YK MYK ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS OUTCOME TO DETERMINE CONGRESS ROLE IN OPPN OPINION Rs. 5 RANCHI THURSDAY, 6 JANUARY, 2022 PG-12, YEAR— 11, ISSUE— 239 (RNI NO: JHAENG / 2012 / 44137) TELANGANA HC GRANTS BAIL TO STATE BJP CHIEF SPORTS Morning India Modi's Ferozepur rally deferred after security breach AGENCIES FEROZEPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Punjab's Ferozepur, which was supposed to be held on Wednesday, has been postponed, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said. Modi, who was travelling by road in Punjab, was stuck on a flyover for 15-20 minutes due to blockade by some protesters, an incident the Union home ministry described as a 'major lapse' in his security. In a statement, the home ministry said after the 'major security lapse' in the prime minister's travel in Punjab, his convoy decided to return. The ministry also asked the Punjab government to fix responsibility for the lapse and take strict action, the statement said. Speaking to the people gathered at the rally in Ferozepur, Mandaviya said, "The prime minister wanted to meet you all, but because of some reasons he is not going to be with us today. The PM has said that these programmes (inauguration) have been postponed and not cancelled." Meanwhile, Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma blamed the Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress government for CS (main) exam as per schedule on Friday: UPSC AGENCIES NEW DELHI: The Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2021 will be conducted as per schedule from Friday, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said on Wednesday.The UPSC has asked the state governments to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to the candidates and examination functionaries in their movement. The states have been told that if necessary, the eadmit cards of the candidates and the identity cards of the examination functionaries are to be used as movement passes, the UPSC said. "After carefully reviewing the situation prevailing due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission has decided to conduct the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2021 as per schedule. i.e. on 7th, 8th, 9th, 15th and 16th January, 2022," it said in a statement. The civil services examination is conducted annually in three stages -preliminary, main and interview, the security lapse. He claimed that the Congress got scared of the event and tried all possible tricks to scuttle Modi's visit. The prime minister was scheduled to lay the foundation stones of development projects worth over Rs 42,750 crore, including the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway and a PGIMER satellite centre. The projects also included four-laning of the Amritsar-Una section, Mukerian-Talwara broad gauge railway line and two new medical colleges at Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur. Sharma alleged that the Punjab Police was instructed to prevent people from attending the rally. He said a large number of buses and other vehicles carrying Bharatiya Janata Party workers and other people were stranded.He claimed that the police connived with protesters blocking the movement of those headed for the rally. "The government which cannot ensure law and order has no right to rule and does not deserve to be given a second chance," the state BJP chief said. "The PM was coming here to give something to Punjab. But the state government failed to provide security. This government must go," Sharma said. Home ministry takes up PM convoy blockade with Punjab Govt No crowds, so PM rally nixed: Cong AGENCIES AMRITSAR: The postponement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to Punjab's Ferozepur to address a rally on Wednesday led to a big political fight, with the Congress alleging that there were no crowds at the event organised by the BJP. Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said BJP president J P Nadda should stop indulging in the blame game and the saffron Corona victims’ kin to get Rs. 4.5L in compensation OUR CORRESPONDENT PATNA: State cabinet on Wednesday decided to pay compensation of Rs. 4.50 lakh each to dependents of victims of Covid-19 in the state. It also gave sanction to make amendment in rules of Bihar Professional Tax Rules. The state cabinet took an important decision of giving Rs. 4 lakh as compensation amount to family members of those, who die due to corona from contingency fund. For this, state government has sanctioned Rs. 106 crore. Apart from this, state government has also decided to give Rs. 50,000 each to dependents of deceased from contingency fund in financial year 2021-22. State government has sanctioned Rs.20 crore for this. Apart from this, state government also sanctioned for making amendment in Bihar professional Tax Rules, 2011. For increase in For this, state government has sanctioned Rs. 106 crore state’s revenue, sanction has also been given to make amendment in Bihar Sugarcane Rules-1978. In view of Bihar Nagarpalika Act, 2007, sanction has also been given for constitution of one new urban civic body and area extension of three urban civic bodies. State government also decided to organize government functions on statue spots of renowned freedom fighters. Government function would be organized in nagar parishad area Bakhtiyarpur in respect of late Kaviraj Ramlakhan Singh `Vaidya’, late Nathun Prasad Yadav, late Sheelbhadra Yaji, late Mogal Singh and late Dumar Prasad Singh on January 17. party should instead introspect its "antifarmer" attitude. His remarks came after BJP chief J P Nadda accused the Congress government in Punjab of trying all possible tricks to scuttle Modi's programmes in the state, fearing a resounding defeat at the hands of the electorate. Modi's Punjab visit was cut short on Wednesday after a "major security lapse" as he was stranded on a flyover for 20 minutes due to a blockade. Gen Rawat's chopper crash probe report submitted AGENCIES NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force (IAF) presented a detailed tri-services inquiry report to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the Mi-17 chopper crash on December 8, which led to the death of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 12 other military personnel, informed sources on Wednesday. 'The IAF gave a detailed presentation for over 45 minutes to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the CDS chopper crash inquiry report. 'The tri-services probe report has given its findings on reasons behind the crash and made recommendations for the future chopper operations for flying VIPs,' government sources said. IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari. Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and inquiry committee chief Air Marshal Manvendra Singh were there to present the report to the defence minister. The tri-services inquiry team has also made some recommendations for revising the standard. AGENCIES NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Punjab visit was cut short on Wednesday after a "major security lapse" as he was stranded on a flyover for 20 minutes due to a blockade by protesters, prompting the Union Home Ministry to seek an immediate report from the state government and strict action against those responsible. According to a ministry statement, the prime minister landed this morning at Bathinda from where he was to go to the national martyrs' memorial at Hussainiwala by helicopter and due to rain and poor visibility, he waited for about 20 minutes for the weather to clear out. "When the weather did not improve, it was decided that he would visit the national marytrs' memorial via road, which would take more than two hours. He proceeded to travel by road after necessary confirmation of security arrangements by the DGP Punjab Police," the statement said. Around 30 km away from the memorial, when Modi's convoy reached a flyover, it was found that the road was blocked by some protestors. "The Prime Minister was stuck on a fly- over for 15-20 minutes. This was a major lapse in the security of the Prime Minister," the statement said. After the serious lapse in security, his convoy decided to return without attending an event at a martyrs' memorial, a home ministry statement said. The prime minister also could not attend a rally in Ferozepur. The home ministry has asked the Punjab government to fix responsibility for the lapse and take strict action. It said the prime minister's schedule and travel plan were communicated well in advance to the Punjab government and as per procedure, they have to make necessary arrangements for logistics, security as well as keep a contingency plan ready. According to the laid down procedure, an alternative route has to be kept in readiness for which clearance of the roads along with deployment of security personnel has to be ensured by the state government, an official said. In the statement, the home ministry said that in view of the contingency plan the Punjab government has to deploy additional security to secure any movement by road, which were clearly not deployed. 6 states/UTs have over 10K active Covid cases: Govt AGENCIES NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday said the upsurge of COVID-19 cases is happening in cities and the Omicron variant is the predominant circulating strain. It also noted that the precautionary dose of Covid vaccine for healthcare and frontline workers as well as those above 60 years with comorbidities will be same as the first two doses of the vaccine. The government, however, said there is no need to panic and one must be alert, disciplined and prepared, adding that the country will face this phase of the pandemic as well. “Upsurge of infections is happening in cities. Omicron is the predominant circulating strain and mass gatherings need to be avoided to reduce the speed of the spread of infection. “There has been a surge in Covid cases globally whereas 25.2 lakh cases were recorded globally on January 4, the highest ever since the onset of the pandemic,” officials said. “India reported over 6.3 times rise in Covid cases in the last eight days. There has been a sharp rise in case positivity from 0.79 per cent on December 29 to 5.03 per cent on January 5,” they said. They said six states/UTs now have over 10,000 active Covid cases. It further stated that Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Gujarat are emerging as states of concern due to the surge in COVID-19 cases. “A total of 28 districts are reporting over 10 per cent weekly Covid positivity, while 43 districts are reporting weekly positivity between 5-10 per cent,” the officials said. The Centre added that 1.06 crore or 14.3 per cent of India's adolescents aged 15-18 years have been administered the first dose of Covid vaccine. An estimated 7,40,57,000 adolescents in the age group 15-18 years are there in the country and are eligible for vaccination, it said. It added that relatively less hospitalisation has been observed in countries reporting the surge in Omicron cases. Sixteen killed, over 24 injured as bus collides with truck in Pakur SURESH PRASAD NIKHAR PAKUR: Sixteen people were killed and over 24 others injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a truck transporting gas cylinders in Jharkhand's Pakur district on Wednesday morning, police said. The accident took place at Paderkola village in Amrapara police station area, they said. "Sixteen persons have died and over two dozen people injured in the head-on collision between the speeding truck and the bus," said Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Ajit Kumar Vimal. The condition of many of those injured is critical, he said. Several people are trapped inside the bus, and they are being brought out after dismantling the vehicle with gas-cutters, police said. The impact of the accident was such that the front ends of both the vehicles got stuck to each other, they said. Fortunately, none of the gas cylinders on the truck exploded, otherwise the accident could have taken many more lives, police said. Considering the situation, it is feared that the toll could rise, Vimal said. According to local villagers the Krishna Rajat bus JH 04K-1698 was going from Pakur to Dumka. While a truck laden with gas cylinders was coming at high speed from the opposite direction. Then there was a collision between the two vehicles near Kamardiha village and terrible sound was heard at the time of the incident. On hearing the sound of the collision, the people around gathered. Eight passengers including the truck and bus driver died on the spot. While 8 others injured passengers who died during their treatment. Villagers said that 24 passengers were got badly injured. Six or seven passengers were trapped inside the bus for about two hours after the incident. Passengers trapped inside the bus kept shouting to get them out. The people present at the scene of the incident could not help the people trapped in the bus even if they wanted too. As they have no gas cutter. The gas cutter car could not reach on time. All the bodies were taken to Sadar Hospital for post-mortem. Rescue and relief work was going on. Police Inspector Manoj Kumar said that the gas cutter vehicle is being called. The injured have been admitted to Community Health Center Amdapara for treatment. After getting information about the incident, DC Varun Ranjan also reached the spot then hospital. Where he knew the condition of the injured and directed them to be referred immediately for treatment and ambulances of other hospitals were also sent to Amdapara so that the injured could get better treatment at the earliest. Since this incident, a large crowd of people has gathered. Information about the people killed and injured, who have been identified so far. Booster dose will be same vax given earlier: Centre India sees a spike of 58,097 AGENCIES NEW DELHI: The precautionary or third dose of Covid vaccine for healthcare/frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities will be the same vaccine that was administered to them previously, the Centre said on Wednesday. "Precautionary Covid vaccine dose will be the same vaccine as has been given to them previously as primary dose. Those who have received Covaxin as primarily dose will receive the same as precautionary dose, and those who received Covishield as primary dose will receive Covishield now," said V.K. Paul, Member-Health, NITI Aayog, at a press briefing here on Wednesday. On the mixing approach of Covid vaccines for precaution- ‘Precautionary Covid vaccine dose will be the same vaccine as has been given to them previously as primary dose. Those who have received Covaxin as primarily dose will receive the same as precautionary dose, and those who received Covishield as primary dose will receive Covishield now ary doses, Paul said that it will be discussed further as more research on the subject is underway. Paul added that the national positivity rate, which was 1.1 per cent on December 30, currently stands at 5 per cent, while the R-value stands at 2.69. On a possible third Covid wave hitting the country, he said that India is facing a exponential rise in Covid cases which is largely being driven by the new Covid varaint Omicron particularly in western part of the nation and in the larger cities. Meanwhile, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said that Omicron is the predominant circulating strain in the cities of the country, and mass gatherings should be avoided to lower the spread of this spread. Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry, said that India has reported more than 6.3 times increase in cases in the last 8 days. A sharp increase has been observed in case positivity from 0.79 per cent on December 29 to 5.03 per cent on January 5, he added. He added that Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Gujarat are the states of concern, where there has been a steep rise in cases. Twenty-eight districts in the country are reporting more than 10 per cent weekly positivity, he added. On the Omicron related death in Rajasthan, Agarwal said that it is technically an Omicron related death. The victim was an elderly person, who reportedly had comorbidities like diabetes, among others, he said. Covid cases in 24 hours AGENCIES NEW DELHI: A total of 2,135 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected across 24 states and UTs, out of which, 828 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday. Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 653 cases followed by Delhi at 464, Kerala 185, Rajasthan 174, Gujarat 154 and Tamil Nadu 121 cases. India saw a single-day rise of 58,097 new coronavirus infections, the highest in around 199 days, taking the total tally of cases to 3,50,18,358. The active cases were recorded above 2 lakh after around 81 days, according to the data updated at 8 am. The country's Covid death toll has climbed to 4,82,551 with 534 daily fatalities, the data stated. The active cases have increased to 2,14,004, comprising 0.61 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.01 per cent, the health ministry said.A total of 58,419 new infections were reported on June 20 last year. An increase of 42,174 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.18 per cent, while weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.60 per cent according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease in India surged to 3,43,21,803, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.38 per cent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 147.72 crore, it said. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh-mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.