BENGALURU  THURSDAY  NOVEMBER 19, 2020  `7.00  PAGES 20  LATE 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 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” ■ 346 AIRCRAFT WILL BE 100% SAFE, SAYS FAA ■ 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 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 Its candidate is also 94% effective in people over 65 years of age EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE Corona vaccine world 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 Moder na 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 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 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 Also, its re. sults are yet to be analysed by independent experts. The troubling part of maintaining 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. DECEMBER 7-15 State govt may push key bills in winter session EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru THE winter session of the state legislature will be held between December 7 and 15 in Bengaluru, and not in Belagavi as was the practice. Last year too, the winter session was held in Bengaluru due to the devastating floods in Belagavi and other parts in North Karnataka. Speaking to mediapersons after the cabinet meeting, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said the government is likely to reintroduce many pending Bills which could not be passed in the monsoon session held in September. That session was curtailed due to the prevailing Covid-19 crisis. CONTINUED ON: P4 B’LURU TECH SUMMIT OPENS TODAY The 23rd edition will be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on Thursday. Australian PM Scott Morrison will also attend the inaugural event | P13 Vijayanagar to be K’taka’s 31st district, BSY cabinet gives in-principle nod EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru THE world heritage site of Hampi, the erstwhile capital of Vijayanagar empire, will soon be part of a new district. The State Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, on Wednesday gave inprinciple approval for creation of the Vijayanagar district, which will be carved out of Ballari district, to become the 31st district in the state. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said details about the number of taluks that will be part of the new district will be decided in the next cabinet meeting. Ballari district incharge minister Anand Singh, who was among those demanding for the new district, said it has been a long-standing demand of people of western MP to be first grazing pasture for cow cabinet EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bhopal A day after announcing the introduction of a Bill against ‘love jihad’ in the next session of the Vidhan Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party gover nment in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday decided to set u p p e r h ap s t h e 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, forest, panchayat-rural development, Home and Revenue Departments. The first meeting of the cow cabinet will be held at the cow sanctuary in Agar- Malwa district on Gopashthami festival on November 22.” P10 taluks in the district. They have been demanding for a separate district to ensure further development of Hampi, the erstwhile capital of Vijayanagar empire. “It’s a historical decision,” he declared. Anand Singh, and Social Welfare Department Minister B Sriramulu, who is also from Ballari district, said they had consulted all leaders from the district beP7 fore taking the decision. HC allows hosp for Varavara Rao EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ 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 super-speciality 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 P9 lodged in Taloja Jail.