YK MYK GST ARM UNEARTHS RS 832 CR TAX EVASION BY ‘PAN MASALA’ FACTORY NATION Rs. 3 KOLKATA MONDAY, 4 JAN, 2021 PG-12, YEAR—7, ISSUE—228 (RNI NO: WBENG / 2014 / 56803) AT A GLANCE NAXAL WANTED IN JHARKHAND HELD IN GUJARAT SURAT: A suspected Naxal, who was wanted in Jharkhand for several offences, has been arrested from Kosamba in Gujarat's Surat district, where he worked as a machine mechanic at a factory for the last three years, police said on Sunday. The accused, identified as Guddu Singh, was arrested on Saturday in a joint operation carried out by Kosamba police in Surat and Nawdiha Bazar police in Jharkhand's Palamu district, V K Patel, inspector of Kosamba police station, said. Singh, a suspected Naxal, was wanted in six cases, including murder, kidnapping and attempt to murder, as well as for the offences related to the Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act, all dating back to 2011 and 2013, he said. "The accused, a resident of Korami village in Jharkhand's Palamu district, had been living in Surat since the last several years and worked at a factory in Kosamba as a machine mechanic since the last three years," he said. "As part of the joint operation, the police from the two states kept a watch on him over the last three days before apprehending him on Saturday," Patel said. BJP TO HOLD TRAINING CAMP IN NITISH'S BACKYARD PATNA: The BJP will hold a training camp for party members in Rajgir on January 9, which prompted the opposition RJD to claim that the BJP wanted to "uproot" Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and was thus starting with his home town. CORONA METER INDIA TOTAL CASES: 1,03,28,017 TOTAL DEATH: 149,509 WORLD TOTAL CASES: 85,067,928 TOTAL DEATH: 1,845,414 PANKAJ TRIPATHI: 'KAGAAZ' IS A SATIRICAL TAKE ON A REAL ISSUE SCREEN & CINEMA Morning India India approves 2 Covid vaccines for emergency use NEW DELHI: Eleven months after the first case of deadly coronavirus was detected in India, Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) V.G. Somani on Sunday approved Serum Institute of India's 'Covishield' vaccine and Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin' for emergency use, paving the way for their roll-out and administration to millions. This is a major relief for India which has the second highest number of infections in the world, after the US. The Central government plans to vaccinate nearly 30 crore people in the first phase of drive in the next six to eight months. The vaccine will be first offered to one crore healthcare workers, along with two crore frontline and essential workers and 27 crore elderly, mostly above the age of 50 years with co-morbidities. The Subject Expert Committee, tasked with vetting the vaccine proposals, had recommended OxfordAstra Zeneca's 'Covishield' and Bharat Biotech's indigenous 'Covaxin' for emergency use approval on January 1 and 2, respectively. The final call was to be taken by the DCGI. The expert panel recommended granting permission for restricted emergency use of 'Covaxin' in "public interest as an abundant precaution, in clinical trial mode, specially in the context of infection by mutant strains. Pune-based Serum Institute of India has partnered with OxfordAstraZeneca for conducting clinical trials and manufacturing 'Covishield', while Bharat Biotech has collaborated with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) INSIDE 19 killed as cemetery roof collapses in Ghaziabad ‘COVID VACCINE TO BE TAKEN 28 DAYS APART, ANTIBODIES WILL DEVELOP 2 WEEKS AFTER LAST DOSE’ PAGE 7 for 'Covaxin'. Serum and Bharat Biotech Pfizer had applied for the accelerated approval on December 6 and 7, respectively. The UK and Argentina have already approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. More than five crore doses of the vaccine have already been stockpiled by its manufacturer, Serum Institute of India. Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will play a major role in India's plan to vaccinate its population against Covid-19 due to several factors -- lowcost, ease of storage and transport. Serum Institute of India this week said it has a stockpiled 40-50 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine. India is likely to receive a majority of these 50 million doses. As far as Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is concerned, it is India's first indigenous vaccine for coronavirus. The inactivated virus vaccine is being developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV). A DECISIVE TURNING POINT: PM MODI ON COVID VACCINE APPROVAL PAGE 5 SARANA DHARMO SAMMELAN RALLY SEALDAH TO NETAJI INDOOR on Sunday in Kolkata. ICMR says clinical trial shows COVAXIN is ‘safe’ NEW DELHI: Hours after Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved restricted use in an emergency situation to Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Sunday said data generated through pre-clinical studies and various phases of clinical trial shows COVAXIN is 'safe.' "Data generated through preclinical studies and various phases of the clinical trial from within India highlighted COVAXIN's safety and immunogenicity. Potential of COVAXIN to mount a resistance against new mutants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, informed the decision making process for vaccine approval," ICMR tweeted. Notably, COVAXIN is an indigenously developed coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR. Earlier today, COVID-19 vaccines of Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech were granted permission for restricted use in an emergency situation by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). VACCINES 110 PC SAFE, IMPOTENCY RUMOURS COMPLETE NONSENSE: DCGI NEW DELHI: As India gears up for the world's largest vaccination programme, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Sunday quelled rumours surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines regarding impotency, rubbishing such speculations as "complete nonsense". "We will never approve anything if there is even the slightest safety concern. Vaccines are 110 per cent safe. Some side effects like mild fever, pain and allergy are common for every vaccine. It (rumours of impotency) is complete nonsense," VG Somani, Drug Controller General of India said. When asked if people would face side effects after taking the vaccine, the DCGI said, "Yes, minor side effects will be there, including a little like pain in the shoulders, a slight fever, little allergies. This occurs in every vaccine but of-course, the vaccine is 110 per cent safe." Meanwhile, he said, 'It (the vaccines) are very safe don't worry' in his interaction. Earlier on Saturday, Samajwadi Party chief and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav had said, "COVID-19 vaccine might contain something, which can cause harm. Tomorrow, people will say the vaccine was given to kill or decrease the population. You can even become impotent, anything can happen." Earlier today, COVID-19 vaccines of Serum Institue of India and Bharat Biotech have been granted permission for restricted use in an emergency situation, said DCGI. GHAZIABAD: At least 19 people were killed and 20 others injured as the roof of a cemetery in Muradnagar area here collapsed as they were sheltering under it amid heavy rains, officials said. The incident was reported in the morning when around 50 people, who came for the last rites of a fruit-seller, took shelter under the recently-built structure to save themselves from getting drenched. However, minutes later, the roof of the structure collapsed. Teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) retrieved three bodies while the remaining were recovered by police and district administration during the rescue operation, officials told IANS. After the NDRF teams called off the rescue operation, NDRF Deputy Commandant Rajkamal Malik said: "Two teams of 45 men each searched the whole site and now no one else is feared to be trapped inside." Muradnagar SHO Inspector Amit Kumar said that 19 people have lost their lives while 20 received serious injuries. However, the official numbers will be announced by the District Magistrate. The injured have been admitted to the various hospitals including district hospital of Ghaziabad for the treatment, he added. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken cognizance of the incident and ordered the DM and SSP of the district to ensure the effective rescue of the victims. Shun arrogance of power and Play by the rules or don’t come: Queensland govt tells Team India withdraw 3 farm laws: Sonia BRISBANE: With reports emerging about Team India's reluctance to play the fourth and final Test of the ongoing series against Australia in Brisbane due to harsher biosecurity protocols, members of the Queensland government have stated that the visiting team should not enter the state if they are unwilling to coordinate with the protocols that have been laid out. Reports have emerged that the Indian team isn't keen on travelling to Brisbane if the players are forced to undergo quarantine. However, members of the Queensland government have stated that not abiding by the rules is not an option for the visitors. "If the Indians don't want to play by the rules, don't come," Queensland's Health Shadow Minister Ros Bates was quoted as saying by Fox Sports. Tim Mander, Queensland's Shadow Sports Minister, said there's no room for ignoring the protocols and that every individual would have to go through the same drill. "If the Indian cricket team wants to spit the dummy and disregard quarantine guidelines in Brisbane for the fourth Test, then they shouldn't come. The same rules must apply for everyone. Simple," Mander said. Australia batsman Matthew Wade has also said that the hosts are looking forward to the Gabba Test and willing to make sacrifices to follow the schedule. "We'd love to be running outside in Australia like everybody is doing right now...but we understand that we need to make some sacrifices to get this tour done," Wade told the media before adding none of the players are aware of any threat of India pulling out. ALSO SEE PAGE 12 NEW DELHI: Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi has accused the Modi government of "arrogance", asking it to shun its arrogance of power, follow the 'raj dharma', and withdraw the three "black" farm laws. "There is still time for the Modi government to come out of arrogance of power and withdraw the three new central farm laws to end the farmers agitation. This is 'raj dharma' (righteous conduct of ruler) and a real tribute to the departed souls of farmers who have died since the beginning of the protest," she said in a statement. "Since Independence, it is for the first time that an arrogant government has come to power. It is not even looking at the pain and sufferings of farmers, forget about the common man," she claimed. The Congress chief said that she and the countrymen were distressed by seeing the fate of the 'annadatas' in chilly and rainy weather due to government apathy. More than 50 farmers have lost their lives, some due to suicide, due to government's conduct, she added. "But despite all this, the government has not backed down yet... no Ministers are showing any compassion towards farmers," the Congress leader said while offering tributes to farmers who had died since the farmers' protest began on Delhi borders on November 26, 2020. Terrorism affected 161 police districts in India in 2019 MAOIST-HIT STATES LIKE JHARKHAND, BIHAR, MAHARASHTRA ARE AMONG THOSE MOSTLY AFFECTED BY MENACE NEW DELHI: Despite the Central government's 'zero tolerance' policy against terrorism, the decade-long menace affected 161 police districts across the country, especially Maoist-hit states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, terror-hit Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and other Northeastern states in 2019. The inputs were recently submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) by its Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) organisation in its Data on Police Organisations-2019. However, there was a slight fall in the number of terrorism or extremism affected districts in the country in 2019 compared to 174 in 2018, the MHA's focus is to reduce the number at its maximum level in 2021. Following the annual report, Ministry's concerned wings under the guidance of Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and in overall supervision of Home Minister Amit Shah have contacted states concerned and Director Generals of all Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to bring down the number of these terrorist-affected districts to a minimum. In the beginning of December 2020, Shah had emphasised that there should be a 'zero tolerance' against terrorism and directed that security agencies have a coordinated approach in the national security scenario and achieve the target of making India a developed and safe nation. The Minister on Saturday also stressed that "national security is paramount and the Central government is making sincere efforts to give equal attention to all aspects related to the security". As per the BPR&D's latest report, "a total of 161 police districts are affected by terrorism or extremism". Jharkhand was on the top where 22 districts were affected by terrorist or extremist problem in 2019 followed by Bihar (17); Assam and Manipur (with 16 each); Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir (with 15 each); Chhattisgarh (14); Nagaland (11); Telangana (8); Andhra Pradesh (6); five each in Kerala and West Bengal; three each in Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh; and Madhya Pradesh (2). "The number of police districts affected by the terrorist or extremist problem, during the last ten years (2010-2019) shows a mixed trend. A slight decrease was noticed from 2010 to 2014 and, thereafter, a slight increase from 2015-17 and again a decrease in 2019 can be seen". A graph mentioned in the report shows that the number of police districts affected in 2011 was 188, which went down in 2012 affecting only 176 districts, then another round of fall in 2013 affecting 173 districts, and 170 in 2014. With a slight jump of 172 districts in 2015, the number went up to 181 in 2016 and maintained its earlier top position with 188 terrorism affected districts in 2017 -the third year of the reign of the Narendra Modi-led government. Earlier, Emphasising that national security is paramount, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the central government is making sincere efforts to give equal attention to all aspects related to security. The Minister expressed his views after releasing an inaugural issue of "National Police K-9 Journal" here. It is first such publication in the country on Police Service K9s (PSKs) or police dogs. "National security is paramount and our government is making sincere efforts to give equal attention to all aspects related to security. The police dog squad can act as a force multiplier to ensure the safety of society, much like the way drones or satellites are used in the country," Shah said. The Minister said that the dogs can be used effectively to detect drugs and even in the fight against terrorism. A special 'Police K9 Cell' was established in November 2019 under the Police Modernisation Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs with the mandate of 'mainstreaming and augmentation of police service K9s in the country'. The publication of Police K9 journal is another step in creating an ecosystem in the country to train and learn on augmenting this vital resource.