First India-Ahmedabad Edition-27 April 2020

OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD

CORONA

27°C - 40°C

ALERT AHMEDABAD l MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00

COVID-19 UPDATE

RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 151

WORLD

2,05,929 29,71,533 880 DEATHS

CONFIRMED CASES

DEATHS

INDIA

27,886

CONFIRMED CASES

PM’s agenda with CMs: Lockdown exit plan, state-specific progress Aditi Nagar New Delhi: Almost a week before the extended lockdown ends, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with Chief Ministers of all states and Union territories via video conference on Monday.

PM will talk on the way ahead in the fight against the novel coronavirus, amid indications that the discussions could also focus on a

graded exit from the ongoing lockdown.

According to sources, the three-point agenda of this meeting is mainly focused on Corona lock-down and epidemic, steps taken to prevent corona infection, status and containment in states and union territories and following the guidelines issued by the Union Home Ministry on April 20 and steps to be

Prime Minister Narendra Modi seen wearing a mask during video-conferencing with the Chief Ministers over COVID19, in New Delhi on April 11.

—FILE PHOTO

151

In upcoming interaction today PM is expected to seek views of states in lifting lockdown, which is in place till May 3

taken after May 3, the last date of extended lockdown period.

This will be the third video conference of the prime minister with the chief ministers after the spread of the COVID-19 in the country.

Sources in the government indicated that besides discussing the way forward in dealing with the pandemic, the discussion could also focus on a “graded” exit from the

lockdown which is in place till May 3.

PM is also likely to take up state-specific issues and formulate a common exit plan.

The Centre and the state governments have been giving gradual relaxation in various fields and sectors to boost economic activities as also to provide relief to people.

But some states are willing to extend the lockdown Turn on P6

In Mann Ki Baat, PM said each person Says masks will become a new Lauds state governments for their symbol of a civilised society fighting this war as per their capacity proactive role against pandemic

KEY TAKE AWAYS FROM MANN KI BAAT  People seeing humane, sensitive side of cops  Government has come up with digital platform to help link Covid warriors  Feels ‘very proud’ when world leaders thank India for help in COVID-19 crisis  Helping poor is our topmost priority  Farmers ensuring no

one goes to bed hungry  Our fight akin to ‘Mahayagya’, everyone eager to contribute  Festivals teach us to fight against bad times  Celebrate Ramadan at home, maintain physical distancing  Change habits; Apply mask, don’t spit anywhere

GUJARAT

3,301

DEATHS

A PEOPLE-DRIVEN BATTLE!

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India’s “people-driven” battle against COVID-19 is the only way for the country to overcome the pandemic, and asked people to shun any complacency that they will not be infected by the coronavirus because it has so far not affected the places where they live or work.

In his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’ broadcast, Modi said the country is in the middle of a ‘yudh’ (war) and asserted that people have to continue being careful and take precautions.

His note of caution comes against the backdrop of the Union government and states relaxing lockdown norms to revive economic activities.

Turn on P6

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

Biggest 1 day spike in corona cases in India

Bhagwat: India never discriminates in helping

New Delhi: Last week into the extended lockdown, the countrywide toll due to Covid-19 rose to 880 and the number of cases climbed to 2,7890 on Sunday, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The country has reported 55 deaths and 1,975 cases in the last 24 hours even as all the eyes are now on the video conference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers on Monday.

Deaths were reported from Maharashtra, Rajasthan, MP, Gujarat, Delhi, UP, J&K and Tamil Nadu.

Nagpur: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said that India never discriminates and is helping other countries with medicines during COVID-19 pandemic.

“Coronavirus is a new disease. We are getting to know more about it as we are getting closer to the disease. All efforts are being made to mitigate this problem,” said Bhagwat in an online address on “Current scenario and our role.” He said that India has suffered a loss, but still sent the medicines to other countries, which were banned for exporting to other countries. “India never discriminates. We work for all,” said Bhagwat.

India, a major producer

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

of hydroxychloroquine, has promised to supply the drug to 55 countries including Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. The medication, which is used in COVID-19 therapy, has already been supplied to the United States, Afghanistan, Mauritius, Kazakhstan, Brazil, and Seychelles. Turn on P6

CONFIRMED CASES

GLOBAL STATE OF AFFAIRS COUNTRY TOTAL CASES

TOTAL NEW DEATHS DEATHS

975,798 SPAIN 226,629 ITALY 197,675 GERMANY 157,120 UK 152,840 TURKEY 110,130 IRAN 90,481 CHINA 82,827 RUSSIA 80,949 BRAZIL 59,875

54,941 23,190 26,644 5,896 20,732 2,805 5,710 4,632 747 4,077

USA

WWW.WORLDOMETERS.INFO

LAST UPDATED: APRIL 26, 2020, 11:00 PM

IN GUJARAT DISTRICT

SOUTH KOREA SAYS KIM JONG UN IS ‘ALIVE AND WELL’ Seoul: A special train possibly belonging to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was spotted this week at a resort town in the country, according to satellite images reviewed by a Washington-based North Korea monitoring project, amid conflicting reports about Kim’s health and whereabouts, a Reuters report said. Meanwhile, South Korea continued to pour water on mounting speculation about the health of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, telling CNN he is “alive and well.” “Our government position is firm,” Moon Chungin, the top foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told CNN. “Kim Jong Un is alive and well.”

‘CORONA CASES DROP TO ZERO IN WUHAN HOSP FOR 1ST TIME’ Beijing: Number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients in China’s Wuhan, where virus first emerged before turning out to be a pandemic, on Sunday dropped to zero for the first time, marking yet another milestone for the city which was opened up on April 8 after a 76-day lockdown. The last patient in Wuhan was cured on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

TOTAL CASES

AHMEDABAD 2181 VADODARA 234 SURAT 526 RAJKOT 45 BHAVNAGAR 40 ANAND 49 BHARUCH 29 GANDHINAGAR 25 PATAN 17 PANCHMAHAL 17 BANASKANTHA 28 NARMADA 12 CHOTA UDAIPUR 13 KUTCH 6 MAHESANA 7 BOTAD 12 DAHOD 4 PORBANDAR 3 JAMNAGAR 1 MORBI 1 SABARKANTHA 3 ARAVALLI 18 MAHISAGAR 10 KHEDA 6 GIR SOMNATH 3 VALSAD 5 TAPI 1 NAVSARI 3 DANG 1 SURENDRANAGAR 1 TOTAL

4 MILITANTS KILLED, ARMY OFFICER HURT IN KULGAM SHOOTOUT Srinagar: Four militants were killed in a brief shootout in Asthal village of Kulgam.

Police said militants evening attacked patrolling party of 9 RR in Asthal on Sunday.

Forces retaliated resulting in the encounter. Four militants were killed while one army officer identified as Major Patel has also received bullet injury.

+685 +288 +260 +19 +413 +99 +60 +4 +66 +32

3301

SAMPLES TESTED NEGATIVE CASES

TOTAL NEW DEATHS DEATHS

104 12 15 0 5 3 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 151

18 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 0 0 18

51,091 47,790

UNDER EXAMINATION

0

CORONA IN GUJARAT

With 18 fresh fatalities, Ahmedabad death toll has crossed 100. Moreover, 178 of the 230 fresh cases reported in the past 24 hours also came from the city, which now has 2,181 cases—66% of the state’s total of 3,301.

For more, see P3

Commissioner Nehra’s off-the-cuff remarks land him in hot water In the past week, he has reportedly been reprimanded by superiors in New Delhi and Gandhinagar Gargi Raval Ahmedabad: The city’s Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra seems to be suffering from a serious case of foot-in-the-mouth disease these days. At least, First India has learnt, that’s how Gandhinagar and New Delhi are seeing it.

Highly placed sources say Nehra has been pulled up by his superiors for acting and working too independently, and hence forcing the state and the local body to scramble to change their statement on what is fast becoming a daily basis.

A week ago, Nehra went on record to say

that Ahmedabad would defeat COVID-19 in the month of May. The next day, he took a U-turn, to announce that the battle would be long and hard, and appealed to citizens to comply with the nationwide lockdown.

Then, on Friday, he said the city could see as many as eight lakh cases by the end of May before swiftly bringing that number down to 15,000—a

mere sixteenth of his original estimate— within a span of about eight hours.

Understandably, this created ripples in the bureaucracy at both the Centre and the state.

Senior officers within the Nehra-led Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, and from the state government, h a v e t o l d First Municipal commissioner Vijay Nehra India

that the Commissioner has received calls both from Gandhinagar and New Delhi, in which he was reprimanded and warned against shooting his mouth off in public.

“He was asked not to make such predictions or estimates in public,” a source in the AMC said.

This was before the Central government formed teams to look into why cases of SarsCov-2 infection have been increasing in

Ahmedabad, Surat, Hyderabad, even after a month into the nationwide lockdown.

“The team asked the municipal commissioner and police commissioner Ashish Bhatia why social distancing has not been followed strictly. They also asked why they were announcing new COVID hospitals and isolation facilities if they were confident that they have been working efficiently to curb the vector. The

team also questioned Nehra and Bhatia why there were issues of food and supply shortages,” this person said, asking to remain anonymous for fear of professional blowback.

Nehra and Bhatia were also asked how—if, on record, there were only 17 people infected at the religious congregation in New Delhi in March—the virus had managed to spread among other populations.

Turn on P6

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

AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

02

SAAVDHANI HATI, DURGHATNA GHATI: PM P

rime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged citizens of areas which have not been affected by COVID-19 to not get caught in the “trap of over-confidence” and follow all precautions to keep the disease at bay.

“To my countrymen, I urge, let us not at all get caught in the trap of overconfidence, let us not harbour a feeling that if corona has not yet reached our city, our village, our street or our office, it is not going to reach now. Never make such a mistake,” Modi said during his monthly “Mann ki Baat” programme. “The experience of the world is narrating a lot to us. And, here in our country, we are always reminded again and again - ‘saavdhani hati, durghatna ghati’,” he said.

Modi stressed on “no negligence” at the local level or elsewhere.

“In over-enthusiasm, there should be no negligence at the local level or elsewhere. We will always have to remain cautious.

And, I will reiterate, always maintain a safe distance and keep yourself healthy,” he said.

Municipal worker holds a radio set as he listens to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat program in Ranchi on Sunday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

He also informed that the government has come up with a digital platform to link volunteers of social organizations, representatives of civil society and local administration.

“My dear countrymen, with utmost humility and deepest respect, I bow to this sentiment displayed by 130 crore countrymen.

To facilitate your selfless endeavour towards our country, as per your inclination and time, the government has come up with a Digital Platform ...it is called covidwarriors.gov. in ... I repeat- covidwarriors.gov.in,” said PM. “Through the medium of this platform, the govern-

ment has linked volunteers of social organizations, representatives of civil society and local administration with each other. It did not take long for 1.25 crore people to be part of this portal. They comprise Doctors, Nurses, ASHA-ANM workers, our friends from NCC and NSS, professionals from myriad fields...all of them have made the platform their own,” he added. Adding that these people are of immense help at the local level in preparing crisis management plans and implementing them, Modi also appealed to the people to join the platform and help in serving the country.

—ANI Prime Minister Narendra Modi. —FILE PHOTO

‘I feel very proud when ‘These are testing times but also a chance world leaders thank India’ for nation to procure and store crude oil’ New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on Sunday said he feels proud when world leaders thanks India and its people for providing help during the testing times of COVID-19 crisis.

“We took it upon ourselves to supply medicines to the needy across the world and made this humanitarian work happen. Today, when world leaders tell me- Thank you India, thank you people of India, I feel very proud,” said the Prime Minister in his address to the nation.

India, the major producer of hydroxychloro-

First India News

PM Modi with US Prez Donald Trump.

quine, has promised to supply the drug to 55 countries, including Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar as well.

The medication which is being used in COVID-19 therapy has already

—FILE PHOTO

reached the United States, Afghanistan, Mauritius, Kazakhstan, Brazil, and Seychelles.

India has already supplied medicines to countries, including Nepal, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. —ANI

Ahmedabad: The novel coronavirus pandemic that has brought the world to heel, has created many opportunities as well as adversities.

From the shutdown of various sectors to severely affecting economies, the pandemic has wreaked havoc on the nations. On the contrary, it has also presented a few opportunities such as the rise of the digital sector, which may prove to be a game-changer, lowest dip in crude oil prices in the last two decades and so on. With many global companies seeking to move their

operations from China, it may be a good chance to offer attractive packages to such organizations and have them settle in India.

According to Parimal Nathwani, senior group president at Reliance Industries and Rajya Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh, “Crude oil prices across the world have crashed down, it is the right time for oil companies and even nations to procure crude oil and stock it. Because once global businesses resume and trade and industry get back on track, crude oil prices will recover and one will not get an op-

Parimal Nathwani

portunity to buy it at the lower price.”

“The second big opportunity before the nation is to attract those multinational companies that are planning to wind up their operations in China. Few nations have even offered

good packages to such companies so that they relocate their plants to those countries,” shared Nathwani.

He also opined that this is the time for the central government to revamp ‘Make In India’, ‘Digital India’, ‘Ease of Doing Business’ programmes and make them more industryfriendly. This will ensure that more companies grab the opportunity to be part of the national economy to achieve the economic goal set for 2024.

Nathwani warned that it would be more prudent to be vigilant since it cannot be ruled

out whether the virus will attack again or not.

If that happens, it will be at a huge cost as the nation might go on lockdown again and industries will have to re-plan their schedules.

“Corona has changed our way of thinking, it has proved that the economy can be kept running by working from home. The internet penetration too has increased, over and above entertainment, it has opened wide the field of education. This may affect change in corporate planning and may embrace ‘Work from home’ concept wholeheartedly,” he concluded.

Independent or defiant? Nehra says shops won’t open until May 3 Forced to review decision, govt now says no relaxation for nonessential businesses in 4 cities First India News Ahmedabad: It is unclear if Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra just defied the state government, or if he took a stand for his city. That would depend entirely on whether or not the state consulted commissioners and collectors before deciding to allow shops and businesses to reopen on Sunday.

Either way, Nehra’s announcement on

Sunday afternoon— that shops in the city will remain shut until May 3—has put the state on the backfoot, compelling it to review its decision less than 24 hours since its initial announcement.

As a result, non-essential businesses in Gujarat’s four major cities will remain closed until May 3.

An hour after Nehra’s statement, Information and Broadcasting Secretary and Sec-

Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra.

retary to the Chief Minister, Ashwani Kumar told the media that, after consultation with shop owners, the government had decided to

keep all shops excluding essential commodities or grocery shops and milk parlours in Ahmedabad, Vadodara Surat and Rajkotr

—FILE PHOTO

closed until May 03. He clarified that all neighbourhood shops can reopen in the rest of the state.

Chief Minister Vijay

Rupani on Sunday said, “There is no question of the lockdown being lifted early. The state had announced a relaxation in the interest of small players, but traders came forward and requested to continue the lockdown for another week until May 3.”

However, sources in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) say that the announcement from Gandhinagar is a face-saving exercises.

They say Nehra initiated talks with shops owners’ associations on advice from senior AMC officers who had advised him to

not be in a hurry to reopen shops, even in unaffected areas.

They were worried that doing so would give the Sars-CoV-2 virus an opening to spread uncontrollably in those areas.

The AMC is right to be concerned.

As recently as Friday, Nehra had estimated that the city would see up to eight lakh cases of COVID-19 by the end of May. Yes, he revised that figure to 50,000 by the evening, but even 50,000 is a considerable number.

Similarly, in Surat— which accounts for the

second-highest number of cases in the state after Ahmedabad—Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani had estimated that his city could see a whopping 1.35 lakh cases

by May-end.

The state government seems to have chosen to ignore these estimates from Gujarat’s two worst-hit cities when it on Saturday announced that all neighbourhood would resume business from Sunday, meaning that the decision was either illadvised or the state is not taking the ground reality seriously enough.

GUJARAT AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

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

Black Sunday for A’bad as city death toll crosses 100

Is the state really better off than 3 EU nations?

Govt underplays their higher levels All 18 deaths reported in the past 24 hrs occurred in the city; state now has 3,301 +ve cases of sample testing Gandhinagar: In what has been one of Ahmedabad’s darkest days in the recent past, the city reported 18 deaths related to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, meaning all deaths reported from across the state occurred in the city.

With this, the city’s death toll is at 104— 68.8% of all 151 deaths reported across the state so far. Moreover, 178 of the 230 fresh cases reported in the past 24 hours also came from Ahmedabad, which now has 2,181 cases—66% of the state’s total of 3,301.

Surat remains the second worst-hit city in the state, with 30 new cases. Anand reported eight new cases, while Vadodara and Rajkot reported four each.

—PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE

First India News

A medic checks the temperature of a policeman on duty at Ahmedabad’s Ellisbridge area.

VIRUS CLAIMS CONGRESS COUNCILLOR BADRUDDIN SHAIKH

In addition, Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi said that new cases from Anand and Banaskantha have oc-

curred in completely new pockets.

She added that the state is using rapid test kits, and 6,509 samples

have been tested. All of these are gave inconclusive, meaning mostly negative, results.

For the first time,

Unseasonal rains likely in state even as lightning kills 1 First India News Ahmedabad: Unseasonal rains lashed parts of the state on Sunday, creating panic among farmers over crop harvest of mango, onion, sesame and bajra.

Some parts of the Saurashtra region especially Rajkot, Gondal, and Gir border received heavy rains and thundershowers, accompanied by a lightning strike that killed one labourer.

Hailstones were also seen falling in a few parts of the state.

Two farm labourers

were standing under a tree in Kana Vadala when it started to rain and lightning struck the tree. It killed one labourer on the spot while the other was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The deceased was later identified as Sutharsing Jamra, 30, resident of Madhya Pradesh.

Currently, humid winds from the Bay of Bengal continue to feed the eastern parts of the country with a trough extending from Bangladesh. There are chances that heavy rains and

thundershower may continue in the coastal pockets of the state.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, light rains or thundershowers are very likely at isolated places in the districts of Saurashtra and Kutch namely Rajkot, Gir Somnath, Amreli, Jamnagar, and Kutch. The rest of the state may experience dry weather.

The Met department also predicted no significant change in the maximum temperature in the next two to three days.

Ravi shared the exact capacity of laboratories: 3,770 samples a day.

In the last 24 hours, 2,776 samples were tested in state laboratories. She also said that GMERS colleges in Gandhinagar and Valsad have received approval to start sample testing and will begin operations in a few days.

Eight of the 18 deaths reported today have been attributed to the virus, while the rest are due to co-morbidities.

Meanwhile, DirectorGeneral of Police Shivanand Jha said a vehicle was detained in Botad for ferrying country and IMFL under the guise of transporting essential commodities. A criminal case has been registered against the driver under the Prohibition Act and the Disaster Management Act.

Ahmedabad: The Bandhkam Mazdoor Sangathan’s president Vipul Pandya in a letter to state chief minister Vijay Rupani, chief secretary Anil Mukim, and additional chief secretary labour and welfare department Vipul Mitra, has alleged that the state government misused the funds allocated for construction labourers.

Pandya stated that all

Workers at a construction site in Ahmedabad.

labourers under the Building and other Construction Workers Wel-

—FILE PHOTO

fare Board should receive Rs1,000 in their accounts. He added that

100000 90000 80000

Gandhinagar: Blowing its own horn, the state government on Sunday stated that its numbers of COVID-19 positive cases was much better than three European countries namely France, Italy and Spain.

Coming up on 35 days since the pandemic reached the state, what Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi neglected to reveal, is that the sample testing in these European countries was much higher than in the state.

In her presentation, Ravi shared data showing that the situation in Gujarat was in better shape than the three EU nations—which have similar-sized populations as us—were on their 35th day of the outbreak. She stated

Spain 94410 Italy 80536

70000 60000

First India News

Comparison of progress of epidemic of Gujarat with worst affected countries during their first 35 days

50000 40000 30000 20000

France 56972

Population: Italy = 6.5 crore Spain = 4.7 crore France = 6.5 crore Gujarat = 6.25 crore

Gujarat 3071

10000 0

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35

Number of days since first case *Currently Gujarat is on 35th day of epidemic

that the number of positive cases in Spain was 30 times higher than the state, with Italy and France at 30 and 18 times respectively.

However, as per data from a reliable source, as of April 22, Italy had conducted total sample testing of 15,13, 251 people, Spain had tested 9,30,230 samples with France testing 3,65,589 samples. On the other hand, Gujarat’s total tally of sample testing as of April 22 stood at 39,421. Therefore, going

by the data, Italy’s sample testing was 38.38 times higher than Gujarat, Spain’s rate of sampling was 23.5 times higher, and France’s, 9.27 times higher.

While the state claims that the situation is under control with adequate sample testing being conducted at 21 laboratories, it has failed to share the complete data.

One has to wonder why the state is trying to paint a rosy picture when the reality is drastically different.

18 more super spreaders test positive for virus

SOLEMN CELEBRATION

First India News

A statue of renowned poet Akha Bhagat sports a mask amid the COVID-19 outbreak, as the 11th generation of his descendants and local residents mark his 405th birth anniversary by reading his poems while maintaining physical distancing at Desai ni Pol in Ahmedabad’s Khadia area.

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

Labour union prez alleges misuse of funds First India News

03

as per a news report, the state government has transferred Rs250 crore from the welfare board’s fund to the Chief Minister Garib Kalyan package—a grant for 6.38 lakh workers.

“The state government had announced that every beneficiary would receive Rs1,000 as financial aid to be deposited into their bank accounts. And then, the state government goes on to transfer Rs250

crore from the welfare board to the Chief Minister Garib Kalyan package, which has 6.38 lakh registered members,” said Pandya.

He said, if 6.38 lakh workers each received Rs1,000, there would be a surplus amount of Rs186.20 crore. “The CM should immediately share the expenditure plan for that amount, or I will assume that its has been misused,” he stated.

SMC allows essential-item shops, businesses to open First India News Surat: A notification was issued by the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Sunday, which did not allow any other shops except the ones selling essential items to open within a 3km radius of any hotspot area or ones with COVID-19 patients till May 5.

SMC commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani said, “Shops have been

allowed to operate in the green zone of the city. But, as the number of hotspot areas in the city is much higher, the possibility of transmission cannot be ruled out. Therefore, no shops or businesses other than essential goods ones will be allowed to operate within a 3km radius of any hotspot area or one with infected patients until May 5.”

Ahmedabad: On Sunday, 18 more super spreaders were confirmed as having COVID-19, bringing the city’s total super spreader cases to 48 .

Ahmedabad municipal commissioner Vijay Nehra said, “In the last 24 hours, we have received reports that 18 more super spreader cases have been confirmed. Of those, 16 patients happen to be vegetable vendors.”

Since the last four days, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) health team has conducted aggressive sampling of likely super spreaders. It collected samples of vegetable vendors, grocery shop owners, milk parlour owners, pharmacists at medical shops and its staff members.

So far, around 500 samples have been collected, of which 48 people were found to be infected. All patients have been admitted to different hospitals.

Surprisingly, none of them presented any major symptoms of the infection.

—PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI & NANDAN DAVE

An electrical shop in Akhbar Nagar.

Gandhi Bridge, shut.

A man performs puja as he opens his shop after a month.

A cycle repair shop in Akhbar Nagar.

AN OPEN & SHUT CASE

A bookstall at Income Tax Circle.

The city’s small businesses came alive on Sunday morning, following Saturday’s announcement that non-essential establishments would be al-

lowed to reopen after a month of being shut. However, commerical activities came to a screeching halt by afternoon when authorities shut the

bridges across the Sabarmati, thus ending any hope of an early return to normalcy. All shops will continue to remain shut until next Sunday.

Dadhichi Bridge, shut.

PERSPECTIVE AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

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

IN-DEPTH

FIGHT AGAINST CORONA IS PEOPLE-DRIVEN

LET’S SAVE HUMANITY: LOVE IN THE TIMES OF CORONA

Persian scholar of medicine, Ibn Sina (980-1037) came up with the idea of quarantine DR ASHISH GAUR

P

rime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to the people through his fourth Mann ki Baat this year by calling the fight against coronavirus is people-driven. Everyone is contributing his/her best to the country’s fight against the deadly virus, the prime minister said and extolled all those contributing their mite to the national cause. Farmers found a special mention as they are toiling when the whole country is locked down.

“Our farmers are working day and night in their fields to ensure that no one goes hungry. There are people who are giving up rents and there are people who are giving up their pension,” Modi said.

“People of our country are fighting this war along with the administration. We are also fighting poverty. All of us are soldiers in this fight,” he said.

Indeed, the imposition of lockdown without prior warning has been the most upsetting part of the battle against the deadly virus. Lakhs - migrant workforce, students, and many others - found themselves stranded. With all work coming to a halt, people were rendered jobless and without money far from their native place. They trudged their way back, braving police’s lathi blows and hunger. Many made it, others were detained and quarantined until governments turned empathetic and started sending them back. A word of praise from the PM for the people will go a long way in this ongoing battle. With Twitter being misused for spreading Islamophobia in the country, a noxious atmosphere of hate and distrust was gaining hold. When the country needed unity and sanity, efforts were being made by a section of society to divide and spread madness. In that context the prime minister’s call for special prayers during Ramzan to ward off coronavirus was significant. Saying that the pandemic has changed the way we celebrate festivals, Modi said that during last year’s Ramzan one wouldn’t have imagined a situation like the present one and exhorted Muslims for special prayers. “This Ramzan we should pray more than before to ensure that before Eid the world gets rid of this coronavirus. I am sure we will strengthen this fight by following orders of the district administration,” he said.

Life after Covid-19 is bound to change drastically from the days before coronavirus, or BC as many prefer to call it. Masks would become an essential part of our person, at least for those not wanting to throw caution to the wind. “It has become a part of our daily lives. It has not happened before,” Modi said, calling it a new reality. If people indeed start donning masks and stay “do guz” (two yards) apart from one another, it would be a revolutionary change in our behaviour. If only people would heed his advice and stop spitting, the country will become so much cleaner and healthier.

The writer is a health care professional in Cardiac surgery and Cardiac Transplantation department in Mumbai

W

Vivid scientific theories and numerous research-backed articles are finding a place in front lines these days claiming to have found the treatment of this pandemic.

Though only time would declare the real solution behind the viral eradication, up-till then we shall learn a drug a day from social media

e are hit by the coronavirus and the whole nation is locked down for 21 days. As history would have it, word quarantine means 40 days isolation, and the first incident happened in the 14th century in Venice to prevent the spread of Bubonic plague, when the ships returning from the sea were quarantined for 40 days. It was the Persian scholar of medicine, Ibn Sina (980-1037) who first came up with the idea of quarantine to prevent the spread of diseases. He suspected that some diseases were spread by microorganisms; to prevent human-to-human contamination, he came up with the method of isolating people for 40 days. He called this method alArba’iniya (“the forty”).

In these days of self-isolation, we have few words added in our day to day dictionary which was probably left isolated in the English language i.e, Quarantine, and social distancing. Obviously we were all made to learn and repeat a few words daily like Corona, masks, and hand hygiene.

Coming to from where I started, When we get trained to practice surgery or for that matter to examine any patient, we are taught hand washing (scrubbing in medical language), social distancing -standing 3 feet away form anyone who is not sterile (surgically clean) and to wear mask always to prevent contamination.

As we have the situation turned into a nightmare, the three basic steps of training again come to the forefront of our rescue. So I would love to say “The whole world is operation table now.”

Vivid scientific theories and numerous research-backed articles are finding a place in front lines these days claiming to have found the treatment of this pandemic. Though only time would declare the real solution behind the viral eradica-

tion, up-till then we shall learn a drug a day from social media.

To nail the science behind immunogenicity and viral spread, I would retract your senses to Darwin’s theory of evolution that we read at some stage in our school which precisely claims “survival of the fittest “ and to understand any epidemic /pandemic Darwin shall always come to our rescue.

Long before apes and plants evolved, viruses contributed to the rise of cellular life. Bacteria were the first to evolve from prototypes. The virus was on earth more than 3.5 billion years ago and branching of the human lineage from the one that produced great apes (orang-utans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas) in Africa happened sometime between 6 and 7 million years ago. So progeny wise we are younger and at their la la land.

So we know now, who invaded whom?

In these difficult times, the thing which has also evolved or rather surfaced with a viral pandemic is religious outrage, bigotry, and hatred towards the medical community by selec-

As Rumi would have said it: “This too shall pass” and as poet Emily Dickinson would have proclaimed “Hope is the thing with feathers” we would eventually be able to save humans out of this catastrophe

tive groups. Though we may find a drug to stop the deaths and to treat the affected lungs, unfortunately, we won’t ever be able to evolve

What COVID-19 reveals about the US and China

T

here is nothing like a pandemic to expose systemic differences. For China and the US, which were locked in an ideologically driven competition even before the COVID-19 crisis, those differences are stark.

But the two countries have at least one thing in common: when this is all over, they will need to rethink their social contracts.

To curb virus transmission, China and the US have implemented social-distancing measures, which – together with the unemployment they produce – have broken the cycle of earning and spending that sustains global growth. Yet the type of public-health measures pursued – and their outcomes – have diverged sharply. China’s draconian lockdowns produced a dramatic decline

04

in new cases, whereas America’s delayed and fragmented response allowed infections – and the death toll – to mount.

This divergence is often attributed to political differences: Chinese central planning allows for more resolute action. But this explanation misses the extent to which the US and Chinese growth models have shaped their responses – and the financial and economic effects.

In the US, decades of neoliberal policies have led to a dependence on debtfinanced consumption.

Americans saved little but borrowed a lot. Thanks to the “exorbitant privilege” afforded by the US dollar’s position as the leading global reserve currency, so did the government. Fiscal and current-account deficits swelled.

Inflation, however, re-

International Monetary Fund estimates that world GDP will contract by 3% this year. China’s shrank by 6.8% in the first quarter

mained low, even when the US Federal Reserve pursued expansionary policies, largely because of the positive supply shocks produced by the integration of China and other developing countries into the global economy. The Fed is taking that route again during the pandemic, slashing interest rates and expanding its balance sheet by more

than $2.4 trillion in the past six weeks to prevent a systemic liquidity shortage.

The US financial system has also built up excessive leverage while becoming increasingly disconnected from the real economy. Wall Street firms trade among themselves, rather than serving Main Street. Corporations rely more on capital markets than on banks.

Moreover, despite advancements in electronic payments, households and small businesses continue to operate mainly in less efficient cash, paper checks, and credit cards. The US Treasury is delivering pandemic stimulus payments through direct deposits and mailed checks.

Technology platforms have capitalized on this debt-driven growth model, pushing endless consumption by users – through, say, targeted ads – with less

concern for supporting those attempting to generate income online. The “gig economy” exemplifies this one-way dynamic: a platform like Uber is optimized for sales and provides workers with the bare minimum of training and protection, while regulators take a hands-off approach.

It has long been clear that the US model is financially, environmentally, and – given skyrocketing inequality – socially unsustainable. But the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that any disruption of the debtconsumption cycle threatens to trigger collapse almost immediately: as soon as incomes are interrupted, private financial institutions curtail credit, fearing non-performing loans.

Consumption plummets, depleting incomes further.

FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO WWW.PROJECTSYNDICATECOM

any drug in any laboratory which would treat religious bigotry.

So as we spend time with our loved ones in confinement, watching the daily doses of religious serials, having good homemade food, and sleeping comfortably in those cushioned ac rooms we must never forget the few unprivileged people who scattered outside on the dry, hot, deserted and lifeless roads.

We must also not forget to talk to our innersoles in solitude, for which you won’t ever have to hunt for a cave or climb the Himalayas, and ask ourselves; Is it really the way God wanted things to happen? Does our moral allow us to see such hatred brewing and above all: will you be able to explain the logic behind religious bigotry to innocent minds of your progeny?

As Rumi would have said it: “This too shall pass” and as poetic as Emily Dickinson would have proclaimed “Hope is the thing with feathers” we would eventually be able to save humans out of this catastrophe.

But as mother nature is stopping by to take a deep breathe let’s save humanity along too.

Top

TWEET Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal Double the Grain Ear of rice: Railways is plying Annapoorna trains, a combination of two foodgrain loaded trains for efficient & timely transportation of essential goods.

Railways is committed to ensure adequate food supplies for fellow citizens during COVID-19 lockdown.

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump I never said the pandemic was a Hoax! Who would say such a thing? I said that the Do Nothing Democrats, together with their Mainstream Media partners, are the Hoax. They have been called out & embarrassed on this, even admitting they were wrong, but continue to spread the lie!

Spiritual SPEAK

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?—Romans 8:31

Vol 1 Issue No. 151 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

INDIA AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

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

CORONA UPDATE

Malls & markets in Delhi will continue to remain shut & only standalone neighbourhood shops will be opened

MALLS, MARKETS TO STAY SHUT: KEJRIWAL New Delhi: Malls and markets in Delhi will continue to remain shut and only standalone neighbourhood shops will be allowed to open, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said this afternoon after the central government allowed an ease in the nationwide restrictions over coronavirus in a late-night order on Friday.

“Last week, we had decided not to ease restrictions after the centre's order on relaxing shutdown in non-affected areas. We had decided to review the situation again in a week (on April 27),” CM Arvind Kejriwal said during a vc.

“We have now decided to stick to centre's (latest) guidelines. In Delhi, markets, market complexes or malls will not reopen. Only standalone neighbourhood shops will be allowed to open. In containment zones, nothing changes.

These are the areas where we are restricting movement,” he said, adding that “no other

Centre decided to open certain shops, we are implementing it here too. Medical stores, grocery stores, fruits, vegetable shops, dairy will remain open. Besides this, standalone shops in residential areas, neighbourhood shops will also open. No shopping complex or market will open. No shops will open in containment zones. Apart from that, for the next one week, till May 3, we are not allowing anything to open.

—Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister

relaxations will be allowed” till May 3 when the second phase of the countrywide lockdown is scheduled to end.

“These are very challenging times. We will plan the road ahead after a discussion with the central govern-

Health Min Dr Harsh Vardhan visits AIIMS Trauma Centre

Health Min Dr Harsh Vardhan visits AIIMS Trauma Centre, converted into dedicated COVID-19 Hosp.

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Sunday visited AIIMS Trauma Centre, which has been converted into a dedicated COVID-19 hospital.

Earlier on April 24, Dr Harsh Vardhan and MoS, Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Choubey had held a meeting via video conferencing with state Health Ministers to review actions on COVID-19 management. In the video conference,

STAFFER@ AIIMS, RISHEKESH TESTS+VE

Dr Vardhan urged them to ensure that no unnecessary stigma is attached to COVID-19 and said that we need to identify people infected with COVID-19

and treat them.

A total of 26,496 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India. 5,804 people have recovered or migrated. —ANI

ment,” he said.

The national capital, which has 95 containment zones spread across all 11 districts, has so far reported nearly 2,500 coronavirus cases, inlcuding 53 deaths. It its order, the Union Home Ministry on Friday allowed all the shops in the residential areas - except those in malls - to reopen in a huge relief to shopkeepers and buyers amid a countrywide shutdown. The relaxation is not applicable to containment zones.

All restaurants, salons, barber shops, liquor stores will remain closed, the government clarified later, adding that e-commerce companies can only sell essential items. Malls, cinemas, gymnasiums, sports complexes, swimming pools, bars and auditoriums also continue to remain shut.

Only 50% staff will be allowed in shops that reopen. Masks, gloves & adherence to social distancing norms is mandatory. —Agencies

MP ‘Happiness Department’ to reduce stress of patients Bhopal: The BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government has decided to have a separate “Happiness Department” and use its services to reduce the stress of coronavirus patients and boost the morale of those at the forefront of the battle against the disease. CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, during his previous tenure, set up the “Anand Vibhag” (happiness department) in 2016. But, after the Congress came to power in the state in 2018, it merged the happiness department with the “Adhyatmik Vibhag” (spiritual department).

Now, Chouhan has directed the officials to demerge it, and engage the Happiness Department in fight against COVID-19. The CM has said those infected by the coronavirus should be treated in a joyous environment. —ANI

‘80% patients asymptomatic in Maha’ Mumbai: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray said “80 % patients of coronavirus were asymptomatic” in his state – which has the largest number of COVID-19 patients in the country.

Maharashtra currently has 7,628 cases, more than a quarter of over 26,000 cases in the country. A chunk of them are from Mumbai, the country’s financial capital.

The CM said his state will take a decision on extending the lockdown by the end of this month. “We will take a call on what to do after the 30th,”

Matrix, importer of kits, which was seeking full payment upfront before delivering them.

The two companies

have entered into an agreement with Matrix, over the distribution of the test kits in the country. Justice Najmi Wa-

ziri issued the direction to all three companies to import 10 lakh test kits from China and distribute them here at a

Thackeray said. For now, he said, “We are restarting some things. I am going to study (the plan) it this evening. We have to see how we return to normalcy slowly”. Giving examples of urgent requirements, he said, “Doctors should start their clinics. Dialysis centers should

be started”. Meanwhile, he asked the people to have patience, saying without lockdown, there is “no other choice” at the moment.”It is not like the coronavirus is suddenly going away.

There is no proof of her immunity. We have to keep the high risk group safe,” he said.

100 COPS INFECTED, 2 DIE Mumbai: More than 100 cops have contracted highly contagious illness, which has infected over 26,000 people in country and killed at least 800. Two of these policemen from Mumbai have died, the city police tweeted. “Painful to know that two of our policemen have lost their lives fighting coronavirus.

Their families will be supported as per government's policy,” said CM Uddhav.

Bihar: 2 automatic RNA extraction machines ordered from Singapore

Dehradun: As many as 2,189 cases were lodged & 10,062 people have been arrested for the breach of lockdown norms in Uttarakhand.

“Out of the total, 39 cases were registered & 391 people were arrested on Sunday,” Police said. Under the MV Act, challans have been issued against 25,033 vehicles. —ANI

Patna: Bihar government has ordered two automatic RNA extraction machines, said the Principal Secretary of Health, Sanjay Kumar on Sunday.

“Right now the RNA extraction is done manually. The state government has ordered two automatic RNA extraction machines, one for RMRI

Recovered patients leave the NMCH in Patna on Sunday.

and the other for IGMS. They have been ordered from Singapore, we expect them to be here by monthend or the first week of May,” said Sanjay Kumar. Earlier in the day, with nine more persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar, the total number of cases in the state reached 251. —ANI

STAY SAFE...

A graffiti is made on a road in Lucknow to make people aware about the COVID-19 and also to spread the message of staying indoors during the second phase of the lockdown to stay safe from the deadly Coronavirus.

—PHOTO BY ANI

81 MORE CASES IN ANDHRA PRADESH Amaravati: Eightyone more COVID-19 cases have been reported from Andhra Pradesh in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases in the state to 1097.

According to a media bulletin released

by Andhra Pradesh state COVID Nodal Of-

Make test kits available at lowest cost: HC THE DIRECTIVE

UDDHAV TO INTERACT WITH PM MODI TODAY

10,000 held for breaching lockdown norms

LEGAL MATTER

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed that COVID-19 related tests should be made available to the general public at the lowest cost possible as the country is going through an unprecedented medical crisis affecting public order.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Rare Metabolics and Aark Pharmaceuticals, seeking the release of 7.24 lakh COVID-19 test kits from respondent

05

price not beyond Rs 400 per kit inclusive of GST. “The country is going through an unprecedented medical crisis affecting public order.

People have been cloistered in their homes or constrained to stay wherever they were on March 24. A profit mark-up of Rs 155 that is 61% on the landed cost price of Rs 245 is much on the higher side and in any case more than sufficient for the seller,” Wazir said. —ANI

ficer Arja Srikanth, as many as 6768 samples are tested in Andhra Pradesh in the last 24 hours from 9 AM Saturday to 9 AM Sunday.

81 of them are detected positive for COVID-19.

So far, the total number of cases in the state is 1097 and active cases are 835.

Delhi: Babu Jagjivan Ram Hosp closed, after staff gets infected New Delhi: A second hospital in Delhi has been sealed in 24 hours after 44 staff including doctors were found infected with coronavirus. Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital in north-west Delhi's Jahangirpuri will remain sealed until building has been completely sanitised. Patients who are already receiving critical care are still being looked after but no new patients will be taken in, the hospital said.The latest sealing

Paramilitary personnel stand guard at the Hindu Rao Hospital.

comes less than 24 hours after a nurse at Hindu Rao Hospital who had been working at different sections of

the building for the last two weeks tested positive for coronavirus, the officials from the hospital said. —ANI

INDIA AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

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

‘Being patient is the need of the hour’ CDS General Bipin Rawat said that the medical directions are being regularly issued by the DGAFMS New Delhi: The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army, General Bipin Rawat, on Sunday said that the armed forces personnel understand their responsibility at this time when India is battling the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak.

“As far as defence services are concerned, we do understand our responsibility that at this time when the nation is fighting against COVID-19 menace, the defence services must operate beyond the mandate and come to the support of our people and government in whatever way we can,” General Rawat told news agency ANI. “In order to do so, we

As far as defence services are concerned, we do understand our responsibility that at this time when the nation is fighting against COVID-19 menace, the defence services must operate beyond the mandate and come to the support of our people and government in whatever way we can.

BEING SECURE

—General Bipin Rawat, CDS

There would be problems in these challenging times but we have to learn to live with them.

It cannot be business as usual. These are the times when certain directions have been issued and they have to be adhered to if we want to fight the COVID-19 menace. I think our nation has done well. We will continue to do well if

the directions issued from time to time are adhered to,” he said.

General Rawat, while referring to the lockdown, said this is not the time to be impatient.

“We do know when the country is under lockdown and people are told to stay indoors, they tend to become impatient. This is not the time to be impatient.

Patience is very important to ensure that we remain disciplined.

Maintaining discipline in armed forces is not very difficult as we are accustomed to being in discipline but to maintain patience is the need of the hour,” he said “I am very happy to inform you that all our people have downloaded the Aarogya Setu application.” —ANI

06

‘Revamp Corona testing in country’ India has to scale up testing from current 40,000 to 1L tests per day

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged PM Modi to clear “bottlenecks” and ramp up coronavirus testing in the country.

Quoting experts, Gandhi said “random testing is the key to beating the virus”. India has to scale up Covid-19 testing from the cur-

rent 40,000 to one lakh tests per day, he said. “Experts agree that mass random testing is the key to beating Corona. In India, a bottle neck is stopping us from scaling testing from the current 40,000 per day to 1 lakh tests a day, for which test kits are already in stock. —PTI

have to first ensure that we remain safe from COVID-19 because if our own sailors, soldiers and airmen get affected by this virus, how are we going to support our people. That is why we have issued very strict directions on social distancing, wearing of masks and ensuring that people who re-

quire to be in quarantine remain in quarantine,” said the CDS. He said that the medical directions are being regularly issued by the Director-General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) and that all meetings and conferences are taking place through video conferencing.

“We are attending

meetings organised by the Cabinet Secretary and we are attending meetings of the Ministry of Health. Whatever directions are coming, are percolating down to the rank and file and we are ensuring that these reach in the right time and right manner. This is very important for us to maintain strict discipline and patience.

SC heard 593 matters, delivered verdicts in 215 cases in lockdown

DHFL promoters, Wadhwan brothers, taken in CBI custody

Big bureaucratic reshuffle in Modi govt; AK Sharma, Tarun Bajaj move out from PMO

New Delhi: DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, accused in the Yes BankDHFL fraud cases, have been taken into CBI custody, Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh said.

“A #CBI team has taken both Kapil & Dhiraj Wadhwan into custody. @SataraPolice has given them all required assistance & an escort vehicle with 1 3 guard upto Mumbai on a written request. The arrest procedures are going on. #LawEqualForAll,” the minister tweeted.

Out on bail since Feb 21, they were placed in institutional quarantine at Panchgani on April 9 after they had traveled from Khandala family's farmhouse in Mahabaleshwar violating lockdown. —PTI

New Delhi: In a major reshuffle in top bureaucracy of the Narendra Modi government, senior IAS officers A.K. Sharma and Tarun Bajaj were on Sunday moved out of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Bajaj, a 1988-batch Haryana cadre officer, has been appointed as Secretary, Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance and will take over upon superannuation of incumbent Atanu Chakraborty on April 30. He is presently posted as Additional Secretary in PMO, said a Ministry of Personnel order.

Sharma, a 1988-batch IAS of Gujarat cadre and also an Additional Secretary in the PMO, has been appointed Secretary, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

New Delhi: The Supreme Court heard 593 matters via video-conferencing and delivered judgement in 215 of them in a month during the unprecedented nationwide lockdown.

As COVID-19 infections spread in the country, the Supreme Court shut its doors to litigants and lawyers on March 23, two days before the lockdown came into force, but opened up to a virtual new way of functioning, albeit with a reduced strength.

In normal times, the apex court dispose of nearly 3,500 cases on an average a month. Twothree benches have been taking up “urgent” matters in virtual courtrooms daily during the lockdown period as compared to up to 16 benches hearing cases in normal times.

A total of 87 benches heard 593 cases on 17 working days between Match 23 and April 24.

Though the first phase of the nationwide lockdown for containing the spread of coronavi-

rus started on March 25, the apex court had issued a circular on March 23 restricting entry of advocates and litigants in its premises.

The circular had said that only matters involving extreme urgency would be heard by the top court through video-conferencing during the lockdown, which has now been extended till May 3. The data released by the top court said that as on April 24, the apex court had disposed of 84 review petitions.

It said that out of 87 benches, 34 heard main matters while 53 benches took up review petitions for adjudication. The data said that 390 main matters, along with 203 connected cases, were heard during this period.

It said verdicts were delivered in 215 cases, out of which 174 were connected matters.

SC judges, hearing matters via vc, have been provided with internet connectivity with speed of up to 100Mbps. —PTI

There was no party hosted by me: Kanika New Delhi: Days after recovering from Corona & getting discharged from Lucknow's SGPGI, Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor said that “no party was hosted” by her in Lucknow and that there have been several “wrong exchanges of information” about her. She took to Instagram to open up about her diagnosis —ANI

and will take over upon superannuation of the present incumbent Arun Kumar Panda on April 30. The decision was taken on Sunday by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) chaired by the Prime Minister.

As per the order, Sudhanshu Pandey will be new Union Food Secretary, Pradeep Kumar Tripathi the new Steel Secretary, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) Vice Chairman Tarun Kapoor the new Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas, CBSE Chairperson Anita Karwal will be the new Secretary, Education and Literacy, and Rajesh Bhushan Officer on Special Duty in Department of Health and Family Welfare.

Union Health Secre-

Preeti Sudan

tary Preeti Sudan has got a three-month extension, said a Ministry of Personnel order. A 1983 batch IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre, she was to retire from service on April 30.

The ACC approved her extension for a period of “three months beyond the date of her superannuation on April 30, 2020 or until

further orders, whichever is earlier”.

Amit Khare, a 1985-batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre and currently Secretary, Higher Education, has been given additional charge of the post of Secretary, Information and Broadcasting on appointment of incumbent Ravi Mittal as Secretary, Sports.

Ravi Kant, Secretary, Food and Public Distribution has been appointed as Secretary, Ex-Servicemen Welfare in Ministry of Defence given the coming superannuation of present incumbent Sanjeevanee Kutty on April 30.

Secretary, New and Renewable Energy, Anand Kumar has been appointed as Secretary, Culture.

These were among 23

IAS officers of the rank from Additional Secretary, Special Secretary and Secretary who were on Sunday appointed in various central government departments as part of the bureaucratic reshuffle.

A total of 10 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers have been given in-situ upgradation to the level of Special Secretary in the rank and pay of Secretary of Central government, as a measure personal to the them, by temporarily upgrading the posts held by them.

These are Jyoti Arora, B Anand, Neel Kamal Darbari, Bidyut Bihari Swain, Apurva Chandra, Rajiv Bansal, Ali Raza Rizvi, Praveen Kr. Srivastava, Arvind Singh and Indevar Pandey.

Mum Police sends Arnab 2 probe notices Mumbai: Mumbai Police has sent Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami two notices in a 12 hour period for immediate interrogation for questioning Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s silence on Palghar sadhu lynching.

According to a statement issued by Goswami, as a law abiding citizen, he will cooperate with investigation & will appear for in-

Arnab Goswami

terrogation on Monday. He further urged Mumbai Police to show similar alacrity

in investigating the attack on him and his wife which was carried out on the intervening night of 23rd and 24th April allegedly by Youth Congress workers over his remarks on Sonia Gandhi alias Antonia Maino. He says that despite his repeated requests to the Mumbai Police to mention role of Vadra Congress & its leadership

in the attack, the police has refused to do so. He has also shared further facts with Mumbai Police so that the role of Vadra Congress is not erased. “I am sure the Mumbai Police will not sidestep detailed evidence available on the role of the Vadra Congress and delete the element of conspiracy and assault in the attack,” his statement said.

FROM PG 1 Commissioner Nehra’s...

Most recently, Nehra has also locked horns with his seniors in the state government. In his press bulletin, which streamed live on social media around 4pm on Saturday, he allowed shops and businesses outside containment zones to resume operations. However, a meeting with AMC officers later in the day changed his mind.

“His subordinates told him that relaxing

the lockdown norms could worsen the situation and requested that he keep the lockdown in place. So, he made a statement on Sunday saying that the business community was were asked to support the civic body’s decision,” the AMC officer said.

Bhagwat: India...

The RSS chief also appealed to the people to join the government in this collective effort to combat COVID-19 and reach out to everyone

who needs help. “When the people were bound by some rules and guidelines, they felt that they are being prohibited from doing certain things. RSS made a decision in March itself and cancelled all its programmes till June end,” he said.

“But some people might feel that the government is prohibiting our programmes. We are working not for the publicity of our works but for the betterment of society. Everyone

should work for the society in these hard times with dedication,” added Bhagwat. Emphasising on the unfortunate incidents reported amidst COVID-19 lockdown, he said: “There is no dearth of people who instigate others. It gives birth to anger. Anger gives birth to imprudence. It gives rise to extremist acts. We know that there are forces which reap benefit out of it and they are making attempts.” —ANI

PM’s agenda... beyond May 3 to ensure that coronavirus cases remain under control.

The exact time of meeting is yet to be confirmed.

A people-driven...

“I urge you not to get overconfident.

You should in your over-enthusiasm not think that if the coronavirus has not yet reached your city, village, street or office, it is not going to reach now. Never make such a mistake. The ex-

perience of the world tells us a lot in this regard,” he said. Modi referred to a popular Hindi idiom ‘Sawdhani hati, durghatna ghati’ (accident happens when caution is lowered) to make his point.

In his 30-minute address, Modi hailed states, emergency workers and civil society groups for their contribution in combating the pandemic, and said that the resolve shown by the people of the country has led to the begin-

ning of a transformation with businesses, offices, educational institutions, medical sector rapidly undergoing new changes.

With the country under a lockdown since March 24 midnight, he said India’s people-driven battle against the pandemic will be discussed when the world discusses the crisis later. “India’s fight against the coronavirus is people-driven in the truest sense of the term.

Along with people, gov-

ernment and administration are fighting it as well... This is the only way we can win over the virus,” he said.

Citing a Sanskrit shloka, he said. “Fire, debt and illness, if taken lightly, grow again at the first opportunity, assuming dangerous proportions, so it is important to treat them completely. Therefore, in over-enthusiasm, there should be no negligence. We will always have to remain cautious.” —PTI

TALKING POINT AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

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

07

THE INTEGRATION OF PRINCELY STATES DR SANJEEV CHOPRA IAS & Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration Mussoorie and Honorary Curator, Valley of Words: Literature and Arts Festival, Dehradun

T

his week, readers will see two maps – one printed in 1947, when India was still a Dominion and the one published in 1950 when India became a Republic, and the description on the masthead reads INDIA: Showing the Position of Indian States under the New Constitution. However, this column will focus on the integration of the princely states, as these are no longer clubbed under the very broad categories of Punjab States, the Madras States, and the States of Western, Deccan, Eastern, and Central states.

Of the 571 states covered under the doctrine of Paramountcy of the Crown, only nine went to the Dominion of Pakistan. These included Bhawalpur, Chitral, Hunza, Kalat, Khairpur, Kharan, Las Bela, Mekran, Swat and 562 came to India. The procrastination of the Ruler of J&K, the intransigence of the Nizam of Hyderabad, and the abortive effort of the Jam Saheb of Junagadh to opt for Pakistan are widely known.

Lesser known is the fact that the kingdom of Kalat, also called the Khanate of Kalat in the Balochistan province of Pakistan wanted to accede to India, and even sent their representative to call on Maulana Abdul Kalam and VP Menon, the Secretary (later Adviser) to the Ministry of States, but India did not accept the offer, mainly because this would have gone against the accepted principles of geographical continuity and/ or the demographic profile of the state. India was veering to the view that while the views of the Ruler were important, they could not be the sole reason for determining the accession of a state to a Dominion. Of greater surprise is the revelation that Jodhpur was considering the very ‘tempting offers’ by Jinnah to join Pakistan. In a confidential note, the High Commissioner of UK at New Delhi wrote to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO ), London: ‘ as you probably know, this is not the first time that His Highness( Jodhpur) has been considering the relative benefits to Jodhpur of accession to Pakistan, rather than India. he is said to have been offered by Mr. Jinnah, certain facilities, including free use of the port of Karachi’. In another dispatch, it was reported that Jinnah compared the Rajputs to Pathans, and said that all Rajputs will have the right to bear (personal) arms without any license throughout the territory of Pakistan.

The High Commissioner also mentioned that in turn, Sardar Patel ‘deemed it expedient to undertake that His Highness’s Rajputs should continue to carry and import arms without restriction, that food should be provided, and the highest priority given to the building of a railway from Jodhpur to Cutch to open a port .’

We go back to the map of 1950 which gives a much clearer picture of India, and

The column focuses on the integration of the princely states, as these are no longer clubbed under the very broad categories of Punjab States, the Madras States, and the States of Western, Deccan, Eastern, and Central states

all the 562 princely states in India, covering 45% of India’s area (with a population of 98 million) are clearly integrated. Raj Pramukhs chosen from amongst the erstwhile rulers headed the Union of

States (PEPSU: Patiala and East Punjab States Union), Saurashtra (all the twelve salute states, including Bhavnagar, Nawanagar, Junagadh and the 107 limited jurisdictional states, and 329 non-ju-

risdictional areas), Rajasthan Union led by Udaipur, Madhya Bharat (or the Malwa Union comprising, amongst others Gwalior and Indore, but excluding Bhopal) and Travancore – Cochin. The

larger states: J&K, Hyderabad, and Mysore with their geographical boundaries still intact were also under the Raj Pramukhs. Collectively, these are referred to as Part B states. This category

(as well as Part C and Part D states) continued till 1956.

We now come to a category called Group C states. These comprised states /groups of states under a Chief Commissioner. While Himachal Pradesh (erstwhile twentythree Punjab Hill states and Vindhya Pradesh ( thirty-five states of Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand with the Ruler of Rewa as the Rajpramukh) were created by the merger, Ajmer, Bilaspur, Coorg, Cutch, Ajmer, Bhopal, Manipur, and Tripura retained their former boundaries.

These, along with Delhi are part C states. The only Part D state was Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and this was administered directly by New Delhi.

Many other states were merged with the neighbouring provinces, as for example Cooch Behar with West Bengal, Banganpallie, and Pudukkottai with Tamil Nadu. Orissa got twenty-three states in addition to Mayurbhanj, and CP and Berar got another fourteen. Baroda and Kolhapur, along with sixteen jurisdictional states from Deccan joined Bombay. Pataudi and Loharu were merged with East Punjab. Benares, Rampur, and Tehri Garhwal were to merge with United Provinces (UP).

One must also draw the reader’s attention to the Union of Matsya states ( Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur, and Karauli ) and Rajputana ( nine states including Bikaner, Jaipur, and Jodhpur) which were so short-lived that they never appeared on any map of India, for by the time the 1950 map was printed, these had all merged into the Union of Rajasthan. It may also be mentioned that the Rajpramukh of Madhya Bharat and the Governors of Assam and Central Provinces and Berar had special responsibilities with regard to the large tribal-dominated tracts as the delegated charter of the Union of India.

How were these states to be administered? The legal basis was derived from the ExtraProvincial Jurisdiction Act 1947 (now repealed), which enables the Government of India to exercise the necessary power in States where, under an agreement, jurisdiction, power, and authority are transferred to the Government of India. As the report of the Ministry of States (1949) put it: this procedure is, as well be readily seen, is a half-way house between complete separateness and full integration.

We now come to Sikkim and Bhutan. In an internal report published by the Commonwealth Relations Office in January 1949 under the title ‘Indian States – Developments since the Transfer of Power in August 1947 – the description for these states in the Remarks column reads ‘ Himalayan state whose status is somewhat dissimilar from others.

Agreements whereby, under Treaty obligations, the foreign policy and external relations are subordinated to that of India are likely to continue.

Incidentally, following major unrest in Sikkim, the administration of the state had come under India for a brief period in 1948-49, but the Chogyal (as the temporal cum spiritual head of Sikkim was called) resumed his administration before India became a Republic. Twenty-five years later Sikkim first became an Associate state, and then a full-fledged state of the Indian Union.

DESIGN: ABHISHEK GUPTA

Training requires control over the body and mind, the mind plays a more important role, be it training for a physical activity like Marathon or a spiritual one like ‘sadhana’.

—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

2ND FRONT AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

08

‘TAX THE SUPER-RICH TO FUND CORONA FIGHT’

CBDT initiates inquiry on IRS officers for unsolicited report on corona funding Mumbai: A group of senior tax officers has suggested a super-rich tax and a higher levy on foreign companies to keep the cash till running as part of short term measures to help the government fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The suggestions are part of a paper titled ‘Force’, which stands for ‘Fiscal Options & Response to the COVID-19 Epidemic’, submitted by the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) Associa-

tion to CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) Chairman P C Mody.

According to the paper, dated April 23, tax relief should be restricted to honest and compliant taxpayers, especially those filing returns on time as there have been many instances of non-filing of returns, increase in non-deductions and withholding of TDS apart from rising under-reporting of tax liabilities through bogus

CBDT INITIATES PROBE ON IRS OFFICERS

A farmer looks distressed as they are incurring losses due to lack of labourers during the harvest season of Rabi crops amid COVID-19 lockdown, in Chhatarpur, in Madhya Pradesh.

—PHOTO BY ANI

loss claims.

The central government has frozen the inflation-linked allowance for its employees

and pensioners, a move that will help it save around Rs 37,000 crore.

Some of the short term measures suggest-

New Delhi: The CBDT on Sunday said an inquiry is being initiated against 50 IRS officers of the I-T department who have penned an unsolicited report on revenue mobilisation to fund COVID-19 relief measures and made it public without permission. In a statement, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which is the apex policy making body for direct tax policies, said it has never asked IRS Association or these officers to prepare such a report and no permission was sought by them before making the report public. “It is unequivocally stated that CBDT never asked IRS Association or these officers to prepare such a report. “No permission was sought by the officers before going public with their personal views and suggestions on official matters, which is a violation of extant Conduct Rules. Necessary inquiry is being initiated in this matter,” the CBDT said.

ed in the paper include a super-rich tax by raising the highest slab rate to 40 per cent for those with an income above

‘Gujarat’s high death rate due to Wuhan’s L-strain’ GBRC says recent genome sequencing research on novel coronavirus points towards the L-type strain First India News Ahmedabad: The high mortality rate in Gujarat may be due to the dominance of the more virulent L-type coronavirus strain as compared to the S-type which is less dangerous say the health experts although their claim is not backed by any research conducted so far.

The L-strain has been found to be more prevalent in Wuhan (China) which was the origin of the dreaded Covid-19.

Noteworthy that the state has so far reported 133 deaths due to coronavirus. A scientist at the staterun Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) said that the novel coronavirus used for genome sequencing recently conducted by it was found to contain the L-type strain. “Analysis done by scientists abroad has shown

The risk factors include patients in the age group of above over 60 years and under five years of age, and pregnant women, and they account for 90 per cent of patients who passed away.

—Jayanthi Ravi, Principal Secretary (Health)

that the L-type strain has been dominant where more mortality is reported among coronavirus patients.

This strain was found to be more prevalent in Wuhan,” director of GBRC, C G Joshi, said.

Joshi said that a sample collected by them contained L-type strain which has much higher virulence as compared to the S-type strain. He said that

THE VIRAL PAN MASALA SALE

In the midst of Gujarat lockdown, people rushed to buy pan-bidi, gutkha, tobacco

First India News Surendranagar: A video viral on social media helped the police apprehend a pan masal seller in Sudama village of Sayla taluka. While the police was busy in enforcing the lockdown guidelines it came across a video showing people, including wom-

en, flouting social distancing norms to buy pan masala from a vendor. The police with little effort came to know of the offenders belonging to the Sudama village. The police have registered a case against the offenders and is in process to identify the people in the video who are wearing masks.

Rs 1 crore from 30 per cent and re-introduction of wealth tax for those with over Rs 5 crore annual income.

SHORT TERM REFERS TO A TIME PERIOD OF 3-6 MONTHS As per the paper, a copy of which is with PTI, the surcharge introduced in the Budget 2021 on the super-rich may generate only Rs 2,700 crore to the exchequer and therefore the call to up the tax slab on the super-rich. Individuals having a taxable income of Rs 1 crore are considered as super-rich.

THE PAPER HAS BEEN PREPARED

BY A GROUP OF 50 IRS OFFICERS The group has also suggested that the ultra-

rich be taxed through two alternative ways which can be imposed for a limited time. One, up the highest slab rate to 40 per cent on income of over Rs 1 crore from 30 per cent now and two, re-introduce wealth tax for those with a net wealth of Rs 5 crore.

For the medium term, 9-12 months time period, the paper has suggested raising additional revenue from foreign companies operating in the country by hiking the surcharge on their income from the present 2 per cent for Rs 1-10 crore and at 5 per cent on incomes exceeding Rs 10 crore.

—PTI

False ration distribution claims: Modi for CBI probe First India News Ahmedabad : Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s brother Prahlad Modi on Sunday claimed that lakhs of poor people in the state are yet to receive the share of food grains promised to them by the state government under its free ration programme. He has demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter, and alleged that black marketers have siphoned off the food grains meant for the poor who have been left jobless due to the ongoing nation-wide lockdown.

Speaking to local media, Prahlad Modi who is also the chief of the rationing association, said that he has strong evidence that can puncture the claims of the state government of having distributed free food grains to lakhs of BPL and APL Ration Card holders in the state, under the National Food Safety Act. He demanded an enquiry into the matter to unearth suspected corruption.

Prahlad Modi

Ever since the country has been put under a lockdown starting March 23rd, to keep citizens safe from the corona virus pandemic, millions of daily wage workers and migrant labourers have been left jobless and penniless after the manufacturing units and factories were forced to shut shop. The Vijay Rupani government has claimed to have distributed rationa kits worth crores of rupees through government run ration shops across the state to the poor and needy.

CM Rupani briefed

the media saying “The cabinet has decided to provide free ration to APL-1 card holdersmore than 60 lakh families. They will get 10 kg wheat, three kg rice, one kg pulses, one kg sugar per family free of cost.

The total number of such beneficiaries is around 2.5 crore to 3 crore,” Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said after the meeting. Now with PM’s brother alleging a scam, the stat govt is bound to be under pressure while it is already busy tackling the heavy onslaught of the coronavirus in the state.

both types vary in terms of number and percentage of mutations and as per analysis dominant L-type strain results in more mortality rate.

Noteworthy that the GBRC recently succeeded in decoding the entire genome sequence of the novel coronavirus, and identified its three new mutations. Joshi added that the patient from whom the

—FILE PHOTO virus sample was collected for sequencing has fully recovered.

So far, no study has been conducted here to establish which strain of coronavirus is predominant in patients here. Another expert in infectious diseases Atul Patel attributed the presence of the L-type strain more than the S- type one in Gujarat is behind high mortality rate. Patel has

Tablighi should be praised: Hardik Patel

Rough diamond import: Odisha govt to send buses to take back Assns for 30 day ban

First India News

First India News

Ahmedabad: Congress leader Hardik Patel tweeted in praise of Tablighi Jamaat on Sunday and said that people abuse on a mistake, but should also praise them for their work. The people of Tablighi Jamaat have done a noble cause. A total of 129 patients have been cured at Jhajjar Hospital in Haryana and many of them are now willing to give blood for plasma therapy of other patients, which is praiseworthy.

A piece of news came that many patients admitted to the hospital in Jhajjar have recovered from the corona infection and they are willing to donate their plasma to other patients.

Surat : Five trade bodies representing country’s diamond industry have pressed for its members to stop rough diamond import for at least a month.

Appeal was made through a letter signed by heads of India’s Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), Bharat Diamond Bourse, Mumbai Diamond Merchants’ Association, Surat Diamond Bourse and Surat Diamond Association.Indian diamond producers are being urged to adopt a voluntary month-long ban on the import of rough diamonds from 15 May. Trade bodies made the plea to emphasize that it will help the in-

said that a little higher presence of the L-type strain, or the original Wuhan strain, could be behind higher death rate in the state. The risk factors include patients in the age group of above over 60 years and under five years of age, and pregnant women, and they account for 90 per cent of patients who passed away, Principal Secretary (Health), Jayanti Ravi had recently said.

it’s stranded workers First India News

—FILE PHOTO

dustry survive the coronavirus crisis and send a clear message to banks that it is not prepared to face further debt.

An estimated $7bn of rough and polished diamonds have been stuck in India, the world’s production capital, since the country went into lockdown on 25 March. Copies of the letter have also been sent to the Indian government calling for

“urgent measures” obviously seeking its intervention at the policy level.

“This move will basically cause fewer roughs to enter the diamond pipeline and the producer companies will thus face lesser strain and indirectly share in the financing burden and contribute to a faster restoration of normalcy in an otherwise healthy business.” said the trade body letter to its members.

Bhubaneswar: An important video-conferencing (V-C) held on Sunday paved way for the return of stranded Odia migrant workers.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani held a V-C on Sunday for the safe return of the migrants while Union Minister for Petroleum Dharmendra Pradhan. Who also hails from Odisha, joined the V-C from New Delhi.

As per the decision, the State government of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will be requested to waive road tax on buses to be used for bringing the workers back. An

Naveen Patnaik

officer-level committee will oversee the process.

Odisha govt expects arrival of 5 lakh workers from other states while DK Singh, Secretary (Panchayatiraj) puts the figure at 7.5 lakh. The State government has created quarantine facilities in around 7,000 panchayats with more than two lakh bed capacity. The government will gradually scale up the facilities to five lakh.

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

AHMEDABAD, MONDAY APRIL 27, 2020

09

Making their way back into the fashion scene embellished tassels have taken the world by storm

KIRTI CHAUHAN

F

kirti.chauhan@firstindia. co.in

ringes or tassels are no longer just an over the top fashion statement, they are actually very versatile tucked on to clothes and accessories. It is a definite fun element and is quite literally hanging almost everywhere we look, right from tassel shoes, earrings, neckpieces, bracelets, handbags, headbands, and of course clothes like dresses, top, skirts, bralette, saree, blouse, lehenga etc.

Not just today, this embellishment has been in and out of fashion for well over a hundred years. Since ancient times, they have been used as ornaments to enhance the beauty of clothing worn by both men and women.

Bollywood seems to be a big fan of fringes, how can we forget the beau-

TASSEL

DAZZLE!

tiful dance number ‘Zara Zara Touch Me’ by Katrina Kaif, in which the B-wood beauty dazzled in blue tassel dress and later Kat was seen grooving in a white-sliver fringe dress on the song ‘Malang’.

This isn’t it! Many other divas ooze oomph in a fringe dress including Nora Fatehi in the song ‘Dilbar’, Jacqueline Fernandez in the reprised version of ‘Ek Do Teen’ and Disha Patani in her latest item song ‘Do You Love Me’ among others. Priyanka Chopra Jonas was looking nothing less than a goddess in golden tassels in the track ‘Asalaam-e-Ishqum’.

Interestingly, even in the current scenario, this piece of art has been adopted by males too, as Billy Porter incorporated tassels to his mechanical hat to add an extra dramatic touch at Grammys last year.

In-fact, these

hangings in combination with cowrie shells, coins, lead and glass beads, mirrors and buttons, have successfully caught eyeballs on runways, awards shows, parties or any kind of celebrations.

Well, for a fact, be it a summer or winter fashion, tassels are incredibly easy to amalgamate into your wardrobe.

You can spot it being used in a variety of styles, from rugged suede jackets to glamorous party dresses, from the sleeves of a leather jacket to your saree blouse, from subtly accenting the hem of a skirt to saree pallu or scarf, from fringy flats to jazzy heels, from handbags to jewellery, the chic astounding trend is winning all seasons. And, since, we are under lockdown; it is the right time to give our wardrobe a tassel touch. Take inspiration from your favourite icons and put the lockdown into tassel mode!

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, APRIL 27, 2020

10

Nothing is Permanent SHALBHA SARDA cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

A

FA CE OF TH ED AY

few weeks ago, I was very busy with a fulltime job, some parttime writing gigs, and interiors of my new house. The kids had their exams, my husband was working day and night shifts and my mother in law was keeping company to a constant stream of guests. I was getting a little wistful and wanted some time for each other at home. My husband had often said to “ be careful about what you wish for”. But come-on, none of us saw this coming. To be fair, having the house literally to myself, with everyone inside 24x7, without maids wasn’t exactly my plan.

It’s been more than a month now since we are all homebound due to the Coronavirus. I have kept my self-entertained for the initial weeks of quarantine. I cooked a lot, attended Zoom tambolas, Bollywood games, and watched Ramayana until the point “mangal bhavan amangal haari” echoed even in my sleep.

I personally took it upon myself to awaken my inner enlightenment. To accomplish that I developed a new skill set, read, meditated, and spent quality time with children. But now the repetition of cooking, cleaning, washing is making me feel captive. My usual Monday Blues have a whole new meaning when I assume my multi-handed avatar of a goddess with blue bottles of Harpic, Lysol, Colin, Dettol, and Surf each morning. The words sweeping and swabbing have become weeping and sobbing for me.

My husband encourages me satirically for getting pro at “maid in India”. He wishes to see me happy and smiling. But I complain that he is a typical Indian male not used to help in domestic chores. He gets up to do something. The most he could manage is to take a circuitous route to the bathroom to not crash upon my angry goddess avatar. I continue murmuring how my teenage son has become disrespectful and the seven-yearold hasn’t learned to clean up.

Yes, there is gratitude for having a job, a constant supply of food, everyone in the family be-

ing healthy, and a stack of toilet paper that is yet to be used. I once read in a book “when there are no real problems to deal with we make imaginary ones”. I have a tendency to feel trapped, to sense a false permanence in the present situation. I start to think that the way things are today would be my life forever. I forget that life changes.

When at peace I recall the time when I was a young mother. How the days passed slowly but the years flew by. I did enjoy mothering babies often enough, but I didn’t have to feel joy while changing the diapers and cleaning food bits from the floor. I have forgotten those things today and only remember the rush of affection I had for my babies. The way I’d sniff their heads and say things like “I could eat you up.

This too shall pass and one day maids will ring the morning bell, I would go to work, write, complete my undone house and guests will pour in. Within no time I will start to complain about my original reasons for busyness. Is it yet time to get back into that grind, I ponder?

It’s an emotional whiplash to go from wishing for a few more weeks with the family to being tired of all the domestic work created from their presence. But one day when this is over what will probably be left to remember is my long talk with my 13-year-old son who was a fresh victim of the trauma of puberty, the snakes and ladders with my 7 year old and the status of being the only companion of husband. I will have good memories when I look at this chapter of life as much as much as I hate the reason for it. But for now, I won’t force myself to enjoy every minute, because I know I won’t.

I’ll just remind myselfThis isn’t forever.

This too shall pass.

YOUR DAY Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

You are on with your fitness regime and you will surely get the results you desperately desire. Going abroad for settlement is on cards and you must start with your preparations. On domestic front, you will be quite in demand and lots of things will keep you busy.

You may feel financially secure but your ambitions have take away your sleep of the night, try and relax and sometime take it easy. You will soon meet a friend who can understand you and whose company will make you happy. Remember somethings take time.

You may feel challenged on work front but its an healthy competition which will help you realise your true potential. On domestic front, do not indulge in any kind of argument with your parents just for the sake of it, sometime you need to understand their concern.

Your new business is doing good but you need to have some patience when it comes to profit.

Your child may need your serious counselling so show them you are there. You make take your family along on a work trip. Its time to take your love life to next level.

MAR 21 - APR 20

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

On professional front, you have already proved your metal and your career is going great. Your friends may be helping but can also manipulate you sometimes so be careful. Those who matters will always understand you and those who don’t, you should not care.

You are very jovial and kind hearted person. You are a very nice parent and always understand your kids but you must know when to stop pampering. You may bring a pet to your house and it will be the best decision in the recent times. You may feel a lot of pressure from family.

Money is flowing into your life from all directions and your spouse is your lucky charm. You must not be a part of any controversies and you know someone close to you involved then guide them and show them a way out. A new vehicles is on cards, may also come as a gift.

You will feel very refresh and energetic today. You worry without any reason so relax and enjoy what you have. You may get an unexpected career call that will change your life forever. Your spouse will pamper you in many ways today. You are very satisfied with everything.

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

AUG 24 - SEP 23

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Those involved in export and import business will see a hike. You will complete all your pending task today.

You will manage to sustain a peaceful environment. You will be very busy today, as you can expect some calls from friends today. You will at ease sponsor your kid’s dream education.

You are great when it come to money management and you have a big heart for others. You will successfully complete the project, which kept you occupying for long. Today is a very auspicious day for any kind of inauguration. You will be involved in lot of charity.

You are an outstanding home maker and you take care of your kids like no one can. You are very close to your parents and may visit them frequently going forward. On professional front, you will get the break that you have been expecting.

You may get a job offer.

You may find yourself in a very perplexed position when it comes to money, unable to decide whether to spend money on fun to have an image in your circle or to be an odd one out. Your teachers will be extremely impressed with you. You will enjoy your parents company.

NOV 23 - DEC 22

ADITI SHARMA, Model

APR 21 - MAY 20

DEC 23 - JAN 20

JAN 21 - FEB 19

FEB20 - MARCH 20

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, APRIL 27, 2020

ACES THE

LIKE

mother, like daughter!

CHALLENGE! T amannaah Bhatia recently took part in the ongoing viral #PillowChallenge, and she pulled it off with the help of her Gucci belt. The Pillow Challenge is one of the viral trends doing the rounds during the global COVID-19 lockdown. People taking the challenge have to tie a pillow to them like a dress using a belt, and post a picture or video of the pose on social media. Taking to Instagram, Tamannaah posted a picture in which she is seen lying on a floor while striking a stunning pose with a pillow. She accessorised ... her Instagram po with Gucci belt and red high heels. st “I’m off to club bed featuring DJ pillow and MC blanket! ” she captioned the post.

—IANS

S Tamannaah Bhatia

TRUE DESI GIRL!

P

Priyanka Chopra Jonas

riyanka Chopra Jonas on Sunday stole the hearts of her followers by sharing a picture of her in a stunning blue saree.

The 37-year-old star took to Instagram to share the beautiful picture and mentioned that she felt like wearing a saree.

Taking it to the captions, ‘The Sky is Pink’ actor wrote: “Felt like wearing a saree. So I did...At home. Miss everyone.@nickjonas” In the shared picture, the ‘Baywatch’ actor who is standing next to husband Nick Jonas, is looking gorgeous in a blue coloured saree with white leaf prints on it.

She completed the desi look by wearing silver bangles.

The ‘Fashion’ actor is currently staying indoors with her singer husband Nick Jonas in the United States.

Recently, Chopra pledged USD 100,000 in total to four incredible women who rose above the challeng-

11

... her Instagram post

unny Leone calls herself a ‘lucky mommy’ to have a daughter who is ‘so so pretty’. Sunny has posted a video with Nisha in which the mother and daughter are smiling. Their beauty is enhanced with the rose tiara filter. “Nisha is so so pretty!! I’m a lucky mommy!

With the sweetest heart!!!”

Sunny captioned the video.

Sunny and her husband Daniel Weber had adopted Nisha in 2017.

Meanwhile, Sunny, who has three kids - Nisha, Noah Singh, and Asher Singh - had earlier posted a picture on Instagram, sharing how difficult it is to make kids wear masks in times of coro n av i r u s crisis.

—IANS

... her Instagram post

es to make a difference during the coronavirus crises.

Moreover, she along with Nick donated to several organisations including PM CARES Fund, Goonj, Feeding America and others to combat COVID-19.

—ANI

YouTube TEACHERS!

M

odel Karlie Kloss and actor Ken Jeong have landed new roles as substitute teachers, as part of a new YouTube originals series to educate children during the COVID-19 lockdown. ‘Celebrity Substitute’ will feature famous faces holding online classes for those stuck at home. Kloss, who founded the free ‘Kode With Klossy’ camp for teen girls in 2015, will give lessons on computer coding. ‘The Hangover’ actor Jeong will draw on his history as a former doctor to give a virtual biology lesson.

—IANS

Sunny Leone

C Cameron Diaz Karlie Kloss and Ken Jeong

The Polar Opposites

ameron Diaz and her husband Benji Madden embraced parenthood earlier this year. The two welcomed their first child together, a baby girl, in January, and they named her Raddix. Even though it has been just three months, the two have already figured out a parenting schedule that is work-

ing wonders for them. Diaz recently reflected on her life with baby Raddix and revealed that she and her husband are on opposite sleep schedules and they take care of the baby in shifts. When one sleeps, the other one takes care of their daughter. “Benji wants to go to bed late, and I like to go to bed early…” she mentioned. —IANS

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

AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2020

12

KUCH NAYA HO JAAYE?

Being in isolation might be a great time to try something new.

We talk to some of our readers from Jaipur & Ahmedabad if they have picked up something new in the lockdown period!

CITY FIRST JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD

D

uring the National Lockdown, one thing is for sure- this time is perfect for learning or doing all the things that we have been putting off for a lifetime because we did not have time. Also, keeping yourself stimulated and finding new ways to learn essential skills can make the eventual return to work smoother, or open doors to new opportunities in the future.

Devoting some of our quarantine time to self-education makes sense. Besides helping to bolster your career during this economic uncertainty, learning a new skill can give you a sense of control that will help cope with anxiety engendered by the epidemic.

As James Wallman says in his book ‘Time and How to Spend It’, personal growth is central to many psychological theories of long-term happiness. So although an hour listening to a lecture may not be as enticing as the instant gratification of reality TV or social media, it will lead to greater life-satisfaction in the long term. “You could say that humans are like bicycles: if you’re not heading towards something you fall over,” Wallman says. And when we are social distancing, online courses are one of the best ways to do that. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Quarantine is making us creative day by day. Some people are busy being creative in cooking, some in makeup tricks and some in decorating their house by using waste material. I am a homemaker and studied arts.

From my childhood I love painting. In this lockdown, I am using glass bottles and doing painting making them attractive and a beautiful piece for decorating my home.

—SHWETA BHATI

PRACHI KUMAR

T The major missing of this Lockdown is the outing with friends and having street food. Since cooking keeps you and your mind away from all the negative thoughts and makes everyone’s stomach happy, I have started experimenting with a few dishes, and also come up with a few things of my own.

—RUCHI SATWANI

You can also learn about Art. Take a tour of Google’s arts and culture collection has virtual tours of 500 top attractions around the world, including national galleries from around the world, individual artist museums, and even the Eiffel Tower.

A

n intercontinental musical concert was organised on Sunday, where many artists participated live through the Zoom App from their homes in India, UK and the US. Many music lovers logged in simultaneously from different parts of the world through the Zoom app. This concert was conceptualised by Rohit Mathur from the US, who owns a meditation club and has 150 regular participants. Niyati Bharadwaj, Keerti Mutha, Dr Khanna amongst many other renowned singers from across the globe participated in this virtual singing concert. A Pathologist from Jodhpur, Dr Vivek Bharadwaj, who is pursuing music from the last 37 years, shared that technology not only brings us closer but also helps to spread the message of love and harmony through music.

—City First

HAPPY B’DAY!

IAS Vinita Srivastava celebrated her birthday on 26 April, Sunday. We wish her all the best!

—SIMRAN CHAWLA

I have been hosting online live sessions with more than 20 musicians on my music venture ‘Sunday Secret Sessions’. I also conduct online classes for my vocal coaching students.

—NICOLETTE GORE

CONCERT A RAY OF

TIME!

Staying indoors all the time means there is no dearth of free time. After attending online lectures and finishing a few household chores, I am left with plenty of time in the day.

I have taken up learning hand-lettering and faux calligraphy. The tutorials on YouTube and Pinterest are very helpful and personally speaking, the process is very therapeutic and calming for me.

cityfirstgujarat@gmail.com

he lockdown has made it impossible (illegal, really!) for people to venture out of their homes and go on about their routine. It has granted us time to spend with our families, something which we often cannot do due to busy schedules. Personally, it has given me the opportunity to try all the things I have wanted to do and learn.

A little introspection and self-growth are a few things you might just achieve during this lockdown.

The first week of the lockdown I got really good at a board game called ‘Sequence’ because that is all I remember doing. But, I soon realized that I needed more than Netflix and card games to keep my mind engaged.

Here are a few things I dabbled in…

ONLINE COURSES

I decided to sign up for a couple of Coursera courses for free. I signed

Embrace your creative side other people paint on YouTube.

SING ALONG

up for finance, marketing, macroeconomics and also an intro to the Korean language.

I have been following YouTube a few singing coaches and practicing my vocals. There may be a list of movie songs that I intend to master by the end of the quarantine period.

School of YouTube I have always wanted to learn economics and philosophy, so I watched educational videos on a YouTube channel called Crash Course.

NEW LANGUAGE

WORLD OF COMICS

I picked up the script for Korean and was able to read and write it pretty quickly. I downloaded several language learning apps especially to increase my Korean vocabulary.

PAINTING FRENZY

I practiced new techniques with water-colours and am usually working on five paintings at a time. I also spent time watching

Reading and watching movies still continues at a regular pace but I have also gotten into the habit of reading online comic books.

COOKING FOR THE SOUL

What’s a lockdown without good food? Being an amateur baker, I have tried to replicate several chocolate cake recipes. Most of them have turned out surprisingly good!

WHAT’S HAPPENING!

HOPE!

CITY FIRST JAIPUR

J

aipur Foot USA Chairman Prem Bhandari wrote a letter to the Secretary of Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, Harsh Vardhan Shringla highlighting the unforeseen hardships being faced by stranded Indians in the US. In his letter, Bhandari said that these people, whether travelling for business or leisure, were Prem Bhandari absolutely unprepared, logistically and financially, for an unprecedentedly long stay on foreign land.

Many of them have no relatives or friends in the US to help them and each visa extension application is costing $455, that too with no certainty about the probable return date.

Considering the health of the fellow Indians, who are presently stuck in the US due to air travel ban and as they are at an increased risk of infection, Bhandari requested Shringla to consider the possibility of a rescue plan for such Indians in consultation with medical experts and administration in both countries to ensure their repatriation while ensuring minimal health risk to them or to others in India on their return. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Rajasthan: Health Minister Dr Raghu Sharma received a cheque of Rs 51,000 from Gaurav Gaur, Mona Gautam, Akanksha Bhalla and Yasheel Pandel on behalf of Elite Miss Rajasthan for the CM Relief Fund to fight against Coronavirus. Senior Congress leader Dharmendra Rathore was also present.

Rajasthan: During the Covid-19 lockdown, Aarav and Avika dabbled in art while staying at home between studying and reading for leisure. As rightly said, “We learn more in a crisis than in comfort.”

Ahmedabad: Ration being distributed to villagers in Sinor taluka of Vadodara district. Every person observed social distancing during the distribution of food grains.

Ahmedabad: Ahmedabad mayor Bijal Patel with Col Avesh (commanding officer of the girls’ battalion) and NCC Cadets who donated 1,000 hand-stitched face masks for the underprivileged.

Rajasthan: Live Music Terrace Session by Vishal Kaushik (Guitara The Band) was held on Sunday evening, all the residents of Gayatri Nagar colony, Jaipur were informed on WhatApp to be on their own terrace at 6 pm to enjoy the live music session. The effort was appreciated by the audience.

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

Rajasthan: During the countrywide lockdown amidst Coronavirus, Akshaya Patra Foundation has provided food to more than 3 million people across India since 25 April.

Along with this, 5000 ration kits have been distributed to needy families. Akshaya Patra, Jagatpura, is providing two-meals per day to approximately 44,000 people from various areas of the Jaipur city.

Ahmedabad: The head priest of the Jagannath Temple, Dilip Dasji performing Akha Trij puja, marking the beginning of preparations for the annual rath yatra, in Ahmedabad on Sunday.