First india ahmedabad edition-01 july 2020

CORONA
ALERT
AHMEDABAD l WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 216
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COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
1,848
DEATHS
32,643
CONFIRMED CASES
UTTAR PRADESH
697 DEATHS 23,492 CASES
RAJASTHAN
413 DEATHS 18,008 CASES
Lethargy in granting labs approval
behind low testing numbers in Guj?
Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: Last
week, the central gov-
ernment announced
that Delhi would con-
duct 20,000 tests for
COVID-19 every day.
Gujarat, on the other
hand, is not even
managing half that
number despite being
considerably larger
than Delhi in terms
of population.
The difference is
stark when you look at
the numbers: Delhi has
a population of 1.93
crore. Gujarat has a
population of 6.5
crore. Despite being
more than three times
as populous as Delhi,
Gujarat barely man-
ages to maintain an
average of 5,000 tests
every day. To match
Delhi’s rate of test-
ing, the state would
need to conduct at
least 60,000 tests on a
daily basis, a senior
health official said.
It is important to note
that the higher testing
numbers in Delhi are
the result of the Cen-
tre’s intervention and
direction.
Recently, the Cen-
tre’s health team led
by Lav Agarwal had
expressed displeasure
at the low testing num-
bers in Gujarat and
the delays in giving
laboratories approvals
to start testing. For in-
stance, there are eight
laboratories in the state
thatreceivedpermission
from the Indian Council
of Medical Research
(ICMR) to conduct test-
ing back in May. Howev-
er, they are still waiting
for clearance from the
state government.
“These eight ICMR-
approved labs have
been waiting for per-
mission from the health
secretary for more than
a month. Turn on P6
State government should make up for lost time and grant
permission to labs immediately
To match testing
in Delhi, Gujarat
would need 60K
tests a day; but
barely logs 5K
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: In his
sixth address to the na-
tion since the begin-
ning of coronavirus
pandemic in India, PM
Narendra Modi on
Tuesday announced
that his government
will extend till end of
November, the Pradhan
Mantri Garib Kalyan
Anna Yojana, under
which foodgrains are
being provided to the
poor and needy.
“From July festival
seasons start, Guru
Purnima will be cele-
brated on July 5. Follow-
ing this, the month of
Saawan will start. In
this season of festivals,
needs and expenses of
all increases. Keeping
this in mind, the Yojana
has been extended till
Diwali and Chatth
Puja, i.e till the
end of Novem-
ber,”hesaid.
Turn on P6
WOOING
BIHAR?
DIWALI & CHHATH BONANZA FOR POOR:
PM EXTENDS FOOD SCHEME TILL NOV
If the government today is able to provide
free grains to the poor and needy today
then the credit goes to two sections of peo-
ple. The first are our hardworking farmers, our
food providers and the second are the honest tax-
payers of the country. You have submitted your
taxes honestly, fulfilled your responsibility,
that is why today the country’s poor are
able to fight off this big problem. Today
along with each poor, every farmer, I
heartily greet every taxpayer and
bow down to them. —PM Modi
Beijing: China on
Tuesday expressed con-
cerns over India’s deci-
sion to ban 59 apps de-
veloped by Chinese
firms and stressed that
New Delhi has a respon-
sibility to uphold the
legal rights of interna-
tional investors includ-
ing Chinese.
In first reaction after
the Indian government
announced the ban,
Chinese Foreign Minis-
try spokesperson Zhao
Lijian said: “China is
strongly concerned,
verifying the situation.
We want to stress that
Chinese Govt always
asks Chinese business-
es to abide by interna-
tional & local laws-reg-
ulations.” “Indian Govt
has a responsibility to
uphold the legal rights
of international inves-
tors including Chinese
ones,”’ he added.
Amid the ongoing
border tensions with
China in Eastern
Ladakh, the Centre had
on Monday banned 59
mobile apps including
Tik Tok, UC Browser
and other Chinese apps
“prejudicial to sover-
eignty and integrity
and defence” of the
country. Turn on P6
Appain! China concerned
over India’s ban decision
Kathmandu: Nepal PM
KP Sharma Oli, who
had last week blamed
India for his mounting
troubles, on Tuesday
faced a sharp attack
from top leaders of the
ruling Nepal Commu-
nist Party who demand-
ed that the prime minis-
ter step down immedi-
ately, say sources.
Attheparty’s44-mem-
ber standing committee
meeting on Tuesday, lo-
cal media reports quot-
ed communist party
leaders such as Pushpa
Kamal Dahal, Madhav
Nepal, Jhala Nath Kha-
nal and Bamdev Gau-
tam stepping up their
pitch to seek Oli’s re-
moval. They have ar-
gued that the Oli-led
government had failed
to deliver on basic gov-
ernance issues Turn on P6
Nepal ruling
party asks PM
Oli to resign
Shayar RaGa shoots
poetic jibe at Modi
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi on
Tuesday took an appar-
ent dig at Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi after
his address to the na-
tion. In his poetic jibe,
the former Congress
President asked the
Prime Minister to “tell
the truth and how the
caravan was looted”.
“Tu idhar udhar ki
baat naa kar, yeh bata ki
kaafila kaise loota...mu-
jhe rehjano se gila toh
hai, par teri rehbeer pe
sawal hai,” the 50-year-
old Congress leader
tweeted which roughly
translates to “Don’t
beat about the bush, tell
clearly how the caravan
was looted, I have a
grudge against the rob-
bers, but your leader-
ship is in question”.
Congress too ex-
pressed disappoint-
ment over PM Modi’s
address and questioned
why “he didn’t address
the issue of Chinese in-
cursions”. “Forget con-
demning China, the PM
is too afraid to even talk
about it in his national
address,” the grand old
party said in a tweet.
Meanwhile, apart
from Gandhi and Con-
gress, West Bengal MP
and Trinamool Con-
gress leader Mahua
Moitra also took a jibe
Turn on P6
REVIEWS PREP FOR VACCINATION
PM chaired a high-level meeting to review the prep-
arations being undertaken for vaccination against
COVID-19, as and when a vaccine is available. He
directed officials to evaluate various technology
tools to ensure efficient and timely vaccination
in due course of time. He also emphasised that
detailed planning for such large scale vaccination
should be undertaken immediately. P6
FIGURES SAY IT ALL
80 CR
people of the country
to get free grain
`1.75 L CR
package was announced
under the scheme
`31,000 CR
deposited in bank
accounts of 20 cr poor
families in the last
three months
`18,000 CR
deposited in the bank
accounts of more than
9 crore farmers
`90,000 CR
is the cost of extension
of the scheme
Amit Shah @AmitShah
The extension of Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana
shows the sensitivity of Shri @
NarendraModi ji to the millions of poor and
his commitment for their welfare. Nobody
slept hungry in a large country like India during the
Corona period, thanks to Modiji’s foresight and
successful implementation of the scheme
Vaccine tracker: India to start human trials of COVAXIN in July
New Delhi: The Drug
Controller General of
India (DCGI) has grant-
ed permission to Bharat
Biotech International
Limited (BBIL) to con-
duct Phase I and II Hu-
man clinical trials to
develop an indigenous
vaccine for COVID-19 --
in the name COVAXIN.
These trials are sched-
uled to start across In-
dia in July.
For this, Indian Coun-
cil of Medical Research
(ICMR) and BBIL had
partnered to develop a
fully indigenous vac-
cine for COVID-19 using
the virus strain isolated
at ICMR’s National In-
stitute of Virology
(NIV), Pune.
“The Central Drug
Standard Control Or-
ganization (CDSCO)--
the office of DCGI has
granted permission to
initiate Phase I & II Hu-
man clinical trials after
the company submitted
results generated from
preclinical studies,
demonstrating safety
and immune response.
Human clinical trials
are scheduled to start
across India in July
2020,” stated the spokes-
person of Bharat Bio-
tech.
The indigenous, inac-
tivated vaccine devel-
oped and manufactured
in Bharat Biotech’s
BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level
3) high containment fa-
cility located in Ge-
nome Valley in Hy-
derabad.
“The strain was suc-
cessfully transferred
from NIV to Bharat Bio-
tech International Ltd.
(BBIL). Work on vac-
cine development has
been initiated between
the two partners. ICMR-
NIV are providing con-
tinuous support to
BBIL for vaccine devel-
opment. ICMR and
BBIL will seek fast-
track approvals to expe-
dite vaccine develop-
ment, subsequent ani-
mal studies and clinical
evaluation of the candi-
date vaccine,” said
ICMR official.
Announcing the vac-
cine development mile-
stone, Dr Krishna Ella,
Chairman and Manag-
ing Director, Bharat
Biotech, said, “We are
proud to announce CO-
VAXIN, India’s first in-
digenous vaccine
against COVID-19. The
collaboration with
ICMR and NIV was in-
strumental in the devel-
opment of this vaccine.
The proactive support
and guidance from CD-
SCO have enabled ap-
provals to this project.
Our R&D and manufac-
turing teams worked
tirelessly to deploy our
proprietary technolo-
gies towards this plat-
form.” —ANI
DGCI APPROVES TESTS TO COMBAT CORONA
A health worker in PPE collects a blood sample from a man at a health centre to conduct tests for
COVID-19, amid the spread of the disease, in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Zhao Lijian
INDIA, CHINA
HOLD 10-HR
MARATHON
TALKS
Indian and Chinese
militaries on Tuesday
held an over 10-hour
Corps Commander-level
dialogue with a focus
on finalising modalities
for the disengagement
of troops from various
standoff points in
eastern Ladakh, and
explored ways to ease
tension in the region,
government sources
said. In the meeting,
the Indian delegation
conveyed concerns
over China’s “new claim
lines” in the region and
demanded restoration of
status quo ante as well
as immediate withdrawal
of Chinese troops from
Galwan Valley, Pangong
Tso and other areas.
In shayarana andaaz, Rahul asks
Modi how the caravan was looted?
WORLD
5,10,736
DEATHS
1,05,00,639
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
5,82,921
CONFIRMED CASES
17,347
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
7,855 DEATHS 1,74,761 CASES
TAMIL NADU
1,201 DEATHS 90,167 CASES
DELHI
2,680 DEATHS 85,161 CASES

Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar: The on-
going hostilities be-
tween the armed forc-
es of India and China
have sparked boycott
demonstrations of
Chinese products
across the nation.
With anti-China sen-
timents riding high in
the nation, the Cen-
tral government
seems to be indulging
in shadow boxing
with their Chinese
counterparts under
pressure, in order to
appease its vote bank.
On Monday evening,
the Centre banned over
59 mobile applications
developed by Chinese
companies. The worry-
ing factor for trade and
industries is that if this
tension escalates into a
full-fledged trade war,
similar to the one brew-
ing between USA and
China since 2018. With
India importing every-
thing right from but-
tons, needles, bulk drug
Active Pharmaceuti-
cals Ingredients (APIs),
to nuclear reactors
from China, a trade war
may not be in the best
interests of the coun-
try’s economic health.
According to sources,
the bilateral trade be-
tween India-China to-
talled USD 92.5 billion,
and against that, In-
dia’s trade deficit for
the previous financial
year was of USD 57 bil-
lion. After electronic
items, other sectors
that have a stake in the
exports from China are
p h a r m a c e u t i c a l s ,
chemicals and textile
sectors. All the three
sectors have very high
investment capitals in
the state that also help
generate employment.
If the boycott of Chi-
nese products holds and
the Indian government
is pressured to take on
a trade war with China,
it may have an adverse
impact on the nation as
well as the state’s econ-
omy.
Gujarat’s contribu-
tion in the national
pharmaceutical pro-
duction is 33% and its
share in the export of
pharmaceuticals is
28%. But, in reality,
this chunk
of stake in the national
total is due to the im-
ported API raw materi-
al from China. Accord-
ing to Union Minister
for Chemicals and Fer-
tilizers DV Sadananda
Gowda, “In the year
2018-19, India imported
bulk drugs
& chemi-
cals worth USD 2.4 bil-
lion, which accounts
for 70% of the total bulk
drug requirement.”
Data from the Union
Health Ministry states
that in the year 2017, 324
drugs and drug ingredi-
ents were imported
from China.
“With the In-
dian government
planning to reduce
pharmaceutical de-
pendency on China
since 2013, the draft
for Bulk Drug Parks
across the nation had
been commissioned.
One such park had
also been planned in
Gujarat, with the Un-
ion Government
granting permission,
in principle, for the
bulk drug park in the
state, just a few
months ago. It also
increased the fund al-
location for the pro-
ject from Rs300 crore
to Rs1,000 crore as
well as the park size
from 1,000 acres to
2,000 acres,” said He-
mant Koshia, Com-
missioner Food and
Drug Control Admin-
istration.
Koshia is confident
that if the trade war is
taken on, the Indian
and especially the Guja-
rat pharmaceutical sec-
tor is competent to meet
any crises. He added,
“Our small and medi-
um scale units have in-
stalled capacity and
competence to produce
enough quantity of API
that can be close to Chi-
na’s import. These
units had withdrawn
from the market and
wind up API produc-
tion because they could
not stand against Chi-
na’s dumping and low
prices. But then, our
unit’s production cost
was Rs300 per kilo,
whereas China was
dumping at Rs200 per
kilo.”
Similarly, the textile
industry, which imports
its accessories from
China on a large scale,
depends on Chinese
products. “With the an-
ti-China fever catching
on, even orders placed
earlier are being can-
celled by importers,”
laments Janak Patel, an
entrepreneur.
Patel added, “If this
fever lasts long
enough, it can adverse-
ly impact the apparels
sector, because the do-
mestic production cost
of buttons, needles
and zips is compara-
tively higher than the
production cost of
China.”
NEWSAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: In line
with Union Home
Ministry guidelines
for Unlock 2.0, which
will be in effect all
through July, the
state government too
has decided to allow
all shops and estab-
lishments to remain
operational until 8
pm. Restaurants may
now serve food until
9pm. Chief Minister
Vijay Rupani’s deci-
sion is being seen as a
step towards helping
to normalize every-
day life as we learn to
coexist with the novel
coronavirus.
While restaurant
owners had undoubt-
edly been hoping for an
extension until 11pm,
since a large chunk of
their business occurs
during dinner time and
later, the current exten-
sion in operating hours
will likely make a huge
difference in business.
Chief Minister Vi-
jay Rupani on Tues-
day also launched an
agriculture kit distri-
bution programme
online for the tribal
belt spread from Dan-
ta in the north, to
Dang district in the
south. Initiated at a
cost of Rs32 crore,
the programme aims
at benefiting 76,000
Adivasis living in the
14 districts of this re-
gion and across the
state. Meant for small
and marginal farm-
ers, each of these kits
includes vegetable
and corn seeds as well
as fertilizers. Per
acre, a farmer will
get 45kg urea, 50kg
NPK and 50kg ammo-
nia phosphate, dis-
tributed by Gujarat
State Fertilizer Agro-
tech Ltd, a subsidiary
of Gujarat State Fer-
tilizers Corporation.
Rupani said the mo-
tive behind such pro-
grammes is to ensure
that Adivasis become
part of mainstream at
the earliest, adding that
this was also why pro-
grammes meant to up-
lift them socially, eco-
nomically and even in
terms of education
were being aggressive-
ly and effectively imple-
mented in the tribal
belt.
For the same rea-
sons, the government
is planning to set up
Eklavya schools and
even medical colleges-
-and not just Ashram
shalas--in the tribal
belt. The region has
already been electri-
fied, addressing both
household and agri-
culture needs. This
will increase their
productivity as they
will be able to irrigate
their fields.
During the video con-
ference, beneficiary
tribal farmers had
joined the conversation
and had praised the
state government
schemeandprogramme
for tribal communities.
Unlock 2.0 relaxation: Businesses till 8pm,
restaurants till 9pm, says CM Vijay Rupani
z In 2013, the UPA
government had con-
stituted a committee
under the chairmanship
of VM Katoch
z The Katoch Committee
submitted its report
in 2015
z It recommended
several measures
including set-up of an
exclusive park
z In 2017, a draft
policy for the park was
designed
z In 2019, the Union
Government finally
started work on it
z Initially, a 1,000 acre
park was planned with
Rs300 crore financial
support
z Andhra Pradesh, Guja-
rat, Telangana and Tamil
Nadu came up with bulk
drug proposals in
March 2020
TIMELINE OF THE
BULK DRUG PARK
Extension of PMGKY shows sensitivity of PM Modi: Shah
ANTI-CHINASENTIMENTSMAY
DOMOREHARMTHANGOOD
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Tuesday said
the extension of the
Pradhan Mantri Gar-
ib Kalyan Anna Yo-
jana (PMGKAY), a
programme to pro-
vide free ration for
over 80 crore people,
shows the sensitivity
of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to the
millions of poor and
their welfare.
Congratulating the
prime minister for ex-
tending the scheme till
November, Shah also
thanked farmers and
honest taxpayers of the
country, saying their
hard work and dedica-
tion was helping the
benefits reach the poor.
“The extension of
Garib Kalyan Anna
Yojana shows the
sensitivity of Shri @
NarendraModi ji to
the millions of poor
and his commitment
for their welfare. No-
body slept hungry in
a large country like
India during the Co-
rona period, thanks
to Modiji’s foresight
and successful imple-
mentation of the
scheme,” he tweeted
in Hindi.
The prime minister
on Tuesday announced
extension of the PMG-
KAY by 5 more months
till November end.
In a televised ad-
dress to the nation,
the prime minister
said over Rs 90,000
crore will be spent on
the programme’s ex-
tension, and if the
last three months ex-
penditure on account
of the free ration
scheme is added then
the total budget will
be about Rs 1.5 lakh
crore.
The scheme was
rolled out for three
months from April
soon after the nation-
wide lockdown was an-
nounced to combat the
COVID-19.
The PM Garib Kalyan
Anna Yojana will
provide free ration to
over 80 crore people
With bilateral trade relations on thin ice, India’s domestic production competence needs a reality check
With the Indian government plan-
ning to reduce pharmaceutical de-
pendency on China since 2013, the
draft for Bulk Drug Parks across the nation
had been commissioned. One such park had
also been planned in Gujarat, with the
Union Government granting permission, in
principle, for the bulk drug park in the state,
just a few months ago.
— Hemant Koshia, Commissioner Food and Drug Control Admn
Women workers at a
pharmaceutical manufacturing unit
on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
—PHOTOS BY NANDAN DAVE
z Inclusive Gujarat govt also
launches agri kit distribution
project for tribal farmers

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020
Haresh Jhala
Ahmedabad: People
in Bodakdev area of
the city woke up to
find threatening post-
ers against Jagan-
nath Temple priest
Dilip Dasji being past-
ed early on Tuesday
morning. Interest-
ingly, these posters
were put up in an
area crawling with
residences of state
high court judges.
The head priest Dilip
Dasji has been caught
in controversy owing to
the fact that a 143-year-
old tradition of Rath
Yatra had to be broken,
amid the novel corona-
virus outbreak. But, it
looks like hardcore Hin-
du devotees seem to be
intent on holding Dasji
responsible for the
break in tradition.
According to re-
ports, a number of
posters with Dasji’s
photographs have
eben pasted on walls in
the Bodakdev area. A
poster read, “Lord Jag-
annath will not forgive
you for the betrayal.”
Another poster ac-
cused the priest of not
trying hard enough to
secure permission for
the Rath Yatra, “When
you were asked to vote
in the name of Lord
Rama, why were
you a mute spectator?”
it read.
Incidentally, this is
not the first time that
Ahmedabad has wit-
nessed a poster war. In
the last decade alone,
the city has seen such
showcases of dissent
against former Gujarat
Chief Minister and cur-
rent Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. A post-
er display was also exe-
cuted in favour of Rash-
triya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) pracharak
Sanjay Joshi and even
former Chief Minister
Keshubhai Patel. Such
practices have been the
bane of every right
wing party and its asso-
ciated outfits.
Vastrapur Police In-
spector MM Jadeja told
First India, “It has come
to our notice that such
posters have been put
up. But, we have not re-
ceived any complaint in
this regard yet.” When
Jagannath Temple trus-
tee Mahendra Jha was
contacted, he was not
available for comment.
Dissent posters of Jagannath Temple priest pop up in city
BLATANT POSTURING
 Dilip Dasji has been blamed
for break in Rath Yatra tradition
The posters of Dilip Dasji pasted on a wall in Bodakdev area in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Surat sees record jump in
nCov cases, A’bad a close 2nd
Lack of social distancing among diamond workers likely the reason for sudden surge
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: In a re-
versal of situation,
the Ahmedabad Mu-
nicipal Corporation
(AMC) has been re-
porting lower num-
bers of COVID-19 cas-
es in the city recently,
but the numbers in
Surat have seen a
steady rise lately. With
the local civic body Su-
rat Municipal Corpo-
ration (SMC) on its
toes, the current state
of the diamond city
also got the attention
of the Principal Secre-
tary (Health) Jayanti
Ravi, who rushed
there to assess the sit-
uation, for the second
time in 10 days.
After visiting Surat
and sitting for a round
of meetings with the lo-
cal health department
and other officials, Ravi
unearthed the reason
for the spread of novel
coronavirus in Surat.
According to her, the sit-
ting arrangement at the
currently operational
diamond units in the
city was very congested,
which did not allow
workers to observe so-
cial distancing. As a re-
sult, post Unlock 1.0, the
transmission of the vi-
rus has become very
rapid in the district.
According to the
data provided by the
state health depart-
ment, Surat city re-
ported 183 fresh cases
on Tuesday, whereas
182 cases emerged in
Ahmedabad city. Af-
ter including the ru-
ral areas, the total
number of cases re-
ported in Surat stood
at199andAhmedabad
at 197. This means
that Surat has over-
taken Ahmedabad as
the city with the high-
est number of Sars-
CoV-2 cases.
As per a statement
from SMC, a total of 205
cases have emerged in
the Surat district, of
which 183 were from the
city and 22 from other
areas, in the past 24
hours. With the death
of five patients on Tues-
day, the total death toll
of the district stands at
189. The total tally of
positive cases in Surat
is now 5,260.
The surprising rev-
elation is that the
numbers in
Ahmedabad have been
falling drastically. It
remains to be seen
whether it is an indi-
cation of COVID-19
transmission decreas-
ing or a manipulation
of numbers.
Diamond workers working at close quarters at a unit. —FILE PHOTO
CURRENT NUMBERS
ATS nabs 14 with 51
illegal arms worth `1.5 cr
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
state Anti-Terrorist
Squad (ATS) on Mon-
day conducted search
operations at more
than half a dozen lo-
cations and arrested
14 people in posses-
sion of 51 illegal
weapons worth Rs1.5
crore. The search and
seize operation was
executed after an il-
legal arms trade be-
ing carried out at a
weapon license shop
based in Ahmedabad
was unearthed by the
squad earlier this
month. Deputy Com-
missioner of Police
(in-charge) Dipen
Bhadran led the op-
eration.
During the primary
interrogation of Tarun
Gupta, the owner of
Tarun Gun House in
Ahmedabad, he had
shared information
about people to whom
he had sold illegal
weapons. Based on that
information, the ATS
team then carried out
searches at Suren-
dranagar’s Rajula, Mor-
bi’s Halvad, Rapar,
Bhachau and Abdasa in
Kutch district and Gan-
gad in Ahmedabad dis-
trict.
The investigation
also revealed that Hal-
vad-based Digvijay Jha-
la had been running an
arms racket in the state
by smuggling foreign-
made arms and selling
them here.
The ATS team seized
weapons including a
Ruger model, US Car-
bine Cal .31 M1, Sport-
ing Rifle- 3, Indian Ord-
nance factory manufac-
tured weapon (16), re-
volver (18), pistol (8),
Walther Smith and Wes-
son Houlton US-made
pistols (4), among oth-
ers.
On June 8, the Bhuj
Local Crime Branch
team had arrested
two peacock hunters
named Kasam Lohar
and Akram Thiba
with two guns. Dur-
ing interrogation,
both Lohar and Thiba
confessed that they
had bought the guns
from Tarun Gupta.
They had also named
at least a dozen peo-
ple who had bought
weapons from Gupta
without a license.
ATS seized 51 weapons worth Rs1.5 crore and arrested 14
people for illegal arms trade in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
The team also busted
a foreign arms racket
in the state
One-inch of first monsoon
showers drown Rajkot
HC notices to AMC over ‘cruelty’ at cattle ponds
Bharatsinh shifted to
Ahmedabad hospital
Parents demanding school fee
waiver detained by city police
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat High Court on
Tuesday issued notices
to the Ahmedabad Mu-
nicipal Corporation re-
turnable in two weeks
in response to a petition
alleging that stray cat-
tle were being treated
cruelly in cattle ponds.
Animal Welfare
Foundation has moved
a petition alleging that
Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation transports
cattle picked from the
roads to shelters, where
they are kept in un-
kempt spaces that are
often too small for them
to either stand or sit.
The petitioner
claimed that their at-
tempts to draw the
AMC’s attention, in-
cluding that of the May-
or, to this issue went in
vain. And they were
forced to approach the
high court seeking a di-
rective to the Corpora-
tion to ensure the cattle
are not treated cruelly.
In another develop-
ment, a public interest
petition by Sachin Ni-
mavat has been filed in
the high court to direct
all lower courts to take
up vehicle detention
matters, those under
the Negotiable Instru-
ments Act, an appeal or
revision petition in Do-
mestic Violence Act
virtually.
The petitioner has
also prayed to allow pro-
duction of witnesses
through video confer-
ence.Hehasalsopleaded
that any form of online
media should be allowed
for minimum physical
appearance in the court.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Former
state Congress presi-
dent Bharatsinh Solan-
ki has been shifted to a
private hospital in
Ahmedabad for COV-
ID-19 treatment.
Solanki was con-
firmed as Sars-CoV-2
positive last week in Va-
dodara. He was hospi-
talized at a private hos-
pital there. But, due to a
lack of proper recovery
and worsening condi-
tion, he has been now
shifted to Sterling Hos-
pital in Ahmedabad.
The decision of the
transfer was taken by
his family after consul-
tation with doctors and
medical experts.
According to reports,
Solanki is currently on
high-flow oxygen metre
support which is a
stage prior to ventilator
support. Around 15%
of COVID-19 patients
need oxygen support,
while only 5% need
ventilator support.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Hun-
dreds of students’
parents on Tuesday
staged a protest here
demanding that the
schools waive the fees
for the last three
months of lockdown.
They have been ask-
ing for this for long.
More than 30 parents
were detained by the po-
lice when they were
staging demonstra-
tions.
“Many businesses
were affected during
the lockdown, many
have lost their jobs.
At this point in time,
there are thousands
of parents who can’t
afford to pay hefty
fees. The parents are
demanding to a waive
the fees for three
months,” said Jayesh
Patel, president of
Vali Ekta Mandal.
He said that most par-
ents belonged to the
lower and middle class.
“They are struggling to
pay their monthly bills.
Some schools have giv-
en relief to the parents
by slashing the fees, but
a major chunk of them
haven’t. They must un-
derstand the overall
condition of a family
and waive one semes-
ter’s fees,” added Patel.
First India Bureau
Rajkot: On Tuesday,
Rajkot city received the
first showers of the
monsoon season, bring-
ing some much needed
respite from the scorch-
ing heat.
But, with just one
inch of rainfall,
wreaked havoc in the
city which witnessed
heavy waterlogging in
various parts. The rain
also exposed all the pre-
monsoon work done by
local civic body Rajkot
Municipal Corporation
(RMC).
A few areas such as
Swaminarayan Chowk
on Gondal Road and
others near the state
transport workshop got
drenched. Moreover,
the Laxminagar Nala
turned into a swim-
ming pool due to heavy
waterlogging and the
Popatpara Nala also re-
ported high-level wa-
ters.
According to Opposi-
tion leaders in the RMC,
“The municipality
spent crores of rupees
every year on pre-mon-
soon preparations but
everything is good only
on paper, not in reality,”
they alleged.
“If the ruling party
would have actually
done some work, the
city would have not fall-
en apart by a little rain-
fall. The drainage sys-
tem also does not work
properly,” they added.
As per reports, the
residents living in are-
as on the Gondal Road
have been complaining
of waterlogging during
monsoon for the past 20
years. But, the RMC
seems to have turned
blind eye over the issue.
Every year, after a cou-
ple of hours of rainfall,
the water level reaches
knee-level making it
difficult for people to
commute to and from
the area.
Children play with a dog in the waterlogged Laxminagar Nala in Rajkot on Tuesday.
Parents at the protest.
Bharatsinh Solanki
—PHOTOBYNANDANDAVE

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 216 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, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020
Health is the greatest gift,
contentment the greatest
wealth, faithfulness the best
relationship. —Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
WITH POOR
ON MIND, MODI
EXTENDS SCHEME
pm was an unusual time for
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s sixth address to the na-
tion after the outbreak of pan-
demic in the country. All his
previous addresses were at 8 pm, the
prime time slot of television channels.
So when it was announced that Modi will
address the nation at 4 p.m. on Tuesday
there were usual conjectures but with-
out the fears that have come to be associ-
ated with his speeches. Unlock 2.0 guide-
lines were announced on Monday so one
guess was that the PM will talk about the
next bold step against China after the
ban on TikTok and other Chinese appli-
cations. There was, however, no mention
of China.
As it turned out that the prime minister’s
concerns lay elsewhere. On his mind were the
poor and migrants and ensuring ration to
help them tide over these difficult times. To
meet the foodgrain requirement of 80 crores
poor, Modi announced the extension of the
Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Ann Yojana
(PMGKAY) till November. Announced by Fi-
nance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on
March 26, the scheme was only for April, May,
and June. Every member of the family will
be given 5 kg of wheat or an equal quantity
of rice and one kilo of grams over and above
their monthly entitlement. This will cost the
exchequer Rs 90,000 crore and if the expenses
incurred under the scheme in the last three
months are added the total amount will come
to Rs 1.5 lakh crore, Modi said.
The need to extend the scheme beyond
April was felt as with monsoon setting
in there was no work in any sector bar-
ring agriculture. The prime minister
said, “In other sectors, there is a slow-
down and with July begin a string of
festivals like Guru Purnima, Saawan,
Diwali and Chhathh puja. Festivities in-
crease expenses.”
On June 22, Congress president Sonia Gan-
dhi had written to Modi seeking an extension
of the scheme. “…In light of the current situ-
ation, food entitlements should be expanded
to address the hunger crisis facing some of
the most vulnerable people in the country,”
Sonia said.
Modi also spoke of one nation, one ra-
tion card especially for the migrant work-
ers so that they do not face problems
when moving from one place to another.
This too had been announced by the fi-
nance minister while giving details of the
second tranche of an economic package
in May. Originally, the scheme was moot-
ed by Nandan Nilekani in 2011. If the
prime minister made a mention of the
scheme on Tuesday then the scheme may
be formally launched soon.
Modi also cautioned that although COVID
cases are the lowest in the world, precautions
like social distancing and wearing of masks
still need to be strictly enforced for individu-
als’ well-being.
IN-DEPTH
4
o protect the interest of the
depositors and strengthen co-
operative banks by improving
governance and allowing co-
operative banks to raise mon-
ey by public issue, the govern-
ment of India has brought all
the cooperative banks in the
country under the regulatory
supervision of the RBI.
This major decision has been
promulgated through an ordi-
nance last week conferring all
the powers with RBI.
There are 1482 cooperative
banks and 58 State Coopera-
tive Banks having 8.6 crore
depositors doing transac-
tions of 4.84 lakh crore. Pri-
marily the main function of
central cooperative banks is
to provide loans to primary
cooperative societies. How-
ever, some loans are also pro-
vided to individuals and oth-
ers. These banks raise their
capital from their own funds,
borrowing, and other funds.
The banks are registered un-
der the States Cooperative
Societies Act and also cov-
ered under the regulatory
ambit of RBI under two laws
Banking Regulations Act
1949 and the Banking laws
(Cooperative Societies
Act)1955. The primary objec-
tive of the cooperative banks
is to provide credit to the
common man at moderate in-
terest rates eliminating the
dominance of private money
lenders and be a convenient
credit line to the cultivators
in rural India to strengthen
the agriculture sector and al-
lied activities. As on March-
end 2017 as per the RBI web-
site, there were 33 state co-
operative banks (Rs.1.2 lakh
crore deposits), 370 district
central cooperative banks
(3.30 lakh crore deposits) and
95595 Primary Agricultural
Cooperative Societies (with
1.15 lakh crore deposits).
Cooperative banks have been
in existence almost for the last
seven decades and to say that
they have not played any role
will be a misnomer though
they have not attained much
glory in their functioning. Co-
operative banks are currently
under the dual control of Reg-
istrar cooperative societies of
states as well as RBI. While the
role of cooperative societies
includes incorporation, regis-
tration, management, audit,
supervision of the board of di-
rectors, and liquidation, RBI
has been always responsible
for the regulatory functions.
Most cooperative banks are
controlled by powerful politi-
cians which explain their poor
supervision and the lack of po-
litical will to change them de-
spite regular losses suffered by
innocent depositors. Urban
Cooperative Banks (UCBs)
have reported nearly 1000 cases
of fraud with more than Rs.220
crore in the last five fiscals, ac-
cording to RBI responding to
an RTI besides the big frauds
having come out on banks like
PMG and some others.
A very positive and impor-
tant aspect of the amendment
in the Banking Regulation
Act will now enable mergers
and restructuring of the
banks in the public interest,
without having to order a
moratorium, which not only
limits the withdrawals by de-
positors but also disrupts the
bank’s lending operations.
We have seen last year in the
case of Punjab and Maha-
rashtra Cooperative Bank
where the RBI had to impose
a moratorium and the diffi-
culties and sufferings of the
depositors were so glaring.
Now onward the cooperative
banks will be allowed to raise
capital via the public issue
and private placement of eq-
uity or preference shares as
well as unsecured deben-
tures, with the approval of
the RBI. At present access to
capital for a cooperative bank
is limited. Coming under the
umbrella of RBI and its su-
pervision the sound and strict
regulation will also enhance
professionalism and improve
governance of these banks.
The changes brought into the
banking law do not affect the
existing powers of the state reg-
istrar of cooperative societies
under state laws nor do the
changes apply to primary farm
societies or cooperative socie-
ties,themainbusinessof which
is long term finance for agricul-
tural development. The chang-
es brought will not only raise
theconfidenceof thedepositors
but also provide strength to the
lenders since after the Punjab
and Maharashtra Cooperative
Bank (PMC) fraud last year has
completely shaken the confi-
dence of the depositors.
The Ordinance indeed is a
very positive move and
should lead to clear up and
reduce political control over
cooperative banks and pro-
mote professionalism and
good governing in the sag-
ging image of cooperative
banks in seeing that the mis-
ery of PMC bank depositors
gets removed besides
strengthening public confi-
dence. This writer having
been associated with a Cen-
tral Cooperative Bank feels
that RBI strong control
It is a much welcome deci-
sion though too late.
RBI Governor Shashikant
Das has always maintained
that he is working at a reso-
lution and we hope that the
new amendment usher in
with a silver lining for the
cooperative financial sector
in raising the credibility,
bringing professionalism,
getting more avenues for cap-
ital and close scrutiny and
supervision of RBI.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
COOPERATIVE BANKS
UNDER RBI UMBRELLA
T
Cooperative
banks have been
in existence
almost for the
last seven
decades and to
say that they
have not played
any role will be a
misnomer
though they have
not attained
much glory in
their functioning.
Cooperative
banks are
currently under
the dual control
of Registrar
cooperative
societies of states
as well as RBI.
While the role of
cooperative
societies includes
incorporation,
registration,
management,
audit,
supervision of
the board of
directors, and
liquidation, RBI
has been always
responsible for
the regulatory
functions
There are 1482
cooperative banks and
58 State Cooperative
Banks having 8.6 crore
depositors doing
transactions of 4.84 lakh
crore. Primarily the
main function of central
cooperative banks is to
provide loans to primary
cooperative societies
hen the COV-
ID-19 disease
began to spread
in Europe,
France and
Germany prohibited the
export of medical equip-
ment, while Italy asked in
vain for supplies of protec-
tive equipment under the
EU Civil Protection Mecha-
nism. Neither the Europe-
an Centre for Disease Pre-
vention and Control
(ECDC) nor the member
states of the EU themselves
were aware of the available
capacities of European
health systems. The COV-
ID-19 crisis has made the
lack of European coordina-
tion crystal clear.
Consequently, there are
many voices in favor of
strengthening the ECDC.
The EU agency supports
member states by collect-
ing, processing and analyz-
ing data on disease out-
breaks and through the
surveillance and early de-
tection of health risks.
Currently, the agency is
further developing its ca-
pacities for disease preven-
tion, which also fall under
its mandate.
Ideally, the ECDC would
support member states in
collecting reliable health
data while providing them
with knowledge about the
situations of their Euro-
pean neighbors. This
would show how much pro-
tective equipment and
health personnel are avail-
able in the respective mem-
ber states and how much is
presumably needed in case
of a disease outbreak.
The European Union as
well as the member states
would benefit from a better
overview of capacities and
of the burden of disease in
Europe. Acting in solidar-
ity would become possible
with a common database.
In addition to strengthen-
ing the EU internally, it
would also become more
capable of acting as a part-
ner worldwide. In coopera-
tion with the World Health
Organization’s (WHO) re-
gional office for Europe,
the ECDC could provide
reliable and standardized
data, thereby contributing
to the global containment
of pandemics.
IS THE CRITICISM
OF THE ECDC
JUSTIFIED?
This ideal situation is not
yet in sight. The ECDC is,
in particular, being criti-
cized for its lack of visi-
bility, support and misin-
terpretation. It is pre-
sumed, for instance, that
the early warning and re-
sponse system (EWRS)
operated by the ECDC did
not work properly, which
is why the risk of infec-
tion by COVID-19 was still
being assessed as “low to
moderate” at the end of
February.
That said, the agency
does not yet possess any
regulative powers and can-
not oblige the countries to
collect and transmit the
necessary data. Moreover,
the ECDC is neither staffed
nor funded sufficiently to
effectively coordinate and
harmonize health data.
Let’s put it in perspec-
tive. Whereas the US Cent-
ers for Disease Control
and Prevention employed
10,796 and had a budget of
$8.25 billion in 2018, the
ECDC only employed 271
and had around €58 mil-
lion ($65 million) at its dis-
posal in that same year.
The COVID-19 outbreak
has opened a long-known
wound. Member states
have not adequately pro-
vided the ECDC with the
skills and resources to ful-
fill its mandate. This must
change.
HARMONISE AND
EXPAND DATA
COLLECTION
In the future, the ECDC
should be able to ensure
that member states trans-
mit high-quality and reli-
able data to the agency. To
do this, it must first be
given an appropriate man-
date. The agency should
then focus on developing
monitoring mechanisms
to ensure reliable and con-
sistent data. It must be
able to transmit this data
to the WHO in a timely and
seamless manner. The dig-
ital infrastructure must,
therefore, be compatible
with WHO data collection
practices..
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.FAIROBSERVER.COM
The EU should collect health data centrally
W
Top
TWEET
Prakash Javadekar
@PrakashJavdekar
Under the world’s biggest food
security scheme, 80 crore poor
will get 25 kg each of grain -
wheat or rice - free in the coming
5 months. Every family will get
5 kg of pulses free in next 5
months. #ModiCARES4Poor
Ravi Shankar Prasad
@rsprasad
Apart from common citizens it
will also help poor, marginalized
and the migrant workers
during Corona Pandemic crisis.
PM’s appreciation of both the
farmers and tax payers is indeed
extraordinary. It carries a very
powerful message of Aatma
Nirbhar Bharat.
KEWAL
KHANNA
The writer is author of Indian
Economy Towards Globalisation
& Former Financial Advisor,
Indira Gandhi Canal Board

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INDIAAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020
EAM HOLDS DISCUSSIONS’
WITH FRENCH COUNTERPART
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar
held a wide-ranging discussion with his French
counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian during which the
two leaders discussed issues of contemporary
security and political importance.The discus-
sion between them came after India& France
exchanged views at foreign secretary-level on re-
gional& global issues of mutual interest.Jaishan-
kar, in a tweet, said, “Wide-ranging discussion
with French FM @JY_LeDrian. Covered issues of
contemporary security& political importance.”
5 TERRORISTS KILLED IN
ANANTNAG IN LAST 24 HRS
Srinagar: Five terrorists have been killed in the
last 24 hours in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag
district, police said.”Two hardcore terrorists were
killed in an encounter in Waghama area of Anant-
nag. In last 24 hrs, Anantnag Police and security
forces have neutralised five terrorists,” police
official Vijay Kumar said. “There was information
about three militants. One of them was com-
mander of JKIF, Jahid Dar who was successful
in sneaking out. The police, army and the CRPF
personnel have cordoned off the area,” he added.
ELDERLY MAN SHOT DEAD BY
UNIDENTIFIED ASSAILANTS IN UP
Bulandshahr: An elderly
man was shot dead by
unidentified assailants in
Uttar Pradesh’s Buland-
shahr district, police said
on Tuesday. The victim,
identified as Singh, was
killed on Monday night at
his automobile workshop
on Gulaothi-Sikandrabad
road, they said.The next
morning Singh’s son
found the body in a pit
near the workshop, police
said. A pair of blood-
stained slippers and a
cartridge was also found
near the body, they said.
Singh’s relative said he
did not have enmity with
anyone. Police and fo-
rensic teams reached the
spot and an investigation
is underway, Sikandrabad
Circle Officer Gopal
Choudhary said.
‘LALJI TANDON’S CONDITION
SERIOUS BUT UNDER CONTROL’
Lucknow: Uttarakhand
Governor Baby Rani Mau-
rya on Tuesday, visited
the Medanta Hospital
here to enquire about the
health of Madhya Pradesh
Governor Lalji Tandon, a
senior doctor said.“The
condition of Governor
of Madhya Pradesh Lalji
Tandon is stable. He
is still on critical care
ventilator support through
tracheostomy. A team
of medical experts is
working for best medical
treatment,” Medanta Hos-
pital’s Medical Director
Rakesh Kapoor said in the
medical bulletin issued
here.“Today (on Tuesday),
Governor of Uttarakhand
Baby Rani Maurya visited
Medanta, Lucknow to
know the well-being of
Lalji Tandon,” he added.
‘BJP SAYS MAKE IN INDIA BUT BUYS FROM CHINA’
RaGa hit out at PM Modi-led government claiming that imports from China have increased under NDA regime
New Delhi: Taking a
jibe at Prime Minister
Narendra Modi over his
ambitiousMakeinIndia
project, Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi on Tues-
day referred to data to
show a jump in imports
from China since 2014,
the year the BJP govern-
ment came to power.
This also comes a day
after the Centre banned
59 Chinese apps to send
a strong signal to the
neighbouring country
amidtheGalwanfaceoff.
Taking to Twitter,
Gandhi drew a compari-
son of imports made
during the UPA and BJP
regime. He tweeted:
“Facts don’t lie. BJP
says: Make in India. BJP
does: Buy from China.”
The graph shared by
the Congress leader
shows that between 2008
to 2014, the imports from
Chinaremainedbelow14
per cent, while it jumped
to 18 per cent during the
BJP-led NDA rule.
Citing the “emergent
nature of threats” from
mobile applications, in-
cluding popular ones of
Chinese origin such as
TikTok, ShareIt, UC-
Browser, Club Factory
and CamScanner, the
Centre Monday banned
59 apps based on infor-
mation that they were
engaged in activities
“prejudicial to sover-
eignty and integrity”,
defence, security and
public order.The move
is seen as a retaliatory
step amid the tense bor-
der standoff between
India and China that led
to 20 Indian Army per-
sonnel being killed on
June 15. State-owned
telecom companies
have since moved to
keep Chinese vendors
out of their network
upgradation tenders.
“The Ministry of Infor-
mation Technology has
received many com-
plaints from various
sources, including sev-
eral reports about mis-
use of some mobile
apps available on An-
droid and iOS platforms
for stealing and surrep-
titiously transmitting
users’ data in an unau-
thorised manner to
servers which have lo-
cations outside India,”
the government said in
a statement.This is a
matter of very deep and
immediate concern, it
said. —Agencies
New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday slammed
the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government over the arrest of party’s minority cell
chairman Shahnawaz Alam and said the government is using police as a ‘tool
of oppression.’ In a series of tweets, she said that police action is repressive
and undemocratic. “Congress leaders and activists are
committed to raising their voice on public issues. The BJP
government can stop other parties from raising their voice,
not our party, by making UP police a tool of oppression...
Look at how the UP Police picked up the chairman of
our minority cell in the dark of night,” she tweeted. The
senior Congress leader also posted a video of the incident
along with the tweet.”First, our state president was kept
in jail for four weeks on fake charges. This police action is
repressive and undemocratic. Congress workers are not afraid of police sticks
and fake cases,” she said.UP Congress Minority cell chief, Shahnawaz Alam
was arrested by the police late on Monday in connection with anti-CAA protest
on December 19, 2019.
New Delhi: Union I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar hailed Modi government’’s
decision to ban 59 Chinese applications, connecting the move to ‘Atmanirbhar
Bharat.’ Taking to social media, Javadekar remarked, “The whole country has
appreciated decision of @narendramodi govt to ban 59 Chinese Apps. This
will give fillip to Indian Startups; they will come up with better versions very
soon. This is a right step towards #AtmaNirbharBharat.” Modi govt banned
59 Chinese apps including TikTok, WeChat & UC Browser and Xiaomi’’s
Mi Community over national security concerns amid strained India-China
relations after death of 20 Indian soldiers in Galwan Valley clash with
Chinese PLA troops in eastern Ladakh. Ministry of Electronics & Information
Technology has issued a list of these apps that are now banned in country.
UP GOVERNMENT USING POLICE AS ‘TOOL OF
OPPRESSION,’ SAYS PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA
JAVADEKAR HAILS MODI’S DECISION ON APP BAN
Kochi: The Kerala Uni-
versity on Tuesday, in-
formed the Kerala High
Courtthatithastakena
decision to conduct ad-
ditional examinations
for candidates who can-
not appear for the ex-
aminations scheduled
from July 1 due to COV-
ID-19 pandemic.
“Such exams will be
treated as special ex-
aminations and no ad-
ditional fee will be col-
lected for the same.
Also, the special exami-
nation will not be treat-
ed as a supplementary
examination and will
have the legal status of
an ordinary examina-
tion,” the Kerala Uni-
versity submitted. In
the light of such sub-
missions,asinglebench
of Justice CS Dias
turned down the pleas
seeking directions to
stay the Kerala Univer-
sity exams scheduled to
be held from July 1.
The court also di-
rected the V-C of var-
sity to take a decision
on the representations
filed by the petitioners.
The court was consid-
ering two writ peti-
tions - one filed by 23
PG students and the
other filed by a law
student. —ANI
New Delhi: India needs
to scale up use of its
aviation assets such as
grounded aircraft and
less-used airports for
cargo handling so that
logistics costs decline
and export of resources
such as fish, vegetables
and fruits become via-
ble, transport minister
Nitin Gadkari said.
In an online interac-
tion with members of
Domestic Air Cargo
Agents Association of
India. “The government
willsupportyourefforts.
The point is we need to
getmaximumworkdone
by our assets and elicit
maximumutilitytokeep
costs low,” the minister
said, adding that the
country needs to bring
down its logistic cost
from the currently esti-
mated 13%.
In India the cost is
much higher than na-
tions such as China and
the US, he added.
Vaishali
New Delhi: After Con-
gress interim chief So-
nia Gandhi demanded a
rollback of fuel price
hike and Rahul Gandhi
alleged that the Centre
is ‘profiteering,’ Union
Petroleum and Natural
Gas Minister, Dhar-
mendra Pradhan hit
back at Congress, say-
ing the collected money
was used for welfare
measures instead of
personal benefit as al-
legedly prevalent dur-
ing the Congress era.
Pradhan said, “I once
again reiterate to Mad-
am Sonia Gandhiji that
Modiji has transferred
more than Rs 65,000
crore to 42 crore people
in the last 3 months.”
Making a strong allega-
tion against Congress,
the Minister remarked,
“Unlike Congress’ lega-
cy of transferring mon-
ey into the accounts of
middlemen, ‘National
Daamad,’ ‘The Family’
and Rajiv Gandhi Foun-
dation, Modiji’s DBT is
about putting money in
the hands of the poor,
farmers, migrant work-
force and women.”
He also reiterated
what BJP President J P
Nadda has been saying
in many of his virtual
rallies, asking what ex-
plains Congress-ruled
states also hiking tax on
fuel, if Congress is
against the idea.
The Minister’s coun-
ter comes after Sonia &
Rahul upped the ante
over the issue of fuel
price hike. Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
has asked government
to stop ‘profiteering’
from the petrol and die-
sel prices. His mother
and Congress interim
President Sonia Gandhi
said, “I along with Con-
gress workers and citi-
zens, demand that Gov-
ernment should take
back the hike in prices
of diesel and petrol in
these tough times.”
‘Addl exams for those who
can’t appear in July schedule’
‘Need to scale up aviation
assets to lower logistics cost’
Fuel price money goes to poor,
not middlemen, says Pradhan
IN THE COURTYARD
Rahul Gandhi
@RahulGandhi
Facts don’t lie.
BJP says: Make
in India. BJP
does: Buy from
China.
Chennai/New Delhi: Security footage has
been erased at the Sathankulam police sta-
tion in Tamil Nadu where a man and his son
were detained before they died of excessive
wounds, allegedly from beatings, an inquiry
report submitted to the Madras HC reveals.
The court was told that there is no CCTV
footage of police station available from
June 19, the day Jeyaraj and his son Beniks
were arrested for keeping their mobile
phone shop in Santhankulam, Tuticorin,
open beyond permitted hours during the
lockdown. The report submitted also re-
veals that cops being probed tried their best
to block investigations and one constable
“jumped over a wall and escaped” when
asked to hand over his stick as evidence.
No CCTV footage available
in TN custody deaths: Court
The graph shared by Rahul Gandhi shows that imports from China jumped to 18% during NDA rule.
The whole coun-
try knows that
China has
snatched India’s
land. We all know
the Chinese are at
four places in
Ladakh. Please
tell the country
how you will evict
the Chinese troops
and when?
—Rahul Gandhi,
Congress Leader
Mamata
announces
free ration till
July 2021
New Delhi: Soon after
PM Narendra Modi ex-
tended the Pradhan
Mantri Gareeb Kalyan
Ann Yojana (PMGKAY)
till November-end, West
Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee y an-
nounced that the her
government will pro-
vide free ration to ben-
eficiaries till June next
year. “The Centre’s ra-
tion policy should be to
provide ration to each
and every one of the 130
crore population of the
country,” she said.
The scheme, started
to distribute ration
among poor after lock-
down was announced,
was to end on Tuesday .
The scheme involves
providing additional 5
kg foodgrain free to 80
cr beneficiaries. Initial-
ly, it was for three
months, April, May &
June only. Notably,
many state CMs and
Congress president So-
nia Gandhi had written
to the PM to extend it.
HC extends
time for EIA
2020 ideas
Film on girl,
who cycled
1,200 km
New Delhi: Delhi HC
indicated that it might
extend the time grant-
ed to the general public
to give their sugges-
tions for Draft Envi-
ronmental Impact As-
sessment (EIA) 2020. A
bench of CJ DN Patel
& Justice Prateek Ja-
lan, while partly allow-
ing a PIL seeking ex-
tension of time for
public to submit sug-
gestions, said that a
detailed order will be
passed later on. —ANI
New Delhi: The story
of Jyoti Kumari Pas-
wan, who bought a sec-
ond-hand cycle with her
entire family savings
and cycled from Hary-
ana’s Gurgaon to her
home in Bihar to escape
lockdown distress, with
her injured father rid-
ing pillion, will soon be
immortalised on screen
and is to set go on the
floors from August.

INDIAAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020
POST OF KAVITHA PADMANABHAN
UPGRADED AS DIRECTOR, PMO
The post of Kavitha Padmanabhan has been
upgraded as Director in the Prime Minister’s
Office. She is a 2006 batch IAS officer of Assam-
Meghalaya cadre.
POST OF ABHISHEK SHUKLA
UPGRADED AS DIRECTOR, PMO
The post of Abhishek Shukla has been upgraded
as Director in the Prime Minister’s Office. He is a
2006 batch IFS officer.
RAVI SHANKAR APPOINTED
JOINT SECRETARY & SOCIAL
SECRETARY TO PRESIDENT
Ravi Shankar, Joint Secretary (MER), Ministry
of External Affairs, has been appointed as Joint
Secretary-cum-Social Secretary to the President.
He is a 1995 batch IFS officer.
VENUGOPAL RE-APPOINTED
ATTORNEY GENERAL
KK Venugopal has been reappointed as the At-
torney General for India for another one year.
TUSHAR MEHTA IS SOLICITOR
GENERAL FOR ANOTHER THREE YEARS
Senior Advocate Tushar Mehta has been appointed
Solicitor General of India for another three years.
RAJU IS NEW ASG SC
Senior counsel Suryaprakash V Raju, practising Gu-
jarat lawyer, has been appointed Additional Solicitor
General (ASG) of India of the Supreme Court.
SHRIKANT MADHAV TO TAKE OVER
AS CHAIRMAN, IOCL ON JULY 1
Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, Director (Refineries),
IOCL, will be taking over the charge as Chairman,
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) on July 1,
2020. He will succeed present incumbent Sanjiv
Singh retiring in June, 2020.
K SANJAYAN APPOINTED AS
DEPUTY SECRETARY, UPSC
Upon return from central deputation, K Sanjayan
has been appointed as Deputy Secretary, UPSC.
He is a CSS officer.
YP DHEWAL APPOINTED AS
DEPUTY SECRETARY, COMMERCE
After return from leave, Y P Dhewal has been
appointed as Deputy Secretary, Commerce. He is
a CSS officer.
PUSHP LATA BHARDWAJ APPOINTED
SC’S VACATION OFFICER FOR SEPT
2020
Pushp Lata Bhardwaj, Deputy Registrar in the
Supreme Court, has been appointed as Vaca-
tion Officer in the Supreme Court for month of
September 2020.
ANIL C SINGH RE-APPOINTED
ASG FOR BOMBAY HC
Anil C Singh has been re-appointed as Additional
Solicitor General for Bombay High Court for a
period of three years w.e.f July 1, 2020.
5 ASGS GET FRESH TENURE
IN SUPREME COURT
Additional Solicitor Generals in the Supreme
Court Vikramjit Banerjee, Aman Lekhi Madhavi
Godaria Diwan, KM Nataraj and Sanjay Jain have
been re-appointed for a period of three years
w.e.f July 1, 2020.
SATYA PAL JAIN RE-APPOINTED
ASG FOR P&H HC
Satya Pal Jain has been re-appointed as Additional
Solicitor General for Punjab and Haryana High
Court for a period of three years w.e.f July 1, 2020.
5 SR ADVOCATES APPOINTED
ASG IN SUPREME COURT
Senior advocates Balbir Singh, Suryaprakash
V Raju, Rupinder Singh Suri, N Venkataraman,
Jayant K Sud and Ashwariya K Bhati have been
appointed as Additional Solicitor General for
Supreme Court for a period of three years.
YJ DASTOOR APPOINTED
ASG IN CALCUTTA HC
Senior Advocate Yezdezard Jehangir Dastoor has
been appointed as Additional Advocate General
for Calcutta High Court for a period of three years.
CHETAN SHARMA APPOINTED
ASG FOR DELHI HC
Senior Advocate Chetan Sharma has been ap-
pointed as Additional Advocate General for Delhi
High Court for a period of three years.
POWERGallery
Wooing Bihar?...
“The scheme will pro-
vide80crorepeoplewith
free grains, will now be
applicable in July, Au-
gust, September, Octo-
ber and November too.
Thegovernment,during
these five months, will
give each family mem-
ber 5-kilogram wheat or
5 kilogram rice free of
cost, apart from this
each family will get free
one kg of chana (chick
peas) too every month,”
he added.
The Prime Minister
further said that the ex-
tension of this scheme
will require an addi-
tional expense of Rs 90
thousand crore.
“If we add the ex-
penses incurred during
the past three months
then it totals to around
Rs 1.5 lakh crore,” he
further said.
The scheme was an-
nouncedbytheCentreas
part of the first rescue
package during the
COVID-19pandemic.The
scheme ends on June 30.
The scheme, an-
nounced for a three
month period, covered
80 crore ration card-
holders. Each house-
hold was provided 5 kg
of food grains (rice or
wheat) and 1 kg of puls-
es (only channa) free of
cost. Already, 21 states
-- both BJP-ruled and
Opposition-led govern-
ments -- had appealed to
the Centre to extend the
scheme for another
three months till Sep-
tember. —ANI
Shayar RaGa...
at the Prime Minister
andsaidthathe“walked
around the Panda in the
room” and “did not talk
about anything useful”.
“Seventeen minutes
of walking carefully
around the Panda in the
room.. Kyon PM Ji- abh
kuch kaam ki baat ho
jaaye?,” she tweeted.
Appain! China...
AseniorofficialattheIT
Ministry said the prime
reason to block the apps
under section 69 A of In-
formation Technology
Act is to stop the viola-
tion and threat to the
security of the state and
public order and to plug
the data leaks.
“Almost all of them
have some preferential
Chineseinterest.Feware
from countries like Sin-
gapore. However, the ma-
jorityhaveparentcompa-
nies which are Chinese,”
the official said.
This move will safe-
guard the interests of
crores of Indian mobile
and internet users. This
decision is a targeted
movetoensurethesafety
and sovereignty of Indi-
an cyberspace, Ministry
of Information Technol-
ogy said. —ANI
Lethargy in...
If they get permission,
these laboratories can
add to the number of
tests conducted,” said a
state health department
official. The ICMR
granted permission to a
total of 53 laboratories
in the state to conduct
COVID-19testing.Outof
these, 34 were govern-
ment-run and 19 were
privately-owned ones.
One of the private labs,
Gujarat Pathology Lab
and Diagnostic Centre
in Ahmedabad, was ap-
proved to conduct the
test in May, but received
the official intimation
on June 29. “We have got
a letter from the state
government on Monday
and will start conduct-
ing tests for COVID-19
today,” a laboratory
management official
said on Tuesday.
The Leader of the Op-
position in the State As-
sembly, Paresh Dhanani
said, “The BJP govern-
ment has taken charge
of COVID-19 in Delhi
just to harass the non-
BJP government, while
their home pitch is wit-
nessing a bumper rise
in the cases daily. The
state government is in-
tentionally infecting
people by not increas-
ing the number of tests,
and by not making them
available for free and at
reasonable rates.”
The state health de-
partment official added,
“Neither slashing test
rates nor increasing the
number of tests was ini-
tiated by the state gov-
ernment. There has ei-
ther been Central gov-
ernment interference
or political pressure.
The state health officers
and the ruling party
have not taken any suo
motu action. Due to this
lethargic attitude, many
people have been infect-
ed and many lives have
been lost.”
Nepal ruling...
and was blaming India
to divert attention, ac-
cordingtoareportinthe
website of newspaper
The Himalayan Times.
PM Oli had last week
accused New Delhi of
orchestrating efforts to
topple him in an effort
to put the rival faction
led by co-chairman
Pushpa Kamal Dahal
on a back foot. Oli,
speaking at an event on
Sunday, had claimed
that his rivals were try-
ing to pull the rug from
under his feet because
he had brought out a
new political map that
had upset Nepal’s giant
neighbour. —ANI
FROM PG 1
NEED TO BE ALERT
AGAINST COVID-19: MODI
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Tuesday, said that negli-
gence in personal and
social behaviour has
been increasing after
‘Unlock 1’ on June 1 and
noted that there is need
to be alert and follow
norms as was done dur-
ing the lockdown to pre-
vent the spread of coro-
navirus.
In address to the na-
tion, the Prime Minis-
ter also asked people to
be careful against
cough and cold in the
rainy season. "We are
entering into Unlock 2.
We are also entering
into season where cold,
cough, fever cases in-
crease. I request citi-
zens to take care of
themselves. It is true
that if we look at the
death rate due to coro-
navirus, then India is in
a better position than
many countries of the
world. Timely lock-
down and other deci-
sions have saved the
lives of millions of peo-
ple in India," he said.
"Since Unlock 1, neg-
ligence in personal and
social behavior is also
increasing. At first, we
were very cautious
about the mask, about
two-yard distancing,
washing hands several
times a day for 20 sec-
onds. During lockdown,
rules were followed se-
riously. Now the gov-
ernments, local bodies
and citizens need to
show alertness in the
same manner," he said.
The Ministry of
Home Affairs (MHA) on
Monday, issued new
guidelines for Unlock 2
which will come into
force from July 1. The
new norms have ex-
tended the process of
phased re-opening of
activities including the
calibrated expansion of
domestic flights and
passenger trains. —ANI
CORONA UPDATE53 BSF
PERSONNEL
TEST POSITIVE
New Delhi: 53 more
Border Security Force
(BSF) personnel
have tested positive
for COVID-19 in the
last 24 hours, as per
information provided
by the BSF. An official
statement by the BSF
informed that a total
of 1,018 coronavirus
cases have been
reported so far
amongst its person-
nel. This includes 345
active cases and 659
recoveries. While four
have succumbed to
the infection.
CONTAINMENT
ZONES IN
MUMBAI @ 750
Mumbai: The total
number of COVID-19
containment zones in
Mumbai is presently
at 750, said Brihan-
mumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC)
on Tuesday. As per
the BMC, there are
10,88,032 households
in these containment
zones with a popula-
tion of 47,13,779 and
25,931 total COVID-19
cases. Meanwhile, 67
more Maharashtra
Police personnel have
tested positive for
COVID-19 in the last
24 hours, taking the
total number of cases
to 4,810 and death toll
to 59 in the force.
‘DEATH RATE
IN TELANGANA
AT 1.7%’
Hyderabad: state
Health Minister Eatala
Rajendra said,”In our
state, only 247 have
died due to corona-
virus. 1.7 per cent is
the rate of death in
Telangana, while it
is 3 per cent in the
country,” the minister
said while address-
ing a press confer-
ence on Monday.
He said that 10,666
positive cases have
been reported so far
including 7,250 ac-
tive cases in Greater
Hyderabad Municipal
Corporation (GHMC)
limits.”
PM LAYS DOWN 4 PRINCIPLES @ VACCINE REVIEW MEET
New Delhi: PM Modi
chaired a high-level
meeting to review the
preparations being un-
dertaken for vaccination
against Covid-19 as and
when a vaccine is avail-
able. directed officials to
evaluate various tech-
nology tools to ensure
efficient and timely vac-
cination in due course
of time. He also directed
that detailed planning
should be undertaken
immediately. The PM
outlined four guiding
principles that would
form the foundation of
this national effort. First,
that vulnerable groups
should be identified
and prioritized for early
vaccination, for example
doctors, nurses, health-
care workers, non-
medical frontline corona
warriors, and vulnerable
people among general
population; second, that
vaccination of “anyone,
anywhere” should take
place, ie without impo-
sition of any domicile
related restrictions for
getting the vaccine;
third, that vaccination
must be affordable and
universal - no person
should be left behind;
and fourth, that entire
process from produc-
tion to vaccination
should be monitored
and supported in real
time with the use of
technology.
‘Recovery rate
in India inches
closer to 60%’
New Delhi: The recov-
ery rate among patients
further has improved to
59.07% even as number
of cases continues to
rise, govt said .The total
number of confirmed
coronavirus cases in In-
dia rose to 5,66,840 on
Tuesday with the death
toll jumping to 16,893.
This shows that the fa-
tality rate among COV-
ID-19 patients in India
is 2.98%.While there
are 2,15,125 active cases,
all under active medical
supervision, 3,34,821 pa-
tients have been cured
and discharged. As on
date, there are 1,19,696
more recovered pa-
tients than COVID-19
active cases, the
MoHFW said. During
the last 24 hours, a total
of 13,099 COVID-19 pa-
tients have been cured,
it said. —ANI
With 18,522 new cases, India’s tally over 5.66L
New Delhi: India’s tally
of the coronavirus dis-
ease mounted to 566,840
and death toll stood at
16,893 on Tuesday, a day
after the Centre issued
guidelines for Unlock 2,
Union Health Ministry
data showed.There were
18,522 new infections
and 418 fatalities in the
last 24 hours, according
to the Covid-19 dash-
board of the health min-
istry.The number of
Covid-19 patients cured
of the respiratory dis-
ease continued to be
more than active cases
as 13,099 people were
sent home between
Monday and Tuesday
morning. There were
334,821 discharges push-
ing the recovery rate to
59%.According to the
Health Ministry, there
are 215,125 active cases
of the coronavirus dis-
ease. —ANI
A child asks for hand sanitizer as Healthcare workers checking the
residents at colony in the slum area for COVID-19. —PHOTO BY ANI
1.5 lakh ASHAs in UP tracked
over 30.43L migrant returnees
New Delhi: Amid COV-
ID-19 pandemic, ASHA
workers have played a
critical role in support-
ing UP government in
managing the coronavi-
rus crisis. With the
surge in COVID-19 cas-
es in country and influx
of migrant population
from hotspot areas, one
of the major challenges
in UP was to cater to
healthcare needs of re-
turnees and arrest the
spread in its rural popu-
lation. As per Health
Ministry, UP’s 1.5 lakh
ASHAs have tracked
over nearly 30.43 lakh
migrant returnees in
two phases. —ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairing the high-level meeting to review
the planning and preparations for vaccination against Covid-19, through
video conferencing, in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI PHOTO

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020
s with so much
else, interna-
tional develop-
ment has been
severely af-
fected by the
coronavirus
p a n d e m i c .
How might we use these
lessons to reshape the sec-
tor, rather than returning
to the status quo?
For starters, the crisis
has reminded us that na-
ture still reigns supreme,
and it should spur us to
step up efforts to mitigate
and adapt to other system-
ic threats, particularly cli-
mate change, which will
continue to be the biggest
threat to development. Ac-
cording to the Climate Im-
pact Lab, global warming
could lead to as many as
1.5 million excess deaths
per year in India by 2100,
rivaling the toll of all in-
fectious diseases com-
bined. In addition to apply-
ing our current scientific
knowledge to existing
problems – from improv-
ing environmental audit-
ing to deploying flood-re-
sistant varieties of rice –
we need to accelerate in-
novations that reduce
carbon dioxide emissions
and pollution, help com-
munities adapt to climate
change, and provide ac-
cess to clean energy. And,
most important, we must
pilot and evaluate new ini-
tiatives, and scale those
with the biggest impact.
The pandemic has also
taught us that public
health is about more than
physical illnesses. For
many people – particular-
ly in developing countries
– staying home simply
isn’t a safe option. Domes-
tic violence, including
both physical and emo-
tional abuse, is expected to
rise sharply as a result of
lockdowns. Extended peri-
ods of isolation could ex-
acerbate anxiety, depres-
sion, and other related
mental health conditions.
And those battling addic-
tions are struggling to get
the support they need.
Rather than hoping these
problems will simply dis-
appear whenever the lock-
downs are lifted (they
won’t),weshouldacknowl-
edge that mental health
has long been a neglected
issue in policy debates.
Yet another lesson from
the crisis is that there can
be no substitute for gov-
ernment. Over the past
decade, many internation-
al funders and develop-
ment organizations have
tried to bypass govern-
ments, owing to concerns
about corruption or red
tape. But the pandemic has
made clear that govern-
ments are the leading ac-
tors when it comes to con-
taininginfectiousdiseases,
administering develop-
ment policies, providing
social protection to the un-
employed, and alleviating
poverty. That is why we at
MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel
Poverty Action Lab (J-
PAL) have focused on
building long-term part-
nerships with govern-
ments and are now sup-
porting them in scaling up
evidence-based policies.
Governments also need
to be able to transfer cash
to vulnerable citizens
quickly. While the United
States and other advanced
economies have managed
to transfer emergency
funds directly to their citi-
zens, many other coun-
tries that have introduced
household stimulus
checks, cash transfers, or
other social protections
have failed to deliver them
to those who need support
the most. Clearly, these
countries need to rethink
how they identify the
poorest individuals, so
that they can provide
them with digital forms of
identity and other requi-
sites of financial inclu-
sion. In the future, these
will be the key compo-
nents of the social safety
net for countries at all
stages of development.
Another critical issue is
education.Althoughlearn-
ing is possible outside of
physical schools, the pan-
demic is sure to set back
education for many chil-
dren. Helping them keep
up is thus an urgent prior-
ity. With schools closed, the
obvious response is to pur-
sue Internet-based teach-
ing. Research shows that
software allowing students
to move at their own pace
can be effective.
But remote learning ob-
viously isn’t an option for
students who lack Internet
access, have special needs,
or share one computer or
phone among many family
members. These children’s
educations have effectively
been put on hold during
the pandemic, as was al-
ready the case for many of
the world’s refugees, over
half of whom are children.
It will be crucial to help
these children catch up
when the time comes.
Here, research shows that
intensive, repeated “learn-
ing camps” in which stu-
dents are grouped at their
current learning level,
rather than by age or
grade, can be immensely
helpful.
From Brazil’s favelas
and India’s migrant cara-
vans to France’s banlieues
and communities of color
intheUS,itisthepoorwho
have borne the brunt of
COVID-19’s health, eco-
nomic, and psychological
costs. But reaching those
most in need of useful in-
formation is a major chal-
lenge, because convention-
al media channels can go
only so far, and misinfor-
mation is rife on social me-
dia. Thus, researchers are
testing whether recruiting
well-connectedindividuals
or “influencers” would en-
sure that messages are dis-
seminated reliably
throughpre-existingsocial
networks.
In the meantime, the
pandemic has pushed poli-
cymakers everywhere to
experiment with different
strategies for encouraging
social distancing, hand
washing, and other infec-
tion-prevention measures.
They could consider mak-
ing some of the existing
cash transfers conditional
on healthy behavior, as re-
search has found this to be
aneffectivewaytomitigate
the spread of the virus and
improve overall health.
This is another strategy
that need not be limited to
the current crisis. For ex-
ample, in non-pandemic
times, receiving cash dis-
bursements could depend
on whether one’s children
have been vaccinated or
had an annual check-up.
Policies that encourage
healthier lifestyles have
become increasingly ur-
gent, given the rising
threat from largely pre-
ventable non-communica-
ble diseases, which al-
ready kill more than 40
million people worldwide
each year.
In the absence of in-per-
son data collection during
the lockdown, many social
science researchers have
shifted to using adminis-
trative data. The data that
governments and non-gov-
ernmental organizations
already collect could be
enormously useful in test-
ing the efficacy of new pro-
grams. J-PAL’s Innova-
tions in Data and Experi-
ments for Action (IDEA)
Initiative, for example, is
building partnerships to
help governments improve
their use of administrative
data. The crisis has also
forced many research pro-
jectstocollectdatathrough
phone surveys. Again, les-
sons learned from this
work will inform research
thatusesphonesurveysfor
data collection well into
the future, enabling gov-
ernments and NGOs to
gather much more accu-
rate information in real
time from the communi-
ties they serve.
The COVID-19 pandemic
is the largest synchronized
shock the world has experi-
enced in generations. But
this crisis will not be the
last of its kind. We urgent-
ly need to learn as much as
we can from the current
experience and adapt in-
ternational development
practices and research ac-
cordingly. We must not al-
low ourselves to be caught
off-guard again.
LEARNING
FROM THE
LOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWNLOCKDOWN
A
about corruption or red
tape. But the pandemic has
made clear that govern-
ments are the leading ac-
tors when it comes to con-
taininginfectiousdiseases,
administering develop-
ment policies, providing
social protection to the un-
employed, and alleviating
poverty. That is why we at
MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel
Poverty Action Lab (J-
PAL) have focused on
building long-term part-
nerships with govern-
ments and are now sup-
porting them in scaling up
evidence-based policies.
Governments also need
to be able to transfer cash
to vulnerable citizens
quickly. While the United
States and other advanced
countries need to rethink
how they identify the
poorest individuals, so
that they can provide
them with digital forms of
identity and other requi-
sites of financial inclu-
sion. In the future, these
will be the key compo-
nents of the social safety
net for countries at all
stages of development.
Another critical issue is
education.Althoughlearn-
ing is possible outside of
physical schools, the pan-
demic is sure to set back
education for many chil-
dren. Helping them keep
up is thus an urgent prior-
ity. With schools closed, the
obvious response is to pur-
sue Internet-based teach-
ing. Research shows that
intheUS,itisthepoorwho
have borne the brunt of
COVID-19’s health, eco-
nomic, and psychological
costs. But reaching those
most in need of useful in-
formation is a major chal-
lenge, because convention-
al media channels can go
only so far, and misinfor-
mation is rife on social me-
dia. Thus, researchers are
testing whether recruiting
well-connectedindividuals
or “influencers” would en-
sure that messages are dis-
seminated reliably
throughpre-existingsocial
networks.
In the meantime, the
pandemic has pushed poli-
cymakers everywhere to
experiment with different
strategies for encouraging
social distancing, hand
washing, and other infec-
tion-prevention measures.
SOURCE: PROJECT SYNDICATE CONCEPT: DIVYA HEMNANI DESIGN: SITARAM SHARMA
The COVID-19 pandemic is
the largest synchronised
shock the world has
experienced in generations.
But this crisis will not be
the last of its kind. We
urgently need to learn as
much as we can from the
current experience and
adapt international
development practices and
research accordingly

It is good to plan and execute
every action with precision but if
all your thoughts and actions are
not fueled by passion, it will have little
meaning in the long run.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
Shishir Awasthi
Bhuj (Kutch): Ajrakh-
pur, a tiny village near
Bhuj in Kutch, is a
known name on the
maps of designers, de-
sign schools and artists
across the world. The
village derives its name
from the art of Ajrakh
— block printing using
natural dyes derived
from indigo, henna, tur-
meric, pomegranate,
iron and mud.
The Covid-induced
lockdown seemed to
have sounded the
death knell of the ar-
tisans here during the
last four months, till
they discovered the ge-
nius of the Internet.
Several shopping
portals and traders
used to approach Sufi-
yan Khatri, a ninth-gen-
eration Ajrakh crafts-
man and resident of
Ajrakhpur, to put up his
products online but he
was happy the way he
was. He used to tell
them that neither he
nor did the other arti-
sans feel the need.
Butnow,withhardly
anyone reaching Ajra-
khpur, the artisans
here are taking to the
internet. “This is the
only way to survive, it
seems,” says Khatri.
This now holds true
not only for the craft-
speople of Ajrakhpur,
but also for thousands
of other artisans in Gu-
jarat’s handicraft hub,
Kutch, who are into
weaving, embroidery,
bell metal craft, leather
workandtherareRogan
art, among several such.
Hitherto happy in
their rural milieu, these
artisans are now adapt-
ing to the changing
times by creating social
media accounts on Fa-
cebook and Instagram,
launching their own
websites, organising
and participating in on-
line exhibitions, and ap-
proaching clients
through these new me-
diums. And, their ef-
forts are bearing fruits
as sales are picking up.
Sufiyanhascreatedan
account on Etsy, an on-
lineshoppingportal,spe-
cialising in handicrafts.
Incidentally, he received
his first online order on
March 25, the first day of
the nationwide lock-
down, from a client in It-
aly, which once was
amongtheworstCorona-
affected countries. By
now, he has also received
orders from the UK and
the US, all of which have
been shipped.
When internet married Kutchi artisans to the market
RAY OF HOPE
 Traditional artisans of Gujarat’s
handicrafts hit by lockdown
With their businesses hit by lockdown, Kutchi artisans are going online to sell their wares.
BANKING
ON FAITH!
People lighted oil lamps inside a
mosque during a special prayer
meeting for the victims of the
dreaded coronavirus in Ahmedabad
on Tuesday, even as cases continue
to rise while the State enters into
the Unlock2.0 phase.
—PHOTOS BY NANDAN DAVE
Darshan Desai
Surat : With Surat
emerging as the new co-
rona hotspot in Gujarat
during Unlock1.0 and
the diamond industry
taking the major blame
for it by giving a go-by to
all social distancing and
related norms, the Su-
rat Municipal Corpora-
tion has ordered shut
many diamond polish-
ing units.
What came as a
shocker on the very
first day of the clo-
sure, however, was
that the diamond mar-
ket in Mahidharpura
was not only open, but
crowds of diamond
traders also thronged
there. Later the mar-
ket was forced to close
by the police within
minutes.
This, despite the fact
that the SMC had de-
claredHiraBazarof Ma-
hidharpura as a new
cluster containment
zone covering 1,262
houses. Simultaneously,
just ahead of Unlock
PhaseII,beginningfrom
July 1, Surat Municipal
Commissioner Banch-
hanidhi Pani has also
issued a notification
banning all street food
vendinginthecity’scon-
tainment clusters, in-
cluding Varachha, Sart-
hana and Katargam ar-
eas.
Surat, on Monday,
recorded the highest
single day spike of 217
fresh COVID-19 cases.
Since enforcement of
‘Unlock 1’, the num-
ber of infected per-
sons in the diamond
city has been climbing
at a steep rate. It had
the second highest
tally of coronavirus
cases in Gujarat with
4,630 positive cases
and 155 deaths, as on
Monday night.
The major areas
where the maximum
positive cases have been
found are Varachha,
Sarthana, and Katar-
gam which have been
marked as containment
clusters by the health
authorities. These areas
are dominated mostly
by the diamond polish-
ing businesses.
A late-night notifi-
cation by the SMC
about the diamond
units stated, “Despite
various guidelines is-
sued by the central
and state govern-
ments regarding COV-
ID-19, it has been ob-
served that in some of
Surat’s diamond
units, social distanc-
ing is not being main-
tained and mandatory
wearing of masks is
being flouted, result-
ing in the workers
and staff of such dia-
mond units and their
families getting in-
fected. This has re-
sulted in increasing
the virus outbreak in
Surat.”
The Commissioner
declared an area in the
North zone Katargam
as a containment clus-
ter and prohibited all
the diamond units in-
side the cluster to func-
tion for a week. Eleven
areas in Katargam have
been identified and de-
clared as clusters.
In another notifica-
tion, the SMC banned
all the street food ven-
dors in the East zone
A (Varachha), New
East zone (Sarthana)
and North zone (Ka-
targam) and all the
areas declared as con-
tainment clusters.
With a surge of Corona cases during Unlock1.0 in Surat, the State Govt is taking no chances this time
The Hira Bazar in Surat's Mahidharpura was forced to close down on Tuesday after diamond units
defied social distancing norms.
SHEEN LOST?
IIT-Gandhinagar's AI-
based tool to detect corona
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: When
every single new finding
contributes to the un-
ending fight against the
dreaded corona virus,
researchersattheIndian
Institute of Technology
Gandhinagar (IITGN)
havedevelopedanArtifi-
cial Intelligence (AI)-
based deep learning tool
for detection of COV-
ID-19 from chest X-ray
images. This online tool
indicatestheprobability
if a person is infected
with COVID-19, which
can be used for quick
preliminary diagnosis
before the medical test.
The tool has been de-
veloped by Kushpal Sin-
gh Yadav, an M.Tech stu-
dent of Computer Sci-
ence & Engineering, un-
der the guidance of Prof
Krishna Prasad Mi-
yapuram, Associate Pro-
fessor of Cognitive Sci-
ence and Computer Sci-
ence. The system is now
live as a web-interface
on http://covidxray.iit-
gn.ac.in/. The format of
any test image of a new
person will be automati-
cally transformed and
diagnosed using the AI
tool. The result is availa-
ble within a few seconds.
Prof KrishnaPrasad
Miyapuram and Kush-
pal Singh Yadav said,
“Giventhelimitedtest-
ing facilities for COV-
ID19, there is a rush to
develop AI tools for
quick analysis using x-
rays. Developing a reli-
able tool requires the
combination of right
algorithms and data.
This is where our tool
would prove useful,
that can be trained for
diagnostic purposes
and made available for
wider use.”
The researchers
pooled the data of X-
ray images of COV-
ID-19 infected patients
as well as healthy per-
sons from different
sources. They trained
a machine learning
architecture using
deep learning algo-
rithms with these im-
ages. This model has
12 layers of neural
network similar to the
neurons in the human
brain. The tool also
uses images from oth-
er lung infections
such as tuberculosis
and pneumonia.
‘Catch Me If You
Can’ conman held
Their (ED officials) train runs slow
on narrow gauge :Ahmed PatelFirst India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A
23-year-old man has
been arrested in Guja-
rat for allegedly cheat-
ing 15 different firms
of at least Rs 50 lakh
through forgery in the
last four years, appar-
ently inspired by the
Hollywood movie,
‘Catch Me If You Can’.
The accused, Jay
Soni, acquired special-
isation in forging doc-
uments and hiding his
real identity to fraudu-
lently withdraw mon-
ey from banks, accord-
ing to the crime
branch. “It all started
in 2015 when Soni and
his father Ramesh
Soni watched the mov-
ie ‘Catch Me If You
Can’, which was based
on the life of American
cheque forger and con
man Frank Abagnale,”
a crime branch official
said.
Soni was arrested on
Monday after a de-
tailed probe into his
modus operandi which
involved not leaving
behind any clue about
his real identity or
whereabouts. Nine
complaints of cheating
and forgery were filed
against Soni in Guja-
rat and six in Jaipur.
Dr. Anita
New Delhi: Soon after Enforce-
ment Directorate officials ques-
tioned him, for the second time, in
the Sterling Biotech case, Con-
gress’ Rajya Sabha
member and
AICC Treas-
urer Ahmed
Patel on
Tuesday ap-
peared con-
fidence-per-
sonified, as he said, “Their train
runs like a slow narrow gauge
train, to impress their bosses that
they interrogated Ahmed Patel for
long hours.” Patel was also ques-
tioned last Saturday at his resi-
dence in the same case.
Referring to the ED officials as
the “friends of my well-wishers
(read PM Narendra Modi and HM
Amit Shah)”, Patel told reporters,
“They said they still have a few
more things to ask and so will
come again on Thursday.” Patel,
then told reporters in the same
vein, “So, you also come then.”
“I told them they are most wel-
come to come any number of
times they wish,” Ahmed Pa-
tel taunted.
Given the limited testing facilities
for COVID19, there is a rush to de-
velop AI tools for quick analysis us-
ing x-rays. Developing a reliable tool re-
quires the combination of right algorithms
and data. This is where our tool would prove
useful, that can be trained for diagnostic
purposes and made available for wider use.
—Prof Krishna Prasad Miyapuram, IIT-Gandhinagar
UNLOCK 2.0
Suratforcesdiamondunitstodownshutters

City First brings you
some helpful tips to refresh
your looks; get the best tips to
invest in your hair- it is the crown
you never take off!
AHMEDABAD, WEDNESDAY
JULY 1, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
few years ago, spot-
ting coloured hair was
a rare sight and the
only way to dye hair
was through henna.
However, from henna
to the most eccentric
of shades, hair colour has wit-
nessed a sea change from being
a necessity to an essential fash-
ion statement. Today, if some-
one has a thought of changing
their look, then they can get it
done in the blink of an eye by
just changing the colour of
their hair. The best part is, it’s
not just with women; this trend
is applicable to the men too.
Since the trend is not going
anytime soon, we have listed
some of the hair colours that
can give you a chic look!
BLONDE
If you want to go for a different
look altogether, then blonde is
something you can choose. If
you think that the actual
blonde colour is too much,
then you can also opt for a
warm yellow tone that resem-
bles the colour.
SILVER BLONDE
If you have a dark skin tone,
then look no further. This is
the perfect shade that can en-
hance your look.
MAUVE
Most of us have always been a
huge fan of ‘Barbie’s pink’
hair colour. If you’re one of
them, then this is the shade for
you; however, for the people
with dark skin tones, tints like
pastel pink can be too harsh
against your skin.
PASTELS
If you need a bold, out of ordi-
nary hair colour, then just go
for the pastels. We’re talking
about pastel pink, pastel blue,
and everything in between.
CARAMEL
HIGHLIGHTS
If someone has a dark brown
hair colour, they can add
beautiful caramel highlights
to refresh their look. Caramel-
coloured highlights will at-
tract light to hit your hair,
giving it an instant dimension
- like you spent hours under
the sun at the beach. Also,
it’s a prime hair colour for
those who have a fair
skin tone.
ASH BROWN
This cool-toned brown colour
is a popular choice among the
ladies because this shade goes
with every length of hair, from
cropped to long.
YEH RESHMI
ZULFEIN
ISHIKA DHABHAI
ishika.dhabhai@firstindia.co.in
A

LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Demeanour plays an
important role when it
come to being a part of an
elite group and you never
disappoint. Wealth tickles in and your
dry spell on financial front ends. You
are always looking forward to try
something new on business front and
you never settle for anything but best.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Judicious use of time is the
need of this hour. You may
have to struggle a little but
your future is very bright.
Many small failures in life acts as a
stepping stone towards success so
never let yourself feel discouraged
with temporary setbacks. Your
achievements speaks for yourself.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Adhere to the terms of
your job and there is
nothing to worry. Be
efficient and innovative in
your work. You need to keep a check
on your emotions as you may feel
overwhelmed. A good reputation in
market will help you in long run. Care
about those who matters in your life.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Sycophants are always
around but it depends on
you if you wish to be
influenced by them or not. A
sentence of motivation can really cheer
someone up and change their life so
deal with a youngster. You will feel
energetic today to do things which you
have been planning to do for a long.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Procuring goods on time
will remain your priority for
today as far as your
business is concerned.
Don’t be confused when it comes to
making decision regarding your
future, trust your instincts and forge
ahead. Spirituality is the answer to
your problems in every aspect of life.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Endowment received to give
wings to your dream must
be appreciated and used in
the right direction. Time is a
valuable asset so do not waste it. You
are very conscious of your karma and
you believe in action and reactions. Its
still not too late to regain your ground
on academic front as well.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Obnoxious behaviour
should be avoided at all
cost in business matters.
You have a contagious
smile and use it in your best ability.
Times are tough but where there is a
will there is a way. With changing
times there is a change in demand
and supply therefore try to come up.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Bickering around is a
waste of time rather invest
yourself building strong
relationships. An exciting
opportunity will knock at your door
and will provide you a chance to
make money. Your seniors will
acknowledge you efforts in work and
will truly admire your dedication.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Whining over the what has
been lost is not a sensible
thing to do, move ahead
with time and with
immense faith in yourself give your
best shot in something new. You will
find a mentor who will give a shape
to your ideas. You will get attracted
to someone with absolute opposite.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Valiant and pivot is how
you can be defined. You
manage to find solutions to
all your problems. You are
on the threshold of achieving
something that you wanted for a long
time. On person’s loss is another
person’s benefit and right now you
are the one who will gain from this.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Immaculately dressed is
how people define you.
People may misunderstand
your silence but in the end
people see you for who you truly are.
Considering the alarming health
crisis, you must watch what you eat
as your body is your only precious
temple now in this pandemic.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Devouring one book after
the another is your current
hobby and you have
completely dedicated
yourself to it. Work from home is a
new trend but that doesn’t give you
the liberty to take it. Dedication is
must in these trial times as source of
income is a blessing.
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
10
ETCAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
FATEHJEET KAUR, Model
ulbbul, the latest
Indian original
from Netflix, is a
disaster. In a
smarter film, its ti-
tle character —
Mrs. Bulbbul
Chaudhary (Tripti Dimri,
from Laila Majnu) — would
have made a fascinating vil-
lain. For most of Bulbbul,
she’s adorned in the most
exquisite sarees and jewel-
lery. Whenever she’s sitting
idle, which is nearly always,
as the lady of the house,
Bulbbul fans herself with
peacock feathers. And she
makes no attempt to hide
her true feelings, smiling
ear-to-ear or heartily laugh-
ing at the predicament of
others. Unfortunately,
Bulbbul is stuck in a drab,
inert, and ridiculous film,
the kind whose plot you can
entirely predict after watch-
ing the first few minutes.
It’s only the film’s charac-
ters — except for Bulbbul
— who fail to see otherwise,
to the point where it all feels
like a giant prank, as if they
are merely pretending to act
oblivious.
Nearly all of that is down
to writer-director Anvita
Dutt, a lyricist and dialogue
writer who makes her direc-
torial debut on the Netflix
original. Bulbbul — a peri-
od supernatural tale set in
Bengal — centres on the
folklore of chudail, a wom-
an who rises from the dead
(with inverted legs) after an
unnatural death. The Eng-
lish subtitles translate it as
“demon-woman” but her
behaviour on Bulbbul is
more akin to a vampire.
Though Dutt erases the mi-
sogynistic and patriarchal
overtones of chudail to put
a feminist spin on the story,
she doesn’t add to it in any
meaningful manner. Moreo-
ver, Bulbbul’s Bengal set-
ting makes zero sense. Not
a single character talks in
anything but Hindi, and the
film doesn’t use the local-
ised term for chudail. It may
as well be set in any part of
(British) India.
Though you wouldn’t
even know Bulbbul was set
in British India by simply
watching the film, since
there’s no trace of the Brit-
ish, except for a throwaway
dialogue.Orthethreewords
of on-screen text at the very
beginning, which states
“1881, Bengal Presidency”.
The Netflix film opens with
a child marriage, as a young
Bulbbul (Ruchi Mahajan,
from Yeh Teri Galiyan) is
wedded off to a much older
man, Indranil Thakur (Ra-
hul Bose, from Shaurya).
Bulbbul tries to throw view-
ers off by employing a hap-
py background score and
featuring a friend her age in
Satyajeet Thakur (Varun
Paras Buddhadev, from Koi
Laut Ke Aaya Hai), but it
does such a poor job that it
serves as an early indicator
of the film’s predictability.
Bulbbul is the only one con-
vinced she was due to mar-
ry Satya.
Fast forward two decades
as Satya (Avinash Tiwary,
reunited with Laila Majnu
co-star Dimri) returns from
London, where he’s been
studying to be a lawyer. In
the five years he’s been
gone, Bulbbul (Dimri) has
assumed her aforemen-
tioned status as the lady of
the house. Her husband is
nowhere to be seen, her
bumbling fool of a brother-
in-law is dead, and his wid-
ow and her scheming sister-
in-law Binodini (Pauli Dam,
from Hate Story) has been
forced to shave her head and
out of the palatial house.
The relationship between
Bulbbul and Binodini is like
a relic from the soap opera
era, full of jealousy and pet-
tiness. (Strangely, there are
nokidstobeseenanywhere,
which is curious given be-
ing baby-factories was
deemed as the only reason
for women’s existence in
those times.)
The film’s story unfolds
in two parallel timelines
thereafter. There’s the one
in 1901 as Satya investigates
a series of murders, solely
of men, which are attribut-
ed to a chudail by village
folk, for the bite marks on
the victims. And the other
consists of flashbacks, as
we witness Bulbbul contin-
ue to pine after Satya and
suffer a litany of atrocities
from everyone else in the
household. It’s obvious to
everyone and their grand-
ma that Bulbbul had a thing
for Satya and that she’s the
chudail — something she all
but hints at on multiple oc-
casions — but it takes ages
for the other characters to
figure it out. And to make
matters worse, Bulbbul
keeps on hammering home
the same point across mul-
tiple scenes, wasting time
on a film that runs just 90
minutes.
The amateurish writing
and direction is matched by
a lazy background score on
Bulbbul, consisting of ge-
neric tunes that seem like
the first search result you’d
get on Google after typing
“horror music”. That’s sur-
prising given Amit Trivedi
is the composer, known for
his work on the likes of
Andhadhun, Dev.D, and
Udaan. That lack of origi-
nality translates as both op-
pressive and over-the-top,
which is also the case with
the saturated tones of red
— the cinematographer is
Siddharth Diwan (Queen)
and the production design-
er Meenal Agarwal (Dum
Laga Ke Haisha) — that
bake night-time scenes to
convey a sense of dread. Di-
wan’s camera work is the
only technical aspect of
Bulbbul that doesn’t call at-
tention to itself, with the
other departments seem-
ingly succumbing to the di-
rector’s wishes.
All that ultimately re-
sults in a catastrophe of
epic proportions. Its rote,
tired dialogues will make
you roll your eyes. The tonal
dissonance and foolish
characters will pull you out
of the movie. And it doesn’t
have anything worthwhile
to say about male entitle-
ment and the treatment of
women. In the hands of a
more capable writer-direc-
tor, Bulbbul would’ve up-
ended viewer’s expectations
from a movie about the folk-
lore of chudail, than merely
play into them. It could also
have been Netflix’s first
Bengali-language original.
Source: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/
APowerfullyFeminist,RevisionistTale
B

First india ahmedabad edition-01 july 2020

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