BHUBANESWAR l wednesday l january 06, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE CITY EDITION Parliament session from January 29, budget on Feb 1 The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Tuesday recommended convening of the Budget session from Jan 29 file picture Second half likely from march 8 to April 8 Opposition likely to raise farm laws The first part of the Budget session will run till February 15. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget in the Lok Sabha on February 1, as usual. The second half of the Budget session will commence after a recess and be held from March 8 till April 8. The Economic Survey will be presented in both Houses of Parliament on January 31 ■ ■ ■ The Opposition is likely to put pressure on govt over farm laws The govt had earlier decided against convening the winter session of Parliament citing the pandemic, for which it drew flak The monsoon session of Parliament, too, had been adjourned prematurely after many MPs tested positive for Covid-19 | P9 2021-22 Budget expected to have measures to revive India’s Covid-hit economy 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 Minutes show expert panel’s Covaxin somersault It wasn’t happy with phase 1, 2 results in first 2 meets; changed mind in 3rd S u m i S u k a n ya D u t ta @ New Delhi A bare reading of the minutes of the three meetings the drug regulator’s expert panel held over the past week to consider accelerated licenses to coronavirus vaccines, indicates what was suspected all along — that the committee perhaps changed its mind on Covaxin overnight due to government pressure to clear a homegrown jab. After three meetings spread over four days, the subject expert committee of the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation on Covid-19 recommended restricted emergency use for Covishield by Serum Institute of India and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech-ICMR. The approval to Covaxin, whose phase 3 trial on about 26,000 volunteers is still underway however, led to a massive , outcry in the scientific community as its efficacy is yet to be established. The minutes of the SEC’s meetings on December 30 and January 1 show it was not satisfied with Covaxin’s phase 1 and 2 trial data alone, but Farmers gear up for R-Day showdown H a r p r e e t B a j w a @ Chandigarh A day after the seventh round of talks between the Centre and farmer union leaders over the three contentious farm laws ended in a deadlock, the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha on Tuesday said it would take out a tractor rally on January 7, day before the next meeting. The tractor march would he held on eastern and western expressways around Delhi, said Yogendra Yadav, a member of the coordination committee of the morcha, an umbrella body of over 40 farm unions. “It will be a rehearsal for our tractor march on January 26. Far mers from Kundli, Ghazipur and Rewasan will climb atop both expressways from their respective sides. After meeting at midway point, they will return to their respective positions. We will approach from Kundli and Tikri borders on the eastern side, will march from Rewasan and Ghazipur,” Yadav added. Meanwhile, Punjab BJP leaders Surjit Kumar Jyani and and Harjit Singh Grewal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in Delhi. Jyani is the chairman of kisan coordination committee of the party which is interacting with farmers while Grewal is a member of the panel. After the meeting, Grewal said the PM is aware of the ground reality but refused to divulge more details. Boris Johnson cancels R-Day visit New Delhi: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday cancelled his proposed visit to India citing the raging coronavirus crisis at home, aggravated by an infectious strain of the virus. He was scheduled to be the chief guest at the Republic Day Parade here on January 26 | P9 changed its mind on January 2. December 30’s minutes say that “after detailed deliberation, the committee recommended that the firm should update and present immunogenicity, safety and efficacy data for further consideration.” On January 1, it recommended that Bharat Biotech expedite the recruitment of volunteers and perform interim efficacy analysis for further consideration. In the same meeting, the panel recommended Covishield’s approval. However, the very next day when an unscheduled meeting was held purportedly under pressure to clear the indigenous vaccine, Bharat Biotech presented further data and notably “requested for consideration of their proposal in the wake of incidence of new mutated coronavirus infection”. Introducing the protection angle against the infectious UK virus strain perhaps gave the SEC legroom for its somersault. The minutes show the committee echoed Bharat Biotech, as it observed that Covaxin has the “potential to targ et mutated coronavirus Continued on: P9 strains”. First covid vaccine shot by January 13? Express News Service @ New Delhi The Union health ministry on Tuesday said the government is prepared to roll out vaccines against Covid-19 within 10 days of granting emergency use authorisation. Since regulatory approval came on January 3, Cuttack tops list of vaccine beneficiaries We are ready with cold chain and vaccine sites and vaccinators. The districts have been directed to ensure all arrangements put in place. We can also go for second round dry run if the Centre asks PK Mohapatra, Additional Chief Secretary the first jabs could be administered by January 13. “The government is ready to introduce Covid-19 vaccine within 10 days from date of emergency use authorisation,” said Rajesh Bhushan, health secretary. Describing the vaccine delivery management plan using the specially designed Express News Service @ Bhubaneswar As Odisha Government geared up to finalise the number of people to be vaccinated in the first phase, Cuttack topped the list of districts to get larger allocation of Covid-19 vaccine. So far 3,28,634 healthcare workers (HCWs), including doctors, nurses and paramedical staff have been enrolled in the Co-WIN portal for vaccination. The beneficiaries list also included 1.4 lakh ICDS functionaries like Anganwadi workers. The highest 28,504 beneficiaries have enrolled in Cuttack district, followed by 27,682 in Khurda, 25,138 in Ganjam, 18,424 in Mahanga double murder Four arrested, murder weapons seized   E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Cuttack CUTTACK Rural police on Tuesday arrested four persons in connection with the murder of BJP leader and former Mahanga block chairman Kulamani Baral and his associate Dibyasingh Baral. Police said the accused are Panchanana Sethi (28), Arabinda Khatua (27) of Jankothi, Khitish Acharya (45) and Lalit Mohan Baral (75) of Nurtanga. They were nabbed from different places on Monday night and the weapons alleged used in the crime recovered from a bush near the murder spot. “We have arrested four persons including the prime accused Panchanana Sethi within 48 hours of the crime”, said Cut- tack SP (Rural) Jugal Kishore Kumar Banoth, adding, the four recreated the crime scene at the murder spot and informed police about the place where the weapons were hidden. Based on the confessional statement, a blood stained sword and bamboo lathis used by them have been recovered from a bush on the embankment of Sukunai nearby Banoth added. , The SP, however, refused to provide further details including the motive and the modus operandi. He also avoided comment on if the double murders were linked to political rivalry or past enmity The arrested per. sons will be forwarded to the court on Wednesday and if required, they will be brought on remand, Banoth said. Kulamani was the BJP Salepur Mandal Prabhari (incharge). He was returning home in a motorcycle along with his associate Dibyasingh at around 7.30 pm on Saturday when the assailants attacked them. Kulamani died on the spot while Dibyasingh succumbed at SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack. Basing on Kulamani’s son Ramakant’s complaint police had registered case against 14 per- sons including Law Minister Pratap Jena. Ramakanta has alleged that the attack was carried out on the behest of Law Minister Pratap Jena. He has also accused Jena of shielding the culprits. The BJP. however, questioned the investigation and threatened to continue their stir till all the accused including the Law Minister are arrested. Speaking to mediapersons in Cuttack on Tuesday district unit , president of BJP Prakash Behera said, police has arrested only four persons. “This is an eyewash”, he stated. The party had decided to gherao all SP offices except Cuttack SP(Rural) on Wednesday and stage demonstration in front of office of the DGP on Friday . The flamboyance A flock of greater Flamingos appears to be walking on water as it moves on to a new area at Nalabana in Chilika lake on Tuesday | Biswanath Swain straight talk Even primary objectives of NaMo’s DeMo never met: Pranab EXPRESS N EWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE intent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation was good but its primary objectives were not met even after years of its implementation, according to former president Pranab Mukherjee. The PM did not give him the heads-up and he came to know about the note ban through TV like the rest of the country re, vealed Mukherjee, who passed away on August 31, 2020. The fourth volume of his autobiography The Presidential Years: 2012-2017 was released on Tuesday by publisher Rupa Publications. “It is difficult to assess the exact impact of demonetisation, close to four years after it was implemented. But perhaps one thing can be stated with- out fear of contradiction: the multiple objectives of the decision of demonetisation... to bring back black money, paralyse the operation of the black economy and facilitate a cashless society, etc, have not been met,” he wrote. Terming the decision was in line with Modi’s style of making dramatic announcements, Mukherjee said the criticism that followed was only natural. “Demonetisation could not have been done with prior consultation because the suddenness and surprise, necessary for such announcements, would have been lost after such a process, ” he wrote. Mukherjee also noted that in the early 1970s, he had proposed demonetisation after the successful implementation of the Voluntary Disclosure of Income and Wealth Ordinance, 1975 but the then PM Indira Gandhi turned it down. “Indira Gandhi did not accept my suggestion, pointing out that a large part of the economy was not yet fully monetised and that a substantial part of it was in the informal sector. She argued it would be imprudent to shake the faith of people in currency notes. After all, currency notes issued by the Reserve Bank of India represent the commitment of a sovereign government,” he added in his memoirs. CoWin platform, he said healthcare and frontline workers need not register themselves on it as beneficiaries, as their data has been pre-populated on the portal. “There are four primary vaccine stores called GMSD in Karnal, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata and 37 vaccine stores. Mayurbhanj, 16,520 in Sundargarh, 13,661 in Balasore, 12,508 in Keonjhar, 12,424 in Balangir, 12,264 in Koraput and 12,032 in Sambalpur. Deogarh district is at the bottom with the lowest 2,515 beneficiaries to be administered with the vaccine, which will be given in two doses in a gap of 28 days. Other districts with less number beneficiaries are Boudh (3025), Jharsuguda (4761), Malkangiri (5412), Sonepur (5419), Nuapada (5486) and Nayagarh (6208). A health official said though Ganjam has the highest 35.3 lakh population, Cuttack being the hub of health facilities registered maximum number of HCWs followed by Khurda They store vaccines in bulk and distribute them further,” he said. Automated session allocation, SMS in 12 languages, 24x7 helpline, chat box with pattern recognition to help navigate the portal, digital locker for integrated data retrieval and storing vaccine data are some of the salient features of CoWIN. where the Capital city located. “In the second phase, the list of beneficiaries will depend on the population of people above 50 and with comorbidities besides the pregnant women. We are waiting for the response from the Centre for the list,” he said. A total 29,276 session sites have been identified and 8,267 vaccinators trained for the drive. All frontline health workers from both government and private settings with each session having 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated. Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra said Odisha was the first state to conduct dry run in all districts. Project to develop Central Vista gets 2:1 SC green light The right to development, as discussed...is a basic human right and no organ of the State is expected to become an impediment in the process of development as long as the government proceeds in accordance with law Justice AM Khanwilkar K a n u S a r d a @ New Delhi A Supreme Court bench on Tuesday greenlighted the mega Central Vista project by 2:1 majority saying there were no infirmi, ties in clearances granted to it. Justice A M Khanwilkar, writing for himself and Justice Dinesh Maheswari, however, said authorities executing the project will have to get clearance from the Heritage Conservation Committee, rejecting the Centre’s stand that the approval was to be taken subsequently . The two judges found the process to change the land use at the project site legal and valid. They also found all notifications issued for the project as also the approval granted by the environmental committee valid. The majority verdict directed the Union ministry of environment to set up smog towers as an integral part of the Central Vista project and ordered use of environment-friendly construction material. On the issue of award of contract to a Gujaratbased firm, the court held it was just and proper. While agreeing with the other two judges on “the aspects of Notice inviting Bid, award of consultancy and the order of the Urban Arts Commission,” Justice Sanjiv Khanna in his dissenting verdict faulted the Centre for not following due procedure. “There is no intelligible disclosure of public participation and no prior approval of Heritage Conservation Committee,” Justice Khanna said. “I have sent the issue to Heritage Conservation Committee. We have not gone into the merits of matter,” he said, adding prior approval of the Heritage Conservation Committee was necessary for such projects. The government had defended the project, arguing that the current British-era Parliament House, opened in 1927, had less space, no fire safety norms or earthquake proofing. It had also contended that all Central ministries need to be bunched together in one place to improve efficiency . Justice Dinesh Maheshwari Dissenting verdict Justice Sanjiv Khanna  Adequate notice not given to stakeholders of the development plan  Tender notices do not suggest the project envisaged extensive change, though it was for complete redevelopment of Central Vista  Fatal flaw in following procedure; Centre did not apply its mind to inputs from the public  Lack of reasonable time prevented those who had filed objections and given suggestions to appear orally and state their point of view  Premeditated effort to ensure approval without the presence and participation of representatives of professional bodies  No approval from Heritage Conservation Committee  Environmental clearance for the project mechanical, invalid India’s 1st Fire Park comes up in Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday inaugurated the ‘Fire Park’, a first of its kind initiative in the country to bring awareness on fire safety measures. He also launched a dynamic online portal, ‘AgnishamaSeva’ of Odisha Fire Service on virtual platform | P2