Residents protest govt's plan to 'modernize' Mahatma's Sabarmati Ashram

Revival of hope: Gandhi Ashram inmates could get to stay longer
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Usually,
delays in a govern-
ment project are
cause for complaint.
Not this time, though,
and not for the 200
families who have
been protesting the
proposed “upgrada-
tion” to the Gandhi
Ashram.
Last year, the Centre
and the state govern-
ment had announced
that Mahatma Gandhi’s
Sabarmati Ashram
would be converted into
a “World Class Complex
by October 2, 2020”. The
activists and families
who live in the Ashram
had opposed the move
vehemently.
However, the gov-
ernment’s plan is yet
to take off, at least
partly due to the COV-
ID-19 pandemic.
This has brought a
glimmer of hope to Ash-
ram residents such as
Dhimant Badhiya. He is
one of about 2,500 peo-
ple who call the Harijan
Ashram their home--
many of their forefa-
thers were brought here
from different parts of
the country by the Ma-
hatma Gandhi between
1917 and 1930. They
have been the most vo-
cal opponents of the
plan to “modernize” the
32-acres Ashram com-
plex, and now hope to
be allowed to stay on the
premises for some more
time.
Badhiya claims the
government is trying
to buy people out of
their traditional
homes. “The govern-
ment is reaching out
via influential people
to the families who
live here and trying
to lure them with the
offer of a new resi-
dence--a flat--and
some money to va-
cate the place. And
they are doing all
this quietly so as to
avoid any mass pro-
tests,” he said.
He added, “Not a sin-
gle family wants any
change to the existing
structure. We want the
government to reveal
its idea. We want to see
their plan. Our families
have been staying here
for more than 100 years.
We have a special at-
tachment to this place.
We want to keep Bapu’s
memory alive. But the
government is content
to keep us in the dark
instead of meeting with
us and sharing its vi-
sion,” he said.
Residents have been protesting the
government’s plan to “modernize”
the Mahatma’s Sabarmati Ashram
NO UPGRADE NEEDED
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ASSEMBLY POLLS: SHAH TO LEAD
BJP’S CHARGE IN BENGAL
P6
REMEMBERING GANDHIJI IN
THE TIME OF COVID-19
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
AHMEDABAD l FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 307
Aditi Nagar
Noida: High drama pre-
vailed on Thursday af-
ter Uttar Pradesh Police
personnel pushed for-
mer Congress President
Rahul Gandhi to the
ground on the Yamuna
Expressway and de-
tained him while he was
walking towards Hath-
ras to meet the family of
the rape victim. Gandhi,
along with his sister Pri-
yanka and other senior
leaders, had left Delhi in
the morning to meet the
family of the victim.
Later both Rahul and
Priyanka were detained
by UP police. Sources
said they were taken
awayinapolicejeepand
kept in a guest house for
sometime after which
they were release. They
are now headed back to-
wards Delhi escorted by
the UP police, they said.
Turn on P6
RAHULPUSHEDINCOPSCUFFLEIn dramatic scenes on highway between Delhi & UP, as Cong leaders Rahul & Priyanka
marched to meet family of gang-rape victim cremated in the dead of the night
Dr Anita
Patna: Chief Election
Commissioner Sunil
Arora on Thursday said
the election panel is
committed to safe and
secure election in Bihar
amid Covid-19 pandem-
ic. Arora was briefing
media persons in Patna
at the end of three day
Bihar visit for review
of poll preparedness in
the state.
The CEC said the
commission will ensure
conducive atmosphere
for polls in Corona pe-
riod and Bihar elec-
tions will be a step to-
wards leap of faith.
Hesaidthenumberof
polling stations have
been increased to over
1.06 lakh to manage the
crowd. Only 1,000 voters
will be allowed at one
polling booth. The CEC
said nodal medical offic-
ers have been appointed
at three levels to oversee
the Covid-19 preventive
arrangements.
Chief Electoral Offic-
er and all District Elec-
tion Officers have been
asked to ensure preven-
tive measures to curb
Covid cases. He said the
voter’s awareness pro-
gramme SVEEP will fo-
cus on such preventive
measures.
Arora added that
free, fair and peaceful
election will be ensured
and those who will try
to incite communal and
caste violence using so-
cial media will be dealt
with stringent law.
Committedtoholdsafe&
securepollsinBihar:CEC
Cong leader
Ahmed Patel
tests Corona
positive
New Delhi: Senior
Congress leader
Ahmed Patel said he
has tested positive for
Covid-19 and has gone
into self-isolation at his
New Delhi residence on
Thursday. Taking to
Twitter, Patel urged
those who had come in
contact with him re-
cently to self-isolate.
Meanwhile, CM Ashok
Gehlot took to twitter
and wished the senior
Congress leader a
speedy recovery.
Pak violates ceasefire in J&K,2 soldiers killed
Srinagar: Three sol-
diers of the Indian army
were killed and five in-
jured in separate inci-
dents during heavy
shelling by Pakistan
alongtheLineof Control
in Jammu and Kashmir.
The troops responded
strongly to the enemy
fire, said the army, al-
leging that Pakistan
used mortars to target
Indian positions.
“A befitting response
is being given,” the
army said. The cease-
fire violation started
last night as Pakistan
launched unprovoked
firing in the Mankote
and Krishna Ghati sec-
tors, a defense spokes-
person said today.
Two soldiers were
killed in firing by Paki-
stan in the Nowgam sec-
tor of Kupwara district
in North Kashmir early
this morning.
A third soldier was
killed in overnight fir-
ing in Poonch. The in-
jured soldiers were
evacuated, the spokes-
man said. —ANI
VVIP PLANE AIR
INDIA ONE ARRIVES
Custom-made B777 aircraft will be used to fly the President, Vice President and Prime Minister, arrived in
Delhi from the US on Thursday. Air India One, which is the call sign of the aircraft, has state-of-the-art missile
defence systems called Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) and Self-Protection Suites (SPS).
During the travel of the VVIPs, the two B777 aircraft will be operated by pilots of the Indian Air Force.
ASHOK GEHLOT
@ASHOKGEHLOT51
I condemn strongly
the way UP police has
detained Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
ji & Priyanka
Gandhi ji illegally.
They misbehaved
with Rahul ji. This
is undemocratic
& brutal use of
force. UP BJP
Govt’s attempt to
harass opposition
leaders like this is
reprehensible.
HATHRAS WOMAN NOT RAPED: UP POLICE
Lucknow: Forensic report of Hathras victim, who succumbed to her injuries follow-
ing an alleged gang rape, shows that she was not raped, Uttar Pradesh ADG (Law
and Order) Prashant Kumar said on Thursday. “The forensic science laboratory
report clearly says that sperm was not found in the samples collected from the
woman... The report has made it clear that the woman was not raped,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile taking suo motu cognisance of the death, Lucknow bench of Allahabad
HC issued notices to UP govt on Thursday. Victim’s family has demanded CBI probe.
OPPN FLAYS COPS
The Opposition leaders also came down hard
on the UP government. While NCP chief Pawar
called the “reckless behaviour” of Uttar Pradesh
Police towards Rahul Gandhi “extremely con-
demnable”, DMK president M K Stalin demand-
ed that UP CM Yogi Adityanath apologise for the
“inhumane treatment” meted out to Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi being
roughed up by UP Police
at Yamuna Expressway
while he was on his way
to Hathras, on Thursday;
Rahul fell down as he is
manhandled; Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra takes a look
at Rahul’s hand.
—Photos by ANI
CEC Sunil Arora addressing a press conference for the upcoming
Bihar Assembly elections, in Patna on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI
HATHRAS
HIGH
DRAMA
P4

NEWSAHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Haresh Jhala
G a n d h i n a g a r :
Groundnut procure-
ment in Gujarat hit a
speed bump on Day 1,
as farmers lined up at
their village panchay-
at offices, only to find
that Village Comput-
er Entrepreneurs
(VCEs) were on strike,
meaning they could
not fill online forms
for registering their
harvests. Still, the
farmers are hopeful
that they will be
spared from further
such trouble when ac-
tual procurement be-
gins on October 21.
With as many as
13,000 VCEs across the
state set to continue
their strike until the
government regulariz-
es their services and
releases the dues owed
to them, disappointed
farmers complain that
there is no surety of
when the registration
process will resume.
However, Deputy
Chief Minister Nitin
Patel has assured farm-
ers that the VCE strike
will be addressed soon
and that the registra-
tion process will begin
again. He also assured
farmers that registra-
tion for crop-damage
compensation would
also continue in a time-
ly manner.
The government is
procuring groundnut
through the state-run
Gujarat State Civil Sup-
plies Corporation Ltd.
It will set up a procure-
ment centre at 130
APMC across the state,
said Sanjay Modi, Gen-
eral Manager of the
corporation.
Speaking on the
VCE strike, Modi said,
“The corporation has
paid VCEs Rs24 lakh
for the last round of
registration. If there
are any pending dues,
they will be cleared at
the earliest.”
As of Thursday after-
noon, as many as 2,300
farmersmanagedtoreg-
ister their harvests de-
spite the glitches. Modi
added that since a num-
ber of documents need
to be uploaded, the reg-
istration is being kept
open from 6 am to late
evening. “Each VCE has
his limitation so we
don’t expect a very high
number of registrations
from each centre on a
daily basis,” he said.
Since the agriculture
department wants to
procure 25% of the pro-
duction, the corpora-
tion has planned to pro-
cure 13.60 lakh tonnes
of groundnut from
farmers. The state
warehousing corpora-
tion has tied up with
2,000 godowns where
the procured ground-
nut will be stocked.
The corporation ex-
pects farmers to fol-
low the prescribed
quality standards and
so they don’t face re-
jection. It is planning
to depute professors
and assistant profes-
sors from Agricul-
ture Universities to
ensure that there is
no complaint from
farmers. Deputy
mamlatdars and tala-
tis will also be deput-
ed from district col-
lectorates to super-
vise the procurement
process that is slated
to begin October 21.
NOW, BIANNUAL FIRE NOC MANDATORY
FOR HIGH-RISE, COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: A day
after it was pulled up
by the state High
Court for its lax im-
plementation of fire
safety norms, the
state government has
now announced that
high-rise and com-
mercial buildings
will have to update
their fire NOCs (no-
objection certificates)
every six months.
Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani also said that
youth with Bachelors
degrees in electrical
and mechanical engi-
neering will be trained
in fire safety norms and
regulations and will be
hired as fire safety offic-
ers. They will then be
employed to inspect
high-rise buildings, as
well as commercial
ones such as hotels, hos-
pitals, colleges and in-
dustrial units.
Gujarat has more
than five lakh build-
ings that require fire
safety certification.
Until recently, these
buildings were re-
quired to procure an
NOC from the fire de-
partment. However,
under Thursday’s di-
rective, which comes
into immediate effect,
they will need to get
the document re-
newed every six
months.
Also on Thursday, Ru-
pani e-launched vari-
ous projects of the
sports, youth and cul-
tural department
through video confer-
ence from Gandhina-
gar. These development
works include a mobile
to sports platform, Em-
ployment Guidance
Centres for athletes,
and projects to develop
sports grounds in 500
villages.
On the occasion,
Rupani reiterated the
state’s commitment
to providing intensive
training to Gujarat’s
enthusiastic and tal-
ented sportspersons
oat the national and
international level
and to ensure their
employment.
He added, “Just like
Gujarat is Number One
in start-up rankings, in-
novation and in the es-
tablishment of various
universities, now we
have to become a leader
in sports activities in
the future.”
To this end, the gov-
ernment has taken an
innovative initiative
to develop sports
fields in 500 villages
in an effort to develop
sports at the rural
level in order to moti-
vate the youth to-
wards sports.
Rupani also said that
the state government
has set up a vast net-
work of sports training
centres through the
Sports Authority of
Gujarat and developed
the infrastructure to
provide intensive train-
ing to the youth
through sports com-
plexes in every district
up to the level of the
Olympic Games.
In addition, a budg-
et of Rs500 crore has
been allocated for the
development of
sports activities. Khel
Mahakumbh and
Kala Mahakumbh are
platforms for the
youth to show their
skills and passion.
l Rupani govt says engineers
to be trained as third-party
inspectors for fire safety
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani also launched sports and youth cultural programmes through a video
conference on Thursday.
PLAYING IT SAFE
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In the
last week of Septem-
ber, the state Assem-
bly passed the Goonda
and Anti-Social Ac-
tivities (Prevention)
Bill, 2020, amid oppo-
sition from the Con-
gress party, who al-
leged that the Bharati-
ya Janata Party was
using the Bill to hide
its failure in curbing
crime in Gujarat.
Now, Mujahid Na-
fees—the convenor of
the Minority Coordi-
nation Committee—
has written to Guja-
rat Governor Acharya
Devvrat, requesting
that he not sign the
Bill that would create
the new Goonda Act.
The law is meant to
target people indulging
in anti-social activities,
such as gambling, drug
trafficking, human and
immoral trafficking,
kidnapping, land grab-
bing, loan sharking,
bootlegging, etc. How-
ever, Nafees points out
that the Bill does not
clearly define the term
“goonda” and hence
could be used to target
minorities and other
marginalized groups.
“The passed Bill is
totally unconstitution-
al. The definition of
‘goonda’ is unclear. It
allows the police to ar-
rest as any individual
as a goonda—even if he
or she is advocating
about the rights of a
group, caste or commu-
nity. This also means
that the owner or offic-
er of any factory or in-
dustrial unit can label a
labourer as a goonda if
they talk about justice
or demand any rights,”
he stated.
He added that many
provisions in the Bill
which are in conflict
with existing laws/acts.
“The PASA (Preven-
tion of Anti-Social Ac-
tivities) Act has been
in existence since
1985. Yet, the govern-
ment wants to intro-
duce a new Act on the
pretext that PASA
does not deal with
matters like gam-
bling, land grabbing,
illegal trade and the
sale of liquor. So, I
want to know who has
failed to implement
the existing acts and
laws? What steps have
been taken against
them?” he asked.
Nafees also alleged
that the Goonda Act is
merely a means to stop
political protests and
mute the voices of hu-
man rights activists. “I
haveappealedtothegov-
ernor not to sign the Bill
and make it an Act. I re-
questedhimtowithdraw
this bill,” Nafees said.
MinorityCommitteeasksGov
towithdrawGoondaBill2020
Gujarat Assembly. —FILE PHOTOS
Groundnut harvests arrive at the Rajkot Market yard. —FILE PHOTOS
WITH1,300VILLAGECOMPUTERENTREPRENEURSONANINDEFINITESTRIKE,MANYFARMERSWEREFORCEDTOGOHOMEEMPTY-HANDED
FARMERS’ REGISTRATION
HITS SNAG ON DAY 1

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020
1,351 fresh cases and 10 more fatalities in the past 24 hours take the state’s total tally up to 1,38,745 cases and death toll to 3,463
Haresh Jhala
Ahmedabad: Its low
population density
should have made
Dang district more or
less bulletproof
against the spread of
the novel coronavirus.
Yet, COVID-19 has
found its way even
here. The district has
so far reported a total
of 105 confirmed cas-
es. The only saving
grace is that Dang dis-
trict—despite not hav-
ing the best health
infrastructure—has
not reported any fa-
talities resulting from
the Sars-CoV-2 virus,
making it an excep-
tion among the state’s
districts.
Surat lies at the other
end of the spectrum
with a death toll of 288,
followed by Ahmedabad
(193), Rajkot (155), Va-
dodara (134), and Jam-
nagar (92) till date. In
the past 24 hours, the
state has conducted
56,738 tests, and thus de-
tected 1,351 new cases.
There are now 16,717 ac-
tive cases in the state,
with 89 patients on ven-
tilator support. Ten pa-
tients died in the past 24
hours—four from Surat,
three from Ahmedabad,
and one each from
Panchmahal, Vadodara
and Sabarkantha.
On the first day of the
fourth month, Surat still
topsthelistof single-day
jumps, having reported
288 new cases on Thurs-
day. Of these, 176 came
from the city and 112
came from rural areas.
There are now 2,516 ac-
tive cases in the district.
Ahmedabad wit-
nessed 193 cases, 172
werefromthecityand21
from rural areas. The
Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation has de-
clared eight new micro-
containment zones,
bringing the total of
such zones up to 197.
Vadodara city tested
4,381 samples, of which
117 came back sero-posi-
tive. There are now 1,661
active cases there. An
Assistant Sub-Inspector
succumbed to the virus.
Other cases have
come from Rajkot (155),
Vadodara (158), Jamna-
gar (92), Bhavnagar
(46), Gandhinagar (37),
Banaskantha (34), Am-
reli (31), Patan (28), Ju-
nagadh (27), Kutch (26),
Panchmahal (24) and
Bharuch (22).
Dang only district with zero nCov deaths
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: For
centuries, the village
of Rupal in Gandhi-
nagar district has
played host to Palli,
an annual procession
organized on the
ninth night of
Navratri, in which
hundreds of tonnes
of ghee are offered to
the Goddess Vardayi-
ni. This year, howev-
er, Palli is likely to be
severely scaled
down—assuming it is
held at all—and may
be reduced to just a
symbolic procession
due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
During the Palli pro-
cession, a rath of God-
dess Vardayini taken
out from the middle of
the village.
Thousands of devo-
tees join the procession
on its way to the main
temple, and pour ghee
on the idol to seek bless-
ings from the goddess.
There are two leg-
ends associated with
the annual event.
First, the village is
believed to have pro-
vided shelter to the
Pandavas—who hid
their weapons in Ru-
pal—at some point dur-
ing their exile. They
then stopped here again
on their way home to
collect their weapons,
and offered ghee to the
goddess.
Similarly, Maharaja
Siddhraj Jaysinh of the
Solanki dynasty is also
believed to have sought
the goddess’s blessing
before going to war—a
war which he then won.
These two instances
have led to the belief
that one’s wishes are
granted if prayers are
offered here.
This year, to avoid
a further spread of
COVID-19, leaders
from various social
and cultural groups
as well as the village
panchayat have de-
cided to meet the
Gandhinagar district
collector with a re-
quest to allow a sym-
bolic procession of
the rath or Palli. Lo-
cal sources say that
only limited villagers
will be allowed in this
year’s procession,
which will be closed
to outsiders.
Historic annual Rupal Palli on hold this Navratri?

Centuries-old
rath procession
usually sees
thousands of
devotees pour
tonnes of ghee
over the idol of
Goddess Var-
dayini to seek
her blessings
Traditional Palli celebrations. —FILE PHOTO
Out of hosp, Cong’s Solanki
to take break from politics
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Having
been was discharged
from the hospital on
Thursday, Congress
leader and former
Union Minister
Bharatsinh Solanki
has said he is un-
sure of when he will
return to active pol-
itics. He had been
hospitalized for 101
days, 51 of which he
spent on ventilator
support.
“I am very grateful
to the doctors and
nursing staff for this
opportunity. Millions
of Congress workers
prayed for my health,”
he said, adding, “I
have received a new
lease on life but I am
not sure when I will
be able to return to ac-
tive politics.”
Solanki had tested
positive for the novel
coronavirus in June.
In addition to COV-
ID-19, he was also
treated for issues in-
cluding high blood
pressure, kidney prob-
lems, and asthma.
M e a n w h i l e ,
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi in-
quired about Solan-
ki’s health over a
phone call. The PM
said Solanki has
shown remarkable
courage during his
101-day ordeal, and
wished him good
health in the future.
GHCAAcallsforjustice
formurderedadvocate
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
Gujarat High Court
Advocate Associa-
tion (GHCAA) has
condemned the
murder of Dalit ad-
vocate and activist
Devjibhai Mahesh-
wari in Rapar town
of Kutch district.
The association has
also written to the
state government
demanding justice
for the family of the
deceased.
In a letter to Chief
Minister Vijay Rupa-
ni, GHCAA has de-
manded that strict ac-
tion be taken against
all those accused in
the stabbing of the ad-
vocate in accordance
with the law. They
have also asked that
the trial be handed
over to a special court.
Advocate Mahesh-
wari was stabbed to
death when he was
entering his office last
Friday evening. In her
statement to the po-
lice, Maheshwari’s
wife Meenakshiben
alleged that 11 per-
sons conspired to
murder her husband
over disputed commu-
nity hall property. She
had also alleged that
the murder was politi-
cally motivated.
The police arrested
Bharat Rawal, the
prime accused who
had been caught red-
handed on CCTV cam-
eras, in Mumbai with-
in 24 hours of the
murder. Border Range
Inspector-General JR
Mothaliya had consti-
tuted and headed a
Special Investigation
Team to handle the
manhunt.
The Dalit commu-
nity in Rapar had
staged protests for
three consecutive
days following the
murder. Advocate
Maheshwari’s rela-
tives had also refused
to take possession of
his body for final
rites. They had said
that they would ac-
cept the body only af-
ter all the eleven per-
sons accused by
Meenakshiben were
arrested. However,
the police intervened
and the relatives fi-
nally took possession
of the deceased’s
body on Monday. He
was later cremated at
his native village in
Abdasa taluka.
NDDB to launch ‘companion’
helpline for dairy farmers
First India Bureau
Anand: The National
Dairy Development
Board (NDDB) has
launched a helpline
number to help dairy
farmers achieve high-
er productivity. The
helpline number will
be launched on Gan-
dhi Jayanti on Friday.
Dilip Rath, chairman
of NDDB, said, “From
guiding the farmers to
providing crucial infor-
mation for enhancing
animal productivity,
NDDB’s call centre will
prove to be a true com-
panion of farmers. This
exclusive call centre’s
aim is to further
strengthen dairy farm-
ing and help farmers
emerge as an empow-
ered community.”
Pashu Mitra is aimed
at providing substantial
relief to dairy farmers
and facilitating aware-
ness creation of scien-
tific dairying. The facil-
ity can be used by dairy
farmers for their que-
ries related to animal
health, animal nutrition
and animal breeding.
Farmers can dial
7574835051 and their
questions will be an-
swered by concerned
experts from NDDB.
The call centre will
operate on weekdays
from 9.30 am to 6.00
pm. Farmers can leave
a recorded message on
holidays and will be
contacted on the next
working day.
High Court of Gujarat. —FILE PHOTO
QUICK OVERVIEW OF NEW CASES
People maintain social distancing as they wait to get tested for COVID-19 in Ahmedabad.
Bharatsinh Solanki leaves the hospital in the company of
party leaders and medical staff. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
IN THE AIR, ON THE GROUND
Major General Roy Joseph, Additional Director General, NCC Directorate Gujarat, Dadra
and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu (seen here alongside Group Captain Jignashu Mankad,
Commanding Ofﬁcer 2 Gujarat Air Squadron NCC, Ahmedabad in the blue uniform)
inaugurated the ﬁrst Zen Air Microlight Flight Simulator at Ahmedabad on Thursday. The
simulator is expected to be a boon to beginners, who can now be trained in risky procedures
while on the ground. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
38 Surat
police officers
donate blood
Unemployed
youth turns
robber to
repay debts
First India Bureau
Surat: As many as 38
police officers includ-
ing the city police com-
missioner, DCP and
ACP donated blood on
Thursday to mark Na-
tional Voluntary
Blood Donation Day,
and to send a unique
message to society to
come forward and do-
nate blood.
Variousprogrammes,
campaigns and blood
donation camps are
held each year on Octo-
ber 1 to create aware-
ness about blood dona-
tion in the city. This
year, the donation drive
was held at Ambika Ni-
ketan Temple.
Police Commissioner
Ajay Kumar Tomar
said, “It came to my no-
tice that there is a short-
age of blood in the city.
So the Surat police de-
cided to donate blood
first and then create
awareness. We hope oth-
er people also come for-
ward to donate blood.”
First India Bureau
A h m e d a b a d :
Sola police were
surprised to
learn that a
youth they ar-
rested on Thurs-
day in connec-
tion with a rob-
bery earlier this
week had a mas-
ter’s degree in
I n f o r m a t i o n
Technology. Ac-
cording to po-
lice, the accused
had lost his job
due to the lock-
down and was
under pressure
to repay a debt.
Sola police were
investigating a
burglary at Som-
villa Bungalows.
The accused,
Nirav Patel, was
working with a
leading insurance
company, but he
lost his job during
the lockdown. To
repay his debt, he
planned out his
robbery and
reached Somvilla
Bungalows, where
he tied up a doc-
tor’s family and
robbed them of
Rs52,000. Police
nabbed the ac-
cused after check-
ing CCTV footage
of the residence.
Policesaytheac-
cused had even sto-
len a bike to com-
mit the offence.
The lockdown had
brought deep fi-
nancial problems
to the youth, who
was otherwise liv-
ing a normal life.
According to po-
lice sources, the
accused took les-
sons in robbery
from crime seri-
als. But what he
missed was that at
the end of every
show, justice pre-
vails, more often
than not.
Dalit advocate
Devjibhai Maheshwari
was stabbed to death
last Friday
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 307 G RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.
Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020
WHAT IS UP
GOVT TRYING
TO HIDE IN
HATHRAS CASE
s opposition parties took to the
streets, some obvious questions
were hurled at the government of
Uttar Pradesh which is being ac-
cused of concealing the truth
about the Dalit girl who was raped and stran-
gled in the state’s Hathras district on Sep-
tember 14. What is it that the district police
and administration are trying to hide by
furtively burning the victim’s body at 3 a.m.
against the tenets of Sanatan dharma of
which Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is a
strong proponent? As per Hindu customs, a
body should not be cremated at night. Sec-
ond, what was the hurry to dispose of the
body in the absence of the victim’s parents
and siblings and then lie about the presence
of relatives? What was the need to keep the
media away from the victim’s home and why
did the Hathras district magistrate threaten
the family members from depending too
much on the media? Why is the administra-
tion not taking any cognizance of the girl’s
dying statement in which she said she was
gang-raped and dismisses the rape charge
outright? And why did the chief minister
wait for the girl to die and a nudge from the
prime minister himself to talk to her family
even though his promise of making UP safe
for women went up in flames with the rape
victim’s body?
These are the questions that the opposition
parties are asking of the government which
is riding high on its communal plank and low
on the promise of law and order as the gov-
ernment is doing its best to ensure that let the
sound bytes die out to prevent the opposition
parties, especially the Congress, from run-
ning away with the issue.
Already the media focus was on Rahul
Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra who led a march to share the bereaved
family’s grief. They were stopped on the way
and detained under Section 188, defying of-
ficial orders, before being sent back to Delhi
by policemen. In a scuffle with policemen,
Rahul Gandhi fell on the ground. The Con-
gress leader alleged that he was hit by a lathi
blow and pushed to the ground. The Bharati-
ya Janata Party called it a drama for optics.
But that is what political parties, including
the BJP do whenever such a tragedy hap-
pens. Women, however, continue to remain
soft targets for rapists in UP and many other
states.
As two more rapes were reported from the
state on Thursday, the Opposition demanded
the chief minister’s resignation. It is a de-
mand that will remain unfulfilled as Yogi
Adityanath has risen quite a few notches in
the eyes of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak
Sangh for the way he has handled Ayodhya,
Muslims, and other pro-Hindu issues. He will
come in useful in case the Gyanvapi mosque
at Varanasi is to be targeted.
IN-DEPTH
A s the world reels under the un-
relenting onslaught of the Co-
rona pandemic and as we await
the launch of an effective vac-
cine it may be worth its while
to learn some lessons from the
life and actions of Mahatma
Gandhi on the ways and means
of tackling the problems that
have arisen due to the pandem-
ic. The advantage of such an
exercise is that Gandhiji used
to desist from verbosity and
would consistently render
practical, useful advice based
on his own experiments and
personal learning. Hence his
prescriptions are easy to follow
and quite simple to implement.
As we are well aware, the eco-
nomic damage caused by the
Corona virus is phenomenal
across the globe. India has also
been affected rather badly. One
of the most badly affected seg-
ments of society is closely con-
nected to the rural sector. I
speak of the innumerable num-
bers of migrants situated
largely from two of India’s
most populous states-Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar. The situa-
tion in states like Rajasthan
and Madhya Pradesh is also
rather worrying. As things
stand, lakhs of migrant work-
ers from these states who had
been gainfully employed in
other parts of India have large-
ly returned to their home
states. They have added to the
already existing large numbers
of unemployed youth.
It is thus evident that devis-
ing ways and means for reviv-
ing the economy in the states
of India in such a manner that
the rural sector generates em-
ployment and derives benefit is
of paramount importance. For
states like Rajasthan and Guja-
rat, tourism was a major player
in keeping the economy mov-
ing. The pandemic has affected
the rural sector of these states
the most. The moot point on
this day of Gandhi Jayanti is to
ponder on what the Mahatma
would have done to alleviate
the distress that is so evident
due to the economy having en-
tered a nosedive. The first les-
son that we must derive from
Gandhiji’s life is that he was
always a highly innovative
thinker. All of Gandhiji’s ac-
tions were very much out of
the box. The other point that I
wish to mention is that Gan-
dhiji was never against the use
of technology. There has been
a very misleading impression
and even propaganda which
has been perpetuated that Gan-
dhiji was opposed to the use of
technology. How can we ignore
the facts that Gandhi was for-
ever using the telegraph and
the railways for his activities.
At Wardha, he had also in-
stalled a telephone booth so
that he could communicate
with the world at large. In addi-
tion, he had also set up a poly-
technic for women at Wardha
on whose governing body Gan-
dhiji had nominated leading
scientists such as C.V. Raman
and J. C. Bose. Gandhiji is also
on record as having said that
the only technology that he did
not like was the kind that ex-
ploited humans. In fact, he has
stated that he was a great ad-
mirer of the Singer sewing ma-
chine because it helped make
the task of sewing that much
easier. Hence, it is my conten-
tion that Gandhiji would have
been happy to use technology
to advantage in devising ways
and means that would help re-
vive the economy. Then the
question arises that Gandhi be-
ing Gandhi, would have made
some clear and practical sug-
gestions. For instance, when he
saw the economic distress of
India’s starving millions-espe-
cially in the rural areas-he
came up with the suggestion of
popularizing the use of the
spinning wheel or the charkha.
Lest anyone get the impression
that this was a utopian and im-
practical idea that could not
help bring-about economic
emancipation they are mistak-
en. The charkha is a good and
valuable starting point. State
governments through their lo-
cal arms at the block level must
straightaway ensure the best
possible Internet connections
and access of networks for vil-
lages and the availability of
tablets or even cell phones to
selected groups of people. A
whole self-employment and
economic empowerment pro-
gramme can then be generated
by mentoring by experts
through a largely online pro-
cess for several activities start-
ing with the charkha and lead-
ing up to textile and garment
production through indige-
nous designs that when done in
creative ways can generate a
huge market. E. F. Schumach-
er’s ideas on Gandhian eco-
nomics through his book
‘Small Is Beautiful’ would also
be most suited in this context.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
REMEMBERING GANDHIJI
IN THE TIME OF COVID-19
A
Gandhiji is
also on record
as having said
that the only
technology
that he did not
like was the
kind that
exploited
humans. In
fact, he has
stated that h
The pandemic has
affected the rural
sector of these states
the most. The moot
point on this day of
Gandhi Jayanti is to
ponder on what the
Mahatma would have
done to alleviate the
distress that is so
evident due to the
economy having
entered a nosedive
As the heat of a fire reduces
wood to ashes, the fire of
knowledge burns to ashes all
karma. —Bhagavad Gita
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal
Railway Emerges Victorious From
COVID-19! Rail Coach Factory
manufactured 601 LHB coaches in
current ﬁnancial year as against 366
last year in same period. Railways
is taking the vision of Make in India
to newer heights to ensure safer &
faster travel for passengers.
Mukul Wasnik @MukulWasnik
Strongly condemn assault &
arrest of @RahulGandhi Ji, while
enroute to Hathras. @INCIndia
Leaders are wanting to go meet
the family of the victim amidst
this great tragedy, share their
grief and extend support in their
ﬁght for justice. Is that a crime
now in UP? Shameful.
DINESH
SINGH
Former Vice Chancellor,
University of Delhi
man with high
self-esteem and
morals who
didn’t even own
a car after be-
coming a Prime Minister
and hailed a popular slogan
“Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” is
none other but Lal Bahadur
Shastri who played a pivot-
al role in shaping India’s
future. It is an astonishing
fact that the student-teach-
er was born on the same
date of October 2nd. Lal Ba-
hadur Shastri was deeply
impressed and influenced
by Mahatma Gandhi which
led him to join the Indian
independencemovementin
the 1920s. Along with this,
he served as a present in
Lala Lajpat Rai’s Lok Sevak
Mandal and also held a
prominent position in In-
dian National Congress.
After India’s independ-
ence, he became one of the
important cabinet mem-
bers, first railway and
transport minister in 1952,
Commerce and Industry
minister in 1959, and a
home minister in 1961. He
was elected second Prime-
minister of India in 1964.
Lal Bahadur Shastri advo-
cated the White and Green
revolution and created the
National Dairy Develop-
mentBoard.Hedroppedhis
caste-identified surname,
‘Srivastava’ while working
for the betterment of the
Harijans at Muzaffarpur.
He was imprisoned for
more than two years in par-
ticipating in Salt Satyagra-
ha. During the Quit India
movement, he was impris-
onedfrom1942until1946.In
total, he spent 9 years in jail
where he utilized his stay
by acquainting with the
works of western philoso-
phers, revolutionaries, and
social reformers. Lal Baha-
dur Shastri was appointed
General Secretary of the
All-IndiaCongressCommit-
tee with Jawaharlal Nehru
as the Prime Minister in
1951.Heplayedasignificant
role in the successes of the
Congress Party in the Indi-
an General Elections of
1952, 1957, and 1962.
After the death of the
first Prime Minister, Jawa-
harlal Nehru, K. Kamraj
[President of Congress
Party] was instrumental in
making Shastri as a Prime
Minister. Shastri’s first
broadcast as Prime Minis-
ter stated, “There comes a
time in the life of every na-
tion when it stands at the
crossroads of history and
must choose which way to
go. But for us, there need be
no difficulty or hesitation,
no looking to right or left.
Our way is straight and
clear—the building up of a
socialist democracy at
home with freedom and
prosperity for all, and the
maintenance of world
peace and friendship with
all nations.” His tenure
witnessed anti-Hindi agita-
tion in South India. He pro-
moted the White Revolu-
tion by supporting the
Amul co-operative of
Anand, Gujarat, and creat-
ed the National Dairy De-
velopment Board in 1965.
During the Indo-Pak war
of 1965, he hailed a slogan,
“Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” [Hail
thesoldier,Hailthefarmer].
He continued non-align-
ment and built close rela-
tionswiththeSovietUnion.
He signed the Sirima-Shas-
tri Pact under which 6,
00,000IndianTamilswereto
be repatriated, while 3,
75,000weretobegrantedSri
Lankan citizenship.Lal Ba-
hadur Shastri was awarded
the Bharat Ratna and a me-
morial was built for him in
Delhi called Vijay Ghat.
SOURCE: MINTAGE WORLD
A man of integrity: Lal Bahadur Shastri
A

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INDIAAHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020
SAI APPROVES SHOOTING CAMP
FOR CORE OLYMPIC PROBABLES
New Delhi: The Sports
Authority of India (SAI)
has approved the request
for training facilities at
the Karni Singh Shooting
Range for national squad
shooters with effect from
October 5, 2020. With
this 64 additional shoot-
ers would be provided
ammunition and target on
government expense. The
SAI had already opened
up the Karni Singh Shoot-
ing Range in New Delhi
for NRAI core group , de-
velopmental group& Kh-
elo India shooters. “SAI
also understands require-
ment of a dedicated camp
for shooters preparing
for the Olympics & has
agreed to coaching camp
for the NRAI core group
who have been selected
as Olympic probable.”
‘INDIA HAS CULTURE OF LIVING
IN HARMONY WITH NATURE’
New York/ New Delhi: Minister of Environment,
Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar
while speaking at the Biodiversity Summit at
United Nations, said, “the emergence of COV-
ID-19 has emphasized the fact that unregulated
exploitation of natural resources coupled with
unsustainable food habits and consumption
patterns lead to destruction system that supports
human life.” “As enshrined in our Vedic scripts
‘’Prakriti Rakshati Rakshita’’ that is if you protect
nature, nature will protect you,” he added.
JAISHANKAR GREETS CHINESE
GOVT ON 71ST ANNIV OF PRC
New Delhi: Exter-
nal Affairs Minister S
Jaishankar on Thursday
extended his felicitation to
his Chinese counterpart
Wang Yi as well as the
Chinese government and
the people of China on the
occasion of the 71st an-
niversary of the founding
of the country. “Extend
my felicitations to State
Councilor & FM Wang Yi
and the Government and
People of PRC on the 71st
anniversary of the found-
ing of People’s Republic
of China.” Jaishankar
tweeted. China’s State
Council on Wednesday
held a reception in Beijing
at The Great Hall of The
People to celebrate the
71st anniversary of the
founding of the People’s
Republic of China.
INDIAN AMBASSADOR CALLS ON
THAILAND SENATE SPEAKER
Bangkok: Indian Ambassador Suchitra Durai on
Thursday, called on President of the Senate of
Thailand, Pornpetch Wichitcholchai. The Indian
Embassy in Thailand said that New Delhi and
Bangkok have a long history of parliamentary
cooperation. “Ambassador Suchitra Durai called
on the President of the Senate of Thailand H.E
Mr Pornpetch Wichitcholchai. India and Thailand
have a long history of parliamentary coopera-
tion,” India in Thailand tweeted while informing
about the recent development.
Lucknow: The forensic
report of the Hathras
victim, who succumbed
to her injuries follow-
ing an alleged gang
rape, shows that the
woman was not raped,
Uttar Pradesh Addi-
tional Director General
of Police (Law and Or-
der) Prashant Kumar
said on Thursday. “The
forensic science labora-
tory report clearly says
that sperm was not
found in the samples
collected from the wom-
an... The report has
made it clear that the
woman was not raped,”
Kumar said in a press
conference here.
The senior police of-
ficial said that postmor-
tem,whichwasconduct-
ed by a team of doctors
in Delhi, has established
that the death was
caused by trauma of her
neck injury. —ANI
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: Airlines
will have to refund
money collected from
tickets that were can-
celled following the
coronavirus induced
lockdown without any
cancellation charge,
the Supreme Court
said on Thursday. The
three-judge Bench,
headed by Justice
Ashok Bhushan,
passed the order after
taking into account
the recommendations
of the DGCA to refund
ticket fares and also
approved a credit shell
scheme which will be
valid till March 31.
The judgement ap-
plies for bookings
made for both domes-
tic and international
tickets during the pe-
riod. Those who have
purchased tickets
through travel agents
can collect the refund
amount from them
once the money is
credited back to their
account, the court
said.
The airlines have
been given time to re-
fund the amount to the
passengers by March
31 next year, the Su-
preme Court said.
Refund full air fare of tickets
booked in lockdown: SC PRASHANT BHUSHAN
MOVES SC SEEKING REVIEW
OF FINE IMPOSED ON HIM
CONTEMPT CASE
New Delhi: Senior
lawyer Prashant
Bhushan on Thurs-
day filed a petition in
the Supreme Court
seeking review of its
August 31 judgement
imposing a fine of Re
1 on him in connec-
tion with criminal
contempt of court
case over his tweets.
Notably, Bhushan
has already paid the
fine of Re 1 but has
decided to challenge
his conviction in the
matter. While paying
the fine, Bhushan
had made it clear that
paying the fine in the
registry did not mean
that he accepted the
Supreme Court’s
judgement.
Bhushan had, on
September 14, filed a
review petition in the
Supreme Court
against its judgement
convicting him and
imposing a fine of Re
1 on him for criminal
contempt of court in
the suo motu con-
tempt case over his
tweets. —ANI
Forensic report reveals Hathras
victim wasn’t raped: UP Police
The forensic report of the victim, who succumbed to her injuries following an alleged
gang rape, shows that she wasn’t raped, UP ADG of Police Prashant Kumar said
‘Prez rule
should be
imposed in UP’
New Delhi: Criminals,
mafias and rapists are
having a free run under
the BJP led UP govern-
ment said BSP chief
Mayawati after a gang-
rape case was reported
from Balrampur, follow-
ing closely on the heels
of the Hathras incident.
“After Hathras inci-
dent, I hoped the UP
government will take
action against people
committing crimes
against women. But a
similar crime has been
committed against a
Dalit student in Bal-
rampur. Under BJP’s
UP government, crimi-
nals, mafias and rapists
are having a free
run,”she said. —ANI
According to the postmortem report, the
victim died due to the trauma of her
neck injury. FSL report also clearly
shows that sperm was not found in the collected
samples. It suggests that some people twisted the
matter to stir caste-based tensio. Police had tak-
en timely action in the matter from the begin-
ning. Further actions will be taken now.
—Prashant Kumar, UP ADG of Police (Law and Order)
PM Modi to inaugurate
Atal Tunnel on Oct 3
Shimla: Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi will
inaugurate the longest
highway tunnel in the
world, Atal Tunnel, in
Rohtang on October 3,
at 10 am.
Atal Tunnel is the
longest highway tunnel
in the World. The 9.02
Km long tunnel con-
nects Manali to Lahaul-
Spiti valley throughout
the year. Earlier the val-
ley was cut off for about
6 months each year ow-
ing to heavy snowfall.
The Tunnel is built
with ultra-modern
specifications in the Pir
Panjal range of Himala-
yas at an altitude of
3,000 meters (10,000 feet)
from the Mean Sea Lev-
el. The tunnel reduces
the road distance by 46
Kms between Manali
and Leh and the time by
about five to six hours.
The South Portal of
Atal Tunnel is located
at a distance of 25 Km
from Manali at an alti-
tude of 3,060 meters,
while the North Portal
of tunnel is located
near village Teling,
Sissu, in Lahaul Valley
at an altitude of 3,071
meters.
It is horseshoe-
shaped, single tube dou-
ble lane tunnel with a
roadway of 8 meters. It
is 10.5-metre wide and
has a 3.6 x 2.25 meters
fireproof emergency
egress tunnel built into
the main tunnel itself.
Atal Tunnel has been
designed for traffic den-
sity of 3,000 cars per day
and 1,500 trucks per day
with a max speed of 80
km per hour. It has the
state of the art electro-
mechanical system in-
cluding semi transverse
ventilationsystem,SCA-
DA controlled firefight-
ing, illumination and
monitoring system.—ANI
NARENDRA MODI @NARENDRAMODI
Birthday wishes to Rashtrapati Ji. His rich insights and
wise understanding of policy matters are great assets
for our nation. He is extremely compassionate towards
serving the vulnerable. I pray for his good health and
long life. @rashtrapatibhvn
Bulls on top
of bourses,
pvt banks &
finances jump
Pak court to hear Jadhav case on October 6
Mumbai: Equity
benchmark indices
closed 1.6 per cent high-
er on Thursday with
across-the-board buy-
ing in all sectors as in-
vestors hoped for an-
other stimulus package
from the government to
offset Q1 losses stem-
ming from COVID-19
lockdown.
The BSE S&P Sensex
closed 629 points or 1.65
per cent higher at 38,697
while the Nifty 50
gained by 169 points or
1.51 per cent at 11,417.
All sectoral indices at
the National Stock Ex-
change were in the pos-
tive terrain with Nifty
private bank moving up
by 3.9 per cent, finan-
cial service by 3 per
cent and media by 2.9
per cent.
Among stocks, PVR
jumped by 8 per cent to
Rs 1,310 per share after
thegovernmentallowed
cinemas, theatres, and
multiplexes to operate
with up to 50 per cent of
their seating capacity.
Inox Leisure was up
by 6.3 per cent to Rs
287.75 per share. In-
dusInd Bank witnessed
a dramatic jump of 12.4
per cent to close at Rs
593 per share on the
back of heavy volumes.
Axis Bank moved up by
4.1 per cent. —ANI
Islamabad: The Islam-
abad High Court (IHC)
has fixed the hearing of
the case related to the
appointment of defence
counsel for Kulbhushan
Jadhav on October 6,
ARY News reported.
The hearing will be
held by a larger bench
of the high court com-
prising Chief Justice
Athar Minallah, Justice
Amir Farooq, and Jus-
tice Mian Gull Hassan
Aurangzeb. This comes
after Pakistan Foreign
Office Spokesperson
had earlier rejected In-
dia’s demand for an In-
dianlawyeroraQueen’s
counsel.
In September, the Is-
lamabad High Court in
Pakistan had directed
the federal government
to give India another
chance to appoint a law-
yer to represent Jadhav
and adjourned hearing
for a month.
Ministry of External
Affairs’ spokesperson
Anurag Srivastava had
said that Pakistan has
not been able to fulfil its
obligations on imple-
mentation of ICJ judg-
ment in Kulbhushan
Jadhav case and has not
yet addressed core is-
sues. —ANI
Will PM hold another
‘Namaste Trump’ rally? PC
New Delhi: Takingadig
at Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi over US
President Donald
Trump’’s remarks ques-
tioningthecredibilityof
India’’sCOVIDnumbers,
seniorCongressleaderP
Chidambaram asked
whether the PM will
hold another ‘’Namaste
Trump’’ rally to honour
his “dear friend”.
During the first pres-
idential debate ahead
of the US polls, Presi-
dent Trump raised
questions over the cred-
ibility of India’’s COV-
ID-19 tally, claiming
that it was among the
countries that do not ac-
curately disclose the
number of deaths due
to the pandemic.
Reacting to the re-
marks, Chidambaram
said,“MrDonaldTrump
clubs India with China
and Russia and accused
the three countries of
hiding the number of
COVID deaths. He also
accused the three coun-
tries for causing the
most air pollution.”
“WillMrModiholdan-
other‘’NamasteTrump!’’
rally to honour his dear
friend?” he said, taking a
dig at Modi over the
grand event held in
Ahmedabad during the
US president’’s India vis-
it in February this year.
“’’In 47 months I have
done more than you
have in 47 years’’ said
MrDonaldTrumpinthe
Presidential debate on
Wednesday. If the state-
ment reminds you of
someone in India, that’’s
your imagination!” PC
tweeted. The remarks
by Trump came during
his first presidential de-
bate with Democratic
challenger Joe Biden.
Agri reforms will increase
farmers’ income,says Goyal
New Delhi: Union Min-
ister Piyush Goyal
while addressing Fed-
eration of Telangana
Chambersof Commerce
and Industry’s pro-
gramme on “New World
Order - Aatmanirbhar
Bharat”, said “Agri re-
forms will increase the
productivity and in-
come of our farmers.
By unshackling the ag-
riculture sector, open-
ing it for greater par-
ticipation of the private
sector and new avenues
will empower the farm-
ers. Our farmers will
have the option of MSP
and sell in mandi(s)”,
he said. —PTI

INDIAAHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020
New Delhi:In the eight
months since the first
case of coronavirus in-
fection was detected on
January 30, September
alone recorded 26,21,418
infections, accounting
for 41.53 per cent of the
over 63 lakh COVID-19
cases reported in the
country so far.
The past month also
saw 33,390 deaths due to
the disease, which is
around 33.84 per cent of
the total 98,678 deaths
recorded so far.
September witnessed
24,33,319 people recuper-
ating from coronavirus
infectioncontributingto
around 46.15 per cent of
the total 52,73,201 recov-
eries registered so far in
the country. India is at
number one position in
terms of the number of
recovered coronavirus
cases followed by Brazil
and the US, according to
the Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity,.
India is the second
worst hit nation in
terms of COVID-19 cas-
es after the US, while it
is in the third spot in
terms of fatalities glob-
ally after the US and
Brazil, according to the
JHU data. The first pos-
itive case of the corona-
virus was reported in
Kerala on January 30.
India’s COVID-19 tal-
ly had crossed the 20-
lakh mark on August 7,
30 lakh on August 23
and 40 lakh on Septem-
ber 5. It went past 50
lakh on September 16
and crossed 60 lakh on
September 28.
RAJENDRA PRASAD GOYAL JOINS
DIRECTOR (FIN), NHPC
(UPDATED) Rajendra Prasad Goyal, CGM, NHPC
Ltd, has taken over the charge as Director (Fi-
nance), NHPC Limited.
APURVA CHANDRA JOINS AS
SECRETARY, LABOUR &
EMPLOYMENT
Apurva Chandra has taken over the charge as
Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment
in Government of India. He is a 1988 batch IAS
officer of Maharashtra cadre.
EC HOLDS VIRTUAL BRIEFING OF
EXPENDITURE OBSERVERS
Due to COVID pandemic the Election Commission
has organised a virtual briefing of expenditure
observers on October 5, 2020.
97 IRS OFFICERS APPOINTED
EXPENDITURE OBSERVERS
The Election Commission of India has appointed
97 IRS(C&CE) officers of different batches as
Expenditure Observers for the Bihar Assembly
and bye- elections. The officers belong to 2007
and 2016 batches.
DR. DEVYANI UTTAM KHOBRAGADE
APPOINTED AMBASSADOR TO
CAMBODIA
Dr. Devyani Uttam Khobragade (IFS:1999), pres-
ently Joint Secretary in the Ministry, has been
appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the
Kingdom of Cambodia.
THREE DANIPS OFFICERS AWARDED
IPS CADRE
Three DANIPS officers: Md Irshad Hyder,
Kumar Gyanesh and Sanjeev Kumar Yadav
have been awarded Indian Police Service
(IPS) cadre.
108 SSS OFFICERS AWARDED INDIAN
STATISTICAL SERVICE CADRE
As many as 108 officers of Subordinate
Statistical Service (SSS) have been awarded
Indian Statistical Service (ISS) in Junior Time
Scale.
TWO SENIOR OFFICERS GET NEW
JOBS IN AP
1993 batch IAS officer Anil Kumar Singhal has
been posted as Principal Secretary, Health,
Medical & Family Welfare Department, Andhra
Pradesh, while 1991 batch Indian Defence Es-
tates Service (IDES) officer AV Dharma Reddy
is placed in full additional charge of the post
of Executive Officer, Tirumala Tirupati Deves-
thanams.
MS S APARNA TAKES OVER AS
PHARMA SECRETARY
Ms S Aparna has assumed the charge as
Secretary in the Department of Pharmaceu-
ticals Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
She is a 1988 batch IAS officer of Gujarat
cadre.
LT GEN HARINDER SINGH IS NEW
CHIEF OF IMA
Lieutenant General Harinder Singh has been
appointed as head of the prestigious Indi-
an Military Academy. He will take over by
mid-October to train young cadets to become
officers.
LT GEN MENON TO SUCCEED LT GEN
HARINDER SINGH
Lt Gen PGK Menon will succeed Lt Gen Harind-
er Singh as head of the 14 Corps which is also
known as the Fire and Fury Corps.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with: http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
The tractor rallies are scheduled to begin at around 11 am from October 3 to 5
RAGA TO HOLD TRACTOR RALLIES IN PB
Chandigarh: Punjab
Chief Minister Captain
Amarinder Singh and
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi will lead trac-
tor rallies across the
state from October 3 to
5 in protest against the
Centre’s newly enacted
agriculture laws.
According to a press
release, all Punjab min-
isters and Congress
MLAs will participate
in the protest rallies,
along with Harish Raw-
at, All India Congress
Committee General
Secretary in-charge of
Punjab, and PPCC pres-
ident Sunil Jakhar.
“The tractor rallies,
expected to be support-
ed by farmer organisa-
tions across the state,
will cover more than 50
km, spread over three
days in various dis-
tricts. The tractor ral-
lies, to start around 11
am on each of the three
days, will be conducted
amid strict COVID-19
protocols,” the release
quoted a Punjab Con-
gress spokesperson.
On the first day on
October 3 (Saturday),
the protest rally will
cover a total distance
of 22 km, starting with
a public meeting at
Badni Kalan in Nihal
Singh Wala (district
Moga), before crossing
Lopon. The rally will
then reach Jagraon
(district Ludhiana),
covering Chakar,
Lakha and Manoke,
culminating in a public
meeting at Jattpura in
Raikot.
On Day Two, October
4 (Sunday), a total of 20
km would be covered,
starting from Barnala
Chowk in Sangrur dis-
trict, from where Rahul
and his team will travel
by car to Bhawanigarh
for a public meeting,
before embarking on
tractors to Samana
(district Patiala). He
will be received at Fate-
hgarh Chhana and
Bahman, before ending
the day with a public
meeting at Grain Mar-
ket, Samana.
Captain Amarinder Singh Rahul Gandhi
Bathinda:Shiromani
AkaliDalisbeginning
a long struggle today
to make the govern-
ment roll back the
black laws, said for-
mer Union Minister
and Shiromani Akali
Dal (SAD) leader Har-
simrat Kaur Badal re-
ferring to the Farm
Laws recently passed
intheParliament.“The
party left behind eve-
rything - alliance,
post, government, re-
lations - to become the
voice of farmers, who
have lost everything
due to these Laws,”
said Harsimrat Kaur
Badal.
Ahead of the
march, the SAD lead-
er visited Takht Sri
Damdama Sahib in
Talwandi Sabo of
Bathinda to seek
blessings. She is lead-
ing Kisan March of
the party from Tal-
wani Sabo, in pro-
test against Farm
Laws. The march
will culminate at Raj
Bhawan.
Long struggle against
the black laws: Badal
Harsimrat Kaur Badal leading Kisan March on its way to
Chandigarh.
RALLIES TO SUPPORT ORGANISATIONS
Assembly polls:
Shah to lead BJP’s
charge in Bengal
New Delhi: Home Min-
ister Amit Shah will be
leading the BJP’s
charge in West Bengal
and will be headed to
the State just ahead of
Durga Puja, later this
month, to address a
workers meeting there.
Senior leaders in Del-
hi and West Bengal met
at party president JP
Nadda’s residence on
Thursday for nearly
four hours to hammer
out some of the pro-
grammes to play up the
political activity in the
State. West Bengal is
scheduled to go to As-
sembly polls early next
year. However, the perti-
nent issue right now for
Bengal, sources said, is
to establish coordina-
tion among the power
centres in the state.
“There are differenc-
es in the state leader-
ship. It needs to be re-
solved sooner or later.
The sentiment in Ben-
gal is against Mamata
and we should be able
to deliver on people’s
hope,” said a senior
BJP leader.
Kashyap
appears before
police in sexual
assault case
Mumbai: Filmmaker
Anurag Kashyap ar-
rived at the Versova Po-
lice Station in Mumbai
on Thursday to appear
before the police in con-
nection with the alleged
sexual assault case reg-
istered against him by
actress Payal Ghosh.
The police had yes-
terday issued a sum-
mon to Anurag Kashy-
ap to appear before it
today for questioning
in the matter. Mean-
while, a team of Verso-
va Police Station took
Payal Ghosh to a gov-
ernment hospital in
Mumbai’s Andheri for
a medical test in the
case. The actress had
last month filed an
FIR against Anurag
Kashyap accusing
him of sexually as-
saulting her.
Speaking to ANI, she
said, “Five years ago I
met Anurag Kashyap
regarding work. He
called me to his house.
When I went there, he
took me to a separate
room and tried to sexu-
ally assault me.”
Sep accounted for 41.53 per
cent of total cases in India
A health worker collects sample
from a woman in Srinagar.
Unique patterns
in COVID-19
transmission
New Delhi: Research-
ers, including those
from the Govt of TN,
and AP, have conducted
one of the largest analy-
sis of COVID-19 epide-
miology to date, and
have found that both
cases and deaths due to
the disease have been
more heavily concen-
trated in the 40-69 year
age group in India.
The study, published
in the journal Science,
assessed the disease
transmissionpatternsin
5,75,071 individuals ex-
posed to 84,965 con-
firmed cases of COV-
ID-19 in the two states
based on data collected.
Based on the data, the
scientistssaidbothcases
and deaths in the two In-
dian states were concen-
trated in younger co-
hortsthanexpectedfrom
observations in higher-
income countries.
CORONAVIRUS UPDATES
EXPRESSED WRATH
JP Nadda Amit Shah
Continue efforts to implement
Jal Jeevan Mission: PM
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
has appealed to all Vil-
lage Sarpanchs and
Gram Pradhans to con-
tinue their efforts to-
wards effective imple-
mentation of Jal Jeevan
Mission in villages to
provide tap water to
every home, especially
poor communities.
“Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi reached
out to all Sarpanchs/
Gram Pradhans of the
country through a let-
ter dated September 29,
2020 for more effective
implementation of the
Jal Jeevan Mission
(JJM). The goal of the
Mission - Har Ghar Jal
can be fully realized
with the help of all Sar-
panch/ Pradhan/ vil-
lage community leaders
as they play a pivotal
role in its implementa-
tion,” read a press state-
ment from the Ministry
of Jal Shakti.
Prime Minister men-
tioned how the contri-
bution made by people
for this missions’ suc-
cess is creating history.
Through this mission,
the issue of water sup-
ply will not only be ad-
dressed, but will also
help in tackling water-
borne diseases like
cholera, dysentery, di-
arrhea, encephalitis,
typhoid, etc. Also, when
the livestock is provid-
ed with safe and clean
water, it not only im-
proves their health but
plays a critical role in
improving their pro-
ductivity, thus enhanc-
ing income of families.
PM appealed to peo-
ple and Gram Panchay-
ats to make Jal Jeevan
Mission a people’s
movement. The timing
of the letter is crucial
as the country is in the
midst of fighting Coro-
na. —ANI
Rahul pushed...
Rahul also fell down in
the scuffle after police
tried to stop him and
his supporters near the
Jewar toll plaza. Pic-
tures of the incident
were shared by the par-
ty. The Congress had
said that the Gandhis
were arrested by the
police. “Shri Rahul
Gandhi, Smt Priyanka
Gandhi and senior
Congress leaders have
been arrested by the UP
police,” the Congress
said on Twitter, using
the hashtag “Justice-
ForIndiasDaughters”.
Priyanka also al-
leged that the police
used lathis on the Con-
gress workers and
many of them were in-
jured.
Rahul earlier ques-
tioned senior UP cops
saying, “Can you tell
me under which law
can you stop me from
marching towards
Hathras,” he asked the
police personnel. “I
want to go alone to
Hathras and on what
basis can you arrest
me,” he added, to which
the cops told him that
he had violated Section
188 of the IPC of diso-
beying orders promul-
gated by the govern-
ment during the pan-
demic.
“In today’s India,
only Modi can walk or
travel by air. No one
else can,” the former
party president added.
In a tweet in Hindi,
he earlier said, “In
times of sorrow, loved
ones are not left alone.
It is Jungle Raj in UP
that meeting a family
in mourning also
scares the government.
Do not be so afraid
chief minister.” Pri-
yanka said they were
repeatedly stopped
from going to Hathras.
“When we all started
our march on foot with
Rahul ji, we were re-
peatedly stopped and
lathis were rained on
us in a barbaric man-
ner. Many workers
were injured. But our
intention is clear.
“The sticks of an
egotistical government
cannot stop us. I wish
these lathis were used
by this police while
standing in defence of
Hathras’s Dalit daugh-
ter,” she said in a tweet
in Hindi. She alleged
that an “arrogant pow-
er” is demonstrating
its power “over the
dead bodies of inno-
cent girls” and it is in-
dulging in injustice,
instead of preventing
it.
“Our struggle for
women will continue
for a safe society and
state, where they can
live freely and pro-
gress,” Priyanka Gan-
dhi tweeted.
Congress leader Ran-
deep Surjewala put out
a video along with a
tweet showing Rahul
Gandhi allegedly being
roughed. “Lala Lajpat
Rai had said that every
blow of a stick on my
body would prove to be
the last nail in the cof-
fin of the British Raj.
“The sticks on Rahul
ji and Priyanka ji’s con-
voy will also prove to be
the last nail in the cof-
fin of the Yogi govern-
ment,” Surjewala said
in a tweet in Hindi.
The Gandhis were
seeking to walk down
from Greater Noida to
Hathras after their ve-
hicles were stopped by
the police. —PTI
FROM PG 1

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020
T
here is a growing con-
sensus that one or more
COVID-19 vaccines will
become available at
some point in early 2021. Within
a year, many people in the United
States, and some other countries,
will be vaccinated. For some
childhood diseases, the develop-
ment of a vaccine was by itself
decisive. But this may not be true
of COVID-19, because adoption
could be slow or effectiveness
wane over time – or both.
In that case, the need to test
people both for individual safety
and to prevent outbreaks will be
ongoing. The long-term problem
with testing is already evident:
the cost per test is high. In
health-care systems where scare
medical resources are allocated
on a fee-for-service basis, such as
in the US, this means that many
people cannot afford to get test-
ed. In addition to progress to-
ward a vaccine, we need to make
virus testing at scale much
cheaper, so that it becomes avail-
able to everyone, whatever their
income level.
Currently, the untested in the
US include most children attend-
ing public primary and second-
ary schools, as well as the teach-
ers and others who work in those
schools. They also include mil-
lions of older people, including
those living in low-income hous-
ing (known as Section 202 hous-
ing). This lack of access to test-
ing is a major economic and
moral issue that will not go away.
The economic problem is cen-
tered around schools. If fami-
lies and teachers are worried
about what happens when chil-
dren go to school, it is hard to
get the economy – including jobs
and incomes – back on track.
Education disparities, which
are already stark, will continue
to widen. Some children will
never attain the reading and
math skills they are missing
now. This will likely lower their
lifetime incomes.
There are roughly 57 million
children in primary and second-
ary schools in the US, living in
34 million households (of which
nearly 24 million have two par-
ents and ten million have one).
There are close to four million
teachers and more than one mil-
lion childcare workers. The con-
tinuing failure to provide virus
testing in schools thus directly
affects about one-third of the
population.
If an effective vaccine be-
comes widely available, schools
are likely to require children to
be vaccinated. But there may be
exemptions for religious or
health reasons, as there is now
for other vaccines. Health infor-
mation is confidential, so you do
not know who around you has
had which vaccines. Tests for
live virus are now non-intrusive
(saliva or nasal swab) and can
provide considerable reassur-
ance – as well as the ability to
detect and stop outbreaks.
Owing to a legacy of official
neglect and inaction, 40% of the
COVID-related deaths in the US
so far have occurred in long-
term care facilities, where
many residents are seriously ill
and most are over the age of 60.
Now, these facilities have more
infection-control resources,
testing is available, and the dis-
cussion is shifting toward pre-
venting anything like this from
happening again.
But we must not forget other
vulnerable people, including in
minority communities and those
living in “congregate” facilities
such as apartment buildings.
Many elderly people have been
in some form of self-imposed iso-
lation since March, avoiding oth-
ers as much as possible. By all
accounts, the resulting isolation
and loneliness is taking an awful
toll, including by accelerating
aging and potentially pushing
more people toward dementia.
New testing technology, in-
cluding disposable at-home kits,
could become part of the solu-
tion. There are still questions
about how precise these tests
will be – how many false nega-
tives and false positives we
should expect – when deployed
at massive scale. But the main
question is how long it will take
to establish and run the supply
chains necessary to support pro-
duction and distribution of
hundreds of millions of such
tests per month.
The other promising develop-
ment is pooled testing. COVID-19
lab tests typically cost between
$25 and $125, depending on the
regional market. But the num-
bers look very different if you
build the costs from the bottom
up: a couple of dollars for the
tube (with or without a swab) to
collect samples, a small amount
for the logistics of specimen col-
lection at scale (mostly ship-
ping), and whatever it costs to
operate the relevant information
technology system (including
bar codes for the tubes and re-
porting requirements). Pooling
ten or 20 samples in one tube can
lower the costs significantly, be-
cause it economizes on the ex-
pensive reagents needed to run
the lab tests.
What do we need to get the cost
per person tested down to $5 or
even lower? In a single word:
competition. As more labs figure
out and offer pooled testing, pric-
es will fall. For once, capitalism
and market competition can help
the people most in need of help.
Ensuring that they receive it will
enable all of us get past the
scourge of COVID-19.
AFTER THE
VACCINEFOR SOME CHILDHOOD DISEASES, THE DEVELOPMENT OF A VACCINE WAS BY ITSELF DECISIVE.
BUT THIS MAY NOT BE TRUE OF COVID-19, BECAUSE ADOPTION WILL BE SLOW, EFFECTIVENESS
WILL WANE OVER TIME, OR BOTH, IMPLYING THAT THE NEED FOR TESTING WILL BE ONGOING.
SOURCE: PROJECT SYNDICATE
CONCEPT: DIVYA HEMNANI
DESIGN: CP SHARMA

Knowledge can be gained from the
knowledge handed down over
generation and but to be wise we
need to apply this knowledge to our own life.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
The President of the United States has
made a serious charge that India is
concealing Covid19 deaths. We wish to remind
him that Gujarat is still paying a price for hosting
him in the midst of a pandemic. We hope our
Government answers to his allegations.
Former Gujarat Congress president Bhar-
atsinh Solanki-ji has recovered after a
long battle with corona. My best wishes are with
him and let us hope he returns to public life and
continues to work for the party and people.
@ahmedpatel
First India Bureau
Surat: What would be
common to these 7 pa-
tients in Anand, Surat,
Mumbai, New Delhi
and Chennai?
Organs of brain-
dead Ilaben Nitinbhai
Patel of Surat, thanks
to the compassion
and sense of empathy
of her family towards
the suffering of oth-
ers.
Ilaben fainted after
dizziness and convul-
sions on September 27.
The family immediate-
ly admitted her to Ve-
nus Hospital where she
was declared brain-
dead on September 29
and chances of her re-
vival were remote.
Later, a team of
city-based NGO, Do-
nate Life, reached the
hospital and im-
pressed upon her sons
Tanveer and Aryan
about how organ do-
nation could give a
new life to people.
“And they immediate-
ly agreed,” Nilesh
Mandlewala, the
founder of Donate
Life, said.
Ilaben’s kidneys and
liver were given to the
State Organ and Tissue
Transplant Organiza-
tion (SOTTO), which al-
lotted it to the Institute
of Kidney Diseases and
Research Centre (IK-
DRC) in Ahmedabad.
Her one kidney was
transplanted in an
18-year-old boy from Su-
rat and another to a girl
of the same age from
Anand.
Ilaben’s liver was
transplanted in a
54-year-old person from
Surat by Dr. Pranjal
Modi and his team at
the IKDRC.
Her heart and lungs
were donated to MGM
Hospital and Apollo
Hospital respectively
in Chennai. The heart
was transplanted in a
15-year-old girl from
Delhi admitted at
MGM hospital, while
the lungs were trans-
planted in a 61-year-
old woman from
Mumbai admitted at
Apollo, Chennai. Her
eyes were donated to
Lok Drashti Eye
Bank, Surat.
SURAT’S BRAIN-DEAD WOMAN’S ORGANS GIVE LIFE TO 7 PERSONS
OF HUMAN BONDAGE
Family of Ilaben, who was declared brain-dead, donated her organs to 7 patients.
Ilaben’s sons said, “We are an ordinary family.
When we learnt she was brain-dead and that her
death was certain, we donated her organs.”
STATE’S APRIL 17 ORDER DILUTED KEY SECTIONS OF THE FACTORIES ACT TO HELP INDUSTRIES
Shishir Awasthi
New Delhi: In a major
setback to the Gujarat
Government’s efforts
to facilitate Covid-
19-hit industries, the
Supreme Court on
Thursday struck
down the April 17 no-
tification of the State
Labour and Employ-
ment Department
granting exemptions
to units from provi-
sions of the Factories
Act, 1948.
The relaxations re-
lated to daily working
hours, weekly working
hours, intervals for rest
and spread-overs of
adult workers and even
from payment of over-
time wages at double
rates as fixed under Sec-
tion 59 of the Act.
A bench comprising
Justices D Y Chandra-
chud and K M Joseph
passed the order on a
petition by Gujarat
Mazdoor Sabha, a reg-
istered trade union,
which contended that
the impugned notifi-
cation invoked the
powers conferred by
Section 5 of the Facto-
ries Act granting
these exemptions
from April 20 to July
19, 2020.
The court also direct-
ed that overtime wages
should be paid to all eli-
gible workers in Gujarat
between April 20 and
July 19, the period of the
notification.
The union argued
that the Gujarat Gov-
ernment had acted ultra
vires its powers under
Section 5 that allows the
exemptions “in a case of
public emergency” for
maximum 3 months.
The same section pro-
vides that a “public
emergency means a
graveemergencywhere-
by the security of India
or of any part of the ter-
ritory thereof is threat-
ened, whether by war or
external aggression or
internal disturbance.”
The petitioner sub-
mitted that the notifica-
tion exempted factories
from 4 Sections of the
Act and so workers
could be made to work
12 hours in a day, 72
hours in a week with 30
minutes break after 6
hours. “The Factories
Act, 1948, otherwise
provides that workers
can only be made to
work 9 hours in a day,
but 48 hours in a week,
with 1 weekly off- thus
coming to 8 hours in a
day, with 30 minutes
break after 5 hours,”
the union said.
SC pours cold water on Gujarat’s
decision to dilute labour laws
State ATS nabs arms
supplier to mafia
don Jayesh Patel
‘Guj tops in arrests of cops
in custodial death cases’
HC gets 3 new judges,
total strength 30 now
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Anti-
TerroristsSquad(ATS)
of the Gujarat Police,
jointly with Jamna-
gar’s Special Opera-
tions Group (SOG), has
picked up Madhya
Pradesh native Bal-
virsinh Patva alias
Balwant alias Ballu.
Ballu is the key sup-
plier of fire-arms to
dreaded extortionist
with international
links, Jayesh Patel alias
JaysukhRanpariya,and
his organised gang. Pa-
tel belongs to Jamnagar.
Ballu, who has been ar-
rested late Wednesday
night from Dhar district
in Madhya Pradesh,
confessed before the
ATS officials that he had
supplied over 100 small
firearms in Gujarat,
mainly to Jayesh Patel.
Jayesh Patel is an In-
terpol Red Corner
tagged criminal with as
many as 41 criminal
cases of serious nature
against his him and
wanted by India.
He is learnt to have
given a contract to Iqbal
alias Bhathiya to bump
off oneProf Parshottam
Rajani to extort a ran-
som of Rs 1 crore. Ballu
had supplied a pistol
and 5 rounds to kill Ra-
jani. Iqbal has been al-
ready arrested while
Jayesh is still on the
run.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Na-
tional Crime Records
Bureau has found that
Gujarat had the coun-
try’s highest number
of police personnel
arrested in custodial
death cases and
ranked second to Ta-
mil Nadu in most cus-
todial deaths in 2019.
Not only this, Gujarat
was second to Maha-
rashtra in terms of the
total number of crimi-
nal cases registered
against police officers
with 201 arrests of po-
lice officers. Maharash-
tra had 288. From the
210 police officers ar-
rested in Gujarat, 196
were chargesheeted
with two acquittals.
Released by the Un-
ion Home Ministry on
September 29, NCRB’s
report, “Crimes in In-
dia 2019” , states that
11 people died in po-
lice custody in Tamil
Nadu in 2019, while
Gujarat saw 10 such
deaths. The NCRB has
prepared the report
compiling the data
sent by the states and
union territories.
The Gujarat Police
have informed the
NCRB that a majority
of those who died in po-
lice custody were not on
remand and died either
by suicide, illness or
road accidents. Judicial
inquiry was ordered in
4 cases and magisterial
inquiry in 5 of the 10
custodial deaths, while
only 3 criminal cases
were registered.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Un-
ion Ministry of Law
and Justice has ap-
pointed 3 judges in
the Gujarat High
Court, taking the to-
tal to 30 against the
approved strength of
52 judges.
Advocates Vaibhavi
Devang Nanavati, Nir-
zarkumar Desai and
Nikhil Kariel are the
new judges. Earlier in
February, 4 judges were
appointed.
Vaibhavi Nanavati is
on the panel of various
institutions with a
strong background. Her
father S N Shelat is sen-
ior advocate and a for-
mer Advocate-General
of Gujarat, while her
father-in-law Sudhir
Nanavati is an eminent
Senior Advocate in the
State. Her husband De-
vang Nanavati too has
built a formidable repu-
tation in the legal fra-
ternity.
Advocate Nikhil Ka-
riel has done his law
graduation from the
Vaikunta Baliga Col-
lege of Law from Udupi
in Karnataka. He prac-
ticed in criminal and
civil laws. He had
earned a good reputa-
tion among advocates
as well as among judges
for his style of case
presentation and argu-
ments.
Nirzarkumar Desai
is a standing counsel
for the Central Gov-
ernment and has a
wide experience of 2
decades appearing in
criminal, civil and
tax and constitution-
al matters.
GROSS VIOLATIONS
In a major relief to workers, the Supreme Court has struck down relaxations in Factories Act given by
Gujarat. —FILE PHOTO
Nikhil Kariel Vaibhavi Nanavati
Guj ATS and Jamnagar SOG have arrested an arms supplier from MP.
Gujarat reported the most number of arrests of cops in custodial
death cases. —FILE PHOTO
COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
3,463
DEATHS
1,38,744
CONFIRMED CASES
RAJASTHAN
1,500 DEATHS 1,37,485 CASES
DELHI
WORLD
10,21,360
DEATHS
3,43,44,645
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
63,72,162
CONFIRMED CASES
99,369
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
36,662 DEATHS 13,84,446 CASES
TAMIL NADU
KARNATAKA

AHMEDABAD, FRIDAY
OCTOBER 2, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
Cinema is easy literature - many a youth has learnt
about Bapu Gandhi through the films made on him,
today we walk the path with Bapu!
Sabarmati ka SantSabarmati ka SantSabarmati ka SantSabarmati ka SantSabarmati ka Sant
here have been a
lot of movies
which have been
made on Gandhi,
as we can see
splashed across
this page, but
Gandhi by Attenborough
tops the list. Many a per-
son has commented that
it’s sad that the best movie
made on Bapu Gandhi was
by a Britisher; earlier, I
used to partly agree but
now, with time I reject this
notion.
Richard Attenborough’s
Gandhi is by far the best
film made on Bapu’s life
and its perfectly okay that
it was a British filmmaker
who made it. For one thing
Gandhi and Gandhian phi-
losophy does not belong to
Indians alone and
secondly Richard
gave 20 years of
his life to the mak-
ing of Gandhi
from meeting Moti-
lal Kothari, an In-
dian who wanted
someone to make a film on
Bapu till the release of the
film. The film not only won
accolades and awards
around the world and also
introduced Mahatma Gan-
dhi and his principles to
the world at large.
Richard has made a film
on what is his version of
Gandhi’s life, leaving out
the troublesome and con-
troversial parts. For in-
stance, he does not touch
upon the thought process
of Godse at all.
For me, nobody could
have played Gandhi better
than Ben Kingsley, he
seemed to actually become
Gandhi and made Bapu
comes alive for us on
screen. It is said that Na-
seeruddin Shah, who had
gone to London to give the
audition, came to know
that Ben Kingsley was al-
ready selected to play the
role and the auditions
were just held to calm
things down back in
India. If the people
knew that a white
man was play-
ing the role of
Gandhi, it
could have
c a u s e d anger among
the Indians. But Naseerud-
din says that the day he
saw Ben Kingsley, he knew
only Ben could pull it off.
‘Lage Raho Munna
bhai’ is not exactly a film
on Gandhi but I have fea-
tured it here because it
brought the Gandhian phi-
losophy to the present gen-
eration and taught a pow-
erful Bombaiyya lesson
about the relevance of
Gandhi and his principles
in the rough and tumble of
the modern life.
‘Gandhi-My father’ ex-
plores the troubled rela-
tionship between Bapu
and his son Harilal Gan-
dhi. ‘The Making of the
Mahatma’ a joint Indian
- South African directed by
Shyam Benegal, is exactly
about that – how Mohan-
das Karamchand Gandhi
became Mahatama Gandhi
– his life during his 21
years in South Africa.
‘Hey Ram’ is what Kamal
Haasan called his apology
to Gandhi. ‘Nine Hours
to Rama’ is a British film,
that follows a fictionalised
Nathuram Godse in the
hours before he assassi-
nated Gandhi, it is based
on a 1962 novel of the same
name by Stanley Wolpert.
The Gandhi Murder is
a British-Indian historical
political thriller film di-
rected by Karim Traïdia
and Pankaj Sehgal. It ex-
amines the events leading
to the assassination of Ma-
hatma Gandhi.
Solar Eclipse- Depth of
Darkness is a conspiracy
feature based on true
events leading to the assas-
sination of Mahatma Gan-
dhi on January 30, 1948,
demonstrating a violent,
communally charged In-
dia at the backdrop of non-
violent Gandhi.
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com
troversial parts. For in-
stance, he does not touch
upon the thought process
of Godse at all.
For me, nobody could
have played Gandhi better
erful Bombaiyya lesson
about the relevance of
Gandhi and his principles
in the rough and tumble of
the modern life.
‘Gandhi-My father’ ex-
Darkness is a conspiracy
feature based on true
events leading to the assas-
sination of Mahatma Gan-
dhi on January 30, 1948,
demonstrating a violent,
communally charged In-
dia at the backdrop of non-
violent Gandhi.
T
Still from the movie ‘Gandhi’

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
TANYA SAIFI, Model
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Your spouse will surprise
you with good food today
and will pamper you in
every other sense.
Sometimes its hard for you to keep
friends with people because of your
introvert nature. Your patience will
pay on academic front. You will spend
a very comfortable relaxing day today.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
You will deliver all the work
expected from you on time
and you can expect
magical results. Never see
yourself with doubt, have faith in
yourself and be confident that you
can do anything till you are willing to
pay the cost. You are a brave soul.
Let go of your worries for sometime.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Look for long term benefits
rather than concentrating
on the short ones. An
outing with family isn’t
possible at current time but making
memories at home is definitely
possible so enjoy and make a deep
bond with each other. Life is too
short to keep resentments.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Keep your ego in check on
professional front to avoid
any unnecessary problems.
On academic front, don’t
spoon feed anyone rather help them in
a way that you don’t spoil their habits.
You have the luck by your side in terms
of hiring the best team for your
business with absolute brilliant minds.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
You have a good health
and there is nothing to
worry as such. To prevent
any monetary loss, you
should care to read your business
proposal twice before taking any
decision. In office, you may need to
persuade someone to stand in your
favour but it will be worth it.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Seeing the current situation
travelling outside your city
for business related things
should be avoided as
nothing comes before your health. Life
will bring many exciting opportunities
to your life but its you who needs to
understand which one to accept and
which one to let go.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Family is your one big
strength and they will
always stand by you. For
students, you must give
your everything to your assignment
to not only excel in it but also
completing your assignment within
the time frame. You have to make
sure that you don’t hurt anyone.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
You must introduce
yourself to new fitness
programs if the current
ones have stop challenging
you. Family is your strength as well
as your weakness and remember as
long as you have each other, nothing
can go wrong. You have to give
purpose to your life.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
You like to serve people
and do the best you can for
them. You will be a part of
a big project which will be
very famous and so will you be
alongside. On family front, due to
tiredness you not be willing to do
anything a such today. Your property
related queries will get answered.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Your professional life is
good as not only its full of
fun but there are also some
challenges from which
you get to learn something new
everyday. On academic front, your
time has come to shine bright.
Charity is important specially if God
has given you some power.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
You may take help from
your father as far as career
advice is concerned as he
always tends to give you
the right advice. You will achieve all
your goals as long as you continue to
remain focus and you have
unwavering faith. Its ok to own your
mistake, it won’t make you small.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Your efforts on business
front won’t go waste. Make
sure to do whatever it
takes to keep your
relationships straight with people
who matters. You will spend a
romantic time with your spouse. You
are very understanding. Be clear with
terms and conditions in business.
icro calligraphy
painting on rice
grains is an old
Indian tradition.
In the olden
days, the craft
was often used
by the kings and emperors
to send secret messages. In
today’s time, Niru Chhabra
is a well-known face among
art lovers and connois-
seurs who made a niche for
herself in the field of min-
iature calligraphy. Niru
has written an exceptional
108 letters of the alphabet
on one single rice grain
with an ordinary painting
brush. On the occasion of
the 151st birth anniversary
of Mahatma Gandhi, Niru
has designed 6 different art
pieces on 550 rice grains
showcasing Bapu’s famous
sayings like Ahinsa, Satya-
grah, vital happenings
from the period of 1869 to
1900.
She has written on more
than 75000 rice grains so
far. Writing with an ordi-
nary brush makes Niru dif-
ferent from other artists
who practice micro callig-
raphy with fine-pointed
pens or pencils. The skill
needs immense concentra-
tion and dedication. Niru
had presented the beauti-
fully designed rice grain
art pieces to the former
President Shri Shankar
Dayal Sharma and Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
too.
Heroutstandingportray-
al of designs and calligra-
phy on the grain is always
based on historical, reli-
gious, or any patriotic
theme. She crafted her art
pieces in various languag-
es, viz., Hindi, Urdu,
Prakrit, and Sanskrit on
different interesting
themes like India is a Great
Nation, National Anthem,
Gayatri Mantra, Terror-
ism, Vandematram, Jain’s
famous Bhaktambar Starot
and Namokar Mantra, Gee-
ta Saar, etc. Just with a di-
ploma in Drawing and
Paintingandwithoutmuch
professional training, Niru
has transformed her hobby
of painting into such ex-
traordinary skill.
In a candid interview
with me, she reminisced,
“It has been a long journey
when I started all this in
1984. For any art-piece, I
work for 8 to 10 hours every
day. It is a painstaking task
writing on a tiny grain. I
took almost four months to
write 72 letters on a rice
grain which I gifted to the
then Prime Minister of In-
dia Smt. Indira Gandhi in
1984.” When asked about
any hurdles in practicing
this art form, she laughed
and said, “The only obsta-
cle is the size of the art
piece which is so small and
always requires a magnify-
ing glass to see the content
written on it.”
Niru had presented a
rice grain with “Long Live
Indo-US friendship” writ-
ten on it to President Bill
Clinton, when he visited
Jaipur on 23 March 2000.
Later, on 22 May 2000, Niru
received Clinton’s hand-
written note of apprecia-
tion for her craft. Niru
showed her craftsmanship
to President of Kazakhstan
Nursultan Nazarbayeva as
well. She presented the rice
grain art piece to the Presi-
dent Nazarbayeva with In-
spirational messages writ-
ten on it -Live and Let Live:
Lord Mahaveer; Stop Ter-
rorism. After seeing such
marvelous skill, the Presi-
dent felt so amazed that he
took out his beautiful pock-
et watch from his attire and
gifted it to Niru.
Her tremendous artwork
has been admired by many
national and international
dignitaries such as His Ex-
cellency Prince Charles,
Prime Ministers of India
Late Rajeev Gandhi, For-
mer Presidents of India Dr.
APJ Abdul Kalam, Late
Vice President of India
Shri Bhairon Singh Shek-
hawat, former Prime Min-
ister Dr. Manmohan Singh,
Jain Aacharya Shri Vidy-
anandji Muni Maharaj,
BJP Leader & Former
Prime Minister Shri Atal
Bihari Vajpayee, and Mu-
sic Director Naushad Ali,
and many more. She par-
ticipated in the Interna-
tional Trade Fair in Ger-
many in 2012 and also con-
ferred with many national
and state-level awards.
Astonishing art of
micro calligraphy on
a delicate rice grain!
ANUBHA JAIN
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
M
Niru with PM Modi
Niru Chhabra
Niru with Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot

ETCwww.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020
11
aising questions
over the power of so-
ciety to instill “fear”
in the minds of
“such monsters”,
a c t o r - p r o d u c e r
Anushka Sharma on
Thursday expressed shock
over Uttar Pradesh’s Balram-
pur ‘rape’ incident, which fol-
lowed close on heels of Hath-
ras ‘gang-rape’.
The ‘Paatal Lok’ producer
took to Instagram and said:
“Barely any time has passed
and we are hearing of anoth-
er brutal rape!?! In which
world do such monsters think
they can do this to a young
life,” she wrote in her stories.
“This is beyond comprehen-
sion, so distressing! Is there
any fear in the minds of such
men? How do we as a society
put fear in them and protect
our women? #NoMercyFor-
Rapists #Balrampur,” she
added.
In Balrampur, a 22-year-old
woman, who was allegedly
gang-raped, died on the way
to hospital on Wednesday.
Dev Ranjan, Balrampur
Superintendent of Police,
said her family had lodged a
complaint of rape against
two men. “Both have been
arrested”. —ANI
R
ANUSHKA
EXPRESSES
SHOCK
A
fter piquing the curiosity of fans on by
releasing a grim poster of ‘Mirzapur Season
2’, the makers of the web series dropped a
new intriguing poster featuring Ali Fazal and Shweta
Tripathi. “They’re back, but from this point, there’s
no looking back,” wrote Amazon Prime Video on
Instagram. The new poster highlights Golu (Shweta
Tripathi) and Guddu (Ali Fazal), ready to take on the
battlefield. The poster features the duo looking at
each other while they hold guns in their hands. In
the front is the poster also features the iconic Haveli
(castle) of Kaleen Bhaiya (Pankaj Tripathi). —ANI
A
kshay Kumar fans in the overseas have a
reason to rejoice as the actor’s upcoming
horror-drama ‘Laxxmi Bomb’ will be released
in theatres in - Australia, New Zealand and UAE - on
November 9. In India, the
movie is set for a direct-
to-digital release on the
same day on Disney+
Hotstar. Film critic and
movie trade analyst Taran
Adarsh announced the
same on social media
on Wednesday. “BIGGG
NEWS... #LaxmmiBomb - which premieres 9 Nov
2020 on #DisneyPlusHotstar - will also release
across *cinemas* in #Australia, #NewZealand
and #UAE simultaneously, on 9 Nov 2020. #Diwali
#Diwali2020,” wrote Taran. —ANI
A
kshay Kumar’s spy-thriller ‘Bell Bottom,’ has
become the first film in the world to start and
finish its shooting during the pandemic. The
53-year-old actor dubbed the success as “team-
work,” and said that he is grateful to each and every
member of the cast and crew. “It’s teamwork and I
am grateful to each and every member of the cast
and crew from the spot dadas to the light dadas to
the technicians to the make-up dadas to my lovely
heroines Vaani, Lara, Huma, my director Ranjit and
to Vashuji and the production team who believed in
our audacious plan,” he said. —ANI
POSTER OUT
THEATRICALRELEASE
FIRST IN THE WORLD
‘SURAJ PE MANGAL BHAARI’
F
ollowing all necessary
norms, actor Fatima Sana
Shaikh resumed work
amidst the new normal. She
shared a glimpse of her dubbing
session for the upcoming project
‘Suraj Pe Mangal Bhaari’.
Fatima shared an image of her
dubbing studio on her Instagram
story and wrote, “Dubbing #sura-
jpemangalbhari.”
She will be essaying the role of
a typical ‘Marathi’ girl, donning
a traditional attire. It will be
the first time the audience is go-
ing to see her in Indian attire and
she looks very convincing in the
look.
The ‘Dangal’ actor also gave
fans a sneak peek of her look and
posted a rail of pictures wearing
a red saree that garnered her ap-
preciation from fans.
For the first time, Fatima will
be seen sharing the screen space
with Manoj Bajpayee in ‘Suraj Pe
Mangal Bhaari’. —ANI
Concerned about children
B
rad Pitt recently took a
trip to France. The ac-
tor was in the Europe-
an destination with his
reported girlfriend Nicole Po-
turalski. It was previously
reported that Angelina Jolie
was furious with Brad for tak-
ing the model to the couple’s
marital home. Now, a new re-
port suggests that Angelina
urged Brad to stay away from
the Jolie-Pitt children for two
weeks following his return
from the French trip. The ac-
tress recommended Brad
quarantines for two weeks for
the sake of their children.
The insider claimed that
the Eternals star is extremely
concerned about her children
possibly contracting the virus
after their father’s trip to
France. Hence she “insisted”
Brad to quarantine. “She
didn’t want to take chance the
kids getting it,” the source
said. —Agency
T
he quarantine
period was put
to good use by
Shawn Mendes
as the singer revealed
recently that his new
album titled ‘Wonder’
was coming out on De-
cember 4. Before that,
we will be treated
with a new single also
titled Wonder which
will be out on October
2. “I’ve missed you all
so much! I know it’s
been a really scary
year for everyone so
I’m sending buckets
of love to all of you x,”
Shawn began in his
handwritten letter to
his fans.
“I wrote an album.
It’s called Wonder. It
really feels like a piece
of me has been writ-
ten down on paper
and recorded into
song. I tried to be as
real and as honest as
I’ve ever been,”
Mendes added. Offer-
ing her support to her
lovely boyfriend is
Camila Cabello, who
shared a snippet of
the 22-year-old sing-
er’s new single along
with a heartwarming
message on Insta-
gram. “The world
could use some magic,
beauty, and Wonder
always, but especially
right now. @shawn-
mendes what a gor-
geous gift to the world.
He’s crafted this al-
bum with every last
bit of his soul, his
spirit, and his essence
with the purest of in-
tentions,” Cabello
wrote. —Agency
THE
WONDER
Anushka Sharma
Angelina Jolie and
Brad Pitt
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello
Fatima Sana Shaikh
Happy Birthday, Asha Parekh
H
onored by Padma Shri, Asha Parekh is one of the best actresses that Indian
cinema has ever seen. From ‘Teesri Manzil’ to ‘Kati Patang’, she has given
many hits and won various awards for her performance. But it’s not acting
that we need to learn from her, rather how to slay at life. Today, the legendary
actress celebrates her 78th birthday..

Residents protest govt's plan to 'modernize' Mahatma's Sabarmati Ashram

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