11102021 first india ahmedabad

BJP SHOULD HAVE APOLOGIZED
FOR FAILED GOVT: RAGHU SHARMA
Deepa Bafla &
Haresh Jhala
Ahmedabad: Given the gov-
ernment’s failure that led to
the recent revamping of the
Gujarat cabinet, the Bharati-
ya Janata Party should have
apologized to the people of
the state publicly, Rajasthan
Health Minister and Gujarat
Congress In-charge Raghu
Sharma said on Sunday, in
an exclusive interview with
First India. “Admitting their
failure would have been a
bold step. Everything else
is just a political gimmick
to mislead the people,” he
said. On his own party’s
strengths and weaknesses,
Sharma said that--even
after 25 years of BJP rule
in Gujarat--the Congress
party’s vote bank is intact
but needs to expand. For
this, the party plans to
launch statewide agita-
tions to reach out to the
people by raising issues
like inflation, higher cost
of health and education
services and win their
hearts. He added that the
Congress will introspect
on its poll failures and take
a decision on the state unit
leadership soon, and also
give youngsters their due.
For full interview, see P2
M. Sharma
Gandhinagar: Gandhi-
nagar political and bu-
reaucratic circles are
abuzz about likely links
between a top politician
and his family and a real
estate group which was
recentlyraidedbytheIn-
come Tax authorities in
the Saurashtra region.
The tax authorities
apparently found some
“incriminating links
including money trail
in land parcels” be-
tween several individu-
als closely related to the
political figure’s family
and the realty group in
the in the raids that
took place at more than
40 premises of the
group, sources said.
“The raids were car-
ried out just a few weeks
before the political
overhaul in the state,” a
source in the state capi-
tal said, adding that the
details of the raids were
shared with political
bosses in New Delhi.
The I-T department
found details of cash
transactionsworthRs350
crore in these raids,
which lasted 36 hours.
“Total unaccounted
cash receipts in various
projectsof approximate-
ly Rs350 crore have been
unearthed along with
corroborative evidenc-
es. Further, evidence re-
latedtolandpurchaseof
approximately Rs154
crore has also been
found, of which Rs144
crore was purportedly
paid in cash,” a state-
ment issued by the
CBDT after the raids in
August stated.
The group is among
Gujarat’s prominent
real estate and develop-
ers and is actively en-
gaged in realty, con-
struction and land trad-
ing businesses in and
around Rajkot.
It has been learnt that
top political figures oc-
cupying important port-
folios in the previous
administration were on
the radar of the Central
government and its var-
ious agencies.
In September, Guja-
rat witnessed a political
earthquake when Chief
Minister Vijay Rupani
resigned suddenly--but
not entirely unexpect-
edly--paving the way for
a change of guard in the
state. Subsequently,
Bhupendra Patel was
chosen as Rupani’s suc-
cessor while no minis-
ter who Turn to P6
Nexusbetweentoppolitician,realtygroupunderI-Tscanner?
‘INCRIMINATING LINKS’
Raids at real-estate firm unearthed
cash transactions worth `350 cr just
before regime reshuffle
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
AHMEDABAD l MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 315
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI
Nearly twenty-three years ago when Narendra Modi, the then party worker
of the BJP, was sent to the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh as its
in-charge, no one had even thought how he would completely change the
political paradigm of the hill state, writes SHASHIKANT SHARMA. P4
Petrol price increased by 29 paise and soared to Rs100.91 per litre on
Sunday while diesel increased by 38 paise and hiked to Rs100.04 per litre in
Ahmedabad. According to the industry experts, there may be constant hike in
coming days due to increase in crude oil price.
PERSPECTIVE: HOW
MODI SECURED
‘HIMALAYAN
ORCHARD’ FOR BJP...
PETROL, DIESEL
PRICES CONTINUE
UPWARD CLIMB
CORONA CATASTROPHE
GUJARAT
INDIA
18,166
new cases
214
new fatalities
18
new cases
00
new fatalities
IS PM MODI AUTOCRATIC?
Amit Shah’s response to critics
New Delhi: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah strongly defended
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi from a sugges-
tion that he was at times
dictatorial or autocrat-
ic, saying that in his
decades-long associa-
tion, he had “not seen a
listener like Modi ji”.
“All these people who
are accusing us, these
accusations are base-
less. I have not seen a
listener like Modi ji. If
there is a meeting for
any problem, Modi ji
talks less and patiently
listens to everyone and
then takes a decision.
We often think ‘what is
there to think so
much?’. He takes a deci-
sion patiently after 2-3
meetings,” he said in
response to a question
during an interview to
the state-run Sansad TV
channel.
“Every person’s sug-
gestion based on its
quality is given impor-
tance by Modi ji and
not based on who the
person is. So, saying
that he imposes his de-
cisions as PM is not
true at all. Whoever has
worked with him, even
the critics would agree
that the cabinet has
never functioned in
such a democratic man-
ner,” he said.
Amit Shah also de-
fended PM Modi over
the farmers’ protest,
saying their concerns
about the laws intro-
duced last year were
unfounded and that the
BJP government had
taken great steps to
help the growers.
PM Modi and Amit Shah have worked closely since their early
days in BJP. —FILE PHOTO
Every person’s
suggestion
based on its
quality is given impor-
tance by Modi ji and
not based on who the
person is. Whoever has
worked with him knows
that the cabinet has nev-
er functioned in such a
democratic manner.
—Amit Shah,
Union Home Minister
BLACKOUT CRISIS An energy crisis is looming in some states,
including Delhi and Punjab, due to a combination of factors such as
excess rainfall hitting coal movement and imported coal-based power
plants generating less than half of their capacity due to record high rates
PULLING STRINGS Power plants across the country regulated generation after stock ran
low. Against the requirement of maintaining 15 days to 30 days of stocks, over half of the
country’s 135 coal-fired power plants, which in total supply around 70 per cent of the nation’s
electricity, have fuel stocks of less than two days, as per the data from the grid operator
States battling crisis
n PUNJAB: Severe coal shortage at thermal power
plants in Punjab has forced power utility PSPCL
to cut down power generation and impose rota-
tional load shedding at several places, prompt-
ing the state government to slam the Centre for
inadequate coal supply. Coal-fired power plants
are running at a reduced capacity because of
shortage of coal, said an official of Punjab State
Power Corporation Limited on Saturday.
n RAJASTHAN: Rajasthan is resorting to one hour
power cuts on a daily basis. Tata Power, which has
signed contracts to supply 1,850 MW of electricity
to Gujarat, 475 MW to Punjab, 380 MW to Ra-
jasthan, 760 MW to Maharashtra and 380 MW to
Haryana from its imported coal-based power plant
at Mundra in Gujarat, has stopped generation. P7
n TAMIL NADU: The Tamil Nadu Generation and
Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) said that
power will be suspended in parts of Chennai for
carrying out maintenance work in the city.
n ANDHRA PRADESH: Andhra Pradesh has been
meeting grid demand of about 185-190 mega
units (MU) daily. Power generation stations oper-
ated by APGENCO, which supply about 45 per
cent of the state's energy needs, hardly have coal
stocks for 1 or 2 days and generation from these
could be impacted further.
n DELHI: Tata Power Distribution Ltd (TPDDL),
which supplies electricity to parts of the national
capital, on Saturday warned of intermittent rota-
tional power cuts as units supplying electricity to
Delhi discoms have coal stocks to meet genera-
tion requirements for 1-2 days, its CEO Ganesh
Srinivasan said. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Ke-
jriwal shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra
Modi over "a power crisis" Delhi could face.
n UTTAR PRADESH: 14 power plants temporarily
shut, 8 due to lack of fuel
n JHARKHAND AND BIHAR are also
among the worst affected by the
coal shortage.
Centre attempts
COAL
COMFORT
The country has four days’ reserve. We have
sufficient power available. We are supplying
power to the entire country. Whoever wants,
give me a requisition and I will supply them,
said Union minister for Power RK Singh
New Delhi: The huge
coal shortage affecting
power plants will be
handled in the next
few days, the Centre
said as several states,
includingDelhi,raised
concerns over impend-
ing blackouts. The
shortage is due to a
hike in global coal
prices, the Centre said.
The supply, accord-
ing to Union minister
for power RK Singh,
routinely drops dur-
ing monsoon as the
mines get flooded, but
the demand remains
high especially with
the growing economy
.
In October, as the de-
mands drop, the
stockpiles will start
growing again. “Ear-
lier, we used to have
17 days of coal stock
from November till
June,” he added.
An inter-ministeri-
al sub-group led by
the Coal Ministry has
been monitoring the
coal stock situation
twice a week.
The ministry has as-
sured that they are
making efforts to send
1.6 metric tonnes of
coal a day in the next
three days and will try
to reach 1.7 MT a day
.
THEY ALSO SAID
NO OXYGEN
CRISIS: SISODIA
SLAMS CENTRE
ON COAL CRISIS
Delhi Deputy Chief
Minister Manish
Sisodia on Sunday said
the centre’s statement
that all is well with the
coal stock situation is
“irresponsible”. Siso-
dia drew parallels with
the medical oxygen
shortage in Delhi dur-
ing the COVID-19 sec-
ond wave. “When we
had an oxygen crisis,
they kept saying there
was no such crisis. The
coal situation is simi-
lar. We have a crisis
today,” Sisodia said.
Priyanka: Govt shielding MoS,
son; Modi won’t meet farmers
Varanasi: Launching a
scathing attack on the
BJP government over
thedeathsinLakhimpur
Kheri,AICCgeneralsec-
retary Priyanka Gandhi
Sundaysaidthatthegov-
ernment is “shielding”
Union MoS Ajay
Mishra’s son Ashish,
andtheCentrehasnever
listened earnestly to is-
sues being faced by the
farmers.
“Last week, the son of
Union MoS (Home)
mowed down six farm-
ers with his vehicle.
Families of all the vic-
tims said they want jus-
tice but all of you have
seen is CM Yogi Adity-
anath is shielding the
minister from a public
forum. Have you seen in
any country that a per-
son who mowed down
six people is being ‘in-
vited’ by the police to
talk to them?” Gandhi
said while addressing
the ‘Kisan Nyay’ rally in
Varanasi.
She added, “PM Modi
came to Lucknow for
Azaadi Ka Amrit Ma-
hotsav but couldn’t go
to Lakhimpur to share
the grief of the victim
families.
ATTEMPTS TO TURN LAKHIMPUR
INTO HINDU V/S SIKH BATTLE: VARUN
New Delhi: Days after being dropped
from the party’s national executive,
BJP Lok Sabha member Varun Gan-
dhi on Sunday
said that an
attempt is being
made to turn
the Lakhimpur
Kheri incident
into a Hindu vs
Sikh battle.It is
dangerous to
create these fault-lines and reopen
wounds that have taken a generation
to heal, he tweeted.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi
gestures to the crowd as she addresses
Kisan Nyay rally in Varanasi on Sunday.

NEWS
AHMEDABAD l MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2021
02
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Union Min-
ister of State for Social
Justice and Empower-
ment Ramdas Atha-
wale said on Sunday
that the Gujarat gov-
ernment will soon take
a call on whether or not
to include the Patidar
community under the
umbrella of the Other
Backward Groups.
“The weaker sec-
tions of the caste
should be given reser-
vation,” he said, dur-
ing a press conference
in Vadodara.
He also highlighted
the efforts of the Re-
publican Party of In-
dia, of which he is
president, to “fight for
reservation for
Patidars, Marathas,
Jats, Brahmins, Ra-
jputs and Thakurs like
Schedule Castes and
Scheduled Tribes”.
He also addressed
the farmer’s agitation,
saying that the contro-
versial agricultural
laws are meant “for the
benefit of the farmers
and to increase their
income”.
“We are ready for an
amendment but the
farmers are intent on
having the laws re-
pealed. If we accept
that, then every law
has to be taken back
and this will prove dan-
gerous for democracy,”
he stated.
He also expressed
sorrow over the Lakh-
impur Sheri incident.
“Our condolences are
with the bereaved fam-
ilies. Strict action will
be taken against the
accused and Manish
Mishra has already
been arrested,” he
said, adding, “We still
invite farmers to talk
and come to a resolu-
tion.”
Guj govt will quickly decide on Patidar reservation in OBC: Athawale
Athawale was in Vadodara on Sunday.
‘WILLTHEBJPAPOLOGISE TOTHE
PEOPLE FOR ITS FAILED GOVERNMENT?’
Q: How will the Con-
gress party’s 25-year
vanvas (exile) end in
Gujarat?
RS:PrimeMinisterNar-
endra Modi, Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah and the Bharatiya
JanataPartyhavecheat-
ed the people of Gujarat
in the name of develop-
ment. The BJP govern-
ment has failed
on parameters
that decide how
development in-
cluding human
development index, un-
employmentrate,educa-
tion quality and reach,
health infrastructure,
economic growth, law
and order, inflation and
farmers’ income. So, the
Congress will take up
these issues and reach
out to the people. We
plan to run an aggres-
sive agitative campaign,
which will bring the rul-
ing party to its knees.
Q: You are challeng-
ing the development
model projected by the
PM and Union Home
Minister?
RS: It is very easy to
make tall claims. For all
its talk of good govern-
ance, the state has
transferred its financial
and social responsibili-
ties onto the common
people by promoting the
privatization of health
and education. The BJP
talks of law and order,
but Rs1.75 lakh crore
worth of drugs are
smuggled into the
s t a t e — o n e
where Prohibi-
tion is in
p l a c e — a n d
both the Cen-
tral and state govern-
ments are unable to
catch those responsible.
Q: The BJP has said
that people unhappy or
unsatisfied with its
functioning would not
keep re-electing its can-
didates… what do you
say to that?
RS: The BJP is not re-
elected on the develop-
ment platform. They
play the communal card
on the eve of every elec-
tion and polarize socie-
ty. Religious beliefs are
personal, but they are
now politicized. In the
last Assembly elections,
Congress had given the
slogan, “Vikas Pagal ho
Gaya”. We can’t use the
same line this time,
since there is no devel-
opment.
Q: How was Day 1 of
your visit to the state?
RS: It was a fantastic
experience of one-to-
one discussion with
senior leaders. We dis-
cussed where the party
is headed. Dialogue
with team members
gives you great insight
on the ground realities
and issues faced by the
people. Young blood is
very important in any
organization. Young-
sters should get their
due. This is the time for
the seniors to give back
to the party. But for
now, the Congress is
planning a big protest
on Monday in support
of the families of Lakh-
impur farmers, who
were mowed down by
the Union Minister of
State’s son.
Raghu Sharma being welcomed at the GPCC office in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Sharma met Guj Congress veteran Bharatsinh Solanki and other state leaders on Day 1 of his visit
to the state.
State to have
new Leader of
Opposition soon
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Sun-
day’s meeting of the
Congress Legislative
Party (CLP) has made it
clear that the party will
have a new leader in the
Gujarat Assembly. The
entire party organiza-
tion in the state is likely
to see a major overhaul
over the next 10-15 days.
The meeting was led
by newly appointed Gu-
jarat Congress in-
charge Raghu Sharma,
who is also Rajasthan’s
health minister. Speak-
ing to the party’s MLAs
and state unit leader-
ship, Sharma shared
his political journey:
He joined the National
Students’ Union of In-
dia at the age of 17 be-
fore joining the Yuva
Morcha, and has now
decided to quit his posi-
tion in Rajasthan’s Gh-
elot government to
serve the party
.
“Seniors should al-
ways repay the party by
working in the organi-
zation,” he said.
Leader of the Opposi-
tion Paresh Dhanani ap-
pears to be following in
his steps.
“Raghu Sharma has
set an example for all us
in Gujarat,” Dhanani
said,“Hehasprioritized
the organization and re-
turned to it, for the bet-
terment of the party
.”
He also hinted that
he would have no
qualms about resign-
ing as LOP if the top
brass asked him to
work for the party.
Sharma held one-on-
one meetings with each
MLA, where he took
feedback, enquired
about leaders’ perfor-
mance and discussed
the reasons for the par-
ty’s defeat in the recent
elections. He also invit-
ed suggestions for the
post of LOP and state
unit president.
New Guj Congress in-charge Raghu Sharma addressed the CLP
at the state Assembly on Sunday.
Guj Cong
organization
could see
upheaval over
the next 2 weeks
In an exclusive chat with First India’s
Deepa Bafila and Haresh Jhala, Rajasthan
Health Minister and Gujarat Congress in-
charge Raghu Sharma talks about how the
BJP has failed the people of Gujarat and
how the Congress party plans to end its
25-year “exile” in the state.
FEEDBACK LOOP
Aam Aadmi Party national chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal flanked by Gujarat AAP leaders Vijay Suvala,
Gopal Italia (state unit president) Isudan Gadhvi (state general secretary) and Mahesh Savani, following a meeting in
New Delhi to discuss Gujarat election results.
'Decisions in these
cases to be expedited
so that people can
receive justice in a
timely manner'
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Gujarat
Minister for Revenue
and Law Rajendra
Trivedi has stated that
there will be no more
delays in court trials,
promising to resolve 70
pending cases in front
of his own eyes. He said
that decisions in these
cases would be made
quickly so that people
could receive justice in
a timely manner.
"This order is intend-
edtoexpeditetheresolu-
tion of pending cases
when doing so places a
burden on officials and,
as a result, leaves room
forerror.SoIneedtheof-
ficerstocleartheappeals
quickly in order to save
time and give people jus-
tice. I hope that officials
and employees of the
revenuedepartmentwill
take a positive approach
and make decisions
quicklyforthebenefitof
the people," Trivedi said
in Vadodara.
He stated that reve-
nue officials must re-
solve pending cases as
soon as possible and
warned them about sur-
prise inspections at any
time. If he discovers any
pending cases, he says a
departmental investiga-
tion will be launched
against such officials.
He also stated that other
revenue department is-
sues would be dealt with
expeditiously
.
Pendingappealstobecleared
quickly:RevenueMinTrivedi
Rajendra Trivedi in Vadodara.

First India Bureau
Himmatnagar: Po-
lice have arrested a
man and seized al-
most 350 gram of me-
phedrone, a banned
drug, worth around
Rs35 lakh from his
possession in Sabar-
kantha district, an of-
ficial said on Sunday
.
The accused, Ir-
shad Pathan (26),
was caught following
a tip-off on Saturday
night near Piplodi
village on a national
highway connecting
Himmatnagar in Sa-
barkantha to
Ahmedabad, he said.
“Pathan was ar-
rested after 348.6
gram of mephedrone
was found in his pos-
session when he was
onwaytoAhmedabad
onatwo-wheeler,”the
officialfromHimmat-
nagar A-division po-
lice station said.
The accused has
been booked under
provisionsof theNar-
cotic Drugs and Psy-
chotropic Substances
(NDPS) Act, he said.
An investigation
was on to ascertain
wherethecontraband
wastobesuppliedand
to whom, and since
how long the accused
was peddling drugs,
the official said.
Mephedrone, also
known as ‘meow
meow’orMD,isasyn-
thetic stimulant.
Last month, in the
single largest heroin
haul in India, author-
ities seized around
3,000 kg of the drug,
believed to be from
Afghanistan and like-
ly worth Rs21,000
crore in the global
market,fromtwocon-
tainersattheMundra
port in Kutch district.
GUJARAT
03
Man held with
drugs worth `35L
in Sabarkantha
Accused Irshad Pathan
ABANDONED BABY’S FATHER
ACCUSED OF KILLING MOM
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A man
who was held from
Kota in Rajasthan for
abandoning his tod-
dler son in Gandhina-
gar had allegedly
murdered the infant’s
mother before fleeing
the state, a police of-
ficial said on Sunday.
The 10-month-old
child was found aban-
doned late Friday night
outside a cowshed in
Pethapur village, and 14
policeteamssoonzeroed
in on his father, Sachin
Dikshit, after checking
CCTV footage of the vi-
cinity and he was held
onSaturdayandbrought
here on Sunday morn-
ing, police said.
“Dikshit was married
but had a live-in relation
with the victim, identi-
fied as Mehndi alias
Heena Pathani, with
whom he had the boy
. He
first strangled Heena in
a Vadodara flat, then
abandoned baby Shi-
vansh near the cowshed
and fled,” Abhay Chu-
dasama, Inspector Gen-
eral of Police (Gandhi-
nagar Range) said.
“Heena’s body was
found packed in a bag in
the kitchen of their flat.
Dikshit lived five days a
week with Heena in Va-
dodara, where he
worked, and spent the
weekendsinhisGandhi-
nagar flat with his wife
and parents,” the IG
said.
Dixit is believed to
have met Heena in 2018
when she was working
in a showroom in
Ahmedabad, and then
after a brief separation,
reunited and started
living with her after he
got a job in Vadodara.
Shivansh was born in
2020, he added.
Two days ago, the
couple fought when
Dikshit told Heena he
planned to go to his na-
tive Uttar Pradesh to
live with his parents
and wife.
“An argument broke
out and he strangled
Heena and then packed
the body in a bag, leav-
ing it in the kitchen,
and then abandoned the
baby near a cowshed
from where he frequent-
ly bought milk,” he
said, adding that Dik-
shit later left for Uttar
Pradesh via Rajasthan
with his parents and
wife but was nabbed by
police en route at Kota.
“The baby is in an or-
phanage and his DNA
sampleswillbematched
with the accused. Dik-
shit, who was arrested
on charges of abandon-
ing the baby will be
booked for murder as
well,” said Chudasama.
Sachin Dikshit had a live-in relation with the victim,
who he allegedly strangled before deserted the child
Baby Shivansh with his mother Heena in happier times.
CRIME OF PASSION?
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Resi-
dents in Khadia
wished for a function-
al road in their area,
where waterlogging
had long been an is-
sue. Even though the
locals complained to
the Ahmedabad Mu-
nicipal Corporation
about the state of the
road and the water-
logging issues, all of
their requests fell on
deaf ears.
Taking matters into
their own hands, resi-
dentsof theareabanded
together to fund cement
and other materials and
began repair work on
their own. A video of
road repair work was
widely shared on social
media, showing people
repairing the road with
cement.
“Many of the roads in
Pols are wall to wall car-
pet roads, but that
doesn’t mean they’re in
good shape. The roads
have been damaged this
year as a result of
rains,” said Bharat Ra-
jput, one of the resi-
dents of the area.
He went on to say
that the locals had writ-
ten to the AMC with
their complaints, but
no assistance had been
provided.
“We also wrote to the
AMC about water log-
ging and road damage,
but no one there is lis-
tening. It appears that
if we want safer roads
in Ahmedabad, only
people must pay direct-
ly from their pockets,
not through tax mon-
ey,” he added.
Ignored by AMC, locals pitch in to repair roads
TAKING INITIATIVE

Even though
residents of
Khadia
complained to
the civic body
about the state
of the road and
waterlogging
in the area, all
of their
representations
fell on deaf ears
Residents gave up waiting for the authorities to do their job.
The rains have caused flooding and crop damage.
Late monsoon
rainfall creates
havoc across Guj
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: With
the monsoon stay-
ing well past its
usual date of de-
parture, heavy
rainfall over the
past three to four
days has been turn-
ing life upside
down in many parts
of the state, espe-
cially in the south
Gujarat and Sau-
rashtra regions.
The heavy rain in
Dang district left the
river Poorna flooded,
and people trapped
on its banks. One
shepherd, later iden-
tified as Yogesh Ahir,
spent five hours
clinging to a tree un-
til the waters receded
and villagers man-
aged to reach him. He
and his cattle were
both trapped by the
rising waters.
Meanwhile, in Jas-
dan, a farmer was
forced to burn his en-
tire groundnut har-
vest after it was ru-
ined by the continu-
ous rains.
Alkeshbhai Seliya
of Atkot village told
the local media that
he had planted
groundnut across 20
bighas of land. He
had already harvest-
ed the crop and left
them to dry after the
last spell of heavy
rainfall. However, the
rain returned and the
groundnuts began to
sprout again.
“I had harvested
groundnut from the
entire 20 bighas of
my farm and left it to
dry. When the rain
came back, they all
rotted. So I had no
other option but to
burn everything,” he
said, adding that the
rains have also
washed out all his
stores of fodder for
his cattle.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In order
to encourage people
in slums to get vacci-
nated against COV-
ID-19 so as to achieve
100 per cent first dose
target, the
Ahmedabad Munici-
pal Corporation
(AMC) is offering 1-li-
tre edible oil pouches
and a lucky draw
scheme with mobile
phones as prizes.
Vaccine hesitancy
has been observed in
some slum pockets here
andthemovewasaimed
at overcoming it, an
AMC official said, add-
ing that 10,000 edible oil
pouches were distrib-
uted to those who got
their vaccine jabs on
Saturday
.
The number of
pouches distributed
reached 20,000 on Sun-
day, while 25 people
have also won mobile
phones worth Rs10,000
each so far as part of
the lucky draw, he said.
“As part of the COV-
ID-19 vaccination mega
drive from October 9 to
ensure 100% eligible
people get their first
dose of the vaccine,
beneficiaries in slum
areas identified by the
urban health centres
were offered 1-litre
pouch of edible oil with
the help of a volunteer
organisation as part of
its CSR activity,” the
AMC said in its release.
“In a slum in Chand-
lodia, we have so far
distributed 183 pouches
of edible oil to as many
beneficiaries after giv-
ing them vaccination
shots,” said Dr Rajni-
kant Hemraj, Medical
Officer, AMC.
Around 98% eligible
beneficiaries in the
city have received the
first dose of the vac-
cine, the AMC said in
its release.
It said 68,32,514 doses
have been administered
in the city so far, com-
prising 45,46,745 people
who have got their first
dose, and 22,85,769 who
have been administered
the second one as well.
AMC gives freebies to
increase vax coverage
183
6 MAX
CASES IN
SURAT,A’BAD
ACTIVE CASES
8,15,872
TOTAL RECOVERED
17
RECOVERED
IN A DAY
10,086
TOTAL DEATHS
00 DEATHS
IN A DAY
8,26,141
TOTAL CASES
18 CASES IN
A DAY
COVID-19 UPDATE
SIGN OF THE TIMES
In a bid to honour frontline warriors and spread awareness on COVID-19 safety measures,
teen girls performed traditional garba while wearing PPE kits at Sorathiyawadi Chowk in
Rajkot on Saturday night. —PHOTO BY RAVI GONDALIYA

PERSPECTIVE
04
lVol2lIssueNo.315
l RNINO.GUJENG/2019/79050.
Printed and published by Anita
Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Ex-
press Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar
Printing Planet Survey No.148P,
Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. San-
and, Dist. Ahmedabad. Publishedat
D/3023rdFloorPlotNo.35Titanium
Square,SchemeNo.2,ThaltejTaluka,
Ghatlodiya,Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief:JagdeeshChandra.
Editor:AnitaHadaSangwanresponsible
forselectionofnewsunderthePRBAct
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Neither fire, nor wind,
birth, nor death, can
erase our good deeds.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
Hardeep Singh Puri
@HardeepSPuri
By bringing fundamental shift
in project planning & execution,
the geo-spatial digital platform
#PMGatiShakti to be launched
by PM Modi Ji will do just as its
name suggests - lend more power
& speed to development projects
under the national master plan.
Jagat Prakash Nadda
@JPNadda
Addressed the Intellectual Meet
in Imphal, Manipur. Under the
dynamic leadership of Hon PM Shri
@narendramodi Ji lot of new steps
have been taken. Peace & harmony
is there, fundamental rights are
being protected and economic
activity now growing.
TOP TWEETS
AFTER BRITAIN, WILL
POLAND NOW PART
WAYS WITH THE
EUROPEAN UNION
fter Brexit the Euro-
pean Union has come
under further strain
with Poland’s top
court, the Constitu-
tional Tribunal, ruling against
the primacy of EU laws over Pol-
ish legislations in some areas.
The Tribunal also told Polish
judges not to use EU laws to ques-
tion the independence of some
of their peers. It is the core legal
principle of the EU that rulings
bytheEuropeanCourtof Justice
will be binding on all member
countries. Poland’s Prime Minis-
ter Mateusz Morawiecki is spear-
heading the move against EU’s
judicial supremacy
. Most judges
in the Constitutional Tribunal
are sympathetic to the ruling
Law and Justice Party
. People,
though, are opposed to the PM’s
move. The European Commis-
sion is firm that only EU rulings
will have primacy
.
This has stoked fears of Po-
land’s exit from the EU which
would be detrimental for both.
A
early twenty-three years ago
when Narendra Modi, the
then party worker of the
Bharatiya Janata Party, was
sent to the Himalayan state
of Himachal Pradesh as its
in-charge, no one had even
thought how he would com-
pletely change the political
paradigm of the hill state.
Due to the role that Modi
played in forming the Dhu-
mal government formed in
1998 in Himachal, his status
in organization and the party
increased manyfold. This
government, led by the BJP
without a majority, started
amidst political ‘hiccups’ but
by the end of the term it had
strengthened itself. The story
of the formation of this gov-
ernment is also quite inter-
esting. At the time of its for-
mation, the current BJP
President Jagat Prakash Na-
dda was also an MLA in
Himachal and also became
the cabinet minister for the
first time in this government.
In fact, the political ‘fortunes’
of Nadda also started with
this government.
Before the 1998 assembly
elections, Shanta Kumar
himself got out of state poli-
tics which was a develop-
ment no one could even imag-
ine. Shanta Kumar, who did
not fit in with Modi’s style of
functioning, refused to lead
the BJP in this election and
this is what Modi wanted. On
the other hand, Prem Kumar
Dhumal, although he had
‘lived’ in the Parliament, de-
cided to enter into the state’s
political foray. The party de-
cided to contest the election
without projecting any lead-
er in the election, but Modi
got this decision changed
before the election.
Narendra Modi gave a
strong reasoning that BJP
would appear like a ‘baraat
procession’withoutitsgroom.
He stressed with the then
‘high command’ that it is im-
portant to know who will be
the face of BJP against Virb-
hadra Singh of Congress. It
goes without saying that Con-
gresswasextremelyconfident
of victory in this election.
There were two reasons for
this, one is the retreat of
Shanta Kumar due to Modi,
andtheotheristhepopularity
of theVirbhadragovernment.
Such was Virbhadra Sin-
gh’s confidence that even be-
fore completing his full term,
and with one year still to go,
he got the assembly dissolved
and the elections held sud-
denly
. He felt that in the fight
between Modi-Shanta-Dhu-
mal, the BJP would not be
able to compete with the sud-
den elections. Virbhadra
Singh’s guess was not wrong
either as Shanta Kumar was
also thinking on the same
line. Almost the same thing
happened. Congress was
ahead of the BJP when the
election results came.
Butinthisriseof Congress,
perhaps the sunrise of future
politics of Modi, Dhumal and
Nadda was hidden. In the gen-
eral elections held in the win-
terof 1998,electionswereheld
on only 65 of the total 68 as-
semblyseatsinHimachal.The
remaining three were tribal
seats whose elections were
postponed till summer due to
snowfall. Thus, for a majority
it was necessary for any po-
litical party to get at least 33
seats. In this election, the
HimachalVikasPartyof Sukh
Ram, a former communica-
tion minister and a staunch
opponentof VirbhadraSingh,
wasalsotryinghisluckforthe
first time. Sukhram was sur-
rounded by allegations of cor-
ruptionduetoaboutfivecrore
rupees received from his
houseduringtheCBIraids.He
had fielded his candidates in
all the assembly seats.
Perhaps for the first time
in the history of Indian De-
mocracy did any result come
which had such far-reaching
effects that even though a
party which became the sin-
gle largest party, failed to
form government while the
party with second-most seats
secured the position to the
government.
In the election results Con-
gress got the maximum 32
seats out of 65 and despite
winning as the largest party
this party was left behind by
only one seat from the major-
ity. The BJP could not even
take 33 seats required for ma-
jority and had to contend
with 29 seats. Meanwhile,
Sukh Ram’s Himachal Vikas
Congress won four seats.
In this way BJP and
Himachal Vikas Congress to-
gether could have touched a
majority of 33 seats but before
theycouldstakeclaimatform-
ing government, another ac-
cident happened. On the night
of the announcement of elec-
tion results, one BJP MLA
died due to heart attack and
the number of MLAs in BJP’s
kitty fell back to 32. Now even
if BJP and Sukhram’s party
got together, they would have
been equal to 32 MLAs of Con-
gress. In such a situation, the
key to form the government
came in the hands of an inde-
pendent MLA- Ramesh Dha-
wala- the lone independent
MLA, had won the election for
the first time and the ruling
Congress was desperately
searching for him. This is the
moment from where begins
the true story of Narendra
Modi’s political skills which
made him the ‘apple of the
eye’ of the party high com-
mand.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
To be continued...
SHANTA KUMAR
PREM KUMAR DHUMAL
JP NADDA
MODI COMPLETES 20 YEARS IN PUBLIC LIFE: DOWN THE MEMORY LANE ... (2.0)
How Modi secured ‘Himalayan orchard’
for BJP, eventually becoming ‘apple of
the eye’ of party high command!
SHASHIKANT
SHARMA
The writer is
senior journalist
At the time of
formation of Dhumal
govt in Himachal in
1998, the current BJP
President Jagat Prakash
Nadda was also an MLA
in Himachal and also
became the cabinet
minister for the first time
in this government. In
fact, the political ‘fortunes’
of Nadda also started
with this government
N
Due to the role that Modi
played in forming the
Dhumal government
formed in 1998 in
Himachal, his status in
organization and the
party increased
manyfold. This
government, led by the
BJP without a majority,
started amidst political
‘hiccups’ but by the end of
the term it had
strengthened itself. The
story of the formation of
this government is also
quite interesting
NARENDRA MODI

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Lucknow: Bahujan Sa-
maj Party chief
Mayawati on Saturday
said she will write to
the Election Commis-
sion demanding sur-
veys by media organisa-
tions and other agen-
cies be banned six
months before any elec-
tions, so that the polls
in the particular state
are not influenced by it.
Addressing the 15th
death anniversary of
BSP founder Kanshi
Ram here at the Kanshi-
ram Smarak Sthal,
Mayawati demanded
that Bharat Ratna be
given to the late Dalit
leader and added that
people in Uttar Pradesh
have made up their
mind on changing pow-
er in the state.
“Soon, a letter will be
written to the Election
Commission that sur-
veys in the garb of busi-
ness, by media organisa-
tions and other agencies
be banned six months
before the elections, so
that the polls in the par-
ticular state are not in-
fluenced,” she said.
“You know that when
the Assembly elections
in West Bengal were go-
ing on, surveys were
showing that Mamata
Banerjee was trailing,
but when the results
came,itwastheopposite.
Those who were dream-
ing of (gaining) power,
their dreams were shat-
tered, and Mamata (Ba-
nerjee) staged a come-
back with a huge major-
ity
.Hence,youshouldnot
be misled by these sur-
veys,” the BSP chief told
the public.
Mayawati’s remarks
came a day after a news
channel in a survey
showed that the BJP is
poised to win the most
number of seats in UP
in the upcoming 2022
Assembly polls, and re-
tain power.
She also said the BJP-
led Centre and UP gov-
ernments are using the
state machinery to
make the atmosphere in
their favour.
“It is also known to
everyone that when
these tactics do not
work, then that party
(BJP) will eventually
give the election a Hin-
du-Muslim colour, and
try to take full political
advantage in its garb.
Elections have to be
fought keeping this in
mind,” she said.
Without naming any
party, Mayawati also
said, “There are small
parties and organisa-
tions, which may con-
test the elections alone
or jointly. Their job is
not to win the polls, but
to give advantage to the
ruling party from be-
hind the scene, to real-
ise their own vested in-
terest. Hence, people of
these castes and com-
munities should not
come under the influ-
ence of these parties
and organisations.”
Suheldev Bharatiya
Samaj Party (SBSP)
chief Om Prakash Rajb-
har had claimed last
month that Bhim Army
chief Chandrashekhar
Azad will soon be a part
of theBhagidariSankalp
Morcha and a formal an-
nouncement in this re-
gard will be made at a
rally on October 27.
The morcha is a front
of like-minded political
parties led by Rajbhar, a
former BJP ally
.
The AIMIM had re-
cently announced that it
would contest 100 seats
in the state assembly
polls next year by tying
up with Rajbhar-led
SBSP and its Bhagidari
Sankalp Morcha.
Rajbhar, who was a
cabinet minister in the
Yogi Adityanath gov-
ernment, had resigned
before the Lok Sabha
polls in 2019. He had
later launched the
Bhagidari Sankalp Mor-
cha as a political front
of smaller parties. —PTI
INDIA
AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2021
05
Rakesh Ranjan
New Delhi: Personal
records of many Indian
Coast Guard officers
have reportedly disap-
peared in thin air.
What does it say? One
simple thing! The sys-
tem created by first de-
fense secretary HM Pa-
tel, ICS, and modified
and sustained through
about 38 of his illustri-
ous successors and cur-
rently lorded by Ajay
Kumar, IAS, isn’t work-
ing, nay, it may be in a
horrible shape and
probably demands an
immediate overhaul.
Because the loss of
personal records of sen-
ior Coast Guard offi-
cials directly impacts
our coastal security
where an avoidable
breach caused 26/11.
Data in the modern
world is a weapon. Since
our civilization and cul-
tural adversaries can’t
win a direct open war
with us, it can’t but be
assumed that the per-
sonal records of senior
coast guard officials
were stolen to analyse
and figure out the capa-
bility/weaknesses of
officers whose records
were stolen.
It’s also reported that
the issue of the missing
personal records or the
Annual Confidential
Reports of senior offic-
ers was raised during
an inquiry by the de-
fence ministry into the
manipulation of ser-
vice records of officers
at the inspector general
and additional director
general ranks.
That it has been hap-
pening frequently for a
very long time is known
to retired and serving
ranking officers. Some-
times, the issue is
raised, then buried, and
no institutional re-
forms take place be-
cause successive con-
cerned top authorities
have apparently shown
no commitment or abil-
ity to institutionalize
defence of India, or en-
suring that every cog in
the wheel of defence of
India is neither weak
nor out of tune with the
requirement of the
modern world.
Following the charges
made about tampering
of person records by an
inspector-general rank
officer who complained
to the defence ministry
that his records were
manipulated, which led
to the change in merit,
lowering his mark, an
investigation was or-
dered and is reportedly
being carried out by two
JS rank officers.
As the investigation
progressed, it was gath-
ered that many apprais-
al reports of officers of
additional director gen-
eral-rank officers have
also disappeared.
Meantime, a promo-
tion board’s functioning
has been suspended till
the inquiry report is
submitted and the min-
istry figures out what
exactly had happened:
whether it was yet an-
other routine criminal
act or a case of espio-
nage or both.
Either way, it may do
no harm if the whole
system of maintenance
of records is examined
afresh and best global
practices adopted to
maintain the inviolabil-
ity of official records.
The current dispensa-
tion will earn gratitude
andrespectof officersif
it puts his talent into
building a firewall
againsttamperingACRs
of militarypersonnel.If
he does it, his name will
figure in the hall of
fame of defence secre-
taries. Or lapse as one
more DS in the long list.
ArchaicsystemletspersonalrecordsofCoastGuardofficialsgomissing
EC SHOULD BAN PRE-POLL SURVEYS BY MEDIA
OUTLETS 6 MONTHS BEFORE ELECTIONS: MAYAWATI
Dubai: The winners of
the ICC Men's T20
World Cup 2021 will
take home a winners'
cheque of USD 1.6 mil-
lion while the runners-
up will get half that
amount, ICC confirmed
on Sunday.
As in 2016, there will
be a bonus amount for
every match that teams
win in Super 12. The
victors in each of the 30
games in that phase
will this time win USD
40,000, total pot of USD
1,200,000.
SUPER 12 TEAMS
The teams confirmed to
be competing in Super
12 are Afghanistan,
Australia, England, In-
dia, NZ, Pakistan, SA,
and WI.
The 8 teams whose
ICC Men's T20 World
Cup campaigns end at
that stage will automat-
ically receive USD
70,000 each, a totally of
USD 560,000. The first-
round victories - with
USD 40,000 available to
those who win each of
the 12 games, amount-
ing to USD 480,000. —ANI
T20 WORLD CUP
Winner to get USD
1.6 million, says ICC
New Delhi: After the
historic Air India priva-
tisation, govt will now
start work on monetis-
ing its four other sub-
sidiaries, including Al-
liance Air, and over Rs
14,700 crore worth non-
core assets like land
and building, DIPAM
Secretary Tuhin Kanta
Pandey said.
The government on
October 8 had an-
nounced that salt-to-
software conglomerate
Tatas have won the bid
to acquire debt-laden
national carrier Air In-
dia for Rs 18,000 crore.
This includes a cash
payment of Rs 2,700
crore and taking over
Rs 15,300 crore debt.
The deal, which is ex-
pected to be completed
by December-end, also
includes sale of Air In-
dia Express and ground
handling arm AISATS.
"It (sale of subsidiar-
ies) could not be started
because these all are
intimately linked. Un-
less and until Air India
goes, we could not pro-
ceed with other things,"
he said.
As a precursor to AI
sale, the government in
2019 had set up a special
purpose vehicle AIAHL
for holding debt and
non-core assets of the
Air India group.
Four Air India sub-
sidiaries -- Air India Air
Transport Services Ltd
(AIATSL), Airline Al-
lied Services Ltd
(AASL), Air India Engi-
neering Services Ltd
(AIESL) and Hotel Cor-
poration of India Ltd
(HCI) -- along with non-
core assets, painting
and artefacts & non-op-
erational assets, was
transferred to SPV
. —ANI
3 AI subsidiaries to
start now: T Kanta
Work to monetise Alliance Air
Jammu: The National
Conference suffered a
major setback in Jammu
astwoprominentleaders
Devender Rana and
Surjit Singh Slathia re-
signed from the party on
Sunday
.Theyarelikelyto
join the BJP in Delhi on
Monday
. "Dr Farooq Ab-
dullah has received & ac-
cepted the resignations
of Salathia & Rana. No
further action or com-
ment is deemed neces-
sary
," a NC spokesman
tweeted. Rana, a former
MLA and younger
brother of Union min
Jitendra, had taken
over the post of provin-
cial president of the NC
in 2011 after relinquish-
ing his office as politi-
cal advisor to then CM
Omar Abdullah. —ANI
New Delhi: PM Naren-
dra Modi will virtually
launch the Indian Space
Association (ISpA) on
Monday at 11 am and
also interact with rep-
resentatives of space
industry
.
Echoing PM’s vision
of Aatmanirbhar
Bharat, ISpA will help
in making India self-
reliant, technologically
advanced and a leading
player in the space are-
na. ISpA is the premier
industry association of
space and satellite com-
panies, which aspires to
be collective voice of
Indian space industry
.
—ANI
2 leaders Rana,Slathia resign
PM to virtually launch Indian
Space Association on Oct 11
NC SUFFERS MAJOR JOLT IN JAMMU
Anita Hada
New Delhi: Punjab is
the only state out of 28
states and eight union
territories in the
country where a Dalit
is the chief minister.
Punjab is the state
with the largest Dalit
population and for the
first time since inde-
pendence, a Dalit has
become the Chief
Minister. Think, the
Dalit population of
the country is close to
16% and in Punjab
33% of the population
is Dalit. Yet how many
obstacles are there in
the way of Charanjit
Singh Channi, the
first Dalit CM of the
state and the only
Dalit CM of the coun-
try! He has to fight on
several fronts at once,
be it other parties, the
union govt, dissen-
sion in his own party
or powerful castes in
his state. However,
taking advantage of
his political acumen
and the unconditional
support of the Con-
gress high command,
he has started fixing
everything. But think
how Navjot Singh Sid-
hu tried to make him
function, by guiding
him and holding his
hands, however, Chan-
ni has now left Sidhu
and moved ahead.
Soon after he be-
came the CM, there
was such uneasi-
ness in the
e n -
tire
systemthattheformer
CM Captain Ama-
rinder Singh reached
Delhi and made an is-
sue of national securi-
ty by meeting the Un-
ion HM and the Na-
tional Security Advi-
sor. After his meeting
with Amit Shah and
Ajit Doval, the entire
media started describ-
ing the almost com-
pletelypeacefulborder
of Punjabasdisturbed.
A Dalit Chief Minister
and a horde of obstacles
Many barriers
are in way of
Channi, the first
Dalit CM of the
state, only Dalit
CM of nation!
DIPAM will now get down to work-
ing out plan for monetising special
purpose vehicle AIAHL and setting
off the liabilities. There will be a
plan for monetising the assets of
AIAHL. It is a very big task again
of clearing of AIAHL liabilities
and disposal of assets.
—Tuhin Kanta Pandey, DIPAM Secy
ICC RELEASES
STATEMENT...
All 16 competing
teams will receive
part of USD 5.6 million
allocated as prize
money for tournament,
which will be played in
UAE and Oman from
Oct 17 to Nov 14. “The
two losing semi-final-
ists will receive USD
400,000 each from the
games taking place on
Nov 10 and 11,” ICC
said in official release.
Charanjit Singh Channi
SORRY STATE OF AFFAIRS
Rakesh Ranjan
New Delhi: Former
SAIL Executive Direc-
tor Alok Sahay has
succeeded Dr Bhaskar
Chatterjee as the new
Secretary-General of
the Indian Steel Asso-
ciation (ISA).
Dr Chatterjee, for-
mer Union Secretary
of Department of Pub-
lic Enterprise, conclud-
ed his four years-long
tenure as the Secre-
tary-General on Sep-
tember 30, 2021, on
completion of 70 years
of cut-off age whereas
Sahay retired as ED
SAIL in May this year.
The Association is
the common platform
for the Indian iron and
steel industry for echo-
ing the collective voice
of its common mem-
bers and acts as a bridge
between the industry
and the government
and other stakeholders
within and outside In-
dia in compliance with
all applicable laws and
regulations, including
but not limited to the
competition laws in In-
dia and abroad, for the
time being, in force.
Sahay is Secy Gen of
Indian Steel Assn

INDIA
06
First India Bureau
New Delhi: India's
COVID-19 vaccination
coverage crossed the
landmark of 94 crores,
with 66,85,415 vaccine
doses administered in
the last 24 hours, the
Union Minister in-
formed on Sunday
.
According to the pro-
visional reports issued
by the ministry at 7 am
on Sunday, India has so
far administered
94,70,10,175 COVID-19
vaccines. This has been
achieved through
92,12,314 sessions.
Meanwhile, the Health
Ministry earlier in the
day informed that India
reported 18,166 fresh
COVID-19 infections in
thelast24hours,thelow-
est in over 7 months. In-
dia reported 214 COV-
ID-19deathsinthelast24
hours. The death toll in
the country now stands
at 4,50,589. The active
caseload of the country
is presently at 2,30,971.
Consequently
, India's re-
covery rate stands at
97.99 per cent, the high-
est since March 2020.
Over 94 cr vax doses administered in the country
INDIA FIGHTS CORONA

India’s
COVID-19 vax
coverage
crossed the
landmark of 94
cr, with
66,85,415
doses in the last
24 hours, the
Union Min said
TRUCE BEING WORKED OUT
WITH G-23 BEFORE CONG MEET
Nadda:Fromviolenceto
peace,achangeinImphal
Modi silent on murder of
farmers, inflation: Rahul
Congress has been mired with internal rift since Aug 2020 last year when
a letter was written to Sonia Gandhi for visible and effective leadership
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Truce is be-
ing worked out between
G-23 leaders and the
Congress leadership in
the party ahead of the
Congress Working
Committee CWC meet-
ing slated for Saturday
.
The CWC, which is
the highest decision
making body of the par-
ty, is likely to give a nod
to the organisational
polls, which is the key
demand of the dissent-
ing group. Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra is reach-
ing out to the other
camp through emissar-
ies. Kamal Nath has
been talking to the dis-
senting group and Pri-
yanka has also been try-
ing to reach out to the
G-23 by involving
Bhupinder Hooda's son
Deepender Hooda with
her protest on Lakhim-
pur Kheri violence. She
has also taken the jun-
ior Hooda to Varanasi
for her rally
. The sign of
thaw emerges from the
Congress letter, which
has been written by
party General Secre-
tary K.C. Venugopal
seeking an appoint-
ment with President
Ram Nath Kovind to
submit a memoran-
dum on the Lakhim-
pur Kheri incident.
The signatories of the
letter include Ghulam
Nabi Azad on the sec-
ond number after Ra-
hul Gandhi. Azad is
one among the G-23
leaders.
First India Bureau
Imphal: BJP National
President Jagat
Prakash Nadda on Sun-
day lauded the initia-
tives taken by the Cen-
tral govt under the lead-
ership of PM Modi,
which he said had con-
tributed to peace and
harmony in the state
and contributed to
growth in its economic
activity
.
Addressing achievers
and prominient celebri-
ties at City Convention
centre in Imphal, Na-
dda said, “Under the
dynamic leadership of
PM Modi, a lot of new
steps have been taken.
He said, “2.60 lakh toi-
lets have been con-
structed only in Ma-
nipur under Swacch
Bharat Mission. Nadda
said that a few years ago
Manipur was known for
its politics of destruc-
tion and there were
blockades, instability,
insurgency inequality
and the politics of haves
and have nots. “But to-
day we find a change -
from disruption to dia-
logue, from violence to
peace, a change where
through political dia-
logue participation of
polity is there and devel-
opment is taking place.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Rahul Gan-
dhi on Sunday slammed
PM Modi saying that he
is silent over the alleged
murders of farmers and
BJP workers in the
Lakhimpur Kheri inci-
dent and on issues of
rising inflation, surge in
oil prices, and unem-
ployment in the country
.
“PM silent- Rising
inflation - oil price, un-
employment, farmer
and BJP worker mur-
dered, PM violent -
Lack of camera and
photo ops, true criti-
cism, Question on
friends,” the Wayanad
MP wrote in a tweet
Samyukta Kisan
Morcha, an umbrella
body of several farmer
unions,allegedthatAsh-
ish Mishra Teni, son of
Union Minister of State
for Home Affairs Ajay
Mishra Teni arrived
with three vehicles
around the time that
farmersweredispersing
fromtheirprotest.Mean-
while, Petrol and diesel
priceswerehikedacross
the country
.
Imphal: Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party national
president JP Nadda on
Sunday offered prayers
at the Shri Govindji
Temple in Manipur’s
Imphal on second day of
his visit to the state.
Nadda was accompa-
nied by Manipur CM N
Biren Singh. Nadda
reached Manipur on
Saturday on a two-day
visit. Assembly polls are
due in Manipur. Earlier
on Saturday, while ad-
dressingapublicrallyat
Manipur’s Bishnupur,
he called the state the
“gateway for Atmanirb-
har Bharat”.The BJP
chief also praised the
current BJP-led govt in
the state and said that
CM N Biren Singh
brought “only develop-
ment” during the last
four years. Nadda also
claimed that BJP will
return to power in the
state on grounds of the
development work done
since 2017. He further
praised and said that
CM N Biren Singh
brought “only develop-
ment” during the last
four years.
BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda.
Rahul Gandhi slams PM Modi
‘Giving tickets thrice to
defectors was shameful’
Nadda: BJP will return to
power due to devp works
Panjai: Senior Con-
gress leader P Chidam-
baram on Saturday
said giving tickets to
habitual defectors in
Goa in the past was a
shameful chapter of
the Congress and as-
sured party workers
that it would not be re-
peated ever again.
Chidambaram, who
was addressing party
workers in Canacona
Assembly constituency
in South Goa, said he
was shocked to learn
that “a defector was
given a ticket not once,
not twice, but three
times”. “This is a
shameful chapter of
Congress history. I
have come to assure
you the shameful chap-
ter has now been
closed. Never
again will we
r e p e a t
it,” he
said in the presence of
the party’s Goa desk in
charge Dinesh Gundu
Rao, state unit chief
Girish Chodankar and
Leader of Opposition
Digambar Kamat
among others.Chidam-
baram said the chal-
lenge before the Goa
Congress was to redeem
its reputation and hon-
our in the coastal state.
He said Congress work-
ers have been totally
loyal and have worked
very hard to ensure poll
victories, but, unfortu-
nately, the win-
ning candi-
d a t e
betrayed
t h e
party
.
NIA RAIDS
VALLEY, 70
DETAINED
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The
National Investi-
gation Agency
(NIA) on Sunday
carried out raids
at 16 locations
across Kashmir
Valley in connec-
tion with two cases
ISIS voice of Hind
case and TRF case.
The raids are
still going on at
nine locations. As
many as 70 youths
have been de-
tained in Srinagar
and a total of 570
people have been
detained across in
the past 2-3 days.
In Kashmir, house
of commanderSaj-
jad Gul has also
been raided.
First India Bureau
New delhi: The Depart-
ment of Food and Public
Distribution in a land-
mark decision has im-
posed stock limits on
Edible Oils and Oilseeds
to soften the prices of
edible oils in the domes-
tic market for a period
up to March 31, 2022, in-
formed the Ministry of
ConsumerAffairs,Food,
and Public Distribution
on Sunday
.
According to a state-
ment issued by the min-
istry today
, the removal
of licensing require-
ments, stock limits and
movement restrictions
on specified foodstuffs
(Amendment) Order,
2021 has been issued
with immediate effect
from Sept 8.The Centre’s
decision will soften the
prices of edible oils in
the domestic market,
thereby
, bringing great
relief to consumers
across the country
, it
said. The Ministry said
the high prices of edible
oil in the international
market have a substan-
tialimpactonthedomes-
tic edible oil prices. Un-
der the visionary leader-
ship of PM Modi, the
Centre has formulated a
multi-pronged strategy
to ensure that the prices
of essential commodi-
ties like edible oils re-
main controlled. Meas-
ures like rationalization
of import duty struc-
ture, launching of a web
portal for self-disclosure
of stocksheldbyvarious
stakeholders had al-
ready been taken.As per
the release, the stocks
held by respective legal
entities are higher than
the prescribed limits.
—REPRESENTATION PHOTO
PM MODI SEEKS MAA KUSHMANDA’S
BLESSINGS FOR VARIOUS ENDEAVORS
HOCKEY INDIA CAN’T UNILATERALLY
PULL OUT OF CWG: ANURAG THAKUR
New delhi: PM Modi offered prayer to Goddess Skan-
damata and Goddess Kushmanda of the occasion of
Navratri. Sharing a stuti video of Goddess Kushmanda,
PM Modi tweeted:“We pray to Maa Kushmanda and
seek her blessings for our various endeavours.Offering
his prayer to Goddess Skandmata in another tweet, the
prime minister wrote:“Goddess Skandmata is wor-
shiped during Navratri. I pray that Maa Skandmata gives
strength to her devotees to overcome all difficulties.”
New Delhi: Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday
slammed Hockey India for pulling out of next year's
Commonwealth Games and said that they federation
can’t take unilateral decisions without consulting the
govt.I think any federation should refrain from giving
such statements and discuss with the govt first be-
cause its just not federation's team, its national team,
he told. In a country of 130 crore population, there are
not just 18 players to represent the country. CWG is a
global event I feel that they should engage with govt.
MANDAVIYA INAUGURATES INSTITUTE OF
GASTROENTEROLOGY SCIENCES IN BLG
RELIANCE ACQUIRES REC GROUP IN
$771 MILLION BUY OUT
Bengaluru: Union Health Min Mansukh Mandaviya on
Sunday inaugurated the Institute of Gastroenterology
Sciences and Organ Transplant in Bengaluru. Karnataka
CM Basavaraj Bommai and state Health and Medical
Education Min Dr K Sudhakar were also present at the
event. Inaugurated the Institute of Gastroenterology
Sciences and Organ Transplant in Bengaluru along with
state Health and Medical Edu Min Mandaviya tweeted.
Mumbai: Reliance New Energy Solar, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Sunday an-
nounced acquisition of 100 per cent shareholding of REC
Solar from China National Bluestar (Group) Co Ltd for an
enterprise value of US$ 771 million.The acquisition of REC
will help Reliance with a ready global platform and the op-
portunity to expand and grow in key green energy markets.
CRUCIAL READ
VIDEO CLAIMING PUNJAB
REGIMENT JAWANS PROTESTING
WITH FARMERS IS FAKE: ARMY
NEW DELHI: The
Indian Army on Sunday
clarified that the video
circulating on social
media showing army
personnel standing
with civilians under a
tent saying that Punjab
regiment soldiers are
protesting with farmers
was fake. The Army
officials further clarified
that the ex-servicemen
of the unit had arranged
tea for the serving
personnel while they
were moving from one
location to another.”A
video is circulating on
social media showing
Indian Army jawans
standing with civilians
under a tent saying
that Punjab regiment
soldiers are protesting
with some farmers.
This is fake news,” an
army official said.
Pricecheck!Govt
imposesstock
limitonedibleoils
INDIA EXPORTS VAX TO OTHER COUNTRIES
P Chidambaram
There is no president in our
party, so we do not know who is
taking all the decisions. We know
it, yet we don’t know, one of my senior col-
leagues perhaps has written or is about to
write to the interim president to immedi-
ately convene a CWC meeting so that a
dialogue can be initiated.
— Senior party leader Kapil Sibal had said recently
—FILE PHOTO
Nexus between...
served in the Rupani ad-
ministration was re-
tained in the new dis-
pensation.
Since then, there
have been speculations
about possible causes
that led to the drastic
changes effected by the
BJP in Gujarat, the
home state of Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi and Union Home
Minister Amit Shah.
“The party high com-
mand had reportedly
received details from
revenue, urban develop-
ment, energy, mining
and port departments
about alleged irregular-
ities and high ticket cor-
ruption,” a top function-
ary of the ruling BJP
said. After the change
of guard, the politician
in question has sudden-
ly become low profile
and hardly engages
with any political ac-
tivities in the state.
FROM PG 1

TALKING POINT
07
FITNESS WATCH
THE ABILITY TO STAND ON
ONE LEG FOR A PERIOD IS AN
e s e a r c h
shows that
p e o p l e ’ s
ability to
stand on
one leg is
an indica-
tor of
health and
that getting better at
standing on one leg can
add to fitness and poten-
tially lifespan.Being able
to stand on one leg is
linked to increased levels
of physical activity and
decreased risk of falls and
is associated with both
quality and length of life.
Around 37.3 million falls
per year worldwide are se-
vere enough to require
medical attention.
The inability to balance
on one leg for 20 seconds
or longer is linked in oth-
erwise healthy people to
an increased risk of
small blood vessel dam-
age in the brain and re-
duced ability to under-
stand ideas. You are less
likely to be able to stand
on one leg without a wob-
ble if you have a multi-
tude of medical condi-
tions such as Parkinson’s
disease, stroke or Alzhei-
mer’s disease).
Pregnancy, menopause,
the diagnosis of disease
and retirement can also
alterourstrengthandbal-
ance and ability to stay
upright, mostly because
of the way these affect
our ability and motiva-
tion to engage in regu-
lar physical activity
.
Sitting or reclining
while awake is asso-
ciated with lower
muscle strength,
risk of falls and
physical function,
sometimes irre-
spective of the
amountof moderate
orvigorousintensity
physical activity you
do. People who sit for
prolonged periods are
more likely to develop
type 2 diabetes, higher
waist circumfer-
ence and obe-
sity
.
WHYSTANDINGONONELEGMATTERS
D
ata shows that the time people can stand on one leg changes for men and wom-
enatdifferentages–andaninabilitytohitthosetargettimesforyourage
group can highlight health problems. The human body
, when
standing upright, is inherently unstable. We have a very small
base of support relative to our height and width.
Wheningoodhealthwerelyonourcentral
andperipheralnervoussystemtointe-
grate all the information coming in
from our balance senses (eyes, inner
ears and feedback from muscles and
joints).Wethenengagetherightmus-
cles(feet,ankle,legandcoremuscles,
sometimeseventhearmmuscles)at
the right time to make the neces-
sary adjustments to our posture to
stay upright.Other health prob-
lems can also affect our physical
activity and are characterised by
stooped posture and worsened bal-
ance, such as depression and osteopo-
rosis, leading to an increased risk of
falls and fracture. A stooped posture
makes standing on one leg more difficult.
BEING ABLE
TO STAND
ON ONE LEG
IS LINKED TO
INCREASED
LEVELS OF
PHYSICAL
ACTIVITY AND
DECREASED
RISK OF
FALLS
R
Y
ou can improve your ability to
stand on one leg at any age,
and improve your balance. It’s
more challenging if you have a neu-
rological condition, but studies
have shown improvements in bal-
ance following exercise in many
conditions and it is known to re-
duce falls in many others. In the UK
around one in three adults over 65
and half of people over 80 will have
at least one fall a year. A recent Pub-
lic Health England report suggests
that lack of activity in older adults
because of the social restrictions
during the pandemic could lead to
110,000 more older people falling
this year. Standing on one leg can
be made much more challenging if
you close your eyes while doing it.
This is worth practising as it helps
with our long- term balance and re-
duces the risk of falling over. With
our eyes open the body becomes
lazy and relies on our vision to help
keep us balanced. If you take out
vision, it gets the other senses
working better. Most people
can only do this for a short
time compared to when they
keep their eyes open. Have
something close by to hold
on to. You will improve over
time. For the over 70s, there’s
also evidence to show stand-
ing on each leg for one minute
three times a day can help im-
prove hip bone mineral density
.
Stronger hip bone mineral den-
sity means if you do fall you are
less likely to fracture.
INDICATOR
OF GOOD
HEALTH
SHOULD I START STANDING ON ONE LEG?

Courage is a daily habit of all
successful people, not just
soldiers; to break the comfort
zone and confront the new!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
08
2NDFRONT
Queen of the Kutch Royal
family, Maharani Pritidevi,
became the first queen to
offer ‘Patri’ to Maa Asapura
at ‘Mata No Madh’ Temple
in the desert district. This
custom is traditionally
carried out by Kings only.
Maharani Pritidevi received
the ‘Chamar Patri’ at the
Aina Mahal Palace in Bhuj
on Sunday. The king of
Kutch, Maharao Pragmulji
III, passed away due to
Covid-19 in May last.
CHANGING TRADITIONS!
CHANGING TRADITIONS!
50% RTE APPLICANTS WITHDRAW
AFTERFIRTHREATBYSCHOOLS
First India Bureau
Surat: Days after school
managements threatened
to file police complaints
about forged income docu-
ments being used to get
admissions in prestigious
schools under the Right To
Education (RTE) Act,
around 50% of students
have withdrawn their ap-
plications by the third
round of admissions.
The school manage-
ments in Surat have fin-
ished the first, second and
thirdroundsof admissions
under RTE Act. In the first
round, 497 students out of
7,926 applications did not
take admission.
The number of those
not taking admissions
rose to 243 in the second
round out of 779 applica-
tions and as many as 157
out of 307 applications
withdrew their forms dur-
ing the third round for ad-
missions to first standard.
An average of around
10% students did not ap-
pear for the first round
and a whopping 50% opted
out in the final round.
Around 25,000 students
had filled forms to get ad-
mission under the RTE
Act. It was also found that
some of them were study-
ing in the general (non-
RTE) stream in their
schoolforacoupleof years
but had now opted for RTE
quota. Inquiries by some
school managements re-
vealed they had been pro-
viding fake documents.
Following this, a total of 54
studentsweredisqualified.
Some parents com-
plained that private
schools were demanding
documents like Aadhar
card, identity card, LIC
policy, property tax re-
ceipt, gas bill, mediclaim
policy and I-T returns of
three years and this was
why they withdrew appli-
cations under RTE.
AnandPatel,memberof
the private school manage-
ment association, said it
came to light that some
parents produced fake doc-
uments,atthecostof genu-
ine poor and deprived peo-
ple for whom the RTE Act
was enacted. It was found
that for the past few years,
financially well off people
were seeking admissions
under RTE. “We had made
several complaints to the
district education officer
and even asked him to file
an FIR. Finally, we said we
will do so if the DEO
doesn’t,” he said.
Samar Singh, a parent,
said, “Since it is easy to get
an income certificate from
the local civic body, people
get it done and seek admis-
sions under RTE. Nobody
checksyourpropertyandso
fraudulent admissions are
made. This adversely hits
genuinely poor people.”
SuratschoolshadsaidtheywouldlodgeFIRsagainstfraudapplicants

—
FILE
PHOTO
Sanghvi
gets hero’s
welcome
as minister
First India Bureau
Surat: Newly ap-
pointed Minister of
StateforHomeHarsh
Sanghvi was given a
hero’s welcome in
his Majura constitu-
ency in Surat as he
took out a Jan
Ashirwad Yatra for
the first time after
becoming a minister.
Almost reminis-
cent of the welcome
that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and
Gujarat BJP chief CR
Paatil get in Surat,
thousands thronged
the streets to greet
Sanghvi.
The entire atmos-
phere in the Majura
assembly constitu-
ency was saffronized.
The Jan Ashirvad
Yatra started from
Piplod-Kargil Chowk
and concluded at So-
ham Community
Hall at Sargam Shop-
ping Center after
marching through
Gokulam Dairy, Cit-
ylight Ashok Pan
Center, Panas Vil-
lage and Althan.
CR Paatil and city
president Niranjan
Jhanhjmera were
also present.
Surat traders oppose KYC rule
in dealing with old jewellery
One detained for broker’s
murder at Kamrej
First India Bureau
Surat: The Jewellers
Associationof Surathas
decided to meet the Un-
ion Home Minister soon
to register their protest
against the central gov-
ernment’s decision of
taking identification
proof from the custom-
ers who come to sell or
buy old jewelleries.
This is as part of an ex-
ercise by the govern-
ment to prevent the sale
and purchase of stolen
or fraud jewellery. The
Indian Bullion Jewel-
lers Association will
take up the matter with
the Home Minister.
Nainesh Pachchigar,
president of Indian Bul-
lion Jewellers Associa-
tion, Gujarat, said un-
der this rule, jewellers
would have to take a
photocopy of the sell-
er’s Aadhar and PAN
cards when buying old
jewellery
.
Jewellersdonothavea
system which can catch
cheating or verify Aad-
har or PAN cards, he
pointed out.
“Itmayalsobepossible
that the customers may
provide fake documents,
but we cannot verify
those. This new rule will
consumealotof timeand
hassletothetraders.That
is why the rule should
change,” he added.
First India Bureau
Surat: The Kamrej Po-
lice have detained a per-
son in connection with
the murder of a land bro-
ker at Royal Residency
road of Kamrej.
The accused was ar-
rested after Dhansukh
Parmar’s son, Hiren Par-
mar, in his statement,
identified him as one of
the prime suspects.
Hiren Parmar stated
that his late father owned
a property in Kim. He
had sold it to Ghansyam
Vachhani, a resident of
Kamrej, a few months
ago. Vachhani had given
only half of the total
money and the rest was
due. He had promised to
pay the rest after taking
a home loan. However,
the loan was not ap-
proved and Vachhani
asked him to cancel the
deal and return his mon-
ey. Dhansukh said he
could only give money
back once the property
was sold. “Vachhani and
his son used to pressur-
ise my father for money”,
Parmar added.
On Friday, Vachchani
had gone to Parmar’s of-
fice and got into a brawl.
The police registered a
case under IPC 302.
Round Total student Admission Withdraw Disqualified
1st round 7926 7381 497 48
2nd round 779 530 243 06
3rd round 307 150 157 00
—PHOTOS
BY
HANIF
SINDHI
IN
BHUJ

—
FILE
PHOTO

AHMEDABAD, MONDAY
OCTOBER 11, 2021
or the past two and
half decades, Mo-
hit Falod has keen-
ly focused on his
handcrafted crea-
tions while main-
taining the light-
ness and focusing on the
ease of wear for brides
on their special day.
Never compromising
on the garment's move-
ment and fluidity, he
has found ways to work
with traditional and
modern techniques to
fabricate these verita-
ble pieces of art in mo-
tion. This season's col-
lection ‘PAKEEZAH’ would
be distinct from Falod's pre-
vious offerings. For the past
eight months, he and his
entire team have been work-
ing on it. My mother start-
ed a boutique, and I started
designing for the boutique,
that's how I developed an
interest in designing. Later
I went and did a designing
course. And now I have
started my fashion label 'M
M Falod', said Mohit.
The regalia collection is a
tribute to Rajasthan's Royal
Rajwada culture, dates back
to the early 1900s.
This series will fea-
ture antique cuts,
materials, and jew-
els worn by royals.
The bridal col-
lection features a
colour palette
that ranges from
deep peacock
blues to roohafza
pink, a staple for
many of his previ-
ous collections. Pakeezah
has taken a lot of effort,
patience,andtime.Each
attire has been meticu-
lously made to make
one feel like a regal
Indian bride. It's an
amalgamation of
history, nature,
customs, and
monarchy that
makes the per-
son feel both
real and mys-
tical.
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
ACE FASHION DESIGNER MOHIT FALOD, THE OFFICIAL DESIGNING
PARTNER OF THE FIRST INDIA FC SEASON 10, IS KNOWN FOR
DESIGNING BRIDAL WEAR. IN AN EXCLUSIVE CONVERSATION WITH
CITY FIRST, MOHIT FALOD SHARES DETAILS OF HIS LATEST
COLLECTION 'PAKEEZAH' AND HIS DYNAMIC JOURNEY SO FAR!
PAKEEZAH
F
ATTIRE THAT WILL TALK
ON YOUR BEHALF
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
THE WAIT IS OVER!
The much-awaited First India
Fashion Connect Season 10 is
finally happening! The grand
event will be held at Hotel
Fairmont today, October 11 from
7 pm onwards!
Mohit Falod with his wife Anjula

10
ETC
CITY FIRST
irls face a lot
of issues in
their life,
whether it's
India or any
other coun-
try in the
world, they are ex-
pected to suffer and
bear the pain. Start-
ing from female in-
fanticide to gender
inequality to sexual
abuse, there is no
dearth of issues. Thus, to
curb these menaces and
to recognise girls' rights
and the unique challeng-
es girls face around the
world, International Girl
Child Day is observed
every year.
This day is celebrated
annually on October 11 to
empower and amplify the
voices of young girls around
the world. The theme, this
year, is “Digital generation.
Our generation”. Like every
year, the United Nations Chil-
dren's Fund (UNICEF) will
celebrate International Day
of the Girl Child 2021 reaf-
firming its pledge to promote
the progress of girls and
safeguard their rights.
SIGNIFICANCE
Achieving gender equality
and women's empowerment
is an integral part of the 17
Sustainable Development
Goals that UN member na-
tions adopted in 2015. The
International Day of the Girl
Child holds the key to achiev-
ing this as empowering wom-
en and girls, who represent
half of the world's popula-
tion, is crucial to accelerat-
ing sustainable development.
Nations need to pledge to as-
sist young
girls to grow
into empowered
women, who have
access to proper
healthcare, skill-
based learning facilities
and equal opportunities in
a world free from gender-
based violence and discrimi-
nation.
The world is home to more
than 1.1 billion girls under
age 18, who are “poised to
become the largest genera-
tion of female leaders, en-
trepreneurs and change-
makers the world has
ever seen,” ac-
cording to the
United Nations.
Right from
shaping homes
to moulding
world econo-
mies, women
have a crucial
role to play. “I
don’t believe
there’s any econ-
omy in the world
that can be successful with-
out tapping into the incredi-
ble potential of women going
forward. I just don’t believe
that’s possible,” believes In-
dra Nooyi, chairperson and
chief executive officer (CEO)
of PepsiCo. This Internation-
al Girl Child Day
, let’s pledge
to always push the women in
our homes and lives to keep
their best foot forward. With
Digital era bestowed upon us
as a blessing, women have all
the more opportunities today
to showcase their talents. To-
day, the world breathes on-
line and no career field is
untouched by women. All
they need is a helping hand,
equal treatment at workplac-
es and a healthy environ-
ment to perform their abso-
lute best. Therefore, let’s
take it upon us as an aware
society to create a better eco-
system for women from all
walks of life. With hopes of
a safer, more evolved world
for women, City First wishes
its readers, a very progres-
sive International Day for
Girl Child.
INTERNATIONAL GIRL CHILD DAY
G
Investing in the pathways to
employment: For adolescent girls
and young women in low and
middle-income countries. Nearly
1 in 4 girls aged 15–19 globally
are not in education, employ-
ment or training, compared to 1
in 10 boys. The analysis lays out
six core investment themes and
examples of investable opportu-
nities and calls on commercial
organizations and investors, with
an eye on social and economic
impact, to adopt bold investment
approaches across these
themes.
SOURCE: https://www.un.org/
en/observances/girl-child-day
“
“DIGITAL GENERATION,
DIGITAL GENERATION,
OURGENERATION
OURGENERATION”
”

A
s Bella Hadid celebrated
her birthday on October 9,
the model received a sweet
birthday wish from Gigi
Hadid. On Instagram, Gigi wrote
the sweetest messages to ring on
Bella’s special day as she said,
“We celebrate you today and eve-
ry day.” Along with a photo of
Bella and Khai, Gigi praised her
sister for being “forever protec-
tor” as an auntie.
Gigi’s post consisted of a photo,
showing Bella holding her
niece Khai where the duo is back
facing. —Agency
Y
G Entertainment
has broken its si-
lence on the talks
doing the rounds
about its artist BLACK-
PINK’s Jisoo. There were
rumours that the singer is
datingfootballerSonHeung
Min following her return to
South Korea from Paris.
The label called the ru-
mours groundless and has
asked people to refrain
from reckless speculation.
In an official statement re-
leased on October 10, YG
Entertainment has re-
sponded with:
“We would like to make
it clear that all dating ru-
mours related to BLACK-
PINK’sJisooareground-
less. —Agency
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2021
11
nushaasan, Pratishtha, Parampara…
now that’s what I am reminded of
when I think of the grandeur of Mr
Bachchan. Right from his stride of
pride to the assertion in his talk, the
man exudes charisma, every step on
the way. An entertainer of genera-
tions, not one person has been left untouched
by the excellence of his craft. Be it a Vijay
Deenanath Chauhan from Agneepath or a
Jai from Sholay, every character single-
handedly hallmarked an era by its
name. The unflagged host of KBC for
21 tireless years, senior Bachchan
has charmed the global audiences
with his playful banters with ce-
lebrities and contestants on
the show.
A family man at best, he
wears his heart on the
sleeve for madam
Jaya and his
b e a u t i f u l
family. A
‘ s a c -
cha yaar’
for his filmy
friend Dhar-
mendra, Amit Ji
is the epitome of
magnanimity.
‘Hero’ of the
most celebrated
romantic fanfic,
his and Rekha’s
is an unfinished
story that shat-
tered a million
hearts in one
breath. A friend,
philosopher and
lover of life, Am-
itabh Bachchan is
truly the beating
heart of the film fra-
ternity.
Unparalleled at 79,
Big B will always hold
the baton of the most
iconic and celebrated
Hindi film star of all
times. As he successfully
signs off another year
of his life, City First
wishes Amit Ji, a
very Happy
Birthday!
A
POORVI SINGHAL
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
Happiest
Happiest
Birthday,
Birthday, Big B
Big B
S
outh’s popular and notable filmmak-
er SS Rajamouli celebrated his 48th
birthday on Sunday, and the direc-
tor has been flooded with wishes
from fans and industry folks. Alia, who
will be working with Rajamouli in her first
pan-Indian film titled RRR, took to social
media to pen a few words for him. “Happy
Birthday to the master storyteller! So
grateful and honoured to have been di-
rected by you! Wishing you all the love
and happiness in the world.” —Agency
SWEET
GESTURE!
Dating
Goal
fails!
Amitabh Jaya Bachchan
Still from the film Paa
Amitabh Bachchan
Jai and Veeru from Sholay
Big B’s iconic style
A still from the film Silsila
Alia Bhatt
...her IG story
Jisoo
FOREVER
FOREVER
PROTECTOR!
PROTECTOR!
...her post
Gigi Hadid
HIS
FAN!
J
asmin Bhasin’s new music video
‘Pyaar Ek Tarfaa’ is making a lot
of noise, for all good reasons of
course. The song has been crooned
by Amaal Mallik and Shreya Ghoshal.
The ‘Tashan-e-Ishq’ actress is paired
with Amaal in the song. Speaking about
working with Amaal, Jasmin said: “He
is super talented, very sweet, simple,
down-to-earth and a humble person
who is serious and passionate about his
craft. I respect him a lot and like him
for the kind of person he is. I have be-
come his fan.” —Agency
Jasmin Bhasin

CITY FIRST
P
arenting com-
munity ‘Mo-
mimperfecto’
recently hosted
a social cause in asso-
ciation with NGO
Goonj. The event was
held at the posh Fat
Jar Cafe Market
in South Delhi and
the aim was to get
as much contri-
bution from Delhi-
ites. Leading mom
bloggers and many
home-grown and inter-
national brands like
Label Kaari, Swati
Modo, A’s Kitchen,
Zielle, Neet Eat and
Oriflame came forward
to donate for the noble
cause.
Celebrity influencer
Harpreet Suri graced
the occasion and kick-
started the collection
drive. “I always believe
we must always donate
whatever little or big
we can. Come forward
and help the people
whenever possible,”
said Suri at the event.
Speaking about the
cause, Sidhi Kapoor,
event host founder of
the parenting commu-
nity says, “As mom in-
fluencers, we have a
great responsibility.
Moms love to hoard and
so I realised it’s time to
open our hearts. We
must grab every small
opportunity and do our
bit for the needy
.”
cityfirstdel@gmail.com
12
CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED
IAS Aspirant Aditi - British High Commissioner for a Day
CITY FIRST
T
wenty-year-old Adi-
ti Maheshwari
from Rajasthan has
spent a full day
leading the British High
Commission in New Delhi
after winning a competi-
tion. Aditi, who aspires to
join the Indian Adminis-
trative Service, is the fifth
winner of the India edition
of the ‘High Commission-
er for a Day’ competition,
organised annually since
2017 to celebrate the Inter-
national Day of the Girl
Child (October 11).
As the UK’s top diplomat
in India, Aditi experienced
a broad variety of diplo-
matic activities. She ob-
served the India-UK Ener-
gy for Growth Dialogue
alongside Ministers
Raj Kumar Singh and
Kwasi Kwarteng. She
met with beneficiaries
of a leadership pro-
gramme for aspiring fe-
male politicians funded by
the Chevening Alumni
Programme Fund; climate
experts from the Council
on Energy, Environment
and Water (CEEW), who
signed the UK in India
Pledge for Progress, to
show their leadership in
gender equality; and young
leaders from the not-for-
profit Global Youth.
Aditi Maheshwari,
High Commissioner for
the Day, said, “I had ap-
plied for the competition
last year as well and I’m
really pleased that I got
the opportunity
. The inter-
action with senior diplo-
mats and with women
from ‘She Leads’ leader-
ship programme were the
two personal highlights of
the day for me. I also en-
joyed being driven around
in an electric vehicle by
the High Commissioner.
The amount of work that
both the UK and India are
doing to tackle issues like
climate change and gen-
der inequality made me
really hopeful as a young
woman. I will cherish this
day for a long time to
come.”
Alex Ellis, Deputy High
Commissioner for the Day
(on other days, High Com-
missioner to India), said,
“It was a pleasure for me
to work with Aditi
throughout the day. Her
confidence and thought-
fulness on important is-
sues like climate change
and women’s rights shone
through. The UK is work-
ing with India to provide a
platform for young women
like Aditi to help them
reach their potential. I am
pleased that so many
young girls sent in their
entries for this year’s com-
petition which focussed on
climate change. I wish
Aditi the very best for the
future and hope that she
enjoyed this experience as
much as I did.”
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
The fifth day of Navratri is
dedicated to Goddess Skanda
Mata, Lord Kartikeya’s moth-
er. Skanda is another name
for the war god Kartikeya and
Mata is a term used for moth-
er. This is why the Goddess is
known as Skanda Mata. She
is the motherly incarnation of
Goddess Durga. On this pious
occasion, City First wishes
its readers a very prosperous
Navratri.
GODDESS
Skanda
During the ongoing
staging of Luvkush
Ramleela staged at
Redfort Ground, New
Delhi, Bollywood
actor Sudesh Bary
plays the character
of Raja Dasharatha
and captivates
the audience with
his mesmerizing
performance.
The Parivartan team of North West Delhi Police conducted
an Awareness Campaign On Sunday where the team
elaborated the context of good touch and bad touch to
children of slum areas and also encouraged them to share
their problems whenever needed.
The pre-birthday bash of
Rashme Sachdeva was
hosted by two of her close
friends, Atul Mehrotra and
Amit Chitkara, all the loved
ones had a gala time and
created happy memories
once again.
Congratulations to PCS Prasun Dwivedi SDM Sadar
Noida who has been appointed as OSD of Noida
Development Authority.
ashion Designer
Ranna Gill has
come up with her
latest Spring and
Summer collec-
tion 2021. Her lat-
est creations were
displayed on Lakme Fash-
ion Week virtually on Sun-
day, through the medium
of a short film, 'Levitate'
which is also the title of
her collection. In a conver-
sation with City First,
Ranna Gill shared, The
virtual show is a celebra-
tion of times to come. The
latest collection which has
a lot of back detailing fo-
cuses on feminine beauty.
This contemporary collec-
tion is cross-cultural and is
deemed to attract people
from all origins.
Fashion has become the
new language as it incorpo-
rates different contempo-
rary ideas that serve as an
inspiration cross culturally
.
Customers who are the real
patron of the brand with
this collection are promised
a fresh wave of fashion.
Delhi Moms Pause
FOR A CAUSE!
PRE-BIRTHDAY BASH!
MESMERIZING PERFROMANCE!
SPRING SUMMER
COLLECTION
DISPLAYED AT THE
LAKME FASHION WEEK,
DESIGNER RANNA GILL
PRESENTS HER
SRPING AND SUMMER
COLLECTION, LEVITATE!
F
MENTAL WELL-BEING!
The Police Families Welfare
Society launched a month-
long awareness program on
Sunday for the Dwarka welfare
centre for the Delhi Police
families in the presence of Vice
President Priti Singh. Being a
police personnel is a task that
takes a toll on the mental well
being, therefore the program
addresses the issues related to
the same.
A STEP AHEAD!
SUSHMITA AIND
sushmita.aind@firstindia.co.in
Harpreet Suri with Delhi Bloggers
Nidhi Jain Sidhi Kapoor
Saniya, Jyotika and Arpita
During the celebration
Rashme, Atul and Kanika
Sona, Rashme and Arti
Amit, Rashme, Yash, Veena
and Arti
Arti, Sylvia, Rashme,
Amit and Sona
Aditi Maheshwari with Alex Ellis
Models displaying the collection ‘Levitate’
—PHOTOS BY MANOJ KESHARWANI
—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN
AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

11102021 first india ahmedabad

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