An audio clip was shared on social media featuring a conversation between two medical officers in Amreli, Gujarat. In the clip, a junior medical officer complains that he was threatened by Amreli MP Naranbhai Kachhadiya, who was trying to influence him to prioritize attending to a less critical COVID-19 patient over another more critical patient. The MP has refuted the allegations. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has directed private schools in Rajasthan to charge 15% less annual fees for the 2020-21 academic year and ensure students are not denied access to classes or results due to non-payment of fees.

1. Amreli BJP MP threatens medical officer, audio goes viral
First India Bureau
Amreli: An audio clip
between two medical
officers was popular-
ly shared on social
media platforms. A
junior medical offic-
er can be heard com-
plaining that he was
threatened by Amreli
MP Naranbhai
Kachhadiya, who was
trying to influence
him to attend to a less
critical COVID-19 pa-
tient. On the other
hand, Kachhadiya
has refuted the alle-
gations.
The conversation be-
tween Amreli’s senior
medical officer Dr Vi-
pul Patel and Sa-
varkundla’s medical
officer Dr Hardik Bo-
risagar begins with the
latter complaining
about attending to one
patient. MP Kachhadi-
ya allegedly called Dr
Patel four times and
asked him to grant pri-
ority to a particular
patient with an oxygen
level of 93%. On being
asked to follow the
MP’s orders, Dr Borisa-
gar did not seem will-
ing to abandon his oth-
er duties that involved
caring for a patient
with an oxygen level of
60%. Dr Patel then goes
on to advise him to
“deal with politicians
delicately and try to
keep them happy.”
Refuting all allega-
tions, Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) MP
Kachhadiya shared an
audio clip of his con-
versation with Dr Bo-
risagar with First In-
dia. In his defense,
Kachhadiya said that
he had not called Dr Bo-
risagar, but Dr Patel,
who had handed over
the phone to the for-
mer.
He also added that he
did not try to influence
the doctor to give prior-
ity to a less critical
COVID-19 patient. “If a
patient is not required
to be admitted
Turn to P6
MP Naranbhai Kachhadiya. —FILE PHOTO
Naranbhai Kachhadiya wanted Dr
Borisagar to attend a non-critical
patient on a priority basis
IN A SOUP
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AHMEDABAD l TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 157
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD LUCKNOW
PROTESTS AFTER 24 DIE DUE TO ‘OXYGEN
SHORTAGE’ IN KARNATAKA HOSPITAL
Chamarajanagar: As
many as 24 Covid-19 pa-
tients died in the last 24
hours after a govern-
ment hospital in Karna-
taka’s Chamarajanagar
allegedly ran out of
medical oxygen.
ChamarajanagarDep-
uty Commissioner Dr
MRRavi,however,saidit
is yet to be ascertained
whether the pa-
tients died from
lack of oxygen.
“We can’t say
whether all have
diedduetolackof
oxygen,” he said.
The family members
of the deceased staged
a protest in front of the
hospital demanding ac-
tion against officials.
Karnataka CM BS Yedi-
yurappa said he spoke
to Chamarajanagar
commissioner and also
called an emergency
Cabinet meeting on
Tuesday evening.
District in-charge
and Minister for Pri-
mary and Secondary
Education Suresh Ku-
mar said, “I have asked
the administration for a
detailed report on the
exact reason for the
death.” , Karnataka
Congress president DK
Shivakumar alleged
that it is criminal negli-
gence that led to the
deaths. —Agencies
Relatives grieve after 24 Covid-19 patients died, allegedly due
to shortage of oxygen cylinders, in Chamarajanagara District
of Karnataka on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Centre,Guv seek report as post-poll violence
kills many in Bengal; Didi appeals for peace
SC to Raj pvt schools:
Charge 15% less fees
First India Bureau
Jaipur: The Supreme
Court Monday directed
36,000 private unaided
schools of Rajasthan to
charge 15% less annual
fees from students in
academic session 2020-
21 and made clear that
no students be barred
from attending virtual
or physical classes and
their results be not
held up due to non-pay-
ment of fees. SC upheld
Rajasthan HC’s judg-
ment in rejecting chal-
lenge to validity of Ra-
jasthan Schools (Regu-
lation of Fee) Act, 2016
and Rules framed un-
der law governing fixa-
tion of school fees by
the govt-mandated pro-
cedures.
Kolkata: West Bengal
was in the throes of
widespread violence on
Monday that allegedly
left several BJP workers
dead and injured in
clashes, and shops being
looted, prompting the
UnionHomeministry to
seek a factual report
fromthestategovernent
on incidents of attack
on opposition workers.
Videos of arson at a
BJP office with bamboo
poles and roof tiles
burning amid worried
cries of people running
away from the premises
were shared by the par-
ty. Photos of dead men,
and people scampering
with apparel looted
from a shop were every-
where on social media.
BJP claimed at least
six of its workers and
supporters including a
woman was killed in at-
tacks the party blamed
on the TMC.
The BJP shared a
video with journalists
showing a ransacked
party office in Nandi-
gram where piles of
documents, posters, and
broken furniture lay
scattered everywhere.
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee Turn to P6
Fin Min calls for sharing of vax technologies;
says there is no space for vaccine nationalism
New Delhi: Stressing
that there cannot be any
vaccine nationalism, Fi-
nance Minister Nirma-
la Sitharamanon Mon-
day urged nations to
share technologies on
COVID vaccines amid
the pandemic. She also
pitched for examining
Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS) agree-
ment in the light of the
coronavirus pandemic.
“Countries will have to
be open Turn to P6
DOUBLE WHAMMY
PM decides to rope in med interns,MBBS
students to help India fight Corona war
New Delhi: Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi, on Monday,
took some decisions
that will boost the
availability of medical
personnel in COV-
ID duty. The PM
decided to post-
pone NEET-PG
for at least four
months; the
exam will not
be held before
August 31, 2021.
Students will also be
given atleast one
month of time after
the announcement of
the exam before it is
conducted. This will
make a large number
of qualified doctors
available for COVID
duties. It was also de-
cided to allow the de-
ployment of medical
interns in COVID-
management duties
under the supervision
of their faculty
, as part
of the internship rota-
tion. The services of
Final Year MBBS stu-
dents can be utilised
for providing services
like tele-consultation
and monitoring of
mild COVID cases af-
ter due orientation by
and under the supervi-
sion of faculty. This
will reduce the work-
load on existing doc-
tors engaged in COVID
duty and provide a
boost to efforts of tri-
aging. Turn to P6
‘11 CR VAX TO GOVT
IN NEXT FEW MTHS’
SC: REVISIT VAX
PRICING POLICY
New Delhi: Adar Poona-
walla the SSI CEO on
Monday ruled out pos-
sibility of ramping up
production overnight,
saying vaccine making is
a specialised process. He
added that 11 crore vac-
cines would be supplied to
government over the next
few months.
New Delhi: Supreme
Court has directed Centre
to revisit its Covid vaccine
pricing policy, saying it
would prima facie result
in a detriment to the right
to public health. SC said
compelling states to nego-
tiate with manufacturers
would result in serious
detriment for people.
READ
must
must
‘MUMBAI COULD
BE SAFER BY
JUNE 1, IF...
MAHA PREPARING
FOR 3RD WAVE:
AADITYA THACKERAY
Mumbai: As Maha-
rashtra emerges from
the ongoing disastrous
wave of Covid-19, the
state government is pre-
paring to tackle the third
wave. Keeping in mind
the changing behaviour
of the virus which is
also affecting children,
Maharashtra minister
Aaditya Thackeray said,
“As we prepare for 3rd
wave capacity building
in Maharashtra, I met
AMC @SJaiswal_IAS
ji to discuss measures
we’ve undertaken in
Mumbai. I have sug-
gested that we create
a paediatric covid care
ward anticipating the
next wave,” he wrote.
MAMATA MEETS GOVERNOR, TENDERS
RESIGNATION AS CM; OATH ON MAY 5
Kolkata: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee
tendered her resignation as the CM to Governor
Jagdeep Dhankhar at Raj Bhavan here on Monday.
“Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called on me and
submitted her resignation as the chief minister
and the same has been accepted. She has been
requested to continue till alternative arrangements
are made,” tweeted Governor’s office. She is slated
to take oath as CM on May 5 while her cabinet
will take oath on May 6. Meanwhile, Mamata has
vowed to move court over Nandigram result.
Mumbai: Covid fatalities
likely to reduce con-
siderably in Mumbai
by June 1 provided vax
drive continues without
any hindrance and there
is no onset of a new
Covid variant, noted
an analysis carried
by scientists of Tata
Institute of Fundamental
Research. Mathematical
model closely analyzing
reasons for 2nd wave
in Mumbai predicts that
fatalities will peak in 1st
week of May but by July
1 city will be in a posi-
tion to open schools.
SC: No student be barred from virtual
or physical classes; their results be not
held up due to non-payment of fees
TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee met West Bengal Governor
Jagdeep Dhankhar at Raj Bhavan, in Kolkata on Monday.
—PHOTO
BY
PTI
Monday’s IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders
and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Ahmedabad
has been postponed after two KKR players -- Varun
Chakaravarthy and Sandeep Warrier -- tested positive
for COVID-19, an official release stated. Delhi Capitals
have been asked to quarantine by BCCI.
COVID SCARE: MONDAY’S
IPL MATCH BETWEEN KKR
RCB POSTPONED

2. NEWS
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2021
02
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First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
quick reaction time of
staff at the Sir Saya-
jirao General (SSG)
Hospital prevented
what could have
turned into another
tragedy, when they
plugged a leak in the
oxygen pipeline with-
in 20 minutes.
The “minor” leakage
of medical oxygen oc-
curred in the New Sur-
gical Block of Va-
dodara’s SSG Hospital
on Monday morning
after a copper pipe,
which transports medi-
cal oxygen from the
main tank to different
wards, got punctured,
an official said.
About 600 of the 766
COVID-19 patients ad-
mitted at the govern-
ment-run hospital are
on oxygen support.
“It was a minor leak-
age as the copper pipe
got punctured at one
place. A small amount
of oxygen leaked but
supply to our patients
was not hindered since
the puncture was
plugged within 20 min-
utes,” Dr Ranjan Aiyer,
the medical superinten-
dent of the facility
, said.
“The incident did not
affect our patients, who
didn’t even know it had
occurred,” he said.
On April 21, 22 COV-
ID-19 patients suffo-
cated to death when
their oxygen supply
stopped suddenly be-
cause of a malfunc-
tion in the main stor-
age at a civic-run hos-
pital in Nashik city of
Maharashtra.
SURENDRANAGAR
VVIP treatment
with iffy
infrastructure
Not a single hospital in
Surendranagar’s Sayla
Taluka is equipped
with an ICU ward or
ventilators, the dis-
trict bar association
said its report. “Any-
one taking an RT-PCR
test has to wait for two
to three days for the
result; the district
health department
supplies just 30 anti-
gen test kits a day for
the entire taluka; and
Dhanvantri Raths are
white elephants, lying
idle at the Primary
Health Centres,” it fur-
ther said, adding, “No
one in authority visits
the PHC, neither does
anyone report about
the 10-20 COVID-19
emerging every day.
Yet, the Surendrana-
gar district collector
has directed health-
care workers give top
priority to revenue de-
partment officials
when it comes to COV-
ID-19 treatment.
PANCHMAHAL
Patients need
permission to
leave
The district adminis-
tration has made it
mandatory for COV-
ID-19 patients to take
authorities’ permis-
sion before leaving the
district for treatment,
even appointing nodal
officers to aid in the
effort, the bar associa-
tion said. “Although
locals have opposed it,
the practice has been
in place for the past
week. RT-PCR test re-
sults come only after
48 hours,” the Panch-
mahal District Bar As-
sociation said, “The
CT scan machine is
lying idle since the
Civil Hospital has no
technical staff to oper-
ate it. The RT-PCR lab
is not fully functional,
but it is expected to be
operational within a
couple of days.”
NARMADA
Beds hiked but
medico strength
remains same
The Narmada Bar
Association has com-
plained that, while
beds have increased
from 100 to 900 in the
government hospi-
tal, there is only one
MD physician there.
RT- PCR test results
come after three
days, as samples are
sent to Vadodara.
There are ventila-
tors, but no techni-
cians to handle
them, and govern-
ment hospitals have
no equipment to ad-
minister oxygen.
Oxygen is not avail-
able for home quar-
antined.
TAPI
Public hosps lack
ventilators, ICU
beds
The district has popu-
lation of eight lakh,
but the only govern-
ment hospital does not
have either ventilators
or ICU beds. The non-
availability of ventila-
tors has reportedly
caused deaths in the
district. “The RT-PCR
laboratory was inau-
gurated, but has never
been operational. Even
today, samples are sent
to Surat for testing.
Each primary health
centre has only been
given 25 RAT testing
kits. Private hospitals
make patients’ rela-
tives sign documents
saying they will shift
the patient to another
hospital if the need for
a ventilator arises,”
the association said.
BANASKANTHA
No medical
facilities in taluka
hospitals
Palanpur General hos-
pital does not have ICU
beds or ventilators,
and Tharad taluka
lacks all medical facili-
ties. An advocate died
because of the non-
availability of ventila-
tors.
‘MINOR’ O2 LEAK AT SSG HOSP, PATIENTS SAFE
Puncture in copper pipeline
was fixed in 20 minutes
About 600 of the 766 COVID-19 patients admitted at the government-run hospital are on oxygen support. —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Rajkot: In a shocking
claim made by Con-
gress MLA Lalit Kaga-
thara, Morbi may be the
worst-affected district
of the ongoing COV-
ID-19 pandemic. Ac-
cording to Kagathara,
health facilities have
collapsed in the district
and at least 15-17 people
have lost their lives to
the virus in each vil-
lage.
The Tankara constit-
uency MLA told media
persons, “In Khakhre-
chi village, over 60 peo-
ple have died, 70 people
in Vavdi village, 12 resi-
dents of Khajurdi vil-
lage of Paddhari taluka
have succumbed due to
non-availability of
treatment.”
Elaborating on the
situation in Morbi, he
stated, “If you visit
Jamnagar’s GG Hospi-
tal, you will find at least
700 to 800 COVID-19 pa-
tients from Morbi dis-
trict. This is because
beds at Morbi and Ra-
jkot Civil Hospital are
fully occupied. The situ-
ation is very bad in ru-
ral Gujarat, as there is
no health infrastruc-
ture, severe shortage of
medical and paramedi-
cal staff and people do
not have access to medi-
cines, beds, oxygen or
even injections. All of
them have been left to
God’s mercy
.”
According to Kaga-
thara, the highest num-
ber of nCoV deaths will
be recorded in Morbi
district, a claim which
does not reflect in the
state’s health data.
“There is a surge in
cases as well as mortal-
ity rate across the dis-
trict. Youngsters have
been equally affected by
the virus as senior citi-
zens,” he claimed.
The COVID-19 dash-
board shows 807 active
cases in the district
with 838 under home
quarantine. Morbi’s
death toll currently
stands at 80 deaths till
date. Over the past year,
4,482 patients have re-
covered from the virus,
and 2,61,653 tests have
been conducted in the
district.
15 to 17 people dead of nCoV in
each Morbi village: Cong MLA
Tankara MLA Lalit Kagathara.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Con-
gress party has de-
manded that the Cen-
tral Bureau of Inves-
tigation look into the
sale of remdesivir in
the state, where the
drug has been short
supply. The allega-
tions come at a time
when law enforce-
ment authorities have
been cracking down
on the black market-
eering and sale of
fake versions of anti-
viral that is being
used to treat severe
symptoms of COV-
ID-19.
Manish Doshi, chief
spokesperson of the
party has alleged that
the Food and Drug Con-
trol Authority (FDCA) is
at the centre of the
scam.
Supporting his
claims, Doshi said, “In
the second wave of COV-
ID-19, just one pharma
manufacturer--Hetero
Drugs--has supplied
more than 90,000 injec-
tions to Gujarat. Of
these, it gave the govern-
ment about 12,000 injec-
tions, while the other
78,000 doses went to
about 252 private agen-
cies.”
He also said that an
investigation is needed
tocheckhowtherecould
be a scarcity of the in-
jectable antiviral if just
one firm supplied 90,000
vials of the drug. “Ear-
lier, the government has
accepted that the state
receives the drug from
six different manufac-
turers. If just one of
thesehassupplied90,000
doses, how is there a
scarcity? Is the drug be-
ing hoarded or sold in
the black market?” he
asked.
He then pointed the
finger at the state’s
FDCA.
Doshi said, “I suspect
that the FDCA is in-
volved in the deal. There
are thousands of injec-
tions in the state. Yet,
people are queueing up
for the injections. The
mismanagement of the
Gujarat government
has pushed people to the
deathbed. This is crimi-
nal negligence.”
‘How can there be scarcity when
just 1 firm supplied 90K vials?’
Cong demands CBI inquiry into remdesivir sales
Manish Doshi, chief spokesperson of the Congress party, has accused
the FDCA of being involved in the scam.
DISTRICT BAR ASSOCIATIONS HIGHLIGHT
POOR HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE
The Gujarat High Court Advocates’ Association has been assisting
the court in its suo motu proceedings on the COVID-19 situation
in Gujarat. The GHCAA, represented by advocate Rashesh Parikh
and senior counsel Percy Kavina, has drawn the court’s attention
to the black marketeering of remdesivir as well as spurious
versions of the drug in addition to the deaths of patients caused by
non-availability of treatment. In its latest affidavit, the GHwCAA
has cited feedback received from district bar associations that
exposes the gaps in the state’s health infrastructure in rural and
remote areas. First India brings you edited extracts from the
reports of the various district bar association.

3. GUJARAT
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2021
03
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Arefewercasesduetofewertests?
As calls to nCoV helpline fall in Surat, Commissioner warns that ‘serious situation’ could return soon
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar/Surat:
The state has seen
considerably fewer
new cases of COV-
ID-19 over the past
two days. Far from
being an encourag-
ing sign, an analysis
of government data
from the past 10 days
indicates that declin-
ing daily jump could
simply be linked to a
fall in the number of
samples being tested.
The state conducted
just 1.37 lakh tests on
May 02 against 1.89
lakh on April 23.
The number of
new cases shows a
correlation with the
drop in testing, as
can be seen in the
given table, which
has fallen by 52,000
in the past 10 days
alone.
The state positivity
rate—7.3 on April 23—
has risen to 9.4 on May
02.
The High Court has
also directed the gov-
ernment to increase
testing, emphasizing
RT-PCR tests over Rapid
Antigen Tests. Instead,
the civic body in
Ahmedabad not only de-
creased the number of
walk-in testing centres,
but also cut RAT kit al-
location to these domes
by about 75%, to just 50
kits per day
.
There have been sev-
eral reports of people
being asked to come
back another day to get
tested or receive reports
at these centres, many
of which were found
empty of equipment
and staff as early as
11am last week.
“They made me come
back twice just to get
tested. Then, it took an-
other two days for me to
get my report,” said a
person who got tested at
Income-Tax Circle.
In Surat, Municipal
Commissioner Banch-
hanidhi Pani is more
hopeful.
“There has been a
significant reduction
in OPD patients at Civ-
il Hospital and SMIM-
ER Hospital. The num-
ber of 108 emergency
calls has dropped from
339 to around 120. Calls
to the 104 COVID-19
helpline call have re-
treated to 100 calls
from as many as 300 a
day at the height of the
panic,” he said.
“However,” he
warns, “ If we give peo-
ple give even a little lee-
way, we will be in a seri-
ous situation again.”
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: As cases
continue to surge in
the state, oxygen
shortage has added to
the government’s
woes. Over 1,700 sen-
ior doctors have now
threatened to go on a
strike if their de-
mands regarding sti-
pend hike are not met
soon. Those serving
in government hospi-
tals have demanded
that the government
take an immediate de-
cision on their im-
pending promotions.
Sources say they have
alsobeendeniedtheSev-
enth Pay Commission.
“They had submitted a
memorandumtothegov-
ernmentlisting15differ-
ent demands, but no ac-
tion has been taken yet.
Now, these doctors are
raring to go on strike, if
their demands are not
heard by the govern-
ment,” they said.
A meeting was held at
the Gujarat Medical
Teachers’ Association
on Monday where addi-
tional superintendents,
departmentalheads,and
several senior doctors
voiced their concerns.
“We hope our issues are
resolved. If 1,700 doctors
of the Gujarat Medical
Teachers’ Association
come together and go
strike, the (pandemic)
situation,” said Dr Ra-
jnish Patel, one of the
attendees of the meet.
In fact, resident doc-
tors in Surat went on
strike only three days
ago, in order to demon-
strate against no hike in
their stipend. “Going on
strike is the only option
for a stipend. We have
been working in a pan-
demic for the past one-
and-a-half years, and all
we ask for our stipend to
be increased every three
years as per the guide-
lines. In the past month-
and-a-half, our demands
have been conveyed to
the Centre, and also the
government,tonoavail,”
said Dr Chandrakesh,
vice president, Resi-
dents’ Association.
1.7K senior doctors threaten to go on strike over stipend increment
PRIMED FOR PROTEST

A meeting of
Gujarat Medical
Teachers’
Association was
held on Monday
as they
lamented lack of
govt action
towards their
demands A meeting was held at the Gujarat Medical Teachers’ Association on Monday.
Dailyjumpdipsagainbutshortage
haltsjabsforover-45sinA’bad
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
state witnessed slight
relief from the novel
coronavirus for the
second day straight.
However, it still re-
corded 12,820 new cas-
es of COVID-19 and
140 deaths in the 24
hours ended 5 pm on
Monday
, Gujarat’s
health and family wel-
fare department said
in a statement. With
this, the total case load
has risen to 6,07,422,
while the death toll
has reached 7,648
since March 2020.
The day’s deaths oc-
curred in Ahmedabad
(26), Vadodara (14), Ra-
jkot (16), Jamnagar (14),
Surat (13), Bhavnagar
(12), Junagadh (9), Am-
reli, Sabarkantha and
Surendranagar (4 each),
Kutch, Mehsana, Patan
and Devbhumi Dwarka
(3 each), Banaskantha,
Gandhinagar (2 each),
Bharuch, Kheda, Mahis-
agar, Valsad, Chhota
Udepur,Tapi,Porbandar
and Botad (1 each).
Across the state not a
single district reported
fresh cases in single dig-
it. Botad recorded the
lowest fresh cases, at 14,
on Monday
. Two dis-
tricts—Ahmedabad and
Surat—recorded cases
in four digits, with 4,671
and 1,656, respectively
. A
total of 21 districts re-
corded fresh cases in the
triple-digits and eight
districts reported cases
in the double-digits.
There are currently
1,47,499 active cases in
Gujarat, with 747 pa-
tients on ventilator sup-
port.
The state so far has
vaccinated 1.25 crore
people, including 26.31
lakh people who have
given the second dose
of the vaccine.
However, the civic
body in Ahmedabad has
jammed the brakes on
the city’s innoculation
drive for those above
the age of 45, due to a
shortage of vaccines.
The entrance to the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad was devoid of long lines of vehicles bearing patients for the first time in weeks.
Surat fire department issues
notice to seven nCoV hospitals
First India Bureau
Surat: The city fire
department on Sun-
day conducted inspec-
tions at seven COV-
ID-19 hospitals in Ka-
targam and Varach-
ha-A (Sarthana) areas
and issued them no-
tices for violating fire
safety norms. Chief
Fire Officer in-charge
Basant Pareek also
urged all firefighters
to work on improving
safety equipment at
such hospitals within
a week’s time.
The fire department
conducted a mock drill
at Surat General Hospi-
tal at Chauta Bazaar on
the day
. After receiving
a call at the control
room, teams from Mug-
lisara, Navsari Bazaar
and Ghanchi Sheri
reached the spot. The
mock drill also took
place at Intensive Care
Unit, in which 75 people
were given basic fire-
fighting training.
Suicide
attempt
foiled in
Surat
First India Bureau
Surat: Passers-
by stopped a girl
at the Kapodra
Bridge from
jumping into
the Tapi and
ending her life
on Monday.
People passing
by tried to talk the
girl, who had been
standing on the
edge of the bridge,
out of committing
suicide but failed.
Later, a group of
youngsters man-
aged to reach her
and pull her out of
harm’s way
.
She was then
handed over police
officials who sent
her for psychologi-
cal analysis. The
name and address
of the girl is yet to
be known. “It
seems that the lady
was under pres-
sureduetoafamily
issue. She kept re-
peating that she
wanted to jump.
But, the actual rea-
son behind her sui-
cide attempt is a
matter of investi-
gation for the po-
lice,” said one of
the witnesses.
CAUSE EFFECT?
Date New cases Samples tested
April 23 13,804 1,89,902
April 24 14,097 1,85,304
April 25 14,296 1,68,172
April 26 14,340 1,59,156
April 27 14,352 1,63,192
April 28 14,120 1,73,909
April 29 14,327 1,69,352
April 30 14,605 1,60,999
May 01 13,847 1,50,771
May 02 12,978 1,37,714
COVID-19 UPDATE
TOTAL CASES
RECOVERED
ACTIVE CASES
TOTAL DEATHS
6,07,422
4,52,275
1,47,499
7,648
+12,820
+140
A’BAD 4,671
SURAT 1,656
V’DARA 936
JAMNAGAR 712
B’NAGAR 571
RAJKOT 524
MEHSANA 493
G’NAGAR 317
A board at the Dhanvantari hospital shows that just five non-ICU beds were available on Monday.
WHO GOES THERE?
A dog strolls around the usually jam-packed Ratanpole market in Ahmedabad, as the city’s
non-essential businesses continued to remain shut on Monday. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Firefighters held a mock drill at Surat General Hospital.
—PHOTO
BY
HANIF
SINDHI
—PHOTO
BY
HANIF
SINDHI

4. l Vol 2 l Issue No. 157 l 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
PERSPECTIVE
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2021
04
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‘KHELA SHESH’
FOR BJP AS
BENGAL VOTES FOR
MAMATA AGAIN
f the five states that went to polls
West Bengal and Kerala threw up
results which proved how wrong
Exit polls can be. Some pollsters
gave Mamata Banerjee a slender
edge while others predicted a lead for the
Bharatiya Janata Party. Eventually people
of the state voted for the Bengali pride with
a thumping two-thirds majority to prevent
‘outsiders’ from trampling the state’s syn-
cretic culture. With the Election Commis-
sion playing blind to the BJP aggressively
playing the Hindutva card, the party fared
badly in Hindu dominated Purulia,
Jhaadgram, Bankura, East Midnapore and
West Midnapore districts which have close
to 90 percent Hindu population. If this was
a strong rebuff to the politics of religion and
jumlas, then all AIMIM candidates losing
their deposits is a stronger repudiation of
communal politics. West Bengal is not the
only state which gave thumbs down to poli-
tics of hate --- the BJP did not win a single
seat in Kerala where it played the Sabari-
mala and love jihad cards in the hope of
coalescing Hindu votes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit
Shah had made West Bengal elections a pres-
tige issue. The Election Commission blatant-
ly danced to the BJP’s tune to ensure victory
for the party but failed. That the CEC was
made the Governor of Goa a day after his
retirement is enough to shatter one’s faith in
the democratic system as it exists now. The
only consolation the BJP got in the end was
its controversial victory in Nandigram.
Mamata played for the match and not a point.
“Khela hobe” she said and emerged the win-
ner. “Didi, khela shesh hobe,” Modi slammed
Mamata. The game did end, but for the BJP.
Now it has to be seen how long the BJP will
take to start its favourite “khela” of grabbing
power through the back door, the way it did
in Goa, Manipur and Madhya Pradesh. There
will be no dearth of Brutus’s hungry for
money and a ministerial berth. One can only
hope that the BJP won’t drive the proverbial
final nail by undermining electoral politics
in that manner.
With this stupendous performance Mama-
ta may emerge as the fulcrum of opposition
unity minus the Congress at the national
level. By clinging on to the Gandhis the Con-
gress has made itself irrelevant anyway.
Pinarayi Vijayan, the Kerala Chief Minister
who created history by leading the Left Dem-
ocratic Front to power for a second consecu-
tive term in the 40-year history of Kerala,
has shown his inclination for a national
grouping minus the BJP and the Congress.
But that can wait.
Already facing its toughest test because
of mishandling of the pandemic, the elec-
tion results have come as a double whammy
but the party’s communal strategy is un-
likely to change even if it means losing Ut-
tar Pradesh in 2022.
IN-DEPTH
O orldwide, third May is celebrat-
ed as press freedom day, how-
ever, do we truly have press
freedom in India? Some ideolo-
gists who are not comfortable
with Modi Government’s act
and action, feel that their free-
dom of speech and sabotaged in
some way or the other. Accord-
ing to World Press Freedom In-
dex, 2021 India has been listed
under countries considered
“bad” for journalism and is
among the most dangerous
places in the world for journal-
ists. Whether this is true or not,
it is a subject of debate but it is
also a fact that certain elements
took undue privilege during
UPA government are now un-
employed or their existence is
totally finished. No country in
worldenjoysfreedomof speech,
like in India, be it either citi-
zens or media persons. After
Independence of India and till
date, Narendra Modi is the only
leader in our nation who has
faced maximum criticism and
abuses. Then, how can we say
that freedom of press is under
kind of threat from the ruling
Government.
It is quite clear that media in-
cluding print, electronic and so-
cial media has always been to-
tally free to speak up against
ModiGovernment.Forinstance,
duringfarmerprotest,revokeof
article 370 in Kashmir, even in
Covid-19 situation, all platforms
have been flooding with criti-
cism. Then how can fear mon-
gers spread wrong information
that freedom of media is con-
trolled by the government?
Professional journalism, as-
sociations, individual news or-
ganizations, and journalists
themselves often have their
own “code of ethic”, however,
most share these basic princi-
ples: truthfulness, accuracy,
objectivity, impartiality, fair-
ness, and public accountability
.
Whether these ethics are being
followed by us? We as a media
person need to ask our-self.
Media is now referred to as
an industry and we are not ex-
pected to own ethics. In fact,
certain media houses are actu-
ally a side business venture of
owners of alternate profes-
sions. The journalists of such
organizations have to blindly
follow directions of their boss-
es to earn their bread and but-
ter. Recently an open letter
from the former and current
employees of a reputed media
organization become viral on
social media. It directly blamed
the management for not allow-
ing ethics of journalism to sur-
vive. If it was true, then it is
very unfortunate. In this the
current scenario, role of media
becomes questionable and cred-
ibility goes down. Who is re-
sponsible here?
Many journalists also abide
by the principle of “limitation
of harm” which means that
they have a responsibility to
not harm others while report-
ing a story. This is one major
difference between profession-
al journalists reporting for
“reputable” news organiza-
tions as opposed to fringe news
sources and fake news crea-
tors. Nowadays these ethics are
forgotten, views are given more
than news in print and elec-
tronic media both.
Why credibility of media is
decreasing day by day is a topic
we should ponder upon as a me-
dia fraternity
. Some media or-
ganizations extremely favour
Government while other ex-
tremelyopposetheGovernment.
In this scenario, social media
has evolved as a powerful tool;
but in wrong hands, it can do
moreharmthangoodbyspread-
ing unverified and fake news.
Mahatma Gandhi looked
upon journalism as a means to
serve the people. He said in his
autobiography: “The sole aim
of journalism should be ser-
vice. The newspaper is a great
power, but just as an unchained
torrent of water submerges
whole countryside and devas-
tates crops, even so an uncon-
trolled pen serves to destroy
.”
The power and significance
of media in a democratic soci-
ety is illustrious. The media
works as a watchdog of the gov-
ernment and carries each re-
port of the actions of adminis-
tration thereby keeping the in-
dividuals acquainted with the
day to day happenings that are
going down around them. For
appropriate functioning of a
democratic system, there
should be transparency and au-
thority. Democracy cannot be
successful without free press.
Free press is an indivisible part
of democracy as it is also the
voice of the people. Freedom of
speech and expression is one
such right that the citizens are
entitled to. Media is the sword
arm of democracy; it plays a
very significant role in Indian
democracy
. Every individual is
a medium of expression. Media
plays very emphatic role in
awakening people against
many evils prevailing in the so-
ciety like child marriage, kill-
ing of female unborn child, the
evil practice of child labour etc.
Modern media i.e. electronic
and social media has enhanced
the quality of democratic pro-
cess by providing a platform for
public participation on issues
of national or social concern in
a manner that is able to influ-
ence the Government.
In the Manu Sharma matter,
SupremeCourtof Indiapointed
out the dangers of a “media
trial”. It observed that there ex-
isted a serious risk of freedom
in so far as carrying out parallel
trial procedures without being
held up to any standard.
Media reporting during Su-
shant Singh Rajput death case
was also criticised amongst all
corners. In race of TRP, elec-
tronic media has somewhere
forgotten their actual role.
India is not a country like
Iran,Iraq,AfghanistanorChina
wheremediahousesdonothave
completefreedomof journalism
but the challenge before us is
how to save our own credibility?
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
DO WE HAVE PRESS
FREEDOM IN INDIA?
W
Professional
journalism,
associations,
individual news
organizations,
and journalists
themselves often
have their own
“code of ethic”,
however, most
share these basic
principles:
truthfulness,
accuracy,
objectivity,
impartiality,
fairness, and
public
accountability.
Whether these
ethics are being
followed by us?
We as a media
person need to
ask our-self
MEDIA IS NOW
REFERRED TO AS AN
INDUSTRY AND WE ARE
NOT EXPECTED TO
OWN ETHICS. IN FACT,
CERTAIN MEDIA
HOUSES ARE ACTUALLY
A SIDE BUSINESS
VENTURE OF OWNERS
OF ALTERNATE
PROFESSIONS
SANNGEETA
SSHUKLA
THE WRITER IS
FREELANCER COLUMNIST
emories are of-
ten considered
very personal
and private.
Yet, in the past
few years, people have got
used to notifications from
social media or phone gal-
leries telling them they
have a “memory”.
These repackaged ver-
sions of the past affect not
just what we remember but
also the attachments we
have with those memories.
In a new study, we found
social media has the poten-
tial to change how people
feel about their memories.
Social media metrics
such as Facebook “likes”
can negatively impact how
people feel about certain
memories, especially if
these memories are shared
without getting many
likes. Beyond this, the an-
ticipation of social media
judgements about the past
can also impact on what
memories people share
and how.
With the aim of under-
standing the everyday
presence of these automat-
ed memories, we drew
upon detailed interviews
and focus groups with
around 60 social media us-
ers. In particular, we
looked at how people use
features such as Timehop,
Facebook memories and
Apple memories.
We asked participants
about their experiences of
being reminded of memo-
ries by these different fea-
tures. While some found
the features to be creepy
and invasive, others found
them a useful reminder of
previous experiences they
had forgotten.
We also asked whether
the number of likes a
shared memory received
had any impact on them. In
some cases, participants
felt differently about their
memories depending on
the number of likes.
VALIDATION
For some, memories have
come to be validated, in
part, through social media
likes, which are felt to be a
judgement on a memory’s
worth. For instance, one
participant noted that, al-
though a memory is spe-
cial to the individual, “you
are constantly depending
on others and what they
think of your memories”.
On the other hand, not
getting enough likes could
sometimes erode the per-
sonal value attached to
memories. Another par-
ticipant said if he shared a
memory and only got three
likes, that a low number of
likes would become part of
the memory
.
The participants were
aware this is happening,
but said it was hard to
break from what has been
described as the “like econ-
omy”. Even though partici-
pants acknowledged their
memories were personal
and shouldn’t be affected
by social networks, some
still found they were think-
ing differently about an
event because of its social
media reaction. As one
participant noted, “You
find yourself, almost in
spite of yourself, caring
about the likes number.”
Of course, not all memo-
ries were impacted by so-
cial media metrics. Some
were considered too small
to be of wider interest. As
one participant said, “If
it’s just a picture of you
and your friend doing some
dumb thing and it gets no
likes, you are like “what-
ever”.” Yet, for other types
of shared memories, the
number of likes still
seemed to be an inescapa-
ble judgement.
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION
Facebook ‘likes’ change how you feel about your memories
M
Now to him who is able to do
immeasurably more than all
we ask or imagine, according
to his power that is at work
within us. —Ephesians 3:20
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Facing the once in a century
challenge of COVID-19 head
on, 20 #OxygenExpress trains
have completed their journey,
delivering 1,125 metric tonnes of
Oxygen. 7 more Oxygen Express
trains are on the run with 422
metric tonnes of Oxygen.
Anand Sharma
@AnandSharmaINC
A Constitution bench of the
Supreme Court should decide
on the Composition , qualifying
criteria for the appointment of
CEC EC’s and firm guidelines
for the conduct of free and fair
elections as per the Constitution.

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7. Amreli BJP MP...
to a hospital, then why
are they kept waiting
for hours? The doctors
on duty need to spare
just a few minutes to
check on such patients,
advise them on medi-
cines that will help
them recover, and send
them on their way,” he
asserted.
To this assertion, Dr
Borisagar insisted that
they were short-staffed
and medical personnel
have been working
round-the-clock to at-
tend to COVID-19 pa-
tients.
“If doctors do not at-
tend to critical pa-
tients first and if
something goes wrong
then, they are the ones
held responsible,” he
said.
PM decides...
The services of Final
Year PG students
(broad as well as super-
specialities) as resi-
dents may continue to
be utilised until fresh
batches of PG students
have joined.
Apart from it, BSc/
GNM-qualified nurses
may be utilised in full-
time COVID nursing
duties under the super-
vision of senior doc-
tors and nurses.
The individuals pro-
viding services in
COVID management
will be given priority
in forthcoming regular
government recruit-
ments after they com-
plete a minimum of
100 days of COVID
duty.
The medical stu-
dents/professionals
sought to be engaged
in COVID-related work
will be suitably vacci-
nated. All health pro-
fessionals thus en-
gaged will be covered
under the insurance
scheme of the govern-
ment for health work-
ers engaged in fighting
COVID-19.
All such profession-
als who sign up for a
minimum of 100 days
of COVID duty and
complete it success-
fully will also be given
the PM’s distinguished
COVID National Ser-
vice Samman from the
Government of India.
—PTI
Centre, Guv...
had Sunday lost the
seat to her former
lieutenant-turned-ad-
versary Suvendu
Adhikari.
Governor Jagdeep
Dhankhar summoned
state Home Secretary,
DGP and Kolkata Com-
missioner of Police
and directed them to
restore peace. He dis-
cussed with them the
situation following the
incidents that took
place a day after the
ruling TMC returned
to power with an over-
whelming majority
crushing the BJP.
He also separately
met DGP P Nirajnayan
and Police Commis-
sioner Soumen Mitra
and directed them to
restore law and order.
“MHA has asked
West Bengal Govern-
ment for a report on
the post-election vio-
lence targeting oppo-
sition political work-
ers in the state,” a
spokesperson from the
ministry tweeted.
BJP leader Kailash
Vijayvargiya on Mon-
day accused Mamata
Banerjee of “sponsor-
ing” violence against
his party workers fol-
lowing the TMC’s win
in the state polls, and
asserted the results
cannot be deemed a
setback for the saffron
party as it has made
“ u n p r e c e d e n t e d ”
gains despite the de-
feat.
Vijayvargiya, who is
in West Bengal, said
BJP president J P Na-
dda will be on a two-
day visit to the state
from Tuesday as an
expression of solidar-
ity with the party
workers and meet the
families affected by the
violence.
Banerjee, mean-
while, urged her sup-
porters to maintain
peace amid reports of
violence and asked
them not to fall prey to
provocations.
The central forces
committed many atroc-
ities on TMC support-
ers during the elec-
tions, she alleged.
Fin Min...
about sharing vaccine-
based technologies.
The TRIPS agreement
will have to be looked
at in the context of the
pandemic. There can-
not be any more vac-
cine nationalism,
countries will have to
be flexible about it,”
she said at the annual
meet of the Asian De-
velopment Bank
(ADB).
The TRIPS agree-
ment is a legal pact be-
tween all the member
nations of the World
Trade Organization
(WTO).
It establishes mini-
mum standards for
regulation by national
governments of differ-
ent forms of intellec-
tual property as ap-
plied to nationals of
other WTO member
nations.
FROM PG 1
INDIA
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2021
06
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New Delhi: Senior Ad-
vocate Rahul Mehra,
appearing for the Delhi
government, on Mon-
day informed the Delhi
High Court that Deputy
Chief Minister of Delhi
Manish Sisodia has
written to Union De-
fence Minister Rajnath
Singh for the assistance
of Army to handle
COVID-19.
Senior Advocate
Mehra read the Delhi
Government letter be-
fore the Delhi High
Court. He informed the
court that the Delhi gov-
ernment wrote to the
Minister for lending
services of armed forc-
es to set up and opera-
tionalise COVID facili-
ties with about 10,000
oxygenated non-ICU
beds and 1000 ICU beds.
A Division Bench of
Justices Vipin Sanghi
and Rakha Palli asked
the Central government
counsel to take instruc-
tion on the communica-
tion by Delhi’s Deputy
CM to Union Defence
Minister.
Earlier today, a Pub-
lic Interest Litigation
(PIL) was moved in the
Delhi High Court seek-
ing for handing over of
management of oxygen
supplies, including lo-
gistical aspect, in and
around Delhi to Armed
Forces for ensuring un-
interrupted supply to
hospitals and COVID
facility
.
Delhi HC is already
hearing a matter re-
garding the supply of
oxygen in Delhi hospi-
tals and other related
issues.
The public interest
litigation was men-
tioned before the divi-
sion bench for urgent
listing today by Senior
Advocates Abhinav Va-
sisht, Sacchin Puri, and
Jagdeep Singh Bakshi.
The petition titled as
Manish Gupta Vs.
GNCTD has been filed
by advocates Praveen K
Sharma, and Kamil
Khan.
The petition has
sought for handing over
the management of 02
supplies to the Forces.
—ANI
Delhi govt seeks Army’s help
to set up hosp with ICU beds
Urgent need for 20 mn vaccine to
cover supply interruption: WHO
Sisodia wrote to Raksha Mantri to help run Covid health facilities in National Capital
Covid-19 patients on oxygen support provided by Gurdwara as an “oxygen langar” for patients.
New Delhi: India reg-
istered a slight dip in
COVID-19 cases as it
registered 3,68,147
new coronavirus in-
fections and 3,417 re-
lated deaths in the last
24 hours, informed the
union health ministry
on Monday morning.
With this, the cumula-
tive count of the cases
has gone up to
1,99,25,604. The daily
spike had reached its
peak of over four lakh
cases on May 1 but
came down to 392,488
cases yesterday. The
cumulative death toll
has mounted to
2,18,959. Currently,
there are 34,13,642 ac-
tive cases of COVID-19
in the country, as per
the government data.
The country also
witnessed as many as
3,00,732 recoveries in
the said period, taking
the cumulative recov-
eries to 16,29,3003.
According to the In-
dian Council of Medi-
cal Research (ICMR),
as many as 29,16,47,037
samples have been
tested for COVID-19
up to May 2. Of these
15,04,698 samples were
tested on Sunday
.
The total doses of
the COVID-19 vaccine
administered stand at
over 15,71,98,207, in-
formed the health
ministry
.
India is currently
dealing with a devas-
tating second Covid-19
wave that has swept
through the nation,
crushing the coun-
try’s health infra-
structure and over-
burdening frontline
medical workers. —ANI
India reports 3,68,147
new COVID-19 cases
SLIGHT DIP
Family members mourn the death of a COVID-19 victim
New Delhi: Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Monday said
that the vaccination against Covid-19 has begun 301 centres for benefi-
ciaries aged 18-44 across the national capital. “Vaccination has started at
76 schools of Delhi government today. With this, vaccination has begun
at 301 centres for the 18-45 age group. Our target is to make 10 centres
at every school. We will continue to expand the number of centres as we
receive more vaccines,” said Sisodia after his visit to vaccination centre.
New Delhi: The Delhi HC on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking direction to take
an undertaking from the receiver of plasma that once recovered, he would
donate the plasma within 14 to 28 days after being tested negative instead of
first asking them to find a donor. “Failure to do so shall lead to legal proceed-
ings,” the plea stated. A bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh
on Monday while dismissing the plea raised several questions.
New Delhi: The Delhi government on
Monday rushed ten D-type oxygen
cylinders to the IBS hospital in Lajpat
Nagar after an SOS was received
regarding the shortage of medical
oxygen. “We have rushed 10 D-type
oxygen cylinders from our SOS
reserves to IBS hospital in Lajpat
Nagar, which would help them tide
over the crisis,” AAP MLA Raghav
Chadha said on Twitter.
Pune: Doctors and
health care staff across
the world have been at
the forefront in the fight
against coronavirus . In
one such instance, a
doctor at Pune’s Sanjee-
van Hospital Dr
Mukund Penurkar lost
his father to COVID-19
on April 26. Not only
that, his brother and
mother got infected
with coronavirus at the
same time.
Assam: Jailed anti-
CAA activist Akhil Go-
goi became the first As-
samese to win an elec-
tion without hitting the
campaign trail, as he
clinched the Sibsagar
constituency, defeating
his nearest rival Surab-
hi Rajkonwari of the
BJP by a decisive 11,875
votes. The founder of
the newly floated Raijor
Dal — arrested in Dec
2019 over sedition
charges — bagged
57,219 votes as an Inde-
pendent, garnering sup-
port from 46.06 per cent
of the electorate. “Go-
goi won because he
identified with People’s
sentiments,” Rahman
Barbhuiya told PTI.
New Delhi: US pharma giant Pfizer
has donated medical supplies worth
$70 million, including drugs to treat
Coronavirus disease (Covid-19), to
India, the company said in a state-
ment on Monday, adding it was in
talks with the Indian government to
expedite its Covid-19 vaccine ap-
proval in India. The supplies of items
that are a part of Covid-19 treatment.
New Delhi: Amid the shortage of
medical oxygen across the country
due to a massive surge in COVID-19
cases, Delhi has got its first COVID
care centre with its own oxygen plant
at the Commonwealth Games village
Sports complex. The oxygen plant
can supply oxygen to 18-20 patients
simultaneously. Dr Anurag Mishra,
Clinical Manager at the COVID care
centre, told ANI.
New Delhi: Indian Railways has
stated it has delivered 1125 Met-
ric Tonnes (MT) of Liquid Medical
Oxygen (LMO) in 76 tankers to vari-
ous states. It noted that 20 Oxygen
Expresses have completed their jour-
neys till now. The Indian Railways
added that currently 7 more loaded
Oxygen Expresses are carrying 422
MT (approx.) of LMO.
COVID-19 VACCINATION BEGINS FOR 18-45 AGE GROUP
DELHI HC DISMISSES PIL SEEKING PLASMA DONATION
DELHI GOVT PROVIDES 10 O2
CYLINDERS TO IBS HOSPITAL
Pune doctor
works even as
his father die
Gogoi first to
win election
from jail
PFIZER DONATES $70 MN
MEDICAL SUPPLIES
DELHI’S 1ST COVID CENTRE
WITH OWN OXYGEN PLANT
RAILWAYS DELIVERED
NEARLY 1125 MT OF LMO
Bhopal: CM Shivraj
Singh Chouhan on
Monday declared all
journalists as frontline
workers. Shivraj Singh
Chauhan informed that
the vaccination drive
against COVID-19 for
people aged 18 to 45 will
not begin from May 1 in
MP as vaccines are not
available. While speak-
ing at a press confer-
ence, the CM said the
state government had
spoken to both the coun-
try’s COVID-19 vaccine
manufacturers - Serum
Institue of India and
Bharat Biotech, and
were informed that
they would not be able
to provide doses of the
vaccine. According to
the state health depart-
ment, Madhya Pradesh
reported 12,662 new
COVID-19 cases on Sun-
day, taking the tally of
Covid positive cases to
5,75,706. Earlier today,
Odisha CM Naveen Pat-
naik and Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar
declared the same for
working journalists.
New York: COVAX, the
global alliance to en-
sure equitable access to
COVID-19 vaccines, ur-
gently needs 20 million
doses to cover interrup-
tions in supply trig-
gered by increased de-
mands for jabs in India,
which is the main sup-
plier of the AstraZene-
ca vaccines, the World
Health Organisation
said on Monday.
Pune-based Serum
Institute of India (SII),
the world’s largest vac-
cine-maker by volume,
is manufacturing Cov-
ishield, the coronavi-
rus vaccine developed
by Oxford University
and British-Swedish
pharma major Astra-
Zeneca.
“COVAX urgently
needs 20 million doses
during the second
quarter of 2021 to cover
interruptions in supply
triggered by increased
demands for vaccines
in India where COV-
AX’s main supplier of
the AstraZeneca prod-
uct is based,” accord-
ing to a WHO press re-
lease.
India is struggling
with a second wave of
the pandemic with
more than 3,00,000 dai-
ly new coronavirus
cases being reported in
the past few days.
Meanwhile, Sweden
on Monday announced
to share one million
doses of AstraZeneca
vaccine with the COV-
AX facility, a move wel-
comed by WHO Direc-
tor-General Dr Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Meanwhile, with In-
dia widening the vac-
cine net to include eve-
ryone over 18, there is
pressure on the centre
and state governments
to find enough doses for
everyone eligible. —PTI
Shivraj Singh Chouhan declares
journalist as frontline workers
Young beneficiaries pose after getting the first dose of COVID-19
vaccine in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Shivraj Singh Chouhan

8. TALKING POINT
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2021
07
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T
he Chagos Archi-
pelago is one of the
most remote, seem-
ingly idyllic places
on Earth. Coconut-covered
sandy beaches with incredible
bird life rim tropical islands in
the Indian Ocean, hundreds of
miles from any continent. Just
below the waves, coral reefs
stretch for miles along an un-
derwater mountain chain.
It’s a paradise. At least it was
before the heat wave.
When I first explored the
Chagos Archipelago 15 years
ago, the underwater view was
incredible. Schools of brilliant-
ly colored fish in blues, yellows
and oranges darted among the
corals of a vast, healthy reef
system. Sharks and other large
predators swam overhead. Be-
cause the archipelago is so re-
mote and sits in one of the larg-
est marine protected areas on
theplanet,ithasbeensheltered
from industrial fishing fleets
and other activities that can
harm the coastal environment.
Butitcan’tbeprotectedfrom
climate change.
In 2015, a marine heat wave
struck, harming coral reefs
worldwide.Iamamarinebiolo-
gist at the University of Mi-
ami’s Rosenstiel School of Ma-
rine and Atmospheric Science,
and I was with a team of re-
searchers on a 10-year global
expedition to map the world’s
reefs, led by the Khaled bin Sul-
tan Living Oceans Foundation,
wrapping up our work in the
ChagosArchipelagoatthetime.
Our report on the state of the
reefs there was just published
in spring 2021.
As the water temperature
rose,thecoralsbegantobleach.
To the untrained eye, the scene
would have looked fantastic.
Whenthewaterheatsup,corals
become stressed and they expel
the tiny algae called dinoflagel-
lates that live in their tissue.
Bleaching isn’t as simple as go-
ing from a living coral to a
bleached white one, though.
After they expel the algae, the
corals turn fluorescent pinks
and blues and yellows as they
produce chemicals to protect
themselves from the Sun’s
harmful rays. The entire reef
wasturningpsychedeliccolors.
That explosion of color is
rare, and it doesn’t last long.
Over the following week, we
watched the corals turn white
and start to die. It wasn’t just
small pieces of the reef that
werebleaching–itwashappen-
ing across hundreds of square
miles.
Whatmostpeoplethinkof as
a coral is actually many tiny
colonial polyps that build cal-
ciumcarbonateskeletons.With
their algae gone, the coral pol-
yps could still feed by plucking
morsels out of the water, but
theirmetabolismslowswithout
the algae, which provide more
nutrientsthroughphotosynthe-
sis. They were left desperately
weakenedandmorevulnerable
to diseases. We could see dis-
eases taking hold, and that’s
what finished them off.
We were witnessing the
death of a reef.
RISING
TEMPERATURES
INCREASE THE HEAT
WAVE RISK
The devastation of the Chagos
Reef wasn’thappeninginisola-
tion.
Over the past century
, sea
surface temperatures have ris-
en by an average of about 0.13
degrees Celsius (0.23 F) per dec-
ade as the oceans absorb the
vast majority of greenhouse
gas emissions from human ac-
tivities, largely from the burn-
ingof fossilfuels.Thetempera-
ture increase and changing
ocean chemistry affects sea life
of all kinds, from deteriorating
the shells of oysters and tiny
pteropods, an essential part of
the food chain, to causing fish
populationstomigratetocooler
water.
Corals can become stressed
when temperatures around
them rise just 1 C (1.8 F) above
their tolerance level. With wa-
ter temperature elevated from
global warming, even a minor
heatwavecanbecomedevastat-
ing.
In2015,theoceanheatfroma
strong El Niño event triggered
the mass bleaching in the Cha-
gos reefs and around the world.
It was the third global bleach-
ing on record, following events
in 1998 and 2010.
Bleaching doesn’t just affect
the corals – entire reef systems
and the fish that feed, spawn
and live among the coral
branches suffer. One study of
reefs around Papua New Guin-
ea in the southwest Pacific
found that about 75% of the
reef fish species declined after
the1998bleaching,andmanyof
those species declined by more
than half.
Research shows marine heat
waves are now about 20 times
more likely than they were just
four decades ago, and they tend
to be hotter and last longer.
We’re at the point now that
some places in the world are
anticipating coral bleaching
every couple of years.
Thatincreasingfrequencyof
heat waves is a death knell for
reefs. They don’t have time to
recover before they get hit
again.
WHERE WE SAW
SIGNS OF HOPE
During the Global Reef
Expedition, we visited over
1,000 reefs around the world.
Our mission was to conduct
standardized surveys to assess
the state of the reefs and map
the reefs in detail so scientists
could document and hopefully
respond to changes in the
future. With that knowledge,
countries can plan more
effectively to protect the reefs,
important national resources,
providing hundreds of billions
of dollars a year in economic
value while also protecting
coastlines from waves and
storms.
We saw damage almost eve-
rywhere, from the Bahamas to
the Great Barrier Reef.
Some reefs are able to sur-
viveheatwavesbetterthanoth-
ers. Cooler, stronger currents,
and even storms and cloudier
areas can help prevent heat
building up. But the global
trend is not promising. The
world has already lost 30% to
50% of its reefs in the last 40
years, and scientists have
warned that most of the re-
maining reefs could be gone
within decades.
While we see some evidence
that certain marine species are
moving to cooler waters as the
planet warms, a reef takes
thousands of years to establish
and grow, and it is limited by
geography
.
In the areas where we saw
glimmersof hope,itwasmostly
duetogoodmanagement.When
a region can control other
harmful human factors – such
as overfishing, extensive coast-
al development, pollution and
runoff – the reefs are healthier
and better able to handle the
global pressures from climate
change.
Establishing large marine
protected areas is one of the
most effective ways I’ve seen to
protect coral reefs because it
limits those other harms.
The Chagos marine protect-
ed area covers 640,000 square
kilometers (250,000 square
miles)withonlyoneislandcur-
rently inhabited – Diego Gar-
cia, which houses a U.S. mili-
tary base. The British govern-
ment,whichcreatedthemarine
protectedareain2010,hasbeen
under pressure to turn over
control of the region to the
country of Mauritius, where
former Chagos residents now
live and which won a challenge
over it in the International
Court of Justice in 2020. What-
everhappenswithjurisdiction,
the region would benefit from
maintainingahighlevelof ma-
rine protection.
A WARNING FOR
OTHER ECOSYSTEMS
The Chagos reefs could poten-
tially recover – if they are
spared from more heat waves.
Even a 10% recovery would
make the reefs stronger for
when the next bleaching oc-
curs. But recovery of a reef is
measuredindecades,notyears.
Sofar,researchmissionsthat
have returned to the Chagos
reefs have found only meager
recovery
, if any at all.
Weknewthereefsweren’tdo-
ing well under the insidious
march of climate change in
2011,whentheglobalreef expe-
dition started. But it’s nothing
like the intensity of worry we
have now in 2021.
Coral reefs are the canary in
the coal mine. Humans have
collapsed other ecosystems be-
fore through overfishing, over-
hunting and development, but
this is the first unequivocally
tied to climate change. It’s a
harbinger of what can happen
to other ecosystems as they
reachtheirsurvivalthresholds.
SAM PURKIS
Professor and Chair of the Department of
Marine Sciences, University of Miami
DEATH OF A
CORALREEF
Climate change has
devastated one of
the most pristine
tropical island
areas on Earth
Just before they turned white,
the corals turned abnormally
bright shades. —PHIL RENAUD/
KHALED BIN SULTAN LIVING
OCEANS FOUNDATION
The Chagos Archipelago is home to
some 800 species of fish, including
rays, skates and dozens of varieties of
shark. —PHIL RENAUD/KHALED BIN
SULTAN LIVING OCEANS FOUNDATION
A diver documents the coral reefs in the
Chagos Archipelago. —KHALED BIN
SULTAN/LIVING OCEANS FOUNDATION
SOURCE : THECONVERSATION.COM

9. Life is too short for ego and anger,
we must learn to let go and focus
on being happy and building
healthy, loving relationships.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2021
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08
2NDFRONT
Gujarat says Centre should
allocate 1,200 MT O2 to State
Ironically, Central Govt affidavit in HC says State not lifting its allocation of even 975 MT
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Just how
much oxygen Gujarat
needs everyday? Even
as Gujarat has been de-
manding nearly 1,200
metric tonne oxygen a
day, the Centre has
claimed that the State
does not even lift its al-
located quota!
This contradiction
has emerged in the af-
fidavits filed by the
State and the Centre in
the Gujarat High Court,
which is hearing a suo
motu case on the Cov-
id-19 situation. The next
hearing is slated for
Tuesday
.
In its affidavit, the
Gujarat Government
submitted that the Cen-
tre was allocating 975
MT against its require-
ment of 1,190 MT and so
has requested the latter
for 200 MT more.
The Central Govern-
ment, in its affidavit,
has stated that as on
April 28, Gujarat was al-
located 975 MT oxygen a
day, but it had lifted
904.20 MT only, while
the State’s requirement
was 1,000 MT.
The State has stated
that in the first phase
50,000 beds were re-
served for Covid pa-
tients, but now as on
April 1, 2021, 1,03,033
beds have been ear-
marked at 2,298 insti-
tutes. There are 63,206
beds at 1,203 govern-
ment and dedicated
Covid hospitals, while
there are 17,807 beds at
dedicated covid health
centers in government
and 667 private facili-
ties. In 2,298 covid care
centers, 22,200 beds are
reserved.
There are 13,513 ICU
beds and 57,808 Oxygen
beds as on April 1, and
it has 6,452 ventilators
all put together by gov-
ernment and private
hospitals. The govern-
ment has said in the last
five days, 11,109 beds
have been added in 413
Covid facilities, of
which 6,520 are oxygen
equipped, 1,801 ICU
beds and 1,195 ventila-
tor beds.
The overall occupan-
cy rate in the State is
67.41%. While it is 83%
in dedicated Covid hos-
pitals, the number is
69% at dedicated Covid
Health Centers and just
21% in Covid Care Cent-
ers.
There are approxi-
mately 35,000 doctors,
40,000 nurses, 70,000
paramedics and 45,000
ASHA workers, and
there are 1.45 lakh oth-
ers working in various
healthcare facilities
and at the field level.
The State has passed
orders to engage some
96,927 students from all
medical and paramedi-
cal courses in 693 col-
leges.
The Centre in its af-
fidavit has stated that it
has started importing
Remdesivir and the
first consignment of
75,000 vials will reach
on Tuesday
. The govern-
ment-owned company
will be importing 4.5
lakh vials from the
USA.
A relative mourns the death of a Covid-19 patient in Ahmedabad. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Boy kidnapped, but
returned blindfolded
next day; one nabbed
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A boy
was kidnapped on Sat-
urday night from the
terrace he was sleep-
ing on and released
early Sunday morn-
ing, blindfolded and
his hands tied. The
Ramol Police have ar-
rested one kidnapper
and another escaped.
According to the
criminal complaint
filed by Sarojben Ti-
wari, she lived with
two sons and a daugh-
ter in Ramol. Her eld-
est son Dipak runs a
finance business with
office at CTM Square.
Four days ago, she
had a verbal argu-
ment over some issue
with one Aakash alias
Pramod Yadav and
Abhimanyu. So, Di-
pak had not returned
home that night.
On Saturday night,
Sarojben with her
daughter and younger
son Sandip were
sleeping on the ter-
race when someone
climbed up and took
away Sandip with
them. They claimed
they were cops but re-
fused to show the
identity card and fled
away in an Eeco car
with Sandip. They
had promised that if
Dipak reached out to
them, they will return
Sandip safely home.
Sarojben and a
neighbour rushed to
Ramol police station
and on learning that
the cops didn’t pick up
her son, she lodged a
complaint. Sunday
morning Sandip re-
turned home safely,
blindfolded and hands
tied.
Ramol police
nabbed Pramod Yadav
on Sunday evening
and he revealed that
they had picked up
Sandip to settle scores
with Dipak. His ac-
complice Abhimanyu
escaped.
Pramod Yadav was arrested for the abduction of minor child.
Cops nab 10 for multiple
burglaries in Surat
Anupam Anand is
Guj’s new Chief
Electoral Officer
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
Election Commis-
sion of India (ECI)
has appointed Guja-
rat-cadre IAS officer
Anupam Anand as
the new Chief Elec-
toral Officer (CEO)
of Gujarat, accord-
ing to an official noti-
fication issued on
Monday
.
Anand, 44, cur-
rently serving as Sec-
retary of the state
Tribal Development
Department, has re-
placed S. Murali
Krishna, who served
as the Gujarat CEO
for the last three
years, said the notifi-
cation issued by the
state general admin-
istration depart-
ment.
S Murali Krishna
is awaiting a new
posting.
As directed by the
EC, Anand, a
2000-batch IAS offic-
er, was also appoint-
ed as the Ex-officio
Secretary in the Elec-
tion division of the
state GAD, said the
notification.
The assembly elec-
tions in Gujarat are
expected to be held
next year.
Till further or-
ders, senior IAS of-
ficer Manoj Aggar-
wal, serving as ACS,
Social Justice and
Empowerment De-
partment, will hold
the additional
charge of the Tribal
Development De-
partment, the notifi-
cation added.
First India Bureau
Surat: The Surat police
have arrested 10 people
for multiple burglaries
and lodged offences
against them in 14 po-
lice stations. Six are
absconding.
The police recovered
stock of gold and silver
jewelry from their den
at Lake Garden in Mota
Varachha area on Mon-
day. The accused used
to live in tents on open
plots and would con-
duct recce of their tar-
gets during the day.
Police Commissioner
Ajay Tomar said this
group was active in the
city for the last 5
months. They hail from
Madhya Pradesh and
are a gang of more than
16 people. They set up
their tent in open plac-
es of the city and con-
duct recce of their pos-
sible targets in differ-
ent areas posing as bal-
loon sellers. Deva Par-
dhi, Rukesh Chotli,
Sachin Pardhi, Kalu
and Rajkumar would
survey the areas and
the others used to break
into houses. For this
work, they would sit in
autorickshaws around
4 to 5 pm and target VIP
bungalows with mini-
mum or no security
near open spaces in dif-
ferent areas.
Once the curfew
starts at 8 p.m., they
change into their un-
dergarments and step
out. They used their
tools to open the grill
and door of the bunga-
lows. If someone no-
tices them, they attack
that person with
stones.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Major
agrochemicals manu-
facturer UPL has risen
to the medical oxygen
needs in the country af-
ter the spurt in Covid-19
cases and re-aligned its
resources to produce
oxygen for four hospi-
tals in Gujarat and
Madhya Pradesh.
The company has
converted four of its ni-
trogen production
plants in Gujarat to pro-
duce and deliver oxygen
to these hospitals.
These plants have been
“skid mounted and de-
livered directly to the
hospital sites” for them
to be plugged into the
hospital’s oxygen eco-
system to help attain
self-sufficiency in sup-
ply
.
“This innovation by
the company caters to
as many as 200 to 250
beds, including the ones
at the Intensive Care
Units, at each of these
hospitals,” the compa-
ny stated.
Speaking about this
development, Chief Ex-
ecutive Office of UPL
said, “At UPL, we are
true to our value of be-
ing -- Always Human --
and committed to pro-
viding support to the
best of our abilities in
these tough times. We
would contribute in
meeting the growing de-
mand for oxygen in In-
dia, which is a key re-
quirement in this sec-
ond wave of Covid.”
“The UPL has divert-
ed all its resources to
help ease the burden by
converting the nitrogen
plants and making oxy-
gen available directly to
the hospitals.”
One such plant at
Hariya Rotary hospital
in Vapi was inaugurat-
ed on Sunday by Guja-
rat BJP chief CR Paatil.
It can supply oxygen to
20 ventilator beds for
round the clock. The
plant can refill 35-40
oxygen bottles daily. It
produces 94% pure oxy-
gen and was erected by
UPL in three days.
UPL delivers onsite oxygen plants for 4 hospitals in Guj, MP
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
lll
The
agrochemicals
major has
converted four
of its nitrogen
production
plants in Gujarat
to produce and
deliver O2 to the
hospitals The oxygen plants delivered by UPL to various hospitals.
NO RAMADAN FOR HIM?
A physically challenged beggar seeks alms as commuters move on during evening shopping
for Iftar in Mirzapur area in old Ahmedabad on Monday. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
The arrested burglars in Surat.

10. very once in a while we
enjoy the comforts of be-
ing appreciated through
our appearance, even if
we do not belong to the
fashion industry, but,
we have been at home
long enough to keep our fa-
vourite dresses at bay and have
missed the essence of getting up
to groom ourself for the day
. But,
who says we cannot sway our
way at home, since in the inside
world or the out, we have been
working hard each day
.
The fashion of long tees came
into existence a long time ago,
where we were ditching our
pants and were at the best of our
comfort zone. It would be rather
now when we can fully embrace
this trend. Here’s why I think
they are the best choice of attire
for work from home fashion:
COMFORT AND EASE
We have no control over our
schedule these days, who wishes
to worry more about how we look
as we just get up and stick our
eyes in front of
the com-
puter. We just need to be in a re-
laxed state and feel good about it.
SARTORIAL SWAG
You may just become the coolest
one at home, by swaying around
in your long tee as you turn the
monotonous trend of wearing
pants each day to no pants at
work from home.
ALMOST A DRESS
Yeah, we prefer a little bit of
sparkle when we dress up
for a party, but, how do we
evolve into the new defi-
nition of partying at
home? The answer is, long tees!
MONOCHROME OR NOT
Maybe you stick to one colour or
maybe you don’t, totally your
choice. You may even get a per-
sonalized pattern as per your
wishes. Keep it simple, but, I
would say, keep it surprising.
SHOPPER’S DAY OUTFIT
It’s true, we don’t get
out often these
days, only when it
is required to buy
necessary items
at home. Now,
who cares about being judged by
our looks these days, we better
sling it.
We can bring this trend into
our everyday routine and follow
it afterwards when the new nor-
mal begins once again. It could
be a little awkward for us per-
haps, for most of us in the begin-
ning, but, hey why not just try
.
AHMEDABAD, TUESDAY
MAY 04, 2021
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facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
LONG LIVE
LONG LIVE
THE TEES
THE TEES
SUSHMITA AIND
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
E
IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE HAVE BEEN OUT NOW, WE MISS OUR
FRIENDS, OUR PROFESSIONAL LIFESTYLE, OUR DAILY PLANS, BUT,
MOST IMPORTANTLY FASHION. CITY FIRST BRINGS YOU THE
MINIMALIST WAY TO SLICK AT HOME!

11. iruses have sud-
denly become the
most defining
things in our life.
In a way, they have
started controlling
human behaviour
and, unfortunately, the life
span of so many hapless
victims of their invasion.
The human race might now
be in a continuous struggle
with the viruses and the
certainty of life may be-
come a thing of the past.
The existing Covid19 pan-
demic will change the life-
style forever if it is allowed
to stay for a couple of years.
The pre - covid lifestyle
might be very difficult to
achieve in near future and
maybe, never again. This
gloomy picture is not my
futuristic projection but the
stupidity of global leader-
ship indicates this possibil-
ity. The virus may go on
mutating as myopic leaders
might not be able to see the
broader picture because of
their egoistic attitude. I, as
a frontline clinician against
Covid19, see a bleak future
for so many families and
individuals as the virus go
on mutating because some
people want to control the
seats of power at any cost
and this can only be
achieved by mobilising hys-
terical crowds at politico-
religious congregations.
But what power? The real
power lies with the virus at
this point and no worldly
armaments can defeat this
invisible live particle. The
only power which can neu-
tralize this destructive de-
mon lies within the human
body and that one is called
active immunity which
when acquired by a large
percentage of people is
termed as population im-
munity or herd immunity
.
We need powerful pop-
ulation immunity because,
in a viral invasion like Cov-
id19, our body has to fight
on two fronts almost simul-
taneously. The virus in-
vades the body and causes
immense cellular destruc-
tion and may even get de-
stroyed in this process. But,
during this short period of
3 to 4 days, large loads of
debris of dead tissue be-
come food for opportunistic
bacteria and these bacteria,
in the case of Covid19, are
responsible for the deadly
atypical pneumonia. There
is significant damage to the
liver and heart as well. All
this makes a mighty man
just a sitting duck. This is,
hence, of paramount im-
portance that the public
should know about herd im-
munity
.
Population immunity
is achieved when between
60 to 70 per cent population
develops antibodies against
the virus either by getting
infected or by receiving the
vaccination. These 60 to 70
per cent antibody carrying
people shall now protect the
remaining vulnerable pop-
ulation, mainly the elderly
and children. Here, the vi-
rus can not spread across
people, can not mutate free-
ly and hence becomes sub-
dued. It may cause sporadic
infections but that is always
manageable. So, in the case
of Covid19, it is the race
against time especially in
countries like India. The
mammoth nation has a his-
tory of poor planning and
botched up implementation
of policies and pro-
grammes. It might take
years before a significant
population is vaccinated
properly and scientifically.
As far as my opinion is con-
cerned, I think India will
achieve its herd immunity
via infection rather than
vaccination. This would be
a painful situation and so
many lives would be lost
prematurely. The country
claims that it has immu-
nised its senior citizens by
the first shot of vaccination
but has anybody raised the
issue of immunosenes-
cence? I’m surprised that
specialists other than pre-
ventive medicine people are
at the forefront giving their
biased opinion regarding
the success of vaccination
but would that save the
lives? Would the country be
able to achieve what it in-
tends to achieve? The pic-
ture presentation of VIPs
getting a jab won’t serve the
purpose. Immunosenes-
cence means that older peo-
ple lose a significant ability
to respond to vaccination,
their immune system is not
as responsive and active as
that of children and young-
er people say below 40 years
of age. The human immune
system goes on losing its
power to produce antibod-
ies quickly as a person ad-
vances in age. Elderly peo-
ple need more frequent vac-
cine shots than children
and young adults and, as
per some studies, should be
vaccinated early in the
morning for better immune
response. Are these norms
being followed? Are these
basic scientific observa-
tions visible or well-pub-
lished? It is a pandemic of
immense proportion, no
doubt, but a botched up pro-
gram is, in reality, no pro-
gram.
If India fails in its vac-
cination program, the hu-
man cost might be beyond
comprehension as there is
a significant risk of third
or even fourth wave. Three
or four state elections aren’t
far away and we all know
what our leaders can do.
Then people always remain
in denial mode and gather
as a crowd on the slightest
pretext. Religious competi-
tiveness has the power to
suppress every sane voice.
It is high time that people
change the way they have
been living for decades. The
social norms need to
change. The political par-
ties should use television
and social media for the
election campaign. The
journey to spiritual enlight-
enment is individual, a
crowd gathers just for a
hack of it. It is time to ac-
cept the power of the virus
and our limited options
against it. Furthermore, it
may appear as a negative
commentary but vaccine
against Flu viruses can not
be as effective as it was
against more stable viruses
like polio and smallpox and
may require more frequent
shots at shorter intervals at
least initially. Now the
question arises about the
availability of so many dos-
es of vaccine in such a
short period. Thus, vaccine
as a saviour appears to be a
difficult goal to achieve as
far as India is concerned.
Mask could have been
more effective provided
worn properly but the way
people wear it is laughable.
The quality of the mask
and methods of wearing it
makes the mask a complete-
ly useless measure. As a
clinician, I’ve stopped plac-
ing my hopes on the mask
as a containment tool.
My maximum stress is
on body distancing and
avoidance of crowd forma-
tion at all cost. The mar-
riage can be held strictly as
an ‘only family’ function,
faithful can easily commu-
nicate with their Gods at
home and media can be eas-
ily used as a method of po-
litical communication. All
these things are doable and
highly cost-effective. Out of
all the options available to
us, this one can be done im-
mediately and can save
thousands of lives. Popula-
tion immunity alone is ca-
pable of taming Covid19,
try developing it or be ready
to perish.
10
ETC
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2021
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F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
EVELYN ESPADAS, Blogger
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
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. Meeting friends and relatives,
you hit out well with is indicated
today. Acquisition of property is in the
pipeline for some.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
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. Love and care bestowed
on partner is set to make the day.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
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 on the social
front shines bright, as you remain at
your helpful best. Marriage of
someone in the family will get fixed.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
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.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
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.
Taking some time off from the
routine will help you rejuvenate.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
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
will be quite apparent. This is an ideal
day for planning an outing.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
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. You may find a
juicy gossip session fulfilling!
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 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.
Your helpful nature will reward you.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
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 in bringing a
project to success. This is a good
day to meet people in your circle.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
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.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
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.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Financial front grows
stronger as you come
across big money. TV stars
may have to wait for some
more time to fetch new projects.
Students are likely to add a feather in
their cap by bringing in brilliant
results in the studies. Timing is the
key for you to achieve goals.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
POPULATION IMMUNITY
AND COVID19
DR RAMAWTAR
SHARMA
ramawatarf132
@gmail.com
V

12. B
ringing forth her first album in five
years, English musician Birdy pays
tribute to love with Young Heart.
While there’s a lot to like in the al-
bum, the title track surprisingly appears
to pale when compared to the rest of the
songsinthe16-trackoffering.Arath-
er ballad-like quality is expected to
enhancethethemeof heartbreak,
but Birdy appears to struggle
with setting a pace that can be
appealing. —Agency
A
merican actor Justin Hartley who
has witnessed a divorce twice, re-
cently sparked rumours that he’d
tied the knot again after the actor
and his girl-
friend, Sofia
Pernas, were
both spotted
wearing bands
on their left
ring fingers.
The ‘This Is Us’
star and Per-
nas - who both
starred on the
CBS soap
‘TheYoung
and the
Restless’ -
were photo-
graphed Satur-
day. The two were spotted at the beach in
Malibu wearing wide smiles and the ru-
mour-inducing jewellery
. Adding fuel to the
fire, Pernas had on a white top. —Agency
A
major fash-
ion event is
making a
c o m e b a ck
this year after being
halted due to COV-
ID-19. This Septem-
ber, the Met Gala is
all set to return and
you will be surprised
to find out who is in
talks for being the co-
host for the show. As
per the latest reports,
actor Timothée
Chalamet may be one of the hosts for the
fashion-forward evening. The Met Gala 2021
will also mark Chalamet’s debut at the event.
—Agency
I
ndia is witnessing the second
wave of the deadly Coro-
navirus. It is badly af-
fecting the lives of
common people as the
cases are on the
surge. However, amid
this pandemic situa-
tion reports of fake
medication being sold
are coming in. This
news has made actor
Farhan Akhtar sad.
Reacting to this news,
the actor called
those selling fake
COVID 19 medica-
tion a ‘monster’.
—Agency
CITY FIRST
P
ooja Hegde had an-
nounced that she
had tested positive
for Covid-19 a few
days ago and had isolated
herself immediately. The
actress is keeping herself
busy with activities to
keep a positive frame of
mind. A source
close to the ac-
tress shared,
“Pooja has
been doing yoga
and meditation
and is also read-
ing more positive
books to stay calm
and energised during
this time.”
ETC
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11
Sound Check
E
nglish singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding has
welcomed her first child with her husband
Caspar Jopling. The 29-year-old new dad
announced the news on his Instagram
Story on Sunday. He wrote, “Mum and baby
both healthy and happy
.” Jopling added, “I
don’t ever address the public attention that
comes with Ellie’s job. But during this
magical and personal moment, we
would really appreciate being able
to enjoy our privacy .. Thank you
x.” He also shared a screengrab
of a Google search about the
“world population 2021,”
crossing out the number and
including addition of his
own. —Agency
J
anhvi Ka-
poor enjoys a
massive fan
fo l l ow i n g .
Amid the lockdown,
she is watching
films and has been
sharing glimpses on
her Instagram. And
in the latest one, she
shared scenes of the
film ‘Life in a Metro’
starring the late Ir-
rfan Khan, who passed
away last year, and
Konkona Sen Sharma.
Taking to her offi-
cial Instagram han-
dle, the actress
shared two
scenes and
called him
‘Iconic’.
—Agency
Chitrangda Singh revealed
The newlyweds
S
ugandha Mishra and Sanket Bhosale,
who got married in an intimate ceremo-
ny last week, have been sharing some
unseen pictures and videos from their
wedding on their respective Instagram profiles.
The new glimpses of their big day have been
trending on social media since Sunday and we
are not at all surprised - all thanks to Sugandha
Mishra’s beautiful bridal look. —Agency
mid the extended lockdown
in Maharashtra, people are
forced to stay inside and be
safe. Actress Chitrangda Sin-
gh shared a video on her Ins-
tagram handle and showed
how she is spending her days
and calls it stress buster. Sharing it on
feed, she captioned it as ‘Lockdown
pastimes with buster.’ In the video,
she is seen playing with her dog.
—Agency
A
40th death anniversary
Reopening in June
Wedding rumours?
The new Host
Huge Criticism
A
A POSITIVE
POSITIVE
frame of mind
frame of mind
‘Iconic’
‘Iconic’
STAR
STAR
Blessed Baby
N
argis Dutt
passed away
in 1981, only
three days
before her son San-
jay Dutt’s Bollywood
debut film Rocky’s
release. May 3, 2021,
marked her 40th
death anniversary.
Rajkumar Hirani’s
Sanju captured the
highs as well as the
lows of Sanjay Du-
tt’s life. The biopic
did not just focus on
his professional life but also drew light on his
personal life. As the highest-grossing film of
2018, the movie beautifully explained the life
story of Sanjay Dutt and also showed his con-
nection with his mother Nargis. —Agency
L
os Ange-
les’ New
B e v e rl y
Cinema,
which is pos-
sessed and
worked by film-
maker Quentin
Tarantino, has
set a resuming
on June 1. In a
post common on
its web-based
media channels and site Saturday, the most
notable restoration theatres declared de-
signs to return. No further subtitles were
given, yet the auditorium prodded that more
data would be not far off. —ANI
Ellie Goulding
...Caspar Jopling’s post
Timothée Chalamet
Sofia Pernas and Justin Hartley
New Beverly Cinema
Birdy
Sugandha Mishra and Sanket Bhosale
Chitrangda Singh
Late Nargis Dutt
Janhvi Kapoor Farhan Akhtar
Pooja Hegde

13. 12
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2021
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CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED
TWEETED!
RCA
President
Vaibhav
Gehlot took
to Twitter
on Monday
evening
to wish
his father,
CM Ashok
Gehlot, on the
occasion of
his birthday
on May 3.
He posted a
picture with
his father and
a message of
best wishes.
RAJ: Ajit Kumar, a Jaipur-based artist who uses flames and
soot to create stunning paintings of plants, animals, and
famous personalities has come up with another mesmerizing
painting of Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot that has
caught everyone’s attention. On the occasion of CM Ashok
Gehlot’s birthday on May 3, Ajit decided to gift him a painting
as a token of love and appreciation.
RAJ: On the occasion of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s
birthday, Sandeep Singh Chaudhary, Spokesperson AICC
gave a unique birthday gift by planting a Neem tree at his
residence and sent wishes to the CM virtually. Sandeep
believes that trees are special and provide a plethora of
benefits both environmentally and economically, hence
requested everyone to plant a tree or sapling as a birthday
present to the Chief Minister.
—PHOTO BY MUKESH KIRADOO
BEAUTYATITSBEST!
arshita Bhambhani,
a19-year-oldfromthe
Pink City is doing
wonders around the
world, with her tal-
ent, enthusiasm and
dedication. In an ex-
clusive interview with City
First, Harshita shared her
journeyof representing India
in Miss Eco International
sponsored by the United Na-
tions.“If there’sanythingthat
I’ve learnt from the whole ex-
perience is that hard work
won’t ever let you down. Do
not think about the outcome.
Just keep on going in that di-
rection and you’ll find your
crown right there sitting on a
table,” she said.
Talking about the journey,
Harshita said, “The biggest
challenge that we faced was
the Eco Dress. I and mom
would sit the whole night and
stuff the mask and sew
themontheoutfitwhich
was designed by my
very favourite design-
er Shruti Misra and
the beautiful jewellery
by the Aasan jewels.
My Eco outfit is a
tribute to the doc-
tors across the
world who
played a crucial
role while the
pandemic.”
“My vision is
my mission and it
is providing men-
strual hygiene
knowledge, waste
disposal and in-
venting extreme-
ly low-cost pads
onlyforunderpriv-
ilegedfemales,”the
19-year-old said.
Her advice to the
youngeronesis,“Never
lose yourself while all
the hustle. Never let any-
one tell you, you’re not
beautiful. You have a heart
of gold and that’s what
makes you unique!”
CITY FIRST
PRESENTS
TO YOU YET
ANOTHER
GEM THAT
PINK CITY
HAS GIVEN
TO THE
WORLD OF
FASHION!
H
KARISHMA GWALANI
karishma.gwalani@firstindia.co.in
THIS TOO
SHALL PASS
SUNANDA SHARMA
T
he COVID-19
pandemic has
become not
onlyachallenge
to health care and the
economy but has also
become a test for so-
cial solidarity
.
Now we are wit-
nessingthesecond
wave of COVID-19
in many states. It ap-
pears that it is because
of our complacency
and “Chalta Hai atti-
tude”. Many states
have gone back to par-
tial lockdown, night
curfews etc.
2020 hasn’t been like
we expected but we’ve
found new ways to stay
connected. Lockdown
had made us realise
that simple living is
possible. Four sets of
clothes are good
enough, home-cooked
food is the best food
and on top of it
bonding with fam-
ily
. So do not panic,
just be strong, keep
intouchwithyourfam-
ily and friends. Vacci-
nation is an important
tool to help stop the
spread. If we follow all
the laid rules, time is
not far wherein we will
beat the second wave
also. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
IN AHMEDABAD!
GUJ: Due to the high surge of Corona in the city, a strict
check was placed by Police during the night curfew in
Ahmedabad on Sunday night. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
IAS Shakti Singh Rathore
celebrated his birthday on
Monday, May 3. We wish
him all the best!
HAPPY B’DAY!
RAJ: Jaipur Municipal Corporation Greater Councilor
Piyush Kiradoo started a unique initiative of online Yoga
classes on Monday, under the guidance of Yogacharya
Niranjan Dev from Haridwar. More than 100 people took
advantage of the online yoga session.
Descent into Limbo
T
heartist,AnishKa-
poor is widely
known for his
vague manner of
creating sculptors or art
that is installed in such a
manner that it questions
the brevity of living. One
of hisartinstallation‘De-
scent into Limbo’ at the
Fundação de Serralves,
Museum of Contempo-
rary Art in Porto, Portu-
gal, portrays one such di-
lemma. The art installa-
tion is a building with a
holeonthefloor.Thedark
hole represents the dark-
ness of the heart. It dis-
plays how long is the ten-
dency of a human to get
awayfromtheircornerof
void and emptiness. It re-
verberates the essence of
bleaknesstobenotableto
findyourself comfortable
with this empty self.
The endless hole dis-
played symbolically
through the art installa-
tion questions the very
motive of being alive.
When all shall end in
darkness, why do we still
strive. Carl Jung, the
Swiss psychologist, often
spokeabouttheUndiscov-
ered Self through his es-
says, hiding under layers
of pretense,thebeingthat
craves for being out. ‘De-
scent into Limbo’ is an
example of one such hid-
den soul inside us, which
isilluminatedbythelight
from the outside and con-
tains an endless array of
doubts from the inside.
The endless black hole.
SUSHMITA AIND
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
Harshita Bhambhani
Harshita Bhambhani representing India in
Miss Eco International pageant
CITY FIRST
A
‘JanrasoiCampaign’
was started on the
birthdayof theChief
Minister of Ra-
jasthan, Ashok Gehlot on
Monday
. Former NSUI Presi-
dent,Rajasthan,DeepakDan-
doriasaidthatwiththeinspi-
ration of the Chief Minister
and his thinking “Nobody
sleepshungry”,theJanRasoi
program has been started
fromMay3,underwhichfood
will be provided to the needy
families through Jan Rasoi
until the lockdown remains.
The ration materials, milk
and fruits will also be provid-
ed by the team.
Chief Whip Dr Mahesh
Joshi launched the ‘Jan Ra-
soi’ campaign from Nahar-
garh Road, Jaipur. During
this time, Mahesh Joshi said
that this campaign started by
the youth is inspiring for all.
Deepak Dandoria said
that food packets would
be distributed to needy
people in Jaipur till the time
the state remains under lock-
down and at the same time,
there will be a complete ar-
rangement of food
grainsfortheunrulyani-
mals. Packets of food will
bedistributeddoortodoorby
our team to needy families.
On this occasion, RMRS
members, Shiv Mohan Shar-
ma, Govind Meena, Bobby
Dandoria, Laxmikant Shar-
ma, Vinay Sharma, Jitendra
Singh Rajawat, Shoaib Khan,
Hasin Khan, Aziz Baig,
Wasim Khan among others
were present.cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
“NOBODY SLEEPS HUNGRY”
Dr Mahesh Joshi, Deepak Dandoria and
team ‘Jan Rasoi‘ presenting masks
Dr Mahesh Joshi, Deepak Dandoria and team
‘Jan Rasoi‘ providing sanitiser to police personnel
CONGRATULATIONS!
Jagdeesh Chandra congratulated Shweta Mishra, Assistant Editor
and Senior Anchor- First India news, on completing 12 years of a
brilliant career in news anchoring on Monday, May 3.
—PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA