India skipper Virat Kohli introduces his team to President Ram Nath Kovind and home minister Amit Shah before the Test | BCCI | P13 CHENNAI  THURSDAY  FEBRUARY 25, 2021  `7.00  PAGES 12  VELLORE EDITION STADIUM GETS A NEW NAME India take control of the third Test against England after a grand opening ceremony and foundation stone laying event of the Motera sports complex BIG STAGE President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the world’s largest cricket stadium and renamed it Narendra Modi stadium leading to a controversy. However, the govt later clarified that it’s only the cricket arena that has been renamed; the whole complex is still named after Sardar Patel RAHUL JIBE Congress leader Rahul Gandhi got an opportunity to land a punch after the surprise renaming. “Beautiful how the truth reveals itself. Narendra Modi stadium — Adani end — Reliance end. With Jay Shah presiding,” he tweeted, with the hashtag ‘HumDoHumareDo’ PATEL SIXER Once again, Axar Patel showed his guile picking up six wickets for 38, including the scalps of Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow & Ben Foakes. England were all out for 112 on a turning track. This is his second fifer in three innings. He took five wickets in the second innings of the second Test STARTING GEAR India’s approach was clear. Fight out the most challenging session and get going on Thursday. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill shelved the shots. Although they ended up losing Gill, Pujara and Kohli, Rohit got going at the first sight of opportunity to take India to 99/3 11 TALKING POINTS ON THE FIELD  England all-rounder Ben Stokes was seen applying saliva on the ball. The incident took place at the end of the 12th over, prompting umpire Nitin Menon to have a chat with him. The ball was sanitised  Two third-umpiring decisions went against England much to their THE NUMBER OF BLACK AND RED SOIL PITCHES IN THE CENTRE  A fan ran on the the ground breaching bio-bubble protocols Australian firm Populous, which designed the MCG among others, is the architect of the stadium chagrin. To be fair to the visitors, they had a point with at least one of those appeals — the stumping of Rohit Sharma 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 60+? 45+ with co-morbidities? Your jab window opens on March 1 EPS, OPS pay homage to Jayalalithaa, desire to contest from present seats EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai Pvt sector to participate in vax campaign S U M I S U K A N YA D U T TA @ New Delhi THE Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the launch of Covid19 vaccination for the third priority group from March 1, which includes people above 60 years and those above 45 years with comorbidities, and involves the private sector. The vaccines will be administered at 10,000 government facilities free of cost and at 20,000 paid private facilities. The cost of the vaccines at private hospitals will be decided in three-four days after a meeting with manufacturers and representatives of hospitals, said Union minister Prakash Javadekar. “From March 1, people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities will be vaccinated at 10,000 government and over 20,000 private vaccination centres. The vaccine will be given free of cost at government centres,” said Javadekar in a press briefing on the Cabinet’s decisions. The government is yet to make public the clinical criteria for those with underlying conditions to qualify for vaccinations against coronavirus but sources in the Union health ministry told this newspaper that these include diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases. The underlying conditions have been defined by a special panel of doctors appointed by the government and are likely to be released within the next few days. Officials also said that portability facilities will be offered for the vaccination, which means that the beneficiaries can get the jabs anywhere in India after registering on CoWin app and furnishing required documents at the time of vaccine administration. “At the time of registration on CoWin, beneficiaries will be allotted a slot and will have a bunch of hospitals to choose from. For this purpose, the app is being updated,” said a senior ministry official. He added that the CoWin portal is being integrated with the Aarogya Setu app for ease of registration for beneficiaries. There are two approved Covid-19 vaccines in India, one each by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech. However, the government is yet to clarify whether the third priority group can choose its jab brand. KEY QUESTIONS Who will get the vaccine? People above 60 years and those over 45 with comorbidities What are the comorbidties recognised for prioritisation? Diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases, but final word is yet to be out What is the process of taking the vaccine? You first need to register on CoWin App. It will ask you for your choice of hospital. You then need to select an available day/time slot. If you misses an assigned slot, you can register again What papers are needed before taking the shot? At the site of vaccine administration, you need to submit proof of age through a valid government ID. For those in the comorbid group, proof of comorbidity is required What will be the cost of vaccines? It is free at govt hospitals. At private hospitals, you need to pay the price fixed by manufacturers and overhead cost charged by the hospital for administering the shot. There will be more clarity soon Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami offering homage to former CM J Jayalalithaa on the occasion of her 73rd birth anniversary, in Chennai on Wednesday EPS HOLDS RALLY IN RK NAGAR CONSTITUENCY Paying a fitting tribute to former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on her 73rd birth anniversary, CM Palaniswami addressed the public from the RK Nagar Assembly constituency on Wednesday evening. This is the constituency from where Jayalalithaa was last voted into the House in 2016. AMMK’s TTV Dhinakaran is the current MLA from the constituency after he won the 2017 by-poll | P4 CHIEF Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam were the first to collect their poll ticket applications in Chennai, issued by the AIADMK to coincide with the 73rd birth anniversary of former Chief Mini s t e r J Jaya l a l i t h a a , o n Wednesday . A few other ministers also collected their applications from the party headquarters Earlier in the day, both Palaniswami and Panneerselvam, garlanded Jayalalithaa’s statue at the party headquarters, and distributed sweets to cadre and functionaries. They also cut a 73-kg cake and fed each other a piece of cake, before distributing it to the cadre. The leaders then commenced issuing of applications for those who wished to contest the Assembly elections. The applications can be collected till March 5. The leaders also expressed their willingness to contest from their current constituencies. While Palaniswami contested from the Edappadi constituency in Salem district in 2016, Panneerselvam represented Bodinayakanur in Theni district. Ministers C Seenivasan, KA Sengottaiyan, SP Velumani and P Thangamani also expressed willingness to contest again from Dindigul, Gobichettipalayam, Thondamuthur and Komarapalayam constituencies, respectively . Palaniswami and Panneerselvam also visited the Jayalalithaa memorial at the Marina, where the Chief Minister opened the Amma Museum and Amma Knowledge Park. The Govt biz bar lifted for private banks: FM EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE Centre on Wednesday decided to lift the embargo on granting government-related business to private banks. Till now, gover nment banking transactions were done only through public-sector banks and select private banks such as Axis Bank. The decision, announced by Finance Minister Nir mala Sitharaman, will open the doors for the private sector to participate in government-related banking transactions run- ning into lakhs of or crores, such as taxes and other revenue payment facilities, pension payments, small savings schemes. In 2012, RBI had allowed private sector banks to act as agency banks but the move was not supported by the then government, which put an embargo on extending governmentbusiness to private banks. Now the government has decided to lift the embargo to push its privatisation drive. Bankers have welcomed the move. Uday Kotak, chairman of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said, “It will enable the banking sec- Level playing field Private banks will get to handle government transactions such as:  Tax payments  Revenue receipts and payments on behalf of the Centre as well as State governments  Pension payments in respect of Central and State governments  Work related to Small Savings Schemes, the commission for which is borne by the Centre  Defence transactions tor to serve customers better.” Meanwhile, bank unions opposed the government’s decision saying it is unfair and to the disadvantage of public sector banks, which have to meet social banking obligations. “If the government will distribute their business to private banks, the ability of public sector banks to lend to weaker and priority sectors on concessional rates of interest will become difficult because the government’s business helps these banks to balance the cost,” said C H Venkatachalam, General Secretary AIBEA. , EXPRESS READ Kashmir only dispute with India, says Imran Govt has no business to be in business: Modi Colombo: Pakistan PM Imran Khan said on Wednesday that Kashmir is the only dispute with India and it can only be resolved through dialogue. Addressing the Sri Lanka-Pakistan Trade and Investment Conference, he said he approached India for talks but nothing came to pass | P7 New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday on Wednesday made his strongest pitch for privatisation of nonstrategic PSUs, saying the government has no business to be in business. He said 100 under-utilised assets with PSUs will be monetised | P10 Biden not in favour of Taliban rule in Afghanistan Washington: US President Joe Biden would not be okay if the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, the White House has said. The US and the Taliban had reached an agreement in February 2020 calling for a permanent ceasefire, peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government, and a withdrawal of all foreign forces by May 1. There are about 2,500 US troops in the war-torn country | P9 RAHUL THE FISHERMAN Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi joins fishermen as they toil for the morning catch on the high-sea off the Kollam coast in Kerala on Wednesday | PTI Pullback win-win, China’s creeping Eight hours under the scorching sun: forward playbook won’t work: Gen No place to go, no one to tell MOO-VING SIGHT M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi ARMY Chief General M M Naravane on Wednesday said China’s known strategy of nibbling into neighbouring territory slowly, like it did in the South China Sea, will not work with India. “I think more than anything else what we have achieved is to show that this strategy will not work with us,” the General said referring to the recent recipro- cal disengagement at Pangong lake in Ladakh after a standoff that lasted more than nine months. He was giving a talk on the “Role of the Indian Army in dealing with the contemporary national security challenges” at a Delhi-based think tank, Vivekananda International Foundation. “China has been in the habit of creeping forward making very small incremental changes where in each change by Strategies in place to deal with pending issues Army Chief Gen Naravane spoke about the existing trust deficit, which makes India wary of China’s intentions. “Going forward there are... pending issues in the areas of Eastern Ladakh (like Depsang, Gogra, Hotspring, Demchok); also pending issues in other areas along the Line of Control. But we have our strategies in place for that,” he said itself was not very big or worthy of a very strong reaction.” And because of the very small incremental moves that were never contested, it has been able to achieve its aims without firing a shot or any loss of life, he pointed out. Gen Naravane described the Pangong disengagement as a win-win for both sides, adding it was achieved as all the organs of the government worked in tandem. “As a result of this whole approach, disengagement has taken place. I think it is a very good end result. It is a win-win situation, and I think for any agreement to last both sides should feel that they have achieved something,” he said, adding it’s the outcome of 10 rounds of military-level talks. ANTONY FERNANDO @ Nagapattinam LITTLE did Manya* know that it would be a monotonous, and yet a tiring day ahead, when the nascent rays of the sun coloured the Wednesday morning sky She turned up for work at . half-past nine. Bright and shiny as it always is, the sun matured as the morning hours passed, suggesting warmth in the beginning, but getting more punishing as the day went by . But Manya was at work, standing on a place, tied to a pole. Throughout the day, she stood as several people came to her, some chatted, while many examined her body But Manya . Candidates examining the bovine during their interview | EXPRESS stood there until it was dusk. Did she eat anything throughout the day? Did she have fun at work? Could she even complain if anything hurt her? This is the story of Manya, a cow, who was made to stand outside the animal husbandry department in Nagappatinam during a practical examination for can- didates. She was the question paper for candidates being interviewed for the post of an assistant on the day . Over 1,100 candidates appeared for the interview, and all of them were made to examine a single cow, tied under the sun for more than eight hours, leaving onlookers, animal lovers and even candidates disturbed. “The cow was exhausted by the time it was my turn to check its teeth and udder. It felt like I was abusing it,” said a candidate on condition of anonymity . Concerns were raised on why the department did not use multiple bovines for the interview. CONTINUED ON: P5 duo then visited the Jayalalithaa complex within the State Higher Education Council premises and offered floral tributes to the late leader’s statue. Palaniswami planted a makilam tree in the complex, to officially launch a scheme to plant 73 lakh saplings across the State in honour of the departed leader. He also presented a State Award to one T Narmada to mark the National Girl Child Day. Girl Child Day Awards were also presented to Collectors of Namakkal, Dharmapuri and Tiruvannamalai districts. Palaniswami, Panneerselvam, ministers and AIADMK functionaries lit lamps at their residences in the evening and pledged that they would protect the party and the people, following the path shown by Amma (Jayalalithaa). INQUIRY ON Panel to probe harassment plaint against top TN cop EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai THE State government on Wednesday set up an inquiry panel to probe a sexual harassment complaint from a woman IPS officer against her senior, Rajesh Das. Rajesh Das, who had been serving as the Special Director General of Police (DGP), Law and Order, was removed from the post and put on a ‘compulsory wait’ following the complaint. According to sources, Das allegedly harassed the junior officer when both of them were deputed to the central districts of the State during a recent trip of the Chief Minister. The complainant submitted that Das had offered her a ride in his vehicle since both were travelling to the same districts, during which he allegedly sexually misbehaved with her, said sources. While the complaint was lodged at the Secretariat three days ago, the issue came to light only on Wednesday . Sources claimed that there were attempts made by another senior police officer to convince the complainant to withdraw her complaint, since Das’ ‘reputation’ was at stake. An order to form the committee, issued by Home Secretary, SK Prabakar, read that the committee shall take necessary course of action as per the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (Central Act 14 to 2013). CRASH TIGER WOODS SURVIVES, CAREER IN DOUBT Tiger Woods was lucky to be alive with multiple fractures, according to those present at the crash site, but might jeopardise his career | P11