First india ahmedabad edition-22 july 2020

CORONA
ALERT
AHMEDABAD l WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 237
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COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
2,201
DEATHS
50,465
CONFIRMED CASES
KARNATAKA
1,469 DEATHS 71,069 CASES
RAJASTHAN
577 DEATHS 31,373 CASES
WORLD
6,15,880
DEATHS
1,49,70,372
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
11,92,405
CONFIRMED CASES
28,770
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
12,276 DEATHS 3,27,031 CASES
DELHI
3,690 DEATHS 1,25,096 CASES
TAMIL NADU
2,626 DEATHS 1,80,643 CASES
Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar: As
Chandrakant Raghu-
nath Patil took charge
as the 13th president
of the state unit of
the Bharatiya Janata
Party on Tuesday, he
thanked party nation-
al leaders for giving a
“last bencher” like
him the responsibili-
ty of leading the par-
ty to new heights.
Since the party was
founded in 1980, the
state unit has seen five
Patidar leaders, three
OBC ones, one Jain
and one Rajput in the
driver’s seat. All of
these were Gujarati in
ethnicity. The appoint-
ment of Patil, a Mar-
athi, marks a turning
point in the BJP’s Gu-
jarat unit.
While taking charge,
Patil said, “I used to al-
ways sit on the last
bench during party
meetings. From there,
the party has put a lot
of trust in me and pro-
moted me to the dais.
We will all have to work
together to take the par-
ty to new heights.”
He also said that
there are 197 ways to
throw out a govern-
ment but that those
same Turn on P6
CR Patil takes over as state president, appeals to workers for unity
BIG CHANGE
DY CM’S COMMENT SAYS A LOT
A seemingly off-the-cuff remark from Deputy Chief
Minister Nitin Patel raised eyebrows on Tuesday. Patel
said, “CR Patel and I both only wear white clothes, and
that too only half-sleeved shirts. We are both short as
well. There is a lot of similarity between us. Jitu Vghani is
taller than me and height was a problem but he always
put me ahead.” Observers say the comment was meant
to highlight the differences between the two and was not
necessarily meant as a compliment to the new state chief.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and BJP state unit president CR Patil at the latter’s investiture ceremony
on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Thanks party for putting faith in
“last bencher” like him and
promoting him to the dais
Srinagar: The annual
Amarnnath yatra has
beencancelledduetothe
continuous rise in Covid
19 cases across Jammu
and Kashmir. Shri Am-
arnathji Shrine Board
on Tuesday said the vir-
tual darshan of one of
the holiest Hindu pil-
grimagesdevotedtolord
Shiva will continue to be
telecast live during the
morning and evening
prayers, which will con-
tinue at the shrine, lo-
catedataheightof 13,000
feet from the sea level.
“Based upon the pre-
vailing circumstances,
the Board decided with
heavy heart that it is not
advisable to hold and
conduct this year’s Shri
Amarnathji Yatra and
expressed its regret to
announce the cancella-
tion of Yatra 2020,” an
officialspokesmanof the
board said. Turn on P6
First India Bureau
Jaipur: The action by
Assembly speaker Dr
CP Joshi in pursuance
of the notices served to
Sachin Pilot and 18 oth-
er dissident Congress
MLAs is still under con-
sideration.
Joshi, after the HC
hearing on Tuesday,
keepingwiththejudicial
dignity decided to defer
anyactiononthenotices
servedtilltheeveningof
July 24. He took the deci-
sion keeping in view the
request made by HC in
the matter. This is the
second time in the last
four days that Joshi has
acted to uphold the dig-
nity of two constitution-
al bodies.
Joshi reached his of-
fice at the Vidhan Sab-
ha at 5 pm on Turn on P6
Jaipur: Lashing out
again at dissident Con-
gress leader Sachin Pi-
lot, Rajasthan Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot
here on Tuesday said
those betraying the par-
ty will not be able to
face the public.
Gehlot also reiterated
that a conspiracy to top-
ple his government was
being hatched but said
he was confident that
they will complete their
tenure.
“This is intolerable
and condemnable.
Those betraying the
party will not be able to
show their faces in pub-
lic,” Gehlot said ad-
dressing a Congress
Legislature Party meet-
ing at a hotel here.
According to a state-
mentissuedbyCongress
chief whip Mahesh
Joshi, Gehlot said ef-
forts are being made to
weaken democracy in
the country but Con-
gress legislators are
fightingfirmlytosaveit.
The fight will contin-
ue till the victory of
truth, he claimed, add-
ing that his government
is strong and stable and
will continue to serve
people of the state for
five years. Turn on P6
Kartikey Dev Singh
Jaipur: The Rajasthan
High Court on Tuesday
requested Assembly
Speaker CP Joshi to de-
fer action on disqualifi-
cation notices till Friday
as it will pass appropri-
ate orders on the writ
petition filed by Sachin
Pilotand18dissidentleg-
islators on that day, the
Speaker’s counsel said.
The Pilot camp is re-
portedly elated after the
Joshi decided to keep
his decision on the re-
moval of rebel leaders
from the Assembly, safe
till July 24. The camp is
thus considering it as
their moral victory as
they have received re-
lief till Friday.
The also court al-
lowed the application
of two other parties to
be included as respond-
ents as heard them on
Tuesday.
“It will become clear
on July 24 whether
Turn on P6
A MORAL VICTORY!
CLAIMS PILOT CAMP AFTER HC BREATHER
Defer disqualification notices till July 24, HC to Speaker
‘Those betraying
party won’t be able
to face public’
Will not act against
rebels till verdict: CP
Corona ‘cancels’ Amarnath YatraVIRTUAL DARSHAN WILL BE TELECAST LIVE DURING MORNING & EVENING PRAYERS
Rajiv assasin
Nalini attempts
suicide in
Vellore prison
Vellore: Nalini Sri-
haran, a convict in the
Rajiv Gandhi assassina-
tion case, allegedly at-
tempted to commit sui-
cide inside the Vellore
Women’s prison on
Monday night, her law-
yer said on Tuesday.
“Yesterday night, we
received information
that Nalini attempted to
commit suicide in pris-
on. Immediately, we en-
quired from police offi-
cials and prison offi-
cials. They said that the
information is correct,”
Advocate P Pugalenthi
told ANI.
Pugalenthi alleged
torture by jail officials
and urged the authori-
ties and Tamil Nadu
chief minister to trans-
fer Nalini to another
prison anticipating a
threat to her life.
Turn on P6
IPL 2020 SHIFTS
FROM INDIA TO UAE
New Delhi: The 13th edition of the Indian
Premier League (IPL) will be played in the
UAE, the IPL governing council chairman
Brijesh Patel confirmed on Tuesday.
The IPL 2020 edition was slated to com-
mence from March 29 this year but the tourna-
ment was postponed indefinitely due to the
coronavirus pandemic. “IPL 2020 which was
postponed due to coronavirus will now be held
in UAE,” Patel told ANI.
He also said that the Board of Cricket in
Control for India (BCCI) has applied for gov-
ernment permission and further course of
action will be discussed in IPL governing
council meeting. Turn on P6
PILOT SERVES LEGAL
NOTICE TO MLA MALINGA
BRIBE ALLEGATION
First India Bureau
Jaipur: Former deputy CM and PCC chief Sachin
Pilot has served a legal notice to MLA Giriraj
Malinga for false and malicious statement made
by him to the press on Monday. It may be recalled
that Congress MLA from Bari, Malinga, had al-
leged on Monday that rebel leader Sachin Pilot
had offered him Rs 35 crore to switch to the BJP
but he had refused to comply. After this, Pilot had
said in a statement on Monday that an attempt
was being made to defame him and he would take
strict legal action against the MLA. Accordingly, a
legal notice has been sent to Girraj Singh Malinga
on behalf of Sachin Pilot on Tuesday.
CP Joshi in Assembly; Avinash Pande & Randeep Surjewala arrive
at the Vidhan Sabha in Jaipur on Tuesday.
CM Ashok Gehlot addressing the MLAs during CLP meeting at
Hotel Fairmont on Tuesday.
—PHOTOBYSANTOSHSHARMA

NEWSAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020
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NO ROOM FOR
KHAKI DISSENT
Fearing revolt, DGP
Shivanand Jha warns
constables against
joining any social
media campaigns
Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar: Almost
exactly 33 years after
the state first stepped in
to quell unrest among
the rank and file of the
Gujarat Police, there’s
trouble in the air again.
Just three days after
state police personnel
launched an online
campaign demanding
better pay, the group on
social-media platform
Telegram saw 33,000 po-
lice jawans sign up.
However, by mid-
night on the night be-
tween Monday and
Tuesday, the group
had been deleted.
And, on Tuesday, Di-
rector-General of Po-
lice Shivanand Jha
used a press confer-
ence to warn police
jawans that joining
any such group again
would risk inviting
stern action.
The speed of the re-
percussions implies
that the state is not will-
ing to risk a repeat of
1988 when the police in
Gujarat—led by their
union leaders—went on
strike on the eve of the
Jagannath Rath Yatra.
With all unions and
associations banned af-
ter this incident, and
any further attempts to
unionize stamped out
with suspensions and
transfers, July 1988
marked the first and
last instance of rebel-
lion from the state’s po-
lice. Until now.
Jha and other top of-
ficials do not want to
risk stirring up any
trouble nor will they
look kindly on anyone
who might stir up trou-
ble. This is precisely
why he stated: “There
are some antisocial ele-
ments in the state that
are trying to instigate
innocent police person-
nel. The state is keeping
a close watch on all so-
cial media platforms
and the activity there-
on. All those playing
directandindirectroles
in raising the issue are
under close watch as
well.” He also spelled
out the action that
would be taken against
any offenders. “Cases
may be lodged against
such persons under the
Police (Incitement to
Disaffection) Act 1922.
Plus, with the ongoing
COVID-19 crisis, cases
can also be registered
under the Epidemic
Diseases Act, and the
Disaster Management
Act.”
He also said that any
police personnel found
instigating their col-
leagues on social media
will face a departmen-
tal inquiry and action.
“You represent a
disciplined force. You
are not working with
any other depart-
ment,” Jha reminded
members of the po-
lice force, adding,
“Being in the force,
you lose all your oth-
er rights, even your
right to demand.” He
also warned them
against criticizing the
state government on
social media and en-
dorsing voices raised
by non-government
organizations and re-
minded them to re-
frain from using mo-
bile phones and social
media while on duty.
It is important to note
that Jha repeatedly
said in his briefing
that phones and so-
cial media are closely
monitored.
FAILED ATTEMPT TO
UNIONIZE IN 2006
After winning a legal battle and permission
from the High Court to form a union, Nar-
esh Brahmbhatt and 4,000 others had in 2006
attempted to form a Gujarat State Police
Head Constable and ASI (Assistant Sub In-
spector) Union. Brahmbhatt was elected as
president of the union but was soon sus-
pended and later transferred from
Ahmedabad to Kutch. In 2010, he wrote to
the state home department requesting that
he be released from duty.
BACK IN 1988…
On July 24, 1988, paramilitary forces
swooped in and took possession of 34
police armouries. They also picked up
Ashok Bhatt--the coordinator of the
four existing police unions--and other
leaders who had issued a set of 20 de-
mands to the state government. A three-
day police strike followed but collapsed
when 54 leaders were dismissed. The
state received a setback when the Judi-
cial Magistrate First Class released
Ashok Bhatt observing that charges
were not sustainable. The net day, how-
ever, he was arrested under the Nation-
al Security Act.
3 HELD FOR INSTIGATING
LRD ASPIRANTS
DGP Shivanand Jha told the media on
Tuesday that three persons have been de-
tained in connection with the agitation by
LRD aspirants. These are Kamlesh Solan-
ki, Bhojabhai Bharwad, and Hasmukh
Saxena. From information gleaned via
technical inputs and social-media moni-
toring, these accused were involved in
torching industrial units, instigating as-
piring candidates to agitate and disrupt-
ing water supply ahead of the planned
agitation. A criminal complaint has been
lodged against them with the Sector 07 po-
lice station.
Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: The nov-
el coronavirus pan-
demic has affected a
health crisis on peo-
ple across the state.
But, standing directly
in the line of fire are
health workers and
doctors, who have
been treating COV-
ID-19 patients. There
have been a worrying
number of deaths
among doctors in var-
ious districts. On May
23, Dr Aditya Upad-
hyay, an orthopaedic
surgeon died due to
Sars-CoV-2, which
could be the first doc-
tor death in Gujarat.
In the last week of
June, Pankaj Yadav, 50,
a doctor at the Amreli
District Hospital died of
COVID-19, two weeks
after his mother suc-
cumbed to the virus.
Yadav's demise was the
first death of a doctor,
who had been treating
infected patients. Ever
since then, over 11 doc-
tors have succumbed to
the deadly virus, ac-
cording to a paper writ-
tenbyDrRajeevJayade-
van, President of the
Indian Medical Associa-
tion (Cochin).
In his paper, Dr Jay-
adevan has mentioned
that the state was
among the top three
in terms of doctor
deaths with a total
tally of 11 until July.
The paper also under-
lines the fact that vio-
lent deaths among
young healthcare
workers amid the
pandemic require spe-
cial attention.
“The most commonly
reported source of con-
tracting the COVID-19
infection was the work-
place. Some of the gen-
eral practitioners re-
portedly saw over a hun-
dred patients in their
clinics every day, often
in congested settings.
There was insufficient
information about the
use of PPEs,” men-
tioned the paper.
It further stated that
the first reported death
among doctors in the
country occurred on 9
April, when a 62-year-
old general practitioner
from Indore lost the bat-
tle to COVID-19. In Guja-
rat, a 50-year-old doctor
got infected after taking
care of his infected
mother at home. Both
mother and son suc-
cumbed to the infection.
Also, there were anec-
dotal reports of sur-
geons about acquiring
infection from patients
during surgery.
The paper re-
marked that the ma-
jority of doctors who
died due to the virus
were general practi-
tioners. “The majori-
ty of the deceased
(57%) were general
practitioners and
physicians, while 27%
of deaths occurred
among various surgi-
cal specialities,” stat-
ed the paper.
Shailesh Champane-
ria, a 42-year-old gener-
al physician from
Surendranagar, who
possibly contracted the
virus while treating pa-
tients. His infection
even created a contro-
versy that he was a su-
per-spreader and that
he had infected five of
his patients. When his
health worsened, he
was taken to Rajkot and
then shifted to
Ahmedabad for treat-
ment, where he
breathed his last on
July 1. “After he was di-
agnosed, he was taken
to Rajkot for treatment
and later shifted to
Ahmedabad after his
condition deteriorat-
ed,” said a staff member
from his hospital.
Another doctor, a pae-
diatrician from
Bharuch, Dr Mayank
Pittalia, died of COV-
ID-19 in the first week of
June. He contracted the
virus while treating pa-
tients at his own hospi-
tal in Surendranagar.
Gujarat among top three states
in doctor deaths due to nCov
NEW DAY
The mood at Shree Ka-
malam was celebratory as
Chandrakant Raghunath
Patil took over from Jitu Va-
ghani as the 13th president
of the Gujarat unit of the
Bharatiya Janata Party on
Tuesday. Also in attendance:
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani,
Deputy CM Nitin Patel, and
other party leaders and
workers, and Patil’s family
and well-wishers.
—PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI
WORRYING
NUMBERS
A total of 108
COVID-19 deaths
were reported
among doctors in
India till July 13.
The average age
range of doctors
was between 22-96
years. Of the 108,
nine among the
deceased were
women. Of the total
deaths, around 108
doctors, three doc-
tors died in road
accidents, and one
committed suicide.
SENIOR DANGER
Of the 104 non-violent deaths, 55.5% were
below 60 years of age, while 29.6% and 21%
were below the ages of 50 and 40 years, re-
spectively. The average age at the time of death
was 56.3 (range 22-96).
A paper by the
president of
IMA, Cochin
calls for ‘special
attention’ to
the situation
Shivanand Jha, DGP
—FILE PHOTO

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020
1K+in1daypushesstate
casetallypast50K-mark
Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar: In a
new record, Gujarat
registered 1,026 new
cases of COVID-19 on
Tuesday—its highest
since March 19, when
the first two cases
were recorded in Ra-
jkot and Surat. The
development, which
came a day after First
India noted that the
state had averaged al-
most 1,000 cases eve-
ry day for the past 10
days, took the state’s
total tally to 50,465
cases. Thirty-four pa-
tients died due to the
novel coronavirus,
bringing the death
toll up to 2,201.
Again, Surat topped
the list of 32 districts
and eight municipal
corporation areas from
where the new cases
emerged. With the city
registering 225 new cas-
es and rural areas regis-
tering 73, Surat ac-
counted for 298 of the
new cases: almost 30%
of the state’s total on
Tuesday. Twenty-one
patients died in Surat,
of which 14 were from
the city and seven from
rural areas.
Ahmedabad wit-
nessed 199 new cases,
Vadodara had 75, Ra-
jkot, 58, Dahod had 39
new cases, Bhavnagar,
38, Banaskantha, 25,
Surendranagar, 21, and
Patan witnessed 20 new
cases on Tuesday.
In the past 24 hours,
the state has tested
13,693 samples. It now
has 11,861 active cases,
with 82 patients on ven-
tilator support. In Va-
dodara, 548 samples
were tested, of which 75
came back positive.
There are 629 active
cases there, of which
131 are on oxygen sup-
port and 37 on Bipap
machines.
An increasing num-
ber of merchant asso-
ciations from different
parts of the state have
been volunteering to go
into lockdown or are
limiting their working
hours. Now, the Gir
Somnath Merchant As-
sociation has decided to
close operations at 2
pm. Nadiad town has
decided to go into com-
plete lockdown for a
week. In Dahod, a for-
mer president of the
nagarpalika died dur-
ing treatment for COV-
ID-19 a private hospital.
In surat city alone,
around 90 nurses have
been identified as being
infected with the Sars-
CoV-2 virus. Some 50
police personnel have
also been infected.
As on Tuesday,
Ahmedabad has so far
recorded 24,767 positive
cases, Surat 10,276, Va-
dodara 3,740 and Rajkot
1,096. Bhavnagar looks
set to touch the 1,000-
mark or cross it on
Wednesday, with a tally
that it already at 993.
Death toll crosses 2,200 as 34 patients succumb to novel coronavirus across Gujarat
NOTORIETY
A COVID-19 testing test has been set up at the entry points to Ahmedabad. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad/Bhavna-
gar: A decrease in the
number of COVID-19
deaths across the state
has been seen over the
last two weeks. But,
this sudden drop in
numbers has raised
questions about the
overall death toll. A
recent issue in
Bhavnagar has shed
light on possible ‘man-
agement’ of data.
Vinod Kalivda, a sani-
tation worker employed
with the Bhavnagar Mu-
nicipal Corporation
(BMC) was admitted to a
hospital after getting in-
fected by novel corona-
virus. But, when Kaliv-
da succumbed to the vi-
rus, his family members
were told that he died of
a lung infection.
Kalivda’s family re-
sisted the claim that he
died of a lung infection.
“My father had been ad-
mitted to the hospital
after testing positive for
COVID-19. All members
of my family are under
quarantine so, why did
the hospital inform us
that he died of a lung
infection and not Sars-
CoV-2?” questioned
Deepak Kalivda, son of
the deceased.
Congress councillor
Jitu Solanki came to the
family’s rescue and put
the family’s concern be-
fore the local adminis-
tration. “The patient
did not suffer from any
other co-morbid diseas-
es. I put his family’s
case in front of the ad-
ministration and they
finally admitted that
Kalivda had no other
disease and had died
due to novel coronavi-
rus. The commissioner
also agreed to give com-
pensation, as per gov-
ernment guidelines, to
his family,” he said.
Sanitation worker died
of nCov: B’nagar admin
—FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: A team
of the Indian Coast
Guard (ICG) seized 28
packets of charas
(cannabis resin) near
Kadiyar Island close
to the Jakhau port
near the Gulf of
Kutch. The confisca-
tion of drugs on the
Western coast comes
on the heels of other
seizure operations
off the Gulf of Kutch
in recent times.
According to a press
statement by the ICG, a
landing party recovered
over 28 packets of
charas scattered at dif-
ferent places on Kadi-
yari Beyt (island). Each
packetweighedonekilo-
gram and the total value
of the consignment
stands at Rs 42 lakh. The
ICG in coordination
with other government
agencies has recovered
more than 1,300 packets
of charas from the
coastline adjacent to
Koteshwar toward Man-
dvi since May 2020.
Since May until June
25, state police and other
security agencies have
worked in tandem and
recovered 850 packets of
charas with a total mar-
ket value of nearly Rs13
crore from the coast.
A source stated that it
was not surprising to
find packets filled with
narcotics along the
coast. But, it was the
first time that such a
high quantity of charas
had been swept up to the
sea coast. This has left
all agencies as well as
the state government
puzzled.
Out of 850 packets,
the Kutch West district
police recovered 450
packets while the re-
maining packets were
retrieved by the Indian
Coast Guard, Indian
Navy and the Border Se-
curity Force.
On July 4, the ICG
had recovered around
24 packets of charas
with a market value of
Rs36 lakh from Kadi-
yari Beyt. It may be
possible that the ICG
and the Navy have in-
creased patrolling on
the coast which result-
ed into the recovery of
the drugs. The state has
asked the Anti-Terror-
ist Squad to investigate
the incident.
ICG seizes 28 packets of charas worth `42 lakh off Jakhau port
TIMELY ACTION
 More than 1,300 packets of the
drug have been recovered along the
Western coast since May
AMC admits city still waiting
for 40% of its CCTV cameras
Surat mkt to
open for 4 hrs
First India Bureau
Surat: Shut voluntari-
ly due to the surge in
COVID-19 cases, the
Varachha diamond
market in Surat will
now operate for four
hours a day.
Traders, who had de-
cided to shut down after
the densely populated
area emerged as a hot-
spot, have now reversed
their decision. The mar-
ket will operate from 2
pm to 6 pm to allow trad-
ers to settle payments
and rough-polished
transactions. Twelve
people associated with
the diamond market
have died due to COV-
ID-19 in the past 20 days.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In refer-
ence to its claim of
Ahmedabad being
ranked one of the top
cities in the Smart
City list of India,
Ahmedabad Munici-
pal Corporation
(AMC) admitted that
40% of the city’s
CCTV cameras, which
were supposed to be
installed under the
Smart City Mission,
only existed on paper.
In its response to a
Right to Information
(RTI) petition filed by
Jamalpur councillor
Shahnawaz Shaikh, the
local civic body owned
up to the sparseness of
CCTV camera coverage
in the city. Shaikh, in
his petition, had asked
about the number of
CCTV cameras in-
stalled across the city to
be mentioned with spe-
cific locations.
As per the reply to the
petition,over3,064CCTV
cameras have been in-
stalledattheAMCbuild-
ing and other offices.
But, only 335 CCTV cam-
eras have found their
way to city roads in or-
der to monitor traffic
movement. And, around
1,196 cameras are placed
ontheBusRapidTransit
System route.
The AMC confessed
thatitwasyettoconnect
1,339 cameras, and also
that 1,206 cameras will
be installed only after
their locations will be
decided on by the civic
body. Notably, over
Rs31.56 crore has been
paid to a private con-
tractor for the installa-
tion of the cameras.
“It seems that the
smart city development
is limited to documents,
much like most of the
development claims by
theBJP.In2015,thecivic
body had awarded a ten-
der to a private compa-
ny to install more than
6,000 cameras across
traffic junctions for sur-
veillance. Now, it has
admitted that around
1,339 CCTV cameras
have never been con-
nected and 1,206 camer-
as have never been in-
stalled,” Shaikh stated.
HAR HAR MAHADEV !
Priests perform a puja of Lord Shiva on the ﬁrst day of the Hindu holy month of Shravan in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Only 335 CCTV cameras are used to monitor trafﬁc in Ahmedabad.
PAY FOR NO WORK
Notice to 83 for mosquito breeding grounds
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot: The arrival of
the monsoon season
brings with it diseas-
es such as dengue,
malaria and chikun-
gunya, the vectors of
which are borne by
mosquitoes. A health
team from the Rajkot
Municipal Corpora-
tion (RMC) identified
more than 83 mosqui-
to breeding grounds
in a two-day opera-
tion in the city.
The team conducted
checks at over 152 prem-
ises including govern-
ment offices, construc-
tion sites, schools, col-
leges, religious places
as well as commercial
complexes and residen-
tial societies. The local
civic body reported
breeding grounds of
mosquitoes at 83 places,
of which, the majority
premises that were
served notices and is-
sued administration
charges to the tune of
Rs44,950, were govern-
ment offices.
A few government of-
fices where the RMC
served notices included
BSNL near Maldhar So-
ciety, RTO Office near
the marketing yard, a
few shops inside the
marketing yard, Re-
gional Forensic Science
Laboratory, Saurashtra
Cancer Care and Re-
search Centre on Uni-
versity Road, PGVCL
office on Kanak Road,
Rajkot Collectorate,
Government Polytech-
nic on Bhavnagar road,
GETCO government of-
fice near Raiya Dhar,
GETCO substation near
Khodiyar Nagar, Dis-
trict Panchayat Office,
AG Office and the Raiya
Telephone Exchange.
The team from the Indian Coast Guard and the recovered drugs.
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
—FILE PHOTO

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 237 G 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: Jagdeesh Chandra, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020
he COVID-19
pandemic is
likely to trans-
form our behav-
iors, attitudes,
and policies in many areas.
For the sake of overcoming
the public-health crisis and
enabling economic recov-
ery, one must hope that wa-
terandwastewatermanage-
ment will be among them.
Delivering clean water
and ensuring proper waste-
water management has
been a global concern since
the late 1970s. Significant
progress toward this objec-
tive was made during the
1980s, which the United Na-
tions declared the Interna-
tional Drinking Water Sup-
ply and Sanitation Decade.
But the ultimate goal – to
ensure that every human
on the planet had access to
clean water and sanitation
by 1990 – was not achieved.
The world tried again in
2000, with the less ambi-
tious Millennium Develop-
ment Goal (MDG) target of
halving the share of the
population without sus-
tainable access to clean wa-
ter and sanitation by 2015.
This time, the UN declared
victory, but included any-
one with access to water at
all – clean or not.
The Sustainable Devel-
opment Goals (SDGs),
adopted by the UN’s mem-
bers in 2015, were supposed
to pick up where the MDGs
left off. Again, the target is
clean water and proper
sanitation for all. The dead-
line this time is 2030. But,
as in the past, the barriers
to success are formidable.
When the SDGs were in-
troduced, the UN estimat-
ed that 785 million people
worldwide lacked access to
“even a basic drinking wa-
ter service.” The true num-
ber is probably far larger.
According to UNICEF and
the World Health Organiza-
tion, some 2.2 billion peo-
ple do not have safely man-
aged drinking water ser-
vices, and 4.2 billion do not
have safely managed sani-
tation services.
Contaminated water and
poor sanitation are linked
to transmission of diseas-
es – such as cholera, diar-
rhea, dysentery, hepatitis
A, typhoid, and polio – that
affect hundreds of millions
of people every year. Mak-
ing matters worse, nearly
25% of health-care facili-
ties worldwide lack even
basic water services.
Not surprisingly, such
incidents have eroded trust
in water utilities. Today, at
least 3.5 billion people
worldwide – in both devel-
oped and developing coun-
tries – lack confidence in
the quality of the water
they receive. In South Asia,
with over 1.7 billion people,
there is not a single town
or city where people trust
their water utilities. Those
who can often rely on bot-
tled water or point-of-use
water-treatment systems.
The COVID-19 crisis
could be a turning point.
Yes, universal access to
clean water and sanitation
has been on the world’s ra-
dar since the late 1970s. But
the current pandemic has
made it a universal inter-
est. While frequent hand
washing is widely regarded
as one of the most effective
ways to prevent the trans-
mission of COVID-19, the
UNICEF/WHO estimate
implies that three billion
people worldwide lack the
facilities to do so. And with
the pandemic underscor-
ing the link between clean
water and public health,
the bar for what qualifies
as “clean” has been raised.
The COVID-19 crisis is also
changing how people think
about wastewater – a re-
source that has been gross-
ly undervalued in the past.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.PROJECTSYNDICATE.COM
A COVID-19 bridge over troubled water?
T
A person’s wisdom yields
patience; it is to one’s glory
to overlook an offense.
—Proverbs 19:11
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
In the last few months, we
have established protocols and
practices with significant success
to fight against the Covid_19
pandemic. We must continue to
follow all recommendations by
experts, ensure social distancing,
wear masks, wash our hands to
contain the spread of infection.
Mallikarjun Kharge
@kharge
If Govt & @JPNadda ji showed
the same zeal & aggression
fighting #Corona & the Chinese,
we would not have lost our land
nor would we have been world
#3 in #CoronaCrisis. Lack of
achievements by your Govt pushes
you to be frivolous like this.
n 1948, in one of the last moves
he made before his assassina-
tion, Mahatma Gandhi pro-
posed the dissolution of the
Congress as a political party
and recommended its transfor-
mation into a social service
organisation –the Lok Seva
Sangh which would be devoted
to the task of social regenera-
tion and economic uplift
through voluntary rural pro-
grammes. He wanted Congress-
men to leave electoral politics,
government and administra-
tion. Those interested in politi-
cal power could leave the Lok
Seva Sangh and join political
parties or form them.
Gandhi Ji wrote in his di-
ary of May 21, 1947 (quoted
by H.V.Kamath in Parlia-
ment on May 7, 1962: Lok
Sabha Debates, Third Series,
Vol II, cc 2931-32) as follows:
“The Congress has gained
the trust of the people on account
of its many sacrifices and pen-
ances. But, if at this moment it
were to let the people down by
becoming their overlord instead
of their servant and arrogate to
itself a position of master, I ven-
ture to prophecy on the strength
of my experience of long years
that though I may be alive or
not, a revolution will sweep over
the country and that the people
will pick out the white-capped
ones individually and finish
them and that a third power
will stand to gain by this”
The Congress not only stayed
on in politics for the pursuit of
power, but it also defined
it.Amongstotherthings,itsmo-
dus operandi included brilliant
management of power arithme-
tic through defections ever
since the watershed election of
1967. If today its political oppo-
nents are beating it at the same
game,theCongresscannotcom-
plain since its name is indelibly
associated with the institution-
alising of this practice. The
phrase “Aya Ram, Gaya Ram”
is the stuff of legend.
The politics of defection is a
game of thrones. The Indian
constitution doesn’t even rec-
ognize political parties. Yet, we
have one of the most stringent
anti-defection laws in force
whereas it is interesting that
none of the democracies in the
West legally bar defections.
Defection amounts to the
transfer of loyalty. However, it
is pertinent to note that the
words defection and dissent
have distinct meanings and
one may not use them synony-
mously.
Political ‘Bossing’ can only
survive with the support of
vested interests and ‘status
quo-ists’. The larger issue is
not caste or group factional-
ism, polarisation or the lure of
office. The underlying basic is-
sue is the lack of ideological
commitment.
TheeconomistJ.K.Galbraith
once wrote, “Faced with a
choice between changing one’s
mind and proving there is no
need to do so, almost everyone
gets busy with the proof.”
Moreover, truth and accuracy
are not the only things that
matter to the human mind. Hu-
mans also seem to have a deep
desire to belong. This is true
both for those who leave a for-
mation and those who stay on.
The Harvard psychologist
Steven Pinker has explained
how the need for affiliation af-
fects beliefs, “People are em-
bracedorcondemnedaccording
to their beliefs, so one function
of the mind may be to hold be-
liefs that bring the belief-holder
the greatest number of allies,
protectors, or disciples, rather
than beliefs that are most likely
to be true.” Changing beliefs to
feel secure in belongingness is
understandable. False beliefs
can be useful in a social sense,
the facts be damned!
In a representative democ-
racy, the primary loyalty of a
representative is to the elector-
ate. The very idea of incorpo-
rating provisions to enable de-
fections implies recognition of
such a thing as free will and
action. However, principled de-
fections, as acts of conscience,
are as rare as the sightings of
the Yeti. Power is almost al-
ways seen to be the sought after
prize. It is seen by the elector-
ate as an immoral, opportunis-
tic breach of faith. It negates
the electoral outcome. The
Constitution’s 52nd Amend-
ment Act, 1985 and the 91st
Amendment Act, 2003 - often
referred to as the Anti-Defec-
tion Laws(s) - recognized that
managing floor arithmetic is
intrinsic to democracy.
But, the anti-defection pesti-
cidehasfailedtopreventtherot.
It has merely changed the rules
and increased the stakes. The
continuing contempt for the
electorate shows us that the
numbers game in representa-
tiveinstitutionsisonlyforgrab-
bing and holding on to power.
The politics of defection sub-
verts the soul of constitutional-
ism. Yet, it is a reality.
Asademocracy,wemustdeal
withthevirusandnotleaveitto
the constitutional doctors to at-
tend only to the patients.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
POLITICS OF DEFECTION
IS A GAME OF THRONES
I
The politics of
defection is a
game of thrones.
The Indian
constitution
doesn’t even
recognize
political parties.
Yet, we have one
of the most
stringent anti –
defection laws in
force whereas it
is interesting
that none of the
democracies in
the West legally
bar defections
SHUBHRANSHU
SINGH
The writer is a corporate professional,
marketing leader, columnist and a social
and political commentator. He writes
on brand building, marketing, history,
politics, technology and business
DEFECTION AMOUNTS TO TRANSFER OF
LOYALTY. HOWEVER, IT IS PERTINENT TO NOTE
THAT THE WORDS DEFECTION AND DISSENT
HAVE DISTINCT MEANINGS AND ONE MAY NOT
USE THEM SYNONYMOUSLY
IN-DEPTH
FIGHTING COVID-19 ON
A WING AND A PRAYER
midst galloping Covid-19 cases comes
the grim news that 60 percent of the
Indian population in nine big states is
at high risk of catching the virus.
Many districts in Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh,
Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha, and Gujarat
“were found to have high vulnerability” because
of widespread poverty, lack of health facilities,
hygiene, and social distancing, says a study
in The Lancet. The study is based on an assess-
ment of the ability of these districts to handle
coronavirus cases. The highest number of these
districts, eight, is located in Bihar, six in Uttar
Pradesh and four in Madhya Pradesh. Compared
to these states, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and
Sikkim are least vulnerable.
Rajib Acharya, the lead author, has identified
poor health infrastructure as a big challenge in the
containment of the pandemic. With 80 percent of
the confirmed cases in the country asymptomatic,
the population is vulnerable to community trans-
mission, the study says. The government insists
that the country is not yet in the stage of commu-
nity spread. Health experts and scientists disa-
gree. As the number of Covid-19 cases stands at
over 12 lakh experts feel that denying community
spread is unbelievable.
With menacing dark clouds of Covid-19 hover-
ing over the country, the recovery rate is the only
silver lining in India’s pandemic story. The rap-
idly increasing cases still remain a major concern
for the government, though. Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Gujarat
continue to be worrisome. With a ramshackle
health infrastructure, we are fighting the pandem-
ic on a wing and a prayer.
A
LIVING WITH THE
FLOODS IN ASSAM
ssam and floods are intertwined. Ac-
cording to the National Commission on
Floods, 39.58 percent of the state’s total
area of 78.52 lakh hectares in a flood-
prone area. Its vast network of rivers
make it more vulnerable to annual and occasion-
ally some flash floods.
Not long ago Assam had faced the fury of cyclone
Amphan. Now, 28 of Assam’s 33 districts are reeling
under the deluge, the state’s worst since 1988. With
the Central Water Commission forecasting that the
Brahmaputra was expected to rise 32 cm by Tues-
day. The Met department has also predicted more
rain predicted. Any further rise in the water level
is only going to add to the misery of the people who
have lost their homes and hearths to the raging wa-
ters. An estimated 35 lakh people have been affected
due to the submergence of large areas. The death
toll in floods and landslides has risen to 102. Over
one lakh people are in 689 relief camps where the
Army is carrying out large-scale relief operations.
Equally sad is the story of wild animals in the
Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve where
scores of animals, including ten Rhinos, have per-
ished, remains inundated. For the Kaziranga Park,
being a riverine ecosystem, floods are a necessary
evil. Kaziranga’s water bodies get their refill from
the deluge and the forest too gets rejuvenated.
A

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Ghaziabad: Slamming
Uttar Pradesh Govern-
ment for the deteriorat-
ing law and order situa-
tion in the State, Con-
gress General Secretary
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
on Tuesday specifically
mentioned about the in-
cident wherein a jour-
nalist in Ghaziabad was
shot at for complaining
to the police about his
niece being harassed.
Taking to Twitter,
Priyanka wrote, “Ghazi-
abad is in NCR. If such
is the condition of law
and order here, then
you can guess the condi-
tion of law and order in
the entire Uttar
Pradesh. A journalist
was shot because he had
complained to the police
about his niece being
harassed. How will any
common man feel safe
in this jungle raj?”
The incident oc-
curred last night, days
after Vikram Joshi, a
journalist had filed a
complaint with Vijay
Nagar Police Station
stating that some men
were harassing his
niece. The miscreants
opened fire at Joshi
near his residence yes-
terday.
Joshi has suffered a
bullet injury on his
head and is currently
undergoing treatment
in the hospital.
Joshi’s brother, Ani-
ket Joshi said, “A few
men were harassing
his niece a few days ago
and my brother had op-
posed it and also filed a
police complaint.”
According to the po-
lice, a total of nine peo-
ple have been arrested
in connection with the
case. Efforts to nab an-
other accused is under-
way.
Station in-charge has
been suspended and a
departmental inquiry
has also been initiated
after the family of jour-
nalist was attacked in
Ghaziabad in an alleged
inaction by police.
Six police teams have
been deployed by Sen-
ior Superintendent of
Police (SSP) Ghaziabad
to probe the incident.
“One of the main ac-
cused Ravi said that he
was made to attack
Vikram Joshi,” said
police. —ANI
INDIAAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020
OLD MAP OF J&K CHANGED IN
NCERT CLASS 12 TEXTBOOK
New Delhi: The National
Council of Educational
Research and Training
(NCERT) has replaced
the old map of Jammu
and Kashmir in Class 12
political science textbook
from this year. An NCERT
ofﬁcial told ANI, "Nothing
new, only the old map
of Jammu and Kashmir
has been replaced with
a new map by NCERT in
Class 12 political science
textbook." Last year on
August 5, the Government
of India revoked the spe-
cial status granted under
Article 370 of the Indian
Constitution to Jammu
and Kashmir through an
amendment in Parliament
and also scrapped Article
35 A, and the state was
bifurcated into two union
territories--J&K, Ladakh.
BAJAJ TO STEP DOWN AS
CHAIRMAN OF BAJAJ FINANCE
New Delhi: Rahul Bajaj will step down as Non-Ex-
ecutive Chairman of Bajaj Finance on July 31, 2020.
Sanjiv Bajaj, currently the Vice Chairman of Bajaj
Finance, will assume the position of Non-Executive
Chairman with effect from August 1, the company
said in a statement. "The Board of Directors, at its
meeting held today, has approved the appointment
of Shri Sanjiv Bajaj, currently the Vice Chairman of
the company, as Non-Executive Chairman of the
company with effect from l August 2020, in place
ofShri Rahul Bajaj," Bajaj Finance said.
‘MY IMPRESSION WAS NOT TO
HURT ANY COMMUNITY’
New Delhi: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar
Deb on Tuesday issued a clariﬁcation over his
statement on Sardars and Haryanvi Jats saying,
he had mentioned the views of "some people"
about these two communities. "In an event or-
ganised at Agartala Press Club, I had mentioned
the views of some people about my Punjabi and
Jat brothers. My impression was not to hurt any
community. I am proud of both Punjabi and Jat
communities. I myself have lived among them for
a long time," he tweeted.
SUSHANT REPORTEDLY HAD
BIPOLAR DISORDER: DOCTOR
Mumbai: Actor Sushant
Singh Rajput’s untimely
death has left the entire
country in mourning.
While the Mumbai Police
have stated that the actor
died by suicide and ruled
out any possibility of foul
play, they have been inter-
rogating people connected
to him to determine what
let him to take such a
drastic step. The police
recently spoke to three
psychiatrists related to the
actor’s case. Sushant had
allegedly consulted all three
doctors for a brief period
of time. Now, one of the
doctors has claimed that
the late actor suffered from
bipolar disorder. All three
doctors have said that he
was under major mental
pressure but did not reveal
the cause of his stress.
Bhopal: Congress lead-
er Digvijaya Singh on
Tuesday urged RSS
chief Mohan Bhagwat
to inquire about Mad-
hya Pradesh Chief
Minister Shivraj
Singh Chou-
han’s family
members being
allegedly in-
volved in “illegal
sand mining”.
Taking to
Twitter, Singh wrote,
“Sangh’s Sarsangh-
chalak Mohan Bhag-
wat Ji, warm welcome
in Bhopal city. Please
take a secret report
from your volunteers
on the subject of con-
duct and corruption of
BJP Chief Minister
and Ministers.
Also, inquire
about Shivraj
Ji’s family
members in-
volved in illegal
sand mining.”
He further
urged Bhagwat to in-
quire about “buying”
of MLAs in Madhya
Pradesh. —ANI
Mumbai: Equity
benchmark Sensex ral-
lied 511 points on Tues-
day, tracking gains in
index majors Reliance
Industries, HDFC and
ICICI Bank amid a firm
trend in global markets.
After hitting a high of
37,990.55 during the day,
the30-shareBSESensex
settled 511.34 points, or
1.37 per cent, higher at
37,930.33. Similarly, the
NSE Nifty rose 140.05
points, or 1.27 per cent,
to end at 11,162.25.
PowerGrid was the
top gainer in the Sensex
pack, rallying over 6 per
cent, followed by Maru-
ti, ICICI Bank, HDFC,
Kotak Bank, Axis Bank,
and Reliance Indus-
tries. On the other
hand, Bajaj Finance,
Bajaj Finserv, Asian
Paints and Sun Pharma
were among the lag-
gards. According to
traders, domestic mar-
ket participants tracked
the global stocks rally
as hopes of a COVID-19
vaccine increased their
risk appetite.
New Delhi: Amid the
ongoing boundary dis-
pute between India and
China, DRDO has pro-
vided its indigenously-
developed drone named
Bharat to the Indian
Army for carrying out
accurate surveillance
in high altitude areas
and mountainous ter-
rain along the Line of
Actual Control in East-
ern Ladakh.”The Indi-
an Army requires
drones for accurate sur-
veillance in the ongoing
dispute in the Eastern
Ladakh area. For this
requirement, the DRDO
has provided the Bharat
drones to it,” defence
sources told ANI here.
The Bharat drones
have been developed by
a Chandigarh-based
laboratory of the De-
fence Research and De-
velopment Organisa-
tion.
The Bharat series of
the drones can be listed
among “World’s most
agile and lightest Sur-
veillance drone. Indig-
enously developed by
the DRDO.”
DRDO sources said
the “small yet powerful
drone works autono-
mously at any location
with great accuracy.
The unibody biomimet-
ic design with advance
release technology is a
lethal combination for
surveillance mis-
sions”.
Priyanka Gandhi slams UP
govt over attack on scribe
The journalist was shot at by some assailants on Monday night in Ghaziabad
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi on
Tuesday launched yet
another scathing attack
on the Central Govern-
ment over its “achieve-
ments” in the past few
months amid the COV-
ID-19 crisis.
Taking to Twitter, the
Congress leader wrote
(roughly translated
from Hindi), “Achieve-
ments of the Govern-
ment during the Corona
period: February-Na-
maste Trump, March-
brought down the gov-
ernment in Madhya
Pradesh, April-made
people light candles,
May-sixth anniversary
of the government,
June-virtual rally in Bi-
har, July-attempt to top-
ple the government in
Rajasthan. That is why
the country is ‘Aat-
manirbhar’ (self-reli-
ant) in the battle of
COVID-19.”
On Sunday he had al-
leged that “BJP has in-
stitutionalised lies” and
stated that the party is
fudging data on corona-
virus and related
deaths, Gross Domestic
Product figures and the
recent standoff with
China. Earlier on July
17, he had issued a
warning that by August
10, more than 20,00,000
people may be infected
in the country. He called
on the government to
take concrete steps to
control the pandemic.
RaGa’s scathing
attack at Centre
Giveup‘confrontation’,
workforpeople:Guv
Kolkata: West Bengal
Governor Jagdeep
Dhankhar on Tuesday
urged CM Mamata Ba-
nerjee to give up con-
frontation and work to-
gether for the people of
the state by following
Constitution and rule
of law.
“Urge @MamataOffi-
cial to give up Confron-
tation against Governor
& Central Government.
We can serve suffering
people only by following
Constitution and Rule
of Law,” Dhankhar
tweeted. Further stress-
ing that both he and the
state govt must work to-
gether to reduce hard-
ships that the public is
facing, he added, “Let us
mitigate untold hard-
ships public is facing.
Ever ready for working
in harmony for the sake
of suffering people.”
Dhankhar and the state
government have been
at loggerheads with
each other since his tak-
ing over as West Bengal
Governor. —ANI
‘Bengal won’t be
ruled by outsiders’
Kolkata: West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee on Tuesday
took on the Narendra
Modi-led BJP govern-
ment, saying it had de-
prived Bengal in every
possible way.
The TMC chief also
launched her party’s
election campaign for
the 2021 Assembly elec-
tions.
“They are playing
dirty game of politics.
The BJP is trying to
break Bengal. The Cen-
tre has not given any-
thing to us. The BJP is
purchasing MLAs in
different states to top-
ple governments,” Ba-
nerjee said addressing a
virtual meeting on the
occasion of July 21
Martyrs’ Day celebra-
tion.
She said the BJP
thought they could rule
all the states, but that
won’t be possible in
Bengal. “They are ma-
ligning our govern-
ment. The Centre has
insulted us by not giv-
ing anything even after
the devastating Cyclone
Amphan. But they will
not be able to capture
Bengal,” Banerjee said.
She asked party
members to take a
pledge to defeat the BJP
in the Assembly polls,
scheduled next year. “I
urge everyone to gear
up for the next’s Assem-
bly polls so that we can
again assemble here on
July 21 next year and
celebrate our electoral
victory. We will defeat
them in such a way that
all BJP candidates will
lose their poll deposits,”
she said, pointing out
that a wounded tigress
was even more fero-
cious. —IANS
Mamata Banerjee
Inquireintoillegal
sandmining:Digvijaya
Sensex rallies 511
pts; Nifty tops 11,150
PARADISE ON EARTH
Locals row their boats through a lotus garden during rainy weather, at Dal Lake in Srinagar, Tuesday. —PHOTO BY PTI
DRDO’s‘Bharat’dronesforIndianArmy
Gold smuggling case: NIA custody of Swapna
Suresh, Sandeep Nair extended till July 24
Kochi: The NIA custo-
dy of two key accused
in the sensational Kera-
la gold smuggling case
was extended till July
24 by a Special Court
here on Tuesday, even
as prime accused Swap-
na Suresh moved a plea
seeking bail claiming
innocence.
Suresh and another
accused Sandeep Nair
were brought to the
special National Inves-
tigation Agency court
here as the eight-day
custody period granted
to the NIA ended today.
Considering the agen-
cy’’s plea seeking ex-
tension of their custo-
dy, the court extended
it till Friday. In her
plea, she alleged that
she was implicated in
the crime on a wild im-
agination without any
basis and the case was
the offshoot of the po-
litical rivalry between
the state and central
governments,
She claimed that
there was no prima fa-
cie evidence to attract
an offence under Sec-
tions 15, 16 and 17 of
the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act in the
case being investigated
by the NIA.
Digvijaya Singh
Swapna-Suresh Sandeep Nair
Priyanka Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi

INDIAAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020
Corona ‘cancels’...
“The Board is aware of
and respects the senti-
ments of millions of
devotees and to keep the
religious sentiments
alive, the Board shall
continue the live tele-
cast/ virtual darshan of
the morning and eve-
ning Aarti,” the spokes-
man added.
The decision was tak-
en at the 39th board
meeting of SASB, at-
tendedbythelieutenant
governor Girish Chan-
dra Murmu as its chair-
man and other board
members. —Agencies
IPL 2020...
“In IPL GC will discuss
the further course of
action,” said Patel.
Earlier on Monday,
the International Crick-
et Council (ICC) had an-
nounced the postpone-
ment of the T20 World
Cup 2020 due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
The T20 World Cup
was slated to be played
in October-November
in Australia this year.
—ANI
‘Those betraying...
The truth will prevail
and the state govern-
ment will emerge victo-
rious in all circum-
stances, he said.
The state govern-
ment is fighting with
coronavirus crisis and
at the same time, a lead-
er who was a state Con-
gress president and a
few other MLAs in col-
lusion with the BJP
were hatching a con-
spiracy to topple it, he
alleged without taking
the name of Pilot or any
other party leader.
The CM also said
those playing hide-and-
seek can never be with
the truth. Gehlot also
thanked the Bhartiya
Tribal Party (BTP) and
Rashtriya Lok Dal legis-
lator for supporting the
Congress. —With ANI Inputs
A moral...
thecourtpronouncesthe
final order or interim or-
der,” the counsel said.
Earlier, counsels had
told reporters that the
orderhasbeenreserved.
The notices to MLAs
were served after the
party complained to the
Speaker that the legisla-
tors had defied a whip
to attend two Congress
Legislature Party meet-
ings, on Monday and
Tuesday last week.
Will not...
Tuesday and held dis-
cussions with officers
of Vidhan Sabha secre-
tariat on various legal
aspects of HC order.
The lawyers represent-
ing petitioners, AICC
General Secretary and
Rajasthan Incharge
Avinash Pande, Con-
gress spokesperson
Randeep Surjewala
and Congress Chief
whip Mahesh Joshi too
met the Speaker.
Rajiv assasin...
“Officials said that a
convict had given an
oral complaint against
Nalini. At 8:30 pm, the
jailer went to Nalini’s
cell and enquired about
the complaint. During
the inquiry, a quarrel
took place between the
jailer and Nalini. She
got upset and attempted
to commit suicide,” Pu-
galenthi said.
“This is the view of
the authorities. Howev-
er, we don’t believe this.
She has served the last
30 years in prison and
never attempted to take
such steps. This is not
believable. I think the
jail officials had tor-
tured her.”
“We are going to take
action to seek the trans-
fer of Nalini from Vel-
lore prison. Because of
this incident, I believe
her safety is at stake. I
request the jail authori-
ties and the chief min-
ister to transfer her to
Chennai Puzhal pris-
on,” he said.
Nalini and six other
people were sentenced
to life imprisonment in
the Rajiv Gandhi as-
sassination case. In
May 1991, Rajiv Gand-
hi was assassinated by
a Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
suicide bomber during
an election rally in
Sriperumbudur in
Tamil Nadu. The at-
tack also left 14 other
people dead.
CR Patil...
strategies can be used
to run the govern-
ment successfully.
This has been taken
as an indirect hint to
state leaders to not
underestimate his
knowledge or organi-
zational skills.
While not particu-
larly known for his
oratory skills, Patil
did point out on Tues-
day that he had
learnt discipline
from the police form,
possibly indicating
that he expects oth-
ers to stay within the
party line.
Addressing both par-
ty leaders and workers,
and boosting their con-
fidence, he reiterated,
“We will stand in unity
to strengthen our party
and will ensure that
the Congress does not
recover from its cur-
rent position in the
near future.
In his address to the
new party chief, Chief
Minister Vijay Rupani
said, “There is no exis-
tence of the Congress,”
adding, “The party’s
wings will grow under
Patil’s leadership.”
FROM PG 1
WHO WILL BE NEW SECRETARY
GENERAL OF RAJYA SABHA ?
Who will succeed Desh Deepak Verma as Sec-
retary General of Rajya Sabha ? Names of half a
dozen retired bureaucrats are already doing the
rounds. A couple of them have already met the
Vice- President Venkaiah Naidu.
VARSHA JOSHI APPOINTED JOINT
SECRETARY, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
Varsha Joshi has been appointed as Joint
Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry
& Dairying. She is a 1995 batch IAS officer of
AGMUT cadre.
ANUPAM MISHRA APPOINTED JOINT
SECRETARY, CONSUMER AFFAIRS
Anupam Mishra has been appointed as Joint
Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs. He is
a 1995 batch IES officer.
Rakesh Mittal appointed Joint
Secretary, Defence
Rakesh Mittal has been appointed as Joint Secre-
tary, Department of Defence. He is a 1995 batch
IDES officer.
PALLAVI AGARWAL APPOINTED
JOINT SECRETARY, WOMEN & CHILD
DEVELOPMENT
Pallavi Agarwal has been appointed as Joint
Secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Devel-
opment. She is a 1991 batch IRS-IT officer.
APARNA SHARMA APPOINTED JOINT
SECRETARY, FERTILIZERS
Aparna S Sharma has been appointed as Joint
Secretary, Department of Fertilizers. She is a CSS
officer.
AMIT MEHTA APPOINTED JOINT
SECRETARY, HEAVY INDUSTRY
Amit Mehta has been appointed as Joint Secre-
tary, Department of Heavy Industry. He is a 1987
batch IOFS officer.
PARAMA SEN APPOINTED JOINT
SECRETARY, INVESTMENT & PUBLIC
ASSET
Parama Sen has been appointed as Joint Secre-
tary, Department of Investment & Public Asset
Management. She is a 1994 batch IA &AS officer.
SUDHIR KUMAR APPOINTED
ADDITIONAL SECRETARY, CVC
Sudhir Kumar has been appointed as Additional
Secretary, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).
He is a 1999 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre.
AMUDHA APPOINTED JOINT
SECRETARY, PMO
P Amudha has been appointed as Joint Secretary,
Prime Minister’s Office. She is a 1994 batch IAS
officer of Tamil Nadu cadre.
NIDHI PANDEY APPOINTED
COMMISSIONER KENDRIYA
VIDYAYALA SANGATHAN
Nidhi Pandey has been appointed as Commission-
er, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. She is a 1991
batch IIS officer.
VINAYAK GARG APPOINTED
COMMISSIONER, NAVODAYA
VIDYALAYA SAMITI
Vinayak Garg has been appointed as Commis-
sioner, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti. He is a 1995
batch IRSEE officer.
NITISHWAR KUMAR APPOINTED
MEMBER SECRETARY NCTE
Nitishwar Kumar has been appointed as Member
Secretary, National Council For Teacher Education.
He is a 1996 batch IAS officer of UP cadre.
POWERGallery
With arrangements from :
http://whispersinthecorridors.com
New Delhi: With a
spike of 37,148 cases
and 587 deaths reported
in India in the last 24
hours, the total number
of COVID-19 cases
stands at 11,55,191, ac-
cording to the Union
Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare.
The total number of
cases include 4,02,529
active cases, 7,24,578
cured/discharged/mi-
grated and 28,084
deaths, the officials
from the Health Minis-
try informed while sah-
ring the available data
on the same.
Maharashtra re-
mains the worst affect-
ed state with 3,18,695
cases and 12,030 deaths.
The second worst-hit
state, Tamil Nadu has
reported 1,75,678
COVID-19 cases so far
while Delhi has report-
ed 1,23,747 cases, ac-
cording to the Health
Ministry.
Meanwhile, as per
the information provid-
ed by the Indian Coun-
cil of Medical Research
(ICMR), 1,43,81,303 sam-
ples have been tested
for COVID-19 up to July
20. Of these 3,33,395
were tested on Monday,
the officials added. —ANI
New Delhi: The gov-
ernment on Tuesday,
said that it has started
discussions on the avail-
ability of COVID-19 vac-
cines to all those
who need it, Dr VK
Paul, Member (Health),
NITI Aayog confirmed.
On being asked about
multiple vaccines that
are being developed
across the world and In-
dia’s strategy on choos-
ing those vaccines,
Dr Paul said. —ANI
Niti Ayog talks
on vaccine’s
availability
New Delhi: India’s
COVID-19 recovery rate
is increasing day by day
and today it is 62.72 per
cent, Rajesh Bhushan,
Officer on Special Duty
(OSD), Health Ministry
said on Tuesday.
“There are currently
4,02,529 active cases in
India and 7,24,577 peo-
ple have recovered. The
recovery rate in India is
increasing. Today it is
62.72 per cent.” “The
case facility rate in In-
dia is 2.43 per cent. A
very important role in
this is that of doctors
and paramedical staff.
AIIMS also has an im-
portant role. Case inten-
sity rate is below the
national average in
many states,” Bhushan
said during a press con-
ference.
Earlier in the day,
Bhushan said that num-
ber of COVID-19 deaths
per million population
in India continues to be
among the lowest in the
world. —ANI
India’s recovery rate at
62.72 pc: Health Ministry
RaGa takes dig at Centre,
lists its ‘achievements’
New Delhi:Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
launched yet another
attack on Centre over
its ‘achievements’
in past few months.
“Achievements of
the Government dur-
ing Corona period: February-Namaste
Trump, March-brought down the
government in MP, April-made people
light candles, May-sixth anniversary
of the govt, June-virtual rally in Bihar,
July-attempt to topple the government
in Rajasthan. That is why the coun-
try is ‘Aatmanirbhar’ in the battle of
COVID-19,” Gandhi tweeted. —ANI
New Delhi: In a
swipe at Rahul Gan-
dhi over his regular
tweets attacking
the Centre, Union
Minister Prakash Ja-
vadekar said “Rahul
Gandhi is tweeting
on a daily basis. It seems the Congress
will become a party of tweets as they
are doing no work among the people
and losing one leader after another. A
frustrated & depressed party is trying
to launch all sorts of attacks on the
government,” he told reporters. “Peo-
ple are standing with Modi. Congress
has become helpless,” he said. —PTI
11,55,191cases in India, 28,084 deaths
Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with 3, 18, 695 cases
‘Cong losing leaders, will
become party of tweets’
Prakash Javadekar
@PrakashJavdekar
@RahulGand-
hi note your
achievements in
the last 6 months
- February:
Shaheen Bagh
and Riots; March:
Losing Jyotira-
ditya and MP
April: Instigating
migrant labourers
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
Shri Lalji Tandon will
be remembered for his
untiring efforts to serve
society. He played a key
role in strengthening
BJP in UP. He made a
mark as an effective ad-
ministrator. Anguished
by his passing away
Lucknow: Madhya
Pradesh Governor Lalji
Tandon passed away in
the early hours of Tues-
day at the age of 85. His
son, Ashutosh Tandon,
announced his death on
Twitter with the mes-
sage “babuji nahi rahe
(my father has passed
away)”.
The body was taken
to Gulala Ghat Chowk
at 4 pm, where the last
rites were performed,
Ashutosh informed.
MP Governor Lalji
Tandon dies at 85
Rajnath Singh pays last respects to Lal Ji Tandon in Lucknow.
New Delhi: PM Modi
will on Wednesday de-
liver the
keynote ad-
dress at the
India Ideas
Summit, an
event which
will see discussions on
India-US cooperation &
their relationship in a
post-pandemic world.
The virtual summit is
beinghostedbyUS-India
Business Council. —PTI
Mumbai: A PMLA
court rejected the bail
plea of Yes Bank found-
er Rana Kapoor, arrest-
ed by Enforcement Di-
rectorate in connection
with an alleged multi-
crore fraud at the bank.
Kapoor had sought
bail on merits of the
case. His lawyers sub-
mitted that probe was
completed, hence there
was no reason to keep
keep him in jail. Also,
most of the evidence
were documentary in
nature & cannot be tam-
pered by the accused,
they added. —PTI
IN THE COURTYARD
Yes Bank case: Bail plea of Rana Kapoor rejected
SC asks Centre to file
affidavit on funds for
children’s shelter
homes
New Delhi: The SC on
Tuesday, directed the
Centre to file a detailed
affidavit on funds being
provided by the govern-
ment for children’s
shelter homes across
the country amid the
covid-19 pandemic.
Justice L Nagesh-
wara Rao, who was
heading three-judge
bench, directed advo-
cate Gaurav Agarwal,
the amicus curia in the
case, to file an affidavit
compiling all the “good
practices” being fol-
lowed by states and sug-
gestions on improving
the management of
shelter homes. —ANI
Meghalaya floods: Amit Shah
assures all possible help to Govt
New Delhi: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah condoled the loss
of lives due to floods in
West Garo Hills, Megha-
laya and assured all
possible help to the
state government.
“Loss of lives due to
the floods in West Garo
Hills, Meghalaya is very
disturbing. I have spo-
ken to Chief Minister
Sangma Conrad and as-
sured him all possible
help from the Centre,”
Shah said. “Nation
stands resolutely with
the people of Megha-
laya in these trying
times,” he added. —ANI
PM to address
India Ideas
Summit today
People walk past in the backdrop of a mural encouraging use of face mask in Mumbai. —PHOTO BY PTI
Amit Shah
@AmitShah
I am deeply saddened
by the demise of Shri
Lalji Tandon, the senior
BJP leader. Tandon’s
entire life was devoted
to public service, he
played a very important
role in the expansion of
the organization in UP

The monsoon season brings a
message to let the cleansing
water take away the dust of
your woes and stress, learn from the
rains and rejoice!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad : Even as
themiddleclasseswere
already reeling under
the economic slow-
down since last year,
the Covid-19 crisis has
only worsened mat-
ters. A sure indicator
of this is the slide in
thenumberof allclass-
es of vehicles, through
mid-2019tillJune2020.
According to the Fed-
eration of Automobile
Dealers Associations
(FADA), Gujarat wit-
nessed 49.9% slide in
registration of new
two-wheelers, 90.48% in
three-wheelers, 75.96%
commercial vehicles,
26.28% passenger vehi-
cles and 31.7% fall in
registration of new
tractors, in June 2020 as
against June 2019. Over-
all slide in new vehicle
registrations was 48.95
per cent in June 2020 .
The Association’s re-
port states that the na-
tionwide situation is
almost similar, except
in Assam, Bihar,
Himachal Pradesh,
Jharkhand, Karnataka.
In a reflection of the
fact that many mi-
grant workers have
gone home hoping to
return to agriculture
following good rains,
Maharashtra, Odisha,
Puducherry, Ra-
jasthan and Tamil
Nadu have shown an
increase in registra-
tion of new tractors in
June 2020. Tripura
and Mizoram have wit-
nessed an increase in
registration of three-
wheelers in June 2020
compared to the same
month last year.
The FADA’s Monthly
Vehicle Registration
Data for June 20 stated
that 1.26 lakh new pri-
vate four-wheelers were
registered nationwide
in June 2020. The report
calls it a “de-growth” of
-28.34% as compared to
June 2019 when the
number was 2.05 lakh
registrations. But the
Federation notes that
this is still a leap from
May 2020 when only 30,
749 vehicles were regis-
tered. However, in a
statement, FADA said
although June registra-
tions were better than
May they were still not
indicative of the actual
demand since the lock-
down continued in
some parts. As a result,
even the supply side is
far from operating to its
full potential. It antici-
pates the situation to
look up if no further
lockdown is imposed.
REVERSE GEAR: VEHICLE SALES NOSEDIVE BY 48.95%
Gujarat has witnessed a major slide in new vehicle registrations.
NUMBERSPEAK!
l Federation of Automobile Deal-
ers Associations reports 90.48%
fall in sales of three-wheelers
08
HC strips Bar assn chief of
‘Senior Advocate’ status
HCAdvocatesAssociationPresidentYatinOzapaysheavilyforhisangryoutburstagainstthejudiciaryandcourtadministration
Shishir Awasthi
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat High Court on
Tuesday stripped
State Bar association
president Yatin Oza
of his designation of
Senior Advocate, a
month after it initi-
ated contempt pro-
ceedings against him
over his remarks
against judges in a
Facebook Live video.
The Full Court meet-
ing held on July 18 de-
cided to review and re-
call the decision taken
on October 25, 1999, to
designate Oza as a Sen-
ior Advocate.
The Court has cited
relevant rules stating
that if a lawyer is
found guilty of con-
duct that “disentitles
the Senior Advocate
concerned to be wor-
thy of the designa-
tion, the Full Court
may review its deci-
sion and recall the
same.”
In response, Oza as-
serted that, “I will fight
it out in the Court”.
Moving criminal con-
tempt proceedings
against him, the High
Court took strong ex-
ception to such “irre-
sponsible, sensational
and intemperate” re-
marks and observed
that Oza had, with “friv-
olous grounds and un-
verified facts”, targeted
the HC Registry and
had questioned the very
credibility of the High
Court administration.
A bench comprising
Justice Sonia Gokani
and Justice NV Anjaria
observed that, “The Bar
President has by his
scandalous expressions
and indiscriminate as
well as baseless utter-
ances attempted to
cause serious damage
to the prestige and maj-
esty of the High Court,
and thereby of inde-
pendent judiciary, as
also attempted to lower
the image of entire Ad-
ministration.”
Though Oza had ap-
proached the Supreme
Court against the con-
tempt notice, the latter
asked him to agitate the
matter in the High
Court itself.
As the Gujarat High
Court Advocates As-
sociation President,
Oza had earlier pro-
tested against the
transfer of Justice
Akil Kureshi to Bom-
bay High Court by
terming it “unwar-
ranted, uncalled for
and unjust”. The As-
sociation had also ap-
proached the apex
court against the Cen-
tre’s delay to act on
the SC Collegium’s
recommendation to
elevate Justice
Kureshi as the Chief
Juwstice of Madhya
Pradesh High Court.
He had resigned as
the Bar chief following
differences among the
office-bearers about re-
opening of the courts
but withdrew it on re-
quests by several mem-
bers.
‘Why no murder
charge for
custodial death?’
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Guja-
rat High Court on Tues-
day pulled up the Va-
dodara Police and
sought its explanation
for not invoking charges
of murder in a custodial
death case where the
cops had quietly dis-
posed off the body at an
undisclosed location.
The Fatehganj Police
had picked up 69-year-
old Babu Shaikh, a na-
tive of Telangana, in a
theft case in December
2019. After this, he went
missingtillShaikh’sson
moved a habeas corpus
petition in the High
Court where the police
conceded that he died in
custody and his body
was disposed off at an
undisclosed location.
The petitioner’s advo-
cate submitted that it is
a clear case of murder
but still the police had
invoked sections for cul-
pable homicide. The
court concurred with
the petitioner since the
FIR states that the body
was disposed off and
even the motive is not
clear. The court then
asked the Vadodara Po-
lice to give an explana-
tion as to why a murder
charge was not invoked
against police officers,
under whose custody
the person died.
Later, the Vadodara
Police lodged a case
against Fatehganj Po-
lice Inspector DB Gohil,
sub-inspector DM Ra-
bari and four other po-
lice personnel for custo-
dial death.
3 cops hurt in mob
attack in Tapi dist
Cops nab fake doc
practising for 2 yrsFirst India Bureau
Vyara: Three police-
men, including a sub-
inspector, were on
Tuesday injured in a
mob attack in the trib-
al dominated Nizar
taluka in Tapi district.
The mob was infuri-
ated after a woman
died for being alleg-
edly denied treatment
by a private doctor in
a village.
Twenty-one people
were booked for attempt
to murder. The injured
were referred to a hos-
pital for treatment.
A mob went violent
after a woman died
after not receiving
treatment by a pri-
vate doctor Jayesh
Patil. Infuriated by
this, the locals at-
tacked Dr Patil’s hos-
pital and ransacked
furniture. He called
the police for help.
Sub-Inspector Raj-
sang Loh alleged that
when he and his team
tried to cool off tem-
pers, Mukesh Padvi,
who was leading the
mob, instigated the
people to see that the
police did not return
alive. The cops were
attacked with sticks
and other weapons in
an allegedly murder-
ous assault, he said.
The mob dispersed
after more police
force arrived.
First India Bureau
Rajkot: The Special
Operation Group of
Rajkot police arrested
one Badri Suryavan-
shi, 32, on Monday
evening for practicing
as a bogus doctor.
Suryavanshi, a resi-
dent of 17, Vinayak
Street of Mavdi area
ran a dispensary, named
Om clinic on Gulabna-
gar Street number 2. He
possesses a B.Sc. de-
gree. Finding the medi-
cal profession lucrative,
he started practicing as
a doctor. The board out-
side his clinic read: Dr.
Ajay Suryavanshi, gen-
eral practitioner. He ex-
amined thousands of
patients for over two
years.
When the police raid-
ed his clinic, he was
found with a stetho-
scope around his neck.
When asked to produce
his medical certificate,
he could not and later
confessed his crime.
The police found al-
lopathy medicines, in-
jections,glucosebottles
and other instruments,
worth an estimated Rs
8,303. Suryavanshi has
beenbookedunderSec-
tion 419 of the Indian
Penal Code and Section
30 of the Medical Act,
police said.
Miraculous recovery from
nCov and burns together
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In a rare
case, a 23-year-old
woman Covid-19 pa-
tient with 71 per cent
burns has fully recov-
ered, after enduring a
painful struggle of
two months during
which she underwent
two surgeries and
multiple blood trans-
fusions. The woman
was discharged on
Tuesday.
The Ahmedabad-
based SVP Hospital,
which treated the
23-year-old mother of
an eight-month-old
child, claimed that it
was the first such case
in the world to recover
from extensive burn in-
juries as well as Cov-
id-19, both life-threaten-
ing conditions. She had
suffered the burns
while cooking at her
home on May 9.
“As per our knowl-
edge, this is the first-of-
its-kind patient in the
world who has success-
fully fought two prob-
lems simultaneously -
Covid and Burns. We
could not find any such
case in literature on-
line,” the hospital said
in a statement.
She was admitted to
SVP hospital on May
11 after she tested
positive for coronavi-
rus. “She underwent
two surgeries, 35
dressing changes, 14
blood transfusions
and 40 albumin trans-
fusions,” it said.
SVP Hospital achieved a major feat by saving a burn injury and
Covid-19 victim.
Badri Suryavanshi
Plasma donors’
kin to get free
med check-up
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Gujarat
has taken the lead to
promote plasma dona-
tions by extending free
medical check-up bene-
fit to the kin of plasma
donors.
To promote plasma
donations for plasma
therapy, Ahmedabad-
based SVP hospital has
come up with an attrac-
tive offer for donors.
The SVP will provide
full body checkup worth
Rs 6,000 for free to four
family members of the
plasma donor. This of-
fer can be availed one
time in a year. Dr Janak
Khamojia of SVP said
as part of the trial,
more than 25 Covid-19
patients are being given
plasma therapy at SVP
hospital.
LEGAL WHIP
Bar urges
HC to allow
city courts
to open
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
Ahmedabad Bar
Association has
urged the Chief
Justice of the Gu-
jarat High Court to
open city Civil
Courtsforphysical
hearing. In a letter,
the Association
has with the clo-
sure of City Civil
Court and other
courts for the last
four months most
lawyers are facing
severe financial
crisis.
It stated that,
“Those lawyers
whose sons and
daughters are
studyinginschools
and colleges have
to pay the fees for
their education.
They have to pay
their staff. The cri-
sis is unbearable.”
The Association
has suggested that
initially each
Judge may hear
just 5 matters a day
and 30 minutes be
allotted per matter.
I will fight
it (the de-
cision of
the HC) in the
Court.
—Yatin Oza, President,
Gujarat High Court Advocates
Association
Vadodara policemen in the dock for custodial death.

AHMEDABAD, WEDNESDAY
JULY 22, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
THE COLOUR BLUE NEVER FAILS TO
GIVE A SOOTHING FEELING AND WE
TELL YOU WHY THAT HAPPENS!
eing the colour of
faith, spirituality,
loyalty, peace, calm,
trust, confidence and
security among vari-
ous other feelings,
Blue is the colour that
loved by almost everyone.
After black, blue is the col-
our that is favoured by the
majority across the globe, as
it gives them a sense of sat-
isfaction.
According to the colour
psychology, the colour blue
is considered to be a non-
threatening colour and
attracts the feeling of seren-
ity. If you notice, most of the
business logo has the colour
blue in it- this is to project a
sense of security to the cus-
tomers. In fact, people tend
to be more productive if
they are working in a blue
room.
Being one of the most
popular colour out of the lot,
this colour is comparatively
less appetizing. If you no-
tice, most of the nutritionist
would suggest you to eat off
a blue plate- so you tend to
eat lesser than usual.
This colour also helps in
calming the body, lowering
the pulse rate and bringing
the body temperature
back to normal. Can
you imagine the text
‘Cool’ being written in
any other colour than
blue? We can’t either!
There are a few facts
about the colour Blue
thatyoumightnotknow:
I The phrase ‘Feeling
Blue’ means to feel
sad or unhappy
I Blue is the best-selling
colour is women’s
sweaters because they
think men like it
I Weight-lifters are
able to lift heavier
weights in blue gyms
I The blue colour sym-
bolizes heavenly grace
I Blue birds can’t see
the colour blue
I 8% of the world’ pop-
ulation have blue
eyes
I Blue is the least com-
mon colour in the
food we eat
I The colour blue en-
courages problem
solving
I Blue was once seen
as a low-class colour
I Sick children prefer
to be taken care of by
people wearing blue.
B
FEELING
BLUE?
NEHAL NAYAR
nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Terminate someone from
their job at this time won’t
be the right decision,
considering karma in mind.
You will have to gather strength to
face you inner weaknesses and turn
them into your strengths. Its never
too late to begin again if things got
spoiled in any kind of relationship.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Gracious saying no for
something that you don’t
believe in, is the best style
you have got. Relaxing and
sipping a coffee of coffee while
watching television is all you wish to
do today. You may get the chance to
talk to someone with who are trying
to connect for a long time.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
A dwelling is all that you
have on your mind as you
want to have one
desperately to prove that
you have grown and that you are
stable now. You may also buy
something expensive for your house.
Newlyweds may feel disappointed
due to current circumstances.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Prejudice against people
from different background,
different places or different
kind is not something you
must pursue. Respect people as they
are. Embrace them as they are, then
see the word will be a beautiful place
for you. You may have to make a strict
choice when it comes to career.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
You are loved by your
family selflessly and
unconditionally. You have
everything that many can
only dream of. Life is tough
sometimes but that should not affect
us. You are desperate to eat
something nice but your determina-
tion on health front won’t let you.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Sedulous and dedicating
attitude towards your
professional will take you
someday to next level. You
should not do things just to please
some people, do whats makes you
really happy. require a lot of attention
and immediate action. Lover will give
you a million dollar advice about goals.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Magic exists in the
universe if you are willing
to open eyes and see it , it
all depends on the way you
look at things. You will save a lot on
tax because of your investments in
the past. On professional front you
may have to take a tough decision
about someone’s career.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Adoring those you need it
and how you are so
special. You hug people if
you feel they are lonely or
going through something, you prove
to the world everyday that goo
people also exists. You are getting
better with your methods are
working just fine in office.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Captivating persona will
get you many offer for
marriage but choose wisely
as it is a matter of whole
life. You love to talk about universe
and its hidden secrets. Some of you
may also be interested in astrophys-
ics or astrology. Good returns are on
the cards from the stocks.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Absconding from
responsibilities without
intimating anyone is not an
act of brave. You have a
bank balance and it will be put to
some good use today. You will have
to closely monitor the project that
you are working on as there is no
scope of any mistakes.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Sentimentality should be
controlled in certain matter
as sometime you have to
take decisions using your
brain rather than your heart. You like
to surround yourself with likeminded
people. You are not someone who
ever gets fascinated by someone’s
wealth, you make true friends.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You are God’s sent child
and you are purely very
nice person. Sometimes
you get influenced by
those around you even if your heart
is saying otherwise. Control your
thoughts and -direct your energy in
one direction. Don’t get involved in
short term relationships.
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
Ramcharitmanas
a m c h a r i t m a -
nas considered as
one of the greatest
works of Hindi lit-
erature is an epic
poem, composed
by the bhakti poet
Goswami Tulsidas during
1631-1633 in the Awadhi lan-
guage. The word Ram-
charitmanas means “Lake
of the deeds of Lord Ram “.
Goswami Tulsidas was a
great scholar of Sanskrit.
However, he wanted the
story of Lord Ram to be
accessible to the general
public. At that time
few people could
understand San-
skrit. To make
the story of
Rama as acces-
sible to the lay-
man as to the
scholar, Tulsidas
chose to write in
Awadhi which
was the lan-
guage of gen-
eral parlance
in large parts
of north India
at the time. It is
said that Tul-
sidas had to
face a lot of
c r i t i c i s m
from the San-
skrit scholars of Varanasi
for being a bhasha (vernac-
ular) poet. However, Tulsi-
das remained steadfast in
his resolve to simplify the
knowledge contained in the
Vedas, the Upanishads and
the Puranas to the common
people. Subsequently, his
work was accepted by all.
The core of the work is
considered by some to be a
poetic retelling of the
events of the Sanskrit
epic Ramayana by Valmiki.
The Valmiki Ramayana is
centred on the narrative of
Rama, the scion of the fam-
ily tree of king Raghu of
the Sun Dynasty. Rama was
the crown prince of Ayod-
hya and is considered in
Hindu tradition as the sev-
enth Avatar of Vishnu.
The work has vari-
ously been acclaimed as
“the living sum of Indian
culture”, “the tallest tree
in the magic garden
of medieval Indi-
an poetry”, “the
greatest book of
all devotional lit-
erature” and “the
best and most trust-
worthy guide to the
popular living faith
of the Indian peo-
ple”.
R a m ch a r i t m a -
nas consists of sev-
en K nds (literally
“books” or “epi-
sodes). Tulsidas
compared the sev-
en K nds of the
epic to seven steps
leading into the
holy waters of
Lake Manasaro-
var “which puri-
fies the body and
the soul at once.
These are -
I Bal Kand (Childhood
Episode) 361 Dohas
I Ayodhya Kand (Ayodhya
Episode), 326 Dohas
I Aranya Kand (Forest
Episode), 46 Dohas
I Kiskindha Kand
(Kishkindha Episode),
30 Dohas
I Sundar Kand (Pleasant
Episode), 60 Dohas
I Lanka Kand (Lanka Epi-
sode), 121 Dohas and
I Uttar Kand (Later Epi-
sode). 130 Dohas
The whole work was com-
pleted in 2 years 7 months
and 26 days. It is primarily
composed in the Chaupai
(four-line quatrains ), sepa-
rated by the Doha (two-line
couplets), with occasion-
al Soratha and vari-
ous Chhands. Ramcharit-
manas comprises about
10000 lines, narrating 84
acts (prasangs).
Ramcharitmanas, made
available the story of Rama
to the common man to sing,
meditate and perform on.
The writing of Ramcharit-
manas also heralded a sig-
nificant cultural tradition
of Ramlila, the dramatic
enactment of the text. Ram-
charitmanas is considered
by many as a work belong-
ing to the Saguna school of
the Bhakti movement in
Hindi literature.
INVOCATIONS AT
BEGINNING OF
EACH EPISODE
Every chapter of the Ram-
charitmanas begins with
an invocation or
Mangal chara. It is custom-
ary of the Indian tradition
of writing that the author
begins a new book with an
invocation to the Gods to
ensure that the Sankalpa is
finished unhindered. The
first three or four verses of
each K nd are typically in
the form of invocations in
Sanskrit.
The seventh and final
chapter of Ramacharitama-
nas talks of events occur-
ring after the battle of Lan-
ka. Major events are the
end of Rama’s exile and his
return to Ayodhya, the
crowning of Ram as king of
Ayodhya and the descrip-
tion of his exemplary gov-
ernance (Ramarajya). This
is followed by details of the
departure of the incarna-
tion of Lord Rama, the dia-
logue between Garuda and
Kakbhushundi wherein
Tulsidas narrated the All
Manas Rog, their causes
and the way to overcome
these. At the end of every
Chapter or Kand, in the
closing invocation, the poet
has emphasized the signifi-
cance of devotion to Lord
Ram as a way to Liberation
in this Kaliyug.
Ramayan serial has been
and is still a craze through-
out Bharat. I have been a
regular spectator of Serial
Ramayan by Ramanand Sa-
gar since my college days.
The epic Ramayan has had
a deep impact on my mind.
Last year after visiting the
Mahakumbh, I visited Var-
anasi and Ayodhya. Every
particle of the city Ayodhya
seems to be reverberating
with Lord Ram. I bought a
copy of Ramcharitmanas
in Ayodhya and was trying
to read it in Avadhi since
then.
It was my birthday on
25th March when first Lock-
down began as a measure to
contain Pandemic Corona.
On this day, I took a resolve
to read Ramcharitmanas in
Masparayan Form. Mas-
parayan is the easiest way
to read Ramcharitmanas.
In it, the Epic is split into 30
Chapters and one can com-
plete it in one month. I com-
pleted my first reading at
the end of the first lock-
down in 21 days. When
Lockdown was extended, I
decided to record Ram-
charitmanas in Masparay-
an form so that I keep my-
self connected to it regu-
larly. In the beginning, it
seemed to be a big task but
then I got so engrossed with
it, that it was on my mind
all the time. Most of the
time, the sound, ‘Sri Ram
Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram’ could
be heard in my house dur-
ing this period.
It took me 5 to 6 hours
every day to record, edit
and prepare episodes for
about 3 months. I enjoyed
doing it and now I can say
that this poetic Epic is un-
doubtedly a great work in
Hindi Literature. The
Chaupais in Ramcharitma-
nas is written by Goswami
Tulsidas with full devotion
to Lord Ram. It explains in
Uttarakhand why Bhakti is
the only way to reach Lib-
eration in Kaliyug. The
teachings in this Epic are so
significant for the society. It
depicts and narrates the
ideals of a son, a brother,
husband, wife and above all
a Ruler. Even today we im-
agine and revere Ramrajya
where everyone led a joyful
and happy life.
All the 30 Episodes of
Ramcharitmanas recorded
are available on the You-
tube channel “ smile Al-
ways MK”.
R
MAHENDRA K. PARAKH (RAS)
Member, Revenue Board Ajmer

T
he song ‘Khulke Jeene Ka’ starring
late actor Sushant Singh Rajput and
co-star Sanjana Sanghi has attracted
many fans since its release on Sun-
day. Adding more for her fans, Sanghi on Tues-
day has shared some “priceless moments” while
filming the video song.
The 23-year-old star shared on Instagram mul-
tiple pictures and videos that showed the co-stars
of the movie ‘Dil Bechara’ along with other crew
members enjoying their time in Paris in be-
tween the song shoot. The post also had selfies
of Sanghi with the ‘Kai Po Che’ actor. In the
captions, she mentioned that these pictures
and videos as “some of the most priceless
moments” she will “cherish for a lifetime”.
“Some of the most precious little mo-
ments that I will cherish for a lifetime
from a dreamy few days of filming in
Paris while creating #KhulKeJeeneKa
for you all,” the caption read.
—ANI
Precious Little
Moments
K
anye West left eve-
ryone worried
when he broke
down at his first
rally for the presidential
campaign. The rapper,
who announced his deci-
sion to run for the US
President’s post, was in
tears when he spoke at the
Exquis Event Centre in
North Charleston, South
Carolina a few days ago. The
musician confessed he and his
then-girlfriend Kim Kardashi-
an considered not having their
first child, North. “I almost
killed my daughter! I almost
killed my daughter!” an emo-
tional Kanye screamed. The
act raised eyebrows, leaving
fans concerned about his well-
being.
Now, reports claims Kim
wants Kanye to drop out of the
Presidential race otherwise
“she may drop him!” Kim lost
her cool when Kanye brought
North into the picture. Appar-
ently, Kanye told Kim that she
should be aware of the “game”
by now. But Kim was embar-
rassed by the incident for
she had “built up the im-
age of being so devoted
to her children.”
Apparently, the cou-
ple has been going
through a rocky
phase lately. The
family has also been
concerned. —Agency
11
hanneling her ‘Tuesday morn-
ing mood’, actor Bhumi Ped-
nekar treated her fans with a
picture in traditional attire.
“Namaste,” the ‘Pati Patni
Aur Woh’ actor simply cap-
tioned the picture on Insta-
gram. In the capture, the ‘Bala’ star is
seen clad in a color-coordinated saree,
as she channels her traditional avatar.
Bhumi looks gorgeous and is all
smiles while she strikes a pose stand-
ing in between the stairs. The snap
captures her sporting pastel-shaded
saree, as her luscious locks fell on her
pretty face.
Of late, the ‘Sonchiriya’ star has
been updating fans of her activities
by posting pictures and videos on the
photo-sharing platform.
Earlier, Bhumi shared her artwork
where she is seen in the avatar of the
famous ‘Game Of Thrones’ character
Daenerys and admitted that
she is a huge fan of the
show and quoted its di-
alogue. —ANI
Morning
MOOD
C
T
he newly released song from the upcoming bio-
graphical drama ‘Shakuntala Devi’, ‘Pass Nahi Toh
Fail Nahi’ starring actor Vidya Balan will show you
the fun side of learning mathematics.
The chirpy fun song, which released on Tues-
day, is crooned by singer Sunidhi Chauhan,
and the music is done by the musical duo,
Sachin-Jigar. The official music video,
which is shot in a classroom, sees Ba-
lan in the character of the real-life
genius Shakuntala Devi. She is
known as ‘human-computer’ and
‘mental calculator’ for her ability to
make incredibly swift calculations
on her fingertips.
The ‘Tumhari Sullu’ actor took
to Instagram to share the link to
the official music video, and
wrote, “Kya mere best friend
Maths se dosti karne ke liye tai-
yyar ho?! #PassNahiTohFailNahi
song out NOW! Meet #Shakunta-
laDeviOnPrime 31 July, on @Pri-
meVideoIn.” —ANI
‘PASS NAHI
TOH FAIL NAHI’
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia ETCAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020
Bhumi Pednekar
...her post
Sanjana Sanghi
Vidya Balan
Reunited
and how?
A
fter much antici-
pation, ‘The Par-
ent Trap’ cast fi-
nally reunited for
the first time since film-
ing the 1998 movie. Even
though the reunion was
planned in an effort to
raise funds for World Cen-
tral Kitchen, it came on
the anniversary of the
childhood-favourite mov-
ie’s 22nd anniversary. The
virtual reunion was at-
tended by director Nancy
Meyers, writer Charles
Shyer, and actors Dennis
Quaid, Lindsay Lohan,
Elaine Hendrix, Lisa Ann
Walter and Simon Kunz.
All the cast members
gathered to celebrate and
remember the family film
which officially gave Lo-
han her first-break.
In the film, Lohan plays
not one but two roles: Hal-
lie Parker and Annie
James, 11-year-old twin
sisters who were separat-
ed after birth. —Agency
Lindsay Lohan
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian
BLACKMAIL TO DROP OUT

onsoon brings vari-
ous festivals with it
and all of them
are celebrated
with zeal and
vigor. Today,
we celebrate
Sinjara, a festival cele-
brated a day before Teej. To
celebrate Sinjara, swings
are hung from trees and
women are dressed in
green clothes. They sing
songs in celebration of the
advent of the monsoon.
This festival is dedicated to
the Goddess Parvati, com-
memorating her union
with Lord Shiva. The day
before Haryali Teej is cele-
brated as Sinjara, wherein
women put Mehandi on
their hands.
City First got in touch
with a few of its readers
from Rajasthan and Guja-
rat to see how they are cel-
ebratingSinjaraduringthe
global pandemic and the
precautions they are tak-
ing for the same.
12
CITY BUZZAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
WHAT’S HAPPENING!
FESTIVAL OF REUNION
POORVIKAAGRAWAL
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
M
We celebrate Sinjara with great enthusiasm every year, but this year due to the COVID-19 epi-
demic, precautions are necessary. Instead of buying from outside, we will celebrate with the avail-
able material (jewellery, makeup accessories, mehndi, lac bangles, Lahariya, etc.) at home. We’ll
prepare Rajasthan’s famous dish, Kheer-Churma at home. We Nanad-Bhabhi will apply mehndi to
each-other. This time, we will avoid swing to follow social distancing. —PRIYANKA JANGIR
The series of festivals are start-
ing very soon including Sinjara.
Fortunately, Sinjara is not the festi-
val where we have to go to temples,
we can do that at home with friends
and family. In this festival, we do 16
shringar including applying henna. I
will prepare delicious food and will invite
a few friends keeping in mind the social
distancing. —SEEMA AGARWAL
Sinjara is a time when all married
friends have a get-together and
have a feast. It’s like a party, but
this year, the pandemic has asked
all of us for social distancing. So This
time also, we all have a get together on
zoom and we will celebrate the spirit of
Sinjara.
—MANISHA AGARWAL
Sinjara is a celebration in itself
and when you celebrate with
family than its a more beautiful and
colourful celebration. In this pan-
demic time, I’m not going to call any
girl to apply henna on my hands as a
precautionary measure. I will connect
with my friends on the video call. I will
stay at home, will prepare food and have
fun with my family. —NATASHA AGARWAL
HAPPY B’DAY!
IAS Rohitashva Singh
Tomar (top) and IPS Anil
Kumar celebrated their
birthdays on 21 July,
Tuesday. We wish them
all the best!
RAJASTHAN: Teamwork Arts,
producer of Jaipur Literature Festival
launched ‘JLF Brave New World’ in
April when everyone was locked in
the homes due to the pandemic. In
just a few months JLF Brave New
World has captured the attention of a
loyal tranche of followers. Teamwork
Arts announced that the series
has reached 2 million (20,00,000)
cumulative views and a reach of over
9 million (90,00,000).
RAJASTHAN: On
the occasion of
Hariyali Amavasya,
1001 saplings were
planted by the Shilp
Srajan Institution to
develop the under
construction garden
at the foot of the
mountain under
the supervision of
residents of Tila No.
4, Jawahar Nagar.
Not only adults but
children participated
enthusiastically to
accomplish the great
work.
Zoom Video Communication, Inc. on Tuesday announced that it will expand
its presence in India by opening a new technology centre in Bangalore
where it will hire key talent over the next few years. Zoom has an office in
Mumbai and 2 data centres in Mumbai and Hyderabad, respectively. Zoom
has seen a growth of 6700% in free user sign-ups in India from January to
April 2020.
Rajasthan: Water and Environment Jan Jagruti Chetna Sanstha and New
Human Welfare Society organised a plantation program in Jhotwara on
Tuesday, where President Kishori Lal Saini shared that the campaign aims
to grow plants in the surrounding area to get fresh air.ROYAL HAPPINESS
KAVITA CHAUHAN
R
ajasthan’s erstwhile Udaipur
royal family has a reason to
rejoice and celebrate as Laksh-
yaraj Singh Mewar and Nivritti
Kumari Mewar became proud parents to a baby boy.
On Tues-
day, Nivritti
K u m a r i
gave birth
at a Delhi
Hospital.
The cou-
ple got mar-
ried on Jan-
uary 21,
2014, and
has two
daughters,
Mohlakshi-
ka and
Praneshwari. The new baby is the grandson of
Arvind Singh Mewar and Kanak Vardhan Sin-
gh Deo, senior BJP leader from Orissa. A cere-
mony will be hosted soon at the Udaipur’s Palace to
officially welcome the baby boy. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
A virtual Faculty Development Program (FDP) was organised by JECRC University on ‘Essence:
A knowledge deck for Academicians’ on Tuesday, with the aim to prepare all the faculty of
JU as smart teachers of the future so that children get a quality education. The program was
graced with the presence of Director, IIM, Indore, Dr Himanshu Rai who delivered his views and
experiences on the ‘Leadership Development’.
RAJASTHAN: Srajan, The Spark a non-profitable
Organisation working in the field of Music organised ‘Ek
Shaam Rafi Sahab Ke Naam’, where renowned Singer
Gaurav Dr Sameer Sharma and Geetika Chaturvedi
mesmerized the audience with their performances. The
show Dinesh Kataria shared that the show was a big hit
with viewers from all over the world.
A proud moment
CITY FIRST
A
charya Ma-
hapragya has
published 1121
poems on an in-
ternational level to
commemorate the birth
centenary year (1920-
2020). Dharmaraj
Bharat has been award-
edby‘TheBritishWorld
Record’ London. ‘Yug-
purush’ poem written
by Dharmaraj Bharat
was selected in the com-
pilation of 1121 poems,
which was based on the
life of Acharya Ma-
hapragya. The compila-
tion has been recorded
in 27 world records in-
cluding ‘The British
World Record’ London.
The birth centenary
year of Lok Maharishi
Mahapragya was cele-
brated as ‘Gyan
Chetna Year’ un-
der the auspices
of the Founder of
Ahimsa Yatra,
Acharya Mahashra-
man. For this honour,
Anubhavratsevi Prof.
Dr Lalitha B. expressed
gratitude, to which
Dharmaraj said that it
is a great pleasure for
me and my region to be
named in such a large
institute of the world,
as well as being a Kal-
amkar the responsibil-
ity has increased fur-
ther.
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
Dharmaraj Bharat
Lakshyaraj Singh and Nivritti Kumari
Mewar with their kids

First india ahmedabad edition-22 july 2020

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First india ahmedabad edition-22 july 2020