First India Gujarat For Gujarat Today Epaper 12 March 2020 edition

AHMEDABAD l THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 105 Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh in New Delhi. PM NARENDRA MODIEXTENDS GREETING TO AMARINDER SINGH ON HIS 76TH BIRTHDAY rime Minis- ter Narendra Modi on Wednesday e x t e n d e d greetings to Punjab Chief Minister Ama- rinder Singh on his 76th birthday and wished him a long and healthy life. “Greetings to Pun- jab’s Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Sin- gh on his birthday . May Almighty bless him with a long and healthy life,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted. Mean- while, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Pun- jab Governor-cum-UT administrator VP Singh Badnore too extended birthday greetings to the Chief Minister. from 2002-2007.—ANI Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh in New Delhi. —FILE PHOTO P PM Modi’s Vadodara visit on March 21 First India News “Greetings and best wishes to Chief Minister Cap- tain Amarinder Singh on his birthday. May he lead a long and healthy life,” Rajnath Singh tweeted. Badnore in his tweet said, “Birthday greetings and best wishes to Chief Minister Punjab Captain Amarinder Sin- gh. May you be blessed with many more fruitful years in the service of the people of the state.” Amarinder Singh, who is MLA from Pa- tiala, is serving as the 15th and Chief Minister Punjab. Earlier, he has served as the Chief Minister of Punjab Punjab Prime Modi will also launch a new pipeline project of public sector company HPCL (Hin- dustan Petroleum Corporation Limited) for the transporta- tion of petroleum products. The Central government arm NIC will make the necessary ar- rangements for a live view of the event at 100 places. Prime Modi is likely to visit other places in Guja- rat too during his visit. Minister Gandhinagar: During his visit to Gujarat on Saturday March 21, Prime Minister Nar- endra Modi will de- liver an address at Navlakhi ground in Vadodara. The func- tion will involve various schemes of public welfare. Prime Narendra Modi will also dedicate the environment-friendly pure fuel BS-VI making facility of Indian Oil Corporation - Gu- jarat Refinery. Minister current of Minister —FILE PHOTO In one click, CM Rupani transfers cash benefits to 3.70 lakh widows Haresh Jhala gramme portal. Earlier, were paid pension of Rs 1,000 per month, which was increased to Rs 1,250 monthly by a sensitive Rupani. In the past, widows were getting these benefits only till their children turned 21 and started earning but now it has been extended for life time. Factoring in infla- tion, the State Govern- ment decided to increase the annual family income limit in the rural areas from Rs 47,000 to Rs 1.20 lakh and in ur- ban areas from Rs 68,000 to Rs 1.50 lakh. As a re- the commitment to the welfare of the people and that the alloca- tion of funds in the state budget too is in line with the same philosophy. He conceded that there were infrastructure issues in the rural area and said, “Madre Vatan Yojana has been launched with an aim to attract donors wishing to donate for infrastructure in their native vil- lages. The government will allocate matching grants with the dona- tions for schools, col- leges, health centres and such facilities.” government’s WOMEN, FARMERS, YOUTH ON BUDGET PRIORITY: GOVT `30,000 SUBSIDY TO FARMERS TO SET UP GODOWNS IN THE FARM 7,000 NEW CLASSROOMS TO BE CONSTRUCTED widows Gandhinagar: In one single click on Mon- day evening, Chief Minister Vijay Rupa- ni transferred Rs 53 crore to 3.70 lakh widows under the Ganga Swaroop Yoja- na. This is the first such occasion where so many beneficiaries were distributed government benefits in one go. The Chief Minister transferred the monthly pension money in the widows’ postal account through the Central Government’s National Social Assistance Pro- `4,000 SUBSIDY TO ANIMAL HUSBANDRY ACTIVITY PER HEAD OF CATTLE 3 lakh STUDENTS TO BE PROVIDED WITH LATEST COMPUTER TABLETS 43 lakh CHILDREN TO BE COVERED UNDER MID DAY MEAL SCHEME scheme’s sult, the number of beneficiaries has also increased, from 1.64 lakh widows to 3.70 lakh now. Speaking in the State Assembly , Depu- ty Chief Minister Ni- tin Patel, who also holds the portfolio, reiterated IN ONE GO: CM Vijay Rupani implemented direct benefi t transfer for widows. On his left is Edu Min Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and on right are Tribal Development Min Ganpat Vasava, Min of State for Women & Child Development Vibhavari Dave and Women & Child Development Secy Manisha Chandra. finance

TALKING POINT 02 AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia THE MATTER CAME TO BOILING POINT WHEN SCINDIA WAS DENIED THE FIRST RAJYA SABHA SEAT FROM MADHYA PRADESH AND THE BJP SENSED OPPORTUNITY TO STRIKE WHILE THE IRON WAS HOT HOW KAMAL NATH WAS OUTWITTED AND SCINDIA LURED TO BJP FOLD ing. Shah also assured Scindia of protecting his interests and told him to start speaking to MLAs loyal to him. Amit Shah then entrusted ‘Op- eration Scindia’ to Vinay Sahas- rabuddhe, Shivraj Singh Chou- han, Narendra Tomar and Dharmendra Pradhan. Hail- ing from the same region, Tomar’s politics has been anti-Scindia for long but Shah stressed upon the bigger picture of ‘capturing Madhya Pradesh’. All the four trusted Shah lieutenants kept meeting Scindia from time to time. For the last one week, Chou- han has been camping in Del- hi and instead of staying at MP Bhawan, he put up at Haryana Bhawan to dodge the media. Scindia and Chouhan kept meeting at different locations in Delhi and Gurugram to keep it a top secret. Their first strike took place in Gu- rugram a few days ago where MLAs close to Scindia were put up there. But the Congress foiled the bid as it got wind of the rebellion in the nick of time with Digvijaya Singh. However, this foiled bid could not delay for more than a week the political drama that unfolded on Tuesday when Scindia along with Amit Shah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and minutes later announced his decision and sent his loyal MLAs to Bengaluru after giving them assurances that they will be ‘rewarded’ for breaking away from the Congress. To keep it secret, ordinary party workers were sent to meet the Scin- dia loyalist MLAs. Scindia also took advantage of the fact that Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath believed that the situation had been brought under control and the government will have no problem at least for a few months. ‘Scindia only chap who can walk into my house’ New Delhi: Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is in the eye of a storm after he resigned from the Congress along with 22 MLAs, had scripted a good show in the Gwalior-Chambal area, the pocket borough of the Scindia family, in the last assembly elections. A good showing in the Gwalior- Chambal area also meant that the BJP fared poorly in the area. Sourc- es say it is since then that BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been eyeing Scindia and was in fact instru- mental in inflicting a crushing defeat on Scindia by a rookie from Guna constituency in the last general election. A senior Congress leader told that Amit Shah was keen to pitch Bollywood Ranaut from Guna to defeat Scin- dia but Ranaut pulled back at the last minute. Later Shah put K.P. Yadav, a one time Scindia loyalist, against him who inflicted a humiliating defeat on Scin- dia in the 2019 elections from Guna, by a margin of over one lakh votes. Just six months back, former MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Narendra Singh Tomar had told Amit Shah that Scindia is feeling suf- focated in the Congress due to Ka- mal Nath and Digvijaya Singh who according to Scindia are bent upon finishing his political career. Shah then asked Chouhan and Tomar to send feelers to Scindia. The matter came to a boiling point when Scindia was denied the first Ra- jya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh and the BJP sensed the opportunity to strike while the iron was hot. As per the sequence of events, Shivraj Singh Chouhan first met Scin- dia and gave him assurances that his self respect and interests will be protected. Shivraj also had Scindia talk to Amit Shah during that very meet- Scindia talk to Amit Shah during that very meeting. Shah also assured Scindia of protecting his interests and told him to start speaking to MLAs loyal to New Delhi is in the eye of a storm after he resigned from the Congress along with 22 MLAs, had scripted a good show in the Gwalior-Chambal area, the pocket borough of the Scindia family, in the last assembly elections. A good showing in the Gwalior- Chambal area also meant that the BJP fared poorly in the area. Sourc- es say it is since then that BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been eyeing Scindia and was in fact instru- mental in inflicting a crushing defeat on Scindia by a rookie from Guna constituency in the last general election. A senior Congress leader told that Amit Shah was keen to pitch Bollywood Ranaut from Guna to defeat Scin- dia but Ranaut pulled back at the last minute. Later Shah put K.P. Yadav, a one time Scindia loyal- Amit Shah then entrusted ‘Op- eration Scindia’ to Vinay Sahas- rabuddhe, Shivraj Singh Chou- han, Narendra Tomar and Dharmendra Pradhan. Hail- ing from the same region, Tomar’s politics has been For the last one week, Chou- han has been camping in Del- hi and instead of staying at MP Bhawan, he put up at Haryana Bhawan to dodge the media. Scindia and Chouhan kept meeting at different locations in Delhi and Gurugram to keep it a actor actor Kangana Kangana Their first strike took place in Gu- rugram a few days ago where MLAs close to Scindia were put up there. But the Congress foiled the bid as it got wind of the rebellion in the nick of one lakh votes. mer MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Narendra Singh Tomar had told Amit Shah that Scindia is feeling suf- focated in the Congress due to Ka- mal Nath and Digvijaya Singh who according to Scindia are bent upon finishing his political career. Shah then asked Chouhan and Tomar to send feelers to Scindia. The matter came to a boiling point when Scindia was denied the first Ra- jya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh and the BJP sensed the opportunity to strike while the iron was hot. As per the sequence of events, Shivraj Singh Chouhan first met Scin- dia and gave him assurances that his self respect and interests will be protected. Shivraj also had However, this foiled bid could not delay for more than a week the political drama that unfolded on Tuesday when Scindia along with Amit Shah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and minutes later announced his decision and sent his loyal MLAs to Bengaluru after giving them assurances that they will be ‘rewarded’ for breaking away from the Congress. To keep it secret, ordinary party workers were sent to meet the Scin- dia loyalist MLAs. Scindia also took advantage of the fact that Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath believed that the situation had been brought under control and the government will have no problem All BJP MLAs from MP lodged in Manesar hotel time, Rahul told media: “He was the only chap in the Congress who could walk into my house anytime.” Scindia, considered a close confidant of Ra- hul, joined BJP. He resigned from the Congress party on Tuesday. this, several Madhya Pradesh MLAs tendered their resignation. New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that Jyotiraditya Scindia was the only person in his party, who could walk into his house anytime. Dismissing reports that the former Con- gress leader tried to reach out to Sonia Gandhi and him before leaving the party but was not given nearby has also been closed, putting villagers to inconven- ience. The BJP has, by putting together all its MLAs in the hotel, has given clear indications that the state unit is united and that the claims of the Congress to win the floor test in the state would prove “hollow”. As many as 22 Congress MLAs resigned from the membership of the Assembly on Tuesday . The BJP group of 106 MLAs arrived late night in the capital by a special flight. among the BJP MLAs staying at the Manesar hotel. Sources said Kailash Vijay- vargiya, a senior BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, has already met these MLAs at the hotel. Vijayvargiya was accom- panied by BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP and Haryana unit in-charge Anil Jain, the sources added. Senior Haryana police officers are present in the hotel for overseeing the security of the M-P lawmakers. The passage from the hotel to the village New Delhi: The BJP has hosted all its legislators – 106 of them – from Madhya Pradesh at Manesar’s The Grand ITC Ho- tel, sources said on Wednesday . Located around 50 km from the national capital, the MLAs are joined by several senior BJP leaders in the five-star hotel. The entry to the hotel is re- stricted for common public and private and vehicles, sources added. It is learnt that three Congress MLAs - reported “missing” by Congress -- too are Following Congress No info on Kamal Nath’s letter: MP Guv ‘MP-like situation will be seen in other states’ MP Cong will prove majority: Bala Bachchan Welcome Scindia: Chouhan No threat to MP govt: Nakul Nath Bhopal: Former MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan welcomed former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia in the BJP. Talking to reporters after Scindia joined the BJP, Chouhan also defended Scindia’s decision to leave the Congress. “The disgruntlement of Maharaj (Scindia) with the Congress is justi- fi ed,” he said. “This is a joyous day for BJP and me personally. Today, I remember Rajmata Scindia. Jyotiradi- tya Scindia has become a member of the BJP family,” Chouhan said. New Delhi: Mad- hya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath on Wednes- day said that there was no threat to Congress government in Madhya Pradesh and that the rebel Congress MLAs would return to the party very soon. “Our government is safe. I am confi dent that our MLAs who are in Bengaluru will soon return to the party. They will surely understand the tactics of the BJP,” he said while speaking to media in New Delhi. Lucknow: MP Governor Lalji Tandon said that he does not have any knowledge of the letter, reportedly written by CM Kamal Nath seeking removal of six ministers from his cabinet. “I do not have any knowledge about the letter written by Chief Minister Kamal Nath. I am in Lucknow at the moment. When I am not in the Bhopal Raj Bhawan then how would I come to know of any letter that has been received there. I will be in Lucknow till March 12 and I will look at the letter once I reach Bhopal,” Tandon said. Bhopal: Senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Tuesday said that Madhya Pradesh-like situation will be seen in other states as well. Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Bala Bachchan on Wednesday said that the Kamal Nath government will prove the majority in ‘People tend to leave sinking ship’ ‘Nobody ready to go with Scindia’ “Ye shuruwat hai iss prakar Scindia ji ki, ye anya pradeshon mein bhi jayegi, Vijayvargiya said. He added, “The arrogant manner in which Kamal Nath was carrying out his work as the chief minister and due to corruption, common workers and MLAs were feeling cheated. They were wondering about the future of Congress.” Assembly and complete its fi ve-year term. “Congress is in a safe and strong position. Everybody is in touch with the Chief Minister, everything will be alright soon. We will prove majority on the fl oor of the Assembly and our government will continue till 2023,” said Bachchan while speaking to reporters. New Delhi: Senior party leader Salman Khurshid said that it is not the fi rst time when the party is in bad times but people tend to leave the sinking ship and return when the time changed. “After getting such respect from the party, Scindia should have a little pa- tience. It is not the fi rst time when the party is in bad times, People leave the sinking ship, friends leave in bad times. The people left and then returned when time changed,” Khurshid said. Bhopal: After meeting 19 party MLAs who have tendered their resignations, Cong leader Sajjan Singh Verma on Wednesday said they are neither willing to support Jyotiraditya Scindia nor in favour of joining BJP as they were “misled and taken to Bengalu- ru” in Karnataka. “Nobody is ready to go with Scindia ji. They said they were misled and taken to Bengaluru, most of them said they are not ready to join BJP,” Verma said.

AHMEDABAD l THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJ ENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 105 SCINDIA JOINS BJP GETS RS BERTH It has been an ultimate win for a top strategist Amit Shah as senior Congress leader and former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scin- dia joined the BJP , a day after he ended his association with the Congress. While it was an unexpected turn for the 49-year-old who had been with party for 18 years, it could also be termed a home- coming for the former royals of Gwalior. In fact, it would end the political divide that is a part of the family. On Wednesday, just a day after Holi, BJP president JP Nadda symbolically inducted Scindia into the party by offering him a party stole and a bouquet in front of the media at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi. Scin- dia said the present condition of Congress indicates that it is not what it used to be. Scindia while addressing the media said, “Con- gress was not following the path of truth and consistently failing in public service, then I decided to resign from the party. The Congress party is not anymore the party that it was earlier. There are three reasons to it, first - rejecting the realities, second - living in their own false created realities and third - not giving proper leadership to party workers on the basis of abilities. This is the condition of the party at the national level,” he added. RS polls: Will Vaghela yet again prove spoiler for Cong?Shah slams oppn for ‘hate speech’ Haresh Jhala ally, if Congress’ two candidates don’t get elected to Rajya Sabha, it may well be an em- barrassment for Patel. How numbers favour Vaghela? The present strength of the State Assembly is 180, of which 103 are of BJP, 73 Congress, two Bharatiya Tribal Party, one of NCP and one In- dependent. BJP’s two candidates can easily get elected with 76 votes, leaving 27 extra votes. However, this will not be adequate if the BJP wishes to win one more seat out of the four going to polls. This is possible if at least 10 Congress MLAs resign. The Congress, meanwhile, is short of five votes to enable its two candidates through. don’t have the best of relations with the Congress and AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel. Vaghela, particularly, does not want to leave any stone unturned to “teach a lesson or two” to him since he feels that Patel had hampered his career in the Congress party . And he eventual- ly quit. In 2017, the BJP top brass and Vaghela had joined hands to try and defeat Patel in the Rajya Sabha elections. Nationalist gress Party’s MLAs had voted for BJP candidates. Sharad Pawar had publicly claimed that both MLAs had defied the party’s whip, but never took any action against them. Accord- ing to a close Vaghela stalwart Sea- New Delhi: Home Min- ister Amit Shah on Wednesday opposition leaders for controversial remarks made by them and won- dered if those were not “hate speeches”. “On December 14, an anti-CAA rally was held by a party in Ramlila Maidan and the party president said—‘Ghar Ke Bahar Niklo/Yeh Aar Paar Ki Ladai Hai/Astitva Ka Saval Hai.’ After that, one of their senior leaders said—Abhi Nahi Nkiloge To Ka- yar Kehalaye Jaoge. Don’t you consider it a hate speech,” Shah asked in the Lok Sab- ha on Wednesday . The Home Minister, who was replying to the Gandhinagar: soned politician and Gujarat President of Nationalist Congress Party Shankersinh Vaghela, who has mas- tered the art of engi- neering cross-voting, is eyeing a Rajya Sabha seat from the State. He has been lobby- ing hard with NCP chief Sharad Pawar and even trying to convince the BJP’s top brass to support his candidature. Ac- cording to a one-time confidante of Vaghe- la, he has made up his mind to contest the Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat. If he enters the fray, it will be double trouble for the Congress since like earlier, the party slammed debate on Delhi violence in the Lower House of Parliament, said that after this rally on December 14, protest at Shaheen Bagh began on December 16. He further pointed to the controversial remarks made by AIMIM leader Waris Pathan. “On February 19, Waris Pathan said -- Jo Cheez Mangne Se Na- hin Milti, Wo Chhenni Padti Hai. Con- two NCP state unit president Shankersinh Vaghela with party national president Sharad Pawar and party leader and Gujarat in-charge Praful Patel on caste lines -- SCs and STs versus OBC. In 1989, Vaghela had man- aged to win over Con- gress OBC MLAs’ votes and got elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time. MLAS may not resign but indulge in cross- voting. More than cross- voting, it is worrisome for the Congress if OBC MLAs decide to vote for Vaghela, leaving the party vertically divided Why Pawar, Modi and Shah may back Vaghela? It is a known fact that Sharad Pawar, Prime Minister Nar- endra Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah to Turn on P5 sail Turn on P5

GUJARAT AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 04 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia MORE THAN 1L RTIs FILED AT AMC SINCE 2010 First India News mation or records of the number of applicants who have approached the Gujarat Information Commission for a second appeal. “Like many other records, yet another record is missing from the AMC. A proper system needs to be in place so that, people get timely response and officers who delay the process must receive severe punishment,” said the councillor. charge their duties towards the citizens,” Shaikh said. He added, “There are seven officers in the local civic body who were fined Rs70,000 for not furnishing information. The BJP-run AMC is a den of corruption where the officers are ready to pay hefty fines but, not ready to share information.” Moreover, the RTI Cell does not have any infor- plications filed between 2010 to 2019. “The RTI Cell has ad- mitted that many of the officers have been fined for not sharing information. This shows the officers’ apathy to share correct information with the public. They do not want to reveal information at any cost and would rather pay fines for not doing so,” asserted Shaikh. “There are 24,535 ap- NO DISCLOSURE Ahmedabad: In the last nine years, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has received a whopping 1,16,400 Right to Infor- mation (RTI) applica- tions. This information was revealed in the RTI filed by Congress councillor Shahnawa Shaikh, who sought information regarding the status of the total number of ap- A BLESSING IN DISGUISE FOR MORBI CERAMIC INDUSTRY? Growth rate of ceramic cluster has risen by 15%, is expected to climb up to 20-25% the are still going on and have not been cleared yet. It is clear that the officers are failing to dis- plications which have not received satisfactory responses. Out of the total, around 1,463 appeals Four abducted youths return to city from Malaysia CORONA EFFECT First India News THREATENED Four Ahmedabad: youngsters who were abducted in Malaysia last week, returned to the city safely on Wednes- day . According to crime branch sources, the four victims had left for Aus- tralia on March 2 to fi- nalize their work visas. On their layover in Ma- laysia, the youths were abducted outside their hotel in Kuala Lumpur. They were rescued after Ahmedabad Crime Branch sought help from Kuala Lumpur police. As per police sources, Tushar Patel, Mayur Prajapati and Praful Pa- tel, all residents of Man- inagar, contacted Vishal Jani, a visa agent, to help them obtain work visas for Australia. The three youths and Jani then travelled to Aus- tralia to obtain their visa and work permit. After they reached Kua- la Lumpur on March 5, they were abducted outside their hotel. The kid- Masuma Bharmal Jariwala FULL CAPACITY Rajkot: While corona virus has affected major countries of the world both in terms of health and economy, it has turned out to be ad- vantageous for Morbi district’s ceramic industry . Known to be the world’s second-largest and India’s biggest ceramic cluster has seen a growth rate of 15 % in the past two months, post the corona virus outbreak. “Due to the ban, people obviously stopped purchasing goods from China. Our orders have increased by around 15 per cent and as per the current scenario, we are hope- ful to get our production up by 20-25 per cent,” Mukesh Ughreja President, Tiles Division told First India. Rape victim commits suicide after boyfriend leaks intimate video Our export numbers in 2019-20 reached Rs12,000 crore and they are likely to go up by Rs15,000 crores in 2020-21 given the Corona situation. —Mukesh Ughreja, President, Vitrifi ed Tiles Division nappers money by threatening them with knives and a gun. One of the kidnap- pers asked Tushar to call his family from his mobile phone. The kid- nappers demanded that Patel’s family pay Rs10 lakh in exchange for their release. Tushar’s wife then contacted Harshad Pa- tel, a social worker, for his help. “We immediately contacted State Home Minister Pradeep- sinh Jadeja,” said Har- shad. demanded —FILE PHOTO have units in Morbi, which is divided into four divi- sions namely vitrified, wall tiles, floor tiles and sanitary ware. It is also among the 36 Towns of Export (TEE) in India and one of six cities in the country whose export evalu- ation is above Rs1,000 crore. China, that too without compromising on qual- ity . “Currently, our production capacity usage is at 90% but, with the number of orders expected to pour in, soon we might have to work at 100% capacity,” said Ughreja. There are over 850 ceramic manufacturing starts manufacturing it locally, it will facilitate the industry’s evolution towards becoming self- sufficient,” opined KG Kundaria, former president, Vitrified Tiles Di- vision. Industry have claimed to offer the best competitive rates, in comparison to parts and polishing abrasive. “A few machinery parts used reg- ularly such as the polishing abrasive are im- ported from China. As of now, we have sufficient stock which might last us for 2-3 months. But, in the long run, we may have to find an al- ternative. If someone “Our export numbers in 2019-20 Rs12,000 crore and they are likely to go up by Rs15,000 crores in 2020- 21 given the Corona situation,” Ughreja added. On the other hand, the industry depends heavily on China for the purchase of raw materi- als such as machinery reached Excellence captains Vitrified CONTRIBUTION First India News arrested all the four accused in this case. Cases have been filed against Aryan’s friends hishek Tamay Gagadekar and Akash Raghunath alias Kalu Tamache. three youths allegedly chased the girl and re- peatedly tried to coax her to form a physical relationship with all of them. Sardarnagar police have lodged the complaint filed by the victim’s family and are in- vestigating the other three suspects. NO SHAME Ahmedabad: A rape victim, who was a Class XII student, allegedly committed suicide at her house on Monday evening. Sardarnagar police have detained four persons, including a minor, under IPC sec- tion 306 for culpable homicide. According to police, the girl was allegedly raped by her boyfriend, who also made videos of the act. As per the complaint, the victim’s boy- Ab- Gagadekar, The As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, Archana Pandey, General Manager, Bank of Baroda (Ahmedabad Zone) and Vipul Barot, Head CSR & Project Management, BOB Financial Solutions Limited (A wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of Baroda) donated Rs 5.51 lakh to the Chief Ministers’ Relief Fund, Gujarat, by handing over the cheque to Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel. —FILE PHOTO named Aryan and three of his friends at Sardar- nagar police station. Sardarnagar police have dent. The lodged against a minor boy friend even threatened to circulate the video on the Internet if she told anyone about the inci- girl’s a family complaint GUP SHUP BURYING THE INFORMATION T to rooting out corruption within the system. But, government offi cials are known to try and hide their irregularities. We heard that the Information Offi cer at the city’s largest government hospital has been replaced thrice in the past one year! Why? Because they refused to give out information under the RTI Act. A debate of sorts is going on at the hospital as to whether the information is deliberately being kept under wraps or the hospital management does not even consider the order of the Gujarat Information Commission. TOKEN OF APPRECIATION T implied that he doesn’t accept Diwali greetings or sweets too, to discourage people from trying to infl uence him with mithais! But, we all know that bribes can be accepted in cash or as ‘gifts’. A senior AMC offi cer recently accepted a gift worth Rs15 lakh, which came with a membership at a well-known club in the city. Don’t you think this is too small a gift to be counted as a bribe? Yes, we didn’t think so either. BURNING AMBITION W It bothers us, right? Something like that happened to the Speaker of the House Rajendra Trivedi when he was addressed as minister and not his actual designation by a ruling party MLA. On being called minister, Trivedi immediately interrupted the MLA by saying, “I am still the speaker and not a minister”. His response evoked laughter in the House and also indicated Trivedi’s ambition to become a minister. Sadly, there was no response whatsoever from the treasury bench. The opposition party was keen to hear comments from the ruling party but they too were left disappointed. So were we! here are many offi cers in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation who claim that they are not corrupt and do not accept bribes. One particular offi cer even hat happens when one doesn’t get the thing they want most? he Right to Information Act has played a huge role in the fi ght BUGGED? Or is it the grapevine... . First India begins a column that brings to you gossips or tete-e-tete from the corridors of power GABBAR IS BACK T words and is known for attacking the opposition. So when he walked in the Assembly fl oor a few minutes late on Monday, members from the opposition passed comments like ‘Gabbar Singh is here’, ‘Gabbar is back’. It took Patel a second to register what they were talking about but when Congress MLA Lalit Kagathra clarifi ed by telling him that his colleagues were praising him by calling him Gabbar, Patel took it in stride. Immediately afterwards, he accused Congress of spreading rumours about him. Wow! Quite a roller-coaster this one! he reputation of Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel often precedes him whenever he walks into a room. He is someone who usually doesn’t mince

GUJARAT AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 05 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Ukai: 5 more bodies found had travelled to Ukai for a boat trip on the occasion of Dhuleti (Holi). The boat over- turned near Bhint- khurd village due to strong winds. The bodies of two of the victims were recovered on Tuesday . Tapi: Five more bodies were recovered from the Ukai reser- voir in Tapi district on Wednesday , taking the death toll of the boat tragedy to seven. According to police 13 people from Sundarpur Triumph of good over evil POTA revoked because of Sonia Gandhi: Jadeja First India News Devotees rejoice as they are sprayed with coloured water by a priest during Holi celebrations at a temple in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. (Inset) People walk around a huge bonfire to signify ‘Holika Dahan’ in Gandhinagar on Monday. —PHOTOS BY NANDAN DAVE village No private practice for govt doctors anymore? Vipul Rajput There is a constant shortage of doctors in Gujarat Medical Education Research Society hospitals. If the health department takes strict action against doctors who run or are involved in private practice, many other posts will be vacated. — An Official, Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad Gandhinagar: Anti- terror law POTA was repealed by the UPA government at the in- sistence of Congress president Sonia Gan- dhi, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja said in the State As- sembly on Wednesday . The decision scrap the Prevention of Terrorism (POTA), enacted in 2002 when the BJP-led NDA was in power, was taken during the UPA rule at the Centre in 2004 because Gandhi had "soft corner for ter- rorists", Jadeja alleged. “POTA was repealed because of So- nia Gandhi as she had The Ahmedabad: health department on Wednesday decided to take strict against government doctors who are caught indulging in private practice, sources said. According to sources, health services are affected when government doctors engage in private practice. The senior official of the Gandhinagar Health Department also said that the decision was made following complaints against doctors at government hospitals for not being present during medical emergencies. have allegedly been many cases of deaths reported due to poor treatment of patients. action tors working with private institutions. Sourc- es say that the order will be issued to all civil hospitals in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar. Health Sec- retary Jayanti could not be contacted despite several attempts. Health Commissioner Jai Prakash Shivhare told First India, “It is too early to comment about this right now.” “The health department received plaints against a few government who also work with private institutions. Hence, Principal (Health) Jayanti Ravi in- structed Health Com- missioner Jai Prakash Shivhare to take strict action against doctors indulging in private practice,” the official said. The department has also ordered health institutions to furnish a list of government doc- the state to punish those involved in anti- national as well as terrorism activities," Jadeja said. Taking strong ex- ception to Jadeja's remarks on party MLA and Guja- rat Congress chief Amit Chavda sought evidence from the BJP minister to back his claim. a soft corner for terror- ists," the BJP minister said, responding to a query regarding the Gujarat Control Of Terrorism and Organ- ised Crime (GujCTOC) Act during Question Hour. "Since you had repealed POTA, PM Narendra Modi, back when he was Gujarat’s Chief brought GujCTOC in com- to doctors Act cities of Secretary Ravi Gandhi, Minister, There FROM PG 1 RS polls... Instead of risking the party image by field- ing a third candidate, the BJP may well extend support to Vaghe- la and thus also humiliating the Con- gress. If Vaghela wins, it will be BJP’s victory and if he loses it will his loss of face. Vaghe- la already had had one round of meeting with BTP’s Chhotubhai Vasava. There are 11 Congress MLAs from north, west and central Gujarat, who are OBC Kshatriyas, besides a Patel commu- nity MLA, who is frus- trated with the Con- gress and may wish to settle some scores. assure the families of the riot victims that the culprits will not be spared no which religion, caste or political party they belong to,” he said. “I want to tell the people of Delhi that we have already written to the Delhi High Court regarding con- stituting of the Claim Commission. On the basis of videography, whosoever shops, vehicles, public property, they will be caught hold of and their entire property will be seized,” he said. (ANI) vestigated by the police...one speech after which nothing took place for 30 days seems hate speech to you but the speech which was given on Feb 19, 22 and riots took place on Feb 24 don’t seem hate speech to you,” said Shah while taking a jibe at the opposition. The Home Minister further said that 52 “Indians” lost their lives in the violence, 526 were injured and 142 houses were burnt. Shah said that he believed the riots were pre-planned and assured that the culprits will be pun- ished. “We did not take the riots casu- ally. Prima facie, I be- lieve that the riots were pre- planned. I matter burnt Shah slams... We are 15 crores (I don’t know who they are), but we will be too much for 100 crores,” the Home Minister said. “A f t e r these state- m e n t s , demonstra- tions began at 8-9 places on Febru- ary 22-23 and finally culminated as riots on Feb 24. One s p e e c h , which may be a hate speech, it is being in-

PERSPECTIVE 06 AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia LOCUST MENACE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Control on population has been proven to mitigate extent & severity of such plagues birds and reptiles through- out the year that feed on the grasshoppers, keeping their numbers in control. That is, perhaps, why the nomadic swarms have not ventured into those areas. Better monitoring and control of population spikes has been the proven way to mitigate the frequency, extent and severity plagues. However, real time monitoring in the vast and remote desert areas remains a challenge. Technology for unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, both for early identification of the periodical increase in the locust population, and for spraying of pesticides to control the numbers at an early stage, are being developed under the FAO as the latest vehicle to fight this age old menace. In 2019, the seasonal mon- soon retreated from western Gujarat and Rajasthan only by mid-October. That meant that the area had an attractive mass of lush green vegetation which, possibly , triggered the current population explosion of the locusts. The swarms came into India from Iran across the desert areas of Sindh in Pakistan. This led to protests by India that Paki- stan was not doing enough to control them in its territory . However, western Rajasthan is itself a breeding area for locusts, and if the winds are favourable, then they are just as likely to cross over from India into Pakistan. Current- ly, the locusts appear to be in the process of doing just that. A contributory cause for the largely effective damage control in India, this time around, is that the current locust swarms are moving back into the Cholistan Desert area of Pakistan on their way to Iran. Recent rains in the coastal drylands of Iran have created a flush of greenery there, attracting the locusts away from western India. The retreat of the locust swarms, and the promise of Government compensation for the crops lost, may have eased the tension for the moment in India. However, in the long run, we need to continue a close and regular monitoring of the worldwide changes in the grasshopper population, and to evolve a standard operating procedure built around environment-friendly control measures, to prevent a fresh outbreak. The effort must necessarily be global in its scale for it to be effective. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL of locust MAHENDRA SINGH DG Income Tax (Investigation) Rajasthan T he western border districts in the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat near Bhuj and the border districts of Barmer, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan are witnessing a revival of the locust menace from the second half of 2019. They remind one of the biblical swarms of a locust plague that have ter- rorised farmers of the dry areas north of the Red Sea stretching from northern Af- rica to south Asia. The affected area involves as many as 66 countries today . The sheer helplessness in the face of trillions of locusts voracious- ly eating up all the greenery, both natural and cultivated, leaving a famine-like condition in their wake, had led the sufferers to see the locust swarms as an expression of divine wrath, that none can control, only forbear. The farmers in these border districts have tried to save their standing crops by beating metal plates, playing loud music and burning old tyres to create smoke. But that does not stop them. It only deflects the movement of the nomadic swarms. The situation this time around has, however, been controlled mainly by spraying concen- trated oil-based synthetic chemical pesticides from dedicated vehicles to kill the invading locusts. This form of firefighting harms the local environment because the pesticides used adversely affect all other creatures in that area besides the locusts. These harmful chemicals tend to accumulate and to persist in the ecosystem for a long time. We need to understand the phenomenon of locust swarming to evolve a better multi-pronged bio- friendly regime to control this recurring menace. The species involved is the tion to mitigate the devastation that they are capable of. It is at the pre-adult stage when the wings have not yet formed, that natural biological con- trols could be useful in com- batting this menace. The natural pheromone Phenylace- tonitrile, isolated from adult locusts in Morocco, has proved surprisingly effective in controlling the number of juvenile locusts. The banding groups go back to a preference for solitary life, may stop eating or turn to cannibalism, eating their own kind. Natu- ral predators can take care of the remaining. Similarly, lab-cultivated fungal spores that attack only the grasshoppers, dis- solving their exoskeleton, have been successfully used in a wildlife park in Tanzania to kill the locusts. These spores had no ad- verse effects on other forms of life. The drier areas of Haryana, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh have desert locust. It is usually an innocuous creature known as short-horned grasshopper. They exist in low densities, leading a solitary existence and eating plants that grow fast enough to compensate for the loss of a few leaves to the grasshoppers. Then, in times of drought, a terrifying transformation happens to them. They congregate over the few patches of greenery left in their desert environment. The close physical con- tact stimulates their hind legs, and transformational hormones are released in their body , leading to anatom- ical and behavioural changes. As a compelling mutual attraction develops between individuals, their body colour turns darker, permitting higher metabolism through heat gain. Their breeding ac- celerates and, as their wings grow, they rise together in swarms that could be hun- dreds of square kilometres wide, looking for food. Technology for unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, both for early identification of the periodical increase in the locust population, and for spraying of pesticides to control the numbers at an early stage, are being developed under the FAO as the latest vehicle to fight this menace of often feuding nations. The monitoring and control measures, overseen by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), is usually short of the required funds. Individual affected countries are often too poor to effectively deploy resources that could stop the moving locust swarms. Once they land in vast numbers, the fast-acting chemical pesticides may be the only op- The locust swarms fly with the prevailing winds moving up to 2,000 feet up – above that, it is too cold for them. That means that they cannot cross high mountains. The flights can be for fairly long distances. For instance, they routine- ly cross the Red Sea between India and the Gulf region. That makes them a global problem requiring a coordination of control measures across borders Once they land in vast numbers, the fast-acting chemical pesticides may be the only option to mitigate the devastation that they are capable of SCINDIA’S EXIT A question mark on top Congress leadership? C but the party leadership in the state or the Centre gave no indication of addressing those issues. On loan waiver while Kamal Nath said that the government was elected for five years, a senior MP Congress leader and Minister Govind Singh blamed the “difficult situation” for delay in keeping the promise. It is inconceivable that Scindia resigned over these issues. In all prob- ability he either felt un- wanted or disillusioned in a party whose top leadership was divided over giving its young leaders a bigger role. In this context, Scindia joining the BJP has raised questions on the decision- making of Congress’s top leadership. Scindia loyalists have been moved to a resort in Hary- ana. Jaivardhan Singh had earlier played the same role at the time of government formation in his state by whisking away Con- gress MLAs to Karnataka. Scindia’s move to part ways with the Congress had been in the making for a long time now. That there was no love lost between Jyotiraditya and Kamal Nath was no secret. During assembly elections the scion of Gwalior’s royal family was asked by Rahul Gan- dhi to head the poll cam- paign committee. As per convention he was in line for chief minister’s post. Subsequently, Nath’s experience was preferred over Scindia’s ongress which remained fac- tion-ridden despite being out of power THAT THERE WAS NO LOVE LOST BETWEEN JYOTIRADITYA AND KAMAL NATH WAS NO SECRET for close to 17 years until it recent poll victory has been dealt a staggering blow by Jyotiraditya Scindia, who has decided to “move on” from the Grand Old Party to the party in power, the Bharatiya Janata Party, leaving Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s government teetering. As the political crisis unfolded Jaivardhan Singh, a Cabinet minister in MP and son of Digvijaya Sin- gh, swung into action and sent legislators loyal to Ka- mal Nath, to Jaipur for safe-keeping in a resort until the crucial floor test. horizon following Kamal Nath’s remark that Scindia was “free to take to the streets” on the issue of farm loan waiver. Remind- ing Kamal Nath of the promise Congress made during the run up to the assembly elections, Scindia had threatened to take to the streets if farmers’ loans were not waived. There were other issues as well part of Rahul Gandhi’s strategy to unite the seniors with youth, outlined at the March 2018, to take the party forward. Exit of Jyotiraditya, who may have felt slighted, proves that Rahul’s ex- periment failed. Or, is it that Sonia did not allow him a free hand? Last month, one got the feeling that a crisis was on youth reportedly at So- nia Gandhi’s instance. So much so, Scindia wasn’t even considered for the post of party’s state president. It was an issue over which he threatened to resign. She is also un- derstood to have shot down Rahul’s purported similar assurance Sachin Pilot, Rajasthan’s Deputy CM. This was TOP TWEET Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal Thanks to PM @NarendraModi ji’s vision of enhancing ease of living for the people, @TheOffi cialSBI has removed the minimum balance requirement in savings accounts. This is a big initiative to help the poor & middle class and will encourage them to properly deposit their savings. to Kamal G Vol 1 G Issue No. 105 GRNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad. Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor: Jagdeesh Chandra, Resident Editor : Darshan Desai, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

INDIA AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 07 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia Members welcome Om Birla back to LS Chair Delhi riots big blot on country’s harmony, peace: Adhir Ranjan New Delhi: As Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to reply in Lok Sabha on Delhi violence, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaud- hary on Wednesday termed last month’s communal riots in the national capital as a ‘big blot on country’s harmony and peace’. “The last month’s communal riots in Del- hi is a ‘big blot on the country’s harmony and peace. India’s reputation as a secular country is destroyed. I will continue to speak about the communal violence in Delhi within and outside the parliament,” Chaudhary told ANI. Chaudhary said: “Jy- otiraditya Scindia was in our party for a long time. Sonia Gandhi treated him like her own son, so obviously his sudden decision to leave the party is shock- ing and definitely a jolt to the party but we will soon recover from it.” “We can’t do anything right now, we have to fight for our New Delhi: After staying away for almost a week from the proceed- ings in the House, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla returned to the Chair on Wednesday. Members of the Lower House welcomed his return to the Chair, from an undeclared self-imposed exile, and assured him of main- taining the decorum of the House. Speaking on the return of Om Birla in the Speaker’’s Chair, Par- liamentary Minister Pralhad Joshi said, “Whatever the decision will be taken, the BJP will accept it and all leaders will follow it. We will follow your final order.” Nama Nageswara Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti said, “What happened in the House in the past week was not good. We should send a message to the country from the House that we are united. Your decision will be accepted by our party.” BJP’’s Thakur said it has been the first time since 1952 in the history that Speaker did not come to the House for four days, which is a matter of shame. Ever since the House K’taka, Delhi get new Cong presidents Cut oil prices, demands Cong Affairs JDU RENOMINATES Opposition members protest in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Wednesday. LS delays discussion on violence SUSPENSION OF 7 CONG MEMBERS REVOKED L L L The Congress was demanding the withdrawal of suspension of its seven MPs. As UPA members came into the well protesting against the suspension, TMC’s Sau- gat Roy demanded that suspensions of the MPs should be sorted out. Last week Om Birla suspended seven Con- gress MPs for the rest of the Budget Session which ends on April 3. ‘India exporting Bullet Proof Jackets to 18 countries’ sion on the Delhi violence, which had to start at noon was resched- uled after 12.30 p.m. Rajnath Singh and Ni- tin Gadkari were present in the House, but Home Minister Amit Shah had not yet come to the House. In fact, he has not attended the House during the second leg of the Budget Session. Ra- hul Gandhi was present in the Lok Sabha. New Delhi: As the Lok Sabha started its session on Wednesday after a break of four days, noisy scenes were wit- nessed with the UPA members coming into the well of the House protesting against the suspension of the seven Congress MPs, forcing an adjournment of the House till 12.30 p.m. As a result of the adjournment, the discus- Nishikant party. Saving the government is Kamal Nath Ji’s job and we hope he will succeed in doing so. So, let’s see what happens,” he added. Congress over the Delhi riots, had led to frequent ad- journments. members, had resumed proceed- ings on March 2, constant sloganeering and interruptions by the New Delhi: India is supplying bulletproof jackets to 18 countries, the Union Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh said in Parliament on Wednesday . In a reply to a question about the scale of production of the Bul- let Proof Jackets in the country and the countries to which these jackets were being ex- ported, Rajnath Singh said, “In view of the strategic requirement, the names of the countries are not disclosed.” He also said that in- dustrial Licenses have been issued to 15 com- panies for manufacturing Bullet Proof Jack- ets having production capacity in the country of over 10 Lakh per an- num to meet the domestic and export requirement. The jackets are authorised as per laid downscale and are pro- cured from time to time New Delhi: The Con- gress has slammed the government on the petroleum prices in the country, demanding that “Modi-Shah government must pass on the benefit of low crude rates to consum- ers and immediately reduce petrol-diesel- LPG prices.” “Bring back petrol, diesel, LPG gas prices to the level of Novem- ber 2004 when crude was $38.9 per barrel,” said party leader Ran- deep Surjewala. “Inter national crude oil prices are an all-time low in the last 15 years, down to $35- 38 per barrel. Yet petrol and diesel prices are skyrocketing even as common man, the middle class, the farmers, transporters and medium businesses CONGR SEEKS SHAH’S RESIGNATION —FILE PHOTO Congress leader DK Shivakumar. of Karnataka. Sonia Gandhi also approved the appoint- ment of M. Narayan- swamy as the Chief Whip of Karnataka Legislative and Ajay Singh as Chief Whip of the Kar- nataka Legislative Council while former Chief Minister Siddar- amaiah will continue as the leader of Con- gress Party and opposition in the House. New Delhi: Congress interim Chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday approved the appoint- ment of senior party leader DK Shivakumar as the Karnataka party chief and Anil Chaud- hary as the Delhi Con- gress party chief. Sonia Gandhi also approved the appoint- ment of Eshwar Khan- dre, Satish Jharkiholi, Saleem Ahammed as the working presidents SIGNS OF MID-TERM ELECTIONS IN MADHYA PRADESH Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (L) greets BJP leader Jagdambika Pal (R) at Parliament. BJP leader Surinderjeet Singh Ahluwalia is also seen. Addressing during a Pragati Rally in Haryana’s Sirsa, he praised the Narendra Modi-led NDA government for the defence purchases made in the recent past and claimed that under the previous governments, soldiers even lacked proof jackets. people and made available to soldiers as per specifi- cations and authorisa- tion, he said. Last week, BJP national president J P Nadda had lashed out at the erstwhile UPA government and accused it of corruption in the purchase of defence equipment. Council diesel and LPG were available at Rs 37.84, Rs 26.28 and Rs 281.60 per cylinder respec- tively, which were quite cheap in comparison to the present rates. are suffering,” said Surjewala. The Congress said in dollar terms, the international crude oil prices are down to the level of 2004 No- vember, when petrol, bullet- Congress’s rhetoric and infighting come to an end, but it should have stopped earlier and the full stop now has no meaning. Though the Congress is going to suffer losses in the mid-term elections due to the way the Kamal Nath government has been running for the last one and a quarter years, apart from this, Kamal Nath no longer has many choices, the politics of Sam-Daam-Dand-Bhed which Kamal Nath has now started He has already played Amit Shah, the result has also come. Anirudh Tiwari ernment at the center and the BJP as the governor, but according to the speaker, Narmada Prasad Prajapati Ka- mal Nath camp will do the trick. Kamal Nath and Dig- vijay Khema have been loud to succeed in the floor test but Sajjan Sin- gh Verma and D Sivaku- mar, who went to convince Scindia support- ers in Bengaluru, have not been able to do much other than rhetoric. The disgruntled MLAs of BJP who were believed to be close to Ka- mal Nath till yesterday have now changed sides. well, in 5 districts under the influence of Ka- mal Nath Scindia, col- lectors have changed, besides the transfer of a large number of police officers. Meanwhile, the BJP has started betting on the Governor and the Speaker of the Assem- bly. The BJP’s attempt is to conduct floor tests through the resignation of the MLAs of the Scindia camp which would lead to the fall of the Kamal Nath government and to retain power through a by- election. This can hap- pen with the BJP gov- pro-Scindia MLAs who have stayed in Bengalu- ru have announced their support to Scindia by releasing a video. Senior Congress MLA Bisahu Lal Singh, who was a minister in the Digvijay government, joined the BJP on Tues- day. Purnavim Uddar and BSP MLAs met Shivraj Singh Chauhan and indicated that he might support the BJP. The seat of 2 independent MLAs is still lean- ing towards BJP. In such a situation, it can be said that despite all the claims, Kamal Nath will be able to prove the raditya camp that it will form the government on the lines of Karna- taka in MP, the same Kamal Nath, and Digvi- jay camp is manipulat- ing to save the government under all circum- stances. Due to political equations, it is becoming clear that if the Kamal Nath govt does not survive in Madhya Pradesh, then mid-term elections will be held. Kamal Nath clearly stated in the Congress Legislature Party meeting that the MLAs should be ready for the mid-term elections. On the other hand, 19 has now Bhopal: After Jyotira- ditya Scindia’s nouncement of going to Rajya Sabha, BJP is now preparing for the floor test. 105 MLAs of Madhya Pradesh BJP have rallied at the Five Star Hotel in Gurgaon, while 80 MLAs have reached Jaipur, including two Independent Due to the mobilization of both parties, there is political silence in Bho- pal in which the signs of the storm are hid- den. While the BJP is happy about the Jyoti- an- Congress MLAs. Jyotiraditya Scindia MLAs and hold mid- term elections. Accord- ing to Congress insid- ers, Kamal Nath has indicated this at the administrative level as majority of his government. Kamal Nath has the only option left in such a situation that he should demand the resignation of all the

INDIA AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 08 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia Shah said prima facie the violence appears to be a pre-planned conspiracy POWERGallery DELHI VIOLENCE ‘Will not spare anyone involved in Delhi riots’ No Delhi riots if Govt had taken timely action: Congress KAUN BANEGA CHAIRMAN SAIL? Five in-house candidates in race Five in-house candidates including two Directors and three Executive Directors are in the race for the post of Chairman, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), falling vacant on January 1, 2021. WHO WILL BE NEW MEMBER SEBI? Tenure of Madhabi Puri Buch, the whole-time member of SEBI, is coming to an end on April 4. She is unlikely to get extension since the post has been advertised. New Delhi: Vowing not to spare anyone involved in the Delhi violence irrespective of their religion, caste or party affiliation, Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said it will be a lesson for the country on what be- falls those who indulge in rioting. Replying to a discussion in Lok Sabah on the Delhi riots, Shah said prima facie the violence appears to be a pre-planned conspiracy . Facing criticism over alleged inaction by the Delhi police during the violence last month, Shah appreciated the police for not allowing the riots to spiral. He said the Delhi police succeeded in controlling within 36 hours. No one involved in the Delhi riots would be spared irrespective of their religion, caste or party affiliation, he said and stressed that it is also being ensured that “no innocent is 10 fresh confirmed COVID-19 cases in India, tally jumps to 60 New Delhi: The Con- gress on Wednesday hit out at the government in the Lok Sabha over its “delayed response” to the Delhi riots, claiming that the violence had not happened if timely action had been taken. Dubbing the Central government a “nikam- mi sarkar (incompetent government)”, gress leader in the house, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, sought resignation of Home Min- ister Amit Shah for not handling the issue with sincerity and sought a judicial inquiry in. If NSA Ajit Doval’’s visit helped in controlling the situation, why didn’t the Home Minis- ter visit the riot-hit areas, he a sked. Initiating the debate law and order situation in some parts of Delhi, Chowd- hury began by reciting Mahatma Gandhi’’s fa- vourite hymn ‘’Raghu- pati Raghav Raja Ram’’. Then in a jibe at the government, he said: COURT SENDS SHAHNAWAZ TO 14-DAY CUSTODY VIVEK JOHRI REPATRIATED TO PARENT CADRE; SLATED TO BE NEW DGP IN MP The Government of India has repatriated Vivek Johri, DG, BSF to his parent cadre with immediate effect. Johri, who is a 1984 batch IPS offi cer of MP cadre, is slated to be appointed as new Director General of Police (DGP). A Delhi Court re- manded Mohammad Shahnawaz to 14 days judicial custody in connection with the murder case of a man in Gokulpuri, whose body was found in mu- tilated condition at a sweet shop in Brijpuri area on February 26 following violence in North-East Delhi. Duty Metropolitan Magis- trate Richa Parihar of Karkardooma Court allowed the Delhi Po- lice to quiz Shahnawaz for another two days. He was presented before the court on the expiry of his two-day police custody. Con- SURJEET SINGH DESWAL IS ALSO DG, BSF Surjeet Singh Deswal, DG, Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), has been assigned an additional charge of Director General of Border Security Force (BSF). He is a 1984 batch IPS offi cer of Haryana cadre. opposition Home Minister Amit Shah speaks in Lok Sabha during the ongoing Budget Session, in New Delhi. ‘SONIA GANDHI’S RAMLILA MAIDAN SPEECH LED TO DELHI RIOTS’ LT GEN DHILLON APPOINTED DG, DIA Lt General KJS Dhillon has been appointed DG, Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Dy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Intelligence). This deptt comes under the Chief of Defence Staff in the newly created Deptt of Military Affairs. Lt General Dhillon belongs to 1983 batch of IMA. riots NHRC STILL SHORT OF ONE MEMBER The National Human Rights Commission is still short of one member out of the sanctioned strength of four members. “Was the government not able to handle Delhi riots if it can conduct the Balakot airstrike (in response to the Pulwa- ma attack)?” sion on Delhi violence after Holi to avoid communal flare up during festival time,” he said. on my request to raise morale of the Delhi police, Shah said. “We wanted discus- harassed”. National Advisor Ajit Doval vis- ited riot- affected areas Security DR SUNIL GAUTAM LIKELY TO RETURN TO PARENT CADRE IN APRIL Dr Sunil Gautam, Private Secretary to Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister for Minority Affairs, is expected to return to parent cadre in fi rst week of April this year. He is an IRS-IT offi cer. IN THE COURTYARD HC rejects Rajiv’s assassin’s plea SANJEEVA KUMAR IS OFFICIAL SPOKESMAN OF MINISTRY OF HEALTH Sanjeeva Kumar, Special Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has been designated as the offi cial spokesman of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to brief the press on steps taken by the Government of India and other agencies on management of COVID-19. He is a 1986 batch IAS offi cer of Assam Meghalaya cadre. tuttion and the Gover- nor was bound by it. On its part the Tamil Nadu government said Na- lini was not detained illegally and the Gover- nor has to decide on the cabinet resolution. The seven convicts are A.G. Perarivalan, V. Sriharan alias Mu- rugan, T. Suthendrara- ja alais Santhan, Jaya- kumar, Robert Payas, Ravichandran and Na- lini Sriharan, wife of V . Sriharan. ED books AAP councillor, PFI in PMLA case In her petition Na- lini had said her imprisonment from Sep- tember 9, 2018 is illegal as the Tamil Nadu government had passed a Cabinet resolution rec- ommending the release of seven convicts, including her, in the Rajiv Gandhi assassi- nation case. She had contended that the state cabinet had recommended their release under Ar- ticle 161 of the Consti- Chennai: The Ma- dras High Court on Wednesday dismissed the petition filed by Nalini Sriharan, one of the convicts in the former Prime Minis- ter Rajiv Gandhi as- sassination case. She had filed the habeas corpus petition seeking the court’’s direc- tion to the Tamil Nadu government to release her instead of waiting for Governor Banwar- ilal Purohit’’s nod. Convict Pawan Gupta moves Court for FIR PAWAN KUMAR AGARWAL IS ALSO SECRETARY, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION TILL MAR 15 Pawan Kumar Agarwal, Secretary, Consumer Affairs, has been assigned an additional charge of Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution upto March 15, 2020. Students wearing protective masks are given awareness on hand washing at a school in Kolkata. 112 evacuees complete 14 days of isolation far, six of them confirmed on Tuesday. Karnataka has reported four positive Covid-19 cases so far while Maharashtra and Ladakh have reported two positive cases. Meanwhile, the Indi- an government Wednesday suspended all existing visas, ex- cept diplomatic, official, UN/International Organizations, employ- ment, project visas till April 15. Also, visa-free travel facility which is granted to OCI card- holders has been kept in abeyance till April 15. This will come into effect from 1200 GMT on March 13, 2020, at the port of departure. New Delhi: With 10 more people confirmed positive for novel coronavirus, the total number of Covid-19 cases in India has jumped to 60, the government said on Wednesday . Out of the 60 cases, 36 are Indian while the remaining 16 are Italian tourists in India. Six of the eight new cases are from Ker- ala and one each from Rajasthan and Delhi according to the ministry of health and family welfare. Five people have so far tested positive in Delhi and nine from Uttar Pradesh, the health ministry said. Of the 12 cases reported from Kerala so NIRAJ KUMAR GAYAGI RELIEVED TO JOIN AS JOINT SECRETARY, JUSTICE Niraj Kumar Gayagi has been relieved to join as Joint Secretary, Department of Justice, Delhi for a period of fi ve years. He is a 1997 batch IDAS offi cer. New Delhi: The third batch of 112 evacuees, who were airlifted to Delhi from China and quarantined at the ITBP Chhawla Quarantine Facility in last month, have completed 14 days of their isolation period. “The second sampling being done for the final test of 112 evacuees, including 36 foreign na- tionals by ITBP doctors. Reports are expected to come by to- morrow. If tested negative, all will be released in a couple of days,” officials have said. New Delhi: In more trouble for suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, who has been arrested in the murder case of Intelligence reau staffer Ankit Sharma, the En- forcement Directo- rate (ED) on Wednesday said that it has registered a case against him and the PFI for money laundering and funding of riots in Delhi. “We have filed a case of money laundering against Hus- sain and PFI.” The official said that Hussain and PFI have been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). New Delhi: Pawan, one of the death-row convicts in 2012 gang- rape case, has moved a Delhi court seeking registration of FIR against two policemen of Mandoli jail, al- leging that they thrashed him, causing a severe head injury . The court has issued notice to the jail administration seeking a reply. The matter has been listed for March 12. Pawan was earlier lodged in Mandoli Jail and was later shifted to Tihar Jail. This comes after another death-row convict Vinay Sharma approached Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal through his lawyer AP Sin- gh, seeking to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment. citizens RESHUFFLE OF IAS OFFICERS IN MP More than half a dozen IAS offi cers have been given new assignments in Madhya Pradesh. Ac- cordingly, Jitendra Singh Raje has been appointed as Collector, Neemuch, while S Vishwanathan was made Collector, Guna and Kaushalendra Vikram Singh is as Collector, Gwalior. Besides, Anurag Chaudhary has been appointed as Deputy Secretry, Secretariat; Bhaskar Lakshakar as Deputy Secretary, Secretariat; Dr Pankaj Jain as Collector, Vidisha; Anurag Verma as Collector, Harda and Ajay Singh Gangwar was made Com- missioner, Sagar division. Bu- RANA’S CUSTODY EXTENDED A special court on Wednes- day extended till March 16 the ED custody of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, arrested on money laundering charges. During the hearing, the ED told the special Pre- vention of Money Launder- ing Act (PMLA) court that Mr Kapoor had sanctioned loans worth Rs 30,000 crore to different entities during his tenure. Kapoor former Managing Director and CEO of the private bank, was arrested by the ED on Sun- day under provisions of the PMLA as he was allegedly not cooperating in the probe. 396 DETAINED UNDER PSA The Centre on Wednesday said in Parliament that 396 persons have been detained in Kashmir under the Public Safety Act (PSA) out of the total 451 detained in Jammu and Kashmir, Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy stated in the Rajya Sabha in response to a question by Shiromani Akali Dal MP Sardar Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. Among those who have the PSA slapped on them include three former Chief Ministers, Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah. UP GOES TO SUPREME COURT The Uttar Pradesh government Wednesday challenged in the Supreme Court an Allahabad HC order directing it to remove hoardings with photo- graphs and addresses of those booked for anti-CAA protests in December. The hoardings have been put up in Lucknow. The state government’s appeal is scheduled to be heard on Thursday by a vaca- tion bench of Justice U U Lalit and Justice Aniruddha Bose, advocate general for Uttar Pradesh, Raghvendra Singh, told PTI. ‘TSUNAMI OF HINDUTVA HATE’ In a scathing attack on the centre in Lok Sabha over the recent Delhi violence, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday said there is a “tsunami of Hin- dutva hate” and called for an impartial probe to fi nd the perpetrators of the violence. Some of his remarks evoked sharp response from the Treasury benches, with at least two Union ministers -- Ravi Shankar Prasad and Kishan Reddy - registering their protest. Speaker Om Birla also expunged certain remarks made by Owaisi. IS BJP TRYING TO WOO SOREN IN JHARKHAND? After Madhya Pradesh, will the BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party) turn its attention to Jharkhand? Sources have indicated that the BJP is trying to woo Hemant Soren, the chief minister, who in al- liance with the Congress formed the government in the state last year. Bringing back Babulal Marandi to the BJP is a part of the bigger game plan, sources in Jharkhand claimed. ‘BJP IN SERIOUS BUSINESS OF POACHING’ The Cong on Wednes- day accused the BJP of being in the “business of poaching and abduct- ing MLAs, and stealing governments”, claiming that the party has fi ne- tuned the art. Terming the recent developments in MP an insult to democracy, senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said the saffron party attempts to destabilise non-BJP governments in states. ‘NO OPERATION WILL BE SUCCESSFUL’ Amid the ongoing political crisis in Madhya Pradesh, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday stated that BJP tried to form government in Maharashtra as well but it failed and added that no such operation will be successful here. “BJP tried to form government in Maha- rashtra as well but it failed. No such operation will be successful here,” Raut told ANI. speed NEWS

SPORTS AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 09 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia in KOHLI & CO GEARS UP TO TAKE ON SA Dharamsala: Having suffered a series-sweep at the hands of New Zealand, Team India would look to make amends when they take on a confident South Af- rican outfit in the first ODI of the three-match series at the HPCA Sta- dium on Thursday . India and South Af- rica have had contrast- ing fortunes in their most recent ODI series. While the Proteas swept Australia aside in the three-match ODI series at home - their first win in seven series across formats since the 2019 World Cup -- India were beaten by the same margin in their three ODIs against the Kane Wil- liamson-led Kiwi side. The hosts will be great form in New Zea- Dhawan, who missed BRIEF Honest CC defeat Friends CC Ahmedabad: Honest CC defeated Friends Union CC by 76 runs in the Ganesh Cup (Minor) tournament, which is played under the Ahmedabad City Dis- trict Cricket Associa- tion. With the help of Deep Patel’s solid bowling and a half-century from Bhavin Engle, Honest CC won the match easily . Winning the toss, Honest CC scored 206 for 9 wickets in 40 overs with Bhavin Engle’s 55 runs off the bat. In reply, Friends Union CC all out in 130 runs. Honest CC’s Deep Patel has taken 3 wickets for 22 runs in 5.2 overs. other hand, would be feeling a lot more confident, especially consid- ering the performances of Janneman Malan, Heinrich Klaasen and Jon Jon Smuts who scored big in the home triumph against Aus- tralia. However, what the visitors would desperately want is that their experienced duo of skipper Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis perform well. In the bowling front, they might seem a little short on experience because of Kagiso Raba- da’s absence. However, they would bank upon Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje to replicate their home performance and create problems for the Indian batters. —Agencies COVID-19 SCARE MAY SEE IND PLAY SA IN EMPTY STADIUM ‘India might limit usage of saliva for shining ball’ Dharamsala: India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar hinted that they might limit the usage of saliva to shine the white ball during the fi rst ODI against SA as a precautionary measure in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak. Bhuvnesh- war, however, said a decision on this will be taken by the team doctor during a meeting later on Wednes- day. “We have thought about this thing but I can’t say right now we will not use saliva because if we don’t use saliva then how will we shine the ball. Then we will get hit and you people will say you are not bowling well,” the 31-year-old pacer said. —Agencies the entire New Zealand tour, will want to perform to make sure he make his case stronger for the T20 World Cup later in the year. For India, the series will hold importance in the sense that Hardik Pandya and Bhuvne- swar Kumar will both be making a comeback after their long injury lay-offs. The Proteas, on the land and have solidified their place in the team. They both will be a cer- tainty while the series will present another opportunity for Rishabh Pant and Manish Pan- dey to keep themselves in the mix. In Rohit’s absence, Prithvi Shaw and Shub- man Gill will fight it out to join Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order. without the services of Rohit Sharma who is still battling a calf injury, thus putting extra responsibility on skipper Virat Kohli who had a horrible New Zealand tour -- one of the main reasons why failed to win the ODIs and the Tests against the Black Caps. KL Rahul Shreyas Iyer were in India Guj Super League organised by GSTTA Ahmedabad: Gujarat State Table Tennis As- sociation has organized a franchise base Guja- rat Super League cham- pionship. The franchise base team tournament, Gujarat Super League, will be launch by GST- TA on 13th March. This is the first time such a tournament has been organized in Gujarat. The tournament will be launched on March 13 in the presence of Guja- rat State Table Tennis Association President Vipul Mitra and GSTTA chariman Milind Tor- wane. and Leipzig book berth in CL quarters Leipzig: Leipzig se- cured a berth in the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in the club’s 11-year history, easing past last season’s run- ner-up Tottenham 4-0 on aggregate thanks to a brace by Marcel Sab- itzer in second leg. The Bundesliga side led just 1-0 after the Febru- ary 19 first leg in Lon- don, but dominated from start to finish in a 3-0 victory at Red Bull Arena on Tuesday, reports Efe news. “It’s a great moment for the club. It’s a great moment for the history of the club. It’s a great moment for me as a manager and a great moment for my young team,” Julian said. Bengal trail Saurashtra by 291 runs at stumps on day three PV Sindhu storms into second round TOKYO OLYMPICS QUALIFIER ‘Big talk is forgotten, it’s performance which stays’ Rajkot: Bengal still trails Saurashtra by 291 runs after the conclu- sion of day three of the ongoing Ranji Trophy final on Wednesday here at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium. Bengal ended day three at 134/3 after bun- dling out Saurashtra for 425 in the first in- nings. Sudip Gharami (26) and Abhimanyu (9) enabled the side to get off to a steady start as they put on 35 runs for the first wicket, however, Saurashtra staged a comeback as hosts man- aged to send both bats- men back to pavilion. Easwaran’s dismissal sparked outrage as he was given out to a ball that seemed to be going down the leg-side. He Birmingham: shuttler PV Sindhu on Wednesday progressed to the second round of the All England Open 2020 at Arena Birming- ham here. Sindhu American shuttler Bei- wen Zhang in straight games in 1st round. The match lasted for about 42 min. The Indian shuttler had the upper hand in match and despite getting a fight from American in 2nd game, Sindhu outclassed her opponent. Saina, Sai, Parupalli, Lakshya, mixed doubles pair of Pranaav and Reddy, & women’s doubles pair of Ashwini & Reddy will play their respective matches. Ace proved myself. It re- ally means a lot and a huge weight is off my shoulders. I hope it changes mindset of people who are against me, people who try to manipu- late and bring politics into sport,” she said. “...talking outside the ring can only fetch headlines. Those headlines will be forgotten and after that, it’s just the performance. If you talk big and the don’t add up, it will hurt you in run. So let your punches do the talking and create a legacy won’t be forgotten,” she added. —PTI ended with a bronze at the qualifiers. “It is huge for me. I feel as if I have New Delhi: Indian boxing icon MC Mary Kom pulled no punches as she lambasted critics and challeng- ers after securing her second Olympic ap- pearance, those who bring politics into sports should remember that it’s performance that cre- ates legacy, not big statements. Speaking to PTI from Amman, after booking her Olym- pic berth by making the semifinals of the Asia/Oce- ania Qualifiers, Mary also said her experience of over two decades will be her biggest weapon against younger op- ponents in Tokyo. She IWF postpones European C’ship Budapest: In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, the International Weightlifting Federa- tion has postponed the European Champion- ships to June. The com- petition was earlier scheduled to take place between April 13-21 in Moscow, Russia. The European Champion- ships will now be held between June 13-21. “The European Weight- lifting Federation has decided to postpone the European Senior Cham- pionships scheduled in Moscow, Russia 13-21 April, together with the Electoral Congress,” IWF said. defeated saying Chirag Jani celebrates after taking wicket of Manoj Tiwary during the Ranji Trophy fi nal match in Rajkot on Wednesday. Manoj and Sudip then retrieved the in- nings for Bengal as the duo put on 89 runs for the third wicket, but as soon as Bengal started to gain an upper hand, Chirag sent Tiwary (35) back to the pavilion in the 53rd over. opted for a review, but the limited use of DRS in finals, showed that ball was a fair delivery with the impact in front of leg- stump. There was no ball-tracking available, and the on-field decision remained intact. Srikanth, replays results the long 1st-round —PTI —ANI that CORONA EFFECT No fans allowed in India Open badminton Javelin thrower Shivpal joins Neeraj Chopra Potchefstroom: Indian javelin thrower Shivpal Singh has qualifi ed for his maiden Olym- pic Games in Tokyo this year by breach- ing the qualifi cation mark at an event here. Shivpal became the 2nd javelin thrower after star athlete Neeraj Chopra to qualify for Olympics. Shivpal crossed the qualifying standard of 85m by hurling spear to a distance of 85.47m in his 5th attempt to win gold in ACNW Meeting. Boxer Manish qualifies with box-off win Amman: World bronze-medallist Manish Kaushik (63kg) on Wednesday became the 9th Indian boxer to qualify for Tokyo Olympics after beating Garside in a bru- tal box-off. Kaushik defeated Garside 4-1 to book his maiden ticket to the quadrennial showpiece after a draining showdown which saw the Australian fi ghting with a bloodied face and the Indian braving some painful hits to his ribs. “The India Open will be held as planned at the KD Jadhav stadium in Indira Gandhi In- door stadium but to ensure safety of everybody we have decided not to allow any specta- tor this time,” BAI Gen- eral Secretary, Ajay K Singhania told PTI. “Fans can watch the matches on youtube for the initial days while Hotstar will show the matches from quarterfi- nal onwards,” he said. of the tournament. “The YONEX-SUN- RISE India Open 2020 to be staged in New Delhi from March 24-29 will go ahead as planned,” the statement said. “Enhanced precautionary measures will be in place to ensure the welfare and safety of players, their entourage and officials.” One of the precautions taken by the or- ganisers is to restrict the entry of people in- side the stadium. New Delhi: The India Open Super 500 tournament, a crucial event for the Tokyo Olympic qualification, will be held without any spec- tators due to the global novel coronavirus outbreak, Badminton As- sociation of India (BAI) said on Wednesday . The USD 400,000 tournament was threat in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, which has claimed over 4000 lives and infected more than 100,000 peo- under event will go ahead as originally planned adding that precautionary measures will be taken for the smooth conduct ple globally . However, BAI and the BWF on Wednesday issued a joint statement, making it clear that the —PTI

2NDFRONT Observe negative people carefully, in this way you will know what NOT to do. —Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India 10 AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia BJP NAMES BRAHMIN AND TRIBAL FACES FOR TWO RAJYA SABHA SEATS These candidates picked to balance regional equations Parimal Nathwani files RS nomination from Andhra SPECTRE OF DEFECTION LOOMS LARGE OVER GUJARAT CONGRESS First India News First India News DOSSIER Gandhinagar: Bharatiya Party on Monday de- clared veteran lawyer Abhay from Rajkot and tribal leader from Sabar- kantha district Rami- laben Bara as its two candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. The elections will be held for four seats and the party needs support of at least seven to eight more MLAs to win a third seat. Even if 38 votes are dedicated for each candidate, yet, there will be extra 27 votes. There is little that the party will waste 27 votes, when it desperately needs to have good numbers in the Rajya Sabha. In such a situation, it may extend support to an independent candidate like Shan- kersinh Vaghela or someone who can en- gineer cross-voting. The Gandhinagar: Pari- mal Nathwani, a consecutive term Rajya Sabha MP representing Jharkhand 2008 onwards and Senior Group Pres- ident of Reliance Industries Ltd filed his nomination for Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh. Nathwani’s decision to stand for election from Pradesh came in the wake of support from CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his party YSR Congress. After filing nomination, Nathwani said, “YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is a young and dynamic Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and adored by the people of the State. YSR Congress won 151 seats out of 175 in the State As- sembly election last year - this shows the popularity of Reddy . He faced lots of diffi- culties and challenges after the death of his father YS Rajasekha- Janata Gargi Raval two Bhardwaj Gandhinagar: Intense speculations have be- gun about the Con- gress’ probable con- tenders for the March 26 Rajya Sabha elections, even as at least two MLAs have conveyed to the leadership that they would defect to the BJP if former Gujarat Con- gress president Arjun Modhvadia is not nominated for the polls. The ruling BJP is already trying to manage support of Opposition legislators since it falls short of the numbers to get three seats in the RS. The term of BJP’s three sitting MPs and one of the Congress comes to an end. Internal bickerings have started in the Congress between national spokesperson and in-charge of Bihar and Delhi Shaktisinh Gohil and Modhvadia. Both are known to be close to party veteran Ahmed Patel and have from Abhay Bhardwaj Ramilaben Bara Arjun Modhvadia Bharatsinh Solanki Kanu Kalsariya Shaktisinh Gohil Ramilaben Bara Daughter of former MLA Becharbhai Bera, Ramilaben Bara, 66, had joined the State Govern- ment in 1986 as a Sec- tion Officer and her last posting as Depu- ty Secretary in the Transport ment. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Educa- tion degrees. She was named the vice-president of the State unit of the BJP in 2013 and continues there. Bara has also served as chairperson of the Gu- jarat Tribal Develop- ment Corporation from 2015 to 2017. She was elected MLA from Khedbrahma constituency in 2004 but she lost to Congress’ candidate Ashwin Kot- wal in 2007. ‘Cong will know about more fence-sitters’ in the Jinja city of Uganda in 1954 and later his moved to India. He had joined Bharatiya Jansangh in 1977 at the age of 23. In 2016, he was appointed as a part-time member of the Law Commission. Bhardwaj was also president of the Rajkot Bar Associa- tion. In July 2019, the State Government had appointed him as Spe- cial Public Prosecutor in the BJP’s Jayanti Bhanushali case and was also de- fense lawyer in the 2002 Gulbarg riot case of Ahmedabad. He has been a special public prosecutor in Sutrapa- da illegal mining case and in bureaucrat Prad- ip Sharma’s criminal breach of trust case. ous polls the party had already nominated a woman, Ami Yagnik. Aources claim that Kanu Kalsariya may emerge as a dark horse. A medical doctor by profession, Kalsariya is known for his activism for farmers and has a clean image. If not Solanki, then Jagdish Thakor, a senior OBC leader from North Gujarat, as a counter to Alpesh Thakor since there is a vacuum of OBC leadership in the party . Thakor can also be influential in the upcoming 2022 assembly elections. Some Gujarat leaders are also pitch- ing for Deepak Babar- ia, who is in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, but he may not find favour after the MP debacle. conveyed their wish to contest the Rajya Sab- ha elections. Modhva- dia has lobbied hard in Delhi and also met Ra- jasthan CM Ashok Ge- hlot. He has also started polls on different portals for popularity , along with the names of his likely rivals Shaktisinh Gohil, Siddharth Patel and Bharatsinh Solanki. There are others too in the race, including sitting MP Madhusudan Mistry , whose term ex- pires now, but several MLAs are against him, former union minister and GPCC president Bharatsinh Solanki, former GPCC women’s wing chief Sonal Patel, Gaurav Pandya, Himan- shu Vyas, and Lalji De- sai. Patel’s chances appear slim since in previ- family ra Reddy . But he over- came all odds and ob- stacles in his way and became CM after a thumping victory last year.” Nathwani added that he is fully committed to serving the people of Andhra Pradesh. Two term Rajya Sabha MP Jharkhand, Nathwani has done exemplary work and utilised funds under Member of Parliament Local Area Development and Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana to near 100 per cent for rural infrastructure, education, health, sanita- tion, skill development etc. the Andhra electoral further Depart- from murder Abhay Bhardwaj An eminent lawyer, Abhay Ganpatram Bhardwaj was born State govt rejects Cong suggestion to shut malls First India News Speaker rejects minister’s point of order in House Byline Name First India News Gandhinagar: echoes of Madhya Pradesh’s political developments and the upcoming Rajya Sab- ha elections heard in the State As- sembly on Monday with the ruling BJP taunting the Con- gress party over the exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia and stating that more were in the queue. It all began with Va- dodara MLA Jitubbhai Sukhadia taunting the party over the political developments in Mad- hya Pradesh. This pro- voked an immediate response from the opposition who asked the BJP to first take care of Chief Minister Vijay Rupa- ni’s chair. Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja asserted that, “People in Congress are unhappy; such an The There is large scale dissent in the Con- gress party, wherever it is in power. Even in Gujarat, there are talks about change of leadership in Congress because of internal differences. —Vijay Rupani, Chief Minister CM Rupani should keep his house in order. His own ministers and MLAs are not taking were Gandhinagar: Speak- er Rajendra Trivedi on Monday said that State Assembly’s rules and constitution are clear that any information tabled in the House can be compiled and used.Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Pradispinh Jade- ja had on March 2 op- posed the way information shared in various questions was clubbed by Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani and other MLAs trying to create a big picture. Rejecting Minister’s point of order, Speak- er ruled that, “ Any information shared in the House can be clubbed. When an MLA compiles information, it is at his own risk. Here the issue Gandhinagar: Guja- rat government rejected a suggestion of opposition Con- gress to close malls, cinema halls and other places of public gathering in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus in the state. The suggestion to shut down such public places was made by Congress MLA Nau- shad Solanki during a discussion on coronavirus in Assembly . Solanki asked government to start screening of passengers at bus stations and railway stations, on the lines of screening being done at the interna- the CM seriously. Corruption is at an all-time high, liquor flows freely even in the CM’s own constituency liquor. —Amit Chavda, GPCC President tional airports. Dep- uty CM Nitin Patel said there is no need to create panic among people by shutting down malls and cinema halls. “Even in China, only five to six worst affected cities have been while life is going on normally in other parts of that country . Thus, we don’t have to create panic here at this stage. We are taking all steps to contain the spread of coronavirus,” Patel said. people was about information being assembled from the government’s replies in the question booklet. They can take information from any other documents tabled in the House.” Similarly, the Speaker rejected Leader of Oppo- sition Paresh Dhanani’s point of order about misinformation in an- swers. He cited a number of rulings and prec- edents, which clearly guide how a point of order could be raised and a debate be granted on it. ty Chief Minister Nitin Patel to leave the BJP and join the Congress. Patel gave it back and asserted, “When I had said that I am fighting alone, I meant against you all and not with my party . My political birth was in the Jan Sangh, my professional growth is in the BJP, party has given me a lot, and will die in BJP.” cross over,” he averred. His statement in the House re-kindled speculations of defection by at least seven to eight MLAs ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections on March 26. The BJP needs as many votes to win three of the four seats. Meanwhile, the Op- position benches re- newed its offer to Depu- old party is not able to find the right candidate for presidential post. There are many who are influenced by Prime Minister Nar- endra Modi and Un- ion Home Minister Amit Shah’s development philosophy and are keen to join BJP .” “Very soon Congress leaders will discover the fence-sitters once they sealed members, also necessary Cong puts off Dandi Yatra but Tushar Gandhi to march on First India News this march with mes- sages of saving the Con- stitution and spreading the message of peace and harmony. march will follow the same path and routine that Gandhi and others followed in the march.” He said he has re- quested volunteers to carry a metal flask for drinking water and utensils for food that can be washed and re-used and not any plastic material during the Yatra. Rajiv Satav, Congress’ Gujarat affairs charge, in a tweet stated that in a view of the in- creasing impact of Coro- navirus, the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Com- mittee has decided to put off the Gandhi Sandesh Yatra. Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi as well as Rahul and Pri- yanka Gandhi were expected to participate. To commemorate the 90th anniversary, Tushar Gandhi and a dozen volunteers are going to re-enact the Dandi March by Ma- hatma Gandhi in 1930 against the British rule’s taxation on salt. They will follow the historic Dandi path of about 400 km and would be followed by the original diet prescribed by Gandhiji. Gandhi told reporters that, “The foot match will being from Sabarmati and reach Dandi in 24 days covering nearly 400 km. We have linked  in- Tushar Gandhi and a dozen volunteers will follow Dandi path of 400 km and would be followed by the original diet prescribed by Gandhiji Ahmedabad: the corona scare, the Gujarat Congress has postponed Gandhi Sand- esh Yatra that was to begin on March 12, on the 90th anniversary of Dandi March by Mahatma However, great-grand- son of Mahatma Gan- dhi, Tushar Gandhi, is going ahead with his plans to take out the Yatra from Thursday . Given virus The Gandhi. Ashram —FILE PHOTO Tushar Gandhi addressing the gathering.

www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia 11 AHMEDABAD, THURSDAY MARCH 12, 2020 —PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO Akanksha Bhalla City First brings you a few glimpses about how people in the Pink City celebrated the colourful festival of Holi on Tuesday NEHAL NAYAR nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in F estival of colours and joy, Holi, was celebrated in the Pink City on Tues- day with a dose of precautions because of the recent outburst of the Coronavirus (COV- ID-19) across the world, and also in the city . The celebrations were marginally subdued, and most of the events that were being planned for months ended up being cancelled. But this did not stop the festival-lovers from cutting out on their part of the fun. Keeping COVID-19 in mind, most of the people opted for small known groups with organic colours and water-free Holi, to avoid catching a cold and also spread of the virus due to over- crowding. City First shares a few glimpses of the festival of colours in the Pink City, which promotes love, togetherness, and joy. Apart from this, the colourful festival was also celebrated on a large scale at Govind Dev Ji Temple in Jaipur, which is the centre of devotion and piety for many Jaipurites, where the Holi celebrations go on for about a week. Gaurav Gaur with (from left) Ammie, Akanksha Bhalla, Nisha Jangid and Ruchika Soni Dr Anupama Soni, Mrs Asia International 2018 with daughter Nihu —PHOTOS BY SUNIL SHARMA Kanchan Khatana, Miss Rajasthan 2019 Visitors snapped playing Holi in ‘The Walled City’ area near Hawa Mahal. Ritika Meghnani Vanshika Upadhyay Sejal Kumari, Jyoti Bhagtani and Kajal Khatri

HOLLYWOOD AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 12 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia CHALLENGING ‘Medical Challenges’ A ngelina Jolie has shared that two of her six children have under- gone surgery in the last year. On Sunday, the actress, 44, revealed in a daily that two of her daughters have had recent ‘medical challenges’ that resulted in surgery . Her essay, ‘Why Girls Deserve Love and Respect on International Wom- en’s Day’, begins with her sharing her family’s recent health issues. “I have spent the last two months in and out of surgeries with my eldest daughter, and days ago watched her younger sister go under the knife for a hip surgery,” wrote Jolie. However, a report confirmed that, Shiloh, 13, was photographed walking on crutches over the weekend while out shopping with her mother and sister, Vivienne, 11. Zahara was also seen stepping out after her surgeries, at- tending Cirque du Soleil with her family, where she was seen wearing an IV drip. According to a source from the hospital, Jolie has been by her kids’ side for the past two months as they were in and out of the hospital. In her essay, Jolie went on to de- scribe the sweet way all three of her daughters stepped up to care for one another amid the surgeries. She then praised her girls for their strength. The star also gave her three boys, Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, and Knox, 11, a special shout-out, writing that they have also helped look after their sisters and that they have been ‘supportive and sweet’. Insect named after Lady Gaga Lady Gaga A versity of Illinois has been named after Lady Gaga. According to reports, a new treehopper species from near the Pacific coast of Nicaragua is now known as Kaikaia gaga, as per Brendan Morris, the discov- erer who is a PhD candidate in entomology . While looking roughly through 1,000 treehoppers, Morris found the insect from Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mu- seum of Natural History for research. The female bug had unique features that distinguished her from the others. Morris said, “If there is going to be a Lady Gaga bug, it’s Senorita wants more! going to be a treehopper, because they’ve got these crazy horns, they have this wacky fashion sense about them. They’re unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.” This is not the first case when a species named after a famous musician. A deep-sea crustacean also got its name from American heavy metal band Metallica and is known as Macrostylis metallicola. The treehopper is not the first species to be named after a famous musician. Last month, a deep-sea crustacean got its name from Me- tallica and is now known as Macrostylis metallicola. Ear- lier in 2017, the Synalpheus pinkfloydi shrimp named after English rock band Pink Floyd. new insect discov- ered by Urbana- Champaign gradua- tion student at Uni- was —IANS Angelina Jolie —ANI Celebrating LOVE! C Mendes. According to reports, in an interview with Capital FM host Jimmy Hill, the 23-year-old American- Cuban singer was asked if fans were going to get new music from the A baseball shortstop Alex Rodriguez took to Instagram to share an ador- able video with his lady love. The star marked the anniversary of his proposal to Lopez with a short video which featured all the cherished moments of the couple since the time of their engagement. “One year ago on a beach in the Bahamas. I was a nervous wreck, more nervous than my entire playing with Mendes again in the future, “I want more, we want more, but honestly, we’re being in our 20s.” Hill then asked if it was due to their ‘busy’ schedules. “No, not even like that,” Cabello re- sponded. “Just, like, being in love is exhausting; it takes it out of you.” “We can’t even go to the studio, we can’t,” she added. “We’re trying to calm down.” Hill jokingly asked, “Too busy in other ways?” to whom Cabello clarified, “No, I meant emotionally!” amila Cabello opened up about her eight- month relationship with boyfriend Shawn ing career, I got down on one knee and asked you a question, you said yes,” he wrote in the caption of the post. “Jennifer, every moment with you is a blessing. You are my best friend, my inspira- tion, an amazing mother, and a role model to all. Macha, I am so lucky to be with you. Thank you for making my life better. I can’t wait to make more memories with you. I love you.” he added. fter celebrating one year engagement anniversary with singer Lopez, her fiancee and Jennifer couple. which she replied of work- To Jennifer with Alex —ANI —ANI Camila Cabello FACE OF THE DAY YOUR DAY Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva ARIES MAR 21 - APR 20 TAURUS APR 21 - MA Y 20 GEMINI MA Y 21 - JUNE 21 CANCER JUNE 22 - JUL Y 23 You must stand by the right and condemn any inappropriate behaviour. You will be able to strengthen family ties by your consistent efforts. Encourage your kid to choose any stream that they want to as their future lies in your hands right now. You will feel very enthusiastic and happy today. Those is armed force can expect some promotion. Newlyweds must try hard to comfort their partner in the new home environment. On professional front, you may take a very big career decision which will put you into dilemma. You can expect great returns from your fi xed assets. Be aware of aggressive pets and avoid going close to them. On academic front, you must keep all your emotions aside and single minded just focus on studies. You may play sports on a successful level so don’t hesitate from making it your career. Your transfer and promotion can be delayed for a little time but only for good. You are becoming more loving and caring which is resulting into a very happy atmosphere at home. On academic front, a good news wait for some which will change your life forever. LEO JUL Y 24 - AUGUST 23 You always assume things without knowing the whole truth so be all ears. On professional front, you will make strong bonds and will break few. Your spouse is your pillar of strength and stands by your side no matter what. Don’t force anyone to go on a journey with you. Some will get married soon. VIRGO AUG 24 - SEP 23 LIBRA SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22 You will soon fi nd some lucrative opportunities as a result of a successful business meeting. You are a person of strong will and thats whats keeps you fi t and energetic. You may feel desperate to spend time with your spouse. You may take your elders on a pilgrimage. SCORPIO OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22 You will recover all the money that you once lost. On work front, your seniors will approve of any change that you want to bring about. On domestic front, you will share your knowledge and ideologies with your kids to make them something. You can expect some addition to your wealth. You will successfully manage an ugly situation at work as you are a pro who has a even handed approach. You will be the mediator responsible for building a strong relationship between your kids. On academic front, get ready for a competi- tion and head on without any fear. SAGITTARIUS NOV 23 - DEC 22 Avoid spending your money on things that are just fancy and are of no use at present. You may disapprove of any changes made at home without your approval. An inherited property could become your biggest blessing at the moment. It is advisable for you to do group studies. You may meet your ex. CAPRICORN DEC 23 - JAN 20 If you try and adapt good fi nancial management skills than you would be able to save money for other important needs. Your side business will start giving your profi ts. You must try and control a family member who unknowingly could spoil family’s atmosphere. AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 19 PISCES FEB20 - MARCH 20 As a form of investment you must buy gold coins or biscuits for the future. You helped someone in the past and he/she will return the favour soon. Your kid will make you proud by following your foot steps and shaping into a capable individual. You may be in position to acquire properties. A long term ailment will be healed and you will feel relieved. On work front, stop making excuses and tighten up your belt to cope up with your lagging attitude. An elderly member of the house may give you a once in million advice which you will never forget. You may go on a trip. SEJAL KUMAR, Content Creator

ETC AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 202013 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia K Marey’, singer Neha Kakkar says she is an extremely emotional person and she is very proud of the fact. Neha was at the centre of social media after many memes were made on her following a clip of her breaking down on a singing reality show went viral. “I’ve seen a lot of memes... People have put my pictures Emotional Neha comes from my heart... I just don’t want to get appreciated for the singer I am, but also for being the human being I am. And this (emotional) is how I am going to be all my life,” she added. and screenshots where I am crying. So there are people who make memes... They need some data because I am visible everywhere... I do everything openly. I cry openly , I laugh openly ... I am very emotional and I am very proud of it,” Neha said. “I feel people’s emotions in this heartless world... I understand the pain. I would like to tell people who say I cry a lot that I just don’t cry , but I also help people. It happens naturally . It nown for belting out hits after hits like ‘Garmi’, Saki’ and ‘Aankh ‘O Saki —IANS Designers Shivani and Aayush Soni from SHIVAYU with a model showcasing their design SHIVAYU @ TFC7 City First introduces yet another amazing designer brand of TFC7, SHIVAYU by Shivani and Aayush Soni NEHAL NAYAR nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in R ajasthan’s biggest fashion show, The Fashion Connect by First India is coming up with its seventh season in no time, and everyone in and around the Pink City is talking about it. City First introduces another brand, SHIVAYU, which is going to showcase its collection in The Fashion Connect Season 7 (TFC7) on March 19 at Hotel Clarks Amer. SHIVAYU, which was estab- lished in 2017, is a city-based design studio run by a brother-sister duo, Aayush Soni and Shivani Soni. The duo has always dreamt of being self-made designers, and to have their own unique identity in the fashion world by having their own fashion studio in Jaipur, and have also participat- ed in various fashion shows worldwide. They have also had various chances to work with re- nowned celebrities like Bhumika Chawla, Chunky Panday, Aary- Neha Kakkar leana D’Cruz has de- QUIRKY ILEANA I gram to share a photo of herself where she is seen sitting in a car in a quirky manner. She can be seen sitting in a re- laxed manner with her tongue wagging “Them: sit like a lady. Me: (funny emoji),” Ileana cap- tioned. Ileana generally keeps Instagram on fire with her hot bikini pictures. While fans love her bikini photos, her photo in Indian attire was a I fashion leana D’Cruz has de- clared that she does not sit like a lady. She took to Insta- The designers with Chunky Panday aman Bhatia, Nisha Yadav, Gur- meet Singh, and Debina, adding a feather to their hat. Talking about being a part of TFC7, the duo said, “The Fash- ion Connect organised by First India is one of the best and great shows. We are very thankful that we got an opportunity to showcase our royal collection at the show. Heartiest thanks to Rishee Miglani who in- vited us to showcase our designs at such an event. At SHIVAYU, we let you style yourself according to the best of you!” ...her Instagram post change and they welcomed it. On the work front, Ileana will next be seen alongside Abhishek Bachchan in Ajay Devgn’s production ‘The Big Bull’, a film reportedly based on India’s biggest securities scams of 1992. The film is slated to hit theatres on October 23. out. refreshing —IANS Ileana D’Cruz CELEBRATING HOLI, THE B’TOWN WAY! On the occasion of Holi, a flurry of big B-town names took to the social media to extend greetings to their fans Holi hai. The days of past Holi’s.. with Abhishek and Jaya at Prateeksha, with Raj ji Shammi ji, Jeetendra, Shatrughan, at RK Studios .. the best Holi... —AMITABH BACHCHAN Happy Holi to you all ...Bura na maano #HOLI hai... with #TeamSherni I think pink is my colour. Agree? —KAREENA KAPOOR KHAN —VIDYA BALAN Happy holi ! A time to forgive even if you can’t forget ... a time to spread happiness and love —SOHA ALI KHAN We have already been living in color over the past few days. Literally. Nick’s fi rst Holi was made so special being home. May everyone celebrating have a very happy and safe Holi. —PRIYANKA CHOPRA JONAS Happy Holi everyone!! Not celebrating my favorite festival this year, because its more important to be safe! Hope you all have a safe and sound holi too. —SONAKSHI SINHA #HappyHoli guys! #KanganaRanaut and her brother Aksht and Fiancee along with Kangana’s Rakhi bother, Ajay Dhama, celebrating Holi! —KANGANA RANAUT Real life Mental mom ! and wouldn’t have it any other way Happy Holi all! —KARISMA KAPOOR

CITY BUZZ AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 14 www.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia STYLE THY NAME IS NITA N ita Ambani is India’s richest woman and she matched the persona well with owning most expensive collections that vary from huge shoe collections to personalized lipsticks, and many other luxuries. Well, apart from being the wife of the richest man in Asia, Mukesh Ambani, she is the co-owner of the IPL team, Mumbai Indians. She also runs a lot of foundations like Dhirubhai Ambani Group of Schools. The reports by Wink shared a list of luxury, she owns to show her unique lifestyle. 6. SHOES THAT SHE NEVER REPEATS Nita doesn’t repeat her shoe as she owns a huge collection of shoes from Jimmy Choos, Padro, Garcia, and Marlin. 7. EXCLUSIVE JEWELLERY COLLECTION She has a collection of diamond chockers to traditional gold jewellery to various diamond rings. These all come from top designers of the world. 1. PERSONALISED LIPSTICK COLLECTION She has a huge collection of customized lipsticks which have been curated especially to match her outfits. Apart from this, the packaging of these lipstick bottles are made of silver and gold. 2. LUXURY HANDBAGS Nita Ambani has a collection of luxurious handbags from famous brands like Goyard and Jimmy Choo. 8. PLUSH CORPORATE JET Nita Ambani owns a plush corporate which costs about 240 crores. Well, this jet was gifted to her from her beloved husband Muke- sh Ambani. jet 3. REAL GOLD, DIAMOND DOTTED SAREES Nita love to keep it traditional when it comes to outfit. For an event, she chose to wear e a heavy embellished saree that came with paintings, handwoven art and dotted with real diamond and gold. The actual cost of the saree is about 40 lakh bucks. 9. WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE CAR Nita Ambani also owns the most expensive cars all around the world. She bought an Audi A9 chameleon, which is a special car with a limited number of unit available in the market. 4. JAPANESE TEA SET What luxury seems like can be felt with this point, as Nita Ambani’s morning begins with a cup of tea which is served in the Noritek, that is the oldest crockery brand in Japan. 5. SET OF EXPENSIVE WATCHES Her huge collection of expensive watches includes the top brands like Rado, Calvin Klein, Gucci, and Bvlgari. 10. RELIANCE FOUNDATION Nita leads the Reliance foundation which focus- es on the rural development of India. Nita Ambani ALL FOR CHANGE Breaking new ground CITY FIRST H key benefits an inclusive workplace can lead to, according to experts at panel discus- sions organized mark International Women’s Day on Sun- day. Participants empha- sized the change the mindset of recruiters for inclusive workplaces. from diverse fields came together to talk about the burning topic of ‘Gender Equality’ which touched upon subjects such as women’s rights, challenges faced by women, leadership, among others. The panellists for the discussion on ‘In- clusive Workplaces’ spoke about how an inclusive with a balanced representation of men and women, can lead to better efficiency and boost productivity. They also igher productivity and better efficiency are among the to need to Women CITY FIRST A Bhat. Presided by Dr SS Amarnath, one of the most distinguished and recognized practition- ers in orthopaedics medicine in the country . Participants of the event learnt about Ar- thritis – its types, causes and symptoms. Dr Amarnath also threw light on recent advance- ments made in the biological treatment for arthritis. It was followed by a question and answer round which enabled everyone present to bust myths about arthritis, its prevention and cure. session on arthritis was organized by Ahmedabad-based Pharma major Cadila Pharmaceuticals for its employees at their corporate campus in Featuring an all- women panel, the topic of another panel discussion was ‘Leader- ship and which saw panellists expressing concern at the lack of adequate representation women in corporate boardrooms. cityfirstgujarat@gmail.com change the mindset of recruiters, employers, and employees to ensure that workplaces become inclusive in the true sense. stressed on the need to create a sense of be- longing among employees, especially women employees, and also reiterated the need to workplace, of Women’ cityfirstgujarat@gmail.com From the actor’s perspective Better be safe, than sorry W about COVID-19 (Co- rona Virus), a lecture will be held at Science City on March 12 from 3 pm onwards. The event has been organized by Science City, Ahmedabad and Guja- rat Council on Science and Technology (GU- JCOST). Dr Surabhi Kadam, Infectious Diseases consultant, PD Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai will talk on the topic ‘Understanding Corona Virus.’ ith an objec- tive to spread awareness A conceived by 10 actors, alive on stage. The festival will take place at Scrapyard - The Theatre from March 15-29. So, embrace your love for good theatre and head on to the festival to catch the madness. specially curated fi ve-play theatre festival is set to enthrall Amdavadis this month. ‘Acto- mania’ brings hand-picked theatre creations

First India Gujarat For Gujarat Today Epaper 12 March 2020 edition

First India Gujarat For Gujarat Today Epaper 12 March 2020 edition

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