 31, 2020,
Jadeja said. He added
that more than 21,000
incidents of theft and
1,520 incidents of
loot were also report-
ed in the state during
the same time frame.
Surat district led in
terms of murder, with
280 cases, while
Ahmedabad had the
most cases of loot (479)
and theft (5,566), the
data revealed.
Ahmedabad reported
620 rape cases, and Su-
rat reported 465.
Ahmedabad reported
211 murders and 347 at-
tempts to murder while
Surat reported 238 at-
tempted murders.
Among other crimes,
Surat reported 701 kid-
napping cases followed
by Ahmedabad with 641.
The Home depart-
ment also admitted that
4,043 persons accused
in these complaints
over the past two years
are yet to be arrested.
This information
was shared in re-
sponse to the ques-
tions raised by differ-
ent Congress MLAs
during Question Hour
on Wednesday.
Ahmedabad, Surat emerging as crime capitals in the state
LAW & ORDER
Guj has
seen an
average of
2 murders,
4 rapes and
6 kidnap-
pings every
day for the
past 2 yrs
Delhi HC grills Centre on strict
control on vaccinating Indians
New Delhi: The Delhi
High Court on Thurs-
day pulled up the Cen-
tre for exporting Cov-
id-19 vaccines instead
of vaccinating the
country’s citizens on a
priority basis and de-
manded a “sense of ur-
gency” in the matter.
Making its observa-
tion on the matter, the
High Court said that
Covid-19 vaccines are
being donated and sold
to foreign countries,
while the people of In-
dia are still to get vacci-
nated against the virus.
The High Court fur-
ther questioned the Cen-
tre’s rationale behind
keeping strict control
over class of persons be-
ing vaccinated against
COVID-19 currently
.
The observation
comes as Phase 2 of the
inoculation drive en-
tered its fourth day to-
day with persons above
the age of 60 and those
between the age group
of 45-60 with comorbidi-
ties getting the Covid
vaccine jab.
A bench of Justices
Vipin Sanghi and Re-
kha Palli said the two
institutes– Serum Insti-
tute of India and Bharat
Biotech — have more
capacity to provide the
vaccines but it seems
that they are not ex-
ploiting it fully
.
“We are not utilising
it fully
. We are either do-
natingittoforeigncoun-
tries or selling it to for-
eign countries and are
not vaccinating our own
people.Sotherehastobe
that sense of responsi-
bility and urgency,” the
bench said.
It also asked the Del-
hi government to carry
out an inspection of
medical facilities avail-
able in court complexes
here and to report if
COVID-19 vaccination
centres could be set up
there.
The high court was
hearing a PIL initiated
by it to examine the de-
mand of Bar Council
of Delhi to declare
all people associated
with the judicial func-
tioning, including judg-
es, court staff and law-
yers as ‘frontline work-
ers’ so that they could
receive COVID-19 vac-
cination on priority
and without limitations
of their age or physical
condition.
WHY COVID VACCINES BEING DONATED, SOLD TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES: HC
DISCLOSE YOUR
MANUFACTURING
CAPACITY: HC TO
SII, BHARAT BIOTECH
New Delhi: The Delhi High
Court Thursday directed
Serum Institute of India
and Bharat Biotech to
disclose their capacities
to manufacture Covaxin,
Covishield vaccines.
54% POPULATION
DEVELOPED ANTI
BODIES AGAINST
COVID: SURVEY
Hyderabad: The latest
seroprevelance survey in
Hyderabad has revealed
that around 54% of the
city’s residents have
developed antibodies
against SARS-CoV-2,
indicating prior exposure
to the coronavirus. The
survey also revealed
that more than 75%
of the seropositive
population did not know
they had contracted
coronavirus in the past.
The scientists checked
over 9,000 samples for
antibodies in people
from across 30 wards
of the city.
SAME GROUND, SAME STORY!
Virat Kohli celebrates with spinner Axar Patel during the opening day of the fourth test
against England, at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday. England’s batsmen
lost the battle of both mind and skills in yet another shoddy performance (205 all out) to
surrender the momentum to India with Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin calling the
shots on the opening day of the fourth and final Test, on Thursday. At stumps, India were 24
after losing out of form Shubman Gill for a duck. —PHOTO BY PTI
Sensex tumbles 599 pts in
line with global meltdown
Mumbai: Snapping its
three-session winning
run, the BSE Sensex
plunged by around 599
points to crack below
the key 51,000-level on
Thursday amid a melt-
down in global shares
triggered by a surge in
US bond yields.
Intra-day
,the30-share
BSE index fell as much
as 905 points before end-
ing the session at
50,846.08, showing a de-
cline of 598.57 points or
1.16 per cent.
The broader NSE Nif-
ty too closed with a loss
of 164.85 points or 1.08
per cent at 15,080.75.
On the Sensex chart,
HDFC, L&T, SBI, Axis
Bank, Bajaj FinServ
and HDFC Bank were
major laggards drop-
ping up to 2.62 per cent.
Of 30 Sensex shares, 25
closed with losses.
“Domestic equities
traded lower today
mainly on weak global
cues Financials and
Metals indices were keg
drags today, while
FMCG, Pharma and IT
indices were resilient.
A sharp 6 bps rise in 10-
Year USA treasury
yield made investors jit-
tery today, said Binod
Modi, Head - Strategy at
Reliance Securities.
Over the previous
three sessions, the
Sensex had risen by
2,344.66pointsor4.77per
cent, while the Nifty had
added 716.45 points or
4.93 per cent. Turn to P6
4 Cong leaders resign
in Wayanad, seniors
rush to broker peace
Thiruvananthapuram:
A string of prominent
resignationsinWayanad
and Palakkad units has
rattled the Congress
ahead of the assembly
polls slated for April 6.
In the past few days,
as many as four dis-
gruntled Congress lead-
ers have resigned from
the party in Wayanad
district, which is repre-
sented by Rahul Gandhi
in the Lok Sabha.
Among those who
have quit include
KPCC secretary M S
Vishwanathan, DCC
general secretary Anil
Kumar, KPCC execu-
tive committee mem-
ber KK Vishwanathan
and Mahila Congress
state secretary Sujaya
Venugopal.
Considering the star
value attached to Gan-
dhi’s constituency, the
party has rushed sen-
ior leaders to broker
peace with the rebels in
Wayanad. Turn to P6
SREEDHARAN IS
CM CANDIDATE
OF BJP IN KERALA
Thiruvananthapuram:
The BJP on Thursday
announced that E
Sreedharan would be the
party’s chief minister
candidate for the
upcoming Kerala
Assembly elections. BJP
state president K
Surendran, currently on
a state-wide political
tour, Vijay Yatra,
announced the decision.
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
AHMEDABAD l FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 99
NEED TO STUDY TRANSFORMATIONAL
CONCEPTS AND TO BE PREPARED FOR
THE THREATS FROM CHINA, PAK: CDS
P5 P6
CENTRE IS TARGETTING THOSE WHO
HAVE BEEN RAISING THEIR VOICE IN
SUPPORT OF THE FARMERS: RAHUL
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW
EPFO retains interest
rate for 2020-21 at 8.5%
New Delhi: Retire-
ment fund body EPFO
on Thursday decided to
retain 8.5 per cent an-
nual rate of interest on
provident fund deposits
for the current finan-
cial year for its more
than five crore active
subscribers.
The Employees’ Prov-
ident Fund Organisa-
tion’s (EPFO) apex deci-
sion-making body Cen-
tral Board of Trustees
decided to fix 8.5 per
cent rate of interest for
2020-21 at its meeting in
Srinagar on Thursday
.
“TheCentralBoardof
Trustees (CBT) recom-
mended 8.50 per cent an-
nualrateof interesttobe
creditedonEPFaccumu-
lations in members’ ac-
counts for the financial
year 2020-21,” a labour
ministrystatementsaid.
Accordingtothestate-
ment, the 228th meeting
of the CBT, EPFO was
held on Thursday in Sri-
nagar, Jammu & Kash-
mir under the chair-
manship of Union Min-
ister of State for Labour
& Employment (Inde-
pendent Charge) San-
tosh Kumar Gangwar.
As per the practice,
the CBT decision on in-
terest rate would be
send to the finance min-
istry for concurrence.
Aftergettingthefinance
ministry’s nod, the 8.5
per cent rate of interest
for this fiscal would be
credited into the EPFO
subscribers’ accounts.
The interest rate
would be officially no-
tified in the govern-
ment gazette following
which the EPFO would
credit the rate of inter-
est into the subscrib-
ers’ accounts, the state-
ment said.
“For FY’2021, the
EPFO decided to liqui-
date investment (in eq-
uity) and the interest
rate recommended is a
result of combined in-
come from interest re-
ceived from debt invest-
ment as well as income
realised from equity in-
vestment. This has ena-
bled EPFO to provide
higher return to its sub-
scribers and still allow-
ing EPFO with healthy
surplus to act as a cush-
ion for providing higher
return in future also.
Turn to P6
LOWEST RETURNING FIGURES IN 7 YEARS
Earlier this year, there were speculations that the EPFO
would lower interest on provident fund deposits for this
fiscal (2020-21) in view of more withdrawals and lesser
contribution by members amid the coronavirus pandem-
ic. In March last year, the EPFO had lowered interest rate
on provident fund deposits to a seven-year low of 8.5 per
cent for 2019-20, from 8.65 per cent in 2018-19.

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, MARCH 05, 2021
02
NO. OF FARMERS ON THE DECLINE IN GUJ, ADMITS GOVT
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Accord-
ing to data presented
in the ongoing Budget
Session, the number of
farmers has decreased
in the state. During
Question Hour, Con-
gress MLAs inquired
about the farmer num-
bers reported district-
wise and if there was
any change in the fig-
ures.
In response, the
state government in a
written statement said
that presently there
were 20,18,827 frontier,
16,15,791 small-scale,
11,50,254 small to me-
dium, 4,95,869 medium
and 38,851 large-scale
farmers registered in
the state.
A decrease in farm-
er numbers has also
been reported, with
11,778 frontier, 463
small to medium, 7,251
medium and 4,441
large-scale farmers
giving up the profes-
sion across the state.
The Congress party
claimed that a trend of
decline had been prev-
alent in the number of
farmers coupled with
loss of cultivable land.
“It is because of anti-
farming policies that
many farmers are leav-
ing their occupation.
The number of cultiva-
ble lands is also de-
creasing and their land
is being divided into
small pieces,”said
Paresh Dhanani, Lead-
er of Opposition.
Cong MLA falls
ill in the House
Congress MLA
Lalit Kagathara
fell ill during the
Budget Session on
Thursday. He was
taken to the Gandhi-
nagar Civil Hospital
for medical assis-
tance. He was found
to be suffering from
high blood pressure.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: On
Thursday, the Assem-
bly witnessed a heated
argument between the
legislators from the
Bharatiya Janata Party
and the Congress over
the increasing price of
edible oil, especially
groundnut and cotton-
seed oil, despite a
bumpercropof ground-
nut. The Opposition
staged a walkout after
allegations and coun-
ter-allegations flew
thick and fast.
During Question
Hour, a Congress MLA
commented that the
government has failed
to control the rise in ed-
ible oil prices even
though it has admitted
that citizens were ad-
versely affected by un-
employment and infla-
tion due to the pandem-
ic in 2020.
The price of cotton-
seed oil has risen by
Rs249 and that of
groundnut oil by Rs616
per 15-litre tin, in the
last year.
Reminding the
House that BJP leaders
had “made puris in wa-
ter” as a symbolic pro-
test against high oil
prices when they were
not in power at the
Centre, Congress MLA
Shailesh Parmar
pointed out that this is-
sue had wide-reaching
effects.
He also asked why
citizens are suffering
from the high price of
edible oil, when the
state procured 7.5 lakh
metric tonnes of
groundnut.
Further, he alleged
that profits are being
shared with the BJP as
“election funds” but
Speaker Rajendra
Trivedi asked that
these allegations be
struck from the re-
cord.
Deputy Chief Minis-
ter Nitin Patel said
that the Congress was
only making allega-
tions to stay in the dis-
cussion and stay in the
public eye.
HOUSE SEES HEATED DISCUSSION ON EDIBLE OIL
TOUGH TIMES
Price of
cottonseed
oil has risen
by Rs249
and that of
groundnut
oil by Rs616
per 15-litre
tin, in the
last year
AAP councillor
renames SMC
garden after
Patidars
First India Bureau
Surat: The newly
elected councillor
from Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP)
Dharmesh Bhand-
eri changed the
name of Yogi Gar-
den in Yogi Chowk
to Patidar Garden
on Wednesday. Af-
ter the intervention
of Surat Municipal
Corporation (SMC)
officials, the gar-
den was reinstated
back to its original
name.
Explaining the
step taken by him
Bhanderi said, “Yogi
Chowk has a large
Patidar population
and when the garden
was built, people had
suggested that it be
named Patidar Gar-
den. But later, it was
named Yogi Garden.
Now, the people want
it to be renamed as
per their wishes.”
He added, “We will
write a letter to the
municipal commis-
sioner about the is-
sue. Further, taking
the consent of the
people, we will pre-
sent a proposal on
the garden’s renam-
ing in the corpora-
tion’s general board
meeting.”
Municipal com-
missioner Banchha-
nidhi Pani said, “The
name should be
changed only after a
resolution is passed
in the general board
meeting of the corpo-
ration.”
Yogi aka Patidar Garden;
(inset) AAP councillor
Dharmesh Bhanderi.
ONLY `98 CRORE INCREASE IN
HEALTH DEPT BUDGET FOR 2021-22
With the first revenue deficit budget in 15 years, the state may have to hike its borrowing
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The fi-
nancial budget pre-
sented on Wednesday
for the financial year
2021-22 has, in reality
,
no increases in fund
allocation or plan lay-
out. Not just that, this
is the first time in 15
years that the Budget
has shown a revenue
deficit. The state
budget allocation for
the health depart-
ment has increased
only by Rs98 crore.
Further, the state has
allocated just 2.2% of
the state GDP to the
education depart-
ment.
Economist Hemant-
kumarShah,inhisanal-
ysis of the state budget
during a meeting organ-
ized by a group of social
activists, says that the
annual layout of the
current budget is of
Rs2.27 lakh crore,
againstlastyear’sRs2.15
lakh crore--an increase
of just Rs12,000 crore.
However, when one
takes into consideration
the annual rate of 5-6%,
then this increase is
barely anything.
Throwing light on
revenue expenditure,
Shah added that in the
budgetestimatefor2020-
21, the state had an esti-
mated revenue expendi-
ture of Rs1.62 lakh
crore. However, in the
revised estimate, the
government has de-
creased the revenue ex-
penditure by Rs10,000
crore. So, in reality, it
will be spending Rs1.52
lakh crore.
The state had estimat-
ed a borrowing of
Rs46,776 crore for the
current financial year.
Against that, it has al-
readyborrowedRs61,268
crore. For the next fi-
nancial year, the state
has estimated a borrow-
ing of Rs50,751 crore.
The state govern-
ment’s borrowing is in-
creasing exponentially
.
In the current fiscal, it
has borrowed Rs2.96
lakh crore, an increase
of Rs15,000 crore. If new
borrowing for the next
financial year is taken
into account, the net
borrowing could touch
Rs3 lakh crore by the
end of 2021-22.
Finance Minister
Nitin Patel, in his
Budget speech, an-
nounced an allocation
of Rs32,719 crore for
the education depart-
ment. Going into the
fine print, however,
reveals that the educa-
tion department will
spend Rs27,932 crore
in the next financial
year. This means the
department is only re-
ceiving an increase of
Rs764 crore. So, in ef-
fect, the budget allo-
cation for the depart-
ment is just 2.2 % of
the state’s GDP
.
“The health depart-
ment was exposed
when the pandemic
struck the state. Our
health infrastructure
is very poor and needs
more funds. However,
the state has added
just Rs98 crore from
last year’s Rs11,225
crore,” Shah said, re-
ferring to the Rs11,323
crore allocated to the
department in
Wednesday’s Budget.
The economist also
called Patel on his
claim that the govern-
ment’s subsidy of
Rs8,410 crore for agri-
cultural electricity
consumption is the
highest in the nation.
“This is a blatant lie.
According to my infor-
mation, the Punjab gov-
ernment gives annual
subsidies of Rs16,400
crore to farmers in
electricity consump-
tion,” he said.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the health department has not been granted more funds in the Budget 2021-22. —FILE PHOTO
FINE PRINT

GUJARAT
03
HC tells govt to follow Haryana
lead on fire safety in schools
5,199 schools lack fire NOCs; notices sent to 7 municipal corporations
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat High Court has
taken a serious note
of fire safety No Ob-
jection Certificates
(NOCs) and measures
in place at grant-in-
aid and unaided
schools in the state.
During the hearing,
the court also noted that
more than 5,199 schools
were operating without
fire NOCs and adequate
fire safety measures. An
appalledcourtissuedno-
ticestomunicipalcorpo-
rations of Jamnagar
with 72 schools, followed
by Vadodara (579), Surat
(77), Rajkot (461), Juna-
gadh(152),Gandhinagar
(28) and Bhavnagar
along with 3,830 schools
in various nagarpalikas
and other local bodies.
The corporation and
local bodies were direct-
ed by the court to take
immediate action re-
garding fire safety meas-
ures in 5,199 schools
across the state, which
do not have a valid and
subsisting NOC with re-
gard to the fire preven-
tion and protection sys-
tem. It asserted that it
wasmoreparticularlyin
consideration for the
safety and well-being of
the students studying in
theschoolsincludingthe
teachers, management
and other staffers.
While hearing the
public interest litigation
(PIL) regarding the im-
plementation of the Gu-
jarat Fire Prevention &
Life Safety Measures
Act, 2013 in the state, di-
visionbenchcomprising
Justice JB Pardiwala
and Justice Ilesh Vora
directed the state gov-
ernment and local au-
thorities to look into the
Haryana model for fire
safety measures in
schools. It also shared
the Haryana model for
reference.
It also directed all mu-
nicipal corporations to
place on record by way
of an affidavit, a list of
all the high-rise build-
ings, special buildings,
schools,hospitals,indus-
tries and factories.
NO DICE
The Gujarat High Court. —FILE PHOTO
Traders observe bandh
over police harassment
First India Bureau
A h m e d a b a d / Va -
dodara: Local busi-
nesses in the Sardar-
nagar area of the
city remain closed to
protest against po-
lice harassment on
Thursday
. According
to the allegations
levelled by the trad-
ers, policemen have
been compelling
them to pay bribes.
After refusing to
make payment, they
have been threat-
ened with penalties
for violation of the
COVID-19 Standard
OperatingProcedure
(SOP).
While the issue has
already been brought
to the notice of senior
police officials, no ac-
tion has been taken
against yet. Therefore,
the local traders’ asso-
ciation called for a
bandh in Sardarnagar
area, which was an-
swered by more than
500 shops.
A meeting was
called by Sardarnagar
MLA Balram Tha-
wani on the day which
was attended by joint
commissioner of po-
lice (JCP) Sector 2
Gautam Parmar and
other senior officers
and traders at a local
residence. While Par-
mar promised traders
that the issue will be
resolved within a
week, traders expect-
ed senior officials to
suspend four police
constables who had
beaten a youth two
days ago. The traders
also demanded that
police personnel be
instructed not to har-
ass traders and local
residents in the name
of COVID-19 SOP vio-
lations anymore.
While the traders
refused to call off the
bandh, union office-
bearers told mediaper-
sons that they will call
an association meet-
ing to decide whether
to continue the protest
or buy the promises
made by the police.
Sardarnagar looked like it was under lockdown on Thursday.
SMC seals 32 hospitals over fire
safety issues, on Day 2 of drive
First India Bureau
Surat: As many as 32
hospitals were sealed
by the Surat fire de-
partment on Thurs-
day, for not comply-
ing with fire-safety
regulations, despite
being issued several
notices already. This
is the second day of
the department’s
large-scale sealing
drive, which began on
Wednesday.
The fire department
has begun to crack-
down on violators since
the past two months
have brought more than
15 fires, including three
major ones in mills in
Pandesara area, offi-
cials said.
The sealing opera-
tions were carried out
in different areas of the
city, including Katar-
gam, Bhatar, Rander,
Limbayat and Dindoli.
In-charge Chief
Fire Officer Makhija-
ni told First India,
“We have received or-
ders from the munici-
pal commissioner, di-
recting us to take
strict action against
any person or body
found flouting fire-
safety norms. The
sealing drive will con-
tinue in the foreseea-
ble future. Initially,
we are looking at
schools and hospitals
on a priority basis.
DEMOLITION MISSION
People watch as AMC officials demolish an illegal building in Ahmedabad’s Juhapura area on Thursday. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
An SMC official seals a building.
Touched by Ayesha’s last video,
auto driver foils suicide attempt
First India Bureau
Surat: An autorick-
shaw driver saved the
life of a woman at-
tempting to jumping
off the Chowk Bazar
bridge on Thursday.
“While I was passing
by in my autorickshaw,
I saw the woman cry-
ing. So, I parked my ve-
hicle and approached
the woman, grabbing
her hand to restrain her
from taking any ex-
treme step,” said Tosif,
the autorickshaw driv-
er, who said he was in-
spired by the video
posted by Ayesha Khan
in Ahmedabad last
week. He added, “With-
in no time, local by-
standers also gathered
around and tried to
comfort the woman.”
The mother of two
told police officials that
her husband had been
harassing her and that
wasthereasonshewant-
ed to commit suicide.
Police have launched an
investigation.
First India Bureau
Himmatnagar: At a
time when politicians
have polarized whole
communities in their
quest to garner votes
or consolidate their
vote bank, a Muslim
Non-Resident Indian
(NRI) businessman
settled in the US has
emerged as the torch-
bearer for helping
out Hindu men who
had been rendered
unemployed due to
the lockdown and the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Janubhai Memon of
Himmatnagar has
proved to be a good sa-
maritan for providing
help to the underprivi-
leged without discrimi-
nating on the basis of
caste, creed or religion.
Yogeshkumar Ratib-
hai Nayak, a resident
of Brahmaninagar
area of Himmatnagar
lost his job post the
lockdown periods and
could not get another
one with a regular in-
come. Nayak used to
collect Memon from
the airport when he
visited India. When he
came to know about
Nayak’s plight, he de-
cided to call on other
Muslim brothers to
help Nayak set up a
small grocery shop.
Expressing his
heartfelt gratitude for
Memon’s help, Nayak
said, “I had lost my job
during the lockdown
and was struggling to
feed my family. Janub-
hai helped me stand on
my feet again despite
being so far away in
America. I don’t have
words to express my
thanks to him. What-
ever he has done, set-
ting up my shop, I do
not think that nobody
else would have done
this for me and my
family.”
He added, “The place
where I used to work
before the lockdown,
he also never called me
to ask if I needed any
help. But, Janubhai
came to my rescue by
sending money from
there. I had been job-
less for four months
when he came up with
the idea of setting up a
grocery shop. He even
bought me all the stock
I have in my shop for
sale. He is akin to God
for me.”
Memon’s actions
have earned him praise
from people of the city
as well.
Muslim NRI helps pandemic-hit Hindu neighbour set up store
GODSEND

Janubhai
Memon came to
the aid of
Yogeshkumar
Nayak when he
was struggling
to find steady
income amid
COVID-19
Daily nCov jump inches near 500, again
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
state on Thursday re-
corded 480 new cases
of COVID-19, which
took Gujarat’s case
load to 2,71,725 since
March last year.
However, there was
not a single death re-
ported across the
state in the last 24
hours, leaving the to-
tal death toll at a
steady 4,412.
Ahmedabad city had
98 new cases, followed
by Surat city with 91,
Vadodara city (80), Ra-
jkot city (45), Jamna-
gar city and Surat dis-
trict (14 each), Va-
dodara district, Anand
and Kutch (10 each)
and Rajkot district (9),
in the 24 hours ended 5
pm on Thursday. Nine
districts reported no
new cases in the 24-
hour period.
There are now 2,749
active cases in Guja-
rat, with 40 patients on
ventilator support.
The state said it ad-
ministered vaccine
doses to 1,31,969 per-
sons on Thursday, tak-
ing the number of vac-
cinated people to more
than 12 lakh, since
January 16.
Meanwhile, doc-
tors said that a bride
who died after col-
lapsing during her
wedding festivities in
Vadodara tested posi-
tive for the virus,
causing concern.
Yogeshbhai Nayak in front of his grocery shop.
There is no new data on the state’s testing figures in Gujarat.
Toshif, the autorickshaw driver
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
—FILE PHOTO

Vol 2 Issue No. 99 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.
Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVE
04
n the past five
years, ransom-
ware attacks
have evolved
from rare mis-
fortunes into common and
disruptive threats. Hijack-
ing the information tech-
nology systems of organi-
sations and forcing them to
pay a ransom in order to
reclaim them, cybercrimi-
nals are freely extorting
millions of pounds from
companies – and they are
enjoying a remarkably low
risk of arrest as they do it.
At the moment, there is
no coordinated response to
ransomware attacks, de-
spite their ever-increasing
prevalence and severity.
Instead, states’ intelli-
gence services respond to
cybercriminals on an ad-
hoc basis, while cyber-in-
surance firms recommend
their clients simply pay off
the criminal gangs that ex-
tort them.
Neither of these strate-
gies is sustainable. Instead,
organisations need to re-
double their cybersecurity
efforts to stymie the flow of
cashfromblackmailedbusi-
nesses to cybercriminal
gangs. Failure to act means
that cybercriminals will
continue investing their
growing loot in ransom-
ware technologies, keeping
them one step ahead of our
protective capabilities.
DAYLIGHT ROBBERY
Ransomware is a lucrative
form of cybercrime. It
works by encrypting the
data of the organisations
that cybercriminals hack.
Thecybercriminalsthenof-
fer organisations a choice:
pay a ransom to receive a
decryption code that will
return your IT systems to
you, or lose those systems
forever. The latter choice
means that firms would
have to rebuild their IT sys-
tems (and sometimes data-
bases) from scratch.
Unsurprisingly, many
companies choose to qui-
etly pay the ransom, opting
never to report the breach
to the authorities. This
means successful prosecu-
tions of ransomware gangs
are exceedingly rare.
In 2019, the successful
prosecution of a lone cy-
bercriminal in Nigeria was
such a novelty that the US
Department of Justice is-
sued a celebratory press
release. Meanwhile, in Feb-
ruary 2021, French and
Ukrainian prosecutors
managed to arrest some af-
filiates Egregor, a gang
that rents powerful ran-
somware out for other cy-
bercriminals to use.
It appears that those ar-
rested merely rented the
ransomware, rather than
creating or distributing it.
Cybersecurity experts
have little faith in the crim-
inal justice system to ad-
dress ransomware crimes.
The frequency of those
crimes is increasing rap-
idly
. A European Union re-
port published in 2020
found that ransomware at-
tacks increased by 365% in
2019 compared to the previ-
ous year. Since then, the
situation is likely to have
become much worse. The
US security company Pur-
pleSec has suggested that
overall business losses
caused by ransomware at-
tacks might have exceeded
$20 billion (£14.3 billion) in
2020, up from $11.5 billion
in 2019.
Even hospitals have suf-
fered attacks. Given the po-
tentialimpactof asustained
IT shutdown on human
lives, healthcare databases
are in fact actively targeted
by ransomware gangs, who
know they will pay their
ransoms quickly and relia-
bly
. In 2017, the National
Health Service fell foul of
such an attack, forcing staff
to cancel thousands of hos-
pitalappointments,relocate
vulnerable patients, and
conduct their administra-
tive duties with a pen and
paper for several days.
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION
Why paying off ransomware gangs is not a good idea
I
And mankind have not
been given of knowledge
except a little.
—Al-Isra 17:85
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Prakash Javadekar
@PrakashJavdekar
Had a fruitful meeting with
representatives from OTT
industry and explained the
provisions of the OTT rules. All
representatives have welcomed
the new guidelines. The Ministry
and industry will partner together
to make the OTT experience better
for all audience. @MIB_India
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
India emerges as the preferred
investment destination amongst
global investors, with highest
ever growth of 22% in FDI inflows
despite COVID-19. Govt. under
PM @NarendraModi ji’s leadership
is focused on driving economic
growth and development of India
SREEDHARAN TO BE
BJP’S CM FACE
nter Metro Man E. Sreedharan in Ker-
ala politics. He joined the Bharatiya
Janata Party only on February 25 on
the condition that at 89 years of age he
should be projected as the prospective
Chief Minister of Kerala. With the BJP formally
declaring him as its chief ministerial candidate
in the southern state, the engineer par excellence
has his task cut out. He has to build bridges be-
tween his party and the people of Kerala. To do
that, he has already made it clear, that he will not
go door-to-door and shop-to-shop asking for votes.
He will reach out to voters through messages, in-
stead. Given Sreedharan’s age, it is understand-
able that he adopts modern methods for cam-
paigning.
It could be history in the making for both the
BJP and the highly respected technocrat. The BJP
has given a go-by to its age cut-off rule to rest
some of its senior party members after they
touched 75 years. It will be a historic moment just
in case the relaxation in age helps it to gain con-
trol of Kerala. It will be an hour of glory for
Sreedharan, who is making his political debut if
he is able to steer the BJP to power. But construct-
ing bridges, Metros and ships is different from the
dirty world of politics. Will Sreedharan succeed
in manoeuvring his way through political in-
trigues? One doesn’t know if the BJP decision has
hurt those aspiring to be CM.
The point to ponder is whether the age relaxa-
tion benefit will be extended to some other BJP
leaders too.
E
IN-DEPTH
AFTER LOSING ALL MAN
FINALLY GETS JUSTICE
t is a reflection on the working of police
and lower judiciary in Uttar Pradesh
that a man has to spend 20 years in jail
for a crime he did not commit. A woman
of his village had accused Vishnu Ti-
wari of sexually assaulting her. He was also
charged under the SC/ST Act for atrocities. Fol-
lowing the complaint, he was arrested in Septem-
ber 2000. He was tried by a Lalitpur court and con-
victed of rape and sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous
imprisonment in 2003. Subsequently, he was also
convicted under the SC/ST Act and sentenced for
life. His trial and conviction, it turns out, was a
travesty of justice. The State too remained insensi-
tive to his travails and forgot to commute his sen-
tence as mandated by the Cr. P.C. after Vishnu had
spent 14 years in jail.
Vishnu’s release was ordered by the Allahabad
High Court in January but due to technicalities
the “broken man” could walk out of jail on Febru-
ary 3. In its “finding” the high court said that the
doctor neither found any “sperm”, nor any evi-
dence of “forcible sexual intercourse”. The court
also found “several contradictions in the “exami-
nation-in-chief and the cross-examination of all
three witnesses”.
During his long incarceration, Vishnu lost his
parents and two brothers but denied permission to
attend their last rites. But for the State Legal Ser-
vice Authority Vishnu would have still remained
behind bars. This case speaks volumes about how
innocents and the poor can be framed in criminal
cases. And the mechanism to undo the wrongs can
sometimes be ineffective. Vishnu is an example.
I
ave you ever heard anyone
complain that his employer
gives him too little commen-
dation? Have you possibly
complained about that your-
self ? Or if you are young,
have you said the same thing
about your parents or your
teachers? When employees
make this remark, what
bothers them is not so much
the lack of commendation as
the lack of personal inter-
est. At any rate, something
is obviously missing.
Words are of little value
when deeds are needed. But
words cannot be overlooked.
There are times when fine
words are just the thing need-
ed. Life is full of events that
tend to depress or discourage.
Disappointments and personal
failings have a tendency to pro-
duce negative thinking. How
much appreciated, then, are
the words of commendation
whenever they can be given.
So, we must look for opportuni-
ties to commend instead of
harping on weaknesses or
shortcomings.
Do we as an employer
think of giving compliments
when an employee works
conscientiously, putting in
special efforts because of de-
manding circumstances? Or
are we, an employee, who
has been favoured with more
than usual understanding
and consideration? If so,
have we spoken expressions
of appreciation? And do we
do the same with our family
members and friends?
Commendation, for a job
well done, warms the heart of
a diligent worker, since it is
based upon a correct appraisal
of hard work. Genuine praise
is a kind and beneficial act.
How can we know wheth-
er what a person says to us
is praise or flattery? Flat-
tery promotes exaggerated
self-image. Excessive praise
is done to gain favour from
others and its motive is to
lead the other person into a
trap. Persons who like flat-
tery react adversely to criti-
cism. They prefer hearing
only laudatory remarks
about themselves.
The use of flattery may ap-
pear to be a gainful course but
it does not build up, rather af-
flicts and harms others. A flat-
terer uses smooth talk to make
a person feel superior to oth-
ers in some way. Thus, flattery
can be linked to counterfeit
money which would have no
circulation.
Some persons are inclined
to make a habit of telling
others how “brilliant” they
are! Or they shower them
with compliments. Such ex-
pressions generally add up
to flattery by promoting an
inflated view that the one be-
ing flattered feels for one’s
own worth.
We all have a natural inclina-
tion to hear what is pleasing to
our ears, on the contrary, we
must be willing to listen to
straight talk rather then search
out for people who keep telling
us how wonderful we are, tick-
ling our ears with flattering
speech! The way to safeguard is
not to think too much about
oneself, rather to have a fair
and balanced view.
It is likewise important to
avoid the opposite extreme
of never giving commenda-
tion. Proper praise is uplift-
ing and brings benefits. It
gives the assurance that
one’s efforts have not been
unnoticed or in vain. When
praise is withheld, relations
between individuals are not
as warm and candid as they
ought to be.
All of us thrive on praise. It
gives refreshment, imparts
confidence, and instills
strength, something that we all
need. We are beset with weak-
nesses inside and surrounded
by all kinds of pressures out-
side. Hence one feels a constant
need of acceptance and approv-
al and one can be disappointed
because of not receiving it.
Praise is like an oil that will
make the machinery of life run
more smoothly
.
Praise can act like a touch-
stone. It can foster pride or
reveal one’s modesty if one
acknowledges his indebted-
ness to others. Having the
right view of praise would
include a readiness to have
others included in the admi-
ration, sharing it with those
who may have contributed to
the success of what we said
or did. So instead of waiting
for others, we can take the
initiative and look for oppor-
tunities to give compliments.
Sincere praise for worthy
conduct or attainments builds
up the giver and the recipient.
But we must be careful that
gaining praise does not become
our driving motive to do well or
go out of the way to elicit praise
from others.
Commendation gives us
the courage to work even
harder. It brings out the best
in others. It involves being
thoughtful. By making it a
habit to look for the good in
others, it will be easier to
give sincere praise remem-
bering that a word spoken at
the right time gives strength
and happiness.
Just as plants need light and
water, we need praise and ap-
preciation to thrive.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
COMMENDATION
A VERBAL SUNSHINE
H
REKHA
KUMAR
ALL OF US THRIVE ON
PRAISE. IT GIVES
REFRESHMENT,
IMPARTS CONFIDENCE,
AND INSTILLS
STRENGTH,
SOMETHING THAT WE
ALL NEED. WE ARE
BESET WITH
WEAKNESSES INSIDE
AND SURROUNDED BY
ALL KINDS OF
PRESSURES OUTSIDE
The writer is a personal
development trainer working with
corporate and SME sector
Words are of little
value when deeds
are needed. But
words cannot be
overlooked. There
are times when
fine words are
just the thing
needed. Life is
full of events that
tend to depress or
discourage.
Disappointments
and personal
failings have a
tendency to
produce negative
thinking. How
much
appreciated,
then, are the
words of
commendation
whenever they
can be given

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INDIA
05
Newfarmlawsrevolutionary,saysTomar
New Delhi: Union Ag-
riculture Minister Nar-
endra Singh Tomar on
Thursday asserted that
new farm laws will en-
hance farmers’ income
adding that agricultur-
al is the backbone of
the country’s economic
growth.
“Under the Pradhan
Mantri Kisan Samman
Nidhi (PM-Kisan) Yoja-
na, about 1.15 lakh
crore rupees are depos-
ited in the bank ac-
counts of about 1.75
crore farmers. PM Nar-
endra Modi has the vi-
sion to increase the in-
come of farmers and
the development of the
agricultural sector. We
understand that, if we
don’t have prosperous
farmers, we can’t de-
velop a good economy
of the country.” Tomar
said at an event.
The agricultural
Minister was attending
an event of National
Bank for Agriculture
and Rural Development
(NABARD) and Asia-
Pacific Rural and Agri-
cultural Credit Associ-
ation (APRACA) joint
forum’s session on “De-
velopment support to
promote agribusiness
clusters and credit en-
hancement instru-
ments”.
He said that these
new farms laws will
benefit the farmers and
added that the laws are
revolutionary for the
Indian farmers. On
February 25, Tomar on
Thursday reiterated
that the central govern-
ment is ready to talk to
protesting farmers at
any time.
Tomar said that the
farmer unions, which
have been protesting
against the farm laws
fornearlythreemonths,
have not given their
feedback on the cen-
tre’s proposal of put-
ting the farm laws on
hold for 1.5 years. —ANI
Agri Min asserted that new farm laws will enhance farmers’ income adding that agricultural is the backbone of the country’s economic growth
Farmers shout slogans at the site during their ongoing protest at Delhi-Gazipur border, in Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Chandigarh: Describ-
ing the three new farm
laws as “unconstitu-
tional and illegal”, for-
mer Punjab minister
Navjot Singh Sidhu on
Thursday said it was an
attack by the Centre
upon the federal struc-
ture and the right of
states to frame legisla-
tions. He said the new
laws will lead to auc-
tioning of land in Pun-
jab and leave its resi-
dents as “slave” and
asked the Congress gov-
ernment in the state to
take “bold and solid
steps” to meet the “aspi-
rations” of people pro-
testing against the leg-
islations.
“The new farm laws
are unconstitutional
and illegal. It’’s an at-
tack by the Centre on
the right of states to
frame new laws and the
federal structure,” he
told reporters here. Re-
ferring to the ongoing
farmer protest against
the laws, he said the
peasantry has never lost
a battle. The Punjab As-
sembly had passed Bills
last year to negate the
three farm laws. —PTI
New agri laws are
unconstitutional:
Navjot Singh Sidhu
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi on
Thursday took a dig at
the Centre over the IT
raids at properties of
film director Anurag
Kashyap and actor
Taapsee Pannu, saying
the Central government
is targetting those who
have been raising their
voice in support of the
farmers’ protest.
“Some Idioms: ‘Un-
galiyon par nachaana’
– Central government
does this with IT Dept-
ED-CBI. ‘Bheegee bil-
lee banana’ – friendly
media in front of the
central government.
‘khisiyaanee billee
khamba noche’ – like
the central government
makes a raid on the
supporters of the farm-
er. #ModiRaidsPro-
Farmers,” Gandhi said.
The raids, which start-
ed on Wednesday, con-
tinued on Thursday as
well with the income
tax department carry-
ing out searches at the
commerce centre of
KWAN Talent Manage-
ment Agency in Mum-
bai. On Wednesday, IT
officials conducted
raids at the properties
of Anurag, Taapsee
film producer Vikas
Bahl while carrying out
searches at their offices
residences.
Rashtriya Janata Dal
leader Tejashwi Yadav
has also slammed the
Centre over the raids,
terming it as a “politi-
cal vendetta”. —ANI
Centre raids pro-farmers: RaGa on IT raids
New Delhi: Union Min-
ister Dharmendra
Pradhan on Thursday
reiterated his request to
the Odisha government
to implement reserva-
tion for Other Back-
ward Classes (OBCs) in
government jobs and
educational institu-
tions, and for Socially
Educationally Back-
ward Classes (SEBCs)
in educational institu-
tions in the state.
“I had written letters
to CM Naveen Patnaik
seeking reservations for
OBCs in government
jobs and educational in-
stitutions and for
SEBCs in educational
institutions in Odisha.
However, my request for
27 per cent reservation
for socially and econom-
ically backward classes
in government jobs and
educational institutions
in Odisha has remained
unaddressed till date,”
Pradhan told Odisha
media in New Delhi.
Notably
, the state gov-
ernment is set to begin
a survey of backward
classes based on the so-
cial and educational
status. —ANI
Dharmendra Pradhan reiterates
request for OBC quota in Odisha
Bengaluru: Bharatiya
Janata Party MP Tejas-
vi Surya said on Thurs-
day that Mamata Ba-
nerjee's days as West
Bengal Chief Minister
are numbered and that
the BJP will win more
than 200 seats in the
state in the upcoming
elections.
“BJP will win more
than 200 seats in West
Bengal. Mamata Ba-
nerjee's days as a chief
minister are num-
bered. On the 3rd of
May, West Bengal will
have a BJP chief min-
ister,” said Surya.
“This is the legacy of
the communists which
Mamata Banerjee has
carried forward but
there will be no more
bloodshed and political
murder politics in West
Bengal because BJP
will have its chief min-
ister,” he added talking
about the vote share of
BJP in upcoming as-
sembly polls of West
Bengal and Kerala. —PTI
WB will have a BJP CM
on May 3,says Tejasvi
New Delhi: A PIL has
been moved in the Su-
preme Court seeking
appointment of a regu-
lar CBI Director by the
selection committee of
the Chief Justice of In-
dia, the Prime Minis-
ter and the Leader of
Opposition as per law.
The PIL filed by
NGO Common Cause
stated instead of ap-
pointing a regular Di-
rector, the government
has instead appointed
an acting/interim Di-
rector after the term of
the previous CBI Di-
rector got over. “The
government has failed
to appoint the Director
of CBI as per Section
4A of the Delhi Special
Police Establishment
Act, 1946 on the expiry
of the term of the last
incumbent Director Ri-
shi Kumar Shukla on
February 2 has in-
stead, vide order dated
February 3, appointed
Praveen Sinha as an
interim/acting CBI Di-
rector till new appoint-
ment,” the plea added.
PIL IN SC FOR APPOINTMENT OF
REGULAR CBI DIRECTOR BY GOVT
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Thurs-
day hear petitions on a
plea filed by women of-
ficers in the Indian
Army who had moved
the apex court over the
non-implementation of
its order to grant them
permanent commission
in the forces. The peti-
tions demand contempt
proceedings against
those who allegedly
failed in their duty to
comply with the court’s
judgement.
The apex court had
ordered that the perma-
nent commission will
apply to all women of-
ficers in the Indian
Army in service, irre-
spective of their years
of service, adding that
after the Delhi High
Court judgement, the
Centre should grant
permanent commission
to women officers. —ANI
SC to hear women
officers’ pleas over PC
Rakul case: HC
directs IB
Ministry on
media issue
New Delhi: Delhi
High Court on
Thursday directed
the Ministry of In-
formation and
Broadcasting to take
action against media
channels that are not
members of the
News Broadcasting
Standards Authority
(NBSA) if and were
found to have violat-
ed Cable TV Net-
works Act in broad-
casting content relat-
ing to actor Rakul
Preet Singh.
A single-judge
bench of Justice
Prathiba M Singh
has sought the status
report and listed the
matter for further
hearing on May 20.
FRESH WESTERN DISTURBANCE TO
AFFECT WESTERN HIMALAYAN: IMD
New Delhi: A fresh
western disturbance is
very likely to affect the
western Himalayan region
from the night of March
5 and its adjoining plains
of Northwest India from
the night of March 6, said
IMD on Thursday. “Under
its influence scattered to
widespread rainfall and
snowfall very likely over
the western Himalayan
region (Jammu, Kashmir,
Ladakh, Gilgit, Baltistan,
Muzaffarabad, Himachal
Pradesh and Uttara-
khand) during March 6
to 8 with peak intensity
on March 7,” IMD said.
It further said that the
maximum temperatures
are above normal by 3-5
degrees Celsius over
most parts of the western
Himalayan region.
EC LIKELY TO APPOINT 500
OBSERVES FOR WB POLLS
Kolkata: Election Commission of India is likely to
appoint around 500 observers in West Bengal for
strict monitoring of the forthcoming Assembly
polls. “Discussions are underway for the ap-
pointment of around 500 observers in poll-bound
West Bengal, details are yet to come,” an ECI offi-
cial said. According to ECI official, Ajay V Nayek,
a retired IAS officer is appointed as special gen-
eral observer. Vivek Dubey, from Andhra cadre
and Mrinal Kanti Das, a retired IPS officer have
been appointed as special police observers.
71 KG OF WASTE FOUND IN
STOMACH OF FARIDABAD COW
Faridabad: A team of veterinarians in Farid-
abad in Haryana extracted 71 kilograms (156.5
pounds) of plastic, nails and other garbage from
a pregnant cow, but both the animal and her
baby died. The case has highlighted the country’s
twin problems of pollution and stray cattle. An
estimated five million cows roam India’s cities,
with many gorging on the vast amounts of plastic
litter on the streets. This cow was rescued after a
road accident in late February by the People For
Animals Trust Faridabad.
G-23 LEADERS NOT BEING FAIR TO
CONGRESS, SAYS KTS TULSI
New Delhi: Congress
leader KTS Tulsi on
Thursday said the be-
haviour of G-23 (or the
group of 23 dissenting
leaders) is the height of
ingratitude and they are
not being fair to the party.
This comes after former
Union minister and senior
Congress leader Salman
Khurshid in an open letter
asked the ‘Group of 23’
senior dissenting leaders
of the party to worry
about how they would
be judged in history than
to seek a better place
in the present. “To a
great extent, I agree with
Salman Khurshid and feel
that the behaviour of G3
or G23 is the height of
ingratitude. I think they
are not fair to the party,”
said Tulsi.
IN THE COURTYARD
UDDHAV COMPARED WITH RAHUL GANDHI
Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu film director Anurag Kashyap.
INDIA’S EPICENTRE
‘FARMER PROTEST
WILL GO ON’
Ghazipur: Amid the
ongoing protest
against the new
farm laws, Bharatiya
Kisan Union (BKU)
leader Rakesh Tikait
on Thursday said
the agitation will
continue for long.
“We will continue
our protest until the
government agrees
to talk to the com-
mittee. We are here
for long,” said Tikait.
“There must be a
minimum and maxi-
mum rate for crops
in the country,” he
added. While the As-
sembly polls of the
legislative assem-
blies of four states
-- West Bengal, Tamil
Nadu, Kerala and
Assam -- will start
from May, farmers
will also participate
in the political rallies
said Tikait. —ANI
Tejasvi Surya Dharmendra Pradhan
Navjot Singh Sidhu

INDIA
06
EPFO retains...
There is no over-drawal
on EPFO corpus due to
this income distribu-
tion,” it said.
Talking to PTI, K E
Raghunathan, an EPFO
trustee said the EPFO
would have a surplus of
around Rs 300 crore on
maintaining 8.5 per
cent rate of interest for
the current fiscal at par
with 2019-20.
During the period
from 2015-16, the EPFO
prudently started in-
vesting in equity
through exchange trad-
ed funds based on the
NSE 50 and BSE 30 indi-
ces. The investment in
equity assets started
from 5 per cent for
FY’2015 and subse-
quently went up to 15
per cent of the incre-
mental portfolio.
The assured fixed re-
turn approach of the
EPFO, announced by
the CBT every year,
along with the tax ex-
emptions makes it an
attractive choice for in-
vestors, providing
them with strong social
security in the form of
provident fund, pen-
sion and insurance
schemes, the ministry
said.Earlier this year,
there were specula-
tions that the EPFO
would lower interest on
provident fund depos-
its for this fiscal (2020-
21) in view of more
withdrawals and lesser
contribution by mem-
bers amid the coronavi-
rus pandemic.
In March last year,
the EPFO had lowered
interest rate on provi-
dent fund deposits to a
seven-year low of 8.5
per cent for 2019-20,
from 8.65 per cent in
2018-19.
The EPF (Employees
Provident Fund) inter-
est rate provided for
2019-20 was the lowest
since 2012-13, when it
was 8.5 per cent.
The EPFO had pro-
vided 8.65 per cent in-
terest rate to its sub-
scribers in 2016-17 and
8.55 per cent in 2017-18.
The rate of interest was
slightly higher at 8.8 per
cent in 2015-16.
It had given 8.75 per
cent rate of interest in
2013-14 as well as 2014-
15, higher than 8.5 per
cent for 2012-13. The
EPFO had provided 8.25
per cent rate of interest
on provident fund in
2011-12.
During the CBT meet-
ing, Gangwar also
launched an e-facility
for the Principal Em-
ployers (PEs), which
would allow them to
view PF compliance
and remittances made
by their contractors in
monthly ECR (Electron-
ic Challan cum Receipt
or PF return).
Using this facility
, the
up-front credit of PMR-
PY (Pradhan Mantri
Rojgar Protsahan Yoja-
na) and ABRY (Aat-
manirbhar Bharat Roj-
gar Yojana) scheme
benefits, made into the
PF accounts of contract
employees claimed by
contractors will also be
visible to the PEs.
Besides, Gangwar
launched a web facility
for registering, process-
ing and monitoring of
complaints and option-
al inspection by region-
al offices, zonal offices
and head office through
a web-based portal.
Earlier, under Inspec-
tion Scheme, 2014, per-
mission of the head of-
fice was required for
optional inspections
and complaints investi-
gations.
Sensex tumbles...
Foreign investors had
bought equities worth
Rs 2,088.70 crore on a
net basis in Indian capi-
tal markets on Wednes-
day, according to ex-
change data.
On Thursday, Asian
shares too tumbled af-
ter an overnight surge
in bond yields dragged
Wall Street lower.
On the forex market
front, the rupee ended
11 paise lower at 72.83
against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, global
crude oil benchmark
Brent was trading 1.16
per cent higher at USD
64.73 per barrel.
4 Cong...
Vishwanathan has quit
the party on Wednes-
day in protest against
the leadership’s “fail-
ure to ensure social jus-
tice in distribution of
seats”. Vishwanathan,
who belongs to Kuruma
tribal community, a
prominent tribal seg-
ment in Wayanad, said,
“Kuruma community
has been neglected in
seat sharing exercise. I
have the support of my
community. The posts
of DCC president and
the legislator are held
by one person. I had
already expressed my
dissent much earlier.”
CPI (M) has already
sent feelers to the Con-
gress rebel with the
promise that he would
be accommodated in
the party
.
But when Vishwa-
nanthan walked out of
Congress, CPM leader
E M Sankaran, who
also belongs to the same
Kuruma community,
joined the Congress
and filled the commu-
nity gap.
FROM PG 1
WHO WILL BE REVENUE SECRETARY ?
Who will be new Secretary Revenue in the
Government of India ?. Names of 1988 batch
Karnataka cadre 1988 batch IAS officer Anil Jha
, 1988 batch IAS officer of TamilNadu cadre J S
Swain and 1989 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre
Pankaj Joshi are in circulation.
POSTING OF 1989 BATCH IAS
OFFICERS IN GOI TO START
Posting of 1989 batch IAS officers to the rank of
Secretary in the Government of India as Secretary
is likely to start from this month.
SIX-YEAR DEPUTATION TENURE OF
RAM SAJIWAN SINGH ENDS IN MARCH
The six-year deputation tenure of Ram Sajiwan
Singh, working as Director in the Ministry of
Housing and Urban Affairs, is coming to an end on
March 31, 2021. He is a 1996 batch ITS officer.
NO EMPANELMENT FROM
TELANGANA AT SECRETARY LEVEL
There is a lone IAS officer of 1989 batch in
Telangana, but this name did not feature in the
empanelment list for holding Secretary and
Secretary equivalent posts in Government of India.
REAR ADMIRAL SANJAY VATSAYAN IS
DY COMMANDANT, NDA
Rear Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan has assumed
charge as the Deputy Commandant and Chief
Instructor of India’s premier tri-services training
institution, the National Defence Academy (NDA),
at Khadakwasla in Pune.
RAJESH VAISHNAW APPOINTED AS
AMBASSADOR TO MOROCCO
Rajesh Vaishnaw, presently High Commissioner
of India to Malta, has been appointed as the next
Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Morocco.
He is a 1996 batch IFS officer.
MITTAL APPOINTED AS FINANCIAL
ADVISOR, DEFENCE SERVICES
Sunil Mittal has been appointed as Financial
Advisor, Defence Services under the Ministry of
Defence. He is an IDAS officer.
THREE IFS OFFICERS GET NEW
ASSIGNMENTS IN MAHARASHTRA
Pradeep Kumar has been appointed as PCCF,
Economic, Planning and Management, Nagpur,
while Dr Kishore is CF, Gadchiroli circle and
Umesh Udal Verma was made DCF, Resources,
Nagpur in Maharashtra.
35 OFFICERS OF 2017 BATCH
CONFIRMED IN IAS
As many as 35 officers of 2017 batch from
different states have been confirmed in Indian
Administrative Service (IAS) with effect from
August 2019. Officers confirmed in IAS from
Punjab cadre are: Gautam Jain, Himanshu Jain,
Rahul and Sagar Setia. Officers confirmed in IAS
from Nagaland cadre are: Bhavani Sri R, Dharam
Raj and Vineet Kumar. Officers confirmed in IAS
from Karnataka cadre are: Bhanwar Singh Meena,
Dileesh Sasi, Nandhini Devi K, Nandini K R,
Naveen Bhat Y, Priyanga M, Shaikh Tanveer Asif
and Bharath S. Officers confirmed in IAS from
Bihar cadre are: Abhilasha Sharma, Anil Kumar,
Arif Ahsan, Kumar Gaurav, Tanai Sultania, Taranjot
Singh, Vishal Raj, Vivek Ranjan Maitrey and
Yogesh Kumar Sagar. Officers confirmed in IAS
from Telangana cadre are: Ila Tripathi, Mikkilineni
Manu Choudary, Muzammil Khan, Prateek
Jain, Rahul Sharma, Rajashi Shah, Santhosh B
M, Sneha Latha Mogili and Venkatesh Dhotre.
Besides, Syeed Fakhrudin Hamid from Assam-
Meghalaya and Mamu Hage from AGMUT cadre
have also been confirmed in IAS.
CADRE OF YATISH CHANDRA
TRANSFERRED FROM KERALA TO
KARNATAKA
The cadre of Yatish Chandra G H has been
transferred from Kerala to Karnataka for an initial
period of three years on grounds of personal
hardship. He is a 2011 batch IPS officer.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with: http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
FIN MIN GETS JAB!
FINANCE MINISTER NIRMALA SITHARAMAN GOT HER FIRST
DOSE OF COVID-19 VACCINATION ON THURSDAY IN DELHI.
‘Military must be prepared for
threats from China Pakistan’
New Delhi: The Chief
of Defence Staff Gen
Bipin Rawat on Thurs-
day said that the Indian
armed forces need to
study transformational
concepts due to arising
threats for Army, espe-
cially from Pakistan
and China. “Some im-
portant steps that we
need to take, include--
defining the national
security strategy, high-
er defense strategic
guidance, structural
reforms in higher de-
fense and operational
organizations,” Rawat
said.
He further said,
“New tools and tactics
can be employed to con-
nect rapidly to an audi-
ence like never before.
Information is indeed
more democratized to-
day
. India needs to take
adapt its defense strate-
gies accordingly
.”
CDS Rawat’s LAC
visit in January, CDS
Bipin Rawat had visit-
ed forward locations
along the LAC in
Ladakh to review the
overall military prepar-
edness as thousands of
Indian and Chinese
troops remained de-
ployed in a high state of
combat readiness in
various mountainous
locations in the region
amid the eight-month-
long border standoff.
The Army and the
IAF has been maintain-
ingahighstateof opera-
tional readiness along
the nearly 3,500-km LAC
with China in view of
the military standoff in
eastern Ladakh. —ANI
General Bipin Rawat
EAM Jaishankar discussesTeesta water
sharing,border killings during B’Desh visit
Dhaka: During his of-
ficial visit to Bangla-
desh, External Affairs
Minister (EAM) S Jais-
hankar on Thursday
focused on the issues of
water sharing, border
killings, COVID-19 with
his counterpart Dr
AKA Momen in Dhaka.
Speaking at a press
conference, Jaishankar
termed Teesta water-
sharing as a big issue,
saying, “We did discuss
it, we have a meeting of
our water resources
Secretaries very soon.
I’m sure they will be
discussing it further. I
think you all know Govt
of India’s position that
position has not
changed.” The Teesta
river dispute is an im-
portant point of bilat-
eral talks between In-
dia and Bangladesh, as
the latter has sought a
fair and equitable dis-
tribution of Teesta wa-
ters from India. They
also signed an agree-
ment in 2011 to share
surface waters at the
Farakka Barrage near
their mutual border.
However, the pro-
posed deal was called
off after repeated objec-
tions by West Bengal
CM Mamata Banerjee.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in a meeting with his
Bangladeshi counterpart Dr. A K Abdul Momen, in Dhaka.
Centre denies
reports of open
school taking Gita
to Madrassas
New Delhi: The Cen-
tral government has
given a clarification on
a media report which
said that the National
Institute of Open
Schooling (NIOS) will
introduce Bhagwad
Gita and Ramayana in
madrassas.
According to the re-
port, the National Insti-
tute of Open Schooling
will introduce a new
curriculum on ancient
Indian knowledge and
heritage at 100 madras-
sas for classes 3, 5 and 8
as part of the National
Education Policy
(NEP). —ANI
Pak PM Imran to seek vote of
confidence from Parl on Mar 6
New Delhi: Pakistan
Prime Minister Imran
Khan will seek a confi-
dence vote in the Na-
tional Assembly, or
parliament’s lower
house, on March 6, Sat-
urday. In his address to
the nation on Thurs-
day, Khan said that
money has been influ-
encing the Senate elec-
tions for the past 30-40
years and added that it
poses challenges to the
country.
Stating that Election
Commission’s responsi-
bility is to conduct fair
and transparent elec-
tions, Khan questioned
why the poll body con-
ducted the election
through a secret ballot.
Khan’s call for a vote of
confidence comes a day
after his finance minis-
ter was defeated in the
hotly-contested Senate
elections. Ahead of the
national address, Khan
had called on Pakistan
Army Chief General
Qamar Javed Bajwa
and ISI director general
Lt Gen Faiz Hameed.
The ruling party lead-
ers, however, rejected
calls for the resignation
of Khan. —Agencies
Modi, Shah, Nadda brainstorm to zero
in candidates for Assam, West Bengal
New Delhi: The BJP’s
central election com-
mittee (CEC) met on
Thursday to finalise
party candidates for the
initial phases of assem-
bly polls in West Bengal
and Assam, two of the
four states going to the
elections besides the
union territory of Pu-
ducherry
. Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi,
Home Minister Amit
Shah and party presi-
dent JP Nadda along
with other members of
the committee held de-
liberations at the BJP
headquarters here.
Party sources said
the CEC may clear the
names of the candidates
for most of the seats in
the two states where
elections will be held in
the first two phases on
March 27 and April 1.
While the third and last
phase of polling in As-
sam will be held on
April 6, West Bengal is
scheduled to undergo
elections in eight phas-
es ending on April 29.
One of the high-profile
contests in the high-
stakes Bengal polls is
likely to be a direct
fight between Chief
Minister Mamata Ba-
nerjee and her former
confidant and now BJP
leader Suvendu Adhi-
kari in Nandigram
seat. The BJP CEC may
meet again on Friday,
sources indicated. Poll-
ing in Kerala, Tamil
Nadu and Puducherry
will take place in a sin-
gle phase on April 6.
TheBJPhashighstakes
in West Bengal and As-
sam. In Bengal, it has
mounted an aggressive,
all-out campaign, de-
ploying a number of
leaders drawn from
various states and con-
sidered adept in poll
campaigning, to end the
10-year-old reign of
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee. In Assam,
where the party came to
power for the first time
in 2016, the BJP has
been pulling out all the
stops to retain power,
with the Congress join-
ing hands with regional
parties to capture its
old bastion. Before CEC
meeting,topBJPleaders
like Shah and Nadda
have held long delibera-
tions with Assam party
leaders, including Chief
Minister Sarbananda
Sonowal and minister
HimantaBiswaSharma,
and those from Bengal,
including state party
chief Dilip Ghosh. —PTI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with BJP National President JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, BL Santosh
Shahnawaz Hussain during election committee meeting for Assam Assembly elections, at BJP Headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday.
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
BJP CEC meet
held deliberations
on 86 Assam
60 WB seats

JURISDICTIONAL
LOOPHOLES
The new US president, Joe Biden, made human rights in
Hong Kong and elsewhere a focus of his first phone call
with Xi Jinping at the beginning of February
. Biden
pressed Xi on Hong Kong, Taiwan and China’s treatment
of its Uighur Muslim minority
. The Chinese state broad-
caster CCTV said Xi had pushed back on these concerns
on China’s internal affairs, saying: “The US should re-
spect China’s core interests and act with caution.”
The deterioration of relations between Washington and
Beijing has been evident for some time, for example in
2019 when the US Congress passed Hong Kong Human
Rights and Democracy Act, which established that the US
would review its stance on Hong Kong annually with re-
gard to China’s upholding of the 1997 Handover Agree-
ment. China responded by cancelling the US navy’s Hong
Kong visit in 2019.
Another important indication of China’s more asser-
tive stance towards Hong Kong is that – 23 years after the
handover – the Central Military Dock was officially
placed under the control of the People’s Liberation Army
Navy on September 29, 2020. The dock was part of a Sino-
UK agreement made in 1994 on the arrangements for the
future use of military sites in the former British colony
.
It is evident that Beijing’s failure to uncouple Hong
Kong from its colonial past created “jurisdictional loop-
holes” – the establishment of the national security law
and the new oath requirement shows Beijing taking legal
and legislative action to fully “decolonize” Hong Kong.
Hong Kong can still enjoy a certain degree of autonomy
under the “one country, two systems” principle while re-
maining a Special Administrative Zone of China. But Bei-
jing is expected to make more “loyalty” demands like the
recent oath requirements to ensure that the notion of
“one country” is a prerequisite for the viability of Hong
Kong’s “two systems” – at least until the agreement ceases
to have legal force in 2047.
T
ensions are running high in Hong Kong after
the pro-Beijing government charged 47 democ-
racy activists and politicians with sedition un-
der the controversial new national security law.
The group is accused of running what has been de-
scribed as an unofficial “primary” poll in July last
year in which more than 600,000 Honkongese voted to
select candidates for a legislative election which was
due to be held in September. The election was subse-
quently postponed by Carrie Lam, the territory’s pro-
Beijing chief executive, who cited the coronavirus as
the reason for delaying the vote.
The charges come just days after the Hong Kong gov-
ernment introduced new oath requirements for public
officials – swearing loyalty not to their constituents
but Beijing and the Communist Party
. The oaths are
part of a plan outlined on February 23 by Xia Baolong,
the director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Ma-
cau Affairs Office, for major electoral reforms to en-
sure only “patriots” can stand for office.
This is designed to ensure that pro-Beijing officials
will hold all the offices in the city’s executive, legisla-
ture and judiciary branches as well as statutory bod-
ies. The move echoes words from Chinese President Xi
Jinping earlier in the month when he said: “Hong
Kong must always be governed by patriots”.
Pro-democrats accused the Hong Kong government
of narrowing the scope for political participation,
while the pro-establishment camp believed that the
newly proposed requirements would work hand in
hand with the National Security Law (NSL) to further
eliminate “anti-China” elements from the city by pro-
viding it with a “patriotic” test. The NSL, imposed by
Beijing in June 2020, has been widely criticized both by
pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong itself and by the
international community as effectively outlawing op-
position movements.
CHANGING CHINA
The evolution of China’s posture towards the for-
mer British colony has largely tracked China’s de-
velopment as a major global power. When the “one
country, two systems” principle was agreed in the
1980s as part of the legally binding handover
agreement between China and the UK, the city was
given the assurance it could retain its own eco-
nomic and administrative systems for 50 years
with “a high degree of autonomy”.
At that stage, China was a rather marginal eco-
nomic and geopolitical actor. But the rise of China
to great power status, especially the country’s un-
precedented economic growth, has inevitably
caused a change in China’s perception of itself
and others.
Hong Kong is one of the key examples of that
change of perception. After handover in 1997,
Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Re-
gion (SAR) but is – on every level – part of China.
The former British colony still fulfils its function
as a conduit between China and the world, but
even this has gradually become symbolic as China
now has several other important financial hubs,
principally Shanghai.
China’s economy has grown rapidly over the
past two decades, while, on the other hand, the out-
side world – particularly the US and Europe – was
pushed into recession by the 2008 financial crisis
and had barely recovered when COVID-19 hit.
China’s changing global power has radically
changed the context which the Hong Kong issue
sits. Beijing has clearly found it difficult, if not
possible, to maintain the same attitude towards
the former UK territory as it had at handover in
1997, especially in the face of rising political insta-
bility in the city and the deterioration of US-China
relations during the presidency of Donald Trump.
Hong Kong legal scholar and
democracy activist Benny Tai Yiu-ting
speaks to the press before reporting to
the police, on February 29.
—EPA-EFE/JÉRÔME FAVRE
TALKING POINT
07
ENFORCED
LOYALTY?
The
national
fl
ag
of
China,
left,
and
the
Hong
Kong
fl
ag.
—VIVEK
PRAKASH/AFP/GETTY
IMAGES
Hong Kong ‘patriotism test’ for public officials
shows China’s increasing assertiveness
BOYANG SU
PhD Researcher, Lau China
Institute, King’s College London
SOPHIE WUSHUANG YI
PhD Researcher in the Lau China
Institute, King’s College London
SOURCE: THECONVERSATION.COM

It is surprising how careful humans
are to give the keys of their car to
anyone but will give the keys of their
happiness to anyone at all, without thinking.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Rohit
Sharma and Chetesh-
war Pujara showed
great application as
India ended the open-
ing day of the fourth
and final Test against
England in the driv-
er’s seat despite los-
ing opener Shubman
Gill early at the Nar-
endra Modi Stadium
on Thursday. A total
of 11 wickets fell on
the day as England
was bundled out for
205 after skipper Joe
Root won the toss and
decided to bat first.
At stumps, India’s
score read 24/1 with Ro-
hit (8*) and Pujara (15*)
at the crease -- trailing
the visitors by 181 runs
in the first innings. Af-
ter a disappointing
show with the bat, Eng-
land got off to a flying
start with the ball as
James Anderson struck
with the third ball of
the innings. The pace
spearhead trapped Gill
(0) in front of the
stumps as India lost a
wicket with no run on
the board.
But Rohit and Pujara
ensured that was the
end of the visitors’ joy
on the day as they
played out the remain-
ing 11.3 overs without
losing any wicket.
Earlier, Axar once
again hogged the lime-
light with his four-
wicket haul while Ravi-
chandran Ashwin
scalped three as Eng-
land was all out for 205.
While it was Moham-
med Siraj who picked
the all-important wick-
et of Root in the first
session, Ashwin broke
the deadlock in the
third session as he dis-
missed Ollie Pope.
Pope’swicketsparked
a collapse from which
England couldn’t really
recover. The visitors
went down from 166/5
to 205 all out within 14.3
overs, losing half of
their side for 39 runs as
Axar struck twice in
one over. Ashwin dis-
missed Pope a few min-
utes into the third ses-
sion. Pope got unlucky
as the inside edge hit
thebackpadandpopped
to short-leg fielder
Shubman Gill.
India’s senior off-
spinner then dis-
missed Ben Foakes in
the 66th over to reduce
the visitors to 170/7.
Minutes later Axar
dismissed Daniel Law-
rence and Dominic
Bess to leave England
reeling at 189/9. It
looked as if the visit-
ing side would all be
back in the dressing
room soon, but Jack
Leach and James An-
derson managed to
take England over the
200-run mark.
ROHIT, PUJARA HOLD FORT AFTER AXAR, ASHWIN SHINE
HOWZAT!
India in the driver’s seat on the first day of
the final Test against England at the Naren-
dra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad
Rohit Sharma (L) and Cheteshwar Pujara (R) walk back to the pavilion
after the end of first day’s play of the 4thTest against England at
Narendra Modi Stadium inAhmedabad onThursday.—PHOTO BY GCA
A’BAD,SURATAMONGTOP5CITIESTOLIVEIN
Ease of Living Index 2020 Top 10 list also includes Vadodara, Gandhinagar; 111 cities were evaluated last year
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Guja-
rat’s cities make up
about 20% of the Top
10 best cities to live
in, according to the
Ease of Living Index
(EoLI) 2020 released
by the Central gov-
ernment.
Ahmedabad placed
third, behind Bengalu-
ru and Pune, among 111
cities with a population
of more than one mil-
lion Surat and Va-
dodara came in at the
fifth and eighth place,
respectively. Mean-
while, state capital Gan-
dhinagar placed sev-
enth on the Top 10 list
of cities with a popula-
tion of less than a mil-
lion. A total of 111 cities
participated in the as-
sessment, which was
conducted in 2020.
“Bengaluru emerged
as the top performer in
the Million+ category,
followed by Pune,
Ahmedabad, Chennai,
Surat, Navi Mumbai,
Coimbatore, Vadodara,
Indore, and Greater
Mumbai,” a statement
from the Press Informa-
tion Bureau read.
“In the category of
‘population less than
million’, Shimla was
ranked the highest in
ease of living, followed
by Bhubaneshwar, Sil-
vassa, Kakinada, Salem,
Vellore, Gandhinagar,
Gurugram, Davangere,
and Tiruchirappalli.”
According to the PIB
release, “EoLI is an as-
sessment tool that eval-
uates the quality of life
and the impact of vari-
ous initiatives for ur-
ban development. It
provides a comprehen-
sive understanding of
participating cities
across India based on
the quality of life, eco-
nomic-ability of a city,
and its sustainability
and resilience. The as-
sessment also incorpo-
rates the residents’
view on the services
provided by city admin-
istration through a Citi-
zen Perception Survey
,”
the release said.
With PM Narendra
Modi emphasizing the
easeof living,alongwith
the ease of doing busi-
ness, as a key policy pri-
ority
, the rankings of
cities have assumed sig-
nificanceinshapinggov-
ernment policies and
determining expendi-
ture priorities.
EoLI evaluates cities
on indicators across 15
evaluation criteria, in-
cluding governance,
identity and culture, ed-
ucation, health, safety
and security
, economy
,
affordable housing,
waste management and
quality of environment.
Concerns raised over integrated mega
apparel park proposed in CRZ area
First India Bureau
Surat: A concerned
citizen has written to
Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani, urging that
the government “take
all necessary precau-
tions” and review the
plan before going
ahead with the Mega
Integrated Regional
Textile and Apparel
Park in Surat, since
the proposed site falls
in a Coastal Regula-
tion Zone (CRZ).
MSH Saikh from the
Brackish Water Re-
search Centre in Surat
pointed out that the Ap-
parel Park, a Central
government venture
slated to be set up across
473 ha, is being planned
on a state-owned waste-
land parcel which also
happens to fall in a CRZ.
“Under the CRZ noti-
fication,noindustrialor
other activities are per-
mitted. So, not even the
Centre can give legally
permission to use this
land,” the letter said.
In addition, the pro-
posed site is classified
as gauchar (grazing)
land. Under revenue de-
partment rules, if any
gauchar land is to be
used for something else,
then an equal parcel of
land must be reserved
for grazing elsewhere,
the letter continued.
Further, the site is in
a low-lying area near
the tide line, which puts
it at risk of flooding
during high tide. If the
government insists on
going ahead with the
project, it will need to
fill 40-50 feet of depth,
which is not advisable.
Plus, given that the
Park is set to include
dyeing, printing and
processing units, the
ensuing water pollu-
tion will have an ad-
verse effect on the
state’s “Dream City”
that is being planned
across the creek.
—FILE PHOTO
Surat’s GAP
to invest
`200 cr in
Dholera SIR
First India Bureau
Surat: City-based
GAP Associates
Pvt Ltd has ac-
quired a huge
land bank in vari-
ous zones and
town-planning ar-
eas of Dholera
SIR and plans to
invest a whopping
Rs200 crore to
launch around 10
residential pro-
jects, 1 commer-
cial project, and 2
industrial pro-
jects in Dholera
over the next year.
GAP Associates
prides itself of be-
ing the pioneer and
leading realtor in-
side Dholera SIR,
having already
launched multiple
plan-passed, posses-
sion-approved, as
well as RERA-ap-
proved real estate
projects there.
Over the past few
years, the firm has
also been cam-
paigning to attract
lucrative invest-
ments in Dholera
SIR, and the com-
pany’s flagship
‘Seeing is Believ-
ing’ campaign has
already earned rec-
ognition from do-
mestic and interna-
tional HNIs, and
prospective buyers
to Dholera SIR.
MOO-CHO SWAG!
The Parsana family took their cow Bhole (seen here at a store in Ahmedabad’s Shivranjani
area on Thursday) shopping for silver and gold jewellery to raise awareness about the
bovine’s importance to humans and the environment. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Family suicide case: Daughter-in-law did
not tell parents about financial difficulties
20 students test nCoV-positive in
schools college across the state
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The six
members of a family
who allegedly at-
tempted to commit
suicide on Wednesday
were struggling finan-
cially as their jewel-
lery business was se-
verely hit by the COV-
ID-19 pandemic, city
police officials said on
Thursday. However,
the parents of one of
the victims said they
were not aware of any
financial struggles.
The parents of Urvi,
who had married Bhav-
in Soni, said that their
family and the in-laws
seemed financially
sound. The family
owned a house, a car
and even ran a jewel-
lery business in the city
,
police say
. A neighbour
of the family informed
police that they might
have been trapped in a
financial debt.
Three members of
the family died and the
other three are being
treated at a hospital.
The family resides in
the Sama area of the
city
. The police have did
not found a suicide note
at their home. Six peo-
ple, including a couple,
their daughter, son,
daughter-in-law, and
grandson allegedly at-
tempted suicide.
Deputy commission-
er of police Labdhirs-
inh Jhala told the me-
dia that they were wait-
ing for the family mem-
bers of the victims to
give their statement in
this regard.
First India Bureau
Surat/Vadodara/Ra-
jkot: As Gujarat reg-
isters a rise in COV-
ID-19 cases, reports
of students attending
classes on school cam-
puses contracting the
virus have also sur-
faced. Ten students so
far in schools in Surat
and Vadodara have
tested positive for the
disease. Also, medical
students in Rajkot
have been infected
with the virus.
In all, seven students
in Surat have reported
testing positive for
COVID-19. The students
were studying in
Kailash Vidyalaya in
Varachha and were in
Classes 7 and 5. While
lectures for both grades
have been suspended
until further notice, two
other cases were report-
ed from Limbayat. In
fact, Surat Municipal
Corporation (SMC)
even conducted rapid
tests done for students
in 13 schools and col-
leges in the area.
All students who test-
ed positive are now self-
isolating. Anand Vihar
School in Gotri will re-
main shut for a week
after three students
tested positive.
Meanwhile, COV-
ID-19 cases in Rajkot
are on rise with 220
cases reported to be
undergoing treat-
ment including 10
first-year Rajkot Med-
ical College students.
RMC has discontin-
ued in-person classes
for a week.
Three members of the family
were laid to rest on Thursday.
BEST CITIES TO LIVE IN
POPULATION POPULATION
more than 1 M less than 1 M
1. Bengaluru 1. Shimla
2. Pune 2. Bhubaneshwar
3. Ahmedabad 3. Silvassa
4. Chennai 4. Kakinada
5. Surat 5. Salem
6. Navi Mumbai 6. Vellore
7. Coimbatore 7. Gandhinagar
8. Vadodara 8. Gurugram
9. Indore 9. Davangere
10. Greater Mumbai 10. Tiruchirapalli
Around 10
first-year
MBBS stu-
dents have tested posi-
tive in the past three
days. We have discon-
tinued physical classes
for a week.
—Dr Mukesh Samani,
Dean, Rajkot Medical College

AHMEDABAD, FRIDAY
MARCH 5, 2021
f you are one of those
people who struggle to
make your everyday
special, we have got
your back. Even on a
non-special day, you
may steal the show by
following forever fashion
trends. Here are some at-
tires that are a must for
such days:
POLKA DOTS
The plain tinted dots first
appeared as a fashion
statement during the 1800s
and still have a prominent
effect on us. Sway your
way, with polka-dotted
shirts, tops, blouse, dress!
FLORAL PRINTS
What’s the most visible
print during the sum-
mers? Floral! Bloom this
season with amazing floral
prints this noon.
PALAZOS
When you feel like being at
your most comfortable
what could be a better op-
tion than Palazos. They
make you feel light and
comfortable and homey
wherever you are!
LBD
You got an invitation for a
party this eve, and you
have no clue what to ap-
pear in, here’s one answer,
Little Black Dress aka
LBD. Be it, Audrey Hep-
burn or Princess Diana,
many celebs have followed
the undying trend of
LBDs!
SAREES
It’s time to go tradition-
al perhaps for a day.
There’s no proper age
for wearing a saree
and you never have
to be too conscious
about yourself
when you wear
one. Saree it is!
BODYCON DRESSES
Feel proud of
your body to-
day, then, let it
smile. Get into
that feel good
bodycon dress
to make that
shape visible
for once and
all.
SUITS
You’re in the
mood of bossing
it up today, you
feel the vibes
and the com-
mand. Perfect
attire for a
meet or perfect
attire for play-
ing it perfectly
.
SHORTS
Well, you
don’t get out
of the house
in leisure in
suits or dress-
es or maybe
you do, but
you wish to
make it hap-
pening too.
Pair up your tee
with shorts as
you step out.
09
09
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Everyday
FASHION!
City First brings you ways to make your
everyday special with undying fashion tricks!
SUSHMITA AIND
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
I

10
ETC
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
ANJALI MEENA, Homeopathic Doctor
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Family will prove to be a
pillar of support for those
facing something
important. You may feel
financially secure, but take a reality
check before arriving at any
conclusion. Only a little effort will be
able to resolve the problems faced by
students on the academic front.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Something included in
your diet is likely to have a
positive effect on your
overall health. A glib talker
may try to confuse you so be aware.
Disturbances at home will need to be
curtailed to retain a peaceful
environment. You will get the
motivation to push yourself.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
You will manage to pick up
the threads from where
you left on the professional
front. Much happiness is
foreseen on the home front. A trip
with friends will not only be exciting,
but refreshing too. This is a good
time to finalise property as stars are
poised favourably.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Joining health conscious
people in daily workouts is
likely to keep you fit and
energetic. Someone on the
home front can irritate you and spoil
your mood. You may become
instrumental in getting a property issue
settled amicably. Marriage may be on
the minds of the eligible.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
You may take some time in
bouncing back on the work
front. No problems are
foreseen on health and
financial fronts. You manage to play
your cards well and avoid getting
involved in a contentious issue at
home. You will soar reputation on the
work or academic front.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Window shopping is all that
you can do in order to
conserve money. You are
likely to swim with the tide
on the professional or academic front.
Indulging in excesses may prove bad
for health. Issue regarding an ancestral
property is likely to be settled amicably.
You are likely to be in a dilemma today.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
It is best to take the
opinion of others before
you put in your money. A
household remedy may
come in handy for those suffering
from body aches and pains.
Something that you wanted to get
done on the home front is likely to be
initiated now.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
You can become con-
cerned about a recent
heavy expenditure incurred
on something that you just
couldn’t help. lYou may take up some
activity or sport just to keep trim and
slim. Good news may greet you on
the family front as a suitable match is
found for the eligible.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
You may spend on
something not previously
catered for. You can
struggle to keep pace on
the work front. Condition of those
ailing is set to improve by leaps and
bounds and get them firmly on the
road to good health. Students will be
able to perform well.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Changes happening on the
professional front can have
you worried, but will turn
out favourable. More
interest is required on the health
front. Family life will cruise along
smoothly as you resolve to remain
positive under all circumstances. You
will enjoy your day with your lover.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Financially you may need
to be more secure than you
are now. There is a need to
come up with something
original, if you are in a creative field.
You will be motivated to get back into
shape and may even join a gym.
Those thinking of selling a property
will be able to get buyers.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
A lot of activity is foreseen
on the work front and you
will be right in the midst of
it. Some issues that seem
unlikely to get resolved on the family
front will begin to move towards a
solution. Good options will be found
by those searching for property that
fits their pocket.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
ostpartum depres-
sion (PPD) is a ma-
jor depressive dis-
order that affects
up to 80% of wom-
en after childbirth.
It has a long-last-
ing impact on the mental
health of the new mother
and even puts the child at
risk as it often renders new
moms incapable of provid-
ing proper care for their lit-
tle ones.
The symptoms of PPD
include:
 An unexplained feeling
of sadness, gloom and
hopelessness
 Sleep disruption – either
sleeping too much or not
being able to sleep even
at a point of extreme ex-
haustion
 Sudden mood swings
 Irritability, anger, anx-
iousness.
 Difficulty remembering
things
 Feeling disconnected
from your baby
 Thought of self-harm
These among many oth-
ers are the primary signs of
PPD. If you or anyone you
know is exhibiting these
signs then it is extremely
important to get help.
How does Ayurveda come
into play?
Most Indian households
have a system of following
a ‘Japa’ or a confinement
period wherein Ayurvedic
practices are followed. Un-
fortunately, as these prac-
tices have been sacredly
they are rarely questioned.
Why we do what we do in
that period of the first 40
days post childbirth seldom
comes with a logical expla-
nation. The therapies and
herbs used are Ayurvedic
but are not used with much
logic. We need to simplify
Ayurveda to the extent that
it is practically applicable
even today
.
A simple example of this
would be the practice of ap-
plying ghee on the new
mothers head and not being
allowed to wash her hair
until a pooja is performed.
Originally this was done so
that the ghee would almost
ferment on the head and
give off a terrible stink that
kept visitors away. The
founding fathers of Ayur-
veda sure had a sense of
humour. While this prac-
tice was important a few
thousand years back with
the absence of vaccinations
and the presence of prying
neighbours and unan-
nounced visitors, the situa-
tion today is quite different.
Whether it is the illogical
practices of restriction or
the vulnerable state of the
new mom or even the play
of hormones, PPD is a seri-
ous yet curable condition.
The debilitating feeling of
helplessness and solitude
in an unfamiliar territory
leaves new moms in an ex-
pectedly depressive state.
But there is an Ayurvedic
solution to the problem.
Ayurveda looks at the
uterus as an area filled with
the air of Vata. This uterine
space is very small until a
tinny human begins to
grow in it. When this tiny
human leaves its cosy little
first home, he leaves behind
an enlarged uterus that
very quickly fills up with
air or Vata. This Vata needs
to be expelled from the body
before it finds another
home. When Vata settles in
your joints it leads to joint
pain. When it settles in
your intestines it causes
bloating, gas and increased
flatulence. When Vata set-
tles in your chest cavity it
causes asthma or breathing
problems. And when it set-
tles in the brain and nerv-
ous system it causes fear,
anxiety, and restlessness,
depression. Vata is also re-
sponsible for postpartum
hair-fall, dry-skin and even
your milk supply
. It is for all
these reasons that Ayurve-
da lays great emphasis on
getting rid of this vata.
Here are some helpful tips
to reduce Vata, balance the
three doshas and steer clear
of postpartum evils.
 Eat food that is easy on
the digestive fire and Sat-
tvik in nature
 Make all your consump-
tions – food, drink, audio
and visual – of high
pranic value.
 Eat at regular intervals.
It is a good idea to con-
sult an Ayurvedic nutri-
tionist to help you set up
a food chart for the first
40 days
 Vata needs good quality
fats to come into balance.
Sotrytoeathome-cooked
meals prepared in ghee,
not oil
 Postnatal oil massages
are not just indulgent
but essential for lym-
phatic and Vata drainage
 Refuse visitors when you
need to, without feeling
guilty
. This is the time to
focus on yourself and
your new baby. Well-
wishers will be under-
standing of that fact
 Keep yourself well hy-
drated
 Spices are not just heal-
ing but also help in milk
production. Add spices
like fenugreek, fennel,
cardamom, cinnamon
and carom seeds to your
meals or even boil then
in water to sip like a
herbal tea
 Consume good quality,
pure, desi, dark gur or
dark jaggery
When it comes to the first
40 days after delivery the
Ayurvedic word is – the 40
days of care will lead to 40
years of good health. So
take it easy and make your
self a priority
.
The Ayurvedic Cure
to Postpartum
Depression
DEVYANI SINGH
Ayurveda, Nutrition and Holistic
Wellness Advocate
Instagram: @devyanirathore
P

PregnancyAnnounced
T
he year 2021 seems to be the year
of welcoming star kids. Shreya
Ghoshalannouncedherpregnan-
cy on Thursday morning. The
renownedsingermadethebigannounce-
ment with an adorable post which has
taken over social media by a storm.
Shreya Ghoshal, who is married to
Shiladitya Mukhopadhyaya for six
years now, will be embracing mother-
hood for the first time. —Agency
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2021
11
ritney Spears’
dad Jamie in-
sists every deci-
sion he makes is
in the singer’s
best interest.
Britney has been
under a conservatorship
imposed by her father
since her breakdown 12
years ago after which she
was hospitalised and ad-
mitted to rehab. Spears
senior said he hoped his
daughter ends her con-
servatorship, a situa-
tion where a legal
guardian is appoint-
ed by a judge to
manage someone’s
financial affairs.
Jamie Spears’ con-
tention has also
been corroborated
by his lawyer. “If
she wants to end
her conservatorship,
she can file a petition
to end it,” said the
lawyer Vivian Lee
Thoreen.
—Agency
I
ndian cricketer Hardik Pan-
dya’s lady love Natasa
Stankovic turned a year
older on Thursday. She cel-
ebrated her 29th birthday.
Hardik took to his social media
handle to share a sweet birth-
day note for the gorgeous birth-
day girl. The cricketer also
thanked Natasa for giving him
the best gift’ ever in form of
their child. —Agency
T
he controversy surrounding
Tandav continues. The Su-
preme Court heard the plea
of Amazon Prime Video’s In-
dia head Aparna Purohit on Thurs-
day
. She challenged the Allahabad
high court order rejecting her
anticipatory bail in connection
with the FIRs filed against her
for hurting religious senti-
ments in the Saif Ali Khan-
starrer.Lastweek,Purohithadfiledher
statement at police station. —Agency
Controversy continues
R
amesh Thete’s The Battle of
Bhima Koregaon un-
veileditsreleasedate.
The film is scheduled
to be out on September
17.Actor Arjun Rampal
has starred in several
romanticdramaflicks
in the past, but his up-
coming project is one he
has never had the ven-
tured into. Co-starring
Arjun will be Sunny
Leonewithherunique
part of acting as a spy
who doubles up as a
courtesan. —Agency
THE GRAND ENTRY
J
ust a few days ago, Ab-
hishek Bachchan
joined Nimrat Kaur
and Yami Gautam on
the sets of his next film pro-
ject, Dasvi and kicked off the
shooting in style. On Thurs-
day, as 10 days of filming
have completed, the hand-
some star shared a still from
the sets of the film that left
his father and megastar Am-
itabh Bachchan in awe. Ab-
hishek took to social media
to announced in style how he
entered into the 10th day of
shoot for his film ‘Dasvi’ and
left all intrigued.
—Agency
Controversy
continues
B
J
anet Jackson has domi-
nated the pop music in-
dustry for almost 4 dec-
ades now. As a prominent
figure in the music industry,
the star is all set to tell her story
in the form of a two-part docu-
mentary. The project will cap-
ture the singer’s most notable
career achievements and her
unfortunate ‘wardrobe mal-
function’ controversy during
her 2004 Super Bowl perfor-
mance with Justin Timberlake.
The documentary titled ‘Janet’
will have the singer serve as an
executive producer offering
‘unprecedented’ access into her
personal life. —Agency
A
merican actor David
Schwimmer recently
revealed some new de-
tails regarding the up-
coming ‘Friends’ reunion
while finally sharing when the
special will be shot. Speaking
about it, Schwimmer said,
“It’s happening. Actually, in a
little over a month, I’m head-
ing out to L.A.” “So, finally, I
mean, we figured out a way to
film it safely and there’s going
to be a portion of it that we
filmed outside because of, you
know, for safety protocols,”
added Schwimmer.
—Agency
Unprecedented
ACCESS
Revealing
the details
TOUGH
MONTH
F
ormer VS model Miran-
da Kerr has had a tough
month. The 37-year-old
model and Kora Organ-
ics founder took to her Insta-
gram on February 2 to an-
nounce the passing of her
beloved grandmother. “My
darling Nan passed last week
on the 27th of February. Nan
there are no words to describe
how grateful my heart is for
you.” Miranda wrote along
with several photos of her
grandma. —Agency
Bollywood celebs Jay Bhanushali, Mahhi Vij with their daughter Tara Bhanushali, Arjun Rampal with his wife and child, designer Manish Malhotra were spotted in Jaipur
on Thursday to attend the wedding of JP Dutta’s daughter, Nidhi Dutta. While Tamannaah Bhatia and Sohail Khan were spotted during their way back to Mumbai.
SPOTTED!
Penned
emotions
Release date out
Janet Jackson
Miranda Kerr
David Schwimmer
Britney Spears
Sunny Leone
...poster of the film
Shreya Ghoshal’s post
...still from ‘Tandav’
Hardik Panya’s post
Abhishek Bachchan’s post
—PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA AND MUKESH KIRADOO

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