First india ahmedabad edition-30 november 2020

AHMEDABAD l MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 6
MODIMODI’’S
date with
karmbhoomi
Varanasi on
SSSSSSSSSSSSS
date withdate withdate with
karmbhoomikarmbhoomikarmbhoomikarmbhoomikarmbhoomikarmbhoomikarmbhoomikarmbhoomikarmbhoomi
Varanasi onVaranasi on
VISHAL SRIVASTAV
rime Minister Narendra
Modi will be visiting his Lok
Sabha constituency Varanasi
on Monday to dedicate a
plethora of projects to the
Devbhoomi, which is in turn
PM Modi’s karmbhoomi also. It is be-
lieved that on Dev Deepawali the Gods
descend on Earth on the full moon
night of Kartik Purnima, which falls
15 days after Diwali (Kartik Ama-
vasya). Dev Deepawali, is celebrated to
mark the victory of Lord Shiva over
demon Tripurasur. Hence, this Utsav is
also known as Tripurotsav or Tripu-
rari Purnima. Dev Deepawali this year
on Kartik Purnima also coincides with
the lunar eclipse or Chandra Grahan
on Monday. With the arrival of PM
Modi, it will be the first landing of spe-
cial aircraft Boeing 777-300 ER at city’s
Lal Bahadur Shastri International Air-
port. Special marking has been done on
the runway for the plane’s landing and
take off. Chief Minister Yogi Adiyanath
has taken the reigns of the prepara-
tions in his own hands and visited Var-
anasi on Friday to take stock of ar-
rangements while instructing officials
to make the event even grander this
time. Being the Chief Minister of UP,
Yogi frequently gets opportunities to
meet his ‘mentor’ Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi in one or the other way and
today’s function is one more similar
opportunity for Yogi.
There are many legends associated
with Kartik Purnima. Some say it
marks the birth anniversary of Lord
Kartik, warrior son of Lord Shiva,
while others believe it is the day when
Lord Vishnu assumed his first avatar
- ‘Matsya’. Yet another legend says,
Lord Shiva defeated the mighty demon
Tripurasura on this day, hence the fes-
tival is also called Tripuri Purnima.
P

G Vol 2 G Issue No. 6 G RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.
Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
ew South Wales
premier Gladys
B e re j i k l i a n ,
who last week
carriedonwork-
ingforuptotwohourswhile
awaiting the results of a
rapidCOVIDtest,wasn’tthe
first Australian to “soldier
on”inthefaceof healthcon-
cerns and a big day at work.
And she almost certain-
ly won’t be the last, despite
the COVID pandemic mak-
ing it clearer than ever be-
fore it’s important to take
time off if you’re sick or
self-isolating.
Soldiering on — also
known as “sickness presen-
teeism” — is alive and well
even in 2020. Many people,
from state premiers to min-
imum-wage workers, feel
they have no choice but to
showupandcarryon.Those
with precarious employ-
ment may feel as if their
entire job hinges on it.
If a pandemic won’t get
workers to call in sick, then
what will? What we need is
for managers and leaders
(state premiers included)
to model responsible be-
haviour, and foster a
healthy workplace culture
in which soldiering on
isn’t celebrated as heroic.
A 2016 report by Pathol-
ogy Awareness Australia
estimated the economic
costs of workers turning
up sick or putting in un-
necessary extra hours at
more than A$34 billion a
year, due to productivity
loss and the spread of in-
fection to coworkers.
Since the advent of COV-
ID, it has become a signifi-
cant public health issue
too. Cases have been traced
to workers spreading the
virus at work, including
abattoirs and health-care
facilities.
Presenteeism is found
throughout the employ-
ment spectrum, but is
more prevalent among “es-
sential” workers, such as
those in health care, who
typically report feeling
“socially obligated” to at-
tend work.
A 2019 survey of 6,387
women in the public sector
found 90% had gone to
work while sick in the pre-
ceding 12 months. The
main reasons included
workload pressures (52%),
and the perception they
weren’t sick enough to stay
home (54%).
But why is sickness pres-
enteeism still a thing in
2020? The sad fact is that
even amid a pandemic,
workers in essential ser-
vices such as aged care and
teaching report feeling
pressured by their manag-
ers to turn up to work.
Another reason is the
broader socioeconomic is-
sue of job insecurity. Work-
ers on temporary or casual
contracts may not have sick
pay entitlements at all, or
feel their job is at risk if
they are absent. Coupled
with the workload pres-
sures typical of precarious
work, these people face an
almost impossible dilemma
when sick or self-isolating.
HOW WORKPLACES
CAN HELP
The onus is on businesses
and organisations to en-
sure a safe working envi-
ronment.Thismeansestab-
lishing clear expectations
and protocols regarding
staying home when unwell,
and should also include the
opportunity for remote
working when workers feel
well enough to work but
may still be infectious.
Workplaces should also
provide appropriate per-
sonal protective equip-
ment, hand hygiene, and
socialdistancingmeasures.
Organisations should of-
fer medical and well-being
support and care to em-
ployees at risk of suffering
most under sickness pres-
enteeism, such as essential
workers and those in pre-
carious employment.
More broadly, managers
and organisations should
understand that tacitly en-
couraging people to come
to work while unwell im-
pairs organisational per-
formance. Leaders should
not preside over a culture
in which overwork and “al-
ways being on duty” are
lionised. Instead, they
should communicate that
it’s OK not to come to work
if you’re not well, and that
it’s important to take a sick
day if you’re sick.
A crucial element of this
is to prepare contingency
plans for absences, so em-
ployees know that work
can still be done without
them and their absence
won’t be disastrous.
HTTPS://THECONVERSATION.COM
Taking proper sick leave has never been more crucial!
N
he successful encounter at
Nagrota, near Jammu on NH
44, in which four heavily
armed Pakistani terrorists
were gunned down by the
alert and diligent Indian se-
curity forces has once again
exposed the fact that the
Deep State in Pakistan con-
tinues to rule the roost with
a singular agenda of bleed-
ing India through thousand
cuts. Similar encounters had
taken place on the same Na-
tional Highway (NH) in the
past as well. Pakistan contin-
ues to use unabated the Inter-
national Border (IB) sector as
a preferred route of infiltra-
tion not only for terrorists
but also for narco –terrorism
as it provides the twin advan-
tage of movement into J&K
or Punjab. Also, the modus
operandi adopted in most
cases is near identical. After
revocation of Article 370 in
J&K, Pakistan’s desperation
to create trouble has in-
creased manifold. With the
Indian Army adopting a very
strong and nearly impenetra-
ble counter infiltration grid
on the Line of Control (LoC)
and equally impregnable
counter terrorism grid in-
side the Valley, Pakistan
Army has shifted focus to the
IB sector with a comparative-
ly higher success rate.
Pakistan is going through
the worst phase of its history
since its formation in 1947 af-
ter a bloody partition of the
Indian sub-continent based
on Two-Nation theory. Ever
since its formation Pakistan
has suffered the dilemma of
identity. The diversity in lan-
guage and culture coupled
with feudal society has pre-
vented Pakistan to emerge as
a single entity. Regional loyal-
ties have surpassed the na-
tional identity leaving Paki-
stan Army alone as a symbol
of national identity. This has
been exploited by the Army
to its advantage by becoming
the virtual ruler. To ensure
its continued hold over the
nation’s defence and foreign
policy, the Army has created
a myth of India being an ex-
istential threat. At the same
time it has promoted Kash-
mir as an unfinished agenda
of partition and as the jugu-
lar vein of Pakistan. Despite
Pakistan’s obsession for
Kashmir costing it dearly
both economically and strate-
gically it refuses to relent.
India continues to be an exis-
tential threat. Terrorism con-
tinues to remain an instru-
ment of its state policy. Kash-
mir continues to be the rai-
son d’etre for continued su-
premacy of its Army.
Politically and economi-
cally Pakistan is on verge of
collapse. Imran Khan Niazi is
the target of a domestic rebel-
lion against his government
by the conglomeration of 11
opposition parties under the
banner of Pakistan Demo-
cratic Movement (PDM). The
groundswell of protests
against him has shaken Im-
ran Khan. Even his mentor
and saviour Gen Bajwa,
Chief of Army Staff and his
ISI chief are also not being
spared by the public. Ex-PM
Nawaz Sharif from exile in
London has launched a fron-
tal assault on the COAS. This
has unnerved the Army as
well. Army is quite conscious
of its image among the peo-
ple but that is gradually erod-
ing due to involvement of
senior army officers in cases
of corruption and scam. The
top army leadership includ-
ing retired generals are own-
ing large business houses in-
cluding the real estate. While
a common man is finding dif-
ficult to get two square meals
a day, the Army is eating up
the large slice of national
budget. The economy is in
doldrums. Saudi Arabia, a
liberal donor for Pakistan, is
unhappy with Imran Khan
due to his growing proximity
to Turkey. Pakistan is neck
deep in debt and is resorting
to borrowings to service debt.
Unemployment, inflation and
high price rise is the common
thing for ordinary Pakistanis
with Imran Khan doing noth-
ing to resolve these. His total
surrender to China is also be-
ing resented by the ordinary
Pakistanis. Pakistan is clos-
est to implosion at this stage
due to growing turmoil in
Baluchistan, increased un-
rest in Khyber-Pakhtunkh-
wa, revolt in POJK and Gilgit
Baltistan and the growing
dissent in Sindh due to the
ongoing protests by PDM. At-
tempts to integrate GB as its
fifth province and holding of
elections there has met with
stiff opposition from the lo-
cals. The results of the elec-
tions are being contested
terming them as fudged. Bal-
awaristan Movement, an in-
dependent Gilgit-Baltistan, is
gaining momentum.
With shaky and confused
Imran Khan coupled with
nervous Pakistan Army un-
der tremendous pressure
fromChinatotiedownIndian
Army, the time tested Paki-
stani formula of creating an
India bogey at home has been
put into practice to generate
anti-India public opinion.
Repeated unprovoked
ceasefire violations and at-
tempts to push in terrorists
have become a norm. Apart
from attempts to distract
public attention at home,
these are also being used to
keep Kashmir in focus of the
international community as
a potential flash point. Paki-
stan’s nuclear black mail has
been exposed and is no long-
er being used as a threat by
its leadership. It has in-
creased its dependence on
terrorist activities and the
Deep state is involved in
spreading its tentacles in
other parts of the country
apart from Kashmir.
Though Kashmir for the
time being continues to re-
main its main focus because
of the realisation that with
passing of each day peace-
fully Pakistan is losing its rel-
evance in Kashmir. That was
the main reason of infiltrat-
ing heavily armed group with
about 750 kg of RDX to create
mayhem in Kashmir on the
pattern of 26/11 Mumbai at-
tacks on the eve of the Dis-
trict Development Council
elections being held in J&K.
For Pakistan, China Factor
has also become over riding.
China is egging Pakistan to
continue its obsession and
keep the pot boiling in Kash-
mir. It needs hold in Gilgit-
Baltistananddoesnotwantto
part with Shaksgam and Ak-
saichin. Hence irrespective
of the success achieved by us
at Nagrota, Pakistan is not go-
ing to relent. We have to be
pro-active and make the cost
of such attempts prohibitive
for the Deep state.
Let this encounter at Na-
grota not meet the same fate
like the similar encounters
of the past. It should ring the
warning bells of smelling the
coffee and pulling up our
socks. Pakistan is not going
to relent or change, we will
have to change ourselves if
we want to have a zero toler-
ance policy against terror.
Border Security Force
(BSF) has failed repeatedly to
prevent infiltration from the
IB sector. A serious review of
command and control of all
border guarding forces on the
LAC and IB is an urgent re-
quirement. What happened
on the LAC during the ongo-
ing standoff with PLA Army
isquitefreshinourminds?To
havegreatercoordinationand
effective command and con-
trol these need to be placed
under Ministry of Defence
and the local Army forma-
tion. The present system has
been found wanting time and
again. Let not this important
aspect of national security
become a victim of turf wars.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
T
With the
Indian Army
adopting a
very strong
and nearly
impenetrable
counter
infiltration
grid on LoC
and equally
impregnable
counter
terrorism grid
inside the
Valley,
Pakistan Army
has shifted
focus to the IB
sector with a
comparatively
higher success
rate.
IT SHOULD RING THE WARNING BELLS OF
SMELLING THE COFFEE AND PULLING UP OUR
SOCKS. PAKISTAN IS NOT GOING TO RELENT
OR CHANGE, WE WILL HAVE TO CHANGE
OURSELVES IF WE WANT TO HAVE A ZERO
TOLERANCE POLICY AGAINST TERROR.
BRIG VETERAN
ANIL GUPTA
The author is a Jammu
based veteran, political
commentator, columnist, security
and strategic analyst
NAGROTA ENCOUNTER
WILL PAKISTAN RELENT
Security personnel inspect the site of the encounter,
at Nagrota Ban toll Plaza in Jammu. —FILE PHOTO
There is more happiness in
doing one’s own (path)
without excellence than in
doing another’s (path) well.
—The Bhagavad Gita
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Today got the privilege of having
darshan and blessings of the world
famous Ma Pitambara Peeth in
Datia, Madhya Pradesh along with
Honorable LG Jammu and Kashmir
@manojsinha_ and senior colleague
@girirajsinghbjp. May Ma Pitambara
bless everyone with happiness,
prosperity and health.
Anand Sharma @ AnandSharmaINC
Prime minister Shri Narendra Modi
visit to Serum Institute, Bharat
Biotech and Zydus Cadilla was a
recognition of Indian scientists and
their work to produce the vaccine
for COVID-19 That alone will lift
morale of frontline warriors and
reassure the nation.

Amit Shah to inaugurate two flyovers
Gandhinagar: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah will dedicate two
flyovers on the Sarkhej-
Gandhinagar Highway
(SG Highway) on Mon-
day. The state govern-
ment is expanding SG
Highway from four-lane
to six-lane and con-
structing flyovers on all
major junctions.
According to a state
government press re-
lease, the Union Home
Minister and Gandhina-
gar Lok Sabha member
Amit Shah will dedicate
the two flyovers--one at
Sanand Crossroads and
the other at Pakvan
Crossroads--via video
conferencing at 10.30 am
on Monday. Turn to P6
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who is also Roads and Buildings Minister, taking stock of the situation
of the flyover on SG Highway which is to be dedicated today by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The new bridges are expected to
ease congestion on SG Highway,
one of Gujarat’s busiest roads
DEVELOPMENT
—FILEPHOTO
Hyderabad: Union
home minister Amit
Shah on Sunday vowed
to get Hyderabad rid of
the culture of Nizam,
who had once sought to
merge the city with Pa-
kistan. Shah, who held
an hour-long road show
at Warasiguda in Se-
cunderabad as part of
campaign for BJP for
the Greater Hyderabad
Municipal Corporation
elections to be held on
December 1, said Hy-
derabad had become an
integral part of India,
thanks to first home
minister Sardar Vallab-
hbhai Patel.
“Give one chance to
the BJP in GHMC elec-
tions. We shall trans-
form from dynasty rule
todemocraticrule,from
corruption to good gov-
ernance,fromsecrecyto
transparency. We shall
transform Hyderabad
into a Mini Bharat and
not be stuck in Nawabi
and Nizami culture,”
Shah said, while speak-
ing to reporters at the
party state headquar-
ters after the roadshow.
Reacting to Telanga-
na chief minister K
Chandrasekhar Rao’s
comment that several
BJP leaders were flood-
ing Hyderabad to cam-
paign for the gully elec-
tions only to attack
him, Shah said they
had come to improve
the conditions in Hy-
derabad, not to attack
somebody. Turn to P6
Vishal Srivastav
Lucknow: The gran-
deurof theGangaGhats
has risen manifolds.
The streets are spick
and span. The other-
wise carefree cows
roaming freely on the
streets, have been
shoved behind barri-
cades for a while. Roads
leading to Raj Ghat are
beaming with new
street lights. Florists
are seen rushing
through the thin lanes
to fetch more stocks.
The priests are busy
buying a new pair of
Dhoti-Kurta for them-
selves. A few years ago,
passers-by including
foreigners at Godowlia,
would be amused seeing
such transition on the
face of Varanasi, but
now they know, when all
this hullabaloo takes
place, someone special
is coming to the city.
All of this and much
more is in transition at
Varanasi to welcome
country’s Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi who
will light up the first
Diya on Dev Deepawali
here on Monday.
The Prime Minister’s
parliamentary constitu-
ency and world’s oldest
city known to humani-
ty, Varanasi, is all in
readiness to witness
stars on earth on the oc-
casion of Kartik Purni-
ma when Dev Deepawa-
li is celebrated here
with more than 11 lakh
diyas being lit on the 80
Ghats of the holy city.
The prime minister
will start the festivities
by lighting an earthen
lamp on the Raj Ghat of
Varanasi, which will be
followed by lighting of
11 lakh diyas on both
sides of the holy river
Ganga, it said. Turn to P6
On Dev Deepawali, PM to
welcome Goddess back home
‘WILL TURN
HYDERABAD INTO
MINI BHARAT’
Addressing a public rally on the final day of campaigning before the December 1 polls, Amit
Shah also said the BJP wanted to “rid Hyderabad of the Nawab-Nizam culture”
Home Minister Amit Shah waves to his supporters during
his roadshow, in Secunderabad. —PHOTO BY PTI
New Delhi: Rejecting
the Centre’s offer to hold
talks once they move to
the Burari ground, agi-
tating farmers who have
been staying put at Del-
hi’s borders for four
days said on Sunday
they will not end the
blockade and will con-
tinue their stir against
the new farm laws.
After a meeting of
over 30 farmer groups
on Sunday, their repre-
sentatives said they will
not move to the Burari
ground as it is an “open
jail”. Turn to P6
Farmers reject talks offer; set new terms
A big hoarding of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seen as the preparation for his visit begins, at
Mirzamurad in Varanasi on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
A large number of farmers gather during their protest against the
farm laws at Singhu border in New Delhi on Sunday.
Recent agri-reforms have opened the
doors of new opportunities for farmers.
Decades-old demands of farmers which
were promised by many political parties have
now been met. Under this law, it is mandatory
to pay farmers within three days of purchasing
the produce. If payment is not made, then the
farmer can lodge a complaint. —Narendra Modi, PM
I never called
the farmers’
protest
politically motivated;
neither am I calling it
now. In a democracy,
everyone has a right to
have different views
on the same thing. All
three laws are
beneficial for farmers.
Politically motivated
opposition can go
against it.
—Amit Shah, Home Minister
1st case under
anti-conversion
law registered
in UP’s Bareilly
Bareilly: The first case
under Uttar Pradesh
Prohibition of Unlawful
Conversion of Religion
Ordinance, 2020, was
registered on Sunday, a
day after Governor
Anandiben Patel prom-
ulgated it on Saturday,
admitted Prashant Ku-
mar, ADG Law & Order.
“In the first case un-
der Uttar Pradesh Pro-
hibition of Unlawful
Conversion of Religion
Ordinance, 2020, regis-
tered at Deorania police
station in Bareilly, a
man is accused of try-
ing to forcibly convert a
girl’s faith and threaten
her. We are looking into
the matter,” Kumar
said. The accused is ab-
sconding. CM Yogi Cab-
inet had cleared the Or-
dinance, proposing a
maximum punishment
of 10 years and fine for
“love jihad” related of-
fences on Nov 24. —ANI
AHMEDABAD l MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 6
BJP prez JP Nadda, Amit Shah,
Narendra Tomar & Rajnath Singh
held a meeting to discuss the issue
Key feature of Dev Deepawali this year is the return of a stolen sculpture of
Goddess Annapurna from Canada after 100 years: UP CM Yogi Adityanath
—PHOTOBYANI
18°C - 30°C
www.firstindia.co.in
www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/
twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia
instagram.com/thefirstindia
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD
& LUCKNOW
Rajkot fire caused
by negligence: SIT
First India Bureau
Rajkot: The Special In-
vestigation Team set up
to probe the fire at the
Uday Shivanand Hospi-
tal fire, which claimed
the lives of five COV-
ID-19patients,haslodged
a complaint against five
doctors.Ithasconcluded
that there was negli-
gence on the part of hos-
pital management since
the ICU ward’s door was
closed and equipment
stored near the doors
was blocking the exit.
The SIT team headed
by Deputy Commission-
er of Police for Zone-2,
Manoharsinh Jadeja,
also stated that there
was no ventilation so
smoke stayed within
the ICU ward and
caused suffocation. The
medical and paramedi-
cal teams were un-
trained, so they could
not douse the fire.
Fire tenders put out
the blaze within 10 min-
utes. However, the hos-
pital took a full 10 min-
utes to call Turn to P6
COVIDSHIELD TRIAL PARTICIPANT ALLEGES
NEURO BREAKDOWN, SII REJECTS CHARGES
Chennai: A 40-year-old man who took part in the ‘Covidshield’ vaccine trial
here has alleged serious side effects, including a virtual neurological break-
down and impairment of cognitive functions and has sought `5 crore compen-
sation in a legal notice to Serum Institute and others, besides seeking a halt
to the trial. Meanwhile SII on Sunday rejected charges that a Covid-19 vaccine
candidate has serious side effects, and threatened to seek heavy damages for
“malicious” allegations. Alleging that the candidate vaccine was not safe, the
man has also sought cancelling approval Turn to P6

NEWSAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020
04www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
Ahmedabad Munici-
pal Corporation has
been requestioning
more and more pri-
vate hospitals, even
those outside its ju-
risdiction, to treat
COVID-19 patients for
the past few weeks.
And neither Mayor
Bijal Patel nor the
standing committee
chairman Amul Bhatt
have been able to jus-
tify the decision. First
India has also report-
ed that state- and city-
run hospitals in
Ahmedabad alone
could house more
than 1,200 new pa-
tients, if the resourc-
es were properly
managed.
Last week, leader of
the opposition Kamala
Chavda raised the issue
of private beds during a
general board meeting
of the AMC, but got no
satisfactory reply.
Now, members of
the city’s medical fra-
ternity says with hos-
pitals filling up fast,
hotels are being
pulled in as alterna-
tive spaces to treat
COVID-19 patients.
Former president of
the Ahmedabad Medi-
cal Association, Dr
Mona Desai told First
India, “The situation is
grim and hospitals are
full since patients are
being admitted in a se-
rious condition. So now,
hospitals have begun to
reserve beds in hotels,
to house patients with
high fever until they
need to taken to the hos-
pital,” she said.
Dr Bharat Gadhvi
president of
Ahmedabad Hospi-
tals and Nursing
Home Association
said they are in the
process of trying to
convince more hospi-
tals to become desig-
nated COVID-19 fa-
cilities.
Congress MLA Imran
Khedawala has come
out against what he
calls “a well-managed
scam”.
He said: “What is the
need to acquire more
and more private beds
when you are claiming
that there are more
than 1,500 vacant beds
available in the hospi-
tals? And if there is a
need, we do have other
facilities and even the
VS hospital. But those
are not being used,”
adding, “When SVP
(Sardar Vallabhbhai Pa-
tel) Hospital, with a ca-
pacity of more than
1,600 beds is not being
utilized to its full poten-
tial, why is the govern-
ment paying money to
private hospitals?”
Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: There
are three ways bu-
reaucrats respond to
queries from journal-
ists—they either issue
a denial, give a proper
perspective or ignore
phone calls. They sel-
dom ignore questions
from elected repre-
sentatives. ACS Rajiv
Gupta, who is on spe-
cial COVID-19 duty in
Ahmedabad, treats
journalists, MLAs,
and anyone else rais-
ing uncomfortable
questions with equal
contempt.
Congress MLA Imran
Khedawala experienced
this firsthand, when he
asked Gupta to reveal
the “true COVID-19
numbers” in
Ahmedabad city, given
the sudden post-Diwali
spike in cases.
Instead of receiving a
response, Khedawala,
who has himself recov-
ered from the dreaded
infection, had the (met-
aphorical) door
slammed in his face
when Gupta blocked
him on social media.
Unfortunately, this
does not seem to be an
isolated case. Several
legislators and MPs-
-including those from
the ruling Bharatiya
Jana Party (BJP)--have
often complained that
bureaucrats give them a
short shrift and, yet,
Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani does not seem to
be able to rein them in.
Sources say this is a
key reason for BJP state
president CR Patil’s de-
cision to allocate spe-
cific days for ministers
to hear grievances of
the party’s rank and
file. In fact, this was Pa-
til’s first initiative when
he took charge in July.
Khedawala said Gup-
ta has not been giving
out proper information
for the past two weeks.
“This is like a dictator-
ship. A representative
of 2.5 lakh voters was
ignored and insulted.
When we quote media
reports, Gupta says
they are false and fake.
When we ask him to
give real data, he
doesn’t reveal the truth.
He and his coterie want
to keep people in dark.
But we have to give the
people the correct in-
formation for their own
benefit,” Khedawal said
indignantly.
According to political
scientist Hemantkumar
Shah, the incident is a
blotonthestate’sclaims
of transparent govern-
ance. “If the govern-
ment can’t declare the
truth, any claims of
transparency are bo-
gus. Clearly, there is no
accountability--neither
to the people, nor to
their representative,”
he told First India.
Shah pointed out that
people need to be in-
formed of the actual
death and cases figures
if the state has any
hope of curbing the
spread of the novel cor-
onavirus.
“When you are not
giving true figures,
people do not perceive
the seriousness of the
situation. If you give
them the real picture,
then people will under-
stand the situation. It
affects people’s public
and private behaviour,”
he stated.
CR Patil now page president for Majura seat
First India Bureau
Surat: In a good ex-
ample of leading
from the front, state
unit president of the
Bharatiya Janata
Party CR Patel on
Sunday named him-
self page president
for Booth No. 94 in
the Majura constitu-
ency. The move is in
line with Patil’s em-
phatic reiterations
that page president,
also known as booth
presidents, can
make or break an
election since they
have the opportuni-
ty to build a direct
rapport with voters
on the ground.
It is unlikely that
Patil will spend any
actual time at the
booth, but his team
will undoubtedly do so
in his name. His an-
nouncement on Sun-
day is expected to
boost morale among
party workers.
Ever since he took
office, Patil has been
vocal in his view that
winning 182 seats in
the next state Assem-
bly polls will not be
a huge challenge for
the BJP, since the
party already has a
lead of 172 seats as
per the 2019 Lok Sab-
ha results. However,
he has repeatedly
said that the target
would still require
aggressive work by
page presidents and
their teams.
Patil, along with
parliamentary board
members of the BJP, is
currently busy in the
formation of district
and city committees,
after which he is ex-
pected to turn his fo-
cus to appointing state
office bearers and
heads of various cells
and committees.
l While it is unlikely that Patil
will spend much time at the booth,
his move is expected to boost mo-
rale among party workers
l The medical
fraternity has
begun to ‘book
rooms in hotels’
citing space
shortage for
nCoV patients
Surat city BJP president Niranjan Zanzmera with state unit
president C R Patil and the electoral list for Booth No. 94 of the
Majura Assembly seat. Patil has taken on the mantle of page
president to promote the position.
BUILDING RAPPORT
‘CONSTANT REQUISITION OF PVT BEDS
NOTHING BUT A WELL-MANAGED SCAM’
Rising COVID-19
deaths lead to queues
for hearses, funerals
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: With
the death toll ris-
ing steadily in
Ahmedabad in re-
cent times, victims
of COVID-19 are
now having to wait
for their final rites.
And as if the long
lines at crematori-
ums weren’t bad
enough, families
who have lost loved
ones to the disease
say there’s also a
dearth of hearses.
According to an
employee at the
Vadaj crematorium,
the incinerators are
working 24 hours a
day. “Each funeral
takes between one
and two hours, so
there is a long wait-
ing time. Moreover,
weareseeingasteady
stream of dead bod-
ies, due to which we
are now conducting
funerals all through
the day and night-
-sometimes burning
8-10 bodies simulta-
neously.”
He said that bod-
ies are arriving
both in privately
owned vehicles as
well as hospital
a m b u l a n c e s ,
which have been
drawn in to ser-
vice as hearses.
Yet, there are long
queues of grieving
families at hospitals
such as the Civil Hos-
pital in Asarwa,
where so-called
“dead body vans” are
in short supply.
It isn’t just hears-
es, though. The Civ-
il Hospital is also
running short of
doctors, due to
which it has been
adding medical per-
sonnel from Surat,
Jamnagar, Va-
dodaraandBhavna-
gar. So far, about 70
senior doctors have
been added to its
growing roster,
with 39 doctors ar-
riving on Saturday,
and another 31 ex-
pected to begin
their deputation
from Monday.
A long queues of grieving families at the Civil Hospital
in Asarwa, where so-called “dead body vans” are in
short supply. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
GUPTA BEHAVING LIKE A DICTATORGUPTA BEHAVING LIKE A DICTATOR,,
NO TRANSPARENCY OR ACCOUNTABILITY: KHEDAWALANO TRANSPARENCY OR ACCOUNTABILITY: KHEDAWALA
SVP Hospital. —FILE PHOTO
OFFICER IN CHARGE OF AHMEDABAD’S ANTI-NCOV EFFORTS BLOCKED
THE MLA ON TWITTER FOR ASKING UNCOMFORTABLE QUESTIONS
Khedawala contracted, and beat, the novel coronavirus earlier this year. —FILE PHOTO

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020
First India Bureau
Amreli: A 26-year-old
trans person from
Munjiasar village in
Bagasara taluka, who
recently transitioned
from female to male,
has become an inspi-
ration to many to live
fearlessly and be true
to oneself.
Born Amita to Savjib-
hai Rafaliya in 1994,
Aditya Savjibhai Rafal-
iya says he was never
comfortable with the
idea of growing into a
“young woman”, even
as a child.
Aditya grew up
within the usual pa-
rameters of his as-
signed gender—even
becoming well known
as a bhajan singer—
but was often called
her father’s “son”. As
“she” got older, “Ami-
ta” felt a growing dis-
connect between
“her” assigned gen-
der and how “she”
felt inside.
He first discussed the
idea of transitioning
with his family as a
teen and, after years of
hormone therapy, final-
ly underwent a series of
gender reassignment
surgeries at a hospital
in New Delhi recently.
In the mean time, Adi-
tya has also been busy
legally establishing
himself as a man. Hav-
ing officially changed
his name, he now also
has an Aadhar card that
represents his pre-
ferred gender.
“I was very confused
as a child but realized I
was different when I
reached adolescence. So
I had a frank conversa-
tion with my family,
who supported me,”
Aditya said.
How Amita from an Amreli village became Aditya
Noted bhajan singer’s courage being seen
as inspiration to live life on own terms
GENDER REASSIGNMENT
She left behind a note threatening to commit suicide if the cops fail to take action against her ex
First India Bureau
Valsad: A 20-year-old
woman has disap-
peared after leaving a
note in which she
threatened to commit
suicide by “either by
jumping in front of a
running training or
eat poisoning”.
According to the
complaint filed at the
Dungra police station
on Saturday, Javed, the
married ex-boyfriend
of Sarmistha (name
changed) is responsible
for her actions.
Her parents, who
filed the complaint, said
she had fallen in love in
Javed four years ago.
When they learnt about
the relationship, they
and other elders con-
vinced her to end it,
which she did.
Last year,
Sarmistha’s parents ar-
ranged for her to marry
a boy from Kanpur in
Uttar Pradesh. The
couple was supposed to
be formally engaged on
December 06.
When Javed learned
about this development
he tried to reconnect
with Sarmistha, who
spurned his advances.
An bitter Javed then
began to message
Sarmistha’s fiance de-
tails about their rela-
tionship.
As a result, the boy’s
family threatened to
call of the wedding, but
were convinced by
Sarmistha’s family that
Javed was merely try-
ing to cause trouble.
When the messages
failed to have the de-
sired effect, Javed began
to send nude pictures of
Sarmistha to the fiance.
As Javed intended, the
fiance’sfamilycalledoff
the wedding.
This left Sarmistha
broken-hearted,herpar-
ents told the police, who
have registered a case
under the Information
and Technology Act and
other IPC sections.
In the note she left be-
hind, Sarmistha wrote:
“My name is… and my
father name is…. My en-
gagementwasfixedwith
a boy from Kanpur for
December 06. However,
my ex-boyfriend Javed
sentmyfiancenudepho-
tosof me,takenwhenwe
were in a relationship
four years ago. Because
of this, my engagement
will not take place. I re-
quest the police to either
take action against
Javed. If not, I will com-
mit suicide either by
consuming poison or
jumping in front of a
running train.”
An investigation is
ongoing.
Woman disappears after ex
sends nude pix to her fiance
DESPERATE
Dungra police have registered a complaint. —FILE PHOTO
Man pays `3L to have
lover’s husband killed
First India Bureau
Palanpur: Dhanera
police arrested two
people for their al-
leged involvement
in the murder of a
priest in the village
of Gola. According
to police, the two ac-
cused allegedly
hired a hitman to
kill the priest. One
of the accused is
from Rajasthan, po-
lice said, adding
that they cracked
the case less than 36
hours after they re-
ceived a complaint
about a murder.
Rameshbharti Gos-
wami was a priest of
the Dharnodhar tem-
ple in the village. Ac-
cording to Dhanera
police, the priest’s
wife had an extra-
marital affair with a
person named Shiva
Patel. When the priest
heard about this af-
fair, he asked Shiva
not to visit his home
in his absence.
This angered Shiv-
abhai and he decided
to hire a contract kill-
er to murder
Rameshbhai. The
man hired a person
named Prakash Lu-
har to kill the priest.
Police went on say
that Luhar had called
his friend Lunaram
Meghval from Ra-
jasthan to help him
murder the priest.
Local Crime
Branch team tracked
the accused from the
call data record of the
deceased and arrested
both the accused. Af-
ter primary investiga-
tions, the two accused
admitted that they
had committed the
crime and said that
the contract had been
given by Shiva.
The accused per-
sons had called the
priest on Thursday
night, when he
reached the outskirts
of his village. The ac-
cused dragged him
into an isolated area
and murdered him,
police said.
Shiva Patel, who al-
legedly gave the con-
tract for murder, has
not been arrested.
Prakash Luhar and Lunaram Meghval have been arrested.
Diamond-studded masks in
demand during pandemic
Guj maintains 1,500+
average in daily jumps
Man slaps wife forarguing with cop over fine
First India Bureau
Rajkot: Local police
witnessed violence in
front of their own
eyes on Saturday, but
they were powerless
in the situation. Ac-
cording to officials, a
man allegedly slapped
his wife in public for
arguing with police,
but the law enforce-
ment officials were
unable to intervene
as the woman de-
clined to lodge a com-
plaint against him.
A video of the inci-
dent has also been circu-
lating on social media
since Sunday morning.
In the video, the couple
was stopped by police on
duty near Trikon Baug
in the city for not wear-
ing face masks.
Police sources say
that when a woman po-
lice constable asked the
couple to pay Rs1,000 for
not wearing face masks,
the husband cooperated
and was ready to pay
the fine. The wife, how-
ever, started arguing
with police and refused
to pay the penalty.
Even when the man
begged his wife to stop
arguing with the cops,
she continued to argue
and was reluctant to
pay fine. She even
talked about calling
her uncle and said he
has some connection
with police.
As she went on to ar-
gue, the husband, in
anger, slapped her.
The police had asked
him not to be abusive
and even asked the
woman if she wanted
to lodge a complaint
against her husband.
Before the situation
went out of control,
the police allowed the
couple to go on with-
out fining them.
Ancient
utensils
unearthed
at Uparkot
First India Bureau
Surat: The city’s busi-
nesses definitely know
how to make the best of
a bad situation, even
though it’s in the midst
of a pandemic. With the
wedding season quickly
approaching, Surat’s
artisans have now de-
signed diamond-stud-
ded face masks to help
reduce the spread of
COVID-19.
A family from Mum-
bai recently ordered a
diamond-studded mask
from an artisan from
the city. In the last
month, 12 such masks
have been made and dis-
patched so far.
Mask-maker and
state director of the In-
dian bullion jewellers
association Nainesh
Pacchighar, said that
some families from
Mumbai have ordered
for these diamond-stud-
ded masks.
Even jewellers from
Mumbai are ordering
these special masks,
which cost between
Rs1.5 lakh and 4 lakh,
and are each embel-
lished with about 2.5
carats worth of dia-
monds, sources said.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Guja-
rat has recorded 1,564
new cases of COV-
ID-19 in the last 24
hours—one of the
highest spikes so far,
the state health de-
partment said on Sun-
day evening. This
takes the total case
load in the state to
2,08,278. With anoth-
er 16 patients suc-
cumbing during the
day, the death toll has
now reached 3,969.
Ahmedabad district
added 345 news cases on
Sunday, followed by 287
in Surat, 181 in Va-
dodara, 149 in Rajkot, 58
in Gandhinagar, 57 in
Kheda, and 51 in
Mehsana district.
With 1,451 patients
discharged in a day, the
recovery rate now
stands at 90.95%. Over
68,960 tests were con-
ducted in the last 24
hours across the state,
taking the total to more
than 77 lakh.
There are now 14,889
active cases in Gujarat,
with 86 patients on ven-
tilator support.
The Ahmedabad civic
body says the city has
2,739 active cases. How-
ever, this does not in-
cludethepatientsadmit-
ted to private hospitals.
First India Bureau
Junagadh: The
state archeology
department has
started renova-
tion work at the
Uparkot Fort in
the Junagadh
district. During
an excavation,
the archeology
team dug out an-
cient mud uten-
sils. The team
also found a
carved pillar at
the Adi-Kadi
Vav (stepwell).
Uparkot Fort in
Junagadh was the
home of King
Khengara—the
12th century Chu-
dasama ruler of
the Saurashtra
region—and his
queen Ranakade-
vi. The queen
lived in a palace
in the hill steps of
Girnar. The
Ranakadevi pal-
ace was converted
into a mosque by
Mahmud Begada,
who had defeated
the last king of
Junagadh.
Before and after transitioning.
A man gets tested for COVID-19 after being found riding without
a mask, in Ahmedabad. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
IN PREPARATION
Ahmedabad’s Gurudwara Gobind Dham is decorated on Sunday evening ahead of Guru Nanak Dev Ji Jayanti, which marks
the birth of the ﬁrst Sikh guru, Guru Nanak, on Monday. —HANIF SINDHI
The incident was caught on CCTV cameras.
About a dozen of these masks
have been sold in a month.
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
1,564 cases, 16
fatalities take state
tally to 2,08,278
cases, toll to 3,969

‘Will turn...
“The BJP will not un-
dermine any election,
whether they are gully
or national elections.
We have come to Hy-
derabad because you
don’t come out of your
farmhouse and your
government has not
cleaned up even a single
gully,” he said.
Referring to the alle-
gations that the BJP
ministers had not come
to call on people when
Hyderabad was in
floods and the Modi gov-
ernment had not given
a single rupee towards
floodrelief,Shahsought
to know whether KCR
or All India Majlis-e-It-
tehadul Muslimeen
(AIMIM) leaders had
visited any flood-affect-
ed areas.
“The chief minister
did not come out of his
bungalow, when the ad-
jacent colonies were
reeling under flood wa-
ter,” he said.
He reminded that
the Centre had given
Rs 500 crore to Telan-
gana under state and
central disaster relief
funds. The Centre had
also given Rs 4,500
crore for various infra-
structure development
works in Hyderabad.
“Perhaps he doesn’t
know about this, be-
cause he doesn’t go to
the Secretariat,” Shah
said.
Reacting to MIM
president Asaduddin
Owaisi’s question as to
what the Centre was do-
ing when Rohingyas
were staying illegally in
the country, Shah said
everybody had watched
on television sets as to
who had made a hue
and cry in Parliament,
when the Centre was
bringing a bill to repat-
riate Rohigyas. “Let
Owaisi give it in writ-
ing. We shall drive away
Rohingyas immediate-
ly,” he said. —Agencies
On Dev...
On the work front, PM
will inaugurate a six-
lane stretch of the na-
tional highway between
the city and Prayagraj.
He will also undertake
a site visit of Kashi
Vishwanath temple cor-
ridor project and go to
the Sarnath archaeo-
logical site as well.
The 73-km stretch of
the newly widened and
six-lane NH19, which
has been made with a
cost of Rs 2,447 crore, is
expected to reduce the
travel time between
Prayagraj and Varanasi
an hour, it added.
On Sunday’s Mann Ki
Baat, PM Modi sprung
up a surprise when he
informed that Varanasi
will get an ancient statu-
ette of Goddess An-
napurna that had been
stolen about 100 years
ago and had been trans-
ited to Canada.
Farmers reject...
They said the farmers
will not accept any con-
ditional dialogue and
will block all five entry
points to Delhi.
“The condition laid
down by Home Minister
Amit Shah is not ac-
ceptable to us. We will
not hold any condition-
al talks. We reject the
government’s offer. The
blockade will not end.
We will block all five en-
try point to Delhi,” Sur-
jeet S Phul, Bhartiya
Kisan Union’s Punjab
president, told report-
ers. —Agencies
Covidshield trial...
for its testing, ‘manu-
facture and distribu-
tion’, failing which le-
gal action would be
taken. The legal notice
has been sent to Pune
based Serum Institute
of India (SII), which has
collaborated with Ox-
ford University and As-
tra Zeneca, a pharma-
ceutial company, in con-
nection with making of
the vaccine, ‘Covid-
shield.’ —PTI
Amit Shah...
The new flyovers are ex-
pected to help ease traf-
fic congestion. SG High-
way, which connects
Ahmedabad, the state’s
biggest city, with its
capital Gandhinagar
sees an average of
about 50,000 vehicles
per day. In 2016-17, the
state government had
announced the expan-
sion of a 44-kilometre
stretch, connecting
Sarkhej to Gandhina-
gar to Chiloda. Eleven
flyovers are planned on
this stretch, which is
part of National High-
way 147.
The Sanand junction
flyover and Pakwan
flyover are each 28m
long and have been de-
veloped at a cumulative
cost of Rs71 crore. The
total project is estimat-
ed to cost Rs867 crore
and will include a
4.5km-long elevated
corridor.
Rajkot fire...
the fire department
about the blaze which
began at 12.22 am and
did not inform the po-
lice at all. SIT is still not
certain about the cause
of the fire, but stated
that the hospital lacked
an automatic sprinkler
system, which could
have doused the fire
and saved the lives of
the patients.
FROM PG 1
INDIAAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020
New Delhi: After
spending another night
in the cold, thousands
of farmers continued to
protest against the Cen-
tre’s new agri laws on
the fourth consecutive
day on Sunday, staying
put at the Singhu and
Tikri border points. #
“We do not accept the
condition of their (govt)
proposal. We are ready
to talk but will not ac-
cept any condition
now,” said Gurnam Sin-
gh Chadhoni, Haryana
unit president for the
Bhartiya Kisan Union.
Darshan Pal, Punjab
president of Krantikari
Kisan Union, said, “The
government has invited
us to talk with condi-
tions. The environment
should be created for a
conversation. We will
not talk if there are any
conditions”.
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah appealed to
the farmers to shift to
the Burari ground and
had said the Centre was
ready to hold discus-
sions with them as soon
as they move to the des-
ignated place. A delega-
tion of the farmers has
been invited for a dis-
cussion on December 3,
he said, adding now that
some of their unions
have demanded that
talks should be held im-
mediately, the central
government is ready to
do so as soon as the pro-
testersshifttogroundin
Burari.—PTI
Situation remains tense around
Delhi-UP border and beyondHundreds of farmers from Rajasthan Punjab continued to join the farmers’ protest at the border areas
A large number of farmers gather during their protest against the
farm laws at Singhu border in New Delhi on Sunday.
A women farmer holds a stick during their protest against the
farm laws at Delhi-Ghaziabad border in New Delhi on Sunday.
New Delhi: Nearly 71
per cent of the 496 new
COVID-19 fatalities re-
ported in a span of 24
hours from 8 states and
union territories with
Delhi recording the
highest number of 89
deaths followed by Ma-
harashtra with 88 and
West Bengal with 52,
the Union health minis-
try said on Sunday. It
said 22 states and UTs
have recorded case fa-
tality rates lower than
the national average of
1.46 per cent.
The total cases
mounted to 93,92,919
with 41,810 new infec-
tions being reported in
a day, while the death
toll climbed to 1,36,696
with 496 new fatalities.
The active COVID-19
caseload remained be-
low 5 lakh for the 19th
consecutive day.There
are 4,53,956 active coro-
navirus infections in
the country which com-
prises 4.83 per cent of
the total caseload, the
data stated.
The number of peo-
ple who have recuper-
ated from the disease
surged to 88,02,267
pushing the national re-
covery rate to 93.71 per
cent. India’’s COVID-19
tally had crossed the 20-
lakh mark on August 7,
30 lakh on August 23
and 40 lakh on Septem-
ber 5. It went past 50
lakh on September 16,
60 lakh on September
28, 70 lakh on October
11, crossed 80 lakh on
October 29, and sur-
passed 90 lakh on No-
vember 20. As per
ICMR, over 13.95 crore
samples have been test-
ed up to November 28
with 12,83,449 samples
being tested on Satur-
day. The 496 new fatali-
ties include 89 from
Delhi, 88 from Maha-
rashtra 52 from West
Bengal, 30 from Hary-
ana, 28 from Punjab, 25
from Kerala and 21 from
Uttar Pradesh.
1,36,696 deaths have
been reported so far in
the country including
46,986 from Maharash-
tra, 11,750 from Karna-
taka, 11,694 from Tamil
Nadu, 8,998 from Delhi,
8,322 from West Bengal,
7,718fromUP, 6,981from
Andhra Pradesh, 4,765
from Punjab, 3,953 from
Gujarat and 3,237 from
Madhya Pradesh. —PTI
Coronavirus: Cause for worry as
cases rise steadily in 8 states UT
Bhopal: Madhya
Pradesh, which is
known as the tiger
state of India, has lost
26 striped animals so
far this year, as per the
National Tiger Conser-
vation Authority.
Reacting to it, Mad-
hya Pradesh Forest
Minister Vijay Shah
told PTI that the aver-
age death rate of tigers
was less compared to
their birth rate in the
state in last six years.
According to the Na-
tional Tiger Conserva-
tion Authoritys (NTCA)
website, out of the 26
tiger deaths reported
since April this year,
MP lost 21 felines inside
the tiger reserves, in-
cluding 10 in the Band-
havgarh Tiger Reserve.
No tiger death was re-
ported in the first three
months of this year, as
per the data.
In 2019, the state lost
28 tigers while three
cases of seizures of
body parts due to poach-
ing were also reported.
Karnataka, which is
on the second position
in the number of tigers
in the country, regis-
tered eight deaths and
two seizures of tiger
body parts this year, as
per the data. The state
lost 12 big cats last year.
Right now, MP has
124 tiger cubs. The cubs
were not counted dur-
ing the last census (in
2018). In the next count,
we are going to have
more than 600 tigers,
Mr Shah said.
We have more tigers
than the area for them.
Take the example of
Bandhavgarh Tiger Re-
serve-it has 125 tigers
whereas it has the terri-
tory to house only 90,
he said. The minister
attributed the big num-
ber of tiger deaths in
Bandhavgarh to the ter-
ritorial fight among the
big cats for space and
dominance. —PTI
MP loses 26 Tigers;
birth rate rore than
deaths, says govt
Thiruvananthapuram:
Kerala Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan has
said that the State Dis-
aster Management Au-
thority has directed the
public to be vigilant as
the impact of the low-
pressure area formed in
the Bay of Bengal may
cause extremely heavy
rainfall and strong
winds in parts of Kera-
la. “Going to sea from
the coast of Kerala will
be completely banned
from midnight on No-
vember 30 as the sea is
likely to be very rough
from December 1. —PTI
Chennai: The Chennai
Air Customs officials
have seized 3.15 kilo-
gram of gold worth Rs
1.57 crores from Chen-
nai International Air-
port and arrested three
accused in connection
with the recovery. As
per a tweet by Chennai
Air Customs on Sun-
day, gold sheets or foils
were recovered from
LCD monitors, 12 gold
sheets from a laptop
and a trolley bag and
three packets of gold
paste were recovered
from the pant of the ac-
cused. —ANI
Gold worth Rs
1.57 cr seized at
Chennai Airport
Heavy rains likely
in Kerala over
next few days
Mumbai: Late music
composer Wajid Khan's
wife, Kamalrukh Khan,
has claimed she was
subjected to scare tac-
tics was made an
outcast by her in-laws
after she refused to con-
vert to Islam.Wajid
Khan of duo Sajid-Wa-
jid passed away in June.
Opening up about her
experience through an
Instagram handle, Ka-
malrukh said she is a
Parsi who got married
to the Dabangg com-
poser under the Special
Marriages Act. —PTI
New Delhi: Bollywood
actor-turned-politician
Urmila Matondkar, who
exited Congress just 5
months after contesting
the 2019 Lok Sabha elec-
tions on its ticket, will
join the Shiv Sena on
Monday. In her state-
ment, Urmila Matond-
kar said, “My political
and social sensibilities
refuse to allow vested
interests in the party to
use me as a means to
fight petty in-house poli-
tics instead of working
onabiggergoalinMum-
bai Congress.” —PTI
Wajid ’s family tried to
convert me to Islam: Wife
Urmila Matondkar set to
join Shiv Sena today
‘TALK TO FARMERS
UNCONDITIONALLY’
Wajid Khan’s wife KamalrukhUrmila Matondkar
People wearing face masks stand in line to enter a station in New Delhi. —FILE PHOTO
HOLY DIP BANNED ON KARTIK PURNIMA
Panaji: The Indian
Navy has recovered
some debris of the
MiG-29K aircraft that
went missing 3 days
back in the Arabian
Sea off the Goa coast,
a spokesperson said
on Sunday, adding the
search continued
with ships and air-
craft for missing pilot
CdrNishantSingh.In
addition to nine war-
ships and 14 aircraft
engaged in search ef-
forts, Indian Navy’s
FastInterceptorCraft
also deployed to
search waters along
the coast, a defence
releasesaid.TheMiG-
29K trainer aircraft
crashed into the Ara-
bian sea on Thursday.
One of the pilots on
boardtheaircraftwas
rescued while an op-
eration is still under-
way to locate Com-
mander Nishant Sin-
gh. The Mig-29 air-
craft operate from the
IndianNavy’saircraft
carrier INS Vikrama-
ditya. —PTI
MiG debris located
in search operation
—PHOTOSBYANI

TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020
KEEPING IT MOVINGKEEPING IT MOVINGWhy some people find it easier to stick to new habits they formed during lockdownWhy some people find it easier to stick to new habits they formed during lockdown
P
eriods of
l o ck d ow n
represent a
massive disruption
to people’s daily
routines, but they
also offer an oppor-
tunity to establish
new habits.
Our research fo-
cus is on what moti-
vates people to
change their behav-
iour, particularly
when it comes to
physical activity
routines.
We compared the
levels of physical
activity of New Zea-
landers before and
during the coun-
try’s major lock-
down between
March and May. We
found 38.5% of our
sample were doing
more physical ac-
tivity then they did
prior to lockdown.
But 36% did less
and 25.5% were do-
ing about the same.
More interesting
was that people
whose physical ac-
tivity was either
below or at the
World Health Or-
ganization’s (WHO)
r e c o m m e n d e d
guideline of 150
minutes of moder-
ate activity per
week increased
their activity, while
those who were
highly active pre-
lockdown did less.
Understanding
motivation
Approved lock-
down activities spe-
cifically allowed
exercise and physi-
cal activity as long
as people stayed in
their local neigh-
bourhood. These
messages rein-
forced the benefits
of being active,
which are well rec-
ognised for both
physical health and
mental health.
Our study shows
23% of participants
decided to increase
their physical activ-
ity to improve their
physical and men-
tal health. Both the
New Zealand gov-
ernment and the
WHO emphasized
the link between ex-
ercise and health
and our results
back it up—being
physically active
during lockdown
was associated with
greater self-report-
ed psychological
well-being. We
measured this us-
ing the WHO-5 Well-
being Index.
Motivation is not
an all-or-nothing
p h e n o m e n o n .
There are different
types of motiva-
tion and each has a
different influence
on how likely a per-
son is to change
their behaviour
and to maintain a
new habit.
Someone who en-
joys being active
and sees the value
of it experiences
what is called au-
tonomous motiva-
tion. This provides
a strong impetus for
people to continue
being active in the
long term.
In contrast, some-
one who is active
because they feel
they have to be (for
example, their GP
told them they need
to improve a health
condition) or to
avoid feeling guilty
about not getting
enough exercise is
experiencing con-
trolled motivation.
Our results show
that, during lock-
down, people’s lev-
els of physical ac-
tivity were associ-
ated with autono-
mous motivation,
reflecting research
from other coun-
tries.
Previous re-
search has shown
autonomous moti-
vation leads to sus-
tained physical ac-
tivity behaviour.
People who recog-
nise and value the
physical and mental
health benefits of
beingactivearelike-
ly to have continued
being active once
lockdown restric-
tions were lifted.
MATTHEW JENKINS
Research Fellow, University
of Otago
ELAINE HARGREAVES
Associate Professor of
Exercise Psychology,
University of Otago
Autonomous motivation, experienced when you enjoy being active and see the value of it,
provides a strong impetus to continue being active in the long term. —SHUTTERSTOCK
A woman does yoga in her kitchen. —KATE GREEN/GETTY IMAGES
Exercise gave a lot of people a good excuse to get outside.
O
ur research
shows lock-
down prompted
people to make chang-
es. But then the end of
lockdown changed the
context in which new
habits were formed,
which might explain
why activity levels
dropped again.
That’s not to say
these habits are lost
forever. It just takes a
bit of conscious effort
to transpose the habit
to a new context—to
non-lockdown real life.
Having autonomous
motivation will sup-
port this recommit-
ment.If you find your-
self less active now
compared to the lock-
down period, you can
use this time as an op-
portunity for another
reset. Think about why
being physically active
is important to you.
Whether to experi-
ence all the wonderful
health benefits, as a
chance to reconnect
with family and
friends, or any other
reason you value, you
can use this motivation
to recommit to new
habits. Identify times
and places to be physi-
cally active, and repeat.
HOLDING ON TO
GOOD HABITS
T
wo other popular
reasons for being
active during
lockdown were because
people had more time
(25%) or simply because
it was a good excuse to
get outside (19%). This
might partly explain
why some people stopped
their physical activity
after lockdown.
Once lockdown fin-
ished, the extra spare
time many people re-
ported was likely re-
duced again. Similarly,
once restrictions were
lifted, the use of physi-
cal activity as an excuse
to get outside wasn’t nec-
essary.
Autonomous motiva-
tion is not the only influ-
ence on whether physi-
cal activity is sustained
or not.
Habits are formed as a
result of repeated behav-
iours. Once a habit has
been formed, it becomes
automatic, thus taking
very little to no con-
scious cognitive effort to
maintain.
A key feature of habit
formation is the role of
context. If the context is
kept constant during the
early days of a new be-
haviour, it is more likely
to become a habit. Dur-
ing lockdown, people
spent a lot of time in and
around one specific con-
text—their home.
Consistently under-
taking activities in the
same location, possibly
at the same time (an-
other influence on suc-
cessful habit forma-
tion), would have
helped make physical
activity habitual.
But this mechanism
works both ways. When
“bad” habits are formed,
they are often more dif-
ficult to break.
The role of context
During New Zealand’s lockdown, people put teddies in
windows to encourage children to go for walks.
—STEVE TODD/SHUTTERSTOCK
Source: THECONVERSATION.COM

A mind will either wear out or
rust away. We have to decide
ourselves what our mind will do-
it is purely a decision not a chance.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 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
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Fancy
number plates have
often caught the fancy
of many, even if it
costs a veritable for-
tune. Many luxury
car buyers often want
to get a customised
number plate which is
either their year of
birth or some number
special to them.
These customised
number plates are very
expensive and could
even cost in lakhs. Take
Ashik Patel, a business-
man based out of Guja-
rat,whosplurgedahuge
Rs 34 lakh to get a “VIP
number plate” for his
vehicle that he bought
for Rs 40 lakh.
The usual procedure
of getting a VIP number
is through bidding.
Through this process,
the person who bids the
highest, gets the num-
ber. According to a re-
port in CarBlogIndia,
Patel wanted the num-
ber ‘007’ for his vehicle
as he believes this is a
lucky number for him
and has helped him
prosper. Once he makes
a cheque of Rs 34 lakh to
the Ahmedabad Region-
al Transport Office, he
gets 007.
And there were many
who wanted 007. The
bidding, says the report,
started with a price of
Rs 25,000. The process
went on for the entire
day and had reached Rs
25 lakh. When there
were only seven min-
utes left for the bidding,
Patel made a handsome
bid of Rs. 34 lakh to seal
the deal.
The difference in the
price of the car, Toyota
Fortuner, and the cho-
sen number is only Rs 6
lakh. Interestingly, Pa-
tel’s is not a unique case.
Bids for number 001 had
touched over a crore odd
rupees. However, amid
the corona crisis, the 001
number went compara-
tively cheap for only Rs
5.65 lakh.
JAMES BOND? This Gujju paid `34L for ‘007’ number
An Ahmedabad businessman bought
this registration number for his SUV
that cost just Rs 6 lakh more
COOL DEAL!
Surat has separate masks
for bride groom guests
First India Bureau
Surat: Even as the
Covid-19 pandemic
refuses to go and is
getting nastier, face
masks have become a
part of life -- and so
are shaping new fash-
ion trends. And tex-
tile city Surat is lead-
ing from the front.
With the wedding
season having set in
bang in the middle of a
scary second Covid-19
wave, Suratis are find-
ing ways to dovetail the
mask in the clothing
paraphernalia.
So, there are designer
masks with “ladkiwale”
and “ladkewale”
stitched on them to
identify guests from the
side of the bride and
bridegroom. This has
also become helpful,
given that the State
Government has put a
cap of 100 guests in
weddings.
The bride-groom
masks are available an-
ywhere from Rs 50 to Rs
500. With new entrant
d i a m o n d - s t u d d e d
masks, there are these
masks also in Surat.
“These days masks
are the main style state-
ment. The focus is not
on clothes anymore!”
says Pooja Jain, a lead-
ing fashion designer.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Na-
tional High Speed
Rail Corporation Lim-
ited might have signed
the contract for de-
sign and construction
of 47% of the align-
ment for India’s big-
gest infrastructure
project, the bullet
train, with much fan-
fare on Thursday, but
the story lies in the
fine print.
The 2022 completion
target for the ambitious
bullet train, which is be-
ing hailed as a game
changer, may be pushed
by at least another 2
years with the NHSRCL
clearly estimating a
4-year duration for com-
pletion of the works
from the date of com-
mencement of the con-
tract.
The signing of the
contract agreement
with Larsen Toubro
entails design and
construction of 237-
km length of viaduct
between Vapi (Zaroli
village in Maharash-
tra- Gujarat border)
and Vadodara in Gu-
jarat for 508 km of
the Mumbai-
Ahmedabad High
Speed Rail Corridor.
Although the Central
Government has been
pulling out all stops to
gift India its first bullet
train in 2022, to mark 75
years of Independence,
an official NHSRL com-
munique has indicated
that that 2022 might be a
wee bit early. The com-
munique reads, “The
duration for completion
of the works is 4 years
from the date of com-
mencement of the con-
tract.”
According to the
NHSRCL, the contract
signed on Thursday cov-
ers 4 stations of Vapi,
Bilimora, Surat and
Bharuch, Surat Depot,
14 river crossings, 42
road crossings, six rail-
way crossings, includ-
ing one mountain tun-
nel of 350 metres.
Japanese Ambassa-
dor to India Satoshi Su-
zuki attended the con-
tract agreement cere-
mony for the longest
civil work package (C-4)
of the Mumbai-
Ahmedabad High Speed
Rail (MAHSR) Corridor.
The Rs 25,000-crore
package will be execut-
ed by Larsen Toubro.
The technical bids for
this tender were opened
on September 23 and the
financial bids were
opened on October 19
following evaluation of
technical bids. The let-
ter of acceptance was
issued on October 28,
2020.
Bullet train not fast enough to
meet promised 2022 deadline
TOUGH TIMELINE
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe (left) posing in a model of the
bullet train, the foundation stone of which was laid on Sept 14, 2017.
Oxygenunitsaskedtokeep
50%supplyforCovidcare
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: With
the post-Diwali
surge in Covid-19
cases in Gujarat,
the State Health De-
partment has di-
rected oxygen pro-
duction units to set
aside 50% of their
production for med-
ical use to ensure
uninterrupted sup-
plies to coronavirus
patients. This is the
second such notifi-
cation after one on
September 10.
In its latest order of
November 26, the
Health Department
has directed oxygen
production units to
run at their maxi-
mum capacity. They
have been asked to
keep 50% for hospitals
and divert the remain-
ing for industrial use.
The units have also
been asked to give pri-
ority to supply oxygen
to hospitals as com-
pared to industries, in
case the need arises.
The order would re-
main in operation till
December 31, said the
notification. The sim-
ilar notification of
September was effec-
tive for a month, and
was not revised with
the number of Cov-
id-19 cases having
come down.
Gujarat Food and
Drug Control Admin-
istration Commis-
sioner HG Koshiya
earlier said the de-
mand for medical oxy-
gen reduced in Octo-
ber as compared to
September. The oxy-
gen consumption
stood at 135 tonne a
day in October, com-
pared to 240 tonne in
September, he said.
However, in the re-
cent weeks, the state
has seen a new surge
of COVID-19 cases,
which has led to an
increase in the use of
medical oxygen in
hospitals treating
such patients.
The State reported
1,564 new coronavirus
cases on Sunday, tak-
ing the tally to
2,08,278, according to
official figures.
—FILE PHOTO
—FILE PHOTO
Separate masks for relatives of bride and groom.
Surat boy
makes PM’s
sketch, Modi
all praise
First India Bureau
Surat: Impressed
by a 9-year-old
boy’s sketch of
him, Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi
wrote a letter to
him appreciating
his effort.
Parth Gandhi, 9,
a resident of Ma-
hidharpura area
in Surat, decided
to pursue his hob-
by of sketching
during the extend-
ed lockdown.
So, he made a
sketch of Modi.
Seeing his work,
Parth’s family and
relatives advised
him to send it to
the Prime Minis-
ter. And Parth re-
ceived a reply
from Modi, prais-
ing him and
wished him well
for future.
Parth’s father
Mehul Gandhi has
a powerloom unit.
His mother Nimi-
sha Gandhi said
he never took any
professional train-
ing. “We just
brought whatever
tools he demand-
ed,” she said.
Parth quipped, “I
took the PM’s pho-
tograph from the
Internet and made
a sketch.”
AHMEDABAD @ 11 P.M.
With 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew in place in Ahmedabad till December 7, 2020, even the usually crowded Teen Darwaja area in
the old city wears a deserted look, while the poor stay put on a street outside a free food shop. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
High-speed rail corp has stated it will be 4 years after signing of contract on Nov 26, 2020
COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
3,969
DEATHS
2,08,278
CONFIRMED CASES
RAJASTHAN
2,292 DEATHS 2,65,386 CASES
DELHI
WORLD
14,62,945
DEATHS
6,28,72,202
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
94,30,705
CONFIRMED CASES
1,37,151
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
47,071 DEATHS 18,20,059 CASES
UTTAR PRADESH
KARNATAKA
11,765 DEATHS 8,83,899 CASES

AHMEDABAD, MONDAY
NOVEMBER 30, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
POSITIVE
CHANGE
Priyanka Chopra Jonas shared
the news with her fans about her
recent honour of being named
the British Fashion Council’s
Ambassador for ‘Positive Change’.
She will be working in London
for the same, over the
coming year.
THEMONTHTHATWASCITY FIRST BRUSHES UP THE HAPPENINGS OF THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER
IN BOLLYWOOD; COME WHAT MAY... LIFE GOES ON!
TYING A KNOT SOON
Gauhar Khan and Zaid Darbar announced that they will be tying a knot on 25
December. They will be having a private and intimate ceremony with just
close friends and family, due to the pandemic.
DDLJ BACK AGAIN
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge (DDLJ) started playing at
Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir Theatre once again this month after
the theatres finally reopened in Maharashtra after almost eight
months of being shut during COVID. DDLJ has been playing in the
Maratha Mandir since its release on 20 October, 1995.
51 YEARS STRONG
Amitabh Bachchan completed 52 years in the Bollywood
industry and shared a unique artwork made by a fan to
commemorate the star’s major contribution to Indian cinema.
ED-A-MAMMA
Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt officially launched her own conscious
clothing apparel brand for children, ‘Ed-a-Mamma’ this month. The
brand caters to children aged 2 to 14 years.
BLESSED
Bollywood actor Amrita Rao and
husband RJ Anmol welcomed their
first child and were blessed with a
baby boy earlier this month.
WORKING HARD
Taapsee Pannu has been
preparing really hard for
her upcoming film ‘Rashmi
Rocket’. She has been
sharing her fascinating
fitness workouts from the
practice field, as she has
been following strict fitness
regimes to prepare her body
like an athlete.
LICENSED
SCUBA DIVER
Sonakshi Sinha,
who was on a
vacation to the
Maldives recently,
announced
that she is
now a licensed
scuba diver and
attained a 100
percent score in
the open water
diver course test.
JUG JUG JEEYO
Karan Johar kickstarted the shooting of his
upcoming film ‘Jug Jug Jeeyo’ in Chandigarh this
month, with actors Anil Kapoor, Neetu Kapoor,
Varun Dhawan, Kiara Advani and Prajakta Kohli.
The comedy entertainer marks Neetu Kapoor’s
comeback in movies after seven years.
DURGAVATI TO
DURGAMATI
Bhumi Pednekar
revealed the poster
of her upcoming film
‘Durgamati’ which will be
released on 11 December
on the OTT platform.
It was earlier titled
‘Durgavati’. Bhumi will
be portraying a horror
character in the film.
—COORDINATED BY NEHAL NAYAR

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
ROSHNI BHATIA, Influencer
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Be a little proactive on the
professional front and
volunteer to take more
responsibilities. Students
are likely to add a feather in their cap
by bringing in brilliant results in the
studies. Financial front grows stronger
as you come across big money. Right
timing is the key for you.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
A financially sound
investment is likely to
come your way. Your hard
work is likely to be
recognised and get you back into the
rat race. Initiatives taken by you on
the professional front are likely to be
appreciated by all. Good earning is
set to improve your quality of life.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
This is one of your luckiest
days in which you are
poised to achieve the
unachievable! This is a
rewarding day to grab the benefits.
Your performance on a specific task
is likely to come up for praise by
those who matter. Salary increase
may become a reality for some.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Stars indicate a strong
possibility of a windfall. You
continue to excel on the
academic front. Appreciation
comes to you for something achieved
on the professional front. A deeper
understanding with the one you love
can be expected and help strengthen
the loving bonds.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Property related transac-
tions should be postponed
to a later date. A get
together with cousins and
friends will bring in the fun element.
Those looking for jobs may have to
pull up their socks to prepare for the
upcoming interviews. Your hard work
will be quite visible.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Your standing on the social
front may get the boost it
deserves. A comparatively
cooler time at work may
come as a big relief to some. Someone
with his or her self-interest in mind is
likely to appease you. You cannot help
but appreciate your rival on the social
front for his or her achievements.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Those trying to raise a loan
will meet with success.
Moonlighting promises to
earn good money for
some. Choosing healthy alternatives
over junk food is likely to have a
positive effect on your health. Handle
an off-mood family elder with tact.
You will be appreciated.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
A dream you had
harboured for long is about
to be realised. This is an
excellent day that promises
to boost your image both on the
social and professional fronts.
Winning a lucrative deal on the
business front is indicated and will
help in furthering your interests.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Someone can ask you for a
favour on the professional
front. You are likely to
settle well in your work
routine today. At times it is best to
keep your opinions to yourself. A
positive influence on health by
changed lifestyle and self-discipline
will be quite apparent.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You are likely to remain
socially active by meeting
whoever you can and
expanding your circle. A
property owned by you is likely to
give you good returns. Job seekers
may be in for a long wait for getting a
suitable job. Your friend’s circle is set
to increase.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Your sincere efforts on the
academic front are likely to
bring success. You
manage to keep people
who matter on your right side on the
social front. There are many who will
support you when you really require
them. Acquisition of property is in
the pipeline for some.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Professionally, you may
feel on the top of the world
as things move favourably.
Excellent showing on the
academic front will help you join the
lead pack. Your image shines bright,
as you remain at your helpful best.
Marriage of someone close in the
family is likely to get fixed.
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
THREEBAGSFULL:THESADREALITY
ast week was eventful.
The highlights: I inter-
vened in a dog abuse
case, I went hunting for
land to help solve the
‘cow on the road’ prob-
lem, and I attended a
royal wedding.
I received a frantic call from a
young girl. She told me that some
membersof herresidentialcolony
had beaten 30 dogs and puppies
with hockey sticks. Infuriated, I
called upon other activists from
the area to intervene. Every so of-
ten, I receive calls like this where
animals are subjected to cruelty. I
am unable to get involved with
every case that comes my way.
This time I decided to send others
to be the first responders as I was
nursing a sick kitten.
They reported back to me say-
ingthesituationwasbeyondtheir
control and that we would have to
get the police involved. This is
when I got involved and accompa-
niedthegirltothepolicestationso
she could file a formal complaint.
Sadly, the police showed no inter-
est in the pleas of the eyewitness.
Despite our visit to the police sta-
tionandourcomplainttheychose
not to investigate. It has been 4
days now. The police have not
shownupandtheabusecontinues.
Such is the state of our Police.
The girl was advised to contact
Maneka Gandhi by another activ-
ist. Much to my surprise, instead
of supportingthegirl,herandher
assistant screamed back at the
young lady and blamed her for the
actionof thecolonyresidents.Per-
haps our honorable minister is
caught up in her legal battles but
is there a need for her office to
frightenandcausementaltrauma
to a young animal lover? She was
blamed for not having sheltered
the dogs, and called a “mental
case”. Is this what we expect from
theelectedleadersof ourcountry?
Are these the people we vote for? I
rememberinmyinitialdaysasan
activist,mydadwouldspeakhigh-
ly of Maneka Gandhi. I was told
sheistheonlyhopetheanimalsof
our country have. This incident
has tarnished the image I hold of
her. Politics is rife with politics.
Honestly, as a member of the
ruling party, she could have done
so much more in making the laws
more favorable toward animals.
Yet she only responds to individu-
al cases, a strategy I consider fu-
tile. India needs to revisit its ar-
chaic laws altogether. Am I stray-
ing away from my optimistic atti-
tude? Perhaps, this and many
other cases have made me wonder
if India’spoliticalfabricissodeep-
ly stained that it can’t be white-
washed. We seriously must recon-
sider who we nominate, and to
which post.
In one of my previous columns,
I have mentioned the problem of
cows dying due to plastic con-
sumption that we humans very
conveniently discard on roads. In
thatpiece,Ididmentionthatafew
activists and myself are working
to find a solution. So this week we
set off to find government land to
create Gauchar Bhumis or Chara
Gaas. I made a startling discovery
during our meeting with the local
Graham Panchayat. We were in-
formed that the government has
allocatedlandasGaucharBhumis
and Chara Gahs, except as you
may have guessed by now, it is all
been encroached and sold to colo-
nies, and by none other than the
Jaipur Development Authority.
Land reserved for cows and other
free-roaming animals, snatched
away by our very own govern-
ment. Thieves!
How far have we humans gone
inencroachingonnature?Indiais
a country that revers the cow as a
mother. And this is the state they
are in. I feel for the poor bovines.
Government, you bring shame to
thecountry.Andshameonthepeo-
ple who do business with the gov-
ernment knowing well that this
land belongs to the animals.
Now you may ask what angle a
royal wedding adds to all of this.
The hall in the palace was deco-
rated with portraits of Maharajas
and Maharanis. There were also
the remains of the wild animals
shotbymembersof thefamilyand
displayed as trophies, albeit many
decades ago. I could tell from the
conversations that these posses-
sions are a matter of great pride
for the family. They are part of
their family history. I too listened
to the stories of how each animal
was hunted with great interest.
Would I support hunting now, ab-
solutelynot!ButIalsoknowIcan’t
changethepast.Anditwasnotmy
placetotellthegueststhathunting
is wrong. Each one of the guests
regarded himself and herself as
an animal lover. Yet hunting was
not considered animal abuse. For
me, these were just stories. These
animalshavealreadybecomepart
of the royal hallways. All we can
do is hope no more walls get deco-
rated with animals.
Ihopethisweekbringsbrighter
thingsfortheanimalsof ourcoun-
try. May there be more animal
loverbirths!Maymoreparentssay
of their newborn child, “Mere
beta/beti badah hoke acha/achi
insaan banegi!”
MARIAM ABUHAIDERI
thepersianladki@gmail.com
L

B
ollywood ac-
tor Jacque-
line Fer-
nandez on
Sunday an-
nounced a wrap of
the Dharamshala
schedule of her
next horror-come-
dy ‘Bhoot Police’
and shared a picture of herself
holding a rose. Announcing a
wrap on the film’s schedule
from Dharmshala,the ‘Race 3’
star wrote in the caption,
“Schedule wrap #dharamsha-
la #bhootpolice what a crazy
ride that was!!!! I’m miss-
ing the team already!!
#saifalikhan @ar-
junkapoor @yami-
gautam @pa-
vankirpalani @
akshaipuri @
rameshtaurani
@tips @jaya.tau-
rani @savleen-
manchanda @
shaanmu @ab-
hishek4reel @
marcepedrozo
@ t r a v e l -
lingchef_sk @
nat_chava @man-
ishamelwani see you
all soon!!!!” —ANI
S
aved By the Bell reboot
stepped on the wrong
foot of Selena Gomez
fans recently. The show,
which recently began stream-
ing on a streaming service in
the US, left fans of the singer
upset after they joked about
her kidney transplant. For the
unversed, Selena underwent a
transplant in 2017. Her
friend Francia Raisa
stepped up to donate one
of her kidneys to Sele-
na. The writers includ-
ed two instances
about Selena’s sur-
gery in the sixth epi-
sode of the series.
—Agency
ETCwww.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020
11
athaway has
sons Jona-
than and
Jack with
h u s b a n d
Adam Shul-
man, and
she opened up about
motherhood during
an interview with a
magazine.
Talking about her
biggest challenge as
a mother during
lockdown, she said it
was the “laundry”.
However, she went on
to share how mother-
hood has provided
her with “tonnes of
opportunities”.
“I’m always hesi-
tant to frame things
in the realm of chal-
lenges because I
think it sets a tone.
As a mum, I’ve found
tonnes of oppor-
tunities,” she
said.
—Agency
Realm of
challenges
A
nushka Sharma is back
in town and although
pregnant and counting
down days to delivery, she
clearly has no issues shooting during
the pandemic! Anushka also announced that
she intends to start shooting for films as soon as
she delivers her child, due in January 2021.
Anushka, who is currently shooting back to
back endorsements after creating a protective,
full-proof bio-bubble with her staff, says, “It’s
been great being on the set actually and
meeting my entire team and soaking in
the madness of shoots. In fact, I have
loved being back on the sets and shooting.
This year has been tough for our industry but I’m
happy to see it restarting again with the same amount
of passion and energy.” —Agency
H
GLIMPSES OF LOVE
C
amila Cabello and
Shawn Mendes do not
shy away from indulg-
ing in PDA. The couple
has spoken about their love in
interviews and given the world
glimpses of their love story via
photos and videos. However,
Camila revealed it’s not all
hunky-dory!Theinternational
singertooktoInstagramtotalk
aboutherrelationshipwithher
beau. In a lengthy post, she
sharedontheplatform,theCin-
derella star said although it
seems simple in the pictures,
“sometimes, it’s messy and un-
comfortable and ugly lol.”
Nevertheless, “there’s noth-
ing like the pull, the FORCE
that is love, to be the light in
the darkness- to be the gravita-
tional pull that gives you the
relentless strength to be
braver,wiser, and better than
you were yesterday,” she
writes. —Agency
Dedication,
on point
VIRAL SCENE
THE STORY
V
arun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan launched the
trailer of Coolie No 1. While netizens have been
lauding their on-screen chemistry, their under-
water kissing scene went viral. The three-minute trailer
of the David Dhawan directorial
has actor Paresh Rawal going
gaga about how his daughter
has found the world’s richest
man, who is so wealthy that he
can also buy the White House.
Cut to Varun, shown mouthing
the line, “I am on a confer-
ence call with ATM -- Ambani,
Trump, Modi.” Hilarity ensues as Rawal finds Varun
working at a railway station as a coolie. —Agency
A
s his directorial debut ‘The Last Colour,’
is all set to release in theatres in select
states in India on December 11, renowned
chef-turned-filmmaker Vikas Khanna on Saturday
penned down an appreciation post for the lead star of
the film -- Neena Gupta. Khanna took to Instagram to
share a few stills from the film featuring the ‘Badhaai
Ho’ actor and revealed the “story” of the saree that
Gupta wore in the stills. He began by sharing how the
team had shot the Holi sequence —ANI
S
he often goes for
nude lip colour in her
photos on social me-
dia, but in her latest Insta-
gram photo, she has opted
for red lips to promote her
make-up range. In addition
to her bold lips, she wore a
vest top with a pair of dark
skinny jeans. Victoria and her family showed support
for singer Elton John’s AIDS Foundation as they
donned charity T-shirts on Friday, ahead of World
AIDS Day on December 1. She designed the T-shirt
along with the foundation. —Agency
BOLD LOOK
‘KIND SOULS’
I
n an unexpected de-
velopment, Bolly-
wood actress Kanga-
na Ranaut on Satur-
day called her ru-
moured ex-boyfriends
Hrithik Roshan and
Aditya Pancholi kind
souls. Kangana
used the ad-
j e c t i v e s
w h i l e
t a l k i n g
about her
recent ex-
p e r i e n c e
with the gov-
ernment of Ma-
harashtra.
The actress
tweeted from her veri-
fied account on Satur-
day, “The amount of le-
gal cases, abuses, in-
sults, name calling I
faced from Maharash-
tra government in these
few months make Bol-
lywood mafia and peo-
ple like Aaditya Pan-
choli and Hrithik
Roshan seem like
kind souls... I won-
der what is it
about me that rat-
tle people so
much.”
—Agency
Transplant joke
IT’S A WRAP
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello
Anne Hathaway
Anushka Sharma
...her post
Poster of the film
...still from the trailer
Poster of the film
Victoria Bekham’s post
Kangana Ranaut Selena Gomez
Jacqueline Fernandez
...her post

12AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
CITY BUZZ
DURING THE DAY!
BIRTHDAY GREETINGS
Jagdeesh Chandra greeted Mahipal Singh of the
First India family on the occasion of his birthday at
the former’s residence on Sunday morning.
POSTER LAUNCH
Jagdeesh Chandra launched the poster of the second season of Ms and Mrs India Glam, which will take place in
Jaipur on 31 December. This time, the motto will be to spread awareness about COVID-19, to as many people as
possible. Seen here with him are Show Director Pawan Tak, and models Dr Manpreet Tanega, Jyoti Singh, Rakhi Soni,
Kirti Raina, Palak and Anup Choudhary.
BEST WISHES
Jagdeesh Chandra greeted Tripti Sharma on her birthday at his residence
on Sunday. Seen with them are (from left) Swati Jangid, Gaurav Gaur and
Akanksha Bhalla.
CONGRATULATIONS CELEBRATIONS!
People were seen using the joint mask, resorting to any usage
which will work as a mask to avoid being penalised but one
should understand that this is no safety and is a violation of
Corona protocol guidelines.
UP: IAS Dr Rajshekhar, Kanpur was seen enjoying the ‘Rajma
Tacos’ made by his son Leo, also known as Aryan, The Little
Master Chef. “Feeling happy and proud for his interest and
performance in the Culinary Arts,” he said.
RAJ: The exotic black carbon birds were seen sailing in the
beautiful Man Sagar Lake of Jalmahal, Jaipur on Sunday morning.
RAJ: The wedding ceremony of Ranu and Viren was held at
Siyaram Banquet in Jaipur on Saturday. Seen here from left to
right are Kavita, Khushboo, Muskan, Tripti, Vijendra Singh, Ranu,
Gaurav Gaur, Akanksha and Swati.
RAJ: The series of Net Theat’s live shows successfully staged the
drama ‘Romancing with Life’, directed and written by Anurag Raizada
on Saturday. Rajendra Sharma Raju of Net Theat shared that in this
drama based on the life of journalists, the important role of the family
and wife of the journalists can never be ignored.Actor Anurag Raizada
demonstrated the suffering of journalists through his acting.
IAS Dr Jitendra Kumar Soni,
IAS Dr Khushaal Yadav and
IAS Rahul Jain celebrated
their birthdays on 29
November, Sunday. We
wish them all the best!
HAPPY B’DAY!
Young Talent
CITY FIRST, GUJARAT
A
arya Chavda,
an 11-year old
author and il-
lustrator of 4
books till now, has been
fundraising and donat-
ing her art proceedings
for the welfare of un-
derprivileged cancer
patients since she was
8. Through her
books she raises
awareness on rele-
vant topics like her-
itage preservation,
current climate crises,
while leaving the mes-
sage of peace, non-vio-
lence and equality by
depicting the ideologies
and legacy of Mahatma
Gandhi.
Her books are patron-
age and published by
UNESCO, introduced
by United Nations
India and published
in digital platforms
like UNESCO Digi-
tal library and UNE-
SCO Global Citizenship
Education hosted by
APCEIU. Through these
platforms her books are
read by readers of all
age and are acclaimed
worldwide.
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
AAGAAZ AT SKIT
CITY FIRST
T
he Club Orien-
tation event
was organised
by ECA Cell of
Swami Keshvanand
Institute of Technol-
ogy, Management
Gramothan, Jaipur
under ‘Aa-
gaaz-2020’ on
Sunday. The pro-
gram was started
with the speech of
Prof. (Dr.) Ramesh
Kumar Pachar, Prin-
cipal- SKIT.
The event was con-
ducted in online
mode through ‘CISCO
WEBEX’. The infor-
mation presented
during orientation
provides a foundation
for new members. It
helps them under-
stand how the club
functions, what their
role will be and gives
them the big picture
of their past work
and achievements.
Clubs under MHRD
like EBSB guided
new members
about social wel-
fare and motivat-
ed them to
work towards the
nation, Technical
clubs like robotics
provided practical
ideas about new
emerging technolo-
gies, and other clubs
enlightened both aca-
demic and social as-
pects.
GURUNANAKJAYANTI
uru Nanak Jayanti
marks the birth of the
first of the ten Sikh
Gurus – Guru Nanak
Dev ji. Born in 1469 in
Talwandi, he laid the
foundation of Sikh-
ism. Guru Nanak is well known
for travelling far and wide to
spread the message of ‘ik
onkar’ which means One God.
For Nanak, God is one and
formless (‘nirakar’).
Guru Nanak’s teachings,
based mainly on the praise
of virtues and condemna-
tion of vices, can be found in
the sacred Sikh scripture ‘Guru
Granth Sahib’ as a collection of
verses recorded in Gurmukhi.
In the present day, when we are
all facing unprecedented chal-
lenges, some of Guru Nanak’s
teachings have become all the
more significant. On the pious
occasion of Guru Nanak
Jayanti, here are the three
pillars or golden rules of
Sikhism we must practice
in our daily lives to make the
world a better place:
1. Vand Shakko (Share and
Consume)–Sharingwithothers
and helping those in need
2.KiratKaro(WorkHonestly)
–Earninganhonestlivingwith-
out exploitation or fraud
3. Naam Japo (Recite God’s
Name) – Meditating on God’s
name
4. Furthermore, Guru Nanak
believed in restraining the five
evilsof passion–ego,anger,lust,
greed and attachment. His mes-
sage of love, peace and brother-
hood holds special relevance in
today’s times of intolerance and
strife. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
PINKY SINGH
G
CITY FIRST
A
n art competi-
tion was or-
ganised dur-
ing the Digital
Baal Mela by LIC on
Sunday, where the chil-
dren sent in entries
from across the state.
The theme of the com-
petition was ‘Corona
Awareness’, and the
little corona warriors,
Garvita Dave and Ma-
hesh Chaudhary par-
ticipated in the
same with their
stunning master-
pieces. The Digi-
tal Baal Mela was
initially put into ac-
tion for the children in
the state of Rajasthan,
but eventually, the
team received en-
tries from chil-
dren across the
country. This digi-
tal fair for children
will end on 14 Decem-
ber.
SPLASH OF COLOURS
T
he Gitanjali Medical College and
Hospital, Udaipur is treating its
patients with the utmost will and
power even during the COVID times,
and making sure they are in their best
of health. Recently, they had a case
of a pair of twins, who were battling
their lives.
ANEWLIFE
Golden Temple
Ahmedabad Mayor Bijalbel Patel with Aarya Chavda
Participants of the pageant
MISS ICONIC
RAJASTHAN 2020
The auditions of the renowned beauty
pageant Miss Iconic Rajasthan were
held on Sunday at the FacePro
Fashion Academy, Jaipur. Ravi Sharma
shared that the theme of this year is-
‘I am also a Winner’.
—PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA
Garvita
Mahesh
—PHOTO BY NAIM KHAN

First india ahmedabad edition-30 november 2020

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

More from FIRST INDIA

More from FIRST INDIA (20)

First india ahmedabad edition-30 november 2020