BELAGAVI  MONDAY  JANUARY 18, 2021  `7.00  PAGES 28  LATE CITY EDITION 20 INDIAN-AMERICANS IN BIDEN ADMINISTRATION US President-elect Joe Biden has nominated at least 20 Indian-Americans, including 13 women, to key positions RECORD FOR THE SMALL COMMUNITY FACES FROM KARNATAKA For the first time ever, so many Indian-Americans, who make up 1% of the US’ population, have been roped into a presidential administration before the inauguration. Kamala Harris is the first Indian-origin and AfricanAmerican to be sworn in as the Vice-President. As many as 17 of the nominated 20 are part of the administration in the White House complex ■ ■ Dr Vivek Murthy, who will be the US Surgeon General, and Mala Adiga, has been appointed as the Policy Director to the future First Lady Dr Jill Biden, are from the state For the first time, two individuals with roots in Kashmir, and three of Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi origin, are nominated Jan 20 BIDEN’S INAUGURATION AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 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 Where’s Kannada? Oppn tears into Govt EXPRESS READ Johnson invites Modi to UK for G7 summit London: UK PM Boris Johnson has invited PM Narendra Modi for the G7 summit as he confirmed details on Sunday for the high-level meeting to be presided over by Britain in the coastal region of Cornwall between June 11 and 13. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru First committee meet tomorrow Supreme Court expected to hear petition filed by the BKU Lokshakti union today EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE debate over imposition of Hindi in Karnataka flared up once again on Sunday after Kannada activists and opposition leaders took exception to the State Government leaving out Kannada inscription on the foundation stone plaque of the RAF unit. The event was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at Bhadravathi on Saturday and the plaque, as well as the banner, only had English and Hindi transcriptions. A host of opposition leaders, including former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, accused the State Government and Shah of insulting Kannada and Kannadigas. Kannada organisations and activists took to social media platforms to lash out at the government and campaign against the imposition of Hindi language on non-Hindi speaking states with the hashtag #NoToHindiSlavery P5 . MOMENT OF PRIDE An Indian Navy contingent rehearses for the upcoming Republic Day Parade, at Rajpath in New Delhi on Sunday | PTI Won’t give an inch of land to M’rashtra: Kannada activists’ retort to Thackeray EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru KANNADA activists slammed Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray’s remarks on Sunday on “incorporating Marathi-speaking areas” in Karnataka into Maharashtra. Rajya Sabha member from BJP Iranna Kadadi termed Thackeray’s statement “foolish’’, saying, “Politicians in Maharashtra are trying to gain political mileage out of a closed chapter. Marathi people Day 2: 58 per cent of people take jab at private hospitals 2 suffer adverse reaction Two cases of Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI), where patients developed stomach ache, were reported on the second day of vaccination in Udupi on Sunday This could mostly be due to apprehension, anxiety and nothing to do with the vaccine. “Both the patients who reported AEFI are doing fine Dr Sudhirchandra Sooda, DHO, Udupi E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru A day after the grand launch of the vaccination drive across the country on Saturday Karnataka on the second day saw , 58 per cent of healthcare and frontline workers coming forward to take the jab. The Day 2 was held at only 64 session sites located at private hospitals in Bengaluru and Udupi districts. The numbers though still less, the State Health Ministry attributed the muted response to it being a Sunday and also to some people still being apprehensive of the vaccine. To increase the number of people getting vaccinated, the government has decided to resume vaccination at more centres from Monday “A lot more facilities have . joined the programme. The sites will be increased at private hospitals at all districts,” said Medical Education and Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar, while speaking at Manipal Hosptial on Old Airport Road in Bengaluru where 4,055 beneficiaries had registered at 41 sites in the hospital. CONTINUED ON: P3 BE SAFE Vaccines are here, but don’t throw away masks K A R T H I K K K @ Mysuru It seems that the arrival of vaccines has made people think it is the end of the coronavirus battle. In Mysuru, you can see people roaming without wearing face masks or maintaining social distancing. As Covid-19 vaccines rolled out across the country on Saturday people who , had adhered to all the protocols till recently, seem to have forgotten that they are still in the middle of a pandemic. From Devaraja market to Central business district to a public and private event, people over the last two days were found throwing the EPFO settles 56.79L Covid advance claims Participants seen attending an event without wearing masks in Mysuru on Sunday | UDAYSHANKAR S Covid norms into the air. On Sunday too, in most of the events held across the city, people participated without masks. At one event where Congress leader Siddaramaiah was present, when people crowded on the stage, he requested them to get down and maintain soP5 cial distance. born in this part of Karnataka are living happily for so many years. A pro-Maharashtra outfit like Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) which once had about six to seven MLAs in Belagavi region now has none.” Kannada Development Authority (KDA) chairman T S Nagabharana said that Thackeray has made the statement despite knowing that they will not be able to take even an inch of land from Karnataka. Kananda activist Vatal Nagaraj said, “They have no right to talk about Belagavi, Karwar, Nippani or any other place in Karnataka as the border issue has already been settled long back by the State Reorganization Committee and after that by Mahajan Commission.” Thackeray on Sunday tweeted, “Bringing Karnataka-occupied Marathi-speaking areas into Maharashtra will be a true tribute to those who accepted martyrdom in the boundary battle. We are united and committed towards it.” CONTINUED ON: P4 New Delhi: Retirement fund body EPFO has settled 56.79 lakh Covid-19 non-refundable advance claims, and has disbursed Rs 14,310 crore till December 31, 2020, reflecting the impact of the pandemic on the formal sector workforce. ‘Shiv Sena will contest Assembly polls in WB’ Mumbai: The Shiv Sena will contest the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, party MP Sanjay Raut said on Sunday. He said the decision has been taken after discussions with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST YOUR LIFE COACH 28 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) HIGH RESISTANCE Shardul, Washington: Tail of 2 cities S W A R O O P S W A M I N AT H A N @ Chennai THE Gabbatoir holds a unique place in Australia’s intimidating sporting theatre. It’s where visiting cricketing teams come to get thrashed. India seemed to go down this most established of Australian practices when they were reduced to 186/6 on Sunday. Worse still, they had Shardul Thakur, in his second Test, and Washington Sundar, a debutant, in the middle. The story took a turn. It was a day of the two greenhorns — Chennai-bred Washington and a small-town man Thakur, who honed his talent in Mumbai. Their 123-run partnership was enriched by cuts, hooks and textbook drives. What made it even more special was the fact these two were meant to be addons, two reserve players supposed to do their thing in nets. Like many of his peers and heroes of Mumbai, Thakur’s cricketing journey began on Mumbai locals. From Palghar to Borivali and back, his day would begin before sunrise and end long after sunset. His coach Dinesh Lad remembers him not for his performance, but for his attitude. “When you are forced to earn everything in life, you don’t throw away anything,” Lad said. Like Thakur, Washington too was not supposed to be there. In Chennai circles he is labelled as a T20 specialist, who can be useful in 50 overs. What is not known is that he had opened for Under-19 India. A shy person, he prefers to remain alone confined to his room. On tours his Instagram stories are mostly of him taking solo walks. On Sunday, however, he did not walk alone. He and Thakur took Ind i a t o r e s p e c t a b i l i t y. (Inputs from Venkata Krishna B) A controversial committee appointed by the Supreme Court last week to hear arguments on the three contentious farm laws to resolve the ongoing agitation of farmers, will hold its first meeting on Tuesday, its member Anil Ghanwat said on Sunday . While one of its members, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Bhupinder Singh Mann recused himself from the committee, the other three, including Ashok Gulati and Pramod Kumar Joshi, will hold an internal meeting on Tuesday and begin hearing all stakeholders from Thursday . The next round of talks between the Centre and the farmers, too, is slated for Tuesday . On Monday, the Supreme Court is expected to hear a petition filed by the BKU Lokshakti union seeking disbanding of the present committee and putting in place a new one in the interest of harmony and natural justice, as its current members are known supporters of the farm sector reform laws. The bench could also look into the possibility of appointing a replacement for Mann who recused himself from the panel. Another point of friction is A farmer raises slogans during a protest against the new farm laws, in New Delhi on Sunday | PTI the proposed Kisan Tractor Parade by farmers on Republic Day The bench will hear a plea . by the Delhi Police seeking an injunction against the tractor march or any other kind of protest by farmers that could disrupt Republic Day celebrations on January 26. For their part, farmers announced that the Kisan Tractor Parade would be on the Outer Ring Road in Delhi covering about 47 km. Every vehicle in the march will fly a Tricolour and the flag of the respective farmer union, they said after a meeting of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha in at the Singhu border in Delhi. Centre’s aim is to double farmers’ income with new laws, says Shah M A H E S H M G O U D A R @ Bagalkot THE top priority of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is to double the income of farmers with the implementation of three new farm laws, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah, here on Sunday . Though farmers have been protesting against the laws on Delhi borders for nearly two months now, Shah asserted that the government will not repeal the laws. “These farm laws, which are aimed at enriching the lives of farmers by strengthening them financially, will be implemented in the coming days,” he said. P7