YK MYK SPIRALLING FUEL PRICES: THE PAIN HAS JUST BEGUN HALLE BERRY ON HEARTBREAKING FACT ABOUT OSCAR AWARDS OPINION SCREEN & CINEMA Morning India Rs. 5 RANCHI MONDAY, 11 JAN, 2021 PG-12, YEAR—10, ISSUE—247 (RNI NO: JHAENG / 2012 / 44137) THIRD TEST DAY 4 SCG crowd hurls racial abuses at Indian players SYDNEY: Play was stopped in the second session on Day Four of the ongoing third Test after Indian players made a complaint to umpires about unsavoury comments being made for Mohammed Siraj by a section of crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). The incident happened before the start of the 86th over in Australia's second innings when Siraj, fielding on the boundary line, went to skipper Ajinkya Rahane and raised the issue that some fans were passing abusive comments directed at him. Rahane then walked up to the square leg umpire Paul Reiffel and complained about the same. While players huddled in the centre, security personnel entered the stands and a group of six Australian fans were removed from their seats by New South Wales Police. The incident follows alleged racial abuse of Indian players by a small section WEATHER TODAY MAX 27 C MIN 11 C Sky will be clear. AT A GLANCE UMESH KUSHWAHA IS NEW BIHAR JD(U) PRESIDENT PATNA: Former legislator Umesh Kushwaha was on Sunday unanimously elected as the Janata Dal (United) Bihar unit president, in a bid to strengthen the ruling party's old "LuvKush" support base. Election of Kushwaha, a former party MLA from Mahnar assembly constituency in Vaishali district, was ratified at the partys state council meeting here. "Party's Bihar unit Chief Bashishtha Narayan Singh proposed name of Kushwaha for partys state president post which was unanimously approved by members present in the meeting," senior leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh said. CORONA METER INDIA TOTAL CASES: 1,04,52,929 of the SCG crowd on Saturday. "Cricket Australia condemns in the strongest terms possible all discriminatory behavior. If you engage in racist abuse, you are not welcome in Australian cricket," Sean Carroll, Cricket Australia's Head of Integrity and Security, was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. "CA is awaiting the outcome of the International Cricket Council's investigation into the matter reported at the SCG on Saturday. Once those responsible are identified, CA will take the strongest measures possible under our AntiHarassment Code, including lengthy bans, further sanctions and referral to NSW Police. "As series hosts, we unreservedly apologise to our friends in the Indian cricket team and assure them we will prosecute the matter to its fullest extent," he added. Meanwhile, Australia declared their second innings at 312/6, thus setting a 407-run target for the Indian team. CA LAUNCHES INQUIRY Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates the dismissal on the fourth day of the Third Test Match between India and Australia at SCG, in Sydney on Sunday. SYDNEY: Cricket Australia (CA) has confirmed that they have launched an investigation into the crowd incident that took place on Day Four of the ongoing third Test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Play was halted for several minutes on Sunday afternoon after the Indian team made a complaint regarding abuse from a section of the crowd in the Brewongle Stand concourse. At least six members of the crowd were then removed from the stands by the New South Wales Police. "Cricket Australia has launched an investigation in parallel with NSW Police into a crowd incident at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday at the conclusion of the 86th over of Australia's second innings," said the Australian cricket board in an official statement. Sunday's incident followed alleged racial abuse of Indian players -- Jasprit Bumrah and MORE ON SPORTS PG Mohammed Siraj. CTET exams to be held after 200 days delay NEW DELHI: Adopting the principle of 'Safety first, exams later' during the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to conduct the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) examination on January 31, and allot candidates examination centres located near their houses. The candidates across the country appearing for these exams would be issued admit cards next week. The CTET examination was to be held in July 2020 but owing to coronavirus, it was continuously delayed. For the convenience of the candidates, new CTET examination centres have been created in 23 more cities. According to the CBSE, all the candidates appearing in the examination would be provided with the admit cards as well as information of the examination centres by next week. Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said that the prestigious CTET exam conducted by the CBSE would now be held on January 31 keeping in mind the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Candidates have also been given an opportunity to choose the location of their examination centre, he said. The CTET examination was earlier scheduled to be held in 112 cities across the country, but now under the new arrangements made by the Union Education Ministry, the examination would be conducted in 135 cities. Centre should adjudge authenticity of COVID vaccine, says Banna Gupta RANCHI: Ahead of the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the country, Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta said that the Central Government must adjudge the authenticity, relevance and utility of any vaccine before its roll-out. "I would just like to say that before using any vaccine, the Central Government should adjudge its authenticity, relevance and utility. Its proper exercise is essential. People of this country should not be made lab rats," Jharkhand Health told reporters on Saturday. "We won't do anything by keeping political differences/political ambitions in mind, as far as public welfare and national welfare is concerned. We'll stand with the Centre," he added. This statement comes as several states including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are making preparation for Covid-19 vaccination in their respective states. The vaccination drive in the country will start from January 16. The decision was taken at a meeting on Saturday in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the status of COVID-19 in the country and preparedness of states and union territories for vaccination against the disease. Emergency Use Authorisation or Accelerated Approval has been granted by the National Regulator for two vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin - which have established safety and immunogenicity. On Saturday, President Ram Nath Kovind had said that success in the development of two COVID vaccines is a major achievement in the Aatma-Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan which is driven by the spirit of global well-being. "The recent success of our scientists and technicians in developing two COVID vaccines is a major achievement for the Aatma-Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan which is driven by the spirit of global wellbeing," said Kovind at 16th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention. The President said that year 2020 has been the year of a global crisis caused by the COVID19. TOTAL DEATH: 151,070 TOTAL CASES: 90,187,661 AS INDIA GEARS UP FOR COVID-19 VACCINE ROLL-OUT, CENTRE GUIDES STATES, UTS ON CO-WIN MANAGEMENT TOTAL DEATH: 1,936,825 PAGE 5 WORLD DEMOCRATS DEMAND ANSWERS FROM JUSTICE DEPT ABOUT TRUMP'S ROLE IN CAPITOL HILL RIOT Saints of Swaminarayan Gurukul offer different kinds of food items to Lord Swaminarayan as ‘Annakut’ as part of the celebration to finished 200000 hours singing in Surat on Sunday. ANI WORLD Govt proposes pre-packaged insolvency resolution framework under IBC NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has proposed a pre-packaged insolvency resolution framework under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The ministry has sought comments on the recommendations of sub-committee of the Insolvency Law Committee by January 22. Government constituted the sub-committee in June last year to prepare a detailed scheme for implementing pre-pack and prearranged insolvency resolution process. As per the report, the framework must be within the basic structure of IBC. It should have the rigour and discipline of IBC and pursue IN 2021, RAILWAYS EYES TO COMPLETE MOST SECTIONS OF DFC NEW DELHI: With two back to back inaugurations of the 351 km Khurja-Bhaupur section of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor and 306 km Rewari-Madar section of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor within a gap of 10 days, the railways is now eyeing to complete most of the sections of the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) this year, officials said on Sunday. A railway ministry official said that work on the 335-km long Madar-Palanpur section of the WDFC is in full swing and it will be ready by BUSINESS March 2021. the same objectives as the Code does. It should not impair rights of any party beyond what is provided in the Code and should have adequate checks and balances to prevent any abuse. It should enjoy the same regulatory benefits as are available to CIRP, it said. "The Code may be amended quickly, preferably by an Ordinance, to provide for formal part of pre-pack. The Code may make a skeletal provision enabling pre-pack, while informal part could be left to market practice or guided by self-regulation, guidelines, best practices, etc," said the report, by the IBBI Chairman M.S. Sahooled sub-committee As per the panel, pre-pack should be available for all corporate debtors and for any stress -- pre-default and postdefault. Depending on policy objective, capacity of the NCLT and availability of SIRP for MSMEs, the implementa- tion could be phased. It may commence in respect of defaults from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore and Covid-19 defaults for which CIRP is not available currently, followed by default above Rs 1 crore, and then default from Re 1 to Rs 1 lakh. Pre-pack in respect of predefault may be considered with consent of higher threshold of all creditors, after successful implementation of post-default resolutions, said the report. As per the recommendations, the debtors shall initiate pre-pack with consent of simple majority of unrelated financial creditors and its shareholders. Bird flu virus is heat-labile, gets killed at ‘cooking temperature’ NEW DELHI: Contrary to what some people think that the bird flu virus, also known as Avian influenza, is spread to humans via consumption of cooked poultry products, health experts on Sunday stressed that it usually does not infect people as the virus is heat-labile (degraded and killed when subjected to heat). Avian influenza refers to the disease caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses. These viruses occur naturally among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species. According to the World Health organisation (WHO), cooking of poultry (e.g. chicken, ducks and geese) at or above 70 degree Celsius so that absolutely no meat remains raw and red, is a safe measure to kill the virus in areas with outbreaks in poultry. Richa Sareen, consultant (pulmonology) at Fortis Vasant Kunj in New Delhi, said the virus is heat-labile and it gets killed with cooking temperatures. "At this time, people should eat fully cooked chicken and eggs and not raw or partially cooked ones. One should avoid going to open markets that sell poultry as they are the focal point of the spread," Sareen told IANS. "People who handle poultry should take special precautions. They should wear PPE, gloves and masks while handling birds and should practice frequent hand washing," she added. Although the virus causing bird flu usually does not infect people, but rare cases of human infection with these viruses have been reported, especially in individuals working with infected A worker sits at a wholesale poultry market after it was closed for 10 days as a preventive measure against the spread of bird flu, at Ghazipur in New Delhi on Sunday. domestic birds. "The possible cause of infections in humans is when they come in contact with birds with the viruses and enough viruses get into a person's eyes, nose or mouth, or is inhaled through the excretions of birds," said Kunal Kothari, Senior Physician, Internal Medicine, SMS Medical College in Jaipur. "The spread of Bird Flu from one individual, who is sick to another has been very rare and data is limited, inefficient and not sustained but as a precaution, we should all be watchful of public health advisory," Kothari added. Bird Flu is a communicable virus among the avian population and human to human spread is not too prominent with the current strain. However, viruses are prone to mutation, so if this virus under- INSIDE BIRD FLU SCARE: CENTRE ASKS STATES, UTS TO INCREASE SURVEILLANCE PAGE 7 goes mutation in future, it has the potential to spread from human to human and cause a pandemic. Bird flu mostly infects the respiratory system of humans. Common symptoms are fever, runny nose, sore throat, cough, muscle aches, etc. "If severe, it can cause ARDS, multi-organ involvement and even death. The sporadic data on bird flu from the past shows very high mortality, to the tune of 60 per cent. Thus, it becomes important to take precautions now," Sareen mentioned. Nevertheless, maintaining distance from birds in the environment is important as the spread of the avian virus is through the saliva, faecal matter of an infected bird. "The avian virus is airborne. Notify the community health department on seeing sick or dead birds and try not to come in direct contact with these birds without proper masks, gloves and disinfectants," Kothari noted. The Central government has issued a status report of avian influenza in the country, saying the disease has been confirmed in seven states. The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD) has issued an advisory to the affected states so as to avoid further spread of disease.