Gujarat BJP chief cancels Surat rally amid Covid, prioritizes public health

CORONA
ALERT
AHMEDABAD l SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 240
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COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
2,283
DEATHS
53,631
CONFIRMED CASES
KARNATAKA
1,726 DEATHS 85,870 CASES
RAJASTHAN
602 DEATHS 34,178 CASES
WORLD
6,39,159
DEATHS
1,57,95,688
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
13,37,021
CONFIRMED CASES
31,405
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
13,132 DEATHS 3,57,117 CASES
DELHI
3,777 DEATHS 1,28,389 CASES
TAMIL NADU
3,320 DEATHS 1,99,749 CASES
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
High Court on Friday
directed the state gov-
ernment to ensure
that the people’s
movement from non-
hotspot areas to hot-
spots and vice versa is
restricted. It also di-
rected the state to in-
crease the penalty for
not wearing a mask.
The principal divi-
sion bench of Chief
Justice Vikram Nath &
Justice JB Pardiwala is
hearing a suo moto case
intiated by the court it-
self and other public-
interest litigations
(PILs) related to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
During the hearing,
the court observed,
“there is no doubt
that the state is doing
hard work to control
the spread of the vi-
ral disease. However,
given that more and
more areas have been
reporting a high num-
ber COVID-19 cases, it
is necessary that peo-
ple’s movement is re-
stricted. It is impor-
tant to see people
don’t move out of the
hotspot areas to less
infected areas. Simi-
larly, people should
be restricted from en-
tering hotspot areas.”
It pointed out that
while the state is con-
ducting checks at all
entry points into cities
and hotspot areas, it
needs to be more ag-
gressive and strict in its
checking. People may
resist or oppose, but the
government should not
adhere to them, it said.
Although the state
and local bodies have
made masks compul-
sory while venturing
out in public, post Un-
lock 1.0, people seem
to have become more
careless, the court
feels. It also feels that
current fines in place
fornotwearingamask
may be too low, and
has hence advised the
state to increase these
fines up to Rs1,000.
The court also asked
the state government to
come down heavily on
those responsible for
black marketeering and
selling fake versions of
drugs being used to
treat COVID-19.
Turn on P6
Restrict people’s movement to and from hotspots: HC
COURT ALSO ADVISES GOVT
TO HIKE PENALTY FOR NOT
WEARING A MASK TO RS1,000
Cong MLAs lay siege to Raj Bhawan for 5 hrs!
A NARROW ESCAPE
FROM PREZ RULE!
Aditi Nagar
Jaipur: An eleventh
hour ‘visionary’ call
from Congress high
commandtoRajasthan
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot to lift Congress
MLAs Raj Bhawan
dharnaonFridayeven-
ing virtually proved to
be a narrow escape
from a likely President
rule in Rajasthan.
According to sources,
a ‘soft spoken and pa-
tient’ Governor Kalraj
Mishra had gone so up-
set during the day with
Congress MLAs slogan
shouting at Raj Bhawan
in the presence of Chief
Minister Gehlot that at
one stage he had seri-
ously thought to request
the Union Home Minis-
try to send CRPF troops
for the safety and secu-
rity of Raj Bhawan be-
cause according to top
Rajasthan BJP leaders
also, the security of Raj
Bhawan could not have
been left to Rajasthan
Police, which is directly
controlled by the Chief
Minister, who also holds
charge of Home Depart-
ment. Turn on P6
Kashiram Choudhary
Jaipur: Governor
Kalraj Mishra raised
serious questions on
the comments made by
CM Ashok Gehlot on
Friday evening while
claiming that he tried
to give a political color
to the constitutional re-
quest and the constitu-
tional decision to be
taken on that request.
“I am hurt and sad
because of it. If any let-
ter comes from your
side, I have to take a
constitutional decision
based on the investiga-
tion conducted based
on Constitutional pro-
visions and this author-
ity has been entrusted
in me by the Constitu-
tion of India,” a re-
lease read, adding
that the govern-
ment presented
the request to call the
assembly session on
23rd July 2020. The re-
lease further read, “Be-
fore I could speak with
experts, you made a
public statement that if
the Raj Bhawan is gher-
aoed, then it will not be
your responsibility. I
have a request to you, if
you or your Home De-
partment can not pro-
vide security to
the gover-
nor, then
what is
your opin-
ion on the
law and
order in
the state? In addition,
kindly inform which
agency to contact to
provide security to Gov-
ernor? In my long po-
litical career, I have
never heard such a
statement being made
by any Chief Minister
and is it not the begin-
ning of wrong practice
of pressure politics that
elected MLAs are stag-
ing a sit-in inside
Raj Bhawan?
Therefore it is
my request that
you clarify on
all these
points.”
Can’t your govt guard Guv:
Miffed Mishra asks CM
They came, they sat...
Did they ‘conquer’?
After 1993, History repeats
itself @ Raj Bhawan?
Yogesh Sharma
Jaipur: Congress
MLAs in the Ashok
Gehlot camp on Fri-
day staged a five-
hour dharna at the
Raj Bhawan. The CM
said that despite a
letter, the Governor
has not called the As-
sembly session and
alleged that he was
under “pressure
from the higher ups”.
“We want an as-
sembly session from
Monday. But the gov-
ernor is not calling it
under pressure,” he
told reporters out-
side the hotel where
the MLAs supporting
him are camping.
Gehlot said that af-
ter the recent Cabi-
net meeting, the gov-
ernor was requested
through a letter to
call an Assembly ses-
sion to discuss the
political situation,
review coronavirus
pandemic and its ef-
fects on the state’s
economic situation.
He also said that if
the public Turn on P6
Jaipur. Current tur-
bulent politics will
not let the present day
generation believe
that the foundation of
politics in the state
was cemented by poli-
tics of ethics, dignity
and principles.
There was a time
when Con-
gress had a
chance to
topple state
govt led by
BJP stalwart
Bhairon
S i n g h
Shek-
hawat but Ashok Ge-
hlot had then pre-
ferred the healthy
democratic princi-
ples and traditions
over power on offer.
Turn on P6
11th hour Cong High Command call saves the day!
AHMED PATEL @AHMEDPATEL
Very curious to know if the BJP President
goes incommunicado with 30 MP’s , is actively
collaborating with the Congress party & lodging
himself in a Congress ruled stated under police
protection - will it be mere dissent or defiance
that merits disqualification?
CM Ashok Gehlot, Avinash Pande and other Congress leaders
outside Raj Bhawan on Friday. —PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA
RAHUL GANDHI @RAHULGANDHI
The country is ruled by constitution
and law. Governments are formed
and run by the majority of the people.
The conspiracy to demolish the
Rajasthan government is clear. This is
an insult to the eight crore people of
Rajasthan. The Governor should call
a session of the Legislative Assembly so that the truth
comes before the country. #ArrogantBJP

Haresh Jhala
Surat/Ahmedabad:
Post the appointment
of Chandrakant Rag-
hunath Patil as the
state unit president of
the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP), workers
of the party from Su-
rat and Navsari (Patil’s
home constituency)
have been working
round-the-clock to give
agrandwelcometothe
chief and help write a
new chapter in Guja-
rat’s political history.
A rally had been or-
ganized in Patil’s hon-
our at Surat on Friday,
which was cancelled
by the man himself,
due to the ongoing nov-
el coronavirus pan-
demic.
The map of the rally’s
route had been designed
in such a manner that
almost40percentareaof
Surat city could be cov-
ered especially the
Patidar-dominate and
old city areas. A number
of cars had also arrived
at the starting point of
Valak, where workers
were standing with a
kilometrelongpartyflag
to welcome Patil. But, af-
ter landing in the dia-
mond city, Patil himself
expressedhisinabilityto
stand by and let the rally
happen amid the COV-
ID-19 outbreak. He also
stated that enthusiastic
workers may fail to fol-
low protocol which
would give rise to an un-
wanted situation.
Patil said, “The Su-
rat BJP scheduled a
car rally to welcome
me which was going to
be attended by only a
limited number of
workers while ensur-
ing that social distanc-
ing protocol was main-
tained. But, on seeing
the enthusiasm and
presence of activists,
supporters, we decided
to call off the rally in
view of the current
COVID-19 situation in
Surat. I wholeheart-
edly appreciate the
love and affection of
the activists and sup-
porters but, we must
not risk lives and con-
duct an event of this
scale in the midst of an
epidemic.”
“In the future, an on-
linemeetwillbeplanned
to meet the activists and
supporters through vid-
eo conferencing” he add-
ed. Along with Surat,
Patil also declared the
cancellationof theNavs-
ari and Maroli rallys
which had been sched-
uled for Saturday.
People close to Patil
calledhiscancellationof
the rally, a political mas-
terstroke. As per their
assessment, this will
help him to build his im-
ageasaleaderwhocares
for the people. Instead of
accepting the brouhaha
of an impressive wel-
come, Patil showed char-
acter and chose to put
his concern of public
health before it. This
value, which is seldom
seen in political leaders,
could be the making of a
true leader in Patil.
Although, there can
be numerous other
reasons why the rally
was called off at the
last minute. One of the
glaring reasons could
be Congress party’s
Hardik Patel, who had
put in a request with
Surat Police for per-
mission to conduct a
rally in the first week
of August. Had Patil’s
car rally been allowed
to happen, Surat Po-
lice would not have
been in any position to
deny Patel permission
for his rally.
According to sources,
the other catch in going
ahead with the car rally
wasthestatehighcourt’s
denial of permission for
the Jagannath Yatra
across the state recently.
Also, the guidelines is-
sued by the Union Home
Ministryclearlyprohibit
any mass gathering.
EvenUnionHomeMinis-
ter Amit Shah’s address
to the West Bengal politi-
cal meeting was done
throughvideoconferenc-
ing. Therefore, to grant
any permission for a
rallytowelcomeCRPatil
would have been in di-
rect violation of the
COVID-19 protocol.
Since, Surat Police
has enforced Section
144 of the Indian Pe-
nal Code (IPC), which
prohibits gathering of
four or more people in
public places, granting
permission for the ral-
ly would have invited a
lot of criticism from
all quarters.
Meanwhile, the Sau-
rashtra Kadva Patidar
Seva Samaj Trust had
issued letters instruct-
ing its caste members to
remove banners or
hoardings welcoming
CR Patil. The letter
signed by Vrajlal Patel
expressed that it was not
necessary that an entire
community would sup-
port one political party
or leader. If we welcome
one leader or party, oth-
ers will expect the same
from us.
If the rally had gone
ahead as planned, it
would have set a prece-
dent for other cities and
district administrations
torefertowhilegranting
permission for gather-
ings or events.
NEWSAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
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First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: It
seems that develop-
mental work in the
state has not been put
on the backburner by
the government even
amid the novel coro-
navirus pandemic. In-
stead of just focusing
all its resources on
combating the health
crisis, Chief Minister
Vijay Rupani’s gov-
ernment has vowed to
manage all the devel-
opmental projects in
the works with limit-
ed resources.
On Friday, the chief
minister approved the
Navsari city roads ex-
pansion and overbridg-
es project for ease of
transportation for com-
muters. An allocation
of Rs114 crore has been
made towards the pro-
ject.
A Dedicated Freight
Corridor Corporation
of India (DFCCI)
three-lance over-
bridge will be con-
structed and the cost
of the project will be
borne by the state and
DFCCI equally. The
12-metre wide flyover
will solve the issue of
traffic congestion in
the town of Navsari to
a large extent. A pop-
ulation of over two
lakh people in Navari
and Jalalpore will be
benefited by this pro-
ject.
Rupani also sanc-
tioned a lift irrigation
project, under which, a
pipeline will be laid
down upstream of the
Kadana Dam on the
Mahi River at an invest-
ment of Rs73.27 crore.
The project will poten-
tially supply drinking
water to over 12 villages
and also fill 26 lakes
with water.
The state water sup-
ply department will
also be installing an
intake well near Sar-
asdi village, around
38.62 kilometres from
the proposed pipeline.
Three pumping sta-
tions will line the
pipeline to pump wa-
ter down it. The pro-
ject will resolve mul-
tiple issues such as
dearth of water for
drinking, irrigation
and even cattle. The
wawter percolating in
these lakes will also
help in surging the
groundwater level.
Meanwhile, the CM
also announced that the
families of Class III or
IV government employ-
ees, who die during
their service tenure,
will be extended finan-
cial compensation. In
such cases, the family
members of the de-
ceased will have to file a
financial compensation
application within six
months, a time limit
which can be extended
up to one year.
This policy has
been put in place in-
stead of the former
policy of extending
employment to a
member of the de-
ceased’s family.
CM Rupani approves road extension and lift irrigation projects
WORKING TOWARDS PROGRESS
lll
Navsari to
get good
roads, pipe-
line on Mahi
River to help
resolve wa-
ter woes in
Mahisagar
district
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The Gu-
jarat government on
Friday promoted three
senior IPS officers of
Gujarat cadre to the
DGP grade.
According to a
press release issued
by the state govern-
ment, the promoted
officers include Kes-
hav Kumar and Vinod
Kumar Mall of the
1986 batch and San-
jay Srivastava of the
1987 batch, all of
whom are serving in
additional director
general of police
(ADGP) grade.
While Keshav Kumar
is the special director
of Gujarat Anti-Cor-
ruption Bureau, Mall is
the ADGP, Police Re-
forms and Srivastava is
the ADGP, CID (Crime
and Railways) and also
holds charge of CID (In-
telligence), Technical
Services and SCRB.
The senior-most of
these, IPS Keshav Ku-
mar has a very strong
and straight track re-
cord. Considered to be
a no-nonsense officer,
he and was on deputa-
tion to the CBI for a
long period. When he
returned, he was ap-
pointed and posted as
Special Director, Anti
Corruption Bureau,
where he has intro-
duced CBI techniques
for trapping corrupt
bureaucrats.
With this promotion,
Kumar has been made
director of the state
ACB, while the other
two officers will con-
tinue to hold their cur-
rent charge.
3 IPS officers promoted
to rank of DGP in Gujarat
Vinod Kumar Mall Keshav Kumar Sanjay Srivastava
BJP state chief Chandrakant Raghunath Patil BJP workers holding a kilometre-long party flag at the ‘cancelled’ car rally in Surat on Friday.
PATIL'S GRAND WELCOME
HALTED AT LAST MINUTEImposition of Section 144 by police, surging COVID-19 cases in Surat likely reasons for the cancellation
PANDEMIC
PAUSE
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
Election Commis-
sion of India (ECI)
on Friday cleared air
about the by-elec-
tions for eight assem-
bly seats. It clarified
that the dates would
be announced sooner
rather than later and
that the elections
will likely be held in
September. Both
leading political par-
ties in the state are
ready for the upcom-
ing political battle.
The ECI, in a notifi-
cationissuedonThurs-
day, had deferred other
elections. However, it
gave rise to some con-
fusion about the by-
elections, with some
people interpreting it
to mean that the by-
elections too would be
put off until the pan-
demicisbroughtunder
control.
Welcoming the ECI
statement, Bharati-
ya Janata Party
spokesman Bharat
Pandya said, “It is
the prerogative of
the ECI to decide
whether to hold by-
elections or not. But,
as per the rule, if
any Assembly or Lok
Sabha seat falls va-
cant, a by-election
should be held with-
in six months. So the
Commission is only
following the rules.”
On the issue of the
party’s preparedness,
Pandya said the BJP is
always ready for elec-
tions because its cadre
works 365 days. The
party had recently ap-
pointed observers to
get a sense of party
workers’ moods in the
area under each assem-
bly seat, and assess-
ment is being carried
out by senior party
leaders.
Similarly, the Con-
gress party too seems
to be battle-ready.
Party state unit Pres-
ident Amit Chavda
said, “We have boots
on the ground, and
the workers are acti-
vated. We are only
waiting for the com-
mission to announce
the date for the elec-
tions. Once they are
announced and the
notification is issued,
the party will an-
nounce its candi-
dates for all eight
seats.”
POLITICAL PARTIES ALL SET FOR THE
BY-ELECTIONS ON 8 ASSEMBLY SEATS

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: There is
a dire need to improve
education in the state,
especially in the pri-
mary schools of
18,000 villages across
Gujarat, stated Man-
ish Doshi, chief
spokesperson of the
Gujarat Pradesh Con-
gress Committee
(GPCC). He also al-
leged that the govern-
ment has plans to
shut as many as 7,000
schools, given that
there is a shortfall of
about 35,000 teachers
in the village schools.
He attacked the gov-
ernment for its alleged
failure to “uphold the
infrastructure in
schools,” saying, “The
government cannot up-
hold proper infrastruc-
ture for the schools.
Gujarati-medium and
primary schools lack
infrastructure. In the
rush towards privatiz-
ing it, education has
been completely com-
mercialized.”
Calling the recent
government circular
mentioning online edu-
cation “illusion and
lies”, he said, “The gov-
ernment is Number
One in creating illusion
and creating lies. It has
issued the circular for
the favour of education-
al business houses. The
government has said
that they will provide
online education but be-
neath it is that it has
provided relief to the
private schools when it
has mentioned paying
feesafterthreemonths.”
He also pointed out
that the UPA govern-
ment had given the
Right to Education
which entitles free edu-
cation and compulsory
education to children
up to the age of 14 but
the Sars-CoV-2 has halt-
ed academic sessions.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The state
is set to receive wide-
spread rains after a
short-lived reprieve.
On Friday evening, the
State Emergency Op-
eration Centre issued
a warning for rain
over many districts
during the night.
The weather bulletin
issued on Friday stated
that light thunder-
storms with lightning
and surface winds of
speeds less than 40km
(in gusts) accompanied
with moderate rain was
very likely at isolated
places in all the dis-
tricts of the Gujarat re-
gion, Saurashtra-Kutch
and in the Union terri-
tories of Diu and Da-
man, and Dadra and
Nagar Haveli.
Ahmedabad is expect-
edtohaveapartlycloudy
day on Saturday with
chances of drizzles.
The bulletin also pre-
dicted that heavy rains
very likely at isolated
places in the districts of
Bharuch, Surat, Dang,
Navsari, Valsad, Tapi,
Amreli, Bhavnagar and
Gir Somnath.
Meanwhile, 95 talu-
kas received rains on
Friday, with Amreli’s
Savarkundla receiving
3.22-inch of rain in two
hours, resulting in
flooding. With 98 mm in
four hours, the town re-
ceived the highest rain-
fall across the state, fol-
lowed by Tapi’s Son-
gadh which got 90mm
of rain. Surendrana-
gar’s Chotila got 81 mm.
State’s excuses continue
even on Day 4 of 1K+ cases
Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar: The Gu-
jarat government
seems to be striving
for excellence in fin-
ger pointing, even if
its losing the plot in
terms of handing the
ongoing COVID-19 cri-
sis. The state regis-
tered more than 1,000
new cases for the
fourth consecutive
day, with 1,068 cases
coming in from 32 dis-
tricts and eight mu-
nicipal corporation
areas. Given that it’s
been almost 130 days
since the first cases
were recorded in Guja-
rat, one would assume
the current numbers
would leave the state
shame-faced. However,
Friday’s health bulle-
tin began with how
Gujarat is in a better
position than Maha-
rashtra, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu
and other six states—
without any mention
of how these states are
conducting a consider-
ably higher number of
tests on a daily basis.
The highest number
of cases came in from
Surat, which reported
309: 216 from the city
and 93 from rural are-
as. These are the high-
est numbers from Su-
rat so far. Ahmedabad
trailed with 176, while
Vadodara had 92, Ra-
jkot, 59, Bhavnagar, 39,
Bharuch, 30, Amreli
and Banaskantha had
26 each, Surendrana-
gar had 25, and Kutch
and Mehsana reported
22 each.
In the past 24 hours,
the state has conducted
14,959 samples. There
are now 12,518 active
cases in the state, of
which 83 are on ventila-
tor support.
In Vadodara city, 12
police officers have test-
ed positive, taking the
total number of infected
police personnel to 16.
There are 750 active cas-
es there, with 132 pa-
tients on oxygen, and 39
on BiPAP machines.
Meanwhile, in Surat,
IPS officer Hare Krush-
na Patel has tested posi-
tive. A deputy fire offic-
er and officer with the
accounts branch of the
corporation died due to
COVID-19 in Surat. Ac-
cordingtosources,some
300 corporation employ-
ees are infected by the
novel coronavirus.
After being shut for a
week, some textile mar-
kets have resumed op-
erations, However, re-
ports of textile traders
being infected have
been to surface again.
Defends itself as being ‘better than 9 others’, despite 1,068 cases, 26 deaths in 24 hours
STEADY CLIMB
Primary schools in 18K
villages need 35K teachers
Thunderstorms to
bring back the rain
Provide plan for
school salaries: HC
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The high
court has questioned
the state government
regarding its recent
circular directing
self-financed (pri-
vate) schools to not
collect fees. The court
raised the issue of
payment of salaries
to teachers and other
support staff without
collection of fees. It
also asked the state to
submit the notifica-
tion issued by the gov-
ernment translated
in the English lan-
guage, to help the
court understand
how the government
interpreted its order
regarding payment
of fees.
The court was hear-
ing a petition moved by
management of a self-
financed school chal-
lenging the state gov-
ernment’s circular di-
recting them not to
collect school fees un-
til resumption of the
school session.
GTUpressuringstudentsforfees:YouthCong
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The on-
going COVID-19 pan-
demic has placed the
academic year in lim-
bo for school and col-
lege students, with
the latter group also
facing uncertainty in
terms of examina-
tions. However, even
in such a situation,
the Gujarat Techno-
logical University
(GTU) is pressuring
students to cough up
their fees, alleges the
India Youth Congress.
Members of the
Youth Congress also
submitted a memoran-
dum to GTU vice-chan-
cellor Dr Navin Sheth,
asking that the univer-
sity refrain from col-
lecting fees until the
situation improves and
the academic session
resumes.
“Due to the COVID-19
pandemic, the schools
and colleges are not op-
erational and there is
uncertainty over the
exams at the university.
Amid such a situation,
the colleges are pres-
suring students to pay
fees,” said Subhan Sai-
yad, general secretary,
Youth Congress.
He mentioned that
the pandemic has cost
many people their jobs
and left them strug-
gling. “There is an eco-
nomic slowdown, and
many have lost jobs.
How can the students
will pay their
fees? We came across
many complaints from
the students that GTU
is pressuring students
to pay fees. They have
contacted the students
who are in Engineer-
ing and other streams,”
he added.
Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: In 2008,
Ahmedabad wit-
nessed 21 bombings
across the city on July
26 in the span of an
hour. A series of
blasts were reported
at various locations
taking the lives of 56
people and leaving
hundreds injured.
The attackers did not
even spare hospital
premises and a bomb
went off on the prem-
ises of the Civil Hospi-
tal, when an ambu-
lance reached there
with patients injured
in blasts at other sites.
The hospital staff at
Civil recalled the deadly
attackandexpressedthe
sanctity of their unbro-
ken spirit which still
believed in healing peo-
ple. The hospital claims
to have treated more
than 95 lakh patients in
the past 12 years.
Marking the sombre
occasion, hospital au-
thorities claimed to
have provided services
to over 95,60, 825 pa-
tients since 2008. This
included 83,73,546 Out
Patient Department
(OPD) patients and
11,87,279 indoor pa-
tients. “The hospital has
always stood by its pa-
tients in the event of
man-made or natural
calamities over the
years. No calamity has
ever been erased from
memory and the hospi-
tal has always remained
dedicatedinitsservice,”
stated the hospital ad-
ministration.
One staff member,
Mukesh Pattani, who
witnessed that bloody
evening recalled, “I re-
memberthatmostof the
staff members reached
the hospital within 15
minutes. There were al-
most 10 to 15 doctors for
each injured patient
then. Our spirit to help
out in emergency ser-
vices is still the same,”
he asserted.
Dr JP Modi, superin-
tendent of the hospital,
said that it was impor-
tant for doctors to know
the health problems pa-
tients are suffering from
and provide the best
medical care to them.
Talking about the fate-
ful day, he lamented, “I
will always regret the
loss of one of my stu-
dents and his pregnant
wife in that incident.”
Almost 12 years to the day, Civil Hosp staff recall horror of serial blasts
IN REMEMBRANCE
 The hospital claims to have treated
over 95 lakh patients since then
Bus drivers and conductors sanitize their hands at a COVID-19 checkpost in Ahmedabad on Friday.
—FILE PHOTO
Youth Congress members met the GTU Vice-Chancellor on Friday.
Civil Hospital. —FILE PHOTO
WRITTEN REQUEST
THE CARAVAN LIFE
Children of a pastoral tribe are borne by donkeys as they pass near Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar on Friday.A few such tribes
still continue their tradition of travelling with their livestock in search of food, water and fodder. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
—PHOTOBYHANIFSINDHI
The government has
said that it would
provide online edu-
cation but underneath it all,
it has provided relief to the
private schools when it has
mentioned paying fees after
three months.
Manish Doshi, GPCC Spokesperson
—FILE PHOTO

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 240 G RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.
Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor: Jagdeesh Chandra, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
re women more
sexually liberat-
ed than ever be-
fore?Sosuggests
the burgeoning
sexual marketplace. From
vibrators and erotica to
bondage and beyond, the
marketplace has trans-
formedtransgressivesexual
practices into everyday
householdaffairs.Butisthis
sexualfreedomtrulyliberat-
ing, or does it transform
women from sexual objects
of maledesiretosexualsub-
jects in their own right?
These were the ques-
tions we sought to explore
in our study investigating
young women’s sexual and
intimate lives through a
series of in-depth inter-
views. In the course of
these interviews, which
took place in a southern
state in the United States,
we were struck by how the
women’s sexual and inti-
mate relationships reflect
current trends in pornog-
raphy, particularly in rela-
tion to themes of domi-
nance and submission.
THE “PORNIFICATION”
OF CULTURE
Recent decades have wit-
nessed the emergence of
the female-oriented erotic
industry, including bou-
tiques and designer sex
toys, a rise in sex practices
once generally considered
taboo, and sex manuals,
blogs, and podcasts.
By 2024 the global sexual
wellness market (including
sex toys and related prod-
ucts, lingerie, etc.) is pro-
jected to grow to 39 billion
dollars. The online pornog-
raphy industry alone is
currently worth an esti-
mated 15 billion dollars.
Together, these trends
reflect a “pornification” of
culture, by which porn
tropes and narratives be-
come embedded in popular
texts, highlighting and
normalizing particular
kinds of sexuality.
At the forefront of this
trend was the 1972 porno-
graphic film Deep Throat
that earned both main-
stream attention and back-
lash. Banned in 23 states,
the film still managed to
break box-office records
and launched the “porno-
chic” trend. During the
same period, works writ-
ten by and for women –
Anne Desclos’ Story of O
(published in English in
1965), Nancy Friday’s My
Secret Garden (1973), and
Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying
(1973) – helped define mod-
ern conceptions of female
sexuality premised on par-
adoxical notions of domi-
nance and submission.
Contemporary examples
of pornification can be
traced to the premiere of
HBO’s series Sex and the
City (1998-2004) which nor-
malized casual sex and
popularized sex toys such
as vibrators for an entire
generation of women. This
marked one of the first in-
stances of sex being re-
imagined on-screen as lib-
erating – something wom-
en do to please themselves
rather than their male
counterparts.
Subsequent marketiza-
tion, from erotic-dancing
classes to online dating
platforms, has since recast
sexuality in ways that os-
tensibly celebrate women’s
autonomy, femininity, and
sexual power. In 2011, the
first of the Fifty Shades of
Grey erotic trilogy, which
popularized BDSM prac-
tices (an abbreviation for
bondage and discipline,
dominance and submis-
sion, and sadism and maso-
chism), became the best-
selling book of the decade.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM
Perils of the ‘pornification’ of popular culture
A
Ardently do today what must
be done. Who knows?
Tomorrow, death comes.
—Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Interacted with BRICS trade
ministers and called for removing
hurdles in access to medicines at
affordable prices. BRICS countries
must stand in solidarity & seize
opportunities that come our
way to build a strong, resilient &
reformed trading system.
Anand Sharma
@AnandSharmaINC
Supreme Court is the last
hope to save constitutional
democracy. India is watching
whether constitutional bench
judgements and supreme court
settled laws on ﬂoor tests will
be honoured or not?
owadays, sometimes there is
a certain disdain with which
people look at women who
are not employed out of their
houses. Even when we have
young children, this attitude
persists. What should one do?
Sadhguru: Generally, peo-
ple work for financial needs. If
you are working out of a pas-
sion for what you are doing,
that is different, but most peo-
ple work for financial gain. So,
if there is a financial require-
ment in a family, women going
to work or pitching in by work-
ing from home is perfectly fine.
The question is not about
whether you should work or
not. The question is whether
there is such a need or not.
If the need has become so-
cial rather than financial, I
don’t see a need that every
woman must work. The idea
of creating so much technol-
ogy in the world is because
someday, we want to create
a world where neither man
nor woman needs to work.
We can live on vacation. But
many people work because
they are in a mode of com-
pulsive action. They don’t
know what else to do with
themselves. That is an un-
fortunate way to be.
Coming to women, in par-
ticular, this idea that every
woman should work has gained
great momentum in the last 40
to 50 years. It has come because
of a certain element of exploi-
tation that has happened to
women because of their finan-
cial dependence on the man. As
a reaction to that, women
thought the only way is to go to
work. But I think it is only in
some families that such exploi-
tation happens. It is not true
with many families.
The idea that you are a
real woman only if you earn
money, has been borrowed
from the man’s mind. In the
name of women’s liberation,
women have taken on men’s
values. This is true slavery.
If she wants to become free,
a woman should not take on
man’s values. She should see
how to enhance the feminine
into a flower-like, fragrant
existence on the planet. And
this is something only she
can do.
In terms of my personal ex-
perience, my mother never
went to work outside. And my
fatherwouldhaveneverthought
that she should work, but was
she a useless person? Absolute-
ly not. Without her, what would
we be? Her dedication, the way
she gave herself to her children
and husband, is what has made
us who we are. A deep sense of
concern, care, and looking at
life beyond your own personal
wellbeing was something that
was instilled in us simply by
looking at her. There was no
way you could miss it because
her life was never about herself.
With great joy, day or night, she
served her family. This was not
slavery, this was done out of ab-
solute love. If you told her that
she was being exploited, she
would have been immensely of-
fended because, for her, it was
such an experience of love to
expend herself in doing what
she was doing.
The world becomes beauti-
ful not because you earn
money. Whether it is an indi-
vidual’s life or a family, com-
munity, or the world, it be-
comes beautiful because
there are a few people there
existing out of their love,
truly wanting to reach out
and do something beyond
their personal wellbeing.
That is what makes the world
beautiful. A family is the
smallest unit of community
in the world, and if this does
not happen in a family, it will
not happen anywhere in the
world. If a child is not ex-
posed to this sense of love
and dedication right from
childhood, it will not happen.
This does not mean a woman
cannot do this if she goes to
work. If there is a need to work,
she has to do something about
it. Once again, to take my
mother as an example, she did
not go to work, but she made
sure that whatever could be
done at home was done so that
it need not be bought in the
shop. Throughout my child-
hood, until I moved out of my
family situation, I never slept
on a pillow without a little bit
of embroidery. She always
made sure there would be at
least some embroidery – maybe
a little parrot or a little flower.
Without this, my life wouldn’t
be the same. She could have
bought it in the shop. My father
could afford it, but she made
sure that she did that little
thing. That was her way of
pitching in. Whether you make
money or you save money, it
still contributes to the family.
So, how a particular wom-
an function is an individual
aspect according to the re-
quirement of that family.
But no one needs to develop
a philosophy that all women
should work or all women
should not work.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
N
SADHGURU, ISHA FOUNDATION
Ranked amongst the fifty most influential
people in India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic,
visionary and a New York Times bestselling
author Sadhguru has been conferred the Padma
Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2017,
the highest annual civilian award, accorded for
exceptional and distinguished service
SHOULD WOMEN
PURSUE CAREERS?
Coming to
women, in
particular,this
idea that every
woman should
work has gained
great momentum
inthe last 40 to
50 years. It has
come because of a
certain element
ofexploitation
that has
happened to
women because
of their financial
dependence on
the man
The idea that you are
a realwoman only if
you earn money, has
been borrowed from
the man’smind. In the
name of women’s
liberation, women
have taken on
men’svalues
IN-DEPTH
GEHLOT DISPLAYS
HIS STRENGTH
t’s been a fortnight but the constitutional
crisis in Rajasthan is far from resolution.
What began as Chief Minister Ashok Ge-
hlot versus Deputy Chief Minister
Sachin Pilot has now turned into a show-
down between Gehlot and Governor Kalraj Mishra.
After the Rajasthan High Court ordered for
maintaining status quo in the disqualification case
and also granted Sachin Pilot’s request to make the
Centre a party to the case as the constitutional va-
lidity of the Tenth Schedule was under challenge,
the scene shifted to Raj Bhavan where more than
100 legislators loyal to the chief minister raised
pro-Gehlot and anti-Kalraj Mishra slogans in a
show of strength. By parading his MLAs Gehlot
proved that he still has a majority in the 200-mem-
ber House. The scene was reminiscent of 1993 when
BJP leader Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had reached
Raj Bhavan with his MLAs and the governor was
forced to invite him for forming a government.
The current crisis may not have the same Shek-
hawat-like happy ending for Gehlot. Or so it seems.
Accusing the governor of being “under pressure
from the top”, Gehlot said that he had requested for
the assembly session to be convened from Monday
but to no avail. The government had sent a file re-
garding the session to Raj Bhawan after which the
chief minister even met the governor. But Raj Bha-
wan did not return the file. Nor was there any in-
dication if Kalraj Mishra will convene the session.
With this round going to Sachin Pilot, the Con-
gress is once again preparing to move the Supreme
Court for justice.
I
UK’s LESSON IN
‘FALSE’ HISTORY
nterested in British citizenship? Read
its history first. Not any history but the
one sanitized by the government to hide
its colonial past.
A “Life in UK” test covering, among
other things, British history, culture, sport, and
music taken for foreign nationals seeking immi-
gration has led to an outcry from 180 academics
and historians. The test is mandatory for those ap-
plying for “indefinite leave to remain” or citizen-
ship. The outrage is particularly over questions
about British history which some historians, in-
cluding best-selling author William Dalrymple,
want the government to revisit as it glosses over
Britain’s colonial past. They have called the citi-
zenship test “fundamentally misleading” on slav-
ery and the colonial Empire.
In an open letter “written in protest”, the “his-
torians of Britain and the British Empire” pointed
to the “on-going misrepresentation of slavery and
Empire” in the citizenship test. The official hand-
book published by the Home Office is “demonstra-
bly false”, the letter said. The letter also found
“misleading” the view that Empire “ended peace-
fully” because the British so decided.
The historians joined the issue with the claim
that “while slavery was illegal within Britain it-
self, by the 18th century it was a fully established
overseas industry”. The historians wrote, “In fact,
whether slavery was legal or illegal within Britain
was a matter of debate in the 18th century, and
many people were held as slaves.”
I

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INDIAAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
FINANCE MIN HOLDS REVIEW MEET
FOR STRESSED HOUSING PROJECTS
New Delhi: Union
Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Nirmala
Sitharaman on Thursday
held a meeting to review
the performance of the
special window for af-
fordable and mid-income
housing (SWAMIH). The
meeting was conducted
with the secretaries of
the ministries of Finance
and senior management
team of the State Bank of
India, SBI capital markets
limited and SBICAPS
ventures limited (SVL).
The fund has so far
approved 81 projects with
an investment of Rs 8767
crore, said the release.
The SWAMIH Investment
Fund has progressed
from a policy announce-
ment to an operational
initiative on the ground.
BABRI DEMOLITION: LK ADVANI
DEPOSES BEFORE CBI COURT
New Delhi: BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani
recorded his statement in the Babri mosque
demolition case. The veteran leader recorded the
case before the special CBI court in Lucknow
throughVC. On Thursday, the court recorded the
statement of another BJP veteran Murli Manohar
Joshi in the case. Joshi had told the special CBI
court that he was innocent and implicated in the
case by the then Congress government at the
Centre. The 86-year-old leader had also called the
prosecution witnesses in the case as “liars”.
CHAR DHAM YATRA OPENS FOR
PILGRIMS FROM OTHER STATES
Dehradun: Days after opening the Char Dham
Yatra for the local residents of Uttarakhand, the
Char Dham Devsthanam Board on Friday allowed
people from rest of the country to visit the
holy places. The pilgrims will, however, have to
produce the negative report of the COVID-19 test
done at least 72 hours ago, Ravinath Raman, the
CEO of the Devsthanam Board said. According to
the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) issued
by the board, pilgrims have to register them-
selves with the Devsthanam Board on its website.
‘ORGANISE EVENTS ON ONE YEAR
OF ARTICLE 370 ABROGATION’
New Delhi: BJP has
written to presidents and
in-charges of its state
units to organise events
on completion of one year
of abrogation of Article
370 and the Triple Talaq
Bill becoming an Act. In
August last year, the Cen-
tre revoked Article 370,
which gave special status
to the erstwhile state
of Jammu and Kashmir
and bifurcated the region
into two UTs- J&K, and
Ladakh. On the first anni-
versary of the abrogation
of Article 370, from July
28 to August 3, BJP state
units have been asked to
hold a rally and connect
to people in their regional
language. A press confer-
ence in capital of all states
is also planned on August
3 in this regard.
New Delhi: Congress
President Sonia Gandhi
and her son Rahul Gan-
dhi have written con-
gratulatory letters to
the Telangana unit of
the party for organising
a year-long celebration
on the birth centenary
of former Prime Minis-
ter PV Narasimha Rao.
“The birth centenary
of Narasimha Rao is an
occasion for us to recall
and pay tribute to the
scholarly and erudite
personality,” Sonia
Gandhi’s message said.
“After a long career in
state and national poli-
tics, he became Prime
Minister of India at a
time of grave economic
crisis. Through his bold
leadership, our country
was able to overcome
many challenges suc-
cessfully. The Union
Budget of July 24, 1991,
paved the way for the
economic transforma-
tion of our country,” it
added.
“I congratulate the
Telangana Pradesh
Congress Committee
for having organised
these year-long celebra-
tions. PV Narasimha
Rao was a very respect-
ed national and interna-
tional figure. The Con-
gress party takes pride
in his many accom-
plishments and contri-
butions,” she added.
Rahul too congratu-
lated the Telangana
unit for organising the
year-long celebrations
to commemorate Rao’s
many achievements.
Sonia, Rahul remember
Ex-PM PV Narsimharao
TPCC President N Uttam Kumar Reddy pays floral tribute to
former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao during his birth
centenary celebration in Hyderabad on Friday. —PHOTO BY PTI
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
auded the Mahindra
Group for setting up an
autonomous university
in Hyderabad.
In a letter, which was
shared by Mahindra
Group Chairman
Anand Mahindra on his
Twitter handle, PM
Modi termed the setting
up of Mahindra Univer-
sity (MU) an admirable
initiative.
“Education and
knowledge are the cor-
nerstone of growth and
progress of any nation
or society. A university
does not merely impart
education but lays the
foundation of character
building and nation
building among the fu-
ture citizens of the
country,” Modi said in
the letter.
It expands the think-
ing horizons of the stu-
dents and enables them
to make a meaningful
contribution to the soci-
ety and the nation, he
added. “Today, technol-
ogy and innovation
have become the driv-
ing force in every field
of activity,” Modi said.
The leveraging of
technology to take edu-
cation to people will
lead to true empower-
ment of people, particu-
larly the underprivi-
leged sections, PM not-
ed. “This noble gesture
of Mahindra Group will
surely go a long way in
providing quality &
value based education
to students & also equip
them for the larger bat-
tles in life,” Modi said.
‘Mahindravarsity,anadmirableinitiative’
Prayagraj: The Alla-
habad High Court has
dismissed a petition
seeking a stay on the
Bhoomi Pujan ceremo-
ny for the proposed
Ram temple, scheduled
to be held on August 5
in Ayodhya.
The bench, compris-
ing Chief Justice Go-
vind Mathur and Jus-
tice Saumitra Dayal
Singh, said that the
petition is based on as-
sumptions and there is
no ground for appre-
hending that the
norms of social and
physical distancing
would be violated dur-
ing the event.
The petitioner, Saket
Gokhale, had claimed
that more than 300 peo-
ple were being invited
for the event.
Court said that it ex-
pected the government
to follow all COVID-19
protocols & didn’t find
any reason to interfere
in the matter. —ANI
Allahabad HC dismisses petition
seeking stay on ‘Bhoomi Pujan’
New Delhi: SC adjourned to August 4
hearing on a 2009 contempt petition
against senior
lawyer Prashant
Bhushan for
allegedly accus-
ing past CJIs of
involvement in
corruption. A
three-judge bench headed by Justice
Arun Mishra adjourned the hearing in
2009 contempt petition matter after all
parties sought adjournment. Senior
lawyer Dr Rajeev Dhavan, appearing
for Bhushan, said that the last hearing
in the matter was held in 2013. —ANI
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on
Friday adjourned to October 9 hearing
on a petition
seeking trans-
fer of the case
against Tablighi
Jamaat chief
Maulana Saad in
connection with
the Nizamuddin congregation to the
National Investigation Agency (NIA).
A division bench of Justice Siddharth
Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh
adjourned the matter to October 9
in view of a similar matter pending
before the Supreme Court. —ANI
SC ADJOURNS TO AUG
4 HEARING ON PLEA
AGAINST BHUSHAN
HEARING ON SHIFTING
OFJAMAAT CHIEF CASE
TO NIA ADJOURNED
New Delhi: The SC ex-
tended by six months
the time given to the
three-membercommis-
sion to complete its in-
quiry into the Decem-
ber 2019 Hyderabad
encounter case.
A bench headed by
CJ SA Bobde heard the
submissions of the
lawyer appearing for
the panel and granted
it six-month extension,
as was sought. The
commission was sup-
posed to submit its re-
port by August 2020.
The commission
headed by former SC
judge, Justice VS Sir-
purkar, was set up by
apex court to investi-
gate the police encoun-
ter of four men accused
in the gruesome gang
rape and murder of a
veterinary doctor.
The commission had
sought more time to
complete probe, citing
COVID-19 pandemic
‘hindered’ the sittings
of thecommission. —ANI
Probe panel gets six more months
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: Moves to
dilute a new bankrupt-
cy law caused disagree-
ments between PM
Modi’s government and
the central bank, ac-
cording to former Re-
serve Bank of India
Governor Urjit Patel.
The rift centered
around a February 2018
circular issued by the
RBI, which forced
banks to immediately
classify borrowers as
defaulters when they
delayed repayments,
barred defaulting com-
pany founders from try-
ing to buy back their
firms during insolven-
cy auctions, & push
them into bankruptcy
if a resolution timeline
wasn’t met. In a book
released Friday, Patel —
who headed RBI be-
tween Sept 2016 and his
unexpected resignation
in December 2018, said
the government seemed
to lose enthusiasm for
legislation in the mid-
dle of the year he left
the central bank.
“Instead of buttress-
ing & future-proofing
the gains thus far, an
atmosphere to go easy
on the pedal ensued,”
Patel wrote. “Until
then, for most part, the
finance minister and I
were on the same page,
with frequent conversa-
tions on enhancing the
landmark legislation’s
operational efficiency.”
‘Rift with Centre due
to Insolvency law’
Kanpur: Five people, in-
cluding a woman, have
been arrested in connec-
tion with the alleged kid-
napping case of Sanjeet
Yadav. However, the vic-
tim has allegedly been
killed by kidnappers, the
Kanpur Police informed
on Friday.
This comes after a po-
lice team allegedly failed
to stop the kidnappers
from escaping with the
ransom. Sanjeet’s rela-
tives are claiming that
they have given the ran-
som amount of Rs 30
lakh to the kidnappers.
However, the police
claimed that the accused
did not receive the mon-
ey and Sanjeet’s body
has not been recovered
yet. Yadav worked as a
technician at a private
lab in Kanpur and was
kidnapped on June 22.
Revealing details
about the case at a press
conference, Mohit Agar-
wal, IG Kanpur Range
said that two out of the
five accused- Gyanendra
Yadav, Kuldeep, Nilu,
Ramji and Preeti- were
friends and former col-
leagues of Sanjeet.
“On June 22, a man
named Sanjeet Yadav
was kidnapped. The po-
lice teams were search-
ing for him since then.
On Thursday, five ac-
cused have been arrest-
ed. After the kidnapping,
Sanjeet was kept in a
house rented by the ac-
cused, adding that the
man was killed after he
made a failed bid to es-
cape. On June 23, Sanjeet
Yadav’s family filed his
missing complaint with
police followed by which
a case was registered on
June 26. —ANI
5 held for killing abducted
Kanpur lab technician
HYDERABAD
ENCOUNTER
Police officials at the spot to recover the body of lab technician
Sanjeet Yadav from Pandu River in Kanpur. — PHOTO BY PTI
Urjit Patel
Education and knowledge are the
cornerstone of growth and progress
of any nation or society. A univer-
sity does not merely impart education but
lays the foundation of character building
and nation building among the future citi-
zens of the country. —Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
New Delhi: India and
China on Friday re-
viewed the situation in
the India-China border
areas at the 17th meet-
ing of the Working
Mechanism for Consul-
tation and Coordina-
tion (WMCC) and
agreed that early and
complete disengage-
ment of the troops
along the Line of Actu-
al Control (LAC), de-es-
calation from India-
China border areas and
full restoration of peace
and tranquillity was es-
sential for smooth over-
all development of bi-
lateral relations.
They also agreed that
another meeting of sen-
ior commanders may
be held soon so as to
work out further steps
to ensure expeditiously
complete disengage-
ment and de-escalation.
The Indian delegation
was led by Joint Secre-
tary (East Asia) in Ex-
ternal Affairs Ministry
and Director General
of Boundary and Oce-
anic Dept of Chinese
Ministry of Foreign Af-
fairs led the Chinese
delegation.
A External Affairs
Ministry release said
that the two sides re-
viewed the situation in
the India-China border
areas and the ongoing
disengagement process
along the Line of Actu-
al Control (LAC )in the
Western Sector.
“They agreed that
early and complete dis-
engagement of the
troops along the Line of
Actual Control (LAC)
and de-escalation from
India-China border ar-
eas in accordance with
bilateral agreement
and protocols and full
restoration of peace
and tranquillity was es-
sential for smooth over-
all development of bi-
lateral relations,” the
release said.
The two sides noted
that this was in accord-
ance with the agree-
ment reached between
the two Special Repre-
sentatives (SRs) during
their telephonic con-
versation on July 5,
2020. —ANI
Border row: India China focus
on ‘full’ disengagement at LAC
Another meeting of senior commanders may be held soon to chalk out further steps
Army trucks moving towards Ladakh. —FILE PHOTO
PLA’s MOVE

INDIAAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
Restrict people’s...
The court also in-
quired about the test-
ing policy and commit-
tees to approve the
Tocilizumab injection.
The state has clarified
that it is only follow-
ing the guideline set
by the Indian Council
of Medical Research
for conducting sample
testing. As far as the
injection issue is con-
cerned, committees
are constituted to pro-
cure and manage the
supply of these drugs.
There is a misconcep-
tion that these com-
mittees have any pow-
er to decide who re-
ceives these drugs.
After 1993...
The moment of reckon-
ing came in the early 90s
when then CM Shekha-
wat had gone to US for
his heart treatment.
MLA Bhanwar Lal
Sharma approached
Ashok Gehlot with an
offer to topple Shekha-
wat govt through horse
trading. An unflinching
Gehlot tried to make
power hungry Bhanwar
Lal Sahrma understand
that to topple the govt of
an ailing Shekhawat
govt would defy both the
healthy democratic tra-
ditions and principles
of ethical politics. Ge-
hlot went out of the way
and met then Governor
Baliram Bhagat and PM
NarsimhaRaotoconvey
that the Congress will
not be a party to con-
spire using horse trad-
ing as means. Later an
MLA confirmed Shek-
hawat that he actually
was given Rs 5 lakh for
switching sides. When
Shekhawat returned
from the US and Gover-
nor told him of the role
played by Ashok Gehlot,
Shekhawat got emotion-
al. It is hard to believe
that principles and eth-
ics could ever weigh so
heavy on the heaven
that power offers.
They came...
surrounds the Raj Bha-
wan, then it will not be
the government’s re-
sponsibility.
Gehlot, along with
the MLAs, went to the
Raj Bhawan in the af-
ternoon, complaining
that the governor was
sitting on letter that the
Cabinet had sent seek-
ing an assembly session
on Monday.
The chief minister
held discussions with
the governor separately
while the MLAs began
a dharna in the lawn
and asserted that it will
be called off only when
the date for beginning
the session is an-
nounced.
After nearly five
hours, the dharna end-
ed and the MLAs re-
turned to the hotel.
Outside the Raj Bha-
wan, AICC spokesper-
son Randeep Surjewala
said the governor has
given a note to CM seek-
ing clarifications and
these points will be tak-
en care of at a Cabinet
meeting Gehlot is call-
ing at Friday 9.30 pm.
A narrow...
The ‘panic situation’ at
Raj Bhawan further
worsened, when a Gand-
hian Chief Minister Ge-
hlot had got so upset and
agitated with Gover-
nor’s failure to accord
his sanction to convene
the special session of as-
sembly, that he had pub-
licly warned the Raj
Bhawan that if the peo-
ple of Rajasthan will
come tomorrow to Jai-
pur to gherao or demon-
strate outside the Raj
Bhawan,thenhewillnot
beresponsible(foralike-
ly breach of law and or-
der).
According to highly
placed sources, only
this statement of Ge-
hlot was ‘sufficient’ to
prepare for a valid
ground for the centre to
put the state under
President rule.
The ‘panic situation’
at Raj Bhawan further
worsened, when a
Gandhian CM Gehlot
had got so upset and
agitated with Gover-
nor’s failure to accord
his sanction to con-
vene the special ses-
sion of assembly, that
he had publicly warned
Raj Bhawan that if
people of Rajasthan
will come tomorrow to
Jaipur to gherao or
demonstrate outside
Raj Bhawan, then he
will not be responsible
(for a likely breach of
law and order).
According to highly
placed sources, only
this statement of Gehlot
was ‘sufficient’ to pre-
pare for a valid ground
for the centre to put the
state under President
rule. Thereafter, New
Delhi got immediately
‘active’ and the video
tape of Gehlot’s alleg-
edly ‘irresponsible’ (ac-
cording to relevant
quarters in New Delhi)
speech was called for, to
study and to decide the
further course of ac-
tion. Infact, the top BJP
leadership in New Delhi
and Jaipur was sur-
prised with such a state-
ment of a sitting CM
and specially Gehlot,
who enjoys the reputa-
tion and goodwill of a
very mature and sea-
soned chief minister
and also has never spo-
ken such a ‘language’.
FROM PG 1
WILL K D TRIPATHI BE CAG ?
In the corridors of power, new name of KD Tripa-
thi has cropped up for the post of CAG. Tripathi,
1980 batch IAS officer, is presently Secretary
to the President of India. Will he move from the
Rashtrapati Bhawan ? Though certain quarters
rule out this possibility, PMO may give surprise.
13 IPS officers retiring in July 2020
As many as 13 IPS officers of various cadres and
batches are retiring in July 2020. They are: Sunil
Garg of UT; Sunil Kumar of Bihar; Anil Kumar of
Haryana; VH Rao Deshmukh and Vipul Shukla
of Jharkhand; NS Megharikh and TR Suresh of
Karnataka; Akhilesh Jha of Madhya Pradesh; M
Nageswar Rao of Odisha; K Narsimha Rao of
Rajasthan; C Sridhar of Tamil Nadu; Uttam Kumar
Majumdar of Tripura and Mrs Kamleshwari Chan-
dra of Uttar Pradesh.
ASHISH JOSHI TO GET ONE
MONTH’S EXTENSION ?
CEO of the Lok Sabha TV, Ashish Joshi is expected
to get one month’s extension beginning August 1.
His term is coming to an end on July 31.
DR SHRIKAR KESHAV PARDESHI
LIKELY TO RETURN TO PARENT
CADRE ON AUG 10
Dr Shrikar Keshav Pardeshi, working as Joint
Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, is
expected to return to parent cadre on August 10,
2020 after completion of five-year tenure at the
Centre. He is a 2001 batch IAS officer of Maha-
rashtra cadre.
RAJESH BHUSHAN OFFICIALLY
APPOINTED AS SECRETARY, HEALTH
Rajesh Bhushan, who is serving as OSD, Health
and Family Welfare, has officially been appointed
as Secretary in the same Department. He is a
1987 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre.
AJAY TIRKEY APPOINTED AS
SECRETARY, LAND RESOURCES
Ajay Tirkey has been appointed as Secretary, De-
partment of Land Resources. He is a 1987 batch
IAS officer of MP cadre.
RAM MOHAN MISHRA APPOINTED AS
SECRETARY, WOMEN & CHILD
DEVELOPMENT
Ram Mohan Mishra has been appointed as
Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child De-
velopment. He is a 1987 batch IAS officer of
Assam-Meghalaya cadre.
ANIL KUMAR JAIN IS ALSO
SECRETARY, MINES
Anil Kumar Jain, Secretary Coal, has been as-
signed an additional charge of Secretary, Mines.
He is a 1986 batch IAS officer of MP cadre.
ASHWANI LOHANI JOINS GMR
The capabilities of Ashwani Lohani who has
repeatedly proven himself in the public sector,
would now be utilised by the private sector. This
honest to the core officer, who is recognised
as one of the country’s finest always delivers
excellence.
VIVEK RAM CHAUDHARY IS
WESTERN AIR COMMAND CHIEF
Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhary has been ap-
pointed as the new Western Air Command Chief.
TERM OF DESH DEEPAK VERMA AS
SECRETARY-GENERAL, RAJYA
SABHA EXTENDED
The term of Desh Deepak Verma as Secre-
tary-General, Rajya Sabha has been extended for
a period of one year with effect from September
1, 2020. He is a retired IAS officer.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with : http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the cumulative death toll
in the country has reached 30,601 with the addition of 740 deaths in the last 24 hours
INDIA’S TALLY STANDS AT 12,87,945
New Delhi: India re-
ported the highest sin-
gle-day spike of 49,310
coronavirus cases on
Friday, according to
the Union Ministry of
Health and Family
Welfare.
The total COVID-19
positive cases stand at
12,87,945 including
4,40,135 active cases,
8,17,209 cured/dis-
charged/mig rated.
With 740 deaths in the
last 24 hours, the cumu-
lative toll reached
30,601.
Maharashtra has re-
ported 3,47,502 corona-
virus cases, the highest
among states and Union
Territories in the coun-
try. A total of 1,92,964
cases have been report-
ed from Tamil Nadu till
now, while Delhi has
recorded 1,27,364 coro-
navirus cases.
According to to
ICMR, 3,52,801 samples
were tested for corona-
virus on Thursday
and overall 1,54,28,170
samples have been test-
ed so far. —ANI
A man stands near barricades inside the sealed residential area during the lockdown in all containment zones in Kolkata.
New Delhi: Union
Health Minister Dr
Harsha Vardhan on
Friday said India un-
dertook the COVID-19
challenge with the
highest level of politi-
cal commitment with
PM Narendra Modi
personally monitoring
the situation and en-
suring a pre-emptive,
pro-active and graded
response.
Speaking at the
Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO)
Health Ministers’
meeting, Dr Har-
shaVardhanexpressed
his deepest condolenc-
es at the loss of lives
across the world due
to COVID 19. He also
expressed his “sincere
gratitude” for the ef-
forts of those who are
in the frontline.
“The world is faced
with an unprecedent-
ed disaster, which
has so far affected of
the entire planet
leading to close to 15
million cases and 0.6
million deaths glob-
ally,” said the
Minister. —ANI
New Delhi: A 14-year-
old girl admitted to a
10,000-bed Covid Care
Centre in Chhatarpur,
was raped last week
inside the facility by a
19-year-old man who
was housed there, the
police said on Thurs-
day. The man and his
friend, who stood
guard and allegedly
recorded the crime at
the Sardar Patel Covid
Care Centre, have
been arrested in the
first such known case
in the national capital,
officials said. Both of
them are coronavirus
disease patients. “The
girl was immediately
shifted to a govern-
ment hospital, where
she continues to re-
ceive treatment for
Covid-19. The sus-
pects, too, are yet to
recover and have been
moved to another hos-
pital while they re-
main in judicial cus-
tody,” said Parvinder
Singh, additional dep-
uty commissioner of
police (south).
A case has been regis-
tered under the POC-
SO Act.
COVID-19
UPDATE
The Ministry of
Home Affairs issued
an advisory for the In-
dependence Day cele-
brations on August 15
amid Corona.
It has asked all the
government offices,
states, Governors etc to
avoid congregation of
public and urged the
use of technology for
conducting the celebra-
tion proceedings.
In view of the spread
of Covid-19 pandemic,
while organizing vari-
ous programmes or ac-
tivities for the Inde-
pendence Day celebra-
tions, it is imperative
to follow certain pre-
ventive measures such
as maintaining social
distancing, wearing of
masks, proper saniti-
zation, avoiding large
congregations, pro-
tecting vulnerable per-
sons and follow all
guidelines related to
Covid-19 issued by the
MHA.
Therefore, all pro-
grammes should be or-
ganised in a way that a
large congregation of
people is avoided and
technologyisusedinthe
bestpossiblemannerfor
celebration befitting the
occasion. —ANI
I- Day gala: No public
gathering, use tech,
says MHA advisory
‘IndiacommittedtofaceCovidchallenge’Delhi: 14-yr-old raped in Corona facility
Death toll in Assam floods reaches 93
Dibrugarh: Four more
people lost their lives in
flood-related incidents
in Assam on Thursday,
taking death toll to 93,
State Disaster Manage-
ment Authority said.
So far, 28,32,410 people
have been affected due
to floods in 26 districts
of the state. People in
Dadhiya village are fac-
ing hardship as several
houses are submerged
in water due to flood in
the area. They are using
boats to ferry them-
selves to safer places.
Pallav Gopal Jha,
District Commissioner
said, “This year, our dis-
trict has faced four
waves of flood. Seven
deaths have been re-
ported and around 300
cattle have died in flood-
related incidents.”
Meanwhile, Parimal
Suklabaidya, Assam’s
Minister of Environ-
ment and Forest, said
that this year’s casualty
of wildlife is less. —ANI
An elderly woman rows a makeshift raft to cross a flood-affected area of Mayong village in Assam.
Several villages inundated in
Bihar deluge; 2000 rescued
Bettiah: The turbu-
lent Gandak river
breached the em-
bankment at a vil-
lage in Sangrampur
block of East Cham-
paran district of Bi-
har on Thursday
night, leaving sever-
al villages inundat-
ed. Officials said
that, following heavy
pressure and high
water current in the
river, about 25 feet
stretch of main em-
bankment was
breached, which falls
under Areraj sub-di-
vision. “There is no
loss of life reported
from any part though
six to seven villages
have been affected
after the breach of
the embankment.
Teams of the NDRF
rescued over 2,000
people from the af-
fected villages in an
operation which be-
gan at midnight,”
said Dhirendra Ku-
mar Mishra, sub-di-
visional magistrate
(SDM), Areraj.
Rahul Gandhi
@RahulGandhi
I kept warning them
on Covid19 and
the economy. They
rubbished it. Disaster
followed. I keep warn-
ing them on China.
They’re rubbishing it.
HUMAN TRIAL

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
M
any people have already been wear-
ing masks for some time in a bid to
protect themselves and others from
COVID-19.
Evidence has shown masks likely do reduce the
spread of COVID-19, so wearing them is a good
thing – particularly as Victoria continues to grap-
ple with a second wave.
But one conversation we’re not having enough
is around how to safely dispose of single-use
masks. Disposing of used masks or gloves incor-
rectly could risk spreading the infection they’re
designed to protect against.
W
hile reusable cloth masks
are an option if you’ve
been able to buy one or
even make one yourself, dispos-
able, single-use surgical masks
appear to be a popular choice.
They provide protection and they’re
cheap and convenient.
It’s estimated the global use and
disposal of masks and gloves will
amount to 129 billion face masks
and 65 billion plastic gloves for
every month of the COVID-19
pandemic.
The effect on the environment is
an important but separate issue to
the health risks we’re discussing
here.
Alarmingly, from what we’ve
observed, people are discarding
masks in communal rubbish bins
and even leaving them in empty
shopping trolleys.
People should know better than
to leave used masks lying around.
But they can’t be ex-
pected not to discard
them in public bins
when there’s no other
option, and when they’re
not given any advice on how
to dispose of them properly.
Importantly, while there are
clear guidelines on the disposal
and separation of medical waste
within health-care settings, guide-
lines for disposal of surgical masks
in public settings are unclear.
The Victorian government
simply advises they be disposed of
“responsibly in the rubbish bin”,
meaning they will be mixed with
ordinary waste. This is in contrast
to personal protective equipment
(PPE) used in health-care settings,
which is disposed of separately
to regular waste, transported to
sealed landﬁll, and in some cases
incinerated.
W
e don’t yet know a whole
lot about the survival of
SARS-CoV-2, the coronavi-
rus that causes COVID-19, on textile
materials.
One study published in the
medical journal The Lancet found
no infectious SARS-CoV-2 could be
detected on textile materials after 48
hours.
A review study which looked at the
survival of a range of pathogens on
textiles found viruses could survive
longer than 48 hours, though not as
long as bacteria.
Although we need more research
on this topic, it seems there is
potential for cross-contamination,
and therefore possibly COVID-19
infection, from disposed masks.
In all likelihood, other people,
such as supermarket staff collect-
ing trolleys, or waste handlers,
will come into contact with
discarded masks well within
that 48 hour window.
In addition, if the dis-
carded mask is carrying
infectious particles, it
may be possible for these
to cross-contaminate the
surfaces they come into contact
with, such as shopping trolleys. And
we know SARS-CoV-2 survives more
readily on hard surfaces than porous
ones, so this is a worry.
T
his issue is a potential bios-
ecurity concern, and we need
segregation of used masks
from ordinary waste immediately.
We urge attention from the Victo-
rian government and local councils
to act on this issue, including in the
following ways:
 create general awareness of this
problem, potentially by including
messaging around how to properly
dispose of masks in directives on
their use
 install pop-up secured bins in
public places such as shopping cen-
tres for used masks and gloves
 workers collecting the waste
should follow biohazard protocols
similar to those used to manage
waste collected from health-care
settings.
I
n the ﬁrst instance,
please don’t leave
your used masks
and gloves in a
shopping trolley, or
lying around any-
where else.
The safest thing
to do is to put used
masks and gloves
into a plastic
bag when you
take them off
and seal
it. Then,
when
you’re
back at home,
throw the
bag away
into a closed
bin.
Hopefully,
we will have
further direc-
tions on how to
dispose of these
items soon.
A CONVENIENT CHOICE
WHY COULD THIS BE A DANGER?
WHO NEEDS TO ACT?
Disposing of used masks
or gloves incorrectly could
risk spreading the
infection they’re designed
to protect against
But they can’t be ex-
pected not to discard
them in public bins
when there’s no other
option, and when they’re
not given any advice on how
to dispose of them properly.
Importantly, while there are
clear guidelines on the disposal
and separation of medical waste
within health-care settings, guide-
lines for disposal of surgical masks
in public settings are unclear.
Disposing of used masks
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION CONCEPT: DIVYA HEMNANI
DESIGN: ABHISHEK GU0PTA
WHAT YOU CAN DO
HAZARD
CORONAVIRUS
SINGLE-USE
MASKS
COULD BE A

If you can understand the
difference between what to hold
on to and what to let go - you will
be a happier person.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
Now, a racket in illegal sale of
Covid drugs with Bangla links
Shishir Awasthi
Gandhinagar: Days
after cracking a scam
in fake injections, the
Gujarat Food and
Drugs Control Admin-
istration on Friday
busted a shocking
racket in black-mar-
keting of Remdesivir
and Tocilizumab in-
jections used for the
treatment of Covid-19
patients and is sus-
pecting an interna-
tional cartel operat-
ing through Bangla-
desh.
Two persons, one
from Ahmedabad and
another from Surat,
were arrested for it. The
FDCA team also seized
injection stocks worth
Rs 4.65 lakh from Surat
and of Rs 10.80 lakh
from Ahmedabad.
Acting on a tip-off on
July 21 that these injec-
tions were being black-
marketed, the Surat
wing of the FDCA laid a
trap and booked a bogus
order to one Sandip
Mathukia, a resident of
Ahmedabad. He is at-
tached with Abott Com-
pany as a medical repre-
sentative.
Mathukia used to
get the injections
from a Yash Rajeshb-
hai Mathukia of Su-
rat. Yash was arrested
when he was trying to
sell two vials of Rem-
disivir for Rs 18,000
each. A resident of
Katargam area, Yash
did not provide bills
when asked for.
According to Gujarat
FDCA Commissioner
HG Koshia, on checking
the labels it has been
found that probably
these have originated
from Bangladesh.
Those in the know
of the developments
feel that this may well
be an international
racket. The FDCA
team and the police
are finding out how
many of these injec-
tions have been sold
and to whom at a
higher price.
Sandip was running
the racket along with
Darshan S. Soni and
Parth Babulal Goyani,
according to officials.
During the interroga-
tion, they revealed that
they used to get Rem-
disivir injections from
one Shabbir Ahmed of
Bangladesh.
Ahmed used to en-
sure delivery till Agar-
tala and then Sandip
would go to Agartala to
get the consignment.
Further investigations
are in progress to find
out if there are more
and bigger players from
abroad involved in the
racket.
This is not for the first
time arrests have been
made in connection
with these lifesaving in-
jections. A few days ago,
arrests were made for
manufacturingof spuri-
ous Tocilizumab injec-
tions with involvement
of people based in Surat
and Ahmedabad.
Gujarat FDCA has unearthed a racket in black-marketing of Remdesivir and Tocilizumab injections
Gujarat FDCA has unmasked a racket in black-marketing of Covid-19 injections.
GLOBAL LINKS
HEIGHT OF APATHY
As many as 6,000 children at 148 anganwadis in Gujarat’s Patdi taluka have been
consuming water with an alarming TDS of 2,500 since August 2016 since the RO plants
there are non-functional.
Shah presents
electric pottery
wheels to artisans
Cong urges EC to
use ballot paper in
assembly by-polls
New CCC
test deadline
Dec 31
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Friday distrib-
uted 100 electric pottery
wheels among as many
trained artisans in Gu-
jarat under the ‘Kum-
har Sashaktikaran Yo-
jana’ of the Khadi and
Village Industries Com-
mission (KVIC). He
gave them away in his
Gandhinagar Lok Sab-
ha constituency
through video confer-
encing from New Delhi.
Praising the
scheme, Shah said the
initiative would go a
long way in strength-
ening the marginal
ised potters commu-
nity by incorporating
technology to improve
productivity while
also reviving the tra-
ditional art of pottery.
He also interacted
with five potters who
have been trained by
the KVIC and provided
with electric pottery
wheels and other equip-
ment for their future
endeavours. “I am glad
to see the change that
has been ushered in the
lives of our potters. The
Narendra Modi govern-
ment at the Centre is
always concerned for
better livelihood of the
Prajapati community,”
Shah said.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Even as
the dates for the by-
elections to eight as-
sembly seats in the
State are yet to be fi-
nalised, the Gujarat
Congress on Friday
urged the Election
Commission (ECI) to
use ballot papers in-
stead of the electron-
ic voting machines
(EVMs) in the polls to
prevent the spread of
Covid-19.
In a letter sent to the
Chief Election Com-
missioner, senior Con-
gress MLA and Deputy
Leader of Opposition
Shailesh Parmar said,
“Voting through ballot
paper is the best option
in the prevailing pan-
demic situation.”
“Every constituen-
cy normally has 2
lakh voters. Around
1,000 voters come to a
single booth to cast
their votes. If EVMs
are used, thousands
of voters will touch
one button,” he point-
ed out, adding that,
“If a coronavirus-in-
fected person touches
that button, everyone
who pushes it after-
wards would contract
the infection.”
Parmar also stated
that since asymptomat-
ic persons are not aware
if they are infected, oth-
ers coming in his con-
tact run a risk. In view
of this, he urged the
Election Commission to
use ballot papers.
Meanwhile, the Gu-
jarat BJP stated that
it is ready to face the
elections anytime.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Guja-
rat Chief Minister Vi-
jay Rupani has ex-
tended the last date
for clearing the com-
pulsory CCC/CCC+
eligibility tests for
state government of-
ficers and employees
for higher pay-scale
and promotion till De-
cember 31, 2020 in re-
sponse to the request
of different employ-
ees associations, in-
cluding State Primary
Teachers Association.
The state govern-
ment had introduced
these mandatory tests
in 2007 and the last date
to clear them was April
30, 2016.
The employees who
had joined the govern-
ment service between
1975 and 1985 and are
due for retirement now
will also be entitled to
higher pay-scale and
also pension. This will
benefit thousands of
employees and officers
in different cadres.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah. — FILE PHOTO
Nirma Univ students’ plea
in HC seeking fee reduction
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Students
of Nirma University
have sent a letter peti-
tion to the Gujarat
High Court seeking a
stay on the Universi-
ty’s July 1 notifica-
tion asking for full
fees from them.
The students pointed
out that several charges
as part of the fees had
become redundant in
the online teaching sys-
tem. They called it,
“Manifestly arbitrary,
illegal and thus uncon-
stitutional being hit by
Article 14 of the Consti-
tution.”
The University ad-
ministration had inti-
mated that it was in
the process of start-
ing online sessions
for the current aca-
demic year and that
the students were re-
quired to submit the
full fees by August 5.
The students said the
notification was issued
without adequately
considering the “dis-
proportionate impact”
the lockdown has had
on their families. They
described the Universi-
ty’s claim that online
teaching will incur
more cost as “illogical,
irrational and mani-
festly arbitrary.”
Gujarat pays most to rlys for Shramik trains
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Gujarat
contributed the highest
Rs 102 crore to the In-
dian Railways’ reve-
nues of Rs 429 crore
from running Shramik
Special trains for mi-
grant workers. The
Railways data shows it
spent Rs 2,142 crore on
operating the trains.
According to the
data, Gujarat paid Rs
102 crore as fares to
ferry more than 15
lakh migrant work-
ers to their native
states in 1,027 trains.
It was followed by
Maharashtra with Rs
85 crore to take 12
lakh workers home in
844 trains, and Tamil
Nadu Rs 34 crore to
transport four lakh
migrants in 271
trains.
The Railways said it
operated 4,109 Shramik
trains in May, which
came down to 493 in
June, and 13 in July.
Most trains originated
from Gujarat and Ma-
harashtra and were des-
tined for Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar.
Gujarat contributed highest in the Railways revenue from Shramik
Special trains.
Dr Anita
New Delhi: With the
State’s corona tally
touching 20,000 in
the first 23 days of
July and Thursday’s
1,078 new cases being
the 20th peak this
month, a concerned
Congress Rajya Sab-
ha member Ahmed
Patel has blamed the
State Government for
Gujarat reporting the
country’s highest
mortality rate of
4.4%.
In a message on his
Twitter handle, Patel
mourned, “At 4.4%, Gu-
jarat’s Covid-19 mortal-
ity rate is very high.”
“Why?” he asked,
and pointed out that,
“First, it is because
Gujarat is not testing
enough & testing late.
As a result there is a
delay in identifying
positive patients. As-
sam, Kerala, Tamil
Nadu, Delhi - which
have similar or less
population than Gu-
jarat are conducting
far more tests.”
Ahmed Patel, who
hails from Gujarat, as-
serted that, “The State
Government needs to
be open & transparent,”
sincethingshadslipped
out of control.
The Congress lead-
er said the situation
was more alarming
since the virus is
spreading across the
State. “The infection
has spread to rural
areas where adequate
medical facilities are
absent. People have
to travel to other dis-
tricts for help and are
doing so at later stag-
es of the infection.”
As on July 24, the
State had 53,631 posi-
tive cases with 2,283
deaths.
Patel says Guj Govt needs to be transparent on Covid surge
WORRYING SCENARIO!
 In a Twitter message, he expressed
concern that the State’s “Covid-19
mortality rate of 4.4% is very high”
Ahmed Patel. — FILE PHOTO

AHMEDABAD, SATURDAY
JULY 25, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
HEAR THE
HISSS...
hroughout history, hu-
mans have had an un-
easy relationship with
serpents. Snakes are
animals that fascinate
many people while
frightening others,
good or bad, most people have
strong feelings about snakes,
but few people remain neutral.
Unfortunately, most human-
snake interactions had lead to
the destruction of snakes to the
point that many species of
snakes have become extinct
and there is a long list which is
endangered.
Ophidiophilia is an attrac-
tion to snakes while ophidio-
phobia is the fear of snakes.
Snakes are mystical animals
that are a part of stories, tradi-
tion, culture, mythology, reli-
gion and folklore and yes, su-
perstitions. We have all heard
love stories of naag-naagin and
many of the devout will step
out today to feed’ milk ‘to the
snakes in this holy month of
Saawan, this naturally comes
from worshipping Lord Shiva,
the destroyer with snakes
coiled around his neck. The
fact is that reptiles cannot di-
gest dairy products and rarely
drink milk, holds no water with
belief ruling the roost.
Exotic photography with
snakes and keeping snakes as
pets, howsoever risky it may be
at times, hold an attraction es-
pecially for people who wish to
show a certain false bravado.
In the age of social media,
it makes for a huge
amount of Likes and
Comments on the page!
The whole aura
surrounding snakes
is so interesting and
beguiling that
most people do
not know basic
truths like if
you kill a snake
it’s partner
will come af-
ter you are
b l a t a n t l y
false. Snakes
do not have
any sort of
social bond,
nor the intel-
lect nor memo-
ry to recognise and re-
member an assailant. Bol-
lywood, which has spawned
quite a few movies and seri-
als based on this myth, can be
blamed for the common belief!
And, a snake’s head when cut
off it will stay alive till sun-
down and it captures the face of
its killer in its eyes is the stuff
of horror movies and simply
not believable by mature
adults.
T
Snakes are generally shy animals who want nothing to
do with humans. Humans, though have an ancient
relationship with snakes, of attraction and fear!
NEHAL NAYAR
nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY,JULY 25,2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
RADHIKA CHOWDHARY, Model
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
People at work always
praise you for your hard
work and professionalism
therefore you must keep
motivating others. You need a change
in your diet to make you feel more
energetic and healthy. Your kids will
bring immense joy in your life and
you will feel very grateful for that.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
No matter how you
manage but you have to
keep in touch with your
loved ones as relationships
are built with efforts.Money is
flowing into your life right now to
boost your financial stability, all you
need to do is it to invest and save it
in the beat way for future benefits.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
You will have lot of fun at
home with family today
and you all will feel very
fortunate for that.You have
lot of money in your account to keep
you going in future. Do not take your
health for granted specially during
these trial time. On academic front,
you are always well prepared.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
You can expect a very
relaxing, silent atmosphere
at home and you will love
this calmness.You are going
to make profits in everything today.
You have a budget and you never mess
with it and this quality is what made
you rich. You will get all the pampering
form you siblings today.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
People appreciate your
sincerity and talk good
about you even behind
your back. You have a
great health and this is not gifted
rather you have worked very hard to
get here. You desire to have a happy
family and luckily you have one. You
lover will surely meet you today.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
With God’s grace you will
start something new today
and you will get all the
support and blessings of
your parents .You may have to
showcase your skills in front of many
people even if digitally to succeed in
your endeavours. A younger child in
family will make you proud.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Your strategies on
business front will bring
good profits and no matter
how tough the time is, you
will only keep growing.You have a
good money in account to start
something new so without wasting
anytime just keep forging ahead. You
must work out for a fit body & mind.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Your seniors consider to
you to be very important
for the company and you
have to live up to the
image. You must not refrain from
bargaining as doing so can help you
to save a lot. Your seniors consider
to you to be very important for the
company ,live up to the image.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
You must start trusting
others and help them In
growing by giving them
responsibilities on work
front. Newly married couple will be in
demand among family and close
friends. You must do all you can to
conserve money for the future. You
will overcome any discomfort.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Some of you can expect
the promotion at work and
for the others work
security is guaranteed.
You have started following a
discipline routine and this will keep
you healthy. Business owner may
need some time but stay rest assured
you will get back on the track.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
On professional front, you
have a promising career
ahead of you. You are a
free bird and you do as you
please. You can expect a raise in
salary but having a job at these times
is also something you must be
grateful for. Leave no stone unturned
in making your lover feel special.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You are someone who
loves to keep self
improving in your
respective field and grow
everyday. You are famous in your
social circle and it is because of the
nature of reaching out people. You
are someone who hold the hands for
both the good and the bad time.
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
eginning his nearly
decade-long associa-
tion with the Hin-
difilmindustry
as an assistant
director, Bolly-
wood star Vicky
Kaushal has won many
hearts and achieved great
success in a small amount of
time.Vickyisoneof themost
talented actors to have
stepped into Bollywood. He
has not only impressed the
audience through his act-
ing skills but also got ap-
plause from megastar
Amitabh Bachchan.
His roles are extremely
compelling and he totally
gets into the skin of the char-
acter, making the audience
get swayed by his charm and
excellent screen presence.
He is a promising Bolly-
wood actor, who managed to
woo critics and audience
alike with his debut film
‘Masaan’. His perfor-
mance left everyone with
nothing but praises for him.
He then went on to star in
‘Zubaan’ and later, surprised
everyone with his portrayal
of a negative character in
Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Raman
Raghav 2.0’ The earnestness
with which Kaushal plays
his characters has
earned him fans within the
industry as well as among
audiences. In 2018 Kaushal
rose to prominence with sup-
porting roles in Raazi as
Iqbal and as Kamli in Sanju,
two of the highest-gross-
ing Hindi films of the
year where he casted his
magic spell through his stu-
pendous performances for
which he also got Filmfare
Award for Best Supporting
Actor. The actor has also
triedhisluckintheOTTplat-
form and amazed the audi-
ence with his majestic and
outrageous performance
in NetflixOriginalfilm‘Love
PerSquareFoot’andwithhis
quirky comedy in ‘Lust Sto-
ries’.Laterin2018withVicky
Sandhu as Vicky Kaushal’s
alter ego brought out his
flamboyant side in the film
Manmarziyan.
VickyKaushalhadacareer
turnaround in 2019, where he
again wore the hat of an
Armyofficerandpaidtribute
to Indian Army in “Uri: The
Surgical Strike” This turned
out to be one of the biggest
hits of the year and the film
earned him his maiden Na-
tional Award. Later in 2020,
Kaushal made his entry into
the horror genre with Bhoot:
Part one - The Haunted Ship.
VICKY KAUSHAL:
THE JOSH MACHINE
B
GURMAN SINGH
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
B

I
t seems actor Ryan Reynolds
isn’t looking to have a fourth
child with his wife Blake Live-
ly any time soon.
According to Fox News, the
43-year-old actor shared a brief
clip from his 2010 film ‘Buried’
on Instagram with the logo
for Aviation Gin -- his own
brand -- edited into the scene
in several places, including
a flask that Reynolds takes
a drink from. Reynolds
wrote in the caption, “Be-
fore Deadpool, I was an
actor, One of my favour-
ite projects was a film
called ‘Buried’ and
it’s now on @Hulu. 10
years later, it really
holds up!”
He joked, “Although I don’t re-
call the aggressive product place-
ment.” The 32-year-old actor Live-
ly left a funny comment on her
hubby’s post.
“I think this just got me preg-
nant,” she said, as captured by
Comments by Celebs. In typical
fashion, Reynolds offered a witty
response. The ‘Deadpool’ star
wrote in response, “I will be out
of the office starting July 22nd
through the middle of forever and
ever. If you need immediate assis-
tance during my absence, please
contact someone. Anyone. Other-
wise, I will respond to your mes-
sage as soon as possible upon my
unlikely return. Thank you.”
Reynolds and Lively already
share three daughters. —ANI
Joke about fourth pregnancy
T
he international singer left Swift-
ies screaming when she an-
nounced she was releasing a new
album. Taylor revealed her play-
list on Thursday with a heartwarming
note which had her pour her heart out.
Now that the album is out, we joined the
fans to stream one song at a time.
After we found ourselves re-
watching the music video of
Cardigan for the fifth time,
we decided to dive into the
other songs on the album.
“Before this year I prob-
ablywould’veoverthought
when to release this music
at the ‘perfect’ time, but the
times we’re living in keep
reminding me that nothing
is guaranteed. My gut is telling
me that if you make something
you love, you should just put it
out into the world. That’s the side
of uncertainty I can get on board
with. Love you guys so much,” she
said. —Agency
E
ver since Gully Boy hit the
screens in February 2019, the
film created massive waves
with its content and received
countless accolades under its belt.
The Zoya Akhtar directorial has
been a favourite at the Internation-
al circuit as well.
After winning the NETPAC
award for Best Asian Film at the
Bucheon International Fantastic
Film Festival (BIFAN) in South Ko-
rea last year the film has been in-
vited to the prestigious ‘Busan In-
ternational Film Festival’ under
the Request Cinema Screening cat-
egory on popular demand.
Gully Boy was also nominated as
India’s official entry for the 92 Os-
cars for 2019. —Agency
ETCwww.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020
11
B
humi Pednekar has
been trying to advo-
cate positive social
messages through her
movies as well as her nature
protection initiative ‘Climate
Warrior.’
The actor is also making
the best possible use of her
social media platforms to
“raise awareness at every
level possible” for as she says,
“climate change is real and
climate change is here.” As a
part of the initiative, the
‘Bala’ actor has been high-
lighting several personali-
ties, be it from entertainment
or from other grounds, who
are doing path-breaking work
to protect the environment.
Recently, the 31-year-old ac-
tor also collaborated with a
young ‘Climate Warrior’ of
India -- Licypriya Kangujam.
Pednekar, through her Ins-
tagram handle introduced
the eight-year-old girl from
Manipur, who is rallying the
youth of the country to be
more climate-conscious.
Sharing a video clip of the
young activist on Friday, the
actor wrote, “Though young,
her work towards climate ac-
tivism is beyond her years...
A receiver of prestigious ac-
colades such as a Dr APJ Ab-
dul Kalam Children Award, a
World Children Peace Prize
and an India Peace Prize, she
has created a symbolic device
called SUKIFU (Survival Kit
for the Future) to curb the air
pollution.” —ANI
RAISING AWARENESSRAISING AWARENESS
FUN TIMES!FUN TIMES!
eepika Padukone spent her
Wednesday evening playing a
series of ‘TPL- Taboo Premier
League’ with her star husband
Ranveer Singh and his family.
The ‘Tamasha’ actor took to
InstagramonThursdaytoshare
a picture from the game session with her
family and stated that the board game
went extremely competitive. “TPL-Ta-
boo Premiere League. With everyone
bringing their A-Game to the TaBoo Ta-
ble I must say it is getting extremely
competitive!” she wrote in the caption.
The ‘Chhapaak’ actor celebrated Ran-
veer Singh’s birthday at home earlier
this month and shared that she gorged
on the birthday cake for a week.
The celebrity couple has been staying
at home ever since the COVID-19-in-
duced lockdown was imposed in the
country. —ANI
D
L
ooks like quarantining together has
worked wonders for Demi Lovato and
Max Ehrich as the couple just revealed
the good news that they’re engaged.
For the unversed, Demi started dating the
Young and the Restless star in March and it
seems as though the two already want to
spend forever together. Both took to Insta-
gram to share some snaps from their roman-
tic proposal at a beach and we can’t help but
notice the gorgeous engagement ring that
looks perfect on Lovato’s finger. Brownie
points to Mr. Ehrich, for sure!
Demi, who has always
had a way with words
wrote a sweet note
to her now fiance
as she gushed
about how she
fell in love with
Max the moment
she met him.
—Agency
ENGAGED!ENGAGED!
NEW ALBUM
RELEASED
The Great Screening
Deepika Padukone
... her post
Bhumi Pednekar
Demi Lovato and Max Ehrich
Taylor Swift
Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt
Blake Lively

CITY FIRST
T
he Board of Direc-
tors of AU Small
Finance Bank Lim-
ited at its meeting held
on Friday, approved the unau-
dited financial results for the
quarter ended June 30, 2020.
Commenting on the perfor-
mance, Sanjay Agarwal, MD & CEO,
AU Small Finance Bank said, “Bank
continues to perform well enough
on all metrics such as Deposit
Growth, Extra Liquidity
Buffers, Assets Quality,
Digital Banking, Inclusive
Banking, Customer En-
gagements and Employee
Safety & Well-being resulting
into a satisfactory quarter. In
Q1FY21, our PAT grew by 48%
with a continuous declining
trend in the cost of funds.”
Considering the social distancing
protocols of current times, AU
Bank recently organized its 25th
AGM virtually. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
12
CITY BUZZAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
CITY FIRST
he brilliant artist-
ry of the jewellers
and craftsmen of
the pink city is
known throughout
the world. In this
series of opulent
heritage, another accolade
has just joined. Dharmen-
dra Bhalla from Jaipur has
made his place in the
World Book of Re-
cords London for his
e x t r a o r d i n a r i l y
splendid jewellery
design. Priced at 6 lac
dollars/Rs 4.58 crores, he
has designed a 24-carat gold
ring in the shape of Coro-
na, with purity above 9999.
This ring has already been
declared to be the purest
gold ring with a gorgeous
design. Bhalla has been in-
vited to London at the Brit-
ish Parliament for felicita-
tion upon creating this
masterpiece. This is the
first piece of purest gold
craftsmanship in the world,
with the shape of the Coro-
navirus. It is unbelievable
and unique that this ring
has been labeled as the pur-
est gold jewellery ever
made in the history of
mankind.
Talking about this
achievement, Bhalla says
that the world was shroud-
ed in a cover of negativity
because of this global pan-
demic. To change this dis-
tressing period of lock-
down into something fruit-
ful, he decided to work on
this ring. He was inspired
to replicate the structure of
Coronavirus by being
haunted by the constantly
increasing cases of Corona-
virus. The virus which has
impacted the whole world
adversely is now a proud
jewel of his artwork. He
took about one and a half
months to make this ring.
To keep his work distinct,
he made use of the purest
quality of gold which was
never used by any jeweller,
to date. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
WHAT’S HAPPENING!
RAJASTHAN: Venture Catalysts is a leading integrated incubator and start-up mentoring and
fundraising organisation which launched its Jaipur operation via the virtual platform on Friday. Venture
Catalysts provides a combination of capital, mentoring, and networking opportunities to budding
entrepreneurs thereby contributing actively to the growth and the success of the investee companies.
GUJARAT: In a live
session with Nilparna
Sen, CEO KG Fitness,
Certified Nutrition Coach
and Personal Trainer
interacted with Surat’s
leading psychologist
and behavorial therapist
Bhavna Raja who has
seen success stories
with hundreds of people
with their mental issues.
Her expertise lies is
child psychology, suicide
prevention, anxiety,
depression, marital
issues, body image
issues, and many more.
WORTH A
RECORD
R
ajsamand MP Diya Kumari performed the traditional
Poojan of Teej Mata at the City Palace on Friday.
Dressed in ‘Lehariya’, she garlanded Teej Mata and duly
worshiped the Goddess. On this occasion, she said that
the people of Jaipur and Rajasthan are very involved in the
procession of Teej and Gangaur Mata. Due to the Corona
epidemic, the royal procession of Teej Mata could not be
taken out in the walled city of Jaipur this year. The pro-
cession of Teej Mata was taken out of the Janani Deodhi
to the gate and brought back to the Palace. The MP expressed
hope that next year this procession will be could be taken out
with full elegance and enthusiasm. —City First
TEEJ MATA RI PUJA
Q1. My flatmate keeps bor-
rowing my watches with-
out asking. I find this very
annoying (especially when
it’s my favourite watch),
but I don’t want to seem
uptight. How can I stop
her?
Ans. Hi, I can understand
your issues about not
calling her out on this.
Does she just borrow
watches or everything? If
she borrows your stuff
indiscriminately, then
change your flatmate! On
the other hand, if she is a
‘watch-borrower’, gift
her a watch with a mes-
sage. If she persists then
the next time she is wear-
ing your watch, pretend
to search, then walk up to
her and laughingly tell
her that you have to wear
this today! Take it off her
hand and clip/strap it on
yours. Do it a couple of
times.
Q2. I’ve fallen for a girl, but
she’s an anime character.
Is it really a bad thing?
Ans. Well, it depends on
how old you are! If you
are a teenager it’s per-
fectly fine, however, if
you are above 20 and ‘she’
is the only girl in your
life, my advice is that go
and meet more people.
Join an activity that will
build up your confidence.
Have any questions? Mail them
to quequeenfirstindia@gmail.
com; don’t worry, your name
will not be disclosed!
QUE...
QUEen
T
CITY FIRST
T
he patients are be-
ing treated smoothly at Geetan-
jali Medical College and Hospi-
tal following all the rules of
COVID-19. A 61-year-old patient was
successfully treated by left septal pac-
ing in South division. The operation
was done by Dr Ramesh Patel, Dr Ka-
pil Bhargava, Dr Danny Mangalalni,
and Dr Shalabh Agarwal. Left septal
pacing is a type of safe pacemaker in
which the patient’s heartbeat is con-
trolled by a doctor. Its cost is as much
as a normal pacemaker, thus it is prov-
ing very useful. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
Life Saviours
HAPPY B’DAY!
IPS Hemant
Kumar Sharma
celebrated his
birthday on 24
July, Friday.
We wish him
all the best!
Financial Results
Good over Bad
CITY FIRST
A
short film ‘Jurm Aur Ka-
noon’ made by Pratham Shar-
ma portraying that good always takes
over the evil and that even single person
can make a big difference, be it a policeman, a
politician, or anyone who brings any kind of
positivityinthesocietyandinfluencestheminds
of individuals. Every day many corrupt indi-
vidualsgetawaywiththecrimestheydobecause
the law and order which is meant to protect the
s o c i e t y
from these
mafias be-
comes a
b u s i n e s s
for the rich
and the
privileged
to get away
with their
c r i m e s
and the peo-
ple who fol-
low the
right path
have to suf-
fer. This
needs to
change, be
the change,
bring the
change!
cityfirst@firstin-
dia.co.in
Diya Kumari doing the Puja
Dharmendra Bhalla
Ring curated by him
Pratham Sharma
Poster of the film
Diya Kumari and her friends
Diya Kumari
Teej Mata Ki Sawari

Gujarat BJP chief cancels Surat rally amid Covid, prioritizes public health

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Gujarat BJP chief cancels Surat rally amid Covid, prioritizes public health