First india ahmedabad edition-02 march 2021

Governor addresses Guj legislative assembly
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
first day of the Budget
Session saw Governor
Acharya Devvrat ad-
dressing the state leg-
islative assembly on
Monday
.
Rememberingthe‘Fa-
ther of the Nation’ Ma-
hatma Gandhi and the
architectof unitedIndia
‘Iron Man’ Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel, Devr-
rat said, “The govern-
ment has done effective
work to save the state by
taking serialized and
speedy steps to provide
security to citizens from
the global COVID-19
pandemic by following
the guidance, inspira-
tion and motivation
granted by Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi to
the entire country
.”
“I heartily appreci-
ate the services of all
nCoV frontline warri-
ors and also religious,
social service-orient-
ed organizations in
the public and private
sectors, which helped
in the prevention of
novel coronavirus in-
fection during the
lockdown. And, on be-
half of all the mem-
bers of the assembly
, I
pay homage to all the
people who died of in-
fection despite hard
effort put in during
their treatment,” he
added.
He went on to say that
Gujarat was equipped to
control the pandemic ef-
fectively and save valua-
ble lives of a number of
people in comparison to
otherstatesduetotimely
actions taken by the gov-
ernment of India and
the state government,
under the leadership of
PM Modi. Turn to P6
Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat
Applauded efforts of the state &
central govts, frontline warriors,
social service organizations
amidst the COVID-19 pandemic
APPRECIATION
LAG BHI GAI, PATA BHI
NAHI CHALA: MODI
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi’s
humourous side came
to the fore as he took his
first dose of COVID-19
vaccine at the All India
Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi
on Monday
.
The medical staff was
a bit overawed by the
situation, as they found
the Prime Minister of
the country standing at
thevaccinationcentreto
receive the jab from
them. Sensing the some-
what tense and nervous
atmosphere, PM Modi
instantly struck up a
conversation with the
nurses, asking their
names and hometowns
to ease their nerves.
lightening up the at-
mosphere, he asked
the nurses whether
they would use a nee-
dle meant for veteri-
nary purposes.
The nurses said no
but did not fully under-
stand the question. He
then explained that the
politicians were known
to be very Turn to P6
Priyanka dances, Rahul shows
‘martial moves’ to woo voters!
New Delhi: Congress
General Secretary Pri-
yanka Gandhi Vadra,
who is in Assam ahead
of assembly elections as
part of the party cam-
paign, on Monday
joined in to do the ‘Jhu-
mur’dancewithagroup
of young performers of
the tea tribes in Lakh-
impur. Gandhi, who was
surrounded by a huge
crowd of media person-
nel, supporters and par-
ty workers, Turn to P6
Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi at St. Joseph’s Matric Hr. Sec.
School in Kanyakumari. —PHOTO BY ANI
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee being greeted by RJD leader
Tejaswi Yadav at State Secretariat, in Kolkata. —PHOTO BY PTI
Support Didi, Tejashwi
tells Biharis in Bengal;
CM silent on alliance
Kolkata: RJD leader
Tejashwi Yadav met
West Bengal Chief Min-
ister Mamata Banerjee
on Monday, 1 March,
and promised to extend
full support to the TMC
in areas populated with
Hindi-speaking and Bi-
hari voters in Bengal.
After the meeting, CM
Banerjeesaid,“Wedon’t
want BJP to control
Election Commission.”
The RJD leader, who
led the RJD in its fight
against the NDA during
Bihar elections, met the
West Bengal CM at the
state secretariat in Na-
banna. Tejashwi Yadav,
also voiced support for
TMC and has appealed
to the people from Bi-
har to stand with
Mamata in Bengal polls.
Senior TMC leader
and Urban Develop-
ment Minister Firhad
Hakim also joined the
meeting.
Defamation case: Bailable
warrant against Kangana
New Delhi: A month
after issuing summons
to actor Kangana
Ranaut, a Mumbai
court on Monday is-
sued bailable warrant
against the Bollywood
actor after she failed to
appear before court in
a defamation case filed
by poet-lyricist Javed
Akhtar. A metropolitan
magistrate’s court had
summoned Ranaut
based on the complaint
by Javed Akhtar.
PLEA CHALLENGES
EC DECISION OF
POLLS IN 8 PHASES
JMC GREATER
MAYOR’S
HUSBAND HELD
A plea challenging the
Election Commission’s
decision to conduct
assembly elections over
eight phases in West
Bengal was filed in
the Supreme Court on
Monday. The plea, seeks
the apex court’s direction
to the poll panel to stop it
from conducting eight-
phase elections in the
state as it violates Article
14 (right to equality) and
Article 21 (right to life) of
the Constitution.
Kamal Kant Vyas
Jaipur: The Karauli po-
lice on Monday took
Rajaram Gurjar, hus-
band of
J a i p u r
Greater mu-
nicipal cor-
poration Dr
Somya, into
custody after Rajasthan
HC dismissed his an-
ticipatory bail plea ear-
lier in the day. A police
team held him from
Jaipur and took him to
Karauli. Turn to P6
AHMEDABAD l TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 96
SHOWING
THE WAY!
Prime Minister Narendra Modi being given the first dose of COVID-19
vaccine at AIIMS in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
AMIT SHAH RECEIVES
FIRST JAB OF
COVID-19 VACCINE
HARSH VARDHAN
PRAISES PM MODI
FOR LEADING BY
EXAMPLE
New Delhi: Union Home
Minister Amit Shah ad-
ministered the first shot
of the COVID-19 vaccine
on Monday. According
to officials, doctors from
the Medanta hospital ad-
ministered the vaccine to
Shah. Soon after receiv-
ing the first dose of the
vaccine at AIIMS Delhi,
he tweeted, “Took my first
dose of the COVID-19
vaccine at AIIMS.”
New Delhi: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has lead
by example as he took the
first jab of COVID-19 vac-
cine the day when the vac-
cination of people above
60 years began, said
Union Health and Family
Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan
on Monday. He also urged
opposition leaders to take
the COVID-19 vaccine and
help in ending the vaccine
hesitancy. P6
DON’T NEED COVID JAB:
HARYANA MINISTER ANIL VIJ
MBBS STUDENT TESTS COVID
POSITIVE AFTER 2ND DOSE
Chandigarh: Haryana Health Minister Anil
Vij on Monday said he didn’t need the Cov-
id-19 vaccine as his antibodies count was
quite good owing to the shots taken during
trials for the vaccine. Vij, who inaugurated
the third phase of inoculation digitally on
Monday, explains why he doesn’t need a
vaccine immediately. Turn to P6
Mumbai: A Final-year MBBS student from
Sion hospital tested positive for the novel
coronavirus on Saturday, days after receiv-
ing the second dose of the vaccine against
Covid-19. Doctors said even after both
doses, it could take several days for im-
munity to build. The 21-year-old received
the Covishield vaccine. Turn to P6
1. Rajasthan Governor
Kalraj Mishra; 2. Vice
President Venkaiah
Naidu, 3. NCP chief
Sharad Pawar, 4.
Bihar Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar received
the first dose of
COVID19 vaccine on
Monday.
1
3 4
2
hina may have targeted power facilities across India last year in the middle of
hostilities at the border, a new study says. A massive power outage in Mumbai in
October, which stopped trains and shut down hospitals and the stock exchange
for hours, may have been linked to these activities by a group of Chinese hack-
ers, says the report that has been shared with the government. The study shows that
alongside the Ladakh tensions, which escalated in June with the clash at Galwan Valley in
which 20 Indian soldiers died for the country, Chinese malware was flowing into systems
that manage power supply across India. However, Union Power Minister R K Singh has
claimed that the cause Mumbai outage was instead “human error” and that the Power
Ministry was aware of a major Chinese state operation to use malware Turn to P6
‘SURGICAL
STRIKE’
ON INDIA?
C
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD
& LUCKNOW
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NEWS
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021
02
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CONG MLAS STAGE PROTEST
PRIOR TO BUDGET SESSION
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: On the
first day of the state
legislative assembly
Budget Session, two
Congress MLAs
staged a protest
against inflation of
cooking gas, petrol,
diesel, among others.
MLAs Imran
Khedawala and Gyas-
uddin Shaikh wore
protest banners and
also carried placards
calling out the gov-
ernment for the surg-
ing prices, at the Vid-
han Sabha on Mon-
day.
Expressing their
concern towards re-
duction of VAT (Value-
added Tax), higher cost
of fuel (petrol and die-
sel), the Congress lead-
ers chose to raise their
voice against skyrock-
eting prices. “There is
a constant hike in fuel
prices and the gas cyl-
inder has become cost-
lier by Rs100 in only a
month. Also, edible oil
is more expensive now
with an increase of
Rs300 per 15 kg, also in
30 days,” they said.
A demand for de-
crease in VAT to con-
trol fuel prices was
also put forth by
Khedawala and Shai-
kh.
On the other hand,
Congress MLA Gulab-
sinh Rajput reached
the state assembly by
riding a bicycle. He
carried a banner that
raised the issue of un-
employment among
youngsters. He also op-
posed fuel and gas cyl-
inder price rise.
Meanwhile, Minis-
ter of State for Home
Pradipsinh Jadeja in-
formed the House
that the BJP govern-
ment will be passing
the Love Jihad law in
the state assembly
this session.
Raise concern over inflation in petrol, diesel and gas cylinder prices
CONSEQUENCES
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
state legislative as-
sembly’s Budget Ses-
sion began with Gov-
ernor Acharya Dev-
vrat’s address on
Monday. The Budget
for the year 2021-22
will be presented by
Deputy Chief Minis-
ter Nitin Patel (who is
also the finance min-
ister) on March 03.
According to the offi-
cial schedule, the as-
sembly will have 12
sittings in the session
to deliberate over the
Budget.
Minister of State for
Law and Parliamentary
Affairs PradipsinhJade-
ja told mediapersons
thatthreesittingswillbe
dedicated to thanking
the governor for his ad-
dress to the assembly
.
The assembly will be
discussing the Budget
for the next financial
year from March 08 on-
wards. The session will
culminate on April 01,
after convening for 32
days to discuss citizens’
problems, government
programmes and ta-
bling bills, added the
minister.
Furthermore, Jadeja
informed the House
that the BJP govern-
ment will be passing the
Love Jihad law in the
state assembly this
session.”The govern-
ment will be introduc-
ing the Love Jihad bill
this session with strin-
gent punishment for
those who trap girls be-
longing to the Hindu
community with fake
identities or posing as
Hindus. Those who
force Hindu girls to con-
vert their religion after
their wedding will be
prosecuted as well.
Meanwhile, four
days of the session
will have two sittings
in a day. Also, four or-
dinances cleared by
the cabinet after the
previous assembly
session will also be
tabled.
BUDGET SESSION 2021-22 TO
HAVE 12 SITTINGS: MOS JADEJA
Gujarat Vidhan Sabha
Minister of State for Law and
Parliamentary Affairs Pradipsinh Jadeja
Congress leaders Imran Khedawala (L) and Gyasuddin Shaikh (R) wearing & holding up placards at the Vidhan Sabha on Monday. First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Ac-
cording to data re-
leased by the state
election commission
(SEC), the voter turn-
out for district pan-
chayats was 65.80%,
followed by taluka
panchayats (66.60%)
and nagarpalikas
(58.82%). The count-
ing of votes for local
body elections will
commence at 8 am
across the state today
.
In comparison to the
2015 local body elec-
tions, the turnout
was found to be lower
this year. Over 8,474
seats of 31 district
panchayats, 231 talu-
ka panchayats and 81
nagarpalikas went to
polls on February 28.
Among the district
panchayats, the high-
est polling took place
in Narmada district
at 79.02% whereas
the lowest was re-
ported in Amreli dis-
trict (55.06%). The
same numbers were
witnessed in the ta-
luka panchayats
while for nagarpa-
likas, highest voting
was reported in Tapi
district at 73.91%
and the lowest in
Porbandar district at
49.58%.
Moreover, few con-
tenders were elected
uncontested to their
respective seats in
the local body polls.
Around 25 candi-
dates were elected to
district panchayats,
117 contenders won
unopposed in taluka
panchayats and 95
were elected to na-
garpalikas, without
even contesting in
the local body polls.
The state police
have deployed per-
sonnel to vote
counting stations
across the state in
order to maintain
law and order. Re-
sults of local body
polls are likely to
be declared once
the counting is fin-
ished, which will,
in all probability,
take up more time
than usual owing
to the number of
seats.
Local body
polls counting
of votes to
begin today
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
state legislative as-
sembly on Monday
passed a resolution,
tabled by Chief Minis-
ter Vijay Rupani, pay-
ing tribute to two for-
mer chief ministers,
members of the House
and also COVID-19
warriors and citizens
who lost their lives in
the battle against the
virus during the on-
going pandemic.
Commemorating the
work of former state
chief minister,lateMad-
havsinh Solanki, Rupa-
ni said that Solanki had
introduced the Mid-Day
Meal programme in the
state. The latter was
elected to the Mumbai
assembly, but after the
separation of the Guja-
rat state, he had been a
member of the state leg-
islative assembly for
eight terms. “The state
has lost a visionary
leader and a very good
administrator in him,”
said Rupani.
Leader of Opposition
Paresh Dhanani re-
called Solanki’s contri-
bution towards groom-
ing young political lead-
ers by sharing an anec-
dote with the House. He
remembered how he
had received a book ti-
tled ‘Gujarat Business
Rules of Administra-
tion’ as a present from
Solanki after getting
elected to the state as-
sembly. “He (Solanki)
was a bookworm, but he
kept himself updated
with the latest technolo-
gies and used comput-
ers too,” said Dhanani.
Paying tribute to for-
mer chief minister, late
Keshubhai Patel, Rupa-
ni stated that he had
been the first chief min-
ister from the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) to
hold the top seat in the
state. Patel launched
programmes such as
Gokul Gram and the
multi-purpose Narma-
da irrigation project.
“His (Patel’s) life was
dedicated to serving
farmers, and also to-
wards the social welfare
of marginalized people.
Keshubhai’s contribu-
tion in the state’s devel-
opment is irreversible
and will be remembered
for generations,” stated
Rupani.
Guj Assembly pays tribute to former CMs, nCoV warriors
IN MEMORIAM

Chief Min-
ister Vijay
Rupani and
Leader of
Opposition
Paresh Dha-
nani recalled
work done
by the late
Keshubhai
Patel and
Madhavsinh
Solanki
Officials checking on Electronic voting machines (EVMs)
at an election centre in Ahmedabad. —FILE PHOTO
Electoral officials
will begin the count
for 8,474 seats
spread across 31
district panchayats,
231 taluka
panchayats and 81
nagarpalikas at 8 am
REMORSEFUL
(L to R) Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Assembly Speaker Rajendra
Trivedi, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and Leader of Opposition
Paresh Dhanani with photo of former CM Keshubhai Patel.
(L to R) Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani, Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi, Leader of Opposition
Paresh Dhanani, Congress whip Ashwin Kotwal with photo of
former CM Madhavsinh Solanki

GUJARAT
03
WOMAN HARASSED FOR
NOT CONVERTING RELIGION
First India Bureau
Vadodara: A 22-year-
old woman from the
city has filed a com-
plaint with local po-
lice alleging that she
was subjected to har-
assment and domes-
tic violence by her
husband and in-laws
for not converting to
their religion.
According to the
complaint, Manorama
(name changed) fell in
love with and married
Tausif Rana in 2018 un-
der the Special Mar-
riage Act, 1954. She
also revealed that she
got hitched against the
wishes of her family
members and relatives.
After their wed-
ding, the couple
moved to Tundav vil-
lage of Savli Taluka
in Vadodara district,
where they lived for
four to six months. A
few months ago, the
complainant said she
moved in with her
husband’s parents at
their residence in Ni-
zampura area of Va-
dodara city. She al-
leged that she was
tortured, beaten up
and harassed by her
husband and in-laws
because she refused
to convert to Islam.
Fed up with the con-
stant abuse, the
woman moved back
to her parental home
in November last
year.
Despite moving
away, the woman says
her husband continued
to harass her. This
prompted her to file a
complaint against her
husband and his fami-
ly with the local police.
The case has been tak-
en up by police sub-in-
spector Dharmistha
Chaudhary of Fate-
hgunj police station.
A mob had gathered at Tarsva polling booth to disrupt the electoral process; 3 police officials injured
First India Bureau
Vadodara: After vio-
lent unrest broke out
in Waghodia area of
the city during the lo-
cal body polls on Sun-
day, Vadodara rural
police combed the
area and apprehend-
ed 17 persons on Mon-
day for instigating
disturbance, damag-
ing public property
and taking illegal
possession of elec-
tronic voting ma-
chines (EVMs). Ac-
cording to officials,
eight of the 25 ac-
cused remain at large.
In the complaint reg-
istered, police constable
Dahyabhai Khaodbhai
alleged that on Sunday,
voting was underway at
the Tarsva village poll-
ing booth for the Goraj
seat of the Vadodara
district panchayat.
Around 7 pm, a female
independent candidate
named Saraswatiben
and her husband Ma-
heshbhai Parmar com-
plained that the EVMs
had been changed and
that they would not al-
low electoral officials to
transfer the EVMs to
the strongroom. The
couple was accompa-
nied by villagers who
gathered in good num-
bers and gheraoed the
polling booth.
The 300-strong mob
pelted stones on the po-
lice team and vehicles
stationed at the booth,
injuring three police
personnel in the pro-
cess. Despite attempts
made by the police and
revenue officers to pac-
ify the concerns of the
candidate, the mob
backing her remained
unconvinced.
When the mob start-
ed threatening to kill
the public servants, po-
lice were compelled to
first lob tear gas shells
and later fire in the air
to disperse it. After re-
turning to their homes,
the villagers switched
off street lights and cut
off power supply to the
village.
Waghodia police
have registered a case
against 25 persons
under various sec-
tions of The Repre-
sentation of the Peo-
ple Act, 1951, damag-
ing public property,
among other sections
of the Indian Penal
Code (IPC) for unlaw-
ful assembly, punish-
ment for rioting.
VADODARA POLICE NAB 17
FOR VIOLENCE, EVM THEFT
The 17 accused in Vadodara police custody.
WHAT HAPPENED
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot: As the third
phase of COVID-19 vac-
cination began in the
state on Monday
, senior
citizens aged 60 years
and above as well as
thosewithcomorbidities
between the age of 45-59
years were inoculated
free of charge. In Rajkot,
around 50 members of
the ‘Chitranagri’ group
carried placards in sup-
port of the vaccination
drivetothehealthcentre
where they were admin-
istered the vaccine.
The group also chant-
ed slogans such as “Na-
grik dharma palan kari-
ye, vaccine mukaviye”
(Fulfill your role as citi-
zens, get vaccinated),
“Vaccine thi daro nahi”
(Donotfearthevaccine),
“Vaccine achuk muka-
vo”(Getvaccinatedwith-
out fail).
“Around 50 of us de-
cided that we will cele-
brate this (vaccination)
as an occasion. We de-
signedplacardswithspe-
cial inspirational mes-
sages and carried them
withuswhilegoingtoget
vaccinated. We all got
vaccinated at the Red
Cross Health Centre
near Sadar Bazaar,” said
Maulik Gotecha of the
Chitranagri group, an
organisation which
beautifies public places
by creating artwork.
InRajkotcity
,vaccina-
tion under the third
phase took place at 38
hospitals including 14
private ones.
Alargenumberof sen-
ior citizens including
saints, dignitaries, busi-
nessmen and govern-
ment employees includ-
ing Rajkot Municipal
commissioner Udit
Agarwal were adminis-
tered the vaccine.
RAJKOT SENIOR CITIZENS ‘CELEBRATE’ NCOV VACCINATION
Members of Chitranagri group carried placards, chanted pro-vaccine slogans and encouraged citizens to get inoculated
Members of Chitranagri group pose with their placards at the Red Cross Health Centre.
AICCchooses3
GujCongleaders
asWBobservers
Senior citizens get
vaccine; state records
427 cases, 1 death
First India Bureau
Surat: Two firemen
were injured in a fire
that broke out in a tex-
tile mill in Surat, an of-
ficial said on Monday.
The blaze erupted
around 10 pm on Sun-
day in a unit located on
the third floor of Pre-
rna Mill in the Pande-
sara industrial area,
said Raju Gaikwad, di-
visional officer (fire),
south zone. Around 15
fire tenders were
rushed to the spot and
the flames were brought
under control by 2 am
on Monday, he added.
One fireman, who
suffered a bone frac-
ture, was taken to a
nearby hospital for
treatment.
“Twelve workers who
were inside the unit
managed to get out safe-
ly. Two of our staffers
were injured due to a
blast in a fire extin-
guisher,” the official
said. One of the injured
personnel, who suffered
a bone fracture, was ad-
mitted to hospital, he
said.
The official further
said that the cause of
the fire is yet to be as-
certained.
Blaze in Surat textile mill,2 firemen hurt
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The All
India Congress Commit-
tee (AICC) has appoint-
ed 28 observers for poll-
bound West Bengal, a
senior leader said on
Monday
. Congress lead-
ers from states such as
Gujarat, Rajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh, Bihar,
and Jharkhand have
been appointed as ob-
servers for the eight-
phase elections to the
294-member West Ben-
gal assembly
. The com-
mitteehasselectedthree
senior leaders to act as
observers from Gujarat.
Congress leaders Im-
ran Khedawala, Kailas-
hdan Gadhvi and She-
hzad Khan Pathan have
been designated as ob-
servers for Uttar Dina-
jpur, Kolkata South, and
South Pargana (ii) dis-
tricts respectively
.
Khedawala told
First India, “As the
Budget Session has
begun in Gujarat, it is
equally important for
me to remain present
here. I will decide on
the dates to travel to
West Bengal in the
next two or three
days,” he said.
The AICC appointed
four observers for Kolk-
ata, dividing it into
north, south, central
and Burrabazar dis-
tricts. There will be two
observers each for the
districts of North 24
Parganas and South 24
Parganas. All other dis-
tricts will have one ob-
server each, he added.
Assembly elections
will be held in West Ben-
gal in eight phases be-
tween March 27 and
April 29.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: On
Monday, the state ini-
tiated vaccination of
senior citizens and
also people with co-
morbidities between
the 45 and 60 years. It
recorded a total of
427 fresh COVID-19
cases, taking the tally
to 2,70,314.
In the past 24 hours,
one death was reported
due to infection in the
jurisdiction of
Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC),
taking Gujarat’s pan-
demic death toll to 4,411.
The state claimed to
administer nCoV vac-
cine to 61,254 benefi-
ciaries at 1,345 centres
across the state. So far,
over 9.50 lakh people
have been inoculated.
AMC continued to re-
port the highest num-
ber of cases at 96, on the
day. It was followed by
Vadodara Municipal
Corporation (73), Surat
Municipal Corporation
(61), Rajkot Municipal
Corporation (44),
Panchmahal district
(14), and Kutch and Va-
dodara districts (11
each), among others.
A surge in the num-
ber of active cases was
also witnessed, with the
tally as on Monday
standing at 2,429 cases,
of which, 35 were on
ventilator support.
However, six districts in
the state did not report
a single COVID-19 case
in the last 24 hours.
‘JUSTICE FOR AYESHA’
Family members of Ayesha Khan —the woman who committed suicide by jumping into the Sabarmati River on February
25—held a press conference on Monday to demand death penalty for her husband Arif Khan. A video uploaded by Ayesha
moments before she took the extreme step has gone viral on social media. (inset) Posters seeking justice for the victim put
up in a few areas of Ahmedabad. —PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI
A senior citizen receiving the COVID-19 vaccine shot at Jodhpur Urban
Health Centre inAhmedabad on Monday.—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Smoke billowing out of Prerna Mill.
Anjali Rupani being vaccinated on Monday morning.
RMC commissioner Udit Agarwal getting
the vaccine shot.
Congress leader Kailashdan Gadhvi.
She was subjected to
physical and mental
harassment by her
husband and in-laws

Vol 2 Issue No. 96 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-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVE
04
s Australia’s
COVID-19 vac-
cine roll-out
commences,
all eyes are on
the government’s com-
munication strategy —
particularly with some
studies finding vaccine
hesitancy is on the rise
in the country.
Our new study arrives at
an opportune time. We ana-
lysed the public communi-
cation strategies that two
countries — Australia and
France — previously used
to promote childhood im-
munisation. We sought to
gauge what they did right
and where they fell short.
Communication cam-
paigns are one of several
tools governments can
use to encourage vaccine
uptake. Governments
can also provide free and
accessible vaccines to
the public, provide in-
centives for health pro-
fessionals to advocate
for vaccines, or impose
consequences for people
who do not vaccinate.
In recent years, both
Australia and France in-
troduced new measures to
induce more children to
get vaccinated. Australia
introduced its “No Jab, No
Pay” policy in 2016, re-
moving financial entitle-
ments for families who
had previously been able
to register an objection to
vaccinating.
France added eight
new vaccines to the three
that were already man-
datory for schools and
childcare in 2017.
With these new vaccine
policies, both countries fi-
nally found the political
will to invest in substantial
promotion campaigns to
address vaccine hesitancy
and concerns.
How did the Australian
and French campaigns
compare?
Australia’s “Get the Facts”
campaign has run for four
years. The centrepiece is a
regularly updated website,
but it also includes bro-
chures and TV advertise-
ments.
France’s “Vaccine Info
Service” is more static and
consists almost entirely of
a website, although the
country’s ministry of
health also paid influenc-
ers to attend a special ex-
pert presentation on vac-
cines, hoping they would
extol the benefits of vacci-
nation to their followers.
The two countries’ web-
sites could not be more dif-
ferent. Despite its name,
Australia’s “Get the Facts”
campaign has been criti-
cised for not including
enough facts. It focuses on
immunisation more gener-
ally, rather than explain-
ing the benefits of vacci-
nating for specific diseas-
es. Parents who have more
questions are referred to a
separate resource. This
feels like a “less is more”
approach to public com-
munication.
The site also relies heav-
ily on emotion, featuring
powerful testimonies from
bereaved parents who lost
their children to preventa-
ble diseases.
Throughaprocesswecall
“manufacturing consent”,
the site encourages support
for Australia’s mandatory
childhood vaccination poli-
cy by focusing on the soci-
etal benefits of herd immu-
nity
. Immunisation is so
important, it implies, we
should all have to do it.
France’s “Vaccine Info
Service” has the opposite
problem to Australia’s
campaign: too many facts!
The site contains every-
thing a person could pos-
sibly want to know about
vaccines, ingredients, side
effects and the science be-
hind immunisations. It
also focuses heavily on in-
dividual diseases and the
vaccines that prevent
them. The tone is very sci-
entific, making it inacces-
sible to a broad segment of
the population.
The campaign also seeks
to “manufacture consent”
for France’s vaccine man-
dates, but follows a very
different path from Aus-
tralia. It explains the ex-
haustive bureaucratic pro-
cesses the government fol-
lowed to develop the policy,
including a citizen consul-
tation.
THECONVERSATION.COM
Right messaging must to battle vax hesitancy
A
Happiness is a state of mind
and has nothing to do with
the external world.
—Bhagwat Gita
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Today, India has emerged as the
pharmacy to the world. I salute
our doctors and scientists for
their grit and determination in
ensuring a #Covid19-free world.
Thank PM @narendramodiji for
making a huge impact on the
way the world looks at India,
especially in these times.
Anand Sharma
@AnandSharmaINC
Congress’ alliance with parties like
ISF other such forces militates
against the core ideology of the
party and Gandhian and Nehruvian
secularism, which forms the soul
of the party. These issues need to
be approved by CWC.
ost 05 August 2019, Paki-
stan has tried different
tricks to remain relevant
in Kashmir. However, most
of the Pakistani moves
have either failed or back-
fired. But as far as Pak
sponsored terror is con-
cerned, it is once again
threatening to thwart the
desire of the Government
of India to restore normal-
cy and bring everlasting
peace in Kashmir. It is the
last ditch attempt of Paki-
stan which is certain to fail
but may succeed in delay-
ing the process of normali-
sation. A new wave of ter-
ror is emerging in Kashmir
with indigenous flavour.
Having been recognised
world over as fountain
head of terror and the big-
gest promoter of cross bor-
der terror, Pakistan is des-
perately trying for an im-
age makeover by recruit-
ing locals and giving them
an image of home grown
resistance against the
atrocities committed by the
government forces. The
lurking fear of being black-
listed by the Financial Ac-
tion Task Force, a global
watchdog for terror fund-
ing and financing has also
compelled Pakistan to take
a backseat and remain a
latent promoter of cross-
border terror.
The all familiar names of
jihadi terror organisations
activeinKashmirtillrecently
like the Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JeM), Hizbul Mujahidin
(HM) are gradually being re-
placed by new tanzeems like
The Resistance Force (TRF),
Lashkar-e-Mustafa, Gaznavi
Force, Al Badr. Most of the
new tanzeems are the old
wine in new bottles but with
majority cadre being locally
recruited. Their operational
and financial control remains
with their akas (leaders) in
Pakistan. These new terror
outfits are not as well
equipped as their parent tan-
zeems and rely mainly on the
arms smuggled into the Val-
ley through various means
using the over ground net-
work. The local youth is lured
into militancy in the name of
jihad after being radicalised
through social media plat-
forms and venomous speech-
es of the mullahs and anti-
India leaders. They are not
being trained in the jihadi
training camps in POJK or
Afghanistan but locally in the
jungles of South Kashmir
and blooded into terrorism by
lobbing grenades at security
forces pickets or crowded
places. The focus is also shift-
ing from rural insurgency to
urban insurgency with en-
counters taking place in and
around Srinagar while Jam-
mu is emerging as another
preferred base of these ter-
rorists. Target selection has
also undergone a change with
giving up of earlier modus of
large scale attacks on securi-
ty forces or suicidal (fiday-
een) attacks on their camps
and now concentrating more
on targeted killings and use
of Improvised Explosive De-
vices (IEDs). Nizam-e-Musta-
fa and retaining monolith
character of Kashmir being
the main motivator of the lo-
cal terrorists. Minorities and
police personnel form the
main targets of the targeted
and motivated killings. IEDs
are used for mass casualties
to the security forces.
Earlier, the weapons
captured from the terror-
ists use to be a big give
away of the Pakistan hand
because all the weapons
and ammunition either
had the Pakistani (POF) or
Chinese (Norinco) mark-
ings. To overcome this Pa-
kistan is now encouraging
the Kashmiri terrorists to
buy locally made weapons
from Bihar. Smuggling
through tunnels and drop-
ping with the help of
drones also continues
since the supply from Bi-
har and its transportation
all the way to JK is prone
to interception by various
law enforcing agencies. Bi-
har also being the major
source of supply to the
Maoists active in the red
corridor is not able to meet
the full requirement of
Kashmiri terrorists.
Pakistan’s intention in all
this is very clear and obvious.
ItwantsKashmirtoremainas
a flashpoint on the screen of
international radar, keep
Kashmir on the boil, discour-
age outside investment which
is likely to generate employ-
mentaswellasweanawaythe
youthfrommilitancyandalso
create a 1990s like environ-
ment of insecurity among the
minoritiessothatthepossible
returnof KashmiriPanditsis
thwarted or jeopardised. By
ensuring the youth remains
unemployed and frustrated, it
wants to ensure the ready-
made supply of fodder to the
jihadi cadre is not affected so
thatthepotremainsboilingin
Kashmir. The image of an in-
secure environment will also
keep the tourists away from
Kashmir and hence prevent
the revival of tourism indus-
try, the backbone of Kash-
mir’s economy
. To this end,
Pakistan has been successful
insellinganarrativeof demo-
graphic invasion and mini-
mising the Muslim-majority
character of Kashmir and
promotingtheHindutvaagen-
da of RSS backed BJP govern-
ment at the centre. Unfortu-
nately
, many so-called nation-
alist mainstream leaders in
Kashmir have been vocifer-
ously promoting the Paki-
stani narrative.
The deep state in Paki-
stan is not satisfied with the
indigenous uprising being
confined only to Kashmir
as this makes its case weak
globally
. A concerted effort
post 05 August 2019 has
been diverted towards re-
viving the militancy in the
Jammu region as well.
Large number of sleeper
cells have been created. The
terrorists are also being
trained for Lone Wolf at-
tacks basically to disturb
the communal harmony
and flare it up into commu-
nal clashes. There are other
reasons for shifting the fo-
cus towards Jammu by the
ISI. Jammu’s location close
to international border and
its heterogeneous popula-
tion with close proximity to
Punjab, another target of
ISI, provides the ideal
breeding ground for mili-
tancy. Also the killings of
local Kashmiri Muslims by
the terrorists both Paki-
stanis and locals has creat-
ed huge resentment among
the common Kashmiri
masses. The awam is not
only fed up but is turning
against the terrorists. They
are not as forthcoming in
providing them shelter as
in the earlier days. They are
sharing the information of
their presence with the se-
curity forces as a result of
which most of the top ter-
rorist commanders have
been killed by the security
forces. Thus, safe havens in
Jammu are considered
more lucrative. But the lat-
est successes of JKP in cap-
turing top commanders of
the TRF as well as Lashkar-
e-Mustafa in Jammu has
sent shockwaves not only to
them but to their akas in
Pakistan as well.
Due to a very strong anti-
infiltration grid on the Line
of Control (LOC) by the In-
dian Army, terrorists and
their handlers have been pre-
ferring the IB sector for infil-
tration hence Jammu acts as
a suitable base for their fur-
ther despatch to Kashmir or
Punjab. Similar is the argu-
ment for smuggling and dis-
tribution of narcotics. Hence
Jammu has emerged as an
ideal and suitable base for
narco-terrorism.
Like Kashmir, the ISI also
wants to send a signal of
insecurity in Jammu re-
gion as well so that future
investors are discouraged.
It has not gone down well
with the ISI that the JK
government is planning to
not to confine the new in-
dustries to Jammu-Kathua
belt only but is encouraging
the investors to setup indus-
try in the far-flung districts
with additional incentives.
The new wave of terror in
JK if not nipped in the bud
may prove costly and damag-
ing as had happened many
times in the past. Surely, our
leaders, experts and plan-
ners would have learned les-
sons from the past and would
not let another window of
opportunity for installing
lasting peace slip away from
their hands. Terrorism
whether local or imported is
enemy of peace and radical-
ised jihadi terrorists are the
enemies of humanity
. Unfor-
tunately, the Pak apologists
operating in the country con-
tinue to remain silent and
hence accord their latent
support to the madness. They
refuse to condemn, name and
shame Pakistan as well as
take a firm stand against tar-
geted killings of the minori-
ties, quite similar to the man-
ner they followed in 1990s.
Only a united approach
would lead to elimination of
the menace of terror and re-
turn of much needed peace.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
NEW WAVE OF TERROR IN
JAMMU KASHMIR
P
The local youth is
lured into
militancy in the
name of jihad
after being
radicalised
through social
media platforms
and venomous
speeches of the
mullahs and
anti-India
leaders. They are
not being trained
in the jihadi
training camps
in POJK or
Afghanistan but
locally in the
jungles of South
Kashmir and
blooded into
terrorism by
lobbing grenades
at security forces
pickets or
crowded places.
BRIG VETERAN
ANIL GUPTA
The author is a Jammu
based veteran, political
commentator, columnist, security
and strategic analyst
THE DEEP STATE IN PAKISTAN IS NOT SATISFIED WITH
THE INDIGENOUS UPRISING BEING CONFINED ONLY
TO KASHMIR AS THIS MAKES ITS CASE WEAK
GLOBALLY. A CONCERTED EFFORT POST 05 AUGUST
2019 HAS BEEN DIVERTED TOWARDS REVIVING THE
MILITANCY IN THE JAMMU REGION AS WELL. LARGE
NUMBER OF SLEEPER CELLS HAVE BEEN CREATED.

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INDIA
AHMEDABAD| TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021
05
CONTEMPT PLEA IN DELHI HC
AGAINST NON-EXTENSION OF RTE
New Delhi: A con-
tempt petition has been
moved in Delhi High
Court against Education
Secretary, Union of India
alleging that Government
has failed to decide on
extending Right to Educa-
tion (RTE Act 2009) up to
Class XII by an amend-
ment to protect Econom-
ically Weaker Sections
(EWS)/ Disadvantaged
Group students despite
High Court directions.
Social Jurist, a Civil
Rights Group through
Advocate Ashok Aggarwal
and Advocate Utkarsh
Singh has knocked the
doors of Delhi High
Court seeking initiation
of contempt of court pro-
ceedings against a senior
official of Department of
School Education.
SARADA SCAM: ED SUMMONS
TMC SPOKESPERSON KUNAL
Kolkata: The Enforce-
ment Directorate (ED),
which is probing the
money laundering
aspect of the Sarad-
ha chit fund scam,
has summoned TMC
spokesperson Kunal
Ghosh for question-
ing. Sources said the
former RS MP has
been asked to reach
the CGO Complex
office of the ED at Salt
Lake area of the city
by 11 am on Tuesday.
Ghosh, who is out on
bail in the Saradha
case, was suspended
from the TMC in 2013
for alleged anti-party
activities.
FORMER KERALA HC JUDGE
PN RAVINDRAN JOINS BJP
Kochi: Former Kerala
HC Judge P N Ravin-
dran joined BJP in
presence of Union Fi-
nance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman in Kochi.
During the BJP state
president K Suren-
dran’s ‘Vijaya Yathra’
at Thripunithura in
Kochi, Sitharaman
welcomed Ravindran
into the party. Earlier
in the day, Sitharaman
had lashed out at the
Vijayan-led gov in
Kerala over the budget
and accused it of
giving all the budget to
the Kerala infrastruc-
ture investment fund
board (KIIFB). —ANI
EX-CS KERALA VISHWAS MEHTA IS
NEW CIC OF STATE
Thiruvananthapuram:
Former Kerala Chief
Secretary Vishwas Mehta
on Monday took charge
as the new Chief Informa-
tion Commissioner (CIC)
of the State Information
Commission.Governor
Arif Mohammed Khan
administered the oath.
A 1986 batch IAS officer
hailing from Rajasthan,
he retired from his
bureaucratic career on
Sunday. Besides being
the Additional Chief
Secretary, Mehta had also
served the state and Cen-
tral gov in various capac-
ities, including Collector
of Wayanad and Joint
secretary in the Ministry
of Health and Family Wel-
fare and Tourism Director
in the Ministry of Tourism
and Culture.
Centre trying to crush Tamil culture: Rahul
ATTACKS THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT AND RSS DURING HIS VISIT TO POLL-BOUND TAMIL NADU
Kanyakumari: Con-
gress leader Rahul Gan-
dhi on Monday attacked
the Central Govern-
ment and Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) for attempting to
humiliate and crush Ta-
mil culture, language
and history
.
“This election is
about giving a message.
First is, that our coun-
try is a country of dif-
ferent religions, cul-
tures, languages, histo-
ries and we respect all
that. We do not accept
PM Modi’s and RSS’ at-
tempt to humiliate and
crush Tamil culture,
language and Tamil his-
tory,” said Gandhi on
the second day of his
visit to poll-bound Ta-
mil Nadu. “I was told
that when Kamaraj Ji
died, his entire belong-
ings were in one small
suitcase. A leader like
him truly represents
Tamil people. He had
fought for his people,
and that is the kind of
leader you need as CM,”
he said during a road-
show in Kanyakumari.
During the road-
show, he aimed at Ta-
mil Nadu’s CM EK
Palaniswami along
with RSS, saying that
Palaniswami has been
acting on the directions
of the Centre.
“He (CM) must not let
RSS insult Tamil cul-
ture. Modi says ‘1 na-
tion, 1 culture, 1 histo-
ry’. Is Tamil not an In-
dian language? Is Tamil
history not Indian or is
Tamil culture not Indi-
an? As an Indian, it’s
my duty to protect this
culture,” Gandhi said.
WB polls: Trinamool Congress
likely to drop several sitting MLAs
Kolkata: The Trina-
mool Congress is likely
to axe several sitting
MLAs from its candi-
date list for the upcom-
ing West Bengal elec-
tions, sources said.
The party is planning
to nominate more
youths, women, and
leaders with clean im-
age and acceptability in
their area, they said.
CM Mamata Baner-
jee met the party’s 12-
member election com-
mittee in the afternoon
at her residence in Ka-
lighat and brain-
stormed over the nomi-
nations.
“Today, the election
committee authorised
Banerjee to take the fi-
nal call regarding can-
didates,” a senior TMC
leader said.
Nearly 30 per cent of
the 294 constituencies,
including those of the
19 MLAs who have
switched over to BJP, to
have new candidates,
sources said. —PTI
AICC appoints
28 observers
for Bengal
Kolkata: The All
India Congress
Committee (AICC)
has appointed 28 ob-
servers for poll-
bound West Bengal,
a senior leader said
on Monday.Con-
gress leaders from
states like Gujarat,
Rajasthan, MP, Bi-
har and Jharkhand
have been appoint-
ed as observers for
the eight-phase
elections to the
294-member West
Bengal assembly.
The AICC appoint-
ed four observers
for Kolkata, divid-
ing it into north,
south, central and
Burrabazar dis-
tricts, while there
will be two observ-
ers each for North
24 and South 24 Par-
ganas, he said.
Rahul did push-ups with a student during his visit to a school in Mulagumooda, Tamil Nadu.
BJP GEARS UP TO MAKE PM’S MEGA RALLY IN WB HISTORICAL
New Delhi: BJP is going
the extra mile to ensure
that PM Narendra Modi’s
rally at Brigade Parade
ground in Kolkata on
March 7 witnesses a
historical crowd. It is
going to be the first
rally of the PM after the
announcement of As-
sembly poll schedules in
West Bengal. According
to BJP sources, from
party MPs to booth level
workers all have been
asked to go door-to-
door to invite people to
attend the PM’s mega
rally. There would be
nukkad sabhas to invite
people to the rally. A
social media campaign
will be launched to make
the PM’s mega rally
successful. According to
party sources, many folk
artists have been invited
to perform at the event.
GST dues worth `29,290 cr yet
to be paid by Centre: Koshyari
Mumbai: Maharashtra
Governor Bhagat Singh
Koshyari on Monday al-
leged that the Centre
has yet to pay Rs 29,290
crore out of Rs 46,950
crore GST dues to the
state.
While addressing the
joint session of the Ma-
harashtra Legislature,
Koshyari said, “By the
end of Feb 2021, out of
the Rs 46,950 crore due
to my gov as GST com-
pensation, the Central
government has paid
just Rs 6,140 crore and
Rs 11,520 crore as loan.
The GST compensation
to the tune of Rs 29,290
crore is overdue from
the Central Gov.”
The Governor fur-
ther said that the COV-
ID-19 lockdown has
slowed down the econo-
my of the state.
“The COVID-19 has
slowed down the state
economy in addition to
a medical emergency
and natural calami-
ties,” he said. —ANI
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat
Singh Koshyari.
IN THE COURTYARD
PRIYANKA BEGINS CAMPAIGN
AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at Kamakhya Temple, during her visit to
Assam ahead of state assembly polls, in Guwahati, Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Tarun Tejpal rape trial hearing
adjourned till further notice
Panaji: The scheduled
final argument in the
rape trial against for-
mer Tehelka editor-in-
chief Tarun Tejpal
could not be conducted
on Monday, because of
the death of the judge’s
mother, special public
prosecutor Francisco
Tavora said.
The case has been ad-
journed for a future
date and a new date for
hearing would be an-
nounced soon, said Ta-
vora.
“The final argument
of the prosecution was
to take place yesterday.
For the whole day, the
prosecution was sup-
posed to argue, followed
by the defence lawyers.
After the final argu-
ment, the case was to be
kept for final judge-
ment, but it could not be
held because the judge’s
mother passed away
last night,” Tavora said.
Former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal.
Delhi HC adjourns hearing
against WhatsApp policy
New Delhi: The Delhi
HC on Monday ad-
journed till April 19
hearing on petition
against WhatsApp’s
new privacy policy after
the Central gov sought
more time saying that
they are examining the
issue.
A single-judge Bench
of Justice Sanjeev Sach-
deva asked the Centre
to file a status report
and listed the matter for
April 19.
The Court noted that
the government is ex-
amining the issue.
Appearing for the
Centre, advocate Kirti-
man Singh told the
Court that the gov is in
process of obtaining
certain clarification
and they need time to
consider it.
He also told the court
that the SC has already
issued a notice on a sim-
ilar application relating
to WhatsApp’s updated
policy
. —ANI
New Delhi: “Are you
willing to marry her,”
was the question posed
to a public servant, who
is accused of repeatedly
raping a minor girl but
when Supreme Court—
on Monday— was told
that he is already mar-
ried he was asked to
seek regular bail from
the concerned court.
A bench headed by
Chief Justice SA Bobde
was hearing a plea filed
by accused who is serv-
ing as a technician in
Maharashtra State Elec-
tricity Production Com-
pany and has moved SC
against the Bombay HC
February 5 order which
had cancelled anticipa-
tory bail granted to him.
When the hearing com-
menced, the bench also
comprising Justices A S
Bopanna and V Ra-
masubramanian, asked
the accused “Are you
willing to marry her.”
“If you are willing to
marry her then we can
consider it, otherwise
you will go to jail,” ob-
served the bench adding
“We are not forcing you
to marry
.” —PTI
IPS deputation: SC rejects plea
on centre’s overriding power
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Mon-
day rejected the PIL
filed by a West Ben-
gal based advocate,
challenging the con-
stitutional validity
of Rule 6 (1) of IPS
(Cadre) Rules, 1954
for conferring pow-
ers on the Central
government to over-
ride the states in con-
nection with matters
of transfer and depu-
tation of IPS cadre
officers. A two-judge
bench of the Apex
Court, headed by
Justice L Nageswara
Rao and also com-
prising Justice S
Ravindra Bhat dis-
missed the Public In-
terest Litigation
(PIL) filed by a West
Bengal based lawyer,
Abu Sohel. “We dis-
miss the petition. We
do not find any mer-
its in the petition,”
the bench led by Jus-
tice Rao said in his
order. —ANI
New Delhi: Denying
media reports regard-
ing the revocation of
fugitive diamantaire
Mehul Choksi’s citizen-
ship by an Antiguan
civil court, his advocate
Vijay Aggarwal said hat
Choksi is still very
much an Antiguan citi-
zen and his citizenship
has not been revoked.
“My client Choksi
has clarified that he is
very much an Antiguan
citizen. His citizenship
has not been revoked,”
Aggarwal said. —PTI
Mehul Choksi is
Antiguan citizen:
Advocate to court
Are you willing to marry her? SC
to man accused of raping girl
Mamata Banerjee

Governor....
Elaborating on the na-
tionwide lockdown, Dev-
vrat asserted, “During
the year of 2020, there
were a total of 67 days of
continuous lockdown.
Evenafterthatthegov-
ernment had to function
amidst so many limita-
tions to combat the COV-
ID-19 pandemic. You (the
citizens)areallawarethat
the expenditure of a ma-
jor amount of the state
government budget allo-
cation that was supposed
to be incurred by many
government schemes
where construction was
the main function, had
been coincidentally in-
curred less.” The gover-
nor also expressed ap-
preciation for the Con-
gress party MLAs for
following his advice and
valuable suggestions
during the pandemic.
Chinese ‘surgical...
to penetrateIndia’s pow-
er network. Meanwhile,
a Chinese state-backed
hacking group has in re-
cent weeks targeted the
ITsystemsof twoIndian
vaccine makers whose
coronavirus shots are
being used in the coun-
try’simmunisationcam-
paign,cyberintelligence
firm Cyfirma told Reu-
ters. China and India
have both sold or gifted
COVID-19 shots to many
countries.
Lag bhi...
thick-skinnedandhence
were they are also plan-
ning to use some special
thick needles for him.
On hearing this, the
nurses laughed and felt
relieved.
“It was a wonderful
experience, it was a life-
time opportunity
. I feel
honoured that I had the
opportunity to do this.
Sir was very happy
, very
jovial. He spoke to us
very normally
, we were
not scared that we were
talkingtothePrimeMin-
ister. He asked us about
our whereabouts, when I
told him I am from Pu-
ducherryhetriedtalking
to me in Tamil,” said P
Niveda, the nurse who
administeredCovaxinto
PM. On Monday
, India
woke up to the news of
Modi receiving the first
dose of Indian-made Co-
vaxin, dispelling the
hesitancy over the COV-
ID-19 vaccine.
“When he reached
there,hewasveryhappy
and he talked to us
frankly and freely
. He
spoke to us in Malay-
alam. After the vaccina-
tion, he was very happy
,
he did not feel any pain.
He was kept under ob-
servation for 30 min-
utes,” said Rosamma
Anil, Senior Nursing Of-
ficer, AIIMS. —ANI
Don’t need...
“Today the third phase
of Covid vaccination is
starting for people.
There should be no hesi-
tation for them now.
However, I will not be
able to take a dose as af-
ter getting Covid, my
antibody count is 300,
which is a quite high,”
Vij, who digitally inau-
gurated the third phase
of inoculation, said in a
tweet. He added, “This
could be because of the
trial vaccine that I took
earlier. I don’t need vac-
cine right away
.”
After getting the trial
vaccine, Vij in Decem-
ber tested positive for
coronavirus.
MBBS student...
Last week, he received
theseconddose.Hedevel-
oped mild symptoms of
the viral infection and
underwent a test that
came out to be positive.
HewasadmittedtoSeven
Hills hospital on Satur-
day night, while several
of his hostel mates, who
also got vaccinated, are
under quarantine.
Priyanka dances...
dancedalongtothebeats
of dhol tapping her feet
and swaying her legs
along with the dancers.
Meanwhile, Priyan-
ka’s brother, Congress
MP Rahul Gandhi was
seen performing an Ai-
kido (japanese martial
arts) move and push-ups
before students of St. Jo-
seph’s Matriculation
HigherSecondarySchool
in Mulagumoodu, Tamil
Nadu on Monday
.
JMC greater...
The single bench of Jus-
tice Narendra Singh
Dhadha refused to grant
relief to Gurjar, the then
Chairman of Karauli
Municipal Council, in a
case of pressurising a
health inspector to sign
fakebills.Inhispetition,
Rajaram said that he
was implicated in the
said case under a politi-
calmischief.Hewassus-
pended by the state gov-
ernment after the case,
but was later reinstated.
All the cases have been
settled except one.
Therefore, he should be
given anticipatory bail.
Opposing the petition
on behalf of govern-
mentthecomplainant,
the HC was told that pe-
titionerishabitualcrim-
inalagainstwhomabout
a dozen lawsuits have
beenfiled.Notably
,when
Karauli City Council
Health Inspector Muke-
shKumarrefusedtosign
thesalarybillsof 340em-
ployees, Gurjar had as-
saulted him in 2019.
FROM PG 1
INDIA
06
JUSTICE AP SAHI TO HEAD
NATIONAL JUDICIAL ACADEMY
Justice AP Sahi, former Chief Justice of Madras
High Court, has been appointed as Director of
National Judicial Academy (NJA), Bhopal. He will
succeed Justice (retd) G Raghuram.
SITARAM KUNTE IS NEW CHIEF
SECRETARY OF MAHARASHTRA
Sitaram Kunte has been appointed as Chief
Secretary of Maharashtra cadre. He is a 1985
batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.
ARUN KUMAR SINGH IS NEW CHIEF
SECRETARY, BIHAR
Arun Kumar Singh has been appointed as the new
Chief Secretary of Bihar. He is a 1985 batch IAS
officer of Bihar cadre.
V P JOY IS NEW CHIEF SECRETARY
OF KERALA
Dr. V P Joy has succeeded Vishwas Mehta as Chief
Secretary of Kerala on March 1. He is 1987 batch
IAS officer.
TARUN BAJAJ IS ALSO SECRETARY,
REVENUE
Tarun Bajaj, Secretary, Department of Economic
Affairs, has been assigned an additional charge of
Secretary, Department of Revenue. He is a 1988
batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.
KULDIP SINGH IS NOW ACTING DG
OF CRPF
Special DG – CRPF, Kuldip Singh has been
appointed acting DG of the force. He is 1986
batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre.
VICE ADMIRAL KUMAR IS NEW F -
N-C, WESTERN COMMAND
Vice Admiral R Hari Kumar, PVSM, AVSM,
VSM has taken over as Flag Officer Commanding
in Chief of Western Naval Command at Mumbai on
Sunday. He took over from Vice Admn Ajit Kumar
who retired in February.
DEEPAK KUMAR IS NOW PRINCIPAL
SECRETARY TO BIHAR CM
Outgoing Bihar Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar has
now been appointed Principal Secretary to the
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. He is former
1984 batch IAS officer.
SANSAD TV: CAPOOR MAY SHORTLY
BE ANNOUNCED AS THE FIRST CEO
According to sources , that former Union Textiles
Secretary Ravi Capoor (Retd IAS:1986:AM) will
be the new CEO of SANSAD TELEVISION (Sansad
TV) on a contract basis for a period of one year.
He retired as Union Secretary in December 2020.
Loka Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV have been
merged together to carve out a newly merged
entity i.e. Sansad TV.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with: http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
REGISTRATION FOR VACCINE ON WEBSITE,
NOT MOBILE APP: HEALTH MINISTRY
INDIA BEGINS NEXT PHASE VACCINATION
New Delhi: The Union
health ministry on
Monday issued a clarifi-
cation regarding regis-
tration for Coronavirus
vaccination, saying
that it can be done
through CoWIN web
portal and not the mo-
bile application. The
ministry was forced to
do so amid confusion
among eligible benefi-
ciaries and also lack of
effective messaging
among the general pop-
ulation regarding
the self-registration
process.
There is a CoWin ap-
plication on the play-
store and several people
complained of glitches
during self-registra-
tion, not knowing that
application was meant
only for the vaccine ad-
ministrators. For gen-
eral public, website
www.cowin.gov.in is
open.
“Registration and
booking for appoint-
ment for #COVID19
Vaccination is to be
done through #CoWIN
Portal: http://cowin.
gov.in. There is NO
#CoWIN App for benefi-
ciary registration. The
App on Play Store is for
administrators only,”
the health ministry
clarified in a tweet.
There were also re-
ports that people were
not getting the OTPs
necessary to verify your
details before registra-
tion is confirmed. India
has begun next phase of
Coronavirus disease
(Covid-19) vaccination
yesterday
. —ANI
No issue in Co-WIN portal,
says Harsh Vardhan
New Delhi: As the sec-
ond phase of the Cov-
id-19 vaccination drive
began across the coun-
try on Monday, Union
Health Minister Harsh
Vardhan pointed out
that the next few days
the “walk-in system”
for people will be fur-
ther streamlined in
states to ensure smooth
functioning. “We have
given some relaxation
to state governments. In
the next few days, the
walk-in system will be
streamlined, a provi-
sion is in place for this.
A certain number of
people can go to the cen-
tres after taking ap-
pointments through
booking,” Dr Vardhan
said. —ANI
Six states
contribute to 87%
of COVID cases
New Delhi: As the sec-
ond phase of the Cov-
id-19 vaccination drive
began, Union Health
Minister Harsh Vard-
han pointed out that the
next few days the “walk-
in system” for people
will be further stream-
lined in states.
“We have given some
relaxation to state gov.
In the next few days, the
walk-in system will be
streamlined,” Dr Vard-
han said. —ANI
ANTIGUA BARBUDA
THANKS MODI FOR VAX
New Delhi: Antigua Barbuda
PM Gaston Alfonso Browne on
Monday thanked Prime Minister
Narendra Modi for demonstrat-
ing an “act of benevolence, kind-
ness and empathy” by sending
175,000 AstraZeneca vaccines
to the Caribbean countries.
Several Caribbean countries
received 175,000 AstraZeneca
vaccines from India.
JAISHANKAR RECEIVES
FIRST JAB OF COVAXIN
New Delhi: EAM S Jaishankar on
Monday received the first dose
of Covaxin, India’s indigenous
coronavirus vaccine developed by
biotechnology firm Bharat Biotech
and ICMR. Taking to Twitter, Jais-
hankar posted a picture of himself
taking the first dose of the vac-
cine and wrote, “Got my jab. For
the curious, it was Covaxin. Felt
secure, will travel safely.”
MODI’S VACCINATION IS
‘INSPIRATIONAL’: CHOUBEY
New Delhi: Union Minister of
State for Health and Family Wel-
fare Ashwini Kumar Choubey on
Monday said that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s COVID-19
vaccination will inspire other
people across the country to
get themselves vaccinated.
“PM Narendra Modi’s vaccina-
tion is inspirational for others,”
Choubey said.
Awantipora: One ter-
ror associate Muzamil
Qadir Bhat, who was in
touch with terrorist
commanders of Jaish-e-
Mohammad, was ar-
rested in a joint opera-
tion by security forces
from Lorow Jagir Tral
village in Pulwama on
Sunday
.
The operation was
carried out by Jammu
and Kashmir Police, 42
Rashtriya Rifles and 180
battalions of Central
Reserve Police Force
(CRPF). During ques-
tioning, the forces
seized incriminating
material of Jaish-e-Mo-
hammad and one hand
grenade was recovered
from him that he has
kept concealed in the
compound of his home.
A case under relevant
sections of the law has
been registered in Po-
lice Station in Tral.
Further investigation is
going on. —ANI
Chandrababu Naidu detained
at airport, stages sit-in protest
Chittoor: TDP leader
and former CM of
Andhra Pradesh, N
Chandrababu Naidu on
Monday was detained
by the police at the Re-
nigunta airport while
he was going to attend
election campaign in
the Chitoor district.
The TDP chief en-
tered into an argument
with the police officials
as they prevented him
from leaving the Reni-
gunta airport. Con-
demning the police be-
haviour, he staged sit-in
protest at the airport.
Tirupati Special
branch DSP Ramana in-
formed ANI that oppo-
sition leader Chandrab-
abu Naidu has been
served notice of deten-
tion. —ANI
Chandrababu Naidu staging a sit-in protest inside airport.
Rashtriya Rifles and 180 battalions of Central Reserve Police.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan
Prashant Kishor is my
principal advisor: Pb CM
Chandigarh: Punjab
CM Amarinder Singh
on Monday said poll
strategist Prashant
Kishor has joined him
as his principal advisor.
Happy to share that
@PrashantKishor has
joined me as my Princi-
pal Advisor. Look for-
ward to working togeth-
er for the betterment of
the people of Punjab!,
said Amarinder Singh
in a tweet.
The development as-
sumes significance as
the Punjab Assembly
elections are due next
year.
Currently, Kishor’s
company, Indian Politi-
cal Action Committee
(I-PAC), is assisting
Trinamool Congress
(TMC) in the West Ben-
gal elections.
Kishor had handled
the poll campaign in the
2017 Punjab Assembly
elections. —ANI
Punjab CM Amarinder Singh
(L) and Prashant Kishor (R)
Jaideep
Bhatnagar
is Principal
DG of PIB
New Delhi: Former
head of the News
Services Division
of AIR, Jaideep
Bhatnagar, on Mon-
day took over as
Principal Director
General of the
Press Information
Bureau.
He will take over
from Kuldeep Singh
Dhatwalia, who su-
perannuated on Feb
28, 2021. Bhatnagar,
a 1986-batch IIS of-
ficer, earlier served
in Doordarshan
News. He has also
served as Prasar
Bharati Special
C o r r e s p o n d e n t
West Asia and later
went on to head the
News Services Divi-
sion of AIR. —ANI
Jaideep Bhatnagar
JeM terror associate held by security forces
lll
The operation
was carried out
by Jammu and
Kashmir Police,
42 Rashtriya
Rifles and 180
battalions of
CRPF
Bhima Koregaon Case:
Navlakha moves to SC bail
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court is sched-
uled to hear on Wednes-
day the bail plea of ac-
tivist Gautam Nav-
lakha in the alleged El-
gar Parishad-Maoist
link case. The activist,
on February 19, had
moved the top court
against the Bombay
High Court order of
February 8
dismissing his bail
plea. The high court
had said that “it sees no
reason to interfere with
a special court’s order
which earlier rejected
his bail plea”.
A three judge bench
of the apex court
comprising justices U
U Lalit, Indira Baner-
jee and K M Joseph
would take up the ap-
peal of Navlakha for
hearing on March 3
against the high court’s
order. —PTI

TALKING POINT
07
Will Inflation
MAKE A COMEBACK?
AXEL A WEBER
C
urrent fore-
casts by many
banks, central
banks, and other in-
stitutions suggest
that inflation will
not be a problem in
the foreseeable fu-
ture. The Interna-
tional Monetary
Fund, for example,
expects global infla-
tion to remain sub-
dued until the end of
its forecast horizon
in 2025. But could
those who heed these
forecasts be in for a
rude awakening?
Economic models
have long been noto-
riously inaccurate
in predicting infla-
tion, and COVID-19
has further compli-
cated the challenge.
While economic
forecasters calibrate
their models using
data from the last 50
years to explain and
predict economic
trends, today’s eco-
nomic conditions
have no precedent in
that period. Today’s
low inflation fore-
casts are thus no
guarantee that infla-
tion will actually re-
main low.
Even without ad-
ditional inflationary
pressure, reported
inflation rates will
rise significantly in
the first five months
of 2021. By May, UBS
expects year-on-year
inflation to rise
above 3% in the
United States and to-
ward 2% in the euro-
zone, largely owing
to the low base in the
first half of 2020,
when pandemic-re-
lated lockdowns be-
gan. The higher rate
therefore does not
point to rising infla-
tionary pressure,
though an increase
above those levels
would be a warning
sign.
Many argue that
the COVID-19 crisis
is deflationary, be-
cause pandemic-mit-
igation measures
have affected aggre-
gate demand more
adversely than ag-
gregate supply. In
the first months of
the crisis, this was
largely the case: in
April 2020, for example,
oil prices fell toward,
or even below, zero.
But a detailed look at
supply and demand re-
veals a more nuanced
picture. In particular,
the pandemic has shift-
ed demand from ser-
vices to goods, some of
which have become
more expensive, owing
to production and
transport bottlenecks.
In current consum-
er-price calculations,
rising goods prices are
partly offset by falling
prices for servic-
es such as air
travel. But in
reality, pandemic-relat-
ed restrictions mean
that consumption of
many services has fall-
en sharply; significant-
ly fewer people are fly-
ing, for example. Many
people’s actual con-
sumption baskets have
thus become more ex-
pensive than the basket
statistical authorities
use to calculate infla-
tion. So, true inflation
rates are currently of-
ten higher than the of-
ficial figures, as re-
ports have confirmed.
Once governments
lift mobility restric-
tions, services infla-
tion also may increase
if reduced capacity – as
a result of permanent
closures of restaurants
and hotels, for exam-
ple, or airline layoffs –
is insufficient to meet
demand.
The unprecedent-
ed fiscal and mone-
tary expansion in
response to COVID-19
may pose an even
greater inflation risk.
According to UBS esti-
mates, aggregate gov-
ernment deficits
amounted to 11% of
global GDP in 2020,
more than three times
the average of the pre-
vious ten years. Cen-
tral banks’ balance
sheets increased even
more last year, by 13%
of global GDP.
Government deficits
in 2020 were thus indi-
rectly financed by the
issuance of new mon-
ey. But this will work
only if enough savers
and investors are will-
ing to hold money and
government bonds at
zero or negative inter-
est rates. If doubts
about the soundness
of these investments
were to prompt savers
and investors to switch
to other assets, affect-
ed countries’ curren-
cies would weaken,
leading to higher con-
sumer prices.
Previous episodes of
excessive government
debt almost always end-
ed with high inflation.
Inflation caused by a
loss of confidence can
emerge quickly and in
some cases at a time of
underemployment,
without a preceding
wage-price spiral.
Although expan-
sionary monetary pol-
icy after the 2008 glob-
al financial crisis did
not lead to increasing
inflation, this is no
guarantee that price
growth will remain
low this time. After
2008, newly created li-
quidity flowed mainly
into financial mar-
kets. But central
banks’ current bal-
ance-sheet expansion
is triggering large
money flows into the
real economy, through
record fiscal deficits
and rapid credit
growth in many coun-
tries. Moreover, the
monetary-policy re-
sponse to the pandem-
ic was much faster and
more substantial than
in the last crisis.
Demographic shifts,
increasing protection-
ism, and the US Feder-
al Reserve’s de facto
increase last year of its
2% inflation target are
among other factors
Economic forecasting models have
long been notoriously inaccurate
in predicting inflation, and
COVID-19 has further
complicated the challenge. Those
who heed current consensus
forecasts of persistently low price
growth could be in for a rude
awakening.
that could lead to
higher inflation in
the longer term. Al-
though these struc-
tural factors are un-
likely to trigger a
surge in price
growth in the short
term, they could still
facilitate it.
A sharp rise in in-
flation could have
devastating conse-
quences. To contain
it, central banks
would have to raise
interest rates, which
would create financ-
ing problems for
highly indebted gov-
ernments, firms,
and households. His-
torically, central
banks have mostly
been unable to resist
government pres-
sure for sustained
budget financing.
This has often re-
sulted in very high
rates of inflation,
accompanied by
large losses in the
real value of most
asset classes and po-
litical and social up-
heaval.
In recent months,
commodity prices,
international trans-
port costs, stocks,
and Bitcoin have all
risen sharply, and
the US dollar has de-
preciated signifi-
cantly. These could
be harbingers of ris-
ing consumer prices
in the dollar area.
With inflation rates
highly correlated in-
ternationally, higher
inflation in the dol-
lar area would accel-
erate price growth
worldwide.
Too many are un-
derestimating the
risk of a rise in in-
flation, and san-
guine model-based
forecasts do nothing
to alleviate my fears.
Monetary and fiscal
policymakers, as
well as savers and
investors, should
not allow them-
selves to be caught
out. In 2014, former
Fed Chair Alan
Greenspan predict-
ed that inflation
would eventually
have to rise, calling
the Fed’s balance
sheet “a pile of tin-
der.” The pandemic
could well be the
lightning strike that
ignites it.
SOURCE: PROJECT-SYNDICATE.ORG
The price rise of goods has resulted in consumers experiencing
anxiety about their buying habits —GILAXIA/GETTY IMAGES
According to UBS estimates,
aggregate government deficits
amounted to 11% of the global GDP
in 2020, more than three times the
average of the previous ten years
Predicting the global economic future
has become more complicated because
of the COVID-19 pandemic
—JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO/BAY AREA
NEWS GROUP

A positive attitude not only
brightens up our days but also has
the ability to change our lives for
the better.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: An
Ahmedabad woman
allegedly committed
suicide by jumping
into the Sabarmati
river after leaving a
video message on her
mobile phone blaming
her husband for her
decision. Her husband
has been booked for
abetment to suicide,
police said on Monday
.
The victim identified
as Ayesha Khan alleg-
edly also spoke to her
husband before commit-
ting suicide. The inci-
dent took place on Feb-
ruary 25.
According to the FIR
lodged by her father Li-
yaqat Ali Makrani at
Sabarmati Riverfront
(West) police station a
day later, Ayesha’s hus-
band Arif Babukhan
inflicted mental torture
on her and told her “die
if you want to, and send
me a video”.
In the video, which
went viral on social
media, Ayesha can be
heard saying she is
not taking the step un-
der any pressure. Po-
lice said she told her
parents she did not
want her husband in
her life anymore and
that she was tired of
life.
Ayesha says in the
video, “I am happy
and I want to die in
peace, I don’t want to
fight, I love Arif.”
Arif is her husband
whom she had mar-
ried in 2018. Report-
edly, after their mar-
riage, Arif and his
family began to har-
ass Ayesha for dowry.
She had filed a com-
plaint against her
husband, mother-in-
law, and father-in-law
at the Vatva police sta-
tion and a case of do-
mestic violence was
filed as well.
A Sabarmati River-
front (West) police sta-
tion official said Arif
Babukhan is yet to be
arrested and the probe
into the incident contin-
ued.
‘I want to die in peace’, says Ayesha as she plunged in river
LEFT WITH HOBSON’S CHOICE
The victim identified as Ayes-
ha Khan allegedly also spoke
to her husband before com-
mitting suicide. The incident
took place on February 25
AAI removes 14 buildings from
Surat airport’s obstacle list
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The con-
tentious issue of high-
rise buildings in the vi-
cinity of Surat airport
seems to have inched
forward towards a solu-
tion with the Airport
Authority of India
(AAI) on Monday filing
an affidavit in the Guja-
rat High Court, remov-
ing 14 buildings from
the obstacles list.
The AAI stated in the
high court a survey had
found that in all 41
buildings posed as ob-
stacles and 14 construc-
tions of which were re-
moved from the list af-
ter careful considera-
tion.
The affidavit filed on
behalf of AAI stated
that the No Objection
Certificates (NOCs) of
the buildings that had
been identified as obsta-
cles were now deemed
to be cancelled and such
NOCs could not stand
legal scrutiny
.
The affidavit said
that if the builders and
the residents of build-
ings agreed to reduce
the height of the build-
ings a fresh requisite
NOC could be issued to
them.
The AAI claimed that
the NOC obtained by
the builders was based
on wrong coordinates
and site elevation at the
relevant point of time
and the construction of
buildings deviated from
the actual data. “The
disputed buildings and
construction in ques-
tion were impacting
safe flight operations at
Surat Airport,” the af-
fidavit said.
The affidavit said the
possibility of extending
the runway on the op-
posite side was remote
since sea and oil pipe-
lines were crossing the
channels. The obstruc-
tion caused by the
buildings had not only
caused a huge expendi-
ture but also derailed
any possibility of using
a bigger aircraft at Su-
rat airport.
Earlier, the Gujarat
High Court had asked
the Directorate Gen-
eral of Civil Aviation
(DGCA ) to clarify
whether the buildings
near Surat Airport
runway were obsta-
cles. The court had di-
rected this while hear-
ing a PIL about the
height of buildings
acting as an obstacle
near the Surat airport.
Surat international airport. —FILE PHOTO
The AAI said the NOCs of buildings identified as obstacles were now cancelled
First India Bureau
Surat: Dinesh
Kachhadiya, a former
Congress party coun-
cillor who had con-
tested the State As-
sembly election and
also the Surat Munic-
ipal Corporation elec-
tion recently joined
the Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP).
Kachhadiya was with
the Patidar Anamat
AndolanSamiti(PAAS).
While Patidar quota
agitation is over, its po-
litical impact could be
seen in recently con-
cluded civic polls of Su-
rat. PAAS, upset with
Congress over ticket al-
locations, was in pact
with AAP in Saurash-
tra-origin Patels popu-
lated pockets of Surat.
This resulted into vic-
tory of 27 councillors of
AAP. Kachhadiya had
contested on Congress
ticket, but as PAAS was
with AAP, he lost the
election against AAP
candidate. PAAS was
sympathetic to
Kachhadiya and other
Congress candidate Pa-
pan Togadiya, but
worked against them as
they were Congress
candidates. Though
AAP lost deposits in lo-
cal polls across Gujarat,
it could ensure victory
on 27 seats of Surat Mu-
nicipal Corporation
due to fight between
PAAS and Congress and
subsequent pact be-
tween PAAS and AAP.
First India Bureau
Junagadh: The Juna-
gadh district admin-
istration has decided
to do away with the
annual Ma-
hashivratri fair.
“To maintain the
customs and tradi-
tions, we will per-
form various ritu-
als in the presence
of a limited number
of sadhus. People
can watch these rit-
uals live at their
homes. I urge devo-
tees to cooperate.
Even we will main-
tain the social dis-
tance while per-
forming these ritu-
als,” said Maharaj.
Junagadh district
collector Saurabh
Pardhi also said
that the rituals will
be performed only
by select number of
seers.
“Lakhs of people
throng every year
to witness the Juna-
gadh fair. We can-
not put their health
in danger. Thus, it
has been decided
unanimously that
only important rit-
uals will be per-
formed in the pres-
ence of sadhus as
per the govern-
ment’’s guidelines,”
Pardhi said after at-
tending the meet-
ing.
As on Monday,
Gujarat’’s tally of
COVID-19 cases
stood at 2,70,316, as
per the state health
department.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: An
Ahmedabad court
has granted anticipa-
tory bail to two ac-
cused in a stone-pelt-
ing incident against
the police during
Covid-19 lockdown on
April 1, 2020.
The stone-pelting
happened during rou-
tine police patrolling in
Gomtipur.
Granting anticipato-
ry bail to the two ac-
cused, the court ob-
served that Ejaz Ansari
(47) and Azharrudin
Ansari (31) observed
that both the accused
are not named in the
FIR.
Also, the other co-
accused involved in
the offence was
granted bail by the
same court. No custo-
dial interrogation
was required and the
presence of the appli-
cants can be secured
by imposing certain
conditions, hence the
bail application was
allowed in their fa-
vour.
The advocate repre-
senting the accused ar-
gued before the court
that no direct or indi-
rect role was attributed
against both the appli-
cants. No prima facie
case was made out
against them. The ap-
plicants are required to
be released on the
ground of parity, the
counsel argued.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: It was
an environment al-
most like reopening
of schools, meeting
old friends after a
small vacation. But
vacations in cities
and district sessions
courts were much
longer than schools,
11 months long.
On Monday, advo-
cates burst crackers to
celebrate the resuming
physical hearing of cas-
es in four major cities,
Ahmedabad, Surat, Va-
dodara and Rajkot.
In all courts, physical
hearings started on
Monday, strictly follow-
ing the Covid-19 stand-
ard operating proce-
dure.
During the day, bar-
ring a few cases, almost
in all courts advocates
and clients followed the
standard operating pro-
cedure.
The office-bearers
of the Bar association
and the court admin-
istration had ar-
ranged sanitisation
facilities and even
masks were distrib-
uted. The courts were
functioning with so-
cial distancing norms.
Junagadh Mahashivratri fair
cancelled amid pandemic
Accused in Gomtipur
stone-pelting case gets bail
After 11
months,
courts resume
in 4 cities
Surat Patidar leader joins AAP
Ayesha Khan killed herself, and posted a video too.
MISLEADING
INFORMATION
—FILE PHOTO
—FILE PHOTO
GOING DIGITAL, MY FOOT!!!
A long queue was seen at the RTO in Ahmedabad after the online server there had stopped
functioning for the last four days. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

nd the fashion
forecast for
spring trend sug-
gests heavy print
fall along with
hues of pastel
and OTT accesso-
ries adornment. From Mi-
chael Kors Collection to
Balenciaga to Dolce
Gabbana all are in tune for
setting the biggest fashion
statement. Today, City
First will bring to you
fashion marvels’ runway
designs as inspiration for
your new spring ward-
robe-essentials.
PASTEL POWER
Nothing says spring like
the splash of 7 different
colours of the rainbow
better yet, their pastel
counterparts. Ranging
from soothing buttercup
yellows, lovely lilacs, peo-
ny pinks, to subtle blue-
bells. There’s a whole pool
of pastel to pick from.
SOOTHING SILHOUETTES
Stepping out of gloomy
winters and a stack of lay-
ers,we’venowsteppedinto
a wide world of tropical
summers and this only
means soothing silhou-
ettes. From billowing pop-
lin to soothing cotton to
flowy silk satin; spring
this season is looking
comfort+chic.
DRAMATIC DENIM
Gone are the days when
your XL denim belonged to
your boyfriend, dad or
brothers, it’s time to own
them yourself. Many run-
ways including Paris Fash-
ion week saw prominent
denim on denim looks
swayed majorly by over-
sized ripped jackets and
denim overalls.
GO BOLD OR GO HOME
Spring 2021 is all about
prints, from subdued dain-
tydaisiestopowerfulpolka
dots to neon peonies and
larger than life floral de-
signs. Bold prints are this
season’s favourite and a
stapleforyoutolooktrendy
.
Plus, from a fashion per-
spective, animal prints,
polkadotsanddaintyfloral
design never really leave
thefashioncapital.
TEXTURED DRAPES
This season is all
about bespoke de-
signs and textures
just add volume
and life to an en-
semble. Eventually,
ruffles, shoulder
pads, draped co-ord
sets have become
spring staples. Put
these textures with
prints like checks,
plaid and or even a
monochromatic
‘fit, it’ll make some
outstanding outfits.
These five fashion favour-
ites are this season’s para-
mount for you to look up to
date or like the French say
it, à la mode.
AHMEDABAD, TUESDAY
MARCH 2, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
HUES OF
SPRING!
The season of
fresh bloom
and striking
sunshine is
here. It’s the
season of new
beginnings and
a fresh new
wardrobe filled
with colours of
spring!
MONICA
PRABHAKAR
cityfirstgujarat@gmail.
A

10
ETC
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
NEHA AGARWAL, Journalist
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
You may have to be at your
convincing best, as spouse
may hold you accountable
for neglecting something
important. There is much that needs
to be done, so get to it right away. A
hectic day is foreseen, which may find
you running from pillar to post in
getting something done.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
It is certainly a wonder
how you manage to
become popular in any
set-up. You may remain
busy with additional work today.
Those in business will be able to
increase their net earnings. Help
from someone in finances will help
you overcome a tight situation.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
You are likely to
consolidate on whatever
you have achieved on the
social front up till now.
Spouse may compel you for
something that you are in no mood
of, but little you can do about it!
Someone is likely to help you make
the right decisions.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Reputation of those
associated with the media is
likely to rise. This is a good
day to look up someone,
who is persistent in inviting you over. A
tiff with spouse or family member
needs to be dealt empathetically. Those
working in IT sectors may need to go
for some skill enhancement courses.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Prospects of a journey to a
distant place may get you
all excited. Academic
aspirations of those
pursuing higher studies are likely to
be met. Some of you are all set to
expand your social circle. Spending
time with a friend is foreseen. Total
bliss is foreseen for new lovebirds.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Meeting your near and dear
ones is likely to keep you
much entertained. You will
feel proud of something
achieved at work. Great opportunities
await you on the academic front. Your
resolve to become fit is likely to bring
positive results on the health front. You
are likely to find your partner loving.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Planning something
exciting with friends is
possible today. Your
popularity is set to rise, as
you start getting more social. You
will need good negotiating skills to
swing a deal in your favour on the
professional front. There is a great
opportunity on the business front.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Some of you may take up a
new hobby or join some
class. You are likely to up
your profits without
hurting your client base. Key to good
man management is to keep the
subordinates happy. You will find
yourself at peace by opening up your
heart to the one you love.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Your spirit is likely to
motivate those around you.
It is a good time for
making new contacts.
Those in a joint family will enjoy total
harmony. Taking care of your health
should be your priority. Day is
favourable for those wanting to pop
the question or tie the knot.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You can get involved in
something important on
the social front. You may
get a chance to add to your
friends’ list, as you meet someone
exciting. Home will be a happy place
to be in today. A workplace colleague
may trigger romantic feelings in your
heart. You may excel in academics.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Suitable accommodation is
likely to be found for those
hunting. A property may
come through inheritance.
You will find everything moving
smoothly at work. Professionals are
likely to do well. You maintain good
health. Your popularity on the social
front is set to rise.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
New ideas are likely to
bring positive changes.
This is going to be a good
day overall. Helping
coworkers and colleagues will bring
you appreciation. Those facing
interview are likely to fare well. Huge
financial gains are apparent, provided
you are ready to take more risks.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
omance is a fine
expression of life,
universally found,
across all forms of
life - human, ani-
mal and plants in-
cluding trees. Ro-
mance transcends every
boundary - one can be ro-
mantic to a beloved but can
still feel so for a plant, tree,
flower, a bird or an animal
like a horse or anything on
planet earth including a
mountain or a lake. Ro-
mance is a state of mind.
Romance is no mathe-
matics, there are no calcu-
lations because it is an
overpowering experience
and for this, we need to
know the science of the
phenomenon called love.
There are three sequential
happenings when a person
enters a state called love.
Firstly, there is an ascend-
ing form of intimacy which
when reciprocated leads to
the second stage called pas-
sion. During the state of
passion, the lover finds
everything positive in the
beloved, thinks of no nega-
tive aspects and even if de-
tects something of dislike,
overlooks and ignores. The
love then enters the final
stage called commitment
which may last for a vari-
able duration depending
upon maturity and mutual
adjustment by the couple
or till the time burns out
the flame.
Love is a physiological
phenomenon while ro-
mance is its extension
based on curiosity and at-
titude. One may be in deep
love yet be a non-romantic
and dull person. Love is
controlled by hormones
while romanticism is a be-
havioural trait. Though
poets call it “ falling in
love” but psychologically a
person ascends to cloud
nine when in love with the
fantasy of bringing down
the moon and stars to the
feet of the beloved. Love
generates a lot of energy in
the body, especially in the
brain. The heart starts
pounding and blood starts
flowing in arteries at a fas-
cinating speed. The brain
and many glands of the
body start secreting many
compounds and hormones
like phenethylamine, dopa-
mine and oxytocin making
the person alert, excited
and wanting to bond with
the beloved. The palms
start sweating, there may
be lightheadedness and
narrowing of mental focus.
There comes plenty of pos-
itivity with racing of heart
rate and imagination.
The human brain loves a
euphoric, dreamy state of
innumerable and wild fan-
tasies and hence, is bio-
logically responsible for
love, not the pounding
heart who is merely an ex-
ternal manifestation. Re-
searches indicate that the
person in love enters an
unrealistic euphoric state
where nothing can go
wrong, the love lasting for
eternity and this happens
because of a surge of oxy-
tocin levels in the blood-
stream. The future conse-
quences and responsibili-
ties are neglected under
the desire to create a new
world of their own.
But love needs lust for its
emergence as well as surviv-
althoughvehementlydenied
by its participants. A logical
introspection would reveal
thatlustisanintegralpartof
the phenomenon of love and
this focused lust should be
accepted as a natural behav-
iour pattern. How can there
be love without desire? If it
still is then it is compassion.
Lust is mediated through
hormonecompoundslikedo-
pamine, adrenaline and no-
radrenaline.
When love happens and
romantic feelings start
cascading, serotonin hor-
mone levels in the blood
start falling. This same
phenomenon has been not-
ed in a well-known condi-
tion called obsessive-com-
pulsive disorder (OCD)
and this explains the fre-
quent occurrence of
crimes of passion or some
spectacular life achieve-
ments. As a natural rule,
nothing lasts forever. A
successful love gradually
matures into a friendly
and understanding com-
panionship that may last
for the whole life. But in
the majority of cases, the
monotony kills the rela-
tionship, passion gets lost,
bitterness and mutual nag-
ging become part of the
residual life.
The whole rela-
tionship then
survives only
on pressure of
family, society,
law, insecurity
and financial
d e p e n d e n c e.
The glands se-
creting those
wonderful hormones start
shrinking because of non-
use dystrophy. This hap-
pening can be called the
death of love.
Love, as noted, matures
or dies but its other beau-
tiful aspect romance is at
significant risk of extinc-
tion. Romance might be
facing an existential
threat. The flood of non-
sensical information, por-
nography, availability of
body for cash, total immer-
sion in mobile devices is
all killing the subtle art of
seduction which is the
soul of romance. You lis-
ten to old songs, read old
poetry or novels and then
compare with the stuff be-
ing thrown at you and you
will immediately notice
that innocence, subtlety
and curiosity have all been
replaced by a matter of
fact and directness. The
future of romantic love is
getting bleaker with the
dominance of pleasure-
seekers or egoists. Mobile
addiction and online chat-
ting both have taken away
the beauty of romance
with fakeness and decep-
tion in many cases. It ap-
pears that dominance of
money, materialism and
mobile may deplete the hu-
man race of romance and
genuine love.
SCIENCE OF LOVE
AND ART OF
ROMANCE
DR RAMAWTAR
SHARMA
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
R

SPOTTED!
Former
Indian
fashion
designer
turned
costume
designer
and stylist,
Manish
Malhotra
and
Bollywood
actress
Sarah Ali
Khan were
spotted at
Rambagh
Palace as
they will be
attending
the wedding
ceremony of
Nidhi Dutta,
daughter of
director J P
Dutta.
F
ilmmaker Mohit
Suri has all the
reasons to be on
cloud nine. After
all, the much talked
about the sequel of his
2014 release action
thriller has finally hit
the floors. Yes! Ek Vil-
lain Returns, which
stars Disha Patani,
John Abraham, Tara
Sutaria and Arjun Ka-
poor in the lead, has fi-
nally begun rolling. The
big announcement was
made by the makers on
social media as they
had shared the picture
of the clapperboard fea-
turing the mahurat
shot of Ek Vil-
lain Returns.
—Agency
H
ollywood veter-
ans Julia Rob-
ertsandGeorge
Clooney are
teaming up once again
for a new movie! The
Ocean’s Eleven alums
have joined the cast of
Ticket to Paradise, a
romantic comedy di-
rected by Ol Parker for
Universal Pictures. Julia and George will play a divorced
couple who decide to travel to Bali in an attempt to pre-
vent their daughter from making the same mistake they
made 25 years ago. —Agency
CITY FIRST
A
ctor Tiger Shroff began his
film career in 2014 with the
film Heropanti for which
he also won the Filmfare
Award for Best Male Debut. But
interestingly
, he was very fond of
playing football in his childhood
and he was not interested in act-
ing. With his well-toned and chis-
elled body, is one of the fittest
Bollywood actors today
. His signa-
ture six-pack abs, aerial kicks and
gravity-defying dance moves are
enough to make one envious. As he
celebrates his 31st birthday today,
City First wishes the star a very hap-
py birthday and all the best for his
future endeavours.
The 78th Golden
Globe Awards, the
HFPA’s first-ever
bicoastal and vir-
tual show, was
hosted by the dy-
namic duo of Tina
Fey and Amy Poe-
hler. Netflix’s peri-
od drama series
‘The Crown’
claimed the most
honours at the cer-
emony with bag-
ging the Golden
Globe for best TV
drama, in addition
to giving leads
Emma Corrin and
Josh O’Connor,
who play Princess
Diana and Prince
Charles respective-
ly, their first
Globes. ‘The
Crown’s’ Gillian
Anderson also won
for supporting ac-
tor in a TV series.
M e a n w h i l e ,
‘Schitt’s Creek’
nabbed two Globes,
for best comedy
and for actor Cath-
erine O’Hara and
Netflix’s ‘The
Queen’s Gambit’ won for limited
series and for actor Anya Taylor-
Joy. Several films nabbed two hon-
ours: Chloe Zhao’s ‘Nomadland’
claimed wins for best drama and
for the director, Amazon’s ‘Borat
Subsequent Moviefilm’ won the
best comedy and for actor Sacha
Baron Cohen, while Pixar’s ‘Soul’
won animated movie and original
score.
Other big winners include Andra
Day for actor in a movie drama for
‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’
and late star Chadwick Boseman for
the actor in the same category for
‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’. Daniel
Kaluuya, John Boyega, Jodie Foster,
Rosamund Pike, Jason Sudeikis,
and Mark Ruffalo also took home
acting trophies. —Agency
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021
11
RISE TO
STARDOM
I
nteracting with friends who’ve
watched RJ Cutler’s documenta-
ry on Billie Eilish’s rise to star-
dom, it is evident that assorted
elements of the two-hour-20-min-
ute film, The World’s a Little Blur-
ry, have affected viewers in dis-
tinct ways. Some are swayed by
Eilish’s giddy and earnest inter-
action with her idol, Justin Bie-
ber, one that reduces her
to tears; some are
moved by her battle
with tourette syn-
drome, which
Eilish has often
had to deal with
infullpublicglare.
—Agency
B
ollywood star Kiara Advani got
featured in a ‘Women Empower-
ment Anthem’ titled ‘I’m a rebel’
with Grammy-nominated multi-
platinum rapper Raja Kumari and fit-
ness model Bani Judge. The song that
has been launched near the occasion of
International Women’s
Day rejoices women who
want to explore, cele-
brate individuality
and live life un-
restrained.
—ANI
Golden Globes 2021
A
ctor Ranbir Kapoor had kicked off 2021 on
a high note as, on the first day of the New
Year, the actor’s film, Animal, with Kabir
Singh director Sandeep Reddy Vanga was of-
ficially announced with intriguing audio. And
now, as we begin March, the release date of
‘Animal’ starring Ranbir in the lead is out.
The film that promises to surprise Ranbir’s
fans is all set to release on Dussehra 2022.
‘Animal’ will also star Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol,
Parineeti Chopra in pivotal roles. —Agency
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY!
Ticket to Paradise
The crew of Ek Villian returns
Parineeti Chopra
Billie Eilish
Chadwick Boseman
Andra Day
Sacha Baron Cohen
Claire Foy
Jodie Foster
Anna Taylor-Joy
Rosamund Pike
I’M A REBEL
Big Announcement
EK VILLAIN
RETURNS
Disha Patani
Tiger Shroff
Ranbir Kapoor Kiara Advani
Julia Roberts and George Clooney

12
CITY BUZZ
BEAUTIFUL CEREMONY
A FEW MORE GLIMPSES FROM THE BEAUTIFUL WEDDING CEREMONY OF GEN SEC, CONGRESS RANDEEP SURJEWALA AND GAYATRI SURJEWALA’S
SON ARJUN TO VATSALA, DAUGHTER OF SURYA PRAKASH AND ADITI KHATRI, HELD ON SUNDAY AT HOTEL IMPERIAL, NEW DELHI. THE EVENING
WAS ATTENDED BY THE POLITICAL WHO’S WHO OF INDIA WHO BLESSED THE NEWLY WEDS AND INTERACTED WITH EACH OTHER TOO!
IAS Rohit Kumar Singh, IAS
Anandhi, IAS Parmeshwar
Lal, IPS Sanjib Kumar
Narzary and IPS Maruti Joshi
celebrated their birthdays on
Monday, March 1.We wish
them all the best!
HAPPY B’DAY!
WHAT’S HAPPENING!
SPOTTED!
Bollywood actress Sarah Ali Khan and Fashion Designer
Manish Malhotra were spotted at Rambagh Palace as they
will be attending the wedding ceremony of Nidhi Dutta,
daughter of director J P Dutta.
DURING THE DAY!
CONGRATULATIONS!
To create more employment opportunities for the youth, various
courses were initiated on Saturday at Mahaveer College of
Commerce under a joint venture with the Tele Academy and BSE
to ensure a Skills Development Program.
Urmila and Mines Minister Pramod Jain Bhaya celebrated their
wedding anniversary on Monday. The couple celebrated this
special occasion at their residence where their well-wishers
showered their love.
RAJ: The ‘Pick A Book’ Jaipur Chapter was launched at the Open
Theater of Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur with thirty members who
are book lovers. City President of Pick A Book Jaipur, Akshaya
Goyal said that the club will have a meeting every week in which a
book will be discussed by one member. KVT Ramesh, the Founder
of Pick A Book, came from Sri Lanka on this special occasion.
RAJ:The 7th edition of the Rajasthan International Film Festival (RIFF)
accredited by the Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI) (North
Region) will be organized by the RIFF Film Club in a hybrid format
from March 20 to 24 at Entertainment Paradise - Miraj Cinemas,
Jaipur and Miraj Bioscope Cinemas, Shastri Nagar, Jodhpur,
Rajasthan - India.The Founder, Director and CEO of RIFF Sommendra
Harsh mentioned that French officials will be present at the opening
ceremony and the festival shall set focus on french cinemas.
A day dedicated to the melodies of Dhruvapada was conducted
by Dhruv Public School on Monday as their monthly program
where a musical gathering entitled, Sabak, led by Gulzar Violin
Academy was held. Famous Dhrupad singers Ustad S Nafisuddin
Dagar and Ustad S Aneesuddin Dagar offered their lessons and
introduced kids of the new generation to their genre.
IIHMR University in collaboration with the American Society For Quality which is a 75-year-old
organisation announced the launch of the Executive Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate
Program.The programme will be jointly conducted by IIHMR University and the American
Society For Quality (ASQ).The programmes aim is to sensitize towards quality improvement in
the health sector.This programme will begin its first phase from March 11-13.
RAJ: Department
of Art Culture,
Government of
Rajasthan and
Jawahar Kala Kendra
(JKK) presented the
Artist Collaboration
Series Episode-2: ‘Lok
Anuranjan’ - a Virtual
Series of folk and Sufi
performances. The
programme began on
Monday and will be on
till Wednesday, March
3 from 6 pm onwards.
To celebrate the
occasion of National
Science Day, a program
with the theme,
‘Future of Science
Technology and
Innovation: Impacts on
Education, Skills and
Work’ was conducted
virtually by Manipal
University Jaipur
(MUJ) on Monday to
commemorate the
Nobel Prize-winning
discovery of ‘Raman
Effect’ by C V Rama.
RAJ: Rajasthan
Studio bagged the
Silver award under
the category of
‘Best Alternative
Livelihood Initiative,’
for its brilliant
initiative Aathun, by
the esteemed Indian
Responsible Tourism
Awards 2021. The
award was presented
by Jyoti Prakash
Panigrahi, Minister of
Tourism and Culture,
Odisha.
Sachin Pilot, Govind S Dotasra, Ajay Dubey and Ram Lal Jat at the wedding
Former CM of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath
reached to bless the newly weds
Kumari Shelja with Randeep and Gayatri Surjewala and the
newly weds Arjun and Vatsala
CONDOLENCES!
Gul Bai Devi, mother of IAS Kunji Lal Meena left for her heavenly abode at the age of 90
on Saturday. The condolence meet was organised at their native village Bamanwas on
Monday where various Ministers, political leaders and bureaucrats from across the state
reached to pay their respects. Lalchand Kataria, Udai Lal Anjana, Rajendra Yadav, Mahadev
Singh Khandela, Namo Narain Meena, Asha Meena, Lalit Mehra, Neeraj K Pawan, Rajendra
Kishan and Sudhir Chaudhary among others paid their condolences to the bereaved family.
MANAVADITYA
OUTSHINES CORONA
CITY FIRST
n a ‘weekend
competition’,
R a j a s t h a n’s
star shooter
Manavaditya
Rathore won
the gold medal
with a score of 70/75,
winning over the pan-
demic that ate a full
year of practice.
The shooters won
against corona by show-
ing their outstanding
performance even after
minimalpractice.Ma-
navaditya Rathore
led the competition
with a huge margin,
while Devansh Tha-
waria and Aditya
Bharadwaj won the sil-
ver and bronze medals,
respectively
, with scores
of 68/75 each.
It was tough for
shooters to main-
tain their pre-pan-
demic performance,
however, Manav proved
his mettle by giving a
consistent performance
and is all set for the up-
coming Rajasthan State
Championship to be
held on March 5. This
competition proved to
be a great build-up for
the upcoming state
championships for all
our budding shooters.
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
I
Manavaditya Rathore

First india ahmedabad edition-02 march 2021

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