First India-Ahmedabad Edition-23 October 2020

UMAR: IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

SENSEX GAINING STREAK ENDS

Ex-JNU student leader Umar Khalid, arrested under UAPA in connection with Delhi violence in February, told a Delhi court on Thursday that he was not allowed to step out of his cell and it was sort of a “solitary confinement”.

Indian equity markets ended their four-day winning streak after a choppy weekly expiry session. Benchmark indices continued to fluctuate between the day’s high and day’s low, ending off the lowest point of the day. P6

In Truth v/s

Hype

AHMEDABAD l FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD 26°C - 37°C

RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 328

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PANDEMIC HOPE DRIVES POLITICS AMID POLL FEVER

MAKING THE MOST OF CRISIS: While BJP’s “free coronavirus vaccination for all” promise in Bihar ahead of next week’s election has become hugely controversial with Opposition allegations of an “appalling” attempt to use the vaccine for political agenda, the reports of how Centre is actually preparing to pile up cash reserve to vaccinate the world’s most populous nation shows the two sides of the same coin, albeit rajneeti!

FREE COVID VACCINE

$7 billion ready for & 19L jobs: BJP’s booster dose for Bihar $2 a shot for India The party manifesto comes a day ahead of PM Modi’s rallies at Dehri-on Sone, Gaya, and Bhagalpur Patna: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday released the BJPs manifesto for the Bihar assembly polls which promised free COVID-19 vaccine once it has been cleared by the ICMR. It also sought to reach out to the youth with the promise of 19 lakh jobs in the next five years and farmers with the assurance of bringing lentils under the MSP regime.

“The NDA government in Bihar has set an example before the country in the fight against corona. It’s our resolve that once the vaccine against the coronavirus Turn to P6

We have the confidence that we can deliver on our promises. When we reach the stage where scientists give clearance for largescale production of the vaccine, we will make it available to the people of Bihar free of cost Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with BJP General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav and state party President Sanjay Jaiswal releases party’s Bihar election manifesto in Patna.

RAHUL GANDHI @RAHULGANDHI GOI just announced India’s Covid access strategy. Kindly refer to the state-wise election schedule to know when will you get it, along with a hoard of false promises.

DY CM SUSHIL MODI TESTS POSITIVE, ADMITTED TO AIIMS Patna: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi has tested positive for novel coronavirus. The BJP leader has been admitted to AIIMS, Patna. Modi had earlier quarantined himself after BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain tested positive on the campaign trail in Bihar.

Along with Sushil Kumar Modi, Health Minister Mangal Pandey and Rajiv Pratap Rudy had also quarantined.

Bharat Biotech’s

Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh CMs assure Covaxin cleared corona freebies for everyone in their states for phase 3 trials New Delhi: After BJP’s promise for free coronavirus vaccine in Bihar’s election manifesto, by late evening, two other states - BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where the ruling AIADMK is a BJP ally -- promised free vaccine to the people when it comes.

There has been no

MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

TN CM E Palaniswami

word from the Centre on the matter of vaccine pricing, though

it said it was expecting a vaccine by early next year.

Turn to P6

New Delhi: Covaxin, the coronavirus vaccine being developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has been cleared for the third phase of clinical trials.

The maker had applied to the Drugs Controller General of India on October 2, seeking its permission to conduct Phase 3 trials. Turn to P6

—Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister

We are giving government jobs, there is a difference between employment and government jobs.

What the BJP is saying is like selling pakoda. We have already seen BJP’s promise of 2 crore jobs in a year —Tejashwi Yadav,

Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial candidate

z India is reopening its borders to international visitors in a bid to revive economic growth even as the South Asian nation battles the world’s second-worst coronavirus outbreak. z While regular scheduled commercial flights remain off limits for the time being, overseas travelers can use other options, including flights under a government repatriation program, so-called air-bubble agreements, and private charters, the

New Delhi: The government has set aside about 500 billion rupees ($7 billion) to vaccinate the world’s most populous nation after China against the coronavirus, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration estimates an all-in cost of about $6-$7 per person in the nation of 1.3 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified as the details are private.

The money provisioned so far is for the current financial year ending March 31 and there will be no shortage of further funds for this purpose, they added.

THE MATHS z India is said to estimate two injections per person at $2 a shot z Another $2-$3 is said to be set aside per individual as infrastructure costs such as storage and transport z Details based on recommendations of a working group z A governmentbacked panel predicts that India is past the peak of infections and may contain the spread

INDIA’S NEW TRAVEL RULES: WHO CAN VISIT, WHO ISN’T ALLOWED Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Thursday. Ships will also be permitted. z All existing visas -except electronic, tourist and medical ones -- will

be restored immediately, the government said.

People holding expired visas can apply again and foreigners wishing to visit for business, conferences, work, study, research or medical reasons will be

by February, the nation has taken a massive blow to economic growth z Delivering a vaccine across India will be a gigantic task. Airlifting single-dose regimens to protect the world’s population would require space in about 8,000 cargo planes z The biggest challenge for India will be building up cold-chain logistics to distribute vaccines

allowed to apply, the government said. z Tourists will still not be allowed z All travelers must “strictly adhere” to the guidelines on quarantine and other rules. z The government had suspended all visas on March 11. In June, the Centre allowed the entry of foreign minor children with at least one parent who is an Indian citizen or an OCI card holder.

HOT TOPIC

In dry Guj, liquor takes centre stage on Day 1 of bypoll campaign Development, governance, and even party loyalty side-stepped as parties swing at each other First India Bureau Gandhinagar: Liquor overtook topics such as development and good governance on Day One of the official campaign ahead of the by-election slated to be held on November 03 for the eight vacant state Assembly seats.

It has also steered the conversation away from the question of loyalty and of politicians being paid to switch allegiances, which had hitherto been holding sway.

The controversy began when the Congress party released its manifesto for Bihar, in which

MLA DEMANDS APOLOGY FROM CM Congress MLA Imran Khedawala has sought an apology from Chief Minister Vijay Rupani for the latter’s remarks that Congress MLAs had consumed liquor in Jaipur. “I condemn this statement.

In Islam, alcohol consumption is Haraam and we stay away from such activities. The chief ministers should render an apology for his irresponsible statement,” he said.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani

—FILE PHOTO

it promised to review the state’s prohibition policy should its alliance come to power.

Armed with this statement, the

Bharatiya Janata Party attacked the Congress for its double standards, since the party supports Prohibition in Gujarat.

The Congress tried to rally with a clarification from national spokesperson Randeep Surjewala that the party would only review cases in which poor people had been imprisoned due to Prohibition.

However, by that time, the damage was done.

Within a few minutes, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had made liquor a poll plank. Addressing a public meeting at Naliya, he alleged, “In

March, the Congress took its MLAs to Jaipur, where they were having parties and drinking liquor.

When Congress leaders come to ask for votes, do ask them what they were they doing in Jaipur the state was fighting COVID-19.”

This, in turn sharp criticism from Congress leaders. Dhoraji MLA Lalit Vasoya reminded Rupani that three Turn to P6

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AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020

02

IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN HOW THE BJP AND CONGRESS FARE IN THE PATIDAR DOMINATED CONSTITUENCY THIS BY-ELECTION

DO ‘DHARI’ TALWAAR

Gargi Raval Ahmedabad: After the exit of eight Congress MLAs from the party and into the Bharatiya Janata Party, a slogan has been floated by Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani, “A mad candidate is better than a traitor”. As the campaigning for the upcoming by-elections has commenced, Dhanani has been camped out at Dhari.

The bypolls were compelled in the constituency after Congress MLA JV Kakadia resigned ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections earlier this year and later joined the BJP officially.

With Congress fielding Suresh Kotadia, both parties will put in efforts to register a win in Dhari. However, the chances of Congress receiving the mandate from the public seem better. According to senior journalist Dilip Patel, “There is resentment among locals against the BJP and the turncoat Kakadia. The BJP has fielded him in the by-election, which may not go down well with the voters in Dhari. On the other hand, Dhanani has been campaigning there already and constantly talking about horse-trading engaged in by the ruling party,” asserted Patel.

Historically, the people of Dhari have not been loyal to one party or a particular candidate. The locals have favoured different candidates over a period of time. The

TOTAL VOTERS AS PER 2017 DATA TOTAL VOTERS AS PER 2017 CENSUS: 2,17,407 MALE VOTERS: 1,13,257 FEMALE VOTERS: 1,04,150 Community

Population

Community

Population

Patel

79,000

Ahir

18,000

Koli

27,000

Kshatriya

12,000

Dalit

18,000

Other minorities

8,000

constituency is dominated by the Patidar community and their votes may turn the election for both the

major political party candidates in the fray.

The 2015 Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) had a big im-

pact on the region and also affected the 2017 assembly elections.

There was anger against the ruling par-

Suresh Kotadia of Congress campaigning for the bypolls by going door-to-door in Dhari; addressing a public meeting.

ty. However, according to experts, Dhari voters value the candidate more than the party.

In 2017 elections, Congress candidate JV Kakadia defeated veteran BJP candidate Dilip Sanghani.

Kakadia accumulated 52.50% votes and Sanghani received 40.42% votes.

As per political experts, in the 2012 assembly elections, Nalin Kotadia was elected from the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP). Former

state Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel formed the GPP and Nalin Kotadia was the candidate in fray. He managed to win the seat despite garnering only 1,575 votes.

BJP’s Bhuva Mansukhbhai Panchabhai was elected as the Dhari MLA in the 2007 assembly elections. He defeated Balubhai Jivrajbhai Tanti of Congress by a margin of 17,862 votes.

In the 1962 elections, the seat was known as

Dhari-Kodinar and was reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC).

Premjibhai from Congress was elected as the MLA in the state legislative assembly.

Congress candidates have had more success in getting elected in Dhari with candidates in 2017, 1995, 1972, 1967 and 1962 being elected from the party. On the contrary, BJP candidates were elected in 2007, 2002 and 1998.

And, a candidate from

the Gujarat Parivartan Party was elected as the MLA once.

Manubhai Kotadia of the opposition party has been elected from Dhari three times, the most for any candidate.

But, he contested the elections from three different parties namely Janata Party, Janata Party (JP), and Kisan Mazdoor Lok Paksh.

Therefore, a candidate from a single party has not been voted for by the people of Dhari more than once.

Angry Navi Jithardi villagers ONION PRICES LIKELY TO INCREASE IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS now target Congress candidate 10-20%  Heavy rains First India Bureau

Vadodara: The voters of Navi Jithardi are angry with politicians and they are not pulling punches.

In fact, candidates are giving up on their campaigns in the constituency less than two weeks before the by-election for the state Assembly rather than face villagers' ire.

Barely two days after they asked the BJP candidate Akshay Patel some tough questions, they did the same to the Congress party’s Kiritsinh Jadeja on Wednesday.

Villagers say their problems have been neglected for years, and that they are disappointed with their representatives since the issues are not so big that MLAs cannot have them resolved.

Jadeja had not even begun to address the voters when they began to take him to task. They asked him why politicians only visit the village when there is an election in the offing.

“After the election, no one cares about our problems. We are left to deal with our own issues. No people’s representative is interested in the peo-

mean retail prices could skyrocket to `100 per kg and stay there until fresh stocks arrive

JADEJA CHOSE TO ABANDON HIS CAMPAIGN RATHER THAN FACE THEIR IRE

First India Bureau

Locals asked the candidate why politicians come to their village only at election time but neglect them after elections.

ple’s problems,” one villager told him.

When Jadeja realized that he was failing to placate the villagers and that presence was

only serving as a trigger, he quickly decided to hightail it out of the village along with his supporters.

It remains to be

seen if villagers will be happy with the candidates’ decision to leave rather than try to address their issues.

Bhavnagar: Onions could cost as much as Rs100 per kilogram in the coming months and, for once, it will not be the fault of middlemen, traders or hoarding. Heavy rains in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have led to a surge in the cost of onions, and the upward trend is likely to continue over the next few months, at least until the next plentiful harvest arrives in the market.

On Wednesday, old stocks of good quality onions were fetching Rs40-50 per kilogram in the Mahuva market yard and Rs60-70 per kilogram at markets in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Jaydutt Holkar, chairman of the APMC (Agricultural

—FILE PHOTO

Onions in an APMC market yard.

Produce Market Committee) in Lasalgaon-the nation’s onion capital--says the current surge has been caused by the heavy rains. “Last year’s stock was very low, and now heavy rains in Maharashtra have damaged 15% of the onion crop,” he explained.

Mahuva APMC chairman Ghanshyam Patel elaborated: “There are hardly 5070,000 packs (each of 50kg) of last year’s stocks left. Farmers who had sown onion in the monsoon season are badly hit. Due to the damage caused by the heavy rain, this season’s harvest is just 10% of the average production of 6,000kg

per half-acre. In addition, onions from Maharashtra and Karnataka are also arriving in lower quantities than usual. As a result, onion prices have spiked in the local market.” He predicts that this trend will continue for the next couple of months.

Similarly, Murlidhar Punjabi, a leading trader of the Bhavnagar APMC, said, “The inflow of fresh onion crop is down by 70-80%, so the situation is not likely to improve before the end of January when the fresh onions start coming in. Until then, prices will keep moving north.

Onion inflow has slowed to a crawl across the country. “The normal flow is 3-4 lakh packs (of 50kg each).

These days, it is hardly 40-50,000 packs a day.

This has created a shortage in the market,” Punjabi added.

The other fear is that, with the price of onion seeds currently hovering around Rs2,0002,500 per kilogram, production costs are set to increase as well. This, in turn, could result in less cultivation, meaning consumers would be paying exorbitant amounts of money even after January, Mahuva APMC’s Patel said.

GUJARAT AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020

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Did Khedawala just compel mayor to call a ‘physical’ board meeting?

03

Victim alleges cops did not include rape sections in complaint

If Bijal Patel can campaign amid crowds in Limbdi, why host a virtual AMC meeting? councillor asked in a statement First India Bureau Ahmedabad: As city mayor Bijal Patel joined the campaign trail in Limbdi on Wednesday, the rumour mill was abuzz with the possibility of the next Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) general board meeting being held virtually.

On hearing about the rumour, Congress MLA from Jamalpur and AMC, councillor Imran Khedawala has taken issue with the general board meeting being held online.

“When the Ahmedabad mayor has been campaigning in Limbdi amid the COVID-19 pandemic, why isn’t the AMC general board meeting being called at a venue? She

TAUFIQKHAN PATHAN NAMED INTERIM AMC LOP After the resignation of Dinesh Sharma from the post of AMC leader of opposition (LOP), Taufiqkhan Pathan has been appointed as the interim LOP. Pathan taking charge as the interim may affect the AMC’s ability to garner votes in Hindudominated pockets in the upcoming civic body elections. In Ahmedabad, most vot—FILE PHOTO

Imran Khedawala.

has cited the pandemic as the reason but, has continued campaigning and meeting thousands of people. But, she is fearful of contracting the virus from 192 councillors on the board,”

ers think of Congress as a pro-minority party.

And, this may adversely affect the party’s chances in terms of votes from Amdavadis.

remarked Khedawala.

It is to be noted that a general board meeting had been called at the Tagore Hall in the city last month. All councillors had been instructed to produce a

negative RT-PCR test for entry at the gate.

Khedawala had arrived at the venue with a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) report to gain entry to the meeting.

But mayor Bijal Patel

had not allowed him to attend the meeting.

Irked by the message put out by Khedawala as well as several media reports lashing her, the mayor immediately released a video message.

“Keeping in mind the COVID-19 scare, the next general board meeting of AMC has been scheduled to meet at Tagore Hall on Wednesday,” she said in the video.

Poll-wary AMC has sops for eastern A’bad First India Bureau Ahmedabad: With the elections of local bodies delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has doubled its efforts to woo voters.

On Thursday, developmental work worth crores was announced for the eastern belt of the city, which is relatively a

Congress stronghold.

Standing committee chairman Amul Bhatt announced the development of a modern maternity hall in Shahpur. “The building of the urban health centre and the maternity hall in Dudheshwar locality will be demolished and a new building will be constructed at the cost of Rs2.75 crore,” he said.

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

—FILE PHOTO

An open plot in Behrampura will be used to construct a public library. Talking about the project, Bhatt said, “The open plot near the Lalji Parmar Hall will have a two-storey building. The ground floor will be used as a multi-purpose hall while the first floor will be used as a library equipped with a reading room. It will have the capacity to ac-

Some VMC offices to Saurashtra, Kutch regions stay shut as nCoV see 10 tremors in 6 hours infections increase First India Bureau

Vadodara Municipal Corporation.

—FILE PHOTO

First India Bureau Gandhinagar: With COVID-19 infections having increased among employees of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, the civic body has decided to keep the offices of the secretary and the mayor closed for the next four days. The decision was taken because eight staffers of the secretary’s office and one of the mayor’s staff have shown symptoms similar to that of COVID-19 over the past few days.

The state has conducted 52,923 tests in the past 24 hours and detected 1,136 new cases, bringing the total tally up to 1,64,121. There are now 14,143 active cases, with 72 patients on ventilators. Ahmedabad district accounted for three of the seven patient

1,136 cases, seven deaths take state tally to 1,64,121 cases, death toll to 3,670 deaths on Thursday, while Rajkot had two and Chhota Udepur and Surat had one each.

The highest number of cases (231) came from Surat district. Other cases emerged in Ahmedabad (179), Vadodara (119), Rajkot (108), Jamnagar (65), Mehsana (47), Gandhinagar (38), Narmada (34), Sabarkantha (33), Patan (27), Surendranagar (26) and Amreli (25).

There are 1,920 active cases in Surat. Of the 144 patients being treated at the New Civil Hospital and SMIMER Hospital, nine are on ventilators, 29, on BiPAP machines and 72, on oxygen.

Ahmedabad: While tremors and aftershocks are everyday affairs in the Kutch and Saurashtra regions. However, the residents of these some parts of these regions were literally shaken up Thursday, when as many as 10 tremors hit the area in a span of just six hours. However, all 10 ranged from 1.7 to 2.

9 in magnitude. There were no casualties or damage reported.

Porbandar residents reported seven tremors,

All the tremors measured between 1.7 and 2.9 on the Richter scale

while those in Jamnagar’s Lalpur and Kutch witnessed two each.

There were also reports of people rushing out of their homes after experiencing quake-like movements.

Rajkot has been witnessing such tremors frequently in the recent past. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook the dis-

trict on July 16. The epicentre was reported as being located 22km from Rajkot.

The quake was felt most strongly Kotdasangani taluka, where the roughly four-second-long event had people rushing out of their homes. Another such incident was reported on February 10, when an earthquake measuring a magnitude of 2.4 on the Richter scale shook Rajkot. Meanwhile, Saurashtra has been experiencing frequent tremors for the last three months.

commodate over 130 people at a time. AMC will allocate Rs2.54 crore funds towards the project.”

Among other developmental projects to be initiated by the local civic body, the roads in Jodhpur and Maninagar will be resurfaced at the cost of Rs14 crore. Another Rs10 crore will be invested towards drainage line rehabilitation.

Dakor police station.

—FILE PHOTO

First India Bureau

V FOR VIGILANTES

Kheda/Palanpur: A woman has alleged that Dakor police mishandled her case.

She has accused the cops of registering only a complaint of attempt to murder and dropping the rape sections. However, Kheda District Superintendent of Police intervened on Thursday assured her that the rape sections could be added in her complaint.

The victim, a married woman from Padaniya, has claimed that a relative, Bharat Bharvad-who she says is in love with her--had been threatening her for some time. On the evening of September 27, she accepted his invitation to meet him, only to be “forcefully poisoned” when she refused to have sex with him. She then fell unconscious and had to be admitted to a hospital.She filed her complaint after she recovered from her ordeal, she told the police.

The officer in charge

of the Dakor police station has refuted her claims. He insists that when she filed her complaint on October 18, she made no mention of rape. “She did not say she was raped, nor did she ask to include it in her complaint. Even now, she has taken up the matter with the DSP but she has not visited the police station again,” he said.

NO STOPPING THEM!

Parulben Parmar refuses to let the lack of a smartphone get in the way of her daughter Kinjal’s education. The duo wait outside the premises of Kinjal’s school, the Nava Vadaj AMC Saraswati School No. 1, until parents of other students pass by, to ask them for homework details. Parulben then helps her daughter complete any due assignments and gets the child’s work evaluated by her teachers once a week.

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

COST OF SPEAKING OUT?

I-T raids BJP leader PVS Sarma’s home in Surat A team of officials from Ahmedabad conducted the operation early on Thursday; Sarma sat in protest outside his residence for five hours First India Bureau Surat: BJP leader PVS Sarma, who recently made allegations against the Income Tax (I-T) department about unearthing a money laundering scam to the tune of Rs2,000 crore, sat

outside his residence in protest for five hours when I-T officials conducted a raid early on Thursday.

A team of I-T officials from Ahmedabad’s investigation wing arrived in a private vehicle and raided Sarma’s Piplod area residence. Sources

PVS Sarma.

—FILE PHOTO

said that the department has seized several documents as well as Sarma’s mobile phone, laptops and other gadgets.

Sarma alleged that he was targeted because he was about to expose the ‘shenanigans’ of the I-T department by presenting relevant documents.

He also stated that after he revealed his intentions, he had been summoned by the department on October 27 to record his statement.

But, before he could

clear his position about the summons issued to him, the I-T department raided his home in search of the documents related to the scam.

Sarma said, “They (IT) were afraid that I would reveal more documents concerning the case. That is the reason why they searched my home. Even my mobile phone has been seized.

But, this will not deter me. I will continue to fight against any wrongdoings.”

PERSPECTIVE AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020

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IN-DEPTH

BJP’S ‘APPALLING’ POLL PROMISE IN BIHAR

T

he Bharatiya Janata Party has invited criticism for promising free administration of Covid-19 vaccine to the electorate in Bihar. It is the first promise in the party’s election Sankalp Patra released

by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The BJP leadership knows that the fear of Covid-19 is high among the people and it obviously wants to exploit that fear to gain votes. Being in power at the Centre gives the BJP the power to decide which state should be the first to get the vaccine and at what cost. The vaccines can also be distributed for free if the government so desires, but is it ethical on the part of the party to include it in its poll manifesto? If the vaccine can be distributed for free in one state, why should the BJP make people in the rest of the country pay for it?

Politicising the pandemic is a cheap and “appalling” political gimmick which the BJP could have done without.

Taking cue from the BJP, Chief Minister E. Palaniswami has also promised voters in Tamil Nadu that the Covid-19 vaccine, whenever it is ready, will be administered free. The state goes to the polls next year.

The Covid-19 vaccine is still some months away as it undergoes clinical trials. If these trials are successful the vaccine is expected to be ready for sale in December. But the expectation seems unrealistic as the vaccine will have to clear regulatory approval and for commercial launch the trial data will have to be robust for long term efficacy.

Will the Election Commission take any action?

LEADERSHIP AGILITY INDUSTRY’S UPTAKE RETD. COL ANUPAM JAITLY Defence expert, Motivational speaker & Corporate Trainer

I

FREE CBI OF CENTRE’S POLITICAL INFLUENCE

T

he “caged pigeon”, as the Central Bureau of Investigation was once described by one of the agency’s former directors, never had much credibility as successive governments used it to fix political adversaries. With the Maharashtra government blocking it from probing cases in the state the agency must be fluttering helplessly for not being allowed to investigate the case filed in Lucknow against unnamed channels for manipulating TRP ratings. As the Uddhav Thackeray government also withdrew the blanket consent accorded to members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act the CBI will have to seek the government’s permission for investigation on a case-to-case basis. Three other non-BJP ruled states--West Bengal, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh---have also withdrawn consent allowing the CBI to investigate cases in their jurisdiction. In 2018, Andhra Pradesh also had withdrawn its general consent to CBI to probe cases in its jurisdiction for “targeting” political opponents. The ban was revoked in 2019.

The promptness with which the UP government recommended a CBI probe in a case filed against unnamed channels for a CBI probe raised eyebrows. The alacrity with which the CBI accepted the probe also created doubts that the exercise was aimed at scuttling the investigation by Mumbai Police into the alleged TRP fraud by some blatantly pro-BJP TV channels. The TRP case is the second face-off between the state and the Centre after the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case.

The investigating agency’s image is already in tatters. By barring its entry, the states have only reduced it to a laughing stock.

In my personal opinion, to survive in the present environment, strategic agility comprising of strategic sensitivity, strategic response and collective capabilities is one such business virtue required.

But this adaptation to new environment is possible only if the people leading the organizations display Agility.

was about twenty years old as a young Army Officer, when I started learning and practicing Leadership. And after more than three decades of a dedicated Army career, I found myself head long into transferring my leadership skills into the corporate world.

I realized, that growth and survival of companies in the contemporary work environment largely depended on how well the companies understood and related to this increasingly complex business environment.

To put it another way, the experiences of companies in the last few decades who failed to navigate the rapid changes brought about in the marketplace, was a warning to all the businesses and institutions that are now facing these inevitable changes but lack the leadership, flexibility and imagination to adapt.

Not because they are not smart or aware, but because the speed of change is simply overwhelming and relentless.

In my personal opinion, to survive in the present environment, strategic agility comprising of strategic sensitivity, strategic response and collective capabilities is one such business virtue required. But this adaptation to new environment is possible only if the people leading the organizations display Agility.

Hitherto fore, words like speed, fitness, flexibility and agility were more often used to describe an athlete than an organization or its leaders. It is the 21st century frenzy of innovation, driven by technological revolution and expanding global markets, that has brought in all these words into our dynamic business world.

The only difference is that the corporate leaders need an agile mind to meet the current environment of accelerated uncertainty and change, which is not going to pass over and settle down soon in the current pandemic scenario.

Today, CEOs are struggling with how best to lead in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world. Most of the old rules do not apply now when people connections matter more than solid structures.

A CEO does not have one lever to pull to create and sustain organizational success but many levers ought to be pulled in unison to ensure equilibrium. Leading this subtle and complex situation needs the capability to sense and respond to changes with actions that are focused, fast and flexible. This is what we mean when we describe “Leadership Agility”.

While a few may argue about the need and extent for greater leadership agility, not many are able to articulate specific action plans for leaders to become more Agile. So, what is the solution? I would recommend that following three qualities be imbibed to attain Agility…

The first and fore most is leading teams spread across time zones, cultures and organizational barriers. In global markets, leaders rarely work with team members on a face-to-face basis.

Thus, making them rely on virtual communication channels. To add to this is the combination of team members coming from a va-

THE FIRST AND FORE MOST IS LEADING TEAMS SPREAD ACROSS TIME ZONES, CULTURES AND ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS. IN GLOBAL MARKETS, LEADERS RARELY WORK WITH TEAM MEMBERS ON A FACE-TO-FACE BASIS

riety of disciplines, cultures and experience levels, making clarity of communication and mutual understanding an even greater challenge. Therefore, effective leaders will have to learn to balance the requirements of task completion and relationship development with equal finesse.

Secondly, a leader should maintain focus on employee commitment and engagement.

We often witness how easy it is to lose the committed employees whose talent is most needed in times of uncertainty. A major challenge lies in assigning accountability and focusing attention on strategic priorities.

Agile leaders learn to keep the

DOES BEIJING PREFER BIDEN OR TRUMP?

F

ew major events occur in the world now occur without China having a stake, directly or indirectly, in their outcome. That is because Beijing has become a force to be reckoned with, and its influence has grown to rival or even surpass that of the US in many parts of the world. Just as elections throughout the world have historically implied some sort of impact on Washington, now the world is becoming accustomed to the same being true for Beijing.

The US presidential election is certainly no exception. At least part of the reason that matters to Washington is because, for the first time since America became a global superpower, it now has a proper peer. The former Soviet Union may have been a military peer, but it was

04

not a peer on any other level. That is not true with China, which now rivals the US in some arenas or is on its way to doing so. In some aspects of science, technology, the global economy, diplomacy and political influence, Beijing is already more consequential to much of the rest of the world than America is.

Given its single-minded focus on creating an alternative world order crafted in Beijing’s image, as well as the tremendous resources it is devoting to that task, there is little reason to believe that China’s trajectory will change in the coming decade and beyond.

One could argue, in fact, that the outcome of the election matters almost as much to Beijing as it does to America, for it will define the type and scope of headwind Beijing faces for at least the next four years.

A second Trump term of course implies more of the same: trade war, challenging Beijing at every opportunity, the war of words, and not giving an inch on anything. But it also implies four more years of discord and disarray between America and its many allies. Both America and China have paid a serious price for having Donald Trump in the White House, but Bei-

jing has certainly benefitted while Washington has suffered from the fractious nature of America’s relationship with its allies.

Under a Biden presidency, that is likely to be greatly reduced, which should concern Beijing a lot, for it has enabled the Communist Party of China (CPP) to act with virtual impunity on the global stage while America and its allies pas-

sively look on. That is what has enabled Beijing to expropriate and militarize the Spratly and Paracel Islands, bulldoze its way into more than 70 countries without opposition via the Belt and Road Initiative, and significantly increase its influence in the world’s multilateral organizations, among other things. That damage has already been done and, in truth, there is relatively

little Joe Biden or any subsequent US administration may be able to do about it.

What Biden can do in response is repair those alliances and lead an effort to coordinate and unify the West’s future responses to Beijing’s actions. It is by acting in unison that the West will not only get Beijing’s attention, but begin to reverse the tide. Beijing has few real allies, and some of its “allies” have dual allegiances between Beijing and Washington. When push comes to shove in a time of crisis, Saudi Arabia, for example, is not likely to pivot in Beijing’s direction, despite China’s growing economic ties with the kingdom. The same is true with a variety of other allies that China believes are in its camp but which Washington has cultivated over the decades. Beijing is a new arrival to the party.

WWW.FAIROBSERVER.COM/

balance between the right amount of delegation and the right amount of strategic direction, so that teams can sense and respond to changing needs in their customer worlds.

And last but not the least, functional silos have no place in an agile organization. Agile leaders regularly need to model collaborative behavior. Furthermore, agile leaders need to identify the key customer/supplier relationships in which both sides have win-win situation.

I would say that leadership agility is the capability of a leader to appropriately sense and respond to the changes with actions that are focused, fast and flexible. Just as, at all levels in the defense hierarchy, a certain element of quick response is inbuilt. It is actually about a leader’s ability to prepare all employees for a VUCA world that enables them to shift their mindsets and anticipate change. This new environment is indeed taxing, and even the most able leaders will find their skills growing obsolete as quickly as their organizations in this volatile, unpredictable landscape. Leadership agility and adaptability are now much needed skills for organizations, who want to keep their heads above the water level.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

Top

TWEET Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp Happy birthday to India’s popular and prosperous Home Minister Shri @ AmitShah Ji. With your organizational skills and unique leadership ability, you have taken the organization to new heights. You have a unique role in the nationwide expansion of @ BJP4India. #HBDayAmitShah Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal Happy birthday to Home Minister @AmitShah ji who is ensuring the safety of the country with tireless hard work. With the decision of CAA, and the removal of Article 370, in the interest of the country, you have made an incomparable contribution to the BJP organization and the expansion of the BJP government in the states, along with ending the years-old problem.

Spiritual SPEAK

“In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self.”

—Mahavira

Vol 1 Issue No. 328 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.

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

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Yadav promised to scrap CM’s notification of the retirement @ 50 Palghar Issue:

Kumar is tired & cannot handle the state:Tejashwi Patna: Hitting out at Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday said that Kumar is mentally and physically tired and he cannot handle the State anymore.

“I am again saying that Nitish Kumar is tired and cannot handle the State. Mentally and physically he is tired of handling the State,” Tejashwi said while interacting with media.

Reacting to the ‘Lalu Yadav zindabad’ slogan raised in Nitish’s rally, he further said, “Everyone is asking Kumar, where was he when calamity had hit Bihar and on what basis is he asking people to vote for him. For the last 15 years, no employment

Unemployment, poverty matter for Bihar polls, Yadav slams Yogi

Tejashwi Yadav

YADAV RIPS INTO CM

opportunities have been brought in here, no industry has been set up, migration has increased, poverty did not reduce then on what

basis is he asking for the vote?”

Yadav scion also promised to scrap the notification in Bihar CM’s tenure of the retirement of government employees at the age of 50.

“Nitish put a notification that government employees will get retirement at the age of 50. This will be removed when we will come into power,” he added. —ANI

PM ADDRESSES PEOPLE OF BENGAL

‘Centre working for fast development of Bengal’ New Delhi: Central government is continuously working for the fast development of West Bengal, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi adding that under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, houses have been constructed for around 30 lakh poor people.

PM addressed the people of WB yesterday on the commencement of Durga Puja virtually and said this festival reflects the unity and strength of India.

“Be it opening bank accounts of 22 crore women under Jan Dhan Yojana, granting governance to women under Mudra Scheme, be it Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, or law against triple talaq, whether it’s free checkup facility during pregnancy for women or nutrition campaign or permanent commission in the Army, constant work is being done to empower the country’s women power,” he added. In the self-reliant India campaign, the strength of women is very big, PM said.

PM Modi takes part in commencement of Durga Puja celebrations in Kolkata virtually via VC on Thursday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

Durga Puja reflects unity and strength of India, says PM Modi New Delhi: Invoking Goddess Durga, reaching out to the people of WB during the state’s biggest festival, PM Modi on Thursday reaffirmed his government’s irrevocable commitment to women’s empowerment. Noting that Goddess Durga was worshipped as a symbol of ‘Shakti’.

On Durga Puja, PM Speaking about Bengal, Modi added, it was the land of Bengal itself that worked to make “Swadeshi” a resolution in the free-

said, was the epitome of pluralism and reflected the collective strength of India. “We have taken a number of steps for the empowerment of women,” Modi added. He said that antirape laws were made more stringent to include death penalty. PM recalled contributions of Bengal reformers . dom movement.

“Tagore, Bankim Chandra gave the message of self-reliant farmer and life from Bengal itself,” he added.

Patna: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday slammed UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over his poll speeches in Bihar saying, it is not important who comes from which state, but the issues that matter for Bihar elections are unemployment and poverty. Speaking on BJP’s manifesto for Bihar polls, he said, “BJP doesn’t have a face for Bihar polls.

Hearing on bail pleas of 70 postponed

Mumbai: A special court in Mumbai on Thursday postponed the hearing on the bail plea of 70 accused persons in connection with the mob lynching of two Sadhus and their driver in Maharashtra’s Palghar.

The Special Sessions Judge in Thane court postponed the bail hearing to November 3.

According to the police, a total of three FIRs have been registered and 178 persons arrested so far in connection with the Palghar lynching incident.

The case pertains to the mob lynching of two sadhus and their driver on the night of April 16 this year, when they were traveling from Kandivali in Mumbai to attend a funeral in Gujarat’s Surat amid the nationwide lockdown. —ANI

Sensex snaps four session winning, ends 149 pts lower Mumbai: A Snapping its four-session rising streak, equity benchmark Sensex ended 149 points lower on Thursday, tracking losses in index majors Reliance Industries, Infosys amid weak cues from global markets.

The 30-share BSE index settled 148.82 points or 0.37 per cent lower at 40,558.49. The broader NSE Nifty slipped 41.20 points or 0.35 per cent to 11,896.45.

IndusInd Bank was

the top laggard in the pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, Titan, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Nestle, Sun Pharma and Reliance.

On the other hand, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance and Axis Bank were the gainers.

During the afternoon session, markets attempted briefly to scale back losses but failed, said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research, Anand Rathi. —PTI

MODI LAUDS AMIT SHAH ON HIS BIRTHDAY

‘His efforts to make BJP stronger are noteworthy’ New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday extended greetings to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on his 56th birthday and appreciated his dedication and contribution towards India’s progress.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Birthday wishes to Shri @AmitShah Ji. Our nation is witnessing the dedication and excellence with which he is contributing towards India’s progress. His efforts to make BJP stronger are also noteworthy. May God bless him with a long and healthy life in service of India. Born in 1964 in Mumbai, Amit Shah has been

Govt conveys its ‘Strong Disapproval’ to twitter New Delhi: Warning Twitter against disrespecting the sovereignty and integrity of India, the Central government has conveyed its “strong disapproval” to the micro-blogging giant for showing Leh as part of China.

Ajay Sawhney, Secretary, MeitY, in his letter, asked Twitter to respect the sensitivities of Indian citizens. Secretary IT has also raised questions about its neutrality and fairness as an intermediary. —ANI

AMIT SHAH ERA IN BJP

involved with the BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya

BJP candidates-Brajesh Merja, Akshay Patel and Jitu Chaudhary--had been in Jaipur. “If they too had been drinking and partying, why did the BJP give them tickets to contest this by-election?” he asked.

He called Rupani’s allegations baseless and countered with his own allegations. “If such allegations are to be made, then I would allege that when Rupani is in Rajkot all illegal activities take place,” Vasoya said.

Amit Chavda, the president of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), re-

peated his past allegations that prohibition has remained on paper under the BJP since, on the ground, liquor is available in every nook and corner.

Party spokesperson Jayrajsinh Parmar also brought up an old statement from BJP leader Alpesh Thakor, who used to claim that he had a list of liquor dens in the state. Parmar pointed out that the state government should ask him for the list and see that Prohibition is strictly implemented.

Free Covid... has been cleared by the ICMR, we will make it

available to the people of Bihar free of cost,” said the manifesto. The promise figured at the top of the BJP’s election document.

Carryingtagline ‘BJP hai to bharosa hai’, the party drew heavily upon the trust enjoyed

by PM Modi among the masses by virtue of propeople measures like the Jan Dhan scheme and the Ujjwala Yojana.

“Bihar is a politically sensitive state. Here people cannot be fobbed off with empty promises. Claims made by parties are likely to be weighed against their past track record. This is where the BJP scores,” Sitharaman

Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS from his younger days.

India’s active Covid-19 cases fall below 10% New Delhi : Active cases of COVID-19 in India have fallen below 10 per cent while the positivity rate of the disease was reported below 5 per cent in the last three days, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) said here on Thursday.

As many as 79,415 patients have recovered and discharged in the last 24 hours whereas the new confirmed cases are 55,839. A total of 702 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Of these,

Swab test conducted at a bus stand in Bengaluru.

nearly 82 per cent are concentrated in 10 states/UTs. With falling case fatality rate, it also has one of the lowest COVID-19 mortality,” the MoHFW said. —ANI

FinMin fixes ceiling for ad hoc bonus @ Rs 7K New Delhi: The finance ministry has fixed the calculation ceiling for computing non-productivity linked bonus (ad hoc bonus) for central government employees at Rs 7,000, implying that an employee will be entitled to a maximum bonus of Rs 6,908.

“The quantum of Non-PLB will be worked out on the basis of emoluments/calculation ceiling whichever is lower,” the Department of Expendi-

Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance of India alongwith Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs.

ture said in its office memorandum.

The office memoran-

dum issued by the Expenditure Department said the President of

India has granted nonproductivity linked bonus (ad-hoc) bonus equivalent to 30-days emoluments for the accounting year 2019-20 to the central government employees in Group ‘C’ and all nongazette employees in Group ‘B’ who are not covered by any productivity linked bonus scheme.

Employees of Central para-military forces and armed forces would be eligible for

FROM PG 1 In dry...

06

told a PC where she released the manifesto.

The manifesto also said a large number of people will be provided employment in the health sector which is in for a major facelift through projects like the AIIMS at Darbhanga.

Other attractive promises include selfreliance for one crore women through micro finance, pucca houses for 30 lakh people, and a boost to fisheries making Bihar number one in the sector.

It also promised a fresh impetus to the dairy sector with setting up of 15 milk processing units.

A boost to production of maize, fruits, vegetables, betel leaves, honey and makhana etc. has been promised, and to facilitate these a conglomerate of 1,000 farm producer organisations has also been proposed.

Yet another promise made in the manifesto which is likely to find resonance among students is introducing Hindi as a medium of instruction for medical, engineering and other technical courses.

“Our promises are backed by credibility.

Compare the situation in Bihar between 1990 and 2005 (when the RJD was in power) with the changes that occurred

after we took over. You will get a clear picture,” Sitharaman said.

“During the NDA rule, the state’s growth rate in the industrial sector has been 17 per cent. In contrast, we are unable to find the figures for the preceding 15 years, apparently because industries were never on the radar of the previous government,” she remarked.

Tamil Nadu,...

CM Chouhan tweeted: “The preparation of vaccine is going on fast in India, as soon as the vaccine is ready, it will be made available to every citizen of MP for

free.”

Earlier, TN CM E Palaniswami, whose state is due to have assembly elections next year, said, “Once COVID-19 vaccine is ready, it will be provided to all people of the state free of cost”.

Bharat Biotech’s...

Meanwhile, the Serum Institute of India on Thursday said it has entered into an agreement with German pharmaceutical giant Merck and New York-based non-profit health research organisation IAVI to develop a treatment for people infected by the coronavirus.

this ad-hoc bonus, the Department said. The Cabinet had on Wednesday decided to give Rs 3,737 crore bonus to 30.67 lakh employees to encourage spending during the festive season. It included productivity linked bonus to 16.9 lakh non-gazetted employees of commercial establishments like Railways, Post, Defence among others, having financial implications of Rs 2,791 crore. —PTI

HC allows Jain temples to reopen dining halls Mumbai: Bombay High Court allowed Jain temples to reopen dining halls during the nineday fasting festival ‘Ayambil Oli Tap’ from October 23.According to the court ruling, temples will have to follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) issued by the state government for restaurants amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Temples will, however, not be opened for devotees to offer prayers, the Bombay high court clarified their clause.

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07

HIGHLIGHTS OF NEP 2020 HAS BEEN THE EMPHASIS ON INTRODUCING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI), MACHINE LEARNING (ML), AND RELATED TECHNOLOGIES INTO THE CURRICULUM

NON-INTIMIDATING WAYS TO

INTRODUCE AI/ML TO CHILDREN T

EXPERIMENTS WITH GOOGLE

he National E d u c at i o n a l Policy (NEP) 2020 was introduced this year. When we think of exposing children to technologybased learning, there is often a certain amount of scepticism involved.

Parents and teachers are often torn between the question — how soon is too soon. However, it doesn’t need to be as intimidating as it is made out to be. There are a lot of resources available for children to start their baby steps into this field in a fun and engaging way. We list some of them below:

SCRATCH

E

xperiments with Google is an open-source platform which has a good collection of experiments on artificial intelligence, virtual reality, Android, digital well-being, and Chrome experiments. Users can use simple tools to do basic AI experiments through various media such as pictures, drawings, language, and music.

As per the website, there are over 1,500 projects to choose from. Some of the more interesting ones are — AR insects in Google Search, Creating Your Own Art Colouring Book, Creating Shared Piano for Remote Learning, and Customising Google Assistant for Storytelling.

MACHINE LEARNING FOR KIDS

GOOGLE’S AIY

T

A

he brainchild of IBM, Machine Learning for Kids is a free, web-based tool to introduce children to machine learning systems and applications of AI in the real world. Machine Learning for Kids is built by Dale Lane using APIs from IBM Watson.

It provides hands-on experiments to train ML systems that recognise texts, images, sounds, and numbers. It leverages platforms such as Scratch and App Inventor to create interesting projects and games. It is also being used in schools as a significant resource to teach AI and ML to students. Teachers can also form their own admin page to manage their access to students.

E

or those just beginning to learn to code, Scratch is a good programming language to start with.

Scratch is a block-based visual programming language and website, targeted mainly at younger children to develop projects using a blocklike interface. MIT Media Labs invented this service to specifically meet the requirements of children aged between 8-16; however, it is now being used by people of all ages. The latest version, Scratch 3, is available in 40+ languages. It has over 40 million projects submitted by users from 150 countries. Some of the popular AI projects on its website include– AI Chatbot, AI Tank Battle, and AI Tic-Tac-Toe.

BROADLY, THESE EXPERIMENTS ARE CATEGORISED INTO 18 CATEGORIES. SOME OF THE MORE PROMINENT ONES ARE LISTED HERE: TEACHABLE MACHINE: These experiments enable children to create codeless machine learning models. Children can train their systems to recognise images and sounds, exporting the model to sites and apps.

AR EXPERIMENTS: There are a range of augmented reality-based projects that children can explore VOICE EXPERIMENTS: It makes it easier for developers to create new voice experiences.

DIGITAL WELL-BEING EXPERIMENTS: It basically showcases ideas and tools to strike a better balance with technology.

WRAPPING UP

nother offering from Google in order to make learning AI fun and engaging is AIY. The name is an intelligent wordplay with AI and doit-yourself (DIY). The products available under AIY are one of the two variants — voice kit which allows users to build projects in voice recognition; and vision kit for developing projects with image recognition and ML. AIY is a physical kit which helps beginners to get hands-on experience to learn and experiment with AI. Generally, each of these kits contain a cardboard shell, vision bonnet, a speaker or a lens, and a tripod stand. These can be connected to other peripheral devices as well.

COGNIMATES

A

product from the MIT Media Lab, Cognimates is an open-source AI learning platform for young children starting from age 7. Children can learn how to build games, robots, and train their own AI modes. Like Machine Learning for Kids, Cognimates is also based on Scratch programming language. It provides a library of tools and activities for learning AI. This platform even allows children to program intelligent devices such as Alexa.

SOURCE: ANALYTICS INDIA MAGAZINE

N

ow that we have discussed the go-to resources to learn AI and machine learning, it is equally important that parents, guardians and teachers adopt these approaches towards it. Before getting hands dirty, children should be made to understand the whys and hows. Sure, AI and ML are touted as the technologies of the future which are going to dominate the job market, but that should not be the sole motivation to introduce these technologies to children, especially among the younger ones. It should be looked at from an angle of problem solving and skill development.

Another important factor that should be considered is the interest level of the child. No two children are the same, and understandably one cannot expect each child to have an interest in technology. Thrusting one’s own interest upon children is not only distressing but also an exercise in futility.

CONCEPT: MONI SHARMA

DESIGN: CP SHARMA

You can plough a field all you wish in your mind but nothing will bear fruit till you get down to it and put in some solid effort.

2ND FRONT

—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India

AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020

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COVID-19 UPDATE

WORLD

INDIA

08

GUJARAT

11,40,009 4,18,27,282 1,17,277 77,56,206 3,670 1,64,121 DEATHS

MAHARASHTRA 42,831 DEATHS 16,25,197 CASES

CONFIRMED CASES

TAMIL NADU 10,825 DEATHS 7,00,193 CASES

DEATHS

CONFIRMED CASES

KARNATAKA 10,770 DEATHS 7,88,551 CASES

DEATHS

DELHI 6,163 DEATHS 3,44,318 CASES

CONFIRMED CASES

RAJASTHAN 1,800 DEATHS 1,80,755 CASES

GUJ HC REJECTS CHALLENGE TO AMUL DAIRY BOSSES’ ELECTION

PASA can be invoked only if a person is a The Friday’s poll was challenged alleging that BJP was trying to take control of dairy threat to society: HC First India Bureau Ahmedabad: A petition challenging the State Government’s allegedly surreptitious tactic of pitchforking the ruling BJP’s directors on the board of the Rs 78,000 crore Amul Dairy suffered a blow with the Gujarat High Court refusing to grant any stay on Friday’s election for the chairman and vice-chairman.

The challenge had come from Kanti Sodha Parmar, an elected director, after receiving a showcause notice from the District Cooperative Registrar seeking objections to appointment of 3 State Government nominees on the board.

Parmar had contended that the ruling BJP was surreptitiously trying to take control of the powerful dairy that had in the latest elections established a majority of Congress

DAIRY POLITICS

—FILE PHOTO

Gujarat High Court.

First India Bureau

Amul Dairy elections have become a bone of contention.

members. He had also challenged the showcause notice.

The court set aside his prayer but directed that the government nominees would cast their votes but they won’t be counted with the others and would be kept in a sealed envelope to be brought before the court. The

court will then open it and decide whether to count them or not.

On August 29, polling for the managing committee of the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union (Amul Dairy) saw 10 members getting elected on ‘truck’ symbol under the leadership of sitting chairman Ramsinh

—FILE PHOTO

Parmar, former Congress leader who had joined the BJP in 2017.

Majority of the winning members were from Congress or had leaning towards it, while 2 were from the opponent’s camp. The board has 12 elected members, one representing a lifetime member and 3 exofficio, in-

cluding the managing director, district cooperative registrar, one government nominee and Kaira District Cooperative bank chairman.

With 3 more government nominees, the State can tilt the scale in its favour, as the petitioner apprehended.

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Thursday quashed the invocation of the Prevention of Anti Social Activities Act (PASA) in a case as illegal and stated that the petitioner could be tried under any ordinary law of the land.

Alpesh Tomar had challenged his arrest under PASA. The First Information Report against him was that he

ran an illegal call center. The PASA case was slapped on him with the argument that the petitioner’s behaviour could have an adverse impact on US citizens though the charge lacked any evidence.

Quashing the PASA detention, Justice Biren Vaishnav cited an earlier judgement that observed, “To make out a case that the person has become a threat and menace to the society so as to disturb the whole

tempo of the society and that all social apparatus is in peril disturbing public order at the instance of such person.”

The court went on to state that, “It cannot be said that the detenue is a person within the meaning of section 2(c) of the Act. Except general statements, there is no material on record. which shows that the petitioners-detenue are acting in such a manner, which is dangerous to the public order.”

Orientation program for new Navodaya students Nurse alleges harassment need a break: union from seniors, kills herself Nirma law students held First India Bureau

First India Bureau

Ahmedabad: Prof Stephen Hardy from the University of Hull, UK, on Thursday stated that the law was similar to the pandemic and that it knew no boundaries.

Prof Hardy, who is the Dean of Faculty of Business, Law and Politics at the University of Hull, was speaking at the inaugural of the orientation and induction programme for the new batch (2020-2025) of B.A. LL.B. (Hons)./B. Com LL.B. (Hons) students of the Institute of Law at Nirma University.

Referring to the

Ahmedabad: The employees of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas have asserted that it is high time students and teachers are given a vacation after months of online teaching without adequate infrastructure.

They said since the academic session started in June 2020, there was no break, to such an extent that tests were conducted even on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Navodaya Vidyalaya Employees welfare Association (NVEWA) national president Y K Sharma and national general secretary Ra-

Senior law professors and lawyers addresing Nirma Institute of Law students.

Covid-19 crisis, Prof Hardy stated that owing to the pandemic everyone might be living “in very different places now but all universities unite under the banner of global law. Like the pandemic, law knows no boundaries.”

Speaking on the occasion, senior counsel of the Supreme Court Gopal Sankaranarayanan said an ocean of opportunities had opened up for all law students.

Prof Stephen G Barnes from Penn State Law, USA, stressed on taking the road less travelled.

hul Singh said in a statement, “All parents and teachers want that students must be given a rightful reprieve.”

Their grievances are that Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) had not drawn up elaborate guidelines for online teaching and cyber safety for teachers and students, nor did it have an online platform of its own or any teaching materials and videos.

This has compelled every teacher to create suitable material.

Since most Vidyalayas are in remote villages, children there were plagued with problems like lack of devices and connectivity.

First India Bureau Surat: A 28-year-old nurse allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself at her residence at Vijalpore town in Navsari district on Thursday.

Megha Acharya, 28, a resident of Jalaram society in Vejalpore town in Navsari district, was working as a staff nurse with the Civil Hospital in Navsari. The deceased has left behind a long suicide note levelling serious charges of harassment against her seniors at the workplace.

Sources said that the deceased had rendered exemplary service as a

corona warrior during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic at the Civil Hospital. Her family members refused to accept the dead body demanding justice and action against those responsible for forcing their daughter to take such an extreme step.

Senior police offic-

ers from Navsari rushed to the spot and carried out an investigation. The police recovered a four-and-ahalf-page suicide note where the deceased has mentioned certain names of her seniors for meting out mental harassment at the workplace.

RAIN WATCH

Weatherman says monsoon to bid adieu to Gujarat in 4 days The IMD has stated that conditions were ideal for rains to pull out of Gujarat, MP, Jharkhand First India Bureau Ahmedabad: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday morning that conditions were ideal for the monsoon to withdraw from the remaining parts of Gujarat, Jharkhand and

Madhya Pradesh as also some parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and North Maharashtra during next 3-4 days.

The withdrawal process had been stalled due to rain-driving low-pressure areas/depressions crossing land and traversing to

the West into Peninsular India. But the current low is still seabound and tracking elsewhere to the North, aiming for the OdishaWest Bengal-Bangladesh coasts.

The IMD said the well-marked low over the North-West and adjoining West-Central off South Odisha-North Andhra Pradesh coasts. It is expected to move towards the West Bengal-Bangladesh

Rains are on way out of Gujarat.

—FILE PHOTO

coasts across the North-West Bay off the Odisha coast during next two days.

The extended stay over warm seas should be sufficient to fuel the growth of the low to a depression later Thursday and a deep depression on Friday.

The IMD sees fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls breaking out over Coastal Odisha and plains of West Bengal

and over North-East India from Thursday to Saturday.

Isolated very heavy rainfall is also likely over Coastal Odisha on Thursday and over West Bengal on Friday.

Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall with extreme falls is likely over Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura until Friday and over Assam and Meghalaya on Friday.

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09

AHMEDABAD, FRIDAY OCTOBER 23, 2020

PRASAD BIDAPA EXPLAINS WHY OUR TRADITIONAL HERITAGE TEXTILES & CRAFTS HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF BECOMING THE MOST WANTED LUXURY GOODS IN THE WORLD!

CELEBRATING PRASAD BIDAPA

L

et me give you a brief lesson in textile history. The entire world wore Khadi or hand-spun and handwoven fabrics before the power-loom was invented by an Englishman, Edmund Cartwright in 1784.

This was to change the very course of History and the English were quick to exploit this to their advantage by making the new machine-made textiles popular the world over. In India, the wide variety and worldwide popularity of our native Handloom textiles posed a big threat to the British quest for world dominance with their textile exports; so they ensured the decline of Indian Handloom by taxing it heavily, destroying looms all over the country and aggressively promoting their own powerloom fabrics woven in Manchester and other centers in England. A proof of its popularity can be gauged when you look at the pictures of our ancestors. More often than not, our fathers and grandfathers wore woolen and cotton suits made from these imported fabrics, everyone looking like a proper Brown Sahib!

Luckily for us, the women of India did not take kindly to all these imported fabrics and western modes of dressing, and I credit our mothers & grandmothers with having saved the art of heritage hand weaving in this country to whatever extent they could. From Prasad Bidapa

the glory of Benares & Kanchipuram woven saris to the great Ikats of India – Pochampally, Sambhalpur & Patola and the myriad other varieties we have, they saved them all. Post Independence, Jawaharlal Nehru charged textile experts like Pupul Jaykar, Kamladevi Chattopdhyay & Sina Kaul with reviving every variety of Khadi & Handloom in India, and these wonderful ladies did a great job of it; opening the Central Cottage Industries Corporation of India (CCIC) stores all over the country and giving our artisans a platform to sell from.

Today, the Handloom & Khadi Industry are managing to hold their own, and come regularly into the fashion space with enlightened designers like Bibi Russell, Rajesh Pratap Singh, David Abraham, Rakesh Thakore, Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal, Rimzim Dadu, Raghavendra Rathore, Payal Pratap Singh, Rina

Singh, Gaurav Jai Gupata, Suket Dhir, Uravashi Kaur, Vidhi Singhania and many others featuring these heritage textiles in their collections. In fact, I often tell young Indian designers to take advantage of our myriad textiles and processes like block-printing & Bandhani to create unique & beautiful globally appealing products instead of buying cheap imported Chinese or Turkish synthetic fabrics.

Turn to P10

—ALL PICTURES BY HAIDER KHAN FOR PBA

HAND-MADE IN INDIA

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AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020

10

—ALL PICTURES BY HAIDER KHAN FOR PBA

FROM PG 9

CELEBRATING

FA CE OF TH ED AY

HAND-MADE IN INDIA

I do not deny that manmade power loom textiles have their myriad uses and spaces – especially in the field of Uniforms for the Armed Forces, Medical Fraternity, Police & Firefighting personnel, Airline Crew as well as the Hospitality Industry, and this is all the more reason as to why our Hand-woven textiles should occupy a luxury space far above these mundane and mass-produced textiles.

The Rajasthan Heritage Week was a successful platform for the promotion of Rajasthan’s matchless textiles like Kota Doria & Khadi and beautiful processes like Leheriya, Bandhani & Block Printing like Dabu, Ajrakh & Sanganer. This helped bring these textiles to National attention and many designers are interacting and working directly with renowned artisans like Ram Kishore Derewala, Abdul Majid, The Ansaris, Mustakeen Kachara, Sabir Bhai, Grameen Sansthan and many others. Ruma Devi of Grameen Sansthan went on to win an important Textile Fairs of India award, appeared on the cover of India Today magazine and was featured with Amitabh Bachchan in Kaun Banega Crorepati. These craftsmen are in the process of building their own brands and need all the help and support they can get from their customers, the ready-made garment industry and the Government.

Designers in Rajasthan feature these beautiful fab-

YOUR DAY Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva

rics in their collections, and labels like Puja Arya, Swati Ubroi, Tripti Bhargava, Swati Vijaivargie, Rasa Jaipur, Rohit Kamra, Anantaya, Anokhi and many others celebrate the hand-made textiles of Rajasthan in diverse ways in their collections sold to an international clientele.

Today, we celebrate mass-produced designer bags, clothes and accessories from the West who have laid claim to their products being high up in the Luxury Sector. Unreal amounts of money are paid for these heavily advertised goods that seem to have convinced

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

You may or may not be able to understand someone’s feelings but you should surely respect whatever so ever someone has to say. Sometimes you have to act extra smart, relying on promises is a problem, instead you must get signatures when it comes to deal.

You have brilliant creative ideas, do something with them. You may come across a lot of distractions today but you must at any cost prevent yourself from losing focus.

There may be people around you who keeps you update on what’s happening around you.

Value your terms with friends who have always been there for you. You good qualification will help you today to fetch a wonderful job that will not only fulfil your monetary needs but will also make you feel secure. You will also get the compensation that has been delayed.

With whomever you will talk today, you will leave a deep impression on people and you will be the talk of the town. Today if you facing any monetary problems than remember its just a temporary thing and therefore there is nothing to worry. You are quite straight forward.

MAR 21 - APR 20

APR 21 - MAY 20

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

You may misunderstand someone taking advantage of you but that may not be the case so you must evaluate every thing before coming to the conclusions. You may face some problems on domestic front, advice would be to not loose cool. You may be held responsible for a mistake.

You are always cheerful and and everyone enjoys talking to you. You will get a lot of recognition on academic front and you deserve this considering all your hard work and efforts. On professional front, you expertise will help solving all the complex problem .

You are desperate for a change and may adopt an animal. Not everything that shines is gold, you may find a person very friendly from outside but may have evil motives against you inside so be careful. You may do some charity work today or go and donate some stuff.

You are a very social person and you make sure to call and keep in touch with everyone who matters to you. No matter how much someone tries to oppose your opinion, if you think you are right you must take a stand for it. You may get inspired from someone close to you.

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

AUG 24 - SEP 23

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Your gestures may hurt someone’s sentiments so be careful. You will spend a lot of time with your partner, compensating for all the times when you were not there for them. You may find good opportunities to build your career, be quick enough to grab that one great chance.

You are a very gently with people and that’s why people confide in you. You will set an example for others to follow and this will make you pretty famous for a while. Keep making the good cause. On academic front, don’t listen to anyone’s advice except your guru.

You may do something to help old age people. You will feel heavenly at home and all because of your spouse and their organizing skills. Some of you may get the marriage proposal today, which is good. On job front, you will spend a very busy day, working and attending meetings.

You are brilliant at hiding your feelings and that’s not a good thing to do, open up a little. Your devotion and dedication in professional life will pay you today in form of a promotion or an increment or both.

Your seniors are very impressed and appreciates you like anything.

NOV 23 - DEC 22

SEJAL KUMAR, Youtuber

the world that life is not worthwhile unless you own one of the machine or factory made merchandise.

We need to understand and realize that true luxury is still hand-made, needing to be produced in limited quantities to ensure exclusivity and has to be priced way above what we are selling it for now. A beautiful KotaDoria Sari is an original, can never be replicated, made entirely by hand and will definitely become a family heirloom that can be passed on from Mother to Daughter for generations.

How then is this of any less value than a Designer bag?

Carry the bag by all means, but wear the Kota Doria!

We need our designers to create partnerships with the artisans, in helping them create products that have global appeal. Designers in the West have long used Indian embroidery in their work with no mention of India or the artisans input. This must change, for the artisan cannot be overshadowed by the Designer’s name, as it is a true partnership that has resulted in their beautiful collections.

The next generation of the Artisan’s families have to be encouraged to support the family business by studying subjects like Fashion Design & Merchandising, Textiles, Apparel Production, Marketing, Retail and other subjects that can benefit them and take them to global spaces.

Indian Heritage Textiles and the Artisan’s work will soon emerge from the shadows, taking their rightful place in the world of international fashion in couture and Luxury spaces.

Prasad Bidapa has chronicled fashion in India for close to four decades now. He has presented his shows & exhibitions all over the world for some of India’s biggest Labels & Brands. Currently he works in reviving & promoting Indian Heritage Textiles & Crafts, creating projects which modernize and energise India’s beautiful Handmade treasures.

He will be writing a fortnightly column for us.

DEC 23 - JAN 20

JAN 21 - FEB 19

FEB20 - MARCH 20

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AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020

11

HAPPY

CHHALAANG TRAILER OUT

BIRTHDAY! M alaika Arora celebrates her 47th birthday today, 23 October. The diva, who usually celebrates her birthday holidaying abroad with her family and friends, recently recovered from the novel coronavirus and is likely to celebrate it in Mumbai. To commemorate her special day, City First takes you back to some of her best performances.

Mani Ratnam’s 1998 film, ‘Dil Se’, composed by AR Rahman and penned by Gulzar, ‘Chaiyya chaiyya’ made Malaika a dancing star in Bollywood. Post the success of her debut music video, she went on to perform numerous other blockbuster dances -- from ‘Maahi ve’ in Kaante to ‘Munni badnaam’ in ‘Dabangg’ and ‘Hello Hello’ in ‘Pataakha’.

Actress, television personality, reality show judge, fitness guru and much more, Malaika Arora is an unstoppable woman who inspires many.

—City First

...poster of the film

T

he makers of the film ‘Chhalaang’ released the trailer of the film and it has created waves across the internet for its unique storyline. The film is a hilarious, yet inspirational journey of a PT master from a school in Northern India.

Montu (Rajkummar Rao) is a typical PT master for who, it’s just a job.

Ajay Devgn shares one special memory from his childhood and says, “I dont know about special memory but when we used to go to school, we didn’t have all these gadgets, for us, our entertainment was physical.

Which is what I miss with today’s kids but I’m constantly behind them to go outdoors and stay outside instead of playing on their PSs and all those gadgets because I feel that it is very important.”

—Agency

Malaika Arora

Support message

P

op icon Beyonce recently shared a message of support amidst the police protests in Nigeria. The 39-year-old entertainer took to her Instagram on Tuesday night (October 20) calling for the end of the police unit known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). “I am heartbroken to see the sense-

THE OUTFIELD

Nicki Minaj Tony Lewls

80

s pop-rock singer Tony Lewis of the band The Outfield has died at 62. A statement announcing the sad news was released earlier on Thursday and it read: “Tony Lewis, singer of the ‘80s rock band The Outfield, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. Tony’s music touched people around the globe for decades. Lewis and the late John Spinks took the ‘80s by storm with The Outfield’s infectious pop songs, including Your Love, All The Love and Say It Isn’t So. Their song Your Love reached No. 6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart in 1986 and is still widely known today, with features in various TV spots and commercials, gaining millions of streams each month.” The Your Love video currently boasts more than 300 million views on YouTube.

—Agency

FIRST

less brutality taking place in Nigeria,” Beyonce wrote. “There has to be an end to SARS.” “We have been working on partnerships with youth organizations to support those protesting for change,” Beyonce continued. “We are collaborating with coalitions to provide emergency healthcare, food and shelter. To our Nigerian sisters and brothers, we stand by you.”

—Agency

Sun-kissed..!

LOOK...

A

thiya Shetty is one of the Bollywood actresses who is quite active on social media. The gorgeous actress loves to keep her fans updated with her daily routine. She often shares her stunning photos.

Now, the lovely actress took to her Instagram handle to share a beautiful sun-kissed photo of her. Athiya is looking drop-dead gorgeous in the picture.

She can be seen wearing a loose tortilla brown coloured top paired with shorts, posing for the beautiful photo. Sharing the same, she captioned it as, “borrowing some energy.” Her rumoured boyfriend and Indian cricketer KL Rahul was quick to like her photo.

—Agency

...her post

N

icki Minaj recently shared the very first look at her newborn son with husband Kenneth Petty. In the photo that she shared, we see her son’s tiny foot and her husband’s hand.

“Happy Anniversary, my love,” Nicki posted in an anniversary post to her husband.

You can see the photo

embedded in the post below.

In case you missed it, Nicki announced the birth of her son at the end of last month. Back in July, the superstar rapper took Instagram by storm as she confirmed that she’s pregnant with her first child.

—Agency

TIGER’S

Single, ready to Mingle!

LITTLE FAN!

K

Kiara Advani

iara Advani and Sidharth Malhotra will soon be seen in Shershaah but before they make their appearance on the big screen, the co-stars already have found a fan following on social media and die-hard fans approving of their Sidharth Malhotra pairing. Their social media banter is no less and were recently spotted driving around the city. Kiara opened up about her relationship status.

While she stuck to her status and revealed that she is single, the actress admitted that she wouldn’t mind dating someone from the acting community. “I like the status that says, ‘I am single till I’m married,” she said. —Agency

Athiya Shetty

T

Beyonce

iger Shroff enjoys a massive fan following across the nation and even across the globe. The Baaghi 3 star has established himself in the league of the best action stars in Bollywood and he is also known to be a divine dancer. Tiger also has a dedicated fan base among kids and often, many of their parents share videos of their munchkins dancing to Tiger’s songs on social media that leave the actor in awe. However, an adorable thing happened when Tiger’s dance class was crashed

Tiger Shroff

by a little fan who wanted to learn some dance steps from him.

Though, it ended up with Tiger following the lead of his little fan.

—Agency

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

CITY FIRST

A

short musical film ‘Dashobhuja’ (the tenarmed Goddess) by Spagia Foundation has drawn the who’s who of the performing arts and film world to highlight the ten astras or weapons held

by Maa Durga in each hand and its deep spiritual meaning and message. The film, to be premiered online in conformity with social distancing norms, would be in Hindi.

The short film has been conceptualised by Vinnie Kakkar and presented by Spagia Foundation. Spagia Foundation is a social initiative by Vinnie & Saurabh Kakkar. It is trying to make a visible difference by enabling engaging and empowering young minds with various skill development bringing economic independence and promoting art and culture.

The film ‘Dashobhuja’ is directed by Arindam Sil and maestro Bickram Ghosh has given the music. While Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt of Grammy Award and Padma Bhushanfame has done Raag Durga for a portion of the film, Dr Sonal Mansingh has recited the Sanskrit shlokas and narration.

Singers Usha Uthup, Iman Chakraborty and Somchanda Bhattacharya have lent their voices to the short film whose

AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020

12

The ten-armed Goddess

script is written by Sugato Guha and choreographed by Arnab Bandhopadhyay.

Ayan Sil contributed as the director of photography. The entire shooting was done at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) Kolkata in Salt Lake.

Vinnie Kakkar chairperson Spagia said, “With global pandemic of COVID-19, the new normal is the mask and social distancing. Adhering to the same Spagia has organised virtual Durga Puja. In Bengali version of this film Member of Parliament Nusrat Jahan and actor Rituparna Sengupta has

Anganwadi children watching Dashobuja

given the narration. We have received good wishes from our Governor Kalraj Mishra and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot

Devleena Kumar & group

as well as Sharmila Tagore for this initiative.” The children of Anganwadi (Gajsingh Pura) also had the opportunity to en-

joy the movie ‘Dashobuja’ via Zoom. Keeping in mind the current Covid situation a projector showcasing the same has also

been set up with following social distancing.

Clockwise: Shinjini Kulkarni, Dr Sonal Mansingh, Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and June Malia

Sawai Jaipur Awards 2020 T

DURING THE DAY!

CITY FIRST

RAJ: A bike rider Naresh Singh Rathore from the group ‘Club Roaring Hawks’, has completed 2,521 Kms of the journey in only 34 hours and 57 minutes. He shared that it was very difficult to achieve this feat while travelling through Jaisalmer-PalanpurJodhpur-Ajmer-Jaipur and then back to Jaipur within 35 hours, as the journey was continuous, without any major stoppages.

Stuti Bafna, a student of 3rd year Journalism and Mass Communication, has published a digital magazine, ‘Indian Fourth Estate’, on acid attacks during the lockdown. “Acid attack is still one of the major crimes in India, more than 300 cases are reported every year but the number is more which goes unreported every year”, she said.

GUJ: The patients from Mental Health Hospital were seen making 30,000 colourful Diya (lamps) for the upcoming Diwali Festival as many organisations came forward to purchase these lamps, to help them financially in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

HAPPY B’DAY!

he prestigious Annual Award Ceremony ‘Sawai Jaipur Awards 2020’ was streamed live virtually on the MSMS Museum Facebook page and YouTube channel on Thursday. The ceremony was held on the Commemoration of the Late H.H. Brigadier Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh MVC, of Jaipur.

This year the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum Trust gave awards in as many as 24 categories. The categories had a wide range from service to humankind to preservation of heritage; from medical science to excellence in traditional crafts, among others.

Padmini Devi and Diya Kumari during the event

The awards consisted of an amount of Rs.31,000, shawl, a replica of the silver urn (Gangajali) placed at the Sarvatobhadra Chowk of the City Palace, citation and a ‘shrifal’.

The virtual programme began with the launch of the book

‘Bubbles’ on Brigadier H.H. Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh MVC, of Jaipur. The book was released by Padmini Devi and Diya Kumari.

On the occasion, Diya Kumari said that it was a matter joy and pride for her to launch

Better Call Shireen Sundar Kanti Joshi CITY FIRST

T

he Joshi family of Jaipur has taken a unique initiative to encourage the women of the state in the field of sports. On behalf of this family of Ranji cricketers, the best female cricketer of Rajasthan senior and junior category

What an Initiative!

will now be awarded the Sundar Kanti Joshi Award.

Vipin Joshi, the head of the Joshi family and former Rajasthan Ranji cricketer, shared that he has instituted the award in memory of his mother, Sundar Kanti Joshi.

Under the award, a cash prize of Rs 21 thousand will be given to the best female cricketer in the senior category and Rs 11 thousand in the junior category. Joshi said that these awards will be announced every year on the eve of International Women’s Day. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

TREATMENT DONE RIGHT!

CITY FIRST

T RAJ: The look-launch event of the soon-to-be-held Rajasthan Fashion Award Season 4 was organised on Thursday at Sizzlin Scissors Salon, Vaishali Nagar. Along with this, a press conference was also held to give information about the event.

Film distributor Raj Bansal, World Craft of Weaver and Artisan, Jaipur director Deepak Sankit, socialite JD Maheshwari, socialite Sanjay Sohan Sardana, brand ambassador of the event and Celebrity Astrologer Surabhi Gupta were also present at the occasion.

IPS Biju George Joseph K. and IPS Preeti Jain celebrated their birthdays on 22 October, Thursday.

We wish them all the best!

the biography of her father, Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh popularly known as ‘Bubbles’. She and her family are grateful to all those who helped bring out this book. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

he cancer centre and nephrology department of Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur is constantly treating patients with all safety measures regarding Covid 19.

Recently, four such high-risk patients of cancer and kidney disease have been successfully treated.

The team making these high-risk treatments successful is cancer surgeon Dr Ashish Zakhetia, Dr Arun Pandey, Nephrologist Dr from the Department of Nephrology, Dr Suraj Kumar Gupta, Dr Naveen

Patidar from the Department of Anesthesia, ICU Incharge Dr Sanjay Paliwal and ICU Staff, OT Staff etc.

Dr Ashish shared that as Geetanjali Hospital is multi-modality centre, so high-risk patients coming here are also treated continuously under one roof due to all the facilities. Even complex treatment is successfully carried out.

Shireen Vijay CITY FIRST

S

hireen Vijay runs a single woman startup Bakery which she started when Covid 19 visited us. She is a graduate in economics from Lady Shri Ram College and opted for film studies for post-graduation. She has always done what her heart has told her. Apart from being a daughter of senior journalist couple Vijay Vidrohi and Seema Vijay, she was not attracted to journalism. Since her childhood, she was passionate about baking.

Seema, her mother tells us that as a health foodie, she at best humoured her daughter’s passion for baking using fine flour and finer fruity

stuff.

Shireen’s bakery, ‘Better Call Shireen’ is a reasonable success as her savouries are always endowed with unique flavours, have nutritive value and are named thematically. If one looks at the ingredients she uses, fresh pineapple, almond, chocolate, raspberry, honey, cinnamon, jaggery, whole wheat, fruits, etc, one realizes the wide variety of fresh and healthy stuff she prefers. Many times her thematic products are based on her in-depth knowledge of films.

‘Film Colour Palette Cup Cakes’, ‘lemon Tart with meringue kisses’ etc. hark back to the film world she knows so well.

She has been well trained under great chefs in India and is happy baking for Jaipurites. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in