First india ahmedabad edition-02 july 2020

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ALERT
AHMEDABAD l THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 217
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OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
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COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
1,869
DEATHS
33,318
CONFIRMED CASES
UTTAR PRADESH
718 DEATHS 24,056 CASES
RAJASTHAN
421 DEATHS 18,312 CASES
As by-elections loom, contenders lobby for tickets
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Even
with the Election
Commission of India
(ECI) giving no indica-
tion of conducting by-
elections for the Guja-
rat Legislative Assem-
bly yet, parties have
already commenced
preparations in antici-
pation of impending
polls. With eight seats
up for grabs in the As-
sembly, potential con-
tenders have also
started lobbying for
party tickets.
For instance, the
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) recently appoint-
ed two in-charges for
each of the eight con-
stituency seats in the
fray. The five turncoats
who have joined the
BJP are also hopeful
that the party will field
them in the by-elections
this year. But, when it
comes to three seats
namelyGadhada(Botad
district), Morbi and
Limbdi (Surendrana-
gar district), it remains
unclear whether the
party intends to give
tickets to party workers
or defectors.
When Gadhada Con-
gress MLA Pravin
Maru resigned from his
post and also the oppo-
sition party in March,
former MLA Atmaram
Parmar from the same
constituency had
rushed to Gandhinagar
to meet with Chief Min-
ister Vijay Rupani, the
very next day. Turn on P6
It remains to be seen whether the
BJP will field party loyalists or
defectors from other camps BJP State Unit President
Jitu Vaghani applauded
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s initiative to
distribute free ration to 80
crore people. Vaghani said
that this will be a big relief
for the poor, Antyodaya
and even migrant
workers. He also added
that people with minimum
income too will be able to
benefit from this scheme.
VESTED INTERESTS
Sopore: A three-year-old boy
survived as his grandfather
was killed in a terror attack
on the Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF) in Jammu and
Kashmir’s Sopore town on
Wednesday morning. A CRPF
jawan was also killed in the
line of duty as terrorists
opened fire on a patrol team.
In heart-wrenching images,
the child is seen sitting on the
blood-splattered body of his
grandfather, a civilian caught
in the crossfire. The boy was
numb with fear when he was
picked up by policemen. A
video shows him sobbing in a
police van as biscuits and
chocolates are offered to him.
“When we reached the site,
what we saw was disturbing.
Our priority was to evacuate
the child. It was very chal-
lenging as terrorists were fir-
ing upon us. The child was
going to Handwara with his
grandfather,” Azim Khan,
SHO Sopore said while speak-
ing to media.
The Kashmir police also
tweeted a photo of the child
being carried to safety by a
policeman. “Jammu and
Kashmir police rescued a
three-year-old boy from get-
ting hit by bullets during the
terrorist attack in Sopore,”
said the tweet.
Two of the injured CRPF
jawans are known to be in
critical condition. Three
CRPF personnel were also in-
jured in the attack, CRPF
added. According to the CRPF,
at around 7:30 am today, 179
Battalion of CRPF reached
Model Town Chowk Sopore
for naka/patrolling duties.
As the troops were de-bus-
sing from the vehicles to oc-
cupy their respective spots of
deployment, terrorists hid-
ing in the attic of a nearby
mosque started firing indis-
criminately on the troops, in
which CRPF jawans consta-
ble Bhoya Rajesh, Head Con-
stable Deep Chand Verma,
Nilesh Chawde and Consta-
ble Deepak Patil got injured.
Later Deep Chand succumbed
to his injuries. Turn on P6
Ashok Gehlot @ashokgehlot51
Condemn the terror
attack on a #CRPF party
in #Sopore, Kashmir in
which a jawan was martyred, a
civilian lost his life & 3 jawans
have been injured. My heartfelt
condolences to bereaved
families, we stand with them &
pray that they remain strong.
Wish speedy recovery to injured.
STORY SO FAR
 The child was travelling
in a car with his grandfather
from Srinagar to Handwara
when it was hit by a spray of
bullets in Sopore. The man
came out from his vehicle
and tried to hide, taking
cover of his vehicle. But, the
terrorists who were in front
of him fired at security forces
and the man was caught in
the firing of terrorists.
INDIA CHINA STAND-OFF
My way or the highway! Gadkari says
India to ban Chinese cos from projects
New Delhi: India will
not allow Chinese com-
panies to participate in
highway projects, in-
cluding those through
joint ventures, Union
Minister Nitin Gadkari
said on Wednesday
amid border standoff
with China. Gadakri
also said the govern-
ment will ensure that
Chinese investors are
not entertained in vari-
ous sectors like Micro,
Small and Medium En-
terprises (MSMEs).
The senior minister’s
assertions assume sig-
nificance against the
backdrop of border
standoff between India
and China in Ladakh
that also saw the death
of 20 Indian Army per-
sonnel last month.
“We will not give
permission to joint
ventures that have
Chinese partners for
road construction. We
have taken a firm
stand that if they (Chi-
nese companies) come
via joint venture in
our country, we will
not allow it,” Gadkari
told PTI. The Road
Transport, Highways
and MSME minister
said a policy will be
out soon banning Chi-
nese firms and relax-
ing norms for Indian
companies to expand
their eligibility crite-
ria for participation in
highway projects.
Currently only a few
projects which were un-
dertaken much earlier
involve some Chinese
partners. When asked
about this, the Minister
said that the new deci-
sion will be implement-
ed in current and future
tenders. Turn on P6
India will not give permission to joint ventures that have Chinese
partners for road construction.
SINGH TO VISIT LEH
PM hits delete, signs out
from Chinese site Weibo
New Delhi: With the
government deciding to
disallow 59 Chinese
apps in India, Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi has decided to
quit Chinese micro-
blogging website Sina
Weibo, which he had
joined a few years ago.
On Wednesday the
prime minister’s ac-
count went blank after
his profile photo, posts
and comments were re-
moved from the handle.
The Twitter-like ac-
count Weibo, the largest
Chinese microblogging
site, has a more com-
plex procedure to quit
for VIP accounts, which
is why the official pro-
cess was initiated. For
reasons best known to
the Chinese, there was
a great delay in grant-
ing this basic permis-
sion. Prime Minister
Modi had 115 posts on
Weibo. It was decided to
manually delete them
and after much effort
113 posts were removed.
Turn on P6
UGLY FACE OF TERRORISMJ&K POLICE RESCUED A 3-YEAR-OLD BOY AFTER HIS GRAND FATHER WAS KILLED WHEN AN
ENCOUNTER BROKE OUT BETWEEN MILITANTS & SECURITY FORCES IN J-K’S SOPORE
HEART-WRENCHING The 3-yr-old child sits &
cries on the blood-splattered body of his grand father who died due to
bullet injuries in cross-firing during the encounter on Wednesday morning.
HELP @ HAND The clueless toddler, numb with fear,
walks away from his grand father’s body towards a soldier crouching
behind a structure after the man called him to run for shelter.
HEY, WE GOT YOU! J&K police party reached the
spot and rescued the child from the encounter site. Later J&K police re-
tweeted a pic of a personnel carrying the baby on his arms to safety.
BUNGALOW
ROW: PRIYANKA
CLEARS DUES
New Delhi: Congress general secretary
Priyanka Gandhi cleared her pending
dues hours after the government an-
nounced it has cancelled the accommo-
dations at 35 Lodhi Estate stating that
she is no longer protected by the Special
Protection Group (SPG) and hence not
eligible anymore. “Ms Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra has made online payment of bal-
ance amount due on her. Turn on P6
@ashokgehlot51
First the govt with-
drew SPG cover of
#PriyankaGandhi
ji & granted Z+ security
to her and now they say,
this security cover doesn’t
have provision for allot-
ment of Govt accommoda-
tion. It is clear, everything
was pre planned with the
sole purpose of har-
assing her.
WORLD
5,16,394
DEATHS
1,06,91,004
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
6,04,808
CONFIRMED CASES
17,848
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
8,053 DEATHS 1,80,298 CASES
TAMIL NADU
1,264 DEATHS 94,049 CASES
DELHI
2,803 DEATHS 89,802 CASES
VAGHANI
WELCOMES PM’S
DECISION

NEWSAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar: Trade
sanctions are a double-
edge sword. While
they do put the target
country at a disadvan-
tage, they might back-
fire and leave the tar-
get more self-reliant.
For instance, when the
UK imposed sanctions
on Russia, not only did
the latter become self-
reliant in wheat pro-
duction but it also be-
came a leading export-
er of the foodgrain. At
the same time, the US-
China trade war has
hit America’s soya
bean farmers hard. In
2019,farmersswitched
from cultivating soya
bean to corn and other
crops across more
than 60 lakh hectares
of land.
Three of Gujarat’s
commodities—cotton,
castor and groundnut
oil—currently enjoy a
good market in China.
However, this relation-
ship depends on trust,
confidence and strong
bilateral trade rela-
tions. Any hiccups
could lead to a devastat-
ing situation, as hap-
pened with US farmers
in 2018, when America’s
agricultural exports to
China fell to $5.9 billion
from $15.8 billion the
previous year.
The US had exported
an average 29 million
tonnes of soya to china
annually in 2015, 2016
and 2017. However, this
figure dropped to 5.9
million tonnes in 2018
due to the trade war.
While this fall hit
American farmers
hard, it was not cata-
strophic since the
country has just 3.2
million farmers. Guja-
rat alone accounts for
53.19 lakh of India’s
118.7 million farmers.
So, a similar trade war
could have a devastat-
ing impact on the In-
dian economy and ag-
riculture sector.
While China is a good
market for Gujarat’s
cotton and cotton yarn,
groundnut, and ground-
nut oil, but Chinese
firms have only recent-
ly resumed importing
castor oil from India
after a gap of five to
seven years. As much as
2.5 lakh MT (metric
tonnes) of the nation’s
total export of 5.05 lakh
MT goes to China. This
is about 40% of our to-
tal export, and its mar-
ket value is about
Rs2,500 crore.
Executive director of
the Solvent Extractors’
Association of India
(SEAI) Dr BV Mehta
strongly believes Chi-
nese firms can’t afford
to ignore India, given
that we meet 90% of the
world’s castor-oil de-
mand. He is of the opin-
ion that the present cri-
sis can help the nation
and industry become
more “atmanirbar” by
increasing production
capacity and maintain-
ing quality.
Although export of
groundnut and ground-
nut oil to China is still
minuscule, Indian ex-
porters have started
learning the lesson of
exploring more mar-
kets, said Samir Shah,
president of Saurash-
tra Oil Mills Associa-
tion. According to SEAI
data, India exported 697
MT of groundnut oil be-
tween April 2019 and
February 2020. For the
same period in the pre-
vious year, India had
exported 8,693 MT to
China. Shah says India
previously sold a major
chunk of groundnut
and groundnut oil to
China, which then later
sold it on to other play-
ers. Indian players have
now begun to make in-
roads with China’s buy-
ers, thus cutting out the
middleman altogether.
Similarly, India ex-
ported $722 million
worth of cotton to Chi-
na in the period from
April 2019 to February
2020, with as much as
six lakh bales (1 bale =
226.8kg) being shipped
out in February alone.
China is just one of
more than 18 coun-
tries to which India
exports cotton.
Lesson to be learned from US-China trade war:
EXPLORE MORE MARKETSGujarat’s cotton, castor and groundnut oil enjoy a good market in China, but depend on strong bilateral ties
Gujarat’s exporters have now taken a leaf out of China’s playbook and are beginning to reach out to China’s buyers directly, thus cutting out the middleman. Cotton, ready to be harvested.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: In less
than five hours after
announcing that all
university-level final
exams will be con-
ducted as per sched-
ule, the state govern-
ment changed its
stance late on
Wednesday evening
and postponed the ex-
aminations. After the
reversal of its deci-
sion, the state said
that new dates for the
examinations will be
declared soon.
The reason for this
quick turn of events
was attributed to the
guidelines issued by
the Central govern-
ment regarding post-
ponement of all univer-
sity-level examina-
tions until further
notice, amid the COV-
ID-19 outbreak.
Earlier in the day,
State Education Minis-
ter Bhupendrasinh
Chudasama had stated
that students would be
provided with three op-
tions. They could ap-
pear for their exams
online or offline and in
case they miss appear-
ing for them, they can
even sit for them at a
later date. The minister
had further said that
the Gujarat Technologi-
cal University (GTU)
had conducted online
surveys of students and
over 54,000 students
were in favour of ap-
pearing for exams
and only 900 stu-
dents were against
them. The examina-
tions at GTU which
were set to commence
from June 2 have now
been postponed.
Although the state
government had an-
nounced that students
enrolled in all courses
would be able to appear
for their final exams, it
had seemingly over-
looked the fact that two
petitions on examina-
tions were pending be-
fore the state high court.
Meanwhile, Chief
Minister Vijay Rupa-
ni on Wednesday
chaired the third
meeting of the Island
Development Author-
ity (IDA). The author-
ity has been assigned
to develop islands
along the state’s
coast, and to that end,
the government has
allocated over Rs108
crore. During the
meeting, it was dis-
cussed that the Piro-
tan Island in the Jam-
nagar district will be
developed to accom-
modate activities re-
lated to nature.
The state has also de-
cided to constitute a Bet
Dwarka Island Develop-
ment Authority for the
development of the Bet
Dwarka Island. A Dwar-
ka-based Industrial
Training Institute (ITI)
will also be developed
as a Marine Skill Train-
ing Centre, where spe-
cial courses will be in-
troduced to provide ed-
ucation on marine life
and activities.
The state govern-
ment also plans to hire
international talent for
the development and
design of these islands.
Once fully developed,
they will be promoted
as tourist attraction
spots and help boost
tourism in the state.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah through a tweet
expressed his grief
over the loss of lives
after a blast in the
boiler of a power
plant in Tamil Nadu’s
Neyveli. At least six
people were killed
and 17 injured in the
incident at the Neyve-
li Thermal Power
Station on Wednes-
day. The blast oc-
curred in the fifth
unit of the second
station as workers
were resuming work
in the morning.
Inthetweet,Shahsaid
he has also spoken to Ta-
milNaduChief Minister
Edappadi K Palaniswa-
mi and assured him of
all possible help.
The Union Home
Minister added that the
Central Industrial Se-
curity Forces are al-
ready on the spot to as-
sist in the relief work.
Expressing deep grief,
he condoled the kin of
the deceased and said
he was praying for the
speedy recovery of
those injured.
All those injured
were rushed to hospi-
tal, officials said.
“The boiler was not
in operation. We are in-
vestigating the inci-
dent,” R Vikraman, one
of the directors of the
power plant, said.
Neyveli, a township
in Cuddalore district, is
about 200 kilometres
south of Chennai.
Wednesday’s blast is the
second in two months.
On May 7, two workers
were killed and eight in-
jured in a similar inci-
dent. —Agencies
Rupani govt postpones univ-level final exam Shahcondoleskinofthose
lostinTNpowerplantblast
NO GOING BACK
Anguished to learn about the loss of
lives due to a blast at Neyveli power
plant boiler in Tamil Nadu. Have spo-
ken to @CMOTamilNadu and assured
all possible help. @CISFHQrs is already on the
spot to assist the relief work. Praying for the
earliest recovery of those injured. —Amit Shah

Also, state
govt to
develop Bet
Dwarka and
Pirotan
islands as
tourist
attractions
Crop Area Production Yield
(Hectare) (Metric Tonne) (Kg/Hectare)
Cotton 2,654.64 8,626.31 555.42
Groundnut 1,663.20 4,587.76 2,758.40
Castor 736.59 1,654.13 2,245.65
(Source: Gujarat Agriculture Department)
CROP PRODUCTION IN GUJARAT
(2019-20 THIRD ESTIMATE)
CHINA’S INVESTMENT IN INDIA
2016 2019
$ 381 million $ 4.6 billion
As much as 2.5 lakh MT (metric tonnes) of the nation’s total export of castor oil goes to China. India exported $722 million worth of cotton to China in the period from April 2019 to February 2020.
—Photo for representational purposes only

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020
Masuma Bharmal
Jariwala
Rajkot: After testing
positive for COV-
ID-19 and being ad-
mitted to govern-
ment-run PDU Hos-
pital for treatment,
55-year-old Arvind
Sarvaiya from Juna-
gadh did not know if
he would survive
this health crisis.
However, due to the
moral support and
health care Sarvaiya
received from the staff
at the hospital, his fear
slowly faded. Admit-
ted with serious health
issues, he was kept on
oxygen support for
three days and on ven-
tilator support for four
days, until his recov-
ery and discharge on
June 26.
What Sarvaiya re-
membered from his
time on the brink of
death in the hospital
was the humanitarian
approach of the hospi-
tal staff including the
anaesthesia and medi-
cal departments, the
nursing staff and oth-
ers. Their continuous
monitoring and sup-
portive care had helped
him overcome his fear
and instil positivity
about getting better.
Therefore, in order
to offer his thanks to
the staffers, he donat-
ed 100 PPE kits to the
hospital for the work
being done by them
and saving his life. He
also applauded their
relentless efforts in
the treatment and
mental health of COV-
ID-19 patients fearing
for their lives in the
hospital.
There are many pa-
tients like Sarvaiya
who have left PDU
Hospital after receiv-
ing treatment for
Sars-CoV-2. Rajkot
has so far reported
169 positive cases, of
which 117 people have
successfully recov-
ered from the virus.
Grateful nCov survivor donates
100 PPE kits to Rajkot hospital
Day 2: Surat tops list of new cases againDiamond city accounts for 30% of overnight cases as state tally rises to 33,318; 21 fresh fatalities bring Gujarat’s death toll to 1,869
Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar: The
state’s novel corona-
virus outbreak seems
to be shifting its epi-
centre from
Ahmedabad to Surat,
with the diamond
city topping the list
of fresh cases for the
second consecutive
day. Wednesday saw
201 cases emerge
from Surat: 180 from
the city and 21 from
rural areas.
The government
claims to have the situ-
ation under control,
but the state witnessed
675 new cases, bringing
the tally up to 33,318.
Of these, 7,411 are ac-
tive cases with 63 pa-
tients on ventilators.
With 21 new fatali-
ties, the death toll has
risen to 1,869.
On Wednesday, the
government tested
6,980 samples, the high-
est in three months.
With an office assis-
tant at the social justice
department in Gandhi-
nagar testing positive,
the department has in-
structed six other offic-
ers of ‘Chh’ branch to
remain under quaran-
tine for a week.
Ahmedabad has 3,052
active cases as of
Wednesday, and has
seen 1,405 deaths due to
theSars-CoV-2virus.Of
the active cases, 642 are
from the West zone, 476
from the North, 466
from the Northwest
zone and the rest from
the other four zones.
Eleven monks of the
Swaminarayan Sect’s
Maninagar Gadi San-
sthan have tested posi-
tive and are being treat-
ed at hospital. A num-
ber of monks have self-
quarantined, and the
temple is being closed
to devotees for a week.
Meraman Goriya,
the Congress Party’s
former MLA from
Dwarka, has also test-
ed positive and is un-
der treatment.
Talking to the me-
dia in Surat, principal
secretary for health
Dr Jayanti Ravi said,
“So far the contain-
ment areas are follow-
ing bandh. The dia-
mond markets have
been close due to a
rise in COVID-19 cas-
es and a lack of venti-
lation in units. We
will add more re-
sources including
more beds in the Civil
Hospital.”
Meanwhile in Va-
dodara there are 577
active cases, with 117
patients on oxygen and
39 on ventilators.
The health team of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has started to use Rapid Antigen
Testing so patients do not have to wait long for their reports. —PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE
COVID-19 under control
in A’bad: Top AMC officer
Rajkot gets 15 Dhanvantri
Raths, hot Ayurvedic potion
Woman lodges rape case
against city policeman
Monsoon claims 13 in lightning,drowning
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: With
the world still strug-
gling to control the
spread of COVID-19
cases, a senior offi-
cial at the
Ahmedabad Munici-
pal Corporation
(AMC) claimed that
Ahmedabad will be
free of the virus by
mid-July, in a meet-
ing with key officials
on Tuesday.
According to state
health officials, the
COVID-19 situation in
the city has improved
after private clinics
and hospitals have
been allowed to treat
Sars-CoV-2 patients.
“This move has pro-
vided timely treatment
to many patients.
Moreover, people are
now taking precau-
tions, which is a cru-
cial step to prevent in-
fection. Having said
that, the announce-
ment by the senior of-
ficer about eradicating
novel coronavirus
from the city in two
weeks’ time was an ex-
aggeration,” stated one
of the deputy munici-
pal commissioners.
The deputy com-
missioner added, “As
the disputed anti-
body rapid tests have
been approved by the
Indian Council of
Medical Research
(ICMR) again, it has
enabled the civic
body to conduct more
tests. But looking at
the virus’ spread on
an international lev-
el, it is nearly impos-
sible to eradicate it.
We are still in the
first phase with the
second phase yet to
come. Moreover, the
Central Zone, which
had reported just one
case on Sunday, re-
corded eight cases
the very next day.”
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot: Taking the
Ayurvedic path of
treatment, the Rajkot
Municipal Corpora-
tion (RMC) has enlist-
ed the help of Dhan-
vantri Raths to dis-
pense natural medi-
cations to boost the
immune system of its
citizens. After a rise
in the number of
COVID-19 cases was
seen in Rajkot—the
hometown of Gujarat
Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani—around 15
vans have been de-
ployed to conduct the
medicinal adminis-
tration in the city.
On Wednesday, the
inauguration of the
Dhanvantri Raths took
place at the Central
Zone office of the RMC.
The Raths will distrib-
ute hot Ayurvedic ukala
(potion) in 18 wards.
Initially, the main fo-
cus will be on the con-
tainment and densely
populated areas.
Equipped with thermal
guns and pulse oxime-
ters, the personnel on
these vans will conduct
body temperature
checks and if required,
send potential patients
to Civil Hospital for
treatment.
Claimed as the first
such concept to be
launched in Gujarat,
RMC Health Committee
Chairman Jaymin
Thaker said, “The ongo-
ing COVID-19 pandemic
has affected human
lives to a vast extent.
Currently, the only solu-
tion we have at hand is
to boost our immune
systems. To that end,
the consumption of the
Ayurvedic ukala is one
of the best solutions.
On Wednesday, hun-
dreds of people in Ra-
jkot were distributed
the hot potion.”
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A wom-
an has alleged that
Sardarnagar police
constable raped her
multiple times over
18 months. The police
have begun investi-
gating the case, which
was lodged at the Air-
port police station.
In her statement, the
woman says she had
initially met Constable
Mahesh Vaghela a year
and half back through a
common friend. There-
after, the two met fre-
quently and became
close. In her statement,
the woman has accused
the constable of luring
her with the promise of
marriage to different
hotels and guesthouses,
where he forced her to
have sexual relations
with him.
She also said that last
met Vaghela on June 16,
when he refused to mar-
ry her. She then ap-
proached the police sta-
tion to lodge a criminal
complaint of rape. The
complaint also alleges
that Vaghela threatened
to kill her if she insisted
on marriage.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: With
the weather forecast
indicating a good
monsoon this year,
Gujarat has received
almost 16% of its an-
nual average rainfall
in the last few days.
On Tuesday, 13 people
lost their lives due to
lightning, heavy rain-
fall, and drowning,
across the state.
In Jamnagar, three
people drowned and one
was struck by light-
ning. Other incidents
of lightning killed three
in Botad, two in Devb-
humi Dwarka and one
each in Amreli, Tapi,
Gandhinagar, Bhavna-
gar districts.
In a good turn of
events, the Saurashtra
region has already re-
ceived over 25% of its
average. With an aver-
age of 677mm rainfall,
the region has so far re-
ceived 172mm, which ac-
countsfor25.35%.Farm-
ers in Saurashtra are
hopeful of a promising
yield due to timely and
adequate rainfall. Por-
bandar district has re-
cieved the most rainfall
at 236mm, which is
33.85% of its annual av-
erage of 698mm.
The Indian Meteoro-
logical Department has
predicted moderate to
heavy showers over the
next two to three days in
many parts of the state.
After the state received
15.80% of its average an-
nual rainfall (831mm),
the State Emergency
Operation Centre said
that almost all parts of
Gujarat had received
131.33 mm rainfall in the
season so far.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. —FILE PHOTO
The initial focus will be on densely populated areas.
To offer his thanks to the staffers, Arvind Sarvaiya donated 100 PPE kits to the hospital for the
work being done by them and for saving his life.
NO END IN SIGHT
NEW HOPE
IKDRC, GCRI
will not admit
nCov patients
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Due to a
decrease in the num-
ber of fresh COV-
ID-19 cases, the Insti-
tute of Kidney Dis-
eases and Research
Centre (IKDRC) and
the Gujarat Cancer
Research Institute
(GCRI) on the Civil
Hospital premises
will not be admitting
COVID-19 patients
henceforth, said Civ-
il Hospital in-charge
superintendent Dr
MM Prabhakar on
Wednesday.
“The number of cas-
es has seen a fall re-
cently. We received
only 100 new cases
yesterday and with a
high recovery rate, it
has been decided that
no new cases will be
referred to the kidney
and cancer hospitals,”
asserted Dr Prabhakar.
This means that the
IKDRC and GCRI will
now function as they
did prior to the COV-
ID-19 outbreak in the
city.
Since ukala is said to
help boost immunity,
the raths will distribute
it in 18 wards
Image for representational purposes only.
FOUR ARRESTED
Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT
Madras), ranked No.1 in India Rankings
2020 by NIRF, announced the launch of
India's first online B.Sc. degree in
Programming and Data Science. The
programme is open to anyone who has
passed Class XII, with English and Maths
at the Class X level, and enrolled in any
on-campus UG course. Even the current
batch of students who are completing
their Class XII in 2020 are eligible to apply.
Graduates and working professionals can
alsotakeupthisprogramme.
IIT Madras launches
online program
Hilton announced the launch of its limited
time 'Dream Away' offer, which is now
available for travelers across all Hilton
hotels in India. Manish Tolani, Vice
President and Commercial Director Hilton
India said “Hilton has been at the forefront
of understanding and offering what is
best suited for its guests. In lieu of current
Covid pandemic, our commitment is to
offer guests, memorable experiences
delivered with impeccable services
backed on our promise and assurance on
enhancedcleanlinessandhygiene.”
'Dream Away' oﬀer
Technopreneur speaks
Young technopreneur Abhimanyu
Goswami of NetAnalytics shared his
thoughts and success mantras from his
years of global experiences for
developing an Atmanirbhar eco system
and understand what would give us the
winning edge. He suggests starting with
conceptualization of great products that
would be a path breaker in future and help
create milestones in Artificial Intelligence
industry. Also, start developing an
employee first approach. It is important
for Indian businesses to develop and
exhibit leadership qualities by allowing
freedom of ideas, innovations and skill
sets.
READERS ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVE

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 217 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 | THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020
he COVID 19 pandemic has
hit us in more ways than one
and has forced us all to
think. For ourselves and oth-
ers, there is a strong link-
age. Already there is debate
about the post-corona world
- social, economic, political,
and individual.
One issue that came up like
an unexpected and challenging
problem was what we call the
migrant problem. Many don’t
likethisphrase.Indiahassingle
citizenship, so can you be a mi-
grant in your own home? But
migrantisthecommonlyunder-
stood term for people who have
moved from their family home.
People often leave their
homes for education, jobs,
employment, and liveli-
hoods. The reasons can be a
lack of opportunities and a
quest for a better life. Gener-
ally, it’s a mix.
India is territorially divided
into States and Union Territo-
ries. It is further divided into
Divisions, Districts, cities,
Tehsils, and villages. These ad-
ministrative divisions have
evolved. Many have common
socio-cultural, linguistic
groupings amongst the popu-
lace, apart from shared geo-
graphical and natural resourc-
es. They too have become a
source of identity.
This gets recognised in of-
ficial ways too. Qualification
of residency is important for
Government jobs. Where
you vote depends on where
you are ordinarily resident.
In admissions for education,
the requirements of residen-
cy also apply. Add to this the
feelings of claiming prefer-
ence for the son of the soil;
and a complex situation aris-
es for the individual.
India was a land of villages
but after Independence, it
moved towards modernisation,
which meant industrialisation,
growth of educational institu-
tions, medical facilities, avia-
tion, and travel, etc. All this
resulted in urbanisation and
people shifting to towns. The
pattern continues until today.
With opportunities for in-
come and employment getting
limitedinruralareas,especially
agriculture, the way out for the
youngsterswastomovetocities.
Seek a job in the organised sec-
tor, else in an unorganised sec-
tor, be it building and construc-
tion, tourism and hospitality,
restaurants and food shops,
transport, marketing and vend-
ing, opening businesses, or
working as domestic help, etc.
The working conditions
and payments were a mixed
picture. Even for those on
daily wages, generally, there
were enough savings to send
money home - to the village.
If the co-workers were from
his/her home area, a reason-
ably good social life, and the
circle was possible. This
somewhat made up for the
lack of amenities like prop-
er shelter, bathrooms, etc.
The city life had its glamour
and entertainment quotient.
It also freed one from the
stranglehold of caste preva-
lent back home. The useful-
ness of the skills and work
ethos of the person made up
for being an outsider and,
some would say, promoted
national integration.
Yet things never became ful-
ly rosy. Cities began to bulge.
Housing, traffic, commuting,
air, and water pollution all be-
gan to tell. The glamour quo-
tient began to lose its glamour.
Yet even then few were willing
to go back. Lack of income op-
portunities in villages kept
people in the cities.
The COVID Pandemic
caught everyone unawares.
There was no proactive ref-
erence in the planning about
the plight of these workers
after the lockdown. Without
work or pay, or even with
them, they did not feel safe
in their existing shelters.
‘Stay safe stay home’ was the
slogan. So they chose to go
‘home’ by whatever means,
including walking or cycling
across the country. Many
suffered, some did not make
it. Only later did the system
come into action.
It has been the most debated
shortcomings of the lockdown.
But what will happen as the un-
lock starts? Employers need
trained workers. Though he/
she may design less labour ori-
ented procedures. This will add
to job losses. The workers may
think twice before going back.
But what are their alternatives?
Villages have few jobs of choice.
Thepushof theCOVIDpandem-
ic to ‘home’ may not last, not-
withstanding schemes like
NREGA. What seems likely is
that there may be better bar-
gainingbetweenbothsides.Bet-
terlivingconditionsratherthan
takeorleaveoffersmayenhance
productivity. The analysis
shows that workers are keen to
return to their jobs. This may
reduce the negativity towards
the migrant outsider. But what
about the restrictions on admis-
sions and employment. They
may take time but there may be
beginnings of change. We are a
Unionof Statesandflexibilityis
required at this time.
A person may migrate and
yet feel safe and at ‘home’ in
both worlds. This is another
challenge that the virus has
given us.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
FOR OUR MIGRANT WORKERS
PLACE OF WORK AND A ‘HOME’
T
India is
territorially
divided into
States and
Union
Territories. It is
further divided
into Divisions,
Districts, cities,
Tehsils, and
villages. These
administrative
divisions have
evolved
WITH OPPORTUNITIES
FOR INCOME AND
EMPLOYMENT
GETTING LIMITED IN
RURAL AREAS,
ESPECIALLY
AGRICULTURE, THE
WAY OUT FOR THE
YOUNGSTERS WAS
TO MOVE TO CITIES
MEENAKSHI
HOOJA
The writer is a Retd IAS officer
and former Member, Central
Administrative Tribunal
he lower-than-
expected at-
tendance at
P r e s i d e n t
Trump’s rally
in Tulsa on June 20 was at-
tributed, at least in part, to
an online army of K-pop
fans who used the social
network TikTok to organ-
ize and reserve tickets for
the rally as a means of
pranking the campaign.
Similarly,thehistorically
unprecedented scale of the
George Floyd protests can
be attributed in part to so-
cial media. By some esti-
mates25millionAmericans
participated at protests.
Social media has proven
itself as a tool for political
activism, from online boy-
cottstoofflinegatherings.It
also has implications for
howpoliticalcampaignsop-
erate. Social media can aid
campaigns with voter tar-
getingefforts,butitcanalso
make the electoral process
vulnerable to misinforma-
tion and manipulation, in-
cludingfromforeignactors.
HIJACKING
HASHTAGS
Social media has enabled
protests and meaningful
political action by captur-
ing public attention, and
by its decentralized nature,
which makes it easier for
activists to evade censor-
ship and coordinate ac-
tions. K-pop fans’ action
through TikTok spanned
more than a week and
stayed off the radar of
mainstream media.
TikTok teens and K-pop
fans took over anti-Black
Lives Matter hashtags such
as #WhiteLivesMatter and
drowned out the anti-Black
LivesMattermessageswith
GIFs and memes. When
people on social media plat-
forms look for these
hashtags, they’re met with
seemingly unending imag-
es and fan videos of popu-
lar K-pop groups such as
Twice and EXO.
This, in turn, leads algo-
rithms on social media plat-
formstoclassifysuchtrend-
inghashtagsasK-poptrends
rather than political trends,
thwarting the anti-Black
Lives Matter activists who
tried to use the hashtags to
promote their messages.
K-pop fans likewise re-
sponded to a call from the
Dallas Police Department,
who were trying to collect
information about Black
Lives Matter protesters
from social media, and
bombarded them with im-
ages and videos of their
favorite K-pop stars.
INFLUENCERS
AND LIKE-MINDED
CONNECTIONS
Myownresearchshowsthat
there are two mechanisms
that make social media in-
fluential in digital activism.
First, social media gives
an opinion-making role to a
few influencers – people
who have extensive social
media networks. The furor
companies such as Uber
andUnitedAirlinesaroused
on social media for misbe-
having was initiated by a
handful of individuals.
Second, on social media
people engage with like-
minded people, a phenom-
enon called homophily.
Together, these mecha-
nisms provide a wide audi-
encetobothinfluencersand
their followers who are en-
meshed in densely connect-
ed online networks. As my
research shows, once a
meme, hashtag or video
goes viral, passive sharing
can turn into active broad-
castingof thetrendingidea.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM
How social media amplifies political activism
T
Be on your guard; stand firm
in the faith; be courageous; be
strong. Do everything in love.
—1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Railways invites Request for
Qualiﬁcations for private participation
for passenger train operations on 109
pairs of routes through 151 modern
trains. This initiative will boost job
creation, reduce transit time, provide
enhanced safety & world-class
facilities to passengers.
Adhir Chowdhury
@adhirrcinc
Modi Ji, there is a place in
India, called #Ladakh, it is not a
Terra Incognita. You may likely
forget it, we are confronting
twin peril #Corona & #China,
one is Pandemic and the other
is Endemic, it seems that you
are still under inﬂuence of the
infectious smile of Xi Zinping
IN-DEPTH
INDIA-CHINA
TRADE WAR
ith China continuing to be intransigent
on pulling back from the Indian side of
Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh, India has
started hurting the untrustworthy
neighbour’s economic interests. The
tough stand was adopted after violent clashes in the
region resulted in the martyrdom of 20 soldiers.
On Wednesday, Union minister Nitin Gadkari an-
nounced that Chinese companies won’t be allowed
to take part in infrastructure projects. The road
transport, highways, and MSME minister also said
the government will ensure that Chinese compa-
nies are not allowed to venture into the MSME sec-
tor. Any joint venture in which Chinese companies
are partners will go in for rebidding, he said.
At the same time, the Department of Telecom-
munications (DoT) informed the Prime Minister’s
Office and the Ministry of Home Affairs that
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Ma-
hanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) won’t
be buying equipment from Chinese firms. The ten-
der for the fourth generation (4G) network up-gra-
dation has been cancelled, DoT said. The bid for
network expansion was invited in March this year.
The move followed a ban on 59 Chinese applica-
tions like TikTok and UC Browser.
Last month DoT decided to direct BSNL and
MTNL from sourcing equipment from Huawei and
ZTE of China. The tender worth around 7,000-8000
crore will now be reissued.
Thesearesure-footedmovestohitChinaeconom-
ically. With the prevailing anti-China sentiment,
India’seconomicoffensiveagainstChinahasbegun.
W
n a way, Ganesh Chaturthi is to Mum-
bai and Maharashtra what Lord Jagan-
nath’s Rath Yatra is to Puri and Odisha.
In the case of Puri Rath Yatra, the Su-
preme Court reversed its ban order to
allow pulling of chariots with no public participa-
tion in view of Covid-19.
About 1,700 kms away from Puri, the 14-foot high
idol of Lord Ganesh will be missing from Mum-
bai’s Lalbaugh for the first time in the puja’s 93-
year history. Famous as Lalbaugcha Raja, he will
now make an appearance in September 2021.
The decision to cancel the festivities was taken
byLalbaugchaRajaGaneshotsav Mandal dueto the
pandemic. Other puja mandals also decided not to
hold Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations this year. Un-
like the Lalbaugh Mandal which cancelled idol in-
stallation, other puja organising bodies said they
were postponing it till February next year. Ganesh
Chaturthi is an iconic festival of Mumbai which
witnesses the participation of lakhs of people with
almost every household installing an idol of Lord
Ganesh before taking them for submersion.
The laudable part of the decision is that it has
beentakenbythepeopleandhasnotfacedanylitiga-
tion. Lalbaugcha Raja Ganeshotsav Mandal’s secre-
tary Sudhir Sitaram Salvi said that they will organ-
ise an 11-day blood donation and plasma donation
camp instead. With novel corona virus on the ram-
page, the decision must be welcomed by one and all.
I
LALBAUGCHA
RAJA CALLED OFF

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New Delhi: This
year’s doctor’s day
theme focuses on less-
ening mortality of
COVID-19 following
worldwide coronavi-
rus pandemic. As per
the Union Health Min-
istry, there have been
17,400 deaths reported
till date while recovery
rate shoots to 59.43 per
cent countrywide.
Doctors, who are
working on the front-
line during the ongoing
pandemic spoke to ANI
and shared how they
are striving to keep the
mortality rate at the
minimal with much
higher recovery per-
centage. Dr Rajeev Ran-
jan, MD in Lab Medi-
cine, All Indian Insti-
tute of Medical Scienc-
es said, “Definitely our
aim is to lessen the mor-
tality by every means
that has affected peo-
ple’s livelihood mas-
sively. But in order to do
this, the goals are the
same such as maintain-
ing social distancing,
using masks, proper
personal hygiene has to
be maintained. This is
primarily because this
virus is behaving er-
ratically.”
“Doctors and health-
care workers are also
getting infected as we
come close to patients
suffering from the vi-
rus. Since Unlock 1,
many have flouted the
rules. We need to main-
tain social distancing
and adhere to other
health measures in or-
der to flatten the curve,”
said Dr Ranjan.
Dr Ashiya Malek, Sr
Resident Doctor, Ob-
stetrics and Gynecolo-
gy, Spring Meadows
Hospital said, “it has
been months since I
met my parents. Our
personal ordeal is defi-
nitely there but right
now all are looking up
to us and we cannot let
down people and their
faith on us.”
“Wearing PPE kit be-
comes a challenge, espe-
cially when you are a
woman but presently
we do overlook things.
We are happy that along
with all these hard-
ships, India’s recovery
rate is soaring,” Dr
Malek added.
Dr (Col) R Ranga Rao,
Chairman, Paras Can-
cer Centre, Paras Hospi-
tals, Gurugram said it
is a tough time for the
frontline healthcare
professionals.
“Long working
hours, excessive mental
and physical stress and
the need to stay updated
all the time are the few
consequences of the
coronavirus pandem-
ic,” he said. —ANI
INDIAAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020
1 TERRORIST KILLED, INFILTRATION
BID FOILED BY FORCES IN RAJOURI
Rajouri (J &K): An infil-
tration bid by terrorists
has been foiled in the Keri
area of Rajouri district in
Jammu and Kashmir on
early Wednesday morn-
ing. One terrorist has
been killed, sources said.
Terrorists opened fire
after coming 400 metres
inside the Indian side of
Line of Control (LoC). The
infiltration bid was foiled
at 5:55 am, the sources
added. One AK-47 and
magazines have been
recovered.
INDIAN NAVY REPATRIATES
OVER 600 INDIANS FROM IRAN
Tuticorin: The Indian Navy on Wednesday
repatriated over 600 Indians from Iran as part
of the Centre’s “Samudra Setu” mission to
evacuate stranded Indian citizens from abroad.
Indian Navy Ship Jalashwa repatriated 687
Indian nationals, most of them fishermen, from
Iran and arrived at the VOC Port here today.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said of
the 687 persons who arrived here today, 651
were fishermen from Tamil Nadu, while 36
others hailed from Kerala.
RUPEE DROPS 9 PAISE TO 75.60
ON WEAK ECONOMIC DATA
Mumbai: The rupee on Wednesday settled 9
paise lower at 75.60 against the US currency due
to dollar buying by oil importers and concerns
over rising COVID-19 cases. Foreign fund out-
flows and firming crude oil prices weighed on
the local unit, forex traders said. At the interbank
forex market, the rupee opened higher at 75.49
against the US dollar. The unit later lost ground
to end at the day’s low level of 75.60 against the
US dollar, down 9 paise over its last close. It had
settled at 75.51 against the US dollar on Tuesday.
FUEL PRICES REMAIN UNCHANGED
FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE DAY
New Delhi: Fuel prices
remain unchanged for the
second consecutive day
in Delhi on Wednesday,
with diesel remaining
costlier than petrol. The
price of petrol stood at
Rs 80.43 per litre in the
national capital and that
of diesel at Rs 80.53.
Notably, domestic fuel
prices are determined
broadly by crude oil and
forex rates and vary
from state to state due to
value-added tax.
WITH 17,400 FATALITIES, 59.43 PC RECOVERY RATE
Doctor’s Day: Focus on less COVID-19 mortality
Guwahati: Assam gov-
ernment has decided to
set up a plasma bank in
Guwahati in the next
four-five days, said state
Health Minister Him-
anta Biswa Sarma on
Wednesday.
“We have decided to
set up a plasma bank in
Guwahati in the next
four-five days. We have
already installed a
plasma separator at
Guwahati Medical Col-
lege. I think by next
week we will be able to
start plasma treat-
ment,” he said at a
press conference here.
The minister said
that the government
will launch the new
testing model named
COVID-19 AG test in
the next two-three
days. —ANI
Assam to set
up plasma bank
in Guwahati
New Delhi: The Delhi
High Court on Wednes-
day asked the Delhi gov-
ernment to file its reply
on three pleas challeng-
ing its decision to con-
vert petitioners’ ban-
quet halls into tempo-
rary COVID-19 treat-
ment hospitals.
A bench of Justice
Jayant Nath asked Del-
hi government to file its
response on the matter
and listed it for further
hearing on July 8.
Meanwhile, advocate
Satyakam appearing
for the Delhi govern-
ment said that the deci-
sion was taken in view
of the rise in COVID-19
cases in the capital.
The court was hear-
ing three petitions filed
by Chintpurni Overseas
Private Limited, Ready
Mint Private Limited,
and a Community Wel-
fare Banquet challeng-
ing the decision to con-
vert the banquet halls
owned by them into
temporary treatment
hospitals. —ANI
Delhi HC seeks govt’s reply on pleas
against conversion of banquet halls
‘Height of
cruelty, insult
to humanity’RECOVERED
PATIENTS CAN
DONATE PLASMA:
SISODIA
Lucknow: After a vid-
eo showing health
workers allegedly toss-
ing bod-
ies of
corona-
v i r u s
victims
in a large
pit in
Karnata-
ka, BSP
President
Mayawati on Wednes-
day stated that the inci-
dent is the “height of
cruelty and insult to
humanity”.
The former UP Chief
Minister demanded
that the guilty must be
punished. —Agencies
New Delhi: Delhi Deputy
CM Manish Sisodia on
Wednesday said that recov-
ered COVID-19 patients can
donate plasma, irrespective
of residence and subject to
doctors clearance. He said
that the Delhi government
will launch a number and
SOPs regarding the issue
by tomorrow. The Deputy
CM said, “Anybody who is
recovered from COVID-19
and subject to doctors
clearance can donate
plasma, irrespective of
residence.” —Agencies
New Delhi: DelhiChief
Minister Arvind Kejri-
wal on Wednesday said
that the number of
COVID-19 patients is re-
ducing in the national
capital.
“We have arranged for
15,000 beds for the treat-
ment of COVID-19 which
is inclusive of ICU beds,
ventilator beds, and nor-
mal beds but there only
5,800 patients,” said Ke-
jriwal. “Instead of the
number of patients con-
stantly increasing in
Delhi, the number is re-
ducing. The number of
patients recovering -- on
a daily basis -- is con-
stantly increasing. One
month from now, 38 per
cent patients were recov-
ering, but now 64 per-
cent of patients have re-
covered,” CM said.
“There are a total of
87,000 cases in Delhi, out
of which 58,000 patients
have already recovered.
In the last one week, the
number of daily cases is
also being halved as
well,” he added. —ANI
Number of COVID-19 cases
reducing in Delhi: CM Kejriwal
New Delhi: The Un-
ion Health Ministry
on Wednesday said
that ‘Made in India’
ventilators supplied to
the states and UTs
comply with specified
requirements and
have Bilevel Positive
Airway Pressure (Bi-
PAP) mode.
“Cost effective,
Made in India ventila-
tor models BEL and
AgVa supplied to the
States and UTs have
BiPAP mode and other
such modes as have
been prescribed in the
technical specifica-
tions,” the ministry
said in a statement.
BiPAP is a device
that helps in breath-
ing without intuba-
tion.
Theministry’sstate-
ment comes in the
wake of media reports
thatBiPAPmodeisnot
available in the ‘Made
in India’ ventilators.
“It has come to the
notice of Ministry of
Health through some
media reports that the
issue of BiPAP mode
not being available in
the ventilators sup-
plied by GoI has been
raised,” the ministry
said in a statement.
Made in India ventilators have
BiPAP mode: Health Ministry
Bhopal: The Madhya
Pradesh cabinet expan-
sion will take place on
Thursday, CM Shivraj
Singh Chouhan said.
Chouhan flew to New
Delhi on Sunday to hold
consultations with the
central BJP leadership
over the much- talked
about cabinet expan-
sion. Asked about the
delay in cabinet expan-
sion, Chouhan said,
“Only amrit (elixir)
comes out of manthan
(churning), vish (poi-
son) is consumed by
(Lord) Shiva.”
Around 20 to 25 new
members, including
some former Congress
MLAs who had joined
the BJP in March, are
likely to be inducted
into the cabinet, sourc-
es in the BJP earlier
said. —Agencies
MP: CM Shivraj Singh to
expand cabinet on Thursday
UPSC Prelims: Aspirants
allowed to change centre
New Delhi: The Union
Public Service Commis-
sion (UPSC) has al-
lowed candidates to
change their centres for
the civil services pre-
liminary examination,
scheduled on October 4.
Keeping in view the
large number of candi-
dates of civil services
(preliminary) exam,
2020 (including the In-
dian Forest Service
(preliminary) exam,
2020) and requests re-
ceived from candidates
for changing their cent-
ers, the Commission
has decided to give an
opportunity to them to
submit their revised
choice of centre, the
UPSC said in a state-
ment on Wednesday. Be-
sides this, the option to
change the centers for
the civil services (main)
exam, 2020, and the In-
dian Forest Service
(main) examination,
2020, is also being made
available, it said. —PTI
Health workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) conduct a door-to-door check-up of
residents of Shivaji Nagar Slum for the detection of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai on Wednesday.
ANANDIBEN TAKES
OATH AS MP GUV
Haridwar: Yog guru Ramdev on Wednesday
claimed that there is no restriction on Patanjali
Ayurved’s Swasari Coronil kit for
“COVID management” and now
it will be available across the
country. Addressing a press
conference here, he said: “AYUSH
Ministry said that Patanjali has
done appropriate work for COVID
management. It said that Patanjali
has started working in the right direction. We have
procured a license for these medicines from the
state department which is connected with AYUSH
Ministry,” he said.
NO RESTRICTION ON CORONIL, WILL BE
AVAILABLE ACROSS COUNTRY: RAMDEV
Arvind Kejriwal
Mayawati
New Delhi: India’s
overall petroleum prod-
ucts consumption,
which had nosedived in
last week of March and
April, is now steadily
getting to its pre-lock-
down levels in June as
emanating from the
PSUs’ (IOC, BPC and
HPC) sales figures. The
sales of petroleum prod-
ucts in India had fallen
to the lowest since 2007
due to the nationwide
lockdowns necessitated
to prevent the spread of
COVID-19 pandemic.
With the gradual lift-
ing of lockdown and be-
ginning of unlocking of
theeconomyinaphased
manner allowing re-
sumption of Industrial
activity and movement
of people, total petrole-
um products consump-
tion has reached to 88%
in June (11.8 MMT)
compared to last year
(13.4 MMT), indicating
the increase in produc-
tion activity across all
segment of economic
spectrum, informed Pe-
troleum & Natural Gas
Minister Dharmendra
Pradhan.
Improving the availa-
bility of Natural gas at
an affordable cost across
the country, providing
level playing field to gas
consumers and indus-
tries and ushering a gas
based economy.
Petroleum products demand
returning to near normal
Dharmendra Pradhan

INDIAAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020
MaketradepolicieswithChinapublic:
Plea inSCseeksdirectiontoCentreNew Delhi: A plea has
been filed in the Su-
preme Court seeking a
direction to the Centre
to make public its trade
policies with China
amid the bitter standoff
between the two armies
at multiple locations in
eastern Ladakh for the
last seven weeks.
The Indian and the
Chinese armies are en-
gaged in a standoff in
various areas in eastern
Ladakh and the tension
escalated after 20 Indian
soldiers were killed in a
violent clash in Galwan
Valley on June 15. The
Chinese side also suf-
fered casualties but it is
yettogiveoutthedetails.
Following the Galwan
Valley incident, the gov-
ernment has given the
armed forces “full free-
dom” to give a “befit-
ting” response to any
Chinese misadventure
along the Line of Actual
Control (LAC), the 3,500-
km de-facto border.
The petition filed in
the apex court has re-
ferred to media reports
and alleged that a state
and a private firm had
signed memorandum of
understanding (MoU)
for business with Chi-
na-based firms.
The plea filed by Jam-
mu-based lawyer Supri-
ya Pandita has said that
after the June 15 inci-
dent at the LAC, the citi-
zens and trade associa-
tions in India are calling
for boycott of Chinese
goods in the country.
“While the ban on
these mobile apps may
be a welcome step but
on the other hand allow-
ing few select business
house or few select state
government to enter in
to MOU with Chinese
business house or stake-
holders from China
sends a wrong message
to the people of India,”
said the plea, filed
through advocates Om
Prakash Parihar and
Dushyant Tiwari. —PTI
Coronil ban:
U’khand HC
notice to
Centre, state
SC denies bail plea of corona
+ve convict in 1984 riots
Will not represent
Chinese apps: Rohatgi
New Delhi: Two days
after 59 Chinese apps
were banned in India,
former Attorney Gen-
eral of India Mukul Ro-
hatgi on Wednesday
expressed his unwill-
ingness to represent
TikTok or any Chinese
app in court against the
Central government.
Rohatgi said that he
will not appear for Tik-
Tok, a popular short
video-sharing app, or
other Chinese apps in
cases against the Gov-
ernment of India. Tik-
Tok, one of the 59 apps
banned by the Central
government, had on
Tuesdaysaidthatitcom-
plies with all data pri-
vacy and security re-
quirements under the
Indian law and has not
shared any information
of its users in India with
anyforeigngovernment,
including China. —ANI
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court Wednes-
day refused to entertain
a plea for interim bail
of convict and former
MLA Mahender Yadav,
serving 10 years jail
term in a 1984 anti-Sikh
riotscase,ontheground
that he has been admit-
ted to the ICU after be-
ing tested positive for
COVID-19.
A vacation bench of
Justices Indira Banerjee
and B R Gavai, in the
hearing conducted
through video-confer-
encing, said the interim
bail application cannot
be entertained as the
family has no grievance
related to Yadav’s treat-
ment and moreover, no
relativescanvisithimin
the ICU where he has
been treated for the nov-
el coronavirus or COV-
ID-19. Besides Yadav, for-
merCongressleaderSaj-
jan Kumar and former
CongresscouncillorBal-
wan Khokhar are serv-
ing life imprisonment in
the case after the Delhi
HC had convicted them
on December 17, 2018.
The counsel for Yadav
said the convict was
above 70 years of age
and has tested positive
for COVID-19 on June 26
in Mandoli jail where
anotherconvict,sharing
the barrack with him,
has recently died of the
deadly disease. —PTI
Mukul Rohatgi
‘Govt’s TikTok
ban impulsive,
people will suffer’
Kolkata: Trinamool
Congress Lok Sabha
MP Nusrat Jahan
termed the ban on Tik-
Tok by the Centre as
“impulsive” decision
and said that people
will suffer like demon-
etisation as many will
lose their jobs.
“TikTok is an enter-
tainment app. It’s an im-
pulsive decision. What’s
the strategic plan? What
about the people who
will be unemployed?
People will suffer like
demonetisation. I don’t
have any problem with
the ban as it is for na-
tional security but who
will answer these ques-
tions,” Jahan told re-
porters here after tak-
ing part in Ulta
Rath Yatra cel-
ebration by
ISKCON in
Kolkata to-
day. Amid
border ten-
sions with
China in
Eastern Ladakh, the
government on Monday
banned 59 mobile apps
including Tik Tok, UC
Browser and other Chi-
nese apps “prejudicial
to sovereignty and in-
tegrity and defence” of
the country.
The Ministry of In-
formation Technology
said in a release that it
has decided to block 59
apps in view of the in-
formation available
that “they are engaged
in activities which are
prejudicial to sover-
eignty and integrity of
India, defence of India,
the security of the state
and public order”.
Minister for Elec-
tronics and Informa-
tion Technology Ravi
Shankar Prasad said
that the govern-
ment has banned
apps for “safety,
security, defence,
sovereignty and
integrity of In-
dia”. —ANI
Nainital: The Ut-
tarakhand High Court
on Wednesday issued
notice to the Centre,
state government and
yoga guru Ramdev’s
Patanjali Ayurveda
on a PIL seeking a
ban on Ayurvedic
medicine Coronil,
which was claimed
to be a cure for
COVID-19. A division
bench of Chief Justice
Ramesh Ranganathan
and Justice Ramesh
Chandra Khulbe also
issued notices to
Divya Pharmacy and
NIMS University on
the plea. The High
Court had on Tuesday
asked the counsel for
the Central govern-
ment to appear before
it during the hearing
on the public interest
litigation (PIL) against
Patanjali Ayurveda for
claiming their medi-
cine Coronil is a cure
for COVID-19 without
seeking permission
from authorities con-
cerned for manufac-
turing the same. The
PIL, ﬁled by advocate
Mani Kumar, alleged
that Patanjali Ayur-
veda did not follow
the guidelines issued
by the ICMR in the
matter. —ANI
Modi, Shah
greet Naidu
on his b’day
New Delhi: PM Naren-
draModiandHomeMin-
ister Amit Shah greeted
Vice-Pres-
ident M
Venkaiah
Naidu on
his 71st
birthday.
“Birth-
day wishes to our ener-
getic Vice President, @
MVenkaiahNaidu Garu.
May he lead a long and
healthy life. Venkaiah Ji
is admired across the po-
litical spectrum for his
warm nature, intelli-
gence and wit,” Modi
tweeted. “Warm greet-
ings to Vice President,
Shri@MVenkaiahNaidu
Jionhisbirthday.Avast-
ly experienced leader
who is respected across
political line for his sim-
plicity and deep knowl-
edge of Parliamentary
affairs,” Shah tweeted.
6 dead in NLC India’s
boiler blast in Neyveli
Neyveli: A boiler ex-
ploded at NLC India’s
thermal plant here kill-
ing six people and leav-
ing 17 others injured on
Wednesday and it has
been shut for safety au-
dit, the company said.
An official has been
suspended and a high
level inquiry and an in-
ternal probe has been
ordered, the company, a
‘navratna’ public enter-
prise, said.
Home Minister Amit
Shah,expressinganguish
over the loss of lives,
spoketoChief MinisterK
Palaniswamiandassured
him of all possible help.
Governor Banwarilal
PurhoitandChief Minis-
ter K Palaniswami con-
doled the deaths and
wished the injured a
speedy recovery.
The six deceased men
were aged between 25
and42,andatleastseven
injured men have sus-
tained over 50 per cent
burns according to an
initialassessment,anof-
ficial said. Palaniswami
announced a solatium of
Rs 3 lakh to the families
of eachof thesixworkers
who were killed and an
assistance of Rs one lakh
andRs50,000tothosewho
sufferedseriousandmild
injuries respectively.
The mishap occurred
at the fifth unit of the
thermalpowerstation-II
when workers were in
the process of resuming
operations which in-
cludes maintenance
work following a shut-
down, the official said.
A fire broke out in the
boilerareasubsequentto
theexplosionresultingin
injuriestoamaintenance
team,NLCIndia,former-
lyNeyveliLigniteCorpo-
ration Limited, said in a
statement. —PTI
As by-elections...
His actions betray the
worry about having to
defend his right to a
ticket in the by-elec-
tions this year.
In 1995, when the par-
ty was looking for a can-
didate, Parmar, who be-
longs to Surat, had
moved to Gadhada on
the party’s order. So, if
he is overlooked by the
partyforMaru,heiswell
within his rights to con-
front concerned leaders
on the party platform.
Similarly, in the case
of BJP’s Kantilal Amru-
tiya, who is a five-term
MLA from the Morbi
seat (1995 to 2012), repre-
sented the constituency
until 2017. That was
when he lost the by-elec-
tion to Congress candi-
date Brijesh Merja, who
recently joined the rul-
ing party after resign-
ing as an MLA and from
Congress.
Another dilemma
presented to the BJP
will be the Limbdi con-
stituency. The ruling
party will have to make
a decision whether to
give the ticket to former
Congress MLA Soma
Patel or senior party
worker, five-term MLA
and former minister
Kiritsinh Rana. Inter-
estingly, this seat has
been dominated by Koli
Patel and the Rajput
communities. And
Soma Patel belongs to
the Koli community
while Rana is a Rajput.
According to sources,
since Patel was doubt-
ful about receiving a
ticket himself this year,
he has been lobbying
for his son Jagdish. In
fact, Patel and Minister
of Water Supply, Ani-
mal Husbandry and Ru-
ral Housing Kunvarji
Bavalia even had a
meeting with the chief
minister two days ago.
PM hits...
The two posts left were
posts where the Prime
Minister has photos
with President Xi Jin-
ping. On Weibo, it is dif-
ficult to remove posts
with the photo of their
President which is why
two posts still re-
mained. Now, all the
posts have gone.
Presently, the Prime
Minister’s follower
count stands at 244,000-
which was roughly the
same when the deletion
of posts began. —ANI
Bungalow row...
Hence, now dues as on
30.06.2020 is nil against
her,” a spokesperson for
the ministry of housing
and urban affairs said.
The ministry has also
said that she had accu-
mulated dues of RS
3,46,677 till 30th June.
Directorate of estate
department of the min-
istry had issued a no-
tice to her to vacate her
house within a month.
A government notice
said that her allotment
stands cancelled from
today and she owes Rs
3.46 lakh in dues. In the
notice, Ministry of
Housing and Urban Af-
fairs said Priyanka
must exit bungalow 35
on Lodi Estate allotted
to her in 1997 as she no
longer has SPG securi-
ty. She is not entitled to
a bungalow, said offi-
cials, unless the home
ministry makes an ex-
ception on grounds of
security. —Agencies
Ugly face...
Explaining the circum-
stances, a senior CRPF
official told ANI that
when terrorists fired at
the CRPF party, two ve-
hicles immediately
moved in and took posi-
tions facing the terror-
ists who were firing
from a height using
floors of the mosque.
“CRPF troops after
taking positions saw a
civilian vehicle coming
in the range of terror-
ists firing. The de-
ceased came out from
his vehicle and tried to
hide, taking cover of
his vehicle,” the offi-
cial said. —ANI
My way...
With respect to existing
tenders and future bids,
Gadkari said rebidding
would be done if there
are any Chinese joint
ventures. “We have tak-
en a decision to relax
norms for our compa-
nies to ensure that they
qualify in bidding in
large projects. I have di-
rected the Highways
Secretary (Giridhar Ar-
amane) and NHAI
Chairman (SS Sandhu)
to hold a meeting for re-
laxing technical and fi-
nancial norms so that
our companies can
qualify to work,” he
said.
“ C o n s t r u c t i o n
norms are not good so
I have asked to change
it. We are changing it
so that we can encour-
age Indian compa-
nies,” he added. “Even
if we have to go for
foreign joint venture
in the areas of tech-
nology, consultancy or
design, we will not al-
low Chinese,” the Min-
ister said. —PTI
FROM PG 1
‘GOA CALLING! DOMESTIC
TOURISTS ALLOWED FROM JULY 2’
Panaji: Goa Tour-
ism Minister Mano-
har Ajgaonkar on
Wednesday an-
nounced that the
coastal state will be
open to tourists
starting July 2, as
250 hotels have been
granted permission
to resume opera-
tions. The decision
to restart tourism
activities was taken
during a state cabi-
net meeting, the
minister said.
The tourism de-
partment has so far
granted permission
to 250 hotels, which
can operate in keep-
ing with the stand-
ard operating pro-
cedures (SOPs) put
in place by the state
government.
“We have decided
to allow domestic
travellers to enter
Goa from July 2 on-
wards provided
they comply with
certain norms,” the
minister said.
It will be manda-
tory for tourists to
pre-book their stay
at hotels, he said.
Moreover, tourists
will either have to
carryCOVID-19neg-
ative certificates to
enter the state, or
will have to get test-
ed at the border and
undergo quarantine
atastate-runfacility
till their results ar-
rive, he said. —PTI
Nusrat Jahan
The border standoff at LAC triggered wave of protest around the nation against Chinese goods.

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020
he coronavirus pandemic
has triggered what has
been described as a “sani-
tary pad crisis” in India.
Priya, a 14-year-old
schoolgirl, considers her-
self lucky: her parents
can still afford pads. But
several of her friends will
have to go without. In
some parts of India,
schools are a critical part
of the supply chain, pro-
viding a pack of pads to
girls each month. With
them closed, along with
other supply chain issues,
as few as 15% of girls had
access to sanitary pads
during the lockdown.
This is not only the case
in India. Women in Fiji,
the US, UK and other
parts of the world have
also reported severe sup-
ply shortages and hiked
up prices for disposable
menstrual products.
But in India, shortages
are particularly severe.
The situation escalated
quickly as India went into
a sudden and complete
lockdown on March 24.
This put an immediate
stop to the monthly sup-
ply of pads that millions
of adolescent girls re-
ceived via their schools.
The production of sani-
tary pads also came to a
screeching halt for seven
days, which led to stock-
outs in several locations.
Pads were reclassified
as essential items eligible
for supply chain opera-
tions on March 30 but
even now supplies have
not resumed to normal
levels in many places.
Safa India, an NGO I work
with, is busy teaching
women how to make cloth
pads at home. And several
large charities, like KGN-
MT, have started distrib-
uting reusable pad kits to
vulnerable women.
Women in India mainly
use disposable pads or tra-
ditional cloth to manage
their periods. The past
decade has seen the gov-
ernment campaigning
hard for women to use dis-
posable pads, putting
across the message that
disposable pads are the
only hygienic way to man-
age menstruation. They
did so to encourage wom-
en to transition away from
the use of traditional
cloth, which was seen as
difficult to maintain hy-
gienically. But little has
been done to create aware-
ness of other, cheaper,
more sustainable alterna-
tives, such as menstrual
cups and reusable pads.
Their knowledge about
other available options to
manage periods is severe-
ly lacking, and that giving
women more information
created more demand for
sustainable products like
menstrual cups and reus-
able pads – products that
would have been impervi-
ous to the shortages many
women experienced un-
der lockdown.
Good menstrual hy-
giene is so much more
than just access to sani-
tary products – water, toi-
lets and equitable gender
norms also matter – but
they are essential in
the management of pe-
riods and current
practises are far from
sustainable.
MENSTRUAL
HISTORY
But first, how did dispos-
able pads come to domi-
nate the Indian market?
Disposable sanitary
pads and tampons may
seem indispensable to-
day but they have been
around for fewer than 100
years. Until the turn of
the 20th century, women
simply bled into their
clothes or, where they
could afford it, shaped
scraps of cloth or other
adsorbents like bark or
hay into a pad or tampon-
like object.
Commercial disposable
pads first made an appear-
ance in 1921, when Kotex
invented cellucotton, a su-
per-absorbent material
used as medical bandaging
during the first world war.
Marketing campaigns
helped further this de-
mand by leaning heavily
into the idea that using dis-
posables freed women
from the “oppressive old
ways”, making them
“modernandefficient”.Of
course, the profit incen-
tives were considerable.
The technological ad-
vances in flexible plastics
over the 1960s and ’70s
soon saw disposable sani-
tary pads and tampons
become more leakproof
and user friendly as plas-
tic backsheets and plastic
applicators were intro-
duced into their designs.
As these products became
more efficient in “hiding”
menstrual blood and wom-
en’s “shame”, their appeal
and ubiquity increased.
As demand for disposa-
ble products has risen, so
have the concerns over
the sustainability of these
products. With around
two billion girls and wom-
en of menstruating age,
the potential global men-
strual waste burden can
be significant indeed. The
United Kingdom alone
generates 200,000 tonnes
of menstrual waste every
year. Much of this waste
ends up in landfills or in
the oceans where the plas-
tic and other non-com-
postable material in these
products takes hundreds
of years to decompose.
And that’s not to men-
tion the supply chain is-
sues that disposable prod-
ucts heighten.
SUSTAINABLE
ALTERNATIVES
Even before Covid-19 im-
posed urgency around
this issue, emerging envi-
ronmental consciousness
of menstrual waste result-
ed in an increase in a
range of reliable and sus-
tainable sanitary prod-
ucts available to women.
The two main sustainable
product lines on offer are
reusable cloth pads and
the menstrual cup. The
low lifecycle cost of these
products also make them
a much cheaper alterna-
tive to disposables.
Cloth pads mimic what
women used historically
and so are easy to adopt.
Somehaveafoldableshape
that does not resemble a
padwhendrying,likeLily-
pads. Ranges of “period
pants” are also now on the
market: underwear that
absorbs menstrual blood
and can then be washed
normally and reused.
Menstrual cups, mean-
while, are flexible bell-
shaped receptacles that
collect, rather than ab-
sorb, blood and need in-
sertion like tampons. A
single silicone cup can
reportedly last for up to 10
years and is very popular
among users. This clearly
has huge implications for
waste management.
INDIA’S
MENSTRUAL
HEALTH
I wanted to find out how
much awareness there is
of such products beyond
the West, and how popu-
lar they would likely be if
they were available. India
is home to 20% of the
world’s menstruating
girls and women and was
a good place to look for an-
swers. Despite the preva-
lent cultural norms that
prevent women from
openly talking about peri-
ods, around 300 women
from 10 slum dwellings in
Hyderabad agreed to talk
to my team and partici-
pate in our experiment.
Around 80% of the
women we talked to dur-
ing our fieldwork used
disposable pads, and none
of them were aware of the
more sustainable options.
Since 2011, Indian gov-
ernment has campaigned
for women to use them.
This policy goal can be
traced back to the NGO
Plan India reported that
just 12% of Indian women
could access sanitary
pads. Traditional cloth is
seen as unhygienic. While
cloth is a hygienic men-
strual solution, it requires
adequate washing and
drying, which is difficult
to achieve in a country
where taboos about men-
strual blood are prevalent.
These concerns led the
government of India to
design national guide-
lines and strategies for
the adoption of good hy-
giene. Above all, it fa-
voured free or discounted
distribution of disposable
sanitary pads.
Cheap commercial var-
iants, government efforts
and private philanthropy
combined to cause a rapid
surge in demand for sani-
tary pads. In less than five
years, the 2015-’16 Nation-
al Family Health Survey
reported pad users to have
quintupled to 58%, with
rural users at 48% and ur-
ban users at 78%. Mean-
while, public menstrual
health campaigns remain
totally silent on other re-
usable options.
The other 20% of the
women we spoke to used
traditional cloth, but the
aspiration to switch to
pad for the promised com-
fort and convenience was
high. Affordability of
pads was the main barrier
to switching.
Many women, both
cloth and pad users, con-
sider cloth to be unhygien-
ic. At the root of this be-
lief are the myths and ta-
boos that limit women’s
ability to wash and dry
cloth in a hygienic way.
Many do not have access to
private washing facilities
and choose not to dry cloth
under open sunlight for
the humiliation of being
seen by male members of
the family and outsiders.
Women tend to dry their
menstrual cloth indoors,
concealed in closets and
hidden under mattresses.
Such practices render the
cloth unhygienic and con-
tribute to the belief that
cloth is inferior to pad.
The general culture of
silence around periods
meant that women did not
feel comfortable seeking
information from better
informed people like
health workers or teach-
ers and ended up believ-
ing what they are told by
women in the family and
friends.
nSOURCE:THECONVERSATIONnCONCEPT:DIVYAHEMNANI
nDESIGN:VINODKUMARSHARMA
pads first made an appear-
ance in 1921, when Kotex
invented cellucotton, a su-
per-absorbent material
used as medical bandaging
during the first world war.
Marketing campaigns
helped further this de-
mand by leaning heavily
into the idea that using dis-
posables freed women
from the “oppressive old
ways”, making them
“modernandefficient”.Of
course, the profit incen-
The technological ad-
vances in flexible plastics
over the 1960s and ’70s
soon saw disposable sani-
tary pads and tampons
become more leakproof
and user friendly as plas-
tic backsheets and plastic
applicators were intro-
duced into their designs.
As these products became
more efficient in “hiding”
menstrual blood and wom-
en’s “shame”, their appeal
As demand for disposa-
ble products has risen, so
have the concerns over Somehaveafoldableshape women we talked to dur- totally silent on other re-
CORONAVIRUS
A SANITARY
CORONAVIRUS
A SANITARY
pad crisisTHE ‘SANITARY PAD CRISIS’
HIGHLIGHTS THE NEED FOR A SHIFT TO
SUSTAINABLE MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS
T
nSOURCE:
tary products – water, toi-
lets and equitable gender
norms also matter – but
they are essential in
the management of pe-
riods and current
practises are far from
sustainable.
MENSTRUAL
HISTORY
But first, how did dispos-
able pads come to domi-
nate the Indian market?
pads and tampons may
seem indispensable to-
day but they have been
around for fewer than 100
years. Until the turn of
the 20th century, women
simply bled into their
clothes or, where they
could afford it, shaped
scraps of cloth or other
adsorbents like bark or
hay into a pad or tampon-
like object.
Commercial disposable
SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES
INDIA’S MENSTRUAL HEALTH
MENSTRUAL HISTORY

Every day can be a beginning,
the start of something new and
exciting, provided we are
willing to feel that way.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
PM takes pride in Gir lions, but
here they fall in wells & die
First India Bureau
Junagadh: Notwith-
standing Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi tak-
ing pride in the increase
in lion population in
Gir during the latest
census last month as
well as the Gujarat Gov-
ernment’s avowed com-
mitment to conserve
the beasts, two lion cubs
on Tuesday fell to their
death in an open well.
This is the first re-
port of unnatural
deaths of lions in the
state after the Guja-
rat forest department
announced on June
10 that lions’ popula-
tion in Gir had risen
29 per cent to 674 as
per a population esti-
mation exercise car-
ried out on June 5-6.
While falling into
open wells is a com-
mon cause of unnatu-
ral deaths of Asiatic
lions, this incident
flies in the face of the
State Government’s
past assurances to the
Gujarat High Court
that all open wells in
the Gir forests would
be covered.
In this case, two lion
cubs aged about six
months old died after
falling into a well at Ju-
jarpur village in the
Gir West Forest Divi-
sion. Chief Conserva-
tor of Forests (Wild-
life), Junagadh, Dushy-
ant Vasavada stated
an inquiry has been
ordered.
Lion cubs fall yet again in well.
Video of man
kicking ‘nandi’
in temple
sparks outrage
First India Bureau
Rajkot: Sparking off
outrage among the lo-
cals, a social media vid-
eo went viral in the
Shapar-Veraval belt
showing a person kick-
ing the “Nandi” at a
Shiva Temple.
As though trying to
play-act like a Bolly-
wood actor, the man
with a cigarette dan-
gling between his lips
kicks the nandi and
knocks it out even as
a popular Hindi mov-
ie song “Ishk Hai”
played in the back-
ground.
He later kicked the
closed door of the
temple, leaving the lo-
cals fuming. The
Shapar-Veraval police
have registered a
complaint against the
two persons who
made the video and
kicked the nandi stat-
ue in the temple.
An offence has been
lodged against Jayesh
Chudasama and Dinesh
Mahida, both residents
of Shaparna, for hurt-
ing religious senti-
ments of the people.
Rajkot Shiv Sena’s
Jimmy Advani said the
Sena condemned this
act, since it is like
“someone insulting me.
It has hurt the senti-
ments of the Hindus.”
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: FMCG
major Marico has ac-
quired Ahmedabad-
based men’s grooming
startup Beardo by pick-
ing an additional 55 per
cent equity share in its
parent company Zed
Lifestyle, three years
after it acquired a 45 per
cent stake in it.
Founded in 2015 by
Ashutosh Valani and
Priyank Shah, Bear-
do is a men’s personal
care and grooming
brand. It offers a
range of products, in-
cluding beard wash-
es, beard balm, beard
and hair growth oil,
serum, face washes,
soaps, and beard
combs.
The startup also
counts actor Suniel
Shetty as one of its
investors, and had re-
cently roped in Bolly-
wood actor Hrithik
Roshan as its brand
ambassador.
Beardo was a port-
folio company of Ven-
ture Catalysts. In
2016, Venture Cata-
lysts and other inves-
tors put around
$5,00,000 in Beardo.
According to a compa-
ny statement, with this
investment, Venture
Catalyst takes a com-
plete exit from the
startup.
It claims to have
helped Beardo grow its
revenue by 40x since
2016. The firm says, “We
are extremely proud of
Ashutosh Valani and
Priyank Shah on their
successful entrepre-
neurial journey from a
small town to becoming
a leader in the men’s
grooming category. We
were one of the first to
have believed in Bear-
do’s true potential and
the idea.”
Men’s grooming
market has grown
from a mere Rs 3,200
crore in 2016 to a whop-
ping Rs 10,000 crore
today, and this speaks
volumes about VCats’s
ability to spot poten-
tial startups.
BEARDING THE STARTUP, A FAIRYTALE
RAGS TO RICHES!
Ashutosh Valani and Priyank Shah, the men behind Beardo.
Wishing the Vice President of India
Shri Venkaiah Naidu ji
a long, healthy and prosperous life on the
occasion of his birthday.
@ahmedpatel
CORRUPT NAILED: CBI books Samsung and arms dealer
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The CBI
has booked purported
arms dealer Sanjay
Bhandari on charges
of receiving about USD
50 lakh from Korean
company Samsung En-
gineering to influence
officials in granting a
contract for a DFCU
project of OPAL at Da-
hej in Gujarat.
Official sources said
the CBI has also named
the then Senior Man-
ager Hong Namkoong
of Samsung Engineer-
ing, UK-based Foster
Wheeler Energy and
Bhandari’s UAE-based
company Santech In-
ternational FZC be-
sides unidentified offi-
cials of ONGC and its
special vehicle ONGC
Petro Additions Ltd
(OPAL) for alleged cor-
ruption.
Bhandari, who is be-
ing probed in several
defence deals is be-
lieved to be in London,
they said.
The CBI has al-
leged that Bhandari
as Director of San-
tech International
entered into a crimi-
nal conspiracy with
SECL by charging a
consultancy fee of
USD 49.99 lakh from
it, in violation of the
integrity clause in
the contract agree-
ment between the
Korean major and
OPAL.
The CBI alleged
that the consultancy
fee was received in
overseas accounts of
Santech Internation-
al. The agency has
also alleged that the
fees were understood
to be bribes for public
officials to swing the
contract for OPAL’s
Dual Fuel Cracker
unit to be set at Dahej
Petrochemical com-
plex in Gujarat in
favour of SECL.
CBI has alleged bribes were paid to
officials to swing OPAL's DFCU,
Dahej, for SECL. —CBI officer
PIL in SC seeks termination of
China MoUs by Guj, M’rashtra
First India Bureau
New Delhi: A petition
has been filed in the Su-
preme Court seeking
termination of Memo-
randum of Association
entered between Maha-
rashtra and Gujarat
with China for trade
and business amid esca-
lated tensions at the Si-
no-Indian border.
Moved by advocate
Supriya Pandita, the
petition points out
that while the Centre
banning 59 Chinese
mobile application is
a welcome step, but
simultaneously “al-
lowing a few select
business houses or
State Governments to
enter into MoU (mem-
orandum of under-
standing) with Chi-
nese business houses
or stakeholders sends
a wrong message to
the people of India.”
This “selective and
preferential ap-
proach” to allow
these few select busi-
nesses or States to en-
ter into MoUs with
business houses of
China is “not only dis-
criminatory but also
against the will and
sentiments of the
people of India”, ac-
cording to the peti-
tioner.
Supriya Pandita has
sought the Supreme
Court’s directions to
the Union Government
to make public its trade
policies with the Gov-
ernment of China in
view of the escalated
war-like situation be-
tween the two coun-
tries.
The petitioner has
further submitted that
these MoU with China
are also against the
very grain of Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi’s own policy of
setting up an Atmanirb-
har Bharat.
Allowing
select State
Govts to sign
MoUs with Chinese
business houses sends
wrong message to the
people of India.
—Supriya Pandita,
SC Advocate
Darshan Desai
Ahmedabad: The co-
rona crisis has thrown
up unprecedented iro-
nies, especially for the
poor and the hapless.
If hunger and hope-
lessness drove lakhs of
migrant workers away
from the cities of their
dreams to their non-de-
script native villages, be
it in Odisha, Bihar or
Uttar Pradesh, back
home it is the same sink-
ing feeling of deja vu.
Yes, it’s hunger and
hopelessness yet again
that is bringing them
back to Gujarat, Maha-
rashtra, Karnataka and
Telangana, and even the
sprawling farms of Pun-
jab--coronaornocorona.
Their employers,
many of whom had
virtually abandoned
them, are now falling
over each other to get
them back, and are
sending train and
even flight tickets as
industrial units and
construction activity
come into action, and
sowing also begins.
They said they are
being offered Rs 5,000
for planting paddy
saplings on an acre of
farmland instead of
Rs 3,500 that was the
going rate before the
outbreak. Their fami-
lies are also getting
paid Rs 15,000-20,000
advance.
Several companies
in the manufacturing,
industrial goods and
real estate sector have
even chartered air-
craft to bring back
their skilled and semi-
skilled employees.
Mail and express
trains to places like
Ahmedabad, Amritsar,
Secunderabad and Ben-
galuru, from where
these workers hurried
back home, walking, cy-
cling and travelling on
trucks and even the hol-
low of container trucks
and concrete mixing
plants, are running to
capacity.
According to sources
in the East Central Zone
of the railways, the av-
erage occupancy in Mu-
zaffarpur-Ahmedabad
Special is 133 per cent,
Danapur-Secunderabad
special (126 per cent),
Jaynagar-Amritsar spe-
cial (123 per cent), Dan-
apur- Bengaluru city
special (120 per cent),
Patna-Ahmedabad spe-
cial (117 per cent), Sa-
harsa-New Delhi spe-
cial (113 per cent) and
Danapur-Pune special
(102 per cent).
And, in Odisha too
the migrants are pack-
ing their bags again.
Since May 3, the Gan-
jam district has seen
over 2 lakh workers
return. A large num-
ber of them are skilled
workers who were
working in the textile
industries of Gujarat
and Maharashtra.
“In Surat, we get
between Rs 600-Rs
700 per day in the tex-
tile industry while in
Odisha earning Rs
250-300 per day is re-
ally tough. From my
village around 500
people go to Surat
every year to work in
the textile sector and
other areas,” said De-
braj Jena, a skilled
textile industry work-
er from Beljhari vil-
lage in Beguniapada
panchayat of Ganjam
district. Debraj is just
one among thousands
who are raring to go
back to Gujarat.
As unemployment & hunger strike at village home, migrants are returning to their dream cities
GOLD RUSH!
HOBSON’S CHOICE
From pillar to post, migrants coming back
Trains are choc-a-bloc with migrants wishing to return to work. —PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE

AHMEDABAD, THURSDAY
JULY 2, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
City First delves into the world of wackiest, most bizarre,
and downright weird makeup that rocked and shocked
us in this decade including hair art, nose art, and all
the spaces in between!
s times change, so do
our beauty habits.
Take a walk down
makeup memory lane
with me for a few
minutes and think
about it: The way you
did your makeup in 2010 ver-
sus 2020 is very different.
These are the makeup moves
that are turning heads and
shaking up the scene. Thank
goodness for growth, and
cringe-worthy pictures to
prove how far you’ve come.
Makeup has never been
about following the rules,
more so than ever before, it’s
about embracing experimen-
tation, and simply doing you.
Thanks to the ever-growing
amount of makeup artists on
Instagram, we’ve seen a lot of
evolution, right from the eye-
brows chopped and screwed
into museum-worthy works of
art, to people putting ‘flower
vases’ in their hair. While
some of these makeup trends
all quite wearable, with many
of them being classic looks;
others are too unconvention-
al to wear regularly. But
that doesn’t mean we can not
experiment with different
style right? You can always
flaunt your individuality and
creativity with your experi-
mental skills because nothing
is more beautiful than when
you do...YOU! This creative
makeup trend is like an enve-
lope with exciting colour and
creativity. Let your makeup be
as dramatic as the year 2020!
Be it Valentine’s, Galen-
tine’s, or alone time, give a nod
to all the pop neons of greens,
yellows and oranges into your
makeup routine. Why? Be-
cause you can.
Bright and Playful Eyes:
With primary colours and
neon brights adorning eyelids
top and bottom across count-
less catwalks, the bright-eye
trend is making a stand-out
statement.
ADramaticFloatingCrease:
It’s basically when you use
makeup to draw attention to
your eyelid crease. It usually
involves a base of eyeshadow,
after which you would use a
darker shadow, or an eyeliner,
to draw an arch just above
your natural crease.
Metallic smoky eyes: The
smoky eye has been given a
glamorous update. Whether in
pewter, bronze or black, a me-
tallic satin finish feels modern
and when paired with a neu-
tral lip and bronzer, it can en-
tirely change your look.
A
KARISHMA
GWALANI
karishma.gwalani@firstindia.co.in
UNLEASHED

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
RADHIKA BHATI, Model
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Temporising may seem the
right thing to do but the
other party may not feel the
same when it comes to
your business. You child will give you
immense happiness today by making
you feel special. Health is very
important at the current times, so
change your routine.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Elucidate things if your
parents are not able to
understand , don’t forget
they are your best hope.
There may be delay in professional
gains but at the same time there is a
lot that you should be grateful. A
friends will help on academic front so
keep improving and don’t get stuck.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Anomaly at work is never
appreciated, prevent and
help anyone from going
astray. Bonding with
siblings is on the cards, they may
open upto you like never before. Your
spouse will bring stars to the ground
for you, thats the kind of value you
hold in his/her life.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Citing someone’s word at
wrong place should be
avoided. Home environment
will make you feel calm and
composed. Your kid really respects you
and believes in you so never let them
down. You may find your dream
partner but take it slow in the
beginning and give yourself time.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Dough is what you need to
survive this pandemic so
concentrate on searching
for ways to earn it. You
currently hold a very powerful and
important position in your organisa-
tion so do not worry about loosing
your source of income by bringing
profits to the firm.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Cognitive approach in life
makes you out stand and it
will play an important role in
your rising career graph.
Physical exertion income form or the
other is really important. Be the ray of
hope in someone life. Apply for jobs
keeping in mind your eligibility as it’s
very important to have expectations.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Votary mentality is good
but remember charity
begins at home. Job
seekers will get the
success in seizing the job
opportunity. You may fall in love with
your best friend and get married in
future. Luck will for sure favour, but
you will have to work hard.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Alienating from the family
is not a solution to your
problems rather sit with
them and discuss, in the
end they are the only ones who can
help you and who will stick with you
no matter what. You will finally make
up your mind about your field of
career and get complete support.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Retrenching is a must need
for your business seeing
the current times but that
shouldn’t depress you as
the future is very bright. You are
using your time judiciously as far as
your studies are concerned. You
partner may demand your attention,
make sure to not neglect their needs.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Steadfast support is
required by lots of people
around who are suffering
because of pandemic and
you will play your part in doing
what you can. You will be entrusted
with an important task at work, it
may require a lot of efforts but it
will pay you.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Elaborate things if you
need to, professionally.
Money is in the air even at
these trials time but you
need to know ways to catch it. You
will financially support your sibling in
their endeavours without any
expectations. You are a great friend
and people like to stay connected.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Complacency on work
front shall be avoided and
rest you are good to go.
You will come across
people who will give you reasons to
smile. Tough times do not last
forever therefore prepare yourself
and good time will be here soon. You
try to be very active.
t’s the first day of soph-
omore year, and 15-year-
old Devi (Maitreyi
Ramakrishnan) kneels
in front of the Hindu
shrine (and her blessed
geometry textbook) in
her home in Sherman Oaks,
California. She has some re-
quests, the profound goals of
many high school girls: be cool,
get hot, snag a boy. Or, as Devi
spins at the start of this uneven
but endearing 10-part teen entry
from executive producer Mindy
Kaling, she wishes her arms no
longer “looked like the floor of
a frickin’ barber shop”. Most
importantly, she craves a boy-
friend, but “not some nerd from
one of my AP classes,” she says
with Booksmart-style convic-
tion. Said boy “can be dumb – I
don’t care. I just want him to be
a stone-cold hottie who could
rock me all night long.”
Devi is, needless to say, a
virgin, and also an intelli-
gent firebrand with a seem-
ingly effortless command of
power-points, witty barbs and
topical-enough pop culture ref-
erences (“Yeah, but he has a hot
face. You’ll be like Zayn and
Gigi,” she tells her friend as a
boyfriend sales pitch). She’s
also a master deflector, reeling,
with a John McEnroe-style
short fuse, from a massive loss.
(McEnroe, for no reason seem-
ingly beyond the fact they could
get him, narrates the series.)
“As you know,” she half-prays,
“last year sucked for a number
of reasons.” As abruptly re-
vealed in what seems like a
first-episode bit but is not, her
beloved father – a sunny, unbri-
dled presence in sepia flash-
backs and dream sequences,
and Devi’s only true best friend
– died of a heart attack at her
orchestra concert the year pri-
or. The shock paralyzed her for
three months (teenagers: not
forgiving of the concept
“psychosomatic”), forcing
her to use a wheelchair.
Only the sight of her
crush, swim-team boy
and said stone-cold
hottie Paxton
H a l l - Yo s h i d a
(Darren Bar-
net) – a lay-
ered mys-
tery or
s t o c k
j o c k
charac-
ter, de-
pending on
the scene –
and the prom-
ise of a “re-
brand” in sopho-
more year, zaps Devi
back on her feet.
The first few epi-
sodes are clunky, as Devi,
in denial-steeled striver
mode, directs or antagonizes
characters seemingly identi-
fied by one joke: her cousin Ka-
mala (Richa Moorjani), the
beautiful “good Indian” doctor-
ate student at CalTech, wide-
eyed with America and prepar-
ing for arranged marriage;
insult-throwing academic
rival and rich kid Ben
(Jaren Lewison). Check-
list in hand, she di-
rects her two best
friends, Eleanor
(Ramona Young)
and Fabiola
(Lee Rodri-
guez), into
cool-adja-
cent boy-
friends
and a
1 0 -
s t e p
popular-
ity plan.
The show,
which shares
an aesthetic
(and glittery, Spo-
tify-ready pop
soundtrack) with
Netflix’s teen staple To
All The Boys I’ve Loved
Before, takes a swift and
mostly tacit approach to di-
versity in its young cast;
classmates have designated the
trio of Devi, south-east Asian
Eleanor and Afro-Latina Fabio-
la as “the UN”, and the makeup
of Sherman Oaks High is re-
freshingly and conspicuously
not just white, cis, able-bodied.
But for most other than Devi,
this goes unmentioned; the phi-
losophy for the characters and,
it appears, the show, is to attain
the long-sought ideal of being
“just a normal teenager” and
expanding who gets to claim
such a distinction.
The main force for this is
Devi, who recoils at the stereo-
typically strict immigrant par-
enting of her mother (an excel-
lent Poorna Jagannathan), dis-
misses Indian culture and
dreams of running away. In the
season’s first half, she seesaws
from deeply insecure to fearless
– the plot launches as she writes
a checklist for her best friends’
“rebrand” and, in a viscerally
cringe-y scene, directly ap-
proaches Paxton, introduces
herself, and asks if he would
have sex with her (and, when
this works, gushes “We’ll circle
back about it!”).
It is refreshing, and exciting,
to see someone like Devi given
the Fleabag treatment: space to
avoid grief by misbehaving, an
exploration of the bitter pills of
growing up with a darkly comic
touch. But in its early episodes
Never Have I Ever applies the
evidence of Devi’s assholery –
soliciting of Paxton, lying re-
peatedly to her friends, never
listening – too thick. It’s wel-
come to see an insolent Indian
American star, which Never
Have I Ever shares with Kaling
predecessor The Mindy Project,
self-sabotage with candor. But
like the former show, it can also
be grating. It’s not until the
show’s later episodes, when it
raises the emotional stakes for
everyone – depicting Ben’s lone-
ly home life, contextualizing
Fabiola and Eleanor’s one-notes
as “robot nerd” and “drama
geek”, playing with the eter-
nally gutting story that is get-
ting stood up – that the jokes
start to pack a punch.
Ramakrishnan, a new-
comer discovered through
a global casting search,
shows her inexperience here
and there, but shines in the se-
ries’ more emotionally de-
manding scenes; her rawness
in the final episode moved me
to tears. Which is evidence
that, though not a perfect ride
and likely to be overhyped out
of starvation mode for any teen
comedy resembling the actual
diversity, horniness, and pro-
fanity of being a teenage girl,
Never Have I Ever gets there,
eventually. The series’ back
half settles into a storyline bal-
ancing emotional depth with
outbursts, and what emerges is
a moving and original portrait
of a teenage girl grappling
with grief. It’s a bummer that
it couldn’t have arrived at this
version faster but, as Devi and
the show learn, there’s ulti-
mately satisfaction in ditching
the attention grabs and finding
your stride.
Netflix teen series
slowly finds its voice
Mindy Kaling’s new
high school comedy
takes its time but
eventually finds its
emotional footing in
telling the story of a
nerdy Indian
American girl
I
Source;https://www.theguardian.com/
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva

First india ahmedabad edition-02 july 2020

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