First india ahmedabad edition-27 april 2020

New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Sunday said India’s
“people-driven” battle
against COVID-19 is the
only way for the country
to overcome the pan-
demic, and asked people
to shun any complacen-
cy that they will not be
infectedbythecoronavi-
rus because it has so far
not affected the places
where they live or work.
In his monthly ‘Mann
ki Baat’ broadcast,
Modi said the country
is in the middle of a
‘yudh’ (war) and assert-
ed that people have to
continue being careful
and take precautions.
His note of caution
comes against the back-
drop of the Union gov-
ernment and states re-
laxing lockdown norms
to revive economic ac-
tivities. Turn on P6
 People seeing humane,
sensitive side of cops
 Government has come
up with digital platform to
help link Covid warriors
 Feels ‘very proud’ when
world leaders thank India
for help in COVID-19 crisis
 Helping poor is our
topmost priority
 Farmers ensuring no
one goes to bed hungry
 Our fight akin to ‘Ma-
hayagya’, everyone eager
to contribute
 Festivals teach us to
fight against bad times
 Celebrate Ramadan at
home, maintain physical
distancing
 Change habits; Apply
mask, don’t spit anywhere
A PEOPLE-DRIVEN BATTLE!In Mann Ki Baat, PM said each person
fighting this war as per their capacity
Says masks will become a new
symbol of a civilised society
Lauds state governments for their
proactive role against pandemic
KEY TAKE AWAYS FROM MANN KI BAAT
Biggest 1 day
spike in corona
cases in India
New Delhi: Last week
into the extended lock-
down, the countrywide
toll due to Covid-19 rose
to 880 and the number
of cases climbed to
2,7890 on Sunday, ac-
cording to the Union
Health Ministry.
The country has report-
ed 55 deaths and 1,975
cases in the last 24
hours even as all the
eyes are now on the vid-
eo conference between
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi and chief
ministers on Monday.
Deaths were reported
from Maharashtra, Ra-
jasthan, MP, Gujarat,
Delhi, UP, J&K and Ta-
mil Nadu.
Bhagwat: India never
discriminates in helping
Nagpur: RSS chief Mohan
Bhagwat on Sunday said
that India never discrimi-
nates and is helping other
countries with medicines
duringCOVID-19pandemic.
“Coronavirusisanewdis-
ease. We are getting to know
more about it as we are get-
tingclosertothedisease.All
efforts are being made to
mitigate this problem,” said
Bhagwat in an online ad-
dress on “Current scenario
and our role.” He said that
Indiahassufferedaloss,but
still sent the medicines to
other countries, which were
banned for exporting to oth-
er countries. “India never
discriminates. We work for
all,” said Bhagwat.
India, a major producer
of hydroxychloroquine,
has promised to supply the
drug to 55 countries includ-
ing Bhutan, Bangladesh,
Maldives, Sri Lanka, and
Myanmar. The medication,
which is used in COVID-19
therapy, has already been
supplied to the United
States, Afghanistan, Mau-
ritius, Kazakhstan, Brazil,
and Seychelles. Turn on P6
4 MILITANTS KILLED,
ARMY OFFICER HURT
IN KULGAM SHOOTOUT
Srinagar: Four militants were
killed in a brief shootout in
Asthal village of Kulgam.
Police said militants evening
attacked patrolling party of
9 RR in Asthal on Sunday.
Forces retaliated resulting in the
encounter. Four militants were
killed while one army officer
identified as Major Patel has
also received bullet injury.
‘CORONA CASES DROP
TO ZERO IN WUHAN
HOSP FOR 1ST TIME’
Beijing: Number of hospitalised
Covid-19 patients in China’s
Wuhan, where virus first emerged
before turning out to be a pan-
demic, on Sunday dropped to zero
for the first time, marking yet an-
other milestone for the city which
was opened up on April 8 after a
76-day lockdown. The last patient
in Wuhan was cured on Friday,
Xinhua news agency reported.
Seoul: A special train possibly belonging to North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un was spotted this week at a resort town
in the country, according to satellite images reviewed by a
Washington-based North Korea monitoring project, amid
conflicting reports about Kim’s health and whereabouts,
a Reuters report said. Meanwhile, South Korea continued
to pour water on mounting speculation about the health of
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, telling CNN he is “alive
and well.” “Our government position is firm,” Moon Chung-
in, the top foreign policy adviser to South Korean President
Moon Jae-in, told CNN. “Kim Jong Un is alive and well.”
SOUTH KOREA SAYS KIM JONG UN IS ‘ALIVE AND WELL’
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: Almost a
week before the extended
lockdown ends, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
will interact with Chief
Ministersof allstatesand
Union territories via vid-
eo conference on Monday.
PM will talk on the
way ahead in the fight
against the novel corona-
virus, amid indications
that the discussions
could also focus on a
graded exit from the on-
going lockdown.
According to sourc-
es, the three-point
agenda of this meeting
is mainly focused on
Corona lock-down and
epidemic, steps taken
to prevent corona in-
fection, status and con-
tainment in states and
union territories and
following the guide-
lines issued by the Un-
ion Home Ministry on
April 20 and steps to be
taken after May 3, the
last date of extended
lockdown period.
This will be the third
video conference of the
prime minister with the
chief ministers after the
spread of the COVID-19
in the country.
Sources in the govern-
ment indicated that be-
sides discussing the way
forward in dealing with
the pandemic, the discus-
sion could also focus on
a “graded” exit from the
lockdown which is in
place till May 3.
PM is also likely to
take up state-specific is-
sues and formulate a
common exit plan.
The Centre and the
state governments have
been giving gradual re-
laxation in various fields
and sectors to boost eco-
nomic activities as also to
provide relief to people.
But some states are
willing to extend the
lockdown Turn on P6
PM’s agenda with CMs: Lockdown
exit plan, state-specific progress
In upcoming interaction today
PM is expected to seek views
of states in lifting lockdown,
which is in place till May 3
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
Prime Minister Narendra Modi seen wearing a mask during
video-conferencing with the Chief Ministers over COVID19, in
New Delhi on April 11. —FILE PHOTO
CORONA
ALERT
AHMEDABAD l MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 151
27°C - 40°C
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
www.firstindia.co.in
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thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia
instagram.com/thefirstindia
COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
2,05,929
DEATHS
29,71,533
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
880
DEATHS
27,886
CONFIRMED CASES
GUJARAT
151
DEATHS
3,301
CONFIRMED CASES
CORONA IN GUJARAT
With 18 fresh fatalities, Ahmedabad death
toll has crossed 100. Moreover, 178 of the
230 fresh cases reported in the past 24
hours also came from the city, which now
has 2,181 cases—66% of the state’s total
of 3,301. For more, see P3
USA 975,798 54,941 +685
SPAIN 226,629 23,190 +288
ITALY 197,675 26,644 +260
GERMANY 157,120 5,896 +19
UK 152,840 20,732 +413
TURKEY 110,130 2,805 +99
IRAN 90,481 5,710 +60
CHINA 82,827 4,632 +4
RUSSIA 80,949 747 +66
BRAZIL 59,875 4,077 +32
COUNTRY TOTAL TOTAL NEW
CASES DEATHS DEATHS
GLOBAL STATE
OF AFFAIRS
WWW.WORLDOMETERS.INFO
LAST UPDATED: APRIL 26, 2020, 11:00 PM
51,091
SAMPLES TESTED
47,790
NEGATIVE CASES
0
UNDER EXAMINATION
IN GUJARAT
DISTRICT TOTAL TOTAL NEW
CASES DEATHS DEATHS
AHMEDABAD 2181 104 18
VADODARA 234 12 0
SURAT 526 15 0
RAJKOT 45 0 0
BHAVNAGAR 40 5 0
ANAND 49 3 0
BHARUCH 29 2 0
GANDHINAGAR 25 2 0
PATAN 17 1 0
PANCHMAHAL 17 2 0
BANASKANTHA 28 0 0
NARMADA 12 0 0
CHOTA UDAIPUR 13 0 0
KUTCH 6 1 0
MAHESANA 7 0 0
BOTAD 12 1 0
DAHOD 4 0 0
PORBANDAR 3 0 0
JAMNAGAR 1 1 0
MORBI 1 0 0
SABARKANTHA 3 0 0
ARAVALLI 18 1 0
MAHISAGAR 10 0 0
KHEDA 6 0 0
GIR SOMNATH 3 0 0
VALSAD 5 1 0
TAPI 1 0 0
NAVSARI 3 0 0
DANG 1 0 0
SURENDRANAGAR 1 0 0
TOTAL 3301 151 18
Commissioner Nehra’s off-the-cuff remarks land him in hot water
Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad:The city’s
Municipal Commis-
sioner Vijay Nehra
seems to be suffering
from a serious case of
foot-in-the-mouth dis-
ease these days. At
least, First India has
learnt, that’s how Gan-
dhinagar and New
Delhi are seeing it.
Highly placed sources
say Nehra has been
pulled up by his supe-
riors for acting and
working too indepen-
dently, and hence forc-
ing the state and the
local body to scramble
to change their state-
ment on what is fast
becomingadailybasis.
A week ago, Nehra
went on record to say
that Ahmedabad would
defeat COVID-19 in the
month of May. The next
day, he took a U-turn, to
announce that the battle
would be long and hard,
and appealed to citizens
to comply with the na-
tionwide lockdown.
Then, on Friday, he
said the city could see as
many as eight lakh cas-
es by the end of
May before
swiftly bring-
ing that
n u m b e r
down to
15,000—a
mere sixteenth of his
original estimate—
within a span of about
eight hours.
Understandably, this
created ripples in the
bureaucracy at both the
Centre and the state.
Senior officers
within the Nehra-led
Ahmedabad Munici-
pal Corporation,
and from the
state gov-
ernment,
h a v e
t o l d
F i r s t
I n d i a
that the Commission-
er has received calls
both from Gandhina-
gar and New Delhi, in
which he was repri-
manded and warned
against shooting his
mouth off in public.
“He was asked not to
make such predictions
or estimates in public,”
a source in the AMC
said.
This was before the
Central government
formed teams to look
into why cases of Sars-
Cov-2 infection have
been increasing in
Ahmedabad, Surat, Hy-
derabad, even after a
month into the nation-
wide lockdown.
“The team asked the
municipal commis-
sioner and police com-
missioner Ashish Bha-
tia why social distanc-
ing has not been fol-
lowed strictly. They
also asked why they
were announcing new
COVID hospitals and
isolation facilities if
they were confident
that they have been
working efficiently to
curb the vector. The
team also questioned
Nehra and Bhatia why
there were issues of
food and supply short-
ages,” this person said,
asking to remain anon-
ymous for fear of pro-
fessional blowback.
Nehra and Bhatia
were also asked
how—if, on record,
there were only 17
people infected at the
religious congrega-
tion in New Delhi in
March—the virus had
managed to spread
among other popula-
tions. Turn on P6
In the past week, he has reportedly
been reprimanded by superiors in
New Delhi and Gandhinagar
Municipal commissioner Vijay Nehra

NEWSAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. —FILE PHOTO
Independent or defiant? Nehra says shops won’t open until May 3
First India News
Ahmedabad: It is un-
clear if Ahmedabad
Municipal Commis-
sioner Vijay Nehra just
defied the state govern-
ment, or if he took a
stand for his city. That
would depend entirely
on whether or not the
state consulted commis-
sioners and collectors
before deciding to allow
shops and businesses to
reopen on Sunday.
Either way, Nehra’s
announcement on
Sunday afternoon—
that shops in the city
will remain shut until
May 3—has put the
state on the backfoot,
compelling it to re-
view its decision less
than 24 hours since its
initial announcement.
As a result, non-essen-
tial businesses in Gu-
jarat’s four major cit-
ies will remain closed
until May 3.
An hour after Neh-
ra’s statement, Infor-
mation and Broadcast-
ing Secretary and Sec-
retary to the Chief Min-
ister, Ashwani Kumar
told the media that, af-
ter consultation with
shop owners, the gov-
ernment had decided to
keep all shops exclud-
ing essential commodi-
ties or grocery shops
and milk parlours in
Ahmedabad, Vadodara
Surat and Rajkotr
closed until May 03. He
clarified that all neigh-
bourhood shops can re-
open in the rest of the
state.
Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani on Sunday said,
“There is no question
of the lockdown being
lifted early. The state
had announced a relax-
ation in the interest of
small players, but trad-
ers came forward and
requested to continue
the lockdown for anoth-
er week until May 3.”
However, sources in
the Ahmedabad Mu-
nicipal Corporation
(AMC) say that the
announcement from
Gandhinagar is a
face-saving exercises.
They say Nehra initi-
ated talks with shops
owners’ associations
on advice from senior
AMC officers who
had advised him to
not be in a hurry to
reopen shops, even in
unaffected areas.
They were worried
that doing so would
give the Sars-CoV-2
virus an opening to
spread uncontrolla-
bly in those areas.
The AMC is right to
be concerned.
As recently as Fri-
day, Nehra had esti-
mated that the city
would see up to eight
lakh cases of COV-
ID-19 by the end of
May. Yes, he revised
that figure to 50,000
by the evening, but
even 50,000 is a con-
siderable number.
Similarly, in Surat—
which accounts for the
second-highest number
of cases in the state after
Ahmedabad—Municipal
CommissionerBanchha-
nidhiPanihadestimated
that his city could see a
whopping1.35lakhcases
by May-end.
The state govern-
ment seems to have
chosen to ignore these
estimates from Guja-
rat’s two worst-hit cit-
ies when it on Satur-
day announced that
all neighbourhood
would resume busi-
ness from Sunday,
meaning that the de-
cision was either ill-
advised or the state is
not taking the ground
reality seriously
enough.
Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra. —FILE PHOTO
Forced to review decision, govt
now says no relaxation for non-
essential businesses in 4 cities
SAAVDHANI HATI,
DURGHATNA GHATI: PM
‘These are testing times but also a chance
for nation to procure and store crude oil’
‘I feel very proud when
world leaders thank India’
First India News
Ahmedabad: The novel
coronavirus pandemic
that has brought the
world to heel, has creat-
ed many opportunities
as well as adversities.
From the shutdown of
various sectors to se-
verely affecting econo-
mies, the pandemic has
wreaked havoc on the
nations. On the contra-
ry, it has also presented
afewopportunitiessuch
as the rise of the digital
sector, which may prove
to be a game-changer,
lowest dip in crude oil
prices in the last two
decades and so on. With
many global companies
seeking to move their
operations from China,
it may be a good chance
to offer attractive pack-
ages to such organiza-
tions and have them set-
tle in India.
According to Parimal
Nathwani, senior group
president at Reliance
Industries and Rajya
Sabha member from
Andhra Pradesh,
“Crude oil prices across
the world have crashed
down, it is the right
time for oil companies
and even nations to pro-
cure crude oil and stock
it. Because once global
businesses resume and
trade and industry get
back on track, crude oil
prices will recover and
one will not get an op-
portunity to buy it at
the lower price.”
“The second big op-
portunity before the na-
tion is to attract those
multinational compa-
nies that are planning
to wind up their opera-
tions in China. Few na-
tions have even offered
good packages to such
companies so that they
relocate their plants to
those countries,”
shared Nathwani.
He also opined that
this is the time for the
central government to
revamp ‘Make In India’,
‘Digital India’, ‘Ease of
Doing Business’ pro-
grammes and make
them more industry-
friendly. This will en-
sure that more compa-
nies grab the opportu-
nity to be part of the
national economy to
achieve the economic
goal set for 2024.
Nathwani warned
that it would be more
prudent to be vigilant
since it cannot be ruled
out whether the virus
will attack again or not.
If that happens, it will
be at a huge cost as the
nation might go on lock-
down again and indus-
tries will have to re-plan
their schedules.
“Corona has changed
our way of thinking, it
has proved that the
economy can be kept
running by working
fromhome.Theinternet
penetration too has in-
creased, over and above
entertainment, it has
opened wide the field of
education. This may af-
fect change in corporate
planning and may em-
brace ‘Work from home’
concept wholehearted-
ly,” he concluded.
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi in
his monthly radio pro-
gramme ‘Mann Ki Baat’
on Sunday said he feels
proud when world lead-
ers thanks India and its
peopleforprovidinghelp
during the testing times
of COVID-19 crisis.
“We took it upon our-
selves to supply medi-
cinestotheneedyacross
the world and made this
humanitarianworkhap-
pen. Today, when world
leaders tell me- Thank
you India, thank you
people of India, I feel
very proud,” said the
Prime Minister in his
address to the nation.
India, the major produc-
er of hydroxychloro-
quine, has promised to
supply the drug to 55
countries, including
Bhutan, Bangladesh,
Maldives, Sri Lanka,
and Myanmar as well.
Themedicationwhichis
being used in COVID-19
therapy has already
reached the United
States, Afghanistan,
Mauritius, Kazakhstan,
Brazil, and Seychelles.
India has already
supplied medicines to
countries, including
Nepal, Sri Lanka and
Afghanistan. —ANI
rime Minister
Narendra Modi
on Sunday urged
citizens of areas
which have not
been affected by COVID-19
to not get caught in the
“trap of over-confidence”
and follow all precautions
to keep the disease at bay.
“To my countrymen, I
urge, let us not at all get
caught in the trap of over-
confidence, let us not har-
bour a feeling that if coro-
na has not yet reached our
city, our village, our street
or our office, it is not going
to reach now. Never make
such a mistake,” Modi said
during his monthly “Mann
ki Baat” programme. “The
experience of the world is
narrating a lot to us. And,
here in our country, we are
always reminded again and
again - ‘saavdhani hati,
durghatna ghati’,” he said.
Modi stressed on “no
negligence” at the local
level or elsewhere.
“In over-enthusiasm,
there should be no negli-
gence at the local level or
elsewhere. We will always
have to remain cautious.
And, I will reiterate, al-
ways maintain a safe dis-
tance and keep yourself
healthy,” he said.
He also informed that
the government has come
up with a digital platform
to link volunteers of social
organizations, representa-
tives of civil society and
local administration.
“My dear countrymen,
with utmost humility and
deepest respect, I bow to
this sentiment displayed
by 130 crore countrymen.
To facilitate your selfless
endeavour towards our
country, as per your incli-
nation and time, the gov-
ernment has come up with
a Digital Platform ...it is
called covidwarriors.gov.
in ... I repeat- covidwarri-
ors.gov.in,” said PM.
“Through the medium of
this platform, the govern-
ment has linked volunteers
of social organizations,
representatives of civil so-
ciety and local administra-
tion with each other. It did
not take long for 1.25 crore
people to be part of this
portal. They comprise Doc-
tors, Nurses, ASHA-ANM
workers, our friends from
NCC and NSS, profession-
als from myriad fields...all
of them have made the
platform their own,” he
added. Adding that these
people are of immense help
at the local level in prepar-
ing crisis management
plans and implementing
them,Modialsoappealedto
the people to join the plat-
form and help in serving
the country. —ANI
P
Municipal worker holds a radio set as he listens to Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s Mann Ki Baat program in Ranchi on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Parimal Nathwani
PM Modi with US Prez Donald Trump. —FILE PHOTO

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020
First India News
Gandhinagar: In what
has been one of
Ahmedabad’s darkest
days in the recent past,
the city reported 18
deaths related to COV-
ID-19 in the past 24
hours, meaning all
deaths reported from
across the state oc-
curred in the city.
With this, the city’s
death toll is at 104—
68.8% of all 151 deaths
reported across the
state so far. Moreover,
178 of the 230 fresh cas-
es reported in the past
24 hours also came from
Ahmedabad, which
now has 2,181 cas-
es—66% of the state’s
total of 3,301.
Surat remains the
second worst-hit city in
the state, with 30 new
cases. Anand reported
eight new cases, while
Vadodara and Rajkot
reported four each.
In addition, Principal
Secretary (Health) Jay-
anti Ravi said that new
cases from Anand and
Banaskantha have oc-
curred in completely
new pockets.
She added that the
state is using rapid test
kits, and 6,509 samples
have been tested. All of
these are gave inconclu-
sive, meaning mostly
negative, results.
For the first time,
Ravi shared the exact
capacity of laborato-
ries: 3,770 samples a day.
In the last 24 hours, 2,776
samples were tested in
state laboratories. She
also said that GMERS
colleges in Gandhina-
gar and Valsad have re-
ceived approval to start
sample testing and will
begin operations in a
few days.
Eight of the 18 deaths
reported today have
been attributed to the
virus, while the rest are
due to co-morbidities.
Meanwhile, Director-
General of Police Shi-
vanand Jha said a vehi-
cle was detained in
Botad for ferrying
country and IMFL un-
der the guise of trans-
porting essential com-
modities. A criminal
case has been regis-
tered against the driver
under the Prohibition
Act and the Disaster
Management Act.
First India News
Gandhinagar: Blowing
its own horn, the state
government on Sunday
stated that its numbers
of COVID-19 positive
cases was much better
than three European
countries namely
France, Italy and Spain.
Coming up on 35 days
since the pandemic
reached the state, what
Principal Secretary
(Health) Jayanti Ravi
neglected to reveal, is
that the sample testing
in these European coun-
tries was much higher
than in the state.
In her presentation,
Ravi shared data show-
ing that the situation in
Gujarat was in better
shape than the three EU
nations—which have
similar-sized popula-
tions as us—were on
their 35th day of the
outbreak. She stated
that the number of pos-
itive cases in Spain was
30 times higher than the
state, with Italy and
France at 30 and 18
times respectively.
However, as per data
from a reliable source,
as of April 22, Italy had
conducted total sample
testing of 15,13, 251 peo-
ple, Spain had tested
9,30,230 samples with
France testing 3,65,589
samples. On the other
hand, Gujarat’s total
tally of sample testing
as of April 22 stood at
39,421. Therefore, going
by the data, Italy’s sam-
ple testing was 38.38
times higher than Guja-
rat, Spain’s rate of sam-
pling was 23.5 times
higher, and France’s,
9.27 times higher.
While the state claims
that the situation is un-
der control with ade-
quate sample testing be-
ing conducted at 21 labo-
ratories, it has failed to
share the complete data.
One has to wonder why
the state is trying to
paint a rosy picture
when the reality is dras-
tically different.
Black Sunday for A’bad as
city death toll crosses 100
Isthestatereallybetter
offthan3EUnations?
All 18 deaths reported in the past 24 hrs occurred in the city; state now has 3,301 +ve cases
Govt underplays
their higher levels
of sample testing
A medic checks the temperature of a policeman on duty at Ahmedabad’s Ellisbridge area.
18 more super
spreaders test
positive for virus
Unseasonal rains likely in
state even as lightning kills 1
First India News
Ahmedabad: Unsea-
sonal rains lashed parts
of the state on Sunday,
creating panic among
farmers over crop har-
vest of mango, onion,
sesame and bajra.
Some parts of the
Saurashtra region espe-
cially Rajkot, Gondal,
and Gir border received
heavy rains and thun-
dershowers, accompa-
nied by a lightning
strike that killed one
labourer. Hailstones
were also seen falling in
a few parts of the state.
Two farm labourers
were standing under a
tree in Kana Vadala
when it started to rain
and lightning struck
the tree. It killed one la-
bourer on the spot while
the other was taken to a
hospital for treatment.
The deceased was
later identified as Su-
tharsing Jamra, 30,
resident of Madhya
Pradesh.
Currently, humid
winds from the Bay of
Bengal continue to feed
the eastern parts of the
country with a trough
extending from Bangla-
desh. There are chances
that heavy rains and
thundershower may
continue in the coastal
pockets of the state.
According to the In-
dian Meteorological De-
partment, light rains or
thundershowers are
very likely at isolated
places in the districts of
Saurashtra and Kutch
namelyRajkot,GirSom-
nath,Amreli,Jamnagar,
and Kutch. The rest of
the state may experi-
ence dry weather.
The Met department
also predicted no
significant change in
the maximum tempera-
ture in the next two to
three days.
First India News
Ahmedabad: On Sun-
day, 18 more super
spreaders were con-
firmed as having COV-
ID-19, bringing the
city’s total super
spreader cases to 48 .
Ahmedabad munici-
pal commissioner Vijay
Nehra said, “In the last
24 hours, we have re-
ceived reports that 18
more super spreader
cases have been con-
firmed. Of those, 16 pa-
tients happen to be veg-
etable vendors.”
Since the last four
days, the Ahmedabad
Municipal Corporation
(AMC) health team has
conducted aggressive
sampling of likely su-
per spreaders. It col-
lected samples of vege-
table vendors, grocery
shop owners, milk par-
lour owners, pharma-
cists at medical shops
and its staff members.
So far, around 500
samples have been col-
lected, of which 48 peo-
ple were found to be
infected. All patients
have been admitted to
different hospitals.
Surprisingly, none of
them presented any
major symptoms of the
infection.
Labour union prez alleges misuse of funds SMC allows essential-item
shops, businesses to openFirst India News
Ahmedabad:TheBand-
hkam Mazdoor Sanga-
than’s president Vipul
Pandyainalettertostate
chief minister Vijay Ru-
pani, chief secretary
Anil Mukim, and addi-
tional chief secretary
labour and welfare de-
partment Vipul Mitra,
has alleged that the state
governmentmisusedthe
funds allocated for con-
struction labourers.
Pandya stated that all
labourers under the
Building and other Con-
struction Workers Wel-
fare Board should re-
ceive Rs1,000 in their
accounts. He added that
as per a news report, the
state government has
transferred Rs250 crore
from the welfare board’s
fund to the Chief Minis-
ter Garib Kalyan pack-
age—a grant for 6.38
lakh workers.
“The state govern-
ment had announced
that every beneficiary
would receive Rs1,000
as financial aid to be de-
posited into their bank
accounts. And then, the
state government goes
on to transfer Rs250
crore from the welfare
board to the Chief Min-
ister Garib Kalyan
package, which has 6.38
lakh registered mem-
bers,” said Pandya.
He said, if 6.38 lakh
workers each received
Rs1,000, there would be
a surplus amount of
Rs186.20 crore. “The CM
should immediately
share the expenditure
plan for that amount, or
I will assume that its
has been misused,” he
stated.
First India News
Surat: A notification
was issued by the Surat
Municipal Corporation
(SMC)onSunday,which
did not allow any other
shops except the ones
selling essential items
to open within a 3km
radius of any hotspot
area or ones with COV-
ID-19 patients till May 5.
SMC commissioner
Banchhanidhi Pani
said, “Shops have been
allowed to operate in
the green zone of the
city. But, as the number
of hotspot areas in the
city is much higher, the
possibility of transmis-
sion cannot be ruled
out. Therefore, no
shops or businesses
other than essential
goods ones will be al-
lowed to operate within
a 3km radius of any
hotspot area or one
with infected patients
until May 5.”
100000
90000
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35
Spain
94410
Italy
80536
France
56972
Gujarat
3071
Comparison of progress of
epidemic of Gujarat with
worst affected countries
during their ﬁrst 35 days
Number of days since ﬁrst case
*Currently Gujarat is on 35th
day of epidemic
Population:
Italy = 6.5 crore
Spain = 4.7 crore
France = 6.5 crore
Gujarat = 6.25 crore
An electrical shop in Akhbar Nagar.
A man performs puja as he opens his shop after a month. A cycle repair shop in Akhbar Nagar.
Gandhi Bridge, shut.
A bookstall at Income Tax Circle. Dadhichi Bridge, shut.
AN OPEN & SHUT CASEThe city’s small businesses
came alive on Sunday morn-
ing, following Saturday’s an-
nouncement that non-essential
establishments would be al-
lowed to reopen after a month
of being shut. However, com-
merical activities came to a
screeching halt by afternoon
when authorities shut the
bridges across the Sabarmati,
thus ending any hope of an
early return to normalcy. All
shops will continue to remain
shut until next Sunday.
Workers at a construction site in Ahmedabad. —FILE PHOTO
VIRUS CLAIMS CONGRESS COUNCILLOR BADRUDDIN SHAIKH
—PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI & NANDAN DAVE
—PHOTOBYNANDANDAVE
SOLEMN CELEBRATION
A statue of renowned poet Akha Bhagat sports a mask amid the COVID-19 outbreak, as the 11th generation of his
descendants and local residents mark his 405th birth anniversary by reading his poems while maintaining physical
distancing at Desai ni Pol in Ahmedabad’s Khadia area. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 151 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 | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020
FIGHT AGAINST
CORONA IS
PEOPLE-DRIVEN
rime Minister Narendra Modi
reached out to the people through
his fourth Mann ki Baat this year
by calling the fight against coro-
navirus is people-driven. Every-
one is contributing his/her best to the coun-
try’s fight against the deadly virus, the prime
minister said and extolled all those contribut-
ing their mite to the national cause. Farmers
found a special mention as they are toiling
when the whole country is locked down.
“Our farmers are working day and night
in their fields to ensure that no one goes
hungry. There are people who are giving
up rents and there are people who are giv-
ing up their pension,” Modi said.
“People of our country are fighting this
war along with the administration. We
are also fighting poverty. All of us are
soldiers in this fight,” he said.
Indeed, the imposition of lockdown with-
out prior warning has been the most upset-
ting part of the battle against the deadly vi-
rus. Lakhs - migrant workforce, students,
and many others - found themselves strand-
ed. With all work coming to a halt, people
were rendered jobless and without money far
from their native place. They trudged their
way back, braving police’s lathi blows and
hunger. Many made it, others were de-
tained and quarantined until govern-
ments turned empathetic and started
sending them back. A word of praise
from the PM for the people will go a long
way in this ongoing battle. With Twitter
being misused for spreading Islamophobia
in the country, a noxious atmosphere of hate
and distrust was gaining hold. When the
country needed unity and sanity, efforts were
being made by a section of society to divide
and spread madness. In that context the
prime minister’s call for special prayers dur-
ing Ramzan to ward off coronavirus was
significant. Saying that the pandemic has
changed the way we celebrate festivals, Modi
said that during last year’s Ramzan one
wouldn’t have imagined a situation like the
present one and exhorted Muslims for spe-
cial prayers. “This Ramzan we should
pray more than before to ensure that be-
fore Eid the world gets rid of this coro-
navirus. I am sure we will strengthen
this fight by following orders of the dis-
trict administration,” he said.
Life after Covid-19 is bound to change dras-
tically from the days before coronavirus, or
BC as many prefer to call it. Masks would
become an essential part of our person, at
least for those not wanting to throw caution
to the wind. “It has become a part of our
daily lives. It has not happened before,”
Modi said, calling it a new reality. If peo-
ple indeed start donning masks and stay
“do guz” (two yards) apart from one an-
other, it would be a revolutionary change
in our behaviour. If only people would heed
his advice and stop spitting, the country will
become so much cleaner and healthier.
IN-DEPTH
P
e are hit by the coronavirus
and the whole nation is locked
down for 21 days. As history
would have it, word quarantine
means 40 days isolation, and
the first incident happened in
the 14th century in Venice to
prevent the spread of Bubonic
plague, when the ships return-
ing from the sea were quaran-
tined for 40 days. It was the
Persian scholar of medicine,
Ibn Sina (980-1037) who first
came up with the idea of quar-
antine to prevent the spread of
diseases. He suspected that
some diseases were spread by
microorganisms; to prevent
human-to-human contamina-
tion, he came up with the meth-
od of isolating people for 40
days. He called this method al-
Arba’iniya (“the forty”).
In these days of self-isola-
tion, we have few words add-
ed in our day to day diction-
ary which was probably left
isolated in the English lan-
guage i.e, Quarantine, and
social distancing. Obviously
we were all made to learn
and repeat a few words daily
like Corona, masks, and
hand hygiene.
Coming to from where I
started, When we get trained to
practice surgery or for that
matter to examine any patient,
we are taught hand washing
(scrubbing in medical lan-
guage), social distancing
-standing 3 feet away form any-
one who is not sterile (surgi-
cally clean) and to wear mask
always to prevent contamina-
tion.
As we have the situation
turned into a nightmare, the
three basic steps of training
again come to the forefront
of our rescue. So I would
love to say “The whole world
is operation table now.”
Vivid scientific theories and
numerous research-backed ar-
ticles are finding a place in
front lines these days claiming
to have found the treatment of
this pandemic. Though only
time would declare the real so-
lution behind the viral eradica-
tion, up-till then we shall learn
a drug a day from social media.
To nail the science behind
immunogenicity and viral
spread, I would retract your
senses to Darwin’s theory of
evolution that we read at some
stage in our school which pre-
cisely claims “survival of the
fittest “ and to understand any
epidemic /pandemic Darwin
shall always come to our res-
cue.
Long before apes and
plants evolved, viruses con-
tributed to the rise of cellu-
lar life. Bacteria were the
first to evolve from proto-
types. The virus was on
earth more than 3.5 billion
years ago and branching of
the human lineage from the
one that produced great apes
(orang-utans, chimpanzees,
bonobos, and gorillas) in Af-
rica happened sometime be-
tween 6 and 7 million years
ago. So progeny wise we are
younger and at their la la land.
So we know now, who invaded
whom?
In these difficult times, the
thing which has also evolved or
rather surfaced with a viral
pandemic is religious outrage,
bigotry, and hatred towards the
medical community by selec-
tive groups. Though we may
find a drug to stop the deaths
and to treat the affected
lungs, unfortunately, we
won’t ever be able to evolve
any drug in any laboratory
which would treat religious
bigotry.
So as we spend time with our
loved ones in confinement,
watching the daily doses of re-
ligious serials, having good
homemade food, and sleeping
comfortably in those cush-
ioned ac rooms we must never
forget the few unprivileged
people who scattered outside
on the dry, hot, deserted and
lifeless roads.
We must also not forget to
talk to our innersoles in soli-
tude, for which you won’t ever
have to hunt for a cave or climb
the Himalayas, and ask our-
selves; Is it really the way God
wanted things to happen? Does
our moral allow us to see such
hatred brewing and above all:
will you be able to explain the
logic behind religious bigotry
to innocent minds of your
progeny?
As Rumi would have said it:
“This too shall pass” and as po-
etic as Emily Dickinson would
have proclaimed “Hope is the
thing with feathers” we would
eventually be able to save hu-
mans out of this catastrophe.
But as mother nature is stop-
ping by to take a deep breathe
let’s save humanity along too.
LET’S SAVE HUMANITY: LOVE
IN THE TIMES OF CORONA
Persian scholar of medicine, Ibn Sina (980-1037) came up with the idea of quarantine
W
Vivid scientific
theories and
numerous
research-backed
articles are
finding a place
in front lines
these days
claiming to
have found the
treatment of
this pandemic.
Though only
time would
declare the real
solution behind
the viral
eradication,
up-till then we
shall learn a
drug a day
from social
media
DR ASHISH
GAUR
As Rumi would have
said it: “This too shall
pass” and as poet
Emily Dickinson
would have
proclaimed “Hope is
the thing with
feathers” we would
eventually be able to
save humans out of
this catastrophe
The writer is a health care
professional in Cardiac surgery
and Cardiac Transplantation
department in Mumbai
here is nothing
like a pandemic
to expose sys-
temic differenc-
es. For China
and the US, which were
locked in an ideologically
driven competition even
before the COVID-19 crisis,
those differences are stark.
But the two countries have
at least one thing in com-
mon: when this is all over,
they will need to rethink
their social contracts.
To curb virus transmis-
sion,ChinaandtheUShave
implemented social-dis-
tancing measures, which –
together with the unem-
ployment they produce –
have broken the cycle of
earning and spending that
sustains global growth. Yet
the type of public-health
measures pursued – and
their outcomes – have di-
verged sharply. China’s
draconian lockdowns pro-
duced a dramatic decline
in new cases, whereas
America’s delayed and
fragmented response al-
lowed infections – and the
death toll – to mount.
This divergence is often
attributed to political dif-
ferences: Chinese central
planning allows for more
resolute action. But this
explanation misses the ex-
tent to which the US and
Chinese growth models
have shaped their respons-
es – and the financial and
economic effects.
In the US, decades of
neoliberal policies have led
to a dependence on debt-
financed consumption.
Americans saved little but
borrowed a lot. Thanks to
the “exorbitant privilege”
afforded by the US dollar’s
position as the leading
global reserve currency, so
did the government. Fiscal
and current-account defi-
cits swelled.
Inflation, however, re-
mained low, even when the
US Federal Reserve pur-
sued expansionary poli-
cies, largely because of the
positive supply shocks pro-
duced by the integration of
China and other develop-
ing countries into the glob-
al economy. The Fed is tak-
ing that route again during
the pandemic, slashing in-
terest rates and expanding
its balance sheet by more
than $2.4 trillion in the past
six weeks to prevent a sys-
temic liquidity shortage.
The US financial system
has also built up excessive
leverage while becoming
increasingly disconnected
from the real economy. Wall
Street firms trade among
themselves, rather than
servingMainStreet.Corpo-
rations rely more on capital
markets than on banks.
Moreover, despite ad-
vancements in electronic
payments, households and
small businesses continue
to operate mainly in less ef-
ficient cash, paper checks,
and credit cards. The US
Treasury is delivering pan-
demic stimulus payments
through direct deposits
and mailed checks.
Technology platforms
have capitalized on this
debt-driven growth model,
pushing endless consump-
tion by users – through,
say, targeted ads – with less
concern for supporting
those attempting to gener-
ate income online. The “gig
economy” exemplifies this
one-way dynamic: a plat-
form like Uber is optimized
for sales and provides
workers with the bare min-
imum of training and pro-
tection, while regulators
take a hands-off approach.
It has long been clear
that the US model is finan-
cially, environmentally,
and – given skyrocketing
inequality – socially unsus-
tainable. But the COVID-19
pandemic has shown that
any disruption of the debt-
consumption cycle threat-
ens to trigger collapse al-
most immediately: as soon
as incomes are interrupt-
ed, private financial insti-
tutions curtail credit, fear-
ing non-performing loans.
Consumption plummets,
depleting incomes further.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.PROJECTSYNDICATECOM
What COVID-19 reveals about the US and China
T
International
Monetary Fund
estimates that
world GDP will
contract by 3%
this year. China’s
shrank by 6.8% in
the first quarter
What, then, shall we say in
response to these things? If
God is for us, who can be
against us?—Romans 8:31
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal
Double the Grain Ear of rice: Railways
is plying Annapoorna trains, a
combination of two foodgrain
loaded trains for efﬁcient & timely
transportation of essential goods.
Railways is committed to ensure
adequate food supplies for fellow
citizens during COVID-19 lockdown.
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
I never said the pandemic was
a Hoax! Who would say such a
thing? I said that the Do Nothing
Democrats, together with their
Mainstream Media partners, are the
Hoax. They have been called out &
embarrassed on this, even admitting
they were wrong, but continue to
spread the lie!

INDIAAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020
New Delhi: The Delhi
High Court has direct-
ed that COVID-19 re-
lated tests should be
made available to the
general public at the
lowest cost possible as
the country is going
through an unprece-
dented medical crisis
affecting public order.
The court was hear-
ing a petition filed by
Rare Metabolics and
Aark Pharmaceuticals,
seeking the release of
7.24 lakh COVID-19 test
kits from respondent
Matrix, importer of
kits, which was seeking
full payment upfront
before delivering them.
The two companies
have entered into an
agreement with Matrix,
over the distribution of
the test kits in the coun-
try. Justice Najmi Wa-
ziri issued the direction
to all three companies
to import 10 lakh test
kits from China and dis-
tribute them here at a
price not beyond Rs 400
per kit inclusive of GST.
“The country is going
through an unprece-
dented medical crisis
affecting public order.
People have been clois-
tered in their homes or
constrained to stay
wherever they were on
March 24. A profit
mark-up of Rs 155 that
is 61% on the landed
cost price of Rs 245 is
much on the higher side
and in any case more
than sufficient for the
seller,” Wazir said. —ANI
Make test kits available at lowest cost: HC
LEGAL MATTER
New Delhi: Malls and
markets in Delhi will
continue to remain shut
and only standalone
neighbourhood shops
will be allowed to open,
Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal said this after-
noon after the central
government allowed an
ease in the nationwide
restrictions over coro-
navirus in a late-night
order on Friday.
“Last week, we had
decided not to ease re-
strictions after the cen-
tre's order on relaxing
shutdown in non-af-
fected areas. We had
decided to review the
situation again in a
week (on April 27),” CM
Arvind Kejriwal said
during a vc.
“We have now decid-
ed to stick to centre's
(latest) guidelines. In
Delhi, markets, market
complexes or malls will
not reopen. Only stan-
dalone neighbourhood
shops will be allowed to
open. In containment
zones, nothing changes.
These are the areas
where we are restrict-
ing movement,” he said,
adding that “no other
relaxations will be al-
lowed” till May 3 when
the second phase of the
countrywide lockdown
is scheduled to end.
“These are very chal-
lenging times. We will
plan the road ahead af-
ter a discussion with
the central govern-
ment,” he said.
The national capital,
which has 95 contain-
ment zones spread
across all 11 districts,
has so far reported
nearly 2,500 coronavi-
rus cases, inlcuding 53
deaths. It its order, the
Union Home Ministry
on Friday allowed all
the shops in the resi-
dential areas - except
those in malls - to reo-
pen in a huge relief to
shopkeepers and buy-
ers amid a countrywide
shutdown. The relaxa-
tion is not applicable to
containment zones.
All restaurants, sa-
lons, barber shops, liq-
uor stores will remain
closed, the government
clarified later, adding
that e-commerce com-
panies can only sell es-
sential items. Malls,
cinemas, gymnasiums,
sports complexes, swim-
ming pools, bars and
auditoriums also con-
tinue to remain shut.
Only 50% staff will
be allowed in shops that
reopen. Masks, gloves &
adherence to social dis-
tancing norms is man-
datory. —Agencies
MALLS, MARKETS TO
STAY SHUT: KEJRIWAL
Malls & markets in Delhi will continue to remain shut & only standalone neighbourhood shops will be openedCORONA UPDATE
Bhopal: The BJP-led
Madhya Pradesh gov-
ernment has decided to
have a separate “Happi-
ness Department” and
use its services to re-
duce the stress of coro-
navirus patients and
boost the morale of
those at the forefront of
the battle against the
disease. CM Shivraj
Singh Chouhan, during
his previous tenure, set
up the “Anand Vibhag”
(happiness department)
in 2016. But, after the
Congress came to pow-
er in the state in 2018, it
merged the happiness
department with the
“Adhyatmik Vibhag”
(spiritual department).
Now, Chouhan has di-
rected the officials to
demerge it, and engage
the Happiness Depart-
ment in fight against
COVID-19. The CM has
said those infected by
the coronavirus should
be treated in a joyous
environment. —ANI
MP ‘Happiness
Department’ to
reduce stress
of patients
New Delhi: A second
hospital in Delhi has
been sealed in 24 hours
after 44 staff including
doctors were found in-
fected with coronavi-
rus. Babu Jagjivan Ram
Memorial Hospital in
north-west Delhi's Ja-
hangirpuri will remain
sealed until building
has been completely
sanitised. Patients who
are already receiving
critical care are still be-
ing looked after but no
new patients will be
taken in, the hospital
said.The latest sealing
comes less than 24
hours after a nurse at
Hindu Rao Hospital
who had been working
at different sections of
the building for the last
two weeks tested posi-
tive for coronavirus, the
officials from the hospi-
tal said. —ANI
Delhi: Babu Jagjivan Ram Hosp
closed,after staff gets infected
Paramilitary personnel stand guard at the Hindu Rao Hospital.
New Delhi: Union
Health Minister Dr
Harsh Vardhan on Sun-
day visited AIIMS
Trauma Centre, which
has been converted
into a dedicated COV-
ID-19 hospital.
Earlier on April 24,
Dr Harsh Vardhan and
MoS, Health and Fam-
ily Welfare Ashwini
Choubey had held a
meeting via video con-
ferencing with state
Health Ministers to re-
view actions on COV-
ID-19 management. In
the video conference,
Dr Vardhan urged
them to ensure that no
unnecessary stigma is
attached to COVID-19
and said that we need
to identify people in-
fected with COVID-19
and treat them.
A total of 26,496 con-
firmed cases of COV-
ID-19 have been report-
ed in India. 5,804 people
have recovered or mi-
grated. —ANI
Health Min Dr Harsh Vardhan
visits AIIMS Trauma Centre
‘80%patientsasymptomaticinMaha’
Mumbai: Maharash-
tra CM Uddhav Thack-
eray said “80 % pa-
tients of coronavirus
were asymptomatic”
in his state – which
has the largest num-
ber of COVID-19 pa-
tients in the country.
Maharashtra current-
ly has 7,628 cases,
more than a quarter of
over 26,000 cases in the
country. A chunk of
them are from Mum-
bai, the country’s fi-
nancial capital.
The CM said his
state will take a deci-
sion on extending the
lockdown by the end of
this month. “We will
take a call on what to
do after the 30th,”
Thackeray said. For
now, he said, “We are
restarting some
things. I am going to
study (the plan) it this
evening. We have to
see how we return to
normalcy slowly”. Giv-
ing examples of ur-
gent requirements, he
said, “Doctors should
start their clinics. Di-
alysis centers should
be started”. Mean-
while, he asked the
people to have pa-
tience, saying without
lockdown, there is “no
other choice” at the
moment.”It is not like
the coronavirus is sud-
denly going away.
There is no proof of
her immunity. We have
to keep the high risk
group safe,” he said.
Health Min Dr Harsh Vardhan visits AIIMS Trauma Centre, converted into dedicated COVID-19 Hosp.
Dehradun: As many as
2,189 cases were lodged
& 10,062 people have
been arrested for the
breach of lockdown
norms in Uttarakhand.
“Out of the total, 39
cases were registered
& 391 people were ar-
rested on Sunday,” Po-
lice said. Under the
MV Act, challans have
been issued against
25,033 vehicles. —ANI
10,000 held for
breaching
lockdown norms
Patna: Bihar govern-
ment has ordered two
automatic RNA extrac-
tion machines, said the
Principal Secretary of
Health, Sanjay Kumar
on Sunday.
“Right now the RNA
extraction is done
manually. The state
government has or-
dered two automatic
RNA extraction ma-
chines, one for RMRI
and the other for
IGMS. They have been
ordered from Singa-
pore, we expect them
to be here by month-
end or the first week
of May,” said Sanjay
Kumar. Earlier in the
day, with nine more
persons tested positive
for COVID-19 in Bihar,
the total number of
cases in the state
reached 251. —ANI
Bihar: 2 automatic RNA extraction
machines ordered from Singapore
Recovered patients leave the
NMCH in Patna on Sunday.
Centre decided to open certain
shops, we are implementing it here
too. Medical stores, grocery stores,
fruits, vegetable shops, dairy will remain
open. Besides this, standalone shops in res-
idential areas, neighbourhood shops will
also open. No shopping complex or market
will open. No shops will open in contain-
ment zones. Apart from that, for the next
one week, till May 3, we are not allowing
anything to open.
—Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister
THE DIRECTIVE
STAFFER@ AIIMS, RISHEKESH TESTS+VE
Amaravati: Eighty-
one more COVID-19
cases have been report-
ed from Andhra
Pradesh in the last 24
hours, taking the total
number of cases in the
state to 1097.
According to a me-
dia bulletin released
by Andhra Pradesh
state COVID Nodal Of-
ficer Arja Srikanth, as
many as 6768 samples
are tested in Andhra
Pradesh in the last 24
hours from 9 AM Sat-
urday to 9 AM Sunday.
81 of them are detected
positive for COVID-19.
So far, the total num-
ber of cases in the
state is 1097 and active
cases are 835.
81 MORE CASES IN ANDHRA PRADESH
100 COPS
INFECTED, 2 DIE
Mumbai: More
than 100 cops have
contracted highly
contagious illness,
which has infected
over 26,000 people
in country and killed
at least 800. Two
of these policemen
from Mumbai have
died, the city police
tweeted. “Painful
to know that two
of our policemen
have lost their lives
ﬁghting coronavirus.
Their families will
be supported as per
government's policy,”
said CM Uddhav.
UDDHAV TO INTERACT WITH PM MODI TODAY
STAY SAFE...
A grafﬁti is made on a road in Lucknow to make people aware about the COVID-19 and also to spread the message of staying
indoors during the second phase of the lockdown to stay safe from the deadly Coronavirus. —PHOTO BY ANI

INDIAAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020
New Delhi: The Chief
of Defence Staff (CDS)
and former Chief of
Army Staff (COAS) of
the Indian Army, Gen-
eral Bipin Rawat, on
Sunday said that the
armed forces personnel
understand their re-
sponsibility at this
time when India is bat-
tling the coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) pan-
demic outbreak.
“As far as defence ser-
vices are concerned, we
do understand our re-
sponsibility that at this
time when the nation is
fighting against COV-
ID-19 menace, the de-
fence services must op-
erate beyond the man-
date and come to the
support of our people
and government in
whatever way we can,”
General Rawat told
news agency ANI.
“In order to do so, we
have to first ensure
that we remain safe
from COVID-19 be-
cause if our own sail-
ors, soldiers and air-
men get affected by
this virus, how are we
going to support our
people. That is why we
have issued very strict
directions on social
distancing, wearing of
masks and ensuring
that people who re-
quire to be in quaran-
tine remain in quaran-
tine,” said the CDS.
He said that the med-
ical directions are be-
ing regularly issued by
the Director-General
Armed Forces Medical
Services (DGAFMS)
and that all meetings
and conferences are
taking place through
video conferencing.
“We are attending
meetings organised by
the Cabinet Secretary
and we are attending
meetings of the Minis-
try of Health. Whatever
directions are coming,
are percolating down to
the rank and file and we
are ensuring that these
reach in the right time
and right manner. This
is very important for us
to maintain strict disci-
pline and patience.
There would be prob-
lems in these challeng-
ing times but we have to
learn to live with them.
It cannot be business as
usual. These are the
times when certain di-
rections have been is-
sued and they have to be
adhered to if we want to
fight the COVID-19 men-
ace. I think our nation
has done well. We will
continue to do well if
the directions issued
from time to time are
adhered to,” he said.
General Rawat, while
referring to the lock-
down, said this is not
the time to be impa-
tient.
“We do know when
the country is under
lockdown and people
are told to stay indoors,
they tend to become im-
patient. This is not the
time to be impatient.
Patience is very impor-
tant to ensure that we
remain disciplined.
Maintaining discipline
in armed forces is not
very difficult as we are
accustomed to being in
discipline but to main-
tain patience is the need
of the hour,” he said
“I am very happy to
inform you that all our
people have download-
ed the Aarogya Setu ap-
plication.” —ANI
‘Beingpatientistheneedofthehour’CDS General Bipin Rawat said that the medical directions are being regularly issued by the DGAFMS
New Delhi: In a major
reshuffle in top bureau-
cracy of the Narendra
Modi government, sen-
ior IAS officers A.K.
Sharma and Tarun Ba-
jaj were on Sunday
moved out of the Prime
Minister’sOffice(PMO).
Bajaj, a 1988-batch
Haryana cadre officer,
has been appointed as
Secretary, Economic Af-
fairs in the Ministry of
Finance and will take
over upon superannua-
tion of incumbent Ata-
nu Chakraborty
on April 30. He is pres-
ently posted as Addi-
tional Secretary in
PMO, said a Ministry of
Personnel order.
Sharma, a 1988-batch
IAS of Gujarat cadre
and also an Additional
Secretary in the PMO,
has been appointed Sec-
retary, Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises
and will take over upon
superannuation of the
present incumbent
Arun Kumar Panda on
April 30. The decision
was taken on Sunday by
the Appointments Com-
mittee of the Cabinet
(ACC) chaired by the
Prime Minister.
As per the order, Sud-
hanshu Pandey will be
new Union Food Secre-
tary, Pradeep Kumar
Tripathi the new Steel
Secretary, Delhi Devel-
opment Authority
(DDA) Vice Chairman
Tarun Kapoor the new
Secretary, Petroleum
and Natural Gas, CBSE
Chairperson Anita Kar-
wal will be the new Sec-
retary, Education and
Literacy, and Rajesh
Bhushan Officer on
Special Duty in Depart-
ment of Health and
Family Welfare.
Union Health Secre-
tary Preeti Sudan has
got a three-month ex-
tension, said a Ministry
of Personnel order. A
1983 batch IAS officer
from the Andhra
Pradesh cadre, she was
to retire from service on
April 30.
The ACC approved
her extension for a pe-
riod of “three months
beyond the date of her
superannuation on
April 30, 2020 or until
further orders, which-
ever is earlier”.
Amit Khare, a
1985-batch IAS officer
of Jharkhand cadre and
currently Secretary,
Higher Education, has
been given additional
charge of the post of
Secretary, Information
and Broadcasting on ap-
pointment of incum-
bent Ravi Mittal as Sec-
retary, Sports.
Ravi Kant, Secretary,
Food and Public Distri-
bution has been ap-
pointed as Secretary,
Ex-Servicemen Welfare
in Ministry of Defence
given the coming super-
annuation of present
incumbentSanjeevanee
Kutty on April 30.
Secretary, New and
Renewable Energy,
Anand Kumar has been
appointed as Secretary,
Culture.
These were among 23
IAS officers of the rank
from Additional Secre-
tary, Special Secretary
and Secretary who were
on Sunday appointed in
various central govern-
ment departments as
part of the bureaucratic
reshuffle.
A total of 10 Indian
Administrative Service
(IAS) officers have been
given in-situ upgrada-
tion to the level of Spe-
cial Secretary in the
rank and pay of Secre-
tary of Central govern-
ment, as a measure per-
sonal to the them, by
temporarily upgrading
the posts held by them.
These are Jyoti Aro-
ra, B Anand, Neel Ka-
mal Darbari, Bidyut
Bihari Swain, Apurva
Chandra, Rajiv Bansal,
Ali Raza Rizvi,
Praveen Kr. Srivasta-
va, Arvind Singh and
Indevar Pandey.
Big bureaucratic reshuffle in Modi govt; AK
Sharma, Tarun Bajaj move out from PMO
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court heard 593
matters via video-con-
ferencing and delivered
judgement in 215 of
them in a month during
the unprecedented na-
tionwide lockdown.
As COVID-19 infec-
tions spread in the
country, the Supreme
Court shut its doors to
litigants and lawyers on
March 23, two days be-
fore the lockdown came
into force, but opened
up to a virtual new way
of functioning, albeit
withareducedstrength.
In normal times, the
apex court dispose of
nearly 3,500 cases on an
average a month. Two-
three benches have been
taking up “urgent” mat-
ters in virtual court-
rooms daily during the
lockdown period as
compared to up to 16
benches hearing cases
in normal times.
A total of 87 benches
heard 593 cases on 17
working days between
Match 23 and April 24.
Though the first
phase of the nationwide
lockdownforcontaining
the spread of coronavi-
rus started on March 25,
the apex court had is-
sued a circular on
March 23 restricting en-
try of advocates and liti-
gants in its premises.
The circular had said
that only matters in-
volving extreme urgen-
cy would be heard by
the top court through
video-conferencing
during the lockdown,
which has now been ex-
tended till May 3. The
data released by the top
court said that as on
April 24, the apex court
had disposed of 84 re-
view petitions.
It said that out of 87
benches, 34 heard main
matterswhile53benches
took up review petitions
for adjudication. The
data said that 390 main
matters, along with 203
connected cases, were
heardduringthisperiod.
It said verdicts were de-
livered in 215 cases, out
of which 174 were con-
nected matters.
SC judges, hearing
matters via vc, have
been provided with in-
ternet connectivity
with speed of up to
100Mbps. —PTI
SC heard 593 matters,
delivered verdicts in
215 cases in lockdown
New Delhi: Days after re-
covering from Corona &
getting discharged
from Lucknow's SGP-
GI, Bollywood singer
Kanika Kapoor said
that “no party was
hosted” by her in
Lucknow and that
there have been sev-
eral “wrong exchanges
of information”
about her. She took
to Instagram to
open up about her
diagnosis —ANI
‘Revamp Corona
testing in country’
India has to scale up testing from
current 40,000 to 1L tests per day
New Delhi: Con-
gress leader Rahul
Gandhi urged PM
Modi to clear “bottle-
necks” and ramp up
coronavirus testing
in the country.
Quoting experts,
Gandhi said “ran-
dom testing is the
key to beating the vi-
rus”. India has to
scale up Covid-19
testing from the cur-
rent 40,000 to one
lakh tests per day, he
said. “Experts agree
that mass random
testing is the key to
beating Corona. In
India, a bottle neck is
stopping us from
scaling testing from
the current 40,000 per
day to 1 lakh tests a
day, for which test
kits are already in
stock. —PTI
As far as defence services
are concerned, we do un-
derstand our responsibil-
ity that at this time when the na-
tion is fighting against COV-
ID-19 menace, the defence services
must operate beyond the man-
date and come to the support of
our people and government in
whatever way we can.
—General Bipin Rawat, CDS
BEING SECURE
New Delhi: DHFL pro-
moters Kapil and
Dheeraj Wadhawan, ac-
cused in the Yes Bank-
DHFL fraud cases, have
been taken into CBI cus-
tody, Maharashtra
home minister Anil
Deshmukh said.
“A #CBI team has tak-
en both Kapil & Dhiraj
Wadhwan into custody.
@SataraPolice has giv-
en them all required as-
sistance & an escort ve-
hicle with 1 3 guard upto
Mumbai on a written
request. The arrest pro-
cedures are going on.
#LawEqualForAll,” the
minister tweeted.
Out on bail since Feb
21, they were placed in
institutional quaran-
tine at Panchgani on
April 9 after they had
traveled from Khandala
family's farmhouse in
Mahabaleshwar violat-
ing lockdown. —PTI
DHFL promoters,
Wadhwan
brothers, taken in
CBI custody
Preeti Sudan
There was no party
hosted by me: Kanika
Commissioner
Nehra’s...
Most recently, Nehra
has also locked horns
with his seniors in the
state government. In
his press bulletin,
which streamed live on
social media around
4pm on Saturday, he al-
lowed shops and busi-
nesses outside contain-
ment zones to resume
operations. However, a
meeting with AMC offi-
cers later in the day
changed his mind.
“His subordinates
told him that relaxing
the lockdown norms
could worsen the situa-
tion and requested that
he keep the lockdown in
place. So, he made a
statement on Sunday
saying that the business
community was were
asked to support the
civic body’s decision,”
the AMC officer said.
Bhagwat: India...
The RSS chief also ap-
pealed to the people to
join the government in
this collective effort to
combat COVID-19 and
reach out to everyone
who needs help. “When
the people were bound
by some rules and
guidelines, they felt
that they are being pro-
hibited from doing cer-
tain things. RSS made a
decision in March it-
self and cancelled all
its programmes till
June end,” he said.
“But some people might
feel that the govern-
ment is prohibiting our
programmes. We are
working not for the
publicity of our works
but for the betterment
of society. Everyone
should work for the so-
ciety in these hard
times with dedication,”
added Bhagwat. Em-
phasising on the unfor-
tunate incidents re-
ported amidst
COVID-19 lockdown, he
said: “There is no
dearth of people who
instigate others. It gives
birth to anger. Anger
gives birth to impru-
dence. It gives rise to
extremist acts. We
know that there are
forces which reap bene-
fit out of it and they are
making attempts.” —ANI
PM’s agenda...
beyond May 3 to ensure
that coronavirus cases
remain under control.
The exact time of
meeting is yet to be con-
firmed.
A people-driven...
“I urge you not to get
overconfident. You
should in your over-en-
thusiasm not think that
if the coronavirus has
not yet reached your
city, village, street or of-
fice, it is not going to
reach now. Never make
such a mistake. The ex-
perience of the world
tells us a lot in this re-
gard,” he said. Modi re-
ferred to a popular Hin-
di idiom ‘Sawdhani
hati, durghatna ghati’
(accidenthappenswhen
caution is lowered) to
make his point.
In his 30-minute ad-
dress, Modi hailed
states, emergency work-
ers and civil society
groups for their contri-
bution in combating the
pandemic, and said that
the resolve shown by
the people of the coun-
try has led to the begin-
ning of a transforma-
tion with businesses,
offices, educational in-
stitutions, medical sec-
tor rapidly undergoing
new changes.
With the country un-
der a lockdown since
March 24 midnight, he
said India’s people-driv-
en battle against the
pandemic will be dis-
cussed when the world
discusses the crisis lat-
er. “India’s fight against
the coronavirus is peo-
ple-driven in the truest
sense of the term.
Along with people, gov-
ernment and adminis-
tration are fighting it as
well... This is the only
way we can win over
the virus,” he said.
Citing a Sanskrit
shloka, he said. “Fire,
debt and illness, if tak-
en lightly, grow again
at the first opportunity,
assuming dangerous
proportions, so it is im-
portant to treat them
completely. Therefore,
in over-enthusiasm,
there should be no neg-
ligence. We will always
have to remain cau-
tious.” —PTI
FROM PG 1
Mumbai: Mumbai Po-
lice has sent Republic
TV’s Arnab Goswami
two notices in a 12
hour period for imme-
diate interrogation for
questioning Congress
President Sonia Gan-
dhi’s silence on Pal-
ghar sadhu lynching.
According to a state-
ment issued by Gos-
wami, as a law abiding
citizen, he will cooper-
ate with investigation
& will appear for in-
terrogation on Mon-
day. He further urged
Mumbai Police to
show similar alacrity
in investigating the at-
tack on him and his
wife which was car-
ried out on the inter-
vening night of 23rd
and 24th April alleg-
edly by Youth Con-
gress workers over his
remarks on Sonia Gan-
dhi alias Antonia
Maino. He says that
despite his repeated
requests to the Mum-
bai Police to mention
role of Vadra Con-
gress & its leadership
in the attack, the po-
lice has refused to do
so. He has also shared
further facts with
Mumbai Police so that
the role of Vadra Con-
gress is not erased. “I
am sure the Mumbai
Police will not side-
step detailed evidence
available on the role of
the Vadra Congress
and delete the element
of conspiracy and as-
sault in the attack,”
his statement said.
MumPolicesendsArnab2probenotices
Arnab Goswami

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020
his week, readers will see two
maps – one printed in 1947,
when India was still a Domin-
ion and the one published in
1950 when India became a Re-
public, and the description on
the masthead reads INDIA:
Showing the Position of In-
dian States under the New
Constitution. However, this
column will focus on the inte-
gration of the princely states,
asthesearenolongerclubbed
under the very broad catego-
ries of Punjab States, the Ma-
dras States, and the States of
Western, Deccan, Eastern,
and Central states.
Of the 571 states covered
under the doctrine of Para-
mountcy of the Crown, only
nine went to the Dominion of
Pakistan. These included
Bhawalpur, Chitral, Hunza,
Kalat, Khairpur, Kharan, Las
Bela, Mekran, Swat and 562
came to India. The procrasti-
nation of the Ruler of J&K,
the intransigence of the Ni-
zam of Hyderabad, and the
abortive effort of the Jam Sa-
heb of Junagadh to opt for
Pakistan are widely known.
Lesser known is the fact that
the kingdom of Kalat, also
called theKhanateof Kalatin
the Balochistan province of
Pakistan wanted to accede to
India, and even sent their rep-
resentative to call on Maula-
na Abdul Kalam and VP
Menon, the Secretary (later
Adviser) to the Ministry of
States, but India did not ac-
cept the offer, mainly because
this would have gone against
the accepted principles of
geographical continuity and/
or the demographic profile of
the state. India was veering to
the view that while the views
of the Ruler were important,
they could not be the sole rea-
son for determining the ac-
cession of a state to a Domin-
ion. Of greater surprise is the
revelation that Jodhpur was
considering the very ‘tempt-
ing offers’ by Jinnah to join
Pakistan. In a confidential
note, the High Commissioner
of UK at New Delhi wrote to
the Foreign and Common-
wealth Office (FCO ), London:
‘ as you probably know, this is
not the first time that His
Highness( Jodhpur) has been
considering the relative ben-
efits to Jodhpur of accession
to Pakistan, rather than In-
dia. he is said to have been
offered by Mr.Jinnah,certain
facilities, including free use
of the port of Karachi’. In an-
other dispatch, it was report-
ed that Jinnah compared the
Rajputs to Pathans, and said
that all Rajputs will have the
right to bear (personal) arms
without any license through-
out the territory of Pakistan.
The High Commissioner also
mentioned that in turn, Sard-
ar Patel ‘deemed it expedient
to undertake that His High-
ness’s Rajputs should con-
tinue to carry and import
arms without restriction,
that food should be provided,
andthehighestprioritygiven
to the building of a railway
from Jodhpur to Cutch to
open a port .’
We go back to the map of
1950 which gives a much
clearer picture of India, and
all the 562 princely states in
India,covering45%of India’s
area (with a population of 98
million) are clearly integrat-
ed. Raj Pramukhs chosen
from amongst the erstwhile
rulers headed the Union of
States (PEPSU: Patiala and
East Punjab States Union),
Saurashtra (all the twelve sa-
lute states, including Bhavna-
gar, Nawanagar, Junagadh
and the 107 limited jurisdic-
tional states, and 329 non-ju-
risdictionalareas),Rajasthan
Union led by Udaipur, Mad-
hya Bharat (or the Malwa
Union comprising, amongst
others Gwalior and Indore,
but excluding Bhopal) and
Travancore – Cochin. The
larger states: J&K, Hy-
derabad, and Mysore with
their geographical bounda-
ries still intact were also un-
der the Raj Pramukhs. Collec-
tively, these are referred to as
Part B states. This category
(as well as Part C and Part D
states) continued till 1956.
We now come to a category
called Group C states. These
comprised states /groups of
states under a Chief Com-
missioner. While Himachal
Pradesh (erstwhile twenty-
three Punjab Hill states and
Vindhya Pradesh ( thirty-five
states of Bundelkhand and
Baghelkhand with the Ruler
of Rewa as the Rajpramukh)
were created by the merger,
Ajmer, Bilaspur, Coorg,
Cutch, Ajmer, Bhopal, Ma-
nipur, and Tripura retained
their former boundaries.
These, along with Delhi are
part C states. The only Part D
state was Andaman & Nico-
bar Islands, and this was ad-
ministered directly by New
Delhi.
Many other states were
merged with the neighbour-
ing provinces, as for example
Cooch Behar with West Ben-
gal,Banganpallie,andPuduk-
kottai with Tamil Nadu. Oris-
sa got twenty-three states in
addition to Mayurbhanj, and
CP and Berar got another
fourteen. Baroda and Kol-
hapur, along with sixteen ju-
risdictional states from Dec-
can joined Bombay. Pataudi
and Loharu were merged
with East Punjab. Benares,
Rampur, and Tehri Garhwal
were to merge with United
Provinces (UP).
One must also draw the
reader’s attention to the Un-
ion of Matsya states ( Alwar,
Bharatpur, Dholpur, and Ka-
rauli ) and Rajputana ( nine
states including Bikaner,
Jaipur, and Jodhpur) which
were so short-lived that they
never appeared on any map
of India, for by the time the
1950 map was printed, these
had all merged into the Union
of Rajasthan. It may also be
mentioned that the Rajpra-
mukh of Madhya Bharat and
the Governors of Assam and
Central Provinces and Berar
had special responsibilities
with regard to the large trib-
al-dominated tracts as the
delegated charter of the Un-
ion of India.
How were these states to be
administered?Thelegalbasis
was derived from the Extra-
Provincial Jurisdiction Act
1947 (now repealed), which
enables the Government of
India to exercise the neces-
sary power in States where,
underanagreement,jurisdic-
tion, power, and authority are
transferred to the Govern-
ment of India. As the report
of the Ministry of States
(1949) put it: this procedure is,
as well be readily seen, is a
half-way house between com-
plete separateness and full
integration.
We now come to Sikkim
and Bhutan. In an internal
report published by the Com-
monwealthRelationsOfficein
January 1949 under the title
‘Indian States–Developments
sincetheTransferof Powerin
August 1947 – the description
forthesestatesintheRemarks
column reads ‘ Himalayan
state whose status is some-
what dissimilar from others.
Agreements whereby, under
Treatyobligations,theforeign
policy and external relations
are subordinated to that of
India are likely to continue.
Incidentally, following ma-
jor unrest in Sikkim, the ad-
ministration of the state had
come under India for a brief
period in 1948-49, but the Cho-
gyal (as the temporal cum
spiritual head of Sikkim was
called) resumed his adminis-
tration before India became a
Republic. Twenty-five years
later Sikkim first became an
Associate state, and then a
full-fledged state of the Indi-
an Union.
THE INTEGRATION OF PRINCELY STATES
The column focuses on the integration of the princely states, as these are no
longer clubbed under the very broad categories of Punjab States, the Madras
States, and the States of Western, Deccan, Eastern, and Central states
IAS & Director, Lal
Bahadur Shastri
National Academy
of Administration
Mussoorie and
Honorary Curator,
Valley of Words:
Literature and
Arts Festival,
Dehradun
DR SANJEEV
CHOPRA
T
DESIGN: ABHISHEK GUPTA

Training requires control over the
body and mind, the mind plays a
more important role, be it training
for a physical activity like Marathon or a
spiritual one like ‘sadhana’.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 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 News
Ahmedabad: The high
mortality rate in Guja-
rat may be due to the
dominance of the more
virulent L-type corona-
virus strain as com-
pared to the S-type
which is less dangerous
say the health experts
although their claim is
not backed by any re-
search conducted so far.
The L-strain has been
found to be more preva-
lent in Wuhan (China)
which was the origin of
the dreaded Covid-19.
Noteworthy that the
state has so far re-
ported 133 deaths
due to coronavirus. A
scientist at the state-
run Gujarat Biotech-
nology Research Cen-
tre (GBRC) said that
the novel coronavi-
rus used for genome
sequencing recently
conducted by it was
found to contain the
L-type strain. “Analy-
sis done by scientists
abroad has shown
that the L-type strain
has been dominant
where more mortali-
ty is reported among
coronavirus patients.
This strain was found
to be more prevalent
in Wuhan,” director
of GBRC, C G Joshi,
said.
Joshi said that a
sample collected by
them contained L-type
strain which has much
higher virulence as
compared to the S-type
strain. He said that
both types vary in
terms of number and
percentage of muta-
tions and as per analy-
sis dominant L-type
strain results in more
mortality rate.
Noteworthy that
the GBRC recently
succeeded in decod-
ing the entire genome
sequence of the novel
coronavirus, and
identified its three
new mutations. Joshi
added that the pa-
tient from whom the
virus sample was col-
lected for sequencing
has fully recovered.
So far, no study has
been conducted here
to establish which
strain of coronavirus
is predominant in pa-
tients here. Another
expert in infectious
diseases Atul Patel
attributed the pres-
ence of the L-type
strain more than the
S- type one in Gujarat
is behind high mor-
tality rate. Patel has
said that a little higher
presence of the L-type
strain, or the original
Wuhan strain, could be
behind higher death
rate in the state. The
risk factors include pa-
tients in the age group
of above over 60 years
and under five years of
age, and pregnant
women, and they ac-
count for 90 per cent of
patients who passed
away, Principal Secre-
tary (Health), Jayanti
Ravi had recently said.
First India News
Ahmedabad : Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi’s brother Prahlad
ModionSundayclaimed
that lakhs of poor peo-
ple in the state are yet to
receive the share of food
grainspromisedtothem
by the state government
under its free ration pro-
gramme. He has de-
manded a CBI inquiry
into the matter, and al-
leged that black market-
ers have siphoned off
the food grains meant
for the poor who have
been left jobless due to
the ongoing nation-wide
lockdown.
Speaking to local me-
dia, Prahlad Modi who
is also the chief of the
rationing association,
said that he has strong
evidence that can punc-
ture the claims of the
state government of
having distributed free
food grains to lakhs of
BPL and APL Ration
Card holders in the
state, under the Nation-
al Food Safety Act. He
demanded an enquiry
into the matter to un-
earth suspected cor-
ruption.
Ever since the coun-
try has been put under a
lockdown starting
March 23rd, to keep citi-
zens safe from the coro-
na virus pandemic, mil-
lions of daily wage
workers and migrant
labourers have been left
jobless and penniless
after the manufacturing
units and factories were
forced to shut shop. The
Vijay Rupani govern-
ment has claimed to
havedistributedrationa
kits worth crores of ru-
pees through govern-
ment run ration shops
across the state to the
poor and needy.
CM Rupani briefed
the media saying “The
cabinet has decided to
provide free ration to
APL-1 card holders-
more than 60 lakh fami-
lies. They will get 10 kg
wheat, three kg rice, one
kg pulses, one kg sugar
per family free of cost.
The total number of
such beneficiaries is
around 2.5 crore to 3
crore,” Chief Minister
Vijay Rupani said after
the meeting. Now with
PM’s brother alleging a
scam, the stat govt is
bound to be under pres-
sure while it is already
busy tackling the heavy
onslaughtof thecorona-
virus in the state.
First India News
Surat : Five trade bod-
ies representing coun-
try’s diamond industry
have pressed for its
members to stop rough
diamond import for at
least a month.
Appeal was made
through a letter
signed by heads of In-
dia’s Gem & Jewel-
lery Export Promo-
tion Council (GJEPC),
Bharat Diamond
Bourse, Mumbai Dia-
mond Merchants’ As-
sociation, Surat Dia-
mond Bourse and Su-
rat Diamond Associa-
tion.Indian diamond
producers are being
urged to adopt a vol-
untary month-long
ban on the import of
rough diamonds from
15 May.
Trade bodies made
the plea to emphasize
that it will help the in-
dustry survive the cor-
onavirus crisis and
send a clear message to
banks that it is not
prepared to face fur-
ther debt.
An estimated $7bn
of rough and polished
diamonds have been
stuck in India, the
world’s production
capital, since the
country went into
lockdown on 25
March. Copies of the
letter have also been
sent to the Indian gov-
ernment calling for
“urgent measures”
obviously seeking its
intervention at the
policy level.
“This move will basi-
callycausefewerroughs
to enter the diamond
pipeline and the produc-
er companies will thus
face lesser strain and
indirectly share in the
financing burden and
contribute to a faster
restoration of normalcy
in an otherwise healthy
business.” said the
trade body letter to its
members.
First India News
Surendranagar: A vid-
eo viral on social media
helped the police appre-
hend a pan masal seller
in Sudama village of
Sayla taluka. While the
police was busy in en-
forcing the lockdown
guidelines it came
across a video showing
people, including wom-
en, flouting social dis-
tancing norms to buy
pan masala from a ven-
dor. The police with lit-
tle effort came to know
of the offenders belong-
ing to the Sudama vil-
lage. The police have
registeredacaseagainst
the offenders and is in
process to identify the
people in the video who
are wearing masks.
‘Gujarat’s high death rate
due to Wuhan’s L-strain’
False ration distribution
claims: Modi for CBI probe
Rough diamond import:
Assns for 30 day ban
Tablighi should
be praised:
Hardik Patel
First India News
Ahmedabad: Con-
gress leader Hardik
Patel tweeted in praise
of Tablighi Jamaat on
Sunday and said that
people abuse on a mis-
take, but should also
praise them for their
work. The people of
Tablighi Jamaat
have done a noble
cause. A total of 129
patients have been
cured at Jhajjar Hos-
pital in Haryana and
many of them are
now willing to give
blood for plasma
therapy of other pa-
tients, which is
praiseworthy.
A piece of news came
that many patients ad-
mitted to the hospital in
Jhajjar have recovered
from the corona infec-
tion and they are will-
ing to donate their plas-
ma to other patients.
THE VIRAL PAN
MASALA SALE
Odisha govt to send
buses to take back
it’s stranded workers
First India News
Bhubaneswar: An im-
portant video-confer-
encing (V-C) held on
Sunday paved way for
the return of stranded
Odia migrant workers.
Odisha Chief Minis-
ter Naveen Patnaik
and his Gujarat coun-
terpart Vijay Rupani
held a V-C on Sunday
for the safe return of
the migrants while
Union Minister for
Petroleum Dharmen-
dra Pradhan. Who
also hails from Odisha,
joined the V-C from
New Delhi.
As per the decision,
the State government of
Maharashtra, Madhya
Pradesh and Chhattis-
garhwillberequestedto
waive road tax on buses
to be used for bringing
the workers back. An
officer-level committee
will oversee the process.
Odisha govt expects
arrival of 5 lakh work-
ers from other states
while DK Singh, Sec-
retary (Panchayati-
raj) puts the figure at
7.5 lakh. The State
government has cre-
ated quarantine facili-
ties in around 7,000
panchayats with more
than two lakh bed ca-
pacity. The govern-
ment will gradually
scale up the facilities
to five lakh.
GBRC says recent genome sequencing research on novel coronavirus points towards the L-type strain
In the midst of Gujarat lockdown, people rushed to buy pan-bidi,
gutkha, tobacco
Mumbai: A group of
senior tax officers has
suggested a super-rich
tax and a higher levy on
foreign companies to
keep the cash till run-
ning as part of short
term measures to help
thegovernmentfightthe
coronavirus pandemic.
The suggestions are
part of a paper titled
‘Force’, which stands
for ‘Fiscal Options & Re-
sponse to the COVID-19
Epidemic’, submitted
by the Indian Revenue
Service (IRS) Associa-
tion to CBDT (Central
Board of Direct Taxes)
Chairman P C Mody.
According to the pa-
per, dated April 23, tax
relief should be re-
stricted to honest and
compliant taxpayers,
especially those filing
returns on time as there
have been many in-
stances of non-filing of
returns, increase in
non-deductions and
withholding of TDS
apart from rising un-
der-reporting of tax li-
abilities through bogus
loss claims.
The central govern-
ment has frozen the in-
flation-linked allow-
ance for its employees
and pensioners, a move
that will help it save
around Rs 37,000 crore.
Some of the short
term measures suggest-
ed in the paper include
a super-rich tax by rais-
ing the highest slab rate
to 40 per cent for those
with an income above
Rs 1 crore from 30 per
cent and re-introduc-
tion of wealth tax for
those with over Rs 5
crore annual income.
SHORT TERM
REFERS TO A TIME
PERIOD OF 3-6
MONTHS
As per the paper, a copy
of whichiswithPTI,the
surcharge introduced in
the Budget 2021 on the
super-rich may gener-
ate only Rs 2,700 crore to
the exchequer and
therefore the call to up
the tax slab on the su-
per-rich. Individuals
having a taxable income
of Rs 1 crore are consid-
ered as super-rich.
THE PAPER HAS
BEEN PREPARED
BY A GROUP OF 50
IRS OFFICERS
The group has also sug-
gested that the ultra-
rich be taxed through
two alternative ways
which can be imposed
for a limited time. One,
up the highest slab rate
to 40 per cent on income
of over Rs 1 crore from
30 per cent now and two,
re-introduce wealth tax
for those with a net
wealth of Rs 5 crore.
For the medium
term, 9-12 months time
period, the paper has
suggested raising addi-
tional revenue from for-
eign companies operat-
ing in the country by
hiking the surcharge on
their income from the
present 2 per cent for Rs
1-10 crore and at 5 per
cent on incomes exceed-
ing Rs 10 crore. —PTI
‘TAX THE SUPER-RICH TO FUND CORONA FIGHT’
CBDT initiates inquiry on
IRS officers for unsolicited
report on corona funding
A farmer looks distressed as they are incurring losses due to lack of
labourers during the harvest season of Rabi crops amid COVID-19
lockdown, in Chhatarpur, in Madhya Pradesh. —PHOTO BY ANI
CBDT INITIATES PROBE ON IRS OFFICERS
The risk
factors in-
clude pa-
tients in the age
group of above over
60 years and un-
der five years of
age, and pregnant
women, and they
account for 90 per
cent of patients
who passed away.
—Jayanthi Ravi,
Principal Secretary (Health)
Prahlad Modi
Naveen Patnaik
—FILE PHOTO
—FILE PHOTO
New Delhi: The CBDT on Sunday said an inquiry is
being initiated against 50 IRS officers of the I-T depart-
ment who have penned an unsolicited report on revenue
mobilisation to fund COVID-19 relief measures and
made it public without permission. In a statement, the
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which is the apex
policy making body for direct tax policies, said it has
never asked IRS Association or these officers to prepare
such a report and no permission was sought by them
before making the report public. “It is unequivocally
stated that CBDT never asked IRS Association or these
officers to prepare such a report. “No permission was
sought by the officers before going public with their per-
sonal views and suggestions on official matters, which
is a violation of extant Conduct Rules. Necessary inquiry
is being initiated in this matter,” the CBDT said.

ringes or tassels are no
longer just an over the
top fashion statement,
they are actually very
versatile tucked on to
clothes and accesso-
ries. It is a definite fun
element and is quite literally
hanging almost everywhere we
look, right from tassel shoes,
earrings, neckpieces, bracelets,
handbags, headbands, and of
course clothes like dresses, top,
skirts, bralette, saree, blouse,
lehenga etc.
Not just today, this embel-
lishment has been in and out
of fashion for well over a hun-
dred years. Since ancient
times, they have been used as
ornaments to enhance the
beauty of clothing worn by
both men and women.
Bollywood seems
to be a big fan of
fringes, how
can we for-
get the
beau-
tiful dance number ‘Zara Zara
Touch Me’ by Katrina Kaif, in
which the B-wood beauty daz-
zled in blue tassel dress and
later Kat was seen grooving in
a white-sliver fringe dress on
the song ‘Malang’.
This isn’t it! Many other di-
vas ooze oomph in a fringe
dress including Nora Fatehi in
the song ‘Dilbar’, Jacqueline
Fernandez in the reprised ver-
sion of ‘Ek Do Teen’ and Disha
Patani in her latest item song
‘Do You Love Me’ among oth-
ers. Priyanka Chopra Jonas
was looking nothing less than
a goddess in golden tassels in
the track ‘Asalaam-e-Ishqum’.
Interestingly, even in the
current scenario, this piece of
art has been adopted by males
too, as Billy Porter incorpo-
rated tassels to his mechani-
cal hat to add an extra
dramatic touch at
Grammys last year.
In-fact, these
hangings in combination with
cowrie shells, coins, lead and
glass beads, mirrors and but-
tons, have successfully caught
eyeballs on runways, awards
shows, parties or any kind of
celebrations.
Well, for a fact, be it a sum-
mer or winter fashion, tassels
are incredibly easy to amal-
gamate into your wardrobe.
You can spot it being used in a
variety of styles, from rugged
suede jackets to glamorous
party dresses, from the sleeves
of a leather jacket to your sa-
ree blouse, from subtly accent-
ing the hem of a skirt to saree
pallu or scarf, from fringy flats
to jazzy heels, from handbags
to jewellery, the chic astound-
ing trend is winning all sea-
sons. And, since, we are under
lockdown; it is the right time
to give our wardrobe a tassel
touch. Take inspiration from
your favourite icons and put
the lockdown into tassel mode!
Bollywood seems
to be a big fan of
fringes, how
can we for-
get the
beau-
rated tassels to his mechani-
cal hat to add an extra
dramatic touch at
Grammys last year.
In-fact, these
TASSEL
DAZZLE!
AHMEDABAD, MONDAY
APRIL 27, 2020
Making their way back into the fashion scene embellished
tassels have taken the world by storm
F
09
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twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/
thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
KIRTI CHAUHAN
kirti.chauhan@firstindia.
co.in

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
ADITI SHARMA, Model
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
On professional front, you
have already proved your
metal and your career is
going great. Your friends
may be helping but can also
manipulate you sometimes so be
careful. Those who matters will
always understand you and those who
don’t, you should not care.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Money is flowing into your
life from all directions and
your spouse is your lucky
charm. You must not be a
part of any controversies and you
know someone close to you involved
then guide them and show them a
way out. A new vehicles is on cards,
may also come as a gift.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
You are on with your
fitness regime and you will
surely get the results you
desperately desire. Going
abroad for settlement is on cards and
you must start with your
preparations. On domestic front, you
will be quite in demand and lots of
things will keep you busy.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Those involved in export and
import business will see a
hike. You will complete all
your pending task today.
You will manage to sustain a peaceful
environment. You will be very busy
today, as you can expect some calls
from friends today. You will at ease
sponsor your kid’s dream education.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
You may feel challenged on
work front but its an
healthy competition which
will help you realise your
true potential. On domestic front, do
not indulge in any kind of argument
with your parents just for the sake of
it, sometime you need to understand
their concern.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
You are an outstanding
home maker and you take
care of your kids like no one
can. You are very close to
your parents and may visit them
frequently going forward. On
professional front, you will get the
break that you have been expecting.
You may get a job offer.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
You may feel financially
secure but your ambitions
have take away your sleep
of the night, try and relax
and sometime take it easy. You will
soon meet a friend who can
understand you and whose company
will make you happy. Remember
somethings take time.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
You are great when it come
to money management and
you have a big heart for
others. You will success-
fully complete the project, which kept
you occupying for long. Today is a
very auspicious day for any kind of
inauguration. You will be involved in
lot of charity.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
You are very jovial and
kind hearted person. You
are a very nice parent and
always understand your
kids but you must know when to
stop pampering. You may bring a pet
to your house and it will be the best
decision in the recent times. You may
feel a lot of pressure from family.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Your new business is
doing good but you need
to have some patience
when it comes to profit.
Your child may need your serious
counselling so show them you are
there. You make take your family
along on a work trip. Its time to take
your love life to next level.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
You may find yourself in a
very perplexed position
when it comes to money,
unable to decide whether
to spend money on fun to have an
image in your circle or to be an odd
one out. Your teachers will be
extremely impressed with you. You
will enjoy your parents company.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You will feel very refresh
and energetic today. You
worry without any reason
so relax and enjoy what
you have. You may get an unexpect-
ed career call that will change your
life forever. Your spouse will pamper
you in many ways today. You are
very satisfied with everything.
Nothing is PermanentNothing is
few weeks ago, I was
very busy with a full-
time job, some part-
time writing gigs, and
interiors of my new
house. The kids had
their exams, my husband was
working day and night shifts and
my mother in law was keeping
company to a constant stream of
guests. I was getting a little wist-
ful and wanted some time for
each other at home. My husband
had often said to “ be careful
about what you wish for”. But
come-on, none of us saw this
coming. To be fair, having the
house literally to myself, with
everyone inside 24x7, without
maids wasn’t exactly my plan.
It’s been more than a month
now since we are all homebound
due to the Coronavirus. I have
kept my self-entertained for the
initial weeks of quarantine. I
cooked a lot, attended Zoom tam-
bolas, Bollywood games, and
watched Ramayana until the
point “mangal bhavan amangal
haari” echoed even in my sleep.
I personally took it upon myself
to awaken my inner enlighten-
ment. To accomplish that I devel-
oped a new skill set, read, medi-
tated, and spent quality time
with children. But now the rep-
etition of cooking, cleaning,
washing is making me feel cap-
tive. My usual Monday Blues
have a whole new meaning when
I assume my multi-handed ava-
tar of a goddess with blue bottles
of Harpic, Lysol, Colin, Dettol,
and Surf each morning. The
words sweeping and swabbing
have become weeping and sob-
bing for me.
My husband encourages me
satirically for getting pro at
“maid in India”. He wishes to see
me happy and smiling. But I
complain that he is a typical In-
dian male not used to help in
domestic chores. He gets up to do
something. The most he could
manage is to take a circuitous
route to the bathroom to not
crash upon my angry goddess
avatar. I continue murmuring
how my teenage son has become
disrespectful and the seven-year-
old hasn’t learned to clean up.
Yes, there is gratitude for hav-
ing a job, a constant supply of
food, everyone in the family be-
ing healthy, and a stack
of toilet paper that is
yet to be used. I once
read in a book “when
there are no real prob-
lems to deal with we
make imaginary
ones”. I have a ten-
dency to feel
trapped, to sense a
false permanence
in the present sit-
uation. I start to
think that the
way things are to-
day would be my
life forever. I forget that life
changes.
When at peace I recall the
time when I was a young moth-
er. How the days passed slowly
but the years flew by. I did enjoy
mothering babies often enough,
but I didn’t have to feel joy while
changing the diapers and clean-
ing food bits from the floor. I
have forgotten those things to-
day and only remember the
rush of affection I had for my
babies. The way I’d sniff their
heads and say things like “I
could eat you up.
This too shall pass and one
day maids will ring the morning
bell, I would go to work, write,
complete my undone house and
guests will pour in. Within no
time I will start to complain
about my original reasons for
busyness. Is it yet time to get
back into that grind, I ponder?
It’s an emotional whiplash to
go from wishing for a few more
weeks with the family to being
tired of all the domestic work
created from their presence. But
one day when this is over what
will probably be left to remem-
ber is my long talk with my
13-year-old son who was a fresh
victim of the trauma of pu-
berty, the snakes and lad-
ders with my 7 year old
and the status of being
the only companion of
husband. I will have
good memories
when I look at this
chapter of life as
much as much as I
hate the reason for
it. But for now, I
won’t force my-
self to enjoy
every minute,
because I
know I won’t.
I’ll just re-
mind my-
self- This
isn’t forever.
This too
shall pass.
Nothing isNothing ising healthy, and a stack
of toilet paper that is
yet to be used. I once
read in a book “when
there are no real prob-
lems to deal with we
make imaginary
ones”. I have a ten-
dency to feel
trapped, to sense a
false permanence
day would be my
When at peace I recall theWhen at peace I recall the
time when I was a young moth-
er. How the days passed slowly
but the years flew by. I did enjoy
mothering babies often enough,
but I didn’t have to feel joy while
changing the diapers and clean-
ing food bits from the floor. I
have forgotten those things to-
day and only remember the
rush of affection I had for my
babies. The way I’d sniff their
heads and say things like “I
This too shall pass and one
day maids will ring the morning
bell, I would go to work, write,
complete my undone house and
guests will pour in. Within no
When at peace I recall the
SHALBHA SARDA
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
A

amannaah Bhatia recently
took part in the ongoing vi-
ral #PillowChallenge, and
she pulled it off with the
help of her Gucci belt. The
Pillow Challenge is one of
the viral trends doing the
rounds during the global COVID-19
lockdown. People taking the chal-
lenge have to tie a pillow to them
like a dress using a belt, and post a
picture or video of the pose on so-
cial media. Taking to Instagram,
Tamannaah posted a picture in
which she is seen lying on a floor
while striking a stunning pose
with a pillow. She accessorised
with Gucci belt and red high heels.
“I’m off to club bed featuring
DJ pillow and MC blanket! ” she cap-
tioned the post. —IANS
M
odelKarlieKlossand
actor Ken Jeong
have landed new
roles as substitute
teachers, as part of a new You-
Tube originals series to edu-
cate children during the
COVID-19 lockdown. ‘Celeb-
rity Substitute’ will feature
famous faces holding online
classes for those stuck at
home. Kloss, who founded
the free ‘Kode With Klossy’
camp for teen girls in 2015,
will give lessons
on computer
coding. ‘The
Hangover’ actor
Jeong will draw
on his history as
a former doctor
to give a virtual
biology lesson.
—IANS
ETCwww.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020
11
amannaah Bhatia recently
took part in the ongoing vi-
ral #PillowChallenge, and
she pulled it off with the
help of her Gucci belt. The
Pillow Challenge is one of
the viral trends doing the
rounds during the global COVID-19
ACES THE
CHALLENGE!
LIKE
mother, like
daughter!
S
unny Leone calls her-
self a ‘lucky mommy’
to have a daughter who
is ‘so so pretty’. Sunny
has posted a video with Nisha
in which the mother and
daughter are smiling. Their
beauty is enhanced with the
rose tiara filter. “Nisha is so so
pretty!! I’m a lucky mommy!
With the sweetest heart!!!”
Sunny captioned the video.
Sunny and her husband
Daniel Weber had adopt-
ed Nisha in 2017.
Meanwhile, Sunny,
who has three kids
- Nisha, Noah Sin-
gh, and Asher
Singh - had ear-
lier posted a pic-
ture on Insta-
gram, sharing
how difficult
it is to make
kids wear
masks in
times of cor-
o n a v i r u s
crisis.
—IANS
TRUE DESI GIRL!
P
riyanka Chopra Jonas on Sun-
day stole the hearts of her fol-
lowers by sharing a picture of
her in a stunning blue saree.
The 37-year-old star took to Insta-
gram to share the beautiful picture
and mentioned that she felt like wear-
ing a saree.
Taking it to the captions, ‘The Sky
is Pink’ actor wrote: “Felt like wear-
ing a saree. So I did...At home. Miss
everyone.@nickjonas”
In the shared picture, the ‘Bay-
watch’ actor who is standing next to
husband Nick Jonas, is looking gor-
geous in a blue coloured saree with
white leaf prints on it.
She completed the desi look by
wearing silver bangles.
The ‘Fashion’ actor is currently
staying indoors with her singer hus-
band Nick Jonas in the United States.
Recently, Chopra pledged USD
100,000 in total to four incredible
women who rose above the challeng-
es to make a difference dur-
ing the coronavirus crises.
Moreover,shealongwith
Nick donated to several or-
ganisations including PM
CARES Fund, Goonj,
Feeding America and oth-
ers to combat COVID-19.
—ANI
T
Tamannaah Bhatia
... her Instagram post
Sunny Leone
Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Cameron Diaz
YouTube
TEACHERS!
The Polar Opposites
Karlie Kloss and Ken Jeong
C
ameronDiazandherhusband
Benji Madden embraced par-
enthood earlier this year. The
twowelcomedtheirfirstchild
together, a baby girl, in January,
andtheynamedherRaddix.Even
though it has been just three
months,thetwohavealreadyfigured
outaparentingschedulethatiswork-
ing wonders for them. Diaz recently
reflectedonherlifewithbabyRaddix
and revealed that she and her hus-
band are on opposite sleep schedules
and they take care of the baby in
shifts.Whenonesleeps,theotherone
takes care of their daughter. “Benji
wantstogotobedlate,andIliketogo
to bed early…” she mentioned.—IANS

First india ahmedabad edition-27 april 2020

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