MONDAY NZ PM CALLS OFF WEDDING AMID OMICRON OUTBREAK 24 Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Sunday her own wedding plans stand cancelled as she announced fresh Covid curbs JANUARY, 2022 GOOD TRACK RECORD OF MANAGING COVID epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard twitter.com/TheMornStandard WILD CHASE FOCUS ON BIHAR GANG Police of 15 states tracking shutter cutter gang that targets electronic shops A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 8  NEW DELHI  J8.00  PAGES 12 The fresh restrictions include a cap of 100 vaccinated people at events and mask wearing in shops and on public transport. New Zealand has operated under strict Covid rules since the start of the pandemic, allowing it to keep deaths to a minimum. It managed the Delta variant, with an average of 20 daily cases NEW ZEALANDERS OVER 12 YEARS ARE FULLY VACCINATED; 52% HAVE GOT BOOSTER SHOTS DECISION AFTER DETECTION OF CLUSTER Ardern’s marriage with TV host Clarke Gayford was scheduled for next weekend. The couple had got engaged in 2019 and they have a daughter. The decision to call off the wedding follows discovery of nine Omicron cases in a family that travelled to Auckland. Following this, it was decided that the country be placed under the highest level of curbs Govt accepts community transmission Missing Arunachal JOY FOR FAMILY Further spread of Omicron is expected to happen internally and not from abroad E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi THE Omicron variant of the coronavirus has reached the community transmission stage in India and has become dominant in multiple metros where new cases have been rising exponentially, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG) said in its latest bulletin on Sunday . The two-page bulletin of January 10, released on Sunday added that while most Omicron cas, es so far are asymptomatic or mild, hospitalisations and ICU cases are increasing in the current wave. It also said an infectious sub-variant of Omicron, BA.2, has been detected in a considerable fraction in India. “BA.2 lineage is a substantial fraction in India and S-gene dropout-based screening is thus likely to give high false negatives. Tests suitable for PCR based screening applicable to all Omicron lineages have been approved for use,” it said. As for the recently reported B.1.640.2 lineage, it is being monitored. “There is no evidence of rapid spread and while it has features of immune escape, it is currently not a variant of concern. So far, no case has been detected in India,” the bulletin added. India reported 3,33,533 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the active caseload to 21,87,205. While the positivity rate and weekly positivity rate stand at 17.78% and 16.87%, respectively the recovery rate is 93.18%. , “Further spread of Omicron in India is now expected to be through internal transmission, not foreign travellers, and a revised sampling and sequencing strategy of INSACOG is being worked out to address genomic surveillance objectives in the wake of dynamic changing scenario of virus infection,” the bulletin added. INSACOG is a consortium of 38 laboratories under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that monitor the genomic variations in Covid-19 cases. EXPRESS READ More CMs oppose IAS rule change New Delhi: After West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand chief ministers, two more CMs have opposed the proposed amendment in the IAS cadre rules. The amendment “strikes at the very root” of the nation’s federal polity and state autonomy, Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin told Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, too, wrote to the PM on Sunday urging him to drop the move saying it will create “fear psychosis” among civil service officials. teen found by PLA, to be handed over NATIONAL PEAK IN 14 DAYS? National peak expected in the next fortnight, a preliminary analysis by IIT-M’s Dept of Maths and Centre of Excellence for Computational Maths and Data Science said R-value is the number of people a Covid+ person can infect. It’s no longer a pandemic if R-value drops below 1 India’s R-value in in the Jan 14-21 week dropped to 1.57 R-value was 2.2 in Jan 7-13 week, 4 in Jan 1-6 and 2.9 in Dec 25-31 R-value of Mumbai was 0.67, Delhi 0.98, Chennai 1.2 and Kolkata 0.56 NATIONWIDE JAN 22 JAN 23 Fresh cases 3,37,704 3,33,533 Recoveries 2,42,676 2,59,168 Deaths 488 525 DELHI JAN 22 JAN 23 Fresh cases 11,486 9,197 Recoveries 14,802 13,510 Deaths 45 34 P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati A health worker takes swab sample for Covid test in New Delhi on Sunday | PARVEEN NEGI Covid cases in Delhi drops below 10K; positive rate & death toll heading south A N K I TA U PA D H YAY @ New Delhi COVID-19 cases were down to 9,197 on Sunday, the lowest since January 5 when 10,665 cases were reported, with daily positivity rate and toll also dropping in the city . Fresh cases are on a decline for one week exce pt last Wednesday when it was up to 13,785. From Saturday’s 16.36%, the positivity rate was down to 13.32%. The positivity rate has been on a downward curve since January 15 when it was recorded at 30%. Similarly the , Covid toll fell to 34 after Saturday’s 45 deaths, which was the highest since June 5. In comparison with the second wave, the third wave has been less severe so far. On May 14 last year, when the numbers went under the 10,000-mark for the first time after the peak, Delhi had logged 8,506 cases, 289 deaths and 3.4% mortality rate. Sunday’s mortality rate was recorded at 0.37%. A total of 54,246 active cases were recorded on Sunday, according to the Delhi government’s health bulletin. The number of daily Covid tests was down to 69,022 -- 697 RT PCRs and 10,325 RATs -- due to weekend and curfew. Patients in home isolation and those in hospital also came down to 42,438 and 2,424. While German navy chief in Ukraine mess resigns EXPRESS N E WS S E RVI CE @ New Delhi WHETHER or not the Ukraine situation is amicably resolved between the US-led NATO and Russia, it left the German navy chief jobless. Vice admiral KayAchim Schoenbach, who was in India last week, had to resign after coming under fire for siding with Russian president Vladimir Putin during his speech at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Delivering his controversial address on Friday Sch, Furious over the reoenbach said the idea marks, Ukraine sumthat Russia would inmoned German Amva d e U k r a i n e w a s bassador Anka “nonsense” and wonFeldhusen to express dered why would a big its displeasure. country want a tiny While Germany disstrip of Ukraine to intanced itself from its Schoenbach tegrate into it. He said navy chief ’s comPutin only wants rements, Schoenbach adspect. “Putin is probably mitted his remarks were “rash” putting pressure because he and tendered resignation sayknows he can do it and he ing he wanted to prevent furknows that it splits the Euro- ther damage to Germany and pean Union,” Schoenbach its military . said. Later, the German navy put TRIBUTE TO THE ICON HS Kalka elected DSGMC chief New Delhi: Harmeet Singh Kalka of Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) was elected president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee on Saturday amid heated arguments. The election took place at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib. The voting had to be stopped after a member revealed his vote publicly. Former chief Manjit Singh GK, Paramjit Singh Sarna and H S Sarna objected to it. The SAD has 30 members in the 51-member House but four nominated ones can’t vote. The hologram statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate, unveiled on Sunday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the 125th birth anniversary of the iconic freedom fighter and Azad Hind Fauj founder. A grand statue made of granite will eventually replace the hologram statue | PTI | P7 BUS LIBRARY Reading all the way to destination in Navi Mumbai S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai THE Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra has started library-on wheels in the corporation-run longroute buses so that commuters can make their journey pleasurable by reading books. NMMC is the first corporation to start such a bus library . As a pilot project, the corporation on Sunday started the mobile library in two of its airconditioned buses on BelapurMantralaya and Belapur-Kalyan routes. If it gets a positive response, the service would be started in over 1,000 buses. Abhijit Bangar, the Navi 814 patients were on oxygen support, 808 were on ICU and 164 were on ventilators. The hospitalization rate has also been on a downward curve with the highest being recorded at 2,784 cases on January 17. According to doctors of Lok Nayak Hospital, most of these patients on ventilator had comorbid conditions and some of them had come to hospital for other treatment but tested Covid positive as well which deteriorated their health. In contrast to the falling Covid numbers, the containment zones have been on the rise. There were 44,132 containment zones, up from Saturday’s 43,457. Mumbai Municipal Corporation commissioner, conceptualised the idea along with its Transport Manager Yogesh Kaduskar and the Lets Read India foundation. “Reading content on social media does not enrich and empower us. Book reading is important when there is a lot of disinformation around you. Books are really true friends of the people,” Bangar said. The bus library aims to cater to two types of people. “Those who were good readers but lost the appetite due to social media and the other who hardly read books. The bus library is a small effort by our corporation to bring the people close to books,” he added. Kaduskar said apart from the books, people can scan the QR code pasted in front of their seats and get the stuff to read on their smartphones. “They get write-ups on various current issues like crypto currency climate change etc. We have , also made provision in the bus to get the commuters’ feedback on the types of books they would like to read,” he said. out a statement saying Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht had accepted the resignation and appointed his deputy as interim naval chief. Germany has insisted that it stands united with its NATO allies on the issue of Russia’s military threat to Ukraine, warning that Moscow will pay a high price if it makes any military moves against its neighbour. But unlike many other NATO countries, Berlin says it won’t supply Ukraine with lethal weapons. THE controversy surrounding the alleged abduction of an Indian boy by the People’s Liberation Army of China could soon end, as the PLA claims to have found a missing boy from Arunachal Pradesh. “The PLA has informed the Indian Army that they have found a missing boy Since only . one person (Miram Taron) is missing, we believe it is he,” a senior Army officer said. Due procedure would be followed before the boy is handed over, the officer added. After the incident came to light, the Indian Army had sought assistance from the PLA to trace the boy . The family of the 17-year-old Miram, who hails from Upper Siang district, was overjoyed when this correspondent broke the news to them over the phone. “Thank you so much, sir. I cannot express in words how happy I am. I pray that the boy they found is Miram,” his father Opang said. “He will be received by our entire Zido village when he arrives home.” Miram has never been to that forest before and the father said he would not allow the minor to go to the place again. His mother, Kutjit, said, “I am feeling very good.” She had been experiencing hypertension ever since Miram’s disappearance. The incident occurred on January 18 when Miram and Was out on puja hunt “We have a puja in mid-February where, as per a customary practice, I would give my sisters dry meat. As the meat needs to be dried before being gifted, Miram had gone out early for hunting,” father Opang said his friend, Jhonny Yaying, had ventured into a forest at the fuzzy India-China border to hunt wild animals and collect herbs. While Miram was nabbed by the PLA, Jhonny fled. He reached Tuting, the nearest circle headquarters, the next day and informed the villagers and the authorities about the incident. Both youngsters are from the same village. The site of the incident is around 35-40 km away . Opang said he was at Tuting on January 17 when his son had set out for the forest. It was Arunachal MP Tapir Gao who first tweeted about Miram Taron. China’s Foreign Ministry had said it was not aware of the incident but added that the PLA cracks down on “illegal entry/exit” on border. GOA POLL ‘AAP WILL WIN 23-PLUS SEATS’ Aam Aadmi Party’s chief minister face Amit Palekar refutes claim that the poll fight is a triangular contest on most of the seats. The fight is directly between the ruling BJP and the AAP, claims Palekar | P8 Eye on youth vote, parties promise jobs as unemployment a worry in U’khand V I N E E T U PA D H YAY @ Dehradun WITH an eye on youth vote, all parties in Uttarakhand are promising ‘lakhs of jobs’, although none of them have given any roadmap or even an indication as to how and where the new jobs will be created. All the three parties in contention in the upcoming Assembly elections — the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party — are trying to lure the young voters with promises of jobs as rising employment is becoming a matter of concern. Nearly 50 per cent voters in the Himalayan state are in the age-group of 18-40 years. While the working age population Uttarakhand has seen a 14 per cent rise in past five years, employment rate in the state came down to 30.43% in December 2021 from 40.10% in December 2016, according to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data. “The youths in the age group of 18-40 constitute almost half the voter in the state. The party that will be able to win their trust will have its way. The youth of the Uttarakhand has been plagued by unemployment for long now,” said Jay Singh Rawat, a Dehradun based political analyst. The incumbent BJP govern- R I S I N G P O P U L AT I O N O F E M P L O Y E D 81,43,922 TOTAL VOTERS IN UTTARAKHAND VOTERS IN 18-40 AGE GROUP 38,31,394 GRIM SCENARIO 14% decline in number of employed people in the hill state in last five years 14% increase in working age population in the state in last five years 32.23 l 27.82 l 80.37 l 91.41 l Number of employed people in the state in December 2016 Total number of employed people in the state in December 2021 ment led by 46-year-old Pushkar Singh Dhami has claimed to have given lakhs of jobs to the youth of the state and is promising more if returned to power. Party leaders said youth are given due importance by the BJP and the party’s poll manifesto, to be released soon, will reflect the same. Congress leaders, on the other hand, accuse the BJP government of doing nothing in the last five years except changing chief ministers. Senior Congress leader and former CM Harish Rawat said, “The Working age population in the state in December 2016 Working age population in the state in December 2021 BJP promised a lot but delivered nothing. The youth holds the key to the future of Uttarakhand and they must use it wisely .” The AAP a new entrant, has , announced various ‘guarantees’, including `5,000 per month to all the unemployment youth till they get jobs. Asserting that his government in Delhi has given jobs to over 10 lakh people in Delhi, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said this would be replicated in Uttarakhand, too, if the party comes to power.