First india ahmedabad edition-09 february 2021

BJP Vadodara MLA threatens journalist
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)
MLA from Waghodia
Madhu Shrivastav
threatened a local jour-
nalist with dire conse-
quences after the latter
posed questions about
his son’s candidature
in the upcoming local
body elections. Nota-
bly, this is not the first
time that Shrivastav
has openly made
threats to journalists
as a similar incident
had happened a few
months ago as well.
The journalist of a
local channel based in
Vadodara city had ap-
proached Shrivastav
for comments on the
rumour that his son
was planning to contest
as an independent can-
didate in the Vadodara
Municipal Corporation
(VMC), despite being
an incumbent MLA of
the BJP. Instead of re-
sponding, Shrivasatav
started questioning the
journalist without pre-
amble and proceeded to
threaten him.
Earlier, in the run-up
to the 2019 Lok Sabha
elections, the BJP MLA
had intimidated voters
by insinuating that if
they did not vote for
the BJP candidate,
“they would have to
pay for it”.
Meanwhile, Shrivas-
tav has also run into a
controversy as he has al-
located Rs2 crore for the
construction of a Hanu-
man Temple in the mid-
dle of a lake. Despite a
court stay order on de-
velopment or construc-
tion in water bodies and
lack of approval from
the government, no ac-
tion has been initiated
against him under con-
tempt of court. Turn to P6
MLA Madhu Shrivastav
CAUSE AND EFFECT
AHMEDABAD l TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 75
New Delhi: Farmer un-
ions agitating against
the three agri laws on
Monday asked the gov-
ernment to fix a date for
the next round of talks,
soon after PM Modi
urged them to end their
stir and invited them to
resume the dialogue.
They, however, objected
to PM’s remarks that a
new “breed” of agita-
tors called “andolan
jivi” has emerged in the
country, and said that
agitation has an impor-
tant role in a democracy
.
Farmer leader & BKU
spokesperson Rakesh
Tikait on Monday reit-
erated that a law is
needed on MSP for
crops, dismissing the
promise made by PM in
Parliament earlier.
“Prime Minister said
‘MSP hai, tha aur rahe-
ga’ today but he did not
say that a law will be
formed on MSP... the
country does not run on
trust. It runs on consti-
tution and law,” he said.
“There will not be
business over hunger in
the country
. Turn to P6
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Monday appealed to
protesting farmers to
end their agitation
against the new farm
laws even as he ques-
tioned Opposition par-
ties for their sudden “U-
turn” on the agricul-
ture sector reforms.
The prime minister
also hit out at those be-
hind the protests, say-
ing a new “breed” of
agitators called “an-
dolan jeevi” has
emerged in the country
who cannot live without
agitation and the nation
should guard against
them. He also said a new
FDI (Foreign Destruc-
tive Ideology) has come
up in the nation and “we
need to be more aware
to save the country from
such ideology”.
“I invite you to come
forward and solve the
problems of the agri-
culture sector by mak-
ing those protesting
against the laws to un-
derstand the reforms...
Let’s move forward to-
gether,” he said.
Defending Centre’s
policies for farmers and
referring to those tak-
ing a “U-Turn” from
laws, PM quoted his
predecessor Manmo-
han Singh who had
once called for making
one single market for
agriculture produce.
“Manmohan Ji is
here, I would read out
his quote. Those taking
a U-Turn (farm laws)
will perhaps agree with
him. ‘There are other
rigidities because of
marketing regime set
up in the 1930s which
prevent our farmers
from selling their pro-
duce where they get the
highest rate of re-
turn...” said PM Modi in
his reply to the Motion
of Thanks on the Presi-
dent’s Address in Rajya
Sabha. “...It is our inten-
tion to remove all those
handicaps, which come
in the way of India real-
ising its vast potential
at one large common
market,” he added.
“Manmohan Singh Ji
had made his inten-
tions clear to give farm-
ers the freedom to sell
their produce, and have
just one market.
Turn to P6
Dehradun: In the after-
mathof Uttarakhandgla-
cier burst, 26 bodies have
been recovered till re-
ports last came in. Ac-
cording to Uttarakhand
DGP Ashok Kumar 171
people still remain miss-
ing of which 35 are sup-
posed to be stuck in the
tunnel where rescue op-
erationsarestillgoingon.
However, Uttara-
khand Disaster Man-
agement Centre claims
197 people are missing
since the day of tragedy
.
A multi-agency res-
cue operation including
— Indo-Tibetan Border
Police (ITBP) and Na-
tional Disaster Re-
sponse Force (NDRF) —
is in full swing to release
people still stuck in the
tunnels. The forces have
cleared 90 meter stretch
of debris in the big tun-
nel at Tapovan till now,
withabout100metersof
clearing still left to do.
Uttarakhand CM
Trivendra Singh Rawat
visited Chamoli district
and said that saving
lives was their first pri-
ority. He will visit af-
fected areas in Chamoli
today and will also meet
people there. Turn to P6
MASSIVE RESCUE OPS ON
TO TRACK OVER 140
MISSING; TOLL RISES TO 26
Need to save India from ‘andolan jeevis’
& Foreign Destructive Ideology: Modi
Remove 1,178
Pak-Khalistani
handles: Govt
asks Twitter
New Delhi: Amid the
‘Toolkit’ controversy
surrounding the ongo-
ing farmers’ protest,
Centralgovthasdirected
microblogging platform
Twitter to remove 1,178
Pakistani-Khalistani ac-
counts spreading misin-
formation and provoca-
tive content on farmers
agitation, sources said.
Additionally
, govern-
ment feels that Twitter
CEO Jack Dorsey ‘lik-
ing’ a few tweets sup-
porting the protest rais-
es questions over the
platform’s neutrality
.
In an emailed re-
sponse, a Twitter
spokesperson said that
Twitter Turn to P6
GLACIER
DISASTER HANGING GLACIER MAY
HAVE BROKEN FROM MAIN
PART: DRDO SCIENTIST
Chamoli: Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) scientist Dr LK Sinha on
Monday said that a hanging glacier in Uttara-
khand’s Chamoli may have broken away from the
main glacier which caused damage. Sinha said
that DRDO scientists are analysing the data to
ascertain the cause of glacier burst. “Our team did
an aerial survey of the glacier where the incident
took place in Chamoli. Prima facie, it looks that a
hanging glacier broke away from the main glacier
and came down in the narrow valley,” the DRDO
scientist told ANI. “In the valley, it formed a lake
which burst later and caused the damage. The
data is being analysed by our scientists in detail
and if required, they would again go to get more
details.” The DRDO scientist further said.
Joint team of ITBP, Army, SDRF, NDRF trying
to reach trapped people in Tapovan tunnel
CARRY RELIEF WORK WITHOUT
HINDRANCE: RAHUL URGES
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on
Monday condoled the deaths of people in the
Uttarakhand glacier burst and said
there should be no hindrance
in relief work for few days.
“The whole country is with
Uttarakhand. At this time,
the most important thing
is that there should be no
obstructions in the relief work
for the next few days. I am with
the victims with all my heart
and wish for their safety,”
Rahul Gandhi tweeted.
Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat
directed SDRF to release Rs 20 crore funds
to carry out rescue and relief operations in
the state. Ration and relief materials were
transported by helicopter to villages that
were cut off from connectivity.
PM Narendra Modi and former PM Manmohan Singh during
Budget Session of Parliament in Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Ready for talks; fix
a date, say Farmers
PM also quotes Manmohan while referring to those taking ‘U-turn’ over farm laws
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD
& LUCKNOW
www.firstindia.co.in
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Rakesh Tikait
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
SC allows pvt schools in Raj to
collect full fees in 6 instalments
First India Bureau
New Delhi: In what
may be seen as a major
setback for parents in
the school fees case,
the Supreme Court
while giving a big re-
lief to the school op-
erators, allowed pri-
vate unaided schools
in Rajasthan to collect
100% school fee,
through 6 monthly in-
stallments, from 5
March, 2021.
However, bench of
Justice AM Khan-
wilkar and Justice
Dinesh Maheshwari,
maintained that
schools cannot expel
students or reserve
theirexamresultsover
non-payment of fee.
SC also mentioned
thattheinstallmentar-
rangement would have
to be paid indepen-
dently of the amount
payable to schools in
the 2021-2022 academic
year. The court also
stayed an earlier judg-
ment of Rajasthan
High Court, which had
allowedprivateschools
to charge 60% to 70%.
SC gave this interim
order while holding a
joint hearing on the
SLP of Vidyabhavan
School Society along
with Managing Com-
mittee Sawai Man
Singh School Turn to P6

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2021
02
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Ghettoization not good for society: Experts
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) on Monday offi-
cially launched its cam-
paign for the upcoming
local body elections. A
slogan, “Gujarat Chhe
Makkam, BJP Saathe
Adikham” (Gujarat is
firm and stronger with
the BJP) was also un-
veiled along with a vid-
eo which reiterated the
developmental work
and COVID-19 relief ef-
forts undertaken by the
state government.
State unit president
CR Patil launched the
campaign that includes
40 short films of a min-
ute each, narrating sto-
ries of development, 20
videos, 21 billboard de-
signs and 19 Graphic
Interchange Format
(GIFs) to reach voters in
six municipal corpora-
tions, 31 district pan-
chayats, 231 taluka pan-
chayats and 81 nagarpa-
likas.
In his address at the
launch event, Patil re-
minded the public of
the BJP central govern-
ment’s scrapping of Ar-
ticle 370 that granted
special status to Jammu
& Kashmir, and also the
construction of the
Ram Janmabhoomi
Mandir in Ayodhya.
Taking a jibe at the
Congress party, Patil al-
leged that it had failed
to supply potable drink-
ing water to people
across the state when it
was in power and also
opposed the Narmada
water project.
Meanwhile, the par-
ty’s state parliamentary
board meetings are be-
ing conducted where
candidates for district/
taluka panchayats and
nagarpalikas will soon
be finalized.
Gujarat unit of BJP launches local body polls campaign
NO STONE UNTURNED
lll
A slogan,
40 short-
films, 20
videos, 21
billboard
designs and
19 GIFs
to present
the party’s
achieve-
ments to
voters
State unit president CR Patil (centre, in white) flanked by chief spokesperson Yamal Vyas (on his left) and media convener
Yagnesh Dave (on his right). —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Slogan launched by the party.
Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: While
mounting campaigns
during elections, po-
litical parties often
indulge in a war of
words to showcase
their caliber and
power to the voters.
In one such verbal
spat, Patidar Anamat
Andolan Samiti
(PAAS) leader Alpesh
Kathiria warned the
Congress leaders not
to campaign in Surat,
but insinuated that
Patidar leader and
Congress working
president Hardik Pa-
tel will not be stopped
from campaigning.
Kathiria further
challenged opposition
party leader Jayrajs-
inh Parmar to hold a
public meeting in Var-
achha area of Surat. It
is to be noted that Var-
achha is dominated by
Patidars and can be
identified as a ‘Patidar
Ghetto’. Back in 1996-
1997, the Patel commu-
nity had threatened
BJP leader Kashiram
Rana and when a gath-
ering was held in Var-
achha, it was marred
with stone-pelting.
The PAAS had de-
manded two tickets
from Congress and
were granted a single
ticket because one of
the nominees Dharmik
Malavia did not file his
candidature.
Talking about ghet-
tos and society, JC Pa-
tel, Professor of Sociol-
ogy at Gujarat Univer-
sity said, “Ghettos
should not exist in a
society. But they often
contradict each other.
Ghettos kill the very
idea of a civilized soci-
ety.”
Echoing a similar
sentiment, a sociolo-
gy expert at the Sau-
rashtra University,
on the condition of
anonymity, said that
despite urbanization
in our state, commu-
nity ghettos are
mushrooming, which
may pose a threat to
the sense of belong-
ing in a community.
“This is not a healthy
sign for the society. The
cities already have sec-
tions where certain
communities such as
Muslims, Dalits that
have developed ghet-
tos. Now, it is penetrat-
ing the fabric of our
society further,” said
one of the assistant
professors at Saurash-
tra University.
If a political leader
bans other people
from entering an
area, the masses will
follow that lead and
the same feeling will
be echoed in other
parts as well, added
the professor.
A PAAS rally —FILE PHOTO Police apprehending perpetrators of stone-pelting. —FILE PHOTO
A PAAS leader recently barred Congress leaders from campaigning in Varachha area of Surat
Nominations of two
Cong candidates rejected
First India Bureau
Rajkot: In a major set-
back to the Congress
party, the form of two
candidates set to contest
from wards one and four
of the Rajkot Municipal
Corporation(RMC)elec-
tion, were rejected by
the state election com-
mission on Monday due
to various reasons.
While ward number
one candidate Bharat
Shiyal’s form was re-
jected because it had no
mandate, ward number
4 candidate Naran Sav-
set’s form was denied
nomination because he
has three children. The
latter was ineligible to
contest polls as per elec-
tion guidelines for mu-
nicipal corporations,
taluka/district pan-
chayats and nagarpa-
likas. However, dummy
candidate Rambhai Jil-
riya has now been
granted the opportuni-
ty to contest from ward
number four.
With Shiyal’s form be-
ing dismissed, the oppo-
sition party will now
contesttheelectionfrom
71 of the total 72 seats.
Speaking to First In-
dia,formerCongressRa-
jkot city president Ma-
hesh Rajput said, “The
reason cited (for the re-
jection of forms) from
theCollectoratewaslack
of mandate. When we
produced a copy of the
written mandate, they
responded that there
was no name on it. How
is it possible that other
candidates of the party
fromthesamewardhave
a mandate and one per-
son does not have it? We
asked them to show us
the original copy filed,
but were denied. As a re-
sult Congress will now
contesttheRMCelection
from 71 seats.”
Candidates awaiting turn to file their nominations. —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In an
act of sheer negli-
gence on part of the
Gujarat Pradesh
Congress Committee
(GPCC), a total of six
mandates were is-
sued from the party
for one ward with
four seats -- Behram-
pura. This internal
issue surfaced at a
meeting held on
Monday, following
which, Jamalpur
MLA Imran
Khedawala tendered
his resignation to
GPCC president
Amit Chavda.
As per reports, four
candidates were rec-
ommended by
Khedawala for the
Behrampura ward and
the party had assured
him that they would be
finalized for local body
polls. The party work-
ers backed by
Khedawala started
their campaign when
the Jamalpur MLA
was informed that he
would have to ask two
of his candidates to
withdraw their names
on Tuesday
.
Apparently, on the
recommendation of
Deputy Leader of
Opposition Shailesh
Parmar, two more
candidates had filed
their nomination
from the Behrampu-
ra ward. The incon-
sistency in informa-
tion came to light
after all six nomina-
tion forms were ac-
cepted by the state
election commission
(SEC) and cleared
with no errors.
Talking about his de-
cision to quit,
Khedawala said, “Four
candidates have al-
ready been given the
mandate for the Beh-
rampura ward elec-
tions by the party
. It is
unfair to grant the
same mandate to two
other candidates even
though all four candi-
dates for the concerned
ward have already
been selected. How
does this work? It is in-
appropriate to line up
four candidates and
then give tickets to
only two of them. I
have approached the
highcommandtobring
justice to my workers.”
It is to be noted that
Khedawala has not
tendered his resigna-
tion to the state assem-
bly speaker Rajendra
Trivedi.
Khedawala tendering his resignation letter to GPCC prezAmit Chavda.
JAMALPUR CONGRESS MLA
IMRAN KHEDAWALA RESIGNS

GUJARAT
03
First India Bureau
Vadnagar: The Ar-
chaeological Survey of
India (ASI) has uncov-
ered the remains of a
fort that is said to be
around 2,000-years-old
in Vadnagar town of
Mehsana district. Ac-
cording to officials, the
remains found are
around 14 metres in
length. . According to
officials, the fort is like-
ly to have spanned over
five kilometres and also
had a small gutter line.
Incidentally, Vadna-
gar is also the home-
town of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. The
unravellingof thestruc-
ture adds to a number
of recent artefacts that
have been excavated
from the area by the ASI
in recent years.
Last year, a structure
believed to be a Chaitya
(a shrine or prayer hall)
was discovered by the
Archaeological Survey
of India (ASI) team at
Vadnagar. The structure
dates back to the second
century
, according to of-
ficials. Notably
, during
excavationsafewmonths
ago, a third century Bud-
dhiststupaandskeletons
in a state of samadhi
were also unearthed by
archaeologists at the ex-
cavation site.
Ateamof ASIofficials
has been stationed at
Vadnagarsince2015.Nu-
merous artefacts includ-
ingartificialbraceletsof
conch shells, silver, cop-
per/brass coins, pottery
,
among others were also
dug up at the site earlier.
Remains of a 2,000-year-old fort excavated in Vadnagar
HIDDEN TREASURES

The structure,
which measures
around 14 me-
tres in length,
adds to a num-
ber of recent ar-
tifacts that have
been excavated
from the area in
recent years (L) The fort excavated by archaeologists; (R) Artefacts recovered from the site.
GadhviCharancommunitywants
CBI probe into custodial deaths
First India Bureau
Bhuj: The Gadhvi
Charan community in
Kutch’s Mundra has
demanded a thorough
CBI inquiry into the
death of two youth due
to alleged severe po-
lice atrocities at the
Mundra police station
last month, even as
most parts of the vil-
lage observed a bandh
on Monday
.
A mahapanchayat
of the community was
convened at the Sama
Ghogha village on
Monday where they
not only demanded a
CBI probe into the
deaths as well as re-
solved to boycott the
upcoming local body
elections.
Kutch district’s for-
mer Leader of Opposi-
tion V K Humble too
has demanded an inde-
pendent investigation
into the police atrocity
.
Simultaneously, the
community and the
family members of
22-year-old Harijog
Gadhvi, who suc-
cumbed to his injuries
on Sunday, have decid-
ed not to take posses-
sion of his body after
post mortem.
It was on January 12
when the Mundra Po-
licehadpickedupthree
youths Arjan, Harijog
and Samra as suspects
in a robbery case. The
police allegedly tor-
tured them, to the ex-
tent that they were giv-
en electric shock.
Arjan died a week
later on January 19,
whileHarijogandSam-
ra were injured and
were shifted to
Ahmedabad for treat-
ment. On Sunday
, Hari-
jog died. This angered
the community, be-
sides the fact that out
of eight accused, only
three have been arrest-
ed and five are still at
large. So, the demand
for a CBI inquiry
.
Members of the Gadhvi Charan community mahapanchayat met in Sama Ghogha village to protest deaths of two youths in police custody.
The community mahapanchayat observed a bandh on Monday, has decided to boycott civic body polls
15-yr-old minor raped,
names four suspects
First India Bureau
Surat: After arresting
three persons, local
police are in the look-
out for a fourth sus-
pect for his alleged
involvement in the
rape and impregna-
tion of a minor girl,
officials said. The
victim is a 15-year-
old Class X student,
police said. The ac-
cused have been
booked under various
sections of the Pro-
tection of Children
from Sexual Offences
(POSCO) Act.
The fourth suspect
has been identified,
but is absconding, ac-
cording to the police.
The girl complained
of stomach ache on
January 31 and upon
examination, was
found to be two
months pregnant. The
girl’s family then filed
a complaint with the
Katargam police sta-
tion. Since the parents
of the victim are sepa-
rated, she divides her
time between her fa-
ther and mother.
After the primary
investigation, the po-
lice first detained a
friend of the victim.
However, after she
had been counselled,
the police found that
two other persons had
also been involved in
her rape. Following
further counselling,
the victim named a
fourth person. Katar-
gam Police will initi-
ate DNA testing after
apprehending all ac-
cused.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
number of fresh COV-
ID-19 cases being re-
ported in Gujarat has
fallen below the 250
mark. On Monday, over
49,005 people were vac-
cinated against the vi-
rus from 976 centres
across the state.
The state health de-
partment claimed that
not a single person had
been found with seri-
ous side-effects due to
the vaccine. So far, a
total of 6.04 lakh peo-
ple have received the
first dose of vaccina-
tion.
On Monday, one per-
son succumbed to the
virus infection in
Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC) ju-
risdiction. The death
toll of the pandemic in
the state stands at
4,396.
With 232 new cases of
novel coronavirus, the
infection tally rose to
2,63,676. At least 355 pa-
tients were discharged
from hospitals across
the state on the day. So
far, 2,57,120 patients
have recovered from the
infection in the state.
AMC reported the
highest number of cas-
es at 47, followed by Va-
dodara Municipal Cor-
poration (46), Rajkot
Municipal Corporation
(33), Surat Municipal
Corporation (22) and
Vadodara district (11)
in the last 24 hours.
Currently, there are
2,160 active cases in Gu-
jarat, of which, 23 pa-
tients are on ventilator
support. Also, the state
has not disclosed the to-
tal figure of samples
taken for tests for more
than three weeks now.
The state has not disclosed sample testing figures for more than three weeks now.
232 nCoV cases, 1 death
reported in last 24 hours
First India Bureau
Surat: Members of the
Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) in the state have
accused a Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)
member of forging her
documents to win a
party ticket for the lo-
cal body elections to be
held later this month.
Sources say that the
AAP members alleged
that Suvarna Jadhav, a
BJP candidate from
ward number 8, had
submitted false infor-
mation to the govern-
ment. She works for
the Surat Municipal
Corporation (SMC).
Also, Congress party
members have also al-
leged that Ashok Rand-
heri, another BJP con-
tender, has submitted
fake documents and
misled the state elec-
tion commission.
Sources say that Rand-
heri had not submitted
the details of his second
wife and son to the gov-
ernment. The party has
also presented a letter
of objection to the pre-
siding officer.
The local body elec-
tions are scheduled to
be held in two phases on
February 21 and 28.
Candidates attempting to file their nominations.
BJP candidates accused of providing misinformation
HEAVY HEART
Amdavadis extended their condolences to victims of the glacier break flooding in Chamoli, Uttarakhand near Mithakhali Garden in Ahmedabad on Monday evening.
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
WHAT TRANSPIRED
POLICE ATROCITY

Vol 2 Issue No. 75 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.
Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVE
04
ational youth
poet laureate
Amanda Gor-
man’srecitation
of “The Hill We
Climb,” at Joe Biden’s pres-
identialinaugurationinthe
United States captured the
attention of a nation and
people globally
.
Gorman highlighted the
power of poets in our cur-
rent sociopolitical context
to speak unique and timely
truths, while tapping into
larger literary traditions.
Some commentators were
reminded of the legacy of
Black women poets like
Maya Angelou and Eliza-
beth Alexander who deliv-
ered inaugural poems re-
spectively at Bill Clinton’s
and Barack Obama’s inau-
gurations. The ring Gor-
man wore was a tribute to
Maya Angelou and a gift
from Oprah Winfrey
.
Gorman inspired people
of all ages with the notion
of seeing and being light.
The day after the inaugura-
tion two of her books
topped Amazon’s bestseller
list.
Gorman moved many in
a time of geopolitical un-
certainty and a pandemic
with the power of critical
hope, something that com-
bats hollow positivity. In
the words of educator and
literary theorist Ira Shor,
critical hope asks us to
“challenge the actual in
the name of the possible.”
We are researchers who
have studied how youth
carve out legacies and how
storytelling can teach and
inspire critical hope. What
struck us in hearing Gor-
man speak was how, at the
age of 22, the poet taps into
the power of generativity,
a concept that refers to cre-
ating a legacy that lasts
beyond our lifetimes to
shape future generations.
As she recited: “But one
thing is certain: If we
merge mercy with might,
and might with right, then
love becomes our legacy
and change our children’s
birthright.…”
SHAPING WHO
WE ARE BY THE
STORIES WE TELL
Research repeatedly indi-
cates that adults in their
30s and 40s who are in-
volved in creating some-
thing that will last beyond
their lifetime enjoy a bet-
ter quality of life until
death in many ways. (Par-
enting, teaching, social jus-
tice activism or engaging
in creative projects are
ways of leaving one’s mark
in the world after death.)
Can people in their early
20s already see themselves
carving out a legacy? Gor-
man’s poem suggests the
answer is yes. She reminds
people that what they do
(or don’t do) will shape the
legacy future generations
inherit: “We will not be
turned around or inter-
rupted by intimidation be-
cause we know our inac-
tion and inertia will be the
inheritance of the next
generation.”
Gorman’s poem speaks
to the creative and leader-
ship potential of youth.
Her display of being part
of a lasting legacy reso-
nates with our experiences
and some of our research.
Psychologist Erik Erik-
son popularized the idea
that in middle age many
adults become interested
in leaving a legacy, but
studies have found that
many youth are also inter-
ested in creating some-
thing that lasts beyond
their lifetime.
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION
POET AMANDA GORMAN’S RIFF ON LOVE
N
he Indian Penal Code IPC
was formed under the Brit-
ish rule that was around
150 years ago, defining
crimes and punishments.
Under the colonial rule,
the laws were made inter-
esting the Britishers only
as such laws helped the
Britishers to govern their
colonies with ample ease.
Though there have been
many amendments over
the years in the IPC there
are still some corners that
need to be looked at once
more and of course, this
should be done by keeping
in mind the values of de-
mocracy and human rights.
The rebuilding of IPC is re-
quired as a large number of
its arrangements have gotten
old with changing financial
turns of events and innova-
tive advances. Wrongdoings
like horde lynching, mone-
tary violations, middle-class
violations, financial wrong-
doings, and so forth, have not
discovered legitimate ac-
knowledgment in the IPC.
There have been numer-
ous revisions to guarantee
that IPC advances with
time, however, it has not
been changed absolutely
since the date of institu-
tion. Albeit certain changes
to the arrangements of IPC
have been made, as upheld
by the choices of the courts.
For instance in the instanc-
es of infidelity and the de-
criminalization of homo-
sexuality. IPC depends on
the obstruction hypothesis
pervasive around then how-
ever the criminal law needs
to move from the obstacle
or distributive hypothesis
to the reformative hypoth-
esis of discipline. A portion
of the progressions that
should be brought are:

z A sexually impartial meaning
of assault is required. Seg-
ment 375 of IPC does exclude
men, hijras, and young men
as the casualties of assault
and just thinks about ladies
as survivors of assault.

z Dissidence under Section
124 A of the IPC was embed-
ded by the Britishers in 1898
to control the uprisings
against them and to stifle the
opportunity developments.
Nonetheless, as of late, this
part is regularly abused
against individuals who
censure public authority.

z Area 57: Life Imprison-
ment as a discipline is at
the prudence of the court
concerning the number of
years. It relies more upon
the idea of the wrongdoing
that has been submitted.
In any case, with regards
to the computation of parts
of the discipline, it is fixed
for a very long time. This
removes the optional force
of an appointed authority
and contrasts emerge after
picking the methodology of
giving disciplines.

z Under Section 294, the
demonstration of irritating
somebody by playing out
any profane demonstration
openly puts is culpable. Not-
withstanding, the word ‘vul-
gar’ isn’t characterized under
the Act and this is frequently
abused by the police.

z The disciplines gave under
Chapter 3 are a traditional-
ist. It just accommodates
detainment or fine. There is
no notice of local area ad-
ministration or changing the
criminal in any capacity.
EARLIER AMENDMENTS
CRIMINAL
(AMENDMENT) ACT, 2013
The bill presented was addi-
tionally called the counter-
assault bill. The Act was ac-
quainted with making the
assault laws in India tougher.
This correction enlarged the
meaning of assault by includ-
ing oral sex and the penetra-
tion of different items into
ladies’ bodies as wrongdoing.
Thinking about the rising
number of assaults in India
this was a gigantic advance.
Following had likewise been
condemned under this dem-
onstration. It likewise
thought about the catching
and viewing of ladies in a pri-
vate exhibit without wanting
to, to be a wrongdoing.
CRIMINAL
(AMENDMENT) ACT, 2018
This Act was assisted to rein-
force the assault laws. The
quantum of discipline was
expanded from in any event 7
to 10 years. Arrangements for
discipline for assault of a
youngladyunder12yearsand
16 years were added under it.
The insertion of Section
153 A and 509 was made to
counter the racially motivat-
ed crimes. However, this did
not receive support from all
the states to that extent.
ASSESSING THE
POLITICAL AGENDA
BEHIND THE
RESTRUCTURING OF IPC
The Union Home Ministry
proposed the plan to patch up
the IPC, which was presented
duringtheBritishstandardin
India, in light of the “ace
worker” soul. Under the Bu-
reau of Police Research and
Development,apanelhaslike-
wise been set up to investigate
theprogressionstobebrought.
Theplanforthepublicauthor-
ity to remake this law which
has been in power for such
countlessyearsistosatisfythe
popularity-based desires of
the individuals and to guaran-
tee quick equity and stream-
line lawful strategies. Despite
the fact that the service guar-
anteesthegenuinemotivation
to do this is to guarantee expe-
dient equity and the disentan-
glement of the general set of
laws,onereallywantstothink
if there is any shrouded po-
liticalplanbehindthis.Chang-
es ought to, in this way
, be ex-
posed to popular assessment
before being actualized.
REFORMING THE
CRIMINAL SYSTEM
Numerousresearchersaccept
that the criminal framework
can’t be changed just by redo-
ing the IPC. The usage of the
code ought to likewise be pro-
ficient to guarantee achieve-
ment. IPC can’t be authorized
by similar police structures.
Police changes are required
for the progressions in IPC to
encourage its effective activi-
ty
. We need an adjustment in
the mentality of the police to-
wards complainants, snappy
enrollment of first data re-
ports (FIRs), and quick reac-
tion against wrongdoings. To
change the mentality of the
policetowardstheconveyance
of equity
, numerous interior,
outer,andunderlyingchanges
areadditionallyrequired.The
policeneedtorefinetheacces-
sible HR, nature of examina-
tions, and be more effective.
Furthermore, it ought to be
guaranteed that there is no
outer tension on the police.
Transforming the criminal
equity framework isn’t only a
one-venturemeasure.Redoing
IPC is a significant advance to
modernizethecriminallawof
India and make it as per the
Indian vote based system. The
Britishers utilized IPC for
their potential benefit and to
take care of political dissi-
dents, it depended on the im-
pediment hypothesis. Despite
the fact that redoing IPC will
prompt transforming the
criminal equity framework,
extra changes in the police
structure are likewise re-
quired.Regardlessof whether
IPC is changed, its usage will
be a test that the public au-
thority should survive.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
OBSOLETE LAWS AND
THEIR DUE AMENDMENTS
THE CHANGES REQUIRED IN INDIAN PENAL CODE
T
The Union Home
Ministry proposed
the plan to patch
up the IPC, which
was presented
during the British
standard in India,
in light of the “ace
worker” soul.
Under the Bureau
of Police Research
and Development,
a panel has
likewise been set
up to investigate
the progressions to
be brought. The
plan for the public
authority to
remake this law
which has been in
power for such
countless years is
to satisfy the
popularity-based
desires of the
individuals and to
guarantee quick
equity and
streamline lawful
strategies
TRANSFORMING THE CRIMINAL EQUITY FRAMEWORK
ISN’T ONLY A ONE-VENTURE MEASURE. REDOING IPC IS
A SIGNIFICANT ADVANCE TO MODERNIZE THE CRIMINAL
LAW OF INDIA AND MAKE IT AS PER THE INDIAN VOTE
BASED SYSTEM. THE BRITISHERS UTILIZED IPC FOR
THEIR POTENTIAL BENEFIT AND TO TAKE CARE OF
POLITICAL DISSIDENTS, IT DEPENDED ON THE
IMPEDIMENT HYPOTHESIS. DESPITE THE FACT THAT
REDOING IPC WILL PROMPT TRANSFORMING THE
CRIMINAL EQUITY FRAMEWORK, EXTRA CHANGES IN THE
POLICE STRUCTURE ARE LIKEWISE REQUIRED
MEGHNA
SHARMA
1ST YEAR, BA, LLB LAW
STUDENT FROM MANIPAL
UNIVERSITY JAIPUR
So, if you think you are
standing firm, be careful that you
don’t fall! —Corinthians 10:12
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Dr Harsh Vardhan @drharshvardhan
It is our beloved PM Sh @
narendramodi Ji who has led this
battle against #COVID19 from the
front,enhancing global solidarity
strengthening the fight each moment.
Under his exemplary leadership,
India is being applauded globally for
providing #COVID19Vaccines
to numerous nations.
Prakash Javadekar
@PrakashJavdekar
Happy to announce that India
has now 51 Tiger Reserves. The
Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel
Wildlife Sanctuary Megamalai
Wildlife Sanctuary has been
declared as “Srivilliputhur
Megamalai Tiger Reserve”, the 51st
Tiger Reserve of India.

INDIA
05
‘ISRO experts say disaster caused by
part of snow-laden mountain sliding’
Dehradun: Uttara-
khand Chief Minister
Trivendra Singh Rawat
has said Indian Space
Research Organisation
(ISRO) Director told
him that the Chamoli
disaster was caused by
sliding of a part of a
mountain after receiv-
ing snowfall two-three
days ago.
“ISRO director, on
the basis of a report by
the organisation, told
me this place is not an
avalanche-prone area
and the images from
two-three days ago
showed that there was
no glacier at all on the
mountain.” “After re-
ceiving some snowfall a
couple of days ago, a
part of the mountain
slid and caused lakhs of
metric tonnes of snow
to fall down at once
causing the disaster,”
he added.
Meanwhile, Union
Power Minister RK Sin-
gh also visited Chamoli
on Monday to review
the situation after Tapo-
van Vishnugad hydro-
power project suffered
heavy damage. —ANI
5,133 CEASEFIRE VIOLATIONS BY
PAK IN 2020: RAJNATH SINGH
New Delhi: Pakistan
resorted to 5,133
incidents of ceasefire
violations last year in
which 46 security force
personnel were killed,
Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh said on Monday,
referring to Pakistani
hostilities along the
Line of Control and
International Border in
Jammu and Kashmir. In
replying to a question
in Rajya Sabha, the
defence minister said
“appropriate retaliation”
to the ceasefire
violations, as required,
has been carried out
by the security forces.
The defence minister
said 299 incidents of
ceasefire violations were
reported till January 28
this year.
NEVER SEEN SUCH A CRUEL
GOVT AT CENTRE: MAMATA
Kolkata: West Bengal
CM Mamata Banerjee
called the centre “a
cruel government” for
its meagre advance to
the state after Cyclone
Amphan”. Didi took on
Opposition for criticis-
ing vote-on-account
presented by her and
saying it was done with
an eye on the coming
state polls. “Even if
vote-on-account is
what Oppn is saying,
where is the problem?
It is for the welfare of
the people. Some are
saying we are there
for a few days. We will
be back with a huge
mandate,” she said.
AVIAN FLU: MAHARASHTRA
CULLS 40,000 BIRDS
Mumbai: Maharash-
tra on Sunday culled
40,000 poultry birds
in Navapur in Nan-
durbar district, 340
km north of Mumbai,
after cases of avian
influenza or bird flu
were confirmed in
the four-layer poultry
farms in the region
Eight samples from
nearly 5,000 dead
poultry birds from
the four-layer poultry
units in Navapur were
sent to the National
Institute of High-Se-
curity Animal Diseases
for avian influenza test.
All the samples tested
positive.
100 KASHMIRI YOUTH VISITED PAK
IN LAST 3 YEARS ARE MISSING
New Delhi: The security
establishment has found
that in 3 years around
100 youth from Kashmir
travelled to Pakistan on
a visa are missing. “They
have either never returned
or have returned but are
missing,” said an IPS
officer adding that they
can be part of ‘sleeper
cells’ of terror organisa-
tions. The officer said as
more proactive outreach
programmes have been
taken up more surveil-
lance mechanisms placed,
the incidents of youth
going missing are “de-
creasing proportionately”.
The intelligence sleuths,
along with immigration
officials, are keeping a tab
on movement of youth at
Wagah border as well as
at the New Delhi airport.
UN CHIEF EXPRESSES GRIEF
OVER LOSS OF LIVES
A PHONE CALL THAT SAVED
12 LIVES IN UTTARAKHAND
New York: The United Nations Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres has expressed grief over the
loss of life in Uttarakhand due to the glacier burst
and the subsequent flooding. “The Secretary-
General is deeply saddened by the reported loss
of life and dozens missing following the glacier
burst and subsequent flooding in Uttarakhand
state, India, on Sunday. The Secretary-General
expresses his deep condolences to the families
of the victims and to the people and Government
of India,” said a spokesperson for the Secretary-
General in a statement. The UN stands ready
to contribute to ongoing rescue and assistance
efforts if necessary, the statement added.
Joshimath: They had lost hope of survival when
one of them found his mobile phone network
working, helping them contact the authorities
who rescued them from an underground tunnel
at Tapovan in Uttarakahnd’s Chamoli where flash
floods wreaked havoc following a glacier burst.
“We heard people screaming at us to come out
of the tunnel but before we could react, a sudden
gush of water and heavy silt swamped upon
us,” rescued Tapovan power project worker Lal
Bahadur said. He, along with 11 of his other
colleagues, was rescued by the Indo-Tibetan
Border Police (ITBP) from an underground
tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on
Monday evening.
SHOW MAMTA
towards farmers:
TMC on PM’s Barb
11 RAFALE AIRCRAFT IN COUNTRY,ENTIRE
BATCH EXPECTED BY APRIL 2022: RAJNATH
Ahead of Kerala polls, BJP
promises law against love jihad
Thiruvananthapuram:
Ahead of the upcoming
state Assembly elec-
tions, the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) has
promised to bring an
Uttar Pradesh-like law
against love jihad in
Kerala, if elected to
power.
The BJP state presi-
dent has made it clear
that if they come to
power, NDA will enact
a law against Love Ji-
had.
BJP has highlighted
the events of illegal
and forceful conver-
sions in the state.
The opposition, how-
ever, has slammed the
move and called it an
attempt to polarize.
NCP leader Majeed
Memon stated that Ker-
ala is one of the most
literate states and the
people there believe in
secularism and the
move will not woo the
voters in Kerala.
However, BJP state
President K Surendran
stated that the Love ji-
had is a serious issue
and apart from Hindu
organizations, Chris-
tians are also demand-
ing for the same law.
New Delhi: Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh
on Monday said that 11
Rafale aircraft have ar-
rived in India while the
entire batch of aircraft
will come by April 2022
in the country
.
“11 Rafale aircraft
have arrived in India.
By this March, India
will have 17 Rafale air-
craft. By April 2022, all
Rafale aircraft (the en-
tire batch) will come to
India,” said Singh while
responding to a ques-
tion posed by Bharatiya
Janata Party MP Ma-
hesh Poddar in the Ra-
jya Sabha.
Poddar had asked the
Defence Minister about
how many Rafaels have
come to India, how
many are supposed to
come, and till when they
will be battle-ready
.
The minister also re-
sponded to a question
raised by All India Tri-
namool Congress MP
Dr Santanu Sen on “any
probability of privati-
sation of few aspects of
the Defence in coming
days?” Responding to
his query, Singh said
“We are emphasising
on indigenisation and
have chosen 101 items
that won’t be imported
from other nations but
will be manufactured in
India by Indians.”
Meanwhile, the Lok
Sabha on Monday took
up discussion on mo-
tion of thanks to the
President’s address af-
ter seeing disruptions
over four days last week
over opposition’s de-
mand for separate dis-
cussion on the new
farm laws.
When the House met
after an adjournment,
Defence Minister Ra-
jnath Singh said that
the House every year
expresses its thanks to
the President for his
address to the joint sit-
ting of two Houses and
opposition members
also agree that “healthy
democratic traditions”
should continue.
The minister, who is
Deputy Leader of the
House, said members
can say what they want
and also put across their
views on the farm laws.
—ANI
Kolkata: The ruling
TMC in West Bengal on
Sunday slammed Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi for his hard-hit-
ting comments against
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee and urged
him to soften his stand
on the ongoing stir
against farm laws and
show some “Mamta”
(compassion) towards
agitating farmers.
PM Modi during the
day made a scathing at-
tack at the TMC govern-
ment, saying it has
“criminalised politics,
institutionalised cor-
ruption and politicised
the police” and said the
people of the state ex-
pected ‘’Mamta’’ from
Mamata Banerjee but
got ‘’nirmamta’’ (cruel-
ty) instead in the last
ten years.
ReactingtoPMModi’s
barb, Senior TMC MP
and spokesperson Sau-
gata Roy said the people
of Bengal would show
the BJP “Red card dur-
ing elections”.
“Instead of blaming
CM Mamata Banerjee,
the PM should soften
his stand on farmers is-
sue and show some
‘’Mamta’’ towards the
agitating farmers, who
are protesting for the
last 70 days. —ANI
A farmer sitting at Tikri Border during their protest against farm
law, in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
A team of SDRF and Uttarakhand Police pulling the dead body from mud after the glacier burst, in
Chamoli on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Uttarakhand Chief Minister trivendra Singh Rawat being briefed through maps about the ground
situation after the Glaciar burst in Chamoli on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
SC disposes plea
seeking NIA probe
in MLA’s murder
New Delhi: The SC on
Monday disposed of the
petition seeking direc-
tion for an NIA (Nation-
al Investigation Agen-
cy) probe into the al-
leged murder of West
Bengal MLA, Debendra
Nath Roy
.
A bench of the apex
court, headed by Jus-
tice Ashok Bhushan,
recorded the submis-
sions made by lawyer
Shashank Shekhar Jha,
and other parties, dis-
posed of the petition
filed by him, and said,
if the petitioner wants,
then he may approach
the concerned state
High Court to seek re-
lief in the case.
Apex court was hear-
ing the petition filed by
Jha, seeking a direction
for an NIA probe into
alleged murder of
MLA, Debendra Nath
Roy. Jha submitted to
the top court that he
wanted to file his reply,
also in the same case,
the deceased’s wife,
Chandima Roy
, has filed
a petition before the Su-
preme Court, so thereby
this Court should club
these petitions, but the
Supreme Court asked
him to approach the
concerned High Court
and disposed of the pe-
tition filed by Jha.
Chandima Roy al-
leged that her hus-
band’s alleged killing
was a case of pre-
planned murder and
prayed for a probe by a
central agency, prefera-
bly by CBI. —ANI
‘BJP trying to
divide farmers,
misleading
celebrities’
Sensex soars 617 pts,
Nifty ends over 15,100
New Delhi: Congress
leader Adhir Ranjan
Chowdhury on Mon-
day alleged that BJP
was “bereft of national
icons” and was remem-
bering Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose to gain
an advantage in West
Bengal elections.
Participating in the
debate on the motion of
thanks on the Presi-
dent’s Address, Chowd-
hury alleged that BJP-
led government had
sought to create divi-
sions among farmers
protesting against the
new farm laws. He also
said that celebrities like
Sachin Tendulkar and
Lata Mangeshkar were
being misled.
“Is our country so
weak that an 18-year-
old-girl (Greta Thun-
berg) is being consid-
ered an enemy for
speaking in favour of
the protesting farmers?
he asked.
Chowdhury said BJP
leaders do not talk
about the contribution
of India’s first Prime
Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru towards self-reli-
ance of the country and
this shows their “small-
ness”. —ANI
Mumbai: Winning
streak extended at the
bourses into sixth
straight day on Mon-
day as investor opti-
mism stayed elevated.
An across-the-board
buying helped front-
line indices scale
fresh record highs in
the intra-day trade,
before settling at new
closing peaks.
M-cap of all the listed
firms on the BSE also
hit record Rs 203 tril-
lion in value.
Among key indices,
the benchmark SP
BSE Sensex settled tad
below the 51,350-mark,
at 51,349 levels today, up
617 points or 1.22 per
cent, aided by buying in
MM (up 7.4 per cent),
Bajaj Finserv, Infosys,
Tech M, and Bharti Air-
tel. On the downside,
however, HUL (down 1.5
per cent), Bajaj Finance
(down 0.7 per cent), and
ITC (down 0.5 per cent)
remained top laggards.
—Agencies

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INDIA
06
BJP Vadodara...
“There is not one leader
in the ruling party who
can rein him in or take
action against such a
dabang leader,” stated
Congress chief spokes-
person Manish Doshi.
He also alleged that the
BJP has often used peo-
ple such as Shrivastav
to win elections and
therefore now the party
has granted them free
rein to threaten citi-
zens as well as journal-
ists.
It seems that the party
has surrendered to
such dabang leaders. It
is protecting such lead-
ers so that even local
authorities are unable
to initiate action
against them, even as
they continue to take
the law into their
hands, Doshi added.
Glacier Disaster...
A day after a portion of
the Nanda Devi glacier
possibly burst through
its banks at Joshimath,
triggering an avalanche
and a deluge that rip-
pled through the
Alaknanda river sys-
tem in the upper reach-
es of the Himalayas,
multiple agencies coor-
dinated efforts to
search for survivors.
Uttarakhand Direc-
tor General of Police
Ashok Kumar said ef-
forts were focussed on
rescuing 30-35 labour-
ers trapped in a 250-me-
tre tunnel at Tapovan.
Two villages, including
Raini, are cut off and
essentials are being
supplied to them. —PTI
Need to...
And we are doing it
now. You all should be
proud. ‘See, what Man-
mohan Singh Ji had
said, Modi is having to
do now. (woh Modi ji ko
karna pad raha hai). Be
proud!” PM Modi said.
He said the agricul-
ture minister has been
holding constant dia-
logue with farmers and
has held several meet-
ings with them and
there is no tension yet,
as both sides are trying
to understand each oth-
er.
“We urge those sit-
ting on the agitation
that even though it is
their right to agitate,
the manner in which
the old people are sit-
ting there, is not right.
They (agitators) should
be taken back. They
should end the agita-
tion and we will togeth-
er find a solution as all
doors are open for dia-
logue. From this House,
I again invite them for
dialogue,” he said while
appealing to farmers to
end their agitation.
“We should move for-
ward and not take the
country behind. All the
opposition and the gov-
ernment, protesters
should give these re-
forms a chance and see
if this change helps
them. We are ready to
remove shortcomings.
Modi also stressed
that India is very proud
of the contribution of
Sikhs and the language
used by some for them
will not benefit the
country
. He alleged that
some people are also
trying to defame Sikhs.
Ready for...
If hunger goes up, price
of crops will be decided
accordingly
. Those
wanting business over
hunger will be driven
out of the country,” Ti-
kait.
Farmer leader Shiv
Kumar Kakka, who is a
senior member of the
Samkyukta Kisan Mor-
cha which is spearhead-
ing the ongoing stir,
said they are ready for
the next round of talks
and the government
should tell them the
date and time of the
meeting.
—Agencies
Remove 1,178...
is guided by principles
of transparency and
empowering the public
conversation.
“If we receive a valid
legal request about po-
tentially illegal content
on Twitter, we review it
under the Twitter Rules
and local law. If the con-
tent violates Twitter’s
Rules, the content will
beremovedfromtheser-
vice. If it is determined
to be illegal in a particu-
lar jurisdiction but not
in violation of the Twit-
ter Rules, we may with-
hold access to the con-
tent in the location only
.
Inallcases,wenotifythe
account holder directly
so they’re aware we’ve
received a legal order
pertaining to the ac-
count. Our goal is to re-
spect local law while
protecting our founda-
tional principles of free
expression,” it said.
—Agencies
SC allows...
and Society of Catholic
Education Institu-
tions—challenging the
Fee-Regulation Act-
2016—who were repre-
sented by Prateek Ka-
sliwal and Anurup
Sighi and other advo-
cates.
In December 2020,
Rajasthan HC had up-
held state govern-
ment’s order, asking
students to pay 60%
70% of tuition fees in
RBSE CBSE schools
respectively.
FROM PG 1
RAJA BABU SINGH
DEPUTED AS IG, BSF
Raja Babu Singh has been deputed as Inspector
General in Border Security Force (BSF) for a
period of five years. He is a 1994 batch IPS
officer of MP cadre.
DR SAGAR HANUMAN SINGH
APPOINTED AS DG, INSTITUTE OF
PLANT HEALTH MANAGEMENT
Dr Sagar Hanuman Singh, PG HQ, Regional
Telangana Circle, Hyderabad, has been appointed
as Director General, National Institute of Plant
Health Management, Hyderabad. He is a 1995
batch officer of Indian Postal Service.
EIGHT IAS OFFICERS GET NEW
POSTING IN W BENGAL
As many as eight IAS officers in West Bengal
have been given new assignments. Accordingly,
Ms V Lalithalakshmi has been posted as
Additional Secretary, Technical Education,
Training and Skill Development Department,
while Ms Sana Akhtar was appointed Director
of Consumer Goods under Food and Supplies
Department and Dr Deepap Priya P will join as
Joint Secretary, Agriculture Department. Besides
Krishnendu Sadhukhan is posted as Officer on
Special Duty, West Bengal Valuation Board;
Ms Joyoshi Das Gupta as Officer on Special
Duty, ATI, WB; Ms Mitali Bandyopadhyay as
Commissioner, Consumer Affairs; Ravi Ranjan
as Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare
and Nikhil Nirmal was appointed Secretary, West
Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission.
FIVE IAS OFFICERS GET NEW
RESPONSIBILITY IN HARYANA
Atul Kumar has been appointed as Secretary
to Governor, Haryana, while Amna Tasneem
was posted as Director, Consolidation of
Land Holdings Land Records, Haryana,
Special Officer (HQ) Special LAO, Revenue
Disaster Management. Similarly, Phool
Chand Meena, Director General and Secretary,
Skill Development Industrial Training and
Employment and Secretary, Finance, was handed
over an additional charge of Nodal Officer,
CPGRAM PG Portal. Besides, Shyam Lal Poonia,
Deputy Commissioner, Sonepat, will hold
additional charge of the post of Commissioner,
Municipal Corporation, Sonepat during the
training period of Jagdish Sharma, while Ms
Priyanka Soni, Deputy Commissioner, Hisar, will
also hold charge of Commissioner, Municipal
Corporation, Hisar during the training period of
Ashok Kumar Garg.
RASHMI SHUKLA
DEPUTED AS ADG, CRPF
Ms Rashmi Shukla has been deputed as ADG in
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) up to June
30, 2024 i.e. date of her superannuation. She is a
1988 batch IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre.
SAURABH GOYAL DEPUTED AS
ADDITIONAL PS TO MOS FOR
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Saurabh Goyal has been appointed as Additional
Private Secretary to the Minister of State for
Social Justice and Empowerment on deputation
basis. He is an IRS-IT officer.
JK CADRE MERGES WITH UT
CADRE, AMENDMENT BILL PASSED
Rajya Sabha passed the Jammu and Kashmir
Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2021. It will
replace Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation
(Amendment) Ordinance of 2021 which merged
the Jammu and Kashmir cadre of the Indian
Administrative Service, Indian Police Service,
and Indian Forest Service with the Arunachal
Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and Union Territory cadre,
also known as AGMUT cadre. The President had
promulgated the ordinance last month to amend
the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
TWO IPS OFFICERS SHIFTED
TO PHQ, BHOPAL IN MP
Rajesh Kumar Singh, SP Guna and Mrs Vahni
Singh, SP, Niwari have been appointed as
Assistant IGs, PHQ, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with: http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
COVID: INDIA WAS THE FASTEST COUNTRY TO REACH FOUR MILLION VACCINATIONS
Daily COVID deaths in India fall
below 100 for 4th time in Feb
New Delhi: India’s tal-
ly of COVID-19 cases
rose to 1,08,38,194, with
11,831 new infections,
while the daily deaths
fell below 100 for the
fourth time this month,
according to the Union
Health Ministry data
updated on Monday.
The death toll increased
to 1,55,080 with 84 daily
new fatalities, the data
updated at 8 am showed.
The number of people
who have recuperated
from the disease surged
to 1,05,34,505 pushing
the national COVID-19
recovery rate to 97.20
per cent, while the COV-
ID-19 case fatality rate
stands at 1.43 per cent.
The total COVID-19
active cases remained
below 2 lakh. There are
1,48,609 active cases of
coronavirus infections
in the country which
comprise 1.37 per cent
of the total cases, the
data stated. India’s
COVID-19 tally had
crossed the 20-lakh
mark on August 7, 30
lakh on August 23, 40
lakh on September 5
and 50 lakh on Septem-
ber 16. It went past 60
lakh on September 28,
70 lakh on October 11,
crossed 80 lakh on Octo-
ber 29 and had
surpassed the one crore
mark on December 19.
According to the ICMR,
20,19, 00,614 samples
have been tested up to
February 7 with 5,
32,236 samples being
tested on Sunday
.
The 84 new fatalities
include 30 from Maha-
rashtra and 19 from
Kerala, 6 from Chhattis-
garh, 5 from West
Bengal, 4 from Uttara-
khand, 3 from Karnata-
ka, 2 each from Delhi,
Goa, Haryana and Pun-
jab. A total of 1,55,080
deaths have been
reported so far in
the country including
51,310 from Maharash-
tra. —PTI
Malappuram: Two
schools have tested 192
students and 72 staff
members COVID-19
positive in Malappuram
district in Kerala, said the
District Health Authority.
In Maranchery Higher
Secondary School, 149
students and 39 staff
members have detected
COVID-19 positive, while
43 students and 33 staff
members tested positive
for the virus in Vannery
Higher Secondary School.
192 STUDENTS, 72
STAFF TEST
COVID-19 POSITIVE
Hyderabad: Hy-
derabad City Police
Commissioner Anjani
Kumar on Monday
took the first jab of
COVID-19 vaccine
along with several
other senior police
officers. Speaking to
the media after taking
the shot, Kumar as-
serted that the vaccine
is completely safe and
appealed to police
officers to come
forward for vaccina-
tion without any fear.
“I have participated
on the second day
of the vaccine drive.
Compared to the first
day, the response
from police personnel
has increased today.
Along with me, many
other senior police
officers have taken
the vaccine today,” he
said. “I appeal to all
the police officers to
come forward without
any fear and take the
vaccine for their safety
as well as the safety of
their family.” he adds.
HYD TOP COP GETS
VAX, APPEALS
COPS TO FOLLOW
Protecting
Sabarimala
custom is poll
stunt: Kerala BJP
Kochi: BJP State Vice
President of Kerala KS
Radhakrishnan said
that Kerala Pradesh
Congress Committee
chief’s promise of legis-
lation to protect the cus-
tom of Sabarimala was
just an election stunt.
He also challenged
the United Democratic
Front (UDF) to disclose
the number of leaders
in the alliance who
were implicated in the
Sabarimala agitation.
“UDF now introduced
the promis of legisla-
tion in line with Sabar-
amila traditions, it is
just an election stunt. “I
would like to ask my
UDF friends to reveal
the names of the UDF
leader,” he added.
Over 9K women serving as
officers in armed forces: Min
New Delhi: A total of
9,118 women are serv-
ing as officers in the
three defence forces
while the approval has
been granted for induct-
ing 1,700 females as
jawans in the corps of
military police, Minis-
ter of State for Defence,
Shripad Naik told the
Rajya Sabha.
In his reply, the min-
ister stated that the
highest percentage of
women officers was in
the Indian Navy as they
comprised 6.5 per cent
of its officer force with
704 lady officers. As per
the statement, the Indi-
an Army has 12,18,036
men against 6,807 wom-
en who constitute 0.56
per cent of the force.
The Indian Air Force
has 1,46,727 men against
1,607 and form 1.08 per
cent of the force. Indian
Navy has 704 female of-
ficers who constitute 6.5
per cent of the force.
The Indian Army is
the largest among the
three defence forces and
has the highest number
of women serving as of-
ficersandisnowthefirst
force to allow females to
join at the rank of
Sepoys.
The government said
there has been an
increase in the number
of women personnel in
the armed forces (ex-
cluding Medical, Dental
and Nursing cadres)
during the year 2020
compared to the figures
in the year 2019.
In addition to the pro-
vision of Permanent
Commission to Women
Officers in Judge Advo-
cate General and Army
Education Corps, the
Government of India
has recently announced
grant of Permanent
Commission to Women
Officers in all other
Arms in which they are
eligible for commis-
sion. Women are em-
ployed as officers in In-
dian Navy since 1992.
SASIKALARETURNSTOTNAFTERFOURYEARS;
AIADMKSAYSSHEHASNOLINKWITHPARTY
Krishnagiri: Expelled AI-
ADMK leader V K Sasikala
on Monday returned to Ta-
mil Nadu to a grand recep-
tion, days after completing
her four-year jail
term in Bengal-
uru in a cor-
r uption
c a s e ,
amid indications of a con-
frontation with the ruling
party which she once
controlled.
Sasikala, a close aide of
late Chief Minister J Jay-
alalithaa, crossed into Ta-
mil Nadu at Athipalli in
Krishnagiri district border-
ing Karnataka, around 10
am as her supporters broke
into celebrations, dancing
to drum beats and shower-
ing flower petals on her
convoy
.
She later offered prayers
at a Goddess Mariamman
temple in Hosur town in the
district, about 40 kms from
Bengaluru.
Her nephew T T V Dhina-
karan, who accompanied
her, said she would visit the
residence of AIADMK
founder and late Chief Min-
ister M G Ramachandran in
Chennai later.
He claimed several func-
tionaries to welcome Sasi-
kala planned. —PTI
T’gana Cong favours
Rahul as party chief
Hyderabad: Telangana
Congress unit has urged
Rahul Gandhi to take
overaspartychief again.
According to Telan-
gana Congress function-
aries, the presidents of
all the 33 District Con-
gress Committees
(DCCs) in the state on
Sunday passed a unani-
mous resolution urging
Gandhi to become AICC
president.
The unanimous reso-
lution was passed in a
meeting attended by all
the 33 DCC presidents in
the presence of AICC
Telangana in-charge
and Member of Parlia-
mentManickamTagore,
TelanganaPradeshCon-
gress Committee presi-
dent N Uttam Kumar
Reddy, Congress Legis-
lative Party leader Bhat-
ti Vikrarmarka and
other senior AICC and
TPCC leaders in Kham-
mam district.

TALKING POINT
07
I
t’s hard to imagine
navigating modern
life without a mo-
bile phone in hand.
Computers, tablets
and smartphones have
transformed how we
communicate, work,
learn, share news and
entertain ourselves.
They became even
more essential when
the COVID-19 pandem-
ic moved classes,
meetings and social
connections online.
But few people re-
alize that our reli-
ance on electronics
comes with steep en-
vironmental costs,
from mining miner-
als to disposing of
used devices. Con-
sumers can’t resist
faster products with
more storage and
better cameras, but
constant upgrades
have created a grow-
ing global waste
challenge. In 2019
alone, people dis-
carded 53 million
metric tons of elec-
tronic waste.
In our work as sus-
tainability research-
ers, we study how con-
sumer behavior and
technological innova-
tions influence the
products that people
buy, how long they
keep them and how
these items are reused
or recycled.
Our research shows
that while e-waste is
rising globally, it’s de-
clining in the US. But
some innovations
that are slimming
down the e-waste
stream are also mak-
ing products harder
to repair and recycle.
The
The Electronics
Electronics
PANDORA’SBOX
PANDORA’SBOX
Consumer electronics
have changed a lot in
20 years – systems for
managing e-waste
aren’t keeping up
CALLIE BABBITT
Associate Professor of
Sustainability, Rochester
Institute of Technology
SHAHANA ALTHAF
Postdoctoral Associate, Yale
University
Recycling
used
electronics
Thirty years of data
show why the volume
of e-waste in the U.S.
is decreasing. New
products are lighter
and more compact
than past offerings.
Smartphones and lap-
tops have edged out
desktop computers.
Televisions with thin,
flat screens have dis-
placed bulkier cath-
ode-ray tubes, and
streaming services
are doing the job that
once required stan-
dalone MP3, DVD and
Blu-ray players. US
households now pro-
duce about 10% less
electronic waste by
weight than they did
at their peak in 2015.
The bad news is that
only about 35% of US
e-waste is recycled.
Consumers often don’t
know where to recycle
discarded products. If
electronic devices de-
compose in landfills,
hazardous compounds
can leach into ground-
water, including lead
used in older circuit
boards, mercury found
in early LCD screens
and flame retardants
in plastics. This pro-
cess poses health risks
to people and wildlife.
There’s a clear need
to recycle e-waste,
both to protect public
health and to recover
valuable metals. Elec-
tronics contain rare
minerals and precious
metals mined in so-
cially and ecologically
vulnerable parts of
the world. Reuse and
recycling can reduce
demand for “conflict
minerals” and create
new jobs and revenue
streams.
But it’s not a simple
process. Disassem-
bling electronics for
repair or material re-
covery is expensive
and labor-intensive.
Some recycling com-
panies have illegally
stockpiled or aban-
doned e-waste. One
Denver warehouse
was called “an envi-
ronmental disaster”
when 8,000 tons of
lead-filled tubes from
old TVs were discov-
ered there in 2013.
The US exports up
to 40% of its e-waste.
Some goes for regions
such as Southeast
Asia that have little
environmental over-
sight and few meas-
ures to protect work-
ers who repair or recy-
cle electronics.
Disassembling
products and
assembling
data
Health and environ-
mental risks have
prompted 25 US states
and the District of Co-
lumbia to enact e-waste
recycling laws. Some of
these measures ban
landfilling electronics,
while others require
manufacturers to sup-
port recycling efforts.
All of them target large
products, like old cath-
ode-ray tube TVs, which
contain up to 4 pounds
of lead.
We wanted to know
whether these laws,
adopted from 2003 to
2011, can keep up with
the current generation
of electronic products.
To find out, we needed a
better estimate of how
much e-waste the US
now produces.
We mapped sales of
electronic products
from the 1950s to the
present, using data
from industry reports,
government sources
and consumer surveys.
Then we disassembled
almost 100 devices, from
obsolete VCRs to to-
day’s smartphones and
fitness trackers, to
weigh and measure the
materials they con-
tained.
We created a comput-
er model to analyze the
data, producing one of
the most detailed ac-
counts of US electronic
product consumption
and discards currently
available.
E-waste is
leaner, but not
necessarily
greener
The big surprise from
our research was that
US households are pro-
ducing less e-waste,
thanks to compact prod-
uct designs and digital
innovation. For exam-
ple, a smartphone
serves as an all-in-one
phone, camera, MP3
player and portable
navigation system.
Flat-panel TVs are
about 50% lighter than
large-tube TVs and
don’t contain any lead.
But not all innova-
tions have been benefi-
cial. To make light-
weight products, manu-
facturers miniaturized
components and glued
parts together, making
it harder to repair de-
vices and more expen-
sive to recycle them.
Lithium-ion batteries
pose another problem:
They are hard to detect
and remove, and they
can spark disastrous
fires during transporta-
tion or recycling.
Popular features that
consumers love – speed,
sharp images, respon-
sive touch screens and
long battery life – rely
on metals like cobalt,
indium and rare-earth
elements that require
immense energy and
expense to mine. Com-
mercial recycling tech-
nology cannot yet re-
cover them profitably,
although innovations
are starting to emerge.
Reenvisioning
waste as a
resource
We believe solving
these challenges requires
a proactive approach that
treats digital discards as
resources,notwaste.Gold,
silver, palladium and oth-
er valuable materials are
nowmoreconcentratedin
e-waste than in natural
ores in the ground.
“Urban mining,” in the
form of recycling e-waste,
could replace the need to
dig up scarce metals, re-
ducing environmental
damage. It would also re-
duce US dependence on
minerals imported from
other countries.
Government, industry
and consumers all have
roles to play
. Progress will
require designing prod-
ucts that are easier to re-
pair and reuse, and per-
suading consumers to
keep their devices longer.
We also see a need for
responsive e-waste laws
in place of today’s dated
patchwork of state regu-
lations. Establishing
convenient, certified re-
cycling locations can
keep more electronics
out of landfills. With re-
tooled operations, recy-
clers can recover more
valuable materials from
the e-waste stream. Steps
like these can help bal-
ance our reliance on
electronic devices with
systems that better pro-
tect human health and
the environment.
Apple’s new robot, Daisy, can disassemble nine different
iPhone models to recover valuable materials that traditional
recyclers cannot. —APPLE
SOURCE: THECONVERSATION.COM
This dissected tablet shows the components inside, each of
which were logged, weighed and measured by researchers.
—CALLIE BABBITT/CC BY

A person who believes that he
can has an amazing head
start on all the others and is
already halfway there.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor, First India
08
2NDFRONT
SECcallspleaagainstseparate
vote count dates presumptive
Says different local poll counting dates doesn’t violate anyone’s Constitutional right
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
State Election Com-
mission (SEC) has
firmly resisted a
writ petition chal-
lenging 2 different
dates for counting of
votes in the civic
body polls, with an
affidavit in the Guja-
rat High Court that
the plea is not main-
tainable since it is
based merely on as-
sumptions.
The affidavit has
also stated that the
SEC is an autono-
mous constitutional
body. “If vote count-
ing for two different
phases of elections is
to be done on two sep-
arate dates it doesn’t
violate anyone’s con-
stitutional right,” the
State poll body ar-
gued.
“The petition is
filed based on the as-
sumption that due to
different dates of
vote counting, the
elections will be im-
pacted. Hence the pe-
tition is not main-
tainable,” the affida-
vit went on.
The matter is likely
to be heard on Febru-
ary 9.
Earlier, the Gujarat
High Court had issued
notices to the State
Election Commission
and the State Govern-
ment in a petition chal-
lenging the SEC’s deci-
sion to hold counting
of votes for the first
phase of the civic body
polls ahead of the poll-
ing for the second
phase of the elections.
The petition sought
a directive from the
High Court to the SEC
to hold counting of
votes polled for 6 mu-
nicipal corporations,
district panchayats,
taluka panchayats and
nagarpalikas on the
same day.
The petition filed on
behalf of the Congress
party pointed out that
there was already a
precedent when the
courts ruled in favour
of holding counting on
the same for the local
body polls in Gujarat in
2015. This was to ensure
that the results in one
phase of an election did
not have an impact on
the voting trends in the
next phases.
The SEC has declared
that the local body polls
in the State will be held
in two phases and vote
counting will also be
held on two different
dates. Accordingly, the
counting of votes polled
for 6 municipal corpora-
tions will be held on
February 23 after poll-
ing on February 21,
whereas counting for
the rest of bodies is
scheduled for March 2.
The voting for 81 nagar-
palikas, 31 district pan-
chayats and 231 taluka
panchayats has been
fixed for February 28.
Gujarat High Court. —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: If you
think only candidates
for MLAs or MPs are
crorepatis, think
again. As many as 30
candidates fielded by
the BJP and the Con-
gress party have de-
clared assets more
than Rs 1 crore.
BJP candidate from
Thaltej, Hitesh Barot,
has assets worth Rs
33 crore, while the
Congress candidate
from Maktampura
has shares worth Rs
16 crore and land
worth Rs 14 crore.
Pradip Dave, the
BJP candidate from
the Stadium ward,
and Pritish Mehta of
the ruling party from
Paldi, have more than
1 kg gold. And candi-
dates from the west-
ern zone have been
found to be richer
than those in the oth-
er zones. Seven out of
the 10 richest candi-
dates of the BJP are
from the west zone
and three are from
the east.
Over 10 per cent of all
BJP and Congress can-
didates in the city own
luxury cars.
Notwithstanding the
claimsof boththemajor
political parties about
having candidates with
a clean image, there are
asmanyas50candidates
fighting the upcoming
civic body polls have
criminal charges
against them.
Three BJP candi-
dates are facing serious
attempt to murder
charges, while the Con-
gress has fielded one
such candidate.
Meanwhile, an esti-
mated 10 per cent of the
candidates contesting
in Ahmedabad have not
completed their matric-
ulation.
Congress candidate
fromAmraiwadi,Parvati
Parmar, is the least edu-
cated candidate having
studied only up to stand-
ard3rd, whilethereare4
candidates who read up
to standard 7th.
Not just MLAs MPs, 30 AMC poll candidates are crorepatis too
OF MOOLAH MUSCLES!

BJP candidate
from Thaltej
Hitesh Barot has
a net worth of
Rs 33 crore,
while 2 others
from the ruling
party have more
than 1 kg gold
—FILE PHOTO
AAP demands Surat
BJP candidate’s
form be rejected
A’bad Cong leader
alleges MLAs sold poll
tickets for ` 20 lakh
First India Bureau
Surat: The Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) in Surat on
Monday demanded that
the nomination of a
BJP candidate for the
Surat Municipal Corpo-
ration elections be can-
celled since he had hid-
den some information.
The party even organ-
ised a “ram dhoon” to
press for its demand.
The BJP had given
a ticket to Suvarna
Jadhav for Ward
number 8 Dabholi-
Singanpor seat. The
AAP has alleged that
the candidate is an
employee with an an-
ganwadi run by the
SMC and could not
contest elections.
AAP’s candidate
for the ward Dhanjit
Viras has claimed
that the officials are
not rejecting the nom-
inations of BJP can-
didates despite errors
and misinformation
in them due to the
pressure by the rul-
ing. He said the party
would continue its
protests until the
form was cancelled.
The Congress, mean-
while, has also accused
BJP candidate Ashok
Randheria from Su-
rat’s Ward number 21
of concealing informa-
tion about the property
and source of income
of his wife and chil-
dren. It has demanded
that the candidate’s
form be rejected.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad:Ahmedabad
women’s Congress
vice-president Sonal
Patel has alleged that
tickets to contest the
local body polls have
been sold for lakhs of
rupees by Congress
MLAs.
She alleged in an
interview to a local
TV channel that Con-
gress MLAs took Rs
20 lakh for each ticket
to sell them to the
highest bidder in
Ahmedabad city. She
quit her post in a
huff.
She alleged that the
Indira Colony panel
of candidates in
Ahmedabad was fi-
nalised in return for
Rs 20 lakh each.
Patel said she got a
call on January 24 ask-
ing about her prepared-
ness to contest but later
the mandate was given
to someone else. She
said it was not right for
her to continue in the
party “after such an in-
sult.”
She alleged that BJP
deserters were being
given tickets in return
for money
. Patel has ac-
cused Bapunagar MLA
Himmatsinh Patel and
Danilimda MLA
Shailesh Parmar of
selling tickets. She chal-
lenged them to try to
take out a rally in Indi-
ra Colony
.
The Congress party
saw huge protests and
allegations after it an-
nounced the names of
candidates for the civic
body polls.
First India Bureau
Surat: An American
yarn manufacturing
firm has made anti-
bacterial yarn which
destroys bacteria on
it within 30 seconds.
It has been sent to Su-
rat for converting it
into fabric.
The Surat weavers
see this as the future
of the fabric indus-
try and expect a good
business opportunity
in it. The weaving
work has been given to
Century Enka, which
has outsourced it to
Chamunda Industries
of Pandesara.
The yarn at Rs
3,000 a kg is 10 times
more expensive than
the normal one that
comes for Rs 250 to
Rs 300. Once the yarn
is made in India, the
cost may go down,
the makers say.
Harshad Patel,
whose firm will be
making clothes out of
it, said, “We will use
15% of this yarn and
blend it with the nor-
mal one. This will
make the entire fabric
anti-bacterial. “If we
manufacture this yarn
in India, it has a busi-
ness potential of Rs
5,000 crore,” he says.
Anti-bacterial yarn may spin `5,000 cr biz
EXTRA DUTY
Officials from the Election Commission giving training to teachers for upcoming AMC elections at the Gujarat University on Monday.
CLEAN IMAGE, REALLY?
Fake MSU letter asks girl
students make a boyfriend
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Girl stu-
dents must have at
least one boyfriend
before February 7
or else they won’t
be given entry in
the Maharaja Saya-
jirao University. A
fake letter with
such an instruction
is in circulation
among the students
of University. The
Vadodara cyber cell
police is busy
searching for the
person who has cir-
culated this fake let-
ter on social media.
University Regis-
trar K M Chudasama
said someone with a
malafide intention to
tarnish the image of
the university had
played this mischief.
“It seems someone
has modified the uni-
versity’s January 28th
circular and has cir-
culated it,” he said.
He has appealed
the University stu-
dents not to take the
letter seriously nor
forward it to anyone
or even post it on
any social media
platform.
Even the Universi-
ty’s former general
secretary Rakesh
Punjabi has criticized
this and appealed the
students to protect the
image of the univer-
sity. He said circulat-
ing such a message
was an offence.
Punjabi has de-
manded strict action
against those respon-
sibleforsuchmischief.
At the end, the letter
advises to spread love.
This has led the police
to suspect that some-
one from either the
staff or a student, who
is in love or wants peo-
ple to fall in love, may
have played mischief.
Maharaja Sayajirao University campus. —FILE PHOTO
‘NOT TENABLE’
University Registrar K
M Chudasama said
someone with a
malafide intention to
tarnish the image of
the university had
played this mischief.
Protesting AAP workers in
Surat.
Sonal Patel
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

f you’re looking for inspira-
tion, you’ll find plenty of
ideas for weird and wacky
proposals; try to give yours
the personal touch and pick
something relevant to you as
a couple. From the man who
created a discount coupon to propose
to his bride-to-be to geeky proposals
inspired by games and TV shows, a
wacky proposal shows imagination
and effort and is sure to sweep her
off her feet.
CHOOSE A FAVOURITE PLACE
When you’re at a beach, hotel
rooftop, underwater, monu-
ment or national park—
that has personal sig-
nificance to the two
of you, ask some-
one nearby to
take a
p i c -
ture of you together. Instead of pos-
ing, drop down on one knee or have
a choir, brass band or drum line
show up for a surprise performance
of your loved one. For a personal
touch, ask the performers if they can
incorporate your lovers’ name into
the lyrics.
DESTINATION PROPOSAL
Plan a romantic destination getaway
for two. When you’re on the plane, use
the loudspeaker system (of course,
run your plan by the flight attendants
first) and propose at 35,000 feet or rent
a Vespa, scooter or bikes to tour the
city or and invite your soon-to-be fi-
ance or lover for a ride, but remind
them to be safe and wear a helmet.
Hand over the helmet, with a box of
ring already in it then zip around
town to celebrate.
EASY PEASY PROPOSAL
Gather a bunch of your friends and
family for a party and have everyone
put on a T-shirt or carry balloons
filled with helium (otherwise they
won’t float) bearing one of the
letters in the phrase,
‘Will you marry me?’ Then during
the party suggest a group picture to
reveal the message or you can spell
your proposal out in glow-in-the-dark
star stickers on your ceiling. Get into
bed, turn the lights off and wait for
the gasp.
FOODY PROPOSAL
Make the box holding the ring as a
selection on the dessert tray at your
favourite restaurant or put togeth-
er a gift basket of yummy treats—
like dark chocolate, coffee or fresh
fruit—and hide the ring among
the presents (in its box, so it
doesn’t get lost in the goodies).
Whether you want to pop
the question in a cute but
simple way or you’re ready
to organize a super unique
surprise, there’s some-
thing here for you.
Whatever the case, re-
member that the best
proposal ideas are
those that truly
capture the cou-
ple’s relation-
ship.
AHMEDABAD, TUESDAY
FEBRUARY 9, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
WACKY
PROPOSALS
WE
KNOW HOW NERVE-
WRACKING PLANNING A
PROPOSAL CAN BE. IF ALL THOSE
JITTERS ARE MAKING IT HARD TO DECIDE ON
HOW TO PROPOSE THIS VALENTINE, WE’VE GOT
YOUR BACK. CITY FIRST GIVES YOU SOME CRAZY
PROPOSAL IDEAS THAT WON’T GO IN VAIN!
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
I

oney is delicious,
makes your sali-
vary glands active
and your taste
buds eager the mo-
ment you have the
honey jar before
your eyes. Honey
, then, ful-
fils your anticipated stand-
ards of satisfaction and
satiety as it has been doing
so for time immemorial.
Honey has an interesting
history, chemistry, myths
and much more.
Honey has a recorded
history of about 8000 years
as seen in Egyptian evi-
dence and Indian folklore
but must be known to man
from the day the first man
went out in search of food.
This may be the reason for
our love for honey - we
might be genetically mod-
elled to love honey and
hence, prone to be exploit-
ed by smart merchants of
unlimited profits.
Honey is made by bees
but contrary to common
belief all bees do not make
honey - only honeybees
and stingless bees make
honey, there being only
about seven types of bees
who are capable of making
honey. A worker bee goes
to a foraging trip of about
6-8 kilometres daily to col-
lect pollens in her special
stomach during warmer
months of the year and
usually dies after supply-
ing raw material for one-
twelfth of a teaspoon in
about six weeks, they are
born to perform this act of
collection and then die
without tasting the fruit of
their labour! They travel
an amazing distance of
more than 75 thousand km
to make about one and a
half kg of honey if we
combine the foraging trips
of all the worker bees.
Then there are house
bees who dehydrate, add
enzymes, make, store and
seal the honey in honey-
comb so that they can sur-
vive during winter months
and their newborns can
feed on it to sustain the bee
life on earth. Bees make
honey for their survival,
the man steals it and anni-
hilates many colonies
without any thought and
thankfulness.
We hear so much com-
mercial propaganda re-
garding the usefulness of
honey that it is a natural
curiosity to know about its
contents. Honey, in one ta-
blespoon, contains 64 calo-
ries, 17.3 gm sugars and
some minuscule amount
of vitamins and minerals,
no fat, no fibre and no pro-
teins. It has sugars and wa-
ter to the extent of 98 per
cent. Bees are not muscu-
lar creatures and live a
very basic life. They need
sugar as their only food
and store sugars which
when treated with some
bee enzymes takes the
form of honey. So, chemi-
cally speaking, honey is
natural fructose and glu-
cose and there is nothing
like miracle composition
as claimed by merchants
of profit. We love honey
because our ancestors sur-
vived hunger and possible
death during their jour-
neys when ‘on feet’, don-
keys and later on camel or
horses were the few means
of travel to places which
had no definitive travel
routes. This historical
memory, perhaps, lingers
in our genes. Secondly, all
the sweet things activate
the same places and path-
ways of our brain that
marijuana, heroin and al-
cohol do.
Honey is a good source
of instant energy and a
better sweetener than pro-
cessed sugar. It has some
healing effect on mouth
sore and superficial skin
wounds and helps in night
time coughs where it acts
better than cough syrup
because it is soothing and
causes no dryness of
throat. Taken with water, it
may help to reduce a few
kilograms of fat over a
longer period because its
fructose helps in accelera-
tion of base metabolic rate.
As it accelerates water ab-
sorption, it is of use in
managing diarrhoea at
home. These are the few
minor health benefits of
honey though the claims
are tall but unfounded.
Honey should never be
given to children below 12
months of age as it may
contain spores of a dread-
ed and often fatal disease
called botulism and infants
have no power to fight this
bacteria. One more inter-
esting thing about honey is
that it can be stored for
eternity if the container is
sealed properly to avoid
moisture. This is possible
because bees add a special
enzyme called gluconic
acid and hydrogen perox-
ide to sugars of honey to
prevent their degradation.
As mentioned earlier,
honey is delicious but it is
for bees and we need bees
for a much bigger role in
our ecosystem, we need
pollination much more
than satisfying our taste
buds. We are paying so
much more for better-
stored fructose and glucose
and destroying natural bee
life and starving our plants
of pollination under spells
of advertisements. Man
has become a beekeeper
but once again, he has en-
slaved poor hapless crea-
ture for profit. Honey is
sweet but is not worthy of
over 300 rupees a kilo and
so much damage to nature.
Finally, the decision is
left upon you by putting
forth the chemical analy-
sis of honey. It contains
fructose 38.2%, glucose
31.3%, maltose 7.1%, su-
crose 1.3%, water 17.2%,
higher sugars 1.5%, ash
0.2% and other contents
3.2% . Now let yourself be
informed about how a pre-
dominantly sugar-based
substance can help attain
miraculous health? Isn’t
the honey money?
10
ETC
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
HIMANSHI TEKWANI, MODEL
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
You are going to get
fantastic returns from a
recently made business
deal. You will spend a
pleasant day and will invest lot of time
with your spouse or parents or both.
You are health conscious but still
cheat often every now and that. You
love music.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
You will be very happy with
your finances today as you
will make some huge profit
from stocks. Good
earnings indicated for those in retails
business. If you are inclined towards
arts than give it a shot, do not decide
whether something is good or bad
for you until you try.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
If you have given money to
someone thinking about
his/her welfare or need
than you will surely get this
money back. You always have good
intentions about others but your
angel ruins it all sometimes. You are
desperate to have someone in life but
you don’t want to change for anyone.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Some of you may soon
become a parent or may
start planning your family. A
promotion is sure shot deal
even at this time. You are more than
satisfied and have nothing to complain
about. You keep experimenting with
your ideologies. You do not like doing
household stuff but still you contribute.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Those of you who are
willing to sacrifice your
sleep to reach achieve your
goal will certain make it
happen and for others you need
motivation and sincerity to follow the
same path. You believe in god but
you also believe in the fact that
nothing will happen on its own.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Risk taken in business will
fetch you amazing results
and also if you continue to
have the same attitude than
that day isn’t far when you will be
among wealth people. Face your fears
and do not run away. You desire
pleasure in doing charity work and this
satisfaction give you a kick in life.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
An increase in salary is
possible even amidst the
covid situation. The leading
a group in a company will
find the day very favourable. Sweat
out as much as you can because
thats the only way to show
improvement. You love your younger
sibling more than anything.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
You earn enough to satisfy
all your need and you
always encourage
everyone to be self
dependent. You have accomplished a
lot in life and it gives you immense
satisfaction too but you are still not
done and wish to do more. You are
someone who never fails to amaze.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Good budgeting is likely to
increase your buying
power and make you save
too. You will not go wrong
by following the instructions in letter
and spirit at work. Cheerful mood will
keep you both physically and
mentally contented. Aftermath of a
function will be as exciting!
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You may make a late loan
payment but it will have no
repercussions for you.
Those working part time
will have lots of work in hand today.
You may not be willing to continue
working in the same role in your
firm, discuss about it with your
senior.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Believe it or not, you have
it in you to make it big in
life and all you need is to
believe in yourself.
Something or some power is above
is all and you need to have faith.
Sometimes people take advantage of
your innocence and you dont even
realise it. Complete your work.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You are as pure as possible
inside and as tough as one
can be from outside. Be
brave in spirit and go and
confront your family incase if you
have made any mistakes. Helping
your spouse or mother in completing
house hold chores is a sign that you
care and love them.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
HONEY, MONEY
ETCETERA
H
DR RAMAWTAR
SHARMA
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

A
m a z o n
Prime Vid-
eo un-
veiled the
trailer of the
much-awaited se-
quel of the Malay-
alam thriller,
Drishyam 2 on
Monday in a virtu-
alpressconference,
starring Mohanlal
in the lead role. All
set to release glob-
ally on February
19, 2021, the film is
written and direct-
ed by Jeethu Jo-
seph and stars
Meena, Siddique,
Asha Sharath, Mu-
rali Gopy
, Ansiba,
Esther and Saiku-
mar in pivotal
roles. Drishyam 2
has been produced
by Antony Perum-
bavoor under the
banner of Aashir-
vadCinemas.Start-
ing from where the
first part ended,
the upcoming Am-
azon Original
Movie raises the
stakes with an edg-
ier and more thrill-
ing plot.
The trailer takes
the viewers into
the intriguing
world of George-
kutty (essayed by
Mohanlal) and his
family and how
their lives have al-
tered post that one
fateful night. The
gripping tale will
keep the fans at the
edge of their seats,
as the man of the
house strives to
protect his family
once again. “Crit-
ics, fans and the
audienceshowered
us with tremen-
dous love and ap-
preciations even
years ago. We
didn’t expect the
filmtoreceivesuch
a phenomenal re-
sponse and garner
the cult-status.”,
saidwell-acclaimed
actor Mohanlal on
the launch of the
trailer.
Speaking about
his film, Jeethu Jo-
seph said, “Drishy-
am 2 is very close to
my heart. Driven
with this positive
thoughtandbuoyed
with the over-
whelmingresponse,
I have toyed with
theideaof bringing
the epic franchise
back to the audi-
ence, but always
changed my mind.”
ETC
11
UPDATE ON T-3
‘THE RAPIST’
DHAAKAD
H
aving wrapped up Antim: The
Final Truth, Salman Khan re-
portedly is set to kick off the
shoot of his film, Tiger 3 with Ka-
trina Kaif. While the third film in the
franchise is highly anticipated, the
location recce for the same began last
year, and reportedly UAE, Istanbul,
and the US were among the places
being considered. —Agency
A
rjun Rampal has signed a new
project that revolves around the
serious issue of rape. The proj-
ect in question has been titled The
Rapist and will also star Konkona Sen
Sharma alongside Rampal, bringing
them together for the second time
after Venod Mitra›s 2013 independent
anthology film Meridian Lines that
told the story of seven troubled
strangers. —ANI
B
ollywood star Kangana Ranaut
on Monday treated fans to
an intriguing and fiery look
from her upcoming action-thriller
‘Dhaakad.’ The ‘Queen’ star took to
Instagram and shared a picture that
sees her in a fiery look as she is
dressed in an all-black ensemble. The
look shared by Kangana has an
uncanny resemblance to ‘Baroness’
essayed by actor Sienna Miller in the
much-loved military science fiction
action film series ‘G.I. Joe’. —Agency
Salman Khan
Arjun Rampal
...a still from Dhaakad
ith his unpredictable
twists and turns of the
stories, M. Night Shy-
amalan is returning to
his directorial to ruin
your sleep. The 30-second
long teaser of his movie
‘Old’ has brought up anticipation
among the fans. It is revealed through
the teaser that the film is about a fam-
ily enjoying a holiday on a beach, al-
though that joy is short-lived.
—Agency
W
Don’t
worry
Darling
TRAILER UNVEILED
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
T
T
he shooting of the
film ‘Don’t worry
Darling’ was shut
down several
times and yes the actors,
Harry Styles and Olivia
Wilde seem to continue
their episodes of chemis-
try
. During the off-shoots,
the pair was seen togeth-
er, although it is not clear
whether they are dating
at this point, but certain-
ly, they are not worried
about it. —Agency
TROUBLED SLEEP
A
glacier burst in Uttara-
khand’s Chamoli district
triggered an avalanche and
massive flooding on Sun-
day morning. The videos and
subsequent updates on social
media left netizens shocked.
Bollywood celebrities, too, took
to Twitter to condole the de-
mise and pray for those affected
in the incident. Akshay Ku-
mar tweeted, “Terrifying visuals
of the glacier burst in #Uttara-
khand, thoughts and prayers
for everyone’s safety.”
Whereas, Shraddha Ka-
poor tweeted, “Distress-
ing to hear about the gla-
cier breaking off in #Ut-
tarakhand Praying eve-
ryone’s safety there.”
Sharing a note on
Instagram, Alia wrote,
“Yesterday’s news of
the glacier burst and
flash floods in Uttara-
khand is so tragic. I
pray for the safety of
all those who are af-
fected. If you or
anyone you
know needs
assistance,
please con-
tact 1070 or
9557444486.”
—Agency
Town on the tragedy
M. Night Shyamalan during the shoot of ‘Old’
Olivia Wilde
Shraddha Kapoor
Akshay Kumar
Poster of the film
During the press conference
R
eports have been suggesting that
there might be a possibility that
Alex Rodriguez cheated on his fi-
ance Jennifer Lopez with the re-
ality TV star Madison LeCroy
. Although
it was cleared that he’s never physically
cheated on his fiancee with her.
—Agency
Cheating?
Jennifer Lopez
T
he wrecking ball singer, Miley Cyrus
has stunned her fans with yet anoth-
er post of her. The singer is seen in a
monokini diasplaying her toned abs.
Post the break up with Cody Simpson, the
singer is focused on her mental and physical
well-being. —Agency
Work out
Miley Cyrus
...her post

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