MONDAY www.thestatesman.com 18 JANUARY 2021 FIND US ONLINE Scan this with your smartphone twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd facebook.com/thestatesman1875 Pages 12 |` 5|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WHY TRUMP MAY WIN IN 2024 WHY NASEERUDDIN IS FURIOUS P5 WEATHER Partly cloudy sky. Shallow to moderate fog in the morning. The maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 17 and 08 degrees Celsius respectively. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max: 100% Max: 15.3°C (-5) SUN RISES 07:14 hrs MOON RISES 11:16 hrs P7 Min: 76% 2,24,301 vaccinated in first two days PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Min: 05.7°C (-1) SUN SETS 17:49 hrs MOON SETS 22:49 hrs THUMBNAILS A huge throng of people out enjoying the day on a winter Sunday afternoon at India Gate, in SUBRATA DUTTA the Capital. NEW DELHI, 17 JANUARY O ver 2.24 lakh people were given Covid-19 vaccine in two days in India, and 447 adverse events, including three requiring hospitalisation, have been reported, the Centre said on Sunday. Of the three people hospitalised post-vaccination, two have been discharged from the Northern Railway Hospital and AIIMS in Delhi and one is under observation at AIIMS, Rishikesh and is doing fine, it said. As many as 2,07,229 beneficiaries received the jabs on Saturday, the highest number of people vaccinated in any country on day NEW DELHI, 17 JANUARY Tandav controversy: Taking cognizance of complaints that Hindu gods and goddesses have been ridiculed in web series 'Tandav', the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Sunday sought an explanation from streaming platform Amazon Prime Video on the issue, sources said. The development came after BJP MP Manoj Kotak on Sunday said he has written to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar seeking a ban on the Amazon Prime Video series for ridiculing Hindu deities. Top rail official arrested: In its biggest bribetrap case, the CBI arrested the chief administrative officer (construction) of the NorthEast Frontier Railways on Sunday for allegedly receiving Rs 1 crore for granting favours in awarding lucrative contracts to a private company, officials said. Mahender Singh Chauhan, a 1985-batch Indian Railways Service of Engineer (IRSE) officer, was nabbed from Maligaon in Assam's Guwahati, while two others were apprehended from Uttarakhand's Dehradun. one, Additional Secretary in the Union Health Ministry, Manohar Agnani, said. “Today being Sunday, only six states conducted vaccination drive and in 553 sessions a total of 17,072 beneficiaries were vaccinated,” he said. He said a total of 2,24,301 beneficiaries have been vaccinated till January 17 as per provisional reports. “A total of 447 AEFI (adverse event following immunisation) have been reported on January 16 and 17, out of which only three required hospitalisation. Most of the AEFI reported so far are minor like fever, headache, nausea,” the official said. He said an AEFI may or may not be related to the vaccine or vaccination process. Noting that only a few AEFI cases may require hospitalisation which are classified under serious AEFI, Agnani said protocols are in place for reporting, immediate case management at vaccination session site, transportation and hospitalisation and further care of such cases. The states and UTs have been advised to plan Covid19 vaccination sessions four days a week to minimise disruption of routine health services and some states have already publicised their weekly vaccination days, he said. Around 50 percent of intended beneficiaries have taken the jab in Delhi, Assam and Andhra Pradesh, local officials said and expressed the hope that the vaccination drive will pick up soon. Covid seropositivity less among smokers PTI & SNS Smokers and vegetarians were found to have lower seropositivity indicating that they may be at a lesser risk of getting infected by coronavirus, according to a panIndia serosurvey conducted by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in its nearly 40 institutes. The survey also found that those with blood group 'O' may be less susceptible to the infection, while people with 'B'and'AB'bloodgroupswere at a higher risk. For its study, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) took samples of 10,427 adult individuals working in its laboratories or institutions and their family members, based on voluntary participation, to assess the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. The study which was piloted by CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi said of the 10,427 individuals, 1,058 (10.14 per cent) had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. A follow up on 346 seropositive individuals among the samples after three months revealed stable' to higher' antibody levels against SARSCoV-2, but declining plasma activity for neutralizing the virus, Shantanu Sengupta, senior scientist at IGIB and one of the co-authors of the paper said. A repeat sampling of 35 individuals, at six months, revealed declining antibody levels while the neutralising antibody remained stable Boris Johnson invites Modi for G7 summit, to visit India before meet STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 17 JANUARY British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to participate in the G-7 summit to be held in the Cornwall region from 11-13 June. Johnson also plans to visit India before the summit, having cancelled his trip as the chief guest at the Republic Day parade due to a surge of the coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom, a British High Commission press release said today. The UK has also invited leaders from Australia and South Korea for the summit this year amid the talk of expanding the grouping to include the three countries as P10 447 cases of adverse effect reported, only 3 needed hospit treatment TEMPERATURE well. Johnson will use the first in-person G-7 summit in almost two years to ask leaders, including Modi, to seize the opportunity to build back better from coronavirus, uniting to make the future fairer, greener and more prosperous. Prime Ministers and Presidents from the world’s leading democracies will come together in the UK in June to address shared challenges, from beating coronavirus and tackling climate change, to ensuring that people everywhere can benefit from open trade, technological change and scientific discovery. The G7 – which is made up of the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the USA and the EU – is the only forum where the world’s most influential and open societies and advanced economies are brought together for close-knit discussions. Johnson's ambition is to use the G-7 to intensify cooperation between the world’s democratic and technologically advanced nations. Between them the ten leaders represent over 60 per cent of the people living in democracies around the world. WINNING OVER AUSSIE CROWD WAS THAKUR'S INSPIRATION NAVALNY RETURNS TO RUSSIA compared to three months. However, both the normal antibody as well as the neutralising antibody were much above the required threshold, he said. Our finding that smokers are less likely to be seropositive is the first report from the general population and part of growing evidence that despite COVID19 being a respiratory disease, smoking may be protective, the study said. Delhi’s positivity rate plunges to 0.36 pc: Delhi today registered 246 new coronavirus cases ~ the lowest in over eight months ~ and eight more deaths, even as the positivity rate dipped further to 0.36 per cent, according to the Delhi government’s health bulSEE P 2 letin. 1,05,57,985 P12 Farmer unions to go ahead with tractor march on R-Day PRESS TRUST OF INDIA NEW DELHI, 17 JANUARY Farmer unions protesting against the Centre's agri laws said on Sunday that they will go ahead with their proposed tractor parade in Delhi on Republic Day. Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border protest site, union leader Yogendra Yadav said, “We will carry out a tractor parade on the Outer Ring Road in Delhi on Republic Day. The parade will be very peaceful. There will be no disruption of the Republic Day parade. The farmers will put up the national flag on their tractors.” The authorities had moved the Supreme Court seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor march or any other kind of protest by farmers which seeks to disrupt the gathering and celebrations of Republic Day on January 26. The matter is pending in court. Another farmer union leader, Darshan Pal Singh, alleged that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is filing cases against those 15,144 17,170 1,52,274 UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF 8.00 A.M. SUNDAY 17 JANUARY 2021 who are part of the protest or supporting it. “All farmer unions condemn this,” Pal said, referring to the NIA summons reportedly issued to a farmer union leader in a case related to the banned Sikhs For Justice outfit. Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at various border points of Delhi for over a month now demanding repeal of the three laws ~ the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Essen- NEW DELHI, 17 JANUARY The Supreme Court-appointed committee on the three new farm laws is scheduled to hold its first meeting on January 19 at Pusa campus here, its member Anil Ghanwat said on Sunday. The Supreme Court had on January 11 stayed the implementation of the three laws, against which farmers are protesting at Delhi borders for over 50 days now, till further orders and appointed a four- member panel to resolve the impasse. Bhartiya Kisan Union president Bhupinder Singh Mann, however, recused himself from the committee last week. Apart from Ghanwat, agri-economists Ashok Gulati and Pramod Kumar Joshi are the other panel members. “We are meeting on January 19 at the Pusa campus. Only members will meet to decide the future course of action,” Ghanwat, president of Shetkari Sanghatana (Maharashtra), told PTI. “One of the four members has backed out of the committee. If the apex court does not appoint a new member, the existing members will continue,” he said. The Supreme Court may take into account the matter of recusal of the member from the panel on Monday when it is scheduled to hear the pleas relating to the controversial farm laws and the farmers protests. Ghanwat said the committee has received the terms of reference and will begin its work from January 21. Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan passes away SONG OF PRAISE MUMBAI, 17 JANUARY Devotees at a rally to mark 354th birth anniversary of Guru Govind Singh in Kolkata on Sunday. SNS Record 20 people of Indian origin in Biden administration PRESS TRUST OF INDIA WASHINGTON, 17 JANUARY US President-elect Joe Biden has nominated at least 20 Indian-Americans, including 13 women, to key positions in his incoming administration, a record for the small community that constitutes one per cent of America's population. As many as 17 of them, including Neera Tanden who has been nominated as the Director of Management and Budget, would be part of the White House. The January 20th inauguration, where Biden, 78, would be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States is already history in the making as for the first time ever a woman, Kamala Harris, would be sworn as the Vice-President of the tial Commodities (Amendment) Act, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act. Enacted in September 2020, the central government has presented these laws as major reforms aimed at increasing farmers' income, but the protesting farmers have raised concerns that these legislations would weaken the minimum support price and “mandi” (wholesale market) systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporations. SC panel to meet on Tuesday PRESS TRUST OF INDIA 2,08,826 Farmers continue their protest against the farm laws at SNS Delhi’s Singhu border on Sunday. Neera Tanden Dr Vivek Murthy Vanita Gupta country. Harris, 56, is also the first ever Indian-origin and African-American to become the Vice President of the United States. It is also for the first time that so many Indian-Americans have been roped into a presidential administration ever before the inauguration. Topping the list is Tanden, who has been nominated as Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and Dr Vivek Murthy, who has been nominated as the US Surgeon General. Vanita Gupta has been nominated as Associate Attorney General in the Department of Justice, and on Saturday, Biden named former foreign service official Uzra Zeya as the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights. “The dedication that the Indian-American community has shown to public service over the years has been recognised in a big way at the very start of this administration! I am particularly pleased that the overwhelming majority are women,” Indiaspora founder M R Rangaswami told PTI. Mala Adiga has been appointed as Policy Director to future First Lady Dr Jill Biden and Garima Verma would be the Digital Director of the Office of the First Lady, while Sabrina Singh has been named as the White House Deputy Press Secretary. The Indian-Americans nominated for Biden administration include two who trace their roots to Kashmir ~ Aisha Shah, who has been named as Partnership Manager at the White House Office of Digital Strategy and Sameera Fazili, who would occupy the key position of Deputy Director at the US National Economic Council in theWhite House. The council also has another Indian-American, Bharat Ramamurti, as Deputy Director. Gautam Raghavan, who served at the White House in the Obama administration returns as Deputy Director in Office of Presidential Personnel. Among Biden's inner circle isVinay Reddy, who has been named as Director Speechwriting. Young Vedant Patel is all set to occupy a seat in the White House lower press shop, behind the briefing room, as Assistant Press Secretary to the President. He is only the third-ever Indian American to be part of the White House press shop. Three Indian-Americans have made their way to the National Security Council of the White House. They are Tarun Chhabra, Senior Director for Technology and National Security, Sumona Guha, Senior Director for South Asia, Shanthi Kalathil, Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights. Sonia Aggarwal has been named Senior Advisor for Climate Policy and Innovation in the Office of the Domestic Climate Policy at theWhite House and Vidur Sharma has been appointed as Policy Advisor for Testing for the White House Covid-19 Response Team. Two Indian-American women have been appointed to the Office of the White House Counsel: Neha Gupta as Associate Counsel and Reema Shah as Deputy Associate Counsel. The White House would have three other South Asians in key positions ~ PakistaniAmerican Ali Zaidi as Deputy National Climate AdvisorWhite House; Sri Lankan American Rohini Kosoglu as Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President and Bangladeshi-American Zayn Siddique: Senior Advisor to the White House Deputy Chief of Staff. Renowned Indian classical musician Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan passed away at the age of 89 on Sunday afternoon at his residence here. Khan's daughter-in-law Namrata Gupta Khan said that the veteran breathed his last at 12.37 pm at his Bandra home. “He was fine in the morning... but during his massage he vomited. His eyes were shut and he was breathing slowly. I tried connecting to doctors but by the time they came, he had already died,” Namrata said. Khan would have turned 90 on March 3. Khan had suffered a brain stroke in 2019 that left one side of his body paralysed. Khan's last rites were performed at Santacruze Kabrastan in the evening. Born on March 3, 1931 in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, Khan was one of the most respected vocalists in Hindustani classical music, belonging to the Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1991, the Padma Bhushan in 2006 and Padma Vibhushan in 2018. In 2003, he was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi award. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, singer Lata Mangeshkar, sitar maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and music composer AR Rahman, among others, mourned his PTI death.