First India News Paper|Gujarat-English News Paper Today-18 January 2020 edition

AHMEDABAD l SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2020 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 54 The train was shown green signal with a lot of fanfare at Ahmedabad station where it was decorated with fl owers and garlands on exterior. Artists performed traditional music and dance on the platform before the departure of the train. —PHOTOS BY NANDAN DAVE CM RUPANI FLAGS OFF A’BAD-MUM TEJAS IN MODI, SHAH’S BACKYARD Haresh Jhala Ahmedabad: fanfare Ahmedabad- Mumbai Tejas Express, the second train to be run by Railway subsidiary IRCTC, was flagged off by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupa- ni on Friday morning in the home state of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, who kept a keen and close watch on the whole development from the Na- tional capital. Equipped with modern facilities, the train departed Ahmedabad at 10.43 am to reach Mumbai after 6.30 hours, covering a distance of 500km. This is the second premium train to be operated by IRCTC, the Railway firm that handles tourism and online ticketing. The first such train, between Delhi and Lucknow, was flagged off last year. The Del- hi-Lucknow Tejas Ex- press is also operated by IRCTC, which is listed on stock ex- changes. The Railways has proposed to run 150 such premium trains across the country . The commercial run of the Ahmedabad- Mumbai Tejas Express will start from January 19 from here, the Rail- ways said. The train was shown green signal with a lot of fanfare Amid the premium Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah kept a keen and close watch on the whole development from the National capital as (right) Chief Minister Vijay Rupani fl agged off Tejas Express in Ahmedabad on Friday morning. said. “It is a matter of pride that this semi high-speed, Tejas Express train has been flagged off between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. This will benefit states,” Rupani said after flagging off the train. “Work on bullet train is also going on the Ahmedabad route,” he said. The (82902/82901) will operate on the Ahmedabad- Mumbai route six days a week with Thursday kept as off-day for main- tenance activity . The fully air-conditioned train has two executive class chair cars, having 56 seats each, and eight chair cars, having capacity of 78 seats each. The total carrying capacity of the train is 736 passengers. IRCTC will compensate passengers for de- lays. It will provide Rs 100 to each passenger in case delay is more than one hour and Rs 250 if delay exceeds hours. HIGHLIGHTS    second from both nearly Mumbai- train catering, Ahmedabad where it was decorated with flowers and garlands on exterior. Artists traditional music and dance on the platform before the departure of the train. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, who was to attend the flagging off ceremony, could not arrive here due to bad weather, BJP MP Kirit Solanki station performed two at

TALKING POINT 02 AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 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 MS WIN DOSE... LOGS OUT? Dhoni has been unlike many great players who drag their feet in the twilight of their careers. And his outstanding career has showed that professional sport need not always be about fitting in. He stood out for his acumen and an undemonstrative approach that earned the nickname ‘Captain Cool’ MS Dhoni’s journey M ment after the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Melbourne on December 30, 2014. Australia beat India in the series with one Test remaining. Virat Kohli will take over the reigns H ranks 6th in list of players to have captained a side. In 2013, he became the fi rst international captain to win three ICC trophies ahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retire- aving led India in 60 matches, MS Dhoni M al cricket having made his debut against Bang- ladesh in Chittagong on December 23, 2004. It wasn’t a memorable in- troduction, though, for the Ranchi cricketer, who was run out for a first-ball duck. The national selection committee led by Kiran More, a former wicketkeeper himself, handed Dhoni his maid- en call-up and it would not be long before he es- tablished himself as a regular in the ODI and Test formats before being appointed the India captain for the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa. He would transform his batting to suit the team’s needs and become its de facto finish- er, particularly in run- chases, while his in- stinctive on-field deci- sions as captain started delivering trophies. The young Indian side under Dhoni won the T20 World Cup in September soothe the scars of the group-stage exit from the 50-over World Cup earlier in the year. India won the tri-series in Australia in 2008, registered its first Test series win in New Zea- trophies when India beat England in the final of the Champions Tro- phy . The captaincy mantle was passed on to Vi- rat Kohli in the middle of India’s away Test series against Au stralia in December 2014 and India would fail at the penultimate stage of the 2015 World Cup and the 2016 T20 World Cup on home soil. Dhoni has remained the hope and a source of joy for much of the 15 years since that Decem- ber afternoon in Chit- tagong. We don’t know if we will see Dhoni play his trade for a 16th year, but his remains a career that’s been celebrated and deserving of more celebration. SPORTS land in 41 years, drew a Test series in South Af- rica in 2010, and under Dhoni, it wasn’t just competing but begin- ning to win consistently home and away . In the final of the 2011 World Cup, Dhoni tran- scended himself to play arguably the defining innings of his career - an unbeaten 91 - to help India end its 28-year wait to win the quadren- nial tournament. The six over long on off Sri Lanka seamer Nuwan Kulasekara and the outpouring of emo- tions are among the iconic moments of In- dian cricket. In 2013, he became the first international captain to win three ICC S Dhoni com- pletes 15 years in internation- I Tests he has led the team in. 3 keeper, took over as Test skipper in 2008 after a successful spell captaining the one-day and T20 sides. U home have come in South Africa and New Zealand – one each. India beat West Indies in the Car- ibbean once, but even that was a laboured effort. India have won just six away Tests out of the 30 that Dhoni has captained D of 38.09 U retained the ranking for 18 months starting December 2009. ndia has won 27, lost 19 and drawn 15 of the 60 7-year-old Dhoni, who is also the team’s wicket- nder Dhoni, India’s only notable Test wins away from honi has played 90 Tests and scored 4876 runs at an average nder Dhoni’s captaincy, India became the No.1 Test team and Dhoni led India to the title triumph in the inaugural edition of the ICC T20 World Cup in 2007 He became the second Indian captain to lift the World Cup in 2011 against Sri Lanka in Mumbai 09 IS THIS END OF MS DHONI ERA? left out of the BCCI's Annual Contracts List n Dhoni has not played for India since the 2019 World Cup semi-final n Dhoni will lead Chennai Super Kings in the 2020 Indian Premier League was axed from the BCCI’s list of JAIPUR | FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 2020 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia in Rattled Men In Blue to end Kohli experiment DHONI WAS INFORMED OF EXCLUSION: BCCI BRIEF honi’s omission from the central contracts list the national selection committee finalised the the former skipper makes it to the T20 International inducted on a pro-rata basis even though chances of winning former India captain’s omission from the list tional cricket for over six months now. BCCI CENTRAL CONTRACTS FOR 2019-20 Grade A+ (INR 7 cr): Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah Grade A (INR 5 cr): Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvnesh- war Kumar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant was imminent and he was duly informed before names, a top BCCI official told PTI on Thursday. If D (T20I) squad sometime this year, he might be re- that are remote. The 38-year-old double World Cup- was not unexpected as he has not played any interna- First cricket team to play 500 Tests New Delhi: England became the first cricket team in the history of the sport to play 500 away Tests. The side achieved the feat when they took the field to play the third Test of the ongoing four-match series against South Af- rica. England has managed to win 149 matches, while losing 182. Halep knocked out in Adelaide QF Adelaide: Two-time Grand Slam winner Si- mona Halep will head into the Australian Open with room for im- provement after being upset 6-4, 6-2 by Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday at the ATP-WTA Ade- laide International. Chiragh shines at Singapore Open Singapore: Indian golf- er Chiragh Kumar was impressive off the tee and he added some good putting on the back nine to bring home a card of three-under 68 in the first round of the SMBC Singapore Open. India’s first model sports villages New Delhi: Bahadur- pur & Kheri Viran are set to become India’s first ‘Model Sports Vil- lages’ as part of Insti- tute of Management Technology Ghaziabad’s plan to evolve a sports culture in the country . Prajnesh enters final round Melbourne: India’s top- ranked singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran is a win away from seal- ing a place in the Aus- tralian Open main draw Grade B (INR 3 cr): Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal Grade C (INR 1 cr): Kedar Jadhav, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Manish Pandey, Hanuma Vihari, Shardul Thakur, Shreyas Iyer, Washing- ton Sundar. n MS Dhoni has been Indian players Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Manish ahead of 2nd ODI match against Australia in Rajkot. and Co. will go into the game 0-1 down after a thrashing in Mumbai, courtesy David Warn- er and Aaron Finch, who hit unbeaten hun- dreds. ing into the match has been Kohli’s batting position and it is certain that the Indian captain will return at his favoured number three spot. TEAM INDIA ‘SUPERFAN’ CHARULATA PATEL DIES BEGINS PRACTICE WITH RANJI SQUAD D centrally contracted players earlier in the day. Amid fresh speculation on his future, the 38-year- net session in Ranchi. This is probably an indication that he is getting ready for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. Now, Cricket fans wonder if Dhoni’s career is over after being dropped from central contract list by the BCCI. Pandey and Yuzvendra Chahal during a training session honi began practising with the Jharkhand Ranji Trophy squad on Thursday after he Sydney: In- dia is ap- proaching crisis mode with Virat Kohli under fire for a batting experiment that is set to be reversed as it grap- ples with a concussion blow to Rishabh Pant. Kohli is back at No.3 as India face Australia in the 2nd ODI in Ra- jkot today with the series on the line. Kohli Jaipur: MS Dhoni has been left out of the BC- CI's central contacts list for players. He has not played for India since the 2019 Cricket World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand. Dhoni had retired from Test cricket in De- cember 2014 after playing 90 matches and had stepped down as captain of limited-overs formats in January 2017. Dhoni was part of Grade A in the BCCI's central contracts list last year but after he had made himself una- vailable since the World Cup, he was left out of the 27-member list for the period from October 2019 to September 2020. The former skipper has helped earn several accolades in the global arena, including the inaugural World T20 in 2007, World Cup in 2011, and ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. He has so far featured in 90 Tests, 350 ODIs and 98 T20Is and has amassed over 17,000 runs. after progressing to the final round of the quali- fiers but it was curtains for Sumit Nagal. Sindhu crashes out in 2nd round Jakarta: Indian campaign at Indonesia Mas- ters 2020 came to an end when PV Sindhu crashed out in the second round of the tournament with a three- game loss to Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi on Thursday . Ireland stun Windies by 4 runs Grenada: Ireland rode a career-best 95 from opener Paul Stirling before keeping their nerve in a nail-biting final over to pull off a four- run win over world champions West Indies in the first of a three- match Twenty20 series. Selection of SAI to be held in Jan New Delhi: The Sports Selection Selection of Sports Authority of In- dia (SAI) for the training center at Vidyadhar Na- gar will be held from January 20 to 22. In this selection process, players will be selected for Athletics, Basketball, Volleyball, Weightlifting. Tennis stars raise 5 mn Aus dollars for relief lll Devastating bushfires have claimed at least 28 lives, destroying over 2,000 homes and razed millions of hectares of wilderness over Dhoni’s future with the Indian team. His exclusion from the BCCI contract further fueled the rumours of his retirement, however, Dho- ni is yet to address the rumours. He has re- sumed training with the Jharkhand Jharkhand coach Rajiv Kumar said he was expecting Dhoni to be a bit rusty having not played any cricket for quite some time but he was left surprised when the former Indian captain middled the ball well against both pacers and spinners. old turned up at his home team’s The talking point go- The 87-year-old woman, who became an overnight sensa- tion on social media after her videos with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma went viral during the World Cup 2019, passed away. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took to Twitter to share the news. “#TeamInd- ia’s Superfan Charulata Patel ji will always remain in our hearts and her passion for the game will keep motivat- ing us. May her soul rest in peace,” The BCCI tweeted. 2007 to M international cricket after he effected his 134th dismissals during the third Test against Australia in Melbourne. He surpassed Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara when he stumped Mitchell Johnson off the bowling of off-spinner R Ashwin for his world record dismissal. He reached the landmark in his 460th innings while Sangakkara has 133 stumpings from 485 innings. ahendra Singh Dhoni broke the world record for the most number of stumpings in Shamsher leads Dragons to unexpected win ‘Want to break my own world record’ YOU READ IT FIRST IN FIRST INDIA JANUARY 17, 2019 match was about to reach the finishing point, Shamsheer gave the Dragons the victory with the easy goal. In another match played on the Cavalry ground, Jaipur Riding defeated the Cavalry 6-5. Angad Kalan scored four goals for Jaipur Riding Club, while Cav- alry’s Ravi Rathore scored 3 goals. Naresh Sharma Hyderabad- polo Jaipur: based Shamsher Ali turn the tables by his excellent performance. Shamsh- er lead the Dragon team to victory path which was on the verge to lose the game at Rambagh Polo Ground. Dragon won by 3–1 win over Los Polistas. When the player Sania enters women’s doubles semifinals of Hobart International at the 2016 Rio edition bettering his own world record with a throw of 63.97 metres. He became the first Indian to clinch two gold medals at the Paralympics. "I have qualified for the Tokyo Paralympics and I hope I can break my own world record," Jhajharia told PTI in an event. shoulder injury trou- bled him for more than a year and a half, even forcing him to consider retirement. New Delhi: Javelin thrower Jhajharia on Thursday dispelled all rumours of retirement and said he has his eyes set on a hat-trick of world re- cords at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. The 38-year-old javelin thrower won a gold at the 2004 Athens Para- lympic Games in the men's javelin throw F46 event setting a new world record of 62.15 metres. He then repeated the feat 12 years later Devendra EXPECTED RUSTINESS BUT MS DHONI SURPRISED ME WITH HIS FLUENCY IN NETS: JHARKHAND COACH The two fi rst met at the Taj Bengal in Kolkata in 2007. It took a few months of serious wooing on Dhoni’s part before they started dating in 2008 recurring A BUSHFIRE CHARITY Earlier in Decem- ber, she was named in the five-member Fed Cup team announced by All India Tennis Association (AITA) to represent the country in the Fed Cup Asia/Oce- ania Group I event. Riya Bhatia, Ankita Raina, Rutuja Bho- sale, and Karman Kaur Thandi are the other players of the five-member squad. Sowjanya Bavisetti is the reserve player. Hobart: Sania Mirza and her Ukrainian partner Nadia Kiche- nok advanced to the women's semi-finals of the Ho- bart International. The duo defeated USA's pair of Vania King and Christina McHale. On Tuesday, they had won against Georgia's Kalashnikova Japan's Miyu Kato. 33-year-old Sania last played at China Open in October 2017. I aged 40.63 as captain, and to- talled 3454 runs. He had hit fi ve centuries as captain. M central contract list which was announced on Thursday came as a surprise to many including the fans of the veteran wicket-keeper batsman, been eagerly waiting for his comeback in international Dhoni has not played for India since the con- clusion of the 2019 World Cup extending his sabbatical to over six months. Dhoni’s last appearance for India came in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand where scored a gritty fifty but failed to take India over the line in the 241-run chase as the Men in Open preview, Kyrgios was joined by Federer for a friendly one set match, which the Swiss legend won 7-6. “What I wanted to do was raise awareness, raise money and tell people to still come and travel to Australia because people probably think around the world that you can’t right now,” Federer said. Federer paired up with Nadal to donate A$ 250,000 from their pockets too help with relief. n batting, he aver- He is a man of his Blue bowed out of the showpiece event after an 18-run loss. In his ab- sence, speculations have been doing the round S Dhoni’s omission from BCCI’s needed laughter and fun to those who have struggled over the past months. Nick Kyrgios, who comes from an area near to where the fires are, described the emotional feeling of seeing some of the big- gest stars in the world getting behind Austral- ia in a time of need. “The awareness has grown and I think we’re doing everything we possibly can to overcome this,” Kyrgios said. In an Australian doubles He has numerous motorcycles ranging from the Suzuki Shogun to the Kawasaki Ninja H2 and Confederate Hellcat Sydney: Close to A$ five million($3.4 million) was raised for the raging Australian bushfires after a special charity event in which world’s best tennis players took to the court. Amid the Australian Open rounds, the Rally for Re- lief -- organised on Wednesday evening -- featured big stars name- ly Roger Federer, Sere- na Williams, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Naomi Osaka, Caroline Oksana and qualifying emergency personnel watched on from court side seats as the multi- generational played fast four doubles, bringing much stars words and it came as no surprise that he was out there training with the guys just like any other. —Coach Kumar Stefanos Alexander Wozniacki, Tsitsipas, Zverev, Nick Kyrgios, Petra Kvitova, Coco Gauff and Dominic Thi- em. Firefighters and Ziva has been constantly stealing the attention of fans with her adorable gestures who have D also the highest by a Test wicketkeeper-captain in history. N lead India in ODIs and T20s. P straight Tests away from home. This put Dhoni the captain under immense pressure, which was ac- centuated by a 2-1 home series loss to England in honi holds the record for highest Test score by an Indian captain - 224 (Vs Australia in 2013). His 224 is cricket. side. icknamed ‘Captain Cool’ for his calm demeanour in the face of challenging situations, MSD will continue to He also holds the all-time record of 107 stumpings in ODI cricket and is third overall in Test cricket with 38 stumpings ost the World Cup win in 2011, India lost eight 2012-13, the fi rst time India had lost at home in more than eight years. D and is the most successful Indian Test skipper. he honi was the 31st captain of India in Tests

AHMEDABAD l SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2020 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 54 IT’S REALLY SUNDAR... PICHAI Alphabet hit the $1 trillion market capitalization, making it the fourth US company to hit the milestone after Apple, Amazon and Microsoft. Pichai had already been the CEO of Google, which includes company’s all core businesses like search, advertising, YouTube and Android and generates all its revenue and profi ts. Despite the company’s seemingly perpetual cultural clashes, Wall Street sees more dollar signs. IT’S FINAL: HANGING ON FEB 1 The new warrant was issued hours after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected a mercy petition filed by Mukesh Singh, one of the convicts RTI plea questions Modi’s citizenship New Delhi: Right to Information (RTI) application has been moved before the Ker- ala information dept seeking to whether PM Modi is an Indian citizen. Josh Kalluveettil, a native of Chalak- kudy town in Thris- sur dist, moved the application in this regard on Jan 13. The application has sought documents that prove PM know New Delhi: Fresh death warrants were issued on Friday evening for the four men convicted of the gang- rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student in Delhi in 2012. The four will now be executed at 6 am on February 1, Addl Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora said on Friday, while also turning down a plea by Mukesh Singh, one of the convicts, to postpone the execution. The warrants were issued mere hours after President Ram Nath Ko- vind rejected a mercy plea filed by the same convict. The new death warrants are dated to exactly 14 days from Friday , in accordance with a law that states convicts to be executed must have a reprieve from the time their mercy plea is turned down. Vinay Sharma, Mukesh Singh, Akshay Kumar Singh and Pawan Gupta were to be hanged at Delhi’s Tihar Jail on January 22, the same trial court judge had declared last week, signing a death warrant more than seven years after the young girl was gang-raped on a moving bus, tortured and killed. However, on Thursday, 5 days before the scheduled execution, Tihar officials asked for a new date, saying the executions could not take place till after all mercy pleas were settled. Modi’s citizenship. It has been filed before the public information officer of the Chalakkudy mu- nicipality. AKSHAY THAKUR PAWAN GUPTA MUKESH SINGH VINAY SHARMA ‘SAME PEOPLE WHO HELD PROTESTS...’ sha Devi, mother of Nirbhaya has said that the case is being used for political mileage. “Those who attacked my daughter are being given a thousand options, but we have no rights? Till now, I never talked about politics, but now I want to say that those people who held protests on streets in 2012, today the same people are only playing with my daughter’s death for political gains,” she told reporters. Her comments come amid a blame game between the BJP which rules at the centre and the AAP which gov- erns Delhi over the delay in the execution of four men convicted of the rape and murder. At a news conference on Thursday, BJP leader and union minister Prakash Ja- vadekar had said all four convicts would have been hanged by now had the AAP government act- ed quickly Turn on P5 NIRBHAYA’S PARENTS MISGUIDED: KEJRIWAL elhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged the BJP on Friday not to indulge in politics over the Nirbhaya case issue and instead work together in ensuring that justice in such cases is delivered at the earliest. Reacting to Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani blaming the AAP government for the “delay” in hanging of the four convicts, Kejriwal said that he feels “sad that politics is being done on such an issue”. “I feel sad that politics is being done on such an issue. Shouldn’t we be working together to ensure that the guilty are hanged soonest? “Shouldn’t we join hands to ensure a system so that such beasts get hanged within six Punjab to move SC over CAA: CM Singh A D Chandigarh: Shortly after the Punjab As- sembly passed a resolution by voice vote against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday said his government like Kerala will approach the Supreme Court on the issue. Amarinder Singh said the Centre will have to make the necessary months? P l e a s e don’t do politics on this.” Ke- jriwal tweeted. Turn on P5 ments to the CAA if it has to be implemented in Punjab and other states op- posing the legisla- tion. amend- Turn on P5 Turn on P5 Indian economy could recover to 6.6% next fiscal: UN report New Delhi: A combina- tion of fiscal stimulus and financial sector reforms, boosting investment and consumption, is expected to “support a recovery” in India’s economic growth to 6.6 per cent in 2020-21, a United Nations (UN) report said. According to the World Economic Situ- ation and Prospects (WESP) report, the Indian economy is also expected to grow at 5.7 per cent in the current 2019-20 fiscal. This is higher than the Modi government’s estimates of an 11-year-low growth of 5 per cent in 2019-20. Turn on P5 ‘Doctor Bomb’ who jumped parole arrested A day after Amazon jibe, Goyal says lawful investments welcome New Delhi: A day after Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal called Amazon investing a billion dollars in In- dia “not a favour”, the Minister on Fri- day clarified saying his statement was taken out of context. “My statement should be seen in context. Turn on P5 worth of Make in India 3 REASONS FOR GDP DECLINE  Auto Sector: The sector witnessed a slowdown last year. Vehicle sales recorded the fastest decline in 19 years. Lucknow: A 68-year- old convict of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, Jalees Ansari, who had gone missing on Thursday after he jumped parole, has been arrested in Kan- pur on Friday . Ansa- ri, also known as Dr Bomb, was leaving a mosque in the city and headed to the railway station when he was caught by the Uttar Pradesh Po- lice’s Special Task Force, police said. industrial activity in the country remains slug- gish. The IIP registered a steady decline in Aug, Sept and Oct. KANT’S AMAZON LOVE IRKS RSS AFFILIATE N come under fi re from the ‘Swadeshi’ lobby after he tweeted a story detailing Amazon’s India plans. Kant had Thursday tweeted a report detailing Amazon’s plans to export $10 bn iti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has goods by 2025. Re- sponding to his tweet, Ashwani Mahajan of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a body affi liated to the RSS, criticised Kant’s “unending love” for Amazon at a time “crores of small traders are being hurt by the deep discounts given by the company”. Mahajan followed it up with another tweet asking Kant to “side with the people” — shop- keepers and workers — pointing out that the government has made its stand clear that deep discounting is not ac- ceptable.  NBFCs: One of the reasons for the decline in GDP growth is the cash crisis of NBFCs.  IIP: Despite major steps like corporate tax cuts in September, 3 INDICATORS OF ECONOMY  Inflation is rising in the country, employ- ment is decreasing, but the stock market is on boom.  The retail infl a- tion rate in December was 7.35%. This is the highest since July 2014. Infl ation was more affected in De- cember due to increase in prices of vegetables, especially onions. New Delhi: E-commerce giant Amazon on Friday announced that it plans to create 1 million jobs in India by 2025 through investments in technology, infrastructure and its logistics network. The announcement comes in the wake of India trip by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. During his stay in India, Bezos also announced that the company planned to invest $1 billion to “help bring 10 million traders and micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) across India online, enabling the US $10B in cumulative exports by 2025.” Will create 1 million jobs in India  Retail inflation rate the highest in five and a half years. Turn on P5 Fresh speculations of BJP mulling change of guard in Gujarat Haresh Jhala said that the government is moving at a snail’s pace even in ur- gent situations. Citing one instance of locusts attack in North Gujarat, the State government took ten days to seri- ously launch combat operation and post that almost 15 days to declare that it will compensate for farmers’ losses. Rupani’s recent state- ments that he plays at “half wicket” and repeat- ing former Chief Minis- ter Modi’s famous words that ‘Khato nathi ane Khava Deto Nathi’ (Am not corrupt It is noteworthy that the State would go to polls almost two years from now, while there are crucial municipal corporation elections, which are due at the end of this year. According to party sources, the speculations started from the body language of the Chief Minister and his public utterances. While, CM is pushing hard to publicise good governance and that the state is scaling new heights of progress, a party leader, on the condition of anonymity, BJP high command has made up its mind to bring changes in the state government and is looking for a new leader. If party sources are to be believed, Prime Min- ister Narendra Modi may go for either state BJP Vice President Bhargav Bhatt, who has also served in the Sangh Pariwar for long, or Union Minis- ter of State for Ship- ping Mansukh Man- daviya, who happens to be a Patel. On the other hand, Union Home Minister Gandhinagar:It seems rumour-mongering about the BJP high command looking for a new face to lead Gu- jarat has reached Chief Minis- ter Vijay Rupani’s doorstep. CM Rupani tied to douse fire with a public denial, saying, ‘I am not going anywhere’, but it has only fueled the speculation even more. Now, a fresh round of speculations has begun to take con- crete shape that the finally Bhargav Bhatt Mansukh Mandavia Praful Patel Pradipsinh Jadeja Praful as MoS Home in Gujarat in the year 2010 whereas Jadeja is the sitting MoS Home. Some party leaders may have reservation with Mansukh Manda- via, Praful Patel or Jadeja, but very few will have objection to a dark-horse Bhatt, who is very low profile and has served Sangh for long. and National BJP chief Amit Shah, who virtu- ally controls Modi’s all Gujarat operations, may prefer that Rupani be continued as the Chief Minister. But in case, if Rupani has to be replaced for some political then Shah may prefer Praful Patel or Prad- ipsinh Jadeja. Notably , Amit Shah had replaced reasons, Bhargav Turn on P5

GUJARAT AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 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 AMC’s ` 8,907 crore draft budget brings higher property, vehicle taxes Huts, ‘smart societies’ to receive property tax benefits; hike only for vehicles priced at `15 lakh or higher in BRIEF SBI ties up with METRO Cash and Carry in Surat Surat: The State Bank of India (SBI) and Met- ro Cash and Carry have joined hands to offer SBI’s existing and new SME customers a pre- approved Metro card which will enable them to shop at Metro’s 27 stores across India. Un- der the partnership, existing Metro customers can avail value-added SBI current accounts, business debit cards, POS machines, digital products and other as- set products. Loans will also be offered to eligi- ble Metro customers for renovation of their out- lets. SBI will also place a kiosk at the store premises to educate customers about vari- ous schemes. PROVISIONS IN BUDGET  278 schools to become ‘hi-tech’ become ‘smart’  Smart BRTS  100 Smart e-toilets  Digitalization of 100 heritage sites  466 Anganwadis to INFRASTRUCTURE  Rs968 crore for 20 fl yovers, including some in non-AMC areas  Rs200 crore for two bio-diversity parks  Rs30 crore for Happy Street and Food Street in each zone  Rs200 crore for two sports complexes Central Bank of India opens Credit Processing Branch Ahmedabad: Central Credit Processing Branch of Central Bank of India was inaugurated by Girish Karia, field general manager of Ahmedabad Zone, here on Wednesday. This branch, which has been designated as Central Credit Processing Branch for Ahmedabad, will focus on mortgage-based loans. Mahesh Ojha, who is in charge of this branch assured the customers that all the loan proposals received from branches will be done quickly and his entire team is available to solve the problems of customers. All the staff of zonal office and regional office including Regional Man- ager of Ahmedabad Re- gion BS Shriram were present on the occasion. Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra presents the AMC’s draft budget for 2020-21 to Mayor Bijal Patel. First India News those who meet three of the above-mentioned criteria will get tax dis- count of 25%,” the commissioner said. He gave his budget for the upcoming fiscal year the title, “New Ahmedabad for New In- dia” and informed the media that, keeping in mind 75 years of Inde- pendence, Ahmedabad city will number one in all aspects in the next two years. It is to be noted that this is the second con- secutive AMC budget to impose higher charges on city residents. Last year, the civic body announced an increase of Rs110 crore in its budget, that was expected to be levied on citizens in the form of “user charges”. Late winter chill to continue for atleast next seven days ceiling There is no hike for slum huts and shanties. Moreover, pol houses will see an increase of Rs300 in property tax, while taxes on flats, row-houses and tene- ments have been in- creased by Rs500 to Rs700, annually,” said Nehra. The commissioner also announced a new scheme for tax incen- tives. “Any society which has a decentralized solid waste and effluent treatment plants, uses renewable energy and practises harvesting and tree plantation will be con- sidered as a smart society . As a result, such societies will be exempted from property tax. Even of Rs4,000. would bear the additional property tax; it would not affect the other sections of the society much, he said. on the vehicles priced at Rs15 lakh or above. There is no increase in vehicle tax for two- wheelers, hatchbacks Ahmedabad: City residents will pay an additional Rs244 crore in property tax and Rs26 crore in vehicle tax this year. Ahmedabad Mu- nicipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra made the announcement on Fri- day, while presenting the civic body’s draft budget of Rs8,907.32 crore for 2020-21. This is the first time in six years that Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has proposed a hike in property tax. Commissioner Nehra said the increase in property tax and vehicle tax would not affect the majority of the people. “There is a nominal hike in the vehicle tax AMC gives milk bottle and rose as return gift for Swachh feedback First India News TAX MANTRA          FOR WARDS  Swimming pool  Vegetable market  Mini-sports com- plex  Health and wellness centre the  Model garden with open gym  Model road like CG Road BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS  Rs968 crore for 20 fl yovers “We conducted some studies and found that people in Ahmedabad are paying less in taxes as compared to cities such as Mumbai and Pune. Moreover, the proposed increase has a and sedan cars. We are expecting a total of Rs26 crore more in vehicle tax next year,” he said. He further said that those living in independent rainwater  Rs500 crore for fi ve multi-level park- ing lots A’bad-Mumbai flight delayed Ahmedabad: Around 150 passengers were left waiting as Spice- Jet’s Ahmedabad-Mum- bai flight was delayed by three hours on Thursday night at Ahmedabad airport. The flight was scheduled to leave the city by 11pm but landed in Mumbai after a delay of around three hours. Airport authorities had cited bad weather for the delay but others passengers allege that the airline landed in the city late.  Rs700 crore for road redevelopment and modernization  Rs200 crore for two bio-diversity parks bungalows —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI First India News roses, too. “We have been asked to get feedback from the people. Today was the first day and we will continue giving free milk bottles to the visitors who will give us feedback. We have distributed 2,400 milk bottles till evening and on the weekend we are expecting to distribute more,” said Tushar Pa- tel, an official of the solid waste department, AMC. LoP in the AMC, Dinesh Sharma called it a “desperate move” of the civic body to get feedback. The Ahmedabad: The mer- cury plunged signifi- cantly across the state over the last few days, with both day and night temperatures being recorded at considerably below normal. While the day temperatures are below normal by 5-6 degrees in many places, minimums are 2-3 degrees below normal. Al- though the minimum temperatures haven’t dropped much in the past 24 hours, many cities have recorded single-digit minimums. Naliya recorded a mini- Ahmedabad: Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Friday distributed roses and bottles of fla- voured milk among visitors to the Flower Show at the Sabarmati River Front in return for online feedback for Swachh Survekshan. The solid-waste department has distributed 2,400 bottles of milk on Day One of its unoffi- cial “scheme”. The Ministry Housing and Urban Af- fairs has announced a new award, ‘Best City 1 jail official suspended, other transferred Ahmedabad: An official of the Sabarmati Central Jail was suspended for laxity in alleged extortion case involving Vishal Gos- wami and his aides from inside the prison while another jailer was transferred. The city crime branch on Wednesday had arrested four members of the Vishal Goswami gang. People warm themselves in front of a fi re. Visitors to the Flower Show at the Sabarmati River Front received milk in exchange for feedback. nessing minimum tures. Most places in Guja- rat are expected to experience below-normal day and night temperatures for at least the next week. single-digit tempera- mum of 3.4°C which is the lowest of the sea- son. In fact, it is the lowest temperature in the city since 2012. Simi- larly, other cities like Bhuj, Kandla, Keshod, Mahua, Porbandar, Ra- jkot etc. are also wit- —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI perate measures to get people’s feedback, visitors to the flower show were asked to fill the online form and get a bottle of milk in return; some were given in Maximum Citizen Participation’, in the 2020 edition of Survek- shan, and the civic body seems to have that in its sights. In a seemingly des- of Man claims to be cheated with false job promises GUP SHUP Radadiya at his aggressive best! L late father Vithal Radadiya, who joined the BJP after many years in the Congress, was always a go-getter using all possible means to get his work done, including pulling out a fi rearm at highway toll booth. Ditto, the young Radadiya on Thursday got cleared a long queue of over 200 cars near a Saurashtra toll booth just because he was getting late and was stuck. He shouted at the person manning the booth and managed to get cleared the huge jam. One name to bind them W government medical college in the city making newspaper headlines, it was perhaps obvious that a high-ranking offi cial from the health department would be in a shouty mood when he visited the college—especially since his visit occurred the same day the news did. However righteous his anger over the mismanagement by the agency, he quickly defl ated after hearing that the agency under scrutiny had been hired on the recommendation of another, equally high- ranking, offi cial. We’re still not entirely sure who this secret infl uencer is, but the name certainly seemed to have a ‘quieting’ effect on the Gandhinagar offi cial. Where are nimboo and mirch? A ‘Shastra Puja' offering nimboo and mirch near the Rafael jets in France, many people expected a similar kind of puja when Tejas Express was fl agged off from Ahmedabad on Friday. People were looking for mirch and nimboo in the doors and windows of the train on the chance that Chief Minister Vijay Rupani may have tied them after performing ‘Vahan Puja’. Did Tejas Express, the country’s fi rst semi-high speed and fully air- conditioned train, shake them off? We may never know! ike father, like son. State minister Jayesh Radadiya’s ith a scandal regarding outsourced agencies at a well-known fter Defence Minister Rajnath Singh performed First India News three years. In filed with the Chand- kheda police, the complainant said the trio tricked him into paying Rs10.30 lakhs for getting his 21-year-old son, who currently works as jawan, a job in Rail- ways. He added that he was also given fake offer letters. Chandkhe- da police have started an investigation into the matter. his complaint Ahmedabad: A Motera resident has alleged that he was cheated of Rs10.30 lakh by three persons on the pretext of providing his son with a job, police sources told First India. The complainant, works as a security guard, alleged that he was duped by Nagend- ra Prasad, Sanjay Ram- pal and Minakshi Gan- guli over a span of 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 an LRD who

GUJARAT AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2020 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 TEJAS IS MORE PREMIUM THAN SHATABDI C the passengers. The train is a more premium version than the Shatabdi Express. The Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express is fully air-conditioned, has executive and non- executive coaches. It has an aircraft-style personalised LED screens in the Executive class. hief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday launched the inaugural run of the second Tejas Express train by IRCTC. The Tejas Express offers state-of-the-art facilities for —PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE COMMONWEALTH NATIONS HONOURS GANDHI, SARDAR Secretary-General Patricia Scotland made the announcement during visit to Gujarat ED attaches ` 10 crore assets in Hawala Scam Surat: Assets worth about Rs 10 crore of a Mumbai-based nessman have been attached in connection with the multi-crore hawala and money laundering case of Surat, the ED said on Friday . It said a housing com- plex named ‘Rasool Manzil’ and land, two flats (each measuring 480 sq feets) in Maha- rashtra’s capital city and a plot of land locat- ed in Godsai village in Raigad district of busi- nessman Abdul Karim Jaka have been provi- sionally attached under the Prevention of Mon- ey Laundering (PMLA). The total value of the attached properties is Rs 9.50 crore. The case pertains to over Rs 5,395 crore hawala funds being sent as alleged ille- gal outward remittanc- es on the basis of import documents or fake bills of entry through an IC- busi- First India News COMMONWEALTH Ahmedabad: The Com- monwealth of Nations on Friday announced a decision to confer honours on two of Gujarat’s stalwarts, Father of Na- tion Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The announcement came from Secretary- General of the Com- monwealth of Nations, Patricia Scotland, in a meeting with Energy Minister Saurabhbhai Patel, chief secretary Anil Mukim, and chief principal secretary to CM K. Kailashnathan, in Ahmedabad. Scotland stated the organization is determined to ensure that the 2.4 billion population across the 53 commonwealth countries, most is being probed under the anti-money laundering law by the ED. Probe found that nine companies having accounts in ICICI Bank, Surat, had remitted huge amounts of money on the basis of forged bills of entry to three companies in UAE and 15 companies in Hong Kong. “The main source of credits in these accounts are from entities like Vandana and Co, Natural Trading Co, Maruti Trading among others,” the ED said in a statement. ICI Bank branch in Su- rat. The Enforcement Di- rectorate (ED) had filed a criminal complaint under PMLA after stud- ying a 2014 FIR of Surat Police crime branch. The central agency, in March 2014, had busted a multi-crore hawala racket after searches at offices of some diamond traders in Surat, including Afroz Fatta and Madanlal Jain. Fatta, Jain and a firm called R A Distributors along with others are accused in the case that Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland (third from right) with State Energy Minister Saurabh Patel, CS Anil Mukim and K.Kailashnathan, Chief Principal Secretary to CM and others. Act wealth Fund for Good Governance’ has been announced by the Com- monwealth of Nations. This is an attempt to forever keep alive the unique contributions made to the world by these two sons of Guja- rat and India, Scotland added. a Peace Prize on Mahat- ma Gandhi’ has been announced. Similarly, to high- light the ultimate contribution in good governance made by iron- man Sardar Vallabhb- hai Patel by uniting India, a Amid security tensions, A’bad airport bans visitor entry from Jan 20 to 31 ‘Commonwealth of whom are youth, are inspired and encour- aged by Mahatma Gan- dhi’s ideology of non- violence, simple thinking, unity and peace for making development. For this purpose, on the occasion of the 150th birth-anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, further spread ‘Common- Thieves run away with `6.71L diamonds Maldhari blames politicos in suicide note First India News sons, Raju and Sanjay, who passed the written and physical examina- tions of the LRD but were unable to get jobs due to political pressure. Hun says he did not get justice even after putting forth a caste certificate. He even blamed BJP ministers in the four-page suicide note. Police have registered a case of acciden- tal death and started a probe. The body of the deceased was sent for a medical examination. First India News First India News Airport director Manoj Gangal could not be contacted despite multi- ple attempts. According to an Air- port Authority of India report, Sardar Vallab- hbhai Patel Interna- tional (SVPI) had the highest growth in do- mestic flight ments among airports that operated 20,000 flights between April and August in 2019, recording 12.3% growth compared to the same period in 2018. alleged masked men on bike threatened to take his bag while pointing a gun at him. He said he was about to board a bus to deliver a parcel for his firm on Thurs- day night, when the incident occurred. Bapunagar have filed his complaint and started a probe. They are also looking at CCTV footage of the area as well as the bike’s registration number to identify the suspects. that three A Ahmedabad: 50-year-old Maldhari man allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself at his office on Friday, police said. In his suicide note, the deceased, Manjarbhai Hun, who worked as a peon at Bhavan, claims that in- justice was done to his sons during Lok Rak- shak Dal (LRD) exami- nations. He alleged that injus- tice was done to his two Ahmedabad: An angadia firm employee has alleged that masked men on a mo- torcycle snatched diamonds worth Rs 6.71 lakh from him at gun- point on night, Bapunagar police said. The complainant, Yo- gesh Rawal, told the police that has been working with angadia firm P Shailesh in Bapunagar since the last year. He Ahmedabad: Follow- ing the arrest of an alleged operative of the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) earlier month, Ahmedabad airport has banned the entry of visitors at both international and do- mestic terminals from January 20 to 31. Airport management sources say they have taken this safety meas- ure in the wake of the three this Thursday —FILE PHOTO move- police Bahumali rested for spreading the ISIS module. Airport authorities say they will also beef up security to avoid un- wanted incidents in the run-up to Republic Day . Gujarat Anti-Terrorists Squad’s (ATS) arrest of Zafar Ali from Va- dodara’s Gorva area on January 9. He was re- portedly wanted Chennai and was ar- over in FROM PG 1 Fresh speculations... and have zero tolerance for corruption) “are sending signals though he is playing last ten overs in one-day cricket,” a party leader said. Sources claimed that if there is a change of guard, the party may even ask both the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel to vacate and make space for new fac- es. The speculation is also linked with the party reorganisation. Party sources said, it is not just because Union Home Minister and party President Amit Shah was busy with CAA and other national issues, but, also because the party high command WESP is the UN’s flagship annual publi- cation which reports on the expected trends in the global economy . and Christians, who had migrated to India before December 31, 2014, from Pakistan, Af- ghanistan and Bangla- desh. It excludes members of the Muslim community . wants to bring changes. The leadership also has to balance the caste equations in the government and the party’s state unit, sources said, adding that if it wants to Rupani, then they will have to make Patel leader as the state unit president with the incum- bent Jitubhai Vaghani’s term having ended. But, if Rupani is replaced with a Patel leader, the state unit president has to be from OBC. “If they have not been hanged yet, it is due to the AAP government’s negligence... This delay of over two and a half years is due to the complicity of Del- hi’s AAP government. It has sympathies with these convicts, and this (delay) is a result of that,” Mr Javadekar said. forwarded to the Presi- dent via the Home Min- istry late Thursday night and was rejected this afternoon. Nirbha- ya’s mother, Asha Devi, had made a public appeal to the President to summarily reject the petition. In response to a question, the chief minister made it clear that the Census 2021 will be conducted on the old pa- rameters in Punjab. The new factors added by the Centre for the purpose of the National Population (NPR) will not be included, he added. The Punjab Assem- bly passed the resolution by voice vote against the CAA, the second state after Kera- la to do so. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) sought inclusion of Muslims in the list of communities that could be granted citizenship under the amended law. The CAA provides for granting citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Bud- dhists, Jains, Parsis previous level. He said country has committed to an ambitious fiscal expansion to comple- ment its loose monetary policy . “Heavy reliance on monetary policy has its limits. We should look at a balanced mix of both monetary and fiscal policy,” Kumar said. Asked which sectors will propel growth, Kumar said, “Infrastructure and education are the sectors that can over-emphasised. Fur- ther, there is also a need to invest in young people.” He added that credit crunch is affecting demand currently. “De- mand crunch is also very serious. It is a chicken and egg situation.” as ‘Doctor Bomb’... “Jalees Ansari has been arrested when he was coming out from a mosque. He has been brought to Lucknow. It is a big achievement of the UP Police,” said Uttar Pradesh top cop OP Singh. Ansari, originally a resident of UP’s Sant Kabir Nagar district and who holds a MBBS degree, may have been trying to leave the country through the Nepal route, police said, and added he was arrested due to an anonymous tip off to a senior STF officer. continue A day... Investments are welcome but they should be within the law,” Com- merce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters on Fri- day . Register ‘Same People... and served notices to them immediately after the Supreme Court rejected their against death sentence in 2017. Hitting back at the BJP, Deputy Chief Min- ister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia said if central government handed over the capital’s law and order to his government for two days, the would be carried out immediately . India’s Nirbhaya’s parents... Lets together create a safe city for our women,” Kejriwal said in a tweet. appeal never be Indian economy... Speaking at the launch of the report Friday, Nagesh Kumar, head, UN Economic and So- cial Commission for Asia and the Pacific, stressed the need for “continued structural reforms” to bring In- dia’s growth back to its IT’S FINAL... Mukesh Singh had filed his mercy petition on Tuesday, directly after the Supreme Court dismissed a curative petition - the last legal appeal - moved by him and Vinay Sharma. The petition had been Punjab to... “Like Kerala, our government will also approach the Supreme Court on the issue,” Singh told reporters in an informal chat out- side the state Assembly . hangings

PERSPECTIVE WOMEN – ON THE PATH OF FREEDOM A woman is told that she has been born only to serve her father or her husband 06 AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 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 IN-DEPTH IS INDIAN ECONOMY STARING AT STAGFLATION? Lower lending rates in this scenario would only make inflation higher I SADHGURU, ISHA FOUNDATION Ranked amongst the fifty most influential people in India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, visionary and a New York Times bestselling author Sadhguru has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2017, the highest annual civilian award, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service n a few days from now, when finance minister Nirmala Sithara- man would present the Budget for the next fiscal year, she would be reminded of a Tamil verse she quoted in her 2019 speech to argue that an elephant doesn’t trample afield if it gets the required quota of its food. The implication was that when people pay their taxes and the compliance rate is high, the government does not consider raising the rates or introducing new taxes. But, considering the state of the Indian economy and the need to spend more, this year she would find it difficult to stick to her philosophy . It is now almost certain that the growth rate for the current year would stay just around 5 percent—the lowest in many years. The next fiscal will begin with the economy falling for nine straight quarters and showing no signs of recovery . Some of the problems India is facing are because of a global slowdown. But, the slowdown across the world has only added to India’s problems that date back to de- monetisation and GST, both of which hurt the informal sector and wiped out many small and medium businesses. To bring the economy back on track, to keep its promised tryst with a $ 5-trillion economy , the finance minister needs more money in her account to spend on big-ticket projects. But, unfortunately, since the tax revenue has remained low—a result of falling corporate earnings—she has nothing to spare for new projects. Her only option would be to look at new sources of income through additional taxes. The other option is to rely on corporate and foreign investors to pump in more money by offering them cheaper loans and sops. But, the policy planners have very little scope for being liberal with their lending rates. In all probability, India is moving towards a phase that’s a nightmare for policy planners. On the one hand, the growth is falling, on the other inflation is rising. This combina- tion is called stagflation and it can lead to job losses, destruction of savings and bring about a lot of misery. Lower lending rates in this scenario would only make inflation higher. Political challenges would further test the finance minister’s resolve. Since the government gave tax sops to India Inc—the 2019 decision was meant to encourage investment but didn’t yield the desired result—the middle class is expecting a cut in personal income tax rates. A government that has very little in its pocket can think of becoming charita- ble only if it believes in miracles. In all likeli- hood, this year, trampling over the field would be a more tempting proposition. S imply because a woman is physically weaker than a man, he has done everything to make her psychologically weaker, spiritually lost and financially nowhere. Till man learns to respect women, he will never know himself – because half of him is just that. Indian spirituality has always been a rich mixture of men and women reaching the heights of their consciousness. A woman is as capable as a man when it comes to inner nature. It is only the peel, the body, which you call as a man or a woman. What is within is the same. The peel is not going to decide what one’s spiritual capabilities are. Right from Vedic times, there have been many women reached the very heights of their consciousness. In ancient times, women also wore the sacred thread, because without it, they could not read the scrip- tures. Like a man, she could live within the marriage for ten to twenty years, and when she had the urge to become spiritual, she could renounce the family. How- ever, when barbarian hordes invaded India, women slowly lost their freedom. The rules started changing. Maybe it was necessary for a certain period of time, because the physical situation was such that some restriction had to be placed on women for their own safety. But unfortunately it became the law. In the Vedas, the first let down for a woman was when they declared that she cannot wear the sacred thread. It was also said that the only way she can attain mukti, or her Ultimate Na- ture, is by serving her husband. It was fixed that only a man could renounce. Unfortunately, this contin- ues even today . A woman is told that she has been born only to can prepare himself, but a woman comes with that natural quality. So wherever there is a Master, more women will gather, simply because they are more suited for receiving. There have been some very wonderful Masters who were women, but they are of a different kind. They cannot operate the way a man does. They have to find a certain kind of situation, a certain kind of support system in the society. Society never supported a woman as a Master. Especially in the West, when- ever a woman started express- ing her wisdom, wherever a woman started having access to something beyond what normal people had, she was labeled a witch and burnt at the stake. However, there have been a few women who have more masculine fire in them than most men do. Such women can become very wonderful Mas- ters, if the social support is there. There have been such people, but in all these many centuries of human history, they never had that kind of support. Probably in the future, it should be possible. There may be many women as spiritual Masters. serve her father or her husband. People who talk about advaitha, nonduality of existence, have taught this, “Everything is one, but women are less.” In spite of the fact he knows that his existence depends upon her, if he cannot even accept her, his accepting all the duali- ties in the existence is simply out of question. The question of inferiority or superiority comes only in a prejudiced mind. It is just a question of two qualities. If a woman, out of whom a man is born, is inferior, how can man be superior? The possibil- ity just does not arise. This problem is universal. It is not just about one gross man thinking like this. It has become a man’s way of life, a part of his very culture and religion. Once, a certain social re- former went to Vivekananda and asked, “It is great that you also support women, what shall I do? I want to reform them. I want to support this.” Then Vivekananda “Hands off. You do not have to do anything about them; just leave them alone. They will do what they have to do.” This is all that is needed. It is not that who have Indian spirituality has always been a rich mixture of men and women reaching the heights of their consciousness. A woman is as capable as a man when it comes to inner nature A woman is told that she has been born only to serve her father or her husband. People who talk about advaitha, nonduality of existence, have taught this, ‘Everything is one, but women are less’ a man has to reform a woman. If he just gives room, she will do what is necessary. Generally, a woman’s fem- ininity will not allow her to be an effective Master. But she is very good at pursuing the path. A man can do many things here and there, but his receptivity is lesser. He said, People fail to speak against authoritarian regimes M Children as young as three will protest if arbitrary “rules” of a game are vio- lated. And we all know how punishing it can be to “stick out” in a playground by violating norms of dress, accent or behaviour. Both logics are required to create and maintain an authoritarian regime. To ensure that we make the “right” personal choices, an oppressive state’s main tools are carrots and sticks – rewarding conformity and punishing even a hint of rebellion. But personal gain, or survival, alone provides a fragile foundation for an oppressive state. It is easy to see how the logic of ap- propriateness fits in here, turning from being a force for cooperation to a mecha- nism for enforcing an oppressive status quo. FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM that you would be a heroic rebel in such a scenario, refusing to be complicit in maintaining or even enforcing the system? To answer this question, let’s start by considering a now classic analysis by American organisational theorist James March and Norwegian political scien- tist Johan Olsen from 2004. They argued that human behaviour is gov- erned by two comple- mentary , and very different, “logics”. According to the logic of conse- quence, we choose our actions like a good econo- mist: weighing up the costs and benefits of the alternative options in the light of our personal ob- jectives. This is basically how we get what we want. But there is also a second logic: the logic of appropri- ateness. According this, outcomes, good or argaret wood’s The maid’s Tale, described the hor- At- novel, Hand- ror of the authoritarian regime of Gilead. In this theocracy , self-preservation was the best people could hope for, being powerless to kick against the system. But her sequel, The Testa- ments, raises the possibili- ty that individuals, with suitable luck, bravery and cleverness, can fight back. But can they? There are countless examples of past and present mon- strous regimes in the real world. And they all raise the question of why people didn’t just rise up against their rulers. Some of us are quick to judge those who conform to such regimes as evil psy- chopaths – or at least mor- ally inferior to ourselves. But what are the chances ing board games and follow etiquette. We are happy to let judges or football refer- ees enforce rules. A recent study showed we even conform to arbitrary norms. The logic of appropri- ateness is self-enforcing – we disapprove of, ostra- cise or report people who lie or cheat. Research has shown that even in anonymous, experimen- tal “games”, people will pay a monetary cost to punish other people for being uncooperative. The logic of appropriate- ness is therefore crucial to understanding how we can organise ourselves into teams, companies and entire nations. We need shared sys- tems of rules to cooperate – it is easy to see how evolu- tion may have shaped this. The psychological foun- dations for this start early . bad, are often of secondary importance – we often choose what to do by asking “What is a person like me supposed to do in a situation like this”? The idea is backed up by psychological Human social interactions depend on our tendency to conform to unwritten rules of appropriate behaviour. Most of us are truthful, po- lite, don’t cheat when play- TOP TWEET Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp Hearty congratulations to @ SamirMohantyBJP on being elected as the President of @BJP4Odisha. His grassroots connect & organisational skills will strengthen the Party.I am confi dent that under his leadership the organisation will scale new heights of success. research. to G Vol 1 G Issue No. 54 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

INDIA AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 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 ‘Rohingyas carried out massacre in India’ BJP MP Pragya added that the community was thrown out of their native country for the same reason, thereby, hinting at their fate in Myanmar Nadda dares Rahul to speak 10 sentences on CAA New Delhi: In a stri- dent defence of the Citizenship Act, BJP working president JP Nadda on Friday dared Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to deliver just 10 lines on the act. Nadda further accused the Congress leader of speaking without knowing all the attendant facts. “I challenge Rahul Gandhi to speak 10 lines on Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). He talks without knowing. It is un- fortunate for the nation. All those oppos- New Delhi: BJP MP Pragya Thakur on Fri- day accused the Roh- ingya people of con- ducting a massacre in India, adding that the community was thrown out of their native country for the same reason, thereby hinting at their fate in Myanmar. Pragya Thakur was addressing a pro-Citi- zenship Amendment Act (CAA) gathering in Sehore when she said the following, “Rohing- yas were thrown out from their country because they carried out a massacre there. They took shelter in our country and started doing the same thing here. They damaged our culture and tried to disin- ing Indian citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Af- ghanistan. Shah had also earlier challenged Rahul Gandhi to prove that the act can take away somebody’s ship. “I challenge Ra- hul Gandhi to find out a provision in the Citi- zenship Amendment Act that can take citizenship away from anyone in this country,” Shah had said while addressing a public meeting in Con- gress-ruled MP. VIEWPOINT citizen- parties opposed to the amended citizenship act are bringing in people to the anti-CAA with money . “CAA will not take away anyone’s citizenship. They are alluring people with to bring rallies against CAA,” the BJP MP said. —ANI tegrate the country. They insulted our law and the Constitution. CAB has now become the Citizenship Act.” Thakur also clarified the contentious act before the gathering, explaining that the CAA “will not take anyone’s citizenship.” She alleged that the political dia after facing reli- gious persecution in neighbouring tries for years. The amended law provides for fast-track- ing CAA are making the nation weak,” said Nadda. The BJP working president, speaking at an event in New Delhi, accused Gandhi of misleading the country and said the newly amended citizenship law is for minorities who took shelter in In- coun- money Azad calls out PM for ‘identify people by clothes’ remark Mamata, Dhankhar are two jokers of circus: Chowdhury Midnapore: Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Friday took a dig at West Ben- gal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar over their tussle and described them as “two jokers of circus”. “In Bengal, a circus is going on at Raj Bhavan (Governor’s House) and Nabanna Bhavan (State Secretariat). The heads there are the two jokers of the circus,” he told reporters here. Dhankhar and Trina- mool Congress government in West Bengal have differed on several issues with the ruling party accusing the Gov- ernor of running a “parallel administra- RAGA HITS OUT AT NIA CHIEF ‘Give him Davinder case to silence him’ New Delhi: A day after he was released from Tihar Jail, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad Friday called for repealing the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act and said that it would be shameful if he does not raise his voice when the Prime Minister say ‘identify people from their clothes’. “If I don’t raise my voice when PM says identity people from their clothes, it would be shameful. Insaniyat (humanity) is something that is greater than caste and religion,” Azad said while addressing a press conference. He also said that if someone is dis- criminating on the behalf of religion, they are disrespecting the New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that the best way to “silence” Jammu Kashmir DSP Davin- der Singh was to hand the investigations against him to NIA chief Y C Modi, under whose care the case will be “as good as dead”. Training his guns on the National Investiga- tion Agency chief, Gan- dhi said he had earlier investigated the Guja- rat riots and the Harem Pandya assassination cases. “The best way to silence Terrorist DSP Davinder, is to hand the case to the NIA,” Gandhi said on Twit- and Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad addresses a press conference in New Delhi on Friday. tion”. The Governor has re- futed the allegations. Chowdhury was in Midnapore to attend a rally against the Citi- zenship Amendment Act, National Popula- tion Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) organised by Paschim Medin- ipur District Youth Con- gress. —ANI ing the troubles taken by women in Shaheen- bagh.” Terming CAA as a “black law,” Azad said CAA & NRC could be “a political “They (BJP) have fewer numbers in RS. This could be to increase it. But for us, it’s not politics. It’s about rights of the people.” —ANI Constitution of the country . Holding the Constitu- tion in hand, Azad said, “I cannot go against the Constitution. I respect PM because he is in a constitutional position. I urge him to honour the Indian Constitu- tion. Shri Modiji says I am the servant of the people, but he is not see- DavinderSilenced”, the Congress leader asked “And why”. Singh was arrested from Kulgam in south Kashmir along with Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists Naveed Baba and Altaf and a lawyer operating as an over- ground worker for ter- ror outfits. —PTI ter, adding that the agency is headed by “another Modi” who investigated the Guja- rat riots and the Haren Pandya’’s tion. In his care, “the case is as good as dead”, Gandhi alleged. Using the hashtag “WhoWantsTerrorist- assassina- agenda”. AMARINDER SINGH’S TAKE ON CAA DELHI ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2020 ‘Nazi rule unfolding in India now’ New Delhi: Stating that the contentious Citizenship (Amend- ment) Act was against the secular fabric of the country, Punjab Chief Minister Ama- rinder Singh Friday claimed that events unfolding now bear similarity to the ones witnessed in Germa- ny in 1930s when Ado- lf Hitler was at the helm. “You want to change secular fabric of this country. It is very sad what is hap- pening now. We had not even thought of tion against the CAA. BJP announces 57 candidates and sought its repeal by the Centre. Shortly after passing the resolution, CM rinder also said that his government will move the SC on the issue. “Like Kerala, our government will also approach preme Court on the issue,” Singh said. With this, Congress- ruled Punjab became the second state after Kerala to bring in an Assembly resolution seeking the repeal of the CAA and move the top court. CM SPEAK New Delhi: BJP announced a list of 57 candidates out of 70 for the upcoming Delhi Assem- bly elections, which are scheduled to be held on February Mishra, who switched from AAP to BJP, will contest from Model Town. Delhi BJP Manoj Tiwari’s candi- dature has not been announced in the first list of candidates. Party leader Anil Jha will contest from the Kirari seat, while Vijender Gupta will contest from WOMEN POWER Ama- 8. Kapil the Su- chief “Clearly, no lessons have been learnt from history,” he added. The Punjab Assem- bly, through voice vote, passed the resolution against the controversial such a thing. We want to break brotherhood merely for politics,” Singh said while par- ticipating in the dis- cussion in the state Assembly on a resolu- Sisodia from the Patpar- ganj seat. The Congress Party is yet to declare the names of their candidates for the upcoming polls. candidates for the elections on Wednesday . The party has fielded Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi Assembly seat and his deputy Manish the Rohini seat. The party is yet to announce the names of 13 candidates. Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party nounced their list of 70 an- CAA OBC LEADER SWATANTRA DEV SINGH ELECTED AS UP BJP CHIEF Lucknow: Prominent OBC leader Swatan- tradev Singh was elected unopposed the chief of UP BJP, party’s media co-incharge Alok Awasthi said. The announcement about Singh’s election was made by party’s national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav at Uttar Pradesh BJP offi ce. The 55-year-old Singh, who POPULATION CONTROL ON RSS AGENDA: BHAGWAT Moradabad: It is not Mathura or Kashi that is on RSS agenda. It is now population control that the RSS will push for. RSS chief Mohan Bhag- wat who is presently on a four-day visit to Morad- abad, said at a meeting that a law for two children should be brought in to ensure proper development of the country. ARUN SOOD ELECTED AS NEW CHANDIGARH BJP CHIEF Chandigarh: Arun Sood was unanimously elected president of the Chandigarh unit of the BJP for the next three years. Outgoing president Sanjay Tandon was unanimously elected member of the national council of the BJP. Both were elected unopposed. The announcement was made by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who was appointed observer by the central BJP. Tan- don had been Chandigarh BJP chief for a decade. After his three-year term ended, he was given an extension of another 3 years & later for 4 years. ‘VIJAYAN TRYING GOOD BOY IMAGE IN FRONT OF PM’ Thiruvananthapuram: Days after the Left government in Kerala moved SC against CAA, the Con- gress alleged that CM Pinarayi Vijayan was trying to implement the controversial act “secretly,” Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ramesh Chennithala alleged at a press meet in Thiruva- nanthapuram. “The Chief Minister should end his attempts to make political gains in the name of CAA. Instead of cheating people, he should ensure that the Act is not being implemented in the state,” he alleged. will have a three-year tenure, was appointed UP BJP chief in July last year after Mahendra Nath Pandey was re-elected to Lok Sabha and joined the government at the Centre. Belonging to the infl uential Kurmi caste, Singh made his presence felt during the 2019 LS elections as in-charge of party affairs in MP. Addressing the meeting at the Moradabad Institute of Technology, Bhagwat said that RSS will support any law that calls for two children only.”We feel this is the need of the hour though it is up to the government to take the fi nal call on this. This law will not have any relation to any particular religion and will be applicable to all.”

INDIA AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2020 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 POWERGallery IN THE COURTYARD He’s beyond formal recognition: SC declines PIL for Bharat Ratna to Bapu The bench agreed with the sentiments of the petitioner for granting official decoration to the father of the nation FIN MIN BUDGET EXERCISE COULD DELAY BANK APPOINTMENTS Budget exercise underway in the Finance Ministry could temporarily delay some key appointments in the Banking sector. HOW MANY MEMBERS WILL BE IN RLY BOARD ? There is an utter confusion about the number of members to be stationed in Rail Bhawan after reorganisation. One offi cial says, there will be fi ve members in the RB whereas a CRB press note, issued on December 26,2019 says there will be one CRB /CEO and four members on Functional basis. Independent members will be inducted as non - executive Members and will be in Advisory role. NOW POPULARITY IN FOREIGN BUREAU- CRACY CIRCLES COUNT A new trend is being seen in the appointment of diplomats in key missions. The popularity - of those who have earlier served in key missions - in the bureaucracy of that country is being seen as the benchmark to hold the Ambassador posts. However, the decision still rests with the Prime Minister. FOUR ICS POSTS ARE VACANT IN CIC In CIC, four Info Commissioners posts are vacant for the last two years. No CIC has been appointed after retirement of Sudhir Bhargava. 93 OFFICERS GET JOB AT JOINT SECRETARY LEVEL IN GOI IN 2018-19 As many as 93 offi cers were appointed at Joint Secretary or equivalent level in Government of India from April to March 2019, according to data released by DoPT. FIVE 1987 BATCH IPS OFFICERS ARE NOW DGPS Police Chiefs in Punjab, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and J&K are 1987 batch IPS offi cers. WHO SUITS THE CHIEF MINISTERS ? In a chitchat of retired IPS offi cers, one senior remarked “In the present day system DGP only suits to the Chief Minister because of “T” theory. What is this “T” theory? ONLY 47 OFFICERS GET JOB AT ADDL SECRETARY LEVEL IN GOI IN 2018-19 Only 47 offi cers were appointed at Additional Secretary or equivalent level in Government of India from April to March 2019, according to data released by DoPT. DESAI POSTED AS DG, PIB, MUMBAI Ministry of I&B has transferred two IIS offi cers to new places. Manish V Desai , Press Registrar ,RNI has been transferred as DG(West), PIB, Mumbai while S Vankateshwar is going to Chennai as DG (South) in PIB. AMITABH KHARKWAL RETURNS TO PARENT CADRE Amitabh Kharkwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, has been accorded premature repatriation to his parent cadre on the grounds of availing promotion. He is a 1989 batch offi cer of Indian Postal Service. MAJOR RESHUFFLE OF IAS OFFICERS IN MAHARASHTRA As many as 22 IAS offi cers have been transferred and posted to different places in Maharashtra. 45 OFFICERS AT DSP LEVEL TRANSFERRED IN CBI As many as 45 offi cers at Deputy Superinten- dents of Police (DSP) level have been transferred and posted to different places in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). New Delhi: The Su- preme Court Friday refused to entertain a PIL seeking confer- ment of ‘Bharat Ratna’ on Mahatma Gandhi saying that people hold the father of the nation in ‘high esteem,’ beyond any formal recognition. A bench, comprising Chief Justice S A Bob- de and justices B R Ga- vai and Surya Kant, however asked petitioner Anil Dutta Shar- ma to give representa- tion to the central government in this regard. “Mahatma Gandhi is the father of nation and people hold him in high esteem, beyond any formal recognition,” the bench said. The issue of direct- ing the government to award Bharat Ratna to the father of the nation was not a “justiciable Delhi HC issues notice to CBI on Kuldeep Sengar’s plea New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday issued a notice to the Central Bureau of In- vestigation (CBI) on an appeal filed by expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Sin- gh Sengar challenging a trial court’s verdict which had sentenced him to life imprison- ment for raping a minor girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao in 2017. A Division Bench of Justices Manmohan and Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal sought response from the investigating agency and rape survivor’s family and posted the matter to May 4. The court also granted Sen- gar time of two more months to deposit the gued that the trial Plea for school in every Tehsil in SC Can withdraw ` 20 cr deposit: SC to Karti New Delhi: The Su- preme Court allowed Congress MP Karti Chidambaram to withdraw Rs 20 crore which he had depos- ited with the court’s registry as a condition for being allowed to travel abroad. Earlier, the apex court had in January and May last year granted Karti Chid- ambaram permission to travel abroad after depositing Rs 20 crore (Rs 10 crore for Janu- ary and 10 Crore for May) with the Secre- tary-General of the Supreme Court. The the relief, the bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi directed Karti to deposit a security of Rs 10 crore. Karti has questioned on several occasions in the INX media case in which both the En- forcement rate (ED) and CBI are probing how Karti managed to obtain clearance to the tune of Rs 305 crore from the Foreign Invest- ment Promotion Board in 2007 when his father was the finance minister. —ANI been Directo- Supreme Court had allowed Karti Chid- ambaram, son of former Union Minister P Chidambaram, travel to the United States, Spain and Germany in May and June 2019. Providing you to give a represen- tation to the Centre in this regard.” Sharma, in his PIL, had sought a direction to the government to give “official decoration” to Mahat- ma Gandhi to honour him for the contribution to the nation. issue”, it said. The bench however said that it agreed with the sentiments of the petitioner for granting official decoration to Mahatma Gandhi. Disposing of the petition, the top court said, “We will allow to Another petition in SC against CAA NOTICE TO GOPAL KANDA New Delhi: A petition has been filed in the Su- preme Court challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 that grants citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghan- istan and Bangladesh. A professor Apurba Baruah and two members of ‘Sushta Samaj Bikash Chakra’ have filed the petition. A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bob- de have asked senior advocate Indira Jaising to mention the matter before the Mentioning Registrar. The petition- ers have stated that section 6A of the amended Citizenship Act has shifted cut off date of Chandigarh: Pun- jab& Haryana HC issued a notice to Haryana Party (HLP) leader Gopal Kanda on a petition his election from Sirsa assembly segment to be annulled. Gokul claimed that Kan- da used money and liquor to sway the votes in his favour, the PIL stated.—ANI SC to hear Azam Khan’s son’s plea against HC order 1971 to 2014 that violates the 1985 Assam Accord. The Indian Union Muslim League & the Kerala Government have moved the apex court against CAA that grants Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist & Parsi communities fleeing reli- gious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, & Bangladesh & who entered India on or before Dec 31, 2014. —ANI Lokhit court’s order was full of “misconclution”. “Evi- dence was ignored. My client presence was not at the location where this alleged incident took place,” he told the court. Sengar proached High Court challenging his conviction and sen- tencing in connection with the rape case. —ANI SC refuses to entertain MPs’ attendance PIL New Delhi: The Su- preme Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition regarding the issue of MPs not attend- ing the Parliament and asked the petitioner to approach the Speaker. The court gives liberty to petitioner Anil Dutt Sharma to withdraw the plea and make a rep- resentation before the Speaker. —ANI amount levied on him for the commission on crime. The trial court, in its judgement, had directed him to give Rs 10 lakh amount to the vic- tim and Rs 15 lakh to the court’s registry within 30 days. Advocate N Hari- haran, who represented Sengar in the court, ar- seeking Setia has the ap- Delhi Nawab Kazim Ali Khan who had moved the plea against Khan before HC order. It posted the matter for hearing on March 25. Allahabad HC had declared election of Abdullah Khan from Suar Assembly segment from Rampur district null and void. Abdullah Khan was elected as MLA on a SP ticket on 2017. —ANI regard, said, “The Su- preme Court has directed the Ministry of Fi- nance and the Ministry of Human Resource Development to take a decision months on plea seeking to open a Central school in each tehsil of the country and inclusion of the Indian Constitu- tion in the syllabus of primary schools.”—ANI New Delhi: The SC has directed the Central government to take a call on a petition seeking to establish Kendri- ya Vidyalayas in each tehsil, taluk, sub-division, circle or State Leg- islative across the country, advocate Ashwini Upad- hyay said. Upadhyay, who had filed the petition in this New Delhi: The SC agreed to hear a petition filed by SP leader Mohammad Khan’s son, Moham- mad Abdullah Azam Khan against the Alla- habad High Court’s order which annulled his election as UP legisla- tor on grounds that he was underage and not qualified to contest the poll in 2017. Azam in three A Bench headed SA Bobde agreed to hear his plea but refused to stay the High Court’s order. It also issued a notice to BSP leader Assembly CM: Investigate insulting reference to Bhils in MPPSC Anirudh Tiwari action should be taken for terming the Bhil community as criminal and alcoholic in the pre- liminary examination of Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commis- sion. Responding to it, Chief Minister Kamal Nath said that the government has ordered an inquiry into the matter BHIM ARMY CHIEF AZAD READS PREAMBLE AT JAMA MASJID New Delhi: Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad visited Jama Masjid on Friday and read out the Preamble to the Constitu- tion as a mark of his protest against CAA & NRC & said that peaceful protest is the strength. “Peaceful protest is our strength. People from all religions who support us should join us in great number to COPS BUST SEX RACKET IN MUM, 3 FEMALE ACTORS RESCUED Mumbai: Mumbai police have busted a high-profi le sex racket in a hotel here, arresting a woman and rescuing three female actors, including a mi- nor.The police conducted the raid in the hotel on Thursday evening. The woman who forced women into prostitution has been identifi ed as Priya Sharma, who runs a travel and tour business. A case has been registered against Sharma. While one of the rescued is a woman actor and singer, who has worked in a TV show, another one has worked in a Marathi movie and serials. CM will do it in his state and give special facilities to the tribal community . The CM also said that MP has maximum tribal population. On this, former BJP Speaker Sitasharan raised objection & said that the government should dismiss the demand for amendment. and whoever is found to be negligent in the case, will be punished. On the promise to increase the reservation, Kamal Nath said that he would demand the Central Government to make special amendments in this act for the tribal community. If the centre does not make this amendment, then the prove it to the govt that these protests are not led by Muslims alone,” Azad said. Meanwhile, Delhi Police on ‘Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad’s visit to Jama Mas- jid’ said, “He has a time of 24 hours after his release from Tihar Jail yesterday, to leave Delhi. He is not holding any protest at Jama Masjid.” Bhopal: There was a lot of uproar over the issue of insulting the Adivasi Bhil Samaj in the MPP- SC examination in a special session to ex- tend reservation for the ST SC class to ten years. Congress MLA Kantilal Bhuria took up the matter and said that strict Sharma

SPORTS AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 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 INDIA ROARS BACK match for India with most consistent performance an Australian defeat BRIEF Hockey India hires analytical coach New Delhi: Hockey In- dia (HI) appointed Jan- neke Schopman the analytical coach for the In- dian women’s team. The decorated hockey star, who has 212 international caps for the Neth- erlands, also successful- ly led the side for two years before retirement. Shikhar Dhawan set up the Steve Smith top-scored with 98 runs but couldn’t prevent Shami picked up 3 wickets, Saini, Jadeja and Yadav took 2 wickets each Kuldeep claimed his 100th ODI wicket during the 2nd match between India & Aus Rajkot: India beat Aus- tralia by 36 runs in the second one-dayer to level the three-match series 1-1 here on Fri- day . Mohammed Shami was the most successful Indian bowler with 3/77 while Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Navdeep Saina took two apiece as Australia lost wickets at regular in- tervals to be all out for 304 in 49.1 overs. Steve Smith top-scored with a 102-ball 98 while Mar- nus Labuschagne made a 47-ball 46. Earlier, Shikhar Dha- wan missed a well-de- served ton by a whisker but laid a solid platform for the aggressive duo of skipper Virat Kohli and KL Rahul to ensure a commanding total. India put up a much- improved batting performance with Rahul’s blistering 52-ball-80 tak- ing India to 340 for six after Shikhar Dhawan (96 off 90 balls) and skipper Virat Kohli (78 off 76 balls) laid the foundation. Australia were in the game till Steven Smith (98) carried the battle back to the enemy camp but Kuldeep’s ninth over turned out to be a game-changer as he first dismissed wicketkeeper Alex Carey and then had a delivery that SAI set up complaint panel New Delhi: The sports Authority of India (SAI) on Friday has set up an internal complaint committee to ensure the safety of sport- spersons, especially the girls, to prevent them from sexual harassment or any exploitation. Rabada handed test ban by ICC New Delhi: South Afri- ca pacer Kagiso Rabada was reprimanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and would be missing the fourth Test against Eng- land. He has also been fined 15 per cent of his match fee and received one demerit point after being found guilty of a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct. KL Rahul Virat Kohli Shikhar Dhawan SCOREBOARD bounced extra to have Smith played on. The visitors were all-out for 304 in 49.1 overs. Kuldeep’s final fig- ures of 2 for 65 may not be mind-blowing but did just enough damage to see that the third ODI in Bengaluru doesn’t lose context. Mohammed Shami (3/77 in 10 overs) and Navdeep Saini (2/62 in 10 overs) then bowled some exquisite toe- crushers to put an end to the contest. India vs Australia Toss: Australia, fi eld fi rst AJ Finch st Rahul b Jadeja SPD Smith b Kuldeep Yadav M Labuschagne c Shami b Jadeja AT Carey c Kohli b Kuldeep Yadav AJ Turner b Shami AC Agar lbw b Saini PJ Cummins b Shami MA Starc c Rahul b Saini KW Richardson not out A Zampa c Rahul b Bumrah Extras: 20 (lb 10, w 10) Total: 304 all out (49.1 Overs, RR: 6.18) Fall of wickets: 1-20 (David Warner, 3.2 ov), 2-82 (Aaron Finch, 15.1 ov), 3-178 (Marnus Labuschagne, 30.5 ov), 4-220 (Alex Carey, 37.2 ov), 5-221 (Steven Smith, 37.5 ov), 6-259 (Ashton Turner, 43.1 ov), 7-259 (Pat Cummins, 43.2 ov), 8-274 (Ashton Agar, 46.1 ov), 9-275 (Mitchell Starc, 46.3 ov), 10-304 (Adam Zampa, 49.1 ov) Bowling: JJ Bumrah 9.1-2-32-1, Mohammed Shami 10-0-77-3, NA Saini 10-0-62-2, RA Jadeja 10-0-58-2, Kuldeep Yadav 10-0-65-2. India win by 36 runs 33 48 3 0 98 102 9 1 46 47 4 0 18 17 0 1 13 15 0 0 25 25 3 0 0 1 0 0 6 11 0 0 24 11 4 1 6 6 1 0 68.75 96.07 97.87 105.88 86.66 100.00 0.00 54.54 218.18 100.00 India RG Sharma lbw b Zampa S Dhawan c Starc b Richardson V Kohli c Starc b Zampa SS Iyer b Zampa KL Rahul run out MK Pandey c Agar b Richardson RA Jadeja not out Mohammed Shami not out Extras: 14 (b 5, lb 4, w 5), Total: 340/6 (50 Overs, RR: 6.8) Fall of wickets: 1-81 (Rohit Sharma, 13.3 ov), 2-184 (Shikhar Dhawan, 28.4 ov), 3-198 (Shreyas Iyer, 32.4 ov), 4-276 (Virat Kohli, 43.1 ov), 5-280 (Manish Pandey, 44.1 ov), 6-338 (KL Rahul, 49.4 ov), Bowling: PJ Cummins 10-1-53-0, MA Starc 10-0-78-0, KW Richardson 10-0-73-2, A Zampa 10-0-50-3, AC Agar 8-0-63-0, M Labuschagne 2-0-14-0. Australia DA Warner c Pandey b Shami R B 4 6 42 44 6 0 96 90 13 1 78 76 6 0 7 17 1 0 80 52 6 3 2 4 0 0 20 16 1 0 1 1 0 0 SR 95.45 106.66 102.63 41.17 153.84 50.00 125.00 100.00 Adelaide Strikers defeat Brisbane Sydney: Adelaide Strik- ers on Friday displayed an all-round performance to defeat Bris- bane Heat by ten wickets in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) here at the Adelaide Oval. This is Strikers’ first ten-wicket win in the history of the BBL. Fans cheer for their team during the second one day international (ODI) cricket match between India and Australia at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. WWE: HHH issues apology to Paige Sydney: WWE’s vice president Triple H has apologised for making a lewd joke about former female wrestling star Paige. Ahead of an event, Triple H made the off-colour comment when he questioned whether Paige knew how many children she had, according to the media reports. R B 4 6 15 12 2 0 SR 125.00 in Youth GamesSania-Nadiia sail into women’s doubles final Gujarat win against Andhra Carlos Sainz wins Dakar Rally 2020 for 3rd Time Previously won with Volkswagen in 2010, and Peugeot in 2018 F1 champ Alonso finished 13th Guwahati: from Karnataka continue to impress in U-21 and U-17 categories as Guja- rat and Kerala also win matches in U-17 at the ongoing Khelo India Youth Games 2020 here in Guwahati on Friday . Karnataka, Gujarat boys won Andhra in the U-17 category. The boys domi- nated the first half with a 7-0 scoreline. Andhra boys showed some resil- ience in the second half by clinching 6 points but that was not enough to stop Gujarat as they added 9 more points to account in their second innings, to win the match by 10 points. The girls in the U-17 category, could not go past Hary- ana. The girls lost to Haryana by a single point in their match. Players Maharashtra, Nasser al-Attiyah of Qatar, who had managed to cut Sainz’s lead to just 24 seconds but fell back after nav- igation errors. “I feel very happy. There’s a lot of effort behind this. A lot of training, practice,” Sainz said. “It has been a flat out rally since the begin- ning. It was fantas- tichere, of course you can always improve.” Sainz added. Saudi Arabia: Vet- eran Spanish driver Carlos Sainz won the Dakar Rally for the third time on Friday, finishing with a com- fortable winning mar- gin in the first running of the event in Saudi Arabia. The 57-year-old the line in the 12th and final stage 6min 21sec ahead of near- est challenger and reigning Anand beats Xiong for 1st win Eindhoven: Five-time world champion Viswa- nathan Anand crashed through the defences of Jeffery Xiong of United States to score his first victory in the Tata Steel Masters chess tournament that moved to the iconic Eindhoven Soc- cer Stadium for a day . Sania Mirza with partner Nadiia Kichenok beat Marie Bouzkova and Tamara Zidansek against crossed Hafeez to retire post T20 WC Eindhoven: Recalled Pakistan allrounder Mohammad Hafeez Fri- day said he will retire from international cricket after the Twen- ty20 World Cup later this year, vowing to end his career on a positive note. The 38-year-old was Thursday recalled to Pakistan’s Twenty20 series against Bangla- desh starting in Lahore from January 24. champion Ashleigh Barty prevails over Danielle Collins to reach final Hobart: Former World No.1 Sania Mirza continued her dream comeback to the WTA circuit when on Friday she entered the women’s doubles final at the ongoing Hobart International. Mirza paired with Ukraine’s Nadiia Kiche- nok to win their semi- final clash over Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek, & move into summit clash. Mirza and Kichenok beat Bouzkova Zidansek that lasted 1 hour & 24 minutes. The Indo-Ukranian pair had 15 break points in the match and were able to convert just four of them, but they were only broken twice in the match, to garner the straight-set victory . The Indian star, who has three Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles and another three Grand Slam titles in mixed doubles, is now into her 62nd WTA doubles final and would be seeking her 41st title. Adelaide: The world no. 1 Ashleigh Barty is through the 13th WTA final, defeat- ing Danielle Collins 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 in an hour and 55 minutes to stay on the course for the first title in front of the home fans. After an early loss in Brisbane, Ashleigh Bar- ty was ready to give her best in Adelaide and chase the best possible result ahead of the Aus- tralian Open where she is among the favorites to go all the way . however, BUSHFIRE SUPPORT Aus expresses gratitude to Hockey India and well received by our Board and staff at Hockey Australia. Your support rein- forces the strength of the relationship between Australia and In- dia including shared love for the sport of hockey,” it added. More than 28 people and millions of animals have died as a result of bushfire and more than 3,000 homes have been destroyed and damaged in the state of New South Wales. New Delhi: Hockey Australia on Friday thanked Hockey India (HI) for their support to efforts for the recent bushfires. “On behalf of the Board and Manage- ment of Hockey Aus- tralia, we really appre- ciate your support towards Hockey Austral- ia’s fundraising efforts for the recent bushfires,” the Hockey Aus- tralia said in a letter. “Your thoughts and kind words have been  Hockey India donated the USD 25,000 to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal and also sent the signed India team jerseys which will soon be auctioned AUSTRALIAN OPEN ORGANISERS ON ALERT FOR RETURN OF BUSHFIRE SMOKE Smoke-free skies gave Australian Open organisers a 2nd day of reprieve and they will keep their fi ngers crossed that the haze stays away for the preparations for the multi-billion dollar tournament. The year’s fi rst Grand Slam begins on Monday, but organisers have already come in for severe criticism after letting qualifying continue, with noxious smoke shrouding Melbourne Park. Fears the smoke would return on Saturday for the fi nal round of qualifying eased on Friday, when the Environmental Protection Agency downgraded the forecast for air quality in the Melbourne area from “very poor” to “moderate”. our Aerial photo depict the Bushfi re crisis from beach to bush, farm to forest, across NSW and South Australia.

Do you remember what were you worried about last year, on this day? No? Then why worry today? 2NDFRONT —Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India 10 AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 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 ‘Statue of Unity will create `1L cr economic ecosystem’ SC notice to Guj govt on land for bullet train New Delhi: The Su- preme Court on Friday agreed to examine a batch of pleas filed by farmers against the Gu- jarat High Court verdict which had dismissed their petitions challenging the process of land acquisition for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project. The bullet train project was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counter- part Shinzo Abe in September 2017. The train will run at a speed of 320-350 kmph, and will have 12 stations across its 508-km stretch from Ahme- dabad to Mumbai. A bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose issued notices to the Centre, Gujarat government and others on a batch of appeals challenging Septem- ber 19 last year verdict of the high court. As an interim relief, the plea has sought to restrain the Gujarat government from pro- ceeding ahead with the process of land acquisition for the purpose of Kevadiya: Minister Piyush Goy- al said that the Statue of Unity, the world’s tallest statue at Ke- vadiya in Gujarat, would create an “economic ecosystem” worth Rs one lakh crore in coming years. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the gi- gantic statue Vallabhbhai the country’s first home minister, here on October 31, 2018. “I see the Statue of Unity creating an economic around it worth at least Rs one lakh crore in the years to come,” the railway minister told reporters here. Goyal, who took a stock of the construc- tion of a new railway station at Kevadiya and laying of a new line connecting the town with Vadodara, nounced that speed shuttle trains will operate between the two stations. “Laying of tracks has already begun at some spots. Work would start on Railway ambitious IF NOT LINKED WITH AADHAAR, PAN CAN’T BE DECLARED INOPERATIVE: HC of T T T Patel, ecosystem Chief Minister Vijay Rupani with Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in Ahmedabad on Friday. (Right) Statue of Unity. RUPANI, GOYAL DISCUSS KEVADIYA RAIL LINK other March....Once it is con- nected with the mainline (at Vadodara), tour- ists from across the country would be able to come Kevadiya,” he said. “We are planning to implement ‘hub and spokes’ model. People arriving at the mainline would be ferried to Ke- vadiya using fast trains on the sub-line, so that people can reach here in very little time,” the railway minister said. stretches by Ahmedabad: Chief Minister Vijay Rupani here on Friday held a meeting with Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal for expansion of railway services in Gujarat and speedy imple- mentation of ongoing projects in the State, including a Vadodara to Statue of Unity (Kevadiya) rail link. Rupani informed Goyal that the land acquisition work for the railway line has been completed and the work of the railway station in Kevadiya will be undertaken shortly. They also reviewed the ongoing work of modernization of Five Star Hotel and Gandhinagar Railway Station. They discussed the gauge conversion by Railway in Gujarat and the ongoing works of the dubbing of railway Line.The Chief Minister also told Goyal that the work of the Katosan- Becharaji Railway Line will be started shortly with collaboration of Railway and Gujarat Government’s G-Ride company. Work orders worth Rs. 266 crore have been issued for it. Energy Minister Saurabh Patel, Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja, Chief Secretary Anil Mukim, Chairman of Railway Board as well as K Kailashnathan, Chief Principal Sec- retary to the Chief Minister, remained present at the meeting. the bullet train project. “Issue notice on the SLPs (special leave petitions) as well as on the application for stay, returnable on March 20, 2020,” the bench said. “Notice to be served on the standing coun- sel for the state of Gu- jarat. Reply may be filed weeks. Rejoinder, if any, may be filed within two weeks thereafter,” the apex court said in its order. HC had turned down the farmers’ claim that the Gujarat government did not have pow- ers to issue notification for land acquisition. within four an- high- (Vadodara) 2 British sisters found dead in bathroom BJP scouting for OBC leader to lead Guj unit Two GoAir flights suspended till January 30 Haresh Jhala that region. The BJP’s tally in 2017 remained the same as that of 2012. This is why an OBC leader from North Guja- rat makes sense. The names doing rounds in the party circles are of Shankar Chaudhary, ex-minister of state for health, who is young and highly ambitious. He was in the Anandiben Patel camp, but now without a godfather in the party. Second probable is ex-union minister of state Har- ibhai Chaudhary. He has sound back- ground of running several educational insti- tutes also in the coop- erative sector. Chaud- hary is a low profile but a seasoned leader. The latest entrant in the race is Rajya Sabha member Jugalji Thakor. First India News Gandhinagar: BJP’s reorganisation is due and delayed for many reasons. Earlier it was believed that the party by all probability will continue sitting president Jitub- hai Vaghani, but now there are speculations that the party is looking for an OBC leader keeping caste equations into consideration. Party sources also claimed that BJP Na- tional General Secre- tary (Organisation) V Satish is likely to be in Gujarat on January 23 to take sense of the political scenario for this purpose. Sources said that since the last two assembly elections, the party is reworking its social engineering strategy that can in- Surat:Two Pakistani- descent British sisters were found dead in a bathroom in Gu- jrat. According to Sourc- es, the incident took place in the village of Mirpur where a British family comprising of father Abdul Rehman, mother Zarina and two daughters, Nadia and Maria, arrived weeks ago to observe the death anniversary of girls’ grandfather. 17-year-old Nadia and 25-year-old Maria were found in an un- conscious and half- dead state in the bathroom whereas its reason has yet to be as- certained. Both were taken to the hospital in critical condition but unfortunately passed away . Sources GoAir two Ahmedabad: has suspended flights operating from the city till January 30 after the Directorate General of Civil Avia- tion’s objection to using Airbus A320 mounted engines. GoAir’s operations from Ahmedabad to Varanasi Ahmedabad to Indore have been suspended by the airline until Janu- ary 30, sources said, adding that passengers who have booked their flight tickets on these routes in advance have been informed by the airline about the new changes.After repeated incidents of aircraft re- turning to the depart- ing airport and mid air engine shutdowns, the DGCA issued orders. political probable the Shankar Chaudhary Jugalji Thakor Haribhai Chaudhary neo- intense limit though it had OBC leader like Purshottam Solanki and others, but their influence was limited to some pockets only . Hence, it has picked OBC leaders from Congress like Jawa- har Chavda, Kunvarji Bavalia, and Alpesh Thakor, to win general elections of municipal corporations and District Panchay- ats. In the past too, the party was led by OBC leaders Shankersinh Vaghe- la, late Rana and even Vajub- hai Vala. Beyond caste equa- tion, the second problem for the party is that its present state unit president and chief minister, both are from Saurashtra, while Dep- uty Chief Minister Ni- tin Patel is from North Gujarat. However, there is a huge chunk of OBC votes in many constitu- encies in North Guja- rat. So, the party is considering to have an OBC leader from North Guja- rat, to make inroads in crease its vote base and spread its wings among those castes and communities where it has little presence. The party created a committed votebank in the upper castes, especially Pa- tels, Brahmins, Ban- iyas, Scheduled Castes and Tribes, but still feels that it needs to work hard to garner more OBC votes in its fold. The party is concen- trating on this vote bank for the past few years, as it could not ex- pand its wings beyond a and two that their daughters died to gas leakage of the geyser in the bathroom. Both requested that it was an acci- dental death and an investigation should be launched. A report was registered against the incident. The situation will become even clearer after the post-mortem report. Both sisters were bur- ied in a local cemetery . like Kashiram claimed PROUD MOMENT 150 girls from Gujarat to add ‘Garba tadka’ to R-Day parade —FILE PHOTO of Bengal. Students of Arvind Gupta DAV Cente- nary Public school, 97 girls and 63 boys will present Yoga postures. Sudha Bharatbhai, 12, a class 8 student of Kantaben Bera Kanya Vidyalaya, was overwhelmed at the prospects of performing at the Rajpath. “I am too excited, and we will be performing in front of Prime Minis- ter Modiji, who is from our home state. So, we are doubly proud,” she told PTI. rendition and Yoga rou- tines, officials said on Friday . The students who will perform ‘Garba’ have been drawn from two schools in Gan- dhinagar Chaudhari Sarvajan- ik Kanya Vidyalaya and Sarkari Prath- mik Shala, and another from Gondal in Ra- jkot district -- Kanta- ben Babubhai Bera Kanya Vidyalaya. “For the 71st Re- public Day, the Direc- torate of Education and Ministry of De- fence have selected for the grand Janu- ary 26 parade gave a short performance after they were un- veiled at an event held at the DRDO Bhawan here on Fri- day. A team of 166 students from Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya B- Block in Delhi’s Janak- puri, a girls school, will present Rajasthani folk dance, including Kalbe- lia dance, while 16 girls and 99 boys of Vinay Nagar Bengali Senior Secondary School will present a performance based on Baul singers Ahmedabad: A group of 150 girls from different schools of Gu- jarat are set to delight the crowd with a colourful ‘Garba’ performance at the Republic Day parade here on Rajpath, an achievement that has left the students ecstatic. Besides, from three different schools in Delhi, which have been selected for the first time to take part in the ceremonial parade, would also re- gale the crowd with Ra- jasthani folk dance, Bengali Baul-themed different -- J M Babubhai students three Delhi schools and the West Zone Cultural Centre of Udaipur wherein a total of 474 girls and 162 boys will present colourful programmes,” a senior official said. cultural A section of students from all the four teams selected

www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 11 AHMEDABAD, SATURDAY JANUARY 18, 2020 Kangana on Deepika B for her recent visit to Jawaharlal Nehru Univer- sity in Delhi where she stood in solidarity with students attacked by a masked mob earlier this month. While insisting Deepika is well within her ‘democratic rights’ and she should not have opinions about what Deepika is doing, Kangana said, “I think she’s exercising her democratic right which she can. She very well knows what she’s doing. I and stand behind Tukde Gang (laughing) for whatever happens. I don’t want to support anyone who divides this nation. I don’t want to give power or empower people in the Na- tion who celebrate when a Jawan dies. I don’t want to be with them. So, I can tell what I want but I don’t want to comment on what she should’ve done,” Kan- gana added. Kangana put out a video where she praised Deepi- ka and Meghna for pick- ing a sensitive subject like that of acid attack survi- vors and portraying it well. ollywood Kangana Ranaut is up in arms against Deepika Padukone actor I definitely won’t go and stand behind Tukde Gang (laughing) for whatever happens. I don’t want to support anyone who divides this nation. I don’t want to give power or empower people in the Nation who celebrate when a Jawan dies. I don’t want to be with them. So, I can tell what I want but I don’t want to comment on what she should’ve done. —KANGANA RANAUT Deepika Padukone shouldn’t have an opinion about what she’s doing. It will not be appropriate for me to say she should have done this or that. I can say what I want to do.” “I definitely won’t go —Agency Kangana Ranaut POWER OF PETALS ‘Grand Floral Affair 2020’ by World Association of Floral Artists (WAFA) to be held next month Bhumi’s hard-hitting fare A ‘MTV Nishedh’ will focus on fostering healthier attitudes and behaviours, and removing the stigma surrounding several health-related issues, including sexual repro- ductive health and wellbeing, contraceptive care, tuberculosis (TB) and nutrition. The series aims to educate the audience on these subjects, and to get young people talking and seeking out more information about such important but often-neglected and over- looked issues. “We usually show our women as very de- mure and submissive but I think over the last few years, with the work my colleagues and I are putting in, or the kind of initiatives that are being started and the kind of conversation that has started, things are changing,” said Bhumi at the launch of ‘MTV Nishedh’. She added, “When I was told about ‘MTV Nishedh’, I said this is exactly what I want to do with my films, and here we have a platform that reaches out to every cor- ner of the country be- c a u s e MTV is one of the l a r g e s t y o u t h platforms. So, I think the effect is going to be very har- dhitting.” —IANS —PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO ctress Bhumi Pednekar has lent support to ‘MTV Nishedh’, and says the upcoming series is going to be har- dhitting fare. NEHAL NAYAR nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in P eople in and around the Pink City are going to witness a ‘Grand Floral Affair’ this year from February 24 to March 1 at Hotel Diggi Palace, for which a curtain-raiser show was organised at Hotel Jai Mahal Palace on Friday . Jagdeesh Chandra graced the event as the Chief Guest during the launch, where the beautiful floral installa- tion was done by the talented Thai florist Phubast Chesdmethee, in collaboration with INIFD Jaipur. Phubast is a globally renowned artist who has won numerous awards for his contribution to the floral industry . Kavita Poddar, WAFA India President stated, “There are about 550 registered delegates from 28 countries across the globe, which is a big feat in today’s economy . Jaipur being a beautiful and emerging city in itself, the show Floral installations by Phubast Chesdmethee and INIFD, Jaipur Jagdeesh Chandra with (from left) Kamla Poddar, Phubast Chesdmethee, Kavita Poddar and Abhishek Poddar that encourages the art of flower arrangement through workshops, seminars, and flower shows. These events promote the exchange of information con- cerning floral art, the motto of the organisation being to spread friendship through flowers. The show is being organised by WAFA, while it is being presented by the Pushpa Bitan Friendship Society in association with Kam- la Poddar Group. that takes place once in three years, is being organised here.” The floral show will include unique competitions, exhibitions, workshops, India bazaar, food bazaar, glorious India exhibition, live artisans, and live demonstra- tions among others, and will be judged by about 40 judges from across the world. WAFA is a voluntary and non- profit global organisation of international floral art societies, Alka Batra, Vidya Jain, Pawan Arora and Raj Bansal Bhumi Pednekar Jagdeesh Chandra with (from left) Abhishek, Navin, Jagdeep, Jyotika, Roli, Isha, Kamla, Kiran, Kavita, Phubast, Ram, Lekhraj and Pritesh

LISTING AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 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 FACE OF THE DAY T here is a petition for everything nowadays, doesn’t there? However, there is one petition that is gaining some serious ground and calling for actor Brie Larson to be cut from the movies of future Marvel in her role as Captain Marvel in order to be replaced by a woman of colour. The petition has almost hit with 30,000 signatures which means there’s a lot of people that wants to see woman of colour in the place of Brie Larson. The question is, is it the right way to think about things, and do the fans have a point? The origins of Captain Marvel One of the main reasons that fans that have signed the petition are calling for the change that goes back to the origins of the character. Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) is actually the 7th character to go by the title of Cap- tain Marvel and many fans want the character Monica Rambeau to take the mantle in future movies. Monica Rambeau was technically the second character to take on Captain Marvel’s name after originally being named ‘Captain Mar-Vell’. This character was a man for one, so you can see how this is getting complicated. Pick- ing which iteration of the character you want to fit an agenda seems a bit of a tricky situation and one that Mar- vel and Disney would want to avoid. Carol Danvers may be the 7th, but she’s also the most recent, hence selecting the character for the MCU. Marvel even has thought about this. Those with a keen eye will have taken note that in the Captain Marvel movie, the character Monica Rambeau makes an appearance as the little girl who affectionally calls Captain Mar- vel ‘Auntie Carol.’ Monica expresses her desire to one day fly into space like Carol stating that she would need to get glowy and Fans will also remember that the movie takes place in the 90s. The fact is, Marvel has already thought of this and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a grown-up Moni- ca Rambeau as another Captain Mar- vel in a future movie. The main reason to disagree with this petition has nothing to do with race and everything to do with Brie Larson. She has been a fantastic ambassador for women both in and out of Hollywood and as someone who has a little girl on the way later this year, I for one am glad my future daughter will be growing up with role models like Brie and strong female characters such as Captain Marvel. There’s no disagreement that women of colour need to be better represented in Hollywood and indeed Mar- vel movies, but removing Brie Larson from the role would be tragic. —Agency Brie Larson soon to be replaced! DARIYAV SHEKHAWAT, Model YOUR DAY Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva IF IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY The year ahead will be superb in terms of vacations and your holiday plannings. The year brings you immense momments of success and joy. You have sheer bliss and fortune. ARIES MAR 21 - APR 20 TAURUS APR 21 - MA Y 20 You will have to balance today your personal and offi cial time as A deal in business can change your life forever as fortune is both the parties will be very demanding today. Your kids may make your proud so don’t forget to reward them. You friends may decide to give you a surprise. Your friends can also expect some monetary help. indicated on your cards. Your strengths and weaknesses are your concern, so don’t discuss them with anyone in offi ce. Don’t indulge yourself in any argument or disagreements on home front. GEMINI MA Y 21 - JUNE 21 CANCER JUNE 22 - JUL Y 23 On professional front, you may feel challenged from your You will spend money on the luxury. Some of you may move colleague but remember nothing beats hard work. You spouse and kids may not be convinced with your ideas on home front so the best thing to do is to educate them about your plan and also care to listen. to a new accommodation. If you wish to travel overseas than make sure to plan things way in advance. Your family income in total will rise. On academic front, you need to change your strategy. LEO JUL Y 24 - AUGUST 23 You are constantly educating yourself about money and how to invest it. While doing a business deal you must focus on the fact that will it give show time gains or long term. Your behaviour with your wife will directly infl uence how much you succeed in your life. You may go on a short trip. VIRGO AUG 24 - SEP 23 Your hard work in achieving the perfect health will not fail you and all your persistent health issues will disappear because of your strong will. Don’t rely on anyone for opinion as you are the best judge of your actions. You should get ready for a fun time at home. CITY THEATRE POLICE 100 FIRE 101 AMBULANCE 102/108 CHILD HELPLINE 1098 HELP IN SUFFERING 26305080 DIAL Do you want to add your establishment here? Email your details to www.fi rstindia.co.in LIBRA SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22 If you are wealthy than the next best thing you can achieve is to be down to earth. You will experience a silent treatment from your spouse as they may need a little space from you and there is nothing wrong in that. Issues related with the property papers will be resolved. SCORPIO OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22 You got help from your colleague when you needed and now they will expect the same from you so do not disappoint them. You will soon get the promotion and the increment in salary, be it in the same company or the new one. On academic front, you may feel overloaded. 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ETC 13 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2020 SONAM’S ‘MUGHAL-E-AZAM’ MOMENT A ...her Instagram post ctor Sonam Kapoor on Thursday was seen having her ‘Mughal-E- Azam’ moment. The 34-year-old actor took to Ins- tagram to share the video in which she is seen pulling of Anarkali wearing a golden and red-coloured lehenga paired with royal antique jewelry . The actor quoted dialogue from the old classic film in the caption and wrote, “Taaj un saro par nahi rehta jinke kareeb khauf aajaye| Mughal-E-Azam.” Besides her ensemble, the actor’s expressions too were top-notch as she was seen wearing a sly smile. Earlier in the day , Kapoor alleged that she had the “scariest” experience while traveling in an Uber taxi in the city of London. —ANI Sonam K Ahuja LOST PLAN THE FACE OF CHHAPAAK D well as the audience. Di- rected by Meghna Gulzar, the film is based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. For the film, Deepika let go of her beautiful face and trans- formed into an acid attack vic- tim. Her first look as Malti was un- veiled in M a r c h last year, leaving everyone amazed. The actress shared a video on Friday in which it is shown how she trans- formed into Malti. Sharing the video on Ins- tagram, Deepika captioned it as, “Face Of Chhapaak The face of strength, cour- age and triumph. The face of #Chhapaak. “ The video begins with Deepika meeting Laxmi and sitting on the couch with her. Then, we see Meghna Gulzar revealing that once the story of Chhapaak had been final- ized, she and her writer Atika Chouhan had Deepi- ka in mind to play the role. She further says that they would never really vocalize it because it seemed so improbable. The filmmaker is also seen saying that there is a striking resemblance tween Laxmi and Deepika. In the next few minutes we are shown Deepika, with the help of eepika Padukone’s Chhapaak has received rave reviews from the critics as ...her Instagram post Aditya Roy Kapur JAI MUMMY DI Aditya’s two month transformation A The actor has been receiving a lot of appre- ciation for his extreme makeover in the movie. The actor trained in martial arts, flexibility, and endurance and went off sugar, salt to go from lean in the first half to bulked-up in the later parts of the ro- mantic-thriller. Mohit Suri shared, DIRECTOR Navjot Gulati CAST & CREW Sunny Singh, Sonnalli Seygall, Supriya Pathak, Poonam Dhillon RATING: KAVITA CHAUHAN cityfirst@firstindia.co.in “Aditya’s two looks can be defined as hippy, which is actually him off-camera and the mus- cular hero. It’s easy if you have six months to go from one look to the next, but he has done it in two months, living without sugar and salt when we were shooting portions in which he had to look ripped. Then, he started eating all the time to be bigger; it’s a difficult job.” ctor Aditya Roy Kapur is all set for the release of ‘Malang’. J Pathak Kapoor) who have been sworn enemies for dec- ades. They are neighbours in a north Delhi locality and their mutual an- tagonism is so strong, that their children, Saanjh Bhalla (Son- nalli Seygall) and Puneet Khanna (Sun- ny Singh), dare not reveal to the families that they have been in love since school. When the youngsters realise they cannot live without each other, they set out to find the root cause of the mothers’ hatred which, they are told, dates back to their college days. Back then, their common friend reveals, the ai Mummy Di is the story of Pinky Bhalla (Poonam Dhillon) and Laali Khanna (Supriya two were so thick that they were even rumoured to be girlfriends. Director/writer Gulati has penned this story which is good for a one-line story but is a scat- tered mess when it comes to executing it. Characters just pop out from the nar- rative without any solid reason. You have a useless Alok Nath who has nothing to add to the already clueless story . The comedy and the film as a whole fizzle out as it gradually becomes clear that Gulati does not know where to take it. You are not going to miss anything if you plan to not watch this film. Navjot be- how —Agency prosthetics, t r a n s - f o r m e d into Malti and challenges faced. —Agency the she Deepika Padukone Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas GREATEST LITERARY SHOW: JLF —PHOTO FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY Bollywood dash in NEW VIDEO A new music video that her popstar husband Nick Jonas has released along with his brothers. In the video, ‘What a man gotta do’, Priyanka features with the other Jonas wives, Sophie Turner and Danielle Jo- nas. The three wives had also starred in the Jonas brothers 2019 mu- ‘Tech Horizons: The Next Billion Users’, will have Payal Arora and Jaspreet Bindra in conversation with Vindu Goel dis- cussing how Artifi- cial has been hyped up. The gramme touch upon several themes including economy, translated works of poets and authors. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in of Marcus du Sautoy, John Lanchester and Jaspreet Bindra on the second day of the Festival. Roger Highfield with author Kes- hava Guha will be seen explaining the blend of magic and science. Tilly Blythe will be seen dis- cussing at the session on ‘The Art of Innovation’ along with Payal Arora and Tarun Khanna. CITY FIRST T January 23 and conclude on January 27, at Diggi Palace Hotel in Jaipur, shall discuss important topics such as climate change, science, and technology . Technology and its constantly evolving aspects, surveillance capitalism and data harvesting will be cov- ered on a panel consisting sic video, ‘Sucker’. Priyanka took to Ins- tagram recently share the latest video with her 48.4 million followers. “OUT NOW. #WhatA- ManGottaDoVideo @ nickjonas @jonasbroth- ers,” she captioned the post about the video in which singers brothers Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas recreate classic films with their wives. he Jaipur Festival, which is due to kick off on 13th edition Literature ctress Priyanka Chopra has added a dash of Bol- lywood to the to Intelligence pro- will and —IANS

CITY BUZZ AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2020 14 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 Ahmedabad Design WEEK BEGINS Three-day design event to focus on AI, Digital Story, Design, Culture and Society, and World Design 2025 CITY FIRST U nion Minister of Railways and Commerce Piyush Goyal and Home Min- ister of Guja- rat Pradipsinh inaugurated Jadeja Ahmedabad Week (ADW) in the city on Saturday . Conceived as a melting pot of ideas and insights, the three- day event will see participation from eminent global design thought leaders, change-mak- ers, corporates, aca- demia, educators, prac- titioners, researchers, designers. The overall theme of ADW & India Design Confluence 2020 is “World Design 2025” with the sub-themes of Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Digital Story (In context to design), De- sign, Culture and Soci- ety, & World Design 2025. ADW is expected to create a unique and vi- brant platform for the design fraternity, cap- tains of creative industry, students and facul- ty from all over the country and abroad to share space with national and international experts, academi- Design —PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI Some of the top world design associations, including Cumulus Inter- national Association, based out of Helsinki, Finland; World Design Organization, Quebec, Canada and Interaction Design Association have joined in as col- laborative partners. cityfirstgujarat@gmail.com cians, crafts persons with the aim of stimulating in- teresting discussions and to debate key and trending issues of global Design. AWD 2020 is also a launchpad for “Come Lets Design in India”, a campaign towards making India a global hub of design. artisans and A Musical Evening Treat yourself to the theatre CITY FIRST I but two plays this weekend. Satur- day’s offering, written and directed by Nandish Bhatt and produced by Trinetra Theatres, is a modern- day take on the tale of the epony- mous Mrityunjaya from the Ma- habharata. It features Pragnesh Kasundra, Shweta Thacker, Rinku Kanani, Dhvanit Mehta and Nandish Bhatt. On Sunday, the venue will host Kasar, written and directed by Nilay Shah. According to the pub- licity material, “Kasar is all of our story… who lack in doing what we ought to be doing at one point or the other, and ultimately , end up undo- ing ourselves.” The team also says this “intense drama will make you delve deep into your psyche and discover your desire for complete- ness.” The cast includes Harshida Pankhanya, Saurabh Pandey , Neel Soni, Sunil Oza, Nilay Shah and Urvashi Prajapati. Sunil Oza pro- vided an original soundtrack for the production, which has sound by Sandeep Kumar, lights by Jayesh Koshti and backstage operations by Gaikvad Anand. Mrityunjay begins at 8.30 tonight, while Kasar is slotted for 9pm tomorrow. f you like a little drama in your life, you’re Ahmedabad’s Scrapyard, the Theatre, will showcase not one, in luck. Shankar and has toured and played intensively with him on India, Europe and USA. He also took questions from the audience, which included students of the institute. cityfirstgujarat@gmail.com the sarod was truly a sympho- ny in serenity, embodying the true heritage of Hindustani Raagdari music. Partho Sarothy has been a student of the incredible and renowned master Shri Ravi January 13, in which musical maestro Partho Sarothy filled the heart of the audiences through his mesmerizing performance on the sarod. Being one of the finest young musi- cians of India, his rendition on CITY FIRST C cal evening at the institute on himanbhai Patel Insti- tute in collaboration with Spic Macay organ- ized a melodious musi- L ment ward at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital. Uma Chhaw- charia, Kavita Chhajar, Saroj Jain, Sheela Mehta, Rekha Bringing joy to the kids group has decided to distribute biscuits and toys (approved only by the medical team) every Saturday to the 38 children in the ward plus the 10-12 children usually seen at the out-patient wing. Agarwal, Leo Rahul Mutha and Komal distributed blan- kets, toys, and biscuits to the children and fruits to their parents. Dr Prashant Kin- arowala and team supported their efforts. Due to the children’s joyful response, the ions Club of Karnavati Dzire with Leos spent time with patients at the pediatric cancer depart- —City First

First India News Paper|Gujarat-English News Paper Today-18 January 2020 edition

First India News Paper|Gujarat-English News Paper Today-18 January 2020 edition

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