10012021-TTB-01.qxd 1/10/2021 12:16 AM Page 1 123 chandigarh | gurugram | jalandhar | bathinda | vol.5 no.10 | 20 pages | ~6.00 | regd.no.chd/0006/2021-2023 established in 1881 COMMITTED TO PROMOTING YOUNG TALENT: L-G J&K /thetribunechd FEAR & HOPE: EXPERTS ALLAY CONCERNS OVER VACCINE SPECTRUM NADDA REACHES OUT TO BENGAL FARMERS BACK PAGE /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com sunday, january 10,2021 Vaccine rollout from Jan 16, Modi calls it landmark step Tribune News Service Worried patients at the Bhandara General Hospital. PTI 10 newborns die in Maha hospital fire Bhandara, January 9 Ten newborn babies died after a fire broke out at a neonatal care ward of a state-run hospital at Bhandara in eastern Maharashtra in the early hours of Saturday morning. The staff rescued seven of the 17 babies in the ward. The cause of the fire is suspected to be a short-circuit or a malfunctioning air-conditioning unit. The state government has ordered a probe by fire experts. A BJP leader alleged that there were complaints about power fluctuations in the ward, but no action was taken. The deceased, eight girls and two boys, were aged between one 3 infants burnt to death, 7 suffocated; ~5 lakh aid for families and three months, a doctor at the hospital said. State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said three infants died of burn injuries and seven of suffocation caused by smoke. Those responsible shall not be spared, said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. A fire audit of all hospitals in the state has been ordered. The CM announced Rs 5 lakh for family members of the deceased infants. — PTI Indonesia jet with 62 aboard missing Gujarat ex-CM Solanki dead New Delhi, January 9 Congress veteran and fourtime former Chief Minister of Gujarat Madhavsinh Solanki died in Gandhinagar on Saturday morning. He was 93. Solanki started his career as journalist and joined politics to rise through the ranks. He served as Gujarat Congress chief and became the CM in December 1976 for the first time. — TNS PDP youth leader Para gets bail Jammu, January 9 PDP youth wing president Waheed Para was on Saturday granted bail by an NIA court after remaining in custody for over a month for his alleged links with terrorists. Para, who won the recent DDC poll from his hometown Pulwama, was produced in the NIA court, which granted him relief on a surety of Rs 1 lakh. INSIDE Jakarta, January 9 A Sriwijaya Air passenger jet carrying 62 persons lost contact with air traffic controllers after taking off from Indonesia’s capital on Saturday on a domestic flight, officials said. Indonesian Transportation Ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati said Boeing 737-500 took off from Jakarta at about 1.56 pm and lost contact with the control tower at 2.40 pm. A statement released by the airline said the plane was on an estimated 90-minute flight from Jakarta to Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan province on Indonesia’s Borneo island. — AP New Delhi, January 9 India will launch the Covid19 vaccination drive from January 16, with healthcare and frontline workers receiving the first shots. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the schedule of the world’s largest vaccination drive today after chairing a high-level meeting to review the country’s pandemic status as well as vaccination preparedness. “On January 16, India takes a landmark step in fighting Covid-19. Starting that day, the nationwide vaccine drive begins. Priority will be given to our brave doctors, healthcare and frontline workers, including safai karamcharis,” the PM tweeted. The announcement came days after emergency use authorisation for two vaccines was granted by the drug regulator. Oxford-AstraZeneca-SII’s 3 27 79 2,360 crore health, frontline workers to be vaccinated in Ph-1 crore people in Ph-2, all above 50 & those below 50 with comorbidities lakh already registered on Co-WIN app professionals trained during national-level exercise 61,000 programme managers, 2 lakh vaccinators, 3.7 lakh other team members trained 3 phases of dry run conducted across 615 districts MUTANT VIRUS CASES RISE TO 90 Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will be used for vaccinating one crore health workers and two crore frontline workers, fol- lowed by 27 crore people aged 50 and above and those below 50 with comorbidities. According to Health Ministry guidelines, the latest The US is not China, say Republicans Washington, January 9 US President Donald Trump has been permanently suspended from Twitter due to the "risk of further incitement of violence", the social media giant announced, days after his supporters stormed the US Capitol and caused the deaths of four civilians and a police officer. The unprecedented move by the California-based social media platform comes after Trump tweeted that he would not attend the inauguration of his successor Joe Biden on January 20. “After close review of recent tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter said in a statement. Several Republican lead- SPEAKER PELOSI WARNS ❝ It is the hope of will members the President immediately resign. If he does not, I have instructed the Rules Committee to be prepared to move a motion for impeachment. ers, including popular Indian-American politician Nikki Haley, condemned Twitter for permanently deactivating the account of the outgoing President. “Silencing people, not to mention the President of the US, is what happens in China, not our country,” she tweeted. — PTI Farmers firm: Won’t back Govt may have ‘Plan B’ ready off, even if told by courts Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 9 After several rounds of fruitless negotiations with farmers, while the Centre appears to be waiting for the outcome of the January 11 Supreme Court hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the validity of the three farm laws, it also seems to have a “Plan B” ready. Sources indicate if nothing works out by January 15, the government may consider bringing amendments (as proposed to the farmers) to the three laws and the ordi- Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 9 Agitating farmers today said they would not back down from legitimate protests against the farm laws, even if the court tells them to. After a meeting with their legal representatives here, farm union representatives said they would only implead in the Supreme Court in the pending petitions seeking removal of protesters from Delhi borders and not in any matter regarding the constitutionality of the farm laws. The Supreme Court had in mid-December allowed eight farm unions to implead in the petition challenging their protests on grounds of Covidrelated issues. The farm unions said these unions BSF hands back 6 to Pak within 24 hours of arrest Amritsar, January9 The Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday handed over six Pakistan nationals to the Rangers within 24 hours of their arrest. They had inadvertently crossed over to India from the International Border (IB) near Moran village on Friday evening. This is the first time in recent history that so many Pakistan nationals strayed into the Indian territory from this part of the IB. MAMMOTH EXERCISE electoral rolls for the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections will be used to identify population aged 50 and above. The PM is scheduled to interact with chief ministers of all states via videoconferencing on Monday to review preparedness. The vaccination drive is starting in India almost a year after the first case was reported on January 30, 2020, in Kerala. At the review meeting today, Modi was briefed on the Co-WIN vaccine delivery management system, a digital platform that will provide real-time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and tracking of beneficiaries. This platform will assist the programme managers through automated session allocation for pre-registered beneficiaries, their verification and for generating a digital certificate upon successful completion of the vaccine schedule. Twitter permanently suspends Trump a/c Inadvertently crossed IB near Amritsar village ■ If no solution till Jan 15, govt may consider amendments to the three laws and the ordinance on air quality mgmt during Budget session ■ It is also willing to have a joint 10-member panel to discuss changes in the laws nance on air quality management in the Budget session. “But it is certain that there will be no repeal (of the three Acts),” the sources say. The ongoing agitation is an “undesirable” situation for any popular dispensation, but the government believes it will be able to “tide it over”. If laws are amended, it will be a proof of the BJP’ s intent towards the farmers. The government is also willing to have a joint 10-member panel to “discuss and make changes in the farm laws”. Having relented on the proposed power Act, stubble burning ordinance and amendments to Acts, this is about as far the government is willing to bend. Any further concessions will end uo in “opening possibilities of more protests.” Farmers during a protest at the Ghazipur -Delhi border. MUKESH AGGARWAL FATEHGARH SAHIB FARMER ENDS LIFE AT SINGHU AKAL TAKHT JATHEDAR REFUSES TO ACT AS MEDIATOR WORRIED, 100 MPs WRITE TO BORIS ON FARM STIR HARYANA DEPUTY SPEAKER’S CAR ATTACKED IN HISAR would go to the court on Monday in the pending case. “The eight farm unions which are already part of the case and have been impleaded continued on page 6 CONFIRMED: BIRD FLU IN 7 STATES ■ With the confirmation of bird flu outbreak in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, the total number of affected states rose to seven ■ The other affected states are Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat ■ Culling operations have been A BSF spokesperson said the six youngsters from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were challenged by the border guards after they crossed over to India. They were held in the buffer zone between the IB and barbed fencing, 150 yards inside the border. INSIDE THE LIKELY COURSE completed in 2 affected districts of Kerala and teams have been sent to Haryana and Himachal Pradesh ■ The demand for eggs and chick- en has dipped, leading to a slump in poultry rates — PTI 1,200 MORE BIRDS FOUND DEAD COUNTRYWIDE Pvt players in Pb buying cotton way above MSP Arrest JeM chief Azhar by Jan 18: Pak court to cops Sameer Singh Lahore, January 9 An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has asked the police of Punjab province to arrest by January 18 Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, designated global terrorist by the UN, in a terror financing case. The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC), Gujranwala, issued an arrest warrant against Azhar, who is facing charges of terror financing and selling jihadi literature. Following the Palwama terror attack in February 2019, Pakistan’s Punjab police had launched a crackdown on terror financing and arrested six JeM militants in Gujranwala. Azhar is facing trial in this case. The JeM had claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. — PTI Tribune News Service Bathinda, January 9 Cotton farmers in Punjab are elated over private players making purchases way above the minimum support price (MSP) this season. While the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) is buying cotton at Rs 5,665 (the MSP for premium quality is Rs 5,725), private players have started making purchases at Rs 5,900 per quintal. The CCI made a record purchase (27.50 lakh quintals) in the initial few months but it’s the private players who are dominating the show now. They have purchased 5.5 lakh quintals so far. Neeraj Kumar, GM, CCI, Punjab said: “Owing to high demand, cotton prices in the international market have HIGH DEMAND ■ The MSP for premium quality is ~5,725 per quintal ■ Pvt parties making purchases at ~5,900 per quintal ■ Experts attribute it to the rise in cotton demand globally soared. Also, traders at times store raw stocks and wait for the prices to rise further to earn handsome profits.” Mohan Singh of Chahal Spintex Ltd, Kot Shamir, Bathinda, who bought cotton at Rs 5,880 per quintal, said: “Unlike the last season, the CCI has made bulk purchases. continued on page 6 Siraj, Bumrah racially abused by crowd, BCCI lodges complaint Groundwater near Panipat Sydney, January 9 The Indian cricket board (BCCI) has lodged a formal complaint with match referee David Boon after Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were allegedly racially abused by a section of the crowd during the third day of the third Test against Australia today. According to BCCI sources, Siraj was allegedly referred to as a “monkey” by at least one drunk spectator in one of the stands at the Sydney Cricket Ground, reliving the infamous “Monkeygate” episode of the Indian team’s tour of Australia in 2007-08. Unconfirmed reports said that abuse was directed at up to four Indian players multiple times. It is learnt that the abuse was reported by the team to the umpires on the field, and to Boon at the end of the day’s play. “BCCI lodged a formal com- Jasprit Bumrah Md Siraj ANOTHER ‘MONKEYGATE’ Players were allegedly referred to as “monkey” by a spectator, reliving ‘Monkeygate’ episode of the 2007-08 Australia tour. plaint with ICC match referee David Boon about two of their players, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, being abused by a drunk spectator,” a BCCI official said. Incidentally, the “Monkeygate” episode also took place during the Sydney Test when Andrew Symonds claimed Harbhajan Singh called him a monkey multiple times. But the Indian off-spinner was cleared after a hearing on the matter. A long discussion was held among senior Indian players, including captain Ajinkya Rahane, the on-field umpires and security officers at the end of the day’s play, it is learnt. The abuse was directed at the Indians while they were fielding during the Australian second innings. Though the complaint was filed with the ICC representative, as per the rules, Cricket Australia as Today’s issue is of 20 pages, including four-page Jalandhar Tribune. hosts will probe and adjudicate on the case. Australia, meanwhile, tightened the noose around India with a substantial 197-run lead on a forgettable Saturday for the visitors in the third Test. By the close of play, Steve Smith (29 batting) and Marnus Labuschagne (47 batting) gave an exhibition of how to bat on slow tracks with Australia reaching 103 for two. — TNS/Agencies refinery unfit for drinking Panipat, January 9 The groundwater in villages adjoining Indian Oil Corporation Limited refinery here has been found unfit for drinking, according to a survey by the Central Ground Water Board. The pH value of water was not found up to the mark at certain places while heavy metals — iron, fluoride and uranium — were found Fluoride, uranium above prescribed limit in excess of the prescribed limit at other places. The Public Health and Engineering Department now proposes to dig new borewells to provide clean drinking water. — TNS