First india ahmedabad edition-27 october 2020

‘State released fewer funds for Kaprada since it had a Congress MLA’
First India Bureau
Valsad: In an explo-
sive development, a
minister of the ruling
Bharatiya Janata
Party has admitted
that the state govern-
ment has withheld
funds meant for the
development of Ka-
prada constituency
simply because it has
a Congress MLA.
The revelation came
from Minister of State
for Forests and Tribal
Development Raman
Patkar, on Monday,
while he was campaign-
ing for BJP candidate
Jitu Chaudhary.
The Congress party
has demanded action
against Patkar.
Addressing a public
meeting in Nana Pond-
ha, Patkar said, “Earli-
er, as a Congress MLA,
Jitu Chaudhary faced
difficulties in his work.
He could not keep his
promises made to vot-
ers as we used to release
a lower amount of
funds to his constitu-
ency and divert the rest
to Sangathan. Now that
he has joined the BJP,
more development will
take place.”
Monday’s shocking
revelation has alarm-
ing implications for
democracy itself,
since it implies that
the ruling party is es-
sentially punishing
people for voting for
the opposition by
holding up develop-
ment in those areas.
Congress party’s
chief spokesperson
Manish Doshi in a letter
addressed to the Gover-
nor and Election Com-
mission of India has
demanded action
against minister Patkar
under Section 123 of the
People’s Representative
Act 1951 for corrupt
practices.
Doshi said, “The
minister was obliged
to do right to all man-
ner of people in ac-
cordance with the
Constitution and the
law without fear or
favour, affection or ill
will. His admission
that fewer funds were
released to constitu-
encies where the
elected representa-
tive belongs to the op-
position party is con-
trary to the Constitu-
tional scheme and in
violation of the mod-
el code of conduct.
Patkar’s statement
has confirmed what
some Congress turn-
coats have said after
they switched over to
the BJP: that joining
the ruling party would
allow them to get more
development work done
in their constituencies.
For instance, Minister
of Water Supplies Kun-
varji Bavalia Turn to P6Minister of State for Forests and Tribal Development Raman Patkar.
Sitting minister makes explosive
admission during bypoll campaign
for BJP candidate Jitu Chaudhary
CAMPAIGN SHOCKER
—FILEPHOTO
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AHMEDABAD l TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 332
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
BIHAR SET FOR FIRST PHASE OF
POLLING IN ASSEMBLY ELECTION
AS CAMPAIGN CONCLUDES
Top politicians in Bihar were busy with their last rallies as the campaign for 71 constituencies across 16 districts
that will vote on October 28 in the first phase of the Assembly elections ended on Monday evening.The second
and third phases of polling will take place on November 3 and November 7. Results will be declared on November
10.The opposition RJD is contesting 42 seats - the most number of seats in the first phase of polling by any party.
FIRST PHASE OF
POLLING ON OCT 28
l Seats going to polls: 71
constituencies in 16 dists.
l Candidates in fray 1,066.
Male: 952, Female: 114.
l Total electors:
2,14,84,787.
l No of polling stns: 31,380
l Seats being contested:
JDU-35, BJP-29, RJD-42,
Congress-21, Left-8.
New Delhi: The Cen-
tral government sub-
mitted before the Su-
preme Court on Mon-
day that it is contem-
plating the creation of a
permanent body by en-
acting legislation to
deal with the annual air
pollution issue in the
national capital region
arising from stubble
burning in Punjab, Har-
yanaandUttarPradesh.
Solicitor General
Tushar Mehta, appear-
ing for Centre, said that
the government will
bring new legislation in
three to four days and
asked the top court to
keep in abeyance ‘Jus-
tice Lokur Committee’.
On request by the Cen-
tralgovernment,abench
headed by Chief Justice
SA Bobde kept in abey-
ancetheoperationof it’s
October 16 order, which
hadappointeditsformer
judge Madan B Lokur as
one-man commission to
submit a report on air
pollution, including
stubble burning.
“It is good that the
govermment is coming
up with a law. This is an
issuethatanywayshould
have been looked into by
the government. Every-
one in this city is chok-
ing due to bad air,” the
bench said.
Mehta also apprised
the court that the draft
law will be ready in a
matter of a few Turn to P6
Srinagar: People’s
Democratic Party (PDP)
leaders TS Bajwa, Ved
Mahajan and Hussain A
Waffa resigned from the
partyonMondaystating
that they feel quite un-
comfortable over some
of party chief Mehboo-
ba Mufti’s actions and
undesirable utterances
especially which hurt
patriotic sentiments.
“We...arefeelingquite
uncomfortable over
some of your actions
and undesirable utter-
ances especially which
hurt patriotic senti-
ments,” read a letter to
Mufti signed by three
leaders.“Insteadof over-
coming the challenges
from within and outside
by a process of broader
consultations and trust,
some elements within
the party pulling the
party and leadership in
a particular direction,
thus deviating from the
basic principles, agenda
and philosophy, making
it difficult to face the
saner voices in the soci-
ety,” it said.
The three leaders
said that some of the ac-
tions and utterances
are unpardonable and
unforgettable by the
people, for the party, to
emerge out and move in
the direction of its fun-
damental Turn to P6
Controlling lawfully! Centre plans law to tackle air pollution
New Delhi: India and
the US will ink a land-
mark defence pact on
Tuesday that will pro-
vide for sharing of high-
end military technology,
logistics and geospatial
mapsbetweentheirmili-
taries,officialssaidafter
Defence Minister Ra-
jnath Singh held wide-
ranging talks with his
US counterpart Mark T
Esper in New Delhi.
During the talks, Sin-
gh and Esper explored
ways to further deepen
cooperation in the Indo-
Pacific region, enhance
military-to-military
ties, and reviewed key
regional security chal-
lenges including in In-
dia’s neighbourhood,
officials said.
The sources said,
while deliberating on re-
gional security challeng-
es, the two sides briefly
toucheduponIndia’sbor-
der row with China in
easternLadakh.Turn to P6
3 PDP leaders quit
after Mufti ‘hurt’
patriotic feelings
India, US to ink
defence pact today
AIR POLLUTION MAY HINDER INDIA’S
FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19: EXPERTS
New Delhi: Causal link between air pollution and
Covid-19 cases is yet to be established conclusively
but long-term exposure will certainly make people
more vulnerable to lung infections, warn scientists
as the skies over large parts of north India, includ-
ing Delhi, turn smoky and the air quality deterio-
rates rapidly. A study by researchers at Harvard in
September showed that an increase of only one
microgram per cubic metre in PM 2.5 is associated
with an 8 per cent increase in the Covid-19 death
rate.The air quality in north India is expected to
deteriorate further from November to February due
to several factors such as stubble burning, festive
fireworks and low wind speed etc.
THERE WON’T BE ‘DO NISHAN,
DO PRADHAN’: RAVI PRASAD
Aurangabad (Bihar): Union Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad on Monday raised the issue of abrogation of
Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and building
Ram Temple in Ayodhya
at the election rally held
in Aurangabad. “A grand
Ram Temple is being
built. Some people have a
problem with it. They also
have issues with Article
370 (abrogation). I’d
like to say clearly, there
won’t be ‘do nishan do
pradhan’. There’ll be Tiranga everywhere,” Prasad
said. He further lashed out at the Rashtriya Janata
Dal (RJD) over the photos of former chief ministers
Lalu Yadav, and Rabri Devi missing from its posters
during the campaigning phase.
PRAKASH JAVADEKAR
@PRAKASHJAVDEKAR
I condemn the remark of Mehbooba
Mufti. Disrespect for the tricolour is unacceptable.
The tricolour is our honour and the identity of India.
Jammu: Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party on October
26 won the majority of
seats in the Ladakh Au-
tonomous Hill Devel-
opment Council, Leh
(LAHDC-Leh) polls, by
capturing 15 out of 26
constituencies, fol-
lowed by the Congress
with nine seats.
The BJP managed to
win most of the far off
seats outside the Leh
town, including six out
of seven seats of the
remote Nubra valley.
Two Muslim faces,
Ghulam Mehdi from
Turtuk, and Mirza
Hussain from Chu-
chot, were among the
BJP winners.
Constituencies won
by BJP included Tur-
tuk, Panamik, Tegar,
Hunder,Diskit,Tangtse,
Kungyam,SkuMarkha,
Thiksey, Korzok,
Lingshed, Lamayuru,
Martseylang, Khaltse
andChuchotwhileCon-
gress won Lower Leh,
UpperLeh,Igoo,Saspol,
Basgo, Sakti, Phyang,
Skurbuchan and
Temisgam. Chushul
and Nyoma were two
seats won by the inde-
pendent candidates.
“BJP’s victory in
Leh Autonomous Hill
Development Council,
Leh election is histor-
ic. BJP has won 15 out
of 26 seats. I congratu-
late Shri Jamyang
Tsering Namgyal and
all karyakartas of
Ladakh unit of BJP.
Gratitude to the people
of Ladakh for their
faith in BJP,” tweeted
BJP prez JP Nadda.
LAHDC POLL: BJP WINS 15, CONG 9
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Defence Secy Dr Mark T
Esper meeting in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
A voter shows her inked finger after casting her vote for LAHDC
polls, in Leh. —FILE PHOTO
An anti-smog gun deployed outside a construction site to tackle pollution, in New Delhi on Monday.
—PHOTOBYANI
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: In what
could be termed as per-
haps the biggest devel-
opment in one of the
mostpoliticallycharged
state of India—Uttar
Pradesh—the ruling
BJP has given a berth to
Mayawati’s BSP in the
run up to the Rajya Sab-
ha elections.
On Monday, the Saf-
fron party announced
its 8 candidates for the
RS poll, whereas it is
firmly placed in the
state to make 9 candi-
dates win for the upper
house. Political pundits
believe that this is a
strategic move to give
one seat to the BSP
which can also ferry its
candidate without any
problem.
The late night devel-
opment has raised curi-
osity as to if there is an
understanding between
the BJP and BSP since
at present BSP has
merely 14 MLAs and in
the run up to Assembly
polls, which is approxi-
mately two years from
now and with Congress
harping on the votes, it
appears that this would
be once again be a time-
ly coalition. With the
BJP having 304 mem-
bers in the Uttar
Pradesh Assembly, the
November 9 election for
10 Rajya Sabha seats
from the state may turn
out to be a nearly one-
sided affair for the par-
ty, feel poll analysts.
The BJP’s all eight
nominees for Rajya Sab-
ha from Uttar Pradesh
are likely to win as the
party has the three-
fourth majority in the
state assembly.
Turn to P6
ARE BJP & BSP AGAIN
COMING TOGETHER?
Yogi Adityanath Mayawati
BJP surprises
everyone by
leaving 1 RS
seat for BSP
CENTRE ASSURES SC OF LAW ON AIR QUALITY

NEWSAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020
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Rupani predicts more defection from Cong post bypolls
First India Bureau
Valsad: Chief Minis-
ter Vijay Rupani
while addressing a
gathering in Kaprada
on Monday morning
hinted that a few
more Congress mem-
bers may defect from
the party post the
state assembly by-
elections.
Rupani was at a pub-
lic meeting in Nana
Pondha village in Val-
sad district’s Kaprada,
when he stated, “Shan-
kersinh Vaghela left
Congress taking 13
MLAs with him and
now eight MLAs have
resigned from the op-
position party. The
time has come to hit
the last nail in the cof-
fin of the Congress
party.”
He added, “People
should not forget that
by-elections have
been forced on them
because Congress’
MLAs resigned. The
party has lost the
trust and confidence
of the people and its
leadership has also
failed. Congress na-
tional leader Rahul
Gandhi has also
failed, but they are
busy promoting one
family at the cost of
the nation.”
“Now that Jitu
Chaudhary has joined
the BJP, more develop-
mental projects will be
taken up in Kaprada.
Congress leaders have
turned ‘fools and that is
why they have taken to
making baseless allega-
tions. They have real-
ized that their defeat is
imminent,” stated the
chief minister.
 Says people have lost confi-
dence in the opposition party
and its leadership has failed
CM Rupani addressing a public meeting at Nana Pondha in Kaprada on Monday.
MORE TO COME
First India Bureau
Rajkot: Farmers gave
the government a
wide berth on the
first day of ground-
nut procurement as
prices in the open
market bypassed the
minimum support
price (MSP) set by the
state. For instance,
not a single farmer
turned up to sell at
the MSP of Rs1,055
per 20kg at Jamna-
gar’s Hapa market,
since the price hov-
ered around Rs1,100-
1,300 per 20kg in the
open market.
Of the hundreds of
farmers who registered
for groundnut procure-
ment, the civil supplies
yard called 50 farmers
to trade on Day 1. No
one showed up. Yet, 525
trucks and tractors car-
ried 35,000 bags (each
weighing 50kg) to the
open market, which re-
mained open for just
five hours.
In Rajkot, the Bedi
market has had to
close its doors to new
trading since it has
already received two
lakh bags of ground-
nut. Hundreds of
trucks have queued
up outside, as farmer
await their turn to en-
ter the market and
sell their harvest.
The government
aims to buy 13,66,000
tonnes of groundnut at
MSP from farmers and
has hired 2,000 go-
downs to store this in-
flux. In addition, it has
set up CCTV cameras
at each of the 139 pro-
curement centres.
Each centre also has a
senior officer and four
other officers to ensure
there is no complaint
about the procurement
process.
The state has
planned to procure
groundnut at MSP for
90 days, with farmers
being called to trade
in batches of 20 per
day initially and 50
per day later. The
state government has
planned to procure
2,500kg groundnut
per farmer.
First India Bureau
Surendranagar: After
exchanging heated re-
buttals the past cou-
ple of days, the
Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty (BJP) state unit
president CR Patil has
decided to file a defa-
mation case against
senior Congress lead-
er Arjun Modhwadia
for levying baseless
allegations against
him and trying to tar-
nish his reputation.
Addressing the media
on Monday Patil said
that he was in talks with
his legal counsel and
will be filing a Rs10
crore defamation case
against Modhwadia. He
said, “There is not a sin-
gle criminal case
against me. As far as
civil lawsuits are con-
cerned, I am out on reg-
ular bail granted by
court. My name also
does not feature on the
recent list of MLAs and
MPs released by the Su-
preme Court, against
whom there are cases
pending. And yet, Mod-
hwadiahasmadeallega-
tions to tarnish my im-
age that might also af-
fect my political career.”
Former Gujarat
Pradesh Congress
Committee (GPCC)
president Arjun Mod-
hwadia had alleged
that there were 107
cases against Patil.
He had also stated
that the BJP chief
had been suspended
from the police force
in 1978 after he had
been caught trans-
porting liquor in Su-
rat district. Modhwa-
dia had also pointed
out that there were
two more cases filed
against Patil, with
Palsana and Songadh
police stations. In
1995, Surat Munici-
pal Corporation also
filed an octroi evasion
case against him.
Patil offered to resign
as a Member of Parlia-
ment (MP) if the allega-
tions against him were
proved. Meanwhile,
while addressing party
leaders in Gadhada con-
stituency on Sunday
evening, the BJP chief
cleared the air and de-
clared that the rumours
that Atmaram Parmar
would get a seat in the
state cabinet if he wins
from Gadhada, which
would mean the ouster
of cabinet minister
Saurabh Patel. Patil re-
iterated that Patel was
to remain at his posi-
tion in the government.
POORRESPONSEONDAY1OF
GROUNDNUTPROCUREMENT
Patil to file `10 crore defamation
case against Arjun Modhwadia
Cong leader Arjun Modhwadia BJP state chief CR PatilGroundnut procurement in progress at the Rajkot market yard on Monday.
 The BJP
chief has de-
nied all allega-
tions; he also
clarified that
Saurabh Patel
would remain
in his post
 Market pric-
es cross MSP
to hover at
`1,100-1,300
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
Gadhada constituen-
cy of Botad district is
set to have a new peo-
ple’s representative
in the state assembly
on November 10. The
seat was vacated after
the resignation of
former Congress
MLA Praveen Maru
ahead of the Rajya
Sabha elections ear-
lier this year.
Reserved for Sched-
uled Caste (SC) candi-
dates, Gadhada will see
former state cabinet
minister Atmaram Par-
mar from the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) con-
testing the by-election
along with Congress’
Mohan Solanki.
In the 2017 assem-
bly elections, Con-
gress candidate
Praveen Maru had
defeated Atmaram
Parmar of BJP. How-
ever, the by-election
had to be conducted
when Maru resigned
his position as the
Gadhada MLA. It is
also to be noted that
Maru will not be con-
testing the bypolls
from any party.
The main issues at
the forefront for the
opposition party this
by-election include
unemployment, plight
of farmers. On the
other hand, the ruling
party has been pursu-
ing developmental
projects as an incen-
tive for voters.
According to the
Election in India web-
site, Maru had se-
cured 50.67% votes in
the last assembly elec-
tions and Parmar had
received 43.8% votes.
Atmaram Parmar
first contested and
won this seat for the
BJP in 1995. He has
been contesting elec-
tions from the constit-
uency ever since and
has been a people’s
representative of
Gadhada four times.
Maru and Parmar
have battled it out sev-
eral times in elections
of the constituency
over the years. In 2002,
Maru beat out Parmar
and the latter returned
the favour in 2007 and
2012.
The Gadhada seat
came into existence
in 1967 and was
turned into a re-
served category (SC)
one in 1980. In the
1967 elections, RB
Gohil defeated Con-
gress’ DM Desai. The
seat was occupied by
Congress in 1975 be-
fore it was allocated
to Scheduled Caste(s)
candidates.
Congress won the
seat in 1985, 2002, 2007
and 2012 elections while
the BJP was victorious
in 1990, 1995 and 1998
elections.
The Koli, Dalit, and
Patidar communities
account for the high-
est number of voters
in the Gadhada con-
stituency. During the
Patidar Anamat An-
dolan Samiti (PAAS)
movement, there
were protests against
the ruling party all
over Saurashtra.
However, political an-
alysts believe that the
situation has evolved
a lot over time. More-
over, this time, the
Patidars do not seem
to be affected by the
by-elections.
Being a veteran poli-
tician with extensive
experience, may have
the upper hand when it
comes to support from
local voters. But, it
looks like an even fight
between both the major
political parties this
time around.
Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Amit Chavda campaigning in Gadhada.
THE ‘SC’ FACTOR
THE GADHADA EQUATION
CASTE-WISE VOTE SHARE
Community Population
Dalit 19.2%
Other Backward Class (OBC) 18.3%
Patidar 16%
Kshatriya 8%
Muslim 6.3%
TOTAL VOTERS AS PER 2017 AS-
SEMBLY ELECTION: 2,41,795
MALE VOTERS: 52.18%
FEMALE VOTERS: 47.82%
Being a reserved category seat,
both the Congress and the BJP
are keen to add Gadhada to
their repertoire this by-election
CONSTITUENCY WATCH

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot: With COV-
ID-19 forcing students
to seek an education
online, those living in
the state’s remote are-
as—where network
coverage is spotty at
best—could have easi-
ly fallen by the way-
side. In addition, many
of these students can-
not afford a smart-
phone. To avoid such a
situation, an enter-
prising 31-year-old
teacher in Amreli has
found a way to take
school to his students.
Prior to the COVID-19
pandemic Raghav Kata-
kiya, better known as
Raghu Ramakda, was a
teacher at the govern-
ment-run Mitiyana Pri-
mary School in Amreli
district’s Jafrabad ta-
luka. Worried about his
students missing out on
their studies, Raghav
decided to take school
to them on his trusty
motorcycle.
Raghav, who has
taught Mathematics
and Gujarati for the
past five years, told
First India, “I have
made five groups in dif-
ferent areas. These are
students Class 1 and 2,
who live in very remote
areas. Every day, I go to
one group. The respon-
sibility of the remain-
ing groups is allotted to
senior students. In this
way students do not
miss their lesson and
senior students learn
how to teach.”
He added: “I am
aware of the hardships
of children of daily wa-
gers and workers since,
as a child, I too used to
go from village to vil-
lage with my father who
used to make bricks. I
know how such uncer-
tainty can affect the
education of such chil-
dren. So, I decided to
prioritize their educa-
tion. I teach a group of
seven to eight students
under a tree using dif-
ferent methods to help
them inculcate an inter-
est towards studies. I
generally teach using
practical and creative
ways. For instance, I
use an umbrella to
teach various patterns
and counting and my
shirt to teach multipli-
cation. I carry station-
ery, colour boxes, pen-
cils and erasers with
me. Prizes are given to
the best performer. This
way, students learn
with fun.”
Teacher ‘mobile school’ takes education to students in remote areas
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A COV-
ID-19 positive pa-
tient who was admit-
ted to a city-based
private hospital for
treatment was hand-
ed a bill of Rs10 lakh
for a month-long
stay. The patient,
Kalpana Sonavane
was admitted to Hri-
day Se Hospital ini-
tially, before being
shifted to Asian Bar-
iatrics Hospital, af-
ter testing positive
for novel coronavi-
rus in the month of
August.
After undergoing
treatment at the hospi-
tal for a month, she was
issued a bill of Rs10
lakh, an amount that
violated the capped
rates prescribed by lo-
cal civic body
Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC) for
designated COVID-19
private hospitals.
“The AMC has
capped the price of the
privately owned hospi-
tals in the city. When
we calculated the total
bill as per the rate de-
termined by the civic
body, the amount came
to around Rs3 lakh,”
said Abhishek Awasthi,
consumer advocate at
Consumer Education
and Research Centre
(CERC).
He further stated
that the hospital had
charged more than
they were prescribed to
by the authorities. “On
top of overcharging
Kalpana, the hospital
said that they had writ-
ten consent from the
patient which enabled
them to charge more
money. How can the
hospital take consent
with veiled agendas
when the government
has enforced certain
norms?” questioned
Awasthi. He added that
the patient had already
submitted post-dated
cheques to the hospital
management.
“Since, Kalpana is a
former employee of the
hospital, she is aware
of their usual charges.
But these rates were
sky-high,” said the ad-
vocate.
Pvt hosp overcharges patient,
she goes to consumer court
Junagadh farmer commits suicide
after crop fails due to excessive rain
Self-lockdown:A’badarea’s
plantocombatnCoVspread First India Bureau
Junagadh: Another
farmer from Gujarat
has ended his life due
to crop failure this
season. The deceased
man’s son told the
cops that his father
took the extreme step
after heavy rains
damaged their
groundnut crop in Ti-
kar village.
Mayur Patel, in his
statement filed at the
Vanthali police station,
said that his father Pur-
shottam had sowed
groundnut on six acres
of agricultural land. He
slipped into a prolonged
depression after the
crop was ruined by the
last spell of rains in Au-
gust and September. For
the past week, Mayur
said his father had
turned silent and had
little conversation even
with family members.
On Friday, he commit-
ted suicide by drinking
pesticide.
When family mem-
bers learned of his ac-
tions, they rushed him
to the Junagadh Civil
Hospital, where doctors
declared him dead. The
incident came to public
attention only after an
agriculture activist in-
formed the media late
on Sunday evening.
Mayur also said that
the family had been suf-
fering crop damage for
the past two or three
years, and that this sea-
son’s failure finally
broke his father’s will.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
state on Monday re-
ported four fatalities,
its lowest number
since the peak of the
COVID-19 outbreak in
April. However, resi-
dents of Radha Swa-
my Road in
Ahmedabad’s Ranip
area are not taking
any chances.
Severalresidentialso-
cieties in the area have
decided to go into lock-
down until November 06
after 50 cases emerged
over the past fortnight
in 20 societies, which
havealsoseensixdeaths
related to COVID-19 in
the past week.
In the past 24 hours,
thestatehasdetected908
new cases from 51,046
tests. There are now
13,738 active cases in the
state, with 61 patients on
ventilators. Of the four
deaths, two came from
Ahmedabad, while Ra-
jkot and Surat each re-
ported one. While Surat
had the highest number
(228), new cases also
emerged in Ahmedabad
district (173), Vadodara
(111),Rajkot(68),Jamna-
gar (28), Gandhinagar
(26), Mehsana (27), Mor-
bi (23), Surendranagar
(22) and Bharuch (20).
The teacher uses his umbrella to teach patterns and counting
Raghav
Katakiya
knows
firsthand
how
uncertainty
can derail
education
Kalpana Sonavane received a bill of `10 lakh for a month-long stay at Asian Bariatrics
Asian Bariatrics hospital. —FILE PHOTO
Rape case filed against
railway station master
First India Bureau
Vadodara: The Va-
dodara Railway Po-
lice is looking for
the station master
of Pilol railway sta-
tion, after a 19-year-
old sweeper filed a
rape complaint
against him. The
case has been regis-
tered under various
sections of the Indi-
an Penal Code and
the Atrocities Act.
The woman told the
police that the station
master, Rajendra Ver-
ma, raped her in a
storeroom at the sta-
tion in March, just be-
fore the first lockdown
was imposed.
“He grabbed me,
took me to the store-
room and raped me.
Then, as he was leav-
ing the room, he tried
to give me Rs100,
which I refused to
take,” she said in her
statement, “A few days
later, I told my hus-
band about the inci-
dent, and he advised
me not to go back on
duty.”
The couple re-
turned to their native
Madhya Pradesh
when the lockdown
was imposed, and re-
turned in June.
The statement con-
tinues: “Last week,
Verma tried to force
his way into our quar-
ters with a knife. I
pushed him out and
locked myself inside.
I immediately rang
my husband. in-
formed him that Ver-
ma was threatening
me with a knife. He
called Verma and
threatened that would
involve the police if
he did not leave.”
Verma left, but not
before trying to offer
the couple money in
exchange for assur-
ance they would not
file a complaint
against him.
The couple finally
mustered up the cour-
age to file their com-
plaint on Sunday
evening.
The alleged rape took place at the Pilol station.
Fire in Surat damages
`3 cr worth of texiles
First India Bureau
Surat: It took 17 fire
tenders five hours to
contain a blaze at a
sari warehouse in the
city’s Begampura
area late on Sunday
night. While there
were no casualties,
the fire claimed about
Rs3 crore worth of
merchandise. The
fire, which gutted
Dwarka House and
the adjoining Kabra
House, also spread to
two tempo trucks
filled with saris that
had been parked be-
hind the buildings,
which were sealed af-
ter the fire.
Fire officer Basant
Pareek told First India
that neither building
had a fire safety system,
even though a notice
had been issued on Feb-
ruary 10 to Dwarka
House for the same.
“We rushed to the
sceneassoonaswewere
informed about the fire
with 17 fire tenders. The
fire was already raging
when we reached. It
took five hours to put
out, but no one was in-
jured,” he said.
Deepakbhai, the own-
er of Dwarka House,
said that his warehouse
had received a ship-
ment “worth crores of
rupees” just a few hours
before the fire. They
were supposed to have
be delivered to shops
the next morning.
TOUCHING THE SKY WITH GLORY
A seaplane arrived at the aerodrome on
the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad
from Kochi on Monday. It took off from
Maldives and landed to refuel in Kochi on
Sunday. It reached the city via Kevadia
from Goa. The sea plane service launch
to be held under the central government’s
Udaan scheme has been scheduled
for October 31. It will be inaugurated
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The
three sites from where the aerial tour
will be conducted include the Statue of
Unity in Kevadia, Sabarmati Riverfront
in Ahmedabad and Shetrunji River in
Palitana. —PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI
A sign intimates passersby about the lockdown.
908 cases, six
fatalities take state
tally to 1,68,081
cases, toll to 3,693
On top of
overcharging
Kalpana (the
patient), the hospital
said that they had
written consent from
the patient which ena-
bled them to charge
more money. How can
the hospital take con-
sent with veiled agen-
das when the govern-
ment has enforced cer-
tain norms?
—Abhishek Awasthi,
Consumer advocate, CERC
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 332 G RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.
Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020
he ferocity of
the 2020 presi-
dential election
in the United
States is not
about Donald Trump per
se, but about what he rep-
resents: the racist struc-
tures of power that have
persisted in America for
centuries, though some-
times in mutated form. The
long history of America’s
state-sponsored racism
will draw to an end in the
coming generation, which
is why Trump is so strik-
ingly reactionary in his at-
tempts to prolong it. Yet the
damage that Trump’s
brand of white national-
ism could still cause to the
US and the world if he
wins a second term makes
the election easily the most
important in modern
American history.
Racism was hard-wired
into the US from the found-
ing of the American colo-
nies, with their economies
built on the enslavement of
Africans and the slaughter
and dispossession of Na-
tive Americans. Slavery
became so deeply en-
meshed in American soci-
ety that only a bloody civil
war ended it, in contrast to
most other countries,
where the African slave
trade and slave holding
ended peacefully.
When the US Civil War
ended, a brief period of
African-American emanci-
pation during the Recon-
struction era (1865-76) gave
way to a renewed system of
racist repression so en-
compassing and systemat-
ic that it was, in effect, an
American apartheid sys-
tem. The legal racism of
Jim Crow in the US South
is well known, but the re-
pression and segregation
in the North and West, in-
cluding segregated hous-
ing, flagrant job discrimi-
nation, poor or no school-
ing, and systemic failures
of justice, were similarly
noxious.
In his brilliant and elo-
quent book The Color of
Law, Richard Rothstein ex-
amines how federal, state,
and local governments, in
collaboration with vigilan-
te white violence, created
and perpetuated African-
American ghettos across
the country, while under-
writing and promoting the
spread of segregated, all-
white suburbs. Much
overtly racist legislation
was eventually eliminated
by Congress or overturned
by the federal courts by the
end of the 1960s. Yet racism
continued, reflected in po-
lice brutality, the mass in-
carceration of black young
people starting in the 1970s,
ongoing suppression of
black votes, and pervasive
employment discrimina-
tion. And most of Ameri-
ca’s segregated suburbs
remained nearly all white.
The civil rights move-
ment of the 1950s and 1960s
produced deep and lasting
changes. Yet it also fueled a
political backlash among
white conservatives, espe-
cially in the South and Mid-
west. Working-class and
evangelical whites who had
long been part of Franklin
D. Roosevelt’s New Deal
coalition switched their al-
legiance to the Republican
Party, which promised to
resist further desegrega-
tion and to support policies
promoted by social con-
servatives. This “Southern
Strategy” helped to put
Richard Nixon in the White
House in 1968, and then
Ronald Reagan in 1980. The
same white, evangelical ru-
ral and suburban base
helped to elect George H.W.
Bush, George W. Bush, and
Trump.
SOURCE: PROJECT SYNDICATE
Trump’s last stand for apartheid America
T
Better than a thousand
hollow words, is one word
that brings peace. —Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Jagat Prakash Nadda
@JPNadda
BJP’s victory in Leh Autonomous
Hill Development Council, Leh
election is historic. BJP has won
15 out of 26 seats. I congratulate
Shri @Jtnbjp and all karyakartas
of @BJP4Ladakh unit. Gratitude
to the people of Ladakh for their
faith in BJP.
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
India’s energy plan aims to
ensure energy justice, that too,
with fully following our global
commitments for sustainable
growth. Our energy sector will be
growth-centric, industry-friendly
and environment-cautious: PM
Shri @narendramodi
UDDHAV-KANGANA SPAT
TURNS ACRIMONIOUS
fter a brief lull, Maharashtra Chief Min-
ister Uddhav Thackeray and film actress
Kangana Ranaut were at each other’s
throats once again, with the acrimony
between the two now turning into a no-
holds-barred row. Taking a jibe at Kangana, Thack-
eray said, “People who have no means of livelihood
in their home come to Mumbai and betray it. Call-
ing Mumbai PoK is in fact the failure of Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi. He had said he would get PoK
back into India.” Thackeray knows that Kangana
is batting for the BJP which is plotting his downfall.
Not holding his punches, Thackeray persisted
with his attack on Kangana and the BJP. Thack-
eray said, “Mumbai is PoK, there are drug addicts
everywhere—they are painting such a picture.
They don’t know in our house we grow tulsi, not
ganja (marijuana). Ganja fields in your state, you
know where, not in our Maharashtra.”
A stung Kangana hit back with equal venom,
calling Thackeray a “worse product” of nepotism.
“Chief Minister, I am not drunk on my father’s
power and wealth like you. If I wanted to be a prod-
uct of nepotism, I could have stayed back in
Himachal, I hail from a renowned family, I didn’t
want to live off their wealth and favours, some peo-
ple have self-respect and self-worth.”
Not just Kangana, Raj Bhawan too is also blatant-
ly anti-Thackeray. Then there are elements whip-
ping up communal hysteria in the name of temples.
Reference to Modi was Thackeray’s way of telling
the BJP that he knows the tricks it was up to.
A
IN-DEPTH
SC ORDER JOLTS CENTRE
TO ACT ON DELHI’S AIR
ir pollution in Delhi is finally being
dealt with the seriousness it deserves.
Very poor quality of Delhi air has been
a major cause of concern over the past
few years but even the recent remark of
President Donald Trump describing Delhi air as
“filthy” did not embarrass mandarins in the Union
and Delhi governments enough to jolt them into
taking, or promising to take, corrective measures.
The Supreme Court should be credited with shak-
ing the Centre out of its slumber.
While hearing a PIL filed by a Class 12 student
throughvideo-conferencing,a three-judgeBenchof
Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice A.S. Bopanna and
Justice V. Ramasubramaniam observed, “People
are choking because of the pollution. The govern-
mentshouldhavetakenthestepitself withoutaPIL
being filed on the issue.” The Bench had ordered
setting up of a one-man committee headed by for-
mer Supreme Court judge, Justice Madan B. Lokur,
to monitor/prevent stubble burning in Punjab,
Haryana,andUttarPradesh.RespondingtotheSC’s
order Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta said that the
Centre was considering making comprehensive
legislation on the issue. After the Centre’s assur-
ance, the court put its earlier order in abeyance.
Burning of stubble by farmers in Punjab has
been the main cause of air pollution in Delhi and
NCR, although Aam Admi Party, Congress, and the
BJP disagree. The latter two political parties ac-
cuse AAP of overplaying the stubble-burning card.
Traffic, dust from construction sites, the inability
of pollutants and dust particles to move in stag-
nant air and industries are the other major con-
tributors to Delhi’s poor air quality.
A
1
Pakistan has a cheq-
uered history of non-
democratic polity
gravely influenced by the
military. Immediately after
independence, even when
the Queen of England was
still the premier of the coun-
try, Pakistan decided to take
on the path of dictatorship/
martial law. Over a period of
time, the military kept influ-
encing/ousting the civilian
electedgovtonthepretextof
inefficiency, personal ambi-
tions, or Islamisation. Dur-
ing this sojourn, Pakistan
with the connivance of Chi-
na was able to clandestinely
acquire/build a nuclear ar-
senal. Nuclear weapons, be-
ingtheharbingersof wiping
out humanity from the sur-
face of Earth, have to be pro-
tected from all inimical
forces especially the ever-
flourishing Jehadis institu-
tions in Pakistan.
2
Today, it appears that
Pakistan is on the
verge of a civil war
with Nawaz Sharif leading
the PDM alliance against
Imran govt supported by
Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa
andISIchief LtGenFaizHa-
meed of the Pakistan army.
The multi-centric turmoil in
Pakistan raises serious
questions about safety, secu-
rity, and operational control
of Pakistani nuclear weap-
ons. The shades of para-
mountcy in this maze of
likely civil war vary from
the combined opposition led
by Nawaz Sharief against
collusion of ‘Imran and
Army’ononesidetoapower
struggle within the Army
between ‘Bajwa supporters
and Lt Gen Sarfraz Sattar
and his supporters aided by
the then CJI Asif Saeed Kho-
sa’ to the individual insur-
gent groups in Baluchistan,
Sindh, Gilgit Baltistan, and
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In
the case of a conflagration
of present turbulence, it is
the obscurity that threatens
humanity as regards the
eventual control of Pak
Nucs which could be cap-
tured by irresponsible stake-
holders or the rogue Jehadi
institutions.
3
Present disarming of
Sindh Police, abduc-
tion of IGP Karachi,
mass leave by Sindh Police
personnel, with Pakistan
Rangers (Army) taking over
of administration shows the
brutal crushing of Sindis in
Pakistan. This happened af-
ter Nawaz led opposition
opened the outright front
against Imran-Bajwa coali-
tion. Nawaz Sharif being in
exileinLondonhaslaunched
an unscathed attack against
Army by openly naming the
specific generals including
Bajwa and his supporters.
Nawaz Sharif, in doing so,
has been very careful not to
commit political suicide. He
has fully exploited the inter-
nal turmoil created in Paki-
stan by very high rates of
inflation, the subversion,
and suffering of the popula-
tion by the Chinese, the per-
fidious use of Pakistani re-
sources by China(CPEC),
andImran’sreturnof favour
to Bajwa by granting him an
extension as Army chief.
The movement has gained
alarming proportions and
an imminent civil war-like
situationisbeingcrushedby
the military.
4
The passions amongst
the masses are being
fuelled with the anti-
China sentiment on account
of promises of employment,
extremely high cost of elec-
tricity, a wide range of cor-
ruption with heavy losses to
the state, and usage of Paki-
stanterritorybyChinaforits
own economic, strategic and
defence purposes. Besides
the surrender of Pakistani
territory to China by Imran
Khan from Khyber Pass to
Gwader port, Imran has de-
cided to cede two islands out-
side Karachi port to China
for military purposes. This
would translate into a loss of
livelihood for more than
100000 native fishermen.
5
The financial position
of Pakistan needs less
to be said. It had to bor-
row One Bn $ from their
coloniser China to pay the
part of the debt to Saudi
Arabia. The FATF has not
upgraded Pakistan’s stand-
ing from the GREY list. This
means Pakistan will con-
tinue to reel under abject
poverty and will not get a
bailout package to rescue
its citizens from impover-
ishment. Meanwhile, the
default on Chinese loans
has halted the funds to stall
the CPEC projects. All these
combined shows a way for
Pakistan to surrender its
sovereignty in Balu-
chistan the way it happened
in the Hambantota port in
Sri Lanka.
6
Theutterchaoticcondi-
tions prevalent in Paki-
stan point towards tu-
multuous pandemonium
which has created lawless-
ness. It will raise a serious
question on the capture and
subsequent control of Nu-
clearweapons.Pakistan,asit
is rife with irresponsible
statements on the use of nu-
clear weapons whether they
are politicians (Imran/
Rashid),Jehaditerrorists,or
even a section of Press in Pa-
kistan. Prior to this turmoil,
what was said about the Pa-
kistaniNuclearweaponswas
“WEMANUFECTUREDNU-
CLEAR BOMBS BECAUSE
WE COULD NOT HAVE
PEACEFUL SLEEP DUE TO
SECURITY REASONS and
NOW WE CAN NOT SLEEP
BECAUSE OF SCARE OF
LOSING CONTROL OF NU-
CLEAR WEAPONS”. Now
with present pandemonium
and unclear understanding
as to ‘who will wield power
and in what measure’, the
Pakistani Nuclear weapons
can well be tamed by the Je-
hadi forces, that can spell po-
tential doom for the entire
world. Only 100 nuclear
bombs are enough to engulf
the whole world in thick
smog which will deplete the
entireOzonelayersurround-
ing the Earth. The ozone
layer protects the Earth
against UV radiations from
the Sun which will literally
burn every possible animate
and non-animatedthing on
the surface of the earth.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
A THREAT IN PRESENT
CIVIL STRIFE IN PAK
TODAY, IT APPEARS
THAT PAKISTAN IS ON
THE VERGE OF A CIVIL
WAR WITH NAWAZ
SHARIF LEADING THE
PDM ALLIANCE
AGAINST IMRAN GOVT
SUPPORTED BY GEN
QAMAR JAVED BAJWA
AND ISI CHIEF LT GEN
FAIZ HAMEED OF THE
PAKISTAN ARMY. THE
MULTI-CENTRIC
TURMOIL IN PAKISTAN
RAISES SERIOUS
QUESTIONS ABOUT
SAFETY, SECURITY, AND
OPERATIONAL
CONTROL OF PAKISTANI
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
BRIG VIJAY
SAGAR DHEMAN
The writer is a leading defence
and strategic expert, prolific writer,
national TV news Commentator, and
internationally accredited life coach
The financial position of Pakistan needs
less to be said. It had to borrow 1 Bn $ from
their coloniser China to pay the part of the
debt to Saudi Arabia. The FATF has not upgraded
Pakistan’s standing from the GREY list

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INDIAAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020
Patna: LJP chief Chi-
rag Paswan alleged cor-
ruption in Nitish Ku-
mars flagship ‘Saat Ni-
shchay’ (seven resolves)
scheme and said if vot-
ed to power he will get
it probed and send to
jail those found guilty,
including the chief
minister.
The LJP chief also
raised accusing finger
on Kumar in the imple-
mentation of prohibi-
tion laws in the state
and accused the CM of
gaining from smug-
gling of liquor into the
state.
“Why not, if found
guilty. Just because he
is chief minister he
wont go to jail? Corrup-
tion is taking place
right under his nose,
Chirag told PTI-Bhasha
over phone from Arwal
when asked if he indeed
intends to send Kumar
to jail on charge of cor-
ruption in the imple-
mentation of seven re-
solves.
“Saat Nishchay is a
scheme formulated by
him. We will get it
probed after an LJP
government is formed.
And if found guilty, the
chief minister will also
go to jail,” he said.
Earlier, talking to re-
porters at Patna airport
before flying for his
election rallies, Chirag
said “12 crore Biharis,
including ministers in
his cabinet and media
persons, know about
widespread corruption
in implementation of
seven resolves”. Con-
tinuing with his tirade
against Kumar, he al-
leged illegal trade in
liquor is rampant in the
state due to patronage
of the bigwigs in the Ni-
tish Kumar’s govern-
ment. “Why doesn’t he
gets this inquired too?”
Chirag asked.—PTI
CorruptiononrightunderNitish’snose:Chirag
BIHAR POLLS: LJP chief also raised accusing finger on Kumar in implementation of prohibition laws & gaining from smuggling of liquor
‘Will get Saat Nishchay scheme probed, if found guilty, the CM will also go to jail,’ Chirag said.
Muzaffarpur: Bihar
CM Nitish Kumar ex-
horted voters to bring
him back to power so
that the development
initiatives taken by his
government in the past
15 years could be con-
tinued.
At a rally in Sakra as-
sembly segment, Mu-
zaffarpur, to canvass for
party’s nominee Ashok
Kumar Choudhary, the
JD(U) leader also point-
ed at Leader of the Op-
position, Tejashwi
Prasad Yadav , saying
some try to get publici-
ty by attacking him.
“Some leaders get pub-
licity and eyeballs by
talking against me. Let
them do it . I am not in-
terested in any publici-
ty. I have worked for Bi-
har and will continue to
do so, if given another
chance,” he said. He
also targeted the RJD
obliquely by accusing it
of promoting nepotism
during its stint in pow-
er. “For some , their
family, sons ,daughters
are all that matters...
For me, the entire state
and people are my fam-
ily and I keep working
for their development,”
he said. “You all must
go to your respective
polling stations to cast
your vote for a govern-
ment which has been
committed to the devel-
opment of the state s for
the past 15 years. There
are a lot of projects still
going on towards giving
you a better life,” he
said. —ANI
Willgivemomentumtogrowth
inBihar,ifvotedtopower:Nitish
‘Borders of country secure
under PM’s leadership’
Aurangabad: BJP
president JP Nadda
addressing a public
rally in Aurangabad
said, “Aren’t all bor-
ders of the country
secure under PM Nar-
endra Modi’s leader-
ship? In the last six
years, 4700 kilometers
long 4-lane roads have
been constructed
from Arunachal
Pradesh to the Gal-
wan so that jawans
can reach the borders
without delay, when-
ever needed.” He also
said, “When our lead-
ers speak they talk
about development.
But remember 15
years ago when polls
were being fought in
the state candidates
spoke about caste, re-
ligion and about di-
viding people. When
Narendra Modi came
he changed the cul-
ture of Indian poli-
tics.” —ANI
Patna: Rashtriya Ja-
nata Dal (RJD) leader
Tejashwi Yadav on
Monday said that be-
sides unemployment,
inflation is the biggest
issue in Bihar Assem-
bly Elections as onion
prices are skyrocket-
ing. He also alleged
that 60 scams to the
tune of about Rs 30,000
crore have taken place
in the state under the
leadership of Nitish
Kumar. "Inflation is the
biggest issue. BJP peo-
ple used to wear a gar-
land of onions. Now it
is about to touch Rs
100/kg. Those who
were speaking about
onion when it touched
Rs 50-60/kg are now si-
lent when it has
crossed Rs 80/kg. Star-
vation and poverty are
rising in the state," Ya-
dav said while speak-
ing to media.
"There is unemploy-
ment, small traders are
destroyed. GDP is fall-
ing, we are going
through an economic
crisis. Farmers are be-
ing destroyed, youth is
unemployed, Bihar is
poor and people are mi-
grating for education,
jobs and medical help,"
he added. —ANI
‘60 scams occurred under Nitish’s leadership’
Bhopal: Former Mad-
hya Pradesh Chief
Minister Kamal Nath
on Monday alleged that
afraid of the forthcom-
ing by-poll results the
Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty has gone to the mar-
ket again to buy what
they can get.
While addressing a
press conference, the
Congress leader said,
"BJP has got clarity
about the results of
this election (Madhya
Pradesh by-polls) are
going to be on Novem-
ber 10. They are so
afraid that they have
started running again
to the market to buy
what they can get. I
have received calls
from many MLAs that
BJP is calling them
and making offers."
The Congress leader
said that in the month
of March, he had re-
jected the "politics of
bargain".
"I have written a let-
ter to the Election
Commission today that
these elections should
be fair," he said.
On Sunday, former
Congress MLA Rahul
Lodhi joined BJP in the
presence of MP CM
Shivraj Singh Chou-
han in Bhopal.
A total of 22 Con-
gress MLAs had re-
signed from state As-
sembly in March this
year, paving the way
for BJP's Shivraj Singh
Chouhan to take over
as Madhya Pradesh
Chief Minister for the
fourth time. —ANI
Afraid of by-poll results BJP trying
to buy what they can get, says Nath
New Delhi: Accusing
former CMs Kamal
Nath and Digvijaya
Singh of being the "big-
gest traitors" in Mad-
hya Pradesh, BJP lead-
er Jyotiraditya Scindia
said they betrayed vot-
ers' trust by running a
"corrupt" government
and he had to leave the
Congress after people's
issues raised by him
were not addressed de-
spite approaching "eve-
ry port of call". He also
expressed confidence
that the BJP will "win
a majority", if not all,
of the 28 assembly
seats where bypolls
will be held on Novem-
ber 3. “BJP has every-
thing to gain, while the
Congress has every-
thing to lose,” Scindia
said. —PTI
‘Kamal Nath, Digvijaya
biggest gaddars’
MP BYPOLLS : Voting on 28 assembly seats will take place on Nov 3
New Delhi: Former Un-
ion minister Dilip Ray
was on Monday sen-
tenced to three-year im-
prisonment in a coal
scam case. Ray was con-
victed in the case which
pertains to irregulari-
ties in the allocation of
a Jharkhand coal block
in 1999.
A Delhi court had
earlier this month re-
served the order for Oc-
tober 26 after hearing
arguments from the
Central Bureau of In-
vestigation (CBI) as
well the convicts. The
court directed the con-
victs to be present be-
fore it physically on
that date.
Ray was convicted
under various sections
including 409 of the
(IPC), which pertains to
criminal breach of
trust of trust by a pub-
lic servant.—ANI
New Delhi: The SC
dismissed a plea filed
by liquor baron Vijay
Mallya’s United
Breweries Holdings
Limited (UBHL) to
challenge a Karnata-
ka HC order to up-
hold the winding up
of the company for
recovery of dues pay-
able by Kingfisher
Airlines Ltd.—PTI
Coal scam: Former Union min Dilip
Ray sentenced to 3-year imprisonment
SC JUNKS
UBHL PLEA
AGAINST HC
IN THE COURTYARD
RAGA TO HOLD 2 RALLIES ON OCT 28
‘CONG GAVE
ENOUGH RESPECT
TO JYOTIRADITYA’
Nitish Kumar addresses an election rally at Mahua on Monday.
Tejashwi Yadav during a public rally at Bhagalpur on Monday.
Kamal Nath
Dilip Ray
TATA SKY-1182, AIRTEL-361, DEN-334, HATHWAY-780, SITI NETWORK-369, FW RADIANT-340
JP Nadda addresses a public rally in Aurangabad.

INDIAAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020
INDIA 06www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Controlling
lawfully!...
days and will be imple-
mented immediately.
The draft law under
consideration would be
placed before the court
within a period of a few
days, Mehta assured the
court while urging the
Court to keep its Octo-
ber 16 order in abey-
ance.
“This government
acts fast,” Mehta added
while assuring the
court of quick action.
The Supreme Court
had, on October 16, ex-
pressed its concern that
the citizens of Delhi-
NCR get to breathe
clean and fresh air and
appointed Justice (retd)
Madan B Lokur, a for-
mer judge of the top
court, to act as the one-
man monitoring com-
mittee to prevent stub-
ble burning in the states
of Punjab, Haryana and
Uttar Pradesh, and sub-
mit a report.
The order was issued
on a plea, which re-
ferred to a Harvard Uni-
versity study that air
pollution may now be
an important factor
that aggravates a mild
COVID-19 infection into
an acute one, had con-
tended that stubble
burning contributes al-
most 40 per cent of air
pollution in Delhi.
It had sought direc-
tions to ban stubble
burning in the states
neighboring the nation-
al capital as it causes
massive air pollution in
the winters. —ANI
3 PDP...
approach and identity
besides regaining it’s
image as a political al-
ternative to the people.
“In view of this, we
feel uncomfortable and
suffocated in the party,
forcing us to take diffi-
cult decision of leaving
the party,” they stated.
Addressing a press
conference on October
23, Mufti lashed out at
the Centre for abrogat-
ing Article 370 and said
that she will raise the
Indian tricolour when
the “flag of Jammu and
Kashmir” is brought
back. —ANI
India, US...
“The two ministers ex-
pressed satisfaction
that agreement of
BECA (Basic Exchange
and Cooperation Agree-
ment) will be signed
during the visit,” the
defence ministry said
in a statement.
Separately, External
Affairs Minister S Jais-
hankar held talks with
US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo, focus-
sing on a broad spec-
trum of issues of mu-
tual interests.
Esper and Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo
arrived here on Monday
on a two-day visit for
the third edition of the
2+2 ministerial dia-
logue which will take
place on Tuesday.
The Indian side at
the 2+2 dialogue will be
led by Jaishankar and
Singh.
After his delegation-
level talks with Esper,
Singh tweeted that the
discussions will add
new vigour to India-US
defence relations.
Earlier, Singh re-
ceived Esper at the
lawns of the South
Block in Raisina Hills,
reflecting the impor-
tance India is attaching
to the visit by the two
top officials of the
Trump administration.
The US defence secre-
tary was also accorded
a tri-services guard of
honour.
The Indian delega-
tion at the talks includ-
ed Chief of Defence
Staff Gen Bipin Rawat,
Army Chief Gen MM
Naravane, Navy Chief
Admiral Karambir Sin-
gh and Chief of Air
Staff Air Chief Mar-
shal RKS Bhadauria,
Defence Secretary Ajay
Kumar and DRDO
Chairman G Satheesh
Reddy. The issue of Chi-
na’s aggressive military
behaviour is expected
to figure prominently
during Tuesday’s talks,
sources indicated.
Are BJP...
The ten Rajya Sabha
seats from Uttar
Pradesh falling vacant
are three of BJP, four of
Samajwadi party, two
of Bahujan Samaj Par-
ty and one of the Con-
gress. The BJP’s candi-
dates for Rajya Sabha
polls from Uttar
Pradesh include Union
minister Hardeep Sin-
gh Puri, party’s general
secretary Arun Singh
and Neeraj Shekhar. All
three are sitting MPs.
Besides them, other five
candidates are Geeta
Shakya, Haridwar
Dubey, Brijlal, BL Var-
ma and Seema Dwivedi.
Meanwhile, the BJP
on Monday announced
its one candidate for the
Rajya Sabha poll for Ut-
tarakhand. Earlier this
month the Election
Commission had an-
nounced elections to 10
Rajya Sabha seats in Ut-
tar Pradesh and one in
Uttarakhand, falling
vacant on November 25.
Similarly, party’s
nominee for Rajya Sab-
ha from Uttarakhand,
Naresh Bansal, is also
expected to win. With
these nine new possible
members, the BJP’s
own tally in Rajya Sab-
ha will cross 90 in the
245-member house.
‘State released...
had said that his con-
stituency had been re-
ceiving step-daughterly
treatment for as long as
he had been on the op-
position bench. He had
also claimed that he had
joined the BJP for the
betterment of his con-
stituency.
FROM PG 1
23 IAS OFFICERS RETIRING IN
OCTOBER
As many as 23 IAS officers of various cadres and
batches are retiring in October, 2020. They are:
Kumar Sanjay Krishna of Assam-Meghalaya cadre;
Shobhendra Kumar of Bihar; Chhattar Singh Dehre
of Chhattisgarh; Sangeeta Singh, Sunil M Patel
and A J Shah of Gujarat; Ramakanat Singh and
Binay Kuamr Roy of Jharkhand; A B Ibrahim of
Karnataka; M B Ojha of Madhya Pradesh; R R Jad-
hav and N K Poyam of Maharashtra; Bijay Kumar
Nayak of Odisha; Rajeev Swarup and Shyam Singh
Rajpurohit of Rajasthan; M Vijayakumar of Tamil
Nadu; Bibhu Prasad Acharya of Telangana; Ishvari
Prasad Pandey of Uttar Pradesh; Atul Kumar Gupta
of Uttarakhand; Hari Ramulu, Syed Sarwar Imam,
Sailesh Mukhopadhayay of West Bengal.
INTER-CADRE DEPUTATION OF
VIVEK RAJ SINGH EXTENDED
Inter-cadre deputation of Vivek Raj Singh - from
Assam-Meghalaya cadre to Madhya Pradesh cad-
re - has been extended for a period of two years
beyond October 25, 2020. He is a 2006 batch IPS
officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre.
V K SHARMA IS INDEPENDENT
DIRECTOR IN ANIL AMBANI LED
RELIANCE
Former Chairman of the LIC V K Sharma has
joined as Independent Director in Anil Ambani led
Reliance.
MRS. RENUKA GERA TO JOIN AS
DIRECTOR (IS&P), BHEL ON DEC 1
Mrs. Renuka Gera, Executive Director of
BHEL, will be taking over the charge as Director
(Industrial System & Products), Bharat Heavy
Electricals Limited (BHEL) on December 1, 2020.
She will succeed present incumbent S Balakrish-
nan retiring in November, 2020.
1990 BATCH IPS OFFICER DR B
SRINIVAS PROMOTED TO DGP
GRADE IN J&K
Dr. B Srinivas has been promoted to the grade of
Director General of Police in Jammu & Kashmir.
He is a 1990 batch IPS officer of J&K cadre.
30 ISS PROBATIONERS GET
POSTINGS
As many as 30 Probationers of Indian Statistical
Service (ISS) of Examination 2019 have been
posted to Grade IV. They are: Harshit Agrawal,
Jagrati Goyal, Priyanka Anjoy, Himanshi Trivedi,
Bhawana Joshi, Ankit Kumar Jain, Akshita Arora,
Anjali Maury, Preeti Tiwari, Alisha Khanam, Jyoti
Nagarkoti, Sonakhya Samaddar and many others.
SUNIL KUMAR GULATI APPOINTED
AS CHIEF RESIDENT COMMISSIONER,
HARYANA BHAWAN
Sunil Kumar Gulati has been appointed as
Chief Resident Commissioner, Haryana Bha-
wan, New Delhi. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer
of Haryana cadre.
VINAY PARTAP SINGH IS
ADDITIONAL RESIDENT
COMMISSIONER, HARYANA BHAWAN
Vinay Partap Singh has been appointed as Addition-
al Resident Commissioner, Haryana Bhawan. He is
a 2011 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.
V UMASHANAKR APPOINTED S
PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO
HARYANA CM
V Umashankar has been appointed as Principal
Secretary to Chief Minister of Haryana. He is a 1993
batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with: http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
New Delhi: India will
drive the global energy
demand, PM Narendra
Modi said on Monday as
he showcased his gov-
ernment’s recent re-
forms in the sector to
global investors.
Speaking at the India
Energy Forum by CER-
AWeek, Modi said the
coronavirus had result-
ed in global energy de-
mand falling by one-
third, investment deci-
sions being impacted
and predictions of a
contraction in demand
over the next few years.
India was on track to
meet its COP21 commit-
ment of raising elec-
tricity from renewable
energy sources to 175
gigawatts by 2022. “We
have extended target to
450 GW by 2030,” he
said, adding India has
lowest carbon emis-
sions. “India’s reform
has been on high speed
in five years,” he em-
phasised. India’s ener-
gy future is bright and
secure, Modi said, add-
ing access to energy
shouldbeaffordableand
reliable. “Our energy
sector will be growth-
centric, investor-friend-
ly, environment con-
scious,” he added.
India’s energy future is
bright, secure: PM Modi
PM Narendra Modi addresses 4th India Energy Forum by ERAWeek,
virtually via VC in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
PM to launch
national conf on
vigilance, anti-
corruption today
New Delhi: CBI or-
ganises the Nation-
al Conference coin-
ciding with ‘Vigi-
lance Awareness
Week’, which is
observed in India
every year from
October 27 to No-
vember 2.
According to the
PMO, the inaugural
session of the con-
ference will be live-
streamed and avail-
able on ‘pmindi-
awebcast.nic.in’
link. —ANI
India’s case fatality rate at
1.5%, lowest since March 22
New Delhi: India’s
CFR of COVID-19 has
touched 1.5 per cent, the
lowest since March 22
and is continuously de-
clining, said the Union
Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare
(MoHFW) here on Mon-
day. With 480 new
deaths, the COVID-19
toll mounted to 1,19,014,
as per the Union Health
Ministry.
According to the
WHO, CFR is a meas-
ure of the severity of
a disease defined as
the proportion of re-
ported cases of a speci-
fied disease or condi-
tion, which are fatal
within a specified time.
Lowest since July 22
when 37,000 new cases
added. —ANI
Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit
Pawar tests positive for Covid
Mumbai: Maharashtra
Deputy CM Ajit Pawar
has tested positive for
the novel coronavirus.
In a message, Pawar
said his health condi-
tion is fine. “I have test-
ed positive for COV-
ID-19. My health condi-
tion is fine. As a precau-
tionary measure I have
admitted self to Breach
Candy Hospital on the
advice of doctors,” the
NCP leader said.
Thursday, he tested
negative for covid, was
in home quarantine.
New Delhi: The SC on
Monday refused to en-
tertain a plea seeking a
court-monitored probe
by the CBI into the
death of actor Sush-
ant’s former manager
Disha Salian. A bench
headed by CJ SA Bobde
asked the petitioner to
withdraw the plea from
the apex court and ap-
proach the Bombay HC
with the same. PIL
sought a court-moni-
tored CBI probe into the
death of Salian along
with Sushant Singh
saying both are inter-
linked.
The petitioner fur-
ther stated that as
per reports Salian’s
case file is missing or
has been deleted
from records of in-
vestigation.
SC stays contempt
proceedings in Ut-
tarakhand HC against
ex-CMs, CS
The SC on Monday
stayed the contempt
proceedings pending in
the Uttarakhand HC
against former CMs ND
Tiwari, BS Koshiyari,
BC Khanduri, Ramesh
Pokhriyal Nishank and
Vijay Bahuguna and CS
who have not yet start-
ed paying rent for the
accommodations allot-
ted to them. HC, after
finding that govern-
ment was delaying re-
coveries of market rent,
had initiated contempt
proceedings. HC had
also quashed legisla-
tion, passed by the state,
which permitted for-
mer CMs to pay appro-
priate rent instead of
market rent for the bun-
galow allotted to them.
Unfortunate, say SC
on ex-HC Judge’s at-
tempt to forcibly en-
ter house of SC Judge
The SC on Monday
termed an incident as
unfortunate, in which
former judge of HC
forcefully attempted
to enter residence of
retired top court
judge Justice R. Ba-
numathi, who retired
in July this year, in
Chennai.
IN THE COURTYARD
Plea for Salian’s case be filed in HC : SC
‘We should talk on Common Civil Code’
New Delhi: Interna-
tional Joint General
Secretary of Vishwa
Hindu Parishad (VHP),
Surendra Jain has
backed Rashtriya Sway-
amsevak Sangh (RSS)
Joint General Secretary
Dattatreya Hosabale’s
reported demand for a
debate on the Uniform
Civil Code.
VHP leader Jain said,
“What is the problem if
the Common Civil Code
is discussed openly, and
whatever apprehen-
sions are there, they
should be neutralised.
I think it is very im-
portant that there
should be an open de-
bate on the Common
Civil Code in order to
stop the feeling of al-
ienation for the devel-
opment of the coun-
try and to create a
peaceful environ-
ment. This is the de-
mand of today.”
“Bhimrao Ambedkar
himself had placed this
in the Directive Princi-
ple of Constitution. SC
has given instructions
that we should imple-
ment the Common Civil
Code, ” asked Jain. —ANI
Why no Bharat Ratna to
Savarkar?RautasksBJP
New Delhi: Amid the
ongoing war of words
between the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) and
the Shiv Sena,
senior Shiv Sena
leader Sanjay
Raut has asked
why the BJP gov-
ernment at the
Centre had not
given Bharat Rat-
na to Vinayak Damodar
(Veer) Savarkar.
The question comes a
day after BJP spokes-
person Ram Kadam
asked Maharashtra
Chief Minister Uddhav
Thackeray why he did
not utter a sin-
gle word of
praise for Veer
Savarkar in the
Dussehra rally
and claimed he
was afraid of the
Congress party,
which Kadam said had
“repeatedly used derog-
atory remarks” against
Veer Savarkar. —ANI
Civil Defence volunteers hold anti-coronavirus mascot to raise
awareness about Coronavirus at Connaught Place, in New Delhi.
Nitin Gadkari to lay
foundation stones of 9
highway projects today
New Delhi: Union Min-
ister for Road Trans-
port, Highways and MS-
MEs Nitin Gadkari will
lay the foundation
stones of 9 NH projects
with a total length of
nearly 262 kms worth
over Rs 2752 crore in
Tripura on Tuesday.
“The Projects, on
completion, will pro-
vide faster and hassle-
free inter-state and in-
ternational connectivi-
ty to Bangladesh and
will be a major stride
towards strengthening
the tourism sector of
the State. The new pro-
jects will provide better
connectivity, fast and
safe movement of traf-
fic to various tourist
places, historical places
and religious places in
the entire State and also
generate a large num-
ber of employment,”
said the Ministry of
Road Transport & High-
ways.
According to the Min-
istry of Road Transport
& Highways, these Na-
tional Highway projects
will improve the trans-
port of agricultural
goods and access to
greater markets and
will reduce the cost of
goods and services.
Nitin Gadkari
VHPTOHOST200MAHANTS,SADHUSINDEL
Surendra Jain

I
f you thought those flimsy disposable plastic
grocery bags represented most of our plastic
waste problem, think again. The volume of
plastictheworldthrowsawayeveryyearcould
rebuild the Ming Dynasty’s Great Wall of China –
about3,700mileslong.Inthesixdecadesthatplastic
has been manufactured for commercial uses, more
than 8.3 billion metric tons have been produced.
Plastics are light, versatile, cheap and nearly inde-
structible (as long as they don’t get too hot). These
properties make them incredibly useful in an
enormous range of applications that includes
sterile food packaging, energy-efficient trans-
portation,textilesandmedicalprotectivegear.
But their indestructible nature comes at a
cost. Most of them decompose extremely
slowly in the environment – on the order of
several hundred years – where they are cre-
ating a global epidemic of plastic trash. Its
consequences for human and ecosystem
healtharestillincompletelyknown,butare
potentially momentous. I am a chemist with
experienceindesigningprocessesformaking
plastics, and I became interested in using plas-
tic as a large, untapped resource for energy and
materials. I wondered if we could turn plastic
waste into something more valuable to keep it out
of landfills and the natural environment.
TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION CONCEPT: MONI SHARMA DESIGN: CP SHARMA
IMPROVING
PLASTICS
MOST PLASTIC RECYCLING PRODUCES LOW-VALUE
MATERIALS, WE’VE FOUND A WAY TO TURN A
COMMON PLASTIC INTO HIGH-VALUE MOLECULES
Theprocesswehave
developeddoesnot
require high tempera-
tures, but instead de-
pendsontinyamounts
of a catalyst contain-
ing a metal that re-
moves a little hydro-
gen from the polymer
chain. The catalyst
then uses this hydro-
gen to cut the bonds
that hold the carbon
chain together, mak-
ing smaller pieces.
The key is using the
hydrogen as soon as it
forms so that the
chain-cutting pro-
vides the energy for
making more hydro-
gen. This process is
repeated many times
for each chain, turn-
ing the solid polymer
into a liquid.
The chopping slows
down naturally when
the molecules reach a
certain size, so it’s
easy to prevent the
molecules from be-
coming too small.
We’re able to recover
the valuable liquid be-
fore it turns into less
useful gases.
A majority of the
molecules in the re-
covered liquid are
alkylbenzenes, which
are useful as solvents
and can easily be
turned into deter-
gents. The global mar-
ket for this type of
molecule is about
US$9 billion annually.
Turning waste plas-
tic into valuable mol-
ecules is called upcy-
cling. Although our
study represented a
small-scale demon-
stration, a prelimi-
nary economic analy-
sis suggests that it
could easily be adapt-
ed to become a much
larger-scale process in
the next few years.
Keeping plastic out of
the environment by
reusingitinawaythat
makes good economic
sense is a win-win.
HOW THE NEW PROCESS WORKS
Plastics are made by
stringing together a
large number of small,
carbon-based molecules
in an almost infinite va-
riety of ways to create
polymer chains. To re-
use these polymers, re-
cycling facilities could,
in principle, melt and
reshape them, but plas-
tics’ properties tend to
deteriorate. The result-
ing materials are almost
never suitable for their
original use, although
theycanbeusedtomake
lower-value stuff like
plastic lumber. The re-
sult is a very low effec-
tive rate of recycling.
A new approach in-
volves breaking the long
chains down into small
molecules again. The
challenge is how to do
this in a precise way.
Since the process of
making the chains in the
first place releases a lot
of energy, reversing it re-
quires adding a large
amount of energy back
in. Generally this means
heating up the material
to a high temperature –
but heating up plastic
causes the stuff to turn
into a nasty mess. It also
wastes a lot of energy,
meaning more green-
house gas emissions. My
team at UC Santa Bar-
bara, working with col-
leagues at the University
of IllinoisUrbana-Cham-
paign and Cornell, dis-
covered a clean way to
turn polyethylene into
usefulsmallermolecules.
Polyethylene is one of
the world’s most useful
and most used plastic
types. It is also one of
the largest contributors
to plastic waste. It repre-
sents a third of the near-
ly 400 million metric
tons of plastic the world
makes every year, for
purposes ranging from
sterile food and medical
packaging, waterproof
films and coatings, cable
and wire insulation,
construction materials
andwaterpipes,towear-
resistant hip and knee
replacements and even
bulletproof vests.
MANAGEMENT
A NEW WAY TO USE PLASTIC WASTE

There is something about
kindness that is warm and
spreads like wildfire. It is a rare
man who has had kindness done to him
and is not kind to others.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
An unidentified man threw a chappal at Nitin Patel during a press conference; it missed him
Shishir Awasthi
Vadodara: Deputy
Chief Minister Nitin
Patel was on Monday
stunned when a chap-
pal was hurled at him
while he was cam-
paigning in the Kar-
jan assembly constitu-
ency near Vadodara
for the November 3
byelections.
Patel’s security was
immediately beefed up
after the incident, while
the person who hurled
the footwear at him was
yet to be identified and
police investigations
had started.
The chappal missed
the Deputy Chief Min-
ister who continued
with his campaign
and a press confer-
ence.
Nitin Patel and the
State BJP leadership al-
leged that “anti-social
elements backed by the
Congress” were respon-
sible for this.
Curiously, the inci-
dent occurred when
the Deputy Chief Min-
ister was addressing
reporters near Karjan
Kurali village, after
his public meeting in
the area. An angry Ni-
tin Patel asserted,
“Such dastardly acts
are always the handi-
work of the Congress
party, who had engi-
neered the 2002
Godhra train attack.”
“TheCongressleader-
ship and Ahmed Patel
had also slapped fabri-
cated cases against
(PrimeMinister)Naren-
dra Modi and (Union
Home Minister) Amit
Shah when in power.
They are the people re-
sponsible for this,” Patel
went on.
He stated that this
was not an isolated in-
stance of the Opposi-
tion party stooping to
this low. The Deputy
Chief Minister said
earlier too such inci-
dents had happened
with BJP candidate
JV Kakadia and a
Congress corporator’s
husband and a party
worker were found to
be involved in the act.
Condemning the inci-
dent, Gujarat BJP Presi-
dent CR Paatil asserted
that it was Congress’
second nature to behave
in such a despicable
manner. BJP media cell
president Prashant Vala
called this an act of des-
peration and added that
theCongresswasresort-
ing to such tactics as it
was sure of its defeat in
the bypolls.
Karjan is among the 8
assembly constituen-
cies where bypolls will
be held on November 3.
It may be recalled
that the BJP’s candi-
date for Karjan, Aksh-
ayPatel,onlylastweek
faced the anger of vil-
lagers at several places
during his campaign.
Last week, a group of
angry villagers in Navi
Jithardi in Karjan
heckled Akshay Patel
asking where he was
for3yearsafterhewas
elected in December
2017. He had to make
peace by apologising
and promising that
they won’t have these
complaints again.
PUBLIC ANGER? Chappal hurled
at DyCM Nitin Patel in Karjan
A chappal was hurled at Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel when he was addressing reporters in Karjan
on Monday.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A Spe-
cial Ahmedabad
Court on Monday de-
nied bail to a man ac-
cused of raping his
11-year-old daughter
for 3 long years, stat-
ing that it was the
duty of a father to
protect his daughter.
Rejecting bail to him,
the Special Court ob-
served that serious al-
legations had been
made against the ac-
cused person, while it
was the duty of a father
to protect his daughter.
“If he is granted
bail there is a possi-
bility of it adversely
impacting the victim
and her family, be-
sides the possibility
of tampering with
evidence and wit-
nesses,” the court ob-
served.
The court also noted
with concern that such
types of offences were
on the rise recently.
Opposing the bail ap-
plication, the public
prosecutor said the
man had been commit-
ting the offence against
his daughter for the
last 3 years when the
mother went out for
work.
He said the man
took advantage of be-
ing alone in the house
with his daughter
and went on to rape
her. Not only this, he
threatened to kill her
if she revealed any-
thing to her mother.
He also threatened to
kill the child’s broth-
er and mother.
The counsel for the
accused claimed the
applicant father was
innocent and that the
couple had been living
separately for a long
time and the complain-
ant (the mother) used
to visit Bangalore and
Goa for work. She filed
the case based on as-
sumptions. He also ar-
gued that the com-
plainant was living
with his family and he
won’t go anywhere if
granted bail.
Rape accused father seeks bail, shocked court rejects it
HEIGHT OF PERVERSION!
A court observed a father’s duty was to
protect minor daughter, instead of
raping her for 3 years
HC quashes complaint
against MoS Jadeja
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In a
major relief to Min-
ister of State for
Home Pradipsinh
Jadeja, the Gujarat
High Court on Mon-
day quashed and set
aside a lower court’s
order to lodge a
criminal complaint
against him for al-
leged violation of
the model code of
conduct during the
2007 Assembly polls.
Setting aside the or-
der, Justice Ilesh Vora
observed, “The trial
court failed to consid-
er the facts and appli-
cable law in its proper
perspective and with-
out any basis initiated
judicial process me-
chanically against the
applicant.”
The court observed,
“Even, the impugned
order does not demon-
strate that the learned
Magistrate has pe-
rused the material on
record and applied his
mind before taking
cognizance and form-
ing his opinion with
regard to proceeding
against the applicant
for the alleged offenc-
es.” This was “with-
out any basis and con-
trary to the settled
law.”
Additional Chief
Metropolitan Magis-
trate Jignesh G Da-
modara had in De-
cember last directed
to lodge criminal
complaint against
Jadeja under the
Representation of
the People’s Act.
This was after city
Congress chief Pan-
kaj Shah’s official
complaint attached
with a leaflet that
read, “Courtesy
Pradipsinh Jadeja,
MLA Asarwa, a slo-
gan, “Aapnu Guja-
rat, Aapnu Asarwa;
Ambe Mata ‘stuti’
and ‘Aarti’ along
with the photograph
of Pradipsinh Jade-
ja and then Chief
Minister Narendra
Modi.” But it didn’t
have the name of
any publisher or
printer.
MoS (Home) Pradipsinh Jadeja. —FILE PHOTO
SIMMERING ANGER?
BJP destroying villages in Guj,
has bias for urban areas: Hardik
Gujarat High Court goes live
on YouTube,begins trialFirst India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Gujarat
Congress’ working
president Hardik Pa-
tel on Sunday assert-
ed that the BJP had
destroyed the villages
in favour of selected
urban pockets.
Addressing a public
meeting attended by
thousands of people in
Gadhada assembly con-
stituency on Sunday,
Patel said, “The BJP
Government has de-
stroyed the villages.
There is no focus on the
farmers and rural folks
are being exploited. I
appeal to the voters to
vote for the Congress
party for holistic devel-
opment.”
Gadhada in Botad
district faces a byelec-
tion on November 3,
along with 7 other con-
stituencies. Though the
BJP had been ruling
Gujarat for over 20
years, there was no de-
velopment.
The ruling party
would always come
up with irrelevant
and external issues.
“They don’t discuss
local issues. We will
try to promote the
place (Gadhada) for
pilgrimage and ask
the government to in-
clude it under the Yat-
radham Vikas
Board,” he said.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat High Court on
Monday started live
streaming of the pro-
ceedings of its first
court on YouTube chan-
nel on an experimental
basis.
“Anyone willing to
view the live proceed-
ings could access the
link of the YouTube
channel from the home-
page of the Gujarat
High Court website,”
Chief Justice Vikram
Nath stated in an order.
The order stated that
the proceedings of the
Division Bench No.1
(First Court) would be
telecast live, on a trial
basis, and the “aspect
of continuing with or
adapting the modality
of live court proceed-
ings will be decided
based on the outcome
of this trial,” the Chief
Justice said.
The High Court
Benches have been
functioning through
video conferencing
since March 24 amid the
Covid-19 pandemic.
Hardik Patel
Gujarat High Court went live on YouTube on trial basis.
PSI Shweta Jadeja
gets bail in graft case
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
Gujarat High Court
on Monday granted
bail to PSI Shweta
Jadeja, who is facing
charges of accepting
a bribe from an ac-
cused in a rape case,
on a personal bond of
Rs 1 lakh with the tri-
al court. Justice AP
Thakkar observed
that the principle,
“Bail is a rule and jail
is an exception,”
would apply in her
case, while taking
note that she was in
jailsinceJuly3of this
year and being a pub-
lic servant is not like-
ly to flee.
The court ordered
Jadeja to submit her
passport with the
court and not leave
the State without its
permission.Heradvo-
cate Virat Popat sub-
mitted that a woman
accused could be re-
leased on bail, even if
serving life sentence
while 7 years was the
maximum punish-
ment in this case.
COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
3,693
DEATHS
1,68,081
CONFIRMED CASES
RAJASTHAN
1,853 DEATHS 1,88,048 CASES
DELHI
6,312 DEATHS 3,59,488 CASES
WORLD
11,61,816
DEATHS
4,35,52,258
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
79,43,765
CONFIRMED CASES
1,19,403
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
43,264 DEATHS 16,48,665 CASES
TAMIL NADU
10,956 DEATHS 7,11,713 CASES
KARNATAKA
10,947 DEATHS 8,05,947 CASES

THE VIRTUAL CONNECT
oing digital is the
‘New Normal’, and
this is definitely
something everyone
is adapting to. Since
the existence of the
Coronavirus, every-
thing has taken a toll and
the digital presence of
everything and every-
one has eventually in-
creased.
You might be aware of
the fact that The
Fashion Connect
Season 7 by First
India was cancelled
just 5 days before the
big day back in
March this year.
But that did not
stop the excite-
ment, as we
are back with
the virtual
season for
the same,
and TFC-
8 will take place at Rambagh
Palace (dates to be an-
nounced soon).
The shoot for the virtual
edition of TFC took place at
Maharani Mahal at Ram-
bagh Palace on Monday, and
it is going to be out on all the
digital platforms soon. Hap-
pening for the first time in
Rajasthan, virtual TFC is go-
ing to set a benchmark, with
the show beautifully curated
by show director Lokesh
Sharma, fashion designer
Varsha Sethi, photographer
Jiten, videographer Sahil,
hair and makeup by Riya
and Vishnu from Beauty
Creation, and top models
from New Delhi.
Talking about the virtual
edition, brand ambassador
of TFC, Rishi Miglani stated,
“People have been eagerly
waiting for TFC this year
since it was called off a few
months back due to COVID.
We wanted to do something
different and eventually
landed upon this idea. Being
the first ones from Rajasthan
to do a virtual fashion show
of such a huge scale, we are
going to absolutely nail it.”
Show director, Lokesh
Sharma stated, “I have been
a part of various virtual
events, but this is the first
one in Rajasthan. Since TFC
is so close to my heart, we’ve
worked really hard for this,
and can’t wait for the final
outcome to be showcased to
the audience.”
Introducing the first glimpse of the virtual edition of The Fashion Connect by First India, which was shot on Monday at Rambagh Palace
NEHAL NAYAR
nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in
G
—PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO—PHOTOS BY JITEN AGARWAL
AHMEDABAD, TUESDAY
OCTOBER 27, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
Jatin Khirbar, Jiten and Lokesh Sharma
Sanjay Sardana
Rishee MigllaniRiya and Vishnu
Varsha Sethi
Jagdeesh Chandra with (from left) Shaan, Nehal, Anita, Varsha, Priety, Rashi, Lokesh, Sanjay, Nishi,
Vanshika, Reet, Jatin, Jiten, Sahil, Syed Umar and Rishee
Models showcasing designs of Varsha Sethi

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
DIKSHA VOHRA, Content Creator
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
You may need to work on
keeping your wits about
you and avoiding mental
strain or stress today, dear
Leo. Restlessness can develop if part
of you feels you should be more
involved than you are. Take steps to
wind down so that you can enjoy
mental tasks and exercises.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Problem areas related to
overdoing can be in focus
today, dear Libra, but you
appreciate that people are
putting in an effort to cooperate.
Narrowing your focus may get you
into a better mood. Today holds the
potential for improving your
understanding.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
You can be especially
motivated to keep the
peace and promote
harmony in your personal
life and close relationships, dear
Aries, and this theme will strengthen
after today. Today, you may not find
enough room to give everything and
everyone their due attention.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
You may be too close to a
problem to see it clearly,
dear Sagittarius, and you
may very well discover that
the only way to resolve it is to pull back
from it to gain perspective. The Moon
in your home and family sector all day
indicates the need to keep things
simple.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
You may feel slightly off
your game and not very
understood, dear Gemini,
with a couple of shifts
happening now. The trick may be to
pour energies into something
productive, which can be therapeutic
for your mood. You will be surround-
ed with romance and joy today.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Life may feel a little chaotic
if you’re not focusing on
priorities today, dear
Aquarius, and it’s easy to
feel distracted. Shifts occurring today
put more emphasis on personal
enjoyment, learning, and sharing in the
weeks ahead. You’re likely to be going
over old decisions.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Shifts occurring today
boost your interest in and
attention to details, work,
health, and problem-
solving in the weeks ahead, dear
Taurus. Small jobs and duties are in
stronger focus. There can be some
difficulty keeping yourself mentally
focused.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Watch today for a situation
of having too many balls
up in the air, dear
Capricorn, or perhaps too
much information. Choices are nice,
but too many of them can feel
overwhelming today. Circumstances
may be such that you have more
decision-making responsibility.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
There may be some worry
or overstimulation related
to money, possessions,
and resources today, dear
Virgo. Watch for overthinking things.
Consider that there can be some
distractions to manage, and in truth,
you can’t expect to be producing at
every moment of the day.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You may not find it easy to
make a firm decision today,
dear Cancer, because what
you want to do seems to
be at odds with what you think is
best or most logical. You can feel a
little torn between light and
expressive needs and your drive to
focus on one good thing at a time.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
The Moon spends the day
in your sign, dear Pisces,
and there is more
emotional color in your life.
There is some inclination to
over-analyze or read between the
lines to your detriment today, but for
the most part, you’re in a good cycle
for gathering information.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Focusing on solvable
problems and tuning out
the rest can be therapeutic,
dear Scorpio. Take
advantage of any opportunity to
detox and think without overthinking.
In your communications, watch that
you’re not focusing too much on
problem areas.
ovid-19 pandemic and
the resultant lock-
down has caused a ma-
jor disruption in deliv-
ery of healthcare ser-
vices. While grocery
and daily need items
in stores are easily available -
availability of and access to
affordable sanitary napkins by
adolescent girls residing in ru-
ral areas has posed as a major
challenge since the lockdown
came into effect.
Maintaining good menstrual
health and hygiene requires a
trade-off between availability
of sanitary napkins along and
effective behavior change com-
munication thereby bridging
the supply and demand gap. In
Tonk districts, after the lock-
down was announced, the girls
in villages of Tonk and
Todaraisingh blocks started
facing problems in access to
free sanitary napkins. The ado-
lescent girls in these blocks
who are part of FAYA project
being implemented by Shiv
Shiksha Samiti with support
from TYPF and Population
Foundation of India.
Adolescents in the interven-
tion geographies, through ca-
pacity building sessions have
started understanding the
need of taking care of their
health and they are also work-
ing with the community gate-
keepers to get better access to
health services. One such
story evolved in Lamba village
of Tonk district after the na-
tionwide lockdown was im-
posed due to COVID-19 pan-
demic.
With this unavailability of
sanitary pads, a group of ado-
lescents from project area in
Tonk district took the courage
to take up this issue about the
unavailability of sanitary pads
and highlighted their demands
through a video clip. They
broke the long driven custom of
silence with regards to men-
struation.
One of the adolescent girl
Priya Harijan (Age 15) said -
“During periods, we used to ap-
proach our teachers in schools
or Anganwadi Workers at An-
ganwadi centers (before lock-
down) for pads on routine basis.
Leaving our hesitance behind,
we could do this as Maya didi
(field staff from Shiv Shiksha
Samiti, PFI’s implementation
partner) would tell us during
group meetings that it is a nor-
mal process and we should not
hesitate speaking about it. But
now due to lock down, schools
& anganwadi centers are closed
and we were not getting Sani-
tary napkins when required.
Me and my friends discussed
the problem with each other
and decided to develop a video
highlighting our need for sani-
tary napkin. We shared this
video with Maya didi to seek
her support.”
Ekta Chaudhary, Project Co-
ordinator, SSSR Tonk explains
– “Adolescent girls raised their
voice to demand sanitary nap-
kin to be included in the essen-
tial commodity list. Further,
SSSR presented this concern
in front of district administra-
tion and advocated for easing
supply chain of sanitary nap-
kins in the district. Meanwhile
to respond immediately to
problem, project staff donated
a part of their own salaries
and also took support from lo-
cal philanthropists to make
sanitary napkins available to
women & girls in need.”
The efforts paid at last - In
response to adolescents’ re-
lentless campaigning, district
administration readily issued
5000 sanitary napkins to SSSR
for further distribution, for
adolescents in need. SSSR
team distributed these to wom-
en & girls in need at village
level. Then District Collector,
Tonk & the Chief Medical and
Health office supported the
cause out rightly.
Poonam Muttreja, Executive
Director, Population Founda-
tion of India explains “Adoles-
cent girls and women faced a
serious problem of non-availa-
bility of sanitary napkin, dur-
ing the lockdown. It is encour-
aging to see these young girls
stepping up for themselves and
ensuring continued supply
with support from the local ad-
ministration”.
Tonk is one of the four inter-
vention districts where a com-
munity based program called
FAYA is being run by Shiv Shi-
ksha Samiti with support from
TYPF and Population Founda-
tion of India. The program pri-
marily seeks to increase access
to quality ASRH education.
Thereby leading to growth in
demand for health services
and choices among adoles-
cents. These adolescents under
the program receive sessions
on several pertinent topics by
trained master trainers who
also belong to the same com-
munity/region but are slightly
older than the adolescents.
“Healthy menstruation is
our fundamental right” says
Adolescent girls from FAYA
group.
Young girls advocate for their rights
with district administration
marily seeks to increase access
NIKITA SRIVASTAV
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
C
Priya Harijan

A
ctress Tara
Sutaria is
among the
stars who
have managed to
leave a mark right
from their start in
showbiz. Tara made
her debut with Stu-
dent Of The Year 2
that came out in 2019
andsincethen,shehas
won the hearts of her
fans. Tara took a trip
down memory lane
and remembered her
first shot for her film
Student Of The Year 2.
Taking to her Insta-
gram handle, Tara
sharedagorgeouspho-
to of herself taken by
designer Manish Mal-
hotra. The actress
could be seen getting
her hair and makeup
done in the stunning
behind-the-scenespho-
to clicked by the de-
signer. —Agency
ETCwww.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020
11
BUT VOTING FIRST
igi Hadid has submitted
her vote and she’s urging
her 60.1 million followers
on Instagram to do the
same. The supermodel
has been batting on the
importance of voting for
weeks now. She has been con-
stantly reminding her fans about
registering to vote and helping
them understand the need to
bring about a change. Recently,
Gigi took to her social media ac-
count and shared a bunch of pho-
tos to reveal she has voted. One of
the photos revealed Gigi’s post-
baby body.
The photo saw the 25-year-old
sport a black tee with the word
“vote” printed on them. She
shared the photos with an elabo-
rate caption. —Agency
G
SUPERHERO
FILM
SPECIAL
BIRTHDAY
ANOTHER ONE
IN THE LIST
V
icky Kaushal, while spending
time at home, kept focusing on
his work and scripts. Vicky will
be teaming up with Uri: The Surgi-
cal Strike director Aditya Dhar for a
superhero film titled Ashwatthama.
Fans of the actor have been excited
to see him in an action avatar since
the project was announced. And now,
director Aditya revealed that he revisit-
ed the script of the film amid the free
time he had and also prepped another
draft which is grander as compared to
the previous one. Further, he revealed
that he finalized the heads of various
departments. —Agency
R
obert 2020 has been a dream
year for Katy Perry as she not
only released her sixth studio
album Smile but also welcomed her
first child with fiance Orlando Bloom
on August 26; a daughter who the
couple named Daisy Dove Bloom.
The Teenage Dream singer celebrated
her 36th birthday on 25 October,
and taking to Instagram was Bloom
who shared some romantic snaps of
the couple along with a very special
wish by a ‘surprise someone.’ It was
Sacha Baron Cohen’s infamous al-
ter-ego Borat who hilariously wished
Perry on her birthday while talking
about how Orlando ‘blooms.’ Borat
quipped, “Jak sie masz [How are you
in Polish], Katy Pepsi.” —Agency
O
ver the past few weeks, we’ve
seen a number of celebrities
showing their support towards
Joe Biden. Over the weekend, Brad
Pitt joined the list. The Once Upon A
Time in Hollywood star presented his
political stan by lending his voice to
a new presidential campaign ad en-
dorsing Democratic candidate. In the
ad that debuted during the World Se-
ries game on Saturday night, a mon-
tage of shots showing Biden hugging
and greet people from different ages
and identities was played against Pitt
deeming Biden as a “President for all
Americans.” In the note running be-
hind the footage, Pitt says America is
a country for everyone. “Those who
chose this county, those who fought
for it—some Republicans, some
Democrats, all looking for the same
thing: Someone who understands
their hopes” he said. —Agency
Misha turns
photographer!
S
hahid Kapoor’s
wife Mira Rajput
often drops gor-
geous photos of
herself on social media.
However, her recent
photo was clicked by
daughter Misha and she
had quite a lot to say
about it. Shahid Kapoor
and Mira Rajput are
among the most adored
couples in Bollywood.
Whenever the duo steps
out together, they man-
age to make heads turn
with their looks. Not
just this, their photos on
social media tend to go
viralandwheneverthey
share glimpses with
their daughter Misha
and son Zain, fans can-
not stop gushing over it.
Misha also often cap-
tures her mommy Mira
in the frame.
Taking to her Insta-
gram handle, Mira
shared a gorgeous photo
of herself that was
clicked by her little girl
Misha. In the photo,(her
post) Mira could be seen
sitting on a chair in a flo-
ral kurta with matching
pyjama. Mira shared the
photoandwrote,“Mama!
Look!”Ihaveanin-house
pap and she catches my
worst OOTDs! #missy-
clicks.” —Agency
T
aapsee Pannu is currently
busy with her project Haseen
Dilruba. She was supposed to
start shooting for Rashmi
Rocket in November.
Taapsee Pannu has her hands full
for the coming months this year as
she has some interesting projects
lined up. One of them is Rashmi
Rocketthatwasscheduledtogoon
floors in Bhuj during the first
week of November. However, there
has been a change of plans. The
shoot for the movie has been
postponed. This has
been confirmed by
the movie’s pro-
ducer Pranjal
Khandhdiya.
Thefilmmak-
er states that it
has been rain-
ing in Bhuj
and its adja-
cent areas for
some time.
However, the
good news is
that the
m o v i e ’ s
shoot has
not com-
p l e t e l y
come to a
halt.
—Agency
SHOOT
POSTPONED!
TARA FEELS NOSTALGIC
E
va Mendes’ last outing in
Hollywood was partner
Ryan Gosling’s directo-
rial debut Lost River,
which released in 2013. A year
later, the couple welcomed
their first child, Esmeralda,
while in 2016, they welcomed
their second daughter, Amada.
Since then, it’s been a hiatus
mode for Mendes as she focused
on parenthood instead. How-
ever, recently, we’ve seen the
46-year-old actress giving inter-
views about a potential Holly-
wood comeback in the future.
In a recent interview with
Nova 96.9’s Fitzy & Wippa, Eva
admitted that she’s ready to go
back to work now that her chil-
dren are getting a bit older.
However, the Hitch star
clarified that she never
wantstosendthewrong
message to young
women as “it’s not an
either/or situation.”
Moreover, Mendes
confessed that she
didn’t want to be a
mother before
until she fell in
love with
Gosling
a n d
t h e y
ended up
being par-
ents to two
b e a u t i f u l
daughters.
—Agency
Hollywoodcomeback
Gigi Hadid
Shahid and Mira Kapoor
... her post
Eva Mendes Taapsee Pannu
Tara Sutaria
Brad Pitt
Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom
... her post
Vicky Kaushal ... her post

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