YK MYK MYANMAR IS WITNESSING MASS UPSURGE AGAINST MILITARY RULE OPINION Rs. 5 RANCHI FRIDAY, 19 FEB, 2021 PG-12, YEAR—10, ISSUE—285 (RNI NO: JHAENG / 2012 / 44137) UNNAO TRAGEDY: GIRLS DIED DUE TO POISONING, SAYS AUTOPSY NATION Morning India Govt nod to open coaching centres, parks, cinema halls from March 1 RAJ KUMAR RANCHI: Giving relaxation amid Corona pandemic, the state government today allowed the opening of coaching institutes, parks, cinema halls, skill development centres and running of classes of VIII, IX, XI and from March 1. Chief Minister Hemant Soren gave the direction after presiding a meeting of the State Disaster Management Authority in which Health Minister Banna Gupta, Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh, Principal Secretary to CM, Rajeev Arun Ekka and Principal Secretary of disaster management department Amitabh Kaushal besides officials of other concerned departments were present. "Corona pandemic has not ended so far. State people should not ignore it. Awareness of it is required. An awareness campaign should continue. However, the state government withdraws the ban imposed on running coaching institutes, parks, cinema halls, skill development centres and running of classes of VIII, IX and XI from March 1, 2021," the CM said. "Start conducting the examination of ITI from February 25 because conducting the examination is also important. University is free to work in accordance with the guidelines given by the UGC. However, guidelines for tackling corona pandemic will be compulsorily followed," CM Soren added. The CM directed officials to allow the use of 50 percent seats to cinema hall owners. He allowed limiting the number to 1000 in sports or any other programme in open spaces. He allowed the use of swimming pools for sportspersons only. While announcing relaxation, the CM also directed to pay proper attention to the collection of samples coming from outside at the airport and railway station. He also allowed the opening of Anganwadi Centres from April 1 before ensuring immunization of Anganwadi Sevikas. The CM, however, did not give permission for organizing a procession. He also asked to ensure 100 percent attendance in government offices unlike the present direction of allowing employees to come according to a roster plan. WEATHER TODAY MAX 23 C MIN 14 C Sky will be partly cloudy. AT A GLANCE PUDUCHERRY CM ASKED TO PROVE MAJORITY ON FEB 22 PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday directed Chief Minister V. Narayansamy to prove his majority in the Assembly on February 22. Hours after taking additional charge as Lieutenant Governor of the union territory, she directed the Congress-led government to prove its majority. The direction came amid claims by the opposition parties that the Congress-led government slipped into minority after one more party MLA quit the party on Tuesday. PG 7 CORONA METER INDIA TOTAL CASES: 1,09,55,073 TOTAL DEATH: 156,073 WORLD TOTAL CASES: 110,537,847 TOTAL DEATH: 2,443,145 PM TO CHAIR NITI AAYOG'S GOVERNING COUNCIL MEET ON FEB 20 NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the NITI Aayog's sixth Governing Council meeting on Saturday in which Ladakh will take part for the first time as a Union Territory (UT). The agenda of the meeting includes deliberations on agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing, human resource development, service delivery at grassroots level, and health and nutrition. The Prime Minister will attend the meeting at 10.30 a.m. via video conferencing. The Governing Council presents a platform to discuss inter-sectoral, inter-departmental and federal issues. It comprises the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers of States and Union Territories (UTs) with legislatures, and Lt Governors of other UTs. IOC ENGINEER COMMITS SUICIDE IN JAMSHEDPUR RANCHI: An Indian Oil Corporation engineer committed suicide in Jharkhand on Thursday, police said. According to Police, Draupdi Kumari Patro alias Binni, 26, was working as an engineer at the Indian Oil Corporation in Kolkata. She committed suicide by hanging herself inside her home at Harhargutu under Bagbeda Police Station area of the East Singhbhum district. Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a roadshow, in Kakdwip (West Bengal) on Thursday. ANI A security personnel gets the COVID-19 vaccine, in Kullu on Thursday. ANI Over 4.6 lakh health workers get second dose of Covid vax: Govt NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry announced that 3,17,190 people, including healthcare and frontline workers, were vaccinated on Thursday across all states and Union Territories, taking the total close to the 10 million mark. According to the ministry, the overall vaccination figure has reached 98,46,523. Of them, 66,99,567 beneficiaries are healthcare workers and 31,46,956 are frontline workers. Meanwhile, 4,64,932 beneficiaries have received their second jab so far and attained full immunisation against Covid-19 provided under the nationwide vaccination drive. The administration of the second jab was started in the country on February 13. The ministry noted that the highest participation in the vaccination drive on Thursday was in Uttar Pradesh with 89,026 inoculations followed by Maharashtra (23,714), Bihar (20,666), Jammu and Kashmir (19,285), Odisha (18,486), Karnataka (15,237), Tamil Nadu India ‘critical partner’ for America in meeting Indo-Pacific challenge: Pentagon NEW YORK: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin considers India "a critical partner" for meeting the challenges in the Indo-Pacific region and gives priority to ties with it, according to Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby. "The secretary is prioritising this relationship, wants to see it continue to grow and develop and to get stronger," Kirby said on Wednesday at a news briefing in Washington. "He looks very much looking forward to working on initiatives to do just that," Kirby said in reply to a reporter's question about Austin's views on relations with India. Austin considers India "a critical partner, especially when you consider all the challenges in the Indo-Pacific region," he added. Austin spoke last month with India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and "emphasised the Department's commitment to the US-India Major Defence Partnership, observing that it is built upon shared values and a Indian Navy Ship INS Talwar and Indonesian Navy's multirole Corvette KRI Bung Tomo, conducted Passage Exercise 'PASSEX' in the Arabian sea. ANI common interest in ensuring the Indo-Pacific region remains free and open", the Pentagon said. President Joe Biden announced the formation of the new strategy task force so that "we can chart a strong path forward on China-related matters" during a visit to the Pentagon last week. "We need to meet the growing challenges posed by China to keep the peace and defend our interests in the Indo-Pacific and globally," he said. Meanwhile, close on the heels of two US carrier groups conducting joint exercises in the South China Sea last week, another guided-missile destroyer "asserted navigational rights and freedoms" in the Spratly Islands claimed by China in the South China Sea Wednesday. The USS Russell (DDG 59) conducted Freedom of Navigation Operation in the South China Sea, upholding the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging unlawful restrictions on innocent passage imposed majorly by China in the region. Analysts say that the steady movement of US warships is sending a clear signal to China that the Biden administration is not softening its tough stance in the South China Sea. It is also a signal to Washington's regional allies. MORRIS BECOMES MOST EXPENSIVE IPL BUY ALL-ROUNDER GOWTHAM GOES FOR RS 9.25 CR AS ‘SRK’ MAKES PRESENCE FELT CHENNAI: Chris Morris on Friday became the most expensive buy in the IPL auction history with Rajasthan Royals shelling out Rs 16.25 crore for the South Africa all-rounder even as uncapped players such as Karnataka's K Gowtham also hogged the limelight with hefty deals here. Spin bowling All-rounder Gowtham was bought for a record Rs 9.25 crore by the Chennai Super Kings. The 32year-old is currently with the Indian team as a net bowler for the ongoing Test series against England. Tamil Nadu's Shahrukh (13,780), Andhra Pradesh (13,649), West Bengal (12,669), and Chhattisgarh (10,606). Meanwhile, the number of hospitalisations after the immunisation have reached 40. Of them, 24 have been discharged after the treatment, three are still under treatment, while 13 deaths have also been reported, as per the data shared by the ministry. However, it clarified that there is "no case of serious/severe AEFI/death attributable to vaccination till date". The ministry also said that two new events of hospitalisation have been reported in the last 24 hours. The events include a case of convulsions and anaphylaxis from West Bengal. "Condition of both the cases are stable," it added. "The percentage of hospitalisation against vaccination is 0.0004 per cent," it noted. The vaccination of the healthcare workers started on January 16 while the frontline workers started receiving the vaccine shots from February 2. Khan, named after the Bollywood superstar, expectedly got a handsome Rs 5.25 crore deal from Punjab Kings, more than 51 times his base price of Rs 20 lakh. Shahrukh has been in the limelight with his exploits in the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Gowtham, an IPL regular who was released by Punjab Kings, was the second off-spinner CSK bought after England's Moeen Ali. With the hefty price tag, Gowtham became the most expensive uncapped buy in IPL history. His base price was also Rs 20 lakh. Morris' big pay day came after another all-rounder and perennial under-performer, Australian Glenn Maxwell, once again managed to attract a winning Rs 14.25 crore bid from Royal Challengers Bangalore. Punjab Kings, who went into the auction with the maximum purse among eight teams, paid Rs 14 crore to rope in Australian pacer Jhye Richardson hoping he will plug the gap in their leaking bowling department. The 24-year-old, who has played two Tests, 13 ODIs and nine T20Is for Australia, was the leading wicket-taker in the recent Big Bash League. Punjab paid a big amount -- Rs 8 crore -- for another Australian pacer, the uncapped Riley Meredith. The 24-year-old has 43 wickets in 34 T20s that he has played. IPL Trophy during the 2021 Indian Premier League player auction in Chennai, on Thursday. FUEL PRICES BREAK INTO NEW HIGHS ACROSS COUNTRY NEW DELHI: Petrol and diesel price continued to rally northward on Thursday, the 10th consecutive day when its retail prices rose across the country. In Sri Ganganagar town in Rajasthan, normal petrol price has shot up over Rs 100 per litre to stand at Rs 100.49 a litre. The global oil market remained CONTINUOUS firm and HIKE IN prices of PETRO PRODboth crude UCTS PRICES and prodIS A LOOT ucts saw a big spike. Accordingly, OPINION oil marketing companies raised the pump price of petrol by 34 paise and diesel by another 32 paise per litre in Delhi. With this increase, petrol is now priced at Rs 89.88 a litre and diesel Rs 80.27 a litre in the national capital. In the last 10 days, the price has gone up by Rs 2.93 per litre for petrol while diesel rate has risen by Rs 3.14 a litre. Across the country as well, the petrol and diesel price increase ranged between 30-35 paise per litre depending on the level of local taxes on the two petroleum products. In Mumbai, petrol prices is just Rs 4 per litre short (Rs 96.32 a litre) of touching the threedigit mark of Rs 100 per litre.