First india ahmedabad edition-30 july 2020

CORONA
ALERT
AHMEDABAD l THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 245
27°C - 35°C
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
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COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
2,396
DEATHS
59,126
CONFIRMED CASES
ANDHRA PRADESH
1,213 DEATHS 1,20,390 CASES
RAJASTHAN
654 DEATHS 39,780 CASES
WORLD
6,66,172
DEATHS
1,70,38,177
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
15,84,299
CONFIRMED CASES
35,000
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
14,463 DEATHS 4,00,651 CASES
DELHI
TAMIL NADU
Haresh Jhala
Gandhinagar:Another
1,144 cases of COV-
ID-19 were reported on
Wednesday, taking the
state’s total tally to
59,126 cases. Of these,
10 were from other
states. Rural parts of
Gujarat now account
for 52.91% of cases,
while the share of the
eight major cities has
fallen to 47.09%. On
thedaythatChief Min-
ister Vijay Rupani and
Deputy Chief Minister
Nitin Patel visited Ra-
jkot and Vadodara, the
two districts reported
80 and 95 new cases,
respectively. These are
the highest numbers to
emerge from these dis-
tricts to date.
The eight major cit-
ies--Ahmedabad,Surat,
Vadodara, Rajkot, Jun-
agadh, Jamnagar,
Bhavnagar, and Gan-
dhinagar--have report-
ed 534 cases, whereas
32districtshavereport-
ed 600 cases. Again, Su-
ratreportedthehighest
number at 291: 207 cas-
es in the city and 84
from rural areas.
Ahmedabad had 152
cases,Gandhinagar,60,
Mehsana, 36, Bharuch
andDahodeachreport-
ed 33, Bhavnagar had
31,asdidJunagadhand
Surendranagar, while
Morbi had 28, and Am-
reil, 24. Turn on P6
Rural Guj accounts for 52.91% of cases, major cities for 47.09%
Medics take a break to discuss the situation at a COVID-19 checkpost in Ahmedabad’s Sanathal area.
24 HOURS: 1,144 FRESH CASES,
24 DEATHS, 783 DISCHARGED
TOTAL: 59,126 CASES, 2,396
DEAD, 43,195 DISCHARGED
NO FESTIVITIES IN AUGUST, CAN’T
GUARANTEE NAVRATRI: CM
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has made it clear that
there will be no festivities in August. He said that
since the situation is not under control, there will be
no Janmashtmi celebrations, no Tajia procession,
and no Bhadarvi Poonam congregation at the Amba-
ji temple. He also said, “If the situation remains the
same in August, September and the first 15 days of
October, then we can’t celebrate Navratri.”
—PHOTOBYHANIFSINDHI
Aditi Nagar
Jaipur: Wednesday finally
brought with it a culmination
of the ongoing tussle between
the top two constitutional posi-
tions in Rajasthan, i.e. Gover-
nor Kalraj Mishra and Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot, since
late in the evening the Gover-
nor gave his in-principal as-
sent to calling the state Assem-
bly from August 14.
The development, which
rendered excitement and ela-
tion in the Gehlot camp, also
stamped the moral victory of
CM Gehlot.
The development occurred
hours after Governor rejected
Gehlot’s request for an As-
sembly session for the third
time, citing short notice, after
which CM Gehlot, who made
untiring efforts to get Gover-
nor’s approval, proposed a
new date.
Earlier in the day, the Gov-
ernor had said that there
seemed to be no convincing
reason to call a session as ear-
ly as Friday without a 21-day
notice in the middle of the
coronavirus pandemic. A
floor test could be one reason
to call a session at short no-
tice, Mishra suggested, and a
short session could be held
with social distancing meas-
ures. An interesting develop-
ment occurred when the Gov-
ernor rejected the proposal.
CM Gehlot was at PCC for
Govind Singh Dotasara’s as-
suming office as new PCC
Chief. Turn on P6
New Delhi: MHA on
Wednesday issued
Ùnlock 3’ guidelines
removing restrictions
on the movement of
individuals during the
night (night curfew)
and allowing Yoga in-
stitutes and gymnasi-
ums to open from Au-
gust 5 while schools,
metro and cinema
halls will continue to
remain closed.
The ministry said
that lockdown shall con-
tinue to be implemented
strictly in the contain-
ment zones till August
31 and schools, colleges,
coaching institutions
and cinema halls will
remain closed till the
end of August. Accord-
ing to the new guide-
lines, metro rail, cine-
ma halls, swimming
pools, entertainment
parks, theatres, bars,
auditoriums, assembly
halls, social/ political/
sports/ entertainment/
academic/ cultural/ re-
ligious functions and
other large congrega-
tions will continue to
remain prohibited.
Dates for the opening
of these will be decided
separately based on the
assessment of the situ-
ation, the ministry said
in a release.
States and UTs, based
on their assessment of
the situation, may pro-
hibit certain activities
outside the contain-
ment zones, or impose
such restrictions as
deemed necessary.
“Restrictions on the
movementof individuals
during the night (night
curfew) have been re-
moved,” the release said.
The ministry said
that the new guidelines
are based on feedback
received Turn on P6
PM SAYS SWAGATAM AS
RAFALE LANDS @ AMBALA
Ambala: Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has welcomed the landing of Ra-
fale fighter jets in Ambala with a tweet
in Sanskrit which refers to the obliga-
tion of protecting one’s nation being
supreme. The PM’s tweet came mo-
ments after the first batch of five Ra-
fale Jets touched down in Ambala on
Wednesday afternoon after covering
7,000 km in flight since its take off from
France on Tuesday. The jets were given
a customary water salute upon their
arrival at the airbase, some 220-km
from the India-Pakistan border. The
formal induction ceremony of the air-
craft would be held later. The aircraft
would move out soon to another opera-
tional base for operational sorties. P6
Gyms to open, no night
curfew from August 5
Jaipur: Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP) on Wednes-
day filed a writ petition
in the Rajasthan High
Court challenging the
merger of six BSP
MLAs with the ruling
Congress in state.
According to highly
placed sources BSP Su-
premo Mayawati might
opt for heading to the
ED as well, in addition
to fighting a legal battle.
Sources reveal that
Mayawati wants to get
the ‘inclusion’ of 6 BSP
MLAs into Congress, al-
legedly by providing
them money, investigat-
ed by the ED and if the
ED accepts Maya’s alle-
gations, then the BSP
MLAs from Rajasthan
might face difficult
times ahead. Although
the matter is nearly ten
months old, yet ED
would not shy away
from digging old graves.
—Agencies
UNLOCK 3.0
Jaipur/New Delhi:
Speaker CP Joshi has
filed a fresh petition
in the Supreme Court
challenging the July
24 order of the High
Court staying pro-
ceedings on disquali-
fication petitions
against former depu-
ty Chief Minister
Sachin Pilot and 18
Congress MLAs.
Rajasthan HC on
Friday had ordered
status quo on the dis-
qualification notices
sent by the Speaker,
effectivelybarringthe
Speaker to proceed
further on the notices
underTenthSchedule
of the Constitution to
disqualify the dissi-
dent MLAs, even if
they do not submit
their replies to it.
“The impugned or-
der restraining the
Speaker from per-
forming his constitu-
tional duties under
the Tenth Schedule is
a direct intrusion by
the High Court into
the domain exclusive-
ly reserved for the
Speaker under the
Tenth Schedule of
the Constitution,”
read Joshi’s plea.
It added the July 24
order is “completely
non reasoned” and
does not reveal any
reasons for passing
the status quo order.
“The High Court
has no jurisdiction to
decide the validity of
para 2(1)(a) of the
Tenth Schedule on
the anvil of the basic
structure doctrine.
The basic structure
doctrine Turn on P6
CPfilesfreshpleain
SCagainstHCorder
MLAs’ merger
with Cong:
BSP moves HC
WHAT WERE MISHRA’S 3 CONDITIONS?
 The assembly session should
be called by giving a 21-day
clear notice, so that all members
of the assembly can decide to
get equal time and opportunity
to come for the session.
 Under any circumstances, if
action is taken to obtain a vote
of confidence, then it should
be as per the order of the
Supreme Court. It should be
decided that all members join
at their will.
 Looking at the guidelines
of Corona, it should also be
clarified how social distancing
will be maintained during the
Assembly session.
Amit Shah
@AmitShah
From speed
to weapon
capabilities,
Rafale
is way
ahead! I am sure
these world class
fighter jets will prove
to be a game changer.
Congratulations to
PM @narendramodi ji,
DM @rajnathsingh ji,
Indian Air Force and
the entire country on
this momentous day.
#RafaleInIndia
Rajnath Singh
@rajnathsingh
I would like
to add, if it
is anyone
who should
be worried
about or critical about
this new capability of
the Indian Air Force, it
should be those who
want to threaten our
territorial integrity.
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
There is no
greater blessing
than protecting
the nation,
protecting the
nation is a
virtuous deed
and protecting the nation is the
best Yagna. There is nothing
beyond this. Touch the sky with
glory. Welcome.
GUV BLINKS, GIVES GEHLOT AUG 14 DATE
GEHLOT CAMP CLAIMS A MORAL VICTORY
CM Ashok Gehlot with Governor Kalraj Mishra at Raj Bhawan on Wednesday.
DISQUALIFICATION PROCEEDINGS
The first batch of five Rafale combat jets enter
the Indian air space on its way to Ambala
airbase from France on Wednesday.

NEWSAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot: While there
seems to be no evidence
supporting the supposi-
tion that COVID-19 pa-
tients who have recov-
ered from the virus can-
not be infected again,
Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani, while address-
ing the media in Rajkot
on Wednesday, claimed,
“A person who has been
infected with novel cor-
onavirus cannot con-
tract it again. Such peo-
ple should come for-
ward and serve as COV-
ID-19 warriors in vari-
ous capacities.”
Rupani was visiting
his hometown with a
team comprising Depu-
ty Chief Minister Nitin
Patel, State Chief Secre-
tary Anil Mukim, Chief
Principal Secretary to
Chief Minister K
Kailashnathan and
State Principal Secre-
tary (Health) Jayanti
Ravi, to take the stock
of the situation there.
Rupani conducted a
series of meetings with
Rajkot Municipal Cor-
poration (RMC) offi-
cials, Rajkot District
Collector Remya Mo-
han, medical teams and
doctors of the Indian
Medical Association
(IMA) Rajkot branch
and other elected repre-
sentatives to evaluate
preparedness for the
health crisis at the city
and district level.
“Since the past five
months, the state gov-
ernment has been work-
ing on combating the
COVID-19 pandemic
with an aim to ensure
that less number of peo-
ple get infected with the
virus. I am happy that
the situation in Gujarat
is far better than other
states. Our state, which
was in the second posi-
tion in terms of COV-
ID-19 cases, is now
placed at the 12th posi-
tion. Also, the death
rate which was record-
ed to be 7%, the highest
in India, is now at 4%
with a recovery rate of
74%,” stated Rupani.
He added, “At first, it
was Ahmedabad and
then Surat, which re-
ported the highest num-
bers of nCov cases but
now, the situation in
these two cities is stable
and under control. Cit-
ies such as Rajkot and
Vadodara are now re-
porting a rise in cases.
After taking stock of
the situation here (in
Rajkot), we have decid-
ed to double sample
testing numbers from
Thursday onwards. If
the resident of a par-
ticular area or building
tests positive for Sars-
Cov-2, other people re-
siding in the entire area
will have to be tested.
Like Ahmedabad, the
screening and tests of
superspreaders such as
vegetable vendors will
be conducted and each
of them will be issued
passes with provision
for a review every two
months.”
The CM also donated
Rs5 crore to the district
from the Chief Minis-
ter’s Relief Fund.
Once infected with nCov, cannot be reinfected, says CM Rupani
INADEQUATE KNOWLEDGE
Haresh Jhala
Ahmedabad: On July
04, Chief Minister Vi-
jay Rupani and Deputy
Chief Minister Nitin
Patel visited Surat,
spurred by a spike in
COVID-19 numbers
there. Barely 25 days
later, they’re on a fly-
ing visit to Rajkot and
Vadodara to take stock
of the situation in
these two districts.
Simply put, the “sit-
uation” in Rajkot and
Vadodara is that these
districts are seeing a
spurt in both case
numbers and deaths.
Rajkot Municipal
Commissioner Udit
Agrawal on Monday
attributed this to Un-
lock 1.0. He told the
media that a lot of
people from other
districts and areas
arrived in the city
after Unlock 1.0 was
implemented, lead-
ing to a rise in COV-
ID-19 cases there.
There is some sub-
stance to this.
On April 01, there
were nine positive cas-
es in and 10 in Rajkot.
A month later, on May
01, Vadodara had 308
and Rajkot had just 58
cases. On June 01, Ra-
jkot had 115 positive
cases and Vadodara,
1,074.
Under Unlock 1.0,
Rajkot witnessed a
jump of 154 cases, tak-
ing its tally to 269 on
July 01. Vadodara’s
more than doubled to
2,267. As on July 28, Ra-
jkot district had 1,559
positive cases, while
Vadodara had 4,367.
Deaths have spiked,
too. At the beginning
of July, Rajkot had wit-
nessed seven deaths
related to the novel
coronavirus, while Va-
dodara had seen 49. By
July 28, Rajkot’s num-
ber had almost quad-
rupled to 25 and Va-
dodara’s had swelled
1.48 times to 73.
Back in April, the
state government had
claimed it was pre-
pared for the outbreak,
with 31 dedicated COV-
ID-19 hospitals in 26
districts. Then Patel,
who is also the state’s
health minister, had
stated that 20,000 beds
are ready to treat pa-
tients infected with
the novel coronavirus.
Yet, now, Chief Min-
ister Vijay Rupani,
Deputy Chief Minister
Nitin Patel, Chief Sec-
retary Anil Mukim,
Chief Principal Secre-
tary to Chief Minister
K Kailashnathan and
Principal Secretary
(Health) Jayanti Ravi
are “taking stock of
the situation”.
The situation, then,
is that Rajkot and Va-
dodara districts, and
their respective dis-
trict headquarters, are
soon likely to require
additional beds to ac-
commodate more
COVID-19 patients.
Vadodara has
started preparing
for this at the trau-
ma centre building
at Shree Sir Sayaji
General (SSG) Hospi-
tal and is also plan-
ning to convert the
dome at the Gotri
hospital into an ICU
unit with 150 beds.
On Wednesday, Ru-
pani told the media in
Rajkot that, even
though half the beds
in the district are
available, another
3,500 beds will be add-
ed to increase the ca-
pacity. This indicates
the district adminis-
tration’s apprehension
that it will need more
beds if the spike con-
tinues.
Rupani also said
that about 40% of
the COVID-19 pa-
tients being treated
in Rajkot are from
other districts. This
indicates that even if
the other districts
have hospitals and
beds ready, they
might be facing a
shortfall of staff or,
perhaps worse, pub-
lic faith.
GPCC chief Amit Chavda visited two hospitals in Surat on Wednesday.
Congress blames BJP
for situation in Surat
Rising nCoV numbers draw CM, Dy CM to
RAJKOT, VADODARA
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: During
his visit to Surat on
Wednesday, Amit
Chavda, the president
of the Gujarat
Pradesh Congress
Committee (GPCC)
blamed the BJP and
its administration for
the “turning the city
into Wuhan”. Surat is
the second worst-hit
city in the state after
Ahmedabad in terms
of COVID-19 cases.
Chavda also taunted
the BJP government
who once said it was
working towards mak-
ing a city like Shanghai.
“They couldn’t make it
like Shanghai but, due
to mismanagement,
they have turned the
city into Wuhan. It is
the fault of BJP that
even medicines are be-
ing sold on the black
market,” Chavda said.
The GPCC chief vis-
ited two hospitals—
SMIMER and the Civil
Hospital—where he
held discussions with
the staff. “I am not com-
plaining against the
doctors or medical staff.
They are treating pa-
tients around the clock.
I have learned that
there are some issues
being faced by hospi-
tals, too. Some private
hospitals have been tak-
ing hefty charges from
the patients, who go
there since government
hospitals lack proper
infrastructure and suf-
ficient doctors,” assert-
ed Chavda.
Even as he lauded the
medical staff for their
dedication, he accused
the government of not
stocking enough medi-
cation. “There is a
shortfall of injections.
The government has
failed to see the severity
of the disease and is
busy fudging data to
give a glossy picture,”
he said.
“TheBJPgovernment
has failed to control the
spread of the novel coro-
navirus. This is why
they are manipulating
the data,” he added.
While in Surat, Chav-
da also met with repre-
sentatives of around
1,500 people living in
416 flats in the Anjana
area of the city, who
asked him to raise the
issue of the slow rede-
velopment of their area
on the Assembly floor.
Last year, the Surat
Municipal Corporation
(SMC) began work on
the Anjana tenement
redevelopment project,
under which all the old
tenements in the area
were to be redeveloped
by private players. The
private firms were sup-
posed to have paid the
flat owners rent until
the new buildings were
ready. However, not
only have the flat own-
ers not been paid for
three months, not even
half the work on the re-
development has been
completed.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, with Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel on his right and on CM’s left Chief
Secretary Anil Mukim on his left, in Rajkot on Wednesday,
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Environ-
mental activists are
opposing the public
hearing of the Guja-
rat Pollution Control
Board (GPCB) on the
Environmental Im-
pact Assessment
(EIA) of seven compa-
nies due to the COV-
ID-19 protocol. They
have said it may not
be the right time to
organize public hear-
ings for fear of viola-
tion of the health
guidelines in place.
Ahmedabad-based
NGO Paryavaran Mitra
activist Mahesh Pandya
has written a letter to
the State Chief Secre-
tary Anil Mukim to
draw his attention to the
fact that the COVID-19
protocol prohibits a
gathering of more than
50 people in one place.
Expressing his con-
cern, the activist states
that the local adminis-
tration cannot restrict
the number of partici-
pants in a public hear-
ing, since it may affect
hundreds or even thou-
sands of people in the
area.
Further, Pandya also
cited the state and cen-
tral government’s ap-
peal ‘Stay Home, Stay
Safe’. Since the hear-
ings would compel peo-
ple to venture out of
their homes to attend it
in large numbers, it can
lead to community
transmission of COV-
ID-19. In his appeal to
the GPCB, the activist
stated that all such pub-
lic hearings should be
postponed.
Activists want hearings on
environmental impact delayed
l The chief minister was on a visit to
his hometown Rajkot to review the
COVID-19 situation there
District April 1 May 1 June 1 July 1 July 28
Ahmedabad 23 2,729 3,922 3,586 3,329
Rajkot 10 39 42 147 753
Vadodara 08 185 419 669 861
ACTIVE CASES IN THREE DISTRICTS
District May 28 June 21 July 28
Ahmedabad 11,097 1,76,792 2,26,750
Rajkot 4,568 15,182 18,385
Vadodara 9,002 34,880 41,611
(Source: Gujarat Health Department COVID-19 dashboard)
SAMPLE TESTING IN THREE DISTRICTS
Morethan130dayssinceitsfirstcase,statestillisn’tpreparedfortheCOVID-19outbreak

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The na-
tionwide lockdown
phase enforced due to
the novel coronavirus
pandemic has had var-
ious psychological ef-
fects on people affect-
ing work efficiency,
family income, cogni-
tive thoughts due to
stress, anxiety and
anger, a recent survey
by researchers at the
Sankalchand Patel
University, Mehsana
and GMERS Medical
College of Vadnagar,
has revealed.
According to the re-
sults of the survey, over
64.2% of the sample con-
sidered stated their fam-
ily income had been af-
fectedormaybeaffected
in the future. The cross-
sectional survey was
conducted during
March- April 2020 using
a qualitative research
approach and surveying
demographics, symp-
toms, knowledge, con-
cerns, and precaution-
ary measures regarding
psychological effects
during the COVID-19
lockdown. All responses
were collected online.
More than 1,000 re-
spondentswereincluded
in the study from Guja-
rat and over 60.89%
showcased anger. Of
these,40.22%weremales
and20.67%werefemales.
In the sample taken,
1.49% respondents re-
ported anger toward
their family members.
A whopping 73.7% re-
spondents believed that
their work efficiency
had decreased due to
the lockdown, which
impacted the family in-
come. Of the total num-
ber of respondents,
39.5% stated that their
family income had re-
duced during the lock-
down and 25.2% feared
that their income may
see a cutback.
More than half of the
respondents (54.9%) re-
ported harbouring neg-
ative thoughts during
the lockdown, which
forced people to stay in-
doors, with no provi-
sion to venture out ex-
cept for emergencies.
With time on their
hands, and nothing to
keep them busy, over
49.6% respondents ad-
mitted to spending more
time on the internet and
on digital media. On the
other hand, around
43.2%respondentsspent
their time reading and
engaging in their fa-
vourite hobbies, which
acted as a mitigating
factor against negative
psychological effects.
Lockdown hit people’s work efficiency, income & psyche: Survey
IN A BAD PLACE

Researchers
from Sankal-
chand Patel
University, in
Mehsana, and
the GMERS
Medical Col-
lege in Vadna-
gar conducted
the study
FDCAbustsdrugsmugglingand
blackmarketeeringop,twoheldComplaint lodged with the A’bad Crime Branch against eight; drugs manufactured in Bangladesh
Haresh Jhala
Ahmedabad: The
Food and Drugs Con-
trol Administration
(FDCA) has lodged a
criminal complaint
with the Ahmedabad
Crime Branch,
against eight people
for smuggling life-
saving drugs into the
country and selling
them on the black
market in Gujarat. A
week ago, the FDCA
had busted a smug-
gling racket, wherein
injectable drugs such
as Remdesivir were
smuggled from Bang-
ladesh and sold on
the black market.
According to the com-
plaint, Vastrapur-based
prime accused Sandeep
Mathukiya in collusion
with his cousin Yash
were selling the Remde-
sivir injection manufac-
tured in Bangladesh
here at escalated prices.
In order to nab the
Mathukiyas, FDCA In-
spector Ashish Baseta
laid a trap for and
showed interest in buy-
ing two Remdesivir in-
jections for Rs36,000.
When Sandeep’s broth-
er Yash approached the
officer to deliver the
injection, he was de-
tained by the team ac-
companying him.
During primary in-
vestigation it was re-
vealed that Sandeep had
been buying these injec-
tions from Parth Goya-
ni,apartneratNilkanth
Elixir, a wholesale phar-
maceutical company
based at Makarba in
Ahmedabad. Since the
company did not have
the license to import
pharmaceuticals, they
were illegally import-
ing the Remdesivir in-
jection from Bangla-
desh. Amid the COV-
ID-19 outbreak, they
were selling the drug to
relatives and family
members of patients at
escalated prices.
The complaint has
been lodged against
cousins Sandeep and
Yash Mathukiya, Parth
Goyani, his company
partner Darshan Soni,
Vaishali Goyani, Shai-
khar Adroja and Sabbir
Ahmad from Bangla-
desh and another uni-
dentified person.
It covers various
sections of the Indian
Penal Code (IPC) and
underlines and act
done by several per-
sons in furtherance
of common intention,
conspiracy, culpable
homicide, cheating
with knowledge,
Drugs Price Control
Order section 26,
Drugs and Cosmetics
act’s section 18(A), 18
(C), 18(B) and other
sections.
FAKE CURRENCY
Girl hangs herself
after being asked to
avoid online studies
IKDRCconducts2setsofkidneyswaps
Surat NSUI asks VNSGU vice-chancellor to
start PG centres in colleges of Tapi district
Prepare for heavy rains over the
next five days, says weatherman
First India Bureau
Surat: A 16-year-old
girl allegedly com-
mitted suicide by
hanging herself from
a fan after her par-
ents attempted to re-
strict the time she
spent looking at elec-
tronic screens. Katar-
gam police have regis-
tered a case of acci-
dental death and are
investigating.
According to infor-
mation shared by po-
lice sources, the teen-
ager was studying in
Class 10 in the Katar-
gam area of Surat city.
She had been suffering
with a headache for the
past 20 days, and had
recently also developed
a cough and cold. When
her parents took her to
the SMIMER (Surat
Municipal Institute of
Medical Education and
Research) Hospital,
doctors there attribut-
ed the illness to her
having spent too much
time looking at the TV
and her mobile phone,
which she had been us-
ing to study online.
They also prescribed
some medication. This
was a few days ago.
Staying away from
her studies for four to
five days reportedly
madethegirldepressed.
She allegedly hanged
herself from a fan hook
while her parents went
out to the market.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: After re-
suming its normal op-
erations after a break
of almost four
months, the city-based
Institute of Kidney
Diseases & Research
Centre (IKDRC) has
already completed
two sets of kidney
swap transplants and
has scheduled a third
one this week.
The two sets of swap
transplants conducted
last week had donor rel-
ative-patient pairs from
Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh, Rajasthan, and
Tamil Nadu. The set of
swap transplants
planned this week has a
pair from Rajasthan and
Gujarat.
Swap transplants are
scheduled when the
ABO blood group or Hu-
man Lymphocyte Anti-
gen (HLA) of a live do-
nor—usually a blood
relative—does not
match with that of the
patient they are related
to, but does match that
of another unrelated
patient. Once these do-
nor relative-patient
pairs are located, and
the two pairs consent to
the procedure, cross-
matching is done before
the transplant is car-
ried out.
“The donor-patient
pairs can meet in per-
son, talk to each other,
exchange their medical
reports and weigh their
health parameters be-
fore agreeing to the
swap transplant,” said
IKDRC director Dr
Vineet Mishra.
To find a perfect
match, IKDRC feeds 50
characteristics of pro-
spective matches into a
software, and offers the
service free to its pa-
tients.“Wedonotcharge
a single penny from pa-
tients but the cost of
such matchmaking hov-
ers around Rs3 lakh per
swap match in the US,”
informed Dr Mishra.
First India Bureau
Surat: The Surat
chapter of the Na-
tional Students’ Un-
ion of India (NSUI)
on Wednesday sub-
mitted an application
to Dr Shivendra Gup-
ta, Vice-Chancellor
of the Veer Narmad
South Gujarat Uni-
versity (VNSGU),
asking that he launch
postgraduate (PG)
centres in colleges in
Tapi district.
The application
states, “More than 800
students graduate from
Tapi district every year
and these students
have to take admission
in other cities such as
Surat, Jambusar and
Dharampur for their
postgraduate studies,
since the district’s col-
leges do not have PG
facilities. Due to the
poor economic condi-
tion and the high ex-
pense involved in stud-
ying in other cities,
many aspirants drop
out Those who do con-
tinue have to face many
difficulties.”
It adds, “Just like
students in other dis-
tricts, students in Tapi
also have the right to
an education. Hence,
VNSGU should set up
PG centres in Tapi dis-
trict to enable more
students to educate
themselves.”
The application said
that students would be
forced to also conduct
an “andolan” or protest
if the PG centres are
not launched.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The In-
dia Meteorological De-
partment (IMD) has
predicted heavy rain-
fall in the state for the
rest of this week. In its
press bulletin, the
IMD mentioned that
there was a cyclonic
circulationoverSouth-
west Rajasthan and
adjoining North Guja-
rat between 2.1 km
and 3 km above mean
sea level. Therefore,
due to this prevalent
system, the state is
likely to receive good
spells of rain.
On Wednesday, very
heavy rainfall occurred
at isolated places in var-
ious districts of the
South Gujarat region.
Jalalpore in Navsari dis-
trict received 133mm of
rainfall, followed by
Navsari town which re-
ceived 86mm of rainfall.
A few other places in
the South Gujarat and
North Gujarat regions
and Saurashtra wit-
nessed heavy showers.
The weatherman pre-
dicts that over the next
five days, heavy to very
heavy rainfall may oc-
cur at isolated places in
the Navsari district of
the South Gujarat re-
gion. A good spell of
rains is also likely at
isolated places in Dang
and Valsad districts of
South Gujarat region.
EXTRA PROTECTION
In Ahmedabad, Ikbalbhai’s rakhis come with messages on staying safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic, offering an additional
layer of safety ahead of the festival of Raksha Bandhan, where brothers promise to keep their sisters safe.
NSUI members outside the ofﬁce of Dr Shivendra Gupta.
IKDRC. —FILE PHOTO
EXTREME STEP
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
—FILE PHOTO

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 245 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 | THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
THE ‘BEAST’ LANDS,
AIR FORCE GETS
SIGNIFICANT BOOST
ive Dassault Aviation-built Ra-
fale fighter jets landed at the air
force base in Ambala where a
traditional water cannon salute
welcomed them. The fleet
brought with them a heavy payload of a
confidence booster for the country engaged
in a tense border situation with China.
These are the first western combat aircraft
to join the Indian Air Force in 23 years. The
last imported fighter was from Russia ----
the Sukhoi MKI which escorted the Rafales
once they entered the Indian skies on
Wednesday. Part of 36 aircraft purchased
at a cost of Rs 59,000-crore deal signed be-
tween India and France, these Rafales will
join Golden Arrows, the No. 17 Squadron
of the IAF which was disbanded in 2016
after the phasing out of MiG 21s.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed
the new battle-ready aircraft. Welcoming the
arrival of “birds”, Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh tweeted, “The touchdown of Rafale
combat aircraft in marks the beginning of a
new era in our Military History. These mul-
tirole aircraft will revolutionalise the capa-
bilities of the IAF.” With the IAF having got
a lethal combat capability, Rajnath Singh said
that those wanting to “threaten our territo-
rial integrity” should now be worried about
India’s latest acquisitions.
It is the multi-role combat aircraft’s ar-
moury and its capability to use its weap-
ons simultaneously which makes it so
special. First, it comes equipped with 190-
kg Meteor air-to-air missiles which have a
Beyond Visual Range (BVR) of 100 km and
a Mach speed of 4. The missiles with Pa-
kistan’s F16s have a BVR of 75-km. Ra-
fales are also better than F16s in dogfights.
Making Rafale more potent is its air-to-
ground deep strike cruise missile SCALP
which has a range of 300-km. Its MICA mis-
siles and HAMMER, the air-to-ground preci-
sion-guided missiles, which can hit a target
to a range of 70 km, add to its lethality. Com-
pared to Rafales, which have been tested in
Syria, Afghanistan, Mali and Iraq, China’s
Chengdu J20 jets have no combat experience.
Once all the 36 Rafales are delivered, the
IAF will have 32 squadrons, still ten short
of its sanctioned strength of 42. Given this
fact, the euphoria over the induction of
five combat aircraft which will raise the
squadron to 31 ought to be tempered.
There is a strong case for India to shop for
more fighter jets to bolster the IAF. The
proposed purchase of MiG29s and Sukhoi
MKI will help narrow down the gap be-
tween sanctioned and actual strength.
Like the air force, the Indian Navy’s re-
quirement of three aircraft carriers has also
to be addressed. Army also urgently needs
sniper rifles, machine guns, and other weap-
on systems.
These inductions send a strong message
to Pakistan. However, will they succeed in
neutralising China’s aggression? It is too
early to say as the northern neighbour
only grabs land through cunning.
IN-DEPTH
F
KASHMIRI ‘RAFALE MAN’
WAS PART OF SURGICAL
STRIKE AGAINST PAK
he highly decorated Kash-
miri officer of the Indian
Air Force (IAF), who has
been training pilots for Ra-
fale fighter jets in Paris, was
part of the 2016 surgical
strike against terror launch
pads in Pakistan following
the attack in Uri.
Defence Air Attache in
France, Air Commodore Hilal
Ahmad Rather, who is being
called as the ‘Rafale Man’ of
Kashmir and is seen as a role
model among a large number of
Kashmiri youth, became part
of the surgical strike because
of his vast experience with fly-
ing fighter jets, sources told.
Officials who know Com-
modore Rather and fondly
call him ‘Hally’, as he is
known in the Air Force cir-
cles, said that he spent four
two-year tenures on the Mi-
rage aircraft. He has more
than 3,000 hours of acci-
dent-free flying record on jet
fighter aircraft like Mi-
rage-2000, MIG-21 and the
Kiran aircraft to his credit.
A fighter combat leader and
a qualified flying instructor, he
was the director of fighter op-
erations in the active Western
Command of the Indian Air
Forcefrom2013and2016,where
he was directly involved in the
preparedness and training of
all fighter aircrew and also op-
erational planning in the sec-
tor, sources in the IAF said.
Rather commanded the
sensitive Gwalior Mirage
airbase which has remained
a key element of literally all
surgical air strikes by the
IAF, an official said.
Seen as a hard task master,
Rather ensured that the Rafale
project rolls on time with all
required weaponisation and
other contract parameters be-
ing met. Hally’s precise plan-
ning and the flawless flight that
took place across more than
7000 km with only one stop en-
route has enabled the timely
arrival of the combat ready Ra-
fales in India amid tensions
with China, his service sen-
iors, now retired, said.
Interestingly, years earli-
er, it was another Kashmiri
— Squadron leader Rattan
Lal Bamzai who retired as
Group Captain — who was
also credited with flying the
first Mirages to India.
A meritorious topper from
Sainik School Nagrota, Rather
comes from Anantnag town in
south Kashmir. From topping
CBSE exams in Sainik School
to getting the Sword of Honour
at the Air Force Academy in
Hyderabad, for being the best
pilot of his course, Rather has
excelled throughout his profes-
sional career.
Air Commodore Rather
has also been trained at the
prestigious Defence Services
Staff College (DSSC) at Wel-
lington, where apart from
officers of all three services
of the Indian Armed Forces
(Army, Navy, Air Force), can-
didates from foreign militar-
ies also queue up for admis-
sion. He was later assigned
as an Instructor at the same
DSSC, Wellington.
WHO IS AIR MARSHAL
RAKESH BHADAURIA
The central government has
appointed Air Marshal
Rakesh Kumar Singh Bha-
dauria as the chief of the
India Air Force (IAF). Bha-
dauria, who took over as
Vice-Chief of Air Staff in
May 2019, will take charge
from the incumbent IAF
Chief B S Dhanoa upon the
latter’s superannuation on
September 30.
Before being appointed the
Vice-Chief of AirStaff,Bhadau-
ria was heading IAF’s Bengalu-
ru-based Training Command.
As the Deputy Chief, he was the
chairman of the Indian negoti-
atingteamforthe36Rafalecom-
bataircraftdealwithFrance.He
was commissioned into the
fighter stream of the Air Force
onJune15,1980,withthe‘Sword
of Honour’ for standing first in
the overall order of merit.
During his career of near-
ly four decades, Bhadauria
commanded a Jaguar squad-
ron and a premier Air Force
Station.
IAF CHIEF WAS THE
LEAD NEGOTIATOR
Escorted by two Sukhoi 30
MKIs after they entered the In-
dian air space, the Rafale fight-
er jets were given a water sa-
lute in the presence of top
brass of the Indian Air Force
including Chief of Air Staff
Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria,
who had played a key role as
lead negotiator in the procure-
ment of the jets, when they
landed in Ambala Air Force
base at around 3:10 pm.
The planes covered a dis-
tance of 7,000 km from the Mer-
ignac airbase in French port
city of Bordeaux —Agencies
T
Seen as a hard
task master,
Rather ensured
that the Rafale
project rolls on
time with all
required
weaponisation
and other
contract
parameters
being met
AS THE THEN DEPUTY
CHIEF, IAF CHIEF RKS
BHADAURIA WAS THE
CHAIRMAN OF THE
INDIAN NEGOTIATING
TEAM FOR THE 36
RAFALE COMBAT
AIRCRAFT DEAL WITH
FRANCE
he beautiful
thing about
learning,” the
great blues gui-
tarist B.B. King
once wrote, “is that no one
can take it away from you.”
Born and raised in poverty,
King understood the value
of education as a force for
change. If only political
leaders responding to the
COVID-19 pandemic had an
ounce of his insight. COV-
ID-19 is now mutating into
a global education emer-
gency. Millions of children,
especially the poorest and
young girls, stand to lose
the learning opportunities
that could transform their
lives. Because education is
so closely tied to future
prosperity, job creation,
and improved health, a set-
back on this scale would
undermine countries’ pro-
gress, reinforcing already
extreme inequalities. Yet
this emergency has yet to
register on the pandemic
response agenda.
Lockdowns have shut
more than one billion chil-
dren out of school. For an
estimated 500 million, that
means receiving no educa-
tion at all. A Save the Chil-
dren survey in India found
that two-thirds of children
stopped all educational ac-
tivity during lockdown.
The danger now is that a
perfectstormof lostschool-
ing, increased child pover-
ty, and deep budget cuts
will lead to unprecedented
reversals in education.
This is an emergency lay-
ered on a pre-existing cri-
sis. Even before the pan-
demic, 258 million children
were out of school, and pro-
gress toward universal edu-
cation had stalled. Path-
breaking research on the
impact of the 2005 earth-
quakeinKashmir,Pakistan
captures the risk to learn-
ing. Schools were closed for
three months. When they
reopened, attendance
quickly recovered. But four
years later, children aged
between three and 15 who
lived closest to the fault line
had lost the equivalent of
1.5 years of learning.
Imagining that outcome
on a global scale gives a
sense of what is at stake.
Education empowers peo-
ple, reduces poverty, and
improves health, and the
human capital that it gen-
erates shapes the destiny
of countries. Lost educa-
tion will erode that capital,
effectively placing the 2030
Sustainable Development
Goals beyond reach.
The first priority is to
keep learning alive during
lockdowns. Governments
should do all they can to
reach children through ra-
dio, TV, and remote-learn-
ing initiatives. Countries
such as Ethiopia, Uganda,
and Burkina Faso have de-
veloped ambitious nation-
al distance-learning pro-
grams. They and others
need more donor support
to implement them at scale.
Second, the pandemic
creates an opportunity to
address the wider learning
crisis. Too many children
are being taught at the
wrong level, owing to
schools’ rigid application
of poorly designed curric-
ula. Every child returning
to school should undergo a
learningassessmentaimed
at identifying those in need
of support. Remedial
teaching programs such as
those pioneered by organi-
zations like BRAC and
Pratham can then prevent
these children from falling
further behind, thereby re-
ducing the risk of future
dropout.
Third, increased inter-
national financing is criti-
cal. Most of the world’s
poorest countries, especial-
ly in Africa, entered the
economic downturn with
limited fiscal space. That
room for maneuver is now
shrinking further as reces-
sion bites and external-
debt problems intensify.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.PROJECTSYNDICATE.COM
Preventing a global education disaster
“T
The only real failure in life
is not to be true to the best
one knows. —Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Far-reaching reforms prescribed
in #NEP2020 will help renew the
foundations of Indian education
system with a multidisciplinary,
holistic education model that
represents India’s rich cultural ethos
and imbibes the fruits of modern
technology and digital innovations.
Shashi Tharoor
@ShashiTharoor
As #Rafale joins @IAF_MCC, a
few reminders: 1. UPA selected
#Rafale &inked the ﬁrst deal
for 126 aircraft. 2. Modi govt
cut down 126 to 36, depleting
the ﬁghting strength originally
planned, &cancelled domestic
manufacture. 3. There are serious
qsns re cost of these 36 aircraft.
MEN BEHIND
MEAN MACHINE
THE

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INDIAAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
NAVY EXPANDS DEPLOYMENT IN
INDIAN OCEAN: REPORT
New Delhi: The Indian
Navy has deployed a
large number of front-line
warships and submarines
in the IOR in the wake of
the standoff in eastern
Ladakh to send out a
clear message to China,
according to top defence
sources on Wednesday.
The defence sources
told that the government
adopted a multi-pronged
approach involving the
Army, the IAF and the
Navy as well as diplo-
macy and economic
measures to send out a
firm and clear message
to China. Asked whether
China has responded to
India’s deployment, the
sources told that there
was no visible increase in
forays by Chinese ships
in the IOR.
MEA HOLDS MEETING ON
INT’L MARRIAGE RIGHTS
New Delhi: The Parliamentary standing com-
mittee for the MEA has called a meeting on
Wednesday over the issue of international mar-
riage rights. The two earlier meetings had been
postponed due to quorum not being fulfilled, and
members of the committee demanding discus-
sions on the border issues with China, and Nepal.
The members had also flagged the issue of hold-
ing virtual meetings. Earlier this week, job losses
due to COVID-19 and the need to boost startups
were among the issues that figured in a meeting.
DEVASWOM BOARD SHOULDN’T
APPOINT ARABIC TEACHERS
New Delhi: The VHP lashed out at the Kerala govt
on Wednesday over the alleged appointments of
Arabic teachers in schools. “The Travancore Devas-
wom Board is constituted under the Travancore
Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act, 1950. This
Board has three members, two of whom are elected
by Hindu members of the Council of Ministers of
Kerala & the third member by the Hindu members
of the Legislative Assembly of Kerala. All the three
members are thus, the nominees of the ruling par-
ty,” said VHP working President Alok Kumar.
MUMBAI POLICE SUMMONS
GAURAV KAPUR, ROUSHAN ABBAS
Mumbai: Former IPL
commentator cum host
Gaurav Kapur and radio
jockey Roshan Abbas
have been summoned
by a special investi-
gation team (SIT) of
the Mumbai Police to
in connection with the
alleged fake followers’
case, sources said on
Wednesday. According to
sources in the Mumbai
Police, the two have been
summoned to record
their statement in the
case. The SIT had earlier
informed the media that
25 people have been
verified in the fake social
media followers case, but
refused to disclose the
names of people in-
volved, saying that it may
hamper the investigation
in the matter.
New Delhi: The Union
Cabinet on Wednesday
approved the new Na-
tional Education Policy
(NEP) and renamed the
HRD Ministry as Edu-
cation Ministry, offi-
cials said.
A panel led by former
ISROchief KKasturiran-
gan had submitted the
draft of the new NEP to
Union Human Resource
Development Minister
Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nis-
hank’ when he took
charge last year.
Thesignificantchang-
es to the policy, which
has been overhauled af-
ter 34 years, includes
discontinuingMasterof
Philosophy (MPhil)
courses, making board
examinations for Class
10and12studentseasier,
establishasingleregula-
torforhighereducation,
flexible undergraduate
courses with multiple
exit options and appro-
priate certification, and
intiativestobringback2
crore out-of-school chil-
dren, among others. The
new education policy
also envisions increas-
ing public investment in
education sector to 6 per
cent of the GDP. Teach-
ing up to at least Grade
5 to be in mother
tongue or regional lan-
guages. No language
will be imposed on any
student. —Agencies
Boardexamsgoeasier,
MPhil discontinued!A GAME CHANGER:CabinetapprovesnewNat’lEducationPolicy
New Delhi: The Union
Health and Family Wel-
fare Ministry has di-
rected the Drugs Con-
troller General of India
(DCGI) to ensure equi-
table distribution of
drugs across the coun-
try included as part of
“investigational thera-
pies” in clinical man-
agement protocol for
COVID-19. The move
comes when Arunachal
Pradesh, Dadra and Na-
gar Haveli and Daman
and Diu informed the
ministry of the require-
ment of investigational
therapy drugs.
“With the interven-
tion of DCGI, smaller
States and UTs were
provided with adequate
quantities of drugs un-
der the investigational
therapy for the treat-
ment of COVID-19 pa-
tients,” said the official.
A letter written by
the senior Health Min-
istry official to the
DCGI stated, “I am di-
rected to say that apart
from availability, the
geographical distribu-
tion/reach of the drugs
included as part of in-
vestigational therapies
in clinical management
protocol for COVID-19,
namely, Remdesivir and
Tocilizumab, may also
be monitored.”
“The Ministry may
kindly be apprised as to
how many States/UTs
have been covered and
which of the States/
UTs, if any, are left as far
as the availability/dis-
tribution of these drugs
by the respective compa-
nies is concerned,” read
the letter. —ANI
Ensureequitabledistribution
of drugs: Ministry to DCGI
CORONAVIRUS India on Tuesday reported 47,704 more COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours
New Delhi: DelhiChief
Minister Arvind Kejri-
wal on Wednesday di-
rected city officials to
strictly follow the gov-
ernment’s guideline
about doing a RT-PCR
(real-time polymerase
chain reaction) test on
patients whose COV-
ID-19 reports are nega-
tive despite showing
symptoms.
“Existing guidelines
say that if any patient’s
antigen test is negative
but he or she has symp-
toms, RT-PCR test must
be done. I directed the
officers today to ensure
strict compliance with
these guidelines,”
tweeted Kejriwal.
RT-PCR is one of the
most common tests for
detection of COVID-19.
India follows the meth-
od of nasopharyngeal
swabs collection for
COVID-19 test.
FollowRT-PCRtestguidelines,
Arvind Kejriwal to officials
Municipal workers wearing protective suits carry the body of a
person who died of COVID-19 for burial, in Karad, Wednesday.
New Delhi: BJP presi-
dent JP Nadda inaugu-
rated six district-level
party offices in Hary-
ana, through video
conferencing, on
Wednesday.
Nadda said that the
setting up of party of-
fices at the state and
district level was being
done to strengthen the
organisation from the
grassroots level.
Party workers from
Rewari, Nuh, Palwal,
Sonipat, Fatehabad,
took part in the video
conference held on
Wednesday.
“In 2014, after getting
elected, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi had
said that the BJP party
offices should be set up
at both the state and dis-
trict levels. The then
BJP chief Amit Shah
had included it in his
list of programmes. He
decided that both dis-
trict and state offices
will be made. We have
made party offices in
500 places and work on
the remaining 400 is in
progress and will be
completed soon,” Na-
dda said.
“The BJP will have a
party office soon in all
22 districts. One district
level office is already
functional and six have
been inaugurated today.
The foundation stone of
seven more districts
will be laid down in the
coming month, and the
sole remaining Sirsa
district too will have an
office soon,” he added.
Nadda inaugurates six
district BJP offices
Nadda addresses during virtual inauguration of newly constructed
Haryana BJP offices from BJP HQ , in New Delhi, Wednesday.
Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank talks about the new education policy
in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Hyderabad: BJP con-
demns the statements
made by
A I M I M
chief Asa-
d u d d i n
Owaisi on
PM Modi
attending
the 'bhoomi-pujan' at
Ram temple construc-
tion site in Ayodhya, as
people who are in con-
stitutional positions
have every right to fol-
low their faith and be-
liefs, said the party
spokesperson from Tel-
angana, NV Subhash,
on Wednesday.
“BJP condemns the
remarks made by Asa-
duddin Owaisi on PM
Modi attending the
'bhoomi-pujan' at Ram
temple, Ayodhya sched-
uled to be held on Au-
gust 5,” Subhash told.
BJP slams
Owaisi’s remark
on PM attending
‘bhoomi-pujan’
New Delhi: A day after
Janata Dal (Secular)
leader HD Kumaraswa-
my said that Congress
is another name for
horse-trading, Karna-
taka Congress rebutted
the same and brought
up their erstwhile coali-
tion government in
Karnataka.
“Was Kumaraswamy
himself so innocent to
know the difference be-
tween the other party
legislators joining the
ruling party and abus-
ing the constitutional
institutions and dis-
mantling the elected
government through
Operation Lotus?” Kar-
nataka Congress tweet-
ed. The 14-month-old
Congress-JD(S) coali-
tion government in
Karnataka had fallen
after it was defeated on
the floor of the Karna-
taka Assembly with
about 20 MLAs of the
ruling coalition defying
their party whips and
absenting from voting
on the confidence mo-
tion. Kumaraswamy
had yesterday attacked
the Congress party over
the merger of six BSP
MLAs in Rajasthan
with the party and said
that Congress is an ex-
pert in dividing politi-
cal parties and purchas-
ing MLAs. His remarks
had come in the light of
the Congress party’s na-
tionwide ‘Save Democ-
racy’ protest against
the BJP for allegedly
trying to “topple a dem-
ocratically elected gov-
ernment” in Rajasthan.
K’taka Congress hits back
at ex-ally Kumaraswamy
Dhemaji:Assam Chief
Minister Sarbananda
Sonowal on Wednesday
visited and flood and
erosion hit areas in the
State. He visited the Ji-
adhal river site, a tribu-
tary of the Brahmapu-
tra, where floods have
caused huge damage.
The Chief Minister
also visited Bhujgaon
in Dhemaji district
and distributed relief
materials among the
affected people.
“The Jiadhal river, a
tributary of Brahmapu-
tra has caused huge
damage during the pre-
sent spate of floods. Vis-
ited Bhujgaon in Dhe-
maji district distribut-
ed relief materials
among the affected peo-
ple with colleagues,”
the CM tweeted on
Wednesday morning.
One person died at
Bokakhat in Golaghat
district, taking the toll
to 104 in the flood till
July 28, this year.
SDRF has also been
positioned in 40 differ-
ent locations in Assam.
Assam CM visits flood & erosion-hit areas
New Delhi: Prime
Minister Nare ndra
Modi on Wednesday
said that National
Education Policy
(NEP) 2020 is a long
due and much-await-
ed reform in the edu-
cation sector and the
new policy is based
on pillars of access,
equity, quality, af-
fordability and ac-
countability which
will transform India
into a vibrant knowl-
edge hub.
In a series of
tweets, he said NEP
gives utmost impor-
tance towards ensur-
ing universal access
to school education
and replacing 10+2
structure of school
curricula with a
5+3+3+4 curricular
structure will benefit
younger children. “I
wholeheartedly wel-
come the approval of
the National Educa-
tion Policy 2020! This
was a long due and
much-awaited re-
form in the educa-
tion sector, which
will transform mil-
lions of lives in the
times to come!,” the
PM said.
“NEP 2020 is based
on the pillars of: Ac-
cess. Equity. Quality.
Affordability. Ac-
countability. In this
era of knowledge,
where learning, re-
search and innova-
tion are important,
the NEP will trans-
form India into a vi-
brant knowledge
hub,” he added.
“NEP 2020 gives ut-
most importance to-
wards ensuring uni-
versal access to
school education.
There is emphasis on
aspects such as bet-
ter infrastructure,
innovative education
centres to bring back
dropouts into the
mainstream, facili-
tating multiple path-
ways to learning
among others,” he
said.
NEP will transform
India into vibrant
knowledge hub: Modi
Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal inspecting Charikoria river bank
erosion site at Dhakuakhana in Lakhimpur district on Wednesday.
SONIA GANDHI APPOINTS 17 CITY,
DISTRICT CONG PREZ IN UP
Uttar Pradesh: Interim Congress chief Sonia
Gandhi on Wednesday appointed district and
city party presidents for 17 districts in UP. The
Congpresidenthasappointed
heads of party units in Luc-
know, Bahraich, Gonda, Gon-
da city, Badaun , Badaun city,
Pilibhit, Kasganj, Mirzapur,
Gorakhpur, Sonbhadra, Ja-
laun, Azamgarh, Unnao,
Lakhimpur,Modinagar(Gha-
ziabad) and Mughalsarai (Chandauli). In Feb-
ruary this year, Sonia Gandhi had approved the
proposal for creating new city Congress Com-
mittees in Azamgarh, Sultanpur, Robertsganj
(Sonbhadra) districts in Uttar Pradesh. In Oc-
tober last year, the Cong had revamped the
party’s UP unit, appointing party MLA Ajay
Kumar Lallu as its chief and Aradhana Mishra
as the leader of the legislative party.
1,77,43,740 SAMPLES TESTED FOR COVID-19
While India’s total
tally for covid-19
cases breached 15
lakh mark on Tues-
day, Maharashtra,
Tamil Nadu and
Delhi remained
worst hit despite
some decline in
fresh coronavirus
cases in these
states. Maharash-
tra that has so far
recorded 3,83,723.
COVID-19: 15-
LAKH MARK

Today, the king of fighter
planes will arrive in Amba-
la. The people are awaiting
the arrival of Rafale fighter
jets. If there was no COVID19, they
would have welcomed the fighters jets
with celebrations.
—Anil Vij, Haryana Home Minister
New Delhi: The five Ra-
fales are scheduled to be
inducted into the Indian
Air Force (IAF) on
Wednesday, though a
formal induction cere-
mony would be held
later. Nearly 23 years
after Sukhoi aircraft
were imported, a fleet
of five French-manu-
factured Rafale multi-
role combat jets
touched down in India,
giving the country’s air
power a strategic edge
over its adversaries in
neighbourhood.
The aircraft, having
an undisputed track re-
cord and considered
one of the most potent
combat jets globally,
landed at the Ambala
Air Force base after
covering a distance of
7,000 km from the Mer-
ignac airbase in French
port city of Bordeaux.
The Rafales were es-
corted by two Sukhoi 30
MKIs after they entered
the Indian air space.
Defence Minister Ra-
jnath Singh said "the
touch down of Rafale
combat aircrafts in In-
diamarksthebeginning
of a new era in our Mili-
tary History. These mul-
tirole aircrafts will revo-
lutionise the capabili-
ties of the IAF".
Chief of Air Staff
RKS Bhadauria will re-
ceive the jets when the
fleet arrives at the stra-
tegically key airbase, of-
ficials said.
The fleet, comprising
three single seater and
two twin seater aircraft,
will be inducted into the
IAF as part of its No 17
Squadron, also known
as the ‘Golden Arrows’.
However, a formal in-
duction ceremony will
be held around mid-Au-
gust which is expected
to be attended by the De-
fence Minister and top
military brass of the
country.
Haryana Police has
set up several check bar-
ricades and police offic-
ers were seen patrolling
residential localities
near the air base, mak-
ing announcements
over loudspeakers
warning people not to
stand on the rooftop of
their houses to click pic-
tures or shoot videos.
Violators would face
punishment as per the
law, they warned.
Hoardings have been
erected in many places
in Ambala to welcome
the arrival of the fight-
er jets. —Agencies
Rafalescross7,000kmtojoin‘GoldenArrows’The fleet, comprising three single seater and two twin seater aircraft, from Merignac airbase in France landed at Ambala Air Force base
Roaring bird:
Pradhan hails
PM, ex Def Min
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Minister of
Petroleum and Natural
Gas and Steel Dhar-
mendra
Pradhan
w e l -
c o m e s
arrival
of Ra-
fale jets
in the country. Calling
it the "roaring bird",
and a formidable pro-
tector of Indian skies,
he congratulated the
Indian Air Force for
this powerful addition.
He congratulated
the decisive leader-
ship of PM Narendra
Modi and also remem-
bered Former Defence
Minister Late Mano-
har Parrikar for their
farsightedness.
New Delhi: Supreme
Court on Wednesday
dismissed a petition
seeking direction to
conduct the Common
Law Admission Test
(CLAT) through offline
mode in view of the in-
creasing number of
COVID-19 cases across
the country.
A bench headed by
Justice L Nageswara
Rao refused to hear the
plea filed by advocate
Mitul Jain. The advo-
cate appearing for the
petition contended that
the CLAT committee
had initially decided to
hold the exam offline
butnowitisgoingahead
with the online test. The
lawyer argued that the
move will prevent stu-
dents who do not have
access to computers to
sit for the test. CLAT
committee should have
come out with a fool-
proof solution and giv-
en a month's time to the
aspiring candidates, the
advocate added. —ANI
New Delhi: Supreme
Court on Wednesday al-
lowed the filing of a writ
petitionunderArticle32
of theConstitutionchal-
lenging the Environ-
mental Clearance grant-
ed on June 17 for the
construction of a new
Parliament building as
part of Union Govern-
ment's ambitious Cen-
tral Vista Project, legal
news website LiveLaw.
in has reported.
A bench headed by
Justice A M Khan-
wilkar told Senior Ad-
vocate Shyam Divan
that his clients will be
given a week's time to
file the writ petition.
The Centre has to file a
reply to the plea within
a week of receiving the
same. The matter will
be considered next on
August 17.
InMarch,theSupreme
Court had transferred to
itself the petitions pend-
ing in Delhi High Court
challenging the Central
Vista Project.
On Wednesday, a
bench of Justices AM
Khanwilkar, Dinesh
Maheshwari & Sanjiv
Khanna took up pleas
filed by Rajeev Suri and
Lt Col (retd) Anuj Sriv-
astava against the Cen-
tral Vista redevelop-
ment project. —ANI
SC dismisses
plea to conduct
CLAT offline
Parl house clearance:
SC allows filing of plea Patna: All those named
by the father of late ac-
tor Sushant Singh Ra-
jput, in connection with
his death, have been
booked and investiga-
tions have begun, said
Superintendent of Po-
lice (SP), Patna (Cen-
tral) City, Vinay Tiwari
on Wednesday.
"An FIR has been reg-
istered. Preliminary
investigation has be-
gun," Tiwari said. He,
however, said that it
was too early in the in-
vestigation phase to
predict who all would
be questioned in con-
nection with the case.
"It is not correct to
say at this point of time
that who will be ques-
tioned. All those who
were named by Sushant
Singh Rajput's father in
the FIR, have been
booked," he added.
Former Additional
Solicitor General and
lawyer of the father of
the late actor, Vikas
Singh, had said that the
Patna police should in-
vestigate the case of ac-
tor Rajput's death, and
FIR was registered
there as part of the
cause of action lies in
the place where his fam-
ily lived. —ANI
New Delhi: The Uttar
Pradesh Sunni Central
Waqf Board created an
'Indo-Islamic Cultural
Foundation', a 15-mem-
ber trust for building a
mosque and other fa-
cilities on the land allot-
ted in Ayodhya by the
Uttar Pradesh Govern-
ment on the Supreme
Court's instructions.
In the Ayodhya-Babri
Masjid land dispute
case, the Supreme
Court had, on Novem-
ber 9 last year, directed
the Central government
to hand over the disput-
ed site at Ayodhya for
the construction of a
temple and set up a
trust for the same. The
apex court had further
directed the govern-
ment to allocate an al-
ternative five acres of
land at a prominent lo-
cation in Ayodhya for
the construction of a
mosque to the Sunni
Waqf Board.
According to a press
release, "In compliance
of the Judgment and or-
der of the Supreme
Court of India, in Babri
Masjidcase,theGovern-
ment of Uttar Pradesh
had allotted 5 Acres of
land in village Dhan-
nipur, Ayodhya and the
Board had accepted it in
February 2020. The
Board has created a
Trust named, Indo Is-
lamic Cultural Founda-
tion, for building the
Mosque and other facili-
ties for the benefit of
general public."
The Trust will have a
maximum of 15 trus-
tees, the UP Sunni Cen-
tral Waqf Board being
its founder trustee,
while Zufar Ahmad
Faruqi will be chief
trustee/president.
"The Trust will co-opt
the remaining 6 Trus-
tees. The secretary of
the Trust will also be its
official spokesperson,"
the Board said. —ANI
All named by Sushant Singh
Rajput’s father booked: Cops
UP Sunni Waqf Board forms panel to build mosque
INDIAAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
Rural Guj...
Former treasurer of the
Gujarat chapter of the
Indian Medical Associ-
ation, Dr Pankaj Sheth
succumbed to COVID-19
on Tuesday night. An
officer from the Surat
Municipal Corporation
also lost his life to the
novel coronavirus.
Meanwhile, in Surat,
two more doctors serv-
ing at the Civil hospital
and one doctor each
from SMIMER and Mas-
kati Hospitals have test-
ed positive. Two nurses
from SMIMER, one
pharmacist working at
the Olpad Health Centre
and a health depart-
ment employee in Man-
grol are also being treat-
ed for the infection.
In the past 24 hours,
24 patients died in the
state: 11 from Surat,
five from Ahmedabad
city, three from Va-
dodara, two each from
Patan and Rajkot, and
one from Mehsana.
The state has tested
22,914 samples and it
claims to have
achieved 352.52 Per
Million Per day tests.
Active cases in the
state now total 13,535,
of which 89 are on
ventilator support.
The Ahmedabad Mu-
nicipal Corporation has
added 22 new micro-con-
tainment zones, taking
thetallyto246.Twelveof
these are in the eastern
part of the city, while 10
are in its western part.
The Ahmedabad
Hospitals and Nursing
Homes Associations
has asked hospitals to
not take admission of
any COVID-19 patients
recommended by crit-
ical-care specialist Dr
Vipul Patel, who is ac-
cused of charging pa-
tients exorbitant
amounts. A committee
is constituted to in-
quire into allegations
against him of
charging exorbitantly.
Vadodara city tested
641 samples on Wednes-
day, of which 95 came
back positive. There are
now 967 active cases,
with 142 patients on ox-
ygen support and 43 on
BiPAP machines.
CP files...
is a judicially evolved
doctrine evolved by this
court on what is the
soul and spirit of the
Constitution. Such a de-
termination of the ba-
sic structure ought not
to be carried out by the
High Court more so
when the challenge to
para 2(1) (a) has already
been upheld by this
court in Kihoto,” the
plea stated. —ANI
Gyms to...
from states and UTs and
extensive consultations
held with related cen-
tral ministries and de-
partments.
“Yoga institutes and
gymnasiums will be al-
lowed to open from Au-
gust 5, 2020. In this re-
gard, Standard Operat-
ing Procedure (SOP)
will be issued by the
Ministry of Health &
Family Welfare
(MoHFW) for ensuring
social distancing and to
contain the spread of
COVID-19,” the release
said. Independence Day
functions will be al-
lowed with social dis-
tancing and by follow-
ing other health proto-
colslikewearingmasks,
the release said. —ANI
Guv blinks...
Itwasthenthathelearnt
about Governor’s rejec-
tion to the proposal and
immediately quipped
that it is yet again time
for him to meet the Gov-
ernor since he has re-
ceived his ‘love letter’.
“I am going to meet
him to find out what he
wants. Whether he
seeks a notice of 21 days
or 31 days to call Assem-
bly session, we will be
victorious,” Gehlot said
then. This was the
fourth meeting between
Governor and CM since
the Congress crisis
broke out, and like all
the other meets, this
meeting too occurred in
a cordial environment.
Meanwhile, after a
short meeting with the
constitutional head of
Rajasthan government,
Gehlot decided to call
his Cabinet yet again,
eighth time in five days,
signaling that he want-
ed the unending back-
and-forth with the Gov-
ernor to end, and decid-
ed to ask for a session
exactly 21 days from
when the first request
was made.
This marked a signif-
icant concession from
the Gehlot Cabinet’s
earlier stance that the
Governor was blocking
proposals using ques-
tions that were not in
his jurisdiction. Main-
taining his previous
stand to either disclose
the reason for conven-
ing session on short no-
tice or give prior notice
of 21 days as per rules,
the Governor said in a
three page note while
returning the Gehlot
government’s proposal
for the third time.
FROM PG 1
AAA
PROHIBITORY ORDERS
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: The five
Rafale fighter jets have
entered the Indian air-
space, informed the Of-
fice of Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh on
Wednesday.
"The Birds have en-
tered the Indian air-
space..Happy Landing
in Ambala!" tweeted the
Defence Minister's Of-
fice. "The five Rafales
escorted by 02 SU30
MKIs as they enter the
Indian air space," read
another tweet from De-
fence Minister's Office.
Water salute will be
given to the five Rafale
fighter aircraft after
their landing at Ambala
airbase in Haryana on
Wednesday.
India's new multi-
role foreign fighter
aircraft will join its
Air Force fleet today
in Ambala. The last
foreign fighters in-
ducted into the Air
Force were the Suk-
hoi-30s from Russia
which have now be-
come the mainstay of
the Air Force after
multiple orders in
view of delays in plac-
ing orders for new
western aircraft. —ANI
BirdshaveenteredIndian
airspace: Rajnath
Ayodhya: Shri Ram
J a n m a b h o o m i
Teerth Kshetra Trust
has appealed to fol-
lowers of Lord Ram
not to rush to Ayod-
hya for the 'bhumi
pujan' ceremony of
Ram temple con-
struction, scheduled
to be held on August
5. The trust has ap-
pealed to followers to
watch the ceremony
on television and
light a lamp in the
evening to mark the
occasion. According
to Shri Ram Janmab-
hoomi Teertha
Kshetra Trust mem-
bers, PM Narendra
Modi will be visiting
Ayodhya on August 5
for the 'bhumi pujan'
ceremony to begin
the construction of
the Ram temple. The
trust said huge gath-
erings and participa-
tion in massive num-
bers would not be
possible during the
pandemic. —Agencies
‘Don’t visit Ayodhya
for bhumi pujan’
Water cannon salute being given to one of the ﬁve Rafale ﬁghter jets on its arrival at Ambala air base from France.

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
 SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION  CONCEPT: DIVYA HEMNANI  DESIGN: SITARAM SHARMA
M
emes might seem
like they emerge
“naturally”, circu-
lated by like-mind-
ed social media
users and independently gen-
erating momentum. But suc-
cessful memes often don’t hap-
pen by accident.
I’ve spent the past two years
studying the history and cul-
ture of “meme factories”, es-
pecially in Singapore and Ma-
laysia.
Meme factories are a coordi-
nated network of creators or
accounts who produce and
host memes.
They can take the form of a
single creator managing a net-
work of accounts and plat-
forms, or creators who collabo-
rate informally in hobby
groups, or groups working as
a commercial business.
These factories will use stra-
tegic calculations to “go vi-
ral”, and at times seek to max-
imise commercial potential for
sponsors.
Through this, they can have
a huge influence in shaping
social media. And – using the
language of internet visual
pop culture – meme factories
can shift public opinion.
WHEN MEME FACTORIES WERE BORN
The first mention of meme fac-
tories seems to have been a
slide in a 2010 TED talk by
Christopher Poole, the founder
of the controversial uncen-
sored internet forum 4chan.
4chan, said Poole, was “com-
pletely raw, completely unfil-
tered”. He introduced his audi-
ence to the new internet phe-
nomenon of “memes” coming
out of the forum, including
LOLcats and Rickrolling – the
largestmemestohaveemerged
in the 2000s. Today, corporate
meme factories systematical-
ly churn out posts to hundreds
of millions of followers.
They commissioned artists
to “live-GIF” the 2012 US Pres-
idential Election debates in
an assembly line of soft po-
litical content. They congre-
gated on a closed Facebook
group to decide who could
“take credit” for a school
shooting. On reddit’s gaming
communities, activating a
meme factory (sincerely or in
jest) requires willing mem-
bers to react with coordinated
(and at times, inauthentic) ac-
tion by flooding social media
threads.
Amid K-pop fandoms on
Twitter, meanwhile, K-pop
idols who are prone to making
awkward or funny expres-
sions are also affectionately
called meme factories, with
their faces used as reaction
images.
THREE TYPES OF FACTORIES
In my research, I studied how
memes can be weaponised to
disseminate political and pub-
lic service messages.
I have identified three
types of factories:
Commercial meme factories
are digital and news media
companies whose core busi-
ness is to incorporate advertis-
ing into original content.
For instance SGAG, owned
by Singaporean parent com-
pany HEPMIL Media Group,
has commissioned memes for
various business partners, in-
cluding promotions of radio
stations, groceries and COV-
ID-19 recovery initiatives.
Hobbyish niche meme facto-
ries, in contrast, are social me-
dia accounts curating content
produced by a single person or
small group of admins, based
on specific vernaculars and
aesthetics to interest their tar-
get group.
One example is the illustra-
tion collective highnunchick-
en, which creates original
comics that are a critical —
and at times cynical. STcom-
ments, meanwhile, collates
screengrabs of “ridiculous”
comments from the Facebook
page of The Straits Times,
calling out inane humour, rac-
ism, xenophobia and classism,
and providing space for Singa-
poreans to push back against
these sentiments.
The third type of meme fac-
tory is meme generator and
aggregator chat groups – net-
works of volunteer members
who collate, brainstorm and
seed meme contents across
platforms.
FACTORIES DURING CORONAVIRUS
Meme factories work quickly
to respond to the world
around them, so it is no sur-
prise in 2020 they have pivot-
ed to providing relief or pro-
moting public health mes-
sages around COVID-19.
Some factories launched
new initiatives to harness
their large follower base to
promote and sustain small lo-
cal businesses; others took to
intentionally politicising
their memes to challenge cen-
sorship laws in Singapore and
Malaysia.
Factories turned memes
into public service announce-
ments to educate viewers on
topics including hand hy-
giene and navigating misin-
formation.
Memes are highly contex-
tual, and often require insider
knowledge to decode.
Many memes that have
gone viral during COVID-19
started out as satire and were
shared by Millenials on Insta-
gram or Facebook. As they
spread, they evolved into mis-
informed folklore and misin-
formation, shared on What-
sApp by older generations
who didn’t understand their
satirical roots.
An early Facebook meme
about how rubbing chilli
fruits over your hands pre-
vent COVID-19 (because the
sting from the spice would
burn and you would stop
touching your face) very
quickly evolved into a What-
sApp hoax saying the heat
from chilli powder would kill
COVID-19 viruses.
Memes can be orchestrated
by savvy meme factories who
operate behind the scenes; or
by ordinary people engaging
in democratic citizen feed-
back. Beyond the joy, laughs
(and misinformation), memes
are a crucial medium of pub-
lic communication and per-
suasion.
HOW MEME
FACTORIES
ARECRAFTING
PUBLIC HEALTH
MESSAGINGMeme factories are a coordinated network of
creators or accounts who produce & host memes
Meme reacting to the extension of mco
posted.
Comic meme depicting hygienic hand
washing techniques.
Meme comic depicting effective hand
sanitis ing techniques.
Meme depicting a low-waged migrant worker receiving
treatment in a luxury hospital.
Meme comic remixing the wu-tang clan logo into a ‘wu-
han coronavirus poster.

Imagination is critical to the
lives of not just children and
adults but also humanity as a
whole.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
GOOD SAMARITAN

Having paid
huge bills for
Covid-19
treatment in
private
hospitals, this
man offers
free service at
his office-
turned-
hospital
Gujarat to crack down on cruel
chick killing by egg industry
Darshan Desai
Gandhinagar:Alarmed
by the shocking revela-
tions from an independ-
ent investigation by
PETA, India, about the
illegal and gruesome
ways of killing male
chicks and other un-
wantedbirdsbythepoul-
try industry, the Gujarat
Government has asked
alltheDistrictCollectors
to initiate urgent meas-
ures to stop the practice.
Following its inves-
tigation into this com-
mon practice in the
egg industry, the Peo-
ple for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals
(PETA), India, had ap-
pealed to the State
Animal Welfare Board
to initiate urgent ac-
tion. Gujarat is one of
the major egg-produc-
ing states in the coun-
try. The Animal Wel-
fare Board on July 16,
2020, dashed off an ur-
gent letter to all the Dis-
trict Collectors, who are
also the honorary Chair-
man of Society for Pre-
vention of Cruelty to
Animals (SPCA) in their
respectiveregions,toen-
sure “necessary action
for destruction of birds
in poultry hatcheries as
recommended by the
Animal Welfare Board
of India.”
The letter has asked
them to ensure that
the provisions of the
Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals (PCA) Act,
1960, and not violated
as found by PETA.
According to PETA
India CEO and veteri-
narian Dr Manilal Valli-
yate, the egg industry
commonly kills male
chicks because they
can’tlayeggs,whileboth
the meat and egg indus-
tries routinely destroy
other unwanted chicks
as well, including those
who are weak or de-
formed.
What is alarming are
the methods of doing
this. “The common kill-
ing methods include
grinding, crushing,
burning, drowning or
even feeding them alive
to fish,” Valliyate said,
revealing their findings.
And this is not only cru-
el, but also illegal.
Besides immediate-
ly stopping this prac-
tice, the group has re-
quested the govern-
ment to ask the egg
industry to use “ovo
sex-determination
technology” as soon as
it becomes available.
Developed abroad, this
new technology is like-
ly to be commercially
available soon and
would help destroy
eggs with male embry-
os at an early stage
and spare “live chicks
a horrific death.”
“Thegruesomekilling
of countless male chicks
simply because they
can’t lay eggs is cruel
and should be stopped,”
says Dr Valliyate. PETA
has thanked the Gujarat
Government for initiat-
ing action.
Meanwhile, after
PETA India’s appeals,
the governments of
Andhra Pradesh, Hary-
ana, Kerala, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, and Jammu &
Kashmir have also is-
sued orders directing an
end to illegal and cruel
practices for killing
chicks.
State initiates action after alarming revelations by an investigation by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
CRUEL METHODS
Guj Government has initiated action against illegal killing of male chicks by the poultry industry in the State.
Ministers to hold
only online public
interactions
2K Covid-19
patients cured
at A’bad GCS
Lockdown:Except Jio, Guj
telcos lose 11 lakh users
Govt opposes Hardik plea to drop bail condition
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: A
day after a personal
staff of a State
minister was tested
positive for Cov-
id-19, Gujarat min-
isters on Wednes-
day decided to go
completely online
in their interac-
tions with MLAs,
party workers and
citizens to avoid
physical meeting.
Official sources
said the decision had
been taken as a pre-
cautionary measure
to ensure the govern-
ment employees did
not contract the in-
fection.
A staff in the office
of Minister of State
for Agriculture and
Panchayat Jay-
drathsinh Parmar
has been found in-
fected by the virus.
Except the minister’s
personal secretary
and personal assis-
tant, everyone in his
office has been home
quarantined.
In any case, official
sources said the State
Secretariat’s doors
have not been opened
for visitors even after
Unlock 1.0.
So barring MLAs
or select leaders,
neither party work-
ers nor citizens
were being able to
approach the min-
isters with their
grievances. Now,
the ministers will
also hold virtual
meetings with
MLAs as well as
citizens and party
workers.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: When
many Gujarat hospitals
remained closed during
the lockdown,
Ahmedabad’s GCS Hos-
pital was open and
treated non-Covid pa-
tients when they had
fewer options.
After it was de-
clared a designated
Covid hospital, GCS
has treated over 2,000
suspected as well as
positive corona pa-
tients successfully.
“The hospital has al-
lotted a separate en-
try, separate staff
and wards for treat-
ing these patients,”
Dr. Kirti Patel, Direc-
tor of the hospital
said.
“We are ensuring
that all patients get new
clothes, bed-sheets,
timely medication and
treatment as well as
books for reading to
make them comforta-
ble,” he added.
Patients’ diet is be-
ing taken care of by
the Diet and Nutri-
tion Department of
the hospital. They get
healthy meals, break-
fasts, snacks, hot wa-
ter, milk, etc.
throughout the day.
And GCS is treating
them for free, as per
the AMC guidelines.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
State Government
has stoutly opposed
an application by the
n e w l y - a p p o i n t e d
working president of
the Gujarat Congress
Hardik Patel seeking
to drop his bail con-
dition that prohibits
him from travelling
outside the State
without the court’s
permission.
Opposing his appli-
cation filed on June
30 in the Sessions
Court in Ahmedabad,
the State Govern-
ment broadly reiter-
ated on his “criminal
antecedents” and in-
stances where he
skipped trial appear-
ances in relation to a
sedition case.
Represented by ad-
vocates Anand Yag-
nik and Rafik
L o k h a n d w a l a ,
Hardik Patel submit-
ted that his “political
adversaries” were
taking advantage of
the restriction im-
posed on him owing
to his bail condition
and that no such con-
dition had been im-
posed on the co-ac-
cused in the case.
The Patidar leader
was granted protection
from arrest by the Su-
preme Court in March
this year pertaining to
a 2015 First Informa-
tion Report (FIR) regis-
tered against him fol-
lowing the Patidar agi-
tation across the state.
The FIR was filed at
the Ahmedabad Crime
Branch.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The coro-
na-induced lockdown
saw major telecom com-
panies losing a whop-
ping 11 lakh subscrib-
ers in Gujarat, even as
Reliance Jio witnessed
a heavy demand for new
connections.
Going by the data
released by Telecom
Regulatory Authority
of India (Trai), Jio
added over 68,000 us-
ers by the end of
April in Gujarat cir-
cle. With this, Jio’s
base in the State in-
creased to 2.38 crore
in the month.
However, the telecom
industry with active
four operators wit-
nessed overall loss of
over 11 lakh subscrib-
ers in April in the State.
Gujarat, where the re-
al-time population is
believed to be over 7
crore, had 6.79 crore
mobile users in March
and this fell to 6.68
crore the next month.
Airtel witnessed its
largest fall in April
with loss of 6.81 lakh
subscribers and now
has 1.03 crore users
in the State. Vodafone
Idea seemed to have
been the worst hit
with its users coming
down to 2.65 crore
with a loss of 4.96
lakh of them.
The fall in BSNL
numbers was marginal
-- it lost 7,000 users and
has a base of 61 lakh
now.
FEELING
THE
PULSE
New Gujarat BJP
President CR Patil
on Wednesday held
one-to-one meetings
with top state-level
organisation leaders
in Gandhinagar ahead
of organisational
reshuffle. Here,
he is seen with
Gujarat’s chief party
spokesperson Bharat
Pandya (on his left).
MARGINAL EFFECT
First India Bureau
Surat: The Covid-19
crisis has spawned
many a good samari-
tans and brought out
human compassion
in the people. After
recovering from the
dreaded infection, a
businessman in Surat
couldn’t but feel the
pain of the victims of
the coronavirus.
So, after recovering
from Covid-19, he has
converted his sprawl-
ing office into an 85-bed
facility to provide free
treatment for the poor.
With public hospitals
struggling to cope, Ka-
dar Shaikh spent 20
days in a private clinic
last month in Surat.
What prompted
him to convert his of-
fice into a hospital
was the hefty bill he
was handed out at the
private clinic. “The
cost of treatment at
the private hospital
was huge. How could
poor people afford
such treatment?”
Shaikh, who is a
property developer,
said.
“So I decided to do
something and contrib-
ute in the fight against
the deadly virus.” Once
full recovered, Shaikh
secured approval from
the local authorities to
convert his
3 0 , 0 0 0 - s q u a r e - f e e t
(2,800-square-metre) of-
fice premises.
The government pro-
vides and pays for the
staff, medical equip-
ment and medicines,
while Shaikh bought
the beds and bears the
cost of bed linen and
electricity. Anyone can
be admitted, he said,
regardless of “caste,
creed or religion”.
The coronavirus
epidemic is still rag-
ing in Gujarat, with
Surat city and dis-
trict reporting the
highest number of
cases everyday since
the beginning of July.
Till Wednesday even-
ing, the State had re-
ported 58,126 positive
cases with as many as
2,396 deaths. The sin-
gle day toll of 1,144
on Wednesday was
the highest so far.
Cases are increasing
alarmingly across the
country too, with the
number of infections
passing 15 lakh on
Wednesday, and almost
35,000 deaths.
Hefty bills prompt Surat man to convert office into hospital
A businessman has converted his office into Covid hospital of sorts.
Hardik Patel.

My enduring memory of Rajmata is of her bold
spirit. In 2002 I invited her to be patron of my
‘Keep Amber Clean’ Campaign. I thought it polite
to tell her that I was trying to save a 300 year
old Bavri; that threats had been made on my life
so government had given me armed bodyguards;
that over 40 enquiries were looking into me. Rajmata Sa
brushed my concerns aside. This display of courage and
solidarity meant the world to me.
—RASHMI DICKINSON, Conservationist
AHMEDABAD, THURSDAY
JULY 30, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
t’s really an emotional
thing for me and not easy
to talk about my associa-
tionwithRajmataGayatri
Devi that went back to the
early 1980s. She passed
away on 29 July 2009, it’s
been 11 years but for me the pain
and the loss is still the same. I miss
her almost every day of my life.
As students of her Maharani
GayatriDeviGirlsPublicSchoolin
Jaipur, the highlight of those days
was when this extraordinarily at-
tractive Maharani visited the
school in her soft French chiffons.
Oneleftschoolandwentontoother
things but somehow the links were
never severed and there was al-
ways some activity that took us
back to school. Several years
later I edited her cookbook
titled Gourmet’s Gateway
that surprised all of us by
doing well. The idea of
doing a biography
happened during one of our fre-
quent meetings. That gave me an
opportunity to meet her on a more
regularbasisandalsoallthepeople
who had been in close contact with
her. She was quick to anger and
equally quick to cool down.
A very old member of her staff
recalled the time when she had
gonetoahotelinDelhitodrop
somebody.Thedarban,una-
ware that she was not get-
ting down, opened the
cardoorforherresult-
ing in her hand be-
ing painfully
pulled with the door. The poor man
receivedaproper,royalfiring.Once
home, she kept thinking about the
incident and asked her ADC if he
thought that the darban was upset
aboutthewholething.TheADCas-
sured her that the darban must be
quite used to it. But she could not
gettheincidentoutof hermindand
within an hour drove back to the
hotel, called the nervous man and
apologised to him and explained
that she had not meant to shout at
him but had lost her temper be-
cause her arm had been hurt. The
poor man was too embarrassed to
say anything more than “Huzur,
what are you doing? Why are you
saying sorry? It is all right.”
Her sense of humour and her
love to gossip made her seem more
humane. She could pull one’s leg
so subtly that it took most people
a while to realise that they’d been
had! One had to know her well
enough to see through her jokes.
Once she was invited for dinner.
Among the guests were some non-
Jaipur people who did not know
whoshewas.Theladyaskedforan
introduction. Without batting an
eyelid Rajmata Sahiba said, “Oh
I’m a doctor from a nearby hospi-
tal and this gentleman here is my
assistant. Now, if you’ll excuse us,
we have to go for an operation.”
The ‘assistant’ nearly choked on
his drink but quickly regained his
composure and accompanied the
‘lady doctor’ to assist her in the
operation. She can say the most
unexpected thing with such a
straightfacethatonedoesn’tknow
if one should laugh or be shocked.
Rajmata put me in a tight spot sev-
eral times. Once she introduced
me to a publisher saying, “Oh, this
is Dharmendar and she doesn’t
like you. She thinks you’re not an
honest person!” The man, who I
was meeting for the first time,
lookedquiteconfusedandsuitably
hurt. The next few minutes were
embarrassing as I tried to extract
myself from the awkward situa-
tion while Rajmata Sahiba looked
on, very pleased with herself and
enjoyed every minute of my dis-
comfiture.
What a legend she was! There is
so much to share yet there seem to
be no suitable words to sum up the
amazing grace and charisma of
this original embodiment of style.
QUEEN OF
HEARTSABOUT
THE AUTHOR
Dharmendar
Kanwar, official
biographer of late
Rajmata Gayatri
Devi. Also, a travel
writer, heritage
conservationist and
photographer who
was associated with
the Rajmata for
almost 30 years.
DHARMENDAR
KANWAR
I
Gayatri Devi’s beloved Amber Fort in Jaipur
The author with Rajmata

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
ANKITA GUPTA, Model
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
You should always speak
the truth no matter how
harsh it is also that ways
you will never have a heavy
heart. Excess of anything is not good
so make sure you eat moderately and
healthy. You may shift to a bigger
house soon with your whole family
once the pandemic situation will ease.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
You are very rigid and
stubborn when it comes
to what you want. No one
can easily pursue you for
anything. You are person of strong
resolve and you don’t stop until you
have accomplished whats in your
mind. You will meet someone who
shares same ideologies like you.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Teach your kids the right
values right from the
beginning because
whatever they are learning
today that is what they will become
tomorrow. Your partner is your
mirror who is always introducing you
to your true self and help you
improve on everyday basis.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
You have to fight for your
right and never let anyone
take advantage of you. You
are a tough, strong person
by heart but you don’t forgive people
who play with your sentiments. You
usually don’t sit at peace until your
work is done. For you work is worship
and nothing comes before that.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Paint if you wish to, write if
you like to, sing if thats
makes you happy but just
don’t stop. Lazy attitude is
the thing of the past, you are fully
motivated to write your success
story. On professional front,
someone will try his/her best to help
you out if you’ll be stuck somewhere.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
You are very happy for
someone close and yes you
derive happiness from
making others happy.
Romance is in the air for you and you
will spend some amazing time with
your love today. You must learn to
maintain good relationships as you
cannot be blunt with people at work.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Value your parents in life.
You are a fit and strong
person who keeps
challenging yourself to do
better. Financial status appears to be
good so nothing to worry. You will
channelise your energy in the right
direction and spirituality will play a
major role in all of it.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
You sometimes get easily
influences by external
factors and you loose
control, keep that in check.
You have a good family life and you
are very emotional about them. You
need to wait until you find a good life
partner and refrain from falling in
love because of being impulsive.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
You have a bright future
only if you decide to plant
seeds today. You are really
into fitness and you are
leaving no stone unturned to reach
your fitness goal in no time you will
see miracles. You may take interest
in politics. Sometimes you need to
check your temperament.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Learn to make others
smile. You may take a lot
of interest in products
made from herbs because
of their natural properties. You will
do really well in academics and your
parents will be really proud of you.
Learn to differentiate between whats
good and whats bad.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
You love your elders and if
given a choice, you will
always give them the
priority . Homemakers will
spend the whole day in resetting and
arranging things in the house.On
professional front, you colleagues/
your boss may give you some time
for your sincere effort in project.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You will teach a lesson to
your kid or to someone
younger to which he/she
will never forget. You will
feel on the top of the of the world
today and you will spread happiness
wherever you will go. Your spouse
will give you special treatment today
for all your love and sincerity.
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
om Cruise, American actor who emerged in the
1980s as one of Hollywood’s most popular leading
men, known for his clean-cut good looks and ver-
satility. Cruise made his film debut in Endless
Love (1981). The movie was a major success, earn-
ing Cruise widespread recognition. His star status
was cemented with Top Gun (1986), the highest-
grossing film of that year. In 1986 Cruise appeared in The
Color of Money, For his portrayal of a Vietnam War vet-
eran turned activist in Born on the Fourth of July (1989).
He went on to exhibit a broad depth and range of charac-
ters in his films, playing such diverse roles as a
navy lawyer in A Few Good Men (1992) and His
performance as a sports agent in Jerry
Maguire (1996) earned Cruise an Oscar
nomination. The actor also earned ac-
claim as a misogynistic self-help guru
in Magnolia. Cruise is most popularly
known as ‘Ethan Hunt’ a secret agent
in Mission: Impossible (1996); he
gained immense popularity by the
later sequels of the film as he has
things changed since the first “Mis-
sion: Impossible. the movie had its
action but after that in every se-
quel the action has only gotten
bigger (and the story as well),
Cruise has always been fantastic
as Hunt. Cruise subsequently
starred in the action thrill-
ers Knight and Day (2010)
and Jack Reacher (2012). In
the latter, he played a former
army investigator, a role
he reprised in Jack Reach-
er: Never Go Back (2016).
Cruise’s personal life often
attract as much attention
as his acting, he is also
known to be a social
worker. He took part in
‘America: A Tribute to
Heroes charity telethon
for victims of 9/11’. Lat-
er he also became a found-
ing Board Member for
the Hollywood Educa-
tion and Literacy Pro-
ject, helping students
learn how to read and
succeed. He has also
stopped a hit and run
accident in Santa
Monica. In London
première of Mission,
Impossible Cruise
pulled two children out
of the way of an on-
rushing crowd. In the
same year, while sailing
near Capri, Cruise
saved people from a
burning sailboat.
T
om Cruise, American actor who emerged in the
1980s as one of Hollywood’s most popular leading
men, known for his clean-cut good looks and ver-
satility. Cruise made his film debut in Endless
Love (1981). The movie was a major success, earn-
ing Cruise widespread recognition. His star status
was cemented with Top Gun (1986), the highest-
grossing film of that year. In 1986 Cruise appeared in The
Color of Money, For his portrayal of a Vietnam War vet-
eran turned activist in Born on the Fourth of July (1989).
He went on to exhibit a broad depth and range of charac-
ters in his films, playing such diverse roles as a
navy lawyer in A Few Good Men (1992) and His
performance as a sports agent in Jerry
Maguire (1996) earned Cruise an Oscar
nomination. The actor also earned ac-
claim as a misogynistic self-help guru
in Magnolia. Cruise is most popularly
known as ‘Ethan Hunt’ a secret agent
in Mission: Impossible (1996); he
gained immense popularity by the
later sequels of the film as he has
things changed since the first “Mis-
sion: Impossible. the movie had its
action but after that in every se-
quel the action has only gotten
bigger (and the story as well),
Cruise has always been fantastic
as Hunt. Cruise subsequently
starred in the action thrill-
ers Knight and Day (2010)
and Jack Reacher (2012). In
the latter, he played a former
army investigator, a role
he reprised in Jack Reach-
er: Never Go Back (2016).
Cruise’s personal life often
attract as much attention
as his acting, he is also
known to be a social
worker. He took part in
‘America: A Tribute to
Heroes charity telethon
for victims of 9/11’. Lat-
er he also became a found-
ing Board Member for
the Hollywood Educa-
tion and Literacy Pro-
ject, helping students
learn how to read and
succeed. He has also
stopped a hit and run
accident in Santa
Monica. In London
première of Mission,
Impossible Cruise
pulled two children out
of the way of an on-
rushing crowd. In the
same year, while sailing
near Capri, Cruise
saved people from a
The Ethan HuntGURMAN SINGH
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

A
ctor Sonu Sood, after working
tirelessly for the welfare of mi-
grant laborers over the past
three months, isn’t going to take
a day off on his birthday too. For the day,
he has planned to organise medical camps
across the country, which he expects
around 50,000 people to attend.
This event is Sonu Sood’s way of celebrat-
ing his 47th birthday. He has also been help-
ing thousands of migrant workers return to
their homes during the pandemic. During
the three months, he has been busy with
the welfare work, has the actor’s family
ever complained that he doesn’t spend
time with them?
Sood says, “They understand and
know that I am trying to help people.
I spoke to my son and asked ‘beta,
are you not happy that I am not
spending time with you?’ He said
‘Nahi daddy, logon ko help Karna
zaroori hai’. That gives you more
power, that you are doing right. I
feel sorry about it, but at least I am
able to bring some change in the
lives of people.” —Agency
A
s Drew Barrymore previously an-
nounced, she will be launching her
upcoming daytime talk show, The
Drew Barrymore Show this fall. But
before that, the Blended actress has some fun
games in store for fans. The actress and en-
trepreneur has announced a digital lineup as
a lead-up to the show’s broadcast premiere on
Monday. The digital lineup includes the do-
cuseries ‘The Making Of The Drew Barry-
more Show’, The Art of the Interview, Drew’s
Cookbook Club and Drew’s Movie Nite.
While announcing this news via YouTube,
Drew said “I’m really looking forward to this
digital world we are about to bring you into,”
in a statement. “A series that’s very near and
dear to me is called, The Making Of The
Drew Barrymore Show, I have
been on this show journey
for a year. We started in
2019, it is now 2020, a very
different year. And
what that year-long
journey has been like,
where were we,
where are we now
and how did we get
to where we are go-
ing. I’m really
looking forward to
telling you that, in
a storytelling way,”
she added.
—Agency
Teaser out
ETCwww.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
11
E
ven during a global pandemic, the Em-
mys are still happening this year in
September. Ahead of the show, the
nominees for the TV industry’s
most prominent awards have been an-
nounced by the Television Academy. The
2020 Emmy Awards will air on Septem-
ber 20, and Jimmy Kimmel will host a
virtual edition of the annual awards
show. HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ leads the list
with 26 nominations, ‘The Marvelous
Mrs. Maisel’ bagged 20 nominations,
and ‘Ozark’ and ‘Succession’ got 18
nominations each. As the world cel-
ebrated watching their favourite
series and actors receiving a nod,
Priyanka Chopra Jonas had an ex-
tra reason to celebrate. Nick Jonas
‘The Voice’ has been nominated for
an Emmy Award this year. The real-
ity music show has been nominated
for the Reality Competition Program
category.
The ‘Sky Is Pink’ star took to Instagram
and shared a picture featuring Nick and his
co-judges John Legend, Kelly Clarkson and
Blake Shelton. “Yay Nick Jonas,” she wrote
with a red heart emoji. The actress went ahead
and congratulated the other nominees as well.
“Congrats to all of this year’s nominees for the
incredible work. Excited to see my friends on
the list,” she shared a post before showering
other nominees with love and support. —Agency
Nomination
SPREE...
BIRTHDAY
STATEMENT
“T
his year has been
a year of great
learning for me.
It’s a different
feeling since I’m celebrating
my birthday away from my
family but in the time of so-
cial media, we are not so
away, thankfully just like
how we recently celebrated
Maanayata’s birthday. I was
shooting back to back earlier
and then, the lockdown came
into place so, I really miss
them all. I wish I could have
spent all these months with
them but their safety is of ut-
most importance right now.
I’m sure once we all reunite,
we will have a celebration
like never before. I, thank
everyone for their wishes
and hope that we all pass this
time, safe together. My best
and warm wishes to every-
one,” said Sanjay Dutt on
Wednesday. —Agency
TAAPSEETAAPSEE SPEAKSSPEAKS
OUT ONOUT ON KANGANAKANGANA
aapsee Pannu ad-
dressed the ongo-
ing feud with
Kangana Ranaut
in a recent inter-
view. The Thap-
pad star spoke
about several incidents,
including being name
called and being deemed
B-grade actress by the
Manikarnika actress.
During the interview,
Taapsee was asked if she
would be open to working
with Kangana in the fu-
ture. She recalled the in-
cident when she had the
opportunity to work with
Kangana on Saand Ki
Aankh, which the former
eventually did with Bhu-
mi Pednekar, but said
Kangana turned the op-
portunity down.
Although things did
not work out in their fa-
vor at the time, Taapsee
said she is hopeful things
will get better. “I would
love to work with bril-
liant co-stars, I have done
so in Pink and Saand Ki
Aankh. I am positive of
things becoming better,”
she said. The actress’s
statements come days af-
ter Anurag said Kangana
was approached with
script. —Agency
T
SONU’S WAY OF
CELEBRATION
Nick and Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Taapsee Pannu
Drew Barrymore
Sonu SoodSanjay Dutt

First india ahmedabad edition-30 july 2020

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