The document summarizes campaigning efforts by various political parties in Delhi ahead of state assembly elections. It discusses campaign rallies and speeches by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and other BJP leaders where they criticized the AAP government and ongoing protests against the CAA/NRC. It also mentions that the AAP is expected to release its election manifesto and will intensify campaigning in the last few days before voting. Kerala has also declared the coronavirus as a "state calamity" after three people in the state tested positive for the virus.

1. AHMEDABAD l TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 70
SHAHBURNSTHE
nion Home
Minister Amit
Shah on Monday
held a road show
in favour of the BJP can-
didate in Paharganj. Apart
from the BJP candidate,
local leaders were also
present with Amit Shah.
Amit Shah appealed to
the people to vote in favor
of the BJP through a
roadshow. Earlier, Shah
went on a marathon of
public meetings that
went past midnight on
Saturday.
The last date for cam-
paigning in Delhi is
February 6. As the last
phase of the election
campaign is being
held, political par-
ties are organising
rallies to get vot-
ers in favour.
U
MIDNIGHT OIL
TOWOODELHIITES
Haresh Jhala
New Delhi: Chief
Minister Vijay Rupa-
ni on Monday alleged
that the AAP Govern-
ment in Delhi has
spent five years in
giving hollow prom-
ises, but if the BJP
comes into power it
will develop the na-
tional capital on the
Gujarat Model and
put it on fast-track
growth trajectory.
Rupani is on his sec-
ond round of campaign-
ing in Delhi that is going
to the polls on Saturday
and counting will take
place on February 11.
While addressing a
public rally in Ghode
Baba Mandir locality
under the Madipur
Assemblty constitu-
ency, the Chief Minis-
ter promised voters
that his party will
take up infrastruc-
ture development and
work on basic ameni-
ties that the Arvind
Kejriwal Government
failed to give in the
five years of its rule.
Mounting a scathing
attack on the AAP Gov-
ernment, he asserted
that it had failed to sup-
ply potable water to the
Delhites and that the
people should vote in
large numbers for the
BJP candidates to serve
the people better and ad-
dress their basic issues.
Rupani asserted,
“The Kejriwal Govern-
ment was more inter-
ested in appeasement
of minorities and pay-
ing Rs 40,000 salaries to
maulvis, whereas it
never bothered to give
salaries to temple pu-
jaris. People need to un-
derstand that such ap-
peasement is not at all
in the interest of the
society and the State.”
When the AAP gov-
ernment is busy in ap-
peasing minorities,
“Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi and Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah run government
is working in the na-
tional interest,” he
said. It scrapped Arti-
cle 370, it introduced
Citizens Amendment
Act and is bringing in
NCR and NPR to bring
equality, he added.
After AAP, Rupani’s
next target was the Con-
gress party. He alleged
that whatever is hap-
pening at the Shaheen
Bagh is an activity to
create a partition.
“They are more con-
cerned about the Bang-
ladeshis than Hindus
living on the footpath,”
the Chief Minister said
and appealed Turn on P5
If BJP comes to power, it will implement Guj model in Delhi: Rupani
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani campaigning in New Delhi on Monday.

2. TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
E
very year, the
Union for Inter-
national Can-
cer Control
(UICC) organizes the
World Cancer Day on
February 4 to raise
awareness in the global
community to put an
end to the injustice of
“preventable suffering”
from cancer.
This year, “I am and I
will” is the theme and it
acknowledges that eve-
ryonehasthecapacityto
act in the face of cancer.
In 2020, the celebra-
tion of World Cancer
Day will see its 20th an-
niversary, when the dis-
cussionsurroundingthe
disease is even more im-
portant.
On February 4, 2000,
World Cancer Day was
written into the Charter
of Paris Against Cancer.
The document was
signed in between then
French President
Jacques Chirac and UN-
ESCO General Director
at that time, Koichiro
Matsuura.
The UICC aims
at uniting and
supporting
the cancer
communityin
order to reduce
the global cancer
burden and promote
greaterequity.Theor-
ganization works to
ensure that cancer
control continues to
be priority in the
world health and devel-
opment agenda.
The membership or-
ganization also works
towards strengthening
cancer laws across the
world. The UICC in
2012founded McCabe
Centre for Law & Can-
cer, which is the first
and only centre of its
kind. The McCabe cen-
tre aims at advancing
law to fight cancer.
The UICC also posted
on its Twitter handle
that some of the most
important landmarks
across the globe would
“light up in orange and
blue” to commemorate
World Cancer Day.
Cancer is
the second
leading cause of
death globally.
The top cancers
that affect the
Indians are that of
lung, breast,
cervical and
colorectal. But
healthy changes
in lifestyle and
diet can help in
reducing the
overall risk of
cancer
Bollywood celebs and
their battle with cancer
Actor Sonali
Bendre was
diagnosed
with ‘high-
grade’ cancer
and she is
undergoing
treatment in
the US but
that never
stopped her
from shaping
up her digital
book club
SBC.
Actor Ayush-
mann Khurra-
na’s wife Tahira
Kashyap has
been lauded for
her spirit as she
kicked breast
cancer with
her positivity
and walked the
ramp at Lakme
Fashion Week
sporting a bald
look.
Irrfan Khan,
who was
diagnosed
with with
Neuroendo-
crine Tumor
last year, has
been battling
the disease
like a super-
hero.
Recently,
Hritik
Roshan in-
formed the
world that
his father
Rakesh
Roshan
was suffer-
ing from
throat
cancer.
A decade
ago, Lisa
Ray was
diagnosed
with multiple
Myeloma
cancer and
she defeated
the dreadful
‘C’ and was
declared
cancer-free
in a year
after which
there was
no stopping
her. She is
back with her
role in the
latest web
series, Four
More Shots
Please!
Manisha Koirala was
in Kathmandu when she
was detected with Ovarian
Cancer. She was in com-
plete disbelief and but then
she geared up for her fight.
Post her treatment, she is
back with a bang. Manisha
remains a true inspiration
to many cancer patients
as she delivers inspir-
ing speeches at different
platforms. She has also
released a memoir ‘Healed’.
Veteran actress, Nafisa Ali
Sodhi’s Instagram handle
is a ray of sunshine flooded
with effervescent pictures
of her family, friends and
gleeful moments. The Life
In a Metro actor is also
diagnosed with Peritoneal
and Ovarian Cancer and she
is all smiles even during her
chemotherapy.
Early implementation of resource-appropriate
strategies on prevention could go a long way in
keeping cancer at bay
Obesity is another big risk
factor for cancer around
the world. A review by
researchers from Italy’s Bari
Aldo Moro University found
that people with a Body
Mass Index (BMI) higher
than 40 have a higher risk
of cancer.
 Excess body fat increas-
es the risk of cancer
in three ways: Obesity
contributes to insulin re-
sistance which results in
cells being unable to take
up glucose and subse-
quently dividing faster.
 Obese people tend to
have higher levels of in-
flammatory cytokines in
the blood which causes
chronic inflammation,
leading to rapid cell
division.
 Fat cells increase estro-
gen levels, increasing
risk of breast and ovar-
ian cancer in women.
Thankfully, studies have
shown that weight loss in
obese people do help in
reducing cancer risk. Mak-
ing a healthy lifestyle choice
through regular exercise
could go a long way in
keeping cancer at bay and
reduces lot of problems too.
Smoking has been linked to
various types of cancer,
including cancer of the lung,
mouth, throat, larynx, and
pancreas. Also, chewing
tobacco has been linked to
cancer in a person’s oral
cavity and pancreas. So
the next time you think you
absolutely need a smoke,
think again. Even the National
Cancer Institue, US, says
that tobacco use is a leading
cause of cancer and of death
from cancer.
EXERCISE
NO TOBACCO
Aholistic
dietary
approach can go
a long way in helping
avoid cancer. Experts say that
eating an optimal diet may
reduce cancer risk by up to
70 percent and help recovery
from cancer as well.
An Iran-based study,
published in the American
Journal of Cancer Research,
found that certain foods
can fight cancer through a
process called anti-angio-
genesis, which blocks blood
vessels that
feed cancer
cells.
Scientists believe
that vegetables like broccoli,
cauliflower and cabbage con-
tain sulforaphane that helps
reduce tumor size, while
citrus fruits also help prevent
cancer.Higher intake of beans
and legumes may protect
against colorectal cancer.
Having nuts, olive oil,
spices such as turmeric have
been seen to have cancer-
fighting properties too.
FOLLOW HEALTHY DIET
Ultraviolet ra-
diation from the
sun is the number
one cause of skin
cancer. While the
sun’s rays may
make us feel
good, they
ultimately
lead skin
lesions
that are
cancer-
ous leading
to a decrease
in skin’s immune
function. Avoiding
midday sun, cover-
ing exposed areas
of the skin, using
sunscreen and
avoiding tanning
beds are some of
the ways to prevent
skin cancer.
PROTECTION FROM SUN
 According to the World Health
Organisation, one-third of
deaths from cancer are due to
the 5 leading behavioural and
dietary risks: high body mass
index, low fruit and vegetable
intake, lack of physical activity,
tobacco use, and alcohol use
 Tobacco use contributes to a
huge number of cancer deaths.
It is responsible for approxi-
mately 22% of cancer death
 Cancer is a result of abnormal
growth of cells, this growth
can be a contribution of both
external factors and inherited
genetic factors
 According to WHO one in
six deaths is due to cancer.
Approximately 70% of deaths
from cancer occur in low- and
middle-income countries.
Yes, we all love our
sugary treats and
savoury processed hot
dogs, bacon, and ham.
But medical experts
are of the opinion that
these might not be
beneficial in the long
run and may actually be
carcinogenic.
Studies have found
processed foods that
are high in sugar
and low in fiber and
nutrients are linked
to higher cancer risk,
while the International
Agency for Research
on Cancer in France
deems that processed
meat is a carcinogen - a
substance that causes
cancer.
AVOID SUGAR,
REFINED CARBS AND
PROCESSED MEAT
Important facts
about cancer
The UICC aims
order to reduce
the global cancer
burden and promote
greaterequity.Theor-
ganization works to
ensure that cancer
control continues to
Cancer is
the second
leading cause of
death globally.
‘I AM
AND
I WILL’

3. AHMEDABAD l TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 70
BIG GUNS RATTLE POLL BEDAnti-CAA protests in Jamia, Shaheen Bagh no
coincidence but an experiment: Modi in Delhi
New Delhi:The contro-
versy over BJP lead-
ers’ hate speeches
against anti-CAA pro-
testers yet to abate,
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi today tagged
the protests “anarchy”
and sought Delhi’s
mandate to stop it. Ac-
cusing Delhi’s ruling
Aam Aadmi Party and
the Congress of engi-
neering the protests,
he said the two parties
are playing politics of
appeasement. “Hiding
behind the constitu-
tion and the national
flag, they are giving
lectures,” he said at a
rally days before the
assembly elections.
Delhi has spearhead-
ed the protests against
the Citizenship Amend-
ment Act. Inspired by
the women’s protests at
Shaheen Bagh -- which
headlined across the
world -- woman in vari-
ous cities have hit the
streets.
The Prime Minister
today questioned if
these protests were a
“coincidence”.
“WhetheritisSeelam-
pur, Jamia or Shaheen
Bagh, there have been
multiple protests
against theCAA.Do you
think these protests are
a coincidence? It is not.
It is all an experiment
rooted in politics. If it
was simply about a law,
it would have ended,”
PM Modi said.
Pointing to the
Shaheen Bagh pro-
tests that had blocked
an arterial road for
weeks, PM Modi said,
“If their game plan is
not stopped, they will
block another road or
gully tomorrow. We
can’t let them spread
anarchy. Your vote
has the power to put a
stop to this”. Turn on P5
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing an election rally in east Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar with Delhi BJP President
Manoj Tiwari during a press conference in New Delhi.
Enough proof that
‘anarchist’ Kejriwal is
a terrorist: Javadekar
New Delhi: Union
ministerPrakashJa-
vadekar on Monday
saidDelhiChief Min-
ister Arvind Kejri-
wal had called him-
self an “anarchist”
andthereisnotmuch
of a “difference be-
tween an anarchist
and a terrorist”.
His remarks come
a few days after the
Election Commission
issued a show cause
notice to BJP MP
Parvesh Verma for al-
legedly calling Kejri-
wal a “terrorist”.
Turn on P5
AAP MANIFESTO
OUT TODAY
‘NO BATON-CHARGE
IN SHAHEEN BAGH’
The AAP is likely to
release its election
manifesto on Tuesday,
party leader Sanjay
Singh has said. In
the last three days of
election campaigning,
AAP will intensify its
campaign through 500
members of its frontal
organisations.
Delhi BJP chief Manoj
Tiwari on Monday
spoke over the Shaheen
Bagh sit-in and as-
serted that the option
of baton-charge to
remove the protestors
has been ruled out due
to presence of women
and children at the site
of agitation.
Kerala declares Corona‘state
calamity’ after 3 test positive
Nitish, Shah share dais, attack Kejriwal
New Delhi: It was the
first public rally
where home minister
Amit Shah and Bihar
chief minister leader
Nitish Kumar shared
the dais at an election
rally here on Sunday.
In Burari, both the
leaders showed no
hesitation in display-
ing their bonhomie
through their well-
crafted words.
Turn on P5
T h i r u v a n a n -
thapuram: The Kera-
la government has
declared the lethal
disease caused by the
Novel Coronavirus as
a “state calamity” af-
ter three people from
the southern state
tested positive for the
virus, which originat-
ed from China’s popu-
lated Wuhan.
“The announcement
is not meant to scare
people. It is to help take
proactive steps to inten-
sify the steps to contain
the spread of the vi-
rus,” state Health Min-
ister KK Shailaja said.
The coronavirus has
killed over 350 people in
China in the last four
days. All the three pa-
tients in Kerala are stu-
dentswhoreturnedfrom
China’s Wuhan city.
The coronavirus out-
break, which originated
in China and spread to
more than 20 countries
across the world in the
last few weeks, has been
declared a global health
emergency by the World
Health Organisation.
“Third positive case
of Novel Coronavirus
patient, has been re-
ported in Kerala.
Turn on P5
BJP’s internal bickerings push State unit reshuffle in a limbo
Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar: The
Bharatiya Janata
Party’s Gujarat unit
r e o r g a n i s a t i o n ,
which was due in De-
cember and the State
office-bearers along
with district in-
charge and observers
had also taken the
feedback of the local
units, is being contin-
uously postponed be-
cause of internal dis-
putes and the senior
leaders are finding it
difficult to balance
caste equations.
Party sources said
that 33 district units’
office-bearers and com-
mittees of major cities
were to be formalised in
the second week of De-
cember.
At primary level, a
consensus was taken on
the panels decided by
the observers. But later
pressure started mount-
ing on the party leaders
to drop some names and
add few others on the
pretext of balancing
caste equations and loy-
alty.
The other major is-
sue that the party is
grappling with is
about leaders and
party workers “im-
ported” from other
parties and imposed
on the original work-
ers. Now the original
party workers and
leaders are exerting
pressure on the sen-
ior leaders not to give
any plum posts to out-
siders, who have
joined the party in
recent years, sources
said.
Though the party
claims that there is no
groupism, sources re-
vealed that earlier there
were two major groups,
one owing allegiance to
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah and the oth-
er of former chief min-
ister and Uttar Pradesh
Governor Anandiben
Patel.
But now from these
two splinter groups,
one more faction has
emerged that claims
loyalties to Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi and this group
wants that Shah and
Patel lobbies should
stop internal bicker-
ings and work togeth-
er in the interest of
the party.
Another challenge
before the party is to ac-
tivate various cells. At
present, only the BJP
Yuva Morcha and wom-
en’s cell are visible,
while other cells like
Scheduled Caste, Sched-
uled Tribes, OBC and
Minorities are almost
in a dormant state.
So the party also
needs to bring in a
major reshuffle in
these cells to activate
them much before the
elections to the dis-
trict panchayats and
municipal corpora-
tions in December.
In the handout photo provided by Indo-Tibetan Border Police,
Indian nationals airlifted from coronavirus-hit Hubei province of
Chinas Wuhan play carrom inside a quarantine facility in Delhi.
Goli maarna bandh karo: Oppn
shouts as Thakur speaks in Parl
New Delhi: Minister
of State for Finance,
Anurag Thakur on
Monday faced flak in
Parliament for his act
of egging a crowd to
chant the controver-
sial ‘goli maaron...’
slogan following three
incidents of shooting
at anti-CAA protest-
ers in the past four
days in Delhi.
As he started speak-
ing in Lok Sabha, the
Opposition MPs con-
tinuously shouted
slogans saying “Goli
maarna bandh karo
(Stop firing bullets)”.
The House was ad-
journed soon amid
the ruckus.
Last week at a Delhi
rally, Thakur led the slo-
gan “Desh ke gaddaron
ko...goli maaro s**lon
ko (shoot the nation’s
traitors).” He was later
temporarily banned
from campaigning for
the Delhi Assembly
elections. The chant,
which have been re-
portedly used at vari-
ous instances to con-
demn anti-CAA pro-
testers, Turn on P5
Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur gestures as he
arrives to attend Budget session on Monday.
Home Minister Amit Shah with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar at an
election rally at Burari in New Delhi on Sunday.
I was hearing
to lot of people
speaking here.
Nothing has happened
in Delhi in the last 5 yrs
—Nitish Kumar,
Bihar Chief Minister
If their
game plan
is not
stopped, they will
block another road
or gully tomorrow.
We can’t let them
spread anarchy.
Your vote has the
power to put a stop
to this
—Narendra Modi,
Prime Minister
Common people of
India are
protesting to save
the constitution,
they are protesting
while holding the
constitution and
singing the
national anthem
but they are being
fired at. People of
India are being
killed mercilessly
—Adhir Ranjan
Chowdhury,
LoP and Congress MP
CRUCIAL READ
PETITION IN SC
SEEKING BLANKET
BAN ON PROTESTS
petition was filed
before the Supreme
Court on Monday
seeking its direction to
the Centre for laying
down comprehensive
guidelines relating to total
restriction on holding
protests in a public place
where it may lead to
obstruction of the public
movement. The petition,
filed by one Nand Kishore
Garg, sought a direction
to respondents, including
Union of India (UOI), and
laying down “detailed,
comprehensive and
exhaustive guidelines”
relating to complete
restrictions for holding
protest and agitation
leading to obstruction of
public places.
A
‘BJP wasting
Rs 700 cr on
Trump visit’
First India News
Surat: Former CM and
senior NCP leader
Shankersinh Vaghela
slammed the BJP gov-
ernment and said that
the govt was making
false and wrong ex-
penses by spending
nearly Rs 700 crore
for upcoming visit of
US President Donald
Trump.
While taking a look at
Trump’s tour, Vaghela
said that Trump is com-
ing to Gujarat for seek-
ing vote for Indians and
Gujarati people living
in the US. Turn on P5

4. GUJARATAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020
04www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
BUGGED? Or is it the
grapevine... . First India
begins a column that
brings to you gossips or
tete-e-tete from the
corridors of power
GUP
SHUP
SHEILA DIKSHIT,
BJP’S OWN
The BJP has mastered the art
of election campaigns. Some
even say they how to take credit
for work they never did, and
that they have hijacked Indian
National Congress leaders such
as Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel. We will not
comment on that either way, but
during one of the door-to-door
campaigns, people overheard
BJP workers members putting
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal down. “He has done
nothing in the last five years,”
they said, “Look at what our
Sheila Dikshit contributed
to Delhi during her 15-year
tenure!”
EVERYONE HAS AN OPINION
The Secretariat is rife with speculation over the future of Chief Minister
Vijay Rupani’s future, with bureaucrats split into two camps. Those who
say that he is firmly in the saddle believe he won’t be moved at least until
December in view of the civic-body elections, since the BJP leadership may
not want to precipitate a crisis. The other side claims the elections are the
perfect reason for a change of guard. Interestingly, many in this camp have
apparently failed in their attempts to get close to the CM.
SINGLE-WINDOW SYSTEM?
The Rajkot district collectorate, recently under fire for allegedly
bribing journalists, has now ensured that information flows only
through one authority. Despite it being a Sunday, Collector Remya
Mohan—who normally never answers calls from journalists—called
a hurried press conference to clarify the matter. All the officers
instrumental in handing over the cheques to the journalists were asked
to stay out of the press conference. Interestingly, the CM’s office
is believed to have called the information department, who in turn
called a senior journalist, to find out if Mohan had spoken to the press
beforehand, and what she may have said!
First India News
Surat: The New Civil
Hospital (NCH) in Su-
rat has come under fire
after two patients died
due to negligent care on
Saturday. Nilesh Naik,
27, met with an acci-
dent on Saturday and
suffered a serious head
injury and a broken leg.
He was rushed to NCH,
where he was given pri-
mary treatment and
shifted to a ward. How-
ever, he was later found
dead on a nearby road,
with his leg in a plaster
cast and intravenous
needles still in his
hand, by a passer-by.
In another case,
39-year-old Rekha
Vankhede was taken to
NCH after she fainted
in her home. However,
doctors declared that
no ventilator was avail-
able, and provided
breathing assistance
using an ambu bag. She
died before she could
get to a ventilator, de-
spite multiple pleas by
her relatives.
Chetan Nayak, Resi-
dent Medical Officer
(RMO), New Civil Hos-
pital, said, “I am in
Gandhinagar and have
not assessed the situa-
tion personally. How-
ever, I have spoken to
the concerned HOD. I
have no information
about the man found on
the road but, the wom-
an could not be provid-
ed with a ventilator be-
cause other patients
who were already on
ventilators were all se-
rious, too. What else
could we do in this situ-
ation?”
Local police are in-
vestigating the matter.
First India News
Ahmedabad: The
health department of
the Ahmedabad Munic-
ipal Corporation on
Monday sealed a clinic
run by Shivprasad
Sharma for practising
allopathy without the
necessary qualifica-
tions. Named Rogo ka
Dushman, the clinic
has been in operation in
Lambha for the past
decade. Sharma has a
certificate in homoeop-
athy from Bihar, but
was practising allopath-
ic medicine and that too
without registering his
clinic with the Gujarat
Medical Council.
The Gujarat Medical
Council had rejected
his registration in 2011
because he had a cer-
tificate in Unani and
Ayurveda from some
institute of Bihar. The
doctor had some surgi-
cal tools also in his clin-
ic. The health depart-
ment has asked the
Isanpur police to file a
complaint against him.
First India News
Surat: The Southern
Gujarat Chamber of
Commerce and Indus-
try (SGCCI) has urged
businessmen and those
involved in export and
import to take maxi-
mum advantage of the
recently launched air
cargo services at Surat
airport. The security
and surveillance facili-
ty is also being seen as
a boon to businessmen.
SGCCI president Ket-
an Desai said, “Air cargo
facilities been launched
at the Surat Airport
since January 29. Since
logistics is very crucial
for the expansion of any
business, businessmen
should take maximum
advantage of such a fa-
cility. Air cargo is a boon
for businessmen as it
saves time, which is a
major factor when busi-
ness and trade are
booming,” adding, “Ear-
lier, we were dependent
on other cities for air
cargo services, now we
have our own. SGCCI
has started a helpline
number for providing
information about the
service. People interest-
ed can call 0261-2291112
for more information.”
This service can deliver
around 50,000 metric
tonnes of cargo annual-
ly, he added.
Talati seeks ‘small’ bribe
for developmental projects
First India News
Palanpur: A video of a
talati asking for a bribe
has gone viral on social
media. The video shows
the talati of Bhatvar
village in Vav taluka of
Banaskantha district
stating that a bribe of
7-8% of the project cost
is the ‘standard norm’
for allotting develop-
mental work contracts.
The state plans to in-
vestigate the allega-
tions made and based
on that report, take ac-
tion.
When a contractor
approached the talati
Satish Darji seeking
work, he was told, “I
only asked for 5% of
the total cost of the pro-
ject. The standard
norm is 7-8%. I am not
greedy and will make
do with whatever I get.
Rest assured that your
work will be done.”
In the video, the con-
tractor is seen handing
over Rs7,500 to the ta-
lati.
“This is not an iso-
lated case,” says Vav
Taluka Panchayat
President Kanuji Tha-
kor. He added, “I have
raised concerns over
such issues of irregu-
larities in the past but,
no action has been tak-
en against people en-
gaging in such corrupt
practices.”
While speaking to
the media, Revenue
Minister Kaushik Patel
said, “The moment we
came to know about the
viral video, the District
Collector asked us to
collect all information
regarding the matter
and submit a report.
The state government
will take appropriate
action based on the Col-
lector’s final report.”
Meenaben Ghadia,
President of Banaskan-
tha District Panchayat,
also said that the mat-
ter will be taken up be-
fore the District Devel-
opment Officer and it
will be demanded that
strict action be taken
against those responsi-
ble.
THE BIG DEAL
Negligence at New Civil
Hospital causes two deaths
AMC seals a
bogus clinic
SGCCI
launches
helpline for
industrialists
City’s firemen
battle ‘state
of undress’
GU to host
job fair on
Feb 6-7
Firmmakessmallestreplicaofworld’stalleststatue
Relief for MoS as HC stays
proceedings in trial court
Child drowns in bucket
while playing in Surat
First India News
Ahmedabad: There
are 300 people who
risk their lives every
as part of the fire and
emergency services
department of the
Ahmedabad Munici-
pal Corporation. Un-
fortunately, the de-
partment does not
have enough uni-
forms for these men,
accordingtothecity’s
Chief Fire Officer.
“Some of the fire-
men were given uni-
forms back in 2013
but, since then, no
uniforms have been
issued,” Chief Fire
Officer Mehernosh
Dastoor, told First In-
dia. He added, “The
civic body purchased
3,900m of fabric in
2013,butabout1,245m
of that is still un-
used.” Former coun-
cillor and Jamalpur-
Khadia MLA Imran
Khedawala says he
had allocated a por-
tion of his council-
lor’s budget back in
2013 for the purchase
of fabricforuniforms
for the fire depart-
ment. While the fab-
ric was bought, it is
yet to be put to use.
the firemen remain
without uniforms.
“Backin2013,Rs2.5
lakh was allotted for
uniformsforfiremen.
Now, I hear that the
material is still in the
central storage of the
civic body and the
firemen still have not
received their uni-
forms,” he said.
The city’s fire de-
partment has made
several representa-
tionstothecivic-body
authoritiesregarding
uniforms, shoes and
other gear.
First India News
Ahmedabad: The state
education department
has organized a job
placement fair at Guja-
rat University on Feb-
ruary 6-7, in which 62
participating compa-
nies across 10 sectors
are expected to offer as
many as 5,800 jobs. This
mega job fair is organ-
ized for the final year
students of affiliated
BA, BCom, BSc, BCA
colleges. So far 4,901
students have regis-
tered. The nodal officer
said that students who
have come to the job fair
and will be able to par-
ticipate in the job fair.
First India News
Surat: City-based ST-
PL3D has created the
worlds smallest 3D
printed replica of the
Statue of Unity, which
measures just 13mm in
height. The actual stat-
ue on the bank of the
Sardar Sarovar dam in
Kevadiya near Va-
dodara is 182m tall. The
India Book of Records
and World Records In-
dia have validated the
company’s claim of
making the smallest 3D
printed statue.
Everyone knows that
the Statue of Unity is
now the world’s tallest
statue. However, not
everyone has stood
next to it, dwarfed even
by the feet of Sardar
Vallabh Bhai Patel.
STPL3D came up
with the idea to create
the smallest replica of
the Statue of Unity in
an effort to pay tribute
to the Iron Man of In-
dia.
The company claims
to be the first to suc-
cessfully print a small-
scale miniature sculp-
ture using the stereo-
lithography (SLA) tech-
nique of 3D printing.
First, a detailed 3D
model of the statue
was created from digi-
tally downloaded pho-
tographs in 3D sculpt-
ing software and then
printed with the SLA
technique to get a final
smooth finish without
any post-processing
requirement. In the
SLA technique, the
layers of the liquid
polymer resin are
chemically bonded
with each other and
selectively cured using
an ultraviolet (UV) la-
ser beam.
First India News
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat High Court (HC)
on Monday gave relief
to Minister of State
(MoS) for Home Minis-
ter Pradipsinh Jadeja,
who has been accused
of violating the code of
conduct during the As-
sembly Elections of
2007, by issuing a stay
order in the trial court
against ongoing pro-
ceedings.
The Gujarat High
Court has granted the
stay on the petition of
Pradipsinh Jadeja,
who challenged the or-
der issued by the Met-
ropolitan Court on De-
cember 30, in regards
to the complaint filed
against him for breach
of the code of conduct.
In his petition filed
with the High Court on
January 8, Jadeja de-
manded that the com-
plaint against him be
quashed.
Monday’s stay order
is in response to this
petition.
The case against
Jadeja is based on alle-
gations that, in 2007,
the then-candidate
from Asarawa constit-
uency distributed a
leaflet with photos of
then Chief Minister
Narendra Modi during
Navratri Garba. A
written complaint was
made by Pankaj Shah
of the city Congress
committee to the elec-
tion officer, saying
Jadeja had continued
to distribute these
propaganda pamphlets
even though the elec-
tion was already un-
derway.
First India News
Surat: A one and a half-
year-old child died on
Sunday after drowning
in a bucket on Monday
in the Pandesara area
of Surat. The child was
playing near a bucket in
her house when the in-
cident took place. Her
father, Ankit Mishra
who is a driver by pro-
fession, lives in Bhavan-
inagar society of Bam-
roli road. His daughter
was playing near a
bucket full of water on
Sunday afternoon.
While the child was
taken to the hospital for
treatment as soon as
her parents discovered
the accident, the civil
hospital doctor de-
clared her dead.
According to the re-
ports, she fell into the
bucket while playing.
Since she was a quiet
child, her parents did
not notice the incident
immediately. Neigh-
bours have accused the
girl’s parents of being
negligent.
City firemen in the field. —FILE PHOTO
Some of
the fire-
men
were given uni-
forms back in
2013 but, since
then, no uni-
forms have been
issued.
—Mehernosh Dastoor,
Chief Fire Officer
Revenue Minister calls for report from the collector after video goes viral on social media

5. GUJARATAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020
05www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
If BJP...
the people that time
has come to decide
“whether you want a
nationalistic party to
serve you or you want
those who want anoth-
er partition.”
He said the Central
Government has im-
plemented schemes
like Ayushman and Ma
Vatsalya cards to give
health and medical ser-
vices to the deprived
and people. The gov-
ernment has allocated
Rs 12,000 crore for the
implementation of
these schemes in Guja-
rat and it will benefit
some eight lakh fami-
lies.
Anti-CAA...
The Prime Minister’s
comments come days
after a string of hate
speeches from his
ministers and party
leaders. Last Mon-
day, Union Minister
Anurag Thakur was
caught on camera at
a rally in northwest
Delhi, egging on a
crowd to chant a slo-
gan that calls for
gunning down “trai-
tors”.
Nitish, Shah...
Nitish’s equation with
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi is well
known. BJP and JDU
leaders in Bihar be-
lieve that any decision
regarding the two par-
ties is taken after a dis-
cussion between Modi
and Kumar.
Recently, Shah has
become the public face
of the PM-Bihar CM
friendship. When a
number of BJP leaders
started questioning the
leadership of Kumar
after the Lok Sabha
elections, it was Shah
who clarified twice in
public that Kumar is
the leader of the NDA
in Bihar and it will go
for the 2020 assembly
elections under his
leadership. Nitish had
also reciprocated the
gesture by removing
Prashant Kishor and
Pawan Verma from the
party for their anti-BJP
stand.
Enough proof...
Addressing a press
conference here, Ja-
vadekar raked up the
issue of Kejriwal “stay-
ing a night at the Moga
residence of Khalistan
Commando Force
chief Gurinder Singh
during the Punjab As-
sembly polls”.
“You knew it was a
militant’s house. Still,
you stayed there. How
much more evidence
do you need?” he said.
“Kejriwal is now
asking with a sad face,
‘am I a terrorist?’ You
are a terrorist and
there is a lot of evi-
dence to prove that.
You yourself had said
you are an anarchist.
There is not much of a
difference between an
anarchist and a terror-
ist,” the senior BJP
leader said.
Goli maarna...
are being seen as fuel
for a spate of firing
incidents near Del-
hi’s Shaheen Bagh
and Jamia Millia Is-
lamia. Month-long
d e m o n s t r a t i o n s
against the amended
citizenship law are
being held in these
two places along with
a dozen others.
One of the shooters,
allegedly a juvenile,
was taken into custody
by police after opening
fire on protesters near
Jamia Millia Islamia.
He had posted pro-Hin-
dutva slogans on Face-
book. Another shooter
declared on camera --
when the police was
detaining him -- that no
one but Hindus would
have their say in India.
The incidents also
follow the BJP’s shift
of the focus of Delhi
poll campaign on the
anti-CAA protesters
and Home Minister
Amit Shah going to the
extend of urging voters
to press the EVM but-
ton so heard that the
current is felt in Sha-
heen Bagh. Controver-
sial comments compar-
ing the protest sites to
Pakistan have also
been made by Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath,
among others, during
his recent Delhi rallies.
Opposition members
also staged a walkout
in Lok Sabha as BJP
MP from Delhi Parvesh
Verma rose to speak
during a discussion on
motion of thanks on
the President’s ad-
dress.
Kerala declares...
The patient has a travel
history from Wuhan in
China. The patient has
tested positive for Nov-
el Coronavirus and is
in isolation in the hos-
pital. The patient is sta-
ble and is being closely
monitored,” the Health
Ministry said.
‘BJP wasting...
About Rs 700 crore is
going to be spent by
BJP that is not of use at
all. Even when PM
Modi went to US, such
an expense was in-
curred for him. Vaghe-
la further said that the
government is spend-
ing so much, but the
visa policy for Indians
going to America will
not be changed. He add-
ed that this money
could have been spent
on building hospitals
and schools.
FROM JACKET AND PG 1
CUSTOMS SEIZE 70 KG GOLDThe kingpin in gold smuggling case was arrested with 14 others and charged under COFEPOSA
First India News
Ahmedabad: The Cus-
toms Department
seized 70 kilograms
gold from Ahmedabad
International airport in
the first ten months of
current financial year,
while it has decided to
install new X-Ray ma-
chines at the airport for
better vigilance of pas-
sengers.
Ahmedabad Customs
Principal Commission-
er Kumar Santosh told
reporters here on Mon-
day that, “Since the pas-
senger profiling exer-
cise is put in use the
seizure ratio has in-
creased at the airport.”
In July last, the de-
partment had seized
some 24 kilogram of
gold and during the in-
vestigation it was found
that a smuggling racket
had been going on for a
long time and some
4,000 kilogram gold was
smuggled into India.
“In this connection,
the Customs have suc-
cessfully arrested the
kingpin in the case
along with 14 others and
all of them have been
booked under the Con-
servation of Foreign Ex-
change and Prevention
of Smuggling Activities
Act (COFEPOSA) and
showcause notices too
have been issued to oth-
er 15 persons.”
The Principal Com-
missioner refused to
divulge names of those
issued notices as it
could hamper investi-
gations.
He said in all the sei-
zures, the carriers were
Indian passengers and
had boarded flights ei-
ther from Middle East
airports like Dubai,
Sharjah, Oman, Kuwait
and Bangkok.
With the increase in
the number of seizures,
the department feels
the need to replace X-
Ray machines with the
latest equipment. The
department has also re-
questedtheAhmedabad
airport authority to in-
stall at least 30 to 40
more CCTV cameras in
the customs area at the
airport.
After gold smuggling,
the recent trend is of
smuggling endangered
wild species like mar-
mosets, red-handed
tamarinds, squirrels
and iguana. He said af-
ter one such seizure at
Chennai airport, the
Ahmedabad customs
have increased vigil at
the airport.
Gujarat second
highest in manual
scavenging deaths
Cong walks out, BJP passes village
merger with majority in GMC
First India News
Gandhinagar: The
Gandhinagar Munici-
pal Corporation (GMC)
witnessed a heated ar-
gument when the reso-
lution on merging 19
villages under the civic
body’s jurisdiction was
put to a vote on Mon-
day. After opposing the
resolution on the
grounds that the mu-
nicipal corporation
has failed to serve vil-
lages already under its
purview, members of
the Congress party
staged a walk out rath-
er than vote on the is-
sue. This gave safe pas-
sage to the ruling party
to pass the resolution
with majority votes.
Of the 32 GMC coun-
cillors, 17 are from the
BJP and 15 from the
Congress. Sixteen BJP
councillorsvotedforthe
resolution on Monday.
Now that the resolu-
tion has been passed in
the GMC, it will be sent
to the state government
for final approval. The
ruling party is of the
view that an increase
in the city limit area
will give the corpora-
tion more powers, al-
lowing it to better serve
the city and its citizens.
Councillors from the
Congresspartyopposed
the resolution on the
grounds that the corpo-
ration has not yet pro-
videdbasicamenitiesto
theroughlyfivevillages
which were merged
into the city limit area
in the recent past.
“These villages are
still waiting for regular
tap water, drainage ser-
vices, cleaning servic-
es, and tar roads. In-
stead of providing ser-
vice to them, the corpo-
ration is interested in
increasing city limit
area. The question that
arises is whether the
ruling party is serious
about giving service or
only interested in col-
lecting property tax,”
one opposition-party
councillor said.
First India News
Ahmedabad: As many
as 134 manual scaven-
gers have died in Guja-
rat during the last 25
years, which is the sec-
ond-highest manual
scavengingdeathsinthe
country after Tamil
Nadu. In Tamil Nadu,
144 people died cleaning
manholes or septic
tanks during the same
time. reveled in Rajyasa-
bha in December.
According to infor-
mation revealed in Ra-
jya Sabha, of the total
134 deaths in Gujarat, 49
people died in
Ahmedabad between
1992 to 2019-20. In 2019,
six people died cleaning
drainage lines in
Ahmedabad.
“The Gujarat govern-
ment is denying the
practiceof manualscav-
enging in the State. This
is a reason why no atten-
tion is being paid to this,
though every year the
number is increasing.
Despite setting up a Gu-
jarat Sanitation Welfare
Development Board and
allocating huge funds,
there is no monitoring
and implementation of
law,” Gujarat-based hu-
man rights activist
Manjula Pradeep said.
“There is no system
in the state to eradicate
the inhuman practice of
manual scavenging,”
she added. The Union
Social Justice Ministry
informed the Parlia-
ment that there are
60,440 manual scaven-
gers in 17 States.
Customs Ahmedabad's Principal Commissioner Kumar Santosh
and Joint Commissioner Shankesh Mehta briefing reporters.
AHMEDABAD CUSTOMS GOLD SEIZERS
IMPORT DUTY
INCOME
INTEGRATED
GST
Financial seizer gold market
year cases seized value
2019-20 till
January 113 77 kg 27.00 cr
2018-19
(till Dec-2019) 91 NA 18.71 cr
2017-18 (entire
financial year) 18 NA 04.61 cr
Year Duty (in Cr)
2019-20
(till Dec) 16,987
2018-19
(Till Dec) 15,460
Year Duty (in Cr)
2019-20
(Till Dec) 12,350
2018-19
(Till Dec) 10,109
LIC staff stage protest
against privatization
First India News
Ahmedabad: A protest
was staged in the city by
employees of the Life In-
surance Corporation of
India (LIC) against the
proposal to sell a part of
the company as IPOs on
Monday. The protest
comes in light of the gov-
ernment’s decision to pri-
vatize the company. Un-
ion Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman, while
presenting the budget,
had mentioned the gov-
ernment’s intention to
invite privatization for a
part of the company. Pro-
testers outside the com-
pany’s regional office in
the city claimed that this
movewillproveunfavour-
ablefortheorganization’s
customer base.
(From left) Najabhai Ghanghar dy mayor, Ritaben Patel mayor
and Dr Ratan Kanvar Gadhvicharan, commissioner of GMC.
ALLOCATION

6. G Vol 1 G Issue No. 70 G RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.
Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor: Jagdeesh Chandra, Resident Editor : Darshan Desai, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020
06www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
ere are three letters from elderly
eminenees whom I knew well.
My dear Natwar,
A line- which ought to have
come before, but advancing
years make one slack- to thank
you for your good and season-
able wishes, also for your nice
article on me; though am I all
that shy? My birthday festivi-
ties went well, and I enjoyed
them, and they ended in quite
a magnificent concert given by
the College Musical Society. I
keep very good health for my
age, and I hope you do for yours.
I have just finished B Rajan’s
(Joined IFS, 1948, Resigned,
1961) “The Dark Dancer”. What
do you think of it? I am much
impressed, I have seen a proof
copy of Choudhuri’s “Passage
to England”. What a talented
but spikey chap he is? He actu-
ally goes out of his way to warn
us British against the myth of
Indo-British friendship, which
I do think is a bit much. I must
try to find out something more
about him, apart from what he
himself tells.
Harsha is out of college and
working hard I fancy- any how
I don’t see as much of him as I
should like. Mrs Pandit has
passed with benignity. There
has been some good Indian
music. And I have tried to
talk to the Cambridge Maj-
lis, but the exigencies of in-
fluence have compelled us to
postpone till next term.
Oh! Yes, and Mahalenobis
(physicist, statistician and
member, Planning Commis-
sion) of Calcutta has become
Hon. Fellow of King’s College-
that’s all the strictly or semi-
strictly Indian news that I can
think of, so I will now conclude
with my love.
Yours ever,
E.M. Forster
Author of A Passage to India
LETTERS FROM FORSTER,
RAJAGOPALACHARI & VIJAYALAXMI
HE ACTUALLY GOES OUT OF
HIS WAY TO WARN US BRITISH
AGAINST THE MYTH OF
INDO-BRITISH FRIENDSHIP
H
Hundreds of
right minded
Indians must
have hoped that
the PM and the
Home Minister
would have
severely
reprimanded
the Minister of
State for
Finance and
Member of the
LS Pravesh
Sahib Verma
for their foul
mouthed,
obscene, filthy
verbal excesses
he EU and the
UK are now ne-
gotiating the
terms of their
new relation-
ship after Brexit. Food sup-
ply problems are a very
real potential problem, but
Britain is also having a
food-related identity cri-
sis: what will happen to
its cosmopolitan and
global diet? Will it end up
having to replace olive oil
with lard or gateau with
steamed pudding? Is it des-
tined to return to a diet of
roast beef – or Quorn, for
the vegetarians?
The question of what it
might mean to be both Brit-
ish and European, howev-
er, is one that has been
asked for longer than the
past three years. Our re-
search team is examin-
ing Britishness and Eu-
ropean identity, focusing
on the eating habits of
the English at the end of
the 18th century – the
first age of nationalism.
We started our project
when we came across a
book of menus – not yet
available online, sadly –
written by William Gorton,
the steward at Kew Palace.
His job was to keep track of
food bought and served at
the palace, since even
George III had to answer to
the taxpayer.
The menus reveal that
even though England and
France were often at war in
the 18th century, the Brit-
ish royal family ate a lot of
dishes with French-sound-
ing names. Dishes such as
“gateau a la duchesse” and
“mutton roulade” were fre-
quently on the tables of
King George and Queen
Charlotte, the equerries or
officers of the royal house-
hold and pages, and the
princesses and their gov-
erness.
For the royal house-
hold, French food was
not associated with a
specific European iden-
tity – indeed, “identity”
is a recent concept that
would have made little
sense to 18th-century
royals. Rather, French
food marked their high so-
cial status. At Kew, grooms
and servants were served
roasted meats: the plain,
hearty fare of the English
working people.
While many well-off
Britons dined happily
on French-inspired cui-
sine, it remained a com-
monly held view that
English food was more
honest than the food
served on the other side
of the Channel. Some
writers, for example,
disparaged French food
as “foreign kickshaws”,
a word supposedly de-
rived from the French
quelque chose, which
has come to mean a trin-
ket, but originally was
about foreign – French
– food. Yet, by the 1860s,
Mrs Beeton, the most Brit-
ish of cookery writers,
could describe “modern
cookery” as “greatly in-
debted to the gastronomic
propensities of our French
neighbours” – even offer-
ing a three-page lexicon of
French culinary terms
used in English.
French cuisine was not
the only foreign influence
we found at the king’s din-
ner table at Kew, although
it might have been the most
established. French dish-
es had been making their
way into the elite Eng-
lish diet since at least
the English translation
of Francois Pierre de La
Varenne’s The French
Cook in 1653. By the mid-
18th century, other Euro-
pean flavours were arriv-
ing in England via travel-
lers, particularly well-to-do
young men who extended
their education by taking a
“grand tour” of European
cultural sites.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM
Centuries-old culinary link between Europe & the UK
T
FRENCH CUISINE WAS NOT THE ONLY
FOREIGN INFLUENCE WE FOUND AT THE
KING’S DINNER TABLE AT KEW, ALTHOUGH IT
MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE MOST ESTABLISHED
TOP TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
In its commitment to increase
the LPG coverage across the
country, GOI has enhanced
the LPG distributor network in
both rural and urban areas of
the country. At present, LPG
distributor network has more
than 24000 distributors.
K NATWAR
SINGH
The author is Former Minister
of External Affairs of India
Naroji Road,
Kilpauk,
Madras-10
24 November 1966
My dear Natwar,
I was so glad to read your letter
of 22 November.
I shall indeed be very glad if you
can get me the N.Y.T review of your
anthology. I have not yet received
the copy of the book from the pub-
lishers. Sea mail takes more time.
I am not surprised you so much
like service under Smt. Indira Gan-
dhi. She is splendidly endowed with
all the graces of a good civilized
lady. She grew up under the exam-
ple of her gracious father.
I can never forget the moving
gesture of her affection when
she came and received my daugh-
ter at the Delhi railway station
(Mrs Devadas Gandhi), when I
took her to Delhi from Bombay
after she unexpectedly and cru-
elly lost her husband. Indira Gan-
dhi whom I did not except was at the
station and led my daughter to the
carlikeasister.Thetouchwasacon-
solation both to her and to me. This
was August 1957, when I had already
begun openly and severely to criti-
cise Jawaharlalji.
Yours sincerely
(C. Rajagopalachari)
Last Governor
General of India
Raj Bhawan,
Bombay
23 June 1964
My dear Natwar,
Thank you for sharing our sorrow (Vijaya Lakshmi
Pandit is referring to the death of her brother, Jawaha-
rlal Nehru. He passed away on 27 May 1964). The tears
of his beloved India and indeed the world have been
ample evidence of his place in the hearts of his fel-
low men.
You are so right when you say he was the most beau-
tiful man in the world. Every action, every thought was
beautiful and one cannot but be thankful that he died
as he wished, in harne ss and in peace. In death the radi-
ance and serenity of his face were quite extraordinary.
We have much to live up to but I dare to believe the seeds
he planted will bear fruit.
I will write more later. This is merely to send you
my love.
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
First women President of UN
General Assembly, 1954
Hundreds of right minded Indians must have hoped
that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister would
have severely reprimanded the Minister of State for
Finance and Member of the Lok Sabha Pravesh Sahib
Verma for their foul mouthed, obscene, filthy verbal
excesses.
The Election Commission’s response to these out-
rages has been feeble and inadequate. The two offenders
should have been barred from campaigning till Febru-
ary the 4th.
Incidentallythefather’sof thetwowere Chief Ministers.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
CORONAVIRUS
WILL HIT
TOURISM AND
TRAVEL SECTOR
he spread of infectious diseases is
invariably linked to travel. Today,
tourism is a huge global business
that accounts for 10.4 per cent of
global Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) and 10 per cent of global employment.
Nothing seems to slow its growth as year-
over-year increases outpace the economy.
The United Nations World Tourism Or-
ganization is predicting further growth
of three per cent to four per cent in in-
ternational tourist arrivals for 2020,
with international departures worldwide
particularly strong in the first quarter
of this year.
But that was before a new coronavirus
(formally known as 2019-nCoV) hit China
and then very rapidly started spreading to
the rest of the world with 20 countries and
counting isolating cases.
Officials in China and those in the rest of
world have been much quicker to take more
drastic action after learning bitter lessons
from the SARS outbreak in 2003, which also
started in China. The impact on travel to
and from China of this new coronavi-
rus, however, has been devastating. Air-
lines, including Air Canada, have can-
celled all flights or significantly re-
duced the number of flights in and out
of China.
The severe travel restrictions imposed by
the Chinese government on its citizens and
the stern warnings from Foreign Affairs of-
fices, including Canada’s, to avoid all non-
essential travel to China and all travel to
Hubei province (Wuhan is its capital and
largest city) means that the economic impact
of this coronvirus will be felt in every corner
of the world and almost every sector of the
economy.
The market response has been swift,
with share prices of major airlines,
cruise lines and tourism companies drop-
ping several percentage points.
With the World Health Organization de-
claring the coronavirus a public health emer-
gency of global concern, Gloria Guevara,
president and CEO of the World Travel and
Tourism Council (WTTC) fears that this es-
calation could have a damaging and lasting
economic impact on the sector. She expressed
serious concerns that airport closures, flight
cancellations and shuttered borders often
have a greater economic impact.
Depending on how long the restrictions
and warnings are in place, losses could eas-
ily double of those in 2003. The pain will be
felt in every industry as tourism’s supply
chain involves everything from agricul-
ture and fishing to banking and insur-
ance. The hardest hit will be its core indus-
tries of accommodation, food and beverage
services, recreation and entertainment,
transportation and travel services.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM
IN-DEPTH
T

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New Delhi: Coming
down heavily on the
Congress in Lok Sabha,
the BJP on Monday
accused the opposition
party of indulging
in vote bank politics
and creating problems
like Article 370 during
its rule.
Meanwhile, “The
government has no
shame, they are firing
at students, they do
such atrocities on wom-
en,” says AIMIM chief
Asaduddin Owaisi in
Lok Sabha. We are with
the students of Jamia
and this government is
doing atrocities against
the students, he said.
BJP member Parvesh
Verma, who initiated
the debate on the Mo-
tion of Thanks on the
President's address,
also took on the Con-
gress for its opposition
to the Citizenship
Amendment Act, say-
ing, “They should know
that it is not Rajiv
Feroze Khan govern-
ment, it is Narendra
Modi's government.
“We will not take
back CAA. It is a ques-
tion of the country's
integrity.”
He said that “they
(Congress) create prob-
lems like Article 370
and 35(A)” by their
“vote bank politics”,
and “we solve them” to
strengthen India.
Earlier, opposition
members, including
those from the Con-
gress and DMK, walked
out of Lok Sabha to pro-
test Verma's controver-
sial remarks during a
poll rally, when the BJP
MP rose to initiate the
debate.
The TMC said that
Verma's speech was for
Delhi election cam-
paign and not for debate
on the President's ad-
dress. Delhi goes to
polls on February 8.
While addressing LS,
TMC MP Mahua Moitra
said BJP-led govern-
ment at the Centre has
broken its promise to
put the economy first.
CAA won’t be taken back, Cong
doing vote bank politics: BJP
Opposition members, including those from Cong, DMK, walked out of Lok Sabha
Opposition MPs raise slogans during the Budget Session of Parliament, at Rajya Sabha in New Delhi on Monday.
New Delhi: Slamming
those who are protest-
ing at Shaheen Bagh
against the Citizenship
Amendment Act, Union
Minister Mukhtar Ab-
bas Naqvi said here on
Monday that “in bid to
make the CAA a villain,
people are on the verge
of becoming villains
themselves”.
“For how long will
they be able to hide a
mountain of truth be-
hind the bushes of
lies,” said Naqvi. “The
President himself has
said in a joint session
of Parliament that the
CAA is for giving citi-
zenship and not for tak-
ing anybody's citizen-
ship,” he added.
CAA fast-tracks the
process of granting citi-
zenship to Hindus,
Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains,
Parsis and Christians
who fled religious per-
secution in Afghani-
stan, Bangladesh and
Pakistan and took ref-
uge in India on or be-
fore December 31, 2014.
New Delhi: Senior
Congress leader Ghu-
lam Nabi Azad on Mon-
day attacked the central
government over NRC
and said that around 50
to 60 crore people in this
country would not be
knowing their parents'
date of birth.
Azad along with par-
ty leader Anand Shar-
ma and leaders from
DMK, NCP, RJD, CPM,
CPI and TMC gave sus-
pension of business
notice in Rajya Sabha
under rule 267 over
“prevailing situation
in the country”. “Ever
since Citizenship Bill
became an Act, the gov-
ernment, on different
occasions, said that af-
ter this NPR and after
that NRC will come.
NPR was done earlier
also, but the questions
asked in it were usual...
BJP is presenting NPR
wrongly, it is present-
ing it on the name of
Hindu and Muslim,”
Azad said. —ANI
‘50-60 cr people in India wouldn’t
know their parents’ birth date’
Congess leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and others
address media during the Budget Session of Parliament.
Mumbai: Mumbai Po-
lice on Monday issued
Section 149 of CrPC No-
tice to people who have
been protesting against
the Citizenship Amend-
ment Act (CAA), Na-
tional Register of Citi-
zens (NRC) and Nation-
al Population Register
(NPR) in Nagpada area.
Section 149 of the
CrPC is used to prevent
cognizable offences.
The protest against
CAA has been going on
for more than a week
now in the Nagpada
area here.
Protests erupted in
various parts of the
country against the
CAA was passed. —ANI
Mumbai cops
issues notice to
people protesting
‘Anti-CAA protesters
becoming villains’
New Delhi: Addressing
a rally in Vikaspuri
area here in the run-up
to the Delhi Assembly
polls on February 8, Ut-
tar Pradesh Chief Min-
ister Yogi Adityanath
on Monday said that a
Pakistan minister is
supporting Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejri-
wal because 'he knows
only Kejriwal can feed
'biryani' to protestors in
Shaheen Bagh'.
“Why is a Pakistani
minister making state-
ments in support of
Arvind Kejriwal? Be-
cause he knows that
only Kejriwal can feed
biryani to protestors in
Shaheen Bagh,” alleged
Adityanath. The UP
Chief Minister was re-
ferring to Pakistan
Minister Fawad
Chaudhry's tweet in
which he had said, “Un-
der pressure of losing
another State election
(Delhi), he (Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi)
resorts to ridiculous
claims and threats en-
dangering the region.”
Chaudhry had posted
the tweet in response to
PM Modi's comment
that India can defeat Pa-
kistan in a war within
7-10 days.
Slamming Chaudhry
for his comments, Kejri-
wal had said, “Prime
Minister Modi is my
PM as well, will not tol-
erate interference in
our country's internal
issues.”
“Narendra Modi is
India's Prime Minister;
he is my Prime Minis-
ter as well. Delhi elec-
tion is our internal is-
sue, and we have zero
tolerance for interfer-
ence by the biggest
sponsor of terrorism.
No matter how hard Pa-
kistan tries, it cannot
attack the unity of our
country,” Kejriwal had
said in a tweet.
People have been pro-
testing against the Citi-
zenship Amendment
Act (CAA) in Delhi's
Shaheen Bagh area
since December last
year. —ANI
Kejri gets Pak support because only he
can feed biryani to protestors: Yogi
Not easy to push
anyone out of
India, says Raut
New Delhi: Shiv Sena
leader and Rajya Sabha
MP Sanjay Raut on
Monday said that it is
not easy to push anyone
out from India irrespec-
tive of statements by
BJP leaders.
“Whatever BJP peo-
ple say, it is not easy to
push someone out from
India. The Home Minis-
ter said that the Citizen-
ship law is not for de-
portation and it is
meant to give citizen-
ship. We will see how
many people will get
citizenship (under
CAA). There are lakhs
of people who don’t
have a home in the
country so we will see
what the government
decides to do for those
who get citizenship un-
der CAA,” Raut told me-
dia reporters in New
Delhi. —ANI
New Delhi: Delhi BJP
chief Manoj Tiwari on
Monday spoke over the
Shaheen Bagh sit-in
and asserted that the
option of baton-charge
to remove the protes-
tors has been ruled out
due to presence of wom-
en and children at the
site of agitation.
“In Shaheen Bagh,
there have been talks of
shooting PM Modi and
Amit Shah. Did the gov-
ernment do anything?
No. We are not taking
the decision of lathi-
charge as there are
women and children sit-
ting on a dharna in
Shaheen Bagh. We
know that those who
are protesting there are
misguided people,” he
said. Shaheen Bagh agi-
tation has been ongoing
for over 50 days now,
with a large number of
women sitting on pro-
test against the CAA,
NPR and National Reg-
ister of Citizens. —ANI
‘Avoiding baton-charge as women,
kids on protest at Shaheen Bagh
New Delhi: Union Min-
ister of State for Home
Affairs, G Kis-
han Reddy on
Monday, while
referring to the
firing incident
near Jamia Mil-
ia Islamia Uni-
versity, said
“These things should
not happen. Those who
carry arms and do such
things should be pun-
ished. The government
will take strict action,”
he said while
speaking to re-
porters here.
The Delhi Po-
lice has regis-
tered an FIR in
c o n n e c t i o n
with the firing
incident that took place
near Jamia Millia Isla-
mia University on Sun-
day night. —ANI
New Delhi: BJP’s Par-
liamentary Party meet-
ing will be held on Feb-
ruary 4 in Parliament.
This meeting comes
close on the heels of
Anantkumar Hegde’s
controversial remark
about Mahatma Gandhi
after which many top
BJP leaders expressed
unhappiness over his
remark, party sources
said earlier on Monday.
Such people should be
punished: Kishan Reddy
BJP Parl party
meeting to be
held today
‘ILLEGAL NARCOTICS SUPPLY
FROM PAKISTAN RUINING PUNJAB’
Chandigarh: Pakistan
has stepped up its proxy
war and has resorted to
narco-terrorism to inflict
more damage to India,
experts across the forum
have said. It has been
vigorously backing the
spreading of drugs in the
Indian state of Punjab,
thereby spoiling an entire
generation of youth in
the province. Sushant
Sareen, a senior research
fellow with Observer
Research Foundation
(ORF), an independent
think-tank, believes it’s
a double whammy for
India as Pakistan is not
just damaging the youth
of Punjab but is minting
millions of rupees that are
subsequently used to fuel
terrorism in Kashmir and
other parts of India.
GLIDER CRASHES AT DUMKA,
FLIGHT ENGINEER DEAD
Dumka: A glider crashed during training at
the local airport in Jharkhand’s Dumka district
on Monday, which led to the death of a flight
engineer on board. Flight engineer Dharmendra
and Captain JP Singh were critically injured
in the incident. “Flight Engineer Dharmendra
succumbed to his injuries, while Captain Singh
has been taken to Durgapur for treatment,” said
Rajeshwari B, District Collector (DC) of Dumka.
Officials are investigating the incident Further
details on are awaited.
FOUR JEM ASSOCIATES HELD
IN J-K: KASHMIR ZONE POLICE
Awantipora: Awantipora Police have ar-
rested 4 terrorist associates linked to the
proscribed terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.
“Awantipora police have arrested 4 terrorist
associates linked to the proscribed terror
outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed,” Kashmir Zone
Police tweeted. Investigations have revealed
that they were providing support to active
terrorists of JeM operating in the area, police
said. A case has been registered against the
arrested persons.
DELHI POLL IS KEJRIWAL VERSUS
TRUTH, SAYS GAUTAM GAMBHIR
New Delhi: BJP MP Gau-
tam Gambhir said the Del-
hi Assembly polls is a bat-
tle between Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal and the
truth. “To address the pol-
lution issue, the Central
government made Eastern
and Western Peripheral
Express highways. The
Kejriwal government did
not do a single thing to
address this issue,” said
Gambhir while address-
ing an election rally at
Karkardoom here in the
east Delhi. “The AAP
asks us that the battle
is Kejriwal vs whom.
We say it is Kejriwal vs
truth this time,” added
Gambhir. “Kejriwal spent
4.5 years in photoshoots,
five months in putting up
posters and one month in
telling about it.
BHADE KE TATTU: CHOUBEYThe govern-
ment has no
shame, they
are firing at students,
they do such atrocities
on women. We are
with the students of
Jamia. This govern-
ment has brutally be-
haved with students.
—Asaduddin Owaisi
AIMIM chief
‘JINNAH POLITICS’

8. INDIAAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020
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KAUN BANEGA SEBI CHAIRMAN?
ANATNU CHAKRABORTY?
Secretary DEA Atanu Chakraborty is said to be
a front-runner for the post of new Chairman
SEBI. The 1985 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer
Chakraborty is scheduled to retire in April.
SECRETARY LEVEL RESHUFFLE
AFTER FEB 11?
As per available indications government is
likely to reshuffle Secretaries after February 11
when Parliament session will be on one month
leave. Presently important ministries /depart-
ments like Defence Production, Consumer
Affairs, PMO, School and Secondary Education
are not having a regular Secretary
SUPREME COURT COLLEGIUM
TO MEET ON FEB 18?
Supreme Court Collegium is expected to meet
on February 18. Names of two Supreme Court
Judges are to be cleared.
WILL RAILTEL HEADQUARTERS
FINALLY SHIFT TO GUJARAT?
Will RailTel Corporation of India Headquarters
finally be shifted from New Delhi to GIFT City in
Gujarat? This question is doing the rounds.
OPENINGS AT JOINT SECRETARY
LEVEL IN GOVERNMENT OF
INDIA IN FEBRUARY
More than one dozen vacancies at Joint Secre-
tary level are arising in the various Ministries
and Departments in Government of India in
February 2020. Vacancies arising in Ministry of
Home Affairs, Textiles, Commerce, Economic
Affairs, Revenue, DoPT, Revenue, Defence Pro-
duction, Statistics & Programme Implementa-
tion, Ministry of Home Affairs; Information &
Broadcasting and Defence.
THE SENIORITY PRINCIPLE TREND
TO SELECT ARMY TOP BRASS
SEEMS BACK NOW
Govt now seems to be sticking to seniority
principle and merit while choosing Army top
brass.
DEPUTATION TENURE OF DR
VISWAKANAN EXTENDED
The deputation tenure of Dr P Viswakanan,
presently working as Additional Professor
in Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Deh-
radun, has been extended for a period of one
year beyond May 1, 2020. He is a 2003 batch
IFS officer of AGMUT cadre.
PRAVEEN SOOD TAKES OVER
AS DIRECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE
OF KARNATAKA
Praveen Sood has taken over as new Director
General of Police of Karnataka. He is 1986
batch IPS officer of Karnataka cadre.
AMITABH RANJAN TAKES OVER
AS NEW DIRECTOR GENERAL OF
POLICE OF TRIPURA
Amitabh Ranjan has taken over as new DGP of
Tripura. He is a 1988 batch IPS officer of Tripu-
ra cadre. (We said this on January 24, 2020 )
Top Prev Next Click here for Your Feedback
IN UP, CHIEF SECRETARY AND DIRECTOR
GENERAL OF POLICE ARE ACTING CHIEFS
Both posts of Chief Secretary (CS) and Direc-
tor General of Police (DGP) are being served
as Acting in Uttar Pradesh. A 1985 batch IAS
officer, Rajendra Kumar Tiwari is rendering
his services as Acting Chief Secretary and
now Hitesh Chandra Awasthi, a 1985 batch
IPS officer, has been assigned an Acting
Director General of Police charge after the
retirement of O P Singh.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF
POLICE IN DELHI REMOVED
AFTER EC’S DECISION
Chinmoy Biswasl, DCP, South East in Delhi
Police, has been removed. He is a 2008 batch
IPS officer. Shaheen Bagh comes under DCP
South East .
GANESH IS NEW DCP SE
Kumar Gyanesh has been appointed new DCP,
South East in Delhi Police. He is a 1997 batch
IPS officer.
TENURE OF ABHISHEK DULAR
AS SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE,
CBI EXTENDED
The deputation tenure of Abhishek Dular
working as Superintendent of Police in Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been extend-
ed from February 16 to February 15, 2021. He
is a 2006 batch IPS officer.
POWERGallery
New Delhi: A petition
was filed before the Su-
preme Court on Mon-
day seeking its direc-
tion to the Centre for
laying down compre-
hensive guidelines re-
lating to total restric-
tion on holding pro-
tests in a public place
where it may lead to
obstruction of the
public movement.
The petition, filed by
one Nand Kishore Garg,
sought a direction to re-
spondents, including
Union of India (UOI),
and laying down “de-
tailed, comprehensive
and exhaustive guide-
lines” relating to com-
plete restrictions for
holding protest and agi-
tation leading to ob-
struction of public plac-
es. The petitioner has
sought a direction to the
central government and
others for removal of
protestersfromShaheen
Bagh near Kalindi Kunj,
who are protesting
against the Citizenship
Amendment Act (CAA)
2019, for last one and a
half month.Theprotest-
ers have blocked the
roadconnectingDelhito
Noida. —ANI
Pleaagainstprotestsinpublicspaces
Prayagraj: Allahabad
HC on Monday granted
bail to Former Union
Minister and
BJP leader
C h i n m a -
yanand in the
alleged rape
case of a law
student.
In Decem-
ber 2019, the
23-year-old law
student, who has ac-
cused Chinmayanand
of rape, was released
from a district jail on
bail in connection with
an extortion case. The
Allahabad HC on De-
cember 4 granted bail to
the accused. The father
of the woman
said that they
had faith in ju-
dicial system
and will see
this case
through.
The woman
was arrested
in connection
with an extortion case
filed based on Chinma-
yanand’s complaint al-
leging that she and her
friends, demanded Rs 5
crore from him. —ANI
HC grants bail to
Chinmayanand
New Delhi: SC’s nine-
judge bench, headed by
Chief Justice of India
Sharad Arvind Bobde,
on Monday began hear-
ing Sabarimala temple
matter and other relat-
ed cases, involving en-
try of women into.
Solicitor General
(SG) Tushar Mehta told
the Apex Court that the
issues can be framed in
the chambers itself. He
stated that there is
no need to frame the
questions and other is-
sues if relevant, in an
open court. —ANI
SC begins hearing
in Sabarimala
temple case
Pune: A Sessions Court
here on Monday posted
for February 6 the mat-
ter seeking the transfer
of probe into the Bhi-
ma-Koregaon violence
to the National Investi-
gation Agency (NIA).
Both the prosecution
and the defence lawyers
have sought more time
to file their replies. The
NIA had filed a petition
in the Pune sessions
court on January 29
seeking transfer of the
case to the agency’s
court in Mumbai.
Theagencyalsoseeks
handover of the docu-
ments and evidence by
the state police after it
was asked by the Union
Home Ministry to inves-
tigate the case.
It is important to note
that charges of sedition
(Section 124) are not in-
cluded in the FIR filed
by the NIA in connec-
tion with the Bhima-
Koregaon violence case.
While NIA has
named 11 accused, the
number of those
against whom cases
were registered by the
Pune police is 23. —ANI
Bhima-Koregaoncase
Hearing on Feb 6
Pulwama: The Nation-
al Investigation Agency
(NIA) conducted a raid
at the Tral residence of
suspended Jammu and
Kashmir (J-K) Police
DSP Davinder Singh on
Monday morning.
Singh was arrested
on charges of trying to
assist terrorists to trav-
el outside Jammu and
Kashmir last month.
The agency has earlier
carried out raids at
multiple locations in
Kashmir, in connection
with Davinder Singh.
NIA conducts raid
at Tral residence
of suspended DSP
Meerut: Forty-seven
people who are the
members of Popular
Front of India (PFI)
have been arrested in
Meerut zone till now,
said Meerut Zone’s
ADG, Prashant Kumar.
Among those arrest-
ed, 21 are from Meerut,
Nine from Ghaziabad,
Six from Muzaffarna-
gar and 10 from Shamli.
He said that 75-80 more
persons linked with PFI
have been identified in
the zone.
“The Enforcement
Directorate is inspect-
ing the accounts. PFI
network is also active
in Shamli,” said the of-
ficial.
As many as 108 linked
to PFI have been arrest-
ed in the last four days
in Uttar Pradesh in ad-
dition to the 25 who
were arrested earlier,
officials said.
“108 people have been
arrested in the last 4
days, they are in addi-
tion to the 25 who were
arrested earlier,” said
Awanish K Awasthi,
Additional Chief Secre-
tary, Uttar Pradesh
Home Department. —ANI
Meerutpolicearrests
47 PFI members
Mumbai: Maharashtra
Chief Minister Uddhav
Thackeray said that
‘power’ has always
stayed with ‘Matoshri’,
the family residence of
Thackeray’s, irrespec-
tive of the government
ruling the State and
that with his becoming
the CM, the ‘govern-
ment’s power has now
come to’ ‘Matoshri’.
“Power and ‘Ma-
toshri’ have always
stayed together. Becom-
ing the Chief Minister
of the State is definitely
a different feeling but
‘Matoshri’ has always
wielded power and
there is nothing new in
it. However, now the
Chief Minister is from
‘Matoshri’. The govern-
ment’s power has now
come to ‘Matoshri’,”
said Uddhav in an inter-
view to Sena mouth-
piece Saamana. “Ma-
toshri becoming the
CM’s residence is actu-
ally because of Shiv
Sainiks, I have zero con-
tribution in it. All this
glory to Matoshri is ac-
tually of Shivsena Pra-
mukh, Maan Saheb
(mother) and affection
of Shiv Sainiks,” he
added.
He further said that
his becoming the Chief
Minister was not a
shock for him.
“No, it did not come
as a shock (when allied
with NCP, Cong and be-
came CM). I am the son
of Shiv Sena Pramukh
(Balasaheb Thackeray).
Several people tried to
give me shocks but they
did not succeed. This is
a field where you have
to accept right at the be-
ginning that there will
be a bit of pushing and
pulling,” he said. —ANI
‘Matoshri’ always wielded power: Maha CM
Mumbai: Maharashtra
Chief Minister Uddhav
Thackeray, whose party
severed ties with the
BJP after the state elec-
tions, on Monday said
thatif somebodybreaks
a promise, “pain and
anger is obvious”.
“No, I did not get any
shock,” Thackeray said
in an interview with
Shiv Sena mouthpiece
Saamana while talking
about forming an alli-
ance with NCP and Con-
gress, and becoming the
Maharashtra Chief
Minister. “I am a son of
Shiv Sena Pramukh
(Balasaheb Thackeray),
several people tried to
give a shock to me but
they didn’t succeed.
This is a field where you
have to accept in the be-
ginning that there will
be a bit pushing and
pulling,” Thackeray
said.
He added that accept-
ing the Chief Minister’s
post was not a shock for
him and neither was it
his “dream at any point
of time”
“But I can say one
thing for sure that I had
decided to go to any
level to fulfil the prom-
ise which I made to
Balasaheb Thackeray. I
want to further clear it
that me becoming Chief
Minister is not the ful-
filling of the promise
made to Shiv Sena Pra-
mukh but it’s just a step
towards that. I will ful-
fil every promise which
I made to my father,”
Thackeray said. —ANI
DID I ASK FOR STARS AND
MOON?: UDDHAV ON
SEVERING TIES WITH BJP
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: Dassault
Aviation, which is go-
ing to take part for the
first time at DefExpo
2020, will display a
scale 1:10 Rafale mock-
up with the Indian col-
ours “to pay tribute to
the induction of the
aircraft in the Indian
Air Force”.
The DefExpo 2020 is
going to be held in Luc-
know from February 5
to 8. “For this first ap-
pearance at the exhibi-
tion, Dassault Aviation
willdisplayonitsbooth,
located Hall 3, a scale
1:10 Rafale mockup
with the Indian colours
to pay tribute to the in-
duction of the aircraft
in the Indian Air Force
(IAF),” the defence
manufacturer said. —ANI
The first IAF Rafale
handover to the govern-
ment was held in Das-
sault Aviation Merig-
nac facility on October
8 last year.
A mockup at scale
1:10 of Rafale M (Rafale
naval variant) will also
be as well displayed to
present capabilities of
this Rafale variant tak-
ing part in the tender of
57 aircraft to equip
Indian Navy aircraft
carriers. —ANI
Dassault Aviation to exhibit
Rafale at DefExpo 2020
Indian army battle tank team show their skills during rehearsal
for Defence Expo 2020 at Vrindavan Yojna in Lucknow.
SSS
DEATHS IN BOREWELLS: SC SEEKS REPLY FROM CENTRE, STATES
CHOPPER CRASH
‘CM POST NOT A SHOCK’

9. SPORTSAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020
09www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Indian boxers win
6 gold in Serbia
London: India’s junior
and youth boxers domi-
nated the ring at the
Golden Girl Champion-
ship in Boras, Sweden,
claiming 14 medals, in-
cluding six gold, the
overall championship
trophy & the ‘Best Box-
er’ award. While the
junior women’s team
clinched 5 gold, 3 silver
and 1 bronze medal, the
youth team secured a
single gold & 4 bronze
medals at the event.
Billie Jean King to
attend T20 WC
London: Former world
number one tennis play-
er Billie Jean King will
attend the ICC Women’s
T20 World Cup final on
International Women’s
Day. The American will
be at the final to be part
of this historic opportu-
nity to set a new record
for attendance at a wom-
en’s sporting fixture.
4 Indians in Bike
Challenge
New Delhi: 4 Indian cy-
clists, part of the Hero
Action Team, will be
travelling to Portugal to
race at the Algarve Bike
Challenge on February
7. The race will witness
participation of over
1100 cyclists from 16
countries.
Shahzar Rizvi and
Sangwan win
Kerela: Shahzar Rizvi
of the Indian Air Force
emerged triumphant in
the men’s 10m air pistol
T1 trials while Haraya-
na’s Rhythm Sangwan
won the women’s 25m
pistol T1 competition at
the National Shooting
Trials for rifle and pis-
tol disciplines. Shahzar,
a former world record
holder, shot 241.5 in the
men’s 10m air pistol fi-
nal to outlast Naveen of
Haryana who finished
0.4 behind with 241.1.
Arpit Tomar of Uttar
Pradesh came third.
BRIEF
in
New Delhi: Amid the
ongoing speculations of
MS Dhoni calling time
on his cricket career,
India opener Rohit
Sharma said that Dhoni
is the best skipper the
country has had. “He
(Dhoni) is the best cap-
tain India has seen and
there’s a reason behind
it – which is being calm
and composed under a
situation,” Rohit said.
Dhoni, who made his
international debut in
2004, led a young Indian
squad to become the
ICC World Twenty20
champions in 2007. He
then took India to the
top of the ICC Test
rankings before win-
ning the ICC World Cup
in 2011 and the ICC
Champions Trophy in
2013. “MS Dhoni is the
one who has been like
that. It’s in-born. It has
helped him to make
such good decisions on
the field and now you
see he is the most suc-
cessful Indian captain
with all three ICC tro-
phies with him and
many IPL titles as well,”
said Rohit.
The wicketkeeper-
batsman played 90 Test
matches for India and
scored 4876 runs at an
average of 38.09 before
hanging his boots from
the longest format of
the game in 2014.
‘MS Dhoni is best captain India has seen,’ feels Rohit
SPILLING THE BEANS

MS Dhoni, who
is regarded as
the best
finishers in the
world, quit the
white-ball
captaincy in
January 2017 to
hand over the
reign to Kohli
‘STRONGER&HUNGRIERFORSUCCESS’Melbourne: Novak
Djokovic returned to
No. 1 in the ATP rank-
ings Monday after win-
ning his eighth Austral-
ian Open title, while
Sofia Kenin’s first
Grand Slam trophy
boosted her to a career-
high No. 7 and made her
the leading American
on the WTA list.
All-conquering No-
vak Djokovic has said
that a turbulent child-
hood where he had to
queue for milk and
bread in war-torn Ser-
bia made him hungry
for success.
His eighth victory in
eight finals at Mel-
bourne Park handed
him a 17th Major to
move within three of
Roger Federer’s all-
time 20.
Asked how he
managed to keep win-
ning in pressure situa-
tions, Djokovic said it
stemmed from his early
life. “My upbringing
was in Serbia during
several wars during the
‘90s, difficult time, em-
bargo in our country
where we had to wait in
line for bread, milk,
water, some basic
things in life,” he said.
“These kind of things
make you stronger and
hungrier for success I
think in whatever you
choose to do.
Grand
Slam
Novak
Djokovic
Roger
Federer
Rafal
Nadal
2004, 2006,
2007, 2010,
2017, 2018.
2009.
2003 to 2007,
2009, 2012,
2017.
2004, 2005,
2006, 2007,
2008.
2009.
2005 to 2008
2010 to 2014
2017 to 2019.
2008, 2010.
2010, 2013,
2017, 2019.
2008, 2011-
13, 2015-16,
2019-2020.
2016.
2011, 2014,
2015, 2018,
2019.
2011, 2015,
2018.
Rohit Sharma has
been ruled out of
the ODI and Test series
against New Zealand
because of a calf injury.
Rohit had suffered
the injury during the
fifth and final T20I
against New Zealand
on Sunday. Rohit,
who was standing in
as captain after Virat
Kohli was rested for the
final match, retired hurt
after scoring 60 before
KL Rahul took charge
on the field during
New Zealand’s chase.
Mayank Agarwal, who
made his ODI debut
against the West Indies
in December last year,
has been named as Ro-
hit’s replacement in the
ODI squad. However,
the Test squad for the
New Zealand tour is yet
to be announced.
ROHIT RULED OUT OF ODI AND TEST
SERIES AGAINST KIWIS WITH CALF INJURY
Miami: Patrick Ma-
homes led a thrilling
late comeback as the
Kansas City Chiefs end-
ed their 50-year wait for
a Super Bowl crown
with a 31-20 victory over
the San Francisco 49ers
on Sunday.
Chiefs quarterback
Mahomes shrugged off
an error-strewn start to
overturn a 20-10 fourth-
quarter deficit in a nail-
biting battle for the
Vince Lombardi Tro-
phy at the Hard Rock
Stadium. The Super
Bowl win was Kansas
City’s first NFL Cham-
pionship since their tri-
umph over the Minne-
sota Vikings in 1970.
And it owed every-
thing to the nerve of
Mahomes, who for the
third straight postsea-
son game led the Chiefs
back from a double-dig-
it deficit to seal a dra-
matic win. “We never
lost faith. Everybody on
this team, no one had
their head down and we
found a way to win in
the end,” said Ma-
homes, shortly before
being anointed Super
Bowl MVP.
The Chiefs quarter-
back had looked out of
sorts until early in the
fourth quarter, throw-
ing two interceptions in
the face of fierce pres-
sure from the magnifi-
cent San Francisco de-
fense led by the ma-
rauding Nick Bosa. But
with the game on the
line in the fourth quar-
ter, Mahomes led his
team on two long drives
to set up touchdowns
for tight end Travis
Kelce and running back
Damien Williams.
New Delhi: The first
semifinal of the ICC
U-19 World Cup 2020
will be played on Tues-
day, February 4 between
arch-rivals India and
Pakistan. The India vs
Pakistan contest is of-
ten known as the moth-
er of all battles in a
cricketing context.
The match will be
played at Senwes Park,
Potchefstroom and as
per the Indian Standard
Time (IST), the match
will begin at 13:30 hours
or 1:30 pm. It will be tel-
ecasted live on Star
Sports 3 & on Hotstar.
The high-octane
clash is set to capture
the attention of mil-
lions of cricket fans in
the sub-continent and
the stakes, as always,
are high. The winners
will clinch a spot in the
9 February final of the
most prestigious age-
group cricket event.
New Delhi: Star wres-
tler Vinesh Phogat, bad-
minton queen PV Sind-
hu and boxing great MC
Mary Kom will compete
for the inaugural BBC
Indian sportswoman of
the year award after be-
ing nominated for the
honour with two other
athletes. Sprinter Du-
tee Chand and para-
badminton player Ma-
nasi Joshi are the other
nominees for the award,
the winner of which
will be announced on
March 8. The winner
will be decided on the
basis of public voting,
which will be open till
February 18 on six BBC
websites. Vinesh had
won a bronze at the 2019
World Championship in
Nur Sultan to secure a
quota for Tokyo Olym-
pics while Sindhu be-
came 1st Indian shut-
tler to become world
champion last year.
Kansas City end 50-year
Super Bowl drought
Arch-rivals India and Pak
clash in U19 WC semi-final
Vinesh Phogat,
Sindhu & Mary
nominated
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Divyansh
Saxena, Priyam Garg (captain), Dhruv Chand
Jurel (vice-captain and wicketkeeper), Shashwat
Rawat, Siddhesh Veer, Shubhang Hegde, Ravi
Bishnoi, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Atharva
Ankolekar, Kumar Kushagra, Sushant Mishra,
Vidyadhar Patil
Pakistan: Rohail Nazir (captain and wicket-
keeper), Haider Ali (vice-captain), Abbas Afridi,
Qasim Akram, Aamir Ali, Abdul Bangalzai,
Mohammad Haris, Fahad Munir, Mohammad
Huraira, Tahir Hussain, Amir Khan, Arish Ali
Khan, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad
Wasim, Mohammad Shehzad
ICC U19 CRICKET WORLD CUP SQUAD
MOST WEEKS AT NO. 1 IN FEDEX ATP RANKINGS (since 1973)
A list of the total number of weeks each
player has spent at No. 1 in the history
of the FedEx ATP Rankings (since 1973):
Roger Federer (SUI) (310 weeks), Pete
Sampras (USA) (286), Novak Djokovic
(SRB) (276 as of 3 February 2020), Ivan
Lendl (CZE/USA) (270), Jimmy Con-
nors (USA) (268), Rafael Nadal (ESP)
(209), John McEnroe (USA) (170), Bjorn
Borg (SWE) (109), Andre Agassi (USA)
(101), Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) (80), Stefan
Edberg (SWE) (72), Jim Courier (USA)
(58), Gustavo Kuerten (BRA) (43), Andy
Murray (GBR) (41).
Rafael Nadal’s quarter-final exit at
least gave him a chance to do some
sight-seeing.
The beautiful Caroline Wozniacki feelson top of the world after retirement…for a few minutes at least…
Simona Halep looks like she’s pretty
much already over AO disappointment
Novak Djokovic poses with
the trophy during a photo
shoot in Melbourne following
his win over Dominic Thiem.

10. Start your day with joy and
gratitude and make it more
beautiful.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
10
2NDFRONT
First India News
Gandhinagar: There is
a precedent that the
ministers have the pre-
rogative to select their
personal staff from the
government employees.
They send requests
with a list of officers,
typists, data operator
and even peon they
would like to have in
their personal staff.
But in some cases
the family members
create a ruckus with
the staff and these of-
ficers have to return
to their parent de-
partment.
In the recent past,
the case of two minis-
ters have become a
matter of discussion
at the Swarnim
Sankul and even the
secretariat, as their
personal secretaries
were sent back to
their parent depart-
ment. According to
sources, personal sec-
retary of the Minister
of State for Animal
Husbandry is consid-
ered a very knowl-
edgeable person. But
his knowledge failed,
because the minis-
ter’s son was not com-
fortable.
The minister’s son
pressurised his father
to change the personal
secretary, sources said,
adding that though the
latter was initially
against it. He requested
Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani to permit him to
change his personal
secretary and so a good
officer has returned to
the General Adminis-
tration department.
Sometimes it is also
the officers who are
ill at ease with the
minister and request
the General Adminis-
tration Department
(GAD) to transfer
them back to the par-
ent department.
Sources said personal
secretary of Minister
of State for Health
Kumar Kanani was
not comfortable with
the minister and so
on his request he was
transferred to the
parent department.
There are some lucky
officers too. For in-
stance, Cabinet Minis-
ter Kunvarji Bavalia’s
personal secretary re-
tired in June 2019, but
the minister got him an
extension for two
months. And later even
after the Chief Minis-
ter’s Office refused to
extend his services he
continues to discharge
his duties as the minis-
ter’s personal secretary.
Appointing personal staff min’s prerogative or of his family?
SURAT DIAMOND INDUSTRY BADLY
HIT BY CORONA VIRUS SCARE
Main accused ex-MLA
Chhabil Patel gets bail
BJP corporator gets
show-cause notice
for drunk dancing
‘Ban online agri-commodity trading’
First India News
Rajkot: The Sau-
rashtra Oil Mills As-
sociation (SOMA)
has written to PM
requesting that on-
line trading in agri-
commodity futures
be brought to a halt
as this is affecting
“real trade”.
In the letter, SOMA
president Samir Shah
says online futures
trading for agri-com-
modities was intro-
duced with the motive
of hedging the posi-
tion against any unu-
sual fluctuations in
the Physical market.
“However, unfortu-
nately, the object is not
being fulfilled,” he
points out.
Shah also states,
“Principally, physi-
cal market position,
and demand and sup-
ply condition, should
rule the pricing pow-
er of agri-commodi-
ties, but sorry state
of affairs is that
speculative prices
are ruling the real
physical market. Be-
cause some players
in online futures
trading market have
vested interests, they
are causing artificial
fluctuation of prices.
This is hurting phys-
ical market senti-
ments and affecting
small players. So, the
online futures trading
of agri-commodities
should be stopped at
the earliest.”
13 flights arriving to
Ahmedabad delayed
First India News
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat High Court
granted bail to former
MLA Chhabil Patel on
Monday in connection
with a case lodged
against him for alleg-
edly conspiring to
eliminate the sole eye-
witness Pavan More,
of the sensational
murder of BJP leader
and ex-MLA Jayanti
Bhanushali in a run-
ning train in January
last year, in which
also Patel was a main
accused.
Despite getting bail
in this case, Chhabil Pa-
tel who was arrested on
March 14 last year from
the Airport after his re-
turn from the US, and
was lodged in Galpadar
jail in Gandhidham
since then, will not be
able to come out as he
has not got bail in the
main Jayanti Bhanush-
ali murder case.
His advocate Harsh
H Kanthecha said
that there were two
case lodged againt Pa-
tel and the bail was
granted in the case
number 35/2019
lodged under section
115 and 120 (B)
against Patel and
three others includ-
ing one of his rela-
tives for allegedly
conspiring to elimi-
nate More with an in-
tention to weaken the
main murder case. He
said that his client
has not yet applied
for bail in the high
court in the main
case.
The single bench
court of Justice V M
Pancholi today granted
him bail in the case per-
taining to conspiracy
regarding the alleged
attempt to eliminate the
witness.
Notably, Patel was
nabbed in the early
hours from Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel In-
ternational airport
here on March 14
soon after his return
from the US. He was
living abroad from a
few days before the
murder of Bhanusha-
li. A lookout notice
was issued for him.
The SIT of CID-Crime
which was doing the
investigation nabbed
him. The SIT had ear-
lier arrested 5 ac-
cused Including two
of the sharn shooters
and Patel Siddharsh
Surat: In an embar-
rassment for the rul-
ing BJP in “dry” Gu-
jarat, one of its cor-
porator from Surat
was captured on cam-
era while purported-
ly dancing in an ine-
briated condition.
With the video of the
corporator, Piyush
Shivshaktiwala, going
viral on social media,
the party has issued a
show-cause notice to
him, Surat BJP presi-
dent Nitin Bhajiyawala
said on Monday.
Shivshaktiwala
represents Sagram-
pura municipal ward
in the Surat Munici-
pal Corporation. The
undated video was
shot on a mobile
phone at a farm house
in coastal Nagrol vil-
lage in neighbouring
Valsad district.
“A show cause no-
tice has been issued to
Shivshaktiwala. The
city unit will also de-
mand his suspension
from the party,” said
Bhajiyawala.
Manufacture, stor-
age, sale and consump-
tion of liquor is prohib-
ited in Gujarat.
The corporator was
allegedly enjoying a par-
tywithagroupof people
at the farm house.
Meanwhile, Shivshak-
tiwala on Monday de-
nied that he had con-
sumed liquor at the
party. He said a bottle
shown in the video
contained fruit juice.
“I have a liquor per-
mit which was granted
to me on a health
ground. I danced at the
party but did not con-
sume liquor. Dancing is
not a crime. I will issue
a clarification to the
party about this. The
bottle had no liquor but
fruit juice in it,” he told
reporters. —PTI
First India News
Ahmedabad: 13 flights
arriving in Ahmedabad
were delayed. The high-
est Air India
Ahmedabad-Mumbai
flight was delayed by
2.35 hours. Late flights
had the highest number
of Air India 6 flights, 4
IndiGo flights late.
Mumbai-Ahmedabad
flight also delayed 2.35
hours.
First India News
Surat: The deadly co-
rona virus, which has
already claimed 250
lives, is likely to have
a major impact on the
famous diamond in-
dustry of Surat that
exports and imports
diamonds from Hong
Kong.
This is because the
Hong Kong Govern-
ment has announced
a month-long vaca-
tion in the country in
view of the scare cre-
ated by the virus.
Surat imports rough
gems from Hong Kong
and exports polished
diamonds there. Indus-
try sources said as
much as 37 per cent of
the diamonds exported
there from the country
are from Surat.
Jewellery made from
the polished diamonds
is also being exported
to Hong Kong from Su-
rat.
With Hong Kong
declaring a holiday
till March 3, the Su-
rat diamond industry
would suffer a huge
blow. The Gujarati
businessmen in that
country are also re-
turning to India be-
cause of the vaca-
tion.
On the other hand,
industry sources in-
formed that the inter-
national jewellery exhi-
bition in Hong Kong
scheduled to be held in
March is also likely to
be postponed because
of the corona scare.
Regional Chair-
man of the Gems and
Jewellery Export
Promotion Council
(GJEPC) Dinesh Nav-
adiya told a section
of the media that ear-
lier a local agitation
in Hong Kong had hit
the diamond indus-
try and now with the
corona virus scare, it
would have a major
impact and the losses
could run into sever-
al hundred crore ru-
pees. Industry sourc-
es said it is a bit early
to quantify the exact
losses.
Not only the dia-
mond industry, even
the exports of sesame
and cummins from
Saurashtra to China
have been badly im-
pacted since January
18. As many as 15
lakh gunny bags of
cummins and 85,000
tonnes of sesame are
being exported every
year from the Sau-
rashtra region to
China.

In the recent
past, the case of
two mins have
become a matter
of discussion as
their personal
secretaries were
sent back to
their parent
department
JAYANTI BHANUSHALI MURDER CASE
AIR INDIA
INDIGO
SPICE JET
CEC Sunil Arora reviews poll
preparedness for Delhi elections
New Delhi: Election
Commission led by
Chief Election Com-
missioner Sunil Arora
and Election Commis-
sioners Ashok Lavasa
and Sushil Chandra
on Monday reviewed
the poll preparedness
for Delhi Assembly
elections with Chief
Secretary, Police Com-
missioner and senior
officials of Delhi Gov-
ernment and senior of-
ficers of the neighbour-
ing States namely Hary-
ana and UP.
Nodal Officers from
Ministry of Home Af-
fairs, CRPF, Ministry of
Railways also joined the
meeting.
Chairing the Video
Conferencing meet-
ing from Nirvachan
Sadan, CEC Arora
took an in-depth re-
view to ensure that
due steps have been
taken for smooth co-
ordination amongst
various wings of the
administration and
police forces of ad-
joining states particu-
larly at border check
posts for preventing
illegal movement of
cash, liquor, arms or
anti social elements.
The Commission also
reviewed necessary ac-
tivities for poll prepar-
edness with Central Ob-
servers so assigned for
the forthcoming polls.
Observers assured
the Commission that
preparations are on
schedule and gaining
momentum with re-
spect to all requisite
polling day arrange-
ments.
Special Police Ob-
server MK Das assured
that he is personally
monitoring the situa-
tion at ground level in
sensitive areas. Special
Expenditure Observ-
er B Murali Kumar
also assured the Com-
mission that due care
will be taken by field
level teams to step up
enforcement.
Workers making face mask to protect from Corona Virus. —PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE

11. V
idya Balan, who has
won many accolades
in her successful film
career, contradicts
thepopularnotionthataward
ceremonies in India are
rigged. At an event to pro-
mote the 2020 edition of a
popular Bollywood awards
function, she said that every-
thing seems fair when an ar-
tiste wins an award. “People
often say many things about
award ceremonies but I feel
when you get that (award) in
your hand then everything is
fair,” said Vidya, at a promo-
tionaleventfortheupcoming
65theditionof AmazonFilm-
fare Awards 2020.
“I feel it’s every Indian ac-
tor or actress’ dream to win a
Filmfare Award. It was my
dream as well but I never
prepared my accept-
ance speech, be-
causethemoreyou
want to win an
award, the more
you feel anxious
after winning it.
It actually hap-
pened with me
four years in a
row.IwonBestAc-
tor (Female) award
for three years and
one year in be-
tweenIwon
the Best
Actor (Female) Critics’
award,” she added.
Vidya Balan has won Film-
fare Awards for her perfor-
mance in ‘Paa’ (2010), ‘Ishqi-
ya’ (2011), ‘The Dirty Picture’
(2012) and ‘Kahaani’ (2013).
In 2012, when Vidya won
for ‘Kahaani’, Priyanka
Chopra was reportedly
miffed for losing out for her
performance in ‘Barfi’.
Asked for her reaction on
that controversy, Vidya said:
“IwasgladIwonitthatyear,”
she laughed, and asserted: “I
amnotthatkindtothinkthat
she (Priyanka) should have
got the award. I got it and I
felt really good about it. As
long as enough people felt
that my work was worthy a
Filmfare Award that year, I
am happy. I think this has
happened many times in the
history of Filmfare Awards
wheretwoperformancesrun
neck-and-neck and then one
person gets it.” —IANS
A POST FOR LEGEND!
D
eepikaPadukone
on Sunday,
penned a heart-
felt post for her
father - badminton leg-
end Prakash Padukone.
Prakash, 64, the first
Indian to win the All
England Open badmin-
ton championships, cel-
ebrated 25 years of his
academy recently.
She took to Instagram
to share a couple of pic-
tures of her father from
the time when he used to
play for the country and
captioned the pictures:
“Pappa, Your contribution to
Badminton and Indian Sport is
immeasurable! Thank You for
your dedication, discipline, de-
termination and years of hard
work! We love you and are
proud of you! Thank You for
being you.”
Deepika also posted a story
on her Instagram handle from
the 25th anniversary celebra-
tion of the Prakash Padukone
Badminton Association, where
noted sports persons Sunil
Chhetri, Rahul Dravid, Naray-
ana Murthy and Pullela Gop-
ichand were present along
with Prakash Padukone.
On work front, Deepika will
be next seen in Kabir Khan’s
‘83 playing the character of Ka-
pil Dev’s (played by Ranveer
Singh) wife Romi Bhatia.
—Agency
11
AHMEDABAD, TUESDAY
FEBRUARY 4, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Riteish Deshmukh wishes ‘baiko’ Genelia D’Souza ‘Happy
Wedding Anniversary’ with a funny video from Goa. He took to
Instagram to share a video with his wife on their eighth anniversary.
Legendary actor Waheeda Rehman to be honoured with National
Kishore Kumar Samman by Madhya Pradesh Government today,
February 4 at her Bandra residence.The actress could not receive
the award last year due to poor health.
Farhan Akhtar and Shibani Dandekar appeared together
at an award show. Sharing a sexy picture with beau Farhan,
Shibani wrote,“Filmfare nights with @faroutakhtar dress by @
officialswapnilshinde with the best team ever.”
SCROLL THROUGH...
he release date
of Alia Bhatt,
Ranbir Kapoor
and Amitabh
Bachchan star-
rer ‘Brahmas-
tra: Part One’,
which was slated to re-
lease last year, is finally
out. The film will hit the
silver screens on Decem-
ber 4 this year. After con-
stant back-and-forth and
shuffling of premiere
dates, filmmaker Karan
Johar and actors Am-
itabh Bachchan and Alia
took to social media to
announce the new date
on Sunday morning.
Sharing a picture of the
star cast on Twitter, K Jo
wrote, “It’s final! Brah-
mastra releases on 4th
December, 2020 in Hindi,
Tamil, Telugu, Malay-
alam and Kannada!
#Brahmastra.”
Confirming that the
film’s release date will
not change this time,
Amitabh wrote on Twit-
ter, “T 3429 BRAHMAS-
TRA..comingtocinemas
on 4/12/20 & Ayan is
NOT allowed to change
it now! #Brahmastra
#RanbirKapoor.”
Alia Bhatt also took to
Instagram and an-
nounced the final re-
lease date of Brahmas-
tra. Along with sharing
a hilarious video, she
wrote, “Soooooo.. this
just happened! Brah-
mastra 04.12.2020..
promise.”
The video begins with
Ranbir Kapoor asking
Ayan Mukerji about the
film’s release date as
Alia holds the camera.
The banter continues
until the filmmaker an-
nounces the date as De-
cember 4, 2020. —Agency
BRAHMASTRA
GETS RELEASE DATE!
T
FAIRLYAWARDED
I am not that kind to think
that she (Priyanka) should
have got the award. I got it
and I felt really good about
it. As long as enough peo-
ple felt that my work was
worthy a Filmfare Award
that year, I am happy.
Alia Bhatt
Vidya Balan
...her Instagram post
Deepika Padukone