Boeing 737 Max can fly again as US regulator ends ban The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had put in place grounding orders in March 2019 after two deadly crashes. 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. KOCHI l Thursday l november 19, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE city EDITION 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 Kunju arrested in 95% efficacy in final Pfizer shot trial flyover case from hosp, remanded E xpress N ews S ervice @ New Delhi Judge reaches hosp to complete proceedings, former min allowed to continue treatment E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kochi Sivasankar questioned NEARLY seven months after arraigning him in the Palarivattom flyover corruption case, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Wednesday arrested former Public Works Department (PWD) minister and sitting Kalamassery MLA V K Ebrahim Kunju at a private hospital here. A team of officials searched the senior IUML leader’s residence in Aluva after they were told that he was not present there. A special VACB team later reached the hospital --- where he was admitted on Tuesday --and arrested him after consulting with his doctors. After the doctors objected to his discharge, the vigilance officials completed the legal proceedings related to his arrest by bringing a judge from the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court to the hospital. The court remanded Kunju in 14-day judicial custody , but he was allowed to continue in the hospital and will be shifted to a jail as a remand prisoner based on doctors’ advice. “After evaluating his health, we’ll seek his custody for detailed interrogation,” said a senior VACB officer. Kunju was the PWD minister when the construction of the Palarivattom flyover started in September 2014. Though the flyover was opened for traffic in October 2016, it was closed in May 2019 after cracks were detected and an expert team from IIT-Madras ● More on P4 reported the flyover as weak.  Kochi: Vigilance probing the LIFE Mission case quizzed former principal secretary M Sivasankar at the district jail in Kakkanad here. P5 Court adjourns bail plea of 5 Kochi: The NIA court has adjourned the hearing on bail petitions filed by five accused in the case related to smuggling of gold to November 30. ‘Request pending’ Kochi: The state has told the HC that it has not yet granted sanction to the vigilance request for a preliminary inquiry into the charges levelled by Biju Ramesh against Congress leaders in the bar bribery case. P4 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 Adhir’s turn to savage Sibal, says he’s free to leave E xpress N ews S ervice @ New Delhi The infighting within the Congress 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 the 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. 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. 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. Most of the doses to be manufactured till next year have been booked by rich nations 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 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 . Madhya Pradesh grazing pasture for country’s first cow cabinet E xpress N ews S ervice @ Bhopal It has been decided to constitute a ‘gau cabinet’ for the protection and fostering of ‘godhan’ (cow and its progeny) in the state Shivraj Singh Chouhan A day after announcing the introduction of a Bill against ‘love jihad’ in the next session of the Vidhan Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday decided to set up perhaps the country’s first ‘cow cabinet’ for the protection and promotion of cows. Announcing the decision, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted, “It has been decided to constitute a Gau Cabinet (cow cabinet) for cattle conservation and promotion. It will comprise animal husbandry, farmers’ welfare, for- DECLARE HC asks poll panel to insist on coalitions’ declaration est, panchayat-rural development, home and revenue departments. The first meeting of the cow cabinet will be held at the cow sanctuary in AgarMalwa district on Gopashthami festival on November 22.” Besides Chouhan, the cow cabinet will include Home Minister Narottam Mishra, Forest Minister Vijay Shah, Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel, Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia and Minister for Animal Husbandry Prem Singh Patel. Six departments will execute the decisions of the gau-cabinet in a coordinated manner. The High Court has directed the EC to insist that a candidate contesting an election as part of a coalition submit a declaration from an authorised representative of the grouping along with the nomination papers. P5 Interview Thomas Isaac Finance Minister UDF will pay heavy price FM Thomas Isaac tells TNIE Chief of Bureau S Anil and Special Correspondent M S Vidyanandan that the CAG row will be a major electoral plank for the LDF, and the UDF will have to pay a heavy price. Q&A: P4 E X P RE S S RE A D Speaker asks for explanation from FM T’Puram: Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan is learnt to have sought an explanation from Finance Minister Thomas Isaac for disclosing the CAG’s KIIFB audit report before tabling it in the House. The action was taken based on a complaint by V D Satheesan, MLA. HC directs admitting Rao to Nanavati hosp Mumbai: The Bombay HC has ordered the Maharashtra government to admit jailed activist Varavara Rao for treatment to the private Nanavati hospital at state expense. Rao was arrested in August 2018 in connection with an Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune. 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express