YK MYK INDIA'S COVID-19 VACCINE DRIVE WILL BE A 'WORK IN PROGRESS' 'KAAGAZ' SONG 'JUG JUG JIYO' LEAVES YOU WITH HOPE OPINION SCREEN & CINEMA Morning India Rs. 5 RANCHI THURSDAY, 7 JAN, 2021 PG-12, YEAR—10, ISSUE—243 (RNI NO: JHAENG / 2012 / 44137) WEATHER TODAY MAX 28 C MIN 14 C ATTACK ON CM’S CONVOY State govt to 2 OCs suspended, 30 arrested exit tripartite treaty on power RAJ KUMAR Sky will be clear. AT A GLANCE SGPC NOT TO EXTEND INVITE TO MODI FOR 'ANTIFARMER' STAND CHANDIGARH: Owing to his 'anti-farmer' stand by bringing three farm laws that the farmers have been demanding to revoke, the highest religious body of the Sikh community, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), has decided that Prime Minister Narendra Modi won't be extended the special invite for the Sikh centenary events. Normally, the SGPC extends special invites to the Prime Minister and the President on historical occasions. "We have decided not to extend any special invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the upcoming centenary events, including the 400th birth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur," SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur said. OVER 50 HONG KONG OPPN LAWMAKERS, ACTIVISTS HELD HONG KONG: Over 50 opposition lawmakers and activists were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of violating the national security law, for their part in a primary election run-off last July. Among the arrested were former lawmakers James To Kun-sun, Lam Cheukting, Andrew Wan Siukin. WORLD CORONA METER INDIA TOTAL CASES: 1,03,77,329 TOTAL DEATH: 150,179 WORLD TOTAL CASES: 86,986,256 RANCHI: As many as 30 persons were arrested on the basis of CCTV footages and sent to Birsa Munda Central Jail for their alleged involvement in the attack on the CM's convoy on Monday while officers-in-charge (OCs) of Kotwali and Sukhdeonagar police stations were suspended in this connection. A police official at state police headquarters informed this sharing the action was taken sensing the gravity of the situation. Two of the two policemen who were suspended included the officer-in-charge of Kotwali, Brij Kumar, and the officer-in-charge of Sukhdeonagar Sunil Tiwari. DGP M.V.Rao suspended them for their failure in providing security for the convoy of chief minister Hemant Soren on Monday. Rao on Wednesday held a meeting regarding law and order here. Senior police officials at the police headquarters were also present during the meeting. Rao said that any one found guilty of the incident would be punished. The convoy was attacked by a mob agitating to protest against women's security at Kishoreganj Chowk which is required to be secured by these two officers as two lanes of four-lane road comes under the jurisdiction of NO CLUE TO WOMAN'S MURDER CASE YET Kotwali police station while another two-lane comes under the jurisdiction of Sukhdeonagar police station. While returning from Project Bhawan the convoy of the chief minister was on the two lanes towards Sukhdeonagar police station while a mob came from Kotwali police station side. Senior Superintendent of Police, S.K.Jha, confirmed the arresting saying 'attempt was on to arrest the mastermind Bhairav Singh' but expressed his inability to confirm the suspension saying 'any official information in this regard is yet to come.' Even as 30 persons were arrested and two OCs were suspended after the attack on the CM's convoy, so far not a single person was arrested for the murder of the woman, whose headless body was recovered on Sunday from a place close to Sai University, about 25km from the town under Ormanjhi police station. Former chief minister and BJP legislature party chief Babulal Marandi reacting to this situation tweeted saying this shows the priority of the Jharkhand government. "Attack on the -CM's convoy---One Day, more than 50 arrested, two officers-incharge suspended, Daughter of Jharkhand beheaded--Three Days, not a single criminal was arrested…Priority of Jharkhand Government," the tweet reads. Contacted S.P (rural) Naushad Alam for his comment he admitted the delay saying the effort is on. "We neither got any clue to the head of the woman nor any clue to the person behind the murder. However, we are on the job," said S.P (rural) Alam. Notably, a lady of Cheshire Home under Sadar police station area on Tuesday had suspected the body to be her missing daughter's. Another nationwide vaccine dry run to be held on Jan 8 NEW DELHI: Ahead of the roll-out of coronavirus vaccine in few days, another dry-run will be conducted across the country on January 8. On January 2, almost all states and Union Territory conducted dry run at 285 session sites spread across 125 districts to assess ability and readiness of authorities to administer shots to hundreds of millions of people, including many in remote corners of the country. It was conducted to test the end-to-end planned operations and the mechanism that has been set up to ensure smooth conduct of the Covid-19 vaccination. On December 28 and 29, the first dry run was conducted in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, Rajkot and Gandhinagar district of Gujarat, Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar of Punjab and Sonitpur and Nalbari districts of Assam. 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, mostly above the age of 50 years with co-morbidities. The Health Ministry on Tuesday announced that vaccination drive will be rolled-out by January 13. SUFFICIENT VACCINES SECURED FOR HEALTHCARE, FRONTLINE WORKERS: GOVT TOTAL DEATH: 1,879,134 PAGE 7 73 DETECTED TO HAVE NEW UK COVID MUTANT STRAIN NEW DELHI: The Central government on Wednesday said that a total of 73 persons have been detected with the new "more transmissible" UK coronavirus mutant strain, and they are being kept in physical isolation in health facilities. Out of these total cases, eight have been detected by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Delhi, 20 at the CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in Delhi, and 11 at the National Institute of Mental Health and NeuroSciences (NIMHANS) in Bangaluru. Three such cases have been detected at the Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, one at the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in West Bengal and 30 in the National Institute of Virology, Pune. According the Health Ministry, all these persons have been kept in single room isolation in designated Health Care facilities by respective state governments. Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. WHITE COVER Border Roads Organisation has cleared the runway at Srinagar International Airport after it was closed due to heavy snowfall on Wednesday. ANI SANJAY SAHAY RANCHI: The State government on Wednesday decided to exit from the tripartite agreement between the state government, the Union power ministry, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which enables the power ministry to recommend deduction of money from the state government's account in RBI for payment of dues to power companies. A decision to this effect was taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister (CM) Hemant Soren on Wednesday. Speaking on the issue, the CM said that the agreement by the previous government has affected the people of the state. He said the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) has started implementing power cuts in the state even as the Centre is deducting money from the state account in the RBI. He said the account comprises money for the old-age pension, scholarship, finance commission funds, adding the state had direct claim over these funds. So we have decided to annul the provision of the agreement, he stated. Informing about the decision officials stated that the state is of the view that the agreement is lop-sided, onesided, and against the privileges given to the state by the constitution. The decision was taken in view of the interest of people. It may be stated here that under the payment security mechanism agreement which was signed by the Raghubar Das government, the power ministry has the ‘Love Jihad’: SC declines to stay UP, U’khand laws against inter-faith marriages, issues notice NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to stay the provisions of an Uttar Pradesh Ordinance and an Uttarakhand law, brought to checking unlawful religious conversions for inter-faith marriages. A bench headed by Chief Justice S. A. Bobde agreed to examine the validity of legislations, 'The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion Of Religion Ordinance, 2020' and the 'Uttarakhand Freedom Of Religion Act, 2018', and issued notice to the two state governments. The top court has sought response within four weeks. The counsel petitioners - SC SEEKS RESPONSE OF CENTRE ON PIL AGAINST THREE FARM LAWS NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Wednesday sought response of the Centre on a PIL challenging the constitutional validity of newly enacted three farm laws on grounds including that Parliament lacked power to make legislations on the subject. The plea also raised questions over the validity of 'the Constitution (3rd Amendment Act) of 1954' which allegedly empowered the Centre to frame the controversial laws on agriculture. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said it would hear on January 11. PAGE 5 Vishal Thakre and others, and NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace - during the hearing stressed for a stay on these 'love jihad' laws and termed the provisions as "oppressive" and "obnoxious". The bench also comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian replied that it would have been ideal if the petitioners had moved the respective High Courts instead of coming to the apex court. The Chief Justice said the challenge to the law is already pending in High Courts and asked the petitioners to go there. "We are not saying you have a bad case, but approach the High Court in first instance, instead of coming here", observed the bench. Senior advocate C.U. Singh, representing one of the petitioners, submitted that it is obnoxious to put burden of proof on the married couple to establish that the motivation for the marriage is not conversion. EXPERTS ON BIRD FLU RISE DON’T PANIC, AVOID UNDERCOOKED MEAT & EGGS NEW DELHI: Several states from North, West and South India are witnessing a sporadic rise in the cases of Avian Influenza (bird flu). States like Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala have reported close to 25,000 deaths predominantly of ducks, crows and migratory birds. The news has started to trigger panic among the public. The people, still fear-struck with the Covid-19 infection, are afraid that the bird flu, which is also a viral disease, may turn into an epidemic. However, the health experts have negated such a possibility and advised the public to take precaution and not panic. The doctors said that the risk of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus that causes the bird flu is very rare unless one works in proximity with the infected species of birds. "People who work closely with poultry are at high risk of getting the infection. Otherwise, human to human transmission of the H5N1 virus is very rare. Hence there is no need to panic," Dr. Harshal R. Salve, Associate Professor at Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) told IANS. "The bird flu is detected in sick birds and has the possibility to spread among humans only with those handling poultry or infected birds," said Dr. Rajeev Gupta, Director- Internal Medicine, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh (Delhi). Dr. Upali Nanda, Head, Preventive Health & ConsultantMedicine, Medeor Hospital Qutab Institutional Area (Delhi), also said that human-to-human transmission of the Avian Influenza is very unusual. Meanwhile, the public has started to ditch eggs and chicken CENTRE SENDS MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAMS TO KERALA, HARYANA PAGE 7 meat in fear that it might carry the H5N1 virus and could infect the ones who would consume it. While there is no connection between the spread of Avian Influenza and consumption of eggs, the doctors suggested ditching undercooked poultry products and meat for a while to allay the fear. "There is no evidence available that suggests the spread of bird flu through eating meat or eggs. Nonetheless, eating raw meat and eggs should be avoided in the affected region till the incidents come down," advised Dr. Salve. He goes on to add that the pub- lic should not let their guards down and continue to follow the safe and hygienic practices adopted amid the pandemic to steer clear from any possibility of encountering the H5N1 virus. Dr. Nanda said that it is anyway not advised to eat semicooked meat and eggs. "People can also take extra precaution besides properly cooking the meat and poultry," she added. "Wash your hands with warm water and soap, especially before and after handling the raw poultry and eggs. Use different utensils for cooking raw meat and make sure meat is cooked properly until steaming hot. Avoid direct contact with live and poultry birds," Dr Nanda advised. She also suggested avoiding visiting live animal markets or poultry farms for now. "If need be, wear a mask and gloves all the time. Also, do not go near or touch bird droppings or sick and dead birds," Dr. Nanda added. The bird flu is not yet detected in the poultry birds. The National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, where samples of animals sent across India for detection of diseases, told IANS that it has not found the presence of the H5N1 virus in the poultry birds yet. The president of Ghazipur Mandi, biggest poultry market in the national capital, also informed IANS that no incidence of the bird flu among chicken meat has been reported in the market as yet. right to recommend deduction of fund from the state's account in RBI in lieu of non-payment of the dues of its production companies. The power ministry could recommend the deduction of the money in installments. The RBI disburses the amount among various units of the power ministry. Notably, the state and the Centre were face to face over the deduction of its fund from the RBI account at a time when the state was facing an acute resource crunch and the Covid crisis. The row started after the Centre recommended RBI to deduct around Rs 1400 crore from the state fund for payment of DVC. In another decision, the state government has passed a resolution related to Jharkhand Civil Services rules 2021 for enabling the selection of candidates 15 times of the total seats under the reserved category for the scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, and other backward castes for the main examination. Under the new rules, the state government could reduce the marks for the reserved categories up to eight percent to ensure the numbers. Similarly in the interview, the candidates would be selected two and a half times of the total candidates. Furthermore, in case the candidate secures marks to qualify under the reserved category he could do so. However, if the candidate is not getting his choice post in the general category but is qualified for the same in the reserved group he may be included in the reserved category. NITISH CHUCKLES OVER DEMAND FOR 'BHARAT RATNA' TO SONIA PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday chuckled over the demand for conferring Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour in the country, on Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Kumar remarked that the Congress could have done the needful while the UPA, led by it, ruled the country for two consecutive terms. "All have the right to raise any type of demand", he said with a barely suppressed laugh when asked about the suggestion made by former union minister and ex-chief minister of Uttarakhand Harish Rawat that Gandhi, besides BSP supremo Mayawati, be considered for the civilian honour. Rawat said in support of his demand that while the Congress president has taken the honour of Indian womanhood to new heights, the BSP chief had inspired millions of oppressed. "I wonder why they did not do the needful when they were in power. No need for raising such a demand would have remained in that case, Kumar quipped. The Bihar Chief Minister was talking to reporters outside the police headquarters which he had visited to take stock of the law and order situation in the state.