First India-Ahmedabad Edition-11 May 2020

OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD

CORONA

28°C - 42°C

ALERT AHMEDABAD l MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00

COVID-19 UPDATE

RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 165

INDIA

WORLD

2,82,658 41,52,778 2,212 67,138 DEATHS

CONFIRMED CASES

FACE OFF

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DEATHS

CONFIRMED CASES

493

GUJARAT

8,195

DEATHS

CONFIRMED CASES

GLOBAL STATE OF AFFAIRS

At a time when world is fighting a deadly war against Coronavirus, China’s aggressive intentions against India are unwarranted. China generally indulges in a border face-off with India whenever India’s relations with the US starts growing close, say experts

COUNTRY TOTAL CASES

TOTAL NEW DEATHS DEATHS

1,353,530 SPAIN 264,663 UK 219,183 ITALY 219,070 RUSSIA 209,688 GERMANY 171,704 BRAZIL 156,862 TURKEY 138,657 IRAN 107,603 CHINA 82,901 CANADA 68,738 BELGIUM 53,081

80,351 26,621 31,855 30,560 1,915 7,549 10,739 3,786 6,640 4,633 4,870 8,656

USA

+314 +143 +268 +165 +88 +18 +83 +47 +51 +1 +177 +75

WWW.WORLDOMETERS.INFO LAST UPDATED: MAY 10, 2020, 11:00 PM

Border tensions between India and China have flared up once again with at least two incidents of violent clashes and stone-pelting taking place between rival troops in Ladakh and Sikkim over the last week, which left several soldiers on both sides injured. While situation in Sikkim is said to have been “resolved”, official “disengagement” has taken place in Ladakh.

Full report P5

ON TRACK: TRAINS TO CHUG IN 15 CITIES FROM MAY 12 Rlys ready to run 300 trains daily: Goyal

First India News

New Delhi: There is so much pressure on the Central government during the Corona imposed lockdown that the it has decided to start train services to selected routes without waiting for the May 17 deadline to of lockdown. The impending economic slowdown and the movement of migrant workers posing a law and order issue, could be the reason for Indian Railways to gradually restart passenger train operations from May 12, Initially with 15 pairs of trains, the national transporter

Indian Railways will gradually restart passenger train operations —PTI from May 12.

said on Sunday.

Indian Railways will gradually restart passenger train operations from May 12, initially with 15 pairs of trains, the national transporter said on Sunday.

These trains will be run as special trains from New Delhi station connecting Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Turn on P6

New Delhi: Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has appealed to all states to permit the operation of migrant special trains so that the stranded can reach home in the next three to four days.

The appeal comes a day after Home Minister Amit Shah wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to allow such trains to run.

“As per the directions of Hon’ble PM @NarendraModi ji, Turn on P6

IN GUJARAT

PM to talk economy, post-lockdown plan with CMs today New Delhi: As India enters last week of the third phase of lockdown, which is scheduled to end on May 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold another meeting with state Chief Ministers via video-conference on Monday afternoon at 3 pm. This will be his fifth meeting with CMs to discuss post-lockdown strategy.

The focus could be on boosting economic activities amid a graded exit from the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Sources in the government said the focus of the meeting would be on boosting economic activities and pushing efforts to convert

‘red’ zones with high COVID-19 case load into ‘orange’ or ‘green’ zones.

Monday’s meeting could also discuss further relaxations as part of a graded exit from the lockdown but all restrictions are unlikely to be withdrawn in one go, the sources suggested.

Turn on P6

MONSOON SESSION OF PARL TO BE HELD AS PER SCHEDULE: BIRLA

5 AI PILOTS TEST POSITIVE, HAD FLOWN CARGO FLIGHTS TO CHINA

FORMER PM DR MANMOHAN SINGH ADMITTED TO AIIMS

New Delhi: Upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament will be held as per the schedule, said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday. “Till now, there are no plans to postpone the session. The decision will be taken as per the situation at that time,” Birla said. On March 23, the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die in wake of coronavirus outbreak nearly two weeks ahead of the scheduled date for conclusion of the Budget Session.

New Delhi: Five Air India pilots, who had undertaken cargo flights to China, have tested positive for coronavirus during the pre-flight COVID-19 test. Sources in the national carrier told ANI that all five pilots are currently asymptomatic and are based in Mumbai. The pre-flight COVID-19 test is carried out 72 hours before the pilots are rostered for flight duties. “All of them are asymptomatic and based in Mumbai,” said sources.

New Delhi: Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh was admitted to AIIMS on Sunday following chest pain. “Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh has been admitted to AIIMS after complaining about chest pain,” hospital officials said. He was taken to the AIIMS cardio-thoracic ward and is currently under observation under the supervision of Dr Professor Nitish Naik. Dr Singh currently represents Rajasthan in Upper House of Parliament.

DISTRICT

TOTAL CASES

TOTAL NEW DEATHS DEATHS

AHMEDABAD VADODARA SURAT RAJKOT BHAVNAGAR ANAND BHARUCH GANDHINAGAR PATAN PANCHMANHAL BANASKANTHA NARMADA CHOTA UDEPUR KUTCH MAHESANA BOTAD DAHOD PORBANDAR JAMNAGAR MORBI SABARKANTHA ARAVALLI MAHISAGAR KHEDA GIR SOMNATH VALSAD TAPI NAVSARI DANG SURENDRANAGAR

5818 518 895 66 94 78 28 129 27 59 81 12 14 8 50 53 20 3 26 2 23 73 44 29 12 6 2 8 2 3 4 2 1 8195

381 31 39 1 7 7 2 5 1 4 3 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 2 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 493

DWARKA JUNAGADH RAJASTHAN TOTAL

SAMPLES TESTED NEGATIVE CASES

18 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21

1,13,493 1,05,298

UNDER EXAMINATION

0

Record 454 patients discharged as death toll touches 493 in Gujarat With 398 new cases, state tally now at 8,195; 3,843 samples tested in 24 hours First India News Gandhinagar: The state government seems to have taken the new patient-discharge guidelines of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) very seriously. In less than 24 hours, it has discharged 454 patients on the condition that they self-

quarantine for one week. This is the highest ever number of patients discharged in a single day.

Also, in the past 24 hours, the state has seen 398 new cases and 21 fatalities, bringing the tally of positive cases to 8,195 and the death toll to 493.

PATIENT FOUND DEAD IN DUCT

Discharged patients line up outside the Samras Hostel in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

The total number of discharged patients stands at 2,545. In a bit of good news, a 92-yearold woman defeated the virus and was dis-

charged from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Hospital on Sunday.

The state, which had started testing more than 5,000 sam-

ples a day, has tested just 3,843 samples in the past 24 hours. On Saturday, it had tested 4,263 samples and 4,837 on Friday.

On Sunday, the state health department has discharged 454 patients from hospitals in 29 districts.

Of these, Ahmedabad accounts

for 266, Vadodara for 41, Surat for 33, Bhavnagar for 15, Anand for 17 and Gandhinagar for 12, with the rest coming from other districts.

Ahmedabad remains a hotspot of infection, with 278 new cases and 18 fatalities reported in the past 24 hours. Two CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) jawans deployed at the airport are among the latest reported patients. Another four jawans have also been infected at the Sabarmati Central Jail, along with 12 inmates. A patient at a mental health facility has also tested positive.

Turn on P6

NEWS AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

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FIRST YEAR OF 2ND TERM: MODI TO RELEASE BOOKLET LISTING ACCOMPLISHMENTS Modi started his tenure as the 16th Prime Minister of India after his swearing-in on May 30, 2019 New Delhi: The Narendra Modi led central government is going to complete one year of its second term on May 30, 2020. Therefore, the government will list the achievements of its one-year term in the form of a booklet in front of the public.

The responsibility of preparing the booklet has been given to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The ministry has been tasked with the responsibility of recording the achievements of all the ministries of the government for the last year.

The Information Broadcasting Ministry has written a letter to all ministries to send

their achievements by May 16.

All the ministries have been told that the list of achievements should be focused on their work in the fields of poor, women, farmers, youth, industry and infrastructure.

The printing and distribution of the booklet of achievements are scheduled to be completed before June 1.

It is speculated that the achievements of last one year would include milestone decisions like removal of Section 370, UAPA law, the Ram temple verdict. It is also likely to mention United States President Donald Trump’s visit to India in February this year.

The Ministries have also been told to focus on the developmental work done during the lockdown necessitated by the coronavirus crisis. The booklet will focus on the government’s work to ensure the safety of frontline COVID-19 warriors, availability of essential services, and relief packages for the poor, and migrant workers during the lockdown.

Moreover, all the ministries have also been asked to provide a list of schemes and initiatives to be launched in the next 2-3 months post lockdown. These projects are either in the direction of completion, or are about to start.

—Agencies

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. —FILE PHOTO

Banaskantha uses lockdown violators LAB AT BJ MEDICAL COLLEGE as contact tracing informers TESTS 800 SAMPLES EVERY DAY Haresh Jhala

Palanpur: When the rest of state was filing cases against violators of the lockdown, Banaskantha district administration chose to take a different route to help with contact tracing. These people were appointed informers and intelligence input providers to trace people, who had arrived in the district from hotspots.

This move helped local administrations locate COVID-19 infected people, test and isolate them from others.

“Desperate time calls for desperate measures,” believes Banaskantha district collector Sandip Sagale. He said, “In order to facili-

Banaskantha district collector Sandip Sagale.

tate contact tracing, an intelligence network was created through village and taluka coordination committees.

The task assigned to these committees was to trace every person entering Banaskantha from other districts in the state. They were asked to inform higher authorities about such people following which, their travel history was

checked. If any person was from a hotspot district, they were put under institutional quarantine at the village or town level.”

He added, “Once the person would start to feel comfortable, they would share information about the route they took and the vehicle they travelled in, which helped the ad-

ministration in tracing other people they might have come in contact with. It was because of this strategy that we were able to receive information about the travel companions, vehicles of people travelling to the district. We intercepted many vehicles and brought migrant workers to shelter homes.”

The other strategy adopted by Banaskantha dist was to put every person travelling to the district under quarantine, and not only those arriving from the hotspot dists. When no other dist had self-quarantined Cong MLAs after their return from Jaipur, only Banaskantha administration had put three MLAs under quarantine.

First India News Ahmedabad: Possibly the worst part of any test, especially one for COVID-19, is the time spent waiting for the result. To keep that waiting—and worrying—time to the minimum, pathologists and microbiologists at the BJ Medical College’s departments of pathology and microbiology, respectively have been working tirelessly to give patients their results.

The 80-member team led by the college dean Dr Pranay Shah has been testing about 500 samples a day since the Sars-CoV-2 virus hit the state. Now, with the new guidelines from the Indian Council of Medical

A test being conducted at the laboratory of BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad.

Dr Pranay Shah, Dean, BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad.

Research, which allows testing through pooled samples, the team is able to test 700 to 800 samples every day.

Dr Shah said that even prior to the outbreak, the lab tested 150-200 samples every day.

Explaining the concept of pooled sam-

cation.

However, he added, samples coming from hotspot areas undergo individual Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction tests. Lab technicians, pathologists and microbiologists strictly follow ICMR guidelines, he also said.

ples, he said that equal quantities of samples from, say, 10 different persons are tested at one go. This gives a general result of whether pooled samples are positive or negative. If the pool is positive, individual samples are later tested for verifi-

Is the state government gearing up to lift lockdown soon?

RECENT MOVES IMPLY IT MIGHT IMPLEMENT A ‘HERD IMMUNITY’ STRATEGY First India News Gandhinagar: The recent actions of the state and district administrations are making it unclear if we are preparing for the worst, or if we can look forward to a return to normalcy soon.

While the state has been discharging patients in large numbers, district collectors have continued to declaring private hospitals as Designated Building Contain-

ment Units (DBCUs).

At the same time, the state has been assigning senior doctors to review the situation in each district. This might indicate that the government is preparing for a steep rise in the number of cases, which could happen if it lifts lockdown and implements a herd immunity strategy instead.

In less than 24 hours, since the Indian Council for Medical Research

Patients discharged from the COVID-19 facility at Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

(ICMR) announced its new guidelines, both health secretary Jayanti Ravi and Information Secretary Ashwani Kumar have lauded it and announced that asymptomatic patients and those with mild or moderate symptoms can be discharged without tests.

By Sunday afternoon, Doordarshan’s Gujarati channel DD Girnar reported that the state government had already discharged 454 patients in a single day based on ICMR’s new guidelines. Yet, based on directives from the state government, as of May 10, as many as

24 district collectors have each designated a private hospital for isolation. These are being called Designated Building Containment Units and the entire staff at these hospitals is at the disposal of the district administration.

At the same time, the health department has decided to depute 14 senior officers (all doctors) to take stock of the situation at the district level. These officers will have to visit COVID-19 hospitals, primary health centres and other health centres and submit a detailed report to the health

commissioners.

These three actions imply that the state is might be considering the herd immunity strategy and a withdrawal of the lockdown. If it does, one of two things will happen: either the infection spread will be curtailed--and no beds will be required--or the infection rate rises steeply--and the government will need every bed it has. In the second scenario, the move to discharge asymptomatic patients and those with mild or moderate symptoms would have been the right call to make.

GUJARAT AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

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pockets report 75 test positive from 660 New fresh COVID-19 cases suspected super-spreaders First India News

There are around 14,000 super-spreaders in the city, mostly vendors and store owners First India News Ahmedabad: While the city and its citizens try to cope with not having access to groceries and fresh produce, authorities here are intensifying their hunt for super-spreaders: carriers who could transmit the pathogen to a large number of people.

To this end, city officials have trained their sights on vegetable vendors and storekeepers, who are being screened in large numbers. This strategy is already bearing fruit. Since May 7, the city has found 660 suspected cases of COVID-19 among super-spreaders, of whom 75 have now tested positive. Eight samples are awaiting their test results.

Official sources say

FOCUSED EFFORT

Teams from the Ahmedabad Muncipal Corporation impounded the carts of vegetable vendors for not following lockdown rules in the cluster-quarantined Jamalpur area.

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

Ahmedabad: The residents of Jamalpur and Dariyapur are no strangers to the words clusters, hotspots, and red zone. However, fresh COVID-19 cases are now popping up in other parts of the city such as Kubernagar, Vejalpur, Navrangpura, among others. These areas have the potential to become red zones with a growing number of Sars-CoV-2 cases being reported in these parts every day.

On Saturday, Kubernagar reported the highest number of cases in the city with 22 cases, followed by Maninagar (18), Vejalpur, Khadia, Vatva (15 each) and Navrangpura (14). The areas of Jamalpur and Dariyapur have been reportedly been recording lower number of cases than before. Jamalpur recorded eight fresh cases on Saturday while Dariyapur registered

People line up outside a medical store in the Delhi Darwaja area of Ahmedabad’s old city.

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

AMC GETS TWO MORE IAS OFFICERS

only four.

“We are observing the trend. New pockets are being added to the COVID-19 outbreak and now the western part and east zone are reporting new cases daily.

On the other hand, the walled city and south zone have been record-

ing fewer cases,” said a medical officer of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).

However, Jamalpur still holds the record for the highest number of COVID-19 cases reported in the city with 758 cases, followed by Khadia at 483 cases.

Nehra tests –ve, netizens miffed

Special train for 670 madrasa students

HC PIL against acting AMC Commissioner

First India News

Surat: Heeding a request from trustees of a madrasa in the city, district collector Dhaval Patel on Monday, came to the aid of 670 students from Bihar. The students, who have been stuck at the madrasa for the last month and a half since lockdown was enforced were sent home on a special train.

The students, aged between 14 and 22 years, were set to travel from Surat on March 23 and 24, after completion of their exams, but were stuck in the madrasa once lockdown came into force.

Ahmedabad: On May 5, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) commissioner Vijay Nehra had advised citizens not to fear COVID-19 and rush to hospitals or laboratories to get tested. Soon after, he declared that he was going into home quarantine for 14 days as he had come in contact with two COVID-19 patients.

On Saturday, he took to Twitter to declare that he had tested negative for novel coronavirus and that he will resume his duties soon.

This puzzled many on

this is the main reason for the May 6 notice, under which all commercial establishments except those selling medicines and milk were ordered to remain shut until May 15.

Ever since IAS officer Rajiv Gupta was ap-

AMC Commissioner Vijay Nehra

social media, who wondered how he had undergone a test and been declared negative in four days. It also sparked discussion as to why he had been tested in the first place since he had advised everyone not to do that in absence of symptoms.

pointed to tackle and supervise COVID-19 related matters in the jurisdiction of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), he and in-charge municipal commissioner Mukesh Kumar have focused on finding the

First India News

positive cases which are likely to spread the virus further among the masses.

According to a statement by Gupta issued on May 6, there are around 14,000 superspreaders in the city, with each ward ac-

While the madrasa trustees were concerned about sending the children home in lockdown conditions, parents pleaded with them to send their children home.

When the government allowed labour (Shramik) trains to transport migrant workers to their native states, the trustees met with Patel and apprised him of the situation.

The collector agreed to make arrangements for a special train to transport the students back to Bihar.

Due to collaboration between the Central and state government, district administration,

counting for about 2,000. AMC officials had said that beginning May 7, 500 superspreaders in each zone would be screened every day, and those found with symptoms would be taken for laboratory tests.

All students were screened before their departure from Surat.

Railways and Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), the students departed from Surat railway station in a special train bound for Purnia in Bihar on Saturday.

All students were thoroughly screened for COVID-19 before their departure from Surat.

One of students at the madrasa, 14-yearold Munzir said, “We are overjoyed that we are finally going home.

Since Surat is in the red zone, our parents back in Bihar were constantly worried about us and kept calling to inquire about our re-

turn. We want to thank the government and the district administration for their prompt approval of the special train. The city of Surat is inhabited by a large number of migrants for whom a labour train has been arranged to take them home. In the midst of all this, the collector gave his approval for a train to take us home, for that, I would like to thank him. When this pandemic is over, we will return to resume our studies.”

The young boy also appealed to all people to stay indoors, wear masks and practice social distancing.

Shelters for walking migrants: DGP Congress leader demands relief First India News Gandhinagar: In a bid to discourage migrant workers attempting to return to their native states by walking, the state police on Monday declared that workers seen walking to their destinations will be apprehended by respective district police.

“They (migrant workers) will then be sent to shelter homes, where

the shelter home incharge will communicate the arrangements for their safe return to their native states with the local administration,” said Shivanand Jha, director general of police (DGP).

Jha also said that 42 of the jawans and police officers, who had been infected with COVID-19 while implementing the lockdown, have completely recovered and

Shivanand Jha

resumed their duties. A few officers and jawans had also been quarantined for safety after coming in contact with a positive patient.

Around 30 such officers and jawans, who had been under home quarantine, have also reported for duty.

Meanwhile, Rajkot and Gir Somnath police have registered cases against people travelling illegally from one district/ state to another. A case has been lodged against nine people for travelling from Ahmedabad to Kodinar of Gir Somnath district.

package of Rs3 lakh cr for MSMEs First India News Ahmedabad: The lockdown has affected several micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), many of which are staring down the barrel of a complete shutdown. In an attempt to highlight the troubles of the sector, veteran Congress leader Siddharth Patel has

requested the state government to provide a relief package of Rs3 lakh crore to MSMEs. “A complete lockdown has been imposed in the state since the last 47 days. As a result, factories are non-functional, which has been instrumental in the unemployment of 30% of the workforce. It is high time that economic ac-

tivities in the country be given a much-needed boost,” said Patel.

He stated that the government should no focus on luring foreign investments to the state with relaxed policies for the next two to three years.

According to him, providing a stimulus and relief package for the local businesses should be the goal.

First India News Ahmedabad: A public interest litigation (PIL) was moved in the Gujarat High Court seeking direction to register a complaint against incharge municipal commissioner of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Mukesh Kumar for negligence and held him liable for spreading novel coronavirus. The petitioner, Harshit Shah, also pleaded that the court direct police to not use lathis on innocent people to enforce the lockdown.

Through an e-petition, Shah challenged Kumar’s May 6 decision to shut down all vegetable and grocery shops.

The petition is likely to be heard this week.

@ahmedpatel Praying for good health of Doctor saheb. We are sure he will be fit and fine at the earliest

MUM’S THE WORD

Celebrating mothers and their unwavering strength in any crisis First India News Ahmedabad: It is incredible how the bond between a mother and a child always stands the test of time.

Mother’s Day is a celebration honouring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society.

This year though, with the advent the COVID-19 pandemic, mothers performing

their duties as doctors, medical staffers, city or district administration officers, police personnel, sanitation workers, have been forced to stay apart from their children.

Meet Naynaben, a nurse working at GMERS, Gotri in Vadodara, who has a 14-month-old daughter named Gargi. She has not met her infant daughter since April 29, which was the last time Naynaben hugged

or played with the tiny tot.

Expressing her frustration at her inability to see her daughter, she said, “Since I have been assigned duty in the COVID-19 ward, I have to work for seven days straight and then stay in self-quarantine for the next seven days.

Therefore, I haven’t been able to return to my in-law’s place in Puniyavat, which is 90 kilometres away from here. Gargi is there.”

KEPT APART

With tears in her eyes, an emotional Naynaben added, “Gargi is far away from me on

Mother’s Day but, my blessings are always with her. I am waiting for my weekly off to re-

turn to Puniyavat and spend time with my baby girl.”

Prince Chavla, an in-

tern at the Ahmedabad Information Department, tested positive for Sars-CoV-2 10 days ago. The 24-year-old youth was kept at the Samras Hostel in the city and was undergoing treatment there.

When his second test report came back negative for COVID-19, he expressed his wish to celebrate his mother Vimladevi’s birthday and also spend time with her on Mother’s Day. He requested Sam-

ras Hostel in-charge deputy commissioner Dilip Rana, who arranged for an ambulance to drop him at his residence.

At midnight, when the bell rang at the Chavla residence, Vimladevi woke up to a surprise when she saw her son standing before her. The motherson duo celebrated both her birthday and Mother’s Day by spending quality time with each other.

PERSPECTIVE AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

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IN-DEPTH

LEARNING TO LIVE WITH THE VIRUS, THE ONLY OPTION

COVID-19: PROTECTING DIGNITY OF THE LOWER MIDDLE CLASS Central, as well as state govt, has ensured that nobody is deprived of essential needs SS BHANDARI The writer is FCA, Founder Partner of S. Bhandari & Co. Jaipur since 1971, Executive President, Jaipur Foot (Artificial Limb - BMVSS)

J

ust as the government was mulling further lifting of lockdown came the disturbing news of grocery and vegetable shops being shut down till May 15 to prevent what the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) calls the “super spreaders” from passing on the pathogen to other members of the community. These superspreaders may also include petrol pump attendants, garbage collectors, and milk vendors, who were allowed to function during the lockdown not only in Ahmedabad but other cities as well. The AMC had been tracking these high-risk super spreaders since April 20 and found 334 of them to be the carriers of novel coronavirus which causes Covid-19. It is not that other states have not realised the vulnerability of this section or they have not been found positive but the number in Ahmedabad is staggering and alarming.

Gujarat, along with Mumbai, Delhi, and West Bengal, is a major cause for concern for the Central government which is under pressure from the Confederation of Indian Industry. It has suggested that districts with significant industrial and business should be allowed “even if there are cases of novel coronavirus…” ‘A Strategy Note on Resumption of Economic Activities in Industrial Areas’ which the CII submitted to the government after the extension of lockdown on May 1, said, “The third phase of lockdown necessitates a focused strategy to minimise economic contraction due to Covid-19, without compromising on efforts to control the contagion.”

The CII also suggested doing away with the current practice of classifying the entire district as Red Zone. Instead, there is a need for classifying zones as containment, Orange, and Green within an industrial district. It said that economic activity should be permitted in all areas of a Red Zone with varying degrees of relaxation but health and safety protocols would differ from zone to zone.

The suggestions are in keeping with the global trend. In the United States, people are protesting the lockdown and President Donald Trump is a strong votary of reviving economic activity. As several states also want easing of lockdown restrictions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss the issue with chief ministers in a video conference on Monday, the fifth on the pandemic. A graded exit to boost economic activity while keeping the necessary restrictions strictly in place could be a way out.

With no vaccine or cure in sight, the virus is not going away anytime soon. But it also cannot be allowed to subjugate the human spirit.

As someone said, “We must learn to live with corona.” Another lockdown can’t be ruled out but with a little more breathing space.

I

It is a high time that we have to appreciate the plight of lowermiddle-class (Neo Poor) who have already started getting pain since most of them have been retrenched or selfemployment opportunities having been lost

mmediate after Lockdown, the plight of the large labour force, who were either casual or daily earners, was addressed and the first fiscal stimulus of 1.70 lacs crores of the Central Government was announced to counter distress. Central, as well as state government, has committed to ensuring that nobody dies or deprives of essential daily needs. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package announced on March 26th, 2020 for the financial support and relief of poor, marginalised women, etc. and Rs 31,235 crores has been disbursed under various heads, which has given some sign of relief to these people.

It is a high time that we have to appreciate the plight of lower-middle-class (Neo Poor) who have already started getting pain since most of them have been retrenched or self-employment opportunities having been lost. Neo Poor, however, have to continue carrying on their daily expenditure of household, education for children, rent, electricity, EMI, etc.

This vulnerable section comprises an economic class who are ordinarily self-sufficient, but in times of sudden economic disruption, they lose their sources of sustenance income and daily livelihoods. This can result due to a situation like a current pandemic or a vicious cycle of the socio-economic disorder. Statutory direction to pay salary for long to such a workforce during the lockdown may not be feasible since many employers will face serious cash flow problems.

Mr NR Narayana Murthy, in his recent interaction, advised that the country has to learn to live with coronavirus and advised the government to lift the lockdown. Mr Murthy warned that continuing lockdown and not resuming ordinary activities would cause more deaths due to hunger and malnutrition far over the deaths due to coronavirus.

Such opinion has also been ex-

pressed by a large number of economists, bankers, and financial experts.

However, the government in the best of its wisdom has extended lockdown for two weeks up to May 17th, 2020. The Government has also taken a call to open the functioning of industries, mining, trade, commerce, construction work, etc. to resume their activities subject to ensuring observance of all the MHA/State guidelines under Covid-19 based on areas and classifications of Zones.

In such a scenario, in all likelihood, normal operations across the country (Commerce, Trade, Industry, Services, and all other areas) are not likely to be resumed for 8 - 12 months.

A draft model of the scheme, which can be implemented through the banking sector and without much financial burden to the government, is suggested hereunder: l Name of the Scheme: Short term loan for the sustenance of individual losing employment post-COVID-19. l The scheme to avail loan equivalent to 9-10 months income of that individual either based on income certificate or self-declaration. l The loan can be released on 1st day of every month,

Mr NR Narayana Murthy, in his recent interaction, advised that the country has to learn to live with coronavirus and advised the government to lift the lockdown

which may be said from June 1st, 2020. l The repayment of the loan can be made in 10 installments after a period of one year. l The interest on such a loan can be at the base rate or around it. l Most of these Neo Poor have bank accounts and in many cases other identification like Aadhar, PAN, and PF/ ESI details. These peoples

The coronavirus pandemic’s gender imperative

R

egardless of where one looks, it is women who bear most of the responsibility for holding societies together, be it at home, in health care, at school, or in caring for the elderly. In many countries, women perform these tasks without pay. Yet even when the work is carried out by professionals, those professions tend to be dominated by women, and they tend to pay less than maledominated professions.

The COVID-19 crisis has thrown these gender-based differences into even sharper relief.

Regional frameworks, multilateral organizations, and international financial institutions must recognize that women will play a critical role in resolving the crisis, and that measures

04

to address the pandemic and its economic fallout should include a gender perspective.

We see three areas where women and girls are particularly at risk and in need of stronger protections in the current crisis.

First, experience shows that domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence increases during crises and disasters. It happened during the 2014-16 Ebola and 2015-16 Zika epidemics, and it appears to be happening now. Under conditions of quarantine or stay-at-home measures, women and children who live with violent and controlling men are exposed to considerably greater danger.

The need to support these women and children will only increase when the crisis is over and people are free to move around

For women and girls, vulnerabilities in the home, on the front lines of health care, and in the labor market must be addressed

again. We must ensure that women’s shelters and other forms of assistance are maintained and strengthened accordingly. Governments and civil-society groups must provide more resources such as emergency housing and telephone helplines, perhaps leveraging mobile technologies in innova-

tive new ways, as is happening in so many other domains.

Second, the majority of those on the front lines of the pandemic are women, because women make up 70% of all health and social-services staff globally.

We urgently need to empower these women, starting by providing more resources to those who also assume primary responsibility for household work.

Increasingly, that could include caring for infected family members, which will subject these women to even greater risk.

Women also account for the majority of the world’s older population – particularly those over 80 – and thus a majority of potential patients.

Yet they tend to have less access to health services than men do.

Worse, in several coun-

tries that experienced previous epidemics, the provision of sexual- and reproductive-health services – including prenatal and maternal care and access to contraceptives and safe abortions – was reduced as soon as resources needed to be reallocated for the crisis. Such defunding has grave consequences for women and girls, and must be prevented at all costs.

Finally, women are particularly vulnerable economically. Globally, women’s personal finances are weaker than men’s, and their position in the labor market is less secure.

Moreover, women are more likely to be single parents who will be hit harder by the economic downturn that is now in full swing.

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generally have a credit card too. Banks can assess the borrower based on such details. l The bank may also take post-dated cheques from such borrowers. l The loan may be guaranteed by the government to ensure that the bank doesn’t have further pressure on NPAs. I have to add that such borrowers, who have families and dignified background, living in sustainable standards, will generally not default. The scheme can be duly rationalised or modified to ensure proper implementation.

Apart from government support, it is for the Society/Samaj of each of the communities to extend support/engage them. Other NGOs or organisations also should come forward to reach out to such neo poor and craft appropriate systems to provide the basic substantive support immediately while protecting their identity.

The religious leaders and other Gurus, who have very large followings, may choose to ask their followers to support those Neo Poor, and spending money on religious festivals, temples, or other such causes can be kept in abeyance for the time being for Neo Poor will survive this nightmare.

Top

TWEET Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp Interacted with overseas Odia friends from the USA through video conferencing. We discussed the #Covid19 situation in our countries and measures taken by our respective governments to slow down transmission, flatten the curve and prevent further spread of the coronavirus.

Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal Railways has created an innovative remote controlled device RailMitra, to carry essentials to COVID-19 patients. Equipped with UV chamber for disinfection, 360 degree camera & automatic hand sanitiser, the device will also disinfect contaminated floor, walls & other objects.

Spiritual SPEAK

Two are better than one ... for if they fall, one will lift up the other.

—Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Vol 1 Issue No. 165 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.

Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor: Jagdeesh Chandra, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

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‘82% who lost their lives, were above 50’ Number of cases in the National Capital climbed to 6,923 on Saturday, the CM said New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that the most number of COVID-19 deaths have been reported amongst people above the age of 50 and the elderly.

“We have analysed that 82 per cent of the people who lost their lives were above the age of 50. We are seeing that there are more deaths among the elderly,” said Kejriwal while addressing the media here. He requested the people to follow all health precautions so as to avoid contracting the highly contagious coronavirus.

“Out of roughly 7,000 positive cases in Delhi, approximately 1,500 are

There are 6,923 coronavirus cases so far in Delhi and 2,069 patients have recovered and 73 have died.Out of the 6,923 Covid-19 patients, only 1,476 are admitted at hospitals. The rest or about 75% are getting treatment at their homes and Covid-19 centres. Our teams are visiting their homes to ensure that they are following all the protocols every day.

—Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM

in hospital. Out of these 1,500 cases, only 27 are on the ventilator. The majority of these cases are mild or asymptomatic,” he added.

51 people are in the intensive care unit while approximately 75

per cent of the coronavirus cases are either mild or asymptomatic (ICU).

The Chief Minister also added that the government has requisitioned ambulances from private hospitals as complaints were re-

ceived that people had to wait for several hours for ambulances.

He further informed that the government has attached at least two 5-star hotels with Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, for the treat-

ment of healthcare professionals and COVID-19 warriors, if they contract the infection while performing their duty.

The number of cases in national capital climbed to 6,923 on Saturday, he said. —ANI

Indian, Chinese troops clash in Ladakh and Northern Sikkim sector; several injured New Delhi: In flare-up of border tension between India and China, troops of the two countries were engaged in two fierce face-offs in Eastern Ladakh and near Naku La Pass in Northern Sikkim, leaving several soldiers on both sides injured.

In the first incident, scores of Indian and Chinese army personnel clashed along northern bank of the Pangong Lake in Eastern Ladakh on the late evening of May 5 and the face-off ended next morning following a dialogue between the two sides, they said.

A number of soldiers on both the sides sustained minor injuries as they exchanged punches and resorted to

18 new cases in Bihar, tally now @629 Patna: 18 more COVID-19 cases have been reported from Bihar, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 629, state Principal Secretary (Health) Sanjay Kumar said on Sunday.

Of the new cases, 7 each have been reported from Saharsa and Madhepura districts, 2 from Darbhanga district and 1 each from Araria and Begusarai districts. According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, total cases in the country now stand at 62,939. —ANI

THE INCIDENT

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control, the de-facto border between the two countries.

stone-pelting, the sources said, adding around 200 personnel were involved the face-off. Both sides brought in additional troops following the fracas.

It was the first case of troops from both sides

In a separate incident, nearly 150 Indian and Chinese military personnel were engaged in a face-off near Naku La Pass in the Sikkim sector of the Sino-India border in which at least 10 of sus-

‘No new case in 10 states in 24 hrs’ New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday asserted that 10 states/ union territories have not reported single case of coronavirus or COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. He informed that four states/UTs in the country never reported any coronavirus case. Also Read - ‘Stringent Action, Less Relaxation’, Harsh Vardhan Counters CM Kejriwal’s ‘Time to Reopen Capital’ Remark Speaking to reporters after inspecting a COVID-19 care centre in Mandoli area here, the Health Minister informed that there are 4362 corona care cen-

MEDIUM-INTENSITY EARTHQUAKE STRIKES DELHI, ADJOINING AREAS New Delhi: Tremors were felt in parts of the national and the adjoining areas on Sunday afternoon after a medium-intensity earthquake struck Delhi.

According to National Centre of Seismology, the earthquake measured 3.4-magnitude on the Richter scale & had its epicentre in Wazirpur, northeast Delhi. No casualty or

exchanging blows after a similar incident had taken place around the Pangong Lake in August 2017.

There was no official reaction or details about number of injuries on the Indian side.

tained injuries, the sources said.

The personnel clashed and exchanged punches, they said.

“Temporary and short duration face-offs between border guarding troops do occur as boundaries are not resolved...Aggressive behaviour by the two sides resulted in minor injuries to troops,” the Army said in a brief statement.

Both sides have been asserting that pending the final resolution of boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

PM Modi & Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first informal summit in April 2018 in Wuhan. —Agencies

loss of property has been reported. The quake occurred at a depth of five kilometres. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted out saying he is “praying for everyone’s safety”. This is the third earthquake in the national capital amid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

Delhi had witnessed two earthquakes in April.

No case of COVID-19 has been reported in 10 states/union territories in the last 24 hours. Four states/union territories never reported any case of COVID-19.

Central Govt has sent 72 lakh N95 face masks & 36 lakh PPE kits to the states so far. —Dr Harsh Vardhan

GOVT TEACHER ON DUTY, DIES

ion territories never reported any case of COVID-19. Central Govt has sent 72 lakh N95 face masks & 36 lakh PPE kits to the states so far”, news agency ANI quoted the minister as saying. —ANI

CM CHOUHAN HOLDS VC WITH WOMEN ON MOTHER’S DAY Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday held a video conference with the women in the state on the occasion of Mother’s Day. The Chief Minister during his interaction, further elaborated about the ‘Ladli Laxmi Scheme’ for girls along with other initiatives. The Chief Minister asked the women about the well-being of their daughters. He also asserted that the amount will be transferred into the accounts under the Ladli Laxmi Scheme, informed a few reliable official sources.

10 new cases in Odisha, total count reaches 362 Bhubaneswar: 10 new coronavirus positive cases were reported in Odisha taking the total number of cases in the state to 362.

“The cases include 291 active cases, 68 cured/discharged and three deceased,” Odisha Health Department stated in a release. A total of 62,939 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India so far.

19,358 persons have recovered or migrated, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Sunday.

There are 41,472 active cases of COVID-19 in the country at present. 2,109 people have lost their lives due to the infection. —ANI

Stadium now a wellness centre Baramulla: The administration in Kashmir’s Baramulla has converted an sports stadium into a fully equipped wellness center to treat coronavirus patients.”The move was taken keeping in view the convenience of general patients. There were restrictions for the people coming for receiving other treatments. So, we decided to shift COVID-19 patients to a new indoor stadium. This place has a lot of space and also resolves our purpose,” said Dy Commissioner Baramulla, Dr G N Itoo. —ANI

Union Health Minister

tres across the country where 346856 patients with mild or very mild symptoms can be kept.

“No case of COVID-19 has been reported in 10 states/union territories in the last 24 hours. Four states/un-

Municipal workers spray disinfectant outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s house during the COVID-19 lockdown in New Delhi on Sunday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

MULAYAM SINGH YADAV’S HEALTH IS FINE: SHIVPAL SINGH YADAV Lucknow: Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party chief Shivpal Singh Yadav said Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s health is fine and urged the people to pray for his long life. “For the last 2-3 days, many well-wishers were worried about the health of Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is the source of inspiration and energy

to all of us. ‘Netaji ji’ is healthy by the grace of God. Pray to God that Neta ji lives long & stays healthy and keeps giving direction to the country and society,” Mulayam’s brother Shivpal tweeted.

The SP leader was admitted to a private Lucknow hospital on Wednesday after he complained of irritable bowel syndrome.

Celebrations of a different kind...

People celebrate Mother’s Day with a coronavirus awareness campaign in Kolkata on Sunday.

CORONA WARRIORS HONOURED IN B’LURU Bengaluru: Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar honoured the COVID-19 frontline warriors including sanitation workers, home guards, police and Asha workers for their service in Bengaluru.

The ceremony was held at Rajajinagar area where Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)

Commissioner Anil Kumar and Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao were also present. There are a total of 847 COVID-19 cases in Karnataka so far, including 405 discharged and 31 deaths, the state health bulletin said on Sunday.

According to Health Ministry, the country has recorded 62,939 cases, including 2,109 deaths so far. —ANI

COVID warriors being felicitated by K’taka Education Minister, Suresh Kumar at Rajaji Nagar area in Bengaluru.

TPCC DISTRIBUTES MASKS, SANITIZERS IN ADDA SLUM Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) distributed masks and sanitizers in Adda Gutta, one of the largest slum areas of Hyderabad city.Speaking about the initiative, Gudur Narayana Reddy, TPCC Treasurer said, “As a part of ‘seva’ and on the directions of AICC president Sonia Gandhi and TPCC president and Nalgonda MP Uttam Kumar Reddy, I am distributing masks and sanitizers in Adda Gutta. I feel happy to serve the society during the pandemic.” “I believe that by distributing this, we can save lives.”

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‘WHOLE-OF-GOVT APPROACH’ NEEDED FOR UNCERTAINTIES’ India needs to broaden its understanding of national security, General Naravane said New Delhi: The time has come for India to adopt a “whole-of-government approach” in decisively confronting the “strategic uncertainties” looming on its horizon as well as nontraditional threats like pandemics, Army Chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane has said, strongly pitching for broadening the country’s national security doctrine.

Talking about complex geo-political power play in India’s neighbourhood, Gen Naravane said the Indian armed forces are determined to “cement” the country’s reputation as a net security provider in the region.

“There is an entire spectrum of strategic uncertainties that looms on the horizon and a whole-of-government approach is the

VIEWPOINT

need of the hour to deal with them,” the Army Chief told PTI. Though Gen Naravane did not elaborate, his comments came in the backdrop of Pakistan-supported Taliban’s aim for a role in power structure in Afghanistan and China’s persistent efforts to expand military ties with

Wadhawans’ bail rejected, sent in custody

Besides the CBI, the duo was also being probed separately by the Enforcement Directorate in the Yes Bank Scam.

Mumbai: A special court here on Sunday, rejected the interim bail plea filed

by DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan and his brother Dheeraj, arrested in connection with the Yes Bank scam, and sent them to judicial custody.

After that they applied for a temporary bail citing the coronavirus oubreak and the risk it posed to jail inmates. However, the court rejected their plea.

The Wadhawans’ lawyer argued that they are susceptible to contracting coronavirus infection

due to their health issues.

The agency has alleged that Kapoor, 62, entered into a criminal conspiracy with the Wadhawans for extending financial assistance to DHFL through Yes Bank in return for “substantial undue benefits” to himself and his family members through companies held by them.

According to FIR, the scam started taking shape between April June 2018 when Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of the scam-hit DHFL. — PTI

countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and the Maldives.

“In dealing with issues of global nature, the armed forces with their inherent capabilities and capacities will cement India’s reputation as a net security provider in the region, taking security as a holistic concept,” Gen

Naravane said.

India is learnt to have been worried over the extremely fragile and dynamic situation in Afghanistan after the US sealed a historic deal with the Taliban providing for withdrawal of American troops from the war-ravaged country.

The Army Chief fur-

ther said that India needs to broaden its understanding of national security and must examine non-traditional threats like pandemics “de-novo” as they have the potential to inflict severe damage on the country. “We need to act and prepare ourselves accordingly.” He said the “traditional threats” facing India remained “unabated” and the armed forces are fully geared up to deal with them.Gen Naravane said that there has been no let up in Indian Army’s “posture” while guarding the LAC with China because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Along the LAC, patrolling continues as before though we have put the ceremonial border personnel meetings on hold. There is also greater reliance on hotlines,” he said. —PTI

Doval praises Kashmir forces for Naikoo Operation New Delhi: At his fivehour long meeting to review the operational strategies and tactics of security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval showered praises on security forces for the successful elimination of Kashmir’s Hizbul Mujahideen chief Riyaz Naikoo over the week.

In that praise, Doval also slipped in a message: the importance of developing actionable human intelligence and operational synergy among forces fronting the counter-terror operations.

The Special Operations Group of the Jammu and Kashmir Police had been working on people in the Kupwara district who had had access to Riyaz Naikoo. As J&K police chief Dilbag Singh told this newspaper later, one of them was a man who had played a role in building the secret bunker in his native village in south

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval also delivered the message of the importance of developing actionable human intelligence

KEEPING A VIGIL

T

Kashmir’s Pulwama. Riyaz Naikoo’s elimination, a serious setback to terror group Hizbul Mujahideen in south Kashmir, is considered one of the most successful security operations in recent months in the valley.

In a video of Naikoo’s boss mourning his death, the Hizbul found-

Maha CM wants MLC polls unopposed:Raut Mumbai: Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is not willing to contest the legislative council polls due later this month unless elected unopposed, said senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, adding that the ruling alliance partner Congress was firm on contesting two seats, which is likely to force a contest.

Raut said that the ongoing political drama has upset the Shiv Sena chief, who has sent a message to Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat to withdraw party’s second candidate.

Do we tell people that while they are locked up in their homes; when there is a question mark over their livelihoods and health, political parties in Maharashtra cannot unanimously decide on an election? This would be a blot on Maharashtra’s tradition. Uddhav Thackeray never was and will never be interested in such politics. He is upset over this development. He wanted to contest only if it was unopposed. —SANJAY RAUT, Senior Shiv Sena Leader Raut clarified that Uddhav is not afraid of contesting an election but the current situation doesn’t warrant political battles. He added that the legisla-

tive council polls for 9 seats on May 21 were being held to avoid a constitutional and political crisis in the state.

Raut was referring to the constitutional re-

LADAKH WEATHER UPDATE GAFFE

Pak trolled over faulty forecast New Delhi: Pakistan ended up being trolled

by Twitter after its failed attempt to target India by reporting the weather in Ladakh. The country’s national radio broadcaster - Radio Pakistan - put out a tweet with maximum and minimum temperatures in Ladakh, albeit with a major gaffe.

This come after India Meteorological Department (IMD) started referring to meteorological sub-division of Jammu and Kashmir as

Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad - the last two being under Pakistan’s illegal occupation. The move was aimed at sending out a strong political message to Islamabad.

Hawk-eyed Twitter users were quick to point mix-up of the words maximum and minimum by Radio Pakistan’s Twitter handle.

“In #Ladakh, maximum temperature is -4 degree centigrade and minimum temperature

is -1 degree centigrade,” read the tweet.

Radio Pakistan’s tweet aimed at levelling scores with India triggered a flurry of funny posts with some using memes featuring Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s photo.

“Wrong.. max should be -1 and minimum should be -4,” wrote a user.

“RIP common sense!!!

-4 max and - 1 min???

Kon se gole se Science padhe ho???” another user wrote. —ANI

tion of the state governments in running special trains for transportation of stranded migrant workers from different parts of the country to various destinations and said as many as 350 such trains carrying 3.5 lakh labourers have been run so far.

Gauba made the appeal during a video conference, attended by chief secretaries and health secretaries of all states and Union territories, convened to review the status of COVID-19 management. —ANI

On track...

Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi. Meanwhile, sources say, PM Modi is very much aware of ground reality and is under constant pressure to resume even air travel so a decision may be taken for marginal operations.

After the resumption of these 15 services, railways will start more special services on new routes, based on the available coaches after reserving 20,000 coach-

es for COVID-19 care centres and adequate number of coaches being reserved to enable operation of up to 300 trains everyday as Shramik Special for stranded migrants.

Booking for reservation in these trains will start at 4 pm on May 11 and will be available only on the IRCTC website (https://www.irctc. co.in/).

Ticket booking counters at railway stations will remain closed and no counter tickets (including platform tickets) will be issued, it said.

06

quirement for a chief minister or a minister of the state to get elected to either of the two houses within six months of taking oath.

Uddhav is currently not

an MLA and his six months as Maharashtra CM come to an end on May 28. Late on Saturday night, Thorat announced that Rajkishor Modi, the party’s Beed district president, will be its second candidate.

BJP has already fielded four candidates. He added that if there is voting on May 21, all 288 MLAs would have to come to Mumbai and it would not send a “good message” to people of Maharashtra at a time when it is battling Covid-19. BJP & Congress didn’t have adequate numbers to get all their candidates elected, Raut added. —Agencies

er who also leads the Pakistan’s ISI-backed alliance of terror groups United Jihad Council, Syed Salahuddin said the mujahideen (terrorists) had broken the back of the enemy (India) in Handwara Rajwar recently “but the enemy (India) has the edge.” —Agencies

‘Delhi govt arranging more trains’ New Delhi: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal appealed to migrants stranded in Delhi to not travel back to their native states on foot, “I have been seeing how migrant workers are travelling all the way on feet to reach their respective places, I want to appeal to all the workers stranded in Delhi, we are arranging more trains. I appeal to them to not travel on foot. It is not safe. We take your responsibility. We are here to take care of you,” said the CM. —ANI

Fully complied with ICJ ruling: Pak Islamabad: Pakistan rejected top lawyer Harish Salve’s contention that it hadn’t complied with the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) verdict in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, and described his allegations as baseless and inaccurate.

Salve, who was India’s lead counsel during the hearing of Jadhav’s case at the ICJ, said during an online lecture on May 3 that Pakistan hasn’t responded to several overtures from Indian side

to free the former naval officer on humanitarian grounds. Salve also said Pakistan has not complied with the court’s ruling to stay Jadhav’s execution and review his conviction.

Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui responded by saying Pakistan rejects the “baseless and inaccurate” remarks by Salve. She said that Pakistan has “fully complied” with the ICJ’s judgement. “We firmly reject the Indian counsel’s baseless assertion that Pakistan has not complied with ICJ’s judgment in the case.

Pakistan has fully complied with the judgment & remains committed to do so as the case proceeds further,” she said.

acted with the chief ministers last on April 27.

Although Covid-19 cases are doubling at a faster pace at present, the general sentiment in the government appears to be against rolling back the relaxations towards a gradual un-lockdown.

Days after the meeting, the Central government had extended the lockdown by two more weeks till May 17 to arrest the spread of the virus, but gave several relaxations in economic activities and movement of people. Several states

have recently relaxed labour laws to pump up industrial activities with staggered shifts or limited staff as a fresh spike in coronavirus cases could undo the gains so far.

Monday’s meeting could also discuss further relaxations as part of a graded exit from the lockdown but all restrictions are unlikely to be withdrawn in one go, the sources suggested.

The meeting comes days before the third phase of the lockdown ends on May 17. —ANI

Kulbhushan Jadhav

FROM PG 1 Record 454...

In Kutch, two persons with a travel history that places them in Mumbai have tested positive. Meanwhile, in Surat, police have registered a case against six persons for spitting on health team members while they were conducting a health survey.

Nursing staff moved a newborn from the gynaecology ward of the Surat Civil Hospital to another ward without an ambulance. The hospital superintendent has promised to look into the issue. The ba-

by’s mother does not have COVID-19.

Rlys ready...

Railways is fully geared up to run 300 Shramik Special trains everyday at short notice since the last six days.

“I appeal to all the states to give permission to evacuate and bring back their stranded migrants so that we can get all of them back to their homes in the next 3-4 days itself,” Goyal tweeted on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Sunday sought coopera-

Only passengers with valid confirmed tickets will be allowed to enter railway stations. It will be mandatory for passengers to wear face cover and undergo screening at departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the trains.

PM to...

PM also want to take stock of situation in one-on-one discussion with the Chief Ministers. The number of COVID-19 infections has more than doubled since the prime minister inter-

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07

WHY ZOOM MEETINGS ARE SO EXHAUSTING

FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS

M

eetings in person are not only about the exchange of knowledge,

they are also important rituals in the office.

Rituals provide comfort,

put us at ease, and are essential in building and maintaining rapport.

Face to face meetings are also important mechanisms for the communication of attitudes and feelings among business partners and colleagues.

Emotions precede and follow all our behaviours, and influence management decision-making.

Sensitive topics are often canvassed, requiring us to notice subtleties and display empathy.

HOW ARE ZOOM MEETINGS DIFFERENT?

O

ur brains can only do so many things consciously at once, because we have limited working memory. In contrast, we can process much more information unconsciously, as we do with body language.

Meeting online increases our cognitive load because several of its features take up a lot of conscious capacity.

WE MISS OUT ON A LOT OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

ur feelings and atO titudes are largely conveyed by non-verbal

signals such as facial expressions, the tone and pitch of the voice, gestures, posture, and the distance between the

communicators.

In a face-to-face meeting we process these cues largely automatically, and can still listen to the speaker at the same time.

But on a video chat, we need to work harder

to process non-verbal cues. Paying more attention to these consumes a lot of energy. Our minds are together when our bodies feel we’re not.

That dissonance, which causes people to have conflicting feelings, is exhausting.

Also, in face-to-face meetings we rely heavily on non-verbal cues to make emotional judgements, such as assessing whether a statement is credible. We automatically take in information such as, is the person fidgeting? Predominantly relying on verbal information to infer emotions is tiring.

WHAT IF THE KIDS RUN IN?

e feel anxious W about our remote workspace and controlling events that might make us look bad to our colleagues.

Will my Zoom background suddenly fail leaving my hoarding tendencies on full display?

And none of us want to be like Trinny Woodall, fashion guru and television presenter, who was doing a live stream when her partner walked naked across the room.

People feel like they have to make emotional effort to appear interested, and in the absence of many non-verbal cues, the intense focus on sustained eye contact is exhausting

F

or many of us, working from home during COVID-19 has meant we are spending a lot of time on video meeting applications like Zoom. The effects of this have taken us by surprise.

Having giant heads staring at us up close for long periods can be off-putting for a lot of us.

Never mind that we feel we should fix

our iso-hair (COVID mullet anyone?), put on makeup, or get out of our pyjamas.

So why are online meetings more tiring than face-to-face ones?

People feel like they have to make more emotional effort to appear interested, and in the absence of many non-verbal cues, the intense focus on words and sustained eye contact is exhausting.

LOOKING AT OUR OWN FACE IS STRESSFUL

heightened emphaTthehesisability on facial cues and to see oneself,

can also act as a stressor.

Viewing our own negative facial expressions (like anger and disgust) can lead to more intense emotions than when viewing

O

similar facial expressions in others.

IT’S NOT ALL ZOOM AND DOOM

n the upside, social anxiety is positively correlated with feelings of comfort online. So for people who dread physical meetings, meeting online might be a welcome respite.

And even though the increased focus on verbal information in video meetings can be mentally more draining, it might also have

some potential positive side effects by reducing biases due social and emotional signals.

For instance, certain physical factors are linked to social dominance, such as height. But these factors are less apparent in video meetings, which could lead to increased emphasis on the merits of arguments.

NO WATER-COOLER CATCH-UPS

n person, we often meet Imeeting people on the way to a to catch up on issues or discuss our views before going in. We get coffee, and the simple act of relocating to a different room is energising.

But at home, we might be just working on a task and then we get on to Zoom, often without tak-

ing breaks.

Also, walking is known to improve creativity, highlighting the importance of discussions while walking to meetings, moving around during the meeting, and holding the now popular stand-up meetings. But we can’t walk on Zoom calls.

And where we meet matters. The physical environment acts as a cognitive scaffold – we attribute certain meanings to meeting rooms and this subtly changes our behaviour. This can include anchors to important topics such as creativity and problem solving.

HOW CAN WE REDUCE THE FATIGUE?

W

ith predictions that the new workplace “normal” will be very different from the old one, it seems that Zoom is here to stay. There are a number of steps we can take to reduce the negative effects of online video

meetings.

Firstly, consider whether the meeting needs to happen. In some cases, shared document platforms with detailed comments can reduce the need to meet.

Limiting the number of

Zoom meetings in a day can assist, as well as using messaging and email.

Sometimes, the phone is better. On the phone we only have to concentrate on one voice and can walk around which can help thinking.

ARE YOU LISTENING OR ARE YOU FROZEN?

S

ilence in real life conversation is important and creates a natural rhythm. But in a video call, silence makes you anxious about the technology. Even a 1.2 second delay in responding online made people perceive the person talking as less friendly or focused.

In addition, frustration with people turning their microphones on and off,

lagging connections and background noise mean

the meeting rarely flows as smoothly.

ZOOM APP NOT SAFE, AVOID FOR OFFICIAL USE: GOVT WARNS well-known Zoom video Tingsheconferencing app for meetis not a safe platform,

the Cyber Coordination Centre (CCC) of the Ministry of Home Affairs has warned in an advisory last week.

In the advisory, issued on April 12, it is mentioned that “secure use of Zoom meeting platform is for private individuals and not for use of government offices or official purposes”. The government said that CERT-In on the same lines had been informed on February 6 and March 30 this year clarifying that “Zoom is not a safe platform”.

In a set of guidelines for the

safety of private users, the CCC division of the MHA mentioned that “those private individuals who still would like to use Zoom for private purposes” should follow certain guidelines like prevention of unauthorised

entry in conference room and unauthorised participants to carry out malicious activity on terminals of others in the conference. The advisory also suggested to “avoid ‘DOS’ attacks by restricting users

SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION

through passwords and access grant”.

Zoom app has apparently become a favourite and famous tool among people during the lockdown and it is being used by schools and many private players. “Most of the settings can be done by logging into users zoom account at website, or installed application at PC/ Laptop/Phone and also during conduct of conference,” the guidelines from MHA mentions.

Officials in the Home Ministry told that the app has some specific weaknesses so it is necessary to avoid its use for official purposes as it can encrypt meeting data.

CONCEPT: DIVYA HEMNANI

DESIGN: ABHISHEK GUPTA

Everything that we go through in life leaves a mark on us. Try and make the most of the simple experiences, colour them with joy so that the canvas of life is one of happiness.

2ND FRONT Modi emerges as undisputed leader, Gehlot as strong administrator!

—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India

AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

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

—PHOTO BY MUKESH KIRADOO

z Despite best intentions and efforts world over, people are forced to live under the terror of COVID-19. How do you see the current corona scenario and what according to you can be the best and the worst of the corona crisis?

Jagdeesh Chandra: Corona has affected almost 212 countries with over 4.15 million still diagnosed positive; thus tomorrow is uncertain.

The best which I can foresee is the pandemic under control, reduced patients, people back to routine work and industries on track. The worst according to some estimates is that if no proper cure to coronavirus is found and the virus spreads at the current rate, then within a year, 2 to 2.5 crore people may die globally making worst fears come true. But let us hope for the best. z Speaking globally, USA has been one of the worst sufferers of this pandemic, do you think President Trump mishandled the whole situation?

Mishandling is another part of the story as US already has about 78K dead and is adding approximately 1000-1500 every day which itself is a stark truth. US was warned of a deadly virus by its Chinese embassy way back in January, but call it red-tapism, no cognizance was taken by the agencies so up to that point Trump has no role in mishandling. But President Trump has never agreed with concepts of social distancing and lockdown and he favoured living with corona. Maybe, the future proves him right.

As the word is around that Trump might fully open US by May or July 2, so only time will tell whether it was a risk taken by Trump or his wisdom but the fact is that the present situation in US is matter of concern for the rest of the world. z Considering the confrontation between Us and China, do you see any chances of a head on collision?

With China agreeing to an investigation by WHO in the emergence and spread of coronavirus for reasons best known to itself, the possibility of any direct conflict is low. Maybe the Chinese President did so anticipating US interference

in the South China sea or maybe to dilute its current image of an international villain, it took decision for WHO inquiry which has averted any unpleasant face off for now. z Do you think that China actually is the villain who hid the crucial facts about COVID-19?

China may be a victim of circumstances but as things stand, it is a villain in the eyes of the international community for primarily two reasons. First, in January 2018, both US and Chinese authorities were informed about birth and escape of a new contagious virus in Wuhan lab. So the blame on China remains to have hidden this from the international community which WHO also became part of later. Secondly, the fact that China has a handful of corona positives as of today while the rest of the world is reeling under an unprecedented crisis, the virus spread in China surprisingly limiting to Wuhan and not spreading to other Chinese business centres like Beijing or Shanghai make China a villain in the eyes of suffering international community. z By when do you see a cure or vaccine for coronavirus coming?

Whenever the cure is found, it will end all the misery and pain. There are two types of views in the world regarding this.

The first one doesn’t subscribe to an early cure and predicts a cure at least 2-3 years from now but the second opinion is of hopefuls like Harvard, who claim that they will have a vaccine by coming September while Israel claims a solution in next two months. Italy and pharmaceutical companies from US are also trying their best. And then there is information

by Padam Shree Dr Ashok Panagariya, whom I regard as an expert, which says that in US, a drug has been tried on 55 patients with about 50 per cent recovery rate.

This is a 5 tablet course to be taken over 10 days. Then there is one homeopathic medicine claiming cure, so basically now the competition is to come out with a cure first. I am hopeful very soon we will have some cure which may take time to fully develop.

Modi govt’s announcements to kick-start trains to 15 major cities from May 12 simply endorses JC Show’s prediction that the country now will have to learn to live with Corona with stringent restrictions z There have been 2 extensions to the lockdown in India.

Do you see lockdown 4.0 on the anvil?

I believe that lockdown will be the way of life for the entire world now. I believe that we might have 3-4 extensions to the lockdown but with difference in implementation, modalities and stature with increased concessions and freedom.

The lockdown is here to stay for a while. z Asking specifically about the ongoing lockdown, can we expect relaxation in terms of rail, bus and air travel along with more freedom for economic activities?

There are two aspects to it. One is movement.

With the Centre plying 64 Air India planes to evacuate Indians from abroad, the basic sanctity of not flying has been done away. Further, all the flight bringing in Indians from abroad are sending social distancing for a toss by filling flights up to the capacity. So the myth of community spread through air travel has been broken by the govt itself.

I think even the PM is under constant pressure for resuming the air travel so a decision may be taken for marginal operations in the core group meeting to be held on 15 May. Nitin Gadkari has hinted some relaxation in inter-state travel after 17 May. I foresee major concessions for resuming the economic set up from this meeting. z How do you see the plight of lakhs of migrant workers who are among the worst affected by the corona crisis?

The Aurangabad railway track tragedy comes as a big national shame for all of us when we talk of the migrant worker crisis. They took to railway tracks to reach their destination but were mowed on those very tracks. The pictures of chapaties scattered on railway tracks say everything.

Jagdeesh Chandra taking questions from Shweta Mishra, Divya Tiwari, Akanksha Bhalla and Khushbu Mishra.

During the show, #JConLockDown4 and Jagdeesh Chandra both were trending top on twitter in India, on social media, viewers are talking about the show and giving positive reviews Then there was this incident in Mumbai of migrants hiding in a concrete mixing vehicle for many days just to hide from police. Thousands walking back home with old father or pregnant wife on shoulder, little kids walking along...make the migrant crisis the most tragic fall out of the corona crisis. z While the return to the native place is a challenge for the migrant workers but don’t you think it also poses a bigger challenge for the states from where these migrants belong?

Yes it is a twin edged sword, first how will industries which these migrant workers are deserting survive? Take the case of Surat, lakhs of migrants not only helped the diamond industry make large profits but it also brought Surat on international map. Without skilled work force how will diamond industry survive? And secondly when these migrants reach their native states, how will that state arrange for their food and work? The problem of 1015 crore migrant workers is the dark and fearful future post corona. Lets see what happens. Rajasthan CM has taken initiative for creating 2 lakh jobs for these workers. This challenge is there for all the states to face. z Do you think the central govt was initially late to respond on the travel issue of the migrants and then later when Sonia Gandhi raised concern that the issue was mishandled?

Yes, this issue was grossly mishandled by the railway and it seems by the time it was brought to PM’s notice Sonia Gandhi had scored on it. Despite state Congress units not having money she asked them to

foot the migrant travel bill so she struck a chord with millions of workers and gave Congress that much sought political space. z Is Modi govt’s initiative to bring back the stranded Indians from abroad increases their trust in him?

Modi is himself a miracle. He, with his work and oratory, is undisputed leader in India. He has virtually taken the command of corona war without making any constitutional amendment through home ministry.

You might call it soft dictatorship or modified presidential form but he is at the top. z What will be the impact on the economy if this situation continues up to Diwali?

One word answer is devastating. If the pandemic keeps on spreading at current rate, if the death rate continues its current trend and the crisis persists, then it will be devastating in every manner possible – individually, community wise and as a nation. What is Diwali without any money in your pockets? Lets pray to God that the situation improves before Diwali. z Modi govt has announced a Rs 1,70,000 crore package for states, do you expect another package or direct money transfer to individual accounts? Where will the money come from?

There are already talks on for another package of around Rs 1,50,000 crore. Central government has many sources to get money. There is RBI, government is saving from slicing DAs etc, has freezed MPLAD funds for two years...

CMs like Ashok Gehlot, Shivraj Singh and Amrinder Singh are demanding money. So package

will be there, the government seems to be making its mind to zero in on the spending areas. z Looking at the current scenario, what impact do you see on the media industry?

This is a dangerous question to which I have a negative reply.

If current situation persists, a part of media may shut down.

Out of 900 channels in the country, only one third are pay channels that get a yearly amount of say Rs 7-8 crore as revenue but the rest are Free to Air (FTA) that depend on government and private/corporate advertisements.

Thanks to people like CM Gehlot for letting media survive but even that has a limit.

Private revenues have virtually been zero so one can’t see a long term survival in such scenario. Even the biggest media house had to resort either to salary cuts or layoffs.

Lets pray that we, at least, break even if not make profits and are able to pay salaries timely and continue discharging our duties as responsible media. z How do you rate the communication made by the PM so far and has his image as world leader gained more momentum after the corona crisis?

Internationally, Modi is emerging as more secure leader amid villainous China and reckless Trump. He has converted every crisis into an opportunity, same goes for current crisis. He has become a national hero through his addresses to the nation, so far whether by invoking people to clap, light lamps or beat thalis. As far as next address is concerned, I think PM is introspecting and he knows that the people want to step out of their homes

now. So he might address or might get an order released through home ministry. But what is clear is that Modi is in a commanding position as ever both nationally and internationally. z How do you see the current political activism by Rahul Gandhi?

Rahul Gandhi is back and is much more focussed and matured.

Shedding his ‘reluctant bride’ role, he was very articulate in the press conference he held. He successfully interviewed former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and Noble laureate Abhijeet Bannerji with constructive approach.

His suggestion on April 12, regarding controlling FDI from China by chance had already been echoed by the RSS so Modi government notified it on April 18. So he is back in political life.

Result is that the new team constituted by Sonia Gandhi has supporters like Gaurav and Praveen replacing old guards like Anand Sharma and Ghulam Nabi Azad. But the list also has omnipotent Ahmed Patel stamp in form of Rohan Gupta.

Patel is to AICC what Gehlot is to Rajasthan Congress. z Is Gehlot government still maintaining its lead in managing corona crisis?

Gehlot has maintained his lead and leadership not only among the Congressmen but has extended it to nonCongress CMs. He was first to announce the lockdown, he earned PM Modi’s praise during recent VC as being an epitome of kinds and he was centre of attraction during VC held by Sonia Gandhi.

In fact people are witnessing a new avatar of Gehlot as a strong administrator who until now was considered

08

a 24x7 politician. He is doing a 360 degree job by taking initiatives like Shramik trains, FDI task force, monitoring corona crisis with Dr Raghu Sharma, talking to local industrialists, asking fee relief for students..so basically he is in command and going strong. z How do you see the performance by the health department in the state?

Health department under Dr Raghu Sharma and ACS Rohit Kumar Singh has done exceedingly well.

Raghu Sharma is a first time minister entrusted with such important portfolio and has been working at least 16 hours a day.

He has blessings of Sonia, Gehlot and Avinash Pande. He is increasing his own targets of daily testing and is concerned about both corona and non-corona patients. Jaipuria hospital becoming a non Covid facility is an example.

SMS too is mulling on it.

The best part is that they understood the crux of crisis and propounded the 3 Ts – Test, Trace and Treat which proved to be their success. z Do you support the economy run on excise revenue?

One question which needs to be answered is as to how long will you lock the economic activities? The decision to reopen liquor shops was unanimously taken by all governments and nobody expected the kind of rush which was seen where all social distancing was forgotten. But the very next day arrangements like barricading were done. Firstly It has been a while that liquor shops opened but nobody has so far complained of getting infected from a liquor shop crowd. And secondly look at the liquor sales and the revenue earned by the government. So basically, the precautions were needed which are in place now and the bottom line is consumption of liquor is biological need for some people so don’t blindly hate the liquor and its consumers who are a major source of revenue unless it’s a law and order problem. z What does Astrology predict about the end of corona crisis?

There are varied views as one predicted end of corona by September 2021 while another saw it ending in September 2020 but according to me Astrology failed itself as no astrologer in the world saw this pandemic coming and made a prediction for it. This is historic failure on part of astrologers.

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09

AHMEDABAD, MONDAY MAY 11, 2020

SHORT HISTORY OF

SHORTS! Summers are very much here and lounging at home during Lockdown, most of us are camping out in casuals of which ‘shorts’ or ‘knockers’ as they are called by some is an integral part. City First takes a short walk down the history of shorts!

RISHEE MIGLANI cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

S

horts have been always worn by men and like trousers, it is one of the garments appropriated by women, and like most things, looks so much better on the fairer sex than on its original wearer. After this highly objectionable statement, I move on to the beginning of the early 16th century when breeches, pre-cursors to the evolution of shorts, were so popular. Breeches and Knickerbockers were the in-thing in those days and all the fashionable boys wore them with a short collarless jacket.

Shorts owe much of their contemporary origins to the military. Possibly the earliest example (1880s) of modern-day shorts, is the uniform of the heavily respected Gurkha soldiers of the Nepalese army.

During the 1920s men wore onepiece swimsuits, which covered their chest, a sight I have been spared thankfully, while by 1932, the European craze of for swimming without shirts at private beaches gained momentum while shorts were popular with adults for camping.

Women entered the world of shorts when Senorita de Alvares played tennis in a below the knee divided skirt in 1931. This set the stage for Alice Marble to wear shorts in 1933 for a professional tennis match. That event helped the acceptance of shorts in sporting events.

Shorts have been worn by one and all today as part of the school uniform influenced by British schools. And in

fact, were considered the preserve of boys and when the time came to switch to something longer, it was seen a sort of rite of passage into manhood.

But with the continued relaxation of dress codes, shorts have become not only acceptable as everyday wear when the mercury is on the rise - but stylish too. They are even seen as acceptable office attire (well, at some offices) which was unthinkable only a few decades ago.

Today, shorts are universal with no relation to age or to gender.

Wear it as a style statement or a matter of comfort. Just remember, confidence is the key and of course good legs to carrying off this causal cum formal garment.

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

AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

10

KNIGHTS

IN THE DARK MANASVI AGARWAL The atmosphere was thick with fear and anxiety; For something was lurking behind, something which cannot be defeated by any power or any deity.

Roads were now empty, not a single human in sight; The once very noisy neighbourhoods were now dead with silence and fright.

Faint sirens could be heard in the mum town; Manasvi Agarwal, Student of Class 9

For someone had to be there to help those who are infected and down.

Risking their own lives to bestow peace upon the living and dead; They were the real heroes, the ones who were fighting against this pandemic until the last shred of their strength.

Media, cameras and mics all pointed towards the government; It was their call, their rules and decisions, for they had to change the air from terror to endearment.

Armed with rifles of sanitizer, cleaning every nook and corner; The ones who were once not shown love and respect, were now the bearer of the greatest Laurel.

Quarantined in their houses, unable to help at all; The public could do nothing but follow the stringent rules and forestall their fall.

We are indebted to our ‘doctors and nurses ‘ these divine demigods amongst us, How shall we repay them?

For they are the ones working meticulously to forfend this mayhem.

At last, we must thank our warriors for defending us day and night;

FA CE OF TH ED AY

For they are our sole hope and our very own brave knights.

YOUR DAY Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

External help may be required by some businesspersons for rethinking strategy for increasing profits. Someone you are going steady with may appear indifferent and sow the seeds of suspicion in your mind. Resuming daily workouts is possible.

Your reputation of being a go-getter is likely to get a boost on the professional front. Your financial condition is set to improve, as past investments mature. Some of you may play with your health by keeping irregular timings. A function can be organised in your honour.

You will be able to convince a senior and mould him to your way of thinking on the professional front. You will have to watch out for a bad bargain that threatens to block your money. You bid an ailment goodbye by overcoming it with the right medication.

This is a good time to settle a business issue with a partner or some other party. Your financial condition is set to improve, as past investments mature. Your decision to look after your health will start to get positive results. Scene is likely to be created at home.

MAR 21 - APR 20

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

An important work can be initiated which is set to brighten future prospects.

Your helping hand to someone in monetary need is likely to give you inner satisfaction. Health options adopted by you will keep you fit and energetic. You may be in the process of planning something big.

You are likely to get an incentive to work harder on the professional front. An earning opportunity may come along for businesspersons and traders. Some of you may find a lifestyle change beneficial on the health front. A family member can prove an irritant.

Negotiating skills and persuasive powers will be your strongest assets on the professional or business front. Retain flexibility on the professional front, as rigidity may not cut ice with superiors. Some of you may make a few changes in your lifestyle just to retain good health.

Enrolling for a financial scheme will be in your favour, as it promises to add to your wealth. You may have to find time to cope up with incomplete work on the professional front today. You may get motivated to shake a leg just to get on the fitness trail.

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

AUG 24 - SEP 23

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Becoming money conscious at this juncture will be in your interest. Wasted chances on the work front may make you miss out on a few golden opportunities. A minor ailment is likely to get cured through a home remedy. You will have to bring some stability in your family.

You will be able to save much on the monetary front by deliberately adopting economical means. Competence in tackling complicated issues at work is likely to bring you into the notice of higher ups. Health wise, you are likely to remain fit and energetic.

Things are set to become better for you on the professional front. Money comes to you from an unexpected source and boosts your financial stability. You may opt to rejuvenate your health by joining a gym or a health spa. It will be fun travelling with friends and family today.

A drive to someplace exotic is on the cards for some. Money may start flowing in from a different source and make you financially secure. You are likely to feel more energetic and fitter than before. You may get upset by a family members behaviour.

NOV 23 - DEC 22

PRIYANKA CHOUDHARY, Model

APR 21 - MAY 20

DEC 23 - JAN 20

JAN 21 - FEB 19

FEB20 - MARCH 20

ETC AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

11

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Dish Name: Vegetable

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POSTING TWO PICTURES ON INSTAGRAM, MALAIKA ARORA PENNED A MESSAGE WHERE SHE EXPRESSED GRATITUDE FOR BEING A MOM AND SAID THAT SHE IS LUCKY THAT SHE HAS ONE.

Fajitas with Soft Tortillas

YAMI GAUTAM PUT OUT A THROWBACK PICTURE ON INSTAGRAM ON MOTHER’S DAY, FEATURING HER MOM, SISTERS AND HER LITTLE BROTHER.

H

i guys, Vegetable Fajitas with tortillas one of my favorite dishes I make with my kids and enjoy cooking it with them. This provides valuable family time to create special something together.

So let us begin: Prep Time: 40 min Cook Time: 25 Min

THE SPIRIT OF MOTHERHOOD! Bollywood celebrities including Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Kiara Advani, Malaika Arora, Ananya Panday, Ayushmann Khurrana, Twinkle Khanna and Yami Gautam among others are celebrating the spirit of motherhood by posting special pictures and video on social media on the occasion of Mother’s Day.

INGREDIENTS

 1 Whole Green Peppers  

Red Hot sauce (Franks hot sauce or

Sumeet Kumar

ACCOMPANIMENTS

 Sour Cream (local store)  Mozzarella Cheese (grated)

SONAM KAPOOR AHUJA PUT OUT A FEW STUNNING PICTURES WITH HER MOM SUNITA KAPOOR AND HER MOTHER-INLAW PRIYA AHUJA ON INSTAGRAM, WISHING THEM BOTH A HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY.

Avocado to make Guacamole  6 Flour Tortillas

Sumeet Kumar is the owner of TIF Kitchen Cafe & Restaurant at Civil Lines. He has 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry, across the world. TIF has an exclusive affordable menu, ranging with cuisines from the Middle East, Italy and Mexico, and imports herbs and spices to maintain the taste.

METHOD

 Kids can start by washing the mushrooms, peppers, baby corn!  You can start by cutting the onions and vegetables in long thin cuts (baby corn, all the peppers, mushrooms), once washed!

‘MRS FUNNY BONES’ TWINKLE KHANWNA SHARED A PICTURE CAPTURING THE THREE GENERATIONS, HERSELF, HER MOM AND HER DAUGHTER WHILE THEY RELAX IN THE GARDEN.

 Put a generous amount extra virgin olive oil into a large pan, add onions and garlic first and let is sauté for a few minutes, and add all the remaining vegetables. Add spices, oregano (lots of it), paprika, salt and pepper to taste.  Add vinegar, and lime juice, red hot sauce and let the mix simmer for 10 minutes. Add a quarter cup of water so the mix does not dry up. You can add more oregano if the bouquet of the dish is not filling the air. Add jalapeno at the end.  Once ready, transfer it to your serving bowl.

GUACAMOLE DIP *  Avocado ripe ones cut in length and remove the pit, scoop out avocado into a bowl  Add 4 tbl spoons of fresh lime juice over the avocado, and mash it with a fork, give this one to your kids to do!  Add 1 red large tomato, take out seeds and cut into small pieces and add it to the bowl Add ½ onion (chopped)

ANUSHKA SHARMA SHARED A HEART-WARMING PICTURE ON TWITTER, FEATURING THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER DUO WHERE THE TWO ARE SEEN SHARING A HUG. KEEPING THE CAPTION SHORT AND SWEET, SHE WROTE, “LOVE YOU MAA” ALONG WITH A RED HEART EMOTICON.

KIARA ADVANI PREPARED MOTHER’S DAY SPECIAL BREAKFAST FOR HER MOM AND SHARED ITS PICTURES ON HER INSTAGRAM STORY. THE PICTURES FEATURED HERSELF AND HER MOTHER WHILE HER MOM RELISHES THE BREAKFAST PREPARED

BY HER DAUGHTER.

SONALI BENDRE WAS SEEN CATCHING UP WITH HER MOM AND AUNT (MAASI) OVER A VIDEO CALL AMID THE CORONAVIRUSINDUCED LOCKDOWN.

 4 tbl spoons of olive oil  Add Cilantro, chop it and add it to the bowl  Add salt to taste  Add Red pepper  Mix all together and you should have the dip with chunks and not a complete paste. I add the taken out pit back into the dip bowl and place it at the bottom of the bowl for the dip not to turn blackish!  Flour Tortillas (Simply heat them up on a pan till warm)

SARA ALI KHAN SHARED A HEARTMELTING THROWBACK PICTURE WHERE SHE IS SEEN AS AN INFANT IN THE ARMS OF HER GRANDMOTHER WHILE HER MOTHER IS LOOKING AT BABY SARA IN A MOMENT OF AFFECTION.

ANANYA PANDAY SHARED AN ADORABLE VIDEO FROM HER CHILDHOOD DAYS WHERE SHE IS SEEN SPORTING A WHILE KURTA-CHURIDAR WITH A RED DOTTED DUPATTA. THE VIDEO INITIATES WITH A QUESTION BY A PERSON BEHIND THE CAMERA WHO ASKS, “WHOM DO YOU LOVE THE MOST IN THE WORLD?”TO WHICH BABY ANANYA INNOCENTLY REPLIES, “MAMA.”AND HE ASKS, “AND THE SECOND?”SHE SMILINGLY REPLIES, “NOBODY.”

 Salsa in a bowl  Sour Cream in a bowl  Grated Mozzarella Cheese in a bowl

READY TO MAKE THE FAJITAS

Tortilla, paste sour cream on the tortilla, vegetables, grated cheese, salsa, and guacamole and roll the tortilla to enjoy.

Let the family make the roll as they like.

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

The Opera Queen

of RAJASTHAN NEHAL NAYAR

nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in

H

ritisha Rewadia from Rajasthan is a singer who has earned many milestones in her life at a very young age of 21, by her continuous hard work and belief in herself. Having a typically high range up to C8, she’s not only known by the title of ‘Opera Queen’ (being Rajasthan’s first Opera Singer), but is also

known for singing in any language, and is versatile to sing various other genres like Hindustani classical, Jazz, and many more, soulfully.

Her mentor and sister, Shaiphali Saxena, has taught her music and they both proceeded towards their career together. They both work together as a duo all-rounder team of singer and music director and are called ‘Hritishaiphali’.

They own many businesses like Moksha Records, Acoustics, and a wellknown concert plus competition, ‘The Show’.

Hritisha has received many awards including

breaking glass with her voice, women achiever award, and was also honored by the Bollywood singer Ankit Tiwari for being the Finest Western Singer of India. She is the first singer of Jaipur to be awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Film Festival Award for her first international song ‘Jewels & Fame’, in which the music was given by, and this song also bagged the Best Music Video Award in Rajasthan International Film Festival. The Bollywood journey is soon to begin this year, with many more achievements to be unlocked.

AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

City First talks to Hritisha Rewadia, the ‘Opera Queen’ of the desert land!

WHAT’S HAPPENING!

Gujarat: The world-famous saffron (kesar) mango auction of Junagadh Gir commenced on Monday at the marketing yard in Talala. The first purchase was made by local MLA Rajesh Chudasama with a bid of up to Rs 11,000 in the auction.

Rajasthan: Social workers Rameshwar Kadva and Ishwar Chaudhary inaugurated the first blood bank with component blood facilities on Sunday in the Kuchaman City at Nagaur district.

The newly opened blood bank, ‘Shree Shyam Blood Bank Kuchaman’ will be operated by Smileys India Charitable Trust.

Hritisha Rewadia

MAA TUJHE

SALAAM!

Rajasthan: Daughter of Nikita and Umang Nagar, Rohana Nagar celebrated her birthday during the lockdown on Sunday, where SHO Vaishali Nagar Police state, Anil Kumar along with Collectorate Head, Ramesh Chand came to wish Rohana on her 7th birthday.

Chaula Doshi

CREATIVE HAVEN

Ankit Khandelwal and Hema Malini

CITY FIRST AHMEDABAD

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CITY FIRST

hmedabad-based artist Chaula Doshi, known for her work on canvas, paper, metal, among others, has been treating the lockdown as a challenge to channel her creativity in the best way possible. Apart from paintings, Doshi has also crafted a few handmade lamps using papier mache techniques by giving them different shapes. The artist created a turtle lamp and painted a few of her pieces in bright colours.

Talking about her artistic productivity during the lockdown, Doshi said, “This lockdown period is the best time for creative work. I am very happy that I could create a whole range of artwork in this period and hope to create more.”

CITY FIRST

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s health is one of the most important pillars of sustainable development, India needs to spend more on healthcare infrastructure. As a public health strategist, Dr David Bishai, Professor, Bloomberg School of Public Health, John Hopkins University suggested focusing on the health needs of the poor who is the speaking at the panel discussion organised by Indian Institute of Health Management and Research (IIHMR), Jaipur on ‘Effect of COVID-19 on Indian Economy: Policy and Programmatic Implications’. The session was attended by 722 participants.

He further raised a concern that the COVID-19 out-

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n the occasion of Mother’s Day, Lions Club Jaipur Hawamahal and Forti Youth Wing organised the third season of ‘Ek Shaam Maa Ke Naam’, to celebrate the spirit of motherhood. The event was broadcast live on more than 30 Facebook pages, creating a unique world record, set in the Golden Book of World Records, of being watched by more than 1 million people, during the global pandemic due to coronavirus.

Program convenor, Kailash Khandelwal informed that MP and film actress Hema Malini, Journalist Nandita Puri, actress Shweta Pada, Sindhu Tai, singer Veena Modani and RJ Karthik also participated in the event among others. During the event, Forti Youth Wing Executive Chairman, Ankit Khandelwal expressed his thoughts on the motherchildren bond.

The entire show was a tribute to motherhood and was dedicated to all the health care and frontline workers including doctors, policemen, media officials, and basic amenities providers among others, who are offering their services selflessly to fight against coronavirus. The members also paid a tribute to the mothers of

these warriors, who raised a strong fighter to stand for his country.

During the online event, more than 1 lakh people participated in Maa Ki Maha Aarti with the song ‘Tu Kitni aachi Hai’. Riyya and Jyoti Bhargava from Ghaziabad performed the cultural dance on the expression of Mamatva and the amazing love of mothers. Singer Veena Modani performed songs including Yeh tho sach Hai ki Bhagwan hai, Teri Ugli Pakad Ke Chala, and Tujhe Sab Hai Pata, Hai Na Maa. Poet Harish Hindustani narrated the importance of the mother through the medium of his poems.

RJ Karthik narrated a story about mother. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Need to develop a Vaccine

break won’t end until 60% to 70% of the human population is immune to the virus, which may take between 18 and 24 months to develop a vaccine for it. If the vaccine will not be developed in the next 2

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years, it will impact the Indian economy dramatically, particularly the health sector because there will be less money and the human resource available to run the existing programs will not be

enough. The immediate need is to recover small business post-COVID-19 by ensuring that the credits should reach them regularly by banks so that employment can be created.

The panel of experts at the 9th webinar included Narain Sinha, Professor, University of Botswana, Ujwal Thakar, Board Member- Educate India, Tamal Bandyopadhyay, Author, and Consulting Editor, Business Standard, Hema Krishnamurthy, Consultant to MSMEs, PR Sodani, Pro President, Dean IIHMR, Monika Chaudhary, FacultyHealth Economics and Financing, IIHMR University and David Bishai.

Gujarat: On this Mother’s Day, Motivational Speaker Dr Balpreet Arora came up with a unique idea to cheer up all the mothers who are stressed due to lockdown. She organised an online party event ‘Smart Mummy-Fun Episode-1’ for all the mothers to give them a break from their daily routine. To cheer them up and elevate their mood even a dress code was kept. The participants enjoyed various gaming activities including Antakshari, guess who, rapid-fire and Are You.....? Everyone felt extremely motivated after participating and they were happy to be part of such an event. Apart from this, winners of the games were also rewarded with cash prizes.

Dr Balpreet Arora

HAPPY B’DAY!

Mahendra Shekhawat, National Secretary of Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha, celebrated his birthday on 10 May, Sunday. We wish him all the best!

Rajasthan: A supermodel and Anchor from Jodhpur, Shilpa Agarwal shared that even if she was talented from the start, it was her mother, Sunita Agarwal, who gave her the identity and stood by her side like a shield during all the ups and downs.

A Noble Cause!

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meeting was held at Secretariat, Chennai where Chief Secretary along with DGP of Tamilnadu, Commissioner of Police, Chennai, JITO, Chennai Chapter and other managing committees of Major NGO’ S were present. In the meeting, Chief Secretary discussed the condition of migrant labourers who are from other states and got stuck in Chennai due to COVID 19.

Chennai Government was facing a communication problem with them and was not able to understand what kind of food they require. Based on this, JITO came forward to support and do this noble cause. JITO formed a team and discussed with many migrants labour for their need and has already started distributing rations to

them. As Jito office is in Spencer plaza and being Spencer Plaza closed, JITO took the help of Hotel Rezenta Central Deccan for making distribution points. Chairman, Doulat Jain with Zone Chairman Ravikant Chowdhary, JITO entire executive committee D K Jain, Ashok Jain, Anand Surana, Madanlalji Gunecha, Nimesh Tolia, Manish Maradia, Bharat Doshi, Goutam Bokadia, and Naresh Shah are monitoring this project.