TIRUCHY  FRIDAY  NOVEMBER 27, 2020  `7.00  PAGES 14  LATE CITY EDITION INDIA TO GET CUSTODY OF TAHAWWUR RANA SOON The extradition process of the co-conspirator of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks will begin in January, US told India 12TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ATTACK ON MUMBAI WE WILL NEVER FORGET, SAY TWITTERATI This was conveyed to India the 12th anniversary of the attack on Thursday. Pakistani-Candadian doctor Rana, 59, is serving a 14-year-prison sentence in a Los Angeles prison in connection with another terror plot. It was on November 26, 2008 that 10 members of Lashkar-e-Toiba carried out 12 coordinated attacks in Mumbai. At least 174 died and 300 were wounded | P7 ■ On the 12th anniversary, several celebrities took to Twitter, saying “We will never forget”. Ratan Tata, who was heading the Tata Group at the time and ensured the Taj Mahal hotel’s restoration despite massive destruction to property, wrote: “The wanton destruction that took place 12 years ago will never be forgotten” 174 CASUALTIES IN THE 26/11 ATTACK BY PAK-SPONSORED TERRORISTS IN 2008 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 Haryana’s barricades fail to stop Delhi Chalo march Water cannons no match for Punjab farmers’ resolve to reach the Capital to register their protest against the Centre’s new farm laws NIVAR: THE DAY AFTER... UT TO SEEK `50-CR INTERIM RELIEF LIMPING BACK TO NORMALCY Chennai: Buses and trains, that had remained suspended for two days in seven districts, resumed operations on Thursday. The city airport also opened up after a 14-hour closure, at 9 am. The Chennai port said shipping service will resume later in the day Puducherry: The UT’s Chief Minister, V Narayanasamy said on Thursday that he will seek an interim relief of `50 crore from the Centre to provide aid to those affected by the cyclone. As per preliminary assessments, total damage could be around `400 crore, he said | P4 Calm after storm as sun shines over Puducherry skies; recovery mode on Farmers from Punjab find a heavy police build-up impeding their progress to the national Capital at the Shambu border during their Delhi Chalo protest march against the three new farm laws passed by Parliament, in Patiala district on Thursday | PTI H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh THERE was plenty of action on the Punjab-Haryana interstate border on Thursday with Punjab farmers beginning their two-day Delhi Chalo agitation, as they broke through barricades on the Haryana side and pushed ahead despite the police using water cannons and tear gas to stop their onward march. The face-off at all entry points along the interstate border was anticipated, as Haryana has a BJP-led coalition government, and the Delhi Chalo agitation is against a bunch of farm laws the Modi government at the Centre steamrolled in Parliament. To start with, farmers broke the barricading at the Shambhu interstate border near Ambala on the Amritsar-Delhi National Highway after the police fired tear gas shells and used water cannons to disperse them, but to no effect. The agitators threw some barricades into the nearby Ghaggar river HALF DOSE Oxford vaccine faces questions over quality S U M I S U K A N YA D U T TA @ New Delhi THE Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca has found itself facing a credibility test after the two entities acknowledged faulty human trials where participants were given two dosing regimens. Interestingly, the efficacy of the vaccine in volunteers who got a lower dose was found to be 90%, while it was only 62% among those who got full dose. The difference in doses given to the trial participants had left scientists perplexed but no explanation was offered for that. Also, the trial participants consisted of very few elderly individuals, but this information was not disclosed. It also now emerged that lower dose was given to some people due to an error in the quantity of the vaccine put into some vials, raising questions about the drug’s quality . Experts said the lack of transparency in releasing crucial information could lead to stricter scrutiny by regulators and mistrust among people. Following the uproar, Astra’s CEO Pascal Soriot said it would conduct an additional global trial with the half first dose to assess the efficacy of its vaccine. Heavy deployment of forces on Delhi border Haryana’s police and paramilitary forces have also been heavily deployed at the Singhu border with Delhi. Deployment of forces is equally heavy at the interstate border cities of Faridabad and Gurugram and made their way into Ambala, pushing trucks aside despite heavy deployment of security personnel, including the Rapid Action Force. After crossing Ambala, they broke police barricades near Tyora village in Kurukshetra, again making water cannons look like toy pistols. At multiple points on the interstate border, Haryana had placed boulders, heavy barricades and even parked trucks bang in the middle of highways to prevent the farmers’ march. Similarly, at the Tukar border of Pehowa in Kurukshetra, Punjab farmers broke open the barricades, throwing some of them into the Markanda river, to enter Haryana though the water cannons were firing away. As the farmers moved forward, they were involved in a face-off with the police. A few of them on both sides were injured in the scuffle and were taken to a nearby hospital. The scene was similar in Kaithal in Haryana. On the Dabwali and Khanuari border, famers dug in their heels and laid a siege. Farmers belonging to the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugarhan faction) decided to stage a protest there for a week. As for the BKU (Rajewal group), its president Balbir Singh Rajewal said, “We have reached Gharaunda crossing Karnal. We will stay here for the night and proceed to Delhi tomorrow.’’ Farmers from Haryana, too, are participating in the protest and have reached Panipat. The Haryana Police detained Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav and some farmers accompanying him near Rathiwas on the Delhi-Jaipur national highway . GLOBAL PROTEST ON SKEWED STAFF RIGHTS AT AMAZON EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi ACTIVISTS around the world, including India, will come together on Black Friday (November 27) to protest against e-tailing behemoth Amazon’s anti-union practices. Protests will be held across the world, including in New Delhi and Hyderabad, under the #MakeAmazonPay banner. Some of the organisations that have lent their support to the protests include Progressive International, Hawkers Joint Action Committee, UNI Global Union, 350. org and Greenpeace. The movement, endorsed by Noam Chomsky, Cornel West and other eminent activists, workers and supporters around the world, will embark on a day of action with protests to demand that Amazon pays its workers fairly and respects their right to join un- MODI CALLS FOR ONE-NATION, ONE ELECTION ions, pays its fair share of taxes, respects small businesses and commits to real environment sustainability . Action will take place across Amazon’s global empire, including its supply chain in countries like Brazil, Mexico, US, UK, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany Luxembourg, , Italy, Poland, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Australia. “In India, Amazon is undergoing an antitrust probe.... But its labour practices in India deserve equal scrutiny. Warehouses are the newage sweatshops, relying on over-stressed and under-paid workers with few protections. Today’s general strike in India shows that the people demand better than the government inviting yet more exploitation to the country by companies like Amazon, according to a press release from Progressive International’s India campaign lead. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reiterated the need for discussions on “one nation, one election” saying polls taking place every few months are impacting development works E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai/Puducherry IT was a narrow miss for Puducherry and parts of Tamil Nadu, as Cyclone Nivar crossed the shores on Thursday morning after having caused minimal damage to life and property The rains . stopped around 6 am and a few hours later, there was bright sunshine over the region, bringing people out on roads. While Puducherry government has sought an interim relief package of `50 crore from the Centre to deal with the damages, Tamil Nadu has not made any demands so far. As per its preliminary assessments, the UT claimed they suffered losses worth `400 crore. Heavy rainfall triggered by the cyclone submerged a substantial 9,400 hectares of crops in various northern districts of Tamil Nadu. Officials swiftly began works to drain out the water and save the crops. In the UT, standing crops in about 1,600 hectares of farmlands have been damaged by Nivar, said the government. That apart, 380 trees were lost and 83 houses were damaged in Tamil Nadu, while the losses in Puducherry are still being assessed. Officials on both sides claimed the damages were minimal due to their disaster mitigation activities. Tamil Nadu reported three rain-related deaths while Puducherry had no loss of life. A minor landslide was reported on the ghat road leading to Yelagiri Hills, a popular hill station in the Tirupattur district, leading to a short disruption in traffic on Thursday Huge boulders rolled . down the road, triggering panic. Due to excess inflows, the Shenbagathoppu Dam near Polur was opened for the first time on Thursday, since its construction in 2007. “The dam in which seven faulty shutters were recently replaced has been receiving 6,000 cusecs and the same amount of water is being discharged,” an official from the Water Resources Department said. In Chennai, meanwhile, the release of water from Chembarambakkam Lake was reduced from 5,000 cusecs to a mere 500 cusecs. As rains continued throughout Thursday low, lying areas in Chennai and Puducherry saw waterlogging. Disaster response teams had to wade in or use boats to rescue people from there. THE AFTERMATH Loss of lives THREE EPS visits Cuddalore, takes stock of damage E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai/Cuddalore Damaged huts 724 Cattle, Poultry loss 1,735 Trees fallen 1,110 Electric poles fallen 977 9,468 CHIEF Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inspected the regions affected by Cyclone Nivar in Cuddalore district on Thursday . Accompanied by minister MC Sampath, Chief Secretary K Shanmugam, district supervisory officer Gagandeep Singh Bedi and Collector Chandrasekhar Sakhamuri, the Chief Minister inspected damaged banana cultivations at Keezhkumaramangalam village near Reddichavadi in the district. Palaniswami also interacted with people housed at a relief camp at Devanampattinam government school and distributed assistance. The Chief Minister also inspected the Cuddalore harbour to asses the damages caused by the cyclone. hectares of paddy and other crops submerged in heavy rainfall 4 RIVERS in Vellore in spate Water discharge from Chembarambakkam 500 CUSECS 30 boats remain stranded off Karaikal coast. The coast guard has been alerted and efforts are on to trace the fishermen, said MOHF Shajahan, Revenue Minister for Puducherry Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami interacting with an elderly person accommodated at a Nivar cyclone relief camp at Devanampattinam Middle School in Cuddalore on Thursday Nivar gone, a new low-depression forming in the Bay? EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai THE Cyclone Nivar has just crossed the coast, drenching both Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in heavy rainfall. Now, a fresh low-pressure area is expected to form over the Bay of Bengal again on Sunday. The new system is likely to become more marked and move westwards of South Tamil Nadu, said the Indian Meteorological Department. “The low-pressure area may bring heavy rainfall over the State,” said IMD director general, Mrutunjay Mohapatra. It, however, remains to be seen if the lowpressure area will intensify into a cyclone. Nivar, meanwhile, has weakened into a deep-depression and was centred over the South Rayalaseema region, 115 km west-northwest of Chennai as on Thursday. Under the system’s influence, Puducherry received a good 30 cm rainfall, followed by Cuddalore and Chennai (28 cm each). Weather blogger Pradeep John said that Chennai has by now received its full quota of northeast monsoon rainfall – 840 mm. Whatever is received hereon, in December, will be in surplus. “We might go well into excess.” While making the landfall, Nivar had recorded a wind speed of 120-130 kmph gusting to 145 kmph. In Chennai, wind speed peaked to 80 kmph. Meanwhile, it was also one of the coldest days of the season. Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam stations in the city recorded a maximum temperature of 25.8 and 24.7 degree Celsius respectively, four degrees below the normal. LEARNING CURVE Engineering courses in mother tongue from next yr EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi STARTING next year, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) will offer engineering courses in mother tongue. A few IITs and NITs are being short-listed for this purpose, the Union education ministry said on Thursday . Offering technical education in mother tongue is part of the National Education Policy adopted by the Centre. In a review meeting of various schemes by the ministry Education Minis, ter Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank also directed the University Grants Commission to ensure all scholarships and fellowships are disbursed in time and to start a helpline for the same. He also directed that all the grievances of the students be redressed immediately . Nishank said preparations are in full swing and officials are working to ensure proper implementation of National E d u c a t i o n Po l i cy, which seeks to achieve holistic development of students and transformation of the education system. The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the JEE (Main) and NEET-UG among others, will come out with the syllabus for competitive examinations, it was decided in the meeting. The NTA had said last month that JEE (Main) would be conducted in nine regional languages, apart from Hindi and English, from 2021. However, the IITs are yet to decide whether the JEE (Advanced) will also be offered in regional language.