January 18, 2021: A look at the top news today. Good morning,
Big story
The expert group tasked with the Covid vaccine administration have identified one crore healthcare workers who will receive the first dose during the immunisation drive, if and when a particular vaccine is cleared by the Indian regulator for commercial use.
Meanwhile, Oxford-AstraZeneca announced that interim trial data from the crucial phase 3 trials have shown that its Covid-19 vaccine candidate is 70.4 per cent effective.
From the Front Page
A Special Investigation Team set up to probe alleged cases of ‘love jihad’ has ruled out any conspiracy angle in the 14 such cases it investigated in Uttar Pradesh and also found no evidence that the Muslim youths involved got any funding from abroad.
Names of leaders from the PDP, Congress and National Conference figure prominently in a list of around 400 people who were allegedly granted undue concessions by past J&K administrations for regularisation of land conversion at rates far below those stipulated. The quantum of the alleged scam pegged at over Rs 25,000 crore.
Under fire from the Opposition, and facing heat from within the ruling LDF alliance, the Kerala government said it will “not go ahead with implementing” the controversial amendment to the Kerala Police Act to mandate a 5-year jail term for any “offensive” social media post.
Only in the express
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel speaks to The Indian Express on the state’s fight against Maoism, its relations with the Centre and the rumblings within the Congress. Talking about Congress’ performance in the elections, he said, “In one or two places, we perform weakly….but that is discussed widely but when we win…that is not talked about.”
Must read
Tarun Gogoi, former Union MoS, three-time chief minister of Assam, six-time Congress MP, and one of the Northeast’s most prominent political leaders, died at the age of 84 on Monday of post-Covid health complications. In 15 years of Gogoi’s rule, Assam left behind decades of turmoil, according to political commentator Sushanta Talukdar.
In its proposal recommending entry of business houses into the banking sector, RBI’s Internal Working Group (IWG) ignored the advice of financial experts it consulted. Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and ex-Deputy Governor Viral Acharya have said that the proposal to let industrial houses into banking will lead to “connected lending” which, according to them, is “invariably disastrous”.
Archaeological engineer PK Vasudevan Nair who played a pivotal role in UNESCO’s World Heritage listing for Ahmedabad’s Walled City died of Covid-19 aged 73 on Monday. Before the 600-year-old walled city of Ahmedabad was noticed by the world, Nair worked on re-building some of its monuments, especially the minarets that were destroyed in the earthquake on January 26, 2001.
In view of the threat of a second wave of coronavirus cases post Diwali, the Maharashtra government has said that from tomorrow, people arriving in Mumbai and elsewhere in the state from Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Goa by air and train must carry with them a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR test report done three to four days before arrival, or they will be tested on arrival.
ICYMI
# Ram Vilas Paswan’s Rajya Sabha seat may go to BJP as JD(U) is unlikely to back LJP.
# CWC member Kuldeep Bishnoi launched a no holds barred attack on Ghulam Nabi Azad, accusing him of betraying the Gandhi family.
# Mamata Banerjee has described Amit Shah’s visit to a tribal household for lunch as a “show off” and claimed that the food items served to him were cooked at five-star hotels.
# New Delhi on Monday began a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan over the four Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists killed in Nagrota district of Jammu.
# Comedian Bharti Singh and her husband Harsh Limbachiyaa, who were arrested by the NCB in a drugs case, were granted bail by a metropolitan magistrate’s court.
And Finally
Blessed with immense talent and imposing physique, Marcus Stoinis had to overcome personal loss and on-field setbacks before realising his potential. We profile the Australian all-rounder ahead of the India tour of Down Under.
Delhi confidential: A secretary of a ministry recently missed responding, on more occasion that one, to what the minister asked during meetings over video-conferencing. To other officers , it left the impression that the officer was deliberately not responding.
In this episode of the Three Things podcast, we look at the first official assessment of the fallout of the pandemic, the states that are seeing a rise in cases again, and how the pandemic has changed what goes on inside crematoriums.
Until tomorrow,
Leela Prasad G and Shreyasi Jha
Express Cartoon by EP Unny.
