tirupati l thursday l february 11, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION Academic regression during pandemic: Study The Loss of Learning During the Pandemic study reveals 92% kids lost at least one specific language ability from the previous year negative impact on learning levels of kids scrap vacations, redraw syllabi The language ability lost includes describing a picture or their experiences orally; reading familiar words; reading with comprehension. The study on primary school children, carried out by Azim Premji Univ, highlights the negative impact on the learning levels of children due to prolonged closure of schools and suggests immediate action to rectify the regression ■ 82% of children have lost at least one specific mathematical ability like identifying single and two-digit numbers; using basic problem solving operations; describing 2D/3D shapes ■ Report suggests measures like eliminating vacations, extending academic year, reconfiguring syllabus as ways to arrest the slide 16,067 kids of MP, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand surveyed 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 Amid full-blown freedom of speech spat with Twitter, govt begins Kooing B i s m a h M a l i k @ Bengaluru Caught in the eye of a political storm over the ongoing farmers protests, US social media giant Twitter on Wednesday said it had suspended more than 500 of the 1,178 accounts the ministry of electronics and information technology ordered it to remove citing the possibility of inciting violence and threat to national security . However, the site took a dig at the government saying the others were not suspended as the blocking orders were not consistent with Indian law. “Keeping with our principles of defending protected speech and freedom of expression, we have not taken any action on accounts that consist of news media entities, journalists, activists, and politicians. To do so, we believe, would violate their Shed status quo mindset and let new laws help empower small farmers, urges PM Ready for talks, says Modi while backing reforms E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Nobody had asked for the triple talaq or dowry laws, but they were still enacted, for reforms must be attuned with changing times was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the Opposition’s charge that farmers had not sought the agri laws. Addressing a joint sitting of the two Houses after Lok Sabha passed the Motion of Thanks to the address of President Ram Nath Kovind, Modi on Tuesday reiterated his government’s willingness to talk with the farmers all the while defending the laws as progressive. “Besides creating an additional, but optional, avenue has there been any change after the enactment of the laws? When the farm laws offer only an option, there cannot be any reasons for protests,” he said. Conceding that 100% acceptance to any new measure was not possible, Modi, however, said progress could not be gained without shedding the status quo mindset. Recalling Chaudhary Charan Singh’s words on farm fragmentation, he said: “We cannot progress if we do not care for small farmers, who constitute 80% of the farming community. Fragmentation is a reality and , this is what the farmers’ producers organisations aim to address.” “A new world order is in the agitation path On 77th day of their protest on the borders of the National Capital, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Tuesday prepared a detailed pan-India protest plan. The finer details will be decided later Feb 12: All toll plazas in Rajasthan will be made toll free Feb 14: Candle and mashaal march across the country Feb 16: Solidarity day to mark birth anniversary of Sir Chhotu Ram Feb 18: Four-hour rail roko across the country making in the post-corona era, and we have to choose between being a mute spectator and making reforms. An Atmanirbhar Bharat will play a crucial role in the new world order,” argued the prime minister. When Congress leaders began disrupting his speech, Modi took potshots at the GOP , saying it was divided and confused. “The party has different stands in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. It can neither work for its own good nor solve the challenges faced by the country,” he said even as Congress and TMC legislators walked out. He also backed the private sector to be seen on a par with the public sector enterprises as a driver of Atmanirbhar Bharat. express read HC allows Peddireddy to speak to media Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday gave relief to Panchayat Raj Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy from SEC N Ramesh Kumar’s order denying him access to the media till end of polls following his remarks against him. | P4 Air cargo ops to begin at Tirupati soon Vijayawada: The Ministry of Civil Aviation has said domestic cargo operations from Tirupati International Airport will begin once the necessary security clearances are given. This was stated by Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri. fundamental right to free expression under Indian law,” Twitter said. The ministry termed Twitter’s statement as ‘unusual’, posting its response first on a rival platform, Koo, which garnered more than three million downloads in two days. “Upon the request of Twitter seeking a meeting with the government, the Secretary IT was to engage with senior management of Twitter. In this light a blog post published prior to this engagement is unu- Fully Indian firm Aprameya R, the co-founder and CEO of Koo, said it is an India registered firm backed by investors like 3one4 capital. A Chinese investor, Shunwei, is also a shareholder, but will exit fully Surprise disengagement in Ladakh as China, India pull back combat vehicles MAYA N K SI N G H a n d PUSHKAR B A N AKAR @ New Delhi After a nine-month-long stand-off along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh, the situation appeared to ease a tad on Wednesday as both China and India began a “synchronized and organised” disengagement process. While Indian sources said it was limited to armoured vehicles, the Chinese Ministry of National Defence claimed that the frontline troops from both sides along the Pangong Tso had started disengaging. Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defence, said: “The Chinese and Indian frontline troops at the southern and northern banks of the Pangong Tso started synchronized and organised disengagement from February 10.” It was in accordance with the consensus at the ninth round of China-India Corps Commander level meeting, he added. From the Indian side, a senior Army officer confirmed the pullback of armoured vehicles, including infantry combat vehicles. “The armoured vehicles are moving back but troops at the f ro n t l i n e h ave n o t b e e n thinned,” he said. The disengagement is expected to happen in phases, another senior officer said. “The infantry moving back will be the last step; it will depend on compli- SC stays HC order questioning the wisdom of govt E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @New Delhi The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed an order passed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which questioned the wisdom of the legislature, the government, the Chief Minister and advocates representing the State. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, stayed the order after hearing submissions by senior advocate Sajan Poovayya, appearing for the State. The High Court order was passed on December 30, 2020 after the government filed an application seeking recusal of the judge on the ground that he had prejudged the issue even without hearing the State. The plea was filed on the basis of the observations made by the judge during the hearing of the case. In its plea before the Supreme Court, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government maintained that since the judge indicated his predisposition to the case, it was constrained to file an application seeking recusal of the judge. In its order, the High Court had also called for an explanation from the Chief Minister as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him, even as it claimed that the statements made in the application were untrue. The plea also pointed out that the same judge in October 2020 posed a question as to why the court should not declare that there was a constitutional breakdown of State machinery The High Court order was stayed by . the top court. fleecing patients Pvt ambulance charges soar in Nellore d S u r en d r a k u m a r @ Nellore Private ambulance operators have nearly tripled their charges to transport patients to hospitals or ferry bodies. The situation has worsened post-Covid-19, as the operators claim sanitising the vehicles after every trip involves huge expenditure. Vexed people have been suggesting the authorities to fix rates (depending on the distance just like prepaid cabs) and deposit the money into the bank accounts of operators to prevent them from exploiting patients and their relatives. A large number of private ambulances along with body freezer boxes are seen at the government hospital in Nellore. Drivers and middlemen move on the hospital premises freely to contact patients. The commission of the middlemen is also added to the ambulance charges. The operators charge between `7,000 and `10,000 to transport a patient home from a hospital within the city limits. sual. The gover nment will share its response soon,” Meity said in a statement. The Centre had last week warned Twitter of legal action under Section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act, which provides for imprisonment up to seven years besides a penalty if it fails to take down , the 1,178 accounts. Legal experts told TNIE that Twitter may have very few op- “Recently, we paid `15,000 to a ventilator ambulance to shift my mother to Narayana Hospital from the GGH, a distance of 7 km,” said K Srinivasulu of Balaji Nagar. In fact, all the operators quote the same charge giving no scope to the patient’s kin to bargain. Red Cross Society Nellore chairman P Chandrasekhar Reddy has underlined the need to rein in private ambulance operators who formed into a syndicate, to safeguard the interests of patients. No system to fix rates There is no system to fix charges of ambulances. The DM&HO will only ensure that operators ply ambulances as per health standards and maintain good hygiene, said official sources ance of the phased disengagement from the Chinese side,” the officer said. The disengagement began on a day when the Chinese Ambassador to India, Sun Weidong, in an article said that the two countries should meet each other half way in addressing problems while putting the boundary issue in an appropriate place in bilateral ties. “We should put the boundary issue in an appropriate place in bilateral relations.... “It’s important for China and India to respect each other, enhance mutual trust, seek common ground while shelving differences and meet each other half way,” Sun suggested. Astrazeneca gets w.h.o. stamp People above 65 years age category can get the shots as the benefits of the vaccine outweigh any risks, says WHO tions since it has only partly complied with the government orders, while free speech activists denounced the government’s crackdown on social media by using ‘le g al weapons’. India remains a key market for the social media giant with more than 75 million active users, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has a 65.5 million strong user base with his key cabinet colleagues as well as government departments active on the site. Industries and Commerce minister Piyush Goyal, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra and Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut were amongst those who shifted to the ‘desi’ rival Koo, which also onboarded key gover nment de par tments on Wednesday . wrong tunnel Search suffers for want of layout; direction changed V i nee t U pa d h yay @ Tapovan (Uttarakhand) After more than 72 hours of operations to reach 37 workers stuck in a tunnel of the Tapovan Hydropower project in Chamoli district following flash floods on Sunday the res, cue strategy changed with new information that thet may be in another tunnel that is below the main D-shaped ‘Intake Adit Tunnel’. Till now, the D-shaped 180-metre-long tunnel was the focal point of the mission by a combined rescue team comprising the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Disaster Response Force, Army Indian , Reserve Battalion, State Disaster Response Force, Indian Air Force, Navy, state police department and other agencies. Ravinath Raman, commissioner of Garhwal division of Uttarakhand, told TNIE, “Earlier, the idea was that they may be trapped inside the 180 metre tunnel at a bend. Now, the rescue team has started drilling the ground at 70-75 metres in- Rescue operations continue at Tapovan Tunnel in Joshimath | Shekhar Yadav side that tunnel to rescue the workers.” The decision was taken at a combined meeting of state government authorities, the armed forces and the NTPC. Earlier in the day, a senior rescue official revealed that they did not have the tunnel network’s layout maps for the first two days to make an informed decision on the way forward. For the “first two days, we were blind,” he said. The detailed layout was shared o n T u e s d ay by R i t h w i k Projects Pvt Ltd, a Hyderabad based infra firm building the tunnels for NTPC’s project. Sanitation worker dies a day after vaccination E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Tirupati A sanitation worker died a day after being administered Covid-19 vaccine here on Wednesday According . to the medical and health officials, Krishnaiah (50), a sanitation worker of Mallamgunta panchayat, was administered Covid vaccine around 11 am on Tuesday He developed No Ad. verse Events Following Immunisation. When he fainted at home later, his family members brought him to SVR Ruia Government General Hospital, where the doctors declared him brought dead. Chittoor DM&HO M Penchalaiah said the body was sent for postmor- tem to ascertain the exact cause of Krishnaiah’s death. As Krishnaiah had a history of heart disease, he might have died of a cardiac arrest. A group of specialist doctors will meet on Thursday to determine the Adverse Events Following Immunisation in this case, the DM&HO added.