First India Gujarat For Gujarat Today Epaper 29 january 2020 edition

1. AHMEDABAD l WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 64 Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Annual National Cadet Corps (NCC) Rally 2020, at Cariappa Parade Ground, Delhi Cantt on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY PTI ‘NATION PROGRESSING WITH YOUTHFUL THINKING, DOES SURGICAL STRIKE & TEACHES LESSONS TO TERRORISTS’ P being taken across country: PM First India News Modi. Praising NCC for inculcating discipline and commitment in the youth, Modi said these qualities are directly as- sociated with develop- ment of the country . “NCC instils the youth of the country with energy, disci- pline, devotion, com- mitment and more such qualities. These are directly associat- ed with the develop- ment of the country,” PM said. Earlier, he had pre- sented awards to the best cadets. Defence Minister Rajnath Sin- gh, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, and the three wing-chiefs were also present on the occa- sion.Cadets Bhutan, Russia, and Nepal participated in the event. rime Minister N a r e n d r a Modi on Tues- day said that today there is Gujarat leads in potato crop, tests ‘Yuva Soch’ and the country is progress- ing with thinking. “That is the reason it does surgical strike, airstrike and teaches a lesson to ter- rorists after entering their residence,” he said while addressing a function of National Cadet Corps (NCC). “Our government did what your thinking and heart want. Today there is a National War Memo- rial in Delhi and also a National Police Memo- rial. Youth energy is the biggest strength today . This energy has always handled this country . This energy will also handle this decade,” said decade and as against that Gujarat’s produc- tion grew exponential- ly by 170 per cent. He said success of Gujarat is based on State Gov- ernment’s policies in supporting and help- ing farmers. Govern- ment, through initia- tives like ‘Sujalam Su- falam’ has provided adequate water to farmers. youthful PM Gandhinagar: Modi took pride in stating that Gujarat’s potato production in last 11 to 12 years has grown by 170 per cent, all because of initiatives, modern technology and irri- gation provided by State Government. Addressing the Global Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Union Agriculture Minister Narendrasinh Tomar handing over memento to participant at Global Potato Conclave at Gandhinagar. youthful young irrigation Potato Conclave, he said the country’s po- tato production has in- creased by 20% in last India’s thought is young as well,” added Modi. “No one can stop a country if its youth has all these values. 65 per cent of Indians are be- low 35 years of age, mak- ing India a young coun- try . It is important that ment with all factions of National Democratic Front of (NDFB) was signed. A big agreement has been reached regarding the Bodo crisis,” Modi said. “Many groups had come up in the North East region, they did not believe in democracy and only be- lieved in violence. Yes- terday a historic agree- terrorist Bodoland Bodo pact historic Modi on Tuesday termed as “historic” the agree- ment signed with NDFB. from Rupani Govt sets up control room to help students stranded in China S Jaishankar says if need be, govt will send special aircraft to pick up Indians there MA) CEO and have with immediate effect set up the emergency control room and the contact numbers of this control room is 91-9099016213, 91- 9978405741, 91-9978405743, 91-79 23251900. The State team at the control room would guide the parents of students or the stu- dents who call on these numbers and, if re- quired, would take up with the Ministry of External Affairs to en- sure the students re- turn home safely . reports of any Indian falling ill due to the vi- rus infection. We are also trying to bring out safely the Indian peo- ple from the worst af- fected areas,” the Ex- ternal Affairs Minister said. “If the need arises we would sent our aircraft there but for that we need to take permission from the related authorities in China,” he reassured. Chief Minister Vi- jay Rupani, mean- while, instructed Chief Secretary Anil Mukim to set up an emergency room to help and as- sist students strand- ed in China. He has also asked the chief secretary to be in constant touch with the Ministry of Ex- ternal Affairs and see that students get proper assistance, if they want to return to India. Chief Secretary Anil Mukim swiftly convened a meeting of Relief Com- missioner and Gujarat State Disaster Manage- ment Authority (GSD- jay Rupani Govern- ment has set up an emergency room to provide assis- tance to stranded in China. S Jaishankar, who was on a visit to the Narmada district, as- sured that the Indian government was keep- ing a close eye on the situation in China and the Indian people living there through its em- bassy there. “The government is quite concerned about our people in China, but so far there are no control control students Haresh Jhala Kevadiya/Gandhina- gar: Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tues- day stated that no In- dian or Gujarati liv- ing in China has con- tracted the corona virus, even as the Vi- Chief Minister Vijay Rupani campaigning in New Delhi for BJP candidate. Rupani was addressing Kutch Kadwa Patidar community. Turn on P5

2. TALKING POINT 02 AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia CHINESE AUTHORITIES HAVE CLOSED OFF ALMOST 20 CITIES IN EFFORTS TO CONTAIN A NEW CORONAVIRUS THAT HAS KILLED AT LEAST 106 PEOPLE IN RECENT WEEKS, WITH CASES CONFIRMED IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES IN ASIA AND BEYOND O Organization (WHO) to several cases of pneu- monia in Wuhan, a port city of 11 million peo- ple in the central Hubei province. The virus is unknown. Several of those in- fected worked at the city’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale which was shut down on January 1. As health experts worked to identify the virus amid growing alarm, the number of infections exceeded 40. On January 5, Chi- nese officials ruled out the possibility that this was a recurrence of the severe acute respirato- ry syndrome (SARS) virus - an illness that originated in China and killed more than 770 people worldwide in 2002-2003. On January 7, they announced that they had identified a new vi- rus, according to the WHO. The novel virus is from the coronavirus family, which includes SARS and the common cold, and is named 2019- nCoV. Coronaviruses are common and spread through sneezing, or touching an infected person. On January 11, Chi- na announced its first death, a 61-year-old man who had pur- chased goods from the seafood market. Treat- ment did not improve his symptoms after he was admitted to hospi- tal and he died on the evening of January 9 when his heart failed. On January Beijing events for the Lunar New Year starting on January 25, while offi- cials reported the first death outside of Hubei. The WHO said later on January 23 that the outbreak does not yet constitute emergency of interna- tional concern and there is “no evidence” at the moment of the virus spreading be- tween humans outside of China. By January 24, the death toll in China stood at 26, with the government reporting more than 830 infec- tions. Shanghai land shut down and some cities announced the closure of enter- tainment venues. Bei- jing said a section of the Great Wall and oth- er famous landmarks would also be closed. On January 25, travel restrictions were im- posed on a further five cities in Hubei prov- ince, taking the overall number of people af- fected to 56 million. On January 26, the death toll rose to 56, with almost 2,000 cases confirmed as travel re- strictions creased and Hong Kong closed its Disneyland and Ocean Park theme parks. As of January 27, the death toll in Chi- na had risen to 106, with 100 in Hubei province, authorities reported. 4,515 people in China had been infected. There were 2,714 con- firmed cases in Hubei province, 1,423 the day before. cancelled n December 31, alerted World Health China the a public Market, Disney- ONE ‘FLU’ OVER THE... were in- coughing, death toll in China jumped to 17 with more than 550 infections. Many European air- ports stepped up checks on flights from Wuhan. Wuhan was placed under effective quaran- tine on January 23 as air and rail departures were suspended. Lunar New Year holi- day. Asian ramped up measures to block the spread of the virus, introducing mandatory screenings at airports of all arriv- als from high-risk are- as of China. On January 22, the jing, Shenzhen. Meanwhile, a Chi- nese expert on infec- tious diseases firmed human-to-hu- man transmission to state broadcaster CCTV, raising fears of a major outbreak of as millions travel for the Shanghai and South Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan confirm cases over the following days. On January 20, Chi- na reported a third death and more than 200 infections, with cas- es also reported outside Hubei province includ- ing in the capital, Bei- second death was re- ported in health authorities in the United States an- nounced that three air- ports would screening passengers arriving from the city . Authorities in the US, Nepal, France, Austral- ia, Malaysia, Singapore, WHO reported a case in Thailand, the first out- side of China, a woman who had arrived from Wuhan. On January 16, Ja- pan’s health ministry reported a confirmed case, a man who had also visited the city . On January 17, as a Wuhan, countries Another con- start up from 13, What are the symptoms of coronavirus? T fatigue, headache, shortness of breath and fever in some cases. How does coronavirus spread? Coronavirus can transmit from an infected person via What is he symptoms of most coronaviruses are similar to any other upper- respiratory infection, including runny nose, coughing, sore throat, CORONAVIRUS? z Close contact like shaking hands, touching or any other personal contact z Touching any surface or object with virus on it; you must wash your hands before touching your mouth, eyes, nose in such a situation z Transmission is also possible through air via coughing or sneezing WHO GUIDELINES THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION HAS ALSO SHARED FEW TIPS TO STAY HEALTHY WHILE TRAVELLING. SOME SAFETY TIPS EXPLAINED WHO INCLUDE: z Avoid travelling if you have a fever or cough; seek medical care as early as possible Stay Protect yourself and others from getting sick W transmission of a range of illnesses are as follows, which include hand and respiratory hygiene, and safe food practices: avoid touching the mask once it’s on healthy while travelling z If you seek any medical help, inform about your travel history to the health care provider HO’s standard recommendations for the general public to reduce exposure to and z Avoid close contact and travel with animals z Immediately discard single-use mask after each use and wash hands after removing mask z If you choose to wear a face mask, be sure to cover mouth and nose; z Frequently clean hands by using alcohol- based hand rub or soap and water; z When coughing and sneezing cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue - throw tissue away immediately and wash hands; z Avoid close contact with anyone who has fever and cough; z If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing seek medical care early and share previous travel history with your health care provider; C viruses that cause ill- ness which can range from a common cold to respiratory like Middle East Res- piratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respira- tory Syndrome (also known as SARS). Ac- cording to the World Health Organisation, coronaviruses are a large family of vi- ruses that cause illness ranging from the com- mon cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syn- drome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respira- tory Syndrome (SARS- CoV). A novel coronavi- rus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. oronavirus is an umbrella term for z When visiting live markets in areas currently experiencing cases of novel coronavirus, avoid direct unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals; diseases z The consumption of raw or undercooked animal products should be avoided. Raw meat, milk or animal organs should be handled with care, to avoid cross-contam- ination with uncooked foods, as per good food safety practices. (CoV) Source: Agencies

3. AHMEDABAD l WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 64 ‘RAHEGA TO THEEK, NAHI RAHEGA TO THEEK’ Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Tuesday all but expelled close aide Prashant Kishor, who has been needling him on the citizenship law and openly targeting ally BJP in tweets. "Rahega to theek, nahi rahega to theek. (If he stays, it's ok. If he goes, it's ok)," Mr Kumar told reporters after a meeting with party leaders and lawmakers on Tuesday afternoon. "Do you know how he joined the party? Amit Shah told me to induct him. He must have something on his mind? Maybe he wants to leave...," Kumar remarked. P8 Sharjeel Imam had been booked for sedition by police of five states -- Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, New Delhi, Manipur -- for a speech he gave on January 16 at Aligarh Muslim University JNU STUDENT ARRESTED FROM BIHAR BY DELHI POLICE New delhi: JNU student Sharjeel Imam has been arrested in Bihar’s Ja- hanabad by the Delhi Po- lice on Tuesday . Imam had been booked for sedition by police of five states — Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, New Delhi, Manipur — for a speech he gave on January 16 at Aligarh Muslim University . Bihar’s Director Gen- eral of Police Guptesh- war Pandey said Imam was arrested from his native Kako village in Je- hanabad. He is likely to be produced before a Bihar court where police will seek his re- mand for questioning. It is not yet clear whether he will be questioned in Bihar or taken to the nation- al capital. In a tweet, Imam said he surrendered to Delhi Police and was willing to cooperate in the investi- Kanhaiya Turn on P5 Branch across three cities to look for him. ‘India can’t play Asia Cup in Pakistan’ T dia [BCCI] have made it clear to their Pakistani counter- parts [PCB] that it has no issues in Pa- kistan Cricket Board hosting the 2020 edi- tion of the Asia Cup, just that Team India will not travel to Pa- kistan to participate in the tournament. Controver- sy around the venue to host the 202 edition of Asia Cup- which will be played in a T20 format in order to help the teams’ beef up their preparations ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia- have ga- lore ever since the Chief Executing Officer (CEO) Wasim Khan de- clared that if India gation. “I have surren- dered to the Delhi Police on 28/1 2020 at 3 PM. I am ready and willing to op- erate with the investiga- tion. I have full faith in due process of law. My safety and security are now in the hand of the Delhi Police. Let peace prevail,” Imam tweeted. Reacting to his ar- rest, Bihar Chief Min- ister Nitish Kumar said “nobody can talk about country’s disin- tegration”. “Police must have acted ac- cording law for wrongdoing. Protests are one thing, but nobody can talk about the country’s disintegration,” told reporters. On Monday , the Delhi Police deployed at least five teams of the Crime Branch across three cit- ies to look for him. In a video of his Janu- ary 16 speech, Imam gave the example of a he Board of Control Cricket in In- does not come to Pakistan to play in the Asia Cup then the latter will boy- cott next years T20 World Cup which is scheduled take place in India. “The isn’t about the PCB hosting the tourna- ment. It is about the venue and as things stand now, it is quite clear that we would need a neutral venue. There is no way that an In- dian team can visit Pa- kistan to even participate in a multi-nation event like the Asia Cup.” “If the Asian Crick- et Council (ACC) is ok with an Asia Cup mi- nus India then it is a different ball game. But if India is to par- ticipate in the Asia Cup, then the venue cannot be Pakistan,” the official said. for WHO IS SHARJEEL IMAM? SHARJEEL IMAM? SHARJEEL IMAM? A 31-year-old student at Jawaharlal Nehru University pursuing his PhD in modern Indian history. He graduated in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. to question in the tournament. Controver- sy around the venue to host the 202 edition of Asia Cup- which will be played clear that we would need a neutral venue. There is no way that an In- dian team can visit Pa- kistan to even participate in a SEDITION CASE to WHAT HE HAD SAID “If we have fi ve lakh people with us, we can cut off the Northeast from India. If not permanently, for one or two months. Put rubble on tracks and roads...Assam aur India katke alag ho jaaye, tabhi ye humari baat sunenge (Once Assam is cut off, then only they will listen to us)…We can do that because the Chicken’s Neck corridor (connecting Northeast to rest of India) is dominated by Muslims.” WHAT HE TWEETED “I have surrendered to the Delhi Police on 28/1 2020 at 3 PM. I am ready and willing to operate with the investigation. I have full faith in due process of law. My safety and security are now in the hand of the Delhi Police. Let peace prevail” WHAT HE HAD SAID Since January 25, fi ve states have charged Sharjeel Imam, a PhD student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, with sedition and other serious offences. These include offences under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. he In a video recording of the speech, Imam said that India and the North East could be “permanently cut” if “fi ve lakh people can be organised”. DELHI POLICE MODUS OPERANDI On Monday, the Delhi Police deployed at least fi ve teams of the Crime Nothing to panic, coronavirus hasn’t entered India: Dr Harsh New Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday said there is nothing to panic as nov- el coronavirus has not come to India and that the government is in continuous talks with the China to bring back about 500 India nation- als to home. This is being done as a preventive measure against the outbreak of deadly novel coronavi- rus (nCoV) outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province of China where more than 2,000 cases have We are taking all pre- ‘WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH, BUT SEXUALLY ABUSED IN JAIL’ Now, Dhankar ‘misses’ CU convocation Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Dhankhar was on Tues- day prevented by a sec- tion of students from at- tending the Calcutta Uni- versity’s annual convoca- tion at Nazrul Mancha here, following which he left the premises. Dhankhar, who is also the chancellor of the university, said “those that compro- mised culture and de- corum need to be in a reflective mode”. Shortly after the gov- ernor arrived at the venue around 12.30 pm, the students, Turn on P5 Anjana Prakash told the bench, which also comprises Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna, that the gov- ernment should have placed all the records before the President but slipped up on this account. For instance, she said, the records that would indicate a delay in ex- tending legal aid to the convict. Or the records that would indicate that only the DNA of two con- victs, Ram Singh and Akshay Thakur, was on the rape victim. Turn on P5 sented Mukesh Singh before a three-judge bench led by Justice R Banumathi, has chal- lenged the rejection of his request for a presi- dential pardon earlier this month. The bench later served verdict to nounced on Wednesday . Mukesh Singh and his three other ac- complices, who were convicted for the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old in 2012, were sentenced to Jagdeep New Delhi: Mukesh Singh, one of the four men convicted for the 2012 Delhi gang rape, told the Court on Tuesday that the rejection of his mercy petition by the Presi- dent was arbitrary and the de- cision taken without giving Rashtrapati Bhavan an opportu- nity to go through the records, including the trial case verdict. Senior lawyer Anja- na Prakash, who repre- ventive measures to keep our people safe. Anybody who is show- ing slight symptoms of flu is being kept un- der isolation,” Dr Var- dhan told ANI. “This, does not mean that they are a case of cor- onavirus. These are just suspected ones and should be quar- antined for some time for medical care. We are sending blood sam- ples of all suspected cases to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, justices Supreme however, NIRBHAYA RAPE CONVICT re- its pro- Health Minister Harsh Vardhan be been reported and the virus has claimed over 80 lives so far. “I request to all people of this country not to panic as novel coronavirus has not come to India. Mukesh Singh death. Earlier this month, a Delhi court ordered the four of them to be executed on February 1. Turn on P5 After MLAs, BJP’s six-time tribal MP Vasava raises banner of revolt Darshan Desai serted, “Nobody lis- tens to the elected representatives in the Gujarat Government. Earlier MLAs spoke out against the gov- ernment, now the BJP’s senior MP has raised his voice.” Meanwhile, Guja- rat BJP Spokesperson Bharat Pandya stated that, “Mansukhbhai’s works would be ade- quately done to en- sure his ‘man’ re- mains ‘sukhi’ ways.” Pandya stated that Vasava should not express himself like this publicly. hates Adivasis” be- cause the State Gov- ernment had removed dwellings and shops of tribals on the road leading to the Statue of Unity in Kevadiya. He had taken up cudgels for the tribals living near the Statue of Unity though the area falls under the Chhotaudepur Lok Sab- ha seat held by BJP’s tribal leader Rathwa. Taking the oppor- tunity to hit at the ruling party, State Congress spokesper- son Manish Doshi as- back from the ruling party. The BJP MP said the entire bureaucracy in the State was working against the interests of the tribals. “I want to ask the Tribal Commis- sioner why did you ac- cept the rejected ST cer- tificates earlier given to the wrong people,” he demanded to know. Earlier last year, Vasava had engaged in a direct confronta- tion with ACS (For- ests and ment) Rajiv Gupta, calling him an “an- grez officer, me. I am speaking on behalf of Adivasis and all tribal leaders should join this fight.” “Irrespective of the party in power, I will continue my struggle for the rights of the Adivasis, even if no- body joins me,” the trib- al leader asserted, tak- ing on the State Govern- ment. The BJP has been winning the Bharuch Lok Sabha seat in the home district of Con- gress veteran Ahmed Patel since 1998 de- spite all efforts by the Congress to wrest it shyant Arunsinh Rana, who had raised their voice against the managing director of State PSU Gujarat Fertilisers Company Ltd. This is besides senior leaders like former Minister of State for Home Ma- hendra Trivedi. Mansukh Vasava as- serted on Tuesday that, “I am not going to tolerate anyone working against the tribals; if others (leg- islators) are exerting pressure on the State Government, why not Patel and Ahmedabad: After re- cent outbursts of two Vadodara district MLAs Ketan Inamdar and Madhu Srivastav, BJP’s six-time MP from the tribal seat of Bharuch Mansukh Vasava has asserted that the Guja- rat Government is un- der complete control of the bureaucracy and working against the in- terests of Adivasis in the State. This is besides two other sitting BJP leg- islators from Bharuch district, Du- Narmada Geeta al- Environ- the who BJP MP from the tribal seat of Bharuch Mansukh Vasava.

4. GUJARAT AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 04 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia in PATIENTS NEED A LIFT AT CIVIC BODY PHYSIOTHERAPY CENTRE First India News BRIEF employee, said, “My doctor advised physio- therapy so I come here. The only issue is that the lift does not work. There is a big board at the entrance that says so. I have contacted the helpline number and also the zoning office last week, but all in vain.” Dr Bhavin Solanki, AMC’s in-charge medi- cal officer, said, “The ground floor in that physiotherapy centre is meant patients with cer- “Mostly , old or ailing people visit these cen- tres. So they should be on the ground floor. How- ever, here, it is on the first floor and the lift doesn’t work. I am com- ing here for a treatment- related to muscular pain. I have trouble climbing the stairs,” she said. She added that many people who visit the cen- tre have knee-related problems. Another patient, an octogenarian who is also a former civic body —PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI Zebra dies in Jungle Safari Park Kevadiya: A zebra died at the Jungle Safa- ri Park at Kevadiya Colony on Tuesday, fol- lowing a prolonged ill- ness. The safari park is an additional attrac- tion near the Statue of Unity. The deceased ze- bra was not acclima- tized with the local weather. Earlier, two impalas died in the zoo. However, an officer at the safari park has said that other exotic ani- mals in the zoo are safe. I was not aware that the lift Ahmedabad: Typically , people with unimpaired mobility do not need to visit a physiotherapist. However, a non-func- tioning elevator at a Navranpura physiother- apy centre, run by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation means care is not avail- able for everyone who needs it. Moreover, the recently physiotherapy centre has more than 30 daily City limit expansion will have political impact The number of seats in Gandhinagar taluka panchayat will fall was not working. I will get it fixed in a day. —Dr Bhavin Solanki, in-charge medical offi cer, AMC ebral palsy and disabled children. A general ther- apy centre is on the first floor. I was not aware that the lift was not working. I will get it fixed in a day .” (AMC), A woman climbing up stairs at AMC physiotherapy centre in Navrangpura work at the phsyiother- aphy centre, she is forced to limp up the stairs anyway . with muscle pain and has trouble climbing stairs. Unfortunately, because the lift does not patients, most of whom are senior citizens like Kalpna Mahadeviya. Mahadeviya suffers renovated Mild tremor in Navsari Navsari: On Tuesday afternoon, people here experienced a tremor that lasted a few sec- onds. The epicenter was 24 kilometers away from the town, accord- ing to seismology de- partment sources. It was recorded at a mag- nitude of 1.9 on the Richter scale. In recent past, Navsari and many other places in South Gujarat have experi- enced a number of such mild tremors. VS hospital budget raised to `201 Crore First India News Ahmedabad: Mayor Bi- jal Patel, who is also the chairperson of Vadilal Sarabhai (VS) Hospital, on Tuesday approved budget of Rs201.06 crore for the next fiscal, just over a Rs 1crore more than the draft budget proposed earlier this month. However, the trustees of the hospital have called this budget false and wrongful. The Gujarat High Court is currently de- ciding on the fate of Chi- nai and VS Hospitals. The case is sub judice, Rupa Chinai one of the trustees told First India. “The AMC bifurcated the assets of VS Hospital and handed them over to an extraneous trust, the Medical Trust. This is not en- dorsed by half the Chi- nai and Sarabhai (VS) board of Management and therefore violates provisions of the Bom- bay Public Trust Act,” said Chinai, adding, “It was a buzzing hospital for 80 years, but has now turned into ghost hospi- tal, devoid of patients or First India News GREAT MERGER The Gandhinagar: standing committee of the Gandhinagar Mu- nicipal Corporation (GMC) on passed a resolution merging 19 villages and one nagarpalika under the city’s limits. This move will have political impact, with the num- ber of delegates seats in Gandhinagar panchayat decreasing. The role of the Gandhi- nagar Urban Develop- ment (GUDA) will also reduce in the district, as a major of the district will be fall under the ju- risdiction of the corpo- ration. A special session of the GMC’s Board is likely to meet on Friday or Saturday to pass the resolution and send it to the state gov- ernment for final ap- proval. Standing com- mittee chairman Deven- drasinh Chavda told that the village merger pro- posal was put forth by 1. 1. 1. ABVP/NSUI tussle HC case hearing today Ahmedabad: The hear- ing in the Gujarat High Court battle between the National Students Union of India and the Akhil Bharatiya Vid- yarthi Parishad was on Tuesday adjourned for Wednesday . A writ peti- tion has been filed in the high court by the NSUI seeking court di- rections to the State Government to register FIRs against ABVP leaders, who had roughed up NSUI leader NIkhil Savani. Tuesday —FILE PHOTO MORE NUMBERS —FILE PHOTO taluka As the corporation ma- tures, more powers will be entrusted to it and we are confident of giving better services to citizens. —Devendrasinh Chavda , Standing committee chairman Lawyers to take out procession in support of CAA Ahmedabad: Lawyers in different cities of the State would take out car and motorbike proces- sions in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act on January 30. In Ahmedabad, the proces- sion would start from Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Ashram Road and culminate at the District Collectorate near the RTO. Such ral- lies would also be held in Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot. Education General LoP Shailendrasinh Bihola said, “The com- mittee passed the reso- lution within five min- utes, without consider- ing all the aspects of city-limit expansion. It will also have an im- pact on rural repre- sentatives.” et, the hospital is slated to receive major repairs including retrofitting, strengthening, windows, floors, ceilings, and new lifts. The exist- ing building is very old and would need to be ret- rofitted, in keeping with its heritage value. power. Now, it has the responsibility of run- ning anganwadis. We are hopeful that, from the third term of the cor- poration, the state will pass on more power like providing drainage, wa- ter supply and health services,” he added. life. We demand to know on what basis this budg- et was presented. We ob- ject to the chains and locks put on the multi- speciality department and services at the hos- pital which was a boon for the city’s poor.” As per the draft budg- member Kartik Patel and seconded by Barkha- ben Jha. He added that if the city limit area increases, people living in rural ar- eas will get urban facili- ties and better services. “In its first term, the corporation had limited doors, Boy kidnapped by neighbour, rescued First India News CRIMEBRANCH Cops test voice samples of Goswami aide Alok Verma Three arrested for accepting bribe to pass Swachh Bharat bills Ahmedabad: The Anti- Corruption Bureau on Tuesday nabbed three people, including a sar- panch and a woman land revenue employee for accepting bribes. Assistant Director of ACB DP Chudasama said that during the first trap Shankar V Mavi, a sarpanch of Da- hod district and his son were caught red-handed accepting Rs 15,000 for passing the wrong bills of toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mis- sion. found recordings of Verma’s conversations. Verma’s voice samples were taken to DFS on Tuesday . ing Vishal Goswami, earlier this month for allegedly running an extortion racket from inside Sabarmati Cen- tral Jail. Verma alleg- edly provided weapons to the Goswami gang and was involved in a robbery worth Rs80 lakh in the Gandhina- gar district in 2018. He was sent to Sabarmati Jail in May last year. Crime branch sources said the police have also allegedly made to per- form oral sex with the accused person. The boy confessed the inci- dent to his parents after they questioned him about the video which went viral on the Inter- net. Vadodara: The police have arrested a man for allegedly kidnapping a seven-year-old boy from his society in the city’s Waghodia area to pay off debts amounting to Rs2 lakh. Police sources say the accused got the idea after watching television series Crime Patrol. The accused, Ashish Rajput, lured the boy away from his brother on their way home from tui- tion classes by offering Ahmedabad: The city’s crime branch on Tues- day took voice samples of Alok Verma and sev- en other accomplices of alleged gangster Vishal Goswami to the Directo- rate of Forensic Sci- ences (DFS) at Gandhi- nagar for voice spec- trography tests. Under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organ- ised Crime Act, the crime branch arrested seven persons, includ- crime police against a person who created 18 fake Instagram counts using her name and phone number. Ac- cording to cybercrime sources, Chetana Patel (name changed) was working at a beauty parlour in Satellite un- til a few months ago. Po Tthe owner of the par- lour informed her that somebody had made her fake Instagram ac- counts. ac- him Rs10 “to buy a choco- late” before kidnapping him and tying him up. He was rescued after a little girl, who goes to the same tuition class, recognized him through a window. The police also said that the accused got so scared after kidnapping the boy , that he did not deliver the ransom note. Boy’s obscene video circulated Ahmedabad: A man has filed a complaint with Nikol police, say- ing an obscene video of his 14-year-old son was widely circulated on the Internet. Police sources say the boy was Complaint over fake Instagram accounts Ahmedabad: A woman from Sarkhej has filed a complaint with cyber- IMFL worth `15.96 lakh caught First India News GUP SHUP NEEDED: THE PIED PIPER? T about the human population in the state. However, it’s come to our notice that government offi cers take pretty good care of their rodent buddies. Yep! Government offi ces have rats and plenty of them. You can see them scurrying around in offi ces and occasionally even see one run past during at lunch time, no doubt intrigued by the aromas wafting out of staff lunchboxes. And when that’s not enough, they have fi les to chew on. So, the next time you’re at a government offi ce, and the person talking to you says a fi le is missing, perhaps you could gently remind them to ask their resident rats? LOCK, PAPER, SCISSORS O Corporation (AMC) does. For those of you who didn’t know, the AMC seals several properties each year as a way to recovering outstanding commercial and residential property tax. Since the offi cial seal is basically a printed notice on your standard printer paper, it’s not hard for defaulters to re-enter their properties. So the smart civic body has an additional measure in place. Good old padlocks. While this is not offi cially offi cial, a verbal order is given to seal the properties with padlocks. The logic is, these are harder to crack, make noise when you try and need ‘expensive’ duplicate keys. What could go wrong? LAST-MINUTE CANCELLATIONS A convocation ceremony next month, to coincide with the arrival of an important politician from New Delhi. Understandably, preparations have been on for some time now. Convocation gowns were ordered, including for the dignitaries coming to the ceremony. Many mementos were made. Orders were placed for an impressive amount of magnifi cent decorations. We’re assuming arrangements were also made for food and accommodations. In short, a considerable amount of money was spent. This is pretty much par for the course when you have important guests, but it can be maddening when your dinner guests cancel at the last minute. Guess who else feels the same way. he government should, technically, only be concerned ptimism is a wonderful thing. Just like the Ahmedabad Municipal prestigious educational institution in Gandhinagar was meant to have its Gandhinagar: The local crime branch (LCB) caught 380 boxes of Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) worth Rs 15.96 lakh from Chiloda-Himmatnagar highway. According to police sources, SP Mayur Chavda says police re- ceived information about a large quantity of IMFL being hid- den in washing powder in a truck. Police found the suspected truck and arrested truck driver Baldevs- inh Vedprakash of Himachal Pradesh. Gandhinagar LCB hand- ed over the case to Chiloda police. Chiloda Police have filed a com- plaint against three in this case. BUGGED? Or is it the grapevine... . First India begins a column that brings to you gossips or tete-e-tete from the corridors of power

5. GUJARAT AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 I-T searches target real estate & furniture sector 05 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia GPCB issues closure notice to Jambusar’s PI Industries Four workers died after chemicals leaked out of the plant earlier this year First India News Ahmedabad: The In- come Tax department on Tuesday conducted searches at 30 premises belonging to two build- ers and a furniture man- ufacturer, after having found discrepancies be- tween their business transactions and past I-T returns in during a primary assessment. Sources from the I-T department said that searches were conduct- ed at as many as 30 plac- es associated with three assessees, namely, con- struction firm A Srid- har, Ghanshyam Patel and Rajesh Patel, who own Suryam Develop- ers. Searches were also conducted at the resi- dential and business premises of the proprie- tors of House of Furni- ture (HOF). Some 30 searched for documents, cash and computer hard discs to match their as- sessment and relevant information that would help the I-T department Election staff resigns in Gujarat University First India News NGO had submitted a detailed report from the Vadodara Enviro Chan- nel Ltd (VECL), the or- ganization that handles effluent discharge from individual units. Patel said the report states that chemicals such as 1,5-Cyclooctadiene (COD), total dissolved solids and colour dis- charge had crossed GP- CB’s standard norms. It was also brought to the notice of the board that the company was dis- charging effluent with- out permission, and had failed to furnish relevant details when the board asked for them. The environment group also brought the fact before the board that on January 06, when an accident occurred, tank- er full of COD was parked in the premises and it was seized, company had no prior permission to carry COD in tanker. Bharuch: The Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has issued a clo- sure notice to PI Indus- tries Ltd directing the company to stop manu- facturing at the MPP-5 plant in Jambusar with immediate effect. GPCB has also directed con- cerned officers of other departments to discon- tinue power and water supply with immediate effect. In the notice, GPCB’s senior environment en- gineer AV Shah has stat- ed that the GPCB team found—during an in- spection in the first week of January 2020—that the blast took place in MPP-5 on January 6. Due to this blast, chemicals including hydrochloric acid had spread in the surrounding areas. As a result, 12 persons were injured, of which four SMC Commissioner issues facade development notice The I-T department conducted a search at the HOF offi ce in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE establish if there is a case of tax evasion. It is been learnt that the I-T department has found business transac- tions between these companies that are not reflected in the individ- ual firm’s returns, and so it wants to search whether it is an isolated one or two deals be- tween them or more than that. All three have great reputation in their respective fields. The first generation of the owner of A Sridhar had entered the proper- ty market as land bro- kers and the second gen- eration entered real es- tate development. They 30 SEARCHES —File photo IGNORED WARNING Salim Patel of Prakruti Surksha Mandal said that the group had previ- ously requested GPCB to take strict ac- tion against the compa- ny . In its request, the IPR marks 30 years of tokamak ADITYA mental products were being manufactured in MPP-5 unit, where the accident occurred. The board has also fined the company Rs1 crore. Environmentalist died; the others are still being treated. The company had re- ceived environmental clearance for its R&D plant, but GPCB inspec- tors found that experi- teams have put up many resi- dential and commercial complexes in the past decade. the First India News First India News First India News Surat: Municipal com- missioner Banchhani- dhi Pani has issued a notification to the city development and fire departments to form a committee to look after the issues and guide- lines of the façades of high-rise buildings in the wake of the recent fire which damaged ma- terials worth about Rs3 crore. According to the noti- fication, a committee will be formed under the Chairman of the Su- rat Urban Development Authority, and will in- clude the city develop- ment officer, chief fire officer and zonal in- The Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), an aided institute of the Depart- ment of Atomic Energy , held a two-day national symposium on January 27-28, commemorating the completion of 30 years of operation of the ADITYA tokamak. Tokamaks use a pow- erful magnetic field to confine hot which produces a ther- monuclear fusion reac- tion. ADITYA was built indigenously by scien- tists at IPR and commis- sioned in 1989. Following a welcome Shashank Chaturvedi (Director, IPR), the sym- posium was inaugurated Ahmedabad: All the election staff at Gujarat University resigned on Tuesday, ahead of the election for 24 seats in the Senate and on the Student Welfare Board. The 15 members who resigned cited violence and threats from stu- dent leaders as the pri- mary cause for their decision. Notably, this is the first time five years that GU has announced a Senate election, which is scheduled to be held in the first week of March. However, it is unlikely that the elec- tion will actually take place. Along with the by Dr Anil Kakodkar (former Chairman AEC & Secretary DAE, and presently Chairman of the Rajiv Gandhi Sci- ence and Technology Commission) with key- note address given by Dr Ravi B. Grover and Prof. Abhijit Sen. Also present were Prof. John, Prof. YC Saxena, and Dr Saroj Kaw. A panel discussion was held for enhancing University participation in tokamak research. —File photo —File photo es have been order to list out the vulnerable build- ings of their zone and submit an action plan in 20 days, after which they will be given 10 days to implement it.The an- nouncement comes af- ter came out after a mas- sive blaze at Raghuvir textile market in the Saroli area of the city . election. Last Saturday, officers and election au- thorities were abused and threatened after an altercation be- tween the NUSI and the ABVP. NSUI members had alleged that the ABVP had submitted the voters’ list after the submission had lapsed. charge. The committee will take decisions on giving no-objection cer- tificates for the façades of high-rise buildings. Developers will also have to pay an amount of Rs500 per square me- tre for taking permis- sion for façades and el- evations. All the zonal in-charg- mass resignations, the assistant sub-registrar has also written to the registrar and vice-chan- cellor complaining about the abusiveness and threatening behav- iour of student leaders. The letter also mentions that there have been in- cidents of ahead of this year’s plasma, also by Dr deadline violence FROM JACKET AND PG 1 Rupani Govt... The Relief Commis- sioner’s staff and the GSDMA team have also been asked to reach out to parents living in var- ious parts of the state and collect informa- tion about their chil- dren studying in Chi- na, their contact num- bers and other details. Meanwhile, rat’s Principal Secre- tary (Health) Jayanti Ravi has stated that isolation wards have been created at public hospitals in the State. She told reporters in Gandhinagar there was adequate stock of masks and kit with the government. Currently a team of two doctors has been deployed at the airport. The Health Depart- ment has also started a helpline number, while posters have been put up at the airport for public awareness. In- formation about 20 peo- ple, including a Va- dodara girl in China, is currently available. Meanwhile, four stu- dents from Junagadh have returned home from China and have thanked the Gujarat Government for acting swiftly. Simultaneous- ly, family of a brother and sister from Prime Minister Narendra Mo- di’s home town Vad- nagar have through Mehsana BJP MP Asha Patel requested the government to bring back their children at the earliest from Chi- na. once filed by Mukesh Singh, processed quick- ly and sent with the recommendations in line with the rules. The President was not sit- ting in appeal over the judicial decision of courts, Mehta said.—ANI thermal screening of passengers from China via Hong Kong was done at 13 airports. From tomor- row, it will be expanded to seven more airports. Till now, about 35,000 passengers have been scanned at the airports, he said. more roads in Delhi to be blocked, like at Sha- heen Bagh, to put pres- sure on the govern- ment. Centre’s tive, who doesn’t de- serve to be on the dais for CU’s convocation ceremony”. Vice-Chancellor Son- ali Chakravarty Band- hopadhyay , on her part, was seen trying to con- vince the students to withdraw their agita- tion. She later an- nounced that the gover- nor had left the venue. Taking to Twitter, Dhankhar later shared pictures of his rendez- vous with the Nobel laureate and said, “The actions of those who created or stage man- aged unseemly specta- cle would resonate for long in the ears of the cultured people of WB (West Bengal)”. “The uppermost thought in mind while leaving Calcutta Uni- versity without attend- ing the Convocation is to ensure there is no compromise of the im- mense respect we have for Nobel Abhijit Vinayak Baner- jee on whom we are conferring honorary D Litt (honoris causa),” he tweeted. representa- coming ‘Was sentenced... Mukesh Singh’s law- yers also complained that he had been sent to solitary confinement even before his mercy plea was which was a violation of norms and the hu- miliation that he was subjected to. “Courts only sen- tenced me to death.. was I sentenced to be sexually abused?”, said the lawyer represent- ing Mukesh Singh. Re- becca John, who also represented Mukesh Singh, pointed to the pace at which the Pres- ident rejected his mer- cy plea. Tushar Mehta, the Centre’s most-senior law officer, countered Singh’s submissions, arguing that it was strange that questions about sanctity of life are being raised by the convict. The mercy plea was, Nothing to... for testing. So far all the results have been negative,” added Dr Vardhan. “Three coronavirus cases at RML Hospital have been kept in isolation for medical care. Our government is vigilant. Prime Minister Naren- dra Modi is himself taking regular updates on the situation. All States have been direct- ed to follow the instruc- tions to be prepared. In 2014, we were so strict and focused that our efforts did not let Ebola virus to enter India. I am also in regular touch with the WHO,” he said. He said that the gov- ernment will expand the thermal screening facility to seven more airports now. Till now, Now, Dhankar... with ‘No CAA’ and ‘No NRC’ posters in hand, waved black flags at him and raised ‘go back’ slogans. Dhankhar straight towards the Nazrul Mancha green room, where he met Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee, who was on Tuesday honorary D Litt (hono- ris causa) by the uni- versity . Minutes before the programme however, group of students took to the stage and raised slogans against the governor, this time prompting him to leave the venue around 1.30 pm. The protesters claimed that Dhankhar was “the (BJP- led) Guja- rejected, suspected JNU student... Kumar rally in Bihar, where “around five lakh people turned up”, and said, “If we have five lakh people with us, we can cut off the Northeast from India. If not permanently, for one or two months. Put rubble on tracks and roads...Assam aur India katke alag ho jaaye, tabhi ye humari baat sunenge (Once Assam is cut off, then only they will listen to us)…We can do that because the Chicken’s Neck corri- dor (connecting North- east to rest of India) is dominated by Mus- lims.” He also called for headed that conferred started, another second Mukesh laureate

6. PERSPECTIVE AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 06 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia CHALLENGES BEFORE CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF He can send files directly to the defence minister thus circumventing the bureaucracy IN-DEPTH RAHUL’S SILENCE ON CAA AND NRC PERPLEXING T COL DEVANAND LOHAMAROD he only surprise about Rahul Gan- dhi’s ‘Yuva Aakrosh’ rally in Jaipur on Tuesday was his silence on two issues that his party has been very vocal about: the CAA and its ideological cousin, the proposed NRC. The Congress leader has always been a maverick when it comes to issues and even people -- he wants to embrace. But, even by his own standards, his silence on CAA and NRC was a bit perplexing. The rally in Jaipur was held in the backdrop of the Rajasthan government’s decision to steer a resolution against the CAA in the state Assembly. The timing of the rally and the clear stand taken by the Con- gress suggested Rahul may use the occasion to speak unequivocally on the contentious subjects. But then, only Rahul knows when he would resort to a jhappi and when he would roll out a testy ‘Chowkidaar hi...’ slo- gan against the recipient of his ephemeral affection. Be that as it may, the Congress leader tried to be loyal to the occasion—the script of his speech was in complete sync with the title of the rally . He spoke about the angst amidst the youth because of rising unemploy- ment, the melancholia among traders be- cause of a falling economy and the im- pact of what he calls Gabbar Singh Tax and the erosion of savings in Indian households, especially in rural areas. He pointed out that the country has lost at least 10 million jobs, a big letdown consider- ing the PM’s promise of generating 20 million additional opportunities. He blasted the Modi govt for bringing down the real GDP growth to “less than 2.5 percent” and wasting the demographic dividend of the country by ruining the economy . Even though this narrative is now being played on the loop, all these are valid criticisms. The Indian government has indeed taken some questionable decisions in the past and many experts now believe the current slowdown in the economy was triggered by the decision to outlaw currency notes of the higher denomi- nation in 2016 and introduce the Goods and Services Tax without adequate homework and planning. It is apparent Rahul is trying to focus on the performance of the Modi gov- ernment and highlight its failures. By doing this, Rahul believes, the attention would shift from emotive issues like nationalism and the politics of Hindutva. His attempt to mobi- lise the youth (Yuva) points at a strategy to strike at Modi’s loyal base by arguing they have been betrayed by the BJP . But, his silence on NRC-CAA shows Rahul is still wary of raising contentious issues and get- ting drawn into an ideological debate with the BJP. Right or wrong, it’s a strategy that makes him pragmatic in a milieu of idealism. P M Modi’s 2019 Independence Day assurance followed by cab- inet approval has fulfilled a long-pending demand of na- tion to have a Chief Of De- fence Staff (CDS) as a single- point military advisor to the government on all matters related to the military with a focus on the synergy be- tween the Army/Air Force / Navy. The security challenges and amidst the threat of Hy- brid wars in future (a blend of psychological, cyber, space, economic and media) the deci- sion to approve CDS is a bold one and is a display of strong and mature democracy disap- proving the apprehensions about CDS becoming an all - too powerful position capable of challenging the government. So far Bharat was the only large democracy that did not have a single point military advisor; with all P 5 members of UNO and 65 other countries already having CDS like posts to deal with threats of modern warfare. In addition to CDS, the defence ministry compris- es four arms namely depart- ments of defence, Defence pro- duction, Defence research, and Ex-Servicemen welfare all headed by secretary-level officers. The CDS will be the “first among equals” and the three service chiefs retaining the operational command of their respective forces but will be the permanent chair- man of the chiefs of staff committee, giving that ap- pointment stability for up to three years against the ear- lier short tenures based on a rotation system. CDS has a dual-hatted role wherein he will head the newly established Departmen t of Military Affairs (DMA)/ the Sainya Karya Vibhag in the De- fence Ministry and will be per- manent Chairman of the Chief of Staff Committee. Works ex- clusively pertaining to mili- tary matters will now fall un- Secretary on grounds that their “remit is broader than military matters”. However, three armed services, their re- spective headquarters, the ter- ritorial army and works relat- ing to the Army, Navy, and Air force have been moved to the direct ambit of CDS. The CDS will have the powers to send files directly to the defence minister thus circumvent- ing the bureaucracy. Contrary to the original rec- ommendations of a five-star rank officer, appointing CDS with only four-star rank may have working problems at exe- cution level since the equiva- lence of rank does not carry the stamp of authority. The CDS will exercise authority over the Andaman & Nico- bar Command (ANC) and the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) and will be the nuclear adviser to the Prime Minis- ter. The responsibility of su- pervising the 15-year Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan and modernisation of de- fence forces will demand detail understanding and coordina- tion for allocating financial priorities based on the recom- mendations of the three ser- vice headquarters. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL der the preview of DMA while the larger issues pertaining to Defence of the country will continue to remain with the Department of Defence. The important functions of the CDS will be:- @ Will be the Principal Mili- tary Advisor to the Govern- ment on all tri-Services mat- ters. @ Will be the military advi- sor to the Atomic Command Authority . @ Will be the permanent chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. @ Will be the head of the De- partment of Military Affairs. @ Will be a member of the defence acquisition Council chaired by Defence Minister and the defence planning com- mittee chaired by national se- curity advisor. @ Will have direct com- mand over tri-service organ- isations related to Special Forces, Space, and Cyber do- mains. The current CDS working system is more evo- lutionary in nature and will progressively adopt more means of integration and joint functioning until an integrated theatre command system is established. The three-year time frame has been given to the first CDS to bring The current CDS working system is more evolutionary in nature and will progressively adopt more means of integration and joint functioning about synergy in training/op- erations/logistics and support services like communications, repairs, and maintenance of the three services leading to the establishment of theatre commands. Defence Secretary will continue to have primacy on policy matters an d big weap- onry purchase/capital ac- quisition. National Defence College (NDC) and the Insti- tute of Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA) have been placed under the Defence The CDS will exercise authority over the Andaman & Nicobar Command (ANC) and the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) and will be the nuclear adviser to the Prime Minister Economic slowdown: The other side of growth O often educated abroad, more ambitious, and sav- vier about technology and world markets. Or maybe the accumulation of mod- est profits eventually made it possible to pay for the shift to bigger and better plants. Or maybe both causes—and played a role. More generally, per- haps the reason why some countries, like Chi- na, can grow so fast for so long is that they start with a lot of poorly used talent and resources that can be harnessed to more valuable activities. But as the economy sheds its worst plants and firms and solves its most dire misallocation issues, the space for further improve- ment naturally shrinks. communism or India did in its days of extreme di- rigisme, the first bene- fits of reform may come from moving resources to their best uses. In the case of Indian manufactur- ing firms, for example, there was a sharp accelera- tion in technological up- grading at the plant level and some reallocation to- ward the best firms within each industry after 2002. This appears to be unre- lated to any changes in eco- nomic policy, and has been described as “India’s mys- terious manufacturing miracle.” But it was no miracle, just a modest improvement from a rather dismal start- ing point. One can imagine various reasons why it happened. Perhaps it re- sulted from a generational shift, as control passed from parents to children, ne of the most worrying news stories of 2019 did not receive the coverage the ment’s chief economic adviser, has argued, based on triangulating evidence on various eco- nomic indicators, that growth may sink as low as 3.5 percent. In China, GDP growth has slowed from 14.2 per- cent in 2007 to 6.6 percent in 2018. The IMF projects that it might fall to 5.5 per- cent by 2024. Rapid growth there and in India have lifted millions out of poverty, and the slow- down is likely to impede progress on improving the lives of the poor. What should China and India do? Or, rather, what should they not do? When we were writing our book “Good Economics for Hard Times” in 2018, before the bad news about India started coming out, we were already concerned Indian govern- one might expect from me- dia outlets in the United States or Europe. But the economic slowdown in China, and the potential- ly steep deceleration in growth in India, will most likely receive con- siderably more attention in 2020. The International Mon- etary Fund, the Asian De- velopment Bank, and the OECD have downgraded their growth estimates for India in 2019-20 to around 6 percent, which would be the lowest since the begin- ning of the decade. Others claim that even this is op- timistic and project much more dire narratives. For example, Arvind Subra- manian, until recently others— about a potential down- turn there (the slowdown in China was already known). Anticipating the fall in growth, we warned that “India should fear complacency.” The point we were making is simple: in countries that start from a situation in which re- sources are being used badly, as in China under India may be caught in the same “middle- income trap” that ensnared Malaysia, Thailand, Egypt, Mexico, and Peru TOP TWEET Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp Had a productive meeting with HE Mr. Vincenzo de Luca, Ambassador of Italy @ItalyinIndia, Mr. Ruggero Corrias, Director, International Relations, Mr. Mario Franchin, SVP Commercial Global Solutions along with a high-level delegation from SNAM Global Solutions. FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO WWW.PROJECTSYNDICATE.COM G Vol 1 G Issue No. 64 GRNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad. Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor: Jagdeesh Chandra, Resident Editor : Darshan Desai, Managing Editor: Robin Roy, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

7. INDIA AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 07 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia ‘CENTRE WANTS BETTER COORDINATION WITH STATES’ Centre will extend support for the betterment of all regions, Shah said PM to inaugurate Defence Expo 2020 POWERGallery 19 IPS OFFICERS RETIRING IN JANUARY As many as 19 IPS offi cers of various cadres and batches are retiring in January 2020. They include: Amulya Kumar Patnaik, Shivaji Sinha, Brijesh Kumar Sinha of UT cadre; Md Rahman of Bihar; K C Agrawal, A R Korram of Chhat- tisgarh; MAMH Anarwala of Guj; Arun Kumar Singh of Jharkhand; Neelamani N Raju, Dr Mal- gaveri Narain Reddy, Raghavendra H Auradkar, Rajendra Prasad P of Karnataka; Tomy K M of Kerala; B G Gaikar of Mahrashtra; Akhil Kumar Shukla, Khatra Joy Reang of Tripura and Dr Om Prakash Singh, Mahendra Modi and Sunil Kumar Singh of UP. WILL SEBI HAVE NEW CHIEF? It seems that the Government is in search of a new Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman. The Government has now issued an advertisement for the post putting to rest speculation about the reappointment of Ajay Tyagi as SEBI Chief whose term is coming to an end next month. The chairman will be appointed on the recommendation of FSRAC. S K DASH TO BE MEMBER OF CBDT? S K Dash is likely to be appointed new Member of the CBDT. He is 1983 batch IRS (IT) offi cer. WILL ASHA AGRAWAL MISS THE BUS? Asha Agrawal is likely to miss the bus for the post of Member CBDT. SHARMA STRONG CONTENDER FOR MEMBER, RAILWAY BOARD Suneet Sharma, a 1978 IRSME offi cer, is re- portedly ahead in the race for Member, Rolling Stock, if post continues. He is presently posted as GM, Eastern Railway. DECISION ABOUT CP, DELHI & DGP, UP Long awaited decision about fate of CP, Delhi and DGP, UP will be taken this week. Amulya Patnaik, CP and OP Singh, DGP UP are sched- uled to retire on January 31. 3 DEFENCE ADVISERS IN INDIA’S UK MISSION Indian High Commission in UK is one of the few foreign missions of Indian Government which has advisers for all three wings—Brig- adier V M B Krishnan (Military), Commodore Anil Jaggi (Naval), Air Commodore Prashant Mohan (Air Adviser). NEW ORISSA CJ TO BE FROM NE? Orissa High Court will get a new Chief Justice soon. The new Chief Justice is currently hold- ing the offi ce of a north eastern State. AMIT AGRAWAL APPOINTED GOVT NOMINEE ON BOB BOARD The Central Government has nominated Amit Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services, as Government Nominee Director on the Board of Directors of Bank of Baroda. JUSTICE A B SINGH TO TAKE OVER AS NCLAT JUDICIAL MEMBER Justice Anant Bijay Singh has resigned as Judge of the Jharkhand High Court following his appointment as Judicial Member of Nation- al Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). RAO APPOINTED ADDL SECY, DEFENCE PRODUCTION V L Kantha Rao has been appointed as Ad- ditional Secretary, Department of Defence Production. SANJAY KUMAR SINGH APPOINTED ADDL SECY, AGRICULTURE RESEARCH & EDU Sanjay Kumar Singh has been appointed Ad- ditional Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research & Education and Secretary, Indian Council of Agricultural Research. ONE IPS OFFICER OF 1990 BATCH FROM TAMIL NADU EMPANELLED AS ADG One 1990 batch IPS offi cer, out of total fi ve, from Tamil Nadu cadre has been empanelled for holding ADG and ADG equivalent posts in Government of India. 19 OFFICERS OF UT SEGMENT AWARDED IAS CADRE 19 offi cers of State Civil Service of UT Seg- ment have been awarded Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre. The offi cers include: Arun Mishra, Kalyan Sahai Meena, Syed Musaw- wir Ali, Sundaresan S D, Deepak Virman, Indu Shekhar Mishra, Sanjeev Kumar Mittal, Jayanta Kumar Ray, Sunil Kumar Singh, Ajay Kumar Bisht, Ravi Prakash A S P S, Smitha R, Pankaj Kumar Jha, Vinay Kumar, Vallavan E, Anil Kumar Singh, Pooja Joshi, Balwan Singh Jaglan and D Varma. causes harm to the country but also ham- pers its smooth func- tioning. Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttara- khand are attend the meeting while Chhat- tisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel is present as the vice chairman. The regional councils of states were formed for maintaining better co- ordination and address various issues between the Centre and states, and of the states among themselves. Shah said the Centre has made efforts to hold such meetings “which would yield better results”. —ANI Raipur: The Centre’s intention is to main- tain a “better coordina- tion” with all states, Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday while addressing the Central Zonal Council (CZC) meeting here in Chhattisgarh. Shah chaired the 22nd meeting of the CZC, a forum for the Centre and states to ex- change ideas on multi- ple issues including security and structure, Raipur. “The Centre intends to maintain a better co- ordination with all the states,” Shah said in his address. He also said that the Army tanks to be displayed in the upcoming Defence Expo 2020. Transformation of De- fence”. The event is be- ing touted as biggest ever defence exhibition in India in terms of par- ticipation of various stakeholders. DefExpo-2020 aims to bring the leading tech- nologies in the defence sector under one roof and provide a myriad of opportunities for government, manufactures startups. —Agencies Lucknow: With India aiming to evolve into a major indigenous de- fence manufacturing powerhouse in the years to come, Prime Minister Modi is likely to inaugu- rate the biggest ever De- fence Expo to be held in Lucknow next month. The biennial event known as DefEx- po would be held from 5-9 February and its lat- est edition will have a theme of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the 22nd meeting of the Central Zonal Council, in Raipur on Tuesday. and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath said that several issues have led to con- frontation between the Centre and though he avoided any specific mention. He said such con- frontation not only BJP inspects govt schools in Delhi, Shah slams Kejri over poor infra Centre will extend sup- port to states on all the fronts for their better- ment. The issue of co- operative federalism is currently debated in certain quarters in the context of CAA. Earlier in the day, senior Congress leader infra- Nava at mega states, regularly, private and “Digital Davinder ’s arrest prompted search for black sheep: CRPF New Delhi: Home Min- ister Amit slammed Arvind Kejriwal, alleg- ing poor infrastructure in state-run schools and said that claims of edu- cation revolution have been ‘exposed’ during visits by BJP parliamen- tarians at schools. “Arvind Kejriwal ji, you had called me to visit the schools run by the Delhi government. Yesterday, eight MPs of Delhi had toured differ- ent schools and showed the conditions. ground situation has ex- posed the claims of ‘rev- olution in education’. Now, you have to give an answer to the public of Delhi,” Shah tweeted. EC ISSUES NOTICE TO THAKUR ‘PEOPLE WANT PEACE, NOT ANARCHY’ Shah CM New Delhi: Hitting out at Kejriwal, Union Minis- ter Dharmendra Pradhan said BJP’s victory in en- suing Delhi polls is ‘certain as people want peace and not anarchy.’ “BJP’s victory is certain. People of Delhi want peace, not anarchy. It is the BJP that promotes brotherhood, unity and peace... People will give a befi tting reply to those who want to create a Shaheen Bagh-like environment in Delhi...Whenever Kejriwal ji wants, the road in Shaheen Bagh will be re-opened.” said Pradhan. New Delhi: Central Re- serve Police Force, the Centre’s lead counter- insurgency force, had carried out a massive internal audit to check if there were any at- tempts of subversion within the force after the arrest of J&K police officer Davinder Singh, CRPF chief AP Ma- heshwari said. Davinder Singh, the Deputy Superintendent of Police of the J&K Po- lice, was arrested on January 11 on charges of colluding with ter- rorists. Singh’s arrest had stunned the J&K police force but it had also underscored the Delhi possibility that there might be other officers as well who could col- lude with terrorists. Maheshwari, had recently taken over the CRPF, said “It was a grave incident.... an area of extreme concern”. CRPF has deployed about 70,000 personnel in J&K. —ANI CLEAR VIOLATION OF LAW New Delhi: Just a day after MoS Finance Anurag Thakur raised slogans of ‘Desh Ke Gaddaro Ko, Goli Maaro Saalo Ko’ during an election rally in Delhi, Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said that such slogans are clear violation of several sections of IPC. He also claimed that the “BJP started these slogans”. who The IN THE COURTYARD SPECIAL COURT SENDS THAMPI TO JUDICIAL CUSTODY SC TO CONCLUDE HEARING ON WOMEN’S ENTRY TO SABARIMALA TEMPLE, MOSQUES IN 10 DAYS PLEA FOR TIME TO FILE NOMINATION DISMISSED SC ALLOWS BRINGING CHEETAH FROM AFRICA New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking “reasonable time” to file nomination for the upcoming as- sembly polls alleging they were not able to do the same due to long queue and special treat- ment given to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. —ANI New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave its nod to a pro- ject by the Central government seeking to bring African Cheetah to suitable sites in India. A Bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde allowed bringing Cheetah from Namibia to Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. —ANI New Delhi: A special court in Delhi on Tues- day sent businessman CC Thampi to judicial custody till February 7 and reserved its order on a bail plea filed by him in tion with a money laun- dering case pertaining to the overseas properties of Robert Vadra. Special Judge Arvind Kumar will pass order on the bail plea. Court refused to extend ED remand of Thampi, which sought by the economic offenses watchdog. —ANI before the top court and said that all the lawyers from various parties in the case sat together and discussed the issue but could not reach a consensus on the matter, which is to be heard by a 9-judge constitution bench. SC had on January 13 said that it will only hear the questions re- ferred to in the review order passed by it in November last year in the Sabarimala temple case, which allowed women and girls of all age groups to visit the shrine in Kerala. —ANI New Delhi: The Su- preme Court on Tues- day fixed a 10-day pe- riod for concluding the hearing on the petition seeking women’s entry into Sabarimala tem- ple, mosques, and Par- si Agiyari. A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Jus- tice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde, was hearing the petitions pertaining to the dis- crimination against women at places of worship. General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter ORDER RESERVED ON CRYPTOCURRENCY BAN JUDGE OFFERS TO RECUSE FROM BHOPAL GAS CASE connec- New Delhi: SC reserved its order on pleas challenging RBI decision, which barred banking services from dealing in any transaction linked with cryptocurrency. A bench headed by Justice RF Nari- man has reserved the order after hearing arguments from all the parties in the matter. —ANI New Delhi: A Supreme Court judge on Tuesday offered to recuse himself from hearing the Central government’s curative plea seek- ing additional funds of Rs 7,844 crore from successor firms of US- based Union Carbide Corporation for compensation to the victims of 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy . —ANI Solicitor was TARANJIT SINGH SANDHU NEXT INDIAN AMBASSADOR TO US New Delhi: Senior diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Tuesday was appointed as the next Indian ambassador to the United States. Sandhu is currently serving as the High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka. He will be replacing Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who has been serving for the post since January 2019. ‘ARREST OF PTM’S PASHTEEN INTERNAL MATTER OF PAKISTAN’ New Delhi: The arrest of PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen is an inter- nal matter of Pakistan, Indian Army’s new Vice Chief, Lieutenant General Satinder Kumar Saini said. Saini’s remarks are in stark contrast with the stance taken by the Paki- stani military which often spews venom against India, mostly over New ‘IMPOSE COW SLAUGHTER BAN THROUGHOUT COUNTRY’ Panjim: Secretary-general of VHP, Milind Parande on Monday said that a ban on cow slaughter should be imposed throughout the country. “ We are not calling for a ban on other non-vegetarian food,” Parande told ANI “There should be a ban. The cow is related to the Hindu faith. We will campaign for this and interact with political parties regarding it,” he said. “We do not believe in violence. We will pursue a ban on cow slaughter in the country. It has been our public stand for the last 50 years, he added. Sandhu will take up the assignment shortly, the MEA said while making the announcement. He served in the former So- viet Union (Russia) from 1990 to 1992 as Third Secretary (Political)/ Sec- ond Secretary (Commer- cial). Following the break up of the Soviet Union, he was sent to open a new Embassy in Ukraine. Delhi’s internal matters. PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen was arrested from Shaheen town in Peshawaron Monday. In Pakistan, where speaking against the military is frowned upon, PTM is known for its strident criti- cism of the country’s pow- erful military for alleged enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

8. INDIA AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 BJP cleared the stalled purchase of Rafale: Modi 08 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia AMIT SHAH ASKED ME TO INDUCT KISHOR INTO JDU: NITISH KUMAR Bihar CM all but expelled the political strategist, who has been needling him on CAA New Delhi: BJP gov- ernment cleared work which had been stalled for more than three dec- ades leading to inclu- sion of Rafale aircraft in the fleet of IAF, said PM Narendra Modi. “For over 30 years not a single next-generation fighter plane was added to IAF’s fleet. Our age- ing aircrafts used to meet with accidents, fighter pilots kept get- ting martyred but the people responsible for getting the new planes had no concern,” Modi said at NCC rally at Car- iappa grounds in New Delhi. “Should we have let that Should we have allowed the Air Force to get weakened? cleared the work which was stalled for more than 30 years and today I am happy that India has got the next-genera- Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said that then BJP president Amit Shah had asked him to induct political strategist Kishor into the Janata Dal-United (JDU). “Someone wrote a let- ter I replied to it. Some- one is tweeting, let him tweet. What do I’ve to do with it? One can stay in the party (JD-U) till he wants. He can go if he wants...Do you know how did he join the par- ty? Amit Shah asked me to induct him,” said Ku- mar. Kishor has more than once made his dif- ferences with the party known on the issue of the amended citizenship Act. JDU had supported the legislation in both Houses of Parliament. It’s ok whether he stays or leaves: Bihar CM on his close aid Prashant remain in the party he will have to adopt the basic structure of the party ,” warned the JDU chief. Prashant Kishor, master poll strategist and JDU’s number two, also got a caustic reminder from his boss about the rea- son he is in the party . “Do you know how he joined the party? Amit Shah told me to induct him. He must have something on his mind? Maybe he wants to leave...,” Ku- mar remarked. Patna: Bihar CM Ni- tish Kumar all but expelled close aide Prashant who has been nee- dling him on the citi- zenship openly targeting ally BJP in tweets. “Ra- hega to theek, nahi rahega to theek,” Ku- mar told reporters after a meeting with party leaders and lawmakers. “Already he works as a strategist for various parties, but I’m making one thing clear, if he wants to ‘PAK TAKE STEPS AGAINST TERROR’ Kishor, ance of the party with BJP for Delhi polls. Kumar said: “That is not a letter. If a person is in the party, he writes a letter explain- ing the issue and then a reply is given to that person. Sending an e- mail without even in- forming and straight away going to the press doesn’t make any sense to me. I don’t consider that to be a letter.” —ANI Last month, Kishor had told ANI that it is only Bihar Chief Minis- ter Kumar, who can tell under what circum- stances the party sup- ported the (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. On January 24 this year, Bihar Chief Min- ister had hit out at sen- ior party leader Pavan K Varma about the alli- law and Citizen continue? proved purchase of ad- equate bulletproof jack- ets for its own soldiers, but it is now exporting such jackets to the other countries too. No. We tion fighter plane Rafale and it will fly in the country’s skies soon,” Modi added. Modi further said that Centre had not only ap- Soren expands J’khand ministry CAARNAMA ‘Ready for talks, first withdraw CAA’ ‘CAA protests meant to create 1947- like situation’ and Rajasthan, West Bengal is the fourth state to pass a resolu- tion against the CAA. The state assembly had on September 6 last year, passed a resolu- tion against the NRC. Protests have been going on in different parts of against CAA which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing reli- gious persecution from Pakistan, Af- ghanistan, and Bangla- desh if they entered India on or before De- cember 31, 2014. —ANI but NRC,” said the chief minister. Mamata Ba- nerjee was speaking at an event organised to protest against the CAA, through paint- ings. Banerjee further added she will not ac- cept NRC, NPR and CAA. “We want a unit- ed India, we want unit- ed Bengal. We are not accepting CAA, NRC and NPR,” she said. The West Bengal As- sembly on Monday passed a resolution against the CAA which was moved by TMC government. After Kerala, Punjab first withdraw Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mama- ta Banerjee on Tuesday said that she is ready for talks with Prime Minister Modi but first the PM will have to withdraw the conten- tious Citizenship Amendment (CAA). “It is good that the Prime Minister ready for talks but first take back CAA. They did not call an all-party meet before taking a decision on Kashmir and CAA. NRC, NPR, and CAA these three are bad for the country . We are ready for talks Act country is power in the state on De- cember 29 last year, oust- ing the BJP- led regime. Soren Champai Soren, Haji Hussain Ansari, Jagar- nath Mahato, Joba Man- jhi, Mithilesh Kumar Thakur (all from JMM), Banna Gupta and Badal Patralekh (both from Congress). Mahato and Thakur are first-time ministers and Manjhi had been a minister in previous NDA govern- ments. The other four had been in the previous UPA governments. —ANI Jharkhand Ranchi: CM Hemant Soren ex- panded his one-month- old ministry, inducting seven ministers in the Council of Ministers. Governor Droupadi Murmu administered oath of office and secre- cy to the newly inducted ministers in a simple ceremony Bhavan. Five of the new ministers Jharkhand Mukti Mor- cha and two belong to Congress. The JMM- Congress-RJD coalition government assumed New Delhi: Senior BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Sin- gh claimed that the protests against the CAA are being organ- ised to “create 1947- like conditions” when India was parti- tioned, and alleged that Congress, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and “tukde- tukde gang” are be- hind the Shaheen Bagh protest. Singh also accused Delhi CM Arvind Ke- jriwal of allegedly backing the “tukde- tukde gang”. “If a state refuses to im- plement a law passed by Parliament, will democracy remain in this country? The Congress Mamata and the tukde-tukde gang have made de- mocracy a joke. They are using Shaheen Bagh as a pawn to further their ambi- tions,” Singh said. inducted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee draws a painting at anti CAA, NRC and NPR art camp in Kolkata on Tuesday. Follow constitution or tear it off: BJP MLA opposes CAA ‘Shaheen protesters can enter homes’ at Raj are from W anti-CAA and NRC protests at Shaheen Bagh contin- ued, Delhi will face a “Kash- mir-like situa- tion”. Verma also said pro- testers Shaheen Bagh “can enter homes rape our sisters and daughters”. The pro- testers at Shaheen Bagh are predomi- nantly women. Ver- to prove their citizen- ship,” he said. Tripathi, who was previously with the Congress and the Sa- majwadi Party, said an atmosphere of gruh kalah was prevailing in the country. No vil- lage, mohalla, or coun- try can enjoy peace if such an atmosphere prevails, he said. Tripathi had voted along with Congress in Madhya Pradesh As- sembly on a bill last year but the BJP did not crack the whip against him. —Agencies ma’s remarks come a day after he had said that no one will be found at the protest site in Shaheen Bagh if BJP is voted to power in Delhi. “People of Delhi know that the inci- dent that had happened in Kashmir, the daugh- ters and sisters of Kashmiri were raped. Similar incidents continued to happen in UP, Hy- derabad, Kerala. est Delhi MP Pravesh Ver- ma said if the Bhopal: Opposing the the new CAA and the proposed NRC, BJP MLA Narayan Trip- athi said the country cannot be along religious lines. “Either you follow the constitution or tear it off because it lays emphasis on secular- ism and the country can’t be divided along religious lines. Yet the country is being divid- ed along lines,” the Maihar leg- islator said adding that Muslims in villages are suspicious and Pak: Protests over Hindu woman’s kidnapping divided ago. The 24-year-old was said to be abducted by residents with help of local police personnel on Saturday . She had al- ready been married off to a Pakistani man by the time her family members managed to lodge a sources said. —Agencies New Delhi: Union gov- ernment summoned a senior official from Pa- kistan High Commis- sion to register its pro- test against alleged ab- duction of a Hindu woman midway through her marriage ceremony at Hala city in Pak’s Sindh province two days party, avoid interacting with others. “When getting an Aadhar card made is difficult for people in rural areas and the poor in urban areas where will the people get all the documents at Banerjee and Pandits religious complaint, ‘Deliver poll promises made by Maha Cong’ CITY OF JOY India’s first underwater metro nears completion which are realistic and feasible. I, therefore, re- quest you to consider establishing an effec- tive mechanism in Ma- harashtra, sim- ilar to the one in governed states so that the Ma- harashtra Gov- ernment may speedily deliver on promises made by Con- gress to the voters of Maharashtra,” Deora said in the letter. —ANI New Delhi: Congress leader Milind Deora on Tuesday wrote to party president Sonia Gandhi requesting her to deliv- er poll promis- es made by the party to the voters of state during the As- sembly elec- tions. “There are various poll promises that we made to the people of Maha- rashtra during both the elections in 2019, all of upward of an hour to cross the bridge. KMRC will re- pay the JICA loan over 30 years after an initial six-year moratorium. The interest rate is be- tween 1.2% to 1.6%. The East-West metro project is 74% owned by India’s Railway Ministry and 26% by the nation’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. “We don’t anticipate any further cost escala- tion now,” Sarkar said. his office in Kolkata. “It will be a relief for envi- ronmental pollution and the city should be much more decongested.” The new line is ex- pected to carry about 900,000 people daily, — roughly 20% of the city’s population — and will take less than a minute to 520-meter underwater tunnel. Depending on the time of day, it takes some 20 minutes to use the ferry and anywhere tor at KMRC. A soft loan of 41.6 billion rupees from Japan Interna- tional Cooperation Agency helps 48.5% of the project. India’s oldest metro, which started in 1984 with a North-South ser- vice, was due to expand by 2014 but faced prob- lems including squat- ters on the planned route. These have contributed to the total project cost rising to about 86 billion ru- Kolkata: Kolkata Met- ro Rail Corp. expects to complete its East-West project, which runs partly under the city’s iconic Hooghly river, by March 2022 after a delay of several years dou- bled costs. The authority awaiting a final install- ment of 200 million ru- pees ($2.8 million) over the next two years from the Indian Board, said Sarkar, managing direc- Howrah fund Congress- is cross a the poll transport demand will be tackled by these two metro services,” Sarkar said in an interview at pees for some 17 kilom- eters from 49 billion rupees for 14 km. “About 40% of total issues Railway Manas

9. SPORTS AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 09 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia in SHOWDOWN SET FOR BIG CLASH NOVAK DJOKOVIC AND ROGER FEDERER SET FOR 50TH MEETING IN AUSTRALIAN OPEN SEMI-FINAL BRIEF Advani beat Sourav in final Pune: Ace Indian cue- ist Pankaj Advani on Tuesday claimed yet an- other Senior National Billiards Championship title with a 5-2 win over Sourav Kothari in a pul- sating final here. After losing the first frame in the best-of-9 150-up tie, Advani bounced back with breaks of 95 and 151 to go 2-1 up. Open semi-final. In the semi-final match, Djoko- vic will compete against Roger Federer, made it to the semi-fi- nals after beating Ten- nys Sandgren of USA by 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3. The world number three, Federer, has now en- tered his 15th semi-final of the Australian Open. He has also become the oldest player since Aus- tralia’s Ken Rosewall in 1977 to make it to the semi-finals of the tour- nament. Melbourne: They own a combined 13 Australi- an Open crowns be- tween them and will meet for the 50th time in the Australian Open. The Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic cruised to the semi-finals after securing a win over Canada’s Milos Raonic. Djokovic Raonic in all three sets and secured a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 win in the match. With this victory , the Serbian player has advanced to his eighth Australian Chess: Anand draws with Duda New Delhi: Five-time winner Viswanthan Anand had to settle for the joint sixth spot after drawing with Jan-Kr- zysztof Duda of Poland in the 13th and final round of Tata Steel Chess tournament that concluded. Fabiano Caruana capped a bril- liant performance with another fine victory coming at the expense of Vladislav Artemiev of Russia and won the tournament with a huge two points margin over world champion Mag- nus Carlsen of Norway , who finished second. who dominated HEAD TO HEAD Novak Djokovic 26 Roger Federer 23 WIN Shafali takes a short cut to team New Delhi: Shafali Verma’s journey to be- coming part of the In- dia women’s cricket team began with a hair- cut. Growing up in Har- yana, a state well known for its male bias and skewed sex ratio, the 10-year-old Verma enrolled in the Shree Ram Narain Cricket Academy but was banned from playing in the male-only tourna- ments as organizers said she might get hurt. 49 WIN BARTY REACHES MAIDEN SEMI-FINAL SIMONA HALEP’S QUARTERFINALS CLASH TODAY Ashleigh Barty withstood a fi erce challenge from Petra Kvi- tová to become the fi rst local woman to reach the Australian Open semi-fi nals in 36 years. The steely-eyed world No 1 had to fi ght off eight break points in a tense fi rst set before deny- ing the free-hitting Czech 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 in a rematch of their 2019 quarter-fi nal at Rod Laver Arena. The fi rst Australian to make the Open semi-fi nals since Wendy Turnbull in 1984, Barty will play American 14th seed Sofi a Kenin on Thursday for a spot in Saturday night’s title decider. Barty found herself under pressure from the off. The reigning French Open champion had to fi ght off a break point in the opening game as Kvitová pounced on anything short. When Simona Halep takes to the court in the quarterfi nals on Wednesday, she will do so with long-time coach Darren Cahill back in her box. Over the course of 2019, the pair were offi cially on a break from working together on a full- time basis, though the Australian coach admits that he missed collaborating with the Romanian, a person her considers part of his ‘family’ too much to take a back seat entirely. Cahill says that aside from his physical location by the side of the WTA World No.3, not much has changed. 34 students in scholarship race New Delhi: Spains top division football league held the final phase of selection for its annual LaLiga Football schools scholarship, through which 2-4 students will be selected to visit Spain for an immersive football experience. At the national camp, held in Delhi, 8 trained coaches judged 34 play- ers on various aspects to select the best. The winners of the scholar- ship will be announced in February 2020. Gujarat secure 1st innings lead against Vidarbha India beat Australia to enter U19 WC semifinals US kids Indian Championship to start today New Delhi: The inau- gural Indian champion- ship -- an event on the international calendar of the US Kids Golf Tournament -- is all set to tee off at the sprawl- ing Classic Golf & Country Manesar from Wednes- day. The championship is being held for the first time since the US Kids Golf Tour was launched in India in December 2018, thus giving India a place of pride amongst countries that are allot- ted the coveted status. Qualification for the championship grind with the players collecting status rank- ing priority points in the local tours across the world. New Delhi: Gujarat rode on skipper and wicketkepper Parthiv Patel’s 58 and Chirag Gandhi’s unbeaten 49 to secure a first-innings lead of 69 runs despite Aditya five-wicket haul and Umesh Yadav’s three wickets. Gujarat bowlers then added to Vidarbha’s woes, reducing them to 25/4 before skipper Faiz Fazal and Akshay Wad- kar added 64 runs to- gether, taking Vidarbha to 89/4 at stumps. Aditya Thakare, the medium-pacer, snared a five-wicket haul in the first innings to give Vidarbha a fighting chance of making a comeback versus Guja- rat. Just that the de- New Delhi: With a 74- run win over Australia at the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom on Tues- day, India entered the Under 19 World Cup semifinals. Corey Kelly dismissed Divyaansh Saxena in the tenth over to give Australia Under 19 their first break- through after they elect- ed to bowl. N Tilak Verma fell soon after as Australian Under 19 skipper Mack- enzie Harvey took a fine catch off Todd Mur- phy’s bowling. Connor Sully then dismissed Priyam Garg to reduce India Under 19 to 54/3. While Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored 62, and Dh- ruv Jurel were looking to rebuild the innings, Tanveer Sangha broke Sharjah all set for Arab Women Tour Sharjah: The spotlight is on Sharjah as 78 clubs from 18 Arab countries will compete in nine sports at the fifth edition of the Arab Women Sports Tourna- ment (AWST), organ- ised by Sharjah Wom- en’s Sports (SWS) be- tween February 2 — 12. AWST 2020 will record the largest participa- tion ever in the history of the event. The UAE tops the list with 15 par- ticipating clubs, fol- lowed by the Saudi Ara- bia with 12. Bahrain has eight clubs compet- ing, Kuwait six, Oman three and Qatar with two teams. Thakare’s Club in bowled out for 142 as Baroda secured a 12-run lead. In response, Baro- da’s Deepak Hooda and Yusuf Pathan scored 52 and 46 runs respective- ly, but Jaydev Unadkat picked up his second six-wicket haul of the match as Saurashtra re- stricted Baroda to 187. fending champions fin- ished the day at 89 for 4 in their second essay, in front by just 20 at stumps. Meanwhile, In Va- dodara, it was the bowl- ers who continued to make merry. Saurash- tra, who resumed the day’s play at 114/6, were the broke the partnership, dismissing Veer for 25. Ravi Bishnoi and An- kolekar though kept the Indian hopes alive. The pair added 61 runs to help the side cross the 200-run mark before Bishnoi got out for 30 in the 48th over. the 48-run stand, dis- missing Jaiswal. India Under 19 then lost Jurel as Murphy struck for the second time in the match. Siddhesh Veer and Atharva Ankolekar added 30 runs together to take India Under 19 close to 150 but Kelly is a O MAHI RE ... We miss Dhoni, no one sits on his seat in team bus: Chahal India vs New Zealand, 3rd T20I New Zealand must win the third T20I against India in Hamilton to keep their hopes alive in the five-match series, which they trail 2-0. If India win the third T20I, it will be their first-ever T20I series win on Kiwi land after having missed out on the previous two occa- sions. The match will start at 8 pm IST and will be telecast live on Star Sports Network beaming right after saying that the leg-spinner got a lit- tle emotional and re- vealed that the seat be- longed to MS Dhoni and is still reserved for him. “This seat is where the legend Mahi bhai use to sit. No one else sits here still and we miss him a lot,” Chahal signed off. MS Dhoni took a sab- batical from cricket af- ter India’s 50-over World Cup campaign ended with the semi-final loss against New Zealand. smile. But this time Jasprit Bum- rah. The leg-spinner then shifts his focus to Rishabh Pant and Mo- hammed Shami before moving onto KL Rahul and then Kuldeep Yadav. However, at the end of the video, Chahal is seen sitting next to a vacant seat, right at the back of the bus. “There is one person who has never come on Chahal TV . He wanted to come, he was desperate but I said ‘no bhaiya, not right now,” Chahal said with a at least till January but with the month almost over, there have been no updates yet. With still no clarity in sight, most Indian players have generally been silent on the issue. But on Mon- day, Yuzvendra Chahal got a bit emotional while speaking about Dhoni on ‘Chahal TV’ as the Indian team made their way to Ham- ilton from Auckland. The leg-spinner’s ‘Chahal TV’ has become somewhat of a constant Hamilton: The mys- tery surrounding MS Dhoni’s retirement con- tinues to play on the minds of fans all over the world. Having not played in an interna- tional match since In- dia’s exit from the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales, fans have been left in the lurch re- garding the former In- dia captain’s future. In November, MS Dhoni had said that no one should question him on his retirement  MS Dhoni has been out of action from the Indian team since the 2019 World Cup in England but his presence in the humour. ‘Chahal TV’ started like it usually does, the leg-spinner have a light-hearted chat with a teammate for the Indian team and whether he’s in the play- ing XI or not Chahal manages to get his team- mates smiling with his fringes continues

10. May the occasion of Basant Panchami, bring the wealth of knowledge to you, may you be blessed by Goddess Saraswati & all your wishes come true. 2NDFRONT —Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India 10 AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia State relaxes penalty norms for farmers There are 4.80 lakh horse-power based agriculture connections The government has decided to be liberal with farmers if the power consumption in- creases on their agriculture connection. Ear- lier, farmers were asked to pay a penalty with imme- diate effect if the consumption increases. PIPED GAS SUPPLY TARGET OF 26 LAKH    First India News they pay the bills with- in a month. Energy Minister Sau- rabh Patel told report- ers here that, “The gov- ernment has decided to be liberal with farmers if the power consumption increas- es on their agricul- ture connection. Ear- lier, farmers were asked to pay a penalty with immediate effect if the consumption Gandhinagar: In an important friendly decision, the State Government on Tuesday norms of penalty for agriculture connections. Now the farmers will not have to pay a penalty with im- mediate effect for over- shooting consumption than allotted, provided —Saurabh Patel, Energy Minister farmer- power supply during day time to agricul- tural consumers, but this could be done im- mediately, he said, and the Energy Min- ister Saurabh Patel added that a study is going on to imple- ment this. the penalty. There are 4.80 lakh horse-power agriculture connec- tions. So the decision will benefit sands of across the state. The government is serious about giving the consumption is 10 per cent or more than the approved supply, but the farmers will have to pay the bill within the first month of over-consumption. In such cases power distribution compa- nies will exempt them relaxed based power thou- farmers increases and they had to spend a good amount to ensure the power supply is not snapped for failing to pay immediately.” Patel also added that this would be extended if 2002 Sardarpura post-Godhra riots: SC grants bail to 17 convicts New Delhi: The Su- preme Court granted bail to 17 convicts in the 2002 Sardarpura post- Godhra riots case in which 33 Muslims were burnt alive and asked them to relocate to Mad- hya Pradesh and do community service. A bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant divided the convicts in two groups and said one group would move out of Gujarat and stay at Indore in MP. The other group of convicts will have to re- The court said that EAM lays foundation of Sardar Patel Centre for Empowerment in Gujarat benefit MYRIAD HUES... pur to ensure that the convicts observe bail conditions diligently . It has also directed DLSA to help the con- victs in finding suitable employment for earn- ing their livelihood. It has directed the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Service Authori- ty to file a report after three months stating as to whether the convicts have complied with the conditions or not. Earlier the Gujarat High Court had acquit- ted 14 and convicted 17 in the Sardarpura post- Godhra riots case. —PTI all the convicts will have to undertake com- munity services for six hours a week besides reporting to the local police station on a weekly basis as bail conditions. The Supreme Court has directed the District Legal Services Authori- ties at Indore and Jabal- locate themselves to Ja- balpur in Pradesh, the said. The convicts, who were handed down life sentence in the Sardar- pura riots case, have ap- pealed against the Guja- rat High Court order convicting them. Madhya bench —PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE A view of Sunset in the cloudy evening on Skyline of Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Besides Motera stadium, Trump may visit State of Unity First India News Kevadia:Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar laid the foundation of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Centre for Empowerment and Liveli- hoods to be set up as a state- of-the-art skill Development centre. This Residential Centre will have the state of the art infra- structure including accom- modation for about 100 youth at a time. It will run several free of charge skill courses aligned to the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF). To begin with, the majority of the course will focus on the meeting the de- mand of the tourism and hospi- tality requirements at Kevadia itself - like Food and Beverage Steward, Room Attendant, Targeting at training 500- 600 youth, farmers, SHGS etc. every year through its various capacity building grammes, this Centre will Gandhinagar: President Trump, who is expect- ed to inaugurate the world’s biggest crick- eting arena at Motera here along with Prime Minister Modi next month, may even pay a visit to the tallest statue of Sard- ar Patel in Kevadiya. Speculations rife in the Secretariat that Trump would vis- it the Statue of Unity at Kevadiya on Febru- ary 25, though the fi- nal official date has not been announced. Donald Trump and Narendra Modi are scheduled to inaugu- rate the Motera sta- dium, which is bigger US Donald Narendra are An Aerial view of the newly constructed Motera, the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, which is expected to be inaugurated by the US President Donald Trump along with PM Narendra Modi next month. —PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar laying the foundation stone of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Centre for Empowerment and Livelihoods in Gujarat. stadium. This is consid- ered to be reciprocation of a huge “Howdy Modi!” reception of Narendra Modi in the US during his visit in September. lakh people against 95,000 of MCG and 62,000 of Eden Gar- dens in Kolkata. Both the would hold a rally dur- ing the inaugural of the than the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia, on Febru- ary 23. Built at a cost of Rs 800 crore, the Motera stadium has a capacity to seat 1.10 prove to be a boon for empow- ering the local youth and women by their skill develop- ment and by providing them employment opportunities. An official of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd said that over 38 lakh visitors have registered so far, and more than 17,000 people vis- iting this place daily, where Statue of Unity has emerged as a major tourist attraction in the world. leaders pro- RAHUL 2.0; SAFRAROSH SE AAKROSH Aditi Nagar “United States has arms and Saudi Arab has oil but India has in- telligent youth popula- tion,” Rahul said. “They know what’s going on in the country,” he added. “The youth are the biggest asset of the nation, but the Cen- tre’s policies have de- stroyed their poten- tial,” he added. He further attacked the PM over demone- tisation and said the latter had no knowl- edge of economy, and claimed that country’s GDP -- a widely accepted indi- cator of an economy’s performance -- is only growing at 2.5%. Jaipur: On the contra- ry, the morning didn’t show the day. It was a windy dawn and then the dark clouds hovered over Jaipur sky around 1.30 pm and it even driz- zled a few drops. But then, the Sun emerged from the clouds and the day was plesant. The Yuva Aakrosh Rally which was spearhead- ed by the Gandhi sci- on Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday targeted the Centre and accused Prime Minister Nar- endra Modi of damag- ing the country’s im- age and putting off both existing and po- promised two crore jobs, but last year our youth lost one crore jobs. Wherever the Prime Minister goes, he talks of the CAA, NRC but the biggest issue of unemploy- ment is not men- tioned. The PM does not even speak a word on it.” Despite nationwide buzz around CAA and NRC, Rahul chose to concentrate on econo- my and unemploy- ment in his rally in a bid to connect with youth. said while addressing ‘Yuva Aakrosh’ rally in Jaipur and added, “Today, India is con- sidered as the rape capital of the world.” Rahul also launched ‘National Register for Unemployment’, a joint campaign of Youth Con- gress and NSUI, asking the Modi government to start a national register for unemployed people. The Congress leader also spoke on the issue of unemployment and slammed the PM for not addressing the issue. “PM Modi month. Before Jaipur was zeroed in on for the rally, Sonia Gan- dhi had held a de- tailed discussions with Ahmed Patel, Avinash Ashok Gehlot and KC Venugopal. Also sev- eral consultations were held by Rahul Gandhi’s office with Sachin Pilot who also recently completed his sixth year PCC tenure. Meanwhile, also claimed that the country has come to be known as the “rape cap- tential investors. Earlier, on Monday, AICC general secretary and Rajasthan charge, Avinash Pande, Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, PCC Sachin Pilot, health Minister, Dr Sharma played a cru- cial role in planning the rally and amassing the crowd. It may be noted that this rally might prove to be a launching pad for Rahul, who is like- ly to take back the reins of the party by the end in- chief Pande, raghu Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, Avinash Pande, Vivek Bansal and KC Venugopal during the Yuva Aakrosh Rally in Jaipur. the ital” of the world. “The reputation and image that India had in the world was that it is a country of brother- hood, love and unity, while Pakistan was known for hatred and divisiveness. This im- age of India has been damaged by Naren- dra Modi,” Gandhi Rahul had of next

11. www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia 11 AHMEDABAD, WEDNESDAY JANUARY 29, 2020 Basant Panchami marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. City First wishes you on this auspicious day. May you be ‘knowledgeable’ and ‘free’ Kareena Kapoor Khan ARCHWAY OF FASHION THE THIRD SERIES OF FASHION COLLOQUIA WAS ORGANISED ON TUESDAY TO CELEBRATE 150 YEARS OF MAHATMA GANDHI AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE GROWTH OF ‘KHADI’ GABA Fashion Show, which previewed the remarkable journey of 20 years of ARCH College of Design & Business in leading design education. The colloquia was launched in two phases, pre-Colloquium at Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) with a GABA fashion show on January 26 by the stu- dents of ARCH College at Am- ber Fort, followed by a panel discussion on ‘Textile Herit- age’ at JLF on January 27. The main Colloquia took place at the campus of ARCH on Tues- day with various eminent per- sonalities. Throwing some light on the concept, Archana Surana from ARCH said, “ARCH believes that stories from our heritage and indige- nous knowledge systems from across the planet could open new ways of thinking and we bring meaningful conversa- tion and dialogue for transfor- mation.” The idea was to cre- ate awareness about sustain- able fashion, it was the cele- bration of the third edition of Fashion Colloquia, and all the panelists shared the thoughts about the responsible future and decolo- nizing of fashion. —PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO NEHAL NAYAR nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in C elebrating 150 years of the ‘Father of the Nation’ Gandhi, ARCH Col- lege of Design & Business its third series of Fashion Colloquia. The event also focussed on the impor- tance of a responsible future with ‘Khadi’. The day featured prominent events such as a keynote session which was graced by the emi- nent speakers, Founder of label Raw M a n g o , S a n j a y Garg, and Founder of label Upasana, Uma Praja- pati, fol- lowed by A R C H Mahatma launched GABA Fashion Show during Fashion Colloquia Entire team of Fashion Colloquia at ARCH College of Design & Business on Tuesday

12. LISTING AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 12 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia ‘PAMELA MAKES ME WILD’ A FACE OF THE DAY ctor and model Pamela Anderson, who recently tied the knot with Amer- ican film producer Jon Peters, has posted their first photo together on Twitter since their se- cret wedding. The 52-year-old star shared a caption-less monochromatic pic- ture of the couple on her Insta- gram Story recently. She was seen sporting a white sweater as she leaned her head against Pe- ters who was seen wearing a black puffer vest. Anderson shocked her fans when the news broke that the ‘Home Improvement’ star has married Peters in a private wed- ding ceremony in Malibu on January 20. Peters has stated that “Pamela has never seen her full potential as an artist. She has yet to shine in a real way . There are beautiful girls everywhere. I could have my pick, but for 35 years -- I’ve only wanted Pamela. She makes me wild -- in a good way . She inspires me. I protect her and treat her the way she deserves to be treated.” In the ‘80s Peters met Ander- son at the Playboy Mansion and helped Pamela launch her career. NISHA NAMA, Model YOUR DAY Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva IF IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY Peters’ Instagram post The ‘A Star Is Born’ producer proposed to her 30 years before they tied the knot, but she de- clined. At the time he stated, “in 30 years, our age difference won’t mean so much.” Anderson was previously married to musician Tommy Lee, singer-songwriter Kid Rock, and American poker play- er Rick Salomon. She shares 22-year-old sons Brandon and Dylan with Lee. Peters has been married four times and is the fa- ther of three children. You may be responsible for someone’s success so make sure to help out. You will see boost in your career in the coming months. Various career related avenues will open up for you this year. ARIES MAR 21 - APR 20 TAURUS APR 21 - MA Y 20 Your fi nances will be taken care of. Be careful as any All of you who feel depressed with your current life must try hard closeness with your friend can make your partner feel insecure which in turn can upset them. Academically you will get appreciated for implementing new ideas. Don’t indulge in rumour mongering. to go ahead and make it a better one and as you want. Health wise you will see a great improvement. Keep up with your change in lifestyle. Don’t try to irritate someone by your foolish behaviour, as you can face retaliation. —ANI GEMINI MA Y 21 - JUNE 21 CANCER JUNE 22 - JUL Y 23 You must always support those who stood by your side when You can be held accountable for the responsibility that was specially you needed them. At home try to maintain your cool as even the slightest issue can lead to a never ending argument. You may decide to go ahead with a divorce if your married life boat is at the verge of sinking. given to you so make sure to do things very attentively. Even in the rough hour, you will see a regular income fl owing into your life and your fi nances will be all managed. You may avoid going to a social gathering. LEO JUL Y 24 - AUGUST 23 You will return the money that you have borrowed. Delving into things that don’t concern you will be appreciated by those around you. Newly married couple will spend lot of time with each other. You will have a ball of time and you will explore new local places. You will be in the limelight. VIRGO AUG 24 - SEP 23 If you get lucky to catch someone’s attention then you can call it a Pamela Anderson huge achievement on romantic front. You may be lagging behind a bit as far as your academics are concerned. Incase of a family youngster just be very careful and avoid taking any hurried decision. 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13. ETC 13 AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia DEEPIKA, RISHI IN ‘THE INTERN’ REMAKE B shi Kapoor are set to feature in the Indian adaptation of Robert De Niro-Anne Hatha- way starrer 2015 Hol- lywood film ‘The In- tern’. AZURE Enter- tainment and Warner Bros India are jointly @iAmAzure. See you at the movies! @chint- skap.” Excited to be a part of the film, Rishi said: “’The Intern’ is a very relevant film for the present-day Indi- an workplace milieu and it showcases hu- man ships beautifully . I am very excited to be working with Deepika and being a part of this heart-warming story. It is great that Warner Bros. and AZ- URE are officially making this film in India.” Talking more about ‘The Intern’, Deepika shared it is an “intimate, relation- ship-driven film, set in and around the work- place.” “A story that I be- lieve is very relevant to the present-day so- cial and cultural envi- ronment. I have been looking for a light, breezy comedy-drama and this story fits in seamlessly. I cannot wait to begin this jour- ney,” she added. The Bollywood re- make of ‘The Intern’ will release in 2021. Hope floats on‘Shikara’ producing the project along with Deepika’s Ka Productions. Sharing the news, Deepika “Thrilled to present my next! The Indian adaptation of #TheIn- tern. A 2021 release! Presented by @_Ka- Productions warnerbrosindia and ollywood star Deepika Padu- kone and vet- eran actor Ri- wrote: @ relation- —Agency Deepika Padukone Rishi Kapoor AKSHAY’S LOVE FOR AAMIR Sunny to promote VEGAN FASHION S Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA) for a new campaign against use of animal skin. Sunny is set promote vegan fashion, which is free from leather or other animal de- rived materials. “It has been won- derful associating with PETA India, working on so many campaigns - from encouraging the adoption and sterilisation of cats and dogs to speak- ing about the i m p o r - tance of going veg- etarian. I look for- ward to unveiling the next campaign soon, which for now, I’ll say will help a n i m a l s save their skins,” she said. Sunny re- cently took to social media to an- nounce her newest upcoming PETA In- dia campaign sharing a #PostPack- upShot by photogra- pher Gowariker. In the im- age she is seen wear- ing a PETA T-shirt. unny has hands People for the Leone joined with thenticity was the key in order to draw out the correct emotions of a community displaced from their home- land. I wanted it to be real and relevant. On being asked about what ‘Kashmir’ means to him, Vidhu Vinod Chopra replied, “Home.” The film is slated to release on Feb- ruary 7. On January 14, a ‘Behind the Scenes’ video was released, that showed 4000 refugees coming to- gether after 30 years to take part in the production of refugee camp Names of few refugees, home town before fleeing, and their experiences are shown in the video. by KAVITA CHAUHAN cityfirst@firstindia.co.in Avinash D irector Vidhu Vi- nod Chopra was in the Pink City to speak about his film ‘Shikara’, which is set to re- lease next month. The film is based on the exo- dus of Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir. In an exclu- sive interview, Vidhu Vinod Chopra shared his experi- ence with City First. —IANS Poster of the film down with a single suitcase to attend the premiere of ‘Parinda’ in 1989 and could not go back. I could see the sorrow in her eyes for all the years she lived with me in Mumbai, hoping and pray- ing that one day she goes back to her home and dies peacefully . Our friends got displaced, we lost our home, our neighbourhood, our cul- ture, our heritage. Just gone. It is too painful an episode to recollect. across the world need to know what led to the Kash- miri Pandit exodus and give their suffering and sheer neglect a platform. scenes. Do you think this film can attract any kind of politi- cal controversy? I strongly believe that this movie will help tell a com- pelling story about the Kashmiri Pandit exodus and ask people to sit and take notice at the sheer ne- glect of the sufferings of this community for over 30 years. I also believe that my movie has a message and it is a healer. Only love can overcome hatred. Akshay’s new look from ‘Bachchan Pandey’ What made you make a film like ‘Shikara’? Shikara is a tribute to my mother. In 1989, she came to Bombay for the premiere of ‘Parinda’, but couldn’t go back to Kashmir. Shikara is about her home, my home and how we lost that home. So it’s a deeply personal story . But despite all that my mother went through, she only had love for the people, for the valley , for our home, and that love truly overpow- ered every other emotion that she may have felt – be it disappointment, anger or loss. And that’s why I made this movie. The other im- portant aspect is that people S credit goes to none other than Akshay Kumar. Earlier, Aamir’s official Hin- di adaptation of Hollywood film ‘Forrest Gump’ was sched- uled to hit the big screen along with Akshay’s ‘Bachchan Pan- dey’ on December 25, but now producer Sajid Nadiadwala and Akshay have moved the release date of their movie on Aamir’s request. Akshay, while announcing the new release date of ‘Bach- chan Pandey’, i.e. January 22, 2021, shared his new look from the movie too. uperstar Aamir Khan’s ‘Lal Singh Chaddha’ has secured a solo release this Christmas, and all Why did you choose to take newcomers for this film? Did you approach any established actors for playing the lead in the film? Competence and ability to depict an emotion is more important than stardom. I was looking for intensity and innocence. Both actors, Aadil and Sadia are from Kashmir. Au- Do you have any memory of that period when Kash- miri Pandits were forced to abandon their homes? Deep anguish, helplessness, anger, fear, betrayal- all these emotions were running deep. My mother had come Vidhu Vinod Chopra Sunny Leone —Agency SARA’S VIDEO GOES VIRAL FATWA ON MALALA’S FILM D tion activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai is set to release on Janu- ary 31, and the filmmaker has received a fatwa from a Noida-based Muslim cleric for disrespecting the Quran. Khan shared that he has been getting many death threats since he started the film, and now a Noida-based cleric has an issue with his film’s poster. “Ab fatwa lag gaya hai (now a fatwa has been is- sued) by a person from Noida. There is a poster that has Malala holding a book and standing next to a blast, and he thinks it is the Quran. He thinks we haven’t shown respect to the holy book. He called me a kafir,” said Khan. “I am trying to have a word with him so that I can explain to him that it’s an English book,” Khan added. The film, starring Reem Shaikh, Atul Kulkarni and Divya Dutta. Director Amjad Khan will be in the Pink City today to promote his film ‘Gul Makai’. irector Khan’s film ‘Gul Makai’, based on Pakistani educa- Amjad S tion which has gone viral. She took to Instagram, where she shared a video in which she is seen play- ing a prank on her friends in an aircraft, way before her weight loss transfor- mation. She captioned the clip: “Presenting Sara ka Sara Sara. Let’s make �light’ of what it was... Let’s also make it lighter ara Ali Khan shared a video of herself be- fore her transforma- than what it was. Video and transformation credit: @namratapurohit.” In the video, the song ‘Sar jo tera chakraye’ is playing in the background, and Sara is the only one awake during the fl ight as her friends are seen taking a power nap while sitting besides her. The video currently has over 4 million views on In- stagram. Fans praised her hard work in the comment section. Aamir’s look from ‘Lal Singh Chaddha’ Poster of the film —IANS —Agency

14. CITY BUZZ AHMEDABAD | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020 14 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia MIXING BUSINESS AND PLEASURE ganized on Day 1, to high- light the rich textile herit- age of Surat and showcase the variety of fabric pro- duced here. Day 4 saw a stunning performance by artiste Kinjal Dave, who en- thralled the audience with a Lok Dayra. Kinjal is well known for her debut track Char Char Bangdi Vali Gadi and many others. Traders from Ahmedabad, dodara, Rajkot, Surat, Vapi, Umargam, Mumbai, New Delhi, Gurugram, Chandi- garh and Jaipur visited the exhibition. cityfirstgujarat@gmail.com CITY FIRST S the 12th edition of the bien- nial event organized by the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Sarsana Convention Cen- tre here in the city . The more than 48,000 visitors who par- ticipated in the four-day ex- hibition treated to a fashion show and an evening of tra- ditional folk music as part of the trade exhibition. A fashion show was or- urat brought its cul- ture to the fore dur- ing the recently con- cluded Udhyog 2020, Va- Move Over Nachos & QUESADILLA FOOD THE UNIQUE WAY! MEXICAN-COOKING ISN’T LOADED WITH CHEESE ALL THE TIME In fact, many a time, the local Chefs use fried veggies like zucchini blos- soms as stuffing. MEXICAN FOOD ISN’T ALWAYS SPICY Although Mexico has around 64 types of peppers, the real Mexican food is not really loaded with chilies. Mexi- cans use peppers to add that extra flavor, just like the rest of the world. Cauldron Sisters FOOD Consultants MEXICANS DON’T EAT CHICKEN TACOS Basically, all the chicken Tacos that you’ve enjoyed so far are truly an American food concept. In Mexico, chicken isn’t an option as a taco filling and is almost an insult to do so. Real Mexicans love their Tacos with a filling of chicharron, chorizo, Morita sauce, tomatillo sauce, onions, and cilantro. A THE TRUTH BEHIND QUESADILLAS Don’t we all love cheese quesadil- las? In reality, quesadillas are not always made with flour tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, cheddar, and Monterey jack cheese, mainly because this cheese isn’t eaten in Mexico. Instead, the famous quesa- dilla is made with organic blue corn tortillas, oaxaca cheese, squash blossoms, avocado, queso fresco, summer squash, and toma- tillo sauce. when a cuisine travels to far off places, it under- goes innumerable makeo- vers to suit the taste of that particular region. In today’s blog, we will burst some common myths most of us have regarding the Mexican food along with a list of all the fa- mous Mexican dishes that will make you say – ‘ Amo la comida Mexicana.’ part from Na- chos, Quesadil- las, Enchiladas, Tortillas, Tacos, have you ever chanced upon the ‘real’ and NO, MEXICANS DON’T HAVE A THING FOR CORN We often relate Mexican food with a lot of corn. Wrong. The truth is – the locals enjoy potato chips more than the corn chips. Of course, they’ve got their own dips to enjoy that crunchy snack. Mexican food in India? That’s probably because that’s all we know about this spicy (actually, not!) cuisine. It is but obvious that GOOD DEEDS GET AWARDS Ahmedabad’s Marathi community decided to go traditional to watch Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, and how! About 250 people descended in full period costumes at City Gold on Ashram Road to catch the Ajay Devgn-starrer based on the life of 17th-century military leader Tanaji Malusare. We’re sure they had fun. Everyone who saw them certainly did! —PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI Say no to drugs WILDLIFE With this, the Interact club of Rajkumar College—comprising 50 students aged between 12 and 18—108 other clubs from across the world. Under the project, the Interact Club constructed and paving roads leading to school, water purifier installa- tion for clean drinking water, setting up toilet blocks and an amphitheatre, painting the school walls and classrooms, as well as donating benches. As a direct result of these ef- forts, the student’s strength in- creased from 70 to 350 students. Children got to handle emu eggs, deer horns and other preserved remains of animals and birds, currently on display at the Kankaria Zoo in Ahmedabad, as part of the ongoing Wildlife Welfare Fortnight. This event is held every year January 15-30. It aims to prevent cruelty to animals by creating awareness among children and adults alike. RISHA BUVARIYA cityfirst@firstindia.co.in ized to create awareness in a fun-filled manner with music and other forms of entertain- ment so that people could par- ticipate with great interest. MLA of Majura assembly Harsh Sanghvi also partici- pated and informed people about the effects of drugs on youth and society . cityfirstgujarat@gmail.com CITY FIRST S Day. Organizers were seen holding placards with the cap- tion “Say no to drugs and yes to life” in Dumas road area of the city . The event was organ- I nationally for its service pro- ject, where it adopted and reha- bilitated Khakhana Primary School at Surya Rampar village on Wakaner Rajkot highway . nteract Club of Rajkumar College in Rajkot under the aegis of Rotary Club of Ra- jkot won the 1st prize Inter- urat saw a huge carni- val to create aware- ness about the menace of drugs on Republic —PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI