First india jaipur edition-11 january 2021

Gujarat prepared for nCoV vaccination drive: CM Rupani
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar:Asthena-
tion prepares for the
world’s largest COVID-19
vaccination drive from
January 16, the Govern-
ment of Gujarat has en-
sured that all necessary
arrangements are in
place for the same, Chief
Minister Vijay Rupani
stated on Sunday.
Addressingthecitizens
virtually, the CM said,
“Thestate-wideCOVID-19
vaccination drive will be-
gin from January 16, and
the data for it to go
smoothly as planned has
already been compiled.
More than 11 lakh COV-
ID-19 warriors, which in-
clude more than 4 lakh
healthworkersandover6
lakh frontline workers
(police personnel, sanita-
tionworkers,etc.),willbe
vaccinated in the first
phase.”
He added, “It is a mo-
ment of pride for the en-
tire nation. Vaccines for
COVID-19 are being man-
ufactured in India, there-
by fulfilling the mission
of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.
This is a testament to the
dedication of our scien-
tistsandtheirhardwork.”
TheCMalsostatedthat
adatabaseof morethan1
crore5lakhcitizens,aged
50 and above, has been
prepared by health work-
ers.Another2.75lakhpeo-
ple have been identified
under the age of 50, who
suffer from ailments.
Over 16,000 health work-
ershavebeensuccessfully
trained as ‘vaccinators’
andthestategovernment
has made necessary ar-
rangements for cold-
chain transportation of
the vaccine.
For the vaccination
drive, six regional depots
have also been estab-
lished. The central gov-
ernment has also sup-
plied necessary tools and
equipment to the state
government.
Meanwhile, thousands
of students across the
state will attend classes
on their school and col-
lege premises for the first
time in this academic
year today. All education-
al institutions have re-
mainedclosedforthepast
ninemonthsowingtothe
COVID-19 pandemic.
Health workers collecting details for vaccine registration at a housing society near Prahladnagar in
Ahmedabad. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
ON TOP OF IT
A database of senior citizens, people
with comorbid ailments and
COVID-19 warriors has been
compiled by the state government
AHMEDABAD l MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 48
Racism returns to cricket
with ugly scenes at Sydney
Karnal: Haryana Chief
Minister Manohar Lal
Khattar on Sunday can-
celled his ‘kisan ma-
hapanchayat’ pro-
gramme in Karnal after
farmers opposing the
Centre’s three farm
laws uprooted tents and
damaged the stage at
the venue.
Police resorted to
mild lathi-charge and
used teargas and water
canons to stop hundreds
of farmers from reach-
ing a helipad in Kaimla
village, where Khattar
was scheduled to land.
Khattar later said
with such behaviour,
the protesters had “de-
famed farmers” and he
believed “Congress par-
ty and Communists
have a major role to
play in such incidents.”
He also said the Centre
was not likely to repeal
the farm laws. “Discus-
sion can be held on cer-
tain points, but I do not
think government is go-
ing to withdraw these
laws,” he said.
Over 1,500 cops had
been deployed as secu-
rity for the meeting and
seven checkpoints were
set up ahead of the ven-
ue. Agitating farmers,
however, managed to
breach six checkpoints
and arrive near the hel-
ipad, forcing authori-
ties to move the landing
spot for Khattar’s heli-
copter to a different lo-
cation.
The farmers then
moved to occupy the
venueof Khattar’skisan
mahapanchayat, where
around 2,000 farmers,
most of them BJP sup-
porters, were waiting.
The protesting farmers
flung chairs, tore ban-
ners and vandalised
other arrangements
made for the meeting.
Speaking at a press
conference later, Khat-
tar said the incident
had “sent a message” to
people. Turn to P6
Haryana CM Khattar
cancels kisan meet after
protestors rip venue apart
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR,
AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW
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Police used teargas and water cannons to stop
hundreds of farmers from reaching a helipad
in Kaimla village, where Khattar was to landNew Delhi: The Centre
said the outbreak of
bird flu or avian influ-
enza has been reported
in Uttar Pradesh, tak-
ing the total number of
affected states to seven.
However, the confir-
mation of bird flu in
Delhi, Chhattisgarh
and Maharashtra, is
awaited as the samples
have been sent for test-
ing, it said.
BesidesUttarPradesh,
theothersixstateswhere
bird flu is confirmed are
Kerala, Rajasthan, Mad-
hya Pradesh, Himachal
Pradesh, Haryana and
Gujarat.
“So far, the disease
has been confirmed
from seven states. …The
Department has issued
advisory to the affected
states so as to avoid fur-
ther spread of the dis-
ease,” the Ministry of
Fisheries, Animal Hus-
bandry and Dairying
said in a statement.
Turn to P6
INDIA’S OWN
FAIRY LAND
Tourists take a shikara ride across Dal Lake with snow-clad Zabarwan mountains in the
backdrop, in Srinagar. Nestled at the feet of snow-capped mountains, the beauty of Dal
Lake — and her people — are breathtaking. During winters, it appears as if the shikara
moves over glass in the womb of Himalayas. But the ziqr of Dal Lake is incomplete
without the couplet from ‘Myon Watan’ by noted poet Dina Nath Nadim,
“Hamara vatan, khilte hua shalimaar bagh jaisa,
Hamara vatan, Dal Lake mein khilte hua kamal jaisa.
Naujawaano ke garam khoon jaisa,
Mera vatan, tera vatan, hamara vatan, duniya ka sabse pyara vatan.”
...and certainly as Dal Lake is jewel of Srinagar, Kashmir is the diamond of India.
—PHOTO BY PTI
Protesting farmers vandalise the stage at kisan mahapanchayat
as police look on in Karnal on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI
CENTRE
SCRAMBLES
AS BIRD FLU
REACHES
7 STATES
Sydney: After two days
of persistent heckling
by the SCG crowd and
racial abuse on Satur-
day against Indian play-
ers fielding in the deep,
the team has filed an
official complaint with
the ICC Match Referee.
It is learnt that soon
after play ended on Day
3 in the Sydney Test,
skipper Ajinkya Ra-
hane and senior player
R Ashwin informed on-
field umpires Paul Reif-
fel and Paul Wilson that
fast bowlers Moham-
med Siraj and Jasprit
Bumrah were subjected
to racial abuse and de-
rogatory language.
“Bothwerefieldingon
the boundary on the op-
posite side of the dress-
ing room and words and
some racial slurs were
directed against them. It
appeared certain mem-
bers of the crowd were
drunk,” said a source in
the Indian team.
With a considerably
reduced crowd under
Covid-19 Turn to P6
On Day 4, play was halted for a few minutes after
Indian team complained that few spectators
allegedly used racial slur at Mohammed Siraj
Security officials evicted
the group of spectators
from the ground
Police talk to spectators as the game is stopped after a complaint by Indian players during play on
day four of the third test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.
CROWD CALLED SIRAJ
“BROWN DOG”, “BIG
MONKEY”: OFFICIAL
ICC CONDEMNS
INCIDENT, ASKS
CA FOR REPORT
PEAK OF ROWDY
BEHAVIOUR: KOHLI
SLAMS SCG CROWD
India pacer Mohammed
Siraj was called a “Brown
Dog” and “Big Monkey”
in a series of racist slurs
hurled by a group of Aus-
tralian spectators, a BCCI
official has alleged.
The International Cricket
Council (ICC) on Sunday
condemned the alleged
incidents of racism against
Indian players that took
place during the ongoing
third Test match. The inter-
national cricket body has
also asked for a detailed
report from Cricket Aus-
tralia, which is investigat-
ing the matter.
India captain Virat Kohli
slammed the alleged inci-
dents of racism by members
of the crowd against Indian
players during the ongoing
third Test between India and
Australia Turn to P6

NEWSAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
First India Bureau
Surat: The three-day
Surat International
Textile Expo (SITEX)
which commenced on
Saturday has gar-
nered positive re-
sponse from business-
men. One of the ma-
jor attractions at the
event was an embroi-
dery machine devel-
oped by a man whose
efforts were praised
by Union Cabinet
Minister Smriti Irani
during a visit to the
expo. The machine in
question was manu-
factured with mini-
mum expense.
The machine’s crea-
tor, Chandrakant Patil
said that he took the
help of YouTube videos
to make his machine. A
loom unit worker, Patil
watched more than 200
videos to finally build
his innovation.
Speaking of his ef-
forts, Patil stated, “The
final model of the ma-
chine took around two
months to finish. The
final cost of the ma-
chine was around 31
lakh. I even mortgaged
my wife’s jewellery on
2% interest when I fell
short of money to com-
plete the machine.”
He added, “A normal
machine of this calib-
er manufactures
around 140 metre of
fabric while this ma-
chine produces around
200 metre of cloth. The
machine which is im-
ported from other
countries costs around
Rs48 lakh while the
cost of this machine is
around Rs22 lakh and
over 3,370 parts used
to create it are ‘Made
in India’.
Man creates ‘Made in India’ embroidery machine
ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT
Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: A recent
report on communal
violence in Gujarat by
an organization called
Buniyad, coupled with
the findings of the Alp-
sankhyak Adhikar
Manch and news re-
ports, stated that com-
munal violence post the
2002 riots has shifted
from urban areas to ru-
ral parts. The report
also mentioned that
Khambhat town had
emerged as a hotbed of
communal conflicts.
Titled ‘Peaceful Guja-
rat’: Illusion or Truth?’,
the report stated that
the trend from 2018 has
continued in parts of
Gujarat that did not wit-
ness communal riots in
2002. Such places have
been experiencing reg-
ular bouts of commu-
nal riots post 2014.
“Khambhat, a coastal
town in Anand district,
has over the years
emerged as a hotbed of
communal conflicts. In
February 2020, the sim-
mering tensions brew-
ing in Khambhat culmi-
nated in the communal
riots on 23 February. A
few days before the vio-
lence, an area called
Bhavsarwad inhabited
mostly by affluent Hin-
dus was looted,” the re-
port mentioned.
This looting was seen
as an opportunity for
polarizing and also
spreading hatred by the
dominant group- Hindu
Jagran Manch, which
organized a rally where
aggressive slogans were
raised. The slogans in
the rally exhorted Hin-
dus to oust Muslims
from the town. At least
seven FIRs were regis-
tered in Khambhat po-
lice station, against BJP
leaders and members of
the Hindu Jagran
Manch, as well as a few
local councillors. The
violence inadvertently
traced the deep roots of
Hindu supremacist
groups in Khambhat.
Earlier, Ahmedabad,
Vadodara, and Surat,
the biggest cities in Gu-
jarat witnessed major
communal riots in 1946,
1969, 1981-82, 1985, 1990,
1992, 2002, & 2006. How-
ever, post the 2002 riots,
places such as Chattral,
Vadavli, Khambat, Him-
matnagar, Idar, Kheda,
and Halwad have been
witnessing communal
riots. In 2019, out of a
total of six incidents,
five took place in small
towns, blocks, and vil-
lages including Khamb-
hat, Kotda Gadi village
of Sabarkantha, Nan-
doliya of Kadi Taluka,
Dhunadra of Kheda dis-
trict. One communal
riot took place in a high-
ly communally sensi-
tive old city area of Va-
dodara.
“To understand this
shift of communal riots
from urban to rural ar-
eas, an important factor
is the concealed effort
of the divisive forces to
polarize communities
along religious lines in
villages and small
towns untouched by
communal violence so
far. The salient point to
note here is that though
social relationships in
rural areas are definite-
ly marked by hierar-
chies and inequalities,
these tensions and re-
sulting conflicts do not
often manifest them-
selves in the form of
communal violence,”
the report further said.
However, the increas-
ing presence of suprem-
acist organizations and
their deliberate attempt
to instigate violence is
leading to more riots in
the rural areas and per-
manently altering the
social equation in the
areas. This has also tak-
en the form of displace-
ment for Muslims since
they are compelled to
flee the villages given
the insecurity they face
after communal riots,
added the document.
In big cities, one al-
ready witnesses spa-
tial segregation in the
form of ghettos or ex-
clusive residential
complexes arising out
of years of communal
tension, discrimina-
tion, distrust, and the
resultant polarization.
Thus, after this polari-
zation is achieved al-
ready in urban areas to
a large extent, the fo-
cus is rapidly shifting
to rural areas.
Post 2002, has Gujarat cleansed
itself of communal violence?AccordingtoareportreleasedbyanNGO,ruralpocketsofthestatehavebeenwitnessingmoreriotsanddisturbances
PARADIGM SHIFT
CM Rupani unveils K-9 Vajra
weaponized tanks in Surat
First India Bureau
Surat: Chief Minister
Vijay Rupani on Sun-
day inducted the 91st
K-9 Vajra, indigenous
howitzer (a long-
ranged weapon), into
the Indian Army. He
also took a short ride
in the howitzer as ear-
lier done by Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi and Union De-
fence Minister Ra-
jnath Singh, who have
previously visited the
facility located at Haz-
ira of Surat district.
The weaponized
tanks have been manu-
factured by Larsen &
Turbo in their armed
systems division. The
production of such ar-
tillery equipment is
part of the ‘Atmanirb-
har Bharat’ initiative
started by PM Modi.
Earlier, all defence
equipment used to be
imported from other
countries but now it is
beingmanufacturedin
Gujarat, putting it on
the world’s map. The
government has initi-
atedweaponsmanufac-
ture initiatives for the
defence forces instead
of relying on other
countries for arms.
Bidding goodbye to Madhavsinh Solanki
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Wrapped
in the tricolour, the
body of former Chief
Minister Madhavsinh
Solanki was brought to
the Gujarat Pradesh
Congress Committee
(GPCC) office in
Ahmedabad for final
darshan. Several mem-
bers of the party gath-
ered there to extend
tribute to the leader
who was a beloved
member of Gujarat
politics.
The former union
external affairs minis-
ter breathed his last in
Gandhinagar at the
age of 94 on Saturday.
His son, Congress lead-
er Bharatsinh Solanki
was in the USA at the
time of his demise, so
his funeral was held on
Sunday.
Activists and thou-
sands of supporters
paid their last respects
to Solanki. His funeral
procession began from
the GPCC office to-
wards the Paldi Ceme-
tery, where he was cre-
mated with all scrip-
tural rites and political
honours.
Rajya Sabha MP
Shaktisinh Gohil and
Congress Gujarat in-
charge Rajiv Satav laid
wreaths, while Con-
gress national presi-
dent Sonia Gandhi sent
a message of condo-
lence.
The state govern-
ment had declared a
day of political mourn-
ing on Saturday. Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi, Home Minister
Amit Shah, Governor
Acharya Devvrat, Con-
gress leader Rahul
Gandhi expressed
their grief over the
news of Solanki’s de-
mise.
It may be mentioned
that Madhavsinh
Solanki has been the
chief minister of Guja-
rat four times. He has
also served as the plan-
ning minister and the
external affairs minis-
ter in the central gov-
ernment. Schemes
such as Kanya Kelava-
ni and Madhyahan
Bhojan started by
Solanki are still preva-
lent today.
Patil with his innovation.
Rupani inside the K9 Vajra at the induction ceremony.
—PHOTOSBYHANIFSINDHI
The 2002 riots were one of the most bloody communal disturbances to occur in the state. The town of Khambhat has emerged has one of hotbeds of such unrest which indicates
prevalence of Hindu supremacist groups.

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021
Unseasonal rain to return to
Gujarat over next 48 hours
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Distur-
bances near the Pa-
kistan-Punjab bor-
der are likely to
cause dark skies in
various parts of the
state, including
Ahmedabad, over the
next two days. Visi-
bility is likely to de-
crease as wind speeds
fall. The state will
see rainy weather for
the next 48 hours,
the India Meteoro-
logical Department
said on Sunday.
Unseasonal rains
are likely to hit many
parts of the state, once
again. A change in
weather was already
noticed in the
Ahmedabad-Rajkot
belt early on Sunday
morning, with some
parts of Ahmedabad
expected to receive a
drizzle on Monday.
Visibility in
Ahmedabad fell from
5km to 1km on Sunday
morning due to slower
winds. However, after
11 am, the rain clouds
were replaced by cold
winds and blue skies.
On Sunday,
Ahmedabad experi-
enced a maximum tem-
perature of 28.1 de-
grees Celsius and a
minimum of 14.5 de-
grees Celsius—1.7 de-
grees above normal for
this time of year.
The weather in the
Aravalli district
changed as well. The
district saw fog early in
themorning,whichlast-
ed for most of the day,
increasing the chill.
Meanwhile, farmers
are fearful for their
crops including wheat,
maize, and chickpeas,
in the face of climate
change and unseason-
al rains. Rabi crop has
been planted in 1.25
lakh hectares in the
district.
The jawans first demanded `10K as a bribe, but later decided to ‘settle’ for `9K
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The au-
thorities have
launched an investi-
gation into allega-
tions against three
Home Guard jawans.
They have been ac-
cused of extorting
citizens, demanding
and accepting bribes.
The city police has
registered a criminal
complaint against the
jawans, who are ex-
pected to be arrested
and sent to judicial
custody soon. Once
that happens, they
will be suspended.
According to the
complaint registered
at the Isanpur police
station, Vatva resident
Anupam had gone to
pick up his brother-in-
law from the Kalupur
Railway station late on
Friday night. He told
the police he was com-
pelled to do so since
there were no other ve-
hicles to be found due
to the ongoing night
curfew.
On their way home,
they were stopped by
three persons wearing
khaki uniforms at the
Govindwadi Circle. The
three jawans then
threatened the two men,
and said they would be
booked for violating
curfew and jailed. They
then asked for Rs10,000
to look the other way.
Interestingly, they de-
manded that the bribe
be paid through a spe-
cific mobile wallet.
However, Anupam’s
brother-in-law only had
Rs9,300 in his bank ac-
count. So they scaled
down their demand to
Rs9,000. One of the men
in plain clothes then ac-
companied Anupam
and his brother-in-law
to a nearby ATM and
took the money as soon
as it was withdrawn.
Later, when they
were allowed to go, An-
upam immediately
called the city police
control room and made
an oral complaint about
the incident. The police
initiated an inquiry
into the complaint and,
have identified three
Home Guard jawans
based on CCTV footage.
Three Home Guards to face
suspension for extortion
Visibility in Ahmedabad fell to 1km on Sunday. —FILE PHOTO
A’bad saw a maximum
of 28.1 °C and a
minimum of 14.5 °C
—1.7 degrees above
normal—on Sunday
QUITE A BARGAIN
First India Bureau
Rajkot: Despite receiv-
ing 40 inches of rain-
fall in the last mon-
soon season, the sec-
ond highest amount of
rainfall in the last four
years, Rajkot district
may a water shortage
this summer.
The Aji and Nyari
dams were overflowing
and streets of the city
back then but the cur-
rent water level in the
Aji reservoir is unlikely
to last the next three
months and that in the
Nyari Dam, till the next
monsoon season. With
this in mind, the Rajkot
Municipal Corporation
(RMC) will have to re-
quest the government to
supply water through
the Saurashtra Narma-
da Avtaran Irrigation
(SAUNI) scheme.
RMC sources said
that, as on January 08,
the water storage of Aji-
2 and Nyari-1 dams was
583 million cubic feet
(MCFT) and 883 MCFT,
respectively. The civic
body has been drawing
55 million litre per day
(MLD) of water from Aji
Dam and 40 MLD from
Nyari-1 to meet its daily
requirements. Exclud-
ing dead water reserves
and water allocated for
irrigation purposes, the
city can depend on Aji
Dam until March and
Nyari Dam until June.
Moreover, RMC is also
drawing 45 MLD of wa-
ter daily from Bhadar-1.
Rajkot city’s water
consumption stands at
260 MLD, despite supply-
ing water to households
for just 20 minutes. To
continue this supply, the
RMCwillhavetorequest
the government for as-
sistance under SAUNI,
said a source. The RMC
plans to ask the govern-
ment for 70 MLD from
Aji Dam and 20 MLD
from the Narmada.
Water from Bhadar-1
Dam will last until July.
The corporation
dreams of supplying
round-the-clock potable
water to residents but,
even good rainfall can-
notensurethatthewater
stores will last the sum-
mer. In case of water cri-
ses, promises made to
the people cannot be ful-
filled, stated the source.
Rajkot to depend on Narmada for water supply again this summer
FAMILIAR TALE
City to request govt to direct water
from river under SAUNI due to
low stores in Aji and Nyari dams
The Aji Dam overflowed during the last monsoon season. —FILE PHOTO
State sees nominal
rise in new cases of
COVID-19 in 24 hrs
A’bad IG Bhati dies
after cardiac arrest
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: KG Bha-
ti, Inspector-General
of the Ahmedabad
Range, died on Sun-
day afternoon follow-
ing a cardiac arrest.
Minister of State
Pradipsinh Jadeja and
Director-General of
Police Ashish Bhatia
paid his family a con-
dolence visit.
Bhati, a Gujarat di-
rect recruit to the posi-
tion of Deputy Superin-
tendent of Police was
promoted to the IPS
cadre in 2004. He was
posted as Ahmedabad
Range IG in 2020.
Bhati was in his of-
fice on Saturday even-
ing, when he suffered a
cardiac arrest. He was
immediately rushed to
a private hospital. Al-
though doctors started
treating him, his health
deteriorated and he
died due to multiple or-
gan failure.
MORE BIRDS FOUND DEAD, FLU SUSPECTED
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Sun-
day brought 671 new
COVID-19 cases—a
slight uptick from
Sunday’s 675 cases—
taking Gujarat’s total
case load to 2,51,944
since March. The day
also brought four new
fatalities attributed
to the novel coronavi-
rus, taking the state’s
death toll to 4,344.
Meanwhile, in a step
away from its custom
since the pandemic hit
Gujarat, state health au-
thorities have not de-
clared how many tests
were conducted in the
last 24 hours that ended
at 5 pm on Sunday. So
far, health authorities
have conducted
1,01,01,064 tests in Guja-
rat, of which 98,49,791
have come back nega-
tive.
The government has
claimed that 55,000, or
90%, of the designated
COVID-19 beds across
the state were vacant as
on Sunday.
At 129, Surat reported
the highest number of
new cases on Saturday.
This was followed by
Ahmedabad (126), Va-
dodara (117), Rajkot (82),
and Kutch (20).
Of the four new
deaths, two occurred in
Ahmedabad, and one
each in Morbi and Va-
dodara.
The state currently
has 7,829 active cases,
with 59 patients on ven-
tilator support.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Avian
influenza or the bird
flu, now seems to
have spread over the
Saurashtra and Gu-
jarat regions, with
more birds being re-
ported dead across
the state.
Official sources said
that the bodies of 8-10
lapwings have been
shifted to the Gondal
Veterinary Hospital to
check whether their
deaths were caused by
bird flu. The exact
cause of death will be
known after the post-
mortem, an official
said.
The forest depart-
ment has also urged
the public to refrain
from touching any
dead birds without
first wearing gloves,
since the virus can be
fatal to humans.
“We cannot say for
sure if the dead birds
are victims of bird flu
with the naked eye. A
laboratory test is re-
quired. So, we are wait-
ing for the result of the
postmortem. It is also
likely that the dead
lapwings may have
been felled by the ex-
treme cold weather,”
said an officer of
Gondal Forest Range.
The animal depart-
ment has become vigi-
lant in Bhavnagar dis-
trict also. Guidelines
have been issued in the
district and in the city
and checking in poul-
try farms has been
started.
Thirteen teams of
the animal husbandry
department and dis-
trict panchayat are
working for the 11 talu-
kas of Bhavnagar dis-
trict. With more than
6.50 lakh chickens
been registered at 65
poultry farms in the
district, the livestock
department has be-
come vigilant and
started investigations
at every poultry farm.
COVID-19 testing in Ahmedabad. —FILE PHOTO
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
A flock of flamingoes were seen on the river near Nari Road in Bhavnagar district. With the brackish water providing ample
sustenance, the birds seem to have made the area near the salt pans their winter home. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
The bodies of 8-10
lapwings have been
sent to the Gondal
Veterinary Hospital
for a postmortem
Health workers disinfect the government poultry farm, in Makarba
village in Ahmedabad as a precautionary measure against bird flu.
—PHOTOBYHANIFSINDHI
671 new cases, four
fatalities take state
tally to 2,51,944
cases, toll to 4,344

G Vol 2 G Issue No. 48 G RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.
Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021
WOOING VOTERS
WITH A FREE JOB
WHEN RAJ BHAWAN
PLAYS POLITICS
olitics has come to dominate the
Covid-19 vaccination drive set to
begin on January 16. Kerala, Ta-
mil Nadu, and West Bengal have
tried to out-step the BJP with the
promise of a free vaccine for all the people in
their respective states. Maharashtra, Delhi,
and Rajasthan have asked the Centre to ad-
minister vaccines for free. It all started with
Nirmala Sitharaman promising a free vac-
cine for everyone in Bihar while campaigning
for votes in the state. The other states wanted
to know why just Bihar, why not people of
other states. The latest directive from the Cen-
tre is that about three crore healthcare and
frontline workers including policemen and
safai karamcharis, will get the job for free.
For West Bengal CM Banerjee this has come
as a chance to woo voters with the promise of
a free vaccine for all the 10 crore people of the
state. Did she expect the BJP to make a Bihar-
like promise to voters of the state which goes
to the polls a few months from now? “I am
happy to announce that our government is
making arrangements to facilitate the admin-
istration of the #Covid 19 vaccine to all the
peopleof thestatewithoutanycost,”Banerjee
said. Kerala, TN announced free vaccines for
all last year, as did Puducherry. The terms of
assembly in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu,
and Puducherry is ending between May and
June this year. Will voters bite the bait?
emember the hush-hush manner
in which Maharashtra Governor
Bhagat Singh Koshiyari revoked
the President’s rule at 5.47 am and
then hurriedly administered the
oath of office to Devendra Fadnavis? Koshi-
yari was checkmated by the strongman of
Maharashtra politics - Sharad Pawar - who
forged an unthinkable alliance between Shiv
Sena, Congress, and NCP.
This was not the first time when a BJP-ap-
pointed governor chose to behave like a politi-
cian instead of being apolitical as mandated
by the Constitution. The Raj Bhawan is play-
ing a controversial role in West Bengal and
Puducherry, where Chief Minister V. Naraya-
nasamy is staging a protest against the Lieu-
tenant-Governor Kiran Bedi and has demand-
ed her recall for asking him not to hold New
Year revelry. She called it arbitrary and
against rules. This is the second time that the
two are on a collision course.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar
and the state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
havebeenatloggerheadsforsometimebutwith
assembly elections approaching, the friction
between the two has been increasing with each
passing day.
In Goa and Manipur the governors - Mrid-
ula Sinha and Najma Heptullah - blatantly
denied Congress to form a government de-
spite the party having a majority.
IN-DEPTH
P
R
ust like the morning dew, this
new year brings with it fresh,
crisp new hope! Hope that eve-
ryone around us will be in bet-
ter health this year, hope that
life goes back to what was con-
sidered normal, hope that eve-
ryone’s work/ business will
pick up again. This is indeed
the time for us to take stock of
the year gone by and to venture
out towards normalcy albeit
cautiously.
However, to move forward,
towards new experiences and
travel, we must screen and
clean unnecessary travel bag-
gage (makes the journey ahead
so much lighter!). Insecurities
and worries when excessive
are akin to unnecessary bag-
gage in my opinion which
needs to be put away. Today, I
want my article to speak to
those, whose lives have been
crippled due to the Covid pan-
demic, who have a higher level
of anxiety due to covid, who
think ten times before stepping
out of their houses.
Many of us have had family
members get extremely sick,
land up in hospitals, ICU’s
and in some cases more than
one family member is affect-
ed. It’s a very difficult situa-
tion for people, who are al-
ready suffering from a dan-
gerous disease or are in the
higher risk bracket. Every
movement outside the safety
of one’s home is a monumen-
tal decision.
Staying cautious is the new
normal, perhaps forever.
However, as a famous person
once said “ He who is not eve-
ryday conquering some fear
has not learned the secret of
life”. By all means, be cau-
tious but if you are that small
minority of overly cautious
people whose entire life has
come to a standstill, I urge
you to look out on the streets
from the safety of your house
windows. From the vegetable
vendor to the street shop own-
ers to the beggars on the
street, they had no option but
to overcome their fear. The
basic necessity of life has left
them with no option but to get
mentally stronger.
While it is essential and I
cannot overemphasise the im-
portance of following all gov-
ernment stated guidelines for
safety at work, keeping social
distance, wearing your mask,
clean hands, etc. Curfew tim-
ing ought to be respected as
well. My article is in no way
meant to undermine any of the
well-stated often repeated pre-
cautionary steps that are a req-
uisite and in fact indeed are
the “New normal”.My article
is meant for those amongst us
who are emotionally suffering
and panicking or in a constant
dilemma while planning there
day to day activity. “To go or
not to go” or “ To invite or not
To invite” or “ To employ or
not To employ”.
While each one of us have
our own unique way to deal
and heal when faced with chal-
lenges and problems. I would
like to share tips that might
remind you to do what you al-
ready know is important
STEPPING OUT AGAIN:
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
Build good health: When the
foundation is strong, chances
of things going horribly wrong
are minimized. Build good
health by working on your food
and fitness daily, even if it is in
small doses but keep working
on it regularly.
Plan your outings: While I
was always an excited partici-
pant when it came to planning
impromptu outings, Currently,
it is essential to plan your dai-
ly, weekly outings in advance.
Things such as where you are
going and how are all very im-
portant considering that the
virus is still out there. The vac-
cines are out but will take
some time to reach everyone.
Follow guidelines:“Whenin
Rome do what the Romans do”
old and yes clichéd quote. The
new Covid centric quote ought
to be” When out in the open, do
what the world does – wear your
mask and keep distance”
Keep your surroundings
and your home clean: Em-
ployee’s/Staff everywhere is
being checked for temperature
and oxygen levels and being
made to wash hands upon en-
try into premises. In some
places shoes are also provided
by the workplace. See what is
required at your home and
your office. Make sure people
follow the rules.
Be Covid prepared while
travelling: Carry linen and
toiletries and basic medica-
tion while on the go with fam-
ily. If for nothing else, per-
haps for your mind to worry
a little less!
A story about the fear I
penned down for this arti-
cle: There were two friends.
One called brave and the other
fear. One day fear told brave”
brave brave” to jump from this
rooftop to the next one” brave
replied,” I will but after you”.
No one ended up jumping be-
cause fear was always fearful
and he never jumped.
What none of them realized
was that on the other roof there
was a plethora of opportunities
and experiences just waiting to
enrich their lives. But alas!
They were left on their 30 by 30
feet rooftop .sufficient space for
two but locked away from the
rest of the endless world.
The year gone by has made
many of us fear for dear life.
While caution is still neces-
sary so is working and going
out in small dozes were re-
quired for the sake of work and
for family, friends, and person-
al wellbeing.
2021: HOPE AND CAUTION
J
Staying
cautious is the
new normal,
perhaps forever.
However, as a
famous person
once said “ He
who is not
everyday
conquering
some fear has
not learned the
secret of life”. By
all means, be
cautious but if
you are that
small minority
of overly
cautious people
whose entire life
has come to a
standstill, I
urge you to look
out on the
streets from the
safety of your
house windows
PALLAVI
SINGH
The year gone by has
made many of us fear
for dear life. While
caution is still
necessary so is
working and going out
in small dozes were
required for the sake
of work and for
family, friends, and
personal wellbeing
The writer is life coach, interpersonal
skills trainer & storyteller, and has
18 years of work experience in the
services and hospitality industry
itcoincontinues
to trade close to
its all-time high
reached this
month. Its price
is now around the $34,000 –
up about 77% over the past
month and 305% over the
past year.
First launched in 2009 as
a digital currency, Bitcoin
was for a while used as
digital money on the fring-
es of the economy.
Ithassincebecomemain-
stream. Today, it is used al-
most exclusively as a kind
of “digital gold”. That is to
say, a scarce digital asset.
In response to the risk of
economic collapse due to
Covid-19, governments
around the world have
flooded global markets
with money created by cen-
tral banks, in order to
boost spending and help
save the economy.
But increasing the sup-
ply of money erodes its
value and leads people to
look for inflation-resist-
ant assets to hold. In this
climate, Bitcoin has be-
come a hedge against
looming inflation and
poor returns on other
types of assets.
A FUNCTIONAL AND
DECENTRALISED
DIGITAL CURRENCY
Bitcoin is “decentralised”.
In other words, it functions
via a dispersed peer-to-
peer network, rather than
through a central authori-
ty such as a central bank.
And it does this
through the participation
of Bitcoin “miners”. This
is anyone who chooses to
run software to validate
Bitcoin transactions
on the blockchain. Typi-
cally, these people are ac-
tively engaged with cryp-
tocurrency.
They are rewarded with
bitcoins, more of which
are created every ten min-
utes. But the reward paid
to miners halves every
four years.
This gradual reduction
was encoded into the net-
work by creator Satoshi
Nakamoto, who designed it
this way to mimic the pro-
cess of extracting actual
gold – easier at first, but
harder with time.
Bitocoin miners today
earn 6.25 bitcoins for eve-
ry block mined, down
from 50 bitcoins in the
early years. This creates
an incentive to get in-
volved early, as scarcity
increases with time.
Because of this, the
price is expected to rise to
meet demand. But because
future scarcity is known in
advance (predictable at
four-year intervals), the
halving events tend to al-
ready be priced in.
Therefore, massive surg-
es and falls in price typi-
cally reflect changing de-
mand conditions, such as a
growing number of new
institutional investors.
More and more public com-
panies are now investing
in bitcoin.
WHY IS BITCOIN
BOOMING?
Bitcoin’s recent boom in
value comes down to a
combination of three fac-
tors: ideology, social senti-
ment and hope.
But although these are
variablefactors,thisdoesn’t
discreditthesignificanceof
the digital economy, inter-
est in the technology as it
matures and the influence
of institutional investors in
cryptocurrency, including
Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is in an upward
market trend, also known
as “bull market” territory.
It was designed to in-
crease in value over time
through the rules Naka-
moto wrote into its soft-
ware code – which Bit-
coin’s most outspoken
advocates, known as
“maximalists”, vehe-
mently defend.
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION
Why is Bitcoin’s price at an all-time high?
B
First launched in
2009 as a digital
currency, Bitcoin
was for a while
used as digital
money
Let a man avoid evil deeds
as a man who loves life
avoids poison. —Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Prakash Javadekar
@PrakashJavdekar
With the commencement of the
nationwide vaccination drive on
16th Jan, India is all set to defeat
COVID-19, under the decisive
leadership of PM @narendramodi Ji.
30 cr citizens including our brave front
line warriors & senior citizens with co-
morbidities will be given priority.
Smriti Z Irani
@smritiirani
Export subsidies, single window
clearance, ﬁscal incentives,
technology upgradation - Central
Government under the leadership of
PM @narendramodi Ji is harnessing
our manufacturing capacities to
make India a global toy hub.

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INDIAAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021
RAHUL GANDHI ASKS PM MODI
TO SUPPORT THE ANNADATAS
FARMERS’ STIR
Farmers have been protesting at different borders of Delhi since Nov 26
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi on
Sunday, lashed out at
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi and asked him
to support farmers
amid the agitation over
the new agriculture
laws.
“There is still time,
Modi ji, support the An-
nadata, leave the capi-
talists,” read his tweet
(roughly translated
from Hindi). He also
shared a video from his
speech in April 2018 in
Lok Sabha where he
had criticised the Cen-
tral government over
farmers.
Farmers have been
protesting at different
borders of the national
capital since November
26 last year against the
three newly enacted
farm laws - Farmers’
Produce Trade and
Commerce (Promotion
and Facilitation) Act,
2020, the Farmers (Em-
powerment and Protec-
tion) Agreement on
Price Assurance and
Farm Services Act,
2020, and the Essential
Commodities (Amend-
ment) Act, 2020. —ANI
SIKKIM: ITBP PERSONNEL RESCUE
MAN STUCK IN MOUNTAIN CLIFF
Lachung: Indo-Tibetan
Border Police (ITBP)
rescued a local person
who had been stuck in the
middle of a mountain cliff
here. “A rescue team from
the 48th Battalion of ITBP
mountaineers rescued a
person identified as Ujwal
Rai with the help of locals
after hours of hardship.
The person was nervous,
scared and shivering.
He had sustained minor
injuries and first aid was
provided to him,” ITBP
said. According to police,
the rescued person had
gone to the cliff behind
General Reserve Engineer
Force camp in Lachung
to repair a water pipeline.
After he got stuck on the
steep and difficult cliff,
police team rushed to the
spot.
SRINAGAR-JAMMU NH REOPENS
FOR TRAFFIC AFTER 7 DAYS
Srinagar: The Sri-
nagar-Jammu national
highway was reopened
on Sunday after seven
days in the wake of
heavy snowfall last
week, even as the city
and some other parts
of Kashmir received
another spell of snow-
fall, officials said.The
260 km-long highway
- the only all-weather
road connecting Kash-
mir with the rest of the
country - was re-
opened for fresh traffic
on Sunday morning,
.They, however, said
only one-way traffic
was allowed from Jam-
mu towards Srinagar.
ON ADVOCATE’S PLAINT,
WOMAN HELD FOR EXTORTION
Thane: A woman was
arrested in Thane city
for allegedly extorting
Rs 50,000 from an
advocate with whom
she previously had a
relationship, police
said on Sunday. The
woman would threat-
en the lawyer that
she would file a rape
case against him and
demanded money for
not doing so, a Thane
Nagar police station
official said.”The
victim had reportedly
given Rs 4 lakh to the
woman and after their
relationship soured,
he was demanding the
amount back.
CBI ARRESTS 2 FOR SELLING CHILD
SEXUAL ABUSE MATERIAL
New Delhi: The Central
Bureau of Investigation
has arrested two persons
- Neeraj Kumar Yadav and
Kuljeet Singh Makan - in
a case related to alleged
sale/purchase of child
sexual abuse material
over Instagram and other
social media platforms,
officials said on Sunday.
The agency registered
a case under section 14
of POCSO Act, 2012 and
u/s 67-B of Information
Technology Act, 2000
on the allegations that
accused Neeraj Yadav, a
B.Tech, was advertising
over Instagram account
for sale of objectionable
material including child
pornographic material.
They have been remanded
to judicial custody till
January 22.
New Delhi: Union Min-
ister for Micro, Small
and Medium Enterpris-
es (MSMEs) Nitin Gad-
kari, lashed out at Ce-
ment factories and said
they are exploiting the
present situation real
estate market.
“Cement factories
are exploiting the situa-
tion. It’s not in national
interests. We are plan-
ning to implement in-
frastructure projects
worth Rs 111 lakh
crores in the next 5
years. If rates of steel
and cement continue
like this, it’ll be very
difficult for us,” said
Gadkari while interact-
ing with Builders’ As-
sociation of India,
Western Region via
video conferencing,”
the Minister said while
interacting with Build-
ers’ Association of In-
dia, Western Region via
video conferencing.
“There is a cartel in the
cement and steel indus-
try. Every steel compa-
ny has its own iron ore
mines and there has
been no increase in la-
bour and power costs
but they are increasing
rates. It is difficult for
me to understand (the
reason behind it),” Gad-
kari added.
The minister said
real estate is a sector
where the government
is facing maximum cru-
cial problems. Gadkari
said he will take the
suggestion to Finance
Ministry and PM Nar-
endra Modi. —ANI
New Delhi: The Chilla
and Gazipur Borders
(Delhi-Uttar Pradesh)
are closed for traffic
coming from Noida
and Ghaziabad to Delhi
because, in the wake of
ongoing farmer protests,
the Delhi Traffic Police
informed on Sunday,
asking people to take al-
ternate routes via Anand
Vihar, Delhi Noida Direct
Flyway, Bhopra and Loni
Borders. “Available Open
Borders to Haryana are
following- Jharoda (Only
Single Carriageway/
Road), Daurala, Kapash-
era, Badusarai, Rajokri
NH-8, Bijwasan/Bajgh-
era, Palam Vihar and
Dundahera Borders,” it
said on Twitter. —ANI
CHILLA, GAZIPUR, TIKRI, DHANSA BORDERS CLOSED: DTP
New Delhi: The In-
dian Youth Congress
on Saturday launched
a nationwide pro-
gram ‘Ek Muthi Mitti
Shaheedo Ke Naam’
to pay tribute to farm-
ers who died during
the agitation against
the three farm laws.
“Farmers through
non-violent and
democratic means
are agitating against
the 3 agricultural
laws in this scorching
cold. Tear gas shells
and water cannons
are being used on
them which shows
the dictatorial face
of the government,”
said President of In-
dian Youth Congress
(IYC) Srinivas BV in
New Delhi. Criticis-
ing the government,
Shriniwas said, “the
government has
become dumb, deaf,
and dictator.” —ANI
IYC LAUNCHES
PROGRAMME TO
PAY TRIBUTE TO
DEAD FARMERS
RAHUL GANDHI
@RahulGandhi
“There is still time, Modi
ji, support the Annadata,
leave the capitalists.”
Farmers shout slogans during their ongoing protest against three farm laws at Tikri border in Delhi.
There is a cartel in
cement, steel
industry: Gadkari
He will take the suggestion to FM & PM Modi, Nitin Gadkari said.
Jammu: Pakistani
troops violated cease-
fire by resorting to un-
provoked mortar shell-
ing & firing on forward
posts and villages in
different sectors along
the Line of Control and
the International Bor-
der (IB) in Rajouri,
Poonch and Kathua dis-
tricts of Jammu and
Kashmir, officials said.
However, there was no
immediate report of
any damage on the In-
dian side, they said.
At about 3 pm, Paki-
stan (Army) initiated
unprovoked ceasefire
violation by firing with
small arms & shelling
mortars along the LoC
in Nowshera sector of
Rajouri district. Indian
Army retaliates befit-
tingly, a defence spokes-
man said.
The officials said the
shelling between the
two sides was continu-
ing when last reports
were received.The offi-
cials said Pakistan
Army also resorted to
mortar shelling in Bala-
kote, Digwar & Kirni
sectors along the LoC in
Poonch district.—PTI
Pak violates
ceasefire in
diff sectors
along LoC, IB
New Delhi: The day af-
ter announcing that an
all-women cockpit crew
will operate the inaugu-
ral flight from San
Francisco to Bengalu-
ru, Union Civil Avia-
tion Minister Hardeep
Singh Puri on Sunday,
once again, hailed them
as they took off for
their destination.
“Way to go girls! Pro-
fessional, qualified &
confident, the all wom-
en cockpit crew takes
off from San Francisco
to Bengaluru on Air In-
dia flight to fly over
North Pole. Our Nari
Shakti achieves a his-
toric first,” the Minis-
ter tweeted. On Satur-
day, the Minister had
said in a tweet that the
Air India’s woman
power flies high around
the world and it was a
historic inaugural
flight between the two
cities.
“Air India’s woman
power flies high around
the world. All women
cockpit crew consist-
ing of Captain Zoya
Agarwal, Capt Papa-
gari Thanmai, Capt
Akanksha Sonawane,
and Capt Shivani Man-
has will operate the
historic inaugural
flight between Bengal-
uru and San Francis-
co,” he said.
Air India added, “And
Countdown begins!
Minutes away from take
off of our nonstop flight
frm San Francisco -
Bengaluru. Air India
set to script history as
all women cockpit crew
rolls out AI176 on its
record-making around
the world voyage, pos-
sibly charting the Polar
route from SFO to
BLR.” —ANI
Mumbai: The Maha-
rashtra government
has reduced the securi-
ty cover of Leader of
Opposition in the As-
sembly Devendra Fad-
navis and his family,
former UP governor
Ram Naik and MNS
president Raj Thacker-
ay, and withdrawn the
security cover of state
BJP chief Chandrakant
Patil.
State BJP spokesman
Keshav Upadhye
termed it as “vendetta
politics”, while former
chief minister Fad-
navis said this would
not impact his plans to
travel and meet people.
However, state Home
Minister Anil Desh-
mukh rejected the op-
position BJP’s charge
and said the security of
political leaders was re-
viewed as per the pre-
vailing threat percep-
tion. As per a govern-
ment notification is-
sued on January 8, Fad-
navis will now get ‘Y-
plus security with es-
cort’, instead of the ‘Z-
plus’ cover.
The security of his
wife Amruta Fadnavis
and daughter Divija has
been downgraded from
‘Y-plus with escort’ to
‘X’ category.
Former Uttar
Pradesh governor Ram
Naik will now get ‘Y’
cover instead of ‘Y-
plus’. MNS chief Raj
Thackeray’s security
cover has been down-
graded from ‘Z’ to ‘Y
plus with escort’. The
security covers of BJP
leader and former CM
Narayan Rane, state
BJP chief Chandrakant
Patil and senior party
leader Sudhir Mungan-
tiwar have been with-
drawn. Rane had ‘Y-
plus’ security. The ‘Z-
plus’ security compris-
es a bullet-proof car, a
police inspector, two
assistant police inspec-
tors, two police sub-in-
spectors, two escort ve-
hicles with six consta-
bles in each & 10 other
constables at any given
point of time. —PTI
Mahagovtreducessecurityof
ex-CMFadnavis,Thackeray
State BJP’s Keshav Upadhye termed it as ‘vendetta politics’
New Delhi: With over
50,000 Indian troops are
deployed in Eastern
Ladakh to fight against
China, the Defence Re-
search & Development
Organisation (DRDO)
has developed multiple
products such the Him-
Taapak heating devices
and snow melters to
help the soldiers fight
the enemy in form of
the extremely low tem-
peratures. The Him Ta-
pak space heating de-
vice (Bukhari) has been
developed for the Indi-
an Army deployed in
Eastern Ladakh,
Siachen & high altitude
areas & it has placed an
order of more than Rs
420 crores for these ap-
pliances, DRDO’s De-
fence Institute for Phys-
iology & Allied Sciences
Director Dr Rajeev Var-
shney said. “The device
will ensure that there
are no deaths of jawans
due to backblast & car-
bon monoxide poison-
ing. The Indian Army
has placed orders worth
Rs 420 crores to the
manufacturers of this
device.” he said. —ANI
CIVIL AVIATION MINISTER HAILS AIR INDIA’S ALL-WOMEN CREW
Way To Go Girls!, says Hardeep Singh Puri
AWAITING CUSTOMERS
A Kashmiri roadside vegetable seller waits for customers on the snow-covered banks of
Nageen Lake in Srinagar on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
DEPLOYMENT AGAINST CHINA
DRDO develops items
to help Army brave cold
Devendra Fadnavis
CHANGE IN SECURITY NORMS

New Delhi: Two flight
surgeons will soon fly to
Russia where they will
get hands-on experi-
ence in space medicine
from their Russian
counterparts for the Ga-
ganyaan mission, an
Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) of-
ficial said on Sunday.
The flight surgeons
are doctors from the In-
dian Air Force who have
specialised in aerospace
medicine. “The flight
surgeons will leave
soon. They will get
hands-on training with
flight surgeons in Rus-
sia,” the official said.
Training of astronauts
is a critical aspect of the
human space mission
project. Flight surgeons
are responsible for as-
tronauts’ health before,
during and after a flight.
The flight surgeons
willalsogettotrainwith
the prospective astro-
nauts, the official said.
INDIAAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021
New Delhi: Poor peo-
ple who do not have any
resources should be
given the COVID-19 vac-
cine first so that they
can continue on with
their lives, demanded
the Bahujan Samaj Par-
ty (BSP) on Sunday.
While speaking to
ANI, BSP national
spokesperson Sudhin-
dra Bhadoria said that
partysupremoMayawa-
ti had demanded that
poor people be given the
vaccine in the first
phase and for free.
"People were trou-
bled for a whole year
because of the COV-
ID-19 crisis, and many
people lost their lives.
Our party supremo
Mayawati Ji has de-
manded that poor peo-
ple, who are resource-
less, be given the vac-
cine in the first phase
free of cost. It should be
given so that people can
go on with their lives
independently," Bhado-
ria told ANI. He further
said that crores of Indi-
ans had put their hopes
on the COVID-19 vac-
cine it would be tested
by the people."All the
tests for the vaccine
should be completed.
Why shouldn't they be
completed? The depart-
ments of Health will
vaccinate people keep-
ing in mind all these
things," he said.
Speaking about the
farmer's protest, he
said that the govern-
ment cannot escape
from its responsibilities
and should fulfill its
promises to the people.
"Farmers have been
protesting at the bor-
ders for a month and a
half now at the borders
of the capital city in the
middle of the cold
weather.
Over 50 people have
lost their lives in the
cold. It is the govern-
ment's responsibility,
they cannot run from it.
They have made prom-
ises and they should ful-
fil them," he said. —ANI
BSP spokesperson Sudhindra said Mayawati had demanded that poor people be given vaccine in the first phase for free
Passengers undergo COVID-19 tests as they arrived from the UK, at Kempegowda International
Airport in Bengaluru on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
‘PoorshouldbegivenCovidvaccinefree’
CoWIN shall form foundation of
vaccine inoculation drive: Centre
New Delhi: The Centre
on Sunday said Co-
WIN, an online plat-
form for monitoring
COVID-19 vaccine de-
livery, shall form the
foundation for the anti-
coronavirus inocula-
tion drive which shall
be citizen-centric so
that the vaccine is
available anytime and
anywhere.
India will launch its
COVID-19 vaccination
drive from January 16
in what Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has
called the world's larg-
est inoculation pro-
gramme with priority
to be given to nearly
three crore healthcare
and frontline workers.
As part of prepara-
tions for the nation-
wide rollout of COV-
ID-19 vaccine, the
Health Ministry on
Sunday held a video
conference with offi-
cials from states and
Union Territories to
discuss feedback on the
Co-WIN software and
its operational use
gathered from the vac-
cination dry runs.
The meeting was
chaired by Ram Sewak
Sharma, the chairman
of Empowered Group
on Technology and
Data Management to
combat COVID-19 and
member of National
Expert Group on Vac-
cine Administration of
COVID-19.
Giving an overall
view of the CoWIN soft-
ware and the principles
that shall underpin the
technology backup for
the vaccination exer-
cise, he said robust, de-
pendable and agile
technology shall form
both the foundation
and the back-up for the
country's COVID-19
vaccination drive. —PTI
New Delhi: PM Naren-
dra Modi expressed his
condolences on Sunday
over a plane crash in In-
donesia and said India
stands with the country
in this hour of grief. In-
donesian divers on Sun-
day located parts of the
wreckage of a Boeing
737-500 at a depth of 23
metres in the Java Sea,
a day after the aircraft,
with 62 people on board,
crashed shortly after
takeoff from Jakarta.
"Deepest condolences to
the families of those
who lost their lives in
the unfortunate plane
crash in Indonesia. In-
dia stands with Indone-
sia in this hour of
grief," Modi said. —PTI
We stand with Indonesia: PM’s
message after plane crash
2flightsurgeonstoleaveforRussia
Purulia: Senior BJP
leader Suvendu Adhi-
kari on Sunday accused
the Mamata Banerjee
dispensation of appro-
priating central pro-
jects, and said only
three to four people in
the state government
call the shots, with the
rest functioning as rub-
ber stamps. Maintain-
ing that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has al-
ready said that three
crore health workers
and 27 crore people
above the age of 50
years will be adminis-
tered the vaccine for
free across the country,
Adhikari claimed that
CM Mamata Banerjee,
despite the announce-
ment, wrote to all COV-
ID warriors and stated
that her government
would not charge any-
thing for the inocula-
tion. Earlier in the day,
Banerjee clarified that
frontline workers
would be given priority
over others. —PTI
New Delhi: India could
soon be a part of the
United Nations (UN)
mandated internation-
al disaster rescue oper-
ations as its the coun-
try’s federal contingen-
cy force, NDRF, is ex-
pected to obtain a glob-
ally recognised stand-
ardisation later this
year, a top ranking offi-
cial has said.
The authorisation
will be done by the
Switzerland-headquar-
tered INSARAG (or the
International Search
and Rescue Advisory
Group) which is a net-
work of more than 90
countries and organisa-
tions under the UN um-
brella to deal with ur-
ban search and rescue
related issues.
“Just like we have
the Bureau of Indian
Standards in the coun-
try, the UN agency IN-
SARAG standardises
disaster response
teams across the world.
It is an international
gold standard,” NDRF
director general S N
Pradhan told in an in-
terview.
“We are very much in
thick of it and hopeful-
ly we will get the stand-
ardisation in 2021.”
TMC government
appropriating central
schemes: Adhikari
NDRF to get United
Nations recognition
Peak of...
at the Sydney Cricket
Ground on Sunday. Koh-
li, who is back in India
on paternity leave, took
to Twitter to call racial
abuse “absolutely unac-
ceptable”. “Racial abuse
is absolutely unaccepta-
ble. Having gone
through many incidents
of really pathetic things
said on the boundary
Iines, this is the abso-
lute peak of rowdy be-
haviour,” Kohli tweeted.
“It’s sad to see this hap-
pen on the field,” he
added.
Racism returns...
protocols—approxi-
mately 10,000—crowd
noise and chants were
clearly audible to the
players. After a difficult
Day 3 for India, Indian
players and officials
were in a huddle with
venue security officials,
discussing the issue.
The matter is now being
adjudicated by the ICC
and CCTV footage from
all cameras at the
ground around the
stand concerned will be
made available to match
referee David Boon.
On the 2018-19 tour
too Indian fielders were
subjected to chants of
“show us your visa” by
the Melbourne crowd
during the Boxing Day
Test. Subsequently,
those spectators were
evicted from the stands.
Centre scrambles...
“In Chhattisgarh, re-
ports of unusual mor-
tality of birds in poultry
and wild birds in Balod
district were reported
on Friday night and Sat-
urday morning. The
samples have been sent
to the labs concerned. In
Delhi, reports of unu-
sual mortality in ducks
were received from San-
jay lake and the samples
have been sent for test-
ing, it said.
Similarly in Maha-
rashtra, the samples of
dead crows from Mum-
bai, Thane, Dapoli,
Parbhani and Beed dis-
tricts have been sent to
Bhopal-based ICAR-Na-
tional Institute of High
Security Animal Dis-
eases (ICAR-NIHSAD),
it added.
“After confirmation
of Avian Influenza posi-
tive samples from ICAR-
NIHSAD in poultry (two
poultry farms) of
Panchkula district, Har-
yana, positive cases of
Avian Influenza in mi-
gratory birds were re-
ported in Shivpuri, Raj-
garh, Shajapur, Agar,
Vidisha district of Mad-
hya Pradesh, Zoological
Park, Kanpur, Uttar
Pradesh and Pratap-
garh and Dausa dis-
tricts of Rajasthan,” the
ministry said.
Haryana CM...
“I have received many
calls that it was not
right. These people have
defamed farmers. It can
not be the behaviour of
farmers. Gurnam Singh
Chadhuni’s video from
two days ago, where he
incited people, is re-
sponsible for today’s in-
cident. I believe that
Congress party and
Communists have a ma-
jor role in such inci-
dents. Through these
agitations, if they think
they can spread their
wings, they are highly
mistaken. I condemn to-
day’s incident. I am an
elected representative,
it is not right that we
protest against any-
body,” the Chief Minis-
ter said.
Khattar said protest-
ing against someone in
this manner was differ-
ent from expressing
one’s views. “We have a
strong democratic setup
in our country. We have
never stopped anybody
from expressing their
views. Even during Cov-
id-19, we have made ad-
equate arrangements
for their [protesters’]
safety and security. But
violation of Constitu-
tional provisions is not
right,” he said.
FROM PG 1
West Bengal govt to
offer free vaccination
The West Bengal
government is
making arrange-
ments to provide
free COVID vaccines
to all the people of
the state, CM Mama-
ta Banerjee has said.
In an open letter,
Banerjee said the
COVID warriors, in-
cluding police, home
guards, civil defence
volunteers, correc-
tional home and dis-
aster management
employees, will be
administered the
vaccine on a priori-
ty basis.
"I am happy to in-
form that our gov-
ernment is making
arrangements for
reaching the vac-
cine to all people of
the state free of any
charge," the chief
minister said in the
letter addressed to
the frontline work-
ers. —PTI
Bhandara: Many par-
ents whose newborn
babies were among
those dead in the
Bhandara hospital
fire have blamed the
staff there for derelic-
tion of duty.
Ten babies died af-
ter the fire broke out
on Saturday at the Spe-
cial Newborn Care
Unit of the four-sto-
reyed district hospital
in Maharashtra's
Bhandara district
town. Geeta and
Vishwanath Behere,
whose two month-old
daughter was among
the 10 newborn babies
who perished in the
blaze, blamed the hos-
pital authorities for
dereliction of duty.
They claimed that no
doctor or nurse was
present in the unit
when fire broke out.
They blamed the hos-
pital administration
for the tragedy and
sought action against
those responsible.
Parents of babies who died in
Maha Hosp fire blame staff
Bhandara: Maha-
rashtra Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackeray on
Sunday said orders
have been issued for
conducting safety
audit of all hospitals
in the state, after 10
newborn babies died
in a hospital fire. Mr
Thackeray flew in
from Mumbai in the
afternoon and met
parents of the babies
who died in the fire
on Saturday. He also
spoke to hospital and
health officials. The
CM told reporters that
“I have also issued
orders to check if
there have been any
incidents in the state
of ignoring safety
norms at hospitals
while combating the
coronavirus pandem-
ic,” he said. A team
has been formed to
go into the safety as-
pects of the incident,
he said. —PTI
THACKERAY ORDERS SAFETY AUDIT
Uddhav with the family of a child died in the fire at
Bhandara General Hospital on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
THE PURPOSE
CHINA CALLS FOR RETURN OF
PLA SOLDIER HELD BY INDIA
Beijing: China on
Saturday called for
the immediate return
of one of its soldiers
who “went astray” in
the China-India border
areas and was appre-
hended by the In-
dian Army. A Chinese
soldier was appre-
hended by the Indian
Army at the southern
bank of Pangong Tso
in eastern Ladakh
on Friday after he
transgressed across
the Indian side of the
Line of Actual Control
(LAC), Indian officials
said on Saturday. The
capture of the soldier
comes amid a mas-
sive deployment of
troops by the Indian
Army and the Chinese
People’s Liberation
Army (PLA) in eastern
Ladakh in view of the
tense border standoff
that erupted following
a clash between two
sides in the Pangong
lake area in early May.

SHOULD
PREGNANT
WOMEN
GET THE
NCOV
VACCINE?
WILLIAM PETRI
Professor of Medicine,
University of Virginia
This week I was vac-
cinated against COV-
ID-19 with the Pfizer
mRNA vaccine,
which brought to
mind some frequent-
ly asked questions
about the Pfizer and
Moderna vaccines.
I am a professor of
infectious diseases at
the University of Vir-
ginia, where I care
for patients with
COVID-19 and con-
duct research on how
best to prevent, diag-
nose and treat this
new infection. As I
interact with pa-
tients in the hospital,
some mothers and
expectant mothers
have asked whether
it is safe for them to
take the vaccine.
Here is what I have
said to them.
Can I get vaccinated if I am
pregnant or breastfeeding?
Yes, you can and
should get a COV-
ID-19 vaccine if you
are either pregnant
or breastfeeding.
An important rea-
son is that COVID-19
is more severe during
pregnancy. In a study
of 23,000 pregnant
women with sympto-
matic COVID-19, the
Centers for Disease
Control and Preven-
tion reported preg-
nant women were 3
and 2.9 times more
likely to end up in the
ICU or on mechanical
ventilation, respec-
tively. I find it reas-
suring, though, that
the absolute risk re-
mains low. Only about
one out of 100 preg-
nant women with
COVID-19 is admitted
to an ICU.
Vaccines are, in
general, safe and well-
tolerated during preg-
nancy.
Neither the Pfizer
nor Moderna COV-
ID-19 vaccine con-
tains the live SARS-
CoV-2 virus, so there
is no risk of the preg-
nant woman or her
fetus developing COV-
ID-19. These vaccines
are safe for another
reason. The mRNA
used in both vaccines
to stimulate a protec-
tive immune response
never enters the nu-
cleus of a cell. That
means it doesn’t in-
teract with the DNA
that encodes the hu-
man genome of the
mother or fetus.
The caveat is that
safety data is lacking
for the COVID-19 vac-
cines, because preg-
nant women were in-
tentionally excluded
in the phase 3 studies
of the Moderna and
Pfizer vaccines.
In the absence of
clinical trial data on
the Pfizer and Mod-
erna vaccines in preg-
nant and breastfeed-
ing women, but with
the expectation that
these vaccines should
be safe in these popu-
lations, both the CDC
and the American
College of Obstetri-
cians and Gynecolo-
gists have recom-
mended that vaccina-
tion be a personal de-
cision of women who
are pregnant.
For pregnant wom-
en who decide to be
vaccinated, any fever
associated with vac-
cination should be
treated with acetami-
nophen, since fever
has been associated
with adverse pregnan-
cy outcomes.
There is no concern
that the vaccines will
interfere with lacta-
tion and no reason not
to be vaccinated if
you are breastfeeding.
Will I be protected
from asymptomatic
infection?
Will new versions of
the SARS-CoV-2
virus succumb to the
vaccine?Initial data shows
60% protection from
asymptomatic infec-
tion after the first
dose of the Moderna
mRNA vaccine. It is
likely Pfizer will
also protect from
asymptomatic infec-
tion, but this has not
yet been shown.
This means that
your risk of getting
an asymptomatic in-
fection is reduced by
more than half after
the first dose of the
Moderna vaccine.
Subjects in the
phase 3 study had
nasal swabs taken at
the time of the sec-
ond dose of the vac-
cine. Of these, 14 of
the 15,000 volun-
teers in the vaccine
group and 38 of
15,000 subjects in
the placebo group
experienced SARS-
CoV-2 infection
without symptoms
– which is called
asymptomatic COV-
ID-19.
This is evidence
that asymptomatic
infections are being
prevented even after
only the first dose.
This is wonderful
news, as vaccine-in-
duced protection
from the asympto-
matic infection will
facilitate herd im-
munity and the end
of the pandemic.
Fortunately, all of the
versions of the SARS-
CoV-2 virus identified
to date are neutralized
by the COVID-19 vac-
cines.
The primary way
that these vaccines act
is by preventing the
spike protein on the ex-
terior of the novel cor-
onavirus from attach-
ingtotheACE2protein
on human cells.
The vaccines do this
by triggering the hu-
man immune system
to produce anti-spike
antibodies that attach
to the spike protein
whenever they en-
counter it and neutral-
ize the virus.
All 17 versions of
the virus tested so far
have been neutralized,
including the variant
that is most common
in the United States.
The new variant in
the United Kingdom
that is likely more eas-
ily spread person to
person is also unlikely
to evade the new vac-
cines, despite the pres-
ence of mutations in
the spike glycoprotein.
This is in part due to
the fact that there are
multiple sites on the
spike protein that anti-
bodies can target to
neutralize the virus.
This is being formally
tested now.
I am a physician, and I just got my ﬁrst shot of the Pﬁzer COVID-19 vaccine. —WILLIAM PETRI, CC BY-SA
SOURCE: THECONVERSATION.COM
Will it protect against asymptomatic COVID-19 infections and
mutated viruses? An immunologist answers 3 questions
TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021

There is a grain of sand and
then there is the beach – that’s
teamwork!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: When
other countries ‘land-
ed on the Moon and
searched for water’,
India targeted
‘search for water and
land on the Moon’,
and “we discovered
water on the Moon
for the first time in a
much lesser budget”.
These are the words
of the Moon Man of In-
dia, Dr Mylswamy An-
nadurai, who is the
Project Director of
Chandrayaan-I & II and
the Mangalyaan Mis-
sion.
As he spoke at the
Indian Institute of
Technology, Gandhi-
nagar, on Saturday
evening at the 11th
edition of ‘Amalthea’,
a unique student-
driven annual techni-
cal summit, all
watched in rapt at-
tention. This was the
fifth such webinar at
this edition.
Explaining the fu-
ture path of the Indian
Space Programme in
reference to satellite
manufacturing and ad-
vanced research, Dr
Annadurai said, “Indi-
an will play a meaning-
ful role for the interna-
tional space arena. In-
dia is showing the way
to the emerging coun-
tries that are coming in
the space.”
He also spoke about
current space assets of
India and how Indian
satellite system was be-
ing used for societal ap-
plications like agricul-
ture, water manage-
ment, communication,
navigation, meteorolo-
gy disaster manage-
ment, health and edu-
cation.
His talk was on the
theme, “Space to Earth:
Legacy of Challenges
and Opportunities”.
Tracing the history
of the Indian Space
Programme, starting
from experiments in
the 60’s and 70’s to
use of Indian satel-
lites for various pur-
poses like communi-
cation, weather fore-
casting, navigation,
and remote sensing,
to launching of many
successful missions
including Chan-
drayaan-I, Mars Or-
biter Mission, and
bulk satellite launch-
es in one go.
India’s Moon Man enthralls IIT-Gn students at ‘unique’ event
At a student-driven summit, Annadurai said, “We can do
wonders by converting India’s space excellency on land”
INDIA IN SPACE
Latest National Family Health Survey-5 shows much richer Gujarat lagging behind in health indicators
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: With the
BJP pulling out all
stops for the crucial
West Bengal elections
on the back of its de-
velopment claims, the
recently released sur-
vey of the National
Family Health Survey
(NFHS) has given a
fodder to Mamata Ba-
nerjee’s Trinamool
Congress to ridicule
the claims.
And what could be
better than the numbers
thrown up by the NFHS-
5, which show that the
BJP’s prized state of Gu-
jaratmaybefaraheadof
West Bengal in its eco-
nomic progress but the
State’s human develop-
ment indices cut a sorry
figure.
Gujarat’s per capita
net domestic product at
over Rs 1.74 lakh as on
2018-19 is nearly double
than that of the eastern
State, but it lags much
behindinitswomanand
child health indicators
(See graphics).
Between1994and1996,
Gujarat’s infant mortal-
ity rate was 63 per 1,000
birthsandWestBengal’s
was 58. This difference
of 5haswidenedtomore
than 9 in 2020. So, even if
Gujarat grew richer
than West Bengal in two
decades, Mamata didi’s
children grew healthier.
Economists have long
been ridiculing Guja-
rat’s claims of being a
“model” state of good
governance-induced de-
velopment,andthelatest
NFHS survey has only
re-confirmedthisreality.
Noted economist Jean
Dreze finds the State to
be more “a puzzle” than
a model of development.
Significantly, he
points out that there is
little in West Bengal to
sing home about but it,
ironically, looks better
in its social indicators
only because Gujarat
hasbeenprovingitself a
laggard.
Dreze feels Gujarat’s
lagging in health has
more to do with the larg-
er, social factors. “This
has possibly to do with
social as well as gender
equality. We know that
women’s empowerment
and child nutrition are
linked.”
A similar analysis
had been provided way
back in 2000 by Gujarat-
based economist Indira
Hirway. She had stated
in an article in the Eco-
nomic and Political
Weekly that Gujarat
lagged the country be-
cause of very little im-
provement in the health
status of mothers.
Jean Dreze also con-
nects this dichotomy to
the State Government’s
extra emphasis on the
private sector even in its
welfare responsibilities.
“Gujarat once had a ro-
bust PDS (Public Distri-
bution System) and
health services but they
have not been able to
sustain it due to the em-
phasis on things such as
public-private-partner-
ships,” he says.
Guj has moolah, but Bengal has healthier kids
Malnourishment is an area of concern for Gujarat; as can be seen from these children at tribal-
dominated Dahod district. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Love-smitten Vadodara
school couple found in VapiFirst India Bureau
Vadodara: Vadodara
Rural Police have fi-
nally traced from
Vapi in South Guja-
rat a school boy and
girl who had eloped
14 days ago to marry.
They could not and
the boy has landed
in police custody
facing charges un-
der Prevention of
Children from Sexu-
al Offence Act (POC-
SO), while the girl
has returned to her
parents.
Chhani Police In-
spector RS Dodiya told
reporters that though
both were minors, the
boy would have to face
criminal charges.
Bhadresh, a class
10 student, and Bha-
darvi of class 9
(names changed)
were friends till the
academic year 2020-
21 began. During the
lockdown and after,
they came close dur-
ing online classes,
according to the
First Information
Report lodged by
Bhadarvi’s mother.
After online studies,
both used to spend
long hours chatting
using a social media
site. Their intimacy
had become the talk of
the town and finally
the story reached their
parents. Both the sides
decided to ensure the
two didn’t communi-
cate and so took away
their mobile phones.
They were upset
over this and were
thinking of ways to
meet until one day
when they somehow
managed to meet and
decided to run away.
After looking for
them at all possible
places for almost a
week, the parents of
the girl lodged a
complaint with the
Savli police station.
But, police sources
said, it was not easy
even for the cops to
trace them till they
somehow found a
clue that took them
all the way to Vapi.
The boy’s question-
ing would reveal de-
tails about how they
landed up in Vapi and
how they managed.
Moon Man of India Dr M Annadurai with an IIT-Gn student at a student-driven webinar on Saturday.
COUNT-
DOWN
BEGINS!
Kite enthusiasts on
Sunday thronged the
Khadia kite market
in old Ahmedabad
for Uttarayan on
January 14.
—PHOTO BY
HANIF SINDHI
Honda Scooter puts off production at State unit
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Japa-
nese auto major Hon-
da’s Indian two-
wheeler arm could
take around 3 years to
start production on
the third line of its
Gujarat plant, with
the demand having
fallen during the Cov-
id-19 crisis.
Honda Motorcycle &
Scooter India (HMSI)
had started the con-
struction of a third line
to add 6 lakh units per
annum at the Gujarat
plant, having a total ca-
pacity of 12 lakh units
per annum.
“As for our new line
which we had made in
our fourth factory in
Gujarat, we call it our
third line. The con-
struction activity
went on schedule but
we have put off start-
ing production at that
line because the over-
all market has
shrunk,” a senior of-
ficial said.
“The existing capaci-
ty is good enough to
take care of the current
demand and for next
two years,” HMSI Direc-
tor, Sales & Marketing,
Yadvinder Singh Gule-
ria told PTI.
CHILDREN IN GUJARAT ARE MUCH MORE
MALNOURISHED THAN IN WEST BENGAL
GUJARAT REPORTS MUCH HIGHER CHILD
MORTALITY THAN WEST BENGAL
Children under
5 years who are
stunted
(height-for-age)
Children under
5 years who are
severely wasted
(weight-for-age)
Children under
5 years who
are wasted
(weight-for-
height)
Children under
5 years who are
underweight
(weight-for-age)
39
25.1
10.6
39.7
33.8
20.3
Gujarat W. Bangal
7.1
32.2
ALL FIGURES ARE PER 1,000 DEATHS
Source: National Family Health Survey-5
Neonatal
mortality rate
Under-five
mortality rate
Infant mortality
rate
21.8
15.5
31.2
22
37.6
25.4
COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
4,344
DEATHS
2,51,944
CONFIRMED CASES
RAJASTHAN
2,734 DEATHS 3,12,996 CASES
DELHI
10,678 DEATHS 6,30,200 CASES
WORLD
19,39,083
DEATHS
9,03,64,478
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
1,04,65,875
CONFIRMED CASES
1,51,178
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
50,061 DEATHS 19,69,114 CASES
UTTAR PRADESH
8,495 DEATHS 5,93,171 CASES
KARNATAKA
12,140 DEATHS 9,27,559 CASES

AHMEDABAD, MONDAY
JANUARY 11, 2021
09
THE REIGNING QUEENSKhushi Ajwani was crowned as Miss Rajasthan 2020 on Sunday evening, while Garima, Sushmita,
Arushi and Ruchi were the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Runner-up, respectively!
iss Rajasthan 2020
crowned the new queens
of Rajasthan on Sunday
evening at Birla Audito-
rium, Jaipur, where the
grandfinaleof theoldest
beauty pageant of Ra-
jasthan was held in a royal man-
ner. About 5000 girls auditioned
for the renowned pageant, out of
which the top 28 finalists were se-
lected.
After grooming and training
for one month, the grand finale
took place in which girls mesmer-
ized the audience with their out-
standing performances. Khushi
Ajwani was crowned as the win-
ner, while the first runner up was
Garima Wadhwa, the second run-
ner up was Sushmita Thukran,
the third runner up was Arushi
Singh and Ruchi Jha grabbed the
position of the fourth Runner up.
Jagdeesh Chandra, chief guest
of the event, along with Suresh
Mishra, HC Ganeshiya, Nirmala
Sewani and Nirmal Sarraf
among others lighted the lamp
for a beautiful start of the event.
The jury panel consisted of Apra
Kuchhal, Himmat
Singh, Nikhil
Anand, Mukesh
Mishra and Gun-
jan Singhal.
Show organ-
iser Yogesh
Mishra shared
that the 28 final-
ists showcased
the royal collection of the brand
Panghat by designer Nirmal Sar-
raf. The top 12 finalists launched
the lehenga collection in the sec-
ond round, and the 5 finalists
wore the beautiful gowns by
Panghat.
The makeup and hairstyle
were done by Deepali Chugh of
Sizzlin Scizzors.
Thecontestantsof MissRa-
jasthan 2020 were presented
the subtitles during the cere-
mony. Miss Talented- Priya
Malpani, Miss Personality-
Arushi Singh, Miss Confi-
dent- Neha Deol, Sparkling
Smile- Khushi Shrivastava,
Ramp walk- Sushmita
Thukran, photogenic-
Tanu Mukhiya, Eternal
Beauty- Khushi Ajwani,
Best Hair- Radhika
Ramdev, Eyeconic
Eyes- Simran Shar-
ma, Radiant Skin- Pri-
ya Yadav, Congeniality-
Ruchi Jha, Style Diva-
ShubhiDhaneta,Beau-
ty with a Brain- Nan-
dini Soni, Vivacious-
Chiranshi Mathur,
M u l t i m e d i a -
Prakriti Prakash,
Timeless Beauty-
Shreya Jain and
Body Beautiful-
Urvashi Singh.
MANSI BACHANI
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
M
Ruchi Jha, Sushmita Thukran, Khushi Ajwani, Garima Wadhwa and Arushi Singh —PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA
Jagdeesh Chandra lighting the lamp during the event,
alongside (from left) Mansi Bachani, Mittali Kaur, Suresh Mishra,
Yogesh Mishra, Nirmala Sewani, HC Ganeshiya and Nirmal Sarraf
Jagdeesh Chandra crowning the winner of Miss Rajasthan 2020 Khushi Ajwani,
with Miss Rajasthan 2019 Kanchan Khatana. Also seen here are (from left)
Nimisha Mishra, Suresh Mishra, Simran Sharma and Yogesh Mishra
Govind Pareek and Ruchi Jha
Miss Rajasthan 2019
Kanchan Khatana
and Yogesh Mishra
Shreya Jain
Miss Rajasthan 2020 Khushi Ajwani
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facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

new year symbol-
izes hope, change,
and desire. It is
the time when
resolutions are
made (and also
broken). The reso-
lutions are usually person-
al. Something along the
lines of weight loss goals,
giving up a habit one isn’t
proud of, or lifestyle chang-
es. Seldom do our new year
plans factor in the welfare
of the other. How about we
pledge to change that this
year?
Baby steps are the way
to ensure you don’t make
resolutions that will be
hard to follow.
So here’s one, to begin
with. Cliche or not, Say NO
to plastic that you can do
without!
It is an inconvenience to
carry your bags, but every
change is uncomfortable at
first. If you knew just why
environmentalists and
young activists, and now
many brands are echoing
the “say no to plastic bags”
campaign, you would en-
sure that your handbag or
bike and car trunk always
have a supply of reusable
shopping bags. Plastic
clogs and kills, not just the
environment (which I un-
derstand you ain’t con-
cerned with as it is such a
far fetched place) but also
your drains (and let me as-
sure you dealing with a
clogged sewer is no fun).
It is always my endeavor
to avoid references to any
religion, but it is relevant
and hence I must pursue it.
My fellow environmental
activists too must consider
the religious angle as it is
an important one. It is a
general practice for them
to throw around the term
“Gau mata” when refer-
ring to the problem of
cows dying due to plastic
consumption. They do this
without realizing that this
would only resonate with
Hindus. A campaign
should be either targeted
or inclusive. Why would
Muslims care about plastic
killing our holy cows when
it is not holy for them?
My Hindu readers
would benefit from know-
ing that by banning the
slaughter of cows but let-
ting them feed off garbage
they are making the holy
cow susceptible to another
un-natural death- that of
death by plas-
tic. And this is no less
cruel than factory farming
of the gentle bovines. So if
you are as passionate as
you claim to be about sav-
ing cows, STOP discarding
food and other biodegrad-
able waste in plastic bags
and together with glass,
metal, and non-biodegrad-
able waste. Free-roaming
cows end up swallowing
plastic in the process of
wanting to eat what is in-
side.
So if the “holy cow” card
is tendered to Hindus, does
this free Muslims and
those practicing other
faiths and systems from
this re-
sponsibility? Absolutely
Not! A drainage system,
rivers, and roads on the
other hand are faith-neu-
tral things. Every person
in the same city sources
their water from the same
river. So a contaminated
river will affect families of
every faith alike. Islam
“traditionally” upholds
hygiene and by “discard-
ing garbage on the roads
and in rivers” of which
plastic is a huge compo-
nent you are partaking in
a haram action. And harm-
ing the environment is
against the principles of
spirituality. Need I say
more on this?
If you are a religious
leader and are reading this
article, please fulfill your
moral obligation and moti-
vate people to do what is
right. Propagate that it
isn’t enough to pray 5 times
a day, or fast on certain oc-
casions or pour milk over
an idol or confess.
People also need to do what
is practical and right. Tell
them if they don’t already
know, that the earth is a gift
from the god/s they wor-
ship, and polluting it is one
of the greater sins. They
will listen to you. I have
read about people going to
war because of what their
priests have told them. So I
know your rhetoric holds
power.
I understand plastic is
convenient, and the alter-
native isn’t. When was the
last time something con-
venient was good for you?
I am not asking you to
clean up or be responsible
for even your neighbor’s
trash. I am asking you to
pledge responsibility for
your actions. You take care
of your trash, and your
neighbor will his. Plastic
pollution is not the doing
of one person alone. But if
we begin to be responsible
for our actions we can col-
lectively have an impact
that might prevent further
damage to our natural
world.
And it isn’t just about
the polythene bags. Plastic
is plastic and can cause the
same damage independent
of its form (something the
Pollution Department
needs to acknowledge). Let
me preach what I practice.
Carry your water bottles;
repurpose take-away box-
es; buy products from sus-
tainable brands; have a
spare bag for your on-the-
move trash; segregate gar-
bage at source (at your
homes); read up about how
your actions impact your
life; and organise commu-
nity cleaning drives and
build awareness.
Whether you choose to
see this resolution
through or not, is a matter
of will. There is enough
on the subject of plastic
pollution for you to claim
ignorance as a wild card.
Happy New Year.
10
ETCAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
ASHI KHANNA, Content Creator
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Be grateful for the life you
have. You need to stop
comparing your kids with
others and you should stop
controlling them. You may decide to
open a NGO for the people in urgent
need. You are very good at convincing
people and this will prove to be your
asset in long run.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
As an individual you are a
strong person and you
don’t really need anyone.
Your efforts in the
direction of your endeavours will pay
for you and you will get the success
that you desire very soon. You don’t
believe in wasting money and you
save wherever possible for you.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Let go of people who don’t
respect and love you
anymore, it’s useless to
carry the corpse of dead
relationships. Your chances to win a
lottery looks bright this week. Don’t
take too many responsibilities at
once just to impress your boss rather
concentrate on quality work.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
You are an insensitive
person sometimes and you
may have already lost some
precious relationships
because of that, change before it’s too
late. Right opportunity will strike at the
right time so have patience when it
come to your career. You are very
passionate about your hobby.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
You sometimes get easily
manipulated by others. Let
your conscious guide you
in life. You are very careful
with money and you make sure that
you stay miles away from dubious
schemes. On professional front, You
will work very hard today to meet the
deadlines.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Start eating healthy, it’s the
need of the hour. Take one
step at a time while claiming
the success ladder and don’t
get impatient. You love the company of
your friends and you will manage to
take some time out no matter what.
Your parents will be always there for
you to guide you in life.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
You are very sentimental
and you easily get too
close with people who
have just met , it’s time to
take a lesson. Some angel investor
will come in your life to take the
burden off your shoulders and when
that will happen, everything will be
just fine. Don’t disappoint your lover.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
It’s alright to feel sad after
betrayal but emerge even
stronger this time. You are
trying very hard to balance
your personal and work life and so
far you are doing a good job. You can
expect some gains from parents.
There is no problem that you cannot
resolve if you decide to act upon it.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Some relationships are not
worth keeping so break
free. You will do whatever
it take to help someone in
need even if that person is a total
stranger. Your good earnings will
make it possible for you to take your
parents on a trip abroad. Your life is
easy in terms of facilities.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You should not take rest
until you achieve your goal.
You are outspoken and you
love this trait of yours. You
will help someone today from falling
in some kind of trap. You are very
conscious about where you spend
your money. Think twice before
investing your time in business.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Today you will earn a good
percentage of commission
in some deal. You will be
ultra efficient at work today
and you will definitely get the
promotion. Keep having a balance
diet so that you keep getting strength
to exert. You are getting closer and
closer to becoming number one.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You should not care about
people who have stopped
respecting you instead just
throw them out without
any second thought. Your working
schedule will keep you on your toes
but you need to take care of your
health too. You will spend a lot of
time with your parents today.
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
Plastic is
UNHOLY
MARIAM ABUHAIDERI
thepersianladki@gmail.com
A

V
arun Dhawan and Natasha Da-
lal have been in a relationship
for a while now and fans are
eager to know when the duo is
planning to tie the knot. The Coolie
No. 1 actor has now spoken about the
same in an interview and stated that
heissurelyplanningaboutit.Dhawan
said, “Everyone is talking about this
(his marriage) for the last two years.
There is nothing concrete right now.
There is so much uncertainty in the
world right now, but if things settle
down, then maybe this year.” —Agency
R
anbir Kapoor and
Shraddha Ka-
poor have be-
gun work on
Luv Ranjan’s untitled
film. The actors were
spotted at Mumbai
airport on way to New
Delhi for the shoot on
Friday. This is the first
time they have been
paired together. The
film is said to be a ro-
mantic comedy; a
genre Ranjan is
known for.
—Agency
K
alki Koechlin celebrated her 36th
birthday on Sunday. Kalki Koech-
lin’s project choices and charac-
ter picks have always set her
apart in the Hindi film industry. The
actress is known for her offbeat films
andsomegreatrolesthatshehasenter-
tainedtheaudienceswith.FromDevD
to the ‘rock chick’ in Zindagi Na Mi-
legiDobara,Kalkihasgivenherfans
many reasons to cheer. Her perfor-
mancesinfilmslikeYehJawaani
Hai Deewani, Margarita With
aStrawandthemostrecent
Gully Boy has made her
stand out from her
contemporaries.
—Agency
ETCwww.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021
11
FUTURE
QUEEN
A
s she turned 39 years
old on Saturday, it be-
came apparent that the
Duchess of Cam-
bridge, Kate Middleton, who
was once merely a mild-man-
nered college graduate, is
ready for her role as the future
Queen. After almost a decade
of officially accepting her post,
Kate has more than proved her
worth as a senior royal while
deftly filling the void left by
Prince Harry and his wife
Meghan Markle’s swift depar-
ture. She has carved out her
space in the areas of early edu-
cation, child development and
mental health awareness, prov-
ing she’s ready to embrace the
role that awaits her in the fu-
ture.
—Agency
H
rithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone and director Siddharth
Anand put all rumours to rest as they announce their col-
laborationtogetheronHrithikRoshan’sbirthdayonSunday,
with the film, ‘Fighter’. Hrithik Roshan took to his social
media and introduced ‘Fighter’ with a motion poster and a sweet
note introducing Siddharth Anand’s production house ‘MARF-
LIX’ and Deepika Padukone. His caption read, “Presenting
aglimpseof theMARFLIXvisionas#Fighter!Looking
forward to my first flight alongside the exceptional
@deepikapadukone. All buckled up for this
#SiddharthAnand joyride.” —Agency
SHOOTING BEGINS!Varun Dhawan
getting married?
ans were left gutted when they found
out that their favourite ‘guilty pleas-
ure’ reality show Keeping Up With the
Kardashians was having its heart-
breaking swan song with Season 20,
scheduled to air this year. Kim Kar-
dashian took to her Instagram Stories
some time back to document what was the fa-
mous family’s last filming day of KUWTK.
Sharing a video with Erin, her audio tech mem-
ber for 14 years, Kim wrote, “Last filming day
of Keeping Up with The Kardashian’s EVER!”
As Kim can be heard saying “Don’t cry” to one
of the audio techs, the 40-year-old reality star
added how it’s her last miking ever. Kim also
gave fans a close up of her family members’
mikes including Kylie Jenner, Kris Jenner,
Kourtney Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian and
Kendall Jenner. —Agency
Last day ofLast day of
KUWTKKUWTK
S
o m e o n e
just tried
to break
into John-
ny Depp’s home! A
suspect connected
to the invasion has
already been ar-
rested. The tabloid
reported that ac-
cording to law en-
forcers, a lady
broke into Depp’s private Hollywood Hills
mansion over the weekend. While entering,
the female set off the mansion’s security sys-
tem and the police were called automatically.
While the lady fled the house immediately
before the cops arrived, police were thank-
fully able to catch her and even connected her
to another recent burglary. —Agency
O
urattention
has been on
Gigi Had-
id’s Insta-
gram activity late-
ly.Thesupermodel,
who welcomed her
daughter with
Zayn Malik last
year, has us tap-
ping on her Insta-
gram Stories for
numerous reasons. Just last week, she left
everyone talking when she shared videos of
reviewingagranolabar.ShethenleftZiGifans
grinning when she showed her support to
Zayn’s latest release Vibez. The model has yet
again left everyone talking when she posted a
picture of an adorable pink and white ensem-
ble gifted to her daughter. —Agency
P
rince Harry
a n d
M e g h a n
M a r k l e
have “no plans” to
returntosocialme-
dia almost a year
after Megxit, Page
Six has reported. A
source close to the
ex-royals told that
they’re “very un-
likely” to have an online presence, mostly due
tothe“hate”they’vereceived.AsperPageSix,
beforethecouplebrokeoff fromtheroyalfam-
ily, social media was a large part of their lives.
ThecoupleannouncedtheirMegxitplantothe
worldthroughanInstagrampostontheir‘Sus-
sexRoyal’profile.Thoughtheprofileisstillup,
itisnotactive.Theylastpostedagoodbyemes-
sageinMarch2020,saying“whileyoumaynot
see us here, the work continues.” —Agency
T
elevision actor Amit Sarin, who relo-
cated to Los Angeles a few years back,
has tested positive for Covid-19. Amit’s
wife Vineesha and their two children
have contracted the virus, too. Known for his
role in shows such as Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi
Bahu Thi, Nisha Aur Uske Cousin, Pavitra
Rishta, Amit enjoys a huge fan following in
India and different parts of the world.—Agency
A
ctress Esha
Deol re-
vealed on
Twitter on
Sunday that her
Instagram ac-
count has been
hacked. “This
morning my offi-
cial Instagram ac-
count ‘imeshade-
ol’ got hacked,
please don’t reply to any msg if you received
any from my Instagram account. Sorry for
the inconvenience”, the actress tweeted from
her verified account on Sunday. —Agency
INTRUDER ALERT!
OMA’S BIRTHDAY
NO MORE SOCIAL MEDIA?
TESTED POSITIVE
ACCOUNT HACKED
Happy Birthday
KALKIKOECHLIN
F
FINALLY, IT’S HAPPENING!
Kim Kardashian
Johny Depp
Gigi Hadid with her baby girl
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Amit Sarin with family
Esha Deol
Hrithik Roshan Deepika Padukone
Ranbir Kapoor
Shraddha Kapoor
Kalki Koechlin
Kate Middleton
Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal

CITY FIRST, GUJARAT
A
model presented
by the student of
Jawahar Navo-
dayaVidyalaya,
Ahmedabad at the
divisional level of
the 48th Jawaharlal
Nehru National Sci-
ence, Mathematics and
Environment Exhibi-
tion-2021heldatGondia,
Maharashtra on Friday,
was selected to be show-
cased at the national
exhibition. Students of
various Navodaya Vidy-
alayas (Maharashtra,
Gujarat and Diu-Da-
man) presented their
modelsattheexhibition.
The social science-
based model (historical
development) that has
been selected was pre-
sented by a student
named Mudrika under
the guidance of her
teacher BG Panda. “By
giving a commendable
presentation of this
model, Mudrika has
madeourschoolproud,”
saidschoolprincipalRK
Dixit. The chairman of
the school, Ahmedabad
collector SJ Sagale ex-
tended best wishes.
12AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
CITY BUZZ
SALUTE FIRST- AN EVENING TO REMEMBER
CITY FIRST PRESENTS A FEW MORE GLIMPSES OFTHE EVENT ‘SALUTE FIRST’BY FIRST INDIA, HELD AT HOTEL LAXMI
NIWAS IN BIKANER ON SATURDAY EVENING.THIS EVENTWAS ORGANISED SO ASTO HONOURTHE CORONAWARRIORS
ANDWAS ALSO A PART OF AN ONGOING SERIES OF ‘SALUTE FIRST’AWARDS ACROSS RAJASTHAN!
Sumit Godara MLA Lunkaransar.
MLA Girdhari Mahiya. MLA Nokha Bihari Vishnoi. The perfect ambience during the event.
Jagdeesh Chandra with DRM Sanjay Srivastav and MP Rahul
Kanswa during the lamp lighting. MLA Siddhi Kumari and SP Preeti Chandra with others.
Union Minister Arjun Meghwal, Minister Dr BD Kalla, Bhanwar Singh
Bhati, Dharmendra Rathore and Bikaji CMD Shivratan Agarwal. Dignitaries and guests during the event.
Ex MP and Senior Congress
Leader Rameshwar Dudi.IGP Prafulla Kumar. District Collector Namit Mehta.
Jagdeesh Chandra with (from left) Laxman Raghav, Syed Umar, Deepa Bafila,
Ramesh Kumar Agarwal and Dr Bittal Bissa.
First India News saluting Sudhish Sharma and team.
Poster LaunchCITY FIRST
poster launch cer-
emony of the up-
coming national-
level beauty pag-
eant Miss and Mrs
India Earth 2021,
organised by Big
vision private limited and
in association with Manoj
Agrawal production, was
held at Hotel Grand Safari
on Sunday.
During the event, celeb-
rity guests Golden man of
India Sunny Waghchoure
and Sanjay Gujar were pre-
sent along with the inter-
national model and ac-
tress Preeti Soni.
Show organiser
Manish Chaudhary
and show director Prem
Sharma shared that before
thegrandfinaleof thispag-
eant,posterlaunches,press
conferences, auditions,
look launches, celebrity
visits, among other activi-
ties will be organised in all
the metro cities of the
country.Inthefinale,along
with the trophy, certifi-
cate and other sur-
pluses,thewinnerwill
be given a cash prize
of Rs 2 lakh, first runner
up 1 lakh and second run-
ner up will be given a cash
prize of Rs 50,000.
A
J
aipur chapter of Young Indians
(Yi) which is known to be an
integral part of the Confedera-
tion of Indian Industry (CII),
announces its new office bearers who
will take the chapter’s activities to
new heights. During the meeting,
Arpit Patni, Vice President, Business
Development Planning, Prem Car-
go Movers Pvt. Ltd has been nomi-
nated as the Chair of Yi (Jaipur Chap-
ter) for the year 2020-21. Prateek Agar-
wal has been nominated as the Co-
Chair of Yi (Jaipur Chapter) for the
year 2020-21. —CITY FIRST
Appointed!
Under the auspices of BAPS Swaminarayan
Temple, ‘Sur Satsang-1’ was organised on
Saturday. During this event, B.A.P.S. scholar
and musician Yogiprem Swami sang inspiring
hymns composed by poets like Mirabai,
Tulsidas, Surdas, and Kabirdas.
WHAT’S HAPPENING!
GUJ: An awareness campaign to save the birds was
organised by Ritu Rathi, Darshan Jani, Tejaswi Koshiya,
Dhruv Sutaria and Tusshar Madhwani of Ek Soch
Foundation on Saturday. The campaign aimed to change
the mindset of citizens and save the maximum number of
birds at the same time.
—PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA
GUJ: A group artwork exhibition ‘Shades of Sense’ was
organised by Puravi Parmar,Alap Shah,Anil Majumdar,
Jigna Gudana, Jignesh Panchal, Manish Modi, Pulkit
Prajapati, and Shurshti Pattani at Hutheesing Center at
Gujarat University road in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
—PHOTOBYHANIFSINDHI
RAJ: One of the
oldest kite makers of
Jaipur, Gaffur Khan,
prepares special kites
of Indian politicians
with mask ahead
of Makar Sankranti
festival to spread the
awareness during the
time of Coronavirus
pandemic at his
residence in Ramganj
area in Jaipur on
Sunday.
SHINE ON
A
rank ceremony
was held on Sat-
urday at St. Xa-
vier’s Sr. Sec-
ondary School, Jaipur,
for NCC and Scouts and
Guides. It was presided
over by the Principal
Fr. M. Arockiam SJ,
II/O (Troop No. 1) Nikh-
il Jose and Retd. Flt.
Lt. AB Pathak.
Chief Guest of
the ceremony was
the social worker
and bird rights activist
Vipin Kumar Jain,
founder of the ‘Bird
Freedom Day’ and
‘Vani Sanyam’
Movement. He dis-
tributed a special Bird
Freedom Day calendar
to the awardees and dig-
nitaries.
Ranks were awarded
to various Cadet/Ser-
geants present on the
occasion. —CITY FIRST
RANK
CEREMONY
Manish Chaudhary, Sanjay Gurjar, Preeti Soni, Sunny Waghchoure, Prem Sharma and Shivam Sharma
Mudrika
Arpit Patni Prateek Agarwal
During the ceremony
Jagdeesh Chandra with astrologer and tarot card
reader Sonvi Nayyar and Samprati Singhvi from
Ekam Yoga Centre, at his residence on Sunday
evening, during a courtesy visit by the latter.
COURTESYVISIT!
—PHOTO BY NAIM KHAN

First india jaipur edition-11 january 2021

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First india jaipur edition-11 january 2021