AP tirupati l sunday l january 03, 2021 l `8.00 l PAGES 24 l anantapur EDITION mastermind of ’08 mumbai attack lakhvi held in Pak Lashkar-e-Toiba operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was arrested in Pakistan on terror financing charges Funding terrorism through dispensary acting under global pressure A UN proscribed terrorist, Lakhvi was arrested from Lahore by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab province on Saturday. Lakhvi (61) is accused of running a dispensary to fund terrorism activities. He was on bail since 2015 in the Mumbai attack case. His trial will be held before the Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore, official sources said ■ ■ The arrest follows Paris-based terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force’s pressure on Pakistan to take action against terrorists using its territory to carry out attacks in India Lakhvi was designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations in December 2008 for being associated with LeT and al-Qaeda  1.5 Lakh pak rupees paid monthly to Lakhvi towards ‘personal expenses’ 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 Bharat Biotech’s swadeshi vaccine receives panel nod 954 health workers get ‘dummy shots’ in AP during Covid dry run Covid-19 vaccination dry run was conducted smoothly in all the 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. The dry run was held at 39 locations across the State. As many as 975 beneficiaries (health workers) registered their names for the dry run at the rate of 25 at each location. Of the total, 954 beneficiaries were given dummy vaccine. “The remaining 21 beneficiaries could not be included in the dry run due to unavoidable reasons,” said Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Katamaneni Bhaskar. The 39 selected locations in the State reported 32 minor and 26 major adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) and they were resolved as per protocol. All steps of the actual Covid-19 vaccination process were enacted at all locations in the State during the dry run. Sumi Sukanya Dutta @ New Delhi A government appointed panel of the apex drug regulator on Saturday recommended emergency use authorisation for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, India’s first homegrown vaccine against Covid-19, a day after it approved a vaccine against coronavirus by AstraZenecaOxford University . The committee said the recommendation for the vaccine’s restricted use in emergency situations was in the “public interest as an abundant precaution, in clinical trial mode, especially in the context of infection by mutant strains.” Bharat Biotech, in collabora- PHCs to function 24x7 from next week The Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in the State will function 24x7 from next week to offer better medical services to people. At present, all the PHCs close by 6 pm. Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Katamaneni Bhaskar said, “A total of 9,700 medical staff have been recruited to ensure the functioning of PHCs 24x7.” A participant gets a dummy vaccination shot as part of the country-wide dry run of the Covid vaccination programme in Hyderabad on Saturday | VINAY MADAPU tion with the ICMR, has developed Covaxin from inactivated SARS CoV 2, isolated at the National Institute of Virology, Pune. Although the vaccine has demonstrated good safety and immunogenicity in phase 1 and 2 clinical trials, it is still undergoing phase 3 trials and, therefore, its efficacy remains to be established. The Centre also issued a statement that the subject expert committee of the Central Drugs Standards Control Organization, following its meetings on Friday and Saturday, recommended the vaccines for consideration and final decision of the Drugs Controller General of India. “Grant of permission for restricted emergency use of vaccine (is being given), subject to multiple regulatory conditionalities, to Serum Institute of India, Pune,” said a statement by the ministry of health and family welfare. The back-to-back permission granted to the vaccines could mean they will be rolled out simultaneously in about a week. Sources said the unscheduled meeting of the SEC on Saturday to reconsider Bharat Biotech’s application was called under government pressure after the panel had refused permission a day earlier citing insufficient data.  Continued on p7 ind-aus cricket 5 players isolated; Covid-19 protocol breach probe on Chennai: Five members of the Indian team — Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubhman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini — have been isolated from the rest of the contingent after a fan posted a video of them dining at an indoor restaurant. The five will be allowed to train during the period, but under strict protocols, and will not be allowed to mix with the rest of the squad, the Cricket Australia said. As per CA’s Covid-19 protocol, players are allowed to dine outside their hotel but only outdoors. “The BCCI and CA are investigating the matter and seeking to determine whether the outing constitutes a breach of bio-security protocols,” said a Cricket Australia statement | P11 Farmers issue Republic Day tractor rally ultimatum if deadlock on laws continues Govt removes Ashok as chief of 3 temples E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Kisan Sankalp Diwas to be observed on Jan 13 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e A day after the farmers threatened to step up their agitation, the protesters on Saturday issued an ultimatum to the government and said they would take out a tractor rally to Delhi on January 26 if their demand for the repeal of the farm laws and legalising of MSP was not met. Announcing the decision of the seven-member coordination committee of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, chief of BKU (Rajewal group) Balbir Singh Rajewal and president of Krantikari Kisan Union Punjab Darshan Pal said: “We have given a call for a tractor-trolley parade to Delhi on January 26. The parade with the national flag will be called the ‘farmers republic parade’ and will take place after the official parade.” “We intend to be peaceful. We told the Central government long ago that it has only two options, either repeal the three farm acts or use force to evict us,” the farm leaders said. Rajewal and Pal said the time had come for decisive action. They had chosen January 26 for the rally for two reasons: Republic Day represented the Lohri/Makar Sankranti on January 13 will be observed as Kisan Sankalp Diwas. January 18 will be celebrated as Mahila Kisan Diwas to underline the role of women farmers. January 23, birthday of Bose, will be observed as Azad Hind Kisan Diwas. Amid political slugfest over vandalisation of Rama idol at Ramatheertham temple, the State government on Saturday removed TDP leader and former Union minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju as the chairman of trust boards of Ramathe e r t h a m a n d t wo o t h e r temples. The Revenue (EndowmentsII) Department, through a memo issued by Secretary (Endowments) M Girija Shankar, removed Ashok Gajapathi Raju as the chairman of the Ramatheertham temple trust board stating that he had ‘failed’ to discharge his legitimate duties, address issues relating to the temple security aspects and prevent idol vandalisation. “After careful examination of the matter and in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 28 of Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act 30/87, the government removed Ashok Gajapathi Raju from the post of FFM and chairman of the trust board,’’ the memo read. He was also removed as the chairman of Sri Pydithalli Ammavari Devasthanam and Sri Mandeswara Swamy temple at Mandapalli. @ Chandigarh supremacy of the people while the day will also mark two months of their protest. The tractor rally on January 26 will go ahead if there is no resolution during the talks on Monday. Lohri/makar sankranti on January 13 will be observed as Kisan Sankalp Diwas by burning the copies of the three laws. January 18 will be celebrated as Mahila Kisan Diwas to underline the role of women farmers, and January 23, the birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose, will be observed as Azad Hind Kisan Diwas. Protests will be held outside Raj Bhavan in all state capitals. The leaders said although the government had agreed to “minor demands” on air pollution and Electricity Amendment Bill, it was yet to give them leContinued on p7 gal shape.  @ Vijayawada YSRC MP Vijayasai Reddy visits Rama temple on Bodikonda at Ramatheertham on Saturday (right) TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu looks at the closed temple | Express Ramatheertham tense as YSRC, TDP lock horns E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Vizianagaram The hillock temple of Ramatheertham in Nellimarla mandal, where the idol of Srirama was vandalised a few days ago, turned out a platform for the ruling YSRC and opposition TDP to train their guns against each other. On December 29 last, the idol of Srirama was vandalised and the next day the severed part , of the idol was found in the temple tank. Ramatheertham witnessed tense moments as YSRC MP V Vijayasai Reddy reached the place ahead of the scheduled visit of Opposition leader and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu to the temple on Saturday morning. Local TDP and BJP activists had already started staging protests at the entrance of the hillock de- nouncing vandalisation of the idol. Vi j aya s a i Re d dy, wh o reached the village even before Naidu landed in Visakhapatnam, trekked the hillock along with his party leaders and took stock of the situation. He enquired the temple staff and police officials about the incident. While Naidu will be arrested soon: Vellampalli Seer denounces attacks on temples in State Vellampalli Srinivasa Rao, Minister of Endowments, has suspected the role of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu in vandalisation of temple idol. He will visit the temple on Sunday. “As Naidu knew that he will be arrested soon in the ‘Cash-forvote’ case, he started projecting himself as a protector of temples to gain the attention of BJP,” Srinivasa Rao alleged. Condemning the increasing attacks on temples in the State, Sri Swaroopanandendra Swamy of Visakhapatnam-based Sarada Peetham urged the Endowments Minister to take concrete steps to prevent such incidents in the future. The Seer spoke to the minister over phone and urged him to punish the vandals of Sri Rama idol in Ramatheertham temple. sourav ganguly suffers mild heart attack Indian cricket board president and former India skipper Sourav Ganguly suffered a ‘mild’ heart attack on Saturday when he was in the gym and had to be admitted to a private hospital where doctors found multiple blockages in his coronary arteries. Ganguly underwent angioplasty and a stent was placed in one of the arteries. Doctors treating him said his condition is stable. Ganguly was rushed to the hospital in the afternoon following complaint of chest pain. Sourav’s brother Snehasish Ganguly said in the afternoon that he was stable. Cricket fraternity, led by Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, wished Sourav a speedy recovery. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and governor Jagdeep Dhankhar visited him in the hospital. P11 s o i l f er t i l i t y Organic farming gains popularity in Prakasam IV N P P r a s a d B a b u @ Ongole Though chemical fertilisers increase crop production, their gradual overuse is making farmlands in Prakasam district lifeless. Farmers are experiencing a low yield in spite of the fact that the usage of such compounds has increased by at least 10 per cent since last year, forcing many to switch to organic farming. Apart from Godavari districts, Prakasam, Guntur, Kurnool and Anantapur are also known for their high consumption of chemical fertilisers for a variety of produce -- from chilli and cotton to tobacco. During the Kharif season in 2019, the farmers of Prakasam utilised nearly 1.02 lakh metric tonnes of the synthetic compounds, which rose to 1.08 lakh MT in 2020. Similarly their con, sumption rose from 1.60 lakh Season Fertiliser usage (in MT) 2019 Kharif 1,02,500 2019 Rabi 1,60,000 2020 Kharif 1,08,000 2020 Rabi 1,69,500 MT in 2019 Rabi season to 1.69 lakh MT a year later, according to official information. U Vasantha Rao, an agriculture official, cited the 10 per cent increase to the unexpected heavy rainfall and floods under the influence of Nivar cyclone. he was coming down, TDP and BJP activists raised slog a n s a g a i n s t t h e S t at e government. They jostled with the YSRC activists for sometime. BJP district president Pavani collapsed in the melee. Amid the surcharged atmosphere, some miscreants threw footwear and stones at the car of Vija- “Many farmers suffered crop damage due to incessant rains, after which they began cultivating new crops,” he added. “There has been a significant decline in the quantity and quality of vegetables I grow in my two acres for the last two years. My fear is that the soil quality and fertility have come down to a great extent. For this Rabi, I have decided to avoid chemical fertilisers and pesticides altogether, and switch to organic manure and bio-pesticides. The difference in results is clearly showing,” said Ch Siva Anjaneyulu, a farmer from Maddipadu. yasai Reddy . However, police acted swiftly and brought the situation under control by sending away Vijayasai Reddy in another car. Speaking to the media, Vijayasai Reddy condemned the vandalisation of the idol and reiterated that TDP chief Naidu and his son Lokesh were behind the incident. Terming Naidu a brand ambassador of conspiracy, he said the TDP leaders vandalised the idol only to divert the attention of people from the house site patta distribution programme of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in Vizianagaram. The YSRC MP also accepted the challenge of Lokesh for a debate on attacks on temples before Lord Simhadri Appanna and asked him to fix the p4 date and time for it.  Madhav K 1st ap police duty meet Tirupati is getting ready to host the first AP Police Duty Meet IGNITE-2021 from January 4 to 7 DGP Gautam Sawang will inaugurate the Police Duty Meet at the AR Police Parade Grounds on January 4 SWAT team from Prakasam Range and Octopus commandos carried out a mock drill on Saturday EXPRESS READ WIT H T H I S I S S UE Flight service to UK Exports slip for 3rd resumes on Jan 6 month on a trot New Delhi: With the India-UK air services resuming on January 6, Air India said those who had booked their flight on December 23 will be accommodated in the first flight out. The passengers were contacted on December 22 and their booking were rescheduled New Delhi: India’s exports slipped by 0.8 per cent in December 2020, marking three consecutive months of dip, while rise in imports widened the trade deficit to $15.71 billion. Exports in December stood at $26.89 billion, says data released by the commerce ministry Forces of Nature PLUS 12 PAGES