21112020-TT-01.qxd 11/20/2020 11:04 PM Page 1 13 chandigarh | gurugram | jalandhar | bathinda | vol.140 no.322 | 18 pages | ~6.00 | regd.no.chd/0006/2018-2020 established in 1881  haryana BIDEN RULES OUT COVID LOCKDOWN WORLD /thetribunechd RBI PANEL FOR BIG CORPORATES’ ENTRY INTO BANKING SECTOR BUSINESS MODI, BHUTAN PM LAUNCH RUPAY PH-II BACK PAGE /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com saturday, november 21,2020 Vaccine for health staff by Feb PM reviews security; Jaish planned big strike on 26/11 Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 20 A day after four Jaish-eMohammed terrorists were killed on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway near Nagrota, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a security meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other top officials. After the meeting, Modi said security forces had “defeated a nefarious plot to target grassroots level democratic exercises in J&K,” referring to the DDC polls in J&K from November 28 to December 22. A senior security functionary said, “The agencies have established that four terrorists were planning a big attack on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack anniversary.” — TNS Douglas Stuart wins Booker for debut novel Cases touch 90.04 lakh | Central teams for 10 high-burden states London, November 20 New York-based Scottish writer Douglas Stuart has won the prestigious 50,000pound Booker Prize for his autobiographical debut novel 'Shuggie Bain', beating Indian-origin author Avni Doshi's 'Burnt Sugar'. ' Shuggie Bain' is tale of love and alcoholism set in 1980s Glasgow. Stuart, 44, dedicated the book to his mother, who died of alcoholism when he was 16-year-old. “I cannot believe this. Shuggie is a work of fiction but writing the book was extremely healing for me; hugely cathartic," Stuart said. "I always wanted to be a writer so this is fulfilling a dream. This has changed my entire life," he said in his acceptance speech. After graduating from the Royal College of Art in London, he moved to New York to start a career in fashion design. — PTI IN BRIEF Lord Desai quits party over racism New Delhi, November 20 Oxford University’s collaborator Serum Institute of India (SII) has said it can deliver the first batch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine by February next for the country’s priority groups — health workers and the older population. The SII today also said it would apply for emergency use authorisation of the vaccine in India soon, as the UK had approved the vaccine and rolled it out for the local population. The promising news came on a day when the national Covid caseload touched 90.04 lakh. Meanwhile, the Centre has decided to deploy teams to 10 states with 80 per cent of the country’s active case load. The Centre has rushed four teams to Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Manipur to visit the districts with high number of cases and support the state efforts. More teams to other states will follow. FOCUS ON KIDS: To bring the spotlight on climate change and impact of Covid-19 on children, South Block and North Block in New Delhi illuminated in blue colour on the occasion of World Children’s Day. MUKESH AGGARWAL BY 2024, ALL MAY GET VACCINATED, SAYS SII ■ SII CEO Adar Poonawalla says COVID-19CASES INDIA COUNT the vaccine will be available to public by April next year and probably all will get it by 2024 90,04,365 PRICING ~1,000 TOTAL RECOVERED DEATHS MAX FOR 2 DOSES RECOVERED 84,28,409 FRESH FATALITIES 584 TOTAL DEATHS 1,32,162 WORLD 5,74,66,787 3,99,00,414 13,69,446 HARYANA SCHOOLS CLOSED TILL NOV 30 Chandigarh: With a number of schoolchildren testing positive for Covid-19 in the past couple of days, the Haryana Government on Friday ordered the closure of all schools in the state until November 30. INSIDE IN ROHTAK, ONLY 100 REGISTER FOR PHASE III VACCINE TRIAL Rohtak: Phase III of clinical human trials of Covaxin commenced at the PGIMS here on Friday. As per official sources, the vaccine was supposed to be administered to 1,000 volunteers, but just 100 have got themselves registered so far. INSIDE 4 ‘dissenters’ on Cong panels, Sibal left out Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service The most recent issue the Congress has been debating is India’s decision to stay away from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Sharma, Tharoor, Azad and Moily had flagged their concerns in the controversial letter in August, but have since refrained from public criticism of the party leadership. The three panels have five members each, including a continued on back page LONDON: Indian-origin economist, author and peer Lord Meghnad Desai has resigned as a member of the UK’s opposition Labour Party over its failure to effectively tackle anti-semitic racism within its ranks. He said he was forced to take the decision after former party leader Jeremy Corbyn was readmitted. PTI New Delhi, November 20 Congress president Sonia Gandhi today constituted three internal advisory committees comprising, among others, four “dissenters”— Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Veerappa Moily — who had recently written a controversial letter to the party chief demanding organisational overhaul. While former PM Manmo- PIL seeks action on Vohra report Pb Cong chief Jakhar Dera member shot in moots early elections his shop at Bathinda NEW DELHI: A BJP leader has moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to hand over the 1993 report of the Vohra Committee to various Central agencies for a comprehensive probe into the criminal-politician nexus. BACK PAGE Fake degrees: MBU Chancellor gets bail SHIMLA: The HP High Court on Thursday granted bail to Raj Kumar Rana, Chancellor of Manav Bharti University, Solan, who was arrested in fake degree scam. The court imposed stringent conditions on Rana, directing him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 10 lakh with the Chief Judicial Magistrate. TNS Anand Sharma Ghulam Nabi Azad Veerappa Moily han Singh has been named on all panels, senior leader Kapil Sibal, who reiterated the demand for overhaul after the party’s poor performance in Bihar Assembly elections, has been left out. Sonia, who Rajmeet Singh Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 20 Amid the standoff between the Punjab farmers and the Centre over the resumption of goods trains, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sunil Jakhar today advocated early polls in Punjab which, he said, would be a referendum on the three central farm laws. He described these laws as nothing but slow poisoning. “The election outcome will come as a shock to the BJP which will be outrightly rejected by the people of Punjab,” Jakhar said in an interaction with the Tribune. “The way the Centre has been treating Punjab is regrettable. The state is being Shashi Tharoor along with son Rahul Gandhi moved to Goa today for a few days to avoid Delhi pollution, approved the panels to formulate the party’s position on economic affairs, foreign affairs and national security. Sukhmeet Bhasin Claims BJP will be rejected by people HELD TO RANSOM Regrettably, Punjab is being held to ransom by holding back GST and Rural Development Fund and suspending goods trains. ❝ Sunil Jakhar, PPCC CHIEF held to ransom by holding back GST and Rural Development continued on back page Tribune News Service Bathinda, November 20 Manohar Lal, father of Jatinderbir S Jimmy, an accused in a sacrilege case, was shot dead at Bhagta Bhai Ka in Bathinda today. He was on the 25-member committee of Dera Sacha Sauda. Bathinda SSP Bhupinderjit Singh Virk said Manohar Lal was at his shop when two persons opened fire. Seriously injured, he was rushed to hospital where he was declared ‘brought dead’. The police are probing several angles even as the identity of the killers is yet to be ascertained. In 2018, a Special Investigation Team had arrest- He was the father of sacrilege accused ABOUT THE CASE ■ On June 2, 2015, an FIR filed at Baja Khana after a “bir” stolen from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala ■ On Oct 12, torn pages of the “bir” found in Bargari ■ In ensuing protests on Oct 14, two Sikhs killed in police firing at Behbal Kalan ■ On October 20, more pages of the holy Granth found strewn in the village ed Jimmy from Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. He is out on bail now. Safety norms ignored at CM’s Kangra event Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service Dharamsala, November 20 Two days after the Himachal Pradesh Government issued fresh guidelines to counter the surge in Covid cases, most of the safety precautions were thrown to the wind at Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur’s functions in Kangra district’s Nagrota Bagwan Assembly constituency today. The revised protocol had capped at 100 the attendance at social gatherings, besides the prevailing norms of six feet distancing and wearing of mask. The government had yes- The minimum-distancing norm goes for a toss at CM Jai Ram Thakur’s function in Nagrota Bagwan. KAMALJEET SPECIAL PROTOCOL ONLY FOR INDOOR ACTIVITIES, SAYS CHIEF MINISTER The special protocol (issued for CM’s Kangra functions) was meant for indoor meetings, not outdoor events. Jai Ram Thakur, HIMACHAL PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER terday come out with additional guidelines for the CM’s functions in Kangra. Masks were to be worn even while addressing meetings while exchange of documents and files had to be done digitally to minimise physical contact. Those approaching the CM were to be screened properly. The organisers, however, failed to strictly adhere to these measures. None of the speakers, including Thakur, wore a mask while addressing the public. The minimum distancing norm was violated by not only continued on back page A damaged wall of a police post after the Nagrota encounter on Thursday. PTI Confined to hotels, candidates cry foul Srinagar, November 20 Murmurs of discontent from candidates rather than speeches can be heard ahead of the District Development Council (DDC) elections in Kashmir with most parties claiming their leaders are confined to hotels in the guise of security and are unable to campaign freely because of restrictions. It’s just not a level playing field, several candidates said ahead of the November 28 polls. Seven parties have come together on one platform, to contest the elections. INSIDE At 7.5°C, Delhi’s coldest November in 14 years For first time, FB admits to hate speech on platform New Delhi, November 20 The Capital recorded a minimum of 7.5° Celsius on Friday, the lowest in the month of November in 14 years, according to the India Meteorological Department. It is Delhi’s lowest minimum temperature in November since November 29, 2006, when the city recorded a minimum of 7.3°C, said the IMD’s regional forecasting centre. The all-time record for the lowest minimum temperature in November is 3.9°C. It was recorded on November 28, 1938. Mahesh Palawat, an expert at Skymet Weather, a private forecasting agency, said cold winds blowing from snow-laden western Himalayas had led to a dip in the mercury. — PTI New Delhi, November 20 Social media giant Facebook has for the first time disclosed prevalence of hate speech on its platform, saying that out of every 10,000 content views globally in the third quarter, 10-11 were hate speech. Facebook, which has 1.82 billion daily users globally, has drawn flak in the past for its handling of hate speech on the platform in India that is among its biggest markets. In its Community Standards Enforcement Report for September 2020 quarter, Facebook said it is including the prevalence of hate speech on its platform globally “for the first time”. — PTI DDC POLL Gurdwara Sri Hemkund Sahib covered with a blanket of snow. PTI DELHI TEMPERATURE YEAR CELSIUS 2019 11.5º 2018 10.5º 2006 7.3º 3.9º Celsius the all-time record for lowest min temperature recorded in 1938