bhubaneswar l monday l december 28, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 28 l late city EDITION ANT told to return to ITS roots in payments services People’s Bank of China stops short of asking for a breakup of Jack Ma’s firm, but stresses necessity of a business overhaul weighing options to protect economy Slammed for monopolistic tendencies The central bank told Ant to ‘rectify’ its suite of services, which have expanded from a PayPal-like operation to offer consumer loans, insurance and wealth management. The regulators are weighing the options of carving up Ant’s different lines of operation, or splitting its online and offline services to contain the risks it poses to the Chinese economy  P9 ■ ■ Authorities blasted Ant for sub-par corporate governance, disdain toward regulatory requirements, and engaging in regulatory arbitrage. They castigated Ant for monopolistic tendencies too The empires built by Jack Ma, Tencent Holdings’ chairman Ma Huateng and other tycoons are also under scrutiny $35 bn IPO listing of ANT before the central bank torpedoed it 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 DL, LL renewal extended till March 31 KCR now changes tack, aligns his policies with Centre’s new farm laws E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Out in the cold ANMs, who are sitting on dharna over re-engagement demands, sleep on the road at the protest site amid severe cold conditions in Bhubaneswar on Sunday morning | Express Focus on evidence, increase conviction rate: DGP to officers Emphasises on professional investigation in wake of Nayagarh minor murder and rape case A s i s h M e h ta @ Bhubaneswar Director General of Police Abhay had a simple yet critical advice for his officers at the 62nd Senior Police Officers’s Conference on Sunday - focus on strong physical and scientific evidence, and not just on chargesheet numbers. “Professional investigation of all crimes remains a high priority Large numbers of in. vestigations have failed the trial test. Acquittal against total cases decided is high. We must improve our investigation and the follow-up during trial,” said the DGP . His emphasis on professional investigation comes in wake of the sensational Nayagarh mi- express read Cops charge army officer with fake encounter Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir police filed a chargesheet, charging an army captain and two locals with a conspiracy to abduct civilians and stage a fake encounter on July 18 last. The army had claimed to have killed three militants in the encounter at Amishpora in Shopian | P8 Stadia can welcome back spectators Chennai: A circular issued by the Sports Ministry has paved the way for fans to re-enter stadia. The circular, dated December 26, states “... for outdoor events spectators will be allowed up to a maximum of 50% of the total capacity of the stadium.” | P11 03 MONDAY SAMBALPUR newindianexpress com 28 12 2020   Sivaram Das Rabindranath Behera Golak Naik Krushna Chandra Mandal Jitendra Pradhan Rankanidhi Pradhan Mahajan Pradhan Subash Chandra Sahu Unesh Kumar Nayak Bali Kanhar Pravakar Parida Subhranshu Sekhar Pradhan Umesh Sethi Muralidhar Baliarsingh Asish Mahakul Rabindra Kumar Kabi Santosh Kumar Behera Patras Tigga Pranabandhu Sethi Ranjan Hantal Shankar Dash Krushna Chandra Dharua Manoj Kumar Hota Sarbeswar Pradhan Pitabas Dharua Raj Kishore Samad Simanta Kumar Patra Narayan Chandra Sethi Belham Minz Bhagaban Bhukta Ajay Kumar Majhi Dibakar Sethi Babuli Lenka Tapas Kumar Routray Nimai Charan Mohapatra Madan Mohan Karjee Ashok Kumar Pattanaik Bijayananda Korkora Rajendra Kumar Dehury Prafulla Khandwal Dr B Krishna Dr Arun Kumar Das Dr Debashish Patra Dr Shyam Prasad Das Dr Biswanath Rout Dr Nihar Ranjan Parida Santosh Kumar Sa Suresh Chandra Bisoi T Rabi Subudh Lokesh Panda Y Raj Kumar Sabitri Jani Prasanna Kumar Jali Sarat Chandra Podha Arjun Kumar Behera Sridhara Swain P Suresh Kumar Sesadev Behera Sanjib Kumar Swain Manoj Kumar Swain Bimbadhar Bhoi Biswabhusan Bhuyan Prafulla Kumar Rout Bijay Kumar Sahoo Chhabindra Sahu Laxmidhar Patra Gajendra Sagaraia Pramod Kumar Mishra Amir Kumar Tarai Harendra Behera Ashok Kumar Panda Dhanurdhar Swain Kailash Chandra Nayak Prasant Kumar Panda Babu Laxman Muli Upendra Majhi Surendra Naik Pradipta KumarDash Kabindra Kumar Jali Arjuna Dalai Siba Karjee Bansidhar Behera Gourahari Behera D Rameswar Achary Arun Kumar Lenka Rabi Chandra Naik Biswanath Lenka Purna Chandra Sahoo V Debaraj Reddy BC Choudhury Santilata Mohanty Suryamani Choudhury Manjulata Rout Hemant Kumari Dixit Jasmin Roy Banalata Swain Biswa Mohan Behera THE FALLEN HEROES As Odisha came face to face with the invisible enemy on a rampage, they took to the battle frontlines. The doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, police, teachers, grassroots people’s representatives, anganwadi workers, ASHAs, municipal staff, sanitation workers, etc., rose to the occasion with selfless determination, sacrificing their lives to save hundreds and thousands from the deadly virus. As 2020 comes to an end, and the war still on, TNIE pays tribute to the fallen heroes. Humankind will always be inspired by them ILLUSTRATION : TAPAS RANJAN ARUN LENKA Teacher, Rayagada An assistant teacher of Kumango PUP (Primary School) in Gumma, he was deputed to Covid care centre at Katlaguda. The 39-year-old succumbed on August 18. GOURAHARI BEHERA Headmaster, Ganjam He managed the TMC at Singipur in Aska in April and took part in health screening camps conducted across Berhampur and Aska. He breathed his last on July 11 at Berhampur. BANSIDHAR BEHERA Teacher, Ganjam Bansidhar was the assistant centre in-charge of the TMC-cumquarantine centre set up at K Samatarapur from May to July. The 42-year-old teacher died in July. Dr BISWANATH ROUT Paediatrician, Boudh RANJAN HANTAL ASHOK PATTANAIK PITABASH DHARUA SURENDRA NAIK, Dr DEBASIS PATRA SHANKAR DASH LAXMIDHAR PATRA He was assigned duty of providing food to Covid patients admitted to Malkangiri district police Covid care centre. Hantal breathed his last on August 16. Pattanaik, who was the ASP of Rairangpur, looked into enforcement of Covid-19 regulations. He was found positive on September 15 and passed away on October 6. The 44-year-old Pitabash was engaged in managing TMCs. He was found infected in September and succumbed at a Covid hospital in Bhubaneswar on October 1. He looked into electrical maintenance in the TMCs at Sector-17, 18 and 19. He died within hours of admission to the Hi-Tech Hospital, on August 18. Posted at Khariar Road CHC, Dr Patra was entrusted with the task of conducting medical check-ups of the returnees. He was died in Bhubaneswar on September 21. A constable in Jonk police station, Dash was tested positive while undertaking Covid19 enforcement work inthe area. He died during treatment on September 4. Patra was the nodal officer of TMC and Covid Care Home set up in his GP. Besides, he held awareness drives in the villages on Covid safety. He died on September 9. Constable Malkangiri Additional SP, Rairangpur IIC, Koraput Civic staff, Rourkela Ayush Doctor, Nuapada DECEASED CORONA WARRIORS 97 AMIR KUMAR TARAI Gram Rozgar Sevak, Jagatsinghpur He was in charge of facilitating jobs to migrant workers who returned to Gadabishnupur and Pallikanta panchayats. He succumbed in Bhubaneswar on November 7. 6 ASHA and Anganwadi workers Dr ARUN KUMAR DAS Senior Surgeon, Rourkela 2 MVI and RTO staff 16 6 14 Sarpanch, Kalahandi 9 Municipal staff, sanitation workers 2 Govt field level staff Doctors, nurses, paramedics and other health workers Havildar, Rourkela GAJENDRA SAGARIA Panchayat Executive Officer, Nuapada 1 Sagaria was in charge of managing TMCs in both Jharbandh and Kaintpadar panchayats in Nuapada district. He was found positive on August 26 and died on October 5. 40 BIJAYANAND KORKORA Teacher, Ganjam Multi Purpose Health Worker, Jeypore A health worker in Hikumput Sub-Centre, Sabitri was in-charge of surveillance of positive persons in the panchayat and TMC. She succumbed on August 21. Police Officer, Balangir Dr B KRISHNA Doctor, Ganjam Deployed at the community health centre at Bhatakumarada under Purushottampur block in Ganjam, Dr Krishna was in charge of treating the suspected and infected patients. He died on August 16. RAJENDRA DEHURY, IIC Muniguda, Rayagada While the infection was at its peak, Rajendra Dehury began patrolling on bicycle to ensure that people do not violate Covid norms. He succumbed on September 10. JASMIN ROY, The IIC of Kantabanji police station, Bijayanand was in charge of the Corona control room at Balangir SP office. He died of the viral infection on September 9. SARVESWAR PRADHAN Roy was deployed at Purmasar village and looked into door to door Covid survey besides, functioning of Covid care home. She died at Visakhapatnam on September 5. Pradhan, who worked as a drill subinspector (DSI)at Koraput, was engaged in maintaining law and order at containment zones. He breathed his last on September 8. Anganwadi Worker, Kalahandi CONTINUED ON: P5 UK returnee, two family members test Covid-19 +ve The health department asked 14 persons of Koladiha to stay in home quarantine for coming in contact with a UK returnee who has tested positive for Covid-19. P4 Amid oppn barbs, nitish makes loyalist bihar JD(U) head Melbourne identity Nitish to work towards strengthening the party in other states. Singh is known to be somewhat soft towards the BJP in NDA circles here. A bureaucrat-turned-politician, Singh belongs to the same caste and hails from the home district of Nitish Kumar (Nalanda). He was the principal secretary to Nitish before joining politics. Singh has been the vice-president (organisation) of party , and its Rajya Sabha MP . While BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand congratulated Singh on his elevation, RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwary claimed Nitish handed over the reins fearing another bout of defections. Meanwhile, a senior member of the JD(U) took a sharper line against the BJP “The . JD(U) will not only contest in West Bengal, but also in other states without initiating the first move for a break-up of the alliance. Politics must be replied through politics,” the leader said.  At 63-3, India were in a spot of bother. But in Ajinkya Rahane, India found a saviour. The stand-in captain, coming in at No 4, scored a patient century, his 12th in Tests as India ended Day 2 with a lead of 82 runs with five wickets still remaining. Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja have so far added 104 runs for the sixth wicket which has put Australia on the backfoot at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Ra j e s h K u ma r T h a k u r @ Patna A day after the opposition predicted copycat defections would rock the JD(U) further, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned as the national president of the party on Sunday and appointed his political confidant and ex-IAS officer Ram Chandra Prasad Singh Singh as the successor for the next three years. Dismissing the opposition claims th at Ar un ach al Pradesh-like defections posed a threat to the party, JD(U) chief general secretary K C Tyagi said that Nitish handed over the reins to RCP Singh to play a bigger role in national politics. While maintaining that the alliance with BJP was under no strain, Tyagi said that Nitish would campaign vigorously in West Bengal, where the party would contest alone. However, sources said the JD(U) was worried about an Arunachal rerun in Bihar, Nitish Kumar RCP Singh Anti-alliance spirit, says JD(U) leader The Arunachal Pradesh incident seems to have stressed the relations between the JD(U) and the BJP in Bihar. JD(U)’s chief general secretary KC Tyagi said, ““The JD(U) is extremely shocked... It is out-and-out an antiP7 alliance spirit.”  with speculation that Singh’s elevation was tied to it. Singh is Nitish’s trouble shooter and is credited with bringing JD(U) back in the NDA fold in 2017. His elevation is seen as attempt to stem turbulence in the JD(U) outside Bihar as it frees up India take lead @ MCG 104* is Rahane’s second Tests century at the MCG. He had scored 147 in 2015. Only three other Asians — Vinod Mankad, Sadiq Md, Majid Khan have scored two hundreds at this venue. An unbeaten 104 from Ajinkya Rahane (left) helped India take 82-run lead on Day Two of the second Test against Australia at the MCG on Sunday | AP 2nd 1 This is rahane’s first test century batting at no 4. and also his first as captain. Indian captain after Sachin Tendulkar (1999) to score a hundred at Melbourne. No cause for alarm, but India already has 19 variants of coronavirus Assistant Surgeon, Kalahandi Dr Parida of Bandigaon PHC (New), took charge of the Covid fever clinic and attended suspected patients. He died of post-Covid complications on August 27. D RAMESWAR ACHARY SABITRI JANI tion of the total cases registered but conviction rate is higher. In Odisha, it is the opposite and many cases are leading to acquittal,” said an officer. A major reason, as discussed in the meeting, was lack of trained manpower and adequate infrastructure. Not all the districts have a scientific officer or are equipped with a mobile forensic van (MFV) for which crucial evidences are not sec u re d i n a p ro f e s s i o n a l manner. On the first leg of the fourday conference held on virtual mode amid the pandemic, Abhay said offences against women and children and cybercrimes must be given top CONTINUED ON: P5 priority . Dr NIHAR RANJAN PARIDA Police Dr Das was the first doctor in Sundargarh district to lose the battle against Covid. He was posted at the OPD of RGH. After testing positive, he breathed his last on August 22. Achary managed the quarantine centre set up at the Kabisuryanagar Girls High School in May and subsequently, carried out health screening in June. He succumbed on July 8. LOKESH PANDA Health Worker, Jajpur Panda monitored the Covid Care Centre at the NC College. Later on, he was given the responsibility of door to door health survey. He passed away on October 25. Posted at the Fertilizer police outpost, 56-year-old Sethi was infected during enforcement of the Covid-19 guidelines. He lost the virus battle on September 20. 1 Sarpanchs and PRI members Information officer Assistant Engineer CHHABINDRA SAHU PEO, Kalahandi The Panchayat executive officer (PEO) of Malgaon GP, Sahu was also in charge PEO of Dumria GP. He monitored TMC and Covid Care Homes there. He lost his life on October 8. NARAYAN CHANDRA SETHI Teachers and Siksha Sahayaks T O TA L Dr Rout was in charge of the CCC and treated over 200 Covid patients. He died on October 30. Local administration has decided to rename the NHM District Training Centre after him. Constable, Nuapada nor murder and rape where the case had remained undetected for about five months before Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered an SIT probe which made the major breakthrough. Sources said, the DGP advised that police must not rush for filing of chargesheet before making a professional work of the investigation, record of evidence to make for a water-tight case for prosecution. Crime statistics would vouch for the State police chief ’s concern. In 2019, chargsesheet was submitted in as many as 76,165 cases. At least 23,074 of them were pending from the previous year. However, the conviction rate was just 21.5 per cent. In 2018, the conviction rate was an abysmal 5.7 percent when over 66,000-cases were chargesheeted. While the State has witnessed several sensational crimes in last few years, a major challenge for Odisha Police is the number of cases chargesheeted is not proportional to the number of convictions. “In other states, chargesheeted cases are a smaller propor- In a big relief to vehicle owners and drivers, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has extended the validity of documents related to Motor Vehicles Act and Central Motor Vehicle Rules till March 31, 2021. As per a notification issued on Sunday, fitness, permit (all types), driving licence (DL), registration or any other such documents, which have been expired since February 1 or would expire by March 31, 2021, will be treated as valid till March 31 next year. The Ministry has advised enforcement authorities of all states, including Odisha, to treat the documents as valid for next three months. The decision was taken as part of measures for prevention of spread of Covid-19 and will help people in availing transport related services as the pandemic situation is yet to subside. Applicants have been finding it hard to book slots for renewal of DLs and upgrading their learner’s licences (LLs). Transport and non-transport vehicles, which are standing idle, had also appraised the transport authorities seeking relaxation for validity of documents till things become normal. the three laws and had asked his party cadre to make the December 8 Bharat Bandh a Weeks after TRS president grand success, and the shift in and Telangana Chief Minis- stand appears stark. ter K Chandrashekar Rao Another nugget in Sunday’s launched a broadside against basket of decisions was to nix the three new farm laws, regulated cropping, which he appeared to be on till now was one of his the same page as the major policy initiaCentre on Sunday on tives in the farm secthose contentious tor. The Telangana legislations. government decided For, the state govto let farmers choose ernment decided to whatever they want `7,500 cr stop procurement of to cultivate. One realoss paddy and other crops son for scrapping regat the village level, as The state govt u l a t e d c r o p p i n g , the Centre’s new law incurred losses which was implepermits farmers to totalling `7,500 mented for two seasell their produce any- crore, as it had sons this year, could purchased where in the country . be the government’s The change in line various crops at inability to provide MSP, but was came close on the bonus to superfine heels of the chief forced to sell at rice cultivators due to minister’s visit to Del- lower prices due FCI norms. hi on December 13, to low demand The chief minister during which he met took these decisions Prime Minister Narendra during a meeting with variModi and Union Home Minis- ous ministers and senior agriter Amit Shah. The visit came culture department officials. after the Greater Hyderabad In a press statement after the Municipal Corporation elec- meeting, the state government tions, where the BJP did re- said: “As the new agriculture markably well. laws permit farmers to sell Contrast that with his posi- their crop anywhere in the tion in early December, when country the state government , he extended support to the need not set up purchasing farmers protesting against centres in villages.” @ Hyderabad DSI, Koraput NIMAIN CHARAN MOHAPATRA Police SI, Cuttack Mohapatra was working as Sub Inspector in Tangi police station. He was infected after arresting a criminal who later tested positive for the virus. He succumbed on October 9. 2020 Reflections | P3 WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST YOUR LIFE COACH 28 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) S u m i S u k an ya D u t ta @ New Delhi Like elsewhere, coronavirus is quietly changing in India, making itself resistant to antibodies. As of now, 19 such variants are already present in the country researchers associated with , multiple government institutions have established. Scientists attached with the CSIR - Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in Delhi, the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research and Kurnool Medical College, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, analysed over 2,40,000 SARS-COV-2 genome sequences from 133 countries and identified 86 with escape mutants, or variants with genetic changes that make them resistant to antibodies. Nineteen of these 86 variants were found in India. An escape mutation is one that allows SARS-COV-2 to evade antibodies specific to the spike protein the virus uses to enter human cells. All vaccines are designed to generate antibodies against the spike protein to try to block the virus’ waking up to expedite Genome sequencing Of the more than 1.01 crore Covid-19 positive cases reported in India, only about 6,400 samples have been genome sequenced. In contrast, the UK with 2 million cases has already sequenced 1.57 lakh samples entry into cells. The findings come at a time when the government has decided to accelerate genome sequencing to track changes in the pathogen after a variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the UK had significant structural and behavioural changes, making it 70% more infectious that the original Covid strain. “There is no need to be alarmed but definitely a need to be cautious,” Vinod Scaria, a scientist with CSIR-IGIB and joint first author of the paper told this newspaper. “The variations in the virus does not mean that the vaccine will not work against it but is likely to lower its efficacy,” he said. “During the trials of the vaccine, too, it needs to be analysed whether those who are getting infected are afflicted with the variant virus,” he added. Scaria said cases of Covid-19 re-infection should also be followed up with genome sequencing.