First india ahmedabad edition-12 october 2020

AMC spends crores on sterilization, but A’bad still going to the dogs
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In the
past year, the
Ahmedabad Munici-
pal Corporation has
almost doubled the
number of agencies
hired to control the
city’s canine popula-
tion. However, during
this time, the number
of stray dogs needing
to be sterilized and
vaccinated has gone
up from about 75,000
to 1.80 lakh, accord-
ing to data from the
AMC, which has paid
almost Rs6 crore in
the past three years to
bring these numbers
down.
The decision to hire
four agencies—in addi-
tion to the existing
five—came after the me-
dia reported in Febru-
ary 2019 that there had
been 4.22 lakh cases of
dog bites in the preced-
ing nine years.
At the time of these
reports, the AMC had
said there were
around 75,000 stray
dogs in the city that
needed to be vaccinat-
ed and sterilized. To-
day, the civic body
estimates that there
are around 1.80 lakh
stray dogs in the city.
This, after the civic
body paid private agen-
cies Rs1.99crore in 2017,
Rs1.35 crore in 2018 and
Rs2.59 crore in 2019 to
sterilize the city’s stray
dogs.
The high population
of street-dwelling ca-
nines is not a problem
on its own. However,
about 95% of the 4.5
lakh animal bite cases
reported in the past 10
years have been cases
of dogs biting hu-
mans. This means
that, on average,
42,750 people have
been bitten by dogs in
the city every year, for
the past decade.
“Following the treat-
ment, the dogs are sup-
posed to be taken back
to their territory. The
agencies must keep the
dog for a week under
observation. If they are
released too early, they
tend to become very ag-
gressive due to the pain
and biting cases in-
crease,” said a senior
AMC official. Turn to P6
The number of dogs needing to be sterilized and vaccinated has gone up from about 75,000 to 1.80
lakh in the past year. —FILE PHOTO
Nine agencies hired for population
control, Rs6 cr paid in 3 years, but
canine numbers continue to rise
IN THE DOGHOUSE
New Delhi: The Cen-
tral Bureau of Investi-
gation (CBI) has regis-
tered a case against an
accused and took up
the investigation of
the Hathras incident
on Sunday.
The CBI registered
the case on the request
of UP government and
“further notification
from the Government
of India.” As per the
agency, “the complain-
ant has alleged that on
September 14, 2020 the
accused tried to stran-
gulate his sister in the
millet field.” The case
has been registered at
ACB Ghaziabad on
Sunday under relevant
sections of the IPC and
the SC/ST (Prevention
of Atrocities Act, 1989).
Suspected offences as
per FIR are rape, at-
tempt to murder, and
gang rape.
Deputy Superinten-
dent of Police (ACB,
Ghaziabad) Seema Pa-
huja, has been named
the Investigating Of-
ficer of the case. CBI
has constituted a team
and further investiga-
tion is underway.
Turn to P6
CBI registers FIR, takes up
probe in Hathras incident
Victim’s family to appear before Allahabad HC today
Tight security has been provided for victim’s family’s visit to
Lucknow on Monday for HC hearing.
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AHMEDABAD l MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 317
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
P5 P6
MAHARASHTRA GOVT WITHDRAWS
CASES REGISTERED AGAINST
AAREY PROTESTERS
SHAMEFUL TRUTH: RAGA SLAMS
YOGI OVER HATHRAS CASE
New Delhi: BJP on Sun-
day released a list of 46
candidates, all for sec-
ond phase of the Bihar
assemblypolls,takingto
75 the number of con-
stituencies for which
thepartyhasannounced
its nominees so far.
While the Congress
on Sunday formed vari-
ous panels for the up-
coming Bihar assembly
polls with party general
secretary Randeep Sur-
jewala named chairman
of the election manage-
ment and coordination
committee.
BJP list includes state
minister Nand Kishore
Yadav (from Patna Sa-
hib) and Nitish Mishra,
son of former CM Jag-
annath Mishra. The list
was released a day after
the party’s central elec-
tion committee, which
includes PM Narendra
Modi, met in Delhi.
BJP is contesting in
alliance with JD(U). 2
others, Vikassheel In-
saan Party and Hindu-
stani Awam Morcha
have also been included
in the alliance. More on P5
PM: SVAMITVA to end
DISPUTES IN VILLAGES
These cards are physical copies of property titles of villagers’
homes & area surrounding their respective houses
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
launched physical dis-
tribution of property
cards under ‘Survey of
Villages and Mapping
with Improvised Tech-
nology in Village Areas’
(SVAMITVA)schemeon
Sunday, calling it a ‘his-
toric move’ set to trans-
form rural India.
This will enable near-
ly 1 lakh property hold-
ers to download their
property cards through
SMS on their mobile
phones and pave way for
villagers to use proper-
ty as a financial asset
for taking loans and
other financial benefits.
763 villages across six
states are beneficiaries
of this scheme, which
includes 346 from Uttar
Pradesh, 221 from Hary-
ana,100fromMaharash-
tra, 50 from Uttara-
khand, 44 from Madhya
Pradesh, and two from
Karnataka. The states
had signed a MoU with
Survey of India for
drone survey of rural
areas and implementa-
tion of scheme.
Full report P5
BJP releases list
of 46 candidates
BIHAR ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS
BE A
RESPONSIBLE
CITIZEN!
A man walks past a
graffiti of a spitting man,
in Mumbai on Sunday.
India’s Corona tally crossed the
70-lakh mark on Sunday, with a
spike of 74,383 new cases and 918
deaths reported in the last 24 hours!
‘NO RELIGION ASKS FOR
FLASHY FESTIVALS’
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh
Vardhan urged people to stay away
from large congregations and dili-
gently follow COVID-19 guidelines
during upcoming festive season,
saying no religion or God asks
people to celebrate ostentatiously.
Celebrate the approaching festivals
at home with loved ones instead
of going out to fairs and pandals
as fighting against COVID-19 is
everyone’s foremost “dharma”!
Winter Corona may bite hard
Amid several reports indicating that
the number of Covid-19 cases will
increase during winter, Union health
minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday
confirmed that the possibility of the
same in Indian context can’t be
dismissed at all. SARS Cov 2 is a
respiratory virus and the
transmission of respiratory viruses
is known to increase during the
colder weather. During winter, there
is tendency of overcrowding in
residential dwellings which may
increase transmission, he added.
If people congre-
gate in large num-
bers to to celebrate
festivals we may be head-
ing for big trouble
Dr Harsh Vardhan,
Union Health Minister
FULL REPORT P6

NEWSAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2020
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First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Con-
gress is yet to an-
nounce any candi-
dates for the upcom-
ing by-elections for
eight vacant seats in
the state Assembly.
Yet, the Dhari seat is
already causing trou-
ble for the opposition
party. Sources within
the party say that at
least three hopefuls
have filed nomination
forms for the seat.
The first of these is
Kirti Borisagar, a close
confidant of Paresh
Dhanani, leader of the
opposition. The other
two are Jenny Thum-
mar and Suresh Kota-
dia, whose names have
been sent to the panel,
insiders said.
Of the three, Boris-
agar and Thummar
are being seen as the
frontrunners. Kirti
Borisagar, who was
seen with Dhanani on
his tour of Saurash-
tra, is a veteran leader
and has a clean image.
The daughter of for-
mer MLA Vijay Thum-
mar, Jenny Thummar
is a member of dis-
trict Panchyat.
Whichever way the
party leans in terms of
its nominee for the Dha-
ri seat, the Congress is
not expected to release
its list of candidates un-
til next week. Mean-
while, the rival Bharati-
ya Janata Party has al-
ready announced seven
of its eight candidates
for the by-elections,
which are slated to be
held on November 10.
Five of these seven are
former members of the
Congress party.
First India Bureau
Veraval: Ten days af-
ter the villagers of
Vadodara (Zala) vil-
lage in Gir Somnath
district began their
protest against the
government’s pro-
posed desalination
plants, the Gujarat
Khedut Samaj has
now entered the fray
and raised the issue
with Chief Minister
Vijay Rupani.
The villagers say that
the proposed plant is
likely to do more harm
than good. Their first
grievance is that the
government has allotted
gauchar land, on which
they graze their cattle,
for the plant. The villag-
ers, through the Gram
Sabha,haveunanimous-
ly opposed the allotment
of gauchar land for the
project.
Second, the lime-
stone in the area serves
as a natural wall in pro-
tecting fertile agricul-
tural land from saline
ingress. “If the If the
underground pipeline
for the desalination
plant is laid down, the
government will be
breaking the natural
wall and putting the fer-
tile land in danger,”
Bhagvan Solanki, the
Gir Somnath president
of the Gujarat Khedut
Samaj told First India.
“The state has al-
ready started taking
possession of land
with police protection,
even though it is yet to
get the required per-
missions,” added
Jayesh Mori, vice-pres-
ident, Gujarat Khedut
Samaj in Gir Somnath.
Thegovernmentisyet
to acquire Coastal Regu-
lation Zone clearance,
Environmental Impact
Assessment clearance
and permissions from
the Gujarat Pollution
Control Board. In addi-
tion, it will also require
permission from the
Forest Department and
the wildlife board, as the
village is close to the Gir
Sanctuary home to a
number of Asiatic lions
who live outside the con-
fines of the sanctuary.
The villagers have de-
manded that the state
shift the plant to some
other area and have
threatened to protest
aggressively if their de-
mands are not met.
Now, Khedut Samaj joins stir
against desalination plant
A desalination plant. —FILE PHOTO
TENSION IN CONGRESS
OVER DHARI NOMINEE
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: There
were no major sur-
prises in the Bharati-
ya Janata Party’s list
of nominees for sev-
en of the eight vacant
seats in the state As-
sembly, for which by-
elections are slated
to be held next
month. The party has
nominated Congress
turncoats have been
nominated for five
seats and members of
its old guard for two
seats.
According to a state-
ment from the BJP cen-
tral command, Pradyu-
mansinh Jadeja will
contest the bypoll from
Abdasa, Brijesh Merja
will stand in Morbi, JV
Kakadia, in Dhari, At-
maram Parmar, in
Gadhada (SC reserved),
Akshay Patel, in Kar-
jan, Jeetu Chaudhary
in Kaprada (ST re-
served) and Vijay Patel
will contest the bypoll
for the Dang (ST re-
served) seat.
The only slight
surprise is the
choice of former
MLA Vijay Patel for
the Dang seat, since,
with this, the BJP
has dumped former
Congress MLA Man-
gal Gavit, who re-
signed in the run-up
to the Rajya Sabha
polls in June.
Insiders say the par-
ty’s indecision on the
Limbdi seat nominate
defector and former
MLA Soma Patel, a Koli
community leader.
However, if it selects a
Rajput candidate, it will
face a stiff challenge
from Congress, which is
expected to field a Koli
candidate.
Pradyumansinh’s
nomination is unsur-
prising. In 2017, he
beat the BJP candi-
date by 9,746 votes to
win the Abdasa seat.
He also belongs to the
Rajput community,
which has a good
number of voters in
the constituency, and
has a good reputation.
So, bringing him in
will also help the BJP
neutralize Rajput
leader and BJP MLA
from Mandvi Viren-
drasinh Jadeja, who
has started becoming
a liability for the par-
ty. Pradyumansinh
Jadeja will file his pa-
pers on October 13—a
fact he had announced
to party workers even
before the party offi-
cially named him as a
candidate.
Similarly, Jeetu
Chaudhary from Ka-
prada had announced
that he will file his can-
didature form on Mon-
day, October 12, and
Dhari candidate Kaka-
dia is to file his nomina-
tion on October 15.
Party insiders said that
Gavit was dropped in
the face of on-ground
opposition to his candi-
dacy. Another worry
was that fielding Gavit
would have watered
down the efforts of the
party cadre, which has
managed to sway 200
Christian priests, as
Christian converts are
disappointed with
Gavit. It is to be noted
that the BJP lost the
Dang seat to the Con-
gress in the last two
general elections.
There are also fears
that party workers—
unhappy with the
leadership’s decision
to field Congress turn-
coats in Dhari and
Morbi—may play
spoilsport, as in the
case of Radhanpur
and Tharad constitu-
encies in 2019, when
OBC leader Alpesh
Thakor and his close
confidant Dhavalsinh
Zala were defeated at
the hands of Congress
candidates.
CM Rupani’s govt announces subsidies for nCoV-hit animal shelters
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Many
animal shelters, or
panjrapoles as they
are called in Gujarat,
are in dire straits fi-
nancially, with dona-
tions having dried up
due to the COVID-19
pandemic. To give re-
lief to such shelters,
Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani has an-
nounced a scheme
under which panjra-
pole trusts will get
subsidies for various
projects.
According to an of-
ficial statement re-
leased on Sunday, reg-
istered panjrapoles
with 1-10 hectares of
land can get assis-
tance of up to Rs10
lakh for tubewell to
aid in grass produc-
tion. Such panjrapoles
can also get assistance
of up to Rs8 lakh for
solar panels, in order
to reduce their elec-
tricity bills.
They can also get
assistance of up to
Rs1.25 lakh for
chaff cutters, while
those with 4-10 hec-
tares land can get
maximum assis-
tance of Rs3.50 lakh
for green fodder
balers.
Green fodder balers
are used to make bales
of grass fodder so as
to make storage easi-
er and also allow the
fodder to be easily
transported from one
spot to another for
daily use.
In order to achieve
its aim of making
panjrapoles at-
manirbhar (self-reli-
ant), the government
has also announced
that it will help
these shelters to set
up water pipelines
for irrigation so that
fodder production
can be scaled up. To
this end, the state
has announced as-
sistance of Rs30,000
for one hectare and
Rs20,000 for each ad-
ditional hectare, up
to a maximum of
Rs2.10 lakh.
Rupani also believes
in a judicious use of
water for fodder pro-
duction, to reduce wa-
ter wastage. As a re-
sult, panjrapoles opt-
ing for sprinkler-irri-
gation systems for
grass production will
get assistance of
Rs50,000 per hectare,
up to a maximum of
Rs5 lakh, for the same.
Those opting for the
rain gun irrigation
system can avail bene-
fits ranging from
Rs35,000 for one to
three hectares, to
Rs70,000 for four to sev-
en hectares and Rs1.05
lakh for an area of
eight to 10 hectares.
 Panjrapoles to get assistance
for irrigation, solar power and
fodder management systems
 Three hope-
fuls have filed
their papers for
the seat
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani —FILE PHOTO
ATMA NIRBHAR
BJP ANNOUNCES SEVEN
CANDIDATES FOR BYPOLLS
FIVE CONGRESS TURNCOATS IN THE RUNNING, LIMBDI STILL UNDECIDED
Abdasa candidate:
Pradumansinh Jadeja
Dhari candidate:
JV Kakadia
Kaprada candidate:
Jitu Chaudhary
Gadhada candidate:
Atmaram Parmar
Dang candidate:
Vijay Patel
Karjan candidate:
Akshay Patel
Morbi candidate:
Brijesh Merja
NEW CITY, DISTRICT HEADS ANNOUNCED
Congress headquarters in Ahmedabad. —FILE PHOTO

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2020
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Diu: In a major
achievement, all eight
beaches—including
Diu’s Ghoghla
beach—recommended
by India have received
the coveted Blue Flag
certification.
With this, the Diu ad-
ministration hopes to
rope in more tourists at
Ghoghla, which has
been developed as a
family-oriented beach.
Blue Flag beaches are
considered the bench-
mark for clean beaches
in the world and are tes-
timony to environment
in the coastal area.
Beaches have to meet 33
criteria fixed by the
Foundation for Environ-
ment Education (FEE),
Denmark, to acquire the
prestigious eco-label.
Diu Collector Saloni
Rai said, “Our efforts of
the past two and a half
years have finally paid
off. Cleanliness and wa-
ter quality has always
been our top priority, so
now, tourists can look
beyond just Nagoa
beach. They have one
more clean and green
beachwithallsafetyand
security precautions.”
“A team of 30 people
including cleaners and
security personnel will
ensure a clean and safe
environment at the
beach.Moreimportantly
it has been developed as
a family oriented with
safe bathing zone area.
One of our major steps
was to sensitize and edu-
cate local public and stu-
dents towards environ-
ment-friendly beach
practices. This has
helped us in making it
also a zero discharge
beach” Rai added.
Ghoghla is a roughly
500m stretch in Diu,
which receives about 11
lakh tourists annually.
Terming as “proud
moment for India”, En-
vironment Minister
Prakash Javadekar
tweeted, “The Blue Flag
certificationaccordedto
India’s 8 beaches by an
international jury com-
prising of @IUCN, @
UNWTO,@UNEPetc.,is
also a global recognition
of India’s conservation
and sustainable devel-
opment efforts.”
The other seven Blue
Flag beaches in India
are: Shivrajpur (Guja-
rat), Kasarkod (Karna-
taka),Padubidri(Karna-
taka), Kappad (Kerala),
Rushikonda (Andhra
Pradesh), Golden Beach
(Odisha) and Radhana-
gar (Andaman).
Diu’s Ghoghla beach gets prestigious Blue Tag certification
TOP HONOURS
The 500m stretch has been developed as a family-friendly beach. —FILE PHOTO
One of only eight beaches in India to receive the
tag; local administration hopes to see more tourists
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Con-
gress party MLA and
city councillor Im-
ran Khedawala has
now joined the ranks
of IPS officers San-
jay Kharat and Vipul
Agarwal when his
social media account
prey to hackers. The
recent spate of cy-
bercrime perpetrat-
ed against public fig-
ures has revealed a
gaping hole in their
cybersecurity.
On Sunday, Imran
Khedawala filed a po-
lice complaint after dis-
covering that unknown
persons had cloned his
Facebook account and
were using his ID to de-
mand money from his
followers.
The MLA reached out
to his followers—on Fa-
cebook, ironically—to
warn them against
sending money to the
fake account. Sharing, a
link to the fake account,
he posted: “Hello, the
fake Facebook ID of the
link shown below my
name has been created
by some anti-social ele-
ment. This anti-social
element has been cre-
ated to swindle money,”
on his timeline.
“If anyone has de-
manded money from
you via Paytm, I would
like to inform you that
this ID is fake. If you re-
ceive demands for mon-
ey from anyone, do not
listen to them and give
them money. This ID is
fake and I am going to
lodge a police complaint
in this regard tomor-
row,” he stated on his
profile on Saturday
night. The lawmaker
said he had posted the
message to warn people.
Interestingly, the Gu-
jarat government just
recently expanded the
Prevention of Anti-So-
cial Activities (PASA)
Act to include cyber-
criminals under its
purview.
While both hacking
and cloning are cyber-
crimes, there is a dis-
tinct difference be-
tween the two. Cloning
is a technique where
scammers use publicly
available data to create
a fake copy of one’s pro-
file. They don’t have to
hack one’s Facebook
profile, but can still
cause serious damage
with their fake one.
Social media hacks: MLA
Khedawala is latest victimScammers created a fake Facebook account and used it to demand money from his followers
WHAT IS CLONING?
Six-year-old child raped in
Ahmedabad’s Danilimda
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A six-
year-old girl living
in the Danilimda
area of Ahmedabad
was raped by an un-
known assailant,
according to a po-
lice case filed on
Sunday. The police
have launched an
investigation.
According to the
police, an unknown
youth lured two six-
year-old girls, who
had been playing in
the courtyard of their
home, with the prom-
ise of biscuits. He
then raped one of the
children while the
other escaped.
The youth then re-
turned his victim to
her home, where she
told her mother about
her ordeal.
Her girl’s mother
immediately took her
to the doctor and then
lodged a complaint at
the Danilimda police
station after the doc-
tor informed her that
the child had been
raped.
This is just the lat-
est case of sexual
crimes against wom-
en in the state.
According to in-
formation shared
on the floor of the
state’s Legislative
Assembly, there
have been as many
as 540 cases of rape
registered in Guja-
rat in the past two
years.
Even more dis-
turbingly, six of
these victims were
aged five years or
younger, while in
341 cases, the vic-
tim was aged be-
tween six and 18.
There have also
been seven instanc-
es of gang rape in
the state during this
time frame.
As recently as Fri-
day, three juveniles
were arrested for rap-
ing their 11-year-old
cousin and impreg-
nating her.
An unknown youth
promised to give
her biscuits if she
went with him
3.02% of 50L samples
tested so far +ve for nCoV
MONKEY BUSINESS DRIVES CITY UP THE WALL
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
state has conducted
50,12,705 tests in the
past seven months,
1,51,596 of
which—3.02%—have
come back positive
for COVID-19.
In the past 24 hours,
the state tested 51,250
samples and detected
1,181 fresh cases. With
this, there are now
15,717 active cases in
the state, with 86 pa-
tients on ventilators.
Of the nine patients
who died on Sunday,
four were from
Ahmedabad district,
three from Surat and
one each from Rajkot
and Vadodara. Though
the state health bulle-
tin states only one
death in Rajkot, local
dailies have reported 10
deaths in a single day.
Surat recorded the
highest number of
new cases in a single
day with 261, of which
176 were from the city
and 85 were from rural
areas. Ahmedabad dis-
trict saw 189, of which
168 were from the city
and 21 were from rural
areas.
Vadodara conducted
4,321 tests, of which
108 came back positive
for COVID-19 in the
city; 41 new cases have
also emerged from ru-
ral areas. There are
1,848 active cases in
the city, of which 65 pa-
tients are on ventila-
tors and BiPAP ma-
chines, while 170 are
on oxygen support.
In Ahmedabad city
two more clusters have
been identified as mi-
c r o - c o n t a i n m e n t
zones, taking the total
to 154.
The past 24 hours
have also seen cases
emerge in Rajkot dis-
trict (123), Jamnagar
(98), Mehsana (42),
Gandhinagar (41), Ju-
nagadh (29), Patan (24),
Panchmahal (23) and
Amreli (20).
The health of Rajya
Sabha MP Abhay
Bhardwaj of the
Bharatiya Janata Party
is now stable. He has
been shifted to Chen-
nai, and sources said
that doctors will start
his treatment from
Monday.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: While
there is nothing new
about the man-ani-
mal conflict, pockets
of Ahmedabad are be-
ing terrorized by
troops of monkeys.
The past two days
have brought several
complaints of feral
monkeys biting wom-
en in areas. Local
residents say they are
now afraid of ventur-
ing out on their own.
“Children and even
adults are getting
scared to go out. How-
ever, neither the civic
body nor the forest de-
partment is doing any-
thing about these mon-
keys,” complained Raje-
shri Gupta.
She says that older
monkeys are particu-
larly fearsome as they
have “become wild”.
She added, “They are
no longer afraid of
sticks, so my neigh-
bours have started
bursting crackers to
frighten them away.”
While areas such as
Hatkeshwar, Khokhra
and Bhaipura have seen
a high number of cases
of monkeys attacking
humans, the situation is
not limited to the east-
ern part of the city, with
people in Ghatlodia,
MemnagarandJodhpur
in the western part com-
plaining that monkeys
seem to be taking over
vegetable markets, espe-
cially in the evenings.
“Women can’t go
alone to buy vegetables,
wehavetogoingroups,”
said Bharatiben Patel.
Sometimes, teams
from the AMC and the
forest department do re-
spond to complaints but
the monkeys are long
gone after their attacks
by the time the team ar-
rives, she added.
1181 new cases, nine
deaths take state tally
to 1,51,596 cases and
death toll to 3,569
Gujarat tested 51, 250 samples in the past 24 hours. —FILE PHOTO
A langur eats a banana outside a residence in Ahmedabad.
SAFETY FIRST
Workers sanitize a movie theatre at Wide Angle in Ahmedabad, as the state prepares to
reopen its cinema halls on Friday. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Hit-and-run accident in
Surat leaves two dead
First India Bureau
Surat: An overspeed-
ing car killed two
men as they were
crossing the road in
the city’s Piplod-Du-
mas area on Saturday
night. A case of hit-
and-run has been reg-
istered and police
have launched an in-
vestigation.
The two victims were
flung into the air by the
collision and died on the
spot, police sources told
First India. The driver
of the car did not stop
but fled at a high speed.
Thevictimsworkedat
a nearby hotel and were
on their way home from
work when the incident
occurred.
A similar accident
was also reported in the
Vesu Canal Road area,
where the driver of a
luxury car lost control
of the vehicle and
slammed into a divider.
Luckily, no injuries
were reported. The ve-
hicle had to be lifted off
using a crane.
—PHOTOBYHANIFSINDHI

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 317 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-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2020
Endurance is one of the most
difficult disciplines, but it is to
the one who endures that the
final victory comes. —Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
ith the advent of science, there
has been a growing experience
of distress amidst humans. A
lot of us struggle to cope with
life’s challenges in our own
ways and few of us succeed in
maintaining survival mode.
However, some of us unfortu-
nately fails to address our psy-
chological concerns and suc-
cumb to them. The second
week of October is observed as
World Mental Health week
globally every year. In view of
the same, this article intends to
spread awareness about sui-
cide as a significant entity de-
picting mental trauma.
Suicide – a permanent solu-
tion to a temporary problem.
When pushed to extremes, the
feelings of self-directed anger,
frustration, emotional pain,
hopelessness, or agitation can
compel a person to take his/
her own life. Within the past
year in India, about 41,000 indi-
viduals died by suicide, 13 lac
have attempted suicide, 27 lac
have had a plan and 93 lac have
had suicidal thoughts. Every-
one has the potential for sui-
cide irrespective of age, gen-
der, education, occupation, re-
lationship status, success,
wealth, or popularity.
A common notion that ‘talk-
ing about suicide encourages
suicidal behavior’ is a myth.
Talking about suicide provides
an opportunity for meaningful
communication and conse-
quent resolution of fears or
anxieties. Asking someone if
they’re suicidal makes them
feel heard. Some of us may in-
correctly feel that ‘youngsters
who talk repeatedly about sui-
cide never really attempt it’.
Talking about suicide can sim-
ply be a cry for help. Subtle
cues of suicidal ideation can be
recent suicide by a loved one,
the previous attempt at suicide,
preoccupation with death
themes of isolation from
friends. It is a misconception
that once a person has the in-
tent of suicide, there is no way
of stopping them. Suicides can
be prevented. Immediate prac-
tical help during the short-
lived crises by way of emotion-
al support and encouragement
can be valuable.
Suicidal ideation in men is
often missed. The social norms
and stereotypes which nega-
tively affect women have the
same effect on men too. But
psychological distress in men
is rarely addressed. They are
socialized into being ‘strong’
and to not cry or seek help
when in distress. While suicide
attempts are more common in
women, completed suicides are
more seen in men. Hence, there
is a great need for a ‘gender-
sensitive’ society responsive to
the needs of everyone.
While genetics have an influ-
ence on an individual’s mental
health, environmental influ-
ences can also contribute to
suicidality through traumatic
encounters in early life such as
bullying, violence, abandon-
ment, abuse, or loss of a loved
one. The presence of a physical
or mental health disorder is a
discrete risk factor for potenti-
ating suicide, such as depres-
sion, anxiety, schizophrenia,
personality disorders, post-
traumatic stress disorder, bipo-
lar disorder, or psychoactive
substance use. Stressors like
academic pressures or exam
failure in students, disturbed
family dynamics or high ex-
pressed emotions in adults, or
chronic medical problems and
pains or poor planning for re-
tirement period in the old age
population can also precipitate
suicidal ideation. Other risk
factors can be poor job security,
family history of suicide,
break-ups, access to toxic sub-
stances or firearms, and lack
of a support system.
If a person talks casually
about killing themselves, or
feels hopeless or like a burden
or feels trapped, it may be a
warning sign. Such people
may search for methods to end
life, isolate self, call people to
say goodbye, give away prized
possessions, or make a will. On
the contrary, some protective
factors for diminishing sui-
cidal tendency are effective
care for physical and mental
health, being connected with
loved ones, adaptive coping
and life skills, high self-esteem,
having a purpose in life, and
religious beliefs that discour-
age suicide.
Treating mental health dis-
orders is vital in preventing
suicidal behaviors. Taking the
help of medication or coun-
seling has been proven to re-
duce symptoms of the mind.
Providing an outlet to emo-
tions through heartfelt conver-
sations, daily relaxation and
recreational activities such as
music, sports, fitness regimes
or yoga also helps to maintain
emotional well-being. If a sui-
cide-free society is a goal, then
the suicide prevention strategy
is a must in public health. Re-
ducing social isolation, pre-
venting social disintegration,
and treating psychiatric disor-
ders are fundamental to achiev-
ing this objective. From here
onwards, it is up to the joint
efforts of mental health profes-
sionals, policy planners, and
the Government authorities to
have wider implications of this
noble idea.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
UNDERSTANDING
SUICIDALITY
W
Talking about
suicide can
simply be a cry
for help. Subtle
cues of suicidal
ideation can be
recent suicide by
a loved one, the
previous attempt
at suicide,
preoccupation
with death
themes of
isolation from
friends. It is a
misconception
that once a
person has the
intent of suicide,
there is no way of
stopping them
DR S G MEHTA
DR BHAKTI MURKEY SISODIA
WHILE GENETICS HAVE
AN INFLUENCE ON AN
INDIVIDUAL’S MENTAL
HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL
INFLUENCES CAN ALSO
CONTRIBUTE TO
SUICIDALITY THROUGH
TRAUMATIC ENCOUNTERS
IN EARLY LIFE SUCH AS
BULLYING, VIOLENCE,
ABANDONMENT, ABUSE,
OR LOSS OF A LOVED ONE
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY
PACIFIC MEDICAL COLLEGE AND HOSPITAL, UDAIPUR
am one among a
relatively small
number of men
who for some
time have been
fascinated by romance nov-
els. As is well known, ro-
mance novels are among
the most popular genres in
contemporary literature.
The field represents a vast
market, likely to have sub-
stantially grown over the
past several months as a
result of COVID-19. Ama-
zon has certainly provided
a major boost to romance
writers, offering them a
popular platform to market
themselves and their crea-
tions.
Unlike in the past, the
large majority of contem-
porary romance novels
promote a very progressive
view of women and their
role in society. Jessica Pe-
terson, the author of the
successful Charleston Heat
series, has gone as far as to
claim that the romance
genre is feminist: “Ro-
mance is one of the few
genres that explicitly puts
a woman’s dreams and de-
sires, sexual and other-
wise, front and center. It’s
one of the many reasons I
love reading it.”
All Too Human
The notion that romance
novels propagate an image
of women largely in tune
with current-day feminism
is still somewhat contro-
versial. Yet it has found
growing support. As early
as 2013, an article in The
Atlantic endeavored to
show “how romance novels
came to embrace femi-
nism.” A few years later,
the author of an article on
the genre in the online
women’s magazine Bustle
characterized romance
novels as some of the per-
haps “most rebellious
books you can read right
now.” Romance novels, she
affirmed, are “practically
the only books in which
women get exactly what
they want, all of the time,
and aren’t asked to feel bad
about it.”
In some cases, romance
novels can be outright sub-
versive. Take, for instance,
Aya de León, the Puerto
Rican American author of
the Justice Hustlers series
— “erotic thrillers” with
covers “featuring buxom
women in tight, revealing
clothes.” Yet once lured, the
reader is confronted with a
story that, as Side Chick
Nation’s review on
Goodreads explains, “ex-
plores how climate change,
colonization and a lack of
appropriate response on
the part of the US govern-
ment played a major role in
the delayed recovery in
Puerto Rico in the after-
math of Hurricane Maria.”
To be sure, de León’s
books are particularly
aimed at raising readers’
consciousness. After all,
the author is a lecturer in
the African American pro-
gram at UC Berkeley. Yet
even more mainstream,
commercially successful
romance writers routinely
weave uncomfortable top-
ics into their narratives,
such as violence against
women, rape, sexual and
occupational harassment,
cheating, miscarriage —
the list goes on. I
n fact, on Goodreads, re-
viewers routinely provide
“trigger warnings” to un-
suspecting readers who
might be offended by cheat-
ing, unprotected sex, ex-
plicit sex in general (good
Christian appropriate nov-
els without sex scenes are
referred to as “clean” as if
sex was something “dirty”)
— again, the list goes on. In
any case, it is a fact that
contemporary romance
novels are a far cry from
what the genre used to be
in the past, one that pro-
moted traditional gender
roles, the stereotypical
world of hospitals with shy,
beautiful nurses waiting to
be scooped up by a dishy
chief surgeon.
Today’s female protago-
nists of romance novels
tend to be strong, deter-
mined and, most impor-
tant of all, refuse to take
shit from men. They are
strong enough to overcome
hardship, excel in their
chosen professions and
fight hard to get what they
want — including a part-
ner for life. Arguably most
important of all, today’s
rom-com heroines are in
charge of their own sexual-
ity and, equally important,
deserving to get full sexual
satisfaction.
SOURCE: FAIR OBSERVER
Do romance novels offer an outdated model of feminism?
I
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Elated and proud that all 8
beaches, including the Golden
beach in Puri have bagged the
coveted Blue Flag Certiﬁcation.
The distinguished eco-tag will
further add to the glory of these
pristine beaches and give impetus
to sustainable beach tourism in
Odisha and the country.
Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank
@DrRPNishank
#NEP2020 will help restore the
nation’s status as a #VishwaGuru.
Work will be done towards
inviting cutting-edge research
collaboration. Faculty/student
exchanges with high-quality foreign
institutions will also be facilitated.
SUSHANT CASE EXPOSES
PRIVACY ON SOCIAL MEDIA
nd-to-end encryption does not make
WhatsApp messages safe as one might
think. Nothing proves this better than
the three-year-old “maal hai kya” mes-
sage of Deepika Padukone which the
Narcotics Control Bureau cited in its case sum-
moning the celebrated actor in the Sushant Singh
Rajput case. This throws all notions of privacy on
this social media platform out of the window.
End-to-end encryption means that the conversa-
tionscannotbeinterceptedduringtransit.Reassuring
users on protecting their privacy, a WhatsApp state-
ment said, “WhatsApp protects your messages with
end-to-endencryptionsothatonlyyouandtheperson
you are communicating with can read what is sent,
and nobody in between can access it, not even What-
sApp. It’s important to remember that people sign up
on WhatsApp using only a phone number, and What-
sApp doesn’t have access to your message content.”
It does not mean that the messages cease to exist
on the sender or the recipient’s mobile phones.
Deleting them also does not obliterate them from
the phone’s memory and can always be retrieved
during configuration when the SIM card is trans-
ferred to a new phone. Then there are spyware
tools available to hack into WhatsApp messaging
systems. Investigating and law-enforcing agencies
the world over, like the NCB in India, are using this
weak link to their advantage.
Legally, law-enforcing agencies can ask for one’s
device in a criminal investigation so use the social
mediaplatformbutnotwithoutcaution.Deepikawas
lucky that her conversation did not prove the charge
that the NCB may have wanted to slap on her.
E
IN-DEPTH
MAYAWATI’S GAMBIT
HOLDS NO PROMISE
ne formula may not always be successful,
especiallyinpolitics wherethedynamics
keep changing. Bahujan Samaj Party
president Mayawati does not share this
view as she revives her tried and tested
social engineering formula of Dalit-Brahmin for-
mulafortheupcomingby-electionsinUttarPradesh.
Voting for seven assembly seats will take place on
November 3 and the results will be declared on No-
vember 10. The seats going to poll include Nauga-
wan Sadat, Bulandshahr, Tundla, Bangermau,
Ghatampur, Deoria, and Malhani. Polling for the
eighth seat - Suar in Rampur - has been deferred as
the matter is pending in the Allahabad High Court.
Dalit-Brahmin combination has fetched
Mayawati good dividends in the past as Brahmins
began to vote for the Dalit party in large numbers.
From 38 percent in the 2012 elections, the Brahmin
vote percentage increased to 80 percent in the 2017
assembly election to 72 percent and 82 percent in
2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, respectively.
But as the results showed these votes did not trans-
late into enough seats for the BSP either in the UP
assembly or in the Lok Sabha. The party has only
18 seats in the present House, while the BJP has
306, including five of those going to polls.
AsBSP’sBrahminfaceandpartygeneral-secretary
Satish Chandra Mishra set about addressing issues
concerning Brahmins “who are discontent” with the
present government of Yogi Adityanath which is ac-
cused of being pro-Thakur. But Mayawati has been
politically active only on social media. In the recent
Hathras case too her reaction was subdued.
O

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INDIAAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2020
J’KHAND: JMM LEADER, WIFE
FOUND MURDERED AT HOME
Dhanbad: Senior JMM
leader Shankar Raw-
ani and his wife were
found murdered at their
residence in Jharkhand’s
Dhanbad district early
on Sunday, police said.
Prima facie it seems that
Rawani (50) and Balika
Devi were shot and then
stabbed to death at their
home in Bhowra area,
Dhanbad city SP Ram
Kumar said. An empty
cartridge of 9mm pistol
and a knife were recov-
ered from the room, he
said. According to the
SP, neighbours found out
about the murder and in-
formed the police. Sniffer
dogs have been deployed
at the scene of crime, and
a hunt has been launched
to nab the killer, SP Ram-
Kumar said.
WILL MOVE COURT AGAINST
BENGAL POLICE : VIJAYVARGIYA
New Delhi: BJP national secretary Kailash Vijay-
vargiya, accusing Bengal police of hurling bombs
and violating human rights during the party’s
march to the state secretariat, said it will move
court to seek “justice in the inhuman treatment
by the force”. He hit out at the West Bengal gov-
ernment for following “two set of rules” - one for
BJP and another for the ruling TMC and said that
COVID-19 protocols were violated during TMC’s
rallies against the alleged Hathras rape and the
Farm bills, but no action was taken against it.
PARTY TICKET BEING GIVEN TO
RAPIST: CONG WORKER THRASHED
Deoria: A woman Con-
gress worker in UP was
thrashed at an internal
meeting of the party after
she objected to nomina-
tion of party candidate
from Deoria, saying he is
a accused in a rape case.
“On the one hand, our
party leaders are ﬁghting
for justice for Hathras
woman, and on the other
hand, party ticket is being
given to a rapist. It is a
wrong decision. It will
malign the image of our
party,” she said. Cell-
phone videos that were
circulated show Tara Devi
being punched by a group
of men. In her complaint,
Tara Devi has named
Cong dist president Dhar-
mendra Singh, V-P Ajay
Singh and two others for
the attack.
HEAVY RAIN WARNING FOR ANDHRA,
K’TAKA, & OTHER COASTAL AREAS
New Delhi: The depression over West-Central
Bay of Bengal is very likely to intensify further
into a deep depression during next 24 hours
and it very likely to move west-northwestwards.
“Latest satellite imageries, ships and buoy ob-
servations indicate that yesterday’s well-marked
low-pressure area over east-central and adjoin-
ing southeast Bay of Bengal concentrated into a
depression over West-central Bay of Bengal and
lay centred about 430 km south-southeast of
Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), IMD said.
BJP CHIEF JP NADDA AT ELECTION RALLY IN GAYA
HATHRAS INCIDENT
‘PMModi, Nitish
Kumar changed
political course in Bihar’
New Delhi: In his first
address during the elec-
tion campaign in poll-
bound Bihar, BJP na-
tional president JP Na-
dda said PM Narendra
Modi and CM Nitish
Kumar have changed
the policial course of
the state.
Applauding Modi for
bringing in progressive
change in sectors such
as health & welfare,
farming and education,
Nadda said, “Modi hai
toh mumkeen hai, Nit-
ish (Kumar) hai toh
pradesh aage badhega.
(Modi makes it possible
and Nitish’s leadership
will take the state for-
ward).”
“Leadership of India
is secured in hands of
PM Modi,” he said.
Nadda also hailed Bi-
har CM for the combat
strategy used against
coronavirus (Covid-19)
crisis. “Chief minister
Nitish Kumar took care
of people during Cov-
id-19 crisis. His govern-
ment also provided fi-
nancial assistance to
those outside Bihar,”
the BJP leader said Na-
dda also assured people
of Bihar that NDA will
form the government in
state with Nitish Ku-
mar as the CM. —ANI
SVAMITVA SCHEME: A PATHWAY TO A
SELF-RELIANT RURAL INDIA, SAYS PM
ister Narendra Modi on
Sunday said that the
Survey of Villages and
Mapping with Impro-
vised Technology in
Village Areas (SVAMIT-
VA) scheme shows that
rural India has taken a
huge leap towards self-
reliance as “nobody
could eye the property
of beneficiaries” of the
scheme.
Prime Minister Modi
on Sunday launched the
physical distribution of
property cards and he
was joined by Union
Minister for Agricul-
ture and Rural Affairs
Narendra Singh Tomar,
Chief Minister of Hary-
ana Manohar Lal Khat-
tar and Deputy CM Du-
shyant Singh Chautala,
Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath and Madhya
Pradesh Shivraj Singh
Chouhan as he inter-
acted with beneficiaries
of SVAMITVA scheme.
“SVAMITVA scheme
will bring historic
changes in rural areas.
It is a privilege for me
that several villagers
have joined me today
for the launch of this
scheme. When one be-
comes the owner of
their house, their self-
respect is restored. One
feels secure and
strong,” the Prime Min-
ister said.
He asserted that the
SVAMITVA scheme
will allow rural India to
contribute to the na-
tion’s drive for self-reli-
ance and “nobody could
eye the property of ben-
eficiaries”.
“The scheme will
also help villagers in
taking loans. If they
have proper documents
of their land and prop-
erties, no bank can
deny them loans. Only
one-third of the world’s
population has docu-
ments of their proper-
ty... I cannot let the ru-
ral population be de-
pendent on others, I
have to work towards
making them self-reli-
ant,” he said.
As the scheme was
launched on
Jayaprakash Narayan
andNanajiDeshmukh’s
birth anniversaries, the
Prime Minister said it
shows the Centre’s com-
mitment towards fulfill-
ing their visions of
building a self-reliant
rural India.
SVAMITVA is a Cen-
tral Sector Scheme of
the Ministry of Pan-
chayati Raj, which was
launched by the Prime
Minister on National
Panchayati Raj Day,
April 24, 2020.—ANI
PM Narendra Modi addresses after the launch event of the physical distribution of Property Cards
under the SVAMITVA scheme, through VC, in New Delhi on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
NARENDRA MODI
@NARENDRAMODI
The great Nanaji
Deshmukh was one of
Loknayak JP’s most
devout followers. He
worked tirelessly to
popularise JP’s thoughts
and ideals. His own
work towards rural
development motivates
us. Remembering Bharat
Ratna Nanaji Deshmukh
on his Jayanti.
I bow to Loknayak JP on
his Jayanti. He valiantly
fought for India’s freedom
and when our democratic
ethos was under attack,
he led a strong mass
movement to protect
it. For him, there was
nothing above national
interest and people’s
welfare.
JP Nadda addresses supporters during a public rally for the Bihar
Assembly election, in Gaya on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Surjewala to head key
panel in Bihar polls
New Delhi: The Con-
gress formed various
panels for the upcoming
Bihar assembly polls
with party general sec-
retary Randeep Surjew-
ala named chairman of
the election manage-
ment and coordination
committee.
Mohan Prakash was
made the convenor of
the 14-member election
management and coor-
dination committee.
The panel includes sen-
ior leaders like Meira
Kumar, Tariq Anwar,
Shatrughan Sinha, Kir-
ti Azad, Shakeel Ahmed
and Sanjay Nirupam.
Congress president
Sonia Gandhi also ap-
proved the setting up of
the publicity commit-
tee, media coordination
committee, public meet-
ing and logistics com-
mittee, legal committee
and office management
committee for Bihar
polls, a statement said.
Randeep Surjewala
Pradhan urges Pokhriyal again to
repeal University Amendment Bill
Bhubaneswar: Union
Minister Dharmendra
Pradhan has urged his
cabinet colleague Edu-
cationMinisterRamesh
Pokhriyal Nishank to
repeal the Odisha Uni-
versities (Amendment)
Bill, 2020, which was
recently passed by Odi-
sha Government in the
just concluded Mon-
soon session of the As-
sembly.
Writing to Pokhriyal
for the second time on
the controversial Bill,
Pradhan said, “The Bill
seeks to strip away the
autonomy of higher
educational institu-
tions in Odisha by bu-
reaucratising critical
aspects of functioning
of universities and
crippling its autonomy
with the intent of exer-
cising the State Govern-
ment’s complete domi-
nance.”
Dubbing the Bill as
ab initio ultra vires to
provisions of the Con-
stitution, Pradhan said
the impugned legisla-
tion has been passed by
the State Legislature
under entry 25 of the
Concurrent List to the
7th Schedule of the
Constitution.
“This entry is subject
to entry 66 of the Union
List, under which the
Parliament has exclu-
sive powers to make
laws in relation to coor-
dination in institutions
for higher education or
research. Therefore,
regulations issued un-
der UGC Act, 1956 and
universities in Odisha
recognised by UGC un-
der section 12 (b) of the
Act are bound by the
extant UGC provi-
sions,” the letter said.
The Bill is also in
complete contradiction
to PM’s visionary NEP
2020, he added.
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi,
who had visited Hath-
ras in UP last week
amid outrage over the
alleged gang rape of a
20-year-old woman, this
morning attacked Chief
anath in a tweet. The
brutal torture of the
20-year-old Dalit woman
has triggered nation-
wide outrage; she died
at a hospital in Delhi
last month.
“The shameful truth
is many Indians don’t
consider Dalits, Mus-
lims and Tribals to be
human. The CM & his
police say no one was
raped because for them,
andmanyotherIndians,
she was NO ONE (sic),”
the ex-Congress chief
tweeted, along with a
news report that said
the police had been de-
nying the rape charges.
The 20-year-old wom-
an was allegedly as-
saulted by four men of
her village on Septem-
ber 14. She died two
weeks later after sus-
taining horrific inju-
ries in a savage assault.
The Uttar Pradesh
government has been
criticised for the han-
dling on the case and a
late-night cremation
where her family was
allegedly not allowed.
—Agencies
New Delhi: The Indian
railways is working on
a plan to upgrade all its
trains capable of run-
ning at a maximum
speed of 130 kmph and
beyond with special air-
conditioned coaches in
a bid to upgrade its high
speed network, the rail-
way ministry said.
There will be no sleeper
coaches in these identi-
fied trains. The minis-
try clarified that the
decision will only im-
pact high speed trains
and all existing mail
and express trains with
a maximum speed of up
to 110 kmph will con-
tinue to ply with sleeper
coaches. “AC coaches
become a technical ne-
cessity wherever the
speed of train is going
to be above 130 kmph .
Indian Railways is
working on a massive
plan to upgrade the rail
network to high speed
potential. Tracks on
golden quadrilateral &
diagonals are being up-
graded to cater to speed
of 130 km - 160 km /
hour. Non-AC sleeper
coaches would be re-
placed by AC coaches
for trains which will be
running at a maximum
speed of 130/160 kmph.
Speed potential of some
corridors has already
been upgraded to 130
kmph,” an official said.
“The scheme will help villagers in taking loans if they have proper documents,” Narendra Modi said
Shameful truth:
RaGa slams Yogi
over Hathras case
High speed
trains to be
upgraded with
AC coaches
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan
GRAFT ALLEGATIONS AGAINST GRANDSON
Cong demands sacking of K’taka CM
Bengaluru: Congress
on Sunday demanded
the sacking of Karna-
takaChief MinisterBS
Yediyurappa in the
wake of reports that
twocompaniesinwhich
his grandson Shashid-
har Mardi became a di-
rector after BJP came
to power in the state in
July 2019 received Rs 5
crore from seven Kolk-
ata shell companies
between March and
July 2020.
Calling it a case of
“glaring, patent and
shameless case of cor-
ruption coupled with
brazen inaction and
silence”, Congress
spokesperson Ab-
hishek Singhvi, react-
ing to a report, de-
manded a probe into
the matter by a “sit-
ting SC or sitting CJ of
a high court”.
“If you have nothing
to fear why are you not
appointing. Why not
register an FIR under
Prevention of Corrup-
tion Act,” Singhvi said
while addressing a
press conference. He
said if BJP and Yedi-
yurappa had the “mi-
nutest” and “slightest”
sense of shame, “he
must resign or be
sacked”.
The RoC documents
scrutinised by Rs 5
crore was transferred
through seven Kolkata
companies to Belgra-
via Enterprises Pvt
Ltd & VSS Estates Pvt
Ltd, where Shashidhar
Mardi is a director.
Mardi, 30, is the son of
Yediyurappa’s daugh-
ter Padmavathi V Y.
Rahul Gandhi
BS Yediyurappa

INDIAAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2020
CBI registers...
Meanwhile, the family
members of the wom-
an, will appear before
the Lucknow bench of
Allahabad High Court
amid tight security on
Monday.
The court will record
the version of the vic-
tim’s family members
in the case. It had on
October 1 asked the
woman’s parents to
come to apprise it of
their version of the in-
cident.
The hearing is likely
to be held in-person.
The court had ordered
the Hathras district ad-
ministration to ar-
range for the family’s
travel.
The case is listed for
hearing before a divi-
sion bench of Justice
Pankaj Mithal and Jus-
tice Rajan Roy at 2:15
PM.
The high court had
directed the district
judge to ensure that the
victim’s family mem-
bers appear before it on
Monday.
It has also sum-
moned additional chief
secretary, home; direc-
tor general of police;
ADG, law and order;
and district magistrate
and superintendent of
police of Hathras to
furnish the status re-
port of the investiga-
tion in the case.
The state govern-
ment has asked addi-
tional advocate general
V K Sahi to represent it
before the court.
“The district judge,
who has been appoint-
ed as the nodal officer
for the appearance of
the Hathras victim’s
family members be-
fore the high court, is
in touch with it as to
when the case is listed.
The family will move
accordingly. The fami-
ly is in Hathras as of
now,” Superintendent
of Police (SP) Vineet
Jaiswal told PTI on
Sunday morning.
Police did not di-
vulge the details of
their security plan on
the movement of the
woman’s family mem-
bers.
Sixty security per-
sonnel have been de-
ployed and eight closed-
circuit television
(CCTV) cameras in-
stalled at the victim’s
house to ensure the
safety of her family
members, according to
the police. —PTI
Despite spending...
Congress MLA and
AMC councillor, Im-
ran Khedawala has
come down heavily on
the government for
“ignoring the dog
menace”.
He said, “The AMC
has paid Rs6 crore in
three years to these
agencies. Yet, as many
as 27,000 dog bites
were reported during
the lockdown period.
The organizations
roped in by the AMC
for dog sterilization
work only on paper.”
FROM PG 1
‘8,68,77,242 SAMPLES TESTED YET’
COVID-19 count in the country 70,53,807, including 8,67,496 active cases
New Delhi: India’s
COVID-19 count crossed
the 70-lakh mark on
Sunday, as per the Min-
istry of Health and
Family Welfare.
According to the
MoHFW, the COVID-19
count in the country is
at 70,53,807, including
8,67,496 active cases.
The number of cured
and discharged or mi-
grated patients has also
crossed 60-lakhs and is
at 60,77,977 in the coun-
try. With 918 deaths,
the toll due to the dis-
ease now stands at
1,08,334.
Maharashtra contin-
ues to be the worst-af-
fected State with
2,36,947 active cases.
However, 12,29,339 pa-
tients have been cured
and discharged in the
state, while the disease
has claimed 39,732 lives
so far.
Karnataka with
1,18,870 active cases and
5,61,610 recoveries is
also severely affected by
the pandemic. Mean-
while, Delhi has 21,955
active cases, while
2,76,046 patients have
been cured and dis-
charged in the union
territory. Further,
ICMR said that a total
of 8,68,77,242 samples
tested for 10,78,544 sam-
ples were tested on Sat-
urday.—ANI
Cong demands
Karnataka CM’s
resignation
New Delhi: The Con-
gress on Sunday de-
manded Karnataka CM
BS Yeddyurappa’s res-
ignation and a probe by
a Supreme Court Judge
into an alleged bribery
scam in the over Rs
662-crore housing pro-
ject in Bengaluru, while
questioning the BJP’s
“silence” on the issue.
“There should be
time-bound probe with-
in two months by a sit-
ting Judge of SC,” Con-
gress senior spokesper-
son Abhishek Manu
Singhvi claiming that
the BJP government in
the state was in the
“clutches of corrup-
tion” as “tainted lead-
ers ruled the roost”, he
demanded that Yeddy-
urappa should resign in
view of “stinging alle-
gations of unabashed
corruption”.
The Congress leader
pointed to alleged audio
conversations of CM’s
son Vijayendra, What-
sApp conversations be-
tween contractor and
Maradi, transfer of
crores in cash and
through RTGS, bla-
tant money-launder-
ing through seven Kol-
kata companies and
involvement of func-
tionaries working at
CM’s home. —ANI
New Delhi: A total of
322 projects with a
length of 12,413 Km
have been awarded un-
der the ‘Bharatmala
Pariyojana’ till August
2020, said the Ministry
of Road Transport and
Highways on Sunday.
It informed that
2,921 km has been con-
structed under the pro-
ject till the same date.
In an official release,
the Ministry said that it
has taken up a detailed
review and has given
overall investment ap-
proval for the ‘Bharat-
mala Pariyojana’ Phase
I Scheme for develop-
ment of about 34,800
km, including 10,000 km
residual NHDP stretch-
es, at an estimated out-
lay of Rs 5,35,000 crores.
‘Bharatmala Pariyo-
jana’ is an umbrella pro-
gramme for highways
that focuses on efficien-
cy of freight and pas-
senger by bridging in-
frastructure like devel-
opment of economic
corridors and feeder
routes, National Corri-
dor Efficiency, Border
and International con-
nectivity roads, Coastal
& Port connectivity
roads, greenfield ex-
pressways. —ANI
‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’
Centre awards
322 projects of
12,413 km till Aug
Metro car shed project at Aarey to be relocated
Mumbai: Maharashtra
Chief Minister Uddhav
Thackeray on Sunday
announced the reloca-
tion of the metro car
shed project in Aarey,
which has been at the
centre of a storm since
October last year, and
also said that cases
against activists who
protested against the
felling of trees for the
project had been with-
drawn. Addressing the
state through a web-
cast, Thackeray said
the project would now
be shifted to a govern-
ment land in Kanjur-
marg. “The Aarey car
shed will be moved to
Kanjurmarg. We have
allotted government
land for the car shed for
Rs 0. We won’t spend a
single rupee for acquir-
ing this land,” he said.
The Mumbai Metro
Rail Corporation Limit-
ed (MMRCL) had begun
chopping trees at Aarey
colony on October 25
last year to construct a
carshedfortheRs32,000
crore underground Co-
laba-Bandra-Seepz Met-
ro corridor. Several ac-
tivists, who had gath-
ered at the spot to pro-
test, were detained by
the police. An FIR was
registered against 29
people. After he was
sworn in as CM, Uddhav
Thackeray had put a
stay on the work on the
car shed. “About Rs 100
crore expenditure was
incurredforthepurpose
and it won’t go waste,”
he said. Aaditya, who
hasvociferouslyprotest-
ed against the proposed
car shed.—Agencies
Shukla death: BJP meets
WB Guv, seeks CBI probe
IAF airbase fully
equipped for taking
challenge in night
Leh: IAF airbase is ful-
ly equipped to handle
any kind of challenges
if arise in the night.
Sorties of IAF aircraft
can be seen in the night
where the roar of many
IAF aircraft can be
heard with a fighter jet.
MIG-29, Apache, Chi-
nook, MI-17, and light-
weighted aircraft
Dhruv has carried out
night sorties at Leh air-
base.
“We are ready to op-
erate our aircraft in the
night in any condition,
our trained pilots are
not only skilled they are
highly professional to
do sorties in the night
in the region,” IAF of-
ficial who is handling
the entire night sorties
at Leh airbase.
Night operation in
Leh is not an easy win-
ter months will pose
new challenges. How-
ever, IAF pilots can
fight challenges. —ANI
Kolkata: BJP delega-
tion of Mukul Roy,
Jayprakash Majumdar
and Sabyasachi Dutta,
submitted a memoran-
dum to WB Governor
Jagdeep Dhankhar on
Sunday, demanding CBI
probe into the murder
of party councillor
Manish Shukla. Shukla
was shot dead in front
of Titagarh police sta-
tion in North 24 Parga-
nas district on October
4. “BJP delegation led
by National Vice Presi-
dent Mukul Roy de-
manded CBI investiga-
tion in the politically
targeted killing of Man-
ish Shukla,” the West
Bengal Governor later
tweeted.
The BJP leaders al-
leged that the state’s
Criminal Investigation
Department was trying
to falsely implicate his
opponents in the party
itself, thus making it a
case of factional feud.
“The delegation al-
leged CID @MamataOf-
ficial was misdirecting
investigation to falsely
implicate political op-
ponents in BJP,” said
Dhankar.—ANI
CONG CLAIMS
COVID winner, Dr Lakshmi Kanthamma David, celebrates her 100th birthday in Hyderabad, before discharge.
Kamakhya temple in
Assam opens doors for
devotees after 7 months
Guwahati : Devotees
began to visit the Kam-
akhya Temple in Guwa-
hati on Sunday as it reo-
pened after seven
months of COVID-19
restrictions. However,
the devotees have only
been allowed to perform
the “parikrama” while
the sanctum sanctorum
remained out of
bounds.
According to temple
guidelines, “Devalaya
gate will remain open
from 8 am till sunset.
However, timing may be
changed during Durga
Puja. Devotees will un-
dergo the RAT for covid
near the entry at Foot-
hill. Maximum time for
each devotee will be 15
minutes, nobody will be
allowed inside without
the face mask. —ANI
‘FELUDA test expected in few weeks’
Dr Harsh Vardhan
gave update on the
rollout of the FE-
LUDA test in near
future. “While I can-
not put an exact
date on availability,
we should expect
this test within next
few weeks. Safety,
efficiency is re-
quired for emergen-
cy use authoriza-
tion vaccine approv-
al for ensuring pa-
tient safety. Further
action will depend
on data generated.
Dr Harsh Vardhan
said, “eSanjeevani
has over 12,000 prac-
titioners of various
State Government
Health Depart-
ments and their ser-
vices have been
sought so far by peo-
ple from 510 dis-
tricts, across 26
states in the coun-
try. While first 1
Lakh consultations
took 3 months, last 1
Lakh have come up
under 3 weeks, it’s a
great achievement.
Devp on ‘eSanjeevani platform’
Mumbai cops
question the
Republic TV
CEO, others
Mumbai: The chief ex-
ecutive officer of Re-
public TV, Vikas Khan-
chandani arrived at the
Mumbai Police’s Crime
Branch office earlier to-
day. Khanchandani is
being questioned in the
alleged TRP scam, in
which Republic TV was
named as one among
the three channels be-
ing probed by the Mum-
bai Police. The owners
of the two other chan-
nels Fakt Marathi and
Box Cinema -- have been
arrested. According to
reports, Republic TV’s
Chief Operating Offic-
ers Hersh Bhandari and
Priya Mukherjee have
also been summoned by
the Mumbai Police. Re-
public TV’s Chief CFO
Shiva Subramaniyam
also received summons
by the Mumbai Police
yesterday. Mumbai Po-
lice chief Parambir
Singh has alleged that
Republic TV had falsely
manipulated TRPs. Re-
public TV has denied all
allegations and has
claimed that the chan-
nel is being unfairly tar-
geted.—Agencies
Protests broke out last year over the felling of over 2,000 trees to
make way for the Metro car shed in Aarey Colony.
Dr Harsh Vardhan
—Photo ByANI
BJP delegation meets Bengal
Governor, seeks CBI probe In
councillor murder.
Modi, Shah star campaigners!
ister Narendra Modi,
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah, Defence
Minister Rajnath Sin-
gh, BJP president JP
Nadda are among the
star campaigners for
the BJP for the upcom-
ing Bihar Assembly
elections.
BJP has released a
list of 30 star campaign-
ers for upcoming Bihar
Assembly Elections.
The names of BJP lead-
ers who campaign for
candidates for General
Election to the Legisla-
tive Assembly in Bihar
(Phase 1) include Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi, Home Minister
Amit Shah, Defence
Minister Rajnath Sin-
gh, BJP president JP
Nadda, Bihar deputy
chief minister Sushil
Modi.
Some other promi-
nent leaders are Union
MinistersRaviShankar
Prasad, Smriti Irani,
Dharmendra Pradhan.
Uttar Pradesh Chief
anath and former Ma-
harashtra chief minis-
ter Devendra Fadnavis
and BJP MP Manoj Ti-
wari are also included
in the list among other
BJP leaders.
Elections to the 243-
seat Bihar Assembly
will be held in three
phases -- October 28,
November 3, and 7. The
counting of votes will
take place on Novem-
ber 10. Ruling Janata
Dal (United) will fight
for 122 seats, while its
alliance partner BJP
has got 121 seats. The
JD(U) will give seven
seats to Jitan Ram Man-
jhi’s Hindustan Awam
Morcha from its quota,
while the BJP will allot
11 seats to Vikassheel
Insaan Party.—ANI
PM Narendra Modi Amit Shah

IT WON’T BE
THE SAME FOR
EVERYONE
GETTING BACK TO‘NORMAL’
Alongside risk fac-
tors, a range of pro-
tective factors may re-
duce the impacts of ad-
versity on a child. We
should think about pro-
viding young children
with extra support,
helping them regulate
their emotions, foster-
ing warm relationships,
promoting resilience
and encouraging prob-
lem solving, and facili-
tating social contact
within the COVID-19
socialdistancingnorms,
such as video chats.
As children begin the
transition back to early
childhood education
and care, some “clingi-
ness” is natural. Having
a distressed child at
drop-off time can be
confronting. But trust
in their capacity to reg-
ulate their emotions
when you leave, and
their ability to rediscov-
er relationships with
their educators, carers
and friends. They
should soon readjust.
To support smooth
transitions back into
early childhood educa-
tion and care, talk posi-
tively with your child
about the people they’re
going to see, such as
teachers and their
friends, and encourage
them to ask any ques-
tions they may have. If
you’re worried about
how the lockdown has
affected your child, you
canalwaysspeaktoyour
child’s educator, the cen-
tre director, or your GP
about connecting with
servicesdesignedtosup-
port you and your child.
S
ocial distanc-
ing during
COVID-19 has
seen a radical
upheaval to the way we
work and socialise. But
what are the implica-
tions for young children?
Many children have been
uprooted from their places
of education and care, and
may struggle to understand
why their routine has been dis-
rupted.
If you’re a parent, particularly
in Victoria, you may be wonder-
ing whether this period — a sig-
nificant amount of time rela-
tive to the life of a young
child — might affect your
child’s social develop-
ment. The good news is,
with less of the day-to-
day rush, many young
children have probably
benefited from extra so-
cialisation at home with
their families.
COVID-19 has curtailed many
interactions children would regu-
larly have in early learning and social
contexts. But at the same time, it’s created
opportunities for other meaningful interac-
tions such as at home with family.
Day-to-day life with family, or socially distanced
interactions within the community, still provide
great opportunities for social development. We
can’t know for sure what toll this pandemic will
take on children’s social development. But it’s im-
portant to remember children are always learning
wherever they may be, and whoever they may be
with. So try to focus on the benefits you’ve gained
spending time with your child at home.
TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2020
WILL COVID LOCKDOWNS
HURT YOUR CHILD’S
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT?
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION CONCEPT: MONI SHARMA DESIGN: CP SHARMA
We can explore the
ways COVID-19
might affect
children’s social
development by
considering three
theories in
psychology
3 DIFFERENT THEORIES SUGGEST THEY’LL PROBABLY BE OK
It’s important for young children
to develop strong and secure “at-
tachments” with parents and car-
egivers. These emotional and physi-
cal bonds support children’s social
development.
Psychologists have shown very
young children who develop strong
and secure attachments become more
independent, have more successful
social relationships, perform better
at school, and experience less anxie-
ty compared with children who didn’t
have strong and secure attachments.
Where the extra time children
have spent with parents and caregiv-
ers during COVID-19 has been in a
supportive environment, this may
help the development of
these attachments.
Beyond parents and car-
egivers, it’s important
for children to develop se-
cure attachments within
the whole family.
For young children,
research shows these con-
nections with family
members can lead to
improved social de-
velopment, while fostering
the child’s ability to devel-
op their own identity as
part of a family unit.
Young children might
have spent more time with
siblings and other family
members during lockdown,
possibly developing deeper
connections with them.
SUPPORTING THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD
(ATTACHMENT THEORY)
SUPPORTING THE CHILD IN THE
FAMILY (FAMILY SYSTEMS THEORY)
Sociocultural theory con-
siders social interac-
tion to underpin the ways
children learn, allowing
them to make meaning from
the world around them.
While learning can and
does take place between
children and adults, there’s
lots of research showing
all children benefit from
socialising with peers of
the same age.
Evidence also indicates
children learn to respond to
social situations in social en-
vironments. This could be in
early learning settings, on
the playground, or with
their families.
SUPPORTING THE CHILD IN THE
COMMUNITY (SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY)
COVID-19 has
broughttoughtimes
for many Australian
families. We know add-
ed financial pres-
sures can adversely af-
fect family life, and may
be compounded during
lockdown by a lack of
external support.
The Australian Early
Development Cen-
sus consistently identi-
fies lower socioeconom-
ic status as one of the
risk factors for poorer
“social competence” —
a child’s ability to get
along with and relate to
others. This doesn’t
mean all children in
families experiencing
socioeconomic hard-
ship during COVID-19
will necessarily face
challenges in their so-
cial development. It’s
more complex that that.
However, some might.
Other risk factors for
social competence may
have also been height-
ened during the pan-
demic. These include
family conflict, anxiety
or illness (of the child or
the parent), and trauma,
such as exposure to
stressfulevents,grief,or
loss. Children who al-
ready live in vulnerable
situations may have be-
come even more vulner-
able during this time.

Life is a beautiful gift given to us by
god. We can make it even more
beautiful by choosing to be happy,
reaching out to others and believing in the
philosophy of brotherhood and humanity.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Surat: For Divyesh
Kumar of Surat,
megastar Amitabh
Bachchan’s birthday
falls everyday, not
just October 11. It has
been 20 years since
his eyes search for
Don’s pictures and
his hands grab every
single frame of the
Shahenshah.
By Amitabh Bach-
chan’s 78th birthday, he
boasts of a collection of
as many as 7,000 pic-
tures of Vijay, his name
in many a superhit.
This superfan’s devo-
tion doesn’t need words.
He has been collecting
photos of the megastar,
ranging from passport
size pictures to one-of-a-
kind movie posters.
“I started to collect
pictures of Amit ji in
1999. I gathered all
kinds of pictures
from everywhere,
from passport size
pictures to movie
posters. Whenever I
find a new picture of
him, I cut it out and
keep it an album for
safekeeping. So far, I
have gathered over
7,000 pictures,” Divy-
esh says. On the occa-
sion of Bachchan’s
78th birthday, Kumar
wished for a long and
happy life of the vet-
eran actor.
“Just like his movie
‘102 Not Out’, I hope
Amit ji also lives to be
102 years old,” he
prayed. Divyesh has
had the opportunity to
meet the Bollywood su-
perstar on 10 occasions
so far.
“The first time I met
Amit ji, I gave him a
picture which had the
names of all the mov-
ies he had done till
then. I also gave him a
special toy for his
granddaughter. When
he asked me how it was
made, I said to sir, ‘Yeh
toh trailer hai sir, pic-
ture abhi baaki hai’,”
Kumar beamed. Fol-
lowing in Bachchan’s
footsteps, Divyesh said
he and his family too
had signed up to do-
nate organs.
“Amit ji has done a
very noble thing by
signing up to donate
his organs after his
death. I was inspired
by this,” he said.
This Big B fan has collected 7,000 pictures of the megastar
BIRTHDAY BOY 'DON'
Divyesh Kumar of Surat has collected 7,000 pictures of Amitabh Bachchan.
Concerned environmental experts have demanded that the vessel be barred from Indian waters
Shishir Awasthi
Ahmedabad: Lead-
ing environmental-
ists have raised an
alarm over a Singa-
pore-origin vessel
carrying huge quan-
tities of toxic haz-
ardous waste inch-
ing towards the
world’s biggest ship-
breaking yard in
Alang in Gujarat
and is expected to
anchor on October
14.
Demanding that the
ship, J-Nat (IMO No.
8100909), should not be
legally allowed to ven-
ture into Indian mari-
time waters, eminent
evironmental activist
Dr Gopal Krishna,
who edits a journal
called Toxics Watch,
has dashed off an ur-
gent letter to the Un-
ion Shipping Ministry
for this.
The open letter to
the Chairman of the
Ship Breaking Scrap
Committee states,
“India is being
turned into a dump-
ing ground of for-
eign hazardous
wastes because of
the gullibility of Di-
rectorate General of
Foreign Trade and
Ministry of Com-
merce and Ministry
of Environment,
Forests and Climate
Change.”
The letter, that has
also been shared with
a portal on alternative
voices, ‘Counterview’,
warns that the vessels
like these are a
“Threat to Indian
maritime environ-
ment and security
from viral diseases
like Covid-19 from bal-
last water and toxic
substances.”
This has already
taken “A heavy toll
on the ecosystem of
Alang beach,
Bhavnagar, Guja-
rat”, leading to a
situation that fur-
ther exposes “the
inter-state migrant
workers who work
there under dirty,
degrading and dan-
gerous situations
who worked even
during the Covid-19
lockdown (to a grave
danger).”
The J-Nat ship is
carrying about 1,500
tonne of mercury
waste, 60 tonne slug
oil, 1,000 tonne slop oil
and 500 burnt oiled
water tankers. “The
movement of the ship
in Indian waters will
be manifestly in viola-
tion of Section 6 of
the Recycling of Ships
Act, 2019,” the letter
says. According to
this legal provision,
no ship is allowed to
install or use “prohib-
ited hazardous mate-
rials”.
Copes of the letter
have also been
marked to several
union ministries
concerned. Refer-
ring to such ships
being pushed into
the country, the let-
ter alleged, “They
have attempted to
legalise such dump-
ing through a series
of amendments in
the Hazardous
Waste Management
& Handling Rules
under Environment
(Protection) Act,
1986 at the behest of
hazardous waste
traders.”
TOXIC TRAIL: Ship with 3K tonne
hazardouswasteonwaytoAlang
Guj schools may
reopen only after
Diwali vacation
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Af-
ter cancelling the
Navratri celebra-
tions, the Gujarat
Government is
likely to put off
reopening schools
after Diwali in-
stead of October 15
with Covid-19 cases
having surged past
1.5 lakh.
“We will consider
reopening schools
only after Diwali af-
ter assessing the cor-
onavirus situation,”
State Education Sec-
retary Vinod Rao
said. He said the Edu-
cation Department
was in touch with
parents and school
associations. Diwali
will be celebrated
this year on Novem-
ber 14.
“The Centre’s
guideline to reopen
schools from Octo-
ber 15 cannot be
implemented given
the Covid-19 situa-
tion. It will be too
early to open
schools, especially
for students below
Class 10,” said
Jatin Bharad, vice-
president of Self-
financed Schools
Management Asso-
ciation of Gujarat.
Even if the govern-
ment and schools
agree to resume
classes, parents are
unwilling, he said.
Besides school
managements, most
parents are of the
view that there is no
point in reopening
schools in the cur-
rent academic year,
and the government
should consider pro-
moting students to
the next class, says
Naresh Shah, presi-
dent of the All Guja-
rat Parents’ Associa-
tion.
“Nearly half of
the current aca-
demic year has al-
ready passed as
schools remain
closed. We have re-
quested the state
education minister
to consider grant-
ing mass promo-
tion to students so
that they can begin
their next academ-
ic calendar without
any setback,” Shah
said.
“At the same time,
the government
should ensure that
the board exams of
Classes 10 and 12 are
held on time in
March next year,” he
said.
The government
had earlier decided
against reopening
schools from Septem-
ber 21. And accord-
ing to the latest Cen-
tre’s Standard Oper-
ating Procedure
(SOP), the States can
decide on reopening
schools in a graded
manner from Octo-
ber 15. —with PTI inputs
—FILE PHOTO
DANGEROUS
VESSEL!
Alarm has been raised over a ship containing toxic material on the way to the Alang ship-breaking yard.
Teenager held for threats
to Dhoni on social media
First India Bureau
Bhuj: A teenager was
arrested on Sunday
from Kutch district’s
Mundra for issuing
threats to Indian crick-
et star MS Dhoni on so-
cial media.
Kutch (West) Super-
intendent of Police
Saurabh Singh con-
firmed that a class
XII student had post-
ed the threatening
post and was arrested
from Mundra taluka.
Jharkhand police
will arrive here on
Monday to take the
custody of the ac-
cused.
It is still not clear
why the teenager
threatened Dhoni. The
police are finding out if
he is a fan of Dhoni and
got angry after Chennai
Super King, of which
MS is the captain, lost a
match in the ongoing
IPL 2020 tournament.
In his native
Jharkhand, security
has been beefed up at
the former India skip-
per’s farmhouse in
Ranchi following
rape threats to his
five-year-old daugh-
ter Ziva. The threats
came after Chennai
Super Kings’ narrow
10-run loss to Kolkata
Knight Riders in the
IPL 2020.
EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
Teachers of private tuition classes displayed placards expressing their protest against
the State Government for not permitting them to resume their tuition classes, at Subhash
Bridge crossroads near the District Collectorate in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Divyesh Kumar of Surat searches for Amitabh
Bachchan’s picture everyday for 20 years
Cricket star MS Dhoni.
COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
3,569
DEATHS
1,51,595
CONFIRMED CASES
RAJASTHAN
1,650 DEATHS 1,59,052 CASES
DELHI
WORLD
10,79,375
DEATHS
3,76,35,247
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
70,79,426
CONFIRMED CASES
1,08,605
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
40,040 DEATHS 15,17,434 CASES
TAMIL NADU
10,187 DEATHS 6,51,370 CASES
KARNATAKA

AHMEDABAD, MONDAY
OCTOBER 12, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
ONE WINTER FASHION THAT HAS BEEN CONSISTENT OVER
THE YEARS, HAS TO BE THE HIGH-KNEE BOOT FASHION;
AND THE ONE REASON WHY THEY ARE IN DEMAND EVERY
SEASON IS PROBABLY BECAUSE OF THE VERSATILITY!
ashion trends
come and go
with every pass-
ing year, but
there are a few
that make it to
every year’s top-
list, for how amazing
and useful they are. One
such fashion trend hap-
pens to be the trend of
high-knee boots. Their
versatility is something
that is always look up
on- they can be worn
with dresses, shorts,
skirts AND jeans. Dif-
ferent colours and
different textures
of the same nev-
er bore the peo-
ple, and there
is absolutely
no fash-
ionista who doesn’t own
a pair of high-knee boots.
They add a lot of ele-
gance and grace to the
entire outfit, and one
does not have to do a lot,
except slaying effortless-
ly. The top 4 high-knee
boots that are easily
available are the low-
heeled boots or the ‘clas-
sic boots’, flat boots, the
ones with heels, and the
platform boots. City
First brings you a few
high-knee boots styling
tips, which you are abso-
lutely going to adore.
I Make sure to get the
ones that fit well, as
that’s something that
would bring the entire
look of the same;
make sure
they aren’t
too baggy.
I Choosing
the ones
with heels
or wedges
would give
a graceful
look to the
outfits.
I Out of the many types
of high-knee boots,
stick to the classic
ones if you have to
wear them with a for-
mal look- they don’t
look over-the-top.
I If you are opting for a
boho or chic look, you
can go for the ones
with laces or the suede
material.
I Wearing patterned or
coloured boots with
your skirt or dress can
add some pinch to your
stunning personality.
Taking care of these
boots is really impor-
tant, as they are pretty
high maintenance. A few
of the tips are: keep them
in a really safe place and
keep conditioning them
to prevent any damage;
make sure to keep them
standing up- the moment
they are mishandled,
they tend to lose their es-
sence; keep empty water
bottles inside to ensure
they don’t lose their
shape for the longest
time.
NEHAL NAYAR
nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in
F

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
DHWANI BHATT, Influencer
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
To become a leader one has
to think about others before
oneself, ask yourself if you
are ready to become one.
You will add a lot more money to your
bank account because of a sudden
huge profit. On work front, you will
successfully manage your project
inspite of all the hindrances.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Value the feelings of those
who truly love you. Good
savings is a key to face the
unforeseen expenses and
there is no one wiser than you in this
regard. You may find yourself very
busy with lots of responsibilities and
deadlines. You may expect a baby
and this new member will bring joy.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Money is precious and you
must not invest it on sheer
guesswork rather use logic
and reasoning and study
the market throughly. Your career
graph will soar if you make all the
right move on the professional front.
You may find your parents nagging
soconvey your point to them politely.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
You are in mood to do
something unusual today.
You will earn money from
various sources as a result
wealth will keep your coffers brimming.
Be brave with your expressions when
you handling a tough situation where
you honestly matters. You may have to
delay some business proposals.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
For sometime you have to
curb your desire and
prevent yourself from
doing any wasteful
expenses so that you can invest in
the business that you want to grow.
You will make something right today,
you may decide to become the
mediator to solve any issues.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Be wise and don’t make fun
of anyone’s situation. You
must only take as much bite
as much you can chew when
it comes to handling your craving to
earn more. You hold a sound position
and you are always in the limelight for
all the good reasons which hasn’t gone
down even while working from home.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
You should concentrate on
completing your tasks at
work and for that its very
important to not hamper
its timely completion by going into
too much details of everything. On
domestic front, your family member
may need your help in coming out of
their fundamental darkness.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
When it comes to money,
avoid making any promises
to anyone today. Some of
you may go for a
professional course for a better
resume. Make sure you give a lot of
time to your spouse as he/she may
be in desperate need of it. You may
spend an exciting time today.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Those of you who have
been playing in stocks,
have a chance to become
very rich and very quickly.
You seniors may reward you today
for all your hard work and dedication
because give ultimate performance
inspite of the comfort of working at
home, isn’t easy.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Your friends may come
forward and help you by
financing your dream
project but make sure that
these are the right friends. Those in
real estate business will considerably
make lots of profit today. You spouse
may surprise you with a long desired
gift. You must feed poor.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
All one can do is to forge
ahead and no matter what
the situations are nothing
should affect your spirit.
Investing in shares may bring the
kind of returns you expect from your
investments but it may come with the
big risks. Freelancers will have a
great earning.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You love to surround
yourself with animals and
adopting one is easy but
being responsible and
catering to their needs isn’t. You
have a decent financial position but
you aren’t satisfied and you crave for
growth. A strong business opportu-
nity may knock at your door.
MARIAM ABUHAIDERI
e get angry when
foreigners criti-
cize India for its
garbage clad
roads, polluted
rivers, and hypo-
critical treat-
ment of its animals, yet
we do nothing to change
this image. We would
rather stay mad. What’s
worse is we contribute to
this image. So do we have
a right to be upset? I
leave you to answer this
question.
Millennials are more
educated and aware.
There are more animal
lovers today than there
were ten years ago. There
are more environmen-
tally friendly brands to-
day, and increased aware-
ness about veganism, a
wide range of cruelty-
free products, and brands
that are claiming to be
sustainable. Everything
is so much better, except
I wonder if there are so
many enlightened souls
why are we seeing so
much garbage on the
roads? Why is our educa-
tion system still about
rote learning? Why
aren’t students taught
how to be better citizens
and assessed on their per-
formance of civic sense
instead? Why do we wor-
ship idols and abuse the
live incarnations of those
very idols? It beats me.
Recently I have come to
be associated with the
Plastic Cow Campaign,
formed by a group of
concerned animal activ-
ists in Jaipur. We deliber-
ate on how we can save
cows and our environ-
ment. It is not easy. I am
reminded of my visit to
an NGO in Udaipur
where an issue was
brought to my attention.
The volunteer told me
that cows are increas-
ingly dying because they
are consuming plastic.
Before I visited the NGO,
I segregated trash but
only because it is the
right thing to do. I never
realized plastic was such
a threat to cows. Yes the
very animal that is wor-
shipped in India, is dying
due to the inconsiderate
actions of the people who
worship it.
Of the total number of
fatalities caused in cows
by polythene, in 90% cas-
es, the animal dies due to
the failure of multiple
organs, a condition
caused due to excessive
accumulation of plastic
in the stomach. If this
doesn’t give you the depth
of the problem, I don’t
know what would.
One problem that I see
is the dumping of plastic
in all its forms on roads.
The other is that brands
are overusing plastic in
packaging. Yet another
issue I have identified is
the lack of government
initiative. Corruption is
rampant. I can go on and
on. Most of the communi-
cation unfortunately is
focused to discourage the
use of polythene bags. We
seemed to have forgotten
that it isn’t just bags that
are made of plastic; even
tape that is used to seal
your food packages can
cause the same extent of
harm as a plastic bag.
Anything thrown in the
trash becomes a health
hazard. But it is easy. We
are selfish creatures.
What happens to our
trash once it leaves our
home isn’t our lookout.
thepersianladki@gmail.com
Divorce the
 I get worked up when
I receive my dinner in
plastic containers sealed
with so much unnec-
essary tape. Things
wrapped in layers of un-
necessary plastic drive
me up the wall. Why
are we as a people so
obsessed with plastic?
 Whether the pandemic
has zoonotic sources
is immaterial. Hygiene
and civic ethics should
not be followed simply
as an antidote to the
pandemic. It must be
engrained in us. It is
a mentality we must
adopt. Yet, despite the
pandemic, I see trash
on the road everywhere.
Educated or uneducated
families discard trash on
the road. I am appalled.
And guess what our
community animals are
feeding off this garbage.
What’s worse is we just
drive past it all.
 Now that you know that
bovines are dying due
to accidental plastic
consumption, will you
change your ways? A
question I want to get
answered.
 You can begin by writ-
ing to brands to switch
to more environmen-
tally friendly packaging.
You could also start
segregating your trash.
It would be nice to sign
your divorce with the
toxic plastic. We all
know what isn’t good
for us. Why do we then
dig graves?
W
What if we begin to care?

Impersonating the
KARDASHIANS
J
oeJonasisnostrangertoimpersonatingthe
Kardashians. Remember when Nick Jonas
andKevinJonasjoinedhimtorecreatethe
iconic fight scene originally featuring
KimKardashianandKhloe.Thetriorecreated
the bag fight scene. This time around, Joe
roped in Sophie Turner to recreate a recent
moment from the Keeping Up With The
Kardashian episode featuring Kylie Jen-
ner and Kourtney Kardashian. Viewers
of theshowwouldrecallthatearlierthis
week, Kylie gave fans a new “wasted”
jingle. For the unversed, the iconic
moment took
place during the
family’s dinner
at the Palm Springs
trip. Kylie had or-
dered her favourite
Don Julio 1942 te-
quila, asking for
“42 on the rocks
and a ginger ale.”
—Agency
F
ormer Batwoman star Ruby
Rose recently opened up about
working with action hero Ja-
son Statham and crushing on
his longtime love and partner Rosie
Huntington-Whiteley. The 34-year-
old actress was asked about working
with Jason on The Meg and if she
ever was distracted by his good looks,
despite being gay.
“He’s hot, and maybe it would have
been tough if I was given the chance
to only work with Jason, but the
thing is he brought his wife, Rosie
Huntington, and I’m just saying the
distraction was elsewhere. Have you
seen her?!” Ruby said on SiriusXM’s
The Jason Ellis Show. While Ruby
did refer to Rosie as Jason‘s wife, it’s
never been
confirmed
that they
a r e
m a r -
ried but
the cou-
ple has
been to-
gether for
10 years
now. —Agency
P
riyanka Chopra Jonas and
Chris Hemsworth hosted
the concluding session of
the Countdown Global
Launch, an initiative hosted by
TED Countdown. The duo hosted
several activists fighting climate
change and emphasise on how
individuals and communities
can make a better future. Priyan-
ka Chopra and Chris Hemsworth
hosted the “Action” session of
the five curated sessions. The ses-
sion saw philosopher Roman Kr-
znaric, Sophie Howe, His Holi-
ness Pope Francis and many
more. While each speaker
brought a different perspective
of action, the actors spoke about
their take on climate and social
justice.
Priyanka began the session by
saying, “I am particularly com-
mitted to the plight of refugees
around the world. There are al-
most 70 million displaced people
and that number keeps rising. I
have visited several camps and
seen it for myself. Refu-
gees are among the peo-
ple who are hit the hard-
estbyclimatechange.And
that’s why I feel the need to
be here today. To help high-
light the possible solutions
to this climate crisis and con-
nected social crisis. I feel like
I need to be here to amplify
the voices of those that are
already doing the hard
work that’s needed.”
—Agency
ver the past
few days,
several Hol-
lywood ce-
l e b r i t i e s
are urging
fans to cast
their vote and bring
the change that they
want in the US. From
Taylor Swift to Selena
Gomez, Jennifer Anis-
ton and Chris Evans, a
number of stars have
been pushing followers
to vote. Hailey Bieber has
also been actively urging
fans to do the same. She re-
inforced the importance of
voting on the occasion of
World Mental Health day. The
model confessed her mental
health was affected due to the
country’s state.
“It’s world mental health day,
and something that has affected
my mental health is the state of
our country and the future of our
country. I have hope, but we need
to collectively make the change
we want for our future and that
means getting out there to
VOTE!!!” she appealed. The model
shared this note while posting a
photo of herself sporting wearing
a blue tee and showing her sup-
port to Joe Biden. —Agency
ETCAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2020
11
ONE YEAR
COMPLETED!
HAPPY 54TH
ANNIVERSARY!
PARA-ATHLETE
IN SHEROES
S
honali Bose directorial The Sky
Is Pink completed a year since
its release on Sunday. This film
marked Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ return
to Bollywood after a long break. The
actress was MIA from Bollywood for
almost three years, with Jai Gangaajal
releasing in 2016, with projects in
Hollywood keeping her busy. Pri-
yanka returned to home ground with
Farhaan Akhtar by her side. The duo
was joined Zaira Wasim and Rohit
Saraf in The Sky Is Pink. The film is
based on the life of Aisha Chaudhary,
who was an author and a motivational
speaker. She was diagnosed with
pulmonary fibrosis. —Agency
V
eteran actors Dilip Kumar and
Saira Banu completed 54 years
of togetherness on Sunday.
However, the couple did not celebrate
their wedding anniversary this year
due to the demise of Dilip Kumar’s
brothers. For the unversed, 97-year-
old Dilip Kumar lost his brothers
Ehsan Khan and Aslam Khan recently
due to Covid-19. The couple also
took to Twitter to announce that there
won’t be any grand celebrations lined
up. Saira Banu’s tweet read, ”Oct.
11, is always the most beautiful day
in my life. Dilip Saheb married me
on this day and made my cherished
dreams come true. This year, we are
not celebrating. You all know we lost
two of our brothers, Ahsan Bhai and
Aslam Bhai.” —Agency
P
hilosophy or otherwise, life
is momentary in the larger
scheme of things; not so much
for 31-year-old para-athlete Manasi
Joshi who took a momentous event
that turned her world upside down,
and made it her life’s biggest
positive. Until one fateful day in
December 2011, Manasi met with
an accident that left her needing a
prosthetic limb to walk. Today, she is
the world para-badminton champion
in the SL3 category. Manasi is now
a part of Barbie Sheroes; a one-of-
a-kind Barbie doll in her likeness
has been created by Mattel Inc., the
American toy company that owns the
Barbie brand. For Manasi, the first
Indian para-athlete to be included in
the list, it is an incredible feeling.
The Paralympics is now scheduled
to begin in August 2021. She hopes
to qualify for it and win a medal..
—Agency
Hailey’s
confession
O
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
TED COUNTDOWN
REVEALED
HER CRUSH!
I
n Sunday’s episode of Bigg Boss 14 Weekend Ka
Vaar, Salman Khan unleashed his anger as he
taught the contestants a ‘huge lesson.’
Salman Khan took back the stage on Bigg Boss
14 Weekend Ka Vaar. While Saturday’s episode was
all about the host pulling freshers’ leg, looks Sun-
day’s episode was a game-changer. In the very
first week itself, Salman unleashed his anger
and placed ten TBC contestants outside of the
BB 14 house- everyone barring Nikki Tamboli.
According to the last promo shared by the
makers, Salman Khan seemed to have lost his
cool at the beginning of the season and was
all set to throw ten unconfirmed contestants
out of the house. This made the viewers sure
that something big was definitely coming up.
—Agency
Salman Khan loses cool
Hailey Bieber
... her post
Saira Banu and Dilip Kumar
Chris Hemsworth
Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Salman KhanRuby Rose
Joe Jonas and
Sophie Turner Still from the post
Manasi Joshi

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