JOURNALISMOFCOURAGE...Eye on China, India looks at lithium reservesinArgentina, Chile&Bolivia...
Transcript of JOURNALISMOFCOURAGE...Eye on China, India looks at lithium reservesinArgentina, Chile&Bolivia...
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DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA ● REG .NO . MCS/067/2018 - 20 RN I REGN . NO . 1543/57
MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2021, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SINCE 1932
THECITY
‘SHIV SENANOTCONCERNEDABOUTMIDDLECLASSANDPOOR; FOOLEDPEOPLEOFMUMBAI’COURTDISMISSES30CASES LODGEDFORVIOLATIONOFLOCKDOWNNORMSPAGE3
ANILSASINEWDELHI, JANUARY3
JUST AS it was stepping up itseconomic offensive againstChina, India, through a newly-floated state-owned company,inked a pact with an Argentinefirm mid-last year to jointlyprospect lithium in the SouthAmerican country that has thethird largest reserves of the sil-ver-white alkali metal — a cru-cialbuildingblockofthelithium-ion rechargeable batteries thatpower electric vehicles (EVs),laptopsandmobilephones.The new company, Khanij
BideshIndiaLtd—incorporatedin August, 2019 by three state-
owned companies, NALCO,Hindustan Copper andMineralExploration Ltd, with a specificmandate to acquire strategicmineral assets such as lithiumandcobaltabroad—isalsolearntto be exploring options in Chileand Bolivia, two other toplithium-producingcountries.Currently, Indiaisheavilyde-
pendentonimportof thesecellsand the move to ink sourcingpacts for lithium is seen as an-other salvo in the front againstChina, a key source of both therawmaterial and cells. India isseen as a late mover as it at-temptstoenterthelithiumvaluechain, coming at a time whenEVs are predicted to be a sectorripe for disruption. And 2021 is
likelytobeaninflectionpointforbatterytechnology,withseveralpotential improvements to theLi-ion technology, and alterna-tivestothistried-and-testedfor-mulation, under advancedstagesof commercialisation.Themostpromisingaresolid-
state batteries that use alterna-tivestoaqueouselectrolytesolu-tions—aninnovationthat couldlowertheriskof fires,sharplyin-creaseenergydensityandpoten-tially take only 10 minutes tochargeanEV,cuttingtherecharg-ing time by two-thirds. Thesecells can extend the driving dis-tanceofacompactelectricvehi-clewhilemaintaininglegroom—aquantumleapinbatterytech.
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Eye on China, India looks at lithiumreserves in Argentina, Chile & Bolivia
TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI, JANUARY3
A4,000squarefeetbuildingrightoppositetheDrRNCooperhospi-tal’scanteeninMumbaiwasear-liersupposedtobeusedasahos-tel. InMarch, it was convertedintoanisolationfacilityforCovid-19 patients. On December 29,work to convert it into amodelvaccinationcentrebegan.Over 30 labourers are now
workingonwarfootingdayandnight toprepare themodelcen-tre in Cooper hospital. TheBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) has askedcontractor Eckon to hand overthecentrebyMondaynight.Cooper hospital, alongwith
seven BMC hospitals, has beenselectedforthefirstphaseof im-munisationofhealthcarework-ers.Mumbaihas registered1.26lakhheathcareworkers for vac-cination in the firstphase.
CONTINUEDONPAGE2Insidethevaccinationcentreathospital. TabassumBarnagarwala
Cooper hospital’s model vaccination centre to be ready today
DEEPTIMANTIWARYNEWDELHI, JANUARY3
BRENTON TARRANT, the lonegunmanwhokilled51people,in-cluding five Indians, in twomosques in Christchurch, NewZealand, onMarch15, 2019, hadstayedinGoa,MumbaiandJaipur,amongtheseven-eightplaceshevisitedinIndia, in2015-16.Following inputs from their
counterparts in New Zealand,Indian intelligence agencieslaunched an investigation intoTarrant's three-month visit toIndia. They found that Tarrant,an Australian, travelled exten-sively in India betweenNovember 21, 2015, and
February18,2016.Sources said Tarrant largely
travelledandstayedinsouthernstates, spending considerabletimeinGoa.HespentafewdaysinMumbai too; the only northIndian state he visited was
Rajasthan.“Wehave verified the infor-
mationprovidedbyNewZealandauthorities about his travel de-tails. As yet, we have not foundanythingthatsuggeststhatanyofhisactivitieshere,orconnectionsmade thereof, had any linkwiththe attack. There is nothing tosuggest that his travels in Indiacould have prompted him tocarry out that ghastly attack,”saidaseniorintelligenceofficial.“He stayed in cheap accom-
modations, largelypopularwithbackpackers, and visited spotspopular with tourists from theWest.Hisitineraryshowsthathelargely stayed in South India,barring one visit to Jaipur. He
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Three deaths, lowesttoll since AprilMumbai on Sundayrecorded only three Covid-19 deaths – its lowest sinceApril. The city has recorded11,135 deaths so far. Thenumber of deaths per dayhas come down to singledigitsincethelast fourdays.Currently, 8,916 people stillremain infected.
DCGIGIVESNODTOCOVISHIELD,COVAXINFORRESTRICTEDUSE
OndatapendingforCovaxin,HealthMinistersaysbetteragainstUKvariant
PRABHARAGHAVANNEWDELHI, JANUARY3
INDIA’S TOP drug regulatorSundayapprovedCovishieldandCovaxin vaccines for restricteduseagainstCovid-19inthecoun-try,pavingthewayformassvac-cinationagainstthevirusthathassofar infectedmorethanacrorepeopleandkillednearly1.5lakh.Theapprovalstothetwovac-
cines, both to be given in twodoses,followarecommendationregardingthesamebytheDrugsController General of India's(DCGI) expert panel. In the caseofCovaxin,forwhosePhase3tri-als limited data is available, in-formed consent would have tobe sought from those receiving
the vaccine, which will be ad-ministeredaccordingtoaproto-col that is still in the process ofbeing decided, according to aseniorgovernmentofficialcloseto thedevelopment.Announcing the clearance to
Covishield andCovaxin at ame-diabriefingonSundaymorning,DCGIDrVKSomani saidclinicaltrials regarding both the drugswouldhavetocontinue.Thefirmsarerequiredtosubmitsafetydataevery 15 days for the first twomonthsandmonthlythereafter.“After adequate examina-
tion, the CDSCO (Central DrugsStandard Control Organisation)hasdecidedtoaccepttherecom-mendations of the expert com-mitteeand,accordingly,vaccines
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Phase 3 efficacy data ismissing, say experts, callfor close monitoringAMITABHSINHA&PRABHARAGHAVANPUNE,NEWDELHI, JANUARY3
MEMBERS OF the NationalCovid-19taskforceclarifiedthatCovaxin,thevaccinebeingdevel-opedbyBharatBiotech,wouldbeusedina“clinicaltrial”modeandUnion Health Minister HarshVardhan said its emergency useapproval was “a strategic deci-sionforourvaccinesecurity.”Butsomeindependentscien-
tistssaidthatwhiledatafromthe
vaccine’sPhase1andPhase2tri-als is very encouraging, theyquestioned the process of ap-provalwhen efficacy data fromthevaccine’sPhase3trials,whichbeganinNovember,hadn’tcomein.Efficacydataisanindicationofhow effective the vaccine is inpreventingthevirusattack."If you take a look at what
wasproposedbytheDCGI(DrugControllerGeneralof India)asanadequate data package back inSeptember, when they pub-lished their draft guidance (for
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SAKSHIDAYALGURGAON, JANUARY3
ONTHEeveof thenextroundoftalks between the protestingfarmerunionsandtheCentreonMonday, the Haryana police onSunday fired tear gas shells tostop a group of farmers,mostlyfromRajasthan,frommovingto-wardsDelhi.The incident occurred near
Sangwari village in Rewari dis-trict, on NH-48, about 16 kmfromGurgaon, ataround4pm.Confirming that tear gas
shellswere fired,RajeshKumar,Deputy Superintendent ofPolice,Bawal,said:“Theprotest-ers said those who had gone
aheaddidnothaveenoughpro-visions. They asked for permis-sion to go to them and set up alangar, andwere allowed to doso. However, when they gotthere, the entire group tried tobreak through the barricadesandmove forward.”OnThursday,over300farm-
ershadforcedtheirwaypastthebarricades at the Rajasthan-Haryana border and enteredRewari. On Sunday, about 50more farmers, mostly fromHanumangarh and SriGanganagar in Rajasthan, fol-lowed them, afterwhich policefired teargas shells.Mostof theprotesters, how-
ever, remained at the border.“About 15-20 tractors entered
Rewari today... they had a clashwithpolice.However,thoseofusfollowing the directions of theSamyuktKisanUnionare still atthe border andwill continue toremainthere.Thenextcourseofactionwill be decided depend-ing on the outcome of tomor-row'smeetingwith thegovern-ment. If they don't fulfill ourdemands, wewill look atmov-ing towards Delhi after January6,” said Ramzan Chaudhary,headof theNuhunitof JaiKisanAndolan, which is a part of theSamyukt Kisan Union — the
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Ahealthcareworkeratavaccineregistrationcentre inAhmedabadonSunday.NirmalHarindran
KAUNAINSHERIFFMNEWDELHI, JANUARY3
THE INDIGENOUS vac-cine developed byBharatBiotechwiththeIndian Council ofMedical Research(ICMR)willbeusedasa"back-up", only if the countryneedsextradoses tovaccinatealarge number of people, partic-ularly given the possibility of a
surge triggered by the UK vari-ant. And, unlike the SerumInstitute of India's (SII) vaccine
Covishield,Covaxinwillbe used only in 'clinicaltrialmode',where con-sent will be taken andside-effectsmonitored,the heads of AIIMS andICMR, part of the
NationalCovid-19taskforce,toldThe IndianExpress.On Sunday, Indian regulator
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Haryana police use tear-gas onprotesters; talks with Govt today
Covaxin back-up, for useif surge, under controls:AIIMS, ICMR headsWholevirusvaccine, somaybemoreeffectiveagainstnewstrain: ICMR
HaryanapolicefiredteargasshellstostopprotestersinRewaridistrictonSunday.Reuters
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BYUNNY
TwoCovid vaccinesget emergencyusenod, one inclinical trialmode
EXPRESSNETWORK
ROLLOUTTOBEGININNEARFUTURE,SCHEDULESOONPAGE5
MOREREPORTSPAGE7
MIHIRVASAVDAMUMBAI, JANUARY3
AS DIFFERENT courts and stategovernmentsdebate its legality,there isagrowingbodyof opin-ion in theofficial establishmentin favourof aunified regulatoryapparatusthatallowsonlinefan-tasygames—andlooksatopen-ing some doors to legalisingsportsbetting.In a draft paper lastmonth,
NitiAayog,thegovernment’spol-icythinktank,proposed“uniformnational-level regulation” ofOnline Fantasy Sports Platforms
(OFSPs)with a set of initiatives:“legislative safe harbour,” “light-touch regulatory framework,”and“self-regulation.”Inviting stakeholder com-
ments until January 18, NitiAayog, citing a KPMG India re-port, flagged the sharp surge inthesector:2millionusersinJune2016 to 90 million December2019;numberof OFSPsupfrom10 in 2016 tomore than 140 in2019; a tripling of revenuegrowth, from Rs 920 crore in2018-19toRs2,470crorein2019-20 and the potential of 12,000jobs inthenextcoupleof years.Key barriers to this growth,
NitiAayogsaid,werethe lackofa“definabletest”or“regulatoryguideline or forum” to assessand determine if a game is oneof skill or chance; and frag-mented regulation.“WhileOFSPsoperatethrough
onlinemedia onapan-India ba-sis, their regulationproceedsun-der varied State-wise regulatoryregimes. This could impact fan-tasy sports users’ interests oftransparency, OFSP operator in-tegrity, and fairness may varyfromstatetostate,”saidthedraft.Niti Aayog’s paper comes a
monthafterMinisterofState forFinance Anurag Thakur was
quoted by PTI that his “sugges-tionwillbetolegalisebettingandgambling activities.”Minister ofSports and Youth Affairs KirenRijiju said online fantasy gamesare“veryinstrumentalinrevolu-tionising”sportswatching.Thepaperalsored-flags“un-
scrupulous operators who lureusers with games of question-able legality in the guise of fan-tasy sports.” This amid scrutinyat several levels showing howpolicyplayscatch-up.Consider:■ In the last 18 months, at
least six petitions seeking a banononline gambling and fantasy
sports have been filed in differ-entHighCourts.
■ In March last year, theSupremeCourtstayedtheoper-ation of a Bombay High Courtjudgment dated April 30, 2019,upholdingthelegalityof fantasysports, which bear a close re-semblance to gambling, an ille-gal activity.
■ In September, AndhraPradesh joined Telangana,Assam, Odisha, Nagaland andSikkiminbanningonlinefantasygamesplayed formoney.
■ InNovember, theMaduraibenchof theMadrasHighCourtissued notices to India captain
Virat Kohli and cricket boardpresident Sourav Ganguly,amongothers, forendorsingon-line fantasygames.And yet, industry-watchers
underline, growth is the irre-versible force.According to a Financial
Times estimate, venture capitalinto gaming start-ups in Indiahasskyrocketedfromamere$25million in 2015 to $337millionlast year. In September alone,DreamSports—theparentcom-pany of Dream11, the biggestdaily fantasy sports operator —raised $225 million from
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PAGE1ANCHOR In fantasy games surge, policy plays catch-up with reality
Dream11is the IndianPremierLeague’smainsponsor. File
IRAMSIDDIQUEBHOPAL, JANUARY3
THEMADHYA Pradesh govern-ment isall set tobring inastrin-gent law against stone-pelters,with provisions to attach assetsof theaccusedtopayfordamagecaused to any property, includ-ing that belonging to individu-als, ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChouhansaidhereonSunday.Speaking tomediapersons,
Chouhansaid,"Stone-peltersareenemies of society, whoevertheyare. Stone-pelting isnot anordinarycrime,itcankillpeople,create an atmosphere of terror,chaos, and disrupt law and or-der."Therefore, itwouldnolonger
betreatedasapettycrime,butastringent law formulated tocheck it, theCMsaid.The move comes after two
cases of stone-pelting on ralliesby Hindu right-wing organisa-tions in Ujjain and Indore dis-tricts seeking donations for theRam temple, as they passedthroughMuslim-dominatedlo-calities."If someone raises their is-
suespeacefully,thendemocracyprevails.Butnoonehaspermis-siontodamagepublicproperty,"Chouhan said, adding that in-structionshadbeengiventofor-mulate the law andwork on ithadstarted.A senior official said the law
being drafted by the MadhyaPradesh government is on thelines of the Uttar PradeshRecovery of Damage to PublicandPrivatePropertyOrdinance,2020, withmore stringent pro-visions."The basic idea of the law is
to cover all public and privateCONTINUEDONPAGE2
Democracy only ifpeace: Chouhanwarns of strict lawagainst stone-pelters
BrentonTarrant.AP file
In 3-month trip to India, Christchurchattacker visited Goa, Mumbai & Jaipur
‘Root cause of theproblem is surplusfoodgrains and
higherMSP than themarket price’NITINGADKARI
MINISTERFORROADTRANSPORT&HIGHWAYS,ANDMSME
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CovaxinDrugControllerGeneral of India(DCGI) approved the SubjectExpertCommittee’s recommen-dation for emergency use ofCovishield and Covaxin.WhileCovishieldisthesamevaccineasdeveloped by Oxford-AstraZeneca, that has got emer-gencyuse approval in theUK, incase of Covaxin, concerns havebeenraisedabouttheabsenceofefficacydata,which isgeneratedduringPhase3ofhumanclinicaltrials.Thedecisiontograntemer-gencyapprovaltoBharatBiotechisbasedononlyimmunogenicity,the ability to trigger an immuneresponse, and safetydata gener-atedinPhase1and2clinicaltrials.However,themembersofthe
national task force, includingAI-IMSDirectorDrRandeepGuleriaand ICMRDirector General DrBalramBhargava, emphasisedthat the approval granted toBharatBiotechisdistinctlydiffer-entfromtheonetotheSII.SaidDrGuleria: “This is likea
back-up.Ifwefindthatcasesdon’trise,thenwesticktotheSII,tilltheBharat Biotechdata comesearlynextmonth. And if that data isfound to be good enough, thentheywillgetthesameapprovalasthe SII. Indirectly, looking at thesafety profile, that (Covaxin) is asafe vaccine, althoughwedon’tknowhowefficaciousit is.”As a vaccine that uses aplat-
formusedfortraditionalvaccinesinIndia,whichtargetsthewholevirus for antigen response,Covaxin is also considered bysometobemoreeffectiveagainstanymutations.“It (the approval to Covaxin)
says itmaybeused in an emer-gency situation, whichmeansthat becauseofwhat is happen-ingintheUK,Europe,andtheUS,in case there is a sudden surge,andconsideringthatwehavenoanti-viraldrugstillagainstCovid-19, if vaccinationmay preventspreadofaninfection,onlyinsuchcircumstances--whenthere isaneedtovaccinatealargenumberofpeople,thatcannotbedoneus-ingonlytheSII’svaccine--BharatBiotechwouldbeallowedtogivethevaccine,"DrGuleriasaid.Intheabsenceofefficacydata,
he emphasised the “abundantprecaution” to be observed inCovaxin's use. “... Thiswill be inclinicaltrialmode,sothatthereisveryclosemonitoring...Theywillbecalledupfrequentlyabouttheside-effects, and adatabasewillbemaintained."TheAIIMSDirectorcompared
the scientific rationale behindclearing Covaxin to the grant ofapprovaltorepurposeddrugslikehydroxychloroquine andremdesvirfortreatingsymptomsarisingfromCovid-19.“Ifyouhavedatathatthevaccineissafe,oranydrug is safe, thenyouwould saythat in case there is a need,wemay consider using it withoutknowing that itwouldwork 20per cent or 80 per cent. This iswhatwas done evenwhen ap-proving hydroxychloroquine orremdesivir or evenconvalescentplasma,” Dr Guleria said.“Regarding this vaccine, there isdatawhichshowsgoodimmuno-genicityandsafety."Dr Bhargava, theheadof the
ICMRthatco-developedCovaxinwith Bharat Biotech, said, “Intermsoftheefficacydata,wehavedone extensivework at theNIV,Pune.Therehavebeensmallani-mals' study, large animals' studyandmonkeychallengestudy.AndahugestudydoneattheICMRfor14 days, where samples were
takeneverydayandlookedatforefficacy,”hesaid.“In the Phase 1human trials
data, that included375patients,andthe380participantsinPhase2,wedidnotfindanycaseofany-one getting Covid-19,” DrBhargava said, adding that eveninPhase3,nosafetyconcernshadbeen reported from the 22,500participants.Bharat Biotech had com-
menced Phase 3 trials onNovember 16. On Sunday, thegovernment's press statementsaid the Phase 3 trials had beeninitiated in25,800volunteers, ofwhom22,500had received thefirst dose. Covaxin is injected in-tramuscularlytwice,withagapof27days.Theinterimsafetydataisexpectednextmonth.Dr Bhargava said that
Covaxin's potential inmountingaresistanceagainstthenewmu-tantstrainwasakeyfactor.“Someof the vaccines just target thespikeproteinof the virus... Fromthat perspective,weare lookingatawholevirusvaccine(Covaxin),whichpotentiallymayhaveben-efits,”hesaid.However,DrGuleriaadmitted
that,atthispoint,morelabdataisrequiredon this. “BharatBiotechuses an inactivated virus, usingthe platformdeployed in othervaccines inour country. Theevi-dencethatisbeingputforwardisthat because thewhole virus isbeingusedastheantigen,thean-tibodyresponsemaybemorero-busttotakecareofanymutation...However,wewill needmore labdata,”hesaid.“Thebottomlineisthat, ifwe
don’thaveanysurgeincases,thenwewouldusetheSIIvaccine.Thatiswhatmyunderstandingisafterreading the recommendation.And, if there is an emergencyneed, in clinical trialmode andtakingabundantprecautions,wemayuse theBharat Biotechvac-cine.Otherwise,wewaitforfour-sixweekstillthefinaldataisout,”DrGuleriasaid.
Phase 3 dataapprovalofCovid-19vaccines), itwas very clear that theywantedsafetyandefficacydataanditwasexpectedthat,forthesafetydata,there would be at least twomonthsoffollowup,”saidvaccinescientist and ChristianMedicalCollegeprofessorDrGagandeepKang.“In the case of Covaxin...you
haven’t finished enrolment. So,where is your safety data?Obviously,there’snoefficacydataeither,”shesaid.Said Shahid Jameel, a virolo-
gistanddirectorofTrivediSchoolof Biosciences at AshokaUniversity:"Evenemergencyuseauthorisation requires efficacydata... These Indian vaccineswould eventually go into the in-ternationalmarket aswell. It isveryimportantthatthereistrustinourregulatoryinstitutions.”RandeepGuleria,memberof
theNationalCovid-19 task force,toldTheIndianExpressthattheap-provaltoCovaxinwasgiventoen-surethatincasetherewasasud-den surge, and theavailability ofOxfordUniversityvaccinewasin-sufficient,itcouldbedeployed"inclinicaltrialmode".Jameel said thiswas all the
morereasonwhytheapprovalforCovaxin need not have beenrushed through. "The SerumInstitutehasalreadysaidthatitisready with at least 50 milliondoses.AndtheBharatBiotechvac-cineisnotbeingdeployedimme-diately.Sotheproperthingwouldhavebeentowaitfortheprelim-
inarydata fromthephase-III tri-als...Itwouldbeavailablewithinafewweeks,"hesaid.Satyajit Rath, whowas for-
merlywiththeNationalInstituteofImmunologyinNewDelhi,saidscientistswere not questioningthe safety or effectiveness of thevaccineitselfbutraisingconcernsabouttheinstitutionalprocess."The problem is not in the
formof anyenhancedrisk to theindividualwhois takingthevac-cine... There are several issueswith theway the approval hasbeengranted,which can lead topeople losing confidence in theregulatorysystem,"hesaid.LShashidhara,abiologistand
professor at IISER, Pune, sug-gestedawayforwardthatwasinagreementwithwhatGuleriade-scribed. "Theuseof Covaxinandothervaccines forwhichdataonefficacy is limited should betreatedasextended trials.Whiletheyarebeingproduced in largequantitiesandsubjectedtobatchtesting, the government shouldbuildcapabilitiesacrossthecoun-trytomonitorimmuneresponsetodifferentvaccines,"hesaid.
Haryana policeumbrella bodyof farmerunionsprotestingatDelhi'sborders.Aheadof their talkswith the
government, the farmer leadersreiterated their demands. “Thefarmlawsmustberepealed.Thetwo amendments need to berolledback and thegovernmentmust listen,” Jageer SinghDalewal,BKU,said.“OnLohri,January13,wewill
burn copies of the three farmlaws. On January 18, we inviteeveryonetocarryoutprotests.Wealsowant to tell thePunjabgov-ernment that if they don't stoppoliceactionagainstpeople,therewillbeprotestsagainstthem.Weare against both the BJP andCongress, since this is an issueofthefarmers,"saidManjitRai,BKU,Doaba, at a press conference atSinghu.In New Delhi, Agriculture
Ministryofficialsworkedovertheweekend toprepare for thenextroundoftalks.Anofficialsaidthegovernment is "extremely con-cerned".Meanwhile, three deaths
were reportedat theSinghuandTikriborders,wherefarmershavebeen camping for over amonthnow.Jagbir,66, fromJinddistrict,andJashnpreet,18,fromBathinda,diedinTikri.“Jashnpreetwas brought to
the civil hospital in a deliriouscondition onSaturdaynight.Hewas referred to PGIMS, Rohtak,wherehedied,”saidaJhajjarpo-liceofficer.“Intheotherincident,thebodywasfoundinsideatruckattheprotestsiteitself.Aheartat-tackissuspected.The protester who died at
Singhu was Shamsher, 44, afarmerfromSangrur.“Shamsherdiedataround8am,afterhecom-plained of chest pain. A Dalitfarmer, he had been protestingwith his 13-year-old son," saidJagmohan Singh of BKU-Dakaunda.
—WITHENS,NEWDELHI
Chouhanpropertydestroyed throughactsof any sort of vandalism, be itstone-peltingorarson,wheretheaccusedwouldhavetopayforthedamage."The official said theMP law
willhaveawiderdefinitionofthescopeofprivateproperty."UPhasdefinedprivate property as thatbelongingtoareligioustrust, theWakf Boardor any firm, exclud-ing property ownedby an indi-vidual.Whatweaim is that, in alawandorderissue,ifsomeone'scar is damaged, he can lodge anFIR andapproach the claims tri-bunal."Aftertherecentstone-pelting
incidents,18peoplewerearrestedfromUjjain'sBegumBagh,whileinIndore'sChandanKhedi,27vil-lagerswere arrested and sent tojail. The rallies onwhich stoneswerepeltedhadbeenorganisedby theVHPaspart of its drive to
raisedonationsfortheRamtem-pleinAyodhya.No actionhas been takenon
counter-complaints by the ac-cused,whohaveallegedthatthestone-peltingwasinretaliationtoprovocativeslogansraisedat therallies. At Indore andMandsaur,participants had also climbedontomosques.
ChristchurchstayedforquiteafewdaysinGoa,largely putting up near thebeaches,”theofficialadded.Sources saidhis interactions
were limited to fellow travellersand locals in the trade. “All thispointstothefactthathisinterestsinIndiawerelimitedtotravel.TheprobebyNewZealandauthoritieshas found that Tarrant travelledextensively before carrying outthe attack. He had even visitedMuslim countries like the UAEandPakistan. In any case, hehassaidhewas inspired tocarryouttheattackaftervisitingEuropein2017,”saidanotherofficial.BetweenApril 15, 2014, and
August17,2017,Tarranttravelledextensively—always alone, ex-ceptforhisvisittoNorthKoreaaspartofatourgroup.ThecountriesthathevisitedforperiodsofaboutamonthormoreincludedChina,Japan, Russia and South Koreaamongothers.Before the attack inMarch
2019, Tarrant hadput uponlineposts that containedanti-immi-grant, anti-Muslim and RightWing extremist views. He re-ceived a life sentence inAugust2020. According to agency re-ports, in December 2020, theRoyal Commission of Inquiry inNewZealandreleasedareportonthe attack that claimedTarrant,30,workedas apersonal traineratalocalgymuntil2012whenhesufferedaninjury."He never againworked in
paid employment. Instead, helived off themoney that hehadreceivedfromhisfather...Withthemoney fromhis father, the indi-vidual travelled extensively,”PTI
quotedthereportassaying.
India eyes lithiumAnumberof alternatives are
being fostered to achievemoreoptimaloptions.
■Toyota’ssolidstatebattery:Among the 1,000-odd globalpatentsinvolvingsolid-statebat-teries, Toyota heads the list. TheJapanese automaker is attempt-ing towrest back the lead fromtheChinese,whoare current Li-ion battery pack leaders. Toyotaplans to be the first company tosellanEVequippedwithasolid-statebattery.Nissan too is in thefray.
■Apple battery tech: In thelast fortnight of 2020, Apple Incsaidit'smovingforwardwithself-drivingcartechnologyandistar-geting2024toproduceapassen-ger vehicle.While the rumourswere abuzz for awhile, the sub-text held out a clue—central toApple's strategy is anewbatterydesign that could "radically" re-ducethecostofbatteriesandin-creasethevehicle'srange,accord-ingtoapersonquotedbyReuters.
■QuantumScape’ssolid-statebattery:Californianbatterystart-upQuantumScapeCorp. isbeingseenas another bright prospect.Foundedby StanfordUniversityscientists,with financial backingfrom Volkswagen AG,QuantumScapeisoneofthelead-ing developers of solid-statelithiummetalbatteries.Itsuseofasolidstateseparator
technologyeliminatesthesidere-action between the liquid elec-trolyteandthecarboninconven-tional lithium-ioncells’anode.Appreciationfor thetechnol-
ogyhascomein fromDrStanleyWhittingham, co-inventor of Li-ion battery and winner of the2019NobelPrizeinChemistry.
■Tesla’snewtablessbattery:In September 2020, Tesla un-veiledplanstodevelopanew“ta-bless”batterythatcouldimproveanelectriccar’srangeandpower.Atabisthepartofthebatterythatformsaconnectionbetweenthe
cellandwhatitispowering.Thesenew tabless cells,which Tesla iscalling 4860 cells, will give thecompany’sEVbatteriesfivetimesmoreenergycapacity,makethemsixtimesmorepowerful,anden-ablea16per cent range increaseforTesla’svehicles.
■InJuly2020,researchersatStanfordUniversityclaimedthattheyhaddevelopedanewelec-trolytedesignthatboostslithiummetalbatteries’performance,in-creasingthedrivingrangeofEVs.Theysaidthattheelectrolyteso-lutionhadbeenoneof themostsignificant factors holding backprogress for lithiummetal bat-teries.
■ChinesetechgroupQingTaoEnergyDevelopmentisspendingover$150millioninR&Dofsolid-state batteries, amongother ar-eas.
Fantasy gamesUSA-basedTigerGlobalandoth-ers. Days later,Mobile PremierLeague (MPL) raised$90millionin funding, led by Hong Kong-basedSIG.Asubstantialchunkofthisin-
vestmentisusedtosponsorplay-ers, teams and tournaments indifferent sports – fromcricket tokabaddi, footballtohockey.“This is oneway to increase
their user base, which in turnhelps them generate revenuesinceeveryuserhastopayafee,”saidaconsultanttoaplatform.WhileDreamXI is the Indian
Premier League’smain sponsor,the logoof theMPL, a branden-dorsed by India captain ViratKohli, isontheTeamIndiajersey.Virtuallyeverypopularcricketer,presentorretired,promotesafan-tasy league – this list includesBCCI president SouravGangulyand Bharat Ratna SachinTendulkar.Of late, international betting
companies, despite sports gam-bling being illegal in India, haveslipped intothesportingecosys-temby advertising directly andthrough surrogateways accept-ing online bets through Indianbankingsystems.The Niti Aayog draft stays
awayfromtheonlinebettingde-batebut says that fantasy sports“shouldnotbelegallyclassifiedasgambling”sinceskill,notchance,is a predominant factor. It hascited the example of the regula-torysystemsintheUnitedStates--where fantasy sports are al-lowedin43states.Former US-based fantasy
sports writer and podcasterGabrielHarbersaidfantasygamescontinuetoberegulatedthroughstatelegislation,whichmakesop-erators accountable. "A largenumber of states had banned itoutright but brought thembackby passing legislation,” Harbersaid. “Since it's regulated on astate-to-state basis, the gamingcommissionshavetoensurefair-ness.”NitiAayoghassaida“self-reg-
ulatory organisation” shouldcommunicatewithallstatesandrequest“themtoconsidergrant-ing to OFSPs immunity fromcriminalprosecution”.Said Sai Srinivas, co-founder
andCEOofMPL:"Westronglybe-lievethattheself-regulatorybodyproposedbyNitiAayogshouldbeset up on principles of fairness,transparencyandindependence,soitcanhelpspurfurtherinnova-tion." Butmore safeguardsmaybeneeded, experts said. “Thesearenotjustgames.Thereisanin-cursion into vulnerable sectionsofsociety,likeminorswithaccesstomobilephones.Andwherever
the section cannot protect itself,youwillneedStateintervention,”said Bengaluru-based lawyerSridharPrabhu.Prabhu,whorep-resentspetitioner SharadaDR inaPIL filed in theKarnatakaHighCourt, seeking a ban on onlinegambling, said a regulator likeSEBI,maybeneeded for fantasygaming.“Thesearemammothor-ganisationswith hugemoneypower and reach. People whoplay cricketmultipliedby four isthenumber of peoplewhoplayandparticipateinthesegames.Soit needs regulation, particularlybecauseminorshaveaccess to itthroughmobilephones,”Prabhusaid.
Cooper hospitalOn Sunday, the Drug
Controller General of India ap-provedemergencyrestricteduseof Serum Institute of India’sCovishield andBharat Biotech’sCovaxinvaccines.BMCofficialssaidtheyexpect
thevaccinerollouttobeginsoonand have asked contractors tospeed up work. On Sundayevening, labourers were busypainting chairs forwaiting areasatCooperhospital,withsomeset-tingupbeds and some finishingoffelectricalwork.“We began civil work last
weekandhaveonlyadaytofinishwork.We are not changing thebasic infrastructure since itwasalreadybeingusedasanisolationward,” anon site Eckoncontrac-torsaid.WhiletheKWestwardishandling drainage and installa-tion of curtains or partitions,BMC'smaintenancedepartmentisgoingtosetupsignages.Thecentrewillhaveawaiting
areaunderashedattheentrance.Theregistrationwillbedoneinacorridor,which leads into threevaccinationrooms.Ineachroom,aroundfivepersonscanbevacci-natedatatime.Anobservation roomfurther
downthecorridorwillhavesev-eralchairstomonitoreachvacci-natedbeneficiaryforhalfanhour.Incaseofanaphylacticreactionorsevereadverseeffects,thebenefi-ciarywill be transferred to twootherroomsthathousebedsandemergencymedicalequipment.Dr Pinakin Gujjar, Dean of
Cooper hospital, said a teamofspecialistsfromanaesthesia,ENT,chest andgeneralmedicinewillbeavailable tohandleseveread-verseeffects. “Wedidnothavetospendalotonthecentre,wejusthad to spruceup theexisting fa-cility. We are installing watercoolerandrepairingtoilets,”saidAdditional MunicipalCommissionerSureshKakani.BMC currently has selected
fivestoragecentres–inKEM,Nair,SionandCooperhospitalsaswellas the F South health office –where the first batch of vaccinewill be stocked. Anodal storagefacilityis,meanwhile,undercon-structioninKanjurmarg.TheCooperhospital vaccina-
tion centre can vaccinate 2,000people a day. Ten teamswill bedeputedtoworkintwoshiftsforthepurpose.With Cooper hospital being
themain vaccination centre inwesternsuburbs,BMCismullingover creating a token systemattheregistrationcounter.“Itispos-siblethatahugecrowdcomesatthesametimeforvaccination.Topreventovercrowdingatthever-ification counter, a tokenwill beissuedtobeneficiariestocreateawaitinglistandhousetheminthewaitingarea,”Kakanisaid.
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wetalkabouthowclashesbrokeout inMadhyaPradeshafterrallieswerecarriedout throughMuslim-dominatedandcommunally-sensitiveareas.
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of M/s Serum and BharatBiotecharebeing approved forrestricteduseinemergencysit-uation...,”Somanisaid.“A decisive turning point
tostrengthenaspiritedfight!”tweeted Prime MinisterNarendraModi following theannouncement. “It wouldmakeevery Indianproudthatthe two vaccines that havebeengivenemergencyuseap-provalaremadein India!Thisshows the eagerness of ourscientific community to fulfilthe dream of anAatmanirbhar Bharat, at therootofwhichiscareandcom-passion,” he added.With some experts and
Oppositionleadersraisingcon-cerns over the grant of ap-proval to Covaxin, without itsefficacy trials being over,Health Minister HarshVardhan tweeted that BharatBiotech'svaccineismorelikelytoworkagainstnewervariantsof the virus, including the UKvariant, "as it contains im-munogens (epitopes) fromother genes in addition tothose fromSpikeprotein".Vardhan also underlined
that the emergency use ap-proval for Covaxinwas "differ-ently conditional" fromCovishield andwas in clinicaltrialmode. "All Covaxin recipi-entstobetracked,monitoredasif they’re in trial," theministertweeted."ThisapprovalensuresIndiahas anadditional vaccineshield in itsarsenal (especially)againstpotentialmutantstrainsin a dynamic pandemic situa-tion -- A strategic decision forourvaccinesecurity."Vardhanaddedthatno"se-
roconversion"--fromthepointof viral infection towhenanti-bodies becomepresent in theblood -- hadbeenobserved inthose givenCovaxin, an inacti-vatedvaccine,inPhase1and2ofitsclinicaltrials."Ourexperiencewith inactivated vaccines nothaving serious adverse eventswas also observed in Phase IIdone... No serious adverseeventsseen.Only7percentper-sons receiving 6 microgramdose had mild symptoms,"Vardhansaidinanothertweet.ASubjectExpertCommittee
(SEC) looking into applicationsby the two firms formarketingauthorisation had recom-
mended that the SerumInstitute of India (SII),which ismakingCovishield, be grantedrestricted emergencyuse per-mission“subjecttomultiplereg-ulatory conditionalities”, theMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfaresaidonSaturday.TheSIIhadsubmittedsafety,
immunogenicity and efficacydatageneratedfrom23,745par-ticipantsaged18yearsandolderfromoverseasclinicalstudies,aswell as interim safety and im-munogenicitydatafromitson-goingPhase2/3clinicaltrialson1,600participantsinIndia.The immunogenicity of a
vaccineisitsabilitytopromptanimmuneresponse,whiletheef-ficacy, in this case, is ameasureof its ability to bringdown thenumberofsymptomaticCovid-19cases.The SEC had also recom-
mended similar restrictedper-mission,“inclinicaltrialmode”,to Bharat Biotech, which hassubmittedsafetyandimmuno-genicity data frompre-clinicalstudiesonanimalsaswellasre-sultsfromPhase1and2humantrialsinapproximately800vol-unteersofCovaxin.
TheSEC’srecommendationcame after it reviewed thissafety and immunogenicitydata, according toDr Somani.While he did not mentionwhether the firmhad submit-tedanyefficacydataonthevac-cine, he said that the recom-mendationwas also “in publicinterestasanabundantprecau-tion... to havemoreoptions forvaccinations, especially in caseof infectionbyamutantstrain”.BharatBiotechiscurrentlyin
the process of recruiting andvaccinating 25,800 volunteersforthePhase3trialsofCovaxinand,tilldate,22,500participantshave receivedat least onedoseof thevaccine.Covishieldwould be ready
to roll out “in the comingweeks,” tweeted SII CEOAdarPoonawalla. "All the risks SIItookwith stockpiling the vac-cine(have)paidoff."TheapprovaltoCovaxinisa
“giant leap for innovation andnovel product development inIndia,” said Bharat BiotechChairman and ManagingDirectorDrKrishnaElla.
—WITHINPUTSFROMENS,PUNE
Two Covid vaccines get emergencyuse nod, one in clinical trial mode
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMEERUT, JANUARY3
A 35-YEAR-OLD man was al-legedly beaten to death by po-licemenathishouse inShamli’sElamtownonSundayafternoon.Thepolice, however, denied theallegation, saying Omveer diedofcardiacarrestafterthepolice-
men left his house. The policehavealsoorderedan inquiry.While the Kandhla
Superintendent of Police saidthatpolicemenvisitedOmveer'shouse in connection “with acomplaintagainsthim”,thelocalSHO said that hewas not awarewhy the policemenwent to hishouse.Omveer's14-year-olddaugh-
ter, Puja, told the police thatwhen she returned home fromthemarket,shesawthreepolice-men “attacking her fatherwithclubs”. “When the policemenleft, I rushed to my father andfound him lying lifeless on theground,” saidPuja.Thefamilymembersclaimed
that therewas no case pendingagainstOmveerinanypolicesta-
tion inShamli.“I have ordered an inquiry
into the incident. A few police-
men from the Elam police posthad gone to Omveer's house inconnection with a complaintagainst him. The policemen lefthis house. Later, Omveer diedprobablyfromcardiacarrest.Wehave received a written com-plaint fromhis familymemberswho alleged that he has beenbeaten to death. I have assuredthemno guilty will be spared,”
Kandhla SPSukritiMadhav toldThe Indian Express over thephone.“Wewill certainly bring out
thetruththroughour investiga-tion,”Madhavadded.“We have sent the body for
post-mortem.An inquiryhas al-ready been ordered. We don'tknowyetwhythepolicemenhadgone to Omveer's house,” said
RajanTyagi, in chargeof theareapolicestationinShamlidistrict.Following Omveer's death,
his family members and resi-dents of the area blocked theDelhi highway demanding im-mediate action against the“guilty policemen”. The road-blockwas lifted after senior po-lice officers intervened and as-suredthemofimmediateaction.
Policesaidthe35-year-olddiedofcardiacarrestafterthey left thehouse
Man ‘beaten todeath by police’at his home inShamli town,probe ordered
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3THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JANUARY4,2021
THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
With just a year remaining forBMCelections, alsoknownas the“mini Assembly” polls, politicalpartieshavestarteddrawingtheirstrategies.DespiteShivSena,NCPandCongress ruling the state inacoalition, the three may contestthe civic polls separately.Opposition leader in BMC andCongress corporator RAVI RAJA,who has been training his gunsagainstSena,whichrulesthecivicbody, speakstoLAXMANSINGHandSANJANABHALERAOabouta rangeof issues.
Congresshas renewed itsaggressionagainstShivSenainBMC.Why?Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)
exists in the state government,not in the BMC. I am the leaderofOppositioninBMC. Iamclearthat I will speak forMumbaikars. Insomecases,wehave supported Shiv Sena. Butof late, especially amid theCovid-19 pandemic, the partyhasstoppedconsultinganyone.Whenever we oppose what isnot in the interest ofMumbaikars, the BMC(Standing Committee) chair-man(fromSena)says– 'humkoupar se order aaya hain'. Wedon’t knowwho this 'upar' is, itmay be CM saab, Aaditya sahibalso.Hehas to clarify.Secondly, in the first stand-
ing committee meeting inOctober, of the 600 proposals,over250were related toCovid-
19expenditure. They tabled forpost factoapproval.Allwerere-ferred back to the administra-tionandallcorporators, includ-ing those fromSena, supportedit.Wewantedtransparency.Buttwomonths have passed sinceand no reply has been receivedfrom the administration. Nowthey want approval for extrafunds.Howcanweapprove?Wehavenoobjectiontogiv-
ingthemoney,weareobjectingtothenon-responsivenatureoftheadministration. ShivSena isknownfortakingU-turns.Sena,which had backed the earlierdecision to refer the proposalsback to the administration, isnow saying all proposals havebeen approved. This is a com-plete eyewash.
DoyouthinktherenewedaggressionwouldcreatedifferencesbetweenCongressandShivSena in thestategovernment?MVAisaseparate identity. It
is based on a common mini-mum programme (CMP). InBMC, we don’t have a CMP.Weopposedthepropertytaxbene-fit given tohoteliersandhoard-ingowners.Whenyourrevenueisaffected,whygivesuchbene-fits? We opposed the waivergiven to 5-star hotel Taj MahalPalace. This is only benefitingthe rich. This clearly shows thattherulingpartyisnotconcernedabout themiddle class and the
poor. The CM is from the rulingparty, what is he doing?Property tax waiver for housesupto500sqftwasapprovedbutonly one of the (eight) compo-nentsof thetaxisbeingwaived.Somewhere, you have fooledthe people ofMumbai. Howdoyou expect us to go alongwithsuchaparty?
After therecentwardcommitteeelectionswhereCongress supportedSenacandidates,BJPcalledyoua“friendlyopposition”.Doyouthinkthisoppositionagainst
Senastarted too late?Inthewardcommitteeelec-
tions,wherewedidnothavethenumbers,wewithdrewourcan-didate. Thiswasdone toensurethatBJPdoesnotcometopower.But that doesn’tmeanwe havegivenablanketsanctiontoSenatodowhatever itwants.On occasions, whenwe op-
posedSena,whydidtheBJPnotdo the same? Because BJP justwants to play games... I will saythis now and in future also, ifSena is trying to fool thepeopleof Mumbai, Congress, alongwithNCPandSamajwadiParty,will opposeSena.
WasthereanunderstandingbetweenyouandShivSenain thewardcommitteeelections?In the ward elections, we
were offered three posts bySena. But we refused. We willnot share power with Sena inthe corporation. That is thestand of the party high com-mand.
WillCongresshaveanalliancewithSena forBMCpolls?OurnewCongresspresident
(for Mumbai) Bhai Jagtap hasclearly stated that wewill con-test from all the 227 wards. Ihave also said the same. Ourstand is clear, wewill fight thiselectionalone.Weareanationalparty, our workers are there in
eachward.
Manycorporatorscomplainthat commissionersandotherofficialsdon'tmeetthemorpayheedto theirissues.AfterOctober,manyinstruc-
tionsweregivenbytheStandingCommittee chairman to addi-tional municipal commission-ers and the commissioner buthardly anything was followed.Inthepast,commissionersusedto provide answers but nowthey are not taking corporatorsseriously. They are answeringonlytoMantralaya(statesecre-tariat)orVarsha(chiefminister'soffice). BMC has been totallydecimated. Sena is responsiblefor thisunfortunate situation.
AsanOpposition leader,haven't youfailed to takeonthecommissioner if asyousayhe is runningBMConhisownwhim?Standing Committeemeet-
ings have been taking place forthe last three months. Thrice,MunicipalCommissioner(IqbalSinghChahal)was called to themeetingsbuthedidnotturnup.Earlier, (previous commission-ers) Ajoy Mehta and PraveenPardeshi used to attendStanding Committeemeetingswhen called. This shows he(Chahal) has become biggerthan the institution.Also, while the Standing
Committee andother statutorycommittees have met physi-cally, a physical meeting of theBMCHouse is yet to take place(amid the pandemic). A physi-calmeetingwillbringallcorpo-ratorstogetherandthecommis-sioner will have to attend. Itseems Sena also doesn't wantthemeetingorelseitcouldhaverequested permission from thestate government (to hold themeeting). The Sena is happywithvideoconferencemeetingssince the current set-up is ben-eficial to it.
Whyis theOppositionnotbringinganoconfidencemotionagainst thecommissioner?For a no confidencemotion
to be introduced, a physicalmeetingof theHousehastotakeplace. IhavealreadymovedanoconfidencemotionagainstBESTGeneral Manager SurendraBagadebutit isstuckbecausenophysical meeting has takenplace. Most of the time whencorporators ask for a meetingwiththecommissioner,theyareinformed that he is inMantralaya. Howwill he givejusticetocorporators?Thestateshould also think about this.Otherwise, the corporationshould be dissolved... let themrun it. This is local self-govern-ment and it has autonomy. Theindependent stature of BMC isindanger.
MONDAYINTERVIEW
RAVIRAJAOPPOSITIONLEADER INBMCANDCONGRESSCORPORATOR
Citing abuse of lawby police, courtdismisses 30 caseslodged for violationof lockdown normsSADAFMODAKMUMBAI, JANUARY3
INAlegalhurdlefortheMumbaiPolice,which is seeking topros-ecutepeoplefoundnotwearingmasksinpublicplacesorviolat-ing lockdownandnight curfew,at least 30 cases have been dis-missed last week by a court, onthe ground that proper proce-durehasnotbeen followed.Multiple orders passed by a
metropolitanmagistrate’s courthavesaidthatthepoliceactionis“withoutauthorityoflaw”andan“abuse of process of law”, as thesections invoked in the cases re-quireacomplaintfiledbythecol-lector or his subordinate officer,whichhasnotbeendone.Theor-ders also stated thatwhile thosebookedhavebeen chargedwithspreadinganinfection,theyhavenotbeentestedforCovid-19.The police have been book-
ingpeoplenotwearingmasksaswell as for violating lockdownandnightcurfewundersectionsincluding188(violationofanor-der by a public servant), 269(negligently doing anactwhicha person knows is likely tospread an infection of any dis-easedangeroustolife),270(ma-lignantly doing such an act) ofthe Indian Penal Code and theDisasterManagementAct,2005.In many cases, the accused
who have pleaded guilty havebeendirectedtopayafinebeforetheir casesweredisposed.In at least 30 cases lodged in
the eastern suburbs, when thepolice filed chargesheets andsoughtthatsummonsbeissuedtotheaccused,thecourtconsid-ered themaintainability of thecases. Inmultipleorderspassedlast week, it observed thatchargesunder sections269and270of the IPC isnot attracted inthesecases.“Admittedly, thepolicehave
notcarriedoutCovid-19testsofthe accused persons.Moreover,there is no documentary evi-dence to show that the accusedpersons had tested positive. Inabsenceof suchmaterial on therecord, itcannotbesaidthatthe
accusedhadindulgedinanyact,whichwaslikelytospreadinfec-tion of Covid-19,” one of thecourt orders said. It added thatthere was no proof that any ofthosebookedhadviolatedquar-antine ruleseither.Theordersfurtherstatedthat
Section188–thechargeinvokedinallcasesof lockdownviolation– related to disobedience of anorder promulgated by a publicservant.Inthiscase,theorderre-garding the lockdown waspassedby thecollector’soffice.Moreover, the orders stated
that to be booked under theDisaster Management Act, thecomplaint has to be authorisedbyanational,stateordistrictau-thorityconstitutedundertheActandtheaccusedshouldbegivenanoticeofatleastamonth.Theyadded that in these cases, thecomplaintswere filed by policepersonnel who are not autho-rised todosounder theAct.“Inabsenceofsuchstatutory
compliance, it is nothing butabuseof processof law,” theor-derssaid,addingthatinvestigat-ing authorities “actedwithoutjurisdiction” in registering FIRsandconductingprobes.Since March, over 56,000
cases have been filed underSection 188 of the IPC acrossMumbai.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, JANUARY3
SHIV SENA leader DeepakMhatre was shot at by bike-borne assailants on SaturdaynightoutsidehisBhiwandiresi-dence when he was with hiswife. Mhatre, who is the ShivSena's shakha pramukh fromBhiwandi, survived the attack.Narpolipolicehavestartedanin-vestigation in thecase.The incident took place late
Saturday night whenMhatre,whohadgonetoThanewithhiswife, was returning home. Heparkedhisfour-wheeleroutsidehishousewhentwopersonsonabikefiredathimbeforefleeingfromthespot,policesaid.Thein-cident was captured on CCTVcameras. The CCTV footageshows Mhatre first taking hiswife to safety in their housebe-fore running outside to look atthebike,police said."There is suspicion that the
attackmay be linked to the up-coming gram panchayat elec-tionsintheareaasMhatreisoneof the hopeful aspirants in therace. We have some leads andshouldbeabletotrackdowntheaccused soon," said an officerfromNarpolipolice station.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, JANUARY3
THENARCOTICSControlBureau(NCB) detained a Tollywoodac-tor from a hotel room in MiraRoadonSaturday inconnectionwithadrugracket.Thepolicehad intercepteda
suspectnamedChandShaikhatGurunanakMarg near BandrarailwaystationonSaturdayandrecovered 400 gm of MD fromtheBandra resident.After interrogating Shaikh,
thepoliceraidedahotelroomatThe Crown Business Hotel atBhayander, but failed to nab asuspect,SayeedShaikh,whohadfled. However, police found theactor in the room and are cur-rently interrogatingher.Anofficersaid thatSayeed,a
resident of Mira Bhayander inThane, is supposed to be themain supplier ofMDdrugs. TheNCBinMumbairegisteredanof-fenceandareon the lookout forhim.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, JANUARY3
THEMUMBAIPolice, investigat-ing themurder of a 19-year-oldwoman at a New Year party inKharearlyFriday,hasbegan theprocess of recording the state-ments of those present at theparty to establish the chain ofevents that led to themurder.So far, two of the woman's
friends – a 19-year-oldwomanand a 22-year-oldman -- whohad comewithher to theparty,whichwasheldat the terraceof
abuilding,havebeenarrestedonchargesofmurder.The murder is believed to
have taken place on the stair-caseof thebuilding followingaphysical altercation betweenthe three.Thepolicesaidthatintheab-
sence of any CCTV camerafootageofthestaircaseofthe10-storey building and no eyewit-nesses, a friend that the de-ceased spoke with some timebeforeshewaskilled,willbevi-tal.“Itappearsthatthedeceasedspoketoafriendoverthephoneaftershehadafightwiththetwo
accused. Shewas upset andherfriend consoled her. The state-ment of the friendwill be vitalevidencetoestablishthattheac-cusedandthevictimhadafightand therefore, had amotive toharmher,” said thepolice.The police are also trying to
gather evidence onwhat tran-spired between the time thethree were seen leaving theparty and when the body wasfoundon theground floor stair-case of the building some timelater. “Usually, everybody takesthe lift. In this case, why theytook the stairs is another ques-
tionbeforeus,” said theofficer.The police have recovered
CCTV footage of the one of theaccused leaving the building inaninjuredconditionafterthein-cident in the wee hours ofJanuary1.The postmortem report has
revealed that the victim’s skullwas fractured and she had alsosustained injuries on her fore-head, on the back of her head,hipandthighs.Thepolicehavesaid that the
two accused also sustained in-juriesontheirheadandbackandhad visited Sion and Hinduja
hospitalsaftertheincidentwith-out informinganyone.Officers have also recorded
the statements of other friendspresent at the party to corrobo-rate themovements of the ac-cusedandthedeceased.“Some of these accounts
cover different aspects of whathappened that night. One ofthosepresentsaidthatthethreehad a fight at a friend's place inthe same building after the de-ceasedwas feeling unwell andwas taken there.We are tryingto ascertain the exact sequenceof events,” theofficer said.
MURDERATKHARNEWYEARPARTY
Police record statements to establish sequence of events
SHYNAKALRANEWDELHI, JANUARY3
MUMBAI-BASED AnandRajkumarMishra has notchedup 99.92 percentile in theCommonAdmission Test (CAT)2020despitespinalmuscularat-rophy, a genetic disorder thatmakesitdifficultforhimtowalkwithoutbraces.Mishra, however, did not let
it affect his studies. Born in afamily of four siblings, all ofwhom are doctors, the 23 yearold always had an affinity to-wardstradingandfinancewhichmotivated him towards a B-school. He aspires to join any ofIIM-Ahmedabad, Bangalore, orCalcutta or Delhi University’sFacultyofManagementStudies.“I had joined coaching to
crackIITentranceexambutdur-ing that time I used to study
booksrelatedtofinance,billion-aires, andbiographyof success-ful people. I started developinganinterestintrading.However, Istudiedscienceasitwasconsid-eredtherightstreamformerito-rious students,” said Mishra,who studied B.Tech in projectmanagement.Aftercompletinghisgradua-
tion, he applied forCAT in2019.Eventhoughhehadcrackedtheentrance exam by scoring 73
percentile, hewas not satisfiedwith his performance and at-tempted for the exam again in2020. He said he was deter-minedtogetadmissioninoneoftheIIMstofulfillhisdreamofbe-cominganentrepreneur.“Ihavestudiedalotaboutal-
ternative investments and re-alised that this field is under-served in India. There is avacuum in this spacewhich of-fersagreatopportunity fornew
businesses,”hesaid.To crack the exam this year,
Mishrasaidhefocusedonmocktests.“Lastyear, Ihadfocusedonbookish knowledge, and thisyear I focused onmock tests. Ihad registered formocks for al-mostall topvendors. Iappearedforover100mocktestsandeachtimeIanalysedmyperformanceandworkedonmyweakareas. Iwouldrecommendthispracticestyle toeveryaspirant,”hesaid.
He had expected to scoreabout99percentileafterreview-ing the answer key and is cur-rently seeking coaching for in-terview rounds at QuoinAcademy. His teacher at theacademy, Patrick D’Souza, hasalso cracked CAT 2020 with99.98 percentilemarks. He hadgot 100 percentile last year aswell and has so far attemptedCAT 18 times and topped sixtimes.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE, JANUARY3
THEREGIONALMeteorologicalCentre (RMC) in Mumbai hassought cooperation fromschools, colleges, governmentoffices and institutions to allota small piece of land on theirrespectivepremises for the in-stallation of Automatic RainGauges (ARG).The RMC plans to
strengthen its existing raingauge network in the city inthe comingmonths.Itwill install 20ARGs,of the
total proposed 50 ARGs, byMarch this year.With additional ARGs, the
weather department aims togather more localised meteo-rological data -- rainfall, tem-perature, humidity in real timeat regular intervals -- whichwill thenbeused inmakingac-curateweather forecasts, espe-cially during the crucial mon-soonmonths.
Last year, Mumbai becamethe second Indian city, afterChennai, to get its own inte-grated flood warning system,which is being operated withthe help of the MunicipalCorporation of GreaterMumbai and theStateDisasterManagement Authority. Thesystemwasable tomonitor ris-ing water levels, following in-tense rain in specific geo-graphic areas, and share theinformation with the civicbody for issuing timely floodwarnings.The strengthening of the
rain gauge network is beingundertakenaspart of the IndiaMeteorological Department's(IMD) urbanmeteorology.The RMC will need space
measuring about 10 feet by 10feeton theground ina securedplace and the installation andmaintenance will be per-formed by the Met depart-ment. Interested institutionscan reach out to the body [email protected].
AnandRajkumarMishranotchedup99.92percentiledespitespinalmuscularatrophythatmakes itdifficult forhimtowalkwithoutbraces
23 year old overcomes disability to crack CAT, wants to be entrepreneur/
AnandRajkumarMishra
Met centre in Mumbai seeksspace in schools, collegesto boost rain gauge network
Sena shakhapramukhshot at inBhiwandi
Actor arrested inconnection withdrugs racket
PradipDas
19.42 lakhTOTALPOSITIVECASESINMAHARASHTRAActiveCases 54,317NewCases 3,282TotalDeaths 49,666NewDeaths 35Quarantined 2.47lakhTested 1.29crore
2,95,241TOTALPOSITIVECASESINMUMBAINewCases 581TotalDeaths 11,135NewDeaths 3
Workinprogressat thenodalCovid-19vaccinestorage facility inKanjurmargonSunday.Deepak Joshi
Shiv Sena not concerned aboutmiddleclass and poor; fooled people ofMumbai
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MAHARASHTRA4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JANUARY4,2021
Navi Mumbai Municipal CorporationCity Engineering Department
RE-Tender Notice No. NMMC/ E.E(Digha)/168/2020-21Name of work :- Construction of ESR and GSR on OS1 (AM-5)
plot at Digha Ward.Estimated Cost Rs. :- 12,41,63,126/-Tender booklets will be available on e-tendering computer
system at https://organizations.maharashtra.nextprocure.in andat www.nmmc.gov.in website of NMMC on dt. 04 / 01 /2021. Thetender is to be submitted online athttps://organizations.maharashtra.nextprocure.inFor anytechnicaldifficulties in the e-tendering process, please contact thehelp desk number given on this website.
The right to accept or reject any tender is reserved by theHon'ble Commissioner of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation
sign/-City Engineer
NMMC PR Adv no./2392/2020 Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation
Office of the Chief Engineer (East),
7th Floor, Cauvery Bhavan, K.G. Road, Bengaluru - 560 009
No.BWSSB/EIC/CE(E)/ACE(E)-I/DCE(M)-I/TA(M)-I/4195/2020-21 Date: 28.12.2020
INVITATION FOR TENDER(Through e-Procurement Portal Only)
BANGALORE WATER SUPPLY
AND SEWERAGE BOARD
BWSSB invites item rate tenders in Two Stage Tender system
from eligible contractors for the work of "Providing andLaying 600 mm dia, 300 mm dia MS water supply Feederlines by replacing the existing leaky PSC/CI lines Under
the Jurisdiction of EENE starts from i/f BDA flyover (nearMahindra Showroom) along Bellary Road to K.G. TowerGLR premises and by linking 300 mm dia from 600 mm
dia line at Bellary main road to Jayamahal-Nandidurgaroad junction (Snow City) via Mekhri circle by connecting
to existing n/w to by pass the old CI line which is passing
through Palace Ground coming under the jurisdiction ofAEE(NE)2 Sub Division."
Amount put to tender: Rs. 381.24 lakhs. EMD: Rs. 5.72 lakh.Last date for submission of completed tender documents is
on 04.02.2021 up to 15.00 hrs. and tender will be opened on
06.02.2021 after 17.00 hrs. The details regarding the tenderand participation in the e-Procurement process can be
obtained by logging on to https://eproc.karnataka.gov.in For
further details contact the undersigned office during working hours.Sd/-
DIPR/DDU/2253/MCA/2020-21 Chief Engineer (East)
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, JANUARY3
THEREPUBLICANParty of India(RPI) on Sunday threatened anagitation if the Maha VikasAghadi (MVA) government re-named Aurangabad asSambhajinagarafterChhatrapatiSambhaji Maharaj, a demandbackedby its biggerpartnerBJPas thecity'smunicipal electionsapproach.“TheRPIisnotinfavourofre-
naming Aurangabad. The cityhas its own distinct culturalidentity. If the Maha VikasAghadi government renames it,RPIwillbeforcedtolaunchanin-definiteagitation,” RPIpresidentand UnionMinister of State forSocial Justice RamdasAthawalesaid.Aurangabadcity,withasize-
able population of Dalits andMuslims,hasbeenanRPIstrong-hold. The controversy over theissuehasroiledthecityover thelast few days, withMaha vikasAghadi partners Shiv Sena andCongress engaging in a war ofwords, and BJP trying to cornertheShivSenaonthis.AcknowledgingthatBJP is in
favourofrenamingAurangabad,Athawalesaid, “RPIasapoliticalparty has its own ideology andagenda.WehavedecidedagainstrenamingAurangabad.”TherenamingofAurangabad
has been on the Shiv Sena'sagenda for long, and is an issuethat tends to crop up aroundeveryelection.While theShivSenahasput
out that it iskeentoadoptares-olution in the state Cabinetfavouring the renaming, stateCongresschiefBalasahebThorathadsaid thematterwasnotun-der consideration of the MVAgovernment and if sucha situa-tion arose, the Congress wouldoppose it.“The renaming issue is not
part of the CommonMinimumProgrammeof theMVAgovern-ment,”hehadsaidonFriday.“The issue will lead to the
downfallofthegovernment.Thedifferences between CongressandShivSenawillleadtothecol-lapse of the government...,”Athawale said, but alsomade itclear that he differed with hisownallyBJPonthe issue.Congress leader and PWD
Minister Ashok Chavan said onSunday, “Our concern is the de-velopment of Aurangabad.Wedon't subscribe to renamingcities.”
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE, JANUARY3
POLICEHAVE launched a probeinto a suspected card-cloningracket following the arrest of a23-year-oldengineeringstudentwhoused toworkaswaiter at aBhosari hotel. The student hadallegedly cloned cards of threecustomerswhoendeduplosingoverRs94,000.AnFIRhasbeenregisteredat
Bhosari police station by localresident and one of the threecustomers, Pimple Gurav, 35,who lost Rs 50,000 from hisbank account briefly after visit-ing a bar at Landewadi in
Bhosari, Pune. The probe re-vealedthattwomorecustomers,who had visited the bar onDecember 4 and 15, had lost Rs25,000 and Rs 19,500 respec-tively,fromtheiraccounts.Theseamounts had beenwithdrawnfromanATMkiosk inBihar.A teamfromtheBhosaripo-
lice station, led by inspectorJitendraKadam,launchedthein-vestigation with the help ofPimpri Chinchwad police’s cy-bercrime cell. The investigatorsinitially zeroed in on a waiterwho had served all the threefraud victims. They subse-quentlyidentifiedthewaiterasastudent,a Jalgaonnative,whoispursuing his diploma in engi-
neering. He was arrested onSaturdayandwassubsequentlyremanded to police custody foraweek.The probe revealed that the
student had been using a skim-mingdevicetostealdata fromatleast three cards handedover tohimbythecustomersduringbillpaymentatthebar.Thedatawasthensharedwitharacketeerwhoissuspectedtohavegivenhimthecard-skimmingdevice.Whilethemain racketeer withdrew Rs94,500 fromthe three cards, thestudent received less than Rs4,000ashisshare,anofficersaid.Inspector Kadam said, "A
hunt is on to nab the accusedwithwhom the studentwas in
touch. We are trying to find ifmorepeopleareinvolvedinthisfraud.We are also probingwhyandhowthestudentwastappedby the racketeers and if morepeoplehavebeendefraudedinasimilar fashion."Cloningofcards,alsoreferred
to as skimming, involves elec-tronic theftof thecreditordebitcarddatausingvariousmethods.Thestolendataareusedbyfraud-sterstogainaccesstousers’bankaccounts andwithdrawmoney.Officialssaidthatsuchcrimesre-quirealotoftechnicalknowhow,elaborate set of software andelectronic systems. Generally,such fraudstersusemules togetaccess tocard information.
PrithvirajSathe,generalsecretaryofMaharashtra Pradesh CongressCommittee,hasbeenpromotedassecretary of AICC and co-inchargeofAssamCongress.Sathe,whohailsfromPimpri-Chinchwad, inan in-terviewtoManojMore,deniesthegrowing public perception thatCongresswastryingtoweakenthegovernmentandpull itdown.
CongressministersinMVAgovernmentareconstantlycomplainingabout‘injustice’.Somearealsotargetingthegovernment.IstheCongresstryingtodestabilisethegovernment?ThethreepartyMVAgovern-
ment has come to power on thebasis of theCommonMinimumProgramme. The government isbeing run as per the CMP.Congressministershadsome is-sueswhichtheyraised.Solutionscanbefoundtoany
problem. I am sure the seniorleadership of the three partieswillsittogetherandfindoutaso-lutiontotheissuesraised.
PublicperceptionisthatCongressistryingtoweakenthegovernmentbyraisingpersonalissuesratherthanpublicissues.In fact, the Congress is trying
tostrengthenthegovernmentinwhichever way possible. It iswrongtosaythattheCongressistrying to weaken the govern-ment. Inmyregular interactionswith the public, I get the feeling
thattheCongresshasdoneevery-thingrightsofar.
WhenwilltheCongressgetafull-timenationalpresident?That process is on theway.
Oncetheorganisationalelectionsare held, the Congresswill get afull-timepresident.
NCPchiefSharadPawar’snameisdoingtheroundsasUPAchairman.WilltheCongressagreetoit?The decision regarding the
UPAchairmanwillbetakenbyallits constituents. Evenotherwise,theseareonly speculations.NCPhasalsodeniedthat.Wewillcrossthebridgewhenwecometoit.
Inthestatetoo,theCongressdoesnothaveafull-timepresident. IncumbentpresidentBalasahebThoratisaministeraswell.Wealreadyhaveastatepres-
ident in Balsaheb Thorat. I havenoideawhetherthereisaplantochange thepresident. Thisques-tioncanbebestansweredbyournationalpresidentSoniaGandhiandHKPatilwhoislookingafterMaharashtra.
WillCongress,NCPandShivSenafightcivicpollstogether?Thereisstilltimeforcivicelec-
tions. An appropriate decisionwillbetakenincomingmonths.
FULLINTERVIEWONwww.indianexpress.com
‘Congress not trying toweaken MVA govt…we have some issueswhich will be resolved’
INTERVIEW:PRITHVIRAJSATHE
Card-cloning fraud: 23-year-oldengineering student arrested
AMaha-MetrotrainpassesbythePimpriChinchwadMunicipalCorporationheadquartersduringatrial runbetweenPimpri-ChinchwadandPhugewadionSunday.RajeshStephan
PROMOTEDIDZESKUNDAN,a1996-batchIASofficerwhowasoneof12bu-reaucratsnamedintheAdarshhousingscam,waslastweekpro-moted to the Principal Secretary-rank.While the scamwasun-earthed 10 years ago, the government is yet to initiate adepartmentalinquiryagainstbureaucratswhosenamescroppedupinit.Withnopendingdepartmentalinquiryagainsther,thisisKundan'ssecondpromotioninthedecadesincethescamcametolight.PradeepVyas,a1989-batchofficer,istheonlyotherremain-ingservingIASofficerwhosenamewasembroiledinthematter.
IN THE RACE...MAHARASHTRAPUBLICServiceCommission's(MPSC)chairmanSatish Gawai has applied for the post of Chairman of theMaharashtraElectricityRegulatoryCommission,whichwillsoonfallvacant.Butasectionofbureaucratssayhisapplicationmaybecon-trarytotheConstitutionalprovisionthat"prohibitsthechairmanofastatepubliccommission"toholdanyofficeunderthestateorcen-tral government after ceasingoffice, barringmembership to theUnionPublicServiceCommission.
AT LOGGERHEADSTOCUTdownonitsownrentals,thestateadministrationwantstorelocatetheStateElectionCommission, theRightto InformationCommission,theRighttoServicesCommissionandtheLokayukta,toWadalawithin thenext twomonths. This has apparentlynotgonedownwellwithretiredbureaucratsheadingthesecommis-sions,whohaveindicatedthatthealternativelocationisnotsuit-able.Of the four commissions, threeareheadedby formerChiefSecretaries.
UNDER THE LENSQUESTIONSAREbeingraisedovertherecentelevationofPublicWorksDepartmentChief EngineerAnilGaikwadto thepostofaSecretaryinadditionalcapacity.Gaikwad,whowasanaccusedin amulti-crore scam, is alreadyholding another plumpost inastate-runcorporation.Afterbeingsuspendedforgettingem-broiled in thescam, theengineerwas reinstated in2017.
POLITICKLEWHILETHEstateleadershipoftheCongressinMaharashtrahasin-dicatedthat thealliancewithShivSenawasfor thestateonly, thelatterisconsideringtakingittoUttarPradesh.Lastweek,ShivSena'sofficebearersinUttarPradeshareunderstoodtohavesentfeelersto theCongress for apoll understanding for theupcomingpan-chayatelectionsintheNorthIndianstate.
COMPILEDBYSANDEEPASHAR
MUMBAICONFIDENTIAL
Haveacommentor suggestion forMumbaiConfidential?Write [email protected] line:MumbaiConfidential
RPI opposesrenaming ofAurangabad,threatens stir
RamdasAthawale
-
EXPRESSNETWORK 5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JANUARY4,2021
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JANUARY3
ASECTIONof theCongress lead-ership Sunday questioned thedrugregulator’s“premature”ap-proval for Bharat Biotech’sCovaxin,pointingoutthatthein-digenously-developedCovid-19vaccinewas yet to complete thefinalstageofhumanclinicaltrials.Senior party leaders Anand
Sharma, Shashi Tharoor andJairamRameshaskedthegovern-menttoexplainwhyitwas“bypa-ssingmandatoryprotocols”. ButCongresscommunicationdepart-ment head Randeep Surjewalacongratulated the Hyderabad-based company’s scientists andresearchers.SpokespersonGouravVallabhsaidthepartyhasfullfaithinthescientificcommunitywhileseniorleaderandformerlawmin-isterAshwaniKumar said the is-suemustnotbepoliticised.Thedifferingresponsescame
hoursafterDrugsControllerGen-eralof IndiaapprovedtheOxfordCovishieldvaccine,manufacturedbySerumInstituteofIndiaPvt.Ltd,andCovaxin,developedbyBharatBiotech,forrestrictedemergencyuseinthecountry.“Thegovernmentneedstoex-
plain.Howcanyougoontheba-sisofphase2data?Andthereisnopeer revieweither... Thegovern-mentneedstoexplainthesituat-ionwhichnecessitateddispensingwiththemandatoryrequirementofcompletionofphasethreetrialandpublicationof thedata, bothonsafetyandefficacy,whichhasbeenpeer-reviewed,”SharmatoldThe IndianExpress. His party col-leagueandRajyaSabhaMPJairamRameshtweeted,“BharatBiotechis a first-rate enterprise, but it ispuzzling that internationally-ac-ceptedprotocolsrelatingtophase3 trials are beingmodified forCovaxin. HealthMinisterHarshVardhan should clarify.” Tharoorconcurred.
SREENIVASJANYALAHYDERABAD, JANUARY3
THETEAMofscientistsbehindtheindigenous Covid-19 vaccineCovaxin includeBharat BiotechfounderDrKrishnaElla,who is aresearchscientistinmolecularbi-ology,andDrSumathyK,whowasearlier instrumental in thedevel-opment of vaccines against ZikaandChikungunyabythecompany.DrKrishnahasaPhDfromthe
UniversityofWisconsin-Madisonandworkedasa research facultyattheMedicalUniversityofSouthCarolina,Charleston,beforestart-ingthecompanyin1996thatnowhas over a thousandemployees.Bharat Biotechhas earlier devel-opedvaccinesforH1N1,Rotavirus,Japanese Encephalitis, Rabies,Chikungunya, Zika and theworld’s first tetanus-toxoid con-jugatedvaccineforTyphoid.Covaxin was developed by
Bharat Biotech in partnershipwith the ICMR-NIV. After theDrugsControllerGeneralof India(DCGI)announcementapprovingthenod,DrKrishnasaid,“Theap-proval of Covaxin for emergencyuse is a giant leap for innovationandnovel product developmentin India. It isaproudmoment forthenationandagreatmilestonein India’s scientific capability, akickstarttotheinnovationecosys-teminIndia.”Dr Krishna is part of the
ScientificAdvisoryCommitteeoftheUnionCabinet;theGoverningCouncils of the Council ofScientificandIndustrialResearch(CSIR) and Centre for Cellular &
Molecular Biology; ResearchCouncilforCSIRNationalLabora-tories;andtheBoardofVisitorsofthe Global Health Institute,UniversityofWisconsin-Madison.A Phd in Life Sciences from
JNU, Dr Sumathy heads BharatBiotech’s Research andDevelopment team. The othermembersof the teamincludeDrKrishna’ssonDrRachesElla,whohascontributedtoallthefivepub-licationsregardingthesafetyandimmunogenicityofCovaxinpub-lishedso far. Earlier, hehadbeenleadscientist indataanalysisandmanuscript preparation ofRotavirus,typhoidconjugate,andJapaneseEncephalitisvaccines.Healsoconductedprotocolreviewforinvestigational vaccines for ZikaandChikungunya.Covaxinisaninactivatedtwo-
dose vaccine developed andmanufacturedbyBharatBiotech,with the company claiming “anexcellent safety track record ofmore than300milliondoses”. ItstarteditsPhase3humanclinicaltrialsinmid-November,targetedtobedoneonnearly26,000vol-unteersacross India.
Some in Congquestion nodto Covaxin,others saydon’t politicise
PRABHARAGHAVANNEWDELHI, JANUARY3
WITHTWOCovid-19vaccinesap-proved, India is set to begin itsmass vaccinationprogramme inthe“nearfuture”,accordingtotheheadof the expert groupon thecountry’sCovid-19vaccinestrat-egy.Thegovernmenthastoldco-mpaniesmanufacturing the twovaccines—Covishield andCova-xin—topreparetoship“asignif-icantamount”toover30vaccina-tionhubsacrossthecountry.According to the govern-
ment’s Covid-19vaccines opera-tionalguidelines,around30croreof the populationwill be vacci-natedonpriorityinthefirstphase.This includes healthcare andfrontlineworkers aswell aspeo-plewithco-morbiditiesandthoseaged50years andabove.HealthMinister DrHarsh Vardhan hassaid the government plans tocomplete this phase by August2021,andthatthefirstshotsmaybegivensometimeinJanuary.“Thevaccinationprogramme
canbeundertakeninthenearfu-ture.Thegovernmentwillputoutthe exact schedule very soon, ofwhereandhowwearemobilisingthe vaccines,” Dr V K Paul, NITIAayogMember,Health,andchairof theNational ExpertGrouponVaccineAdministrationforCovid-19,toldTheIndianExpressonSun-day.Thisshouldn'ttaketimegiventhatthedryrunisover,hesaid.The30vaccinationhubsarelo-
catedacross the country, suchasin Lucknow,Panchkula, Chennai
andDelhi. Once the companiessend the vaccines to thesehubs,stategovernmentsareexpectedtomobilisethedosestothevaccina-tionpoints.Inthefirsttranche,thevaccinationpointswillbehealth-carefacilitieswherepublicandpri-vatehealthprofessionalswork.Thedetailsofhowmanydoses
will bemoved in the first part ofthisphaseofthemassvaccinationexercise are “beingworked outnow”withthecompanies,DrPaulsaid.“We are telling the compa-nies to be ready to ship a signifi-cant amountof dosages andwilltell themwhere specifically tosendthem."While it isunclearhowmany
dosesofCovaxinhavebeenread-ied by Bharat Biotech, SerumInstitute of India (SII) CEOAdarPoonawalla said Sunday thatCovishieldwouldbereadytorollout “in the comingweeks”. AsofJanuary,around70milliondoses
ofCovishieldhadbeenstockpiled,TheIndianExpresshaslearnt.By February, the SII plans to
rampup itsmonthly output ca-pacity to100milliondoses fromaround50-60million currently,Poonawallahadearliersaid.The governmentwill also be
working out how itwants to di-vide the procurement ofCovishieldandCovaxin.“Let’sseehow itworks out. This partwillnowunfold,”DrPaulsaid.QueriestoBharatBiotechand
SII about their capacity, procure-mentsof their vaccinesand theirdistributionstrategyremainedun-answeredbypresstimeSunday.Thefirstphaseof thevaccina-
tionwillstartwitharound70lakhhealthcare workers registeredacrossthecountry.Overall,thein-frastructure is ready tovaccinatearoundonecrorehealthcarewor-kers,DrPaulsaid.“Thiswillbethefirstwaveofthefirstphase,which
will beginwithhealthcarework-ersbecause it iseasier toconductthevaccinations for themastheyarealreadyinhealthcarefacilities."Aboutthetimeframe,hesaid,
“Itisdifficulttosayexactly,buttheaimis todo itas fastaspossible. Ihopeitwillbedoneinamatteroftwo-threemonths. Remember,wehavetoadministertwodosesofvaccinetoeachperson...Then,itwillbuildup."Thenexttoreceivevaccinesare
likely tobe frontlineworkersandthen people aged 50 years andabove.“Itwillstartstage-wisebutwillnotbeinaseries—wewillnotfinishthelasthealthcareworker’svaccinationbefore startingwithfrontlineworkers.Soon,itwillbe-comesimultaneous,”DrPaulsaid.“Whenwego to the field for
the26crorepeopleabovethe50-year age group, that is the timewhenthisideaoftheelectionpro-gramme-aligned, booth-basedapproachwill be taken. But, fornow,wewillbegoingthroughthehealthcarefacilities,”hesaid.“Thiswillalsohelpusunder-
standthenuancesandwewillbemuchmoreready(tovaccinatealargergroup).Butthis isgoingtounfoldfairlyrapidlyinaveryen-ergeticway,” he told The IndianExpress.While countries like the UK
havedecidedtoattemptgivingasmanypeoplethefirstdosebeforemoving to the second,whetherIndiawill followsuit in its vacci-nation strategywill depend onthe dosing patterns recom-mended by the Subject ExpertCommittee,DrPaulsaid.
Vaccine rollout in near future,exact schedule soon: Panel
Anofficial collectsdetailsduringadoor-to-doorsurveyforCovid-19vaccination inAhmedabad. NirmalHarindran
Bharat Biotech behindvaccines againstZika, Chikungunya
BharatBiotechfounderDrKrishnaElla
TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI, JANUARY3
INVESTIGATORSATTACHEDwiththe phase III trial of BharatBiotech’sCovaxinsaidthatwhiletheyhaveat least fourmonthsofdatatoassesssafetyandimmuno-genicityfromphaseI/IItrials,theyareyettogatherstatisticaldataonitsefficacyfromphaseIIItrial.TheDrugsControllerGeneral
ofIndia(DCGI)-CentralDrugStan-dards Control Organisation onSundaygaverestrictedemergencyapproval forCovaxinandSerumInstituteof India’sCovishield.“I am surprised the DCGI
madeanovernightdecisionbasedon subject expert committee’s(SEC) recommendation. IdeallyDCGIreviewsthedocumentsrec-ommendedbySECand that cantake a few days,” said DrDhananjay Lad, attachedwithRedkar Hospital and ResearchCentre,Goa,asiteforphaseI/IIandnowphaseIIItrialofCovaxin.Ladsaidthevaccinewasfound
to be “extremely safe” for use inPhaseIandIIexceptformildadve-rsereactionslikefeverandpainatsiteforaday.“Avaccinehastobemeasuredforsafetyaswellaseffi-cacy.Covaxinhasabilitytoinduceanimmuneresponsebutforhowlongwedon’tknow.ThephaseIIItrialsareongoingandwewillgetanswersoncerecruitmentisoveranddataisanalysed,”hesaid.Covaxinisaninactivatedvirus
developed inpublicprivatepart-nershipbetween ICMR,NIVandBharatBiotech.BharatBiotechbe-ganphase I/II human trial in Julyandcommencedphase III trial inNovemberacross26sitestocover25,800 participants. It has re-cruited 22,500 so far, but onlyaround10,000havereceivedbothdoses,whiletheresthaveonlygotthefirstdose,severalinvestigatorsconfirmed. Dr MohammadShameem, an investigatorwithAligarhMuslimUniversity, saidtheirhospitalsiteisthefirsttore-cruit all 1,000 participants forPhase III trials. “ByMonday,wewill complete theseconddoseofall participants. Butwe canonlystart studying theefficacy42-45daysafterthefirstdose.Thatis15daysfromnow.”InMumbai, Sionhospital has
recruited less than200of 1,000
participants and started givingsecond doses last week. GrantGovernment Medical College,Mumbai, has recruited close to500ofthe1,000participants.“Webegantheseconddoselastweek.Till nowonly83havebeengivenbothdoses,”saidDrDineshDhodifrom thepharmacologydepart-ment. “Wehavenot seen severeadverse reactions in our partici-pantsbutwehaverefrainedfromrecruiting peoplewith uncon-trolleddiabetesorbloodpressure.WeneedtowaitforDCGItoissueconditionsofapprovalforthisvac-cine.Ibelieveonlythosewithcon-trolled comorbidity canbegiventhevaccinefornow.”InAIIMSPatna, Dr Chandra-
mani Singh said theyhavegiventhefirstdoseto1,177participantsbutonlyafewhavegottheseconddose.“Itwilltakeafewweeksbe-forewestartstudyingefficacy.”Dr Venkata Rao from the
InstituteofMedicalSciencesandSUMHospitalinJajapur,alsoatrialsite, said thepandemiccalled foran emergency decision. “This isjust a conditional approval. Fullapproval will only come afterphase III results.” Anefficacy re-sultassesseswhetherthevaccineprotects aperson fromCovid-19infection.WhilephaseIandIIlookat safety and immunogenicity,phaseIIIdrawsdataonefficacy.“Wehave clinical data from
phase I and II but it isnot statisti-cally significant tomeasure effi-cacy. That is why a large-scalephaseIIItrialisimportant,”saidDrSavita Verma, from PGIMS,Chandigarh,whichhas recruited450participantsandgiventhesec-onddoseto350participants.Ithastorecruit550moreparticipants.Dr Prabhakar Reddy, from
Nizam’sInstituteofMedicalScie-nces,which has so far recruited1,600subjectsinphaseI,IIandIII,said they have immunogenicitydataon250participants.“InPhase1 /2we found70per centdevel-opedimmunogenicity,”hesaid.AllIndiaDrugActionNetwork
questionedtheapproval.“Itisnotclearif thereisanyscientificbasistoclaimthatCovaxinwillbeeffec-tive in thecontextof infectionbymutantstrainwhenitsefficacyhasnot beenestablished and is cur-rentlyunknownagainstanystrainofvirus,”itsaidinastatement.
FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com
Investigators inCovaxin trials sayefficacy data not in
307DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN
TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVECASES:10,323,965TESTS: 174,899,783 | RECOVERIES: 9,927,310
ACTIVE CASES:247,220DEATHS: 149,435
JAN2CASES DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS18,177 217 20,923 958,125
STATESWITHRISINGACTIVECASESACTIVECASES RISEINLASTWEEK
Kerala 65,452 1,632Ladakh 261 43Jharkhand 1,624 29
STATESWHEREACTIVECASESAREDECLININGACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK
Maharashtra 53,137 4,954Chhattisgarh 10,517 3,511WestBengal 11,008 3,100
STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASESONJAN2 TOTAL
Kerala 5,327 771,252Maharashtra 3,218 1,938,854Chhattisgarh 1,147 281,654
STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHSONJAN2 TOTAL
Maharashtra 55 50,782WestBengal 28 9,766Kerala 21 3,224DataasonJanuary2,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare, IndianCouncilofMedicalResearchandstategovernments.Oftenthenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays
aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI, JANUARY3
THEBJPonSundayhit out at the
Congressaftersomeofitsleadersquestioned the approval forBharatBiotech’sCovid-19vaccine,withpartypresidentJPNaddaal-leging that whenever India
achieves something commend-able,theOppositionpartycomesup with “wild theories” to“ridicule”theaccomplishments.Nadda accused theCongress
and otherOpposition parties oftrying to cause panic to furthertheir“failedpoliticsandnefariousagendas”. “Congress and theOpposition is not proud of any-
thing Indian. They should intro-spectabouthowtheir liesontheCOVID-19vaccinewillbeusedbyvested interest groups for theirownagendas,”hetweeted.
Oppn parties not proud of anything Indian, says Nadda
Maya welcomesCovaxin, urgesgovt to give itfree to poorLucknow: BSP presidentMayawati Sunday congratulatedscientists associatedwithdevel-opingtheindigenouscoronavirusvaccine, Covaxin, andurged theCentretogiveitfreetothepoor.“Muchwelcomeoftheindige-
nouslydevelopedvaccineagainstcoronavirus... a special request tothe Central government that ifalongwithallhealthworkers,theextremely poor also get vaccineforfree...”shetweeted. ENS
NewDelhi: Keralahas asked theCentre togive itpriority indistri-butionofCovid-19vaccines, con-sideringthehighnumberofcasesin the state and tomake thebestoutof its strategyof delaying thepeakincontainingthedisease.Kerala Health Minister K K
Shailaja told The IndianExpressthatthestategovernmenthasre-quested the central governmenttogive thestatepriority so that itcan bring the pandemic undercontrol soon. The state govern-ment cited its epidemiologicalconditions–ithashighnumberofcasesrelatedtoheartdiseasesand
diabetes–anditspopulationden-sity aswell as its strategy in con-tainingthediseasetojustifyitsde-mand.“Our strategyhasbeen tode-
laythepeak.Thoughwewerethefirststatetoreportthedisease,thecases in thestatehaspeaked justnow.Despiteourpopulation’svul-nerability and susceptibility,wehavesucceededinourstrategy.Soinorder toget thebestoutof ourstrategy,weneed toget thevac-cinefirst,”MohammadAsheel,ex-ecutive director of Kerala SocialSecurityMissionundertheSocialJusticeDepartment,said. ENS
Give priority to us in vaccinedistribution: Kerala to Centre
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VVEENNCCOOBBBB Ex-FarmYesterday’s price inPune Rs. 86/-.Suggested Retail Priceis Rs. 104/-.
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MATOSHRI USHATAI JADHAVINSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES &
RESEARCH CENTRE
Padmashri Annasaheb Jadhav Bharatiya Samaj Unnati Mandal’s
Bhiwandi, Dist. Thane
Approved by AICTE, Delhi & Recognised by Govt.of Maharashtra) Affiliated to University of Mumbai
M.M.S. / M.B.A. ADMISSIONNOTIFICATION 2020-21
For Institute Level QuotaInvites application for Admission to 2 years full time
M.M.S / M.B.A PROGRAMME
INSTITUTION CODE NO. 3452BNN College Campus, Kamatghar Rd., Dhamankar Naka, Bhiwandi, Dist. Thane
Applying through CAP - DTE
*Institute Code 3452 * Choice Code 345210210
Contact
Immedia
tely
Website : www.muimrc.org
02522-228585 / 7208755258
9096389300/7588556024
22 JUL 67 - 04 JAN 96
We pay homage to our noble martyr, whomade the supreme sacrifice while fightingthe enemy in ‘OP RAKSHAK’, J & K in theyear 1996. His dauntless courage andsacrifice will forever inspire the organisation.
CO & all ranks of 6th BattalionBrigade of The Guards
SALUTE THE SOLDIER
MAJ RKLAUL, SC
CALENDAR6 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY, JANUARY4,2021CROSSWORD4318
ACROSS1 Mixedmetaphors inMoliereplay (11)
9 Italonecanprovidehighspirits (7)
10 Itnaturallybeatspeasandbeans (5)
11 Prepositionused inanyamountof sentences (4)
12 Hisworkmaybeabstractorconcrete (8)
14 Engagement foradoctor inUlsterperhaps (6)
16 Change fromevilpastorheartlesspresentpossibly(6)
18 Got therequitedishevelledbutall inonepiece (8)
19 Eager togobackafterakey(4)
22 Subjectof articlebyme(5)
23 Nolongerclear?Tryandmakeit so (7)
24 Kindofdesecrationseenaround(11)
DOWN2 Sortof point that’sunsuitable(5)
3 Enthusiasticcomebackbyoperasinger(4)
4 Unusualcuts ingarments(6)
5 Droveoff disgusted(8)
6 Handyplace forapainter tomixhiscolours (7)
7 Whatarevivalistmaydo?(11)
8 Apersonof intelligence,nodoubt (6,5)
13 Seeher inpants - leopardskin-at thezoo(8)
15 Newmatgone fromthecarperhaps (7)
17 ThestoryofAchilles’heel?(6)
20 Noterateallowance(5)21 Fightcommonlyrigged(4)
ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)If you’restillwonderingwhatexactly itwas thathityou, thentheanswer
is theplanetMars,metaphoricallyspeaking,ofcourse.What thatmeans inpractice isanunexpectedandrather largeobstacle.Theplanetarymessagenowis thatthebestescaperoute ispleasure, soputyourcaresbehindyou.
TAURUS(Apr21-May21)AsalwayswhentheMoonchallengesyoursign,as itdoesthisweek, close
partnerswill takeeven littlecomplaintsassomesortof cuetohaveagoatyou.Listencarefully, for theremayactuallybeagreatdealof sense in theirideaseven if theysometimeschoosethewrongwords.
GEMINI (May22- June21)If thedaycouldbesummedupinoneword, itwouldbeduty.This is
thereforeamomentto fulfil allyourresponsibilitiesandavoidalldistractions,nomatterwhatsize, shapeor formtheycomein.Youmayneverknowthetroubleyou’ll avoid if youtakeafewsimpleprecautions.
CANCE