First India-Ahmedabad Edition-02 December 2020

AHMEDABAD l WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 8

P5 OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW

RANGEELA GIRL URMILA MATONDKAR JOINS SHIV SENA, YEAR AFTER QUITTING CONGRESS 19°C - 35°C

SALMAN KHAN GETS EXEMPTION FROM APPEARANCE IN BLACKBUCK POACHING CASE HEARING

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NO HEADWAY IN CENTRE’S TALKS WITH FARMERS, PARLEYS ON THURSDAY Govt offers to set up panel to look into the issues; Union reps seek repeal of farm laws New Delhi: The government on Tuesday offered to set up a committee to look into the issues raised by farmers protesting against new farm laws, as three union ministers and senior officials met representatives of 35 agitating organisations.

Sources said the farmer representatives were yet to respond to the offer from the government more than two hours into the meeting, but all of them were unanimous in seeking repeal of the three laws that they have been terming as being against the interest of the farm community.

The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the Centre’s farm laws would pave the way for the dis-

FARMERS READY FOR LONG HAUL Singhu, New Delhi: The farmers’ blockade continues at Singhu on the Delhi-Haryana border for a sixth straight day today. Aerial shots of the border crossing show a seemingly never-ending line of tractors pulling tarpaulin-covered trailers, each of which is filled with food, water, fuel, medicines and other essential goods. The images reinforce the farmers’ message - that they will not back down till their concerns are heard and the new farm laws are repealed. At other camps in the Singhu blockade farmers can be seen preparing food on portable stoves; they’ve brought with them rations for six months.

Farmers stage a protest at Singhu border during their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march against the Centre’s new farm laws, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

mantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

The government has maintained that the

new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture. For the meeting at Vigyan Bhawan here,

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar was accompanied by Railways and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush

May not vaccinate entire country: Health Ministry New Delhi: At a time when a number of companies are working on to develop vaccine for the deadly coronavirus, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday said that it is not possible to vaccinate the whole country and it is not needed also.

Addressing a press conference, Health Ministry Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that the Central government has never spoken about vaccinating the entire country.

“I just want to make this clear that the government has never spoken about vaccinating the entire country. It’s important that we discuss such scientific issues, based on factual information only,” he said.

Giving further details, ICMR DG Dr Balram Bhargava said that if the chain of coronavirus Turn to P6

Clinical trials for Sputnik V vax begin in India

BJP’s RS MP FROM GUJARAT DIES OF CORONA COMPLICATIONS New Delhi: Abhay Bharadwaj, a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat, died on Tuesday while undergoing treatment for COVID-19 complications. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled his death, saying the country has lost a “bright and insightful mind”. “Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat, Shri Abhay Bharadwaj Ji was a distinguished lawyer and remained at the forefront of serving society.

It is sad we have lost a bright and insightful mind, passionate about national development.

Condolences to his family and friends. Om Shanti,” he tweeted. Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani said the BJP leader was an “able leader”.

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New Delhi: Dr Reddy’s Laboratories on Tuesday said it has commenced clinical trials for Sputnik V vaccine with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) in India. They commenced adaptive phase 2/3 clinical trials for Sputnik V vaccine in India after receiving the necessary clearance from the Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli, India. This will be a multicenter and randomized controlled study, which will include safety and immunogenicity study, said Dr Reddy’s in a stock exchange filing.

The clinical trials are being conducted by JSS Medical Research as the clinical research partner. Further, Turn to P6

Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash, also an MP from Punjab.

Hours before the meeting, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Tomar and Goyal, along with BJP chief J P Nadda, had held marathon discussions over the farmers’ protest against the Centre’s new agricul-

ture reform laws.

Peaceful sit-ins by farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, continued at the Singhu and Tikri borders with no untoward incident reported after Friday’s violence, while the numbers of protestors swelled at the Ghazipur border on Monday.

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India: Trudeau’s protest comments unwarranted New Delhi: India on Tuesday strongly reacted to comments by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other leaders there on protests by farmers, calling the remarks as “ill-informed” and “unwarranted” as the matter pertained to the internal affairs of a democratic country.

“We have seen some ill-informed comments by Canadian leaders relating to farmers in India.

Such comments are unwarranted, especially when pertaining to the internal affairs of a democratic country,” MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.

In a terse message, the ministry further

added that “it is also best that diplomatic conversations are not misrepresented for political purposes.”

On Monday, Trudeau, backing the agitating farmers in India, said Canada will always be there to defend the rights of peaceful protests.

“The situation is concerning and we are all very worried about family Turn to P6

Yogi to attend LMC bond listing in BSE today Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will attend the listing ceremony of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) bond, the first such listing from the entire northern region, on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The Rs 200 crore LMC bond, which was launched on November 13, was 4.5 times over-

Pradhan launches India’s first 100 octane petrol New Delhi: In a move that can be a potential game-changer in petroleum fuel retail market in India, Indian Oil launched world-class premium grade Petrol (Octane 100) on Tuesday. It was launched across 10 cities by Minister Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan.

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar calls on UP CM Yogi Adityanath in Mumbai on Tuesday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

subscribed and closed at 8.5% coupon rate for 10 years, which is the second lowest rate of all

the municipal bonds launched till date, an official spokesman said on Tuesday.

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We are not jealous if someone progresses, we do not have any problem with someone’s progress if one competes. But if you are going to forcibly take anything away, then of course, I won’t let it happen and you (industrialists) will not be willing to go.

Uddhav Thackeray, Maha CM

Soon, enjoy a luxury Ramayan Cruise Tour on Saryu River!

Ayodhya: A luxury cruise based on the epic Ramayan will soon be launched on the Saryu River in Ayodhya, according to a press release from the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways on Tuesday.

According to the official press release, “’The Ramayan Cruise Tour will be launched soon. Mansukh Man-

daviya, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways chaired a review meeting for the implementation of

cruise service. It will be the first-ever luxury cruise service on the Saryu river (Ghagra/ National Waterways-40) in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. It aims to give a mesmerising experience to devotees with one-of-its-kind spiritual journeys while cruising through the famous ghats of the holy river Saryu.”

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Has AMC directed pvt labs to make two lists of COVID-19 results?

AMC councillor Rajshri alleges city’s labs give ICMR, civic body different data First India Bureau Ahmedabad: Has the civic body directed the private labs in Ahmedabad to make two separate lists for the COVID-19 results? Are the number that goes to ICMR are less than which received by the civic body? These questions and more have

arisen after Chandkheda councillor Rajshri Kesari of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation accused the government of hiding data.

It is to be noted that First India has repeatedly reported on the “data management” of COVID-19 by the government, and that the actual picture is not

The number of new cases began to rise again after Diwali.

shown to the people.

The councillor’s allegations only serve to bolster our point.

Kesari said Shivam Bungalows, the residential society in which she lives, was declared as a micro-containment zone after it saw an increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases.

“When I cross-checked the details with the local health officer, he said there were 20 positive cases. I know of 31 from my society, who were diagnosed by a private laboratory,” she said.

She further alleged that the private laboratory appears to keeps two lists--one for the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the other for the corporation--with disparate data.

Kesari’s allegations seem to have a grounding in the facts A staffer at one of Ahmedabad’s private laboratories told First India that civic officials have in fact instructed them to prepare two lists of the COVID-19 positive cases for two

different organizations’ agencies. This person asked not to be named for fear of reprisal from the government and the lab itself.

“Many patients who have been diagnosed by our laboratory had initial difficulty in getting admission at the cityrun Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) hospital. In addition, the AMC does not pay any attention to asymptomatic patients, nor do their homes get a red (COVID-19 alert) sticker,” this person added.

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AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2020

02

BJP MLA CALLS FOR LOVE JIHAD LAW IN GUJ Dabhoi people’s representative Shailesh Mehta termed it “protection for Hindu girls & women” First India Bureau Vadodara: The Love Jihad Act which was enacted in the state of Uttar Pradesh recently, has already reported its first case under the new law at Deorania police station in the district of Bareilly. While Assam is deliberating introduction of a new legislation that will ask couples to declare their religion and income, Bihar may enact the Love Jihad ordinance as well. The demand for the law in Gujarat was made by Dabhoi MLA of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Shailesh Mehta on Tuesday.

Announcing his support for the legislation, Mehta stated that he would make suitable representation to the state government to implement the act in the state.

He cited a wave of ‘love jihad’ sweeping the nation as the reason for his demand and also the implementation of

Salient features of the UP Love Jihad Act z Those

found guilty of conversion done through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means, would face imprisonment of one to five years and a minimum fine of `1,500.

z If

a minor belonging to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe is coverted, then those found guilty would have to face a jail term of three to 10 years, with minimum fine of `25,000.

BJP MLA Shailesh Mehta

the law in the state of Uttar Pradesh. “As far as Gujarat is concerned, it has always been first when it comes to Hindutva, so how can it lag behind in enacting a law protecting Hindu girls and women,” questioned Mehta.

“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic wrecking havoc in the country, with new cases being reported every day, instead of strengthen-

z If

ing the health services and hiring more doctors and paramedical teams, BJP leaders have taken to distracting the public. That in itself shows how the state as well as the central has failed to gain control over the transmission of the virus, and is using issues such as ‘love jihad’ to cover it up,” alleged Prashant Patel, President of Vadodara Congress Committee.

several people are converted, then those found guilty would face jail terms of three to 10 years, with a minimum of `50,000 penalty.

z Under

Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 (Uttar Pradesh Vidhi Virudh Dharma Samparivartan Pratishedh Adhyadhesh) proposes among other things that marriage will declared “shunya” (null and void), if the sole intention of it is to change a girl’s religion.

TARIFF RELIEF TRUE OR FALSE: Is the state `800 for RT-PCR govt hiding facts from the HC? test at private labs, DyCM Nitin Patel visited a kidney hospital set to

admit nCoV patients in East A’bad on Tuesday

First India Bureau Gandhinagar: The state government on Tuesday informed the Gujarat High Court that the COVID-19 pandemic has been brought under control and that the number of cases, demand of oxygen supply and Remdesivir drug, had lowered over the past few days cases.

When Advocate General Kamal Trivedi was putting forth the statement before the first division bench comprising Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice JB Pardiwala, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel inaugurated the New Kidney Hospital in the eastern part of the city, where 418 beds have been readied for nCoV patients.

Due to a shortage of beds in private hospitals last week, local civic body Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) transferred more than 80 patients to COVID-19 hospitals in Kheda and Anand. Patel had stated that AMC had decided to send patients to neighbouring districts, where the health facilities were lying unused.

The state health department had also issued a circular asking all oxygen manufacturers to ensure that 50% of their production is diverted to hospitals, health centres to meet medical requirements. The official statement indicated a surge in COVID-19 cases. According to the statistics, the oxy-

`1.1K for home test

CM Rupani also laid foundation stones of developmental projects to come up in Vadodara at cost of `344 crore

The charges of RT-PCR testing have been reduced from `1,500 at laboratories and `2,000 for a home test.

—FILE PHOTO

First India Bureau gen demand had increased to 240 MT per day in the month of September, dropped to 135 MT in the first week of October, and has increased to 190 to 200 MT per day now.

Yet, the government has not shied away from stating that the demand for oxygen supply has reduced.

On Monday, the state reported 1,502 new nCoV cases and 20 deaths, on November 29, there were 1,564 cases and 16 deaths and on November 28, the state recorded 1,598 cases and 15 deaths. Despite the data painting a picture contrary to what the government is claiming, the health crisis situation seems miles from being ‘under control’. So, the question that arises is, why is the government attempting to mislead the public and also the judiciary?

Deputy CM Nitin Patel and Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi visiting the COVID-19 ward of the New Kidney Hospital at Manju Shree Mill campus near Civil Hospital Asarwa in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

—PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI

Gandhinagar: The state government has finally budged and lowered the charges for COVID-19 testing at private laboratories. Now, people will have to shell out just `800 for RT-PCR testing at laboratories and Rs1,100 for home service. This decision has been declared after the Supreme Court pulled up states and asked them to have uniform tariffs for testing across the country.

Earlier, the state government had capped the amount for testing at Rs1,500 for laboratories, which has now been lowered to `800. This also means that private hospitals will no longer be able to charge `2,000 for home service.

Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel on Tuesday visited the

CM Vijay Rupani

New Kidney Hospital in the Civil Hospital (Asarwa) campus, where arrangements have been made for COVID- 19 patients-taking the total beds dedicated for them at Medi City (as the Civil Hospital campus is formally known) to 2,100. The move comes in anticipation of a surge in cases. Out of 418 beds at the hospital, 336 are equipped with oxygen, 86 beds have ventilators.

In all the dedicated COVID-19 hospitals, out of 1,200 beds, 661 are occupied. The Gu-

jarat Cancer & Research Institute has 23 patients, IKDRC has 62 and UN Mehta has five nCoV patients.

Around 1,700 people are receiving treatment for the virus in the Medi City and yet 600 beds are available for occupation.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday e-dedicated and laid the foundation stone of various developmental projects worth Rs344.45 crore of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) in the presence of Gujarat Legislative Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi.

“In order to make the cities of Gujarat at par with modern cities of the world, the state government has extensively set up basic and infrastructural facilities for the overall development of cities,” said the CM.

GUJARAT AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020

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HC advises state govt to take timely action for nCoV

Court may order mandatory community service at COVID-care centres for people caught maskless JUST DO IT

First India Bureau Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday observed that the state government needed to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic situation in an efficient manner. It also warned that if action is not taken now, it may result in worsening of the health crisis in the state. Furthermore, the court asked the state to decide whether to send people without face masks to COVID-19 care centres for a week of community service or not.

The first division bench comprising Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice JB Pardiwala has been hearing COVID-19 pandemic suo motu along with clubbed petitions to related issues.

Advocate General Kamal Trivedi submitted

—FILE PHOTO

High Court of Gujarat.

the state was in a dilemma on whether to implement the high court’s recommendation to punish people who step out without wearing masks, by sending them to do social service at a COVID-19 care centre.

Trivedi equated the government’s conundrum to that of Prince Ham-

let in the Shakespearean play’—“To be or not to be....”

In response, the court advised that its recommendation, if enforced now, could be reviewed a week later. But, if it is not implemented now, then it may be of no use later. “If the government will not be serious about

this issue, then the people will never understand the gravity of the situation,” the court said, and gave the state until Wednesday to decide, after which the court will take a call.

Expressing surprise at the advocate general’s submission that there had been an improve-

ment in the pandemic situation in the state over the past three days, the court pointed out that the situation cannot “become better” in a span of three days.

The government’s claim had been based on a rise in bed availability and a fall in daily oxygen consumption and demand for Remdesivir.

MOS Home orders probe into former MLA’s event First India Bureau Tapi: In a belated effort to save face for the state government, Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja has ordered an inquiry into a social event hosted by a former MLA from the Bharatiya Janata Party. The move comes after videos emerged showing a large crowd at the engagement ceremony of the granddaughter of former tribal affairs minister and MLA from Songadh constituency, Kanti Gamit.

It is to be remembered that the state government has capped the number of guests for weddings and other social events to 100.

Gamit’s granddaughter was engaged on Monday, and an evening of music was held as part of the engagement festivities. Videos from Monday’s event show that hundreds of people participated in the garba event—most, with-

AMC paying crores for private COVID-19 beds

Only 50% teaching & non-teaching staff can be called to work: State govt

First India Bureau

Gandhinagar: The state home department through a circular has now directed Secondary and Higher Secondary schools to call only 50% of their teaching and nonteaching staff to work.

The circular also asks to grant-in-aid and

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is paying crores of rupees for private beds for COVID-19 patients, even as it fails to use its own infrastructure optimally.

Way back in May, private hospitals were told that the civic body would pay them Rs15 lakh up front to reserve beds for COVID-19 patients. The AMC has now designated more than 100 private hospitals for COVID-19 treatment.

While it has capped the cost of beds, the AMC it currently pays Rs720 per bed per day for empty beds without ventilation support.

Empty beds with ventilation support in isolation wards are costing the city Rs1,800 per bed per day, while occupied beds without ventilation support cost Rs4,500 per bed per day.

Every occupied bed with ventilation support in an isolation ward costs the AMC Rs11,250 per day.

First India Bureau

non-grant-in-aid schools to strictly abide by the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and to operate only from 7.30 am to noon.

Although the state education department has postponed its plan to resume on-campus learning, staff continue to be expected to attend school and carry out

03

their duties there.

Sources say that the pandemic may also affect next year’s state Board exams for Class X and XII. Instead of holding exams in March, the state might decide to hold them only in May, for which the form-filling process is likely to begin in January, they add.

A still from a video of the event shows a large crowd of people.

out masks.

As these clips gained traction on social media, the Tapi District Collector and District Superintendent began to avoid calls and messages from mediapersons asking for their comments on the action taken against the member of the ruling party for violation of COVID-19 protocols.

BJP district committee president Jayrambhai Gamit went on the defensive to claim that barely anyone had been present at the period in which he had attended

the event. He said he had no idea of any mass gathering.

As more criticism began to come in, Gamit handed his phone over to a relative who courteously informed callers that there had been two separate events—Tulsi Vivah and the engagement—and that the engagement had seen very few guests.

When news channels started airing these clips on Tuesday, Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja swung into action and ordered an inquiry.

New cases fall below 1.5K, but Guj at No. 8 among worst-hit states —FILE PHOTO

A warning sign outside the home of a COVID-19 patients.

MAKING WAY FOR THE NEW Ahmedabad’s VS Hospital has been defunct for almost two years now, but the Congress has been calling for it to be reopened and used for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

—FILE PHOTO

“The BJP and its officials are using the process of acquiring private beds to line their own pockets at a cost to the common people. The AMC could have very well strengthened its own hospitals for the amount of money it has paid—and is continuing to pay—private hospitals,” said Dinesh Sharma, former leader of the opposition.

He added, “Right from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the

Congress party has been demanding that the AMC reopen VS (Vadilal Sarabhai) hospital (which has been shut for almost two year), but that demand is categorically being ignored so that their (BJP leaders’) relatives get the money.

This is a scam by the officials and BJP people.

Who goes and checks whether the beds are actually occupied?”

First India reached out to half a dozen AMC officials, but all of them refused to comment on this issue.

A farmer burns post-harvest stubble in a paddy field near Sanand on Tuesday. The practice is more commonly seen in Punjab, Haryana and UP. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

First India Bureau Gandhinagar: The state’s death toll has now crossed 4,000, with another 15 fatalities occurring over a 24-hour span. Tuesday also saw Gujarat at No. 8 in terms of the number of COVID-19 cases, having seen a total of 2,11,257 cases since March.

The only sliver of good news is that, at 1,477, the number of new cases was below 1,500 for the first time in several days.

Of the new deaths, 1 occurred in Ahmedabad, two, in Surat and one each, in Amreli, Patan, and Vadodara.

Ahmedabad again saw the highest number

1,477 cases, 15 fatalities take state tally to 2,11,257 cases, toll to 4,004 of new cases, with 332.

Cases also emerged in Surat (254), Vadodara (181), Rajkot (160), Mehsana (67), Gandhinagar (64) and Kheda (48), among others.

There are now 14,885 active cases, with 81 patients on ventilator support, according to the state health department.

Meanwhile, the conductor of a private bus was arrested for allowing 51 passengers on board when the number was to be capped at 39— 50% of the bus capacity.

EXPERT SPEAK

Waste management during pandemic nets Surat ‘model city’ tag 

Study was supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi and jointly conducted by an Indo-Norwegian team

First India Bureau Surat: An Indo-Norwegian study of the COVID-19 pandemic’s implications on the informal sector and biomedical and plastic waste generation and handling, conducted in Surat between March and July has found Surat to be a model city, and said the practices from the Diamond City can be emulated elsewhere in the state and country.

The study was supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi and jointly conducted by an IndoNorwegian project team (INOPOL) from Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Mu Gamma Consultants Pvt Ltd (MGC), and Toxics Link.

The findings of the report were released during a webinar on “The Informal Sector, plastic, and biomedical wasteperspectives and trends

A sanitation worker carries a bag of biomedical waste to be disposed of, in Ahmedabad.

—FILE PHOTO

during COVID-19”, organized by the Indo-Norwegian project team and attended by invited experts who discussed the impact of the COVID-19 situation on key aspects of the waste management ecosystem.

The experts also highlighted the fact that the vulnerability of the informal workers to livelihood and health risks needs to be reduced, and called for greater recognition of and support to this group to strengthen

the role of the informal sector in efficient waste management.

Study co-author Dr Hans Nicolai Adam pointed out: “More interdisciplinary work of this nature needs to be conducted, and linked to policy processes to find broad-based, equitable, and environmentally friendly solutions that involve the neglected informal sector, and combat plastic pollution in a joint manner. The study also highlights the value

of fruitful international collaboration to find more local solutions to global issues.”

The study illuminates that while Surat holds the capacity to treat biomedical waste, the direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19 have severely disrupted formal and informal plastic waste value chains. Health risks from exposure to contaminated biomedical waste of frontline informal workers was another key concern.

PERSPECTIVE AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020

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IN-DEPTH

NO HEADWAY IN TALKS, FARMERS TO CONTINUE PROTEST

N

ot much headway was made at Tuesday’s talks between the government and farmers. The government said it won’t repeal the laws, while farmers refused to end their agitation unless the laws were rolled back. With neither side ready to concede ground, farmers refused to call off their protests on Haryana-Delhi and NoidaDelhi borders. The only forward movement was that the government dropped its condition asking the protesters to shift to Burari prior to talks. The farmers softened their stand and joined the negotiations. The two sides left the door ajar for the next round of parleys on December 3.

In an effort to defuse the crisis the Central government had invited leaders of 35 farmers unions for a dialogue to find a way out of the imbroglio. The initiative failed to resolve the issue as farmers voiced their reservations over the government’s proposal to form a committee comprising its representatives and four or five nominees of farmers unions to discuss the new agricultural laws.

The government gave a presentation of the contentious minimum support price (MSP) and the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act but the farmers were not convinced.

With thousands of farmers on the warpath, a concerted attempt was being made to discredit and politicise the movement. Kangana Ranaut, the unofficial spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party, tweeted that “same dadi who featured in Time magazine for being the most powerful Indian…she is available for Rs 100” and alleged that the face of Shaheen Bagh’s anti-CAA agitation had joined the farmers’ protest for some money and food. The news was found to be false and Kangana had to delete the tweet.

The other charge levelled was that of Khalistani elements joining the protests.

Going by the sheer size of the protest it would not be unsurprising for some such elements to sneak in but to blame the farmers for playing into the hands of extremists is mischievous propaganda. In fact, it won’t be surprised if some vested political interests infiltrated the protesters only to discredit the farmers’ movement by raising such slogans.

The agitation which entered the sixth day on Tuesday got support from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The first world leader to comment on the protest Trudeau said, “Canada will always be there to defend the rights of peaceful protests.” He said the “situation is concerning and we are all very worried.” Trudeau’s comments must have been directed towards the Sikh community in Canada but they drew a strong response from New Delhi. Labour MPs in Britain also voiced their concern over the protests.

With prominent sports persons returning their national awards, there is a fear that unlike the anti-CAA stir, this protest could give the Centre the winter chills.

BJP’S BIG PLANS FOR SMALLER GAINS IN HYDERABAD PRASHANT SAXENA INDEPENDENT POLITICAL ANALYST

I

For most, the BJP’s newfound enthusiasm is based on its victory in the recent Dubbak (Siddipet) Assembly byelection. Many believe the party is preparing the ground for the 2023 Assembly and then for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

These conclusions are at best abrupt.

While each party wants to expand its base, in the case of BJP, which has a full majority in the Lok Sabha, things appear different

n our country, there have been several precedents to suggest why smaller parties became a big game changer and why big parties became a small, yet effective, stakeholder. Southern states offer several parallels, where regional parties, with the exception of Leftists in Kerala, have prospered at the expense of national parties.

But what do you figure out from civic elections, where storm water drains, civic amenities such as roads and bijlipaani are supposed to be the key issues? These polls were generally fought without party affiliations, but circumstances have forced councilors and mayors to toe political lines.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections are an eye-opener: the BJP has dispatched party chief JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, and UP CM Yogi Adiyanath, all guns blazing, to wrest the civic body. The question is not if the BJP will win the polls. The bigger question is: why such a blitzkrieg for, after all, civic body polls?

FACTS & FIGURES The GHMC has 74 lakh voters from 24 assembly constituencies and five Lok Sabha segments. In the last civic polls, the BJP managed to win only four seats. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) of Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao was the frontrunner with 99 seats followed by AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) of Asaduddin Owaisi, 44 in a house with 150 wards. In the 2018 Assembly polls, the ruling TRS was way ahead of its rivals; it has 100 MLAs in the 119-member House (excluding one nominated). The TRS is unrivalled and unyielding in the civic polls.

For it, BJP is a rabble-rousing divisive party.

In the 2019 parliamentary polls, out of the 17 seats, TRS

won nine, BJP four, Congress three, and AIMIM one.

The issues in the GHMC polls are similar to the ones elsewhere in any civic body.

But the BJP has chosen to attack what it calls the greater “evil” – the Nizam culture, where well-to-do families prospering in the erstwhile princely state continue to dominate the political scene.

BJP’S STRATEGY For most, the BJP’s newfound enthusiasm is based on its victory in the recent Dubbak (Siddipet) Assembly by-election. Many believe the party is preparing the ground for the 2023 Assembly and then for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. These conclusions are at best abrupt.

While each party wants to expand its base, in the case of BJP, which has a full majority in the Lok Sabha, things appear different. The party is known to “shock” its adversaries and “awe” its allies – the high political drama in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in the run-up to the Bihar polls is a shining example. In Bihar, the AIMIM, in fact, indirectly helped the NDA by dividing the Muslim votes of Lalu Prasad’s RJD and Congress.

The party is now looking at West Bengal where Assembly

IN THE CASE OF GHMC POLLS, ANY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE BJP TALLY WOULD SEND OUT A LOUD MESSAGE IN WEST BENGAL. A BREACH IN THE OWAISI CITADEL OF OLD HYDERABAD WOULD ONLY ADD TO BJP’S GLEE

polls are due early next year followed by in Tamil Nadu.

The AIMIM has decided to field its candidates in the Muslim majority areas – more than 100 -- in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly. This has already alarmed the ruling Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee, who has activated her minority front.

Then there are district council polls taking place in J&K. By all indications, the BJP is going to fare much better in these polls (which will continue till later this month and results will be out soon after), which are

Women become collateral damage in COVID-19 pandemic

M

ao Zedong once stated that “Women hold up half the sky.”

This has been particularly true over the past months with COVID-19 wreaking havoc across the globe. In fact, it is legitimate to claim that during the pandemic, women have held up significantly more than their share of the sky.

Anyone who has regularly gone shopping in their local supermarket can attest to that. Even at the height of the pandemic in the spring of this year, women cashiers, women stocking the shelves, women at the information counter, women counting the number of customers entering and leaving the store continued to show up for work, assuring that a modicum of “normalcy” was maintained.

Add to that the myriad of women in health services and education, to mention

04

only the most prominent sectors, and the Herculean effort women have made to alleviate the fallout of this crisis becomes glaringly obvious. And this does not even touch upon the too-often forgotten, because unremunerated, work women have done in the privacy of their homes, as wives and mothers guaranteeing the continued smooth running of the household. Or the fact that once schools closed, mothers took on the extra task of homeschooling their kids, countless of them having to make the choice of sacrificing their jobs in order to do so.

SHORT END OF THE STICK More often than not, unfortunately, reality is not a romance novel — appreciation does not come easy.

And often enough, good people end up getting the short end of the stick. COV-

ID-19 has once again proved the point. Women have been among the most prominent victims of COVID-19, not necessarily as direct casualties — men have generally been more likely than women to die from coronavirusrelated health problems — but as the objects of COVID-19’s “collateral damage.”

In the process, the pandemic has dealt a significant setback to gender equality.

In general, women account for roughly 40% percent of the global workforce. Unfortunately, as a post on the website of the World Economic Forum has pointed out, “they are over-represented in three of the four most in-decline parts of the global economy” as a result of the pandemic: “accommodation and food services (54%); retail and wholesale trade

(43%); and services such as arts, recreation and public administration (46%).”

As a result, women have been disproportionately affected by layoffs. In Switzerland, for instance, 3% of the country’s workforce lost their job as a result of the pandemic; 70% of them were women. In the United States, between March and early April, female employment dropped by 13%;

among non-college-educated women, by 15%. On a global scale, the consulting firm McKinsey has estimated that job losses caused by the pandemic have been around 1.8 times higher for women than for men.

The impact of the pandemic has been particularly severe for women with children. The temporary closing of nurseries and schools in early spring meant a substantial increase in the time women spent on childcare, including homeschooling.

All of this, of course, represents unpaid labor, done, at least in part, to allow men to continue to work in their higher-paying jobs. This, at least, is the conclusion derived from an Austrian study. In couples with at least one child, the study found, women spent on average nine and a half hours per day doing unpaid work, men around seven.

SOURCE: FAIR OBSERVER

again local level polls. These are very significant as they’d test, for the first time, the Central policies, including the abrogation of Art 370 and 35-A provisions.

THE KOLKATA LINK In the case of GHMC polls, any significant improvement in the BJP tally would send out a loud message in West Bengal. A breach in the Owaisi citadel of old Hyderabad would only add to BJP’s glee.

So, in a manner, the BJP strategy is not based as much on winning the GHMC polls.

The party, in fact, wants to derive the maximum benefit for a larger share in the Bengal sweepstakes. That’s why the high-octane campaign in Hyderabad.

In a lighter vein, Owaisi has reportedly said he is now a ‘laila’ being lured by all parties. He has a point. All parties, opposed to the BJP, now want to court him so that he doesn’t cut into their Muslim votes.

Something of that sort is very much in evidence in Tamil Nadu, where the ruling AIADMK, a nonchalant NDA ally, is on guard. The BJP is encouraging smaller parties being led by Tamil film stars to contest the May 2021 polls, so that pro-Dravidian votes are divided.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

Top

TWEET Dr Harsh Vardhan @drharshvardhan India’s pragmatic, evidence-based response to AIDS has provided remarkable results with 86% reduction in new HIV infections since 1997 & 37% since 2010.

Under our ‘Treat All’ approach, we run the world’s 2nd largest Antiretroviral treatment program with 1.3 mn people on free ART Ravi Shankar Prasad @rsprasad @narendramodi government has procured 19% more paddy during the current kharif marketing season so far at 318 lakh tonnes for over Rs 60,000 crore. Out of which, Punjab alone has contributed 202.77 lakh tonnes, which is 63.76 per cent of total procurement.

Spiritual SPEAK

It is not eyes that are blinded but blinded are the hearts.

—Surah Al-Haj 22:46

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FARMERS’ PROTESTS

Protest to continue, say farmer leaders after talks with govt Chanda Singh, a representative of protesting farmers, said that their protest will continue till they take something from the government “be it bullets or peaceful solution”

New Delhi: Representatives of farmers, who held talks with the government on Tuesday over their demand for the repeal of three new farm laws, said that the meeting remained inconclusive and they will continue their protest.

A farmer leader also said that the meeting was good and some progress was made and during the next meeting with government on Dec 3, they will convince it that the new farm bills are not profarmer. Chanda Singh, a representative of protesting farmers, later told the media that their protest will continue till they take something from the government “be it bullets or peaceful solution”. —ANI

Bhim Sena activists join farmers during their ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest against Centre’s new farm reform laws, at Ghazipur border in New Delhi —PHOTO BY PTI on Tuesday.

Ambala: Haryana farmers raised slogans of ‘Kisan Ekta Zindabad’ and showed black flags to Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij outside Panjokhra Sahib Gurudwara in Ambala on Monday.In a video from the protest site, the farmers can be seen blocking the Minister’s car and raising anti-government slogans amid their ongoing protest against central farm laws. “The farmers of Punjab are our comrades. BJP leaders are saying that there are no farmers in the ongoing protests against farm laws from Haryana, so we will protest against the leader of BJP and central government like this to show our dissatisfaction with the “black laws”,” said a farmer while aspeaking to media.

SUSPEND THREE FARM LAWS, SAYS CONGRESS

UNION MINISTERS MEET AT NADDA’S RESIDENCE

New Delhi: Even as the Centre held talks with farmer leaders over their demands, the Congress on Tuesday welcomed the development but demanded that the three farm laws be suspended immediately and all cases against protesters withdrawn. “The government should talk to farmers with an open heart and the PM should announce suspension of all three central farm laws and withdrawal of all cases against the farmers, “ Congress Chief Spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said.

New Delhi: Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Piyush Goyal attended a meeting over the farmers’ protest at BJP chief JP Nadda‘s residence on Tuesday.

The meeting was the latest in a series of meeting of BJP leaders over the issue and lasted for over two hours. The farmers have been seeking repeal of three laws enacted in September to liberalise the farm sector and have been camping at Delhi’s borders. “The genuine grievances of the farmers were addressed, sources said.

COPS DETAIN 82-YEAR-OLD BILKIS, ‘DADI’ OF SHAHEEN BAGH AS SHE JOINS PROTEST

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked the government to wake up and shed “arrogance” to provide protesting farmers their rights. Farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, are holding protests at the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders of the national capital against the Centre’s new agri-marketing laws. Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said everyone was indebted to the farmers for their hard work and this debt would be repaid only by giving them justice. “The food grower is sitting in protest on the roads and fields and speeches are being given on TV.We all are indebted to the hard work of farmers. This debt will be over only by giving them justice and their rights, and not by mistreating them or by beating them with batons.” —ANI

New Delhi: 82-year-old Bilkis Bano, also known as the “Dadi” of Shaheen Bagh protests fame, was detained by the Delhi Police on Tuesday after she joined the agitating farmers at the Singhu border to raise her voice against the recently enacted contentious farm laws. “We are the daughters of farmers...

We will raise our voice, the government should listen to us,” Bano was quoted as saying by news agency ANI, earlier.Responding to a question posed by a media network, “Dadi” said that she was going to provide solidarity to the “kisan bhai” (an intimate term to refer to the farmers as ‘brothers’), who are urging the administration to listen to their demands. —ANI

IN THE COURTYARD

SC disposes off pleas seeking removal of Andhra CM

Actor-turned politician Urmila Matondkar joins Shiv Sena in presence of party President and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Rashmi Thackeray and others in Mumbai.

—PHOTO BY PTI

Railway freight records 9% increase in November: Ministry

lion tonnes which is 9% higher compared to last year’s loading (100.96

BRAHMOS MISSILE SUCCESSFULLY HITS TARGET IN TEST FIRE New Delhi: The antiship version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with a strike range of 300 kilometers successfully hit its target ship in a test fire on Tuesday. As per sources, the target was set near the Car Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal, and the (DRDO)developed missile was launched from the Indian

HARYANA FARMERS RAISE SLOGANS, SHOW BLACK FLAGS TO ANIL VIJ

SHED ARROGANCE, GIVE JUSTICE TO FARMERS: RAHUL TO GOVT

TAKING UP A NEW ROLE...

New Delhi: The Indian Railways’ freight figures continue to maintain the high momentum in terms of earnings and loading as it records a 9% increase in the month of November 2020, the Railway Ministry said. “In the month of November 2020, Indian Railways loading was 109.68 mil-

05

Navy’s INS Ranvijay at 9.25 am. A land-attack version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was also successfully test-fired from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands territory earlier this week.

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is the world’s fastest operational system in its class, told a few reliable sources.

million tonnes) for the same period. Despite festival holidays and Cyclone Nivar affecting freight loading, Indian Railways continued to register impressive figures in freight loading in last three months (in Oct 15%, in Sept 15%) suggesting a steady economic recovery,” said the ministry.—ANI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday termed as “not maintainable” two petitions seeking the removal of YSR Jagan Mohan Reddy as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh over his alleged unbecoming actions of levelling allegations against the second senior-most judge of the top court.

A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, disposed off the two pleas filed by lawyers GS Mani and Pradeep Yadav and said they are not maintainable. While hearing another plea seeking to restrain Reddy from making any further statements in the alleged Amaravati land scam case, the bench said, “When the gag order has already been lifted by this court earlier, then how does this prayer survive now?”

Petition filed by one SK Singh, was tagged with another matter already pending before a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan. —ANI

STOCKS GALLOP TO CLOSING HIGHS ON RECOVERY HOPES Mumbai: Equity benchmarks surged to lifetime closing highs on Tuesday as better-than-expected GDP data and progress on the COVID-19 vaccine front gave fresh impetus to investor bullishness.

A strengthening rupee and persistent foreign capital inflows further boosted market sentiment, traders said. The 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed 505.72 points or 1.15 per cent to end at its fresh closing record of 44,655.44. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 140.10 points or 1.08 per cent to close at its all-time high of 13,109.05.

SC rejects Chanda Kochhar’s appeal against HC order New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday rejected the appeal filed

by Chanda Kochhar against the Bombay High Court order which had dismissed her plea against being removed as the managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank.

Sorry, we are not inclined to interfere with the high court order, a bench headed by Jus-

tice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said. This falls within the realm of private

bank and employee, the apex court said.

The bench was hearing Kochhar’s appeal against the March 5 order of the HC which had dismissed the plea against termination of her services as managing director & CEO of ICICI Bank while noting that dispute arises from a contract of personal service. —PTI

2G scam: HC to hear CBI appeal from Jan 13

HC notice to ECI on Swami Chakrapani’s plea

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said that it will hear from January 13 an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the acquittal of all 2G spectrum scam accused, including former telecom minister A Raja.

A single-judge bench of Justice Yogesh Khanna said it will hear the “leave to appeal” in the matter from January 13. The case was transferred to Justice Khanna after Justice Brijesh

New Delhi: Delhi HC issued notice to the Election Commission of India and others on a plea seeking direction to allow the office bearers of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, including its president Swami Chakrapani, to contest Assembly elections in several states under the party’s flag.

A division bench of CJ DN Patel & Justice Prateek Jalan issued notice to respondents on the plea filed by Chakrapani. —PTI

Sethi, who was hearing CBI appeal in 2G spectrum allocation case, retired on November 30.

Recently, Justice Sethi rejected several petitions of acquitted accused against sanctions granted by the central government for CBI to file an appeal against their acquittal. —ANI

J&K: ABDULLAH’S BROTHER AMONG ALLEGED LAND ENCROACHERS Jammu: The name of Mustafa Kamal, brother of former J&K Chief Minister and National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, appears as an alleged illegal occupant of land (other than Roshni) in the document published by Divisional Commissioner Jammu. On November 16, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

registered three separate cases in pursuance of the orders of Jammu and Kashmir High Court on a Public Interest Litigation related to the alleged Rs 25,000 crore Roshini land scam. This comes over a month after the division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir high court handed over the probe of the case to the CBI.

Saradha scam: CBI probes TMC leader Asif Khan

Kolkata: The CBI Tuesday interrogated former Trinamool Congress leader Asif Khan in connection with an audio clip in connection with the multicrore rupees Saradha scam.

Khan said that the investigation agency had summoned him for testing his voice sample in the audio clip but it could not be done for some ‘technical reasons’. “The CBI called me for testifying my voice in an audio clip which has been unearthed by the probing agency. But this could not be done for some technical reasons,” he told newspersons.”I will come and cooperate whenever I am called again,” he said.

Khan was interrogated

by CBI in connection with Saradha scam in 2014. He was arrested & is now on bail. —PTI

LJP THANKS RJD, SAYS WON’T CONTEST RS POLL IN BIHAR Patna: The LJP led by Chirag Paswan refused to take bait thrown by RJD to contest one RS seat in Bihar, while expressing gratitude to opposition party for extending support. The RS seat from Bihar fell vacant after the demise Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. The filing of nominations will start from Dec 3 and the election, if needed, will be held on Dec 14. RJD had offered to support candidature of Ram Vilas’s widow Reena Paswan in case she wished to challenge NDA candidate Sushil Kumar Modi.

INDIA AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020

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COVID-19 shows a downward trend Coronavirus cumulative positivity rate in India dips from 7.15 % to 6.69% New Delhi: The cumulative Covid-19 positivity rate has decreased in India from 7.15 per cent to 6.69 per cent during November 11 to December 1 period, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that cumulative positivity rate in the country dipped from 7.15 per cent to 6.69 per cent during November 11 to December 1 period. “In November this year, the number of recoveries has been more than the number of new Covid-19 cases,” Bhushan said. With 31,118 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, India’s active cases stand at 4,35,603, much below the fivelakh mark, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Tuesday.

Patients treated as untouchables if posters pasted near homes: SC

DELHI REPORTS 4,006 NEW CASES

D

New Delhi: The Supreme Court said that once posters are pasted outside the homes of COVID-19 patients, these people are treated as "untouchables", reflecting a different "ground reality". The Centre informed the top court that although it has not prescribed this rule, the practice has nothing to do with "stigmatising" COVID-19 patients as it is aimed at protecting other people.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah said that the ground reality is "something different" and as once such posters are pasted at their homes,

After high decibel campaigning, low voter turnout for GHMC polls Hyderabad: A highdecibel, no holds barred campaign involving a battery of BJP leaders such as Amit Shah versus the ruling TRS for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election was followed by a low turnout polling on Tuesday.

About 35 percent of the 74 lakh-odd voters turned up to cast their votes. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 4. Polling passed off peacefully, but not without any glitch, as repoll was ordered in ward number 26 owing to a symbol mix-up in-

TRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha shows her finger marked with indelible ink after casting vote during Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections in Hyderabad.

—PHOTO BY PTI

volving the two Left parties-- CPI and CPI (M), officials said. Ballot papers were used in total 150 wards of the corporation. Aiming to cash-

Poaching case: Salman gets exemption from appearance Jodhpur: Actor Salman Khan was on Tuesday given exemption from appearance by a court here during the hearing of an appeal by him against the fiveyear sentence in the October 1998 blackbuck poaching case.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Brajesh Panwar granted the relief after Khan’s counsel cited the “rising” number of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai and Jodhpur and said that travelling

for the hearing could be risky for the actor.

The court has fixed January 16 for the next hearing.

in on its surprise success in the recent Dubbak assemblyy bypoll, the BJP seemed to have upped the stakes in the civic polls in the state

capital, fielding the “who’’s who” of the saffron party, from Shah to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to Smriti Irani, for canvassing of votes.

While Shah assured development to the southern city and free it from “Nizam Culture” if voted to power, UP chief minister Adityanath, whose administration changed names of Faizabad & Allahabad in his state to Ayodhya & Prayagraj, , said Hyderabad could follow suit to become ‘’Bhagyanagar’’ if his party captured GHMC.

PUNJAB REPORTS 630 NEW COVID-19 CASES, 14 DEATHS Chandigarh: Punjab reported 630 new COVID-19 cases and 14 deaths on Tuesday. According to the state Health Department, 812 people recovered from infection in the last 24 hours. A total of 1,52,709 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the state which includes 1,40,254 recoveries and 4,821 deaths. There are 7,634 active cases in the state. India reported 31,118 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry.—ANI

they are treated as untouchables.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said that some states on their own are pursuing this practice to prevent the spread of the virus.

Tushar Mehta said the Centre has filed its reply to the plea in pursuance of the top court's direction asking it to consider issuing nationwide guidelines to do away with practice of pasting posters outside the homes of COVID-19 patients.

"Let the counter filed

by Union come on record we will take it up on Thursday," the bench said.

Shehla Rashid denies allegations of father New Delhi: Denying the allegation of threatening her father with death, student leader Shehla Rashid said that it was baseless. "Whatever allegations have been made against me by my father are baseless," Rashid said.

She added, "First of all, I don't regard it as an allegation because it is like a fictional story. It would have been an allegation if there was any proof or document.

It is nonsense & false."

“On the contrary, she had given a statement on how her father has been involved in violence against her, her mother and sister. Ab-

Voters wait in queues to cast their votes in Jammu.

trict recorded the highest turnout in Kashmir at 69.66 percent which was the third-highest in the union territory. A

turnout of 51.76 was recorded in the first phase on November 28, 64.2 percent in the Jammu division and 40.65 % in

vaccine.

mation (AMRUT) Scheme, he added.

With this, LMC will be the first North Indian state to do so. Many popular Bollywood celebrities are expected to be present at the venue and are expected to discuss the upcoming film city project of Uttar Pradesh.

POWER Gallery MERGER OF EIGHT RAILWAY SERVICES IN PROGRESS

The merger of eight prominent Railway Services into Indian Railway Management Services (IRMS) is said to be in progress in Government of India.

The services of eight different cadres: Indian Railway Traffic Service, Indian Railway Service of Engineer (Civil), Indian Railway Accounts Service, Indian Railway service of Signal Engineers, Indian Railway service of Electrical Engineers, Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers, Indian Railway Stores Service, Indian Railway Personnel Service are to be merged into one.

WILL LT GEN SANJEEV SHARMA BE DGMI?

Lieutenant General Sanjeev Sharma is likely to be appointed new Director General of the Military Intelligence (DGMI) CHARANJIT SINGH QUITS INDIAN STATISTICAL SERVICE

Charanjit Singh, Joint Director presently working in AHS Division, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, has resigned from the Indian Statistical Service (ISS). The Government of India has accepted his resignation with effect from November 30, 2020.

ASST COMMISSIONER TAKES VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT

Sueinderjeet Singh Chugh has taken voluntary retirement w.e.f . November 26, 2020. He was Asstt Commissioner at Chandigarh.

TUHIN KANTA PANDEY IS ALSO SECRETARY, CORPORATE AFFAIRS

Tuhin Kanta Pandey has been assigned an additional charge of Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs till the return of the present incumbent from leave. He is a 1987 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre.

SNEHLATA SRIVASTAVA TO BE HONORARY OFFICER OF LOK SABHA

Shehla Rashid

dul Rashid Shora, the father of former JNU students' union leader Shehla, has alleged he is facing a threat to life from his daughter. Abdul Rashid said he had asked his daughter not to take money because it was coming from illegal channels and would be used for unlawful activities. —PTI

48.62 PERCENT TURNOUT IN SECOND PHASE OF DDC POLLS IN J&K

Srinagar: A 48.62 percent turnout was recorded in the second phase of polling in District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir which passed off peacefully on Tuesday.

Jammu region witnessed 65.54 percent voting, while Kashmir valley recorded an average of 33.34 percent turnout, state election commissioner K K Sharma told reporters here. Bandipora dis-

06

the Kashmir division.

The election is significant as it is the first major democratic exercise since the Centre abrogated Article 370 that gave special status to J-K and bifurcated the state into two union territories in August year.

Poonch recorded the highest turnout of 75 percent, while Pulwama retained its position at the bottom, as in the first phase, with just 8.67 percent people casting their votes.

Outgoing Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, Snehlata Srivastava has been appointed honorary officer of the Lok Sabha. She is former 1982 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.

PR. CCIT UP AND UTTARAKHAND MEHROTRA TO MOVE TO AHEMDABAD IN RERA

Principal CCIT UP and Uttarakhand - Ajay Mehrotra who is retiring today - will now move to Gandhinagar as Administrative /Technical Member of newly constituted Gujarat Real Estate Appellate Tribunal. The appointment is for five years or till the age of 65. He is 1984 batch IRS(IT) officer.

LBSNAA TO APPOINT READER IN HINDI ON DEPUTATION

Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, is seeking to fill up the post of Reader in Hindi on deputation.

OUTGOING CS, RAJENDRA PRASAD MANDAL IS CHAIRMAN, NAVA RAIPUR DEV AUTHORITY

Outgoing Chief Secretary, Rajendra Prasad Mandal will serve as Chairman, Nava Raipur Atal Nagar Development Authority after retirement on November 30, 2020 in Chhattisgarh. He is a 1987 batch IAS officer of Chhattisgarh cadre.

MRS RENUKA GERA TAKES OVER AS FIRST WOMAN DIRECTOR (IS&P), BHEL

Mrs Renuka Gera, Executive Director of BHEL, has taken over the charge as first woman Director (Industrial System & Products), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). She succeeded S Balakrishnan retired in November, 2020.

By arrangement with: http:// whispersinthecorridors.com

FROM PG 1 No headway...

The opposition parties too stepped up the pressure, asking the Centre to “respect the democratic struggle” of the farmers and repeal the laws.

An earlier meeting on November 13 had failed to give any breakthrough and the next one was originally scheduled for December 3, but it got advanced due to the ongoing protests on Delhi borders.

India: Trudeau’s... and friends and I know that is a reality for many of you. Let

me remind you, Canada will always be there to defend the right of peaceful protest,” he said speaking at an online event on Monday to mark the 551st birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. Canada has a significant number of Indians and most of them are from Punjab. —Agencies

May not... transmission is broken by vaccinating the critical mass, then there is no need to vaccinate the whole population.

“Vaccination would depend on the efficacy of the vaccine and our

purpose is to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission. If we’re able to vaccinate critical mass of people and break virus transmission, then we may not have to vaccinate the entire population,” Balram Bhargava said.

—Agencies

Clinical trials...

Dr. Reddy’s has partnered with the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Department of Biotechnology (DBT) for advisory support and to use BIRAC’s clinical trial centres for the

Yogi to...

With this, Lucknow becomes the ninth city in the country to have raised municipal bonds and the first city to issue such a bond after the launch of AMRUT Scheme.

The funds raised through the bond will be invested in various infrastructure schemes in the state capital, including the water supply project and housing project being implemented under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transfor-

—ANI

Soon, enjoy...

“The cruise will be equipped with all luxury comfort and facilities along with all essential safety and security features at par with the global standard.

The interiors of the

cruise and the boarding point will be based on the theme of Ramcharitmanas. The fully air-conditioned 80-seater cruise will have large glass windows for experiencing the scenic beauty of the Ghats.

The cruise will be equipped with kitchen and pantry facilities for the comfort of the tourists. The cruise contains bio-toilets and hybrid engines system for the ‘zero effect’ on the environment.”

“Tourists will be taken on the ‘Ramcharitmanas Tour’, of 1-1.5 hour duration, featuring an exclusively

made video film of 4560 minutes duration, based on Ramcharitmanas by Goswami Tulsidas, covering the period from the birth of Lord Ram to his Rajyabhishek. The entire tour will cover approximately 15-16 Km distance. There will be several activities and selfie points inspired by different episodes of Ramayan. The tour will be followed by Saryu Aarti, in which every member will be able to actively participate.” —ANI

Has AMC...

First India has also

receive.d similar information in Surat and Vadodara, which raises another question: Are local bodies even counting patients diagnosed at private laboratories in their list of active cases?

“The BJP-run government is keeping people in the dark, even at the cost of lives. People are suffering because of this mentality. There are cases everywhere we look, yet government data insists that everything is under control,” said Dinesh Sharma, former leader of the opposition.

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07

—PHOTO BY MOHAMMAD SHAHNAWAZ

India’s New Education Policy

NOT PAYING ATTENTION Chittaranjan Kaul

I

t was instructive that probably the most consequential event in the life of the Indian Republic merited nothing more than three pro-forma single-sentence references to “epidemics and pandemics” in the recently-adopted National Education Policy 2020. The policy must have been discussed and agreed by the Union Cabinet wearing masks, a clear and present reminder of how much has changed. Yet the document approved acknowledges COVID-19 only to exhort higher education institutions to undertake epidemiological research and advocate greater use of technology in delivery mechanisms.

That is a pity. COVID-19 has brought lessons in its wake that we will ignore at our peril. In a societal sense, the pandemic has laid bare the fragile and counterproductive assumptions that underpin the way we have organized ourselves. Education, as the primary mechanism that drives long-term change in a society, must respond in a way that protects and strengthens children today and the nation tomorrow.

—PHOTO BY MAHESH KUMAR A./AP

T

INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF EDUCATION T hree important mechanisms of social organization that have been taken for granted in education during recent decades are institutionalization, urbanization and globalization. If COVID-19 is not a one-off event—and there is no reason to assume that it is given how exploitative our engagement with our environment continues to be—each one of them must be reassessed for worth, especially for how they affect the future of our children.

Institutionalization has promoted the idea that the only learning worth our children’s time and our money is the one that is provided in schools, colleges and universities. Across most of the world, this has made learning information-centric and uncritical. It has packed children into

rows and columns in classrooms and made them unfamiliar with their surroundings. It has taken them away from the productive use of their hands and bodies, and valourized “brain work,” creating an artificial crisis of periodic unemployment even before the unimaginable destruction of employment caused by COVID-19.

It has snapped children’s’ connections with their land, their environment, their culture and their communities, replacing them with words in ink on paper or typeface on a computer screen. In India, a mindless pedagogy has further ensured that institutionalization fails even in its own objectives as student achievement in “learning metrics,” mainly focused on literacy, numeracy and data, has kept falling.

With pre-school cen-

tres closed, COVID-19 has brought attention squarely to the role of parents in the holistic development of their young children. (We started Sajag, a programme for coaching caregivers in nurturing care in April 2020.

It now reaches over 1.5 million families and is set to expand further.

Many others have started similar programmes.) By forcing the closure of schools and colleges, COVID-19 presents us with the opportunity to explore what exactly is being lost when schools close. It also creates the possibility that we will discover how much there is to learn in communities, on land, in relationships and in discovery and invention, outside the school. It has the promise of suggesting a radical overhaul of what we value in education.

GLOBALIZATION OF SOCIETY

he globalizing impulse has led to entire education systems being unmoored from authentic experience and unresponsive to local needs. As a result, it has fostered and valourized the creation of an alienating and alienated elite. The reaction to that is a distressing level of antiintellectualism throughout the world.

That, of course, creates the fodder for the assembly line that is perhaps the holy grail

of the globalizing philosophy in the first place, but it also creates a dangerous level of instability and irrationality in society that can eventually

only tear everything apart.

To the extent that we continue to regard globalization as self-evidently good, we create the potential for dam-

—PHOTO BY MOHAMMAD SHAHNAWAZ

aging our children, inhibiting their learning and creating a world that is less fit for them.

Time has come to drop the fiction that local wisdom is somehow inferior and to engage in a meaningful dialogue that hasn’t foreclosed on the alternatives.

To disregard such fundamental questions in an education policy adopted in the middle of the pandemic makes little sense. These should be the subject of widespread dialogue, including in our

schools and colleges, before and after the adoption of the policy.

The sensibilities that arise from such deliberations must inform our liberal education as well as the conduct of professions such as engineering, town planning, medicine, economics, sociology and, indeed, education.

An education policy that doesn’t even consider the questions relevant to how our education system should be structured has surely not paid attention.

U

The COVID-19 pandemic holds the promise of a radical overhaul of what we value in education

URBANIZATION OF COMMUNITIES

rbanization has caused us to believe that ghettoization of people in cities is inevitable as we “develop.” With economic and social policies in most countries oriented toward this shibboleth, we have seen unhygienic conditions grow exponentially in cities, even as rural communities have been devastated by the loss of populations.

Mental health challenges in urban communities have become alarming, accentuated simply by the inhuman stresses that accompany urban living. For our young, it has meant few physical spaces for wholesome growth and play, little opportunity for meaningful community engagement, and a social landscape tragically barren of nurturing experiences.

By attacking densely-packed urban communities disproportionately, COVID-19 has laid bare the fallacy of organizing

ourselves solely for economic efficiency. It asks us to reconsider how physical communities should be laid out, how large they should be, how they should harmonize into the surrounding landscape and how their cultural, economic and political sinews should function.

We have also been fed the inevitability of globalization, almost as a primal force. It is true that it promises economic efficiency, but we have, in the process, lost much. Diversity is the essence of risk reduction and long-term survival and thriving, whether at the level of an organization, a community, a nation or, indeed, evolution of life itself. In a few short decades, blinded by the promise of economic efficiency, we have traded diversity away for massive inequality and loss of local skills, trades, crafts, self-reliance, agency and autonomy.

Our textbooks, the

only source of information promoted by our policies, have consistently failed to ignite an examination of the underlying assumptions and the all too visible outcomes among our children.

COVID-19 has alerted us to the downsides of these Faustian bargains. Its dramatic spread is certainly a result of our way of life, with air travel being the primary vector. The heart-breaking spectacle of tens of millions of migrant workers walking hundreds of kilometres and sleeping on asphalt roads in India’s scorching summer heat is another. They discovered that they had no means of support, no community, no fallback when their employment ceased.

COVID-19 has also awakened us rudely to the reality that having the world’s fastest GDP growth rate is no protection against ending up with the world’s steepest fall in GDP and widespread misery.

SOURCE: FAIROBSERVER.COM

You have to be your own master and your own disciple to ensure a successful life and also contentment.

2ND FRONT

—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India

AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020

www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

COVID-19 UPDATE

WORLD

INDIA

DEATHS

CONFIRMED CASES

UTTAR PRADESH 7,761 DEATHS 5,43,888 CASES

DEATHS

CONFIRMED CASES

KARNATAKA 11,792 DEATHS 8,86,227 CASES

What kind of affidavit is this? Asks the apex court, and orders State to file a new one —FILE PHOTO

Shishir Awasthi

Inquiry committee has been constituted. The FIR was lodged but people have got bail for whatever reasons. Commissions after commissions are constituted but nothing happens.

—Justices Ashok Bhushan, R S Reddy and M R Shah,

Five Covid-19 patients were killed in a fire at a Rajkot hospital (left); Supreme Court concerned over it.

wondered the bench, also comprising Justices R S Reddy and M R Shah.

The bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to look into the report and ensure that better affidavit is filed in the apex court.

“Mr Mehta, you look into the affidavit and see

Docs held for hosp fire given bail First India Bureau

what are they filing,” the bench said.

Mehta told the bench he would look into the report and talk to the State Government. The bench has posted the matter for hearing on December 3.

Mehta informed the court that the Centre has issued guidelines on

Supreme Court of India

utmost precautions must be taken at a time when the country is fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla had written to all chief secretaries in the wake of recent fire incidents in two hospitals in Gujarat which killed 13 people.

CONFIRMED CASES

RAJASTHAN 2,331 DEATHS 2,70,410 CASES

State shifts 12 leopards to RIL rescue camp First India Bureau Junagadh: In a first ever public-private partnership of sorts, the Gujarat Government has handed over a dozen leopards, listed under schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, for their upkeep to the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)-owned ‘Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Kingdom’ based in Jamnagar.

Forest officials said 23 more leopards, which were captured after they came in conflict with the humans over the years, will be handed over to the private rescue centre as part of a memorandum of understanding between the State Government and the RIL. These leopards were not going to be released in the wild and hence 35 of them are being handed over to the RIL’s rescue centre. Primarily, it

—FILE PHOTO

will ease the government from the burden of feeding and incurring others expenses to keep them in cages, a forest official said.

These leopards were kept at the Sakkarbaug Zoological Park in Junagadh. Officials said there are 70 such leopards which have been captured over the years after they were found to be involved in conflicts with humans.

Parimal Nathwani of RIL, said in a statement, “As a CSR (cor-

porate social responsibility) initiative and to support the state forest department, the RIL has established a rescue centre in Jamnagar district after obtaining all the necessary approvals from the CZA (central zoo authority) and the state forest department. So far 12 leopards from Sakar-Baug Zoo-Junagadh have been received in our rescue centre for their upkeep.”

Four killed in Guj loses another RS member 7 new faces in Rajkot road mishap Abhay Bhardwaj to Covid-19 city BJP’s new team in Dwarka —FILE PHOTO

First India Bureau

First India Bureau

the remaining two doctors, Dr Tejas Motivaras and Dr Digvijaysinh Jadeja, after their Corona tests.

Investigating Officer JV Dhola said the police petition for a five-day remand was rejected.

Meanwhile, a video went viral alleging that the police offered VIP treatment and served mineral water and fruits to the doctors during their overnight custody.

fire safety in hospitals across the country. “The Central government have issued guidelines on fire safety. I have filed the affidavit,” Mehta told the bench.

The Centre on Monday had asked all states to ensure proper fire safety in hospitals and nursing homes, saying

DEATHS

DELHI 9,260 DEATHS 5,74,380 CASES

DON’T SUPPRESS FACTS: SC pulls up Guj over Rajkot fire

Rajkot: In less than 24 hours of the arrest of 3 doctors in Friday’s fire at the Uday Shivanand Covid-19 hospital, a local court on Tuesday granted bail to them and rejected the police plea for their remand. The fire had claimed 5 lives.

The police had on Monday night arrested Dr Prakash Modha, Dr Vishal Modha and Dr Tejas Karamta, all three directors of the hospital.

The case was registered with Malaviyanagar police station. Police are likely to arrest

GUJARAT

14,79,977 6,38,73,941 1,38,090 94,95,661 4,004 2,11,257

MAHARASHTRA 47,246 DEATHS 18,28,826 CASES

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday tore into the Gujarat Government as it returned an affidavit by the State in Friday’s Rajkot fire at a Covid-19 hospital that left 5 people dead, asking it not to conceal the facts.

“We have seen Gujarat’s reply. Five people have died on the seventh floor. What kind of affidavit is this? No attempts should be made to suppress the facts,” asserted a bench headed

by Justice Ashok Bhushan, which had taken cognisance of the incident.

“Inquiry committee has been constituted.

The FIR was lodged but people have got bail for whatever reasons. Commissions after commissions are constituted but nothing happens,”

08

Devbhumi Dwarka: Four members of a family were killed after a truck dashed into an Alto car they were travelling in in the Dwarka district on Tuesday afternoon.

Two of them died on the spot, and another succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. The accident o ccurred near Dhrevad in the Devbhumi Dwarka district, where a truck ran into the car bearing register number GJ-02-BD-8462 in which the family was travelling from Mehsana.

Rajkot: Abhay Bhardwaj, renowned lawyer and BJP’s member of Rajya Sabha from Gujarat died at a Chennai hospital on Tuesday afternoon. He was shifted to Chennai after his lungs were severely affected due to coronavirus.

Bhardwaj suffered a severe cardiac arrest and could not recover after that. He breathed his last at the MGM hospital, Chennai.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke this news through his tweet.

A PMO tweet stated, “PM Modi condoles demise of Gujarat MP Abhay Bharadwaj. It is sad

BJP RS member Abhay Bhardwaj succumbed to coronavirus on Tuesday.

that we have lost a bright and insightful mind, passionate about national development.”

Bhardwaj was elected to Rajya Sabha this June only. He had tested positive on August 31.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Governor Acharya Devvrat, BJP state unit President C R Paatil paid tributes to Bhard-

waj and offered condolences to his grieving family members.

Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia expressed anguish over his sudden demise. He said, “It is indeed an unfortunate loss for the state, to have lost another voice and representative in the Rajya Sabha.”

First India Bureau

Rajkot: The Rajkot city BJP announced its new team on Tuesday with Kamlesh Mirani as the president.

It includes 7 women, 2 medical doctors and 2 persons holding doctorate and 2 lawyers and has seven new faces.

Mirani said, “A strong team has been formed with talented members who can dedicate time to strengthen the party.”

Besides Mirani, the new team comprises 8 vice presidents, including Virendrasinh Jhala, Praful Kathrotiya, Pradip Dov, Ketal Patel, Mahesh Rathod, Kiran Makadiya, Punitaben

Parekh and Kanchan Sidhpara.

Three general secretaries including Devang Makar, Jitu Kothari and Kishore Rathod, eight secretaries including Vikram Pujara, Raghu Dholakiya, Manhar Dave, Dr Darshita Shah, Rasila Sakariya, Jyotsana Halwadiya and Dr Unnati Chavda. While Anil Parekh has been appointed as treasurer and Haresh Joshi as office secretary.

Ahmed Patel’s legacy is beyond politics: Faisal and Mumtaz Son and daughter say no to joining active politics Anita Hada

MLA Gyassudin Shaikh, Members of Centre Gujarat Mulsim Seva Community and others take part in prayer meeting Kesra village near Memdavad in Gujarat in a condolence meet for late Ahmed Patel on Tuesday.

Ahmedabad: The Congress well knows that it will be impossible to fill the void left by the untimely and tragic demise of its stalwart leader Ahmed bhai.

Ahmed Patel’s broad shoulders were carrying innumerable burdens of the Congress stoically and the Gandhis and Congress are still reeling from the loss. The search is on and is naturally narrowing on Ahmed bhai’s son Faisal and daughter Mumtaz to

carry forward the legacy of their father but both of them have clarified that they are not interested in joining active politics. Faisal has said that he feels that becoming an MP/ MLA is not the only way to carry forward the legacy but to carry on the social work initiated by their father is the most important thing. Mumtaz shared that she has been amazed at the outpouring of grief and love at the demise of Ahmed bhai, the truth is th at she has lost a father

but thousands have lost a mentor, guide, a helping hand, a brother in the time of need and a father figure that he was and the past few days have strengthened her belief that real Ahmed bhai will live on not as a ‘larger than life Congress leader’ as he is known in Delhi but as a ‘father-figure’ through the social work done and which will be carried forward by her and Faisal.

Considering the current scenario of Covid crisis, online arrange-

Faisal and Mumtaz

ments were made to pay tributes to Shri Ahmed Patel ji on Tuesday, December 1,

between 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM where Faisal Patel, Mumtaz Patel and other were present.

www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 2, 2020

A FUR-RY TALE Since the climate is becoming colder with every passing day, City First brings you a new fashionable way to deck yourself up using faux-fur, and how you can maintain it for a longer time!

NEHAL NAYAR

nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in

T

here are trends that come and go, but there are also a few you make a mark and stay for the longest time. The faux-fur fashion is one such style that has been winning everyone’s hearts every winter season, as they make the person look absolutely dashing and fashionable.

For the ones wondering if faux fur is legal or not, and what exactly it is, don’t worry. We’re here to explain it to you. Faux fur is dominating the fashion industry as an alternative to real fur. It appears to be the more ethical choice for shoppers because no animals are harmed in its production. The best thing about this is that it keeps you super warm, and makes you look fashionable, both at the same time. Oh, and it is also cheaper than real fur.

But one thing about faux fur is that it needs good and proper maintenance. You will have to take extra care of it, to ensure it looks fresh and new, for as long as possible.

1. Keep brushing the fur: This way, you can constantly take the dirt off from it from time to time (if any), and also make sure that it stays fresh for a longer time.

2. Safety first: Make sure to keep it in a place where it isn’t too exposed. This will ensure that the fur does not get spoiled too soon.

3. Prefer Handwashing: This is the best and the safest method for washing faux fur. It will make sure that it is gently washed, and eventually make it look as good as new for a longer period.

09

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AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020

10

Three Questions with Mahima Hada

Dr Mahima Hada is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Director of Marketing Analytics Programs at Baruch College, New York, USA. Her parental home is in Rajasthan.

Her research focuses on marketing strategies that impact both B2B and B2C markets. Her published research abounds in premier journals like the Journal of Marketing and the International Journal of Research in Marketing.

FA CE OF TH ED AY

1: What is the most important trend happening in marketing right now?

It should be noted that my research focuses on B2B, and increasingly the subscription B2C domain, so my point of view is influenced accordingly. I think B2B sales are going to cont i n u e switching from B2B to B2C2B. Right now B 2 C 2 B sales are very low.

Yet B2B firms have to start looking at how to sell in a distributed manner to

their users because a shift is occurring largely in the tech, services and solution sectors (as opposed to OEMs where little change will occur). With the advent of API’s and cloud services and solutions, B2B decision making is shifting from the CSuite to the end user in an organization. So sales is not going to be one large license anymore.

Companies will have defined vetting processes that vendors need to go through, but the valuation and purchasing decisions are going to be done by the experts within a company who will use a specific product or service.

Subscription models delivered over the cloud lower commitment and risk. The cost and risks of switching between vendors are so low now that corporate procurement is becoming antiquated. That is the shift, away from corporate sales to consumers within organizations: from B2B to B2C2B. For B2B organizations that will dramatically change their sales and route-tomarket models. People are just not sitting over a glass of wine with a client anymore for some “big sale.” I used to work in robotic design software and it was always a very well structured B2B process. But as soon as you start moving to a subscription model, it is possible for the end user; say one engineer sitting in one place at Toyota or General Motors — to decide whether she wants to use AutoCAD, Adobe or IBM. Everything was acceler-

INTERVIEWER: DAVE DONARS Freehand Circle is a brand new marketing consultancy and thinks tank based in Brooklyn, New York and North Carolina; www.freehandcircle.com

ated by COVID, but these changes have been happening for years. And it will drive a permanent transformation to B2B sales processes.

2: Building on that, over the next decade what do you think is the most vital development in marketing and communications?

I think pharma and healthcare are going to lead the way forward.

Healthcare is a huge industry that has always been a very B2B domain, selling to conglomerates, health insurance companies and hospitals.

The advent of Electronic Health Records (EHR is the uniform digital code Obamacare put into place for the transfer of medical data) laid the groundwork for big improvements in the exchange of data. Apple and Google entering the healthcare space is going to disrupt the current model, and how consumers consume healthcare (and the current B2B healthcare model).

Apple and Google are now run-

YOUR DAY Horoscope by

Saurabbh Sachdeva

ning medical studies and diagnosing people over the phone with their own variables. For example, Google trained a machine learning model (ARDA: Automated Retinal Disease Assessment) to diagnose diabetes with eye scans more accurately than traditional diabetes tests. Advancements like these will once again disrupt the traditional B2B space. The problem is consumers don’t know enough. So, they are handing over their own life fitness data from wearables (Fitbit, Apple Watch, etc) to various private vendors. Consumers are trusting an app to give them medical advice as opposed to the healthcare provider seeing that objective data and giving medical advice. So the entire marketing strategy has to switch back to the consumer but for relevant domains (lifestyle vs prescription drugs). Changes in consumer behavior and the health device marketplace are driving how marketers use technology.

The benefits in healthcare can

3: Finally, what should be the most vital development that happens over the next decade?

It’s not going to happen, but I

ARIES

TAURUS

You are likely to maintain an excellent image on the social front by not involving yourself in any controversy and being nice to all.

Whatever you decide on the academic front will work in your favour. Buying property may be on your mind and you may get one.

Helping out someone in need will provide immense inner satisfaction. You are likely to experience a positive phase in your existence.

Favourable decision can be expected regarding a piece of property under dispute. You may take the initiative of organising a family gathering.

GEMINI

APR 21 - MAY 20

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

You can be sought after by some good people in your social circle. Changed routine will do you good.

This is a great day for you on the academic front. A construction or renovation at home is likely to upset your daily routine. Efforts may be required to get back money loaned.

Earning some quick bucks is possible today, especially for those involved in trading and speculation Investing in property is likely to give good returns. Good news awaits you on the academic front. As the sun rises, so will your spirits.

Resolving a contentious property issue amicably will be in your interest. A business trip is likely to bring profitable deals. You may visit a family member living out of town A favourable turn of events is likely to add to your prestige on the professional front.

SAGITTARIUS A suitable alternative is awaiting those wanting to switch jobs. Someone’s visit is likely to brighten your day.

You are likely to get favourable treatment on the academic front by those who matter. Real estate gives good returns. Good preparation will find you enjoying.

MAR 21 - APR 20

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

NOV 23 - DEC 22

SRISHTI CHOUDHARY, Influencer

be so huge that consumers may sign away all their privacy to improve their health. So, in marketing we have to really consider how much data do we actually need? What is okay and what crosses the line?

AUG 24 - SEP 23

This is the time for you to establish yourself firmly on the academic front.

Builders and property dealers can find the day profitable. It will be important to resolve certain domestic issues in a timely manner.

Professionals are likely to earn much as their reputation grows.

wish marketers would look at marginalized people, develop products for them, give them the right information and help them make the right choices.

Instead of just trying to sell more to the same type of person over and over. We’ve seen this shift slightly. For example Unilever has done some really great things in India. Their laundry products are really expensive and it is not possible for the large majority of the Indian consumers to purchase them. So they shifted their product line to address the needs of the community. Rather than shipping large containers, Unilever started selling small sachets of laundry detergent, which are literally one rupee at the corner store. Now people can buy those every three days to wash laundry.

Everyone needs good products so why is access not more widespread? Why are we not doing more? Developing countries are one side of the story, but there are unfulfilled needs right here in the US as well. Marketing is not doing enough. I just wish we would.

CANCER

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

This is the day when everything goes right for you. You do well on the academic front through sheer hard work. Time is favourable as your real estate investments start giving handsome returns. Your help and support to a youngster will help boost his or her self-confidence.

SCORPIO

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

You are at a juncture in your life when things will begin to turn positive on all fronts. Initiative taken on the academic front is likely to benefit you now. General happiness is likely to pervade the home front, as you feel elated about things happening all around you.

Property you had been contributing to may finally be yours. You may go in for replacing an old vehicle with a new one. You are likely to consolidate your position on the professional front.

You are likely to gain financially, as profits accrue in something you are currently involved in.

You may get to know someone influential and benefit from the association. Academic front looks rosy, as you get to complete the given tasks in time.

Solid returns may be expected in a real estate deal. Someone may follow your advice on the career front.

DEC 23 - JAN 20

JAN 21 - FEB 19

Meeting someone new is likely to enlarge your social circle. Your focus on the academic front will help you take long strides. A sightseeing tour with family or lover will prove most enjoyable. Something you had wanted for the home may be gifted to you. Your ideas will work.

FEB20 - MARCH 20

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LOSS OF

Jacqueline in Bachchan Pandey

S

ajid Nadiadwala’s action-comedy ‘Bachchan Pandey’ now ropes in another Bollywood superstar to the ensemble cast. The versatile cast of Akshay Kumar, Kriti Sanon, Arshad Warsi now brings Jacqueline Fernandez aboard for this fun ride.

Jacqueline excitedly shared that she is elated to be back working

Jacqueline Fernandez

AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020

11

Remembering...

years

with Sajid and Bachchan Pandey will mark their 8th film together after Judwaa & Housefull series. She can’t wait to reunite with Akshay once again. Talking about the shooting schedule she shares, “I’m looking forward to begin the shoot in January with them. I can’t spill the beans on my character yet but I can tell you it’s a different avatar.”

—Agency

J

ennifer Lawrence‘s family suffered a big loss over the weekend!

Over the weekend, the 30-year-old actress’ brother Blaine revealed on Camp Hi-Ho’s Facebook that the barn had burnt down. The barn was the base of a summer camp in Kentucky that has been going on for several years. “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we confirm the news that we lost our barn last night in a horrible fire. We are deeply thankful that no people or animals were hurt, but we are still mourning the loss of years of hard work and memories that occurred in these walls,” the statement from the Lawrence family read.

“Words cannot describe the pain we are in, but we are so incredibly grateful for the Simpsonville Fire Department and all the other firefighters who responded to our emergency. You are true heroes. We are also so grateful for the countless members of our community who have reached out to support us during this time.

Your love and kindness mean the world to us,” it continued.

—Agency

Jennifer Lawrance

Meadow Walker’s post

S

even years ago, the heartbreaking news of Paul Walker’s death made the headlines.

As the world remembered the actor on his seventh death anniversary, his daughter Meadow Walker took to Instagram and penned a sweet tribute to her late father. She shared a picture from her childhood featuring her father. Meadow said it is a day to celebrate love and happiness that Paul brought to the world. “A silly day to remember in sadness. today’s a celebration of the love and happiness you brought to the world. here’s a photo of my best bud & I napping,” she said.

—Agency

The Royal Family

ANUSHKA’S SHIRSHASANA

B Karisma Kapoor

Sara Ali Khan

SARA VS KARISMA

J

ust over the weekend, Sara Ali Khan and Varun Dhawan launched the trailer of their film, Coolie No 1, and left fans in awe of the comedy flick. The film that stars Sara and Varun as Malti

and Kunwar Mahendra Pratap is a remake of the 1995 Govinda and Karisma Kapoor starrer. As soon as the trailer dropped, comparisons began to happen between Sara and Karisma’s performance.

Now, speaking about

it, Sara opened up in a chat and claimed that copying Karisma would be ‘impossible.’

Sara shared that comparisons were ‘inevitable’ as the film is a remake of the 1995 blockbuster.

—City First

KING KHAN SPOTTED

I Shah Rukh Khan

t was December 21, 2018, when we last saw Shah Rukh Khan on the big screen in his film Zero. Post that, he has been a very active producer and made titles like Bard of Blood, Betaal, Badla, and Class of 83.

SRK’s next big-screen outing

ollywood actress Anushka Sharma and her husband, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, are expecting their first child. Anushka shared a photograph on her Instagram account where she can be seen performing the Shirshasana with hubby Virat’s help. Her yoga teacher virtually assists her while the actress performs the asana by leaning against a wall, head down.

Anushka Sharma’s “This exer- post cise is handsdown (and legs up) the most difficult one #Throwback. P.S. — As yoga is a big part of my life, my doctor recommended that I can do all such asanas that I was doing before I was pregnant barring twists & extreme-forward bends, but of course with the appropriate and required support.”

Anushka wrote.

—Agency

has been discussed a lot. And according to rumours it has been tentatively titled Pathan which also stars John Abraham and Deepika Padukone. The film, directed by War fame Siddharth Raj Anand, is bankrolled by Yash Raj Films. —Agency

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! P Priyanka’s post

riyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas celebrated their second anniversary on Tuesday.

The couple tied the knot in December 2018 after dating each other for quite some time and they never fail to dish out major couple goals.

Not just we are in awe of their mushy romance, their pics with their pets have also taken the social media by a storm time and again. To note, this stunning couple has been proud parents of three furry babies – a Chihuahua named Diana, a Husky Australian Shepherd mix named Panda and a German shepherd named Gino. Not just the three pets have their surname as Chopra Jonas.

—Agency

Kate Middleton

T

he Duchess of Cambridge recently spoke to Alice Haynes at the Anna Freud Centre and opened up about raising the next generation of the Royal Family. The highlight of the interview remains when she asked the experts for advice on handling her children’s tantrums. While responding to a question “how do you manage temper tantrums in your household” via video message, Kate said: “Yes, that’s a hard one”, before laughing and saying “I’d also like to ask the experts myself”.

— Agency

More neck tattoos?

Justin and Hailey Bieber

J

ustin Bieber reunited with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres as a recent guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show where the topic of discussion was his married life with Hailey Baldwin.

Besides talking about Thanksgiving, Bieber confessed to DeGeneres how Baldwin doesn’t want the Yummy singer to get any more neck tattoos. Justin endearingly admitted that he is leaving space on his back to get tattoos for his kids whenever he becomes a dad.

— Agency

Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra Jonas

CITY BUZZ www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020

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MOTIVATIONAL SESSION AT DBM CITY FIRST

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uring the ‘Digital Baal Mela’ organised by LIC on Tuesday, children from many districts of Rajasthan joined the special interaction session with Educationalist Dr Sanjay Biyani.

Janhvi Sharma started the session and Gauri Maheshwari of Baal Mela team introduced the guest on the occasion. Dr Sanjay

Dr Sanjay Biyani

‘DEAR MAMA’ UNVEILED

Biyani appreciated the efforts of Digital Baal mela team and motivated children during the interaction.

Anadi from Pratapgarh asked that where can she find a platform to show her writing skills, to which, Sanjay said that she already has a platform, and she just needs to think creatively. He motivated her by saying that she can digitally spread her talent.

Hitesh from Jaipur

wanted to know that how can he prevent his body from being physically unfit and be fit in this tough time; Sanjay advised him to work-out every morning and continue to be healthy. Digital Baal mela is getting a huge success with entries from many states of the country and active participation of little talented children. This special interaction session was 1 of the 15 sessions to be held from 1-15 December.

Cartist Festival CITY FIRST

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CITY FIRST

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he Prabha Khaitan Foundation, Kolkata, announced the online launch of “Dear Mama”–a collection of intimate letters to their mothers - written by billionaires, spiritual gurus, members of the British House of Lords, political leaders, members of royal families, actors, entrepreneurs, journalists, photographers and doctors.

The book was formally launched by Cherie Blair, British barrister,

HAPPY B’DAY!

rt has no bounds and Cartist has proved it.

Amidst the challenging times, Cartist has carried forward its legacy of providing a platform to the artists despite various adversities that have come in the way. “In 5 years of Cartist, we now have a family of artists and people from the automobile industry who support us and look up to us for contributing to the fields by way of our automobile art.

Organising a virtual event is

also the wife of former UK prime minister Tony Blair, at the Kitab online event presented by Shree Cement and joined in by hundreds of invitees from across the globe.

Cherie Blair was in conversation with Mohini Kent, author and founder-chairperson of LILY Against Human Trafficking – a charitable organisation which works against the trade in human beings. The event was conducted by Swati Agarwal on behalf of Prabha Khaitan Foundation. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

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hile Pandemic fatigue is an expected and natural response to a prolonged public health crisis, we need to understand and keep in mind the repercussions of dropping our guard not only on the health and safety of those around us but also its impact on our work and everyday lives.

Nikhil Sawhney, Chairman, CII Northern Region, said, “We must also ensure that those around us, including family, friends and workforce also follow these rules at all times without fail. At the same time, in our Offices, we need to maintain Work from the Home policy for a few more months.”

He has written to the industry in North India and urged them to not lower guard against

CITY FIRST

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n association with Maan Foundation, Argus Homes and Pearlcon consultants present Shakti – the power to empower women for their safety and security and is going to organise a seminar on today at Argus homes.

CEO of Argus homes shared that the event is going to focus on the equal rights of women and their well being where 35 women who have achieved success and supported the cause will share their views on women empowerment with Alok Shrivastava, CEO of Argus and head sales, Aman Duggal. The event will be held on 2nd of December at Argus Homes, Tonk Road, Jaipur.

New President of IIHA

COVID AWARENESS CITY FIRST

equally exhausting but when we saw that this is welcomed by people with arms wide open, we were happy that we did it and never gave up!” said Himanshu Jangid, Founder, Cartist The four-day festival began on 27th November with an opening session on the festival’s core theme “Sustainability”. In a span of 4 days, prominent personalities from the field of Art, Automobile as well as people who advocate a sustainable way of living for a future joined in top share their views on various topics. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Women empowerment Seminar

CITY FIRST

R Nikhil Sawhney

Covid-19 and to ensure that the prescribed norms of wearing masks, maintaining a physical distance of at least 6 feet, washing our hands at regular intervals, avoiding large gatherings, maintaining

health & hygiene and boosting our immunity are followed. CII has prepared a detailed workplace protocol, which has been shared with the industry members to adhere to. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

andhir Vikram Singh has been unanimously elected as the President of Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA). This was declared at the Election of the IHHA for Office Bearers and Executive Committee Members held on Tuesday on the virtual platform.

Randhir Vikram Singh was the General Secretary

Randhir Vikram Singh

of IHHA for 26 years.

The Association members present proposed and seconded the names for various posts.

There was no contest and the election was unanimous decision and vote. Some other new office bearers include – Vice Presidents, Steve Borgia, Vijai Lal and Jose Dominic; General Secretary: Gaj Singh Alsisar and Joint Secretaries: Joerg Drechsel and Prithvi Singh. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

WHAT’S HAPPENING!

IAS Deepak Nandi, IAS Sohanlal Sharma and IAS Sourabh Swami celebrated their birthdays on 1 December, Tuesday. We wish them all the best!

RAJ: Rohit Jangid of Jaipur was declared the national brand ambassador in a nutrition company on Friday. Rohit has won several national and international medals in Wushu and represented India in Thailand, Georgia, Hong Kong, Dubai and various countries. Rohit is the son of Rajendra and Sunita Jangid. Rohit shared that the company officials had talked to him a few days ago and after knowing the quality of the product, it was found that the product is joint and cooperative nutrition of the players.

RAJ: 18-year-old Ronit Raj, who belongs from a small district of Rajasthan, namely Dholpur, and currently lives in Jaipur, is the first and young blogger in the cinema category.

Ronit is currently studying in the 11th standard and is a commerce student.

For the last 10 months, Ronit has been writing blogs on films, celebrities and other related things, and provides his feedback on the same. He owns a blog named ‘The Cinema Blogs’.