friDAY Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Wounded India vs Mighty Oz 15 january, 2021 The fourth and final test is a winner take all. Australia need a win to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but a draw will be enough for India to retain it epaper.morningstandard.in resembling a hospital ward facebook.com/TheMorningStandard Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out with a broken left thumb while Hanuma Vihari, R Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah are all serious doubts | P11 twitter.com/TheMornStandard P OLL P U BL I C I T Y MAMATA TAKES KEJRIWAL’s route Changes on the cards Trinamool to bring out poll manifesto highlighting works done in last 10 years A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Page 8 l New Delhi l J8.00 l PAGES 12 If Bumrah is not fit, India might opt for Shardul Thakur or T Nataranjan while there is an option of playing Prithvi Shaw or Wriddhiman Saha in place of Jadeja but all-rounder Washington Sundar’s name is also doing the rounds 0 India have played six Tests at the Gabba, but have yet to win a single one. They have lost five and drawn one - in 2003 rollout on Jan 16 at 10:30 AM via video conferencing, Modi likely to address the nation; 3,006 session sites TO BE VIRTUALLY CONNECTED PM Modi to launch world’s largest vaccination drive express news service @ New Delhi New vaccine rules Covid vaccine is only for 18 years and above Administration of vaccine should be done separated by an interval of 14 days Second dose should be of the same vaccine of which the first dose was administered. Interchanging not allowed DEFERRED VACCINATION Persons having active Covid symptoms Covid patients who were given monoclonal antibodies or covalescent plasma Acutely unwell and hospitalised patients OFF THE LIST Persons with history of allergic reaction to a previous dose of Covid vaccine Women who are pregnant or not sure of their pregnancy and lactating mothers Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the muchawaited Covid-19 vaccination programme at 3,006 designated centres across the country at 10.30 am on Saturday . “This will be the world’s larg est vaccination programme covering the entire length and breadth of the country and all preparations are in place to initiate the programme on the principles of Jan Bhagidari,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. “A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and UTs will be virtually connected during the launch and around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the first day it added. ,” The Centre also released a rulebook for the vaccine rollout to all the states and UTs, listing the dos and don’ts which say minors (under-18), pregnant women and lactating mothers should not be given the shots. Healthcare workers in both government and private sectors, including anganwadi workers, will receive the vaccine during the first phase. As per the details shared, at every centre, 100 healthcare workers have been registered for inoculation on the first day at each centre. However, the government fears that the actual count of people who take the jab may be far lower, owing to “vaccine hesitation”. “Over 3 lakh people are being sent messages to receive their vaccines on Day 1 at the designated centres. But it won’t be surprising if lesser than expected number of beneficiaries turn up,” said a senior official. “This will be just the beginning of the vaccination in India and it’s likely that many will want to see others take the vaccines first before they take the jabs.” All the states which have got the supply of the two approved vaccines — Covishield and Covaxin — have been advised not to administer more than 100 vaccines per day per centre. The number of designated centres could be later increased to 5,000. The government has procured 1.65 crore doses of vaccines for the first phase which include 1.1 crore doses of Covishield produced by the Serum Institute of India and 55 lakh doses of Covaxin by Bharat Biotech. Pulse polio drive rescheduled to Jan 31 The National Polio immunisation programme has been rescheduled to January 31. The drive was earlier scheduled for January 17. On Wednesday, the government deferred it “till further notice”. A day later, the Centre confirmed that the decision was taken in view of the Covid vaccination drive. “The Covid vaccination drive will be rolled out from Jan 16. This would be the world’s largest immunisation exercise. Therefore, it has been decided by the health ministry in consultation with the President’s office to reschedule the Polio vaccination day,” it said. A priest offers prayers after the first consignment of Covid vaccine arrives at a storage facility in Ajmer | pti Only Covaxin for AIIMS, Safdarjung? Docs fret S o m r i ta G h o s h @ New Delhi Two days before the vaccination drive begins, some faculty members from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Safdarjung Hospital expressed unhappiness over being provided only Covaxin, the vaccine produced by Bharat Biotech, and not Covishield produced by the Serum Institute of India. The state governments are in charge of vaccine distribution to all the designated vaccination centres. No Delhi govern- ment official responded to this reporter’s calls and messages to confirm if the two central institutes had been provided only Covaxin. “There is no enough proof of efficacy of the Covaxin yet, whereas Covishield has yielded some results. We are not confident of taking Covaxin. The hospital administration cannot help as the vaccine distribution is decided by the Delhi government. Many of us would like to opt out from taking the vaccine if it’s only Covaxin. However, there is a pressure on us. Being healthcare workers, we have to show trust on the vaccines,” said an AIIMS faculty, requesting anonymity . “We have to fill a consent form. HCWs have a choice to opt out from the vaccination. But if we don’t turn up this time, we have been told that there won’t be any second chance for it,” said a faculty from Safdarjung. Attempts were made to get a clarification on the claims from Google removes rogue digital lenders B i s m ah Ma l i k @ Bengaluru Tech giant Google said on Thursday it had removed several personal loan apps from its playstore in India that were found violating its policies on tenure for repayments, annual percentage rate and disclosure of total loan costs. More lending apps which do not comply with the local laws and regulations could face similar action. Users as well as government agencies have flagged concerns regarding some of the digital lenders adopting coercive tactics for loan recovery . Google said it had reviewed hundreds of personal loan apps in India. “The apps that were found to violate our user safety policies were immediately removed from the Store, and we have asked the developers of the remaining identified apps to demonstrate that they com- Delhi Covid watch status of cases Recovered Death Active cases Total +ve Today 390 04 -340 Cumulative 6,17,930 10,678 2,937 6,31,589 Patient Management Total beds Occupied Vacant h os p i ta l 11,976 1,233 10,743 c a r e c e n tr e 7,392 41 7,158* h e a l t h c e n tr e 307 12 295 *193 beds of CCC are occupied by persons under quarantine including travellers who came by Vande Bharat Mission and Bubble flights 1,311 Home Isolation Testing Status 39,226 32,099 RTPCR/CBNAAT/ TrueNat tests conducted Rapid antigen test conducted today 96,66,727 5,08,775 Total tests done so far Tests per million Containment Zones as on date: 2,501 Source: Delhi health bulletin | January 14 APPS breached safety policy Loan apps flagged for breaching Google’s user safety policies (Google hasn’t named the apps it removed; these apps were flagged by media and users for violations) 10MinuteLoan, Ex-Money, StuCred and Extra Mudra CashBean, Moneed, iCredit, CashKey, RupeeFly and RupeePlus Concerns raised Digital lenders have been accused of adopting coercive tactics to recover loans, charging higher interest rates/processing fees and harassment Regulatory plans RBI has constituted a working group to suggest regulatory measures for digital lending space in India, including online platforms and mobile apps Top Instant loan apps/ digital lenders in India Credy MoneyTap Paisalo Digital Limited TrueBalance Decimal Technologies Cashfree KreditBee EarlySalary LoanTap EarlySalary ply with applicable local laws and regulations. Apps that fail to do so will be removed without further notice,” the company said, adding it will continue to assist the law enforcement agencies in the matter. Regarding user privacy Goog, le said developers must only request permissions that are necessary to implement current features or services. “They should not use permissions that give access to user or device data for undisclosed, unimplemented, or disallowed features or purposes. Developers must also only use data for purposes that the user has consented to, and if they later want to use the data for other purposes, they must obtain user permission for the additional uses.” The announcement comes close on the heels of the RBI constituting a working group to formulate regulatory measures for facilitating a safer digital lending environment. Digital lenders that offer small personal loans at the click of a button without asking for collaterals have come under scanner for coercing the borrowers for repayments. These apps typically cater to the underserved populations which either don’ t have access to traditional banking facilities or don’t have a good credit score. Modi’s trusted officer joins BJP in UP, talks of taking deputy CM role surface N A MI TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow Former bureaucrat AK Sharma joined the ruling BJP in Lucknow on Thursday days af, ter he took voluntary retirement ahead of his scheduled retirement in July 2022. The former Gujarat cadre IAS officer, who is counted as one of the most trusted aides of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was inducted into the party by UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh in the presence of deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma along with senior office bearers of the party . Political corridors are abuzz with speculations of Sharma taking up a crucial role in state with the UP Assembly elections just a year away For now, he is . tipped to be a BJP candidate in the upcoming council elections scheduled for January 28. Nominations for the parishad polls are being filed till January 18 and BJP is sure to win 10 out of 12 seats falling vacant. The party is likely to announce the list of its candidates in a day or two. “I come from a backward village of Mau district in Uttar Pradesh. I was working on the post of a secretary and don’t have any political background. To bring a person like me into the party, only PM Narendra Modi and BJP can do it,” Sharma said. Singh expressed confidence that the BJP would benefit from Sharma’s administrative experience gained while working with the PM closely, especially the six years which he spent in the PMO. While the BJP’s state unit is keeping a guarded silence over the role of Sharma, party insiders said he may be entrusted with the deputy chief ministership in the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet. “Obviously the leader, ship must be having a bigger plan behind sending Sharma to the UP Council,” said a source. Close association with Modi for two decades Sharma had been part of Modi’s core team and was part of the CM’s office in Gujarat. When Modi was in Gujarat, Sharma was chief executive of Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board. He joined the PM’s Office in 2014. His last assignment was Secretary, Union Ministry for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. He had been moved to the critical MSME ministry in May last year, when the government was working on relief for the ailing sector. Sharma is credited for rolling out a package for the sector, including a much-delayed change of investment caps. Delhi government authorities. However, calls and messages to the Directorate, Health and Family Welfare, South Delhi DM and the Delhi government for their reaction remained unanswered till the time the story was filed. A Delhi government official on Thursday said Covishield will be administered at 75 centres in the capital while Covaxin will be sent to six facilities. The officials did not specify which of the 81 designated hospitals will get the vaccine made by Bharat Biotech. Farmer leader Mann recuses himself from SC committee H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shows the signed article of impeachment against President Donald Trump in an engrossment ceremony before transmission to the Senate for trial on Capitol Hill | AP impeached! don first US Prez to face it twice peached Trump by 232 to 197 votes after an impassioned Just eight days before he is debate. The House went slated to leave office, Donald ahead with the move after Trump earned the dubious Vice President Mike Pence distinction of becoming the on Tuesday refused to infirst American president to voke the 25th Amendment to be impeached twice, with 10 remove Trump from office. of his fellow Republicans Participating in the debate, joining the Democrats in the Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, House of Representatives to “We know that the President charge him with “incitement of the United States incited of insurrection” for his role this insurrection, this armed in provoking his rebellion, against supporters to storm our common counthe US Capitol on try. He must go… January 6. He is a clear and We know that the Trump will now present danger to President incited face a trial in the the nation that we this insurrection, Senate where, if this armed rebellion, all love.” convicted, he could against our common Those who voted be bar red from country. He must in favour of the imholding office ever go…He is a clear and peachment includpresent danger to again. The Demoed the House’s No. crats will need 17 the nation that we 3 Republican, Liz all love Republican votes Cheney, as well as in the 100-member all four IndianNancy Pelosi, Senate as a twoAmerican DemoUS House Speaker thirds majority is cratic members — required in the Upper House Ami Bera, Ro Khanna, Raja of the US Congress to con- Krishnamoorthi and Pramiv i c t a n d i m p e a ch t h e la Jayapal. president. President-elect Biden exHowever, Trump will not pressed hope that the Senate have to quit the White House will be able to conduct the before his term ends as the impeachment trial while Senate is adjourned till Jan- working on other critical isuary 19, a day before Joe Bi- sue, while Trump, hours afden takes oath as the 46th ter the vote, condemned the President of the US. insurrection and warned The Democratic-control- his supporters from engagled House on Wednesday im- ing in any further violence. E x pre s s N ew s Ser v i c e Fa r m e r u n i o n l e a d e r Bhupinder Singh Mann on Thursday recused himself from the four-member committee set up by the Supreme Court to resolve the stalemate over the agri laws in the wake of the allegations that the panel was “pro-government”. Mann, the president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Mann) and chairman of All India Kisan Coordination Committee (AIKCC), said he was thankful to the Supreme Court for appointing him to the panel. However, he added, “As a farmer myself and a union leader, in view of the prevailing sentiments and apprehensions amongst the farm unions and the public in general, I am ready to sacrifice any position offered or given to me so as to not compromise the interests of Punjab and farmers of the country I am recusing myself . from the committee and will always stand with my farmers and Punjab.” Mann’s announcement came on a day his organisation’s Punjab unit decided to disassociate itself from him for “siding with the government”. Mann was part of a group that had met Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar in December and backed the farm laws. Baldev Singh Mianpur, Punjab president of BKU (Mann) said, “We have broken all ties with Mann. ...When the farmer unions had refused to appear before the committee, what was the point being part P7 of the panel?”  TALKs NEPAL FOREIGN MINISTER ARRIVES Pradeep Gyawali will meet his Indian counterpart and is likely to discuss the vexed boundary issue and help for Covid vaccine | P7