First india jaipur edition-09 may 2020

PENDING CLASS 10, 12 CBSE EXAMS TO BE
HELD FROM JULY 1 TO 15: HRD MINISTRY
New Delhi: Pending CBSE class 10, 12 board exams, which were
postponed due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown, will now
be conducted from July 1 to 15, Union HRD Minister Ramesh
Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ announced on Friday. “The students have been
impatiently waiting for the schedule for pending exams. It has been
decided today that the exams will be conducted from July 1 to 15,”
he said. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will an-
nounce a detailed schedule of the exams later.
DD NEWS, AIR TO BROADCAST
WEATHER REPORT FOR POK, GILGIT
New Delhi: With effect from Friday, Doordarshan News and All
India Radio will broadcast temperatures and weather reports of
Indian towns and cities of Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and Gilgit, in their
prime time news bulletins- at 8.55 and 20.55. “Private chan-
nels, showing weather report, will follow soon,” said Amit Khare,
Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. “It was clearly
conveyed that the entire UT of J&K and Ladakh, including the areas
of Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of India,” MHA said.
USA 1,304,142 77,663 +735
SPAIN 260,117 26,299 +229
ITALY 217,185 30,201 +243
UK 211,364 31,241 +626
RUSSIA 187,859 1,723 +98
GERMANY 169,430 7,392 +12
BRAZIL 140,023 9,600 +412
TURKEY 135,569 3,689 +48
IRAN 104,691 6,541 +55
CHINA 82,886 4,633 +2
CANADA 65,400 4,473 +65
COUNTRY TOTAL TOTAL NEW
CASES DEATHS DEATHS
GLOBAL STATE
OF AFFAIRS
WWW.WORLDOMETERS.INFO
LAST UPDATED: MAY 8, 2020, 11:07 PM
SAMPLE RECEIVED
SAMPLE NEGATIVE
2,468
UNDER EXAMINATION
1,52,245
1,46,198
IN RAJASTHAN
DISTRICT TOTAL NEW TOTAL
CASES CASES DEATH
AJMER 196 +9 4
ALWAR 20 +2 1
BANSWARA 66 — —
BARAN 1 — —
BARMER 3 — —
BHARATPUR 116 — 2
BHILWARA 43 +4 2
BIKANER 38 — 1
CHITTORGARH 126 +10 2
CHURU 14 — —
DAUSA 21 — —
DHOLPUR 21 — —
DUNGARPUR 9 — —
HANUMANGARH 11 — —
JAIPUR 1145 +34 54
JAISALMER 35 — —
JALORE 4 — —
JHALAWAR 47 +2 —
JHUNJHUNU 42 — —
JODHPUR 851 +9 17
KARAULI 5 +1 1
KOTA 232 +9 10
NAGAUR 119 — 2
PALI 55 +5 —
PRATAPGARH 4 — 1
RAJSAMAND 13 +6 —
SWAI MADHOPUR 9 — 1
SIKAR 9 +1 2
SIROHI 2 +1 0
TONK 136 — 1
UDAIPUR 79 +59 —
OTHER DIST. 2 — 2(UP)
TOTAL 3474 +152 103
OTHER (Italy) 2 — —
EVACUEES 61 — —
BSF 42 — —
GRAND TOTAL 3579 +152 103
CORONA
ALERT
JAIPUR l SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 332
26°C - 39°C
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
www.firstindia.co.in
www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/
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COVID-19
UPDATE
RAJASTHAN
103
DEATHS
3,579
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
59,642
CONFIRMED CASES
1,985
DEATHS
WORLD
2,73,932
DEATHS
39,76,655
CONFIRMED CASES
‘Give a thought for
online sales, home
delivery of liquor’
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court Friday
asked states to consider
non-direct contact or on-
line sales and home de-
livery of liquor during
the lockdown period to
prevent the spread of
coronavirus on account
of crowding at the shops.
A bench of Justices
Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay
Kishan Kaul and B R Ga-
vai, which took up the
matter through video
conferencing, disposed
of the plea challenging
the guidelines issued by
Ministry of Home Af-
fairs (MHA) on May 1, al-
lowing sales of liquor
through direct contact
sales during the lock-
down period.
The bench directed
that States may consider
allowing non-direct con-
tact sales or online sales
or home delivery of liq-
uor during these times,
advocate Sai Deepak, ap-
pearingforpetitionerGu-
ruswamy Nataraj said
after the hearing.
During the hearing, he
argued that there are
70,000 liquor vends
across the country and
over five crore people
have till now purchased
liquor from these shops.
Turn on P6
EASY ACCESS
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday inaugurated the Link Road
to Kailash Mansarovar Yatra via video conferencing. The BRO has
provided road connectivity from Dharchula to Lipulekh, a stretch of
80 km, at an altitude ranging from 6,000 feet to 17,060 feet. —ANI
Tragic end to migrants’ journey back home
Aurangabad: Blood-
stained rotis, some torn
currency notes, clothes,
meagre personal belong-
ings scattered around—
the scene at the tragedy
spot—where 16 migrant
labourers were killed,
and several others in-
jured, looks gory.
On Friday morning, a
goodstrainranoverthem
between Jalna and Au-
rangabad in the Nanded
Division of South Cen-
tral Railway in Karmad
police station area of the
Aurangabad district.
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi expressed an-
guish over the death of
14 migrant workers in
the train accident. He
said all possible assis-
tance is being provided.
Themigrantlabourers,
whohadbeenwalkingfor
several kilometres, were
sleepingontherailtracks
when the mishap oc-
curred, the railway offi-
cials said. Mokshada Pa-
til, SP Aurangabad said
police has ordered an in-
quiry into the incident.
“Early morning, a freight
train ran over 16 labour-
ersfromMadhyaPradesh.
We are investigating the
matter,” Patil said.
CPRO of South Central
Railway said, “An empty
petroleum tanker train
was moving from Cher-
lapallyStationtoPanevadi
Railway Station. The inci-
dent occurred early this
morning. A high-level en-
quiry at the level of Com-
missioner Railway safety
has been constituted.”
Railways later issued a
notice saying, “The gen-
eral public is requested
not to use the railway
track for any activity, this
can prove to be fatal.
During the lockdown,
only passenger trains are
closed, but goods trains,
Covid-19 parcel special
and Shramik Special
trains are in regular op-
eration.” Turn on P6
16 exhausted migrants sleeping on tracks mowed down by goods train; were walking to Bhusawal from
Jalna and returning to Madhya Pradesh; Maha & MP govts announced financial aid to kin of deceased
Cops probe on railway track where 16 migrant workers died in a train accident in Aurangabad on Friday.
Ashok Gehlot
@ashokgehlot51
It is most heart
wrenching to
know several
migrant workers
were crushed to
death by a train in
#Aurangabad. My
heartfelt condolences
to the bereaved
families. May they
find strength in this
terrible time.
Takestatesinto
confidence:
RaGatoNaMoNew Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi on
Friday exhorted Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
to devolve power and
make the states partners
in efforts to combat the
COVID-19 pandemic,
contending that “if we
keep this fight in PMO,
we will lose”.
Gandhi said there will
be a “calamity” if the
fight against the novel
coronavirus is central-
ised in the prime minis-
ter’s office (PMO).
Addressing a press
conference through vid-
eo conference, he also
asked the government to
adopt transparency in its
actions to tackle the coro-
navirus and work togeth-
er with states and take
them into confidence.
His remarks came af-
ter complaints by Con-
gress-ruled states that
they were being pushed
into fiscal distress in the
absence of the Centre
providing them resourc-
es to fight the pandemic.
Gandhi also called
upon the government to
immediatelyputmoney
into the hands of the
poor and Turn on P6
Poor Peoples’ CM: Gehlot increases RTE income limit to 2.5 lakh
Kartikey Dev Singh
Jaipur: At a time
when the economy
has slowed down and
rate of unemploy-
ment is running high,
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot provided a
much needed relief to
parents on Friday
when he announced
that private schools
will not be allowed to
remove a ward if the
school fee could not be
submitted. Gehlot is-
sued a stern warning
that the government
will revoke school’s
recognition if such a
case comes to light.
“If parents are unable
to deposit the school fee
of their children due to
the financial situation,
then private schools
should not strike off the
name of such a student.
If a school does this, the
state government can
revoke its recognition.
The Education Depart-
ment should also exam-
ine how private schools
can provide relief to the
students in fees and oth-
er charges and the op-
eration of those schools
is also not affected,” Ge-
hlot said while review-
ing issues related to
school education, high-
er and technical educa-
tion through video con-
ference at the Chief
Minister’s residence on
Friday. He said that Co-
rona crisis can be han-
dled only by taking care
of each other. “Together
wecancombatthesetry-
ing times,” he stressed.
The Chief Minister
said that the remain-
ing examinations of
Class X and XII of Ra-
jasthan Board of Sec-
ondary Education will
be postponed for the
time being. “The deci-
sion to hold the exams
will be taken as per the
decision taken by
CBSE, so that uniform-
ity is maintained in
both the board exams
and the students of the
state do not face diffi-
culties. Similarly, in
higher and technical
education, examina-
tions can be conducted
only if the conditions
are normal,” he said.
Gehlot also instruct-
ed that the Education
Department should en-
sure proper arrange-
ments for mid-day meal
for children during
summer break. He said
that due to lockdown, it
is not possible to pro-
vide cooked food to chil-
dren. In such a situa-
tion, it should be en-
sured that dry ration
materials are provided
to parents. Turn on P6
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot during a video conference with Govind Dotasara on Friday where
Kuldeep Ranka, Amit Dhaka and others were present.
 Now parents with annual income of 2.5
lakh can enrol their children under RTE
 Gehlot warns schools not to remove
students whose parents fail to pay fee
PADHEGA RAJASTHAN, BADHEGA RAJASTHAN
Completing 3 years as
Rajasthan Incharge, a brief
look at Pande’s journey P7&8

NEWSJAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
A
t a time
when the
economy is
in crisis,
Rajasthan Chief Min-
ister Ashok Gehlot
has taken a much
needed forward-look-
ing and proactive step
to set up a task force
in a bid to create an
investor-friendly en-
vironment and to woo
investment in the de-
sert state.
Rajasthan as per ini-
tial reports has suffered
a revenue loss of over
Rs 10,000 crores be-
tween the period when
the lockdown was start-
ed till April 30 this year.
Out of this Rs 3,500
crore of revenue was
lost in the last week of
March alone. Lockdown
in the state was im-
posed on March 22.
It is a huge loss for
the state’s economy
and to bring the econ-
omy back on track,
the state government
has to take effective
measures. With
Ashok Gehlot, a pro-
active leader, in
charge, it is clear that
would certainly take
steps to bring in in-
vestment and improve
the economy that too
at this time of crisis.
Setting up of task
force would certainly
help in creating an in-
vestor-friendly environ-
ment in the state. But
also needs to look to-
wards marketing and
branding itself in a
very competitive envi-
ronment.
Indian economy is
primarily a consump-
tion-driven economy. In
layman’s language, the
economy thrives on
spending.
So, the best way to
solve the crisis the state
is in is either to provide
cash in the hands of
people to spend or to
create jobs. The first
step to providing cash
is difficult as it will be
difficult for the state
government to afford it
in a long period as no
one knows till when
this coronavirus will
continue. The best obvi-
ously would be to gener-
ate employment by at-
tracting investment.
This time looks
good, as some of the
countries including
Japan, South Korea,
and even the US have
asked their compa-
nies to move their
base out of China and
best Rajasthan can be
a good beneficiary as
the state offers good
investment climate,
abundant land, and
cheap labor force.
Rajasthan govern-
ment can also think of
working out custom-
ized packages for indus-
tries showing interest
in setting up their units
in the state. No, harm in
giving them red carpet
treatment.
The state needs to
market itself in a big
way; it really is a very
competitive environ-
ment out there. Brand-
ing will also have to be
undertaken. But with
Gehlot at the helm, the
state is bound to pros-
per. No doubt.
Most probably,
Ashok Gehlot was the
first CM in the entire
country who interact-
ed with entrepre-
neurs and industrial-
ists through video-
conferencing and
tried to assuage their
fears and conveyed to
them that the state
government is stand-
ing with them at the
time of crisis. He
said, “The state gov-
ernment is aware of
the problems being
faced by the indus-
tries due to coronavi-
rus infection and
lockdown. The gov-
ernment stands with
entrepreneurs in this
hour of crisis. We
will make every effort
so that industries can
get support.”
Mind you, this kind
of statement made by
the leader of a state
goes a long way in build-
ing confidence. The
chief minister has done
that and effectively too.
Another area where
the state can focus is to
put the migrant labor
coming back to the state
in productive use. Ask
them to engage in work
suitable to them or start
something for them,
maybe a cottage indus-
trylikeunits,wherethey
canproduceormanufac-
ture something and gov-
ernment, in turn, can
buy them and sell it in
the market. In present
circumstances asking
them to make masks,
sanitizers, and safety
kitsforhealthworkersis
not a bad idea.
The help of Ra-
jasthan Skill & Liveli-
hoods Development
Corporation or skills
university could also
be taken for provid-
ing skill training to
this workforce as it
would enhance em-
ployability. A win-win
situation both for the
government and also
for the labor force.
AnadroitGehlotneedstomarketBrandRajasthaninabigway!
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot
ANIL
SHARMA
Senior Journalist
AviationindustryfacesmajorairturbulenceMarch 2020 witnessed not only reduction in passenger load but also saw the cancellation of a record number of flights
Kashiram Choudhary
Jaipur: The aviation
industry seems to pass
through its worst-ever
phase in recent memo-
ry. The date released
by the DGCA reveals
that March 2020 was
the nail in the coffin in
more than one way.
The international
flights seized operat-
ing from 22 March
while the domestic
had curtains down on
25 March. March 2020
witnessed not only re-
duction in passenger
load but also saw the
cancellation of a re-
cord number of flights
with decrease flight
operation.
Air India was the big-
gest sufferer in terms
of reduction in passen-
ger load with an aver-
age 15% decrease for
the industry as a whole.
The data reveals
that while 115.96 lakh
passengers took flights
in February 2020, it
went down to 77.62
lakh in March 2020.
Air India also had a
poor 60% on-time
flight performance
while all airlines de-
faulting on this front.
The corona scare
clearly has the wings
of the aviation indus-
try clipped which
might take a long time
to emerge from the
current scenario.
Whenever the air-
lines resume the oper-
ations they will have
to follow social dis-
tancing guidelines
which might include
keeping the middle
seat vacant.
With so much re-
duced passenger load
in every flight, experts
feel it may take two
years for the industry
to crawl back to the
normalcy.
This could only
stretch further with
poor economic scenar-
ios leading to poor de-
mand which might
force the airlines to
keep the fares low.
So they will have to
fly with fewer passen-
gers with reduced
fares to cover the costs
first, losses will fea-
ture later.
Nirmal Tiwari
Jaipur: The lockdown
has improved air quali-
ty in cities. Ajmer, Al-
war, Pali, and Kota have
recorded better air
quality during the mod-
ified lockdown.
Chairman of state
pollution control board
(SPCB) Pawan Goyal
said that a comparative
study of air quality, key
pollutants, and nitro-
gen dioxide during pre-
lockdown, lockdown,
and the modified lock-
down was conducted.
The lockdown im-
posed by CM Ashok Ge-
hlot between March 22
and 31. The ban on
travel and other non-
essential activities re-
sulted in air quality
improvement in towns
and cities. The SPCB
has been monitoring
air quality through its
10 Continuous Ambi-
ent Air Quality Moni-
toring Station&
CAAQMS including 3
in Jaipur and one each
in Jodhpur, Kota, Pali,
Udaipur, Alwar, Ajmer,
and Bhiwadi.
To assess the impact
of lockdown on air
quality, the data from
these stations were ana-
lyzed on different pa-
rameters like AQI and
PM10, Pm2.5, and nitro-
gen dioxide. The SPCB
had published two re-
ports on April 15 and 24.
In Jaipur, noise pollu-
tion was also analyzed.
The report found air
quality satisfactory in
all the cities except
Jodhpur, which has re-
corded a medium-range
drop in air quality dur-
ing the modified lock-
down compared to the
lockdown period.
However, the air qual-
ity deteriorated in Bhi-
wadi, Jodhpur Udaipur,
and some parts of
Jaipur during the modi-
fied lockdown com-
pared to lockdown
while improved in Kota,
Ajmer, Alwar, and Pali.
PM 10 and PM 2.5 lev-
els were also high in
Bhiwadi, Jodhpur,
Udaipur, & some areas
in Jaipur during the
modified lockdown.
But, except Bhiwadi,
Pali, & Jaipur (Police
Commissionerate) NO2
was high in all other
places during the modi-
fied lockdown.
Blue skies, clean air: Raj’s air
pollution plummets in Lockdown
A deserted view of Johari Bazaar in Jaipur. —FILE PHOTO
Bharatpur:
Tourism min
hails dist admn
Israel Embassy thanks
Ajmer DM Vishwa Mohan
One injured as part of
DRM office ceiling falls
First India News
Bharatpur: Tourism
minister Vishvendra
Singh has praised the
district administra-
tion of Bharatpur. He
held a press confer-
ence in circuit house
in which he said that
entire district admin-
istration has been do-
ing its best under the
leadership of district
collector Nathmal
Didel and SP Haider
Ali Zaidi.
“We have begun to
see the results of hard
work put in by the dis-
trict administration,”
he said.
District collector
Nathmal Didel in-
formed that the district
administration has
made arrangements to
send thousands of
workers to their homes.
Rajendra Chhabra
Ajmer: Amidst the cor-
onavirus induced lock-
down, 117 Israeli tour-
ists from Puskar were
airlifted to their coun-
try on March 26. In this
regard, The Embassy
of Israel has thanked
Ajmer District Magis-
trate Vishwa Mohan
Sharma. The Israeli
tourists from Pushkar
left for Delhi in three
buses, the screening of
the tourists was carried
out by the administra-
tion, along with provid-
ing them with their
health reports.
In a letter written to
DM Sharma, Minister-
Counselor from the Em-
bassy of Israel Yaacov
Rosh has mentioned:
“The embassy in New
Delhi and I personally
would like to express
our deepest gratitude to
thank you and your
team for the kind coop-
eration and timely as-
sistance to Israeli na-
tionals in the current
pandemic situation.’
First India News
Jaipur: The Bill Pay
section on the 1st floor
of the DRM office of
Jaipur Rail Zone office
witnessed an accident
when part of ceiling fell
during working hours.
Office superintendent
Kaushalya Daswani
was injured in the inci-
dent. She was sent to
railway hospital for
first aid. The fall also
damaged a computer.
Usually, 20 people
work in that room. The
railway union had been
demanding repairs for a
long time was enraged
at this and alleged the
engineering section’s
carelessness responsi-
ble for the mishap. Un-
ion demanded action
against Senior DEN
(Coordination).
Aishwarya Pradhan
Jaipur: Central Fi-
nance Minister (State)
Anurag Thakur held a
VC with state BJP lead-
ers to discuss the coro-
na situation in the state.
State president Satish
Poonia, state in-charge
Avinash Rai Khanna,
national co-organiza-
tion secretary V Satish,
state organization sec-
retary Chandrashek-
har, LOP Gulabchand
Kataria, deputy LOP
Rajendra Rathore and
central ministers Ga-
jendra Singh, Arjun
Meghwal & Kailash
Choudhary participat-
ed in the VC.
Thakur alleged that
CM Gehlot was hiding
the figures despite get-
ting full help from the
central govt.
He said that the state
has received 2753 crore
as tax share, Rs 741
crore under state disas-
ter fund and Rs 503
crore as GST compensa-
tion.
Thakur said that the
CM should tell people
what he had done for
the people from state
sources.
Abhishek Srivastava
Jaipur: Principal Sec-
retary (UDH) Bhaskar
A Sawant chaired a
meeting of officers of
urban development au-
thorities and improve-
ment trusts across the
state through a VC on
Friday. The meeting dis-
cussed the resumption
of developmental ac-
tivities after the new
guidelines which had
come to a halt due to re-
strictions earlier.
One important point
taken up in the meeting
was the CM Jan Awaas
Scheme. The builders
across the state had
been demanding relaxa-
tion in the rules for the
scheme. Builders want
the betterment levy to
be charged for the base-
ment to be waived off.
They also are de-
manding permission for
unlimited construction
under the scheme so
that houses for poor can
be built without incur-
ring heavy losses mak-
ing projects economi-
cally unviable. No deci-
sion could be taken on
the issue at the meeting.
THE FALL OF PASSENGER LOAD
COVIDWAR:CENTRE
GAVEFULLSUPPORT
TORAJGOVERNMENT
Sawantdiscussesresumption
ofdevelopmentalactivities
Anurag ThakurFirst India News
Bharatpur: Min-
ister of state for
medical & Health
Dr Subhash Garg
visited curfew
bound areas in
Bharatpur on Fri-
day. He inquired
people about wa-
ter, electricity, and
other problems.
Later speaking
to media person,
Dr Garg said that
every government
department is its
district adminis-
tration, police,
health workers
have been per-
forming duties
like a corona war-
rior. “I salute their
hard work,” he
added while hop-
ing that Bharat-
pur will soon get
rid of COVID 19.
The minister
also expressed an-
guish over trage-
dies in Maharash-
tra and
Vishakhapatnam.
He demanded
strict action
against guilty.
‘I salute
corona
warriors’
hard work’
Subhash Garg
—Pic for representational purpose only
—Pic for representational
purpose only
Bhaskar A Sawant

RAJASTHANJAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2020
z Jaipur: A pregnant
woman in the curfew
area of Jalupura was
in labour pain and
no one was helping
her due to the fear of
coronavirus. In such
a situation, ASI Sunil
Kumar and Head
Constable took the
woman to Janana
Hospital in their
private car.
z Kota: Congress
MLA Bharat Singh has
written a letter to Lok
Sabha Speaker Om
Birla demanding the
whole procurement of
wheat in Kota-Bundi
Lok Sabha constitu-
ency.
z Jaipur: Rajyavard-
han Singh Rathore
has appealed to the
state government
to take necessary
actions as the law
arrangements in the
state are deteriorating.
z Jaipur: Assem-
bly Speaker Dr. CP
Joshi saluted Jawan
Abid Khan and other
soldiers of our secu-
rity forces.
z Jaipur: While
hearing the PIL filed
regarding increas-
ing the tenure of the
Jaipur Municipal
Corporation, HC gave
orders to the state
government. The next
hearing in the matter
will be held on May
11. The order was
passed by the division
bench of Chief Justice
Indrajit Mahanty
and Justice Satish
Sharma on the PIL
filed by OP Tak.
z Jaipur: HC has
asked the state gov-
ernment if an Excise
Officer could be de-
ployed at every liquor
shop. But the govern-
ment has refused for
it, citing the shortage
of manpower.
z Jaipur: The police
arrested 897 peo-
ple, including 32 on
Friday, for violating
Section 144 during
the lockdown and
for opening shops
and roaming on
the streets without
permission. Also, they
registered 16 cases
under the Disaster
Management and
Pandemic Act, which
has increased the total
to 356. In addition, 87
vehicles were seized
on Friday, making the
total reach 16,253.
z Jaipur: Due to
finding new corona
patients in Jaipur on
Friday, a partial cur-
few has been imposed
in 7 new places of
Jaipur city.
BRIEF
in
Nirmal Tiwari
Jaipur. Liquor retail
shops are riding a roar-
ing business ever since
they re-opened after a
closure of 42 days.
5 days of liquor sales
in the state has touched
the figure of Rs 270
crore meaning hefty
revenue for the excise
department on expect-
ed lines.
The liquor traders
who were until now
shedding tears over
their huge losses due to
no sale are now busy
minting money even in
covert manner.
There have been
large scale complaints
from many districts of
retail shops over charg-
ing the customers. The
Rs 52 MRP pint of
IMCL is being sold for
Rs 80, Beer with MRP
of Rs 150 is available at
Rs 200 and the Rs 500
MRP bottle of IMFL is
being overcharged at
Rs 1000.
All the brands above
Rs 1000 are available at
a premium of Rs 200-
Rs 400. The excise of-
ficers seem to be hand
in glove with the re-
tailers in fleecing the
customers who have
no way of complaining
to anybody.
Even if few excise of-
ficer plans a surprise
raid, the retailers get
prior information
courtesy the moles in
the excise department.
The retailers are so
overwhelmed with over
charging their custom-
ers that they are also
not paying any heed to
the sales guidelines of
social distancing, sani-
tisers, barricading etc
issued by the excise de-
partment.
There are strict in-
struction to display a
rate list at each shop
and issue bills for each
sale but while the
sales have touched Rs
270 crore the bills is-
sued don’t even touch
Rs 50 crore.
Liquor shops exploit thirst, overcharge, avoid billing
Positive cases found in JMC,
HQ, to be closed for 2 days
First India News
Jaipur: The identifica-
tion of a corona posi-
tive case at the head-
quarters of Jaipur Mu-
nicipal Corporation
created a panic on Fri-
day. As soon as a civil
defence volunteer was
ftested positive, Addi-
tional commissioner
Arun Garg immediate-
ly ordered the whole
premises to be evacuat-
ed and all doors to be
closed.
The JMC headquar-
ters will be closed for
next two days and the
whole premises will be
sanitised. For next two
days people can register
complaints on
9413047400 and can meet
officers at the civil lines
municipal zone office.
JMC HQ will reopen on
Monday.
Whereas, an employ-
ee working in Sanganer
zone of Municipal Cor-
poration also tested
positive. In this case,
CMHO gave Quaran-
tine instructions to all
the employees who
came in contact with
the positive ones.
NO END TO GREED
RSS providing
relief work at 5k
places in state
Half burnt body of
woman recoveredFirst India News
Jaipur: A half burnt
body of a woman was
found in a farm near
Safeda farm house in
Harmada police sta-
tion area.
Harmada police
reached the spot and
called the FSL team.
ACP Priyanka Ku-
mawat and SHO
Ramesh Saini tried to
collect evidence from
the crime scene.
Police feels that
someone attempted
burning the body after
the murder.
The dead body could
not be identified. Both
police and FSL have
collected some evi-
dence from the crime
scene and they are
pursuing the investi-
gation further.
The body seems
have been brought to
the deserted farm
from somewhere else
and the murdered
woman isn’t a local.
Tonk rape case: Raje accuses
Congress of supporting guilty
First India News
Jaipur: Former CM
Vasundhara Raje lam-
basted state govt for
unabated crime against
women. Raje accused
govt of going soft on the
perpetrators of rape on
a minor in Tonk.
She said that the inac-
tion is encouraging the
criminals. Raje took
feedback on Tonk inci-
dent from MP Sukhbir
Singh Jaunpuria and
MLA Kanhaiya Lal
Chodhary. She alleged
that the family of the
rape victim was being
threatened and that the
criminals had support
of local Congress.
Prominent people
from Rebari community
fromBarmercalledRaje
on phone regarding
rape with a woman of
their community. Asha
Singh Rebari talked to
Raje and demanded
compensation for the
victim and fast track
trial of the case. Raje as-
suredherof allthecoop-
eration in her struggle.
Aishwarya Pradhan
Jaipur: Rashtriya
SwayamsewakSangh
(RSS) has been pro-
viding relief to dis-
tressed people during
corona crisis. They
claim to be running
relief work in five
thousand places in
Rajasthan and 68000
in the country.
The sangh has di-
vided Rajasthan into
three parts Jaipur,
Jodhpur and Chittor-
garh. As per sangh’s
claim, its relief work
has been running in
67336 places in the
country. There are
342319 swayamse-
waks engaged in it.
Till May 2, ration
kit was distributed to
50,48,088 families and
3,17,12,767 food pack-
ets were distributed.
Besides, 44,54,555
masks were given to
the people. And, 58739
temporary shelter
homes were set up.
The swayamse-
waks also donated
22446 units blood.
21,24,404 people were
given DECOCTION
(Kadha) and 1,61,005
nomads also received
help from the sangh
workers.
The three regions
together have 35050
workers active at 5318
places. They distrib-
uted 356127 ration
kits, 3425916 food
packets and 553862
masks. 40090 people
from other states got
help and blood was
donated for 1110 peo-
ple while 104653 per-
sons received kadha.
Sources claimed
that it would expand
its work in near fu-
ture however there is
going to be a chal-
lenge as large num-
ber of migrant work-
ers are coming home.
Vasundhara Raje
FOUR DEATHS RECORDED,
152 NEW CASES FOUNDFirst India News
Jaipur: 4 corona deaths
were reported in last 24
hours taking the total to
103. Ajmer reported two
deaths while Jaipur and
Jodhpur reported one
case of corona death
each. Friday reported
152 new corona positive
cases. Udaipur sur-
prised everyone with 59
corona cases surfacing
in a single day while 34
cases were reported
from Jaipur. Chittor-
garh had 10, Ajmer,
Jodhpur & Kota 9 each,
Rajsamand 6, Pali 5,
Bhilwara 4, Alwar &
Jhalawar 2 each and Ka-
rauli, Sirohi & Sikar
one positive case each.
The state total for co-
rona positives stands at
3579. State has tested
152245 samples so far
out of which 146198
have reported negative
while reports for 2468
samples is awaited.
Jaipur leads the most
positive cases tally with
1145 cases followed by
Jodhpur 851, Kota 232,
Ajmer 196, Tonk 136,
Nagaur 119, Chittor-
garh 126 each, Bharat-
pur 116, Udaipur 79,
Banswara 66, Pali 55,
Jhalawar 47, Bhilwara
43, Jhunjhunu 42, Bi-
kaner 38, Jaisalmer 35,
Dausa & Dholpur 21
each, Alwar 20, Churu
14, Rajsmand 13, Hanu-
mangarh 11, Sawai
Madhopur, Sikar &
Dungapur 9 each, Ka-
rauli 5, Pratapgarh &
Jalore 4 each, Barmer 3,
Sirohi 2 and Baran with
one case. Apart from
this 2 Italians, two from
other states, 61 Indians
evacuated from Iran. 31
districts are officially
corona infected.
iN Jaipur 13 new cas-
es surfaced from Film
colony and Thathero Ka
Rasta in Chaura Rasta,2
cases each from Chand-
pole, Ramganj, Jalupu-
ra, Sanganeri Gate and
Gandhi Nagar and one
case each from Bas
Badanpura, Bhatta Bas-
ti, Sirsi village, Adarsh
Nagar, Sanganer, Sub-
hash Nagar, Amer, Man-
sarovar, Phulera and
Niwaru Raod.
People in Muhana Manda, where positive cases were found, thrrowing caution in the air by avoiding
social distancing norms, some were even seen without masks. —PHOTO BY MUKESH KIRADOO
Udaipur: 59
positive cases
found in 1 day,
tally rises to 80
Court panel
discuss post
lockdown work
Terrorist Harnek
Singh gets
special parole
Sodala elevated
road construction to
resume from May 12
6 die in car accident
at Abu road, 1 in
critical condition
First India News
Udaipur: Udaipur re-
ported 59 positive cases
in just one day. With this
total tally has reached
80 in the Lake City. Of
the 58 cases, 55 are said
to be from Kanji Ka
Hata under Surajpol
Gate police station area.
The contagion spread
from a home guard
jawan who was tested
positive two days ago.
After the latest devel-
opment, range of cur-
few imposed two days
ago in Surajpol Gate
area has been in-
creased. The district
administration has
been contemplating im-
posing curfew in the
entire city. Senior offic-
ers have been reviewing
the situation.
Meanwhile, the
health department
teams are tracing the
contacts of the infected
persons for testing.
First India News
Jaipur: Lawyers are in
favour of maintaining
status quo regarding
work in subordinate
courts. Rajasthan Bar
Council and Jaipur Bar
Association have sub-
mitted their opinion in
this matter to special
committee constituted
by HC. In second meet-
ing of committee to dis-
cuss ways for holding
regular courts post lock-
down, Justice Govard-
han Badhdar, Justice
Pankaj Bhandari, Jus-
tice NS Dhaddha, BCR
chairmanShahidHasan
Jaipur Bar Association
president Anil Choud-
hary were present.
First India News
Jaipur. HC has ordered
conditional release of
terrorist Harnek Singh
on 28 days special pa-
role. Singh is convict of
Rajendra Mirdha’s kid-
napping. He was serv-
ing life imprisonment
in Jaipur central jail.
Although, Harnek
Singh’s was included in
the list of prisoners to
be released following
SC’s order as a precau-
tionary measure
against corona. State
had refused to grant
Harnek Singh parole on
April 17. The decison
was challenged and won
over by his Singh’s law-
yer Vishram Prajapati.
Abhishek Srivastav
Jaipur: The ambitious
Sodala elevated road
project will resume
from May 12. JDA com-
missioner T Ravikant
on Friday held V-C in
which apart from JDA
officials the officials
of the company en-
trusted with the con-
tract of elevated pro-
ject participated.
T Ravikant instruct-
ed all pending wage
payments to be done by
May 11 & resumption
of the work from 12
May. He also asked the
contracted company to
take all precautionary
measure to expedite
the work as there was
virtually no traffic on
the roads. He instruct-
ed to follow all social
distancing guidelines
on the site. The project
was scheduled to be
completed by Novem-
ber 2020 is expected to
be delayed now by 4-5
months.
First India News
Sirohi: Four members
of a family died on the
spot in a head on colli-
sion between two cars
near Vinayak Petrol
Pump on the four lane
highway in Abu Road.
Three others seriously
injured and were taken
to government hospital
where two succumbed
to injuries during the
treatment while one
person is critical and
has been referred to an-
other hospital.
One car was heading
towards Mamawali vil-
lage while the other one
was coming from other
side. The deceased were
identified as Chaduwal
resident Govind son of
Bhoma ji, Bhagu son of
Govind, Rekha and
Kushmeet children of
Pravin and Kalandri
resident Vipul son of
Kaluram and Chandan
Yadav son of
Awadhnarayan Yadav.

PERSPECTIVEJAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2020
G Vol 1 G Issue No. 332 G RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Press, D.B. Corp Limited, Shivdaspura, Tonk Road, Jaipur.
Published at 304, 3rd Floor, City Mall, Bhagwan Das Road, C-Scheme, Jaipur-302001, Rajasthan. Phone 0141-4920504. Editor: Jagdeesh Chandra, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
GIVE MIGRANTS
A THOUGHT IN
COVID TIMES
he travails of a group of migrants
trudging their way home ended in
a gruesome tragedy on Friday. The
group of 20 was fatigued after an
arduous long walk from Jalna in
Maharashtra. They were headed to Madhya
Pradesh via Bhusawal and were walking
along the tracks to avoid being stopped by the
police. They are presumed to have decided to
rest on the tracks and, out of exhaustion, fell
asleep unaware that goods trains, and also
the Shramik special, were running.
At 5.45 a.m. a goods train from Mumbai ran
over 16 of them in Aurangabad on Friday. Four
survived but are too traumatised and were be-
ing counselled.
Scenes from the accident site - their rotis
and footwear and other meager belongings
- lying scattered told a story of migrant
workers with which we are now too familiar.
Just how many of these poor men and wom-
en have died after the sudden enforcement
of lockdown and closure of their workplaces
miles away from their homes concerns just
a few. That these workers decided to avoid
the highways and walk along the tracks
shows the suspicion they had of how the po-
lice and authorities would harass them. It
also shows how callous society has become.
A few hundred kilometers away from Aurang-
abad, a migrant Krishna decided to cycle down
with his wife and two children from Lucknow
to Chhattisgarh. Their journey was cut short
when a rashly driven vehicle hit the family, kill-
ing the couple on the spot. The children were
seriously injured.
In another incident, two migrants jumped
off a Shramik special out of desperation
when the train did not stop at their destina-
tion - Shahjehanpur in UP. Apparently, they
were told that the train will halt at Shahje-
hanpur.
The plight of jobless stranded in Surat is also
an example of how insensitively these lowly
workers are being treated during the pandemic.
These workers wanted to return to their native
villages but in a flip flop the Centre, which ear-
lier allowed the migrants to return to their
homes, changed the guideline to let only those
distressed go back. Their anger soon turned
into violence.
A similar about-face enraged migrants in
Karnataka. While they wanted to return to
their villages and spend the lockdown pe-
riod with their families and children, BS
Yeddyurappa government in an attempt to
hold them back announced allurements like
Rs 5000 each as part of Rs 1610 crore relief
package.
Howsoever strongly one may complain about
the behaviour of migrants, they do form the
backbone of various sectors of the economy.
States are therefore worried about the prospect
of migrants if allowed to go back, may not re-
turn soon enough after the lockdown is lifted.
That would delay economic recovery. Hence
Karnataka’s about-turn, which the Congress
said was keeping the migrants in bondage, and
Centre’s modified guideline on their return.
IN-DEPTH
T
ARS-CoV-2 (Corona Virus)
emerged in Wuhan, China in
the latter part of 2019 caus-
ing the Coronavirus Disease
2019 (COVID-19). Since then,
states have scrambled to put
into actions what would help
them combat this deadly vi-
rus. There are various legal
provisions in a country’s le-
gal framework, which are
designed to combat situa-
tions which the Corona Virus
has brought. These laws
more or less impact the au-
tonomy of the citizens. How-
ever, these intrusions are al-
lowed and legitimised by law
because of the larger interest
of the population. We can
look at two democratic states,
India and the USA, and note
how the legal provisions have
been used by them against
the ongoing pandemic.
INDIA
In India, public health and
safety is a responsibility of the
state government. However,
only eight states and union ter-
ritories have so far enacted
legislation regarding public
health safety. The central gov-
ernment, however, has taken
into use two acts to fight this
pandemic.
Firstly, the ‘Disaster Man-
agement Act 2005’, which has
enabled the states to tap into
the State Disaster Response
Fund by classifying Coronavi-
rus Pandemic as a disaster. Sec-
ondly, the central government
has invoked Section 2 of the
‘Epidemic Diseases Act of
1897’, which is one of the few
colonial-era laws still in place.
‘The Epidemic Diseases Act’
was designed to combat serious
threats as and when they arose.
The Act gives the central gov-
ernment the power to take
measures to deal with danger-
ous diseases at ports whereas
the state government gets pow-
ers to deal with the disease
which can be non-pharmaceu-
tical in nature such as closing
down of schools, colleges, gyms
and other places of public gath-
erings. The act also empowers
the state to invoke regulations
which lay in detail, the powers
of the state during the course
of the pandemic. Furthermore,
‘Delhi Epidemic Diseases COV-
ID-19 regulations 2020’ has em-
powered the officers to isolate
and admit a person in certain
situations.
Prime Minister, Narendra
Modi’s address to the nation on
April 24th kicked off an on-go-
ing lockdown which effectively
shut down all non-essential
government and private insti-
tutions. While many have been
critical of the legality and en-
forcement of this step, it was a
necessary one to take as India
lacks proper medical care fa-
cilities keeping in account the
size of its population.
USA
Unlike India, the USA has more
recent and stretched out stat-
utes for emergency situations.
At the federal level, some of
these statutes are the ‘Public
Health Service Act’ which al-
lows for a declaration of public
health emergency and the
‘Stafford Act’ which establish-
es provisions for federal relief
to states in event of a disaster.
The President of the USA
can, in certain wartime or dis-
astrous situations, compel
companies to produce some es-
sential products. These powers
have been defined in the ‘De-
fence Production Act’. Presi-
dent Donald Trump has imple-
mented these powers to ask
companies to ramp up produc-
tion of essential protective
gear which is needed by doc-
tors when treating Covid-19
patients.
As per the ‘Public Health
and Safety Act’, the United
States Department of Health
and Service (HHS) has de-
clared Corona Virus as a na-
tional health emergency. These
declarations can give the re-
sponders more powers by pro-
viding them limited liability,
for example the Centre for Dis-
ease Control (CDC) can order
mandatory quarantine of citi-
zens coming from areas where
the disease has spread.
The state governments in the
USA have also enacted Covid-19
specific regulations which
have enabled them to meet and
vote electronically, appropriate
funds for insurance coverage,
paid leave, medical costs, un-
employment benefits, and
some bills giving temporary
safeguard from evictions of
tenants.
CONCLUSION
The American response to Co-
rona Virus is shaped by its fed-
eral and state legislation which
to many extents is much more
descriptive than that of India.
However, a late response by
governments can be detrimen-
tal in situations which we are
facing right now, of which the
USA is a clear example as
backed by the total cases in the
country. However, India still
battles with having an anti-
quated set of rules in very dif-
ficult times, and the Epidemic
Disease Act lacks a modern-
day reality of the spread of dis-
ease. The Indian Government
recognised this and in 2017,
introduced the ‘Public Health
(Prevention, Control, and Man-
agement of Epidemics, Bio-
terrorism and disasters) Bill’.
The bill was said to repeal the
act however that has not hap-
pened till date.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
HOW THE COVID CRISIS IS
TESTING LEGAL SYSTEMS?
S
In India, public
health and
safety is a
responsibility
of the state
government.
However, only
eight states and
union
territories have
so far enacted
legislation
regarding
public health
safety. The
central
government,
however, has
taken into use
two acts to fight
this pandemic
AVTANSH
BANA
AMERICAN RESPONSE
TO CORONAVIRUS IS
SHAPED BY ITS
FEDERAL AND STATE
LEGISLATION WHICH
TO MANY EXTENTS IS
MUCH MORE
DESCRIPTIVE THAN
THAT OF INDIA
The writer works in the corporate
law field from the past one and a
half years, in London and Mumbai
There are only two mistakes
one can make along the road
to truth; not going all the way,
and not starting. —Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Ahmed Patel
@ahmedpatel
Saddened by the death of
Father of the Nation Mahatma
Gandhi’s granddaughter-in-law Dr
Shivalaxmiji Kanubhai Gandhi. May
the Lord give peace to the soul of
Dr Shivalaxmiji, who dedicated
her life for the cause of education,
health, women and child welfare
and Gandhian ideology.
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
On #WorldRedCrossDay, my
deepest gratitude to all the
emergency workers, healthcare
professionals and millions of
volunteers of the @ICRC who
are rendering selﬂess service in
saving lives and combating the
#Covid_19 disease.
eadership – the
ability to help
people frame
and achieve
their goals – is
absolutely crucial during a
crisis. British Prime Min-
ister Winston Churchill
demonstrated this in 1940,
as did Nelson Mandela dur-
ing South Africa’s transi-
tion from apartheid.
By these historical stand-
ards, the leaders of the
world’s two largest econo-
mies have failed abysmally.
US President Donald
Trump and his Chinese
counterpart, Xi Jinping,
both initially reacted to the
coronavirus outbreak not
byinformingandeducating
their publics, but by deny-
ing the problem, thereby
costing lives. They then
both redirected their ener-
gies toward assigning
blame rather than finding
solutions. Owing to their
failures,theworldmayhave
missed the window for re-
sponding to the crisis with
a “Sputnik moment” or a
“COVID Marshall Plan.”
Leadership theorists
make a distinction be-
tween “transformational”
and “transactional” lead-
ers. The latter try to steer
through situations with
business as usual, whereas
the former try to reshape
the situations in which
they find themselves.
Of course, transforma-
tional leaders do not al-
ways succeed. Former US
President George W. Bush
tried to remake the Middle
East by invading Iraq, with
disastrous consequences.
By contrast, his father, for-
mer President George H.W.
Bush, had a more transac-
tional style; but he also had
the skills to manage the
fluid situation that the
world found itself in after
the collapse of commu-
nism in Europe. The Cold
War ended, Germany was
reunited and anchored
firmly to the West, and not
a shot was fired.
Whatever their style,
leaders can exert strong in-
fluence on group identity –
the force that turns “me”
and “you” into “us.” Lazy
leaderstendtoreinforcethe
status quo, by tapping into
existing divisions to mobi-
lize support for themselves,
as Trump has done. But ef-
fective transformational
leaders can have a far-
reaching impact on a socie-
ty’s moral character.
Similarly, after World
War II – in which Germany
had invaded France for the
third time in 70 years – the
French diplomat Jean
Monnet concluded that re-
venge would only repro-
duce the tragedy. To trans-
form the situation, he de-
vised a plan for joint Euro-
pean coal and steel produc-
tion, an arrangement that
would eventually evolve
into the European Union.
These achievements
were not inevitable. When
we look beyond our fami-
lies and closest associates,
we find that most human
identities are what the po-
litical scientist Benedict
Anderson called “imag-
ined communities.” No
one shares directly in the
experience of the millions
of others who belong to the
same nationality. Yet for
the past century or two,
the nation has been the im-
agined community that
people have been willing to
die for.
The onset of the COV-
ID-19 pandemic represent-
ed an opportunity for trans-
formational leadership. A
transformational leader
would have explained early
on that because the crisis is
global in nature, it cannot
be solved by any one coun-
try acting alone. Trump
and Xi both squandered
that opportunity. Both
failed to realize that the ex-
ercise of power could have
become a positive-sum
game.Ratherthanthinking
solely in terms of power
overothers,theycouldhave
thought in terms of power
with others..
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.PROJECTSYNDICATE.COM
An abysmal failure of leadership
L
DURING TIMES OF
CRISIS, THE MOST
EFFECTIVE
LEADERS ARE
THOSE WHO CAN
BUILD SOLIDARITY
BY EDUCATING
THE PUBLIC
ABOUT ITS OWN
INTERESTS

INDIAJAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2020
New Delhi: President
Ram Nath Kovind con-
doled the death of mi-
grant labourers who
were killed in a train
mishap in Aurangabad
on Friday morning.
President Kovind stated
that he was ‘saddened
beyond words’ to hear
about this accident and
that he wished for the
speedy recovery of the
injured. In the wee
hours on Friday, 16 mi-
grant workers were
killed after coming un-
der a goods train in the
Aurangabad district, as
they were sleeping.
Responding to the
shocking and tragic Au-
rangabad train mishap,
Maharashtra Chief
Minister Uddhav
Thackeray announced
an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh
to the family members
of the deceased.
The accident hap-
pened near Karmad,
Aurangabad when an
empty rake of goods
wagon ran over people
who were sleeping on
the tracks while walk-
ing a long distance. The
workers, who were
walking to Bhusawal
from Jalna, were re-
turning to Madhya
Pradesh, an official at
the Karmad police sta-
tion said. They had
been walking along the
rail tracks and slept on
the rail tracks due to
exhaustion, said Chief
Public Relations Officer
(CPRO) of South Cen-
tral Railway. They were
mowed down by the
train at 5.15 am, the of-
ficial added. —PTI
‘Saddened beyond words’President Ram Nath Kovind condoled the death of migrant labourers, who
were killed in a train mishap in Aurangabad dist on Friday morning
Police officials probing at the railway track, where migrants died in a train accident in Aurangabad.
Maharashtra Chief
Minister’s Office
Rs 5 lakhs each has
been announced as ex
gratia to families of the
deceased in Karmad
(Aurangabad) train
accident.
Rajnath Singh
@rajnathsingh
The Rail accident in
Maharashtra’s Au-
rangabad district is
extremely tragic and
unfortunate. My con-
dolences to those who
have lost their loved
ones in this accident.
I pray for the speedy
recovery of the injured.
Rahul Gandhi
@RahulGandhi
I am shocked at the
news of migrant la-
bourers being crushed
to death by a goods
train. We should be
ashamed at the treat-
ment meted out to the
builders of our nation.
My condolences to the
families of those killed
and I pray for the early
recovery of the injured.
New Delhi: The ICMR
is all set to start a study
in about 75 districts of
the country that have
the maximum number
of COVID-19 cases to
check whether commu-
nity transmission in
India has started. This
study was planned to
be conducted through
rapid antibody test
kits. However, it was
postponed when these
kits showed variations
in results. Now, it has
been planned to con-
duct this study through
ELISA (enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay)
test kits.
According to a scien-
tist, “Residents from
red, green and orange
zones would randomly
be tested for COVID-19
to see whether they
have developed anti-
bodies against the dis-
ease or not.” Another
scientist from ICMR,
requesting anonymity,
told, “Now, we are like-
ly to use the ELISA kit
for study. This will let
us know whether the
individual has devel-
oped antibodies against
the virus.” —ANI
ICMR to conduct study
in about 75 districts
COVID-19 DISTS WITH MAXIMUM CASES WOULD BE STUDIED TO CHECK FOR COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION
New Delhi: The Coun-
cil for Scientific and In-
dustrial Research
(CSIR) has received ap-
proval from DGCI for its
two clinical trial drugs,
‘favipiravir’ & ‘phytop-
harmaceutical’ - to com-
bat coronavirus. Favip-
iravir is a drug which is
commonly used in Ja-
pan, China and some
other countries, to treat
influenza that has a
very broad spectrum of
RNA polymerase.
The CSIR is explor-
ing a native herb as a
biological medicine or
phytopharmaceutical,
which is already being
tested as medicine for
dengue for its efficacy
to combat COVID-19.
CSIR Director General
Shekhar Mande said
that they will start the
clinical trial within a
week. “The CSIR is
working with multiple
renowned pharma
firms, trying to see
whether we can bring a
certain solution as an
intervention against
COVID-19,” he said. —ANI
CSIR to begin
two clinical
drug trials
Coronavirus came from bats,
can infect cats, ferrets :WHO
A
World Health
Organization
scientist said
Covid-19 comes
from bats and can
spread among cats,
amid an international
debate about the vi-
rus’s origin.
The novel coronavi-
rus comes from a group
of viruses that origi-
nate or spread in bats,
and it’s still unclear
what animal may have
transmitted the disease
to humans, Peter Ben
Embarek, a WHO ex-
pert in animal diseases
that jump to humans,
said in a briefing with
reporters. The virus
probably arrived in hu-
mans through contact
with animals raised to
supply food, he said.
Recent studies
showed that cats can
transmit the virus to
other cats and the WHO
is aware of instances of
pets of Covid-19 pa-
tients being infected, it
said in a statement.
While precautions
should be taken to avoid
the infection of pets
from close contact with
Covid-19 human cases,
further evidence is
needed to understand if
animals and pets can
spread the disease.
It’s important to find
out which animals can
get infected to avoid cre-
ating a “reservoir” in
another species, the
WHO expert, PeterBen
Embarek said. —Agencies
Mumbai: The BJP has
released the list of four
candidates for the Ma-
harashtra Legislative
Council (MLC) elec-
tions scheduled to be
held on May 21. The
party has fielded Pravin
Datke (Nagpur city BJP
chief), Gopichand
Padalkar, Ajit Gop-
chade, and Ranjit Singh
Mohite Patil.
The polling will be
held on May 21 to fill 9
vacant seats. These
seats fell vacant on
April 24 and the elec-
tions were withheld due
to the coronavirus out-
break. However, the poll
panel had last week
granted permission for
holding MLC elections
in Maharashtra The
ruling Shiv Sena in Ma-
harashtra has finalised
candidatures of CM Ud-
dhav Thackeray and
senior leader Neelam
Gorhe for the polls. As
per a notification is-
sued by the Election
Commission, the last
date for filing of the
nominations is May 11
and the date for with-
drawal is May 14. —ANI
BJP fields 4
candidates
for Maha
MLC polls
NGT issues notice to CentreNew Delhi: The Na-
tional Green Tribunal
issued notices to the
Centre, LG Polymers
India Pvt, Central Pol-
lution Control Board
and others in the Vi-
sakhapatnam chemical
factory gas leak inci-
dent in which 11 people
were killed and 1,000
exposed to it.
The NGT also
directed LG Polymers
India Pvt to submit
Rs 50 crore an interim
amount for damage
to life.
A bench headed by
NGT Chairperson Jus-
tice Adarsh Kumar
Goel also formed a five-
member Committee
comprising Justice B
Seshasayana Reddy to
probe the incident and
submit a report before
May 18.
“Having regard to
the prima facie mate-
rial regarding extent of
damage to life, and en-
vironment, we direct
LG Polymers India Pvt
Limited to forthwith
deposit an initial
amount of Rs 50 crore,
with the DM,
Vi s h a k h a p a t n a m ,
which will abide by or-
ders of the Tribunal.
The amount is being
fixed having regard to
financial worth of the
company extent of the
damage caused,” the
bench said. —ANI
VIZAG GAS LEAK CASE
INDIGO TO CUT SALARIES OF
SENIOR EMPLOYEES FROM MAY
New Delhi: IndiGo will
be cutting the salaries of
senior employees from
May onwards and also
implement a “limited,
graded leave without pay
program” for the months
of May, June and July, its
CEO Ronojoy Dutta said.
India has been under
lockdown since March 25
to curb the coronavirus
pandemic. The aviation
industry is in a complete
lockdown with bookings
being cancelled until any
further orders. While we
had paid employee sala-
ries in full for the months
of March and April, I am
afraid that we are left
with no option but to
implement the originally
announced pay-cuts from
the month of May 2020,”
Dutta told staff via e-mail.
557 COPS HAVE TESTED
POSITIVE FOR COVID-19:MIN
Mumbai: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil
Deshmukh informed that as many as 557 police
personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 in
the state since the lockdown was implemented in
the country. In a series of tweets, Deshmukh stat-
ed, “557 police personnel have tested positive for
#COVID19 since the lockdown.” “2,26,236 people
have been quarantined and 653 found violating
the quarantine. The state govt’s running 4,729
relief camps where 4,28,734 migrants have been
given refuge with food and necessities.”
ECONOMIC WAR IS IMPORTANT
AT THIS TIME: GADKARI
New Delhi: At the ‘e-summit’, Union Transport
Minister Nitin Gadkari answered the questions.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that “the whole
world is fighting against Corona. Only we are not
fighting. Our primary duty is to win the battle
against Corona first. We will win the battle of Co-
rona and soon we will get a vaccine for it. During
this time we will also fight on the economic front,
the Minister for Road Transport said. He further
added that work has started and gradually jobs
will also be provided.
MIG-29 CRASHES NEAR JALANDHAR
Jalandhar: A Mig-29 fighter plane of IAF crashed at
Chuharpur village in Nawanshahar district. The pilot
is safe and has been taken to the nearby hospital. No
causality has been reported. Mig-29 aircraft was on a
training mission from an Air Force base near Jalandhar.
INQUIRY ORDERED:
PIYUSH GOYAL
President of India
@rashtrapatibhvn
Saddened beyond
words to learn
about the loss of
lives in the railway
track accident
near Aurangabad
in Maharashtra.
My thoughts and prayers are with the
bereaved families. Wishing speedy
recovery to the injured.
New Delhi : Railway Minister Piyush
Goyal on Friday expressed grief over
the death of 16 migrant work-
ers, who were run over early this
morning by a goods train in Maha-
rashtra’s Aurangabad, and said relief
work is underway and an inquiry
has been ordered. Taking to Twitter,
he prayed for peace of the depart-
ed souls.”Relief work is going on,
and orders for inquiries have been
given. I pray to God for the peace of
departed souls,” he said..”
PRESIDENT
KOVIND’S TWEET
There are 5,980 COVID-19 cases in
Delhi right now, yesterday 448 new
coronavirus cases were registered
and 389 patients recovered after treatment.
—Satyendar Jain, Delhi Health Minister
‘TECHNICAL LEAK’
There are ru-
mours in
some section
of media about a sec-
ond gas leakage, let
me categorically place
on record that there is
no such second leak-
age in Vizag. Some
fumes get released
during the process of
neutralising. It hap-
pens during the neu-
tralisation process. It
is a technical process.
That process will con-
tinue.
—SN Pradhan,
Director-General of NDRF
CBIremandofWadhawansextendedtillMay10
Mumbai: A special
courtextendedtillMay
10 the CBI remand of
DHFL promoter Kapil
Wadhawan and RKW
Developers promoter
Dheeraj Wadhawan,
arrested in connection
with the Yes Bank
scam. The duo was ar-
rested last month
from a Mahabalesh-
war- based quaran-
tine facility, nearly 50
days after CBI booked
them in a case of al-
leged bribery. They
were produced before
special court on Fri-
day at the end of their
previous remand. The
central probe agency
sought an extension
of their custody, say-
ing they need to inter-
rogate the duo fur-
ther. —ANI
WHO scientists are considering a new mission to China
to get more information about the virus’s animal origin,
Maria van Kerkhove, one of the agency’s top epidemiol-
ogists, said. Questions remain about whether the virus
traveled directly from bats to people, or if other species
were involved.Pangolins, armored mammals that live in
Asia, have been found to harbor versions of Sars-CoV-2
that are similar to those in people. The WHO wanted to
conduct more animal investigations on an earlier mis-
sion to China, but the lockdown of the outbreak’s epi-
center in Wuhan made that impractical, Ben Embarek
has said. The first human cases were detected in and
around Wuhan, and most of those people had contact
with the animal market, though not all, Embarek said.
Trump has doubled down on claims that the Chinese
mistakenly released the virus from the laboratory as the
outbreak in the U.S. has grown to become the world’s
largest and deadliest.
NEW MISSION

INDIAJAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2020
AJOY MEHTA UNLIKELY TO GET
THIRD EXTENSION?
Maharashtra Chief Secretary, Ajoy Mehta, despite
the present CoronaVirus crisis, is unlikely to get
third extension beginning July 1. He is a 1984
batch IAS officer.
SANJAY KUMAR TO BE CHIEF
SECRETARY OF MAHARASHTRA?
In all probability, Sanjay Kumar will be new Chief
Secretary of Maharashtra on July 1. He is a 1984
batch IAS officer.
IRS OFFICER TAKES VOLUNTARY
RETIREMENT
Dipak Bardhan has taken Voluntary Retirement
(VR) frm IRS(C&CE) w. e. f. May 2, 2020. He was
posted in Bengaluru.
KARMVIR SINGH LIKELY TO RETURN
TO PARENT CADRE IN MAY
The deputation tenure of Karmvir Singh, working
as Director in the Department of Food and Public
Distribution, is coming to an end in May 2020.
He is a 2002 batch IRS-C&CE officer.
PRADIP KUMAR DAS TAKES
OVER AS CMD, IREDA
Pradip Kumar Das, Director (Finance), ITDC, has
taken over the charge as Chairman-cum-Manag-
ing Director, Indian Renewable Energy Develop-
ment Agency Limited (IREDA).
SELECTION PROCESS FOR
CMD, BEML SHELVED
The selection process for the post of Chair-
man-cum-Managing Director, BEML has been
shelved for the time being due to COVID-19
pandemic. A vacancy of this post is arising soon.
TENURE OF SMITA S CHAUDHRI
ENDING THIS MONTH
The central deputation tenure of Smita S
Chaudhri working as Joint Secretary, National
Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) is
coming to an end on May 15, 2020. She is a
1990 batch IA&AS officer.
ANURAG SHARMA TO JOIN AS DIRECTOR
(ONSHORE), ONGC ON JUNE 1
Anurag Sharma, ED, ONGC, will be taking over
the charge as Director (Onshore), Oil & Natural
Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) on June 1,
2020. He will succeed incumbent Sanjay Kumar
Moitra retiring in May.
NO EXTENSION ORDER OF MANOJ
MISHRA TO CMD, NFL SO FAR ?
As the date of completion of first term approach-
ing, the Government of India is yet to issue orders
on extension to Manoj Mishra, Chairman & Manag-
ing Director, National Fertilizers Limited. Five year
tenure of Mishra is ending on June 2, 2020. He is
expected to get extension till November 2021.
PK AGARWAL TO SUCCEED DR RANI
AS CMD, CCI ON JUNE 1
Pradeep Kumar Agarwal, Director (Marketing),
CCI, will be taking over the charge as Chair-
man-cum-Managing Director, Cotton Corporation
of India Limited (CCI) on June 1, 2020. Agar-
wal, whose appointment to the post has been
approved by the ACC, will succeed Dr Alli Rani
retiring this month.
FOUR OFFICERS OF DOT GRANTED
PERMISSION TO ‘WORK FROM HOME’
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT)
has granted ‘work from home’ permission to four
officers, who were on leave with due permission
but could not return due to nationwide lockdown.
They are: Jai Kumar Wadhwani, Director, DoT HQ;
M A Rehman, Director, DoT HQ; M Chandrasekhar,
DDG, WB LSA and Amit Gurudasani, Director, WB
LSA. They have been given permission to work
from home and will report back to their respective
offices as soon as the situation normalises.
MANOJ JAIN’S NOMINATION AS
CHAIRMAN AWAITS MAHANAGAR GAS
BOARD’S APPROVAL GAIL (INDIA)
CMD Manoj Jain’s file for his nomination as Chair-
man of Mahanagar Gas Ltd has been recently sent
for approval, but is yet to be cleared by its Board.
SINGHAL’S TERM END IN JUNE
L Singhal, Development Commissioner, SEZ,
Noida, is superannuating in June this year. The
1986 batch Indian Trade Sevice (ITrS) officer is
on Deputation for five years.
APPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT
COMMISSIONER INVITED
Applications have been invited for the post of
Development Commissioner, SEZ, Noida. This is
a JS level post. Interested can apply till May, 28,
2020 to DoPT.
YOGESH KUMAR MEENA APPOINTED
DIRECTOR (A/C), FERTILIZERS
Yogesh Kumar Meena has been appointed as
Director (Accounts), Department of Fertilizers. He
is a 2004 batch ICAS officer.
POWERGallery
Padhega
Rajasthan...
Merit and counseling
will be the first ap-
pointment in all the
recruits. Clerk grade
II candidates will be
renewed district allo-
cation.
TheChief Ministerin-
structed officials to hold
re-allocation of districts
and departments o f the
clerical grade II recruit-
ment examination-2018
through a new process.
He said that all depart-
ments should provide
the list of selected candi-
dates according to their
requirement on merit
basis. After that the con-
cerned department
should allot the district
to them on the basis of
merit and counseling.
Gehlot also said that
during UPA govern-
ment’s rule, a historic
step was taken to bring
quality education in
private schools to the
children of poor class
by bringing the Right to
Education Act. In the
last few years, accord-
ing to the spirit of this
law, children of needy
families could not get
its benefits. He directed
the officers to ensure
compliance with this
law with transparency.
For this, the income
limit of parents should
be increased from one
lakh to two and a half
lakh rupees. He empha-
sized that through RTE,
children should get an
opportunity to study in
big private schools.
CMsaidlargenumber
of schoolswereclosedin
the name of integration
by the last government.
Unused buildings of
suchschoolscanbeused
to reopen schools as well
as panchayats, sub-cen-
tersandcommunitycen-
ters when needed.
Tragic end...
Meanwhile, according
to Railways officials,
migrant labourers were
native of Madhya
Pradesh working in
SRG Company, Jalna in
Maharashtra.
“As per the version of
survivors they had left
Jalna at 7 pm on May 7
by foot. They initially
walkedontheroad(upto
Badnapore) and later
shifted onto the track to-
wards Aurangabad. Af-
ter walking for about 36
KMs, they became tired
and sat on the track and
most of them slept there
causing the mishap,”
read a statement by rail-
way officials. Maha-
rashtra and Madhya
Pradesh governments
announced financial aid
of Rs 10 lakh - Rs 5 lakh
each - to families of the
deceased. —Agencies
Take states...
provide a financial
package to the industry
to help revive the econ-
omy amid the nation-
wide lockdown to com-
bat the deadly virus.
He also called for hav-
ing a migrant policy in
place as also a lockdown
exit strategy in consul-
tation with states.
He said the lockdown
is not an “on/off
switch”, but is a transi-
tion which requires co-
operation of all -- the
Centre, states, district
magistrates and the
people of India.
“We need to decen-
tralise power in dealing
with the virus. If we
keep this fight in PMO,
we will lose. The PM
must devolve power. If
we centralise, there will
be a calamity. PM has to
trust chief ministers
and chief ministers
have to trust district
magistrates,” he said.
Rahul also ruled out re-
turning as Congress
president, a post he
gave up last year after
his party was pul-
verised in the national
election. “I stand by my
letter,” he said on ques-
tion on possibility of
his comeback as Con-
gress boss.
SC bats...
delivery of liquor
during these times, ad-
vocate Sai Deepak, ap-
pearing for petitioner
Guruswamy Nataraj
said after the hearing.
He said due to social
distancing norms not
being followed at the li-
quor vends and shops,
there has been rise in
Covid-19 cases. —Agencies
FROM PG 1
New Delhi: The Minis-
try of Home Affairs on
Friday said that Rail-
ways has run 222 Shra-
mik Special Trains for
movement of stranded
persons, and more than
2.5 lakh people have
made use of this facili-
ty so far.
Punya Salila Srivas-
tava, Joint Secretary,
MHA told that, “The se-
quel in this series is
now an attempt by the
government to bring
back the citizens
trapped abroad in a
phased manner. The ar-
rangement for this trav-
el is being carried out
by non-scheduled com-
mercial flights and
navy ships, the process
has commenced from
May 7.” “According to
the SOP issued for this
type of travel, the Indi-
ans trapped abroad will
getthemselvesregistered
with the Indian Embassy
and High Commission.
Pregnant women, stu-
dents, people whose
VISA is about to expire
and medical emergency
cases will be given pri-
ority,” she added. Pas-
sengerswillbescreened
before boarding and
only asymptomatic pas-
sengers will be allowed
to travel. —ANI
‘Rlyshasrun222Shramiktrains’
More than 2.5 lakh people have made use of this facility so far, said, Joint Secretary, MHA, Punya Salila Srivastava
A medical staff checks the temperature of migrants at Danapur railway station in Patna on Friday.
Lucknow: Congress
general secretary Pri-
yanka Gandhi Vadra
sent one lakh masks to
be distributed among
people of Uttar
Pradesh, specially
those in the red zone, a
party leader said.
Party workers will
start distributing the
face covers to the needy
from Saturday, said La-
lan Kumar, the media
coordinator of state
Congress.
Gandhi, who is party
in charge of UP, had
earlier sent ration
through trucks in vari-
ous districts of the
state, he said.
Congress spokesper-
son Anshu Awasthi
said, “Ever since she
became in charge of the
state, she has been ac-
tive and extending a
helping hand to the
needy”. “This time she
has sent masks which
will be distributed
among people, specially
those in red zones, for
their safety and securi-
ty,” Awasthi said. —PTI
PriyankaGandhisends1LmaskstoUP
New Delhi: India will expand from next week
its mega mission to evacuate stranded Indians
from abroad by including countries like Ka-
zakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Germany, Spain
and Thailand, official sources said on Friday.
They said stranded Indians in central Asia as
well as in various European countries will be
brought back home under the second phase of
the ‘‘Vande Bharat Mission’’ beginning May 15.
India to expand ‘Vande Bharat
Mission’ beginning May 15
Bhopal: The MP Gov-
ernment appointed sen-
ior IAS officer Veera
Rana as chief electoral
officer of the state.
The 1988-batch IAS
officer was earlier post-
ed as additional chief
secretary of the Sports
and Youth Welfare De-
partment, an official
order said.
The post of chief elec-
toral officer was lying
vacant after V L Kantha
Rao was went on central
deputation. —PTI
Mumbai: Markets
squandered early gains
but managed to end in
the green, propped up
by heavyweight RIL
which announced an-
other stake sale deal for
its digital platform. A
strengthening rupee
and firm global cues
also supported the do-
mestic bourses, traders
said. After rallying
645.13 points during the
day, the 30-share BSE
Sensex finally settled
199.32 points. —PTI
Veera new
CEO of MP
Sensex climbs
199 points
New Delhi: The SC de-
clined to entertain a
PIL claiming “illegal
opening” of certain of-
fices, during
the nation-
wide lock-
down, by
PSEs such
as SAIL,
NBCC etc by
‘ w r o n g l y
identifying
and equat-
ing them-
selves as government
department/offices’.
The petition submit-
ted these companies
“have issued orders di-
recting their employees
to step out of their hous-
es and attend office and
resume their duties dur-
ing the lockdown period
w.e.f. April 20, in abject
and manifest violation
of the statu-
tory order
and regula-
tory guide-
lines issued
by the Cen-
tral Govern-
ment declar-
ing country
wide lock-
down”. Jus-
tices Ashok Bhushan,
SK Kaul BR Gavai,
who took up the mat-
ter through vc, said
the court was not in-
clined to entertain the
matter & dismissed
the PIL. —ANI
SC declines to hear
PIL opening of SAIL
According to the SOP issued for
this type of travel, the Indians
trapped abroad will get themselves
registered with the Indian Embas-
sy and High Commission. Pregnant women,
students, people whose VISA is about to ex-
pire and medical emergency cases will be
given priority.
—Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, MHA
New Delhi: India Commercial Pilot Associa-
tion (ICPA) and Indian Pilots’ Guild have joint-
ly written a letter to Civil Aviation Minister
Hardeep Puri regarding financial support and
stated that Air India employees have not been
paid wages since February. The association
said that Air India has been instrumental in
fight against COVID-19 and has lent its re-
sources to support the government initiatives
and policies to deal with the pandemic. “
TWO PILOTS’ ASSOCIATIONS
WRITE TO MINISTER PURI
New Delhi: The Ministry
of Health and Family Wel-
fare on Friday informed
that a revised list of red,
orange, and green zones
regarding COVID-19 will
be circulated to the states
soon. “A revised list of
red, orange and green
zones will be circulated to
the states soon after the
analysis of data,” said Lav
Agarwal, Joint Secretary,
Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare, during
a media briefing on the
COVID-19 situation.
New Delhi: Thirty more
BSF personnel, including
two posted at its head-
quarters in Delhi, have
tested positive for COV-
ID-19, taking the overall
infections in the force to
223. The border guarding
force has the maximum
confirmed cases of
the disease among the
CAPFs.The CAPFs have
over 500 active COVID-19
cases at present.”Thirty
new cases of COVID-19
(six from Delhi and 24
from Tripura) have been
reported from different
establishments. All of
them are under the best
available medical care at
AIIMS-Jhajjar and G B
Pant Hospital, Agartala,”
BSF spokesperson Shub-
hendu Bhardwaj said.
‘REVISED LIST OF
ZONES WILL BE
CIRCULATED’
30 MORE BSF
PERSONNEL
TEST POSITIVE
Feel saddened to hear about the demise
of senior journalist Pankaj Kulshrestha,
who got COVID-19. My condolences
are with his family and with friends in
the media industry. The media persons are
doing the important work of providing us with
information in this critical time.
—Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Cong General Secretary
Mumbai: In a
major development,
Maharashtra Chief
Minister Uddhav
Thackeray shunted
out Praveen Pardeshi
from the Mumbai
civic commissioner’s
post, as the city
counted 437 deaths
from the novel coro-
navirus. Maharashtra
continues to be the
worst-affected state,
with Mumbai con-
tributing a bulk of
the novel coronavi-
rus cases at 11,394.
Addl CS Iqbal Singh
Chahal has replaced
Pardeshi.
CHAHAL,NEW BMC
CHIEF,DEATHS
CROSS 400

TALKING POINTJAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2020
Bhaagidari: Pande mantra for Cong-grace
I congratu-
late Avinash
Pande Ji for
completing
3 successful years
as in-charge of the
Rajasthan Pradesh
Congress Commit-
tee. His ability to
take everyone along
and his political acumen has been ap-
preciated. Not only his political instinct,
managing highly sophisticated control
during Rajasthan and Maha elections
has shown his management skills.
—ASHOK GEHLOT, CM Rajasthan
I had the
good
fortune
of work-
ing closely with
Avinash Pandey
Ji, I am always at
a loss of words
when it comes
to describing his
magnanimous leadership and in his
belief in decentralized working meth-
ods. A farsighted man who even after
putting his point of view across, gave
us freedom to do things our way. He
probably knew that it will benefit us.
—DEVENDRA YADAV,
Former Secretary Rajasthan
My con-
gratulations
to Avinash
Pande Ji on
successful tenure
so far. I have fol-
lowed him closely
since we have
grown up in politics
together. He be-
came an MLA and then held the reins
of youth congress. He is an extremely
simple and amicable person and has
worked wonders in the organizations.
—ASHOK CHAVAN,
Former CM Maharashtra
Avinash
Pandey
has great
leadership
qualities. He is a
team leader and
takes everyone
along with him
from block level to
top. I was fortunate
to be a part of his team in Rajasthan
and with his inspiration. We have
walked a path of success. I remem-
ber, the first thing he told us as a cap-
tain of the team that communication
from top to bottom is the core idea.
—KAZI NZAMUDDIN,
Secretary (organisation) AICC
My heartiest congratulations on completing
three years as General Secretary Incharge of
Rajasthan. You have proved yourself on the
responsibility given to you by Sonia Ji and
Rahul Ji. The party won several elections under your
successful leadership and played an important role
in forming Congress government in the state. I wish
that the Rajasthan Congress goes from strength to
strength with your leadership.
—RAGHU SHARMA, Rajasthan Health Minister
Avinash Pandey and Congress are now like
synonyms. His dedication and devotion is
commendable for the party. I have personally
seen him working since he was in his youth.
The kind of work he has done and is still continuing
is an inspiration for me and also for others. We want
more and more leaders like him in politics who can
think selflessly for others.
—SACHIN SAWANT, MPCC spokesperson
I would like
to congratu-
late him as
he is the
captain. There was
completely bonho-
mie on the team
and although it is
difficult to handle
four secretaries, in
this entire period we have been more
than satisfied with his style of func-
tioning. He gave us complete freedom
and we have learned a lot from him.
—VIVEK BANSAL, Secretary
AICC-Co-in charge Rajasthan
We have
been
friends for
over three
decades. He is
hardworking,
workaholic, and
highly disciplined.
He is a dedicated
party worker and a
leadership creator. He has had great
relations with Indiraji and Rajiv Ji.
He is a friendly person with a strong
character.
—RAJU KODHE,
GS MPCC Maharashtra
Aditi Nagar
z Avinash ji, you have
completed three years
as Rajasthan in-
charge. How do you
see this state?
The people of Ra-
jasthan are politically
aware and the state has
a great history. After
closely observing Ra-
jasthan, I believe that
people from Rajasthan
have the utmost nation-
alism and love for the
motherland.Theyhavea
connection with the or-
ganisation and I would
like to also add that peo-
ple here are not oppor-
tunistic, they do not fear
anything and are princi-
pled. This is the reason
that the Congress party
has a special connection
with Rajasthan because
the qualities that people
of Rajasthan have, it is
the same as Congress’s
ideology.
z How do you, as Gen-
eral Secretary and In-
charge of Rajasthan,
take Ashok Gehlot as
a CM and as a party
leader?
Ashok Gehlot is rar-
est of leaders who is
likedbeyondpartylines.
He is among those rare
politicians who com-
mand respect across In-
dia’s diverse political
and social spectrum.
Even his harshest crit-
ics appreciate the way
he has handled his po-
litical journey and per-
sonal life so far. His ex-
perience has helped
party not just in Ra-
jasthanbutacrossIndia.
z How is Gehlot gov-
ernment fighting co-
rona in Rajasthan?
CM Ashok Gehlot has
taken several important
steps in the ongoing
fight against corona. He
was the first to initiate
lockdown in state and
the union government
followed suit. The suc-
cess of the Bhilwara
model is not hidden
from anyone. Even the
Prime Minister has ap-
preciated CM Gehlot’s
efforts to weed out co-
rona before other Chief
Ministers. I believe the
Gehlot government and
health department
headed by Dr Raghu
Sharma as a minister, is
heading in the right di-
rection in the fight.
z What was your first
thought when you be-
came in-charge of Ra-
jasthan?
As soon as this re-
sponsibility was given
to me, I started motivat-
ing the workers for
which we started sever-
al pilot projects and I am
proud to say that these
new experiments gave
us good results in As-
sembly elections.
z How did these pilot
projects help and es-
pecially, which ones
were they?
The Organisation
Strengthening Pro-
gramme, ‘Mera Gaurav
Mera Booth’, booth
training programmes,
etc.
‘Sangathan shashak-
tikarn’ was started at
the end of 2017 and has
turned out as great
preparation for the as-
sembly elections. The
project continued for
four months from July
2017 to October and with
this project, we formed
a framework of how we
would choose our candi-
dates. We could thus
train our several work-
ers based on the capa-
bilities of the individu-
als, many women and
youth workers were
trained and hence given
tickets as well. We
worked on the block and
district level and identi-
fied several prospects.
z Yours has been a
long political journey.
What is the utmost
importance in any
state to come in pow-
er?
Many a time it hap-
pens that after coming to
power we forget the or-
ganisation, but prior to
winning and after com-
ing to power, in both the
scenario it is the organi-
sation that is of utmost
importance. And I was
fortunate enough that on
one hand there were ex-
perienced men like
Ashok Gehlot and CP
Joshi and at the same
timetherewastheyoung
energy of PCC Chief
Sachin Pilot, working
withwhomIgotachance
to do some quality work
in Rajasthan. The booth
level training program
madeitpossibleforwork-
ers to come face to face
withCongress’sideology
and history. Meetings
werestartedinallassem-
bly constituency units
which was aimed at
strengthening the work-
ersothattheystandsure-
footed with the party.
z How has your expe-
rience been with
Ashok Gehlot and
Sachin Pilot?
As I said, Ashok Ge-
hlot is an experienced
leader and it is indeed
good luck to be working
with him. On the other
hand, there is Sachin Pi-
lot who is a young and
dynamic leader. So I
could work with both to
provide a new direction
to Rajasthan.
z It is said that there
was a different ‘power
game’ going on in
Congress even a year
before the assembly
elections. Was it a
tough time for you to
establish yourself and
form a government in
the state?
See, this can be seen
in any state and in any
political party, but
Ashok Gehlot and
Sachin Pilot helped and
cooperated with me and
worked hard towards
the mission despite the
differences.
z What is your vision
for Rajasthan?
First is leadership de-
velopment, then organi-
sation strengthening,
motivating workers and
to bring about the feel-
ing of nation-building
in every home.
z How did you
achieve the difficult
task of motivating
workers?
By making them,
partners.
z Making them part-
ners?
See, when the worker
gives his hundred per-
cent whether it is the as-
sembly election or Lok
Sabha election or some
other work, there is only
one way to motivate
them and that is making
them a partner in the
power structure and to
give them honour. That
is possible through po-
litical appointments
which we have nar-
rowed down to provide
to 2.25 lakh workers.
z Even the workers
are waiting for politi-
cal appointments for
a long. When do you
think the appoint-
ments will be made?
See, Sonia Gandhi Ji
has already clarified re-
garding political ap-
pointments that all
ministers should be
given the responsibility
and thus I informed
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot and PCC Chief
Sachin Pilot about it.
We discussed it jointly
and gave responsibility
to the ministers of vari-
ous districts. It is natu-
ral that due to Corona
the political appoint-
ments have been de-
layed. All the ministers
were asked to submit
their report by March
15th but not all are
working honestly and
are trying to cut cor-
ners by not submitting
the report.
z Will any action be
taken against minis-
ters for lacunae in po-
litical appointments?
Strict measures will
be taken. I never com-
promise on perfor-
mance. Those who do
good for the party, I try
and do the best of my
ability for them but
those who do not, I do
not spare them.
AICC General Secretary and Rajasthan Incharge Avinash Pande, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Congress
chief Sonia Gandhi and Preeti Pande ( wife of Avinash Pande) with the newly wed couple, Dewang (son of
Avinash Pande) and Aditi on January 16 at Suraburdi Meadows,Amravati Road, Nagpur. —FILE PHOTO
Congress leaders Avinash Pandey and Priyanka Gandhi
during a meeting with party General Secretaries at the
party’s headquarters in New Delhi. —FILE PHOTO
‘Gehlot is rarest of leaders who is liked beyond party lines,’
says Avinash Pande in an exclusive one-on-one interview
with Aditi Nagar on completing three years as Raj incharge
From Left: Chairman state Waqf Board Khanu
Khan, Bansur MLA Shakuntala Rawat, AICC
General Secretary, and Rajasthan Incharge
Avinash Pande, PCC Chief Sachin Pilot, Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot with Congress leaders
Pushpendra Bhardwaj and Arun Kumawat at
the rally organised on December 29, 134th
foundation day of Congress party in Jaipur.
Also seen were Niranjan Singh and Lokesh
Sharma. —FILE PHOTO

Yogesh Sharma/
Aditi Nagar
Jaipur/ New Delhi:
The year was 1977. the
entire world was looking
towardsIndiaandthebig
political developments
of the day. The emergen-
cy had just ended and
many new parties had
cropped up to take ‘ben-
efit’of the‘anti-emergen-
cy’ wave that was among
the people and translate
that into electoral victo-
ries. Indira Gandhi was
at the helm of the most
powerful party of the
time, Congress. Even in
those tumultuous times,
what stood out for Con-
gress was its ideology of
standing with the poor,
nation building and
keeping the core values
of nation intact across
its length and breadth.
Now imagine a lanky
and exuberant nineteen
year old teenager from
Nagpur, who believes he
needstoplayaparttoset
thethingsstraightinthe
turmoil. At a time when
not many would speak
good of the grand-old
party, the teenager re-
viewed the ideologies of
allthepartiesandchoos-
es that though time
might not be right, but
the Congress party was
indeed the pillar of
strength for the nation.
As a result he joins the
student wing of the par-
tytostarthis‘newlife’,a
lifethathasseenupsand
downs,thegoodsandthe
bads and everything in
between and after over
four decades in politics,
have come to be estab-
lished as a well known
andrespectedfaceof the
Congress party as its
General Secretary and
Incharge of Rajasthan -
Avinash Pande.
62 year old Pande has
been one of the few in-
dividuals who can lay
claim to have interacted
and work with Indira
Gandhi! Starting off in
the National Students’
Union of India (NSUI),
Pande was quickly spot-
ted by his peers and the
‘seniors’ for carrying
an ability to see a prob-
lem differently. It would
take some time for Pan-
de to establish himself
but when he did, he was
made the NSUI chief, a
position that he held for
seven long years!
When time came,
Pande ‘graduated’ to the
Youth Congress where
he spent a considerable
time working for the
party and was made its
national general secre-
tary. By this time, every-
one in prty circles knew
Pande was in it for the
big league. Little by lit-
tle, he continued work-
ing for the party, all this
while asking nothing in
return. Everytime Pan-
de was given a challeng-
ing job, he achieved it
without any difficulty.
Atatimewhenterror-
ism was high in Punjab,
Jammu and Kashmir
and even the north-east
was witnessing its own
turmoils, Pande was
asked by the party to go
to these disturbed areas
and carry out party
works and like a ‘true
soldier’, Pande executed
thetaskassignedtohim.
In more recent history,
in times of calamities,
like the 2003 super cy-
clone in Odisha, 2007
tsunamiinAndmanand
Nicobarandearthquake
in Maharashtra, when
ever Sonia Gandhi dele-
gated a task to Pande,
displaying her trust in
theCongressman’scapa-
bilities, Pande has deliv-
ered, thus earning faith
of the party president.
This dynamic person-
ality has experienced
not only Maharashtra
and Rajasthan in his po-
litical career but has
workedinUttarPradesh
for 4 years between 2009-
2012 and later in Assam
for 3 years in 2013 -16.
In Pande’s political
‘journey’, the names of
two leaders - Ahmed Pa-
tel and Mukul Wasnik -
cannot be missed. While
Wasnik has been a con-
temporary of Pande
sincehisYouthCongress
days and even prior to
that, Ahmed Patel has
been like the big brother
to him who has always
guided him, in matters
of polityandparty,when
Pande sought counsel.
Sinceassumingcharge
of Rajasthan Incharge,
Pandehasliterallyscript-
ed Congress’s comeback
in the state in the 2018 as-
sembly elections. More
recently, it was team Ge-
hlot-Pande that provided
strength to the party’s
numbers by including 6
BSPMLAsintopartyfold
overnight, it was team
Gehlot-Pande who took
on the challenge of pro-
viding a safe haven for
non BJP MLAs of Maha-
rashtra while the party
was forging an alliance
with Shiv Sen and NCP.
Infact, a little after that
Rajasthan played host to
Gujarat MLAs as well
when a political crisis
marred the state. These
two developments were
enoughtoprovethepoint
that Sonia Gandhi has
utmost faith in team Ge-
hlot-Pandetotakeonany
political challenge and
give the desired results.
Having literally given
a lifetime to the party,
AvinashPandehasquite
literally been the ulti-
mate ‘grassroot worker’
for the Grand-old party!
Love, honesty and respect are not
just critical to a relationship but to
life. These are the bricks to build
upon for a stable relationship and life.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
JAIPUR | SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONTPOSTAL REG NO. JPC/010/2019-21
Avinash Pande: The quintessential party man!
Ahmed Patel
@ahmedpatel
Absolutely shocked
to hear about the mi-
grants who were killed
on railway tracks.
Many of them are sole
breadwinners,govt
has to provide every
possible assistance to
their families.
(From left) Avinash Pande, Ramesh Girde, Dr Shrikant Jichkar
Indiraji Gandhi, Dr Sunil Deshmukh, Mukul wasnik and Raju Korde. Ahmed Patel
State to resume
dedicated mother
and child services
First India News
Jaipur: Health Minis-
ter Dr Raghu Sharma
informed that after
Jaipur, ICMR has also
permitted govern-
ment Medical College,
Jodhpur to go ahead
with plasma therapy
treatment trials on co-
rona infected and crit-
ical patients. Dr Shar-
ma expressed happiness
on the fact that now two
governmentandonepri-
vate institution will be
providing plasma treat-
ment in the state.
He said that the
medical colleges at
Kota, Udaipur, Bikan-
er and Ajmer also have
been asked to seek per-
mission from ICMR
for plasma therapy so
that more centres can
provide the facility to
the patients in the
state. Heexpressedfaith
that this would help
bring down the death
rate due to coronavirus
in the state which was
already low at 2.79 per
cent compared to the na-
tional average rate. Dr
Sharma was upbeat
about the fact that the
stateonlyhas1,475active
corona positive patients.
TheHealthMinisterwas
also very satisfied at the
recovery rate of the pa-
tients in the state which
he claimed was highest
in the country.
Dr Sharma said that
the corona positive pa-
tientsfromJaipuriahos-
pital were being shifted
toRUHSandNIMS.Now
with only 85 positive
patients in SMS hospi-
tal even they could be
shifted to some other
facility so that the pa-
tients of other ail-
ments can benefit
from SMS like earlier.
SMS officials are work-
ing on the possibility of
such a move.
He said that now
people will be able to
benefit from telecon-
sultancy facility from
e-mitra kiosks as well.
These services were
launched on May 4 and
will now be available
to all through such ki-
osks. Dr Sharma also
announced the re-
sumption of dedicated
Thursday mother and
child services. He said
theserviceswerepaused
due to the pandemic but
have been resumed now.
EveryThursday,likeear-
lier, will be celebrated as
Mother and Child health
and nutrition day on
every CHC, PHC, sub-
center and Anganwadi
centres.
Jodh med college gets nod for
plasma therapy treatment
Health Minister Dr Raghu Sharma
First India News
Jaipur: RHB Commis-
sioner Pawan Arora
announced an innova-
tive Covid-19 precau-
tionary move on Fri-
day. Arora said that all
existing and future
RHB projects will have
a sanitization station
at the entrance. Arora
said that it is being done
keepingWHOguidelines
for corona into consid-
eration. Instructions for
implementation of the
samehavebeenissuedto
all deputy commission-
ers and engineers. Arora
saidthatallRWAswillbe
motivated to get the sta-
tion at their entrance
and the board will en-
courage them with a re-
ward of Rs 25,000 for
each station.
Arora also went to
JaipurChaupati,Coach-
ing Hub and Mukhyam-
natri Shikshak evam
Prahari projects to see
the work progress. He
decided to increase
workersatPratapNagar
and Mansarovar sites
and instructed to main-
tain social distancing.
Chief engineer KC Mee-
na, ACE Natthuram, dy
commissioner Sitaram
Bari accompanied Aro-
ra. It is noteworthy that
RHB was among those
departments which as-
sisted govt in its drive to
createquarantineonthe
outskirts of the city.
All RHB projects to have sanitizing stations
RHB commissioner Pawan Arora instructing his team at Pratap
Nagar Chaupati on Friday.
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court Friday ex-
tended by three months
the time for completion
of trial in the 1992 Babri
Masjid demolition case
involving BJP veterans
LK Advani, MM Joshi
andUmaBhartiandsaid
thatjudgementshouldbe
delivered by August 31.
The top court asked
special judge S K Yadav
to control the proceed-
ings in accordance with
law. It indicated to the
special judge to avail the
facilities of VC to com-
plete recording of evi-
dences and hearing of
applications that are
filedduringthecourseof
trial proceedings. A
benchof JusticesRFNa-
riman and Surya Kant,
hearing the matter
throughvideoconferenc-
ing, passed the orders on
receiving a letter from
thespecialjudgeseeking
extension of time grant-
ed to him for completing
thetrialinthepolitically
sensitive case. —PTI
Babri demolition case:
Verdict by August 31
The Sanitizing Station initiative
by RHB is the first of its kind
in India which will go a long
way in the control of corona.
In fact, private builders should
learn from this and immedi-
ately install such stations in
their gated residential areas to ensure safety of the
residents. The installation of such stations at entry
gates should be taken up on priority by all govt de-
partments also who have their residential colonies
like railways, excise, bankers, customs and other
officials. Before easing of lockdown, these type
of stations should be installed in shopping malls
and multiplexes also. The initiative by RHB was
welcomed by all.
FIRST OF ITS KIND IN COUNTRY
A SPECIAL BOND
Amit Shah is very
much the doting
grandfather with
Rudri, who turned
3 in April this
year. He is now
a grandfather to
two girls as his
son Jay Shah and
Rishita became
proud parents to a
baby on Thursday
afternoon at
KD Hospital,
Ahmedabad. It
is said that ever
since Rudri was
an infant, Shah
would make it a
point to speak to
her twice a day
and the bonding
and mutual joy
between the
grandfather-grand
daughter duo is
quite visible.
First India News
Jaipur: Humans as well
as animals are reeling
under the Corona crisis
and in Rajasthan ani-
mals specially bovines
have a high regard. On
Friday, Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot in-
structed officials to
distribute grants giv-
en by state govern-
ment towards gausha-
las be distributed as
soon as possible. “The
government has given a
grant of about Rs 275
crore to the gaushalas.
Dairy and animal hus-
bandryarethemainstay
of economy and liveli-
hood of farmers. Due to
Corona epidemic, the
state government will
not allow any trouble to
the cattlemen and the
farmers,” Gehlot said
while holding a review
of the Department of
Animal Husbandry,
Dairy,Fisheriesthrough
VC at CMR on Friday.
Gehlot observed
that demand for milk
products has been af-
fected due to the lock-
down. “In such a situ-
ation, dairies should
strengthen their mar-
keting system. Also,
explore options that can
increase the income of
those associated with
it,” Gehlot said.
The CM directed
that more work should
be started in MNRE-
GA to provide employ-
ment to workers,
farmers, agricultural
laborers, cattle rear-
ers who are suffering
due to this epidemic.
He said that due to stray
animals, the crops of
farmers get destroyed
and there is a risk of ac-
cidents. “To overcome
this problem of stray
animals,strongarrange-
ments should be made.
The problem of lack of
fodder should be over-
come in the districts of
western Rajasthan,” Ge-
hlot instructed officials.
Agriculture and An-
imal Husbandry Min-
ister Lalchand Kataria
said that due to coro-
na, fisheries and poul-
try farmers are facing
problems. “The state
government is giving
them relief but the Gov-
ernment of India should
also be requested for as-
sistance in this hour of
crisis,” Katariya said.
Gopalan Minister
Pramod Jain Bhaya
said that due to coro-
na, there has been a
huge difference in de-
mand and supply of
milk products. “If the
coronainfectionincreas-
es further, the depart-
ment is preparing for
door-to-door supply of
milk products,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of
State for Animal Hus-
bandry Bhajan Lal Jatav
suggested that the work
of Gaushalas be done
through MNREGA.
Explore income generation options for dairy farms: CM
CM Ashok Gehlot with DB Gupta and Niranjan Arya during VC.

t a family wedding, an
aunt is often apt to
glare at you for flaunt-
ing a bit of cleavage
from the sexy choli
covered by a demure
saree with the dia-
logue, ‘hamare zamaane
mein…’. Well, you can tell her
that in the days of our pre-
British ancestors, whom we
have chosen to follow, the sa-
ree was worn without a choli.
Today the choli or the blouse
is given as much if not more
attention than the blouse but
it only became a part of the
Indian woman’s wardrobe af-
ter the rather hypocritical
Victorian standards of
propriety took over the
Indian classes. It was
Jnanadanandini Debi,
the wife of Satyen-
dranath Tagore,
brother of the Ra-
bindranath Tagore
who popularised
blouses after being
refused entry to clubs
under the Raj for wear-
ing the sari fabric
over her bare
breasts.
The choli
makes a state-
ment even today,
from the de-
mure long-sleeved blouse
which indicates professional-
ism with a hint of feminine
strength and goes well with
silk and cotton both. The
sleeveless blouse, at one time,
frowned upon as too modern
is one of the most popular to-
day adding oomph and com-
fort to the saree. Blouse styles
are of as many types as the
sarees with the spaghetti strap
blouse and backless one a hot
favourite with one and all.
The basic idea is that
the humble saree blouse
is no longer something
to be worn ‘under’
the saree simply to
cover the bosom,
it is a fashion
garment in its
own right. One
can’t even be-
gin to describe
all the styles,
accessories, attachments, etc
available to set up the saree
blouse.
It is one garment which
though available in ‘ready-
made’ is still given for ‘stitch-
ing’ with many a nip and tuck
to be done before the perfect fit.
Whatever it may be, the
blouse cannot be divorced
from the saree anymore, wear
it with panache and flaunt that
midriff or cleavage as the case
may be, our strong women an-
cestors support us!
JAIPUR, SATURDAY
MAY 9, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
CHOLI
MEINDILHAIMERA!City First explores the world of the humble choli, affixed to the saree
forever, it has come a long way from being a simple cloth tied to the
chest to the lacy, gold, tasseled fashion statement it is today!
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com
A

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First india jaipur edition-09 may 2020