NO INTEREST ON INTEREST - First India

PM inaugurates 3 projects in the state through video link from Delhi

First India Bureau

Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three projects--the first, related to farm-ers’ welfares, another, to healthcare, and the third, to tourism devel-

opment--in Gujarat via video link from New Delhi on Saturday.

With the Kisan Sury-odaya Yojana, the Cen-tre aims to provide day-time electricity to farm-ers in the state for irri-gation and farming purposes.

The second project that inaugurated Modi inaugurated on Satur-day is the Paediatric Heart Hospital at the UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Re-search Centre in Ahmedabad, devel-oped by the state health and family wel-fare department at a cost of Rs470 crore.

In addition, the Prime Ministers also launched a 2.3 km-long ropeway project in Ju-

nagadh. Located at Mount Girnar, a major pilgrimage site in the state, is being touted as the longest temple rope-way in Asia.

During his address, Modi slammed the op-position over the delay in the completion of the ropeway project.

“Had they (the Con-gress) not created hur-dles, the Girnar rope-way would not have stalled for so many years. People and tour-

ists would have benefit-ed from this project long back,” he said, add-ing, “As a country, we should think of the loss to the people of the na-tion when such projects (Girnar ropeway) of public importance are stalled for a long time.”

On the Kisan Suryo-daya scheme, Modi said, “Earlier, most farmers only got power for irri-gation at night, and so had to stay up all night.

Turn to P6 The Girnar ropeway is being touted as the longest temple ropeway in Asia.

PRO DEVELOPMENT

New schemes relate tofarmers’ welfare, healthcareand tourism development

NO INTEREST ON INTEREST FOR LOANS UP TO ̀ 2 CRDURING MORATORIUM

J&K coalition to be led by Farooq

Srinagar: The flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir’s will be used by the coa-lition of all major re-gional parties which aim to have its status and powers restored, the bloc announced on Saturday. The group will be led by former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and rival Me-hbooba Mufti will be his deputy.

The “People’s Alli-ance” is an unprece-dented grouping of par-ties which signed last year’s Gupkar Declara-tion just before the cen-tre struck down Jammu and Kashmir’s decades-old special powers listed in Article 370 of the con-stitution and split it into two union territories.

The leaders, who bur-ied years of bitter ri-valry to ally, met at the residence of People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti for the first time after its for-mation on Saturday.

National Conference leader Abdullah, 83, was unanimously

named chairman of the group while Mufti will be its vice-chairman. Left leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami is the convenor of the alli-ance, while Sajad Lone of the People’s Confer-ence has been named as the spokesperson.

“I want to tell you that it is false propagan-da by the BJP that the PAGD (People’s Alli-ance for Gupkar Decla-ration) is anti-national. I want to tell them that this is not true. There is no doubt that it is anti-BJP but it is not anti-national,” Abdullah told reporters after the meeting. Turn to P6

A woman devotee plays a conch shell at a community pandal during the ongoing Durga Puja festival, in Gurugram. (Inset) Trinamool Congress MP Nusrat Jahan (2nd from right) along with other women takes part in Maha Aastami celebrations at a community Durga Puja pandal, in Kolkata on Saturday.

New Delhi: The minis-try of finance has ap-proved a scheme to pro-vide relief in interest compounding to bor-rowers for the six-month loan moratorium period extended in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This will come in form of the grant of ex-gratia payment of the difference between compound interest and simple interest for six months period from March 1 to August 31.

“The undersigned is directed to convey that in view of the unprece-dented and extreme Covid-19 situation, the Central government has approved “Scheme for grant of ex-gratia payment of the differ-ence between com-pound interest and sim-ple interest for six months to borrowers in specified loan amounts

Turn to P6

New Delhi: Proving re-lief to taxpayers, the Income Tax Depart-ment on Saturday ex-tended the deadline for individual assessees to file their returns for fi-nancial year 2019-20 (as-sessment year 2020-21) by a month, in a relief to taxpayers on account of COVID-19.

Taxpayers now have until December 31 to file their return of in-come earned between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020, instead of No-vember 30.

For individuals re-quired to get their ac-counts audited, a new deadline of January 31 is applicable, instead of December 31.

Income Tax Return Deadline Extended Till December 31

BURDEN ON GOVERNMENT: According to experts, the cash outgo from the government under the cash back scheme is likely to be between Rs 5,000-7,000 crore as all the borrowers may not be eligible for the scheme. The government has not given any deadline on paying up the cash-back to the banks which will have to give the ex gratia to the borrowers in advance before submitting it to the government.

The rate of interest would be as prevailing on February 29, 2020, in case the rate of interest has changed thereafter, it shall not be reckoned for the purposes of this computation. They payable ex-gratia amount shall have to be credited to the account of the borrower by the respective lending institutions as ex-gratia payment under the scheme.

FOLLOWING APEX COURT DIRECTIVES

HOW WILL PROPOSED CASH BACK WORK

This comes after the Supreme Court directed the Cente to implement the interest waiver as soon as possible. The relief will be extend-ed through fi nancial institutions like banks, non-banking fi nancial companies (NBFCs), NCFC - Micro Finance Institutions, National Banks for Agriculture and Rural Develop-ment, housing fi nance companies, National Housing Banks, etc.

With Mehbooba as vice president, the bloc will use old flag of state

Farooq Abdullah with Kashmiri Pandits at Durga Nag Temple, in Srinagar on Saturday.

AHMEDABAD l SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 330

MAHA AASTAMI FERVOUR

New Delhi: The ABP New-Cvoter Opinion Poll, on Sat-urday, predicted a clear majority to Nit-ish Kumar-led NDA in Bihar Elections with BJP-JDU bag-ging around 135-159 out of 243 seats.

RJD-Congress-led Mahagathbandhan stands second with around 77-98 seats. LJP’s tally dismal at 1-5 seats and Others might get 4-8 seats.

On the vote shar-ing front, the survey indicated that NDA will garner as much as 43% of total vote share, whereas Ma-hagathbandhan will bag 35% votes in the Assembly polls. Chi-rag Paswan’s LJP might only get 4% of the total vote share, survey said adding that Others might get 18% in their kitty.

ABP-CVoter Bihar opinion poll gives definite majority to Nitish-led NDA

NEWSAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020

02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

First India Bureau

Bhuj: A day after skipping his sched-uled visit to Abdasa c o n s t i t u e n c y, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit president CR Patil addressed par-ty workers at a gath-ering on Saturday. Patil had flown to Delhi on Friday to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah to dis-cuss party reorgani-zation.

Sounding confident of a blistering win in this by-election, Patil read out the names of all leaders while speaking at the meet-ing in Abdasa, so as to not mispronounce or skip anyone’s name. He was recently criti-cized for forgetting the name of an incumbent MLA during a rally during his North Gu-jarat tour.

Addressing the gathering, Patil cit-ed the example of the Navsari Lok Sabha seat, where the winning mar-gin of the party has increased with eve-ry election. “In 2009, I won the election with a margin of 1,32,643 votes and it has now jumped to 6,89,668 votes, as per the data of the 2019 elections. Eve-ry win has been made possible due to the hard work put in by page com-mittees and their presidents. If the

same strategy is followed in the Ab-dasa constituency, our candidate P r a d y u m a n s i n h Jadeja can win the by-election with a 30 to 40,000 vote margin,” he stated.

He added, “I am hap-py to recognize party workers who formed page committees in all eight assembly seats up for bypolls. If each page committee mem-ber ensures that their family members and friends vote for the can-didate (Jadeja) before 8 am, no one can deny us victory.”

He also appealed to workers to tune in to Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat programme on Sunday.

Patil said this fly-ing visit was made by him to specially come and thank party workers and supporters who were instrumental in making Chief Minister Vijay Ru-pani’s recent visit to Abdasa success-ful. He urged them to keep working and maintain a united front for the victory of the cho-sen candidate.

Efforts of party workers will ensure victory: CR Patil

BJP state unit president CR Patil. —FILE PHOTO

The BJP state unit prez was in Abdasa

on Saturday to boost the morale

of party members and express his appreciation for their hard work

Congress reaches out to election commission against CM

First India Bureau

Ahmedabad: The Congress party’s general secretary Ni-shit Vyas has reached out to the Election Commissioner and filed a complaint about chief minister Vijay Rupani’s cor-

rupt practise of ex-erting undue influ-ence in the form of a caller tune.

Rupani, as a star campaigners for the Bharatiya Janata Par-ty for the upcoming state Assembly by-elec-tion, has consciously exerted undue influ-

ence on the voters in the name of religion by allowing his speech to be used as a caller tune on outgoing calls of mobile telephone op-erators such as Voda-fone India, Airtel, BSNL and Reliance Jio, the complaint states.

Vyas points out that, in the said call-er tune, Rupani has addressed the public at large, advising the public to celebrate Navratri in his ca-pacity as the state’s chief minister, thus making special al-lowances for the Hin-du religion.

Moreover, the caller tune first appeared af-ter the announcement of the Code of Con-duct and filing of nom-ination forms. By issu-ing this message in the three weeks prior to voting, Rupani is trying to influence voters and the public in the name of reli-gion and depicting himself as a protector of the Hindu religion, the complaint says.

It adds that this is clearly a form of election propaganda since no such advice or speech had been uploaded in all the

preceding months, even though COV-ID-19 hit the state back in March.

Vyas has also asked the election commis-sion to take action against the non-disclo-sure of election ex-penses either by the candidates concerned or the BJP ahead of the bypolls for eight Legis-lative Assembly seats. “Your kind Authority will be pleased to issue necessary orders in terms of the aforesaid prayers forthwith as the voting date is No-vember 03,” stated the letter.

l PARTY SAYS RU-PANI’S ‘NAVRATRI ADVICE’ ON CALLER TUNE EXERTS UN-DUE INFLUENCE

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani —FILE PHOTO

‘CORRUPT PRACTICES’

First India Bureau

Ahmedabad: Once considered to be the Paris of Saurashtra, the constituency of Morbi is dominated by the Patidar com-munity. With the by-election for the state legislative assembly set to take place on November 3, both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have al-ready commenced campaigning there. A total of 12 candidates will be contesting the bypolls from the seat.

Former Congress MLA Brijesh Merja, who joined the BJP a few months ago, has been facing public ire

during his campaign. More than 10 villages have banned his entry into their domain. Meanwhile, several Congress supporters have joined the BJP in the last two weeks, which has created tur-bulence within the party.

The candidates be-ing fielded by the two major political par-ties –Congress and BJP- namely Jayanti Patel and Brijesh Merja will battle it out to secure the Morbi seat in the state assembly.

Merja had won the mandate of the public by registering a win in the 2017 assembly elec-tions. However, he re-

signed from his posi-tion as an MLA and also from the Congress party just ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections.

Therefore, it will be a lot at stake for Merja to win the elec-tion, and if sources are to be believed, the BJP has promised him a ministerial post provided he suc-cessfully bags the by-poll. The Morbi-Mal-iya assembly seat has been dominated by Patidars and is con-sidered BJP’s strong-hold. Out of 11 elec-tions held since 1962, five have been won by the ruling party.

On the other hand, the Congress party’s candidate Jayanti Patel

is a well-known busi-nessman in Morbi, who has been a staunch Congress supporter for 35 years. He has con-tested elections for the Morbi assembly seat five times but never

won. Patel ran as an in-dependent candidate in 1997 and on a ticket from the Congress par-ty four times (in 1990, 1995, 2002 and 2007).

The issues faced by the people of

Morbi include a lack of amenities such as roads, clean drink-ing water, sanita-tion, education, gar-dens. This by-elec-tion, people have not shied away from venting their anger on the leaders visit-ing the constituency to seek votes.

People have alleged that no leader bothers to learn about their condition after the polls. Morbi has been called the Paris of Sau-rashtra but the roads there are in worse shape than the rural areas. Due to the lack of underground sewer-age facilities, people's homes and roads flood every year during the monsoon season.

Therefore, with the public in no mood to listen to the prom-ises of political lead-ers, it will be inter-esting to see who comes out on top in this by-election.

Congress MLA Lalit Kagathara campaigning in Morbi ahead of the by-election.

CONSTITUENCY WATCH

THE WRATH OF MORBIWith the people of the constituency expressing their outrage at campaigning political leaders, it seems to be an uphill task for all candidates from here on

CASTE-WISE VOTE SHARECommunity Population

Patel 70,000

Other minorities 40,000

Satwara 20,000

Dalit-Koli 25,000

Jain 7,000

Lohana 8,000

Brahmin 9,000

Ahir 10,000

Other Backward Class (OBC) 19,000

Bharwad Rabari 8,000

Kshatriya 8,000

TOTAL VOTERS AS PER 2017 ASSEMBLY ELECTION: 2,70,906

GUJARATAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020

03www.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

Man rapes minor stepdaughter repeatedly ‘to take revenge on wife’ First India Bureau

Palanpur: The Ba-naskantha Police is looking for a man who allegedly raped his 13-year-old step-daughter several times over the course of a month after her mother left him. The incident came to light after the child eventually managed to inform her neigh-bours about what was happening, and they got her some help.

According to the criminal complaint registered at the Palan-pur taluka police sta-tion on Friday even-ing, the victim’s step-father Naresh alias

Rakesh Rajput, who is a resident of Ahmedabad’ Sabarma-ti area, raped her nu-merous times in the last one month.

The victim informed the police that her mother Renuka had left her father seven years ago to be with Naresh, after which

the girl and her broth-er had been sent to live with their aunt. This arrangement contin-ued for a few years, where Renuka lived

with Naresh.However, about four

months ago, Renuka collected her daughter and took her to Karjo-da village. There, the

girl lived with Renuka, Naresh and Naresh’s daughter.

In her complaint, which was filed by As-sistant Sub Inspector M o h a m m a d s h a r i f Ibrahimbhai, who is also the children’s wel-fare officer, the child told the police that Naresh then told her that she had to “live as his wife” since her mother had “run away” and continued to rape her regularly.

After a month of be-ing abused, the girl managed to speak up and tell her neigh-bours about her or-deal. They then called the Abhayam helpline and thus helped her to get rescued.

The child endured the ordeal for a month after her mother disappeared before finally reaching out to neighbours for help

First India Bureau

Rajkot: The rural po-lice arrested persons with gold and cash worth Rs40 lakh on Saturday. Police had been searching for the accused involved in the looting of a gold trader on Octo-ber 21 in Jetpur.

Two unidentified men had looted Chi-manbhai Vekariya when he was at Nana Chowk with a bag con-taining 900gm of gold and Rs2 lakh in cash. The culprits used chil-li powder to disorient Vekariya and zoomed away on their bike. On realizing the presence of CCTV cameras at various locations, the

culprits damaged the number plate of their getaway bike.

The police investi-gation revealed that the two assailants had two more accomplices in Rajkot. They have been identified as Shakir, Samir, Tufail

and Akbar.Addressing a press

conference, Rajkot Ru-ral Superintendent of Police (SP) Balram Meena said, “The crime was planned a year ago. A Jetpur-based goldsmith named Akhtar Hus-

sain was aware that Vekariya left his gold with the jewellers be-fore leaving for Dhora-ji. He shared the idea with Shakir, but due to the COVID-19 pandem-ic and migrant work-ers leaving for home, the plan was not put into action.”

“While monitoring CCTV footage of the past few days, we came across the suspects. When the victim con-firmed their identity, we found out that all four were from Rajkot and lived near Ko-thariya Solvent. All the looted gold and cash have been recov-ered and the bike used for the crime has been seized,” he added.

Rajkot police arrest four men in Jetpur gold trader loot case

The four accused (seated in front row) and the team of police personnel that captured them.

Daily testing falls by 10K but positive rate down just 0.1%

AMC flying squads collect 101 food samples ahead of Dussehra

AMTS bus mows down elderly womanin Amraiwadi

First India Bureau

Ahmedabad: The health department of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corpora-tion has formed fly-ing squads to collect samples from units making farsan and sweets ahead of the festival of Dussehra.

The health team has been visiting different wards for the last 10 days as samples of delicacies like fafda and jalebi were col-lected and sent to the Public Health Labora-tory for testing.

The teams are also serving notices to

units that were not deemed to be hygienic. In addition, a large fine was levied against units that did not maintain masks and social distance.

A total of 101 food samples have been sent to the lab for analysis. Legal action will be taken against the busi-

ness units which do not comply with the health rules and those who manufacture, sell, or store low-quality goods as per the rules of FSSA 2006.

It is to be noted that a large number of peo-ple in Ahmedabad con-sume fafda and jalebi on this festival.

First India Bureau

Ahmedabad: An uni-dentified woman was crushed to death by an AMTS bus at New Cot-ton Road near Amrai-wadi Metro Rail Pro-ject in the city. The senior citizen died on the spot.

The driver and the conductor of the bus immediately rushed to the police station and reported the whole inci-dent. The bus driver told the police that the bus had been heading towards Lal Darwaza when a woman sudden-ly started to cross the road without looking around her.

“I braked hard but, unfortunately, the front tire of the bus came on the woman and she was killed. After the acci-dent, other passengers aboard the bus also got down and started run-ning away. Then police arrived on the scene, dispersed the crowd that had gathered and sent the woman’s body to a hospital,” he stated.

First India Bureau

Gandhinagar: The state has drastically cut down daily testing from an average of 60-62,000 per day a month ago to about 52,000 now. However, the positive rate has not shown a corre-sponding decline, hav-ing fallen just 0.1% in the same time.

On September 23, the state had conducted 61,207 tests and detected 1,372 new cases. Against that, on October 23 it con-ducted 52,947 tests of which 1,112 turned out to be positive. This means that the positive case rate was 2.21% in Sep-tember and 2.1% on Fri-day. So, the positive rate has not dropped. With the infection rate steady, people in the state are as at-risk as they were last month.

On Saturday, the state conducted 52,980 tests,

and detected 1,021 new cases of COVID-19. There are now 13,987 ac-tive cases in Gujarat, with 71 patients on venti-lator support. Of the six patients who died on Sat-urday, three were from Surat, two were from Ahmedabad and one was from Gandhinagar.

The highest (237) cas-es were reported in Su-rat. Of these, 168 were from the city and 69 from rural areas. Cases also emerged in Ahmedabad (177), Va-dodara (117), Rajkot (103), Jamnagar (46), Gandhinagar (30), Mehsana (29), Sabarkan-tha (26), Surendranagar (22), Banaskantha (20) and Amreli (19).

DISTURBING

A woman is tested for COVID-19 in Ahmedabad. —FILE PHOTO

People take pictures of lit-up mosques in Ahmedabad, ahead of Eid Milad un Nabi, which commemorates the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammed. This year, the traditional procession will not take place due to the pandemic.

—PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI

SIGHT TO REMEMBER

1,021 cases, 6 fatalities take state

tally to 1,66,254 cases, toll to 3,682

� Vol 1 � Issue No. 330 � RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad. Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020

04www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

By insolence comes nothing but strife, but with those who take advice is wisdom. —Proverbs 13:10

SpiritualSPEAK

he US Commis-sion on Presi-dential Debates muted the mi-crophones of

President Donald Trump and his Democratic chal-lenger Joe Biden during portions of their second and final televised encoun-ter on October 22, in order to prevent the candidates from interrupting each other. The panel’s decision followed the widespread negative audience reaction to Trump’s extensive inter-ruptions in the first debate on September 29.

But there is a powerful hidden psychology behind the tactic of interjecting and interrupting. Could these two experienced campaigners – and Trump especially – have used it to their advantage in an at-tempt to appear more dom-inant and assertive?

The fact that the debate organizers had to seek a technological solution sug-gests that interruption might be a more potent tac-tic than many realize. Po-litical and psychological strategists in both cam-paigns may increasingly be advocating it as a rhe-torical weapon. What do they know that we don’t?

Psychological research involving scientific experi-ments has found that peo-ple evaluate those who in-terrupt more as being more capable, confident, domi-nant, and persuasive. But this comes at a price, be-cause interrupters are also usually seen as less likea-ble and attractive.

In the midst of a pan-demic, some voters may favor the more dominant candidate and may be less concerned about how like-able he or she is. So, the

psychological consequenc-es of interruption can be both positive (being seen as more assertive) and nega-tive (coming across as rude). Interestingly, re-searchers have found this to be especially true for fe-male interrupters.

Some research has found

that men interrupt (espe-cially with intrusive inter-ruptions) more than wom-en do. Other studies indi-cate that women are more interrupted than men are, and that men interrupt women significantly more than they do other men. But a lot depends on the

precise nature and timing of the interruption.

Different types of inter-ruption have different ef-fects. Deep and “intrusive” interruptions try to change the subject and prevent the other person from speak-ing. “Overlapping inter-ruptions” involve someone

interrupting when another person appears to be com-ing to the end of making a point. There are even so-called silent interruptions where, for example, some-one momentarily forgets the word they were looking for, or pauses to find the right phrase, and their ad-versary steps in to supply it, but then takes over the conversation.

A recent psychology ex-periment investigating the effects of different kinds of interruption found, sur-prisingly, that an audience evaluated so-called “disa-greement” interruptions (perhaps the kind that were most on display in the first Trump-Biden debate) more positively than “change-subject” interruptions. This positive evaluation persisted even with high-frequency interruptions.

SOURCE: PROJECT SYNDICATE

The psychology of Trump’s debate rudenessT

TopTWEET

Ravi Shankar Prasad @rsprasadBHIM-UPI platform has revolutionized the digital ecosystem in India. This easy, quick and simple medium provides immediate money transfer through mobile device round the clock. Currently 174 banks are offering digital payment services on BHIM-UPI platform. #DigitalIndia

Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjpSuch objectionable statements, yet again, exposes the true colours of these ‘Propagandists’ and their sympathisers. Not surprised on the deathly silence by the torchbearers of the ‘Freedom of Expression Gang’ on such irresponsible statement by the PDP chief.

t is becoming clear by the day that the young living in dem-ocratic countries are becom-ing not only disillusioned with democracy but also with parliamentarians. De-mocracy is surviving but it is not thriving. Many well edu-cated young men and women openly say, “Democracy is not the solution, democracy is the problem.” They quote George Bernard Shaw, “De-mocracy substitutes election by the incompetent many by the corrupt few.”

Other critics announce that democracy today exhibits ar-rested development. They pro-claim that “We do not want the politics we have but the politics (democracy) we need.”

Should democracy be at the mercy of public opinion. But public opinion tolerates vulgarization and foul lan-guage in parliaments thus lowering drastically the lev-el of democratic discourse. Even in developed countries of North-East Asia highly educated members of Parlia-ment tear each other clothes, throw chairs at the speaker. What passes as the debate is little more than a spectacle.

There was a time when non-democratic countries outnum-bered democratic countries in the 1950s the communist “Em-pire” extended from Vladiv-ostok to Warsaw, from Ulaan-baatar to Canton and Hanoi. Not too long ago the whole of South America was ruled by dictators. Democracy in Afri-ca, with the exception of half a dozen countries, has yet to take root. Elections are rigged.

Now to the United States. Some days ago it was rumor-ed that if the election results on 4.XI.2020 went against him i.e President Donald Trump, he would not accept the results. Even as gossip it harms America democracy. Recently TV channels in the US broadcast that Mr. Trump would steal the election!! How? Could such irresponsi-ble talk be heard in the time of Roosevelt, Truman, or

Kennedy, of course, Trump will accept the verdict? America is the greatest de-mocracy in the world. It is the second oldest after the United Kingdom. No funda-mental innovation in elec-tion results will be tolerat-ed. Winston Churchill said, “Democracy is not perfect. Alternatives are worse.”

India’s flawed democracy works. That it works is a mira-cle. But assaults are being at-tempted. These will fail. A dem-ocrat like Indira Gandhi com-mitted the folly of declaring an Emergency in 1975 and permit-ted her younger son to run riot. She lost her own Lok Sabha seat in the elections of Lok Sabha. She had the good sense to termi-nate the Emergency in Decem-ber 1979. By January 1980 she was back as Prime Minister. Indian democracy had won.

Election in Bihar (at one time experts in booth cap-turing) and other states are due. In no state will the re-sults be challenged. Individ-uals, here and there will file petitions and these will take a very long to provide states faction to the petitioner.

Unfortunately, crores of ru-pees will be spent in each Vid-han sabha contest. It is well known where the money will come from. Shame on those who provide the money and shame on those who seek it.

Earlier in the week I read, “Portrait of Power” by NK Singh a genuine man for all seasons. In his long career, he has never been without a job. Among his many gifts is his knack for swiftly spot-ting amiable, inspired, dedi-cated, conscientious frauds.

The book is gripping, clear-headed, written in excellent but Babu English. I found the first one hundred and seventy-five pages immensely riveting. My forte is history. N.K Singh is an

economics and financial expert. In this world, so unfamiliar to me the authors know everyone worth knowing. Even fellow economists and finance gurus will, I have no doubt learn a thing or two from the book.

I have been reviewing the books since 1955, when NK was fourteen years of age. Long years ago, I took a deci-sion not to review books written by friends (excep-tions there have been). I shall bot review “Portraits of Power” not only because he is a close friend of long standing, but also because our wives are closely related.

Let me quote a scintillating paragraph from the epilogue: “This will be a decisive decade both for India and the World. The ongoing pandemic trig-gered by COVID -19 has few par-allels in history. Apart from inflicting incalculable human misery and death, it has sig-nificant altered, perhaps for-ever, several important para-digms; the nature of social be-havior, the pattern of economic activity, and the acceptance of technology more decisively in the future conduct of our lives. Nations that master these chal-lenges are destined to both guarantee greater prosperity to their people and become im-portant stakeholders in the global recovery process.”

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY

THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

DEMOCRACY EXHIBITS ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

I

Should democracy be at the mercy of public opinion? But public opinion tolerates vulgarization and foul language in parliaments thus lowering drastically the level of democratic discourse. Even in developed countries of North-East Asia highly educated members of Parliament tear each other clothes, throw chairs at the speaker. What passes as the debate is little more than a spectacle

INDIA’S FLAWED DEMOCRACY WORKS.

THAT IT WORKS IS A MIRACLE. BUT

ASSAULTS ARE BEING ATTEMPTED. THESE

WILL FAIL. A DEMOCRAT LIKE INDIRA GANDHI

COMMITTED THE FOLLY OF DECLARING

AN EMERGENCY IN 1975 AND PERMITTED

HER YOUNGER SON TO RUN RIOT

K NATWAR SINGH

The author is Former Minister of External Affairs of India

GUPKAR ALLIANCE: A TOUGH CALL FOR CONG

day before the Central government re-voked Jammu and Kashmir’s special sta-tus under Article 370, repealed Article 35A which guaranteed some specific rights to the people of Kashmir and also

divided the state into two Union Territories, leaders of major political parties of the state met at Gupkar on August 4, 2019 to sign the first declaration. Signa-tories to the declaration---National Conference, Peo-ple’s Democratic Party, Awami National Conference, J&K Peoples Conference, and others --- called for “identity, autonomy and special status of J-K”. were then opposing the massive deployment of armed forces and forcing tourists out of the state.

The regional political parties met again on August 20, 2020 and resolved to stand by the 2019 declaration. The Gupkar declaration II read, “We all reiterate that we are bound, wholly, by the contents of the Gupkar Declaration and will unwaveringly adhere to it. We are committed to strive for the restoration of Art 370 and Art 35A, the Constitution of J-K and the restora-tion of the state and any division of the state is unac-ceptable to us. We unanimously reiterate that there can be nothing about us without us.”

At two recent meetings the major parties decided to form a joint organization to fight for the issues raised in the Gupkar declaration. The joint political alliance hopes to get Congress support. So far P. Chi-dambaram has come out in its support.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated in Bihar that there will be no rollback of the decision on Art 370. That will queer the pitch for Congress, while it will be advantage BJP all the way.

A

IN-DEPTH

POVERTY REMOVAL GETS TOUGHER

he World Bank’s India Development Up-date said in its report in August 2019, “Between 2011-12 and 2015, poverty de-clined from 21.6 percent to an estimated 13.4 per cent…continuing the earlier

trend of rapid poverty reduction. However, pre-liminary analysis following the national Covid-19 lockdown suggests these gains are being eroded. The gloomy prediction has come true with the IMF report on India projecting that more than 40 mil-lion people have been pushed into extreme poverty due to the pandemic. The International Labour Organisation also said in April that about 400 mil-lion workers from the informal sector were “likely to be pushed deeper into poverty”. These are grim reports and have to be seen in the context of the size of India’s informal sector which has around 90 percent of India’s workforce. It is a sector which neither offers social security nor regular wages but for the workers, the loss of even a day’s wages affects their consumption.

The months’ long lockdown brought out social and economic disparities quite starkly. With the poverty situation worsening it is not difficult to imagine the divide deepening further. The only way out is to pull the economy out of the morass it is in. The pandemic has already played havoc by causing a substantial fall in the Gross Domestic Product. The IMF forecast for FY 2021 is also an over 10 percent contraction.

India’s battle against poverty had been long, sus-tained, and successful until the pandemic struck. Its eradication will be tougher now that the num-bers have gone up so steeply.

T

To Receive Free Newspaper

PDF Daily

Whatsapp: http://bit.ly/whatsappahm

Telegram:

https://t.me/firstindiaahmedabad

Click the above link☝ & subscribe us on your

preferred platform.

INDIAAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020

06www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

INDIA06

www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

No interest...(March 1, 2020, to Au-gust 31, 2020). Benefits under the scheme would be routed through lending insti-tutions,” the Ministry said in an official order on Friday.

The relief will be ex-tended through finan-cial institutions like banks, non-banking fi-nancial companies (NB-FCs), NCFC - Micro Fi-nance Institutions, Na-tional Banks for Agri-culture and Rural De-velopment, housing fi-nance companies, Na-tional Housing Banks, etc.

This comes after the Supreme Court direct-ed the Central govern-

ment to implement the interest waiver on loans of up to Rs 2 crore as soon as possi-ble observing that it is not fair on the govern-ment’s part to delay the implementation of its decision.

Borrowers in the segments -- MSME loans, education loans, housing loans, con-sumer durable loans, credit card dues, auto-mobile loans, personal loans to professionals and consumption loans -- who have loan accounts having sanc-tioned limits and out-standing amount not exceeding Rs 2 crore as on February 29, 2020, will be eligible

under the scheme.“The rate of interest

would be as prevailing on February 29, 2020, in case the rate of in-terest has changed thereafter, it shall not be reckoned for the purposes of this com-putation. They payable ex-gratia amount shall have to be credited to the account of the bor-rower by the respec-tive lending institu-tions as ex-gratia pay-ment under the scheme,” the order said.

It said that the exer-cise of crediting the amount in the respec-tive accounts of the eli-gible borrowers by the respective lending in-

stitution shall be com-pleted on or before No-vember 5.

“After the exercise has been completed, lending institutions can lodge their claim for re-imbursement latest by December 15, 2020. Claims shall be submit-ted to designated offic-ers/ cell at the State Bank of India. SBI is advised to appropriate-ly equip its designated officers/cell for pro-cessing such claims in a timely manner and to notify details of the same on its website,” it added.

J&K coalition...“They have tried to de-stroy the constitution

of the country, they have tried to divide the nation, to break the fed-eral structure which we saw what they did on August 5 last year,” he said.

Sajad Lone said the alliance will come out with a whitepaper within a month on the governance in Jammu and Kashmir over the past one year since the abrogation of Article 370 and “expose the lies and propaganda” of the BJP and the way Kashmiris have been slandered.

“The white paper will not be rhetoric. It will be based on facts and figures to present the reality to the peo-

ple of Jammu and Kashmir and around the country... An im-pression is being giv-en that all the corrup-tion had happened in Jammu and Kashmir only,” Lone said.

PM inaugurates...Now, under the Kisan Suryodaya Yojana farmers will get three-phase power supply from 5 am to 9 pm. This will bring a new dawn in their lives,” adding, “Farm-ers can now focus on saving water. They should adopt the mantra ‘more crop per drop’.”

The Prime Minister also lauded the efforts

of the Gujarat govern-ment for doing this work by preparing a completely new capac-ity of transmission, without affecting the other existing sys-tems. Under this scheme, about 3,500 circuit kilometres of new transmission lines will be laid in the next two to three years. The project will be im-plemented in more than 1,000 villages, many of which are situated in tribal-dom-inated areas, in the coming days. He said it would change the lives of lakhs of farmers when the entire state gets power through this scheme.

FROM PG 1

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday extended greetings to citizens on the eve of Dussehra.

In a message, the President has said, “On the auspicious occasion of Dussehra, I extend my warm greetings and best wishes to all the fel-low citizens in India and abroad.”

He said that Dusseh-ra symbolises the tri-umph of good over evil.

“The festival is cele-brated throughout In-dia in different forms. This festival strength-ens the cultural unity of India and inspires us to live in harmony, fol-lowing the path of vir-tue and shunning evil,” Kovind said.

The President said that the festival is also associated with the life and values of Maryada Purushottam Ram.

“His life is a shining ex-ample of morality and righteousness. May this festival of joy and hap-piness protect us from the evil effects of the ongoing pandemic and bring prosperity and af-fluence to our country-men,” he said. Vice

President M Venkaiah Naidu also greeted the nation on the eve of Dussehra.

In his message, he urged everyone to fol-low COVID-19 health protocols while cele-brating Dussehra and take proper care. —ANI

President Kovind greets citizens on Dussehra

Ramlila organisers claims over 10 cr viewers

Rajnath reviews border situation in eastern sector

Death toll in firecracker factory explosion reaches 7 Madurai: After two more deaths were re-ported on Saturday, the death toll in the fire-cracker factory fire reached seven.

According to Kalya-na Kumar, Madurai Dis-trict Fire Officer, the fire that took place on Friday was caused due to friction in the chemi-cal mixing room which spread over the factory.

“A friction fire broke out in the chemical mix-ing room and it spread over the factory. Myself, Saravana Kumar, Depu-ty Director of Fire De-partment, and Sylendra Babu, Director-General of Police of Fire De-partment visited the incident spot and in-quired,” Kumar in-formed.

Initially, five died, three rescued and sent to a nearby hospital. Out of three, two suc-cumbed to injuries to-day. —ANI

Ayodhya: Organis-ers of the Ayodhya Ramlila being shown on different media platforms claimed that the number of their viewers has crossed the 10-crore mark.

The nine-day Ramlila is being tel-ecast from the Lax-man Qila, a temple situated on the banks of the Saryu river here. Due to the coronavirus protocol, people are not allowed to watch performance at the venue. It will end today with Ra-vana dahan.

Darjeeling: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday visited the Headquarters of 33 Corps at Sukna in Dar-jeeling and reviewed situation and prepared-ness in the Eastern Sector.“The Trishakti corps in which we are present today has a great golden history. Es-pecially in 1962, 1967, 1971 and 1975, the exam-ple of courage and brav-ery it showed has been great,” he said.

Singh said country’s boundaries are secure due to its soldiers. —ANI

President Ram Nath Kovind

Bihar Polls: CM Nitish refrains from speaking against Chirag or LJPAlauli/Teghra: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Saturday addressed a poll rally in LJP found-er Ram Vilas Paswan’s native Alauli assembly seat but refrained from speaking anything ei-ther against the party. After dissociating his party from the ruling NDA in Bihar, Chirag has been hitting out at the CM almost on a dai-ly basis.

Alauli reserved seat includes Paswan’s birth place Saharbbani vil-lage in the Khagaria district.

In the present polls, the constiuency is wit-nessing three-cornered contest between the JD(U), RJD and the LJP.

Kumar’s party has fielded Sadhna Sada, RJD has given ticket to Rambriksha Sada while Chirag’s LJP has put Ramchandra Sada on the seat that will go to vote in the second phase on November 3.

While Kumar high-lighted development work done in the area and also launched a scathing attack on the RJD in his address, he abjured talking any-thing on the LJP.

Taking a veiled dig at Tejashwi Yadav, Kumar said “Some people who do not even have knowl-edge of alphabets or ex-perience are talking of providing jobs to oth-ers, this is laughable,” he said deriding the RJD’s promise of creat-ing 10 lakh jobs if voted to power.Tejashwi is a class 9th dropout.

RJD’s manifesto for Bihar; 10 lakh jobs & farm loan waiver

Nadda focuses on jobs, ‘future of Bihar’ at Nalanda rally

Patna: RJD, which heads the opposition Grand Alliance coali-tion in Bihar elections, released poll manifesto on Saturday reiterating its promise of 10 lakh jobs and loan waiver for the farmers. Replying to Kumar’s queries Tejashwi said the state’s annual budget is of Rs 2.5 lakh crore “out of

which his state is able to spend only 60% of the budget, the rest around 80,000 cr can be utilised by a competent govt for welfare.”

Patna: A day after PM Modi lashing out at the RJD and the Congress, making ‘jungle raj’ of the Lalu era his focal point, BJP President JP Nadda’s focus on Satur-day at his Nalanda rally in Bihar was jobs, devel-opmental projects and work done during the lockdown.Nadda said, “There will be self-sufficient Bihar through self-sufficient

India. It is the responsi-bility of government to create employment op-portunities in Bihar and NDA’s Nitish gov-ernment will do work to provide employment to 19 lakh people.”

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar addresses a gathering during an election rally in Alauli on Saturday.

Covid Update: With 53,370 new cases, India’s tally reaches 78,14,682 in 24 hrsNew Delhi: With 53,370 new COVID-19 infec-tions, India’s total cases surged to 78,14,682 on Saturday while with 650 new deaths the death toll stands at 1,17,956, as per the Union Health Ministry.

The total active cases are 6,80,680 after a de-crease of 14,829 in the last 24 hours while the total cured cases are 70,16,046 with 67,549 new discharges in the last 24 hours.

With 1,44,426 total ac-tive cases, Maharashtra continues to be the worst affected state by COVID-19 in the coun-

try. Karnataka has 89,502 active cases, Delhi 26,001 active cases. Former Ma-harashtra CM Devendra Fadnavi on Saturday

said he has tested corona positive. He urged those who recently came in contact with him to get tested. —ANI

DEVOTEES PRAY OUTSIDE MUMBA DEVI TEMPLE

Mumbai: Devotees offered prayers outside the Mumba Devi Temple on Durga Ashtami as Maharashtra’s temples remained closed due to COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, shop own-ers outside the Mumba Devi temple complained of loss in business amid pandemic crisis.

Hyderabad-based firm Bharat Biotech has said that its coronavirus vac-cine, Covaxin, is likely to be ready for launch by June. Firm received go-ahead for phase 3 clinical trials. There may be change in plan if Centre decides to expedite launch by granting emergency-use authorisation.

New Delhi: Vice Presi-dent M Venkaiah Naidu extended greetings on the eve of Dussehra on Saturday, urging people to celebrate the festival in a modest way this year by strictly adhering to the COVID-19 proto-cols. He prayed that the festival brings peace, harmony, good health.

BHARAT BIOTECH LIKELY TO LAUNCH VACCINE BY JUNE

FOLLOW COVID-PROTOCOLS IN DUSSEHRA: NAIDU

A health worker takes swab samples from Security personnel of MSF for the test, at Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari, in Mumbai.

Mumbai: The News Broadcasting Stand-ards Authority has di-rected television chan-nels Aaj Tak, Zee News, News 24 and India TV to comply with its order to issue an apology for its insensitive reporting and sensationalised re-porting of actor Sush-ant Singh Rajput’s death, Live Law report-ed on Saturday.

“The broadcaster should have conducted its due diligence and

verification prior to tel-ecasting/uploading the tweets and not subse-quently, which due dili-gence is a basic tenet and requirement of journalistic ethics and telecasting the tweets without verification had the tendency of spreading misinforma-tion amongst the pub-lic,” NBSA said.

Lately, CBI, NCB, ED filed affidavits in court mentioning they had not leaked any info.

NBSA directs 4 channels to apologise for coverage

SUSHANT SINGH DEATH CASE

New Delhi: Union In-formation and Broad-casting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday made a scath-ing attack on Congress president Sonia Gan-dhi, party leaders Ra-hul Gandhi and Priyan-ka Gandhi Vadra over the rape and murder of a 6-year-old in Hoshiar-pur district of Punjab and said that they don’t pay heed to the injus-tice done to women in the states ruled by their own party.

Targetting Bihar’s Leader of Opposition and RJD leader Tejash-wi, Javadekar said,

“Tejashwi is sharing the stage and campaign-ing with the people who are committing atroci-ties on Bihar’s girl. How will it go ?” —ANI

Javadekar attacks Gandhis over Hoshiarpur rape

Prakash Javadekar

Amarinder rejects BJP’s attack over rape-murder case

RaGa responds to BJP’s allegations

Punjab CM Ama-rinder Singh on Sat-urday hit out at BJP leaders Sitharaman and Javadekar for their comments over the Hoshiarpur rape-murder case, dub-bing their remarks as “political puff-ery” with no sub-stance or basis to support criticism. Singh rejected at-tack on his govt and Gandhis.

I think BJP and Congress should not do

politics on it. BJP was doing politics on Hathras incident. Similarly, Congress is keeping quiet on Hoshiarpur inci-dent. This is a wrong tendency in politics. They are re-sponsible for the safety, security of women but have failed. BSP national spokesperson, Sudhindra Bhadoria.

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi has responded to BJP’s allegations of ‘selective outrage’ by the Congress in mat-ters of crimes against women and children. In a tweet, RaGa said, “Unlike in UP, the gov-ernments of Punjab and Rajasthan are NOT denying that the girl was raped, threat-ening her family and blocking the course of justice.”

1. FREEDOM TO DO WHAT YOU WANT — ANY OLD TIME

The first boon identified by those who praise solitude is

the leisure and liberty it pro-vides. There is freedom in space. You can (proverbially) get around in your PJs, and who’s to know? There is the release from the needs and demands of others (a liberty many parents may have found themselves longing for recently). And there may be a freedom in time, also. In solitude, we may do, think, imagine and pay easy attention to whatever pleases us.

2. RECONNECTING WITH YOURSELF

Solitude (unless of course we are working from home)

withdraws the external objects, demands and tasks crowding our days. All the energies we have distributed so widely, in different relationships, projects and pursuits can regather themselves, “like a wave rolling from sand and shore back to its ocean source,” as psychologist Oliver Morgan has written.

We can regather ourselves, ‘like a wave rolling from the shore back to its ocean source’. shutterstock

Advocates of solitude hence stress how, with fewer preoccupa-tions, we can reconnect to aspects of ourselves we usually don’t

have time for. This may not al-ways be pleasant. But periodi-cally reassessing who we are, even when it throws up confront-ing desires, harrowing fears or humbling insights, may be re-newing. This value of solitude as a test explains why, in many cul-tures, rites of passage involve periods of enforced withdrawal from the wider group. If a person can’t be content in their own com-pany, the odds are they will not be happy around others either, as the Stoic Epictetus observed.

3. FINDING YOUR ‘INNER CITADEL’

Solitude can enable us to re-charge. As Montaigne joked,

it allows you to take a step back from ordinary life, the better to leap into it next time. It also enables us to cultivate a valua-ble inner distance from the pressures, shocks and follies that usually beset us.

“We should have wives, chil-dren, property and, above all, good health,” Montaigne ob-served. But also, metaphorical-ly, “We should set aside a room, just for ourselves, at the back of the shop, keeping it entirely free and establishing there our true liberty, our principal solitude and asylum …”

The Roman emperor and thinker Marcus Aurelius called such a virtual back room an “in-

ner citadel” to which the wise person could retreat, retiring into his own soul.

Read more: Guide to the Clas-sics: how Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations can help us in a time of pandemic

4. SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE

In ordinary life, the horizons of our concern are practical

and short-range. We are too busy to take stock — fearing and desiring what is coming up today, next week, next month or next year. Ferried along in this way, years can pass with-out our noticing.

Solitude gives us the means to

recall the bigger picture: our lives are quietly passing by; there are good people who we too often take for granted; we have neglected many things we deeply wanted to do and Nature or God (if we are religious) is far more awe inspiring than we usually credit.

Indeed, many sources suggest it is only through being alone that the highest truths become accessible to the seeker.

As the mystic St John of the Cross reported: “The very pure spirit does not bother about the regard of others or human re-spect, but communes inwardly with God, alone and in solitude as to all forms, and with delight-

ful tranquillity, for the knowl-edge of God is received in di-vine silence”.

It is for these reasons that holy men and women from di-verse global traditions have withdrawn into the desert, as Christ did, or onto isolated heights, as did Mohammad in the Quran or Moses in Exodus.

Of course, most of us will not emerge from the pandemic con-vinced solitaries. It is natural to long for the many goods of hu-man connection.

But one unlikely benefit of 2020 for some harried moderns may be gaining insight into why older cultures valued time alone so highly.

NEWSAHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020

07www.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

SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION CONCEPT: MONI SHARMA DESIGN: CP SHARMA

Over the past seven months, many of us have got closer to ex-periencing the kind

of solitude long sought by monks, nuns, philosophers and misanthropes. For some, this has brought loneliness. Never-theless, like religions such as Buddhism, the West has a rich literature — both religious and secular — exploring the possible benefits of being alone. “Take time and see the Lord is good,” Psalm 34 enjoins, in a biblical passage long read as a call to pe-riodically withdraw from world-ly occupations. The best form of life will be contemplative, the philosopher Aristotle concurs.

HERE ARE FOUR DIFFERENT, CONTEMPLATIVE KEY BENEFITS OF SOLITUDE

Solitude can be

HELPFULPHILOSOPHERS SAY WHY WE’RE FATED TO BE LONELY (BUT THAT’S OK)

NITISH IN TURMOIL, ACCORDING TO SATTA BAZAAR

I f there is an incom-plete speech written

on the walls of politi-cal speculation, then the results of the Bihar Assembly elections, this time, can actually lock out many spon-sored surveys. Sources related to the satta ba-zaar reveal that the NDA i.e. BJP, Nitish, Manjhi and Sahni coa-lition are claiming 94-97 seats, (60 BJP and 34 Nitish), while Tejaswi Ydav’s ‘lantern’ ap-pears to be spreading a lot of light as the satta bazaar has given 94-97 seats to the RJD, while the speculation of Congress getting 27-30 seats is really sur-prising. Is this perhaps the reason why Chirag Paswan is also cosying up to Tejashwi Yadav? When both Nitish and Tejashwi reached Chi-rag’s home to pay re-spects on the passing of his father Ramvilas Paswan, Chirag openly mixed with Tejashwi in Nitish’s presence and the duo were seen talking for long. Subse-quently, Chirag’s cous-in Prince Paswan, a

LJP MP from Sa-mastipur, goes to Tejas-wi’s house to secretly meet Tejashwi. The Op-position of the state also seems to be harp-ing on the fact that the Bihar election is being fought not on the face or popularity of PM Modi, but on the ac-count of Nitish Ku-mar’s 15-year rule. Even Kanhaiya Kumar accepted the same in his interview given to the Indian Express. Perhaps this is the rea-son why the target of the united opposition is only Nitish Kumar, not PM Modi or BJP. That’s why when Co-rona wreaks havoc in the state, Health minis-ter Mangal Pandey (from BJP quota), who have occupied the Health Ministry for 11 years, was spared. Moreover, bridges break even before the inauguration but Nandkishore Yadav, Bi-har’s Public Works Minister (from BJP quota) is shown mercy. Tejashwi Yadav does not even name any of BJP ministers, which is a clear indication that some ‘saffron kh-ichdi’ is cooking in the light of the ‘lantern’.

MAHARAJ IS ANGRY WITH ‘BHAGWA RAAJ’

E ver since Jyotiradi-tya Scindia joined

the BJP and changed his political ‘color’, he has been showing some dissatisfaction. Sources reveal that in the past, angry with his neglect in the party, ‘Maharaj’ had distanced himself from Madhya Pradesh by-elections and was ‘imprisoned’ in his Del-hi home. In fact, the BJP had placed ‘Maharaj’ at number 10 in the list of

its star campaigners, and this development was extremely exasper-ating because in the Congress era, Maharaj used to be very high in the list of star cam-paigners, being a friend of Rahul Gandhi. He was always ranked after Rahul and Digvijay Sin-gh in the list. Bypolls are to be held in 28 seats of Madhya Pradesh on November 3, and the electoral results of these seats will deter-mine the direction of the politics of the state.

Even though BJP candi-dates are seeking votes in the name of PM Modi in these elections, major leaders of the saffron party have excused themselves from the campaign of the by-elec-tion. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan is handling the entire campaign as his con-tinuance on the CM’s chair rests on the re-sults of these elections. Apart from Chauhan, Uma Bharti, Union Minister Narendra Sin-gh Tomar, BJP state

president Vishnu Dutt Sharma’s activism is also seen in the election campaign, and after he was pacified, even Ma-haraj is running from pillar to post for favour-able results.

AKHILESH’S NEW APPROACH

There is still more than a year and a

half left in the UP assem-bly elections, but SP su-premo Akhilesh Yadav has just blown the elec-tion bugle. People claim that Akhilesh is copying

Mayawati in this case, who actually announces her candidates a year in advance to the elections. On the same lines, Akh-ilesh has also asked the candidates willing to contest the forthcoming assembly elections of UP to submit their biodata from October 19 to Janu-ary 26. Sources associat-ed with SP reveal that in this election, Akhilesh will try to wager on the maximum number of youth i.e. youths be-tween 30 and 45 years will be more likely to get SP ticket. The SP wants to prepare a list of 3 to 4 qualified candidates for each seat. Then in Febru-ary-March, Akhilesh is going on a statewide cy-cle tour. Till then, he will also get to know how much influence a poten-tial candidate has in his/her constituency, who can rebel and leave the party. This time around Akhilesh has given the slogan ‘Bais mein bicy-cle’ (cycle in 22), since SP’s symbol is cycle. Now it remains to be seen what momentum does the cycle gather?

WHAT TO LEARN FROM PK

E lectoral strategist Prashant Kishore

hails from Bihar, and there was a time when he was the apple of the eyes of Nitish Kumar. He rose to the number two position in the party as the national vice-pres-ident of Nitish’s party and was also termed as Nitish’s successor. But when two of Nitish’s close associates, ie, RCP Singh and Lallan Singh, forgetting mutual differ-ences, opened a front against PK, the man had to say goodbye to JDU and Nitish with a heavy heart. After this, PK got busy in West Bengal with Mamata Banerjee, but it is believed that from the ‘backroom’, he has also been cooking up political strategies for Tejashwi Yadav and Chi-rag Paswan since only one Nitish is out can he actually settle his scores and it seems that Nitish and his party may col-lapse in Bihar elections this time. So, these days Prashant Kishore can be seen sitting together with another close friend of Nitish, Pawan Verma at India Interna-tional Center in New Delhi..

The author is a journal-ist and political commen-tator and views expressed

are his personal

FIRST INDIA SUNDAY SPECIALBY TRIDIB RAMAN

Nitish Kumar Jyotiraditya Scindia Akhilesh Yadav Prashant Kishore

On one hand no language can express the power, beauty and heroism of a mother’s love; on the

other hand it needs no language to express a mother’s love. It is beyond mere words!

—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India

AHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia082ND FRONT

‘I HADN’T COME TO RAJ BHAWAN TO RELAX, BUT TO PERFORM MY DUTIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATUTE’

zHow did you become a Governor after hav-ing the initial back-ground of a tradi-tional Indian Gu-rukul and then actu-ally dedicating major part of your life in resurrecting a Gu-rukul almost single- handedly in Hary-ana?The entire credit of my being at this position, goes to the decision of PM Narendra Modi and his team because I had never ever had an incli-nation towards politics or governance. I was busy managing the Ku-rukshetra Gurukul with around 1,500 students from 19 states of India. Whatever time I could find after my services to the Gurukul, I used it either for agriculture or propagating social har-mony and running cam-paigns against social evils along with cam-paigns for de-addiction in the rural area. Since my father was a staunch supporter of Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati and Arya Samaj, so I was sent for Gurukul educa-tion right from the be-ginning and was brought up amid classic Gurukul ethos. I took up the task of resurrecting Kuruk-shetra Gurukul, at the age of 21 in 1981, when there were hardly any students studying in it and the building was in a dilapidated condition. Most of the 180-acre land of the Gurukul lied en-croached. This Gurukul was established by Swa-mi Shraddhanand in 1912, who was a freedom fighter and whom Gan-dhiji himself referred to as his elder brother. For 22 years, I conducted all the activities of the Gu-rukul with the help of donations. During these years, I not only made the land of the Gurukul encroachment- free, but also added various spe-cialised wings to the Gu-rukul like dedicated NDA, Shooting range, Horse riding, Vedic edu-cation, Gaushala wings etc. while streamlining the rest of the system with modern education capable of producing ideal citizens for the modern India.

The success of this concept can be gauged from the fact that around 8-10,000 candi-dates sit for the entrance exam of Kurukshetra Gurukul with only 250 seats. During the past five years, I have been successful in adding 4 more Gurukuls with the one in Ambala totally dedicated to daughters.

z I came to know about the sportsmen of your Gurukul, who were picked up by the DGP Punjab and ini-

tially appointed as ASIs, but later be-came DSP in Punjab Police...I came across two young boys in a village, who used to graze cattle. With assurance to their parents of not only edu-cating them, but also making them capable in life, I brought them to Gurukul. They belonged to the age group of a stu-dent of class five, but hadn’t ever entered a school. Our Gurukul teachers worked very hard on them and with-in the next five years, they not only passed two classes every year, but also became good wres-tlers. They went on to win gold medals in wres-tling at the national lev-el. It was in Phillaur (Punjab) that both these boys reached the finals in their respective weight categories and defeated Punjab Police in the finals. The then Punjab DGP, KPS Gill was so impressed with the boys that they were appointed Assistant Sub- Inspectors right then and there.

zNow that since you are fully occupied with the constitutional of-fice of the Governor, how does the Gurukul, which you resurrected with such hard work, function in your ab-sence and don’t you miss being there?Soon after I became the Principal of the Gu-rukul, I started groom-ing the second line of leadership because apart from the Gurukul, I used to dedicate time to social works, which I took up in rural areas, like I devoted a great deal of time to the Swachchata Abhiyan launched by PM Modi. In my absence, my sec-ond line ensured that the Gurukul exactly functioned in the man-ner, I had designed it to. It was with this kind of team that I was able to start the Gurukul dedi-cated to the girls with-in a record time. After becoming the Gover-nor, I guide all the Gu-rukuls as their Patron. I take regular feedback and visit them occa-sionally and I feel de-lighted that they are working exactly ac-cording to my vision.

zWhen and how did you come to know of your appointment as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh? I heard that you dis-carded the news on the TV quoting your name as some ‘name-sake’ and not you?The day the announce-ment was made, I was addressing the students at DAV Girls College in

Yamuna Nagar. While returning home, I got some text messages and phone calls congratulat-ing me on being appoint-ed as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, which I took on a lighter note. But when a senior citizen and established businessman called me and said the same thing then I took it seriously, but still did not believe it because all my life, I had no such aspirations. When I reached the Gu-rukul, I found hundreds of people waiting there for me including a group of journalists. I even told all of them that they were mistaken But final-ly, when a journalist from Delhi showed me the notification of my ap-pointment then finally I had to believe it.

z It is said that when PM Narendra Modi wanted to appoint a Governor for Himachal Pradesh, you were his first choice. When did you first come across Nar-endra bhai? And do you think, your self-less services to the Gu-rukuls were awarded in the form of this ap-pointment?I don’t think so. You will be surprised to know that I had never met hon-ourable Narendra Modi ji before I became the Governor of Himachal Pradesh. But my case is not the lone one. Look at the list of Padma Awar-dees after Modi ji be-came the PM of the country. For the first time after independence, people who were work-ing selflessly and with dedication in their fields, have found their names in the list of Padma Awards. This unique thought process of hon-ouring selfless and dedi-cated work rather than the identity of a person gives you a good idea of the height to which Modi ji wants to take the na-tion. I met the great per-son called Narendra Modi for the first time a few days ahead of taking

oath as the Governor. Later, when I was at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, it was his high stature, his large- heartedness and amiability that he him-self introduced me to the then President of India Pranab Mukherjee. I would say that the coun-try is fortunate to have Narendra Modi as its PM because he is one man, who is very disciplined, dedicated, moderated and truly patriotic, who thinks of nation build-ing 24x7. Modi ji during the last 6 years, has mo-tivated the entire gen-eration of this country, who will continue the work of nation building long after we are gone. Even I am among those lakhs of people, who are deeply inspired by Modi ji. Every time I meet him, he motivates me to continue my ser-vice towards the nation for the welfare of the common men.

zEven Home Minister Amit Shah is in awe of your vast knowl-edge as I recall him telling students at a convocation ceremony for being fortunate to be given degrees by an eminent scholar like you. He is very selec-tive in praising peo-ple publicly, therefore, his words hold value.This happened in Gan-dhinagar but on the con-trary, I along with a vast majority in the country, are in awe of Amit Shah for all the decisions he has taken for the coun-try after becoming the Home Minister. He is a very disciplined & strong-willed man and it was his greatness to have showered me with such praise for I all along, have simply been religiously discharging my duties.

zYou are probably the first person to reach Raj Bhawan without an RSS-BJP background in the current regime. Do you think it to be a good beginning?

Definitely. Normally a post like Governor is decided on the basis of an individual’s politi-cal background, party or organisation, but I had none of these. It is for the first time since Independence, that many people like me are witnessing the change in political sce-nario during the past 5-6 years, which is re-markable indeed.

zThe post of the Gov-ernor in our political system is normally perceived to be ‘titu-lar’ or simply to put a rubber stamp. How were you able to rede-fine the role of Gover-nor in development without infringing into the CM’s juris-diction?At the outset, I agree with the words general-ly associated with the Governors, but when asked about my priori-ties as a Governor, when I was appointed one for the first time in Himachal Pradesh, I told the scribes that I hadn’t come to Raj Bha-wan to relax, but to per-form my duties within the framework of the Constitution. I have never subscribed to po-litical interference, it was proved when a 60-year Congress veteran, Virbhadra Singh ji, then CM of HP after initial hiccups, realised that I was a thoroughly work -oriented and a non-political person. When he saw me work-ing for cleanliness, farmer upliftment, so-cial harmony among castes and against ris-ing menace of drug ad-diction without any po-litical leanings, even he was convinced. We still talk to each other over the phone and he pub-licly calls me, ‘The Best Governor HP ever had.’

zWhat was the Kullu Dussehra incident when you against Virbhadra’s advice, spoke against the rit-ualistic sacrifice and

turned around things?Kullu Dussehra festivi-ties are world renowned. I was, like every other Governor, speaking on the occasion in front of a crowd of 5-7000 after the formal inauguration of the fair. I vehemently opposed the animal sac-rifice in the name of re-ligion, citing texts from Hindu Shastras, which people not only were all ears, but also whole- heartedly supported af-ter the speech.

z It is said that PM cautioned you of the fight between Virbhad-ra and Dhumal family as a big hurdle in de-velopment of HP. How did you resolve this?There was this dedicat-ed ‘Bar and Barbeque’ situated in corner of the Raj Bhawan in HP, which was established during the British time. I got it dismantled and got a Yajyashala con-structed instead and in-vited both Veerbhadra Singh and Prem Kumar Dhumal for the inaugu-ration as chief guests. Both came with their wives and I broke the ice between the two.

zHow would you rate the role of senior journalist, Dr Shashi-kant Sharma in re-solving the feud be-tween the two ruler families?Dr Shashikant Sharma is one of those rare persons, who is never negative despite being a journalist and it would be great, if our journalist friends take lessons from him. His contribution to the epi-sode was immense, as he was the one, who ap-prised me of the differ-ence between Veerb-hadra and Dhumal families. Dr Shashi-kant brought the two families together. His credentials are estab-lished by the fact that even Modiji took feed-back from him when he was the party in-charge of HP.

zWhat exactly is the zero-budget natural farming, which you are said to have start-ed and has been taken up by the Modi govt for the entire country?The thought originated during the days, when I realised that I was feed-ing my students chemi-cally- laden vegetables grown on our own land despite decreasing pro-duction and increasing. So I attempted for organ-ic farming on a patch of Gurukul land, which proved to be unfeasible. Then with the inspira-tion & guidance of Ma-harashtra based agricul-tural scientist, Dr Sub-hash Palekar we got suc-cess from the first year itself by adopting to natural farming on part of Gurukul land and slowly the whole Gu-rukul agricultural land was getting increased production of crop with-out any chemical use, us-ing 60-70% less water for irrigation. PM Modi’s promise of doubling farmer income along with his commitments to environment conserva-tion will be fulfilled with this farming technique.

zYou are a big propo-nent of Naturopathy even in this era of modern medicine, why?Once during the Gu-rukul days, while col-lecting wheat donations from farmers for the stu-dents during the hot summers, I suffered from high fever, which I tried to control with self-allopathic medication, which culminated into a cured Typhoid, but con-sistently bleeding intes-tines. It was followed by Ayurveda & Homeopa-thy and finally I was told by leading hospitals that I wouldn’t survive more than a year or two as a large part of my intes-tines were damaged. I was cured by compari-tively economical line of treatment, Naturopathy, when all other medical techniques failed. I be-came a qualified Natur-opathy doctor myself and established a Natur-opathy Hospital at Ku-rukshetra Gurukul in 2001, which has saved lakhs of life since then.

zSpeaking of cure, what have been your initiatives in Gujarat for Corona? I would like to appreci-ate the work done by the state government and in improving the situation by taking all necessary measures on time. The Corona crisis only makes my case for natu-ral farming and Natur-opathy strong as it pro-vides chemical- free and immunity boosting food. Indian traditional food including ingredi-

ents like turmeric, cum-in seeds etc, drastically reduced the corona inci-dence in the country.

zThe initial ap-proach of CM Vijay Rupani govt towards Corona crisis faced criticism for lack of required number of tests, which I feel dented his prestige to an extent. What is your take on it?When the pandemic had hit initially, like the rest of the world, it caught Ahmedabad, Surat and some small pockets un-prepared without prop-er treatment facilities. But later, the Deputy CM, Health Minister Ni-tin Bhai Patel and his team made honest & sin-cere efforts and con-trolled the situation. I appreciate the work done by the doctors, nurses, paramedics and administration of Guja-rat in controlling the spread of the virus.

zAs an academician, how do you perceive the New Education Policy (NEP) intro-duced by the Modi Government?It is after 30 years that far reaching conse-quences through the NEP have been brought in. As against earlier education system, now the youth will also be skilled along with get-ting a formal degree. NEP will ensure some alternate formal educa-tion status to even mid-way dropouts, freedom to opt for subjects of choice; and most impor-tantly, the emphasis on Sanskrit language will make the traditional In-dian knowledge part of the main stream courses Overall, the NEP will give a thrust to nation building and this analy-sis is based on my per-sonal experience as a teacher myself.

zJC- That is the rea-son why PM Modi hailed you as the Flag bearer of Indian cul-ture…Who not only wears Indian, but is purely Indian at heart…I have worn a dhoti ever since my early days and this is not only about be-ing Indian, but also about being comfortable.

zFinally, what next in life after being Governor for more than 5 years now?I will keep on contribut-ing to the cause of Indi-an society & India until my central leadership trusts my abilities by way of taking natural farming, cleanliness & de-addiction campaigns to new heights. For me, the nation will be al-ways first.

Editor-In-Chief of First India, Jagdeesh Chandra, in The New JC Show, speaks to Gujarat’s Gov-ernor Acharya Devvrat about his administrative acumen in handling his administrative respon-

sibilities with much ease, about his imperative role in resurrecting the concept of Gurukul, and weaving success stories at the various Gurukuls set up in various parts of the state; about how PM

Narendra Modi continues to inspire him the most and much more...

Jagdeesh Chandra in candid conversation with Acharya Devvrat at the Gujarat Raj Bhawan.

amayan, the epic tale of Lord Ram’s tri-umph over the demon Ravan, victory of goodness over evil, has been told innu-merable times. Every

child is educated to the en-thralling story of Ram, the incarnation of God, who slew Ravan, the evil demon of darkness. History, as always, is a glorious homage to the victors. What if the van-quished evil demon was given a chance to narrate his ver-sion? There had to be enough substance to make Ravan the greatest villain of all times- an invincible force that man is forced to eliminate repeat-edly- even after thousands of years. The fact that Valmiki put in so much effort to de-scribe Ravan- inspite of being ‘The Villain’- with great capa-bilities, in terms of strength, intellect and devotion, is tes-timony enough. The Ramayan portrays Ravan as one of the greatest scholars, an efficient ruler, a great devotee of Lord Shiva, an expert among the warriors and a maestro among musicians. There is al-ways a lurking admiration behind the reeling hatred. Blessed by the gods with tal-ents beyond all. Cursed by fate to be tested to the ex-tremes.

Ravan was half- Brahman and half- demon, thus inherit-ing the best of both- brains & prowess. His father was a fa-mous rishi Vishwashrava and grandfather was Prajapati Pulastya, one of Brahma’s ten

‘mind-born’ sons. His mother was Kaikashi. His brothers were Vibhishan, Kumb-hkaran, Kuber (half brother) and sister Shurpnakha. Ra-van and Kumbhkaran per-formed penance, got miracu-lous powers from God Brah-ma and drove out Kuber to occupy the glorious ‘Sone ki Lan-ka’. His Push-pak Viman could ac-quire differ-ent shapes and also fly at t h e

speed of mind.Ravan was born as

Dashagriva. It was Shiva who gave him the name Ravan, ‘the one who roars loudly’. His mother, also a Shiva devo-tee, wanted to do sadhana. So, she asked Ravan to get the Atma Lingam. Ravan went to Mount Kailash, abode of Shi-va- Parvati for it. They were both busy in a dance and did not pay heed to Ravan. In an-ger he lifted Kailash Parvat on his head. Shiva got furious and pushed Kailash down with his toes, almost killing Ravan. Turn to P10

AHMEDABAD, SUNDAYOCTOBER 25, 2020

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 09

The Ever Burning

[email protected]

RAVAN

On Vijay Dashmi, City Firstwishes all its viewers aHappy Dusshera. Today, aswe celebrate the victory ofgood over evil, we also bringan in-depth look at Ravana,his character, role, achievements and the lessons that he teaches us. The essence of Indian mythology is obviously beyond the simple good versus evil trope, Ravana embodies this in life and death.

FACE

OF TH

E DAY

SAHIBAA KAUR, Vlogger

YOUR DAYHoroscope by

Saurabbh Sachdeva

LEOJULY 24 - AUGUST 23

You are a secret keeper and people can rely on you blindly. Its the time to start meditating or doing yoga to

keep you in the best state of mind. You must stand in support of the one who is being humiliated in front of you. You must take your work very seriously today.

LIBRA SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

You don’t hesitate from telling the truth on people’s faces. Today, kindly take the expert’s advice

seriously and have complete trust in them. You have a deep intuitive power and your conscious will guide you today for what is good and what is bad, make decisions accordingly.

ARIESMAR 21 - APR 20

Never question your destiny, as you have great time ahead of you. Don’t worry and go ahead with

your business plans, you will surely succeed and something you have been hoping for will likely turn out well. You may be the most desired person at an event or gathering.

SAGITTARIUS NOV 23 - DEC 22

You believe in falling love and you when you’ll do, you will give your all. You will be a part of some celebrations

today and you may meet someone special there. You will unravel the truth behind something important. For all those looking for admission, today is a very favourable day on academic front.

GEMINIMAY 21 - JUNE 21

You are very emotional towards animals and you may become part of some movement for animals’

protection. You should have lots of patience and be rest assured things will materialise as you expect them to be. On professional front, you will be in limelight for all the good reasons.

AQUARIUSJAN 21 - FEB 19

Stay don’t tell about your plans to anyone, you must keep a secret. You are moving toward your goal of

achieving a perfect health, set routine and a balanced diet. Things will work in your favour if you adapt to your changing work environment at earliest. You manage your fi nances really well.

TAURUSAPR 21 - MAY 20

You are a child at heart and no matter how old you are, you will never stop being one. You are a dreamer

and you have the ability to dream the best possible things and if you start working hard towards them, you will be a person of different league all together and among the fi nest.

CAPRICORNDEC 23 - JAN 20

You always stick to the winning side, this time try and choose the right one. You must not choose sides

rather you must help both the parties to understand each other’s point of view. At work front, your sound ideas will be welcomed and implemented at the earliest.

VIRGOAUG 24 - SEP 23

Finding a right partner to get married to won’t talk long, it’s just a matter of time. Though it’s a

business demand but you may not travel a lot and will still sustain your business, health is before wealth . You must stand by the side of right, no matter who is involved.

CANCERJUNE 22 - JULY 23

Love your life, it’s has a lot to offer and the only thing to do is to wait and have hope. Till the time you can

manage things on your own, avoid the involvement of too many people in any matter today. Your seniors are impressed by you and by your work but you have to do something special.

PISCESFEB20 - MARCH 20

It will take time but every thing will be back to normal. You will devote a lot of your time today in

spiritual related things. You must not take your partner for granted and you must appreciate them for goodness lying within them. You must address to all your pending work today.

SCORPIOOCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

You will land up spending a lot today and this may come unexpectedly. You must do some charity

today. On professional front, you must not hesitate before hiring some strong and outspoken for the job. On career front, your aspirations will be fulfi lled.

As he let out a scream in agony, he came to be called Ravan. Filled with pain and anguish, he created the Shiv Tandav Strot with his intestines and played the Rudra Veena called Ravan Hathai. Shiva was so impressed with his devotion that he gifted him the Atma Lingam, on con-dition that he doesn’t put it down on the ground till he reaches Lanka. Enroute, the Gods fearing Ravan’s invincible powers, play a trick on him through Ganesh, who puts the Atma Lingam down, and it gets established as Gaukarn, mean-ing two ears of cow, resulting from Ravan’s efforts to pull out the Shivling from the ground. Such was Ravan’s strength, that the place came to be called Ma-habaleshwar.

Ravan was a great Vedic scholar possessing immense in-tellectual capabilities. His 10 heads-Dashamukh, symbolise the 4 Vedas- Rigved, Samved, Yajurved and Atharva Ved; 6 Shastras- Sankhyashastra, Yog, Nyayashastra, Vaisheshik, Pur-va Mimamsa & Uttar Mimansa. Another legend emphasizes 10 negative emotions of ‘ahankar, moh, paschyatap, krodh, bhaya, irshya, lobh, kaam & jaddata’.

His name and fame shone in all the 10 directions. He was also renowned for mastery in 10 arts. Ravan was a phenomenal schol-ar, well versed in astrology, as-tronomy, art, dance and music. In fact, as the first ever pediatri-cian, he wrote Kumar Tantra, when Mandodari was carrying their first child and wanted knowledge about rearing chil-dren. He wrote many other books, the most important be-ing- Ark Shastra, Ark Prakash, Ravan Samhita. Sri Lanka was at the peak of its prosperity and glory during his reign and he’s worshipped to this day. He also appears prominently in the Buddhist and Jain Ramayans.

It is said that when his son Meghnath was to be born, Ra-van ‘instructed’ all the planets and the Sun to be in their prop-er position for the auspicious ‘lagna’, so that his son would become immortal. But, Saturn suddenly changed its position. A furious Ravan attacked him

with his mace and broke off one of his legs, maiming him for life. Since Ravan was one of the most learned scholars to have ever lived, Ram sent his brother Lakshman to sit at the feet of the dying de-mon king and learn from him important les-sons in statecraft and diplomacy. Ram him-self, after slaying Ra-van, did severe pen-ance by building many Shiva temples.

When Lord Ram constructed the Ram Setu to lead his ‘Vanar Sena’ to attack Lanka, he needed a Brah-min to perform a Yagya. Ravan dis-played exemplary honour by being the Purohit and to bless Ram. He also proved to be the per-fect husband. When his wife was being ab-ducted, he gave up his Puja midway, which he was performing to defeat Ram in the battle. To avenge the honour of his sister, Shurpnakha he gave up his all.

In ancient India 4 Sanskritis were p r e v a l e n t . YAKSH (Ku-ber type liv-ing in e x -

treme luxury and indulgence), RAKSHA (tribals and pirates- living in forest and along the sea coast), DEV (Divinity -Indra, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh....), ARYA (the Humans). Ravan due to his diplomacy and valour el-evated the Rakshas Sanskriti to a new level. He was very fond of his sister Minaksi (better known as Shurpnakha, due to her beau-

tiful fan-like nails). As a tribal Lord, he gifted her a whole

forest called Dandak Ara-nya, where she ruled inde-

pendently. Spring-ing from the Rak-

sha matriarchal lineage, she had

unlimited pow-ers. She could choose her own husband and also marry

many men. When Ram, Lak-

shman and Sita en-tered the Dandak for-est, they were, in fact,

the intruders, as they hadn’t sought Shurp-

nakha permission. When she saw Ram, she was enamored by his godly looks and wished to

marry him. In rage, Lakshman attacked and cut off her nose. Shurpnakha went to her broth-er Ravan to seek justice and re-venge. Following the Raksh niy-am, Ravan, as a duty bound brother, went and kidnapped Sita.

The essence of Indian my-thology is obviously beyond the simple good versus evil trope. Ravan played his role as a vil-lain, but it was that of a much needed magnificence, which could bring about a balance to the equation of destiny. Repre-senting the very essence of evil, he famously fought and ulti-mately lost a series of epic bat-tles against the hero Ram- the seventh avatar of Vishnu. His encounters are significant: as one is on the divine level, an-other on human and the third being on the simian level. He was, beyond doubt, one of the most important characters in the scheme of things. Ravan had acquired a boon from Lord Brahma by beseeching that no god, demon, kinnar or gandharv could ever kill him. It was ironi-cally, Ram- as a human- who ul-timately slayed Ravan.

treme luxury and indulgence), RAKSHA (tribals and pirates- living in forest and along the sea coast), DEV (Divinity -Indra, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh....), ARYA (the Humans). Ravan due to his diplomacy and valour el-evated the Rakshas Sanskriti to a new level. He was very fond of his sister Minaksi (better known as Shurpnakha, due to her beau-

tiful fan-like nails). As a tribal Lord, he gifted her a whole

forest called Dandak Ara-nya, where she ruled inde-

pendently. Spring-ing from the Rak-

sha matriarchal lineage, she had

unlimited pow-ers. She could choose her own husband and also marry

many men. When Ram, Lak-

shman and Sita en-tered the Dandak for-est, they were, in fact,

the intruders, as they hadn’t sought Shurp-

nakha permission. When she saw Ram, she was enamored by his godly looks and wished to

with his mace and broke off one of his legs, maiming him for life. Since Ravan was one of the most learned scholars to have ever lived, Ram sent his brother Lakshman to sit at the feet of the dying de-mon king and learn from him important les-sons in statecraft and diplomacy. Ram him-self, after slaying Ra-van, did severe pen-ance by building many Shiva temples.

When Lord Ram constructed the Ram Setu to lead his ‘Vanar Sena’ to attack Lanka, he needed a Brah-min to perform a Yagya. Ravan dis-played exemplary honour by being the Purohit and to bless Ram. He also proved to be the per-fect husband. When his wife was being ab-ducted, he gave up his Puja midway, which he was performing to defeat Ram in the battle. To avenge the honour of his sister, Shurpnakha he gave up his all.

In ancient India 4 Sanskritis were p r e v a l e n t . YAKSH (Ku-ber type liv-ing in e x -

10ETC

AHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020www.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

FROM PG 9

The Ever Burning Ravan

Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan tied the knot in 2012 and have been setting ma-

jor relationship goals for all others out there in the past eight years Bebo and Saif be-came the doting parents to Taimur Ali Khan in 2016 and now will welcome another child. Recently, the actress has revealed as to how Saif reacted to the news of her pregnancy.

The gorgeous diva has stated that she did not get any ‘filmy’ reaction for the same. She says that there is nothing in her house which is filmy. Talking about her husband Saif, the actress states that he is very normal and relaxed. Kareena fur-ther says, “Of course, he is always happy to hear it.” —Agency

INGREDIENTS� Milk ( Full Fat ) - 1 Litre � Condense Milk - 1 Cup� Cashew Nuts, Almonds (

Chopped ) - 1/2 Cups� 10-15 Saffron strands � Seedless Sitafal - 1 Bowl � 1/2 Tbsp Cardamom Powder

� Pistachio - For GarnishingMETHOD1. Heat Milk in a vessel, Boil it for

15-20 ( Till it reduces to half )

mins on low flame for and keep stirring it simultaneously.

2. Add Condense Milk ( Milk Maid ), Almond, Cashew, Cardamom, Saffron, Mix them well.

3. Now switch off the flame.

4. Wait for it to cool.5. Once it is cooled, add

Sitafal to it.6. Now keep it to cool in the

refrigerator.Your Sitafal Basundi Is Ready.Garnish With Pista Katran.

The beauty queen, Kylie Jenner shared a glimpse of her Hallow-

een costumes from the previous years on You-Tube. This video that was posted on October 22, 2020, has now creat-ed a buzz in the media amidst rumours of her reconciliation with Travis Scott. The Keep-

ing up with the Kar-dashians star not

only talked about her ex-boyfriend but also their daughter Stormi Webster in the aforementioned video.

Kylie recalls

the time when she and her little munchkin dressed up as butter-flies for Halloween. Well, the creative cos-tumes have a much deeper hidden meaning than anyone would have ever thought. She also recalls having iden-tical butterfly tattoos with Scott when the two of them first got togeth-er. Kylie also reveals that the butterfly hap-pens to be the symbol of her relationship with the latter and their daughter Stormi. She also revealed that it was very special to don the butterfly costume.

—Agency

inger Neha Kakkar tied the knot with singer Rohanpreet Singh in a tradition-al Anand Karaj cer-emony in Delhi on Saturday. The wed-

ding ceremony was attended by the couple’s close friends and family. The newlyweds will be heading to Punjab for a grand reception after the wedding.

Ahead of the main ceremony, the couple had a great time at their pre-wedding festivities. The wedding festivities were go-ing on in full swing. Neha and Rohan have been sharing beau-tiful glimpses of their wedding ceremonies on social media.

Neha and Rohan were are all smiles as they twinned in green. Neha was seen wearing a green lehenga by Anita Dongre. She completed her look with traditional red chooda and yellow bangles (her post).

On the other hand, Rohan looked equally handsome in a pastel green kurta paired with a bottle green coloured turban(his post). Neha captioned the post

as, “Mehendi Lagaungi Main Sajna @rohanpreet-singh Ke Naam Ki.”

Fans of Neha and Ro-hanpreet got to catch a glimpse of their chemis-try in the recently re-leased song , titled “Nehu Da Vyah”. The song is written, composed and sung by Neha. Some por-tions have vocals by Ro-hanpreet as well. —Agency

Actress Disha Patani is among the stars who is known for her love for fitness and her style. Every time Disha

shares a glimpse of her workout ses-sion on her social media handle, it leaves fans motivated. Speaking of this, Disha began her weekend on a flawless note as she dropped a gor-geous photo of herself on her Insta-gram handle.

Disha shared a gorgeous photo in which we can see her posing in a pretty sun-kissed look. The Radhe star is seen flaunting her flawless skin and her minimalist makeup teamed up with a nude lip-stick made her look mesmeris-ing. —Agency

ETCwww.fi rstindia.co.in I www.fi rstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefi rstindia I facebook.com/thefi rstindia I instagram.com/thefi rstindia AHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020

11

SEETAFAL BASUNDI

Note - You can make it without Sitafal.

Emilia Clarke turned a year older on 23 Oc-tober. Last year, all of us remembered how

the actress’ 33rd birthday was celebrated in the midst of her Game of Thrones co-stars and close friends Kit Harington and Jason Mo-moa. This year, Clarke had a very different kind of birthday in mind: to jump out of a plane! And, that’s exactly what the Mother of Dragons did as she took to Instagram to share snaps post her thrilling jump off the plane. Moreover, it was her caption that would make Daenerys Targaryen fans very nostalgic for

their Queen. “Who says you can only fly dragons,” Clarke quipped as one of her many long IG hashtags that won millions of hearts all over the world. —Agency

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

After a long COVID 19 induced break, Ayush-mann Khurrana has finally returned to a

film set. Post the lockdown, the actor, along with his wife, Tahira Kashyap Khurrana and their children, had flown to his home town in Chandi-garh. During his time there, he had shot a few ads at his home and focused on prepar-ing for his upcoming film, which is an Abhishek Ka-poor’s directorial titled Chan-digarh Kare Aashiqui. The Badhaai Ho actor has revealed that this film is extra special because it allowed him to shoot in Chandigarh for the first time. —Agency

Ayushmann feels excited Flawless Disha Patani HALLOWEEN BUTTERFLY

SNEHA WEDS ROHANPREET

hanpreet got to catch a glimpse of their chemis-try in the recently re-leased song , titled “Nehu Da Vyah”. The song is written, composed and sung by Neha. Some por-tions have vocals by Ro-

—Agency

VRTIKA [email protected]

SAIF

’S N

ON-F

ILM

Y

RESP

ONSE

Ayushmann Khurrana

...her post

Kylie Jenner

Emilia Clarke’s insta post

Kareena Kapoor Khan & Saif Ali Khan

Disha Patani

Neha Kakkar and Rohanpreet Singh

12AHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

CITY BUZZ

ith Hotels and oth-er hospitality com-ponents set to start within Unlock 1.0, Rajasthan govern-ment released the guidelines for ho-

tels and permitted the ac-tions to run with specific conditions amid the contin-ued lockdown. However, de-spite the strict processes in place, only a few visitors were recorded during that period. City First talked to a few people from Rajasthan and Gujarat to know the post

COVID changes in the hotel industry and how hotels have been following various precautionary measures

such as the use of sanitisers, hand gloves and masks, to ensure that the risk factor is minimised.

The tale of Hotel! Kanya Pujan SpecialFIRST INDIA UTTAR PRADESH

Instead of doing Kan-ya Poojan inside her house this year, Luc-know’s Poulomi Pa-

vini Shukla organised it with orphan girls of the city. She, along with her mother Aradhana Shukla, IAS and hus-band Prashant Sharma, IAS, cel-ebrated the festi-val with orphans of Government Girls Orphanage, Government Child Home and Government Shelter Home for Wom-en.

There are currently 96 girls of 11-18 years of age, 24 girls of 5-10 years of age, 42 chil-dren under 5 years of age and 31 women re-siding in these three orphanages/homes. Along with Kanya Poojan, Poulomi Pavini Shukla also distributed sweets, food items as well as Pizzas to the or-phan children. She was helped in this endeav-our of hers by Shobhit Agrawal of Lucknow and Rohit of Bareilly. Poulomi Pavini’s objec-tive of doing this pious deed was to encourage and motivate other peo-

ple to do something, to bring positive change in the lives of orphan chil-dren. According to her, the true spirit of festi-vals is achieved when even the most disadvan-tageous sections of the society feel included.

Poulomi Pavini Shukla is a lawyer in the Supreme Court of India and has been tire-lessly working for the past five years to pro-vide orphan children with at least the same

rights and opportuni-ties which are provided to other weaker sec-tions of the society. She has authored a book, Weakest on Earth - Or-phans of India, pub-lished by Bloomsbury. She has also filed a Pub-lic Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court of India regarding the same. For many years, Poulomi Pavini, cele-brates festivals like Deepawali etc with or-phans.

FIRST INDIA UTTAR PRADESH

ACS Information and CEO (Khadi & Village Indus-tries) Navneet Se-hgal inaugurated

an exhibition cum sale dis-playing trendy designer wear crafted by the design-ers of NIFT Raebareli and ac-claimed designers from other parts of the country at the Khadi Board HQ in the city. Speaking about the exclusive range of Le-henga, Kurti, Sherwani, Bridal Wear and general assortment at display Navneet Sehgal appealed

to the residents of Lucknow to support the cause of providing rural employment during the Covid times by making maxi-

mum purchase at the exhibi-tion. Sehgal also said that the Khadi board was also producing school uniforms

to be distributed free of cost to the students along with Kha-

di masks for general use. It is noteworthy that the complete range on display has been widely appreciated by the audience at various fashion shows makes it all the more lucrative.

[email protected]

SUPPORTING THE CAUSE

CRICKET ACADEMY INAUGURATIONCITY FIRST

The AS Cricket Academy & Are-na at New Power House, Jodhpur

was inaugurated on Sat-urday by Ashok Menar-ia, former captain of the Indian Under-19 team and current Ra-jasthan Ranji cap-tain. It is the sec-ond academy in Jodhpur opened by Rajasthan’s Ranji player and IPL player Arishit Sin-ghvi, the first branch was opened in Kudi. Ashok Menaria said that this academy with great facilities will prove to be a boon for Jodhpur cricket. The function was chaired by Chandraraj Singhvi (former cabinet minis-ter of Rajasthan gov-ernment), Moin Khan (cricket coach & HOD DPS school Jodhpur, Vikram Rajawat (Ranji player), Bhupendra Sin-gh Bhati (BCCI scorer).

CITY FIRST

Miss Rajasthan 2020 an-nounced the biggest and

most prestigious beauty pageant. Rajasthan Government has not permitted for the events yet. There is a ban on events until 31 Oc-tober. Keeping this in mind, Miss Rajasthan Organisation has taken this big decision that this time any girl regis-tered in Miss Rajasthan will be able to sit home and give her audition with safety and fulfil her dreams.

Organised by the Fu-sion Group and Pana-ghat, it has become the first regional contest

with such a large num-ber of registrations. With this, the organis-ers of the Glory - Pag-eant and Model Train-ing Studio, Yogesh Mishra, Nimisha

Mishra and Miss Ra-jasthan 2014, Sim-ran Sharma, made an official announcement of

the format for this time.

Organiser Yogesh Mishra shared that it is not possible to call eve-ryone for audition, so it has been decided to au-dition through video calling in which 150- 200 will be selected for the interview round. The Grand Finale will be or-ganised with the top 28 finalists.

[email protected]

Biggest Announcement

KARISHMA GWALANIKarishma.gwalani @firstindia.co.in

WSurat Marriott hotel is ensuring it’s guest & as-sociate safety by implementing the ‘Connecting Safely’ program that includes stringent saniti-sation norms and contactless payment options. The hotel is experiencing an upward trend in

F&B and Rooms in terms of daily footfalls. An increase in travel movement in the do-

mestic corporate segment is observed too. The hotel’s food delivery service- ‘Marriott on Wheels’, that began in May, has been well received

by Surtis. In banquets, social segments namely mid-sized

weddings and pre-wedding functions have shown a posi-tive response.

—FAYYAZ QURESHI, Cluster Director, Sales and

Marketing- Marriott, Surat

With the Coronavirus outbreak, people are scared to step out of their houses and the impact is seen even when the Hotels have resumed their opera-tions. Despite the eagerness of socializing, people are expected to enter places that have social distancing protocols. Therefore,

eateries will have to ensure proper hygienic prac-

tices and spacing between people.

—NILAY JARIWALA

Amid the raging pandemic, till about a month ago I would have felt unsure of hotel dinners or stays. The safety of my family mattered the most. Today, however, I

find myself a lot more confident in venturing out. The graph dips steadily, rates for night stays and meals are low, and one of my trusted hotelier friends has explained how concerned and meticulous the companies are in maintaining precautions.

—ARMAANN DHANOA

RAJ: On the occasion of Maha Navami, Creature Foundation organised Kanya Poojan of girls from the underprivileged families. Chief Coordinator of the organisation Vibhuti Singh said that for 8 consecutive days poor and orphan girls were being fed and books, stationery, gifts etc were given to them. Dandiya Mahotsav was also organised for the children in the organisation’s premises at Raja Park.

GUJ: Yuti Vaghani, a polymer clay artist makes necklines and accessories of polymer clay. She learnt making polymer clay when she was 13 years old. Yuti makes polymer clay at home with flour glue and oil and adds colours to give it an aesthetic look. She has exhibited her creativity around Surat and customizes it as well.

Pictures of Courtyard by Marriott, Surat

During the inauguration

Yogesh Misha, Simran Sharma and Nimisha Mishra

Rajasthan Congress Incharge Ajay Maken wished everyone a Happy Durga Ashthmi on Saturday.

DURING THE DAY!