SAMBALPUR l thursday l november 19, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION Boeing 737 max can fly again as u.s. regulator ends ban The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had put in place grounding orders in March 2019 after two deadly crashes Changes in design, software and wiring Aircraft will be 100% safe, says FAA However, the clearance does not mean the plane can take to the skies immediately. Existing aircraft will need to be modified before going back into service, with changes to their design. Alongside the software and wiring changes, pilots will also need training. The FAA said the design changes will “eliminate what caused the accidents” ■ ■ A probe into the crashes found that a safety feature which was meant to stop the plane from climbing too fast and stalling had improperly forced the nose of the plane down FAA administrator Steve Dickson said he is “100% confident” in the safety of the plane and that such crashes won’t recur 346 People were killed in two fatal accidents involving Boeing 737 max 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 95% Efficacy in final Pfizer shot trial Madhya Pradesh 1st grazing pasture for cow cabinet Its candidate is also 94% effective in people over 65 years of age; consistent in performance across age and ethnicity E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi The Corona vaccine world got just got another shot of excitement as US-based pharma major Pfizer on Wednesday raised its candidate’s efficacy to 95%, up from 90% a week ago, as final results of its phase 3 trials across six countries came in. The other big takeaway was the vaccine’s 94% effectiveness in adults over 65 years, who are among the most vulnerable to the virus. Just a couple of days ago, its competitor Moderna had claimed 94.5% efficacy in its initial phase 3 results. Both biotech firms intend to seek emergency regulatory approval within days. The BNT162b2, the vaccine candidate Pfizer developed along with German partner BioNTech, was reported to be consistent in performance across age and ethnicity demographics without major side effects. A review of the reactogenicity data, which consisted of at least 8,000 participants in the phase 2/3 study, showed that the vaccine was well tolerated, with most adverse events resolving shortly after vaccination, the statement added. The adverse effects included headaches Nothing much in it for India The vaccines of Pfizer and Moderna may have little implications for India, as storage and distribution could be a major constraint. In any case, most of the doses to be manufactured till next year by them have been booked by rich nations and fatigue in about 2% of the volunteers. In all, the vaccine candidate was trialled on over 41,000 volunteers in the US, Germany, Turkey, South Africa, Brazil and Argentina. Global markets reacted positively, though Pfizer-BioNTech is yet to release detailed data on the study Also, . its results are yet to be analysed by independent experts. The troubling part of main- taining Pfizer’s vaccine at -700C to -800C continues, but the company said it was confident of using the cold-chain infrastructure to distribute the vaccine around the world. Pfizer-BioNTech aim to produce up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and 1.3 billion by 2021-end. In all, 170 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were evaluated from the 28th day after the first shot of BNT162b2. Of them, 162 were in the placebo category while only eight were in the vaccinated group. Ten individuals went on to develop severe disease, nine of whom were in the non-vaccinated group. Expectant mothers, elderly to get priority in vaccination: CM E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Vaccines have reached final stage of testing with several candidates proving to be very effective. The database of high-risk groups will be helpful in prioritising the vaccination programme Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister As positive signs over early availability of Covid-19 vaccine emerge, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced that pregnant women, people above 60 years and frontline health workers will be given priority during the first phase inoculation. Reviewing the Covid management in the State, the Chief Minister said vaccines for coronavirus have reached final stage of testing with several candidates proving to be very effective in preventing the infection. This has brightened hope of availability of a vaccine soon. The database of high-risk groups, which has been prepared for the State, will be helpful in prioritising the vaccination programme, he said. He called for a foolproof professional and scientific plan for vaccinating the vulnerable sections of society . He, however, cautioned against any laxity on part of the people and emphasised continuing adherence to all Covid protocols. Preventive measures like wearing masks, cleaning hands and maintaining social distance is a must till arrival of the vaccine, he said. As resurgence of a second INSIDE wave of the virus is apprehended during winter, the Chief Minister directed the Health department to ensure that ICUs of various Covid hospitals in the State remain fully functional. He cautioned people against lowering guard as a fresh wave of the pandemic has already gripped the US, European countries and New Delhi. “ three-fold increase in coA rona cases in the US in a month is enough indication for us to be careful in the winter season,” the CM stressed. finally, a dedicated covid hospital for doctors P2 He thanked the people for adhering to Covid protocol in a disciplined manner during Puja season and also praised the sincerity of doctors and health workers which has resulted in pushing the recovery rate up to 97 per cent. The Chief Minister also directed the administration to focus on livelihood aspects of people and asked the Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy to review it on regular basis. Tripathy infor med the meeting about the measures taken for preventing spread of the virus in winter season and ensuring livelihood of the people. Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Pradipta Mohapatra outlined the steps for smooth distribution of vaccine. express read Pak resorts to heavy shelling in Poonch Jammu: Pakistan’s army violated ceasefire twice on Wednesday and resorted to heavy firing and mortar shelling in forward areas along the LOC in Poonch district, officials said, adding that Indian Army retaliated befittingly LVB depositors’ money safe: RBI Mumbai: Lakshmi Vilas Bank has enough liquidity to pay back its 20-lakh depositors and will complete the proposed merger with DBS before the deadline, RBIappointed administrator said on Wednesday | P10 Street play artistes staging a demonstration near Sangeet Mahavidyalaya in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, urging the State government to allow their performances | Express No child must sleep in open during winter: OSCPCR @ Bhubaneswar As winter has led to a dip in mercury level across the State, the Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) on Wednesday asked district collectors to ensure that no child sleeps under the open sky in chilly weather conditions. The order from the Commission came after it undertook a suo motu inquiry and looked into the complaints related to violation and deprivation of child rights under CPCR. The Commission has directed the collectors to comply with its order within 15 days. “It has been observed that there are children along with It has been observed that there are children along with their homeless parents sleeping under open sky in the chilly weather condition in many urban areas. This raises serious concern for their safety and security Sandhyabati Pradhan, Commission Chairperson their homeless parents sleeping under open sky in the chilly weather condition in many urban areas. This raises serious concern for their safety and security,” Commission Chairperson Sandhyabati Pradhan said adding, this makes them vulnerable to Covid-19 infection. As per the direction, collectors will have to organise special awareness drives for identification of vulnerable children and their families in all urban local bod- ies under their districts. They will also have to put in place a dedicated telephone/Whatsapp helpline number and take steps to attend grievances within 30 minutes of receiving the complaints. The collectors have also been asked to ready shelters for urban homeless. In the absence of any permanent night shelter, they will make arrangement for temporary shelter in coordination with the urban local bodies and State Urban Develop- humane order HC directs admitting Varavara Rao at Nanavati E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Mumbai The Bombay High Court on Wednesday ordered the Maharashtra government to admit jailed octogenarian poet and activist Varavara Rao for treatment at the private superspecialty Nanavati hospital here at state expense. Rao was arrested in August 2018 in connection with an Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune in December 2017 that turned violent, and is lodged in Navi Mumbai’s Taloja Jail. A division bench comprising justices S S Shinde and Madhav Jamdar said, “Ultimately the man is on almost death bed. He needs some treatment. Can the state say no, we will treat him in Taloja? We are only saying transfer him to Nanavati for two weeks. We will further see after two weeks.” It also directed that family members of Rao should be allowed to meet him at the Nanavati hospital, and posted the matter for further hearing on December 3. The court was hearing two cases — a bail application filed by Rao on medical grounds and a writ petition by his wife Hemalata saying his incarceration was a violation of his right to health and life. Citing his medical history, senior advocate Indira Jaising said there was “reasonable apprehension that Rao may die in jail and not even stand trial in the Bhima Koregoan case”. On Tuesday, Jaising had trashed a medical report on Rao submitted by Nanavati hospital’s doctors. Despite his deteriorating condition due to neurological problems and urinary infection coupled with dementia, he was not examined by experts, she said. Congress implosion COSTUMED PROTEST E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Minister Vijay Shah, Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel, A day after announcing the in- Panchayat and Rural Developtroduction of a Bill against ment Minister Mahendra Singh ‘love jihad’ in the next session Sisodia and Minister for Aniof the Vidhan Sabha, the mal Husbandry Prem Singh Bharatiya Janata Party gov- Patel. ernment in Madhya Pradesh Six departments will execute on Wednesday decided to set up the decisions of the gau-cabiperhaps the country’s first ‘cow net in a coordinated manner, cabinet’ for the protection and Chouhan stated. promotion of cows. Among the objectives are Announcing the decision, marketing products made from Chief Minister Shivraj cow milk and increasSingh Chouhan tweeting the use of cow ed, “It has been deciddung cakes. ed to constitute a Gau Reacting to the deIt has been Cabinet (cow cabinet) velopment, the Oppodecided to for cattle conservation sition Congress said constitute a ‘gau and promotion. It will it falls short of the cabinet’ for the comprise animal husBJP’s 2018 pre-poll protection and bandry, farmers’ welpromise of creating a fostering of fare, forest, panchayat- ‘godhan’ (cow and separate cow minisrural development, its progeny) in the try. “The same Shivstate home and revenue deraj Singh Chouhan, partments. The first who before 2018 AsShivraj Singh meeting of the cow sembly polls had Chouhan cabinet will be held at promised to form a the cow sanctuary in separate Cow MinisAgar-Malwa district on try and put in place a seGopashthami festival ries of cow sanctuaries on November 22.” and cowsheds is now talkBesides Chouhan, the ing about constituting a cow cabinet will include Cow Cabinet,” tweeted Home Minister NarotCongress state president tam Mishra, Forest Kamal Nath. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhopal ment Agency . The OSCPCR chair man asked the collectors to put adequate safety measures in place and organise counselling programmes for the urban homeless on Covid-19 guidelines and precautionary measures. Two days back, the State Urban Development Agency had directed municipal commissioners of five corporations and 15 executive officers of municipalities to take expeditious steps to create urban shelters for the homeless during the winter. The civic bodies were earlier asked to submit proposals for construction of such shelters or use available buildings without wasting time. Adhir’s turn to savage sibal, says he’s free to leave E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi The infighting within the Cong ress intensified on Wednesday with the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury telling dissenting leader Kapil Sibal to join another party if he is not happy with the Congress. Choudhury also questioned Sibal’s intentions in publicly targeting the Gandhis after the party’s poor performance in the Bihar elections. “Kapil Sibal could have raised the issues inside a party forum instead of making such embarrassing remarks in public. He is a senior leader and has access to the party’s top brass. Those who are unhappy with the functioning of the party have the freedom to form a new party or join one,” said Chowdhury. Sibal was one of 23 leaders who wrote to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi calling for a functional leadership. After the Bihar debacle, he reiterated his demand for an introspection on the party’s failure in elections after elections. Sibal’s shar p comments triggered a war of words among party leaders. While Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha agreed with Sibal and sought serious introspection, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the comments were unwarranted and would demoralise party workers. Senior leader Salman Khurshid, who is considered close to the Gandhi family, also hit out a t S i b a l s ay i n g there is no point in “aimless introspection” and that leaders who bite nails when the party underperfor ms may have “no nails to bite” for future. Instead of giving sermons sitting in AC rooms, he (Kapil Sibal) should work on the ground. Lecturing others without doing anything won’t help. Only calling for introspection without doing anything on our own is of no use