First india ahmedabad edition-12 january 2021

Schools in Guj reopen for classes after 9-month hiatus
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: After re-
maining closed for over
nine months, schools in
the state finally opened
their doors for students
of Class X and XII on
Monday. Owing to the
ongoing COVID-19 pan-
demic, schools were in-
structed not to conduct
classes on campuses
and instead teach stu-
dents online.
But, the state govern-
ment gave the nod for
resumption of the aca-
demicsessionforhigher
secondary students. All
schools have been in-
structed to follow the
Standard Operating
Procedure (SOP) as pre-
scribed by the central
government. However,
some schools have de-
cided to reopen post the
festival of Uttarayan.
All pupils who report-
ed for class at Ankur
School, Ahmedabad
were granted entrance
after temperature
check-up using thermal
guns and proper sanitiz-
ing.BJPleaderGordhan
Zadafia welcomed stu-
dents at Sankalp Inter-
national School in Nikol
area of the city. He in-
structed the students to
follow all guidelines. All
students seemed happy
to be back on campus.
At Virani High School
of Rajkot, state Minister
forAgricultureRCFaldu
wished students well on
their first day back to
school and greeted them
with masks and sanitiz-
ers. They were admitted
into the school premises
post thorough check-up
as per government
guidelines. Popular
opinion among students
was that they preferred
to learn on the school
premises rather than re-
ceiving their education
online. The administra-
tors of the school ex-
pressed surprise that
around 60% students
showed up for class.
Meanwhile, in Amreli
too, over 50% students
reported for class in
schools and colleges.
Studentswerewelcomed
atDeepakHighSchoolin
Amreli with a welcome
kit that included a mask
and a sanitizer. Out of a
total 277 students, 152
showed up for classes.
A teacher checks the temperature of a student at a municipal
school in Juhapura area of Ahmedabad on Monday.
—PHOTOBYHANIFSINDHI
l Greeted with sanitizers & thermal
guns, students expressed joy on being
able to attend lectures on campuses
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
AHMEDABAD l TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 49
MONITOR POULTRY FARMS, ZOOS TO
CONTAIN BIRD FLU, SAYS PM MODI AS
VIRUS SPREADS RAPIDLYP5 P6
SEDITION CASE: BOMBAY HC EXTENDS
PROTECTION TO KANGANA FROM
ARREST TILL JANUARY 25
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD LUCKNOW
New Delhi: Hearing a
clutch of petitions chal-
lenging the new farm
laws as well as the ones
related to the ongoing
agitation at Delhi bor-
ders,theSupremeCourt
Monday said it was dis-
appointed with the way
negotiations between
the government and the
farmers have pro-
gressed and said it will
pass an order on the
matter tomorrow.
The apex court asked
the Centre to stay the
laws till a committee
constituted by it dis-
cusses the same and
submits a report.
“Let those farmer un-
ions who say it is pro-
gressive say that before
the committee. But you
have to tell us whether
you stay the farm acts
or we do it. Keep it in
abeyance. What is the
issue?? We are not in fa-
vour of easily staying a
law but we want to say
don’t implement the
law,” the top court said.
The bench compris-
ing of CJI Bobde Bobde
and Justices A S Bopan-
naandVRamasubrama-
nianfurthersaid,“Some
people have committed
suicide, old people and
women are a part of the
agitation. What is hap-
pening?” The bench
added that not a single
plea has been filed that
said that the “farm laws
are good.”
SC has suggested
names of former CJIs
including RM Lodha to
head panel for explor-
ing the possibility of a
solution over farm laws
protests. The bench
said it will pass orders
on the issue in parts.
—Agencies
Panaji: Union minister
Shripad Naik was in-
jured in a road accident
in Karnataka on Mon-
day, an official said.
Naik’s wife Vijaya
who was travelling with
the minister and his
personal secretary,
Deepak, who were criti-
cal after the crash, died
in the hospital, the po-
lice said. Naik, who is
the Union Minister of
state for AYUSH (inde-
pendent) and defence is
out of danger and is be-
ing treated at a hospital.
The vehicle in which
Naik (68) was travelling
met with an accident
near Ankola Turn to P6
FROM CENTRE WITH LOVE! FREE VAX FOR HEALTH
WORKERS IN FIRST ROUND OF INOCULATION DRIVE
SC to pronounce order
on stir, farm laws today
Apex Court is disappointed with the way negotiations
between government and farmers have progressed
Union Min Naik hurt
in mishap; wife dead
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi an-
nouncedonMondaythat
the central government
willbeartheexpensesof
vaccinatingnearlythree
crore healthcare and
frontline workers in the
first round and suggest-
ed that public represent-
atives, a reference to
politicians, should not
be part of this initial ex-
ercise.
Interacting with state
chief ministers, Modi
underscored the enor-
mity of what he de-
scribed as the world’s
biggest vaccination ex-
ercise, which begins
from January 16, saying
over 30 crore citizens
will get the jabs in the
next few months in In-
dia against only 2.5
crore people who have
received them in over 50
countries in around a
month so far.
The two already ap-
proved made-in-India
COVID-19 vaccines are
more cost-effective than
any other in the world
and have been devel-
oped as per the coun-
try’s needs, he said in
his remarks in the
meeting called to dis-
cuss the COVID-19 situ-
ation and the vaccina-
tion roll-out.
Besides the two vac-
cines -- Covishield de-
veloped by Oxford and
British-Swedish com-
pany AstraZeneca and
manufactured by Se-
rum Institute of India,
and Bharat Biotech’s
Covaxin, four others
are in the pipeline,
Modi said, asserting
that India’s fight
against the pandemic
will enter a decisive
stage with the vaccina-
tion roll-out.
More vaccines may
be available when the
exercise moves into the
second round, he added.
Turn to P6
Interacting with CMs of all states, the PM said in first phase cost of
vaccination for these 3 crore people would be borne by central govt
PM Narendra Modi during an interaction with chief ministers of all states to discuss COVID-19
situation and vaccination roll-out in the country, via video conferencing, in New Delhi on Monday.
An artist gives finishing touches to a painting on theme of
farmers’ protest at Singhu border, in New Delhi on Monday.
GOVT ORDERS 11 MILLION DOSES
OF COVIDSHIELD FROM SERUM
`200 PER DOSE COST OF VAX
IMA ENDORSES VACCINE SAFETY,
REQUESTS MEMBERS TO GET JAB
New Delhi: Endorsing the safety and efficacy of COVID-19
vaccines, Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Monday
announced that it has decided to actively take part in the
mission of COVID vaccination programme rolled out by
Government of India. IMA said in a statement said that
the association stands with the scientists to endorse the
safety and efficacy of both COVAXIN and COVISHIELD, so
public awareness and countering with myths on vaccine
percolating in social media. The vaccination drive in the
country will start from January 16.
New Delhi: The gov-
ernment on Monday
placed a purchase or-
der with Serum Insti-
tute of India (SII) for
11 million doses of
Oxford COVID-19
vaccine, Covishield,
each costing Rs 210,
including the GST,
official sources said.
Dispatch of the vac-
cine is likely to start
by late Monday even-
ing, they said.
According to the
order, each dose of
the vaccine has been
priced at Rs 200 and
with GST of Rs 10 it
would cost Rs 210.
The HLL Lifecare
Limited, a public sec-
tor undertaking,
Turn to P6
z While the government
plans to secure
z 600 million doses govt
plans to secure for coun-
try’s vaccination drive
z January 16 the vaccine
drive begins in India
z 20 different locations
have been identified by
SSI from where it will start
sending the doses
z There are locations
across Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Chennai and other
states and transportation of
vaccines will be both by air
and road.
z The consignment of
doses is expected to be
despatched from Tuesday
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra celebrates her 48th birthday today. Active on
social media, Priyanka has always been quick to take up a keen interest in people’s travails. Her
comments on Facebook and Twitter on to day-to-day issues especially related to womens’ safety,
farmers, youth and often nostalgic photos help her maintain a connect with the public at large!
The unshakeable resolve despite their bruised bodies earned
the Ajinkya Rahane-led India wholesome praise from the cricket
community after the team snatched an unlikely draw in the third
Test against Australia in Sydney on Monday.
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY
PRIYANKA
GREAT
ESCAPE
ASHOK GEHLOT
@ASHOKGEHLOT51
Sad to know of union
minister Shripad Naik
ji’s wife’s demise in an
accident. My heartfelt
condolences to him
all family members.
May God give strength
to them in this hour of
grief. Praying for speedy
recovery of Naik ji.

NEWSAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
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First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: There’s
a storm brewing in
the Koli community,
with two political
leaders engaged in a
very public spat
ahead of the local
body elections.
The coastal commu-
nity, which boasts a
population of about
80 lakh, dominates 12
seats in the state As-
sembly and indirectly
holds power in about
25 seats. So, while
their vote share might
be relatively low, they
are crucial in terms
of election results.
Now, however, Minis-
ter for Water Supply and
All India Koli commu-
nity President Kunvarji
Bavaliya has suspended
Chandravadan Pitha-
wala from the post of
the community’s state
president, making the
two the talk of the town.
Bavaliya has alleged
that Pithawala misused
the community letter-
head for political rea-
sons, going against the
unwritten rule that the
community forum is
kept away from politics.
Pithawala used the of-
ficial stationery to ex-
tend support to ongoing
farmers’ protest, al-
leged Bavaliya.
Pithawala has said he
is surprised by Bavali-
ya’s actions and has de-
fended himself counter-
accusing Bavaliya of
acting illegally. The
ousted leader insists
that he has never mis-
used the community let-
terhead for any politi-
cal purpose, and chal-
lenged Bavaliya to
prove his allegations.
He also pointed out
that the terms of the
state and central body
had ended in June 2020.
During the pandemic,
community leaders had
held a meeting through
video conference and
constituted an ad-hoc
managementcommittee,
led by Ajit Patel, to run
the show. Patel has con-
demned Bavaliya’s ac-
tion terming it as illegal
becausehedoesnothave
anypowertotakeanyac-
tion against anyone.
Those familiar with
the issue told First In-
dia that the community
has been embroiled in a
tug-of-war between
three BJP leaders--Bav-
aliya, Pithawala and
Minister of State for
Fisheries Parshottam
Solanki--who are all try-
ing to prove their clout
and influence.
Bavaliya’s actions
may have been in haste,
meant as a means to un-
dercut Pithawala’s in-
fluence while deciding
candidates in the up-
coming local body elec-
tions. However, only
time will tell whether
these actions will bear
fruit, or backfire in Bav-
aliya’s face.
Minister for Water Supply Kunvarji Bavaliya .
Feud between Koli leaders makes
waves ahead of local body electionsWhile small, the community holds great sway in election results; current spat part of larger power struggle, insiders say
Electiondatestobedecidedbythe
BJP:FormerA'badMayorBijalPatel
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
Bharatiya Janata
Party’s (BJP) city
media cell held a
meeting on Monday
that quickly became
the talk of the town
after former
Ahmedabad Mayor
Bijal Patel stated
that the party will
decide the date of lo-
cal body elections.
Usually declared by
the state election
commission, the
state is poised for
polls after the term
of all elected official
bodies ended in De-
cember last year.
Patel’s declaration
has sparked a new
row, as the election
commission is an in-
dependent body that
ascertains election
dates. It also holds
power to determine
the date of vote count.
The former mayor
stated that she will
continue serving for
another term at the
Ahmedabad Munici-
pal Corporation
(AMC). “My selec-
tion for the media
cell does not mean
that there will be no
ticket for me,” she
said.
Earlier, BJP state
unit president CR Pa-
til had stated that no
person in the party
will be granted more
than one position or
portfolio. The asser-
tion made by former
Ahmedabad Mayor
Patel goes against
the declaration made
by Patil, which indi-
cates a lack of clarity
within the ruling
party. Currently, Pa-
tel is serving as a
spokesperson for the
impending local body
polls.
First India Bureau
Surat: In its verdict
of a kidnapping and
molestation case, a
sessions court con-
victed a 35-year-old
man and sentenced
him to three years in
prison. After two
years of collecting
evidence and building
a case against the ac-
cused Amrutbhai
Devipujak, the police
was finally able to get
a conviction.
Found guilty for mo-
lesting and kidnap-
ping an 8-year old girl,
Devipujak was a work-
er at a scrap shop. The
crime occurred on Oc-
tober 26, 2018, when
the accused abducted
the minor from Bhagal
Court Road while she
was eating wafers. He
then took the minor to
a nearby building and
molested her.
Police Inspector SB
Bharwad, who was
then serving at the
Athwa police station,
apprehended the ac-
cused and filed charg-
es against him.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: In a bid
to woo voters ahead of
theimpendinglocalbody
polls in the state, Chief
Minister Vijay Rupani
on Monday laid the foun-
dation stone and dedi-
cateddevelopmentalpro-
jects worth Rs613.19
crore in the Chhota
Udepur district.
Talking about the pro-
gress made by the state,
he said, “The pace of de-
velopment has come to a
standstillduetotheCOV-
ID-19 pandemic across
the world, but Gujarat
has stood strong to fight
against it and also kept
commissioning develop-
mental projects. In the
past five months alone,
projects worth Rs25,000
croreweresanctionedby
the government.”
Withaninvestmentof
Rs601.88 crore, the devel-
opmental project will
provide clean drinking
water to the citizens of
Chhota Udepur district.
Recalling his determi-
nation to supply tap wa-
ter to all households in
thestatebytheyear2022,
Rupanisaid,“Weneedto
make Gujarat a water
surplus state. The state
hassetupawatergridof
one lakh km long pipe-
line for water distribu-
tion, a similar concept
akin to the electricity
grid and gas grid, to de-
liver tap water to remote
locations in the state.”
Developmental pro-
jects of Rs5,700 crore, to
be developed under wa-
ter supply schemes, have
been undertaken by the
state in the last one
month.
Criticizing the work
done by the past govern-
ment Rupani remarked,
“If one takes a look at
thepast,only26%house-
holds had tap connec-
tions earlier. Our gov-
ernment has increased
it to 82%. We will fulfill
Gujarat’s vision to have
tap water in all house-
holds of the state by the
year 2022.”
CM Rupani dedicates `614 crore projects in Chhota Udepur
NO DROUGHT
(L to R) Tourism Minister Jawahar Chavda, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Minister of State for Tourism Vasan
Ahir at the Tourism Awards 2020 event on Monday.
He asserted that Gujarat would soon
become a water surplus state by
providing access to tap water in all
households with help of a grid
Man gets 3 yrs in
prison for kidnapping
molestation
The former
Ahmedabad mayor
had a foot-in-mouth
moment at a BJP
media cell gathering
on Monday
MODI CONFIDANT SHARMA OPTS FOR VRS
Members of the Koli community welcoming President Ram Nath Kovind —FILE PHOTO
Bijal Patel
—FILEPHOTO

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
First India Bureau
Anand: Divyarajsinh
Gohil, a 13-year-old
who lost his hands
while trying to catch a
kite in December 2019,
has now received arti-
ficial limbs.
Theresidentof Gohel-
nagarintheAdasvillage
of Anand district had
been flying kites from
the rooftop with his
cousin, when he saw a
kite hanging on a high-
tensionpowerline.With-
out understanding the
ramifications, Divyara-
jsinh tried to pull the
hanging kite with an
iron rod. He got electro-
cuted and burnt his both
hands. He was immedi-
atelyrushedtothehospi-
tal, but his arms below
the elbow had been to-
tally burned, forcing
doctors to amputate.
After a year of strug-
gling to perform simple
tasks, including school
work, Divyarajsinh fi-
nally received new
hands—worth Rs15,000
each—for free, at a free
camp organized by the
local chapter of the Ro-
tary Club last Tuesday.
“I am able to write
with this hand and feel
confident that I will be
able to finish my stud-
ies,” Divyarajsinh said.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
vaccine against COV-
ID-19 is set to arrive
at the Ahmedabad
airport today. How-
ever, even as the
state—like the rest
of the country—pre-
pares to begin its
vaccination drive on
Saturday, health
workers have begun
an indefinite strike.
According to the Gu-
jarat State Health Em-
ployees Federation
(GSHF), health workers
of various panchayats,
as well as those of the
GSHF in Gandhinagar
had submitted applica-
tions to the government
regarding their griev-
ances on December 20,
2018, and December 15,
2020. In addition, they
had also issued written
notices of an agitation
on January 1, 2021, and
compromised on two
strikes (February 27,
2019, and December 25,
2019), and met with
principal health secre-
tary Jayanti Ravi on
January 11, 2021. How-
ever, none of these
measures yielded a fa-
vourable response. As a
result, they have an-
nounced that they will
go on an indefinite
strike, beginning on
Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the state
reported 615 fresh
COVID-19 cases in the
24 hours ended 5 pm on
Monday, taking the to-
tal case load to 2,52,559
since March. With an-
other three fatalities
being reported in the
same 24-hour span, Gu-
jarat’s COVID-19 death
toll is now at 4,347.
CCTV CAMERA CAPTURES PIZZA
DELIVERY AGENT PEEING IN LIFTFirst India Bureau
Ahmedabad: When a
resident of Vrinda-
van Pearl in
Ahmedabad’s Motera
area decided to order
in a pizza on Sunday,
it is highly unlikely
he anticipated the
drama his dinner
plan would create.
International chain
Domino’s Pizza faced
outrageafterCCTVfoot-
age from the residential
society shows the deliv-
ery person relieving
himself inside the lift—
pizza still in hand.
From the video clip,
which goes on for
about two minutes, it
appears as though the
delivery agent, identi-
fied as Dipak, gave in
to the demands of his
bladder in the lift, pos-
sibly in an attempt to
avoid penalties related
to late delivery of his
consignment.
It is to be noted that
whilepublicurinationis
officially a criminal nui-
sance, the laws attached
to it are rarely enforced.
Officials from Domi-
no’s Pizza have—un-
like Dipak, presuma-
bly—washed their
hands off the incident,
saying they are not re-
sponsible for the “bad
behaviour” of their de-
livery personnel.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
High Court of Guja-
rat on Monday issued
notice to the State
Election Commission
(SEC) asking it to file
a reply on the in-
come-tax returns
(ITR) of political par-
ties before February
15, when the issue
will be next heard.
Santoshsinh Rathod
has filed a Public Inter-
est Litigation stating
that neither recognized
nor non-recognized
parties have been filing
their income-tax re-
turns, despite it being
mandatory for them to
do so.
His prayer before the
court is to direct the
SEC to initiate action
against the errant par-
ties, including cancel-
ling their registration,
for not complying with
the rules and not pro-
ducing the returns as
per the provisions
made therein.
The SEC had, on No-
vember 19, 2011, passed
an order requiring all
political parties to reg-
ister themselves with
the body.
The petitioner said
that many parties—
including national
ones—are yet to get
registered. As a re-
sult, he said, he sub-
mitted his applica-
tion. The petitioner
was informed that,
in all, there are eight
political parties have
been registered as
“recognized”, and 28
have been registered
as non-recognized
political parties. Yet,
the SEC has not tak-
en any action against
them.
The SEC is responsi-
ble for holding elections
in a total of eight mu-
nicipal corporations for
642 seats; in 159 munici-
palities for 4,488 seats;
in 26 district panchay-
ats for 900 seats; in 223
taluka panchayats for
4,397 seats and 13,968
gram panchayats for
1,14,751 members and
13,968 sarpanches.
HC notice to SEC over transparency of political parties’ ITR
State high court gives election
commission until Feb 15 to file
a reply on the matter in PIL
ACCOUNTABILITY
High Court of Gujarat. —FILE PHOTO
Divyarajsinh Gohil is still learning to use his new limbs.
The state government is slated to start delivering vaccines to the
public on Saturday. —FILE PHOTO
GEARING UP
Member of Parliament Imtiyaz Jaleel Syed and former MLA Waris Pathan from the AIMIM party held a public meeting in the
Muslim dominated Gomtipur area in Ahmedabad on Monday, in the run up to the local body polls slated to be held in February.
Artificial limbs for
boy who lost both
hands over kite
Vaccine to arrive
today but health
workers on strike
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Officials
have confirmed the
presence of avian in-
fluenza in Gujarat,
after samples from 30
crows found dead in
Vasantpura village in
Vadodara’s Savli ta-
luka tested positive
for the disease on
Monday. With this,
bird flu has spread to
at least three dis-
tricts, with dead birds
having earlier been
reported at Mana-
vadar in Junagadh
district and Bardoli
in Surat district.
Health secretary Jay-
anti Ravi also held a
video conference with
all district administra-
tion after more than 100
chickens were found
dead in Gir Somnath.
Taking cognizance of
the incident, the state
administration has sent
samples of migratory
birds and poultry to the
Bhopal laboratory for
further investigation.
All district administra-
tions have been put on
high alert by the state
health department, in
order to prevent the vi-
rus from spreading to
humans.
Thirty crows were
founddeadundermyste-
rious circumstances in
Vasantpura village on
Thursday evening. Vil-
lagers, who suspected
thatthecorvidshaddied
due to bird flu, filled
them with salt, and bur-
ied them in a pit. Upon
learning of this, a team
from the Animal Hus-
bandry Department
reached the spot and
tooksamplesof thedead
crows, and sent them to
a laboratory in Bhopal
forfurtherinvestigation.
The lab report, which
came back on Monday,
showed the crows had
died due to bird flu.
Following the report,
a team from the Animal
HusbandryDepartment
met with the Vadodara
district collector. The
team has also given
strict instructions to all
poultry farms in Savli
taluka to take extra pre-
cautionary measures.
Rajkot foundation to save
injured birds this Uttarayan
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot: Touted to be
India’s biggest bird
rescue mission, the
‘Karuna Abhiyan
2021’ will commence
in Rajkot city on the
festival of Uttarayan.
In order to facilitate
rescue missions for the
winged creatures, the
Karuna Foundation
Trust has set up a main
control room at Trikon
BaugChowk.Nineother
control rooms at differ-
ent places will also ad-
minister first aid to in-
jured birds and ensure
immediate treatment.
The trust has been ac-
tive under the aegis of
the Animal Helpline for
the past 17 years. “For
the past five years, we
have sought support
from the Gujarat gov-
ernment to ensure best
treatment for injured
animals and birds. We
will be providing a 24×7
service till January 20
where birds that have
sustained injuries due
to the kite threads will
receive medical assis-
tance. Around nine am-
bulances and two bike
ambulances with one
veterinary doctor, a par-
amedical staffer and a
driver-cum-helper will
be available in each am-
bulance to help with
rescue missions,” said
Mittal Khetani, founder
and president of Karu-
na Foundation Trust.
Mittal Khetani.
Last year, an estimat-
ed 35,000 birds were in-
jured due to kite-flying
and the foundation
treated around 1,839
birds during Makar
Sankranti in Rajkot
alone. “Around 30 vet-
erinary doctors, 60 par-
amedical staff and 100
volunteers will be on
their toes this year. We
have invited doctors
from Anand, Junagadh
apart from Rajkot.
While first aid will be
dispensed on the spot,
we have all equipment
for major surgery too.
The badly injured cas-
es will be sent to our
Vavdi centre,” added
Khetani.
Thousands of birds are injured or killed by kite string each year.
BIRD FLU CONFIRMED IN GUJ,
REPORTED IN THREE DISTRICTSSamples sent for testing last week came back positive for avian influenza on Monday
After lapwings, ofﬁcials found the dead bodies of about 30 crows last week. —FILE PHOTO
CM RUPANI ADVISES CAUTION
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
—FILEPHOTO
—FILEPHOTO

l Vol 2 l Issue No. 49 l RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.
Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
04www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Arise, slay thy enemies,
enjoy a prosperous kingdom.
—Bhagavad Gita
Spiritual
SPEAK
t is a well-estab-
lished fact that
America, as it
approaches its
245th birthday,
is a divided nation. Red ver-
sus blue, conservative ver-
sus liberal, right versus left,
blackversuswhite,richver-
sus (a growing number of)
poor, urban versus rural.
Further divisions may be
drawnalongeducation,reli-
gion, class, gender identity,
ethnicity,languageof origin
and other descriptors.
It was all on technicolor
display on January 6, the
day when both the US Sen-
ate and the House of Repre-
sentatives were due to cer-
tify the results of the 2020
presidential election as re-
quiredundertheUSConsti-
tution. The world watched
as Americans, so passion-
atelyalignedwithPresident
Donald Trump and so con-
vinced that the election had
beenstolenfromhim,deter-
mined to disrupt, if not de-
stroy, the most sacred core
of thecountry’s democratic
system, the Congress.
It was a horrifying and
tragic example of democra-
cy run amuck. What took
placeonCapitolHillthatday
was everything the framers
of the Constitution and the
Founding Fathers sought to
prevent. In fact, the rioters’
actions by no definition can
be remotely described as
democratic. They were pur-
posefully dangerous and, as
facts come to light, intended
to inflict violence. It was
mob rule. Insurrection. Re-
bellion. Sedition. It repre-
sented the abandonment of
democracy and descent into
anarchy.
Compared to What?
But before America’s crit-
ics, doubters, adversaries
and enemies pronounce the
country’soritsdemocracy’s
last rites, they may wish to
consult history. They may
wish to reflect on the many
other occasions when the
world’s oldest democracy
turnedawayfromitsconsti-
tution,itsvalues,principles
and its own laws. How does
January 6 then compare?
How does it compare with
morethan250yearsof legal-
ized slavery that only a
bloody, four-year civil war
could end? Or to another 150
years of Jim Crow and seg-
regation? Of course, there
were also the more than 120
unspeakable incidents of
mass violence committed
against the country’s black
citizens, including the Slave
Revolt in the Cherokee Na-
tion of 1842, the New York
Draft Riots of 1863, Tulsa
RaceMassacreof 1921,Rose-
wood Massacre of 1923,
CharlestownChurchMassa-
cre of 2015 and the Black
Lives Matter demonstra-
tions of last summer, on top
of the3,400-pluslynchingsof
black Americans in the pe-
riodaftertheCivilWaruntil
well into the civil rights era.
And would January 6
look more uncivil and un-
constitutional than the sys-
tematic theft of Native
American lands in viola-
tion of all the treaties
signed by them with the US
government and often their
forced removal from those
lands? These date back to
the nation’s independence
and continue to this day.
To add tragic irony to
thosetwosetsof grossinjus-
tice, consider that substan-
tial numbers of black and
Native Americans fought
valiantly to defend the very
countryanddemocracythat
treatedthemassecond-class
citizens and often worse. At
thestartof WorldWarII,the
US government ordered
JapaneseAmericansround-
ed up and confined in in-
ternment camps for the du-
rationof thewar.Theycom-
mitted no crime. They were
given no trial. Yet despite
theviolationof theirconsti-
tutional rights, 33,000 of the
sons, husbands and broth-
ers of those held in the in-
ternment camps volun-
teeredtofightfortheUnited
States in the war, including
18,000 in the famed 442nd
RegimentalCombatTeam,a
highly decorated all-Japa-
nese-American Army unit
led by white officers.
There is also the coun-
try’s long history of denial
of rights to and prejudice
against other ethnic and
religious groups, including
Irish, Germans, Italians,
Jews, Catholics, Chinese,
Vietnamese, Muslims, His-
panics and other people of
color. They learned that
the Constitution and the
Bill of Rights did not al-
ways apply to them. Fur-
thermore, when they may
have belatedly come to be
accepted, restitution has
rarely been offered.
SOURCE: FAIR OBSERVER
A perspective on America’s imperfect democracy
I
Top
TWEET
Prakash Javadekar
@PrakashJavdekar
Apart from the two already
approved vaccines, four others
are in the pipeline. It will help
us plan the future better. Our
experts have taken all precautions
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with effective vaccines - PM @
narendramodi #IndiaFightsCorona
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
ICT-IOC will play an instrumental
role in advancing knowledge in
chemical sciences technology
and chemical based industries in
Odisha. The world class museum-
cum-memorial shall be a modern
day landmark commemorating
the history of Odisha.
WOMEN PILOTS OF
AI SCRIPT HISTORY
n all-women cockpit crew of four blazed
a train in India’s aviation history when
it flew a Boeing 777 LR non-stop from
San Francisco to Bengaluru covering a
distance of 16,000 km, making it the
longest flight in Air India’s network. Globally, it is
the sixth-longest flight. Headed by Captain Zoya
Aggarwal who has the experience of 8000 flying
hours behind her, the women pilots took the chal-
lenging and demanding North Pole route which
requires special mettle. Others in Capt. Zoya’s
team included Captain Papagiri Thanmai, Captain
Akansha Sonaware, and Captain Shivani Manhas.
Air India celebrated the flight as historic.
The move by Air India to entrust the challeng-
ing inaugural flight to an all-women crew marks
a new beginning for women pilots who are flying
not just commercial flights but also multi-role
fighters and other aircraft in the Indian Air Force
and the Navy. This should encourage more wom-
en to fly high as the percentage of women com-
mercial pilots continues to be low and they are
hired more for ground jobs like air-hostesses and
receptionists. It is estimated that around 5 per-
cent of commercial pilots globally are women. At
12.5 percent they are much better placed than
their global counterparts. All major Indian air-
lines have at least 10 percent of their pilots as
women. Gender equality in India’s aviation in-
dustry has been recognised globally.
It is an irony of sorts that on one side we have
reports of rape and brutal murders of women and
on the other we see them summiting every peak.
Way to go girls!
A
IN-DEPTH
IN THE END IT IS
SC TO THE RESCUE
ound after round of talks between the
Centre and farmers’ unions having
failed to resolve the impasse, the Su-
preme Court of India finally ticked off
both the government and the protesters.
In its strong oral observations a Bench comprising
Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, Justice V. Ra-
masubramanian, and AS Bopanna criticised the
government for its failure to end the agitation
which has been going on since November 26, 2020,
through negotiations. “We are sorry to say that
you, as the Union of India, are not able to solve the
problem. You have made law without enough con-
sultation resulting in a strike. So you have to re-
solve the strike,” Justice Bobde observed. The
court’s mood was reflected in another stinging
observation by the CJI. When the Attorney-Gener-
al requested the Bench not to pass any order in a
hurry, Justice Bobde responded, “We have given
you a very long rope. Don’t lecture us on patience.
We will decide when to pass the order. We might
pass in part today and in part tomorrow.”
To the farmers, the court said, “Whether you
have faith or not, we are the Supreme Court, we
will do our job.”
Whatever the court’s pronouncement, the order
will be a face-saver for the government. It will put
the laws in abeyance on the court’s orders. No loss
of face there as it can bring them back maybe after
Republic Day. Protesters, on the other hand, will
be required to disperse unless they decide to defy
the Apex Court. Converging one more time may
not be easy.
R
n my over six decades-long
life or in my current exper-
tise in the corporate world, I
do not recall any period
worse than the year 2020 for
the financial hardships for
MSMEs pan India. It indeed
saw a humongous number of
entrepreneurs closing down
or losing the will to survive.
Yes, it was one of the most
difficult and unsettling year
for small businesses and em-
ployees alike. The pandemic
forced unplanned business
transformations like com-
pany closures, employee lay-
offs, pay cuts, and work from
home culture. Surprisingly,
these unprecedented impedi-
ments have had a holistic
dampening fallout on em-
ployee mental health, pro-
ductivity, focus, morale, and
work culture.
As a consultant, my interac-
tion with the workforce in var-
ious industries confirms my
the observation that over 55%
of workers believe that per-
haps 2020 was the most stress-
ful time of their entire work
life so far. Therefore, this new
year be taken to re-evaluate
business strategies, processes
and styles of leadership to
achieve desired goals and tar-
gets while working on the well-
being of the team.
Well then, the question
arises, as to how can a leader
keep his team focused and
positive in such tumultuous
times? My take is that a busi-
ness leader has to keep his
employees as his priority
one and help them in every
way, as the expectations of
team members have under-
gone a sea change. So, to
achieve the objective, I as an
industry consultant would
suggest a twofold strategy to
overcome the challenges.
First the foremost is to pri-
oritize employee mental health
and adopt an open Communi-
cation System. The mental
health of employees is the hot-
test topic in pandemic times
and as such employers should
announce the measures adopt-
ed to combat it. For example,
employees are allowed to take
time off, have a counselor to
deal with their problems, ex-
tend the facility of flexible
work hours and educate them
to draw a line between their
personal, family, and profes-
sional lives. Employers should
also refrain from contacting
their employees after work
hours or expecting them to
check official emails and social
media.
Similarly, Communication
remains a key element of a
productive workforce. Al-
though virtual platforms
have replaced age-old chan-
nels of interaction in recent
times, its importance has
not diminished. It is a sol-
emn responsibility upon
seniors to thoughtfully ad-
dress any feedback they re-
ceive to ensure the team
they lead feels heard and
understood.
Secondly, reassure by meet-
ing the expectations and recog-
nition of your employees. As
they all have faced changes
challenges in both their profes-
sional and personal lives and
that needs to be considered.
The transformation em-
ployees have gone through
during almost last one year
has changed and modified
their needs, desires, and mo-
tivators in the year 2021.
Therefore, It is important
for industry leaders to take
the time to speak to each em-
ployee and reestablish what
drives them.
Maybe it’s likely that the
business itself has undergone
changes over the past year of
the pandemic conditions and
with the new work systems and
schedules in place, your em-
ployees may feel overwhelmed
or burned out. Instead of let-
ting these feelings persist and
prevail, managers need to reas-
sure their teams by explaining
the reason behind each change
and explain to them how each
change can work to their ad-
vantage.
Identifying a demotivated
employee isn’t an easy task
either. While some employ-
ees can accept that they feel
overwhelmed, a few others
may just show telltale marks
that are to be deciphered by
the organization. Yet, some
employees who aren’t vocal
about their burn out may be
recognized only through
their actions like shorter at-
tention spans at work, clear
fatigue, erratic behavior, re-
duced engagement, and ab-
senteeism. Procrastination
May well be another impor-
tant factor of burn out
which cannot be ignored. In
such situations an estab-
lished and alert superior can
help them pull back, regain
energy, pace themselves and
then resume work effective-
ly before reaching the all
burnt position.
As a word of advice to cross
sections of MSMEs who are
struggling, failing, and closing
down for lack of business as
traditional methods of opera-
tions have gone out of the win-
dow, my suggestion would be to
set short-term attainable and
realistic goals that your em-
ployees and teams can achieve
quickly and successfully. So, let
us all synergies our eco-sys-
tems to evolve the processes
and procedures that will re-
energize a company’s work cul-
ture and ethos on the format of
‘EMPLOYEE FIRST’ to have
some quick and sustainable
gains in 2021.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
TEAM FOCUS
POSITIVE THINKING
I
As a consultant,
my interaction
with the workforce
in various
industries
confirms my
observation that
over 55% of
workers believe
that perhaps 2020
was the most
stressful time of
their entire work
life so far.
Therefore, this
new year be taken
to re-evaluate
business
strategies,
processes, and
styles of
leadership to
achieve desired
goals and targets
while working on
the wellbeing of
the team
AS A WORD OF ADVICE TO
CROSS-SECTIONS OF
MSMES WHO ARE
STRUGGLING, FAILING,
AND CLOSING DOWN FOR
LACK OF BUSINESS AS
TRADITIONAL METHODS
OF OPERATIONS HAVE
GONE OUT OF THE
WINDOW, MY
SUGGESTION WOULD BE
TO SET SHORT-TERM
ATTAINABLE AND REALISTIC
GOALS THAT YOUR
EMPLOYEES AND TEAMS
CAN ACHIEVE QUICKLY AND
SUCCESSFULLY
RETD. COL
ANUPAM JAITLY
Defence expert, Motivational
speaker Corporate Trainer

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INDIAAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
‘TEMPERATURES TO DIP IN
NORTHWEST INDIA NEXT 3-4 DAYS’
New Delhi: The minimum
temperature is very likely
to gradually fall by 2-4 de-
gree Celsius in most parts
of northwest India over
next three-four days, ac-
cording to India Meteoro-
logical Department (IMD)
on Monday.In a tweet,
the IMD said, “Due to the
prevalence of dry north/
north-westerly winds
minimum temperature
very likely to gradually fall
by 2-4°C in most parts of
Northwest India during
next 3-4 days.” IMD also
predicted that cold wave
conditions are likely in
Punjab, Haryana, Chandi-
garh Delhi. “It is very
likely that cold conditions
would prevail over Pun-
jab, Haryana,Delhi, north-
west UP north Rajasthan
in next 3-4 days.”
WB: 15 BJP MEN HOSPITALISED
AFTER ATTACK BY TMC
East Midnapore:
Around 15 BJP work-
ers were injured and
admitted to hospital af-
ter they were attacked
allegedly by the ruling
TMC workers during
an event in Contai of
East Midnapur district
of West Bengal. Anup
Chakraborty, Contai
president of BJP,
said that the incident
occurred at the Bhaja
Chauli village of Con-
tai-3 block area in East
Midnapur. BJP workers
were allegedly attacked
by TMC workers during
flag hoisting in the
local area. Chakraborty
told ANI.
INDIA-BORN FAMOUS PAK
URDU POET TURABI DIES
Karachi: India-born
renowned Pakistani
Urdu poet author
Naseer Turabi has died
of a heart attack in
Karachi. He was 75.
Turabi, who was born
on June 15, 1945 in
Hyderabad Deccan, is
survived by his wife
two sons, Dawn News
reported on Monday.
Turabi was laid to rest
at Wadi-a-Hussain
graveyard here on
Monday. His father,
Allama Rasheed Tura-
bi, was a renowned
religious scholar who
migrated to Pakistan
after partition in 1947
and settled in Karachi.
2 JEM TERRORISTS ARRESTED BY
SECURITY FORCES IN AWANTIPORA
Pulwama: JK Police
along with other security
forces arrested two ter-
rorist associates of Jaish-
e-Mohammad (JeM) from
Awantipora in Pulwama
district. Security person-
nel from 42 Rashtriya Ri-
fles 130 Batallion CRPF
carried out the arrests of
the two JeM terrorists.
“Awantipora Police along
with 42 RR 130 Bn
CRPF arrested two terror-
ist associates of pro-
scribed outfit J-e-M from
Awantipora area who
are involved in providing
shelter, support, logistics,
as well as in transporting
of arms/ of the terror-
ists in Awantipora Tral
area passing sensitive
information to terrorists
of Jaish-e-Mohammad,”
J-K Police stated.
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
congratulated the all-
women crew that com-
pleted Air India’s long-
est direct flight from
San Francisco to Ben-
galuru over the North
Pole,coveringadistance
of 16,000 kilometers.
“Congratulations to
the all-women cockpit
crew for completing
Air India’s longest
flight from San Fran-
cisco to Bengaluru over
the North Pole. You
have made the country
proud,” said the Con-
gress leader in a tweet.
In a historic move, Air
India’s longest direct
route flight with the all-
women pilot team land-
ed at Kempegowda In-
ternational Airport in
Bengaluru from San
Francisco.
“Today, we created
world history by not
only flying over the
North Pole but also by
having all women pi-
lots who successfully
did it. We are extreme-
ly happy and proud to
be part of it. This route
has saved 10 tonnes of
fuel,” said Captain
Zoya Aggarwal.
It was the first direct
non-stop flight between
the west coast of the
United States and
southern India. —ANI
WOMEN CREW COMPLETES AI’s LONGEST DIRECT FLIGHT OF 16,000 KM
YOU HAVE MADE THE
COUNTRY PROUD: RAGA
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
BJP National President JP Nadda being felicitated and welcomed by Assam Chief Minister
Sarbananda Sonowal, in Silchar on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
GST compensation
shortfall: States to
get `6K cr instalment
CDS in Ladakh
to review
situation at
LAC
Leh: Amid the ongoing
conflict with China,
Chief of Defence Staff
(CDS) General Bipin
Rawat is on a visit to
Ladakh sector on Mon-
day where he would be
briefed on the current
situation on the Line of
Actual Control (LAC)
by the top commanders
of the Leh-based ‘Fire
and Fury Corps’.
His visit to Ladakh
area is coming at a time
when India and China
are locked in a military
conflict over aggression
shown by the Chinese
in April-May timeframe
this year. General Raw-
at is in Leh and would
be briefed on the opera-
tional readiness and
other preparations of
the fighting formations
deployed there, Army
sources told ANI. —ANI
Mumbai: The Bombay
High Court on Monday,
extended the protection
to actor Kangana
Ranaut from arrest till
January 25, in connec-
tion with a sedition
case filed against her.
The High Court was
hearing the petition
filed by actor Ranaut
seeking to quash FIR
filed against her in Ban-
dra Police station.
The court has ad-
journed the hearing till
January 25, giving re-
lief to sisters -- Kanga-
na Ranaut and Rangoli
Chandel from any coer-
cive action against
them by police.
Earlier, a case was
filed in Bandra police
station against the sis-
ters and they both were
booked for objectiona-
ble comments on social
media. The court has
further asked the origi-
nal complainant to file
a reply to Kangana’s
plea seeking to quash
the FIR. —ANI
New Delhi: The Cen-
tral government told
the Supreme Court of
India that a proposal to
give an extra chance to
civil service aspirants
affected by COVID-19 is
under active considera-
tion by the government
and the Union Public
Service Commission
(UPSC).
A bench headed by
Justice AM Khanwilkar
was informed by Addi-
tional Solicitor General
(ASG) SV Raju that the
government and UPSC
are actively consider-
ing the proposal to give
one more opportunity
to affected students due
to COVID-19.
ASG Raju said the
government is actively
considering the matter
and he has instructions
for seeking an adjourn-
ment to first week of
February. —ANI
IN THE COURTYARD
Bombay HC extends protection to
Kangana from arrest till Jan 25
Considering proposal to
give extra chance: Centre
SEDITION CASE
DRUGS CASE
UPSC CIVIL SERVICE EXAM
Mumbai: Komal Ram-
pal, sister of Bollywood
actor Arjun Rampal has
reached the Narcotics
ControlBureau(NCB)of-
fice in Mumbai on Mon-
day for interrogation in
an ongoing drug case.
She was last sum-
moned on Wednesday in
connection to a drug-
related case but had in-
formed the investiga-
tion agency through her
lawyer that she would
be unable to appear.
“Arjun Rampal’s sis-
ter Komal Rampal,
through her lawyer, had
informed NCB that she
would be unable to ap-
pear before them. Also,
she has not sought any
further date to appear,”
an NCB source told ANI.
The NCB has also
summoned Mumbai’s
renowned Muchchchad
Panwala after 200 kilo-
grams of ganja and
other drugs were seized
from Karan Sajnani
and Rahila Furniture-
wala on Saturday.
On Saturday, the NCB
had conducted raids in
the Bandra Jhar are-
as of Mumbai arrest-
ed UK Citizen Karan
Sajnanai Rahila Fur-
niturewala, ex-manag-
er of a Bollywood ac-
tress her sister Shais-
ta Furniturewala.
Rampal was too
probed in a drug-related
case. He was questioned
by the NCB on Novem-
ber 13, after raids were
conducted at his resi-
dence on Nov 9. —ANI
Arjun Rampal’s sis Komal reaches NCB office for probe
‘SC should stay ops of
3 farm laws, and hear
constitutionality’
New Delhi: The Con-
gress said that the SC-
should stay the opera-
tions of three farm laws
and hear the Constitu-
tionality of these laws
as it has an impact on 65
per cent of the coun-
try’s population.
Speaking over phone,
Congress LS member
and former Union Min-
ister Manish Tewari
said, “The SC should
stay the operation of
these farm laws and
hear the constitutional-
ity of these laws on a
daily basis.”
He said that the SC
should do this because
this impacts 65 per cent
of the population of the
country. The Congress
leader’s remarks came
after the Supreme
Court while hearing the
petitions challenging
new farm laws as well
as the ones related to
ongoing agitation at
Delhi borders, said ‘it
will stay the implemen-
tation of farm laws if
the government did not
do it’.Congress spokes-
person Jaiveer Shergill
took to Twitter wrote,
“SC observations and
hearing has completely
exposed BJP govern-
ment’s 3Ms: Mismanag-
ing, Mishandling Ma-
ligning” blunders on
farmers issue. —Agencies
Manish Tewari
‘Assam’suniqueculture
willalwaysberecognised’
Silchar: Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party (BJP) presi-
dent Jagat Prakash Na-
dda on Monday, said
that the party will al-
ways give due recogni-
tion to the culture, lan-
guage and identity of
Assam, adding that
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi and Home
Minister Amit Shah
solved 50-year-old Bodo
issue by signing peace
accord and bringing
militants to the main-
stream.
“It is the responsibil-
ity of Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) to safe-
guard the culture and
language of Assam and
the party has always
given importance to
these things,” Nadda
said who was address-
ing a public meeting in
Silchar, Assam. Nadda
arrived in Silchar, As-
sam earlier today and
said, “The BJP will al-
ways take good care of
Assam’s unique culture
and language. Shri Atal
Bihari Vajpayee was
one of the first national
voices to support the
Assam Movement,”
said Nadda.
“The Bodo crisis was
hanging for nearly 50
decades and the Bru-
Reang crisis, too, was
solved by Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi’s
government. The land
dispute was also solved
by our government
with the help of the
Smart Fence project, he
said highlighting the
achievements of the
Central government.
“Lotus is blooming
across India. NDA al-
ways talked about giv-
ing importance to the
state of Assam in India.
If the existence of As-
sam is identified in any
way, it is done by the
NDA government,” said
Nadda. —ANI
New Delhi: The Centre
has released 11th week-
ly instalment of Rs
6,000 crore to the states
to meet the Goods and
Services Tax (GST)
compensation shortfall,
the Ministry of Finance
said on Monday.
Of this, Rs 5,516.6
crore has been released
to 23 states and Rs 483.4
crore to the three union
territories with legisla-
tive assembly (Delhi,
Jammu Kashmir and
Puducherry) which are
members of the GST
Council. The remaining
five states -- Arunachal
Pradesh, Manipur, Mi-
zoram, Nagaland and
Sikkim -- do not have a
gap in revenue on ac-
count of GST imple-
mentation. Now, 60 per
cent of the estimated
GST compensation
shortfall has been re-
leased to the states and
union territories.
The government had
set up a special borrow-
ing window in October
2020 to meet the esti-
mated shortfall of Rs
1.10 lakh crore in reve-
nue arising on account
of implementation of
GST.
Of this, Rs 60,066.36
crore has been released
to states and Rs 5,933.64
crore to the three union
territories. The borrow-
ings have been done in
11 rounds, the Finance
Ministry said in a state-
ment.
The amount has been
borrowed at an interest
rate of 5.1057 per cent.
So far, Rs 66,000 crore
has been borrowed by
the Central government
through the special bor-
rowing window at an
average interest rate of
4.7271 per cent.
In addition to provid-
ing funds through the
special borrowing win-
dow to meet the short-
fall in revenue on ac-
count of GST imple-
mentation, the govern-
ment has also granted
additional borrowing
permission equivalent
to 0.5 per cent of gross
state domestic product
(GSDP) to the states
choosing option one.
—ANI

From Centre...
The prime minister
also sought to dispel
concerns expressed by
some opposition lead-
ers and experts over the
approval given to Cov-
axin without the avail-
ability of efficacy data,
asserting that scien-
tists have taken all pre-
cautions to provide citi-
zens with effective vac-
cines.
The prime minister
said he has been main-
taining from the begin-
ning that the scientific
community will have
the final word on the is-
sue. India’s drug regu-
lator has given nod to
Covishield and Covaxin
for the emergency use
authorisation.
It is a matter of pride
that both the vaccines
are ‘made in India’, he
said, adding that it can
be imagined how much
hardship India would
have faced if it had to
depend on foreign vac-
cines.
Noting that the first
round of vaccination is
meant for healthcare
and frontline workers,
he said, “This is my
personal suggestion
and no one should take
it otherwise. We public
representatives are not
part of it.”
In some countries,
including the US and
Israel, leading public
figures have taken the
jabs while top function-
aries in a few others
have chosen to follow
the standard protocol
and wait for their turn.
Talking about the
COVID-19 situation in
India, Modi said the
country is in a much
better place than many
others in terms of the
pandemic’s spread, and
added that this is a mat-
ter of happiness but
should not induce care-
lessness.
The panic visible
among the people six-
eight months back is no
longer there, and the
increasing confidence
among them in the fight
against the pandemic
has had a positive im-
pact on economic ac-
tivities as well, the
prime minister said.
Modi had reviewed
the status of COVID-19
and vaccine prepared-
ness across states and
union territories at a
high-level meeting
where.
He said many states
have given good sugges-
tions in fighting the
pandemic and the dia-
logue and cooperation
between the Centre and
states have been a
“great example” of fed-
eralism.
After healthcare and
frontline workers total-
ling about three crores,
priority will be given to
those above 50 years of
age and the under-50
population groups with
co-morbidities, togeth-
er numbering around
27 crore, in the next
phase.
According to the
Health Ministry guide-
lines on COVID-19 vac-
cination, the latest elec-
toral roll for Lok Sabha
and Legislative Assem-
bly elections will be
used to identify the
population aged 50
years or more.
At least seven other
vaccines are being de-
veloped in India, while
some others can be im-
ported from abroad,
including the one de-
veloped by global phar-
ma giant Pfizer which
has already applied for
import and sale in In-
dia of its vaccine for
emergency use author-
isation.
Govt orders...
issued the supply order
on behalf of the Union
Health Ministry in the
name of Prakash Ku-
mar Singh, Additional
Director, Government
and Regulatory Affairs
at Serum Institute of
India (SII).
The health ministry
is also likely to soon
sign a purchase order
for another anti-coro-
navirus vaccine, Cov-
axin, which has been
indigenously developed
by Bharat Biotech.
Meetings for this was
underway, a source
said.
Union Min...
in Uttar Kannada dis-
trict, while he was re-
turning to Goa from
Dharmasthala in Kar-
nataka.
Naik is being brought
to Goa Medical College
for further treatment,
the official said.
Dramatic visuals
from the accident site
shows the white Toyota
car the minister was
travelling in in a man-
gled state among bush-
es and trees. The car
was badly damaged,
photos show.
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi has spoken
to Goa CM Pramod
Sawant to ensure prop-
er arrangements for the
treatment of Naik in
the state. The 68-year-
old is a BJP MP from
north Goa. Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh
too requested Sawant to
provide best treatment,
and if need arises, fly
Naik to Delhi. Rajnath
also tweeted wishing
for the minister’s
speedy recovery.
FROM PG 1
INDIAAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
SUBRAT SAHU IS ALSO CHIEF
SECRETARY OF CHHATTISGARH FOR
A WHILE
Subrat Sahu has been assigned an additional
charge of Chief Secretary of Chhattisgarh till the
return of the present incumbent from leave.
FACT’S SHARE PRICE ALL TIME HIGH,
TRADES AT RS 89
The Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT)
has fared well in this financial year. The share price
has touched the highest ever at Rs 89. It is also
the highest share price among all Central Govt
Fertliser PSU with market capitalisation of Rs 5600
crore. Kishore Rungta is Chairman-cum-Managing
Director of the company.
SANJEEVA KUMAR IS ALSO
SECRETARY (SECURITY), CABINET
SECRETARIAT CHAIRMAN, NACWC
Sanjeeva Kumar, Secretary, Border Management,
has been assigned additional charges of Secretary
(Security), Cabinet Secretariat and Chairman,
National Authority Chemical Weapons Conven-
tion ((NACWC). He is a 1986 batch IAS officer of
Assam-Meghalaya cadre.
M RAGHU RAM APPOINTED AS
MEMBER (TECH), DVC
M Raghu Ram, GM (OM), Korba Super Thermal
Power Station of NTPC, has been appointed as
Member (Technical), Damodar Valley Corporation
(DVC).
RAM NARESH SINGH APPOINTED AS
CHAIRMAN, DVC
Ram Naresh Singh, ED, PGCIL, has been appointed
as Chairman, Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC).
MSME SECRETARY ARVIND KUMAR
SHARMA QUITS INDIAN
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE
Arvind Kumar Sharma, Secretary in the Ministry of
Micro, Small Medium Enterprises (MSME) has
sought voluntary retirement from Indian Adminis-
trative Service (IAS) with effect from January 11,
2021. Sharma, who belongs to a 1988 batch IAS
officer of Gujarat cadre, was due to retire in July
2022.
8 IAS OFFICERS OF 2005 BATCH IN
HARYANA AWARDED SUPER TIME
SCALE
As many as 8 IAS officers of 2005 batch in Hary-
ana have been promoted to the Super Time Scale.
The six officers who have been promoted are:
Saket Kumar, Hardeep Singh, Ramesh Chander
Bidhan, Bhupinder Singh, Ms Geeta Bharti and S
S Phulia. Besides, proforma promotion has been
granted to Mandip Singh Brar and Saket Kumar.
SIX IAS OFFICERS IN HARYANA
PROMOTED TO CS GRADE
Six IAS officers in Haryana have been promoted to
the grade of Chief Secretary. The four officers of
1990 batch who have been promoted are: Sudhir
Rajpal, Ankur Gupta, Anurag Rastogi and Raja
Sekhar Vundru. The government has also granted
pro-forma promotion to 1989 batch officer Arun
Kumar and 1990 batch officer Dr Sumita Misra.
SD SHARMA IS ALSO DIRECTOR, ISTM
SD Sharma, Joint Secretary (Training), DoPT, has
been assigned an additional charge of Director,
Institute of Secretariat Training and Management
(ISTM) for a period of three months. He is a CSS
officer.
MS ASHIMA GUPTA APPOINTED AS
FINANCIAL ADVISER, KVIC
Ms Ashima Gupta has been appointed as Financial
Adviser, Khadi Village Industries Commission
(KVIC), Mumbai. She is an IRS-IT officer.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with: http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
BIRD FLU CONFIRMED IN 10 STATES
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Monday said as the vi-
rus is being detected in
10 states, and poultry
farms, zoos, water bod-
ies will have to be con-
stantly monitored to
control the spread of
the disease.
“Bird flu has been
confirmed in Kerala,
Rajasthan, Himachal
Pradesh, Gujarat, Hary-
ana, UP, MP, Delhi and
Maharashtra. Poultry
farms, zoos, water bod-
ies have to be constant-
ly monitored to control
the spread of bird flu,”
said Prime Minister
Narendra Modi while
interacting the chief
ministers of the all the
states ahead of the first
phase of the nation-
wide COVID-19 vaccina-
tion programme.
This comes as 10
states have so far re-
ported confirmed cases
of bird flu in the coun-
try. Prime Minister
Modi also asked all
states to remain on
alert to contain the
spread of the disease.
“To tackle bird flu, an
action plan has been
prepared by the Animal
Husbandry and Dairy-
ing Husbandry minis-
try, which we need to
follow judiciously. Dis-
trict magistrates will
play a major role in the
fight against the virus.
All those states which
have so far not reported
any cases of bird flu
will have to stay alert,”
he added.
Prime Minister fur-
ther asked the state gov-
ernments to ensure that
no misinformation is
spread about the dis-
ease. —ANI
New Delhi: Amid an
avian influenza scare
in several states, near-
ly 200 birds, mostly
crows, have been
found dead in Uttara-
khand’s Dehradun and
Rishikesh, officials
said on Monday. A to-
tal of 165 birds were
found dead in differ-
ent parts of Dehradun
on Sunday, including
121 crows in the
Bhandari Bagh area
only. There were a to-
tal of 162 crows, two
pigeons and an eagle
among the dead birds
found in Dehradun,
Divisional Forest Of-
ficer (DFO) Rajiv Dhi-
man said. —ANI
Mumbai: Senior BJP
leader Devendra Fad-
navis said on Monday
suggested that the Shiv
Sena-led Maharashtra
government should fo-
cus more on preventing
incidentslikeBhandara
hospital fire, in which
ten infants lost their
lives, instead of concen-
trating on issues like
the security cover of
public representatives.
Addressing reporters,
Fadnavis said the state
government’’s decision
to scale down his secu-
rity cover will have no
impact on him and that
he will even visit the
Naxal- hit district like
Gadchiroli without any
security cover. As per a
notification issued on
January 8, Fadnavis,
who is the Leader of
Opposition in the Ma-
harashtra Assembly,
will now get ‘’Y-plus se-
curity with escort’’, in-
stead of the ‘’Z-plus’’
cover. The security of
his wife Amruta Fad-
navis daughter Divija
has been downgraded
from ‘’Y-plus with es-
cort’’ to ‘’X’’ category.
New Delhi: India aims
to begin vaccinating its
1.3 billion people from
Saturday, a colossal
complex task com-
pounded by safety wor-
ries, shaky infrastruc-
ture public scepti-
cism. The second-most
populous nation hopes
to inoculate 300 million
people equal almost to
the entire US popula-
tion by July. About
1,50,000 staff in 700 dis-
tricts have been special-
ly trained, the coun-
try has held several dry
runs with mock trans-
portation of vaccines
dummy injections.
New Delhi: The Herit-
age Conservation Com-
mittee on Monday gave
its approval for con-
struction of a new par-
liament building days
after the Supreme
Court asked the govern-
ment to seek the same
from it. At a press con-
ference, Housing Secre-
tary Durga Shanker
Mishra said the com-
mittee discussed the
proposal and gave its
approval. Additional
secretary of the Union
Housing and Urban Af-
fairs Ministry is the
chairman of the Herit-
age Conservation Com-
mittee. —PTI
Nearly 200
birds found
dead in
Uttarakhand
Monitor poultry farms, zoos to contain bird flu, says PM Modi as virus spreads rapidly
BUILD AWARENESS TO AVOID SPREAD OF MISINFORMATION
PM ANNOUNCES RS 2 LAKH EX GRATIA EACH
FOR KIN OF MAHARASHTRA FIRE VICTIMS
Fadnavis takes dig at
Maharashtra govt over
Bhandara hospital fire
India preps to
vaccinate 300
million by July
Construction of
new Parl build
gets approval
PM Modi urges youngsters to
join startup India Intn’l Summit
New Delhi: PM Naren-
dra Modi has called
upon youngsters to at-
tend ‘Prarambh’, the
Startup India interna-
tional summit on Janu-
ary 15 and 16, saying it
seeks to bring together
top minds from indus-
try, academia, invest-
ment, banking and fi-
nancebesidestheyoung
startup leaders.
He also shared his
LinkedIn post in which
he noted that virtual in-
teractions have become
the new normal during
the pandemic and said a
big advantage of this is
that people can be a part
of programmes sitting
at home. “With most
events being held virtu-
ally, it has given a great
opportunity for young-
sters to be a part of
many interesting do-
mestic global forums.
One such opportunity
is coming up in the
form of Prarambh on
15-16 Jan. I urge our
youth to be a part of it,”
Modi tweeted on Mon-
day. Being indoors for
most of 2020 meant eve-
ryone had to alter their
work styles, the prime
minister noted and said
work from home is in,
so is greater adapting to
technology.
“For me, it meant
more programmes on-
line, which were ex-
tremely productive
insightful. There were
interactions with scien-
tists, medical profes-
sionals, COVID warri-
ors, academics, indus-
try leaders, young inno-
vators, spiritual leaders
and more,” Modi said.
Ranaghat: The coun-
try is staring at a food
crisis and famine be-
cause of the “adamant”
approach of the BJP to
the continued agitation
by farmers for with-
drawal of the three
new farm laws, West
Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee said
on Monday. She also
called the BJP a “junk”
party for inducting
“rotten” leaders from
other political outfits.
Reaffirming her op-
position to the NRC,
CAA and NPR, Baner-
jee, while reaching out
to the Nadia district’’s
Matua population, said
all refugees will be
granted land rights, and
no one can banish them
from the country. “The
country is staring at a
food crisis. There will
be famine and food
shortage if the BJP con-
tinues to remain ada-
mant on the farm laws.
The Centre is trying to
create famine through
these farm bills. “The
farmers are assets of
our country and we
should not do anything
that goes against their
interest,” she said, ad-
dressing a TMC rally
here in Nadia district.
TMC supremo also
demanded immediate
repeal of the three farm
laws as sought by farm-
ers agitating at Delhi’’s
borders. “We stand by
the farmers and their
demands. On one hand
the BJP is lecturing us
on farmers’’ issues and
on the other it is tortur-
ing the farmers who are
protesting against the
laws. So many farmers
were beaten up in Hary-
ana Punjab,” she said.
Country staring at food crisis,
famine because of BJP: Mamata
Devendra Fadnavis
PM Narendra Modi
Mamata Banerjee

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
LAUNCHED IN 2009 AS A CRYPTOCURRENCY, IT HAS SINCE THEN BECOME MAINSTREAM FOR PURCHASE SALE OF ‘DIGITAL ASSETS’
BY JASON POTTS,
Professor of
Economics, RMIT
University
KELSIE NABEAN,
Researcher /
PhD Candidate,
RMIT Blockchain
Innovation Hub /
Digital Ethnography
Research Centre,
RMIT University
B
i t c o i n
contin-
ues to
t r a d e
close to its all-time
high reached this
month. Its price is
now around US
$34,000 — up about
77% over the past
month and 305%
over the past year.
First launched in
2009 as a digital
currency, Bitcoin
was for a while
used as digital
money on the
fringes of the
economy.
It has since be-
come mainstream.
Today, it’s used al-
most exclusively
as a kind of “digi-
tal gold”. That is to
say, a scarce digi-
tal asset. In re-
sponse to the risk
of economic col-
lapse due to COV-
ID-19, govern-
ments around the
world have flooded
global markets
with money creat-
ed by central
banks, in order to
boost spending
and help save the
economy.
But increasing
the supply of mon-
ey erodes its value
and leads people to
look for inflation-
resistant assets to
hold. In this cli-
mate, Bitcoin has
become a hedge
against looming
inflation and poor
returns on other
types of assets.
WHY ISWHY IS
BITCOIN’SBITCOIN’S
PRICE AT ANPRICE AT AN
ALL-TIME HIGH?ALL-TIME HIGH?
Bitcoin is “decen-
tralised”. In oth-
er words, it functions
via a dispersed peer-
to-peer network, rath-
er than through a cen-
tral authority such as
a central bank.
And it does this
through the partici-
pation of Bitcoin
“miners”. This is any-
one who chooses to
run software to vali-
date Bitcoin transac-
tions on the block-
chain. Typically,
these people are ac-
tively engaged with
cryptocurrency.
They are rewarded
with bitcoins, more
of which are created
every ten minutes.
But the reward paid
to miners halves eve-
ry four years.
This gradual re-
duction was encoded
into the network by
creator Satoshi Na-
kamoto, who de-
signed it this way to
mimic the process of
extracting actual
gold — easier at first,
but harder with time.
Bitcoin miners to-
day earn 6.25 bitcoins
for every block mined,
down from 50 bitcoins
in the early years.
This creates an incen-
tive to get involved
early, as scarcity in-
creases with time.
Because of this, the
price is expected to
rise to meet demand.
But because future
scarcity is known in
advance (predictable
at four-year inter-
vals), the halving
events tend to already
be priced in.
Therefore, massive
surges and falls in
price typically re-
flect changing de-
mand conditions,
such as a growing
number of new insti-
tutional investors.
More and more pub-
lic companies are
now investing in bit-
coin.
But what function
does Bitcoin provide
for society that has
people so invested?
Bitcoin, the world’s
largest crypto-
currency by market
capitalisation, has a
current circulating
supply of 18,590,300
bitcoins and a maxi-
mum supply of
21,000,000.
This limit is hard-
coded into the Bitcoin
protocol and can’t be
changed. It creates ar-
tificial scarcity, which
ensures the digital
money increases in
value over time.
Whereas govern-
ment-issued curren-
cies such as the Aus-
tralian dollar can
have their supply in-
creased at will by cen-
tral banks, Bitcoin
has a fixed supply
that can’t be inflated
by political decisions.
Bitcoin is predomi-
nantly traded on on-
line cryptocurrency
exchanges, but can
also be sent, received
and stored in “digital
wallets” on specific
hardware or smart-
phone applications.
But perhaps the
most groundbreaking
aspect of the Bitcoin
network is that it
draws on the work of
cryptographers and
computer scientists
to exist as a block-
chain-based digital
currency.
A public block-
chain is an “immuta-
ble” database, which
means the record of
transaction history
can’t be changed.
There are a few pos-
sible explana-
tions as to why Bit-
coin is now deemed
significant by so
many people.
IT’S A “SAFE”
ASSET
In the face of global
uncertainty, buying
bitcoins is a way for
people to diversify
their assets. Its mar-
ket value can be com-
pared to that of an-
other go-to asset that
shines in times of
trouble: gold.
Amid the turmoil
of a global pandemic,
an unconventional US
presidential hando-
ver and geopolitical
power shifts the world
over, it’s possible
more people view
gold and Bitcoin as
better alternatives to
dollars.
IT TIES INTO
PRIVACY-
ORIENTED
IDEOLOGIES
Bitcoin (and crypto-
currency in general)
is not politically and
ideologically neutral.
It was born of the in-
ternet era, one
plagued with grave
concerns for privacy.
Bitcoin’s intellectual
and ideological ori-
gins are in the “cy-
pherpunk” move-
ment of the 1990s and
early 2000s.
Records of online
forums show it was
advocated for as an
anonymous digital
currency that allowed
people to interact on-
line without being
tracked by govern-
ments or corpora-
tions, offering an al-
ternative for anyone
who distrusts the
Federal central bank-
ing system.
Perhaps the overt
rise of digital sur-
veillance in response
to the COVID pan-
demic has further
stoked fears about
online privacy and
security — again
piquing the public’s
interest in Bitcoin’s
potential.
AFUNCTIONALANDDECENTRALISEDDIGITALCURRENCYWHAT IS BITCOIN?
WHY DOES
BITCOIN MATTER?
WHY IS BITCOIN BOOMING?
Bitcoin’s recent
boom in value
comes down to a combi-
nation of three factors:
ideology, social senti-
ment and hope.
But although these
are variable factors,
this doesn’t discredit
the significance of the
digital economy, inter-
est in the technology as
it matures and the influ-
ence of institutional in-
vestors in cryptocur-
rency, including Bit-
coin.
Bitcoin is in an up-
ward market trend, also
known as “bull market”
territory.
It was designed to in-
crease in value over
time through the rules
Nakamoto wrote into its
software code — which
Bitcoin’s most outspo-
ken advocates, known
as “maximalists”, vehe-
mently defend.
IMAGINING NEW FUTURES
From a larger
frame of refer-
ence, decentralised
cryptocurrencies al-
low new ways to co-
ordinate without the
need for a central
arbiter.
And decentralised
blockchain-based
networks don’t just
enable digital money.
Similar to ordinary
smartphone apps,
software developers
around the world are
building decentral-
ised applications
(DApps) on top of Bit-
coin and other block-
chain protocols.
They have intro-
duced other crypto-
currencies, such as
Ethereum, which are
also open platforms
for the public.
Other DApps in-
clude decentralised
financial (DeFi) tools
for prediction mar-
kets, cryptocurrency
borrowing and lend-
ing, investing and
crowd-funding.
Nakamoto’s auda-
cious experiment in
digital currency is
working as intend-
ed. And what really
deserves attention
now is what this
means for our digi-
tal, physical and so-
cial futures.
SOURCE: THECONVERSATION.COM
A ‘bull market’ occurs when securities are on the rise, whereas a ‘bear market’ is when securities fall for a sustained period. Both
terms are metaphors; a bull thrusts its horns into the air and a bear swipes its paws down. —SHUTTERSTOCK
While several have laid claim to it, the true identity of Bitcoin creator Satoshi
Nakamoto (a psuedonym) has never been conﬁrmed. His last written post on
the forum bitcointalk.org was on December 12, 2010. —SHUTTERSTOCK

One must keep in mind what one
prays for so that we can practice
it in our actions too.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
An RTI reply has exposed that a chunk of 20 lakh “undeserving” beneficiaries of PM Kisan Samman Yojana were in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab
Shishir Awasthi
New Delhi: Even as the
farmers’ agitation has
driven the ruling BJP to
a wall, the Central Gov-
ernment recently an-
nounced with much fan-
fare that it had deposit-
ed a whopping Rs 18,000
crore in the bank ac-
counts of over 9 crore
farmer households un-
der the PM-Kisan Sam-
man Nidhi Yojana (PM
Kisan Yojana).
But facts are shock-
ing. Data obtained un-
der The Right to Infor-
mation (RTI) Act, 2005
by Venkatesh Nayak,
programme head, Ac-
cess to Information Pro-
gramme, Common-
wealth Human Rights
Initiative, New Delhi,
indicates that “income
tax payees” and “ineligi-
ble” people have re-
ceived Rs 1,364.13 crore
since 2019.
In simpler words, un-
deserving people were
paid a huge amount. A
majority of such benefi-
ciaries have been found
to be in 5 states, includ-
ing Gujarat.
When launched in
2019, the PM-Kisan Yo-
jana was to cover only
small and marginal
farmers owning less
than two hectares of
land but it was subse-
quently expanded to in-
clude all farmers, irre-
spective of the size of
their landholdings.
The revised guide-
lines excluded catego-
ries like institutional
landholder;farmerfami-
lies in which one person
hasheldaconstitutional
positioninIndia,stateor
districtpanchayat;those
who have served in gov-
ernment, except for
Class IV employees;
and pensioners receiv-
ing monthly pension of
Rs 10,000 or more; in-
come tax payees; and
professionals such as
doctors, engineers,
chartered accountants
and architects.
Nayak’s findings say
over 20 lakh undeserv-
ingpersonshadreceived
PM-Kisan payouts until
July 31, 2020 and 55.58%
of them were income
tax payees, while 44.41%
belonged to the “ineligi-
ble farmers” category.
He says Punjab tops
the list with 23.16%
(4.74 lakh) undeserv-
ing beneficiaries fol-
lowed by Assam with
16.87% (3.45 lakh), Ma-
harashtra 13.99% (2.86
lakh) and Gujarat
8.05% (1.65 lakh).
Among them, Maha-
rashtra tops with the
highest 2.18 lakh “IT
payee farmers” , fol-
lowed by Uttar Pradesh
at 1.63 lakh and Gujarat
with 1.62 lakh “IT payee
farmers.”
Nayak says with Rs
323.85 crore Punjab
topped the list of States
and UTs where unde-
serving “farmers” re-
ceived the largest,
23.74%, of payouts. Ma-
harashtrawasnumber2
with Rs 216.9 crore
(15.90%) followed by Gu-
jarat with Rs 162.34
crore (11.90%), UP with
Rs 146.01 crore (10.70%)
and Karnataka with Rs
77.44 crore (5.67%).
Together, these 5
states account for more
than two-thirds of the
total payouts (Rs 926.54
crore) made to “ineligi-
ble” and “IT payee farm-
ers”, he adds.
PMKisan‘Yojana’forincometaxpayees?
Wrong people benefitted from PM’s scheme for farmers.
WRONG
BENEFICIARIES
New hearse stolen from
A’bad fire station; found
IIM-A team in global food
energy consortium
Car driver carries cop on bonnet, held
First India Bureau
New Delhi: A team of
Indian Institute of
Management (IIM),
Ahmedabad, research-
ers will represent India
at the FABLES Consor-
tium.
The Food and Land
Use Coalition, the Food,
Agriculture, Biodiver-
sity, Land-Use, and En-
ergy (FABLE) Consor-
tium mobilizes top
knowledge institutions
from 20 countries to
support the develop-
ment of decision-sup-
port tools and long-term
pathways towards sus-
tainable food and land-
use systems.
The global FABLE
Consortium country
teams have developed
major analytical capac-
ities on land-use and
food systems, pioneered
new tools, and strength-
ened the analytical ca-
pacity in 20 countries.
The Indian team led
by IIM-Ahmedabad Pro-
fessor Ranjan Kumar
Ghosh has outlined FA-
BLE Pathways for In-
dia, which identify
ways in which food and
land-use systems can
contribute to meeting
climate ambitions.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad:Inashock-
ingincident,acardriver
hit a traffic policeman
anddrivehimaroundon
thevehicle’sbonnetfora
kilometer after he tried
to stop him for driving
on the wrong side of the
road. The police have de-
tained the driver and
filed FIR against him.
Ithappenedwhentraf-
fic constables Vikram
MahadevandMahendra
Bhamania were on duty
in the Paldi area of
Ahmedabad just when
they spotted a car com-
ing from towards the
NIDonthewrongsideof
the road.
They signalled Bhu-
pesh Kansara, the car
driver, to stop but he ac-
celerated his vehicle.
One of the cops, Bhama-
nia, jumped on the bon-
net of the car trying to
haltthevehicle.Kansara
didn’t stop and kept on
driving the car with the
cop struggling on the
bonnet.
Thetrafficcopschased
him in a police vehicle,
even as the passerby
screamed. This forced
the car to stop. Kansara,
a resident of Navrang-
pura, was detained.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In a bi-
zarre incident, a
newly-acquired dead
body van parked at
the Prahlad Nagar
Fire Station in
Ahmedabad went
mysteriously miss-
ing hours past Sun-
day midnight, only
to be found left de-
serted near the Man-
si Circle on Monday
afternoon.
The motive of the
theft and the miscre-
ants are yet to be
known, officials said.
The fire station
staff reporting for
duty in the morning
discovered the
hearse was missing
and they immediately
reported the theft to
the police.
The police imme-
diately registered a
complaint in this re-
gard and started in-
vestigations by first
scanning the CCTV
footage of the near-
by area. While the
theft of two-wheel-
ers and cars are nor-
mal, the theft of a
dead body van was
unusual.
It was found that 3
unknown persons took
away the hearse
though they are yet to
be identified. The po-
lice traced the vehicle
from the clues availa-
ble in the CCTV foot-
age. The miscreants
had just parked the
dead body van near
Mansi Circle and van-
ished.
The hearse was re-
cently purchased by
the Fire Department
at a cost of Rs 17
lakh. While the mis-
creants and their
motive are yet un-
known, the police
and the fire brigade
staff were relieved
that they could at
least get the vehicle
back.
First India Bureau
Rajkot: After a de-
pressing and low-
key Diwali and New
Year celebrations,
Gujaratis are final-
ly gearing up for
some action on Jan-
uary 14 for the festi-
val of Kites -- Utta-
rayan or Makar
Sankranti.
With the Covid-19
scare still continuing
though apparently
on a low intensity,
celebrations will
remain scaled
down and even the
Gujarat High Court
has directed against
gathering of crowds,
with people having
been told to stay at
their own terraces
only.
However, now that
the celebrations
have been allowed
kite markets across
the State are wit-
nessing a scramble
to buy a variety of
kites.
Like in other cities,
markets in Rajkot
have been decked
up with kites with
a variety of themes,
including coronavi-
rus, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi,
Virat Kohli, Anushka
Sharma as well as
other actors and
cricketers.
Like every year,
the kit makers
banked upon some
of the most common
themes and used
them on the kites.
Owner of a kite
shop Rajni Patel in
Rajkot said, “There
are over 1,500 varie-
ties of kites in the
market and like eve-
ry year, the ones
with PM Modi’s pho-
tos are in demand.”
The most discussed
topic of coronavirus
has also been widely
used as themes for
the kites.
PM Modi, Covid-19, Virat Kohli feature on Gujarat kites this year
The Gujarat High Court has
permitted Uttarayan festivities
though in a restricted manner,
kite enthusiasts await Jan 14
‘KAYPO CHHE’
Kites with PM Narendra Modi pictures and corona messages are a hit this time.
A hearse went missing from Prahladnagar Fire Station.
Car driver Bhupesh Kansara
Three unknown
persons took away
the dead body van
and left it near
Mansi Circle
ON WAY HOME
A camel cart returning home through the Sardar Bridge in Ahmedabad after a long day
selling vegetables and fruits. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
4,347
DEATHS
2,52,559
CONFIRMED CASES
RAJASTHAN
2,736 DEATHS 3,13,425 CASES
DELHI
10,691 DEATHS 6,30,506 CASES
WORLD
19,46,425
DEATHS
9,08,62,777
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
1,04,79,628
CONFIRMED CASES
1,51,362
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
50,101 DEATHS 19,71,552 CASES
UTTAR PRADESH
8,504 DEATHS 5,93,680 CASES
KARNATAKA
12,144 DEATHS 9,28,055 CASES

AHMEDABAD, TUESDAY
JANUARY 12, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
Indian Cricket team captain Virat Kohli
and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma
are now proud parents to a baby girl.
They welcomed their first child on
Monday, in Mumbai!
he year 2021 is being
considered as a great
ray of hope and happi-
nessafteratremendous
yearpassedby.Keeping
the charm alive of the
new year, Virat Kohli
on Monday evening broke the
news to his fans that Anushka
and he are now proud parents to
a baby girl. He tweeted, “We are
thrilled to share with you that
we’ve been blessed with a baby
girl this afternoon. We thank
you all for your love, prayers,
and good wishes. Anushka and
thebabyarebothhealthyandwe
are feeling beyond blessed to
start this new chapter of our
lives. We hope that you can re-
spect our privacy at this time.
Love, Virat.” After they broke
the news, the hashtags #Virat-
Kohliand#BabyGirlweretrend-
ing throughout the day.
The couple broke the news of
their pregnancy to their fans on
August 27, with an adorable pic-
ture of the two of them, and of
course, a cute little baby bump.
Anushka had captioned the im-
ageas,“Andthen,wewerethree!
Arriving Jan 2021.”
Their love story has had a lot
of ups and downs, but they al-
ways made their way through to
eachother-that’showpuretheir
love is. They instantly hit off af-
ter shooting for an advertise-
ment and dated for a while be-
fore they parted their ways. She
was apparently a ‘bad luck’ for
himduringhismatches,andthe
negativityallaroundmadethem
go their own ways. But soon af-
ter realising they were meant to
be with each other, they didn’t
think twice, and finally tied the
knot in December 2017, during a
secret wedding in Italy. Well,
now they are the couple who are
looked upon, and the rest is his-
tory!
NEHAL NAYAR
nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in
T
Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli
Virat’s tweet on Monday
Anushka’s ‘gratitude’ post
Anushka striking a
Yoga pose with the help of Virat
Anushka during the
shoot of a magazine cover
When Anushka and Virat brokethe news of their pregnancy with their fans
Happiness
Blossoms in
First glimpse of the baby girl (Vikas Kohli’s post)

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
UNNATI MALHARKAR, Content Creator
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Great opportunities await
you on the academic front.
This is a great day for you,
when you finally get your
way. Meeting your near and dear ones
is likely to keep you much entertained.
You will feel proud of something
achieved at work. Money will no
longer be a problem.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Spouse may compel you
for something that you are
in no mood of, but little
you can do about it! You
are likely to consolidate on whatever
you have achieved on the social front
up till now. Someone is likely to help
you make the right decisions on the
academic front.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
You may remain busy with
additional work today. It is
certainly a wonder how
you manage to become
popular in any set-up. Those in
business will be able to increase their
net earnings. Help from someone on
the financial front will help you
overcome a tight situation.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Academic aspirations of
those pursuing higher
studies are likely to be met.
Prospects of a journey to a
distant place may get you all excited.
Some of you are all set to expand your
social circle. Spending time with a
friend is foreseen. Total bliss is
foreseen for those newly in love.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Today is a good day to look
up someone, who is
persistent in inviting you
over. Reputation of those
associated with the media is likely to
rise. A tiff with spouse or family
member needs to be dealt empatheti-
cally. Those working in IT sectors
may need to some skills.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
There is much that needs to
be done, so get to it right
away. You may have to be at
your convincing best, as
spouse may hold you accountable for
neglecting something important. A
hectic day is foreseen, which may find
you running from pillar to post in
getting something done.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Helping coworkers and
colleagues will bring you
appreciation. New ideas
are likely to bring positive
changes. This is going to be a good
day overall. Those facing interview
are likely to fare well. Buying a
vehicle or property is on the cards
for some improves.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
You may get a chance to
add to your friends’ list, as
you meet someone
exciting. You can get
involved in something important on
the social front. Home will be a
happy place to be in today. A
workplace colleague may trigger
romantic feelings in your heart.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
A property may come to
some through inheritance.
Suitable accommodation is
likely to be found for those
hunting for one. You will find
everything moving smoothly at work.
Professionals are likely to do well.
Money is not likely to pose any
problem as you have enough.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You are likely to up your
profits without hurting
your client base. Some of
you may take up a new
hobby or join some class. Key to
good man management is to keep
the subordinates happy. You will find
yourself at peace by opening up your
heart to the one you love.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
It is a good time for
making new contacts. You
are likely to get saddled
with a difficult project and
give a poor show. Your spirit is likely
to motivate those around you.
Academic performance of a family
youngster may leave much to be
desired.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Your popularity is set to
rise, as you start getting
more social. Planning
something exciting with
friends is possible today. You will
need good negotiating skills to swing
a deal in your favour on the
professional front. Good manage-
ment skills will help you at work.
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
ndia is considered
as a young nation
even while youth-
fulness is absent all
around. We are ei-
ther a serious soci-
ety in many places
or a highly chaotic and
indisciplined mass of peo-
ple in others. The exuber-
ance of youth is noticeable
by its absence.
And now India has
started ageing also as
more people have started
living longer because of a
relatively better economy
and availability of medi-
cal care. Over the next few
decades, India will be
home to millions of elder-
ly people. It sounds so nice
to know this but is the na-
tion prepared for it? Sen-
ior citizenship comes with
a cost and plenty of liabil-
ities. If a proper plan in
not in place and resources
to implement such a plan,
the life of many elderly
people might turn into a
nightmare.
Indian constitution has
two articles (41 and 47)
which mandate that one of
the primary duties of the
state is to provide public
assistance to elderly citi-
zens and improve public
health. But is the govern-
ment following this consti-
tutional mandate? With a
health budget of less than
2 percent of GDP and lob-
bying by corporate and
private hospitals and diag-
nostics, the government’s
health system has practi-
cally crumbled over the
years. If we look at the
system even with a curso-
ry glance, there appears a
clear agenda to weaken the
public health system fur-
ther so as to make is use-
less and dysfunctional.
Isn’t it time to raise a
strong voice against this
apathy of powers to be?
An ageing population
impacts personal, societal
and cross-generational re-
lationships and demands
more resources than the
young population. Within
the next five years, the In-
dian population is likely
to have around 12 percent
of elderly people which
means around 16 crores in
numbers.
Apparently, it appears
so utopian to have elders
guiding young people and
kids but is it really so? Ex-
cept for a small minority,
the reality is quite alarm-
ing. People who don’t plan
their old age and have no
fat bank balance may suf-
fer significantly. The inci-
dents of the pathetic old
life are everyday stories.
In the most developed
country of the world Ja-
pan, the misuse and mis-
treatment of the elderly
became so prevalent that
government has to inter-
vene and offer incentives
to caregivers so that they
treat elderly people with
dignity and compassion.
But was this governmen-
tal effort successful? Per-
haps, not!
Old age brings vulnera-
bility and dependence.
The capability to earn
money is lost along with
the opportunity, thereby,
making an old person de-
pendent except those with
pensions. It is much more
in women especially if she
survives her husband or is
single and financially de-
pendent. The conflict of
generations is a bitter re-
ality despite strong denial.
Culture and policies tu-
tor young ones to take
care of the physical being
of their elders. But is it
enough? The need for sen-
iors is not only medical.
They need respect, rele-
vance, dignity, money and
psychological support. Re-
member, you need more
money in your old age
than in youth contrary to
common perception. The
hospital bills, a caregiver,
a driver, some home enter-
tainment and domestic
help. In youth you can do
away with most of these
but not in old age. All
these services are costly
for elderly people because
the service industry
knows your need and
helplessness.
Should or would the
government do some-
thing? Experience tells
that dependence on gov-
ernment is futile and may
invite disaster for your
last phase of life. Even if
the government at the top
sanctions some relief, the
corrupt system would
deny, delay or suck away
the benefits.
I strongly believe that
the nation is not prepared
and shall not be prepared
in the foreseeable future.
In my perception, every
thinking person should
plan senior citizenship
during the younger years.
One should start becom-
ing a bit tight-fisted about
money after celebrating
50th birthday and start in-
vesting for old age in the
instruments of saving
which can, possibly, beat
inflation. Health care has
become a giant money
sucker, plan your policies
accordingly as health costs
may skyrocket further if
the public health system is
going to be neglected as it
is today. I wonder why vot-
ers and taxpayers are apa-
thetic to this issue of their
own great interest!
Despite this gloomy pic-
ture, proper life manage-
ment can make old age a
wonderful experience if
planned properly and at
the appropriate time. With
so much experience in life
and profession, old age
can be highly productive
and fulfilling provided
you are capable of some
hard and unconventional
decisions during your
younger years.
To conclude, famous au-
thors like Laura Wilder,
George Elliot, Charles Bu-
kowski, Nirad Choudhary
and many more wrote
their first book during the
late 50s and 60s. Doris
Lessing got her Nobel
Prize after 80 years of age
and was writing till she
breathed her last. And by
the way, I am 65+, work-
ing, playing, running,
dancing and writing.
I
AGEING INDIA: IS THE NATION
PREPARED FOR IT?
DR RAMAWTAR
SHARMA
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

ETCwww.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021
11
ollywood veteran
and award-win-
ning actress Kate
Hudson recently
opened up about
r e c o n n e c t i n g
with family dur-
ing the Sibling Revelry
podcast with brother Oli-
ver Hudson. The actress
spoke about connecting
with estranged father
Bill Hudson’s children.
In the chat with Oliver,
the actress pondered
over how everyone is get-
ting older and time is
passing, and talked about
how they don’t talk to
their step-siblings. Given
that Oliver and Kate talk
about sibling relation-
ships on their podcast,
the actress stated that it
would be nice
to connect with
their step-sisters
and turn dis-
traught relation-
ships into good re-
lations.
—Agency
W
restler-turned-politi-
cian Babita Phogat
and Vivek Suhag
welcomed their first
child, a baby boy on Monday.
Babita took to her social me-
dia handle to share beautiful
pictures of her son from the
hospital. “Meet our little
SONshine.” “Believe in
dreams; they do come true.
Ours came dressed in blue!,” Ba-
bita wrote. Babita Phogat and
Vivek Suhag had tied the knot in
November 2019. —Agency
Happy B’day, Fatima!
F
atima Sana Sheikh turned 29 on Monday.
The gorgeous actress celebrated her
birthday in Narlai (Rajasthan) with her
film crew which includes Anil Kapoor
and Harshwardhan Kapoor. Anil Kapoor took to
his Twitter handle to share a sweet but quirky
birthday post for Fatima Sana Shaikh. He also
shared a picture of them where they are looking
away from the camera. Fatima looked pretty as
a peach in her blue printed dress. Her ever en-
chanting smile compliments her overall gor-
geous look. —Agency
A
fter the much talked about Gunjan Saxena: The
Kargil Girl, Jhanvi Kapoor took to social media
on Monday to share a major announcement
with her fans and followers. The actress
shared her first glimpse from her next film which is
titled Good Luck Jerry and will be helmed by noted
director Aanand L Rai. The film has already gone on
floors and the actress began shooting for the same
on Monday. —Agency
K
angana Ranaut uses
social media to voice
her staunch opinions
on matters of nation-
al importance and some-
times loving posts. She
shared a heartwarming
video of Pandita Archana
Joglekar on Monday. Tak-
ing to Twitter, Kangana
revealed that she was
moved to tears by Jogle-
kar’s recital and called it
the ‘power of art in 2 min-
utes’. —Agency
‘Power
of Art’
D
espite the
coronavi-
rus pan-
demic hit-
ting several coun-
tries, Preity Zin-
ta successfully
travelled to the
UAE and back
home to the US dur-
ing the IPL 2020. The
actress kept herself
safe and did not get
tested positive. However,
she has now opened up about her
mum, brother and other family mem-
bers testing Covid 19 positive back home.
Taking to Instagram, Preity shared a
selfie and wrote how ‘ventilators and
ICU’ took a whole new meaning. —Agency
Reconnecting
WITH FAMILY
H
ARNOLD’S REACTION
L
ikemanyother
celebrities,
Hollywood vet-
eran Arnold
Schwarzenegger re-
cently reacted to the
Capitol Hill attacks
by Trump supporters
and is going viral for
the video he posted.
The former gover-
nor of California
took to Twitter to make his views clear about
the riots, and in the public in a video message
posted on the social media site, Arnold could
be seen condemning the Donald Trump ad-
ministrationandcallingtheattackers“spine-
lessness fellow Republicans.” —Agency
I
t has been a few
cold days in New
York City but that
hasn’t stopped
Gigi Hadid to take a
quick stroll around
the block. Although
the supermodel
hasn’t frequented the
streets often, when-
ever she does, she
doesn’t fail to turn
heads. On Sunday, 10 January, Gigi was out and
about on the streets of the Big Apple with her
daughterintow.Duringthestroll,themodeltook
a seat on a bench and snapped a few pictures be-
fore she made her way back home. —Agency
H
ollywood star
Tom Holland
re p o r t e d ly
shed a whop-
ping 30 pounds for
his role in the forth-
coming film Cherry,
and then successful-
ly regained the
weight. “(Tom) really
shredded himself for
the part. He lost 30
pounds, he gained it back. We’re on an inde-
pendent movie schedule here. He didn’t really
have a lot of time to be doing these things,” Joe
Russo, one of the directors of the film told
Deadline. —Agency
J
ustin Bieber and Hailey Bieber stepped
out for their first adventure of the year.
The couple headed to the beach and en-
joyed a day of snorkelling in Honolulu,
Hawaii. In photos shared by Justin, the singer
was seen driving towards the destination while
Hailey snapped a quick selfie on the way. In
other photos shared by Justin, Hailey and their
friends, the model was seen standing atop the
rocks in a black bikini while Justin sported a
pair of shorts. Justin and Hailey stood with
their snorkelling gear in their hands and pos-
ing for the camera. —Agency
A
ctor Tiger Shroff has been making
waves with his dance and perfor-
mance in films like Baaghi, War and
more. The actor is all set to drop yet
another sin-
gle that he
crooned and
performed, ti-
tled ‘Casano-
va’ and well,
the teaser has
already left
Ranveer Sin-
gh and Tiger’s
r u m o u r e d
girlfriend Di-
sha Patani in
complete awe
on Monday.
—Agency
STREETS VISIT
LOST WEIGHT?
HOLIDAY IN HAWAII
CASANOVA
First Glimpse out
Preity ZintaPreity Zinta
opens upopens up
Congratulations!
Kate Hudson
A still from ‘Good Luck Jerry’
Kangana Ranaut
Anil Kapoor’s post
Preity Zinta
Her postVivek Suhag and Babita Phogat with their new born
Justin Beiber and Hailey Beiber
Tiger Shroff
Tom Holland
Gigi Hadid
Arnold Schwarzenegger

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