First india ahmedabad edition-03 may 2020

INDIA: COVID-19 TOLL RISES TO 1,322;
NUMBER OF CASES CLIMB TO 39,695
New Delhi: The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,322 and the
number of cases climbed to 39,695 in the country on Saturday,
registering an increase of 71 deaths and a record jump of 2,411
cases in 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry. The
number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 26,565, while 10,017
people have recovered and one patient has migrated, the ministry
said. “Thus, around 26.52 per cent patients have recovered so
far,” a senior health ministry official said.
N KOREA’S KIM MAKES FIRST
PUBLIC APPEARANCE IN WEEKS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made his first
public appearance in 20 days, ending an absence
that sparked global speculation about his health.The
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on
Saturday that Kim attended a ceremony marking the
completion of a fertiliser factory in Suncheon, near
the capital Pyongyang, with other senior officials,
including his sister, Kim Yo Jong.
ARMED FORCES TO SALUTE
CORONA WARRIORS TODAY
New Delhi: Armed forces have made
elaborate arrangements to conduct aerial
fly-pasts, light up ships at sea and shower
flower petals on several hospitals across
the country on Sunday to express gratitude
to lakhs of corona warriors.
HAPPY
FEET!
Living in colonies, in the southern
hemisphere, with populations larger
than some cities and surviving the
harshest of conditions, it is no wonder
that penguins are seen as the emblem
of survival. In these tough times when
the world is reeling under Coronavirus
pandemic, there are very few birds
that induce a warmer feeling than
these cold-water birds that cannot fly!
Arogya Setu,
sophisticated
surveillance
system: RaGa
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
on Saturday said Arog-
ya Setu mobile applica-
tion is a “sophisticated
surveillance system”
outsourced to a private
operator, raising seri-
ous data security and
privacy concerns.
Technology can help
keep us safe, Turn on P6
Govt adds fizz
to liquor biz,
salons with rider
New Delhi: Barber
shops and salons locat-
ed in green and orange
zones will be allowed to
open from Monday be-
sides sale of non-essen-
tial items by e-com-
merce platforms during
the third phase of the
lockdown which will be
in force till May 17.
Sale of liquor will be
allowed with certain
conditions in all
zones—green, orange
and red—barring con-
tainment areas.
These exemptions
were given by the Min-
istry of Home Affairs
on Friday, while extend-
ing the lockdown for
two more weeks.
There are no restric-
tions on sale of non-es-
sential items by e-com-
merce platforms in
green and orange zones,
a home ministry
spokesperson clarified
on Saturday, adding
barber shops and salons
are also allowed to open
in these areas.
In red zones, the e-
commerce companies
are allowed to sell only
essential commodities.
Barber shops and sa-
lons are not Turn on P6
MODI’S NUTRITIOUS
DIET FOR FARMERS!
New Delhi: Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi on Sat-
urday deliberated on re-
forms required in the ag-
riculture sector and
stressed the need for mak-
ing strategic interven-
tions in the existing mar-
keting eco-system.
“Special emphasis was
given on reforms in agri-
culture marketing, man-
agement of marketable
surplus, access of farm-
ers to institutional credit
and freeing agriculture
sector of various restric-
tions with appropriate
backing of the statute,”
said the Prime Minister’s
Office (PMO) in a state-
ment. Concessional credit
flow to Turn on P6
PM STRESSED ON ‘BRAND INDIA’ &
MAKING FARMERS COMPETITIVE IN
GLOBAL VALUE CHAIN
SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON REFORMS IN
AGRI MARKETING, MANAGEMENT
OF MARKETABLE SURPLUS ETC
A farmer busy harvesting wheat crop in Patna.
74,116
SAMPLES TESTED
69,602
0
NEGATIVE CASES
UNDER EXAMINATION
IN GUJARAT
DISTRICT TOTAL TOTAL NEW
CASES DEATHS DEATHS
AHMEDABAD 3543 185 20
VADODARA 325 24 3
SURAT 661 28 2
RAJKOT 58 1 0
BHAVNAGAR 53 5 0
ANAND 74 5 1
BHARUCH 31 2 0
GANDHINAGAR 67 2 0
PATAN 21 1 0
PANCHMAHAL 38 3 0
BANASKANTHA 29 1 0
NARMADA 12 0 0
CHHOTA UDEPUR 14 0 0
KUTCH 7 1 0
MAHESANA 11 0 0
BOTAD 27 1 0
DAHOD 6 0 0
PORBANDAR 3 0 0
JAMNAGAR 2 1 0
MORBI 1 0 0
SABARKANTHA 3 0 0
ARAVALLI 19 1 0
MAHISAGAR 23 0 0
KHEDA 9 0 0
GIR SOMNATH 3 0 0
VALSAD 6 1 0
TAPI 2 0 0
NAVSARI 8 0 0
DANG 2 0 0
SURENDRANAGAR 1 0 0
TOTAL 5054 262 26
CORONA
ALERT
AHMEDABAD l SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 157
26°C - 42°C
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
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COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
2,42,861
DEATHS
34,49,884
CONFIRMED CASES
GUJARAT
262
DEATHS
5,054
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
39,695
CONFIRMED CASES
1,322
DEATHS
How bad is the COVID-19 situation in A’bad? No one knows for sure
First India News
Ahmedabad: There’s
something rotten in
the city of
Ahmedabad. The com-
plete lack of coordi-
nation between the
state and city admin-
istrations—on which
First India has al-
ready reported multi-
ple times—seems to
only be getting worse.
The two bodies cannot
even keep their num-
bers in order, leading
to confusion as to how
widespread the COV-
ID-19 situation really
is, in the city.
For instance, a press
bulletin issued on
April 28 by the
Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC)
stated that there were
64 positive cases from
the field survey sample
collection. That even-
ing, the state health
department announced
a whopping 164 cases
for the day. Meanwhile,
the AMC revised its
number to 67.
On April 29, the
state declared 234
fresh cases while the
AMC said 110 cases,
with the results of 25
samples pending.
On April 30, the state
declared 249 positive
cases, while the civic
body’s press release
said 67, with 89 samples
awaiting results. That
evening, the AMC is-
sued a list of 379 cases,
which was later revised
to 249.
The very next day,
the civic body claimed
to have collected 685
samples, of which 635
samples were suppos-
edly waiting for re-
sults. The state de-
clared 267 cases for
the day.
Even if one were to
assume that the state’s
figures include those
from both the city and
the district, the num-
bers still do not make
sense, since the district
has only 37 positive cas-
es so far.
Dr Bhavin Solanki,
in-charge medical of-
ficer of city’s health
department, ex-
plained that the city’s
data is based on ac-
tive surveillance.
“While there are
many suspects who
directly approach
hospitals and labora-
tories, they have not
been added in the doc-
ument,” he said.
This could be trans-
lated that a larger num-
ber of people have di-
rectly approached hos-
pitals and labs than
have been approached
by the civic body.
Interestingly, ac-
cording to data
shared with the press
on Saturday, the civic
body had collected
685 samples, of
which just 32 had
been tested—two
came back positive
and 30 were negative.
A whopping 653 sam-
ples are still waiting
to be tested.
A medic uses a swab to collect a saliva sample from inside a mobile testing van. —PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE
DATA FROM CITY’S CIVIC BODY
AND STATE HEALTH DEPT AT
ODDS WITH EACH OTHER
USA 1,142,688 66,620 +867
SPAIN 245,567 25,100 +276
ITALY 209,328 28,710 +474
UK 182,260 28,131 +621
GERMANY 164,478 6,736 +12
TURKEY 124,375 3,336 +78
RUSSIA 124,054 1,222 +53
IRAN 96,448 6,156 +65
BRAZIL 92,630 6,434 +24
CHINA 82,875 4,633 +4
CANADA 55,572 3,446 +55
BELGIUM 49,517 7,765 +62
COUNTRY TOTAL TOTAL NEW
CASES DEATHS DEATHS
GLOBAL STATE
OF AFFAIRS
WWW.WORLDOMETERS.INFO
LAST UPDATED: MAY 2, 2020, 11:00 PM

Miscommunication, lack of clarity causes chaos at the border
First India News
Ahmedabad:While the
state had announced
that stranded migrant
workers would be al-
lowed to go home,
there is still no clarity
on who can leave the
state, and how. Neither
is there proper coordi-
nation between states.
All this means a large
group of tired and
homesick people is
also now confused and
angry.
A number of videos
have surfaced on social
media showing migrant
workers complaining
about not being allowed
to cross the border.
Those who are being al-
lowedtocross,havebeen
complaining about long
queues. These videos in-
clude ones from Karjan
Chowk in Vadodara, the
Halol checkpoint,
Panchmahal district,
Dahod on the Madhya
Pradesh border and the
Amirgadh checkpoint
on the Rajasthan border.
There were three
incidents of stone-
pelting on Saturday,
including one at the
Halol checkpost. Sim-
ilarly, when buses and
commercial vehicles
carrying workers
were stopped at the
Karjan Chowk, work-
ers showed their dis-
pleasure by blocking
traffic on the national
highway for some
time. However, the is-
sue was later resolved
and workers were al-
lowed to go, Karjan
Police Station Officer
told First India.
Panchmahal(Godhra)
controlroomofficersaid
that buses with workers
from Surat were not
asked to return to Surat,
but admits they were
asked to wait by the
roadside because of the
heavy traffic at the Mad-
hya Pradesh border in
Dahod district. Due to a
coordination issue be-
tween MP and UP, MP
police are not allowing
vehicles heading to UP
to enter the state.
Thiscomesbarely48
hours after the Guja-
rat government as-
signed 16 IAS and IPS
officers to coordinate
with other states for
smooth transportation
of stranded migrant
workers and visitors.
In addition, about 48
hours after the an-
nouncement that people
canreturntotheirhome
states, there is still no
clarity on which states
are ready to accept their
returning people.
To make things
worse, Surat collector
Dhaval Patel has now
stated that passes will
not be issued for states
like Maharashtra, Ut-
tar Pradesh, Bihar,
West Bengal and Del-
hi. He also said that
all passes will be is-
sued online and not at
checkposts. These an-
nouncements came
mere hours after a po-
lice van went around
Surat city announcing
that there is no need
for any passes to re-
turn to one’s native
state.
Moreover, with the
government announc-
ing that private vehicles
would be allowed to the
carrytheworkershome,
they have been arriving
at the state’s borders in
hired trucks, containers
trucks, and buses in
droves, with no concern
for social distancing.
Now, the government
says trains will be ar-
ranged. Surat Police
Commissioner R B
Brahmbhatt said trains
wouldbearrangedbythe
Centralandstategovern-
ment. However, migrant
workers will have to con-
tinue to be patient.
Migrant workers blocked traffic on the Vadodara-Halol highway on Saturday, after they were not
allowed to proceed towards UP.
Videos show migrant workers
complaining about long queues and
not being allowed to cross the border
NEWSAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
‘Vadodara armed to fight
Corona till May-end’
First India News
Vadodara: With third
highest number of
COVID-19 positive cases
in the state, Vadodara
has become one of the
hotspots of the novel
coronavirus outbreak.
But, according to local
authorities, the city is
prepared to fight the
deadly virus till the end
of this month.
In a briefing on Fri-
day evening, the state
education secretary Dr
Vinod Rao, who has
been specially deputed
to Vadodara to super-
vise and monitor the
corona crisis there, told
the media, “We were ex-
pecting the extension
of the lockdown and
had prepared a plan to
tackle the health crisis
accordingly. We have
the facility to accommo-
date a total of 2,500 pa-
tients in a month and
handle their medical
treatment.”
According to the lo-
cal health team’s as-
sessment, the first
phase of the lockdown
extension will last until
May 10. The second
phase will start from
May 10 and end on May
31, with a possible third
phase in the month of
June.
Talking about the
city preparedness for
the crisis, Rao said, “We
are prepared for all sce-
narios. As per our un-
derstanding of the vi-
rus infection, it is more
likely that patients will
require more care than
medicines.”
Edu Secy & OSD Dr Vinod Rao
Haresh Jhala
Junagadh: It is said
that preparing for the
worst always helps in
tackling any situation.
This phrase was imple-
mented by the local ad-
ministration of Juna-
gadh district in their
strategy to combat
COVID-19. Even before
the lockdown
was imposed
across the
country, Jun-
agadh officials took a
few proactive steps to
ensure that the novel
coronavirus does not
spread in the district.
To that end, pilgrim-
age places, sanctuaries
were shut down before
the lockdown, a health
team was activated and
close surveillance was
conducted throughout
the district.
IAS Dr Sourabh Par-
dhi, Junagadh district
collector, told First In-
dia, “In the third week
of March, we started
taking pre-emptive
measures such as clos-
ing down Gir Sanctuary
for tourists, sealing Gir-
nar and
Bhavnath for
tourists, as
well as, local
residents. After the
lockdown was declared,
we deployed medical
teams at all checkpoints
and every person enter-
ing the district was
screened. People exhib-
iting symptoms similar
to COVID-19 were sent
to institutional quaran-
tine, others were or-
dered to remain under
home quarantine.”
He added, “We have
heard about sample
testing being done in
cities and other dis-
tricts, but decided to
collect more samples
from densely populated
areas. It was because of
this move that we were
able to ascertain if any
particular section of
the society was exhibit-
ing even slight symp-
toms of COVID-19. We
have tested over 500
samples till now.”
“The other major
task Junagadh adminis-
tration had was to keep
the city and villages
safe, so Pardhi with the
help of district develop-
ment officer and health
officer formed village
committees and gave
them two responsibili-
ties- ensure no outsider
gains entry and aggres-
sive surveillance in the
villages. The commit-
tees reported activity
and information on sus-
pect cases to the district
control room on a daily
basis,” explained the
collector.
“When door-to-door
health survey was car-
ried out by paramedical
staffers in the rest of
the state, Junagadh as-
signed the task to in-
tern doctors, who
helped identify people
with suspect symptoms
such as fever, cold and
cough,” he added.
Village panels pillars of strength for Junagadh status
CORONA
WARRIOR
Dr Sourabh Pardhi, Junagadh Collector
COVID COOPERATION: Rooted in history,
Delhi ensures Bangkok of post-Corona rebuild
DURING THE CALL, PM MODI ASSURED HIS THAILAND COUNTERPART TO SUPPORT
THE PHARMACEUTICAL REQUIREMENTS TO FIGHT THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
rime Minis-
ter Naren-
dra Modi on
S a t u r d a y
discussed is-
sues related
to coronavirus pan-
demic with his Thai-
land counterpart Pr-
ayut Chan-o-Cha and
said that New Delhi
and Bangkok will
work together to deal
with the multifarious
challenges posed by
the current crisis.
"Discussed issues re-
lated to COVID-19
pandemic with good
friend @prayutoffi-
cial. As neighbours
with deep-rooted his-
torical and cultural
links, India and Thai-
land will work together
to deal with the multi-
farious challenges
posed by this present
crisis," the Prime Min-
ister tweeted.
With 2,293 new cases
in the last 24 hours, the
highest number of cas-
es in a single day, India's
COVID-19 tally reached
37,336 on Saturday, in-
cluding 1,218 deaths, ac-
cording to the Ministry
of Health and Family
Welfare. On the other
hand, Thailand has re-
ported 2,966 coronavi-
rus cases and 54 deaths
so far. —ANI
P Shandar: Shah lauds Air
Force salute to ‘warriors’
New Delhi: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Saturday
lauded the Armed
Forces for their deci-
sion to show grati-
tude to those fighting
on the frontline
against Covid-19.
“Who else can under-
standtheimportanceof
keepingourmotherland
safe than our Armed
forces,” the Home Min-
ister said on Twitter.
“I am sure this de-
cision of Armed
forces will greatly
boost the morale
and confidence
of our doctors,
healthwork-
ers, saniti-
sation staff, security
and media person-
nel. We as a nation
stand united to
thank our Corona
warriors in these
testing times,” Shah
said in a tweet.
The Indian armed
forces announced on
Friday that they will
conduct fly-pasts, light
up ships at sea, display
military bands and
showerflowerpetalson
hospitals on Sunday in
a display of gratitude
to lakhs of ‘corona
warriors’ like doctors,
paramedics and police
personnel.
The announce-
ment was made by
CDS Gen Bipin Raw-
at at a press con in
presence of Navy
Chief Admiral Kar-
ambir Singh, Army
Chief Gen MM Nara-
vane and Air Chief
Marshal RKS Bha-
dauria. “The nation
stood together and
showed resilience in
dealing with the pan-
demic.Onbehalf of the
forces, we want to
thank all corona war-
riors--doctors,nurses,
sanitation workers,
police, home guards,
& media,” Gen Raw-
at said.
—Agencies
Discussed issues
related to COV-
ID-19 pandemic
with good friend @prayut-
official. As neighbours with
deep-rooted historical and
cultural links, India and
Thailand will work together
to deal with the multifari-
ous challenges posed by
this present crisis.
—Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Prime Minister of
Thailand Prayut Chan-o-Cha in New Delhi. —FILE PHOTO

Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot: While the state
government has been
trying hard to enforce
lockdown guidelines, a
government school in
Pardi village of Lodhi-
ka taluka in Rajkot dis-
trict seems to play by its
own rules.
On Saturday, around
50 students were seen
inside the campus of
Swami Vivekananda
Prathmik Shala. While
the actual reason for the
students’ arrival in
school remains unclear,
First India investigated
the matter by speaking
theschoolprincipalMit-
tal Pathak, taluka pri-
mary education officer
Pankaj Mabel and the
district primary educa-
tion officer (DPEO) MG
Vyas. However, instead
of one explanation for
the gaffe, all their ver-
sions differed.
School principal
Pathak said, “It was the
last day of the school
vacation. Since we are
supposed to hand over
the leaving certificate
to Class VIII students
by May 2, we asked the
students to collect their
certificates. But, out of
the total of 39 students,
only 25 came.”
When asked about
the reason for not re-
questing the kids’ par-
ents to collect the cer-
tificates, Pathak stated,
“We give the certificates
to the children. There
were around 15 other
students who came to
collect kits distributed
under the midday meal
scheme. In all, there
were around 50 stu-
dents in attendance.”
According to Lodhi-
ka taluka primary edu-
cation officer Pankaj
Mabel, “Around 50 chil-
dren came, few arrived
to collect their leaving
certificates, there were
a few who came to col-
lect the midday meal kit
and others came to col-
lect their exam answer-
sheets,” he said.
DPEO MG Vyas stat-
ed, “We acknowledge
that this is a lapse and
are investigating.”
GUJARATAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020
First India News
Gandhinagar: A re-
cord 160 recovered
COVID-19 patients were
discharged in the past
24 hours, bringing the
total number of recov-
eries to 896. However,
the last 24 hours also
saw the state’s total
number of cases leap-
frog to 5,054—333 more
than they were on Fri-
day. Similarly, with 26
fresh fatalities, the
death toll is now 262.
The state govern-
ment is taking it as a
positive sign that recov-
eries are increasing
faster than fatalities.
Again, Ahmedabad
topped the list of both
fresh cases, with 250,
and deaths, with 20. The
city also saw 63 patients
being discharged.
Worryingly, 10 of
Ahmedabad’s 48 wards
had more than 100 pa-
tients each. Only two—
Chandlodiya and
Sarkhej—have single-
digit case numbers. Of
the 3,278 cases the city
had on Friday, 1,389
came from the Central
zone. Jodhpur area
alone has registered 14
new cases of COVID-19.
Of the 26 deaths, nine
were caused by Sars-
CoV-2andtheremaining
17patientssuccumbedto
co-morbidities.
Districts such as
Anand, Gandhinagar,
Botad, Banaskantha,
Mahisagar, Aravalli and
Patan now have the ad-
ministration on their
toes, with a sudden rise
in numbers.
There is some confu-
sion over the situation
in Navsari. While Ravi
announced two fresh
cases, the District Of-
ficer said there were no
new cases there.
Principal Secretary
(Health) Jayanti Ravi
said that, till date, 74,116
samples have been test-
ed, with 5,342—another
record high—tested in
the past 24 hours. She
saidthehikeisduetothe
increase in the state’s
sample testing capacity.
Moreover, the Indian
Council of Medical Re-
search has also allowed
pool testing now.
She also said that,
with private clinics giv-
en permission to restart
out-patient services, as
many as 3,994 private
clinics haveresumed op-
erations as of Saturday.
State’s tally leapfrogs past 5K mark333 new cases reported in the past 24 hours even as 160 patients were discharged, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 896
UNDER SIEGE
City’s civic body to add more
COVID hospitals to its arsenal
Patientsmakeabeelineforprivateclinicsinthewalledcity
No unauthorized persons in
orange, green zones: DGP
What lockdown? Govt school opens in Rajkot
It’s All Aboard! on Shramik Exp
First India News
Ahmedabad/Surat:
Three trains declared
‘Shramik Express’ car-
rying migrant workers
and their families be-
longingtoUttarPradesh
andOdishawereflagged
off from Ahmedabad
and Surat on Saturday.
The train from Surat
to Odisha’s Puri was
flagged off by Navsari
Member of Parliament
CR Patil using a Bhar-
tiya Janta Party (BJP)
flag and Minister of
State for Home Prad-
ipsinh Jadeja flagged
off two trains bound for
UP from the Sabarmati
railway station in
Ahmedabad.
In all, 1,100 migrants
took the train to Puri,
while1,200wenttoAgra.
Kaushal Kumar, mi-
grant worker on board
the UP train said, “I
bought our tickets in
the afternoon and am
happy that my family
and I will reach our
hometown in the next
24 to 36 hours. If we had
not boarded the train
today then, we would
have been in dire finan-
cial trouble.”
First India News
Ahmedabad: With
more than a hundred
new cases being report-
ed in the city daily, the
Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC) has
actively started looking
for alternative places
where COVID-19 posi-
tive patients can stay in
isolation and provided
treatment. On Saturday,
municipal commission-
er Vijay Nehra visited a
few places in Jamalpur
area to ascertain where
the new COVID hospi-
tals can be set up.
The civic body has
declared Behrampura’s
Infectious Disease Hos-
pital, which is a 100-bed
facility, as a COVID
Health Centre. The hos-
pital’s existing patients
will be discharged and
transferred to other fa-
cilities. And the hospi-
tal will start catering to
novel coronavirus pa-
tients from Sunday on-
wards. Another hospi-
tal named Ameen Garib
Nawaz Hospital in
Gomtipur area has been
designated as a COVID
hospital and will treat
patients free of cost.
Nehra also stated
that the Jamalpur-
based Chhipa Commu-
nity Centre will also
function as a 100-bed
COVID Care Centre
from Sunday, in his vid-
eo bulletin on Saturday.
The municipal commis-
sioner also listed the
number of patients un-
dergoing treatment at
various hospitals in the
city. Moreover, he also
announced that any
frontline workers of the
civic body infected with
the virus will be treated
in 4 or 5-star hotels and
the civic body will foot
their bills.
First India News
Ahmedabad: Since
the last few days, pri-
vate clinics in the red
zone areas of the city
have been granted per-
mission to operate by
local authorities.
These clinics have
been dispensing medi-
cal check-ups and
medicines to hundreds
of patients daily in
Behrampura and Ja-
malpur areas. Most of
these clinics operate
in the evenings and
that is when patients
show up for health
check-ups.
According to a doc-
tor in Jamalpur, most
of the patients he has
checked on do show-
case symptoms such as
cough, cold, and fever.
“My advice to the pa-
tients running a fever
is to call 104 helpline
but, they fear contract-
ing the infection and
do not call. Most of
them don’t even come
back to the clinic for a
follow-up,” said the
doctor, on condition of
anonymity.
Healsosaidthatmost
of the community lead-
ers and doctors have
been rendered helpless.
“We are helpless to the
situation since many
people are not ready to
take the COVID-19 test.
Even officials from lo-
cal civic body
Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC)
have not initiated any
awareness programme
about novel coronavi-
rus. What is needed is
awareness among com-
munities, and increas-
ing sample collection to
contain the rising num-
ber of positive COV-
ID-19 cases.”
First India News
Gandhinagar: To
break the chain of the
spread of COVID-19,
people have to be vigi-
lant and see that unau-
thorized persons do not
enter green or orange
zones without a prior
medical check-up, Di-
rector-General of Po-
lice Shivanand Jha said
on Saturday.
“This is the best way
to maintain green and
orange zones and check
the spread of infection,
he said.
He also said that Val-
sad police have lodged a
case against three more
Sura Jamaatis for enter-
ing the state after the
nationwide lockdown
wasimposedlastmonth.
“They have been
home-quarantined. A
case has been regis-
tered against them un-
der the Disaster Man-
agement Act and the
Epidemic Diseases
Act,” he said, adding
that, with this, 22 cases
have been registered
against Sura Jamaatis.
Till date 608 cases
have been and 1,282 per-
sonsarrestedforspread-
ing hatred on social me-
dia; 19 more accounts
have also been blocked.
People line up outside a clinic in Ahmedabad’s Jamalpur area.
Around 50 students were seen inside the campus of Swami
Vivekananda Prathmik Shala on Saturday.
Migrants queued up at the Ahmedabad station to board the train that would take them home to Agra.Migrants arrive at the Ahmedabad station on Saturday.
A man carries his polio-stricken older brother to the train. Passengers appreciate ﬁnally being able to leave the city.
Navsari MP CR Patil at the Surat station before ﬂagging off the train to Puri.
Jawans wear protective gear as they patrol a quarantined cluster in Ahmedabad’s Kalupur area.
Shivanand Jha, DGP, Gujarat
Vijay Nehra
—PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 157 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: Jagdeesh Chandra, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020
IS LOCKDOWN
ENDING ANY
TIME SOON?
hanks to the special trains, job-
less migrant workers started
returning from different states
to the cities and villages they
came from. Not wanting to
starve or die of Covid-19 in a different
city, they had been desperate to go back
to their familiar surroundings. Until the
novel coronavirus appeared like a Frank-
enstein monster, these migrant workers
had nothing to despair. With a job in
hand, food and shelter were assured.
Not so after the lockdown. Ironically, they
would not have left their native places had the
state governments been able to provide them
with jobs and social security. At present ser-
vices of many of these migrants can be uti-
lized for harvesting rabi crop in their respec-
tive villages, but states like Punjab would rue
their departure.
What after harvesting? Lakhs of jobs
cannot be created overnight despite the
tall promises being made by some states.
Nor will it be easy for the entire migrant
population to go back to the cities of their
work when the virus will continue to lurk.
That brings us to the question of whether
the lockdown will be extended beyond May
17? With 130 Red zones in the country, where
the total number of cases and a fast dou-
bling rate, the challenge is to convert them
into Orange and then Green zones. Green
zone is one with zero confirmed cases or
none reported in the last 21 days. Orange
zones will have a low incidence of cases.
That’s unlikely to happen soon as testing is
low. Therefore, chances are that the shut-
down will remain in force till June and
these workers will remain trapped between
hope and hopelessness.
Notwithstanding the grim scenario, at
least worshippers of Bacchus can raise a
toast. Liquor shops in Green, Orange, and
Red zones can now be opened. The per-
mission is for standalone outlets only but
with restrictions. Buyers, not more than
five at a time, have to stay six feet apart.
But there’s a catch. Howsoever short of
revenue the states may be due to the total
shutdown, they may be reticent to cheer the
move for fear of the consequences it might
entail. Kerala, which has been able to contain
the spread of virus remarkably well, has al-
ready refused to open liquor vends. It is esti-
mated that in six months of 2019 liquor worth
Rs 45,000 crore was sold in the state. Maha-
rashtra, which too will desist from allowing
booze sale, stands to lose over Rs 1250 crore
per month. Rajasthan also is losing heavily
from the ban on liquor which fetches the state
Rs 15,000 crore annually yet it may not allow
its sale. Punjab, whose earlier request for
opening the liquor shops was rejected by the
Union home ministry, may also wait for some
more time before allowing the sale of liquor.
It also is losing badly on revenue.
So, hold your horses.
IN-DEPTH
T
hile the ex-
traordinary
crash of the
WTI price of
crude into
negative territory — the
first in history — can be
viewed as something of
an anomaly, the 25%
drop in the price of
Brent to $20 a barrel as
of April 27 is a stark
statement about the vul-
nerability of the Saudi
economy and of Crown
Prince Mohammed bin
Salman’s Vision 2030.
Let us briefly recall in
broad brushstroke the bold
outlines of Vision 2030
when it was released on
April 25, 2016. It called for a
radicalrestructuringof the
Saudi economy and with it
a social and cultural revolu-
tion — economic diversifi-
cation with the banner
headline of increasing the
share of non-oil GDP from
16% to 50%; the empower-
ment of women into the
private-sector workforce
together with a call to in-
creasethesector’sGDPcon-
tribution to 65%; the listing
of private and government-
owned companies, includ-
ing Aramco, on the Saudi
stock market, Tadawul;
commitments to realize
jobs for young Saudis
through the creation of en-
tertainment, hospitality
and non-religious tourism
industries; the provision of
affordablehousingforthose
same young Saudis strug-
gling to get on the property
ladder; and the ramping up
of religious tourism.
Just one statistic
should suffice to illus-
trate the scope of that
particular ambition: By
2020, the plan was for
the number of Muslims
performing the umrah
to nearly double to 15
million a year, and then
to double again to 30 mil-
lion by 2030. But the um-
rah this year has been
indefinitely postponed,
and COVID-19 in Mecca
— where authorities are
racing to try and contain
the outbreak — could
well force the cancella-
tion of the hajj. No one,
of course, could have an-
ticipated a coronavirus
pandemic. But it has
been clear for two
months or more that in a
slowing global economy,
the virus would impact
in a significant way on
the oil market.
THE GLUT OF OIL
The Saudi response was to
launch a price war with
Russia in early March that
was only partially resolved
on 12 April with the inter-
cession of US President
DonaldTrump.Allthewhile
theglutof oilhasgrownand
grown — hence the ongoing
collapse of prices. While
lockdowns are being eased
in some countries, the time
when the world was con-
suming 100 million barrels
a day are gone for now, with
some analysts suggesting
those days may be gone for-
ever. Prior to COVID-19,
mostassumptionswerethat
peak demand — the point at
which the world’s appetite
for oil begins its permanent
decline — would hit around
2030. That scenario dove-
tailed rather nicely with Vi-
sion 2030. What if, however,
peak demand has already
arrived?
If such is the case, the
breathing space that Mo-
hammed bin Salman could
reasonably have expected
in order to achieve his revo-
lution has evaporated liter-
ally overnight. A crown
prince and a kingdom that
had sought to move in dou-
ble quick time to liberate
itself from oil dependency
through economic diversi-
fication now has no time
whatsoever.
WHERE TO CUT?
With oil falling to $20 a bar-
rel and no sign that it will
get much better — indeed
suggestions are that it
could well slide even lower
to as little as $5 to $10 —
those emergency plans are
very likely to come into
play. That means deep
spending cuts. The ques-
tion is where will Moham-
med bin Salman, having
already saddled the king-
dom with a war in Yemen
that has consumed hun-
dreds of billions of dollars,
make those cuts?
In order to avoid the
dreaded L — a flatline
where the economy does
not over time trend upward
— Mohammed bin Salman
will need to do more than
use the country’s sovereign
wealth fund to snap up bar-
gain-basement deals as the
world economy crashes..
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.FAIROBSERVER.COM
Saudi Arabia grapples with the oil price rout
W
The only real failure
in life is not to be true
to the best one knows.
—Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
I commend the CDS and personnel
of our Armed forces for their
decision to honour those battling
#Covid19 on the frontlines. Our
Armed forces have kept this nation
safe through thick and thin, their
support will boost the morale of
countless #CoronaWarriors.
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
The unique Kashmir Saffron, known
for its deep red colour, strong ﬂavour
and high aroma gets a Geographical
Indication (GI) tag. Possessing
medicinal characteristics, the
aromatic spice will now gain more
prominence in the export market.
he other day an American
doctor said on CNN that Coro-
navirus could last two years
in the USA and it could infect
up to 70% of the population.
He also warned that the virus
would not disappear. A second
wave could come at any time.
The mishandling of the Co-
rona pandemic by President
Trump has to lead to a loss of
many more lives due to his pre-
tending to be a doctor who had
no hesitation in suggesting
weird cures, including inject-
ing household bleach into Cov-
id-19 patients. Then came his
cutting of US annual contribu-
tion to the World Health Or-
ganisation - WHO China imme-
diately made good the loss the
WHO had suffered.
Day after day the US Presi-
dentcontinuestoblameChina
for the origin of the Virus in a
laboratory in Wuhan. China
hasbrushedoff theallegation.
These thoughtless pronounce-
ments made at his daily press
conference. The result is that
he has seriously damaged
America’s long-standing role
as a global leader.
China is now all over the
globe, dispatching medicines,
doctor’s uniforms, gloves, and
disinfectants. China claims
that life in Wuhan is now nor-
mal. The Pandemic has been
overcome. President Xi Jin
Ping’s prestige has gone up, not
only in China but the world
over. In the beginning, he fal-
tered but that memory faded.
Now I come to our beloved
country. A vital constitution-
al change has gone almost
unnoticed. The parent-client
relationship between the
centre and the states have
undergone a dramatic trans-
formation. Prime Minister
Modi has become acutely
aware of the authority and
power of the States. Lock-
down three was promulgated
because a majority of states
wanted it and pressed for it.
The Home Ministry yester-
day produced a complex, at
places incomprehensible and
very complex notification that
even reasonably educated peo-
ple would find bewildering. The
editorialintheEconomicTimes
of Saturday, May 2nd was head-
ed, ‘Wrong all to Extend Lock-
down’. It then pitched into the
authors of this perplexing
Katha. ‘The government’s deci-
sion to extend the lockdown by
two weeks is wrong and will do
Indians more harm than good.
The notification extending the
Lockdown has the kernel of
what needs to be done but then
proceeds to envelop it in layer
afterlayerof impractical,unen-
forceable conditions that make
sense to a bureaucrat sitting in
his office but no one else’. There
is much more of the same.
This notification is no
doubt meant to help the
poor, the unemployed, and
the needy. Even member of
my household staff is illiter-
ate and so are their families.
How do I explain to them the
intricacies of Red, Orange,
and Green Zones?
The Economic Times also
writes,“However,amazeof regu-
lations,restrictionsonthemove-
ment of people and unbridled
powers to local administration
meanavastsegmentof theecon-
omy will still be locked down ex-
acerbating economic stress.’
Why can’t four people sit
in a car? Why is the move-
ment of individuals for non-
essentials between 7 pm and
7 am prohibited? What are
they supposed to do between
7 am and 7 pm
The hope that China’s diffi-
culty is India’s opportunity is
misplaced. Many foreign com-
panies and industries have
moved to Japan and Vietnam.
The dream of India having a
five trillion dollar economy by
2024 is unlikely to materialize.
A new acronym- WFH is
doing the rounds. It stands
for Work From Home. In In-
dia, many ministers are do-
ing WFH but no Secretary
will follow WFH in our set-
up. His Joint Secretaries and
the section officers, office as-
sistants, and clerks will sit
in North and South blocks.
Till we go completely digital
files will go from the Secre-
tary’s home to North and
South blocks and back. Not a
time-saving exercise.
There are many plus and
constructive elements in the
MHA’s notification. The pro-
cess to implement them should
start without delay.
On February 27th, 1967 I
sent a note to Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi concerning
what a German member of
Parliament, Felix Von Eck-
ardt had said about the Nu-
clear Powers. I thought it
would amuse her. It did.
“Non-proliferation is like a
club of notorious boozers
who demand a written agree-
ment from the teetotalers
that they never take alcohol
and won’t even touch a drop
when a glass is offered to
them. And then after the pact
is signed, these drinkers not
only sit together and booze it
up again but throw the emp-
ty bottles at the teetotalers.”
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
US’s GLOBAL REPUTATION
HITS ROCK-BOTTOMMishandling of the Corona pandemic by President Trump has lead to a loss of many more lives
T
The
mishandling
of the Corona
pandemic by
President
Trump has to
lead to a loss
of many more
lives due to his
pretending to
be a doctor
who had no
hesitation in
suggesting
weird cures,
including
injecting
household
bleach into
Covid-19
patients
PRIME MINISTER MODI HAS BECOME
ACUTELY AWARE OF THE AUTHORITY AND
POWER OF THE STATES. LOCKDOWN THREE
WAS PROMULGATED BECAUSE A MAJORITY OF
STATES WANTED IT AND PRESSED FOR IT
K NATWAR
SINGH
The author is Former Minister
of External Affairs of India

INDIAAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020
New Delhi: India has
strong economic funda-
mentals and is likely to
attract multinational
corporations which are
keen to shift manufac-
turing bases from Chi-
na in the wake of coro-
navirus pandemic, In-
formation and Broad-
casting Minister
Prakash Javadekar.
“There is tremen-
dous opportunity for
India and we have to
make efforts to seize
that opportunity,” he
said. “All big companies
are welcome to India.
The country has 150 mo-
bile phone manufactur-
ing units now as com-
pared to two about six
years ago.” Even per-
sonal protective equip-
ment and ventilators
are being made within
the country. Javadekar
said India has a huge
domestic market with
sound macro-economic
indicators.
“All the industries
will start after the lock-
down ends. The founda-
tion of Indian economy
is strong. Secondly,
there is a lot of internal
demand,” said the min-
ister a day after the
Ministry of Home Af-
fairs extended the COV-
ID-19 lockdown for two
weeks till May 17.
Javadekar stated that
the central government
has made elaborate ar-
rangements for migrant
workers, including
availability of buses
andtrains.Hesaidthere
will not be any major
job losses due to the
COVID-19 lockdown.
The Centre had an-
nounced a relief pack-
ageforpoorandmigrant
workers besides free cyl-
inders under the Ujwala
Scheme, he said. —ANI
‘Indiacanattractinvestmentspost-COVID-19period’
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said India has a huge domestic market with sound macro-economic indicators
Corona warriors medical team rushes to Hindpiri Corona
‘containment zone’ in Ranchi to collect swab samples.
New Delhi: I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar said
that the worst phase of coronavirus epidemic in
India appears to be over, but people should con-
tinue to follow all pre-
cautions. “I think the
worst is over. But till
the time the disease is
not completely con-
tained, we should
continue to follow all
precautions and
guidelines.” India
took various timely
initiatives, including a countrywide lockdown,
and its management of COVID-19 has been better
than other countries. “That is why it (lockdown)
has been extended for two weeks. The various
zones are well-defined. Following the social dis-
tancing norm of ‘do gaz ki doori’ will be a new
normal till the time a vaccine is developed.” —ANI
'WORST OF COVID-19 IS OVER, BUT
FOLLOWING PRECAUTIONS IS MUST'
New Delhi: The Indi-
an Railways said that a
policy decision has
been taken to run 'Sh-
ramik special trains'
amid the nationwide
lockdown in the wake
of COVID-19. The Zon-
al railways will run
these trains as per the
demand of state ad-
ministrations.
“We have taken a pol-
icy decision to run 'Sh-
ramik special trains'.
Zonal railways to run
these trains as per the
demand of state admin-
istrations. Local DMs
and DRMs are coordi-
nating. Specific details
can be obtained from
the zonal CPROs,” an
Indian Railways official
said. Cancellation of all
passenger train servic-
es shall be extended till
May 17, he said. —ANI
Zonal rlys to run
‘Shramik special trains’
A health worker sanitizes the belongings of migrants in Patna.
New Delhi: The “press-
ing need” to trigger re-
sumption of economic
activities has been ad-
dressed in ''lockdown
3.0'' in a manner that
fits with the prevailing
situation on the ground,
Vice President M Ven-
kaiah Naidu said on
Saturday.
He also said that the
announcement of ex-
tension of coronavirus-
induced lockdown by
two more weeks from
May 4, with attendant
relaxations driven by
economic concerns,
“marks a landmark” in
the nation''s collective
fight against COVID-19.
“In my view, this de-
cision puts the onus of
taking forward the fight
against the virus more
in the hands of stake-
holders, including the
people, state govern-
ments and concerned
agencies, commercial
and industrial estab-
lishments,” he said in a
Facebook post.
The way all of us
conduct during lock-
down 3.0, Naidu
opined, will lay the
ground for further
course of action aimed
at returning to total
pre-corona normalcy.
“This window of two
weeks will decide the
time frame for it. This
is a kind of prelimi-
nary examination and
as a nation, we need to
pass in it. I have rea-
sons to believe that we
would, as we don''t have
the option to fail,” he
asserted.
So far, the central gov-
ernment has been at the
forefront of formulating
the battle strategy in
consultation with the
stateswithfocusonlives
of the people, he said.
“It has yielded posi-
tive results...,” he said.
The modalities of''
lockdown 3.0'', Naidu
said, are a clear ac-
knowledgment of the
need to balance the
twin concerns of lives
and livelihoods by kick-
starting the economy.
“The pressing need to
trigger resumption of
economic activities has
been addressed in a
manner that fits with
the prevailing situation
on the ground,” the vice-
president wrote. —ANI
‘Lockdownisanexamwehavetopass’
New Delhi: While dis-
posing off the parole
plea of Vishal Yadav,
serving life
term for the
murder of
Nitish Kata-
ra, Delhi HC
issued direc-
tion to the
competent
authority to
treat the in-
stant writ pe-
tition as a
representation of the
petitioner and decide
it within 15 days.
The petitioner
Vishal Yadav had
sought parole, for
eight weeks, in view
of COVID-19 pandem-
ic on the ground that
he could get infected
or tuberculosis as he
had earlier suffered
from TB in view of
poor sanitation facili-
ties in the
prison.
Police op-
posed his ap-
plication and
stated that
the prison
records indi-
cate the con-
vict's medi-
cal condition
to be stable
and he is not suffering
from TB currently and
there is no risk of
COVID-19 infection to
him in jail.
SC had awarded 25-
year jail term to Vikas
Yadav and his cousin
Vishal for their role in
the kidnapping and
killing of Katara. —ANI
Nitish Katara murder : No
parole to Vishal Yadav
New Delhi: Delhi Po-
lice approached Delhi
HC, challenging trial
court’sorderof grant-
ing bail to cricket
bookie Sanjeev Cha-
wala. In its plea be-
fore HC, the police
said: “The accused
Sanjeev Chawla is a
British national. It
took 20 years to bring
him to justice in In-
dia. Investigation
agency worked hard
to get the accused ex-
tradited from the UK
and succeeded in the
matter as the case is
very strong on law
and facts. There is
likelihood of the ac-
cused fleeing away
from justice.” —ANI
New Delhi: The Del-
hi HC has appointed a
claims commissioner
to look
into the
extent of
damage
done to
p u b l i c
property
by mobs during the
anti-Hindu Delhi ri-
ots in north-east Del-
hi.
The High Court ap-
pointed the Claims
Commissioner after
the Delhi government
had written a letter
seeking approval for
the appointment.
This was done in ref-
erence to the judg-
ment of the SC. —ANI
Cops move
HC over bail
to Chawla
Justice Gaur
is claims
commissioner
KERALA’S ERNAKULAM DISTRICT
BECOMES CORONA-FREE
Ernakulam: Ernakulam
district in Kerala became
corona-free after tests of
a Covid-19 patient came
out negative, informed S
Suhas, Ernakulam District
Collector. The patient
identified as Vishnu (23)
was discharged from the
Kalamassery Medical
college. “The one and
only Covid-19 patient in
Ernakulam district has
been discharged from
Kalamassery Medical col-
lege. He tested negative.
With this, currently the
district has no Covid-19
patients,” said the Er-
nakulam District Collector.
Vishnu had traveled to
UAE and returned to Ko-
chi on March 22. He was
admitted to the hospital
on April 4 after develop-
ing COVID-19 symptoms.
DGCA SUSPENDS COMMERCIAL
FLIGHT OPS TILL MAY 17
New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil
Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday, issued a circular
suspending domestic and international commer-
cial flight operations till May 17 after the Home
Ministry extended the ongoing lockdown for two
more weeks beyond May 3.However, the restric-
tion shall not apply to international all-cargo
operations and flights specifically approved by
the DGCA. The ongoing lockdown was scheduled
to end on May 3. Domestic air passenger traffic
in March fell by 33.06 per cent to 77.62 lakh.
TWO TERRORISTS KILLED IN
PULWAMA: JAMMU POLICE
Pulwama: Two unidentified terrorists were
neutralised in the encounter with security
forces in Dangerpora area of Pulwama on
Saturday, informed some officials from depart-
ment of police on Saturday. A search operation
is underway, Jammu and Kashmir Police said.
Earlier this week, three terrorists were killed in
an encounter with security forces at Zainapora
in Shopian district. The joint operation was
conducted by Army’s 55 RR (Rashtriya Rifles),
Shopian Police and CRPF.
‘PILGRIMS FROM U’KHAND CAN
VISIT KEDARNATH FROM MAY 4’
Dehradun: Pilgrims
from Uttarakhand can
visit Kedarnath and other
Himalayan temples in the
state from May 4, Chief
Minister Trivendra Singh
Rawat said. As inter-dis-
trict movement of people
is being allowed with cer-
tain restrictions from May
4 especially in districts
which fall in the green
zone, pilgrims from the
state can visit Kedarnath,
Rawat said.However, the
chief minister appealed
to the people to maintain
social distancing while
paying obeisance at the
temples as their safety
is of utmost importance.
The portals of Kedarnath
were opened on April 29
in the absence of pilgrims
due to the extended
lockdown.
I think Opposition are
rudderless. They have
no agenda. They have
not said a single good
thing. Now they are
blaming the govern-
ment on points on
which they earlier
agreed. They were
demanding for buses
for migrants earlier.
When the buses were
given, they started
demanding trains.
When six trains
started yesterday,
they demanded 600
trains. They do not
want to do anything,
Javadekar said.
New Delhi: Prakash
Javadekar said
on Saturday that
Aarogya Setu app
is the best scien-
tific instrument to
alert people if some
COVID-19 infected
person is nearby and
there should be no
concern over privacy-
related issues. He
was responding to
AIMIM MP Asaduddin
Owaisi’s statement in
which he raised the
possibility of privacy-
related information
being collected by the
use of app.
ON OPPN’S
ALLEGATIONS
AAROGYA SETU
APPLICATION
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: India has
placed urgent orders for
atleast11.45croretablets
of hydroxychloroquine
(HCQ). This drug is be-
ing directly procured by
HLL Lifecare, on behalf
of theUnionHealthMin-
istry. Hindustan Latex
Limited (HLL) Lifecare
is a government-owned
healthcare manufactur-
ing company.
HCQ is an anti-malar-
ial drug and has only
been recommended as
prophylaxis of COV-
ID-19 as per the national
taskforce for COVID-19.
It is not a cure but this
protocol has been rec-
ommended by the na-
tional task force for
mostly frontline health
care workers and has
been approved by the
Drug Controller Gen-
eral of India (DCGI) for
restricted use in an
emergency situation.
A senior official at
the Health Ministry
told: “For HCQ, we have
placed orders for about
11.45 crore tablets to
two Indian firms--IPCA
laboratories and Zydus
Cadila. So far, we have
received 6.64 crore HCQ
drugs and remaining
will arrive by May 16.”
As per revised guide-
lines on clinical man-
agement of COVID-19,
the HCQ tablets are
only for prophylaxis
use of COVID-19 in se-
lected eligible persons,
the official said.
“Out of 6.64 cr HCQ
drugs, Centre has dis-
tributed 4.3 crore HCQ
tablets to the states and
remaining is kept in the
Centre-State buffer
stock,” official from the
Ministry added. —ANI
Centre orders 11.45 cr HCQ
tablets with 2 Indian firms
‘10,000 patients
recovered so far’
New Delhi: Over 10,000
people out of 37,776 suf-
fering from the corona-
virus infection have
recovered in the coun-
try so far, said the Un-
ion Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare on
Saturday.
However, 2,411 new
cases of coronavirus
and 71 deaths have been
reported from different
States/Union Territo-
ries in the last 24 hours.
According to the Minis-
try’s latest update, In-
dia’s count of COVID-19
cases has reached
37,776, of which 26,535
are active cases. 10,018
patients have recov-
ered/migrated and
1,223 deaths have been
reported so far.
Maharashtra has the
most number of COV-
ID-19 cases with 11,506
patients of which, 1,879
have been cured/dis-
charged while 485 pa-
tients have succumbed
to the virus. Gujarat
has the second-highest
number of coronavirus
positive cases in the
country with 4,721 cases
including 735 patients
cured/discharged & 236
deaths. Delhi’s count
stands at 3,738 of which,
1,167 patients have re-
covered. —ANI
Mumbai: Health Min-
istry in mid-march
launched the 24x7 toll-
free national helpline
when India started to
report cases of COV-
ID-19. All phone calls on
'1075' are managed by
the National Health Au-
thority's call centre
based in Hyderabad,
Bengaluru, Kolkata and
Delhi. “We have re-
ceived up to 50,000
phone calls as the high-
est spike in a day in the
last week of March, but
on average, we are an-
swering at least 30,000
phone calls every day.
At NHA, We also have
beneficiary empowered
mechanism to handle
query related to COV-
ID-19”, Praveen Gedam,
Additional CEO at
NHA, informed. —ANI
COVID toll-free
number recorded
50k calls in a day
during March end
MED UPDATE

New Delhi: In order to
boost the morale of the
entrepreneurs who
have been suffering due
to the lockdown, Union
Minister Nitin Gadkari
has been talking to
various stakeholders
and telling them not to
lose hope. Gadkari has
been using social media
and other means like
video conferencing to
reach out to people, en-
trepreneurs and indus-
try leaders.
Gadkari is even
reaching out to foreign
students, seeking their
suggestions on how to
bring the battered econ-
omy back on track. He
believes only dialogue
can solve problems.
According to a top of-
ficial of the MSME
ministry, Gadkari
makes a point in all
meetings that there is a
need to convert this cri-
sis into an opportunity.
“He tries to instil a
sense of hope amidst
all the gloom. It has
positive impact on the
stakeholders as it is
coming from none oth-
er than a minister,” the
official said.
He held a talk ‘’Re-
sponse to global pan-
demic, Roadmap for In-
dia’’ with students of
Indian origin living in
43 countries including
Britain, Canada, Singa-
pore and Australia re-
cently. During the talk
he appealed to them to
play an active part in
the fight against the
coronavirus. —PTI
Turn crisis into opportunity: Gadkari
INDIAAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020
KERALA CHIEF SECRETARY TO RETIRE
Kerala Chief Secretary, Tom Jose, is superannu-
ating by this month end. He is a1984 batch IAS
officer.
GUJARAT CADRE IPS OFFICER
REPATRIATED
Raju Bhargava, a 1995 IPS officer, has been
repatriated to his parent Gujarat cadre. He was IG
in CRPF HQ.
GAUTAM SEN TO BE INDEPENDENT
EXTERNAL MONITOR FOR BHARAT
COKING COAL LTD
The name of Gautam Sen, IDAS (1976)(Retd.), Ex-
Addl. Controller General of Defence, Accounts and
former Adviser to Nagaland and Arunachal Govern-
ments, has been approved by CVC for appointment
as Independent External Monitor for Bharat Coking
Coal Limited, a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd.
MINOR RESHUFFLE OF
IAS OFFICERS IN MP
Kavindra Kiyawat has been appointed as Com-
missioner, Bhopal division, while Kalpana
Shrivastava was posted as Principal Secretary,
Secretariat and Saurabh Suman is now Collector,
Chhindwara. Besides, Praveen Singh Adhayach
has been appointed as Collector, Burhanpur &
Fating Rahul Haridas is Collector, Seoni in Mad-
hya Pradesh.
TENURE OF JS REDDY, ACCOUNTANT
MEMBER, ITAT, ENDS IN JUNE
The tenure of Accountant Member, Income Tax
Appellate Tribunal, J Sudhakar Reddy is ending
on June 30, 2020.
VADNERKAR GETS ADDITIONAL
CHARGE
Arvind Vadnerkar, Director (HR), BSNL, has been
given additional charge of Director (EB), BSNL till
July 25, 2020 or till further orders.
SANJAY RANA IS NEW DG,
LOKAYUKTA IN MP
Sanjay Rana has been appointed as DG, Lo-
kayukta while Ashok Awasthy, DG, Grievances,
was given an additional charge of OSD to Home
Minister in Madhya Pradesh.
DEEPAK KUMAR APPOINTED
CRO OF RBL BANK
The Board of Directors of RBL Bank have ap-
pointed Deepak Kumar as the Chief Risk Officer
(CRO) of the Bank for a period of two years.
RAJIV CHAUDHARY TO CONTINUE
HOLDING ADDL CHARGE AS GM, NR
Rajiv Chaudhary, General Manager, North Central
Railway has been asked to continue to hold
additional charge of General Manager, Northern
Railway for a period of three months beyond
April 30, 2020. He is an IRSE officer.
SC COLLEGIUM RECOMMENDS
TRANSFER OF JUSTICE AM BADAR
TO KERALA HC
The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended
transfer of Justice A M Badar from Bombay High
Court to Kerala High Court.
LK JOSHI IS NO MORE FORMER
SECRETARY PERSONNEL IN THE
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
LK Joshi has passed away in Delhi on Saturday
morning. 74 year old Joshi was former 1970
batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer.
LT GEN KJS DHILLION ASSUMES
CHARGE AS DG, DIA
Lt Gen K JS Dhillion has assumed charge as
Director General, Defence Intelligence Agency
and Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff
(Intelligence).
NEERAJ DHAWAN APPOINTED CRO
OF YES BANK
YES Bank has appointed Neeraj Dhawan as the Chief
Risk Officer of the Bank for a period of three years.
POWERGallery
Arogya Setu,...
but fear must not be
used to track citizens
without their consent,
he said.
The mobile applica-
tion helps users identi-
fy whether they are at
risk of the COVID-19
infection. It also pro-
vides people with im-
portant information,
including ways to avoid
coronavirus and its
symptoms. “The Arog-
ya Setu app, is a sophis-
ticated surveillance
system, outsourced to a
pvt operator, with no
institutional oversight
- raising serious data
security & privacy con-
cerns. Technology can
help keep us safe; but
fear must not be lever-
aged to track citizens
without their consent,”
he said on Twitter.
The central govern-
ment has made it com-
pulsory for all its em-
ployees to download the
app and urged private
entitles to also ask their
employees to use it.
Congress chief
spokesperson Randeep
Surjewala said various
experts have raised
multiple issues of pri-
vacy regarding Aarog-
ya Setu app.
“We are looking at
the privacy issues, as
also the compulsory de-
duction of amount and
hopefully within next
24 hours we will come
with a more compre-
hensive and a calibrat-
ed response on the is-
sue. But, these are areas
of concern, we have
noted,” he said at a
press conference. —PTI
Govt adds...
allowed to open in red
zones as these are ser-
vices not goods. Liquor
sale is allowed in green,
orange and red zones if
it is a standalone shop
and not located in mar-
kets or malls. In liquor
shops, customers will
have to maintain mini-
mum six feet distance (2
gaz ki doori) from each
other, and also ensure
that not more than five
persons are present at
one time at the shop.
These exemptions
will be effective from
May 4 when the third
phase of the lockdown
will begin. On allowing
domestic helps to work
in red zones, a home
ministry official said
resident welfare associ-
ations should take a call
regarding allowing the
movement of outsiders.
But health protocols
have to be maintained
by domestic helps as
well as employers, and
the responsibility lies
with the person who
employs maids in case
of any mishappening.
According to the
health ministry, as on
Friday, there were 130
‘Red’ zones in the coun-
try with maximum of
19 in Uttar Pradesh, fol-
lowed by 14 in Maha-
rashtra. The number of
‘Orange’ Zones was 284
and ‘Green’ was 319.
All the districts of
the national capital
have been put under
‘Red’ zone. Travel by
road (inter-state), rail
and air and metro are
banned across the coun-
try during the third leg
of the lockdown.
The home ministry
may give permission in
special cases depending
on the urgency.
Modi’s nutritious...
strengthen agriculture
infrastructure, special
Kisan Credit Card satu-
ration drive for PM-Ki-
san beneficiaries, and
facilitating inter and
intra-state trade of ag-
riculture produce to en-
sure the fairest return
to farmer were some of
the important areas
covered during the
meeting. Developing
e-NAM into a platform
of platforms to enable
e-commerce was also
one of the important
topics of discussion.
“The discussion also
emanated on the possi-
bilities of the uniform
statutory framework in
the country to facilitate
new ways for farming,
which will infuse capi-
tal and technology in
the agrarian economy.
The pros and cons of
biotechnological devel-
opments in crops or en-
hancement of produc-
tivity and reduction in
input costs were also
deliberated,” added the
statement. Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah, Finance
Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman and Agri-
culture Minister Naren-
draSinghTomaramong
others attended the
meeting. —ANI
FROM PG 1
Kolkata: West Bengal
CM Mamata Banerjee
hit out at Governor
Jagdeep Dhankhar, ac-
cusing him of trying to
“usurp powers” amid
the coronavirus crisis,
and asked him to desist
from using official com-
munications and logos
on social media.
Banerjee’s sharp re-
buttal came after the
governor shot off two
letters to the chief min-
ister last week amid the
clash between the Raj
Bhavan and Nabanna,
the state secretariat, in
the wake of West Ben-
gal’s response to the
COVID-19 outbreak.
“Such words & com-
munications of such
content, tenor and tone
from a Governor to an
elected CM are unprec-
edented in the annals
of Indian constitution-
al and political history.
Your words against me
and my ministers and
officers can be de-
scribed as vitupera-
tive, intemperate, in-
timidating and abu-
sive,” Banerjee said in
her 14-page reply to
Dhankhar.
Accusing him of
preaching constitution-
al norms ‘without prac-
tising it&violating it.’
The Bengal Chief
Minister further added
saying, “I beseech you
to desist from intensify-
ing your efforts to
usurp powers, especial-
ly at the time of crisis....
You should desist from
using official communi-
cations/logos for your
continuous tweets on
social media,” the chief
minister said. —PTI
‘DON’T TRY TO USURP
power in time of crisis’
CM Mamata Banerjee’s sharp rebuttal came after the Governor shot off two letters to the CM last week
New Delhi: The Indian
Navy has readied 14 of
its warships for carry-
ing out an extensive
evacuation operation of
Indian citizens who
want to return to the
country from the Gulf
countries for which it
has prepared a detailed
procedure to prevent
any spread of COVID-19
among its personnel
during the operation, a
top Navy officer said on
Saturday.
“Wehavekeptaround
14 ships ready. Four in
the Western Naval Com-
mand, four in Eastern
Naval Command, three
in South and couple of
them in the Andaman
and Nicobar Command.
So, we have got a num-
ber of ships ready to
(carry out the evacua-
tion of Indian citizens
from Gulf countries),”
Navy Vice Chief Vice
Admiral G Ashok Ku-
mar told ANI in an in-
terview. “whenever we
are tasked, we are ready
to sail,” he said. —ANI
‘14 warships readied for
evacuating Indians from Gulf’
New Delhi: The Indian
Railways is utilising
the lockdown to com-
plete several long-pend-
ing overdue mainte-
nance works, which re-
quired a traffic block of
long durations.
With passenger ser-
vices being suspended
during the lockdown,
the Railways had time
to complete what they
thought was a crucial
maintenance require-
ment without the worry
to start the track for
passenger trains.
A Railway Ministry
note issued on Saturday
informed that the de-
partment has used the
lockdown period as
‘once in a lifetime op-
portunity’ to wipe out
these maintenance ar-
rears and take up the
execution of work with-
out affecting the train
service.” —Agencies
Rlys completes pending
construction, other works
New Delhi: A Delhi
court refused bail to
suspended AAP coun-
cillor Tahir Hussain in
a case of attempt to
murder pertaining to
violence in northeast
Delhi in February.
District and Sessions
Judge Tyagita Singh
dismissed his bail appli-
cation on the ground
that police probe was
still at an initial stage.
Tahir’s counsel Javed
Ali pleaded that his cli-
ent had been falsely im-
plicated in the case.
Suspended AAP
leader Hussain’’s
bail plea rejected
New Delhi Congress
questioned Centre on a
host of issues and de-
manded that PM Modi
come forward to inform
the countrymen on his
government’s plans to
deal with the ongoing
coronavirus crisis and
economic revival.
Congress spokesper-
son Randeep Singh Sur-
jewala said: “Will we
see another lockdown?
When will the lockdown
finally end? What is the
‘exit strategy’ from
lockdown 3.0?” —ANI
‘Spell out plans
on lockdown exit,
economic revival’
Give up COVID-19 data
cover up ops: Guv to Didi
Kolkata: West Bengal
Governor Jagdeep
Dhankhar slammed CM
Mamata Banerjee and
asked her to give up
‘COVID-19 data cover
up operation’.
He said that the
COVID-19 cases shown
in state health bulletin
and national health bul-
letin vary and they are
not reconcilable even if
recovered/dead were
considered. “Give up
‘Covid-19 data cover up
operation’ Mamata Ba-
nerjee and share it
transparently. Health
bulletin 30/4 No of Ac-
tive Covid cases 572. No
health bulletin on May
1 !!” the Governor said
in a tweet.
“Gap between 572 and
931 not reconcilable
even if recovered/dead
r considered Coordina-
tion lack awful when
people r suffering un-
told miseries For way
forward withdraw ‘po-
litical parties r vultures
in wait of dead bodies’
and take all on board”
he added.
Earlier Congress
leader Adhir Ranjan
Chowdhury sought de-
tailed data on the num-
ber of people infected
with COVID-19 in the
state so far. —ANI
Such words and communications of such
content, tenor and tone from a Governor
to an elected CM are unprecedented in the
annals of Indian constitutional and political his-
tory. Your words against me and my ministers
and officers can be described as vituperative, in-
temperate, intimidating and abusive.
—Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal CM
At INS Angre
in Mumbai,
we’ve had a to-
tal of 38 Covid-19 pos-
itive cases. Of these, 12
have already been dis-
charged from hospital
while 26 are undergo-
ing treatment.There
have been no positive
case on any of our war-
ships and submarines.
—G Ashok Kumar,
Indian Navy vice-chief Vice Admiral
SALUTATION
VIEWPOINT
Raipur: Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel has re-
quested the Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal in a
letter to run as many as 28 trains to bring back mi-
grants from other states. In letter, Baghel welcomed
the Centre’s move to run special trains to bring back
migrants. He also requested the government to run
trains free of cost for migrant workers.
Ahmedabad: A special train carrying migrant work-
ers has left from Sabarmati in Ahmedabad for Agra.
A special train from Ernakulam in Kerala to Odisha’s
Bhubaneswar carrying migrant labourers reached
Renigunta railway station in Chittoor dist, On May 1,
a special train carrying 1140 migrant labourers from
Kerala bound for Bhubaneshwar, left from Ernakulam.
‘RUN28TRAINSTOBRINGBACKMIGRANTS’
TRAIN DEPARTS FROM SABARMATI FOR AGRA

IN A POST-COVID-19 WORLD,
CITIES MUST BE REDESIGNED
IT’S IMPORTANT TO REMEDY NEGATIVE EMOTIONAL CLIMATES WITH STRATEGIES TO RECONNECT
COMMUNITIES, ALLAY FEARS AND BETTER PREPARE US FOR ANY FUTURE SHUTDOWNS
TALKING POINTAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020
DESIGN WALKABLE, SOCIAL, FLEXIBLE PUBLIC SPACES
INTEGRATE PUBLIC AND ONLINE SPACES
Covid-19 is an opportunity
to build on what we know
and to learn from this situation.
It’s possible to promote social
and emotional well-being. We
suggest four key approaches for
building better communities that
do this.
REBUILDING COMMUNITIES
The impacts of Covid-19
will not be felt equally.
Post-Covid-19 cities should
take this into account.
The disease has exposed
the vulnerability of people
experiencing homelessness.
It has also greatly increased
the risk of loneliness for
those who live alone. This
applies particularly to older
citizens with a mobility im-
pairment.
The pandemic has also
highlighted the safety risks
of centralised living arrange-
ments like nursing homes.
We must prioritise the crea-
tion of housing that reduces
isolation and promotes
social connection.
Recent positive public
conversations on social
media and within the arts
community on previously
stigmatised emotions like
loneliness and anxiety will
help keep these concerns on
the public agenda.
Recent work-from-home prac-
tices have reduced car traffic
by up to 50% on arterial roads.
However, they have also prompted
cabin fever and a craving for exer-
cise and social contact. Cities and
suburbs should be redesigned to
support physical and social activ-
ity and mental health. We need a
greater emphasis on cycle- and
pedestrian-friendly spaces. There
should also be renewed focus on
building walkable town centres and
neighbourhood high streets, rather
than continuing with car-depend-
ent suburban sprawl.
Recent examples of innovative
and flexible use of space by busi-
ness are inspiring. Whether cafes
become corner stores, pubs sell
takeaway cocktails, parks become
gyms, or car parks become pop-up
businesses, flexible use of space
should become commonplace.
Our new online communication skills can help
us develop a better physical-digital interface
for bringing people together. Video conferencing
is flexible and can enable long-distance connec-
tion and “work from home” hubs. However, social
media platforms, such as Facebook, Meetup, What-
sApp or art-based apps like Somebody, are useful
for organising physical meetings too. These can
can help with community volunteering, socialising,
or simply sharing guerrilla-garden herbs for local
cooking.
A better physical-digital interface could help new
jobs flourish in “interactive” creative industries
that virtually connect isolated individuals. New art
spaces could be established, putting connective
digital infrastructure, such as audio-visual plat-
forms, within physical spaces to help face-to-face
and virtual audiences interact.
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION CONCEPT: DIVYA HEMNANI DESIGN: ABHISHEK GUPTA
BUILD WITH
DIFFERENT NEEDS
AND STIGMA IN MIND
C
ovid-19 has forced us
intosocialdistancing,
isolation and quaran-
tine. These conditions are
likely fostering widespread
anxiety and loneliness in
our cities. However, they’ve
also made the need for so-
cially connected, vibrant
public spaces obvious to all.
We offer four strategies
forrebuildingsocialconnec-
tivity and emotional well-
being in our cities, once re-
strictions are lifted.
Enforced distancing
measures are probably
changing not just our work,
travel and family routines,
but how we interact with
othersandhowwefeelabout
ourselves and our commu-
nities.
Loneliness is bad for your
health and is likely on the
rise. There is no guarantee
the pandemic-driven shift
towards more digital com-
munication will compen-
sate for the lost emotional
closeness of in-person con-
tact.
As loneliness becomes
more common, it creates a
change in what sociologists
refer to as “emotional cli-
mates” – the collective feel-
ingsexperiencedandshared
by most people within a
given city or society. A
“massemotionalevent”like
Covid-19 can dramatically
alter the emotional climate.
It’ssodisruptivethatitleads
to a permanent change in
everyday emotional states,
expressionsandsocialinter-
actions.
Covid-19hasstrongpoten-
tialtomakeusnotonlylone-
lier, but more distrustful,
fearful, anxious and angry.
The emerging evidence of
this includes: panic buying
of goods; abuse and stigma
of “risky” carers such as
health workers; and poten-
tial increases in domestic
violenceandanimalcruelty.
It has even been suggest-
ed we are collectively pro-
cessingandmovingthrough
the stages of mass grief.
It’s important to remedy
negative emotional cli-
mates with strategies to
reconnect communities, al-
lay fears and better pre-
pare us for any future shut-
downs. We can even aim to
promote positive emotion-
al climates and “kindness
pandemics”.
Covid-19 has exposed
the vast variability
in the quality of urban
housing. Many homes
lack the space to
accommodate work,
study, relaxation,
exercise and socialis-
ing, or spaces where
people can seek privacy
and quiet. Housing also
varies in its access to
fresh air, light, tempera-
ture control and healthy
green spaces.
Designing future
homes with these needs
and features in mind
should be a priority.
PROVIDE QUALITY
HOUSING

First India News
Mumbai/Ahmeda-
bad: Modi govern-
ment’s notification on
27 April that declared
Gandhinagar as the
headquarters of the In-
ternational Financial
Services (IFSC) Au-
thority has obviously
upset Maha Vikas
Aghadi (MVA) govt in
Maharashtra.
“It’s disappointing
and a move against
Mumbai’s established
status as the nation’s
financial capital,”
NCP President
Sharad Pawar said.
Maharashtra Indus-
tries Minister Sub-
hash Desai, a close
aide of Thackeray,
said that it is natural
to have IFSC in Mum-
bai. “Just giving a
name does not make
a financial capital.
The world knows
Mumbai and its fi-
nancial might,” he
said. The senior Shiv
Sena leader said
Mumbai had the BSE,
NSE, RBI, SEBI, head-
quarters of banks
and financial compa-
nies, offices of top
international compa-
nies and Mumbai was
an International Fi-
nancial Centre.
M a h a r a s h t r a ’ s
Revenue Minister
Balasaheb Thorat
said the Central gov-
ernment’s decision to
locate the IFSC to Gu-
jarat is disappointing
and is being done to
reduce Mumbai’s
stature.
M a h a r a s h t r a ’ s
School Education
Minister Varsha Gai-
kwad tweeted “Rest
In Peace” IFSC dream
of Mumbai. Mumbai
is again robbed of its
opportunity to be-
come an IFSC desti-
nation due to special
biased love of our
Prime minister for
Gujarat. PM is for
the country or just
for one state?”.
These are difficult times for all,
we must stand by each other and
strive to find ‘the silver lining’
daily. Be kind and compassionate
towards humans and animals alike.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
First India News
Narmada: 60 years ago
when Gujarat became a
state the fore fathers
never would have as-
pired a foundation day
where the tribals of the
state had to go back in
history and resort to
primitive mde of pay-
ments in the digital age.
With no job to earn
from and no savings to
bank on, Covid-19 pan-
demic has forved the
tribls of the area to
adopt the age old ‘Sata
Pata’ system I,e, the
primitive barter system
where gods were & ser-
vices were exchanged
for each other due to no
or less currency circu-
lation.
The residents ex-
change grains for len-
tils and so on. “When
the country was not
independent, these
tribals used to grow
sorghum on their
land and other crops.
That’s how they ex-
changed goods and
grains through ‘sata
pata’ system and fol-
lowed this method of
trade. Today, when the
tribals are unable to get
out due to the covid-19
epidemic, the practice
has resumed in the vil-
lages of the district,”
said Mahesh Vasava,
president of the tribal
association AMU. The
border areas of Narma-
da district are consid-
ered as a tribal region
of the state with resi-
dents having limited
resources to by essen-
tials. A lockdown in
their situation has left
them with neither job
nor money as the locals
cannot even go out in
hunt for work. Hence,
they have now decided
to exchange goods for
their survival.
In 200-300 villages,
these tribes do farm-
ing, and when it
rains, they go out in
different cities to take
up other jobs during
the season. As it is
difficult for them to
meet their means
with the food grains
provided by the gov-
ernment, these trib-
als are exchanging
goods for other agri-
cultural products and
grains.
Pandemicforcesjobless&pennilesstribalstobartersystem
Today,
when the
tribals are
unable to get out
due to the covid-19
epidemic, the prac-
tice has resumed
in the villages of
the district.”
—Mahesh Vasava,
President of the tribal
association AMUTribals forced to adopt barter system due to nation wide lockdown
due to Covid-19.
@ahmedpatel
If Government of India
can spend Rs 20,000
crs to construct a new
parliament building why
is it collecting money
from poor migrants who
need to go back home?
Is this how you will
fund a new Parliament?
PM MODI SAVES
CM UDDHAV
There is more to poli-
tics than meets the
eye. Uddhav Thackeray,
who, not so long ago,
had chosen Pawar and
Congress over Modi, is
now a sitting CM and
the courtesy goes to
Modi. Uddhav had ac-
ceded to the CM throne
without getting elected
and his temporary ar-
rangement was about to
expire on May 28. Any
by-election in corona-
hit Maharashtra was
out of the question, so
his advisors told him to
get nominated to one of
the two such seats for
Legislative Council ly-
ing vacant. State cabi-
net duly sent its recom-
mendation to this effect
to Governor Bhagat
Singh Koshyari, the one
who had his doors open
for Devendra Fadnavis
at midnight. Koshyari
kept sitting on the file
much to the increasing
discomfort of Uddhav
Thackeray with each
passing day. State cabi-
net again sent its nomi-
nation proposal on
April 27 but Koshyari
looked elsewhere. Ud-
dhav had cozied up to
his rapport with PM
Modi by paying him a
courtesy call with his
son Aditya after assum-
ing the post of CM so he
decided to fire a direct
shot and he called PM
Modi and pleaded his
case. PM not only as-
sured him during the
phone call but the re-
sults were to be seen,
sooner than expected,
by all. The Election
Commission of India
came into action and
took cognizance of elec-
tions to the Maharash-
tra Legislative Council.
A relieved Uddhav
didn’t waste in thank-
ing PM Modi for his
generosity.
WHO WILL BE THE
SUCCESSOR TO
TIWARI?
Delhi BJP President
Manoj Tiwari’s
tenure of 3 years is
about to end and search
for his successor is on.
The BJP high command
needs a pro-active presi-
dent who can reign in
Delhi CM Arvind Kejri-
wal effectively. There
are many names like
Vijay Goel, Pravesh
Varma, Dushyant Gau-
tam and Satish Upad-
hyay floating around,
but Manoj Tiwari is yet
to hang his boots. He
claims that as party
chief in Delhi, he has
not only helped it with
more seats, increased
vote share but has also
contributed to the par-
ty’s popularity.
CORONA TIMES
NEWSPAPER
The deep stings of
coronavirus have
almost defied the prov-
erb ‘The pen is mighti-
er than the sword’. Cov-
id-19 has virtually
pushed the newspaper
industry below the
ground. The govt adver-
tisement is trickling in
and corporate adver-
tisement has become a
rare commodity dent-
ing the industry reve-
nue in a big way. As per
the Indian Newspaper
Society, the industry
has already suffered a
heavy loss of Rs 15,500
crore. Big names who
published 32 pagers are
struggling to survive by
publishing eight pager
sheets. The whole focus
now is on the digital
editions. One big re-
gional newspaper
group had 54 corona
positive cases in its of-
fice and it somehow
managed to publish its
editions after sanitiz-
ing its office. Industry
sources claim that the
industry leader Times
group is facing a daily
deficit of Rs 6-7 crore.
Even regional player
like Amar Ujala is in
deep red with daily
losses reaching Rs 1.5
crore. The newspaper
industry, real brand
ambassadors of the de-
mocracy, fails to under-
stand scissors on its
payouts when on the
other hand the same
govt is mulling on a re-
lief package of Rs 8-10
lakh crore for the cor-
porate sector.
TRANSFORMING
RAHUL
Former Congress
chief Rahul Gandhi
is busy learning new
lessons of politics dur-
ing the abnormal coro-
na era. Despite lock-
down, Rahul is success-
fully finding ways to get
inputs from experts
from fields ranging
from education to the
economy. He is refining
and polishing his
knowledge in every
sphere. Rahul has a bat-
tery of subject experts
who are providing him
insight into under-
standing & solving the
Indian political para-
dox. Former RBI Gover-
nor Raghuram Rajan is
merging as his true
Alma mater for eco-
nomic matters. If the
sources are to be be-
lieved then Raghuram
Rajan is to Rahul what
Manmohan Singh was
to Sonia Gandhi. Ra-
hul’s deep meaning dis-
cussion with Raghuram
on YouTube is being
watched by a large
number of people. This
and such other videos
that the party proposes
to release in the coming
days are aimed at peo-
ple to see the transfor-
mation of Rahul Gan-
dhi into a mature and
settled leader. All the
people who Rahul is
closely interacting with
are mostly intellectu-
als. The only problem is
that all these renowned
names belong to the
elite English world will
be confronting a pure
son of the soil in Naren-
dra Modi. Further, the
majority of Indians nei-
ther understand Eng-
lish. It is commonly be-
lieved that Sonia Gan-
dhi will hand over the
party baton to Rahul
after the lockdown is
lifted and even Rahul is
preparing for the same
but the only bottleneck
is the language.
ISRAEL THANKS
INDIAN
BUREAUCRATS
The Israeli Foreign
Minister Yisrael
Katz has written a
thanks letter to his In-
dian counterpart S Jais-
hankar. Through his
letter, Katz has sur-
passed the routine pro-
tocol and walked the
extra mile by thanking
the bureaucrats who
took pains to evacuate
citizens of Israel during
Covid-19 scare. Katz has
particularly thanked
Joint Secretary, MEA
Nikhilesh Giri and 1995
batch IAS Pradeep Sin-
gh Kharola who is serv-
ing Civil Aviation min-
istry. But sources say
that Katz forgot to thank
2012 batch IAS S Rakhi
Mayuri posted in MEA
and looking after West-
ern Asia and North Af-
rican desk who played a
pivotal role in the evac-
uation.
The author is a
journalist and political
commentator and views
expressed are his
personal
FIRST INDIA SUNDAY SPECIAL
Rahul Gandhi S. JaishankarNarendra Modi
BY TRIDIB RAMAN
Uddhav Thackeray
IFSC HUB SHIFT TO GUJ
RATTLES MAHA COALITIONUpset leaders
rubbish attempts to
rob the rightfully
earned ’Financial
Hub’ title from
Mumbai
Cough syrup doses
keep Corona at bay!
First India News
Surat: It would be
quite astonishing for
the people to know, spe-
cially with Covid-19
scare all around, that a
4 year old girl defeated
simply by taking two 5
ml doses of a syrup for
17 days in hospital.
Little Mahira is
back home after de-
feating mighty coro-
navirus. She is
among the 26 pa-
tients who have been
discharged from the
hospital after fully
recovering with the
message loud & clear
that one shouldn’t
fear corona but just
be positive in your
approach. Similar is
the story of 70 year
old Chandrika Ben
Jariwala. She had
the crucial comor-
bidity of high blood
pressure yet she sim-
ply followed the in-
structions given by
her doctors to come
out fully recovered in
17 days.
Chandrika Ben only
consumed two chapties
a day and consumed a
lot of liquids along
with the dose of cough
syrup prescribed by
her doctors. Both give
a big hope to the rest.
Home-bound
migrant worker
dies in bus
Migrant couple
flees with six
mth-old kid
First India News
Surat: A migrant
worker, finally head-
ing for his home in
Ganjam district in
Odisha died in the bus
while he was still in
the way. The deceased
has been identified as
a resident of Narayan-
pur village in Suroda
area of Odisha’s Gan-
jam district. The rea-
son of his death was
not ascertained.
Chhattisgarh police
detained the bus and
started investigation
into the matter.
According to reports,
over 170 persons were
returning to the state
from Surat in three bus-
es after taking permis-
sion from Surat district
administration.Sources
said, as many as eight
lakh Odia migrants
have been staying in Su-
rat. Majority of them
were working in textile
mills in the coastal city
of Gujarat. Earlier on 30
April 217 migrant work-
ers reached Seragarh
and Dharakote in Gan-
jam district from Surat.
First India News
Vadodara: A migrant
couple on the way to Ut-
tar Pradesh were ar-
rested by crime branch
for abducting a six
month old baby from
Sachin area of the city.
The accused identified
as Amit Ghadhiya (25)
and his wife Anita (25),
originally from Khar-
sola village in Fatehpur
district of Uttar
Pradesh, told the police
that they intended to
raise the baby as their
own after losing two of
their children previ-
ously.
The accused couple
decided to kidnap
the six month old
boy from a neighbor-
ing family of mi-
grant workers before
fleeing with a group
of migrant labour-
ers that had began
walking home, police
said.
The police said
that both families
were neighbors and
working as factory
labourers in Sachin
GIDC area of Surat.
The Centre should
reconsider its de-
cision, after all
Mumbai is the financial
hub of the country as it is
disappointing and is an
ateempt to reduce Mum-
bai’s stature.
—Balasahab Thorat,, Maharshtra Revenue Minister
In 2007, the Per-
cy Mistry com-
mittee submitted
a report on this issue. Till
2014, the then govern-
ment at Centre (UPA) and
state (Democratic Front)
did nothing. The then Gu-
jarat CM (Narendra Modi) started working
on it. In 2014, they submitted the proposal
and so as we (BJP-Sena).
—Devendra fadnavis,, Former Maharshtra CM
Jubilant little Mahira after defeating mighty Corona.

uring the COVID-19
pandemic, we all have
to stay at our homes
and be fit and maintain
our immunity to fight
this virus. Our move-
ments are restricted
and people of all ages have to be
as active as possible keeping
oneself positive. Regular physi-
cal activities can benefit both
the body and mind. Activities
can also help us plan our whole
day routine and be a way of
staying in contact with family
and friends. People have en-
gaged themselves in yoga and
Zumba workout sessions by tak-
ing online classes and watching
YouTube videos. Experts are
also posting pictures and videos
about how one can stay fit with-
out the gym.
There are some simple yoga
asanas like Surya Namaskar,
Plank pose which can be easily
done at our home, and repeating
them regularly will give us the
result.Somegameslikebadmin-
ton and skipping are also help-
ful. This lockdown has taken us
closertonature,therebymaking
us realise our physical health
and stamina. These days we are
avoiding the helpers at our place
following social distancing and
doing our work on our own
which exactly gave us the report
about our fitness and stamina.
Everybody is becoming more
and more creative by using
whatever is available at their
placeandcreatingwondersfrom
the waste material also.
Yoga and meditation help us
to access our inner selves in
this time of crises and it be-
comes a useful tool to deal with
anxiety and depression. Yoga is
the technique to control the
body and mind. The beauty of
yoga is that you don’t have to be
an expert to attain the desired
benefits. Whether you are old
or young, fit or unfit, in-shape
or out-shape yoga has the pow-
er to calm and strengthen you.
We all should plan our day and
try to give some time for yoga
and meditation in this Lock-
down 3.0, and make it success-
ful and healthy throughout.
AHMEDABAD, SUNDAY
MAY 3, 2020
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facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
YOGA SE HI HOGA
SWATI JANGID
swati.jangid@cityfirst.co.in
D
I have been doing Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
and yoga since the past few years. While MMA
drives the fighting spirit alive within me, yoga has
helped keep me sane and at peace during these
difficult times. —JUHI KATEJA, Ahmedabad
—PHOTOBYJATINBHALLA
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
(Clockwise) Akanksha Bhalla,
Jacqueline Fernandez and
Swati Jangid
Malaika Arora
Since it’s the third phase of the National Lockdown, City First brings
its readers the benefits of practising yoga, during Lockdown 3.0 to stay fit

10
ETCAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
VARSHA YADAV, Actress
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
You have a good family life
and you are very emotional
about them. You need to
wait until you find a good
life partner. You are good at managing
your expenses and savings as much
as possible. You will come across
every kind of person but it depends
on you how you deal with them.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
You will benefit from
buying or selling the
property about which you
have been thinking for
quite some time. Look for the
strengths rather than the weakness.
You are very serious about your
career and you don’t tolerate any
mistake in your work.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Things are getting easy for
you on academic front as
you have starting exerting
more than you ever have.
Love life is secure for you. All your
worries will vanish once you get the
promotion and hike which will
happen soon. You may feel very
emotional about your parents.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
You may excel in some or
the other sports an there is
no harm in taking it
seriously for once. Some of
you have really started earning well and
you are professionally growing day by
day. A good news is waiting for you on
professional front. You are about to
achieve something great.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
You colleagues or your
boss may give you a
surprise party for your
sincere effort in some
project. Always be optimistic when it
come to love. Homemakers will
spend the whole day in resetting and
arranging things in the house. A dear
friend will surprise you.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
You are soon moving abroad
to your place of desire for
permanent settlement. You
usually don’t sit at peace
until your work is done. You are a
tough, strong person by heart but you
don’t forgive people who play with your
sentiments. You are a one man army
and you don’t need anyone.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
A fun trip with family is on
cards for some. On
academic front, you will be
very busy in doing your
preparations that you will have no
spare time for leisure. You will keep
your promises as far as helping
someone with money is concerned.
You will complete a project.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Your spouse will give you
special treatment today for
all your love and sincerity.
You will feel on the top of
the of the world today and you will
spread happiness wherever you will
go. You will be mentally very relaxed,
as you have managed to finish your
work in advance.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
On social front, you will go
out of your way to help
someone with their
personal problems. You
will meet someone who shares same
ideologies like you. You are person of
strong resolve and you don’t stop
until you have accomplished whats in
your mind.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You must learn to maintain
good relationships on work
front as you cannot be
blunt with people at work.
Romance is in the air for you and you
will spend some amazing time with
you love today. You may think of
buying a property but the only
problem is the area.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
People will not only notice
your hard work but will
also appreciate you for it.
You will be able to
successfully negotiate. Exercises
alone won’t help you, you have to
careful consider what you put in your
belly. Many opportunities will knock
at your door.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You need to not only
understand what your
partner wants but also
make sure to deliver it. On
professional front, you will meet the
expectations of your boss. In
financial matter, you know hat needs
to be done and you tend to make no
mistakes.
t’s a famous saying that
everything happens for
a reason. And that rea-
son causes change.
Sometimesthechangeis
hard but in the end its
all for the best. Out of
the blue, in March 2020 the World
Health Organisation announced
COVID-19asthepandemicforthe
entire world. Life has come to a
halt, total shut down; people
caged inside their houses. In this
time of lockdown and social dis-
tancing, some people with an op-
timistic approach took it as a
time of rejuvenation and on the
other hand, a few of them got de-
pressed seeing the scenario. We
are not able to go out for social
gatherings though the time has
given us an opportunity to con-
nect not only with our neighbors
but as we are
so much de-
pendent on
digital gadgets
sovirtuallyweare
joining with peo-
ple whom we nev-
er would have re-
ally known
inanyothercircumstance.Sothe
entire world has united in this
time of emergency.
While this time, ‘I’ also met
myself, the real me. Yes, I came to
know the actual ‘Me’ who other-
wise I left somewhere during the
chasing journey of my life’s pri-
mary goals. This hard time of
lockdown has taught all of us the
actual meaning of ‘LIFE’. With
advancement of technology I re-
alized that we have come so far
and forgotten the real sense of
life. There comes a time in life
where you have to face the reality.
Through this pandemic the al-
mighty has shown us that every
worldly thing we run after all
over our lives is entirely mean-
ingless. Our all desires are of no
use. We are mere puppets of the
super power ‘GOD’. This super-
power has once again demon-
strated that ‘I’ am just a soul who
is playing various roles in this
life journey as Mother, daughter,
wife, and many more with great
solemnity like other souls in this
world. This is a bit philosophical
but it is the truth of life. I also
wonder sometimes that if ‘I’ have
no connection to the body-mind-
personality at the moment, it’s
merely a Pious Soul without any
feeling of anger, love or hatred. I
have found my true self. And
indeed, the greatest and most
mysterious journey of our lives
is to discover who we really are?
I believe, in this journey of
self searching one should not
be self-centered, but to be
the most valuable hu-
man being and
should lead a
life of hu-
manity or as the purest soul one
has to serve others.
So, self realization is actu-
ally knowing yourself and
living a life with a certain
ease. When there is no
ease, joy is out of ques-
tion. When there is
no ease and joy in
your life, questions
will come up,
“To be or not
to be?”
Hence, self-
realization is
not a choice; it
is a requisite.
Co nc isely,
this lockdown
period has not
only shown the real es-
sence of life to me but
also united the entire
world and helped us
to know our in-
ner self
closely!
ANUBHA JAIN
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
Finding your
‘True
Self’
I
manity or as the purest soul one

N
eetu Kapoor has penned an emotional
post remembering husband Rishi Ka-
poor, who passed away on Thursday
morning. The actress shared a photo on
Instagram where Rishi Kapoor can be seen sitting
with a glass of Scotch whiskey.
“End of our story,” she captioned the frame.
Commenting on her post, Anupam Kher
shared: “Some stories never end.” Raveena
Tandon, who worked with Rishi Kapoor in
1995 movie ‘Saajan Ki Baahon Mein’,
commented: “Eternal and forever.”
Sonu Sood commented: “It’s a story
that inspired many stories on this
planet mam. Some stories never
end, in fact, they will remain in
our hearts forever. Rishi sir will
always be a guiding angel.”
Richa Chadha shared: “It is
but a comma, not a full stop.
He’s right there, beside you,
regaling you with stories,
making you laugh.”
—IANS
O
n the occasion of their 38th wedding anniversary, ev-
ergreen actor Hema Malini and Dharmendra thanked
fans for sending their warm wishes to them.
Malini (71) took to Twitter on Saturday and
shared a picture with her husband on the occa-
sion. She tweeted, “Dharam ji & I thank all
those who have wished us on our wedding
anniversary today. It is your blessings &
good wishes that have always been with us
all through these years.”
Daughter Esha Deol also showered anni-
versary wishes on her parents by sharing a
picture of them on Instagram. Wishing for
infinite years of togetherness of her par-
ents, she wrote, “Happy wedding anniver-
sary my darling parents! My mam-
ma & papa, I love u both soooooooo
much & pray to God to bless you
both with infinite years of together-
ness, love, happiness & the best of health! @
dreamgirlhemamalini @aapkadharam. Love
you, Esha, Bharat, Radhya & Miu.” —ANI
dah Sharma
says she is
picky when
it comes to
signing films
and that she
tries to pick
something that is dif-
ferent from what she
has done before.
“Yes, I am picky when
it comes to choosing
films. I try to be
part of films
that I would
wanttowatch.
I also try to
pick different
roles from
what I have
done. I start-
ed with
‘1920’. I am
very fortu-
nate, the ac-
tresses in our
industry for
years don’t get a
chance to do what I
got to do in my debut,”
said Adah.
Adah made her Bolly-
wood debut 2008 with the
film ‘1920’. She was later
seen in films like ‘Hum
Hai Raahi Car Ke’, the
‘Commando’ franchise,
‘Bypass Road’ and
‘Phhir’. She also worked
in the southern film in-
dustry.
Adah says she likes to
surprise the audience.
“I try with each film to
do something different
because the audience also
waits to see ‘what differ-
ent is Adah Sharma go-
ing to do’ and if I do the
same then they are like
‘anyone can do that!’. So
nowadays even if it is a
short film like I just did
‘Tindey’, ‘moh’ or a mu-
sic video... I try to pick
something that is differ-
ent from what I have done
and others have done as
well,” she said.
She will next be seen in
‘Man To Man’.
The film revolves
around actor Naveen Kas-
turia’s character falling
in love with and marry-
ing Sharma’s character,
only to realise she was
biologically a man who
became a woman after
surgery. —IANS Soon to be parents!
M
odel Gigi
Hadid has
confir med
that she is
pregnant with her first
child with singer boy-
friend Zayn Malik, and
tagged the COVID-19
lockdown as a “nice
silver lining” to enjoy
her pregnancy. “Obvi-
ously, we wish we
could have announced
it on our own terms.
We’re very excited and
happy and grateful for
everyone’s well
wishes and support,”
Gigi said on ‘The To-
night Show starring
Jimmy Fallon’. “Espe-
cially during this time,
it’s a nice silver lining
to be home and be to-
gether, and really expe-
rience it day by day,”
Gigi said. —IANS
ETCAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020
11
R
eality TV star Kim
K a r d a s h i a n ’ s
beach house in
Malibu is up for
auction. Olympic gold
medallist Bruce Jenner,
now Caitlyn Jenner,
had called the beach
house his home on
‘Keeping Up With
The Kardashi-
ans’ season 10.
Kim’s mother
Kris Jenner,
had suggested
the gold med-
allist, with
whom she
was formerly
married, to
move out
from the es-
tate. Before
his transition
to Caitlyn,
Bruce lodged
in the beach
house till he
found a new
residence.
—IANS
It’sAuction!
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CHOOSY
& PICKY!
A
TOGETHER FOREVER!
‘End of our story’
S
inger Katy Perry says
she will never forget
being pregnant dur-
ing the COVID-19
pandemic, adding that she
is trying not to be stressed
about her delivery. The
35-year-old star is expect-
ing her first child with
her fiance, actor Orlando
Bloom. During a conver-
sation with ‘American
Idol’ host Ryan Seacrest,
she admitted that she is fac-
ing some tough challeng-
es due to the isola-
tion. Perry told
S e a c r e s t
that deal-
ing with
a preg-
nancy in
a pandem-
ic is some-
thing she
will never for-
get. —IANS
TOUGH TIMES!
Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid
Kim Kardashian
Dharmendra and Hema Malini
Katy Perry
Rishi Kapoor in Neetu Kapoor’s Instagram post
Adah Sharma

L
eaving behind his
50-years-old lega-
cy, Gulab Singh
Dhiravat, the fa-
mous tea seller of
Jaipur, passed away on
Saturday at the age of
95, due to a week-long
illness. Even in the time
without Coronavirus,
he had provided morn-
ing tea and breakfast to
approximately 200 poor
people every day. From
various renowned per-
sonalities to the people
of Pink City, everyone
loved ‘Gulab Ji Chai’
and precisely that’s the
reason why a tea shop at
MI Road has become a
brand of Jaipur now.
—City First
I wouldn’t be able to hold myself
on passing this fact along to my
children on how their dad and
his cousins made through this
pandemic by playing PubG almost
all day long! Tiwari family was
saving lives by group video call-
ing and discussing what dish was
made here in Jaipur and in Delhi!
—ABHIRATH TIWARI
Since I live in another city due
to work, the lockdown has not
really changed anything as far as
connecting with my family goes.
I have always stayed in touch
with them through daily phone,
WhatsApp, and video calls. The
lockdown has compelled me to
work from home.
—DIPALI JOSHI
In this era of social media, it is much
easier to connect with family and
friends who are afar from us, but as
cases are increasing day by day I am
very much worried about my dear
ones who are living in the red zone
or hotspot area. I stay connected
with my friends via social media,
video calls, and phone calls.
—SANDEEP CHHANGANI
CITY FIRST JAIPUR
M
ahatma Gan-
dhi Hospital’s
Corona Criti-
cal Care team
has successfully treated
three corona positive
patients and after dis-
charged them on Satur-
day, after keeping them
in isolation for 15 days.
The Corona Wing in
charge at the hospital,
Dr. Ashish Jain, in-
formed that the Jaipur
CMHO has referred
three corona positive
patients on 18 April. Pa-
tients were having com-
mon corona symptoms
like cold, cough, fever,
and breathing discom-
fort and so they were
treated as per guide-
lines of ICMR.
After their recovery,
the patients were gone
though RT-PCR tests to
diagnose coronavirus,
which tested negative.
Later, after comple-
tion of their 15 days
quarantine period, all
three patients were sent
to home back in healthy
condition. While the pa-
tients were leaving, the
team at the hospital ap-
plaud for them to win
the battle against COV-
ID-19. Also, they have
been asked to keep in
isolation at the home
for the next 14 days and
maintain social dis-
tancing.
12
CITY BUZZAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
WHAT’S HAPPENING!
Gujarat: Officials of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Ahmedabad division,
distributed hand sanitizers, hand gloves, masks, and safety kit to police personnel at
Navrangpura police station in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
Gujarat: Mounted police personnel patrols a street during the nationwide lockdown in
Ahmedabad. —PHOTO BY NANDAN DAVE
Rajasthan: The Institute of Company
Secretaries of India (ICSI), after due
consideration of the prevalent situation and
subsequent lockdown due to COVID-19,
has decided to postpone its examination
(June - 2020 session). ICSI, Jaipur Chapter
Chairman, Nitin Hotchandani informed that
the Foundation, Executive and Professional programme, and Post Membership Qualification
(PMQ) exams is now scheduled to be held from 1 June to 10 June. The Examination of the above
session will now commence from 6 July, for which the revised schedule will be announced later.
Rajasthan: The Catholic Diocese of Jaipur along with its
religious and educational institutions donated a sum of
Rs 20 lakhs to strengthen the fight against the Corona
pandemic. A donation of Rs.15 lakhs was made to the
Rajasthan Chief Minister’s COVID-19 Relief Fund and
Rs. 5 lakhs to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
Bishop Oswald Lewis shared that Catholic institutions
are actively involved in charity work involving the
landless and migrant labourers in several places in the
Jaipur and Dausa districts.
Rajasthan: Transport
Minister Pratap Singh
Khachariyawas was
handed over a cheque
of Rs 15 lakh by DN
Sakkarwal, who is the
chief regional manager
at the Oriental
Insurance Company
Limited, Jaipur. The
staff and management
of the Oriental
Insurance Company
Limited, across the
state, have come
forward in the battle
against coronavirus
and donated their
one-day salary to
contribute to CM’s
COVID-19 Relief Fund.
Gujarat: With traffic
at a minimum with the
nationwide lockdown
in place, an antelope
was seen sauntering
down Ahmedabad’s CG
Road on Saturday.
CITY FIRST JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
ith much of the
world in lockdown,
staying connected
with our loved ones
has never been
more important.
With the Lockdown
Whether we’re checking in
with a call, keeping ourselves
entertained by taking part in
online conferences, or updat-
ing the family WhatsApp with
our latest baking attempts, we
have a burning desire to keep
in touch. Our home broad-
band has gone from “nice to
have” to the lifeline between
us and the outside world. For
many of us, our parents and
siblings are far away and fam-
ilies are finding new innova-
tive ways to keep in regular
touch. A family actually does
a video conference across the
word in eight locations every
night, others are sharing
books, recipes, and music. As
the lockdown goes on, fami-
lies are finding new creative
ways to remain in touch and
connected emotionally. Re-
member, the distance is just
physical, not dil se!
HAPPY B’DAY!
IAS Babulal Kothari (top)
and IAS Deshal Dan
celebrated their birthdays
on 2 May, Saturday. We
wish them all the best!
CITY FIRST AHMEDABAD
I
t was a proud mo-
ment for the Gujarati
film industry when
Gujarati film ‘Kem
Chho’ received a Special
Mention Award at the
Dadasaheb Phalke Film
Festival 2020. The super-
hit Gujarati film follows
the story of Mayur, a
middle-class man who
encounters many prob-
lems and tries to come
upwithwackysolutions
for them. The movie has
been produced by
Shailesh Dhameliya,
written and directed by
Vipul Sharma and its
cast includes Tushar
Sadhu, Kinjal Rajpriya
and Heena Akolkar. The
team of ‘Kem Chho’
chose to dedicate the
award to legendary per-
formers Irrfan Khan
and Rishi Kapoor, who
bothpassedawaywithin
a day of each other re-
cently.
cityfirstgujarat@gmail.com
PHOTOGENIC KIDS!CITY FIRST
T
o keep the kids engaged amid
the corona outbreak, Infinity
Takeovers organised an on-
line photo contest ‘India’s Lit-
tle Fashion Hunters (ILFH) Kids
Photo Contest’ for the kids up to 15
years. The results of the contest
were announced on Friday, where
Soumya Soni won the contest, where-
in Shashwat Singh and Ranveer Sin-
gh bagged the second and third posi-
tions, respectively. During the con-
test, more than 8000 kids made their
entry to participate in the contest
and the winners were decided based
on their post’s reach, likes, and rank-
ing. Director of ILFH Anup Choud-
hary informed that the top winners
will get gift hampers up to 5 lakh and
the top ten kids will receive People’s
Choice Award. Apart from this, se-
lected kids will also get the opportu-
nity to participate in ILFH upcoming
fashion shows.
Positive Efforts!
‘Kem Chho’
RECEIVING DADASAHEB PHALKE SPECIAL MENTION
Connected! Dil Se…Now, more than ever, it is
important for you to stay
connected to your family!
W
GULAB JI,
NO MORE
CITY FIRST JAIPUR
M
anavaditya, son of Rajyavardhan
Singh Rathore, the emerging young
player of the country in interna-
tional shooting, thanked the central
government on Saturday for ensuring the
safety of doctors and paramedical staff in the
country by enacting laws against the ones
harming and assaulting them, and said, “in
this difficult time the youth of the country is
with Prime Minister Narendra Modi”. He
alsosaid,“Todaythecountryisgoingthrough
unusual circumstances due to the outbreak
of the pandemic Coronavirus (Covid-19), and
in this difficult time, the doctors and para-
medical staff of the country are continuous-
ly working to save our lives day and night by
risking their own lives. Yet they are attacked
by some anti-social elements which is very
sad and is a state of worrying”.
BEINGTHANKFULSoumya, Shashwat and Ranveer
Gulab Singh Dhiravat

First india ahmedabad edition-03 may 2020

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First india ahmedabad edition-03 may 2020