KALABURAGI  SUNDAY  FEBRUARY 28, 2021  `8.00  PAGES 24  CITY EDITION U.S. OWES INDIA $216 BN AS ITS DEBT SOARS TO $28 TRILLION Republican opposing Biden’s $1.9 tn Covid relief package warned it would worsen the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio BORROWING FROM NOT-FRIENDLY COUNTRIES DEBT DOUBLED DURING OBAMA YEARS On a day the House of Representatives approved the package in a 219-212 near party-line vote, Republican Senator Alex Mooney said US will have to borrow more to fund the stimulus from countries that aren’t friends. The biggest creditors are Japan and China, whom the US owes $1 trillion each. The $29 trillion debt means the US has borrowed $84,000 per citizen ■ ■ Mooney said the national debt doubled during Barack Obama’s tenure and added $10,000 per citizen in the past one year alone The relief package aims to tackle the economic fallout from the pandemic, including direct financial aid to average Americans, support to businesses and boost the national vaccination drive $104 tn ESTIMATED ADDITION TO THE NATIONAL DEBT BY 2050 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 Vaccine at private hospitals to cost L250 Initially, 20K facilities will get Covishield alone; list of 20 comorbidities finalised Comorbidities for determining eligibility Significant left ventricular systolic dysfunction S U M I S U K A N YA D U T TA hospitals and the government, @ New Delhi the vaccine makers will get `150 per jab while hospitals THE Union ministry of health will earn `100 per shot for eveand family welfare on Satur- ry dose of the vaccine adminday fixed the cost of Covid-19 istered. “States have been exvaccines, set to be offered to plained that the private those above 60 years and peo- hospitals functioning as Covple over 45 years with speci- id vaccination centres can be fied comorbidities, at `250 per subject to a ceiling of `250 per shot in private hospitals and person per dose along with also finalised a list of 20 un- the electronic and financial d e rly i n g c o n d i t i o n s, o r management mechanism in comorbidities. this regard,” the ministry Top sources in the ministry said in a statement. also said that in the beginAround 10,000 private hosning, only Covishield, devel- pitals empanelled under the oped by Oxford UniPradhan Mantri Jan versity-AstraZeneca, Arogya Yojana, nearwill be made availaly 687 hospitals emble in about 20,000 panelled under the private hospitals Central Government There are two where the expanded reasons why only Health Scheme and Covid-19 vaccination Covishield would other private hospibe available in drive is set to begin. tals empanelled unThe list of como- private hospitals der state health inbidities includes in the beginning. surance schemes can First, Bharat those having diabetes Biotech’s Covaxin participate in the for over 10 years or has supply issues. vaccination drive, it with complications Secondly, people added. and hypertension on have greater faith The price of the in Covishield treatment. T hose vaccines was fixed afwith diabetes or hyter several rounds of Officials pertension will not meetings between qualify to get the government officials, shot. Also, people diagnosed led by V K Paul, member with solid cancer since July (health) Niti Aayog, who last year, lymphoma, blood heads the National Expert cancer or myeloma, those Group on Covid19 Vaccine with HIV and acid attack sur- Administration, and reprevivors with involvement of sentatives of the two vaccine the respiratory system will manufacturers, Bharat Bioalso be eligible to receive the tech and the Serum Institute shots. Apart from this, a host of India. of heart diseases, transplant The price for each dose of patients and people with se- the vaccine for individuals vere disabilities have also will be less than the price at been included in the list of which the government had comorbidities. procured the vaccines in the As per the agreement be- first and second phases of the tween the manufacturers, vaccination drive for healthrepresentatives of private care and frontline workers. Heart failure with hospital admission in past one year STOCK STATUS Vaccine availability Karnataka Covishield Kerala Covishield Covishield, Tamil Nadu Covaxin Covishield, Telangana Covaxin Covishield, Andhra Pradesh Covaxin Covishield, Odisha Covaxin State Current prolonged use of oral corticosteroids/immunosuppressants Decompensated cirrhosis Severe respiratory disease with hospitalisation in last two years Lymphoma/leukaemia/ myeloma Diagnosis of any solid cancer or or after July 1, 2020 or currently on cancer therapy Sickle cell disease/bone marrow failure/aplastic anemia/thalassemia major Primary immunodeficiency diseases/HIV infection Disabilities due to intellectual disabilities/muscular dystrophy/acid attack with involvement of respiratory system/ persons with disabilities having high support needs/multiple disabilities Post cardiac transplant/ left ventricular assist device SU M I SU KA N YA DU T TA @ New Delhi WHILE the Covid-19 vaccination drive is entering the next phase on Monday to cover everyone above 60 years and those above 45 years with co-morbidities, states are still grappling with basic details. According to sources, many states are in the dark about how many doses, or which vaccine, will they receive. Officials in the Union health ministry said talks are on with Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech to gauge the available stock of vaccine vials CT/MRI documented stroke and hypertension/diabetes on treatment Angina and hypertension/ diabetes on treatment Post cardiac transplant/ left ventricular assist device that can be immediately dispatched to states. An estimated 12 crore people come under this vulnerable group, of which 11 crore are people older than 60 years. Sources added that while the government has fixed a price of `150 per dose for vaccine makers in private hospitals, manufacturers are not happy . “The issue during the price negotiation was that how can the price of the vaccine in private hospitals be lower than the rate at which the Central government had procured it earlier for the first phase of vacci- FUTURE HAZY FAYA Z WA N I @ Srinagar SIP & SLURP P4 EXPRESS READ Ceasefire will not affect counter-terror ops: Army Udhampur /Kupwara: Two top Army commanders on Saturday said the ceasefire between India and Pakistan will have no bearing on counter-terrorism operations and the force will exercise “maximum restraint” if there is any violation. US House approves $1.9-trillion Covid bill Washington: The House of Representatives approved a $1.9-trillion pandemic relief bill that was championed by President Joe Biden, the first step in providing another dose of aid to the nation as the measure now moves to a tense Senate. P9 Now, buy Channapatna toys, Bidri ware online EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru FROM the famed Channapatna toys of Ramanagara district to the popular Bidri ware from Bidar, over 100 handicraft items will now be available under the Cauvery brand name on e-commerce platforms. The Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation (KSHDC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Flipkart and is planning to have a tie-up with Amazon too. Carved wooden frames, wall hangings, sandalwood pieces, Bidri works, wooden toys from Channapatna, brass and bronze showpieces including small idols, cotton rugs, rosewood and sandalwood products will be available under the Cauvery Handicrafts brand on Flipkart. Speaking to The New Sunday Express, IGP and Managing Director of KSHDC, D Roopa, said the MoU was signed a few days ago. “Initially, we added 50 items. But after seeing the sales, we added another 50 items P4 recently .” IN a show of strength, Congress dissenters, termed G23, said the party had weakened in the past decade and vowed to work for strengthening the party . “We have assembled here and had also gathered earlier and we will unitedly strengthen the party senior Congress lead,” er Kapil Sibal said while addressing the Shanti Sammelan in Jammu on Saturday . Besides Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Raj Babbar, Manish Tewari and Vivek Tankha addressed the sammelan, the first coming together of the dissident Congress leaders at a single platform. Not happy with the party for not accommodating Azad in some capacity in the party Sibal said, “When we felt they were , freeing Azad from parliament, we felt very bad. We felt he should not been freed from parliament. He is a very senior party leader and I don’t I don’t understand why Congress is not utilizing services of the experienced Azad.” Azad, who arrived in Jammu on Friday after retiring from the Rajya Sabha, said with Gandhi’s ideology they would fight the new strug, gle. “We will carry forward his ideology and self service of Gandhi will remain with us.” HEAT IS ON The cops who sold a seized Jaguar D I V YA C U T I N H O @ Mangaluru TWO keepers of the law seem to have given skulduggery a new dimension. Drawn by the prospect of making some big bucks, they quietly sold off a luxury car which was seized in connection with a fraud case. But wait! The long arm of the law did catch up with them too. Deputy Commissioner of Diabetes (>10 years or with complications) and hypertension on treatment End stage kidney disease on haemodialysis/CAPD nation,” said an official. “The companies were very reluctant in accepting the price,” the source added. Officials in a few states, meanwhile, said they need additional doses at least a day before the next phase starts but there is no clarity on when and how much will arrive. “We do not want a situation where entitled beneficiaries queue up for vaccines at a health facility and we have to tell them that enough vaccines are not available,” said a health department official from West Bengal. Why not use Azad’s services to unite Cong, ask dissenters WITH THIS ISSUE COFFEE TASTING, Coronary artery disease with past CABG/PTCA/MI and hypertension/ diabetes on treatment States in a fix as Centre scrambles to finalise last-minute jab details PRESENT TENSE, PLUS 12 PAGES Moderate of severe valvular heart disease Police (Crime and Traffic) Vinay A Gaonkar told TNSE that the two officers — Police Inspector K K Ramakrishna, and Police Sub-Inspector Kabbal Raj — were posted with the crime branch in Mangaluru when they arrested three Kerala-based businessmen for allegedly cheating several people in Dakshina Kannada in a ponzi scheme. Three high-end cars — a BMW, a Porsche and a Jaguar — were also seized from them. But, the officers had shown the seizure of only the BMW and the Porshe on record, and not the Jaguar. The cost of the missing car is said to be around Rs 50 lakh. The incident came to light when the accused businessmen came out on bail and wanted to get the P3 cars released. Preliminary investigation revealed that the two officers were at fault after which the commissioner recommended a CID inquiry Officer Delhi judge who gave Disha bail gets threats K A N U S A R D A @ New Delhi SOON after activist Disha Ravi was granted bail in the toolkit case, a section of social media users targeted additional sessions judge Dharmendra Rana for making observations critical of the gover nment. Judg e Rana facing a volley of online abuse and threat after issuing a judgment is not an isolated case. This was highlighted by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday when he said a ‘disturbing trend’ of activists criticising judges for unfavourable verdicts had emerged. While stating that criticism of judgments in good faith is healthy for democracy legal experts suggested , punitive action against those transgressing the ‘criticise the judgment, not the judge’ dictum. Senior Supreme Court advocate Sanjay Hegde said: “Most of the ill-informed criticism of Judge Rana is due to a sentence, saying sedition cannot be used to minister to the wounded vanity of governments. That sentence is a quote from a British judge, ruling in favour of an Indian citizen against the colonial government of preindependence India. Most ill-informed criticism can and must be shrugged off, but if there is anything particularly vicious, the High Court must take preventive or punitive steps at an apP8 propriate time.” Tiger count in October with focus on zero error B O S K Y K H A N N A @ Bengaluru THE keenly awaited tiger census will be conducted from October, most probably after the monsoon season, and the data will be directly uploaded online to ensure minimal or zero error. That is not all. Karnataka will also take the lead among the southern states in data collection, assessment and assistance, as it houses the second largest tiger population in India. As per the 2018 census report, of the 2,967 tigers in India, Karnataka was home to 524 tigers, slipping to second position, while Madhya Pradesh had 526. Karnataka had then added 112 tigers compared to the previous count. For the upcoming census, training for the staffers and trainers will start from March, after which others will be trained. Like the previous exercise, the census will be conducted in tiger reserves and also other areas where tiger presence is reported. P5 Volunteers will be roped in, just like previous occasions.