16062021 first india ahmedabad

State must ensure health facilities for all citizens: HC
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat High Court on
Tuesday observed that
it was the state govern-
ment’s responsibility to
ensure that all citizens
receive proper health
facilities. It also opined
that it cannot expect the
state’s to spell out its
vaccination policy or
timeline, when its
hands are tied by vac-
cine manufacturers.
A division bench
comprising Justice
Bela Trivedi and Jus-
tice Bhargav Karia are
hearing suo motu peti-
tions initiated by the
court and other COV-
ID-19 related PILs. The
court also orally ob-
served that it does not
wish to give any direc-
tion or orders to the
state, but only make
suggestions about its
actions. The court was
of the view that it can-
not monitor the govern-
ment’s actions on a
daily basis.
When the issue of
women living in Nari
Suraksha Gruh and
those differently-abled
being denied inocula-
tion was raised, the
bench termed it “a seri-
ous issue” and said that
the state must ensure
that all citizens get vac-
cinated. In response,
advocate general Kamal
Trivedi submitted that
the state was working to
vaccinate everyone and
that there was no dis-
parity. The court also
assured the petitioner
that it will pass an or-
der, if necessary
.
In a related petition,
advocate Amit Panchal
had submitted that the
state had not been shar-
ing accurate death toll
data.
Turn to P6
A woman gets her vaccine shot at a centre in Ahmedabad on
Tuesday. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
It also conceded that the govt could
not plan inoculation of citizens due
to non-confirmation of delivery
dates by manufacturers
PEROGATIVE
New Delhi: The Delhi
High Court on Tuesday,
in three separate orders,
while granting bail to
the student activists De-
vangana Kalita, Nata-
sha Narwal and Asif
Iqbal Tanha, called into
questionthechargesheet
filed by Delhi Police in
the alleged conspiracy
case of Northeast Delhi
riots and said that the
allegations against
them are based on
“stretched inferences”
and “alarming and hy-
perbolic verbiage”.
The division bench of
Justice Siddharth Mir-
dul and Justice Anup J.
Bhambhani said that
the allegations relating
toinflammatoryspeech-
es, organising chakka
jaam, instigating wom-
en to protest or stockpil-
ing various articles —
“at worst” are evidence
of participation in or-
ganising the protest.
“But we can discern no
specific or particular-
ised allegation, much
less any material to
bear out the allegation,
that the appellant incit-
ed violence, Turn to P6
AHMEDABAD l WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 200
ValourofGalwan
BRAVEHEARTS WILL BE ETERNALLY
ETCHED IN MEMORY OF NATION: ARMY
New Delhi: Chief of Army
Staff Gen. M.M. Naravane on
June 15 led the force in hailing
the valour of the 20 soldiers
who laid down their lives while
defending the country’s territo-
rial integrity in the face of “un-
precedented” Chinese aggres-
sion at the Galwan Valley in
eastern Ladakh a year ago. On
the first anniversary of the
deadly clashes, the Army said
the supreme sacrifice of the sol-
diers while fighting the adver-
sary in the “most difficult” high
altitude terrain will be “eter-
nally etched” in the memory of
the nation. “General M.M. Nar-
avane #COAS & All Ranks of
#IndianArmy pay homage to
the #Bravehearts who made su-
preme sacrifice in Galwan Val-
ley #Ladakh while defending
the territorial integrity and
sovereignty of the country.
Their valour will be eternally
etched in the memory of the
#Nation,” the Army tweeted.
Meanwhile, Congress chief
Sonia Gandhi said, “Having pa-
tiently waited for the govern-
ment to come clean and inform
the nation about the circum-
stances in which the unprece-
dented incident happened and
reassure the people that the
sacrifice of our brave jawans
was not in vain, the Congress
Party reiterates its concern
that no clarity is yet available
and the Prime Minister’s last
word on the subject a year ago
was that no transgression had
occurred.”
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD
& LUCKNOW
www.firstindia.co.in
www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia
instagram.com/thefirstindia
Maj Gen Akash Kaushik, Officiating GOC Fire and Fury Corps laid a wreath at Leh
War Memorial and paid homage to martyrs who laid down their lives at Galwan.
TEMPLE LAND SCAM!
RAM...RAM
SAYS NYAS
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: Amid alle-
gations of corruption in
the Ayodhya land deal,
the Ram Janmabhoomi
TrustonTuesdayissued
a statement on the pur-
chase deal and the de-
tails of the agreement.
In its statement, the
Trust said that nine in-
dividuals were involved
in the deal and negotia-
tions were done with
their consent to com-
plete the agreement in a
transparent manner. It
added that theTrust had
decided that all finan-
cial dealings will be con-
ducted through banking
channels and dealings
are “on record”.
“Nyas was interested
to purchase this land
but first wanted to final-
ise all the previous
agreements so that
ownership of the land
may be cleared. About 9
individuals were in-
volved in this deal from
last 10 years, in these 9
persons 3 are Mus-
lims…All the 9 persons
were contacted, negoti-
ated. On receiving their
consent, they all came
and sat together to de-
cide their previous
agreements,” the state-
ment said, adding that
the agreement with the
final owners of the land
was done in a “trans-
parent manner”.
The Trust further
said that it has already
purchased 3-4 plots in-
cluding temples and
ashrams,addingthatfor
each purchased temple/
ashram/private proper-
ty, “a piece of land of
their own choice to be
provided for rehabilita-
tionandsufficientfunds
tobegivenforconstruct-
ing their buildings”.
Outlining the de-
tailed history of agree-
ments on the land deal,
the Trust stated that on
March 18, Turn to P6
Stretched inferences, alarming verbiage:
HC fires on Delhi Police chargesheet
Chirag expels 5
rebels; Paras
removes him
New Delhi: Leaving the
split wide open in the
Lok Janshakti Party
(LJP),fiveMPsledbyPa-
supati Paras on Tuesday
claimed that they have
removed
party na-
tionalpres-
ident Chi-
rag Pas-
wan from
the post.
However, Paswan said
that LJP called a nation-
al executive meet and
removed the 5 rebel MPs
fromtheparty’sprimary
membership. In his first
reaction after his uncle
Pashupati Paras ousted
him, Turn to P6
Student activists Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha.
SC DEFERS
IUML’S PLEA BY
TWO WEEKS
AEFI CONFIRMS 1ST
DEATH AFTER JAB
SPUTNIK V MORE
EFFICIENT: STUDY
New Delhi: The SC on
Tuesday deferred for two
weeks the hearing on the
petition, filed by the Indi-
an Union Muslim League
(IUML) challenging the
May 28 notification of
the ministry of home af-
fairs (MHA) that allowed
non-Muslim refugees
to apply for citizenship.
Senior Supreme Court
advocate Kapil Sibal,
requested the vacation
bench of the Top Court
to grant him two weeks’
time to respond to the
counter-affidavit filed by
the Central Government.
New Delhi: A 68-year-old
man died due to anaphylax-
is after he was administered
a coronavirus vaccine said
the government panel that
was studying vaccine side-
effects (AEFI). The AEFI
committee’s report stated
that the 68-year-old died on
March 8, 2021.
New Delhi: The Russia-de-
veloped Sputnik V vaccine
has been found to be more
efficient against the highly
transmissible Delta variant
of coronavirus disease
(Covid-19), which was
found in India. Sputnik V is
reported to show 91.6% ef-
ficacy against coronavirus.
‘Delta plus not a variant of
concern yet,need to track it’
New Delhi: There has
been an almost 85 per
cent decline in daily
COVID-19 cases since
the highest reported
peak on May 7 and cur-
rently, there are 20
states and UTs where
active cases are less
than 5,000, the govern-
ment said on Tuesday
.
On the Delta plus var-
iant of Covid, the gov-
ernment said that it has
been around since
March and it is not yet
a ‘variant of concern’.
‘We have to learn more
about it and track its
progress,’ it said.
Turn to P6
CRUCIAL READ
NIFTY50 TOUCHES
RECORD HIGH
Mumbai: The benchmark
Nifty50 index on Thursday
logged a new lifetime
high after gaining for the
fifth day, surpassing the
previous record made on
February 15. Turn to P6
PUNJAB: SUKHBIR
BADAL DETAINED
New Delhi: Shiromani
Akali Dal (SAD) president
Sukhbir Singh Badal was
detained by Punjab Police
Tuesday during a protest
alleging scam in various
schemes Turn to P6
BENGAL GUV VISITS DELHI OVER LAW & ORDER
Kolkata: A day after a delegation of BJP MLAs petitioned
him for alleged deterioration of the law and order situ-
ation in the state, WB Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, on
Tuesday, embarked on a four-day visit to New Delhi. The
governor, who did not specify the reasons for his visit,
said he will return to Kolkata on June 18. P5
BCCI ANNOUNCES SQUAD FOR WTC FINAL
BCCI announced the 15-member squad for the World
Test Championship final against New Zealand. Test regu-
lars like Cheteshwar Pujara, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane
and Ravichandran Ashwin have all been picked.
The land deal was done online and
is totally transparent. The people
who are creating obstacles are the
same people who had refused to believe in
the existence of Lord Ram. They have al-
ways opposed the cause of the temple. They
are misleading people. The people of the
country have full faith in the Trust.
—Indresh Kumar, RSS ideologue
Amid Cabinet
Expansion
Buzz Shah
Meets MPs
New Delhi: Union
homeministerAmit
Shah’smeetingwith
groups of BJP MPs,
which generated
speculation about a
cabinet expansion,
was part of an ongo-
ing feedback exer-
cise on the work of
the government,
Covid situation and
other issues, sourc-
es said. Over the last
five days, Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi had also held
meetings with the
minsters along with
BJPchief JPNadda.
Shah had met
MPs from Uttar
Pradesh, Maha-
rashtra, Rajasthan,
Gujarat and some
other states on Sat-
urday and Sunday
at his residence.
Around 30 MPs and
some ministers had
visited him over the
weekend.
Sources said po-
litical activities and
physical meetings
have Turn to P6

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2021
02
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In order
to remedy Rajula town’s
lack of a public gar-
den/ park, MLA Am-
rish Der has gone on an
indefinite hunger
strike, while adhering
to all COVID-19 guide-
lines. He plans to go
without having food till
the concerned authori-
ties permit conversion
of the Western Rail-
ways wasteland into a
park for local citizens.
Recalling the plan to
undertake a beautifica-
tion project in 2002-03,
Der told First India,
“There was discussion
to build a park or gar-
den in that area when
the road was being wid-
ened back in 2002-03.
Bharatsinh Solanki,
who was the state rail-
ways minister back
then, had referred to
the Western Railways
wasteland for the beau-
tification project, simi-
lar to projects under-
taken in other cities of
the state on Railways
wasteland.”
“The Railways land
in the town has been ly-
ing unused and vacant
since a long time, and
now there are no plans
to build a railway sta-
tion. An agreement was
inked between the Rail-
ways and local authori-
ties on November 4,
2020, for using that par-
cel of land for beautifi-
cation purposes. It has
been seven months
since the MoU was
signed, the land has not
been allocated to the
municipality by Rail-
ways yet,” asserted Der.
The Rajula railway
land dispute in the Am-
reli district has been a
bone of contention for
some time now. Last
week, Der had ex-
pressed his dissent by
demonstrating at the
railway station near
Barbatana village in
Rajula taluka. He was
supported by local resi-
dents including the
municipality presi-
dent, where they de-
manded that the Rail-
ways land be handed
over to the municipal-
ity.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: It seems
the political battle for
the 2022 Gujarat as-
sembly elections has
already begun with
new equations being
formed among politi-
cians of the state. Del-
hi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal, who
is also the national
convener of the Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP),
was in Ahmedabad on
Monday for the inau-
guration of the party’s
new office premises.
He also officially an-
nounced the party’s
intention to contest
polls on all assembly
seats.
Speculations of Ra-
jula MLA Amrish Der
joining AAP were
stirred when Kejriwal
called him. Earlier,
there were rumours of
Der joining the
Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty (BJP), but when
asked, the Rajula MLA
had denied the claim.
Commenting on the
Delhi CM’s call, Der
told First India, “It was
a courtesy call. AAP
Gujarat president Go-
pal Italia and their
team worked to pro-
vide assistance to peo-
ple in affected areas
after Cyclone Tauktae
hit. We have a good
rapport. Kejriwal
came to know about
my beautification pro-
ject on the wastelands
of Western Railways.
He has assured help, if
I need it.”
Notably, AAP state
chief Italia has never
been publically heard
contacting MLAs so
far. The move came
only after former jour-
nalist Isudan Gadhvi
was inducted into the
party on Monday. The
call was reportedly ar-
ranged by Italia, to
show that he is also po-
litically active among
members of other par-
ties.
Former Gujarat CM
Shankersinh Vaghela
also appealed on Der’s
behalf for his cause us-
ing his social media
account on Twitter.
Vaghela tweeted, “Ra-
jula’s young MLA al-
ways talking about the
rights of the people @
Ambarishdermla is on
fast the past several
days for the land issue
of@WesternRly. @Pi-
yushGoyal you must
intervene and bring an
end to the dispute and
fulfill the worthy de-
mand of extension is
my appeal.”
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In its pri-
mary report on the dis-
tribution of remdesivir
injections by Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)
state unit president CR
Patil and other mem-
bers, the government
stated before the Guja-
rat High Court on Tues-
day, that the drug had
been procured from lo-
cal pharmacies for dis-
tribution to those in
need of it. The report
does not underline,
whether the action was
in violation of any law
or not.
The court’s division
bench has granted Patil
and BJP’s Majura Gate
MLA Harsh Sanghvi a
week’s time to file their
responses to the report.
On the other hand, Gu-
jarat state assembly
leader of opposition
Paresh Dhanani has
moved a public interest
litigation (PIL) chal-
lenging the act of distri-
bution, on grounds that
it was in violation of
the Drugs and Cosmet-
ics Act, 1940. According
to the act, only regis-
tered pharmacists can
sell or distribute medi-
cines.
Food and Drug Con-
trol Administration
(FDCA) commissioner
HG Koshia in a reply
stated that the Surat as-
sistant commissioner
was assigned to inquire
into the issue and has
submitted his primary
report.
According to the pri-
mary report, Sanghvi
in a statement has said
that the party procured
2,306 remdesivir injec-
tions from New Piplod
Medical Stores in Surat
and 200 injections from
Shankar Medical Store
in Navsari. A payment
of Rs9,70,923 was made
through bank transac-
tion and the injections
were distributed from
the party office under
the supervision of doc-
tors. After enough evi-
dence was collected, all
doctors’ prescriptions
were verified as well.
The state also men-
tioned in the report that
the Surat assistant com-
missioner was still re-
cording statements of
people who were dis-
tributed the injections
as well as the benefi-
ciaries and that it will
take time to prepare the
final report.
Notably, even though
over 2,506 remdesivir
injections were distrib-
uted from the party’s
Surat and Navsari of-
fices, the FDCA team
has only been able to
trace nine relatives of
COVID-19 patients who
had received the drug
from the BJP offices.
WORTHY CAUSE
Der with his supporters demonstrating at the railway station near Barbatana village.
Rajula MLA on hunger strike
over beautification project
Amrish Der
has begun his
indefinite fast
for handover of
Western
Railways
parcel of land
to the
municipality
‘AAP chief Kejriwal’s
call was a courtesy’
MLA Amrish Der
The injections were distributed among citizens by BJP state unit
prez CR Patil & other members.
BJP procured 2,506 remdesivir
vials from local pharmacies
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: A
meeting of top
Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty (BJP) ministers,
office-bearers and
leaders was held at
the state assembly
hall in Gandhinagar
on Tuesday. While
plans for the party’s
future were discussed,
there was no talk of
change in guard of
the government or im-
mediate cabinet ex-
pansion. According to
sources, if cabinet ex-
pansion is on the
cards, it will either be
conducted in July or
August.
The relief and reha-
bilitation work done
by the state govern-
ment after Cyclone
Tauktae hit the Guja-
rat coast on May 17-18
as well as the meas-
ures taken to combat
the COVID-19 pan-
demic’s second wave
were highlighted by
the state at the meet.
BJP state incharge
Bhupender Yadav,
Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani, Deputy Chief
Minister Nitin Patel
and state unit presi-
dent CR Patil ad-
dressed all MLAs and
asked them to create
awareness about the
party’s effectiveness
during the two crises.
Meanwhile, Yadav
also sat down for a
one-on-one meeting
with BJP general sec-
retary (organization)
Bhikhubhai Dalsani-
ya, and the office-
bearers of various
cells and morchas. He
also asked for feed-
back about the state
government’s perfor-
mance, what people
thought of the party
and the programmes
undertaken by the
party organization.
Yadav has ordered all
office-bearers to start
preparing for the Gu-
jarat general elections
2022.
When asked about
the possibility of a
cabinet expansion and
appointments of
boards and corpora-
tions, BJP party
spokesperson Bharat
Dangar replied, “It is
the Chief Minister’s
prerogative and he
will take a call on it.
The party cannot com-
ment on the issue.”
Recent meetings of
Patidar community
leaders may have in-
fluenced the BJP’s na-
tional leaders not to
affect changes in the
state government.
“They do not want to
hurt the sentiments
of Patidars and main-
taining the status quo
will be in the party’s
interest,” said a
source.
(L to R) Deputy CM Nitin Patel, BJP state unit prez CR Patil, BJP Gujarat incharge and Bhupender Yadav CM Vijay Rupani at the
Vidhan Sabha hall.
BJP LEADERSEYE
2022stateassemblyelections
The party refuted all claims around change
of guard in the state or cabinet expansion
TABLETS FOR BJP MLAS
The BJP is all set to provide its incumbent
MLAs with tablets at an investment of Rs66
lakh. The people’s representatives have been
ordered to use them to create awareness about
the state government and the work it has done
for the people. All MLAs will have to submit
their performance report to the party. With a
state BJP application also launching soon, even
party leaders will receive tablets.
Gujarat High Court asks
Viramgam police to trace
missing minor
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court
on Tuesday ordered Viramgam police
to either produce a missing girl before
it or the district superintendent of po-
lice (DSP) will have to file a detailed
report. Parents of a 17-year-old girl who
went missing in February this year had
approached police to lodge a complaint,
but encountered delays. Four months
on, the police have been unable to trace
the girl’s whereabouts. The missing mi-
nor’s parents were represented by ad-
vocate Samshad Pathan and Ezaz An-
sari, who submitted before the court
that, though the 17-year-old had gone
missing on February 02, Viramgam
town police registered a complaint only
on February 22. In their complaint, the
parents have shared suspicions about a
man from the same area, who has been
missing since February as well.
Petition challenging
Railways training
centre rejected
Vadodara: A public inter-
est litigation (PIL) chal-
lenging the Western Rail-
ways’ plan to set up a train-
ing centre opposite the
historical Pratap Vilas
Palace has been rejected
by Gujarat High Court.
Built in 1908 by architect
Charles F Stevens, son of
FW Stevens, who created
Mumbai’s iconic Victoria
Terminus, the palace hous-
es the Maharaja Fateh
Singh Museum.
It is run by the royal
family of the erstwhile
Baroda princely state.
Railways plans to build a
multi-storey building in
the historic Raja Baug gar-
den overlooking the pal-
ace.
IN THE COURTYARD
Gujarat High Court. — FILE PHOTO

GUJARAT
03
GUJRECORDS352NCOVCASES,4DEATHS
AHMEDABAD, SURAT AND VADODARA TOP THE CHART, ZERO CASES EMERGE IN 8 DISTRICTS OF STATE
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Drift-
ing below the 400 case
mark, Gujarat report-
ed 352 new cases of
novel coronavirus on
Tuesday, informed the
state health and fami-
ly welfare department.
Over 1,006 patients re-
covered from the virus
on the day. In the last
24 hours, four patients
succumbed to the vi-
rus taking the death
toll due to COVID-19 to
10,007. The state has so
far recorded a total of
8,21,078 cases, since
March 2020.
Among the fresh
cases, 48 new cases
were reported each in
Ahmedabad and Surat
city while 29 in Va-
dodara city, 22 in Ra-
jkot city, among oth-
ers. A total of eight
districts recorded zero
new cases namely
Bhavnagar, Botad,
Chhota Udepur, Da-
hod, Dang, Morbi,
Narmada and Tapi.
The highest num-
bers of vaccinations
in the state were ad-
ministered in
Ahmedabad city
(34,680). While in Su-
rat city, the number
was 26,473 and in Va-
dodara city 8,815 per-
sons were vaccinated
on Tuesday.
The state currently
has a total of 8,884 ac-
tive cases, with 219 pa-
tients on ventilator
support. Of these pa-
tients, 8,665 patients
are in stable condition,
while 8,02,187 patients
have been discharged
post recovery. The cur-
rent recovery rate of
the state is at 97.70%
Meanwhile, Binal
Rathwa, a student of
MS University in Va-
dodara and a native of
Chhota Udepur dis-
trict, has started a
campaign to encour-
age people to get vac-
cinated. Binal has vis-
ited 93 villages with
major tribal popula-
tion in just 15 days.
People awaiting their turn at a COVID-19 testing centre in Vastrapur area of Ahmedabad on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
COVID-19 UPDATE
TOTAL CASES
8,21,078
CASES IN A DAY
352
TOTAL DEATHS
10,007
DEATHSINADAY
4
ACTIVE CASES
8,884
RECOVERED
TOTAL
8,02,187
RECOVERED
IN A DAY
1,006
SURAT 71
V’DARA 50
A’BAD 49
RAJKOT 25
JUNAGADH 13
PORBANDAR 13
GIR SOMNATH 12
KHEDA 12
First India Bureau
Jaipur: The ‘Digital
Baal Mela 2021’, spon-
sored by Future Society
and LIC, began on Tues-
day
. The country’s first
Baal Mela Season 2 was
inaugurated by Speaker
of Rajasthan Legislative
Assembly Dr. CP Joshi.
Launching the poster
of DBM, he appealed to
the children to join the
platform. Dr Joshi said
he is very happy that
through this platform,
children willbe able to
express their views for
their government. Ja-
hanvi Sharma, who con-
ceptualized this plat-
form, showed the video
made by the children to
Dr. Joshi.
Joshi said this is a
unique effort to enhance
the creativity of chil-
dren.Joshipromisedthe
children that first ses-
sion of the Baccho Ki
Sarkaar will be held on
Children’sDay inJaipur.
CP Joshi said in any
parliamentary democ-
racy
, it is necessary that
the future citizens of the
country should draw the
attention of their prob-
lems to the government.
However,inourownpar-
liamentary democracy
,
they have not yet been
given a place. In such a
way
,throughexpression,
we will be able to under-
stand the thoughts of
those children.
Digital Baal Mela, a unique way to
enhance kids’ creativity: Dr Joshi
DIGITAL BAAL MELA 2021
LITERARY STROKE
Congress state spokesperson Manish Doshi launched his book titled ‘Vistarti Kshitijo’ in the presence of Gujarat Pradesh
Congress Committee (GPCC) president Amit Chavda, leader of opposition Paresh Dhanani, and senior leader Arjun
Modhwadia at Rajiv Bhavan in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
In two separate incidents, six
children drown to death in 24 hrs
First India Bureau
Bhavnagar: In the
last 24 hours, six chil-
dren drowned in two
separate incidents in
the state. Four chil-
dren drowned to
death in the Moti Vav-
di village of the
Bhavnagar district,
and two children
drowned in the
Sankhali village of
Patan. All six bodies
have been sent for
post-mortem to the
Gariyadhar Commu-
nity Health Centre.
According to the po-
lice, the four children
from Moti Vavdi vil-
lage decided to swim in
the village lake. How-
ever, Jayesh Kakadiya,
Montu Bhenda, Tarun
Khokhani, and Mit
Khokhani, did not re-
turn to their homes.
Their family members
discovered their foot-
wear near the lake and
assumed they
drowned.
The villagers fished
out the bodies of the
children with the assis-
tance of trained swim-
mers. All four were be-
tween the ages of 10 and
12 years.
Another tragic inci-
dent occurred when two
cousins drowned in a
lake in the Patan dis-
trict’s Sankhali village.
Kulaji Thakor, accord-
ing to information re-
ceived, was taking his
domestic animals to the
village lake to drink wa-
ter. Thakor was accom-
panied by two of his
granddaughters and
one of his grandchil-
dren. Two of the chil-
dren, however, drowned
in the lake. Despite ef-
forts to save the chil-
dren, Thakor’s grand-
son and granddaughter
drowned.
PEOPLE SPREADING MISINFO ABOUT VACCINES
ENEMIES OF SOCIETY: VIGYAN JATHA
First India Bureau
Rajkot: Bharat Jan Vig-
yan Jatha, an organiza-
tion that debunks false
beliefs and promotes sci-
entific thinking in the
state, has labelled those
claiming to have ‘mag-
netic powers’ as commit-
ting “anti-national acts”
against society
. Earlier
this month, a senior citi-
zen from Nashik, Maha-
rashtra, claimed that he
had developed magnetic
powers after receiving a
COVID-19 vaccine dose.
In response to the alle-
gations, Jayant Pandya,
chairman of the Bharat
Jan Vigyan Jatha, stated,
“There are many false
claimsgoingaroundlead-
ing people to have false
beliefs. Even without get-
tingavaccinedose,items
such as spoons, scissors,
remote controls, or mo-
bile phones can stick to
the body due to sweat or
moisture. This is an ex-
perimentthatanyonecan
try at home. People who
spread vaccination ru-
moursarecommittingan
anti-national act and are
enemies of the society
.”
Pandya himself at-
tempted to stick spoons
and other steel items to
his body and stated,
“There is no connection
between vaccination and
stickingsteelitemsonthe
body
. These are common
occurrences,accordingto
science. People should
avoid believing such ru-
mours and instead get
themselves vaccinated.”
Recently, a man from
Hazaribagh,Jharkhand,
had claimed that he had
developed ‘magnetic
powers’ after receiving
his shot.
Sankhari village, where the kids drowned.
Navsari-
based
woman
inducted into
US Navy
Cop returns lost bag with
`1.6L cash,ATM cards
First India Bureau
Surat: Naitri Pa-
tel, a woman born
and raised in
Navsari, is now a
sailor in the US
Navy after com-
pleting 10 weeks of
gruelling training
at a naval base in
Chicago. For more
than a decade, her
family has been
living in Missis-
sippi in the US.
“We never an-
ticipated that she
would make such
a difficult deci-
sion,” said
Naitri’s father,
Nirav Patel. “Her
commitment to
her aim, on the
other hand, was
unwavering, and
we permitted her
to pursue her
dream. The US
Navy training
programme is
among the most
rigorous in the
world,” he added.
Netri’s family is
from the town of
Chikhli in the
Navsari district.
First India Bureau
Surat:Ayoungmanwho
had misplaced his bag,
which contained Rs1.60
lakh, six ATM cards, and
other important docu-
ments,receiveditafterhe
was contacted by a wom-
an police constable from
the city
. Ritaben Jitub-
hai,whowasstationedat
the Keshavnagar cross-
roads in the Parvat Pati-
ya area, stated that she
discovered the wallet on
the road and contacted
its owner using the driv-
er’s licence she found in-
side the bag. Mayur, who
hadmisplacedhiswallet,
stated, “I am extremely
grateful to Rita madam
and the police for
promptly returning the
wallet to me. I had ATM
cards and government
ID cards in there. Losing
all of them would have
troubled me a lot.”
Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha chairman Jayant Pandya tried to stick
steel items on his body, and termed this as “scientifically normal”.
Constable Ritaben Jitubhai
Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Speaker Dr CP Joshi launching the poster of Digital Baal Mela on
Tuesday with Jahanvi Sharma.
‘DIGITAL BAAL
MELA SEASON
2’ LINKS
z google link-
https://meet.google.
com/ysn-pfjh-shh.
z Website - www.
digitalbaalmela.com
z Whatsapp -
8005915026
z Facebook Page -
https://www.facebook.
com/digitalbaalmela/

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 2 l Issue No. 200 l RNI NO.
GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and
published by Anita Hada Sangwan
on behalf of First Express Publish-
ers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing
Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-
Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist.
Ahmedabad. Published at D/302 3rd
Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square,
Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghat-
lodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor-In-Chief:
Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita
Hada Sangwan responsible for
selection of news under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Reshape yourself through
the power of your will;
never let yourself be
degraded by self-will.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Ravi Shankar Prasad
@rsprasad
Property cards under SVAMITVA
scheme is protecting the rights of
the poor and the vulnerable. 7.09
lakh beneficiaries across 7,489
villages have become legitimate
owners of property in the pilot phase.
#EmpoweringThePoor
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Indian exports continue their growth
path with goods exports growing at
8.11% over May 2019 in dollar terms
and 13.53% in rupee terms. Overall
trade surplus $1.6 billion in goods
and services shows the strength of
Indian economy.
TOP TWEET
SASIKALA’S
MOVES RATTLE
AIADMK
LEADERSHIP
he’s like a cat among
pigeons. Such is the
dread of V
. Sasikala,
former general-sec-
retary of the AIAD-
MK, that the party has expelled
16 members for meeting her.
Those expelled have been
charged with “anti-party activi-
ties”. Others have been warned
against staying in touch with
the confidante of the late Chief
Minister J. Jayalalitha. Former
CM E. Palaniswami and other
party leaders treat Sasikala,
who is believed to be clawing her
way back into the AIADMK, as
a member of her nephew TTV
Dhinakaran’s party, the AMMK.
After her release from prison
just before the Assembly elec-
tions Sasikala had announced
her decision to quit politics. She
bided time probably for the re-
sults. With the DMK trumping
their arch rivals, Sasikala has
decided to strike. Her purported
audio tapes, which led to the ex-
pulsions, reveal her intentions.
In one of them she is heard say-
ing,“Iwilldefinitelycomeback”.
Maybe it is time now for her to
step out of Jayalalitha’s shadow.
S
he Delhi High
Court made a
sharp comment
on the govern-
ment in its order
granting bail to three activ-
ists who were arrested under
the draconian Unlawful Ac-
tivities (Prevention) Act
(UAPA) in May 2020 in con-
nection with the Delhi riots.
“We are constrained to ex-
press that it seems that in its
anxiety to suppress dissent, in
the mind of the State, the line
between constitutionally guar-
anteed right to protest and ter-
rorist activity seems to be get-
ting somewhat blurred. If this
mindset gets traction, it would
beasaddayfordemocracy
,”the
high court said. It added that
theUAPAlawcouldnotbe“cas-
ually applied to criminal acts”.
Devangana Kalita and
Natasha Narwal of the Pinjra
Tod, which is a collective of
women students and Asif
Iqbal Tanha, a BA final stu-
dent at Jamia Millia, were
charged with being part of
conspiracybehindcommunal
riots in Delhi which broke out
following anti-CAA protests.
The original UAPA Act of
1967 provided, “…the Central
governmentmaydesignatean
organization as a terrorist or-
ganization if it (i) commits or
participates in acts of terror-
ism, (ii) prepares for terror-
ism (iii) promotes terrorism,
or (iv)is otherwise involved in
terrorism”. In 2019 the BJP
government amended the Act
and empowered the State to
designate individuals as ter-
rorists on the same grounds.
After this amendment demo-
cratic protests began to be
treated as acts of terrorism
andindividualscriticisingthe
government or its policies be-
gan to be detained.
Along with the right to pro-
test, freedom of expression
also began to be suppressed
leaving higher judiciary as
people’s only hope.
HC’S SHARP REMARK
ON CURBING DISSENT
Devangana Kalita and
Natasha Narwal of the
Pinjra Tod, which is a
collective of women
students and Asif Iqbal
Tanha, a BA final student
at Jamia Millia, were
charged with being part
of conspiracy behind
communal riots in Delhi
which broke out following
anti-CAA protests
T
Revisiting the Utility of
OPEN SKIES
he treaty of open skies was
signed in 1992 and in 2002 it
came into effect with 34 mem-
bers. The treaty permits the
signatory countries to moni-
tor the developments of arms
and its related technologies
through unarmed aerial sur-
veillance flights in each oth-
er’s territories. The treaty
allows for maximum ground
resolution of the images
which can be compared on
similar grounds to that of the
commercial satellites. Fur-
ther, all weather monitoring
is possible through the use of
coherent synthetic aperture
thermal infrared sensors and
the date can be made availa-
ble to all the treaty partici-
pants. Also, the treaty has
provisions for the mutual
inspections of the aircraft to
ensure fairness by each other
so that no covertly added
highly sophisticated digital
cameras or sensors are add-
ed. The treaty has an open
skies consultative commis-
sion in which decisions are
taken through a consensus
thereby treating all the signa-
tories in an equal manner.
The treaty was first pro-
posed to the Soviet Union in
1955 by the then US president
Eisenhower so as to reduce
accidental wars. The concept
thus belonged to the Cold War
days. Today, far more sophis-
ticated technical monitoring
capabilities for overhead im-
ageries exist such as recon-
naissance satellites that are
able to penetrate the military
camouflage to gain critical
information of the position-
ing of the tactical as well as
nuclear weapons. Then the
question that arises is what
purposedoesthistreatyserve
and why is it important for
the US and Russia to continue
their presence in the treaty?
The answer boils down to
as simple terms as that of
Confidence Building Mecha-
nisms (CBMs) and regime
building which are ways to
move further towards coop-
erative security arrange-
ments. The political benefit
that comes along in main-
taining transparency to en-
sure arms control through
verifiable reductions is of
extreme importance since
the treaty has provisions for
short notice unrestricted ac-
cess of the unarmed flights.
If in place and functional it
can help achieve the stated
goals of nuclear non-prolifer-
ation by checking the compli-
ance to various other treaties
and lead towards more mean-
ingful negotiations in the
arms control regimes.
Second, the ability to detect
threatening activities of the
competitor or adversary
through a ‘democratisation’
process in which military data
of the other country is availa-
ble for all signatories makes
theworldmorepeaceful.Today
,
as both the powers have with-
drawn,thediplomaticplightof
theotherEuropeansignatories
could be well imagined. The
feeling of geopolitical dwarf-
ismandtobedominatedbythe
power play of the big powers
would penetrate more divi-
sionswhichcanjeopardisethe
CBM regime further.
Third, both are on the
same level playing field with
regard to the dilution of
their monopoly in the sur-
veillance field. As the US and
Russia have the utmost mo-
nopoly over the technical
means for military surveil-
lance, their respective with-
drawal will negate various
positives that perhaps the
world was towards. Despite
the geopolitical catfight be-
tween the two, there were
strategic assurances for eve-
rything to be in place. That
has been negated now and
the world would be more sus-
ceptible to wars beginning on
the grounds of misinterpre-
tations and accidents.
Finally
, at the tactical level,
two important reasons could
have also been there to stay
back in the treaty
. First, re-
mote sensing satellites used
for spying purposes are de-
void of high resolution to the
point of extracting even the
minute details of the military
developments. This can be
achieved only by the over-
head flights through the use
of cameras which could have
been improvised further after
the negotiations.Second, in
case if they wish to uncover
each other’s developments for
their own safety, transparen-
cy protocols would demand
that they also share the de-
tails of their capabilities
through which the overhead
imageries have been taken. In
a condition, where they are
not the members of the treaty
of open skies, this would be
rather more self-defeating as
they would not like to share
their details of the mecha-
nisms used. The U.S. and Rus-
siacouldhavemadethetreaty
more meaningful by includ-
ing new technologies in the
permissible limits such as the
collection of atmospheric gas
samples and other evolving
technologies to determine
large size forward movement
under camouflaged condi-
tions. Finally, we just hope
that despite all odds, the US
and Russia would know
where to stop, just for the sake
of world peace and harmony
.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
T
DR NK SOMANI
The writer is Assistant professor
at Mata Jeetoji Girls College
DR NISHTHA KAUSHIKI
The writer is Assistant Professor
at Central University of Punjab
The treaty permits the
signatory countries to
monitor the developments
of arms and its related
technologies through
unarmed aerial
surveillance flights in each
other’s territories. The
treaty allows for maximum
ground resolution of the
images which can be
compared on similar
grounds to that of the
commercial satellites
The US and Russia could
have made the treaty
more meaningful by
including new
technologies in the
permissible limits such
as the collection of
atmospheric gas
samples and other
evolving technologies to
determine large size
forward movement under
camouflaged conditions

To Receive Free Newspaper
PDF Daily
Whatsapp:
http://bit.ly/whatsappahm
Telegram:
https://t.me/firstindiaahmedabad
Click the above link☝ subscribe us on your
preferred platform.

Sashikant Sharma
New Delhi: As 5 states
are going to polls next
year, the BJP is all set to
chalk out its roadmap at
several key meetings.
Party national President
JPNaddahasaskedstate
unitstoholdbrainstorm-
ing sessions, or ‘Chintan
Baithak’ and draw up
their strategies by July
10. Uttar Pradesh, Pun-
jab, Uttarakhand, Goa
and Manipur will go to
pollsnextyear.Itisworth
mentioningherethatUP
,
Uttarakhand, Goa and
Manipur have BJP or
BJP-led govts, Punjab
has Congress govt.
Afterstate-levelmeets,
small teams are to be
sent to Delhi where they
will brief Nadda about
preparations, following
which party leadership
will finalise the election
strategies for the five
states. Sending out a
message to its party cad-
res that it is time to gear
up for organisational ac-
tivities which were
stalled by second wave
of Covid, state BJP units
have been asked to hold
their executive meetings
virtually between June
21 and 30.
INDIA
05
BJP ROLLS OUT MISSION 5 STATES!
Assembly polls are to be held next year in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab,
Uttarakhand, Goa Manipur; Party chief Nadda has asked state units to
hold brainstorming sessions or Chintan Baithak and draw up their election
THE STRATEGY
 National-level training
sessions to be held
every Sunday between
10.30 am and 11.30 am
 State training
meets on Tuesdays or
Wednesdays, from 10
am onwards. District-
level training on
Thursdays, Fridays or
Saturday, from 10 am
 Will be coordinated
by senior BJP leaders
Dushyant Gautam and
Muralidhar Rao.
 State units to
expedite training
sessions. All state party
chiefs and general
secretaries told to
complete touring their
states before July 31.
 Enrolment of workers
at Zonal level will be
completed by Sept 25,
activation of booth
committees by Dec 25,
 Pana Pramukhs need
to complete exercise by
April 6, 2022.
VIRTUAL
MEET
New Delhi: On June 18,
the BJP will hold a special
virtual session on the cor-
onavirus pandemic. The
topic of discussion, ac-
cording to BJP sources,
will be how the country
fought the challenge
under the leadership of
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. A film on the same
will be screened. It will
be presented in regional
languages at local levels
by July 10.
CHARDHAM YATRA OPENING TO BE
CONSIDERED AFTER CM’s RETURN
Dehradun: The opening
of Chardham Yatra
will be considered
after Uttarakhand
Chief Minister Tirath
Singh Rawat returns
from Delhi, informed
Shatrughan Singh the
Chief Advisor to the Chief
Minister. “The opening
of Chardham Yatra will
only be considered after
the Chief Minister returns
from Delhi”, Singh told
ANI on Tuesday. After
considering all aspects,
the government will take
a final call regarding
the Yatra, he added.
Uttarakhand government
on Tuesday postponed
its order to open the
Chardham Yatra for
people from three districts
Chamoli, Rudraprayag,
and Uttarkashi.
ORACLE INDIA HEAD, WIFE
BOOKED FOR CHEATING
Hyderabad: Oracle India head and his wife were
booked for cheating customers by collecting
huge advance amounts for the projects using the
goodwill of the Oracle company, informed the po-
lice on Tuesday. The police stated that it booked
Oracle India Head Pradeep Agarwal and his wife
Meenu Agarwal under sections 406, 420, 506
IPC and served notices to the them on Monday
at their residence in Gurgaon. MADS Creation
Pvt Ltd, a interior company headed by Meenu
Agarwal duped its clients.
GALWAN MARTYR COL BABU’S
STATUE UNVEILED IN SURYAPET
Suryapet: A statue of Colonel Santosh Babu, who
died in the Chinese army attack at Galwan Valley
in eastern Ladakh in June last year, was unveiled
at Suryapet by Telangana Minister K T Rama Rao
on Tuesday. Colonel Babu was native of Suryapet,
about 140 Km from the state capital Hyderabad.
ColonelBabu, the commanding officer of the 16
Bihar regiment, was among 20 Indian soldiers
who laid down their lives in the fierce combat on
June 15 last year in the Galwan Valley, an incident
that marked serious military conflicts.
ETHANOL DISTILLATION LIKELY TO
BE DOUBLED BY 2025, CENTRE
New Delhi: It is likely that
ethanol distillation capaci-
ties in the country would
be more than doubled
by 2025 and India would
be able to achieve 20
per cent blending target,
said Sudhanshu Pandey,
Secretary of the Depart-
ment of Food and Public
Distribution (DFPD). “As a
result of various meas-
ures taken to address
demand and supply-side
issues, it is likely that
ethanol distillation capaci-
ties in the country would
be more than doubled
by 2025 and we would
be able to achieve 20 per
cent blending target,”
Pandey told reporters.
Pandey said that ethanol
blending with petrol will
bring a positive impact on
the country’s economy.
WBGuvwritestoDidi,
criticisesher‘silence’
onpost-pollviolence
Parl panel summons
Twitter on June 18;
firm appoints CCO
Kolkata: West Bengal
Governor Jagdeep
Dhankhar wrote to
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee on Tuesday, al-
leging that she has been
silent over post-poll vio-
lence in the state and
has not taken steps to
rehabilitate compen-
sate suffering people.
Hours before his de-
parture to Delhi on a
four-day visit Dhankhar
wrote in the letter to Ba-
nerjee, a copy of which
he shared on Twitter.
“I am constrained to
observe your continued
silence inaction over
post poll retributive
bloodshed, violation of
human rights, outra-
geous assault on dignity
of women, wanton de-
struction of property,
perpetuation of untold
miseries on political
opponents-worst since
Independence and it ill
augurs for democracy.
Absence of any steps to
engage in rehabilitation
to alleviate suffering of
people, force an inevita-
ble conclusion that all
this is state driven,” he
alleged. —Agencies
New Delhi: Days after
the Centre issued a no-
tice to Twitter, a parlia-
mentary panel headed
by Congress leader
Shashi Tharoor has
summoned top officials
of micro blogging site to
depose before it on Fri-
day and give a represen-
tation on prevention of
misuse of the social me-
dia platform.
Parl panel on Info and
Technology has sum-
moned several social
media giants, including
FB Twitter, on issues
related to misuse of
platforms and protec-
tion of citizens’ rights.
Earlier on Tuesday,
Twitter appointed an
interim Chief Compli-
ance Officer as mandat-
ed by the Centre’s new
laws, the social media
platform said in a state-
ment. The details of the
official will soon be
shared be shared with
the IT Ministry
.
MISHRA SENDS
LEGAL NOTICE
TO ADHIKARI
PM MODI TO DELIVER KEYNOTE
ADDRESS AT VIVATECH
Kolkata: Former TMC
leader Vinay Mishra
on Tuesday served
a legal notice to
LoP in West Bengal
Assembly Suvendu
Adhikari, demanding
to delete his June 11
‘false’ tweet, in which
he said that Mishra
renounced Indian citi-
zenship but was made
general secy of TMC
youth wing in 2020.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
deliver the keynote address at the fifth edition of
‘VivaTech’ on July 16. The PMO noted that he has
been invited as a guest of honour to deliver the
keynote address and other prominent speakers at
the event include French President Emmanuel Ma-
cron, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and
Ministers and MPs from various European coun-
tries. The event will also witness the participation
of corporate bigwigs like Apple CEO Tim Cook.
NIA arrests
two more in
Antilia bomb
scare case
Mumbai: The National
Investigation Agency
(NIA) arrested two
more persons in con-
nection with the Antilia
bomb scare case, said
sources. Both of the ar-
rested persons were
produced before the
court on Tuesday and
were sent to NIA custo-
dy till June 21.
Last month, NIA had
arrested Inspector of
the Mumbai Police
Crime Branch, Sunil
Mane for his involve-
ment in the case. Mean-
while, Sachin Waze-the
prime accused in plac-
ing an explosives-laden
vehicle near Reliance
Industries Chairman
Mukesh Ambani’s
house Antilia in Mum-
bai on February 25, was
already arrested by
NIA. Waze was also ac-
cused of the murder of
Mansukh Hiren, the
owner of the vehicle
that was found contain-
ing explosives materi-
als outside Anitilia.
Hiren was found dead
on March 5 in Thane.
—ANI
Jagdeep Dhankhar
PM Narendra Modi
flanked by Amit Shah
and JP Nadda. —File
2 held for vandalising
AAP MP Singh’s home
New Delhi: Two per-
sons were arrested on
Tuesday for allegedly
defacing the nameplate
at Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) MP Sanjay Sin-
gh’s residence, said the
police. Following the
incident, the police said
that an attempt was
made to deface the
nameplate at Singh’s
residence. Two persons
have been detained in
this regard, said the po-
lice. It further stated
that no physical injury
was caused to anyone
and further investiga-
tion is underway
.
PNB fraud: Mehul Choksi trial
adjourned as his health declines
New Delhi: The trial of
the fugitive business-
man Mehul Choksi,
who is wanted in India
in the Rs 13,500 crore
PNB fraud case has
been adjourned to 25
June due to a decline in
his health condition, lo-
cal media reported.
The trial was expect-
ed to begin in the Rose-
au Magistrate Court on
Monday, Dominica
News Online, a news
outlet in Caribbean is-
land said. At the hear-
ing, two of Dominica’s
top criminal attorneys
were added to Choksi’s
legal team for this mat-
ter. Zena Moore-Dyer
and her daughter Gina
Dyer-Munro have
joined Julien Prevost,
Wayne Norde, and Cara
Shillingford-Marsh.
The defence attorneys
presented to the court a
medical document
which stated that Chok-
si is incapacitated and
as a result, he was una-
ble to attend the pro-
ceeding, it said. —PTI
Amid expansion buzz, Union Cabinet meet today
New Delhi: Amid the
buzz of an imminent
reshuffle in the Union
Cabinet, the Cabinet
Committee on Eco-
nomic Affairs (CCEA)
and Union Cabinet
meetings are sched-
uled to be held on
Wednesday
.
The buzz that was go-
ing on for quite some-
time intensified after
series of meetings took
place between Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi and Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah and BJP
National President JP
Nadda in the national
capital. Sources stated
Nadda had been fre-
quently visiting PM’s
residence for a month
now.
Earlier sources in
the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) stated that
the party is likely to ac-
commodate a few of its
prominent leaders and
National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) mem-
bers in the Narendra
Modi Cabinet soon. It
has been two years
since NDA came back
to power in 2019.
Several positions in
the Cabinet are vacant
due to the exit of Shiv
Sena and Shiromani
Akali Dal. —PTI
CENTRE ISSUES NEW GUIDELINES TO REGULATE
ATTENDANCE IN GOVT OFFICES
New Delhi: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has is-
sued new guidelines to regulate attendance in central government offices,
departments and ministries. The ministry on Monday directed all officers at
the level of Under Secretary and above to attend offices on all working days
from June 16 until June 30 while persons with disabilities and pregnant
women employees would continue to work from home. Regarding govern-
ment officials below Under Secretary level, 50 per cent of such officials shall
attend office on all working days and the remaining shall work from home,
said the order issued to all central government ministries/departments.
PUNJAB POLLS: BJP STATE
LEADERS TO MEET NADDA
TEWARI FRONTRUNNER FOR
PUNJAB CONGRESS PREZ
New Delhi: With Punjab state assembly polls
slated for the next year, BJP on Tuesday began
brainstorming on possible alliances and earmark-
ing segments to be
targeted by the party in
the poll-bound state.
The party is contesting
the polls without the
backing of Shiromani
Akali Dal (SAD), its
long-term ally of
around 23 years. The
BJP Punjab president
Ashwani Sharma, along with the state in-charge
Dushyant Gautam, is scheduled to meet the
party’s national chief JP Nadda this evening.
New Delhi: After the panel set up by the Con-
gress on Punjab submitted its report on the
factionalism in its state unit, a change of guard
looks imminent with
the AICC looking for a
suitable replacement
for current Punjab
Pradesh Congress
Committee (PPCC)
President Sunil Jakhar.
Sources said that
former Union minister
and Anandpur Sahib
MP Manish Tewari is the frontrunner for the top
post in Punjab, while the names of Vijay Inder
Singla Raj Kumar Verka are also considered.

New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
on Tuesday urged peo-
ple to get vaccinated
against COVID-19 as
soon as possible and
to continue following
all the safety guide-
lines.
“Unlocking is hap-
pening but coronavi-
rus is and will be
among us. In such a
situation, keep follow-
ing the safety guide-
lines and get the vac-
cine as soon as possi-
ble. No one is safe un-
less everyone is safe.
Take care of your-
self,” tweeted Rahul
Gandhi.
Meanwhile, India
reported 60,471 new
COVID-19 cases, the
lowest count after 75
days, while the daily
positivity rate further
dropped to 3.45 per
cent, according to the
Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare
on Tuesday
.
The Union Health
Ministry has in-
formed that
25,90,44,072 vaccine
doses have been ad-
ministered so far un-
der nationwide vacci-
nation drive. —ANI
INDIA
06
Hyderabad: The sup-
ply price of Bharat Bio-
tech’s vaccine Covaxin
to the central govern-
ment at Rs 150 per dose
is not sustainable in the
long run, the vaccine
maker said on Tuesday
.
The Centre’s supplying
price is pushing pric-
ing structure for the
private sector upward.
“Fundamental busi-
ness reasons ranging
from low procurement
volumes, high distribu-
tion costs and retail
margins among few oth-
ers contribute to higher
pricing of Covaxin,”
Bharat Biotech said jus-
tifying the higher price
when compared to oth-
er COVID-19 vaccines
available for the private
sector. “The supply
price of Covaxin to the
government of India at
Rs 150/dose, is a non-
competitive price and
clearly not sustainable
in the long run. Hence a
higher price in private
markets is required to
offset part of the costs,”
Bharat Biotech said.
Bharat Biotech has
so far invested over Rs
500 crores at risk from
its own resources for
product development,
clinical trials and set-
ting up of manufactur-
ing facilities.
‘`150PERDOSENOTSUSTAINABLE’
BHARAT BIOTECH JUSTIFIES HIGHER PRICE TO PVT SECTOR; SAYS IT HAD SO FAR INVESTED OVER `500 CR
State must...
The justices were of
the view that the gov-
ernment had to prior-
itize the treatment of
patients and prepare
for the third wave.
Also, advocate
Anand Yagnik raised
the issue of separate
treatment facilities for
blind people and preg-
nant women, who need
assistance. The court
took serious note of
the submission and
stated, “We expect the
state to see that the is-
sue is addressed. If it
does not do that then,
the court will pass an
order.”
Senior counsel Per-
cy Kavina’s submis-
sion underlined the
need for a uniform
vaccination policy in
the state. “The gov-
ernment should men-
tion the timeline for
vaccination,” he stat-
ed. The court ques-
tioned the feasibility
of the timeline when
manufacturers were
not scheduling deliv-
ery dates of vaccines
to the state. On the fi-
nal rights of COVID-19
patients belonging to
the Parsi community,
advocate Asim Pandya
had submitted that
Parsis should be al-
lowed to perform the
final rituals of their
loved ones as per com-
munity tradition. In
response, the court
was of the view ICMR
guidelines should be
followed. And yet, it
asked the central gov-
ernment whether it
had made any modifi-
cation in the 2020 cir-
cular on disposal of
COVID-19 patients’
bodies.
Ram...Ram...
Ravi Mohan Tiwari
and Sultan Ansari had
bought the land regis-
tered with numbers
243, 244 and 246 by a
sale deed for an
amount of Rs 2 crore,
with “valuation at cir-
cle rate Rs 5.80 crores
and stamp for Rs 5.80
crores Valuation”. The
statement added that
Tiwari and Ansari en-
tered into an agree-
ment on the same day
to sell this land to the
Ram Janmabhoomi
Trust. “Consideration
amount agreed was Rs.
18.50 crores. Payment
of Rs. 17 crores was
made as advance by
online transaction,” it
further stated.
The temple Trust has
also said that the land
is situated at a “prime”
location and the price
at which it was bought
was “much less than
the actual market rate
in Ayodhya”.
Amid Cabinet...
resumed as the second
wave of Covid has re-
ceded. The focus of the
meetings this time is
on the situation in the
MPs’ constituencies,
the handling of Covid
and their performance
during the pandemic,
and the grievances of
the people. Also any re-
shuffle in the ministry
is usually preceded by
appraisal and stock
taking.
Stretched
inferences...
what to talk of commit-
ting a terrorist act or a
conspiracy or act pre-
paratory to the com-
mission of a terrorist
act as understood in
the UAPA,” said the
court, while granting
bail to Narwal.
Delta plus...
During the second
wave of the pandemic,
the government said,
about 11.62 per cent
cases were seen in the
below 20 years age
group, while it was
11.31 per cent during
the first wave. It also
said that a sharp de-
cline of 78 per cent has
been noted since the
highest reported week-
ly Covid case positivi-
ty rate of 21.4 per cent,
which was recorded
between May 4 and 10
during the second
wave. —PTI
Nifty50 touches...
Markets have gained 5
per cent this month
on expectations that
economic activity will
accelerate as pandem-
ic-led restrictions are
eased and vaccina-
tions rise.
Punjab: Sukhbir...
introduced by the Cap-
tain Amarinder Sin-
gh-led government.
Badal was detained
after he along with
scores of SAD and
BSP leaders staged a
demo against state
govt outside CMR at
Siswan.
Chirag expels...
Paswan likened the or-
ganization to a mother
who should not be “be-
trayed”. In a tweet, he
said he made efforts to
keep the party founded
by his father Ram Vi-
las Paswan and his
family together but
failed. Paswan also
shared a letter he had
written to his uncle
Paras, in March in
which he had high-
lighted his uncle’s un-
happiness over some
issues.
FROM PG 1
HIGHLIGHTS
 Maharashtra re-
ports over 9,000
new cases, 388
more deaths in
last 24hrs
 BCCI announces
15-member squad
For WTC Final
against NZ
 NIA files
chargesheet
against ISIS ter-
rorist in Chennai
 FinMin officials to
meet Infosys team
on June 22 to
discuss IT e-filing
portal glitches
 HC refuses to stay
June 18 ‘screening
test’ for foreign
medical graduates
RaGa urges people to get
vaccinated against Covid
‘Action will be taken if probe proves fake
COVID-19 testing data during Mahakumbh’
New Delhi: The Haj
Committee of India on
Tuesday rejected all ap-
plications for this year
2021 Haj due to Saudi
Arabia barring people
from outside the coun-
try due to coronavirus
disease (Covid-19) pan-
demic.
“The kingdom of
Saudi Arabia has de-
cided to allow citizens
and residents inside
the kingdom of Saudi
Arabia only to attend
Haj 1442 in limited
numbers. Internation-
al Haj has been can-
celled. Hence it has
been decided by the Haj
Committee of India
that all the applications
for Haj-202l stands can-
celled,” the circular
said.
Haridwar: Comment-
ing on the allegations
of fake COVID testing
during Mahakumbh
earlier this year, Medi-
cal Officer of Kumbh
Arun Singh Sengar
said action will be tak-
en against those re-
sponsible if probe
proves that wrong data
was fed. “It has been
taken into cognisance
that wrong data was
entered, it is being in-
vestigated. Facts will
come out after probe
if wrong data was fed,
action will be taken,”
Sengar said. Haridwar
Chief Medical Officer
SK Jha said it is not
right to comment now
as the matter is being
investigated.
New Delhi: The Minis-
try of Health and Fam-
ily Welfare on Tuesday
clarified that any death
or hospitalisation
following COVID-19
vaccination cannot be
automatically assumed
to be due to vaccina-
tion. As per the official
release by the ministry,
there have been some
media reports sug-
gesting an increase in
the cases of severe ad-
verse events following
immunization, which
have also resulted
in ‘succumbing of
patients’ post-vacci-
nation. As per reports,
488 deaths following
vaccination are linked
to post-COVID compli-
cations during January
16, 2021 June 7,
2021 period where the
total vaccination cover-
age was 23.5 crore.
Dr VK Paul,
Member Health,
NITI Aayog said, “All
vaccines have some
reactions in the body
post inoculation, do
not spread misinfor-
mation.” The Union
Ministry clarified that
these reports are
based on incomplete
and limited under-
standing of the matter
at hand and noted
that the term “suc-
cumbed” insinuates
causality, that is, the
deaths were caused
due to vaccination.
The number of deaths
reported following
COVID-19 vaccination
in the country is only
0.0002% of 23.5 crore
doses administered,
which is within the
expected death rates
in a population.
ANY DEATH OR HOSPITALISATION FOLLOWING COVID-19 VAX
CANNOT BE ASSUMED TO BE DUE TO VACCINATION: CENTRE
Kolkata: Amid the second wave of the COV-
ID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemc, Kolkata-based
Scientist Dr Ramendra Lal Mukherjee, an
engineer by profession has invented a highly
portable battery operated ventilor which can
be used by people who suffer from breathing
problem, irrespective of their age. It can be
charged through mobile charger which can
last for eight hours. This device has two parts,
a power Unit and a Ventilator unit attached to
the mouth piece.
New Delhi: Roche Dia-
betes Care (RDC) India
has signed a Memoran-
dum of Understanding
(MoU) with Rotary
India Literacy Mission
(RILM) to conduct
diabetes screening
camps for the under-
privileged across India,
to drive early detec-
tion of diabetes and
to increase awareness
about its management.
Recent reports have
flagged the potential
‘diabetogenic’ effect
of Covid-19 on peo-
ple who did not have
diabetes before their
exposure to the virus.
People take holi dip during Mahakumbh in Haridwar. —File
The vaccine maker has said that it had to invest over Rs 500 crore “at risk” from its own
resources for the product development, clinical trials and setting up of manufacturing facilities.
Rahul Gandhi
KOLKATA SCIENTIST INVENTS
POCKET VENTILATOR
CONCERNED
COVID COULD
INCREASE
DIABETES: RDC
Haj 2021:
Panel cancels
all applications
New Delhi: The Trina-
mool Congress has ex-
tended its contract with
election strategists I-
PAC, or Indian Political
Action Committee, to
2026 after a successful
partnership saw Mama-
ta Banerjee sweep the
April-May Assembly
polls and return as
Chief Minister of Ben-
gal for a third straight
term.
This version of I-
PAC, however, will not
be led in day-to-day op-
erations by master
strategist Prashant
Kishor, who guided the
Trinamool (and, in Ta-
mil Nadu, the DMK-
Congress alliance) to
victory over the BJP
(and its southern ally,
the AIADMK) and then
told media he wanted to
“quit”. It will be inter-
esting to see how well
I-PAC and its new nine-
member leadership
team can function with-
out Mr Kishor, and how
efficiently it can win
elections for Trinamool
and its other clients.
The contract exten-
sion will run till the
next round of Assembly
elections in Bengal, by
which time key states,
including UP, Gujarat
and Karnataka, and the
country would have
also held elections.
PrashantKishorout,histeamgets
MamataBanerjeecontracttill2026 SC closes criminal cases
against Italian marines
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Tues-
day ordered the closure
of all proceedings in
India against two Ital-
ian Marines -- Massi-
miliano Latorre and
Salvatore Girone -- ac-
cused of killing two
fishermen off the coast
of Kerala in 2012.
The top court said it
decided to quash all
proceedings against the
marines after being in-
formed that the com-
pensation of Rs 10 crore
for the families of the
victims has been depos-
ited in the registry of
the SC by the Republic
of Italy. “The compen-
sation amount of Rs 10
crore already paid by
the Italian government,
over and above is made,
and is reasonable and
adequate,” a two-judge
vacation bench of the
Apex Court, headed by
Justice Indira Banerjee
and also comprising
Justice M R Shah, said
in its order.
Minister of Bengal (L) and Prashant Kishor (R)
CHHATTISGARH
HC GIVES
RELIEF TO
SINGH, PATRA
MARATHI ACTOR
NABBED FOR
‘VILE POSTS’
AGAINST MIN
New Delhi: Provid-
ing interim relief to 2
BJP leaders, Chhat-
tisgarh High Court
stayed the FIR against
former CM Raman
Singh party spokes-
person Sambit Patra
in connection with
alleged fake toolkit
case. Chhattisgarh
unit of the NSUI had
lodged an FIR against
Singh and Patra in
the fake toolkit in Civil
Lines Police station,
Raipur in May after
BJP had slammed
Congress for its
“toolkit on pandemic”.
Thane: A small-time
Marathi actor has
been arrested in
Thane for allegedly
posting objection-
able posts on the
Facebook page of
Maharashtra Urban
Development Minister
Eknath Shinde, offi-
cials said on Tuesday.
The accused, identi-
fied as Mayuresh
Kotkar, who has acted
in some Marathi
serials and films, was
nabbed following a
complaint lodged by
Shiv Sena corporator
Yogesh Jankar.

O
Ocean
cean
GREENING THE
GREENING THE
S
hips carry more than 80%
of world trade, and they
rely heavily on some of
the least environmentally
friendly transportation fuels
available.
There are no cheap, widely
available solutions that can
lower the shipping industry’s
planet-warming carbon emis-
sions – in fact, shipping is con-
sidered one of the hardest in-
dustries on the planet to decar-
bonize – but some exciting in-
novations are being tested right
now.
As a professor of naval archi-
tecture and marine engineer-
ing, I work on ship propulsion
and control systems, including
electrification, batteries and
fuel cells. With attention fo-
cused on climate change this
week as world leaders meet at
the G-7 summit and negotiators
discuss shipping emissions at a
meeting of the UN’s Interna-
tional Maritime Organization,
let’s take a look at what’s possi-
ble and some of the fuels and
technologies that are likely to
define the industry’s future.
Shipping’s
climate problem
Shipping is the cheapest way to
move raw materials and bulk
goods. That has given it both an
enormous economic impact and
a large carbon footprint.
The industry emits roughly 1
billion metric tons of carbon
dioxide per year – nearly 3% of
global emissions, according to
the IMO, a specialized UN agen-
cy made up of 174 member na-
tions that sets standards for the
industry. If shipping were a
country, it would rank between
Japan and Germany as the
sixth-largest contributor to
global carbon dioxide emis-
sions. Moreover, nearly 70% of
ships’ emissions occur within
250 miles (400 km) of land,
meaning it also has an impact
on air quality, especially for
port cities.
Technological innovation, in
addition to policies, will be cru-
cial for achieving low-carbon or
zero-emission shipping. Aca-
demic research institutes, gov-
ernment labs and companies
are now experimenting with
electrification; zero- or low-car-
bon fuels such as hydrogen,
natural gas, ammonia and bio-
fuels; and alternative power
sources such as fuel cells and
solar, wind and wave power.
Each has its pros and cons.
Electrifying ships
matters
Just as on land, electrification
is one key to cleaning up the in-
dustry’s emissions. It allows
engines operating on fossil fuels
to be either replaced by alterna-
tive power generation technolo-
gies, or downsized and modified
for low-emissions operation. It
also allows ships to connect to
electric power while in port, re-
ducing their emissions from
idling.
Ship electrification and hy-
bridization are significant
trends for both commercial and
military vessels. Electrifying a
ship means replacing its tradi-
tional mechanical systems with
electrical ones. Some fleets have
already electrified propulsion
and cargo handling. Hybrid
power systems, on the other
hand, integrate different power-
generation mechanisms, such
as engines and batteries, to lev-
erage their complementary
characteristics.
I see deeper electrification
and broader hybridization as a
core strategy for achieving
green shipping.
Tremendous opportunities
also exist for improving the op-
eration of the existing fleet –
and reducing fuel use – through
automation and real-time con-
trol. Advanced sensors, artifi-
cial intelligence and machine
learning can help ships to “see,”
“think,” and “act” better to im-
prove efficiency and reduce
emissions.
Greener fuels for
voyages
Shifting to cleaner and greener
fuel sources will be essential for
decarbonizing the shipping in-
dustry
.
Most of the power plants on
today’s ships are based on inter-
nal combustion engines that
use cheap heavy fuel oil. Inno-
vations in marine diesel and
gas turbine engine design and
treatment of exhaust gas have
lowered harmful emissions.
However, most of the “low-
hanging fruit” has been har-
vested, with little room left for
dramatic improvement in tradi-
tional power sources.
The focus now is on develop-
ing cleaner fuel sources and
more efficient alternative pow-
er generation technologies.
Loworzero-carbonfuels,such
as natural gas, ammonia and hy-
drogen, are predicted to be the
dominant energy sources for
shippinginthefuture.Ammonia
is easy to transport and store,
and it can be used in internal
combustion engines and high-
temperature fuel cells. But like
hydrogen, it is largely still made
with fossil fuels. It’s also toxic.
Both have the potential to be
made with water and renewable
energy using electrolysis, but
that zero-carbon technology is
stillintheearlystagesandcostly
.
These fuels have started re-
placing heavy diesel fuels in
some marine segments, primar-
ily as demonstration projects
and at a slower rate than need-
ed. Cost and infrastructure re-
main major barriers.
Renewable energy sources,
such as wind, solar and wave
energy
, are also promising. Inte-
grating renewable sources as
cost-effective and reliable ener-
gy solutions for oceangoing ves-
sels is another challenge devel-
opers are working on.
Fuel cells
batteries for
power
Fuel cells and batteries also
hold promise as alternative
power generation technologies.
Through electrochemical re-
actions, fuel cells generate elec-
tric power in a highly efficient
and clean manner, making them
very attractive for transporta-
tion. Fuel cells are operated
withpurehydrogenorreformed
gases, except for high-tempera-
ture fuel cells that can use natu-
ral gas or ammonia as fuel.
Given the existing fuel infra-
structure, most maritime fuel
cell demonstration projects to-
day have to store liquid hydro-
gen or use onboard systems
that convert natural gas or
other fuel to hydrogen-rich
syngas. Infrastructure for hy-
drogen storage has to be devel-
oped for widespread adoption
of fuel cell technology.
Battery technology is essen-
tial for electrification, even for
ships with an internal combus-
tion engine as their prime mov-
er. It also has its own unique
challenges. In addition to ensur-
ing the batteries are safe and
reliable – you don’t want a fire
or power outage in the middle
of the ocean – ruggedness and
flexibility are necessary for
powering operations such as
cargo handling and tugboat op-
erations.
Investing in
the future
In 2018, the International Mari-
time Organization’s Marine En-
vironment Protection Commit-
tee set targets to reduce the
carbon intensity of the global
fleet by at least 40% by 2030 and
to cut its greenhouse gas emis-
sions in half by 2050 from the
2008 levels. It’s expected to adopt
mandatory requirements re-
flecting those long-term goals at
its meeting June 10-17, 2021.
Those targets are important,
but they leave the deadlines for
action well into the future.
Countries and some shipping
companies are recommending a
faster transition. In early June,
the governments of Denmark,
Norway and the United States,
along with the Global Maritime
Forum and the Mærsk Mc-Kin-
ney Møller Center for Zero Car-
bon Shipping, announced a new
Zero-EmissionShippingMission
to try to scale up and deploy new
green maritime solutions faster.
The shipping giant AP
Møller-Maersk has said it could
support a carbon tax of $150 per
ton of carbon dioxide to encour-
age more innovation and a fast-
er transition, though others in
the industry argue that a tax
like that would nearly double
the cost of bunker fuel and
make freight far more expen-
sive, with repercussions
throughout the global economy
.
I believe the grand vision of
zero-emission shipping can be
realized if the ship design and
fleet operation communities
work together with policymak-
ers, the logistics industry and
the broad academic and indus-
try technical communities to
find solutions.
This is an exciting time to
work in the area of energy and
power solutions for shipping.
The technology developed today
will have a transformative im-
pact, not only on the marine
industry but also on society
.
JING SUN
Professor and Department Chair,Naval
Architecture and Marine Engineering,
University of Michigan
Shipping is tough on the climate and hard to clean
up but these innovations can help cut emissions
TALKING POINT
07
SOURCE: THECONVERSATION.COM
Shipping
is
responsible
for
a
large
portion
of
global
emissions.
—WILLIAM
WILLIAM/UNSPLASH,
CC
BY
Ships that can connect to electric power in port can avoid
burning fuel that produces greenhouse gases and pollution.
—ERNESTO VELÁZQUEZ/UNSPLASH, CC BY

08
2NDFRONT
Minority schools dub amended
law ‘unconstitutional’, move HC
New Guj higher education law makes TAT must for teaching jobs in these institutions
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat Secondary and
Higher Secondary Edu-
cation (Amendment)
Act, 2021, which makes
it mandatory to clear
Teachers’ Aptitude Test
(TAT) to become teach-
ers and principals in
minority educational
institutions, has been
challenged before the
Gujarat High Court as
“unconstitutional”.
The State Assembly
passed the Gujarat Sec-
ondary and Higher
Secondary Education
(Amendment) Act, 2021
on March 31 during its
budget session, which
was notified by the on
June 1.
Theamendmentman-
dates minority institu-
tions, religious as well
as linguistic, to follow a
centralised recruitment
policy of the State Gov-
ernment which is appli-
cable to all government
and grant-in-aid second-
ary and higher second-
ary schools.
The original 1972 leg-
islation had exempted
minority institutions
based on religion and
language from provi-
sions of Clause 26 of
Section 17 of the Act
that lays down qualifi-
cations, methods of se-
lection and conditions
of appointment, promo-
tion and termination of
employment and rules
for conduct and disci-
pline of the headmaster
and the teaching and
non-teaching staff of
registered private sec-
ondary schools.
Now, after the amend-
ment, “sub-section (1)
of section 34 and clause
(b) of sub-section (1)
and sub section (2), (3),
(4) and (5) of Section 36
shall not apply to any
educational institutions
established and admin-
istered by a minority,
whether based on reli-
gion or language”.
Section 36 pertains to
the “appointment and
dismissal, removal and
reduction in rank of
certain persons-head
master, teacher or a
member of non teach-
ing staff of a registered
private secondary
school” while section 34
(1) stipulates “15 per
cent of vacancies of
teaching staff of a reg-
istered private second-
ary school shall be filled
up by persons belonging
to the scheduled castes
and scheduled tribes.
Provided that where a
person belonging to a
scheduled caste or
scheduled tribe is not
available for filling any
such vacancy the vacan-
cy shall be filled up as
otherwise provided in
this Act”.
397 SCHOOLS HIT
Father kills 2 small
daughters, then
commits suicide
GU prof alleges corruption in
construction of 25 buildings
First India Bureau
Anand: In a tragic in-
cident, a man alleged-
ly killed his two small
daughters before hang-
ing himself to death in
Anand on Tuesday,
presumably for finan-
cial stress. The bodies
were sent to Karamsad
Civil Hospital for post
mortem.
Anand town Police
Sub-Inspector AM Shar-
ma told First India that
neighbours alerted the
police after breaking
open the door of Lallu
Prajapati’s home on
Tuesday morning. They
foundLalluhangingand
bodies of his daughters,
Mansi (6) and Priyanshi
(3), lying on the floor.
Sharma said a police
team found a suicide
note where Prajapati
stated he had taken the
extreme step on his own
accord. It has been sent
to the FSL.
Neighbours in-
formed the police that
Prajapati’s wife had
died a few months ago
and he lived with his
daughters. They also
said Prajapati lived
separately from his
parents, though they
were in Anand.
Policebelievesincehe
was a daily wage earner
there was possibility of
a financial crisis.
The police said FSL
and post mortem re-
ports would throw more
light on the reason for
the suicide. A case of ac-
cidental death and mur-
der was filed against
Prajapati.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Former
Senate member and a
professor with the Guja-
rat University, Devdutt
Rana, has levelled seri-
ous corruption charges
against the Gujarat Uni-
versity in construction
of 25 buildings on the
campus between 2016
and 2018.
Rana has slapped a
legal notice on the Uni-
versity’s Registrar, its
estate officer and the
Ahmedabad Municipal
Commissioner, assert-
ing that the buildings
were functioning with-
out the mandatory
Building Use (BU) per-
mission.
“We have made sev-
eral RTI applications to
know the legal status of
the buildings, which
have been constructed
between 2016 and 2018.
None of them has got
even the relevant build-
ing plans passed or giv-
en a map to the local
authority,” said Rana.
He said the officers
spent Rs 175 crore to
construct the buildings,
which are illegal. “By
erecting illegal struc-
tures, they have put the
lives of the students in
danger. This is a scam
carried out by a nexus
of the Gujarat Univer-
sity and the AMC. They
would be responsible
for anything that hap-
pens to students in case
of any calamity. I have
warned the authorities
many times earlier
too,”asserted Rana.
He wondered that
while the AMC was
sealing buildings with-
out BU permissions af-
ter the Gujarat High
Court orders, the civic
body couldn’t see the
list of Gujarat Universi-
ties’ buildings.
Tensed neighborhood.
Gujarat University Library building. —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Surat: A study by New
CivilHospital,Surat,has
predicted that around
20,000 children under 15
years of age could be in-
fected with coronavirus
if thedreadedthirdwave
strikes.
The estimates have
been drawn based on
calculations involving
the results of RT-PCR,
HRCT and rapid antigen
tests conducted in the
government hospitals
and private laboratories
in the first and second
wave of Covid-19.
The study was under-
taken after observations
that a majority of moth-
ers only in the families
of school-going children
hadtestedpositivebefore
the second wave peaked.
Accordingtothestudy
done by NCH’s Preven-
tive and Social Medicine
department, around
17,600 to 20,000 children
inSuratmaygetinfected
out of the 88,000 to one
lakh cases estimated in
the third wave.
Of these, around
2,000 may require hospi-
talization and 200 treat-
ments at intensive care
units (ICU).
“The predictions are
only for preparations
and no one can tell ex-
actly what will happen
if a third wave comes.
More infections are
feared among the young
population since they
are not vaccinated,”
said JK Kosambiya,
professor and head de-
partment of PSM.
The department was
closely monitoring both
the waves and based on
its daily findings they
made predictions and
projections for the next
few days. The team of 50
including teachers and
doctors advised health
officials to expand the
infrastructure during
the past few months.
Third Covid-19 wave can infect 20,000 children in Surat alone!
WORRYING PREDICTIONS
—FILE PHOTO
—FILE PHOTO
A study by New Civil Hospital’s PSM Dept says these
estimates are based on results of RT-PCR, HRCT and
RAT tests during the first second wave
PROTESTING 'LAND JIHAD'
Local Hindu protesters displaying placards against 'land Jihad' in the Paldi area of Ahmedabad were detained by police on
Tuesday. The locals alleged double standards of AMC that has not acted against Varsha Flat in its drive against constructions
without BU permission in Ahmedabad on Tuesday evening. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
NSUI’s Ramdhun against temple land scam
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The stu-
dents body of the Con-
gress party, the Nation-
al Students Union of
India (NSUI), on Tues-
day held a Ramdhun on
the premises of Gujarat
university in protest
against the alleged
scam that has surfaced
in the Ram temple land
deal in Ayodhya.
The members of
NSUI chanted hymns at
the Hanuman temple at
the university to con-
demn the land scam at
the Ram temple.
“The Ram temple is a
symbol of faith,” said
Narayan Bharwad, gen-
eral secretary of NSUI.
“The Ramjanmabhoo-
mi Trust bought land
for Rs 18 crore from two
persons who had pur-
chased it for Rs 2 crore
just 15 minutes ago. We
all Hindus condemn the
scam. Overnight the Rs
2 crore land becomes
worth RS 18 crore! The
scamster of Rs 16 crore
should be prosecuted
and sent to jail. God also
planned in the temple
for them to be severely
punished,” added Bhar-
wad.
NSUI leaders and ac-
tivists chanted slogans
of Hanuman Chalisa,
Ram Dhun, Bhajan, Jai
Shri Ram at Hanuman
Temple at Gujarat Uni-
versity. The activists
protested by playing
hand cymbals and
drums and demanded
immediate action. They
demanded strict action
and immediate com-
plaints against the cul-
prits in the scam.
NSUI members performing Ramdhun at Gujarat University.
AFTER UP, MP, LOVE-JIHAD LAW
COMES INTO FORCE IN GUJARAT
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
Gujarat Freedom of
Religion (Amend-
ment) Bill 2021 has
been notified in the
State with effect from
Tuesday
, June 15, 2021.
This Bill was passed
by the state assembly
on June 1 and got Gov-
ernor Acharya Dev-
vrat’s assent in May
, is
now a law in the state.
After Uttar Pradesh
and Madhya Pradesh,
Gujarat becomes the
third state to imple-
ment the love Jihad
law. It provides that if
anybody is found
guilty of forced con-
version, he will be
punished with four to
seven years of jail
term and strict pun-
ishment to those who
are found complicit in
the conversion
through marriage.
Among other
things, marriage just
for the sake of conver-
sionorconversionjust
for the sake of mar-
riage will be termed
illegal by the Family
Court or the Court.
A family which cares and a few
friends who are there when you
need them, is enough for good life!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India

www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
AHMEDABAD, WEDNESDAY
JUNE 16, 2021
e all know how hard it is to pursue pas-
sion alongside studies; however, Tonk-
based Juhi Tikkiwal not only achieved
her goal while studying, she also be-
came an inspiration for newcomers in
the fashion industry. In an exclusive
interview with City First, Juhi shares
why she started and how far she has come!
“Ever since my schooling days, everyone ap-
preciated my height and personality
. I used to
be very active in both sports and studies. All
friends and family encouraged and appreciat-
ed my fitness and complexion. One day, I dis-
cussed with my father that I wanted to partici-
pate in the Miss India contest. My parents ap-
preciated and supported my idea. Soon after I
decided to participate, I started my prepara-
tion,” she said.
“During my graduation, I was able to par-
ticipate in an audition for TV artists held
in Delhi, but due to some unavoidable
circumstances, I could not get empan-
elled. This incident broke my heart
and for quite some time, I was really
sad about it. But remembering the
phrase, “Himmat-e-marda to ma-
dade Khuda”, I recollected
my whole energy and de-
termined to face all diffi-
culties to pursue my pas-
sion,” she said.
On being asked about
her professional jour-
ney, she said, “I started
photoshoots in Tonk
and simultaneously
started visiting Jaipur
for modelling. During
this time, I came across
a competition- Elite
Miss Rajasthan organ-
ised by Gaurav Gaur. I
registered myself and
it was a matter of pride
that I was one of the
finalists of Elite Miss
Rajasthan 2020.
The stay and training for sev-
en days provided by Mentor
Gaurav Gaur played an impor-
tant role to carry on my jour-
ney of modelling.”
“My first goal is to partici-
pate in Miss Femina and Miss
India contests and the ultimate
goal is to enter into the Bolly-
wood industry,” she said.
JUHI TIKKIWAL FROM TONK
SHARES HER JOURNEY OF
MODELLING AND THE
STRUGGLES ASSOCIATED
WITH IT, IN A CONVERSATION
WITH CITY FIRST!
KARISHMA GWALANI
Karishma.gwalani@firstindia.co.in
W

10
ETC
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
GIORGIA ANDRIANI, Actress
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
There is a need to set a goal
and move in the direction
of achieving it. Read
property papers with extra
caution before making any deal as
any negligence could lead to a major
loss. At workplace not everyone will
appreciate the changes made by you
so do not get disappointed.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Be careful on what you
spend and how you spend
as you are likely to
experience more
expenditure as compared to your
earnings. Prepare well and in
advance if you want to move
mountains in a new and a totally
different field of work.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Taking care of an elderly,
loving them and giving
them time will not only
bring you recognition but
will also bring you blessings. Today
your expectations are very high from
the company of someone you love.
Your academic performance will
improve like anything.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Being a supporting hand for
your spouse will bring lot of
happiness. Keep following a
healthy diet to remain in
good shape. Your ability to handle
issues at hand will get you recognized
professionally. You may get invited by
a close one for a lunch or dinner. Also
avoid busy roads.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
You must always stay away
from negative people, it
will only effect your mind
state. On academic front,
you have to work a little harder and
then sky is the limit. Your financial
state will take a turn for good and
you will start making more money.
Your love life is very promising.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Your strong financial
condition will give you the
liberty to venture into new
market. You may find the
right partner for yourself at the right
time so be patient. You will spend a
lovely time at home, could be due to
the arrival of relatives or friends. You
will get a lot of appreciation.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Your family elder requires
your love and time. Put in
more efforts to shine
bright in your class. Hard
work will surely pay off. You seem to
create problems for yourself and may
land up blaming others. Please take
responsibility. Your plan for business
expansion may not go smoothly.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
You must refrain from
giving unsolicited advice
as they may not be
welcomed. You are a good
person by heart and god blessings
are always with you. You must listen
to everyone and then do as your
heart wishes. Be careful in office
today, you can become a hero.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Adjust yourself in a new
set up. Do not leave any
stone unturned in working
hard academically. Any
negligence in studies may lead to
situation getting out of hands. Focus
on improving your financial skills.
You will need them today. You will
feel like avoiding a few things.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Your sympathetic attitude
towards someone in need
will be appreciated.
Everybody has a right to
their opinions. Don’t get oversensi-
tive to other’s comments, if you are
not sensitive enough yourself. Taking
initiative will help you in seizing good
opportunities on the business front.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Sooner or later your work
will surely get the
recognition on a very good
level. Your guru may
reward you for your outstanding
performance on domestic front. You
must have lots of patience and be
rest assured, you will get all the
receivables very soon.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You lover demands some
time from you, you must
reciprocate to their
feelings. Today you will be
hundred percent focused on keeping
things under control whether in
personal or professional life. At
workplace, you will learn something
new today.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
WILL INDIA BE ABLE TO CONQUER THE
BATTLE AGAINST COVID-19?
ndia is gradually com-
ing out of the Tsunami
like the second wave of
Covid-19andstateshave
also initiated relaxing
lockdown in cities and
towns. Simultaneously
,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
in his emotional message to the
nation has declared that from
June 21 (International Yoga Day)
free of cost vaccination will be
available to all between18 to 44
age group and also make availa-
ble food grains till Diwali to 80
crore poor people. But, the big
questionisthatlearningalesson
fromthesecondwaveof Covid-19
will India be able to conquer the
battle against corona like polio?’
Like the first wave, the second
wave has also hurt deeply
. every-
bodyissufferingfromthemutant
Delta virus that has made hue
and cry in every household. In
the biggest crisis of the era, all
the resources fell short and peo-
ple also suffered from black fun-
gus etc. All around there was a
bigdemandforoxygenandmedi-
cines. The scenario of the queue
of bodiesatcremationandburial
yards, and the sight of dead bod-
ies floating in the river Ganges
etc is frightening. Help extended
from across the globe to the suf-
fering humanity
.
The biggest reason for the
spread of the second wave with
thenewDeltavariantisespecial-
ly a mutant strain and spread
everywhere owing to the care-
lessness against the relaxations
granted during the lockdown.
Despite appeals made time and
again to use the mask, wash the
hands with soap, use sanitiser,
maintain social distance was not
paid and the situation was so
grave that people crowded in
markets and public places all
overIndia.Newcultureforcedus
to live in a situation where one
cannot attend the last rites of
their beloved ones. Only the Pub-
lic cannot solely be blamed for
spreading the pandemic not fol-
lowingguidelines,butthesystem
is also responsible to check the
spread of disease. It unlocked
early while the disease was still
going on and not controlled. Not
learning a lesson from the first
wave, though anticipating the
other wave of Covid was not
fully prepared to encounter
it. Lack of oxygen plants,
availability of oxygen
cylinders and availa-
bility of beds in hos-
pitals, insufficiency
of vital medicines
needed to treat the
patients also re-
mained factors to
control the spread
of disease.
At the same
timeweweremade
to contemplate on
our dual mentality
on the growing
crowds in election
rallies, Kumbh Mela
etc., and now being ad-
vised to use the double mask,
maintainadistanceof ten-meter
etc. PM Narendra Modi is con-
stantly taking stock of the situa-
tion by discussing with CMs,
districtcollectors,healthexperts
others, Union Health Minister
Dr Harsh Vardhan also review-
ing health facilities. State CMs
tooareconstantlytakingstockof
the situation.
The biggest concern is to con-
tain the spread of corona in the
rural areas. It is not easy to get
over this challenge. If not able to
controlthespreadof coronawell
intime,thesituationmightgrow
more serious. Hence, this is the
need of the hour that we should
be together to follow the conduct
of code into reality in compli-
ance to check corona and broad-
enformulaof trackandtreatand
vaccination.Still,thereistimeto
remain well equipped and pre-
pared to face anticipated third
and fourth phases of corona
waves that might invade human-
ity
, save lives of people in the
country and across the globe.
This is not the first time that
India has faced a menace like
Covid-19. Earlier too
country faced dis-
eases like- black
fever, cholera,
smallpox, polio,
SARS (Severe acute
respiratory syn-
drome), Chikungunya, Spanish
flu, HIV (AIDS, Ebola (HVD),
Zika virus, Nipah (NiV) etc. very
bravely and have been not only
able to restrain but eradicate the
same. Similarly
, natural calami-
tieslike-ChhappaniyaAkal(1956
famine), drought, earthquakes,
floods, TSUNAMI, cyclones, bliz-
zards, glacier melting, hail
storms, cloud bursts, heat waves,
locust attack, arsons etc. have
been faced valiantly by In-
dianswithgreat
courage and
cooperation.
Whenever
there has
been any crisis in India, the
people of this nation have de-
feated it collectively with their
joint efforts. Eradication of Po-
lio in India is the finest example
and now the nation is heading
fast in the direction of eradicat-
ing TB. People are confident
that this time too India will
overcome the dreaded and fatal
Covid-19 with its strong will-
power and with collective ef-
forts will conquer this biggest
war of the century
.
NEETI BHATT
(Freelance Journalist)
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
I
WILL INDIA BE ABLE TO CONQUER THE
going on and not controlled. Not
learning a lesson from the first
wave, though anticipating the
other wave of Covid was not
fully prepared to encounter
it. Lack of oxygen plants,
cylinders and availa-
bility of beds in hos-
pitals, insufficiency
of vital medicines
needed to treat the
timeweweremade
to contemplate on
our dual mentality
on the growing
crowds in election
rallies, Kumbh Mela
etc., and now being ad-
vised to use the double mask,
maintainadistanceof ten-meter
etc. PM Narendra Modi is con-

V
eteran actor Ned Beatty, known for
his roles in iconic films like ‘Super-
man’, ‘Network’ and more, has
passed away at the age of 83 due to
age-related health problems. Beatty’s man-
ager told TMZ that the actor died around
7:30 am on Sunday morning of natural caus-
es, surrounded by friends and loved ones. No
other details surrounding the exact circum-
stances of his death are available.
—Agency
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2021
11
ollywood star Margot Rob-
bie recently shared an an-
nouncement with her 23.7
million Instagram follow-
ers that she will be tak-
ing a break from so-
cial media. Writing
“Ciao for now,” she broke the
news online.
“Jumping off social media
for the time being,” she wrote
alongside a photo of herself
celebrating ‘Promising Young
Woman’, the Oscar-winning
film produced by her company
LuckyChap Entertainment that
starred Carey Mulligan and
was written and directed by
Emerald Fennell. —Agency
TAKING
TAKING
A BREAK
A BREAK
H
B
ollywood’s youngest Super Star Ur-
vashi Rautela is on fire mode as she
is working out rigorously.
The actress has to follow
an excruciating exercise program for
her upcoming action film. The actress
recently astonished her fans by shar-
ing a video on social media of how
much strength she has built with her
hard work. In the video uploaded on
Urvashi Rautela’s Instagram, she is
seen to have created a crazy upper
body strength. —Agency
B
ell Bottom starring
Akshay Kumar, Vaani
Kapoor and others is
all set to release in
theatres amid rumours of
heading for OTT release. The
superstar announced the re-
lease date with a post. In a
post on social media, Akshay
Kumar finally announced
the release of Bell Bottom in
theatres on July 27, 2021.
The film has been in the
news recently amid ru-
mours of it heading for
a direct OTT release.
—Agency
RELEASE
DATE
OUT
Bhumi feels
‘fortunate’
B
humi Pednekar is glad as the
shooting for films has been al-
lowed in Mumbai. The film in-
dustry has been permitted to
start shooting. Taking to her IG,
Bhumi wrote, “Bye bye pyjamas,
ready to restart life. I was itching
to be back on the sets. I consider
myself fortunate to be starting
work as soon as the unlock-
ing began in Maharashtra.
The industry has gone
through a lot since last
year, and it has been
pushed to the brink by
the pandemic”.
—Agency
VARUN’S
VARUN’S
NEW ROLE
NEW ROLE
A
ctor Varun Dhawan
has been spending
time at home with
his loved ones amid
the ongoing pandemic and
it appears now that the
Coolie No 1 star has made
an addition to his family
now. From his recent post
on social media, Varun has
made it clear that he has
stepped into a new role in
his life and has embraced
‘fatherhood.’ Well, before
you think ahead, let us
tell you that Varun
has welcomed to
his family a cute
little beagle
puppy. —Agency
BLESSED
SOUL
SOUL
CITY FIRST
I
n one of the biggest announce-
ments of all time, three of the
leading production houses— Sal-
man Khan Films, Excel Enter-
tainment and Tiger Baby Films are
all set to come together
to bring Salim Khan and
Javed Akhtar’s documen-
tary titled— ‘Angry Young
Men’. Both the stalwarts are
two of the most celebrated
writers of the country. Di-
rected by Namrata Rao, the
documentary will be pro-
duced as a joint venture under
three banners respectively
spearheaded by Salman Khan
(Salman Khan Films), Farhan
Akhtar Ritesh Sidhwani (Excel
Entertainment), Zoya Akhtar Ree-
ma Kagti (Tiger Baby Films). The
project will capture the magic of the
era that Salim-Javed, together creat-
ed. Salim-Javed are noted for being
the first Indian screenwriters to
achieve star status.
D
ays after she was ad-
mitted after a hit-and-
run accident in New
York City, Lisa
Banes has passed away
. The
unfortunate news was con-
firmed by her rep who told,
“We are heartsick over Li-
sa’s tragic and senseless
passing. She was a woman of
great spirit, kindness and gen-
erosity and dedicated to her
work, whether on stage or in
front of a camera and even
more so to her wife, family
and friends. We were blessed
to have had her in our lives.”
The unfortunate accident
took place on 4 June in New
York’s Upper West Side of
Manhattan. —Agency
Release Date
T
he Conjuring: The Devil Made
Me Do It has taken the Holly-
wood box office by storm and is
now set to make a splash in In-
dia. The horror film is looking for an
India release next month. With the
Covid 19 situation in India significant-
ly improving and second wave ebbing
away, cinemas are likely to reopen.
While Covid 19 cases in Mumbai have
steadily dropped below 1,000. —Agency
About
raising a
Daughter
I
n an extreme-
ly candid in-
terview with
Vice’s i-D,
Gigi Hadid spoke
p a s s i o n a t e l y
about how she
and Zayn Malik
are approaching
parenthoodwhen
it comes to their
darling daughter
Khai Hadid Ma-
lik, who ZiGi wel-
comed in Sep-
tember 2020.
Even though
much of parent-
ing is instinctive,
there’s the added
factor of Khai be-
ing raised as a
mixed-race child.
Hence, lots of it
is actively think-
ing about how to
address that.
—Agency
Sad Demise
Margot Robbie
Late Ned Beatty
Zayn Malik and
Gigi Hadid
The team of ‘Angry Young Men’
Varun Dhawan Late Lisa Banes Akshay Kumar
Bhumi Pednekar
—Agency
B
ollywood’s youngest Super Star Ur-
vashi Rautela is on fire mode as she
is working out rigorously.
The actress has to follow
an excruciating exercise program for
her upcoming action film. The actress
recently astonished her fans by shar-
ing a video on social media of how
much strength she has built with her
hard work. In the video uploaded on
Urvashi Rautela’s Instagram, she is
seen to have created a crazy upper
body strength. —Agency
Bhumi feels
‘fortunate’
B
humi Pednekar is glad as the
shooting for films has been al-
lowed in Mumbai. The film in-
dustry has been permitted to
start shooting. Taking to her IG,
Bhumi wrote, “Bye bye pyjamas,
ready to restart life. I was itching
to be back on the sets. I consider
myself fortunate to be starting
work as soon as the unlock-
ing began in Maharashtra.
The industry has gone
through a lot since last
year, and it has been
pushed to the brink by
the pandemic”.
BLESSED
BLESSED
all set to come together
to bring Salim Khan and
Javed Akhtar’s documen-
tary titled— ‘Angry Young
Men’. Both the stalwarts are
two of the most celebrated
writers of the country. Di-
rected by Namrata Rao, the
documentary will be pro-
duced as a joint venture under
three banners respectively
spearheaded by Salman Khan
(Salman Khan Films), Farhan
Akhtar Ritesh Sidhwani (Excel
Entertainment), Zoya Akhtar Ree-
ma Kagti (Tiger Baby Films). The
project will capture the magic of the
era that Salim-Javed, together creat-
ed. Salim-Javed are noted for being
the first Indian screenwriters to
ays after she was ad-
mitted after a hit-and-
run accident in New
York City, Lisa
Banes has passed away
. The
unfortunate news was con-
firmed by her rep who told,
“We are heartsick over Li-
sa’s tragic and senseless
passing. She was a woman of
great spirit, kindness and gen-
erosity and dedicated to her
work, whether on stage or in
front of a camera and even
more so to her wife, family
and friends. We were blessed
to have had her in our lives.”
The unfortunate accident
took place on 4 June in New
York’s Upper West Side of
—Agency
Urvashi Rautela
FITNESS
FREAK
AngryYoungMen

16062021 first india ahmedabad

16062021 first india ahmedabad

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (19)

Similar to 16062021 first india ahmedabad

Similar to 16062021 first india ahmedabad (20)

More from FIRST INDIA

More from FIRST INDIA (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

16062021 first india ahmedabad