First India-Ahmedabad Edition-03 February 2021

AHMEDABAD l WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 69

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NO PLANS TO ENACT CENTRAL ANTI-CONVERSION LAW TO CURB INTERFAITH MARRIAGES: MHA

OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW

PM MODI’S NIECE WANTS AHMEDABAD MUNICIPAL CORPORATION POLL TICKET FROM BODAKDEV

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TIKAIT WARNS! FARMERS TO STAY PUT, STIR WON’T CONCLUDE BEFORE OCTOBER

SAYS, OUR SLOGAN IS ‘KANOON WAPSI NAHI TOH GHAR WAPASI NAHI’ Ghaziabad: Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait on Tuesday warned that the farmers’ agitation will not conclude unless government repeals the three newly enacted agriculture laws and it may go on till October.

“Our slogan is ‘Kanoon Wapsi Nahi toh Ghar Wapasi Nahi’.

This agitation will not conclude before October, it will not end anytime soon,” said Tikait while addressing a rally at Ghazipur border.

Reacting to the heavy deployment of security personnel and fencing at the borders of Delhi, he said, “The government’s strategy to stop the farmers is going to backfire as it will restrict movements of farm produces to various places and in turn harm common people. I urge all of you to be prepared to carry this movement till October/November. Let the government do as much fencing as they want to do.”

Tikait said the youth who hoisted the flag at Red Fort was given way by the authorities themselves. “All this was done to malign the image of Punjabi community and paint the image of farmers as antinational,” he added.

Security has been beefed up at Ghazipur, Singhu Turn to P6

Govt ready to discuss issues inside & outside Parl: Min

BKU’s Rakesh Tikait having his meal at Ghazipur border during farmers ongoing protest against the new farm laws, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

Barricades, boulders, drones!

Security beefed in New Delhi New Delhi: Security has been beefed up at the three borders and barricades, boulders, barbed wires have come up as additional forces made their way to Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri borders amid the apprehensions of more farmers joining the protest from Punjab, Haryana and Western UP. Drones are being used to keep surveillance and intense checking is being done at the border areas which has resulted in massive traffic snarls in the capital. The Traffic was affected on Road

HARYANA FARMERS TURN UP AT DHARNA SITES AT TOLL PLAZAS Chandigarh: Support is growing swiftly for the ongoing farmers’ agitation in Haryana with a large number of farmers turning up at dharna sites at toll plazas on the national highways on Tuesday. At Landhri toll plaza on Hisar-Sirsa NH near Hisar, thousands of farmers vowed for a long battle against 3 farm laws.

A large number of women also participated in the meeting. On the day, the farmers also blocked the Patiala-Jind-Rohtak-Delhi national highway at Khatkar toll plaza near Narwana town along the Jind and Hisar-Chandigarh national highway Tuesday to oppose internet curbs in some parts of the state.

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday asserted in Lok Sabha that it was ready to discuss issues related to farmers both inside and outside Parliament amid vociferous protests by the Opposition which forced the House to adjourn twice, first for almost an hour and then for nearly two hours.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said during Zero Hour, which began at 5 pm, that the Modi government is always committed to

discuss the farmer’’s issues.

“Government is ready to discuss issues related to farmers inside and outside Parliament,” he said amid sloganeering by opposition members.

Tomar’s reply came after Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed that 170 farmers have died during the ongoing agitation against the three contentious farm laws.

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‘PRIME MINISTER ARE YOU ON WAR WITH FARMERS?’ New Delhi: Amid the stalemate between the central government and protesting farmers, AICC GS Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday questioned PM Modi whether he is on a war with the farmers. “Honourable PM, are you on war with your farmers?” tweeted Vadra in Hindi.

BUILD BRIDGES, NOT WALLS: RAHUL GANDHI SLAMS CENTRE Barricades set up at Delhi-UP Ghazipur border to stop farmers from marching towards in New Delhi on Tuesday.

no. 56 from ISBT Anand Vihar to Ghazipur due to closing of border. Traffic jam were also noticed at ITO and other places in Delhi amid heavy police checking.

The Delhi Police blocked roads near Akshardham and vehicular movement was restricted between Delhi and Ghaziabad on National Highway-24.

Turn to P6

New Delhi: As security was beefed up at different borders of the national capital in light of the ongoing farmers’ protest, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday advised the BJP-led central government to ‘build bridges and not walls’.”GOI, Build bridges, not walls!,” tweeted Gandhi on Tuesday.

BJP SKIPS ALL-PARTY MEET CALLED BY CAPT

CONG LEGAL DEPARTMENT TO GIVE LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO FARMERS

Chandigarh: An all-party meeting was held at Punjab Bhawan chaired by Punjab Chief Miniter Captain Amarinder Singh on the issue of Central Farmer Legislations, however, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) skipped the meeting. The meeting had been called to discuss the farmers’ agitation against agricultural laws in the light of the recent developments in the national capital.

New Delhi: Amid reports of Delhi Police filing FIRs against many farmers and their leaders, Congress legal dept headed by Vivek Tankha on Tuesday formed teams to assist them for any legal help. A resolution passed by dept says, “Delegations of legal dept from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi will be visiting farmer leaders at protest-sites at borders of Delhi to apprise them of legal services already taken to help farmers and journalists regarding relief and redressal.” The department will display in public a list of lawyers in each district of the four states who will visit jails and find out about the persons missing and also visit police stations.

OPPN STAGES WALKOUT AFTER NAIDU REJECTS SUSPENSION NOTICE New Delhi: Congress and other Opposition parties on Tuesday forced adjournments of Rajya Sabha proceedings twice in pre-noon session as they insisted on taking up a discussion on the issue of farmers’ protest over the three new farm bills.

The House was first adjourned for about 40 minutes till 10.30 am.

As soon as the House met again, similar scenes were witnessed leading to another adjournment till 11.30 am.

Congress, Left, TMC, DMK and RJD mem-

FARMERS RESORTED TO RIOTING, COPS HAD NO OPTION: CENTRE New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday told Lok Sabha that protesting farmers “aggressively” resorted to rioting, damage to property and used “criminal force” against public servants during their tractor ‘parade’ here on January 26 leaving Delhi police with no option but to use tear gas, water cannons and mild force to control the crowd. LS was also informed that 39 cases were file between Sept & Dec 2020 against farmers protesting against the 3 agri laws at Delhi’s borders. In a written reply, Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy also said the protesting farmers were not following social distancing.

TAKING ACTION

HC issues notices to SEC, govt over vote-counting dates Congress party has challenged the differing schedule for upcoming local body elections set to be held in the state First India Bureau Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Monday, after hearing primary submission of the Congress party’s petition on notification of counting schedule for the upcoming local body polls, has issued notices to the State Election Commission (SEC) and the state government

over the separate counting dates for municipal corporations, taluka/ district panchayats and nagarpalikas.

The court has asked both respondents to file a response before February 06 and the matter has been kept for further hearing on February 09. As per the notification of the SEC, the vote counting for mu-

—FILE PHOTO

Gujraj High Court

nicipal corporations will take place on February 23 and the pan-

chayats and nagarpalikas will be conducted later.

According to the local body elections schedule, polling for six

municipal corporations of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar will take place on February 21. And, for 81 nagarpalikas, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats, voting will be held on February 28.

Talking about the party’s petition, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) chief spokesperson Manish Doshi told First India, “We have only pointed out that there

bers first walked out from RS after their demand for suspension of business of the day for taking up the discussion was rejected by the Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu. The leaders gave notice for suspension of business under Rule 267 of Rules Turn to P6

are clear Supreme Court guidelines that votes must be counted on the same date.”

He added that the Supreme Court had asked even the Election Commission of India to have parity in all states to ensure that the results of one poll did not impact the polls following thereafter. Doshi also pointed out that similar orders were given to the State Election Commission during the 2015 local body polls.

CBSE Class X, XII Exams from May 4 New Delhi: The CBSE board exam for Class X and XII will begin on May 4, the Education Ministry said on Tuesday, as it released a datesheet for both classes. Class X exams will finish on June 7, while Class XII exams will conclude on June 11.

Practical exams will begin from March 1.

On four days the Class XII exams will be held in two shifts - the first will be from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm, and the second will be from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm. Turn to P6

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AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021

GUJ CONGRESS LAUNCHES

NEW FACES FOR LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS

With BJP still finalizing its candidate list, senior journos feel that the opposition party has taken a gamble

First India Bureau Gandhinagar: Two political developments in the state have occurred ahead of the local body elections set to be held on February 21. The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) parliamentary board announced new criteria for ticket allocation and the Congress party announced a list of 172 candidates for five municipal corporations up for polls.

The opposition party’s list has surprised many because almost 50-60% candidates are new faces. But, so far, the announcement has not been met with opposition in any of the five cities.

First India spoke to four senior journalists to dissect the decision taken by the Congress party and if the ‘new faces experiment’ will reap any positive results for it or not.

Senior journalist Arif Nalbandh said, “Surat has 116 seats in 29 wards and Congress announced a list of 52 candidates, of which, only nine will contest polls again. There can be two reasons behind this move; senior councillors who have already contested three to four elections were not interested in throwing their hat in the ring.

This was probably be-

A meeting of Congress leaders in Bhavnagar.

cause of the delimitation of corporation areas, which they fear has divided the party’s vote bank thereby decreasing the chances of a win. Secondly, with the party’s performance record largely registering success in Patidar-dominated areas, senior leaders may have thought it fit to bring in new faces to inject some hope of victory.”

The party has nominated ward presidents in some wards of Bhavnagar with the expectation that they may emerge victorious in their respective wards, where people already know them, expressed Nitin Soni, senior journalist from Ahmedabad.

Inauguration of the Vadodara Congress election office.

As per Soni’s assessment, the opposition party has decided to experiment by basing its calculations on the 2015 elections when it had 18 councillors in the fray and had lost eight seats with the margin of 50 to 250 votes.

While the Congress

candidate list for Vadodara and Jamnagar features new faces, Vadodara senior journalist Manu Chavda observed, “Only those candidates will be allowed to contest local body polls again, who the party thinks are likely to get elected. All

the new faces contesting polls have been accommodated by party panels and so far, there has been no protest against the list in Vadodara. But, that may be so, because the party has intentionally avoided wards that are of interest to the politi-

cal bigwigs.”

Meanwhile, it is difficult to ascertain whether the new faces experiment will succeed or not or if the candidates are even known to the constituents or not. But, there is no doubt that those working for the party have been picked to contest elections such as the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and Youth Congress leader Shaktisinh Jethva, Pushpaba Jadeja, among others.

Whether this gamble will pay off or not is a difficult question to answer until the BJP releases its list of candidates, stated Ravi Buddhdev, senior journalist from Jamnagar.

Will Vadodara get a tribal mayor or not?

First India Bureau Vadodara: The poll results of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) will be declared on February 23, and office-bearers will be officially appointed to pass the civic body annual budget before the month ends.

According to the rotational schedule, this time the mayor has to be selected from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.

With only one seat belonging to the trib-

AIMIM’s entry in state politics has Muslims split First India Bureau

Former party member Rachana Nandaniya returned to the Congress party and has been named a candidate for the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation (JMC) election. She had left to join BJP in 2017.

al community out of 78 seats of the corporation, the big question is whether the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will abide by the roster or induct another leader?

Out of around 29 wards, only one seat in ward number 15 is reserved for the tribal candidate. With 24 candidates in the fray for this seat it will be interesting to see what the party ultimately decides to do.

As per the roster rotation, for the first two

—FILE PHOTO

Vadodara Municipal Corporation

and a half years, Vadodara must have a mayor from the tribal

community. Generally, the announcement regarding the roster ear-

lier, but since it has not been declared, there is an apprehen-

sion within the ruling party. In case the government decides to change the rotational pattern of the roster in the absence of a strong tribal leader, it can keep it reserved for Scheduled Caste, Other Backward Class (OBC) or women leaders to avoid any criticism.

Meanwhile, party sources have indicated that there may be a possibility of the state announcing the rotation only after the election results are declared.

02

Ahmedabad: With the state local body elections a few weeks away, political leaders are leaving no stone unturned to woo voters. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party is set to contest polls in alliance with the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BJP) and that may mean that the Muslim community vote bank is likely to be split this time around.

The AIMIM party chief Assauddin Owaisi is slated to visit the state on February 04 and a wave of excitement among youngsters was palpable when First India spoke to them on Tuesday.

Hanif Kalandar, a resident of Godhra, said, “People are rushing to join AIMIM because they have high hopes from the party. In the past 24 years, no developmental work has been executed for members of the Muslim community in the city.

Moreover, the leaders we elected from the Congress party have defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Neither Congress

An AIMIM rally.

nor BJP have worked for us.”

However, the favourable opinion regarding AIMIM is not shared by everyone. “There is enthusiasm for AIMIM among the youth, especially those belonging to the under-educated and middle class.

The educated folk will stick with Congress.

However, they also have issues with a few processes conducted by the Congress as it does not have strong leadership.

Having said that, I feel that the Congress party is better,” said Sajid Khan, a resident of Surat.

He further added that AIMIM may gain favour with those who have migrated to Gujarat from other states.

Munaf Shaikh, a resident of Ahmedabad, told First India, “The youngsters get carried away when they hear inflammatory speeches. Personally, the AIMIM party is going to help the BJP a lot.

It will strengthen the BJP with more power, mainly because the vote share of the Congress party will be split with AIMIM. ”

—FILE PHOTO

NOT IN FAVOUR

Senior BJP leaders miffed over new election guidelines lll

They feel that newcomers will need the guidance of former councillors to learn the ropes of their new roles and responsibilities

First India Bureau Ahmedabad: The state command of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decreed new parameters for candidate nominations of the upcoming local body elections.

The party has decided not to grant tickets to councillors who have completed three-year terms, or to any relatives of politicians and also not to those above the age of 60 years.

This announcement has left several councillors shocked and miffed.

According to Mayur Dave, a former councillor from Khadia area of the city, the move will further weaken the hold of elected representatives on officers.

He added, “There are several officers who have not been responding to calls or messages of senior councillors.

The newly appointed and inexperienced officers are showcasing their arrogance and

BJP state unit prez CR Patil (centre left) and CM Vijay Rupani (centre right) at the parliamentary board meet.

—FILE PHOTO

have not listened to grievances.”

It is to be noted that Dave has consecutive-

ly won five terms in the Ahmedabad Mu-

nicipal Corporation (AMC). He had also expressed a desire to contest the upcoming election.

“Without the guidance of senior councilors, how will the newcomers learn the ropes? This decision will create long-term damage,” he stated.

On the other hand, former Ahmedabad mayor Amit Shah has also expressed dissent with the decision to prohibit relatives of councillors from con-

testing the polls. Shah had welcomed the party’s decision not to allow leaders above the age of 60 years and those who had served three terms, to stand in the election. According to sources, Shah feels that his son Sunny is a capable candidate who has worked hard in the youth wing of the BJP. “Despite having leadership qualities, he will not be able to contest polls because he is my son,” he said.

GUJARAT AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021

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Doctors express worry over side-effects of nCoV vaccine

Beauty parlour owner in Surat tries to set honey trap arrested Some govt and private medical professionals are questioning whether to take the jab gets First India Bureau

Gandhinagar: It isn’t just the general public that has expressed a reluctance to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

Doctors too seem to be sceptical about taking the jab. Sources from the core committee in charge of the vaccination drive have revealed that many doctors are questioning whether or not to get vaccinated.

“Many from the medical fraternity are inquiring regarding the vaccine. There are some medical professionals who are not ready for it yet. We are

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

First India Bureau

QUESTION TIME?

Police personnel were among those who received vaccination at Sola Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

getting a lot of queries,” said a source in the government, expressing surprise that adding that frontline worriers are not keen

on the shot.

Private-sector professionals are not keen on the vaccine either.

Senior physician Dr Pravin Garg said, “The

number of cases has gone down and the infection rate has fallen.

So, some professionals want to wait a few months before taking

the dose.”

However, doctors who have taken the jab continue to promote the vaccine. “I took the vaccine on Day 1. Some side-effects are normal while taking any biovaccine. Our bodies have been injected with anti-gen to develop antibodies,” asserted Dr Krupal Joshi, associate professor at CU Shah Medical College, “The increased immunity due to the vaccine causes some reactions like fever, malaise, weakness and headache. This is, in fact, a good sign that shows that the vaccine has been injected in an effective manner.”

GUJ SEES 1 DEATH, 285 NEW CASES IN LAST 24 HRS First India Bureau Gandhinagar: The state on Tuesday saw 285 new cases of COVID-19 and one death, taking the infection tally to 2,62,123 and the death toll to 4,389, while 422 people were discharged from hospitals, the Gujarat’s health department said in its daily bulletin.

The number of peo-

ple who have recovered from the infection now stands at 2,54,531, leaving the state with 3,203 active cases, including 29 patients on ventilator support.

Vadodara led the day’s list with 86 new cases. This was followed by Ahmedabad, with 61. Meanwhile, Surat saw 37 new cases and Rajkot had 31. The number of people discharged in these four districts was 38, 69, 60,

Swab testing in Ahmedabad

—FILE PHOTO

and 23 respectively.

Among other districts, Junagadh reported 10 new cases, Gandhinagar and Anand had eight each, and Gir Somnath, six cases.

The lone death for the day took place in Ahmedabad.

On Tuesday, 40,550 people got their first dose of vaccine from 684 centres. The state has so far vaccinated 3,92,454 people, the bulletin added.

Surat: The Puna police station on Tuesday registered a complaint against three women for allegedly attempting to trap a man and blackmail him. At least one woman has also been accused of beating the man up.

Police said the main accused, identified as salon owner Suman, alias Hansika Kushwaha (35), allegedly coerced the complainant Pravin Ramani (31) into her salon, where she “asked him to choose from three girls” and then pulled down the shutters, with him inside the premises.

When he refused to participate, she thrashed him, and took Rs2,000 from his wallet as “payment for services”. She then demanded that he cough up Rs25 lakh, and threatened to frame him if he didn’t pay.

When the cops arrived on the scene, they took statements from both parties, and eventually lodged an FIR against Kushwaha.

Ramani told the cops he first met Kushwaha at the pharmacy where he works.

Bar associations turn to agitation in push for physical hearings

Representatives of Bar Associations of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot with their letter to Chief Justice Vikram Nath

Masuma Bharmal Jariwala Rajkot: With the COVID-19 showing a significant improvement in recent times, most areas of life—including education and enter tainment—have seen relaxation. However, court rooms remain empty with inperson hearings still on hold.

This has raised a stir among bar associations in non-resumption of the High Court and other courts in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot. The Rajkot Bar Association on Tuesday began an indefinite dharna, which members say will continue until courts reopen.

In a letter to High Court Chief Justice Vikram Nath sent on Sunday and signed by presidents of different bar associations, members have requested re-

sumption of physical functioning of the High Court and in the cities of Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot.

The letter reads: “The physical functioning of courts have been on hold since March 24, 2020.

Now that the pandemic is under control and state government has permitted schools, cinema halls, gyms, swimming pools, etc., to reopen, there should not be any impediment in resuming physical functioning of the courts.

Unfortunately, the plight being faced by large sections of the members of the bars has gone unnoticed by the High Court administration.”

The letter further warned that, if courts do not resume, “we will have no alternative but to enter the court premises from February 11, 2021 and start agitation in a peaceful way”.

TIME TO CELEBRATE

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Krutanj Arvind Darji (in maroon), ranked 26 in the CA Final 2020 examination held by ICAI Ahmedabad with 538 marks, while Muziburrehman Munir Ahmed came in at Number 30 with 534 Marks, and Priyal Anil Choudhary ranked 34 rank with 530 marks. The results were announced in Ahmedabad, on Tuesday.

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

DATA THEFT

Woman accuses bank of using her ID to create fake account First India Bureau Surat: A woman from the city’s Rander area has accused officials and agents of the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) of using her identity to create a fake account, which was then used to conduct illegal transactions amounting to Rs2.36 crore. A case has been registered at the Rander police station, and the cops have begun an investigation.

In her complaint,

Lalita Chaubey told the police that she recently discovered from

her bank statements that her GST number was being using by an

account under the name of Krishna Trading in IDBI’s Rander branch.

“Neither I nor any of my family members hold any accounts in that branch. However, I did once give my information and GST number to an IDBI loan agent named Ajay Meghaji Kananim,” she reported told the police.

The complainant’s husband Raju Chaubey reportedly added that he suspected it was an inside job by bank officials, who were using his wife’s account to launder black money.

03

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PERSPECTIVE AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021

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IN-DEPTH

UPROAR OVER FARM LAWS IN HOUSES

‘DREAM BUDGET’ 2021 A DREAM BUDGET THAT LAYS THE PATH FOR NOT ONLY IMMEDIATE POST-COVID RECOVERY BUT ALSO HIGH GROWTH OVER THE DECADE

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arliament on Tuesday witnessed uproarious scenes over the three farm laws. As the din persisted, both the Houses were adjourned. The Opposition stormed the two Houses demanding a discussion on the farm laws. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told the Lok Sabha that the government is ready to discuss issues related to farmers inside and outside the House. Demanding repeal of the laws the Opposition forced the Lok Sabha to be adjourned twice. The attack was led by Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary. Before the start of the session, the Opposition had made it clear that it will raise the farmers’ issue and force the government to withdraw the laws. Boycott of the President’s address to the joint session by 16 opposition parties over the contentious laws was the prelude to their action plan.

If the Opposition raised the heat in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, the police in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh were busy putting up layer after layer of barricades to make it virtually impossible for more farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab to join protesters at Shinghu, Tikri, and Ghazipur. Farmers have been at these three sites for almost two months and are resolute on not moving from there till the laws are repealed. The State has shown its might also by cutting off power and water supply to the protesters’ camps, leaving many of them without food and water. With most democratic institutions being in awe of the government, farmers will find it difficult to hold the fort for long. If they do, it’ll be historic.

DR KV SUBRAMANIAN CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR

A

THE SASIKALA FACTOR IN TN POLITICS

T

he release from jail of Sasikala Natarajan, a close aide of former Chief Minister J Jayalalitha, is expected to spice up Tamil Nadu politics. Immediately after her release from prison after four years of simple imprisonment, Sasikala required hospitalisation for Covid-19 treatment. There was no political chatter until Sasikala stepped out of the Victoria Hospital and got into a car flaunting the AIADMK flag. She was expected to go with her nephew TTV Dinakaran who floated a new party, the AMMK, after his expulsion from the AIADMK. That set pundits guessing. Will she join and then take over the party established by MG Ramachandran and nurtured by his protégé? Since the AIADMK has already aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party, it cannot take a decision on its own. The BJP has provisioned Rs 1.03 lakh crore worth investment for 3,500 km of National Highway work. For Chief Minister, Edappadi K. Palaniswami could find himself on a slippery slope once Sasikala starts making her moves. To avoid that, Tughlaq Editor S. Gurumurthy, believed to be a BJP strategist, has advised AIADMK to admit her to avoid a split in the party.

The Congress, which was the ruling party in Tamil Nadu in the first 20 years after Independence, consistently lost the plot thereafter. Now the party’s shambolic state doesn’t offer much, while the BJP is on the ascendant. Congress’ hopes rest on the DMK, its political ally in the state. Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has predicted a “strong walkover” for the Congress-DMK alliance. The situation may change after PM Narendra Modi goes on the offensive.

The significant outlays that have been provided for roads and railways will especially enable better logistics infrastructure in the country and thereby reduce the costs of doing business for Indian companies. These add to the several reforms that have been launched in Atmanirbhar Bharat 1-3, including the labour reforms, the MSME definitional changes, the Production Linked Incentives scheme, and will enable the manufacturing sector in the country

n increase in the healthcare budget of 137%, increase in the budgeted infrastructure spending by 32%, which excludes the 2 lakh crores budgeted for states and autonomous bodies, privatisation of two public sector banks and an insurance company, a bad bank in the private sector to clean up the balance sheets of the banks, no increase in taxes combined with significant streamlining of the tax system, significantly enhanced fiscal spending to further the economic recovery that is underway even while providing a mediumterm fiscal consolidation framework, including a plan for monetisation of assets. After the Pujarasque work done by the Atmanirbhar Bharat packages 1-3, which has ensured that India got through the historical pandemic with minimal damage and generated a V-shaped economic recovery, the Finance Minister played a Rishabh Pant like a knock on Monday as she delivered a budget that will be remembered by history.

In an economy, the factor inputs comprise of the soft and hard infrastructure, labour, and capital. Traditionally, labour and capital are regarded as the key factor inputs. However, since the soft and hard infrastructure increases the productivity of labour and capital, for purposes of analysing the budget, we can regard them both as factor inputs as well. While the soft infrastructure stems from human development, the hard infrastructure comprises of the physical assets. Given the pandemic that has highlighted the key role of health, it has become a critical element of soft infrastructure. Similarly, the hard infrastructure enables private investment and thereby accelerates the virtuous cycle of investment, growth and consumption.

This year’s budget will be regarded historic because it positively impacts each one of these factor inputs.

In India, an NIPFP study shows that the fiscal multiplier from investments in physical

infrastructure has been very high – 2.5 in the year when the investment is made and 4.5 over a few years. Therefore, if we just consider the impact of the 5.54 lakh crores allocated for the implementation of the National Infrastructure Pipeline, this cumulates to 2.5% of GDP. Taking the multiplier of 2.5, 2.5% * 2.5 = 6.25% of GDP growth can be expected to stem from the spending on the infrastructure.

This is above and beyond the significant ramp up in the Government’s capital expenditure since the months of October this year, as a result of which the revised estimate for the same would be 4.39 lakh crores instead of 4.2 lakh crores that was set out in the budget of FY 20. This increase of 4.5% when compared to the budgeted estimate is expected to manifest despite the washout in capital expenditure spending during the months of the lockdown.

The significant outlays that have been provided for roads and railways will especially enable better logistics infrastructure in the country and thereby reduce the costs of doing business for Indian companies. These add to the several reforms that have been launched in Atmanirbhar Bharat 1-3, including the labour reforms, the MSME definitional changes, the Production Linked Incentives scheme, and will enable the manufacturing sector in the country. The bill that will provide for the infrastructure financing corporation in the pub-

THE SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN HEALTHCARE SPENDING SIGNALS A KEY DEPARTURE IN THE EMPHASIS PLACED ON HEALTH AND WILL BENEFIT THE COMMON MAN OVER THE MEDIUM TO LONG-TERM

lic sector is intended to enable the setting up of the infrastructure financing institutions in the private sector too, which will add financing options to the public spending that has been provided.

The impact of the gigantic increase in the healthcare spending would of course manifest over time. But, the Rs. 35000 crores budgeted for vaccination together with the promise for providing all necessary amounts during the year act as a vaccine for the economy as well. The impact of this will be felt in the contact-sensitive service sectors, where pent up demand can be expected to come back with a vengeance. Therefore, this spending on vaccination will have its impact this year itself.

The streamlining of the expenditure through the Atmanirbhar Bharat Swasthya Yojana, focused on the full value chain of healthcare from primary through secondary to tertiary care, can be expected to help increase the productive impact of

Will coronavirus really evolve to become less deadly?

A

recent modelling study painted a reassuring picture of a postpandemic future in which SARS-CoV-2 transitions, over “a few years to a few decades”, from dangerous pathogen to just another common-cold coronavirus.

This predicted loss of virulence, the authors stress, is based on a specific idiosyncrasy of the virus, namely that it rarely causes serious disease in children.

Still, many experts agreed that we should not be in the least surprised by the authors’ conclusion, as all viruses “become more transmissible and less pathogenic over time”. After all, the seductive logic goes, from an evolutionary perspective it makes no sense for a pathogen to harm the host on which it depends for its survival. According to this reasoning, virulence is little

04

more than a temporary evolutionary imbalance.

This comfortable chain of reasoning was rudely broken by the announcement of “a realistic possibility” that the new highly transmissible B117 variant “is associated with an increased risk of death”.

Although the evidence is still accruing, early estimates from Nervtag, the UK’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, suggest that B117 may be around 30% more deadly.

But perhaps this is a single exception to an otherwise well-observed rule, and we can still be confident that SARS-CoV-2 will slowly fade away to obscurity. So what is the evidence for this view? And how confident can we be in predicting how evolution will shape the relationship between a pathogen and its host?

LAW OF DECLINING VIRULENCE It was the bacteriologist and comparative pathologist Theobald Smith (18591934) who began the narrative of the “law of declining virulence” in the late 19th century.

Studying tick-borne disease of cattle during the

1880s, Smith realised that the severity of the disease was determined by the degree of prior infection.

Cattle that had been repeatedly exposed to the pathogen suffered from much more moderate disease than cattle encountering it for the first time.

Smith reasoned that this

was because host and pathogen conspired over time towards a mutually benign relationship.

The story then takes a distinctly antipodean turn.

In 1859, the year Charles Darwin published his Big Idea, European rabbits were introduced to Australia for sport, with devas-

tating consequences for the indigenous flora and fauna. Having turned down Louis Pasteur’s offer of mass délapinsation using fowl cholera as a biological control agent, the Department of Agriculture turned to the myxoma virus that causes the lethal, but highly speciesspecific disease, myxomatosis in rabbits.

By the 1950s, the myxoma virus was spreading rapidly among the rabbit population. Recognising the opportunities provided by this unique experiment, the virologist Frank Fenner documented how the virulence of the disease decreased over a few years from 99.5% mortality to about 90%. This was taken as strong empirical evidence in support of Smith’s law of declining virulence – and occasionally still is.

the healthcare spending. The significant increase in healthcare spending signals a key departure in the emphasis placed on health and will benefit the common man over the medium to long-term. The improvement in human development that this is likely to herald should manifest in higher productivity of labour and thereby improvement in the overall productivity.

Apart from the signal change in healthcare, this year’s budget could mark the start of the transformation of the financial sector in India. Three key initiatives stand out in this regard.

First is the setting up of a bad bank, where the implementation will be done via a privatesector structure to enable decision-making that is critical for value generation in stressed assets. Second, is the proposed privatisation of two public sector banks and an insurance company with the necessary legislative changes that would be made to enable the same. Finally, the increase in the threshold for FDI in insurance from 49% to 75% with the necessary safeguards.

Overall, the first budget of the decade has provided a significant roadmap for the Indian economy to not only return back to the pre-Covid growth path but also accelerate growth over the decade. Madam Finance Minister, You have delivered what you promised… a budget for history to remember!

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

Top

TWEET Rajnath Singh @rajnathsingh Tejas is not only indigenous, but it is also better than its foreign equivalents on several parameters and also comparatively cheaper.

Many countries have shown interest in Tejas. India will achieve the target of Rs 1.75 lakh Cr in the field of defence manufacturing in few years.

K C Venugopal @kcvenugopalmp Disallowing debates & discussions is no way to run a democracy! The cold shoulder the Modi govt is showing to the Opposition in Parliament - for raising genuine concerns of annadatas- clearly shows the BJP is in power not for a billion Indians, but for a handful of billionaires.

Spiritual SPEAK

Approach those who have realized the purpose of life and question them with reverence and devotion; they will instruct you in this wisdom. —Bhagavad Gita

Source: The Conversation

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SC TO HEAR PLEAS ON R-DAY VIOLENCE Farmers tractor rally on Jan 26 created anarchy on streets of Delhi New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a batch of pleas pertaining to tractor rally violence in the national capital on the Republic Day, including the one which has sought setting up of a commission headed by a retired apex court judge to inquire into the incident.

The tractor parade on January 26 that was to highlight the demands of farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the national capital as thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with the police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic

ongress leader Rahul C Gandhi slammed the Central government

after Twitter temporarily blocked accounts related to farmers’ agitation on the direction of the Union Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY). Citing a article about the microblogging site’s action, Gandhi

The tractor parade on January 26 that was to highlight the demands of the farmers.

Red Fort.

The petitions would be taken up for hearing by a bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.

to curb interfaith marriages. “Public order & police are state subjects as per the 7th Schedule to the Constitution & hence, prevention, detection, registration, investigation & prosecution of offences related to religious conversions are primarily

Farmers’ protest: Delhi court grants bail to journo Mandeep Punia New Delhi: A Delhi court Tuesday granted bail to freelance journalist Mandeep Punia who was arrested by Delhi Police from farmers’ protest site at Singhu border.

The complainant, victims and witnesses were police personnel only, “hence, there is no possibility that accused/ applicant can able to influence any of the police officials , Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Satvir Singh Lamba said while granting the bail.

Punia was arrested by police on Sunday in an FIR registered under various sections includ-

ing 186, 353 and 332 of IPC. The judge also noted in the order that the alleged scuffle incident of case was of around 6.30 PM, however, the present FIR was registered at around 1.21 AM on the next day .

He further said, Admittedly, the accused is a freelance journalist.

Moreso, no recovery is to be effected from the accused person and keeping the accused further in Judicial Custody would not serve any cogent purpose.

He said it was well settled legal principle of law that bail is a rule and jail is an exception.

—PTI

WE HOPE WE WILL BE ABLE TO REOPEN SCHOOLS SOON: DELHI CM New Delhi: While interacting with the principals and management authorities of private schools, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday expressed hope that the schools in the national capital will be able to re-open in full capacity soon following the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines.Mr Kejriwal

Tweeted, “Modi style of governance- Shut them up. Cut them off. Crush them down.” Twitter on Monday temporarily blocked 250 accounts after MeitY directed the microblogging platform to take action against accounts for making ‘fake, intimidatory and provocative’ Tweets.

SUKHBIR BADAL’S CARS ATTACKED; FOUR INJURED IN CONG-SAD CLASH

One of the pleas filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari has sought setting up of a three-member inquiry commission under the chairmanship of a former apex court judge and com-

No nationwide anti-conversion law planned, says Centre in Parl New Delhi: The central government has no plans to enact an anticonversion law to curb interfaith marriages, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said issues related to religious conversions are primarily the concerns of state governments, adding that law enforcement agencies take action whenever such instances of violation occur.

Reddy said in a written question that the central government has no plans to enact a central anti-conversion law

RAGA SLAMS CENTRE POST TWITTER BANS ACCOUNTS OVER PROVOCATIVE CONTENT

said, “Children want to go back to schools and colleges but parents and teachers are worried.

Since vaccines are here, we hope we will be able to open schools soon.”

Talking about the nursery admissions for this year, the Chief Minister said, “We will start the process of nursery admission soon.”

the concerns of state governments & Union Territory administrations.

“Action is taken as per existing laws by law enforcing agencies whenever instances of violation come to notice,” he said.

The issue came in the wake of widely-criticised laws that target interfaith marriages enacted by both Uttar Pradesh & Madhya Pradesh ruled by the BJP. Several states governed by the party including Haryana, Assam & Karnataka have also announced plans for such laws.

prising of two retired high court judges for collecting and recording evidence and submit a report on the January 26 violence to the top court in a time bound manner. —PTI

Punjab: A clash broke out between SAD and Congress workers in Punjab’s Jalalabad on Tuesay in which SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal’s car was damaged, officials said. Although Badal escaped unhurt, four

other persons sustained injuries in the incident. The incident occured when Badal was accompanying Akali candidates for filing of nomination papers for the February 14 civic polls.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday refused to grant protection to Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh against whom a nonbailable warrant (NBW) has been issued on an FIR lodged in Lucknow after his press conference on August 12 last year at which he alleged that the UP government was favouring a certain class of society.

The AAP leader has moved the apex court seeking quashing of multiple FIRs lodged against him in various districts of Uttar Pradesh after the press conference, saying they have been “maliciously instituted to unleash political vendetta”.

Sanjay Singh

In a separate petition, Singh has also challenged the January 21 order of the Allahabad High Court which refused to quash the FIR in Lucknow.

The matter came up for hearing on Tuesday before a bench, comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and R S Reddy, which said it would not pass any order without going through the high court verdict.

BJP MPs have done nothing for North Bengal, says Mamata Banerjee

New Delhi: The Parts of north and central India are likely to receive rains from February 3 to 5, the IMD said on Tuesday. “A gradual rise in minimum temperatures is very likely over most parts of northwest & adjoining central India during the next 3 to 4 days & the current spell of cold wave conditions is likely to abate in the next 24 hours. Isolated heavy rainfall/snowfall is likely over Jammu & Kashmir on February 3 & 4, & over Himachal Pradesh on February 4,” IMD said.

Falakata (WB): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the central government of doing nothing for the people of the northern districts despite having “so many” BJP MPs from the region.

Banerjee said before every election, BJP leaders make promises of reopening defunct tea gardens in North Bengal, but “flee” afterwards.

“They had promised to reopen all the seven closed tea gardens before the Lok Sabha elections, but not a single

NIA officials had already visited the spot when the blast took place.

place.

So far, Delhi Police’s Special Cell has failed to get any lead in the case and no suspect has

NCB SEIZES MEPHEDRONE WORTH RS 15 LAKH IN MUMBAI Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau has seized mephedrone, a banned drug, worth around Rs 15 lakh in Mumbai and apprehended three persons in this connection, an NCB official said on Tuesday. Based on a specific information,

Apex Court declines Sanjay ’s plea seeking protection from arrest

North India to witness rains in Feb: IMD

Mamata Banerjee

one has resumed operations. There are so many (BJP) MPs who have won from North Bengal, but tell me what have they done for this region... Nothing,” she said.

The Trinamool Congress supremo was speaking to reporters

Probe into blast near Israel embassy handed over to NIA New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which deals with terror cases in India, will now probe the Israel embassy blast case. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued an order to hand over the case, sources said.

Following the order, NIA will register cases under appropriate sections and will start an investigation. The Delhi Police’s Special Cell will need to handover all relevant evidence and documents to the agency.

NIA officials had already visited the spot when the blast took

05

the NCB arrested two suspected drug peddlers at Mahim railway station around Monday midnight and seized a “commercial quantity” of mephedrone, weighing 136 gram and valued around Rs 15 lakh, from them, he said.

been identified.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday assured his Israeli counterpart Benjamin

—FILE PHOTO

Netanyahu of punishing the perpetrators of the minor bombings near the Israeli embassy on January 29.

2 INCLUDING A WOMAN INJURED IN ACID ATTACK IN KOLKATA Kolkata: Two persons, including a woman, have sustained critical burn injuries when a youth allegedly threw acid on them at Ultadanga area, police said. The suspect, with whom the woman had a relationship before her marriage a few years back, had been trying to befriend her since the coronavirus lockdown, but she was

avoiding him. It appears that she was attacked for this reason, the officer said. The youth allegedly splashed acid on the woman when she was returning home on Monday evening from a bulb factory where she was employed. A man who was accompanying the woman was injured when he tried to save her, according to police.

on the sidelines after inaugurating a mass wedding event here.

Later, she also handed over land pattas (deeds) to several tea garden workers.

“Our government is for the people, for the farmers, for the scheduled tribes. We will not do anything that is antifarmer or anti-people.

We have already reopened nine closed tea gardens and will try to get the others to function again, too,” she said. Banerjee set out on a four-day tour of North Bengal from Monday. —PTI

ANOTHER TMC MLA JOINS BJP

R-Day violence: HC adjourns plea seeking directions to MHA New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has adjourned a plea, seeking direction to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Delhi Police to take action against perpetrators of violence that marred Republic Day celebrations till February 4. The Division Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh on Tuesday adjourned the hearing as the counsel for the petitioner could not join a video conferencing due to connectivity problem.

Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma appeared for the Union of India in the matter. The plea was

filed by Shubham Awasthi and two others, who are residents of Delhi-NCR, through advocate Vivek Narayan Sharma. The petitioners said that incident of Republic Day unfurled & create a sense of panic and hysteria in national capital.The petition sought a direction to respondents to investigate the incidents which happened during the farmers’ tractor rally on Republic Day & arrest the individuals who disrespected the national flag at Red Fort and ITO and other places in Delhi under sedition laws.

NO DECISION YET ON NRC, MHA TO PARLIAMENTARY PANEL New Delhi: Centre has not taken any decision on the roll-out of the NRC for the whole country, the Ministry of Home Affairs has told a parliamentary panel. “It has been clarified at various levels in govt time and again that till now no

decision has been taken to create National Register of Indian citizen,” MHA told Parliamentary Standing panel on Home Affairs headed by Congress leader Anand Sharma, according to a report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

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PM-CARES Fund to foot over 80% cost of 1st phase of Covid vax drive

Didi’s Santhali dance video goes viral

THE FUND WAS SET UP TO PROVIDE RELIEF DURING CORONA PANDEMIC New Delhi: The PMCARES fund, which has been set up to provide relief during the coronavirus pandemic, has contributed over Rs 2,200 crore for the first phase of vaccination drive, which is looking to inoculate frontline healthcare workers, the Expenditure Secretary said on Tuesday.

Set up in March 2020, the exact collections made by the fund through voluntary contribution by individuals and corporates, are not known but the corpus managed by the PMO has been providing relief to pandemic-hit sectors.

With the Budget for current fiscal, which was presented before the onset of the pandemic, making no separate allocation for vaccination, more than 82 per cent of the cost of the same during January to March is being borne by PM CARES Fund.

INDIA REPORTS 8,635 NEW COVID-19 CASES

TALLY OF ACTIVE COVID-19 CASES SHRINKS TO 1.63 LAKH; TOTAL 39.50

The tally of active COVID-19 cases in India has shrunk to 1.63 lakh which is just 1.52 per cent of the total instances of the infection reported so far, while 39.50 lakh beneficiaries have received vaccine jabs till Tuesday morning, the Union health ministry said. It also said that India’s daily new coronavirus cases has been consistently following a downward slope. After reaching a peak of 95,735 daily cases on September 10 last year, India on Tuesday recorded 8,635 new instances of the infectreported so far, while 39.50 lakh beneficiaries have received vaccine jabs till Tuesday morning.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget for the next fiscal beginning April 2021 has set aside Rs 35,000 crore towards COVID

DEFENCE MANUFACTURING

India can’’t remain dependent on other countries: Rajnath

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addresses during inauguration of HALs Second LCA Production Line in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

Bengaluru: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday that India cannot remain dependent on other countries for its defence and that the indigenously developed Tejas was better than its foreign equivalents on several parameters and also comparitively cheaper.

Under the ‘’Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, India is looking forward to increase its defence manufacturing capabilities, said Singh, who inaugurated Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’’s second LCA-Tejas production plant here. “India cannot remain de-

pendent on other countries for its defence”, he said. Singh said Tejas is not only indigenous, but better than its foreign equivalents on several parameters and also comparatively cheaper. “Many countries have shown interest in Tejas. India will achieve the target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore in the field of defence manufacturing in (a) few years”, he said. The delivery of the Tejas LCA to the Indian Air Force under a Rs 48,000-crore deal will begin from March 2024 and around 16 aircraft will be rolled out annually.

—PTI

India registered 8,635 new coronavirus infections in a day, the lowest in eight months, while the daily deaths fell below 100 after almost nine months, according to Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday. The country’s COVID-19 tally stands at 1,07,66,245 and the death toll increased to 1,54,486 with 94 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,04,48,406 pushing the national recovery rate to 97.05 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate has dropped to 1.43 per cent. The COVID-19 active caseload remained below two lakh for the 14th consecutive day.

Meanwhile, a National Expert Group on vaccine administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) has been established for providing guidance on all aspects of COVID-19 vaccination including prioritisation of population groups, procurement and inventory management, vaccine selection, vaccine delivery, and tracking mechanism, Union Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey informed on Tuesday.

According to a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today, Choubey said, “NEGVAC has the representation of Secretaries from MEA, Department of Expenditure, Department of Biotechnology, Department of Health Research, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, a representative from five state governments and technical experts.”

—Agencies

West Bengal: A video of West Bengal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee dancing at a mass marriage ceremony in Falakata of Alipurduar district has gone viral on social media.

The 45-second clip, which is being widely circulated online, features the 66-year-old politician matching steps with the Santhali dancers at the ceremony. Clad in masks, the dancers are seen holding Banerjee’s hand and dancing to the beats of the dhol.

The video comes almost a month after a picture of Banerjee cooking at a tribal village had gone viral on social media. Since being shared online, the clip has garnered over 13,000 views.

the current fiscal is being borne fully by the central government and the money is coming from PM CARES fund and Health Ministry.

BJP appoints in charges for Assam, TN, Pondy

Nadda’s 2-day visit to poll-bound Kerala begins from today

New Delhi: BJP on Tuesday appointed Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, G Kishan Reddy & Pralhad Joshi its Assembly poll incharges for Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala respectively.

Arjun Meghwal is incharge for the assembly polls in Puducherry, the party added. Jitendra Singh & VK Singh will be co-incharges for Assam & TN. —PTI

New Delhi: BJP National President Jagat Prakash Nadda will be on a two-day visit to Kerala from Wednesday to review the election preparations ahead of upcoming state Assembly polls. He will also address a public rally at Vadakkunnathan Temple Ground, Thrissur on Thursday. The public rally would be the first major rally of BJP in Kerala, kick-starting

party leaders will accord a grand welcome to him and a motorcade rally is also planned.

Nadda will attend state BJP core committee meeting ahead of seat-sharing discussions & candidates selection regarding Kerala Assembly polls. He will also address newly elected Councilors and Block, Zilla Panchayat members of BJP at an event in Kowdiar. —ANI

Franklin Templeton to pay `9,122 crores to investors in 20 days: SC New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that Rs 9,122 crore be disbursed within three weeks to the unitholders of Franklin Templeton’s six mutual fund schemes which are proposed to be wound up.

A bench of Justices S A Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna said that the disbursal of money would be done in proportion to unitholders’ interest in the assets.

In the proceedings conducted through video conferencing, the bench entrusted State Bank of India (SBI) Mu-

POWER Gallery AK MADHESHIYA MOVED TO NER

Ashish Kumar Madheshiya has been transferred from Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) to North Eastern Railway (NER) on his own request.

He is an Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE) officer.

8 IPS OFFICERS GET NEW ASSIGNMENTS IN DELHI POLICE

vaccination.

Expenditure Secretary T V Somanathan said the cost of vaccination of frontline and healthcare workers in

the assembly campaign.

According to Nadda’s schedule, the party president will reach Trivandrum International Airport on February 3, where the state

06

tual Fund to disburse the money as all the counsels gave consent to the court’s order.

The bench granted liberty to the litigating parties to approach the court in case of any difficulty in the disbursal of money to the unitholders.

The court also gave the parties liberty to move applications in case of any difficulty arising out of the process.

The lawyer, repre-

senting Franklin Templeton Trusts Services Limited, told the bench that the company would render cooperation with SBI Mutual Fund.

The bench on January 25 had said it would first deal with the issues related to objection to the e-voting process for winding up of the six mutual fund schemes and distribution of money to the unitholders.

—PTI

his address. I wanted the discussion to start today but I was told that the discussion first starts in Lok Sabha.

Keeping this in mind we have agreed to have a discussion on President’s address tomorrow,” said RS Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.

Earlier, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said opposition members themselves were demanding Question Hour and the government agreed.

Opposition parties including the Congress, Left, TMC and DMK had given a notice un-

der rule 267 that calls for setting aside of business of the day to take up a discussion on the issue pressed.

Chairman Naidu had, however, disallowed the motion saying the members were free to raise the issue during the discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President’’s address.

When the House met for the day, Naidu said he has received notice under rule 267 from various members but the issue can be raised during the discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President’’s address

As many as eight IPS officers have been given fresh assignments in Delhi Government. Accordingly, Deepak Purohit has been promoted to Addl CP had posted at the Headquarter while Chinmoy Biswal was posted as DCP, Crime and Gaurav Sharma is DCP, Security. Rajiv Ranjan Singh has been appointed as DCP, Outer North district DCP; Esha Pandey as DCP, PCR; Urjiva Goel as DCP, West district; Ghanshyam Bansal as DCP, Traffic and Manoj C was made Addl DCP, Outer North Delhi district.

MS RAJNI HASIJA LIKELY TO GET ADDITIONAL CHARGE OF CMD, IRCTC

Ms Rajni Hasija, Director (Tourism & Marketing), is expected to get an additional charge of CMD, Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) after the vacancy of this post with the retirement of incumbent CMD M P Mall.

SANGEETA BAHADUR APPOINTED HIGH COMMISSIONER TO MALTA

Ms Sangeeta Bahadur, presently Ambassador of India to Belarus, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Malta. She is a 1987 batch IFS officer.

RAGHU GURURAJ IS AMBASSADOR TO SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE

Raghu Gururaj (YOA:2006), presently Consul General of India to Medan, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe.

SILENCE ON CBI FRONT?

Deaf silence about the appointment of new CBI Chief is being talked about in the corridors of power. Tenure of present CBI Chief Rishi Kumar Shukla is coming to an end on Feb 3.

DEPUTATION TENURE OF SHAILENDRA SINGH EXTENDED

The deputation tenure of Shailendra Singh, working as Additional Secretary, Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, has been extended upto July 21, 2021. He is a 1988 batch IAS officer of MP cadre.

MAJ. GEN. RK SINGH MAY HEAD HAWS

Major General RK Singh could be considered for the position to head High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS), Gulmarg in Kashmir.

AIS OFFICERS TO GET HOME STATE CADRE IN J&K

All India Service officers hailing from Jammu & Kashmir will be allocated Jammu & Kashmir cadre in order to meet the shortage of officers.

A MESSAGE TO JUDICIARY?

The Government has last month given subtle message to the Judiciary – ‘don’t flex your muscles beyond a point’.

MOHANTY IS NEW CHAIRMAN OF ODISHA PSC

Satyajit Mohanty has been appointed Chairman of the Odisha Public Service Commission. He is 1988 batch IPS officer.

JAN E ALAM IS ACTING CHIEF SECRETARY OF NAGALAND

Jan E Alam has been appointed acting Chief Secretary of Nagaland. He is 1991 batch IAS officer of Nagaland cadre.

RAJIV KUMAR TANDON APPOINTED DG, SPL POLICE ESTABLISHMENT IN MP

Rajiv Kumar Tandon has been appointed as Director General, Special Police Establishment, Lokayukta Organization, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

He is a 1988 batch IPS officer of MP cadre.

By arrangement with: http:// whispersinthecorridors.com

FROM PG 1 TIKAIT WARNS!... and Tikri borders, as farmers continue to make their way to the protest sites for the past two to three days.

The Delhi Police have blocked roads near Akshardham and vehicular movement has been restricted between Delhi and Ghaziabad on National Highway-24.

BARRICADES, BOULDERS...

Meanwhile, a day after Shahdara district police distributed 60 lance-like metal batons to police personnel in their district, senior officials from Delhi Police

Headquarters Tuesday asked them to rollback the decision to use them as anti-riot equipment and wait for their approval.

A senior police officer said 60 sword-like metal batons were distributed in Shahadara district on Monday to protect themselves from rioters armed with swords. “The decision to use the metal baton was taken after many security personnel were injured by protesters armed with swords during their recent clashes with the police,” an officer said.

However, after some

pictures were shared on social media on Monday afternoon, senior officials at Delhi Police Headquarters asked officials to withdraw the decision to distribute the batons immediately.

GOVT READY...

“Atrocities are being committed on farmers.

Situation is similar to British rule,” he alleged.

As opposition members, including from Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress, SP and BSP, trooped near the well, Speaker Om Birla appealed to them to go back to their seats so

that House can taken up normal business.

“This House is for debate and discussions.

Please go back to your seats,” he said.

However, the unrelenting opposition continued their protests, leading to the Speaker announcing the second adjournment till 7 pm. —PTI

OPPN STAGES... and Procedure and Conduct of Business.

Naidu, the Rajya Sabha Chairman, said that the discussion on farmers’ protest will start tomorrow not today. “The President has referred to farmers’ agitation in

to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament. Naidu, however, allowed members who gave notices to make very brief mentions.

Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the farmers have been camping for more than two months and the issue needs to be discussed.

However, Naidu did not agree to their motion after which the members of Congress, Left, TMC, DMK and RJD staged a walkout.

“No one is stopping you from discussing the is-

sue tomorrow. Tomorrow you will get an opportunity,” he said.

Naidu said 10 hours have been allocated for discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President’’s address and an equivalent amount given for discussion on Budget.

“Please take the opportunity tomorrow,” he said.

CBSE CLASS...

All Class X exams will be held from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm. All exams will be held in the offlinewritten mode, and with COVID-19 safety protocols in place.

TALKING POINT AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021

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Myanmar’s military reverts to its old strong-arm behaviour—and the country takes a major step backwards

ADAM SIMPSON, Senior Lecturer, University of South Australia NICHOLAS FARRELLY, Professor and Head of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania

J

ust before the newly elected members of Myanmar’s parliament were due to be sworn in on Monday, the military detained the country’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi; the president, Win Myint; and other key figures from the elected ruling party, the National League for Democracy.

The military later announced it had taken control of the country for 12 months and declared a state of emergency. This is a coup d'etat, whether the military calls it that or not.

BAD NEWS FOR

A disputed election and claims of fraud In November, the NLD and Suu Kyi won a landslide victory in national elections, with the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) faring poorly in its key strongholds.

Humiliated by the result, the USDP alleged the election was subject to widespread fraud.

However, international observers, including the Carter Center, the Asian Network for Free Elections and the European Union’s Election Observation Mission, all declared the elections a success. The EU’s preliminary statement noted that 95% of observers had rated the process “good” or “very good”.

Reputable local organisations, such as the People’s Alliance for Credible Elections (PACE), agreed. These groups issued a joint statement on January 21 saying: the results of the elections were credible and reflected the will of the majority voters.

Yet, taking a page out of former US President Donald Trump’s book, the USDP pressed its claims of fraud despite the absence of any substantial evidence—a move designed to undermine the legitimacy of the elections.

The military did not

07

Nyein Chan Naing/EPA

initially back the USDP’s claims, but it has gradually begun to provide the party with more support, with the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, General Min Aung Hlaing, refusing to rule out a coup last week.

The following day, the country’s election authorities broke weeks of silence and firmly rejected the USDP’s claims of widespread fraud—setting the stage for what Myanmar historian Thant Myint-U called [Myanmar’s] most acute constitutional crisis since the abolition of the old junta in 2010.

Civilian-military power-sharing arrangement It is difficult to see how the military will benefit from today’s actions, since the power-sharing arrangement it had struck with the NLD under the 2008 constitution had already allowed it to expand its influence and economic interests in the country.

The military had pre-

viously ruled Myanmar for half a century after General Ne Win launched a coup in 1962.

A so-called internal “self-coup” in 1988 brought a new batch of military generals to power. That junta, led by Senior General Than Shwe, allowed elections in 1990 that were won in a landslide by Suu Kyi’s party.

The military leaders, however, refused to acknowledge the results.

In 2008, a new constitution was drawn up by the junta which reserved 25% of the national parliament seats for the military and allowed it to appoint the ministers of defence, border affairs and home affairs, as well as a vice president. Elections in 2010 were boycotted by the NLD, but the party won a resounding victory in the next elections in 2015.

Since early 2016, Suu Kyi has been de facto leader of Myanmar, even though there is still no civilian oversight of the military. Until this past week, the relationship between civilian and military authorities was tense at times, but

DEMOCRACY The Myanmar military has alleged that the general elections held in November were not free and fair.

—NYEIN CHAN NAING/ EPA

overall largely cordial.

It was based on a mutual recognition of overlapping interests in key areas of national policy.

Indeed, this powersharing arrangement has been extremely comfortable for the military, as it has had full autonomy over security matters and maintained lucrative economic interests.

The partnership allowed the military’s “clearance operations” in Rakhine State in 2017 that resulted in the exodus of 740,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh.

In the wake of that pogrom, Suu Kyi vigorously defended both

the country and its military at the International Court of Justice. Myanmar’s global reputation—and Suu Kyi’s once-esteemed personal standing— suffered deeply and never recovered.

Nonetheless, there was one key point of contention between the NLD and military: the constitutional prohibitions that made it impossible for Suu Kyi to officially take the presidency. Some NLD figures have also voiced deep concerns about the permanent role claimed by the armed forces as an arbiter of all legal and constitutional matters in the country.

A backwards step for Myanmar Regardless of how events unfold this week and beyond, Myanmar’s fragile democracy has been severely undermined by the military’s actions.

The NLD government has certainly had its shortcomings, but a military coup is a significant backwards step for Myanmar— and is bad news for democracy in the region.

It’s difficult to see this action as anything other than a way for General Min Aung Hlaing to retain his prominent position in national politics, given he

Min Aung Hlaing retains enormous power as chief of Myanmar’s military.

—NARONG SANGNAK/ EPA

is mandated to retire this year when he turns 65. With the poor electoral performance of the USDP, there are no other conceivable political routes to power, such as through the presidency.

A coup will be counterproductive for the military in many ways.

Governments around the world will likely now apply or extend sanctions on members of the military. Indeed, the US has released a statement saying it would “take action” against those responsible. Foreign investment in the country—except perhaps from China—is also likely to plummet.

As Myanmar’s people have already enjoyed a decade of increased political freedoms, they are also likely to be uncooperative subjects as military rule is re-imposed.

The 2020 general election demonstrated, once again, the distaste in Myanmar for the political role of the armed forces and the enduring popularity of Suu Kyi. Her detention undermines the fragile coalition that was steering Myanmar through a perilous period, and could prove a messy end to the profitable détente between civilian and military forces.w

SOURCE: THECONVERSATION.COM

Supporters of the Myanmar military protest the election results in Yangon last weekend.

—THEIN ZAW/AP

Tensions have been running high ahead of this week’s opening of Myanmar’s parliament, with roadblocks set up in the capital.

—AUNG SHINE OO/AP

Over the years I have realised that only once we act as if our actions make a difference, then they do.

2ND FRONT

—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India

AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021

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‘Union Budget to encourage privatisation of education’ Education experts wonder that the allocations to the critical sector have been cut Ahmedabad: Academicians as well as education rights activists have lambasted the Union Budget for paying lip service to the critical sector, asserting that the BJP Government appeared to be oblivious to the educational needs of the poor despite the crisis created by the Covid-19 spread.

The most critical is Ambarish Rai, the national convenor of the Right To Education (RTE) Forum, who says that the Union Budget 2021-22 fails to reach the children covered under the Right to Education and just glosses over the challenges posed by the pandemic.

He cites the allocations for total education (Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan), which have been reduced by 6% as compared to the previous financial year.

“It is strange that the

—FILE PHOTO

Shishir Awasthi

budget allocated for Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan for 2021-22 is only Rs 31,050 crore, far less than the budget allocated for 2019-20 which was Rs 36,400 crore and also less than the Actual Expenditure of 2019-20 which was Rs 32,376.52 crore,” Rai says.

It is also significantly less than the Budget Estimates of the previous

year allocated for overall School Education Budget under National Education Mission (Samgra Shiksha Abhiyan and Teacher Training & Adult Education).

This is only Rs 31,300 crore (2021-22) as against Rs 38,860 allocated in 2020-21.

He expresses concern that, “the government’s shrinking responsibili-

ty and meagre allocation will lead education towards an adverse situation affecting the future of millions of children. It will encourage privatisation and commercialisation making a road to profit-making private players”.

Rai adds that, “Mere mention of 15,000 exemplar schools to be created in line with New Edu-

NEGLECTING THE POOR

cation Policy (NEP) is not enough. The allocations are nowhere close to the required amount needed to undo the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensure every child returns to school. Online courses do not guarantee quality education; rather it widens the inequality, as evident over the last 10 months.”

08

PM Modi’s niece wants AMC poll ticket from Bodakdev First India Bureau Ahmedabad : Guess what? Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s niece Sonal Modi has expressed her intention to plunge into politics by contesting the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) polls on a BJP ticket from the upmarket Bodakdev ward in the city.

Sonal’s father Prahlad Modi, who is a brother of PM Modi and is the president of Gujarat fair-price shops association, said, “India is a democratic country and everyone has a right to contest an election.”

Prahlad Modi, however, clarified that the final decision of giving the ticket to Sonal would depend on the party’s organi-

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s niece Sonal wishes to contest civic polls.

—FILE PHOTO

sation. Sonal has meanwhile said that she has not asked for a ticket because she belonged to Modi’s family.

The BJP’s parliamentary board, which is meeting since today, would take a call “whether to provide me an election ticket.”

She also said she was

ready to take any responsibility that the party entrusted her.

The Gujarat local body polls this time around are going to be a multi-party battle with the Aam Aadmi Party and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, besides the NCP, having jumped into the fray.

HC closes PIL on mid-day meals, but tells govt its duty didn’t end

LEOPARD TRAP?

—FILE PHOTO

First India Bureau

The State Forest Department created a cage inside a farm near Kabir temple in Ahmedabad to catch a leopard after one leopard died in a road accident recently. Dogs hover around the cage, smelling food.

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

4 elephants deserted in North Guj village First India Bureau Dantiwada (North Gujarat): Four female elephants were found deserted without their caretaker on the outskirts of village Satsan in Dantiwada

taluka in North Gujarat’s Banaskantha district on the Rajasthan border.

Informed by locals, the police reached the village and made the required arrangements for the elephants. While

search for the owner of these elephants is on, the locals, the State Forest Department and the police are providing fodder and security to the elephants.

Forest Department sources said it was like-

ly that the owner of the elephants could have left them because of a resource crunch, given that the upkeep of the animals could cost Rs 4,000 per elephant and they might not be able to afford it.

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has closed proceedings on a public interest litigation (PIL) against the State Government based on a survey by the IIM and Unicef, Gujarat, stating that the mid-day meal programme had not reached many students during the lockdown.

The first division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice J B Pardiwala had initiated a suo moto petition against the government based on media reports about the survey. The court decided to close the petition after a reply from the State that it had done its best possible to ensure that the meals reached the children.

However, the High Court noted that, “We

may remind the State Government to ensure one thing that the inability to pay the fees should not compel the parents to stop providing education to their children. This is the worst that can happen to any family. It is possible that the help rendered by the government might not have reached a few fami-

lies. This is what the survey talks about.

The government should pay due attention to such genuine cases and try to render assistance in all possible manner. Education is something which should never be compromised.”

The court, simultaneously, observed that it was not doubting and

rather appreciating the joint survey by the IIMA and Unicef, Gujarat.

“We appreciate the joint efforts put in by the IIMA and Unicef, Gujarat.

However, at the same time, the State Government also seems to have put in strenuous efforts to ease the hardship of various families during the period of lockdown.

EARS TO THE GROUND!

Living up to name: AAP poll ticket for autorickshaw driver Munawar Shaikh says he joined AAP in 2015, attracted by its common man policy

First India Bureau Ahmedabad: Trying to live up to its name, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is contesting the local body elections in Gujarat, has given a ticket to an autorickshaw driver, Munawwar Hussain Shaikh, from SaraspurRakhial ward in Ahmedabad. Shaikh had joined AAP in 2015.

An elated Shaikh says the AAP represents the common man and this is

the reason he has got this ticket to contest the elections to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

The AAP was the first party to declare the list of its candidates for the civic polls in Gujarat.

“I had joined AAP in 2015 by paying a membership fee of Rs 10 in Ahmedabad. Arvind Kejriwal’s clean political policy and measures to eradicate corruption has attracted me towards the party. We want to implement this clean political

AAP’s municipal polls candidate Munawar Shaikh.

ideology of the party in Gujarat as well,” he said.

Shaikh says the AAP focuses more on common people’s problems like electricity, drainage, water supply, education, and so on and that is why the party has won backto-back elections in New Delhi. “We will work for public welfare and public interest in Ahmedabad as well,” he added AAP leader Atishi had asserted when announcing the party’s inten-

tions to contest the Gujarat polls that all the candidates had been selected after due verification but anyone with any information regarding the candidates, he could email it.

The local body elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases.

In the first phase on February 21, elections will be held for municipal corporations.

The results for the elections will be declared on February 23.

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09

AHMEDABAD, WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 3, 2021

MAGICAL

Disha Patani

MALDIVES Doctor G T ...her post

D

isha Patani has shared a throwback picture on her Instagram where she is seen soaking the sun in Maldives. The actress stuns in the white bikini.

The actress took a break and has spent leisure time in Maldives. Fans have been appreciating the picture as well as Tiger Shroff ’s sister Krishna Shroff couldn’t stop herself from dropping a comment. Disha Patani was last seen in Malang with Aditya Roy Kapoor, Anil Kapoor and Kunal Kemmu.

Her upcoming project is Radhe: You most wanted Bhai alongside Salman Khan, Jackie Shroff and Randeep Hooda.

The film is set to release on Eid 2021. Apart from this, Disha has another upcoming project, Ek Villain-2.

—Agency

he first ever pairing on-screen, Rakul Preet Singh and Ayushmann Khurrana have joined the cast of Doctor G directed by Anubhuti Kashyap and produced

by Junglee Pictures. The film is a campus-comedy drama and the shooting is awaited. The film is established in a campus of a mdical institute, wherein, Ayushmann will be seen as Dr Uday Gupta and Rakul as Dr Fatima.

—ANI

W

hile the shoot life takes you to a lot of p l a c e s around, there is no place like home, but Parineeti Chopra has earned the privilege to shoot at her hometown as she is soon to begin shooting for a brand campaign. The actress is thrilled to spend some quality time with

her family as she is soon to return to Mumbai for the promotion of her upcoming film, The Girl on The Train. The Girl on The Train which also features Aditi Rao Hydari and Kirti Kulhari is a mystry thriller film and is based on British author Paula Hawkins’ 2015 debut novel of the same name.

—Agency

Rakul Preet Singh

Run Savi

RUN

A

fter wrapping up the shoot of Rakshmi Rocket, Taapssee Pannu has revealed the first look of her next film, ‘Looop Lapeta’. With one after the other projects in her hands, Taapsse has shared on her Instagram the character Savi who is questioning herself how did she end up here! The film is a hindi remake of the German 1998 film Run Lola Run. Taapsee had been shooting in Goa for the film.

The 1998 German film featured Franka Pontete and Mortiz Bleibtreu in the lead role. It portrays the story of a woman who has to arrange 1,00,000 Deutsche Mark in 20 minutes to save her boyfriend.

—Agency

NEED A

BREAK

A

lia Bhatt who had been shooting for the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, Gangubai Kathiawadi, has taken a break from shooting, as she is rehearsing her dance moves for 2 dance songs featuring in the film before calling it a wrap.

The tracks are going to be filmed in the grand Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s demeanour as 200 dancers background dancers are being trained for the same along with the lavish set. Meantime, the actress recently spent some quality time with her beau, Ranbir Kapoor, in New Delhi.

Alia Bhatt was also seen playing the game of Truth or Dare on her Instagram with her fans, where she revealed her love for aloo, chocolates and the fact that she actually hates shopping!

—Agency

NOTHING LIKE HOME

Alia Bhatt

Taapssee Pannu

Parineeti Chopra

FUN AND

WORKOUT

K

Katrina Kaif

atrina Kaif is paired for the very first time with Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ishaan Khatter for the upcoming horror comedy, Phone Bhoot.

The trio seems to enjoy their time with each other as they prepare themselves for the film in Udaipur. The film is much awaited for the fresh pairing of the trio.

Siddhant Chaturvedi has taken to Instagram as they invite Katrina Kaif in their intense workout session.

—Agency

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DR RAMAWTAR SHARMA ramawatarf132@ gmail.com

T

HUMAN BRAIN:

Myths and Mysteries

you can go on learning more and more without fear of getting a wrinkle on your brain.

Many people believe that what you learn during your sleep is registered better or your brain makes files during sleep so that you could find things easily later on.

Nothing of that

FA CE OF TH ED AY

he human brain is a very unique organ. It is highly complex and precisely crafted. A person can die if a small portion of it is damaged but, surprisingly, can survive even when half of it is surgically removed by a process called hemispherectomy and that person can conduct almost normal life!

The brain weighs between 2-3 per cent of body weight and 75 per cent of it is water with 60 per cent of the total brain made of fats. Your brain is the fattiest organ of your body and it needs plenty of omega-3 and omega-6 fats. This means that the naive concept of zero fat food is a costly mistake. Like everything else in life, one has to know good fats and bad fats - there can be no life without fat. The maximum growth of the brain happens during the first year of life and it grows three times in its size during this period. The main food of the brain is glucose and oxygen. This explains extreme cravings for sweets and sugar during infancy and early childhood. Do not deny your baby of glucose, just select the healthy and natural sources of glucose but offer the baby plentiful of it. Why has nature provided human babies milk teeth? The first set of teeth would be damaged by sugar intake during the first 7-8 years of rigorous brain activities.

There used to be a common belief that excessive thinking makes the brain wrinkled and many people still believe so but it is nothing more than a myth.

The brain of a human baby is wrink l e d even before birth and it goes on become more so till the age of 18 years.

The lower end of each wrinkle is called sulcus and the uppermost a gyrus - there being many sulci and gyri. This is being done to accommodate more brain tissue in a limited area of the skull. So,

AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021

short has been proved. We don’t learn while asleep but a good sleep makes your brain function, learn and remem-

YOUR DAY Horoscope by

Saurabbh Sachdeva

ber better.

There are claims that alcohol kills brain cells and may lead to dementia. No, alcohol doesn’t kill brain cells but it makes the brain function abnormally especially if consumed rapidly and excessively.

The speech, logic, inhibitions, gait and sleep may be adversely affected.

There is a common belief amongst a significant majority of people that we use only 10 per cent of our brain and some even believe that Albert Eins t e i n u s e d m o r e t h a n this and became a super

main thing is how logically we use it and the extent of dedication for the task we wish to perform.

Messages travel in brain pathways with lightning speed - about 150 miles per hour. Here, most of us believe that the nerves alone are responsible for these extraordinary works but the brain is the most complicated structure of the

human body and consisted of maximum varieties of cells. The glial cells are the least recognised cells which perform some important tasks. They insulate the nerve pathways, nourish them and supply them with oxygen, they are like unknown scientists involved in making a spacecraft and putting it in orbit.

The brain needs a continuous supply of glucose and oxygen for its innumerable functions and any drop of either of them below a critical level might stop the functions of the brain leading to permanent damage or death of the body. But this doesn’t mean that brain needs no other foods. The brain contains a maximum of the body cholesterol which is essential for its formation and regeneration. The foods that keep the brain fit and frugal include fatty fish, coffee, blueberries, green tea, turmeric, broccoli, dark chocolates, nuts, pumpkin seeds, oranges and eggs.

But the “poor” brain is a victim of one more myth.

They say that love develops in heart and this misbelief has prevailed over time immemorial. Recent live MRIs have concluded that it is actually the areas in the brain which “ light up” when one remembers or sees once beloved and dear ones. The heart only reflects what the brain feels but takes all the credits, poetry and prose and the poor brain becomes just a hapless witness.

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

Someone close going abroad or out of town can make you emotional. You will find yourself fit and energetic. Luck shines on your bank balance. Cupid may strike its arrow across those looking for it lately. A stranger you meet while travelling may become a good friend.

Your good performance at work will be noticed by those who matter. Those debuting on television or films may find instant fame. Singles may make efforts to win a romantic dinner date with the one they secretly love. Students should get the right coaching to regain lost ground.

A senior will appreciate your skills in an event or a conference. Those planning to set up a side business are likely to bring their ideas in execution now. A family youngster may look up to you for your guidance. You are likely to take the initiative in getting something.

You may be called by someone in authority at a short notice today.

Professional front may require some fine tuning; get in action. There may be clash of purpose between your desire to buy quality stuff and your wish for saving money, so take the middle path.

MAR 21 - APR 20

APR 21 - MAY 20

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

Money will not seem a problem for those trying to purchase a major household item. Getting work out of a new team may seem tough, but you will manage it. Spouse may ask for your time and attention today for an important discussion. A special treat awaits you.

You succeed in pacifying a distraught family member by your soft approach and soothing words. This is the day when you can struggle a bit on the professional front. Remain up to date with the course, as a surprise test can be unleashed anytime. A budding romance may arise.

You may need a good resource to fund your current venture. Good news awaits some on the academic front. You will be able to achieve stability on the professional front. An invitation to a party or function can be expected and will enable you to meet someone.

This is a good day to broach anything personal to higher ups at work.

Good preparation is likely to keep you ahead of others in a competitive situation on the academic front. Wealth comes to some by way of inheritance. Your wait is over for receiving gifts.

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

AUG 24 - SEP 23

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Doors to new opportunities will open by meeting people.

Doing up the property owned by you is indicated and will be a step in the right direction.

Remain a little tight-fisted on the financial front to conserve money. Key to your good health is in remaining regular in your workouts.

Someone is testing your patience, so remain cool.

Your performance at work will remain consistent.

Total satisfaction is guaranteed in something that you are pursuing on the academic front. Marriage of someone eligible in the family is likely to be solemnised soon.

You may receive a payment you had given up for lost.

Delegating work will lessen your workload at office, but do supervise the work. Today, you may have to contend with some unwanted guests preying on your private time.

Monetary benefits are likely to come in a partnership venture.

You will be able to impress all and sundry on the professional front. Your cost cutting measures are likely to benefit you a lot. Maintaining a balanced diet may begin to show on your body earlier than expected.

Getting into a favourable situation on the academic front is possible.

NOV 23 - DEC 22

RIDDHIKA SONI, Fitness Trainer

genius. Nothing is far away from reality. When we use our brain we use it fully even when we are performing as simple a task as lifting a glass of water. This small act of lifting a glass activates numerous pathways. Brains recognise if the glass is empty or contains what ingredient, how not to spill it, what to do with it and how finally where to place the glass back. The brain takes all these decisions in a nanosecond!

Einstein focused on one aspect of science and dedicated his whole life to that area. His great success in that area as a result of hard work, not some extra powerful brain otherwise why did he fail in managing his money and died as a pauper? The same thing happened with Issac Newton who lost everything in some stock transactions and was supported by society because of his scientific status. So, everyone should feel comfortable that we all use our brain in its totality irrespective of the importance of the task. The brain is like a computer - it will activate all the pathways when performing a task. The

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DEC 23 - JAN 20

JAN 21 - FEB 19

FEB20 - MARCH 20

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AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021

REMARRY EX-WIFE?

Angelina in

A

fter rep o r t s emerged that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston may be reconciling that spread around the grapevine last year, on Tuesday Brad’s mother Jane wanted the two to remarry. After Brad’s divorce from Angelina Jolie and his moving run-in with ex-wife Jen- Brad Pitt nifer Aniston, the world had hoped that the exes would get back together but that wasn’t the case.

—Agency

Eternals A

ngelina Jolie shared her thoughts on starring as Thena in Chloe Zhao’s directorial Eternals, revealing it to be a “good crazy” experience. If the pandemic hadn’t happened last year, MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) fans would have been formally introduced to Eternals on the big screen with the likes of Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek and Kit Harington making their Marvel debuts in Chloe Zhao’s highly-awaited directorial.

However, Eternals became a victim of one too many delays and will now hit theatre screens on November 5, 2021.

—Agency

BREAKING THE SILENCE John Cena

John Cena

REVEALED

J

Angelina Jolie

Gal Godot expresses Gratitude

ohn Cena broke his silence on the possibility of making an appearance at Wrestlemania 37 amid busy shoot schedule for James Gunn’s series Peacemaker. With Royal Rumble 2021 now behind us, the WWE Universe is on the road to Wrestlemania 37. Many are curious to know if John Cena, who rarely misses The Show of Shows, will be making a highly-anticipated appearance during WWE’s. The last time JohnCena had a match in WWE was his stellar outing against Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania 36 which was indeed epic.

—Agency

G

Gal Gadot

al Gadot has thanked her fans for making her latest DC movie Wonder Woman 1984 the mostwatched movie on any streaming service this Christmas.

The film beat Pixar’s Soul on Disney+ to achieve this feat. Viewers watched 2.25 billion minutes of Wonder Woman 1984 as compared to Soul’s 1.67 billion.

Warner Bros released the movie in theatres and on HBO Max the same day.

—Agency

Marilyn Manson

W

estworld star Evan Rachel Wood came forward to accuse her former fiancé Marilyn Manson of abusing her for years on Monday, February 2. After her allegations, at least four more women also accused the international singer of abuse. Manson has broken his silence about the claims against him. The 52-year-old singer took to Instagram and issued a statement where he deemed the claims are “horrible distortions of reality.” He added that his intimate relationships have always been “consensual with like-minded partners.”

—Agency

BIG LOSS FOR HOLLYWOOD

D

ustin Diamond has unfortunately succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 44 on Monday. The actor’s representative has confirmed the news while stating that he was fighting with carcinoma for the past three weeks. According to his manager, Diamond died on Monday morn- Late Dustin Diamond ing. His condition worsened since the last week and was taken off the breathing machines in an attempt to provide hospice care. The actor’s girlfriend Tash Jules and another friend were by his side.

—Agency

TWITTER ACCOUNT GONE?

T

witter users recently discovered and revealed that Ana de Armas has deleted her Twitter account after her breakup with Ben Affleck.

Eagle-eyed fans recently noticed that actress Ana de Armas‘ had deactivated her Twitter account over the weekend. Many fan sites and Twitter Ana De Armas users began tweeting that the 32-year-old actress’ account was no longer active. The actress is still there on other social media sites like Instagram though.

—Agency

Amy’s tasteful selfie!

C

omedian and actress Amy Schumer recently posted a tasteful nude selfie and transformed it into something very sweet! The comedian, who gave birth to her son Gene in 2019, took to Instagram to share a mirror selfie where she is naked. The photo was shared with the thought of appreciating her postpartum body, her Csection scar from delivering her first child Amy Schumer nearly three years ago. The actress wrote alongside the picture: “Feeling like my c section looks cute today! #hotgirlwinter #csection.” —Agency

11

Miley’s crazy gift!

G ...her post

wen Stefani and Blake Shelton’s wedding may be way into the future, but they do have one thing sorted! Singer Miley Cyrus offered the couple her services as a wedding singer via a series of tweets on Tuesday. The exchange between Gwen and Miley began when the Hollaback Girl singer saw the 28-yearold artist perform “Prisoner” on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts series and commented “Talented geeezzzz,” Stefani wrote. “gx.”

—Agency

Miley Cyrus

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AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021

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DIVINE DIVAS City First in an exclusive interview with the winners of Miss Teen Diva 2020, Wachi Pareek, Sayali Ayre, Aishwarya Vinu Nair and Rashi Parasrampuria, and the organiser of the same, Nikhil Anand!

MANSI BACHANI cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

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he finale of Miss Teen Diva 2020 by Nikhil Anand was held recently in Gurugram, where Wachi Pareek, Sayali Ayre, Aishwarya Vinu Nair and Rashi Parasrampuria bagged the titles of Miss Teen India Universe, Miss Teen India Multinational, Miss Teen India Earth and Miss Teen India International, respectively. In an exclusive interview with City First, the winners revealed their goals, ambitions and mindset, which definitely proves they are beauties with brains.

On being asked about what motivated her to be a part of this pageant, Wachi stated, “I took my first step in the pageant industry be-

Sayali Ayre

Nikhil Anand

cause I was bullied in my school. I wanted to tell young adults that it’s only you who can determine who you want to be.” Wachi aspires to raise awareness of ‘good touch bad touch’ amongst children, in the future.

Sayali Ayre during the interview stated that Priyanka Chopra Jonas happens to be her role model. She said, “I have always looked up to Priyanka as my role model. From being an aeronautical engineering aspirant to becoming Miss World, and then conquering making a prominent impression on the people across the globe with her acting skills, she has excelled in all walks of life.”

For Aishwarya Vinu Nair, success is accomplishing her

Yogesh Mishra

dreams and goals by controlling her actions and thoughts.

On being asked about what would be that one thing she would like to change in the world, she stated, “If I could change one thing, it would be getting rid of injustice hap-

pening with people in the name of gender, racial discrimination and poverty.”

While in words with Rashi Parasrampuria, she mentioned, “If I had to convey a message to all the aspiring girls out there who want to be a part of the fashion industry, I would say ‘just be you’.” Rashi aspires to empower HIV affected girls in the future.

The organiser of the event, Nikhil Anand, on being asked about what motivated him to enter the beauty pageant industry, said, “My journey began in the year 2014 when I sent the first representative from Glamanand to an international pageant. There was no looking back after that, and the rest is history.” Patron Yogesh Mishra added, “Organising this pageant this year, amid the COVID pandemic was really difficult.

The events kept postponing for months until we decided to finally conduct it with utmost precautions.”

Clockwise: Rashi Parasrampuria, Wachi Pareek and Aishwarya Vinu Nair —PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO

Summary out now! but an extraordinary way of redefining it.

The first song ‘Mushkil Badi’, was released on Feb 1. The next songs are as follows - ‘Kitna Maza Aayega’ is going to release on Feb 11, ‘Ratjage’ on Feb 8, Pehla Pyar on Feb 11 and the last song of the musical series which is known as ‘Aaj Phir Se’ is going to release on the Va l e n t i n e ’ s Day. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

CITY FIRST

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inger Gajendra Verma in collaboration with Vi r t u a l Planet released the series of the songs titled ‘Summary - A Musical Series”. The trailer of the song was released on YouTube and in a day the video received over lakhs of views.

The summary encapsulates the 5 songs with a simple love story

HAPPY B’DAY!

IAS Ashwini Bhagat and IAS Rajendra Kishan celebrated their birthdays on Tuesday, February 2. We wish them all the best!

BLESSING TIME!

SPOTTED!

Rajasthan Director General of Police ML Lathar visited Mehandipur Balaji in Dausa on Tuesday and prayed for the prosperity of the state. Lathar also visited Bhairav Ji and Pretraj Sarkar. During his visit, IG Bharatpur Range VK Singh, Dausa SP Anil Kumar Beniwal, Trust Officer Ajay Prakash and others were present.

HUMAN VALUES EDUCATION Manasi Moghe and Gajendra Verma —PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA

RAJ: ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’, a Rajasthani film, presented by N K Mittal and directed by Lakhwinder J Singh launched its poster on Sunday. The film features the story of four brothers and their families and shall begin shooting soon.

The creative producer of the film is Dharmendra Upadhyay and the lead actors are Andaz Khan, Deepak Meena, Veer Rathore, Karishma Tak among others.

CITY FIRST

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ikaner, with the successful implementation of this campaign in the entire state by involving students of technical education in the state and human values in higher education, the university compiled the innovations and programs undertaken in the last 2 years as a souvenir of ‘Human Values Education’ which was released in a program or-

EVENTS! RAJ: Jaipur-based Akshat Khandal created a new world record by memorizing 1,000 decimal places of pi and recited it backwards in 14 minutes 32 seconds blindfolded on January 8, 2021, in front of Principal Nisha Singh and Staff of Government Girls School, Jhotwara, Jaipur. India Book of Records confirmed it as the official record on February 1 and presented him with the World Record certificate, medal and record holder card.

During the campaign

ganised at Brahmakumari International University, the international headquarters of Brahmakumari.

Assistant Public Relations Officer of the University, Vikram Rathore shared that this Souvenir was released

by Dr Mritunjay, Sush-

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

GUJ: One of the city’s oldest bridge, Jawahar Lal Nehru Bridge is closed at night and occasionally during the day because of the ongoing renovation. The alternate route being Sardar bridge, Ellis bridge, and Gandhi bridge to enter the old city in Ahmedabad.

ma Didi, Head of Education Department of Brahmakumari University, and Prof.

H.D.Baran, Technical Vice-Chancellor, Bikaner. On this occasion, Bikaner Technical University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Charan said that without human values we cannot imagine a civilized society. By adopting these values, we can improve the standard of living and no nation can progress without the values of life. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

GUJ: An Indian technology-based start-up, the CEO of Matter, Mohal Lalbhai, announced that the company will be launching electric vehicles and a range of energy solutions suitable for Indians starting from this year.

Matter has extensively invested in R&D for the development of Electric Vehicles.

Katrina Kaif, Ishaan Khattar, and Siddhant Chaturvedi were spotted in Udaipur, Rajasthan. They are in the city to shoot for their upcoming film ‘Phone Bhoot’.

Actor Vijay Varma was spotted at Samode Palace in Jaipur on Tuesday.

Actress Mallika Sarabhai was spotted in Jaipur on Tuesday.