First India-Ahmedabad Edition-29 August 2020

OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD

CORONA

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ALERT AHMEDABAD l SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00

COVID-19 UPDATE

WORLD

8,38,490 2,47,89,870 DEATHS

MAHARASHTRA 23,775 DEATHS 7,47,995 CASES

CONFIRMED CASES

TAMIL NADU 7,050 DEATHS 4,09,238 CASES

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RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 273

INDIA

GUJARAT

62,691 34,59,295 2,978 DEATHS

CONFIRMED CASES

KARNATAKA 5,368 DEATHS 3,18,752 CASES

DEATHS

DELHI 4,389 DEATHS 1,69,412 CASES

92,601

CONFIRMED CASES

RAJASTHAN 1,017 DEATHS 77,370 CASES

NO FINAL EXAM, NO DEGREE: SC

Says states, universities cannot promote students without holding final year exams by Sept 30 New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said that states and universities cannot promote students without holding final year exams by September 30. Upholding the UGC decision to hold final year exams, a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said if any state feels they can’t conduct exams by that date amid the coronavirus pandemic, they must approach the UGC for new dates to hold the exam.

The bench also comprising justices RS Reddy and MR Shah, said states are required to hold final year exams as per UGC guidelines and for any exemption they will have to seek permission.

The apex court held that the State Governments or State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) in exercise of power under Disaster Management Act, 2005 has no jurisdiction to take a decision that the students

NEET, JEE 2020 ROW

Listen to student voices, act as per their wishes: Sonia to govt

of final year/terminal students should be promoted on the basis of

earlier year assessment and internal assessment. The Final

guidelines are based on recommendations of experts and have been made after due deliberation and it is wrong to claim that it will not be possible to conduct the final examinations in terms of the guidelines.

The bench noted that the revised guidelines and the standard operating procedure for conduct of examinations dated July 8, clearly showed deep concern with the health Turn to P6

FLOODED MAGIC CASTLE!

6 oppn-ruled state mins move SC

Aditi Nagar New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday urged the government to listen to the voices of students on the issue of conducting NEET and JEE and act according to their wishes. Various Opposition parties, including the Congress, have demanded that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) be deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic and floods in parts of the country, even as the Union government has made it clear that they will be held as per schedule with due precautions.

As part of the Congress’ day-long campaign of holding protests and voicing opposition on social media to holding of the entrance examinations, the party posted Sonia Gandhi’s message to students and the government on issue of conducting exams.

“I feel for you because you are now facing a very difficult situation.

DR. RAMESH POKHRIYAL NISHANK @DRRPNISHANK I heartily welcome the decision taken by the Supreme Court with respect to the final year exams. Let’s keep politics away from education and educate our politics

year/terminal semesters examinations are important because the learning process is a dynamic interaction where the only way to figure out what students know is to seek evidence of their knowledge and to evaluate it. Performances in examination especially Final year/terminal semester examination are reflection of competence of the students, SC said.

The UGC had earlier said that the July 6

SONIA: #SPEAKUPFORSTUDENTSAFETY I feel for you because you are now facing a very difficult situation. The issue of your exams, of when they should be taken up is the most important issue, not only for you but for your family. I hope the government listens to you, listens to your voices and acts upon your wishes. This is my advice to the government, she said in the nearly minute-long video posted on the Congress’ Twitter handle with the hashtag ‘Speak Up For Student Safety’.

The issue of your exams, of when they should be taken up is the most important issue, not only for you but for your family,” Sonia Gandhi said in a video addressing students.

“You are our future.

We depend on you to build a better India,” she said.

Therefore, if any decision has to be taken regarding students’ future,

it is important that it is “being taken with your concurrence”, the Congress leader said “I hope the government listens to you, listens to your voices and acts upon your wishes.

This is my advice to the government,” she said in the nearly minute-long video posted on the Congress’ Twitter handle with the hashtag ‘Speak Up For Student Safety’.

New Delhi: Six Ministers of opposition-ruled states moved the Supreme Court on Friday seeking review of its order permitting the Centre to conduct NEET and JEE entrance exams this year amid the persisting COVID-19 pandemic.

The review plea has been filed by ministers from West Bengal (Moloy Ghatak), Jharkhand (Rameshwar Oraon), Rajasthan (Raghu Sharma), Chhattisgarh (Amarjeet Bhagat), Punjab (B S Sidhu) and Maharashtra (Uday Ravindra Sawant).

The plea has been filed through advocate Sunil Fernandes.

On Aug 17, the top court had refused to interfere with the conduct of medical and engineering entrance exams -- NEET and JEE scheduled to take place in September saying that life must go on Turn to P6

This spellbinding image of cave Chun-Ya in Yucatan, in Mexico, clicked by Petr Polách represents hope for our oceans, hope for our travel and dive industries ravaged by coronavirus!

Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe Cong’s Vasanthakumar, first resigns due to ill-health MP to die due to Covid-19 Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday officially announced his plan to step down, citing health issues. “In June this year, I was told that there were signs of recurrence of my chronic condition called ulcerative colitis, and I did my best at work. while taking medicine,” Abe told a press conference, reported Sputnik.

PM Modi tweeted, “Pained to hear about

Shinzo Abe

your ill health, my dear friend @AbeShinzo. In recent years, with your wise leadership and personal commitment, the India-Japan Turn to P6

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Congress leader and Kanyakumari MP Harikrishnan Vasanthakumar passed away Friday due to Covid-19.

He was 70.

Kumar was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Chennai since August 10. He was on ECMO and Ventilator support and monitored by a multidisciplinary team of doctors.

Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his

condolences.

“Saddened by the demise of Lok Sabha MP Shri H. Vasanthakumar Ji. His strides in business and social service efforts were noteworthy.

Turn to P6

Universities to set up committees to implement new education policy Education minister Chudasama also suggested online workshops to create awareness among those implementing NEP 2020 Haresh Jhala Gandhinagar: Almost a month after the Centre rolled out National Education Policy 2020, the state government on Friday instructed all universities to constitute committees to implement policy at the earliest.

Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama stated in a press release that he had held a meeting with the vicechancellors of universities across the state via video conferencing, to discuss the new education policy.

Chudasama has instructed all universi-

Gujarat University

—FILE PHOTO

ties to constitute an implementation committee at the earliest and plan out how to implement NEP 2020.

He has even advised universities to set up a separate committee to study each chapter of the new policy and work out a plan for its implementation.

He also said that universities should conduct online workshops to educate and create awareness among those implementing the policy, in order to ensure its success.

The new education policy includes a provision for a common regulatory body for higher education. For this, the Centre plans to set up a Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), which will also oversee medical and legal education.

HECI will have four arms: the National Higher Education Regulatory Council for regulation, the General Education Council for standard-setting, the Higher Education

Grants Council for funding, and the National Accreditation Council for accreditation.

There will also be a National Testing Agency that expected to offer high-quality common aptitude tests, as well as specialized common subject exams in the sciences, humanities, languages, arts, and vocational subjects, at least twice every year, for use in university entrance exams.

Turn to P6

NEWS AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020

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02

WHY ARE THE POLICE NOT ACTING AGAINST THEM FOR VIOLATION OF NCOV PROTOCOL? Haresh Jhala Gandhinagar: Consider this scenario: Cops conduct drives to crack down on people stepping out without a mask. The fine for not wearing a mask in public is hiked five-fold, from Rs200 to Rs1,000.

Malls are sealed because people did not practise social distancing. Guest lists for weddings are rearranged to meet the 50-person limit put in place by the authorities.

Now, consider a different scenario: Large crowds jostle to meet and greet their leader. He, in turn, acknowledges his supporters with a namaste, the occasional wave and a wide smile--unencumbered by a mask.

Only one of these scenarios seems to skirt legal consequences for violating COVID-19. norms. It is not a coincidence that that it is the one involving politicians, giving rise to questions on whether protocols, norms, and regulations are only meant for the common man and not for politicians, especially those belonging to the ruling party.

For instance, the Surat BJP had to cancel a mega show in honour of the thenbrand-new state unit chief, CR Patil, at the last minute. A little while later, Patil was on a four-day tour of Saurashtra, where social distancing and masks were treated as mere suggestions and not as rules.

However, no action has been taken against any leaders and local authorities refuse to comment on the issue.

The same police and local authorities are active when it suits them.

For instance, last week, diamond workers were detained while

ARE POLITICIANS

ABOVE THE LAW?

—FILE PHOTOS

Law enforcement and local authorities only seem concerned about violations of COVID-19 norms when they are committed by the common citizen and not by politicians, especially by those in power.

protesting an affidavit submitted by the state government in the high court, in which the state blames the diamond workers’ “carelessness” for the spread of the novel coronavirus in Surat.

On Friday, Congress leaders at protests across the state were carted off by the cops for not following COV-

ID-19 norms.

On politicians not abiding by COVID-19 protocols, High Court advocate Brijesh Trivedi sarcastically says, “The virus is aware that if it infects politicians even by mistake, they will ask for money. So, it doesn’t dare infect them. So, politicians don’t need to follow any protocols.”

He adds: “Highranking police officials are often obligated to politicians for their plum posts.

So why would anyone compromise their cushy positions just to show their loyalty to the Constitution?”

And it isn’t like there haven’t been complaints.

“An advocate from

Rajkot has written to the city police commissioner to complain about the situation. Yet, there has been no action. It is possible that the matter may come up as public interest litigation before the high court,” said advocate KR Koshti. He says he firmly believes that no one is above the law, but adds that there should

6.5 km Metro-Link tunnel finished, but 23K km of roads left damaged by rain  State also agrees in principle to give grantin-aid status to college in Kutch First India Bureau Gandhinagar: Even as the Gujarat government directed its roads and buildings department to prioritize repairs and resurfacing of district and state highways, construction of a 6.5km tunnel under the Sabarmati river has been completed. Part of the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Metro-Link Project, the tunnel connects Ahmedabad’s Shahpur and Apparel Park in SaraspurKhokhra area.

On Friday, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel told the media that 22,640km of roads across the state had been affected due to heavy rains.

“The roads and building department has been directed to prioritize the

Each of the two pipelines in the tunnel has a radius of 5.8 m.

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT

repair and resurfacing of these roads at the earliest, to make them motorable again.

Patel further said that 1,022km of these 22,640km roads were constructed in the last

three years. So, the contractors who made them bear the liability to repair and resurface them.

The state will take up repair work on roads that are older than five years and washed out in

the heavy rains.

Patchwork will begin on 243km of roads in a short while. Patel said that, in all, 3,369km of roads need repairs, resurfacing and patchwork. The state is looking to complete all this work before Navratri.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani shared the news that the 6.5km underground tunnel has been completed by engineers of the Guja-

rat Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, as part of Phase 1 of the Metro-Link Gandhi Express between Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad.

Passing roughly 18m beneath the land surface, the tunnel used 3.3 lakh cubic metres of sand, 52,300 cubic metres of concrete and about 4,000 concrete rings in its construction. The tunnel also features a twin pipeline, each of which has a radius of 5.8m.

It took about about 2 lakh man-days to finish building this tunnel, Rupani said in a tweet, in which he also lauded the engineering that went into its construction.

In Phase-I, the metro rail corporation plans to complete 40km of rail track connecting Ahmedabad North to South and East to West.

In addition, the state government on Friday agreed, in principle, to give grant-in-aid status to GMDC Arts and Commerce College, situated in Nakhatrana in Kutch district.

be immediate action, since “FIRs against political leaders will not serve any purpose”.

“We will take care during (CR Patil’s) next planned tour, of North Gujarat,” said KC Patel, General Secretary of BJP. On June 17, the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation fined minister Ishwarsinh Patel was fined Rs200

for not wearing a mask while attending cabinet meetings.

KC Patel is also quick to indulge in whataboutery by asking, “The Congress party is also violating norms, so why isn’t there any action against them?”

“If any Congress leaders violate COVID-19 protocols, police should take action. We

have no objections,” said Congress party’s chief spokesperson Manish Doshi, adding, “But the police should also take action against BJP leaders who violate the protocols.”

He also said, “They can be superspreaders. Three leaders have already been infected after participating in BJP’s programme. Yet, neither is the party stopping public programmes nor are local authorities taking action against BJP leaders.

When common men are caught by police for not wearing masks in public, and shops are fined for not maintaining social distancing, it isn’t fair to the common man that political leaders get away scot-free.”

Congress holds a parallel general board meeting at AMC

The parallel meeting held on Friday at the AMC office building.

First India Bureau Ahmedabad: The Congress held a parallel general board meeting on the premises of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s main offices on Friday. The parallel meeting was meant to mock the AMC for holding its monthly meeting virtually, after claiming that normalcy had returned after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Congress party’s version of the meeting had a dummy mayor, dummy deputy mayor, and dummy municipal commissioner, who

executed the meeting. The Congress party has been opposing the AMC’s decision to continue to hold meetings online, even after Unlock was implemented, while other cities met physically with appropriate social distancing even during the lockdown period.

Dinesh Sharma, leader of the opposition alleged that the BJP is suppressing the voices of opposition and not letting real issues to be discussed in the general board meeting. He alleged that the topic of the fire at Shrey Hospi-

tal, in which eight COVID-19 patients were killed, has been sidelined. The search committee is just hogwash to hide the failure of the BJP-run AMC, he said.

Party members held placards and banners of damaged roads and cattle roaming on streets, to highlight issues important to them. The meeting started with the obituary of former mayor Praful Barot, although BJP leader Amit Shah later released a video saying that Congress had not mentioned the former mayor.

GUJARAT AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020

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15K active cases in state, as +ve cases in Surat near 20K

1,272 new cases and 14 fatalities take Gujarat’s total tally to 92,601 cases and death toll to 2,978 DAILY DATA

First India Bureau Gandhinagar: Surat now has 19,881 positive cases. And with the recent average of more than 200 cases a day, the numbers there are likely to touch the 20,000 mark on Saturday. With this, Surat inches ever closer to Ahmedabad, which has reported 31,103 positive cases.

In the past 24 hours, the state has conducted 75,800 tests, of which 1,272 came back positive.

This too is the highest number of positive cases in a single day. There are now 15,072 active cases-the highest number of cases since March--with 86 patients on ventilator support.

Surat recorded the highest number of new cases, with 264. Of these, 172 were from the city and 92 were from rural areas. Of the 201

The state tested 75,800 samples in the past 24 hours.

—FILE PHOTO

03

A’bad building collapse leaves 1 dead, 2 injured

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

First India Bureau Ahmedabad: A twostory commercial complex collapsed in Ahmedabad in the early hours of Friday, killing one person on the spot. Two others were rescued from the rubble, officials said.

Prem Complex, a decades-old building having around 10 shops and located in the Kubernagar area of Ahmedabad city, came crashing down around 1am, said fire officer Jayesh Khadia of Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services. On being alerted about the incident, Khadia and his team rushed to the spot and started a search and rescue operation which continued until about 7.30am.

The fire officers who rushed to the area said that it was a ground plus two-floor commercial building identified as Prem Market in Kubernagar area. The firemen said that they received information that three persons were bur-

Two people were rescued in an operation that lasted six hours.

son Raj have tested positive for COVID-19. More cases have come emerged from Saurashtra University, including registrar Jatin Soni, deputy registrar GK Joshi, and syndicate member Bhavin Kothari. With this, Saurashtra University has recorded 33 cases of COVID-19.

Since the last few

days, Junagadh has been reporting 20 new cases every day. The district has now seen a total of 1,601 cases, with more cases emerging from rural areas.

Cases also came in from Ahmedabad (168), Rajkot (112), Jamnagar (92), Bhavnagar (65), Gandhinagar (38), Panchmahal (30), Amreli (28) and Junagadh (25).

VMC oppn alleges scam in purchase of tin sheet

Three marine police boats non-functional in Okha

Cong prez detained during NSUI’s protest against JEE, NEET exams

First India Bureau

First India Bureau

Vadodara: The opposition party has accused the Vadodara Municipal Corporation of paying 1.5 times the actual cost to purchase tin sheets, citing an emergency situation. The mayor refuted any such claims but said that the corporation would conduct an audit to alleviate any suspicions.

“In the initial days of the pandemic, they might have had to buy a few sheets at a premium in an emergency, but that is no excuse for consistently buying these tin sheets at a premium,” she said.

The corporation has purchased 13,500 square feet of tin sheets in the last few months.

“This should not have cost more than Rs1.50 crore at market value. However, the corporation has paid Rs2.50 crore. The cor-

Devbhumi Dwarka: On July 23, the state amended the Fisheries Act to give the marine police more power to search and seize boats for violation fishing norms. A month later, a report from Okha states that the marine police boats are nonfunctional.

Okha Marine Police Sub-Inspector RM Mundhva has confirmed to the media that the marine police have not been able to conduct regular ocean patrols for the past few months since three speed boats of the Okha marine police station are not functional.

The new ordinance empowered the marine police to patrol the high seas. However, members of the local fisheries association and boat owners’ association had told First India in July about the limitation of marine police. They said that the marine police hardly went out a few nautical miles when they did venture out to sea.

patients being treated for COVID-19 at the New Civil Hospital and SMIMER Hospital, 14 are on ventilator support, 32 are on BiPAP machines and 84 are on oxygen support.

In the past 24 hours, Vadodara city has tested 2,376 samples, of which 122 were positive.

There are 1,608 active cases in the city, with

160 patients on oxygen support and 54 on BiPAP machines and ventilator support. The city’s North zone accounts for the highest number of cases at 1,945, while the South zone has 1,513. Rural Vadodara reported 35 fresh cases, taking the tally there to 1,701.

Congress MLA Harshad Ribadiya and his

Workers from the local civic body installing tin sheets in a micro-containment zone in Vadodara.

poration has many suppliers. If all of them put in high quotations, the VMC should have issued fresh tenders inviting new bidders. But the corporation did not do so because its officers are hand-in-glove with suppliers,” Rawat alleged.

In response, Vadodara’s Mayor Jigeesha Sheth said that there was no clue that the virus would spread to the extent that it has, and hence

there was no question of advance planning.

The tin sheets were purchased on emergency basis, she said.

“First, they were purchased for one zone, and the excess were used in other zones. If there are any irregularities in purchasing tin sheets, the auditing department will look into it. These sheets will also be reused later by the corporation for other purposes,” she said.

ied in the debris. Two of them were rescued and admitted to the hospital while one person had died on the spot.

The officials said that an embroidery machine was installed in the shop where these three people were present. Officials said it was unclear if the three were working on the machine or if they had

been sleeping when the building came down.

Deputy Municipal Commissioner Ketan Thakkar said that the incident took place late in the night and the officials are checking their records about the building.Sources said that the building had been modified before being put to commerical use.

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

Vadodara

First India Bureau Ahmedabad/Surat/ Vadodara: The Congress party’s state unit chief Amit Chavda was among those detained in Ahmedabad on Friday, as the party and its student wing--the National Students’ Union of India--held statewide protests against the NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) and JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) exams.

Congress and NSUI supporters were also detained in Vadodara and Surat, where they had taken to the street to oppose the upcoming entrance exams for medical and engi-

Ahmedabad

neering courses, respectively.

The NSUI, Congress, and many others are opposing the upcoming exams and demanding that they be postponed due to the COVID-19

pandemic. The Congress has been arguing that several ministers and lakhs of citizens have tested positive for the virus despite following all protocols. The party’s position is that

Vadodara

the examinations would put the lives of 26 lakh students at risk even if they followed all the COVID-19 norms.

Chavda said that more than 26 lakh students are preparing for both these exams.

“There is a need for the exam, but not at the cost of lives. Parliament has been shut for the last six months, courts are hearing cases online, and trains and airlines have been suspended or are carrying out limited operations. At such a critical time, why is the Central government keen on conducting exams? The government must listen to students points and postpone this exam,” he asserted.

BIGGER CONCERNS

No need to increase the marriageable age for women, experts say 

Commended govt for prioritizing lives and well-being of young women, but said there are other, more effective ways to do so

First India Bureau Ahmedabad: The civil society in Gujarat made a case for not increasing the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years.

They say that increasing the marriageable age may prove detrimental and makes little sense since the existing law meets global standards and is robust in itself.

Renu Khanna, director of SAHAJ (Society

for Health Alternatives), said that 96 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from across the nation have discussed this matter. She said that while the group commended the government for wanting to prioritize the lives and well-being of young women, but said there are other far more effective ways to do so.

“Poverty, patriarchal control over a girl’s sexuality, and the failure of the education system to

Brides at a mass marriage ceremony in Ahmedabad.

—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

create a viable alternative are among the major determinants of early marriage. These have to be recognized and addressed first,” she said.

“Increasing the age of marriage is not a priority or even a necessity.

We must focus on better and more accessible schools, more sensitive and widely-available sexual and reproductive health services, a more robust nutrition programme, laws that protect, and a system that

recognizes the agency of young people over their own lives,” said Sejal Dand of Anandi.

They also scrapped the argument that early marriages result in higher Mother Mortality and Infant Mortality, by pointing out that women from the bottom 20% of households were three times as likely to be underweight as those from the top 20% and 1.2 times more likely to be anaemic, according to the latest NFHS report.

PERSPECTIVE AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020

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IN SYNC WITH THE COSMOS

IN-DEPTH

SONIA STRIKES BACK, G23 BIDES TIME

W

ho said that the Grand Old Party’s central leadership was comatose or lacked the gumption to check dissidence? Well, the party bosses have just shown signs of life after a stirring letter from 23 senior leaders demanding change in leadership and transparent elections to party posts. In a strong message to the Group of 23, which includes Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Shashi Tharoor, Anand Sharma, Manish Tiwari, and Jitin Prasada, Sonia Gandhi reorganized the party’s parliamentary groups.

Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tiwari found himself sidelined as the party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha. Gaurav Gogoi, a two-time MP from Assam, has been preferred over him. Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu is the new Whip. In the Rajya Sabha, KC Venugopal will now be part of a five-member decisionmaking group. Besides Azad and Anand Sharma the Rajya Sabha group will also have Jairam Ramesh as Chief Whip and Ahmed Patel, a Sonia loyalist. A similar group in the Lok Sabha will comprise Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, Gogoi, and Chief Whip K. Suresh.

Bittu and Manickkam Tagore will be the two Whips.

The changes give an idea of how things will shape up in case Sonia Gandhi decides to demit office in six months’ time. The LS group has loyalists of Rahul Gandhi. In the RS, the loyalty of Azad and Anand Sharma to the Gandhis may now be suspect but Venugopal, Ahmed Patel, and Ramesh can be counted upon. In nutshell, Sonia has removed impediments that may come up in Rahul’s path to presidentship. However, wait for G23’s next move.

SADHGURU, ISHA FOUNDATION

Ranked amongst the fifty most influential people in India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, visionary and a New York Times bestselling author Sadhguru has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2017, the highest annual civilian award, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service

T

PARLIAMENT GEARS UP FOR SESSION

P

arliament’s Monsoon Session is scheduled to be held from September 14 to October 1 under the shadow of the pandemic. Protocols are being put in place, including testing of all MPs and staff 72 hours before the start of the session. Arrangements for tests inside the House are also being made.

Speaker Om Birla met officials of the health ministry and others involved with tackling Covid-19 and said, “All are to be tested is the first protocol.” Provisions are being made for RT-PCR tests inside parliament every seven days. The protocol of social distancing will also be in place with members being adjusted in galleries. The Speaker said the Question Hour and the Zero Hours will be conducted and that he was discussing modalities with all the parties.

How stormy will the session be? The Opposition is expected to raise issues like the downward slide in the economy, non-payment of GST compensation to states, and the Covid-19 situation which, it says, the government has mishandled. The JEE (Main) and NEET examinations will be over by the time the session is convened, just in case the Supreme Court junks the review petition filed by six states. Any adverse fallout on students in view of the pandemic will give the Opposition a handle to attack the government.

It will be interesting to see if members will charge into the well forgetting social-distancing protocol if they do not get a chance to be heard.

Hopefully, MPs will demonstrate maturity like their counterparts in some state legislatures did.

They can always walk out and raise slogans.

In yoga, we evolved a whole system of practices as to how to stay in sync with the solar system so that your physical health, your mental balance, and your spiritual wellbeing is not even an issue

he Ujjain Kumbh Mela will be celebrated from 22 April. It is called the Simhastha Kumbha and is very significant because it is the twelfth of the twelveyear solar cycles. The earth and moon journey in cycles and your life too is cyclical. Either these can remain cycles of bondage or, we can use them for transcendence. There are cycles of various durations, the longest being of 144 years. Every 144 years, a distinctive situation happens in the solar system, and thus we have the Mahakumbha Mela once in 144 years.

In yoga, we see the solar system as the potter’s wheel out of which we have been churned.

The relationship between the solar system and the body is recognized and a lot of practices are designed to be in sync with this. For example, within the human system, there are 72,000 energy channels in the body, which meet in 114 places in significant ways. These places are called chakras. Of these 114, two are outside the physical body. With another four, there is nothing much you can do. So there are only 108 which you can practically work with.

108 has manifested in the human system because it is significant in the making of the solar system. The distance between the sun and earth is 108 times the diameter of the sun. The diameter of the sun is 108 times the diameter of the earth. The distance between the earth and the moon is 108 times the diameter of the moon. The human system is also in sync with this.

15,000 years ago when Adiyogi, the first yogi, was transmitting yoga to his seven disciples, the Saptarishis, or seven celebrated sages of India, he charted out how a human being has evolved. Yoga does not mean standing on your head, twisting your body, or holding your breath. Yoga is the science of inner evolution. Adiyogi explored every nut and bolt of creation

THE OTHER WAY FOR THE BRAIN TO EVOLVE IS FOR THE NEURONAL SIZE TO INCREASE, IN WHICH CASE THE BRAIN’S POWER CONSUMPTION WILL BE SO HIGH THAT THE PHYSICAL BODY CANNOT SUSTAIN IT. IN A RESTFUL STATE, TWENTY PERCENT OF YOUR ENERGY IS CONSUMED IN YOUR BRAIN. IF YOU INCREASE THE SIZE OF THE NEURONS, THE VOLUME OF ENERGY THAT IT WILL CONSUME WILL BE SO HIGH THAT THE PHYSICAL BODY CANNOT SUSTAIN IT

and brought forth yoga as a technology with which every human being can evolve himself.

At one point, the Saptarishis asked, “Can’t a human being evolve further?” Adiyogi said, “Unless there are drastic changes in the solar system, your physical body cannot evolve further; the physical laws will not permit that.” It is very uncanny that today, modern neuroscientists are saying something very similar. When people ask, “Can’t we have a bigger brain than what we have so that we can do more things?” They are saying, “The human brain cannot evolve any further, not because of neurological principles but because of physical laws. We can only learn to use it better, but we cannot evolve it further because the only way

we can do that is to pack more neurons in it. If we do that, clarity will go away.” Many children are born like this – they have phenomenal intelligence but they have no clarity. Over a period of time, natural cycles will kill some of the neurons and bring them down to a balanced state. If they don’t come down, they will be not normal.

The other way for the brain to evolve is for the neuronal size to increase, in which case the brain’s power consumption will be so high that the physical body cannot sustain it. In a restful state, twenty percent of your energy is consumed in your brain.

If you increase the size of the neurons, the volume of energy that it will consume will be so high that the physical body cannot sustain it. This is because of

Acedia: The lost name for the emotion we’re all feeling

W

ith some communities in rebooted lockdown conditions and movement restricted everywhere else, no one is posting pictures of their sourdough. Zoom cocktail parties have lost their novelty, Netflix can only release so many new series. The news seems worse every day, yet we compulsively scroll through it.

We get distracted by social media, yet have a pile of books unread. We keep meaning to go outside but somehow never find the time. We’re bored, listless, afraid and uncertain.

WHAT IS THIS FEELING? John Cassian, a monk and theologian wrote in the early 5th century about an ancient Greek

04

emotion called acedia. A mind “seized” by this emotion is “horrified at where he is, disgusted with his room … It does not allow him to stay still in his cell or to devote any effort to reading”. He feels: such bodily listlessness and yawning hunger as though he were worn by a long journey or a prolonged fast … Next he glances about and sighs that no one is coming to see him. Constantly in and out of his cell, he looks at the sun as if it were too slow in setting.

This sounds eerily familiar. Yet, the name that so aptly describes our current state was lost to time and translation.

MORE THAN A LABEL Reviving the language of acedia is important to our experience in two ways.

First, it distinguishes the complex of emotions brought on by enforced isolation, constant uncertainty and the barrage of bad news

from clinical terms like “depression” or “anxiety”.

Saying, “I’m feeling acedia” could legitimise feelings of listlessness

and anxiety as valid emotions in our current context without inducing guilt that others have things worse.

Second, and more importantly, the feelings associated with physical isolation are exacerbated by emotional isolation – that terrible sense that this thing I feel is mine alone.

When an experience can be named, it can be communicated and even shared.

Learning to express new or previously unrecognised constellations of feelings, sensations, and thoughts, builds an emotional repertoire, which assists in emotional regulation. Naming and expressing experiences allows us to claim some agency in dealing with them.

As we, like Cassian’s desert monks, struggle through our own “long, dark teatime of the soul”, we can name this experience, which is now part of our emotional repertoire..

SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION

the physical laws, not because of neurological principles. Adiyogi said this 15,000 years ago.

In yoga, we evolved a whole system of practices as to how to stay in sync with the solar system so that your physical health, your mental balance, and your spiritual wellbeing is not even an issue. It is something that naturally gets handled once you fall in sync with the whole system. Today we ignore everything and try to live. You can’t be well that way.

We have strived to produce societies and a world with all kinds of conveniences. But we have not invested enough in the inner wellbeing of a human being. We need infrastructure which delivers inner possibilities without fanciful belief systems; infrastructure where a human being can turn inward and explore himself. I am talking about inner exploration as an experience, not a psychological analysis. So it is essential that we as individuals, as families, as communities, as nations, as humanity as a whole, invest in developing a human being into a much bigger possibility than the way he is right now.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

Top

TWEET Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp The landmark judgement on #Ayodhya that paved the way for the construction of a grand Ram Mandir or recording highestever benchmarks of Parliament productivity, #Modi2.0 has been full of bold decisions and historic achievements Mallikarjun Kharge @kharge Govt’s decision to conduct #JEE_NEET examinations during an epidemic is illogical. It will put the lives of lakhs of students at risk & could be disastrous. The Govt should re-evaluate their decision on risking the students lives to satisfy their egos. #SpeakUpForStudentSafety

Spiritual SPEAK

In whom there is no sympathy for living beings: know him as an outcast.

—Buddha

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RAHUL GANDHI ON NEET, JEE

‘WHY SHOULD GOVT FORCE ANYTHING ON YOU?’ CONG AND VARIOUS OPPN PARTIES HAVE DEMANDED THAT THE TWO EXAMS BE DEFERRED DUE TO THE PANDEMIC & FLOODS IN COUNTRY

New Delhi: The safety of NEET-JEE aspirants should not be compromised due to the “failures of the government”, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, hitting out a the centre over its decision to hold the medical & engineering entrance exams in September amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“NEET-JEE aspirants’ safety should not compromised due to the failures of the government. The government must listen to all stakeholders and arrive at a consensus,” Mr Gandhi tweeted, along with a video of his message to the student community as well as the government.

“You’re the future of this country. You are the students and you are going to take this country to new heights...” Congress MP said, targeting the government over its handling of Covid crisis.

“What I don’t understand is why you should be held responsible and why further pain should be imposed on you... So why should the govern-

RAGA TRYING TO DISCOURAGE PEOPLE, SAYS GIRIRAJ SINGH

RAHUL GANDHI @RAHULGANDHI NEET-JEE aspirants’ safety should not compromised due to the failures of the Govt.

Govt must listen to all stakeholders and arrive at a consensus.#SpeakUpForStudentSafety ment force anything on you? It’s important that the government listens to the students,” he said in the video.

NEET-JEE aspirants’ safety should not compromised due to the failures of the Govt.

The crucial exams - the

Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) & the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) are to be held in September. While the JEE is scheduled from September 1 to 6, the NEET exam is to be held on September 13. The SC had last week rejected a

petition by 11 students from 11 states asking for the exams to be deferred, saying: “Life cannot be stopped... Are students ready to waste one whole year?”

Congress & various opposition parties have demanded that the exams be deferred due to the pandemic and floods in parts of country, even as centre has made it clear that they will be held as per schedule with due precautions. —ANI

Begusarai: Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Friday, said, “He is following the theory of Hitler’s minister Goebbels. during COVID-19, when the world accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a management guru Rahul Gandhi is asking when the vaccine will come.

It is not a child’s play, there is a protocol for coronavirus vaccine.

Three companies are working. Despite working during COVID-19, Rahul Gandhi is trying to discourage people and it is not in the national interest.”

—ANI

SC notice to Centre on PIL for identifying minorities at state level New Delhi: The Supreme Court sought the Centre’s response on a PIL seeking directions for framing of guidelines identifying minorities at the state level as the Hindus are in a minority in 10 states and are not able to avail the benefits of schemes meant for minorities.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Ajay Rastogi and Aniruddha Bose issued notices to the Ministries of Home Affairs, Law and Justice, and Minority Affairs and sought replies in six weeks.

Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Vikas Singh said Hindus are in minority in 10 states but have not been declared so.

The PIL, filed by BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, said it has also challenged the validity of Section 2(f) of the National Commission for Minority Education Institution Act 2004, for giving unbridled power to the Centre and being manifestly arbitrary, irrational and offending.

The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, said denial of benefits

to the “real” minorities and arbitrary and unreasonable disbursements under schemes meant for them to the absolute majority, infringes upon the fundamental right under the Constitution.

“Direct and declare that followers of Judaism, Bahaism & Hinduism, who are minorities in Laddakh, Mizoram, Lakshdweep, Kashmir, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur, can establish & administer educational institutions of their choice in spirit of the TMA Pai Ruling,” the plea said.

The apex court in TMA Pai Foundation case held that the state is well within its rights to introduce a regulatory regime in the nation-

IN THE COURTYARD BPR&D’s role vital in strengthening India’s Choksi’s plea seeking preview BHIMA KOREGAON CASE Bombay HC rejects bail internal security: Shah of Netflix series dismissed plea of Sudha Bharadwaj New Delhi: The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) has played an important role in strengthening India’s internal security, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, while congratulating the organisation on its Golden Jubilee Anniversary on Friday.

“Greetings to the Bureau of Police Research and Development on its Golden Jubilee Anniversary. The BPR&D has played a vital role in strengthening India’s internal security through research and development. I salute BPR&D’s continuous quest for a robust and modern police system in the country,” Shah tweeted. Sharing details about the organisation, the BPR&D earlier said, “The Bureau of Police Research and Development was raised on August 28, 1970, through a resolu-

J&K: MHA NOTIFIES RULES OF TRANSACTION “In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 55 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, read with the Proclamation, dated 31st October 2019 issued under section 73 of the said Act, the President hereby makes the following rules,” MHA said in a notification.

tion of MHA, with a mandate to promote excellence in policing, promote systematic study of police problems etc. —ANI

LEFT TARGETS CENTRE OVER ‘ACT OF GOD’ REMARK ON GST REVENUE New Delhi: The CPI(M) hit out at the government over the shortfall in GST revenues and claimed it was “blaming the heavens” after its “cronyism, incompetence and callousness” destroyed the economy. The Centre on Thursday placed before the GST Council two options for borrowing by states to meet the

shortfall in GST revenues pegged at 2.35 lakh crore in the current fiscal. Briefing reporters after the 41st meeting of the GST Council, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the economy has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is an ‘’Act of God’’, and it will see a contraction in the current fiscal.

New Delhi: Delhi HC dismissed a plea by Mehul Choksi, the uncle of diamantaire Nirav Modi, seeking a preview of a series to be aired by video streaming platform Netflix next month.

The series, ‘Bad Boy Billionaires’, focusses on the fraud committed by many high-profile business tycoons in India. The poster released by Netflix shows Choksi’s neph-

ew Nirav Modi, Subrata Roy of the Sahara Group, chairperson of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines , Vijay Mallya, and Ramalin-

ga Raju, the former chairperson and CEO of Satyam Computer Services.

HC said Choksi can file a civil suit as what is being alleged as an infringement by him is a private right and can be exercised in a civil suit. It also refused to grant him a preview stating that there are no regulations to control content being streamed on OTT platforms. —PTI

Mumbai: The Bombay HC dismissed the bail plea by Sudha Bharadwaj, one of the activists arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, filed on medical grounds in view of the Covid-19 outbreak in prisons. The court said the state will continue providing medical aid in prison for ailments. Bhardwaj is lodged in Mumbai’s Byculla Women’s Jail.

Bharadwaj had filed

an appeal before the Bombay HC against special NIA court’s rejection of her interim bail plea on medical grounds.—Agencies

Fodder Scam: Hearing on Lalu’s bail plea deferred Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court on Friday deferred for September 11 hearing on the bail plea of former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD supremo Lalu Yadav in connection with a case related to the fodder scam.

ber 2017, was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment in 2018 under the IPC and seven years under the Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with the fodder scam case.

Notably, both the sentences are being

Lalu Yadav is currently undergoing medical treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Jharkhand’s Ranchi. He has been in the hospital for several months now. Yadav, who has been in prison since Decem-

CURRENT SITUATION IN LADAKH AS SEVERE AS 1962: SHIV SENA Mumbai: Shiv Sena said that current situation in Ladakh is as severe as that of 1962, apparently referring to India-China war, but asserted that Indian Army will not allow the history to repeat.

In its mouthpiece Saamana, the party said, “Today’s India is not that of 1962. It is much more powerful than that. Despite acknowledging this, Chinese infiltration & land grabbing activities have not reduced. Indian Army will not allow to repeat the history of 1962. The situation in Ladakh currently is as severe as that of 1962.”

served consecutively.

The case pertains to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.5 crore from Dumka treasury by Animal Husbandry Department officials between 1991 1996 when Lalu served as the State’s Chief Minister. —ANI

BSP ANNOUNCES 8 CANDIDATES FOR MADHYA PRADESH BYPOLLS Bhopal: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has announced names of eight candidates for the by-elections to 27 Assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh. The list of candidates for eight seats, which are in Gwalior-Chambal region, was finalised by party president and former UP CM Mayawati, party sources

05

said. Party has fielded exMLA Soneram Kushwaha from Joura, Ram Prakash Rajoria from Morena, Yogesh Meghsingh Narwaria from Mehgaon, Kailash Kushwaha from Pohri, Bhanu Pratapsingh Sakhwar from Ambah, Jaswant Patwari from Ambah, Santosh Gaud from Dabra Rajendra Jatav from Pohri.

al interest to provide minority educational institutions with wellqualified teachers in order for them to achieve excellence in education.

The plea said that minorities whether based on religion or language shall have the right to establish-administer educational institutions of their choice.

“Rational basis of declaring certain religions as minority by Central government as they have less population in the States is contravened when benefits of schemes for minority are acquired by those religious minorities in states where they are in majority & those religious communities who are actually minorities are not been given equal status.” —PTI

POSTPONEMENT OF BIHAR POLLS

COVID-19 NO EXCUSE, SAYS SC New Delhi: SC refused to entertain a petition seeking postponement of the Bihar Assembly elections due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan and comprising Justices R S Reddy and MR Shah left it to the Election Commission decide the schedule.

The apex court was hearing a petition filed by one Avinash Thakur, who sought direction to the Chief Election Commissioner to postpone the election till the state was free of Covid-19. The petitioner had argued that Representation of People Act allowed deferment in extraordinary situations.

SC said this was not the ground for postponement. adding that the petition was premature, as EC was yet to announce the poll schedule. —PTI

HEAVY RAIN DAMAGES HOUSES IN U’KHAND’S DHARCHULA Uttarakhand: Heavy rain and land slides caused extensive damage in Uttrakhand’s Dharchula district. Many houses have been badly damaged.

Residents have requested the local administration to allow them to look for their belongings that are still under the rubble. The debris of damaged houses has blocked roads creating problems for the locals to move from one place to another. We had made it a priority to keep people safe, then save their properties and clear blocked roads,” said Anil Kumar Shukla, SDM of Dharchula.

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INDIA’S RECOVERIES NEAR 26 LAKH New Delhi: After 60,177 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, India’s COVID-19 recoveries are nearing 26 lakh and there are only 22 per cent active cases in the country, the MOHFW informed on Friday.

“With more patients recovering and being discharged from home isolation (in case of mild and moderate cases) and hospitals (severe and critical cases), India’s COVID-19 recoveries are nearing 26 lakh. 60,177 have recovered in the last 24 hours.

With these national figures, the Recovery Rate has touched 76.28 per cent,” read a release by the Ministry. “The number of recoveries is nearly 3.5 times the active cases, which comprise 21.90 per cent of the total cases,” it said.

The gap between recoveries and active cases now increased to 18,41,925.

The Union Health Ministry said that the

Covid hits IPL: India witnessed a record single-day spike of 77,266 cases in the last 24 hours India bowler, ‘PRANAB STILL IN staff of CSK DEEP COMA’ test positive Recovery rate rises to 76.28% The Case Fatality Rate has dropped at 1.82%

COVID-19 infected patients interact with health workers inside a ward at the CWG Village sports complex, temporarily converted into a Covid care centre, in New Delhi.

PUNJAB CM GOES INTO SELF-QUARANTINE

early focus on surveillance and contact tracing through house-to-

house survey was continuously strengthened with an increase in test-

ing for ensuring early identification of positive cases.

“This has ensured prompt isolation of the confirmed positive cases either in supervised home care for the mild and moderate cases, and hospitalisation in case of those who are exhibiting critical symptoms,” it said.—ANI

New Delhi: Former president Pranab Mukherjee continued to be in a deep coma and on ventilator support.

But he is haemodynamically stable, the Army Hospital, Delhi Cantonment said here on Friday.

“Former president Pranab Mukherjee is under intensive care and is being treated for lung infection and renal dysfunction.

He continues to be in deep coma and on ventilator support. He is haemodynamically stable,” it said. The former President had tested positive for COVID-19 and undergone surgery for a brain clot at R&R on August 10.

New Delhi: A current India limited-overs cricketer is among multiple members of the Chennai Super Kings contingent who have tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the franchise to extend its quarantine period in Dubai ahead of the IPL. An league source revealed that all COVID-19 positive results came during day 1, 3 and 6 of testing after the contingent’s landing in Dubai. The IPL is due to begin on September 19. “Yes, a rightarm medium fast bowler, who has recently played for India, along with a few staff members have tested positive for COVID-19,” a senior IPL source told PTI on conditions of anonymity. —PTI

SUSHANT SINGH DEATH CASE

PM Modi hails achievements of CBI grills Rhea Chakraborty ‘PMJDY’ as it completes 6 years

Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty arrives at the DRDO guest house in Mumbai on Friday.

Mumbai: Actor Rhea Chakraborty was on Friday questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the first time since it took over the probe into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput.

Chakraborty was summoned by the central agency to appear before its probe team on Friday around 10.30am.

Chakraborty, Rajput’s girlfriend, left her residence around 10am to reach the DRDO guest house in suburban Santacruz, where the probe team is stationed, news agency PTI reported.

Chakraborty reached the DRDO guesthouse in Mumbai’s Santacruz East area along with her brother Shovik

‘CBI SHOULD ARREST RHEA IMMEDIATELY’

PM Narendra Modi

ative has been a gamechanger, serving as the foundation for many poverty alleviation initiatives, benefitting crores of people. #6YearsOfJanDhanYojana.” The Prime

Minister added that the high number of beneficiaries of this scheme are from rural areas and are women.

“Thanks to the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, the future of several families has become secure. A high proportion of beneficiaries are from rural areas and are women. I also applaud all those who have worked tirelessly to make PM-JDY a success,” he wrote in another tweet. —ANI

PMJDY has brought unbanked into banking system: Anurag Vaishali

where she will be questioned by the central agency.

Before Chakraborty’s arrival, Rajput’s friend and flatmate Siddharth Pithani and manager Samual Miranda had reached the DRDO guest house to join the investigation.

Rajnath to induct Rafale jet on Sept 10 New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will formally induct the five Rafale fighter aircraft into the IAF on September 10 at the Ambala air base in Haryana in a ceremony for which French Defence Minister Florence Parly would also be invited.

Defence sources said that the induction ceremony would be held after the return of the Defence Minister from Russia where he is scheduled to attend the meeting of the Defence Ministers of the mem-

New Delhi: The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana that was launched with an ambitious aim of banking the unbanked completed six years on Friday, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Modi wrote, “Today, six years ago, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana was launched with an ambitious aim of banking the unbanked. This initi-

ber countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation from September 4 to 6. Rafale aircraft induction ceremony would be held on September 10 with Defence Minister as the Chief Guest. The French Defence Minister is also being sent an invite to attend the event.

The CBI team, which is in the city since the last eight days to investigate the case, on Thursday recorded Shovik’s statement for more than eight hours.

Chakraborty’s father has also been questioned by several investigators. —PTI

New Delhi: More than 40.35 crore people benefited from the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana which was launched six years ago as a national mission for financial inclusion, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.

The Jan Dhan Yojana, which was announced

by PM Modi in his Independence Day address in 2014, was launched

Under the leadership of PM Modi, PMJDY has brought the unbanked into the banking system, expanded the financial architecture of India and brought financial inclusion to over 40 crore account holders and a majority of the beneficiaries are women and most of the accounts are from rural India.

—Anurag Thakur, MoS, Finance

on August 28, in the same year. The PMJDY has been the foundation

stone for Modi government’s people-centric economic initiatives.

The apex court had dismissed a plea by one Sayantan Biswas seeking direction to National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts both the NEET and JEE exams, to postpone them and said that there was absolutely” no merit in the plea.

sion-making process.

“In politics, getting results is the most important thing. Facing illness and treatment and being in poor physical form, I could not let myself make mistakes in important political decisions and fail to achieve results,” he said further.

“I have decided that I should not continue to hold the position of the prime minister, as I can no longer firmly carry out the mandate given to me by the people. I’ve decided to resign as Prime Minister,” said Abe. The resignation will trigger a leadership race in the ruling Lib-

06

POWER Gallery KAUN BANEGA TRAI CHAIRMAN

Rita Teotia Name of Rita Teotia is also in circulation in the corridors of power for the post of Chairman of the TRAI. 1981 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer Teotia who had been additional Secretary in the Telocom Ministry is presently Chairperson of FSSAI. HAS SOMEONE STALLED EXTENSION OF CBDT CHAIRMAN MODY ?

Still, order of extension in service to CBDT Chairman P C Mody is awaited. Though P C Mody is ahead yet name of S K Gupta has also cropped up.

VACANCY OF CHAIRMAN, PESB ARISING ON SEPT 1

A vacancy of Chairman, Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) is arising on September 1, 2020 with the incumbent Rajiv Kumar joining as Election Commissioner.

NARESH KUMAR LIKELY TO MOVE TO DELHI

The name of Naresh Kumar is doing the rounds for the post of CS, Delhi if Vijay Dev move to GoI. He is a 1987 batch AGMUT cadre IAS officer and presently posted as CS, Arunachal Pradesh.

WHO WILL BE NEW CEO OF SANSAD TV?

Formality of the merger of the Lok Sabha TV and the Rajya Sabha TV is over. Now a search of new CEO of the Sansad TV has begun.

NINE IPS OFFICERS RETIRING IN AUGUST

As many as nine IPS officers of various cadres and batches are retiring in August, 2020. They include: J Prabhakar Rao of AP; S Nithiyanandam of UT; N Shankar Reddy of Kerala; Rajendra Kumar of MP; Jitendra Debbarma of Tripura; Jawahar Lal Tripathi and R P Pandey of UP; Sashikant Pujari and Tamal Basu of West Bengal.

WILL TAJ HASAN JOIN GOI?

Rumours are high that Taj Hasan, Spl Commissioner in Delhi Police, is likely to go on deputation to government of India. He is an AGMUT cadre IPS officer.

WHO WILL BE NEW CHANDIGARH POLICE CHIEF ?

Lobbying has started to grab the post of Police Chief, Chandigarh, which is ADG level. It is said that Niraj Thakur and Satyendra Garg are reportedly in the race for the prestigious post. Both are AGMUT cadre IPS officers. Garg is presently posted as JS in MHA while Thakur is working with the Delhi Police.

DEPUTATION TENURE OF RAJU BHARGAVA AS IG, CRPF EXTENDED

The deputation tenure of Raju Bhargava working as IG, CRPF, has been extended upto November 1, 2020. He is a 1995 batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre.

NEW NAMES OF SIX JUDICIAL OFFICERS RECOMMENDED FOR MP HC ?

Six new names of six Judicial officers are believed to have been recommended for the elevation in MP High Court. They are Mssrs- Anil Verma, principal registrar Indore. Sunita Yadav district judge Datia Satyendra Singh, PS law. Arun Sharma, district judge chattarpur. Deepak kumar Agrawal, District judge Gwalior and Rajendra kumar Verma, district judge Bhopal.

WILL U K SINGH BE NEW SECRETARY, LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT?

Utpal Kumar Singh, former Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand, is being appointed as Secretary, Lok Sabha Secretariat? He is a 1986 batch retired IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre.

By arrangement with : http:// whispersinthecorridors.com

FROM PG 1 Universities asked...

The state is hopeful that new educational policy will play a great role in the personality development of students in the future.

NEP 2020 also includes provisions for a 360-degree integrated report card that will include marks achieved by students as well as a grade for their skills and other aspects. The policy is also expected to give financial autonomy to 45,000 colleges affiliated with various universities.

No final... of all stakeholders that

is students as well as the exam functionaries and hence challenge to the Guidelines on the ground of it being violative of Article 21 is repelled. The bench, while disposing of a batch of petitions filed by students, private organisations and Shiv Sena’s youth wing Yuva Sena’, framed seven issues and said that the July 6 guidelines of the UGC cannot be ignored by terming it as non-statutory or advisory in nature.—PTI

6 oppn-ruled... and students can’t lose a precious year due to the pandemic.

Japan’s PM... partnership has become deeper and stronger than ever before. I wish and pray for your speedy recovery.”

Abe said that he would step down because his worsened condition and treatment could threaten the deci-

eral Democratic Party (LDP) - most likely in two or three weeks - and the winner must be formally elected in parliament. The new party leader will hold the post for the rest of Abe’s term. Whoever wins the party poll is likely to keep Abe’s reflationary “Abenomics” policies as Japan struggles with the impact of the novel coronavirus, but may have trouble emulating the political longevity that may be Abe’s biggest legacy. —ANI

Cong’s Vasanthakumar...

During my interactions

with him, I always saw his passion towards Tamil Nadu’s progress.

Condolences to his family and supporters,” he said. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “The news of Kanyakumari MP, Shri H Vasanthakumar’s untimely demise due to Covid-19 has come as a shock. His commitment to the congress ideology of serving the people will remain in our hearts forever. Heartfelt condolences to his friends and family members.” Kumar was a multifaceted personality. He was a philanthropist, cultural promoter, and writer.

TALKING POINT AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020

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07

CELEBRATED ON THE BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF HOCKEY WIZARD DHYAN CHAND, THE NATIONAL SPORTS DAY IS ALSO A TIMELY REMINDER FOR THE NEED FOR SPORTING ACTIVITIES IN LIFE

NATIONAL SPORTS DAY

MORE THAN JUST A DAY OF

CELEBRATION IN INDIA NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS

Awarded by the central government, the National Sports Awards is a recognition of an athlete’s contribution to their discipline.

The highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, is reserved for the outstanding performer, usually handed out to the Olympic medallist in an Olympic year, and the Arjuna Award recognises the achievements of the athletes in the seasons gone by.

The Dronacharya Award, meanwhile, is conferred on the best coaches in the country, including foreign coaches who have contributed to the development of the sport in India.

And the Dhyan Chand Award recognises the lifetime contribution of an athlete in his field. While the Individual National Sports Federations (NSF) and the athletes are free to file nominations for the awards, an award committee constituted by the sports ministry takes it upon itself to recommend potential awardees to the government.

Constituted in 1991, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna was first awarded to India’s first-ever Grand Master and a five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand.

The Arjuna Award is the oldest among all with the first award being handed out in 1961, while the Dronacharya Award came into being in 1985. The Dhyan Chand award is the latest with the first recipients, Shahuraj Birajdar (boxing), Ashok Diwan (hockey), and Aparna Ghosh (basketball), receiving their awards in 2002.

also used this day as a platform to launch various sports schemes, including the Khelo India movement, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018. But there’s more. The National Sports Day is also an occasion that sees the nation honour its sporting heroes with recognitions like the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, Dhyan Chand Award, and the Dronacharya Award. At a special ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President of India takes this day to confer these awards.

DHYAN CHAND (STANDING SECOND FROM LEFT) WITH THE INDIAN HOCKEY TEAM AT THE 1936 BERLIN OLYMPICS. PHOTO: OLYMPIC ARCHIVES.

WHO IS DHYAN CHAND? In a country that has revered sporting superstars like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, and Balbir Singh Sr. among others, hockey player Major Dhyan Chand has reserved a special place for himself. Born in Allahabad (Prayagraj) in Uttar Pradesh on August 29, 1905, as Dhyan Singh, he rose to prominence in the preindependence period.

Star of the Indian hockey team that dominated the sport in the years before World War II, Dhyan Singh played an important role

SOURCE: WEB CONCEPT: DIVYA HEMNANI DESIGN: CP SHARMA

T

he National Sports in India is celebrated on August 29. It was included in the list of celebratory days in India for the first time in 2012. It is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Dhyan Chand Singh. States like Haryana, Punjab, and Karnataka, among others, organise various sporting events and seminars aimed at spreading awareness about the importance of physical activities and sports in life.

Over the years, the government has

in helping India complete their first hattrick of Olympic gold medals with wins at the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympics.

Starting his hockey career with the regimental team of the British Indian Army, a young Dhyan Singh was a special talent. But what made him stand out was his dedication to his craft.

With most of the day spent in regimental duties, Dhyan Singh would practice his hockey in the night under the moonlight, a reason that earned him the name Dhyan Chand (Chand means moon in Hindi).

He would rise through the ranks in the coming years, helping his teams with the various interArmy matches, and soon

be called up for the Indian hockey team for the 1928 Olympics.

There would be no looking back from there as Dhyan Chand went on to rule the world of hockey with his delightful stick work and understanding of the game that earned him the moniker of 'Hockey Wizard' and 'The Magician'.

The hockey legend’s career spanned from 1926 to 1948 and ended as one of the greatest hockey players of all time after having represented India 185 matches and scored over 400 goals during this period. While he retired as a Major in the Punjab Regiment of the Indian Army in 1956, the Indian government went on to confer the Padma Bhushan - third-highest civilian award - the same year.

There are only two types of people in this world, those who want to embrace peace and those who don’t.

2ND FRONT

—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India

AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020

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After 130 deaths in 7 months, Guj ‘serious’ about industrial accidents A concerned Chief Secretary Anil Mukim asks labour dept to ensure compliance with safety norms Darshan Desai

BELATED AND LOPSIDED APPROACH?

Gandhinagar: In an arguably unusual development, the Gujarat Government that is known for being more friendly to industrial growth and less to labour welfare, took cognizance of industrial accidents in the State at the highest level with Chief Secretary Anil Mukim holding a review of the scenario here on Friday.

The numbers reflect the picture: As many as 130 workers were killed in industrial accidents in Gujarat from January to July 2020 and 74 of them died after the Covid-19-induced lockdown was lifted in a phased manner. According to the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH), the State reported 89 industrial accidents up

The Gujarat Government has taken a serious note of industrial accidents in the State.

to July this year and 51 among them occurred after the lockdown was lifted.

The State Government has taken a serious note of the industrial accidents and directed the officials concerned to ensure compliance with safety requirements by factories. Chief Sec-

retary Anil Mukim convened a meeting with the State Labour and Employment Department, headed by ACS Vipul Mittra, and reviewed the safety requirements in factories.

He sought minute details about the on-site and off-site emergency plans for manufactur-

ing, storing and importing hazardous chemicals, preparedness and response in the case of chemical accidents.

Labour activists told First India that the government might be looking at the workers’ safety but if the State was serious, it should have qualified industrial hygienists while it boasted

of having 4 hygiene laboratories.

“Why is the government not speaking of the workers’ health and working conditions,” asked Jagdish Patel, director of Vadodarabased People’s Training and Research Centre.

He pointed out, “More than 30% of the posts of inspectors have been vacant for a long time.”

At the meeting, Vipul Mittra said, “Industrial

@ahmedpatel

GOING TECH-SAVVY

In the corona era, there are problems of transportation, accommodation and other problems faced by the candidates who appear in the #JEE_NEET examination. Floods are also a problem. Examiners of rural background also face problems.

In view of all these problems, the government should postpone the examination. #SpeakUpForStudentSafety I offer my heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Lok Sabha MP Shri. H Vasanthakumar Ji. My prayers are with his family.

Ahmedabad Joint Commissioner of Police Ajay Choudhary attends a call from the National Emergency Number for Police: 100 at the state-of-art City Control Room.

VADODARA’S GUJARAT FLYING CLUB TO TRAIN DRONE PILOTS First India Bureau Vadodara: Vadodarabased Gujarat Flying Club has received approval from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to conduct remote pilot training using Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) or drones.

This takes the total number of drone train-

ing schools in the country to 12. According to Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, drone training institutes will bring in standardisation and better quality control in the fast-growing drone ecosystem.

Dubey said, “With the addition of Gujarat Flying Club, Vadodara in the DGCA approved

drone training list, the number of approved drone schools has reached twelve.”

The approval is subject to conditions and limitations applicable to the Gujarat Flying Club for conducting the remote pilot training at its premises in Vadodara using Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems.

Received ED notice? Beware, this may be by fraudsters First India Bureau New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked the police in Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi to be on the lookout for a gang that specialises in cheating and harassing people by issuing notices to banks and traders in the guise of financial

probe agencies.

The agency is also in touch with the police of other States too to gather details about such crimes. In a written communication to the Director-Generals of Police of many States, the ED has asked them to be on the alert.

The Delhi Crime Branch earlier this week arrested five such persons.

accidents can be avoided if all safety measures are followed. The number of accidents have come down because of our efforts.”

Mukim also reviewed compliance of provisions related to site approval by Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) during appraisal of projects while granting environmental clearances.

08

NIA searches home of alleged ISI agent in Kutch district First India Bureau Bhuj: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted searches at the house of one Razak Sumarbhai Kumbhar in Mundra’s in Kutch district in connection with a case relating to ISI agents, officials said on Friday.

The NIA had recently arrested an ISI agent for allegedly sending photographs of sensitive and strategically important installations and information of the movement of the armed forces to suspected handlers of Pakistan’s ISI. He was identified as Mohammad Rashid from Chandoli district in Uttar Pradesh. During the investigation, it was revealed that Rashid was in contact with

ISI handlers in Pakistan and had visited the neighbouring country twice.

He reportedly transmitted photographs of some strategically important installations in India and also shared information about the movement of the armed forces with ISI handlers in Pakistan.

It was also found that Razak had transferred Rs 5,000 through Paytm to one Rizwan, who in turn handed it over to Rashid. The transaction, officials claim, was on instructions by ISI for the information supplied.

During the searches at the house of Rajak Kumbhar, the NIA officials claimed to have found several incriminating documents.

‘Dhaman-3 is our befitting reply to those defaming us’ Masuma Bharmal Jariwala Rajkot: Gujarat firm Jyoti CNC, which courted controversy over its Dhaman brand ventilators made in the hometown of Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, on Friday claimed that the equipment’s latest version, Dhaman-3, had cleared all the tests and parameters of technical committee of the Union Health Ministry.

Not only the clearances, Jyoti’s CMD Parakramsinh Jadeja told reporters in Rajkot that his company had also procured an order for 5,000 Dhaman-3 machines from the Director-General of Health Services (DGHS).

Responding to questions related to an RTI application about rejection of Dhaman-3 machines, Jadeja said, “The RTI was replied by the government on July 20 when Dhaman-3 was still under evaluation. We got the approval on August 8.”

Jyoti CNC’s CMD Parakramsinh Jadeja with team of doctors addressing the media on the launch of Dhaman-3 ventilators made by his company.

He asserted that, “There is a lobby of importers which is trying to defame make-in-India products as well as the company. So far, we have supplied around 1,200 Dhaman-1 machines across India and already given 862 to Government of Gujarat. We have also received orders and inquiries from abroad.”

Jadeja said the ‘Made in Rajkot’ product, which his company manufactured taking the shortage of ventila-

tors during the Covid-19 crisis as a challenge, suffered a setback after a letter by an Ahmedabad civil hospital doctor. He said this was “misinterpreted as though the Dhaman ventilator was faulty.”

“The expert team of 150 who directlyed work under the supervision of a team of doctors were upset with these reports. But we took up the challenge and gave a befitting reply through Dhaman-3,” he added.

STEPPING INTO OBLIVION

With Gujarat’s Sidi & Bhili, 200-plus languages face extinction 

Researchers say the world over 3,000 languages are “endangered” and India reports the highest number

First India Bureau Vadodara: Even as some 3,000-odd languages from the total 7,000 in the world are facing extinction, linguistics expert Ganesh N Devy of Vadodara claims the situation in India is alarming with at least 197 languages being “endangered” and the number is the highest in the world.

And this is not the entire picture. Devy, who has documented 780 liv-

ing languages, goes to the extent of saying that “400 of them are at a risk of dying.”

Devy, who is the founder-director of the Bhasa Research and Publication Centre, Vadodara, and Adivasi Academy at Tejgadh, in Gujarat, says, “India may have lost 220 languages since 1961.

There were 1,100 languages since 1961, based on the Census number of 1,652 mother tongues. Another 150

Scores of tribal languages in India, including in Gujarat, are facing extinction.

languages could vanish in the next 50 years.”

Gujarat’s Sidi and Bhili, Koro in Arunachal

Pradesh, Sidi and Dimasa in Assam are facing extinction. There are five tribal languages

inching towards extinction in India and the most threatened is Majhi in Sikkim. According

to a research conducted

by People’s Linguistic Survey of India, there are just four people who currently speak Majhi and all of them belong to the same family.

Until recently, UNESCO has put Asur, Birhor and Korwa in its list of the world’s endangered languages with Birhor being categorised as ‘Critically Endangered’, with just 2,000 speakers left.

According to UNESCO, any language spo-

ken by less than 10,000 people is potentially endangered. In India, after the 1971 census, the government decided not to include any language spoken by less than 10,000 people.

From 1971 onwards, the Census has been counting only those languages with more than 10,000 speakers.

This has led to a decline in the list of languages to 108 in the 1971 Census, as against 1,652 a decade ago.

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09

AHMEDABAD, SATURDAY AUGUST 29, 2020

Mary Kom; (below) Priyanka Chopra Jonas in and as ‘Mary Kom’

JEE JAAN SE!

ON NATIONAL SPORTS DAY, CITY FIRST BOWLS A FAST ONE AS WE PLAY THE FIELD WITH A FEW BEST OF BOLLYWOOD SPORTS ORIENTED MOVIES!

ANITA HADA

anita.hada@firstindianews.com

I

(Top) Still from ‘Dangal’; (Left) Members of the Phogat family who were the inspiration for the film

(Top) Mahendra Singh Dhoni; (Right) Poster of ‘MS Dhoni- The Untold Story’ starring late Sushant Singh Rajput

t is often said, in jest, that India unitedly worships two thingsone is Cricket and the other is Bollywood, so, naturally we start the list of Bollywood sports-oriented movies with ‘MS Dhoni- The Untold Story’. With Dhoni declaring his retirement and also the heartache where Sushant is concerned, this movie is a must-watch again!

The movie shows the story behind the MS Dhoni we see today – the efforts he put in for years and his journey from the goalkeeper of a school team to a Ticket Collector to the World Cup winning captain. Sushant Singh Rajput did a brilliant job of playing the former captain’s role.

My favourite biopic remains ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’! Coming from an Army background family, I closely connected with Farhan Akhtar (one of his best roles) and the army competition and camaraderie scenes. The movie tugs at heartstrings throughout and one identifies with Milkha, his slip ups and then the hard work to rise again, the innocence, the sister’s love for her brother, the partition scenes, win against Pakistan– everything makes Bhaag Milkha Bhaag a classic to be watched again… and again!

‘Dangal’ is another favourite.

Replete with messages on gender equality, dreams and sports, Aamir Khan Turn to P10

LOVE FOR INDIA

It’s not about logic, its emotions and love for India! It’s about seeing the Tricolour flying and standing with head held high as the strains of the National Anthem flow in our veins. Jai Hind!

Farhan Akhtar in ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ as Milkha Singh; (inset) Milkha Singh

ETC

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AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020

10

FROM PG 9

‘Chak De! India’

excels as Mahavir Singh Phogat and we fall in love all over again with our stars Geeta and Babita. For me, a movie which is about so much more than wrestling, likewise ‘Mary Kom’!

The story of the 6-time World Champion and Olympic Bronze medallist, her fight against poverty, gender discrimination, her hiatus and return after the delivery of twins- Priyanka Chopra Jonas had to strive hard to fill these boots!

Another one is Irrfan Khan as ‘Paan Singh Tomar’, a soldier in the Indian Army, gold medalwinner in the steeplechase at the National Games, 7-time National champion in the 1950s and a circumstantial dacoit eventually shot dead

by Police after a few years of laying low and running away from them, gave one of the finest performances and rightfully won the National Award for the ‘Best Actor’. Budhia Singh, is neither very glam nor popu-

lar but it is the story of painful reality and a must watch.

Fictional movies focusing on sports are also fun to watch, I quite liked ‘Iqbal’ which never got the appreciation it deserved. ‘Sultan’, ‘Patiala House’, the latest ‘Gold’ are all worth watching as was ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’the cycling movie!

But ‘Lagaan’ and ‘Chak De! India’ top the fictional list, no two questions about it! The rush of the win does not fade, the last crucial seconds of both the m a t c h e s , though I know the outcome, are still nail biting.

(Top) Budhia Singh; (Right) Poster of the film ‘Budhia Singh - Born to Run’

(Inset) Paan Singh Tomar; Late Irrfan Khan as and in ‘Paan Singh Tomar’

‘Patiala House’

Stills from ‘Lagaan’

‘Sultan’

‘Gold’

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AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020

‘TEJAS’ to go on floors

NEW RECORD

B

LACKPINK has officially crossed the second step in their three-part 2020 comeback and it’s as epic as you would expect.

This time, the quartet collaborated with none other Selena Gomez with the result being Ice Cream. We’re sure BLINKS and Selenators would agree that we’ve got the summer anthem of 2020 in our hands and specifically it’s the colourful, vibrant MV that we just can’t get over.

While Ice Cream is climbing up the iTunes charts all around the world, the music video is already breaking records.

According to reports, Ice Cream MV crossed 10 million views on YouTube in under three hours which led to BLACKPINK setting a new YouTube record for the fastest 10 million views for a music video by a Korean girl group. The previous record was also held by BLACKPINK itself for their pre-release single How You Like That (3 hours 40 minutes). Moreover, in four hours, BLACKPINK has already crossed 22 million views and 3.6 million likes. It’s indeed a crazy achievement by the lovely ladies!

—Agency

S

Kangana Ranaut

in December

haring a poster of her upcoming patriotic film ‘Tejas,’ actor K a n g a n a Ranaut on Friday announced that the film is all set to go on the floors in December this year.

The ‘Queen’ actor took to Twitter to share the poster that sees her wearing an Air Force uniform as she stands beside the fighter aircraft Tejas. “#Tejas to take-off this December! Proud to be part of this exhilarating story that is an ode to our brave airforce pilots! Jai Hind #Frid ay s Wi t h R S V P @ sarveshmewara1 @ RonnieScrewvala @rsvpmovies @nonabains,” she tweeted along with the picture.

Kangana Ranaut is

... her post

all set to portray the role of an Air Force pilot. The Indian Air Force was the first of the country’s defence forces to induct women into combat roles in 2016.

The film takes inspiration from this landmark event. The first look of the film was

released earlier in February which featured the ‘Tanu Weds Manu’ actor donning the Air Force uniform.

Helmed by Sarvesh Mewara and bankrolled by Ronnie Screwvala, the film is scheduled to release in April 2021.

—ANI

Collaboration after 25 years

‘See you in COLLEGE’

F

Selena Gomez

ilmmaker Anubhav Sinha and actor Manoj Bajpayee are all set to collaborate for something “exciting” after a long gap of 25 years. “And a very exciting collaboration after 25 years with a friend whom I know right from my theatre days @anubhavsinhaa bas thoda intezaar,” Bajpayee wrote in the caption.

Further details of the collaboration have not yet been revealed.

—ANI

Anubhav Sinha and Manoj Bajpayee

NEW ALBUM

B

ollywood actor Sunny Leone’s name was mischievously seen topping the admission merit list of Kolkata’s Asutosh college for BA Honours in English. The name appeared with an application ID 9513008704 and roll number 2077776666 with the year of passing being 2020 from the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education.

What was more surprising was that the name had a perfect score of 400 (best of 4) in Class 12. As the screenshot of the merit list went viral, the actress took to Twitter and shared, “See you all in college next semester!!! Hope you are in my class ;).”

—Agency

Sunny Leone

11

OUT

A

Katy Perry

ugust 2020 is indeed Katy Perry’s month as not only did she welcome her first child with Orlando Bloom, a baby girl who they gave the sweet name Daisy Dove Bloom, but the 35-year-old singer also dropped her highly-awaited album Smile on Friday. It’s indeed been a roller coaster ride for Perry, these past few months, but it hasn’t stopped the Daisies singer from shining through both personally and professionally.

Katy Perry is having the time of her life. After delivering her baby Daisy Dove Bloom on Thursday, Perry has launched her sixth album, Smile, on Friday. The “Roar” singer took to Twitter and shared, “It’s here!

It’s here!!! I finally got ... her post back my smile! Hope this record puts one on your face #SMILE is out everywhere now! Love you guys so much!

Enjoy (sent from my hospital bed lol)” Katy Perry released the first single of the album, “Daisies”, in May, and it is only fitting that she has named her daughter Daisy too.

—Agency

RANDEEP

UNDERGOES

SURGERY

R

andeep Hooda has undergone a leg surgery at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai, as he was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday.

The actor’s father, Ranbir Hooda stated that Randeep is recovering and will be discharged soon.

“Thank you all for your concern.

Randeep had a leg surgery yesterday, he’s recovering and will be discharged soon. He’s COVID 19 negative and the surgery went well, so we will be able to take him home soon,” his father said.

—Agency

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AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020

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WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: RISE & SHINE CITY FIRST

T

QUE...

QUEen Q1. I got married 6 months ago in an arranged marriage. The girl remained very docile and passive with hardly any interaction with me. I thought she was taking time to settle down. A week ago, accidentally while trying to set up e-banking on her phone I found romantic texts sent to another man. On asking, she said that she has blocked him now and it is her past but still she keeps on texting and deleting messages when I ask.

What do I do?

Ans. I am sorry. It is quite clear that the girl was in a relationship before marriage and is still stuck, for no fault of yours, your life is now in a fix. First, tell your parents and inform her parents. Secondly, talk to her frankly and seek counselling if necessary. If she is willing to put it behind her then you should take a step forward and rebuild. There is hardly a person who has not had a relationship or two before marriage nowadays but the past has to remain in the past. On the other hand, if she is not willing to let go of that man and her past, best is to file for divorce. Do involve the family of both sides in all decisions. You will need the support.

he inaugural session of IWN Women Leadership Summit 2020 organised by CII Indian Women Network (CIIIWN) took place on Friday at Jaipur on the virtual platform. “Women need to open out their wings and shine in all their glory.

The world has always needed them. It acknowledges them now.” said Rolee Agarwal, Commissioner Income Tax, Government of India.

Rolee also added I have a different theory about the bureaucracy that women have always bring

Rhea Singhal

During the session

change and they have always been behind the scenes earlier. They are coming in the forefront now although numbers are still very low I feel that we are growing and very optimistic that we are well versed and on the right mark. The selection of women candidates in

UPSC is still very low; only 1 candidate out of 10,000 candidates is selected in this world’s toughest exam. We need to work 30% extra to be on par with others to balance both work and family life.

While welcoming the

ganizational goals but for transforming their followers into better people.

More diverse teams have better long-term performance.

Setting the context of the summit, Rhea Singhal, Chairwoman, CII-IWN Northern Region & Founder & CEO, Ecoware high-

lighted the importance of Women Entrepreneurship. According to her Women, entrepreneurs play a pivotal role in India’s economy. They inspire other women to start businesses, create more jobs for women and inspire the next generation. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

‘BHARAT KE BAHUBAL’

WHAT’S HAPPENING!

KARISHMA GWALANI

Karishma.gwalani @firstindia.co.in

T

RAJASTHAN: The crew-audition for the movie ‘Sangharsh’ took place at Varsha Associates Office at Nivaru Road, Jaipur. MSK Pankaj, Vandana Lakhera, Ram Singh Tidoki and Babulal Saini were the jury for the same. During the audition, 30 artists participated and showcased their talent.

RAJASTHAN: Shia Muslims offering prayers in Ajmer on Friday during the Muharram festival.

RAJASTHAN: The 9th Principal and Teachers Awards 2020 jointly organised by Simply Jaipur, Thar Sarvodaya Sansthan and Rajasthan Foundation will be broadcasted via social media on Zoon Live, Facebook Live and YouTube Live on 5 September at 6.00 pm. The event will be telecasted worldwide where, Life Management Guru, Pandit Vijayshankar Mehta will grace the event as the Guest of Honour. During the event, he will deliver a lecture on ‘Shiksha - Sanskar Tricon’.

Q2. I am 16 years old and for the past year I started wearing tightfitting clothes and now I like to show a bit of cleavage and legs too. My mother has noticed and calls it ‘trashy’ behaviour?

Please guide me on what to do?

Ans. No, love it’s not trashy at all. Your mother like any other loving mom doesn’t want you to draw undue attention which you will if you are young and show skin in India. As for you, your body is showing change and you are revelling in it. Your new-found sexuality is asking for both approval and revalidation which is natural. What you should do, is keep it to the minimum. Grow up a little more, gain some more confidence and learn that attention on just the body is temporary, it’s thinking, brains and confidence that is the real appeal.

Experiment delicately with your looks and with Mom’s approval.

Have any questions?

Mail them to quequeenfirstindia@gmail.com; don’t worry, your name will not be disclosed!

participants and speakers Kiran Poddar, Chairwoman, IWN Rajasthan said that women leaders emphasize teamwork and authentic communication as a key to success. For most women leaders, leadership is not meant only for accomplishing or-

Rolee Agarwal

GUJARAT: Commuters seen during the rain shower in Ahmedabad on Friday.

—PHOTO

BY HANIF SINDHI

RAJASTHAN: During the Muharram Festival, Nawaz Welfare Society organised a blood donation camp in Ajmer on Friday.

HAPPY B’DAY!

he struggles of migrant labourers in India were written down as the lyrics to a song.

Film ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ and ‘Gangajal’ fame Actor, Director, Producer and Writer, Jagat Singh composed the music album, ‘Bharat Ke Bahubal’ which has received over 2 million views on YouTube.

Produced by JSW Group, this song was released on Independence Day and has been widely loved by people across the country in a very short period. Eminent singers, Sonu Nigam and Neha Karode have given their magical voice to this song. Sonu Nigam was the first choice to sing this song, his song like, ‘Sandeshe aate hain’ can stir souls even today.

“We chose Sonu Nigam to sing this song as he can internalize the lyrics and generate love for the nation through this song. When Sonu read the lyrics of the song, he was deeply moved and decided to sing it,” Jagat said.

While talking about his recent song ‘Bharat Ke Bahubal’, Jagat shared, “Life has always taught me to stay prepared for any challenge and opportunity that may come. While

Jagat Singh

struggling in Mumbai, I took every work that came my way and finished it as completing a challenge. While trying my luck in acting, I also got the chance to ex-

plore the song. When I was writing this song, I remembered the labourers and workers who are the foundation of India and without whom, the operation of any country can get disrupted. During the COVID-19 crisis, I felt the struggle of those who faced tremendous difficulties to even reach their homes.

Keeping the plight of these real workforces of our country, I have composed this song. This song teaches us that we should respect all these workers and feel that they are the most important part of our society.”

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY!

RAJASTHAN: State Employees Joint Federation paid a tribute to former State President of Rajasthan State Employees Joint Federation and skilled sports administrator Hanuman Singh ji on his 69th birth anniversary on Friday@Jaipur.

IAS Shivangi Swarankar (top) and IAS Rajendra Bhatt celebrated their birthdays on 28 August, Friday. We wish them all the best!

Niraj and Monica

Niraj K Pawan celebrated his birthday with simplicity, with his family on 27 August, Thursday.

He and his wife Monica are involved in a lot of charity work, and on this day also they did their bit for the betterment of the society.