tirupati l sunday l february 28, 2021 l `8.00 l PAGES 24 l late 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, 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 Both Covaxin and Central Government where the expanded Covishield are Health Scheme and available in Covid-19 vaccination other private hospiAndhra Pradesh. drive is set to begin. tals empanelled unThe list of como- Beneficiaries need der state health into take the bidities includes surance schemes can available vaccine those having diabetes participate in the at the medical for over 10 years or vaccination drive, it facility without with complications added. any choice and hypertension on The price of the Geetha Prasadhini, treatment. T hose vaccines was fixed afwith diabetes or hy- Additional Director, ter several rounds of pertension will not Medical and Health 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. @ New Delhi Pilgrims at Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala on Saturday | Express Devotees can take part in Arjitha Sevas from April 14: TTD chairman E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Tirumala The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Board of Trustees meeting on Saturday decided to allow participation of devotees in all Arjitha Sevas at Venkateswara temple from April 14. The TTD had stopped allowing devotees’ participation in Arjitha Sevas on March 22, 2020 in view of Covid-19. At present, all Arjitha Sevas are being performed in Ekantham at the temple though devotees were allowed to have darshan of the Lord from June 2020. Briefing mediapersons about the resolutions adopted in the TTD Trust Board meeting, TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy said devotees need to book their Arjitha Seva tickets online. They should strictly adhere to Covid-19 guidelines during their participation in Arjitha Sevas and furnish corona negative report after undergoing the test three days prior to their P4 visit to Tirumala.  Major decisions of TTD Board meeting  The TTD Budget for the financial year 2021-22 was approved with an outlay of `2,937.82 crore  The meeting resolved to urge the Centre to declare cow a national animal  Thulabharam to be introduced at Padmavathi temple at Tiruchanoor  6 TTD Veda Patasalas to be renamed as Venkateswara Veda Vigyana Peetham  The TTD is likely to build Venkateswara temple, Bhajan Mandir or Pilgrim Amenities Complex if land is allotted for it in Ayodhya  Anna Prasadam for pilgrims visiting Tirumala via Srivari Mettu route Financial aid to temples in State from SRIVANI Trust Now, Judge who gave Disha Ravi bail receives 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. Judge 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 ex, perts suggested punitive action against those transgressing the ‘criticise the judgment, not the judge’ dictum. Senior SC 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 gover nment of pre-independence 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 appropriate time.” Nine-year-old Kadapala Rithvika Sri from Anantapur has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, which is the African continent’s highest peak, along with her father and guide. She climbed to Gilman’s Point at 5,681 metres above mean sea level on February 25. Hailing from M Agraharam village in Tadimarri mandal, Rithvika Sri is a class 2 student of St Vincent De Paul English Medium School of Anantapur. Her father Shankar is a cricket coach and sports coordinator in the Special Olympics Bharat K Rithvika Sri on Mount Kilimanjaro wing of RDT, Anantapur. She took Level 1 training in mountaineering at Rock Climbing School at Bhongir in Telangana and Level 2 training at La- Vaccine availability Karnataka Covishield Kerala Covishield Covishield, Tamil Nadu Covaxin Covishield, Telangana Covaxin Covishield, Andhra Pradesh Covaxin Covishield, Odisha Covaxin State S u m i S u ka n ya D u 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 An ASHA worker, who was administered the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine two weeks ago, died of alleged Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) in the district. According to medical and health officials, Chandrakala (50), an ASHA worker in the government hospital at Kothacheruvu, was administered the first dose of vaccine on January 16. She did not develop any complications when the first dose of vaccine was administered. “She was given the second dose of vaccine on February 13. After two days, Chandrakala complained of cough and breathlessness. Though she was unwell, she did not get herself treated even if we asked her to visit hospital,’’ Chandrakala’s sister Satyavathi said. She said though her sister was aged 50, Chandrakala used to be very active. She did not develop any complications when the first dose was administered. “She died due to the complications developed after being administered the second dose of vaccine,’’ Satyavathi alleged. When contacted, Dr Srinivas Babu, medical officer of Kothacheruvu hospital, said, “We came to know that Chandrakala suffered from breathlessness. It is unlikely that complications arising out of Covid vaccination might be the reason for her death.’’ dakh. “Rithvika Sri took part in the mountaineering expedition with enthusiasm and she could make it in her first attempt,’’ Shankar said. Shankar, who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro on January 26, 2020, said he approached District Collector Gandham Chandrudu seeking financial assistance for his mountaineering expedition. “The Collector released `2.98 lakh from the SC Corporation funds for the expedition.,’’ Shankar said. Congratulating Rithvika Sri for her mountaineering feat, Chandrudu said he encouraged the girl as she has talent and commitment. 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 Moderate of severe valvular heart disease Coronary artery disease with past CABG/PTCA/MI and hypertension/ diabetes on treatment CT/MRI documented stroke and hypertension/diabetes on treatment Angina and hypertension/ diabetes on treatment Post cardiac transplant/ left ventricular assist device Diabetes (>10 years or with complications) and hypertension on treatment End stage kidney disease on haemodialysis/CAPD States in a fix as Centre scrambles to finalise last-minute jab details E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Anantapur Nine-yr-old conquers Kilimanjaro @Anantapur stock status ASHA worker dies after getting second dose mountaineering feat E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Heart failure with hospital admission in past one year Dissident Bangladeshi writer dies in jail Mushtaq Ahmed, who had been lodged in jail since May 2020 for allegedly spreading anti-government content on social media, died inside a prison near capital Dhaka | P9 WI T H T H IS ISSUE Present Tense, Future Hazy PLUS 12 PAGES 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- 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.