17012021-TT-01.qxd 1/16/2021 10:47 PM Page 1 123 chandigarh | gurugram | jalandhar | bathinda | vol.141 no.17 | 16 pages | ~6.00 | regd.no.chd/0006/2021-2023 established in 1881  himachal pradesh LANKAN TAMILS SEEK UN ACTION OVER RIGHTS ABUSE WORLD /thetribunechd RHYME & REASON — MUSIC HAS A MORAL OBLIGATION TO BE INCLUSIVE SPECTRUM WON’T ALLOW INTERFERENCE, SAYS NEPAL FM BACK PAGE /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com sunday, january 17,2021 Will challenge NIA notices, say farmers 63% health workers take jab, poor show in Pb Chandigarh, January 16 In response to NIA summons to several activists associated with the farmers’ protest, union leaders today claimed the move was a government tactic to scuttle their agitation. They said they would move the court. Baldev Singh Sirsa, president, Lok Bhalai Insaf Welfare Society, said he would not appear before the NIA on Sunday due to a prior engagement. “Having failed to corner the farmers through other means, the government is now trying to intimidate us through the NIA,” he said. The agency had yesterday sent notices to over 12 farm leaders, Sikh activists and journalists, asking them to appear before it as witnesses Tribune News Service REPLACE AGRI PANEL MEMBERS: PLEA IN SC The Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lokshakti) on Saturday requested the SC to remove the remaining three members of the committee set up to resolve the impasse over the 3 farm laws and select people who can do the job “on the basis of mutual harmony”. It pointed out that those on the panel had already backed the laws. PTI continued on page 16 Punjab civic body polls on Feb 14 Chandigarh, January 16 The State Election Commission today announced civic body elections in Punjab on February 14. The State Election Commissioner, Jagpal Singh Sandhu, announced the schedule for elections and byelections to eight municipal corporations and 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats. — TNS DAY 1: Some operational hitches | 1,91,181 vaccinated at 3,351 sites | RML doctors wary New Delhi/Chandigarh, Jan 16 A sanitation worker from AIIMS-New Delhi today became the first Indian to get the Covid-19 vaccine shot moments after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the world’s largest inoculation drive following an emotional address. As many as 1,91,181 health workers were vaccinated by 16,755 personnel at 3,351 sites across the country. The mammoth exercise that seeks to cover 30 crore atrisk people by July. The inoculation coverage on the opening day was 63.7 per cent of the three lakh target beneficiaries. Delays in uploading beneficiary lists WILL COMPENSATE FOR PUNJAB 21.9% | HIMACHAL 61% | HARYANA 78% TOLL 2 MN, UN WARNS SIDE-EFFECTS: BIOTECH OF ‘VACCINATIONALISM’ COVID-19CASES INDIA Bharat Biotech, the developer of Covaxin, said on Saturday that it would compensate those who report serious side-effects after receiving the shot. The vaccine recipients, including all health staffers at AIIMS, Delhi, signed a consent form that specified the compensation for a “serious adverse event” would be paid by Bharat Biotech. TNS United Nations: As the world Covid toll crossed 2 million, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the pandemic’s impact had worsened due to lack of a global coordinated effort. He said “vaccinationalism” by governments would delay a global recovery. PTI COUNT DR REDDY’S GETS NOD FOR SPUTNIK PH-3 TRIAL << Sanitation worker Manish Kumar receives a Covaxin shot at AIIMS, New Delhi. TRIBUNE PHOTO ❝ THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR – FIRST RECIPIENT More snow in HP from January 22: IMD ty dropped to zero in the city. Meanwhile, the weather department has forecast that a fresh western disturbance is likely to cause scattered to fairly widespread rain and snow over Himachal Pradesh after January 22. — PTI TOTAL RECOVERED DEATHS WORLD 9,44,33,200 6,74,75,595 20,20,385 COVISHIELD ALONE FOR Punjab, HP, J&K, Ladakh, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh. COVAXIN & COVISHIELD FOR HRY, 10 MORE STATES 30 CRORE AT-RISK PEOPLE TO BE COVERED BY JULY | HARYANA REPORTS 13 ADVERSE EVENTS | DELHI 52, INCLUDING ONE SERIOUS and non-scheduled vaccinations were the operational challenges reported today, said the government, assuring these would be fixed. Delhi reported 52 adverse events, including one serious, while Haryana reported 13. The drive evoked a lukewarm response in Punjab with only 21.97 per cent of the targeted frontline workers (1,286 out of 5,853) taking the shot. State Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said they expected a better response in the coming days. In Haryana, the inoculation rate stood at 78.4 per cent — 5,907 of 7533 healthcare workers. The Poor visibility, flights delayed Kashmiri-origin Sameera Fazili on Team Biden New Delhi, January 16 More than 50 flights were delayed on Saturday morning due to dense fog at the Delhi airport, officials said. The thick blanket of fog reduced visibility to zero in the Capital on Saturday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. This is the third time this season — after December 8 and January 1 — that visibili- 1,05,42,841 RECOVERED 1,01,79,715 FRESH FATALITIES 175 TOTAL DEATHS 1,52,093 Srinagar, January 16 Kashmiri-origin Sameera Fazili’s parents wanted her to be a physician, but she was not quite in agreement. Fazili’s plans fructified on Friday when the Biden-Harris Transition named her deputy director of the National Economic Council at the White House. The council coordinates the economic policy-making process and provides PROUD MOMENT: KIN IN SRINAGAR ■ Sameera Fazili is a grad- ■ Her uncle Rouf Fazili said uate of Yale Law School and Harvard College ■ Her father, a surgeon, and mother, a pathologist, left Valley in 1970-71 the last time she visited Valley was in 2007 ■ From Buffalo, she now lives in Georgia with her hubby, 3 kids advice to the US president. Fazili is the second Kashmiri-origin Indian-American appointed to a key position in the incoming Biden administration. Her appointment has sparked off jubilations in her extended family in Srinagar. “It is a proud moment for the entire Kashmir,” her uncle Rouf Fazili said. “She was not born here and her parents left the Valley in 1970-71, but she has a strong affinity with Kashmir,” he said. The last time she visited the Valley was in 2007. Currently the economic agency lead on the BidenHarris Transition, she was earlier posted at Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. — PTI count stood at 61.46 per cent in Himachal Pradesh, with 1,536 of the targeted 2,499 being vaccinated. continued on page 16 IN BRIEF BARC ex-CEO in ICU, kin appeal to Modi MUMBAI: Arrested in the TRP scam, Partho Dasgupta, former CEO of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), has been admitted to the ICU of JJ Hospital here. His daughter took to Twitter to allege that he was tortured in prison, and appealed to the PM to “save his life”. — PTI