CHENNAI  MONDAY  JANUARY 18, 2021  `7.00  PAGES 32  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 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, 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 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- 1/3 OF LESSONS OPTIONAL FOR CLASSES 10 & 12 E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai THE Tamil Nadu government has finally made the muchawaited announcement on the reduction in Class 10 and 12 syllabus. Roughly about onethird of the lessons have been made optional for these classes. The syllabus is divided into two parts: compulsory and optional. Students can avoid studying the optional parts while preparing for public exams. In a letter to all Chief WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST Education Officers (CEOs) recently, the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) said that all schools should first take up the priority syllabus and then teach the optional contents later if time permits. The government has permitted in-person classes for students in Classes 10 and 12 from Tuesday The list of priority lessons . have been sent to all CEOs, who will subsequently send it P2 to school principals. YOUR LIFE COACH 32 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID), 4 OF CITY EXPRESS 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. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi REMEMBRANCE Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami paying respects to AIADMK party founder MG Ramachandran on his 104th birth anniversary, in Chennai, on Sunday | P4 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 India to respectability. (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 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.