First india ahmedabad edition-01 june 2020

As Unlock-1 kicks off, 20L people to remain under containment
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
state health depart-
ment’s list of contain-
ment zones covers
4,27,878 households
across 33 districts,
meaning Unlock-1 will
be Lockdown 5.0 for as
many as 20,11,360 in-
habitants of Gujarat.
The rest of the state,
however, will experi-
ence considerably
more freedom than it
has in the past 60 days.
According to a press
release issued by the
Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC), the
city has 46 containment
zones, covering 14,160
houses and a population
of 69,624, where there
will be no relaxation in
lockdown norms.
In the past 24 hours,
the state has tested
6,150 samples, which
have revealed 438
fresh cases. Thirty-one
patients died and 689
were discharged in the
same time frame.
With this, the state
now has 16,794 cases
and a death toll of
1,038, with 9,919 be-
ing discharged so far.
The head office clerk
Vadodara’s MS Univer-
sity has been hospital-
izedaftertestingpositive
for COVID-19 late on Sat-
urday evening. As a re-
sult, the university ad-
ministrationhasdecided
tocloseexaminationand
administration wing for
three days while the of-
fice is disinfected.
Turn on P6A team of medics take swab samples in Ahmedabad. —PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE
 24 HOURS: 438 CASES, 31
DEATHS, 689 DISCHARGED
 TOTAL: 16,794 CASES, 1,038
DEATHS, 9,919 DISCHARGED
CORONA
ALERT
AHMEDABAD l MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 186
29°C - 40°C
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
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COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
1,038
DEATHS
16,795
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
1,90,536
CONFIRMED CASES
5,406
DEATHS
WORLD
3,72,252
DEATHS
62,12,682
CONFIRMED CASES
ONLY PATIENTS’ DEAD BODIES COME
OUT OF COVID-19 HOSPITAL: VAGHELA
President of the Nationalist Congress Party’s
Gujarat unit Shankersinh Vaghela has alleged that,
during his visit to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital,
many people complained that persons who come in
alive leave as corpses. They even complained that
testing was not being carried out. He has requested
the state to allow private pathology laboratories to
conduct COVID-19 testing.
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
was seen rejuvenating
bilateral ties with Scott
Morrison on Sunday
shortlyafterhisAustral-
ian counterpart shared
images of ‘ScoMosas’-
-samosas made by him--
and tagged the former
on the social media post
expressing his desire to
share with him the pop-
ular Indian snack as
wellasamangochutney
made to go with it.
“Connected by the In-
dian Ocean, united by
the Indian Samosa!
Looks delicious, PM @
ScottMor risonMP!
Once we achieve a deci-
sive victory against
COVID-19, we will enjoy
the Samosas together.
Looking forward to our
video meet on the 4th,”
the Prime Minister said
in a tweet. The two lead-
ers are scheduled for a
virtual meet on June 4.
Morrison rued that he
won’t be able to share
ScoMosas with Modi as
they will be meet-
ing via a video
link. Turn on P6
New Delhi: Indian and
Chinese armies were
moving in heavy equip-
ment and weaponry in-
cluding artillery guns
and combat vehicles to
their rear bases close to
the disputed areas in
eastern Ladakh as the
two militaries re-
mained engaged in a
bitter standoff along
the troubled border for
over 25 days, military
sources said Sunday.
The enhancement
of combat capability
by the two armies in
the region came even
as both the countries
continued their efforts
to resolve the dispute
through talks at mili-
tary and diplomatic
levels.
The Chinese Army
has been gradually
ramping up its strategic
reserves in its rear bas-
es near the the Line of
Actual Control in east-
ern Ladakh by rushing
in artillery guns, infan-
try combat vehicles and
heavy military equip-
ment, the sources said.
The Indian Army has
also been moving in ad-
ditional troops as well
equipment and weap-
ons like artillery guns
to aggressively match
up to the Chinese build-
up, they said, adding
that India will not relent
till status quo is re-
stored in Pangong Tso,
Galwan Valley and a
number of other areas.
The Indian Air Force
has been keeping a
strict aerial surveil-
lance in the disputed
region. A sizeable num-
ber of Chinese Army
personnel entered into
the Indian side of the
de-facto border earlier
this month and have
been camping in Pan-
gong Tso and Galwan
Valley since then. The
Indian Army fiercely
objected to the trans-
gressions by the Chi-
nese troops and de-
manded their immedi-
ate withdrawal for res-
toration of peace and
tranquility in the area.
The Chinese Army
has ramped up their
presence in Demchok
and Daulat Beg Oldie
too -- the two sensitive
areas with a history of
skirmishes involving
the two sides.
The Chinese army is
learnt to have deployed
around 2,500 troops in
Pangong Tso and Gal-
wan Valley besides
gradually enhancing
temporary infrastruc-
ture and weaponry.
However, there is no of-
ficial figure about the
numbers. Turn on P6
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Sunday said that if the
Ayushman Bharat
scheme was not in
place, the poor would
have had to pay an esti-
mated Rs 14,000 crore
from their own pocket
for medical treatment.
“In our country, for
decades, crores of im-
poverished citizens
have been living their
lives engulfed by the
constant concern- what
will happen if they fall
ill? To seek medical
treatment or worry
about earning bread for
the family? Realising
this distress, the ‘Ayush-
man Bharat’ scheme
was launched about one
and a half years ago to
ameliorate this con-
stant worry. A few days
ago, the number of ben-
eficiaries of the ‘Ayush-
man Bharat’ scheme
crossed over one crore.
More than one crore pa-
tients imply that more
than one crore families
of our country have
been served. Do you
know what more than
one crore patients
means? It means the cu-
mulative population of
two Norways and two
Singapores has been
provided Turn on P6
Border rumbling: India-China line up arsenal along LAC
Washington: US President Donald Trump has postponed an in-
person G7 summit from the end of June until at least September,
while saying that he would like to invite India, Russia, South
Korea and Australia. Trump said current G7 format is “outdated”.
“I am postponing it because I do not feel as a G7 it properly rep-
resents what is going on in the world”, said Trump. The summit
was scheduled to take place on June 10-12, but was shifted to
end of June due to the coronavirus. Trump wants to bring other
traditional US allies as well as those impacted by corona-
virus and to talk about the future of China. —ANI
MODI DIPLOMACY SEES BOTH AUSTRALIA, USA WOOING INDIA
Ahead of Indo-Oz virtual summit, PM Morrison engages in Twitter banter
with PM Modi; While US Prez Trump calls G7 format outdated, invites India
Modi-Morrison connect
on Twitter over samosa
TRUMP POSTPONES G7; WANTS INDIA IN
Scott Morrison@ScottMorrisonMP
Sunday ScoMosas with mango chutney,
all made from scratch - including the
chutney! A pity my meeting with @
narendramodi this week is by videolink.
They’re vegetarian, I would have liked
to share them with him.
People watching PM Narendra Modi’s Mann ki Baat on mobile
during Lockdown in Mathura on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
PM: Ayushman Bharat
scheme a boon for poor
200 special
trains to run
from today
India’s Covid
positives surge
to 1,90,536
New Delhi: Ministry
of Railways after con-
sultation with Ministry
of Health and Family
Welfare (MoHFW) and
Ministry of Home Af-
fairs (MHA) has an-
nounced that train ser-
vices shall be further
partially restored with
effect from June 1. Over
1.45 lakh passengers
will travel on 200 trains
from Tuesday. P6
MAY 5 India, China came to blows on the
banks of Pangong Lake, where Ladakh meets
Tibet, and where the two sides have registered
multiple confrontations in recent years.
MAY9 Dozens of soldiers from both sides
tussled along the Sikkim-Tibet border, resulting in
injuries on both sides. In both cases, tensions
were quickly defused, forces disengaged, and local
commanders opened lines of communication.
2,167-MILE China-India border, by some
estimates the longest disputed border in the
world, has witnessed ongoing friction since long.
FACE-OFF
NewDelhi:Indiarecord-
ed the highest ever spike
inCOVID-19casesas8,380
morecaseswerereported
in the last 24 hours, tak-
ing the country’s corona
count to 1,90,536, said Un-
ion Health Ministry on
Sunday. Total number of
cases in the coun-
try—1,90,536—includes
93,498 active cases, 91,621
cured/discharged/mi-
grated and 5,406 deaths.
The recovery rate has in-
creased to 47.76% in the
country.
“In the last 24 hours,
4,614 patients were
cured. A cumulative to-
tal of 86,983 people have
been cured. This takes
the total recovery rate
to 47.76 per cent,” reads
an official statement of
the Health Ministry.
HISTORIC NASA MISSION: SPACEX DRAGON
REACHES INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
Florida: SpaceX Dragon
capsule arrived at the
International Space
Station on Sunday, hours
after it took off from
Florida, completing the
first part of a historic
NASA mission. The
Dragon spacecraft
successfully docked with
the orbiting laboratory at
10:16 am (local time), a few minutes earlier than planned. The Crew Dragon
capsule carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, now named
“Endeavour,” made significant progress over Saturday night toward the
International Space Station, reported The Washington Post. —ANI

Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: With the
Centre announcing Un-
lock-1, the state is likely
to get partial relief from
the lockdown rules from
June 8. Keeping with the
relaxations announced
by the state government,
the Congress party has
asked the state to resume
recruitment in various
departments. Many lead-
ers from the party have
posted several messages
on social media and
raised concerns about
unemployed youth of
the state.
According to Gujarat
Pradesh Congress Com-
mittee (GPCC) president
Amit Chavda, the youth
of Gujarat have been ex-
ploited by the corrupt
policies adopted by the
state government. “The
government does not
have a concrete policy or
any vision to provide
employment to the
youth. As a result, lakhs
of youngsters in the
state are unemployed.
There are no contract or
outsourcing systems for
recruitment in place and
no permanent jobs for
them,” said said.
He added that even
if recruitment exams
do take place, there
will be no guarantee
when the results will
be declared or exams
would even be con-
ducted.
Another senior leader
Arjun Modhwadia said
that the state had the
highest number of edu-
cated unemployed. “Af-
ter the economic slow-
down and the novel coro-
navirus pandemic, there
has been a rise in unem-
ployment. The govern-
ment must start recruit-
ment and declare the re-
sults of exams already
conducted. There are
thousands of govern-
ment posts that are lying
vacant and must be filled
immediately.”
Notably, last week the
Gujarat Public Service
Commission (GPSC)
postponed all competi-
tive exams till June 30.
One of the aspirants
of the GPSC, Jay Patel
said that the process of
recruitment by the
state government is
very prolonged. “I
don’t remember any
exam conducted by the
state government being
completed in due time.
There are always hur-
dles like paper leaks or
irregularities in the re-
sults. Most of our time
is wasted fighting for
our rights,” Patel told
First India.
NEWSAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: A com-
muniqué from the
state health depart-
ment to the Chief
Electoral Officer
hints that the date for
the Rajya Sabha elec-
tion is likely to be an-
nounced sooner rath-
er than later. The elec-
tion to the upper
house of Parliament
was scheduled to be
held in March but got
postponed due to the
COVID-19 outbreak.
There are five candi-
dates in the race for
four seats.
The ruling Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) has
fielded three candi-
dates--Abhay Bhardwaj,
Ramilaben Bara, and
Narhari Amin--despite
not having a sufficient
number of MLAs to get
three candidates elect-
ed.
On the other hand,
the Congress has fielded
prominent party lead-
ers Bharatsinh Solanki
and Shaktisinh Gohil.
According to com-
munication between
the state health de-
partment and the
chief electoral officer,
additional director
(epidemic) Dr Dinkar
Rawal has been ap-
pointed as the nodal
officer, to guide in
what steps need to be
taken to while con-
ducting the Rajya
Sabha election amid
the COVID-19 pan-
demic.
The BJP needs its
numbers in Parliament
before the next Lok Sab-
ha and Rajya Sabha ses-
sions begin in the mon-
soon season. So, with
the state now relaxing
lockdown norms and
opening other business-
es, the Election Com-
mission of India could
now announce the date
for elections. If it comes
early, it could catch the
Congress party snooz-
ing, making it a chal-
lenge for the opposition
party to keep its folks
gathered.
Meanwhile, follow-
ing the chief minis-
ter’s announcement
to reopen the state
secretariat from Mon-
day, the state trans-
port department has
decided to run point-
to-point bus services
from Ahmedabad to
Gandhinagar.
These buses will
run at 50% capacity
from non-contain-
ment zones to Gandhi-
nagar, carrying gov-
ernment employees
from Ahmedabad to
Gandhinagar and
back. Each bus will be
sanitized after every
trip.
Is the Rajya Sabha election date to be announced soon?
The race for four seats in the upper house of
Parliament was to have taken place in March
The election for the Rajya Sabha seats was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
NSUI declares BJP MLAs ‘missing’ on social media
Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: The Na-
tional Students Union of
India (NSUI) has posted
several posters of BJP
MLAs on social media
terming them ‘missing’.
According to the organi-
zation, leaders from the
ruling party have been
missing in action amid
the COVId-19 outbreak in
the state.
One of the posters
includes that of state
Home Minister Prad-
ipsinh Jadeja and
reads, “Missing. Vatva
MLA Pradipsinh Jade-
ja is missing. Amid the
coronavirus pandemic,
the MLA has left the
citizens of Vatva to the
grace of God and is re-
ported missing.”
Several such posters
have been posted and are
currently doing the
rounds on social media.
“No BJP MLAs are being
seen in public. Where are
they? People want to see
them. Ahmedabad has
reported the highest
number of COVID-19
cases, and BJP elected
leaders have abandoned
the people in the middle
of the sea,” said Nikhil
Savani, general secre-
tary of NSUI.
On the other hand,
the Congress party has
launched a campaign
to shed light on the
grievances of the citi-
zens. Gujarat Pradesh
Congress Committee
(GPCC) president Amit
Chavda also raised the
problems being faced
by farmers in the state.
In a video shot on his
farm, Chavda said, “The
farmers are already in
despair due to unseason-
al rains. They are con-
stantly dealing with de-
layed rains, insufficient
rainfall or excess rainfall
but, somehow they man-
age to cultivate crops.
Despite all the hardships
they face, farmers are
not getting even the min-
imum selling price for
their produce. They want
100% crop insurance so
we request the govern-
ment to waive off the
loans taken by farmers
and also provide 24 hours
electricity to them.”
He added, “In order
to enforce the lock-
down and social dis-
tancing, the party does
not plan to organize
any protest, rally, or
meetings in person
but, the party will
raise the issue digital-
ly. JagatTat_Digital_
Andolan is the hashtag
we have launched to
support the farmers.”
“Missing” posters of MLAs being circulated on social media.
CONG DEMANDS RESUMPTION
OF GOVT RECRUITMENT
Late last year, more than 1,000 aspirants had protested
against the alleged leak of the question paper of a
recruitment examination conducted by the Gujarat
Subordinate Services Selection Board. —FILE PHOTO
The govt does not
have a concrete policy
to provide employ-
ment to the youth. As
a result, lakhs of
youngsters in the
state are unemployed.
There are no contract
for recruitment in
place and no perma-
nent jobs for them.”
Amit Chavda,
GPCC President
After the economic
slowdown & pandem-
ic, there has been a rise
in unemployment. The
govt must start recruit-
ment and declare the
results of exams al-
ready conducted.
There are thousands of
govt posts that are ly-
ing vacant.
Arjun Modhwadia,
Veteran Congress leader
Leaders express concern over rise in unemployed youngsters in the state due to the lockdown, want govt jobs for them
Amit Chavda accompanied by fellow party members and farmers.
SAMPLE RECEIVED
SAMPLE NEGATIVE
0
UNDER EXAMINATION
2,05,780
1,89,424
IN GUJARAT
DISTRICT TOTAL TOTAL NEW
CASES DEATHS DEATHS
AHMEDABAD 12180 842 20
VADODARA 1043 39 0
SURAT 1620 69 2
RAJKOT 112 3 1
BHAVNAGAR 121 8 0
ANAND 99 10 0
BHARUCH 38 3 0
GANDHINAGAR 274 14 0
PATAN 79 6 0
PANCHMANHAL 88 10 3
BANASKANTHA 111 5 0
NARMADA 18 0 0
CHOTA UDEPUR 33 0 0
KUTCH 80 2 0
MAHESANA 114 5 0
BOTAD 59 1 0
DAHOD 36 0 0
PORBANDAR 10 2 2
JAMNAGAR 54 3 1
MORBI 4 0 0
SABARKANTHA 103 3 0
ARAVALLI 110 4 1
MAHISAGAR 115 2 0
KHEDA 68 4 0
GIR SOMNATH 45 0 0
VALSAD 39 1 0
TAPI 6 0 0
NAVSARI 25 0 0
DANG 2 0 0
SURENDRANAGAR 38 1 0
DWARKA 13 0 0
JUNAGADH 29 0 0
AMRELI 10 1 1
OTHER STATES 15 0 0
TOTAL 16795 1038 31
USA 1,826,090 105,873 +316
BRAZIL 501,985 28,872 +38
RUSSIA 405,843 4,693 +138
SPAIN 286,509 27,127 +2
UK 274,762 38,489 +113
ITALY 233,019 33,415 +75
FRANCE 188,625 28,771 +57
GERMANY 183,426 8,602 +2
TURKEY 163,103 4,540 +25
IRAN 151,466 7,797 +63
CHILE 99,688 1,054 +57
CANADA 90,516 7,092 +19
MEXICO 87,512 9,779 +364
S ARABIA 85,261 503 +23
BELGIUM 58,381 9,467 +14
COUNTRY TOTAL TOTAL NEW
CASES DEATHS DEATHS
GLOBAL STATE
OF AFFAIRS
WWW.WORLDOMETERS.INFO
LAST UPDATED: MAY 31, 2020, 11:30 PM

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020
First India Bureau
Surat: With protec-
tive gear becoming a
way of life thanks to
the COVID-19 pan-
demic, Surat is taking
the lead to take these
new necessities to the
next level.
Fashion design de-
velopment centre Fa-
sion Nova has de-
signed the world’s
first PPE kit that can
be worn over a sari.
The kit, called ‘Covid
Nari Kavach’ has also
received approval
from CITRA.
Ankita Goyal, Fash-
ion Nova manager said,
“Currently, the PPE kit
given to Corona Warri-
ors cannot be worn on a
sari. Recently, the Kera-
la government made it
mandatory for covid
care staff to wear PPE
kits, but Women covid
staff who wear saris
were uncomfortable.
We then decided to try
and overcome this ob-
stacle. Fashion design-
er Saurav Mandal, who
is affiliated with the
center, designed the Co-
rona PPE kit that can be
worn on a sari.”
She further said that
5,000 of these kits are
being produced daily.
The children haven’t
been forgotten either,
with several digital
printers in the city
jumping onto the car-
toon mask bangwagon.
Kids can now sport
their favourite cartoon
characters such as Do-
raemon, Pogo, Chhota
Bhim, and Ben10 on
their face, and parents
can breathe easier.
Created by a studio
owner in Surat’s Katar-
gam, these snazzy
masks are washable in
addition to being fun to
wear. Moreover, they
also come in a variety
of fragrances.
City mom Hina Joshi
told First India that she
is very pleased with
these cartoon masks.
“My children have
been wearing masks
without any complaints
since they got them.
They love cartoons, so
this is really good. I
don’t have to nag them
or chase them to wear
their masks. They don’t
seem to want to take
them off now, whereas
previously, they were
always complaining.”
She adds that the kids
are so happy that they
want to go to school
wearing these masks as
well.
Surat firm puts the ‘fun’ in ‘funky’ for children’s masks
FORM & FUNCTION
 Covid Nari Kavach is the first ever
PPE kit that can be worn over a sari
making it a boon for many women
HC to keep an eye on A’bad
Civil Hosp’s modus operandi
First India News
Ahmedabad: In re-
sponse to the corona
petition being heard by
a division bench in Gu-
jarat High Court, the
state government has
stated that all measures
are being taken to pro-
vide medical treatment
to COVID-19 patients at
the Civil Hospital in
Ahmedabad.
Despite the state-
ment, the high court
observed, “We would
still like to keep a close
watch on the function-
ing of the Civil Hospi-
tal and if we are not
satisfied with the
same, then we may
have to take further
steps in accordance
with the law.”
A division bench
comprising of Chief
Justice Vikram Nath
and Justice JB Pardi-
wala passed an interim
order in the suo moto
and related petitions re-
lated to corona crisis on
Friday.
In this order the
bench directed the state
government to concen-
trate on various issues.
“There should be no
shortage of manpower
for all categories of pa-
tients. There are uncon-
firmed reports both in
the print and digital
media that COVID-19
patients have lost their
lives on account of
proper care and atten-
tion not being provided.
Medical, paramedical
and health staff work-
ing at the Civil Hospital
have not been provided
with protective gear,
they cannot be put at
risk,” the court stated.
As the state was not
ready to change the
Sars-CoV-2 testing
guidelines, after im-
pleading the Indian
Council of Medical Re-
search (ICMR), the
questioned the organi-
zation and the state,
“Are any pathology test
or diagnosis a funda-
mental right of the citi-
zens of this country?
Can the state govern-
ment evolve a policy of
its own based on the
ICMR guidelines?”
The division bench
also appreciated the
work done so far by
the state government.
“If the state govern-
ment would not have
been doing anything,
as alleged, then prob-
ably, by now, we all
would have died,” it
observed.
Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. —FILE PHOTO
Distbudgetgetsnodin
1stever‘away’meeting
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: For the
first time in the his-
tory of the
Ahmedabad district
panchayat, a general
meeting was held
outside its headquar-
ters at Mandal on
Saturday. The meet
was held to approve
the budget for fiscal
2020-21.
According to District
Development Officer
Arun Mahesh, it was
mandatory to conduct
the meeting otherwise
the body would have
been superseded. “Un-
der a special provision
due to the COVID-19
pandemic, an extension
was made till May 31.
We had to pass the budg-
et in due time and that is
the reason why the
meeting was called,”
said the officer.
“The district pan-
chayat building is locat-
ed in the walled city
area which falls under
the red zone. Therefore,
it was not possible for us
to gather as many as 30
people there. Hence, the
meeting took place at
Mandal taluka near Vi-
ramgam which is in the
greenzone.Anotherrea-
son why the meeting
was held in this place
was that it is very spa-
cious. It helped us com-
ply with social distanc-
ing norms and stay pro-
tected,” he added.
Mahesh said that
owing to the novel
coronavirus pandem-
ic, the meeting had
not been held in the
last two months. “It
was mandatory for us
to pass the budget for
the current fiscal. On
Saturday, the revised
budget of 2019-20 and
the budget for the
current year 2020-21
were approved,” said
Mahesh.
Directs state to ensure labour, protective gear and proper COVID-19 treatment
The office of the District Panchayat. —FILE PHOTO
OTHER REMARKS
First India Bureau
Surat: Coming
down hard on vio-
lators of lockdown
guidelines, Surat
Municipal Corpo-
ration (SMC) has
so far collected
more than Rs58
lakh from citizens
and organizations.
A large number
of people have been
caught roaming
around the city
without masks on
and failing to prac-
tice social distanc-
ing. It seems that
the severity of COV-
ID-19 health crisis
has not dawned on
Surtis yet, which
may be the reason
why the number of
cases reported in
the city has been ris-
ing every day.
According to re-
cords, fines to the
tune of more than
Rs20 lakh have been
levied on more than
3,744 people for vio-
latingsocialdistanc-
ing protocol. And,
4,700 people have
beencaughtwithout
masks covering
theirfaces.However,
themunicipalcorpo-
ration has also
slapped penalties to-
taling Rs17.75 lakh
on those who are
found commuting
within the city with-
out masks.
More than 550 or-
ganizations have
been fined a total of
Rs2.5 lakh for not us-
ing sanitizers in
shops, malls, vegeta-
ble shops, lorries,
medicalstores,dairy
parlours, mong oth-
ers. About 1,000 peo-
ple have been fined
Rs5.25 lakh for spit-
ting in public.
SMC earns
`58L in
fines from
violators
Jamnagarseesthree
COVID-19deaths,all
childrenunder10yrs
Three men burnt to death in tractor accident
First India Bureau
Bhavnagar: Three peo-
ple died after the trac-
tor they were travel-
ling on turned turtle
and caught fire near
the Madhia village
late Saturday evening.
While Bharat Mack-
wana, Tejabhai Vaghe-
la and Jignesh Barai-
ya died, the fourth of
their group, Mahesh
Vaghela escaped with
his life.
It is unclear what
caused the accident.
The fire brigade
reached the spot to put
out the blaze but could
not save the three men,
who had been stuck un-
der the tractor when it
flipped over.
Mahesh Mackwana,
who was thrown from
thevehicleatthetimeof
impact called for help.
While villagers came to
help, the blaze was too
high for them to reach
the trapped men.
RescuerssaidthatMa-
hesh could not narrate
the sequence of events
that led to the accident,
since he was in shock.
However, they surmised
that the driver had lost
control of the vehicle
while trying to avoid the
deep open drain on the
left side of the road.
They say the tractor fell
intothedrainandcaught
fire.Bystanderssaidthat
been returning from
nearby Bhadbhid vil-
lage, where they had
gone to hand over the
trolley.
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Jamnagar: The COV-
ID-19 pandemic has
hit the state hard,
leaving many infected
with it and more than
1,000 deaths so far.
Tragically, in the dis-
trict of Jamnagar, the
death toll includes
three children be-
tween the ages of 11
months to 10 years.
A 10-year-old boy, who
had tested positive for
Sars-CoV-2 died at the
Guru Gobind Singh
Government Hospital in
the city on Saturday
night. “The boy had un-
dergone cancer surgery
at GCRI, Ahmedabad
two weeks ago and then
came directly from
Ahmedabad to Jamna-
gar’s GG Hospital where
he tested positive for
COVID-19.It was be-
cause of his condition
that chemotherapy
could not be adminis-
tered. The child died of
cancer rather than COV-
ID-19,” a highly placed
hospital source said.
As of May 31, the dis-
trict had 54 cases and
three deaths--all three
male children.
Jamnagar registered
its first case of COV-
ID-19 on April 5, which
was a 14-month-old
child from Dared re-
gion. The infant
breathed his last two
days later on April 7.
An 11-month-old
child from Kharva vil-
lage was admitted on
May 9 after testing posi-
tive. The tiny tot lost the
battle to the virus on
the same day.
SAFE
TRAVEL
AMTS (1) and BRTS (4) buses
and the railway station (2, 3) in
Ahmedabad get final touches
a day before transport services
resume on Monday, when
Lockdown 5.0 or Unlock-1
comes into effect.
Children’s masks featuring cartoon characters.
COINCIDENCE?
1 2
3 4
Driver may have lost
control while trying to
avoid falling into a
deep open drain
The district panchayat building is
located in the walled city area which
falls under the red zone. Therefore, it
was not possible for us to gather as many as
30 people there. Hence, the meeting took
place at Mandal taluka near Viramgam
which is in the green zone. And, the place is
very spacious. It helped us comply with so-
cial distancing norms.
—Arun Mahesh, District Development Officer
—PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE & HANIF SINDHI

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 186 G RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.
Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor: Jagdeesh Chandra, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020
othing exposes the mishan-
dling of the migrant crisis than
the two paragraphs that made
it to the front page of most
newspapers and the deplorable
indifference of the Central and
state governments. Both oc-
curred this week.
Earlier in the week, India
Today showed a toddler try-
ing to remove a piece of
cloth covering his mother’s
body. He/she did not know
that the mother was dead.
The mother was lying on her
back at the Muzaffarnagar
railway station. People
could be seen on the plat-
form. None came near the
dead woman or the toddler.
This devastating scene of a lit-
tle kid attempting to wake up
the mother will stay etched in
my mind for the rest of my life.
Who will take care of the little
fellow? Where was the mother
cremated? Who cremated her?
On May 29, the Hindustan
Times put a photo of a migrant
woman place two bundles on
her husband’s head at Bandra
railway station, in Mumbai.
The child, no more than 2 years
of age, is looking up at his par-
ents incomprehensibly. Inside
the two bundles are all their
belongings.
On Thursday, the Supreme
Court came down heavily on
the government. The Su-
preme Court directed that
no fare would be charged
from migrants for their
journey home. Arrange-
ments must be made to pro-
vide them with food.
During the hearing Justice
Kaul asked the Solicitor Gen-
eral, “What is the estimated
time required to shift mi-
grants? What arrangements
are being made? What is the
mechanism in place? Do they
know if they will be shifted on
the fifth day, seventh day or
tenth day?”
The Court directed that
migrant workers walking
should be immediately pro-
vided transport to their des-
tination. Food and water
must be provided to those on
the road.
The Court passed a seven-
point order. It will to a con-
siderable extent reduce the
misery of the migrants.
Train or buses fare cannot be
charged from migrant workers.
2. States/Union Territories will
give free food to migrant work-
ers at places notified to them
during their wait for transport.
3. Originating states will pro-
vide food and water, similar ar-
rangements to be made for
those in buses. 4. Originating
states to simplify and expedite
the process of registration of
migrants, set up help desk. 5.
Workers will be asked to board
a train or bus after registration:
information on mode of trans-
port should reach all those con-
cerned. 6. Migrants walking on
roads should be taken care of
by local authorities, workers
should be transported to their
destinations and get all facili-
ties. 7. Receiving states should
provide transport, health
screening and other facilities
free of cost.
Why could this not have
been done weeks before by
the Central Government and
State Governments? Which
agency will monitor the im-
plementation of the seven-
point order of the Supreme
Court? Will it be Central or
State governments or gov-
ernments of Union Territo-
ries? This should be clari-
fied.
Let’s now look at Sanjay Col-
ony in Delhi. The Times of In-
dia, dated May 29 has used
three-fourth of page 2 to high-
light the plight of workers and
their families in the colony.
“For the last three weeks, Asha
Devi has been lighting her
stove once every day, preparing
roti for her six-member family
and eating these with salt. The
self-imposed restriction on the
diet became necessary after the
39-year-old woman and her
husband lost their jobs as do-
mestic workers when the lock-
down began on March 24.
“Our employers did not pay
our dues and government has
not done anything for us so far.
We gave to ration our food and
so barely have enough to eat
every day. All our savings are
gone.” As the TOI writes, “This
is the burden of being poor.”
Sino-Indian relations have to
be addressed with caution, pa-
tience, diplomatic wisdom and
maturity. The Ministry of Ex-
ternal Affairs has a large num-
ber of China hands. Each one
reads, writes and speaks Chi-
nese.
The External Affairs Min-
ister, S. Jaishankar knows
China well. He is familiar
with the functioning of Wai
Chiau Pu—foreign office.
The foreign and defence poli-
cies of India are framed in
South Block and not on TV
channels. Each day I see and
listen to the immature, ill in-
formed and inane discussions
on TV channels. I am appalled
and distressed to see matters
of utmost gravity and impor-
tance being trivialised. No,
there will be no second Sino-
Indian war. Skirmishes and
intrusions will continue but
not a shot is likely to be fired.
Keep your powder dry and keep
your mouths over shut.
I first met Ajit Jogi in 1986
when he was collector of In-
dore. I had gone to Indore to
speak at Daly College, one of
the five educational institu-
tions meant exclusively for
princely India. The other four
were Mayo College Ajmer,
Aitcheson College Lahore, Raj-
kumar College Raipur and Ra-
jkumar College Rajkot. After
1947, this exclusivity disap-
peared.
In 1988, Ajit took prema-
ture retirement from the
IAS to join politics. We got
on well as politicians and
were often on the same
wavelength. I am deeply dis-
tressed by his passing away.
My heartfelt condolences to
the family.
MIGRANT CRISIS
MISHANDLEDThe Supreme Court directed that migrant workers walking should be immediately provided
transport to their destination. Food and water must be provided to those on the road
N
On Thursday,
the Supreme
Court came
down heavily
on the
government.
The Supreme
Court directed
that no fare
would be
charged from
migrants for
their journey
home.
Arrangements
must be made
to provide them
with food
iolence has
erupted across
several US cit-
ies after the
death of a black
man, George Floyd, who
was shown on video gasp-
ing for breath as a white
police officer, Derek Chau-
vin, knelt on his neck. The
unrest poses serious chal-
lenges for President Don-
ald Trump and former Vice
President Joe Biden as
each man readies his cam-
paign for the November 3
election.
If the coronavirus had
not already posed a threat
to civil discourse in the US,
the latest flashpoint in
American racial politics
makes this presidential
campaign potentially one
of the most incendiary in
history.
COVID-19 and Minneap-
olis may very well form the
nexus within which the
2020 campaign will unfold.
Trump’s critics have as-
sailed his handling of both
and questioned whether he
can effectively lead the
country in a moment of
crisis.
And yet, he may not be
any more vulnerable head-
ing into the election.
A presidency in crisis?
As the incumbent, Trump
certainly faces the most
immediate challenges. Not
since Franklin Roosevelt
in the second world war
has a US president presid-
ed over the deaths of so
many Americans from a
single cause.
The Axis powers and
COVID-19 are not analo-
gous, but any presidency is
judged by its capacity to
respond to enemies like
these. With pandemic
deaths now surpassing
100,000, Trump’s fortunes
will be inexorably tied to
this staggering (and still
rising) figure.
Worse, the Minneapolis
protests are showing how
an already precarious so-
cial fabric has been frayed
by the COVID-19 lock-
downs.
Americans have not
come together to fight the
virus. Rather, they have al-
lowed a public health dis-
aster to deepen divisions
along racial, economic,
sectional and ideological
lines.
Trump has, of course,
often sought to gain from
such divisions. But the
magnitude and severity of
the twin crises he is now
facing will make this very
difficult. By numerous
measures, his is a presi-
dency in crisis. And yet.
Trump, a ferocious cam-
paigner, will try to find
ways to use both tragedies
to his advantage and, im-
portantly, makes things
worse for his challenger.
For starters, Trump did
not cause coronavirus.
And he will continue to in-
sist that his great geo-stra-
tegic adversary, the Chi-
nese Communist Party,
did.
And his is not the first
presidency to be marked by
the conflagration of sev-
eral US cities.
Before Minneapolis, De-
troit (1967), Los Angeles
(1992) and Ferguson, Mis-
souri (2014) were all the
scenes of angry protests
and riots over racial ten-
sions that still haven’t
healed.
Trump may not have
healed racial tensions in
the US during his presi-
dency. But, like coronavi-
rus, he did not cause them.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM
Trump’s presidency is sinking deeper into crisis
V
The Minneapolis
protests are
showing how an
already precarious
social fabric has
been frayed by the
COVID-19
lockdowns
There are only two
mistakes one can make
along the road to truth; not
going all the way, and not
starting. —Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal
Interacted with stakeholders from
the Pharmaceutical industry &
addressed the issues faced by them
in the wake of COVID-19. Discussed
the structural changes to mitigate
the impact of pandemic and emerge
as a major global exporter making
India “Pharmacy of the world”.
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
A few days later we will be
celebrating ‘World Environment
Day’. The theme of this time on
World Environment Day on June
5 is - Biodiversity. This theme
is particularly important in the
current situation. #MannKiBaat
K NATWAR
SINGH
The author is Former Minister
of External Affairs of India
WITH
FREEDOM IN
UNLOCK 1
COME RISKS
eep the mask on, maintain a dis-
tance but breathe easy. Gradual
unlocking of the country will be-
gin in a phased manner from June
1, as per the guidelines issued by
the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
on Saturday. Lockdown will continue in con-
tainment zones till June-end with varying
curbs by states. Unlock 1 as the MHA calls it,
has pruned the negative list of earlier lock-
downs. The first important step towards un-
locking comes in the form of relaxation in
curfew hours which have now been extended
from 7 am to 9 pm, a huge relief for shopkeep-
ers, mainly retailers, who wanted their busi-
nesses to open for longer hours to attract
customer footfalls. The thrust of Unlock 1 is
to boost economic activities.
In the first phase, religious places and plac-
es of worship for public, hotels, restaurants,
shopping malls, and other hospitality ser-
vices will be allowed to open from June 8. The
Union Health Ministry will issue the stand-
ard operating procedures for these activities
in consultation with other ministries and
stakeholders for ensuring social distancing.
Activities that will have to wait include in-
ternational air travel, Metro Rail, cinema
halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, enter-
tainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums,
assembly halls, and similar places. The dates
to restart these activities will be decided after
assessing the situation.
Other activities falling in this category in-
clude social/political/sports/ entertain-
ment/academic/cultural/religious functions
and other congregations. Those on the wait-
list are covered under Phase 3 of Unlock 1.
Phase 2 concerns the reopening of schools,
colleges, and other institutions. The decision
on opening educational institutions will be
taken in July. With much of the academic
year lost due to the pandemic, this phase will
depend on the way Covid-19 pans out in the
coming months.
In the end Unlock, 1 will depend largely on
the decisions of various states. Point number
5 given in bold in the guidelines says, “States/
UTs, based on their assessment of the situa-
tion, may prohibit certain activities outside
the Containment zones, or impose such re-
strictions as deemed necessary.”
Subsequently, there shall be no restriction
on inter-State and intra-State movement of
persons and goods. Then follows a rider: For
reasons of public health, a State/ UT can do
so with advance publicity. Both Haryana and
UP have refused to open their borders with
Delhi taking refuge behind Covid-19 cases.
A day after the announcement of guide-
lines, 8,380 new Covid-19 cases were recorded
in 24 hours. It’s a Catch-22 situation for Jaan
and Jahaan as some opposition-ruled states
claim that Centre is starving them of funds.
IN-DEPTH
K

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INDIAAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020
New Delhi: Amid the
COVID-19 crisis, Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi on Sunday said
that people should stay
vigilant and it is impor-
tant to be even more
careful now as a major
part of our economy
has opened up.
Addressing the na-
tion through the 65th
edition of his monthly
radio programme
‘Mann Ki Baat’, the
Prime Minister said:
“When I spoke to you
last time then passen-
ger trains, air services,
buses were not opera-
tional but this time
curbs have been lifted.
Shramik special trains
are running, other spe-
cial trains have also re-
sumed.” “With all due
precautions, passenger
flights have resumed.
Gradually industrial
activities are rebooting.
It means a large chunk
of the economy has now
opened up. Now, we
need to be even more
vigilant. Be it maintain-
ing a distance of six
feet, wearing of masks,
staying home as far as
possible. We must fol-
low all these precau-
tions without slightest
laxity,” he said.
“In the country, the
battle against corona is
being fought strongly
with collective efforts.
Looking at the world we
realise how big is the
achievements of Indi-
ans,” the Prime Minis-
ter added.
On Saturday, the
MHA issued new guide-
lines for phased re-
opening of “all activi-
ties outside contain-
ment zones for the next
one month beginning
June 1”.
The PM had on
March 24 announced a
21-day nationwide lock-
down to contain the
spread of COVID-19.
The lockdown was later
extended, in phases, till
May 31. —ANI
‘Be vigilant as major
part of economy opens’
PM was addressing the 65th edition of Mann Ki Baat radio programme
PM Narendra Modi addresses the nation on Mann ki Baat to during lockdown in New Delhi on Sunday.
Lucknow: The corona-
virus-induced lock-
down will remain in
force till June 30 in Ut-
tar Pradesh with some
relaxations outside the
containment zones,
said Awanish Awasthi,
state’s ACS, Home. Ad-
dressing a press confer-
ence, Awasthi said that
religious places, hotels,
restaurants and shop-
ping malls will reopen
from June 8. According
to him, all government
offices will operate with
100 per cent workforce.
“Staggered timings will
be followed -- 9 am to 5
pm, 10 am to 6 pm and 11
am to 7 pm,” he said.
Awasthi further said
that all markets will re-
main open from 9 am to
9 pm. “Supermarkets
are allowed to open
with conditions of so-
cial distancing and oth-
er precautionary meas-
ures. Weekly markets
will be allowed in rural
areas,” he said.
Awasthi said the
State buses will be al-
lowed to operate on the
condition that only
passengers as per the
seating capacity of the
buses travel. “There
are 2,901 active cases in
the State. —ANI
Lockdown in UP
till June 30: Govt
Siliguri: A BSF in-
spector of North Ben-
gal Frontier tested
positive for COVID-19
on Sunday, said
Rajib Ranjan Sharma,
Deputy Inspector Gen-
eral (DIG), BSF, North
Bengal Frontier,
Kadamtala.
He is the in-charge of
the accumodetion, lo-
gistics for the BSF per-
sonnel who were re-
turning from leave.
He is undergoing
treatment at a 100-ned-
ed health facility of the
BSF at Kadamtala,
North Bengal Frontier
Headquarter.
Other 40 BSF jawans
,who came in contact
have been quarantined
at their own facility.
A total of 317 new
COVID-19 positive cas-
es were reported on
Saturday in West Ben-
gal, taking the total
number of cases to
5,130 in the state, the
officers of the West
Bengal health depart-
ment informed. —ANI
‘Delhi has asked
Rs 5,000 crore
from Centre’
New Delhi: The Delhi
government has sought
an immediate assis-
tance of Rs 5,000 crore
from the Centre to pay
salaries to its employ-
ees and meet its expens-
es as revenues have
dried up during the
lockdown to curb the
spread of the coronavi-
rus disease, Dy CM
Manish Sisodia said.
Manish Sisodia, who
also holds the finance
portfolio, said he has
written to Union fi-
nance minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman for
help and added that
the Delhi government
has not received the
fund sanctioned to
states under the Disas-
ter Relief Fund.
“We reviewed the Del-
hi government’s reve-
nue and its minimum
expenses. We need
around Rs 3,500 crore
every month just to pay
salaries and bear office
expenses. In last two
months, GST collection
was Rs 500 crore each
and combining that
with other sources, the
government has Rs
1,735 crore,” Sisodia
said. The AAP said he
has asked for assistance
from the Centre so that
the Delhi government
can pay salaries to its
employees and every-
one who is fighting the
coronavirus pandemic.
“Due to corona and
lockdown, the tax col-
lection of Delhi govern-
ment is running low at
about 85%. Delhi has
not received any funds
from the Disaster Relief
Fund released by the
Centre to the remaining
states,” he also tweeted.
New Delhi: The Cen-
tral Information Com-
mission has pulled up
an official for “callous
and casual” response
in denying data on
stranded migrant la-
bourers under the RTI
Act, and asked the La-
bour Ministry to up-
load on its website as
much data as possible
on them.
Information Commis-
sioner Vanaja N Sarna
came down heavily on
CPIO of office of Chief
Labour Commissioner
who has told RTI activ-
ist Venkatesh Nayak
that it has no data on
stranded migrant la-
bourers. Nearly a fort-
night after the CLC cir-
cular, Nayak had filed
an RTI application
seeking to know state-
wise names of districts
from which data about
stranded migrants
were received. But he
was told the officer did
not have any data. Nay-
akthenfiledacomplaint
under RTI Act. —PTI
CIC rebukes
official for
denying RTI data
on migrants
BSF inspector
of North
Bengal Frontier
tests positive
New Delhi: Telecom
Regulatory Authority
of India (TRAI) has said
that as per its recom-
mendations the country
will continue with
10-digit numbering for
mobile telephone ser-
vices and it has categor-
ically rejected shifting
to 11-digit mobile num-
bering plan.
A statement by TRAI
with subject line states,
“Clarification regard-
ing TRAI recommenda-
tions on ‘Ensuring Ad-
equate Numbering Re-
sources for Fixed Line
and Mobile Services’
issued on 29th May
2020.” “TRAI released
its recommendations
on Ensuring Adequate
Numbering Resources
for Fixed Line and Mo-
bile Services’ on May
29. A press release was
also issued on the same
day. In this regard, it is
observed that some me-
dia houses have report-
ed that TRAI has recom-
mended 11-digit num-
bering scheme for mo-
bile services. It is com-
plete misinterpretation
of the aforesaid recom-
mendations. TRAI has
not recommended
11-digit numbering
scheme for mobile ser-
vices,” it said.
In fact, as per the
TRAI recommendation,
the country will con-
tinue to follow a 10-digit
numbering for mobile
services. We have cate-
gorically rejected shift-
ing to an 11-digit mobile
numbering plan. —ANI
10-digit numbering to continue:TRAI
PB CM CLEARS APPOINTMENTS OF
8 NEXT OF KIN OF MARTYRS
Chandigarh: Punjab CM
Amarinder Singh has
cleared the appointments
of eight next of kin of
martyrs in recognition of
their gallantry actions. A
spokesperson of the CMO
said that the appoint-
ments were recommend-
ed by a high powered
committee headed by CS
Karan Avtar Singh. The
state government has
appointed Amritbir Singh
as Tehsildar in the Rev-
enue Department for the
supreme sacrifice made
by his father, Inspector
Raghbir Singh, who be-
longed to village Sathiala
in Amritsar district and
had joined CRPF in 1991.
He was an outstanding
sportsperson and had
won medals in athletics at
the national level.
PIYUSH GOYAL ADDRESSES
PHARMA INDUSTRY ISSUES
New Delhi: Industry and Commerce, and Railway
Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday interacted with
stakeholders from the pharmaceutical industry
and addressed the issues faced by them in the
wake of COVID-19. “Interacted with stakehold-
ers from the Pharmaceutical industry & ad-
dressed the issues faced by them in the wake of
COVID-19. Discussed the structural changes to
mitigate the impact of the pandemic and emerge
as a major global exporter making India “Phar-
macy of the world,” tweeted Goyal.
7 INJURED AS BUS OVERTURNS
IN CHHATTISGARH
Rajnandgaon: Seven persons were injured after
the bus they were travelling in overturned in Ra-
jnandgaon on Saturday night. The bus that was
carrying around 37 passengers including migrant
workers enroute to Kolkata from Mumbai. Speak-
ing to ANI, one passenger said, “The incident oc-
curred at around 12:00 am, everyone is fine. We
were coming from Mumbai and heading towards
Kolkata.” “I was sitting behind the driver’s seat,
I think he felt asleep and bus overturned,” said
another passenger.
RIL JIO CONVENTION CENTRE TO
DEVELOP AS CORONA CARE CENTRE
Mumbai: The Reliance Jio
Convention Centre at Ban-
dra-Kurla Complex will be
converted into a Corona
Care Centre. Mumbai City
Guardian Minister Aslam
Shaikh and Mumbai Sub-
urban Guardian Minister
Aditya Thackrey gave this
information on Satur-
day. Aslam Shaikh and
Aditya Thackrey visited
Jio Convention Centre
on Sunday. They were
accompanied by senior
officials of Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation.
A few days ago, Aslam
Shaikh called on the Col-
lector of Mumbai Subur-
ban, Milind Borikar, DCP
Manjunath Singh, Deputy
Commissioner of Munici-
pal Corporation and other
high-ranking officials had
an inspection tour.
ALL DECKED UP...
Gurdwara Bangla Sahib being decorated ahead of the opening of religious places on June 8 in New Delhi. —PHOTO BY ANI
MAKING A CALL
New Delhi: The re-
covery rate of coro-
navirus patients has
increased to 47.76 per
cent, said the Union
Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare
on Sunday.
“In the last 24
hours, 4,614 patients
were cured. A cumu-
lative total of 86,983
people have been
cured. This takes the
total recovery rate to
47.76 per cent,” reads
an official statement
issued by the Minis-
try. The Ministry
said the number of
cases under active
medical supervision
as of now is 89,995.
“Through a grad-
ed, pre-emptive and
pro-active approach,
Government of India
is taking several
steps along with the
States/UTs for pre-
vention, contain-
ment and manage-
ment of COVID-19.
These are being regu-
larly reviewed and
monitored at the
highest level,” adds
the statement.
The total number
of coronavirus cases
in the country stands
at 1,82,143. —ANI
India’s recovery rate
increases to 47.76%
Health workers wearing a PPE kits sanitize the street of
Sarusajai Quarantine centre in Guwahati.
DELHI @19k MARK
GUIDELINES

INDIAAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020
As Unlock-1...
Fifteen employees three
officers of these depart-
ments have been
home-quarantined for
three days.
Two SRP jawans
from Bharuch dis-
trict too have tested
positive. They were
recently on duty in
Ahmedabad city and
had were tested on
their return to head-
quarters. Both are ad-
mitted in the dedicat-
ed COVID-19 hospital.
A patient from Gajer-
apara village with a
travel history to Ahmed-
abad succumbed to the
Sars-Cov-2 virus on Sun-
day morning, a day after
she tested positive.
A BJP councillor
from Ahmedabad in a
letter to Chief Minis-
ter Vijay Rupani has
complained that the
municipal corporation
team has distributed
ORS and medicines
that were past their ex-
piry date. A youth from
Jamalpurwhohadrecov-
ered from COVID-19, but
wasunderhome-quaran-
tine, hanged himself on
Sunday.Aprimarypolice
investigation says he
might have committed
suicide because of de-
pression.
PM: Ayushman...
free treatment in such a
short time,” Prime Min-
ister Modi said in the
65th edition of his
monthly radio program
‘Mann Ki Baat’.
“If the poor had to
pay for the treatment
post-hospitalisation,
had they not received
free treatment, accord-
ing to a rough estimate,
more than Rs 14,000
Crore would have been
required to be paid out
of their own pockets.
The ‘Ayushman Bharat’
scheme has saved
spending this huge
amount of money be-
longing to the poor. I
congratulate not only
the beneficiaries of
‘Ayushman Bharat’ but
also all the doctors,
nurses and medical
staff who treated pa-
tients under this
scheme,” he added.—ANI
Border rumbling...
Sources said satellite
images have captured
significant ramping up
of defence infrastruc-
ture by China on its
side of the de-facto bor-
der including construc-
tion activities at a mil-
itary airbase around
180 kms from the Pan-
gong Tso area.
Theassessmentbythe
Indian Army is that the
build up is aimed at put-
ting pressure on India.
“We are well aware of
the Chinese ploy. The
Indian Army is firm on
its stand that we are not
going to accept any-
thing less than resto-
ration of status quo in
the area,” said a senior
military official. —ANI
Modi-Morrison...
Morrisonsaid,“They’re
vegetarian, I would
have liked to share
them with him.”
India and Australia
are looking forward to
deepening their strate-
gic relationship, with a
range of pacts from de-
fence to trade in strate-
gic sectors expected to
be signed during the
upcoming summit.
The virtual summit
follows the cancellation
of Morrison’s planned
state visit to India in
January due to the
bushfires. Morrison
said last year, ahead of
his planned visit, that
India was “a natural
partner for Australia”,
referring to the coun-
tries’ “shared values”
-- a point of differentia-
tion with China. Aus-
tralia wants to support
India to develop a do-
mestic critical minerals
processing industry,
which would provide
Western nations with
an alternative to sourc-
ing the materials from
China.—With Inputs from ANI
FROM PG 1
‘Monsoon expected to
hit Kerala by June 1’‘However, we will be releasing the second stage of monsoon forecast
today,’ said Director IMD, Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra
New Delhi: Monsoon
has not yet set over Ker-
ala, said India Meteoro-
logical Department
(IMD) Director-General
Dr Mrutyunjay Mo-
hapatra on Sunday.
“We are expecting
favourable conditions
to develop from tomor-
row onwards (June 1)
after which we will be
able to find out when
we can declare the ar-
rival of monsoon in
Kerala,” he added. “As
per our first stage of
monsoon forecast,
which was issued on
April 15, we are expect-
ing normal monsoon
condition with 100 per
cent rainfall over the
country during Sep-
tember. However, we
will be releasing the
second stage of mon-
soon forecast today,”
said Dr Mohapatra.
Earlier, the MeT De-
partment had predict-
ed that the southwest
monsoon will hit Kera-
la on June 1.
Dr Mohpatra also
warned that a low-
pressure area, which
is building on the
western coast in the
Arabian Sea, will de-
velop into a ‘cyclonic
storm’ and will move
towards Maharashtra
and Gujarat, causing
rainfall in these States
on June 3 and 4.
IMD D-G Dr Mah-
patra has also advised
the fishermen not to
venture into the Arabi-
an sea for the next cou-
ple of days. —ANI
Lucknow: The IMD, on
Sunday predicted that a
few places in Uttar
Pradesh are likely to be
battered by rains in the
next 3 hours.
“ T h u n d e r s t o r m ,
lightning, rain very
likely during next 3 hrs
(valid up to 12:30 pm) at
few places over Muzaf-
farnagar, Moradabad,
Rampur, Bareilly, Pilib-
hit, Budaun, Sambhal,
Amroha, Bulandsha-
har, Aligarh, Etah, Kas-
ganj, Farrukhabad,
Shahjahanpur, Lakhim-
pur Kheri dist and ad-
joining areas,” the advi-
sory from the IMD, Luc-
know read. —ANI
‘Several areas
of UP likely to
receive rainfall’
Strong winds
and rain lash
Hyderabad
Hyderabad: Rains ac-
companied with gusty
winds lashed the Hy-
derabad on Sunday af-
ternoon, giving much-
needed relief for the
citizens in the middle
of the summer season.
For the past week, Hy-
derabad and other dis-
tricts in the state were
witnessing severe heat-
wave conditions.
However, on Sunday,
there were sudden
rains as predicted by
the Indian Metrologi-
cal Department (IMD).
Several citizens took to
Twitter to share pic-
tures and videos of the
rain from their homes.
In some parts of the
city like Jeedimetla,
hailstorms were also
reported.There were
moderate rains in Hy-
derabad and in Hayat-
nagar, Abdullapurmet,
Saroornagar, Ser-
lingampally, Qutubul-
lapur and other areas
around the city. The
highest rainfall in the
state on Sunday was re-
corded at Hayatnagar
with 61mm.
With the sudden
rains, some of the low-
lying areas were inun-
dated and the DRF has
been deployed to clear
the water.IMD officials
have attributed the
sudden rains to the
low-pressure area de-
veloping over the Ara-
bian Sea. —Agencies
New Delhi: Ministry
of Railways after con-
sultation with Ministry
of Health & MHA has
announced that train
services shall be fur-
ther partially restored
with effect from June 1.
Over 1.45 lakh passen-
gers will travel on 200
trains from Tuesday.
As an important step
in the graded restora-
tion of passenger train
services, Indian Rail-
ways will start 200
trains today in addition
to the existing Shramik
Special trains being
run with effect from
May 1 & Special AC
trains (30) being run
since May 12. “These
trains are on the pat-
tern of regular trains.
These are fully reserved
trains having both AC &
Non-AC classes. Gener-
al coaches have re-
served seats for sitting
accommodation. There
will be no unreserved
coach,” said Rlys. “Nor-
mal class-wise fare will
be charged. 2S fare for
General seating shall be
charged and seat will be
provided to all the pas-
sengers,” Rlys added.
At 9 am Sunday, to-
tal bookings of pas-
sengers were 25,82,671
for Advance Reserva-
tion Period June 1-30.
Online Booking of
tickets is being done
through the IRCTC
website or through
Mobile App. —ANI
200 special trains to run
across country from June 1
New Delhi: Two per-
sons attached to the Pa-
kistan High Commis-
sion here were appre-
hended by security
agencies for indulging
in espionage activities
in the country, the exter-
nal affairs ministry
said, adding that the two
have been asked to leave
the country within 24
hours.
India has declared
both persona-non grata
“for indulging in activi-
ties incompatible with
their status as members
of a diplomatic mis-
sion”, the MEA said in a
statement today. A per-
sona-non grata is a for-
eign individual whose
entry or stay in a par-
ticular country is pro-
hibitedbythatcountry’s
government.
“Two officials of the
HighCommissionof Pa-
kistan in New Delhi
wereapprehendedtoday
by Indian law enforce-
ment authorities for in-
dulging in espionage
activities,” the MEA
said. “Govt declared
both persona non grata
for indulging in activi-
ties incompatible with
their status as members
of a diplomatic mission
and asked them to leave
within24-hours,”itsaid.
2 Pak Embassy
staff caught spying
in New Delhi Shimla: Himachal
Pradesh allowed
intra-state move-
ment of roadways
and private trans-
port buses from
June 1 for the first
time since the COV-
ID-induced lock-
down and has ex-
tended curfew in
the state till June 30
with relaxations in
timing. CM Jai
Ram Thakur an-
nounced that the
curfew timings
have been relaxed
from 6 am to 8 pm
daily via vc. —ANI
Himachal
relaxes
curfew from
6 am to 8 pm
A man walks with an umbrella during rainfall in New Delhi on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
SIGH OF RELIEF
PAK WARNED
A view of Gurugram with dark clouds hovering over the sky on
Sunday. The IMD has predicted that the southwest monsoon will
hit the southern part of the country on June 1. —PHOTO BY ANI

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020
THE CRANE VILLAGE
B
efore the cur-
rent Covid-19
outbreak hit
us, Rajasthan
had gained a reputation
for being an excellent
host to foreign visitors.
The residents of Kh-
ichan, a small town in
western Rajasthan, also
appear to follow the say-
ing ‘Athithi Devo
Bhavah’, or Guests are
like our Gods, though
with a twist. The place
had gained recognition
over the last few dec-
ades as the preferred
destination of foreign
visitors of the feath-
ered kind - demoiselle
cranes. These cranes
start arriving by Sep-
tember every year to
disperse in smaller
flocks all over Ra-
jasthan and Gujarat.
Not being media savvy,
they should be making
their appearance again
with the onset of the
coming winter, unmind-
ful of the coronavirus
pandemic that may well
continue to terrorise
the global human popu-
lation.
These cranes breed
and raise their chicks
from April to August
along a vast stretch of
steppe grasslands from
eastern Europe to
north-eastern China.
Then, to escape the bit-
terly cold local winter,
they migrate to the
warmer plains of In-
dia. The eastern popu-
lations, for instance,
those from Mongolia
take a physically chal-
lenging route crossing
over the Himalayas of
central Nepal. They do
so by rising to 26,000
feet using the intermit-
tent warm thermal air
currents. Evading the
predatory golden ea-
gles of the Himalayas,
they descend into the
semi-arid north-west
India, close to man-
made or natural water
bodies.
Situated on the edge
of the Thar Desert,
Khichan is about 150 kilo-
metres from Jodhpur near
the town of Phalodi, and
almost equidistant from
Jaisalmer, Bikaner, and
Nagaur. As was the case
with many other locations
in western India, it used
to play host to migra-
tory demoiselle cranes
numbering 100 to 150
birds as far back in time
as the locals can recall.
The number of cranes
visiting Khichan increased
signiﬁcantly in the early
1970s propelled by the
deeds of one individual -
Ratanlal Maloo. Leaving
his job in Odisha, he came
back to Khichan to be with
his elderly mother. His
uncle suggested that he
should feed the pigeons
– a responsibility that he
enthusiastically adopted.
Soon, a dozen demoiselle
cranes also started visiting
his feeding ground. Then,
much to his amazement,
they disappeared in
March. Next September,
more than a hundred reap-
peared. Word of the good
Samaritan there must have
got around in the crane
world!
With the number of
migrant cranes steadily in-
creasing from year to year,
Ratanlal rallied the other
residents through the local
panchayat to set aside a
more substantial area on
the edge of the village to
feed the growing number
of these feathered visitors.
In 1983, the foundation
of the current Pakshi
Chuggaghar, or the Bird
Feeding Home, was laid.
Khichan currently plays
host to almost 20,000
cranes in some years. The
feed provided at the Chug-
gaghar takes the pressure
away from the loss of
agricultural produce to
the cranes and permits
Khichan to host such
large numbers. Either they
are fed in an organised
manner by those who can
afford it, or else they will
feed indiscriminately on
the standing crops. Ratan-
lal helped us to realise the
former option. The Salim
Ali Nature Conservation
Award was conferred on
him in 2009 in recognition
of his services.
A capable warrior for
the protection of the
cranes at Khichan in
recent years has been Se-
varam Mali whose primary
endeavour has been to
rescue and to rehabilitate
the injured cranes. Con-
cerned with the frequent
injury and deaths to the
cranes by the naked elec-
tricity wires, he petitioned
the local administration
and the High Court against
them. His persistence paid
off, and now the cables
near the Chuggaghar
have been shifted under-
ground, and others in
the vicinity provided with
rubberised insulation. For
his dedicated care of the
cranes, he was given the
Sanctuary Wildlife Service
Award in 2008. Migratory
birds always have a choice
of destination. Khichan
seems to be ticking all the
right boxes as an ideal
winter resort for them.
PROTECTION OF THE CRANES
Intrigued by these remark-
able stories, we decided
to experience this phe-
nomenon for ourselves.
The previous night their
feed consisting of the mil-
lets, jowar and bajra, and
watermelon seeds had been
spread out in neat rows
in the fenced 400-meter
compound. At the break
of dawn, looking down
at the still empty Chug-
gaghar from the terrace
of an adjoining house, the
approaching cacophony of
kurr kurr sounds behind us
was unmistakable. Hordes
of low flying cranes in neat
formations were converg-
ing on us from many
sides. From their landing
zone alongside, the cranes
walked across en masse to
where the grains had been
spread out, to commence
their frenzied feeding.
Almost 2,000 kilograms
of feed is consumed every
day, adding up to a cost
of nearly a crore rupees
per annum. The grains are
always there - thanks to
the donations in cash and
kind by the resident Oswal
Jains. The ties of the local
diaspora with their home-
land also remain. They
often commit various quan-
tities of grains to feed the
cranes at the time of death
of an elder in the family and
on other ritually significant
occasions.
The Vijay Sagar and
Raatdi Naadi ponds on
the outskirts of the town
are the favourite resting
spots for the cranes after
their morning feed. These
ponds, dug in the more
prosperous times to meet
the requirements of a larger
human population, continue
to serve the locals and
the cranes. These shy and
timid birds are surprisingly
tolerant of the movement
of people in Khichan. While
we were there, a raptor ap-
peared in the sky. The nerv-
ousness of the cranes was
palpable as hundreds took
to the air to fly around for a
while, before settling down
again. By evening, the
trigger for the demoiselle
cranes to depart from the
ponds came from the dis-
turbance created by a flock
of sheep and goats that had
come for a drink after their
grazing. The salty depres-
sion of Malhar Rinn, 25
kilometres from Khichan,
is one of their popular
roosting sites. A similar
routine is followed daily by
the cranes throughout their
stay at Khichan.
THE KHICHAN EXPERIENCE
The Khichan experi-
ence reminds us
that all is not lost
in the battle for the
conservation of
wildlife and that wild
birds can ﬂourish in
our human-dominated
landscapes. The
crucial question is,
can it last? The sad
fate of T-51, a crane
tagged in its birth-
place Mongolia, is
a reminder of the
threats looming over
this glorious example
of human-animal
peaceful coexistence.
T-51 managed the
2,766-kilometre ardu-
ous journey to reach
Khichan in November
2019. On the last day
of that year, he fell ill
and died on the 9th
of January along with
14 other cranes. The
post-mortem report
indicated pesticide
poisoning. Unfortu-
nately, there is still
no prior testing of
the grains used in the
Chuggaghar for the
presence of pesti-
cides.
The demoiselle
cranes are a long-
living species that
pair for life. That
characteristic has
found a sympathetic
resonance with us,
humans. Western
Rajasthan has had a
tradition of men going
away to far off places
for business, leaving
their wives behind.
Rajasthani folk songs
speak of lovesick
maidens trusting the
seasonally depart-
ing cranes to carry
their message to their
beloved far away.
In the middle of the
ongoing pandemic, we
can only hope that, as
a civilisation, we con-
tinue to make space
in our midst for these
lovely long-distance
travellers. Hopefully,
the excellent work at
Khichan can continue
so that it lives up to
its recognition by the
International Crane
Foundation as a World
Heritage Site.
THREATS TO THE CRANES
MAHENDRA SINGH
DG Income Tax
Investigation, Rajasthan
THE CRANES
MIGRATE
FROM AS
FAR AS
MONGOLIA
TO THIS
WELCOME
HOME IN
KHICHAN,
RAJASTHAN
DESIGN: ABHISHEK GUPTA

First India Bureau
M u m b a i /
Ahmedabad: Shiv
Sena leader Sanjay
Raut on Sunday alleged
that the event held in
Ahmedabad to wel-
come US President
Donald Trump in Feb-
ruary was responsible
for the spread of coro-
navirus in Gujarat and
later in Mumbai and
Delhi.
Raut also hit out at
the Centre saying that
the lockdown was im-
plemented without any
planning, but now the
responsibility of lifting
the curbs was left to the
states.
The Sena MP said de-
spite the opposition
BJP’s attempts to pull
down the Maharashtra
Vikas Aghadi (MVA)
government, there was
no threat to it as its sur-
vival is the ‘majboori’
(compulsion) of all the
three ruling allies-
Sena, NCP and Con-
gress.
“It can’t be denied
that the spread of
coronavirus in Guja-
rat was because of
the massive public
gathering held to
welcome US Presi-
dent Donald Trump.
Some of the dele-
gates, who accompa-
nied Trump, also vis-
ited Mumbai and
Delhi, which led to
the spread of the vi-
rus,” Raut said in his
weekly column in
Shiv Sena mouth-
piece ‘Saamana’.
The February 24
Trump event was at-
tended by more than a
lakh people at Motera
cricket stadium in
Ahmedabad.
A freshly planted seed might feel
there is darkness all around but
it is the beginning of a new life.
In the same way, these darkest times are a
new birth, be positive and go forth.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
83% Covid deaths at A’bad
Civil due to comorbidities: Guj
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Over 83
per cent of COVID-19
patients who died at
Ahmedabad Civil Hos-
pital suffered from “se-
vere comorbidities,”
the State Government
told the Gujarat High
Court on the basis of
analysis of 351 deaths
at the facility.
Ahmedabad hospitals
have so far reported 789
COVID-19 deaths, of
which the Civil Hospi-
tal alone accounts for
415.
The government cited
an analysis by the
Community Medicine
Department of BJ
Medical College here,
which states that
83.24 per cent of 351
deceased patients had
severe comorbidities.
These patients suf-
fered from diabetes,
hypertension, coro-
nary heart disease,
thyroid disorders,
chronic kidney dis-
ease, chronic lung
disease, CVA, pulmo-
nary TB, liver disor-
der, psychiatric ill-
ness and cancer.
HC asks Gujarat to
take care of farmers
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat High Court has
directed the Gujarat
Government look into
the difficulties being
faced by farmers and
initiate measures to
procure agricultural
produce at Minimum
Support Prices (MSP).
This follows a petition
filed by an Ahmedabad-
based businessman and
agriculturalist.
Mahendrasinh Zala
had filed a public in-
terest litigation
stressing that the sup-
ply chain of produce
has been affected due
to the lockdown that
had initially led to
complete shutdown
of the Agriculture
Produce Market Com-
mittees (APMCs).
The petitioner, repre-
sented by Advocate Ar-
jundev Zala, had point-
ed out that the State
“conditionally procures
a specified quantity of
specified commodities
at Minimum Support
Price from the farmers,
who have registered for
the same.” Farmers,
who sell the remaining
produce to APMCs or
other agents or entities,
are now being “forced
to sell the produce at
undesirable rates.”
He pointed out that
onions at Bhavnagar
market yard were being
procured at Rs. 20 per 20
kg, while the market
cost ranged from Rs. 100
to Rs. 150 per 20 kg.
Devrambhai Bhisikar is alive, but family performs last rites on sealed bag
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In an ap-
palling case of negli-
gence at the infamous
Ahmedabad Civil Hospi-
tal, family members of a
Covid-19 patient were
wrongly informed that
he had died, while his
health was improving.
The story is that the
patient’s family was
handedoverthecorpse
of a Covid-19 patient
and told that it was the
body of Devrambhai
Bhisikar. Abiding by
the guidelines pre-
scribed by the Minis-
try of Health and Fam-
ily Welfare (MoHFW),
the family did not un-
seal the body bag and
cremated it without
confirming the identi-
ty of the deceased.
It was only some time
after that the family was
informed by the Civil
Hospital that he was re-
sponding to the treat-
ment.
Devrambhai Bhisikar
was admitted to the Cov-
id-19 wing of the
tal on May 28 after he
displayed symptoms of
the infection. Family
memberswereinformed
of his demise on the af-
ternoon of May 29 and
rushed to the hospital.
At the time, the re-
port for Devrambhai’s
samples sent for Cov-
id-19 test were yet to
return. It was on May
30 that the family
members who had cre-
mated their loved one
the previous day re-
ceived a call informing
them of improvement
in Devrambhai’s
health.
Devrambhai’srelative
Nileshbhai said the fam-
ilyisstillconfusedabout
whether he is alive or
not.Nileshbhaisaidthat
whenthefamilycontact-
edthehospitalonMay30
after receiving a phone
call about Devrambhai’s
improving health, they
were told that the call
was a mistake and that
he had died on May 29.
In utter disbelief,
the family called the
hospital again for a
second time and was
told that Devramb-
hai’s samples have re-
turned negative for
Covid-19 and that his
health is improving.
Doctor Shashank J
Pandya of the
tal said when the patient
was brought his sugar
was 500 and he had trou-
ble breathing which is
what led to Devramb-
hai’s demise. While the
patient’s Covid-19 report
was pending his family
cremated the body while
adhering to precaution-
ary guidelines, Dr Pan-
dya added.
FAMILY CREMATES BODY &
THEN TOLD PATIENT ALIVE
Yet another shocking incident at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital.
SHOCKING
Namaste Trump behind
Covid spread in Gujarat,
Maha: Shiv Sena
Use of
sanitiser on
mobike causes
fire at A’bad
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Even as
Gujarat is set to un-
lock most of its busi-
ness activities, a
freak incident at an
industrial unit in
Ahmedabad’s Naroda
area should come as
an eye-opener.
There is extensive use
of masks and alcohol-
based sanitisers even in
offices and industrial
units as they open for
their employees.
In an industrial
unit in Naroda, a secu-
rity guard sitting with
a sanitiser spray used
it on a motorcycle
with its engine on and
the employee sitting
on it. Just as the staff-
er moved, the sanitis-
er spray towards the
mobike’s rear sparked
off a fire. A video of
this went viral on so-
cial media. The rider
jumped aside swiftly
without any injuries
and the fire on the mo-
torcycle was quickly
doused.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: As India
battles against the
COVID-19 pandemic,
inmates of Vadodara
Central Jail are doing
their bit to equip the
frontline warriors. The
prison inmates are
stitching face masks,
manufacturing hand
sanitisers and soaps,
and other essentials to
help prevent the spread
of COVID-19.
MN Rathwa, Senior
Jailor, said the Va-
dodara Central Jail
undertakes such en-
gagement activities
for prisoners’ wel-
fare. Prisoners get to
develop new skills so
that they can get em-
ployment after their
term in jail ends.
The prisoners of Va-
dodara Central Jail
have made 20,000 masks
and hundreds of litres
of hand sanitisers and
soap. These products
are provided at afford-
able prices in govern-
ment offices and hospi-
tals, and the earnings
go back to the inmates.
“So far, the inmates
have stitched 20,000
face masks that we
supplied to jails and
government offices in
the state,” said MN
Rathwa.
Meanwhile, nearly
2,500 prisoners have
been released from
28 jails across Guja-
rat so far in the wake
of the coronavirus
crisis, according to a
senior official. Pris-
oners were released
on parole, interim
bail, and furlough to
decongest the over-
crowded jails and
contain the spread of
coronavirus among
the inmates, he said.
There were some
14,000 prisoners in
various jails across
the state, Additional
Director General of
Police (Prisons) KLN
Rao said.
“We have released
nearly 2,500 prisoners
as per the Supreme
Court’s guidelines and
recommendations of
the high- level commit-
tee,” he said. Of these
prisoners, nearly 1,000
were released on inter-
im bail, 800 on parole,
and 700 on furlough, he
said.
In March, the Su-
preme Court had di-
rected all States and
Union Territories to
constitute high-level
committees to con-
sider releasing pris-
oners.
Unshackling others: Jail inmates make masks, sanitisers
Prisoners at Vadodara Central Jail making masks.
EXPRESSING SOLIDARITY
EXPLORING ALTERNATIVES!
After extensive research on issues relating to global climate change, he settled to work on
alternatives to clean cooking energy. Dhaval Thakkar, an MCA, grew up in a lower-middle-
class home in Deesa in North Gujarat’s Banaskantha. As a student, he would find joys in
smaller things, he liked looking at how things worked and were built.
PatelsalvocornersBJP
inCentreandGujarat!
Dr Anita
New Delhi: While
the migrants are fac-
ing troubles of their
own, it appears that
tribals have also
been facing the heat
of the crisis and on
Sunday came at log-
gerheads with the
government machin-
ery while protesting
alleged land grab-
bing in Gujarat. Vet-
eran Congress lead-
er and Rajya Sabha
MP Ahmed Patel
opened a front
against the Central
and Gujarat BJP gov-
ernment on Sunday
claiming that the
government has ‘un-
leashed a campaign
to exploit the poor’.
Commenting on a
tweet by Gujarat
PCC Chief
Amit Chav-
da, which
carried a
video of
c o p s
misbe-
h a v -
ing with tribals, Pa-
tel said, “What is go-
ing on? First Gujarat
government ill treats
migrant workers and
now beats up our fel-
low Adivasis so they
can snatch their
land. The govern-
ment has unleashed
a campaign to ex-
ploit the poor, the
vulnerable & the Ad-
ivasis.”
However, his ver-
bal barbs did not end
here. In another
tweet Patel, who
tagged a newspaper
article, said, “Truth
is stranger than fic-
tion. You can try and
conceal it but it still
shows up in various
forms, sometimes as
headlines. I agree, 60
years of hard work
has been undone in 6
years,” and tweeted
further, “Enough is
Enough. In 73 years,
I don’t think India
has seen such a ter-
rible management of
Indian Railways. It
is high time the
Prime Minister
fixes accountabil-
ity: If PM cannot
listen to concerns
raised by Opposi-
tion let him at-least
listen to those
raised by train pas-
sengers.”
YOU READ IT FIRST IN FIRST INDIA
APRIL 19, 2020

IT AROUND
ost people are given to
wearing some or the
other type of rings in
their fingers, some for
beauty, liking, astro-
logical belief, senti-
ment or even family
tradition. Very few probably
wear it for the ancient belief, that
a rope tied around some part of
the body would keep the soul
from escaping.
From being a symbol of slav-
ery to a symbol of prestige and
authority when being used a
seal and also marriage, with
deeper connotations, the
rings have definitely
travelled a full circle
as its shape! The
origin of the
ring is said to
be Greek.
The first
biblical
refer-
ence to a ring is in Genesis 41.42,
where an Egyptian pharaoh
(probably Apepi II), in about 1800
BC, gave his signet ring to Jo-
seph most possibly for business
or government transactions.
By the way, the ring has defi-
nite connections to occult and
magic and was also used as a
murder weapon. Called the
‘Ring of Death’; the ring was
filled with a deadly poison with
a tiny, pricking point, which was
powered by a spring, one deceit-
ful handshake and death fol-
lowed.
The use of a wedding band
may be traced back to the use of
the betrothal or engagement
ring by the Romans. The posi-
tioning of the wedding band on
the fourth finger, the left hand
could be because the vein on the
fourth finger, is commonly
known as the ‘heart vein’.
The ring is a very compact
form of the jewel, with its di-
mensions determined by the
size of the finger and thus
confining the maker to work
on a miniature scale. Rings
also signify allegiance to so-
cial groups and institutions.
Like everything else, hu-
mans tend to go overboard
and we do see people of both
genders with 8 to 10 rings on
their hands, all of the dif-
ferent coloured stones
to maintain the per-
fect balance of
the stars and
planets.
AHMEDABAD, MONDAY
JUNE 1, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
RINGS, WHICH STARTED AS AN ANCIENT
TRADITION, MOVED TO BEING A SYMBOL
OF POWER, ARE TODAY ALSO MORE
THAN JUST A JEWELLED ACCESSORY!
M
NEHAL NAYAR
nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in
EVEN WHEN
YOU LOOK AT
THE VARIOUS
RINGS ON THIS PAGE,
WITHOUT SEEING THE
WEARER YOU CAN
FORM AN OPINION OF
THE WEARER AND GET
A HINT OF THE
PERSONAL STORY!
EVEN WHEN
YOU LOOK AT
THE VARIOUS
RINGS ON THIS PAGE,
WITHOUT SEEING THE
WEARER YOU CAN
FORM AN OPINION OF
THE WEARER AND GET
A HINT OF THE
PERSONAL STORY!

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
SHRIYA JAIN, Influencer
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Your achievements speak
for you and you never fails
to keep your promises. You
will get plenty of time today
to relax and take make others around
you to chill a bit. You will taste the
success today in your new venture
and remember you kids are very lucky
for you.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
You will find some hidden
treasure or some sudden
benefits will come your
way or you may also get a
property inheritance, something that
you never knew about. Overseas
business is on cards for some. You
have a female luck supporting you
today as per your stars.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
You will manage to save
the firm you work for from
a big loss and you shall be
rewarded for the same.
Your saving habit is benefiting you
each day in term of financial
prospects. You will find that dream
job for which you have been waiting
for a long time.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
You should not trouble
yourself with the worries of
tomorrow and you live for
the day.You will have an
awesome time in your educational
institution as learning will finally
become the fun for you. Today you will
spend the day working very hard not
by force but because of motivation.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Your team in office will be
a big support to you in a
very important official
project. A family is where
you feel heaven and you exactly have
that one. You enjoy luxury no matter
how. Your spiritual self will
encourage to do something big for
good.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
You will be whole day
involved in doing
preparation for some family
party. You will get some kind
of assistance from your sibling even
when you didn’t ask for it. You must
refrain from provoking you boss as he
or she may in some understandable
mood.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
You are a fit person and
people get inspired from
you because of which you
may consider fitness as
your career. All the businessmen who
have been facing downfall will see
the sun rising now as your business
will pick up. You may be too busy
today to attend a social affair.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Your dedication in your
business will make you a
successful business men/
women one day. Don’t be
impulsive when it comes to the
investments as you need to clearly
see your options and study about
them at first. You will sign a great
deal today.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
You like to be lonely
sometimes but make sure
its not a permanent feeling.
You will be appreciated for
some deeds and criticised for others
but don’t let that effect your spirit.
You spouse is always there for you
mentally in the time of distress. Your
kids adores you too much.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You will spend the whole
day feeling light and happy.
You are great in budgeting
and this is one of your
strengths which will help you both on
professional and personal front. You
will see a rise in sale if you are in
buying-selling business. An elder in
family will feel very emotional today.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
People may sometimes call
you miser as you tend to
hoard money but its alright
to sometimes open your
heart and spend a little on the
happiness of those who matters. On
professional front, a sudden change
of job is on cards and for all the good
reasons.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Your persuasive power will
make your spouse agree
on things that they have
been rigid about. You are a
very smart person and you have a
great intuitive power when it comes
to judging people. You will try to
change yourself for someone you
love.
YOU ARE THE BEST WIFE
thought, how can a
human being in
love surrender
himself? I thought
I will not surren-
der. I’ll fight and
fight till the end.
For myself, my family, her
family, for others and, most
importantly, for Bhavna.”
As I always do, I read the
foreword and the introduc-
tion first and realised that
the book is based on the true
story of the author and his
wife. That touched me and
also equally intrigued me.
The book tells us the sto-
ry of Ajay and his wife
Bhavna. Ajay sees Bhavna
for the first time when he
joins his engineering col-
lege and it is there that Ajay
falls in love with her.
Hailing from the North-
ern part of India and com-
ingfromsocietieswhichstill
consider marriages outside
of one’s cast as a big taboo,
BhavnaandAjayfeelalotof
difficulties in facing and
convincing their parents.
Finally, after a long peri-
od of courtship and an
equally agonising period of
family melodrama, the two
get married. They had each
other and that is all they
wanted from their life.
But their blissful life is
shattered when Bhavna
falls fatally sick and her
death tears the two of them
apart “You are the Best
Wife” is written in such a
loving and passionate voice
that it is really difficult not
to fall in love with this story.
By the end, I was so much
invested in the story of
Bhavna and Ajay that I
found myself crying to
tears while reading the last
few pages.
Their story is such an in-
nocent one with a brutally
cruel twist that it is impos-
sible not to feel for the char-
acters.
This, I believe, is the best
thing about “You are the
Best Wife” – the ability to
make the readers feel the
same pain which the char-
acters do.
The storyline is quite
simple, follows a single plot
and focuses on the journey
of the two main characters.
The book is written with
the prime motive of keep-
ing Bhavna’s memories
alive or to literally immor-
talise her soul in words.
The narratives are inter-
spersed with some really
beautiful quotes from Bhav-
na which will surely make
your heart melt and make
you brood over her intellect
and wisdom at such a young
age. One such quote is my
favourite –
“Life is not measured by
the number of breaths we
take, but by the moments
that take our breath away.”
 Tell us a bit about
your work. What in-
spires you to write?
My first book, You are the
Best Wife, was not a
book but the true
story of my own
journey with my
beloved wife. I
was inspired to
write it to share
my experience of
love, loss and eve-
rything I learnt
about life.
My second book Her Last
Wish, however, was my at-
tempt at writing fiction
based on true events that
happened in the life of
someone I knew. The event
inspired me personally in
my life and I felt it needed
to be shared with the world
I find my stories in peo-
ple. Every problem has an
opportunity of becoming a
unique story.
I see people struggling to
handle their relationships
and facing issues, they stop
appreciating
what life
has given
t h e m .
This trig-
gers in
me the
need to frame my stories
around those issues and
help them out by sharing
my experiences.
 Advice for aspiring
writers who are trying to
complete their first book
or story.
My first advice would be to
read good books and try to
understand why did you
like the story while delving
more into the art of writing.
Once you have written
your first book, ask your-
self two basic questions
– Why would someone read
your book and how is your
story different from others?
If you are satisfied with
your own answers go ahead
or else you need to rework.
My message for budding
authors is simple – there is
a lot of competition in the
bookstores, but if you do
not surrender, definitely
one day you will find
your own space in a
bookstore and
more importantly
in the readers’
hearts too.
Source: http://blog.juggernaut.in, https://www.goodreads.com/
I
Ajay K Pandey

I
ndianCricketerHardikPandyadropped
a surprise for his fans on Sunday, where
he announced that he and Natasa Stank-
ovic are all set to welcome their first
child. But this is not it; the couple also tied
a knot, amid the national lockdown. “Na-
tasa and I have had a great journey to-
gether and it is just about to get better.
Together we are excited to welcome
a new life into our lives very soon.
We’re thrilled for this new
phase of our life and seek
your blessings and
wishes,” he wrote.
A
ctress and former
beauty queen Urvashi
Rautela requests eve-
ryone to follow the
guidelines of lockdown and
assist Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi in combating the
novel coronavirus. The blue-
print for lockdown 5.0 was
laid out on Saturday evening.
The online sensation says
she herself has been spending
time at home, adding that she
has steadfastly avoided step-
ping out or meeting people.
“I have been spending time
with family. I am doing house-
hold chores. I am reading
books. I am actually enjoying
my time. I am at home, not
stepping out and not even
meeting anyone. I want
to request everyone to
follow the guidelines
given by Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi.
Let’s not go out and
stay home because
that is the only
way we can
fight this pan-
demic,” said
Urvashi.
—IANS
ETCwww.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020
11
YJHD
clocks 7!s ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ (YJHD)
clocked seven years on Sunday, actress
Deepika Padukone went down memory
lane and shared a few unseen pictures of
herself with Ranbir Kapoor from their
first look test for the blockbuster movie.
In one of the images, Deepika is seen
wearing a satin saree as she hugs Ranbir. The
second one shows the two exchanging smiles and
looking into each other eyes.
Quoting her dialogue from the film, Deepika
wrote: “Our very first look test...’Yaadein mithai
ke dibbe ki tarah hoti hain...Ek baar khula, toh
sirf ek tukda nahi kha paoge’- Naina Talwar.”
Reacting to the post, several fans recalled how
the actors’’ wooed them with their chemistry. A
user commented: “Oh my god...Bunny and Naina.”
Another one wrote: “Please do one more film
like this.” Directed by Ayan Mukerji, the hit mov-
ie also stars Aditya Roy Kapur and Kalki Koechlin
in the lead roles. The friendship drama revolves
around a nerdy student Naina Talwar, essayed by
Deepika, who eventually falls for her former class-
mate Kabir aka Bunny, essayed by Ranbir, during
their trip in Manali. —IANS
A
AVATAR
SPREADING
AWARENESS
NEW
F
ormer beauty queen and former
Miss World Manushi Chhillar says
Wonder Woman has been a favourite
of hers because she feels the super-
hero is not just a character but also a state
of mind. Manushi took to Instagram and
posted an artwork shared by the artist
Swapnil Pawar, where she is seen in the
‘Wonder Woman’ avatar.
Alongside the image, she wrote: “’I am
the man who can’. ‘Wonder Woman’ has
always been a favourite because for me, she
isn’t just a character but a state of mind. @
swapnilmpawar, this is the best surprise!
Thank you for the love!
“P.S. - Maybe this picture is from a paral-
lel universe?” Manushi is all set to make her
BollywooddebutoppositesuperstarAkshay
Kumar in the upcoming film ‘Prithviraj’.
Directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi,
‘Prithviraj’ is based on the life of king Prith-
viraj Chauhan. It stars Akshay as Prithvi-
raj, while Manushi will play the role of the
Sanyogita, the love of his life. —ANI
Deepika Padukone;
(inset) Her post
Urvashi Rautela
Manushi Chillar
Good news all the way
Hardik Pandya with Natasa Stankovic
D
akota Johnson was forced to pick between her
FiftyShadesco-starJamieDornanandhischar-
acterChristianGreyandshepickedJamie.The
30-year-old actress recently played a round of
Would You Rather? on Comedy Central. During the
fun game, she was asked who she would she rather
be in an erotic book club with Dornan or Grey.
Shesaidshewouldjointheclubwiththe38-year-
old actor because he is a lot funnier than Chris-
tian. “Probably Jamie. He’s a lot funnier than
Christian Grey,” she said. Reflecting on fan
favourite Christian Grey, the actress made a
cringe face and stated that he is “a little one-
onewithChristian,sadly.”DakotaandJamie
shared the screen space in erotic romantic
drama film series Fifty
Shades of Grey. While
they shared flawless
on-screen chemis-
tryinthemovies,
therewerespec-
ulations that
the actors did
not get along
off-screen.
—IANS
K
ylie Jenner woke up to an
unpleasant piece of news
and she is furious. The
22-year-old makeup mogul
slammed Forbes after it published a
report accusing her of forging tax
documents to fake her billionaire
status. According to the magazine,
the Jenner family inflated figures and
forged tax returns for Kylie’s cosmetics
company. The accusations did not go down
well with ‘The Keeping up with the Kar-
dashian’, who stated that she never asked
for the title in the first place.
The television personality hogged head-
lines after Forbes named her the world’s
youngest self-made billionaire in 2019
and again in 2020. Expressing her sur-
prise over the magazine’s latest re-
port, Kylie tweeted, “What am I
even waking up to. I thought this
was a reputable site. All I see
are a number of inaccurate
statements and unproven as-
sumptions lol. i’ve never
asked for any title or tried
to lie my way there EVER.
Period.” She then asked
Forbes to prove it’s accusa-
tions about fake documents.
—IANS
Game-zoned!
Unpleasant
NEWS
Kylie Jenner

s a part of the ‘Hum
Tum’ series by
Jaipur Citizen Fo-
rum, Rajiv Arora and
Akanksha Arora of
Amrapali Jewels
were in conversation
with the Bollywood superstar
Govinda, and his daughter
Tina Ahuja on Sunday even-
ing. The conversation was
about various topics like fit-
ness, insights on Tina’s child-
hood, Govinda’s connection
with Jaipur, an advice Govin-
da was like to give to the up-
coming heroes, and various
other things.
During a conversation with
CityFirst,RajivArorashared,
“I have known Govinda for a
really long time, and it was
fun catching up with him, and
eventually entertaining the
audience with this session.
He was really open during the
LIVE session, as he put for-
ward his views about the
youth in the film industry,
and also spoke about the cur-
rent situations due to the out-
break of the novel Coronavi-
rus.”
He added, “Govinda has an
old connection with Jaipur, as
his Guru is also said to be
from this city. Govinda men-
tioned during the session
that, ‘Jaipur is not just a place
of royalty but is also a place
of my spirituality’, and it felt
really good knowing how
down to earth he still is.”
12
CITY BUZZAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
A meditative
ART FOR ALL
‘C
alligraphy is a deep medi-
tative form’, says Melven
Castelino, who is a re-
nowned music producer,
performer, sketcher and the English
Teacher with St. Xavier’s C- Scheme,
Jaipur. Melven, who is a part of Cool
Boyz band, is a professional calligra-
pher since 1994 and has recently
launched a hand lettering practice
book ‘Calligraphy for all’. The book
has been designed in a direct and
simplified way for a beginner and
teaches three popular fonts, namely,
Roman Gothic, Chancery Italics and
Brush Script. It took him nearly five
months to create, design and publish
the book, which is available at vari-
ous stores in the Pink City.
On being asked about his source of
inspiration behind writing the book,
he shared, “To reach out to many
more inquisitive learners who can’t
take lessons from me, to give the
learner the flexibility to hone a writ-
ing skill sitting at home and to share
the art and experience, I have gath-
ered over the past nearly three dec-
ades. I felt the best platform to reach
out is to write a book, which teaches
a skill as professional as calligraphy.”
Melven has described the process
of learning calligraphy as relaxing
and meditative. While suggesting
how this art can make one feel re-
laxed, he said, “This highly gratify-
ing art form also builds up concentra-
tion. Before you commence your
writing exercise, put on some ambi-
ent soft music in the background,
whichwillhelpyoufindinnerpeace.”
Not many people are aware of the
fact that he has learnt the Roman
Gothic font from one of his students
in the mid-nineties when no calli-
graphic pens were heard of in Jaipur
markets. Melven, who started prac-
tising with cheap ink pens by cutting
off their pointed nibs, is now a foun-
tain pen enthusiast.
The art practitioner believes that
Calligraphy is a part is of his daily
lifestyle and while Sharing how he
keeps himself connected to calligra-
phy every day, he added, “I practise
Calligraphy even today and enjoy
writing quotations, thoughts and
people’s names on certificates, diplo-
mas and wedding invitations.”
Apart from this, Melven is also tak-
ing an online annual calligraphy
workshop and conducting hobby
classes for art enthusiasts, amid the
lockdown.
HUM TUMMembers of the Jaipur
Citizen Forum, Rajiv
Arora and Akanksha
Arora were in
conversation with
Govinda and Tina
Ahuja on Sunday
NEHAL NAYAR
nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in
A
SPREADING AWARENESSTHROUGH FB!
KIRTI CHAUHAN
kirti.chauhan@firstindia.co.in
City First got in touch with the
multi-talented personality from
Jaipur, Melven Castelino, who
recently launched his book
‘Calligraphy for all’
WHAT’S HAPPENING!
Rajasthan: During the concluding ceremony of online musical series ‘Sumiran’, initiated by
Rajasthan Forum, in association with Shree Cement and Raghu Sinha Mala Mathur Charity
Trust amid the nationwide lockdown, Padma Shri Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Actor/Singer Ila
Arun, Dhruvapad singer Dr Madhu Bhatt Telang, Jaipur Gharana Kathak dancer Manjari Kiran
Mahajani and Singer Manisha Agarwal among other artists gave mesmerising performances
and stunned the audience with their dance and music-based performances on Sunday.
Rajasthan: Councillor Kusum Yadav took the initiative to install Parindas at
Shiv Shakti temple for birds in the Pink City and also urged people to put
Parindas filled with water and grains outside their homes for the birds to
protect them dying of hunger and thirst during the summer season. On the
occasion,Akshay Yadav,Vishnu Yadav, Ramavatar Sharma, Om Prakash
Sharma, Hemlata Yadav, Sunita Yadav and Laxmi Sharma were also present.
Rajasthan: In an online
series organised by
Rajasthan Progressive
Writers Association,
a live storytelling and
poetry recitation session
was held on Sunday, in
which Ajmer-based Poet/
Writer Shruti Gautam
recited her award-
winning story ‘Bisleri’.
During the session,
storyteller Shruti also
interacted with the
audience and other
renowned literary lovers
from India and abroad.
Gujarat: Workers make repairs to the wheels of chariots used to carry idols
of Lord Jagannath, Balrama and Subhadra, ahead of the Annual Rath Yatra in
Ahmedabad on Sunday. -PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE
Rajasthan: Jairangam Theatre Lab organized a musical event on Sunday which was broadcast
live on Jairangam’s Facebook and YouTube page. During the event, renowned actor Piyush
Mishra talked about the importance of music and songs in his life, wherein Music Composer
Udbhav Ojha entertained the audience with his soulful tracks. In this series, Theatre maestro
Sanjay Upadhyay, Poet and Writer Devendra Ahirwar and Musical Theatre founder in Pune Ajay
Kumar also mesmerized the audience with their splendid performances and experiences. The
event was moderated by Poet and Anchor Hemant Acharya.
Rajasthan: A marathon
event for kids dedicated to
Corona Warriors, ‘Kids Global
Run’, was organised on
Sunday, in which more than
500 kids participated from
various cities and ran in their
homes or nearby locations.
The organiser of the event,
Mukesh Mishra informed
that there were five different
categories divided as per the
age group of kids, starting
from one to five kilometres.
To keep a track, parents were
asked to record and send the
data for further proceedings.
Gujarat:
Banas Dairy
dispatched
more than 1.28
crore litres
of Amul milk
via the Indian
Railways in
May. This is the
highest ever
figure since
the dairy’s
establishment,
said Banas
Dairy chairman
Shankar
Chaudhary.
Tina Ahuja Govinda
Rajiv Arora Akanksha Arora
Melven Castelino
Calligraphy by
Melven

First india ahmedabad edition-01 june 2020

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