CEC Arora hails Bihar voters' faith in democratic process

Patil hints Rupani to continue as CM, calls Modi ‘bhua’ (sorcerer)
First India Bureau
Surendranagar: Shar-
ing the stage with
Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani for the first
time on Wednesday,
Bharatiya Janata
Party state unit presi-
dent CR Patil hinted
that the Rupani could
continue as the state’s
chief minister. The
duo had been cam-
paigning for Kirit-
sinh Rana in Limbdi
when Patil also re-
ferred to Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
as a ‘bhua’ (sorcerer).
Both told the press
that they were confi-
dent of winning the
upcoming bypolls.
Addressing the pub-
lic meeting CR Patil
said, “The trio of CM
Rupani, Deputy Chief
Minister Nitin Patel
and I will continue to
work as a team.”
He then appealed to
the people to vote for
the BJP candidate and
said that once elected
to the state Assembly,
he would bring devel-
opment for the people
of the constituency.
Patil further stated,
“Narendra Modi is
‘bhua’ (sorcerer) for us.
As the bhua throws co-
conuts, Modi launches
development pro-
grammes and schemes.
We collect all these co-
conuts and bring them
to the state for you. Be-
cause of him, Gujarat
has benefited a lot and
development of the
state has continued.”
Patil then com-
pared Congress with
the Titanic and said,
“When the Titanic
was built, it was said
to be an unsinkable
ship. Yet, it sank on
its maiden voyage.
Now, Congress is sink-
ing like the Titanic.”
Addressing the gath-
ering, Rupani said,
“Decades ago, Pandit
Nehru declared ‘Aaram
Haram Hai’ but succes-
sive Congress govern-
ments did nothing to
boost employment. As a
result, unemployment
increased in the state.”
He also attacked the
Congress over party
loyalty, Turn to P6CM Vijay Rupani at the campaign event at Limbdi on Wednesday.
IN SOLIDARITY
BJP state unit chief and CM
were appearing in public
together for the first time
18°C - 35°C www.firstindia.co.in | www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia | instagram.com/thefirstindia
AHMEDABAD l THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 334
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
FIRST PHASE
OF MUNICIPAL
ELECTIONS TODAY
THE FIRST PHASE OF MUNICIPAL POLLS WILL BE
HELD TODAY AT JAIPUR HERITAGE, JODHPUR
NORTH AND KOTA NORTH MUNICIPAL CORPS
OVER 16.54 LAKH VOTERS WILL DECIDED FATE
OF 951 CANDIDATES IN 250 WARDS. POLLING
WILL BE HELD FROM 7.30 AM TO 5.30 PM
BIG BALLOT BATTLE BEGINS
53.54% voter turnout in 1st phasePatna: Over 53 per cent
voter turnout has been
recorded till 5 PM in the
first phase of Bihar as-
sembly polls on Wednes-
day, the Election Com-
mission said in its provi-
sional data.
Voting ended at 6 PM.
A total of 71 assembly
segments of the state’s
243 constituencies voted
in the first phase in
which nearly 2.15 crore
voters were to decide the
electoral fate of over
1,000 candidates.
Voterturnoutwaslow
in the beginning, but it
progressedwiththetime
everywhere notwith-
standing raging corona-
virus cases in the state.
As per the provisional
voter turnout data up-
dated by the Election
Commission at 5 PM,
51.91 per cent of the total
electorates have exer-
cised their franchise.
The 71 constituencies
are spread across 16 dis-
tricts. The maximum
55.95 per cent turnout
has been recorded in
Kaimur, followed by
55.44 per cent in Lakh-
isarai, Buxar (53.84 per
cent), Bhagalpur (52.16
per cent) and Patna
(51.02 per cent) among
others.
Union minister and
seniorBJPleaderGiriraj
Singh cast his vote at a
polling booth in Lakh-
isarai, while former Bi-
har chief minister and
HAM president Jitan
Ram Manjhi exercised
his franchise at a booth
in Gaya.
State ministers and
also candidates from dif-
ferentconstituencies-Vi-
jay Sinha and Krishnan-
dan Verma- and com-
monwealth games gold
medal winning shooter
Shreyasi Singh, BJP
nominee from Jamui
seat, cast their vote.
Enthusiasm of voters
was seen at many a
booth. In Nawada, a
physically challenged
voter reached booth on
his tricycle to cast his
vote.InDinanaassembly
constituency, a group of
womenexpressedhappi-
ness after exercising
franchise. Polling time
was curtailed in the nax-
al-affected areas.
Out of the 71 constitu-
encies, 35 are in naxal-
hit areas where polling
was conducted in a stag-
gered manner.
Voters, adhering to social distancing norms, stand in queues outside a polling station to cast their votes for the first phase of Bihar
Assembly Elections, at Paliganj constituency in Patna on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Darbhanga: In a veiled
attack at Congress and
other Opposition par-
ties,PrimeMinisterNar-
endra Modi on Wednes-
day said that those who
used to ask us about the
date of Ram temple con-
struction are now com-
pelled to applaud.
Addressing a poll ral-
ly here, the Prime Min-
ister said that the peo-
ple of Bihar have taken
a resolve to again defeat
those who brought ‘jun-
gle raj’ to the state, those
who looted Bihar.
“After years of wait,
the construction of
Ram temple has start-
ed. Those political peo-
ple who used to ask us
for a date (for temple
construction) are now
compelled to applaud...
It is the identity of BJP
and NDA. We do what
we promise,” he said.
“People of Bihar
have taken a resolve to
again defeat those who
brought ‘jungle raj’ in
the state, those who
looted Bihar. These are
the people under whose
government crime was
rampant in the state.
They did corruption in
money meant for loan
waiver. NDA has taken
a resolve to make Bihar
self-reliant, while on
the other side are peo-
ple who are eyeing mon-
ey which will come for
development projects in
Bihar,” he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses an election meeting in
Darbhanga on Wednesday.
PM: Who used to ask date of
Ram temple now applauding
MODI’S ‘JUNGLE YUVRAJ’ JIBE
PM Modi attacked RJD leader and Mahagathband-
han chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav by
calling him the “yuvraaj” (crown prince) of “jungle
raj”. Asking voters to beware of those responsible
for ‘jungle raj’ in the state, PM Modi said.
Mohd Fahad
New Delhi: CEC Sunil
Arora chose to share
his impromptu
thoughts, as to how ECI
felt after the completion
of the first phase of
elections to the state as-
sembly of Bihar with
the media, before
Umesh Sinha Secretary
General, Chandra
Bhushan and other sen-
ior officials had a de-
tailed interaction with
them.
Sunil Arora started
by saying that we al-
ways vouch for free,
fair, ethical and trans-
parent elections but
this time we added ‘safe’
elections to our aim,
‘safe’ because of this
ongoing pandemic. “At
times, the ECI was de-
motivated by comments
on why are we holding
the elections during
COVID19 but ECI was
of the view, which I ar-
ticulated in the opening
press conference of Bi-
har Elections at Gyan
Bhavan on September
25 and later at Patna on
October 1, that for the
Election Commission
of India the Bihar Elec-
tions are a ‘leap of faith’
not a ‘leap into the
dark”, added CEC Aro-
ra.
Senior officials in the
EC, who themselves
were taken by surprise,
said without being
quoted, this prefatory
statement of CEC was
probably prompted by
the peculiar situation
of holding elections in
a state with 7.29 crore
electorate under the
shadow of pandemic 19
when there was no
dearth of skeptics and
cynics. The Election
Commission has been
enthused by the mas-
sive participation of
the electorate of Bihar
who have reaffirmed
their faith in electoral
process of India, to
whom CEC Arora
expressed the grateful-
ness of the Commis-
sion.
Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora speaking during the virtual press conference.
Well done, Mr. Chief
Election Commissioner
Dr Anita
New Delhi/Patna:
Conducting world’s
biggest election in the
times of corona pan-
demic is no mean task,
as it still isn’t over as
two phases of polling
in Bihar is left. But go-
ing by the way the
first phase is conduct-
ed not just peacefully,
but also in compliance
with Covid guidelines,
the Election Commis-
sion headed by Chief
Election Commission-
er Sunil Arora cer-
tainly needs a pat on
the back.
The voter turnout
of around 54 per cent
shows not just the peo-
ple’s confidence in the
democratic frame-
work, but also im-
mense trust on its
torchbearer - EC.
It is the result of
tremendous home-
work on the ground
doubled up with CEC
Arora’s multiple vis-
its to the poll-bound
state that the election
has started on a posi-
tive note.
Bihar Elections were a ‘leap of faith’ not a ‘leap in the dark’: CEC

NEWSAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
Smart Power India
(SPI) on Wednesday
released the findings
of its joint study
with NITI Aayog and
the Rockefeller Foun-
dation on ‘Electricity
access and bench-
marking of distribu-
tion utilities.’ Guja-
rat topped the study,
which was conducted
across 10 Indian
states and included
47 districts, 115
towns, and 1,238 vil-
lages in Gujarat.
The report collected
more than 1,600 sam-
ples from the state and
found that Gujarat is
the only state supply-
ing close to 24 hours of
electricity to house-
hold, commercial, and
institutional consum-
ers. However, its over-
all average number of
hours of electricity
supply drops to 10
hours when including
the electricity supply
to agricultural cus-
tomers for all four Gu-
jarat distribution util-
ities.
Gujarat West is
the only distribu-
tion utility for
which 100% of con-
sumers in each of
the four categories
(household, agricul-
tural, commercial,
and institutional)
reported zero volt-
age fluctuations. Gu-
jarat West, Gujarat
North, and AP East
are the best perform-
ers in the household
category, with 100%,
86%, and 84% of
household custom-
ers, respectively, re-
porting zero voltage
fluctuations.
Gujarat South, Guja-
rat Central, and MP
Central are the only
three distribution util-
ities for whom institu-
tional customers re-
ported zero occurrenc-
es of electricity-relat-
ed accidents. In the
agricultural category,
Gujarat West and Gu-
jarat South top the list,
for resolving 100%
(Gujarat West) and
80% (Gujarat South)
agricultural custom-
ers’ complaints within
three hours over the
past year.
All lit up! Gujarat tops survey with nearly 24/7 electricity supply
Surat and Bharuch police seize `55.85 lakh cash in 2 ops
First India Bureau
Bharuch/Surat: The
Bharuch and Surat
police in two sepa-
rate operations have
recovered a total of
Rs 55.85 lakh in cash
that traced back to a
builder. The cash was
allegedly had been
meant for Kiritsinh
Jadeja, the Congress
Party’s candidate for
the Karjan constitu-
ency in next week’s
state Assembly by-
poll. However, the
real estate developer,
Alpeshbhai Akbari,
has rubbished the al-
legations, saying the
money was meant for
a project and not the
candidate.
The Bharuch crime
branch team on
Tuesday night had
intercepted a car at
the Mulad Toll Plaza
and discovered that
it was carrying Rs25
lakh in cash. When
questioned, Ravi
Chaukariya and
Deepaksinh Das-
rathsinh Chauhan,
the car’s occupants,
the men told the po-
lice that they had
collected the cash
from the Surat build-
er and were on their
way to Karjan to give
the money to the
Congress campaign.
After the Bharuch
team shared this infor-
mation with their
counterparts in Surat,
the latter raided the
Atlantis project near
Sarthana, and recov-
ered Rs30.85 lakh in
cash.
However, Akbari
has strongly denied
any connection with
the Karjan candite
and said that the
money was being
sent for a real estate
project.
Now, the Income-Tax
department is expect-
ed to further investi-
gate the cash transac-
tions.
Smart Power India study was conducted across 10 states
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: As is
usual before any
election, political
leaders from both
major parties are
doing the rounds of
their constituencies,
to ask for votes.
What is different
this time, however,
is that the voters are
not just listening to
the speeches but are
asking the hard
questions.
For instance, in
Morbi, cabinet minis-
ter Jayesh Radadia
and JV Kakadia were
knocked out by farm-
ers, while Brijesh
Merja was asked why
he is not taking calls
from the public.
Similarly, the
Dhari and Morbi
constituencies are
witnessing push-
back from villagers,
as can be seen in
video clips doing the
rounds on social me-
dia. In a jolt to poli-
ticians, voters seem
to have not to reveal
who they might vote
for in Tuesday’s
state Assembly by-
polls.
Some villagers
walked out of a meet-
ing of the Bharatiya
Janata Party in Raydi
and Sarakadia villag-
es of Khambha.
Dhanshibhai, a vil-
lager from Raydi vil-
lage, lashed out at a
BJP leader, saying, he
had made seven repre-
sentations to the MLA
for a ration card but
was turned away.
“Even if you were
with the Congress
before and have now
joined the BJP, the
responsibility is
still yours. My boys
go hungry without a
ration card,” Dhan-
shibhai tells former
Congress MLA
Kakadia in a video
that has gained trac
tion online.
Another farmer
stood up during a
meeting and took
Kakadia to task on the
issue of electricity to
his farm. In this re-
gard, Kakadia asked,
“Tell me when you
need it.”
The farmer then
asked, “Jayesh Ra-
dadia is the best
minister and solves
the problems of the
farmers in his area,
so why not solve the
problems of the
farmers in Dhari?”
Later, a young man
also questioned the
campaigners about
the unemployment
rate, which has been
on the rise for the past
two years.
Common caption:
Stills from a video clip
showing a heated ex-
change between cam-
paigning leaders and
villagers.
Builder whose money it is says
it was meant for project, not
Karjan’s Congress candidate
Ravi Chaukariya and Deepaksinh Chauhan have been arrested.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: The po-
lice claimed that
Rashmin Patel, the
man they arrested
on Tuesday for al-
legedly hurling a
chappal at Deputy
Chief Minister Ni-
tin Patel in Kurali
on Monday even-
ing, has Congress
connections. How-
ever, a fact check
has revealed that
the accused is actu-
ally affiliated to
the BJP.
According to local
media reports, Rash-
min had served on
the executive com-
mittee chairman of
Shinor Taluka Pan-
chayat from 2010 to
2013, after having
been elected on a BJP
ticket. His wife Rash-
miben was elected as
village sarpanch and
she too was an active
member of the BJP.
Shinor Taluka
BJP Committee
President Chandra-
vadan Patel too has
acknowledged that
Rashmin is an ac-
tive member of the
BJP and has filed
his form as a BJP
member in the re-
cent enrolment
drive.
However, the BJP's
Vadodara district
President Dilubha
Jadeja is unaware
about the status of
Rashmin’s BJP mem-
bership, and Con-
gress district Presi-
dent Sagar Brahmb-
hatt is also not famil-
iar with Rashmin.
Yet, Vadodara
district local crime
branch Police In-
spector DB Vala
has been accusing
him of being a
member of the
Congress party for
the past five years.
The police have ar-
rested Rashmin Pa-
tel on the basis of a
telephonic conver-
sation but the per-
son who actually
hurled the chappal
seems to be still at
large.
Man arrested for
hurling chappal
at DyCM has
BJP affiliation
Rashmin Patel
NO HOLDS BARREDVoters choose directness
over diplomacy as they
take on campaigning
leaders ahead of the
Assembly by-election
Stills from a video clip showing
a heated exchange between
campaigning leaders and villagers.

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020
Surat nCoV deaths cross
1K but state data says 845
Locals left irate after civic body
demolishes 125-year-old temple
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In an en-
croachment removal
drive, the Ahmedabad
Municipal Corpora-
tion removed a temple
located in the posh
Sindhu Bhavan road
area. The temple that
was destroyed was 125
years old, according to
the claims of the lo-
cals, who resisted the
drive. According to
sources, Vishwa Hin-
du Parishad activists
protested against the
temple’s demolition.
The temple’s priest
alleged that the civic
authorities tried to take
bribes from the owners
of the bungalows sur-
rounding the temple.
He also said that he was
only given seven days
notice to vacate the tem-
ple. Sources add that
AMC body has allocated
an alternative location
for the temple.
As soon as estate de-
partment workers ar-
rived to demolish the
temple, Vishwa Hindu
Parishad workers and
locals, including temple
priests, protested
against the temple’s re-
moval.
According to the
priest, “If a house can-
not be moved in seven
days, then how can the
temple?” He says that
he had also given up
temple space to build
the surrounding road.
He says that this temple
has been present at the
location for the last 125
years before any roads
were built nearby.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
state health depart-
ment bulletin on
Wednesday said that
two COVID-19 pa-
tients died in Surat,
one each in the city
and rural areas,
bringing the total
number of deaths in
the Surat district to
845. However, local
authorities put the
number of fatalities
at 1,001.
Either way, Surat
has registered the sec-
ond highest number
of COVID-19 deaths
after Ahmedabad’s
1,898. Vadodara has
reported a total of 113
deaths, Rajkot, 91, and
Gandhinagar, 90.
Dang district is the
only one in the state to
have recorded no
COVID-19 deaths,
while Narmada has
had one.
In the past 24 hours,
the state has conduct-
ed 51,912 tests and con-
firmed 980 new cases.
There are now 13,354
active cases in the
state with 63 patients
on ventilators. Of the
six deaths reported on
Wednesday, three
were from
Ahmedabad, two from
Surat and one from
Rajkot.
While Surat had the
highest number (227)
of new cases, cases
also emerged in
Ahmedabad (186), Va-
dodara (113), Rajkot
(91), Gandhinagar
(39), Jamnagar (30),
Mehsana (32), Banas-
kantha (25), Junagadh
(22), Amreli (20) and
Bhavnagar (16).
Accused ‘lost her temper’ after being accused of conceiving from relationship with father-in-law
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Sola Po-
lice have arrested Ni-
kita alias Nayra (29)
for the murder of
her mother-in-law
Rekhaben Agrawal
in the city’s Gota
area. According to
the police, the wom-
an lost her temper
after her mother-in-
law accused her of
having an illicit
physical relation-
ship with her father-
in-law.
Addressing the me-
dia, Sola Police Inspec-
tor JP Jadeja said that
Nikita, in her state-
ment, said that Rekha-
ben had been harass-
ing her for a long time,
and had not even al-
lowed her out of the
house in the 10 months
since she had been
married.
Nikita is two months
pregnant.
According to Jadeja,
Nikita and Rekhaben
had got into a heated
argument on Tuesday
evening. During this
argument the older
woman is said to have
accused the younger
one of having con-
ceived her baby for her
father-in-law, rather
than her husband.
This triggered the
Nikita, who then
smashed Rekhaben’s
head in with an iron
rod and attempted to
burn the body to give
the impression that
the older woman, who
was mentally ill, had
committed suicide.
However, Nikita’s
‘half-hearted attempt’
failed.
Complainant Dipak
Agrawal—Rekhaben’s
son and Nikita’s hus-
band—told the police
that the two women
had not been on good
terms ever since he
married Nikita in Jan-
uary 2020. He said the
two often fought with
each other.
Dipak’s father re-
cently tested positive
for COVID-19 and has
been hospitalized for
the past week.
On Tuesday evening,
the father called Dipak
on the phone from the
hospital to tell him
that the neighbours
had informed him that
his wife and daughter-
in-law were having a
heated argument.
Dipak then rushed
home, but got no re-
sponse from insider
the house. He then
managed to enter the
house via a balcony,
and found his mother
in a pool of blood in
the living room.
The police have reg-
istered a case of mur-
der and attempt to tam-
per evidence. Rekha-
ben’s body has been
sent for a postmortem
examination.
Womankillsmentallyillmother-in-law
overallegationsofinfidelityinA’bad
The accused, Nikita Agarwal, ﬂanked by police personnel.
MLA Khedawala seeks
judicial inquiry into
Pirana trommel scam
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Last year,
the Ahmedabad Mu-
nicipal Corporation
granted contracts to
private players to in-
troduce biomining at
the Pirana landfill
site. The work, how-
ever, is not as straight-
forward as it seems.
According to Con-
gress MLA Imran
Khedawala, some trom-
mel machines were
given work orders with-
out the legitimate pro-
cesses being followed.
Around seven private
players were hired to
carry out the biomining
activities and 21 trom-
mel machines were de-
ployed. The corporation
is said to have paid
Rs6.50 lakh a month for
one trommel machine
to segregate legacy
waste and recycle it,
while the cost of the
machine is Rs30 lakh.
Later on, a resolution
was allegedly passed by
the civic body to pur-
chase the 20 remaining
trommel machines
without carrying out
tender processes.
Khedawala says the
entire process was
stalled when a new civic
chief came to AMC, and
the new tender received
the lowest bidder for
Rs3.11 lakh a month.
“This is a clear case of
corruption. I want to
know where the tax
payer’s money has gone.
Who were the benefi-
ciaries? I want a judi-
cial inquiry, as I don’t
trust the AMC’s vigi-
lance department,” as-
serted Khedawala.
A medical worker in a PPE kit sanitizes a hearse in Ahmedabad. —FILE PHOTO
Locals resisted the demolition drive. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot: About 7-15%
schoolchildren suffer
from learning disabili-
ties in India. Yet, the
lack of awareness on
the subject means
such children are rare-
ly identified. This in
turn means these chil-
dren do not receive the
help they need, caus-
ing serious problems
in their education and
negatively impacting
their future.
To ensure proper
screening of children at
a minimal cost and in
minimal time, the head
of the psychology de-
partment at MTB Arts
College in Surat, Dr
Rudresh Vyas, together
with his team of Dr Ket-
an Bharadwa and Dr Vi-
rangBhatt,hasdesigned
a Learning Disability
Screening Tool (LDST)
after conducting survey
on around 600 Indian
children.Thisisthefirst
time such a tool is avail-
able in Gujarati, Hindi
and English language. It
claims to identify chil-
dren with a probability
of learning disabilities
with80%sensitivityand
65% specificity at a nom-
inal cost of Rs20 and
analysis time of around
15 minutes.
“There are many
learning disability
tests available in the
market, but they are
costly and time con-
suming. Moreover, they
are not standardized
for the Indian popula-
tion. The LDST, on the
other hand, is especial-
ly prepared to identify
learning disabilities in
students of Classes 3 to
6, and in the 8-13 age
group,” said Dr Vyas.
LDST contains a
questionnaire with 17
questions and 52 sub-
questions that deal with
various areas of learn-
ing disabilities.
“Analysis of these
question leads to find-
ing out reading, writing
and mathematical disa-
bilities known as dys-
lexia, dysgraphia and
dyscalculia. Important-
ly, the tool can be used
by both teachers and
parents. It is alarming
that majority of the
schools do not have a
mechanism of screen-
ing to find out learning
disabilities among chil-
dren. Of the total per-
centage, around 5% of
children are estimated
to suffer from severe
learning disability.
Screening to identify
such students is very
important because fail-
ure of it could develop
sense of rejection
among children and re-
sult into drop-outs. It
should be understood
that learning disability
has nothing to do with a
person’s intelligence,
but are problems that af-
fect the brain’s ability to
receive,process,analyse
or store information,”
he added.
Prof designs tool to identify kids with learning disabilities
SOME
THINGS
ENDURE
In a world dominated
by computers
and ecommerce,
workers at a shop
in Ahmedabad’s
Manek Chowk
area personally
check the binding
on accounting
ledgers ahead of the
Gujarati New Year, on
Wednesday.
—PHOTO BY
HANIF SINDHI
Man gets
10-year jail
term for
raping minor
First India Bureau
Surat: They say
jusitce delayed
is justice de-
nied. However,
this was not the
case in Surat on
Wednesday.
The city ses-
sions court in
its final verdict
sentenced a man
to 10 years in
prison after he
was found guilty
of raping a
13-year-old girl
in Surat’s Goda-
dara area re-
peatedly. The
case was regis-
tered back in
2014.
According to
the information
available, the rap-
ist, Ajab Singh
Rajput hailed
from Itawa of Ut-
tar Pradesh and
was living in Lim-
bayat.
Back in 2014, he
was employed as
an embroidery
worker near Som-
nath Society. The
court heard how
Rajput would reg-
ularly entice the
then 13-year-old to
his place of work
and rape her. This
sordid arrange-
ment continued
until the child got
the courage to file
a complaint with
the police.
On finding out
about the rape
case against him,
Rajput then fled
the city. However,
he could stay hid-
den for long, and
the police traced
him to his natal
village of Itawa,
where he was ar-
rested. On
Wednesday, he was
handed a sentence
of spending the
next 10 years in
prison.
HORRIFIC
GRASSROOTS INNOVATION
Dr Rudresh Vyas, HOD, Psychology dept, MTB Arts College, Surat.
980 cases, six
fatalities take state
tally to 1,70,053
cases, toll to 3,704

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 334 G RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.
Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020
As the heat of a fire reduces
wood to ashes, the fire of
knowledge burns to ashes all
karma. —Bhagavad Gita
Spiritual
SPEAK
nlike the old su-
perpower con-
test between
the United
States and the
Soviet Union, the incipient
cold war between China
and the US does not reflect
a fundamental conflict of
unalterably opposed ideol-
ogies. Instead, today’s Si-
no-American rivalry is
popularly portrayed as an
epic battle between autoc-
racy and democracy.
Moreover, the facts seem
to suggest that autocracy
has won while democracy
has fallen flat on its face.
Whereas the US under
President Donald Trump
has fumbled disastrously
during the COVID-19 pan-
demic, China has brought
the coronavirus under con-
trol. In the US, even wear-
ing face masks has been
politicized. But in Wuhan,
China – the pandemic’s
original epicenter – the au-
thorities tested the city’s 11
million residents for the
virus within ten days, in an
astounding display of ca-
pacity and order. For many,
the verdict seems clear: au-
thoritarianism is superior
to liberal democracy.
But such a conclusion is
simplistic and even danger-
ously misleading, for three
reasons. First, just as the US
under Trump is not repre-
sentativeof alldemocracies,
China under President Xi
Jinping should not be held
up as a paragon of autocra-
cy. Other democratic socie-
ties, such as South Korea
and New Zealand, have han-
dled the pandemic ably, and
political freedom did not
hobble their governments’
ability to implement virus-
containment measures.
As for examples of autoc-
racies that brought catas-
trophe upon themselves,
look no further than Chi-
na’s recent history. No mod-
ern Chinese leader held
more personal power than
Mao Zedong, yet his abso-
lute authority led to a mas-
sive famine followed by a de
facto civil war during the
Cultural Revolution. Chaos
is by no means unique to
democracy; under Mao, it
was insidiously deployed to
maintain his power.
Second, there are democ-
racies with illiberal fea-
tures and autocracies with
liberal ones. America’s cur-
rent troubles do not reflect
a universal failure of de-
mocracy, but rather the fail-
ureof ademocracywiththe
illiberal traits that Trump
hasbroughttothepresiden-
cy. As commander-in-chief,
Trump has ignored demo-
cratic norms such as bu-
reaucratic autonomy, the
separation of private inter-
ests and public office, and
respect for peaceful protest.
If democracies can take
an authoritarian turn, the
reverse can be true in au-
tocracies. Contrary to pop-
ularbelief,China’seconom-
ic ascent after its market
opening in 1978 was not the
result of dictatorship as
usual; if it had been, Mao
would have succeeded long
before. Instead, the econo-
my grew rapidly because
Mao’s successor, Deng Xi-
aoping, insisted on temper-
ing the perils of dictator-
ship by injecting the bu-
reaucracy with “democrat-
ic characteristics,” includ-
ing accountability, competi-
tion, and limits on power.
He set an example by reject-
ing personality cults. (Iron-
ically, Chinese banknotes
feature Mao, who despised
capitalism, rather than
Deng, the father of Chinese
capitalist prosperity.)
As Carl Minzner points
out, Xi, who became the
paramount leader in 2012,
has ushered in an “authori-
tarian revival.” Since then,
the official narrative is that
because China has succeed-
ed under centralized politi-
cal control, this system
should be maintained. In
fact, under Deng, it was a
hybrid political system
married to a firm commit-
menttomarketsthatmoved
China from poverty to mid-
dle-income status.
SOURCE: PROJECT SYNDICATE
The false dichotomy of autocracy and democracy
U
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Be it acting as our ﬁrst line of
defence, donning peacetime roles,
or displaying their humane side,
our jawans have always risen to
the occasion. These pictures from
today’s polling will further strengthen
your belief in the festival of India’s
democracy. #BiharElections
KC Venugopal @kcvenugopalmp
@drharshvardhan & @
HardeepSPuri, Resident doctors,
nurses & health workers at
various hospitals under NDMC
have not received salaries since
July. This is blatant injustice &
disservice meted out to our health
warriors who are saving lives at
the forefront of this pandemic.
stationary flow of foreign port-
folio inflows and a rare current
account surplus has led to In-
dia’s foreign exchange reserves
surging to $555.1 billion.
The significant growth in
the reserves has sparked an
often-heard debate about its
utilization for economic uplift-
ment at a time when the gov-
ernment is facing a spending
challenge due to stiff finances.
Owingtobetter-than-anticipat-
ed quarterly results, the foreign
portfolio investors (FPIs) have
pumped in net Rs 17,749 crores.
THE RISE OF INDIA’S
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
RESERVES
Forex reserves of $555.1 billion
areenoughtocover12monthsof
importsandtheymakefornearly
99% of India’s external debt of
$555.8 billion. By most metrics,
these reserves are more than ad-
equate as the purpose of self-in-
surance is fully served with so
much accumulation.
PUTTING FOREX
RESERVES TO A
BETTER USE
The significant growth in the
reserves has sparked an often-
heard debate about its utiliza-
tion for economic upliftment at
a time when the government is
facing a spending challenge
due to stiff finances.
Most of India’s forex reserves
have been accumulated on the
back of capital flows over the
years while the current account
has remained in deficit due to
large-scale imports. In the Q1 of
FY21, India reported a one-off
current account surplus due to
verylowimportsastheCovid-19
pandemichadbroughttheworld
to a standstill. This surplus is
not sustainable and therefore,
the utilization of forex reserves
(built from capital account sur-
plus)forbuildinginfrastructure
and other allied activities may
not be appropriate.
A sustainable boost to ex-
ports coupled with a persistent
decline in imports can lead to a
further rise in forex reserves
due to current account surplus
and these can be used for ac-
tivities other than maintaining
safety and liquidity.
Can these “abundant” forex
reserves be channelized for bet-
ter returns? While using the
reserves for spending activities
could be a bad idea and set the
wrong precedent, RBI can sure-
ly ponder upon better return-
generating products in these
turbulent times.
Amajorproportionof foreign
exchange reserves are invested
by RBI into high-liquid assets
such as Euro-dominated bonds
and the US treasuries, with a
smallportioninvestedintogold.
TheUSandEuropeanCountries
have their policy rates at near-
zero and the sovereign yields of
some advanced economics have
goneintothenegativetrajectory
as well. Therefore, it makes
moresensetoconsiderdiversifi-
cation of the investable assets.
Increasing gold reserves as a
percentageof forexreservescan
be one such better return-gener-
ating tool for the central bank.
India, in particular, has a good
scope of increasing gold re-
serves as the RBI has followed a
more conservative approach
while investing forex reserves.
FPIS ON A BUYING
SPREE IN OCTOBER
Owing to better-than-anticipat-
ed quarterly results, the for-
eign portfolio investors (FPIs)
have pumped in net Rs 17,749
crores in October with a net
investment of Rs 15,642 crore
in equities and Rs 2,107 crore in
the debt segment.
Net buying by FPIs has
broughtcheertothemarketpar-
ticipants as emerging markets
like Thailand, Taiwan, Brazil,
andSouthAfricaarewitnessing
net outflows month-on-month.
Apartfromthequarterlyresults,
the surplus liquidity in devel-
oped markets and full resump-
tion of business activities has
kept the interest of FPIs intact.
Moreover, the accommoda-
tive stance maintained by glob-
al central banks could ensure
foreign money flowing into the
emerging markets.
The Covid-19 pandemic has
caused a lasting effect on FPI
flows in 2020. To add to the un-
certainty, state elections in In-
dia coupled with the US Presi-
dentialelectionswillmakemar-
kets more volatile, which could
affect the FPIs participation.
NEW RECORD CASES
FORCING GOVERNMENTS
OVER THE GLOBE TO
TAKE A STRICTER STANCE
After scheduling several rallies
in the worst-hit counties in the
US, President Donald Trump
blamed the surge in testing for
the rise in the number of daily
cases to a record high of 83,000.
New York and New Jersey have
contributed the most to the
newly reported cases of the vi-
rus. Health emergency, extend-
ed for another month, is under-
way in New Jersey as the state
reported the greatest number
of cases since early May. While
the fatality rate in the US is on
the higher side, the chances of
a pre-election stimulus have
become increasingly low.
The European countries are
expected to implement curfews
more widely. France has report-
ed record cases for three con-
secutive days; the positive rate
jumped by a percent to 16 per-
cent on Friday. Italian Govern-
ment is also deliberating tight-
ening the curfew norms, which
led to anti-curfew violent pro-
tests by the public. The United
Kingdom reported the fifth con-
secutive day with daily cases
exceeding20,000;schoolsmaybe
suspended if the cases continue
the trend. The Spanish Govern-
ment is pondering over declar-
ing a national state of emergen-
cy that would allow the authori-
ties to impose stricter regula-
tions over the public. While
nearing the first-wave levels,
Belgium’s reported cases have
promptedtheauthoritiestocon-
siderwideningthecurfewhours
and closing the public places of
utility such as theatres, fitness
gyms, and museums.
FOREIGN INVESTORS BET BIG AS
INDIA LEADS THE RECOVERY
A
Most of India’s
forex reserves
have been
accumulated on
the back of
capital flows over
the years while
the current
account has
remained in
deficit due to
large-scale
imports. In the
Q1 of FY21, India
reported a one-off
current account
surplus due to
very low imports
as the Covid-19
pandemic had
brought the world
to a standstill
A SUSTAINABLE BOOST
TO EXPORTS COUPLED
WITH A PERSISTENT
DECLINE IN IMPORTS CAN
LEAD TO A FURTHER RISE
IN FOREX RESERVES DUE
TO CURRENT ACCOUNT
SURPLUS AND THESE
CAN BE USED FOR
ACTIVITIES OTHER THAN
MAINTAINING SAFETY
AND LIQUIDITY
IN-DEPTH
MEHBOOBA MUFTI’S FLAG
REMARK SPARKS OUTRAGE
ost-Gupkar-II declaration and Mehboo-
ba Mufti’s remark that she won’t hold
the Indian tricolor until the Jammu and
Kashmir’s flag was restored the Central
government dealt the mainstream po-
litical leaders another blow by omitting the phrase
“permanent resident of the state” from Section 17
of Jammu and Kashmir Development Act. The
omission means that people from any part of the
country can now purchase urban land and enter
into contract farming on agricultural land. The
law also provides for setting up an industrial de-
velopment corporation and removes curbs on the
size of the area one wants to buy for constructing
a residence or a shop in the Union Territory. Till
now only those who were permanent residents
could own property there. The Lieutenant-Gover-
nor Manoj Sinha clarified that the new law will not
apply to agricultural land. This move was expected
after the abrogation of Article 370 which granted
a special status to the status. The state’s bifurca-
tion ended the privilege.
The decision has not gone down well with the
top political leaders of the Union Territory who
said that Kashmir has been put on sale. Former
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted, “Even the
tokenism of domicile has been done away with…
J&K is now up for sale & the poorer, small land-
holding owners will suffer.” Another ex-CM Me-
hbooba Mufti also condemned the new law.
P
INDIA AND US SCRIPT
NEW STRATEGIC TIES
ndia and America have come a long way
from the era of President Richard Nixon
and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when
the US ordered the Seventh Fleet led by
nuclear-powered Enterprise towards the
Bay of Bengal to stop Indian troops from liberating
Bangladesh.NixonandhisNationalSecurityAdvisor
were known for their antipathy towards the Indian
prime minister. Over the years ties between the two
great democracies have been on the mend, but main-
ly under governments led by the Bharatiya Janata
Partybecauseof itspredispositiontowardsAmerica.
India and the US began mutual trust-building ef-
forts with the signing of the General Security of
Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) in 2002
when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister.
Itwasthefirstfoundationalunderstandingbetween
the two nations. The signing of the Logistics Ex-
change Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in
2016 and the Communication Compatibility and
Security Agreement (COMCASA) in 2018 followed.
Tuesday’s Basic Exchange and Co-operation
Agreement (BECA), signed by the defence and for-
eign ministers of India and the US marked the
fourth foundational understanding which America
has with India. The last three agreements demon-
strate the importance of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi attaches to strategic defence ties with the US.
The strategic significance of BECA can be un-
derstood from the fact that India will now get ac-
cess to real-time access to precision data and topo-
graphical images from US military satellites.
Keeping in mind China’s expansionist policies
and the changing global security scenario, India’s
defence establishment thought it prudent to deep-
en its strategic ties with America for its security
interests and peace.
I

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INDIAAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020
Patna: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
slammed the Opposi-
tion and even went
ahead to term the Ma-
hagathbandan's chief
ministerial candidate,
Tejashwi Yadav, as "Yu-
vraaj of Jungleraj"
(Prince of Jungleraj). It
is important to note
that the era of former
CM and RJD founder
Lalu Prasad Yadav's
rule in the state is often
referred to as 'Jungl-
reraj' by its opponents.
"I want to know from
the people of Patna, I
want to know from the
people of Bihar, could
Bihar dream of becom-
ing an IT-hub in Jungle
Raj? Whether 'Yuvraj of
Jungle Raj', he can take
Bihar forward in the
field of IT, or in any
area of modernity," PM
Modi said at the rally
held in Patna.
The Prime Minister
attacked the RJD and
said, "Who can fulfil the
aspirations of the poor
of Bihar, this aspiration
of the middle class of
Bihar? People who
made Bihar sick, looted
Bihar, can they do this
work? Those who
thought only of their
family; Only NDA can
do it." —ANI
PM Modi tears into Oppn, calls
Tejashwi ‘Yuvraj of Jungleraj’
I want to know, could Bihar dream of becoming an IT-hub in Jungle Raj? Modi said
Cong compares
Munger incident with
Jallianwala firing
New Delhi: Hitting out
at Bihar government
over Munger firing in-
cident in which a devo-
tee was killed, the Con-
gress compared Chief
minister Nitish Kumar
with General Dyer on
Wednesday and de-
manded that he should
apologise.
Congress spokesper-
son Abhishek Singhvi
said human beings
were treated as ani-
mals and worms by
the police in Munger,
when they beat up dev-
otees taking out Durga
idols "cruelly and mer-
cilessly".
One person was
killed and over two doz-
en people, including se-
curity personnel, were
injured in firing and
stone-pelting during
the immersion of Dur-
ga idols in Bihar''s
Munger, police said, a
day before the first
phase of the Assembly
polls in state. "I want to
ask, is it a crime in this
country to do Durga
Pooja with all requisite
safeguards and if it is
some violation, is this
the way to treat human
beings like chattels, like
animals, I would say
like worms? —PTI
Bettiah:Former Con-
gress President Rahul
Gandhi said on Wednes-
day that effigies of
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi were burnt in
Punjab on Dussehra,
and not that of 'Ravan'.
He said that burning
the effigy of the Prime
Minister was sad, but
the youth are angry
with him.
Addressing an elec-
tion meeting in Val-
mikinagar, Rahul
praised Rashtriya Ja-
nata Dal leader Tejash-
wi Yadav, while target-
ing Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Bi-
har Chief Minister Nit-
ish Kumar.
Rahul said that the
goal of lockdown and
demonetisation was
the same. He said that
in demonetisation,
Modi took money out
of your pocket and
gave it to five big indus-
trialists of the country
and during the lock-
down the business of
small and medium
scale businessmen
came to a halt while
the debts of the indus-
trialists were waived.
Raising the issue of
the new agricultural
laws, Rahul said that
effigies of 'Ravan' are
usually burnt on
Dussehra, but this
time in Punjab the effi-
gies of the Prime Min-
ister and industrialists
were burnt. He said, "It
is sad, but it is happen-
ing because the farmer
is upset, the youth is
angry."
He blamed Nitish Ku-
mar and the Prime Min-
ister for unemployment
in Bihar and in the
country, saying that
people of Bihar get jobs
in Delhi, Haryana, Pun-
jab, Bengaluru but not
in Bihar. —Agencies
‘PMModi’seffigiesburnt
onDussehra,notofRavan’
New Delhi: Haryana
Home Minister Anil Vij
alleged the girl's par-
ents were forced to take
back the case registered
against the accused due
to pressure from Con-
gress leaders
Haryana Home Min-
ister Anil Vij Wednes-
day alleged that the
youth who killed his
former classmate in
Ballabhgarh is a rela-
tive of Congress leaders
and they were responsi-
ble for dropping an FIR
against him in 2018.
Tauseef, 21, was ar-
rested on Tuesday along
with his friend for alleg-
edly killing his former
classmate Nikita Tomar
in broad daylight.
Tomar’s family alleged
Tauseef had been pres-
suring her to marry
him and had kidnapped
her two years ago. The
police said an FIR was
registered against Tau-
seef, but was later
canceled after Nikita’s
father submitted he did
not want any further
investigation.
However, Vij allegeed
that girl’s parents were
forced to take back the
case registered against
the accused due to pres-
sure from Congress
leaders. “Accused is a
relative of Congress
leaders. It was under
pressure from Congress
leaders that girl’s par-
ents were forced to take
back case registered
against accused in 2018:
Haryana Home Minis-
ter Anil Vij on Ballabh-
garh case where a 21-
year old woman was
shot dead by a man,”
news agency ANI quot-
ed him as saying.
On Tuesday, the Min-
ister Anil Vij had of-
fered reassurance of a
“quick investigation”
into the matter. —ANI
Accused a relative of
Congress leaders,
alleges Anil Vij
FARIDABAD MURDER
Thiruvananthapuram:
M Sivasankar, former
principal secretary of
the Kerala Chief Minis-
ter's Office, was on
Wednesday taken into
custody by the Enforce-
mentDirectorate(ED)in
connectionwiththeKer-
ala gold smuggling case.
ED officials took him
into custody from the
Ayurveda hospital in
Thiruvananthapuram,
where Sivasankar was
admitted. Earlier, the
Kerala High Court had
refused to grant antici-
patory bail to
Sivasankar in cases reg-
istered by the ED and
the Customs depart-
ment in connection
with the smuggling of
gold into the state
through diplomatic
channels.
The economic offenc-
es watchdog, while op-
posing the anticipatory
bail plea in the High
Court, had submitted
that the agency had rea-
son to believe that
Sivasankar was the real
beneficiary and ac-
cused Swapna Suresh
was only a pawn for the
gold smuggling.
It had also submitted
that the investigation in
the matter has revealed
that Sivasankar was re-
ceiving commissions
for the gold smuggling
and added that custodi-
al interrogation is re-
quired. —ANI
Gold smuggling: ED takes M Sivasankar into custody
New Delhi: Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh
on Wednesday cau-
tioned Army command-
ers to be wary of Chi-
nese actions at disputed
borders and their intent
during military talks.
The minister said
this while addressing
the 'Army Command-
ers Conference,' an
apex biannual event
that formulates impor-
tant policy decisions
through collegiate de-
liberations.
Border tensions with
China at the Line of Ac-
tual Control are the
main focus of delibera-
tions in this year's four-
day conference.
Sources privy to the
minister's address said
Singh pointed out that
talks should be held
honestly and in an at-
mosphere of trust to
reach a solution. The
defence minister also
hinted that there has
been a trust deficit
since Chinese intent
has been questionable.
In the meantime, Sin-
gh said on social media:
"Addressed the Army
Commanders' Confer-
ence in New Delhi. I'm
extremely proud of the
initiatives undertaken
by the Indian Army in
the current security en-
vironment."
He also said that Min-
istry of Defence is com-
mitted to facilitate the
Army in their forward
movement on reforms
and help them in
achieving advantages
in all areas.
"We will leave no
stone unturned to
strengthen the arms of
our Armed forces,” Sin-
gh tweeted. —ANI
Be wary of Chinese actions at
borders: Rajnath to Army officers
Rajnath Singh with General Bipin Rawat, Gen MM Naravane pose
for group photograph at the Army Commanders’ Conference.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses an election rally during
Bihar Polls in Balmiki Nagar on Wednesday. —ANI PHOTO
Kolkata: Amid inci-
dences of political vio-
lence and killings in
West Bengal, Governor
Jagdeep Dhankhar will
meet Union Home Min-
ister Amit Shah in New
Delhi on Thursday.
Dhankhar has been
vocal about the politi-
cal killings which have
taken place in the past
few months attracting
criticism from the
Mamata Banerjee gov-
ernment in the state.
West Bengal Governor
Shri Jagdeep
Dhankhar would be on
an official visit to Del-
hi from Oct 28-30. Gov-
ernor Dhankhar leaves
for Delhi on the even-
ing of Oct 28 and re-
turns to Kolkata on Oct
30. His engagements
include calling on the
Union Home Minister
Shri Amit Shah on Oct
29, a Raj Bhavan com-
munique said on
Wednesday.Following
this he will be on a
month-long visit to
Darjeeling from No-
vember 1, the sources
said. Dhankhar's
scheduled visit to Dar-
jeeling will take place
at a time when political
equations in the hills
have changed after the
supremo of the undi-
vided GJM, Bimal Gu-
rung walked out of the
BJP-led NDA accusing
it of not fulfilling its
promises. —PTI
WB Guv to meet Shah
in Delhi on October 29
Abhishek Manu Singhvi
M Sivasankar
Anil Vij
Jagdeep Dhankhar
Anuppur: Madhya
Pradesh Chief Min-
ister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan on
Wednesday said
that the state's cof-
fers are not Aurang-
zeb's treasure
which can be emp-
tied by spending on
development.
"I'm not Kamal
Nath, who won't
give a penny for de-
velopment. I assure
you of Anuppur's
development. Ka-
mal Nath used to
say that Mama had
emptied state's cof-
fers but I said it's
not Aurangzeb's
treasure which can
be emptied," he said
while attending a
rally in Anuppur
district. he criti-
cised ex- PMs, say-
ing they never re-
acted to challenge
issued by smaller
nations while PM
Modi has success-
fully handled the
neighbours. —ANI
‘MP’s coffers
are not
Aurangzeb’s
treasure’
Shivraj Chauhan
RTI BODY PULLS UP GOVT ON
CREATION OF AAROGYA SETU APP
New Delhi: The National
Informatics Centre, which
designs government web-
sites, has said that it has
no information about who
has created the Aarogya
Setu app and how it has
been created. The Chief
Information Commission
has pulled up the NIC,
which comes under the
ministry of electronics,
and issued a showcause
notice to various chief
public information officers
asking them to provide a
reply to an RTI application
which questioned about
the Covid-19 contact
tracing up. The reply can’t
be evasive, the CIC has
said.The complaint was
filed by one Saurav Das
seeking to know about the
creation of the popular
application.
SENSEX PLUNGES 600 POINTS;
NIFTY CRACKS BELOW 11,750
Mumbai : Equity benchmark Sensex plunged 600
points on Wednesday, tracking heavy losses in
index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and
ICICI Bank amid a massive selloff in European
markets.After hitting a low of 39,774.60 during
the day, the 30-share BSE index ended 599.64
points or 1.48 per cent lower at 39,922.46.
Similarly, the broader NSE tanked 159.80 points
or 1.34 per cent to close at 11,729.60. IndusInd
Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shed-
ding over 3%, followed by HDFC, ICICI Bank.
WOMAN THROWS ACID ON
ESTRANGED BOYFRIEND
Guwahati: A Tripura court has sent a woman
under judicial custody for allegedly attacking her
estranged boyfriend with acid. The man has been
shifted to a hospital in state capital Agartala un-
der critical condition. The woman, Binita Santal,
was arrested on Tuesday and sent to 14 days
judicial custody following a complaint lodged by
the brother of the victim, Soumen Santal. The
attack, however, took place on October 19, said
police. Both the attacker and the victim hail from
the same village, Belchara, in Khowai district.
YOGI ADITYANATH FELICITATES UP
NEET TOPPER AKANKSHA SINGH
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath felicitated
Akanksha Singh from
Kushinagar who bagged
the second rank in the
National Eligibility cum
Entrance Test (NEET)
nationally.The felicitation
ceremony was organised
at the chief minister’s
official residence in
Lucknow. Speaking at
the ceremony, the Chief
Minister called Akanksha
the pride of the state and
said given opportunity,
girls can achieve any-
thing.“Akanksha wants to
pursue MBBS from the All
India Institute of Medical
Sciences in Delhi and the
state government is going
to bear all the expenses of
her tuition and food and
lodging,” he said.
PM Modi came here and said that this
is a sugarcane area, I will start a sugar
mill & will have tea mixing sugar pro-
duced here. Did he have tea with you?
Rahul Gandhi, Congress Leader
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on
Wednesday appealed to the voters of Bihar to vote
as polling on 71 Assembly constituencies of Bihar in
the first phase took place on wednesday. “I appeal
to all the voters of Bihar in the first phase to vote in
maximum numbers. Your one vote will keep Bihar
out of fear and corruption and keep it on the path of
development and progress,” Shah tweeted.
HOME MINISTER AMIT SHAH URGES
PEOPLE OF BIHAR TO VOTE
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses an election rally in
Patna on Wednesday.

INDIAAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020
WILL NEW FINANCE SECRETARY
BE FROM THE OPEN MARKET ?
Power galleries are abuzz with new rumours
related to the Ministry of Finance. They
say that one should not be surprised if the
new Finance Secretary is appointed from
the open market on a two to three years
contract. Earlier also Dr. Manmohan Singh
and Montek Singh Ahluwalia were during the
Congress govt regime appointed as Finance
Secretary from outside. Both were econo-
mists and non- IAS. Now the question is,
who will be that lucky person ? One has to
wait till February next year when A B Pandey
retires. He is a 1984 batch Maharashtra
cadre IAS officer.
EMPANELMENT OF 1994 BATCH
IAS DELAYED
It is said that empanelment of 1994 batch
IAS to the rank of Additional Secretary will
now take place in early next year.
SUBHASH AGRAWAL TO BE
SPECIAL DIRECTOR ED ?
Subhash Agrawal is likely to be appointed
Special Director ED. He is 1993 batch
IRS(C&CE) officer.
GOI YET TO SELECT CANDIDATE
FOR VACANT POST OF CMD, HEC
The Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public
Enterprises is yet to select the candidate for
the post of Chairman-cum-Managing Direc-
tor, Heavy Engineering Corporation Limited
(HEC) lying vacant for more than two years.
The Ministry was entrusted with selecting
a candidate after the Public Enterprises Se-
lection Board (PESB) failed to find a suitable
candidate for the second time at a selection
meeting held on March 13, 2019. The PESB
had also failed to find a suitable candidate
at its first meeting held on August 1, 2018.
Presently, BHEL CMD Dr Nalin Singhal is
holding an additional charge of HEC.
TRAI SEEKS PRINCIPAL ADVISOR
ON DEPUTATION
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI) has proposed to fill up the post of
Principal Advisor on deputation on foreign
service terms.
14 IRSME OFFICERS PROMOTED
TO JAG
As many as 14 officers of Indian Railway
Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME)
have been promoted to Junior Administra-
tive Grade (JAG). They are: Ramendra Pal
Singh, Panchanan Behera, Nand Kishore
Verma, G Mondal, Ashok Kumar, Brij Mohan,
Luskar Boro, VC Majhi, Brajendra Singh
Rawat, Debashis Pathak, Arvind Kumar
Mishra, PK Pattanayak, GS Manna and Cha-
man Singh Chaudhary.
AK RANJAN SHIFTED TO SCR
AK Ranjan has been transferred from South
Eastern Railway to South Central Railway
(SCR) and posted in the cadre. He is a
selection grade (SG) officer belonging to
Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS).
IPS OFFICER, PURUSHOTTAM
SHARMA SUSPENDED IN MP
The Ministry of Home Affairs has suspended
Purushottam Sharma at the recommenda-
tions of Madhya Pradesh government. He is
a 1986 batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with: http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
‘PMMODIDECISIVE&STRONG-WILLED’Scindia reserved his comments on former PM Manmohan Singh in whose Cabinet he has served
New Delhi: Reserving
his comments on for-
mer PM Manmohan
Singh in whose Cabinet
he has served, BJP lead-
er Jyotiraditya Scindia
chose to rather praise
PM Modi for being ‘de-
cisive, strong-willed in-
defatigable spirit to
work for the country’.
The BJP leader has
been maintaining si-
lence on his former
party. He reiterates that
he won’t speak on his
past and maintain dig-
nity by being silent on
issues pertaining to his
former party.
The drive and will
power, pledge towards
decisiveness, and to
work round the clock -
our country will be
prosperous under PM
Modi.
Scindia criticised
Congress for living in
denial and refusing to
see the writing on the
wall. He was speaking
on Congress leader
Sachin Pilot’s criticism
of BJP during his elec-
tion campaign in poll-
bound MP.
“The problem with
the Congress is the par-
ty likes to live in denial
and refuses to see the
writing on the wall and
it is only when you be-
lieve in acceptance and
reflect on your failures
and chart a course to
future success that you
move forward. BJP un-
der the leadership of
PM Modi has fulfilled
the aspirations of 130
crore Indians which is
why once again they re-
posed their faith in
Modi and in Trimurti
(PM Modi, Party chief
JP Nadda, Union home
Minister Amit Shah) as
I would like to call
them,” said Scindia.
Scindia also praised
CM Shivraj Singh
Chouhan for his zeal to
work with people. —ANI
Kamal Nath, Digvijay are real
‘Jaichands’, says Jyotiraditya
New Delhi: BJP
leader Jyotiraditya
Scindia slammed
MP’s former CMs Ka-
mal Nath and Digvi-
jay Singh for run-
ning a “corruption-
ridden” government
and playing the role
of “traitor” to the de-
mocracy.
“I cannot be a by-
stander and neither
can these legislators
to people who are a
threat to democracy
and to these 7.5 crore
people,” stated Scin-
dia.
Calling 22 MLAs
resigning together a
first of its kind of
‘historical event’ of
independent India,
he said no party had
in the history. —ANI
SCINDIA QUES SONIA GANDHI’S SILENCE OVER ‘ITEM’ JIBE
New Delhi: Jyotiradi-
tya Scindia, who has
missed no opportunity
of slamming the Con-
gress since joining the
BJP, today criticised
party chief Sonia Gan-
dhi over her silence on
Kamal Nath’s “item”
remark that stirred a
political row in MP
ahead of the bypolls.
Imarti Devi, the wom-
an targeted by Mr
Nath, had appealed to
Sonia Gandhi for ac-
tion, questioning if
she would have con-
doned it had the re-
mark been made about
her daughter. CM
Chouhan had also
written to her on the
issue.
Asked whether Mrs
Gandhi, being a wom-
an, should have pulled
up Mr Nath, Mr Scin-
da said: “Though it is
an internal matter, I
certainly think so.
50% of the population
comprises women,
every political party
must set a standard”.
Kamal Nath, former
CM of MP and Mr
Scindia’s bitter rival,
had stepped into con-
troversy while cam-
paigning in Dabra,
where the BJP is rep-
resented by Imarti
Devi. —ANI
New Delhi: Seeking to
develop further closer
ties with India, the USA
has offered its F-18 na-
val fighter jets for the
Indian Navy's require-
ments of combat jets for
its aircraft carriers.
The Indian Navy had
a few years ago ex-
pressed interest in the
acquisition of 57 naval
fighter aircraft for op-
erations from its air-
craft carriers including
thepresentINSVikram-
aditya and the under-
construction Indige-
nous Aircraft Carrier.
"The American Gov-
ernment has offered to
providetheirnavalfight-
er aircraft F-18 for the
IndianNavyunderagov-
ernment proposal at the
meeting between de-
fencedelegationsof both
countries during the 2+2
meetings,” sources told.
The US government
has offered to sell F-18
fighters along with the
unmanned aircraft Sea
GuardiantotheINalong
with a number of other
systems to the Indian
armed forces in recent
times. IN has moved to-
wards American equip-
ment in a big way as its
long-range surveillance
aircraft fleet consists of
12P-8Iaircraftandwould
have six more soon. —ANI
New Delhi: The con-
tinuously rising nation-
al recovery rate and
progressively falling
active cases of corona-
virus infection have
proven the success of
COVID-19 containment
strategy, Union Health
Minister Harsh Vard-
han said on Wednesday.
“For the last 10
months, India has been
persistently fighting
the infectious disease
and now the COVID-19
parameters are show-
ing encouraging pro-
gress. “We have suc-
cessfully ramped up our
testing capacity. From a
few thousand tests in a
day, we now conduct
more than a million
tests on a daily basis,”
Vardhan was quoted as
saying in the statement.
CIPLA GETS INTO
COVID-19 TESTING :
Cipla announced the
commercialisation of
antibody detection kits
for COVID-19 in India.
New Delhi: The repre-
sentatives of social me-
dia giant Twitter on
Wednesday appeared
before the Joint Com-
mittee Parliamentary
panel looking into the
Data Protection Bill,
2019, sources said.
According to sourc-
es, the representatives
of e-commerce giant
Amazon would appear
before panel later in the
day while the represent-
atives of Google and
some other organisa-
tions will appear before
the panel today. —ANI
Budgam: Two Jaish-e-
Mohammed (JeM) ter-
rorists were killed on
Wednesday in an en-
counter that started on
Tuesday in Aribagh
Machama area of Bud-
gam in Jammu and
Kashmir.
During the opera-
tion, when a joint team
of Srinagar Police,
Budgam Police and
Army’s 50 Rashtriya
Rifles were approach-
ing towards, terrorists
fired upon them trig-
gering off a gunfight.
—ANI
Amid 2+2 dialogue, US offers
F-18 fighter jets for Indian Navy
Covid-19 parameters are showing
encouraging progress now: Vardhan
Twitter reps
appear before
Parl Panel
2 JeM terrorists
killed in
encounter in J-K
BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia
In a bid to further cement its
ties with India, USA has offered
its F-18 jets for Indian Navy
aircraft carriers.
An artist paints a wall depicting Covid warriors in Mumbai.
—PHOTOBYPTI
Patil hints...
saying, “Congress
now calls former
MLAs traitors, but the
same Congress had
supported Shankars-
inh Vaghela when he
led a rebellion in the
BJP. They don’t have
any right to talk about
morality.”
He then reminded
the people that “The
BJP is always con-
cerned about the poor,
farmers and the mid-
dle class, and work for
their upliftment at the
Centre and the state
level. But the Con-
gress only believes in
making promises dur-
ing election time,
which it never ful-
fils.”
FROM PG 1
Mumbai: The CBI, in
its reply to a plea filed
by the sisters of late
actor Sushant Singh
Rajput to quash the
FIR against them filed
by actor Rhea
Chakraborty has said,
“The very genesis of
the FIR is flawed.”
The Central agency
filed its reply after a
division bench of Jus-
tices S.S. Shinde and
M.S. Karnik on Tues-
day directed it to reply
to the petition filed by
Priyanka and Meetu
Singh.
Referring to the FIR
filed by Ms.
Chakraborty on Sep-
tember 7, the CBI said,
“The allegations lev-
elled in FIR are mostly
presumptive and spec-
ulative in nature.”
Anil Kumar Yadav,
Addl. SP, said, “It is
settled law that two
FIRs cannot be regis-
tered on the same
cause of action. It is a
fact that the CBI is al-
ready investigating the
causes relating to
death of Sushant Sin-
gh Rajput on the basis
of a complaint filed by
K.K. Singh, father of
the deceased. In view
of the present situa-
tion and order passed
by Hon’ble Supreme
Court of India, it was
expected from the
Mumbai police to for-
ward the complaint re-
ceived from Ms. Rhea
Chakraborty to the
CBI for necessary ac-
tion, instead of regis-
tering an FIR itself.”
The reply men-
tioned, “Registration
of another FIR on the
same facts and cause
of action was neither
warranted nor allowed
under law. It is submit-
ted that it is correct
that if the allegations
mentioned in FIR, pri-
ma facie, do not consti-
tute any offence
against the accused,
FIR can be quashed by
Constitutional ourts.”
New Delhi: PM Naren-
dra Modi will pay hom-
age to Sardar Patel on
his 145th birth anni-
versary and take part
in the Ekta Diwas Pa-
rade along with admin-
istering the Rashtriya
Ekta Pledge at Keva-
dia, Gujarat on Octo-
ber 31, 2020.
The police forces of
Gujarat, Central Re-
serve Armed Force,
Border Security Force,
Indo-Tibetan Border
Police, Central Indus-
trial Security Forces
and National Security
Guards will partici-
pate in the Parade, as
per a release. The
Prime Minister will
also witness a Rifle
drill by female officers
of CRPF. To mark the
solemn occasion, the
IAFe will perform a
Fly-past.
PM will then interact
with and address 428 Of-
ficer Trainees belong-
ing to various Civil Ser-
vices currently under-
going the 95th Founda-
tion Course at Lal Baha-
dur Shastri National
Academy of Adminis-
tration, Mussoorie
through videoconfer-
ence as a culmination
of Aarambh 2020.
Aarambh aims at
making civil servants
capable of leading
transformation, work
seamlessly across de-
partments, fields. PM
will also inaugurate
various projects on
this day. —ANI
Very genesis of FIR against Sushant
Singh’s sisters is flawed, says CBI
Modi to partake in Ekta Diwas
and inaugurate dev projects
Mumbai: Shiv Sena
has mentioned it earlier
as well that Uniform
Civil Code should be im-
plemented in India,
said party leader San-
jay Raut on Wednesday
while adding that if the
Centre brings some-
thing like that, then his
party will take a deci-
sion about it.
"We have said it be-
fore also that Uniform
Civil Code should be
implemented in the
country,” said Raut.
"If Mehbooba Mufti,
Farooq Abdullah and
others want to re-im-
pose Article 370 in Kash-
mir with help of China
then central govt should
take strict steps. If any
person who wants to un-
furl tri-colour in Kash-
mir is stopped, then I
consider it as 'Rashtra
droh'," said Raut. —ANI
New Delhi: People’s
Democratic Party
(PDP) chief Mehbooba
Mufti on Wednesday
said that NIA has be-
come BJP’s pet agency
to intimidate and brow-
beat those who refuse to
fall in line.
Her remark came af-
ter the NIA conducted
raidsinSrinagar,Bandi-
pora and Bengaluru in-
cluding residence of
Khurram Parvaiz, offic-
es of NGO Athrout and
Greater Kashmir Trust.
“NIA raids on hu-
man rights activist
Khurram Parvez &
Greater Kashmir office
is yet another example
of GOIs vicious crack-
down on freedom of ex-
pression & dissent. NIA
has become BJPs pet
agency to browbeat
those who refuse to fall
in line,” Mufti tweeted.
‘Uniform Civil Code
should be implemented’
Mehbooba Mufti calls
NIA pet agency of BJP
Sanjay Raut
Mehbooba Mufti
Narendra Modi

I
n the early phases of lock-
down, the streets were
teeming with runners and
living rooms were a blur
of uncoordinated star jumps
and lunges. In fact, physical ac-
tivity levels in the UK peaked
around mid-to-late May, just be-
fore lockdown restrictions
began to be eased. Now, after
months of fluctuating social
restrictions, many people are
reporting on social media that
they’ve suddenly lost their mo-
tivation to exercise.
The truth is that motivation
is simply returning to normal.
The UK weather was ideal for
exercise in April and May, and
many of us had more time
available to squeeze in a work-
out. Two major barriers to ex-
ercise were removed. Usually,
motivation is a battle of differ-
ent choices. In normal circum-
stances, exercise fights against
many other appealing leisure
pursuits, such as going to the
pub, the cinema, or spending
time with friends. But during
the most severe part of the na-
tional lockdown, the choice
was either to go outside for ex-
ercise, or stay home all day. The
motivational odds shifted in
favour of exercise.
Lockdowns around the world
also acted in a similar way to a
new year, new school term, or
birthday. Significant dates and
events can disrupt routines
and provide a chance to make a
fresh start, so many of us be-
gan to exercise. But, like new
year’s resolutions, our motiva-
tion steadily faded over time.
The type of motivation needed
to start a new behaviour is often
very different to the motivation
needed to sustain one. Most peo-
ple start exercising because they
know it’s good for them, and out-
side pressures (such as from TV
adverts, or friends) tell them
they should. “Should-do” mo-
tives are an effective way to start
a new behaviour.
But as lockdown eased, barri-
ers to exercise appeared again
– such as being able to spend
time with friends at the pub, or
the need to get ones
children ready for
school again. Relying
on “should-do” mo-
tives in these scenar-
ios requires consid-
erable mental effort
and willpower. Un-
fortunate-
ly, one of the most
interesting aspects
of human motivation is
that we dislike the feeling of ef-
fort and willpower and tend to
avoid it. The pub, the kids,
tiredness and work all win the
battle against exercise. “Should-
do” motives are terrible at sus-
taining exercise behaviour.
Even some people who exer-
cised religiously are reporting
loss of motivation. But
again, the type of motiva-
tion driving their exer-
cise may explain
why this has hap-
pened. People
who exercise to
seek approval
from others
or to boost
their self-es-
teem often re-
port increased
anxiety and body
disatisfaction, despite high lev-
els of exercise. Lockdown (and
gym closures) may have in-
creased these negative feelings
because the situation meant
that people weren’t getting the
compliments and boosts to
their ego that they sought.
To stop these motivational
declines, a dual approach is
needed that makes exercise
easy in the short-term while
developing strong long-term
motivation. When it comes to
long-term motivation, many
psychologists believe your
identity is one of the most re-
silient motivational systems.
Identity can often be a vague
term and difficult to describe,
but put simply, “be” goals are
more motivating than “do”
goals. So instead of “doing” ex-
ercise, focus on “being” some-
one who exercises.
These “be” motives require
much less mental effort to act
on and you will naturally seek
opportunities to demonstrate
your “exerciser” identity. It’s
less mentally exhausting “be-
ing” an exerciser, compared to
continuously trying to “do” ex-
ercise, because attention is nat-
urally drawn to opportunities
to exercise and away from other
temptations. In some ways this
isn’t fair. Those people who
have exercised for years and see
themselves as an exerciser find
it very easy to be motivated to
exercise. Those of us who don’t
view ourselves as exercisers,
but want to exercise, require a
lot of mental effort and will-
power to leave the house.
DURINGLOCKDOWN,THE
MOTIVATIONALODDS
SHIFTEDINFAVOUROF
EXERCISE.BUTASRESTRICTIONSEASED,
BARRIERSTOWORKOUTAPPEAREDAGAIN
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION CONCEPT: DIVYA HEMNANI DESIGN: CP SHARMA
TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020
THIS PROCESS TAKES SOME TIME, SO WE ALSO NEED QUICK MOTIVATIONAL FIXES WHILE OUR HEALTHY EXERCISER IDENTITY
DEVELOPS. IN THE SHORT-TERM, THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE SHOULD BE TO MINIMISE THE EFFORT REQUIRED TO EXERCISE:
While many of us aren’t looking forward to
further social restrictions, this might give us an-
other opportunity to develop a healthier lifestyle.
A focus on “being” an exerciser and minimising
mental effort will lead to fewer sudden declines
in exercise motivation over the long term.
z Plan your exercise for when it’s easiest to do. For
many this may mean exercising as soon as possible
in the day before temptations and obstacles that
require effort to overcome begin to appear.
z Do what you enjoy.
It’s simple and requires
minimal motivation to
repeat exercise that felt
good. If you ﬁnd your-
self wanting to jump
rope or dance instead
of lifting weights or
jogging, it’s better to
do what you want to
do, and requires a lot
less mental effort than
trying to force yourself
to do something you
think you should do.
z Make it easy to ex-
ercise. Get your sports-
wear out of the drawer
and ready the evening
before. Plan exercise that
does not require travel to
a speciﬁc venue. Do as
many things as you can
beforehand so that, when
the time comes, starting
your workout is easy.
z Break the process of
exercising into chunks.
For example, getting
changed into sportswear
only require a little effort.
Stepping out the door
only requires a little ef-
fort. Before you know it,
it’s harder to not exercise
than to exercise.
WHY YOU MAY
HAVE LOST THE
MOTIVATION TO
EXERCISE

A place is much like a person, it
has it’s own character and
personna! And like a person we
can learn much from a place too!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The rul-
ing BJP in the Amdavad
(original Ahmedabad)
Municipal Corporation
was on Wednesday left
with egg on its face
when the party’s leader
Amit Shah sought to
boast in the General
Board meeting that
they were sending the
Dhanvantari health
rath in areas that don’t
give them even 20 votes.
Quick on the uptake,
Congress leader
Hasankhan Pathan
turned the tables on
Shah stating that this
only reflected the arro-
gance of a party in pow-
er. “Such a statement
exposes your mentality
that you are always
counting political gains
(even in a health emer-
gency),” Pathan said in
the meeting.
Amit Shah was refer-
ring to the Dariyapur
area in Ahmedabad’s
walled city that is a
Congress stronghold
for long when he re-
ferred Dhanvantari
raths being pressed into
service there.
This was the first
meeting of the General
Board after the leader
of opposition Dinesh
Sharma recently re-
signed before his term
ended. Still, the Con-
gress councillors could
corner the BJP that was
unable to obviate the
opposition’s posers and
kept on raising counter
questions.
Pathan also charged
the ruling party with
clearing payments for
works which had not
even got off the ground.
He cited instances of
2 works in Dariyapur to
buttress his charge and
alleged, “There is no
scrutiny of AMC’s
budget money.” Amit
Shah asked the Com-
missioner to look into
this and initiate imme-
diate action.
Taufiq Khan, interim
leader of opposition,
cited instances of 2 mu-
nicipal schools where
liquor was recovered
and theft reported and
blamed it on the apathy
of the School Board.
ATTEMPT AT SELF-PRAISE BOOMERANGS ON BJP IN AMC
BJP claims Dhanvantari raths sent even to
Opposition strongholds; ‘You count politi-
cal gains in everything’, retorts Congress
ONE-UPMANSHIP!
AMC’s Dhanvantari rath is a mobile healthcare unit that moves in different areas.
Govt bodies identify 6 relocation sites for lion conservation amid State’s resistance
Shishir Awasthi
Gandhinagar: Even
as the Gujarat Gov-
ernment has re-
mained adamant for
decades against part-
ing with even some of
the Asiatic Lions
within the State’s ge-
ography, experts and
government bodies
have yet again re-
newed their efforts to
relocate a few big cats
to other places.
This is after Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi announced Pro-
ject Lion on August 15
on the lines of tiger and
elephant conservation
efforts.
With a view to cre-
ating free ranging
lion populations
within Gujarat and in
the country to coun-
ter the lack of genetic
diversity among Asi-
atic lions, 6 new sites
have been identified
to possibly relocate
the beasts there. This
is besides the Kuno-
Palpur Wildlife Sanc-
tuary in Madhya
Pradesh that has been
discussed since 1995.
The proposal to this
effect has been sent to
the Union Environment
and Forests Ministry by
none other than the
Wildlife Institute of In-
dia jointly with the Gu-
jarat Forest Depart-
ment. Environment
magazine Down to
Earth (DTE) has ac-
cessed the proposal.
The recommended
sites include, Madhav
National Park, Mad-
hya Pradesh, Sitama-
ta Wildlife Sanctuary,
Rajasthan, Mukun-
dra Hills Tiger Re-
serve, Rajasthan,
Gandhi Sagar Wild-
life Sanctuary, Mad-
hya Pradesh, Kumb-
halgarh Wildlife
Sanctuary, Ra-
jasthan, and Jessore-
Balaram Ambaji, Gu-
jarat.
Project Lion has been
launched for the conser-
vation of the Asiatic
Lion, whose last re-
maining wild popula-
tion is in Gujarat’s Asi-
atic Lion Landscape
(ALL). ALL includes
Gir National Park and
Sanctuary and covers 8
districts of Junagadh,
Amreli, Bhavnagar,
Porbandar, Rajkot, Gir-
Somnath, Botad and
Jamnagar, according to
the 14th Lion Popula-
tion Estimation Report
2015.
There are 674 lions in
this region spread over
a whopping 30,000 km.
Notwithstanding this
exercise by the Wildlife
Institute and Gujarat
Forest Department,
sources in the Union
Environment Ministry
claimed that relocation
was not among the
terms of reference of
Project Lion.
Project Lion will
only entail habitat de-
velopment, engage
modern technologies
in lion management
and address the is-
sues of disease in lion
and its associated spe-
cies through ad-
vanced world class
research and veteri-
nary care, besides hu-
man wildlife conflict,
not relocation.
CATFIGHT? Guj won’t give lions,
but relocation debate begins
KEY SHIFT
Experts and officials have identified 6 sites for possible relocation
of Asiatic Lions.
Kheda cop on 9-day remand
for stealing, selling liquor
THREE WOMEN KILLED AFTER
BEING RUN OVER BY A VEHICLE
Power to be 19
paise cheaper per
unit in Guj: MinisterFirst India Bureau
Kheda: In yet another
instance of a police-
man involved in illicit
liquor peddling, a
constable-cum-driver
was caught transport-
ing Indian-made For-
eign Liquor (IMFL)
that he had stolen
from a police station
storage in Kheda dis-
trict. A local court on
Tuesday remanded
him to 9 days in police
custody.
Vaso police station’s
driver-cum-constable
Shabbirkhan Pathan
was arrested by Vaso
PSI G B Parmar on
Monday, while he was
transporting liquor in
his personal car, a black
Hyundai Verna. The po-
lice had information
that a car of the same
make would pass
through Vaso gate on its
way to deliver a haul of
liquor.
When they inter-
cepted the vehicle,
they were taken
aback to find Shab-
birkhan on the driv-
er’s seat. The police
recovered 3 cartons
laden with 36 bottles
from the car and esti-
mated the liquor to be
worth Rs 14,400 in the
market.
The police consta-
ble confessed to have
stolen the seized liq-
uor from the store
room and was illegal-
ly selling it and had
already sold some
stuff to 2 parties.
First India Bureau
Bharuch: An uniden-
tified vehicle mowed
down 3 women near a
temple on a state
highway passing
through Jhagadia ta-
luka of Bharuch dis-
trict on Wednesday
morning.
The priest of Gu-
mandev temple was
thrashed by angry
crowds when they
found that the CCTV
cameras outside the
premises, which could
have helped identify the
vehicle, were not func-
tioning.
The women, who
were killed, had come
from Uchedia village to
sell vegetables near the
temple, said inspector P
H Vasava of Jhagadia
police station.
Police said the acci-
dent took place on the
road that connects An-
kleshwar town of
Bharuch with Rajpipla
town of Narmada dis-
trict.
Angry villagers
gathered on the road
demanding the arrest
of the driver, who is
at large, said Bharuch
superintendent of po-
lice Rajendrasinh
Chudasama. Later,
when the mob asked
the priest to check the
temple’s CCTV foot-
age he said it was not
functional. Infuriated
by this, the mob
thrashed the priest.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat Government has
decided to reduce the
fuel surcharge on
electricity by 19 paise
per unit for consum-
ers of the state elec-
tricity companies. It
would provide relief
of Rs 356 crore to 1.40
crore consumers,
State Energy Minis-
ter Saurabh Patel
said on Wednesday.
While the fuel sur-
charge is levied from
the consumers accord-
ing to the formula fixed
by the Gujarat Electric-
ity Regulatory Author-
ity besides the energy
charge in the electricity
bills, the four electrici-
ty distribution compa-
nies under the Gujarat
Urja Vikas Nigam had
charged Rs 2 per unit as
fuel surcharge during
the last quarter from
July to September.
The consumers will
now be charged Rs
1.81 per unit as fuel
surcharge from Octo-
ber to December 2020.
The minister said the
government decided
to reduce the fuel sur-
charge by 19 paise per
unit owing to cheaper
availability of coal in
the international
market and easy
availability of gas to
the State Govern-
ment.
Vibrant Gujarat event
cancelled owing to Covid
crisis: CM Vijay Rupani
First India Bureau
G a n d h i n a g a r :
Chief Minister Vi-
jay Rupani on
Wednesday stated
that the ambitious
biennial Vibrant
Gujarat global in-
vestors summit,
usually held in Jan-
uary, would have to
be cancelled this
time owing to the
Covid-19 crisis.
This comes in the
wake of the State
Government cancel-
ling all Navratri
events and decided to
put off reopening of
schools after Diwali,
besides postpone-
ment of local body
elections slated for
December.
The Chief Minis-
ter made this an-
nouncement during
an interview to a
local Gujarati TV
channel, citing the
pandemic. The out-
break of the disease
and the subsequent
lockdown have had
a sledgehammer
impact on the econ-
omy at large with
drastic fall in in-
vestments.
As a result, new in-
vestments have stag-
nated. Vibrant Guja-
rat Summit was the
brainchild of the
then chief minister
Narendra Modi who
launched it in 2003 to
showcase Gujarat as
an ideal investment
destination after se-
vere criticism in the
wake of the 2002 com-
munal riots.
Over the years,
the celebrated event
came to be officially
described as Vi-
brant Gujarat Glob-
al Investors Sum-
mit with companies
of different sizes
from several coun-
tries participating
in it. The event also
courted controver-
sy in the wake of
allegations that the
g o v e r n m e n t
claimed many times
more than the ac-
tual investments ac-
cruing from this
showcase event.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani
Cops seize huge quantity of liquor from a police constable.
Angry crowds gathered at the accident site.
COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
3,704
DEATHS
1,70,053
CONFIRMED CASES
RAJASTHAN
1,867 DEATHS 1,89,844 CASES
DELHI
6,396 DEATHS 3,70,014 CASES
WORLD
11,76,112
DEATHS
4,45,57,331
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
80,22,264
CONFIRMED CASES
1,20,387
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
43,554 DEATHS 16,60,406 CASES
TAMIL NADU
10,983 DEATHS 7,14,235 CASES
KARNATAKA
11,046 DEATHS 8,12,784 CASES

AHMEDABAD, THURSDAY
OCTOBER 29, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
any generations, belea-
guered by destiny and sad-
ness have hummed – “dun-
iya banana wale… kaahe
ko duniya banayi?” Teesri
Kasam flows like a river,
softly, gently bubbling over
the stones towards its final desti-
nation of the ocean.
Even as we sway with Raj Ka-
poor and Waheeda Rehman, get
caught up in their love and tender-
ness, we know the inevitable loss
in which this story will end.
As far as I am concerned this
was one of the finest performanc-
es by Raj Kapoor and Waheeda,
understated, dignified and heart
rendingly realistic. Both of them
did full justice to their characters,
of a rustic bullock cart owner and
a nautanki performer.
The film is based on Phanish-
war Nath’s short story Mare Gaye
Gulfam and surprisingly fared
poorly when released. The film
beautifully captures the rural
ethos, many shots and the play of
light remind me of Bimal Roy. The
love story of Hiraman and Hirabai
unfolds like a flower in the early
morning as the rays of the sun fall
on it. Raj Kapoor as Hiraman won
me over with his simple rustic
charm and Waheeda as Hirabai,
his wistful lover gives a remarka-
ble performance bringing a sensi-
tivity to her role and shining it
with her amazing dance perfor-
mances.
The movies and the songs flow
effortlessly together. Sajanre
Jhoot Mat Bolo, Sajanwa Bairi Ho
Gaye Hamar, Duniya Bananewale
and Pan Khaye Saiyan Humaro,
each song is a classic.
One of my favourite scenes is
when Waheeda cooks for him but
he won’t relent enough to eat. She
bares her heart to him and he
melts, sitting down to pour his
heart out when suddenly the nau-
tanki music is heard loudly out-
side! Oh! The bite of reality on the
face of Raj Kapoor! The climax
where a beautiful tragic Waheeda
says “Main bik chuki hun Hira”,
still breaks my heart. And when
a heart broken Raj Kapoor comes
back to his bullocks and raises a
whip to make them move, he
hears Waheeda’s voice “maaro
mat” and turns to look inside his
cart, which shows a receding
train carrying her away from him
through the open tarpaulin. What
a scene! And then he takes the
Teesri Kasam!
PINJARE
wali Muniya
This Throwback
Thursday, City First
undertakes the journey
of Teesri Kasam on a
bullock cart swayed
and soothed by the
melodious songs of
this poetic film!
M
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com

s hair is consid-
ered the ‘crown we
never take off’ its
only natural for us
to want flawless
locks. But very of-
ten we find our-
selves battling dry, rough,
dull hair or even premature
greying and baldness. So
how do we right the severe-
ly dehydrating wrong done
by the arid climate of Ra-
jasthan? By adopting 5000
year old, tried and tested,
Ayurvedic beauty regimes.
Often chemicals used in
hair products have harmful
effects on our vision, endo-
crine and nervous system,
as toxins enter our blood-
stream via dermal absorp-
tion. That’s a huge price to
pay for treatments that can
be superficial, inadequate
and temporary at best. The
Ayurvedic approach on the
other hand is fundamen-
tally holistic and 100% nat-
ural. It aims at identifying
the root cause of damage,
which is usually far be-
neath the surface.
Ayurveda identifies hair
as a byproduct of bone tis-
sue. When the quality of
nutrition available for bone
formation is compromised,
the quality of hair suffers.
Nourishing your hair and
scalp through diet, Ayurve-
dic herbs, and oils along
with stress management
will not just promote
healthy lustrous hair, but
can also support a calm,
balanced mind. Lets take a
closer look at some of these
remedies.
1.HEALTHY HAIR THROUGH
A NOURISHING DIET
The primary source of
Prana or life force comes
from the food we eat; it di-
rectly impacts our tissue
growth and cellular quality.
Certain nutrient rich foods
like organic dairy, carrots,
beets, green leafy vegeta-
bles, healthy fats like nuts,
seeds and Ghee are particu-
larly supportive of healthy
hair.
2.STRESS MANAGEMENT AND
BEAUTY SLEEP
When the body is in a
state of chronic stress (like
during a pandemic) the de-
preciative effect makes
bone tissue particularly
vulnerable by robing its nu-
tritional requirements.
Stress becomes a primary
cause of hair woes, as bone
tissue is unable to spare nu-
trition for its by-product in
question. Restful sleep and
relaxation will reduce
stress and promote opti-
mum tissue nutrition. Just
15 minutes of regular Pra-
nayama practice can radi-
cally improve our overall
wellbeing.
3.MIRACLE POTIONS OF
AYURVEDIC HERBS AND OILS
What we apply on our
scalp immediately enters
our body through dermal
absorption. So while it is a
good idea to steer clear of
toxic chemicals, it is also
important to opt for in-
tensely nourishing herbs.
The most effective Ayurve-
dic herbs for scalp and hair
are -
BRAHMI: Perhaps the
most important nervine
herb used to revitalize
brain cells and the nervous
system. It balances the
right and left hemispheres
of the brain, while improv-
ing concentration and of
course hair health.
BHRINGRAJ : the “ruler of
hair” is naturally rejuve-
nating and anti aging which
makes it control greying
and baldness. When applied
as oil on the scalp it calms
the mind and promotes
sound sleep. In many ways
it is similar to Brahmi.
AMLA – an intensely reju-
venating Ayurvedic herb
that rebuilds and maintains
new tissues leading to soft-
er, smoother hair.
HIBISCUS FLOWER - It helps
purify the blood, promoting
skin clarity and hair
growth.
FENUGREEK – a good herb-
al food to prevent hair fall
and thinning.
All of these herbs are
now commonly available
and can be mixed with
warm carrier oils like sesa-
me or coconut oil; alter-
nately readymade oil decoc-
tions can be purchased
from reliable and certified
brands.
Yogurt deserves special
mention for being a great
hair mask. Packed with nu-
trients like Riboflavin (re-
vives dull hair), Niacin
(prevents hair loss), Biotin
(restores damaged hair)
and Vitamin B12 (boosts
hair growth and keeps dan-
druff away) yogurt is a
great food for hair. Use it as
a hair pack, amplify its ben-
efits by adding powdered
herbs or simply include it
in your regular diet for
healthy hair and scalp.
The combination of a nu-
tritive diet, restful sleep,
stress free living, regular
oil massages and the strate-
gic use of Ayurvedic herbs
will support optimal physi-
cal and mental health, radi-
ant beauty and a vibrant
sense of wellness in every
aspect of your life.
10
ETCAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
JUHI GODAMBE, Influencer
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
You may need to deal with
an old problem to get over
a hump. You could be
craving a connection or
mission through what you do,
experience, and learn. You might take
the time to feel, learn about, and
understand your desires and drives
rather than rush to satisfy them.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
You might need to take a
look at the hard issues in a
partnership so that you can
later take action to make
some important changes. Instead,
others can stir up strong feelings in
you, which can be very revealing,
leading to new goals, particularly
related to relationships.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
There can be some
difficulty keeping your cool
if you feel blocked. You can
discover strong feelings
and desires now that almost beg you
to make changes, but it may not be
clear where to begin. Avoid pushing
matters, but pay attention to what
emerges.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Your emotions and desire
nature are playing off one
another. Emotions are
strong and perhaps
disruptive, but feelings that emerge
today can be enlightening. Still, it may
be best to take your time before
jumping to conclusions. The desire to
approach something can be strong.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Networking or a friendship
stimulates all sorts of
feelings now. A former
friend or simply a strong
memory of a past situation can figure
strongly. Your feelings about a
friendship matter can be more intense
than usual, or unrest with friends and
lovers may push to the surface.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
While it can be emotionally
charged at times, you may
get the chance to deal with a
problem area once and for
all. Disorder with communications or
transportation can be disruptive now,
prompting you to make important
changes and improvements. Aim to
tame impatience.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Feelings erupting now can
be quite revealing. This
energy pushes trouble
areas to the foreground for
handling. Emotions bubbling up to
the surface are strong and perhaps a
little surprising since they can be
based on previously buried anger or
desires.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
You might learn a lot about
something that has been
slowing you down or
tripping you up. Challeng-
ing family or home life issues could
emerge now. Pay close attention to
resentment that seems to emerge out
of nowhere. Energies run high for
home-related activities today.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
There can be some
animation in your inner
world today. You may very
well revisit an old topic or
strong memory that’s likely to
deepen your mood and perspective.
You might tackle tricky power
dynamics with someone. A few
projects may be put aside today.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You are feeling the need
for more inspiration when
it comes to your goals.
Aim to draw upon the
strength of your feelings to be
productive and take the initiative, but
it’s not the time to make big
decisions. The need or desire to
return to an old work is strong today.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
You’re in good shape for
sniffing out overlooked
assets, attending to
financial affairs and
valuables, and discovering ways to
boost your comfort. This transit may
very well set up the discovery of an
untapped resource. Consider that
you may be tired of the usual routine.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Your focus can be on
putting the details together,
and you can be hellbent on
resolving a problem. Going
over old ground may be the key.
There can be stronger emotional
reactions than usual, which can be
very revealing. Somethings can
dominate your life.
DEVYANI SINGH
Ayurveda, Nutrition and Holistic
Wellness Advocate
Instagram: @devyanirathore
The luster, shine and
VOLUME MANE-IA!An Ayurvedic guide to gorgeous frizz-free
hair that is healed from the inside out
A

M
usic icon Jennifer
Lopez and Rebbeca
star Armie Ham-
mer are reportedly
set to star in Lionsgate’s ac-
tion-comedy Shotgun Wed-
ding. Pitch Perfect‘s Jason
Moore will direct
from a screenplay
by Mark Hammer
and Liz Meriwether.
Erin Westerman,
President of Production
for Lionsgate’s Motion
Picture Group said, “Jen-
nifer and Armie’s irresist-
ible magnetism, separate-
ly and together, make them
the perfect pairing for this
action-comedy.” “They are
both incredibly funny
actors that can also de-
liver on the action, but
what sets this movie
apart is the way their
infectious chemistry
commands the
screen. You can’t
take your eyes off
them,” he added.
—Agency
W
alking down the memory
lane, actor and former
Miss Universe Lara Dut-
ta Bhupathi on Wednes-
day recalled being crowned as Miss
Universe 2000. She to Instagram to
post a collage of three pictures
when she returned to Bangalore
after winning the Miss Universe
pageant. She also added a short
note recalling winning the pag-
eant 20 years ago. “Year 2000. My
home town of Bengaluru came
out in full force to give me the
biggest, grandest welcome I have
ever experienced!!” she wrote in
the caption. — ANI
A
ditya Roy Kapur has opted out
of Ek Villain 2 and signed an-
other actioner, to be produced
by Ahmed Khan. The big budg-
eted project, has been titled Om. While
Adi is already prepping up for the role,
and working on getting a particular
body prototype to suit the character.
there were several speculations
about who the leading lady
would be. A source con-
firms the development,
“Ahmed was scouting
for a young Gen-Y ac-
tress who would not
only look great opposite
Adi but also be a fresh
pairing on screen. They
have locked Dil Bechara
heroine Sanjana Sanghi
for the film.” —Agency
‘NAAGIN’
IN TRILOGY
B
ollywood star Shraddha Ka-
poor is set to essay the role
of a shapeshift ‘naagin’ for
the first time for a trilogy
titled ‘Nagin’ to be helmed by
Vishal Furia.
Film critic Taran Adarsh con-
firmed the same on Twitter on
Wednesday.
“IT’S OFFICIAL... #Shrad-
dhaKapoor to portray ichhad-
haari nagin... The film - ti-
tled #Nagin - is designed as
a trilogy, 3-film series...
Directed by Vishal Fu-
ria... Produced by
Nikhil Dwivedi. In
the past, #ReenaRoy,
#Rekha, #Sridevi
had portrayed ich-
hadhaari nagin on
big screen,” he
tweeted. —ANI
im Kardashian
who turned 40 just
last week, recently
flew back home to
LA with sister Ken-
dall Jenner and
Scott Disick after
celebrating her
milestone birth-
day with a beach
getaway on a pri-
vate island in the Caribbean.
The reality star was spotted
at an airport in Los Angeles
on Monday.
Before her luxe getaway,
Kim had quite the week cel-
ebrating her big 40.
The reality star and make-
up mogul was treated to an
equal luxe birthday party in
LA before her intimate geta-
way. On her birthday, Kim’s
family, including her mother
Kris Jenner, husband Kanye
West, and sisters: Khloe Kar-
dashian, Kourtney Kardashi-
an, Kylie Jenner, Kendall
Jenner, and many more
friends of the Kardashian
family threw a lavish sur-
prise for the SKIMS founder.
—Agency
ETCwww.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020
11
KIM RETURNS!
T
he hype around Am-
azon Prime Video’s
‘Mirzapur 2’ was on
an all-time high af-
ter the huge success of the
first season, which ended
on a cliffhanger. Ardent
fans of the action crime
drama waited for close to
two years to know the fate
of the main characters.
After the huge success
of Mirzapur 2, In an exclu-
sive interview with City
First, the actors shared
how the second season of
‘Mirzapur’ became heavy
for them in certain scenes.
Not just that their char-
acters’ arcs are as dramat-
ic but they hold their own
in this extremely patriar-
chal world. The leading
ladies, Rasika Dugal and
Harshita Gaur revealed
the interesting develop-
ments and the transition
that their characters – Bee-
na Tripathi and Dimpy,
undergo, and what attract-
ed them to this fictional
‘world of goons’.
While Dugal says she ex-
tremely happy with the
way Beena “flourishes” in
the second instalment. “At
the end of season one, you
see how my character has
been violated and humili-
ated. Season two starts at a
point where you see her
trying to deal with that
and finding herself. It’s a
beautiful journey. When I
saw that in the script I was
very happy because I had
not expected that they
would spend time on my
character,” says the ac-
tress.
While Isha Talwar (Mad-
huri) expressed her happi-
ness on being called “Na-
tional Crush”, she says,
“The creators have
touched upon how they
reach the point of revenge
and that has made Mad-
huri’s journey extremely
fascinating as she falls for
Munna’s character.”
On asking Priyanshu
Painyuli (Robin) about his
character,hesaid,“Thelove
and reaction I received for
my character was beyond
imagination.Especiallymy
stories of my mom unfold
in a humorous way and my
takiya kalam, ‘Ye bhi theek
hai’ is on everyone’s lips.”
When asked about how
the actors relate their reel
life character with real
life’s, Dugal said, she is to-
tally the opposite and least
manipulative while Har-
shita told how her reel and
real-life character is simi-
lar in terms of her equa-
tion with her father.
Well, all the actors re-
mained silent about the
third season, we couldn’t
find out who will rule Mir-
zapur!.
MITALI DUSAD
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
MIRZAPUR SEASON 3?
K
Sanjana & Aditya pair-up
The Memory Lane
SHARING HER
STORY
C
hrissy Teigen and John Legend had
some heartbreaking news to share
with their fans. Due to several compli-
cations, Chrissy had a miscarriage
and the couple had to say goodbye to their
third child who they had already named Jack.
Teigen shared her thoughts on how she has
been since the tragic event and what went
through her mind during her miscarriage.
“I cannot express how little I care that you
hate the photos. How little I care that it’s
something you wouldn’t have done. I lived it,
I chose to do it, and more than anything, these
photos aren’t for anyone but the people who
have lived “Teigen stated. —Agency
SHOTGUN
Wedding’s star cast
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend
Kim Kardashian
Sanjana Sanghi
Aditya Roy Kapur
Jennifer Lopez
Poster of ‘Mirzapur’
Shraddha Kapoor
Lata Dutta’s post
Still from the series

CEC Arora hails Bihar voters' faith in democratic process

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CEC Arora hails Bihar voters' faith in democratic process