CHENNAI  WEDNESDAY  JANUARY 20, 2021  `7.00  PAGES 14  VELLORE EDITION JOSEPH ROBINETTE BIDEN JR TO HIT THE GROUND RUNNING On Day One of his administration today, president-elect Joe Biden plans to reverse Trump’s harsh immigration policy 8-YR PATH TO CITIZENSHIP FOR IMMIGRANTS On Wednesday, Biden is expected to unveil a sweeping immigration bill to provide an eight-year path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants. The bill offers a 5-year path to temporary legal status to those living in the US without it. Thereafter, it will be a 3-year path to naturalisation. Biden may also end the ban on arrivals from several Muslim countries ■ 20 DON TO MISS EVENT, OBAMA TO ATTEND ■ Biden’s inauguration will take place on the West Front of the US Capitol around 10.30 pm IST. There won’t be crowds as the National Mall and Washington Monument are closed due to security threat Former presidents Barack Obama, George Bush and Bill Clinton will attend the event, but Donald Trump will give it a miss INDIAN AMERICANS IN BIDEN ADMIN, 17 IN WHITE HOUSE, 13 ARE WOMEN 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 GABBACADABRA! Unlikely heroes defy odds, help battered and bruised India snatch a magical series win at the deadliest of Aussie venues NEWCOMERS, YET SHOWSTOPPERS SESSION BY SESSION STEADY START SHUBMAN GILL Matches 3, Runs 259 Has taken to Test cricket like duck to water. Those back-foot punches, cuts have already won him quite a few admirers. Scored two valuable fifties and it was his 91 that set the tone for India’s chase Chasing 328, India's plan for Day 5 was simple. Play the entire day was the message. Though they lost Rohit Sharma early, Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara steadied the ship CONSOLIDATING THE POSITION When the post-lunch session began, India still had plenty to do. While Gill cut loose, Pujara did his thing. Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins repeatedly tested Pujara, who took blows to his fingers, head, hip, but he stood like a rock. India lost Gill and Ajinkya Rahane in the session MOHAMMED SIRAJ Matches 3, Wickets 13 Find of the tour as far as bowling department goes. Led the attack in the absence of seniors and emerged as India’s highest wicket-taker NAVDEEP SAINI Matches 2, Wickets 4 A tear-away quick, who India will hear a lot in the coming years. Though he didn’t quite make an impact like Siraj, he complimented the attack with crucial breakthroughs WASHINGTON SUNDAR Mat 1, Wickets 4, Runs 84 Be it with the ball or with the bat, he didn’t show any nerves. His 62 in the first innings kept India in the Test and his final assault on Pat Cummins broke Aussie hopes T NATARAJAN Matches 1, Wickets 3 The tour that has made Natarajan a household name beyond Tamil Nadu. Picked as a net bowler, he ended up making debut in all three formats. Here to stay in limited-overs SHARDUL THAKUR Mat 1, Wickets 7, Runs 69 Didn’t make his debut, but it felt like one as his first Test lasted all of 10 deliveries. His 67 in the first innings was priceless. Also chipped in with 4 wickets in the second PRESS INTAKE Speeding car mows down 2 AR constables in Chennai | P5 TN Food Min shifted to ICU; EPS, OPS enquire about his health | P6 Vaccine beneficiaries in TN increase after Pongal holidays | P6 I am not scared of anyone, PM can’t touch me as I have a clean background: Rahul | P9 BREACHING THE FORTRESS Rishabh Pant (centre) scored an unbeaten 89 to guide India to their second successive Test series win in Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane | AFP S W A R O O P S W A M I N AT H A N @ Chennai FOR one last time, as the clock struck 4.30am on Tuesday morning, the broadcaster opened the last day’s preview show with ‘Come See The Wonder Come See The Wonder’. , As it was the theme song for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, it was a constant presence during the last month. During breaks, post match, before the toss... On Tuesday when , it filled the dimly-lit houses across the country, nobody would have had an inkling of the wonder that was about to follow. Chasing 328 at the Gabba where an opposition team (West Indies) last won in 1988, nobody gave them a sniff. Yet, in what will go down as one of the greatest fourth-innings chases of all time, India got there with about 18 balls to spare. After two months of multiple hard quarantines, suffering racial abuse, los- E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court-appointed committee on the new farm laws held its first meeting on Tuesday and said it will meet farmer leaders and other stakeholders on Thursday, a day after talks between the farmers and the Centre. Panel member Anil Ghanwat said both physical and virtual meeting facilities would be available. “The biggest challenge is to convince the agitating farmers to come and speak with us. We will try our level best,” he said. PANEL The Election Commission of India has suggested forming village-level committees to prevent cash distribution and launching a mobile app to monitor liquor sales, ahead of the upcoming TN Assembly polls PAGE 4 “We will meet all stakeholders, including corporates, to understand their view points. We will reach out to everyone who is concerned about the farm laws,” said a member. The SC had on January 11 stayed the implementation of the new laws and formed a four-member panel comprising Ashok Gulati, Anil Ghanwat, Bhupinder Singh Mann and Pramod Joshi. Shortly thereafter, Mann recused himself after the panel drew flak as all four are known supporters of the three laws. While protesting farmers have already refused to meet the panel, one of its members said, “problems can be only resolved through dialogue. Farmers’ organisations should meet us. We will try our best to resolve the issue.” In a different case in the SC, Chief Justice of India S A Bobde remarked that a person will not be disqualified from being a member of a committee merely because he/she has previously expressed an opinion on the subject P9 matter under consideration. Schools reopen for classes 10 & 12; mixed turnout recorded across TN E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai Truck runs over 15 sleeping migrant labourers in Surat | P10 TO MONITOR POLL EXPENDITURE now, pretty much the whole country were living their dreams, hour by hour, session by session. One thing that this new team excel at is their tunnel vision. For example, Mohammed Siraj mourned the loss of his father while in quarantine. That he was India’s highest wicket-taker is a reflection of this ethos. They are outspoken, too. Coming from a farming background, Gill’s Instagram stories about the farmers’ protest is bold. Like that pull off Mitchell Starc. Or that drive off Pat Cummins. Siraj, for his part, called out racist abuse. Another cricketer who is bold is Pant. He is so bold, he doesn’t care what you think of him. A maverick in every sense, he wasn’t even told what to do by the team management. They prefer to leave him alone. The team only realised that he had planned to go after the target when he started looking up at the score- SC panel to meet farmers on Thursday BJP is more dangerous than Maoists, says Mamata Banerjee | P10 India asks WhatsApp to withdraw changes to its privacy policy | P12 ing men like they were on a battlefield and getting bowled out for 36 among things, they pushed and pulled together as a collective unit for one final dash. It’s why India coach Ravi Shastri called this as one of India’s greatest tours. That it came down to the final day only added to the theatre, with Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, the embodiment of new India, finding an unshakeable ally in Cheteshwar Pujara, the charm of old. Even if this team has spoken a lot about intent, the plan on Tuesday wasn’t to actively look for the target or defend. The dressing room message was simple: play normal cricket and see where it takes you. But the above-mentioned three guys did not play ‘normal cricket’. While Pujara copped blow after blow but stood his ground, Gill, free of baggage and fearless in approach, took it on. The runs flowed. By Students being welcomed by thermal scanners and sanitizers on day-1 of school reopening on Tuesday | DEBADATTA MALLICK AFTER a gap of nearly 10 months, schools in Tamil Nadu opened their gates to students of classes 10 and 12 on Tuesday What once used to be . the ‘rush hour mornings’ for most families — getting their children ready for school — now seems like a nostalgic memory Thermal scan. ners, sanitizers, and social distanc- ing have all taken the place of the fun and banter in classrooms. The first day regime at most schools included teachers explaining the safety protocols to be followed by students. Officials from the School Education Department also inspected several schools to check for adherence to the SOP, issued last week. Turnout was low in some disP6 tricts and high in others. Final session of the Tests are not for faint-hearted. Especially if you have the exuberance of Rishabh Pant. After Pujara’s dismissal, Pant took charge. In the company of Mayank Agarwal, Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur, Pant handed Australia their first Test match defeat at the Gabba since 1988 board in the final session. Plan is something, execution is another. But he has the conviction and self belief. If that 97 in Sydney was an entree, this unbeaten 89 was the dessert. The clue to his innings lay in his acceleration. Before Pujara’s dismissal, he had scored 34 off 84. After Pujara went, he scored 55 off 54. That’s what he can do. Chasing down lost causes when a draw would have sufficed to keep the Border-Gavaskar Trophy . Another sign of this new attitude. Cast your mind back to 2011 when MS Dhoni shook hands and opted for a draw when they needed 86 runs from 15 overs with seven wickets in hand against West Indies. India were leading the series 1-0. This team though? None of that. More than a hour after the celebrations, the broadcaster, for one last time, said goodbye. ‘Come See The Wonder’ started playing. P13 PM MEETS CARDINALS, POSITIVE ON POPE INVITE E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kochi THREE cardinals of the Catholic Church met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his office in Delhi on Tuesday and expressed the grievances of the Christian community They also placed a . request to invite Pope Francis to the country to which the PM responded positively . Syro-Malankara Church Thiruvananthapuram Major Archbishop Baselios Cleemis Catholicos, Bombay Archbishop Cardinal Oswald Gracias and Syro-Malabar Major Archbishop Mar George Alencherry raised the “discrimination in the allocation of minority welfare fund” and the demarcation of the Western Ghats’ buffer zones, among other issues. Though the church heads requested the release of Fr Stan Swamy arrested in connection , with the Bhima-Koregaon case, Modi is learnt to have told them it was a legal issue. EPS rules out Sasikala’s entry into AIADMK E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai CHIEF Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday categorically ruled out any possibility of VK Sasikala, the one-time confidante of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, returning to the AIADMK. Sasikala is currently serving a four-year jail term in a disproportionate assets case in a Bengaluru jail, and is scheduled to be released in less than 10 days. “There is no possibility of Sasikala returning to the AIADMK. She is not a member of the party now. The AIADMK has taken a decision on this issue and has been functioning accordingly said Palaniswami. Responding ,” to a question on TTV Dhinakaran, Sasikala’s nephew, the Chief Minister said, “Until Amma (Jayalalithaa) was alive, he was not with the party Amma had kept him away . from the AIADMK for a long time, and he came to the fore only after her demise.” ‘Met PM to invite him to TN’ The Chief Minister was speaking to reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, where he is currently on a visit. He had also met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday night. Palaniswami clarified that the meetings did not have a political flavour. “It is not the right time for that since there is ample time for the Assembly elections. I met both the leaders to discuss TN’s growth and to seek relief assistance for farmers affected by rains,” he said. Palaniswami stated that he had invited the Prime Minister to inaugurate many completed works and to lay foundation for new works in the State. “He has accepted my invitation and agreed to lay foundation for the Cauvery-Gundar river linking project, modernisation of the Grand Anicut canal project, and Bhavani river modernisation project,” said the Chief Minister. He added, “The Prime Minister will also commission the metro rail service between Washermenpet and Wimco Nagar in Chennai, and an Indian Oil Corporation’s pipeline-gas project in Thoothukudi. Also, I have urged the PM to grant an early approval for the Godavari-Cauvery CONTINUED ON: P4 river linking project.” WAR ON VIRUS A medical student at Government Medical College, Omandurar in Chennai, being administered the Covid vaccine on Tuesday | TONY JOSEPH KA ONCOLOGY PIONEER Curtains down on a lifetime of battles to prevent & treat ‘scorpion menace’ S I N D U J A J A N E @ Chennai RENOWNED oncologist Dr V Shanta, who helped thousands survive cancer, breathed her last at 3 am, Tuesday. She was 94 years old. Dr Shanta, who was the chairperson of the Cancer Institute, Adyar, was one of the senior-most cancer specialists in India. On Monday, she complained of discomfort and was rushed to Apollo Hospital, where she breathed her last, a staff said. Dr Shanta, who never married, is survived by her sister Susheela. The siblings lived in rooms built on the terrace of the Cancer Institute’s old building in Gandhi Nagar. It had been her home since 1955. A workaholic, she remained accessible to patients till her last days. Several survivors, who paid respects on Tuesday, recalled with awe her compassion and simplicity . No patient was ever turned away for the want of money recalled the , Dr Shanta 11 Mar 1927  19 Jan 2021 staff. She was of the view that even those who could not be treated ought to have relief from pain. Born in Mylapore in 1927 into a distinguished family that includes two Nobel Laureates — CV Raman and C Chandrasekar — she completed her MBBS at the prestigious Madras Medical College in 1949, Diploma in Gynaecology & Obstetrics in 1952 and M.D in Gynaecology and Obstetrics in 1955. After completing her education, she chose to join the Cancer Institute in 1955 instead of taking up the post of Associate Surgeon at the Women & Children’s Hospital to which she was selected through the Madras Public Service Commission. The rest of her career was dedicated to the cancer treatment. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1986, Padma Bhushan in 2006, Padma Vibhushan in 2016. She received the Magsaysay Award for P2 Public Service in 2005. I couldn’t afford my daughter’s treatment anywhere else. I came because I heard that the person who was instrumental in giving us an affordable care is no more A man who paid last respects at the institute