First india news paper gujarat english news paper today-08 january 2020 edition

AHMEDABAD l WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 45
2578D AY S
NIRBHAYA GETS JUSTICE
DEATH WARRANT FOR RAPISTS
New Delhi: Four con-
victs in the sensational
2012 Nirbhaya Gang
rape and murder case
will be hanged on Janu-
ary 22 at 7 am in Tihar
jail, a Delhi court said
on Tuesday.
The order was pro-
nounced by Additional
Sessions Judge Satish
Kumar Arora who is-
sued the death war-
rants against the four
death row convicts --
Mukesh (32), Pawan
Gupta(25),VinayShar-
ma (26) and Akshay
Kumar Singh (31).
During the hearing,
the prosecution said
there was no applica-
tion pending before any
court or the President
right now by any of the
convicts and the review
petition of all the con-
victs was dismissed by
the Supreme Court.
Turn on P5
FRAME BY FRAME
 The execution is expected to
take place in Jail 3 of Tihar, where
dummy trials have been carried out
to test the gallows.
 Officials say ropes have been
brought from Buxar, Bihar, the kind
used to hang Parliament attack
convict Afzal Guru in 2013. * Hang-
man From Meerut
 The convicts are in Delhi’s Tihar
jail, where officials had started pre-
paring for the hangings weeks ago.
FLASHBACK
 The 2012 Delhi gang rape case
involved a rape and fatal assault
that occurred on 16 December
2012 in Munirka, a neighbour-
hood in South Delhi. The incident
took place when a 23-year-old
female physiotherapy intern was
beaten, gangraped and tortured
in a private bus in which she was
travelling with her friend, Awindra
Pratap Pandey.
 Eleven days after the assault,
she was transferred to a hospital in
Singapore for emergency treatment
but succumbed to her injuries two
days later
Convict Mukesh Singh’s
mother walked up to
Nirbhaya’s mother, held
her sari in a gesture of
begging, and pleaded:
“Mere bete ko maaf kar
do. Main uski zindagi ki
bheekh maangti hoon
(Please forgive my son.
I am begging you for his
life).” She wept. So did
Nirbhaya’s mother, who
replied: “I had a daughter
too. What happened with
her, how can I forget?
I have been waiting for
justice for seven years...”
The judge then ordered
silence in the courtroom.
IN THE
COURTROOM
STAMPEDE KILLS 40 AT FUNERAL
FOR IRAN GENERAL KILLED BY US
Tehran: A stampede
on Tuesday at a funer-
al procession for a top
Iranian general killed
in a US airstrike last
week killed 40 people
and injured 213 oth-
ers, two Iranian semi-
official news agencies
reported.
The stampede took
place in Kerman, the
hometown of Revolu-
tionary Guard Gen Qas-
sem Soleimani, as the
processiongotunderway,
said the Fars and ISNA
news agencies, citing Pi-
rhossein Koulivand, the
head of Iran’s emergen-
cy medical services.
Turn on P5
JNU RUCKUS SPREADS
Gujarat nahi dekha toh kuchh nahi dekha, declares Rupani
Darshan Desai
Ahmedabad: Chief
Minister Vijay Rupani
was between the kites
on Tuesday, pulling a
string or two, playing
with the kids and giv-
ing out autographs, as
at his youthful best,
declared “Gujarat
nahi dekha toh kuchh
nahi dekha”.
Rupani inaugurat-
ed the 31st Interna-
tional Kite Festival in
presence of Governor
Acharya Devvrat and
a large number of
dignitaries and en-
thusiasts at the Sa-
barmati Riverfront in
Ahmedabad.
In all, 153 kiters from
43 countries and 115 kit-
ers from 12 states in In-
dia are participating in
the festival.
Rupani recalled, “the
contribution of Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi when he was the
Chief Minister in
popularising Rann
Utsav, Tana Riri Mu-
sic Festival, Uttara-
rdha Mahotsav at
Modhera Sun Temple
and Festivals at Som-
nath, Dwarka besides
the National Salt Me-
morial at Dandi.”
Stating that “Gujarat
Nahi Dekha To Kuchh
Nahi Dekha”, the Chief
Minister said these fes-
tivals have put Gujarat
on the global tourism
map. “The world’s tall-
est statue like Statue of
Unity has attracted
over 35 lakh visitors
during one year,” Ru-
pani beamed.
He greeted the peo-
ple for Makar Sank-
ranti and said the Kite
Festival coinciding
with Uttarayan marks
the Sun’s northward
journey. The motto is
‘sauna saath, sauno vi-
kas’. Turn on P5
(Left) CM Vijay Rupani with Governor Devvrat Acharya during the inauguration of the International
Kite Festival in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. (Right) Governor Devvrat Acharya releases balloons as
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and MoS (Home) Pradipsinh Jadeja look on.
After
4 CONVICTS TO HANG TILL DEATH ON JAN 22 AT 7AM
‘This will restore
faith in law’
New Delhi: The
hanging of Nirb-
haya convicts will
restore the faith of
women in law, her
mother Asha Devi
said on Tuesday.
Four convicts in the
2012 Nirbhaya gan-
grape and murder
case will be hanged
on January 22 at 7 am
in Tihar jail, the court
said.
Nirbhaya’s moth-
er said that January
22 will be a big day
for her when the con-
victs are hanged.
The victim’s father,
Badrinath Singh,
also expressed relief.
“It was a long jour-
ney, I am happy with
the verdict,” he said.
The order was pro-
nounced by Addition-
al Sessions Judge Sat-
ish Kumar Arora who
issued death war-
rants against them.
The four death row
convicts are Mukesh,
Vinay Sharma, Ak-
shay Singh and
Pawan Gupta.
Delhi Commission
for Women (DCW)
chairperson Swati
Maliwal welcomed
the order. “It’s a vic-
tory for every citi-
zen of the country, I
salute the mother
who kept fighting
for the past seven
years,” she said. “I
would also like to
thank the judges.
Such rapists should
be brought to justice
in six months.”
The 23-year-old
woman, a paramedic
student, was brutally
gang-raped and tor-
tured on the night of
December 16, 2012, in-
side a moving bus in
south Delhi by six per-
sons before being
thrown out on the
road. ‘Nirbhaya’
(braveheart), as she
came to be known
around the country,
succumbed to her in-
juries almost two
weeks later — on De-
cember 29, 2012, at
Mount Elizabeth Hos-
pital in Singapore.
Nirbhaya case victims mother flashes the victory sign along with lawyers.
AKSHAY
THAKUR
PAWAN
GUPTA
MUKESH
SINGH
VINAY
SHARMA
 Even as the Delhi po-
lice is yet to arrest those
involved in the hours-long
rampage at the Jawaharlal
Nehru University (JNU)
campus on Sunday, it
has come under fire for
naming students, includ-
ing the injured JNUSU
president Aishe Ghosh,
in its FIR.
 AIMIM president Asa-
duddin Owaisi Tuesday
condemned the registra-
tion of the FIR against
“the girl who was injured
in the violence”, instead
of those who “made an
attempt to kill” her.
 “…they made an at-
tempt to kill that union
president. First thing is
that inquiry should look
into how did the police al-
low them. Secondly, what
did the V-C do. Thirdly,
even the police allowed
safe passage for goonda
elements,” Owasi said in
Hyderabad.
CM OPENS LAND BANK PORTAL
Gandhinagar: In one more step towards ease of do-
ing business in the State, the Vijay Rupani Govern-
ment has developed a special Gujarat Land Bank
Portal to enable entrepreneurs and industrialists to
identify best locations for their future projects. Ru-
pani launched the portal in Gandhinagar on Tuesday.
This land bank portal has details of land availability
in GIDC estates, Dholera Special Investment Regions
(SIR), PCPIR, SEZ and also land available at private
industrial parks and logistics parks. The industrial-
ists will also get information about basic infrastruc-
ture projects or logistics like rail, road, airport,
sea port, power lines, water, hospital and gas grid
networks in the portal. Chief Principal Secretary to
CMO K Kailashnathan, Principal Secretary to CMO
as well as Industries and Mines M K Das, Industries
Commissioner Rahul Gupta and Indextb managing
director Neelam Rani were present when the Chief
Minister launched the portal.
—PHOTOSBYNANDANDAVE
PAGE
2
Turn on P5, More on P7

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
A
fter a Delhi
court issued
death war-
rant against
all four convicts in 2012
Nirbhaya Delhi gang-
rape case, the convicts’
lawyer AP Singh on
Tuesday said that he
will file a curative peti-
tion in the Supreme
Court seeking a stay on
the same.
“We will file a cura-
tive petition in the Su-
preme Court within
two days. Five senior-
most judges of the Su-
preme Court will hear
it. There has been me-
dia, public and politi-
cal pressure since the
beginning, which is
why an unbiased probe
did not take place in
this case,” Singh told
ANI. He said that the
curative petition will
be filed on behalf of all
four convicts, namely
Akshay, Vinay, Pawan
and Mukesh.
“The court has given
us the time to file a cu-
rative petition. We will
file the application
seeking a stay on the
death warrant and I
am hopeful that the
court will hear it,” Sin-
gh said.
“Death sentence is
for the poor of this
country. No rich has
ever been hanged,” he
added.
A Delhi court today
said that all four death
row convicts in the
Nirbhaya case will be
hanged at 7 am on Jan-
uary 22.
The court heard the
plea of parents of the
2012 Delhi gang-rape
victim seeking to ex-
pedite the procedure
to hang all four con-
victed in the case and
also seeking issuance
of death warrant
against them.
The court had on
December 20 reserved
the order on an appli-
cation filed by Pawan
Kumar Gupta’s father
till today. The petition
had stated that the
girl’s friend commit-
ted perjury for giving
false testimony in the
court.
The sole eye-witness
was accompanying the
23-year-old girl when
she was raped and
murdered by six men
on a moving bus on
December 16, 2012.
The main accused,
Ram Singh, allegedly
committed suicide in
Tihar Jail during the
trial. Another accused
was a minor at the
time of the commis-
sion of the crime and
was sent to a reform
facility and released
after three years.
All the four convicts
had earlier knocked at
the doors of the Su-
preme Court against
the Delhi High Court
order of March 2014
which had confirmed
the capital punish-
ment awarded to them
by the trial court on
September 13, 2013.
JUSTICE...FINALLY
‘WE’LL FILE A CURATIVE PETITION IN THE SC WITHIN TWO DAYS. FIVE SENIOR-MOST JUDGES OF THE
SUPREME COURT WILL HEAR IT. THERE HAS BEEN MEDIA, PUBLIC AND POLITICAL PRESSURE, WHICH IS
WHY AN UNBIASED PROBE DID NOT TAKE PLACE IN THIS CASE,’ SAID NIRBHAYA’S LAWYER
The curative peti-
tion is fairly a new
concept in the Indian
legal system. It is the
last judicial resort
available for redressal
of grievances in court
which is normally de-
cided by judges in-
chamber. It is only in
rare cases that such
petitions are given an
open-court hearing.
The concept of cura-
tive petition was first
evolved by the Supreme
Court of India in the
matter of Rupa Ashok
Hurra vs. Ashok Hurra
and Anr. (2002) where
the question was
whether an aggrieved
person is entitled to
any relief against the
final judgement/order
of the Supreme Court,
after dismissal of a re-
view petition.
To entertain the cu-
rative petitions, the Su-
preme Court has laid
down certain specific
conditions: The peti-
tioner will have to es-
tablish that there was a
genuine violation of
principles of natural
justice and fear of the
bias of the judge and
judgement that ad-
versely affected him;
The petition shall state
specifically that the
grounds mentioned
had been taken in the
review petition and
that it was dismissed
by circulation; The pe-
tition is to be sent to
the three senior most
judges and judges of
the bench who passed
the judgement affect-
ing the petition, if
available; If the major-
ity of the judges on the
above bench agree that
the matter needs hear-
ing, then it would be
sent to the same bench
(as far as possible); and
The court could im-
pose “exemplary
costs” to the petitioner
if his plea lacks merit.
It may be noted that
on Tuesday, the SC re-
ferred eight curative
petitions against the
Section 377 of the 1862
Indian Penal Code to a
five-judge Constitu-
tion bench, as the is-
sue involved a ques-
tion of far-reaching
constitutional impor-
tance. “Whoever vol-
untarily has carnal
inter-course against
the order of nature
with any man, woman
or animal, shall be
punished with [im-
prisonment for life].
 Dec 16, 2012: A paramedical
student out with her male
friend was gang-raped and
brutally assaulted by six
men in a private bus and
thrown out of the moving
bus on the streets.
 Dec 17: Police identify the
accused - bus driver Ram
Singh, his brother Mukesh,
Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta
and a juvenile.
 Dec 18: Police arrest the
accused.
 Dec 21: Juvenile nabbed
from Anand Vihar bus termi-
nal in Delhi.
 Dec 22: Sixth accused
Akshay Thakur arrested in
Bihar.
 Dec 29: Victim succumbs to
her injuries at a Singapore
hospital.
 Jan 3, 2013: Police files
charge-sheet against the five
accused.
 Feb 28: Juvenile Justice
Board (JJB) frames rape,
murder charges against the
juvenile accused.
 Mar 11: Main accused Ram
Singh commits suicide in
Tihar jail.
 Aug 31: JJB finds the juve-
nile accused guilty of rape
and murder, sentences him
to three years in a special
home.
 Sept 13: Four remaining ac-
cused sentenced to death by
Additional Sessions Judge.
 Mar 13, 2014: Delhi HC up-
holds the trial court verdict.
 Apr 3, 2016: Hearings begin
in SC.
 May 5: SC upholds death
penalty of Akshay, Vinay,
Pawan and Mukesh.
 Aug 29: Drama in the
courtas the allegation of
the police tampering with
evidence is made.
 Feb 3, 2017: SC decides
to rehear the case on the
sentencing aspect after the
petitioners contend that
there are violations in the
procedure.
 Mar 27: SC reserves verdict
after nearly a year of hearing
the case.
 May 5: SC rejects the plea
by four convicts challenging
death penalty.
 Nov 13: The convicts appeal
to the apex court to review
the sentence.
 May 4, 2018: SC upholds
the order on the plea of
three convicts seeking a
review of its 2017 verdict
upholding the death penalty.
 July 9: SC dismisses review
petitions of three convicts.
Fourth convict Akhsay had
not filed a review petition.
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN NIRBHAYA CASE
23-year-old, Nirbhaya, died days after she was gangraped on a moving bus, tortured with
an iron rod and dumped on the road, naked and bleeding, on December 16, 2012. She
and her friend had boarded the bus from south Delhi after a movie
New Delhi: In April
2016, the SC began hear-
ing the pleas of the four
men sentenced to death
for raping a paramedic
in a bus in Delhi on De-
cember 16, 2012 and a
year later upheld the
death sentence.
Here are the main evi-
dence the apex court
took into account to de-
cide that Akshay
Thakur, Vinay Sharma,
PawanGuptaandMuke-
sh Singh deserved no
leniency.
1. In its judgment on
May 5, 2017, the top
court found the evi-
dence of the lone wit-
ness who was the vic-
tim’s friend, to be unim-
peachable. It said the
statement cannot be
disbelieved simply be-
causetherewerecertain
omissions that the de-
fence had flagged.
2. The court also re-
lied on the victim’s dy-
ing declaration and said
such a declaration re-
corded on the basis of
nods and gestures is not
only admissible but also
possesses evidentiary
value. Of her three dy-
ing declarations that
were recorded, the last
one was in gestures.
3. It also took into ac-
count the prosecution’s
charge that the rape was
brutal and inhuman.
4. DNA profile from
the blood stains from
the rod showed it had
the victim’s blood. The
rod was recovered at the
instance of another ac-
cused Ram Singh.
5. The court also held
that the DNA analysis
had cogently linked
eachof theaccusedwith
the victims and the
crime scene.
6. The court also said
that the odontology re-
port which the prosecu-
tion had relied upon
heavily was credible.
7. The court also said
the crime was an act of
conspiracy which was
established by the se-
quence of events.
8. The recovery of
the bus and CCTV foot-
age was also a major
evidence for the prose-
cution which the SC
said was not tampered
with.
9. The court also re-
lied on the police theory
and said the recovery of
articles such as clothes
and mobile phones of
the victim and her
friend from the accused
cannot be discarded be-
cause there was no ex-
planation from the ac-
cused explaining how
they came to possess
those articles.
Evidence Supreme Court relied
upon to uphold death penalty
What is curative petition?
Image for representational purpose only.
Mother of Nirbhaya case victim is
seen outside Patiala House Court
in New Delhi, Tuesday.
Vasundhara Raje
@VasundharaBJP
Justice is served!
A death warrant
for the 4 convicts
in the #Nirbhaya
case sends across a
powerful message.
An empowering mo-
ment for the women
of India! #Nirbhay-
aCase
Harshdeep Kaur
@HarshdeepKaur
Relieved to read this
news!! The culprits
of Nirbhaya’s case
to be hanged on
22nd Jan!! Justice
is finally being
served #Nirbhaya
Gautam Gambhir
@GautamGambhir
Finally! India’s
daughter gets JUS-
TICE! #Nirbhaya
Ritika Jain
@riotsjain
The four convicts in
the #Nirbhayacase
will be hanged on
January 22 at 7am.
However, they can
file mercy petitions
and curative pleas
before this date
Madhav Sharma
@HashTagCricket
“The person I’d like
to thank above all
is my daughter. It
is she who had to
wait these 7 years.”
#Nirbhaya’s Mother
Tavleen Singh Aroor
@Tavysingh
These two. Un-
imaginable loss.
Unbearable struggle
and agony. Irrepara-
ble loss. I pray they
get some sought of
closure today. Asha
Devi & Badrinath
Singh - more power
and peace to you.
Chitra Kishor Wagh
@ChitraKWagh
Finally a day of
recognition for
Indian judiciary.
After 7 years
long courteous
journey,judgement
day arrives on Jan
22. Hopefully this
time no further
delays, no more
appeals,no more
mercy please. Jus-
tice to the parents
and to the society
#nirbhayaverdict
#Nirbhaya
@PMOIndia
Pradeep Bhandari
@pradip103
All four convicts in
the Nirbhaya Case
will be hanged
on 22nd January
2020. Finally long
due justice for
Nirbhaya and her
mother is delivered.
But one question
that still remains
unanswered is ‘why
justice is delayed so
much in our coun-
try?’ #Nirbhaya
Ashish Chauhan
@AshishSainram
As an Indian, I
feel relieved that
FINALLY justice
will be delivered in
#Nirbhaya case Her
family can take a
sigh of relief after
7 years of judicial
process I feel hum-
bled to be part of
organisation like @
ABVPVoice which
stood for the cause
of justice

New Delhi: Ties be-
tween India and the
United States have
grown from strength to
strength, PM Naren-
dra Modi told Donald
Trump during a tele-
phonic conversation
and expressed his de-
sire to continue to
work with the US
President for enhanc-
ing cooperation in all
areas of mutual in-
terest, the Prime Min-
ister Office (PMO)
said on Tuesday.
During the talks, PM
Modi highlighted the
significant progress
made towards deep-
ening the Strategic
Partnership between
the two countries in
the previous year, the
PMO said in a state-
ment. The US Presi-
dent expressed satis-
faction at the achieve-
ments in the relation-
ship between the two
countries in the last
few years and reiter-
ated his readiness for
further deepening bi-
lateral cooperation.
PM Modi also extend-
ed New Year greetings
to President Trump, his
family and the people of
the US.
Trump reciprocated
the gesture and wished
the people of India
prosperity and progress
in the New Year. “He ex-
pressed satisfaction at
the achievements in the
relationship in the last
few years and reiterat-
ed his readiness for fur-
ther deepening bilater-
al cooperation,” PMO
India said.
“The PM stated that
India-US relations,
which are built on
trust, mutual respect
and understanding,
have grown from
strength to strength.
The Prime Minister
highlighted the sig-
nificant progress
made in deepening
the Strategic Partner-
ship between the two
countries in the pre-
vious year and ex-
pressed his desire to
continue to work with
President Trump for
enhancing coopera-
tion in all areas of
mutual interest,” the
statement read. —ANI
Gloves are off in ‘healthcare’ battle between Guj and Raj
Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar: The
knives are out over the
recent infant deaths in
Gujarat and Ra-
jasthan with the rul-
ing BJP on Tuesday
taking the battle right
into the rival camp,
pointing fingers at the
holes in the health-
care system in the
neighbouring state
while the Congress
mocked at the State’s
claim to be a model of
development.
Deputy Chief Minis-
ter Nitin Patel, who has
been drafted to do the
fire-fighting on behalf
of the Vijay Rupani
Government, alleged
that the Congress
leaders were acting
on the behest of their
high command to di-
vert the national at-
tention away from
poor medical services
in Rajasthan. (See
Page 5 for report on
comparative data and
steps taken by State
Government)
At his aggressive
best, Patel asserted,
“The Congress lead-
ers are trying to de-
fame Gujarat by mak-
ing false allegations.
The party is support-
ing Pakistan and ter-
ror groups are work-
ing against the state
and national inter-
est.”
Nitin Patel told re-
porters here that the,
“Gujarat Congress lead-
ers have instructions
from the top to unneces-
sarily drag Gujarat into
the controversy on
child mortality ratio,
though we are doing far
better in health sector
compared to the Con-
gress-ruled Rajasthan.”
The Deputy CM, who
also holds the health
portfolio, alleged it
was just to draw the
media eyeballs that
State Congress Presi-
dent Amit Chavda and
other leaders visited
the Neonatal Intensive
Care Unit (NICU) in
the Rajkot civil hospi-
tal. “They went there
just to take photos and
selfies,” Patel said,
adding that if the Op-
position party was
concerned about the
issue they would have
come up with concrete
suggestions before the
government.
“The issue is very se-
rious and the entire
country is facing it,
there is not a single
state where the child
mortalityiszero.Guja-
rat is doing better than
several other states
and has been able to
bring down mortality
ratio,” he said.Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel. —FILE PHOTO
INDIA-US TIES HAVE GROWN FROM
STRENGTH TO STRENGTH: MODI TO TRUMP
AHMEDABAD l WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 45
PM CONDOLES THE
DEMISE OF PN HOON
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
Tuesday condoled the demise of
former Western Army Commander
Lieutenant General Prem Nath Hoon
and said that he served India with
utmost dedication. “Extremely sad-
dened by the passing away of Lt Gen
PN Hoon (retd). He served India with
utmost dedication and contributed
signiﬁcantly towards making our
nation stronger and more secure.
My thoughts are with his family and
friends in this sad hour. Om Shanti,”
Prime Minister Modi tweeted. Lieu-
tenant General Hoon, who played
an important role in the war against
Pakistan in 1984, passed away
on Monday evening at the age of
90. He was admitted in Command
Hospital, Chandimandir, Panchkula
due to illness. He was declared dead
around 5:30 pm on Monday evening.
Born in pre-partition India on October
4, 1929, Lt Gen Hoon had joined
the Indian Army and led Operation
Meghdoot, the code-name for the
Indian Armed Forces operation to
capture the Siachen Glacier in the
Kashmir region, precipitating the
Siachen Conﬂict. The action resulted
in Indian troops gaining control of the
entire Siachen Glacier. —ANIFile Photo of PM Narendra Modi with US President Donald Trump
in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, US.
—FILE PHOTO
SURJEWALA POOH-POOHS ‘GUJ MODEL’
Congress spokesperson Randeep
Surjewala lashed out at CM Vijay
Rupani for children’s deaths at
Rajkot and also at the media for
the alleged inadequate coverage of
it. Surjewala tweeted: “First 1235
innocent children died in Rajkot,
375 children died in Gandhinagar-
Ahmedabad. 14 more innocent deaths in the last
5 days. Where is Vijay Rupani, the head of Modi’s
‘Gujarat model’ missing?” But Surjewala didn’t stop
there. He went on to train guns at the media ask-
ing, “Along with BJP’’s silence, the media is also
silent, what are the reasons?” Earlier, the Congress
slammed the BJP for the death of children at Rajkot
and Ahmedabad Hospitals in Gujarat where more
than 200 infants have died in the two hospitals. State
Congress in-charge Rajiv Satav had said: “When will
the Prime Minister and the Home Minister break their
silence on the deaths of children, while they boast of
work done in Gujarat.” —Agencies

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020
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
Smart Singham and his
squirming superior
Recently, there have been as many as seven or
eight instances of suicide or attempted suicide
due to harassment by private money lenders
(euphemistically called “financers”) in the city.
So it makes sense that one such lender, who was
named in an application, was worried about police
action against him. What doesn’t make much sense,
however, is what came after. We hear that the
“financer” sent a “box of sweets” to a DCP, who then
instructed an inspector at the local police station not
to register a complaint on the basis of application.
Luckily for law and order in the city, this Inspector
‘Singham’ went ahead with the complaint against the
corrupt money lender! When the angry DCP heard
what had happened, he made an angry phone call to
his honest if disobedient subordinate—who recorded
everything! Wanna guess who’s squirming in his well-
upholstered seat now?
So much for ‘Khushboo
Gujarat ki’ at River Front
“Toilets first, temples later,” is a fine political
slogan. Too bad it doesn’t appear to have
translated into actual functioning restrooms
on the ground. We’re not even getting into the
paucity of public restrooms around the city, but
you’d think that a venue that regularly hosts
guests from outside the city, state and even the
country would have working loos! Yes, we’re
talking about the Sabarmati River Front, that’s
currently hosting the week-long International
Kite Festival. With no “pukka” sanitation on
offer, delegates from more than 45 countries will
have to depend on assembled ones. And, given
the shape that these are in, well... let’s hope
our visitors can hold their breaths if not their
bladders. If not, they’ll be smelling something, all
right, but it won’t be “Khushboo Gujarat ki,” that
much is sure!
Attempted kidnapping
of 13-year-old girl
Banaskantha mamlatdar
ensnared in ACB trap
Industries and Mines dept
employees caught in trap
Man accused of posing as
CBI officer in Nikol
First India News
Ahmedabad: Navrang-
pura police have regis-
tered a complaint
against a truck driver
for attempting to kidnap
a 13-year-old girl on
Tuesday.
According to the com-
plaint filed by migrant
labourer Kalabhai
Kharad, he and his fam-
ily were asleep in a tent
at the Gandhigram Rail-
way station, when an
unknown person at-
tempted to pull his
13-year-old daughter in
to a vehicle. This inci-
dent occurred just after
midnight, he said.
He woke up to his wife
and daughter scream-
ing, and chased the
would-be kidnapper.
While the assailant fled,
Kalabhai had seen his
face and identified him
as a truck driver who
hadbeenseeninthearea
for the past three days.
Later, another driver
Munnakumar Rai told
himthatthepersonIhad
chased was Ramjitku-
mar, a resident of Bihar.
The complaint further
says that Kalabhai then
informed his company’s
night supervisor Avin
Bhatt, who called the po-
lice control room to re-
port the incident.
Ahmedabad: The
mamlatdar of the Di-
yodar taluka in the
Banaskantha district
has become the latest
government officer to
be trapped by the Anti-
Corruption Bureau
(ACB). The Gandhina-
gar crime branch on
Tuesday caught the
mamlatdar’s driver al-
legedly taking a bribe
of Rs25,000. ACB
sources say a citizen
of Banaskantha had
filed a complaint with
ACB saying mamlat-
dar Pranbhai Panchal
had allegedly demand-
ed a bribe, or a month-
ly hafta.
Gandhinagar: Gan-
dhingar ACB caught
two government em-
ployees at the Indus-
tries and Mine depart-
ment accepting a bribe
worth Rs16,000. An
ACB official received a
tip-off, stating that
some employees of the
Industries and Mines
department were de-
manding bribes from
vehicle owners. On re-
ceiving this informa-
tion, the ACB set up a
trap and arrested
Prahladbhai Chaud-
hary, a clerk at the
Chiloda check post
and Rohit Desai, a con-
tract employee at Chil-
oda check post. Gan-
dhinagar ACB Inspec-
tor HB Chavda filed a
complaint against
both and started an in-
vestigation.
Ahmedabad: A Nikol
resident has alleged
that a man posing as a
CBI inspector has
lured him and his
friends into taking
jobs as police inspec-
tors, while duping
them of lakhs of ru-
pees. According to the
complainant, a man
named Mauliksinh
Rana was posing as a
CBI officer and in the
end duped them of Rs
11 lakhs.
Six passengers on Shatabdi Express come down with food poisoning
First India News
Surat: At least six pas-
sengers came down
with food poisoning
Tuesday morning after
allegedly consuming
the breakfast served
aboardtheShatabdiEx-
press from Mumbai to
Ahmedabad. The food
came from a private
vendor, who has been
apprehended. The Rail-
ways has also refunded
the food charges of
those who fell ill, but
refused to refund the
passengers’ ticket fare.
According to a senior
official of the Indian
Railways, the six were
part of a group of 32
women who were trav-
elling from Mumbai to
Surat to partake of the
city’s delicacy, ponk.
“Six of the group of
32 women complained
of vomiting and uneas-
iness. The other pas-
sengers pulled the
chain as the train
reached Bhestan sta-
tion. As soon as we re-
ceived the information,
a team of doctors were
sent on the spot. Two
women who were se-
verely ill were given
injections and the oth-
er four were given med-
icines.Allof themwere
them were brought to
Surat station for fur-
ther treatment,” Said
CR Garuda, Station Di-
rector, Surat.
“We started feeling
unwell after eating the
bread and butter that
wasservedasbreakfast.
Welaterdiscoveredthat
the bread and butter
were very old. There
wasalayerof funguson
the bread,” a passenger
said. A complaint has
been lodged against the
contracted vendor who
supplied the food based
on the passengers’ com-
plaint. Firoz Khan,
manager of Sunshine
Caterers was taken into
custody later in the day.
A total of Rs2880 has
been refunded to the
people who complained
of healthissues.IRCTC,
thearmof theRailways
that handles catering
and tourism, charges
Rs80 per person for the
food.
First India News
Ahmedabad: More
than 10 people were hos-
pitalized with injuries
after members of the
Akhil Bharatiya Vid-
yarthiParishad(ABVP)
and its rival National
Students’ Union of In-
dia (NSUI) clashed here
on Tuesday during a
protest against Sun-
day’s violence at the
Jawaharlal Nehru Uni-
versity in New Delhi.
The incident took
place during the protest
organized by NSUI, the
student wing of the
Congress, outside the
office of the RSS-affili-
ated ABVP in Paldi.
The two groups have
blamed each other for
Sunday’s attack and
said the other used
sticks and stones to at-
tack them.
The police later
rushed to the spot and
brought the situation
under control. Later in
the day, DCP KN Damor
of Zone7toldFirstIndia
that the two bodies have
filed complaints against
eachother.“Wewillneu-
trally investigate the
matter,” he said.
NSUI General secre-
tary Gujarat Nikhil Sa-
vani was admitted to VS
Hopsital, where he un-
derwent minor surgery
and received six stitch-
es. 5 other NSUI mem-
bers were also admitted
in the same hospital, an
NSUI member said.
In a video clip telecast
by some local news
channels, Savani, a
close associate of Con-
gress leader Hardik Pa-
tel, was seen being beat-
en by some people in the
presence of policemen.
Patel and Gujarat Con-
gress chief Amit Chav-
da later visited the hos-
pital and condemned
the attack. The Con-
gress party has an-
nounced a state-wide
agitation on Wednesday.
“The police were
mute spectators while
the ABVP members
beat us,” Savani told.
However, the ABVP
alleged that NSUI mem-
bers came to its office
with the intention of at-
tacking them.
“NSUI members
came to our office wav-
ing flags. They then re-
moved the flags and
used the staffs to attack
us,” ABVP member
Naresh Desai said.
First India News
Ahmedabad: An em-
ployee of a cash-trans-
fer company was alleg-
edly robbed at knife-
point of Rs11 lakh by
three masked men on a
bike in Jamnagar on
Tuesday. The victim
was walking near Saty-
am Underpass when
three unidentified per-
sons on a bike allegedly
threatened him with a
knife and fled after col-
lecting Rs11 lakh as
well as his mobile
phone.
Jamnagar city C Di-
vision police have filed
a complaint and started
an investigation in this
case. According to po-
lice sources, the com-
plainant, identified as
Alabhai Bhikhabhai
Rathod, works with
cash-transfer company
Right Safe Guard. This
company carries cash
from different compa-
nies and deposits it in
banks.
On Tuesday after-
noon, Alabhai had col-
lected Rs11.14 lakh from
three different compa-
nies before he was loot-
ed. The bike used by the
robbers allegedly did
not have a number
plate. Jamnagar police
have begun their search
for the suspects and are
monitoring the city’s
entry and exit points.
Inspector MJ Jalu of
the Jamnagar C Divi-
sion police station said,
“We are checking
CCTV footage of differ-
ent parts of the city.
Since the accused per-
sons covered their fac-
es with cloth and did
not have a number
plate on the bike, and
the complainant could
not identify them. But
still, we are investigat-
ing the matter.”
First India News
Ahmedabad: Whistle-
blowers are not safe es-
pecially if they try to
use the RTI (Right To
Information) Act to
gain access to informa-
tion that the officer in
charge or other public
functionaries want to
keep under wraps.
In a statement to the
press, non-government
organization Mahiti
Adhikar Gujarat Pahel
(MAGP), citing data
from the CHRI website
and RTI helpline, has
said that some 14 RTI
activists seeking infor-
mation under the Act
were murdered. In addi-
tion, some 250 have been
attacked or have had the
lives of family members
threatened.
MAGP executive sec-
retary Pankti Jog stated
that although the gov-
ernment claims to be
transparent and forth-
coming with proactive
disclosure, the hard fact
remains that informa-
tion that should be
shared with stakehold-
ers has been concealed
and anyone trying to
this information
through the RTI Act is
targeted by the system.
Citing an example,
she said that the latest
victim of such an attack
is RTI activist Amit Par-
mar, an LLB Student
from Khopala village of
Botad district. His only
crime was to seek infor-
mation of the 14th Fi-
nance Commission’s
grant used in the vil-
lage. Although this in-
formation has to be pro-
actively disclosed at the
village panchayat office
as per the GoI Nov 2019
guidelines, the same
was not disclosed and,
on the contrary, the ac-
tivist was attacked, re-
sulting in fractured
hands and legs.
HEALTH HAZARD
10 injured as ABVP, NSUI clash
in A’bad over JNU violence
Armed robbers steal
`11 lakh in Jamnagar
Some 250 RTI activists attacked
and 14 murdered in the state
Incident comes a day after 100+ people held a peaceful demonstration against same attack
CONDEMNATION
CRIME
BRANCH
We are checking CCTV footage from
different parts of the city. Since the
accused persons covered their faces
with cloths and did not have a number plate
on the bike, and the complainant could not
identify them. But still, we are investigating
the matter.
—MJ Jalu, Inspector, Jamnagar C Division
Clash between the two groups in Paldi area on Tuesday. —PHOTOS BY NANDAN DAVE
Nikhil, NSUI Gujarat president

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020
JNU RUCKUS...
z CPI(M) leader Sitaram
Yechury, who joined a
protest march outside
the Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU) on Tues-
day, said he has reached
the university to show
solidarity with its teachers
and students. “I condemn
JNU violence. If the Vice
Chancellor thinks he can
silence students, then it
will not happen. We de-
mand the removal of V-C,
identiﬁcation of those
who attacked students,
and also rollback of fee
hike,” he said.
z “All those who are
witnesses to JNU violence
or have any info about
it or have captured any
activity on mobiles or
camera, are hereby re-
quested to come forward
and give their statements,
footage or pictures to SIT
at administrative block,
JNU campus,” Joy Tirkey,
DCP-Crime, Delhi Police,
said.
Gujarat nahi...
Its increasing popu-
larity hasresultedinthe
size of kite making in-
dustry increase from Rs
20 crore to Rs 600 crore.
Speaking on the occa-
sion, the Governor said
the kite festival has
over the years deserved-
ly become truly inter-
national having drawn
global attention to the
annual event, “reflect-
ing Indian ethos of Va-
sudhaiva Kutum-
bakam, believing in
world as one family. It
reflects the Gujarat’s
development model
soaring high in the sky,
achieving new mile-
stones.”
He said the kite festi-
val, which coincides
with Makar Sankranti
has its scientific basis
too, “marking the Sun’s
marching away from
Tropic of Capricorn,
with days becoming
longer than nights,
leading us from dark-
ness to light, as reflect-
ed in age-old adage ‘Ta-
masoma Jyotirgamayo’,
celebrating the harvest
festivalof Springacross
the fields, infusing en-
ergy and enthusiasm
among the people.”
The Governor and
the Chief Minister re-
leased calendar and
books on places of tour-
ist’s interest published
by the Tourism Depart-
ment. About 150 artists
from 19 countries pre-
sented global art festi-
val painting on kite fes-
tival to the Governor
and Chief Minister.
The foreign partici-
pants are from Argenti-
na, Australia, Belarus,
Belgium, Brazil, Cam-
bodia, Canada, Chili,
China, Columbia, Croa-
tia, Curacao, Denmark,
Estonia, France, Ger-
many, Indonesia, Israel,
Italy, Kenya, Korea,
Lebanon, Lithuania,
Malaysia, Malta, Mexi-
co, Nepal, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Poland,
Russia, Singapore, Slo-
venia, Spain, Sri Lanka,
Tunisia, Turkey, Thai-
land, Ukraine, United
Kingdom, USA, Viet-
nam and Zimbabwe
among others.
After 2578...
While urging the court
to issue the death war-
rants, the prosecution
said, “In between issu-
ance and execution of
death warrants of the
convicts want to file cu-
rative petitions they
can do so.”
The counsel for two
of theconvicts-Mukesh
and Vinay - said they
were in the process of
filing curative petition
in the Supreme Court.
The trial court had
earlier directed Tihar
jail authorities to seek
within a week response
from the four death row
convicts as to whether
they were filing mercy
pleas against their exe-
cutions with the Presi-
dent of India.
It was hearing the ap-
plications moved by
Nirbhaya’s parents and
the prosecution (Delhi
government) seeking
issuance of death war-
rant against the con-
vict.
The Supreme Court
on December 18 had
dismissed the plea of
Akshay seeking review
of its decision, saying
review petition is not
“re-hearing of appeal
over and over again”
and it had already con-
sidered the mitigating
and aggravating cir-
cumstances while up-
holding the death pen-
alty.
Stampede kills...
There was no informa-
tion as to what had set
off the stampede. Initial
videos posted online
showed people lying
lifeless on a road and
others shouting and
trying to help them.
Soleimani’s funeral was
later delayed but no
new timing was given.
“Unfortunately as a
result of the stampede,
some of our compatri-
ots have been injured
and some have been
killed during the funer-
al processions,” he ear-
lier said. In delaying
Soleimani’s burial, au-
thorities cited con-
cerns about the mas-
sive crowd that had
gathered, the semi-offi-
cial ISNA news agency
said.
A procession in Teh-
ran on Monday drew
over 1 million people in
the Iranian capital,
crowding both main
thoroughfares and side
streets in Tehran.
First India News
Ahmedabad: The
Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC)
razed 39 homes on Mon-
day to widen an exist-
ing road near Hirabhai
Tower in Maninagar.
While the civic body re-
located some of these
residents, many have
alleged that AMC offi-
cials razed more build-
ings than needed.
“We have become
homeless because the
AMC has razed more
space than what was re-
quired for the align
margin. They did not
even inform us before-
hand and have now
razed our homes. The
civic body has given al-
ternatives to those who
were not eligible, while
we are homeless be-
cause of the misman-
agement of AMC,” said
Kishor Vaghela, whose
house was among those
razed on Monday. Depu-
ty estate officer of the
south zone, Manish
Master said “We have
removed some 39 con-
structions and other en-
croachments to widen a
road. Out of the total
houses, residents of 24
houses were given alter-
native options as they
were valid occupiers.”
First India News
Gandhinagar: The
State Government has
decided to set up a Cen-
tral Command System
(Technical Cell) to en-
sure no critical health
servicescometoahaltin
theabsenceof approvals.
Deputy Chief Minis-
ter Nitin Patel told re-
porters here on Tuesday
that it often happened
that due to some reason
machines stop function-
ing and to get it repaired
the hospital authorities
have to put up proposals
right up to the secretari-
at level. “Patients suffer
when his happens since
approvalstaketime,”Pa-
tel said.
Patel, who also holds
the health portfolio, said
this situation needs to be
addressedandsothegov-
ernment has decided to
create central command
systems,wheresuchpro-
posals will be directly
sent to the secretary or
commissionerfortheap-
proval.
“It is with this sinceri-
ty that the state govern-
ment is working to bring
down the child mortali-
ty,” he said. Patel added
that the government is
constantly upgrading fa-
cilitiesatallhospitals.At
the same time, the Depu-
tyChief Ministerconced-
ed, “We do not claim that
we are perfect, we also
needtodoalotof workto
improve the situation.”
Patel said, “if there is
any shortage of equip-
ment the government
will make sure all re-
quired equipments are
providedtothehospitals.
All primary health cen-
tres and Community
Health Centres will be
equipped with modern
equipment.”
He added that Guja-
rat’smajoritycivilhospi-
tals are equipped with
equipment like Nebuliz-
er,Phototherapy,Suction
machine,Infusionpump,
Multipara machine,
Pulse Ocsometer ma-
chine, ABG machine,
and Bilirubin Machine.
Because of the state gov-
ernment’ssincereefforts
in the last three year
child mortality ratio is
constantly dropping.
The minister prom-
ised, “Wherever there is
a shortage of medical or
para medical staff, the
state will create a net-
work and try to fulfil the
requirement. Now the
PHCs and CHCs will not
have to wait for long to
get non functional ma-
chine repaired as the
Health Secretary will di-
rectly approve such pro-
posals without wasting
time.”
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot: Just as the con-
troversy over infant
deaths refuses to die
down, two more chil-
dren have lost their lives
in past 24 hours at the
Rajkot civil hospital,
bringing total deaths to
285 so far since October
2019.
January 2020 alone
has so far registered 16
deaths. This figure is
considered as “normal”
by medical superinten-
dent of the hospital Dr.
Manish Mehta.
Therehasbeenahuge
uproar and a big ques-
tion on the hospital’s ef-
ficiency and the prevail-
ing health system in the
state with the hospital
reporting 269 deaths in
2019 in the months of
October (87), November
(71) and December (111).
When asked about the
reasons, Dr. Mehta said,
“ premature births, con-
ventional infection and
delayed referred cases. “
And on insufficient
staff andinfrastructure,
he assured,” we have
sufficient staff. We have
90 nursing staff and 20
resident doctors. No po-
sition is vacant except
requirement of five as-
sistant professor and
one associate professor.
We are well equipped
and have sufficient in-
frastructure.”
The medical superin-
tendent explained,
“These figures are nor-
mal we are 10% less
than the average infant
death ratio. Our infant
mortality ratio is 25%
while national level ra-
tio is 35%. Our hospital
is well equipped. Cur-
rently there are 64 in-
fants admitted in the
NICU. Most of the cases
are referred cases.
When a doctor knows a
child is terminally ill
the child should not be
referred.”
Sowhoistobeblamed
for the deaths? Does it
mean there are poor
health facilities at the
taluka level, Dr. Mehta
opined,”The health fa-
cilities cannot be
termed as poor, but they
surely need to be
strengthened. For ex-
ample we had a case
from Chotila which was
referred after around 5
days, if it had come ear-
lier, we could have saved
the child. Of the 16
deaths in January, 13
were referred cases.”
Meanwhile, the Shiv
Senasubmittedamemo-
randum at the Rajkot
Collectorate demanding
actions against those re-
sponsible for the deaths
of the infants.”
FROM JACKET
Central Command for HealthcareDeputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel says Health Secretary will have powers to directly approve equipment repairs
Demolition takes our homes, say
residents as AMC widens road
2 more infants die
in Rajkot in 24
hours, Jan toll 16
Equipment
shortage to be
sorted soon
A baby in the neonatal unit of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital.
CRITICAL CHILDREN PATIENTS
ADMITTED AT NICU IN THE
PAST THREE YEARS
KOTA HOSPITAL NICU
There is no modern equipment
Outdated equipment available
3 X-Ray machines
20 ventilator machines; of which 6 work
71 warmer machines; of which 1 works
Year Number Mortality ratio
(per 1,000)
2016-17 45, 935 14.8
2017-18 47,499 15
2018-19 49,982 15.3
2019-20 42,736 12
(till Dec)
AHMEDABAD
CIVIL HOSPITAL
RAJKOT
CIVIL HOSPITAL
SURAT
CIVIL HOSPITAL
VADODARA
SSG HOSPITAL
92 beds
1 X-ray machine
15 ventilator ma-
chines; of which 13
are operational
71 warmer machines;
all operational
4 bilirubinometer
60 beds
2 X-ray machines
9 ventilator machines
57 warmer machines;
of which 47 are op-
erational
84 beds
1 X-ray machine
9 ventilator machine;
of which 8 are opera-
tional
42 warmer machines;
of which 41 are op-
erational
68 beds
2 X-ray machines; of
which 1 is operational
11 ventilator ma-
chines; all operational
43 warmer machines
GUJARAT SCENARIO
KITE
FESTIVAL
The International
Kite Festival kicked
off on Tuesday at
the Sabarmati River
Front in Ahmedabad.
Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani inaugurated
this year’s edition
of the annual event,
which is expected to
see participation by
delegates from 45
countries.
—PHOTO BY
NANDAN DAVE
Most cases are referred
from district hospitals,
says Medical
Superintendent.
‘We do not claim
that we are perfect.
We need to do a
lot more.’
BIGPICTURE

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 45 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, Managing Editor: Robin Roy, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020
BLOWING HIS
TRUMP-ET IN
WEST ASIAS President Donald Trump is
known to blow, well, his own
trumpet louder than most. Never
the one to back off from a fight,
restrain his tongue or hold back
his Tweets, he has been a high-decibel pres-
ence since his advent on the political firma-
ment.
The problem with loudmouth is they some-
times overdo the jaw-jaw, get carried away by
the sound of their own voice. When this hap-
pens, they either become a joke or evoke pity
for their asinine thoughts. But, sometimes
they sound like bullies and dangerous rabble-
rousers.
Consider Trump’s latest threats to Iran in
this context. Since he authorised a drone
strike on Iranian General Qasim Soleimani,
Trump has been consistently adding to the
already tense atmosphere in the Middle East
with his intemperate comments. Soon after
the Iranian government vowed to avenge
Soleimani’s death, Trump raised the tem-
perature further by saying the US govern-
ment has identified 52 sites for retaliatory
attacks. These 52 sites, he claimed, include
some of the cultural centres and historical
sites of the country.
Trump’s threats have caused worldwide
consternation and fierce criticism from Teh-
ran. Its leaders have called Trump foolish and
pointed out that his bullying amounts to a
contravention of international law and is
tantamount to war crimes. Though Trump
has refused to back off, saying bombing the
cultural heritage of Iran would be a legiti-
mate response to “terrorism,” the Pentagon
has ruled out such drastic measures. His de-
fense secretary has accepted the criminality
of the threat and refused to implement it.
The problem with Trump is he lives dan-
gerously on the margins of legality and mo-
rality. His conduct before and after the Presi-
dency has been far from satisfactory and has
drawn flak on many occasions. He is also fac-
ing impeachment by the US Congress for mis-
using his post to coerce Ukraine into starting
a probe against one of his political rivals.
Trump’s threat to blow up centres of Ira-
nian culture and history isn’t different from
the Taliban-esque principle of blowing up
the Bamiyan Buddhas to rile the adversary
or subjugate a rival philosophy. It just doesn’t
behoove his stature.Trump is expected to be
measured in his words, and circumspect
with his actions, especially when global
peace is at stake. But, he seems to be equating
threats with diplomacy and bluster with for-
eign policy. Yet another example of his char-
acteristic hubris is the threat to impose sanc-
tions on Iraq after its parliament passed a
resolution seeking withdrawal of US forces
from the country. Trump needs to be tread
with caution in the global arena. He should
understand that West Asia is not the US,
where his foes have learned to ignore some
of his words as rants.
IN-DEPTH
U
he reasons behind all the vio-
lent protests on the citizenship
act are because the leftists and
Naxals are extremely frustrat-
ed and angry because of the
massive victory of the BJP in
the 2019 election.
India has long been governed
by the Congress & leftist eco-
system where political power,
media, academia were con-
trolled by them. The was a set-
back to them but was consid-
ered by Leftist ecosystem as a
temporary thing arising out of
anti-incumbency vote against
10 years of UPA rule (2004-14)
but when the 2014 results were
repeated & improved by PM
Modi they realized India is
changing, becoming aware of
its rights, facts are free in social
media & leftist can no longer
control the news, narrative &
politics of this country.
This 2019 victory led to a
flurry of laws and decisions
which are hated by leftist & Ji-
hadi forces such as ban on tri-
ple talaq, abolition of article
35A, 370 & construction of Ram
Mandir. These decisions by the
government have shattered the
leftist policies implemented
since Independence & set India
to a new path of uniformity and
national integration.
The 2019 elections broke
left’s back and not being able to
cope with this set-back the Left
came up with a new technique
to not let the current govern-
ment function. They did this by
spreading false interpretations,
misguiding the people, fear-
mongering and inciting people
to come on the streets and cre-
ate mayhem. They have thrown
stones, destroyed property,
burnt buses and attacked po-
licemen during the protests
against CAA and the same has
followed since then to the cur-
rent JNU incident on which
conflicting versions exist.
The Leftist mafia has always
criticised our armed forces &
police. After the recent incident
at Jamia, they targeted the po-
lice for entering the Jamia
Campus and ran a campaign
against them which probably
made the Delhi Police reluctant
to go to universities.
But now after the JNU inci-
dent, the same leftist started
saying “why didn’t police in-
vade JNU in full force” the ba-
sic premise of these contradic-
tory stands is to attack security
forces & to not let them func-
tion properly.
The entire violent protests is
a synchronised strategy made
after losing the 2019 elections.
They have decided to adopt Jin-
nah’s strategy of direct action
day violence. They have decid-
ed to light a million fires from
Jamia to JNU, from AMU to
Jadavpur University and from
UP to West Bengal, sometimes
in the name of CAA and NRC.
The JNU incident can be seen
nothing more than a staged act
as the CAA protests have been
dying and Urban Naxals had to
create a new fire to obstruct
governments working but they
failed to realize that the 2019
India is a new India.
No government supports
violence and the government
of India has also condemned
the violence and has instruct-
ed Delhi police to be actively
involved in finding out the
facts and catch the criminals.
The government had always
been favorable to students and
considers them as the build-
ing blocks of society. This gov-
ernment from its day one has
claimed and titled itself as the
government of youth and has
taken many initiatives for the
betterment of Youth. It’s just
the Leftist Naxals have made
it a point to target govern-
ment and police for every act
and have started protesting
on streets against the Indian
government, which is making
laws to save people who are
facing Genocide in our neigh-
boring countries.
The battle lines are made
clear, one side is with perse-
cuted Hindus, Sikhs, etc. who
have no option other than In-
dia and the other side, is one
who wants millions of Roh-
ingya to come to India even
though they have various
other options to seek refuge
but does not want some 30,000
odd Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhist,
Jains, etc to come to India and
has declared war to stop it.
The CAA 2019 does not ad-
versely affect even a single
INDIAN MUSLIM, yet is being
used to spread misinforma-
tion, do fear-mongering
among people, provoking
them to do violence on streets.
The recent events where Paki-
stani Jihadi mob is threaten-
ing devotees and committing
vandalism at Nankana Saheb
Gurudwara, followed by a
Sikh being targeted and killed
in Pakistan, is the best exam-
ple to indicate how Indic
faiths are facing Genocide.
The violent protests against
CAA in the country are only
indicative of fact that the pro-
testors want people of Indic
faiths to remain in Pakistani
land and face death.
That since recently the im-
mediate threat in Pakistan
came to the forefront on social
media, the leftist knew their
entire campaign would col-
lapse & is likely that to divert
attention the attack in JNU
was stage-managed.
The leftist ecosystem was
decisively rejected by people
in 2014 & 2019 by exercising
their democratic right of vot-
ing. Thus the strategy of Jin-
nah has been adopted by left-
ist but it will not work in mod-
ern India under the govt of
PM Modi. All violent illegal
protests will be crushed by
Home Minister Amit Shah
and it will be ensured that
Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, etc. fac-
ing persecution in neighbour-
ing nations will be given pro-
tection in Bharat.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
PROTESTSSYNCHRONISED
AFTERLOSING’19POLLS
2019 victory led to a flurry of laws and decisions which are hated by the leftist
T
JNU incident
can be seen
nothing more
than a staged
act as the CAA
protests have
been dying and
Urban Naxals
had to create a
new fire to
obstruct
governments
working
ISHKARAN SINGH
BHANDARI
The 2019 elections
broke left’s back and
not being able to cope
with this set-back the
Left came up with a
new technique to not
let the current
government function
The author is an Advocate at
Supreme Court India
he narrative
that “Asians are
good at math” is
pervasive in the
United States.
Young children are aware
of it. College students’ aca-
demic performance can be
affected by it. And Asian
American presidential
candidate Andrew Yang
has made his mathemati-
cal aptitude a feature of his
campaign.
On the surface, the
“Asians are good at math”
narrative sounds like a
compliment. After all,
what’s wrong with saying
that someone is good at
something? But as I ex-
plain in a recent article,
there are two problems.
First, the narrative is false.
And second, it is racist.
I’m an experienced
teacher and researcher of
STEM education. Research
tells us that racism is a
part of students’ classroom
experiences in these sub-
jects.
If we don’t understand
how racism works – even in
supposedly “neutral” are-
as like STEM – we might
unintentionally recycle
racist ideas.
DEBUNKING
THE MYTH
As with many racial ste-
reotypes, people are genu-
inely curious whether the
“Asians are good at math”
narrative could be true.
There are videos on You-
Tube with several million
views asking that ques-
tion.
Don’t test scores prove
the narrative? In fact,
they don’t. On interna-
tional exams, it’s true that
Asian countries are
among the top performers
in math. But it’s also true
that other Asian nations
rank 38th, 46th, 59th and
63rd. Interestingly, those
top performers also lead
in reading – but there
isn’t a narrative that
“Asians are good at litera-
ture.”
Domestically, it’s the
same story. Research
shows considerable varia-
tion in mathematical per-
formance among different
Asian ethnic groups in
the U.S. If all Asian people
were innately gifted in
math, we shouldn’t see
this kind of variation.
A better explanation
has to do with education
policy and federal immi-
gration laws. Countries
that invest in teacher edu-
cation and high-quality
curriculum do better on
international tests. In the
U.S., the 1965 Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act
gave preference to STEM
professionals from Asia.
That policy affected my
own parents, who were
able to immigrate to the
U.S. under that law, not
because South Asian peo-
ple are naturally good
doctors.
MONGOLOID’ TO
‘MODEL MINORITY’
So if it’s not true, why do
we say it?
Today, Asians are often
seen as the “model mi-
nority” – hardworking,
academically talented
and professionally suc-
cessful – but it wasn’t al-
ways that way.
In the 18th century,
Asian people were classi-
fied as “mongoloids,” a
racist term based on the
pseudoscience of crani-
ometry. Whereas “cauca-
soids” (white people) were
deemed full human beings
with superior intellect, all
people of color were con-
sidered underevolved.
From the late 19th cen-
tury, a new image of
Asian people was born:
national threat. Chinese
immigrants were seen as
an economic threat to
white American workers,
and Japan became a mili-
tary threat during World
War II.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM
Racial stereotypes: Asians are good at math?
T
As with many
racial stereotypes,
people are
genuinely curious
whether the
“Asians are good
at math” narrative
could be true
TOP TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
The purpose of the nation-wide
Jan Jagran Abhiyaan is to lift the
veil off those who don’t want
peace in the country. Our Muslim
brethren have also joined in
to support #CAA and reject
the false propaganda of the
opposition. #IndiaSupportsCAA

INDIAAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020
Kolkata: A group of
academicians,filmmak-
ers, actors, artists, and
other professionals
from West Bengal have
written to PM Modi, ex-
tending their support to
the CAA, which grants
citizenship to persecut-
ed minorities from Af-
ghanistan, Bangladesh,
and Pakistan.
“We the people of
West Bengal express
our sincerest gratitude
and unreserved admira-
tion from the deepest
core of our heart to you
for enacting the CAA
and through for finally
settling this excruciat-
ing episode, which has
been tormenting and af-
flicting the Bengali psy-
che and soul for the last
seventy years, since
time of partition,”
reads the letter. Nine
signatories, Anjana
Basu, Prof Debashish
Chowdhury, Arindam
Chakraborty, Advocate
Joydip Sen, Supriyo
Bandyopadhyay, An-
indya Pulak Banerjee,
Milan Bhowmik, San-
jay Som, and Rantidev
Sengupta have con-
firmed that they have
signed the letter along
with others addressed
to the PM, extending
support to CAA.
“History bears wit-
ness to the fact that parti-
tion has caused more pain
and penury to the Bengali
people than any other. A
few far-sighted Bengali
leaders and thought-lead-
ers in the past had fore-
seenthecalamitousconse-
quences of partition.
Their wholehearted ef-
forts resulted in the crea-
tion of Bengal. These per-
sonalities includes Sir
Jadunath Sarkar, histori-
an RC Majumdar, Prof
Suniti Kumar Chattopad-
hyay, Dr Meghnad Saha,
Dr Syama Prasad Mukho-
padhyay,” the letter adds.
—ANI
GAGANYAN ASTRONAUTS TO HAVE
INDIAN FOOD IN SPACE MISSION
New Delhi: The Defence
Food Research Labora-
tory in Mysore said that
it has prepared special
desi food items for Indian
astronauts scheduled to
go into Space in Mission
‘Gaganyan’.The food
items include egg rolls,
veg rolls, Idli, moong
dal halwa and veg pulav.
Moreover, food heaters
would also be provided to
them. Special containers
have also been developed
to help the astronauts
drink liquids including
water and juices in Space
where there is no gravity.
ISRO announced that
India’s first-ever manned
mission ‘Gaganyan’ is
slated to take place by
mid-2022, and four pilots
of the IAF have been
selected for training.
SPECIAL DRIVE TO REMOVE
SPEED BREAKERS FROM NHs
New Delhi: In a bid to ensure smooth and
hassle-free traffic movement, especially at toll
plazas, a special drive has been initiated for
removal of all sorts of speed breakers on National
Highways. The speed breakers and rumble strips
constructed at toll plazas are being removed
with immediate effect for smooth vehicular
movement. The speed breakers result in consid-
erable delay, damage to vehicles and significant
discomfort to vehicle occupants and more fuel
consumption due to acceleration & deceleration.
VP NAIDU PAYS HOMAGE TO
VISHVESHATEERTHA SWAMI JI
Bengaluru: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu
appealed to people to follow the path shown by
Pejavara Sri Vishveshateertha Swami Ji & work
towards building a casteless society in India. He
said that seers like Sri Vishveshatirtha Swami Ji
have always provided solace to suffering people
and they constantly rushed to the help of the
needy. “Our ancient sages always kept welfare of
society above everything else. The great Puranic
sage Dadhichi sacrificed his life to ensure that
society remained on the path of righteousness.”
MUTHOOT MD INJURED AFTER
STONES THROWN AT CAR
Kochi: The Managing Di-
rector of Muthoot Finance
company was injured
after miscreants allegedly
threw stones at his car
today morning. George
Alexander Muthoot
suffered a head injury and
was taken to a private
hospital, the police said.A
group of employees have
been protesting against
the Muthoot management
over dismissal of 160
people from company’s
43 branches across the
state in December. While
the Muthoot manage-
ment alleged that “Centre
of Indian Trade Unions
goons” were behind the
attack that happened at
around 9 am, the union
leaders have maintained
that they have no role in
the incident.
CAA ROW
Academicians, celebs write to ModiThey have praised the Prime Minister for the ‘humane and historic step’ taken with
regard to the CAA and said it was a ‘watershed moment’ in the history of Bengal
JOINING HANDS
WITH STUDENT
IN DENIAL MODE
SILENT PROTEST BY UMAC
B-TOWN CELEBS INVITED
UPDATING NPR WITH PILOT SURVEY
DMK STAGES WALKOUT
WOMEN ACTIVISTS’ TAKE
‘I AM YOUR ‘PEHREDAR’
Mumbai: Film producer Bhushan
Kumar denied attending govern-
ment’s dinner at a hotel in Mumbai
to discuss the CAA. The event
invite was from Union Minister
Piyush Goyal and BJP’s National
Vice President Baijayant ‘Jay’ Pan-
da. Bhushan Kumar said, “I was in
Grand Hyatt. That doesn’t mean I
was in a meeting or something,”
This was after a reporter asked the
cast and crew about the meeting.
Bhushan Kumar not only arrived at
the same time as the other celebri-
ties who attended the meeting but
was also thanked by BJP’s Tarun
Rathi on Twitter
Patharpratima: Contending that
she was the custodian of people’s
rights, West Bengal CM Mamata
Banerjee said she would do every-
thing in her power to protect the
people of the state, as long as she
was alive.“We do not live at the
mercy of anyone. I will not allow
anyone to take away our rights,”
the CM said at a public meeting
here, on the western fringes of
Sunderbans. “I am your ‘pehradar’,
if anyone comes to take away your
rights, he will have to do it over
my dead body. There is no need
to be afraid of anybody,” the TMC
leader, Banerjee said.
BJP workers in Chennai hold placards during CAA support rally.
‘PIRATED PROPAGANDA’
JAFAR, DARAPURI OUT
Hyderabad: The United Muslim
Action Committee (UMAC) an-
nounced that it will organise a
silent protest in the city against
CAA & NRC on January 30.
President Asaduddin Owaisi
said, “On January 30, the day on
which Mahatma Gandhi was as-
sassinated, there will be a silent
protest between Mohammadi
line flour mill and Bapu Ghat.
There will be a human chain in
which every participant will hold
each others’ hands.”
New Delhi: BJP leader Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi said that the
protests against Citizenship
Amendment Act (CAA) in
the universities across the
country are influenced by a
pirated propaganda. “These
protests are influenced by
pirated propaganda. We want
to appeal to the protesters that
they should follow the path of
truth as truth always wins and
they shouldn’t be a part of the
pirated propaganda.”
Chennai: Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam president MK Stalin
staged a walkout for the second
continuous day from the state
Assembly opposing the CAA.
“We want to give a strong mes-
sage that we do not support
the Citizenship Amendment Act
(CAA). The AIADMK in the state
is not taking any step but just
working for the BJP in the centre
and hence we have walked out of
the assembly today,” Stalin told
reporters outside the Assembly.
Mumbai: Many Bollywood ce-
lebrities including dissidents like
Farhan Akhtar were invited to
discuss CAA with Union Railway
Minister Piyush Goyal. Director
Vipul Shah has confirmed that
he had personally invited Anurag
Kashyap and Swara Bhaskar,
who have participated in various
anti-CAA protests. Several other
celebrities from the industry
were invited and were keen
to attend the interaction, they
couldn’t come on account of be-
ing out of Mumbai on that day.
Bhubaneshwar: Amid a countrywide brouhaha over
the implementation of the amended citizenship law,
the Odisha government has initiated the process to
update the National Population Register (NPR), with
the launch of a pilot survey, an official said. A door-to-
door survey would be conducted soon as part of the
process, he said. “As per instructions of the Registrar
General of India, the NPR exercise has begun. A pilot
survey has been carried out in parts of the state, while
door-to-door survey and house-listing will be taken up
mid-April,” he added.
Lucknow: Congress worker
Sadaf Jafar and former IPS of-
ficer SR Darapuri were released
from Lucknow jail.Speaking to
media after her release, Jafar
said that she will continue to
protest until the Centre rolls
back the CAA. “The fear of
being jailed and beaten up has
now gone, thanks to Yogi Ji. I
will continue to protest strongly
till the time this inhuman law is
withdrawn,” she said. Jafar and
Darapuri were held last month
during CAA protests.
Hyderabad: Women activists in
Hyderabad alleged that attacks
on students in JNU were an
attempt to silence the youth over
their opposition to CAA & NRC.
“It is heartbreaking to see that
while JNU students were being
brutally attacked by communal
goons, cops stood silently as
spectators. How can a country
which talks about the demo-
graphic advantage of having
youth & students just condemn
it on paper & fail to arrest & pun-
ish the perpetrators of the attack?
IN THE COURTYARD
Chennai: The Special
Court for Income Tax
cases dismissed pleas
moved by Congress
leader Karti Chidam-
baram and his wife,
seeking to discharge
them from prosecution
initiated by I-T depart-
ment for alleged non-
disclosure of income of
over Rs 7 crore for the
financial year 2015-16.
The case pertains to a
land dealing where I-T
department has alleged
that property sold by
the duo in 2015 was un-
dervalued and the
amount shown on the
paper was different.
The IT dept filed a case
citing the I-T evasion
and deliberate attempts
by Karti and his wife
Srinidi Rangarajan of
selling a property in
Chennai. Later, Special
IT Court was constitut-
ed for probe. —ANI
Court dismisses
Karti, wife’s plea
‘No charge-sheet
without permission’
INCOME TAX CASE STING CASE
New Delhi: A group of
lawyers read out the
preamble of Constitu-
tion at SC lawns to
make people remember
the constitutional val-
ues. Kamini Jaiswal &
Sanjay Parikh, & other
lawyers were present.
The move comes in the
backdrop of protests
against CAA. Protests
have been held in differ-
ent parts of the country
against the Act which
grants Indian citizen-
ship to Hindu, Chris-
tian, Sikh, Buddhist
and Parsi refugees from
Pakistan, Afghanistan,
and Bangladesh. —ANI
New Delhi: Delhi’s Tis
Hazari court will hear
on Wednesday Bhim
Sena chief Chan-
drashekhar Azad’s plea
regarding his medical
treatment. Metropoli-
tan Magistrate Arul
Verma directed the con-
cerned investigative of-
ficer to submit the med-
ical report of Chan-
drashekhar on January
8. Mehmood Pracha, the
counsel of Azad moved
the court seeking medi-
cal assistance for him.
Azad stated he has a dis-
ease, which pertains to
blood thickness and re-
quires regular medical
treatment from the Hae-
matology department.
The Bhim Sena chief is
currently in judicial
custody till January 18
after he was arrested by
police from Jama Mas-
jid during the protest
against CAA.
“Azad is suffering
with “Polycythemia”,
that is a disease of
blood thickness and re-
quires to continue
checkup from con-
cerneddoctorof AIIMS,
Delhi especially Dr Ri-
shi Dhawan, Asst Pro-
fessor, Haematology
Department, AIIMS,
Delhi, where the treat-
ment of accused is go-
ing on for a long time
under the supervision
of the said concerned
doctor and requires day
to day checkup of blood,
so that as and when,
within a week or maxi-
mum ten days when the
blood becomes thick, if
it is not done it may be-
come a cause of cardiac
attack for the accused,”
the plea stated. —ANI
Nainital: The Uttara-
khand High Court di-
rected the CBI to not file
charge-sheet without its
permission in the 2016
sting video case against
former chief minister
Harish Rawat.
Justice Shudhanshu
Dhuliya slated the mat-
terforhearingonMarch
2. Before the hearing,
Rawat took to Twitter
seeking the blessing of
the people.
“Some black sheep
were stolen from my
house and they are still
at my friends houses.
Myfriendshaveaccused
me of this. CBI has filed
an FIR against me. The
case will be heard in the
Nainital HC today. I
hope your support and
blessing are with me,”
Rawat tweeted in Hindi.
The court had on No-
vember 1 postponed the
hearing till Tuesday.
Lawyers remind
Constitutional
values to masses
Court to hear Chandrashekhar’s
medical treatment plea today

INDIAAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020
FORMER AIR CHIEF MARSHAL B S
DHANOA CHOICE FOR DIPLOMATIC POST ?
Whispers are doing the rounds that Air Chief
Marshal (Retd) B S Dhanoa is still Govt’s
choice for a diplomatic position in France.
FIRST CHIEF OF AIR DEFENCE COMMAND
COULD BE FROM IAF OR INFANTRY
It is being speculated now that the first Chief of
Air Defence Command may again be from the
Infantry. However, this would again need ap-
proval from the Air Force top brass, who may
have a different opinion.
DID FM NOT CLEAR PROPOSAL OF
A K PANDEY ?
In the power corridors, it is heard that Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not approve
the proposal of the appointment of A K Pandey
as Chairman of the CBIC. In this case, she
reportedly overruled the proposal.
TEJENDER SINGH TO JOIN NIA ?
Tejender Singh is likely to join the NIA in a cou-
ple of months. He is a 2008 batch IPS officer
of UT cadre.
DR MILIND DHARNRAO RAMEKE TO JOIN
GOI AS DEPUTY DIRECTOR LBSNA
Dr Milind Dharnrao Rameke is joining the Lal
Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Admin-
istration, Mussorie as Deputy Director. He is a
2009 batch IAS officer of Tripura cadre.
ALLAHABAD HC STILL SHORT OF 44
ADDITIONAL JUDGES
The Allahabad High Court had vacancies for 44
Additional Judges as on January 1, 2020.
CP, DELHI LEAVE CANCELLED
Sanctioned leave of Delhi Police Commissioner
has been cancelled. His leave was sanctioned
for two days - Monday and Tuesday. But it was
cancelled because of JNU episode.
SHAHI GIVEN ADDITIONAL CHARGE
OF POLICE – 2 IN MHA
S K Shahi has been given additional charge of
JS Police – 2 in the MHA. He is a CSS officer
and JS Central - State relations.
DR M M KUTTY IS ALSO SECRETARY, STEEL
Dr M M Kutty has been assigned an additional
charge of Secretary, Ministry of Steel for the time
being. He is a 1985 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.
PRABAL BASU LIKELY TO GET EXTENSION
Prabal Basu, Chairman & Managing Director of
Balmer Lawrie & Co Limited (BLC), is expected
to get extension for second term.
I C P KESHRI IS PRESIDENT OF
MP IAS ASSOCIATION
I C P Keshri has been elected as new President
of the Madhya Pradesh IAS Association.He is a
1988 batch IAS officer.
ITS OFFICER S B S REDDY JOINS
AP GOVT ON DEPUTATION
A 1989 batch ITS officer, S Bala Subramayam
Reddy has joined the Andhra Pradesh govern-
ment on deputation with getting posting as
Special Secretary, Investment in Steel Sector in
Industries & Commerce Department.
JUSTICE MS SANJU PANDA APPOINTED
ACTING CJ OF ORISSA HC
Central Government has appointed Justice
Sanju Panda as acting Chief Justice of the
Orissa High Court w.e.f. January 5, 2020.
A K SAHU IS ALSO HIGH
COMMISSIONER TO DOMINICA
Arun Kumar Sahu , presently High Commis-
sioner of India to the Republic of Trinidad and
Tobago, has been concurrently accredited as
the next High Commissioner of India to the
Commonwealth of Dominica, with residence in
Port of Spain. He is an Indian Foreign Service
officer of 1996 batch.
POWERGallery
CONG DEMANDS NSA AGAINST
VIJAYVARGIYA FOR REMARKS
Indore: Madhya Pradesh
Congress unit wrote a let-
ter to city district collector
demanding the National
Security Act against BJP
national general secretary
Kailash Vijayvargiya for
threatening to set “entire
Indore on fire”. “We have
written a letter to collector
demanding action against
Vijayvargiya. He has
disrupted peace in the city,
investigated people for vi-
olence, delivered instigat-
ing speech and threatened
public officers. He was
even heard in a video stat-
ing that he will set entire
Indore on fire. We demand
that NSA should be filed
against him,” Congress
leader Devendra Yadav
said. He was caught on
camera threatening a govt
official in Indore.
SGPC DELEGATION MEETS
RAJOANA IN PATIALA JAIL
Patiala: An Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee delegation, led by Gobind Singh
Longowal met Sikh political prisoner Balwant
Singh Rajoana inside Patiala jail. Rakjoana’s
sister Kamaljeet Kaur also met him inside the
jail. Rajoana’s sister Kamaljeet Kaur told that his
brother has postponed his hunger strike of Janu-
ary 11 and added, “SGPC Gurdwara Prabandhak
Committee, Pradhan Pawan Singh has assured
that the Home Minister will talk to President so
that the matter can be resolved soon.”
JAMMU: SNOWFALL AFFECTS
VEHICULAR MOVEMENT
Udhampur: In the wake of fresh snowfall in
Jammu and Kashmir, the traffic movement was on
Tuesday suspended from Udhampur to Srinagar
on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. Many
vehicles including heavy and light motor vehicles
were stranded at various points along the highway
in Udhampur. According to the India Meteorologi-
cal Department, Srinagar is likely to receive snow
next week. Rain and thunderstorm were ob-
served in parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Punjab, said the IMD.
SC’s 9-JUDGE BENCH TO HEAR
SABARIMALA CASE FROM JAN 13
New Delhi: The SC
formed a nine-judge Con-
stitution bench headed by
Chief Justice S A Bobde to
hear from January 13 the
issue of allowing women
and girls of all ages to
enter Kerala’s Sabarimala
temple, along with the
other contentious issues
of alleged discrimination
against Muslim and Parsi
women. The other judges
on the bench are Justices
R Banumathi, Ashok Bhu-
shan, L Nageswara Rao,
M M Shantanagoudar, S A
Nazeer, R Subhash Reddy,
B R Gavai and Surya
Kant. The 9-judge bench
has been set up after a 5
judge bench headed by
then CJI Ranjan Gogoi,
by a 3:2 majority verdict,
referred the matter to a
seven-judge bench.
JNU VIOLENCE
‘Violence not a solution’THE ADMN WILL FIND OPPORTUNITY TO ENSURE THAT NORMALCY RETURNS TO UNIV
New Delhi: Jawaharlal
Nehru University
(JNU) Vice-Chancellor
M Jagadesh Kumar on
Tuesday termed Janu-
ary 5 violence as “un-
fortunate” and stated
that violence is not a
solution. He said that
the administration will
find every opportunity
to make sure that nor-
malcy returns to the
University.
“The incident that
took place on Sunday,
January 5 is unfortu-
nate. Our campus is
known for debates and
discussions to resolve
any issues. Violence is
not a solution. We will
find every opportunity
to make sure that nor-
malcy returns to the
University,” Kumar
said.
On Sunday evening,
more than 30 students
of the university in-
cluding JNUSU presi-
dent Aishe Ghosh were
injured and were taken
to the AIIMS Trauma
Centre after a masked
mob entered the varsity
and attacked them and
professors with sticks
and rods. —ANI
New Delhi: Union Minister Prakash
Javadekar said Home Minister Amit
Shah has ordered an inquiry into the
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
violence and all the accused would
soon be exposed.
“The Home Minister has ordered
an inquiry into the matter. I believe
that the people with the mask will be
exposed. People spreading rumors in
JNU and across the country are try-
ing to instigate violence.” “There is
a deliberate attempt at creating un-
rest in universities. This is the con-
spiracy of some people, These people
will also be exposed,” he added.
Graffiti wrote on JNU administration office in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi: Aishe
Ghosh, chief of JNU
Students’ Union, said
she is confident that
there can be no police
action against her re-
garding the two FIRs
since she has not been
involved in any vio-
lence. “I have not done
any violence. The police
first need to have proof
against me to take ac-
tion,” she said.
The FIRs against
Ghosh was filed on Sun-
day evening , around the
time masked goons
were on an attack spree
at the university and
she was taken to the
AIIMS Trauma Centre,
injured and bleeding.
The cases, were based
on complaints of uni-
versity authorities.
No proof, story made up: Aishe Ghosh
TWO FIRS FILED
V-C SPEAK
Mumbai: Mumbai Po-
lice has taken “serious
cognisance” of a ‘Free
Kashmir’ poster spot-
ted at the Gateway of
India during protests
against Sunday’s mob
violence at Delhi’s
Jawaharlal Nehru Uni-
versity. The poster, held
by a young woman who
later identified herself
as Mehak Mirza Prab-
hu, was among several
held aloft by protesters
who had gathered at the
iconic monument by
the sea after a masked
mob, armed with iron
rods and sledgeham-
mers, attacked JNU stu-
dents and teachers and
left 34 people injured.
“We have taken seri-
ous cognizance of the
‘Free Kashmir’ poster
seen in the protest last
night at Gateway of In-
dia. Yes, we are definite-
ly investigating it,”
Sangramsingh Nishan-
dar, Dy Commissioner
of Police said. —ANI
Poster row: Need to see intent,
says Aaditya Thackeray
RAJ MEETS BJP Kolkata: West Bengal
Governor Jagdeep
Dhankhar said that the
acts of violence and an-
archy in educational
institutions is “worri-
some and should not be
tolerated.”
Taking to Twitter,
Dhankhar also stated
that silence of those in
authority, who had con-
demned violence in
JNU, over what hap-
pened in Jadavpur Uni-
versity is “painfully
worrisome”. “Acts of
violence, anarchy in
educational institu-
tions is worrisome and
should not be tolerated.
Silence of those in au-
thority (who severely
condemned JNU vio-
lence) over what hap-
pened at Jadavpur Uni-
versity a fortnight ago
is painfully worri-
some,” Dhankhar
tweeted.
Sanjay Manjrekar
backs protests
As soon as former In-
dia cricketer-turned-
commentator Sanjay
Manjrekar expressed
his support for ongoing
protests in Mumbai
which were organised
for showing solidarity
with JNU students,
Olympic bronze medal-
list Yogeshwar Dutt
also joined the debate.
New Delhi: Delhi Po-
lice issued a public ap-
peal seeking pictures,
footage or any informa-
tion related to Sunday’’s
violence in JNU cam-
pus that left 34 people
injured even as forensic
teams looked for evi-
dence.
Teams from Physics,
Chemistry and Biology
divisions of the Foren-
sic Science Laboratory
were in the university ,
the sources said.
A team of photo ex-
perts from the Forensic
Science Laboratory
was also present at the
campus. —PTI
Forensic
teams look for
clues at JNU
Mumbai: The Mumbai
Police Tuesday regis-
tered an FIR against the
woman who was seen
holding a ‘Free Kash-
mir’ poster at Gateway
of India during a pro-
test against violence at
the Jawaharlal Nehru
University.
The woman protester,
identified as Mehak
Prabhu, had earlier in
the day said her inten-
tions were to only high-
light the restrictions
imposed in Jammu and
Kashmir.Stating how
the issue was “com-
pletely blown out of
proportion”, in a video
posted on Facebook.
FIR filed
against
woman
‘Acts of violence in
institutes worrisome’
‘THOSE BEHIND JNU VIOLENCE WILL BE EXPOSED SOON’
JNU Students’ Union chief Aishe Ghosh interacts with media after being discharged from the hospital.

Indore: India could not
have asked for a better
start to the T20 World
Cup year as they
thrashed Sri Lanka in
the 2nd match of the
ongoing 3-match series
in Indore on Tuesday.
After the 1st T20I in
Guwahati was washed
out with a ball bowled,
India were on the mark
as they got down to
business in the New
Year. KL Rahul contin-
ued from where he left
in 2019 as he took apart
the Sri Lankan bowling
attack in the power-
play.
The in-form opener
missed out on a fifty
but he did the job with
a 32-ball 45 at the Hol-
kar Stadium. Shardul
picked up all his three
wickets in his final
over of the match. In
the 19th over, he first
dismissed Dhananjaya
de Silva (17) off the sec-
ond delivery of the
over. His next two wick-
ets of Isuru Udana (1)
and Lasith Malinga (0)
came off consecutive
deliveries at the end of
the over but since it
was his last over he
missed a hat-trick.
Sydney: Canadian Den-
is Shapovalov picked up
his second win against
a top-10 player at the
ATP Cup team event
thumping of Alexander
Zverev as the German
continued to struggle
with his serve ahead of
this month’s Australian
Open. Shapovalov, 20,
needed just 70 minutes
to brush aside world
number seven Zverev,
who lost his third
straight singles before
the year’s first Grand
Slam starting in Mel-
bourne on 20 January.
Zverev, the 2018 ATP Fi-
nals champion, served
seven double faults
against Shapovalov to
take his total for the
tournament to 31.
“There’s a lot of things
that I still need to im-
prove, but it’s the start
of the season,” Zverev
said. “I need to find my
rhythm.” Shapovalov
returned with team-
mate Felix Auger-Alias-
sime to win the deciding
doubles rubber against
Kevin Krawietz and An-
dreas Mies earning
Canada a 2-1 win in the
tie to keep them in the
hunt for quarter-finals.
Kuala Lumpur: Lak-
shya Sen failed to qual-
ify for the main draw
while the pair of
Satwiksairaj Rankired-
dy and Chirag Shetty
crashed out in the first
round as Indian shut-
tlers got off to a poor
start at Malaysia Mas-
ters badminton tourna-
ment. It was a bad day
in office for the Indians
as the women’s doubles
pair of Pooja Dandu
and Sanjana Santosh
also failed to make the
main draw. Dandu and
Santosh lost to the Indo-
nesian pair of Siti
Fadia Silva Ramadhan-
ti and Ribka Sugiarto
15-21, 10-21. On Wednes-
day, Parupalli Kashyap
will open his campaign
against top seed Kento
Momota, while Kidam-
bi Srikanth will take on
second seed Chou Tien
Chen of Chinese Taipei.
SPORTSAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020
Rossi bids adieu
to football
Buenos Aires: Italian
midfielder Daniele De
Rossi has confirmed his
retirement from foot-
ball, expressing his de-
sire to spend more time
with his family. De Ros-
si spent 18 years with
Italian club AS Roma.
De Rossi also earned
117 caps for Italy at sen-
ior level, winning the
FIFA World Cup in 2006.
PBL to kickstart in
Chennai
Chennai: PBL will be
hosted by Chennai for
the first five days of the
league before it moves
to Lucknow on January
25, followed by seven
days of badminton ex-
travaganza in Hy-
derabad while the semi-
finals and the grand fi-
nale will be staged in
Bangalore.
Max Verstappen
extends F1 deal
London: Max Verstap-
pen has signed a new
three-year deal with
Red Bull that will keep
him at the team until at
least the end of the 2023
season, in what will be
his eighth season as a
Red Bull driver. The
Dutchman was expect-
ed to be one of the key
cogs in this year’s driv-
er market, with previ-
ous contract keeping
him until 2020.
ECB appoints Neil
Snowball as MD
New Delhi: The Eng-
land and Wales Cricket
Board (ECB) on Tues-
day appointed Neil
Snowball as the Manag-
ing Director of county
cricket. Snowball
served as CEO of the
Warwickshire County
Cricket Club since 2016.
Barca squad for
Spanish Super
New Delhi: Barcelona
on Tuesday named a 24-
man squad for their up-
coming Spanish Super
Cup semi-final clash
against Atletico Ma-
drid. Ter Stegen, Ar-
thur and O. Dembele
missed out from the
team owing to their re-
spective injuries.
Perth Scorchers
beat Melbourne
Sydney: Perth Scorch-
ers defeated Melbourne
Renegades by six wick-
ets in the ongoing Big
Bash League. Chasing
176, Scorchers got off to
a solid start as Josh Ing-
lis and Liam Living-
stone put on 102 runs
stand for the opening
wicket.
Ex-Aussie coach
quits social media
Sydney: Former Aus-
tralia cricket coach
Darren Lehmann quit
social media Tuesday
after his Twitter ac-
count was hacked and
used to post “vile” con-
tent, including anti-Iran
messages. The 49-year-
old is now coach of
Brisbane Heat in the do-
mestic Twenty20 Big
Bash League.
BRIEF
in
Sydney: Australia all-
rounder Ellyse Perry is
excited about the fast-
approaching ICC Wom-
en’s T20 World Cup, call-
ing it the most hyped-up
event in women’s crick-
et in the past decade.
Australia are hosting
both the women’s and
men’s T20 World Cups
this year, with the wom-
en’s event starting on 21
February. The final will
be played at the Mel-
bourne Cricket Ground
on International Wom-
en’s Day (8 March), with
the aim to break the
world record for the
highest attendance at a
women’s sporting fix-
ture. Australia have be-
come a dominant force
across formats in the
women’s game and are
currently No.1 in the
MRF Tyres ICC Wom-
en’s Team Rankings in
both ODIs and T20Is.
Perry reflected on her
team’s success in recent
years and hoped that
her side does “some-
thing special” when
they play the tourna-
ment at home.
“We’ve been success-
ful and played some re-
ally great cricket, espe-
cially in the last 24
months or so, so this is
the next challenge for
us,” she said. “It’s a re-
ally great opportunity
to hopefully do some-
thing special. “Given
the quality of opposi-
tion, it’s going to be a
great spectacle (and) it’s
also going to make it re-
ally difficult for us to be
successful, but I think
that’s absolutely every-
thing you want in a
World Cup. “I think we
want to capture peo-
ple’s imaginations and
make it really enter-
taining and make it
something they want to
tune in and watch.”
Australia is current-
ly ranked at the num-
ber one spot in the
women’s team rankings
in both ODIs and T20Is.
In the women’s T20
World Cup, Australia
will play their first
match against India on
February 21.
Perry wants Australia to ‘capture people’s imaginations’
WOMEN’S T20 WORLD CUP

As teams get
ready to
participate in the
Women’s T20
World Cup,
Ellyse Perry has
termed the
competition as
an ‘exciting
challenge’
MENINBLUEGO1-0UPINSERIES
Bad day for Indian shuttlers at
Malaysia Masters event
Italy: Cristiano Ronaldo
scored a second-half hat-
trick to lead Serie A cham-
pions Juventus to a 4-0 win
at home to Cagliari, taking
his tally to eight goals in his
last five league games. The
Portuguese pounced on a
mistake in the Cagliari de-
fence to break the deadlock
four minutes after halftime
before adding the second
from a penalty as he scored
for the fifth league game in
the row. Ronaldo completed
the rout by finishing off a
counter-attack one minute.
London: England
forced a dramatic 189-
run victory over South
Africa of the second
Test in Cape Town to
level the series at 1-1.
With the tourists still
needing three wickets
in the final hour, man of
the match Ben Stokes
claimed them all to cap
a stunning all-round
performance. England’s
attack was also limited
with all-time highest
Test wicket-taker James
Anderson missing most
of the last two sessions
because of injury.
Ronaldo scores
2nd half hat-trick,
thump Cagliari
England secure
victory over
South Africa
KYRGIOS BEATS TSITSIPAS TO
CLINCH 3-0 START FOR AUSSIES
WILLIAMS BEATS WIND, CAMILA
GIORGI IN AUCKLAND 1ST ROUND
Bolstered by a raucous
Aussie crowd, Nick
Kyrgios made the host
country a perfect 3-0 at
the ATP Cup on Tuesday
night, beating World No.
6 Stefanos Tsitsipas of
Greece for the second
time. Kyrgios saw a
break point come and
go midway through the
third, but regrouped in
the tie-break, delivering
a barrage of forehands
and mixing in delicate
drop shots to keep
Tsitsipas off balance.
Serena Williams kick-
started her Auckland
Classic with an easy vic-
tory over Camila Giorgi.
Playing her first singles
match since losing last
year’s US Open final to
Bianca Andreescu, the
38-year-old fired eight
aces and was hardly
troubled by Giorgi. Wil-
liams broke the Italian’s
serve 3 times, while
remaining unbroken
herself in a first-round
encounter that lasted
only 68 minutes.
India vs Sri Lanka
Toss: India, field first
Sri Lanka R B 4 6 SR
MDGunathilakabSaini 20 21 3 0 95.23
WIAFernandocSainibWashington 22 16 5 0 137.50
MDKJPereracDhawanbKuldeep 34 28 0 3 121.42
BOPFernandostPantbKuldeep 10 9 1 0 111.11
PBBRajapaksacPantbSaini 9 12 1 0 75.00
MDShanakabBumrah 7 8 0 0 87.50
DMdeSilvacDubebThakur 17 13 2 0 130.76
PWHdeSilvanotout 16 10 3 0 160.00
IUdanacSainibThakur 1 2 0 0 50.00
SLMalingacKuldeepbThakur 0 1 0 0 0.00
CBRLSKumaranotout 0 0 0 0 -
Extras:6(b1,lb1,w4)
Total:142/9(20Overs,RR:7.1)
Fall of wickets: 1-38(AvishkaFernando,4.5ov),2-54
(DanushkaGunathilaka,7.4ov),3-82(OshadaFernando,11.3
ov),4-97(KusalPerera,13.2ov),5-104(BhanukaRajapaksa,
14.5ov),6-117(DasunShanaka,16.6ov),7-128(Dhananjaya
deSilva,18.2ov),8-130(IsuruUdana,18.5ov),9-130(Lasith
Malinga,18.6ov)
Bowling: JJBumrah4-0-32-1,SNThakur4-0-23-3,NA
Saini4-0-18-2,WashingtonSundar4-0-29-1,KuldeepYadav
4-0-38-2.
India R B 4 6 SR
KLRahulbPWHdeSilva 45 32 6 0 140.62
SDhawanlbwbPWHdeSilva 32 29 2 0 110.34
SSIyercShanakabKumara 34 26 3 1 130.76
VKohlinotout 30 17 1 2 176.47
RRPantnotout 1 1 0 0 100.00
Extras:2(b1,lb1)
Total: 144/3(17.3Overs,RR:8.22)
Fall of wickets:1-71(KLRahul,9.1ov),2-86(Shikhar
Dhawan,11.2ov),3-137(ShreyasIyer,17.1ov)
Bowling: SLMalinga4-0-41-0,CBRLSKumara3.3-0-30-1,
DMdeSilva2-0-15-0,MDShanaka4-0-26-0,PWHdeSilva
4-0-30-2.
SCOREBOARDIndia clinched a
7-wicket win
over Sri Lanka
in Indore
India gunned
down a 143-run
target with 15
balls to spare
Shardul and
Navdeep Saini
shone with the
ball for India
Navdeep Saini gave the side two
crucial breakthroughs for only
18 runs. Kuldeep Yadav came back
strongly twice in the match to pick
two crucial wickets of Oshada Fer-
nando and Kusal Perera in his first
two overs. Kuldeep started both the
overs going for a six but managed
to have the last laugh. Meanwhile,
Jasprit Bumrah, who is returning
after an injury lay-off, had a quiet
outing in Indore. He accounted for
one wicket after giving away 32 runs.
Earlier, India won the toss and
elected to field against Sri Lanka for
the second time in the series.
EXCELLENT OVERS BY NAVDEEP AND KULDEEP
After a clinical performance from the bowlers, Indian batsmen
made sure of 7-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the second T20I.
Shapovalov picks up 2nd win
against top-10 at ATP Cup

First india news paper gujarat english news paper today-08 january 2020 edition

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