02012021-TT-01.qxd 1/1/2021 11:00 PM Page 1 13 chandigarh | gurugram | jalandhar | bathinda | vol.141 no.2 | 14 pages | ~6.00 | regd.no.chd/0006/2021-2023 established in 1881  haryana BORIS HAILS ‘AMAZING’ BREXIT MOMENT WORLD /thetribunechd PM LAUNCHES HOUSING PLAN IN SIX STATES BACK PAGE FIRST BREAKUP OF NEW YEAR: END OF THE ROAD FOR M&M, FORD JV BUSINESS /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com saturday | 2 january 2021 Covishield gets expert panel nod, ball now in DCGI court Chinese embassy New dawn in Delhi sacks Indian staffers New Delhi, January 1 Several Indians working at the Chinese embassy in New Delhi have been asked to leave. An embassy official described the sackings as “normal practice for a diplomatic mission to make necessary personnel arrangements according to work assignment”. “The embassy has maintained a good working relationship with Indian employees and cared for them. We appreciate their valuable efforts and contribution to the embassy work,” said the official. There are no details about the number of Indian nationals who have been retrenched, but sources said many of them were with the administration department. — TNS Centre may start vax rollout next week | Nationwide dry run today Aditi Tandon Devotees throng the Golden Temple on a foggy New Year morning in Amritsar on Friday. VISHAL KUMAR ‘Firm steps’ if Jan 4 talks fail, warn unions Threaten to shut Hry malls, pumps | Tractor march on Kundli NH on Jan 6 Tribune News Service New Delhi/Chandigarh, Jan 1 Sticking to their demands for the repeal of three new farm laws and a legal guarantee for MSP for crops, protesting farmers today said they would have to take “firm steps” if the government failed to decide in their favour at the talks scheduled for January 4. Addressing the media after a meeting of the representatives of various unions at Singhu near Delhi border, farm leaders said only 5 per cent of the issues raised by them had been discussed at the December 30 negotiations with the government. They warned of multiple actions if their main demands were not met. IN BRIEF Farmers tie black ribbons to protest new farm laws in Gurugram. PTI NO SOOTHSAYER... EXPECT POSITIVE RESULT ❝ I am not an astrologer, but am hopeful of a positive outcome at the next meeting. There’s a possibility of positive results in the interest of the country and farmers. Narendra S Tomar, AGRI MINISTER Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav said the KundliManesar-Palwal Expressway tractor march, planned on December 31 but deferred due to the December 30 talks, would now be held on January 6 if the next round of talks failed to end the deadlock. Farmers protesting at Shahjahanpur on the HaryanaRajasthan border would move towards Delhi, he said. “From January 6 to 20, we will organise ‘Jagriti Abhiyan’ across the country by holding rallies to create awareness on farmers’ issues. We will observe January 23, the birth anniversary of Subhas Chandra Bose, as ‘Chetna Diwas’,” said Yadav. Vikas, a farm leader, said after January 4, they would announce dates for shutting all malls and petrol pumps in Haryana. Gurnam Singh Charuni, BKU leader from Haryana, said, “The government is not yet ready to give anything in writing on MSP . At the last meeting, it wanted continued on page 11 New Delhi, January 1 India on Friday stepped closer to getting its first Covid-19 vaccine with the expert committee of the national drug regulator recommending emergency use approval to the Oxford University/AstraZeneca/Serum Institute of India candidate Covishield. The ball is now in the court of Drug Controller General of India VG Somani, who had yesterday said the New Year would bring in good news with “something in hand”. The subject expert committee (SEC) under the Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) deliberated for several hours today on the emergency use applications submitted by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech. Sources said while Bharat Biotech Booking an LPG refill is just a missed call away for Indane consumers. Indian Oil cooking gas consumers anywhere in the country can use a single missed call number (8454955555) for refill booking, an official statement said on Friday. — PTI New Delhi, January 1 The government has allowed the import and export of Covid vaccine without any value limitation, to ensure speedy clearance and distribution. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has amended norms to facilitate the import/export of Covid vaccine through courier, at locations where the Express Cargo Clearance System is operational. "Import and export of vaccines in relation to Covid have been allowed without any value limitation," said the amended Courier Imports and 5 Army top guns to retire in10 mths GST collection at all-time high in Dec NEW DELHI: The GST collection in December crossed Rs 1.15 lakh crore, the highest till now. The earlier peak was Rs 1.14 lakh crore in April 2019. The break-up shows Rs 6,000 crore additional GST in December came from imports as compared to November. INSIDE AjayBanerjee NEARING SUPERANNUATION Tribune News Service NewDelhi, January1 The year 2021 will be a significant one for the Army as it will witness major changes at the top with five of its commanders superannuating over the next 10 months. In all, there are eight Army Commander-level posts, including the two held by the Vice Chief and the Shimlabased training command. The first superannuation is slated for January 31 when the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, Lt Gen SK Saini, retires. The Central Army Commander, Lt Gen IS Ghuman, and South Western Army Commander Lt Gen AS Kler will retire the same day on March 31. Eastern LT GEN SK SAINI Vice Chief RETIREMENT: JAN 31 LT GEN IS GHUMAN Central Command MARCH 31 Army Commander Lt Gen AS Chauhan superannuates on May 31 while the last retirement will be of Western Army Commander Lt Gen RP Singh on October 31. Several senior officers are in the race for these posts and one of those promoted could even be the next Army LT GEN AS KLER S-Western Command MARCH 31 LT GEN AS CHAUHAN Eastern Command MAY 31 Chief when incumbent Gen MM Naravane’s tenure ends in April 2022. One of the requisites to be the Army Chief is to have held the position of an Army Commander. While the Army Chief retires at 62 years, a Lt General-rank Army Commander superannuates two years early. LT GEN RP SINGH Western Command OCTOBER 31 Besides merit, the qualifying criteria for promotion as Army Commander is having a minimum 18 months of residual service. If the government goes by the seniority principle, the new Army Commanders could be a mix of Infantry and Armoured Corps officers. Hisar freezing, but raen basera shut HP board exams begin on May 4 Deepender Deswal Shimla, January 1 The state Education Department has decided to conduct regular examinations for classes X and XII under the HP Board of School Education from May 4. The department also decided to hold examinations for the non-board classes in all government schools of the state from April 10. This is being done to ensure that there is no overcrowding and the examinations of the non-board classes are over before May 4, when the exams of the board classes are scheduled to begin. INSIDE AT 1.1°C, DELHI TEMP Tribune News Service Hisar, January 1 Mercury has reached freezing levels in Hisar, but the government night shelter (raen basera) for the needy in the city is non-functional. Set up nearly 2 km from the bus stand in Nav Jiwan Nagar, it is also extremely difficult to locate at night. Most shelter homes, incidentally, are usually found near the main bus stand. When this correspondent visited the raen basera during a bitingly cold evening recently, he HITS 15-YR LOW On January 8, 2006, Delhi had recorded a minimum temperature of 0.2°C A homeless man sleeps on a rehri in the open in Hisar. TRIBUNE PHOTO found the shelter locked. When he contacted the mobile number put up at the gate, a staff member at the other end said he was on leave for the last 2-3 days but another staffer had been deployed at the home. He also wrongly claimed that the continued on page 11 A foggy Friday in New Delhi. PTI ■ The Oxford University/SII candidate Covishield consists of two doses ■ The second dose is administered 4-12 weeks after the first one ■ Covishield can be stored up to six months ■ The vaccine is only for those aged 18 years and above ■ Can be administered in existing healthcare settings ■ The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine shows efficacy of 90 per cent was asked to submit additional phase 3 data on vaccine efficacy and safety, the licensure approval to the SII was recommended to the DCGI. The experts also took into account the Oxford vaccine candidate’s approval by COVID-19CASES INDIA COUNT 1,02,86,709 TOTAL RECOVERED DEATHS RECOVERED 98,83,461 FRESH FATALITIES 256 TOTAL DEATHS 1,48,994 WORLD 8,39,41,601 5,94,44,576 18,28,356 4 NEW CASES OF UK STRAIN The Centre on Friday said four more cases of the mutant Covid UK strain have been detected in the country, taking the tally to 29 so far. They are kept in physical isolation in health facilities. BHARAT BIOTECH TOLD TO PROVIDE MORE DATA The expert panel has held that the data provided by Bharat Biotech for its ‘Covaxin’ is not sufficient for grant of emergency use approval and has asked for more information, sources said. 2 TO 8°C REQUIRED FOR STORAGE ~1,000 COST FOR TWO DOSAGES WHO OKAYS PFIZER PAGE 12 the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency on December 30, making it the first country to license the candidate for use in those aged 18 and above. The SII has stockpiled 100 million doses of the vaccine Import-export curbs on vaccine go LPG refill booking a Major changes expected as several commands to get new Lt Generals missed call away NEW DELHI: SII READY WITH 100 MILLION DOSES Tribune News Service Exports (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Amendment Regulations, 2020. Importers have been advised to indicate the unique identifier of the container and the accessories during import in the courier bill of entry (CBE-V) and also at the time of re-export in the courier shipping bill (CSBIV) for facilitating clearance. The CBIC, in a letter to field offices, has said since multiple stakeholders will be involved in the process of clearance of the vaccines, effective coordination among stakeholders would be necessary. — TNS UK FLIGHTS FROM JAN 8 The govt has decided to resume partial flights between India, UK from January 8 to 23 in anticipation of a licence even as the Centre prepares to roll out the vaccine as early as January 6. A national-level dry run to test Co-WIN, the digital vaccine delivery platform, is due tomorrow across all states. Trump extends freeze on visas Washington, January 1 US President Donald Trump has extended the freeze on H-1B and other work visas and green cards to March 31 to protect American workers, saying the reasons for which the restrictions were imposed have not changed. The freeze on visas was ordered by him through proclamations on April 22 and June 22 last year. The continuation of restrictions, which comes with just 20 days left in Trump’s term, is the latest effort to bar the entry of immigrants to the US. — PTI