vijayawada l monday l january 18, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 28 l late city EDITION Kochi airport’s floating solar plant commissioned One of the biggest floating solar plants began generation of power for Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) on Sunday production exceeds consumption french tech helps bring down cost 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 ■ ■ 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 2.2L jabs, 447 adverse events by day-2 end E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ 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, Ar unachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, and Tamil Nadu. By Sunday evening, 2,24,301 people had been inoculated, of whom 447 reported adverse events following immunisa- tion 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 observ a t i o n a t A II M S 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- wordy duel over temple attacks It is not proper for BJP State chief Somu Veerraju to cast aspersions on a responsible police officer and the government just for getting political mileage keeping in view the ensuing Tirupati byelection. We are not afraid of such threats. BJP can complain to the Centre and we have evidence to prove what we are saying pertaining to temple attacks Why should DGP Gautam Sawang resign? Is it because he did his duty and exposed people involved in temple attacks? It is a shame to make such threats. We are not the TDP government to fear the BJP Vellampalli Srinivasa Rao, Minister CM Jagan Mohan Reddy should sack DGP Gautam Sawang. Is attack on temples and sharing messages on social media same? The CM should take note of the fact that the DGP made baseless allegations, that too by taking a political party’s name, insulting Hindu sentiments The State government should constitute a committee on the assets of Christian institutions and publish a white paper Somu Veerraju, BJP State chief 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. E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Health staff being kept in observation after vaccination in Vijayawada on Sunday. Of 17,072 who got vaccinated in the country, 13,041 were from AP | Prasant Madugula BJP to hold Rath Yatra from Feb 4 E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Turning up the heat on the government ahead of Tirupati Lok Sabha bypoll, BJP State chief Somu Veerraju on Sunday announced that his party will undertake a Rath Yatra from Ramatheertham to Kapila Theertham from February 4 to protest against attacks on temples and other ‘anti-Hindu’ activities in the YSRC regime. Alleging ‘illegal religious conversions’ in the State, Somu also demanded that the government publish a white paper on the assets owned by churches, Christian institutions and indi- vidual trusts, besides the details of ‘salaries’ being paid to pastors by the State. After a day-long State core committee meeting in Visakhapatnam, Somu divulged to the media the details of the decisions taken. “The party has decided to take out a Rath Yatra from Ramatheertham to Kapila Theertham from February 4 for eight days. The yatra will proceed through the places where vandalisation of temples has occurred. The issue of non-religious activities in Srisailam, Pithapuram, Antarvedi, Vijayawada, Nellore and other places will also be taken into the pub- lic during the yatra,” he said. The BJP has already informed the attacks on temples in the State to the Union Home Ministry. It will soon take up the issue of ‘illegal religious conversions’. “We have also decided to represent to the Union Home Ministry that a vigil is needed on missionary activities in Andhra Pradesh,” Somu noted. The party which termed DGP , Gautam Sawang’s statement that four BJP members were involved in issues related to temple attacks, has decided to give time till January 20 to the police chief to withdraw his statement and apologise.  P4 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 8.84 lakh families to get LED bulbs in Krishna E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada bull on rampage Pasuvula Panduga, also popular as Andhra’s Jallikattu, draws huge crowds at Rekala Chenu village of Chandragiri constituency in Chittoor district on Sunday | Madhav K To promote energy efficiency , LED bulbs will be distributed to 8.84 lakh families in rural areas of Krishna district from February under the Gram UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable Lighting for All) scheme by the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), in coordination with the State government. Each rural household will be given four high quality LED bulbs at a nominal price of `10 each to replace conventional bulbs under the scheme. Krishna is one among five districts in India, in which the initiative will be rolled out. According to the Energy Department officials, the EESL will launch the Gram Ujala scheme in five districts -- Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Vadnagar (Gujarat), Krishna (Andhra Pradesh), Nagpur (Maharashtra) and Arrah (Bihar) -- in the country . “It is proposed to provide express read high Resistance Supreme Court to hear farmers’ pleas today Shardul, Washington: Tail of two cities New Delhi: Ahead of the 10th round of Centre-farmer union talks, all eyes will be on the Supreme Court on Monday when it will hear the pleas relating to the ongoing farmers protest at Delhi borders. P7 UK invites PM to be chief guest at G7 New Delhi: The UK has invited PM Modi to attend the G7 summit in Cornwall in June as chief guest. UK PM will use the first in-person summit in two years to ask leaders to seize the opportunity to revive growth. WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST YOUR LIFE COACH 28 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) 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 early on Sunday morning in the fourth Test. 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 protagonists — 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. It was one of the best lower-order jailbreaks in recent times, a partnership that will occupy a special place in years to come. What made it even more special was the fact these two were meant to be add-ons, two reserve players supposed to do their thing in nets. They were not supposed to be in Australia. 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 the sunset. His coach Dinesh Lad fondly remembers him not for his perfor mance, but for his attitude. In 2018, the 29-year-old took a Mumbai local train back home after returning from an Washington Sundar India tour, because it is the fastest way to reach home. “When you are made to earn everything in life, you don’t throw away anything. Today he fought hard in the middle but that is his trait,” Lad said. Like Thakur, Washington too was not supposed to be playing the Test. In Chennai circle, he is labelled as a T20 specialist, who can be useful in 50 overs. The 21-year-old started his career as a batsman and has opened innings for India under-19 too. A shy person, he prefers to remain aloof and confined to his hotel 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 — 336. Gram UJALA scheme  Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh)  Vadnagar (Gujarat)  Krishna (Andhra Pradesh)  Nagpur (Maharashtra)  Arrah (Bihar)  Each household to be given 4 LED bulbs  `10 - Price of LED bulb `450 crore Total investment four high quality LED bulbs to each rural household in exchange of 60 W by 7W LED bulb and 100W by 12W LED bulb in the five selected districts. The EESL will invest `450 crore to distribute LED bulbs in Andhra Pradesh,” said EESL Executive ViceChairman Saurabh Kumar, in a letter written to the State EnP4 ergy Department.  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 R ing Road in Delhi covering about 47 km. Every vehicle 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 borP7 der in Delhi.  jumbo attack Elephant kills shepherd in Chittoor dist E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Chittoor A shepherd was trampled to death by an elephant at Talupulapalle village in Puthalapattu mandal on Sunday. The victim was identified as Abulaiah (55). According to reports reaching the district headquarters, a herd of elephants have been wandering in the forest area on Chittoor - Tamil Nadu and Chittoor - Karnataka borders for the last few days. On Sunday the elephants strayed into , agriculture fields at Nandikonda close to Talupalapalle. On noticing the elephant herd, Abulaiah tried to take his sheep away from the place. But he could not escape from the marauding herd of elephants and he was trampled to death by a wild elephant. Later, the elephant herd moved close to a human habitation and strayed into agriculture fields at Eguvaguluru in Puttur mandal. Bird flu scare pushes up demand for fish, prawns D Surendra Kumar @ Nellore/Chittoor The bird flu scare has increased the demand for aqua products. Even though Nellore and Chittoor districts have not reported any case of bird flu so far, majority of the urban people have switched over to consumption of fish and prawns from chicken. The prices of Roopchand, Rohu and other varieties of fish have gone up from `120 to `200 a kg with the rise in demand for aqua products. On the other hand, the prices of chicken have declined to `160 from `180 a kg. Due to bird flu scare, people are not ready to buy chicken even if its pric- es declined in both Nellore and Chittoor districts. Not only on Sundays, fish and prawns are much in demand in other weekdays. “The demand for fish and prawns has been on the rise in the open market for the last one week. The prices of a few varieties of fish have increased to `220 a kg,” said K Srihari Babu, a vendor at the fish market in Nellore. Aquaculturists of Nellore export their produce to Chittoor and Kadapa and neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka where they get a good price. Aqua farmers are hopeful of reaping good profits in view of the rise in demand for fish and shrimp this season.