YK MYK LANDLESS, MARGINAL, SMALL FARMERS ARE BACKBONE OF THE PROTEST OPINION Rs. 5 RANCHI SUNDAY, 3 JAN, 2021 PG-12, YEAR—10, ISSUE—239 (RNI NO: JHAENG / 2012 / 44137) ISL 7: EAST BENGAL, ODISHA FC LOOK TO RETURN TO WINNING WAYS SPORTS Morning India COVID-19 VACCINATION Dry run in India’s 125 districts, 285 sites A s India gears up to launch the world's largest immunisation drive, almost all states and Union Territory (UT) governments, including the national capital, on Saturday conducted a dry run at 285 session sites spread across 125 districts to the assess ability and readiness of authorities to administer Covid-19 shots to hundreds of millions of people, including many in remote corners of the country. Ahead of the actual vaccination drive, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) conducted the nationwide mock drill at 285 session sites to test the end-toend planned operations and the mechanism that has been set up to ensure smooth conduct of the Covid-19 vaccination. This dry run of the vaccination drive spread across 125 districts covers all states and UTs having adequate representation of urban and rural districts along with hard-toreach areas, said an MoHF statement. On the Centre's directive, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana along with Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Gujarat were among many states and UTs who conducted a dry run and mock drills for Covid-19 vaccination earlier in the day, aimed at testing the laid out mechanisms for the vaccination roll-out in the health system. The Centre had directed earlier to conduct a dry run by all TOTAL CASES: 1,03,10,778 state and UTs on January 2 TOTAL DEATH: 149,305 to test the linkages between planning and TOTAL CASES: 84,472,687 implementaTOTAL DEATH: 1,837,442 tion, and to identify the challenges. As per the guidelines issued by the MoHFW, all states selected their particular areas and districts to hold the dry run exercise at various government medical college, hospitals, medical centres and the community health centres. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Health Organization (WHO) supported the drive, officials said. In the drive, the medical officer in-charge identified several beneficiaries (healthcare workers). The states and UTs have been asked to ensure that the data of beneficiaries is uploaded on Co-WIN, an online platform for monitoring the delivery of the vaccine. Similar exercise for the distribution and administration of Covid-19 vaccine was conducted in various states and UTs separately on different occasions in December. While visiting two mock vaccination sites to review the dry run drill for administering the Covid-19 vaccine, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said that one crore healthcare workers and two crore frontline workers would be given free vaccine in the first phase of the inoculation drive. He first visited the GTB Hospital in Shahdara and later an Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) in Daryaganj. Expressing his satisfaction at the preparations at the GTB Hospital, the Minister said: MORE ON PG 5, 7 Glitch-free vaccination drill carried out in State CORONA METER RAJ KUMAR INDIA WORLD A dry run or mock drill is being done for Covid-19 vaccine at an urban community health centre, in Ajmer on Saturday. After 'Covishield', expert panel okays Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin' for emergency use NEW DELHI: The Subject Expert Committee of Central Drug Standard Control Organization on Saturday recommended Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin' for emergency use in India. The final decision on its approval will, however, be taken by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). The committee of experts assessing Coronavirus vaccines had called Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech for a meeting in the afternoon today, a day after the firm was asked to present more data to get a nod, a top source said on Saturday. On Friday, the Subject Expert Committee of the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) had held that the data provided by Bharat Biotech for its Coronavirus vaccine is not sufficient for grant of emergency use approval and asked for more information. The expert committee, tasked with vetting Covid-19 vaccine proposals, had convened a meeting to take a call on emergency use authorisation sought by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech for their respec- GANGULY UNDERGOES ANGIOPLASTY, NOW STABLE KOLKATA: Former Indian skipper and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly on Saturday has undergone angioplasty and is stable now, experts in the medical team said. Ganguly was admitted to a Kolkata hospital this afternoon after complaints of chest pain. "Sourav Ganguly is stable after undergoing angioplasty. He is conscious and stable now. He has a minor cardiac issue while doing some workout in his home gymnasium," said Saroj Mondal, the head of medical team treating the BCCI chief. The doctor said that Ganguly was immediately moved to the hospital and all necessary medical treatments were provided. "He underwent angiography and angioplasty. He is now stable. There are multiple issues for cardiac attack. He will be able to join his daily activities soon," said Mondal, who also heads the cardiology department of the state-run SSKM Hospital. Sources said that there are two more blockages in his PG 12 heart for which he will be treated. 3 CRORE CORONA WARRIORS TO GET VACCINE FOR FREE: HARSH NEW DELHI: As India gears up to launch the world's largest immunisation drive, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said that one crore healthcare workers and two crore frontline workers would be given free vaccine in the first phase of the inoculation drive. "In the first phase of vaccination, free vaccine will be provided across the nation to most prioritised beneficiaries that include one crore healthcare and 2 crore frontline workers," Vardhan said in a tweet. He, however, added, that the details of how the remaining 27 crore priority beneficiaries will be vaccinated till July is getting finalised. The central government plans to vaccinate nearly 30 crore persons in the first phase of the immunisation drive. The vaccine will be administered to one crore healthcare workers, along with 2 crore frontline and essential workers, and 27 crore elderly, mostly above the age of 50 with comorbidities. The comment is significant, given the fact that India has recorded the second highest numbers of corona infections after the United States. tive vaccine candidates. Notably, the panel recommended emergency licensure for the Serum Institute of India-manufactured 'Covishield'. It become the first vaccine to secure recommendation for emergency use in India. The nod of the DCGI is, however, awaited on the recommendation. The Pune-based Serum Institute has partnered with Oxford-AstraZeneca for conducting clinical trials and manufacturing 'Covishield' while Bharat Biotech has collaborated with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for 'Covaxin'. America's Pfizer was the first one to apply for the accelerated approval on December 4, followed by the Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech on December 6 and 7, respectively. The Central government plans to vaccinate nearly 30 crore people in the first phase of drive. It will be offered to one crore healthcare workers, along with 2 crore frontline and essential workers and 27 crore elderly above the age of 50 years most of whom have co-morbidities . LET'S ZAKI-UR-REHMAN LAKHVI HELD OVER TERROR FINANCING ISLAMABAD: Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was arrested on Saturday for financing terrorism days after Pakistan received worldwide criticism for having released Ahmed Omer Saeed Shaikh, who was in jail in connection with the abduction and murder US journalist Daniel Pearl. According to ARY News, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) arrested Lakhvi "an alleged member of a banned outfit" during a raid conducted in Lahore. The department's spokesperson said that Lakhvi was arrested during a raid for allegedly financing terrorists. Lakhvi was designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations under the United Nations Security Council Resolution in 2008 after the Mumbai attacks. In April last year, Pakistan, which has been long accused of aiding and abetting terrorism, had removed about 1,800 names from its terrorist watchlist including of 2008 Mumbai Terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, according to data collected by castellum.aI, a New Yorkbased regulatory technology company. Lakhvi is accused of abet- ment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. The arrest of Lakhvi comes days after the Sindh High Court had directed to release terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib in connection with the abduction and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl. Daily Pakistan had reported that Sindh High Court also ordered putting names of accused Ahmed Omer Saeed Shaikh and others in the exit control list (ECL). The accused have been in jail for the last 18 years. It ordered the accused to appear as and when the court summons them. RANCHI: The dry run for covid-19 vaccination was conducted at 13 places in six districts across the state successfully on Saturday. As many as 325 beneficiaries participated in the dry run among which nurse SaresaMinz was the first beneficiary on which the dry run was conducted. Nodal officer of the Covid19 vaccination programme, Dr Ajit Prasad, confirmed the rehearsal saying '25 beneficiaries were called at each of 13 centres across the state. During the rehearsal, attention was paid to each and every aspect right from the supply of vaccine to exit of beneficiaries after completing the process of vaccination under the supervision of experts." In Ranchi, where there were three centres, Deputy Commissioner Chhavi Ranjan, was present for monitoring. Apart from Ranchi, the dry run was conducted in East Singhbhum, Chatra, Palamu, Simdega, and Pakur. In East Singhbhum district, 50 health department workers were subjected to the dry-run for the Covid vaccines at the Sadar Hospital in Khasmahal in Jamshedpur and at the Ghatsila sub-divisional hospital on Saturday morning. Meanwhile, it was a flawless dry run for Covid vaccination in the Medinirai Medical College and Hospital, Daltonganj today. One more dry run for Covid vaccination was held at the sub-divisional hospital Chhaterpur, around 48 kilometers away from Daltonganj. Sources said the entire team of the health officials like civil surgeon Palamu John F Kennedy and district reproductive child health officer Anil Kr Singh was present at the vaccination site here. The decision for the dry run was taken at a high-level meeting of the Union Health Ministry on Thursday. The dry run will be conducted by all the State and UT governments on 2nd January 2021 (Saturday). The ministry has proposed that the dry run be conducted in all state capitals in at least three session sites. Before the dry run, on Friday, civil surgeons and medical officers of all the five districts were imparted training by the officials of the health department. As reports of the dry run became public, children expressed their pleasure. "Very soon we will be able to go to our school as steps for the beginning of Covid-19 vaccination have started," said Mangla Gauri, a class IV student of D.A.V.Kapildev, Kadru. Gautam Kumar, a class VI student of St Xavier's School, echoed the same. "Once the real vaccination starts, we will be able to know when we will be vaccinated and be able to go to our school," he said. Former Home Minister Buta Singh passes away NEW DELHI: Former Home Minister Sardar Buta Singh passed away on Saturday. He was 86. A senior leader of the Congress, Singh became Lok Sabha member eight times, besides being appointed as Governor of Bihar. He worked with former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and P.V. Narasimha Rao. He was the Bihar Governor from 2004 to 2006. Born in Jalandhar, Singh held key portfolios like railways, commerce, parliamentary affairs, sports, shipping, agriculture, communications and housing. He was chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes from 2007 to 2010. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi offered his condolences to Singh's family and said the veteran party leader had PG 7 spent his life in service of common man.