First india ahmedabad edition-13 may 2020

New Delhi: Stressing
that “we have to protect
ourselves and move
ahead as well”, Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi, in his address to
the nation, on Tuesday
night, announced a spe-
cial economic package
amounting to Rs20 lakh
crore to deal with Co-
rona crisis. In another
major announcement,
the PM said the fourth
phase of nationwide
lockdown would be dif-
ferent and have new
rules and guidelines.
“I announce a special
economic package to-
day. This will play an
important role in the
‘Atmanirbhar Bharat
Abhiyan.’ The an-
nouncements made by
the government on
Covid-19, decisions of
RBI and Tuesday’s
package totals to Rs20
Lakh crore. This is 10
per cent of India’s
GDP,” PM Narendra
Modi added.
Emphasising that
the special economic
package would focus on
land, labour, liquidity
and laws, PM said it
would benefit labour-
ers, farmers, honest tax
payers, MSMEs and
cottage industry. “Be-
ginning Wednesday, Fi-
nance Minister will an-
nounce details of spe-
cial economic pack-
age,” PM Modi said.
Calling it an unprec-
edented crisis, the PM
said making the coun-
try self-reliant was
only way to make 21st
century belong to In-
dia. “India’s self-reli-
ance will be based on
five pillars — economy,
infrastructure, tech-
nology driven system,
vibrant demography
and demand,” he said.
“When India speaks
of self-reliance, it does
not advocate for a self-
centered system. In In-
dia’s self-reliance there
is a concern for the
whole world’s happi-
ness, cooperation and
peace,” PM Modi said.
With the third phase
of the lockdown expir-
ing on May 17, PM Modi
said the next phase
would be different and
have new rules and
guidelines. “Based on
the suggestions by
states, information re-
lated to lockdown 4 will
be given to you before
18th May. We will fight
corona and we will
move forward,” the PM
said. Turn on P6
`20 lakh cr economic balm for Atmanirbhar Bharat
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation, in New
Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
 Lockdown 4.0 to have new &
different rules; info before May 18
India has resources, talent &
we must be vocal for local
Entire nation curious to decode
Modi’s mega economic package

MODISPEAK
CORONA
ALERT
AHMEDABAD l WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 167
28°C - 42°C
OUR EDITIONS:
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COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
537
DEATHS
8,904
CONFIRMED CASES
466 discharges and 362 new cases leave Gujarat hopeful
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Recov-
ered patients outnum-
bered new cases in the
state for the first time
ever, with 466 patients
being discharged in 11
districts on Tuesday.
While there have been
362 new cases and 24 fa-
talities in the state over
the past 24 hours, the
authorities seem to be
focusing on the silver
lining.
The evening bulle-
tin from the health de-
partment saw special
mention of recovered
patients of all ages,
from twin infants to
92-year-old. And Chief
Minister Vijay Rupani
held a video confer-
ence with nursing
staff to mark the occa-
sion of International
Nurses Day, where he
thanked them for
their commitment and
dedication.
The state’s total tally
is 8,904 positive cases
with a death toll of 537.
A total of 3,246 patients
have been discharged.
The manifold im-
provement in the state’s
recovery rate is note-
worthy.
“At one point, our
recovery rate was
15%. Then, it fell to
6.3%. Now, having re-
covered, it is at
36.5%--higher than
the national recovery
average,” said Jayan-
ti Ravi, Principal Sec-
retary (Health).
In encouraging news
from Ahmedabad, the
city followed the state in
recoveries (392) out-
numbering new cases
(267). This also means
that the city saw one
less new positive case in
the last 24 hours than it
did in the previous 24-
hour cycle. However, 21
deaths were reported on
Tuesday--two more than
on Monday. Till date,
1,874 patients have been
discharged in the city.
The health depart-
ment has changed its
sample testing strategy
to keep up with the
spreadof theSars-CoV-2
virus across the state.
In the last 24 hours,
health teams have col-
lected more sample
from Devbhumi Dwar-
ka,Mehsana,Bharuch,
Junagadh, Panchma-
hal and other districts,
where more positive
cases were reported
over the past few
days. The state daily’s
sample testing capac-
ity is around 3,000. In
the past 24 hours,
3,066 samples have
been tested.
The state also claims
tokeeptrackof patients’
health for a week after
theirdischargeviaregu-
lar telephone calls.
 State’s 36% recovery rate
higher than national average
 State tally at 8,904 cases with
a death toll of 537, A’bad sees
267 new cases, 392 discharges
IN GUJARAT
DISTRICT TOTAL TOTAL NEW
CASES DEATHS DEATHS
AHMEDABAD 6353 421 21
VADODARA 574 32 1
SURAT 944 40 1
RAJKOT 66 2 1
BHAVNAGAR 97 7 0
ANAND 80 7 0
BHARUCH 32 2 0
GANDHINAGAR 142 5 0
PATAN 29 1 0
PANCHMANHAL 65 4 0
BANASKANTHA 81 3 0
NARMADA 13 0 0
CHOTA UDEPUR 17 0 0
KUTCH 14 1 0
MAHESANA 59 2 1
BOTAD 53 1 0
DAHOD 20 0 0
PORBANDAR 3 0 0
JAMNAGAR 30 2 0
MORBI 2 0 0
SABARKANTHA 27 2 0
ARAVALLI 75 2 0
MAHISAGAR 46 1 0
KHEDA 32 1 0
GIR SOMNATH 17 0 0
VALSAD 6 1 0
TAPI 2 0 0
NAVSARI 8 0 0
DANG 2 0 0
SURENDRANAGAR 3 0 0
DWARKA 4 0 0
JUNAGADH 3 0 0
RAJASTHAN 1 0 0
TOTAL 8904 537 24
INDIA
74,243
CONFIRMED CASES
2,415
DEATHS
WORLD
2,90,453
DEATHS
43,10,783
CONFIRMED CASES
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In a jolt to
the Vijay Rupani-led state
goverment, the Gujarat
High Court on Tuesday
overturned the election
of Law and Parliamenta-
ry Affairs minister Bhu-
pendrasinh Chudasama.
The Court observed that
he won the 2017 Assem-
bly election from the
Dholka constituency us-
ing corrupt practices. As
a result, it rejected Chu-
dasama’s prayer to stay
its judgement.
Pronouncingthejudge-
ment through video con-
ference, the single-judge
bench of Justice Paresh
Upadhyay observed: “Il-
legal procedure was fol-
lowed in violation of the
Election Commission’s
rules. So the election re-
sult is declared null and
void. And there were ir-
regularities in the count-
ing process (as well).”
The court further ob-
served that, “Returning
officer (Dhaval Jani) has
manipulated the election
records and had illegally
excluded counting of
postal ballot votes, keep-
ing all seniors and ob-
servers in the dark.”
The 2017 Assembly
election result of the
Dholka constituency was
challenged in the High
Court by the defeated
Turn on P6
GUJ LAW MIN’S POLL
WIN DECLARED VOID
IAF deploys
jets as Chinese
choppers seen
near Ladakh
‘No cabin bags, 80-yr
and above can’t fly’
New Delhi: Tension is
simmering along the
India-China border
with troops of the two
countries maintaining
a close watch on each
other in the Pangong
Tso lake area in East-
ern Ladakh, days after
nearly 250 soldiers from
both sides were en-
gaged in a violent face-
off that left many of
them injured, sources
have confirmed.
At least a couple of
Chinese military heli-
copters were spotted
flying close to the un-
demarcated Sino-India
border in the area after
the fierce face-off on
May 5 following which a
fleet of Sukhoi-30 jets of
the Indian Air Force too
carried out sorties
there, the sources said.
The troops on both
sides held on to their
respective Turn on P6
New Delhi: Filling up of
a detailed questionnaire
related to COVID-19, car-
rying no cabin baggage,
using Aarogya Setu app
and reaching airport at
least two hours before a
flight departure might
well be among the re-
quirements for air pas-
sengers during the initial
phase after resumption
of commercial flights.
The civil aviation min-
istry has come out with a
draft Standard Operating
Procedure (SOP) for re-
starting commercial air
passenger services in the
country, which remain
suspendedsinceMarch25
in the wake of the lock-
downtocurbspreadingof
coronavirus infections.
Green status on Aaro-
gya Setu app, web check-
in, and temperature
checks for all domestic
departing and arriving
passengers have also
been proposed.
Turn on P6
Civil aviation ministry has come out with a draft SOP for restarting
commercial air passenger services in the country. —PHOTO BY ANI
HC invalidates victory of senior minister Bhupendrasinh
Chudasama on grounds of manipulation and malpractice
He will challenge the decision in the Supreme Court
GUJARAT DISCHARGE RATE AS ON 12.05.20
MAHA ALLOWS HOME
DELIVERY OF LIQUOR
WITH SOME GUIDELINES
JeM TERROR MODULE
BUSTED IN J&K, 4
ASSOCIATES HELD
Mumbai: The Excise Department of the
Maharashtra government has allowed
the home delivery of liquor with certain
guidelines and precautions which are to
be followed during its delivery. As per
the guidelines, the “licensee shall sell the
IMFL - spirits, beer, mild liquor, wines
only in respect of the liquor for which he
is licensed to sell.”
Awantipora: The Jammu and Kashmir
Police on Tuesday busted a terror module
of proscribed outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad
and arrested four associates in Awantipora
of Pulwama district. According to the
police, the four associates have been
identified as Shabir Ahmad Parray,
Sheeraz Ahmad Dar, Shafat Ahmad Mir
and Ishfaq Ahmad Shah.
VANDE BHARAT II PHASE
FROM MAY 16-22
‘OUR MORTALITY RATE
LOWEST IN WORLD’
New Delhi: Second phase of Vande
Bharat Mission will be launched
from May 16-22 during which 149
flights, including feeder flights, will
be operated to bring back Indians
from 31 countries, sources said.
It will bring back Indians from 31
countries.
New Delhi: India can now do one lakh
COVID-19 tests per day, said Union
Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on
Tuesday. He said country’s mortality
rate is one of the lowest in the world
with 3.2%. Global rate is around
7-7.5% cent. Our recovery rate is at
31.7%. ,” Harsh Vardhan said. P6

NEWSAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
ExtravigilkeptValsadsafefromMahaCovid
Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: Situated
as it is in close prox-
imity to Maharash-
tra, it would have
been easy for COV-
ID-19 numbers to
have gone through
the roof in Valsad.
However, the district
administration’s ear-
ly vigilance ensured
that things went dif-
ferently. There have
been a total of six
positive cases in the
district, of which one
person is still ill.
“We started keeping a
vigil on the border ever
since cases began to be
reported in Maharas-
tra. This was even be-
fore the Janata Curfew
was announced. We’d
asked those migrants to
decide either to stay
back or to leave for their
native towns and vil-
lages saying there will
be no movement across
state borders hence-
forth,” said CR Khar-
san, district collector.
The collector added
that other than the
urban pockets, the ru-
ral part had kept a
movement register.
“The local health
staff was intimated
whenever some out-
sider or someone with
travel history reached
any new pocket. Then
the person was
screened. For the ur-
ban pockets like Vapi,
Valsad, Umargam,
and Sarigam, stores
selling essential mer-
chandise was kept
open for a few hours
and it was mandatory
to practise social dis-
tancing,” asserted the
collector.
Despite the presence
of thousands of GIDC
and migrant workers,
the district has not seen
any uproar or protest.
“As many as 5,000
GIDC units involved in
essential and pharma-
manufacturing are op-
erating as per the Cen-
tre’s directions. So,
many migrants do have
work. During the lock-
down, the authorities
made sure that they
were given both rations
and salaries. So there
was no question of any
kind of unrest,” re-
marked the officer.
However, four
trains have departed
from Valsad carrying
migrant daily wagers
who wanted to go
home. Another two
trains will leave Val-
sad soon, the collec-
tor said.
The district adminis-
tration also acquired
machinery from GIDCs
for sanitization. Accord-
ing to the officers, those
machines were manu-
factured in Valsad and
were exported to China.
CR Kharsan, district collector, Valsad
Good Samaritans help
rural Rajkot to remain safe
First India Bureau
Rajkot: So far, there has
been one positive case
of COVID-19 reported
from Rajkot’s rural are-
as. That person, too, has
a travel history.
Rajkot District De-
velopment Officer
(DDO) Anil Ranavasi-
ya believes that proac-
tive measures and con-
sistent actions have
helped keep the novel
coronavirus out of the
rural areas here.
He explained, “The
first thing we did in
January was to form
committees in each vil-
lage. The committee’s
primary task was to en-
sure that health screen-
ings and surveys were
done earnestly. The sec-
ond task was to check
entry into the villages.
To this end, a team of
about 20 youths was
formed in each village.
These acted as sentries
to guard all entries.”
He added that an iso-
lation centre was also
set up in each village.
“Anyone coming from
outside, especially
from another district,
was isolated. Anyone
showing symptoms
was also isolated. We
took their vehicle keys
and kept them at the
village panchayat of-
fice,” he said.
All leading streets of
each village were fumi-
gated and health centres
disinfecteddailysaidthe
DDO. He added that
workersemployedunder
the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employ-
mentGuaranteeActalso
receivehealthcheck-ups
on a daily basis.
Rajkot District Development
Officer Anil Ranavasiya
Haresh Jhala
Ahmedabad: Al-
though the Gujarat
high court on Tues-
day invalidated Law
and Parliamentary
Affairs Minister
Bhupendrasinh Chu-
dasama’s Dholka As-
sembly election re-
sults, he will contin-
ue to remain a Mem-
ber of the Legislative
Assembly until the
Speaker disqualifies
him. Moreover, the
party does not seem
too keen on pressur-
ing Chudasama to
step down as minis-
ter, either.
Sources from within
the party indicated
that--before the order
even reaches the office
of either the Election
Commission or the
Speaker--the High
Court’s verdict will
likely be challenged
before the Supreme
Court, in an attempt to
get a stay against the
judgment. This will be
a political bailout for
the ruling party.
These sources also
said that the party
cannot afford to lose
another MLA with
the Rajya Sabha
looming. Elections
for four seats were to
be conducted in
March but were post-
poned because of the
COVID-19 outbreak.
With the situation on
the verge of return-
ing to normal, the
election commission
might declare the
election date at any
time.
It is currently a very
close fight between
candidates from the
Congress and the BJP.
Losing one more MLA
will make chances
bleak for the BJP’s
third candidate and
ruin its plans of hav-
ing all three of its can-
didates elected to the
Rajya Sabha. Thus,
losing an MLA be-
comes a politically sui-
cidal step, which no
shrewd political party
will take.
The second argu-
ment is that Chu-
dasama does not
need to resign from
the council of minis-
ters until he is dis-
qualified as an MLA
by the Assembly.
Even if it reaches the
Assembly, the Speak-
er or the Assembly
Secretary may take
time to interpret the
judgment before tak-
ing a final call. This
will give Chudasama
as well as the ruling
party a bit of time to
breathe.
With this develop-
ment, three assembly
seats--Dwarka and
Mova Hadaf in addi-
tiontoDholka--willfall
vacant on technical
grounds. Interestingly,
20 other petitions are
pendingbeforethehigh
court regarding seats
where MLAs won by a
very thin margin.
HC nullifies Chudasama’s
but Speaker may go slow
2017 VICTORY,
Chudasama is still an MLA, unless Speaker or EC say otherwise
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: For
what its worth, Chief
Minister Vijay Rupani’s
Office, on Tuesday,
made public the details
of video conference be-
tween Rupani and PM
Narendra Modi. This
has come, at a time
when all other Chief
Ministers across the na-
tion, have already in-
formed their public of
the feedback they pro-
vided to the PM, nearly
twenty four hours back.
Yet it took a new day for
the Gujarat CMO and
more particularly In-
formation and Broad-
casting Secretary and
Secretary to the Chief
Minister Ashwani
Kumar, to ‘rise up’
from a deep slumber
and provide a ‘half
cooked pie’.
Well, firstly, Kumar
did not even share a
photograph of the
video conference,
having posted a ran-
dom picture of Rupa-
ni. But more serious
was his ‘detailing’ of
the meeting having
merely hinted about
the CM’s presentation
to Modi on Monday.
‘Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani has informed
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi that the state
is returning to normal-
cy’, the detail said. Ac-
cording to Kumar, Ru-
pani cited that MSMEs
and industries have re-
sumed operations.
Trade and industry are
functioning normally
in Jamnagar, Junagadh
and 156 other Nagar Pa-
lika areas while keep-
ing with COVID-19 pro-
tocols.
Rupani also sug-
gested that more are-
as and services be
conditionally allowed
to resume operations
since the spread of
the virus is being con-
trolled with the help
of district adminis-
trations and the
health team.
Kumar also said Ru-
pani has decided to al-
low trade and industry
to operate in non-con-
tainment zones in Ra-
jkot city from May 14.
This permission will
be granted by the dis-
trict collector. All
stakeholders will have
to ensure workers’
safety and follow pre-
scribed guidelines.
Physical distancing is
to be maintained even
on the industry floor.
On Tuesday after-
noon, Rupani held a
video conference with
district collectors, su-
perintendents of po-
lice and range inspec-
tor-generals and took
their feedback on the
ground situation.
They also discussed
what measures
should be taken if
lockdown is relaxed
further.
The state is consider-
ing granting permis-
sion to more services
such as taxis and auto-
rickshaws to resume
operations.
So far, the state gov-
ernment has helped
2.80 lakh migrant
workers to return
home on 233 trains.
On Tuesday, 31 more
trains left from Guja-
rat, heading towards
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
Orissa, Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattis-
garh and Rajasthan.
Since the state gov-
ernment has allowed
MSMEs to operate in
rural areas, eight lakh
workers are back at
their jobs. Power con-
sumption is also on the
rise in the state, with
daily consumption
reaching 70% of the
normal rate.
MORE SERVICES
SHOULD BE
ALLOWED TO
FUNCTION, CM
TOLD PM AS
STATE BEGINS
RETURNING TO
NORMAL
Unusually tight-lipped CMO keeps state waiting
24 hours on discussion between Rupani and PM
Information and Broadcasting Secretary and Secretary to the
Chief Minister Ashwnani Kumar.

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Due to
the COVID-19 outbreak,
several global conglom-
erates with establish-
ments in China have
expressed interest in
exploring alternate geo-
graphical destinations
to set up operations.
With the Centre very
keen on luring foreign
investors to the shores,
in a letter to Chief Min-
ister Vijay Rupani, the
Dholera SIR Developers
Association (DSDA)
vice-president Ra-
jdipsinh Chudasama
requested Dholera Spe-
cial Investment Region
(SIR) to be considered
as one of the destina-
tions for the foreign
companies.
Elaborating on the
state’s merits as a busi-
ness hub, Chudasama
stated, “Gujarat has
been always one of the
top investment destina-
tions, because of its
proactive and enter-
prising government ap-
proach. Coupled with
sound infrastructure
support, land and la-
bour availability, good
port facility, road con-
nectivity and 24 x 7 pow-
er supply, it has the po-
tential to become the
preferred location for
setting up business op-
erations in India.”
Chudasama also high-
lighted Dholera SIR as
the premium destina-
tionfortheforeigninves-
tors. “Dholera Special
Investment Region has
been planned under the
Delhi-Mumbai Industri-
al Corridor (DMIC) pro-
ject and is the first
Greenfield smart city
with the biggest town
planning in India. It has
a dedicated freight cor-
ridor along with a state-
of-art world class infra-
structureincludingeasy
port, rail and airport
connectivity.”
He added, “I urge the
state to explore talks
and invite firms looking
for potential alterna-
tives and introduce
Dholera SIR as the desti-
nation to boost business
operations,employment
generation.”
Dholera SIR: Destination next for global firms?
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
Patient undergoing dialysis tests positive, passes on infection to other family members
Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: “Going
for treatment to Insti-
tute of Kidney Diseases
and Research Centre
(IKDRC) was the biggest
mistake of our life,”
said Janardan Rajput, a
resident of Vatva area.
Rajput’s 17-year-old sis-
ter was undergoing di-
alysis for a kidney issue
atthehospitalbeforethe
first lockdown was an-
nounced.Now,thewhole
family has been infected
with Sars-Cov-2.
“Igotdischargedfrom
Samras Hostel on Mon-
day evening, along with
threeof myfamilymem-
bers. My younger sister
is still undergoing treat-
ment at the COVID-19
hospital, as she also has
kidney issues. The last
11 days have been noth-
ing short of a night-
mare,” said Rajput.
He expressed confu-
sion about his wife’s
case.Hestated,“Mywife
tested negative for COV-
ID-19 at first, but then
her second report had
some error and accord-
ing to the third report on
Sunday,shewasdeclared
positive. However, she
got discharged from the
carecentrethesameday.
Interestingly, her report
was mentioned AMC’s
list as positive too but
she had already been
sent home.”
Recalling the family’s
struggles in the last
fortnight, Rajput said,
“It was my sister who
tested positive first.
Then, my father and I
had to plead to the hos-
pital authorities to con-
duct our tests and the
results were positive.
Only my mother’s test
came back negative.”
He added, “I am wor-
ried for my sister who is
all alone in the hospital.
And, there is no proper
facility for sanitation
and cleanliness.”
On April 20, Rajput’s
sister was running a fe-
ver following which she
was tested for novel
coronavirus. Rajput
said, “My sister’s report
came back positive on
May and she is in the
hospital since then. Lat-
er, all the family mem-
bers were tested and
taken to Tapi Flats in
Nikol apart from my fa-
ther who was admitted
to Samras Hostel. Grad-
ually, we were all shift-
ed to Samras.”
According to Rajput,
the treatment of the
family was not handled
well by the doctors at
Samras. They also had
to wait for over five
hours to board a bus to
go home and no one
practised social dis-
tancing in the bus. The
family was also dropped
at a place halfway to
their residence.
NIGHTMARE: Family of 5
‘mourn’ treatment at IKDRC
A ﬁle photo of IKDRC with an inset of the sign outside the Rajput residence.
HC verdict leaves BJP
shocked, Cong satisfied
Oppn condemns
journalist’s arrest
on sedition charges
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: On Mon-
day evening, city crime
branch detained online
journalist Dhaval Patel
and filed a non-bailable
criminal case against
him on charges of sedi-
tion. Patel’s arrest has
sparked a sharp reac-
tion against the state
government from fel-
low journalists and
politicians, who have
condemned the act.
“After Patel was taken
into custody, he under-
went a COVID-19 test.
The next course of ac-
tionwillbedecidedupon
only after his test results
comeback,”saidDeepen
Bhadran, deputy com-
missioner, Ahmedabad
crime branch.
The opposition Con-
gresshasdemandedthat
the case be withdrawn.
“If ajournalistcanbear-
rested for airing news
about a change of guard
in the state, then BJP
leader Subramaniam
Swamyshouldbearrest-
ed too. Even he had
tweeted something to
this effect. I appeal to the
state to withdraw the
criminal case against
the journalist,” former
chief minister Shan-
kersinh Vaghela said.
All India Congress
Committee national
spokesperson, Shaktis-
inh Gohil said, “The
CM should have a big
heart and an appetite to
digest criticism. I con-
demn the criminal of-
fence registered against
a journalist. Even if the
journalist made a mis-
take, the chief minister
should be kind enough
to pardon him.”
Migrant workers at god’s mercy in Vadodara
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Around 19
migrant workers have
been running pillar to
post for help to return
to their native state of
Uttar Pradesh safely. Af-
ter being dropped on
the outskirts of Va-
dodara by a hired tem-
po, the group has been
left with limited finan-
cial resources.
Meet Vijay Kumar, a
migrant worker from
UP, who had a stitching
job at a factory in
Ahmedabad. After the
lockdown was imposed,
he has had no work to
earn a livelihood. When
the state and central
government announced
Shramik trains to
transport migrant
workers, Vijay and oth-
ers tried their luck and
filed out a form online.
After receiving no re-
sponse to their applica-
tions, the group hired a
tempo for Uttar
Pradesh.
He said, “It was our
bad luck that the tempo
driver dropped us at the
Golden Square on the
outskirts of Vadodara.
Somehow, we managed
to reach the city and
our group comprising
of me and 18 others
have been visiting the
collector’s office for
permission since the
last three days, but have
not succeeded. We have
now decided to return
to Ahmedabad.”
Struggling with a
similar situation is Shr-
ipad Boishakh and
eight other migrant
workers. They were em-
ployed at a construction
site near Samtalave in
Vadodara. On Monday,
the contractor paid the
workers Rs700 each and
left.
Expressing his de-
spair, Shripad said, “Af-
ter purchasing a train
ticket to Bihar, we will
be left with just Rs100
each. We do not know
whether to save the
money or spend it on
food and water. All we
want to do is to get
home safely but we do
not know if that will
happen or not.”
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The state
high court’s verdict in-
validating BJP senior
leader and education
minister Bhupendras-
inh Chudasama’s 2017
assembly election re-
sult has sent shock-
waves in political cir-
cles. While the opposi-
tion party Congress has
welcomed the court’s
decision, the ruling par-
ty plans to challenge it
in the Supreme Court.
“The high court judg-
mentisshockingbut,we
will challenge the judg-
ment in the Supreme
Court soon. According
to legal experts, if an
election is abrogated
then one stands to lose
the MLA seat. The deci-
sion lies with Bhupen-
drasinh Chudasama,
who will take it only af-
ter sound legal consulta-
tion from experts,” said
deputy chief minister
Nitin Patel.
According to BJP
spokesperson Bharat
Pandya, the high court
judgment was unex-
pected. “We will appeal
before the Supreme
Court and we have faith
that justice will be dis-
pensed by the apex
court,” he said.
On the other hand,
the court’s verdict was
welcomed by the oppo-
sition party Congress.
“Truth alone triumphs,
and it has been proved
once again. The Con-
gress candidate from
Dholka constituency
Ashwin Rathod was in-
timidated by police,
system, and financial
power. But, he did not
bow down and contin-
ued his fight,” said
state Congress presi-
dent Amit Chavda.
Jayrajsinh Parmar,
spokesperson of the Gu-
jarat Pradesh Congress
Committee (GPCC) stat-
ed, “The way irregulari-
ties were revealed in the
2017 victory of Bhupen-
drasinh Chudasama in
Dholka constituency, it
is clear that the 2017 BJP
government was not
formedonlegalgrounds.
Chudasamamustresign
immediately.”
AMC makes U-turn
on digital payments
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In yet an-
other about-turn, the
Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation has decid-
ed against making digi-
tal payments compul-
sory for the sale of es-
sential commodities,
just a day after Officer
on Special Duty Rajiv
Gupta said that the city
would go cashless once
the shutdown was re-
laxed on Friday.
However, stores sell-
ing groceries, vegeta-
bles and fruits and flour
mills will be reopen
from May 15 provided
the shop keepers un-
dergo health screening
and get a health card.
Meanwhile, doctors
and paramedical staff
at the Sardar Vallabhb-
hai Patel Hospital went
on strike for two hours
demanding PPE kits.
They wound up their
protest after receiving
assurances by the au-
thorities. The civic
body also clarified that
there will not be any
AMTS bus operation in
the city for the public.
Migrants in Ahmedabad wait for transport that will take them to the
railway station, to return to their homes in UP and Bihar.
An artist’s vision of Dholera SIR.
Follow quarantine or face action:
DGP to students coming home
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: As stu-
dents stranded abroad
beginning to arrive in
the city, the Director-
General of Police Shi-
vanand Jha made it
very clear that they will
all have to follow quar-
antine guidelines strict-
ly. Anyone failing to do
so will invite police ac-
tion, he said, while ap-
pealing to friends and
relatives to avoid meet-
ing them until they are
out of quarantine.
The first batch of In-
dian students stranded
abroad arrived in
Ahmedabad on Tues-
day. Jha said that their
families have to follow
the standard protocols
related to COVID-19,
and that the police will
keep tabs on them.
He said the decision
was taken to rule out
any possibility that
they might be infected
with the Sars-CoV-2 vi-
rus, and thus curb the
spread of COVID-19.
In the past 24 hours,
police have registered
three cases in Tapi
Ahmedabad and Rajkot
against persons selling
tobacco and smuggling
Indian-made foreign
liquor,withIMFLworth
Rs1.92 lakh being seized
by Tapi Police.
DGP Shivanand Jha
DSDA vice president writes to
CM urging action on this front
I got dis-
charged from
Samras Hos-
tel on Monday, along
with three family
members. My younger
sister is still undergo-
ing treatment at the
COVID-19 hospital in
the Civil Hospital.
The last 11 days have
been nothing short of a
nightmare for our
family.
—Janardan Rajput,
Brother of patient
We will challenge the judgment in the
Supreme Court soon. According to legal
experts, if an election is abrogated then
one stands to lose the MLA seat. The decision
lies with Chudasama, who will take it only after
legal consultation from experts.
—Nitin Patel, Deputy Chief Minister
NO DICE
LUMBERING ON
Elephants walk past shuttered store fronts on a deserted street in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
—PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE
—PHOTOBYNANDANDAVE

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 167 G RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.
Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor: Jagdeesh Chandra, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
LOCKDOWN 4.0
COMES WITH A
HUGE STIMULUS
et ready for the much anticipated
lockdown 4.0 beyond May 17 and
learn to live with the virus which
is going to be part of our lives for
a very long time. That’s nothing
to feel depressed about as Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has promised the shutdown
to be “completely different” from the earlier
three phases as “we must not restrict our
lives around coronavirus.” The details of
the next lockdown, to be decided by each
state, will be known to us before May 18. The
prime minister said he saw an opportunity
in the crisis unleashed by the pandemic to
upgrade country’s health infrastructure,
More important than extending the lock-
down for another 15 days was the prime minis-
ter’s announcement on special economic pack-
age which the industry and state governments
were clamouring for. The Rs 20 lakh crore, or
10 per cent of the gross domestic product, stim-
ulus is aimed at creating ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat
Abhiyan’ (self-reliant India campaign). This
would probably be supplementing the ‘Make in
India’ campaign started by the prime minister
earlier. Modi said that India was today produc-
ing 2 lakh PPEs and N95 masks each everyday
to explain how the adversity has been used as
an opportunity.
How much of the package will be devoted
to poor, farmers and middle class, is not yet
known as Modi refrained from sharing de-
tails at this stage. It is likely that beginning
Wednesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Si-
tharaman will share the details of the
package. Some industry honchos were
buoyed by the announcement of stimulus
which will have emphasis on land, labour,
liquidity and laws besides the promised
“substantial big ticket reforms” in coming
days. These reforms are aimed at negating
the disastrous impact Covid-19 has had on
the economy.
Whatever details once could glean from the
prime minister’s speech was that “every Indian
must be vocal for local,” in order to make the
country self-reliant at a time when the world is
looking at India not only for investment but also
as supplier of essential goods in place of China.
To meet that challenge the prime minister said
the self-reliance will be based on economy, in-
frastructure, technology driven system, vibrant
demography and demand. Along with demand
he also mentioned cost of doing business and
ease of doing business and strengthening of
supply chain to make the country competitive.
India’s Rs 20 lakh-crore package is fourth
after Germany, UK and US and shows the
government’s strong intent to take the
country forward. According to the Chief
Economic Advisor Arvind Subramaniam,
however, the revival packages of other
countries were exaggerated.
Some states were however muted in their re-
sponse as the PM made no mention of how will
they be aided to meet their finances in the face
of dried up sources of revenue. Rajasthan
Chief Minister, for instance, had sought Rs 1
lakh- crore to bail out states.
IN-DEPTH
G
o ease the lockdown or to
continue is globally a hotly
debated topic. We tend to di-
vide society into advocates
and opponents of extending
the curfew on free move-
ment and rush to impute mo-
tives for the individual
choices expressed. A prag-
matic approach involving
the taking of acceptable
risks to cater to the needs of
most sections of the popula-
tion may be called for at this
stage rather than a rigid bi-
partisan attitude. While it is
true that the rich have ac-
cess to reserves to see them
through a period of econom-
ic inactivity, that capability
also has its limits. They have
a vested interest in restart-
ing their businesses as the
prolonged absence of regu-
lar cash flow is affecting
them adversely too. Some of
the biggest enthusiasts for
an easing of the lockdown
are the rich even though
they can afford it better.
The results of our lockdowns
have been mixed. The positive
cases and deaths have been
kept in check in India as com-
pared to the global experience,
yet breaking the chain of infec-
tion is nowhere in sight. It is
practically impossible to pre-
vent all movements that create
new clusters of the outbreak,
short of issuing shoot at sight
orders. Regular leakages, in
the context of our densely pop-
ulated urban centres, has
meant that the spread of infec-
tion and death have continued
to multiply despite the lock-
downs. The different phases of
the lockdown have purchased
precious time for us, yet lock-
downs, by themselves, are not
an ultimate solution. The moot
question is whether that time
gained has been utilised to or-
ganise the medical infrastruc-
ture to handle the growing
number of positive cases ex-
pected. Largely yes. Our test-
ing, tracing, and quarantine
capabilities have improved by
leaps and bounds over the last
two months.
The ultimate goal is to
minimise loss of life. Death
by starvation also results in
loss of life. As lockdowns
have proved to be incapable
of completely stamping out
Covid-19, we have to accept
that coronavirus will be a
part of our environment for
many more months. The
only way forward is to learn
to live with it. Our hope re-
mains that a vaccine for
mass use is available soon.
However, the vaccine needs
to be developed first, tested
for its effectiveness and po-
tentially harmful side ef-
fects, and finally produced
on a mass scale to reach eve-
ryone. Natural vaccination
by way of herd immunity – a
process whereby the bodies
of people infected and recov-
ered from Covid-19 learn to
produce antibodies giving
them protection from subse-
quent infection - is likely to
be a parallel development.
Acquiring both the artificial
and natural immunity, re-
main long drawn processes.
In the meantime, the eco-
nomic hardships will con-
tinue to mount. We simply
have to get back to work.
The new normal for the
world may see face masks,
physical distancing, a
heightened awareness of hy-
giene, work from home, and
home delivery of many
goods are not only familiar
but also mandatory.
Right now, we need a road
map for the new normal. That,
unfortunately, is still not con-
cretised. Preparedness in the
economic field has been woe-
fully inadequate, given the
breathing space that the suc-
cessive lockdowns had provid-
ed. Desperate migrant labour-
ers having to undertake pain-
ful trudges back to their distant
homes is unfortunate. We could
have anticipated their plight
and prepared for an orderly
system rather than fire fight-
ing once their movement had
commenced. For businesses to
restart it is not adequate that
order to that effect is issued.
Forward and backward link-
ages, standard operating proce-
dures for physical distancing
and sanitisation of the work
environment need to be formu-
lated and placed in the public
domain well before the easing
of the lockdown is announced.
Beyond the government
and its administration, there
is a civil society. It has com-
petent specialists, NGOs in
touch with the ground reali-
ties, and well-meaning busi-
nessmen keen to restart
their commercial opera-
tions. A collaborative effort
involving all stakeholders
can alone throw up viable
options to manage this pan-
demic. There are a large
number of Government of-
ficers and staff who are at-
tending office but are large-
ly under-employed because
of the lockdown. They could
be co-opted for such out-
reach efforts. Engagement
of the masses in this com-
mon endeavour is a must to
move from an elitist top-
down management style to a
people’s movement against
this common threat. New
norms have to be broadly ac-
ceptable before we can ex-
pect everyone to strictly ad-
here to them. Without uni-
versal cooperation, success
in controlling this pandemic
would be an uphill task.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
A ROAD MAP FOR
THE NEW NORMAL
T
Right now, we
need a road
map for the new
normal. That,
unfortunately,
is still not
concretised.
Preparedness in
the economic
field has been
woefully
inadequate,
given the
breathing space
that the
successive
lockdowns had
provided
The new normal for the
world may see face
masks, physical
distancing, a
heightened awareness
of hygiene, work from
home, and home
delivery of many goods
are not only familiar
but also mandatory
MAHENDRA
SINGH
DG Income Tax
Investigation, Rajasthan
s India’s 1.3
billion people
struggle to
cope with the
C O V I D - 1 9
pandemic, one of the
country’s 28 states
stands head and shoul-
ders above the rest. Ker-
ala, in southwestern In-
dia, has been so success-
ful in “flattening the
curve” that many now
speak admiringly of a
“Kerala Model” for han-
dling public-health
emergencies.
Kerala was the first In-
dian state to report a case
of COVID-19 – a medical
student who had arrived
from Wuhan, China, at the
end of January. When In-
dian Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi announced a
nationwide lockdown on
March 24, Kerala had the
most cases of any state. Yet
today, it ranks low on the
list of confirmed cases,
and high on the list of
COVID-19 recoveries.
Moreover, the state’s fatal-
ity rate (0.53%) is the low-
est in India, and it has
managed to limit the
spread of the virus with-
out inflicting any of the
human suffering seen in
other parts of the country.
Kerala’s formula for
success has been
straightforward. Public-
health authorities have
prioritized early detec-
tion through extensive
testing, widespread con-
tact tracing, and 28-day
quarantines for all those
infected (the rest of In-
dia, following the World
Health Organization’s
guidance, has required
only 14 days).
Since issuing its initial
COVID-19 alert on January
18, the state has screened
all arrivals at its four inter-
national airports, and im-
mediately hospitalized or
quarantined suspected
cases. On February 4, Ker-
ala declared COVID-19 a
state-level disaster, and
shut schools, restricted
public gatherings, and in-
stituted lockdowns in early
March. By the time the cen-
tral government had fol-
lowed suit weeks later,
Kerala had already de-
ployed more than 30,000
health workers and placed
tens of thousands of peo-
ple in quarantine.
Kerala’s COVID-19 re-
sponse emerged from a
template that long pre-
ceded the current crisis.
Among Indian states, it
is unique for having al-
located significant re-
sources to public-health
infrastructure, devolved
power and funding to
village-level bodies, and
established a social sys-
tem that promotes com-
munity participation
and public cooperation.
In addition to having the
highest literacy rate in In-
dia (94%), Kerala also
boasts a declining birth
rate, higher life expectan-
cy, more empowered wom-
en, and stronger welfare
support for the indigent
and the marginalized. Peo-
ple do not beg or starve in
Kerala. The state offers
universal access to health
care and medical informa-
tion, and respects all resi-
dents as rights-bearing
citizens. No one is treated
as a mere subject, as is
common in many other In-
dian states. Throughout
the current crisis, Kerala’s
educated populace has be-
haved responsibly, limiting
community transmission,
cooperating with authori-
ties, and seeking prompt
treatment as needed.
This institutional and
political culture is not
the result of some one-
off policy. Kerala has
spent generations creat-
ing the infrastructure to
support social develop-
ment, placing it far
ahead of the rest of In-
dia on many key indica-
tors. In addition to its
rights-based welfare
system, it has a vibrant
civil society, free and in-
dependent media, and a
competitive political
system.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.PROJECTSYNDICATE.COM
Kerala fared better than others in COVID-19 crisis
A
The state has a
long tradition of
investing in its
people and
institutions, and
of fostering a civic
and political
culture of mutual
respect, trust, and
compassion
Even the wise are confused
about what is action and what
is inaction. —Bhagavad Gita
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Nurses are at the centre of
our healthcare system. They
provide compassionate and
expert care to patients. On
this #InternationalNursesDay,
gratitude to all the nurses for the
incredible work they are doing to
safeguard our nation’s health by
sacriﬁcing their own well-being.
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Cheering megaphone Railways
restores 3 Special Trains from
New Delhi today, in which a total
of 3,461 passengers will travel.
Restoring passenger train services
in a graded manner, 8 trains in all
are departing from various cities
across the country today.

INDIAAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
ARMED ASSAILANTS LOOT BANK IN
MATHURA; FLEE WITH RS 21 L CASH
Mathura: Amid a nation-
wide lockdown to contain
COVID-19 infections,
four armed assailants
robbed a rural bank in
Mathura and decamped
with over Rs 21 lakh cash.
The four robbers looted
Damodarpura branch of
Gramin Bank of Aryavarta
in the afternoon when only
three staff members were
present, they said.A bank
staff Narendra Chaudhary
was among those present
in when the incident took
place.Chaudhary said one
masked person entered the
bank and put a gun to his
head. Soon after, three oth-
er people came inside the
bank and pointed pistols at
assistant manager Neelam
Singh and cashier Srishti
Saxena, threatening them
to stay quiet, he said.
2G MOBILE DATA SERVICES
RESTORED IN KASHMIR
Srinagar: 2G mobile data services will be restored
in Kashmir Valley from May 12, except in Pulwama
and Shopian districts according to the Jammu and
Kashmir administration. “Mobile data services shall
be restored forthwith in the Kashmir valley, except
in Pulwama and Shopian districts. The internet
speed shall, however, remain restricted to 2G only
across the Union Territory. It shall be effective from
May 12,” the J-K administration said in an order.
Internet services were suspended in J-K in August
last year after the abrogation of Article 370.
MAHA: GOVT ALLOWS EXPORT
UNITS OF JEWELLERY TO START
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has allowed
designated export units of diamond and jewellery
to commence operations with a limited workforce
during the lockdown. It is perceived as a significant
move as the city houses Bharat Diamond Bourse
and SEEPZ, two of India’s largest jewellery export
designated zones. Pramod Kumar Agrawal, Chair-
man, GJEPC said, “Bharat Diamond Bourse and
SEEPZ in Mumbai are major centres which have a
huge backlog of orders and we are happy that these
centres will be operational in the next few days.”
EX-PM MANMOHAN SINGH
DISCHARGED FROM AIIMS
New Delhi: Former Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh
has been discharged
from AIIMS, New Delhi
on Tuesday afternoon.
Manmohan Singh was
admitted to AIIMS on
Sunday evening after he
complained of chest pain
and uneasiness. Manmo-
han Singh was admitted to
the cardio-thoracic ward of
AIIMS on Sunday. He had
developed a fever after his
system reacted to a new
medication, said the AIIMS
on Monday. Two days after
the admission, Manmohan
Singh has now been dis-
charged. According to the
doctors, his condition was
stable on Monday. Hospital
sources said Manmohan
Singh underwent a series
of medical tests in the two
days of his hospital stay.
Former C’garh
CM Ajit Jogi
critical: Docs
30 new SSBs helpful in fighting Corona
New Delhi: As the
country grapples with
COVID-19, at least 30
newly developed Super
Speciality Blocks (SSBs)
at various Government
MedicalCollegesproved
helpful as dedicated fa-
cilities for treating coro-
navirus patients.
Adding up to 8443 hos-
pital beds, including
1600 ICU beds, and 938
high-end ventilators,
these SSBs gave an im-
mense boost to health
care infrastructure at
the time of COVID-19
pandemic.
“Whenthiscrisisstart-
ed, the Centre directed all
government medical col-
leges to prepare a dedi-
cated block for coronavi-
rus patients. As these
SSBs were newly con-
structed, they turned out
to be quite handy for set-
ting up COVID-19 hospi-
tals in GMCs, across the
nation” said a senior of-
ficial at health ministry.”
— ANI
About 20 such SSBs are already pressed into service as COVID-19 hospitals in different GMCs in 8 states, under PMSSY
‘72% TOBACCO USERS TRIED
TO QUIT DURING LOCKDOWN’
Atotal of 72% of India’s combustible tobacco
users between the ages of 18-24 years old
have attempted to quit smoking during the
lockdown, followed by 69% of combustible
tobacco aged 25-39, suggests a recent survey
conducted by the Foundation for a Smoke-Free
World.Around 66% of those surveyed (ages 18-
69) expressed their desire to quit smoking amid
COVID-19 for health reasons. A total of 6,801
tobacco and nicotine users in five countries -- In-
dia, the US, the UK, Italy, and South Africa - were
interviewed for the survey, during the period
starting April 4 and ending April 14, 2020.
New Delhi: The office
of national carrier Air
India was sealed in Del-
hi onTuesday after one
of the staff members
tested positive for coro-
navirus disease Cov-
id-19. “Airlines House
has been sealed for
Tuesday and Wednes-
day,” news agency PTI
quoted an official as
saying. The official said
that the employee was
diagnosed with Cov-
id-19 on May 7, through
the RT-PCR test, and
tested positive on Mon-
day evening. The em-
ployee first had fever
which subsided with
the help of medicines
but then the staffer
started having soar
throat and respiratory
symptoms. He got him-
self tested on Sunday
and was sent to
RMLHospital in Delhi
after it. —ANI
Air India staffer tests positive, office sealed
‘PM Cares Fund must be
spent on covid patients’
New Delhi: The Con-
gress has again ques-
tioned the PM Cares
Fund & demanded an
independent audit from
CAG. The party ques-
tioned why the fund is
not being spent on Cov-
id-19 patients. Party
Senior spokesperson
Abhishek Manu Singh-
vi said: “Our only wor-
ry with PM Cares Fund
is that it’s not being
spent on the victims of
Covid-19 which use can
be both direct and inci-
dental.”
“We only demand an
independent audit by
CAG or any other cred-
ible independent
agency and dai-
ly updates.
Not too much
to ask from a
public fund,” added
Singhvi.
Congress has been al-
leging that PM Modi is
“hostile to require-
ment”&“decisionstobe
taken during the Cov-
id-19 pandemic for the
welfare of the people.”
“History will remember
PM Modi as the PM who
didn’t care about peo-
ple’s lives,” Congress
tweeted.
—ANI
9 MORE BSF PERSONNEL COVID-19 +VE
New Delhi: BSF reported nine new COVID-19
cases in the last 24 hours. Among the positive
cases reported, six are from Delhi, two from
Tripura and one from Kolkata. According to BSF,
all the people who tested positive are under treat-
ment at designated COVID health care hospitals.
2 MORE ITBP JAWANS INFECTED
New Delhi: Two more jawans of Indo-Tibetan
Border Police (ITBP) have tested positive for
COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.”Total 159 ITBP
personnel have tested positive, while one has
recovered,” ITBP said in a statement. 3,604 more
COVID-19 cases are reported in the last 24 hrs.
COVID-19
MIGRANT CRISIS
‘About 6.48L people transported
through Shramik trains so far’
New Delhi: A total of
542 ‘Shramik’ special
trains have been opera-
tionalised from various
states across the coun-
try, in which 448 trains
had reached their desti-
nations and 94 trains
are in transit, as on
Tuesday. About 6.48
lakh passengers have
been transported
through these trains.
These 448 trains ter-
minated in various
states like Andhra
Pradesh (1), Bihar (117),
Chhattisgarh (1),
Himachal Pradesh (1),
Jharkhand (27), Karna-
taka (1), Madhya
Pradesh (38), Maha-
rashtra (3), Odisha (29),
Rajasthan(4), Tamil
Nadu (1), Telangana(2),
Uttar Pradesh (221) and
West Bengal(2).
These trains have fer-
ried migrants to cities
like Tiruchirappalli,
Titlagarh, Barauni,
Khandwa, Jagannath-
pur, Khurda Road, Pray-
agraj, Chhapra, Balia,
Gaya, Purnia, Varana-
si, Darbhanga, Gorakh-
pur, Lucknow, Jaunpur,
Hatia, Danapur, Muzaf-
farpur, Saharsa, etc.
Screening of passen-
gers is ensured before
boarding the train, Rlys
said. —ANI
RPF ready
to resume
services
New Delhi: The Rail-
way Protection Force
(RPF) is ready with all
security measures for
helping those who are
travelling on the pas-
senger trains from
Tuesday onwards.
RPF’s Director-General
(DG), Arun Kumar,
said that the force is
ready to help passen-
gers and to conduct
screenings at the rail-
way stations. “Proper
security arrangements
have been made by the
RPF regarding the spe-
cial trains which will
run today. As the Shra-
mik special trains have
been running, the force
is aware of the arrange-
ments needed. Health
screening of passen-
gers will be conducted
at the boarding
as well as
deboard-
ing sta-
tions.
—ANI
ASYMPTOMATIC PEOPLE WITH
TICKETS CAN TRAVEL
New Delhi: As the Indian Railways gears up to
partially resume its passenger train operations
from Tuesday, Railways Executive Director RD
Bajpai informed that only asymptomatic persons
with confirmed tickets will be allowed to board
trains. Speaking to ANI about the development,
Railways Executive Director, RD Bajpai said, “So-
cial distancing norms will be followed at stations
and on the trains. Only asymptomatic persons
and those with confirmed tickets can travel.
Rlys generate over Rs 16
cr from ticket bookings
New Delhi: The Indian Railways have
generated over Rs 16 crore and issued seat
reservations to 82,317 passengers in just
over a day- since it started bookings for pas-
senger train services, informed the Railways
officials on Tuesday.On May 10, the Indian
Railways had announced that it will run 15
pairs of trains and that the bookings for the
passenger trains will start from Monday.
APPRISING THE GUV ABOUT STATE SITUATION
A BJP delegation
comprising Locket
Chatterjee, MP, Arjun
Singh MP, Mukul Roy,
Member, National Council,
Pratap Banerjee, General
Secretary and Sabyasachi
Dutta, MLA, called on the
WB Governor, Jagdeep
Dhankhar on Tuesday and
raised concerns about
the alarming communal
situation in the state.
They referred to recent
incidents of communal
violence in Malda and
Murshidabad in particular.
New Delhi: Former
Chhattisgarh Chief
Minister Ajit Jogi’s
condition is “very criti-
cal” and he continues
to be on ventilator sup-
port, doctors said on
Tuesday. He had slipped
into coma a day after
being put on a ventila-
tor due to cardiac ar-
rest.The 74-year-old
leader and first CM of
Chhattisgarh, Ajit
Jogi, was admitted to a
Hospital in Raipur on
Saturday. The doctors
have started “audio
therapy” by making
him listen to his fa-
vourite songs on ear-
phones, with neurolog-
ical activities of Jogi,
“almost nil” as he re-
mains in coma.—ANI
NoticetoCBIonYadav’splea
New Delhi: SC issued
notice to the CBI on a
petition filed by contro-
versial UP politician DP
Yadav, who is serving
life imprisonment in
connection with a mur-
der case, seeking bail
on medical grounds.
A three-judge bench
headed by Justice L
Nageshwar Rao, Justice
S Abdul Nazeer & San-
jiv Khanna issued no-
ticeseekingitsresponse
and slated the matter
for hearing after a
week. —ANI
PALGHAR LYNCHING CASE
Maharashtra: 18 more held
by Police’s CID Wing
Mumbai: Eighteen
more people have been
arrested by Maharash-
tra Police’s CID in the
Palghar lynching case,
officials said.
The Crime Investiga-
tion Department (CID)
is probing the incident
in which three persons,
including two seers,
who were lynched by a
mob of villagers in
neighbouring Palghar
district last month.
With the latest arrests,
the number of those
held in connection with
the case has gone up to
134. —PTI
IN THE COURTYARD
HC rejects pre-
arrest bail pleas of
Wadhawan bros
Mumbai: Bombay HC
rejected two separate
anticipatory bail pleas
each filed by Dheeraj
and Kapil Wadhawan
of DHFL Group in the
proceedings initiated
against them by the
ED in connection with
the Yes Bank scam.
—Agencies
An NDRF person carries out sanitisation work in Varanasi.
People being thermal scanned at Danapur station in Patna.
Employees at the Air India HQ that was sealed on Tuesday.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi
Arun Kumar

INDIAAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
`20 lakh cr...
The PM said when the
Covid-19 crisis started,
notevenasinglePPEkit
was manufactured in In-
dia and only a few N95
masks were available.
“Today 2 Lakh PPE kits
and 2 Lakh N95 masks
are manufactured in In-
diadaily,”PMModisaid.
Modi said humanity
would not accept defeat
from the coronavirus
but the people have to
stay safe and move for-
ward. “We had never
seenorheardaboutsuch
a crisis ever before. This
is definitely unimag-
inable for mankind. It is
unprecedented. But hu-
manity will not accept
defeat from this virus.
We have to not only pro-
tect ourselves but also
move forward,” said
Modi. Talking about the
gravity of the virus,
Modi said: “It has been
four months the world is
fightingCOVID-19.More
than 42 lakh people from
different countries have
been infected by
COVID-19. More than
2.75lakhpeoplehavelost
their lives due to the vi-
rus. In India too many
families have lost their
dear ones, I express my
condolences to them.”
“Today when the en-
tire world is in crisis, we
will have to further firm
our resolve,” he added.
Guj law...
Congress candidate
Ashwin Rathod on the
grounds that Chudasa-
ma had won the election
with a thin margin of
327 votes and that the re-
turning officer did not
count 429 postal ballot
votes. If those had been
counted, the result
would change. He had
also alleged in the peti-
tion that the returning
officer had not counted
29 votes from EVM.
Citing the order, the
petitioner’s advocate
Sharvil Majmudar stat-
ed that the court has
concluded that the BJP
candidate Bhupen-
drasinhChudasamaand
the returning officer
(DhavalJani)werehand
in glove, thus establish-
ing corrupt practice in
the election.
One of the petition-
er’s submissions was,
“According to the elec-
tion commission re-
lease, the total voter
turnout was 1,59,946.
Against that, when the
result was declared by
the returning officer the
total number of votes
counted were 1,59,917,
thus there was a differ-
ence of 29 votes.”
IAF deploys...
positions and even rein-
forcements were
brought in an appre-
hension of further esca-
lation in tension, the
sources said when
asked about the face-off.
They said tension
was still prevailing in
the area, though both
sides agreed to disen-
gage during a meeting
of local commanders on
May 6.
“The situation re-
mains tense,” said a
source adding some
troops are being kept by
both sides in the area
following the face-off.
Whenasked,anArmy
spokesperson said: “In-
cidents of face-off and
aggressive behaviour
occur on the Line of Ac-
tual Control (LAC). Pa-
trols disengage after lo-
cal level interaction and
dialogue. Temporary
and short duration face-
offs occur as boundary
is not resolved.”
“I clarify that there is
no continuing face-off
at the Pangong Tso lake.
There is no build-up of
armed troops in the
area,” he said.
The sources said the
spotting of Chinese he-
licopters in the area was
nothing unusual as In-
dia too flies a fleet of
military choppers in the
area from three bases in
the region.
IAF sources said a
range of its aircraft,
which also comprises
Sukhoi-30 jets, have
been carrying out rou-
tinesortiesintheregion
including on May 6, add-
ing there was no viola-
tion of Indian airspace
in the area by the Chi-
nese side. The IAF con-
ducts routine sorties in
the region from Leh and
Thoise airbases.
‘No cabin...
The draft SOP, accessed
by PTI, has also mooted
rostering the same set
of cabin and cockpit
crew as long as possible
in order to prevent pos-
sible cross contamina-
tion.
Not just for passen-
gers, the draft SOP has
suggested measures
that could be followed
by security agencies as
well as airport opera-
tors, including doing
away with identity card
checks at airport entry
gates and ensuring so-
cial distancing require-
ments.
Another suggestion is
to keep three rows of an
aircraft vacant for isolat-
ing any passenger who
has a medical emergency
onboard. The draft SOP
was prepared after dis-
cussions with stake-
holders, including air-
lines & airport opera-
tors. Comments have
been sought from stake-
holders, said sources.
FROM PG 1
ALL HCS HAVE REGULAR CJS
FIRST TIME IN MANY MONTHS
This is the first time in many months that all High
Courts in the country have regular Chief Justices.
STILL HUGE NUMBER OF VACANCIES
OF PERMANENT JUDGES IN HCs
There are huge number of vacancies of permanent
Judges still remaining in most of High Courts
across the country.
GOVT MAY PREFER INSIDER FOR
UBI’S MD & CEO POST ?
Whispers are in that Govt may prefer an insider for
the post of MD & CEO of Union Bank of India con-
sidering the fact that the bank has just absorbed
two smaller banks and an insider would be in the
better know of the amalgamation process.
WILL CS OF PUNJAB BE CHANGED ?
Uncertainty prevails over the continuation of Dr
Karan Avtar Singh as Chief Secretary of Punjab.
Capt Amrinder Singh had brought him as CS in
May 2017. It is said that, instead of CS, Addl Chief
Secretary (Home) Satish Chandra attended the
Cabinet Meeting on Monday. According to sources,
some ministers have told the CM that they will not
attend the Cabinet meeting if CS Singh is present.
Now CM has to take the final decision in this regard.
CS is a 1984 batch IAS officer.
MORE SSC PERSONNEL IN THREE
DEFENCE WINGS LIKELY
There are whispers that the Govt may allow greater
number of personnel to be appointed for Short
Service Commission in all three defence wings.
SANJAY CHADHA LIKELY TO
GET ADDITIONAL CHARGE OF CMD
OF MMTC ?
Sanjay Chadha, Additional Secretary, Ministry
of Commerce and Industry, is expected to get
additional charge of CMD of MMTC. He is a 1985
batch IRSME officer.
UPSC CHAIRMAN TO RETIRE IN AUGUST
Arvind Saxena, Chairman of UPSC, is schedule to
superannuate on August 7 this year. He is a 1978
batch Indian Postal Service officer holding the
post of the Chairman since June 20, 2018.
PRABAL BASU LIKELY TO GET
SECOND TERM AS CMD, BLC
Prabal Basu, Chairman & Managing Director of
Balmer Lawrie & Co. Limited (BLC), is expected
to get extension for second term till October 31,
2023. His five year tenure is coming to an end in
July this year.
WHAT IS FUTURE OF PEC LTD
WITHOUT FULLTIME CMD ?
The post of full time Chairman & Managing
Director, PEC Limited has been lying vacant since
incumbent M Nagaraj joined HUDCO. Meanwhile,
the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) had
held a selection meeting on November 7, 2019,
but did not find suitable candidate for the same.
The Government of India is yet to take decision
on the candidate after the Board recommended
the concerned Ministry to choose an appropriate
course of further action for selection.
SR EXECS OF MERGED BANKS AWAITING
PORTFOLIOS IN ANCHOR BANKS
Whispers are in that many of the senior
management executives of small banks, who
merged with Anchor banks, are still without any
portfolios as COVID-19 situation is delaying their
suitable placements.
DR MADHU SHARMA APPOINTED
DEPUTY COA, HEALTH
Dr Madhu Sharma has been appointed as
Deputy Controller of Accounts, Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare. Dr Sharma is a 2011 batch
ICAS officer.
POWERGallery
6037 Indians
returned since
May 7: Govt
New Delhi: A total of
6037 Indians have been
flown back to India in
31 inbound flights oper-
ated by Air India and
Air India Express un-
der Vande Bharat Mis-
sion in 5 days begin-
ning from May 7, the
Ministry of Civil Avia-
tion said on Tuesday.
Government started
Vande Bharat Mission,
what the Ministry said
was “one of the largest
initiatives to repatriate
nationals back to In-
dia” on May 7. —ANI
Maha: CM Uddhav to enter
legislative council unopposed
Mumbai: Maharashtra
Chief Minister Uddhav
Thackeray and eight
other candidates in the
fray for the May 21 polls
to the legislative coun-
cil, are set to get elected
to the Upper House un-
opposed.
Five out of the 14
nominations were ei-
ther withdrawn or re-
jected over technical
ground, leaving only
nine candidates in the
fray for the same num-
ber of seats, said an of-
ficial from Chief Elec-
toral Office of Maha-
rashtra.
The Maharashtra
Legislative Council elec-
tion is scheduled for
nine seats for which 14
nominations were re-
ceived. Out of these, Dr
AjitGopchadeandSand-
eepLeleof theBJPwith-
drew their nominations.
“Two dummy forms
submitted by Kiran Pa-
waskar and Shivajirao
Garje from the NCP
were also withdrawn,
said the official.
It means, including
chief minister Uddhav
Thackeray, all the nine
candidates will get elect-
edtotheUpperHouseof
the state legislature un-
opposed, the official
said.—PTI
‘India can do1 lakh tests every day’Country’s Covid-19 mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world with 3.2%, Dr Harsh Vardhan said
New Delhi: India can
now do one lakh COV-
ID-19 tests per day, said
Union Health Minister
Dr Harsh Vardhan on
Tuesday while interact-
ing with senior officials
of various districts of
Jammu and Kashmir
over coronavirus via
video-conferencing.
The minister also
said that the country’s
COVID-19 mortality
rate is one of the lowest
in the world with 3.2
per cent.
“As we are seeing
continuously of late,
our recovery rate is get-
ting better every day.
Today our recovery rate
is at 31.7%. In fight
against COVID-19, our
mortality rate is almost
the lowest in the world.
Today the mortality
rate is around 3.2%, in
several states it is even
less than this. The glob-
al fatality rate is around
7-7.5 per cent,” Harsh
Vardhan said.—ANI
Red zones in WB to be divided
into 3 categories, says Mamata
Kolkata: West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee on Tuesday
said that the red zones
in the state will be bro-
ken into three catego-
ries but added that no
changes will be im-
posed on containment
zones. “Red zones will
be further divided into
three categories -- a, b
and c. Police will figure
it out. However, there
are no changes in con-
tainment zones,” Ba-
nerjee said in a press
conference here. —ANI
MP: Chouhan
slams Didi
Bhopal: MP CM
Shivraj Singh Chouhan
said, “Now someone
has an objection that
advisory is being sent
by Home Minister. It is
to help states so that
they can deal with coro-
navirus. Someone has
an issue with the cen-
tral team being sent to
their state. If the cen-
tral team arrives you
should welcome them.
There is no point in op-
posing the Centre dur-
ing this period.”
There are
347 govt
labs and
137 pvt labs in the
country.In Feb, we
had only one lab
in Pune. India
now has 484 labs.
—Dr Harsh Vardhan,
Union Health Minister
Red zones
will be fur-
ther divid-
ed into three cate-
gories- a, b and c.
Police will figure it
out. However, there
are no changes in
containment zones.
—Mamata Banerjee,
CM, West Bengal
AIR POLLUTION LEVELS
IN DELHI DROP BY 49%
New Delhi: Pursuant to the stringent
nationwide lockdown, skies in the
national capital have turned an Azure
blue and the air has become breath-
able due to 49 per cent reduction in the
air quality index (AQI).According to a
study conducted by IIT Delhi, the coun-
try has witnessed 43, 31, 10, & 18%
decreases in PM 2.5, PM 10, CO, and
NO2 levels during the lockdown.
ICMR BEGINS
SERO-SURVEY
New Delhi: The Indian Council of Med-
ical Research (ICMR) announced that
it is conducting a community-based
sero-survey to estimate the prevalence
of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Indian
population. The household-level cross-
sectional survey will cover 24,000
adults distributed equally across four
strata of districts categorised on the
basis of reported cases of covid-19.
Empowering nurses will directly
empower women, reiterates IMA
New Delhi: Nursing
has evolved into a high-
ly sophisticated profes-
sion requiring its own
dignified space and
skillsets, said the Indi-
an Medical Association
(IMA) on Tuesday,
stressing the fact that
empowering nurses
will directly empower
women.
In a statement, coin-
ciding with the Interna-
tional Nurses Day, the
IMA highlighted the
dedication and recalled
the services nurses put.
“Nurses remain the
bridge between science
and human touch.
Handling a patient
with compassion yet with
competence is a chal-
lenge. Many times pa-
tients recall the services
of nurses with gratitude,”
said the doctor’s largest
body, Indian Medical As-
sociation. —ANI
Child malnutrition
led to 68 % under-
five fatalities in India
New Delhi: Child and
maternal malnutrition
were behind 68 per cent
of the under-five fatali-
ties in India, while low
birth weight and
short gestation led to
83 per cent of neonatal
deaths from 2000 to
2017, according to find-
ings of the India State-
Level Disease Burden
Initiative released on
Tuesday.
speed NEWS
PUNJAB AIMS TO CLEAN
VILLAGE PONDS BY JUNE 10
VILLAGE IN U’KHAND SEALED
AFTER FIRST COVID-19 CASE
Chandigarh: Punjab
Rural Development
and Panchayat Minis-
ter Tript Rajinder
Singh Bajwa launched
a campaign for the
cleaning of village
ponds in the State.The
Minister has appealed
to the officers of the
department and Pan-
chayats to complete
the work of cleaning
the ponds by June 10
before the start of pad-
dy season. An official
statement quoted Min-
ister Bajwa, saying
that the cleaning of
ponds was closely re-
lated tocleanliness of
the villages, and hence
this work should be
done on a priority ba-
sis. Officers would
visit various districts
to solve peoples’ prob-
lems related to it.
Uttarkashi: The Ut-
tarkashi administra-
tion has sealed the
Dungi village under
the Dunda block of the
district after the first
coronavirus positive
case was reported
here. “The adminis-
tration has declared
the Devidhar area of
the Dungi village as a
containment zone and
sealed all roads lead-
ing up to the village,”
District Magistrate Dr
Aashish Chauhan
said. “Movement of
people in the village
has also been restrict-
ed. All 250 people will
be screened,” he said.
6TH SPECIAL TRAIN WITH
1000 WORKERS DEPARTS
SAS Nagar: Pro-
viding relief to hun-
dreds of migrant
workers, the sixth
Shramik special
train carrying 1,201
workers, who were
stranded due to the
lockdown, left from
SAS Nagar Mohali
railway station to
Bihar’s Chhapra
city on Tuesday,
Railway sources
said. At the station,
officials were seen
waving goodbye to
the labourers as the
train left the plat-
form. Circles were
drawn on the plat-
form to ensure so-
cial distancing
guidelines were ad-
hered to by all while
boarding the train.
Nurses & Docs celebrate ‘International Nurses Day’ in Guwahati.
Medical worker collects the nasal swab for testing in Agartala.
Mamata Banerjee

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020
D
earness Al-
lowance (DA)
is an addi-
tional allow-
ance, calculated based
on currency inflation
and inflation rate, paid
to the government and
public sector employ-
ees and pensioners, in
India. DA is a part of
the monthly payout to
employees along with
basic salary, as an ad-
ditional amount. Dear-
ness allowance is a per-
centage of basic salary,
paid to hedge the im-
pact of inflation.
Amidst all the bad
news regarding the ef-
fects of coronavirus,
there was some good
news for government
employees i.e. a four
percent increase in DA
announced by the cen-
tral government,
which corresponds to a
raise from 17 percent to
21 percent on 13 March
2020. This decision
would have come into
effect from January 1,
2020. This order was
received with great en-
thusiasm among the
employees under the
Central Government
including soldiers/of-
ficers of the Indian
Army and paramili-
tary troops expressed
great happiness about
this.
But this moment of
happiness did not last
long, when on April
20th the Central Gov-
ernment decided to
cancel the disburse-
ment of DA to retired
and serving Central
Government employ-
ees in view of the crisis
arising out of COV-
ID-19. This was very
disappointing for cen-
tral employees includ-
ing armed forces. For
government all em-
ployees are equal, but
there is a difference in
the amount of risk
faced by other civil em-
ployees as compared
with front line soldiers
guarding our boarders
on day to day basis.
With this decision,
the Airmen, soldiers,
sailors, and retired
fighters of our defense
services and their fam-
ilies who take pensions
will be deeply impact-
ed. The freezing of
dearness allowance
will affect about
1,500,000 serving men
and women - 1,265,000
in the Army, 83,500 in
the Navy, and 155,000 in
the Air Force, the fig-
ure will be much high-
er if paramilitary forc-
es are included. Where-
as all the defense per-
sonnel has already
contributed one day’s
salary to the PM-
CARES fund, without
any orders, suo motu,
as responsibility to-
wards the nation.
In the current sce-
nario, where a large
number of civil staff
has been ordered to
stay at home with the
restriction of coming
to the workplace, on
the other side our
armed forces from the
Siachen to the south-
ern naval base in the
Indian ocean, from the
deserted Thar to the
dense forests of Naga-
land is relentlessly
working in the same
manner as before. To-
day they are not only
fighting with the addi-
tional risk of saving
themselves and their
comrades from a dead-
ly virus, but also con-
stantly fighting with
the terrorists and the
intruders, and defeat-
ing their every evil in-
tention.
Today our armed
forces are facing dou-
ble trouble. In this situ-
ation, even if they
want, they cannot fol-
low all precautionary
steps and protocol
measures to avoid co-
rona infection in their
daily routine, like
cooking food for the
whole troop at the
same place in the mess
is a non-avoidable com-
pulsion. For border pa-
trolling and other
movements, it is not
possible to move with
extra vehicles and
maintain physical dis-
tancing or to keep the
weapons or wireless
sets sanitise at all
times or to sit in a bun-
ker at a distance from a
buddy or fellow officer;
and even if they did so
it would serve as an in-
vitation to much big-
ger and serious danger.
Recently a few COVID
positive cases were
found in paramilitary
forces. To add to this,
we have lost a large
number of our brave
soldiers in many ter-
rorist incidents and
counter-insurgency op-
erations recently, that
took place at different
places in the country.
From Jammu and
Kashmir to Naxalite af-
fected states we are
constantly getting
news of ambush and
attacks on search op-
erations & convoys of
armed forces. Just a
few days back, we lost
officers of higher
ranks like Colonel and
Major fighting the ter-
rorists along with
Jawans.
This suspension of
dearness allowance on
salaries and pensions
will give them a hit of
about Rs 15,000 to Rs
20,000 in a year even for
entry-level soldiers,
sailors, or airmen. For
the officer or a soldier
who has been in ser-
vice for more than 10
years, the amount is
about 70 thousand to 1
lakh per annum, which
is sizeable. There is a
d i s a p p o i n t m e n t
amongst our disci-
plined army personnel
and officers, but they
cannot be shaken by
this decision. Their
motto “Obey every or-
der” and “Country be-
fore family” doesn’t
allow their conscience
to utter a single word
against it.
A well-known econo-
mist and former Prime
Minister Manmohan
Singh on the issues
said that it is not neces-
sary to stop the allow-
ances of the armed
forces. He has also
asked the present gov-
ernment to consider
the withdrawal of this
order. Former Con-
gress president Rahul
Gandhi has also shown
his anguish to the gov-
ernment’s order and
requested the central
government to with-
draw this decision.
For a moment, con-
sider the game of
cards, where the ace of
trump is the are game-
changer, one can very
well relate to the cru-
cial role played by In-
dian armed forces as
saviors of mankind in
times of severe dis-
tress or unrest particu-
larly during natural
calamities. Also not to
forget, Indian Army
was entrusted with the
responsibility of en-
suring good health of
our citizens, who were
rescued and brought
back home from Iran
and other countries,
due to worsening of
Covid-19 pandemic
across the Globe by es-
tablishing COVID
treatment centers at
unidentified army lo-
cations near Jaisalmer
and Jodhpur in Ra-
jasthan.
At present, India has
survived to a great ex-
tent from the devasta-
tion of this global epi-
demic and is in good
condition. Although,
during this time new
heroes of humanity
have emerged but nev-
er can understate the
role of our brave sol-
diers, who are our all-
time heroes. They must
not be taken for grant-
ed at any point in time.
No amount of justifica-
tion is enough to cut
down salaries of armed
forces who fight with
all odds day in and day
out. Instead, other in-
vestments like central
vista could be put on
hold for saving money.
Today, in this diffi-
cult time, all of us and
the government must
stand together in sup-
port of our Army men
and avoid any further
hardships for them like
payroll cut. The pre-
sent central govern-
ment must withdraw
the order of pay cut for
the army and paramili-
tary forces. A country
is as strong or as safe
as the handful of its
men who lay their life
in protecting it.
DADEARERTHANSOLDIERS
COVID-19 IMPACT
AZAD SINGH
RATHORE
Writer, Defence & Foreign
Policy Analyst
ALL DEFENCE EMPLOYEES CONTRIBUTED A DAY’S SALARY TO THE
PM-CARES FUND. THIS FREEZE ON SALARIES AND PENSIONS WILL
COST THEM SIGNIFICANTLY MORE - ABOUT `15,000 TO `20,000 IN A
YEAR FOR AN ENTRY-LEVEL SOLDIER, SAILOR OR AIRMAN

Remember, tomorrow is another
day. A new day, you can start
afresh to fulfill your dreams and
renew your commitments to yourself.
Keep faith, things will fall in place.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
Powerloom rat-tat stops,
Surat units stare at losses
AhmedasksPMtokeepin
touchwithCMs,evenlater
First India Bureau
Surat: The textile in-
dustry in Surat, which
produces 60 per cent of
the synthetic sarees in
the country accounting
a turnover of a whop-
ping Rs 80,000 crore, is
faced with huge losses
following the nation-
wide lockdown.
According to Jitub-
hai Vakharia, Presi-
dent, South Gujarat
Textile Processors’
Association, there
may be an estimated
loss of over Rs 1,000
crore if the lockdown
is extended. He said,
“Close to Rs 800-1,000
crore loss could be in-
curred by the textile
industry itself as the
lockdown might be
extended.”
Speaking about the
lakhs of workers en-
gaged in the industry,
Vakharia claimed, “The
craftsmen are anxious,
so we decided to pro-
vide ration after every
fortnight to ensure that
they do not go hungry.”
He even claims that
the industrialists as-
sisted workers who
wished to go home to
their native places
with Rs 1,000 each.
“With help from the
Pandesara Police, we
have been able to
send back quite a few
workers by train and
bus.” Vakharia
agrees more needs to
be done.
“The arrangements
made to send workers
back to their states are
not enough. Even if
we keep going at this
rate, it will take close
to a month to do so,”
he said.
Meanwhile, he wel-
comed that the rail-
ways have partially
resumed passenger
train services after
over one and a half
months. He said, “We
whole-heartedly wel-
come this decision of
the Central Govern-
ment to re-start the
trains.” Vakharia
said the government
must provide soft
loans to the textile in-
dustry to kick-start
economic activities.
“Whatever money the
government gives us, it
must be considered a
soft loan at an interest
of 2-3 per cent and we
will pay the government
back in a few years.
Once we get the money,
we can resume our busi-
ness,” he added.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Con-
gress has asked Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi to ensure that his
engagement with the
Chief Ministers re-
mains a regular fea-
ture beyond the corona
crisis, since this had
hardly happened dur-
ing the last six years.
Congress veteran
and close Sonia Gan-
dhi aide Ahmed Patel
stated this and added
that such regular
meetings between
the Prime Minister
and Chief Ministers
would strengthen
the federal struc-
ture. “In the last 6
years such meetings
have rarely been
held,” he said.
Ahmed Patel tweet-
ed, “It is important to
institutionalise the re-
cent frequent meet-
ings even after we
overcome this (corona-
virus) pandemic.”
His statement
came after the Prime
Minister met Chief
Ministers on Mon-
day, where several
CMs pointed out that
states should decide
on opening up the
economy badly af-
fected by lockdown
across the country to
contain coronavirus.
Most CMs under-
lined the need to
strengthen the medi-
cal and health infra-
structure in the coun-
try. The CMs also high-
lighted the importance
of compulsory quar-
antine for all those
who have returned
from abroad.
Congress has been
raising government’s
“one-sided decisions”
during the pandemic.
Party leader Rahul
Gandhi also pointed
out during his press
conference that states
should be left to decide
on local issues.
“I want a strong In-
dian leader to stand
in front of this dis-
ease -- be it a collec-
tor or a farmer. The
zones are being de-
cided at the national-
level even as the CMs
say these should be
decided at the state-
level,” Rahul said.
The`80KcroresynthetictextileindustryinSuratbearsthebruntofthelockdown
The long lockdown has brought the bustling Surat textile industry to a standstill.
Train with 1,000
people leaves A’bad
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: After 50
days, a special train car-
rying around 1,000 pas-
sengers, most of whom
were stranded, left for
New Delhi from the Sa-
barmati railway station
here on Tuesday even-
ing. Twenty-five passen-
gers were not allowed to
boardastheywerefound
to have high tempera-
ture, officials said. The
passengers, who had
booked the tickets on-
line,werescreenedatthe
main gate of the station
tocheckif theyhadcoro-
navirus symptoms.
A disinfectant was
also sprayed on their
luggage. While special
trains for migrant
workers are already
plying, it had been al-
most 50 days since a
train carrying ordi-
nary passengers left
from Ahmedabad, said
officials. The fully air
conditioned train will
reach Delhi around 8 am
on Wednesday after cov-
ering a distance of 864
kilometres, stopping at
Palanpur, Abu Road,
Jaipur and Gurugram
on the way.
Hacker questions Guj declaring names of Covid patients
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Ethical
hacker Elliot Alderson,
who came to limelight
when he raised con-
cerns regarding securi-
ty issues with the gov-
ernment’sAarogyaSetu
app, has now reacted on
amonth-oldtweetof Gu-
jarat Information De-
partment, stating that it
is putting personal data
of COVID-19 patients in
Ahmedabad on Google
Maps.
In a tweet, Alderson
wonders, “Do you
think it’s a good idea
to pinpoint the houses
of #Covid19 patients
and deaths publicly
on your website? Even
sick or dead, you de-
serve privacy.”
In the Information
Department tweet, the
governmenthassaidthe
details of a patient can
be accessed by clicking
on the red spot, indicat-
ing a positive case. That
was tweeted on April 17.
The Ahmedabad
Municipal Corpora-
tion (AMC) too had
said the names of
those who have been
found COVID-19 posi-
tive will be declared in
public “so that other
people who could have
potentially come in
contact with them can
voluntarily inform the
authorities and isolate
themselves.”
ADOPTING CHANGE
First India Bureau
Tapi: Words like ‘quar-
antine’ and ‘social dis-
tancing’ may have be-
come household words,
but few would know that
this is still not so among
the poor and the Adiva-
sis in the rural hinter-
lands. Many don’t even
know the use of What-
sApp and the concept of
conference calls.
That’s where Megha
Mandali, a cooperative
of 1,000 tribal women
farmers in Tapi district
in South Gujarat, has
stepped in. And is
spreading awareness
about COVID-19 among
tribal women who are
first time mobile users,
throughWhatsAppsince
personalgroupmeetings
are not possible. Megha
Mandali usually pro-
videstraininginorganic
farming and methods of
sustainable agriculture.
The Megha Mandali
teamdevelopedatrain-
ing programme that
could be delivered
throughmobilephones
via conference calls. It
initially trained 20
master trainers and
each one of them is
now imparting the
knowledge to 140 com-
munity leaders and
members. A trainer
conducts four sessions
over four days with 4-5
women through con-
ference calls. At the
end of each session,
graphics pertaining to
thetopicsdiscussedare
also sent to the women
through WhatsApp.
Lataben, president of
Megha Mandali, says,
“We never realized that
mobile phones could also
be used for training pur-
poses, other than calling.
Itwasalittledifficult--we
had to learn how to add
several women and hold
a conference call, and
train a group of people
without meeting them.”
She says the State
Government sends
awareness messages
but there are English
words like “quaran-
tine”whichthesewom-
en haven’t heard of.
Lataben says, “We
speak to them in Gamit,
which is the local lan-
guage of the tribals and
they can connect better
and even send questions
which makes them feel
more comfortable.”
Secondly, women are
now familiarized with
tools like WhatsApp and
conferencecalls.Though
very few of them have
Android phones since
the men keep them,
Megha Mandali bor-
rowed it from them for
training.
For these naive adivasis, Covid lexicon means little
BRIDGING THE GAP
Woman tribal volunteer happy to ‘rediscover’ the mobile phone.
HOME SWEET HOME!
31 more Shramik
Express trains are
leaving from Gujarat
with laborers who want
to visit their native
places outside Gujarat.
Out of 31 trains
operating today, 19 are
for Uttar Pradesh, 4 for
Bihar, 3 for Odisha, 2
each for Jharkhand and
Madhya Pradesh and
1 for Uttarakhand. 11
trains including 8 for
UP and 3 for Bihar will
leave Ahmedabad. 3
trains for UP will leave
from Vadodara. 6 trains
will leave from Surat
in which 2 are for UP,
and 1 each for Bihar,
Jharkhand, Uttarakhand
and Odisha.
First India Bureau
Surat: An employee
in a milk dairy ended
life at his residence in
Puna area here on
Monday under pres-
sure from a private fi-
nancier. The deceased
left behind a suicide
note mentioning that
he was unable to repay
his debt due to lock-
down and is taking the
extreme step following
threats from the
financier.
Body of Arvind
Kawad, 27, from
Vikram Nagar in Pu-
nagam was found on
Monday from his res-
idence when he was
alone. He hung him-
self by a rope from
an iron rod on the
ceiling.
His suicide note
said, “I am being
threatened by my fi-
nancier that if I don’t
pay money in two days,
they will kill me. And
due to lockdown I am
unable to repay.”
Unable to
repay his
debt, man
ends lifeFirst India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A special
flight from Manila with
139 Gujarati students
stranded in the Philip-
pines landed at the
Ahmedabad airport on
Tuesday morning.
They had gone to the
Philippines for higher
studies and got stuck
there due to lockdown.
An official State Gov-
ernment release said,
“139 students were
evacuatedfromManila,
the capital of the Phil-
ippines. They reached
theAhmedabadairport
on Tuesday morning in
a special flight.” After
their arrival, they were
sent to their respective
districts where they
willbekeptunderinsti-
tutional quarantine for
14 days, it said.
State authorities earli-
erannouncedthatnearly
1,000 students hailing
from Gujarat will be
broughtbackfromdiffer-
ent countries. This exer-
cise is part of the Cen-
tre’s ‘Vande Bharat
Mission.’
139 Gujarati
students
return home
We speak to them in Gamit,
which is the local language of the
tribals and they can connect bet-
ter and even send questions which makes
them feel more comfortable. —Lataben

n 1956, the Fabulous
Moolah won the Na-
tional Wrestling Alli-
ance championship
and that was the begin-
ning of a change in pro-
fessional wrestling.
She was the icon that has result-
ed in women today becoming
the most sought after thing in
the Wrestling industry during
the last five years. Also, it has
resulted in the very first woman
to ever win a World Champion-
ship title.
Around 1994 the Attitude Era,
The World Wrestling Federa-
tion, and World Championship
Wrestling began battling it out
to produce edgier content to win
over TRP on TV. Initially, wom-
en wrestling with its swearing
and scantily clad women in
tights were a side-
show to the men
wrestling rel-
egated to
short two-
minute matches or sexy type
matches like the infamous Bra
and Panties match which could
be won only when winner man-
aged to strip the loser to their
underwear. Although these
matches were used as a quick
way to keep the male audience
engaged, they helped to catapult
some female wrestlers to
stardom, namely two
women: Lita and
Trish Stratus.
On 6 December 2004, both of
these sparred, but this time for
the main event, this match was
the culmination of the invest-
ment from fans and enough pull
backstage to allow the women to
actually perform though it was
Aj Lee who turned
it around, fight-
ing for wom-
en wres-
tlers to be taken seriously.
It was the Sasha Banks vs.
Bayley for the NXT Women’s
Championship match which
made women wrestling the
craze that it is now. Both wom-
en were a part of the Four
Horsewomen, a nickname for
the best four female wrestlers,
Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Bayley,
and Becky Lynch, not only in
NXT but all of WWE. The match
was considered to be Match of
the Year through-
out all of the
wrestling in-
dustry. Media
outlets gave
high praise of
the match and ce-
mented the start
of the women’s
revolution.
Since the ground-
breaking match in
Brooklyn, women in
WWE have been in main
event Raw, Smackdown and
NXT numerous times. A new
class of women’s wrestlers has
begun to make their mark on the
industry, and some of
the best storylines
in all of the wres-
tling involved
women.
AHMEDABAD, WEDNESDAY
MAY 13, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
DANGAL HAI!FROM 1956 TILL NOW, THE EVOLUTION OF WOMEN IN WRESTLING IS FAR
FROM OVER BUT IT IS A GOOD TIME TO BE IN THE INDUSTRY!
I
Sarah Logan Mandy Rose Liv Morgan Alexa Bliss
Bayley
Alexa Bliss vs Asuka
Becky Lynch vs Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair
NEHAL NAYAR
nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
DOLLY JALAN, Artist & Model
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
On professional front, you
have already proved your
metal and your career is
going great. Your friends
may be helping but can also
manipulate you sometimes so be
careful. Those who matters will
always understand you and those you
don’t, you should not care.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Money is flowing into your
life from all directions and
your spouse is your lucky
charm. You must not be a
part of any controversies and you
know someone close to you involved
then guide them and show them a
way out. A new vehicles is on cards,
may also come as a gift.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
You are on with your
fitness regime and you will
surely get the results you
desperately desire. Going
abroad for settlement is on cards and
you must start with your
preparations. On domestic front, you
will be quite in demand and lots of
things will keep you busy.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Those involved in export and
import business will see a
hike. You will complete all
your pending task today .
You will managed to sustain a peaceful
environment at home. You will be very
busy, as you can expect some calls
from friends today. You will at ease
sponsor your kid’s dream education.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
You may feel challenged on
work front but its an
healthy competition which
will help you realise your
true potential. On domestic front, do
not indulge in any kind of argument
with your parents just for the sake of
it, sometime you need to understand
their concern.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
You are an outstanding
home maker and you take
care of your kids like no one
can. You are very close to
your parents and may visit them
frequently going forward. On
professional front, you will get the
break that you have been expecting.
You may get a job offer.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
You may feel financially
secure but your ambitions
have take away your sleep
of the night, try and relax
and sometime take it easy. You will
soon meet a friend who can
understand you and whose company
will make you happy. Remember
somethings take time.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
You are great when it come
to money management and
you have a big heart for
others. You will success-
fully complete the project, which kept
you occupying for long. Today is a
very auspicious day for any kind of
inauguration. You will be involved in
lot of charity.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
You are very jovial and
kind hearted person. You
are a very nice parent and
always understand your
kids but you must know when to
stop pampering. You may bring a pet
to your house and it will be the best
decision in the recent times. You may
feel a lot of pressure to get married.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Your new business is
doing good but you need
to have some patience
when it comes to profit.
Your child may need your serious
counselling so show them you are
there. You make take your family
along on a work trip. Its time to take
your love life to next level.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
You may find yourself in a
very perplexed position
when it comes to money,
unable to decide whether
to spend money on fun to have an
image in your circle or to be an odd
one out. Your teachers will be
extremely impressed with you. You
will enjoy your parents company.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You will feel very refresh
and energetic today. You
worry without any reason
so relax and enjoy what
you have. You may get an unexpect-
ed career call that will change your
life forever. Your spouse will pamper
you in many ways today. You are
very satisfied with your love life.
f all the things the
coronavirus has
taught us the most
important thing is
acceptance. We ac-
cepted that every-
thingthathappened
around wasn’t from some
science fiction movie. And It
wasalsoatimeforreckoning
for many women to accept
their looks emerging from a
salon less life.
Beingamanhadbeeneasy
whenitcametobeautymain-
tenance. It had always been
uber-cool to shave the head,
grow a man bun, sport a
beard, or pull off a salt and
pepper look for them. But it
is a global crisis that has got
all the women to be a part of
‘be the natural club’. Most of
the women carry mental
pressure to live in a constant
state of appeasing. They try
to keep up with ingrained
and ubiquitous body prac-
tices that denote youthful-
ness;perhapslongblackhair,
soft manicured hands,
smooth hairless limbs. Well,
this category of women is
horrifically underprepared
for this particular party.
I belong somewhere in the
middle. I am the procrasti-
nating type. I keep on post-
poning my salon visits un-
less someone else asks me or
just give me an unsaid look. I
was way due to visit a salon
beforethefirstphaseof lock-
down. But with the onset of
panic, I got too busy clamor-
ing to the grocery stores that
last-minute trip to the salon
didn’t cross my mind. Any-
ways I wasn’t brave enough
to rule out social distancing
to get my eyebrows and up-
per lips being plucked with
one end of the thread rub-
bing my face and the other
end in between someone
else’s teeth close enough to
kiss my face!
After a few weeks of lock-
down, I asked a friend what
wasshedoingtokeepherself
pretty? Shewasgoingtopre-
pare some home wax she
said.ThenextdayIfoundher
on the video call with half-
burntandahalf wasundone
hair over her lips. She partly
reminded me of Charlie
Chaplin. I wanted to laugh
but sighed instead and said
the most encouraging words
to her “its ok, we don’t have
to go out without masks for
any foreseeable future”. In
mymind,Ihadalreadygiven
up on the idea of any DIY
waxing at home. My body
hair grows at a higher rate
than corona but I decided to
let them run wild for a while.
It is 40 days since then and
my entire body is revealing a
dark secret that I had suc-
cessfully hidden till now
from everyone. It is my semi
apelookingversioninitsfull
glory. There are amoeba-
shaped eyebrows, a teenager
mustache, and some chin
raise beard. I keep wearing
full-lengths even when its
summer for I worry that an
accidental prickly brush on
my husband’s legs while
binging on our favorite show
together might turn into a
horrifyingrecoil.Asmuchas
he is all into women empow-
erment he would not like me
competing here for sure!
But to be honest just like
wearing pajamas all day ini-
tiallyfeltcriminal,accepting
thatIcan’tdoanythingabout
mybodyhairatthistimehas
given me a feeling of libera-
tion.Iamnowinthemoodof
giving rest to plucking and
peeling till the lockdown 1, 2,
3,…..n keeps extending.
I now have a vague mem-
ory of the world that was
before. I have forgotten how
pretty I looked in the mirror
of the car while I drove back
from a salon. In addition to
it fading away are the silent
shrieks coming from every
pore of my body lying help-
lessly, half-naked, like a sac-
rificial goat with two wom-
en spreading and peeling
the hot liquid on my body?
And so is the patience that I
once had to sit for a long
treatment of facials, pedi-
cures, and hair coloring.
While there is so much
talk of enlightenment going
on these days I think for the
time being we women have
attained bodily enlighten-
ment. We embraced all our
bodily flaws like never be-
fore. Just like we embraced
all the domestic chores that
have been thrown upon us.
We accepted a version of
ourselves that wasn’t so
pretty just as we discovered
another version of us who
could shift their mode from
a person attending webi-
nars to sweeping and cook-
ing in a fraction of second.
I quote a lot of Frida Kahlo
to my friends these days
whorejectedthestereotypes
of beauty back then. And I
also tell them what’s with
body hair? How glamorous
can we look doing jhadoo
poncha anyways?
SHALBHA SARDA
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
THE SALON LESS LIFE
O

First india ahmedabad edition-13 may 2020

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