First India News Paper|Gujarat-English News Paper Today-28 December 2019 edition

AHMEDABAD l SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2019 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 34
PM IS MORE THAN GOD TO ME: TN FARMER
BUILDS NARENDRA MODI TEMPLE IN VILLAGE
Chennai: A farmer and
BJP party man has con-
structed a temple for
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi on his 10-acre
agricultural land in
Trichy district in Tamil
Nadu at his own ex-
pense.
P Shankar saved
over Rs 1,20,000 from
his agricultural in-
come to build the tem-
ple as an expression
of his love for the
prime minister.The
temple, the work for
which was started
eight months ago, has
attracted over 1,000
visitors over the past
week.
Shankar’s admira-
tion for Modi is not a
recent development,
he tells in the report.
“I was an admirer of
Modi when he was the
Chief Minister during
my school days. It was
because of my respect
for him that I became a
member of the BJP 10
years ago. After he be-
came the Prime Minis-
ter, he was more than a
God to me. The central
government policies
benefited people like
me and hence, I thought
now is the time to build
a temple,” Shankar
said.
He says that his
only wish is to meet
the Prime Minister
one day. Shankar even
travelled to Chennai
when Modi had visit-
ed Mammallapuram
to meet his Chinese
counterpar Xi Jin-
ping in October.
Shankar is happy to
be a beneficiary of
Pradhan Mantri Kisan
Samman Nidhi through
which he claims to have
received Rs 6, 000 so far.
He said other schemes
like Pradhan Mantri
Ujjwala Yojana, too, has
helped him.
One more govern-
ment scheme, from
which he personally
hopes to benefit, is
the NEET (National
Eligibility cum en-
trance test), Shankar
said.
“In 2013, my daughter
who has been a bright
and intelligent student
did not get a medical
seat. During that time,
the seats were secured
based on board exam
marks. Even though
my daughter scored
1,105 out of 1200, she
did not get a medical
seat. Had NEET been
implemented then,
my daughter could
have fulfilled her
dream. But now with
NEET being implant-
ed, my son is going
for coaching classes
and I am sure he will
get a medical seat in a
government college,”
he added
Shankar says apart
from Modi, he has
been a follower of Dr
MG Ramachandran.
He remembers how
he campaigned for
the AIADMK when he
was an 11-year-old
boy because of his
love for MGR. Since
then, he has also been
an AIADMK support-
er.
He hopes to also build
a temple for MGR in the
future.
Playing 20-20 match, batting at half wicket, says Rupani
Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar: Playing
out a cricketing lingo
akin to what Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi used when he
took over as the Guja-
rat CM, Chief Minis-
ter Vijay Rupani on
Friday said he is play-
ing a 20-20 match and
batting at half wicket,
because he believes in
fast delivery, hardly
bothered about the
wicket behind, since
only quick decisions
could keep the growth
engine running.
When Narendra
Modi took over as the
Gujarat Chief Minister
in October 2001, he said
that he had come to
play a one-day match,
indicating he would put
the BJP back in reckon-
ing in the State. And he
actually did.
As he inaugurated a
three-day property
show organized by Gu-
jarat Institute of
Housing and Estate
Developers (GIHED)
and CREDAI, Rupani
asserted that because
of his fast decision
making, the State has
200 Town Planning
Schemes (TP) and 12
Draft Plans (DP) ap-
proved in just two
years. Normally, this
would take years, and
at times even decades,
to get it cleared.
Quick approval of
Town Planning schemes
results in planned devel-
opment of cities and
towns,besidesalsopush-
ing the real estate sector
and in turn creates jobs.
TheChief Ministersaid,
“The fast approval of TP
also means generation
of more affordable hous-
ing in the urban areas
that will meet the de-
mand of middle class
people living in urban
areas and have big
dreams; all these deci-
sions are taken with
complete transparency.”
Rupani said Guja-
rat’s image in the
country of a developed
and visionary state,
and “This is why is at-
tracting leaders, plan-
ners and other digni-
taries to visit and
learn from our growth
models and replicate it
in their states.”
He took pride in say-
ing said, “Since the day I
took charge as Chief
Minister, I have dis-
charged my duty as if I
amplayinga20-20match,
playing at half-wicket,
just to ensure that Guja-
rat’simageasarolemod-
el of development keeps
going. I don’t have a land
either in Ahmedabad or
anywhere in Gujarat.”
Turn on P5
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani along with Energy Minister Saurabh Patel and Revenue Minister Kaushik Patel and GIHED
office bearers addressing the GIHED-CRDAI property show on Friday.
Shankar performing aarti at the Modi Temple in Trichy district of Tamil Nadu.
P Shankar saved over Rs 1,20,000
from his agricultural income to
build the temple as an expression
of his love for the Prime Minister
CM inaugurated a three-day
property show organized by
Gujarat Institute of Housing and
Estate Developers and CREDAI
The temple dedicated to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi at
Eragudi village in Tiruchi district.
BENEFICIARY OF PM KISAN NIDHI
z Shankar’s admira-
tion for Modi is not a
recent development, he
tells in the report.
z I was an admirer of
Modi when he was the
Chief Minister during
my school days. It was
because of my respect
for him that I became a
member of the BJP 10
years ago.
z After he became the
Prime Minister, he was
more than a God to me.
z “The central govern-
ment policies benefited
people like me and
hence, I thought now
is the time to build a
temple,” Shankar said.
z He says that his only
wish is to meet the
Prime Minister one day.
z Shankar even trav-
elled to Chennai when
Modi had visited Mam-
mallapuram to meet his
Chinese counterpar Xi
Jinping in October.
z Shankar is happy
to be a beneficiary of
Pradhan Mantri Kisan
Samman Nidhi through
which he claims to
have got Rs 6,000

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2019
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
CAARWA CONTINUESA protestor holds the
national flag during a
protest against
Citizenship
(Amendment) Act,
after Friday prayers,
at Jama Masjid in
New Delhi on Friday
A
mid protests
against the
Citizenship
Amendment
Act and concerns over
National Register for
Citizenships (NRC),
some Muslims clerics,
intellectuals and law-
makers will meet Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi and Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah very
soon.
All Imam Organisa-
tion Chief Dr Imam
Umer Ahmed Ilyasi
said, “A delegation of
Muslims clerics, acade-
micians, intellectuals,
lawmakers and Madar-
sa proctors will meet
Home Minister Amit
Shah and Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi
soon.” Ilyasi said that
the delegation will ap-
praise the Prime Minis-
ter and Home Minister
about their concerns
over the CAA and NRC.
Political parties, dif-
ferent organisations
and institutions have
organised protests
against the citizenship
act and NRC across the
country. A major protest
was also held in Jama
Masjid area in Old Delhi
following Friday
prayers last week.
The Chief Imam also
appealed the protestors
to refrain from violence.
“I would like to make
an appeal to all the citi-
zens of this country
that peace must contin-
ue. Staging a protest is
our democratic right.
We must protest, but
peacefully,” Ilyasi said.
Violence had erupted
during several protests
against the citizenship
act across the country.
The new citizenship
law grants citizenship
to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains,
Parsis, Buddhists, and
Christians fleeing reli-
gious persecution from
Pakistan, Afghanistan,
and Bangladesh who
came to India on or be-
fore December 31, 2014.
New Delhi: A large
number of people have
gathered outside Jama
Masjid area of Old
Delhi on Friday to pro-
test against the newly-
enacted Citizenship
(Amendment) Act,
2019.
Protestors raised
slogans against the
Act and the central
government. They can
be seen carrying plac-
ards that read, “Save
the Constitution”,
“Withdraw CAA”, “We
condemn Communal
Law”.
Congress leader
Alka Lamba was also
seen at the protest
showing support to
the demonstrators.
Earlier in the day,
security was beefed up
and patrolling was in-
tensified across north-
east Delhi to avoid any
untoward incident
ahead or after the Fri-
day prayers.
The precautions
were taken after a
massive protest had
broken out in Jama
Masjid area in Delhi
against the newly-en-
acted citizenship law
last week following
the Friday prayers.
Police personnel
and paramilitary forc-
es were deployed
across north-east Del-
hi in view of the Fri-
day prayers.
“The situation in
Delhi is completely
under control. We
have deployed appro-
priate forces wherever
required. Our senior
officials are on the
field and are carrying
out patrolling. We are
also monitoring social
media. We would like
to urge people to not
believe any rumours
and to maintain
peace,” MS Randhawa,
PRO, Delhi Police told
ANI.
Guwahati: Calling out
PM Narendra Modi’s
claim that there is no
detention camp in the
country, senior Con-
gress leader Tarun Go-
goi Friday termed him
a “liar”, adding that the
BJP-led government at
the Centre had sanc-
tioned Rs 46 crore for
one in Assam’s Goalpa-
ra district.
“In 2018 the Narendra
Modi govt had sanc-
tioned Rs 46 crore for
constructing the largest
detention centre at Ma-
tia in Goalpara district
of Assam for housing
3,000 illegal immi-
grants. Suddenly he
says there is no deten-
tion camp,” Gogoi said.
In Mumbai, two ral-
lies were organised on
Friday —one against
the amended Citizen-
ship Act and another in
favour of the new law.
Students and activists
gathered at Azad Maid-
an to voice against the
Citizenship Amend-
ment Act and the pro-
posed NRC, while BJP’s
Sanvidan Sanman
Manch drew a massive
crowd at August Kranti
Maidan supporting the
controversial law.
Congress leader Alka
Lamba hit out at the
central government,
saying “unemployment
is the real issue in the
county, but you (PM)
are trying to put people
in a queue for NRC, as it
was done during de-
monetisation”.
Lucknow: Friday
prayers passed off
peacefully in Uttar
Pradesh amid tight se-
curity arrangements
put in place after last
week’s violence by an-
ti-citizenship law pro-
testers. “The entire
state was peaceful,” Ut-
tar Pradesh Director
General of Police O P
Singh told PTI. He said
there was no report of
any untoward incident
from anywhere in the
state.
Massive protests against citizenship
law outside Delhi’s Jama Masjid
‘PM lying about detention camps,
sanctioned Rs 46 cr in 2018’
Friday prayers
done peacefully
in Uttar Pradesh
CAA: BJP’s Naqvi
slams opposition for
supporting protests
JDU minority cell
leader quits party over
Nitish’s stand on CAA
Mamata has lost her
‘mental balance’, says
Vijayvargiya
‘No orders given on
detention centres,
haven’t seen any file’
‘Why illegal
immigrants not
identified, deported’
New Delhi: Union Minister of Minor-
ity Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
on Friday slammed Opposition for
taking part in the anti-Citizenship
(Amendment) Act protests and
“manipulating” the issue. Speaking
to ANI, Naqvi said, “Congress has
become a synonym of political hy-
pocrisy. They find issues on a daily
basis. They work with a negative
mentality, which not at all in favour
of the country. Their main job is to
manipulate people.” The opposition
alleged that the comments were
political in nature and the Army
Chief should desist from indulging
in politics.
Patna: The simmering discontent in
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal
United over the party’s support to
the CAA claimed its first casualty on
Friday when the party’s minority cell
general secretary Khawaja Shahid
resigned from the party. Shahid, who
was the general secretary of the par-
ty’s minority cell, is the first leader to
exit from the party over the amended
citizenship law. The resignation
comes days after CM Nitish Kumar
attempted to allay fears that the new
citizenship law would be used against
minorities and even “guaranteed”
that minorities didn’t need to worry
as long as he was around.
Indore: BJP national general
secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya
on Thursday said Mamata
Banerjee has lost her mental
balance after the West Ben-
gal Chief Minister stated that
she would advise students to
continue their protests against
the amended Citizenship Act
and the National Register of
Citizens (NRC). “I think that
Mamata Banerjee has lost her
mental balance. After CAA,
infiltrators will be identified and
her vote bank (infiltrators) will
get affected.
Kerala: The CPI(M)-led Kerala
government on Frid ay made it
clear that it has no plan to build
detention centres in the state to
house illegal immigrants. Chief
Minister Pinarayi Viijayan has
denied reports that appeared
in a section of the media on
the subject and said some
people were spreading ru-
mours to confuse people. Many
opposition-ruled states like
West Bengal, Maharashtra and
Rajasthan have said they will
not construct detention centres
in their states.
Guwahati: Former Assam CM Tarun
Gogoi questioned the Centre over
identification and deportation of
illegal immigrants even as his party,
Cong, strongly opposed the NRC.
“They (BJP leaders) accuse that
Congress is responsible for illegal
immigrants. All right, then why
don’t you detect and deport them?”
Gogoi told. He said that PM Modi
and Home Minister Shah, both,
vowed to deport illegal immigrants
which is yet to be done. “The
Central govt promised to get rid of
illegal immigrants. Why have you
not identified? Who has prevented
you,” he asked.
Left Front parties and Congress workers participate in a joint protest rally against CAA, NRC and
NPR, in Kolkata on Friday.
Protestors take part in a march demanding for the release of their leader Chandrasekhar
Azad and protest against the amended Citizenship Act, NRC and NPR, in New Delhi, on Friday.
Source: Agencies

AHMEDABAD l SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2019 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 34
FACING THE CAACOPHONY:
Shah, Rahul take potshots
Raipur: Likening the
National Population
Register (NPR) and
the National Register
of Citizens (NRC)
with demonetisation,
Congress leader Ra-
hul Gandhi on Friday
said these exercises
are “tax” on the poor,
who will suffer the
same way they did af-
ter the note ban in
November 2016.
He was talking to re-
porters at the airport
here after attending the
inaugural function of
the National Tribal
Dance Festival. Turn on P5
NRC-NPR tax
on poor: RaGa
attacks Modi
RAHUL SHAKES A LEG WITH TRIBAL COMMUNITY: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday
inaugurated a three-day national tribal dance festival and shook a leg with the tribal community
on the dais in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur city. Earlier today, Gandhi took to the micro-blogging website
Twitter and wrote, “This unique festival is an important step towards showcasing and protecting our
rich tribal cultural heritage.”
Home Minister Amit Shah
being presented a traditional
Himachali cap.
IAF on Friday de-commissioned MiG-27 aircraft after a ceremony held at Air Force Station Jodhpur.
MiG-27 swing wing fighter aircraft had been the backbone of the ground attack fleet of the Indian
Air Force for the past four decades. The upgraded variant of this last swing-wing fleet was the pride
of the Indian Air Forces strike fleet since 2006. All the other variants, such as MiG-23 BN and MiG-
23 MF and the pure MiG-27 have already retired from the force.
CAA doesn’t take away
citizenship, says Shah
Fadnavis clarification
Shimla: Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah on Fri-
day accused the Con-
gress of misleading
people and that CAA
has no provision to
take anyone’s citizen-
ship away.
“Congress and com-
pany are spreading ru-
mours that this act will
take away the citizen-
ship of minorities, Mus-
lims. I challenge Rahul
baba to show even one
clause in the act that
has provision to take
away the citizenship of
anyone,” he said speak-
ing at a rally in Shimla.
Shah referred to in-
filtrators from Paki-
stan as “aalia-malia-
jamalia” who would
kill Indian soldiers.
“The Congress gov-
ernment of Sonia-Man-
mohan ji was there for
10 years. Back then,
aalia-malia-jamalia
from Pakistan used to
infiltrate into India eve-
ry day; they would cut
and take Turn on P5
Saurashtra has appetite and vision for MSMEs: Rupani
Haresh Jhala
Surendranagar: Sau-
rashtra is the region
of enterprise and that
is the reason that it
has the appetite and
vision for micro,
small and medium en-
terprises (MSME),
said Chief Minister
Vijay Rupani.
The Chief Minister
on Friday inaugurat-
ed a three-day trade
and industry fair or-
ganized by the Zala-
wad Federation of
Trade and Industries.
Addressing the busi-
nessmen, the Chief
Minister said each
and every sector that
has developed in the
Saurashtra region be-
cause the risk indi-
vidual industrialists
take with vision.
Citing an example, he
said whether it is bear-
ing or submersible
pump industries of Ra-
jkot or brass part indus-
tries of Jamnagar, gin-
ning mills in Suren-
dranagar and ship recy-
cling (breaking) indus-
tries in Bhavnagar, it is
because people saw fu-
ture in it and invested
dream. This is why, “I
am calling Saurashtra
the hub of MSME,” Ru-
pani said.
To see that these in-
dustries just not sus-
tain but also flourish
the state government
has liberalized indus-
tries and related de-
partment’s rules and
regulations he said
and added that the
state is aware that to
get finance is not that
easy so the state gov-
ernment has recently
signed MOU with the
Bank of Baroda, this
will enable MSME to
borrow up to Rs Five
crore to set up pro-
jects and bank has as-
sured that it will
principally clear
such proposal within
seven days. If the re-
quirement is more
than Rs five crore it
will principally ap-
proved the proposal
within 21 days.
The state govern-
ment is committed to
seeing that more MSME
comes up in Saurashtra
and to see that more
units comes up, the
state government will
extend all sorts of sup-
port to industrialists.
Recentlythestategov-
ernmenthasalsopassed
a bill under which now
any entrepreneur can
set up unit first without
taking any required per-
mission, which he can
seek in next three years
Turn on P5
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday evening appreciated 111 National Cadet Corps at
Ahmedabad for getting selected for the Republic Parade in New Delhi.
CAA GOOGLY IN PAK CRICKET
FEW PLAYERS TARGETED ME: KANERIA
Pakistan’s banned Test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria
on Friday said there were a “few players” who
targeted him for being a Hindu during his time with
the national team but he never felt the urge or the
pressure to change his religion.
PCB STAYS AWAY
FROM ISSUE
The Pakistan Cricket
Board on Friday sought
to distance itself from
Shoaib Akhtar’s as-
sertion that his former
teammate Danish Kane-
ria faced discrimination
at the hands of fellow
players.
SHOWS REAL
FACE OF PAK:
GAMBHIR
BJP MP Gautam
Gambhir said Pakistani
cricketer Danish Kane-
ria’s comment that he
was mistreated by a few
teammates for being a
Hindu showed the “real
face of Pakistan”.
ADIEU
MIG
‘IF THERE WAS
SECTION OF LIAR...’
Hours after Rahul
called the NPR a tax
on the poor, the rul-
ing BJP hit back by
dubbing him the “big-
gest liar of 2019” for
comments that it said
had “embarrassed his
party and family”. Un-
ion minister Prakash
Javadekar accused
the Congress of try-
ing to fan instability.
Mumbai: Several
thousand people
participated in a
march in Dharavi in
Mumbai to protest
against the Citizen-
ship Amendment
Act and the Decem-
ber 15 police action
against Jamia Millia
Islamia students in
Delhi. The protest
march was held on 90-
feet road in Dharavi
and saw participants
holding placards
against CAA and the
National Register of
Citizens exercise that
some BJP leaders have
been claiming would
be held nationwide.
Similar protests
were held in Malva-
ni in the northern
suburb of Malad,
though people here
also shouted slogans
in favour of the
Mumbai police
whose efficiency en-
sured a massive ral-
ly against CAA and
NRC went off with-
out any Turn on P5
NO MORE ‘MUM’, IT’S A FACE-OFF
CRUCIAL READ
Armed forces have utmost respect
for human rights laws: Rawat
Guj HC upholds death sentence
to man for rape, murder of minor
Neighbours
lock horns with
locusts barbs rmy chief General Bipin Rawat
said the armed forces have utmost
respect for laws related to human
rights and they not only ensure
protection of human rights of people of the
country, but also of its adversaries. He was
addressing interns and senior officers of the NHRC on
“Preserving Human Rights in Times of War and Prison-
ers of War” at the Manav Adhikar Bhawan.
he Gujarat HC upheld a lower court’s order of
death sentence to a man for raping and mur-
dering a three-year-old girl in Surat in October
last year. A division bench of Justice Bela
Trivedi and Justice A C Rao rejected an appeal filed by
Anil Yadav against the death sentence awarded to him
by a special POCSO court in Surat in July this year.
wo neighbour-
ing states hit by
Locusts are now
busy exchanging
allegations on who is
responsible for the dam-
age done by the pests in
Gujarat. Gujarat Agricul-
ture Minister RC Faldu
on Friday alleged, “Had
Rajasthan handled the
locust problem or even
informed the Gujarat gov-
ernment, our crops would
have not been affected.”
Rajasthan’s Agriculture
Minister Lalchand Kataria
called these allegations
baseless.
A
T
T
Mumbai: Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Deven-
dra Fadnavis said on Friday that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act does not take
away the citizenship of any Indian national. The BJP is creating awareness among
people that the the Act intends to help the minorities from neighbouring countries
who have faced religious persecution, he said. Turn on P5
Protesters hold
placards and flags
during a rally in support
of new citizenship law
in Mumbai on Friday.
Protesters hold placards
during a rally against the
new citizenship law in
Mumbai on Friday.

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2019
High Court upholds Surat
rapist’s death sentenceDivision bench rejects appeal against special POSCO court’s death sentence of July
First India News
Ahmedabad: A
22-year-old man con-
victed of raping and
murdering a three-
year-old girl in Surat in
October 2014 had his
death sentence upheld
by the Gujarat High
Court on Friday, in
what has been one of
the fastest trials for
rape cases in the state.
The HC’s division
bench of justices Bela
Trivedi and AC Rao on
Friday rejected the ap-
peal filed by Anil Ya-
dav in opposition to the
death sentence award-
ed by the special Pro-
tection of Children
from Sexual Offences
(POCSO) Act court in
Surat in July.
The trial court had
passed its order after
five months of trial
and the HC disposed of
appeal in four months.
The court, while up-
holding the trial court
judgement, observed,
“This comes under the
category of the rarest
of rare cases, in which
the court cannot show
any leniency in such
cases. The accused has
no regret for the ghast-
ly offence he commit-
ted in a case where a
helpless toddler suf-
fered a lot. Nothing
less than a death sen-
tence will suffice.”
Additional public
prosecutor of the Guja-
rat HC, Himanshu Pa-
tel said that on October
18, 2014, the minor
went missing in the
Limbayat area of Surat
city. Police found her
body on the very next
day from the residence
of the accused.
The accused had fled
Surat but was caught
and arrested last year
by the Bihar Police,
who handed him over
to the Surat Police. The
Surat police filed its
charge sheet in the
POCSO court. After
cross-examining 38
witnesses and inspect-
ing CCTV footage as
well as FSL evidence,
the court passed an or-
der awarding a death
sentence to the accused
in July.
First India News
Ahmedabad: Ahm-
edabad police have ar-
rested two persons for
allegedly abducting and
assaulting a 35-year-old
doctor of a private hos-
pital in the city. Dr.
Kalpesh Nakum was
kidnapped by a group
of seven men after a pa-
tient died after deliver-
ing a baby on Wednes-
day night.
Dr Nakum had filed a
complaint with the El-
lisbridge police alleg-
ing that the relatives of
a deceased woman,
whom he treated re-
cently, were involved in
the abduction.
Despite the arrest,
many doctors in the
city were not satisfied
with the action taken by
the police and have re-
ported the incident to
the home minister stat-
ing that there was no
action from the police
control room for nearly
45 minutes after the ab-
duction.
More than 400 doc-
tors gathered outside
the Ellisbridge police
station on Thursday
night, where the case
was filed.
“We called the police
control room and told
them that a doctor had
been kidnapped from
Navkar hospital. How-
ever, they did not show
up for 45 minutes. Fi-
nally, we called the El-
lisbridge police station,
and then the cops took
action.” said Dr Jas-
want Darbar, president
of Indian Medical As-
sociation (IMA).
Following primary
investigation, police
found that the kidnap-
pers were relatives of
the deceased.
First India News
Ahmedabad: In a first,
the grand old party has
announced a massive
membership enrolment
drive beginning Satur-
day. In a move to en-
hance its support base,
while also avoiding bo-
gus members, the Con-
gress party has also de-
cided to make the drive
a digital one.
Manish Doshi,
spokesperson of the
Gujarat Pradesh Con-
gress Committee
(GPCC) told First India,
“We are focusing on
people who believe in
the party’s ideology. By
asking for their voter id
numbers, we will make
sure that there are no
fake registrations. We
are also not asking for
any membership fees.”
Doshi further said
booth-level workers will
ask for four things:
Name, Photo, EPIC
number, and phone
number. “The phone
number will be regis-
tered only once. This
will also eliminate
chances of double en-
tries. Also, we are focus-
ing more on women and
youth.” There are more
than 50,000 booth work-
ers who will take on the
task.
Across the county,
the party is looking to
enrol five crore new
members. The perfor-
mance of the enrolment
drive will be taken into
account while giving
portfolios in the next
body.
December 28 also
marks the 135th Foun-
dation Day of the Indi-
an National Congress
party. And, to commem-
orate the event, party
members have planned
to gather at Gandhi
Ashram on Saturday.
First India News
Ahmedabad: Owners
and managers of party
plots and clubs have
been given strict direc-
tives by the city traffic
police regarding the
hosting of New Year’s
Eve parties in city.
The police have asked
party organisers in the
city to maintain the
names, addresses and
ID proofs of invitees
and dancers attending
parties for at least a
month. They must be
able to produce these
details whenever re-
quired by the police.
Security and parking
arrangements need to
be handled adequately
as well, and police will
cancel the licenses of
venues where vehicles
are parked improperly.
CCTV footage from in-
side venues and park-
ing lots will have to be
submitted to police sta-
tion and stop outdoor
music by 10 pm.
Police arrest two in
doctor abduction case
Cong launches digital
membership drive on
135th Foundation Day
SLOW TO REACT?
BACKGROUND
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
MAKING HAY WHILE
BOSS IS AWAY AT
METROLINK CORP
With about six senior
ofﬁcers heading Kalpsar,
Metrolink Corporation and other
important portfolios off attending
a convention organized by
the Institution of Engineers at
Hyderabad, their personal staff
are enjoying a mini-vacation of
their own. Taking full advantage
of their bosses’ absence, most of
these ofﬁcers’ personal staff were
seen busy following social media
trends on their mobile phones,
looking up only if someone pers-
onally inquires about their bosses
while being aware that, come
Monday, the routines will be back.
LONG QUEUES,
LIQUOR SALE &
TRAFFIC JAMS
Now, the politicians
are blaming liquor
consumption for traffic snarls.
Recently, deputy mayor
of Bhavnagar Municipal
Corporation wrote a letter to
the deputy superintendent of
police in Bhavnagar asking
the department to crack the
whip on bootleggers. The
letter blamed the daily traffic
jam in Bortalav area on people
who allegedly come in large
numbers to buy liquor. The
letter goes on to say that there
are often queues of auto-
rickshaws that results in jams.
DIRTY POLITICS
EVEN IN GOVT
HOSPITALS
Even hospitals are not free
of “Chamchagiri” these
days. For instance, take the
case of a doctor appointed as
a senior officer at a renowned
government hospital in
Ahmedabad after his
predecessor retired. A bogus
patient had a feud with the
doctor on behalf of the retired
officer’s “Chamcha” gang to
make the new officer look bad.
Interestingly, a local councillor
jumped in to make the matter
bigger. The terrified “patient”
eventually ran away from the
hospital after the ruckus.
First India News
Ahmedabad: Students
of MICA have taken on
the mantle of teachers
for students of the gov-
ernment school in Telav.
Called the Telav Teach-
ing Programme, and ini-
tiated by MICAVAANI,
MICA’s community ra-
dio station, first- and
second-year students
visit the Telav govern-
ment secondary and
highersecondaryschool,
where they teach Math
and English to Class 9
students for two hours
every day.
Inaddition,therough-
ly 150 management stu-
dents who participate in
the project have also be-
gun to teach the Telav
students extra-curricu-
lar activities like art and
craft, music, dance, and
drama. Yash Gupta, a
junior team member of
MICAVAANI said, “We
began the teaching pro-
gramme earlier this
monthandwillcontinue
till March. Our syllabus
ispurelybasedonpracti-
cal learning and founda-
tion building. Apart
from core subjects, our
team has included extra-
curricularactivitieslike
art and craft, music,
dance, and drama.”
Anotherfirst-yearstu-
dent, Ankita Keshari
said,“Ihadpreparedles-
sons on English gram-
mar rules and methods
but I soon realised that it
was not easy for these
students since they were
not very clear on the ba-
sics. So we started teach-
ing them verbs and ad-
verbs through examples
in Hindi and English.”
MICA students turn teachers for kids
First India News
Surat: The Surat Mu-
nicipal Corporation
(SMC) passed a propos-
al for the demarcation
of municipal limits to
include 22 villages and
two municipalities fol-
lowing the civic body’s
general board meeting
on Friday. The propos-
al was passed with 76
votes in favour of de-
marcation and 31 votes
against it. The general
board meeting was
held soon after the pro-
posal was passed in the
standing committee
meeting the same day.
Earlier this week,
the civic body’s stand-
ing committee referred
back the proposal of
demarcation of munic-
ipal limits in the city,
the second time the
proposal was sent back
unheard. There were
mixed demands from
panchayats and villag-
es in relation to being
included under SMC
jurisdiction or not.
However, the propos-
al was passed after an
urgent meeting was
called on Friday morn-
ing.
Prior to the board
meeting, the opposi-
tion leader held a pro-
test against a proposed
24-hour water project.
They opposed it saying
this project would be
an extra financial bur-
den on public.
Surat city is pres-
ently spread over an
area of 326 sq. km.
With Friday’s addi-
tions, the area may ex-
pand to almost the size
of Ahmedabad city,
which covers about 465
sq. km.
Ahmedabad: Bopal po-
lice arrested a five peo-
ple after they raided a
farmhouse party near
Lilapur village on
Thursday night. The
men, identified as Kes-
haji Thakor, Nareshji
Thakor, Popatji Thakor,
Vishnu Patel and Ashok
Patel were found to be
drinking alcohol at a
party. The police have
intensified patrolling in
the run-up to New Year.
The Bopal police have
filed a case and begun
legal actions.
SMC gives nod to demarcationCops arrest 5
for consuming
alcohol
Police give directives
for NY’s eve parties
We are
launching
an online
drive in keeping
with the current
times. The Congress
is a party where eve-
ry voice matter and
there is a democratic
set-up. This enrol-
ment exercise is to
welcome new mem-
bers.”
—Jayrajsinh Parmar,
Congress spokesperson.
We began
the teach-
ing pro-
gramme earlier
this month and
will continue till
March. Our sylla-
bus is purely based
on practical learn-
ing and founda-
tion building.
Apart from core
subjects, our team
has included ex-
tra-curricular ac-
tivities
—Yash Gupta, MICA
Members of Indian Medical Association and the Ahmedabad
Medical Association holding a press conference.
Congress leaders during membership drive on the party’s Foundation Day.
This comes under the category of the rar-
est of rare cases, in which the court can-
not show any leniency in such cases. The
accused has no regret for the ghastly offence he
committed in a case where a helpless toddler suf-
fered a lot. Nothing less than a death sentence will
suffice —read the judgment
The proposal was passed with 76 votes in
favour of demarcation and 31 votes against it.
The general board meeting was held soon
after the proposal was passed in the standing
committee meeting the same day

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2019
FROM JACKET AND PG 1
Playing 20-20...
Rupani said his gov-
ernment is committed
to curbing corruption
andseethatthesystem
is faceless, as well as
that all departments in
the State are digitized.
“Thisiswhyrightfrom
filing application for
any approval till the
approval is granted, no
one comes in between
and people are get all
sanctions, approval or
permissions fast and
hassle free,” he said.
The Chief Minister
said, “There are huge
opportunities of em-
ployment in the real
estate sector and for
that GIHED should
playapositiverole.The
State’s 45 per cent pop-
ulation lives in urban
and 55 per cent in rural
areas. In this scenario,
the youth have a big
shareof thepopulation
and they can contrib-
utetotheeconomicsof
the State.”
Allcitiesof theState
are being planned
keeping next 25 years
growthinmindandthe
projects are being im-
plemented in a way
that keeps the momen-
tum, he said.
Saurashtra has...
from the functional of
industrial unit. The
state government has
also recently gave re-
lief in power con-
sumption, where if
sick unit is revived,
such units will get rs
one relief per unit
consumption of pow-
er.
NO MORE...
untoward incident
on Thursday at Au-
gust Kranti Maidan
near Grant Road sta-
tion.
In Ghatkopar, a
BJP stronghold in the
metropolis, several
people came out for a
pro-CAA rally, with
participants hailing
the Narendra Modi
government for the
Act. The Citizenship
(Amendment) Act,
2019 (CAA) enables
migrants/foreigners
of six minority com-
munities from three
specified countries,
who have come to In-
dia before December
31, 2014 because of
persecution on
grounds of their reli-
gion, to apply for In-
dian citizenship.
Fadnavis
clarification
king to reporters before
participating in a rally
organised by his party
in support of the Act,
Fadnavis accused the
opposition of mislead-
ing Indian Muslims.
“Pakistan did not fulﬁll
the (implicit) assurance
during Partition that mi-
norities will be protected
(in both the countries).
Hence India has to look
after them because they
are our people,” said the
former chief minister.
“The opposition is delib-
erately trying to create
misunderstanding
among Indian Muslims
about the Act. For vote
bank politics, opposi-
tion is trying to create
unrest,” he alleged.
CAA doesn’t...
our soldiers’ heads.
And the country’s
prime minister won’t
even make a ‘uff’
sound,” he said.
He said under this
Act there was no pro-
vision to take away
the citizenship of any-
one, even those be-
longing to a minority
community in the
country.
“This Act has a pro-
vision to give citizen-
ship to the those be-
longing to the minori-
ty who came from
Bangladesh, Pakistan
and Afghanistan,”
Shah said.
The saffron party
held the public rally
in Shimla to commem-
orate BJP’s second
year in power in the
state. Shah was the
chief guest at the ‘1st
Ground Breaking Cer-
emony of Himachal
Pradesh Global Inves-
tors’ Meet- 2019.
CING THE...
“Whether NPR or
NRC, it is a tax on
poor people of the
country. You under-
stand demonestisa-
tion. It was a tax on
poor people. Go to
banks and give your
money but do not
withdraw money from
your account. Entire
money went to the
pocket of 15-20 rich
people. This (NPR or
NRC) is the same
thing,” he said.
Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: Three dif-
ferent agencies, IIT Gan-
dhinagar (IIT Gn), LD
Engineering and the Gu-
jarat Pollution Control
Board(GPCB),arework-
ing together to find a so-
lution to treat the Sabar-
mati river.
They are currently
experimenting with bio-
remediation (injecting
microbes and fungi),
bubbling (high-pressure
bubbles) and bacteria
into the river that has
not seen any freshwater
injection for the past
two years. A part of the
stagnant and contami-
nated Sabarmati river
falls under the jurisdic-
tion of the Ahmedabad
Municipal Corporation
(AMC) and the Sabar-
mati Riverfront Devel-
opmentCorporationLtd
(SRFDCL).
The joint effort is be-
ing overseen by the
AMC, following the Na-
tional Green Tribunal’s
directive to clean up the
riversothewatermaybe
used for bathing. A final
call will be taken after
the experiments con-
clude on Jwanuary 5.
“IIT Gn, LD and
GPCB are conducting
experimental work. The
exact method has not
yet been decided. We
will take a call once the
experiment gets over,”
said Jagdish Patel, city
engineer, SRFDCL.
This year, the Central
government’s Swachh
Survekshan project has
also taken note of the
pollution in various wa-
terbodies,andthecapac-
ity of sewage treatment
would be taken into ac-
count. Patel said that the
experimentaltreatments
have been on since the
beginning of December.
“In a month’s time, the
results will be ready and
then we will take a call
based on which method
proves to be the most ef-
fective,” he asserted.
Sources say bio-reme-
diation will have to be
carried out five times a
year.
In 2017, the state gov-
ernmenthadannounced
that the Riverfront
would only receive treat-
ed water since freshwa-
ter from the Narmada
river and the Dharoi
damwastobedivertedto
farmers for irrigation.
ExperimentsontotakeafinalcallonSabarmatitreatment
First India News
Gandhinagar: Two
neighbouring states hit
by Locusts are now
busy exchanging allega-
tions on who is respon-
sible for the damage
done by the pests in Gu-
jarat.
Gujarat Agriculture
Minister RC Faldu on
Friday alleged, “Had Ra-
jasthan handled the lo-
cust problem or even in-
formed the Gujarat gov-
ernment, our crops
would have not been af-
fected and farmers
would not have to suffer
so much.” Rajasthan’s
AgricultureMinisterLa-
lchand Kataria called
these allegations base-
less and countered say-
ing, “It sounds like the
Gujarat Minister is una-
ware that the locust is-
sue is handled by the
Centralgovernmentand
that the Centre issues
alerts.”
Earlier in the day, Ad-
ditional Chief Secre-
tary (Agriculture) Pu-
namchand Parmar told
reporters that some 117
teams of the state and
Central government
were combating locusts
in Banaskantha dis-
trict. He added that, so
far, 3,000-4,000 litres of
insecticides had been
sprayed, killing 25%-
30% of the locust
swarms. He said he was
hopeful that the gov-
ernment would handle
the situation in the
next four or five days.
The agriculture de-
partment is also hopeful
that, with the wind mov-
ing towards the north-
west, the locusts will
also head towards Balo-
chistan in Pakistan.
The officer added that
since the agriculture
minister himself has
been camped out in the
pest-hit areas for the
past two days and is per-
sonally monitoring the
spraying work done by
the state and central
teams.
The officer also said
that the pests have hit
248 villages in four dis-
tricts and damaged
crops on approximately
6,000 hectares. Once
spraying is concluded,
the field teams will con-
duct a survey of dam-
age to crops.
First India News
Surat: 102nd Annual
Conference of Indian
Economic Association
began at AURO Univer-
sity Surat. The event
started with an inaugu-
ral ceremony along
with lamp lighting cer-
emony.
The session began
with a welcome address
byHPRama,Chancellor
AUROUniversity,where
he emphasized on the
importance of econom-
ics in human civiliza-
tion and explained the
twelve principles of
AURO University and
their integral role in the
growth of an economy.
It was followed by an
inaugural address and
introduction of IEA
and Annual Conference
by the Secretary of IEA,
Prof DK Madaan.
He began his address
by explaining about the
IEAandthenexplaining
the themes of the con-
ference. According to
Prof DK Madaan,
themes of the confer-
enceareUniversalBasic
Income Scheme in In-
dia,IndianBankingSec-
tor: Performance and
Reforms, Paradigm
Shift and New Policy
Initiatives, Indian Agri-
culture Scene: New Pol-
icy Challenges, Indian
Economic Thought: Ma-
jor Works and Contribu-
tions and Challenges
before Gujarat Econo-
my: A way Ahead.
Conference Presiden-
tial Address has been
given by special Guest
Prof Ramesh Chand,
Member, NITI Aayog,
New Delhi, where he
talked about the work-
ing of NITI Aayog and,
the role of agriculture
in rural economy and
paradoxical circle of
hunger and production
of surplus in India.
NEIGHBOURS LOCK HORNS
WITH LOCUSTS BARBS
Annual Conference starts
at AURO University
TEAMS IN ACTION
Ahmedabad: The En-
trepreneurship Devel-
opment Institute of In-
dia (EDII) has conduct-
ed a capacity-building
programme, in which
15Rwandanprofession-
als were trained as
trainers for the Entre-
preneurship Develop-
ment Centre being set
up in Rwanda.
E Rwamucyo, Rwan-
dan High Commission-
er to India, said, “This
learning will see the
germination and
growth of a truly befit-
ting Institute which
will work towards the
progress of Rwanda.
Rwanda Vision 20-50 is
beingimplementedand
this will require re-
sources and in that
space,EDIIwillbeplay-
ing a crutial role.”
EDII conducts capacity-building programme
Sabarmati River front. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
RC Faldu Lal Chand Kataria
The 102nd Annual Conference of Indian Economic Association
begins at AURO University Surat started with an inaugural
ceremony along with lamp lighting ceremony.

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 34 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 | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2019
GOVERNMENT
REACHES OUT
TO CLERICS
Government has finally woken up and
reached out to influential Muslim clerics
mid escalation of violence and
suspension of internet services in
various parts of the country over
new citizen’s amendment act and
proposed national register of citi-
zens, the government has finally woken up
and reached out to influential Muslim clerics
urging them to defuse the tension and issue
appeals for calm.
The move seems to help the situation re-
turn to normalcy as top Muslim clerics have
responded positively and issued an appeal to
the people asking them to continue to protest
but in a peaceful manner without indulging
in acts of vandalism. The timely interven-
tion by the government and clerics is all set
to play a vital role in stopping incidents of
violence and destruction of government
properties.
The situation in Uttar Pradesh has come to
such a pass that the state government has not
only suspended internet services in as much
as 21 cities and put the state on high alert to
stem the violence that has killed at least 19
people so far. With 134 internets shut down
cases reported, India topped the global list
last year. The peace appeal issued by some of
senior clerics in Uttar Pradesh is expected to
work in the strife-torn state amid charges be-
ing levelled by opposition parties that UP
government has been indulging in Muslim
bashing.
In its attempt to engage religious leaders
from the Muslim community in consultation
process over controversial CAA and proposed
NRC, the Modi government is trying to send
a message to the aggrieved community that
when CAA and NRC will be brought, there
will be wider consultations. The govern-
ment’s move to rope in clerics though taken
a little late has convinced the clergy about the
seriousness of the government that it is un-
willing to impose two contentious legislation
on a particular community.
The move is also expected to cool down ris-
ing tempers of the opposition parties as they
have been mounting pressure on the govern-
ment to come clean on the controversial is-
sues that have put the entire country on fire.
The tension could have avoided had the gov-
ernment taken this step in the beginning by
making it clear that the implementation of
CAA and NRC is not on the cards right now.
Besides, the government has also launched
an extensive campaign through social media
and other means to allay apprehensions and
differences between CAA and NRC.
The government in Uttar Pradesh said it
has suspended internet services in some ma-
jor cities to stop spreading of rumours among
people that lead to violence and killing of
people. In fact, the government is worried
because protesters are using the internet for
mobilisation of people.
IN-DEPTH
A
ifteen years ago,
Microsoft, Sony,
Dell and HP
were some of
the leading
companies jostling for su-
premacy in the digital liv-
ing room — where comput-
ers, TVs and content came
together to deliver home
entertainment. Microsoft’s
new Xbox 360 console not
only played video games,
but also DVDs and CDs. It
streamed music from MP3
players and connected to
the company’s Windows
Media Center on PCs. So-
ny’s TVs, sound systems
and computers formed an
integrated entertainment
hub, while Dell and HP had
“media-ready” computers
that also acted as content
servers in the home.
Today, these four players
have been overshadowed
by Amazon, Google, Apple
and Facebook. Fueled by a
leap in broadband adoption
in households and the ad-
vent of smartphones, tab-
lets and other devices, the
digital living room is no
longer a TV-centric area in
the home. Amazon’s Alexa
digital assistant and con-
nected devices are chang-
ing the way people search
for and consume content.
Google is doing the same
thing with Google TV,
GoogleHomeandYouTube,
as is Apple with its Home-
Pod, Apple TV and Siri.
Meanwhile, Facebook has
become a source of content
for people as they interact
within the social media
site’s platform.
But while the digital liv-
ing room may look vastly
different now, it still isn’t
the unified and open eco-
system consumers want.
“We’re certainly much fur-
ther along, but there still
isn’t true integration of all
the different devices and
services,” said Kevin Wer-
bach, Wharton professor of
legal studies and business
ethics. True integration, he
said, is a digital environ-
ment where consumers can
link “every device and eve-
ry piece of content on eve-
ry service and be able to
experience them together.”
This quasi-utopia re-
mains out of reach because
of competing business in-
terests, Werbach said.
Companies race to become
the main provider of video
and music in the home but
also seek to dominate in
digital services more
broadly to corral consum-
ers into their ecosystem.
“The economics make it
difficult,” he explained.
“For the foreseeable future,
it’s going to be this co-ope-
tition (cooperative compe-
tition) landscape where it’s
never quite in anyone’s
interest to give consumers
what they want, which is
one subscription and one
set of devices that give
them everything.”
Back in the mid-2000s,
Werbach recalled, the
challenge in the digital liv-
ing room was “hardware
systems not talking to
each other.” These days,
the issue is less about tech-
nical ability but rather
content fragmentation.
For example, he said that
while he has access to
plenty of good content
through his cable provid-
er’s ecosystem, it doesn’t
offer everything he wants
to watch. “Now that we
have all these streaming
services, we increasingly
have the problem of con-
tent not being available
across different platforms
— and that’s getting
worse,” Werbach noted.
As more streaming ser-
vices popped up, content
became further siloed.
“For a while, if you paid
for Netflix, you got most of
the stuff you wanted to
get. Now there’s Netflix,
there’s Amazon, [there’s
the upcoming] new Disney
service and AT&T/Time
Warner [service] and so
forth,” Werbach said.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.FAIROBSERVER.COM
What’s next for the digital living room?
F
Amazon’s Alexa
digital assistant
and connected
devices are
changing the way
people search for
and consume
content
TOP TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
GratitudetothepeopleofBalangir
forbeingapartofthisprogram
despitetheadverseweather
conditions.Thishugegatheringisa
testimonyofpeople’ssupportand
trustinHon.PM@narendramodi
ji’swelfareprogramforthe
developmentofBalangirdistrict.
ost adults assume that as soon
as a child is born, it is time to
become teachers. When a child
enters your house, it is not the
time to become a teacher, it is
time to learn, because if you
look at yourself and your child,
your child is more joyous, isn’t
it? So it is time you learn life
from them, not the other way
around. The only thing that you
can teach your child – which
you have to, to some extent – is
how to survive but when it
comes to life itself, a child
knows more about life experi-
entially, by himself. He is life;
he knows it. Even with you, if
you take away the influences
you have imposed upon your
mind, your life energies know
how to “be.” It is only your
mind which doesn’t know how
to “be.” An adult is capable of
all kinds of sufferings – imag-
ined sufferings. A child has still
not gone to that.
So it is time to learn, not
teach. The only thing that you
can give is an atmosphere of
love, care and support for the
child to grow. Good parenting
is not about teaching the child
what to do and what not to do,
it is just about creating an at-
mosphere. If you want to grow
your garden, you don’t sit there
every day and try to extract
flowers or fruits out of it. You
just maintain the atmosphere
and it grows well, isn’t it? That
is all you can do, and that is all
that should be done.
If parents are truly con-
cerned about their children,
they must raise their children
in such a way that the child will
never have any need for the par-
ent. The process of loving
should always be a liberating
process, not an entangling pro-
cess. So when the child is born,
allow the child to look around,
spend time with nature and
spend time with himself. Create
an atmosphere of love and sup-
port and don’t try to impose
your morals, ideas, religion or
whatever in any way. Just allow
him to grow, allowing his intel-
ligence to grow and helping
him look at life on his own
terms, as a human being – not
identified with the family, or
your wealth or whatever else.
Just helping him to look at life
as a human being is very essen-
tial for his wellbeing and the
wellbeing of the world.
At the same time, the perils
of living in this world are al-
ways there. It could be drugs, it
could be an accident, it could be
various perversions – all these
things are there. But what you
need to understand is, whether
you like it or not, today or to-
morrow, your child has to learn
to live with his own intelli-
gence, making his own choices
as to how much of what he has
to do in his life. So the sooner
he gets equipped for this, the
better. This does not mean you
push a young child on the street
to learn his own ways. You
don’t try to counter-influence
him with your own morality
and values. You just help him to
look at his life with more intel-
ligence, rather than being influ-
enced by this or that.
Home should not be a place
of imposing your culture, ideas
and morals upon the child. It
should be a supportive atmos-
phere where there is no imposi-
tion upon the child and his in-
telligence is encouraged. If the
child feels most comfortable at
home, he will naturally try to
spend more time there than
outside. Right now, a street cor-
ner may feel like a more com-
fortable place for him than be-
ing at home because of the im-
positions in the home ground.
So, if that discomfort is not
there, he will not make the
street corner his sanctuary. But
that does not mean he is not go-
ing to be exposed to the hard
realities of the world. He will
always be, and they will influ-
ence him in some way or the
other. But always, the parent
encouraging the child to learn
to think for himself, to use his
own intelligence to see what is
best for him is the best insur-
ance you have so that the child
grows up well.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
THEARTOFPARENTINGProcess of loving should always be a liberating process, not an entangling process
D
Home should not be a
place of imposing your
culture, ideas and
morals upon the child. It
should be a supportive
atmosphere where there
is no imposition upon
the child and his
intelligence is
encouraged
THE ONLY THING
THAT YOU CAN TEACH
YOUR CHILD – WHICH
YOU HAVE TO, TO
SOME EXTENT – IS
HOW TO SURVIVE
BUT WHEN IT COMES
TO LIFE ITSELF, A
CHILD KNOWS MORE
ABOUT LIFE
EXPERIENTIALLY, BY
HIMSELF
SADHGURU, ISHA FOUNDATION
Ranked amongst the fifty most influential people in
India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, visionary and a New
York Times bestselling author Sadhguru has been
conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government
of India in 2017, the highest annual civilian award,
accorded for exceptional and distinguished service

INDIAAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2019
New Delhi: Retail on-
ion prices on Friday re-
mained higher at up to
Rs 150 per kg even as the
imported supplies have
started arriving to boost
the domestic availabili-
ty and check prices.
In metros, retail price
of onion was ruling at
Rs 120 /kg Kolkata, at
Rs 102/kg in Delhi and
Mumbai and at Rs 80/
kg in Chennai, as per
the data maintained by
the consumer affairs
ministry. In most cities,
onion prices were rul-
ing at Rs 100/kg. In Itan-
agar, the prices were at
Rs 150/kg.
“Imported onions
have started arriving.
About 1,160 tonne has
reached India. Addi-
tional 10,560 tonne of
shipments are expected
to arrive in the next 3-4
days,” a senior ministry
official told PTI.
Both red and yellow
onions have been im-
ported from Turkey,
Egypt and Afghanistan.
The shipments are
landing at Mumbai
port, the official said.
State-owned MMTC,
which is importing the
key kitchen staple on
behalf of the govern-
ment, has contracted
49,500 tonne of onion so
far. Some shipments
will arrive next month.
Onionpriceshaveshotup
sharply due to estimated 25
per cent fall in kharif pro-
duction of 2019-20 crop year
(July-June) compared to
thepreviousyearbecause
of latemonsoonandeven-
tual excess rains in the
major producing states.
The prices have
failed to cool down de-
spite several govern-
ment measures in the
last few weeks. The gov-
ernment has already
banned export of on-
ion, imposed stock lim-
its on traders and is
also supplying buffer
stock at a cheaper rate.
Traders and experts
are of the view that on-
ion prices will continue
to remain firm till Janu-
ary when late kharif
crop will start hitting
the market. —ANI
Onionat eye-watering `150/kg,imports underway
The prices have failed to cool down despite several measures undertaken by the government in last few weeks
Shimla: BJP working
president JP Nadda on
Friday said that the
Congress government
had scrapped the spe-
cial category status of
Himachal Pradesh add-
ing that the Modi-led
government restored
the same.
Special category is a
classification given by
the Central government
in a bid to grant special
assistance in the devel-
opment of states that
face geographical and
socio-economic disad-
vantages. “When the
Congress party was in
power in the Centre,
Himachal Pradesh was
removed from the list of
special category states.
However, when Modi
Ji's government came
to power in the year
2014, the government
pro-actively restored it
without any demands,”
Nadda said.
The BJP working
president was address-
ing a public rally to
commemorate the par-
ty's second year in
power in the state,
where Union Home
Minister Amit Shah
and Chief Minister Jai
Ram Thakur were also
present.
“Atal Bihari Vajpayee
gave a special economic
package to Himachal,
which led to a lot of de-
velopment in the state.
But when the Congress
government came to
power, they withdrew
the package granted for
a period of 10 years
within seven years,”
Nadda said.
He also outlined BJP
government's initiative
of presenting report
card of its development
work to public and said,
“The BJP government
started the practice to
show a report card of
the work to the people.
Congress government
did not have the culture
of seeking votes on the
basis of developmental
work.” —ANI
‘Specialstatusof
HPrestored
duringModigovt’
BJP MP slams
Sandeep Dikshit
for cop remarks
BJP Working Prez JP Nadda addressing a public rally. —FILE
New Delhi:The Naren-
dra Modi government
came to the defence of
Army Chief General Bi-
pin Rawat after he drew
flak from several quar-
ters over his remarks
criticising those lead-
ing protests and guid-
ing students to carry
out arson and violence.
Union Minister and
former Army Chief
Gen (Retd.) VK Singh
defended the comments
made by Bipin Rawat
and asked the opposi-
tion not to politicise
everything.
Singh also said that
there was nothing po-
litical in asking stu-
dents to maintain peace
while protesting.
“In our great country,
the opposition can turn
anything into a contro-
versy. Ideal would have
been to see the state-
ment into context in
which Army Chief has
said a particular thing.
Askhimwhathemeant.
I don’t see any politics
in it. If I tell students
don’t unnecessarily
damage property, is it
politics? Search your
heart and ask this ques-
tion. Cross-check with
Army Chief and in
what context he might
have said it,” he said.
“If I play football, the
opposition will say it’s
politics. If you don’t un-
derstand the context,
go and check with him.
If he had given advice
to students to not in-
dulge in arson, it’s not
a bad thing. Don’t know
what is so wrong in it?”
Singh said.
Singh’s defence of
Gen Rawat came a day
after the Army Chief ’s
remarks while ad-
dressing an event in
the national capital on
Thursday.
The opposition al-
leged that the com-
ments were political
in nature and the
Army Chief should
desist from indulging
in politics.
Former Army Chief
VK Singh elaborating
further said that the
country belongs to
everyone born here
even if their parents
were foreigners.
“Where are the
doubts? About papers
and certificates re-
quired, this is a false
narrative. I appeal to
reasonable people,
can’t do this with un-
reasonable people. It
pains me. Those who
are born in India are
Indians and no one
can take away their
citizenship.” —ANI
Not a bad thing:VK Singh onArmy
Chief’s statement on CAA protests
EX- KOLKATA TOP COP RAJEEV
KUMAR POSTED AS PRINCIPAL SECY
Kolkata: The West Bengal
government on Thursday
night named former Kol-
kata Police commissioner
Rajeev Kumar, currently
posted as the Addition-
al DG of state CID, as
principal secretary in the
Information, Technolo-
gy and the Electronics
Department. According
to an order issued by the
state government, the IPS
officer replaces Debasish
Sen, who was holding ad-
ditional charges of the de-
partment as the additional
chief secretary. Sen will
now be the CMD of the
West Bengal Housing In-
frastructure Development
Corporation Ltd (HIDCO)
with additional charge of
Nabadiganta Industrial
Township Authority as its
chairman, the order said.
PRIYANKA TO ATTEND CONGS'
FOUNDATION DAY FUNCTION
Lucknow: Congress general secretary Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra will be in Lucknow for two days-
December 27 & 28 to take part in the events on
the occasion of the party's 135th Foundation Day.
During her stay in Lucknow, Priyanka will attend
the 135th foundation day function of the party
today. At 12:30 pm on Saturday, Vadra will hold a
meeting with the advisory council and strategists.
On the same evening, she will attend the PCC
meeting. This will be the 135th foundation day of
the oldest party - the Congress in the country.
‘RAILWAYS TO RATIONALISE
FARE, FREIGHT RATES’
New Delhi: The railways is in the process of “ra-
tionalising” its passengers and freight fares, Rail-
way Board Chairman VK Yadav said. He, however,
refused to say if the prices will be increased. In a
media briefing, Yadav said although the railways
had initiated a number of measures to counter
its dwindling revenues, increasing fares was a
“sensitive” issue and it had to be discussed at
length before a final decision was taken. “We are
going to rationalise the fares and freight rates.
Something is being thought about.
MAMATA BANERJEE LIKELY TO
ATTEND SOREN'S SWEARING-IN
Kolkata: West Bengal CM
Mamata Banerjee is likely
to attend the swearing-in
ceremony of Hemant
Soren as Jharkhand CM
in Ranchi on Dec 29. With
top opposition leaders
scheduled to attend the
programme, Hemant
Soren's swearing-in
ceremony is likely to be
a “show of unity” in the
wake of countrywide pro-
tests against the amended
CAA and the proposed
NRC. “We share a very
good relationship with
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
& Hemant Soren. So far,
it has been decided that
our party supremo along
with some senior leaders
would attend Soren's
swearing-in ceremony on
Dec 29,” a senior TMC
leader said.
BLISSFUL...
Birds rest on a boat at Dal Lake during a cold morning in Srinagar on Friday. —PHOTO BY PTI
New Delhi: Bharatiya
Janata Party MP GVL
Narasimha Rao on Fri-
day, slammed Congress
leader Sandeep Dik-
shit for stating that
most police forces were
“corrupt”, and said the
partyleadershave“anti-
democratic thinking.”
“From Sonia Gandhi
to Sandeep Dikshit, all
leaders of the Congress
are corrupt. In every
manner, they are de-
stroying the image of
our forces, police...
They are calling them
corrupt. They are dam-
aging their morale. It is
a kind of anti-demo-
cratic thinking,” he told
ANI. Rao accused Con-
gress of backing those
committing crimes.
Sandeep Dikshit had
said earlier that more
than half of police forc-
es in the country were
“corrupt.” —ANI
TAKE NOTE
LEADER SPEAK
JAIPUR l FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2019 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 201
BJP IN A
HUDDLE
OVER CAA
New Delhi: As the
initial volley of anti-
CAA protests in the
nationalcapitalseems
to be waning after
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi’s claim
that there is no talk of
NRC at Sunday’s BJP
rally here, the BJP
went into a huddle on
the matter on Thurs-
day on how to swing
the public perception
on CAA in its favour.
The closed door
meeting that is on at
BJP headquarters in
Delhi is being chaired
by BJP’s working
president JP Nadda.
The meeting was also
attended by BJP Na-
tional General Secre-
tary (organisation)
BL Santosh, Union
ministers Prahlad Pa-
tel, Mukhtar Abbas
Naqvi, Kiren Rijiju,
Arjun Ram Meghwal
and Gajendra Singh
Shekhawat. The in-
clusion of its Ladakh
MP Jamyang Tsering
Namgyal, a vocal new
leader from the mi-
nority community
who has articulated
the party’s position
on abrogation of
Article 370, has been
tactical.
Turn on P4
OF ECLIPSES, HURDLES AND THE ACTS: Prime minister Narendra Modi took time out to watch the solar eclipse even as the coun-
trywide protests against CAA were on the wane for quite some time now while Home minister Amit Shah attacked divisive forces
during foundation stone laying ceremony for the integrated development of East Delhi.
—PHOTOS BY PTI
PK Agarwal
Jaipur: Following pro-
poor and pro-farmer
welfare schemes
and
with the announcement
of dates of panchayat
elections, a confident
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot was of the opin-
ion that people will sup-
port the party (Con-
gress) because of sus-
tained good work and
good governance in the
last one year.
During a one-day
tour of Mewar and Wa-
gad region, the CM in
an exclusive chat with
First India said the gov-
ernment has done ex-
cellent work in the first
year; therefore, people
would back it (the gov-
ernment).
However,Gehlotalso
expressed his unhappi-
ness with the BJP-led
government in the
Centre.“Igetreallyan-
gry and this anger
comes straight
from
the heart,” he said.
According to him,
the central govern-
ment has strayed
away from real issues.
“We want the country
to be safe but the Cen-
tre has been diverting
from real issues by
doing politics on na-
tionalism,” he said.
The CM even asked
people, “Do we need
to get certificate(s)
from the Centre to
prove that we are na-
tionalists.”
The tour began with
inauguration of a free
eye surgery camp in
Nimbahera where he
was accompanied by
speaker Dr C P Joshi,
Ministers Udaylal An-
jana, Lalchand Kataria,
Harish Choudhary and
local MLAs.
Gehlot made people
aware about the ‘Nirogi
Rajasthan’campaign.He
said this time there will
bemoremedicinesinthe
kitty and people could
undergo more tests too.
CM said that the
state government’s
decision to have a
medical college
in
every district is a big
step.
Gehlot also spoke
about agreement with
hospitals in Gujarat for
heart treatment of kids.
He said the government
has been paying Rs
5,000 towards transpor-
tation expenditure.
The CM also vowed to
break the backbone of
mafia in the state.
New Delhi: Even as
the Cabinet recently
approved the post of
CDS and General Bi-
pin Rawat’s name is
doing the rounds, on
Thursday he criti-
cised violence during
protests over the citi-
zenship
law, saying
“leaders are not those
who lead masses in
arson and violence.”
He was immediately
called out for taking
sides while still in a
post that must be neu-
tral and apolitical.
The opposition party,
including the Congress
attackedGenRawat,who
isduetoretireonDecem-
ber 31 as Army Chief, for
making remarks on po-
litical issues.
“Leaders are not
those who lead people
in inappropriate direc-
tions, as we are witness-
ing in a large number of
university and college
students, the way they
are leading masses of
crowds to carry out ar-
son and violence in our
cities and towns. This is
not leadership,” the
Army Chief said at a
health summit.
He further said, “A
leader is one person
who leads you in the
correct
direction.
Gives you the right
advice and then en-
sures that you care
for the people you
live.”
Turn on P4
Confident Gehlot says Congress will do well in p’yat polls
Panchayat polls in January
Jaipur: Over 9,000 pan-
chayats will go to the
polls in Rajasthan next
month, said an official
here on Thursday.
The elections to
elect 9,171 sarpanch-
es and 90,400 panches
will be held in three
phases on January 17,
22 and 29.
The polling
will
held from 8 am to 5
pm and the counting
will be held on the
same day.
As many as 34,525
polling booths had been
set up for elections to
9,171 pachayats across
33 districts, said state
Election Commissioner
P S Mehra on Thursday.
He said EVM ma-
chines would be used
for the election
of
sarpanches for the
first time while the
election
of panches
would be conducted
through
ballot pa-
pers.
As many as 3.08 crore
voters, including 14.7
crore women, will exer-
cise their franchise in
the elections.
The state govern-
ment this time has abol-
ished the condition of
minimum educational
qualification for sar-
panches.
As per the criteria set
by the previous BJP
government, the person
from general category
wanting to contest for
the sarpanch was re-
quired to be Class 8
pass.
Turn on P4
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot greets the public during the Kisan Sammelan at Simalwara in Dungarpur district on Thursday, even as
Assembly Speaker CP Joshi looks on.
Opposition including Congress attacked Gen Rawat, who is due to retire on December 31 as Army Chief
Time to punish
‘tukde-tukde’
gang for violence
New Delhi: In the
wake of protests
against the Citizen-
ship Amendment Act
(CAA) in the national
capital, Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah on
Thursday accused
Congress of support-
ing violence in the
city’s streets and said
it is time to “punish
thetukde-tukdegang”.
“It is time to pun-
ish the tukde-tukde
gang, which is re-
sponsible for the vi-
olence in the streets
of the national capi-
tal with the help of
the Congress party.
The people of Delhi
should
punish
them,” Shah said
while addressing a
public rally here.
The BJP has ac-
cused Congress of
inciting
violence
during
protests
against the new citi-
zenship law.
Shah also accused
the opposition par-
ties, which are oppos-
ing the CAA, of
spreading misinfor-
mation and causing
violence.
“When
discus-
sions on the Citi-
zenship
Amend-
ment Bill (CAB)
were held in Parlia-
ment, no one was
willing to say any-
thing. After coming
out, they started
spreading misinfor-
mation and disrupt-
ed peace in Delhi,”
he said.
In the last few days,
several
protests
broke out in the na-
tional capital against
the new citizenship
law. One such protest
in Jamia Nagar ear-
lier this month had
turned violent,
Turn on P4
NOT CAABIL? GEN RAWAT’S JIBE ON
PROTESTING NETAS RAISES BROWS
Leaders are
not those who
lead people in
inappropriate direc-
tions, the way they are
leading crowds to car-
ry out arson and vio-
lence in our cities and
towns. This is not
leadership
Gen Bipin Rawat, Army Chief
HAS GENERAL EXCEEDED HIS BRIEF?
‘APOLITICAL
STATEMENT’
A senior officer at the
Army headquarters
clarified that Gen
Rawat had (basically)
talked about leader-
ship qualities. “There
were no political
statements. He did
not mention either
the CAA or the NRC.
He expressed con-
cern about the law
and order situation,”
he went on to say.
Parts of UP go offline,cops
brace for fresh protests
Lucknow: The Uttar
Pradesh govern-
ment has blacked
out Internet connec-
tivity in eight dis-
tricts of the state
until
tomorrow
evening
over con-
cerns of further
protests against the
Citizenship Amend-
ment Act erupting
after the Friday
prayers.
Until reports last
came in, Internet con-
nectivity was sus-
pended in western Ut-
tar Pradesh’s Bijnor,
Bulandshahar, Muzaf-
farnagar, Agra, Firo-
zabad, Sambhal, Ali-
garh and Ghaziabad.
No such action was
taken in state capital
Lucknow, even though
it had also witnessed
clashes between the
police and protesters
last week.
“We’ve deployed
security
personnel
in different districts
of the state and held
talks with the peo-
ple. Internet services
have been suspended
in eight districts for
a day, Turn on P4
YOU READ IT IN FIRST INDIA
DECEMBER 27, 2019
SSS
IN SUPPORT
New Delhi: Minis-
ter of State for Home
Affairs, G Kishan
Reddy on Friday, hit
out at Congress lead-
er Sandeep Dikshit
over his remark
wherein, he had said
that “more than half
of police forces in
India are corrupt”
and demanded an
apology from the
Congress for its lead-
er's statement.
“No politics
should be done on
Police. Govern-
ments come and go,
but police work for
365 days. Congress
party should apolo-
gise for this re-
mark,” Reddy told
ANI. Congress lead-
er Sandeep Dikshit,
earlier in the day,
said that more than
half of the police
forces in the coun-
try are “corrupt”
while also asserting
that they or the par-
amilitary forces
raise slogans on na-
tionalism in a bid to
stow away a mis-
deed.
“More than half
of the police forces
in the country are
corrupt. How do
they eradicate it?
Firstly, raise slogans
on nationalism and
show that we do
such a job which
cannot be ques-
tioned. When police
or paramilitary forc-
es raise such slo-
gans, know that they
are trying to hide a
misdeed,” Dikshit
told ANI.
The Congress lead-
er added that if an
organisation is “cor-
rupt”, they will talk
more about national-
ism.
Later, clarifying
his stance, Dikshit
said, “I said most of
them [police] are cor-
rupt, did not say all
are corrupt.”
He said that the
politicians are “an-
swerable to people”
the same way public
services are. —ANI
‘CONGRESS SHOULD APOLOGISE
OVER DIKSHIT’S REMARK’
CAA STIR

INDIAAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2019
KAUN BANEGA INDIAN AMBASSADOR TO US?
The name of Syed Akbaruddin, India’s Perma-
nent Representative to UN is circulating as a
probable candidate as India’s next Ambassador
to United States whose retirement is in April
2020. He is an Indian Foreign Service officer of
the1985 batch.
WILL GUPTA BE NEXT DG,NICFS
Name of Rakesh Kumar Gupta is doing the
rounds for the post of new DG of National Insti-
tute of Criminology & Forensic Science(NICFS).
S Jaweed Ahmad, present DG, NICFS is going
back to his parent cadre UP. A 1984 batch IPS
officer, is schedule to retire in March next year.
Gupta is a 1986 batch WB cadre IPS officer and
has been empanelled as DG in GoI in June this
year.
12 IPS OFFICERS RETIRING IN DECEMBER
As many as 12 IPS officers of various cadres
and batches are retiring in December, 2019. They
are: R J Savani of Gujarat; Surinder Kumar of
J&K; Ranjit Kumar Prasad of Jharkhand; Mohd
B S Yasin of Kerala; V K Suryavanshi of MP; P
P Mutyal of Maharashtra; Amar Singh Chahal of
Punjab; Dr Bhupendra Singh of Rajasthan; Rajiv
Rai Bhatnagar and Pramod Kumar of UP and M
Hari Sena Verma of West Bengal cadre.
ADMIRAL KARAMBIR SINGH SENIOR-MOST
WHEN GEN BIPIN RAWAT RETIRES
Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of Naval Staff will
be the senior-most officer among the tri-services
Chiefs when General Bipin Rawat retires on
December 31, 2019 as Army Chief. But Admiral
Karambir Singh has just a year left to retire.
Is he being considered for the post of Chief of
Defence Staff ? Nobody can tell right now.
CDS POST TO BE ROTATIONAL?
The post of Chief of Defence Staff(CDS) is likely
to be rotational so the next Chief can be from
other services.
M S RAO TO BE CHIEF SECRETARY OF
MEGHALAYA?
M S Rao is likely to be new Chief Secretary of
Meghalaya. He will take over on Jan 1, 2020.
He is 1987 batch IAS office of Assam/Meghalaya
cadre.
11 EMPANELLED IPS OFFICERS RETIRE
NEXT YEAR
11 out 14 IPS officers of 1986 batch empanelled
are due to superannuate in 2020. Akhil Kumar
Shukla is retiring in January, Aaloka Prabhakar
and Rakesh Kumar Mishra retire in March, Anil
Kumar and R P Agrawal in April, N R K Reddy,
Dr Rajendra Prasad Sharma, Aaliok Kumar Pate-
ria and A Hemchandran are schedule to retire in
May, Ashok Kumar Verma in June and Shambhu
Nath Singh will retire in November next year.
Bhupendra Singh retiring this month.
BHUSHAN TO TAKE OVER AS SECRETARY,
RURAL DEVELOPMENT ON JAN 1
Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary (Coordination), Cabi-
net Secretariat, will be taking over the charge as
Secretary, Department of Rural Development on
January 1, 2020. He is a 1987 batch IAS officer
of Bihar cadre.
HEAVY INDUSTRY TO GET NEW
SECRETARY FROM JANUARY 1
Arun Goel, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, will be
taking over the charge as Secretary, Department
of Heavy Industry on January 1, 2020. He is a
1985 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre.
SANJAY KUMAR TO JOIN AS ADDL SECY,
ROAD TRANSPORT ON JANUARY 1
Sanjay Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of
School Education & Literacy, will be taking over
the charge as Additional Secretary & Financial
Advisor, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
on January 1, 2020. He is a 1992 batch IAS
officer of Nagaland.
PRAVEEN KUMAR TO TAKE OVER AS
SECRETARY, SKILL DEVELOPMENT ON JAN 1
Praveen Kumar presently Special Secretary,
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, will
be taking over as Secretary, Ministry of Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship on January
1, 2020. He is a 1987 batch IAS officer of Tamil
Nadu cadre.
DR EKKA TO BE PS TO NEW JHARKHAND
CM?
Dr Rajeev Arun Ekka is likely to be appointed
new Principal Secretary (PS) to the new CM
Hemant Soren. He is a 1994 batch IAS officer of
Jharkhand cadre.
CHOUBEY TO JOIN CMS SECRETARIAT?
Vinay Kumar Choubey is likely to join the Chief
Minister’s(CMs) Secretariat in Jharkhand. He is
a1999 batch IAS officer.
POWERGallery
ACTOR KUSHAL PUNJABI, FOUND
DEAD AT MUMBAI HOME
New Delhi: Actor Kushal
Punjabi who was last
seen in Ishq Mein Mar-
jawan was found dead in
his Mumbai home. The
actor was 42. The news
came as a shock when ac-
tor Karanvir Bohra shared
the news of his demise
on social media. Kushal
Punjabi’s body was found
hanging at his residence
in Pali Hill, Mumbai. The
Police has found a suicide
note at his residence.
Accidental Death Report
filed, further probe is
underway. In his one-and-
a-half page suicide note,
Punjabi has mentioned
his assets should be
equally distributed among
his parents and his three-
year-old son Kian. His
last rites will be held in
Mumbai today at 4 pm.
4-YR-OLD GIRL RAPED IN
MUZAFFARPUR, CONDITION CRITICAL
Muzaffarpur: A four-year-old girl was alleged-
ly raped by a 22-year-old man in Muzaffarpur
and has been admitted in a critical condition to
Shrikrishna Medical College and Hospital, said
Bihar Police on Friday. The accused identified
as Azad has been arrested by the police. "The
incident took place in the area of Ahiyapur Police
Station on the night of December 26 and the
police have arrested the accused. The girl is in
a critical condition and is currently undergoing
treatment," said DSP Ram Naresh Paswan.
NORWEGIAN TOURIST ASKED TO
LEAVE INDIA OVER VISA VIOLATION
Kochi: A Norwegian
tourist has been asked
to leave the country
over visa violation, the
Foreigners Regional
Registration Office said.
The development came
after Janne-Mette Johans-
son was questioned for
participating in a protest
against the CAA in Kochi
on December 23. The sev-
enty-four-year-old Norwe-
gian took to social media
on Friday, saying that an
officer from the Bureau
of Immigration met her
in the morning and asked
her to leave the country
immediately. "A couple
of hours back Bureau of
Immigration showed up
at my hotel again. I was
told to leave the country
at once, or legal action
will be taken.
Ladakh: Mobile inter-
net services have been
restored in Kargil dis-
trict of the Union Terri-
tory.
The development
comes days after it was
reported that the Min-
istry of Home Affairs
has withdrawn 72 com-
panies of Central
Armed Police Forces
(CAPFs) from J & Kwith
immediate effect. "The
Ministry has decided to
withdraw 72 Coys of
CAPFs (CRPF-24, BSF-
12, ITBP-12, CISF-12
and SSB-12) with imme-
diate effect from Jam-
mu and Kashmir and
revert back to their re-
spective locations," the
ministry stated.
TheMinistryof Home
Affairshadstartedwith-
drawing forces from
J&K from the second
week of December.Com-
munication restrictions
were imposed in the
erstwhile state of Jam-
mu & Kashmir in the
wake of abrogation of
Article 370 in August
this year.
Centre had in August
this year, announced
the decision to abrogate
Article 370 of the Con-
stitution, which gave
special status to the
erstwhile state of Jam-
mu and Kashmir. It had
also announced the de-
cision to bifurcate the
state into two Union
Territories.
Divisional Commis-
sioner Kashmir Baseer
Khan refused to give a
timeline on restoration
of internet in the Val-
ley. “We are evaluating.
There is a need to meet
all the people con-
cerned including secu-
rity agencies, only then
we can say anything,”
he said.
A lockdown and com-
munication blackout
was imposed in Kash-
mir while hundreds of
political workers and
leaders, including three
former chief ministers
Farooq Abdullah, Omar
Abdullah, and Mehboo-
ba Mufti, were detained
to prevent protests
against the change to
Jammu and Kashmir’s
constitutional status
and reorganisation.—PTI
Sheopur: A woman
tehsildar from Sheopur
was suspended for al-
legedly posting an ob-
jectionable post on her
social media account
over the Citizenship
Amendment Act.
In a suspension or-
der dated December 26,
Chambal Commission-
er Renu Tiwari sus-
pended Tehsildar Ami-
ta Singh Tomar and at-
tached her to Bhopal
till further direction.
According to the order,
the officer misused her
social media account to
post a non-objective
comment, misused her
official position and
misbehaved with the
people.
"The officer will be
provided subsistence
pay for the duration of
the suspension," the or-
der added.
The officer had alleg-
edly posted an objec-
tionable comment on a
social media post on
December 21.
Earlier, Collector
Pratibha Pal had
served a notice to
Tomar and sought a re-
sponse within 24 hours,
after which she was
suspended. —ANI
New Delhi: Addressing
traffic congestion
would be a focus area of
the AAP government in
next five years if it is
reelected, Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejri-
wal said today.
Kejriwal, addressing
people in a town-hall
meeting in Pitampura,
said the AAP manifesto
will be released around
mid-January and it will
consist of all issues that
would be addressed in
the next five years.
"These issues will be
decided by holding dis-
cussions with people.
Yesterday (in another
town-hall meeting) we
decided to clean Delhi
and today we decided to
deal with traffic conges-
tion in the next five
years," he said.
Responding to peo-
ple's questions, Kejri-
wal said addressing
traffic congestion
would be a focus area of
the AAP government in
the next five years, pro-
vided the party is ree-
lected in the polls early
next year.
"We have hired con-
sultants to identify bot-
tlenecks in the city
where traffic conges-
tion takes place. They
will submit their plan
in the next couple of
months and based on
their suggestion we will
try to solve the problem
of traffic congestion,"
he said. —ANI
New Delhi: Delhi’s
Karkardooma court
will on December 30
hear a bail petition
filed by two accused
who were arrested af-
ter a protest over the
Citizenship (Amend-
ment) Act turned vio-
lent in Seelampur area
last week.
Additional District
judge Brijesh Garg
slated the matter for
December 30 after
hearing their petition
today. The court has
sought medical reports
of both the accused
from the jail authori-
ties. The Delhi Police
had arrested 14 people
at the protest on De-
cember 17. Subse-
quently, the court sent
them to 14-days judi-
cial custody.
The protesters had
allegedly pelted stones
at policemen and van-
dalised three buses
during the protest. —ANI
New Delhi: The Centre
on Friday approved con-
struction of 6.5 lakh
houses under Pradhan
MantriAwasYojana(Ur-
ban), taking the total
number of houses being
fundedunderthescheme
to over one crore.
Addressing a press
conference, Union Hous-
ing&UrbanAffairsMin-
isterHardeepSinghPuri
said in the next three-
four months, the minis-
try will sanction all the
1.12 crore houses, a tar-
get set by the govt. —ANI
TALKING BUSINESS...
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during the launch of internal Dashboard for Department of Defence at Ministry of Defence in
New Delhi on Friday. Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar can also be seen. —PHOTO BY ANI
Seelampur violence:
Court to hear bail
plea on Dec 30
‘6.5L houses to
be build under
Awas Yojana’
Lucknow: Mobile In-
ternet services and sms
messages of all mobile
service providers ex-
cept BSNL remained
suspended in Lucknow
on December 27. The an-
nouncement was made
in a notification dated
December 26 and under-
signed by Additional
Chief Secretary, Awan-
ish Kumar Awasthi.
Furthermore, Inter-
net services were sus-
pended in several other
districts of the state. In
Bulandshahar, it will
remain suspended till
6:00 am on December 28.
In Agra, Internet Ser-
vices remained sus-
pended till 6:00 pm on
Dec27 while in Mathu-
ra, Sitapur, Muzaffar-
nagar, Firozabad and
Sambhal, it will remain
suspended till further
orders. It will also re-
main suspended in Bi-
jnor till the night of
December 28.
Meanwhile, the Infor-
mation & Communica-
tion Department of Ut-
tar Pradesh said that
498 people have been
identified in connection
with the damage caused
to public property dur-
ing recent protests in
Lucknow, Meerut,
Sambhal, Rampur, Mu-
zaffarnagar, Ferozabad,
Kanpur Nagar, Mau and
Bulandshahar.
Net back in Kargil after 145 daysA lockdown & communication blackout was imposed in J&K to prevent protests
against the change to the state’s constitutional status and re-organisation
OnlyBSNLoperated in
LkoonDecember27
'Solving traffic congestion
in agenda for next 5 yrs'
Delhi C M Arvind Kejriwal addressing the members of the Town
Vending Committees & street vendors at Delhi Secretariat.
Tehsildar removed
over objectionable post
CURRENT SCENARIO
Amita Singh Tomar

SPORTSAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2019
Karachi: In a statement,
Kaneria, who was found
guilty of spot-fixing while
playing for English club Es-
sex, said that over time, he
has approached many indi-
viduals in Pakistan and
around the world to resolve
his issues, only to receive
no help whatsoever, even
when the “issues of many
(other) cricketers of Paki-
stan have been resolved.”
“My life is not in good shape
and I approached many in-
dividuals in Pakistan and
around the world to resolve
my issues. Yet, I have not
received any help. Issues of
many cricketers of Paki-
stan have been resolved
though. I gave everything
possible for Pakistan as a
cricketer and I am very
proud of it. And in the hour
of need I am positive that
the people of Pakistan will
help,” Kaneria said. “I need
support from all legendary
players of Pakistan includ-
ing Honourable Prime Min-
ister Imran Khan, cricket
administrators of Pakistan
and other countries to get
me out the mess. Please
come forward and help me
out,” he added.
The former Pakistani
player lauded pacer Shoaib
Aktharforhisconfessionre-
garding the treatment faced
by Kaneria and said that
whatever Akhtar said was
true and he is very thankful
to him for taking such a
brave stand. At the same
time, I am thankful to all
great players who supported
me wholeheartedly as a
cricketer. Also thankful to
media, genuine cricket ad-
ministrators,andcitizensof
Pakistan who supported me
regardless of my religious
affiliation,” Kaneria said.
‘Was targetted but never
felt need to convert’
The leg-spinner also said
there were a “few players”
who targetted him for be-
ing a Hindu during his
time with the national
team but he never felt the
urge or the pressure to
change his religion. The
spinner has been brought
into focus after former pac-
er Shoaib Akhtar alleged
that some Pakistani play-
ers refused to even share
food with him due to his
faith. Speaking to ‘Samaa’
channel on Friday, Kaneria
said a few players made re-
marks about him behind
his back.
Kaneria, who played for
Pakistan between 2000 and
2010, is only the second
Hindu player to play for Pa-
kistan, the other being Anil
Dalpat, a wicketkeeper who
played in the 1980s.
Kaneria never reached
the heights of Abdul Qadir
& Mushtaq Ahmed despite
possessing all the skills
and 261 Test wickets, Kane-
ria’s career ended when he
was banned for life by the
ECB in 2012 after being
found guilty of corruption
in a spot-fixing case.
ISSUE HOTS UP
CAA GOOGLY IN PAK CRICKET
Banned spinner sought help from Pak PM
Imran Khan & cricket administrators,
saying that his life is not in “good shape”
CAANERIA
Former Pakistan
skipper Javed Miandad
echoed Pakistan
Cricket Board
(PCB) chairman
Ehsan Mani
in saying that
teams should
stop touring
India in the backdrop
of the Citizenship
Amendment Act pro-
tests. “People should
take note of what is
going on in
India. I urge the
ICC to boycott
them,” Mian-
dad said in the
video uploaded
on an online
portal. “Not Pakistan
but India is not a safe
country for any tourist
or anybody. As human
beings, we sportsper-
sons should also stand
up and condemn them.
“The entire world is
watching and talking
about what is going on
there. I am speaking
on behalf of Pakistan
that all sporting ties
must be suspended
with India.
The former India
cricketer Madan Lal
said that Hindu players
in the Pakistan team
tend to be attracted
towards India. He also
said that the lack of
education is the prime
difference between In-
dian and Pakistan play-
ers. He also expressed
his sadness over the
alleged treatment
meted out to Kaneria
during his cricketing
career. “There are just
two Hindus that have
represented Pakistan
in cricket. I have
noticed, that whenever
Hindu players repre-
sented Pakistan, they
tended to be attracted
more towards us, they
liked talking to us. I
have toured Pakistan,
I have seen Hindus in
that country, the dif-
ference was obviously
there,” Lal told ANI.
“As team-mates, you
need to support each
other,” he added.
The former Indian cricketer &
current BJP lawmaker Gautam
Gambhir said this is the real face
of Pakistan and it is a shame that
a player who has represented the
country in so many matches had
to go through this. Gambhir’s
comment comes after former
Pakistan player Shoaib Akhtar
made a revelation regarding the
treatment faced by Kaneria in the
Pakistan. “This is the actual face
of Pakistan. We had Mohammad
Azharuddin as captain of our side
and he captained us in 80-90 Test
matches. This shows the reality of
Pakistan, they have a sportsman
(Imran Khan) as their Prime Min-
ister, still, people in their country
have to go through this. Kaneria
played 60 matches for Pakistan,
and it is shameful,” the former
Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir
told the reporters.
The Pak Cricket Board sought
to distance itself from Shoaib
Akhtar’s assertion saying that the
PCB cannot be answerable for the
allegation. Kaneria asserted that
Akhtar’s statement was true and
he would soon reveal names of
the players who mistreated him
because of his religion. “Look both
Akhtar and Kaneria are retired
players they are not contracted
to us so they can do or say what
they want. It is their opinion.
And they are making allegations
about behaviour of some play-
ers not about the entire,” a PCB
spokesperson said. “Inzamam-ul-
Haq, Rashid Latif, Younis Khan,
Muhammad Yousuf, all these guys
captained Pakistan when Kaneria
was playing. They should respond
to what Akhtar and Kaneria are
saying. Why should the board get
involved?” he questioned.
ICC should not allow teams to tour
unsafe India, says Javed Miandad
Hindu players in Pak team tend to
be attracted towards India: Madan
Shows reality of
Pakistan: Gambhir
‘Players should
respond, not us’
Melbourne: Austra-
lia’s pacemen struck
twice to leave New Zea-
land vulnerable at 44 for
two on day 2 of the Box-
ing Day test after Travis
Head scored a sparkling
century to put the hosts
firmly in command.
Tom Latham was
nine not out with Ross
Taylor on two, and NZ
facing a mountain to
climb to reel in Austra-
lia’s first innings total
of 467. The tourists’
opening woes contin-
ued, with Jeet Raval’s
replacement Tom Blun-
dell out for 15 edging a
Pat Cummins delivery
to wicketkeeper-cap-
tain Tim Paine. The
huge contingent of NZ
fans in a crowd were
soon groaning again
when Kane Williamson
top-edged a pull-shot to
be caught by Paine for
nine. Under pressure to
cement his place in Aus-
tralia’s middle order,
South Australian scrap-
per Head completed his
second test ton after tea
and celebrated with
emotion on a sun-
drenched afternoon.
Oz in commanding positionRussia officially
challenges WADA
doping ban
Gujarat makes an
impressive win
India U-19 thrash South
Africa in first youth ODI
Tim Paine and Travis Head on day two of the Boxing Day Test.
New Delhi: For the sec-
ond time in a row, Kera-
la slid to defeat inside
three days. Sanju Sam-
son’s exceptional talent
had raised hopes of an
unlikely victory, but
once he fell, Gujarat
romped home in no
time. The host won by 90
runs after lunch on Fri-
day. It has now 12 points,
while Kerala has just
three. The visiting side
had begun the game on
the right note, after dis-
missing Gujarat for just
127 on the opening day.
Its first innings, howev-
er, folded up for just 70;
it was always going to
be difficult to come back
after that, on a track
that was assisting both
seamers and spinners.
New Delhi: India has
begun its preparations
for next month’s U-19
World Cup on an em-
phatic note as they de-
feated South Africa by
nine wickets in the first
youth ODI here. After
bowling out South Afri-
ca on Thursday for a
mere 187 at the Buffalo
Park, India came out
with a solid batting per-
formance and chased
down the target with 45
balls to spare.
Batting first, the SA
Under-19 team folded
for 187 in 48.3 overs. In
reply, India dished out a
solid batting display to
overhaul the target,
scoring 190 for 1 in 42.3
overs to take a 1-0 lead
in the series.
Moscow: Russia for-
mally contested its ban
from sporting events
over doping violations,
the head of its RUSADA
anti-doping agency
said. “In accordance
with the established
procedure, today we
have sent a package of
documents to WADA,”
RUSADA director gen-
eral Yury Ganus told
reporters in Moscow.
“The package contains
a notice about a dis-
agreement with WADA
sanctions”, Ganus said.
New Delhi: Six-time
world champion MC
Mary Kom and Nikhat
Zareen will clash in the
51kg category finals of
the women’s boxing tri-
als for next year’s Olym-
pic Qualifiers after
claiming unanimous
victories in their respec-
tive first-round bouts in
New Delhi on Friday.
Zareen defeated
reigningnationalcham-
pion Jyoti Gulia, while
multiple-time Asian
champion Mary Kom
got the better of Ritu
Grewal. The two-day
competition will end on
Saturday after the fi-
nals. Zareen had kicked
up a storm a few weeks
ago by demanding a tri-
al against iconic six-
time world champion
MC Mary Kom after the
Boxing Federation of
India’s flip-flop on the
selection policy for the
Olympic Qualifiers.
Mary Kom had main-
tained that she would
abide by the selection
policy laid down by the
BFI, which ultimately
decided to have trials
This was after BFI Pres-
ident Ajay Singh trig-
gered the storm by an-
nouncing at a felicita-
tion ceremony that
Mary Kom would be se-
lected for the Olympic
qualifiers without any
trial due to her consis-
tent international per-
formances.
An irate Zareen then
demanded a “fair
chance” against the cel-
ebrated Manipuri, who
is also a Rajya Sabha
member. In other trial
bouts on Friday, world
youth gold-medallist
Sakshi Chaudhary de-
feated Asian silver-win-
ner Manisha Maun in
the 57kg category, while
former national cham-
pion Simranjit Kaur
got the better Pavitra in
the 60kg opener.
Mary Kom & Nikhat Zareen in final clash of trials
OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS

Zareen had
kicked up a
storm a few
weeks ago by
demanding a
trial against
Mary Kom after
the BFI flip-flop
on the selection
policy
Under-19 cricketer Yashavsi Jaiswal

First India News Paper|Gujarat-English News Paper Today-28 December 2019 edition

First India News Paper|Gujarat-English News Paper Today-28 December 2019 edition

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