Gujarat village sarpanch, 5 others detained for Dalit youth's murder

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AHMEDABAD l SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 233
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COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
2,108
DEATHS
46,516
CONFIRMED CASES
KARNATAKA
1,152 DEATHS 55,115 CASES
RAJASTHAN
546 DEATHS 27,789 CASES
WORLD
5,95,091
DEATHS
1,40,64,813
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
10,39,018
CONFIRMED CASES
26,281
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
11,452 DEATHS 2,92,589 CASES
DELHI
3,571 DEATHS 1,20,107 CASES
TAMIL NADU
2,315 DEATHS 1,60,907 CASES
HARESH JHALA
Palanpur:Dhanera po-
lice have detained sar-
panchHansrajPurohit
and five others of Ravi
village for allegedly
kidnapping and mur-
dering a Dalit youth
who was suspected of
committing a theft.
Pintu Gulchar’s naked
corpse was found in
the village square on
Friday morning.
A relative of the de-
ceased, Sanjay Gulchar
toldFirstIndia“Thesar-
panch and five others
came to Pintu’s house
last (Thursday) night
and summoned him to
jointhemforsomework.
He never came back
home.Wefoundhisbody
in the morning and
called the police.”
Dhanera Police In-
spector SA Dabhi told
First India that police
has detained village
sarpanch Hansraj
Purohit and five oth-
ers in connection with
the murder. He added,
“Deputy Superinten-
dent of Police SK Vala
too had rushed to the
village when informed
about the case. A post-
mortem is being car-
ried out.”
The bruising on his
body suggests that
Pintu was tortured
before he died, possi-
bly by being dragged
at the back of a mo-
torcycle, Sanjay Gul-
char also said.
Inspector Dabhi said
that while the complain-
ant did not mention any
possible reason for the
kidnapping and murder,
primary questioning of
the accused revealed
that Pintu was suspect-
ed of committing a theft
in the village.
“The accused said
that a theft had taken
place in a shop and that
thedeceasedwasseenin
CCTV footage from the
areaatthesametime.So
they suspected that Pin-
tu Gulchar was behind
the burglary,” he said.
Purohit reportedly
also told the police that
Pintu was suspected of
committing other thefts
as well, and had even
booked for theft and in
a liquor case.
Inspector Dabhi said
that the case registered
againsttheaccusedisun-
der IPC sections for kid-
napping, murder, con-
spiracy and even under
the Atrocities Act. All six
willhavetoundergoatest
for COVID-19 before they
are arrested and pro-
duced before the court.
Dalit youth accused of theft found murdered in Banaskantha
VILLAGE SARPANCH HANSRAJ
PUROHIT, 5 OTHERS DETAINED ON
SUSPICION OF VIGILANTE JUSTICE
A 25-year-old youth named Pintu
Galchar of Ravi village of Dhanera
tehsil of Banaskantha district of Gu-
jarat was murdered last night. It is clear that
after the murder, he was dragged naked. We
will not sit peacefully until all the culprits are
arrested. —Jignesh Mevani, Vadgam MLA and Dalit leader
Aditi Nagar &
Kartikey Dev Singh
Jaipur: The stage is set
for the biggest battle of
our times effectively
pitching the Centre
against the State. In a
swift ‘stroke’, the Ra-
jasthan Special Opera-
tions Group (SOG), on
Friday, registered two
FIRs against union
minister for Jal Shakti
and Jodhpur MP Gajen-
dra Singh Shekhawat
and two others, for try-
ing to topple the state
government. This de-
velopment is touted to
have far reaching impli-
cations on the politics
of Rajasthan. Moreo-
ver, political observers
are now viewing the
recently conducted IT
raid on few Congress
leaders, as motivated by
the current political
game.
Meanwhile, two FIRs
have been registered by
Congress leader Ma-
hesh Joshi pertaining
to the audio clips on
the alleged con-
spiracy to topple
Rajasthan gov-
ernment. “There
were two com-
plaints from Ma-
hesh Joshi (Con-
gress leader), it
is with respect
to the audio
that went viral yester-
day. We registered 2
FIRs under section 124A
and 120B. The veracity
of clip is to be investi-
gated,” said Ashoke
Rathore, ADG - SOG.
“Sanjay Jain was in-
terrogated yesterday, he
was called today also.
Presently we are trying
to ascertain some facts
from him,” the police of-
ficial added. Jain was
subjected to interroga-
tion on Friday after
which the SOG arrested
the man. Rathore
said it would not
be appropriate to
comment until
it is established
in the investiga-
tion that the al-
leged names that
have surfaced in
the complaint
and audio clips are
those the real per-
sons. He also said SOG
is also going to move
court for permission to
hold voice spectrogra-
phy tests to match the
voice samples.
Earlier in the morn-
ing, the Congress ac-
cused Union Cabinet
minister Gajendra Sin-
gh Shekhawat and Con-
gress legislator Bhan-
warlal Sharma of con-
spiring to topple the
elected government in
Rajasthan. Turn on P6
Lukung (Ladakh): Un-
ion Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh on Fri-
day assured that not an
inch of our land can be
taken by any power in
the world while he in-
teracted with the Indi-
an Army and ITBP per-
sonnel at Lukung.
Referring to the In-
dia-China border stand-
off, he said, “Talks are
underway to resolve the
border dispute but to
what extent it can be re-
solved I cannot guaran-
tee. I can assure you, not
one inch of our land can
be taken by any power
in the world.” Empha-
sising on finding a dip-
lomatic solution to the
standoff, Turn on P6
HC: No action against Pilot, MLAs till Tuesday
Now its State vs Centre after FIR against Shekhawat!
‘Not an inch of our land can be
taken by any power in the world’
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inspects a Pika machine gun at Stakna Leh on Friday.
HIGH DRAMA
RAJIN
Haryana cops ‘halt’
SOG in its Manesar
‘checking’ exercise
Speaker postpones
hearing for four days
Aditi Nagar
Jaipur: Even as the
SOG filed an FIR
against union minister
Gajendra Singh Shek-
hawat, a Special Opera-
tions Group team left
for Manesar in Haryana
to take statements of
Congress MLAs pur-
portedly heard talking
in a viral audio clip
about horse-trading of
legislators to topple the
Gehlot government in
Rajasthan, an official
said on Friday.
Dissident Congress
legislators, supporting
Rajasthan’s former dep-
uty chief minister
Sachin Pilot, are holed
upinaresortinManesar.
“A team is ready and
will leave for Manesar
to ascertain the ver-
sions of those whose
names have come up in
audio clips as there
have been statements
that these audio clips
are fake or morphed,”
ADG (ATS & SOG)
Ashok Rathore said in
the morning after
which the team left for
its destination.
However, an interest-
ing chain of events un-
folded at Manesar
where the Rajasthan
Policeteamwasstopped
by their Haryana coun-
terparts outside the ho-
tel premises. The team
was stalled outside
Turn on P6
—PHOTO BY ANI
Ashok Gehlot Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
Cops stand before Raj SOG sleuths,
disallowing them to enter hotel for
70 min where MLAs are ‘housed’!
First India Bureau
Jaipur: Former Ra-
jasthan PCC Chief
and deputy Chief
Minister Sachin Pilot
and 18 other Con-
gress dissident MLAs
on Friday received a
four-day reprieve
from any action by
the assembly Speaker
on the disqualifica-
tion notices served
on them, after the Ra-
jasthan High Court
extended its hearing
on the issue to com-
ing Monday from 10
AM onwards.
The division bench
of Chief Justice In-
drajit Mahanty and
Justice Prakash Gup-
ta, hearing the dissi-
dent MLAs’ petition
against the Speaker’s
notices, adjourned
Friday evening. The
counsel for the Speak-
er assured the court
that no order shall be
passed on the notice
till 5.30 pm on Tues-
day. Keeping in tune
with the Court direc-
tive,AssemblySpeak-
er Dr CP Joshi also
later announced post-
poning the hearing
on the notice he had
served to these nine-
teen legislators, till
Tuesday 21st July.
Earlier, Speaker
DR. CP Joshi had
written to the court
that the notices
would not be acted
upon till 5 pm on Fri-
day. Turn on P6
Sachin Pilot
Encounter not
fake: UP police
to apex court
New Delhi: The Uttar
Pradesh Police on Fri-
day submitted before
the Supreme Court
that encounter of his-
tory-sheeter Vikas
Dubey, who was the
main accused in the
killing of eight cops in
Kanpur, cannot be
termed as fake.
The police made the
submission in a de-
tailed reply before the
apex court on two peti-
tions seeking a high-
level probe into the en-
counter of Vikas
Dubey Turn on P6
Modi calls for reform in global
multilateral system, UN
New Delhi: Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi on Friday made a
strong pitch for reform-
ing the global multilat-
eral system to enhance
its relevance, improve
its effectiveness and to
make it the basis of a
new type of human-
centric globalisation
while noting that India
firmly believes that the
path to achieving sus-
tainable peace and
prosperity is through
multilateralism.
Addressing ECOSOC
(United Nations Eco-
nomic and Social Coun-
cil) commemoration of
UN’s 75th anniversary,
he said multilateralism
needs to represent the
reality of the contempo-
rary world as only re-
formed multilateralism
with a reformed United
Nations at its centre can
meet the aspirations of
humanity.
“India firmly believes
that the path to achiev-
ing sustainable peace
and prosperity is
through multilateral-
ism. As children of
planet Earth, we must
join hands to address
our common challenges
and achieve our com-
mon goals. However,
multilateralism needs
to represent the reality
of the contemporary
world. Only reformed
multilateralism with a
reformed United Na-
tions at its centre can
meet the aspirations of
humanity,” PM said.
“Today, while cele-
brating 75 years of the
United Nations, let us
pledge to reform the
global multilateral sys-
tem. To enhance its rel-
evance, to improve its
effectiveness, and to
make it the basis of a
new type of human-cen-
tric globalisation,” the
PM said.
DUBEY
ENCOUNTER

Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: With
their high incidence
of COVID-19, Surat,
Ahmedabad and
Mumbai are now put-
ting Bhavnagar at
risk.
More than 350 of
Bhavnagar’s total 842
cases of COVID-19 have
been recorded in the
past week and the spurt
is being attributed to
migration from the Su-
rat, Ahmedabad, and
Mumbai. As a result,
the local police and dis-
trict administration
have started screening
of those entering the
district.
A notification from
the Bhavnagar collec-
torate and magis-
trate, issued on
Thursday, reveals
that contact tracing
of COVID-19 patients
firmly points the fin-
ger at Surat,
Ahmedabad and
Mumbai.
“Around 6 lakh peo-
ple from outside have
entered the district
since Unlock 1.0 was
imposed,” Gaurang
Makwana, Bhavnagar
district collector told
First India.
The district adminis-
tration has limited en-
try into the district to
two points, both
manned by teams of
medical and police per-
sonnel.
“Keeping in mind
the source of infec-
tion, the district ad-
ministration has de-
cided to screen people
coming from outside
the city. These check-
posts have been func-
tions for a long time
but, for the last few
days, we have
strengthened the in-
spection,” Makwana
added.
The limited entry
points have led to long
lines of vehicles but lo-
cal doctors say things
are likely to get worse
before they get better.
In fact, former presi-
dent of the Gujarat
chapter of the Indian
Medical Association
(IMA) Dr MR Kanani
says this is just the be-
ginning.
“The number of cas-
es will increase further
as many people have
reached Bhavnagar
from highly infected
places. Moreover, most
of the people are prefer-
ring to get admitted at
private hospitals that
are already full. Plus,
testing results are al-
ready delayed by limit-
ed infrastructure,” he
said, adding that the
association has donat-
ed four high-flow oxy-
gen units to the govern-
ment and suggested
that the 300-bed dental
college at Amargadh be
pressed into service as
a COVID-19 hospital.
Fifteen people have
died due to the virus al-
ready.
I n f r a s t r u c t u r e
aside, the district is
also facing an acute
shortage of drugs
used to combat the
Sars-CoV-2 virus.
The Bhavnagar Dis-
trict Chemists Associa-
tion has written to the
district collector and
municipal commission-
er complaining that the
district is facing a
shortage of Remdesiv-
er and that Tocilizumab
is not available any-
where.
“Looking at the
current situation in
Bhavnagar, we feel
the district should
stock up on these
medicines to prevent
any disaster. Moreo-
ver, these injections
should be given at the
company rate to all
those who are in need
and not to just VIP
patients,” mentioned
Pradip Mehta, presi-
dent of the associa-
tion.
“Outsiders are under
the impression that the
district has a high re-
covery rate. What they
forget is that, after Su-
rat, Bhavnagar is the
hub of the diamond
business. Plus, workers
who had left Alang have
begun to return to their
jobs in the ship-break-
ing industry. All these
factors have added to
the incidence of COV-
ID-19 cases. At a pre-
sent, average 60% of
the cases are from ur-
ban areas while 40%
are reported in rural
areas,” said Kalu Dave,
a senior reporter based
in Bhavnagar.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Chief
Minister Vijay Ru-
pani’s government
on Friday decided to
roll back changes to
the paygrade of pri-
mary schoolteach-
ers. It has decided to
put on hold the Edu-
cation Department’s
circular dated June
25, 2019, through
which the monthly
salary of teachers
hired after 2010 was
to be reduced from
Rs4,200 to Rs2,800.
The circular was to
meant to come into
effect from next
month.
The decision came
after Rupani and Edu-
cation Minister Bhu-
pendrasinh Chudasa-
ma met with the rep-
resentatives of teach-
ers’ associations on
Friday.
Chudasama told the
media that--through
this decision--the
chief minister aims to
quell disappointment
and dissatisfaction
caused by the circular
among primary
schoolteachers and
give them relief.
He added that the
state also aims to en-
sure that no section
of the society faces
injustice at the
hands of the BJP
government. As a re-
sult, chose to arrive
at a solution through
discussions and dia-
logue to resolve the
dispute.
S c h o o l t e a c h e r s
across the state had
been protesting for
more than a week, de-
manding that their old
wages be restored.
They had called for a
“Black Friday” pro-
test and had staged sit-
ins and strikes in
their respective
schools.
Gujarat State Pri-
mary Teachers’ Fed-
eration president Dig-
vijaysinh Jadeja told
the media that Fri-
day’s decision follows
several rounds of
meetings with the
state education depart-
ment and minister.
Although the state
has promised to put
the 2019 circular on
the backburner, this
will not happen im-
mediately. “It will
take a month or two
since the education
department has to
complete all its pro-
cedures,” said
Bhikhabhai Patel,
president of the Gu-
jarat Primary Teach-
ers’ Association.
Congress Party’s
spokesman Manish
Doshi had sat on a to-
ken fast on Thursday
in support of teach-
ers. He had said that
65,000 teachers were
going to be affected by
this “illogical circu-
lar” and demanded
that it be scrapped.
NEWSAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
A’BAD, SURAT, MUMBAI PUT
BHAVNAGAR @ RISK
CLASS ACT: Rupani govt holds back
order to reduce primary teachers’ salary
DyCM inaugurates 1000-
bednCovhospitalinSurat
First India Bureau
Surat: Deputy Chief
Minister Nitin Patel
inaugurated a 1000-
bed COVID-19 hospi-
tal in Surat via video
conferencing on Fri-
day. The hospital has
been equipped with
facilities such as oxy-
gen supply, ventila-
tors, Intensive Care
Units (ICUs) and oth-
er resources. Chief
Minister Vijay Ru-
pani, State Health &
Family Welfare Min-
ister Kishor ‘Kumar’
Kanani, Surat Mayor
Jagdish Patel, MPs
and MLAs were also
present at the confer-
ence virtually.
Established at an in-
vestment of Rs97 crore,
the hospital will
provide treatment to
COVID-19 patients.
Similarly, another
COVID-19 hospital is
being built, which is
expected to be ready by
August 15, said State
Special Officer Milind
Torvane.
The hospitals were
ordered to be built
by CM Rupani on
July 4, after a surge
in cases was report-
ed post Unlock 1.0 &
2.0. The 1000-bed
COVID-19 hospital
on the Civil Hospital
premises has been
prepared on a war
footing basis in just
15 days. Rupani con-
gratulated and laud-
ed the health depart-
ment and the district
administration for
the quick and effec-
tive operation.
“There were 1,500
beds available in Surat
government hospitals
and 800 in private hos-
pitals. Another 1,000
beds have been added
with this new hospital,
taking the total tally of
beds for COVID-19 in
Surat to 3,300 beds,”
said Rupani.
While Deputy
Chief Minister Nitin
Patel termed the
achievement of set-
ting up the hospital
as ‘a golden page in
the history of Guja-
rat’s health sector’.
Patel also pointed
out that the state gov-
ernment has taken
special care to con-
trol the transition of
novel coronavirus in
the industrial me-
tropolis Surat.
l Rolls back cir-
cular that would
have cut pay
from Rs4,200 to
Rs2,800 begin-
ning next month
CM with State Primary Teachers’ Federation prez Digvijaysinh Jadeja and Primary Teachers’ Association prez Bhikhabhai Patel.
Deputy CM Nitin Patel
COLLECTOR CONFIRMS 6 LAKH PEOPLE HAVE ENTERED THE DISTRICT IN UNLOCK 1.0
Travellers to Ahmedabad line up to be tested for COVID-19 at entry points into the city. With the numbers rising in Bhavnagar even as they are falling in Ahmedabad, the former has also tightened entry norms. —PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI
Members of a medical team during a testing drive at Sanathal
on Friday.Govt data for Bhavnagar, as on Thursday.

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020
First India Bureau
Bhuj: A 21-year-old
man from Maharash-
tra has been appre-
hended by the Border
Security Force (BSF)
in the Rann of Kutch
while he was trying to
sneak into Pakistan
on foot, officials said
on Friday.
Police said that as per
the preliminary probe,
the man, identified as
Zeeshan Siddique, was
on his way to meet a
woman in Pakistan
whom he had befriend-
ed on a social media
platform. “Siddique
was held by the BSF on
Thursday night and
later handed over to the
local police. He is from
Osmanabad town in
Maharashtra,” said
Parikshita Rathod,
Kutch-East Superinten-
dent of Police.
An engineering stu-
dent, Zeeshan went
missing on July 11 fol-
lowing which his par-
ents lodged a missing
complaint with the lo-
cal police station. Soon
the police tracked him
driving towards the Pa-
kistan border.
“The police had is-
sued an alert after a mo-
torcycle with Maha-
rashtra registration
number was found
abandoned near Dhola-
vira village in the Rann
of Kutch on Thursday
evening. The BSF later
nabbed the man when
he was found walking
towards the border in a
bid to enter Pakistan,”
Rathod added.
With the help of GPS,
Siddique reached
Kutch and then up to
Kala Dungar in the de-
sert. He even inquired
about a better road, as
he was doubtful wheth-
er he would be able to
cross the desert or not.
After his motorcycle
got stuck in the sand,
he started walking to-
wards Pakistan in a
bid to meet his social
media friend living in
that country.
The BSF team found
him in the desert a few
kilometres from the In-
dian border. He has been
taken to a central inter-
rogation centre, where
agency officers will in-
terrogate him. If he is
cleared of all suspicion,
he will be free to go.
There have been inci-
dents when Pakistani
agencies have tried to
trap Indian youths
through social media
and even defence ser-
vicespersonnelthrough
fake IDs on social me-
dia. It remains to be
seen whether Zeeshan
was walking into a trap
or not.
Youth arrested while trying to sneak into Pak to meet girlfriend
LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST
 An engineering student from
Maharashtra, Zeeshan Siddique
had planned to meet the woman
he’d befriended on social media
A board signalling the approach to the Indo-Pak border in Kutch. —FILE PHOTO
12,830 samples tested, 949
cases reported in day of highs
Med students to be drafted into service as tally touches 46,516 cases, with 2,108 dead
Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar: The
state, which tested
12,830 samples in one
day, recorded 949 fresh
cases of COVID-19.
Both these figures are
the highest since Guja-
rat reported its first
case of the disease in
March. Amid the bur-
geoning crisis, the gov-
ernment has now de-
cided to pull final year
medical students into
service to meet the
shortage of staff
across the state.
According to a circu-
lar issued on Friday
evening, students—in-
cluding those in the
first year—pursuing
MBBS, BDS, BAMS,
Physiotherapy, BSc
nursing, GNM and BSc
microbiology degrees
will be roped into ser-
vice to meet the labour
shortage. They will be
given different tasks
and will be trained to
carry them out.
The 949 fresh cases,
and 17 deaths, emerged
from 30 districts and
eight municipal areas.
Surat still tops the
list with 234 new cases,
177 of which were from
the city. Ahmedabad
comes in next with 184,
while Vadodara has 77
new cases, Rajkot has
58, Bharuch, 47,
Bhavnagar, 44, Navsari,
30 and Mehsana and
Kheda have 21 each.
There are 11,464 ac-
tive cases in the state,
with 71 patients on ven-
tilator support.
In Surat, five more
doctors have tested pos-
itive, as have 12 dia-
mond workers, and
nine persons associated
with the textile sector.
Rajkot city now has 537
total cases, of which 256
are active ones.
With the Ahmedabad
Municipal Corporation
declaring10moremicro-
containment zones, the
citynowhas196of them.
Vadodara has 760 ac-
tive cases, of which 125
patients are on oxygen
support and 38 are on Bi-
pap machines. Padra
town observed a bandh
to pay tribute to those
whodiedduetothenovel
coronavirus. With cases
on the rise, traders in
Por on the outskirts of
Vadodara have decided
to operate between only
from 8 am to 4 pm.
Dhrangadhra MLA
Parsottam Sabariya has
written to the district
collector demanding a
15-day lockdown. Simi-
larly, Halvad Nagarpa-
lika has also demanded
lockdown, and Unja
businesses will remain
closed July 20-25.
A woman gets tested for COVID-19 in Ahmedabad. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
ROUND-UP
A+ FOR EFFORT
With heavy rain ahead,
15 NDRF teams sent in
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: With a
forecast of heavy to
very heavy rainfall
in Saurashtra and
South Gujarat over
the next 72 hours, all
districts in the re-
gion have been alert-
ed by the Gujarat
State Disaster Man-
agement Authority
(GSDMA). The state
government body
has also issued
guidelines to avert
any natural calamity
due to the deluge
about to befall the
region. Over 15
teams of the Nation-
al Disaster Response
Force (NDRF) have
been deployed to the
coastal districts.
According to sourc-
es, after receiving an
alert from the Indian
Meteorological De-
partment (IMD), six
NDRF teams have
been stationed at Su-
rat and Valsad, while
five teams have been
dispatched to Navsa-
ri. One team has been
kept on stand-by for
Saurashtra districts
namely Amreli, Por-
bandar, Jamnagar,
and Bhavnagar. Fish-
ermen have also been
asked not to venture
into the sea for the
next five days.
A cyclonic circula-
tion over South Guja-
rat and its neighbour-
hood now lies between
1.5 and 7.6 km above
mean sea level tilting
southwestwards with
height. A trough runs
from the above cyclon-
ic circulation over to
south at Madhya
Pradesh across north
at Maharashtra be-
tween 1.5 and 2.1 km
above mean sea level.
OnDay1of 2-dayvisit,Central
healthteamlaudsGujefforts
Ruchi Thakar &
Haresh Jhala
Surat/Ahmedabad: A
four-member team
from the Central gov-
ernment visited Su-
rat and Ahmedabad
on Friday to review
the novel coronavirus
situation in the city,
which has emerged as
the new hotspot in the
state, and to provide
necessary guidance to
the local authorities.
Dr Randeep Guleria,
Director, All India Insti-
tute of Medical Scienc-
es (AIIMS), who is part
of the team expressed
confidence that just like
Ahmedabad, the viral
outbreak will be
brought under control
in Surat as well.
Surat district has
seen a sharp rise in
COVID-19 infections in
recent days and record-
ed 9,451 COVID-19 cases
and 395 deaths so far,
second only to
Ahmedabad.
In addition to Dr Gu-
leria, the team includes
NITI Aayog member Vi-
nod Paul, director gen-
eral of ICMR Dr Balram
Bhargava and addition-
al secretary in the Un-
ion Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare
Arti Ahuja.
The team held discus-
sions with senior offi-
cials and doctors of Su-
rat’s civil hospital about
the present situation,
treatment protocols and
availabilityof medicines
tofightthepandemic,an
official said. It also vis-
ited containment zones
in the city before leaving
for Ahmedabad.
Guleria said he was
hopeful of curbing the
COVID-19 spread in Su-
rat. “We held detailed
discussions on various
aspects like patient
management, medi-
cines and plasma thera-
py. We understood the
issues and gave solu-
tions,” he said.
The team stressed on
the importance of bet-
ter treatment for pa-
tients, contact tracing
and testing to bring
down the cases gradu-
ally, he added.
In Ahmedabad, NITI
Aayog’s Vinod Paul said
that a few good initia-
tives such as the Dhan-
vantri Raths, have been
undertaken by the state
government which can
be implemented in oth-
er states.
Doctors with ICMR’s Dr Bhargava & AIIMS’s Dr Guleriya at the Surat Civil Hospital on Friday. —ANI
Civic body continues to
censor nCov information
Surat needs docs,
drugs, tests: IMA Guj
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: It seems
that the Ahmedabad
Municipal Corpora-
tion (AMC) has not
paid heed to the outcry
regarding censorship
of COVID-19 data, and
has continued to cen-
sor information relat-
ed to the pandemic.
The figures of daily
COVID-19 sample collec-
tion and testing was not
revealed by the local
civic body. However, in-
formation about the
numberof testsconduct-
ed during the first two
weeks under OSD Rajiv
Gupta’s charge was
shared in comparison to
the period prior to it.
After sharing infor-
mation about the list of
COVID-19 positive cases,
housing societies under
quarantine and area-
wise data, AMC ceased
revelationof alldata,cit-
ingprivacyconcerns. At
the same time, the civic
body has continued to
release videos of pa-
tients who have received
treatment for COVID-19
from various hospitals.
“This is the home
ground of the prime
minister and the union
home minister. They
want to project it as a
model city. That is why
thelocalauthorityishid-
ing data,” said Dinesh
Sharma, Leader of the
Opposition, AMC.
First India Bureau
Surat: The Gujarat
branch of the Indian
Medical Association
(IMA) put forth its
recommendations to
curtail the transmis-
sion of COVID-19 in
Surat before a four-
member Central team
from Delhi which vis-
ited the city on Friday.
Representatives of
the IMA stated that
the first step is to in-
crease sample testing
and supply of the To-
cilizumab injection.
Dr Chandresh Jar-
dosh, President, IMA,
Gujarat branch told
First India, “Surat is go-
ing through a bad phase
and if we want to con-
trol the spread of Sars-
CoV-2, an increment in
sample testing is a
must. If people infected
with the virus are iden-
tified, it would be easy
to isolate them and
break the chain of
transmission.”
He added, “The test-
ing numbers being re-
corded right now are
not enough. And, even
though the government
has capped the cost of
COVID-19 test at
Rs2,500, people are not
getting tested. The gov-
ernment should make
antigen testing free of
cost. As for COVID-19
tests, they should be
conducted on OPD pa-
tients too.”
The IMA team also
recommended an in-
crease in the supply of
the Tocilizumab injec-
tion,knowntohelpCOV-
ID-19patients.Inpropor-
tion to the number of
patients being treated at
hospitals, at least 250 vi-
als can address any im-
mediate need for the in-
jectable drug.
With doctors, nurses,
paramedical staff, lab
technicians and ward
boys working round-the-
clock, a call for recruit-
mentof additionalmedi-
cal staff was also sug-
gested by the IMA. This
istofacilitatebreaksand
self-quarantineforexist-
ing medical staff.
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. —FILE PHOTO
The rains have damaged roads across Ahmedabad.
SSS
ADVANCE PLANNING
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 233 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 | SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020
an a thought be empowered
with one’s energy, to make it
manifest into reality?
Sadhguru: Whatever people
aspire for in their life – wheth-
er it is to grow a business, build
a house or whatever else – the
thought: “I want this” arises.
Once this thought happens, for
most people, they focus their
energy towards that something
through action and start work-
ing towards it. If their action is
incisive enough, their thought
becomes a reality. That is the
usual way people function in
the world. But they do not know
how to infuse or empower that
thought with a certain dimen-
sion of energy.
However, if you have some
mobility in your energy be-
yond the physical body, if the
mobility becomes a conscious
process, you can sit in one
place and make your energies
go somewhere else. However, if
you do this without gaining
sufficient mastery over your
own life energies, you may not
know how to pull the energies
back into you. You can lose
your life like this. You will see,
if someone’s desire is beyond a
certain pitch, they always die
young. Most people’s desires
are fickle. They desire some-
thing today, something else to-
morrow – it keeps changing.
But if someone desires very
powerfully towards something,
they die young whether that
something happens or not. Es-
pecially if that something hap-
pens, they die young because
they know how to throw their
life energies out, but do not
have enough mastery to do the
work and come back.
A SINGLE-POINTED
MIND IS POWERFUL
Thought itself is a reverbera-
tion and an energy. You cannot
generate a thought without en-
ergy. It is just that because it is
happening in such a haphazard
way, maybe it does not have the
necessary energy to manifest
itself. You can generate so
muchenergywithyourthought
process that you could kill
someone. When your mind is
single-pointed, it is a powerful
instrument. Unfortunately,
most of the time this single-
pointedness happens to people
in a negative way, not in a posi-
tive way. An angry mind and
also a lustful mind are very
single-pointed minds. That is
why in Indian culture, children
are always warned, “When you
are angry, do not say anything
negative about somebody,” be-
cause if your mind has become
single-pointed with anger, it
can easily manifest itself.
Let us look at the process of
generating a thought. Is your
thought conscious or is it just
an outcome of a million things
that have already gotten into
you? When your thought pro-
cess is unconscious, most of
the time it is like mental diar-
rhea. There is no control over
it. It simply rambles because
there is old stuff inside. This is
just like the more bad food you
have in your stomach, the more
your diarrhea goes on. When
you have mental diarrhea, you
cannot call it a thought.
A woman once invited a few
friends for dinner. She served
dinner and then told her 6-year-
old daughter, “Why don’t you
say the blessing?” She wanted
to show off her daughter a little
bit. The daughter said, “I don’t
know how to say a blessing.”
The mother said, “Just repeat
what mummy says.” So the girl
very religiously bent her head,
held her hands together and
said, “Why on earth did I invite
all these people for dinner.”
These things are happening to
you, isn’t it? You want to medi-
tate, isn’t your mind talking so
many things?
CLEARING YOUR SLATE
If you want to write on a black-
board, first you have to wipe it
clean. Only then will you be
able to write clearly. If a mil-
lion things have already been
written on it and you write
something else on that, no one
can figure out what you have
written. And after sometime
neither will you. You have to
first clear the space and then
generate a thought consciously.
If people have cleared their
space and then have a thought,
this thought really matters be-
cause this has come out of a
conscious process. Once this
thought is on like this and it is
held in that clarity, infusing en-
ergy to it can be done.
If you just generate a thought
in your mind consciously and
if it is single pointed, it will
find its way in the world. It will
manifest itself naturally. And
if you have little more control
over your life energies, you can
tweak it further.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
C
SADHGURU, ISHA FOUNDATION
Ranked amongst the fifty most influential
people in India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic,
visionary and a New York Times bestselling
author Sadhguru has been conferred the Padma
Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2017,
the highest annual civilian award, accorded for
exceptional and distinguished service
EMPOWERING
YOUR THOUGHT
Thought itself is
a reverberation
and an energy.
You cannot
generate a
thought without
energy. It is just
that because it is
happening in
such a
haphazard way,
maybe it does
not have the
necessary energy
to manifest itself.
You can generate
so much energy
with your
thought process
that you could
kill someone
Let us look at the
process of generating
a thought. Is your
thought conscious or
is it just an outcome
of a million things
that have already
gotten into you?
IN-DEPTH
ANTI-DEFECTION
LAW IS BACK
IN SPOTLIGHT
s an intense court battle ensued in
the Rajasthan High Court on Fri-
day after Sachin Pilot challenged
the Speaker CP Joshi’s disqualifi-
cation notice to him and 18 other
legislators, the Tenth Schedule of the Indian
Constitution was brought into focus. The leg-
islation, also known as Anti-Defection Law,
was enacted to address the problem of insta-
bility caused to democratically-elected gov-
ernments by legislators shifting loyalties
from the parties of which they are elected
members. The Speaker’s notice to Pilot, the
sacked deputy chief minister, and other dis-
sidents was issued on the basis of a complaint
by the ruling Congress party. Joshi gave them
time till Friday to reply to the notice but Pilot
went to the High Court.
Justifying his action, the Speaker told the
court through senior advocate Abhishek
Manu Singhvi that the petition questioning
the Tenth Schedule should not be entertained
as it may render related judgments of the Su-
preme Court useless. Singhvi also argued
that his client was within his remit while tak-
ing into consideration dissidents’ speeches
and activities even outside the House. In that
respect, it was within the Constitution.
Arguing against the Speaker’s order sen-
ior counsel Harish Salve said that the Tenth
Schedule won’t apply in the present context.
“If it is an act outside the assembly, it will
not come in the Tenth Schedule. If there is
a difference of opinion with the CM or you
speak against him, then he will not fall in
the category of disqualification,” Salve said.
He argued that the party whip is applicable
only when the assembly is in session and
that the whip won’t apply on “meetings in
homes and hotels”.
As the hearing will now resume on Mon-
day, the legal issue raised promises that the
battle will now be a long drawn one.
Meanwhile what the Jaipur political dra-
ma, like the one which played out in Madhya
Pradesh a few months ago, has exposed is
the Congress Party’s central leadership’s in-
ability to act decisively. It is the problem of
indecision or procrastination which forced
Jyotiraditya Scindia to say good-bye to the
party of which his father Madhavrao Scin-
dia was an important part. In the case of
Sachin Pilot also the central leadership sat
quietly and watched till a breaking point
was reached.
Another issue facing the leadership is its
inability to strike a balance between the
young and the old leaders. Managing the am-
bitions of the experienced senior leaders and
relatively less experienced young Turks is a
tough call. So far it has failed to strike the
critical balance in the party and seem to fa-
vour one side instead of trying out a mix of
the two. This quandary is threatening the
grand old party’s very existence. Madhya
Pradesh has been snatched by the BJP. Now
a desperate fight is on to save Rajasthan also
from falling into BJP’s net.
A
hose who
thought that a
p a n d e m i c
would make
everyone real-
ize the crucial role of care
workers should think
again. With the coronavi-
rus still spreading rapid-
ly, frontline workers are
more essential – and at
greater risk – than ever,
yet public attention has
shifted elsewhere.
Worse, as economies col-
lapse and labor-market
conditions deteriorate, em-
ployers in the private and
public sector alike have
grown more cynical in
their treatment of essen-
tial workers. Far from in-
stilling a deeper apprecia-
tion for their employees,
the pandemic-induced
surge in unemployment
has enabled employers to
exploit workers even more.
Capitalism has always
had an uneasy relation-
ship with care work. Al-
though capitalist pro-
duction relies heavily on
unpaid and underpaid
labor performed by
women, migrants, and
other disadvantaged so-
cial groups, it has his-
torically pushed that
work off the books and
underground, into infor-
mality. As a result, all
the varied tasks associ-
ated with social repro-
duction are barely rec-
ognized, much less re-
warded or remunerated.
Because so much care
work is performed for
free by women and girls
within families and com-
munities, it is simply
taken for granted and,
because it is outside the
market, not counted as
economic activity.
Unpaid work performed
by women who have no
other choice thus creates a
vicious cycle of devalua-
tion. When women do en-
ter labor markets, their
wages tend to be lower
than those of men, not only
because they are willing to
work for less, but also be-
cause so much of their
work is available for free.
Hence, occupations domi-
nated by women – such as
in the care sector – tend to
be lower paid; even men do-
ing similar work suffer a
wage penalty.
In the case of health
care, there are addition-
al occupational hierar-
chies to navigate, from
highly paid “profession-
als” like specialist physi-
cians down to nurses,
ward attendants, and
cleaners. Unsurprising-
ly, the gender balance
within each occupation
changes as one goes
down the pecking order,
with women concentrat-
ed in the lower-status,
worst-paid positions.
Globally, women hold
70% of all health-care jobs.
But they are more likely to
be nurses, midwives, and
community health work-
ers, while men comprise a
disproportionate share of
better-paid occupations
like surgeons, physicians,
dentists, and pharmacists.
Community health work-
ers are perhaps the most
exploited of all health
workers, especially in de-
veloping countries. Often,
they are not recognized as
workers at all, but rather
as “volunteers” (as is true
in India). As such, they
rarely benefit from formal
contracts that provide job
security and a fair wage,
let alone protections like
health care.
Women health-care
workers are also more at
risk in the current pan-
demic, because they are
more likely to be in-
volved in activities that
require close physical
contact with patients.
The public acclaim has
not translated into better
working conditions or
higher wages, and certain-
ly not systematic efforts to
ensure their physical safe-
ty during the pandemic.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.PROJECT-SYNDICATE.ORG
Global health emergency: Still no care for care workers
T
The pandemic-
induced surge in
unemployment
has enabled
employers to
exploit workers
even more
All wrong-doing arises
because of mind. If mind is
transformed can wrong-
doing remain? —Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Rajnath Singh
@rajnathsingh
Witnessed the Fire and Fury of
the Indian Army during the Para
Dropping and other military
demonstrations at Stakna
near Leh today. Also, I got the
opportunity to interact with them.
I am proud of these brave and
courageous soldiers.
KC Venugopal
@kcvenugopalmp
It is tragic that the BJP is
focusing on toppling a govt that is
performing so well against Covid
& derailing the preparedness of
an entire State & creating panic
amongst millions of people as
they did in Madhya Pradesh. BJP
is a blot on democracy.

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INDIAAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020
BENGAL BJP MLA’S WIFE MOVES
CALCUTTA HC, SEEKS CBI INQUIRY
Kolkata: The wife of BJP
MLA Debendra Nath Roy,
who was found hanging
near his home earlier
this week, approached
the Calcutta High Court
on Friday seeking a CBI
inquiry into her husband’s
death.Chandima Roy, the
wife of Debendranath
Roy, has moved a writ
petition before the High
Court seeking a CBI inqui-
ry into the matter. An ap-
plication seeking hearing
of the matter on an urgent
basis has also been filed.
Chandima has said that
she does not believe that
the truth will come out
in the police probe. The
Hemtabad MLA Roy’s
body was found hanging
outside his residence in
Uttar Dinajpur district on
July 13.
MP: 6 COPS SUSPENDED FOR
ASSAULTING FARMER COUPLE
Bhopal: After shunting out the collector, SP
of Guna district and Inspector General (IG) of
Gwalior range over the beating of a Dalit cou-
ple at Guna, the Madhya Pradesh government
on Thursday suspended six police personnel
allegedly involved in the incident. Outgoing Guna
SP Tarun Nayak issued orders suspending six po-
lice personnel including two women cops, official
sources said. Ashok Singh Kushwaha, Rajendra
Sharma, Pavan Yadav, Narendra Rawat, Neetu
Yadav and Rani Raghuwanshi were suspended.
NO PLAN TO SHUT, SAYS TIRUPATI
TEMPLE AS, STAFF TEST +VE
New Delhi: People can continue to visit the
famous Tirumala Tirupati Balaji temple, the top
official of the temple’s board has said amid a
controversy over priests and employees getting
infected with coronavirus. The temple’s board
decided to re-open it on June 11, in line with the
centre’s “Unlock” plans to handhold the country
out of the pandemic in phases. There are no
plans to stop public darshan at Tirumala Tirupati
Balaji temple, said YV Subba Reddy, chairperson
of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Board.
DON’T TURN BIHAR ELECTION INTO
SUPER-SPREADER EVENT: OPPN
Patna: Opposition parties
in Bihar have written a
joint letter to EC asking to
ensure an “equal oppor-
tunity” in state election
due in October-November.
The opposition parties
said Election Commission
should ensure the twin
goals are met - safety of
voters from COVID-19,
& free & fair election.
“People also expect the
commission to ensure
that entire poll exercise
does not become a
super-spreader event,”
they said. “The state has
a population of around
13 crore with 7.5 crore
voters. How does EC
plan to ensure physical
distancing of at least two
yards recommended by
WHO & ICMR, repeatedly
advocated by the PM?”
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi on
Friday, targeted the cen-
tralgovernmentoverthe
India-China stand-off,
stating since 2014 Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi’s “constant blun-
ders and indiscretions”
have fundamentally
weakened the country.
He also posted a few
minutes long video and
asked, “What is it about
India’s situation that
has made China act in
such an aggressive
way? What is it about
this moment in time
that allowed China to
take such an aggressive
stand against a country
like India?”
“Since 2014, the PM’s
constant blunders and
indiscretions have fun-
damentally weakened
India and left us vulner-
able. Empty words don’t
suffice in the world of
geopolitics,” the Gan-
dhi scion tweeted.
In the video clip, the
Congress leader said in
the last six years, India
was “disturbed” and
“disrupted” because it
failed in various areas
such as protecting the
economy, foreign rela-
tions and added that
these situations had
“made China act in such
an aggressive way.”
“One has to go in mul-
tiple spaces to under-
stand this. Countries
are not protected by not
one particular thing but
by the confluence of
forces, the confluence of
systems. So a country is
protected by its foreign
relationships, it is pro-
tected by its neighbour-
hood, it is protected by
its economy. It is pro-
tected by the feelings
that people have. The vi-
sion that its people have.
In the last six years, in
all these areas India has
been disturbed and
disrupted.”Talking
about the Centre’s for-
eign policies, Gandhi
stated that the country
has strategic partner-
ships with the United
States and Russia,
which have now become
transactional relations.
“Earlier, India could
maneuver in geopoli-
tics with the help of
these relations but now
India doesn’t enjoy
these partnerships any
more,” Gandhi said
He spoke on India’s
current relations with
its neighbouring coun-
try and said the govern-
ment has managed to
anger Nepal, Bhutan
andevenSriLanka,who
used to be friends with
our country earlier.
“We have said on mul-
tiple occasions that the
economy needs major
boosts from the govern-
ment. We have said fire
the economy, protect
small businesses,” he
said. —ANI
PM Modi’s constant blunders have
fundamentallyweakenedIndia:RaGaDisruptions in India’s relationships, weak economy gave China confidence to transgress into our terrain
Guwahati: An intiative
called ‘India for Assam’
has been launched to
create awareness about
the current flood calam-
ity in the state and help
in rehabilitation.
The initiative,
launched by media con-
glomerate Times Net-
work, has urged all
countrymen to help As-
sam by contributing to
the Chief Minister’s Re-
lief Fund, a release by
the company said.
Floods are a recur-
rent feature every year
in Assam and this year
it has submerged 27 dis-
tricts and affected more
than 40 lakh residents.
“Assam flood situa-
tion continues to re-
main grim, painfully
displacingbothhumans
and wildlife,” the re-
lease said urging for
donations.
Times Network MD
and CEO M K Anand
was quoted in the re-
lease : Assam is facing
the worst of natures
fury, even as it con-
fronts COVID-19. Ef-
forts to restore normal-
cy in Assam requires
our immediate atten-
tion. ‘India for Assam’
is a clarion call to the
nation, appealing to all
Indians to step forward
and donate to the task
of relief & rehabilita-
tion.Times Network in
its continuous news re-
portage through news
stories, special feature,
and digital videos will
extensively cover the
flood and aid the relief
efforts through a fund
raiser plea, he said.—PTI
‘India For Assam’ to raise
funds for flood-hit state
Roshni Nadar takes over
as Chief of HCL Tech
Nagpur: There was no
need for a CBI probe
into death case of Bol-
lywood actor Sushant
Singh Rajput as Mum-
bai police were capable
of handling the matter,
said Maharashtra
Home Minister Anil
Deshmukh. The police
were also examining
the angle of “business
rivalry” in the case, he
said.
Rajput, 34, was found
dead in his Bandra
apartment in Mumbai
on June 14 and what the
police claimed was a
case of suicide. In ini-
tial, cops had found that
actorwasundermedica-
tion for depression. Ra-
jput’s friend, actor Rhea
Chakraborty, in a tweet,
demandedaCBIinquiry
to understand what
‘pressures’ prompted
Rajput to take the ex-
treme step. —PTI
‘No need for CBI probe
in Sushant’s death’
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Khadga Prasad
Sharma Oli, who has
been hemmed in by his
rivals in the ruling Ne-
pal Communist Party
(NCP) for weeks, has
suggested that his re-
placement should be
from the CPN (Unified
Marxist–Leninist) fac-
tion of the party. The
suggestion, made at his
meeting with Pushpa
Kamal Dahal, is seen as
a new effort to drive a
wedge between leaders
of the rival faction. Da-
hal, who has been wide-
ly seen to be his replace-
ment, is from the CPN
(Maoist Centre). The
two parties had merged
in 2018 to form the Ne-
pal Communist Party.
PM Oli, who came to
power in a 50-50 power
sharing deal with Push-
paKamalDahal,renego-
tiated the agreement in
November 2019 that en-
visaged letting Dahal
run the NCP while he
continues to hold the
reinsof thegovernment.
But pressure has lately
been building on Nepal
Olifromthetriumvirate
in the communist party
- former PMsDahal, Jha-
la Nath Khanal & Mad-
havNepal-tostepdown.
“It is a ploy to split his
opposition&getDahal&
Madhav Nepal fighting
amongthemselves.ButI
don’t think it will suc-
ceed. an NCP leader
said. —Agencies
Who will replace
me: Oli changes tack
on pressure to quit
New Delhi: Roshni Na-
dar Malhotra, India’s
wealthiest woman, is
now the chairperson of
HCL Technologies, the
Noida-based IT compa-
ny said on Friday. The
38-year-old succeeds her
father, Shiv Nadar. The
appointment of non-ex-
ecutive director Roshni
Nadar Malhotra to the
new role takes effect im-
mediately, the company
said. Shiv Nadar will
continue to be HCL
Tech’s MD, with the des-
ignation as the chief
strategy officer. Born
and raised in New Delhi,
Roshni studied in Vas-
ant Valley School, and
graduated from the
Northwestern Univer-
sity in Illinois, USA. She
has a Master’s degree in
Business Administra-
tion from Kellogg School
of Management, North-
western University.
One has to go in multiple spaces to
understand this. Countries are not
protected by not one particular
thing but by the confluence of forc-
es, the confluence of systems. So a
country is protected by its foreign
relationships, it is protected by its
neighbourhood, it is protected by
its economy. It is protected by the
feelings that people have. The vi-
sion that its people have. In the last
six years, in all these areas India
has been disturbed and disrupted.
—Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader
MEET ON SUNDAY
JAISHANKAR SLAMS RAHUL ON TWITTER
GOWDA URGES
CENTRE TO
PROVIDE RELIEF
Floods have
submerged 27
districts & affected
40L people
Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli
Thiruvananthapuram:
CPI(M) Kerala unit
chief Kodiyeri Bal-
akrishnan asserted
the party led LDF gov-
ernment would not
protect anyone in gold
smuggling case & the
suspension of a sen-
ior IAS officer was a
proof of it.
He alleged the oppo-
sition Congress-led
UDF & BJP were at-
tacking LDF govern-
ment over the issue as
they fear that the ongo-
ing probe by central
agencies would “boo-
merang” on them if it
proceeded in the ‘right
direction.’
In a Facebook post,
Balakrishnan said CM
Pinarayi Vijayan re-
moved M Sivasankar
as his principal secre-
tary immediately after
allegations were
raised against him
that he had links with
a key accused woman
in bid to smuggle gold
through diplomatic
baggage. Responding
to questions by opposi-
tion on why govt was
hesitant to suspend the
officer, he said regard-
less of nature of alle-
gations, certain proce-
dures had to be fol-
lowed in order to take
action against a senior
IAS officer. —PTI
‘Kerala govt will not protect anyone’
Kodiyeri Balakrishnan
Roshni Nadar Malhotra
People ride on a boat to move to a safer place in flood-affected area in Dhubri district of Assam.
Sushant Singh
GOLD SMUGGLING CASE

New Delhi: With the
total number of corona-
virus cases breaching
the 1 million-mark, In-
dia, now becomes the
third country to cross
that mark, trailing be-
hind the US and Brazil
now, which have 3.6
million and 2 million
infections respectively,
s per the data compiled
by Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity.
As India’s coronavi-
rus cases exceed 1 mil-
lion, the biggest hope to
contain the pandemic
rests on two indigenous
vaccine candidates that
will enter human trials
this month.
India’s coronavirus
count today jumped to
10,03,832 after a record
34,956 fresh infections
in past 24 hours, accord-
ing to the data released
by the Union Health
Ministry The death toll
rose to 25,602, including
687 in past 24 hours.
India has seen 25,602
deaths so far due to the
novel coronavirus, ac-
cording to the health
ministry.
Meanwhile, Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
today urged the govern-
ment to take concrete
steps to prevent the
spread of coronavirus,
saying if it keeps
spreading at the cur-
rent pace then there
will be more than 20
lakh cases by August 10.
“10,00,000-mark has
been crossed. If COV-
ID19 spreads at this
pace, by August 10,
more than 20,00,000 will
be infected in the coun-
try,” the former Con-
gress chief tweeted.
The US shattered its
daily record for corona-
virus infections on
Thursday, reporting
more than 77,000 new
cases as the number of
deaths in a 24-hour pe-
riod rose by nearly
1,000, according to a
Reuters tally. More
than 13.7 million peo-
ple around the world
have been diagnosed
with coronavirus,
while more than 7.7
million have recov-
ered. Over 588,000 have
died. —Agencies
India3rd
tocrosstallyof1mncasesThe death toll rose to 25,602, including 687 in past 24 hours, according to data released by Health Ministry
A man walks with his dog past a mural of frontline workers amid coronavirus outbreak in New Delhi on Friday. —Photo By PTI
INDIAAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020
T h i r u v a n a n -
thapuram: Kerala re-
ported 791 new Cov-
id-19 cases on Friday,
the highest single-day
hike so far, Kerala CM
Pinarayi Vijayan dur-
ing a media briefing
admitted to communi-
ty spread in certain
coastal areas of Thiru-
vanathapuram such as
Poonthura and Pullu-
vila. Meanwhile, Bru-
hat Bengaluru Mahan-
agara Palike (BBMP)
Mayor, M Goutham
Kumar called for an ex-
tension of lockdown in
city for one more week
due to rise in COVID-19
cases. “It will be better
if we get more time to
tackle COVID-19 cases,
we wish for extension
of lockdown for one
more week. We have
given the proposal to
government,” said M
Goutham Kumar,
BBMP Mayor, after the
cases in0 state crossed
2,000 mark. —ANI
Corona community transmission
confirmed by Kerala Chief Minister
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath has in-
structed to constitute
one lakh teams in the
state for effective sur-
veillance on COVID-19
situation.
“For effective surveil-
lance, the Chief Minis-
ter instructed to consti-
tute one lakh teams in
the entire state and said
that the monitoring of
the team of each dis-
trict should be done un-
der the leadership of
the District Magis-
trate,” a tweet from Of-
fice of Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister said
roughly translated from
Hindi. “KGMU’s De-
partment of Pulmonary
and Critical Care De-
partment, Dr Ved
Prakash informed the
Chief Minister that
presently due to rain,
moisture in the air has
increased, due to which
this infection is increas-
ing,” said another tweet
from the UP CMO.
Dr Prakash said that
it is necessary for every-
one to wear a mask and
comply with social dis-
tancing to deal with the
infection. —ANI
Yogi instructs to
form 1L teams for
effective monitoring
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a meeting on making an
effective strategy on COVID-19 in Lucknow.
Amaravati: The
COVID-19 tally shot
past the 40,000 mark
in Andhra Pradesh on
Friday as 2,062 fresh
cases were added in
last 24 hours. The
state’s COVID-19 table
now showed a total of
40,646 positive cases,
with 19,814 of them
being active after
20,298 patients were
discharged.
With 42 new casual-
ties reported in last 24
hours, the overall toll
mounted to 534.
It said 837 patients had
recovered. —PTI
40,000-MARK
CROSSED IN
ANDHRA
Mumbai: The death
toll in the building col-
lapse in the Fort area
of Mumbai has gone
up to nine, one of them
a 17-year boy who suc-
cumbed to his injuries
at J J Hospital here on
Friday, civic officials
said. Of them, seven,
including two women,
have died since
around Thursday,
while a search and
rescue operation was
still on. —PTI
Mum: Toll in building
collapse rises to nine
NDRF personnel carry a body of a resident during the rescue
operation in Mumbai on Friday.
Sayed Tajamul
Srinagar: A top Jash-
e-Mohammad militant
commander known to
be an IED expert was
reportedly among three
militants killed in the
gunfight with a joint
team of police, army
and CRPF in Kulgam
district on wee hours
on Friday, DGP Dilbag
Singh said.
The top police officer
also said that the mili-
tant commander had
escaped previously
from three to four en-
counters, leaving be-
hind a MO4 American
rifle in one instance.
While three militants
were killed, as many
army soldiers were in-
jured in the gunfight at
Nagnad Chimmer area
of Kulgamdistrict.“The
operation was launched
in the wee hours this
morning on a credible
input by Kulgam Police
alongwithlocalArmy(9
RR)andCRPFunits,”he
said. He said that three
army soldiers injured
during the encounter
were evacuated to army
hospital.
“The killed are from
Jaish-e-Mohammed &
reportedly include a
top commander known
to be an IED expert. He
was responsible for a
large number of at-
tacks including many
IED attempts against
security forces.”
Mumbai: Actor Aish-
warya Rai Bachchan
and daughter Aaradhya
Bachchan have been ad-
mitted to Mumbai’s Na-
navati Hospital after
testing positive for
COVID-19. The 46-year-
old former Miss World
was tested positive for
coronavirus along with
her eight-year-old
daughter and was
home-quarantined.
Nanavati Hospital
confirmed that the duo
has been admitted at
the establishment and
said that both, Aishwar-
ya Rai Bachchan and
Aaradhya Bachchan
were hospitalised after
‘developing mild symp-
toms for COVID-19’.
The Bachchan fami-
ly members, except
Jaya Bachchan, were
tested positive for COV-
ID-19. Superstar Am-
itabh Bachchan and his
son Abhishek Bach-
chan have been recov-
ering at the isolation
ward in Nanavati Hos-
pital. The 77-year-old
actor has been updat-
ing his well-wishers
about his health
through social media.
OnFriday,seniorBach-
chan expressed his grati-
tude towards well-wish-
ers for supporting the
family in their fight
against coronavirus. “I
receive all your blessings,
love&prayersforourwell
being.. on SMS, on What-
sApp, on Insta on Blog &
allpossiblesocialmedia,”
he tweeted.”—Agencies
‘Top JeM IED expert among
3 militants killed in Kulgam’
AishwaryaRaiBachchan
admittedtoNanavatiHospital
Dilbag Singh
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Now its...
These complaints were
filed after Randeep
Singh Surjewala read
out a transcript of al-
leged audio of
horse-trading between
rebel MLAs and BJP at
a press conference on
Friday. Notably, Con-
gress has suspended
Sharma and another
MLA Vishvendra Singh
from the primary mem-
bership of the party for
their alleged involve-
ment in horse-trading
of MLAs and demanded
registration of a case
against them.
Meanwhile, The saf-
fron party also initiated
its ‘counter-measures’
to bring the Congress
on backfoot as late on
Friday night, BJP lead-
ers from Jaipur - Lax-
mikant Bhardwaj,
Ashok Singh Shekha-
wat, Surendra Singh
Naruka and others -
reached the Ashok
Nagar Police Station to
register FIR against
Congress leaders -Ran-
deep Surjewala, Govind
Singh Dotasara, Ma-
hesh Joshi and OSD to
CM Lokesh Sharma -
for making false impli-
cations against central
minister Gajendra
Singh. Moreover, in an-
other move, BJP MLA
Madan Dilawar shot a
letter to Rajasthan As-
sembly Speaker Dr CP
Joshi reminding him of
his appeal raised on
13th March 2020 against
the inclusion of BSP
MLAs in Congress par-
ty. Dilwara demanded
that the appeal be heard
soon and disposed, for
‘delivery of justice’.
Haryana cops...
the gates of the hotel for
nearly seventy minutes
and it was after that a
considerable time had
passed, could the SOG
team enter. The SOG
sleuths stayed in the ho-
tel for forty five min-
utes but did not come
across any leader from
Rajasthan Congress.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan
Congress incharge Avi-
nash Pande tweeted,
“Why is Haryana Police
not allowing Rajasthan
SOG team to enter @
ITCBharat and meet @
INCRajasthan MLAs?
If BJP claims not being
involved in Congress’
internal fight then why
BJP led Haryana Gov-
ernment is extending
their support and pro-
tection to MLAs inside
the hotel?”
‘Not an...
he further said, “If a
solution can be found
by talks, there is noth-
ing better.” “Recently
what happened be-
tween troops of India
and China at PP14, how
some of our personnel
sacrificed their lives
protecting our border. I
am happy to meet you
all but also saddened
because of their loss. I
pay my tributes to
them,” he added.
Singh interacted
with the Army and
Paramilitary troops
here along with Chief
of Defence Staff Gener-
al Bipin Rawat and
Army Chief General
MM Naravane. —ANI
Encounter not...
and his aides. In its re-
ply, the Uttar Pradesh
Police said that the en-
counter was correct,
and in no way, can it be
termed as a fake en-
counter.
A bench headed by
Chief Justice of India
(CJI) Sharad Arvind
Bobde is hearing two
petitions, filed by
Ghanashyam Upadha-
yay and Anoop Prakash
Awasthi, seeking a
high-level probe into the
encounter of Vikas
Dubey.
Speaker postpones...
The counsel agreed to
extend this to 5.30 pm
on Tuesday as the court
was yet to give an order
on the petition.
Harish Salve and
Mukul Rohatgi argued
for the petitioners via
video conference while
Abhishek Manu Singh-
vi was among those
who argued on behalf
of the Speaker. During
the hearing, the court
was ordered to be va-
cated by everyone oth-
er than the lawyers per-
taining to the case, fol-
loweing which Salve
presented his argu-
ment for nearly three
hours, followed by
Mukul Rohatgi. Salve
claimed that by looking
at the notice it appears
that the Assembly
Speaker has been par-
tial. The senior counsel
questioned as to how
can a notice be given
for not appearing in a
party meeting and that
it is against the right to
speech ensured by the
Constitution.
Meanwhile, Mukul
Rohatgi claimed that
the action was againt
rules and minimum
seven days’ time should
have been given to re-
spond. He also high-
lighted that BJP MLA
Madan Dilawar had
given an application on
BSP MLAs to the
Speaker long back, but
till now no action has
been taken, moreover,
in this matter a notice
was issued within a few
hours.
FROM PG 1
11L QUARANTINED
Chandigarh: The hu-
man trial of Bharat Bio-
tech’s anti-COVID-19
vaccine Covaxin began
at Rohtak’s Post-Gradu-
ate Institute of Medical
Sciences on Friday, Har-
yana Health Minister
Anil Vij tweeted.
Human trial with Co-
rona vaccine (COVAX-
IN) of Bharat Biotech
started at PGI Rohtak
today, Vij, who is also
the Home & Science &
Technology minister
said. Three subjects
were enrolled. All have
tolerated the vaccine
very well. There were
no adverse effects, Vij
further tweeted. Bharat
Biotech got the coun-
try’s drug regulator’s
approval to start clini-
cal trials of its anti-Co-
rona vaccine Covaxin
recently. There are over
seven anti-corona vac-
cines at various stages
of development in the
country. —PTI
‘Covaxin’s human trial
begins at PGI Rohtak’
PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA
@priyankagandhi
“Sitting in Lucknow, the
UP government makes big
claims on ﬁghting coronavirus, but
two kilometers from there, its
claims are exposed.”

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION CONCEPT: DIVYA HEMNANI
DESIGN: ABHISHEK GUPTA
LOCKDOWN, RELAX, REPEAT
T
he World
Health Or-
ganisation
r e p o r t e d
more than 230,000
new COVID-19 cases
on Sunday — the
world’s largest daily
increase during the
pandemic. The
surge has forced
governments in
many places across
the world to order
new lockdowns.
This includes
Melbourne, which
is back in a six-week
lockdown after the
second wave of new
cases exceeded the
city’s first peak in
late March.
But Melbourne’s
not the only city to
sufferasecondwave
of the pandemic.
CitiesincludingBei-
jing and Leicester
had lifted COVID-19
restrictions, only to
re-enforce them
when new out-
breaks occurred.
Sohowhaveother
cities gone about
their second lock-
down, and have the
measures been ef-
fective in tackling
the COVID-19 resur-
gence? Let’s take a
look at a few exam-
ples.
Initial lockdowns in both Italy
and India provide cautionary
tales on what happens when
public messaging and
enforcement is flawed
W
hen entering a
second lock-
down, it’s useful
to consider the lessons
learned from the first.
Initial lockdowns in both
Italy and India provide
cautionary tales on what
happens when public
messaging and enforce-
ment is flawed.
Italian media pub-
lished information about
internal movement
restrictions a day before
the Italian prime minister
officially announced it
and signed the decree.
After the news spread,
workers and students,
many of whom car-
ried the virus, rushed
back home across the
country, flooding the
train stations. Soon after,
it was discovered that
new COVID-19 cases
in southern Italy were
families from students
who came home from
the north.
Similar panic among
migrant workers oc-
curred in India when the
prime minister gave the
public only a few hours
notice before the start of
the lockdown. This is just
one reason why India’s
lockdown has been
labelled as “a spectacular
failure”.
I
t’s clear that lock-
downs cannot be
maintained indefi-
nitely. That’s why the
rapid development of
a vaccine to achieve
herd immunity, without
extensive infection, is
critical – along with the
development of drugs to
relieve the symptoms of
COVID-19.
So how long should
Melbourne’s lockdown
last? The Grattan
Institute has argued it
should continue until
there are no more active
COVID-19 cases in the
community to eliminate
the virus – and after
that, should remain in
place for another two
weeks.
We argue that the du-
ration of the lockdown
could be halved if paired
with mandatory univer-
sal use of face masks.
Wearing masks lowers
the risk of spreading and
contracting the disease.
T
hough there’s no
strict definition
of a lockdown, it
describes the controls
imposed by govern-
ments to restrict the
movement of people in
their communities. It’s
often achieved through
a combination of police
presence and applying
public health regula-
tions.
It can be implement-
ed partially, progres-
sively, or fully. The
latter is called “hard
lockdown” when the
freedom of entry to,
and exit from, either
an entire building or
geographic area is
prohibited or limited.
The Segrià region
in Catalonia, Spain
re-entered an indefinite
partial lockdown on July
4 following a signifi-
cant spike in cases and
COVID-19 hospitalisa-
tions.
The city of Leicester
in the United Kingdom
has gone into a second
lockdown after it ac-
counted for 10% of all
positive COVID-19 cases
in the country at the end
of June. The city has
been in lockdown for
the past two weeks and
despite this, the latest
data show an increase in
the numbers of cases.
A second wave in
Beijing was tackled by
increasing degrees of
lockdowns. The strictest
measures were limited
to a few high-risk neigh-
bourhoods, accompa-
nied by a ring of looser
lockdown measures
around them.
Alongside this was
extensive and wide-
spread testing, with
a peak capacity of
300,000 tests per day.
This approach proved
successful – the city
reported zero new
COVID-19 cases on
July 7. While there are
increasing examples
of a return to some
lockdown measures,
there are no examples
demonstrating the
success of a second
lockdown — other than
in Beijing — because
it’s too early to tell.
A
fter a lockdown,
the majority of
the population
remains at risk of infec-
tion without a vaccine.
So as restrictions ease,
cases are likely to in-
crease again, leading to
a pattern of lockdowns,
relaxation, and renewed
lockdowns
So why can’t gov-
ernments just aim to
eliminate the virus? An
elimination strategy
requires strict, intensive
lockdowns and closing
external and internal
borders to eradicate
local transmission and
prevent the virus being
imported.
Elimination strategies
have worked in only
a few countries and
regions, such as New
Zealand which imposed
an early and strict
lockdown.
The effectiveness
of lockdowns can be
diminished by increas-
ing population fatigue in
response to reimposed
restrictions.
Lockdowns also
have many serious
repercussions, includ-
ing a severe impact on
mental health and the
economy. French Prime
Minister Jean Castex
has ruled out another
total lockdown arguing
that its economic and
human consequences
are disastrous.
Locking down a given
country can cost up to
3% of GDP per month,
according to UBS Global
Wealth Management.
LOCKDOWNS RETURN
CLEAR PUBLIC HEALTH
MESSAGING IS KEY
LOCKDOWNS CAN WORK
IF WE USE MASKS
LOCKDOWNS MAY HAVE SERIOUS REPERCUSSIONS

Crisis brings out the best in
many people, the challenge is to
live each day of life in the ‘best’
way possible.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Rajkot: Days after en-
trepreneurs in neigh-
bouringMorbiforgedan
alliance to take on Chi-
nese products, toy man-
ufacturersinRajkotalso
see an opportunity with
anti-China sentiments
growing in the country
after the Galwan Valley
face-off last month.
Already upbeat,
Arvind Jhala, a director
at Aditi Toys in Rajkot,
beams, “Almost 80 to 90
per cent of toys are be-
ing imported from Chi-
na. And with such an
increase in demand, it is
an opportunity to grow
the domestic market as
well as increasing the
prospects of exporting
to other countries, help-
ing boost the Indian
economy.” Oozing confi-
dence, he said, “In the
next three-four months
we hope that we would
make more than 100
products and in one
year, we would make
more than 200 products
so that we would be able
to fulfill the demand of
the Indian market.”
According to him,
there is also an opportu-
nity in the fact that there
are very few toy manu-
facturers in the country
and many more entre-
preneurs could tap this
“relatively nascent in-
dustry”. Jhala said be-
cause of this the compe-
tition is quite low and
growthopportunitiesare
faster. According to him,
“Therearemoreemploy-
ment opportunities over
here.” Subhash Jala, the
co-director of the toy
company, adds that with
anti-China movements
across the country tak-
ingplacewhereinpeople
have been boycotting
Chinese products, there
has been a demand for
made in India products
these days.
“The anti-Chinese
movement has made
people demand made in
India products these
days,” he said.
Rajkot toy-makers betting big on anti-China sentiments
Lockdown blues: Home sales dip 54% in A’bad
Shishir Awasthi
Ahmedabad: With the
world’s longest lock-
down hitting one and
all, housing and of-
fice sales in
Ahmedabad and sev-
en other top cities of
the country fell the
lowest in at least a
decade, if not more.
Housing sales dipped
54% year-on-year to
59,538 units during the
first half of 2020, ac-
cording to leading prop-
erty consultancy
Knight Frank India.
New residential prod-
uct launches also re-
ported a fall of 46%
over a year ago to 60,489
units during the period.
(See Boxes)
Simultaneously, of-
fice rentals dropped the
sharpest in Ahmedabad
at 12.1% followed by
NCR with 8.8%.
These are the find-
ings of the consultan-
cy’s half-yearly study
reportof Ahmedabad,
Mumbai, Delhi-Na-
tional Capital Region,
Bengaluru, Pune,
Chennai, Hyderabad
and Kolkata.
Already passing
through a rough patch,
the residential real es-
tate sector has been hit
the most, according to
Shishir Baijal, chair-
man and managing di-
rector of Knight Frank
India.
He says, “With in-
come uncertainty for
future, demand for
housing will take a hit.
While the RBI has an-
nounced liquidity in-
jecting measures and
cut in policy interest
rate, there is an urgent
need for the govern-
ment to come up with
some demand boosting
measures for the real
estate sector.”
Unsold inventory
across the top eight
markets, the report
said, dropped by 1% to
446,787 units in the first
half of the year. Mum-
bai had the highest
quantum of unsold in-
ventory at 150,154 units,
followed by NCR at
118,064 units and Ben-
galuru at 77,043 units.
Meanwhile, office
transactions declined
37% year-on-year to
17.2 million sq feet in
the first half, even as
new completions
were lower by 27%
over the previous
year at 17.3 million
sq feet.
According to a nation-wide survey of eight top cities in India, housing & office sales hit the lowest in a decade
SET UP MORE TEST LABS, STEP
UP SAMPLE TESTING: AMA
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
Ahmedabad Medical
Association (AMA)
has moved yet anoth-
er petition before the
Gujarat High Court
seeking a directive to
the State Government
to set up Covid-19
testing laboratories
in all districts as well
as to increase corona
sample testing.
AMA President
Mona Desai has sub-
mitted that after ICMR
and National Accredi-
tation Board for Test-
ing Laboratories, there
is no other state agency
that approves laborato-
ries, though 19 private
labs have been ap-
proved. Still, five are
unable to function be-
cause the State has not
notified it for more
than four weeks.
Desai contended
that there is an ur-
gent need to have
testing laboratories
in all districts.
Though there are 33
government and 21
private laboratories
in the State, 19 dis-
tricts don’t have them
at all.
Though Gujarat’s
population is 6.5 crore,
it is not conducting ad-
equate tests. Delhi has
a population of 1.9
crore and it is conduct-
ing 23,000 tests per day.
Maharashtra tests
30,000 samples, Uttar
Pradesh 29,000 and Ta-
mil Nadu 35,000 a day.
Against every posi-
tive case, there should
be five times the num-
ber of tests according
to the Central direc-
tives. In real terms,
90,000 samples must be
collected every day.
The Ahmedabad Medical Association has moved the High Court.
Autorickshaw
men renew
demand for
Covid relief
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: With
posters and stickers
behind their autorick-
shaws, ‘Amari Bhul,
Kamal nu Ful’ (Our
mistake we voted the
Lotus), the drivers’
union has launched a
fresh attack on the
ruling BJP for not
granting any relief
package to them.
While they had no
work during the lock-
down, as many as two
lakh auto-rickshaw
drivers are not earning
much even after it has
been lifted. They are an-
gry the government did
not grant any relief,
while the traffic police
arbitrarily imposed
fines on them.
The protest is
backed by the Con-
gress party. “There
was a recent govern-
ment circular for com-
pulsory dress code for
auto divers. How could
we afford it when we
have hardly earned
anything,” a protester
wondered. They have
demanded that the
government form a
welfare fund for them.
AAP smells rat in `300 cr
expense by RMC in 3 years
‘Edu institutes not to open as
yet, syllabus to be cut by 30%’
First India Bureau
Rajkot: Taking on the
BJP-ruled Rajkot Mu-
nicipal Corporation,
the Aam Aadmi Party
on Friday asserted that
an expenditure of Rs
300 crore incurred by
the RMC between 2016
and 2019 smacked of
corruption.
At a press confer-
ence, the AAP cited the
instance of an audi-
tor’s query about a Rs
41.53 lakh expense, “as
to where it was used,
how and by whom.” It
released a list of ex-
penses of Rs 300 crore
under 20 heads, calling
it doubtful.
An audit done by
chartered accountant
and AAP leader Chetan
Kamani for the year
2016-17, 2017-18 and
2018-19 revealed that
“various expenses done
during this period
smacked of corrup-
tion.”
AAP’s Rajkot city
president and former
standing committee
chairman Rajbha Zala
called this an “irre-
sponsible behaviour
of the BJP ruling par-
ty and the Municipal
Commissioner”.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Educa-
tion Minister Bhupen-
drasinh Chudasama
has said the govern-
ment has decided to re-
duce the syllabus by
nearly 30% this year,
while there is no hurry
to open the schools.
He said the Gujarat
Council of Educational
Research and Training
had been tasked to seek
opinions of experts and
a committee constituted
to rationalise the sylla-
bus had suggested up to
30 per cent cut in it.
He added, “I have giv-
en clear instructions
that the syllabus be ra-
tionalised to ensure the
continuity with the next
year is not broken. Sup-
pose a portion of the
syllabus in class 9 is use-
ful for class 10 studies, it
can’t be compromised.”
Meanwhile, experts
have suggested reopen-
ing educational insti-
tutes in a phased man-
ner by opening colleges
first, followed by stand-
ard 10-11-12 classes,
class 8 and 9 and class 1
to 7 in the last phase.
Rajkot Municipal Corporation. —FILE PHOTO
Toy makers in Rajkot see good business, seeking to replace Chinese products.
NEW AVENUES
l With over 80% toys being im-
ported from China, Rajkot toy
manufacturers see a “Make in
India” opportunity
SEVEN GENERATIONS’ FIGHT
This Surat family comprising four generations under one roof has successfully fought off the deadly infection that ensnared
seven members, one after the other. Among them is a three-and-a-half-year-old boy and a 106-year-old man too! It is
indeed a tale of supreme grit of the family of real estate developer, Khodidas Goyani (36), who stuck together through the
trying times in home isolation in Varachha area.
Real estate sales in housing and office sectors have drastically fallen.
HOME SALES OFFICE SALES
l Housing sales tumbled 84%
year-on-year to 9,632 units in
the second quarter of the calen-
dar year as the lockdown stalled
all activities in the real estate
industry, it said.
l Housing sales in the first three
months of the year stood at 49,905.
l The number of new launches
slumped 90% over the year-
ago period to 5,584 units in the
second quarter. In the first three
months, it stood at 54,905 units
l Office supply declined by nearly a third
year-on-year in the first half of 2020 to
17.3 million sqft.
l Project completions declined by 79%
year-on-year during the second quarter.
l Mumbai and Chennai markets saw the
most supply come online; accounting for
40% of the total 1.6 million sqm (17.3
mnsq ft) delivered during the period.
l The sharpest fall in supply was seen
in NCR and Pune markets at 86% and
87% year-on-year, respectively.
The Guj Govt is in no hurry to reopen educational institutions.

AHMEDABAD, SATURDAY
JULY 18, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
City First brushes you through how dimples are
found to be attractive when people smile!
hen you meet
someone for the
first time and no-
tice they have a
dimple, don’t
they instantly be-
come really at-
tractive? Dimple being a
small natural indentation
on the body, notably on the
cheeks, is that one thing
that changes the entire look
of a person. They are said to
be extremely attractive as
they are quite prominent
and catch the eyes whenever
one looks at them.
The cute ‘depressions’
never fail to make people
look cute. There are times
when people fake a dimple,
just to look attractive; yes,
it’s true! Some people say
that dimples make people
look more approachable and
are associated with beauty.
They are also considered to
be a good-luck charm in a
few cultures.
While some people think
that dimples are a sign of
beauty in a person, we would
like to pop that bubble for
you- they are actually a de-
fect in the muscle. At the
same time, it is extremely
important to know that
they don’t have any nega-
tive health effects. So let’s
just consider them to be
a beautiful defect.
There are so
many people in the
Bollywood and Hol-
lywood industries
like Deepika Padu-
kone, Alia Bhatt, Preity
Zinta, Sushmita Sen, Cheryl
Fernandez, Ashley Benson
and Miranda Kerr among
others, who never fail to
bless the silver screens with
their beautiful dimples.
Here’s a quick fact about
dimples- the ones that occur
on the cheeks while one
laughs or passes a smile, are
known as ‘Gelasin’.
W
NEHAL NAYAR
nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in
CUTE DIPS

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
NAGMA MIRAJKAR, Content Creator
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Carnivals will keep you
busy and all excited.
Curbing your habit of eat
junk is an achievement in
itself and you are doing good. You will
stand victorious if you will participate
in any kind of competition. You will
enjoy your day with friends and family
if not physically then virtually.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Disposition of furniture or
other interior decoration
items is what homemakers
will be worried about and
involved in today. The more time you
spend with your books and more
knowledgable you will get. Owning a
property is the best feeling in the
world and you shall feel it today.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Amazed by your kindness,
your parents will shower
you with all the love and
blessings. You want to buy
something and it may seem out of
your reach bu will surely get it. You
must review your files carefully
before any submission on office
front. Your lover will talk a lot.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Immunise yourself by not
eating junk or having any
beverages, this is the only
thing that matters right now.
Your constant effort on work front will
open the doors for promotional
prospects. You will derive satisfaction
from being in the company of your
mother. Give time to your relationship.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Applauses can motivate
someone to do better so
being on an important
designation its your
responsibility to up lift others to
perform better as the each day
passes. It may feel important to
invest today for future events.
Favours from mothers are expected.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Vitiating important business
plans is not what you want
to do therefore be extra
careful of your actions.
Nothing is permanent in this world so
learn to accept the changes. A family
elder will shower his/her love in form
of money. On academic front refrain
from any kind of mischief.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Altruism towards elderly is
the best thing to do also
make sure to influence
others doing the same. Be
careful before you decide to spend
you savings in something not so
important. You will be favourably
placed both on personal and
professional front. Do not sit ideal.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Multitudinous options are
there in the world but it
depends on you which one
would you like to choose.
as far as your career is concerned.
Your efforts on academic front will
pay big time. You are very important
to your spouse. You will actively
participate in social matters.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Demonising someone in
front of a group is an act of
weak person so choose
your side wisely. Your
lifestyle often inspires many and
people want to follow in your
footstep. For those who are taking a
day off from work should relax and
get free from all your tensions.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
A Biddable sweet person is
often liked by everyone and
straight forward and blunt
ones are often criticised,
but in the end the ones who can
speak the truth and take the stand
without fear are the winners. Your
success is inevitable, you need to
look for an ideal mentor.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Unnatural behaviour is
something that you don’t
like at all and you keep
away from pretentious
personalities. You have a huge
friends circle and you are always in
demand. People like to seek your
advice because of your maturity and
experience in life.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Derivation of thoughts are
sometimes unclear but the
unique thought in itself is
nothing less than a
wonder. Life is full of ups and downs
but it depends on us whether we take
things positively and keep moving
ahead or get stuck and fall. You may
finally meet your lover today.
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
THE POWER DYNAMIChe mental health
drama “Lost
Transmissions”
sadly only begins
and ends with as-
piring songwriter
Hannah (Juno
Temple), and is otherwise
about Hannah’s schizo-
phrenic friend Theo (Si-
mon Pegg). Which is only
disappointing because it’s
hard to fully appreciate
Hannah’s relationship with
Theo, the latter of whom
runs away from Hannah
whenever she tries to get
him the care he apparently
needs. There’s a fair chance
you’ve been, or had a friend
like Theo, somebody who is
so mentally and emotion-
ally unwell that they don’t
understand why they need
therapy, medication, and/
or hospitalization. It’s also
hard to know why Hannah
sticks with Theo in writer/
director Katherine
O’Brien’s drama, even
if you know that “Lost
Transmissions” is based on
what happened to a friend
of hers.
Unfortunately, the worst
parts of “Lost Transmis-
sions” are the early scenes
where Theo’s friends talk
about the emotional ties that
previously bound them to
him. These supporting char-
acters are not very sympa-
thetic because they’re either
talkingtoomuchornotdoing
enough to show us what mo-
tivatesthem.Soitmakes
sense that Hannah is
underdeveloped, be-
cause so is every-
body else in
O’Brien’s movie.
O ’ B r i e n ’ s
protagonists
only seem to
exist to push
Theo from one
confrontation to
the next, as we
hear in drab, mys-
tifying expository
dialogue when
Hannah talks
with Theo’s
friends about
staging an in-
t e r v e n t i o n ,
stuff like “You
know, he says
the same
things when
he’s normal.
He’s so funny.
It’s just when
he’s off his
meds, he
means ... all of it.” In an-
other scene, Theo’s long-
suffering friend Angus
(Jamie Harris) complains
bitterly to Theo, who makes
a scene when he’s dragged
to a mental hospital:
“Where’d you go, Theo? The
Theo I’d know would never
say anything like that.”
Mind you, Angus yells this
at Theo right after he tells
Hannah that he can’t care
for Theo because he already
did that two times before,
and doesn’t want to subject
his new girlfriend to the
worst of Theo. So, to recap:
Angus knows how badly
Theo behaves when he’s at
his worst, but somehow
doesn’t understand why
he’s ranting that nobody
cares for him, their timeline
is breaking apart, and that
he needs to reunite with the
“Princess of Time”?
Here’s a clue: Theo re-
fuses to take his anti-psy-
chotic medication, but does
love to self-medicate with
magic mushrooms and oth-
er psychotropic drugs, as
one of Theo’s friends ex-
plains:“We’vebeenthrough
this so many times with
him, and he still messes
with his medication. I
mean, who does psyche-
delics on antipsychotics?”
Apparently not Theo, who
takes more recreational
drugs, and less prescription
medication as Hannah
chases after him, at the ex-
pense of her own budding
career writing pop songs
for airhead diva Dana (Al-
exandra Daddario). He in-
evitably and repeatedly es-
capes Hannah’s grasp, be-
cause the American health-
care system is so over-
worked and underfunded
that they can’t care for
high-functioning patients
like Theo (on a more per-
sonal note: yup, this tracks).
And, for some reason, none
of Theo’s family members
seem to care enough about
him to personally fetch him
wherever he is or make him
accept their care.
Which leaves one to won-
der: why does Hannah care
so much about Theo? There
are some hints early on in
the movie: she takes medi-
cation, having suffered
bouts of suicidal depres-
sion, and he likes her
enough to ask her to record
music for him. Because
when Theo’s not raving
about making “ripples” in
the “timestream,” he’s a
burnt-out music producer
who’s well-connected and
respected enough to put
Hannah on the path to writ-
ing for Dana. Hannah’s own
mental and emotional dete-
rioration is also hinted at in
a few scenes, like when she
dilutes a carton of milk
with tap water, or takes
psychedelics with Theo.
But these scenes don’t build
to anything memorable,
nor do they suggest Han-
nah’s bond with Theo is as
great as his hold on her.
While Theo and Han-
nah’s codependent relation-
ship is believable, it’s not
revealing or well-represent-
ed enough to be compelling.
One scene lurches into an-
other, and most are filled
with details that only repeat
the same basic power dy-
namic: Theo is unwell, and
only Hannah is committed
to caring for him. So we fol-
low her while she chases
after him, never stopping
long enough to talk about
anything that he doesn’t
want to talk about. I mean,
I wish I could say that I’m
glad that I got to see them
play “I, Spy”.
T
Sources: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/lost-transmissions-movie-re-

I
t has been a time of double treat for actress Sanya Mal-
hotra who had back to back reasons to celebrate.
Recently, the trailer of her next, Shakuntala Devi
was released and she has been garnering wide
appreciation ever since. Now, her film LUDO’s an-
nouncement came in and she is super thrilled!
Sharing her excitement on the upcoming line-
up with back to back reasons to celebrate, Sanya
shares, “This is a very exciting time for me, first
the trailer of Shakuntala Devi was released and
then Ludo’s release on Netflix was announced.
And the response that I’m getting for the trailer
as well as Ludo’s announcement is overwhelming,
I’ve been flooded with congratulatory calls from
family and friends since yesterday and I’m happy
with how both announcements lined up together.
With back to back good news, it’s always more the
merrier, specially while we are stuck on lockdown.”
Sanya Malhotra has time and again, treated
the audience with her phenomenal perfor-
mances on-screen and her latest one be-
ing, Shakuntala Devi is where one
will be witnessing the actress
play the real life character
of Anupama Banerji,
daughter of Shakun-
tala Devi. —Agency
B
ritish singer
Ellie Gould-
ing is ready to
reintroduce
herself with her new
album Brightest
Blue. Over her past
decadeintheindus-
try, Goulding has
amassedmorethan
2 0 billion streams
worldwide thanks to her electro-
pop hit singles such as Lights,
Burn, On My Mind, and Love Me
Like You Do. With her new track,
Goulding, 33, wants to scale back
and put her songwriting center
stage. The pop singer said, ‘I wanted
people to get to know me as a writer
again.’
ThenewalbumthatdroppedonFriday
features18songsclockinginat57minutes
and is split into two halves. The first fea-
tures honest, introspective songs about
love and heartache like Flux, a wrench-
ing piano ballad about trying to hold
onto a relationship well past its expira-
tion date. ‘I think it’s the saddest song
I’ve written,’ Goulding com-
mented on the song.
—Agency
NEW
ALBUM
OUT
T
he much-awaited
track by Tony Kakkar
and Shehnaaz Gill, ‘Kurta
Pajama’ was released on
Friday. It is a perfect Punjabi
party number with amazing
beats.
Kurta Pajama is written, sung
and composed by the multi-tal-
ented Tony Kakkar, while An-
shul Garg don’s the director’s
cap. Shehnaaz Kaur Gilla aka
Punjab’s Katrina Kaif is surely
the highlight of the song be-
cause she adds the ‘oomph’ fac-
tor. ‘Kurta Pajama’ will be you
groove along with TonyNaaz’s
chemistry. —Agency
ETCwww.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020
11
onakshi Sinha on Friday
shared the first look of
‘BHUJ- The Pride of In-
dia’ on her social media
handles. A while back,
the makers of the film
had announced its re-
lease digitally due to the coro-
navirus pandemic. The film
will be starring Ajay Devgn,
Sanjay Dutt, Sharad Kelkar,
Sonakshi Sinha, Ammy Virk,
and Nora Fatehi among oth-
ers.
Sharing the first look of her
character in the film, Sonak-
shi wrote, “Honoured to play
the HEROIC role of Sunder-
ben Jetha Madharparya, the
brave social worker who took
299 women along with her to
support the Indian Army!
#BhujThePrideOfIndia a cru-
cial incident from History will
unveil soon with #DisneyPlu-
sHotstarMultiplex.”
‘Bhuj- The Pride of India’ is
set during the Indo-Pakistani
War of 1971, and the film is
about the life of IAF Squadron
Leader Vijay Karnik, the then
in-charge of the Bhuj airport
who reconstructed the IAF
airbase with the help of 300
local women. While Ajay
Devgn portrays the role of Vi-
jay Karnik, and the film is
based on true events of the
Indo-Pak war, wherein 300 lo-
cal women helped in recon-
struction of destroyed airbase
in Bhuj, Gujarat.
—Agency
First look of
BHUJ
S
CARAMELIZED ONION AND CHEESE CROQUETTES
INGREDIENTS
 Onion Red 2 Large
 Cheddar cheese 2
tbsp
 Potatoes boiled 1
large
 Sugar brown 1
tbsp
 Butter ½ cup
 Cream ½ cup
 Chili flakes 1 tsp
 Breadcrumb 1 cup
 Egg 1 whole
 Salt to taste
 Pepper corn 1 tsp
Oil refined for frying
Chili Caramel Sauce
and Caramel Crumble
ABOUT CHEF BRIJESH
KANTHARIA
Chef Brijesh Kantharia,
Executive Chef Of Courtyrad
By Surat has a reputation
for adhering to high ethical
standards. Hailing From
Surat (Gujrat), Chef Brijesh
has done his apprenticeship
from The Orchid Hotel,
Mumbai On 1999 To 2001.
He Began His Career with
The Orchid, Domestic Air-
port, Mumbai, Chef Brijesh’s
Extensive Knowledge and
Expertise of Indian and Inter-
national Cuisines.
SERVING – 4 PORTIONS
PROCESS
 In a heavy bottom pan, heat the oil
 Add the slice onion to caramelize by
adding brown sugar
 Grate the boiled potato and cheese
 In a mixing bowl, add potato, cheese
and caramelized onion and mix well with
salt and pepper. Shape into croquettes
 Dip the barrel shape of above mixture
in egg wash and coat it with bread-
crumb
 Deep fry to golden colour
CARAMEL CHILI SAUCE
 In a pan, heat sugar to caramel stage
 Add water and butter  Add cream
and chili flakes off the flame  Crush the
remaining crystallized caramel to powder
and mix with Flour Crumble.
‘Kurta Pajama’
out now
‘More the merrier’
Sonakshi Sinha
... her post
Poster of the song
Shehnaaz Gill
Ellie Goulding
Sanya Malhotra

Gujarat village sarpanch, 5 others detained for Dalit youth's murder

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