First india ahmedabad edition-28 july 2020

GUJ NEARS 1,100
CASES PER DAY!
Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar: The
state government con-
tinued to point the fin-
ger to make itself feel
better about its per-
formance in the face
of consistently rising
case numbers, even as
Gujarat witnessed
1,052 new cases of
COVID-19 on Monday.
Still, according to the
health department,
Gujarat is better
placed than 11 other
states in terms of new
and active cases.
However, the govern-
ment offered no clarifi-
cation on where Gujarat
stood in terms of sam-
ple testing.
The state health de-
partment claims to be
testing 391 samples per
million per day. So far, it
says, it has tested a total
of 6,67,844 samples.
Maharashtra topped
the national list on Mon-
day with 9,431 new cases
in a day and a Turn on P6
n 24 hours: 1,052 cases, 22 deaths, 1,015 discharged
n Total: 56,874 cases, 2,348 deaths, 41,380 discharged
—FILE PHOTO
CORONA
ALERT
AHMEDABAD l TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 243
27°C - 36°C
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
www.firstindia.co.in
www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia
instagram.com/thefirstindia
COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
2,348
DEATHS
56,874
CONFIRMED CASES
KARNATAKA
1,953 DEATHS 1,01,465 CASES
RAJASTHAN
633 DEATHS 37,564 CASES
WORLD
6,54,089
DEATHS
1,65,36,862
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
14,82,386
CONFIRMED CASES
33,448
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
13,883 DEATHS 3,83,723 CASES
DELHI
TAMIL NADU
Kartikey Dev Singh
Jaipur: The two top
Constitutional institu-
tions in Rajasthan ap-
pear to have ‘no love
lost’ in the run up to the
Assembly session. Gov-
ernor Kalraj Mishra is
visibly miffed at CM
Ashok Gehlot on his
comments made on the
Governor and the cor-
responding dharna and
gherao of the Raj Bha-
wan, which the Gover-
nor saw as ‘arm twist
tactic’ by the party in
power.
With all that happen-
ing, there is a strong
word going around in
the political circles in
both Rajasthan and
New Delhi, saying that
Governor Mishra has
shot an ‘interim’ report
to the Centre on the law
and order situation in
Rajasthan and also
made a special note of
the sloganeering by the
Congress MLAs at Raj
Bhawan on July 24.
The report, report-
edly, further says that
the state government
has failed to curtail the
spread of Coronavirus
while on the other hand
ministers and MLAs
are enjoying in a five
star hotel as the Secre-
tariat is ‘empty’. It is
also said that the com-
mon man is facing prob-
lems as the routine
work is hampered. No-
tably, although there is
no recommendation or
mention of President
Rule in the report, yet
the report by Governor,
in the current times, is
being seen as a serious
development.
Meanwhile, on Mon-
day, Mishra said that
Raj Bhavan never had
an intention “not to
call” the Assembly ses-
sion and has asked the
Gehlot government to
deliberate on three
points including 21-day
notice period for con-
vening session and
maintaining social dis-
tancing norms.
The Raj Bhavan said
a proposal was received
from the state govern-
ment to convene assem-
bly session from July 31
and the Governor has
said that the session
should be called accord-
ing to the constitutional
provisions.
Mishra told govern-
ment that an Assembly
session can be called at
a short notice if the
agenda is a floor test, a
conditional acceptance
of the Congress de-
mand.
Governor said that
statements from the
state government make
it clear that it wants to
bring a trust vote but
there is no mention of
it in the proposal sent
for convening the ses-
sion. The Raj Bhavan
said as conditions at
present were extraordi-
nary, the state govern-
ment has been asked to
give a letter again after
acting on three issues.
It said that the As-
sembly session should
be called after giving a
21-day notice to give
equal opportunity to all
members. The release
noted that important
social and political is-
sues can be discussed
through online mode as
in the Supreme Court
and High Court in the
wake of COVID-19.
Turn on P6
Guv-CM tussle hits lowest ebb in Raj!
MISHRA’S TERSE RESPONSE!
21-day notice period to
convene session; maintain
social distancing norms
Assembly session can be
called at a short notice if
agenda is a floor test
Live broadcast of floor test
and trust vote should be
carried out with a button
PIL IN RAJ HC SEEKING GOVERNOR’S REMOVAL
I spoke with Prime Minister on
Sunday and told him about the
behaviour of the Governor.
ASHOK GEHLOT, CHIEF MINISTER
Is there any arrangement in which 200 MLAs &
1000 officials do not face threat of infection. If
anyone gets an infection, how to prevent its spread?
KALRAJ MISHRA, GOVERNOR Speaker Joshi
withdraws
from SC battle!
New Delhi: Rajasthan
Assembly Speaker Dr
CP Joshi on Monday
withdrew
his plea
from Su-
p r e m e
C o u r t
a g a i n s t
the High
Court or-
der asking him to defer
his decision on disqual-
ification notices issued
to former Deputy CM
Sachin Pilot and 18 oth-
er Congress MLAs.
Senior advocate Ka-
pil Sibal appearing for
Speaker told Turn on P6
CP Joshi
WAR BIRD
FLIES
INDIATO
5 RAFALE
fighter aircraft were
flagged off on Monday
by Indian Ambassador to
France from an airbase
in Merignac in France
36 FIGHTER
jet deal was signed
by India and France in
September 2016
5 AIRCRAFT
5 flying to India includes
7 Indian pilots including
the commanding officer
of 17 Golden Arrows
squadron
12 PILOTS
have undergone
extensive training on the
Rafale fighters
Fighter jets will
be refuelled on
the way by a
French Air Force
tanker aircraft
and take a
stopover at UAE
Al Dhafra airbase
after which India
will receive them
on July 29.
7,000 km,
will be the
distance Rafale
will travel with
a stopover
in the UAE,
before arriving
at the Ambala
air station on
Wednesday
HC DISMISSES
DILAWAR’S PLEA
First India Bureau
Jaipur: Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot received a
shot in the arm as High
Court dismissed BJP
MLA Madan Dilawar’s
petition against merger
of six BSP MLAs with
the ruling Congress.
Moreover,HCalsoreject-
ed BSP’s petition to be-
comepartyinthematter.
HC asked AAG Major
RP Singh to seek factual
position from the secre-
tary of Assembly who
later told the court that
theSpeakerhaddisposed
of Dilawar’s application
on last Friday, therefore,
his petition has no valid-
ity and should be dis-
missed. Turn on P6
Madan Dilawar
Nizam Kantaliya
Jaipur. Rajasthan High Court
advocate Shantanu Pareek has
filed a PIL asking for removal
of Governor Kalraj Mishra. The
PIL states that a Governor can’t
refuse to convene Assembly
session when a Chief Minister or
Cabinet proposal demands so.
It further goes on to state that if
the Governor doesn’t convene the
session on the first request then
he has to invariably convene the
session on the second request as
the Governor has limited options
available with him. The PIL goes on
to say that if a CM or PM advises a
Governor or the President then he
has to go by the advice. Pareek has
mentioned the verdict by Supreme
Court in the case of Arunachal
Pradesh/ Nabam Rebia where it
has been clearly said that Governor
can’t decide anything on his own
as far as convening the assembly
session is concerned. Pareek has
demanded the removal of the
Governor citing the same case.
It is noteworthy that in Nabam
Rebia case the five member
constitutional bench of SC on 13
July 2016 in its historic judgment
said that convening Assembly
session before the suggested
time against the will of the CM
was unconstitutional. The only
condition for Governor’s discretion
arises when CM and his Cabinet
differ in their decision. The verdict
called, a unilateral decision by the
Governor to convene an Assembly
session or refusal to convene one
when advised by the CM, is breach
of laid constitutional laws.
CONG-BSP MLAS MERGER
CM Gehlot speaks to
PM Modi, but in vain
Aditi Nagar
Jaipur: Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot on Mon-
day said he has spoken
to Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi to inform
him about the behav-
iour of Governor Kalraj
Mishra. “I spoke with
Prime Minister on Sun-
day and told him about
the behaviour of the
Governor. I spoke with
him regarding the let-
ter I had written to him
seven days back,” Ge-
hlot said while leaving
the Fairmont Hotel.
Meanwhile, PM has
expressed his surprise
and displeasure over
the pre-leak of his (Ge-
hlot’s) letter to PM in
media even before he
talks to PM.
“Yesterday I phoned
the PM and told him
how Governor behaved.
He said I will look into
it, as if PM does not
know. So I told him in
case in some function
he may claim that he
had no knowledge of
this,” Gehlot said.
Moreover, the Ra-
jasthan Congress Legis-
lature Party (CLP) sent
a memorandum to Pres-
ident Ram Nath Kovind,
seekinghisintervention
for convening the state
Assembly session.
While addressing the
MLAs CM Gehlot said,
“We thank Sonia Gan-
dhiji and Rahul Gandhi-
ji that they gave nation-
wide colour to the war
in Rajasthan by fruit-
fully organising two-day
programme which was
verysuccessfulascrores
of people Turn on P6
PM Modi CM Gehlot

Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar: Expect-
ing a 15% decrease in its
annual revenue, the
state has turned to the
Chief Minister’s Relief
Fund to help local bod-
ies fight the onslaught
of the novel coronavi-
rus. It has released
Rs244 crore from the
fund to seven municipal
corporations to aid in
their fight against the
COVID-19 pandemic.
However, concerns have
arisen that the money is
not going where it is
needed the most.
So far, Ahmedabad
has received Rs50 crore,
Surat got Rs15 crore, Ra-
jkot and Vadodara each
got Rs10 crore, and
Bhavnagar, Jamnagar
and Gandhinagar got
Rs5 crore each.
Notably,Ahmedabad’s
day-on-day figures have
begun to fall, as opposed
to Surat’s, which has
been on the rise.
Thetextilecitytopped
the monthly list in
terms of new cases of
COVID-19. It had 3,996
cases and 151 deaths as
on June 26. Exactly a
month later, on July 26,
Surat’s numbers have
almost tripled to reach
9,930 cases and 456
deaths.
In comparison,
Ahmedabad city had
18,856 positive cases
and 1,345 deaths as on
June 26. A month lat-
er, it has 24,353 cases
and 1,531 deaths--a
29% increase in cases.
The two worst-hit cit-
ies in the state are com-
parable in terms of
population as well: Su-
rat’s is 44 lakh, while
Ahmedabad’s is 56 lakh.
Yet, while the civic
body in Ahmedabad
can now afford to ear-
mark Rs1 crore to buy
tocilizumab injections,
Surat--despite its 200%
increase in the num-
ber of cases and
deaths--has been given
just 10% of the Rs100
crore financial aid it
had requested from
the state government.
Alarmingly, Surat is
not the only city to be
receivingstep-daughter-
ly treatment from the
state government.
As of June 26, Va-
dodara city had wit-
nessed 2,087 cases and 74
deaths. A month later,
the caseload was at
4,194, and the death toll
had risen to 77. Here, the
government has allotted
just Rs 10 crore to a city
that has seen a 100% in-
crease in the number of
cases in the past month.
Similarly, the state
capital of Gandhinagar
went from having 602
cases and a death toll of
27 on June 26 to 1,268
cases and 41 deaths as
on July 26--another
100%increase.However,
here too, the state has
given out just Rs5 crore.
The discrepancy be-
comes even more pro-
nounced in some oth-
er districts, which
have received little or
no financial aid from
the government.
Surendranagar, for
instance, went from
having 106 cases on
June 26 to listing 603
cases a month later. It
has not received any
financial assistance
from the state.
Junagadh went from
74 cases to 742 cases in
the span of a month,
while Kheda went from
having 142 to 518 cases
in the same time frame.
Dahod had just 55 cases
on June 26 but now has
425. Jamnagar had 174
cases but now has 581
cases. These are also
still waiting for finan-
cial assistance from the
government.
NEWSAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
New Delhi: Home Min-
ister Amit Shah on Mon-
day paid tribute to for-
mer President Dr APJ
Abdul Kalam on his
death anniversary. He
said that Kalam has left
indelible marks on sev-
eral fields ranging from
science to politics.
"Tributes to Dr APJ
Abdul Kalam, an epito-
me of intellect, wisdom
andsimplicity.APeople's
President,wholeftindel-
ible marks on several
fields ranging from sci-
ence to politics," Shah
tweeted. Shah said that
Kalam's quest for knowl-
edgecontinuestoinspire
and capture the idea of a
self-reliant India.
BJP national presi-
dent JP Nadda also put
out a message saying
that Kalam was a peo-
ple's President whose
ideal life will keep on in-
spiring people in the
country.
"My heartfelt tribute
to former President of
India Bharat Ratna Dr
APJ Abdul Kalam ji on
his death anniversary.
He was a people's Presi-
dent whose ideal life will
keep on inspiring the
people of the country,"
Nadda tweeted.
Known as the Missile
Man of India, Dr APJ
Abdul Kalam contribut-
ednotonlytosciencebut
also served as the 11th
President of India and
was widely regarded as
the 'People's President'.
Asanaerospacescien-
tist, Kalam worked with
India's two major space
research organisations-
-Defence Research and
Development Organisa-
tion (DRDO) and Indian
Space Research Organi-
sation (ISRO).
His most significant
works include the devel-
opmentof theIndianbal-
listic missile and launch
vehicle technology. He
played a central role in
one of India's most im-
portant nuclear tests,
Pokhran-II. For his work
in science and politics,
the People's President
was awarded India's
highest civilian honour
ortheBharatRatna.—ANI
‘Green’&hi-technewofficeforBJP’sRajkot&S’rashtraworkers
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot: The Bharati-
ya Janata Party’s
(BJP) Rajkot and Sau-
rashtra unit is set to
shift its base to a
swanky modern office
building near Sheetal
Park on the 150 feet
Ring Road. Spread
over an area of
around 1,913 square
metres, the new kary-
alay will be developed
at the whopping cost
of Rs25 crore. Chief
Minister Vijay Rupa-
ni and the newly ap-
pointed BJP state unit
president CR Patil
performed an e-khat-
mahurat of the pro-
posed building via
video conferencing
from Gandhinagar on
the auspicious day of
Shravan Sud Atham
on Monday.
The three-storied
earthquake-proof build-
ing will also house a cel-
lar, which will act as a
parking lot and a store-
room. It will also have a
555-seater conference
hall equipped with the
latest technology, mak-
ing it one of the biggest
BJP karyalayas in any
zone.
Speaking at his first
official function after
being appointed the
state BJP president Pa-
til congratulated the Ra-
jkot team on the huge
karyalay but also em-
phasized on the impor-
tance of maintaining
digital data of all BJP
workers. “Rajkot is an
important place of pow-
er. I request that the
digital data of all BJP
workers in the Saurash-
tra region be recorded
there with correspond-
ing photographs.” He
also asked the team to
finish the work before
the stipulated time pe-
riod of 15 months.
Meanwhile, CM Ru-
pani recalled the ac-
tive role Rajkot has
played in politics
since the establish-
ment of the Jan
Sangh. He also men-
tioned how BJP work-
ers used to work from
a one-room office lo-
cated at ‘Uday’ House
and later shifted to
the Karanpara office
in 2001, which was in-
augurated by then
GIDC chairman Par-
shottam Rupala.
“Rajkot has always
remainedapowerhouse
and in future too it will
remain one for the
state’s work. Now, there
will be no need for rent-
al halls to conduct meet-
ings. In order to do effec-
tive work, four things
are very important- kar-
yakarta (worker), kary-
alaya (office), kosh
(money)andkaryakram
(programme. Walls are
not needed but the work
happening inside takes
precedence,” he added.
The building has
been planned to be a
semi-green structure
with a solar-powered
arrangement on the
rooftop for energy
conservation and pro-
motion of clean en-
ergy.
l An e-khatmahurat was
conducted by CM Rupani & state
unit chief CR Patil on Monday
Concerns are
emerging on how
the state chooses
to split the little
funds it releases
to fight the
pandemic
USHERING IN A NEW ERA
City 21 22 23 24 25 26 Total
Rajkot 45 43 44 46 50 52 280
Surat 225 201 181 216 181 201 1,205
Ahmedabad 187 181 187 161 162 152 1,030
Vadodara 60 62 71 70 77 79 419
Bhavnagar 26 22 23 21 24 17 133
Jamnagar 16 12 25 07 15 08 83
Gandhinagar 12 11 22 08 05 06 64
NEW CASES IN THE JULY LAST 6 DAYS
UNEVEN GRANT CAUSES
HEARTBURN FOR DISTS
FUND FRACAS Despite Patil sermon,
Cong leader inducted
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) on Mon-
day inducted two
more leaders to its
ranks, a former Con-
gress member and a
cooperative leader
from Surat. This de-
velopment comes less
than 48 hours after
stating the BJP state
unit President CR Pa-
til stated that the par-
ty will focus on
strengthening itself
through its workers
and not ‘imported’
leaders.
The party welcomed
former Congress mem-
ber and vice-president
of the Gujarat Khedut
Samaj Jayesh Patel and
cooperative leader Vas-
ant Patel on Monday in
the presence of Patil. A
state party leaders
meeting was also con-
ductedwherethenames
of party candidates for
the upcoming Assem-
bly by-polls.
Sources in Surat say
that the joining of both
new leaders may be con-
nected to the upcoming
Surat District Coopera-
tive Milk Producers’
Union Ltd elections
(SUMUL Dairy).
Those nuanced in Su-
rat cooperative politics
feel that the party has
two groups with inter-
est in the SUMUL Dairy
politics. One camp is
led by sitting Chairman
Raju Pathak and the
other by former MP
Mansinh Patel.
Patil has ruled out
the existence of any
factions within the
party, and stated that
the party shall contest
the SUMUL elections
as a single unit. He
also reiterated that
those joining the party
have done so for their
benefit but not at the
behest of the party.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: More
than 60 Congress work-
ers and leaders were
detained by Gandhina-
gar police on Monday as
they marched towards
the Raj Bhavan (the of-
ficial residence of the
governor) to protest
against the political cri-
sis allegedly instigated
by the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) in Ra-
jasthan. The Gujarat
Pradesh Congress Com-
mittee President Amit
Chavda, Leader of Op-
position in State As-
sembly Paresh Dhanani
and MLAs Gyasuddin
Shaikh were among
those detained.
The march-cum-
demonstration was
part of the Congress
party’snationwidecall
for agitation for the
protection of the Con-
stitution and values of
democracy, as well as,
showing solidarity
withtheCMAshokGe-
hlot government in the
neighbouring state of
Rajasthan.
Before their deten-
tion, the Congress
workers and leaders
marched towards Raj
Bhavan in the state cap-
ital holding banners
with the message ‘Save
Democracy, Save the
Constitution.’
Talking to the media
ahead of the march,
Chavda accused BJP’s
central leadership of
‘murdering democracy
and insulting the public
mandate by disman-
tling democratically
elected governments in
its hunger for power.’
DR KALAM LEFT INDELIBLE MARKS ON SCIENCE, POLITICS: AMIT SHAH
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Home Minister Amit Shah
Gujarat Khedut Samaj VP
Jayesh Patel.
60 Cong leaders detained
by G’nagar police for protest
Cong leaders holding banners at the march-cum-demonstration.
Medics conduct a test for COVID-19 in Ahmedabad. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDH
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and BJP state unit president CR Patil.
—FILEPHOTO

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020
With the state witnessing a steady rise in the number of cases, city civic bodies are taking unilateral calls
Guj cities continue the good fight
V’dara to get more health infra,
including upgraded Dhaman-1
Supporters of Babita Kachhap
launch campaign for her release
Dry day for A’bad, but state to get rain soon 2-judge committee to suggest
HC live-streaming modalities
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Despite put-
ting up a good fight for
the first couple of
months, the city seems
to be losing its fight
against the novel coro-
navirus. In a span of a
month, the number of
COVID-19 cases in the
city has increased
100%. The number of
positive cases in June
totalled 2,029 but now
the tally has reached
4,180 cases. On June
26, there were 536 ac-
tive cases, and exactly
a month later, on July
26, the total number
of active cases touched
580 cases. The rapid
rise in the number of
patients seems to be
testing the health in-
frastructure in place.
With the infection
transmitting quickly,
the city and district
administration have
been working towards
increasing the number
of beds at COVID-19
hospitals and also up-
grading the Dhaman-1
ventilators.
Dr Minu Patel, state-
appointed advisor for
medical services, said,
“Dhaman-1 ventilators
have been upgraded and
now come with a com-
pressor and humidifier.
The state government
has supplied 35 upgrad-
ed Dhaman-1 ventila-
tors to Sir Sayajirao
General (SSG) Hospital.
Of these, around 20 will
be installed at SSG Hos-
pital and the remaining
15 will be installed at
Gotri Hospital.”
Addressing the me-
dia, Dr Patel added,
“Since the number of
cases is on the rise, med-
ical infrastructure is be-
ing tested to its capacity.
There is a shortage of
beds and ventilators, so
we are preparing to add
to our facilities over the
next 10 to 15 days.”
She added that SSG’s
trauma centre has 401
beds but can still accom-
modate 65 more. The
centre has six floors
with just 18 oxygen
points on every floor.
With 40 more oxygen
points per floor, the total
number of points in the
centre may reach 348.
The advisor also said,
“All floors except the
second floor, which
houses the paediatric
ward, have dedicated
COVID-19 wards. The
hospital authorities
plan to shift it to the
Gotri Hospital, where
only those in critical
condition will be admit-
ted. The remaining pa-
tients will be dis-
charged.”
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: After
Pathalgadi movement
activist Babita Kach-
hap was arrested by
the Gujarat Anti-Ter-
rorist Squad (ATS),
her supporters have
taken to social media
to demand her release.
Kachhap was detained
along with Samu
Oreya and Birsa Oreya
were nabbed on Friday
‘for trying to incite
people of the Satipati
community against
the government,’ as
per an official state-
ment. The campaign
picked up momentum
on Sunday.
The term pathalgadi
means ‘carving a stone’,
and was first used to cre-
ate political awareness
whenthePanchayat(Ex-
tension of Scheduled
Area)Act,orPESAcame
into force in 1996. The
pathalgadi displays put
up in villages included
excerpts from the PESA
Act that was designed to
encourageaformof gov-
ernance that built on lo-
cal traditions of partici-
patory democracy.
An online campaign
of the movement
gained support from
the Bharatiya Tribal
Party (BTP) leader and
MLA Chhotu Vasava
from Jhagadia taluka
of Bharuch district.
“Creating awareness in
the society about their
constitutional rights is
not naxalism. Raising
one’s voice against in-
justice is not unconsti-
tutional,” he said.
The national secre-
tary of the All India
Students Association
Sandeep Saurav tweet-
ed, “Babita Kachhap is
the hero of the tribal
movement and has
been arrested by the
Gujarat ATS along with
her two brothers. Bab-
ita is originally from
Jharkhand. They are
being called naxalites
under false accusa-
tions... Is it a crime to
raise voice for rights?”
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The city
witnessed a dry day
with most clear
skies, but heavy
rainfall occurred at
isolated places
across the state, in-
cluding Kheda dis-
trict of the North
Gujarat region and
Amreli in the Sau-
rashtra region.
Rainfall also oc-
curred at many places
in the districts of South
Gujarat region, at a few
places in the districts of
Saurashtra-Kutch and
at isolated places in the
districts of North Guja-
rat region.
A total of 29 talukas
received rainfall on
Monday. Dharampur in
Valsad district recorded
40mm, the highest for
the day.
According to the
weather bulletin is-
sued by the India Mete-
orological Depart-
ment, light to moder-
ate rain and thunder-
showers are very likely
at a few places in all
the districts of the
South Gujarat region,
Saurashtra and in the
districts of North Gu-
jarat region, namely
Anand, Kheda, Panch-
mahal, Dahod, Mahisa-
gar, Aravalli, and at
isolated places in
Kutch district. Dry
weather is very likely
in the remaining dis-
tricts of the North Gu-
jarat region.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The state
high court has consti-
tuted a two-judge
committee to work
out modalities of live
streaming court pro-
ceedings. A principal
bench comprising
Chief Justice Vikram
Nath and Justice JB
Pardiwala, while dis-
posing the petition
filed by Pruthvirajs-
inh Zala, a third-year
law student, appreci-
ated the initiative by
him. Zala moved a
Public Interest Litiga-
tion (PIL) pleading for
live streaming of high
court proceedings.
As per the order, on
June 25, a standing
committee met and con-
stituted a two- judge
committee tasked with
working out modalities
to facilitate people at
large including the me-
dia to watch virtual
hearings. The court
also accepted that citi-
zens had the right to be
in the know and receive
information, since pro-
ceedings involving the
COVID-19 issue were
having an impact on the
public at large or a sec-
tion of it.
The entrance to Vadodara’s SSG Hospital. —FILE PHOTO
The post that has been doing the rounds on social media.
Clouds dotted the sky over Ahmedabad on Monday.
Ruchi Thakkar
Surat: After being
denied a 14-day
leave of absence to
remain under
home quarantine, a
Surat Municipal
Corporation (SMC)
senior sub-inspec-
tor (SSI) has now
tested positive for
novel coronavirus.
GK Chavda’s son
had tested positive
for the virus on
July 15, following
which, he request-
ed his seniors for
leave to stay isolat-
ed. But, his applica-
tion was rejected
and he continued to
report for duty for
the next 10 days.
It is standard pro-
tocol that if one
member of a house-
hold tests positive
for COVID-19, then
all members of the
family have to be es-
sentially quaran-
tined. But Chavda
had to continue dis-
charging his duties
as per routine after
his leave application
was denied approval.
It just goes to show
that on one hand, the
municipal corpora-
tion claims to put in
every possible effort
to combat Sars-
CoV-2, but on the
other its negligence
towards its own em-
ployees paints a dif-
ferent picture.
Chavda met many
people before testing
positive on Saturday.
Therefore, it will be
difficult to trace the
people he came in
contact with and if
the infection has
been transmitted to
anyone or not. Had
Chavda been granted
permission to re-
main under home
quarantine, this sit-
uation would not
have arisen.
First India Bureau
Rajkot: The Rajkot
Municipal Corpora-
tion (RMC) on Mon-
day decided to dis-
continue the prac-
tice of divulging
the names of COV-
ID-19 patients. The
decision was taken
by RMC commis-
sioner Udit Agarw-
al in the wake of
several complaints-
-both oral and writ-
ten--that have ac-
companied the ris-
ingnumberof cases
in the city.
One of a handful
of civic bodies in the
state to disclose the
identities of those
infected with Sars-
CoV-2, RMC shared
both names and ad-
dresses.
Rajkot has now
witnessed 983 cases
of infection, with 539
people still undergo-
ing treatment for
COVID-19.
RMC opposition
leader Vashram Sa-
gathiya has opposed
Commissioner Agar-
wal’s decision to stop
sharing the patients’
identities. “How will
one come to know if
people in their area
are positive if RMC
does not declare
their names? How
will people take pre-
cautions in the ab-
sence of this infor-
mation? We will
meet the commis-
sioner tomorrow
and if he does not
listen, we will stage
a dharna,” he said.
Meanwhile, two ac-
cused caught by per-
sonnel from the Ra-
jkot crime branch
fled from the dedi-
cated COVID-19 hos-
pital on Sunday
night. The accused,
Hasmukh alias Pop-
at Baghelia and
Vikram alias Vikido
Vajelia, had con-
fessed to the police
about having been
involved in seven
house thefts.
The two were sent
to a COVID-19 hospi-
tal after testing posi-
tive but later fled.
This has put the po-
lice and administra-
tion on their toes,
since the two could
spread the virus.
SMC staffer denied
quarantine leave,
now tests nCov +ve
Rajkot civic body will
no longer share the
identities of patients
CHAOS BEFORE ORDER
HOLY WATER
VHP members and the head priest of the Jagannath temple Dilip Dasji perform a puja at Ahmedabad to bless water from
different rivers in Gujarat, before sending it to Ayodhya to be used in the construction of the Ram Janmbhoomi Temple.
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
—PHOTOBYHANIFSINDHI

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 243 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
It is a man’s own mind, not
his enemy or foe, that lures
him to evil ways. —Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020
sign of relative economic un-
derdevelopment in a state is
that its politics dominates its
economics and not the other
way around.
Rajasthan is currently in a
frenziedswirlthankstomanoeu-
vres of power politics. It seems
to be all about the ‘ease of form-
ing government’ rather then the
‘ease of doing business’!
Irrespective of how the poli-
tics shape up, the economic
heartbeatdoesnotandmustnot
stop. Rajasthan is the land
which has given in this country
exceptional leadership in the
area of enterprise, entrepre-
neurship, and business leader-
ship.Ineverycornerof ourvast
country,themarkof Rajasthan’s
entrepreneurs can be seen. Un-
fortunately, the homeland has
not reaped a rich harvest.
In Rajasthan, the economy
has taken a backseat. It can get
evenmoredismal.Oneglanceat
the ‘post-Covid’ world scenario
can tell us that. Travel and tour-
ismatastandstill.Neweconom-
ic activity devastated. Large
capital infusions are improba-
ble.Profitabilitybadlysqueezed.
Tax revenues much poorer. One
can visualise how difficult
things may become for Ra-
jasthan. We need political lead-
ership obsessed with growth
and economic expansion.
Economic growth is a matter
of objective realism. Going be-
yond individual competence
and charisma, it is about a re-
lay race where separate institu-
tions and individuals run for
the same team.
I am a corporate profession-
al, marketing expert and have
handled business operations
across diverse industries. I
look at ‘Brand Rajasthan’ from
an investor’s eyes and ask what
is the state of affairs?
How should we judge the eco-
nomic performance of a Chief
Minister?Theeasiestwaywould
be to rank performance accord-
ing to aggregated statistics dur-
ing a CM’s administration, such
as the growth of real GDP, reve-
nues, and employment. Have
majorcorporationssetupopera-
tionsinthestateandhasdomain
concentration grown?
However, given that some
Chief Ministers may face a
larger economic crisis as
against others who may govern
in more favourable times, it is
important to also take note of
the national conditions with
reference to inflation, financial
health, and overall investment
climate.
The fruits of economic liber-
alisationinIndiaeversince1991
have gone in disproportionate
measure to states such as Maha-
rashtra,AndhraPradesh,Tamil
Nadu, and Karnataka.
Why did Bangalore, Chen-
nai, and Hyderabad become
hubs for Indian IT? Why not
Jaipur? Why is there not a
booming culture industry -me-
dia, art, and leisure pursuits-
in the state? Why are Goa and
Kerala gaining and edge in ho-
listic tourism? Why does Hary-
ana have such a large manufac-
turing base compared to us?
It needs a will and ability to
lead reform, drive catalysis
through institutions, laws, and
regulations. Politicians are not
trained, economists, or busi-
ness professionals. Therefore,
observe how the Chief Minis-
ter is going about making eco-
nomic decisions. Who are the
advisors? Who are the people
chosen to head vital institu-
tions and departments? Are
they empowered to make deci-
sions that have a bearing on
economic growth?
Successful Chief Ministers
employ macroeconomic tools
such as tax policy, labour policy
and dip into the fiscal and mon-
etary broad stream to avoid
crunches, foster real GDP
growth and maintain economic
stability.
Secondly, we should consider
whether the leadership im-
proves the economic infra-
structure of the state? Are they
looking at the good social poli-
cy as a precursor to good eco-
nomic policy? Are they aware
of the cost structures of doing
business in the state? Do they
notice the conditions that im-
pact productivity and strength-
en the competitiveness of busi-
nesses based in Rajasthan?
Short term policy-making can
end up imposing excessive
costs, reducing productivity,
weakening of the state’s com-
petitiveness, and the decelerat-
ing long-term growth of real
GDP for the state.
What any CM must provide
is political will and a social
contract. Rajasthan ought to be
known as a state that is active
in those sectors where there is
great growth, vibrancy, and en-
ergy. Automotive, Telecom, In-
formation Technology, Com-
mercial Agriculture, Financial
Services – these are boosters
for job creation.
When a chief minister re-
forms the economic infrastruc-
ture, it leads to economic free-
dom and fairness revive confi-
dence and provides support to
those who seek growth. It is
also crucial that poor, de-
pressed classes in Rajasthan,
particularly those who may
have suffered from past dis-
crimination, are participating
fully, freely and energetically
in the economy and enjoying
the fruits of their labour.
Of course Rajasthan’s back-
wardness has structural rea-
sons but we must also, reflect
on whether political leadership
in Rajasthan has done enough?
Is our political leadership gen-
uinely interested in business
and economics?
When these questions be-
come part of public thought,
Rajasthan will advance.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
WHO IS THINKING OF
RAJASTHAN’S ECONOMY?
A
The fruits of
economic
liberalisation in
India ever since
1991 have gone in
disproportionate
measure to states
such as
Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, and
Karnataka
IN RAJASTHAN, THE
ECONOMY HAS
TAKEN A BACKSEAT.
IT CAN GET EVEN
MORE DISMAL. ONE
GLANCE AT THE
‘POST-COVID’
WORLD SCENARIO
CAN TELL US THAT
n our Art for
Trying Times
series, authors
nominateawork
they turn to for
solace or perspective during
this pandemic.
That we are all spending
more time at home these
days goes without saying;
for those of us in Mel-
bourne, our four walls feel
restraining when most
ways of leaving them are
proscribed. So let me per-
suade you of a marvellous-
ly legitimate alternative to
breaking the law, sorting
your messy passwords, or
rearranging your higgledy-
piggledy books into some
kind of order. It’s called
vicarious escape.
The novel concerns two
sisters, Elinor and Mari-
anne. The contrasting na-
tures of the two girls pro-
vides Austen’s title, but
there is also a younger
daughter, Margaret, and an
older stepbrother by the
mother’s first marriage
whose new wife forces the
mother and daughters out
of the large family house
into a cottage in a small vil-
lage in another county.
It is this move that puts
the sisters in a situation
thathasparallelswithours.
The tiny village of Barton
could offer no social life. A
little like people obliged to
work from home, the girls
found themselves with no
externalstimuli,otherthan
Nature, with which to fuel
their inner thoughts and
mutual exchanges.
Thrown back on their
own resources then, the
two older sisters work on
their existing accomplish-
ments. Elinor sketches and
paints, Marianne practises
her piano-playing; they
walk daily, sew and read.
Their every activity seems
to the modern reader al-
most weirdly extended: a
short stroll will occupy two
hours; Marianne, at least in
intention, will read for six.
Now that lack of time is
no longer an excuse, we
might even think of emu-
lating them, but there is
one great difference (at
least for me). Each sister
has in the other, on tap, a
daily companion who pro-
vides companionship and
stimulation. There is no
mention of boredom or
restlessness; depression re-
sults only from romantic
mishaps. How? Their
neighbour Sir John turns
up, some social life takes
off, and Marianne falls in
love. Well, this is a novel.
LITERARY ISOLATES
I briefly put aside the Dash-
wood sisters to consider
darker examples of liter-
ary isolates. Dostoevsky’s
Underground Man leapt to
mind. He lives utterly
alone in a basement; his
first words announce that
he is “a sick man… a spite-
ful man … an unattractive
man” whose liver is dis-
eased. As a solitary he
qualifies, but he’s hardly
an example to follow.
Back to Jane. But could
evenshehelpsomeonewith-
outasister?Someonewhose
props, given the age we live
in,aretextsandemails,both
of which seem determined
to shorten our exchanges.
“U?” is all we need say to
seek an opinion by SMS.
Thephoneseemscurrent-
lytheonlyresourcebywhich
we Melburnians could copy
the sisters’ ability to intro-
duce,develop,andthorough-
ly draw out a conversation.
But even that we can’t count
on. Usually our life-saving
story isn’t nearly finished
before the friend we’ve rung
rudely interrupts with what
she wants to say.
Thelockdowndoespermit
you to lose yourself in a be-
guiling other world – if you
have a Jane Austen on hand.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM
Sense and Sensibility in a time of coronavirus
I
Top
TWEET
Dr Harsh Vardhan
@drharshvardhan
During my address at the
Foundation Day of @moesgoi,
I spoke about how MoES has
also been seriously involved
in Research On Deep Ocean
Exploration for the last 30 years.
India has been one of the first few
countries in developing a deep
mining system upto 6000 metres.
Anand Sharma
@AnandSharmaINC
Shocked at the Rajasthan
Governor not honouring his
oath of office to uphold the
Constitution. The deliberate delay
in the convening of the assembly
session- a prerogative of the state
cabinet, is brazenly partisan and
disgraces his office.
IN-DEPTH
‘BEAUTY AND THE
BEAST’ TAKES OFF
he first batch of five Rafale fighter jets
flew out from Merignac airbase in
France’s Bordeaux province for their one
hop, 7000 km long journey to India. The
Dassault-built lethal flying machine is
part of Rs 59,000-crore inter-governmental deal
signed in 2016 for 36 aircraft to bolster its aging fleet
of fighters. Due to arrive on Wednesday, the jets will
beofficiallyinductedintotheIndianAirForce’sAm-
balaairbase.Thefirstlegof thejourneywilltakethe
planes to Abu Dhabi with mid-air refuelling. From
there they will embark on the last leg to Ambala.
With the first batch on its way, France has kept its
promise of delivering the aircraft on schedule. The
remaining aircraft will reach India by 2021-end.
Thetwin-engine,multi-rolecombataircraftisbeing
toutedasagame-changerforitscapabilitytoperform
several actions simultaneously. Rafales are equipped
with India-specific modification and carry weapons
like Meteor air-to-air and Scalp cruise missiles.
India also proposes to buy 21 MiG 29 fighter jets
and 12 Sukhoi Su30 from Russia in its prepared-
ness for a situation where it has to face an aggres-
sive adversary like China.
Signed in 2016, the deal witnessed an acrimoni-
ous political debate and a legal battle over the al-
leged higher price the government was said to be
paying for fewer aircraft than negotiated by the
UPA in 2001. Former ministers Yashwant Sinha,
ArunShourie,andlawyerPrashantBhushan’speti-
tion against the deal was dismissed by the Supreme
Court. The Chowkidar Chor Hai slogan coined by
Congress landed Rahul Gandhi into trouble.
T
MAKING CHINA
FEEL THE PINCH
hina, the neighbourhood bully, must
still be calculating the economic set-
back dealt by India in retaliation for
the land-grabbing in eastern Ladakh.
Huawei has been debarred from the
5G spectrum race from India. With the United
States and Britain also banning Huawei, the
blow must have been really hard for the Chinese
telecom giant. Banning of TikTok, along with
other popular Chinese-owned applications like
Helo, UC Browser, Shareit, CamScanner, Club
Factory, and WeChat were applauded in India
where the sentiment to boycott Chinese goods
and services became especially strong after the
Ladakh ambush in which 20 Indian soldiers lost
their lives. “To protect national interest and
security” the government had banned 59 Chi-
nese applications near the end of June under
the provisions of Section 69A of the Informa-
tion and Technology Act.
Through its latest decision, the government
has barred 47 applications operating as clones or
variants of the 59 apps banned earlier citing “op-
erational ethics of certain apps”, implying shar-
ing data with the Chinese government. There are
another 250 apps under the government’s scan-
ner and may also include the gaming app PUBG.
As tension along the border persists, the gov-
ernment cannot allow IT invasion by China to
weaken it through its apps which, the govern-
ment said were “engaged in activities prejudi-
cial to sovereignty and integrity of India”.
C
SHUBHRANSHU
SINGH
The writer is a corporate professional,
marketing leader, columnist and a social
and political commentator. He writes
on brand building, marketing, history,
politics, technology and business

To Receive Free Newspaper
PDF Daily
Whatsapp:
http://bit.ly/whatsappahm
Telegram:
https://t.me/firstindiaahmedabad
Click the above link☝ & subscribe us on your
preferred platform.

INDIAAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020
New Delhi: Cong leader
RandeepSinghSurjewala
“Thenewconstructionby
C h i n a
along In-
dian side
of LACin
Pangong
Tso Lake
area is
very wor-
rying. The misadventure
byChinesetoencroachon
country’s terrestrial in-
tegrity is not acceptable.
Will Indian govt take cog-
nizance of new satellite
images&takethecountry
into confidence?” —ANI
‘New construction
by China on
Indian side’
Sonia calls meeting of
RS MPs on July 30
Hidingtruthanti-national:RaGa
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi,
who has been targeting
the government after
June 15 clash with Chi-
na in Ladakh that killed
20 Indian soldiers,
sharpened his attack
over the issue. “I do not
mind if my whole ca-
reer goes to hell, but I
am notgoing to lieabout
the Indian territory,”
Gandhi says in a video
he shared on Twitter.
“The Chinese have oc-
cupied Indian land.
Hiding the truth and al-
lowing them to take it is
anti-national. Bringing
it to people’s attention
is patriotic (sic),” the
50-year-old ex-Congress
chief tweeted and
shared a video message.
“As an Indian, my
number one priority is
nation & its people. Now
it’s pretty clear that Chi-
nese have entered our
territory. It disturbs me.
It makes my blood boil.
How can some other na-
tion just come into our
territory?” —Agencies
New Delhi: Congress
Interim President So-
nia Gandhi has called a
virtual meeting of
Rajya Sabha
MPs on July
30, to discuss
on the “cur-
rent political
situation and
COVID-19.”
She had earlier
called a meeting
of LS MPs to discuss
these issues, interest-
ingly MPs present in
the meeting urged Con-
gress leader Rahul Gan-
dhi to take on the lead-
ership of the party. At
the same time, there are
other challenges also
for Congress, the
party staged
protests out-
side all Raj
Bhawans in
the country
except Ra-
jasthan.
Congress also
launched an on-
line campaign -
Speak Up For Democ-
racy against the alleged
attempt by BJP to top-
ple the Congress-led
state governments. —ANI
New Delhi:The Infor-
mation and Technology
Ministry has banned 47
apps, which are clones
or variants of Chinese-
linked 59 apps earlier
banned in June.These
banned clones include
Tiktok Lite, Helo Lite,
SHAREit Lite, BIGO
LIVE Lite and VFY Lite.
The order regarding
ban on these apps came
on Friday, July 24.
A month since the
last ban, sources in the
Ministry tell that “the
problem is with the op-
erational ethics of cer-
tain apps. This is an
ongoing process. If
apps qualify under the
same grounds of opera-
tional ethics, then they
will also come under
the scanner.” The 59
apps, most of which
were Chinese, had been
banned by the Centre in
June in view of the in-
formation available
that they are engaged in
activities which are
“prejudicial to sover-
eignty and integrity
and defence” of the
country. —ANI
CENTRE BANS 47 CLONES OF
Chinese apps banned earlier
Theproblemiswiththeoperationalethicsofcertainapps,informsources
New Delhi: On the
82nd Raising Day of
Central Reserve Police
Force, the Union Home
Minister Amit Shah on
Monday extended greet-
ings to its personnel
and their families.
“CRPF is synony-
mous with valour, cour-
age and sacrifice. Time
and again @crpfindia
has made the nation
proud. Their dedication
to serve the society dur-
ing COVID-19 is unpar-
alleled. I join millions
of Indians to wish our
brave CRPF personnel
and their families on
82nd Raising Day,” Shah
tweeted. —ANI
CRPF is synonymous
with valour, courage
and sacrifice: Shah New Delhi: The SC
sought a reply from
the UGC on a batch of
pleas challenging its
circular and seeking
cancellation of final
term examination in
the wake of COVID-19
pandemic. A bench
headed by Justice
Ashok Bhush posted
the matter for further
hearing on Friday. So-
licitor General Tushar
Mehta, appearing for
the UGC, told that
there are 818 universi-
ties out of which 209
universities have al-
ready conducted ex-
ams and 394 others are
planning to conduct
the same.
The court was hear-
ing a PIL filed by stu-
dents seeking to quash
the UGC circular dat-
ed July 6 whereby all
universities all have
been asked to wrap up
the final exams before
Sept 30. —ANI
SC seeks UGC’s response on exam pleas
New Delhi: Solicitor
General Tushar Me-
hta, explaining the
Centre’s welfare
schemes during the
Covid-19 pandemic,
informed the Su-
preme Court that eve-
ry one rupee from the
Centre now fully
reaches the people,
while in contrast, ear-
lier only 15 paise for
every rupee used to
reach the people.Me-
hta submitted before
a bench headed by
Justice Ashok Bhush-
an that “Fortunately
we have passed those
times when Centre
used to send Rs 1 & 15
paise used to reach
the poor. Now the
Centre send Rs 1 &
people get Rs 1.”
Senior advocate Ab-
hishek Manu Singhvi,
appearing as a officer
court, contended that
S-G is politicising the
matter. —ANI
New Delhi : The SC
asked Solicitor Gen-
eral Tushar Mehta
what can be done to
expedite the trials
against the foreign na-
tionals, who attended
the Markaz Tablighi
Jamaat congregation
in Nizamuddin in
March this year.
A bench headed by
Justice AM Khan-
wilkar was hearing a
batch of petitions
challenging the black-
listing and cancella-
tion of visas of for-
eign nationals who
attended the congre-
gation, which had re-
portedly become an
epicentre for the
spread of coronavirus
in the country. The
court, which had ear-
lier stated that they
could individually
move concerned au-
thorities,fixedthemat-
ter for further hearing
to July 31. —ANI
GOVERNMENT MONEY FULLY
REACHING PEOPLE: SG TO SC
‘HOW CAN TRIALS AGAINST FOREIGN
JAMAATIS BE EXPEDITED?’ New Delhi: Underlin-
ing that India and Bang-
ladesh partnership is a
role model in the region
for good neighbourly
relations, External Af-
fairs Minister S Jais-
hankar on Monday said
New Delhi stands pre-
pared to cooperate with
the people of Bangla-
desh to tide over diffi-
cult times amid corona-
virus pandemic.
Speaking at the hand-
ing over ceremony of
10 broad-gauge diesel
locomotives to Bangla-
desh, Jaishankar noted
that the ongoing COV-
ID-19 has not slowed
down the pace of over-
all cooperation between
the two countries.
“Very few countries in
the world share such
close fraternal ties as
ours. Our partnership
today stands out as a
role model in the region
for good neighbourly
relations,” he said.
India stands prepared
to cooperate with Bang-
ladesh to tide over these
difficult times.” —ANI
‘Indiapreparedto
cooperatewith
Bangladeshamidcrisis’
Piyush Goyal & S Jaishankar flag off 10 diesel locomotives via VC.CRPF personnel wearing protective masks attend the function.
The MeitY received complaints about misuse of apps. Ayodhya: A day after a
member of the Shri
Ram Janmabhoomi
Teerth Kshetra Trust
stated that a time cap-
sule, enlisting the his-
tory and facts related to
the Ram Janmabhoomi,
will be placed thou-
sands of feet below the
construction site to en-
sure that there are no
disputes in the future,
Mahant Nritya Gopal,
Trust president said
that it is true and it will
be done.
Mahant said that he
does not have much in-
formation about the
time capsule. “It is 100
per cent correct that a
time capsule, enlisting
the history and facts re-
lated to the Ram Janma-
bhoomi, will be placed
thousands of feet below
the construction site. It
will be done in order to
ensure that there are no
disputes in the future. A
grand Ram Temple will
be built here and all ar-
rangements are in place
for Bhoomi Pujan,” he
said.“Idonothavemuch
information about time
capsule, but it will be
placed below the con-
structionsite,”headded.
PM Modi is scheduled
to lay the foundation
stone of the Temple in
Ayodhya on August 5, he
said. —ANI
‘Time capsule to be kept
under Ram Temple site’
SENSEX SLIPS 194 PTS, NIFTY
CLOSE AT 11,132 IN CHOPPY TRADE
Mumbai: Benchmark Sen-
sex slid over 194 points
to settle at 37,935 in a
see-saw session on Mon-
day, weighed down by
intense selling in banking
stocks.After starting off
the session on a positive
note, the BSE Sensex got
caught in a downward
spiral and slumped over
500 points. It managed
to recover some lost
ground and finally settled
at 37,934.73, showing
a loss of 194.17 points.
Likewise, the broader
NSE Nifty closed 62.35
points or 0.56% lower at
11,131.80. On the Sensex
chart, ICICI Bank, HDFC
Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd
Bank and Bajaj Finance
emerged as major
laggards, dropping over 6
per cent.
FIRE BREAKS OUT AT SHOP IN DELHI’S SADAR BAZAR, NO CASUALTY
New Delhi: A fire broke out at a shop in
North Delhi’s Sadar Bazar area on Monday,
a Delhi Fire Services (DFS) official said.
No casualty was reported in the incident,
the official said. A call about the fire was
received around 10 am after which 13
fire tenders were rushed to the spot, DFS
Director Atul Garg said.According to the fire
department, the building comprised ground
and two floors, where plastic materials
were stored. The fire was brought under
control by around 2 pm, the DFS said.
SSR DEATH CASE: VISCERA
REPORT RULES OUT FOUL PLAY
Mumbai: Mumbai’s
Bandra police, who are
investigating Sushant
Singh Rajput’s suicide,
have received the viscera
report of the late actor.
The report has ruled out
any possibility of foul play
involved in Sushant Singh
Rajput’s death. They
haven’t found any trace
of any kind of poison. Su-
shant died by suicide on
June 14. The actor was
34 years old.In June, the
final postmortem report
of Sushant Singh Rajput
confirmed asphyxia due
to hanging as the cause of
his death. There were no
struggle marks or external
injuries on Sushant Singh
Rajput’s body. His nails
were clean. The postmor-
tem report said that it is a
clear case of suicide.
IN THE COURTYARD
MoS SPEAK
IN DETAIL
A view of Ram Janmabhoomi Teeertha Kshetra office at Ramkot in Ayodhya on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
NO FRESH ORDER ON SECURITY
OF RAM MANDIR: CRPF DG
New Delhi: Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Direc-
tor General AP Maheshwari said that there is no fresh
order given by the government
regarding the security of the Ram
Mandir in Ayodhya. “There is no
fresh order which has been issued
on the security of the Ram Mandir.
If the government gives such
instructions or directions, the CRPF
will perform its duty effectively,”
the DG said after attending the
82nd Raising Day of the CRPF when asked if the CRPF
will guard the Ram Mandir. The government will soon
decide on the security of the Ram Mandir and it is likely
that CRPF may get this responsibility. The CPRF is also
guarding Vaishno Devi temple. After CRPF, CISF may
also get the security of the Mandir. —ANI

INDIAAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020
Guj nears...
total of 1,48,905 active
cases. As of Sunday, the
Maharashtra govern-
menthastested18,86,296
samples. That is an av-
erage of 13,154 tests per
million. Similarly, Ra-
jasthan has tested
14,03,124 samples, or
15,361 per million.
The Gujarat govern-
ment, for the past few
days, has increased anti-
gen testing. This in turn
has increased the state’s
per day testing capacity.
On Monday, the state
tested25,474samples.Of
the 1,052 samples that
tested positive, 1,045
came from people from
the state. Seven were
from out-of-state pa-
tients These 1,045 cases
were reported in 32 dis-
tricts and eight munici-
pal corporations.
Surat continues to
top the list with 258
cases: 204 from the
city and 54 from rural
areas. Other districts
that witnessed new
positive cases are:
Ahmedabad (184), Va-
dodara (96), Rajkot
(74), Gandhinagar
(34), Bhavnagar (33),
Surendranagar (30),
Dahod and Patan (27
each), Bharuch (24),
and Amreli (22).
As of Monday, there
are 13,146 active cases
in the state, with 81 pa-
tients on ventilator sup-
port. An 80-bed COVID-
care centre is being set
up on the premises of
the Vadodara Central
Jail afterafter 18 in-
mates tested positive
for Sars-Cov-2. An MD
and four MBBS doctors
will give full-time ser-
vices at this centre. The
Gotri hospital district
administration is plan-
ning to convert the
dome into a 100-bed ICU
facility as well
In Surat, 539 patients
are being treated for
COVID-19 in the new
civil hospital, of which
454 are in advance
stage, of these 14 are on
ventilator support, 50
are on BiPAP machines,
390 are on oxygen sup-
port. SMIMER is treat-
ing 208 patients, of
which 12 are on ventila-
tor support, 22 on Bi-
PAP machines, and 139
are on oxygen support.
Guv-CM...
“In case, confidence mo-
tion is moved in the As-
sembly then proceed-
ings should be done in
the presence of chief
secretary, Parliamenta-
ry Affairs Department.
The proceedings should
be recorded and the
trust vote should be car-
ried out with a button,”
the release said, adding
that the proceedings
should be telecast live.
The release said it
should be clarified that
if the Assembly session
is convened then how
social distancing norms
would be followed.
“Is there any ar-
rangement in which 200
MLAs and 1000 officials
do not face the threat of
infection. And if any-
one gets an infection,
how to prevent its
spread among others?”
the release from the
Governor asked.
It said the assembly
does not have a sitting
arrangement for 200
MLAs and 1,000 officials
by following the social
distancing norms.
The release said it is
the constitutional duty
of the Governor that in
such difficult circum-
stances, the life of
more than 1200 people
cannot be put to risk by
calling a session with-
out any special urgen-
cy. —WITH ANI INPUTS
HC dismisses...
However, Dilawar’s law-
yer Harish Salve, said
that he would file fresh
petition. After hearing
both sides, single bench
of Justice Mahendra
Goyaldismissedthepeti-
tion while allowing Dila-
war to file a fresh one.
The court also dis-
missed petition of the
BSP to become party in
this matter saying that
when the original peti-
tion has been dis-
missed, there was no
logic for BSP’s petition.
Speaker Joshi...
the court that Speaker
wants to withdraw his
plea challenging the
High Court jurisdiction
to interfere in pending
proceedings on disqual-
ification petition
against 19 rebel MLAs.
A Bench of Justices
Arun Mishra, BR Gavai
and Krishna Murari al-
lowed the Speaker to
withdraw the plea.
Sibal also told the
Bench that due to lack
of stay by the Supreme
Court on the High
Court’s July 21 order,
the HC has proceeded to
pass a detailed order on
July 24.
“They have passed a
32-page order. We have
to weigh our legal op-
tions on what to do
next,” Sibal said. —ANI
CM Gehlot...
pledged to save democ-
racy which was a huge
achievement.
Gehlot said that the
new generation has a
huge responsibility and
the spectacle that is go-
ing on in state today has
never happened in 70
years!
FROM PG 1
WILL RASHMI SAXENA SAHNI BE
MEMBER OF CBDT ?
In case SK Gupta is not given extension in ser-
vice,, Rashmi Saxena Sahni may become the new
Member of the CBDT. She is a 1984 batch IRS (IT)
officer.
IRS OFFICER TO JOIN KERALA GOVT
Abraham Renn S is all set to join the Kerala govt
as Addl Commissioner, State Goods & Service Tax
(SGST) on deputation basis for a period of three
years. He is a 2013 batch IRS(C&CE) officer is
presently posted Dy Director, GST Intelligence,
New Delhi.
SC COLLEGIUM TO MEET THIS WEEK?
Supreme Court Collegium is expected to meet
this week. Currently there are four vacancies of
SC Judges.
EIGHT SHORT-LISTED TO BE
INTERVIEWED FOR THE POST OF RBI
DY GOVERNOR ON AUG 7
Eight shortlisted candidates for the post of Dy.
Governor in RBI are to be interviewed on August 7.
RIVA GANGULY TO TAKE OVER AS
SECRETARY (EAST), MEA ON OCT 1
Riva Ganguly Das, High Commissioner of India to
Bangladesh, will take over as Secretary (East) in
the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on October
1, 2020. Das, who is a 1986 batch IFS officer, will
succeed incumbent, Vijay Thakur Singh retiring
on September 30, 2020.
GUPTA TO JOIN AS SECRETARY
LPA CBIC has relieved Dinesh Kumar Gupta to
join as Secretary, Land Port Authority (LPA), un-
der MHA. He is a 1995 batch IRS(C&CE) officer.
He has been selected for LPA for three years on
deputation basis.
S BALA SUBRAMANYAM REDDY
RETURNS TO PARENT CADRE
S Bala Subramanyam Reddy, who was on
deputation with the State of Andhra Pradesh and
presently working as Special Secretary, Industry
and Commerce Department, has been repatriated
to his parent cadre. He is a 1989 batch ITS officer.
PALLAVI AGARWAL RELIEVED TO
JOIN CENTRAL DEPUTATION
Pallavi Agarwal has been relieved to join as Joint
Secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Develop-
ment, New Delhi, on deputation basis. She is an
IRS-IT officer.
FOUR IAS OFFICERS SHIFTED IN
MAHARASHTRA
Rajiv Jalota has been posted as Additional Chief
Secretary, Higher and Technical Education Depart-
ment, Mantralaya, Mumbai, while SVR Srinivas was
made Principal Secretary, Housing Department,
Mantralaya, Mumbai and Saurabh Vijay is Secre-
tary, Medical Education and Drugs Department,
Mumbai. Besides, Jalaj Sharma has been posted as
Additional Municipal Commissioner, Nagpur Munic-
ipal Corporation, Nagpur in Maharashtra.
PARAMESWARAN IYER QUITS AS
SECRETARY, DRINKING WATER
Parameswaran Iyer has resigned from the post
of Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and
Sanitation with effect from August 21, 2020. He is
a 1981 batch voluntarily retired IAS officer of UP
cadre.
Dr Sunil Kumar appointed
as DG, Health Services
Dr Sunil Kumar has been appointed as Director
General of Health Services in the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare in Government of India.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with : http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
Effortsunderwaytoconduct
10 lakh tests per day: PMNew Delhi: Efforts are
being made to ramp up
the testing capacity in
the country to conduct
up to 10 lakh COVID-19
tests per day, said Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi on Monday.
The PM was speaking
during the launch of
high-throughput COV-
ID-19 testing facilities
in Noida, Mumbai and
Kolkata, in which he
took part through video
conferencing. “While
we had just one centre
for Corona testing in
January, today close to
1,300 labs are function-
ing across the country.
More than 5 lakh tests
are being conducted
daily in the country to-
day. In the coming
weeks, efforts are being
made to increase the
number to 10 lakh tests
per day,” he said.
He further highlight-
ed that the country cur-
rently has over 11,000
COVID facilities and
more than 11 lakh isola-
tion beds.
Praising the drastic
increase in the number
of PPE kits manufac-
tured in the country
during the crisis phase,
Modi said that current-
ly there are 1,200 manu-
facturers producing
more than 5 lakh PPE
kits daily.
India’s COVID tally
on Monday crossed the
14-lakh mark with the
highest single-day spike
of 49,931 cases & 708
deaths. —ANI
PM Modi speaks during the launch of 3 new high-throughput labs of ICMR via video conferencing.
The PM was speaking during the launch of high-throughput
COVID-19 testing facilities in Noida, Mumbai and Kolkata
“Greetings to all @
crpfindia personnel on
the 82nd Raising Day
of this outstanding
Force. CRPF is at the
forefront of keeping
our nation safe. The
courage and profes-
sionalism of this force
are widely admired.
May the CRPF achieve
even greater heights
in the coming years,”
he said in a tweet.
“Best wishes to
Maharashtra CM Shri
Uddhav Thackeray Ji
on his birthday. I pray
for Uddhav Ji’s long
and healthy life.”
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
COVID-19
UPDATE
Nadda hints
at BJP going
solo in next
Maha polls
Mumbai: Slamming
the Maha Vikas Aghadi
(MVA) government in
Maharashtra as ‘an un-
holy alliance,’ BJP pres-
ident JP Nadda urged
the state unit to ensure
that it doesn’t need the
support of anyone else
for the next elections.
“The government is
an unholy alliance (of
Shiv Sena-NCP-Con-
gress), it is shameless
and works for profit. We
need to ensure that we
do not need anyone and
should go alone in the
next elections,” he said
while addressing the
Maharashtra BJP of-
fice-bearers through a
video-conference.
India’s count crosses 14 lakh-mark
country, recovery rate at 63.92 pc
New Delhi: With a
spike of 49,931 cases in
the last 24 hours, India’s
COVID count crossed
the 14 lakh-mark on
Monday while the re-
covery rate stood at
63.92 per cent.
According to Union
Health Ministry, total
COVID-19 cases stand at
14,35,453 including
4,85,114 active cases and
9,17,568 cured/dis-
charged/migrated cas-
es. With 708 deaths in
the last 24 hours, the
cumulative toll reached
32,771.
A total of 7,924 fresh
COVID-19 cases and 227
deaths were reported in
Maharashtra today. The
total count of cases in
the state is 3,83,723 in-
cluding 2,21,944 recov-
ered cases and 1,47,592
active cases.
A total of 613 new cases
and 26 deaths were re-
ported in Delhi in last
24 hours. The total
count of cases has risen
to 1,31,219 including
1,16,372 recovered/dis-
charged & 3,853 deaths.
Tamil Nadu reported
6,993 new COVID-19
cases and 77 deaths in
the last 24 hours taking
the total number of cas-
es to 2,20,716. While
5,723 patients were dis-
charged, 54,896 cases
are still active in the
state. —ANI
‘850 departures, 845
arrivals during air travel’
26 DEATHS, 613 MORE CASES
REPORTED IN DELHI
New Delhi: There have
been 850 departures
and 845 arrivals on day
64 of the resumption of
domestic air travel, Un-
ion Civil Aviation Min-
ister Hardeep Singh
Puri said on Monday.
“Smooth & streamlined
Domestic operations. 26
July 2020, Day 64 till
2359 hrs. Departures
850, 75,126 passengers
handled. Arrivals 845,
74,511 passengers han-
dled. Total movements
1,695, Footfalls at air-
ports 1,49,637, —ANI
‘PM called to
inquire about
my health’
Delhi doctor,
27, dies of
Coronavirus
Bhopal: MP CM
Shivraj Singh
Chouhan “Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi ji called yes-
terday (Sunday) to
inquire about my
health. I could not
talk to him as I was
doing meditation
and yoga. After
some time, he again
called. He asked
about my health
and advised me to
take precautions,”
he tweeted. —ANI
New Delhi: A
27-year-old doctor,
who was on the
frontline in fight
against the novel
coronavirus, died
after a month-long
battle against the
highly infectious
disease.DrJoginder
Chaudhary worked
at Dr Baba Saheb
Ambedkar Hospi-
tal, He had tested
positive on June 27.
New Delhi: Delhi on
Monday witnessed a
spike of 613 new COV-
ID-19 cases, taking the
total number of corona-
virus cases in the na-
tional capital to 1,31,219.
According to a health
bulletin of the Delhi
government, there are
10,994 active cases in
the metropolis. With 26
deaths reported in Del-
hi in the last 24 hours,
the death toll stands at
3,853.
As many as 1,497 peo-
ple have recovered/dis-
charged/migrated on
Monday taking the total
number of such people to
1,16,372 recovered.—ANI
Over 55 lakh
people affected,
102 dead: Govt
Guwahati: A total
56,71,018 people have
been affected in 30
districts of Assam
due to floods since
May 22, the state gov-
ernment said.
102 people have
died due to floods and
615 relief camps have
been set up, accord-
ing to the state gov-
ernment.
A total of 132 ani-
mals at the Kaziran-
ga National Park and
Tiger Reserve have
died due to floods re-
lated incidents.
“132 animal deaths
reported at Kaziran-
ga National Park and
Tiger Reserve, Boka-
hat due to drowning
and other reasons, so
far. This includes 14
rhinos, 5 wild buffa-
loes, 8 wild boars, 2
swamp deer, 98 hog
deer, 1 sambar, 3 por-
cupines and 1 Py-
thon,” said the Gov-
ernment of Assam.
On Sunday, a team
of National Disas-
ter Response Force
(NDRF) had evacu-
ated villagers and
livestock to safer
places from flood-
affected areas of
Dighirpam Bazar in
Assam’s Barpeta
district.
Floods have
wreaked havoc in
various districts of
Assam for the
fourth time this
year. —ANI
ASSAM FLOODS
NDRF team evacuate villagers & livestock & transported
them to safer places from flood-affected areas in Barpeta.

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020
HOW TO BE MORE
IN EVERYDAY LIFE
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WORLD
NATURE CONSERVATION DAY?
Each and every activity in the
world depends upon nature so
people should understand that
any activity they do will affect
the earth. Conservation of na-
ture is of utmost importance
to all human beings and their
life on Earth. Earth has given
the essential need to live like
water, air, trees, animals, food,
soil, minerals, etc. so its people
duty to keep the environment
safe and clean. There are so
many threats to nature, such
as deforestation, illegal trade
in wildlife, pollution, plastics
use, chemicals, industrial de-
velopments, and many more
factors. So, it is important to
protect nature and to create a
healthy environment for pre-
sent and future generations.
WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF WORLD
NATURE CONSERVATION DAY?
The founder and the history
of World Conservation Day is
unknown. The main objective
of celebrating this day is to
protect, maintain, and con-
serve the natural resources
and habitats. Due to the deple-
tion of natural resources and
the imbalance in the ecosys-
tem, people face risks like
natural disasters, global
warming, various diseases,
and much more. So the only
solution to overcome these
problems is to preserve the
natural resources by creating
awareness to the people
around the world and encour-
aging them to protect the en-
vironment in an effective
manner for the present as well
as future generations.
WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO CONSERVE
THE ENVIRONMENT?
Due to the fact that natural
resources are limited, and the
formation takes millions of
years, the human exploits
them for their endless con-
sumption and comfort. Hu-
man beings have become a
threat to natural resources as
human interference in natu-
ral resources is rising day af-
ter day. So, it’s very important
to save the resources and
some of the steps to conserve
nature are listed below:
Simple ways to make
your life greener
LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS
Work with and be inspired by
leftovers – think of cuisines/
herbs and spices/add some
grains/legumes or farina-
ceous. Discover a new style of
cooking, no recipe required.
Think flavour and learn how
to incorporate and balance
sweet, sour, bitter, salt, and
umami. Make a delicious
sauce – a quick and tasty roast-
ed capsicum sauce the chef
learnt on Santorini 30 years
ago. Goes with many dishes.
USE TECH FOR GOOD
Apps are taking the fight to food
waste.Olioconnectsneighbours
and local retailers so surplus
food can be shared; Too Good To
Go enables cafes and restau-
rants to sell uneaten meals at
reduced rates; while Farmdrop
connects you with sustainable
localfarmers.Torecyclekitchen
scraps, find neighbours with a
compost bin (or chickens) at
sharewaste.com.
SHOP LITTLE AND OFTEN
A lot of waste comes from do-
ing big shops, putting two-for-
one “bargains” in the trolley
and buying on repeat rather
than planning meals. “I’m al-
ways clear about what we will
eat at home and when,” says
Skye Gyngell, chef and found-
er of Spring in London, which
runs a “scratch menu” using
waste.
BUY HALF YOUR FOOD LOCALLY
The shorter the food chain,
the less waste created be-
fore it reaches your kitchen.
Hunter subscribes to buy-
ing 50% of food grown with-
in 30 miles of where you
live. “It’s an achievable fig-
ure,” he says, especially
when producers, such as
Hodmedod’s in Suffolk, are
reviving homegrown pulses
including British lentils,
quinoa, carlin peas and fava
beans (which Hunter fer-
ments to turn into miso and
soy sauce). The nutritional
value of fruit and veg lasts
for only a short time, adds
Gyngell, so how far your
food has travelled matters.
COMPOST ON THE GO
Compost isn’t just for the
garden – think about reduc-
ing your food waste when
you’re on the go, too, says
Lindsay Miles, whose book
Less Waste, No Fuss Kitch-
en: Simple Steps To Shop,
Cook And Eat Sustainably
(Hardie Grant, £12.99) is out
in June. “A reusable coffee
cup makes a great im-
promptu container for your
lunch scraps – take apple
cores or bread crusts home
to compost.”
REDUCE YOUR WASHING
Erin Rhoads’ Waste Not
Everyday (Hardie Grant
Books, £10) points out that
“the majority of the envi-
ronmental burden caused
by fashion happens after we
take the clothing home: 82%
of the energy a garment will
use is in the washing and
drying we do each week”.
Rhoads suggests spot-clean-
ing, and neutralising smells
with a spritz of diluted vod-
ka or lemon juice.
GO FOR PLASTIC-FREE
PERSONAL CARE
There is a world of waste-
free sanitary protection to
explore, and Chillings-
worth suggests buying a
reusable tampon applica-
tor. “The reusable version
fits every size of tampon,
is antimicrobial and easy
to insert. After use, give
it a wipe, rinse and return
to the storage box that
fits in your handbag. Ster-
ilise in hot water between
periods.”
RECYCLE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
“Most major supermarkets
provide plastic recycling col-
lection points in store for
stretchy plastic (such as fro-
zen food bags, carrier bags
and bread bags) which nor-
mally can’t be recycled from
home,”saysHelenBird,plas-
tics expert at government
waste advisory body Wrap.
 SOURCE: AGENCIES  CONCEPT: DIVYA HEMNANI  DESIGN: SITARAM SHARMA
World Nature Conservation Day is observed on July 28 to
spread awareness about the best practices to protect the
natural resources as our Earth does not have unlimited
amount of things we need like water, trees, soil etc

Will it matter in five years
from now? Ask yourself this
question for anything that
stresses you out.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
A STOP TO NON-STOP RAAS AS
COVID-19 STRIKES FESTIVITIES!
Shishir Awasthi
Gandhinagar: COVID
19 has struck again,
this time at the heart
of something which
the Gujaratis hold
very dear, the famous
Garba during the
Navratri festival. If
one goes by CM Vijay
Rupani’s discussion
with the Garba or-
ganizers on Monday
in Gandhinagar, then
this year will be a dis-
mal one for the Gar-
ba lovers.
No permission will
be given to organize
garba till the end of Au-
gust and the decision
will be reviewed only if
the Corona situation
shows some improve-
ment said official
sources.
Garba gives employ-
ments to lakhs of peo-
ple across the state
and boosts the econo-
my, which is why a
delegation of the or-
ganisers had gone to
meet the CM and re-
quest him personally.
Navratri, a celebra-
tion of nine days and
nine nights of dancing
to honour Goddess
ambe begins on Octo-
ber 19 in this year. The
Garba has been de-
scribed as the “longest
dancing festival in the
world” by PM Modi
himself when he was
the chief minister of
the state.
Navratri and Gar-
ba is also an occasion
for companies to ex-
hibit new collections,
new launches and
myriad of economic
activities across the
state, the business
from Garba crossed
10,000 crores in 2014
itself as millions par-
ticipate in the festi-
val daily across the
country, and over-
seas. Corporates
from sectors ranging
from apparels, auto-
mobile, real estate,
jewellery, fast mov-
ing consumer goods
(FMCG), telecom,
electronics, home ap-
pliances and others
all cash in on this
season as they tie up
with Garba organis-
ers, private societies
across cities and
towns to promote
their brands during
the event.It is no
small worry if with
the present slow-
down the festive sea-
son also nosedives
leading to a dismal
picture all around.
Rupani also told the
organizers how he had
said no to the various
fairs in Saurashtra re-
gion during upcoming
months too. This deci-
sion came on a day
when Gujarat reported
1,052 new COVID-19
positive cases, taking
the total number of
cases to 56,874.
Surat Municipal
Corporation limits
reported the highest
number of cases –
204, followed by 144
cases in Ahmedabad
Municipal Corpora-
tion limits and 82 in
Vadodara Municipal
Corporation limits.
Novel coronavirus protocols play spoilsport as CM Rupani withholds permission for Garba during Navratri!
THERE’S HOPE
Garba dance during Navratri festivities. —FILE PHOTO
Rakhis come with
precautionary
messages on nCov
AMC sanitation
workers on strike
Three detained with
`88 lakh in Navsari
ED files another case against Bhandari
IIMAsurveyhailsCM’spandemicdashboard
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: With
the festival of Raksha
Bandhan fast ap-
proaching, the rakhi
makers of
Ahmedabad have
packaged rakhis with
important messages
amid the COVID-19
pandemic. Every
year the rakhi mak-
ers of Gujarat sell
these with different
messages.
M o h a m m e d
Iqbal, a rakhi trad-
er said, “We want to
spread awareness
about measures
that need to be tak-
en to stay safe from
the virus.”Raksha
Bandhan is the fes-
tival that shows
love and affection
between a brother
and a sister. Each
year we make ra-
khis on different
designs. This year
our rakhi packets
carry the theme of
COVID-19. A sister
will tie rakhi on her
brother`s wrist, but
our message in the
packages urges peo-
ple to wear masks,
keep distance, use
sanitizers during
the times of COV-
ID-19,” he added.
Observing that
people have stopped
purchasing Chinese
items, Iqbal added,
“People must be en-
couraged to buy lo-
cally made rakhis.
While making rakh-
is, people became
Aatmanirbhar. Sev-
eral women, poor
people got employ-
ment.”
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad : Sanita-
tion workers of
Khokhra ward went
on strike on Monday
after Ahmedabad Mu-
nicipal Corporation’s
Estate department re-
moved a garbage con-
tainer from outside
the Khokhra police
station on Sunday
evening.
The workers com-
plained that now they
have to go 2 km away
from the area to dump
the garbage. A letter
was sent to AMC on
June 26, 2019, by the
Khokhra police. People
from the commercial
center and Khokhra
ward councilors
Javmin Dave, Navanku-
mar Brahmbhatt, and
Mahendra Patel has
also asked for the re-
moval of the container
placed outside the pub-
lic toilet.
As per their plea
stray dogs, pigs and
cows dug into the con-
tainer and spill the
garbage all over the
road.Waterthatcomes
out of the box is sur-
rounded by mosquitos
causing breathing
problems and making
it difficult for them to
sit in the station.
First India Bureau
Navsari: Three per-
sons were detained
with Rs 88 lakh unac-
countedcashduringa
vehicle- checking ex-
ercise on Mumbai-
Ahmedabad highway
by Navsari police in
Gujarat on Monday.
He identified the
three as Milind
Yashwante of Nashik
in Maharashtra, and
Jayesh Patel and Vi-
pul Patel of Unjha in
Mehsanadistrict.The
cash has been confis-
cated and Gandevi
police is conducting
furtherprobe,hesaid.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The En-
forcement Directorate
(ED) has registered a
money laundering
case against middle-
man Sanjay Bhandari
and others including
South Korea-based
‘SECL’ in connection
with an “illegal” con-
sultancy agreement
for a Gujarat-based
project worth
6,744.32 crores.
The probe is
based on a case
instituted by
the CBI on June
30. The CBI has
alleged that
Santech International
entered into a consul-
tancy agreement with
SECL in October 2007,
in violation of the
terms of a contract be-
tween OPaL and
SECL. The ac-
cused received
about $50 lakh
from SECL in
June 2009 for
the job.
A c c o rd i n g
to CBI, the tender
document did not
have any provision
for advance pay-
ments. However, the
OPaL board approved
it on the bidders’ re-
quest. In its 2015 re-
port, the Comptroller
and Auditor General
had objected to it,
while also observing
that the project com-
pletion was delayed.
The agency suspects
a link between the
payment for consul-
tancy and purchase
of a London property
by Bhandari.
Ahmedabad: A survey
conducted by the Indian
Institute of Manage-
ment Ahmedabad
(IIMA) has hailed the
dashboard through
which Gujarat Chief
Minister Vijay Rupani
coordinates with vari-
ous stakeholders in the
fight against the COV-
ID-19 pandemic.
Nearly 80 per cent
of the 2,387 respond-
ent citizens have ex-
pressed their satisfac-
tion with the leader-
ship of the CM during
the time of COVID-19
pandemic, it said.
Similarly, 70 per cent
of respondent health
workers are satisfied
with the CM’’s support
in terms of communi-
cation, building trust,
and overall handling of
the crisis. Nearly 53 per
cent of health workers
and 51 per cent admin-
istrative workers find
the CM’’s leadership
and support “excel-
lent”, as per the survey.
The survey is part of
a report prepared by
IIMA faculty member
Ranjan Kumar Ghosh
and his team, with the
aim to provide “an over-
view of the COVID-19
situation in Gujarat
and the dynamic yet ef-
fective strategies adopt-
ed by the state govern-
ment” with a caveat
that the pandemic is far
from being over.
Among other obser-
vations, the survey
noticed an increasing
awareness regarding
sanitation among citi-
zens who are averse
to spitting in public,
and overwhelming 72
per cent respondent
citizens in
Ahmedabad and Su-
rat preferring to buy
essential items online
during the lockdown,
it said.
As on July 26, the
number of COVID-19
cases in Gujarat stood at
55,822 with 2,326 deaths,
as per state Health de-
partment. —PTI
First India Bureau
Kutch: Farmers in
Kutch have given tak-
en Modi’s slogan At-
manirbhar Bharat to
heart and have suc-
cessfully cultivated
the exotic vitamin
rich dragon fruit,
which originally be-
longs to South Amer-
ica. Over 150 farmers
have taken up this
cultivation in around
800 acres of land.
The conditions in In-
dia are not suitable for
this fruit but that did
not deter Haresh Th-
akkar who took it up in
2014-15 after learning
the technique from Vi-
etnam. Other farmers
were also inspired and
took up the cultivation
producing a fine quality
of Dragon fruit.
Thakkar was part
of the delegation dur-
ing CM Vijay Rupa-
ni’s visit to Uzbeki-
stan. He presented
the cultivation pro-
ject and invited the
concerned people to
come to Gujarat to
learn and be bene-
fited. The governor
of Gujarat also vis-
ited Thakkar’s farm
and appreciated his
efforts.
PM Narendra Modi
also praised the efforts
of the farmers of Kutch
in this dragon fruit en-
deavour, a credible ef-
fort for self-reliance, in
the Mann ki Baat on
Sunday.
A p p r o p r i a t e l y
named, the dragon
fruit’s outer skin is
cactus-like, known as
pitaya in Hindi, it is a
powerhouse of nutri-
tion, equipped with
many health benefit-
ing properties, it is
low in calories, zero
cholesterol and full
of antioxidants.
The Dragon fruit,
once an item of import
is no longer one as the
farmers of Kutch are
cultivating this on a
large scale and using
the most updated meth-
ods to sell it online too.
In the times of the
Corona pandemic par-
taking of this fruit is
very beneficial as the
significant level of vita-
min C helps to fight
chronic disease by
boosting the immune
system. Farmers in
Kutch district say that
they are getting good
prices for Dragon fruit
from hotels and restau-
rants. A large number
of farmers in Bhuj,
Gandhidham and Man-
dvi areas are now culti-
vating Dragon fruit and
getting good returns.
Enter the Dragon: Atmanirbharta bears ‘fruit’ for Kutch kisan
HOMEGROWN EXOTICA

Hard work
pays off as
Dragon fruit
cultivation in
Kutch,
Gujarat,
brings
accolades and
money for the
farmers
Traditionally, dragon fruit only grew in South America and had to be imported.

MAA-BETI JODI’S OF
B’TOWN
ollywood is bless-
ed with legend-
ary beauties who
have graced their
presence on the
silver screen and
made history
with their acting/dancing
skills. These include beau-
ties like Sridevi, Hema
Malini, Jaya Bachchan,
Sharmila Tagore, Dimple
Kapadia, Lillete Dubey,
Tanuja, Amrita Singh and
the list can go on.
Allegationsof Nepotism
notwithstanding,thegenes
of the parents are trans-
ferred to their kids- this is
exactly what has made the
Bollywood industry as
glamorous as it is today.
These mothers not only
had rewarding careers in
the industry but also
helped their daughters
build a career in the same.
A few mother-daughter jo-
di’s that have made a mark
in the industry are Tanuja
andKajol/Tanishaa,Hema
Malini and Esha/Ahaana
Deol, Dimple Kapadia and
Twinkle Khanna, Sharmi-
la Tagore and Soha Ali
Khan, Amrita Singh and
Sara Ali Khan, Lillete and
Ira Dubey, and Pooja Bedi
and Aalia Furniturewalla
among others.
Some of these jodi’s
have been spotted in the
movies together while
some have appeared to-
gether in advertisements,
public events and ramp
shows.
Not just the Bollywood
industry, but the mothers
of the actresses who have
been on the top charts
have been extremely sup-
portive too- well, that’s the
reason why they’re so suc-
cessful in the industry!
AHMEDABAD, TUESDAY
JULY 28, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
City First brings you the stunning Maa-Beti jodi’s of the
Bollywood industry who have created a great base for their
daughters and have supported them throughout!
NEHAL NAYAR
nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in
B

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
HUMA PARVEEN, Model
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
You must not rely on
people to get your work
done. You must leave your
worries behind in emotional
matters, try and gain control on your
thoughts as unnecessary thinking will
serve no purpose. Value those who
care about you without judging them
about their past.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Taking out time to spend
with family is also
important. Some of you
will be really excited today
for something that you have been
waiting for long time to happen.
Distant trip to visit someone really
close is possible. Some of you may
be way too exited to get married.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
You should smile more
often its good for health.
This year has changed
your life in terms of fitness
completely. Monetary benefits are on
the chart. Trust your intuitive power
and it will prevent you from making
any professional mistakes. Owning a
new property is on the card.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
You are brave and your
daring spirit will make you
very successful. Business
proposal will prove to be
really beneficial for you. Examine all
the details thoroughly. You are on your
way to success, all you need is to
control your emotions. You will get the
chance to express your feelings.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
If you really work hard,
there will be a boost in
your earnings. Your
professional contacts can
help you to an extent, don’t rely on
them blindly and believe in your
cpapabilities. Volunteer to some
charity work today not with the
feeling of giving selflessly.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
We only understand the
value of freedom when we
don’t have it. Plan your
career in advance. Travellers
may crave for more adventure but
situations can prevent that from
happening and anyways these are the
times when life is more precious then
Gold. Be fair to your lover.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
The situation in the world
right now can prevent you
from travelling. Your good
management skills will
help you save more money to use for
other essential requirements. You
will enjoy your work because of less
work pressure. You may move to
some other place on temporarily.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
You may feel very
desperate for your partner
today. Keep your focus and
and continue to forge
ahead. Be very vigilant in official
work as everything is under
observation. For you its not hard to
tackle problems as you are tough and
always prepared for the worst.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Loving your parents more
than anything is a very
special things about you in
today’s world. An exciting
time is on the cards for those who
are seeking some fun in life. Before
choosing a career you must consult
those who are from the particular
field you are interested in.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Your business will bloom if
you add more variety of the
products in it. You will
easily get the promotion at
a time when others will be struggling
for it. Be rest assured no financial
crunch will effect you in any big way.
You may have to adapt to healthy
leaving as the need of the hour.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
You love animals and have
special place for them in
your life. You need to open
your eyes to see the
opportunity in front of you.
Professional you are doing really well
and your very satisfied with your
work. You should forgive people to
relieve yourself from any burden.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You have a very good
control on your emotions,
you don’t get bothered by
problems that easily. You
will really feel financially secure by
the decisions you will take today. You
may go to spiritual place today for
God’s blessings. Stop caring about
ones who don’t care about you.
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
VARUN DHAWAN: HEART THROB
OF YOUNGER GENERATION
arun Dhawan is
good looking,
charming, a ver-
satile actor, and
an incredible
dancer. Yes, we’re
talking about
none other than the pre-
sent generation’s heart-
throb Varun Dhawan.
He is loved, appreciat-
ed, and regarded as
very successful
amongst the current
crop of actors and is
one of the most bank-
able stars in Bolly-
wood right now. He
is one of the high-
est-paid celebrity
of India and he
made his position
in Forbes magazine
in 2014. He was
born to film direc-
tor David Dhawan
and Karuna Dha-
wan. After complet-
ing high education, he
worked as an assistant
director in My Name is
Khan in 2010. He assisted
Karan Johar for the same.
After 2 years, he decided
to make an entry to Bol-
lywood. He made his de-
but with Karan Johar’s
romantic comedy Student
of the Year alongside Sid-
harth Malhotra and Alia
Bhatt. In 2014, Dhawan
appeared in two films, the
first of which was the ro-
mantic comedy Main Tera
Hero (2014), a remake of
the Telugu film Kandiree-
ga, which was produced
by Balaji Motion Pictures
and directed by his father.
Dhawan then played
Rakesh “Humpty” Shar-
ma, a flirtatious Punjabi
boy who engages in a ro-
mantic affair with an en-
gaged woman, in
Shashank Khaitan’s ro-
mantic comedy Humpty
Sharma Ki Dulhania. Co-
starring Alia Bhatt and
Siddharth Shukla, the
film was described as a
tribute to Dilwale Dulha-
nia Le Jayenge (1995) by
Johar, who served as pro-
ducer. The crime thriller
Badlapur (2015) from di-
rector Sriram Raghavan
saw Dhawan play a man
who over 15 years avenges
the murder of his wife
and son. Dhawan next
starred opposite Shrad-
dha Kapoor in a sequel to
the dance film ABCD: Any
Body Can Dance, entitled
ABCD 2, in which he por-
trays the real-life charac-
ter of Suresh
Mukund, a
dancer from
M u m b a i
who wins
the 2012
World Hip
Hop Dance
Champi-
onship.
Alongside his acting ca-
reer, Dhawan performs on
stage and has co-hosted
two award ceremonies. In
2013, he performed at the
Filmfare, Screen, and
Stardust award ceremo-
nies, and at an event in
Hong Kong.
POORVIKA
AGRAWAL
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
V
Varun Dhawan
Still from ‘ABCD 2’

O
livia de Havilland, the last
surviving star of ‘Gone with
the Wind’, has passed away.
The actress played Melanie
Hamilton Wilkes, who squared off
with Scarlett O’Hara to gain the af-
fection of Ashley Wilkes, played by
Leslie Howard. The 1939 movie be-
came one of the
icons in cine-
ma, played
and re-
p l a y e d
every year
in movie
t h e a t r e s
across the
country. The
movie has
drawn con-
stant and in-
creased criti-
cism over glo-
rifying the
South during the
Civil War.
Olivia starred in sev-
eral other movies, including
‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’.
She won Oscars for her perfor-
mances into Each His Own and
The Heiress. She was also
an important part of a his-
toric court case that
changed Hollywood, the
Oscar-winner was respon-
sible for putting an end to
the archaic studio system in
Hollywood. When she was un-
der a long-term contract with
Warner Bros., she put her foot
down, refusing certain roles,
which got her benched more
than once. She ended up suing
Warner Bros., saying the stu-
dio system amounted to
“peonage,” and the
judge agreed and freed
her from her remain-
ing obligations un-
der her contract.
—Agency
ETCwww.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020
11
SWEETEST
BIRTHDAY WISHollywood actor
Kriti Sanon cele-
brated her 30th
birthday on Mon-
day. To make it
more special, her
sister Nupur Sa-
non posted a series of
adorable photos/videos
with a heartfelt note on so-
cial media.
She wrote, “Happy birth-
day LOVE/LIFE @kritisa-
non. We were never really
taught to be one. A Team!
But we’ve been one always.
We somehow held each oth-
er’s hand a lot more strong-
er. Each time...Just. If
there’s one woman I abso-
lutely adore...it’s you. And I
have my reasons beyond
the sisterly bias!! :D”
“I haven’t seen you
change Krits! Just seen you
evolve into a better person
but I haven’t seen you
change one bit in terms of
yourhumanside,emotions,
values, morals , thought
processandsomuchmore...
and it has been absolutely
beautifultobeapartof this
loving journey ...watching
yougrowbutstillseeingthe
sameinnocence,samelittle
kriti (our doll) :) I love you
more than anyone in this
world. More than that...I re-
spect you. :”) You have the
mostbeautiful,purestheart
Krits. You’ve always been
the ‘right’ one. On your spe-
cial day...all I want is happi-
ness for you. Praying for
you to get back all the love
and care you’ve only and
only given to this world
and so much more!! You de-
serve the best in every-
thing,” she further added.
—City First
B
URGING TO
DONATE
P
r i y a n k a
Chopra Jonas
and singer
husband Nick
Jonas have donated
towardsAssamflood
relief and have
asked people to do so
too to help efforts to
help those in the
State, which has
been ravaged by
floods and has left
close to 100 people
dead and at least 129
animal casualties.
Taking to social
media the actor-
singer couple shared
the names of a few
organisations, who
that are involved in
relief and rescue op-
erations in the state
to which people
could send in their
donations. “While
we are all still deal-
ing with the effects
of the global pan-
demic, the Indian
state of Assam has
been grappling with
another major cri-
sis. It has been dev-
asted by floods trig-
gered by heavy mon-
soon showers affect-
ing the lives of mil-
lions.” wrote Pri-
yanka in a Tweet.
“The impact to life
and land/property is
unimaginable. The
rapidly rising water
level has also flooded
the Kaziranga Na-
tional Park, one of
the finest wildlife
sanctuaries in the
world,” the actor
wrote. —ANI
D
ays after being admitted to a Mumbai hospital
for testing positive for COVID-19, actor and for-
mer Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan along
with her daughter Aaradhya Bachchan were
discharged from the hospital on Monday after testing
negative for the virus. Aishwarya’s star husband Abhishek
Bachchaninatweetsharedthathiswifeandtheireight-year-
olddaughterhaverecoveredfromcoronavirusandhavebeen
senthome.Bachchanfurtheraddedthatheandhissuperstar
father Amitabh Bachchan will continue to remain under
medicalsupervisioninthehospital. “Thank you all for your
continued prayers and good wishes. Indebted forever.
Aishwarya and Aaradhya have thankfully tested negative
and have been discharged from the hospital,” Abhishek
Bachchan tweeted. “They will now be at home. My father
and I remain in hospital under the care of the medical
staff,” his tweet further read. —ANI
A
anand L Rai’s next project ‘Atrangi Re’ starring
actors Sara Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar and
Dhanush will commence its second shoot
schedule from October this year in Madurai.
The film went on floors in March this year before the
nationwide lockdown was imposed. While the film’s first
schedule took place in Varanasi, makers have now
planned to begin the second shoot schedule of ‘Atrangi’
Re from October. Taking note of the increasing corona-
virus cases in the country, Rai and the entire team de-
cided to not resume the shoot immediately for everyone’s
safety. About the upcoming schedule, which will last for
three months, film’s star cast will be shooting in three
different locations including Madurai in October followed
by Delhi and then Mumbai in the following months. It has
also been told that the Delhi and Mumbai schedule with
the ‘Rowdy Rathore’ star Akshay will be continuous and
will continue to be shot for more than a month. —ANI
TESTED NEGATIVE
ATRANGI RE
THE LAST
SURVIVOR!
#REGISTER A
FRIEND-DAY
2
020 was supposed
to be the year
when the Friends
cast had that epic
reunion which we all
have been craving for.
The shooting for the re-
union special was sup-
posed to take place on
March 23-24. However,
due to COVID-19, the
shoot got delayed. Now,
the cast has been teas-
ing a potential August
shoot but we will have to
wait and see if they’re
able to reunite under
the same roof or not.
However, Jennifer
Aniston, Courteney
Cox and Lisa Kudrow
have plenty of mini-re-
unions to keep fans
happy as they share
photos on Instagram for
us to obsess over. This
time, the women reu-
nited for an important
cause as they urged
fans to register to vote.
Lisa took to IG to share
a gorgeous photo of the
trio. While Jennifer
kept it cozy in a cream
turtleneck sweater,
Courteneylookedsharp
in a baby pink blazer
and white tee and Lisa
adorned a comfy black
shirt. Cox shared a vid-
eo where Aniston is
seen whispering some-
thing to her while Kud-
row smiled at her
friends. Moreover, Jen-
nifer shared a Rachel
Green meme to encour-
age voting on her Insta-
gram Stories.
Lisa’s caption reads
as, “Friends don’t let
friends skip elections.
Text FRIENDS to 26797
to make sure you are
registered. And tag
your friends below to
remind them to check
their registration .#reg-
isterafriendday @iama-
voter.” —Agency
WINNERTelevision actor
Karishma Tanna
edged out television
actor Karan Patel and
actor-choreographer
Dharmesh Yelande
to win the popular
adventure reality show
Khatron Ke Khiladi
10. The grand finale
of the Rohit Shetty
hosted show was
aired on Sunday on
Colors. Apart from
Tanna, Karan Patel,
Dharmesh Yelande
and Balraj were the
finalists.
Kriti Sanon
Karishma Tanna
Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and Jennifer Aniston
Aaradhya and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Priyanka Chopra and Nick JonasOlivia de Havilland
Akshay Kumar, Sara Ali Khan and Dhanush

First india ahmedabad edition-28 july 2020

First india ahmedabad edition-28 july 2020

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to First india ahmedabad edition-28 july 2020

Similar to First india ahmedabad edition-28 july 2020 (20)

More from FIRST INDIA

More from FIRST INDIA (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

First india ahmedabad edition-28 july 2020