YK MYK WEATHER TODAY MAX 24 C MIN 10 C PREGNANT ANUSHKA SHARMA GOES BACK TO WORK, SHARES GLIMPSE OF SHOOT CINEMA & SCREEN Sky will be clear. Rs. 5 RANCHI TUESDAY, 24 NOV, 2020 PG-12, YEAR—10, ISSUE—199 (RNI NO: JHAENG / 2012 / 44137) AT A GLANCE ASSAM EX-CM PASSES AWAY GUWAHATI: Former Chief Minister of Assam Minister Tarun Gogoi passed away on Monday. He was 86. Giving information about his demise, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "Former Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi breathed his last at 5.34 pm on Monday at Guwahati Medical College." Gogoi whose health condition started deteriorating last Monday tested positive for COVID-19 in August. The veteran Congress Party leader was on ventilation after suffering a multiorgan failure and was on dialysis. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the demise of former Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi, who passed away in a Guwahati hospital on Monday battling post-Covid complications. "Shri Tarun Gogoi Ji was a popular leader and a veteran administrator, who had years of political experience in Assam as well as the Centre. Anguished by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family and supporters in this hour of sadness. Om Shanti," the Prime Minister tweeted. President Ram Nath Kovind in his condolence message said that Gogoi will be remembered for developing Assam. "Extremely sad to know of the demise of Shri Tarun Gogoi, former Chief Minister of Assam. The country has lost a veteran leader with rich political and administrative experience. His long tenure in office was a period of epochal change in Assam," President Kovind tweeted. CORONA METER INDIA TOTAL CASES: 9,149,835 TOTAL DEATH: 133,882 WORLD TOTAL CASES: 59,127,000 TOTAL DEATH: 1,396,017 SPORTS Morning India What's going on, asks SC as Covid worsens in Delhi NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court on Monday said the Covid-19 situation has worsened in Delhi and it has spiralled out of control in Gujarat. Asking the governments to prepare for the worst in December, the top court noted that there has been a sudden spike in novel coronavirus cases across the country in November. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan and comprising Justices R.S. Reddy and M.R. Shah asked the central and state governments to file status reports within two days detailing steps taken and intended to address the pandemic. The bench noted that the situation in Delhi has worsened in the last two weeks and asked the Arvind Kejriwal government to examine the bottlenecks in connection with the pandemic management. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that the Centre has taken steps to improve the situation in Delhi. Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, representing Delhi government, submitted before the top court that an expert committee has been constituted and the government had informed the court about it in July. "The question is what is the present scenario. What efforts are you taking," Justice Ashok Bhushan said. Jain replied everything is in place and the government has allocated 380 slots for cremation only for the Covid19 patients. The Delhi High Court had expressed alarm over covid pyres burning through the night in the capital city as toll spiked sharply andremained elevated. Justice Bhushan replied things have worsened in the last two weeks in the capital and sought for a status report on Covid-19 management in the capital. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had met Kejriwal over the corona situation in the capital offering help to arrest the surge in infections. Jain, citing the new government notification, said that 115 private hospitals have reserved 80 per cent beds for the Covid patients. The top court also pulled up other state governments -Gujarat and Maharashtra -over the worsening Covid situation. The bench queried the Gujarat government over its policy of wedding and unbridled gathering during the pandemic time. Justice Shah said Gujarat is worst after Delhi and Maharashtra. He added, while asking Gujarat government to file a status report, "What is your policy? What is happening?" The bench asked the Maharashtra government on the status report and asked the counsel representing the government to inform it about the steps taken and assistance required. The apex court told the state governments it is "time to introspect" and the situation is grim. Justice Reddy added that situation of Covid cases is worsening and likely to worsen further in December. "Huge spike in cases... Prepare for December," said the bench, as it called for the status reports. At the outset, Mehta submitted the matter related to handling of dead bodies and it is painful that court has to deal with this issue. The bench observed the matter also relates to hospitals situation. The top court asked the Centre to file an affidavit regarding the status of the Covid cases in the country and told the state governments should gear up to address the issues. The top has listed the matter for further hearing on Friday. The top court made these observations during the hearing of a matter where it had taken cognizance regarding the proper treatment of the Covid-19 patients and dignified handling of the bodies in the hospitals. Drug peddlers attack NCB team in Mumbai, injure two NGT DISMISSES PLEA ON CIGARETTE BUTTS NEW DELHI : The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has refused to entertain a plea seeking a review of its earlier order whereby it directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to lay down guidelines for disposal of cigarette and bidi butts. A bench of the Green Tribunal headed by its chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel disposed of the review application filed by Federation of All India Farmers' Associations. "By way of the present review application, the applicant seeks rehearing of the matter which is not permissible," the NGT said. This application has sought review of order of this Tribunal dated September 9, 2020, which dealt with the issue of regulation of disposal of cigarette and bidi butts, apart from prohibiting consumption of tobacco in public places. The Tribunal had dealt with the matter after considering the response of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and Ministry of Health and obtaining a report from Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR). KOHLI & RAHANE ARE LIKE CHALK AND CHEESE, SAYS WARNER MUMBAI : In a shocking development, a mob of drug peddlers and their supporters blocked and attacked a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) team, injuring two, when they raided a location in Mumbai's suburban Goregaon, officials said on Monday. The incident occurred late on Sunday when the NCB team, led by Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, was heckled and stymied by a menacing mob of around five dozen persons, including a few drug peddlers, when the sleuths went to conduct a search and seizure operation in the Jawahar Nagar area of the north-west Mumbai suburb. As the NCB team seized a commercial quantity of 20 LSD blots from peddler Kerry Kelvin Mendes, several of his accomplices who gathered there started abusing, pushing and assaulting the officials, in a bid to set free Mendes. "They also surrounded and damaged the (NCB) official vehicle and a pair of handcuffs. Their efforts were directed towards freeing the accused," said the NCB. The mob had surrounded the NCB team, but the antidrug agency personnel retaliated and thwarted the attempts of the attackers to free Mendes, while trying to calm them down. In the process, two NCB officials sustained injuries and were taken for treatment. Besides Wankhede, the raiding team comprised Superintendent V.V. Singh, Investigating Officer Vishwanath Tiwari, sepoys P.S. Reddy, and P.D. More and driver Anil Mane. A team from Goregaon police station, which rushed there soon afterwards, has arrested three persons for the attack - Vipul K. Agre, 25, Yusuf A. Shaikh, 24 and Amin A. L. Shaikh, all local residents. The police also helped the NCB team secure the A view of the houses and trees covered with snow after the fresh snowfall in Gulmarg on Monday. (ANI Photo) No respite from rising onion prices till Dec PRAMOD KUMAR JHA NEW DELHI : Due to the declining onion imports from abroad, the price of the staple vegetable is once again set to soar even while there is a large supply of onions coming from Rajasthan. The retail price of onions in the national capital is between Rs 50 to Rs 70 per kg while the wholesale price ranges from Rs 15 to Rs 47.5 per kg which had fallen slightly to Rs 42 per kg before the Diwali season. According to traders, there are slim chances of getting a respite from the rising onion prices before December this year. However, there is some relief for the common man as the prices of potatoes sharply declined due to the new potato crop. The increase in onion prices is being attributed to the decrease in imports even as the fresh supply of onions from Rajasthan is in full flow to various parts of the country, including north India. Traders say that in the last few days due to the increasing supply of locally-produced onions, the pace of onion imports has slowed down. Horticulture Produce Exporters Association President, Ajit Shah, said the import of onions has not stopped but it has considerably reduced. He said that onions have also been imported from Turkey this week. At present, although onions are coming from Rajasthan, its price will fall only when onions from Nashik in Maharashtra flood the markets, Shah added. He said the old stock of onions in Nashik is almost depleted so there is no scope of a sharp fall in their prices at present. Shah believes that the prices of onions will not record any sharp decline before December this year. In New Delhi's Azadpur Mandi, the wholesale price of onions on Monday was fixed between Rs 15 to Rs 47.50 per kg while the retail price of onions in Delhi-NCR was between Rs 50 to Rs 70 per kg. At the same time the wholesale price of potatoes was between Rs 20 to Rs 36 per kg while the retail price was less than Rs 50. Azadpur Mandi Trader and Potato and Onion Merchant Association General Secretary, Rajendra Sharma, said the supply of onions from Rajasthan is in full swing yet its prices have not reported a fall. There is still some time before the fresh onion crop enters other parts of the country. This is why in the absence of onion imports, its price may soar further. To keep the onion prices under control, the Central government had banned the export of onions on September 14, 2020. On October 23, the limit on keeping onion stocks for wholesale and retail traders was fixed according to which retailers could keep a maximum onion stock of two tonne and wholesalers could keep a maximum stock of 25 tonne. AIMIM MLA objects to 'Hindustan' in oath Patna : The first day of the newly elected Bihar Legislative Assembly witnessed a controversy when AIMIM MLA Akhtarul Imam raised objection over the word 'Hindustan' while he was being administered the oath of office by pro-tem Speaker Jitan Ram Manjhi on Monday. Imam argued that he wanted to say the word 'Bharat' instead of 'Hindustan' during the oath ceremony. It was strongly objected to by the BJP and the JDU MLAs and some of them 'asked him to go to Pakistan' if he and other AIMIM MLAs had a problem with the word Hindustan. As per the procedures, the MLAs can take oath in five languages -- Hindi, English, Sanskrit, Maithili and Urdu. In the first four languages, 'Bharat' is mentioned in the oath letters and 'Hindustan' is written on the Urdu oath letter. Imam, who was elected from the Amaur constituency in the Seemanchal region, insisted on using the word Bharat when he chose to take oath in the Urdu language. Following him, the other four MLAs of the AIMIM also took the oath in Urdu. The BJP and the JD(U) MLAs raised objections to this and criticised the AIMIM MLAs. Neeraj Kumar Babloo, the BJP MLA said: "It shows the wrong intention of the AIMIM MLAs for not using 'Hindustan' word in their oath. If they have objection over Hindustan, they should go to Pakistan or any other country. They have no right to stay in our country." Madan Sahani, the JDU MLA said: "Sometimes new MLAs, in a bid to draw the attention of everyone do something different. But the act of the AIMIM MLAs is highly objectionable. "There is no harm in using 'Hindustan' during the swearing-in ceremony. Unfortunately, they didn't follow the tradition of the Bihar assembly," said Sahani. AstraZeneca vax highly effective in preventing Covid-19 NEW DELHI : AstraZeneca announced Monday that positive high-level results from an interim analysis of clinical trials of the Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the UK and Brazil showed it was highly effective in preventing the disease, the primary endpoint, and no hospitalisations or severe cases of the disease were reported in participants receiving the vaccine. There were a total of 131 Covid-19 cases in the interim analysis. One dosing regimen showed vaccine efficacy of 90 per cent when AZD1222 was given as a half dose, followed by a full dose at least one month apart, and another dosing regimen showed 62 per cent efficacy when given as two full doses at least one month apart. The combined analysis from both dosing regimens resulted in an average efficacy of 70 per cent. All results were statistically significant. More data will continue to accumulate and additional analysis will SII CEO expresses delight at Covishield vaccine efficacy be conducted, refining the efficacy reading and establishing the duration of protection. An independent Data Safety Monitoring Board determined that the analysis met its primary endpoint showing protection from COVID-19 occurring 14 days or more after receiving two doses of the vaccine. No serious safety events related to the vaccine have been confirmed. AZD1222 was well tolerated across both dosing regimens. AstraZeneca will now immediately prepare regulatory submission of the data to authorities around the world that have a framework in place for conditional or early approval. The Company will seek an Emergency Use Listing from the World Health Organization for an accelerated pathway to vaccine availability in lowincome countries. In parallel, NEW DELHI : Serum Institute of India (SII), CEO, Adar Poonawalla on Monday said that he is delighted to hear that Covidshield, soon to be widely available COVID-19 vaccine, will offer protection up to 90 per cent in one dosage regime and 62 per cent in another. "Delighted to hear that, Covishield, soon to be widely available COVID-19 vaccine, will offer protection up the full analysis of the interim results is being submitted for publication in a peerreviewed journal. Professor Andrew Pollard, Chief Investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial at Oxford, said, "These findings to 90 per cent in one dosage regime and 62 per cent in another," said Poonawalla. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is being made in partnership with Serum Institute. With an efficacy of around 90 per cent, positive results from an interim analysis of clinical trials of AZD1222 in the UK and Brazil the vaccine has proved to be highly effective in preventing COVID-19 said AstraZeneca on show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives. Excitingly, we've found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90 per cent effective and if this dosing regime is used, more peo- Monday. One dosing regimen shows the vaccine efficacy of 90 per cent when AZD1222 was given as a half dose, followed by a full dose at least a month apart. Second dosing regimen shows 62 per cent efficacy when given two full doses at least a month apart. Combined analysis has an average efficacy of 70 per cent, AstraZeneca said in a statement. ple could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply. Today's announcement is only possible thanks to the many volunteers in our trial, and the hard working and talented team of researchers based around the world."