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- 1. GUJ CIC DENIES 3 CITIZENS FREEDOM TO FILE RTIS First India Bureau Gandhinagar: Taking away the liberty of three citizens to file a Right to Information (RTI) peti- tion, the state Chief In- formation Commission- er (CIC) DP Thacker has instructed government officials not to entertain specific RTI appeals by them. InanorderdatedJanu- ary 05, 2021, Thacker di- rected the First Public InformationOfficer(PIO) and First Appeal officers (FAO) (health depart- ment - Bhavnagar) not to enter RTIs or appeals of Chintan Makwana, BhartibenMakwanaand Dilhariben Makwana for the next five years.The CIC has concluded that “no person had the right to use the law to settle scores or take revenge. These three individuals have little respect for the law and have been taking it all as a joke. Therefore, in the larger interest of the public, this decision has been taken.” “Thisisanunconstitu- tional order,” stated Pankti Jog of the Mahiti AdhikarGujaratPahel,a non-government organi- zation that actively pro- motesandcreatesaware- ness about the Right to Information Act. Jog further stated that the RTI Act had not em- powered the commis- sioner to ban any person from seeking informa- tion or allow a person to file only one application or appeal before a single department at a time. “This Act has granted certain rights to the citi- zens, which the commis- sioner cannot deny them,” she asserted. According to the law, the commissioner can order a departmental in- quiry against the PIO, order financial penalty on the PIO or FAO, or di- rect the PIO to furnish information. “The chief commissionerhasmisin- terpreted the high court order to deny citizens their right to seek infor- mation,” said Jog. The activists have been accused of trying to take revenge and settling scores through RTIs. DP Thacker has ordered his dept not to accept appeals from Chintan Makwana, Bhartiben Makwana and Dilhariben Makwana for the next five years INFRINGING RIGHTS AHMEDABAD l SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 52 PM to launch inoculation drive while addressing 3,006 sites CEC Arora launches book on ‘Electoral Reforms in India’ Dr Anita New Delhi: Chief Elec- tionCommissionerSunil Arorareleasedabookon ‘Electoral Reforms in In- dia’ written by Dr Komal Jain, on Friday. Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Ku- mar were present on the occasion of unveiling of the book at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi. Dr KomalJainisadoctorate in Law and a bureaucrat by profession. Commending Jain’s effort, Arora noted that Election Commission of India has been build- ing upon series of measures taken since 1950s to ensure free, fair and robust elections keeping the primary stakeholder—the Com- mon Man—in focus. He cited the most recent reforms undertaken by ECI to provide postal ballot facility to octoge- narians Turn to P6 OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW www.firstindia.co.in | www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ | twitter.com/thefirstindia | facebook.com/thefirstindia | instagram.com/thefirstindia NUSRAT’S ‘DANGEROUS THAN CORONA’ JIBE LEAVES BJP FUMING Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MP Nusrat Jahan has been attacked by the BJP for publicly calling the party “more dangerous than the coro- navirus”. Nusrat Jahan was speaking at a blood donation camp when she made the comments. “Keep your ears and eyes open because there are some people around you who are more danger- ous than corona. Do you know what is more dangerous than corona? It is the BJP. “In WB, the worst kind of vaccine politics is unfolding. First, Siddiqulla Chowdhury, a sitting minister in Mama- ta Banerjee’s cabinet, holds up trucks carrying vaccines. Now a TMC MP, campaigning in Muslim majority Deganga, likens BJP to Corona.”, said BJP’s social media head Amit Malviya. The world’s biggest drive against coronavirus will begin with vaccination of three crore frontline workers In the first phase, two indigenous vaccines, Covaxin and Covishield, will be administered to priority groups INDIA VACCINATES TODAY New Delhi: Prime Min- ister Narendra Modi will virtually launch India’s vaccination drive against the coro- navirus disease (Cov- id-19) on Saturday as around 100 beneficiar- ies will be vaccinated at over 3,000 session sites across the country, the government has said. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has said that adequate doses of the two made-in-India shots have been deliv- ered to all states and Union territories for the world’s largest vac- cination programme. “This vaccination programme is based on the principles of prior- ity groups to be vacci- nated and Health Care workers, both in gov- ernment and private sectors including ICDS (Integrated Child Devel- opment Services) work- ers, will receive the vac- cine during this phase,” the PMO said in a state- ment on Thursday. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had approved the Ox- ford University-Astra- Zeneca Covid-19 vac- cine, which has been manufactured by the Serum Institute of In- dia (SII) and marketed as Covishield, and in- digenously-developed Covaxin of Bharat Bio- tech for restricted emer- gency use in the coun- try earlier this month. HOW WILL THE VACCINATION DRIVE BE CONDUCTED Given India has a popula- tion of 130 crore people, the country is drawing on its experiences of holding elections to conduct the vaccine drive. The Min- istry of Home Affairs has even requested the Elec- tion Commission (EC) to share the latest electoral roll data for Lok Sabha and Legislative Assem- bly elections to identify people belonging to the priority groups. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU ARE VACCINATED As people are vaccinated, their data will be uploaded in real-time on the Co-Win platform. The government plans to use Aadhaar to help identify and monitor beneficiaries. WHO ALL WILL RECEIVE THE COVID-19 VACCINE The priority groups in- clude health workers, safai karmacharis, the Army and disaster management volunteers. The government has said around 100 people will receive shots at each of the 3,006 vaccination sites in the country on Saturday. The first phase of vaccina- tion is likely to be complet- ed in a few months. IS INDIA PREPARED TO CONDUCT THE VACCINATION DRIVE India has conducted three mock drills in preparation for the vaccine rollout. The nationwide exercise was done to understand the best way to adminis- ter the vaccine and plug loopholes in logistics and training. The government has also created a dedicated 24X7 hel- pline number — 1075 — to address queries related to the vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN software. New Delhi: The ninth round of discussion be- tween farmers demand- ing repeal of the three agriculture laws and the centre -- held days after the Supreme Court stayed their enactment “until further orders” -- ended today with no progress towards end- ing the stalemate. “It was a 120 per cent failure. We suggested that the government re- move the changes made totheEssentialCommod- itiesActinsteadof scrap- pingitaltogether.Butthe AgricultureMinisterhas not said anything on this,” farmer leader Dr Darshanpal said. The next round of talks would be held on January 19, the day the court-appointed com- mitteewaslikelytostart consulting stakeholders to end the impasse. To increase pressure on the government, the farmer unions have de- cided to go ahead and intensify their stir with a tractor rally on Janu- ary 26. Turn to P6 “120% Fail”, says farmer leader after 9th round of talks with Centre CEC Sunil Arora releasing the book with Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Kumar, also seen are Director ECI Mona Srinivas, Dr. Nandita Jain and Hemant Kumar (parents of the author), Dr. Komal Jain, Secretary General ECI Umesh Sinha. DG ECI Dharmendra Sharma and Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain.
- 2. NEWSAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021 02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia First India Bureau Gandhinagar: Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday categorically denied relaxation of the night curfew imposed amid the COVID-19 pan- demic until the situa- tion is under control. Post the new year, the curfew timings have been from 10 pm to 6 am, which has been ex- tended from January 15 to January 31 until fur- ther notice. The chief minister also announced the con- struction of a world- class sports museum in Jamnagar. Set to be named after Jamnagar ruler and noted Test cricketer Jam Ranjitsin- hji Jadeja, the museum will be built in the city. Further, CM Rupani laid the foundation stone of the biggest flyo- ver in Saurashtra at Jamnagar, that will be constructed at an invest- ment of Rs198 crore. The foundation stone for projects worth Rs121 crore, including a sew- age treatment plant was also laid by Rupani. Ad- ditionally, 20 develop- mental projects of the state roads and build- ings department worth Rs24 crore, 7 works worth Rs44 crore and 5 others worth Rs133 crore were also dedicat- ed by the chief minister. He also dedicated pro- jects of Rs40 crore for Gujarat Energy Trans- mission Corporation (GETCO) and also an Akshay Patra central- ized mega kitchen to be established at a cost of Rs17 crore, with the co- operation of the Jamna- gar Municipal Corpora- tion (JMC). Talking about the COVID-19 vaccine ad- ministration to citizens, he said, “Health work- ers will commence the vaccination drive at 161 places across the state from January 16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the on- line event for the same.” No curfew relaxation till nCoV review NOT GIVING AN INCH A policeman patrolling the streets during the night curfew in Ahmedabad. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI First India Bureau Ahmedabad: A 33% hike was reported in calls made to the 108 emergency services in the state during Utta- rayan this year. The kite-flying festival cele- brations that span two days usually witness a surge in emergency calls as compared to normal days. On an average, emer- gency service personnel respond to 2,522 calls on a given day. But during Uttarayan, the number shoots up to 3,359 calls per day. According to data analysis conducted in preparation for the festival, the 108 emer- gency services antici- pated a total of 3,137 emergency calls this year. However, there was a variance of 7.08% in emergency calls from the prediction. Interestingly, of the total number of emer- gencies reported on Ut- tarayan, there has been a substantial rise in cases resulting from as- sault. The service wit- nessed an alarming 288.52% rise in assault cases followed by 167.95% hike in non-ve- hicular trauma. Ahmedabad saw a 39.76% rise in emergen- cies on the day of Utta- rayan. The city wit- nessed a total of 573 emergency cases on January 14 this year as comparedto410casesre- cords on an average day. The highest rise in number of emergen- cies in terms of per- centage was reported in Panchmahal and Va- dodara at 63.33% and 63.12% respectively. Emergency service per- sonnel on call at Patan also dealt with a fair number of calls from citizens. Infact, post the Uttarayan festivities, the emergency calls are likely to fall by 19.57% in the district. On Friday, the state recorded over 1,505 emergency calls, a number that feel short of the 1,770 calls emer- gency personnel re- sponded to on the same day last year. First India Bureau Ahmedabad: Edible oil imports seem to herald the arrival of a return to normalcy in the wake of the COV- ID-19 pandemic, show- ing a 20% increase in December 2020 as com- pared to the same pe- riod in 2019. Edible oil imports, which had dropped by 79% in the period from November 2019 to May 2020, began to see a re- vival in June, when they showed a positive growth of 15%. There- after, they fell by 2% in November, before showinga20%year-on- year increase in De- cember. DatareleasedbyThe SolventExtractors’As- sociation of India showsthatthe1,356,585 tonnes of vegetable oils(1,328,161tonnesof edible oils and 28,424 tonnes of non-edible oils) was imported in December2020,up20% from the 1,128,281 tonnes imported the previous December. However,comparing the year-on-year data for the November-De- cember period, one sees a 9% increase. While 2,459,484 tonnes of vegetable oil was imported in 2019, 2,255,501 tonnes was imported in 2020. Thiswouldmeanthe higher imports during December 2020 is an aberration, which couldhavebeencaused by the relocation of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) to India to beat the im- pending export levies by Malaysia. Only a small parcel of refined palm- olein--12,900 tonnes-- was imported in the November-December period in 2020. Refined palmolein has been placed on a restricted list and imports are subjected to licences. In addition, India has shifted to importing mainly crude oils in recent years. In view of this, crude oil im- ports increased to 2,398,590 tonnes (99.5%) compared to 1,990,579 tonnes (90%) in November-Decem- ber 2020. Indonesia and Ma- laysia are the major suppliers of palm oil to India. Malaysia sent 736,180tonnesof crude palm oil in November- December 2020, fol- lowed by Indonesia, with 581,128 tonnes. In terms of other oils, India mainly im- ported crude soyabean degummed oil from Argentina (551,558 tonnes), and crude sunflower oil, mainly from Ukraine (384,408 tonnes) and Russia (64,629 tonnes). Edible oil imports see 20% year-on-year increase in Dec Palms on a crushing mill line. —FILE PHOTO Amit Shah in A’bad! U nion Home Minister Amit Shah celebrat- ed twwhe festival of Uttarayan with his family by flying kites in Thaltej area of Ahmedabad on Thursday. He also vis- ited the Jagannath Temple on the occa- sion of Makar Sank- ranti and performed a puja. Shah also fed an elephant and a cow at the temple and ex- tended warm wishes to citizens. State sees 33% rise in emergency calls on Uttarayan Emergency services personnel responded to over 3,359 calls on the festival day this year Kite-flying enthusiasts enjoying Uttarayan in A'bad. While dedicating projects for Jamnagar district on Friday, CM Rupani stated that the vaccination drive will begin today IPS AK SHARMA RETURNS TO GUJARAT Data for Nov-Dec shows a combined increase of 9% y-o-y —PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI
- 3. GUJARATAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021 03www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia First India Bureau Bharuch: District col- lector Dr MD Modiya may be dilly-dallying in his decision to allow a Hindu man to con- vert to Islam. Despite receiving a positive ruling from the sub- divisional magistrate, Jignesh Patel’s report has been submitted for review to the collector since February last year. The Gujarat High Court had ordered processing of the ap- plication expeditious- ly within eight weeks in November 2020. Now, Modiya will have to arrive at a decision within two weeks or he may face contempt of court charges. Patel, a 32-year-old Hindu is actively seek- ing permission to con- vert to Islam. He had filed a petition in the Gujarat HC moving the court to direct Bharuch district authorities to expedite the process of his application that has been pending for more than a year. Patel’s lawyer, MT Saiyad told First India, “The Bharuch collector has withheld Patel’s ap- plication for more than a year, despite a sub-di- visional magistrate’s inquiry report that was filed in February 2020. The report in question was favourable in grant- ing Patel permission for conversion of religion.” InarecentHighCourt order, Justice Bela Trivedi directed the Bharuch district collec- tor to decide on Patel’s application “as expedi- tiously as possible”, preferably within eight weeks. The sub-divisional magistrate’s report had establishedthatJignesh Patel was not under pressure to convert, as mandated in the state’s anti-conversion law, Saiyad added. Collector has till Jan-end to process conversion plea HC CRACKS DOWN HC gave Dr MD Modiya 8 weeks from Nov to take call on allowing a Hindu man to convert to Islam; may now face contempt charges Gujarat High Court. —FILE PHOTO HONOURING OUR HEROES Members of the Humf Foundation wave the tricolour and hold up posters while wearing camouflage tshirts to mark Indian Army Day, in A’bad on Friday. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI Four months later,LOP still waiting for personal secretary DailyjumpinnCoVcases dropsto535in24hours First India Bureau Gandhinagar: With the COVID-19 vaccina- tion campaign start- ing today, Gujarat con- tinues to see a consid- erable decline in the number of new cases. On Friday, the state registered 535 fresh cases, taking the total case load to 2,54,849 cases since March 2020. With three new deaths reported—one each in Ahmedabad city, Rajkot district, and Surat city—the to- tal tally has reached 4,360 so far. Of the total new cases reported in the 24 hours ending 5 pm on Friday, Ahmedabad led the list with 109 cases—105 in areas under the munici- pal corporation, while only four cases were re- ported in the district’s rural pockets. Vadodara reported 99 cases—76 cases from the rural pocket, and 25 cas- es from urban areas— while Surat reported 94 cases—81 were from the corporation area and 13 cases were from the ru- ral pockets. At present, there are 6,850 active cases across the state, with 55 pa- tients on ventilators. The state claims to have achieved a recov- ery rate of 95.60%. So far, a total of 2,43,639 people have re- covered from COVID-19, the daily bulletin from the state department said on Friday. In addi- tion, 4,74,410 people re- main under quarantine. First India Bureau Gandhinagar: The leader of the opposi- tion in the Gujarat state Assembly, Paresh Dhanani is still waiting for his “new” personal secre- tary, who was ap- pointed to the post four months ago. HJ Parekh, who was ap- pointed on September 1, 2020, is yet to join duty due to some bu- reaucratic issues be- fore he can report for work. This delay has irked Dhanani so much that he has written to Chief Min- ister Vijay Rupani, seeking the latter’s intervention. In his letter, Dhanani points out that the ap- pointment still needs the approval of the par- liament affairs depart- ment, meaning the post is still officially vacant. “The matter has been pending before the de- partment since Sep- tember 7, 2020. I have followed up on the is- sue on December 5, and December 15. Mean- while, I have also con- tacted you (CM) several times over the tele- phone regarding this appointment. To date there is no action or so- lution for the same,” Dhanani wrote. He further accused the government of playing favourites. “There are many offic- ers in the government who got post-retire- ment service allotment within a week of their superannuation. More- over, the government has violated the circu- lar made on July 7, 2016, which caps the post-retirement age of appointment at 62 years. There are some officers in the govern- ment who are current- ly 79 years old,” Dha- nani stated in the letter, which includes a list of some officers aged be- tween 66 and 79. “I want an immediate appointment of PS, else I will be forced to sit in protest in the Gandhian way in front of your of- fice,” the letter said. 4.31L healthcare workers such as doctors and nurses will be covered in Phase 1 First India Bureau Gandhinagar: The COVID-19 vaccina- tion drive in Gujarat will start for health- care workers at 161 centres when the na- tionwide inoculation campaign kicks off on Saturday, Chief Minister Vijay Ru- pani announced on Friday. Prime Minister Nar- endra Modi, who is scheduled to launch the nationwide vacci- nation campaign against the novel coro- navirus on Saturday, is expected to interact with some of the bene- ficiariesatAhmedabad Civil Hospital, which is one of the 161 centres, via video conference from New Delhi, offi- cials said. “Vaccinationagainst the novel coronavirus will start at 161 centres inGujaratwhenthena- tionwide drive is launched by the Prime Minister on Saturday,” Rupani said during a function in Jamnagar. For the first phase of the drive, the Guja- rat Health Department has identified 4.31 lakh healthcare workers such as doctors and nurses for inoculation, the state’s immuniza- tion officer, Dr Nayan Jani, said. After healthcare pro- fessionals, 6.93 lakh frontline workers such aspolicepersonnel,1.05 crore citizens above the age of 50, and 2.75 lakh people under 50 but withcomorbiditieswill be covered under the drive, Jani added. “We will administer vaccines to 100 health workers per centre each every day. Benefi- ciaries will get an SMS through CoWIN appli- cation about the ad- dress of the centre and other instructions,” Jani also said. CoWIN is an online platform for monitor- ing COVID-19 vaccine delivery and will act as the foundation for the inoculation drive. Jani said around 15,000 vaccinators have been trained by the health department and the entire administra- tion is fully prepared for drive in Gujarat. Vaccine drive to begin for frontline workers today Paresh Dhanani. —FILE PHOTO The vaccine against COVID-19 arrived in Gujarat earlier this week. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI PM CONNECT CRIME BRANCH TWO BOOKED FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT, ASSAULT Ahmedabad: Vadaj police have registered a case against a youth and his father for sexually harassing a woman and assaulting her father. According to the complaint, Neema (name changed) and her sister-in-law had gone out to buy Undhiyu for Uttarayan, when one of the youths hanging out near the Hanuman temple, called out, “You are looking sexy today. Need to take you to a hotel room.” Neema responded by slapping the youth. This sparked a quarrel, which escalated to the parents of Neema and the youth, who then assaulted her father. CASE AGAINST TWO FOR VIOLATING NCOV PROTOCOL Ahmedabad: Khadia police have registered a case against Ajit Maji and Samar Dulal for violating public orders and COVID-19 guidelines. The state has issued an order banning loud speakers during Uttarayan. However, these two persons disregarded that order. So the police have seized the speakers and registered a case against them. TRADER FILES BLACKMAIL CASE AGAINST DATING SITE Ahmedabad: A textile trader in Thaltej has lodged a complaint of blackmail and extortion against an unknown accused with the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Cell after an online “friendship” turned sour. The man told the police that after chatting with a woman for a few days, on Thursday he received a video call in which the woman posed nude. He was allegedly blackmailed over the call, which was recorded. The police have launched an investigation into the issue. UNIDENTIFIED MAN KILLED BY SPEEDING SMTC BUS Surat: A man died after he was hit from behind by a speeding SMTS (Surat Municipal Transport Service) bus in the BRTS (Bus Rapid Transport System) lane near Mahidharpura area late on Friday noon, an FIR filed with E Traffic police stated. The man, who died on the spot, is yet to be identified. Police later registered a case of negligent driving causing death against the driver of bus number GJ 05 BZ 2776. COVID-19 testing in Ahmedabad. —FILE PHOTO 535 new cases, three fatalities take state tally to 2,54,849 cases, toll to 4,360
- 4. G Vol 2 G Issue No. 52 G RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad. Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021 04www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia re too many on- line meetings and notifica- tions getting you down? Online communication tools – from email to virtual chat and video-conferenc- ing – have transformed the way we work. In many re- spects they’ve made life easier. Without them we could not have made the shifttoremoteworkingdur- ing the COVID pandemic. But are we now overly connected? MORE ONLINE FATIGUE Our respondents also re- ported increased fatigue from being online all the time, and from being ex- pected to send and respond to messages. As one of in- terviewee put it, the old problemof lackof informa- tion has been overtaken by how to keep up with all the information we are expect- ed to take in and provide. Online meetings were cited as particularly ex- hausting.Thisconcurswith research showing the de- mandsof constantlyobserv- ing ourselves as performers leads to “Zoom fatigue”. 3 TIPS TO MANAGE DIGITAL OVERLOAD You may not have much in- fluence over the number of tools you use. But you can control how you use them. The key is to reduce “goal interference” – anything that interrupts or distracts you from the task in front of you. Here are three simple principles to manage the load. SWITCH BETWEEN TASKS LESS OFTEN Research shows the idea of multitasking is a myth. Maybe we can cope with two things at time, such listening to music while working. But for any task requiring focus we have to make a cognitive switch. Studies show the more we switch, the worse we get at focusing on what’s rele- vant to the task before us. Make fewer switches to maximise your ability to filter out interference from thoughts about other tasks. SCHEDULE SET TIMES FOR REGULAR TASKS Behavioural experiments show those who check emails just a few times a day report lower stress than those who constantly check throughout the day. Make the effort to do relat- ed tasks in set times blocks (say 30 minutes). Give your- self the opportunity to re- ally concentrate. Switch off unnecessary notifications and other distractions. LIMIT UNNECESSARY COMMUNICATION Sharing information is im- portant – knowledge is pow- er, after all. But too much information becomes just another distraction. As an- other adage goes, data isn’t information, information isn’t knowledge, knowledge isn’tunderstanding,andun- derstanding isn’t wisdom. Information in the digital age is a bit like food. Tens of thousands of years of scar- city has conditioned us to crave it. But abundance meanswehavetoconscious- lycheckourselvesfromcon- suming too much. SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION COVID work revolution has increased digital overload A The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception. —Quran 3:185 Spiritual SPEAK Top TWEET Prakash Javadekar @PrakashJavdekar I congratulate @DRDO_India & @adgpi for jointly developing India’s first indigenous 9mm machine pistol, in a record time of four months. In line with PM Shri @narendramodi’s vision of #AtmanirbharBharat, this weapon has immense potential for both domestic & export markets. Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp Nurturing our domestic market will help our steel industry. Steel can be a catalyst for the well-being of people and a major driver of employment generation by making it a material of choice. Driving mass consumption of steel will bring greater strength to society. he world’s second-largest, In- dian Army celebrates it’s 72nd Army Day, remembering it’s glorious past, paying homage to it’s valiant soldiers and show- casing its battle readiness. The nation of 130 crores stands up to applause the achievements of their finest Army on this Day. However, there is also a segment of so-called intellectu- als who are questioning the need of such a large Army and the babus are considering De- fence spending as an extrava- gance. Some strategic thinkers, across the globe, are also ques- tioning the relevance of war itself, in the 21st Century. RELEVANCE OF WAR Army has been the most effec- tive instrument of national power for furtherance of Na- tional interests. After WWII, the national boundaries have almost been firmed in and there are very few disputed bor- ders in the world. Some ana- lysts feel that the use of force to alter the frontiers is outdated in 21st Century and suggest that the concept of war itself, is ob- solete. In my view, though the war is not obsolete, certainly there is a paradigm shift in na- ture and spectrum of future war. However, the relevance of the military might as “Force of Deterrence” will always exist. CHANGING NATURE OF CONFLICTS Theopeningdecadesof 21stcen- tury have revealed that, in prin- ciple, war has become not only politicallybutalsoeconomically unattractive for the developed countries.Theopeningsalvosof 21st-century war may not be armed the attack, but a range of other hostile actions designed to weaken a state, cyberattacks from unidentified sources, engi- neered economic crisis, bio-war- fare, or even manmade natural disasters. Thus, it’s safe to pre- sumethatanationmaybeatwar, without even knowing about it and also not knowing the enemy precisely. Contemporary wars require a much more integrated use of all elements of national power.Theymaylastlongerthan previous wars, involve more ci- viliancasualtiesandentailrapid action by combatants. Some of thekeyfactorsof futureconflicts are highlighted, hereinafter. z REVOLUTION IN WARFIGHT- ING: The next war will be high tech and emerging technolo- gies could prove revolutionary. Artificial Intelligence is going to alter the decision making to a great extent and robotics may advance to the point of combat use, challenging hu- man resources in war fighting. z UNPRECEDENTED DEVASTA- TION: One thing is a certainty that fire and fury in next war will be of very high intensity. The high intensity of future wars where lethality delivered with high precision will mani- fest into heavy devastation The enormity of this destruction has to sink into the decision makers because war should be avoided at all costs. z JOINT WARFARE: The nature of modern and future wars makes it imperative to fight in an integrated manner, in all dimensions from sea to aerospace. An enhanced level of joint manship would lead to synergized military effec- tiveness and maximisation of combat power, leading to a win-win situation. z TERRORISM: Terrorism and proxy war by religious extrem- ists will be used to make the dynamics of war complex. In the last few decades, the destructive power of strong conventional and nuclear capa- bilities has resulted in weaker states and non-state groups adopting sub-conventional warfare to achieve their politi- cal objectives. z CYBER ATTACKS: Future war may see attacks via computer viruses, worms, logic bombs, and trojan horses rather than bullets, bombs, and missiles. Information technology might provide a politically usable method to damage an en- emy’s national or commercial infrastructure and attain victory without having to defeat mili- tary forces. z BIO AND CHEMICAL WAR- FARE: The experience of the current pandemic can give us insight into future biological and chemical warfare challenges, for which we need to prepare. Future development in genom- ics promise sophisticated biological or chemical weapons, which will be used without the adversary knowing about it. z NUCLEAR DETTERENCE: With the development of nuclear capability, there are differ- ing perceptions on whether or not, space remains for conventional conflict between nuclear powers. Nuclear capa- bility may limit the objective, scope, and intensity of the war, but the nuclear threshold would not be as fragile and low, as made out to be. Of course, nuclear saber-rattling may continue. z WAR TELECAST LIVE: Future conflicts will be covered live by the media and dished out to us on a platter, in the comfort zone of our living rooms. The war will be streamed live like a cricket match and will beat any thriller or fiction. On the posi- tive side, the live reporting will help the populace to see the horrors and devastation of war, resulting in war avoidance. It is almost certain that the next war in 21st century will be intense, having global spread and highly devastating. A strong, well equipped and trainedArmyisaforceof deter- rence for a nation having hawk- ish neighbours with unsettled borders. The political decision- makers will have to re-learn the art of weaving force into state- craft, as a force of deterrence and coercion. The expenditure incurredontheArmy,as“Force of Deterrence” should be taken as insurance for unhindered growth of the nation and never questioned. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL STRONG ARMY FORCE OF DETERRENCE T Army has been the most effective instrument of national power for furtherance of National interests. After WWII, the national boundaries have almost been firmed in and there are very few disputed borders in the world. Some analysts feel that the use of force to alter the frontiers is outdated in 21st Century and suggest that the concept of war itself, is obsolete MAJ GEN CP SINGH, RETD The writer is a scholar soldier accredited with MA, MSc, LLB, MBA, M Phil (Def Mgt) and M Phil (International Strategic Affairs) IN-DEPTH nother round of talks between the Cen- tre and farmers has ended in deadlock making the entire exercise look farcical. We are once again assured of the two sides making headway in the next, tenth, round of talks on January 19. The date was proposed by farmers and accepted by the Centre. With the agenda for the forthcoming round being the same as the ninth round---repeal of the three farm laws and a written guarantee on Minimum Support Price---the outcome of the meeting on January 19 can be easily foreseen. The reason for the outcome being predictable is that neither the Centre nor farmers’ unions are ready to soften their stands. Such is the resolve of farmers and the Centre on their respective stands that the Supreme Court had to intervene to end the impasse. The Apex Court did not crown itself with glory when it first stayed Central legislation and then formed a committee of “experts” to talk to farmers and based on that submit a report to the court. The experts were denounced as being pro-farm laws and farmers refused to appear before the panel. So much so, one of the members---Bhupinder Singh Mann--- has recused himself from being part of the panel giving a boost to farmers. In a way, his rec- usal checkmated the government but the farmers’ refusal to appear before the panel leaves only the Centre for them to negotiate with. The only silver-lining of the day was the two sides agreeing to meet again despite zero prospects of the imbroglio being resolved. A ANOTHER ROUND, BUT NO OUTCOME SATABDI ROY ALL SET TO SNAP TMC TIES amata Banerjee’s ship is sinking as if it had a gaping hole in it. And if the claim of Kailash Vijayvargiya, the BJP in- charge for Bengal, is not a political hy- perbole the Trinamool Congress govern- ment is teetering towards collapse even before the first vote is cast. Vijayvargiya claimed that 41 TMC legislators were ready to switch sides but the BJP will sift the grain from chaff and take those with a clean image. There have been a series of defec- tions from Bengal’s ruling party with the latest hint of defection coming from the party’s Birbhum MP Satabdi Roy. Roy, who made her debut with Mamata Banerjee’s party, conveyed her disen- chantment at being sidelined by the TMC to her fan club in a post which said she felt saddened at not being informed about party events in her con- stituency. On her possible decision to join the BJP, she said she will announce it on Saturday (January 16) at 2 p.m. She is expected to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the same day. Another important person to criticize Mamata is her own brother Kartik Banerjee over dynasty politics. Mamata has been accused of promoting her nephew Abhishek in state politics. In recent months, TMC has seen an exodus of senior lead- ers. After transport minister Suvendu Adhikari, Sunil Mondal, and Barrackpore MLA Shilbhad- ra Dutta also resigned from the party. The gen- eral-secretary of TMC’s minority cell Kabirul Islam also resigned from his post and said he will follow Adhikari. In this context, Vijayvargiya’s statement sounds ominous. If 41 legislators resign, the Mamata gov- ernment will fall. Is that the game plan? M
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- 6. INDIAAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021 05www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia CBI ARRESTS ROSE VALLEY GROUP CHIEF’S WIFE IN CHIT FUND CASE Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday arrested Subhra Kundu, wife of Rose Valley Group chairman Gautam Kundu, from the city in connection with the probe into the multi- crore chit fund scam, sources in the investigat- ing agency said. Sleuths of the Economic Offences Wing of CBI apprehended Kundu for her alleged role in the ponzi scam, they said. She had been wanted by the CBI and another investigating agency - Enforcement Directorate (ED)- in con- nection with the case. The group has allegedly cheated thousands of de- positors, promising high returns on investments in its illegal schemes. SENSEX TUMBLES 549 PTS; NIFTY DROPS BELOW 14,450 Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex plunged 549 points on Friday, dragged by losses in index majors Infosys, HDFC and ICICI Bank amid a largely negative trend in global markets. Profit-booking at higher levels kept benchmark indices volatile, traders said. The 30-share BSE index ended 549.49 points or 1.11 per cent lower at 49,034.67. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty tumbled 161.90 points or 1.11 per cent to 14,433.70. SPL TEAM TO PROBE INDIGO MANAGER’S MURDER: NITISH Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar informed that a special team has been formed to probe the murder of an IndiGo airlines manager and assured that strict action will be taken against the culprits. Speaking to ANI, the Chief Minister said, “I spoke with the DGP, a special team has been formed. Don’t demoralise Police, if someone doesn’t carry out their duty, action is taken. What used to happen before 2005? There was a lot of crime. Is it the same today?” RANJAN INVITES DIDI TO JOIN CONG TO DEFEAT BJP IN WB POLLS Kolkata: Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Friday suggested that West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee should join Con- gress and fight against BJP in upcoming West Bengal Assembly election. Congress Party President in WB, Chowdhury said West Bengal CM can- not fight against the BJP alone in the upcoming polls. “She (Mamata Banerjee) should join Congress because it’s not possible to stop BJP from coming to power in West Bengal without Congress. Congress had single- handedly kept a secular atmosphere in India by combating parties like BJP for nearly 100 years in India. History is proof as well,” said Chowdhury. New Delhi: The Delhi High Court transferred the criminal defamation case filed by Vivek Dov- al, son of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, against The Caravan Magazine and others to Pa- tiala House District Court. A single-judge bench of Justice Mukta Gupta transferred the case to the Patiala House District Court. As one of the accused, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on De- cember 19, 2020, tendered an apology to Vivek Doval before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sachin Gupta marking the case to District Judge Rouse Avenue District Court for passing appropriate order as the matter now per- tains between private parties. —ANI New Delhi: A single- judge bench of Delhi HC Justice Prathibha M Singh recused from hearing a plea seeking direction for an injunc- tion against the updat- ed Privacy Policy of WhatsApp with imme- diate effect. The court listed the matter for hearing on January 18 before another bench subject to orders of Del- hi HC’s Chief Justice. During the short hearing, Justice Prathi- bha M Singh took strong objection to an email sent by What- sApp to the court. “I was in any case not going to hear it,” the court clarified and sent the matter to another bench recording that the email sent by What- sApp should be with- drawn unconditionally. During short hearing, Justice Prathiba M Sin- gh suggested the matter be treated as public in- terest litigation. —ANI IN THE COURTYARD Delhi High Court transfers case against Caravan magazine Delhi HC Judge recuses herself from hearing plea DOVAL’S CRIMINAL DEFAMATION CASE WHATSAPP’S NEW PRIVACY POLICY New Delhi: The Su- preme Court dismissed a plea seeking immedi- ate action against man- ufacturers and users of hybrid rickshaws, also known as ‘’jugaads’’, which are cobbled to- gether from parts of various vehicles. A Bench headed by Jus- tice RF Nariman re- fused to entertain the plea saying, “Heard the petitioner appearing in person. We find no mer- it in the Writ Petition. The Writ Petition is, ac- cordingly, dismissed.” Hybrid vehicles known as ‘jugaads’, are rickshaws made using old parts of the differ- entautomobiles,mainly decrepit scooters, & pedal rickshaws, used to carry goods & people. New Delhi: In view of public safety and secu- rity during the Republic Day celebrations, Delhi Police on Friday issued an order banning the use of sub-conventional aerial platforms like para-gliders, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned aircraft sys- tems (UASs), hot air bal- loons and others with effect from January 20 till February 15. “Flying of sub-con- ventional aerial plat- forms like para-gliders, para-motors, hang glid- ers, UAVs, UASs, micro- light aircraft, remotely piloted aircraft, hot air balloons, small size powered aircraft, quad- copters, & para jumping from aircraft is banned on Republic Day Func- tion and doing so shall be punishable under section 188 of the IPC. SC drops plea seeking action against hybrid rickshaws Delhi bans flying UAVs for R-Day celebrations FARMERS’ PROTEST FARM LAWS WILL FINISH FARMERS: RaGa AT ‘KISAN ADHIKAR MARCH’ New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the newly enacted farm laws will ‘finish the farmers’. “The three (farm) laws have been brought to finish the farmers. If we don’t stop this now, it will continue to happen in other sectors too. Narendra Modi does not respect the farmers. The farmers will nei- ther deter, nor fear,” said Rahul Gandhi dur- ing the Congress party’s ‘Kisan Adhikar March’ in the national capital. He, along with Pri- yanka Gandhi Vadra, led the protest to show solidarity with the farmers’ agitation against the farm laws by gheraoing the Raj Ni- was in the capital. They also met Con- gress party Member of Parliaments who were protesting against the three farm laws at Jan- tar Mantar. Bhupinder Singh Mann, National Presi- dent of Bharatiya Kisan Union recused himself from a four-member committee appointed by the Supreme Court onthefarmlaws.Speak- ing on the matter, Rahul Gandhi said, “Have you ever heard about the word Maya? Everything is Maya, media-created Maya and this myth will soon end. Just wait and watch what will happen the day this Maya will end.” Congress Party held protests across the country demanding a repeal of the farm laws brought by the Central government, against which farmer organisa- tions have been protest- ing at the various bor- ders of Delhi for 50 days now. Meanwhile, the talks between farmer leaders and the government at Vigyan Bhawan has temporarily been halt- ed for the lunch break. Both the parties are holding the ninth round of talks over the farm laws after the Supreme Court stayed their im- plementation. —ANI CONG OBSERVES ‘KISAN ADHIKAR DIVAS’ AGAINST FARM LAWS ‘FARMERS WILL WITHDRAW R-DAY PROCESSION IF SC ORDERS’ ‘FARMERS NOT HAPPY WITH SC PANEL & WILL CONTINUE TALKS’ New Delhi: As Congress is observing a ‘Kisan Adhikar Divas’ against the farm laws across the country, party leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra here on Friday gheraoed Raj Niwas, Civil Lines to express solidarity with the farmers. In Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, protestors raised slogans against the Centre, demanding the rollback of the three farm laws. KC Venugopal, the Member of Parliament said, “The apex court intervened, constituted a commit- tee but came into controversy as one of its members has resigned. This is not going to solve the situation. We demand that the government should repeal these laws. We and farmers are not going to withdraw the protest till all the demands of the farmers are met.” —ANI New Delhi: The national spokesperson of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) Rakesh Tikait said the farmers would withdraw the Republic Day tractor parade if SC orders. In response to the proposed procession to be held by the farmers on Republic Day, Tikait said, “If the SC will order, farmers would not hold the pro- posed parade on Republic Day.” “We would conduct the rally on some different day,” he further added. “The bill was passed by Parliament so only govern- ment should repeal it, not the committee made on the orders of SC,” BKU Spokesperson said. —ANI New Delhi: Representatives of farmers told the Centre on Friday that the four-member committee formed by the Supreme Court to redress their grievances on new farm laws was “not acceptable” to them though they will continue to hold parleys. “During our meeting with the government representatives, we made it clear that the committee formed by the Supreme Court is not acceptable. The farmers will however continue to hold talks with the Centre and try to find out a solution to their demands through dialogue,” Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said. —ANI Congress leader led a protest against Centre’s new farm laws in & said these laws are intended to “finish farmers” JOIN CAMPAIGN: RAGA TO PEOPLE Congress leader Rahul Gandhi once again targeted the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government on Friday and asked people to be a part of the ‘Speak Up For Kisan Adhikar’ campaign. “The ‘annada- ta’ of the country are doing Satyagraha against their arrogant Modi government for their rights. Today, entire India is raising its voice against the atrocities on farmers and rising prices of petrol and diesel. You too join and become a part of this Satyagraha. #SpeakUpForKisan- Adhikar,” said the Congress leader. DON’T BE OBSTINATE, DISCUSS & RESOLVE ISSUE: MOS AGRI New Delhi: Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary said farmer unions should not be adamant & change their demand of repeal- ing the farm laws. He asked the farmers not to boycott the SC mandated committee. “There are a lot of farmers who are supporting farm laws. I would request the Kisan unions to understand their emotions and listen to them. Even the SC has formed a committee & their decision is above everything, we have to abide by it. Only talks will resolve this issue,” Choudhary said. —ANI Procurement of 83 LCA Tejas is a big step:RajnathSingh Bengaluru: Noting the approval of the largest indigenous defence procurement deal to buy 83 LCA Tejas, De- fence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that the purchase fight- er jets is a big step in the direction of At- manirbhar Bharat Ab- hiyan, which will gen- erate 50,000 job oppor- tunities. “Recently, purchase of Rs 50,000 crores worth 83 Tejas fighter jets has been a big step in this direction (Aat- mnirbhar Bharat Ab- hiyan). It will generate 50,000 job opportuni- ties. Participation of 500 MSMEs and private companies like Tata, L&T and Vem-tech has given a boost to the synergy of govern- ment and private sec- tor,” said Defence Min- ister at an event in Bengaluru. On the role played by public sector undertak- ings since independ- ence, Singh said, “Pub- lic sector undertakings have had an important contribution in socio- economic progress In- dia has made after in- dependence. Be it capi- tal formation, employ- ment opportunities or encouraging R&D, PSUs have played a vi- tal role.” —ANI Vivek Doval Ajit Doval
- 7. INDIAAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021 06www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia CEC Arora... and persons with disa- bilities as also ensuring safe elections amid Cov- id concerns. He compli- mented Jain for spell- ing out many more fu- turistic reforms in her book besides the vast span of other topics handled by her. On the other hand Su- shil Chandra said it was a moment of pride for ECI to be releasing Jain’s book on Electoral Reforms. He noted that elections in India have become really festive given the enthusiastic participation from peo- ple from all walks of life. He added that further reforms to better the electoral processes are the need of the hour and Jain’s book con- tains some practical recommendations. Rajiv Kumar too com- plimented Jain for pre- senting her work on very relevant and con- textual issue helping ignite informed debate on the subject of Elec- toral Reforms in India with comparative anal- ysis of UK and Ameri- can systems. Dr Komal Jain’s book titled “Electoral Re- forms In India—A Com- parison With UK & USA Legal System” deals with the issue of intro- duction of electoral re- forms in the present democratic scenario including constitution- al checks and safe- guards exercised by ju- diciary on electoral process and on constitu- tional bodies associated with it like the Election Commission. To obtain a broader perspective, various as- pects of judicial review on election laws in In- dia as well as those of Europe (with particular emphasis on United Kingdom), United States of America and their impact on promot- ing electoral reforms have been studied and their impact and after effects are analysed as a part of this book. Dr Komal Jain is a lawyer by education and is an alumna of Gu- jarat National Law Uni- versity, Gandhinagar. She went on to complete her doctorate on Elec- toral Reforms in 2019 from Mohanlal Sukhad- ia University in Udaipur and has worked as an Assistant Professor of Law at Jaipur National Univer- sity, Rajasthan and Ma- nipal University, Jaipur. “120% Fail”... “Our proposed Tractor rally will be held, will be held, will be held,” Dr Darshanpal added. Leaders of the 40 farmers’ unions negoti- ating with the centre also said they want con- tinued direct communi- cation with the centre, “not brokers”. They maintain they will not appear before the panel since the members were already in “favour of the farm laws”. The government has agreed to engage directly with farmers, but said that if they want they can go to the court-appointed com- mittee as well. —ANI FROM PG 1 ‘Pregnant women should notbegiven Covid vaccine’ No clinical trial conducted so far says, Health ministry New Delhi: Inter- changeability of COV- ID vaccines is not per- mitted & pregnant and lactating women should not be administered the shots as they have not been part of any anti- coronavirus vaccine clinical trial so far, health ministry said. In a letter to all states and Union territories, the ministry highlight- ed that under the emer- gency use authorisa- tion, coronavirus vacci- nation is indicated only for 18 years and above. If required, COVID-19 vaccine and other vac- cines should be sepa- rated by an interval of at least 14 days. “Inter- changeability of COV- ID-19 vaccines is not permitted. Second dose should also be of the same COVID-19 vaccine which was adminis- tered as the first dose,” the letter written by Manohar Agnani, Addi- tional Secretary, Union health ministry said. “Pregnant and lactat- ing women have not been a part of any COV- ID-19 vaccine clinical trial so far. Therefore, women who are preg- nant or not sure of their pregnancy & lactating should not receive vac- cine at this time,” the letter stated. —PTI ARUN KUMAR JOINS AS CHAIRMAN, IGL Arun Kumar Singh, Director (Marketing), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL), has taken over the additional responsibility as Chairman of Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL). He replaces P.K. Gupta, Director (Human Resources), GAIL (India) Ltd., who has relinquished the charge upon com- pletion of the two-year Chairmanship tenure of IGL by GAIL (India) Ltd. 49 ACCOUNTS OFFICERS, SENIOR ACCOUNTS OFFICERS SHIFTED As many as 49 Accounts Officers and Senior Accounts Officers of the Government of India have been shifted to various Ministries and Departments in Delhi. Shubhanjan Das promoted to Super Time Scale in WB (UPDATED) Shubhanjan Das has been promoted to the Super Time Scale in West Bengal. He is a 2005 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre KEY APPOINTMENT IN 2021: RBI GUV Who will be new RBI Governor this year end. There are indications that present RBI Governor Shakti Kanta Das will get another term. 179 IAS PROBATIONERS ALLOCATED CADRES As many as 179 IAS Probationers of 2019 batch have been allocated cadres. FIVE IAS PROBATIONERS ALLOCATED HARYANA CADRE Pradeep Singh, Deepak Babulal Karwa, Pankaj, C Jayasharadha and Harshita Kumar have been allocated Haryana cadre. 13 IAS PROBATIONERS ALLOCATED AGMUT CADRE Jatin Kishore, Vishakha Yadav, Navneet Mann, Shishir Gupta, Yahni Nagarajan, Priyank Kishore, Yashaswini B, Sarjana Yadav, Egna Cleetus, Giri Sankar R, Cheemala Siva Gopal Reddy, Azharuddin Zahiruddin Quazi and Namgyal Angmo have been provided AGMUT cadre. 8 IAS PROBATIONERS ALLOCATED MADHYA PRADESH CADRE Himanshu Jain, Abhsihek Saraf , Anil Kumar Rathore, Anshuman Raj, Prakhar Singh, Vivek K V, Agrim Kumar and R Anjali have been allocated Madhya Pradesh cadre. SIX IAS PROBATIONERS ALLOCATED JHARKHAND CADRE Ravi Jain, Dipankar Choudhary, Piyush Sinha, Aniket Sachan, Ashish Agarwal and Reena Hansdak have been allocated Jharkhand cadre. NINE IAS PROBATIONERS ALLOCATED MAHARASHTRA CADRE Sanjita Mohapatra, Bhosle Neha Prakash, Patki Mandar Jayantrao, Narwade Vishal Tejrao, Muru- ganantham M, Richard Yanthan, Jangam Kuladeep, Karthikeyan S and Jithin Rahman have been provided Maharashtra cadre. FOUR IAS PROBATIONERS ALLOCATED PUNJAB CADRE Chandrajyoti Singh, Nikas Kumar, Ojasvi and Har- jinder Singh have been provided Punjab cadre. NINE IAS PROBATIONERS ALLOCATED ASSAM-MEGHALAYA CADRE Abhishek Jain, Simi Karan, Ayushi Jain, Aranyak Saikai, Roma Srivastava, Hema Nayak, Preeti Kumari, Abhishekgowda M J and Abhinva Kumar Singh have been allocated Assam-Meghalaya cadre. NINE IAS PROBATIONERS ALLOCATED TELANGANA CADRE Mayank Mittal, Apurv Chauhan, Abhishek Au- gustya, Manda Makarandu, Ashwini Tanaji Wakade, B Rahul, Pratibha Singh, Praful Desai and P Kadhi- ravan have been given Telangana cadre. POWERGallery By arrangement with: http:// whispersinthecorridors.com Covishield will be administered at 75 hospitals New Delhi: As India awaits the vaccine roll-out anxiously, the Delhi government on Friday announced that the Serum Institute of India (SII)-manufactured Covishield vaccine will be administered at 75 Delhi government and private hospitals while Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN will be given at six hospitals run by the Central govern- ment in the national capital. Construction work of new Parl building begins New Delhi: The con- struction work of the new Parliament build- ing started on Friday, over a month after Prime Minister Naren- dra Modi laid the foun- dation stone for the pro- ject under the govern- ment’s ambitious Cen- tral Vista redevelop- ment plan. The new Parliament building will have a triangular shape and is expected to be completed by the 75th anniversary of In- dia’s independence in 2022. The government plans to hold the mon- soon session of Parlia- ment in 2022 in the new building. “The con- struction work of the Parliament building has started,” an official said. PM Modi had laid the foundation stone for the new Parliament building on December 10 last year. Earlier this week, a 14-member her- itage panel gave its ap- proval to the new Par- liament building while also giving the go-ahead to the Central Vista re- development project. Prez donates `5 Lakh for Ram Temple as drive for funds begins New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind today donated 5 lakh and one hundred towards the grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya as the Trust set up to oversee the construction launched a nationwide donation drive. Leaders of vari- ous political and quasi- political outfits joined the bandwagon, flag- ging off regional drives that will continue till February 27. On behalf of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, its co-president Govind Dev Giriji Maharaj, to- day met President Ko- vind. He was joined by VHP working president Alok Kumar and tem- ple construction com- mittee’s chief Nripen- dra Mishra, and RSS leader Kulbhushan Ahuja. “He is the first citi- zen of the country so we went to him to initi- ate this drive. He do- natedasumof 5,00,100,” VHP’s Kumar said, ac- cording to media. —ANI RS 1 L BY MP CM ‘New H-1B Visa rules negative for IT services’ New Delhi: The pro- posed changes in H-1B application selection process by US Citizen- ship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are prospective in nature but will have a minor adverse impact on the margins of Indian IT services companies, in- vestment information agency ICRA has said. The H-1B application selection process will be based on wage levels compared to an earlier selection method based on lottery. Under the new rule, the USCIS will select applications of- fering the highest wag- es proffered vis-a-vis selected occupation level or position to at- tract the highest skilled labour. ICRA said this is likely to be a mild nega- tive for the Indian IT services as H-1B visa of- fered wage levels are generally in line or mar- ginally higher than the prevailing wages asso- ciated with the position. Compared to same, international compa- nies offer substantially higher wages and are likely to garner a high- er share of such H-1B visas unless Indian IT services companies in- crease wages offered substantially. About 20 to 30% of Indian IT ser- vices employees work onsite with nearly 40 to 50% dependent on the H-1B visa. —ANI ‘No coercive action against Arnab till January 29 in TRP case’ Mumbai: The Mumbai police told the Bombay High Court on Friday that it will not take any coercive action till Jan- uary 29 against Repub- lic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and other employees of ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd in the alleged fake TRP scam case. A divi- sion bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale also extended till January 29, the interim relief for employees of the complainant com- pany in the case, Hansa Research Group, by di- recting the police to en- sure they are called for inquiry for not more than two days a week. Minimum temperature to fall by 2 - 4 degree celsius in northwest: IMD New Delhi: The mini- mum temperature is very likely to fall by two to four degrees Celsius in most parts of north- west India during the next two days, informed the India Meteorologi- cal Department (IMD) on Friday. “Due to the prevalence of dry north/north-westerly winds, minimum tem- peratures very likely to fall by two-four degree Celsius over most parts of northwest India dur- ing next 2 days,” it said. Due to the influence of dry north/north-west- erly winds in northwest India, a dense to very dense fog at isolated/ few pockets are very likely over Punjab, Har- yana, Chandigarh, Del- hi, Uttar Pradesh, north Rajasthan, Sub-Himala- yan West Bengal, Sik- kim and Bihar during next three days. —ANI Students ride bicycle amid the dense fog and cold weather, in Lucknow on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI TMC MP Satabdi hints at problems with party Kolkata: Amid an on- going exodus from the TMC, Birbhum MP Sa- tabdi Roy hinted that she is having problems with the ruling party in West Bengal and may take a “decision” on Saturday. The actor-turned-pol- itician, in a Facebook post, claimed that she is not being informed about party events in her constituency and this has caused “mental pain” to her. The three-time Birb- hum MP, who is on her way to New Delhi, said she will inform the pub- lic at 2 pm on Saturday if she takes any “deci- sion”. Her post has created ripples in the TMC, which promised to reach out to Roy. As per party sources, Roy is having differ- ences with Birbhum district TMC chief Anu- brata Mondal. “I have a close con- nection with this con- stituency. But recently many people have been asking me why I am missing from several party programmes.—PTI Shah to lay foundation stone of Bhadravati RAF centre in Karna New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will lay the foun- dation stone of campus of a newly-raised bat- talion of CRPF’s Rapid Action Force (RAF) at Bhadravati in Shi- vamogga district of Karnataka during his two-day visit to the state beginning Saturday. After laying the foun- dation stone, the Home Minister will flag off Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) vehicles and will also inaugurate police quar- ters under the Police Gruha-2020 scheme. On Sunday, Shah will inau- gurate ethanol project of Kedarnath Sugar and Agro Products Ltd followed by the inaugu- ration of KLE Hospi- tal’s advanced simula- tion centre. He will also address a public rally at Belagavi. The newly-raised bat- talion of the Rapid Ac- tion Force has been al- lotted land for its cam- pus at Bhadravati in Shivamogga district of Karnataka, CRPF said in a press release. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurap- pa will also be present at the ‘bhoomi poojan’ cer- emony at the campus. RAF is a specialized Force of CRPF to main- tain public order and handle riots and riot- like situations. —ANI Amit Shah
- 9. Darshan Desai Ahmedabad: Spring- ing surprises is Naren- dra Modi’s speciality - either as a Chief Minis- ter or as the Prime Min- ister. The latest is Arvind Kumar Sharma, who was on Friday, named among the four BJP candidates for the January 28 elections to the Uttar Pradesh Leg- islative Council, amid widespread speculation that he might be made a Deputy Chief Minister. There is little doubt that Modi’s trusted lieu- tenant won’t be pitch- forked on Uttar Pradesh’s firmament just to become a Mem- ber of Legislative Coun- cil. Sharma is Modi’s man in Uttar Pradesh and he won’t be uproot- ed from the top echelons of the central bureau- cracy to join the BJP in UP or just become an MLC. “Let me tell you, this is not a great piece of news for the UP Chief Minister,” a sen- ior leader asserted, re- questing anonymity. Small wonder then when AK Sharma flew in to UP to join the BJP, posters and hoardings welcoming him came up all over Lucknow, beginning with the city’s vantage Hazrat- ganj. His joining the BJP on Makar Sank- ranti became quite an event with the State’s Who’s Who being in at- tendance to welcome him. Sharma and Modi go a long way back, to the time when Modi took over the reins of Guja- rat as Chief Minister. The 1988 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer has served as secretary to the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and af- ter Modi moved into the Prime Minister’s Of- fice, Sharma was called in as additional secre- tary in the PMO and then promoted as joint secretary. Hailing from a small village in Mau district of Uttar Pradesh, Shar- ma was later made Sec- retary in the Micro, Small and Medium En- terprises (MSME) Min- istry from where he took voluntary retire- ment recently. Interest- ingly, his ‘quickfire’ ap- proval from his parent cadre is also adding fuel to the fire to the claim that he will be accorded a high seat in UP poli- tics since the VRS was approved in merely twenty four hours on January 11. Sharma was due to retire in July 2022. But it is not his ‘win- ning’ the poll rather what is in store after it, that has got the tongues wagging. By all meas- ures, Sharma is likely to be accorded an im- portant portfolio in Yogi cabinet at Luc- know, and thereby the word doing rounds that he could be made the third Deputy Chief Minister or that Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma may be dropped. And a deputy chief minister, who would, in fact, be the ‘third power centre’ in UP politicws, after CM Yogi Adity- anath and state general secretary Sunil Bansal, whose ‘consent’ is re- quired for all important political and bureau- cratic decisions in UP. Also considering that the state will go for elec- tions in March 2022, just 14 months from now, the ‘appointment’ of ‘high profile’ Shar- ma, does draw consider- able attention and draws new political lines. The bureaucratic cir- cle is abuzz with the word that Sharma has always enjoyed clout in UP affairs, which was evident from the fact that he got a batchmate from UP cadre, who was placed in a considera- bly ‘outcast’ position, back to the mainstream during the first 3 years of Yogi government. The same bureaucrat has now become instru- mental in fortifying Yogi’s image from a hard-core Hindutva leader to a development oriented leader. And after two highly important bureaucrats in UP - Avanish Awasthi and Navneet Sehgal - AK Sharma’s elevation is going to bring an in- teresting set of events for the bureaucracy in the most populous and politically volatile state of the nation. In the end, it goes without saying that Sharma will remain PM Narendra Modi’s watch- dog who will call the shots in Yogi govern- ment, which is appar- ent from the statement he gave to the media on Friday that him being given a place in politics without any back- ground or any experi- ence, “could not have been possible without the blessings of Naren- dra Modi Saheb.” On more buzz in Luc- know bureaucracy is that AK (Sharma) may prove to be another KK (Kailashnathan) of Gu- jarat in Uttar Pradesh. Interestingly, Kailas- hnathan, after serving Modi CMO for 14 years, even after his retire- ment, was given a cru- cial assignment in Vijay Rupani’s CMO as Chief Principal Secretary, as a Modi nominee and his tenure now has been ex- tended to co-terminus with Rupani’s 5-year tenure up to 2022. The 1979 batch Gujarat cad- re officer, KK, who hails from Kerala, enjoys the reputation of a hard- core Modi loyalist, a low profile and an ex- tremely efficient bu- reaucrat. When everything is lost we will still have one thing under our control- our attitude! —Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 08 2NDFRONT First India Bureau Ahmedabad: With the Covid-induced social distancing require- ments making people to look for either bigger homes or alternative secondhomesintheout- skirts of the cities, the real estate market in Ahmedabad has benefit- ted the most as it has emerged as one of the cheapest destinations for residential real es- tate in India. According to theMag- icbricks PropIndex re- port for 2020Q4, sus- tained by commercial segments and new launches, western and north-western parts of Ahmedabad continued to do well. “At more than 1%, the city posted the highest price increment amongst the TIER I cit- ies in the country for Q4, bringing down the YoY decline to -1.5% in 2020,” the report says. Having a geographically uni- form development his- tory, though most of the residentialandcommer- cial development is con- centrated in the West and North sections of the city. This has paved thewayfordevelopment of premium options at affordablepricesaround Sardar Patel Ring Road and Sarkhej-Gandhina- gar Highway. After the Covid-19 cri- sis, buyers are increas- ingly focussing on these locations. Chandkheda, Shela, Vastral, and Bo- pal have seen increased buyer interest in the quarter. Interestingly, demand for bigger homes has propelled the share of 3 BHK configurations even as the share of 1 and 2 BHKs has come down. “The 3 BHK con- figurations received 46% of demand in Q4 2020, up from 36% in Q3 and 31% in Q2. Moreo- ver, the share of afford- able units, costing less than INR 4,000 per sqft has also come down due to garnering 47% of the demand in Q4 2020, ” the report adds. A’bad emerges cheapest destination for housing sector According to Magicbricks PropIndex report for Q42020, demand for bigger and second homes has given fillip to housing sector on the city’s outskirts NEW DESTINATIONS! —FILE PHOTO Modi’s Man Friday Arvind Kumar Sharma lands in Yogi’s applecart Emergence ofanew‘powercentre’inUP Chaudhary is new Dudhsagar Dairy chairman First India Bureau Ahmedabad: Ashok Chaudhary has been appointed as the new chairman of the pow- erful Rs 5,800-crore Dudhsagar Dairy in North Gujarat. His name was announced after a meeting of the board headed by elec- tion officer CC Patel. Amrut Desai will be the vice-chairman for the first 2.5 years, while Jashiben Desai will hold the post for the next 2.5 years. The change in leader- ship in Dudhsagar Dairy comes after 15 years. Chaudhary-led Parivartan panel sup- ported by the ruling BJP had won a massive victory in the recently held Dairy elections. Only 2 members of for- mer chairman Vipul Chaudhary’s Vikas Panel won. Ashok Chaudhary’s panel bagged 13 out of the total 15 seats for which elections were held recently. Vipul Chaudhary who had contested for the Kheralu seat lost to Sardar Chaudhary who won with a nar- row margin of 13 votes. Court allows youth to write exams in jail Morari Bapu donates `18.61 cr for Ram templeFirst India Bureau Ahmedabad: An Ahmedabad court has permitted a 19-year-old boy, accused in a suicide abetmentcase,toappear forB.Comsemester-3ex- ams from jail. The court directed the jail authori- ties to provide books and study material to Mihir Rathod through his advocate. The court rejected a bail application by Rathod to appear in the exams but allowed a subsequent plea to let him write the exams of the remaining two pa- pers from jail. The court ordered him to deposit the necessary expenses with jail authorities so that they may provide him an escort for his ex- ams on January 13 and 16 from 9 am to 1 pm. He had sought bail till January 17 to appear for his exams as he missed 2 papers due to his ar- rest on January 10. The exams began on Janu- ary 7. First India Bureau Ahmedabad: Popular godman Morari Bapu has donated a whopping Rs 18.61 crore, while a diamond trader from Surat on Friday con- tributed a hefty sum of Rs 11 crore for the con- struction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, even as funds poured in from Gujarat. As Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel stated that Gujarat would go down in his- tory as the biggest do- nor to the cause of the temple, the diamond trader, Govindbhai Dholakia, made the do- nation at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) office in Ahmedabad. The VHP and RSS mem- bers began the collec- tion of donations for the temple on Friday. Not only Dholakia, who owns Ramakrish- na Diamond, but one Mahesh Kabootarwala of Surat also donated Rs 5 crore, while Lavji Badshah has contrib- uted Rs 1 crore. There are several traders in Gujarat who have do- nated Rs 5 to Rs 21 lakh. Bharatiya Janata Party’s Gordhan Za- daphia and treasurer Surendra Patel had re- cently donated Rs 5 lakh each. VHP’s Alok Ku- mar said President Ram Nath Kovind made the first contribution. “He is the first citizen so we went to him to initiate this drive. He donated Rs 5,01,000,” he said. Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel (middle) at the VHP office in Ahmedabad when collections began for Ram Temple on Friday. Ashok Chaudhary Narendra Modi AK Sharma Yogi Adityanath NIGHT VIGIL CONTIN- UES Police constables are seen patrolling in the old city on Friday night as night curfew was extended by 15 more days in view of the Covid-19 situation in Ahmedabad. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI COVID-19 UPDATE GUJARAT 4,360 DEATHS 2,54,849 CONFIRMED CASES RAJASTHAN 2,744 DEATHS 3,14,372 CASES DELHI 10,732 DEATHS 6,31,884 CASES WORLD 20,09,441 DEATHS 9,38,61,080 CONFIRMED CASES INDIA 1,05,42,068 CONFIRMED CASES 1,52,094 DEATHS MAHARASHTRA 50,336 DEATHS 19,84,768 CASES UTTAR PRADESH 8,543 DEATHS 5,95,142 CASES KARNATAKA 12,158 DEATHS 9,30,668 CASES
- 10. AHMEDABAD, SATURDAY JANUARY 16, 2021 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09 ANITA HADA anita.hada@firstindianews.com fter the pandemically inclined 2020, 2021 needed a special input to make it happening, cool and something to look forward to. Well, we at First India took it upon ourselves to bring one of the hottest things to make 2021 super cool! The First India Fashion Calendar fea- turing gorgeous alluring beauties from Rajasthan will make every month a page- turner. The sensual display is a testimony to the fact that beauty and glamour is not just the prerogative of large metros and international ramps but can bloom from any garden or desert! Jagdeesh Chandra said that First India always promotes local talent and gives a platform to youth and beauty to shine on a national platform. The unveiling was done by Jagdeesh Chandra, with Kriti Garg, Yasheel Pandel, Rishee Miglani, Gaurav Gaur, Syed Umar, Nishchal Bhandari and the bevy of beauties. We bring you unseen bewitching wom- en from across Rajasthan in a never-be- fore-seen avatar. The concept of the Fash- ion City First team, the calendar was brought to life by Shaan wielding magic with his lens ably supported by Gaurav Gaur who took care of the styling. Nishchal bhandari, Director Siddharth Buildcom, the chief sponsor saud that T company believes that Rajasthan and the world of glamour have immense potential which should be brought forth and pro- moted hence they decided to become a part of the amazing annual calendar be- ing released by First India. The bikinis by Moon Bohra were the perfect wardrobe to bolster the confidence of the models and Bharti Aggarwal did the right make up to bring out the beauty of the girls! The launching of the calen- dar at a glittering ceremony has definite- ly set the stage for this super addition to the new year and is already much awaited by the elite and who’s who. Catch more glimpses of the Fashion Cal- endar launch on January 17, in City First. A DARINGDYNAMIC DIVAS 2021!2021 just got spiced up with the launch of the Fashion Calendar by First India. A one-of-its-kind calendar featuring beauties from the desert state, was launched amid fanfare on a cool zestful evening on Friday at D Three! Jagdeesh Chandra launches the calendar; seen here are all the guests holding the First India Fashion Calendar 2021 Jagdeesh Chandra kickstarts the launch ceremony Jagdeesh Chandra with Gaurav Gaur, Kriti Garg and Anita Hada just before unveiling the Calendar Divija Gambhir Jagdeesh Chandra felicitates Divija Gambhir The unveiling of the Calendar Jagdeesh Chandra with the calendar girls —PHOTOSBYSANTOSHSHARMA
- 11. 10-11ETCAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia CITY FIRST GIVES YOU A PEEK INTO THE EXCLUSIVE FASHION CALENDAR OF 2021 ADAYINTHESUN&SAND TANNU HIMANSHI SUMITRA RIYA SONI AKANKSHA KARISHMADIVIJA DEEPIKA ARPITA AKSHITA MUSKAN KHUSHBOO RAGINI (From left) Riya, Himakshi, Muskan, Khushbu, Deepika, Divija, Akanksha, Arpita, Karishma, Tanu, Soni, Akshita, Sumitra, Rishika and Ragini —CONCEPT & PHOTOS BY SHAAN
- 12. Tanu Choudhary is a rising star of Elite Miss Rajasthan 2020 who believes that destiny and hard work goes hand in hand. Moon Bohra, designer of Dungri Studios, whose each piece is carefully crafted by skilled hands and personally overseen by the designer before it leaves the atelier. work goes hand Moon Bohra, designer before it leaves the atelier. Karishma Tak is a 22 year old B.com final year student. She is a finalist of Elite Miss Rajasthan 2020 whose dream is to become an actress. Khushboo Dahiya is a model of Elite Miss Rajasthan whose dream is to make her mother proud by becoming an actress and a super- model. 12AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia CITY BUZZ Akshita Dutta, a 21-year old girl from Ajmer, Rajasthan is a final year student of B.com from Delhi University. She is one of the finalists of Elite Miss Rajasthan 2020 who aspires to become an inspiration for young girls and wants to represent India at international platform. Sumitra Godara is a 20 year old and 5’7 tall girl from Nagaur who strongly believes that success begins in mind. She is the 3rd runner up of Elite Miss Rajasthan 2020 and her dream is to become Miss World. First India has just spiced up 2021 with its annual glamorous Fashion Calendar. We bring you the team which brought forth this absolutely unique calendar for 2021! Riya sain is the 2nd runner up of Elite Miss Rajasthan 2020 who wants to make her family and nation proud of her by getting the crown. A blend of creativity, innovation and fervor, Shiv Kohli envisages himself as ad maker and director while continuing to savor photography as his first love. Ashok Singh from Big Boss Studio said Big Boss is one of the pioneers of fashion and glamour in Rajasthan and it has been a pleasure to be associated with the first ever super glamour calendar by First India. Ragini is a 20 year old professional dancer and model from Delhi. She loved the experience of working for this super glamorous calendar. Bharti Aggarwal is the co- founder of Hair Trends- A luxury salon in Model town, Central Delhi. She is an inspiration for many artists due to her knowledge of makeup, creative ideas, usage of tools and color techniques. Gaurav Gaur is the director and founder of Elite Miss Rajasthan, Jaipur couture show, Jodhpur Souture Show, Udaipur Couture Show & Kota couture show. He is a supporter of women empowerment and his focus is to generate a hope inside the girls. Akanksha Bhalla is a 24 year old model and actress who believes that a person should become a role model for inspiring others. Her dreams inspires her to work hard and achieve. Akanksha Bhalla is Tanu dream is to become Miss World. glamour in Rajasthan pleasure to be associated with the first ever super glamour inspires her to work hard Akshita Dutta, a 21-year old girl girls and wants to represent India at become a role model for inspiring others. Her dreams Soni Kumari is a model from Jaipur whose dream is to be in the list of top supermodels of India and the world. Shaan, the man behind the concept and shots said that, ‘Shooting for the fashion calendar was an unforgettable experience for me. To coax these beautiful models to give their sensual best was a challenge and I am indebted to the beautiful girls for the trust they put in my ‘camera’ and vision to put forth their best. I believe the First India fashion calendar is truly of international standards and sets a benchmark for years to come.’ 2021 Spiced2021 Spiced up for you!up for you! Arpita Singhania is a model and dance instructor. She wants to represent India on an international level. She loved the idea of this Fashion calendar and feel privileged to be a part of it. Deepika Singh is one of the finalists of Elite Miss Rajasthan 2020 who wants to become an inspiration for woman. Himakshi Choudhary is a model from Sikar, Rajasthan and a finalist of Elite Miss Rajasthan 2020. Her dream is to become Miss India. Divija Gambhir is a CA student and the 1st runner up of Elite Miss Rajasthan 2020 whose dream is to to bring equality by empowering women and fostering well-being of voice less creatures.