VILLUPURAM  SUNDAY  OCTOBER 18, 2020  `8.00  PAGES 24  CITY EDITION TRUMP SAYS HE MAY LEAVE U.S. IF HE LOSES TO BIDEN DON TRAILS HIM IN MOST ELECTION SURVEYS The US president said on Friday night he cannot imagine the prospect of losing the Nov 3 election to Democrat Joe Biden LANDSLIDE VICTORY FOR NZ’S POPULAR PM Addressing his supporters at a campaign rally in Georgia, he said, “Can you imagine if I lose, my whole life, what am I going to do? I am going to say I lost to the worst candidate in history?” Donald Trump has so far refused to guarantee that he will accept a defeat in the election. At present, he is trailing behind Biden in most surveys, even in states that he won in 2016 ■ ■ ■ Meanwhile, in New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s party won a landslide victory in Saturday’s general election The centre-left Labour Party won 64 seats in the 120-strong House It’s for the first time any political party is winning an absolute majority in New Zealand parliament since 1996 | P9 40-YR-OLD ARDERN’S HANDLING OF THE PANDEMIC HAD WON HER WIDESPREAD PRAISE CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI INTERVIEW Sputnik V gets nod for clinical trials Dr Reddy’s to conduct phase 2, 3 trials; Modi calls for effective vaccine delivery system ‘NITISH TO BE BIHAR CM IF NDA WINS’ Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi tells TNIE that party ally and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar will continue to be the chief minister of Bihar even if the BJP wins more seats than the JD(U) in the upcoming Assembly elections SUSHIL KUMAR MODI Deputy Chief Minister, Bihar Q&A: P8 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi RUSSIA’s Sputnik V has become the fourth Covid-19 vaccine candidate in India to receive regulatory permission for human trials. The vaccine’s promoter Russian Direct Investment Fund and Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Laboratories on Saturday said they have been granted approval from the Drug Control General of India to conduct phase 2 and 3 human clinical NEET: 90 govt, aided school students score over 300 marks SUSHMITHA RAMAKRISHNAN @ Chennai THE number of students from government and aided schools who secured more than 300 marks in NEET has increased three-fold this year. At least 90 students have scored over 300, against 32 last year. “Many of these students have a strong chance of securing a medical seat. All of them might be eligible if the reservation for government school students is implemented,” a senior official from the School Education Department said. However, only 1,633 students from government and aided schools, whom the State coached for free, have cleared the test in their first attempt as against 2,557 last year. According to data available with the Department, four students have scored over 500 marks, 15 have scored in the 400-500 range and 71, in the P4 300-400 range. trials in the country . It will be a multi-centre and randomised controlled study, though details of the number of volunteers and sites involved in the trial are not known. Earlier this month, the Covid-19 subject expert committee of the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation had rejected the two firms’ proposal to conduct phase 3 trial saying the sample size was “small”. The regulator had then directed Dr Reddy’s to submit a revised proposal for phase-2 and -3 trial in the country . Sputnik V is currently undergoing phase 3 clinical trials in Russia and the proposed number of subjects is 40,000. Additionally a phase 3 clinical , trial of the vaccine commenced in the UAE last week. In India, three vaccine candidates, one each by Bharat Biotech, Zydus Cadila and Oxford University (for which Serum Institute of India is a production and distribution partner) are already under advanced stages of human trials. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday suggested developing a vaccine delivery system on the lines of conduct of polls and disaster management while involving all levels of government and citizen groups. Chairing a meeting to review the pandemic situation and the preparedness of vaccine delivery, the PM also cautioned against any complacency in the fight against the virus and called for ramping up efforts to P7 contain the pandemic. INTERVIEW GROUNDED JET AIRWAYS FINALLY GETS A BUYER A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi NEARLY one-and-a-half years after it shut shop and was admitted under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy code, Jet Airways has finally found a buyer. Kalrock Capital and Murari Lal Jalan are the new owners of the airline. Murari Lal Jalan is a businessman with interests in diverse sectors from real estate to mining. Besides India, his investments are in the UAE, Russia and Uzbekistan. Kalrock Capital, founded by European entrepreneur Florian Fritsch, is a global firm operating in financial advisory and alternative asset management. Experts feel joblessness in the aviation sector due to the pandemic and poor financial health of aircraft lessors will help the new owners cut cost. For passengers, resumption of Jet’s services will mean competitive fares and more opCONTINUED ON: P10 tions on international routes. EXPRESS READ Kerala sacks 385 docs for unauthorised leave Thiruvananthapuram: Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Kerala government on Saturday terminated 432 medical personnel, including 385 doctors, from service over unauthorised leave for years, state’s health minister K K Shailaja said on Saturday | P5 ‘CJI MUST LOOK INTO JAGAN’S CHARGES’ Chief Justice of India S A Bobde should set up a mechanism to deal with questions raised against the personal conduct of judges, says senior Supreme Court advocate Dushyant Dave DUSHYANT DAVE Senior advocate, Supreme Court Q&A: P7 FIR against Kangana, sister over tweets Mumbai: Following orders from a local court, police on Saturday registered an FIR against actor Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel for allegedly creating religious disharmony through offensive tweets | P8 WITH THIS ISSUE Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami paying floral tributes to party founder MG Ramachandran and former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, at a function held to mark the 49th anniversary of the party, in Salem on Saturday | P4 NOW STREAMING IN INDIA PLUS 12 PAGES