CMYK WEDNESDAY www.thestatesman.com 20 JANUARY 2021 FIND US ONLINE Scan this with your smartphone twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd facebook.com/thestatesman1875 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR SKY-HIGH EXPECTATIONS FROM JOE BIDEN SAJAD LONE QUITS PAGD; BLOW TO KASHMIR ALLIANCE P10 P5 WEATHER Partly cloudy sky with fog/mist in the morning. Max and min temperature to be around 26 °C and 16 °C. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 98% TEMPERATURE Min. 52% Max: 23.9 °C (-2) Min: 13.8 °C (0) SUN RISES SUN SETS 06:19 hrs 17:16 hrs MOON RISES MOON SETS 10:30 hrs 22:54 hrs Next moon quarter on 21 January THUMBNAILS Union MoS, Ministry of Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel briefs the Press at National Media Centre in New Delhi. The government has decided to observe 23 January as ‘Parakram Diwas’ every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the first 'Parakram Diwas' event in Kolkata, Bose's 125th birth anniversary.  PIB India-France air exercise: India and France will F launch a five-day air exercise, Ex Desert Knight 21, today at the Air Force Station, Jodhpur, with the participation of Rafale and other fighter jets. The Defence Ministry said the French Air Force will bring in its Rafale, Airbus A-330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), A400M Tactical Transport aircraft and around 175 personnel for the exercise. PG 5 Tandav makers to modify content: The makers of Amazon Prime series Tandav have said they will make changes in the content "to address concerns", a little over 24 hours after a police complaint was filed over hurting religious sentiments. WOULD RAJINI MYTH HAVE SURVIVED POLITICAL FORAY? P7 COACH SHASTRI GETS “EMOTIONAL” P12 India conquer fortress Gabba Depleted Indian team pull off near-impossible feat; Gill, Pant set up remarkable victory Down Under PULAKESH MUKHOPADHYAY KOLKATA, 19 JANUARY ndia's eureka moment in the four-Test series against Australia came in faraway Brisbane today without the last match feeling like there was an O Henry ending to it. It was more business as usual. Risabh Pant’s unbeaten 89, Shubman Gill’s 91 and Cheteswar Pujara's 211-ball 56 sufficed all right. No extraordinary fuss. No desperate hurry to catch the last bus home. Take it easy. The target-reaching enterprise today, despite the mildly worrisome, brief interregnums woven into it, was so confident and self-assured, like Dustin Hoffman breezing through yet another never-to- be-forgotten film, that when the journey's end was arrived at - with the match and the series in the bag- you probably only wondered why putatively oracular voices had last night been so diffident with their prognostications. Isn't it a second successive series triumph for us Down Under? Hadn't we shown in Sydney so recently what we were capable of? A YouTube channel last night had two erstwhile stalwarts volubly ready with their vision of the immediate future, one of them basing his optimism around today's action on the possibilities associated with Rohit Sharma's presence and the other talking about the chase being truly difficult on a fifth-day Gabba track strewn with ominous cracks, though I Indian players celebrate after defeating Australia by three wickets on the final day of the fourth cricket test at the Gabba, Brisbane, Australia Every time we got hit, we stayed put & stood taller. We pushed boundaries of belief to play fearless but not careless cricket. Injuries & uncertainties were countered with poise & confidence. One of the greatest series wins! Congrats India SACHIN TENDULKAR he condescended to allow India the chance of a hardearned draw with some square-jaw second- innings batting. But India picked up where they had left off in the third Test, eventually to drive home the point, and leaving the history-obsessed cognoscenti stunned in the process, that human knowledge could always admit of revision, incorporating newer experiences. India could be seen to have come a long way. Sharma would have been We are all overjoyed at the success of the Indian Cricket Team in Australia. Their remarkable energy and passion was visible throughout. So was their stellar intent, remarkable grit and determination. Congratulations to the team! Best wishes for your future endeavours NARENDRA MODI counted on doing better than be did but India did not foozle it. After all, it was not as if Australia had never been beaten in Brisbane before by any team. The loss they suffered would have been galling to Australia - and India's victory was achieved in the teeth of racial slurs and assorted controversies in the wake of the frustrated hosts’ tell-tale acts of mischief - who had had a real go at the visitors, aware that they were without any of their first-choice pace bowlers. But just as Mohammad Siraj and Shardul Thakur had surprised the hosts with the ball earlier, India had Pant playing an invaluable second-innings knock today. And nothing quite really succeeds like success. Gill had been quite good and Pujara had underscored his conviction in his by-now-trade-marked solidity, but Pant it was who played the stellar role as India went about their business. It may not be without reason that they prefer him to Wriddhiman Saha who, notwithstanding his well-chronicled successes with the bat, might never have been pitchforked into the role of the punitive marauder in a chase like this. Rigid purists could look askance at it but, as S Venkataraghavan once said, Alan Knott had played more matches for England for his batting though Bob Taylor was just as good a wicketkeeper. Some fairlytale elements in the Indian victory are too obvious to be missed. Coach Ravi Shastri's repeat triumph. A few Indian new- comers' coming of age, laced into which is India's new-found ability to retaliate with pace against a team proud of their fast bowling arsenal. And all of this is made possible with a captain away from it all, having been granted paternity leave. Virat Kohli, though, will have to be complimented on emphasising pace in a switch from MS Dhoni's tradition-bound conservatism. Though stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane was far less than spectacularly successful holding the bat today, there was no denying his leadership quality. To win in Australia while being short on so much suggests steel in the mind, collectively as well as singly.Wider options imply a bright future for India. There probably are calculations yet before the World Test Championship final is got to: let us savour the big win for the present. Its impact will be tremendous, pulling more youngsters into the game and thereby widening India's talent pool. See also Page 12 No vaccine on priority for MPs, Question 15 killed in Surat Hour to return in Budget Session: Speaker road mishap Govt asks WhatsAppto withdraw changes to privacy policy STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE PRESS TRUST OF INDIA NEW DELHI, 19 JANUARY The Parliament is taking steps for smooth conduct of its Budget Session from 29 January, the second to be held during the Covid-19 pandemic, and will have 12 and 21 sittings in its two phases. President Ram Nath Kovind will address a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament on 29 January as usual. The MPs will sit in the chambers of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and their galleries, besides the Central Hall of Parliament, which was the sole venue of the event earlier. The first phase of the session will run up to 15 February, after which there will be a three-week recess to allow Parliamentary Standing Committees to examine the Budgetary demands. The sec- ond phase will run from 8 March to 8 April. Speaker Om Birla told newspersons after a review of arrangements for the coming session that RT-PCR tests for all Members of Parliament shall be performed on 27 and 28 January in Parliament House Complex, and arrangements will be made for the tests close to the res- idences of the MPs also. Birla said the standard operating procedures as per Covid-19 guidelines will be followed this session also. The Rajya Sabha will sit from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. while the Lok Sabha will sit from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Question Hour and the Zero Hour, which could not be held during the last Monsoon session due to the severity of the pandemic, will have their normal run in the Budget session. Replying to questions, the Speaker said the General Budget documents and the Economic Survey will be released digitally only. Birla said the Central Hall will be open to MPs only during the session. He said the MPs will be covered by the vaccination programme being run by state and Central governments like normal citizens. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE AHMEDABAD, 19 JANUARY At least 15 people, including a year-old-girl, were killed and half a dozen others seriously injured near Surat early Tuesday morning after a dumper truck ran over them while they were sleeping by the roadside. The accident occurred on Kim-Mandvi road near Kosamba village when the driver lost control over his vehicle after it hit a sugar-cane heap hanging from a tractor-trolly coming from the opposite side. The truck’s front glass pane was shattered due to the impact, blocking the driver’s vision. The truck veered off the road, crushing the 20-odd labourers sleeping on the roadside. As many as 12 labourers died on the spot while others succumbed to their injuries in the hospital. All the victims belong to Banswara district of Rajasthan and had come to Surat in search of casual work, including jobs in sugar mills in the vicinity. Gujarat’s chief minister Vijay Rupani has announced a compensation of Rs two lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to each of the injured people. NEW DELHI, 19 JANUARY The Indian government has asked WhatsApp to withdraw the recent changes in the privacy policy of the messaging app, saying unilateral changes are unfair and unacceptable. In a strongly worded letter to WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said India is home to the largest user base of WhatsApp globally and is one the biggest markets for its services. The proposed changes to the WhatsApp Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, without giving users an It asked WhatsApp to provide details of the services provided by it in India, categories of data collected and permissions and consents sought option to opt-out, “raise grave concerns regarding the implications for the choice and autonomy of Indian citizens,” it wrote. The ministry asked WhatsApp to withdraw the proposed changes and reconsider its approach to information privacy, freedom of choice and data security. WhatsApp had on Jan- uary 16 delayed the introduction of the new privacy policy after user backlash over sharing of user data and information with the parent company, Facebook Inc. Stating that Indians should be properly respected, the ministry said, “any unilateral changes to the WhatsAppTerms of Service and Privacy would not be fair and acceptable.” With over 400 million users in India, the changes will have a disproportionate impact on the country's citizens, it said. It asked WhatsAppto provide details of the services provided by it in India, categories of data collected and permissions and consents sought. Vaccination count surpasses active cases; 0.18% adverse events SNS & PTI NEW DELHI, 19 JANUARY A total of 4,54,049 beneficiaries have so far been vaccinated against Covid-19 in the country which is more than double the number of coronavirus active cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday. In a span of 24 hours, 2,23,669 people were vaccinated across 3,930 sessions taking the cumulative total of people vaccinated to 4,54,049 (across 7,860 sessions conducted so far) in the country, the ministry said. Of the total people vaccinated so far, the government on Tuesday said 0.18 per cent were adverse events following immunisation, while 0.002 per cent had to be hospitalised which is fairly low. Addressing a press conference, NITI Aayog member (Health) V K Paul said concerns about adverse effects and serious problems post immunisation as of now seem to be unfounded, negligible, insignificant and stressed that both the vaccines are safe. He also said that it was sad that “doctors, nurses and healthcare workers are refusing to get vaccinated” and requested the people to get the shots. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, “As per the data available so far, only 0.18 per cent is the Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) and 0.002 is the percentage of the people who were hospitalised following immunisation. These are fairly low, in fact lowest so far as we know in the world in the first three days.” He said India recorded the highest number of first day vaccinations for Covid-19 immunisation. Bhushan said in India 2,07,229 people were vaccinated on the first day, while The government is set to launch vaccine diplomacy tomorrow by despatching Indian-manufactured vaccines to six neighbouring countries and its key partners to help them fight Covid-19. “...supplies under grant assistance to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles will begin from 20 January,'' the Ministry of External Affairs said. PG 4 in the US 79,458 people were vaccinated, in the UK 19,700 and 73 were vaccinated in France on the first day. “The important point here is that if we look at the first week figures then the US conducted vaccinations of 5,56,208 people so that number will already cross by day 3. In the UK, in the first seven days 1,37,897 were vaccinated, 516 people were vaccinated in France in the first week and in Russia 52,000 people were vaccinated in the first week. So these are the comparative figures for you and we have just started so we will pick up speed,” he said. Meanwhile, allaying fears and attempting to build confidence among people over vaccination, Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry said there has been “no case of serious or severe” adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) till date. The comments from the Ministry came after media reports about two men ~ one from Uttar Pradesh and another from Karnataka ~ dying hours after they received the Covid-19 jabs. Speaking to media, additional Secretary in the Health Ministry Manohar Agnani said the man from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh died due to cardiopulmonary disease. The death "is not related to vaccination as per the postmortem report", he said. The health worker who was vaccinated on January 16 died the next evening. Agnani said that the man from Bellary in Karnataka died due to anterior wall infarction with cardiopulmonary failure. The post-mortem report of the man, who was vaccinated on January 16 and died on Monday, is scheduled to be conducted at Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences in Bellary. Cumulative total number of vaccinated healthcare workers across the country are more than 6.31 lakh so far. CMYK India records 10,064 new cases SNS & PTI NEW DELHI, 19 JANUARY India reported the lowest number of daily coronavirus infections in over seven months with 10,064 new cases, which took the caseload to 1,05,81,837, while recoveries have surged to 1,02,28,753, according to Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday. The country's death toll increased to 1,52,556 as 137 fatalities, the lowest in around eight months, were recorded in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,02,28,753, pushing the national Covid-19 recovery rate to 96.66 per cent, while the Covid-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.44per cent. The Covid-19 active caseload remained below three lakh. There are 2,00,528 active Covid-19 cases in the country which comprise1.90 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 18,78,02,827 samples have been tested up to January 18 with 7,09,791 samples being tested on Monday. Bengal logs 412 cases: West Bengal today registered 412 fresh Covid cases and 11 deaths due to infection. The total Covid case count is 5,66,073 and death toll is 10,074 in the state till now while there are 6,781 active cases. 1,05,81,837 2,00,528 10,064 17,411 1,52,556 UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF 10.00 P.M. WEDNESDAY 19 JANUARY 2021