11122021 first india ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD l SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 17
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW NEW DELHI
The United States won an appeal in London’s
High Court to have Wikileaks founder Julian
Assange extradited to face criminal charges,
including breaking a spying law and conspir-
ing to hack government computers.
A 50-year-old man was lynched by a mob in
Bihar’s Araria district for allegedly stealing
cattle, the police said Friday. The police said
stolen cattle are often sold to nearby slaugh-
terhouses as viilage falls near Nepal border.
Sensex ended the day with a minor loss of 20
points at 58,787. In the process, it did snap
its three-day winning streak. The NSE Nifty
declined to a low of 17,405, before settling
six points lower at 17,511 on Friday.
US WINS APPEAL
OF EXTRADITION
OF WIKILEAKS’
JULIAN ASSANGE
50-YEAR-OLD
MAN LYNCHED IN
BIHAR OVER
CATTLE THEFT
SENSEX, NIFTY
FALL FLAT
ENDING 3-DAY
WINNING STREAK
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Union Home Minister Amit Shah pays tribute to late Chief of Defence
Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on Friday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pays his condolences to Tarini, daughter of
CDS Gen Bipin Rawat on Friday. —Photos By ANI PTI
UNPRECEDENTED FAREWELL TO RAWAT: People participate in the funeral procession of late Chief
of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat from his residence to Brar Square in Delhi cantonment in New Delhi on Friday.
NATION’S LAST SALUTE TO CDS
EMOTIONS RUN HIGH: TWO PROUD DAUGHTERS
PERFORM LAST RITES OF FATHER AND MOTHER
New Delhi: The nation
on Friday bid farewell
to Chief of Defence
Staff (CDS) General Bi-
pin Rawat as he was
laid to rest with full
military honours at
Brar Square cremato-
rium in Delhi canton-
ment.
As per protocol, Gen-
eral Rawat was ac-
corded a 17-gun sa-
lute at his funeral
where 800 service
personnel were in at-
tendance. His daugh-
ters Kritika and Tarini
performed Rawat and
his wife Madhulika’s
last rites.
General Rawat, along
with wife and 11 armed
forces personnel, died
in an Indian Air Force
(IAF) chopper crash
near Coonoor in Tamil
Nadu on Wednesday
.
Several political lead-
ers such as Home Min-
ister Amit Shah, Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath, Con-
gress leader Rahul Gan-
dhi, Delhi CM Arvind
Kejriwal, Uttarakhand
CM Pushkar Singh
Dhami, and DMK lead-
ers A Raja and Kani-
mozhi, among others,
paid tributes to the CDS
and his wife.
Defence Minister Ra-
jnath Singh, National
Security Advisor Ajit
Doval and Haryana
Chief Minister ML
Khattar on Friday laid
wreaths on the mortal
remains of Brigadier
Lidder. He was laid
to rest at the Brar
Square with full mili-
tary honours. More on P6
FIGHTING BACK TEARS Kritika and Tarini, daughters of late Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat and Madhulika
Rawat, look on during the cremation of their parents at Brar Square crematorium in New Delhi on Friday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Oilseed productions up
60% in Gujarat: CM
ESSENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Inaugu-
rating the 10th Agri
Asia Exhibition in Gan-
dhinagar, Chief Minis-
ter Bhupendra Patel
said there has been an
increase in the produc-
tion of oilseeds, grains
and cotton in Gujarat.
While oilseed produc-
tion has risen 60% and
that of grains has gone
up by 65%, cotton pro-
duction has now
touched 73 lakh bales,
meaning Gujarat now
accounts for 20% of all
cotton produced in In-
dia.
Turn to P6
We are in dangerous
zone,warns covid task
force chief on Omicron
Amit Shah to begin
3-day Guj visit today
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Union
Minister for Home and
Cooperatives, Amit
Shah will be visiting
the state for three days
beginning Saturday
.
He is expected to be
accompanied by Chief
Minister Bhupendra
Patel and BJP state unit
president CR Patil
when he attends the
Prant Pratisthan Mo-
hatsav at the Swami-
narayan Temple, at
Sardhar, on the Rajkot-
Bhavnagar highway
.
Shah will also lay the
foundation stone of
eight projects in his
constituency of Gan-
dhinagar and dedicate
the flyover connecting
Hebatpur road and Sci-
ence City road—pro-
jects that have been de-
veloped at a total cost of
Rs275 crore.
On Sunday, Shah will
participate in the
Navchandi Yagna at the
Umiyadham Temple of
the Patidar community,
which Prime Minister
Narendra Modi is ex-
pected to address virtu-
ally
.
India to strengthen
democratic values
globally: PM Modi at
Summit for Democracy
New Delhi: The usage
of masks in the country
has declined to pre sec-
ond surge levels and
now India is in the dan-
gerous zone operating
at a risky and unaccep-
table level, said Dr VK
Paul, chief of India’s
Covid-19 task force and
Member-Health, NITI
Aayog. India reported
nine new cases of Omi-
cron variant on Friday
– two from Gujarat and
seven from Maharash-
tra. With this India’s
tally of the new variant
infection rose to 32.
Meanwhile, the gov-
ernment should assess
the requirement of
booster doses and make
sure all the adult popu-
lation is vaccinated
through a door to door
campaign in view of the
threat from Omicron
variant of the coronavi-
rus, a report by a stand-
ing committee of Par-
liament has recom-
mended.
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Friday reaffirmed In-
dia’s support to
strengthen democratic
values globally, as he
participated in the
‘Summit for Democra-
cy,’ hosted by the US.
“Happy to have par-
ticipated in the Summit
for Democracy at the
invitation of US Presi-
dent Biden,” PM Modi
wrote on Twitter. Lead-
ers of more than 80
countries participated
in the virtual event.
ARMY WORKS TO IDENTIFY REMAINS OF
TEN CASUALTIES OF CHOPPER CRASH
NO CLEAR LINE OF SUCCESSION, CCS
WILL HAVE TO DECIDE ON NEXT CDS
New Delhi: While the mortal remains of only three
persons—General Rawat, wife Madhulika and Brigadier
Lidder—were positively identified and cremated on
Friday, the remains of the remaining 10 will be kept in
the mortuary of the Army Base Hospital till positive iden-
tification is completed. The bodies will then be handed
over to their families for the last rites. The condition of
bodies after crash had made identification difficult and
identification will be done on basis of DNA matching.
New Delhi: The creation of the post of CDS had
come after the demand had been made for decades.
So, when the country’s first CDS, General Bipin
Rawat, died on Wednesday with another year
remaining in his tenure, it created an unforeseen
situation for the establishment: filling a dual-hatted
vacuum. The CDS is also the Secretary of the
Department of Military Affairs (DMA). It is up to the
government to take the call on who would handle
his responsibilities, whether temporarily or taking
over completely. The call, sources said, would be
finalised by Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
CORONA CATASTROPHE
GUJARAT
INDIA
8,402
new cases
32
omicron tally
63
new cases
03
new fatalities
Declining mask
usage worrying
CM Patel and BJP state unit chief CR Patil washed the feet of a
Dalit woman and sought her blessings.
Patidar MPs ask CM to withdraw of 2015 stir cases
Ahmedabad: A group of Patidar MPs of the BJP includ-
ing Mohan Kundariya, Mitesh Patel, Ramesh Dhaduk,
Hasmukh Patel and Shardaben Patel on Friday met
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and urged him to
withdraw cases filed against youths from the community
during the 2015 quota stir. These MPs said CM Patel
had assured them most of the cases against Patidar
community youths will be withdrawn in a few days.
Amit Shah

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2021
02
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Civil
rightsactivistsonFriday
lauded the Gujarat High
Court for pulling up the
Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation over its re-
cent drive against stalls
selling non-vegetarian
food, while a civic body
functionary ruled out
discrimination in the re-
moval of the food carts.
The court on Thurs-
day questioned how peo-
plecouldbestoppedfrom
“eatingwhattheywant”,
and slammed the civic
body for its drive against
street vendors selling
egg-andmeat-basedfood
items.
Civil rights activist
and lawyer KR Koshti
welcomed the court’s ob-
servation. “Even the Gu-
jarat government had
earlier clarified that peo-
ple are free to eat what-
evertheywant.Article21
of theConstitutionguar-
antees people’s funda-
mental right to personal
liberty
, such as what to
eat and what to wear. No
government has the
right to infringe upon
people’s rights.” he said
said.
Mujahid Nafees, the
convenerof theMinority
Coordination Commit-
tee, said the drive of re-
movinghandcartsselling
only non-veg food items
was another tactic by the
BJP-led government to
divide the society based
onfoodhabits.“Iamglad
thatthecourtmadesome
scathing remarks on it.
Eventually
, the AMC had
to announce that there
was no discrimination,”
he added.
Devang Dani, chair-
man of AMC’s town
planningandestatecom-
mittee, last month said
cartssellingnon-vegand
egg dishes along the ma-
jorroadsandina100-me-
tre radius from schools,
colleges, gardens and re-
ligious places will be re-
moved. However, after
Chief Minister Bhupen-
dra Patel intervened,
Dani clarified that veg
food vendors will also
face action.
“That was an anti-en-
croachmentdrive.There
is no question of dis-
crimination. We have
removed carts irrespec-
tive of the food they
were selling,” Dani said
on Friday
.
Activists welcome HC observation in non-veg food row
PERSONAL LIBERTY
Last month, the AMC had launched a drive to remove carts selling meat- and egg-based dishes,
citing encroachment and unhygienic conditions. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
BACKGROUND
Civic body says no question
of discrimination
MLA promises ‘cheaper
gutka’ in fake affidavit
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: An im-
age of an affidavit in
which Dhoraji MLA
Lalit Vasoya seem-
ingly promises to re-
duce the price of
gutka (chewing to-
bacco) from Rs12 to
Rs5 has been doing
the rounds on social
media.
However, Vasoya
took to his social me-
dia account to rub-
bish the image.
“This is the third
time this fake image
has been circulated.
It first appeared
ahead of the elec-
tions in 2017, and
again before the gen-
eral elections in 2019.
I filed police com-
plaints both times,
but nothing has hap-
pened so far,” assert-
ed Vasoya.
He added that he
would now take up
the issue at the next
Assembly session.
“This is nothing
but a dirty trick by
the Bharatiya Jana-
ta Party and their
supporters. They
don’t have concrete
ideas to counter me,
and area hence com-
ing up with such sil-
ly ideas. It is basi-
cally mudslinging
ahead of the Assem-
bly elections next
year,” he further
said.
It is to be noted
that the Saurashtra
region consumes the
highest amount of
gutka in the state.
The Congress MLA posted a rejoinder on his social media accounts.
In pandemic, Vadodara start-up helps
to move worship to online platform
First India Bureau
Vadodara: The COV-
ID-19 pandemic may
have put a stop to reli-
gious practices as ritu-
als. However, two young
entrepreneurs from the
city have devised a solu-
tion to this problem.
Maulik Dhruv and
Bindesh Bhatt’s new on-
line venture, ‘India Oh
Yes,’ offers rituals such
as Tarpana, Katha,
Brahman Bhojan, Pind
Daan, Uttar Kriya, and
more.
This start-up plat-
form was founded with
the intention of follow-
ing religious worship
rituals performed by
priests at holy shrines.
“Our startup plat-
form Indiaohyes.com
facilitates religious
worship and rituals
through video confer-
encing with priests
from religious sites
such as Chanod, Siddh-
pur, and Varanasi. You
can also book the puja
ritual and call the pun-
dit home after verifying
his COVID-19 status
through this platform.
Because of the online
medium, people from
all over the family and
friends can participate
in this puja and watch
it live,” said Bindesh
Bhatt.
Itisworthnotingthat,
in a relatively short pe-
riod of time, thousands
of people both in the
countryandabroadhave
taken advantage of this
virtualworshipthrough
the use of this platform.
“The platform allows
people who have lost
family members to this
deadly virus to worship
and perform rituals. We
have been providing on-
line solutions to people,
particularly NRIs, since
2018, but the pandemic
has boosted our busi-
ness,” Bindesh added.
CORRECTION
Leader of Opposition at the Vadodara Municipal
Corporation Ami Rawat was incorrectly named Amit
Rawat in an article published on Friday. First India deeply
regrets the typo.
MPasksforcancelledflightstoberesumed
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Ranjanben
Bhatt, the Member of
Parliament from Va-
dodara, has approached
Union Civil Aviation
Minister Jyotiraditya
Scindia to discuss the
resumption of flights
that were cancelled
during the pandemic.
With the winter session
of the Parliament cur-
rently underway in
New Delhi, Bhatt has
requested that flights
to three cities in the
country that had been
cancelled from Va-
dodara International
Airport be resumed.
She stated that prior
to the pandemic, flights
from Vadodara to
Mumbai, Delhi, Pune,
Indore, Jaipur, and
Bengaluru were in op-
eration. However,
flights to Jaipur, In-
dore, and Pune have yet
to begin. People from
more than 10 districts
in the Vadodara dis-
trict use this airport
for air travel.
At present, passen-
gers from the city flying
to Jaipur, Indore, or
Pune have to fly into
Ahmedabad. Bhatt has
asked Union Civil Avia-
tion Minister Jyotiradi-
tya Scindia to re-launch
the cancelled flights.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar/New
Delhi: The roof of a
primary school in
B h a v n a g a r ’ s
Thonda village col-
lapsed on Thursday
night, days after the
Bharatiya Janata
Party parliamentar-
ian from Amreli
raised the issue of
dilapidated class-
rooms and shortage
of funds under the
Sarva Sikshan Ab-
hiyan programme
in his constituency.
On Tuesday, Am-
reli MP Naranbhai
Kachadiya had told
the Lok Sabha that
grants under the
Central govern-
ment’s Sarva Sik-
shan Abhiyan (SSA)
programme have fall-
en in the past two
years. As a result, he
said, there was a
shortage of 300 class-
rooms in the district
and that several
schools and class-
rooms were in a di-
lapidated condition.
The Bhavnagar Dis-
trict Primary Educa-
tion Office on Friday
confirmed reports
that the wood-and-tile
roof of the Thonda
Primary school had
collapsed on Thurs-
day night.
Education officer
Mitaben Dudhrejia,
an engineer and a
representative of the
taluka primary edu-
cation office would be
inspecting the situa-
tion during the day,
the Bhavnagar DEO
said, adding that no
request from the
school principal to
pull down the roof
and renovate it has
reached the district
office.
Under the SSA pro-
gramme, the Union
government releases
grants to states,
which then pass them
on to various dis-
tricts.
MP Kachadiya had
implored the Cen-
tre’s education min-
istry to release funds
at the earliest.
As of March 2021,
there is a shortage of
9,000 classrooms in
primary schools in 33
districts, according
to information avail-
able from the assem-
bly records. Of these,
Dahod district is the
worst hit, with a
shortage of 1,087
classrooms, followed
by Mehsana (700),
Anand (596), Bhavna-
gar (506) and Bharuch
(496), among others.
“As per the educa-
tion policy, schools
need to have one
classroom per
teacher, meaning
that a new class-
room needs to be set
up as soon as the
teaching staff in-
creases. So this is a
continuous pro-
cess,” MI Joshi, Di-
rector, Primary Ed-
ucation, said, add-
ing that the state
currently has
2,30,000 classrooms
in primary schools.
CIVIC BODY SAYS NO
QUESTION OF
DISCRIMINATION
IN ISSUE
ROOF OF PRIMARY SCHOOL COLLAPSES
The roof of the Thonda village primary school collapsed on Thursday night.
MP Ranjan Bhatt —FILE PHOTO

GUJARAT
03
First India Bureau
Jamnagar: The wife
and brother-in-law
of an NRI man, who
had been found to be
infected with the
Omicron variant of
COVID-19 here a
week ago, were also
detected with the
new strain, Jamna-
gar Municipal Cor-
poration (JMC) offi-
cials said on Friday.
With this, Gujarat
now has three patients
of Omicron, classified
as a “variant of con-
cern” by the WHO af-
ter it was detected in
Africa last month.
Genome sequencing
of swab samples at the
Gujarat Biotechnology
Research Centre
(GBRC) in Gandhina-
gar has established
that both the COVID-19
patients were also in-
fected with the Omi-
cron variant, the offi-
cials said, adding that
the patients were shift-
ed to a special Omicron
Ward created in the
state-run Guru Gobind
Singh Government
Hospital in the city.
On December 04, ge-
nome sequencing of
swab sample had estab-
lished that the 72-year-
old NRI man, who ar-
rived here from Zimba-
bwe, one of the coun-
tries categorized as
“at-risk” by the Union
government, had con-
tracted the Omicron
variant of COVID-19.
The next day, the
NRI man’s wife, who
had come with him
from Zimbabwe, and
his brother-in-law, who
lives in Jamnagar, test-
ed positive for the nov-
el coronavirus.
Their swab samples
were sent to GBRC to
find out whether they
were infected with the
Omicron variant, the
JMC said in a release.
Genomic sequencing
is a process to decode
genes in SARS-CoV-2,
which causes COV-
ID-19, to help scientists
find which variant
might be present in
swab samples.
Notably, no other
family members or
school students who
frequented the house
of the NRI man’s
brother-in-law for tui-
tion classes tested pos-
itive for COVID-19 dur-
ing the contact tracing
and testing exercise.
As a precautionary
measure, the munici-
pal corporation had
declared the residen-
tial society where the
NRI’s family resides a
micro-containment
zone and restricted the
movement of people
there, by putting up
barricades.
FIRSTPATIENT’SWIFE,BROTHER-IN-LAWALSODETECTEDWITHNEWVARIANT
WITH 2 MORE IN J’NAGAR,
OMICRON TALLY UP TO 3
3 more deaths take Guj
nCoV toll up to 10,098
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar/Surat:
Gujarat registered
three more deaths—
one each in Valsad,
Rajkot, and Bhavna-
gar—in the 24 hours
ended 5 pm on Friday
,
taking the total toll to
10,098 since March
last year, the state
health department
said in a release.
The 24-hour period
also saw 63 new cases,
with Ahmedabad regis-
tering the highest jump
with 13 new cases. With
this, Gujarat has seen a
total of 8,28,006 cases
since the pandemic first
broke out here.
The number of active
cases is now at 480, and
seems to be inching clos-
er to the 500-mark for
the first time in months.
With at least 39 pa-
tients discharged
throughtheday
,thetotal
number of recoveries
has climbed to 8,17,428.
Meanwhile, as Guja-
rat reporting its third
case in which a patient
was found to be infected
by the Omicron variant,
authoritiesinSurathave
stepped up preparations
“to avoid chaos”. The
New Civil Hospital has
set aside 100 beds for
Omicron patients, while
SMIMER has set up a 40-
bed ward for the same.
Testing has also dou-
bled to 9,000 per day in
the city
.
“Since young people
are getting more impact-
ed by Omicron, we are
alerting those between
20 and 35 years of age to
be extra vigilant,” Depu-
ty Commissioner Dr
Ashish Naik said.
Valsad, Rajkot and Bhavnagar have each reported one new death.
480
13 MAX
CASES IN
A’BAD
ACTIVE CASES
8,17,428
TOTAL RECOVERED
39
RECOVERED
IN A DAY
10,098
TOTAL DEATHS
03 DEATHS
IN A DAY
8,28,006
TOTAL CASES
63 CASES IN
A DAY
COVID-19 UPDATE
TBdeathsinGuj
grewmarginally
duringpandemic
First India Bureau
A h m e d a b a d :
Around 6,870 tu-
berculosis pa-
tients—4.5% of
the total 1,50,999
identified in Guja-
rat—died in 2020,
Minister of State
for Health and
Family Welfare
Bharati Pawar
told the Lok Sabha
on Friday, in reply
to a query from
Palakkad MP VK
Sreekandan.
Given that 6,436
of 1,48,695 (4%)
identified TB pa-
tients died in 2019,
this is a marginal
increase.
MP Sreekandan
had asked if the
government had
taken note that TB
deaths had in-
creased for the first
time in over a dec-
ade due to the COV-
ID-19 pandemic, re-
versing years of
progress in tack-
ling the disease.
In response, the
minister responded
that the deaths due
to TB reported un-
der the programme
remained static at
around 4% in 2020,
similar to the pre-
COVID times.
She added that
the Union govern-
ment has provided
support to states to-
wards strengthen-
ing health infra-
structure, includ-
ing the expansion
of laboratory net-
works, surveillance
and contact trac-
ing, procurement
of PPE kits, N-95
masks and ventila-
tors. Of this,
Rs304.16 crore has
been released to the
Gujarat govern-
ment, she added.
In a written reply,
she also said that
the state conducted
an average of 2.717
COVID-19 tests per
1,000 population in
the first five days of
December.
A doctor checks the breathing of a patient with TB.
4.5% of the state’s TB
patients died in 2020, up
from 4% the previous year
2heldunderWildlifeActfor
‘harassinghares’inB’nagar
First India Bureau
Bhavnagar: Officials
from the Bhavnagar
forest department
have handed over two
men to the local po-
lice and filed a case
under sections of the
Wildlife (Protection)
Act of 1972. Arjan
Vaghela and Kalpesh
Makwana have been
accused of harassing
a hare on the Madhi-
ya-Bildi road in Ma-
huva taluka.
According to Forest
Officer SB Bharvad, a
video—believed to
have been shot by the
pillion rider on a two-
wheeler—doing the
rounds on social media
showed the duo chas-
ing the animal and
honking repeatedly.
“Officer Ramesh
Chauhan received the
video on his phone on
December 07 and in-
structedhisteamtostart
an investigation into the
incident,” Bharvad said.
Officialstrackeddown
the suspects using the
SIM card of the phone
used to record the video,
andhandedthemoverto
the police.
While there is no evi-
dence that Vaghela and
Makwana were hunting
the animal, it is a com-
mon practice among
hunters to scare hares
while chasing them into
traps, according to those
familiar with the issue.
Further,thisisnotthe
first time that the forest
department has taken
actionagainstpeoplefor
harassing wild or pro-
tected animals. In the
past, the forest depart-
ment has taken similar
action against persons
in Amreli and Gir Som-
nath district.
Two days ago, hunt-
erswerecaughtattempt-
ing to hunt black bucks
in Velavadar National
Park, and last month,
three hunters were ar-
rested by Sanand forest
officers for hunting mi-
gratory birds in the Nal
Sarovar area.
Interestingly, the
state forest depart-
ment announced in
July that it would set
up a breeding centre
for the Indian hare in
Dahod’s Devgadh Bar-
ia of Dahod district, in
a bid to increase the
prey-base for wild ani-
mals in its forests and
thus mitigate human-
animal conflict in hu-
man habitats.
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE SIGNS
MOU WITH IITE GANDHINAGAR
Gandhinagar: The Ministry of Defence signed
a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with
the Indian Institute of Teacher Education (IITE)
Gandhinagar to provide training to teachers at
Sainik Schools. The MoU was signed in New Delhi
on December 10, 2021 by Rakesh Mittal, Joint
Secretary (Land Works) and Honorary Secre-
tary, Sainik Schools Society (SSS) on behalf of
the Ministry of Defence, and Dr Himanshu Patel,
Registrar of IITE, in the presence of Defence Sec-
retary Dr Ajay Kumar and IITE Vice Chancellor Dr
Harshad A Patel. The Defence Secretary described
the MoU as a significant step toward capacity
building of Sainik School teachers in terms of
imparting quality education to students with In-
dian ethos, and said it would help to enhance the
brand of not only existing Sainik Schools but also
100 upcoming ones.
COPS DIG UP LIQUOR WORTH `2.7L
HIDDEN IN BACKYARD TUNNEL
Vadodara: Bhadarwa police recovered Rs2.58 lakh
worth of Indian-made foreign liquor from a hidden
tunnel in the backyard of a house near Mahisagar in
Dodka in Vadodara district. They are now looking for
absconding house owner Arjunbhai Jerabhai Mali,
against whom they have filed a complaint under the
Prohibition Act. Officials said that personnel had been
out on patrol when they received information that Mali
had ordered a large quantity of liquor from outside the
village and hid it in his backyard. The tunnel was large
enough to hold several adults, they added.
CRUCIAL READ
FITNESS FIRST
Senior citizens brave the early-morning chill to exercise at Ahmedabad’s Law Garden, on Friday. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Arjan Vaghela and Kalpesh Makwana allegedly chased a hare while constantly honking at it.
CLOSE SHAVE FOR FAMILY AS CAR
CATCHES FIRE IN FREAK ACCIDENT
Vadodara: A couple and their son had a close shave
after their car caught on fire near the Tarsali Bypass
bridge near Vadodara. While no one was injured,
the car was totally gutted. Officials said Mohsinbhai
Salimbhai Ghanchi and his family had been on their
way home to Diwan Falia in Makarpura village of the
city from a wedding after dropping off a friend near
Tarsali bypass bridge, when the incident occurred.
The fire brigade controlled the fire, which is believed
to have started due to a short circuit. The police have
launched an investigation.
—FILE
PHOTO
—FILE PHOTO
—FILE PHOTO

PERSPECTIVE
04
lVol3lIssueNo.17
l RNINO.GUJENG/2019/79050.
Printed and published by Anita
Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Ex-
press Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar
Printing Planet Survey No.148P,
Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. San-
and, Dist. Ahmedabad. Publishedat
D/3023rdFloorPlotNo.35Titanium
Square,SchemeNo.2,ThaltejTaluka,
Ghatlodiya,Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Haresh Jhala
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Resounding acknowledgement of
PM@NarendraModi ji’s vision on
climate action.In just 6 years, @
iSolarAlliance has been granted
Observer Status by UN General
Assembly. A sign of overwhelming
global support for India’s efforts for a
sustainable world.
Bhupender Yadav
@byadavbjp
An acknowledgement of PM Shri@
NarendraModi ji’s vision of establishing
solar energy as a shared solution that
simultaneously addresses climate,
energy, and economic priorities across
geographies. Congratulations @
isolaralliance
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Change is the law of
the universe. You can
be a millionaire, or a
pauper in an instant.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
NEW ZEALAND
SHOWS HOW TO
PHASE OUT
CIGARETTE SMOKING
TO SAVE ITS YOUTH
moking is injurious
to health. Smoking
causes cancer. These
warnings have had
little impact on those
who find it difficult to curb the
habit and also those with the be-
ginner’s urge. Increasing the
price of cigarettes also has had
little effect. Banning cigarettes
is out of the question because of
the clout the manufactures have.
They contribute revenue to the
government’s kitty after all!
New Zealand’s Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern has come up
with a well chalked out plan to
root out the bad habit. The
unique plan unveiled by the as-
sociate health minister Ayesha
Verrall includes a lifetime ban
on those aged 14 years or young-
er. According to the plan, which
will be unveiled next year, the
minimum age to buy a cigarette
will keep rising year after year.
“We want to make sure young
people never start smoking so
we will make it an offence to sell
or supply tobacco products,”
Verrall said. And in UP, we can’t
even ban tobacco mixed paan
masala!
TOP TWEETS
S
oe Biden’s ‘Sum-
mit for Democra-
cy’ has come when
the world is wit-
nessing rise of
despotic leaders who preach
democratic values from the
pulpit while practising none.
Not just authoritarian re-
gimes, rightist forces are
gaining strength in several
parts of the world, including
the US and India, to alter the
democratic framework. Some
countries, like Russia and
China, retain the semblance
of democratic processes as a
front to hide subversion of
institutions and violation of
citizens’ rights. In the US, Re-
publican supporters of Don-
ald Trump set a new prece-
dent by storming the Capitol
after their leaders lost the
prez poll. Republicans are op-
posed to Biden’s policy to-
wards migrants, minorities
and blacks and accuse the
Democrats of doing it to ex-
pand their vote bank. The
Democrats accuse Republi-
cans of suppressing these
sections. Similar charges are
being exchanged between the
right wing BJP supporters
and liberals (contemptuously
called libtards). Questions
over media freedom, inde-
pendence of judiciary keep
cropping up in India, while in
the US the media is clearly
divided on party lines. China
and Russia were not invited
to the Summit. Pakistan,
where democracy is managed
by the army, did not attend.
In “Modi’s India: Hindu
Nationalism and the Rise of
Ethnic Democracy”, Chris-
tophe Jafferlot talks of differ-
ent variants of democracy.
There is liberal democracy,
‘which is “an ideal form”, the
“hybrid” form include “peo-
ple’s democracies”, “guided
democracies”, “illiberal de-
mocracies”, or “authoritari-
an democracies” India has
“gone from “conservative de-
mocracy” to experiencing a
democratisation of democ-
racy” and today inventing a
variant of “ethnic democra-
cy”.’ Ideal democracy has
been crowded out.
WHICH DEMOCRACY
BIDEN’S PROMOTING?
Questions over media
freedom, independence of
judiciary keep cropping
up in India, while in the
US the media is clearly
divided on party lines
J
ROHIT: A BETTER ODI
CAPTAIN THAN VIRAT?
he BCCI surprised the crick-
eting world by axing Virat
Kohli and handing over the
ODI Captaincy to Rohit Shar-
ma on Wednesday. The sud-
denness of the decision has
created a furore among fans
and the playing fraternity as
India begins a new era of
‘Split Captaincy’. With dress-
ing room dynamics expected
to change, cricket circles are
busy debating the logic of
dumping a captain who has a
more than enviable record as
captain and is one of the bat-
ting legends of the game.
Meanwhile, the BCCI has
justified the decision to re-
move Virat saying that it
wanted a complete separa-
tion of leadership in differ-
ent formats. BCCI President
Sourav Ganguly has stated
that the BCCI had requested
Virat not to quit as T20 Skip-
per but he chose to go ahead
with his decision. In the end,
it was left to the selectors to
take a call. Kohli has a splen-
did captaincy record but has
no ICC trophy against his
name. In addition, the loss in
2019 ODI World Cup along
with the shocking failure in
the recent T20 World Cup
didn’t help his cause.
A form slump over the past
two years also diminished
his aura to an extent. He has
scored 560 runs in 12 ODIs
without a century. His aver-
age during this period is
46.66, well below his career
average of 59.07. In 20 T20Is
during the same period, he
has scored 594 runs at 49.50,
while in 13 Tests in the last
two years, he made 599 runs
at an average of just 26.04.
Former Coach Ravi Shastri,
however, had defended his
captain’s lean patch and said,
“in the last 24 months, they
(the players) have been home
for 25 days. I don’t care who
you are, if your name is Brad-
man and you are in a bubble,
your average will come down
because you are human.”
A small comparison be-
tween the personalities of
the Virat-Rohit duo reveals a
lot about their captaincy
styles. Virat, being fierce and
the one who wears his heart
on his sleeve, is more emo-
tionally involved during the
game. Rohit is calmer and
more analytical, a fact re-
flected in his field place-
ments and bowling changes.
This subtle difference often
makes Rohit a better reader
of the game while Virat’s
hyper-aggression and over-
involvement makes him an
excellent cricketer but often
an ordinary captain.
An important aspect to
consider between the two is
the lack of any major titles
won by Virat. His captaincy
record in the IPL is the poor-
est of all captains. India has
lost some big matches in his
tenure, which also goes
against Kohli. In contrast,
Rohit has not only enjoyed
IPL success but has been phe-
nomenal in the sporadic cap-
taincy opportunities he has
had at the international lev-
el. He has led India in 10
ODIs, of which the side has
won eight and lost two. In
T20Is, India have won 15 of
the 19 games that Rohit has
led the team in. He has also
won 2 trophies in 2018 for
Team India without Virat
Kohli and other senior play-
ers. In addition, in his first
T20 series as full captain, Ro-
hit proved to be a super hit
knocking out the Kiwis 3-0
last month.
Some inside sources also
say that Rohit Sharma was
also deemed a better option
as he has a history of guiding
the younger generation. Virat
was seen a bit aloof beyond
the ground. Rohit on the oth-
er side, takes the junior play-
ers out for meals, motivates
them and makes a special ef-
fort to understand and nour-
ish the mental aspects of
younger players in the team.
But this change in captain-
cy announcement could have
been more professionally
handled. No matter what
politics goes on inside the
dressing room or in the cor-
ridors of power, a media re-
lease can be better produced
especially when it involves
two legends of the game.
Split Captaincy at best of
times is a tricky prospect.
Both Virat and Rohit will play
together in all 3 formats. Bal-
ancing personal equations is
bound to be a tough task.
What the two will be grap-
plingwithisacasewherethey
will be receiving commands
in one format and be the com-
mander in another. They will
need to show the kind of ma-
turity which ensures that the
two greats play under each
other without ever allowing
their egos to come in the way
of team goals. If the Virat-
RohitCombocandisplaysuch
sagacity, the duo can take
Team India to greater glory in
the days to come.
For the moment, Rahul
Dravid’s coaching assign-
ment has become a lot tough-
er as Split Captaincy and its
complex challenges can test
the best. In the interplay be-
tween Kohli and Rohit, Rahul
Dravid will have to play a
criticalroleasabridgeandan
affectionate, fair-minded big
brother for India to lift World
titles in the coming years.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
T
Split Captaincy at best of
times is a tricky prospect.
Both Virat and Rohit will
play together in all 3
formats. Balancing
personal equations is
bound to be a tough task.
What the two will be
grappling with is a case
where they will be receiving
commands in one format
and be the commander in
another. They will need to
show the kind of maturity
which ensures that the two
greats play under each
other without ever allowing
their egos to come in the
way of team goals.
A small comparison
between the
personalities of the Virat-
Rohit duo reveals a lot
about their captaincy
styles. Virat, being fierce
and the one who
wears his heart on his
sleeve, is more
emotionally involved
during the game. Rohit is
calmer and more
analytical, a fact reflected
in his field placements
and bowling changes
SIDDHAARTH MAHAN
The writer is a specialist on Sports
and Cinema who works as an actor
in the Hindi film industry

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INDIA
05
Mahseh Sharma
New Delhi: When the
Parliament is in ses-
sion, every Tuesday a
meeting of the BJP Par-
liamentary Party is
held and two news in-
evitably come out of it.
The first news is that
the party’s MPs honour
the Prime Minister on
some issue and the sec-
ond news is that the
Prime Minister advises
or reprimands his MPs
regarding their pres-
ence in Parliament.
Both these things hap-
pened in the meeting
held this Tuesday also.
PM was honoured for
announcing Tribal
Pride Day on November
15 and after that he rep-
rimanded the MPs say-
ing that if they do not
change themselves,
they will be changed.
The Prime Minister
again said in very clear
words that the MPs
should ensure attend-
ance in both the houses
and compete, within
themselves, for highest
attendance.
He has said this in
almost every meeting
before this, yet his MPs
do not listen to him.
This became evident
and infact turned out to
be an embarrassing mo-
ment for the govern-
ment when in the Lok
Sabha, where the BJP
has more than three
hundred MPs, there
was no quorum to start
the discussion on Coro-
na, due to which the dis-
cussion started later.
Many knowledgeable
leaders are also believ-
ing that due to the
weakness of Parliamen-
tary Affairs Ministers,
the attendance of MPs
is also decreasing.
ARE MPs NOT LISTENING TO PM?
PARLIAMENT SESSION
New Delhi: PM Naren-
dra Modi on Friday
held a meeting with
senior ministers in Par-
liament to discuss strat-
egy for the ongoing win-
ter session. Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah, Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman,
Union Sports Minister
Anurag Thakur, Union
Minister for Consumer
Affairs, Food and Pub-
lic Distribution Piyush
Goyal were among the
attendees.
The winter session of
Parliament began on
Nov 29 and is scheduled
to conclude on Dec 23.
Meanwhile, both Hous-
es of Parliament have
witnessed repeated ad-
journments over the
Opposition's demand
for revocation of sus-
pension of 12 MPs from
the Rajya Sabha. The
MPs were suspended
over alleged unruly
conduct towards the
end of the monsoon ses-
sion in August. Both
Houses of the Parlia-
ment observed two-min-
ute silence over the de-
mise of General Rawat
and others.
PM Modi meets ministers
for winter session strategy
ONELASTTIME...ADIOSHEROS
This was PM Modi’s third consecutive meeting over the ongoing Winter
New Delhi: In his just-
published memoir,
Justice Ranjan Gogoi,
former Chief Justice of
India, defended his de-
cision to join the Rajya
Sabha 4 months after
retiring from the SC, a
move that had come
in for widespread criti-
cism. I have submitted
a letter to the house
saying that because of
Covid, I am not attend-
ing the session. I go
to the RS whenever I
feel like it, when I think
there are matters of
importance on which I
should speak.
I GO WHEN I
FEEL LIKE:
JUSTICE GOGOI
New Delhi: We
must give a good
farewell, a smiling
sendoff. I am a sol-
dier’s wife. I have
nothing more to say
.
It is a big loss, Gee-
tika Lidder, the wife
of Brigadier Lakh-
winder Singh Lid-
der said.
“I am going to be
17.Sohewaswithme
for 17 years, we will
go ahead with happy
memories. It’s a na-
tional loss. My father
was a hero, my best
friend, Aashna Lid-
der, the Brigadier’s
daughter said after
the funeral.The
scenes at the funeral
were heartbreaking.
Meanwhile, Group
Captain Varun Sin-
gh, the only survivor
of the horrific crash
remains critical but
stable, sources in the
Indian Air Force
said. —Agencies
Must give him a
smiling send-off, says
wife of Brigadier Lidder
LS Speaker Om Birla pays last respect to the mortal remains of CDS Rawat and his wife Madhulika. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh pays last respects to the mortal remains to CDS his wife.
Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane pays his last respect to the mortals in New Delhi on Friday. Meanwhile, the ashes of CDS
and his wife Madhulika Rawat will be immersed in the Ganga at Haridwar around noon on Saturday, said a source. BKU leader Rakesh Tikait pays his last respect to CDS.
Wife of late Brigadier Lakhwinder Singh Lidder pays her
last respects,also seen is Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
MODI TO INAUGURATE
SARYU NAHAR IN UP
New Delhi: PM Modi
will be inaugurat-
ing a 43-year old
irrigation project in
UP Balrampur district
on Saturday at around
1 pm. According to
the PM office, the
Saryu Nahar National
Project will provide
assured water for irri-
gation of over 14 lakh
hectares of land and
benefits to farmers.
PM Narendra Modi
New Delhi: Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya
Sabha MP Elamaram Kareem on Friday slammed
Centre for not adjourning proceedings of the House
until the cremation of CDS General Bipin Rawat and
others who lost their lives in a tragic chopper crash.
Kareem said, “It is very sad news for the nation. But
the government has to respect them while they are be-
ing cremated in Delhi. They are smoothly conducting
the House. What is the meaning of this? What respect
is the government showing to the deceased personali-
ties? That is to be questioned.” “Why are you conduct-
ing the House? Why don’t you adjourn the House up
to noon and then resume the House?,” he said.
New Delhi: At present, there are 33 Sainik Schools
functioning in the country, out of which five were
set up during the last three years and the total funds
earmarked to Sainik Schools Society is Rs 300 crore,
informed the Ministry of Defence on Friday. Currently,
there are five Rashtriya Military Schools function-
ing in the country. In the current financial year, the
total funds earmarked to Rashtriya Military Schools
is Rs 6.174 crore, said the ministry. According to
the Defence Ministry, the Government has approved
a scheme for setting up of 100 Sainik Schools in
partnership with NGOs/private schools/ state govern-
ments, etc on an affiliation basis.
GOVT SHOULD HAVE ADJOURNED
PARL FOR RITES OF CDS: CPM MP
`300-CR FOR SAINIK
SCHOOLS: DEF MINISTRY
The Rajya Sabha on
Friday witnessed
the 2 consecutive
‘smooth’ day as it
completed almost all
listed business with-
out any ruckus, while
the scene outside the
House was different
as the protest of 12
suspended MPs.
RS FUNCTIONS
AMID PROTESTS
New Delhi: Supreme
Court on Friday direct-
ed the Commission for
Air Quality Manage-
ment (CAQM) to exam-
ine various intervening
applications seeking
lifting of construction
ban and relaxation on
industrial restrictions
within a week.
A bench headed by
Chief Justice of India
NVRamanaaskedAQM
to decide on lifting on
construction ban and
relaxing industrial re-
strictions. The Court
said that it expects that
the commission will
take a call in one week.
The Court was hearing
various intervening ap-
plications of various
builders, forum, sugar,
rice and paper mills etc.
SC asks CAQM to decide
on lifting construction ban
New Delhi: The Del-
hi High Court has
directed the Commis-
sioner of Delhi Police
to constitute a team
of experts to under-
take the exercise of
security audit of the
HC Complex. Divi-
sion Bench of Chief
Justice D.N. Patel and
Justice Jyoti Singh
said: the team so con-
stituted would take
considered decision
on the various securi-
ty-related aspects.
New Delhi: WB Chief
Minister and leader of
Trinamool Congress
Mamata Banerjee ap-
pears to be sternly ad-
dressing her party
member Mahua Moitra
at a meeting in a video
that is being widely cir-
culated online.
‘Cops to form
expert team for
courts security’
MAHUA,MAMATA
BANERJEE VIDEO
GOES VIRAL
Mumbai: The Bom-
bay HC on Friday said
the Enforcement Di-
rectorate's adjudicat-
ing authority can hear
and pass final orders
on the provisional at-
tachment of assets of
Maharashtra's former
home minister Anil
Deshmukh and his
wife Aarti in a money
laundering case, but
no coercive action
shall be taken with re-
gard to these proper-
ties till January 10.
Anil Deshmukh, an
NCP leader, was ar-
rested in the case last
month and is present-
ly in judicial custody
.
No coercive action in Deshmukh
asset case till January 10
IN THE COURTYARD
Only70medcollegesfunctional
inIndia’sbackwardareas:Min
New Delhi: Union
Health Minister Man-
sukh Mandaviya on Fri-
day said out of the total
157 newly approved
medical colleges in the
country’s backward ar-
eas, only 70 institutes
have become functional
till date.“Health is a
state subject, and pri-
mary responsibility to
ensure availability of
public health facilities
lies with the state gov-
ernment. However, the
Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare admin-
isters a Centrally Spon-
sored Scheme for ‘Estab-
lishment of new Medi-
cal Colleges attached
with existing district
and referral hospitals’
with preference to un-
der-served areas and as-
pirational districts
where there is no exist-
ing government or pri-
vate medical college,”
he said in Parliament.
New Delhi : The Eco-
nomic Offences Wing
of Delhi Police has ar-
rested a former Group
CEO of Religare En-
terprises Limited in
connection with si-
phoning off public
money of over Rs 2,300
crore, officials said.
The accused has been
identified as Krishnan
Subramanian, a resi-
dentof Rohiniinnorth
west Delhi, they said.
According to police,
Manpreet Singh Suri,
ARof ReligareFinvest
Ltd, filed a complaint.
These firms willfully
defaulted in repay-
ments and caused
wrongfullosstoRFLto
tune of Rs 2,397 cr.
DelhiPolicearrestsex-ReligareCEO
Mansukh Mandaviya
—FILE
PHOTO

Panaji: Congress Gen-
eral Secretary Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra on Fri-
day promised 30 per
cent reservation in jobs
for women if her party
is voted to power in the
upcoming assembly
polls in Goa and asked
people to be aware of
new parties coming in
the state from “outside”
in an apparent dig at
the AAP. She criticised
the Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP), which is seeking
to play a major role in
Goa’s electoral politics,
holding it responsible
for the air pollution in
the national capital
where the Arvind Kejri-
wal-led outfit is in pow-
er.
Priyanka Gandhi,
during her day-long
tour to the coastal state,
visited Morpirla village
in the Quepem assem-
bly segment where she
interacted with tribal
women. The Congress
leader also joined the
tribal women in per-
forming their tradition-
al dance. When you go
to vote this time, first of
all think about yourself,
your state and your
family
. Vote for the par-
ty that will solve your
issues, she said in a
brief address to the
gathering. —PTI
INDIA
06
New Delhi: The Nation-
al Green Tribunal has
asked the joint commit-
tee of Central Pollution
Control Board (CPCB),
Uttar Pradesh PCB and
Uttarakhand State PCB
to submit a joint report
mentioning the details
of groundwater extrac-
tion and the compliance
of conditions for pre-
venting pollution of riv-
ers in their vicinity
.
The NGT Bench head-
ed by its chairperson
Justice Adarsh Kumar
Goel said that it consid-
ers it appropriate to re-
quire a joint report by a
joint committee within
two months. “It said that
the joint committee may
also furnish details of
groundwater extraction,
compliance of condi-
tions for preventing pol-
lution of rivers in the
vicinity
, the extent of
discharge of pollutants
and compensation as-
sessed and recovered in
the past and also recom-
mend further remedial
action, if necessary
,”
Justice Goyal said.
Thereafter, the bench
listed the matter for fur-
ther consideration on
March 14, 2022.
The NGT was hearing
a plea seeking execution
of order dated March 18,
2021, whereby directions
were issued for remedial
action against pollution
by the polluting indus-
trial activities discharg-
ing polluted effluents in
River Bhella which
meets Kosi river in Ram-
pur, which is a tributary
of Ramganga, which in
turn is a tributary of
river Ganga. The Tribu-
nal had found that pollu-
tion of river Bhella was
acknowledged.
According to the exe-
cution application, the
State PCB, Central
Ground Water Board
(CGWA) and other statu-
tory authorities have
failed to take steps for
enforcementof theorder
of this tribunal.
Apart from the con-
tinuous discharge of ef-
fluents, groundwater ex-
traction has been taking
place illegally
.
The reports filed sepa-
rately by CPCB stated
thatit,alongwithUttara-
khandStatePCBandUP-
PCB carried out moni-
toring of water quality
of the rivers in question
and in a few stretches,
water quality was found
deteriorated as com-
pared to other stretches.
VideletterdatedSeptem-
ber 9, 2021, the reports of
water quality were for-
warded to the concerned
State PCBs to take reme-
dial measures, CPCB
said in its report. —ANI
Submit joint report on pollution: NGT tells Centre, UP, U’khand
GROUND WATER EXTRACTION
INDIA SAVED MILLIONS OF LIVES THROUGH
FREE, UNIVERSAL AVAILABILITY OF VAX: PREZ
New Delhi: President
Ram Nath Kovind on
Friday said India has
been able to save mil-
lions of lives by adopt-
ing a policy of free and
universal availability
of Covid-19 vaccine. Ad-
dressing a Human
Rights Day event organ-
ised by the National Hu-
man Rights Commis-
sion, Kovind said the
humanity is grappling
with the worst pandem-
ic in the history
.
“While the pandemic
is not yet over, and the
virus seems to be one
step ahead of human-
kind, the world has so
far responded to it by
placing our trust in sci-
ence and in global part-
nership,” he said. He
said that though the
pandemic affects the
humanity universally,
it is also seen that it has
disproportionately dev-
astating impact on the
vulnerable sections of
society. “In this con-
text, India, despite the
obvious challenges, has
been able to save mil-
lions of lives by adopt-
ing a policy of free and
universal availability
of vaccine. With the
biggest vaccination ex-
ercise in history, the
Government has also
been able to provide
protection against the
virus to nearly a billion
people,” he added.
He praised doctors,
and all other “corona
warriors” for their he-
roic efforts to uphold
people’s right to life and
right to health. —PTI
While the pandemic is
not yet over, and the
virus seems to be one
step ahead of human-
kind, the world has so
far responded to it by
placing our trust in
science and in global
partnership
President Ram Nath Kovind
New Delhi: India ‘s cu-
mulative Covid-19 vac-
cination coverage has
exceeded 131.18 crore
doses on Friday, said
the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare.
As per provisional re-
ports, till 7 am on Fri-
day, with the adminis-
tration of 74,57,970 vac-
cine doses in the last 24
hours, India’s Covid-19
vaccination coverage
has exceeded 131.18
crores (1,31,18,87,257).
This has been
achieved through
1,36,76,290 sessions, in-
formed the Ministry
.
Meanwhile, India on
Friday reported 8,503
new Covid-19 cases and
624 deaths. With this,
the country’s active
caseload reached 94,943.
Active cases constitute
0.27 per cent of the
country’s total positive
cases, which is the low-
est since March 2020.
The recovery of 7,678
patients in the last 24
hours has increased the
cumulative tally of re-
covered patients to
3,41,05,066. Consequent-
ly, India’s recovery rate
stands at 98.36 per cent
that is the highest since
March 2020.
The testing capacity
across the country con-
tinues to be expanded.
The last 24 hours saw a
total of 12,93,412 tests
being conducted. —ANI
Mumbai: Amid mount-
ing concerns over the
emergence of the Omi-
cron variant and its
large number of muta-
tions, Maharashtra
Deputy Chief Minister
Ajit Pawar on Friday
said a booster dose
against Covid-19 comes
into picture only when
the eligible population
is fully vaccinated
against the viral infec-
tion and that is the cur-
rent priority for the
State Government.
However, a decision
on the booster dose has
to be taken by the Cen-
tre, he said.
As Pune district
achieved 100 per cent
administration of the
first dose of vaccines,
while speaking about
the booster dose, Pawar
said doctors from the
task force have suggest-
ed that the district ad-
ministration should
first ensure that both
the doses of vaccines
are administered.
“It has been proved
that those who have
taken both the doses are
less impacted by the vi-
rus. There are cases in
some areas where
booster doses have been
administered... such
people experienced
mild effects when they
got infected,” the Minis-
ter said. —PTI
New Delhi: Instances
of fake Covid-19
vaccination camps
and vaccines have
come to the Central
Government’s notice
from Maharashtra,
West Bengal and Ut-
tar Pradesh, the Lok
Sabha was told on
Friday. The Ministry
of Health has directed
the State Govern-
ments to investigate
these instances and
take stringent legal
actions so that such
fraudulent activities
are not repeated in
the future, Minister
of State for Health
Bharati Pravin Pawar
said in written reply
to a question. —PTI
Panaji: The Goa
Congress faced a spate
of resignations and
confusion prevailed
over its alliance with
like-minded parties for
the upcoming polls
in the coastal state as
the opposition party
was getting ready for
a series of meetings
by general secretary
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
today. A group of
Congress leaders from
the Goa’s Porvorim
assembly constituency
resigned this morning.
The group, supported
by Independent MLA
Rohan Khaunte,
claimed the Congress
was not serious about
contesting the assem-
bly polls likely to be
held in early 2022.
“The Congress party
does not seem to be
interested in contest-
ing the upcoming Goa
elections seriously. It
is a non-starter due to
the attitude of some of
its leaders,” Gupesh
Naik, a former zilla
panchayat member,
who led the group
from Porvorim, told
reporters.
In yet another set-
back for the Congress,
its senior leader from
South Goa Moreno Re-
belo too resigned. —PTI
FAKE COVID
JABS NOTED
IN UP, MAHA,
BENGAL: GOVT
GOA CONGRESS HIT BY RESIGNATIONS
ON DAY OF PRIYANKA GANDHI’S VISIT
Pune: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar
and State Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil on Friday
held a meeting to review the Covid-19 situation in
Pune, said sources. “The meeting is currently under-
way at Pune Council Hall. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and
Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil are joined by other
senior officials of the district,” informed sources. This
is the first meeting after cases of new Covid-19 variant
Omicron were detected in the city. —PTI
MAHA DY CM, HM HOLD MEETING TO
REVIEW COVID-19 SITUATION IN PUNE
Cumulative vaccination
coverage exceeds 131.18 cr
Booster shot only after completing vax drive: Ajit
Panaji: Three passen-
gers, including a Brit-
ish national of Goan-
origin, who arrived at
the international air-
port in Goa on a flight
from the United King-
dom on early on Fri-
day, tested positive for
Covid-19, State Health
Minister Vishwajit
Rane said.
Mr Rane said the
three passengers have
been shifted to an iso-
lation facility in
South Goa, while all
other travellers on the
flight who tested neg-
ative will be kept in
home quarantine for
eight days before un-
dergoing another test
at the end of it.
The Health Minis-
ter tweeted, “This is
with reference to
flight AI 146 that ar-
rived from the UK to-
day morning. 237 trav-
ellers tested on arriv-
al. 3 patients (passen-
gers) have been tested
positive.” —PTI
New Delhi: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and BJP
chief JP Nadda carried Guru Granth Sahib brought by a
Sikh delegation from Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday. The
delegation has brought three
copies of the Guru Granth
Sahib to New Delhi in a special
flight. The flight from Kabul
with over 100 people including
Afghan citizens belonging to
the Hindu and Sikh communities arrived in New Delhi.
The flight was operated under Operation Devi Shakti and
bought 10 Indians and 94 Afghans. —ANI
New Delhi: India on Friday evacuated 104 people,
including 10 Indian nationals, from Kabul in a special
charter aircraft. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson
Arindam Bagchi said the flight
was arranged under India’s op-
eration Devi Shakti. The opera-
tion was launched to evacuate
Indians from Afghanistan after
it fell to the Taliban on August
15. “Under Operation Devi Shakti, a special Kam Air
flight arranged by India has arrived in New Delhi from
Kabul,’’ Bagchi tweeted. —ANI
PURI, NADDA CARRY GURU GRANTH
SAHIB BROUGHT FROM AFGHANISTAN
INDIA BRINGS BACK 104 PEOPLE FROM
AFGHANISTAN IN SPECIAL FLIGHT
CRUCIAL READ
Priyanka promises 30% quota in jobs
for women if voted to power in Goa
Ultras attack
police party in
Bandipora, 2
cops killed
3 UK passengers test Covid-19
positive at Goa airport; isolated
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joins the folk dance performance of tribal
women, in South Goa district of Goa on Friday —PTI
Srinagar: Two police-
men were killed after
terrorists attacked a po-
lice party in Gulshan
Chowk of North Kash-
mir’s Bandipora dis-
trict on Friday
.
Inspector General
(IG) Kashmir Police Vi-
jay Kumar told India
Today that two cops re-
ceived bullets when
militants attacked the
police party
.
They were shifted to
a nearby hospitalin a
critical condition, the
officer added.
However, both the po-
licemen, identified as
Mohd. Sultan and Fayaz
Ahmad, succumbed to
their injuries, Kashmir
Zone Police tweeted.
—Agencies
Oilseed...
Earlier in the day, the
state government an-
nounced that night cur-
few (1-5 am) will remain
in place in eight major
cities to curb the spread
of COVID-19. On Friday
morning, CM Patel at-
tended the Naryastu
Vandana programme in
Himmatnagar, where
he and BJP state unit
chief CR Patil felicitat-
ed 10,000 widows and
washed the feet of a
Dalit woman, seeking
her blessings.
In Himmatnagar, Pa-
tel said that his party
introduced 50% reser-
vation for women in
panchayats and civic
bodies to uplift them.
Meanwhile, at the
Agri Asia exhibition,
the CM said the BJP is
always concerned about
the growth of agricul-
ture and the well-being
of farmers, which is
why the government
has introduced loans to
farmers at 0% interest
and both the Central
and state governments
intervene procure agro
products at minimum
support price, to ensure
that farmers get good
prices for their har-
vests.
About 225 companies
and eight foreign start-
ups participated in the
exhibition.
FROM PG 1

BIZ BUZZ
07
INDIA NEEDS TO GROW AT 8-9%
TO CREATE JOBS, SAYS RAJAN
New Delhi: How do we
multiply jobs and is our
growth strong enough
to help meet that chal-
lenge? That’s the ques-
tion former RBI gover-
nor Raghuram Rajan
feels we should be ask-
ing as India claws its
way up from pan-
demic lows.
In an interview to
a publication, Rajan
delved on the chal-
lenges that confront
India even as he ac-
knowledges that the
picture is mixed and
certain sectors have
done well
while others have
struggled to recover.
Dismissing talk of a
V-shaped recovery, he
said growth after a bad
enough
downturn
will always be V-shaped
and the real challenge
before the country is to
achieve a sustained
8-9% growth.
“India has to do a lot
of things to try and get
the growth it truly de-
serves. Where we
should
be grow-
ing is at
8-9%. That’s
what is necessary to
create jobs for the
young people coming
out,” Rajan observed.
India achieved a
growth of 8.4% in the
second quarter of the
current fiscal. It was in
line with estimates but
came on the back of
contraction in the
same quarter last
year.
The former RBI
governor thinks
addressing the
challenges on
the job crea-
tion front
should be a
priority. He
said that the
p o p u l a t i o n
dividend only
becomes a divi-
dend when jobs are
created.
He underline the fact
that India has covered
the lost ground in
terms of reaching the
pre-Covid level but the
goal is to get back to the
trend level of growth.
“We just made up the
ground that we lost in
going down but we
haven’t made up the
ground that we lost be-
cause we were growing
already at a fast pace,”
Rajan added.
—Agencies
Former RBI governor thinks
addressing challenges on job
creation front should be a priority
November passenger
vehicle wholesales
lowest in seven years
New Delhi: Passen-
ger vehicle whole-
sales in the country
declined by 19% in
November as the
semiconductorshort-
age continued to im-
pact vehicle produc-
tion and subsequent
deliveries to dealer
partners, auto indus-
try body SIAM said
on Friday
. The pas-
senger vehicle (PV)
dispatches last
month stood at
2,15,626 units,
down 19%
f r o m
2 , 6 4 , 8 9 8
units in
Nov 2020.
Similar-
ly, total
two-wheeler sales de-
clined sharply by
34% to 10,50,616 units
last month from
16,00,379 units in the
year-ago period. To-
tal three-wheeler dis-
patches stood at
22,471units,down7%
from 24,071 units in
Nov 2020.
Total automobile
sales across catego-
ries drooped to
12,88,759 units last
month compared to
18,89,348 units in the
year-ago period. “In
the festive season, in-
dustry was hoping to
make up for the lost
ground, but the sales
in the month of No-
vember 2021, were
the lowest in seven
years for passenger
vehicles, the lowest
in 11 years for two-
wheelers and the
lowest in 19
years for three-
wh e e l e r s, ”
SIAM Direc-
tor General
said in a
state-
ment.
—PTI
The
PV dispatches last
month stood at 2,15,626
units, down 19% from 2,64,898
units in Nov 2020. Similarly, total two-
wheeler sales declined sharply by
34% to 10,50,616.
LIC gets RBI approval
to hike stake in
IndusInd Bank to 9.99%
New Delhi: Private
bank IndusInd Bank
on Friday said the
RBI has given ap-
proval to Life Insur-
ance Corporation to
increase stake in the
bank to nearly 10%.
The bank has re-
ceived an intimation
from the RBI on De-
cember 9, that it has
granted its approval
to Life Insurance
Corporation (LIC),
shareholder of the
bank to acquire up
to 9.99% of the total
issued and paid up
capital of the bank,
the bank said in a
regulatory filing on
stock exchanges.
The state-run in-
surer holds 4.95% of
the total issued and
paid-up capital of
the bank.
The RBI approval
is subject to the com-
pliance with the di-
rection on ‘Prior Ap-
proval for Acquisi-
tion of Shares and
Voting Private Sec-
tor Banks’ as well as
regulations of the
Sebi and any guide-
lines or regulations.
—PTI
India has to do a lot of things to try and
get the growth it truly deserves. Where we
should be growing is at 8-9%. That’s what is
necessary to create jobs for the young people
coming out.
—Raghuram Rajan, Former RBI governer
‘Fintech industry to be valued
at over $150 billion by 2025’
New Delhi: The fin-
tech industry has seen
tremendous growth in
the country in the last
couple of years and
Amitabh Kant, CEO,
Niti Aayog, on Friday
said the country has
established itself on
the global stage as a
vibrant fintech hub.
He attributed the
fintech growth sto-
ry to the Digital In-
dia initiative. “The
first requirement
that had to be ad-
dressed was that of
a digital identity sys-
tem with a built-in
authentication mech-
anism and with the
development of the
Aadhaar, we had the
first building block of
the FinTech ecosys-
tem ready,” he said.
This was followed by
shifting the emphasis
in the digital infra-
structure layer to peer-
to-peer transfer of
money
, he said, lauding
the initiative
United Payments
Interface (UPI), which
recorded over 3.5 bil-
lion transactions by
October 2021.
Kant explained that
the fintech ecosystem
can now focus on lend-
ing for both consumers
and MSME-based. At
the same time, more
traditional financial
services such as insur-
ance, personal finance,
and gold lending have
also come under the
fintech radar.
“There are over 2100
fintech companies in
India, out of which
more than 67% have
been set up in the last
five years. The fintech
industry has a cumula-
tive funding of over
$27.6 billion and is ex-
pected to be valued at
over $150 billion by
2025,” he said. —Agencies
Rachna
Bahadur to
lead Byju’s
global
expansion
New Delhi: Edtech
major Byju’s on Fri-
day said it has ap-
pointed former Bain
Company Partner
Rachna Bahadur as
the senior vice pres-
ident to lead its
global expansion
plans. In this role,
Bahadur will lead
the overall planning,
strategy, and road-
map for Byju’s ex-
pansion in new and
existing markets, a
statement said.
In addition to de-
signing Byju’s next
growth phase, creat-
ing new partner-
ships, reinforcing
sales, and solidifying
the company’s mar-
ket positioning
across the globe, she
will also be responsi-
ble for strengthening
the footprint of
Byju’s recent acqui-
sition of Epic in the
US market, it added.
—PTI
Vedanta Group secures top
awards at CSR summit 2021
New Delhi: Vedanta
Group was conferred
with two prestigious
awards at the 7th CSR
Impact awards by CSR-
Box at the virtual India
CSR Summit 2021 held
on December 9. These
awards recognise Ve-
danta’s CSR flagship
project Nand Ghar as
the CSR Project of the
Year under ‘Large’ cat-
egory and e-Kaksha,
the digital education
initiative of Ve-
danta group
c o m p a n y
Cairn Oil
Gas, as the
CSR Project
of the Year
u n d e r
‘Small’ cate-
gory
.
T he
NandGharprogramme,
in partnership with the
Ministry of Women
Child Development,
aims to provide
critical access to
n u t r i t i o n ,
healthcare,
education to
children and
women em-
powerment.
Around
2800 Nand Ghars have
been set up across 12
states in India with the
vision of transforming
the lives of 7 crore chil-
dren and 2 crore women
across 13.7 lakh angan-
wadis in India.
The e-Kaksha project
was implemented in
collaboration with De-
partment of Education,
Government of Ra-
jasthan, with the intent
of providing free and
quality education to
students of Class 6th to
12th in Hindi medium
schools of Rajasthan
through digital plat-
forms and offline desk-
top applications. As
many as 66,221 Govt
schools and 87,13,460
children across 33 dis-
tricts have benefitted
from the project. —FIB
GOVT ROLE
Mumbai: Equitybench-
marks Sensex and Nifty
ended marginally lower
on Friday, led by losses
in index majors HDFC
twins, Infosys and Ko-
tak Bank amid negative
global cues.
The 30-share BSE
Sensex declined 20.46
points or 0.03% to end at
58,786.67. Similarly, the
broader NSE Nifty
slipped 5.55 points or
0.03% to 17,511.30.
Titan was the top los-
er in the Sensex pack,
shedding over 1%, fol-
lowed by HDFC, Axis
Bank, Kotak Bank and
Tech Mahindra.
On the other hand,
Asian Paints, SBI,
MM, TCS and Bajaj
Finserv were among the
gainers.
Domestic equities
gave positive returns
this week amid easing
concerns pertaining to
the potential severity of
the Omicron vari-
ant of COV- ID-19,
said Shrikant Chouhan,
Head of Equity Re-
search (Retail), Kotak
Securities.
Sensex and Nifty
gave positive re-
turns of around
1.7% this week.
BSE Midcap
and BSE Small-
cap index out-
performed the
l a r g e r
indices
w i t h
gains ranging between
2-3% this week. The
majority of the secto-
ral indices saw pos-
itive re-
turns.
—PTI
The awards
acknowledge
Vedanta’s
contribution
towards child
welfare and
education
Sensex falls by 20 points, Nifty ends at 17,511
RUPEE HITS 18-MONTH LOW AGAINST DOLLAR TEXTILE INDUSTRY GOES ON STRIKE OVER GST
New Delhi: More than 4,000 textiles
wholesale, retail shops and textile
producers and merchants dealing
with yarn in the district closed
shutters on Friday as part of a one-
day strike called for by the Erode
Textile Merchants Association. The
strike was to protest against the
increase in GST (goods and services
tax) from 5% to 12%. President of
Erode Cloth Merchants Association
Kalaiselvan said the textile industry
and its allied industries into weaving, dyeing, printing and textile trading are
already facing problems of yarn price hike and pollution. Now, he said, the hike
in GST would affect the manufacturing and sale of textile goods. In order to
draw the attention of the Union government to the GST, the textile industry went
on strike, the association president said. —PTI
Mumbai: The rupee dropped by 18
paise to an over 16-month
low of 75.78 on Friday
amid consistent
foreign fund
outflows and
growing concerns
about inflation. At
the interbank
foreign exchange
market, the rupee
opened lower at 75.65 a
dollar and later tanked to the day’s
low of 75.85 in line with a lacklustre
trend in equity markets. The local unit
pared some of the losses in the
closing session to end at 75.78
(provisional), its lowest closing level
since June 22, 2020. The rupee also
declined for a third straight week with
a weekly loss of 66 paise or 0.88%
against the dollar. The US
consumer inflation data for
November would be released later
with experts expecting
t h e CPI to
rise
further.
—PTI
The
local unit
declined for
a third straight
week with a
weekly loss of
66 paise

First India Bureau
Rajkot: The Congress
unit of Rajkot on Fri-
day threatened to resort
to a Gandhian agitation
if the Gujarat Govern-
ment failed to release
the eligible grants to
Rajkot corporators un-
der Swarnim Jayanti
Shaheri Vikas Yojana.
Former opposition
leader of Congress at
RMC, Vashram Sagath-
iya, and Congress Cor-
porator, Makbool Da-
woodani, in a joint
press statement stated,
“Development works of
Rajkot in various wards
of the city have come to
standstill because of
lack of release of the
grant to 72 corporators.
If the government can-
not release the grant
timely, there is no need
for huge publicity
.”
“After resignation of
Vijay Rupani as CM, it
seems the BJP govern-
ment is not interested
in the development of
Rajkot. Because of in-
ternal fights within the
BJP, people of Rajkot
are suffering,” they
added.
On the Aawas Yojana
coming up in new areas
of Mavdi, Vavdi and
Raiya, the Congress
said, “Out of three, first
installment of 40% for
the Aawas Yojana has
been released, but sec-
ond and third install-
ment comprising of
40% and 20% respec-
tively, totalling to 60%,
is still pending.”
08
2NDFRONT 08
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
Ahmedabad Cyber
Crime Cell detained a
44-year-old man in Gu-
jarat on Thursday for
reportedly making in-
sulting remarks on his
Facebook page over the
death of Chief of De-
fence Staff General Bi-
pin Rawat. The police
informed that he was
arrested for his previ-
ous problematic posts
that were discovered
only after the new posts
surfaced.
The accused, Shivab-
hai Ram, is a resident
of Bherai village in Ra-
jula taluka of Gujarat’s
Amreli district. “He is
arrested for his previ-
ous posts, in which he
had made derogatory
remarks about Hindu
deities as well as elect-
ed representatives on
his Facebook page
Shivabhai Ahir”, said
Assistant Commission-
er of Police Jitendra
Yadav.
The release, however,
made no mention of his
alleged comments
against CDS Rawat,
who died in a tragic
chopper crash in Tamil
Nadu alongside 12 oth-
ers on Wednesday.
According to the
press release, the ac-
cused was arrested on
allegations of inciting
enmity between vari-
ous groups under sec-
tion 153-A of the IPC
and indulging in mali-
cious conduct aiming
to outrage religious
sentiments by insult-
ing religion under sec-
tion 295-A of the IPC.
Cyber Crime offi-
cials apprehended Ram
in Amreli and trans-
ported him to
Ahmedabad after filing
an FIR. As per the in-
vestigations, the ac-
cused had political am-
bitions and wanted to
be in the spotlight by
posting offensive posts.
“Shivabhai had
served as deputy sar-
panch of his village be-
tween 2010 and 2014.
Since he has ambitions
to get elected as the sar-
panch in the coming
years, he was trying to
attract people’s atten-
tion by raising sensi-
tive issues through so-
cial media,” said Yadav.
44-year-oldheldforderogatoryremarksonCDSBipinRawat
The accused had political
ambitions and wanted to be in
the spotlight by posting
offensive posts on social media
CYBER CRIME
Members of Manav Adhikar group pay tribute to CDS Bipin Rawat and others who lost their lives in the
chopper crash.
Man convicted of
raping, killing minor
girl in Surat
Five killed in car-truck
collision in Kheda district
SMC’s plastics policy bans
tea cups, flags, balloons
First India Bureau
Surat: A sessions court
on Friday convicted a
man for the rape and
killing of a 10-year-old
girl in Pandesara indus-
trial suburb of Surat.
Surat Additional Ses-
sions Judge N A Anjaria
pronounced Dinesh Bai-
sane (24) guilty as
charged for rape and
murder under the Indi-
an Penal Code and rele-
vant provisions of the
Protection of Children
against Sexual Offences
(POCSO) Act.
The quantum of pun-
ishment will be pro-
nounced by the court on
December 16.
Public prosecutor
Nayan Sukhadwala de-
manded death penalty
for the convict, a native
of Maharashtra, who
lived in Prem Nagar lo-
cality of Pandesara in
Surat. Baisane lured the
girl by offering to buy
her some food when she
was playing near her
uncle’s houseonDecem-
ber 7, 2020.
The accused then
took the child to a se-
cluded place and sexu-
ally assaulted her, and
when she started shout-
ing for help, he killed
her beating her to death
with a brick, the prose-
cution stated. The vic-
tim’s parents ap-
proached the police
when she did not return
home till evening. Po-
lice nabbed Baisane the
next day based on CCTV
footage.
First India Bureau
Kheda: Five people
were killed after a truck
crashed into their car
on the Kapdavanj-Kath-
lal route in Gujarat’s
Kheda district, on Fri-
day. Four died on the
spot, while one died
shortly after being ad-
mitted to a nearby hos-
pital.
The accident oc-
curred at Porda village
in early morning, when
the victims were driv-
ing from Kapadvanj
town to Jejra village in
Viramgam taluka.
According to Inspec-
tor V. A. Charan of
Kathlal police station,
the unnamed truck
driver abandoned his
vehicle and fled the
scene after the accident.
Suresh Menia (28),
Vikarm Bhabharia (31),
Prabhu Bakudia (25),
Bharat Jamod (42) and
Sunil Kumadara (26)
have been identified as
the deceased. Menia
and Bhabharia were
from Surendranagar,
while the other three
werefromAhmedabad’s
Viramgam taluka.
“ E y e - w i t n e s s e s
claimed that the truck
driver lost control of
the vehicle and collided
with the car while try-
ing to overtake at a very
high speed,” the official
said.
A case has been regis-
tered against the uni-
dentified truck driver.
First India Bureau
Surat: The Surat Mu-
nicipal Corporation has
claimed to be the first
civic body in the State
for the fastest imple-
mentation of a policy to
ban plastic use. The
policy was approved at a
meeting of the Standing
Committee on Thurs-
day
.
A total of 40 works,
including 14 additional
works, were approved in
the standing committee
meeting, while 2 were
postponed. The post-
poned works include
door-to-door survey
work.
The use of plastic
bags less than 50 mi-
crons was banned in
2018. Similarly, from
this year, only the use of
plastics thicker than 120
microns has been ap-
proved.
The policy prohibits
the sale of items, in-
cluding balloons, plastic
flags, candy-ice cream
sticks, packing boxes,
plasticcupsatteashops.
The committee post-
poned the work of
awarding the contract
to DB Enterprise of
Ahmedabad for 1,000
employees at Rs 11,100
per worker.
Committee chairman
Paresh Patel said the
city’s traffic islands, cir-
cles and road dividers
would be sensitised
with public participa-
tion. Proposals for this
were brought in the
year 2015 and 2019. The
Traffic Island Policy
has been updated and
new rates have been
fixed. Any company, or-
ganisation or NGO in-
terested in the develop-
ment of City Island, can
participate.
He said if more than
one company is inter-
ested in the develop-
ment of one island and
one circle, a 7-member
island committee, in-
cluding the Mayor, will
approve the tender
based on their presenta-
tion. A demand draft of
Rs 10,000 has to be at-
tached with the applica-
tion. The island policy
was approved with 34
different conditions.
Five people were killed after a truck crashed into their car in
Kheda district.
Rajkot Congress leaders Maqbool Dawoodani (left) and Vashram
Sagathiya.
—FILE PHOTO
Rajkot Cong threatens agitation if
corporators’ funds not released
WE DON’T TRUST GPCB, IT FAILED
TO CHECK POLLUTION: HC
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat High Court on Fri-
day snubbed Common
Effluent Treatment
Plant (CETP) operating
companies, asserting
that it did not trust Gu-
jarat Pollution Control
Board (GPCB) that gave
them a clean chit. The
court observed that the
GPCB’s “blind attitude”
towards these operators
was responsible for the
Sabarmati being a dead
river up to 200 km.
“The million-dollar
question is how can we
save the Sabarmati riv-
er and how can we make
CETPs more effective,”
Justice JB Pardiwala
observed.
A division bench of
Justice Pardiwala and
Justice Vaibhavi Nana-
vati has initiated suo
motu proceedings
against the Ahmedabad
Municipal Corporation,
following media reports
that sewage treatment
plants are non- func-
tional because of which
untreated sewage
mixed with untreated
industrial effluents is
being discharged di-
rectly in the river.
The court asked
CETP operators compa-
nies if they had read
reports of the Joint
Task Force and the ami-
cus curiae. The reports
say the CETPs are work-
ing at 30% capacity
, “yet
the GPCB gives you a
clean chit and has failed
to take action against
you all. Even AMC is
manipulating reports.”
According to the GP-
CB’s latest report, CET-
Ps are almost non-func-
tional, but the court
took solace that the
Board had woken up.
The court stated that
CETPs were supposed
to abide by National
Green Tribunal’s or-
ders. If the NGT has
fined any CETP opera-
tor, the fine should be
recovered. The court
has granted two weeks
to the seven CETP op-
erators to file their re-
ply
.
The court refused to
accept the submission
by the counsel for the
seven CETP operators
that the CETPs were
functioning at 90% and
GPCB officials had cer-
tified this.
The court ordered the
GPCB to pay fees of Rs
82 lakh to the National
Environmental Engi-
neering Research Insti-
tute (NEERI) within 48
hours and hire it for an
independent report.
The State Government
has submitted that it is
ready to extend finan-
cial support to the AMC
for the upgradation and
making 14 STPs more
effective. The court said
it was not against state
funding for phase-2 of
riverfront development,
but it should fund STP
upgradation.
The Joint Task Force
committee submitted
its interim finding be-
fore the court, but com-
plained that the Munic-
ipal Commissioner
used to depute officers
without knowledge at
the meetings instead of
remaining present him-
self.
LambastingtheBoardAMC,courtasksGPCBtohireNEERIforanindependentinquiry
WORRIED COURT!
Guj HC concerned over Sabarmati river pollution. —FILE PHOTO
The use of plastic bags
less than 50 microns
was banned in 2018.
Similarly, from this year,
only the use of plastics
thicker than 120 microns
has been approved.
CBI files case against firm for defrauding BoB
First India Bureau
New Delhi: TheCentral
Bureau of Investigation
has registered a case on
a complaint from Bank
of Baroda’s Regional Of-
fice in Vadodara against
a private firm based in
Vadodara, its directors
and unknown public
servants for allegedly
causing the bank a loss
of Rs 40.72 crore.
It was alleged that be-
tween 2017 and 2021, the
accusedweresanctioned
various credit facilities
by Bank of Baroda,
while the firm did not
submit stock statements
or CA certified book
debts.
The goods and stocks
hypothecated with the
bank were not allegedly
available with the com-
pany at the time of Unit
inspection. It was also
alleged that the firm
had manipulated the
books of accounts to
avail credit facilities
from the bank and di-
verted the funds, caus-
ing a loss of Rs 40.72
crore. Searches were
conducted at 5 loca-
tions, including in Va-
dodaraandAhmedabad.
We all win and lose in life, the
point in either one is to
remember the lesson.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India

AHMEDABAD, SATURDAY
DECEMBER 11, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
UNFETTERED SOUL
ead ahead for a
s n e a k - p e e k
into the life of
this young
model as she
reveals her as-
pirations and
future plans in an ex-
clusive interview
with City First.
Q: Tell us some-
thing about your-
self.
A: Myself Priya
Arora, I’m cur-
rently perusing
BA. I’m very fond
of acting, danc-
ing, modeling
and travelling.
I’m a very opti-
mistic woman
and I love being in
front of camera.
Q: What does
the future hold
for you?
A: My future plans
are that I want to do
modeling in more
shows like First
Miss India as it was a
great opportunity for
me. I see myself to be
a supermodel and
actress in the com-
ing years where I
live a peaceful
life with my
family
.
Q: When did you de-
cide to take up model-
ling?
A: When I was a child,
whenever I saw TV and
girls doing modeling in
shows and songs,
I wished that one day
,
Iwouldalsowanttostand
on that place. Also, I love
creatingvideosandenjoy
being in front of the
camera.
Q: If not a model,
what would you be?
A: I never thought this
but if not a model, I
would be an air hostess
because I like to meet
new people with differ-
ent nationality and I
also enjoy visiting new
places and chance to
learn new thing.
Q: What inspires you?
A: I am my own inspira-
tion. I may not be the
best but, I try to be bet-
ter than my previous
self. My mother is also
my inspiration because
I see a bit of her in my-
self. Whatever she does,
she does fearlessly
.
Q: Is there anything
else that you would
like to share with the
audience?
A: Yes, I would like to
share that whatever the
profession you choose,
do it with full dedica-
tion, efforts and confi-
dence. Never make your
weakness into a fear.
Rather, turn it into your
strength. Never give up
in life and remember,
‘Practice makes a man
perfect’.
Young, fearless and a woman with big dreams, Priya Arora from Phagwara,
Punjab, aced every talent round in the First Miss India Teen 2021 held in Goa
POORVI SINGHAL
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
R

ppreciation, like
a good meal, is
more enjoyable
when shared. We
are happier when
we feel appreci-
ated. And when
we express our apprecia-
tion, we make others hap-
py. Our words are always
remembered and treas-
ured by the recipient.
The word ‘appreciate’
means to esteem, to value
highly and to approve
warmly
. If there is appre-
ciation, it will be evident
in the things we say and
do. Just like plants need
light and water to bloom,
we need to feel appreciat-
ed to thrive.
In this era of throw-
away marriages, it is all
too easy to take a partner
for granted and to magni-
fy flaws and downplay
good traits. Such thinking
erodes marriage, turning
it into a burden.
Both partners work
hard and sometimes, they
may feel that their efforts
are unappreciated. Some
wives tend to overlook the
incredible pressure there
is on husbands. Also, hus-
bands often underesti-
mate a wife’s efforts to
support the house,
through earning, raising
children, or homemaking.
One can ask oneself,
“do I regularly say ‘thank
you’ to my partner for do-
ing daily chores that are
easily taken for granted?
Is my partner really with-
out good qualities?”
What if the other part-
ner does not reciprocate
the appreciation shown?
Realization, that thankful-
ness leads to inner satis-
faction and is a sign of
maturity
, will prevent one
to respond indifferently
.
When a commenda-
tion is withheld, rela-
tions do not remain as
warm and pleasant as
they might be. This
was once noticed by a
guest. After a deli-
cious meal, he said to
his host that his wife
was a good cook. The
husband said, “I
know it, but I’m not
telling her.” The
husband felt that
praise would make
his wife conceited.
Genuine words
of thankfulness
give the assurance
that what has been
done is acceptable, and
one’s efforts are not in
vain. Both verbal and non-
verbal reassurances can
do much to improve the
health of a marriage. A
phone call or a message
can be very heart-touch-
ing and can deepen the
bonds of a relationship.
Praise and gratitude
leave no room for cruelty
behind closed doors, nor
for words that hurt and
humiliate, or for the cold
shoulder treatment where
days may pass without a
civil or kind word being
spoken. Marriage is not
automatically a shelter
from loneliness. Among
the loneliest people are
couples trapped in a mar-
riage in which there is no
real communication.
One couple, who had
been married for nearly
twentyyears,suddenlysaw
their marriage was shat-
tered. How could this
happen? “When I
analysed what
happened over the years,”
said the wife, “I realized
thatwemostlytalkedabout
household matters, but
there was no real talk on a
personal basis.”
Personal communica-
tion can be hindered due
to differences in tempera-
ments of both partners.
Some are reticent, shy
about expressing
themselves. Oth-
ers can be capti-
vated by the
recreation-oriented cul-
ture and always desire to
have many people around
them. There can be times
when partners confide in
each other but if feelings
are disregarded or belit-
tled, or even used against
each other; both partners
might put up a wall of re-
serve.
Valuing one’s partner
offsets stress and severe
tension and prevents
painful breakups.
Emotional distancing
results when one does not
feel appreciated by one’s
partner. Then, it is easier
to be drawn to someone
who does make one feel
special.
A husband and wife
who truly value each oth-
er will always honour one
another. They will do so
not only when they are
in public, but at all
times.
After being married
for many years, one
can stop noticing the
good he/she does and
tend to focus more on
what he/she is not do-
ing. Making a goal to be
observant and being
grateful for all the ef-
forts, generosity, care –
both large and small –
will help one to discern
what to say
. This type of
deep thinking is the soil
in which appreciation
grows.
May we try each day to
praise and thank our fam-
ily members. This may be
just what another person
needs to make it through
one more day. We can
strengthen marriage and
build bonds of friendship
that can last forever.
Expressing
Appreciation
MARITAL
BLUES
REKHA KUMAR
The writer is a personal development
trainer working with the corporate
and SME sector
10
ETC
VRAT
ACHARYA,
Video
Editor
FACE
OF
THE
DAY!
Aries
MARCH 21 - APRIL 20
Those looking for
buying a house can get
a good bargain.
Appreciation is in store
for some homemakers.
A professional victory is yours if you
play your cards well today. Those in
business will be able to maintain good
earning. You are likely to enjoy good
health. Young lovers are likely to enjoy.
Gemini
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Your professionalism in
handling problem areas
will be appreciated. You
will find family life more
than fulfilling. A senior
is likely to put in a good word for you to
the higher ups. Financially, you will be
able to consolidate your position.
Exercise care in matters of health.
Lover may become your strength.
Leo
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Remaining on the good
side of those who
matter on the academic
front will help you
achieve much. Good
tidings of your well wishers will keep
you going on the professional front. A
family elder may look up to you for
guidance. Keep an eye on your
spendings.
Libra
SEPTEMBER 24 - OCTOBER 22
You may get busy
organising something
on the social front. You
may need to put your
ideas into action, if you
want to prove yourself. A party may be
thrown in your honour at work. Your
good performance is likely to be
noticed by higher ups. Health-wise a
good day is foreseen.
Sagittarius
NOVEMBER 23 - DECEMBER 22
A change of job is likely
to give you better salary
and perks. This is the
time when you enjoy
yourself with a new
group of friends or colleagues. Those
in business will soon get a chance to
make profits. A new deal is likely to
come through and give you a taste of
success.
Aquarius
JANUARY 21 - FEBRUARY 19
You will succeed in
putting your stagnant
love life back on the
track. Professionals will
be able to give their
best in a new situation. Financially, this
day may prove lucky for you, so go ask
for the raise that is keeping you on
tenterhooks. Don’t take any chances
with your health today.
Taurus
APRIL 21 - MAY 20
Good luck promises to
brighten your day. Some
positive changes can be
expected on the home
front. New avenues for
earning open up as you get more
determined. Fitness through extra
efforts is assured for the deskbound.
Chances of making a plan together fr
lovers is possible.
Cancer
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Buying new furniture or
a major appliance is
possible. With good
networking, a prized
posting can be yours .
Those trying to get back their money
will succeed. A healthy phase of life
begins for some. Your love life is likely
to give you immense joy, so make the
right moves.
Virgo
AUGUST 24 - SEPTEMBER 23
Your reputation is likely
to boost your image on
the social front. This is
an excellent day to
spend time with family.
Good planning will see you complete a
task at work in record time. Monetary
front grows strong for some. You enjoy
excellent health. Those seeking love are
likely to get lucky.
Scorpio
OCTOBER 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Praise and honour are
likely to greet you in
something that you
have managed to
achieve. You will be a
pillar of strength to a friend or
associate. A good day at work is
foreseen as you make your mark.
Financial front remains stable. Health
remains fine.
Capricorn
DECEMBER 23 - JANUARY 20
On the social front, the
day finds you in your
element. Something
special awaits you on
the romantic front
today. A family youngster is likely to do
you proud. Your strategy to promote
yourself on the professional front will
bear fruits. You may need to speed up
things on the academic front.
Pisces
FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 20
Those in love with the
adventures are likely to
chase the excitement
very soon. Your own
happiness is in your
hands today. This is a favourable day
for completing pending jobs.
Financially, no problems are foreseen.
It is best to avoid outside food. Much
fun is in store on the social front.
YOUR DAY Horoscopeby
SaurabbhSachdeva
Whatsapp Subscription
Subscribe “First India” Daily
E-News Paper For Free On Whatsapp
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the Power Corridors of Gujarat.
A
“I have a full
schedule, but when
my husband tells me
that he is proud of
me for all I do, I
feel reassured
and comforted.”
—SAYS A WIFE
“Daily life is full of
challenges that sap
my physical and
emotional energy.
My wife’s words
of appreciation
recharge me.”
—SAYS A HUSBAND

ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2021
11
CHALO, PAHAADON
CHALO, PAHAADON
PE CHALTE HAI!
PE CHALTE HAI!
PE CHALTE HAI!
PE CHALTE HAI!
PE CHALTE HAI!
PE CHALTE HAI!
PE CHALTE HAI!
PE CHALTE HAI!
PE CHALTE HAI!
PE CHALTE HAI!
PE CHALTE HAI!
PE CHALTE HAI!
ASTHE WORLD CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN DAYTODAY, CITY
FIRST ASKED ITS READERS ABOUT SOME OFTHE CRAZIEST, MOST
ADVENTUROUSTRIPSTHEY’VE HADTOTHE MOUNTAINS ANDTHE
RESPONSES WILL HAVEYOU PLANNING ONETOO!
remember my first
trip to the moun-
tains, exhilarated
by the snow,
weighed down by
the coats, I dragged
my feet while lug-
ging the backpack to my
lodge, welcoming the
most breathtaking view
of my 19 years of exist-
ence through a creaking
window. From a raging
party in Kasol to a 26 KM
trek in Tosh, a gushing
cold-hot stream in Cha-
laal to snow caped moun-
tains of the Solang, the
trip with my cousins
(read siblings) was as
soul-warming as spine-
tingling. I had the time of
my life with ‘Pahaadis’,
coyly smirking at us
while we hopped from one
Israeli cafe to another,
climbing up mountains
we didn’t know existed!
Looking back at my
time in Himachal, I’m all
the more intrigued to lis-
ten to other fulfilling sto-
ries of globe-trotters from
across the country and
how they found comfort
in the most majestic
peaks of the world. To
mark International
Mountain Day on Decem-
ber 11, our readers shared
some magnificent pic-
tures shot by them amid
the gigantic mountains
while narrating tales of
their travel!
I
POORVI SINGHAL
It was 2019, I went for a trip with my cousins to Kasol, Himachal and it was by far,
one of the best trips I’ve had in terms of thelandscape, engaging with the locals,
treks and just the overall experience. From snow to cafes, we saw it all and trust
me, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. —GAURAL GUPTA, GUJARAT
One of the best trips of my life, could never get over the
joy it filled me with, was to a temple in Itharna Village,
Dehradun. One of the purest yet underrated places, the
journey to this destination fills you with giddiness and joy as you
pass via the narrow winding roads, it adds adventure and thrill
as you go along. —AKANKSHA SHARMA, GUJARAT
My hometown is cosily nestled in the Garhwal hills of
Uttarakhand. Chamoli is a scenic cliff dotted with fasci-
nating cascades, towering mountain peaks, with a string
of beautiful Pahadi houses. Amidst the milky white clouds
and silver streams here, I have learnt to work and live for my
dreams. —BABITA NEGI, DELHI
“Sab kuch
bhul gyi
me us
nazare me,
ehsaas mila
mujhe esa,
kho gyi me un
vadiyon me
jese”
These lines
are dedicated
to my best
Mountain
and Trekking
experience to
Chandrashila
peak (12000
feet). I will
forever cherish
that time.
—NISHI GARG,
RAJASTHAN
I once went to Manali with my friends and that was
my first time in the mountains. I felt so relieved to be
amidst nature that I wanted to keep coming back to
it. I thoroughly enjoyed the hot Maggi + chai combination
and loved the Rohtang Pass. I guess I felt like a kid, experi-
encing snow for the first time ever.
—RAHUL TAK, RAJASTHAN
The
trip from Leh to
Ladakh is close to my
heart. It was initially a solo trip
I was going to do. But somehow
our whole group got convinced to do
a Leh Ladakh road trip. This trip is very
special to me because nobody saw me
riding bikes in the city that much and
never expected to be riding it on the
highest motorable road in the world.
It was like the highest point of
my life
—SIDDHARTH, UP

12
CITY BUZZ
Tanzania Independence Day!
HARSHIKA KASLIWAL
T
o commemorate Tan-
zania Independence
Day, Anuj Kumar
Agarwal, Trade Com-
missioner – Tanzania (In-
dia Africa Trade Coun-
cil), and members of the
board of directors organ-
ised an evening on Thursday
.
HE Anisa Mbega, High
Commissioner Designate of
Tanzania to India, was the
Chief Guest for the event,
while Amararam Gurjar
IFS, Director (E SA) Divi-
sion, Ministry of External
Affairs, Government of In-
dia, and HE Rashid Sesay,
Ambassador of Sierra
Leone, were the Guests of
Honour.
Later, Anuj Kumar
Agarwal, also the Pro-
moterandFounderof Hy-
drise Group, spoke briefly
about the India Africa Trade
Council and the relevance of
the IATF in the develop-
ment of commercial and
bilateral relations on the
THERE ARE NO LIMITS!
A non-profit organisation,
EKATWAM dedicated to people
with epilepsy, sponsored a
meet-and-greet event for Vinay
Jani and his cycling teammates
at India Habitat Centre in New
Delhi.Amanda Strohan, the
Canadian High Commission’s
Charge d’Affaires , was the
Chief Guest and presented
Vinay Jani with a souvenir.
According to Vinay Jani,
epilepsy does not determine
his limits, and so “There are
NO LIMITS.” He’s run 5 half
marathons, a full marathon,
and a number of BREVETS,
including various 200 km, 300
km, 600 km, and 1000 km
races, as well as attempting the
Paris Brest Paris Brevet! Vinay
is now on his second 1000
km Brevet attempt.This time,
he’s biking to raise epilepsy
awareness and inspire other
people with epilepsy to believe
in his philosophy:“There are
NO LIMITS.”
Akshay Kumar, Sara Ali Khan,
director Aanand L Rai, and
writer Himanshu Sharma
were recently spotted in
Delhi for the promotion of
their next film Atrangi Re,
which will be released on
December 24.
SPOTTED!
Anuj Agarwal with the delegates at the Tanzanian
Independence Day Celebrations
KC Ramamurthy Amararam Gurjar
Dr Asif Iqbal, Amararam Gurjar, Anuj Agarwal, KC Ramamurthy
and Natihaika Francis Msuya Dr Asif Iqbal
Anuj Kumar Agarwal and Natihaika Francis Msuya
Rashid Sesay
The team of Atrangi Re
Akshay Kumar and
Sara Ali Khan
Vinay Jani and Amanda Strohan
Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif
tied the knot in a beautiful
ceremony held at Six Senses
Resort, Sawai Madhopur on
Thursday. The media waiting
outside the venue was treated
with sweets after the celebrity
couple got hitched. On Friday
morning, they were caught heading
towards a private charter plane
to fly back to Mumbai from
Jaipur after a dreamy ceremony.
Their family members were
also captured heading back to
Mumbai from Jaipur airport.
—PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO
#VICKAT
IT'S A WRAP!
From the couple’s Instagram Sweets distributed by the couple’s family to media
Sunny Kaushal
Suzanne Turquotte
Isabelle Kaif
Veena Sham Kaushal
Katrina Vicky heading towards their
private charter plane at Jaipur Airport
Katrina heading towards the chopper in
Sawai Madhopur, off to Jaipur
—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHA
—PHOTOS
BY
SHAZID
CHAUHAN
EXCEPTIONAL
PERSONALITIES
CITY FIRST
I
nfluencers Darasing
Khurana and Sonal
Mahalwar who have
been visiting the Pink
City, Jaipur visited the
First India channel office
on Friday. The duo is vis-
iting the city as they will
be a part of a photoshoot
organised featuring the
beautiful architecture of
Jaipur. Abhimanyu
Tomar is their official
stylist for the photoshoot.
Darasing who was ear-
lier a stylist has decked
up celebrities like Hritik
Roshan and later was in-
spired to become a mod-
el. He participated in
the pageant Mr India
and won the title and
represented India in-
ternationally. Apart from
his good looks and enig-
matic personality, he is
also the founder of an
NGO that focuses on men-
tal health issues. Daras-
ing will be next seen in
the Punjabi film Bai ji
Kuttange.
Sonal is one of the fi-
nalists of the pageant
Mrs India 2021. She was in
an abusive relationship
with her husband while
she was married and later
divorced. She uses her
platform to raise aware-
ness among women about
physical abuse. She in-
spires women to leave
behind their past and
take on towards a
new journey.
—PHOTOS
BY
MUKESH
KIRADOO
Darasing Khurana and Sonal Mahalwar
Darasing Khurana reading
First India newspaper
Sonal Mahalwar

11122021 first india ahmedabad

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