WARANGAL  MONDAY  JANUARY 18, 2021  `7.00  PAGES 28  CITY EDITION KOCHI AIRPORT’S FLOATING SOLAR PLANT COMMISSIONED PRODUCTION EXCEEDS CONSUMPTION With this floating plant, which has a capacity of 452 KWh, the total installed capacity of the only fully-solar powered airport in the world reaches 40 MW, helping it produce around 1.6 lakh units a day against its daily consumption of 1.3 lakh units. The floats were built by a French firm and installed in the two lakes on the golf course owned by the CIAL One of the biggest floating solar plants began generation of power for Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) on Sunday FRENCH TECH HELPS BRING DOWN COST ■ ■ French technology helped bring down the cost of installation on a par with the ground-mounted one for the first time in the country This is a major boost to the CIAL’s aim of becoming the secondlargest power producer in the state after Kerala State Electricity Board. A 12 MWp plant is being completed at Payyannur, Kannur `2 crore COST OF BUILDING THE POLYETHYLENE MOUNTS FOR THE POWER PLANT 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 First committee meet tomorrow EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi 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 2.2L jabs, 447 adverse events by day-2 end EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE second day of Covid-19 vaccination saw over 17,000 people getting their first shot across six states. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 17,072 people were vaccinated across Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, and Tamil Nadu. By Sunday evening, 2,24,301 people had been inoculated, of whom 447 reported adverse events following immunisation Mann who recused himself from the panel. Another point of friction is 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. Forget repeal: Shah “There is no question of repealing the farm laws. These farm laws, which are aimed at enriching the lives of farmers by strengthening them financially, will be implemented in the coming days,” Union home minister Amit Shah said in Bagalkot on Sunday | P5 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. but only three required hospitalisation, the ministry’s Additional Secretary Manohar Agnani said. Most of the adverse effects reported so far are minor like fever, headache, and nausea. While two Delhi patients have been discharged, one person is under observation at AIIMS Rishikesh. Agnani said a meeting was held with all states and UTs on Sunday to review the progress of the drive, identify bottlenecks, and plan corrective ac- tions. Saturday’s was “the highest day-one vaccination number (2,07,229) in the world. The figures are higher than the US, UK, and France”, he said. Most states have also put out a clear weekly schedule for Covid vaccine delivery so as not to disrupt their routine health services. Barring Andamans (three days) and Andhra (six days), a majority of the states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Telangana, opted for a four-day schedule. Hyd has highest positivity rate: CSIR serosurvey EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE The most commonly reported symptoms among infected persons were akin to that of seasonal influenza. Around a quarter of them reported loss of smell or taste as symptom @ Hyderabad A Covid-19 serosurvey conducted by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) among 10,427 individuals — its employees at 40 laboratories in two dozen cities and their family members — showed that Hyderabad has the highest prevalence of Coronavirus infections when compared to other cities in the country . As per the serosurvey findings, the virus positivity rate among 2,073 persons from Hyderabad, whose blood samples were tested for Covid-19 antibodies, was 18 per cent. This is CSIR serosurvey report much higher than the average positivity rate among the 10,427 people who took part in the serosurvey — 10.14 per cent. The second highest positivity rate was reported in Chennai (16 per cent), followed by Delhi (14 per cent). The serosurvey report notes that herd immunity “does not seem to be in sight”, and that an effective vaccine may be necessary to control the pandemic. Results of the first-of-its-kind cohort serosurvey in the country, namely ‘Insights from a Pan India Sero-Epidemiological survey (Phenome-India Cohort) for SARS-CoV2’, have been published on the preprint database Medrxiv. The serosurvey was initiated in June, 2020, at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), and was conducted in other institutes between July and September. The report also threw up various other important findings. To name one, after being infect- ed with Covid-19, a person might continue to have immunity for up to six months against the same strain of novel-Coronavirus. The report notes, “While general antibodies to NC antigen are well maintained over three months, neutralising antibodies begin to decline. However, after six months, there is a decline in antibodies to NC antigen, while neutralising antibody levels mostly remain stable after the initial decline. The persistence of antibodies is likely to confer protection against reinfection with the same strain at least for six months.” SUITED UP 184 additional vax centres in Telangana E N S @ Hyderabad THE number of vaccination centres in Telangana, where thousands of healthcare workers will be immunised on Monday as part of the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive, have been increased by 184. Additionally, 50 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each centre, against the target of 30, which was set on the first day of the inoculation drive on Saturday . The State Health Department, on Sunday released the , list of district-wise number of vaccination sites. The total number of centres on Monday will be 324. With 50 people at each site, as many as 16,200 persons are set to get the jab. In Hyderabad, the number of vaccination centres have been increased from 14 on Saturday to 42 on Monday As for . its neighbouring districts, in Medhcal, there has been no increase in the number of sites, in Rangareddy, the number of sites have been increased from nine to 14, Siddipet from three to 12, Medak from two to seven and Vikarabad from three to seven. COST OF CONVENIENCE TS MOOTS 16 NEW ROADS IN KAWAL TIGER RESERVE V N I L E S H @ Hyderabad LIGHTS WILL GUIDE YOU HOME New streetlights dot Tank Bund as part of the beautification works undertaken by the HMDA, in Hyderabad on Sunday | S SENBAGAPANDIYAN Bowenpally kidnap: 15 more in Hyd police net Akhila Priya and the others had devised the kidnap plan at her residence in Lodha ApartMAKING further progress in ments, Kukatpally and at MGH , the case of abduction of School in Yousufguda, owned for mer badminton by Bhargav Ram, said player Praveen Rao Hyderabad Commisand his brothers at sioner of Police AnBowenpally recently, jani Kumar. the Hyderabad police The police also Akhila Priya and arrested 15 persons found that Guntur the others had involved in the perpe- devised the kidnap Srinu had contacted tration of the crime a person named Maplan at her on Sunday . dala Siddhartha, an residence in Earlier, the police Kukatpally, and at event manager, and MGH School in had arrested former had asked him to arYousufguda, Andhra Pradesh Minrange 15 boys to exeowned by ister Bhuma Akhila cute their plan. He Bhargav Ram Priya in connection had promised the with the case. Also, event manager `5 Anjani Kumar, enough evidence has lakh for supplying Hyderabad CP been collected against the boys, and `25,000 her brother Bhuma Jagath to each of them. The hired Vikhyath Reddy, husband boys were provided accommoBhargav Ram, and another key dation in an At Home lodge in player Guntur Seenu. The Kukatpally Srinu had also tak. three of them, however, are yet en their measurements for to be arrested. new clothes. CONTINUED ON P2 CONG & LEFT FRONT THE Roads and Buildings (R&B) Department of the Telangana government has submitted proposals seeking forest and wildlife clearances for the construction of 16 BT roads inside Kawal Tiger Reserve in Kumrambheem-Asifabad district. These roads, which would require diversion of around 55 hectares of forest land (i.e., each road would need diversion of 2-10 hectares of forest land), are meant to connect various villages in Sirpur (U), Tiryani, Dahegaon, Lingapur, Bejjur, Asifabad, Kowtala and Wankidi mandals. The R&B Department, in its justification for the project, stated that these villages were not only isolated, but were home to Maoist sympathisers, and that the construction of the new roads would improve BEGIN TALKS OVER WEST BENGAL SEATS The Left Front and Congress, who have decided to contest the upcoming Assembly elections in WB together, held their first formal meeting on Sunday | P8 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST YOUR LIFE COACH 28 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) Roads to be laid in LWE-affected areas The project received administrative sanction from the Telangana government under the Road Connectivity Plan in Left Wing Extremism affected areas (RCPLWE), which is a Central scheme transport facilities in the region. The project received administrative sanction from the Telangana government under the Road Connectivity Plan in Left Wing Extremism affected areas (RCPLWE) — a Central government scheme which falls under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Proposal draws ire The construction of roads in areas where tigers are often sighted has caused apprehension among wildlife conservationists. In fact, the R&B Department’s proposals also maintained that these forests played an important role in aiding the movement of tigers from Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra and Indravati Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh towards Kawal Tiger Reserve. They further stated that the forests were under threat due to growing encroachments, rampant poaching, illegal tree felling and habitat loss. Apart from the tiger, the forests were home to threatened species like leopard, gaur, sambar, chowsingha, sloth bear, and barking deer, in addition to several species of birds and reptiles, the proposals read. At the same time, in its justification, the R&B Department said that the laying of the roads would not affect the natural habitat of the fauna in the region by way of fragmentation of forest land. However, conservationists, on the condition of anonymity, said that while laying of roads to improve accessibility to services for residents of isolated villages was essential, the State must follow the recommendations of the 2013 Dr MK Ranjitsinh sub-committee of the MoEF, which had suggested that the construction of roads for the purposes of patrolling or tourism, especially in tiger reserves, must be avoided. HIGH RESISTANCE Shardul, Washington: A tail of two 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 smalltown man Thakur, who honed his talent in Mumbai. Their 123run partnership was enriched by cuts, hooks and textbook drives. What made it even more special was the fact these two were meant to be add-ons, two reserve play- ers 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 India to respectability. (Inputs from Venkata Krishna B) India’s Shardul Thakur congratulates Washington Sundar after he completed his half-century on the third day of 4 th Test against Australia on Sunday | AFP