OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
CORONA
28°C - 44°C
ALERT AHMEDABAD l FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00
COVID-19 UPDATE
RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 155
INDIA
WORLD
2,31,247 32,71,295 1,151 34,780 DEATHS
CONFIRMED CASES
www.firstindia.co.in www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/ thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia instagram.com/thefirstindia
DEATHS
214
CONFIRMED CASES
GUJARAT
DEATHS
4,395
CONFIRMED CASES
4 SEPTEMBER 1952- 30 APRIL 2020
A debonair
ROMANTIC! R
ishi Kapoor had the longest run in Bollywood as a romantic lead from the 1970s to the late 1990s. And at a time, when Bollywood actors were playing angry young men or tragic heroes, Rishi’s youthful vivacity and on-screen chemistry with his heroines enthralled the audience! Rishi Kapoor, Bollywood’s ‘forever youthful’ heartthrob, after fighting a long battle with cancer, passed away in Mumbai on Thursday
IN GUJARAT DISTRICT
TOTAL CASES
AHMEDABAD 3026 VADODARA 289 SURAT 614 RAJKOT 58 BHAVNAGAR 47 ANAND 74 BHARUCH 31 GANDHINAGAR 48 PATAN 17 PANCHMAHAL 34 BANASKANTHA 28 NARMADA 12 CHOTA UDAIPUR 13 KUTCH 6 MAHESANA 11 BOTAD 20 DAHOD 5 PORBANDAR 3 JAMNAGAR 2 MORBI 1 SABARKANTHA 3 ARAVALLI 19 MAHISAGAR 11 KHEDA 6 GIR SOMNATH 3 VALSAD 5 TAPI 1 NAVSARI 6 DANG 2 SURENDRANAGAR 1 TOTAL
4395
TOTAL NEW DEATHS DEATHS
149 17 25 1 5 4 2 2 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 214
12 1 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17
at the age of 67. Mesmerising audience with his performances over the years, the actor never minced words when it came to speaking on various issues. He displayed a similar candour and honesty when talking and writing about his life. “There is an image of me from the 1970s or 80s as a romantic star, a jersey-clad, tune-humming, cocky Casanova, with a guitar in one hand and a girl in another,” Kapoor wrote in his biography! The Kapoor family issued a statement on Thursday, “Our dear Rishi Kapoor passed away peacefully at 8:45am IST in hospital today after a two-year battle with leukaemia. The doctors and medical staff at the hospital said he kept them entertained to the last.” Rishi was admitted to Turn P6, More on City First
President of India @rashtrapatibhvn Rishi Kapoor’s untimely demise is shocking. An evergreen personality with an always smiling face, he was so full of life that it’s difficult to believe that he is no more. A huge loss for the entertainment industry. Let us pray for his soul. Condolences to his family and friends.
Narendra Modi @narendramodi Multifaceted, endearing and lively... this was Rishi Kapoor Ji. He was a powerhouse of talent. I will always recall our interactions, even on social media. He was passionate about films and India’s progress. Anguished by his demise. Condolences to his family and fans. Om Shanti.
Amit Shah @AmitShah Pained to know about the passing away of legendary actor Rishi Kapoor ji. He was an institution in himself. Rishi ji’s demise is an irreparable loss for Indian cinema. He will always be remembered for his exceptional acting skills. Condolences to his family & followers. Om Shanti.
Attracting moolah PM’s priority! MODI DISCUSSES STRATEGIES TO ATTRACT MORE FOREIGN INVESTMENTS WHILE RAHUL GANDHI & RAGHURAM RAJAN TALK IMPACT OF PANDEMIC ON ECONOMY New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held a “comprehensive” meeting to discuss strategies to attract more foreign investments into India as well as promote local investments to boost the economy against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. An official statement said various strategies to bring investments into India on a fasttrack mode and to promote Indian domestic sectors were discussed in the meeting. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, besides others, attended the meeting. Detailed discussions were also held on guiding states to evolve their strategies and to be more proactive in attracting investments, the statement said. Reform initiatives undertaken by the vari-
ous ministries should continue unabated and action should be taken in a time bound manner to remove any obstacles which impede promotion of investment and industrial growth, the statement said citing the discussions. The meeting also discussed that a scheme should be developed to promote more “plug and play” infrastructure in the existing industrial lands, plots or estates in the country and provide necessary financing support. During the meeting, Modi directed that action should be taken for a more proactive approach to “handhold” the investors, to look into their problems and help them in getting all the necessary central and state clearances in a time-bound manner. Later in a tweet, Modi said the meeting discussed ways Turn on P6
PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah during comprehensive meeting to discuss strategies on boosting investment in India on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI
NO SEPARATE PASSES NEEDED FOR TRUCKS: MHA New Delhi: To ensure uninterrupted supply of goods, MHA Thursday made it clear that no separate passes were required for inter-state movement of trucks during the ongoing Covid-19 induced lockdown. It said a valid licence of truck driver was required for ferrying goods between states. P5
Lockdown exit: ‘Journo’ Rahul grills Rajan! New Delhi: India should be “cleverer” in lifting the lockdown and should open up its economy in a “measured way” soon to save jobs, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday, underlining that Rs 65,000 crore should be spent to support the poor amid the crisis. In a first of its kind dialogue broadcast on Con-
Rahul Gandhi and Raghuram Rajan.
gress’ social media handles this morning, Rajan,
who was in the US, deliberated on the economic
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Interaction through video conference lasted for about 30 minutes. “We have to be cleverer about opening up...We need to open up in a measured way but as fast as possible so that people start having jobs,” he said. Full report P5
9.85 lakh govt staff, pensioners to get timely April payouts With the lockdown halting trade and industry for a month, petrol and diesel sales are also down 95% First India News Gandhinagar: More than five lakh state government employees and roughly four and a half lakh pensioners will receive their April salaries and pensions by the end of the first week of May. The amounts will be transferred into their accounts, the gov-
ernment announced. Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Nitin Patel announced on Thursday that the state government will disburse salaries and pensions despite income having almost come to a standstill. He said there are 5.28 lakh government employees including
Panchayat employees, whose monthly salaries amount to Rs2,600 crore. Similarly, the state has 4.57 lakh pensioners, whose monthly pensions cost the exchequer Rs1,400 crore. So, in total, the state will pay out Rs4,000 crore, as usual. Patel added that the lockdown has halted trade and industry for the whole month, petrol and diesel sales have dropped to by 95%, and there is negli-
Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Nitin Patel.
—FILE PHOTO
gible income from Goods and Service Tax, as well as from VAT on petrol and diesel. On the other hand, the regional committee of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry has demanded that the state allow trade and businesses outside cluster containment areas in the four major cities to resume operations at the earliest. Their grievance is that there are huge stocks at various nodes along the supply chain, which need to
be disposed of at the earliest to avoid interest burden and losses. In addition, this committee has requested that the state include mobile phone repairs as an essential service and allow such shops to operate. They have also pleaded that the state scrap the 1% registration charge for revenue documents as heavy charges are making real-estate deals nonviable, and so fewer sale deals are taking place.