01082021 first india ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD l SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 246
Haresh Jhala
decisive and sensi-
ble leader, Chief
Minister Vijay Ru-
pani has strength-
ened the founda-
tion of the development path
laid down by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi during his
time in the hot seat here in
Gujarat. Effectively handling
the first and second waves of
the COVID-19 pandemic, CM
Rupani has been instrumen-
tal in increasing health infra-
structure in Gujarat.
In 2020, when the agricul-
ture sector was hit by heavy
rainfall during monsoon, his
government had announced
Rs3,700 crore relief package,
the biggest ever announced
by the state.
Commissioned by former
Chief Minister Late Keshub-
hai Patel, four-lane roadways
connecting Ahmedabad and
Rajkot were expanded to six-
lane ones by the Rupani gov-
ernment.Ithasalsoannounced
four-lane cement concrete
roadsconnectingBhavnagarto
Vataman Square, which will
effectively connect Sau-
rashtra with south Gujarat.
Tenders were recently in-
vited for a digital technical
study report of a high speed
rail connecting Rajkot and
Ahmedabad.
Under Rupani’s leader-
ship, the state government
has also implemented the Su-
jalam Sufalam Jal Abhiyan
wherein water conservation
capacity of water bodies has
been increased.
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah too has played
very important role, building
law enforcement agencies in
the state by sowing the meta-
phorical seeds for the Nation-
al Forensic Science Univer-
sity, Raksha University and
Cyber Security University
.
A
MODI-SHAH’S GUJARAT
PROGRESSES
UNDER ‘GENTLEMAN’ RUPANI
Amit Shah Vijay Rupani
Narendra Modi

PERSPECTIVE
AHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2021
02
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lVol2lIssueNo.246
l RNINO.GUJENG/2019/16208.
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SPIRITUAL SPEAK
A person can rise through
the efforts of his own mind;
or draw himself down, in
the same manner. Because
each person is his own
friend or enemy.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
As we cherish and commemorate
75 years of India’s independence, I
encourage everyone, especially my
young friends at schools & colleges,
teachers and parents to sing our
national anthem with pride and upload
the videos on https://rashtragaan.in as
a part of the #AmrutMahotsav.
Ashwini Vaishnaw
@AshwiniVaishnaw
Had a very good interaction with the
budding young future leaders of India
from the Indian Institute of Democratic
Leadership. Presented them a copy of
#MannKiBaat book.
TOP TWEET
BABUL SUPRIYO
SAYS BYE, BYE TO
POLITICAL CAREER
rom banking to play-
back singing and TV
anchoring, Babul Su-
priyo traversed di-
verse fields before
choosing politics as his final
métier. His stint as a politician
was much shorter than his play-
back singing career which be-
gan in 1994 and continued till
2019. Supriyo, who lost the re-
cent West Bengal election which
he contested on BJP ticket,
joined the party in 2014. The BJP
fielded him from Asansol and
after his victory he was induct-
ed in Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s ministry. In 2019 Lok
Sabha elections too Supriyo re-
tained his Asansol seat by de-
feating Moon Moon Sen and was
again made a minister.
He has announced his deci-
sion to resign as MP and start a
new career doing social work for
which one needn’t be in politics.
He made no mention of reviving
his musical career. What’s more
important, Supriyo said that he
won’t be a turncoat politician
and bid adieu to politics. In do-
ing so he has set a good example.
F
ssam and Naga-
land agreed to de-
escalate tension
with the chief
secretaries of
both the states agreeing to
withdraw state forces from
their respective border
points. The peace talk be-
tween the states is a welcome
step after violence between
Assam and its other neigh-
bour, Mizoram. Both are
ruled by the BJP.
The Assam-Mizoram crisis
is unprecedented in inde-
pendent India and needs to
be resolved before it worsens
any further. Already, the two
states have summoned each
other’s officials. Mizoram
has gone a step further and
registered an FIR against
Chief Minister Himanta
Biswa Sarma and some sen-
ior officers of Assam. The
case was registered in retali-
ation to summons from
Guwahati in connection with
the clash in which six Assam
policemen were killed. Sec-
tions invoked in the FIR in-
clude 307 IPC (attempt to
murder) and is punishable
with 10-year imprisonment.
Assam also sent police to ar-
rest Mizoram’s MP. It also
warned its residents against
travelling to Mizoram.
This, and killing of police-
men of an adjoining state,
has been unique. In the latest
development, Mizoram’s Ko-
lasib district administration
has declared a number of ar-
eas as no-fly zones for drones.
The conflict between the
two states sets a dangerous
precedent for the Union and
takes one back to medieval
times when states fought
wars with each other to ex-
pand their territories. The
present dispute is not about
expansionism but rights over
forest land which Assam
claims belongs to it. The Cen-
tral government has directed
the two chief ministers to re-
store calm. At the same time
theCentremustalsoaskthem
to stop their Twitter war.
ASSAM-MIZO DISPUTE
TURNS DANGEROUS
The two states have
summoned each other’s
officials. Mizoram has
gone a step further and
registered an FIR against
Biswa Sarma and some
senior officers of Assam
A
KHELA HOBEY
inpoliticsbutnotinOlympics!
was the only Stephenian who
got college colours in Tennis,
Cricket, Hockey
, Football and
Athletics. Tennis was my best
game. I was Delhi state junior
Tennis champion in 1949,
Delhi University Champion
in 1951. I played Tennis for
my Cambridge College- Cor-
pus Christi- founded in 1352.
My love for sports is una-
bated. I spend several hours
since July 23rd watching the
Olympic Games. I do so with
considerable annoyance be-
cause of India’s dismal per-
formance. We are a country
of 1.3 billion people. China
has 1.4 billion. The medal
tally as of Friday was, China,
19 gold medals, 10 silver and
8 bronze. India, 1 silver. Our
position -56. We will probably
get two more silver medals
and three or four bronze with
some luck. New Zealand with
a population of five million
has so far won three gold,
three silver and two bronze.
The only Indian athlete
who could manage a gold
medal might be the ladies
badminton star. P.V
. Sindhu.
The People’s Republic of
China kept away for Olympic
games for several decades af-
ter its founding in 1949. When
it did do so, it did so with a
bang- one of top three.
We have a large contingent
in Tokyo. Dozens of trainers
and coaches. Many of them
are overweight, some with
bulging stomachs. What
happened to our shooters.
Several did not even qualify.
In Women’s tennis double
Sania Mirza (aged 34) and
her partner were leading
6-0,5-3 in the first round.
They literary had the match
in their pocket. They lost.
The Olympics will be over
by the end of next week.
What should India do till the
next games in 2025. One. Send
a less number of sportsmen
and women. Two. Set very
high standard for selecting
coaches and trainers. Three.
The sports budget should be
increased by leaps and
bounds. Four. Training
should start at least two
years before the games. Five.
Get outstanding coaches.
Even from abroad.
This week two distin-
guished individuals came to
New Delhi. The first was U.S
Secretary of State Antony
Blinken. The second was the
irrepressible Kumari Mamta
Banerjee.
For almost six decades In-
dia and America were es-
tranged democracies. Krish-
na Menon’s contribution in
this regard was considerable.
He was endowed with a bril-
liant but unstable brain. He
skilfully embraced ill-temper
and hypochondria.
The U.S did not take much
interest in India for decades
and consistently and wrong-
headedly equated Pakistan
with India. During the 1962
Sino-Indian war; President
John F Kennedy was most
helpful. In 1971 M/s Nixon
and Kissinger totally ignored
Pakistani genocide in East
Pakistan.
Let me now abandon the
past and deal with Bilken’s
eighteen hours in the Indian
capital. He is new to diploma-
cy but is a fast learner. He is
obviously a likeable person.
He met Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. Had in
depth discussions with Ex-
ternal Affairs Minister S.
Jaishankar (it is grotesque
to see a few of his past col-
leagues baying for his blood)
and the National Security
Advisor, Ajit Doval.
The two sides discussed,
“Cooperation on a wide range
of issues”, including Afghan-
istan, Covid-19, the Indo-Pa-
cific strategy and the Quad.
After the talks with EAM
Jaishankar, Mr. Blinken said,
“The relationship between
our two countries is so impor-
tant and so strong because it
is a relationship between our
democracies. One of the ele-
ments that Americans ad-
mire most about India is the
steadfast commitment of its
people to democracy, plural-
ism, human rights and funda-
mental freedom.”
Before leaving Mr Blinken
announced a $25 million
grant for India’s vaccine pro-
gramme. Broadly speaking
the Secretary of State eight-
een hours in New Delhi were
mutually rewarding.
I am an admirer of Kumari
Mamta Bannerjee. She com-
bines determination with
guts. She leads a simple life,
has few personal demands.
She has been at the helm in
West Bengal for over a dec-
ade. She is immensely popu-
lar in rural Bengal and with
the minorities. Not so in Kol-
kata. She is admired for her
incorruptibility
.
DuringherfourdaysinNew
Delhi, she met the movers and
shakers. Her aim is to get all
opposition parties together to
take on the B.J.P in the Lok
Sabha elections. She laid to
resttherumourthatshewould
not serve under any leader in
a coalition government.
I have not met her for over
fifteen years. I wish her well
and may she go from strength
to strength. Khela Hubay!
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
I
My love for sports is
unabated. I spend several
hours since July 23rd
watching the Olympic
Games. I do so with
considerable annoyance
because of India’s dismal
performance. We are a
country of 1.3 billion
people. China has 1.4
billion. Our medal tally is 1
silver. Our position—56.
This week two
distinguished individuals
came to New Delhi. The
first was US Secretary
of State Antony
Blinken. The second was
the irrepressible Kumari
Mamta Banerjee
K NATWAR SINGH
The author is Former Minister
of External Affairs of India

First India Bureau
Anand/Gandhinagar:
“The state government,
under the leadership of
Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani, has implement-
ed many mega projects
and pro-people pro-
grammes in its efforts
to work towards devel-
oping Gujarat in the
last five years,” Deputy
Chief Minister Nitin
Patel said on Saturday
.
His comments came a
day before the state be-
gins a nine-day series
of events five years of
Rupani and Patel in
their respective posts
with Gyan Shakti Divas
will mark the govern-
ment’s successful im-
plementation of educa-
tion policy and pro-
grammes.
Patel, who also holds
the Road and Building
portfolio, later an-
nounced the state’s de-
cision to not levy any
tolls on the newly devel-
oped Bagodara-Tara-
pur-Vasad six-lane
road, the first highway
to have a 21km-long fly-
over. The 48km highway
connecting Vasad and
Tarapur is slated to be
dedicated next month,
after which it will open
to commuters.
Turn to P6
Bagodara-Vasad highway to be toll-free
Rupani-led BJP
government has
successfully im-
plemented major
projects: DyCM
SENSIBLE DEVELOPMENT
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel
AHMEDABAD l SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 246
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD LUCKNOW
Lucknow: Union Home Minister Amit Shah
is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of
Vindhya Corridor project and also address
a public meeting in Mirzapur on Sunday.
PV Sindhu lost in semi-final 18-21, 12-21 to
World No.1 Tai Tzu Ying and will now take on
China’s He Bing Jiao for bronze. Meanwhile
Kamalpreet Kaur secured a place in women’s
discus throw final with a throw of 64m.
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Police is inves-
tigating a threat letter to blow up Hanu-
man Temple in Lucknow and RSS offices
if two suspected terrorists arrested by
ATS were not released by August 14.
VIP SUNDAY:
AMIT SHAH
IN UP TODAY
PV SINDHU GOES
DOWN; KAMAL
PREET IN FINAL
LETTER THREATENING
BLASTS: RELEASE
TERRORISTS OR...
Workers busy making idols of Lord Ganesha
ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi, in Ahmedabad on
Saturday. —PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI
CLAY
GANESHA
With Ganesh Chaturthi just around the corner (Sept 10), the
making of Lord Ganesha idols is in full swing. However, the
COVID-19 outbreak has changed the way religious festivals
are celebrated hitting artisans hard as costs of religious idols
have crashed because of plummetting demand.
Jaish's Pulwama attack
conspirator in encounter
KILLED
Pulwama: A top
Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JeM) commander and
another militant were
killed in a gunfight in
south Kashmir’s Pul-
wama on Saturday
morning. Police
claimed the command-
er hailed from Masood
Azhar’s family and
was behind the 2019
Lethpora car bomb
blast.
Mohammad Ismail
Alvi, also known by his
code names Adnan and
Lamboo, was killed in a
gunfight when a joint
team of forces cor-
doned off Nagberan
Tarsar village in the
forest area falling un-
der the Dachigam of
south Kashmir’s Pul-
wama after inputs
about their presence.
The militants
opened indiscriminate
fire and tried to break
the security cordon.
The joint team of forc-
es retaliated, leading
to an encounter in
which the two were
killed. Police said the
identity of the second
militant is being ascer-
tained.
“Mohd Ismail Alvi
was from the family of
Masood Azhar. He was
involved in conspiracy
and planning Turn to P6
On February 14, 2019, forty para-
military Central Reserve Police Force
(CRPF) personnel were killed when
a fidayeen — Adil Ahmad Dar —
rammed his explosive-laden car into
a CRPF convoy at Lethpora on the
Srinagar-Jammu national highway.
The attack, first of this scale, brought
India and Pakistan to the brink of war.
FOR BJP’S BABUL
‘KHELA KHATAM’
FROM POLITICS
Assam, Nagaland
agree to withdraw
forces of states
from border points
Guwahati: While As-
sam-Mizoram border
stayed quiet, Guwahati
moved in to defuse ten-
sions with some of its
northeastern neigh-
bourslikeNagalandand
Arunachal Pradesh to
ensuretranquilityalong
the interstate bounda-
ries, officials told PTI.
The Chief Secretaries
of Assam and Nagaland
on Saturday Turn to P6
New Delhi: The BJP’s
Asansol MP Babul
Supriyo, who was
droppedasUnionMinis-
ter in the re-
cent cabinet
reshuf fle,
today said
he was quit-
ting politics.
The Bollywood singer,
however, made it clear
he was not moving to
any other party
, empha-
sising he was a “one-
team player”. Turn to P6
‘Public confidence in police
verylow,worktorectifythis’
New Delhi: Prime Min-
isterNarendraModiSat-
urdaypointedtoflagging
public confidence in po-
licing as he called upon
young officers to work
towards restoring it.
“In the field, whatever
decision you make must
be informed by national
interest and perspective.
The limits of your work
maybelocal,butkeeping
this talisman will come
in handy
. You must re-
member you are also the
flag-bearerof EkBharat,
Shreshth Bharat. So all
your actions must be in-
spired by Turn to P6
MODI, SHAH TO
ATTEND GUJ GOVT
CELEBRATIONS
New Delhi: PM Modi
and Home Minister Amit
Shah will virtually join
the celebrations begin-
ning Sunday till August 9
to mark the five years of
the Rupani government
in Gujarat.Both Modi and
Shah will virtually par-
ticipate on two separate
days during the nine-day
celebrations.
Kerala survivor moves SC
seeking nod to marry man
whoraped,impregnatedher
Cochin: Arapesurvivor
fromKeralaonSaturday
moved the Supreme
Court seeking permis-
sion to marry former
Catholic priest Robin
Vadakkumchery who is
the convict in the case.
The court will hear
the case on Monday
.
Vadakkumchery was
sentenced to 20 years of
rigorous imprisonment
afteracourtinFebruary
2019 found him guilty of
raping and impregnat-
ing a minor. Following
this, the Church initiat-
ed steps to Turn to P6
PM TO IPS PROBATIONERS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Convict Robin Vadakkumchery
Mohammad Ismail Alvi

NEWS
04
15AAPWORKERSDETAINEDFOLLOWINGCNGPROTEST
HC asks govt, IG
prisons to help
inmates with bonds
MISSING:10K
teachersat govt
primaryschools
GOVT HAS NO TEXTBOOKS
FOR STUDENTS, CONG SAYS
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Con-
gress party on Saturday
allegedthattheBharati-
ya Janata Party (BJP)
ruling government had
failed to provide text-
books to students of
Class I to VIII in grant
school.
Gujarat Pradesh Con-
gress Committee
(GPCC) chief spokes-
person Manish Doshi
slammed the state gov-
ernment and stated that
the scheme under
which it provides free
books to students of
grant schools had not
been implemented
properly
.
“There is a huge ir-
regularity in the paper
that is requested by the
textbook board. The
board only shows inter-
est in buying paper,
printing orders for
transport contractors,”
he alleged.
The Gujarat Con-
gress has also accused
the BJP government of
squandering textbooks
over the past 10 years,
by selling them in car-
tons and failing to de-
liver them to children
for four to six months.
“Due to the corrupt
policy of the govern-
ment, students and par-
ents are in trouble. Con-
cerns have also been
raised that non-receipt
of textbooks on time
will have a serious im-
pact on the educational
future of students,”
added Doshi.
He further stated that
the state had become a
place where schools
were without teachers,
villages were without
schools and students
were without textbooks.
“Will state students be
able to receive the edu-
cation they deserve by
studying under such
policies of the BJP gov-
ernment? Will Gujarat
move forward in this
way?” he questioned.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: After
the Gujarat High
Court asked the gov-
ernment to file a de-
tailed report on the
number of inmates
who have not been
released despite be-
ing granted bail, it
requested the inspec-
tor general of pris-
ons and the state to
provide assistance to
them. “Most inmates
are still in prison be-
cause they failed to
deposit their bond
amounts and provide
surety to the lower
courts,” it stated.
The court was a
hearing petition filed
by a jail inmate whose
punishment had been
suspended four years
ago. However, as the
convict was financial-
ly weak and could not
arrange Rs5,000 bond
amount for his release,
he had to spend four
more years in prison.
The accused is a
native of Maharash-
tra and had been
working at a ginning
mill, where he had
fallen in love with a
minor girl and
eloped with her. The
minor’s parents had
registered a com-
plaint with Suren-
dranagar police un-
der Protection of
Children from Sexu-
al Offences (POCSO)
Act. After his arrest,
a trial court had
found him to be
guilty and sentenced
him to jail term in
2017.
Petitioner had then
challenged the lower
court verdict in the
Gujarat High Court,
which was pending.
On Friday, the High
Court set aside the
lower court order and
directed the state gov-
ernment to convey to
the inspector general
(prisons) that it
should help inmates
exercise the court or-
der benefit in case of
bail or punishment
suspension.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Even as
the state government
gears up to mark Sun-
day as Gyan Shakti as
part of its programme
to commemorate five
years of CM Vijay Ru-
pani and his deputy Ni-
tin Patel, the state’s gov-
ernment schools are
facing a shortage of
about 10,000 teachers,
Congress veteran Ar-
jun Modhwadia said on
Saturday
.
He has written to Ed-
ucation Minister Bhu-
pendrasinh Chudasa-
ma, asking that the gov-
ernment expedite the
process of recruitment
in government schools.
“There are more than
10,000 vacancies for
teachers in govern-
ment-run primary
schools in Gujarat.
Since the government
is not bothered to re-
cruit teaching staff, en-
tire schools are being
run by just one or two
teachers. On the other
hand, more than 47,000
candidates who have
passed the TET (Teach-
er Eligibility Test) in
the state sit idle while
waiting for recruit-
ment,” the former lead-
er of opposition told the
press, citing his letter.
“Qualified young-
sters remain unem-
ployed even as some are
overburdened and
pushed slowly towards
depression. It is very
sad that the govern-
ment is dilly-dallying
on recuitment,” he said.
Apart from demand-
ing that the govern-
ment fill all vacant
teaching posts, Modh-
wadia also asked that
the state introduce a
lifetime validity of the
TET certificate.
“The validity of the
TET certificate has
been extended to life
by the Union govern-
ment as per a circular
dated June 9, 2021.
Meanwhile, in Guja-
rat, it is only valid for
five years. Many candi-
dates are unable to
participate in the re-
cruitment due to this
validity limit and the
government’s delayed
recruitments. This is
likely to crush theirs
dream of becoming
teachers,” he stated.
He alleged that the
state government had
announced that it
would recruit 6,000
education assistants
in 2018-19: 3,262 first,
and the rest later. How-
ever, the remaining
positions are still ly-
ing vacant.
Cong veteran
Modhwadia asks
education minister
to fill vacant posts
WORTHY CAUSE
Members of the Bar Council of Gujarat and the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHCAA) held a demonstration
outside the Gujarat High Court demanding offline hearings on Sunday.
Gujarat High Court —FILE PHOTO
Arjun Modhwadia
According to the party, ‘corrupt policy’ has troubled both kids and parents.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Raopura
police detained about
15 workers of the Aam
Aadmi Party for violat-
ing COVID-19 protocols
during a protest in Va-
dodara on Saturday, of-
ficials said.
The recent entrant
intoGujaratpoliticshad
beendemandingthatthe
government increase
the number of testing
facilitiesforCNGkitsfit-
ted in autorickshaws
and other vehicles, in
keeping with the state’s
recent rule.
“Following the fatal
blast at a CNG-filling
station in Haryana in
July, the Gujarat gov-
ernmentissuedanotifi-
cation on the testing of
CNG kits installed in
autorickshaws as well
as other vehicles. Va-
dodara has more than
70,000 rickshaws and
four testing stations,
each of which has the
capacitytocheckamax-
imumof 30kitsaday
.At
this rate, autorickshaw
owners and drivers will
have to wait for up to
six months before they
can have their gear test-
ed, a party leader ex-
plained, adding “An es-
timated one lakh fami-
lies have already been
hit by the COVID-19
pandemic. Why should
more suffer?”
“More than being a
convenient mode of
travel, CNG autorick-
shaws also provide em-
ployment to thousands
of poor and middle-
class people. So the gov-
ernment must not only
extend the date for
checking, but must
also keep a check on
the price of CNG,” this
person also said.
AAP workers were detained during their protest.
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot: To mark his
birthday
, Chief
Minister Vijay Rupani
willinaugurateaspecial
MiyawakiforestatVagu-
dad near Rajkot on Au-
gust 02. The forest has
the exact number of
plants as the number of
days since his birth.
A collaborative effort
of the Rajkot Municipal
Corporation (RMC) and
local NGO Sadbhavna
Vruddhashram, the for-
est has a total of 111 dif-
ferent traditional Indian
varieties of plants in-
cluding fruits and those
with medicinal value,
with life spans between
100 and 200 years.
Spread across 8,358
squaremetresof govern-
ment land, the fencing
and roads have been laid
by the RMC, while Sadb-
havna Vruddhashram
has taken up the mantle
of planting and main-
taining the forest at its
own expense for three
years. Retired district
forest officer CM Var-
sani, who is now associ-
ated with the Vrud-
dhashram and instru-
mental in developing
over14Miyawakiforests
in Rajkot district alone,
told First India, “The to-
tal number of days our
CMhasbeenalivecomes
to 23,726 days. We have
planted 23,725 saplings
including the 9,300 we
planted last year. The
CM will plant the one re-
mainingsaplinghimself
on Monday
.”
“Under the Miyawaki
method, saplings are
planted as close as possi-
ble, causing them to fight
for resources including
sunlightandwaterwhich
helps them grow faster
than normal. The plants
also support each other
thereby preventing the
growth of weeds. We
started planting saplings
in July 2020. While other
plants grow around one
feetinayear,byusingthe
Miyawaki method, they
grow over three feet in
height,”headded.Rupani
willalsoinaugurateother
programmesonhisbirth-
day including two Seva
Setu camps at Dharmen-
drasinhji Arts College,
fromwherehecompleted
hisBachelor’sdegree,and
anotheratAtalBihariVa-
jpayee Auditorium.
The CM will also
launch a mobile applica-
tion for public transpor-
tation service, Geo-
graphic Information
System (GIS) and
Ground Penetration Ra-
dar (GPR) enabled citi-
zen portal (gis.rmc.gov.
in) and issue birth and
death certificates from
18 ward offices of Rajkot
city on the day
.
CM Rupani to mark 65th birthday by dedicating Miyawaki forest
He will plant a sapling on
Aug 02, taking the total to 23,726,
the same figure as the number of
days since he was born
Saplings planted at the Miyawaki forest this year.
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GUJARAT
05
A’BAD-MUMBAI TEJAS
EXPRESS TO RESUME OPS
Ahmedabad: The Indian Railway Catering and
Tourism Corp. Ltd has announced that the
Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central-Ahmedabad Tejas
Express (Train No. 82902/82901) will resume
operations beginning August 07, and will continue
to run four days a week: on Friday, Saturday, Sunday
and Monday. The train will continue with its halt
at Andheri to facilitate ease of travelling for the
passengers including those passengers intending
to go to the Mumbai International Airport as well.
Further, IRCTC also plans to run two Bharat Darshan
and three Pilgrim Special trains to various locations
to and from Rajkot.
SCHOOLS TO TAKE ACTION
AGAINST RTE CHEATERS
Surat: The management bodies of around 400
schools have decided to file complaints against
parents who submit fake documents to have their
children under provisions of the Right to Education,
which is primarily meant to help economically weak
students get access to school. “We have made an
oral representation to the District Education Officer
to take action against such parents, failing which
we will do so ourselves,” said Dr Deepak Rajyaguru,
chairman of the board of the city’s self-governing
schools, adding, “Such parents commit fraud by
submitting fake documents but their graver offence
is depriving a truly deserving child of an education
by usurping their rightful seat.”
MANJUSAR IN V’DARA TO GET
NEW POLICE STATION
Vadodara: Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh
Jadeja on Saturday announced that the state
government has decided to set up a new police
station at Manjusar in Vadodara’s Savli taluka.
“This is part of the state’s intensive efforts to
maintain law and order situation in Gujarat and
provide justice to the citizens at home,” Jadeja
told the media. He added that 98 posts have been
sanctioned for this new station, which will fall
under the purview of Savli taluka of Vadodara
Rural police. The jurisdiction of the police station
will cover 15 villages hitherto under Vadodara
taluka police station, 14 villages that were under
Bhadarwa police station (including Balwant
Talavadi, Lakhapura and Datarpur suburbs) and
nine that have been under Savli police station.
BRIEF
in
in
First India Bureau
Vadodara: In addition
to a drop of 45.5% in
the number of lactat-
ing dams since 2018, a
recent bi-annual moni-
toring survey also
found that the number
of pups has fallen by
80% in three years,
and the overall dog
population in Va-
dodara has reduced by
16% since June 2018.
Thesurvey
,conducted
by the Humane Society
International/India, fol-
lows a successful sterili-
zation and vaccination
drive conducted by HSI/
Indiawiththesupportof
Vadodara Municipal
Corporation, in which
80%of streetdogsacross
all 12 wards of the city
were spayed/neutered
and vaccinated against
rabies over the past four
years, officials said.
Programme manager
Dr Sanjay Ahir said,
“The animal birth con-
trol programme guide-
lines suggest that a min-
imum rate of 70% steri-
lization among street
dogs is ideal to maintain
a healthy dog popula-
tion. In Vadodara, the
sterilization rate has
stayed consistent at
about 70-80% in the last
four years, keeping dog
density under control.
Now, we are targeting
areas that have lower
sterilization rates due to
dense population and
narrow streets.”
Asmanyas3,048street
dogshavebeensterilized
and vaccinated against
rabies by HSI/India this
year alone, he also said.
VMC’s Market Su-
perintendent, Dr Vijay
Panchal said, “With the
dog breeding season
around the corner, we
are focusing on spaying
and neutering as many
street dogs as possi-
ble—especially in are-
as like Adaniya Bridge
Road, Warasia Road
and Iskcon-Vasna Road
where the sterilization
rate is low—to control
their population.”
Vadodara’s urban canine population dips 16% in 3 years
HSI/India sterilized 3,048 street
dogs in the city this year alone
80% of street dogs across the city have been spayed/neutered.
JUST691STUDENTSGOTA1GRADE
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad/Surat:
With the state gov-
ernment announc-
ing mass promotions
for all Class X and
XII students of the
Gujarat Secondary
and Higher Second-
ary Education Board
due to the pandemic,
the General Stream
on Saturday saw
marked improve-
ment in the pass per-
centage. However,
only 691 of the
state’s total 5.43
lakh Commerce and
Arts students who
cleared Class XII re-
ceived an A1 grade
and 9,455 students
got an A2, while a
whopping 1,29,781
students got a C1
grade.
Meanwhile, 5,288 got
B1, 82,010 got B2,
1,08,299 got C2, 28,690
got D, 5,885 students
received E1 grades and
28 got E2 grade.
General Stream stu-
dents were graded on
the basis of their re-
sults of the past three
years, with 50% of
their grade coming
from Class X, 25% from
Class XI and 25% from
Class XII school ex-
ams.
Several students
said they were unhap-
py with the results.
“I studied four to
five hours every day
. If
the exam had been
held, I feel I could have
scored better. I worked
towards getting at least
95% but, due to the
mass promotion, I have
to settle for 81.6%,”
said Kirtan, a student
in Ahmedabad.
Students echoed a
similar sentiment in
Surat, which account-
ed for 187 of the 691 A1
grades across the state.
One such student,
Bhavesh Patel, said, “I
had wanted to pursue
Chartered Accountan-
cy, but I’m not sure I
can do that now, given
these results. I will
have to step back and
rethink my future.”
On the other hand,
some students, were
less worried. As Shi-
vani Desai told First
India, “It would not
have mattered if I had
taken the exam. I got
about as much I was
expecting.” Having
scored 96.6%, Shivani
said she plans to study
travel journalism.
Class XII General Stream students unhappy with scores, say offline exams would have been better
These Class XII Commerce Stream students of Shreyas Foundation in Ahmedabad were pleased
with their result. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
OUCH!

INDIA
06
Guwahati: Congress Member of Legislative
Assembly Sushanta Borgohain, who won from the
Thowra seat in upper Assam on Friday resigned from
the primary membership of the party,
said Assam Congress Chief Bhupen
Bora. Sushanta was served a show-
cause notice, in reply to which
Sushanta resigned, said Bora. “He
was served a show-cause notice, in
reply to which he resigned from the
primary membership. We are talking
to legal experts on this”, said Bhupen Bora. Assam
Pradesh Congress Committee GS Apurba Kumar
Bhattacharjee accepted his resignation.
ASSAM MLA SUSHANTA BORGOHAIN
RESIGNS FROM CONGRESS
New Delhi: Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Member of
Parliament (MP) delegation met the Union
Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh
Mandaviya on
Saturday morning at
the Minister’s Office
here and handed over
a memorandum
demanding supply of
fertilizers for the
farmers of Odisha for
the Kharif-2021.
BJD MPS MEET MANDAVIYA, DEMAND
SUPPLY OF FERTILIZERS FOR ODISHA
New Delhi: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said
that we need innovative and collaborative efforts to
protect and rejuvenate Indian languages. Stressing
that preserving
languages and ensuring
their continuity is
possible only through a
people’s movement
during the virtual
conference organised by
‘Telugu Kootami’, Naidu
said, “People must
come together to pass on our heritage of language to
our future generations.”
NEED COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS TO
PROTECT OUR LANGUAGES: NAIDU
Bengaluru: Karnataka revised its Covid guidelines
to make a negative RTPCR result not older than 72
hours mandatory for
those entering the
state from Kerala
and Maharashtra.
This is irrespective
of the visitors’
vaccination status,
according to a
circular issued by
the government. The move came two days after
Karnataka recorded a steep spike in new cases.
KARNATAKA MAKES RTPCR TEST MUST
FOR THOSE COMING FROM KERALA
CRUCIAL READ
New Bagodara...
Speaking on his and Ru-
pani’s five-year spell in
office, which will take
placeonAugust07,Patel
said MLAs, MPs, and
even sarpanches have
been roped in to spread
the word on develop-
ment works carried out
by the state.
“The Congress is pained
by the fact that thou-
sandsof sarpancheswill
join this campaign since
theoppositionisnotable
to digest the pro-people
work done by the BJP
government. That is
whytheyhaveplanneda
protest programme par-
allel to our celebra-
tions,” he said.
“The foundation of de-
velopment work laid
downbythen-Chief Min-
isterNarendraModihas
been carried forward
under Rupani’s leader-
ship. In the last five
years, the state has effec-
tively used projects such
as SAUNI and Sujalam-
Sufalam to ensured that
Narmada water reaches
the far reaches of Kutch,
Saurashtra and north
Gujarat,” he added.
KILLED Jaish’s...
of the Lethpora Pulwa-
ma attack and figured in
the charge-sheet pro-
duced by the NIA,” po-
lice quoted Kashmir In-
spector General of Po-
lice (IGP) Vijay Kumar
in a tweet.
For BJP’s...
Supriyo also said he
was quitting as MP.
He announced his de-
cision to move on in a
Facebook post that be-
gan with “I’m leaving...
farewell.” The post, in
mostly Bengali, also in-
cluded the YouTube link
toasongbythelateplay-
back artiste Hemanta
Mukherjee. “Heard eve-
ryone’s words -- father,
(mother) wife, daughter,
two dear friends...After
hearing everything, I say
thatIamnotgoingtoany
other party - #TMC,
#Congress, #CPIM, no-
where... I am a one Team
Player! Have always sup-
ported one team
MohunBagan...Have
backed only BJP in West
Bengal...That’s it...I am
going...” he wrote.
‘Public confidence...
the feeling of ‘Nation
First, Always First’,” he
told IPS probationers of
the Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel National Police
Academy
,Hyderabad,via
video-conferencing.
Prime Minister Modi,
citingtheexampleof the
National Disaster Re-
sponse Force, said the
policehavenotbeenable
to command the same
respect as the special-
ised organisation.
“NDRF instills confi-
dence during disasters.
People think if the
NDRF has come, they
will be saved. It has
earned this confidence
and respect through its
work.ButtheNDRF,too,
has many police offi-
cials. Have police forces
earned the same respect
as NDRF? Why? You
know the answer,” the
Prime Minister said.
Kerala survivor...
dismiss him from priest-
hood and finally de-
frocked him in 2020.
Assam, Naga-
land...
arrivedatanunderstand-
ing to withdraw the
states’ forces from their
border points. Sharing
the information, Assam
Biswa Sarma said, “In a
major breakthrough to-
wards de-escalating ten-
sionsatAssam-Nagaland
border,thetwoChief Sec-
retaries have arrived at
an understanding .
FROM PG 1
IMPOSE STRICT RESTRICTIONS TO
CURB COVID SPREAD: CENTRE
States asked to ramp up testing along with vax saturation in targeted districts
New Delhi: Districts
reporting a COVID-19
positivity rate of over
10 per cent in the last
few weeks need to con-
sider strict restrictions
to prevent or curtail
people’s movement and
crowding, the Centre
told 10 states witness-
ing an upsurge in infec-
tions and positivity
.
Highlighting that 46
districts are showing
more than 10 per cent
positivity rate while an-
other 53 are showing
positivity between five
and 10 per cent, the Cen-
tre has urged the states
to ramp up their testing
for detection of COV-
ID-19. The Health Min-
istry said it was force-
fully underlined that
any laxity at this stage
will result in the dete-
rioration of the situa-
tion in these districts.
Union Health Secre-
tary Rajesh Bhushan
chaired a high-level
meeting on Saturday to
review the COVID-19
situation in Kerala, Ma-
harashtra, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu, Odisha,
Assam, Mizoram,
Meghalaya, Andhra
Pradesh and Manipur.
The public health
measures taken for sur-
veillance, containment
and management of
COVID-19 by the health
authorities in these
states were also re-
viewed. These states
are either reporting a
rise in daily Covid cases
or a rise in positivity
.
The Health Ministry,
in a statement, said,
“All districts reporting
positivity rate of more
than 10 per cent in the
last few weeks need to
consider strict restric-
tions to prevent/curtail
the movement.” —ANI
A healthcare worker collects nasal sample of a passenger for COVID-19 test at Charbagh Railway
Station, in Lucknow on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI
1 CRORE VACCINATION JABS COMPLETED IN DELHI
New Delhi: One crore
vaccine doses have
been given in Delhi,
ever since the inocula-
tion drive began, to
cover nearly 50 per cent
of the national capital’s
adult population, CM
Kejriwal said Sunday.
While 76 lk people have
got at least one dose,
26 lakh people in the
city are fully vaccinated,
he shared, congratulat-
ing healthcare workers
for the feat. “Till today,
1 crore vaccine doses
have been given in the
city to nearly 74 lakh
people. Of these, at
least 26 lakh people
have got both their
doses” CM said.
Highlights
STATES REPORTING
A RISE IN CASES ARE
KERALA, MAHA,
KARNATAKA, TN,
ODISHA, ASSAM,
MIZORAM,
MEGHALAYA, AP
PREVENT ALL NON-
ESSENTIAL TRAVEL
AND DISCOURAGE
LARGE GATHERINGS
GRANULAR
ANALYSIS OF THE
HIGHLY AFFECTED
DISTRICTS, VAX
COVERAGE,
VENTILATORS, PSA
PLANTS
USE THE INSACOG
LABORATORY
NETWORK FOR
GENOMIC
SURVEILLANCE TO
SCREEN
INTERNATIONAL
TRAVELLERS
Doval, 25 bureaucrats pen
seven years of Modi Govt
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
has asked MP to take
the government’s re-
port card to the people
many times. In absence
of readily available
data, many are yet to
take central schemes to
the people. The wait, it
seems, for what Modi
government did in sev-
en years may have been
over.
For the benefit of
critics and supporters
of the Modi govern-
ment, a former union
minister along with 25
serving and former bu-
reaucrats have docu-
mented the achieve-
ments of the Modi gov-
ernment in a book that
can be a go-to guide for
many MPs who want
facts about their own
government’s works.
The book titled ‘Ac-
celerating India-7 years
of Modi government’
edited by KJ Alphons,
retired IAS and a
former union minister
has a foreword by NSA
Ajit Doval. —PTI
Ajit Doval
NHRC issues reminder to Centre,
NCT govts on farmers protest
New Delhi: The Na-
tional Human Rights
Commission (NHRC)
has recently issued a
reminder with a warn-
ing for the failure of
submission of reply by
the Secretaries of
Home, Agriculture,
Health and Family Wel-
fare, Government of
India, and the Chief
Secretaries of (Nation-
al Capital Territory)
NCT of Delhi, Haryana
and Uttar Pradesh re-
garding the steps taken
by the respective gov-
ernments on resolving
the issues of farmers
and the following of
COVID-19 guidelines at
the protest sites of the
farmers at Singhu,
Tikri, and Ghajipur
borders of Delhi. The
apex human rights
watchdog passed the or-
der acting on a petition
filed by a noted human
rights activist and Su-
preme Court lawyer,
Radhakanta Tripathy
.
Farmers during a ‘Maha Panchayat’, organised to support for the
farmers’ agitation at Delhi borders. —FILE PHOTO
SINKHOLE AS ROAD CAVES IN
A portion of the road under the IIT Delhi flyover in Hauz Khas area caved in, due to heavy rains
on Saturday, creating a huge pothole. —PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi: The pro-
ductivity of the Upper
House fell drastically in
the ongoing Monsoon
Session of the Parl as
the RS Secretariat in an
official notification in-
formed that the House
lost 40 out of 50 working
hrs during the first two
weeks of the session.
“With disruptions
continuing, the produc-
tivity of RS fell to 13.70
per cent during the sec-
ond week of the ongo-
ing monsoon session
from 32.20 per cent dur-
ing the first week, re-
sulting in an overall
productivity of 21.60
per cent for the first two
weeks. Of the total 50
working hours availa-
ble, 39 hours 52 minutes
has been lost due to dis-
ruptions. The House,
however, sat for 1 hour
12 minutes beyond the
scheduled time, but for
which the productivity
would have been much
lower,” read notifica-
tion.
During the nine sit-
tings of these first two
weeks, Rajya Sabha
only had 1 hour 38 min-
utes of Question Hour.
—PTI
Rajya Sabha loses 40 of 50 working hours
lll
The productivity
of the Upper
House fell
drastically in
this Monsoon
Session of the
Parl, official
notification
informed.
Opposition leaders create uproar in Rajya Sabha during the
Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Dhanbad judge death: J’khand
CM Soren calls for CBI probe
New Delhi: Jharkhand
Chief Minister Hemant
Soren on Saturday rec-
ommended CBI to take
over the probe into the
death of Dhanbad Ad-
ditional Sessions Judge
Uttam Anand who
passed away following
an alleged hit-and-run
incident on Wednesday
.
An SIT constituted by
the Jharkhand Police
has arrested two ac-
cused in connection
with the incident.
Taking suo motu cog-
nisance of the incident,
the Supreme Court said
Friday that the “grue-
some incident” has
“larger ramifications”.
A bench of CJ NV Ra-
mana and Justice Surya
Kant directed
Jharkhand CS and DGP
to jointly submit a re-
port in a week’s time on
the status of the inves-
tigation into the inci-
dent. According to
sources in the police,
the accused have alleg-
edly told investigators
that they were drunk at
the time of the incident.
Sprinter
Man Kaur
dies at 105
New Delhi: Cente-
narian sprinter
and veteran ath-
lete Man Kaur
passed away on
Saturday at the
age of 105. Man
Kaur was admit-
ted to Shudhi
Ayurvedic Hospi-
tal Derabassi in
district Mohali.
The former Indian
athlete was de-
clared dead at 1
pm on Saturday.
“Veteran athlete
Man Kaur is dead
and will be cre-
mated tomorrow.
She was admitted
in Shudhi Ayurve-
dic Hospital Dera-
bassi in district
Mohali and was
declared dead at 1
pm,” son Gurdev
Singh said.
Man Kaur

TALKING POINT
07
Swimming gives your brain a boost
– SCIENTISTS DON’T KNOW YET
– SCIENTISTS DON’T KNOW YET
WHY IT’S BETTER THAN OTHER
WHY IT’S BETTER THAN OTHER
AEROBIC ACTIVITIES
AEROBIC ACTIVITIES
I
t’s no secret that aero-
bic exercise can help
stave off some of the
ravages of aging. But a
growing body of research
suggests that swimming
might provide a unique
boost to brain health.
Regular swimming has
been shown to improve
memory, cognitive func-
tion, immune response
and mood. Swimming may
also help repair damage
from stress and forge new
neural connections in the
brain.
But scientists are still
trying to unravel how and
why swimming, in par-
ticular, produces these
brain-enhancing effects.
As a neurobiologist
trained in brain physiolo-
gy, a fitness enthusiast and
a mom, I spend hours at
the local pool during the
summer. It’s not unusual to
see children gleefully
splashing and swimming
while their parents sun-
bathe at a distance – and
I’ve been one of those par-
ents observing from the
poolside plenty of times.
But if more adults recog-
nized the cognitive and
mental health benefits of
swimming, they might be
more inclined to jump in
the pool alongside their
kids.
NEW AND
IMPROVED BRAIN
CELLS AND
CONNECTIONS
Until the 1960s, scientists
believed that the number
of neurons and synaptic
connections in the human
brain were finite and that,
once damaged, these brain
cells could not be replaced.
But that idea was de-
bunked as researchers be-
gan to see ample evidence
for the birth of neurons, or
neurogenesis, in adult
brains of humans and oth-
er animals.
Now, there is clear evi-
dence that aerobic exer-
cise can contribute to neu-
rogenesis and play a key
role in helping to reverse
or repair damage to neu-
rons and their connections
in both mammals and fish.
Research shows that one
of the key ways these
changes occur in response
to exercise is through in-
creased levels of a protein
called brain-derived neu-
rotrophic factor. The neu-
ral plasticity, or ability of
the brain to change, that
this protein stimulates has
been shown to boost cogni-
tive function, including
learning and memory
.
Studies in people have
found a strong relation-
ship between concentra-
tions of brain-derived
neurotrophic factor circu-
lating in the brain and an
increase in the size of the
hippocampus, the brain
region responsible for
learning and memory. In-
creased levels of brain-
derived neurotrophic fac-
tors have also been shown
to sharpen cognitive per-
formance and to help re-
duce anxiety and depres-
sion. In contrast, re-
searchers have observed
mood disorders in pa-
tients with lower concen-
trations of brain-derived
neurotrophic factor.
Aerobic exercise also
promotes the release of
specific chemical messen-
gers called neurotransmit-
ters. One of these is sero-
tonin, which – when pre-
sent at increased levels – is
known to reduce depres-
sion and anxiety and im-
prove mood.
In studies in fish, scien-
tists have observed
changes in genes respon-
sible for increasing brain-
tor levels as well as en-
hanced development of
the dendritic spines – pro-
trusions on the dendrites,
or elongated portions of
nerve cells – after eight
weeks of exercise com-
pared with controls. This
complements studies in
mammals where brain-
tor is known to increase
neuronal spine density.
These changes have been
shown to contribute to
improved memory, mood
and enhanced cognition
in mammals. The greater
spine density helps neu-
rons build new connec-
tions and send more sig-
nals to other nerve cells.
With the repetition of
signals, connections can
become stronger.
BUT WHAT’S
SPECIAL ABOUT
SWIMMING?
Researchers don’t yet
know what swimming’s
secret sauce might be. But
they’re getting closer to
understanding it.
Swimming has long
been recognized for its
cardiovascular benefits.
Because swimming in-
volves all of the major
muscle groups, the heart
has to work hard, which
increases blood flow
throughout the body. This
leads to the creation of
new blood vessels, a pro-
cess called angiogenesis.
The greater blood flow can
also lead to a large release
of endorphins – hormones
that act as a natural pain
reducer throughout the
body. This surge brings
about the sense of eupho-
ria that often follows exer-
cise.
Most of the research to
understand how swim-
ming affects the brain
has been done in rats.
Rats are a good lab model
because of their genetic
and anatomic similarity
to humans.
In one study in rats,
swimming was shown to
stimulate brain pathways
that suppress inflamma-
tion in the hippocampus
and inhibit apoptosis, or
cell death. The study also
showed that swimming
can help support neuron
survival and reduce the
cognitive impacts of ag-
ing. Although researchers
do not yet have a way to
visualize apoptosis and
neuronal survival in peo-
ple, they do observe simi-
lar cognitive outcomes.
One of the more entic-
ing questions is how, spe-
cifically, swimming en-
hances short- and long-
term memory
. To pinpoint
how long the beneficial
effects may last, research-
ers trained rats to swim
for 60 minutes daily for
five days per week. The
team then tested the rats’
memory by having them
swim through a radial arm
water maze containing six
arms, including one with a
hidden platform.
Rats got six attempts to
swim freely and find the
hidden platform. After
just seven days of swim
training, researchers saw
improvements in both
short- and long-term mem-
ories, based on a reduction
in the errors rats made
each day. The researchers
suggested that this boost
in cognitive function could
provide a basis for using
swimming as a way to re-
pair learning and memory
damage caused by neu-
ropsychiatric diseases in
humans.
Although the leap from
studies in rats to humans
is substantial, research
in people is producing
similar results that sug-
gest a clear cognitive
benefit from swimming
across all ages. For in-
stance, in one study look-
ing at the impact of
swimming on mental acu-
ity in the elderly, re-
searchers concluded that
swimmers had improved
mental speed and atten-
tion compared with non-
swimmers. However, this
study is limited in its re-
search design, since par-
ticipants were not rand-
omized and thus those
who were swimmers pri-
or to the study may have
had an unfair edge.
Another study com-
pared cognition between
land-based athletes and
swimmers in the young
adult age range. While
water immersion itself
did not make a difference,
the researchers found
that 20 minutes of moder-
ate-intensity breaststroke
swimming improved cog-
nitive function in both
groups.
KIDS GET A
BOOST FROM
SWIMMING TOO
The brain-enhancing ben-
efits from swimming ap-
pear to also boost learning
in children.
Another research
group recently looked at
the link between physical
activity and how children
learn new vocabulary
words. Researchers
taught children aged 6-12
years the names of unfa-
miliar objects. Then they
tested their accuracy at
recognizing those words
after doing three activi-
ties: coloring (resting ac-
tivity), swimming (aero-
bic activity) and a Cross-
Fit-like exercise (anaero-
bic activity) for three
minutes.
They found that chil-
dren’s accuracy was
much higher for words
learned following swim-
ming compared with col-
oring and CrossFit,
which resulted in the
same level of recall. This
shows a clear cognitive
benefit from swimming
versus anaerobic exer-
cise, though the study
does not compare swim-
ming with other aerobic
exercises. These findings
imply that swimming for
even short periods of
time is highly beneficial
to young, developing
brains.
The details of the time
or laps required, the style
of swim and what cogni-
tive adaptations and path-
ways are activated by
swimming are still being
worked out. But neurosci-
entists are getting much
closer to putting all the
clues together.
For centuries, people
have been in search of a
fountain of youth. Swim-
ming just might be the
closest we can get.
Swimming offers a host of beneficial effects
on the brain. —STANISLAW PYTEL/STONE
VIA GETTY IMAGES
Rats serve as a useful laboratory model for understanding the effects of swimming on memory formation and
brain health. —IRIN717/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES PLUS
It’s tempting for adults to watch kids splash from the poolside, but
research shows it’s worth jumping in alongside them.
—POVOZNIUK/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES PLUS
SOURCE: THECONVERSATION.COM
SEENA MATHEW
Assistant Professor of
Biology, University of Mary
Hardin-Baylor

IS THIS HOW RAHUL
WILL BECOME FACE
OF OPPOSITION’S
UNITY?
Ii is said that if life is
about breathing,
then it is very neces-
sary to memorise the
ABCs of it, since these
‘breaths’ are what help
a person to pass or fail
the larger battles of
life! Take for example,
Rahul Gandhi, the ini-
tial mistake committed
by this descendant of
Gandhi-Nehru family
in his political career
has made him a back-
bencher of politics till
now. But
the constant mistakes
of the Modi govern-
ment have given Rahul
a new opportunity to
prove himself. This
time when the Monsoon
Session of Parliament
began, the Modi gov-
ernment, which had be-
come accustomed to ag-
gression due to the ag-
gressive approach of
the united Opposition,
had to come on the back
foot. At least in the Par-
liament, the govern-
ment had never looked
so helpless. Rahul yet
again made a mistake,
as in that he did not ap-
pear to be ready to take
the lead of these mass
protests in the House.
Anyway, he was rare-
ly seen in the House,
and from his party,
Mallikarjun Kharge
and Adhir Ranjan
Chowdhury kept the
front open in the Parlia-
ment. But as soon as
Mamata didi put her
steps in Delhi, Ra-
hul reached Par-
liament to preside
over the meeting
of Opposition parties.
But look at the irony,
Didi, who is always
scolding parties over
Opposition’s unity;
failed to see presence of
not even a single MP
from her party TMC in
the meeting, which was
presided over by Rahul.
Therefore, Didi’s indi-
cation was clear that
Rahul’s leadership was
not acceptable to her.
The next day, when
Mamata reached 10 Jan-
path to meet Sonia Gan-
dhi, Rahul was already
present there, and So-
nia, who has a fine un-
derstanding of politics,
explained to Mamata in
gestures that any ‘yag-
ya’ called by the Opposi-
tion unit is not going to
be completed without
Rahul.
DIDI HAS ALSO
LEARNT A LESSON
Mamata Baner-
jee is one of
the biggest advo-
cates of Opposition
unity and knowingly
or unknowingly, there
is a feeling in her sub-
conscious mind that
she only can give Modi
a thrashing in the 2024
elections. So, to initiate
momentum of talks be-
tween various parties
on this issue, she came
to Delhi. As part of her
interaction with Oppo-
sition parties she met
Sonia Gandhi, Kamal
Nath, Anand Sharma,
Abhishek Manu Sing-
hvi of the Congress
among others. Then
she met Kanimozhi of
DMK and Arvind Kejri-
wal of AAP, while her
confidante Derek
O’Brien brought Sha-
bana Azmi and Javed
Akhtar to Abhishek
Banerjee’s house in
Delhi to meet Mamata.
But the names of many
parties remained un-
touched in Mamata’s
wish list, as she could
neither meet any lead-
er of Shiv Sena, nor
TRS, BJD, SP, BSP, YSR
Congress. Sensing the
gravity of the matter,
Mamata had to say that
‘Her house is Kolkata,
she does not want an-
other house in Delhi.’
Now it is being heard
that Didi’s next plan
is to travel to Mumbai,
Bhubaneshwar, Chen-
nai, Lucknow, Hy-
derabad so that she
can add a few more fra-
grant flowers to the
bouquet of a
‘United Oppo-
sition’.
WHY THE FEAR
ABOUT PEGASUS?
There may be silence
in their country re-
garding the Pegasus spy
case, but countries like
France and Israel are
showing activeness in
the investigation of this
matter. Apart from these
countries, many other
countries have also set
up an investigation on
this espionage case. But
the world is unable to
understand whether the
government in India
was spying on its own
ministers or not? Like in
this case the magnitude
of astonishment over
phone tapping of Prahl-
ad Joshi, Prahlad Patel,
Smriti Irani, Ravi
Shankar Prasad (former
minister) is huge. What
government wanted to
achieve by spying on its
ministers? Phones of
several French journal-
ists reporting on the in-
vestigation into the Ra-
fale deal were also being
tapped. In such a situa-
tion, Congress spokes-
person Pawan Khera
raises the question that
country which has suf-
fered the loss in money
transactions thrice, that
country i.e. India is not
getting the investiga-
tion done in Rafale case,
but the manufacturing
country, France, which
is getting more money
in the deal, is getting the
probe done and this is
really surprising.
...AND FINALLY
If BJP National Presi-
dent JP Nadda invited
party MPs from Uttar
Pradesh for two days to
the Constitution Club in
New Delhi, then it
should be considered as
a kind of initiation of
the UP elections. How-
ever,2MPsfromUP
,Ravi
Kishan, the Saffron face
of Gorakhpur and
Hema Malini, MP
from Mathura,
could not attend the
meeting. Ravi Kishan
was busy shooting for a
film, and Hema did not
attend due to personal
reasons.UPChief Minis-
ter Yogi was also already
there and was sitting in
a different room. It was
Sunil Bansal who first
spoke and put forth his
experiences as in-charge
of the organisation. Na-
dda said in his familiar
style that this time we
have to get more seats in
UP Assembly than be-
fore and it is not possible
without your (MPs) hard
work. After this they had
lunch and then the MPs
left for their respective
homes. However, there
were a few MPs who did
meet Yogi and tried to
get in his good books but
mostof theMPsbehaved
according to the inten-
tions of the high com-
mand and they left
silently after the meal.
FIRST INDIA SUNDAY SPECIAL
BY TRIDIB
RAMAN
The author is a journalist
and political commentator
and views expressed are
his personal
Rahul Gandhi JP Nadda
Mamata Banerjee
08
2NDFRONT
NCOV PLAYS SPOILSPORT
AT TARNETAR FAIR, AGAIN
Traditional three-day event cancelled for the second year due to pandemic
First India Bureau
Surendranagar: Guja-
rat’s Tarnetar fair,
which attracts a large
number of tourists
from across India and
abroad, will not be held
for the second year in a
row this year due to the
COVID-19 situation, a
senior official said on
Saturday
.
The annual fair at
the Trinetreshwar Ma-
hadev temple in Tarn-
etar village is held cus-
tomarily over three
days in August-Sep-
tember.
“The fair has been
cancelled this year as
well due to the prevail-
ing pandemic situation
and the state’s latest
COVID-19 notification
prohibiting more than
400 people from gather-
ing in a public pro-
gramme,” Surendrana-
gar district collector AK
Aurangabadkar said.
The state notification
allows all temples to re-
main open for prayers
and other rituals, but
devotees will have to fol-
low the COVID-19
norms, he said.
“It has also been de-
cided that the Tarnetar
fair will not be allowed
to be held this year due
to the COVID-19 situa-
tion. But devotees can
still visit the temple to
offer prayers,” he said,
adding that the fair
was cancelled last year
as well due to the pan-
demic.
Devotees and tour-
ists turn up in large
numbers to take part in
the fair, which has been
described as a “celebra-
tion of ethnic Gujarat’s
folk dance, music, cos-
tumes and the arts, cen-
tred around young trib-
al men and women
seeking marriage part-
ners” by the state tour-
ism department on its
official website.
In its latest notifica-
tionissuedonFriday
,the
state government has al-
lowed all religious, so-
cial, educational, cultur-
alandpoliticalfunctions
to be organised with no
more than 400 partici-
pants on open grounds,
and with half its capaci-
ty in an enclosed area
with the numbers not
exceeding 400.
Although the num-
ber of daily infection
cases has dropped sig-
nificantly in Gujarat,
the government has
said that it was alert in
view of a possible
third wave of COV-
ID-19 infections.
The fair typically sees participation by thousands of visitors.
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot: A ‘peepal for-
est’ is being developed
near Rajkot at Vagu-
dad village under a
joint initiative by
Sadbhavna Vrud-
dhashram and Rajkot-
based Indian Invest-
ment Casting Manu-
facturers Association
(IICMA). Touted to be
the biggest peepal for-
est in the world, it will
be established on over
100 acres of govern-
ment wasteland with
5,000 saplings of 12
feet height each.
“The idea for a peepal
forestwasconceivedthis
past April, when COV-
ID-19 cases were peak-
ing, since these trees
said to be among the
largestproducersof oxy-
gen. The fatal shortage
of oxygenduringthesec-
ondwaveof thepandem-
ic made us think of the
forest. We had developed
a burial site in Vagudad,
where last rites of
around 300 people were
performed.Icameacross
a nearby government
wasteland during this
period, which gave birth
to the idea of a peepal
forest. The area is also
close to the Nyari Dam
so watering the plants
will be taken care of,”
said Vijay Dobariya of
the Sadbhavna Trust.
Theprojectwillcostan
estimatedRs1crore.“IIC-
MA donated Rs45 lakh
while Sadbhavna Vrud-
dhashram will bear the
rest,” Dobariya said.
Dobariya, who start-
ed planting trees in
June 2014 under the
trust’s banner, has so
far planted around sev-
en lakh trees across
Saurashtra at various
places including Padad-
hari, Jamnagar, Suren-
dranagar, Morbi and
Bhavnagar at a cost of
Rs50 crore.
“We do not just plant
trees, but also ensure
that every sapling is
watered regularly for
three years. At the pee-
pal forest, we have cre-
ated nine-foot tall fenc-
ing as entry has been
restricted for three
years till the plants
grow. A dedicated staff
of 10 people will stay
there for three years to
ensure maintenance of
the plants and the for-
est. Drip irrigation sys-
tem will be installed for
watering. In future, the
area can also be devel-
oped as a beautiful
tourist attraction,” in-
formed Dobariya.
Speaking exclusively
to First India, Rambhai
Sabhaya, president of
IICMA said, “We are a
very young association
formed during the COV-
ID-19 pandemic. We aim
to preserve the environ-
ment for future genera-
tions. And that can be
achieved by only plant-
ing trees.”
Peepal tree (ficus re-
ligiosa or sacred fig) is
known for its medici-
nal value. Buddha is
believed to have medi-
tated and attained en-
lightenment under a
peepal tree.
World’s biggest ‘peepal forest’ coming up near Rajkot
Sadbhavna Vruddhashram. IICMA
will plant 5K saplings on wasteland
Vijay Dobariya has planted lakhs of trees on his own already.
JabdeadlineextendedtillAug15
3 booked for nCoV violations
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
deadline for compul-
sory COVID-19 vacci-
nation of owners,
managers and staff of
commercial and ser-
vice establishments
was on Saturday ex-
tended till August 15
by the government.
An official said the
deadline would have ex-
pired on Saturday and
the decision to extend it
was taken in a meeting
chaired by Chief Minis-
ter Vijay Rupani.
The state government
had, on June 24, an-
nounced that managers,
ownersandstaff of com-
mercial and service es-
tablishmentswouldhave
to get compulsorily vac-
cinated against COV-
ID-19 by June 30 in 18
major cities, and by July
10 in other areas. The
deadline was then ex-
tended to July 31 and
now to August 15.
First India Bureau
Surendranagar:About
150 people participat-
ed in a religious pro-
cession in Suren-
dranagar district of
Gujarat in violation of
the COVID-19 norms,
after which police
have registered an of-
fence against two or-
ganisers of the event
and a disc jockey (DJ)
operator, an official
said on Saturday
.
The procession was
taken out in Patdi town
of the district on Friday
afternoon, he said.
“A religious pro-
gramme was organized
in the town, where
around 150 devotees
gathered.Later,theyalso
took part in a proces-
sion, during which they
danced to music played
by the DJ. The partici-
pants flouted social dis-
tancing norms and only
a few persons were seen
wearing masks as re-
quiredunderthegovern-
ment’s COVID-19 guide-
lines,” the Patdi police
station official said.
Surendranagar dis-
trict magistrate has is-
sued a notification un-
der Section 144 of the
CrPC as well as the pro-
visions of the National
Disaster Management
Act and Gujarat Police
Act, prohibiting assem-
bly of more than four
persons at one place.
But these persons flout-
ed it by organizing such
a large religious event,
he said.
People brave the weather to line up for their jab at the
Swaminarayan Temple in Ahmedabad’s Maninagar on Saturday.
—FILE
PHOTO
8,14,549
+35
RECOVERED
IN A DAY
TOTAL
RECOVERED
8,24,877
TOTAL CASES
+27 CASES
IN A DAY
10,076
10,076
TOTAL DEATHS
00 DEATHS
IN A DAY
252
10 MAX
CASES IN
A’BAD
ACTIVE CASES
COVID-19 UPDATE
—PHOTO
BY
HANIF
SINDHI
Avisionaryisaperson,who
canvisualisethethingsand
thegoalswhichareunseenand
invisibletoothers.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India

09
AHMEDABAD, SUNDAY
AUGUST 1, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
BEAUTY UNLEASHED
o provide a platform to
the talent in the field
of modelling and
glamour, Rajasthan’s
renownedandsuccess-
ful beauty pageant
Elite Miss Rajasthan
2021isreturningwithitseighth
season. Sharing the prepara-
tions related to this season, a
programwasorganisedatHotel
Hilton on Hawa Road on Satur-
day
. On the same day
, earlier a
glamourous launch party of
Elite Miss Rajasthan 2021 sea-
son 8 was held at Club XSS Shy-
am Nagar, Jaipur. Leading de-
signers and eminent socialists
likeDheerendraRaghav,Sanjay
Sardhana, Shekher Kalra, PN
Dudi, KS Shekhawat, Muni Raj
Naidu and others were present
to celebrate the launch of the
pageant. A unique Godfather-
Elite Reel competition for par-
ticipants of Season 8 was also
announced during the party
.
JagdeeshChandragracedthe
evening and congratulated all
the models on the occasion and
wished them all the best for
their future endeavours.
During this, the directors of
the show Ravi Jhanwar, JD Ma-
heshwari, Ajit Soni, Dr Maulik
Shah and Anil Bhattar were
present. On the other hand,
EliteMissRajasthanco-founder
and actress Charvi Tanya Dut-
ta, Muniraj Naidu from Banga-
lore, Sitaram Sharma from
Godfather, Elite Miss Ra-
jasthan 2020 winners Isha
Agarwal, Divija Gambhir
and Riya Sain were also pre-
sent.
Givingmoredetailsaboutthe
program, the director of the
show,GauravGaursaidthatthe
winnersof EliteMissRajasthan
are waving their success all
overthecountrytoday
.Soonthe
process of the audition is going
to start for which online regis-
trationhasbeendone.Thisyear
more than 1500 contestants
haveregisteredtoparticipatein
the show. Given the covid, Gaur
said that like last year, this year
too, with the launch of Elite
Miss Rajasthan 2021, the most
important focus is be-
ing placed on safety
and sanitation. Where
following the instruc-
tions of the govern-
ment, full care is being
taken off BioSecure
Bubble,CompleteSani-
tization, No Mask No
Entry at the audition
venue. All the contest-
antswillbegivenentry
in the audition hall
along with masks
and sanitisers.
T
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
Jagdeesh Chandra with (from left) Simran, Navya, Kajol, Kritika, Aanchal, Upadhi, Divija, Isha,
Riya, Himakshi, Sapna, Ruby, Radhika ,Sanya, Harshita and Chahak
(L-R) Dr Maulik Shah, Vishal Swami, Anil Bhattar, Ajit Soni,
JD Maheswari and Muni Raj Naidu
Gaurav Gaur with (L-R) Riya Sain, Isha Agarwal and Divija Gambhir
(L-R) Soni Kumari,
Mona Gautam, Divija Gambhir
and Akanksha Bhalla
(L-R) Jessica, Kritika, Riya, Isha, Divija, Kajol, Sanskriti and Sapna
—PHOTOS
BY
SANTOSH
SHARMA

MUKESH
KIRADOO

FRIENDS
Yes, this one just doesn’t get old.
Seasoned watchers, revisit
your favourite episodes as
you mouth the ‘by-heart’
dialogues with the charac-
ters. Friends virgins (if
there are any), worry
not! Just start anywhere
and I promise, you’d
want to commit to it
for the long run. With
a mixed bag of char-
acters that navigate
through life one epi-
sode at a time, this
sitcom has some-
thing for everyone.
It’ll warm you up
and make you wan-
na go, “I’ll be there
for you” to your
friends. By the end of
it, you’ll be nudging
each other with “Re-
latable af” comments
and winking at each
other, having the time of
your lives.
COLLEGE ROMANCE
With bromance, chuckles and
‘Old Delhi swag’ galore, this show
is an ode to the fun filled, carefree
college days. As 3 friends ebb away
their days, frolicking around the city,
they enjoy the ultimate ‘Masti ki paath-
shaala’. With cute love stories, strong bro
codes and insane parties, this short series will
make you want to plan a reunion right now. Missing
your campus already? Well, if not something major, you
can surely plan a cute, cozy get together with your pals and
rekive the good times spent together. I’m sure you’ll cherish the
day for the rest of your lives.
ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA
Shot in the most pictur-
esque lanes of Spain,
this movie gives you
some serious travel
goals with your
friends. The 3 ‘mus-
keteers’ decide to dil-
ly-dally in Europe for
one’s bachelor’s par-
ty and hop from one
escapade to another,
drinking, gallivant-
ing and partying to
the most. One’s love
life suffers a mild in-
convenience while
the others actually
find blissful romanc-
es in two complete
strangers. Keep a note-
pad handy, you might
just find yourself plan-
ning your dream trip
while binging on this saga
of hot hunks.
DIL CHAHTA HAI
Now, be honest with me. How many
times have you made plans for Goa
with your homies that got cancelled be-
cause ‘Mummy ne mana kar diya?” No, I
am not scratching your wounds. I am here
to tell you that you can actually live all those
‘plans on paper’ through this very beautiful film.
A tale of 3 lifelong friends who decide to take a trip
to the beaches, this movie takes you on a journey of love,
heartbreaks, fun and most of all, true friendship that survives
the test of time. A must watch with your pals, Dil Chahta Hai
will coax you to live all those wild fantasies.
ola Amigos! How are my enthu cutlets doing
this Friendship Day? I know, the pandemic
ain’t over and we can’t realise our #friend-
shipgoals just yet. Chilling on a Goan beach
with your Sid and Aakash, chugging pints,
is still a distant dream. Heavenly showers
are pouring in, the weather’s calling you
but, you just can’t go. Well, fret not! I’ve got just the
Friendship Day plan for you. How about you tuck
in a cozy blanket and do a movie marathon
with your best buddies? So, let the mood
lights bling, hoard some snacks, pour
your beer (or wine, whatever is your
poison) and dial-up your pals ASAP,
because I have curated the ultimate
‘friendship watch list’ for you!
10
ETC
POORVI SINGHAL
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
FRIENDS
Yes, this one just doesn’t get old.
Seasoned watchers, revisit
your favourite episodes as
you mouth the ‘by-heart’
dialogues with the charac-
ters. Friends virgins (if
there are any), worry
not! Just start anywhere
and I promise, you’d
want to commit to it
for the long run. With
ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA
Shot in the most pictur-
esque lanes of Spain,
this movie gives you
some serious travel
goals with your
friends. The 3 ‘mus-
this Friendship Day? I know, the pandemic
ain’t over and we can’t realise our #friend-
shipgoals just yet. Chilling on a Goan beach
with your Sid and Aakash, chugging pints,
is still a distant dream. Heavenly showers
are pouring in, the weather’s calling you
but, you just can’t go. Well, fret not! I’ve got just the
Friendship Day plan for you. How about you tuck
in a cozy blanket and do a movie marathon
with your best buddies? So, let the mood
lights bling, hoard some snacks, pour
your beer (or wine, whatever is your
poison) and dial-up your pals ASAP,
because I have curated the ultimate
‘friendship watch list’ for you!
es in two complete
strangers. Keep a note-
pad handy, you might
just find yourself plan-
ning your dream trip
while binging on this saga
Now, be honest with me. How many
times have you made plans for Goa
with your homies that got cancelled be-
cause ‘Mummy ne mana kar diya?” No, I
am not scratching your wounds. I am here
to tell you that you can actually live all those
‘plans on paper’ through this very beautiful film.
A tale of 3 lifelong friends who decide to take a trip
to the beaches, this movie takes you on a journey of love,
heartbreaks, fun and most of all, true friendship that survives
the test of time. A must watch with your pals, Dil Chahta Hai
will coax you to live all those wild fantasies.
each other with “Re-
latable af” comments
and winking at each
other, having the time of
your lives.
COLLEGE ROMANCE
With bromance, chuckles and
‘Old Delhi swag’ galore, this show
is an ode to the fun filled, carefree
college days. As 3 friends ebb away
their days, frolicking around the city,
they enjoy the ultimate ‘Masti ki paath-
shaala’. With cute love stories, strong bro
codes and insane parties, this short series will
make you want to plan a reunion right now. Missing
your campus already? Well, if not something major, you
can surely plan a cute, cozy get together with your pals and
rekive the good times spent together. I’m sure you’ll cherish the
day for the rest of your lives.
BUDDIES
BUDDIES
BUDDIES
BUDDIES
Binge Watch With
Binge Watch With
Ditching the crowded outdoors on Friendship
Day can’t get any better than this. Here’s a list
of all the movies and shows you can binge on
with your buddies and have a gala!
H
FOUR MORE SHOTS
Waiter, four more shots please! Oops, I forgot, it’s
home-bar time. This show is for all the ‘queen bee’
groups of strong, lovable women who stick with
their gal pals and well, hold their hair while they
lie in some random washroom, puking and drunk-
dialling their ex. This series is about four women
who met by pure chance in a bar, drinking away
the worries of life. Eventually, they become each
other’s support system and hold hands through the
thick and thin. Yes, it’s time you hug your girls
and share some sister love!

ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2021
11
Tera Yaar
Hu Main...
Hu Main...
riendship is another
word for love and even
when most loved ones
will not entertain your
3 am tantrums, your
best friend surely will.
When we can’t look on
the brighter side of life, it’s our
friends who manage to see the
pain in our eyes while everyone
else believes our smiles.
While you can be crazy with
your BFFs, they are also the
ones who don’t always need ver-
bal communication to under-
standyouandthatiswhyfriends
are the greatest gift of life.
Sometimes, being with your best
friend is all the therapy you
need and to celebrate these
friends who would always love
you—the imperfect you, the con-
fused you or the messed up you,
Friendship Day is celebrated
across the world with great
pomp and show.
The day is celebrated by
friends exchanging greeting
cards and gifts, spending quality
time with their best friends,
some even make friendship
bands and tie it on their friends’
wrists on this day as an act of
affirmation and simply put in
extra efforts to make their
friends feel special or take extra
care of their friends in their love
languages. With Friendship Day
2021 today, City First spoke to a
few people who remind you to
strengthen the bond between
you and your friends with hu-
mility and truth, forget differ-
ences or pride or right and
wrong and heal the wounds be-
tween you and who you care for!
MITALI DUSAD
F
Friendship day what a beauti-
ful word that everyone should
celebrate every day with all
their heart. Friends are the ones
with whom we don’t hesitate
to share things and feelings. I
would love to celebrate this day
with ‘Chai pe charcha’ type.
—-ANKITA VALAND
Friends are very important in
our lives. The only thing needed
is love n warmth to make it
lively always. On this day, I wish
all my friends whom I couldn’t
meet due to covid since 2 years,
I really miss you all and u all
add up to my life.
—RITU SOMANI RATHI
When I was young, celebrating
friendships day was all about
tying friendship bands, greeting
cards, send small gifts, flowers
or candy to brighten my friends
day. As time has passed and I
have matured, its now a day to
specially express my love and
respect for my friends. I make
sure that a call is made to the
ones who have played a very
important part in my life.
—VANITAA RAWAT
It’s been too long since I’ve met my girls
in Dubai since our college shut due to
Covid-19. On this friendship day, we
have consciously made an effort to meet
each other at my home just like we used
to during college days. I just hope the
flights are on time and no one forgets
the snacks the other person loves to
have. Meeting them would be no less
than a dream. Some friends are more
than just people to hangout with, they
become family. Infact, these girls are
my happily chosen family. I can’t wait
to reunite and share gossips, rant about
a lot of things, smile, laugh, talk about
career, growth and so much more.
—ASHITA SINGH
Certain bonds remain
extremely special
irrespective of time
and distance. I call
my best friends ‘Lola
Luv’ and I think no
combination of 26
alphabets can define
my feelings for her.
She has been there
through all my ups
and downs. I would
miss hugging her this
friendships day since
she is Singapore but
I’ll virtually celebrate
with her. And enjoy
the day with my other
special friends here.
—VATSLA RAMANI
I have always been a movie buff
but this year, due to weekend
lockdown I won’t be able to go
out with my friends on friend-
ship day. So, instead, we’ll bring
the movies home. I’ll be calling
my friends over and we’ll watch
our favourite movies along with
lots of online ordered scrump-
tious food.
—PRIYANSHI SINGH
Me and my bff have always been a enthusiast for friend-
ship days. This year we plan on spending the whole
day together. We will be clicking a lot of sexy pictures
while dressing up. Then we will spend the night watch-
ing movies with pizza and coke. At last it will be just our
never ending talks to keep us company. We plan to end
the day with cake and cuddles. —TARANGI MANAS
I miss being with
my college friends
since we’re all
back in our homes
in due to Covid-19.
As much as we
all want to meet,
it isn’t possible
right now to meet
all of them. So,
we will be doing
a barbecue roast
with some of my
closest friends to
commemorate
our good and
happy times back
in college and
really hope to get
together as soon
as possible.
—- SHAIKH
ARHAAN SIDDIQUI
Vatsla Ramani and Ridhi Sharma
Tarangi Manas and Riya Tikhe
Shaikh Arhaan Siddiqui, Aqib Beg
and Zafar Siddiqui
Haniya Asif, Tharika Raman and Ashita Singh
FRIENDSHIP DAY

12
CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED
The Face of the Month
for August is Meghna
Chandwani. Meghna is
a lifestyle blogger and
influencer and also one
of the most beautiful
faces in town. She has
a flair for clothing and
carries both western
and Indian with equal
panache. The hoarding
put up at the City mall
office is a definite
attention catcher for
the people of Pink City!
ALLURING
BEAUTY!
CELEBRATIONS!
Jagdeesh Chandra greets Ajit Shukla and Sanjeev Sharma during the celebration for the
birthdays in the month of July at the First India newspaper office on Saturday, also seen are
(from left) Rashpal Bhardawaj, Vinod Sharma, Aditi Nagar, Kavita Pant, Anita Hada, Mitali
Dusad and Purvashree Mahasani.
—PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA
QUEEN OF INDIA
CITY FIRST
National level
beauty pag-
eant, Queen of
India is being
organised in
Jaipur this
coming Sep-
tember. The auditions
for the same was done
on Saturday at the Hotel
Safari, Jaipur. Monu
Verma, founder and di-
rector of Queen of In-
dia, and Shamshad Pa-
than welcomed eve-
ryone on the occa-
sion. The program
was moderated by
AnchorLavina.Actress
Deepshikha Nagpal and
Bigg Boss fame, as well
ashitsong‘KantaLaga’,
actress, Shefali Jariwa-
la, were the jury mem-
bers of the pageant.
Monu Verma in-
formed us that after
the tremendous re-
sponse and success
received from the
Queen of Rajasthan,
we are organising this
National beauty pag-
eant. This pageant aims
to develop and promote
today’s women, married
or unmarried, their ac-
complishments, com-
mitment to family,
dream to do something
special in life. The show
will have activities like
theme photoshoots,
grooming sessions, etc.
The event is being or-
ganised by Kalyan and
Sons Production house,
Anil Saini, Ravikant
Sharma, Vimal Indori-
ya, Shimran Bhatti,
Budhprakash Sharma,
HS Sharma and manag-
ing director Vijay Ver-
ma and team members
Yogendra Verma and
Anu Verma Laxmi
Narayan.
A
GO GREEN!
The birthday of IAS
Rohit Gupta was on
Saturday, July 31. We
wish himall the best!
HAPPY B’DAY!
MLA Kalicharan Saraf planted a tree in Ward No 137 Shiv Park, Barkat
Nagar on Saturday to protect the environment and promote greenery
for healthy living. Program coordinator Rohit Ajmera, Dinesh Gaur, Hari
Ajmera, Jitendra Ajmera,Vivek Dadhich and others were present.
Under section 375 of the
Indian Penal Code, forced
sex is a crime only if the
wife is under the age of 18.
Thus marital rape is not a
crime in India. Awaazein is
a story that revolves around
the concept of stigma bound
to a sensitive topic such as
this and the importance of
communication so we can
fight as a community. This
piece by Aditya Raina and
Vaibhav Srivastava was
released on String Tales on
Saturday.
PROMOTING CULTURE
RAJASTHANI LANGUAGE
CITY FIRST
A
team of 7-8
youths have
started a new
initiative for
the preservation and
promotion of the Ra-
jasthani language dur-
ing the COVID lock-
down. By setting up a
trust named Rajastha-
ni Bhasa Akademi,
‘The Seekho Rajastha-
ni Project’, has been
announced under
which the first course
to learn the Rajasthani
language online has
been set up.
The Akademi will
inauguratethisproject
on August 3. Gaj Singh
of erstwhile royal fam-
ily of Jodhpur will
grace the occasion as
the chief guest. The
program will be pre-
sided over by Prem
Bhandari,Internation-
al Convener of All In-
dia Rajasthani Lan-
guage Manyata Sang-
harsh Samiti and
Commissioner of
RajasthanFounda-
tion Dheeraj Sriv-
astav. The guest of
honour would be Pro-
fessor Tyler Williams,
University of Chicago,
USA and Poland’s Ra-
jasthaniLanguageand
Literature Expert-Pro-
fessor Alexandra
Turekwillalsojointhe
event.
Leading the work of
the Akademi are Pro-
fessor Dalpat Rajpuro-
hit, who is working as
an Assistant Professor
at the University of
Texas at Austin, and
Vishesh Kothari, who
is a financial advisor
andauthor.Apartfrom
this, Neha Malu,
Giriraj Bohra and
Kuldeep Rajpuro-
hitarealsoassoci-
ated with the pro-
ject. Renowned lan-
guageexpertProfessor
GaneshDeviisguiding
the Akademi. Interest
is emerging for this
course not only from
differentpartsof India
butalsofromcountries
worldwide.
G
ovind’s Daughter and Bollywood Actress
Tina Ahuja, Artist Anvarul Hasan Annu
and Bollywood Singer Shibani Kashyap
paid a visit to Pinkcity on Saturday
. They
shared their experience with the music al-
bum latest Bollywood track ‘Lakk Shake’ at
Rams Fitness Club. When asked about her
experiences, Tina Ahuja said, “The song
itself wasshotinChandigarh,where
the entire song was prepared in
16 hours, we felt so energized
after shooting that we started
partying as soon as the shoot
was over. . She further added, “I
love Punjabi songs, when I heard
this song, I made up my mind to
danceinit.It’sveryspecialforme
as it was launched on my birth-
day
.” The video has already re-
ceived 3 million views in the
first10daysandisyettoachieve
more success. —CITY FIRST
Genius Minds
CITY FIRST
S
p o n -
s o r e d
by Fu-
ture So-
ciety and LIC
and organised
with co-spon-
sorship of
IDBI Bank,
the platform
of Digital
Baal Mela sea-
son 2, children
are telling
their views to-
wards the gov-
ernment by
sending their vid-
eos every day. Dur-
ing this, children
are raising their
voice on education,
hospitals in every area
of the country, safety
of children, women
empowerment. Hun-
dreds of entries are
coming every day in
Digital Baal Mela in
which chil-
dren from var-
ious states of
India are ex-
pressing their
views.
Anadi Agar-
wal, a class 9
student of
MGPS, Pratap-
garh, Shantum
Akhtar, a class
5 student of
Froebel Senior
S e c o n d a r y
School, Delhi,
Paras, a class 9
student of
Sanskar Inter-
national Academy,
H a n u m a n g a r h ,
Saavi, a class 7 stu-
dent of TPS, Shastri
Nagar, Jaipur and Kh-
waish Gupta, a class 3
student of Warren Pub-
lic School, Jaipur have
been the highlights of
sessions at Digital Baal
Mela.
Saavi Paras Anandi
LAKK SHAKE!
Khwaish
Shanum
Dr Garima Jain,
Chief Medical
Officer, ESI
Model Hospital
has excellently
attempted
to create
awareness
among the
general
public about
vaccination
through Phad Painting. Dr Jain has been making people aware of preventive
measures and depiction of positive activities through various folk art paintings,
along with medical service since the early times of Corona, and has also been
rewarded in the field of art at various levels.
On the occasion of the completion of 42 years of upstanding service,
Rajasthan High Court Employees Union gave a heartfelt farewell to
Deputy Registrar Rajendra Kumar Soni on Saturday,July 31 2021.
Reminiscent to Rajendra Kumar Soni’s commendable service,the
President of the High Court Employees Union,Rituraj Sharma said,
“Rajendra Soni has served the High Court with full devotion and
honesty during his 42 years of service,which is a source of inspiration.
Prem Bhandari
Gaj Singh Dheeraj Srivastava
Poster of the song
Tina Ahuja
The team of Queen of india
—PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA
—PHOTO
BY
MUKESH
KIRADOO

01082021 first india ahmedabad

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