HUBBALLI  WEDNESDAY  MARCH 03, 2021  `7.00  PAGES 14  CITY EDITION ‘INDO-PAK EXPRESS’ TO COME TOGETHER AT ACAPULCO Despite tension between India and Pakistan, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna join hands for first time since 2014 ONLY ONE EVENT TO START WITH The pair, nicknamed ‘Indo-Pak Express’, will be teaming up at the ATP 500 meet in Mexico, slated to be held from March 15-21. “For the time being, we will only be playing in Acapulco,” Aisam said. “Let’s see how it goes.” With invaluable ranking points up for grabs, it’s a big meet for P13 Bopanna, who is yet to win a match this year (three losses). ■ FIVE ‘STOP WAR, START TENNIS’ ■ They were praised after they wore T-shirts that had the above slogan in order to promote peace between the two countries. They won the 'Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of The Year' award The pair decided to come together as a team after spending time together in Melbourne in February during the Australian Open THE PAIR HAS PREVIOUSLY WON FIVE TITLES ON THE ATP TOUR 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 Violating protocol, B C Patil and his wife get inoculated at their Hirekerur residence drawing criticism from netizens and Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar; Circular to be issued to doctors not to administer vaccines at home Minister runs foul of More seniors receive rules with jab at home Covid shots on Day 2 C H E TA N A B E L A G E R E & A R U N K U M A R H U R A L I M AT H CENTRE SEEKS REPORT @ Bengaluru, Hubballi WHEN senior citizens and those with co-morbidities who are eligible, are being asked to register and await their turn for the Covid-19 vaccination, Agriculture Minister B C Patil sparked a major controversy when he and his wife got the vaccine administered at his residence. Taking serious note of this, the Centre on Tuesday said that it has asked for a report from the Karnataka Government in this regard. “While 90- and 100-year-old citizens are struggling, waiting in queues to get their vaccine, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself went all the way till the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to get the jab, here is our Karnataka minister who can order government servants to come to his doorstep for a jab,” remarked Rudrappa Desai, a retired banker who waited for more than five hours at a gover nment hospital for the vaccination. On Tuesday morning, the second day of the third phase of the vaccination drive, government doctors landed at B C Patil’s residence at Hirekerur in Haveri district and administered the vaccine to the 64-yearold minister and his wife. He even tweeted pictures announcing that he had taken the vaccine. The photograph and video went viral, sparking anger among citizens. The minister was trolled Agriculture Minister B C Patil gets vaccinated at his residence in Hirekerur, Haveri, on Tuesday | EXPRESS heavily and several social media users questioned his decision to take the vaccine at home. Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that as per protocol, people have to get vaccinated at hospitals. “Vaccinating at home is not allowed. I will inquire about this and issue notices to the doctors and minister seeking explanation,” he told the media. Meanwhile, Patil defended himself saying that he had not committed any crime and wanted to avoid trouble for the public. “Have I committed theft or robbery? I have only taken the vaccine at home, which is not a crime,” he told reporters. The minister also said that he did not know the guidelines for vaccination and, as there were many programmes he was Taking a serious note of the minister taking the Covid shot at home, the Centre has sought a report on the matter from the state. “Getting vaccinated at home is not allowed as per protocol. It has come to our notice and we have asked for a report from the State Government,” Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in response to a query at a press conference in New Delhi. preoccupied with, he had called the doctors home. He also added that if he had gone to the hospital, then it would have caused trouble for the people waiting there. However, Dr Sudhakar expressed dissatisfaction over Patil’s conduct and said the medical team should have persuaded him to visit the hospital. “Unless there is prior permission, no one is allowed to vaccinate at home. It is wrong to do so,” he said. The Health Minister also said that he will issue a circular to doctors not to administer vaccines at home. Close aides of Patil reasoned that he had pain in the leg and other engagements to attend to in his constituency. Hence, he decided to take the vaccine at his residence. MORE REPORTS: P3 Debt crisis staring India in the face, warns former PM EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ T’Puram FORMER prime minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday warned of a looming debt crisis, saying temporary steps taken by the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India cannot paper over the credit problems staring the country in the face. Blaming the BJP government’s ‘ill-conceived’ demonetisation for the country’s high unemployment rate, Manmohan Singh warned that the crisis could adversely affect the small and medium sectors of the industry He was speak. ing after inaugurating a development summit, organised virtually by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Development Studies at Neyyar Dam in Thiru- vananthapuram on Tuesday . “Due to the ill-conceived demonetisation in 2016, unemployment skyrocketed and the unorganised sector landed in a shambles. If India’s political and economic philosophy stood for a foundation as envisaged in the country’s Constitution, having a federal set-up and communication between the states, the incumbent Union government is against this. The economy can be revived provided schemes for the poor and the downtrodden are implemented,” he opined. Regarding Kerala, he said even though its social standards are high, due diligence should be given to certain other sectors that require periodic review. he pointed out that the state is facing several hurdles that have to be overcome at a time when the global economic slowdown over the last two to three years has skyrocketed due to the pandemic. “The proliferation of digital use would give an impetus to information technology, but it will still hamper the prospects of the tourism sector. The more the pandemic is creating havoc, the challenges faced in the tourism sector are more. The public funding is in a shambles in Kerala and other states, which has led them to seek loans. This will create further issues in future budgets,” added Singh. Expressing happiness at the UDF’s “people’s manifesto”, which has promised the NYAY scheme that aims to provide `6,000 per month to the poor households, Singh hoped it would usher in revolutionary changes in the society . CAMPAIGN OVER CHAI Campaigning in poll-bound Assam, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra went around the Sadharu Tea Estate near Bishwanath to take a slice of the tea tribe voters away from the BJP The community is composed of several large tribes like Munda, Santhal, Kurukh (Oraon), Gonds, and Bhumij who wield considerable political influence Addressing a rally in Tezpur, she asserted that if her party is voted to power in the state, it will bring a new law to “nullify” the Citizenship Amendment Act |P10 Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tries her hand at plucking tea leaves at the Sadhuru tea garden in Biswanath, Assam, on Tuesday | TWITTER Govt to mop up `20K cr this fiscal from spectrum sale Senior citizens waiting to be vaccinated at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Tuesday. E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru FOLLOWING rectification of some of the teething problems in Phase-3 of the Covid vaccination programme on Monday, Day 2 of the process on Tuesday saw improved attendance by senior citizens and those aged above 45 with co-morbidities. However, it was not without problems for senior citizens, mainly from the CoWIN app meant for registering and facilitating smooth vaccination process. As per the Health Department data, 10,046 people were inoculated across the state on Tuesday. This includes 1,147 people with comorbidities in the age group of 45-60 and 5,166 citizens aged above 60. The total number of people in Karnataka vaccinated now stands at 8.35 lakh since January 16, when the first phase of the vaccination programme opened for health care workers followed by frontline Covid warriors. On Monday only 374 people aged , between 45 and 60, and 1,576 senior citizens were vaccinated. Among those who were vaccinated in Kar- nataka on Tuesday were Governor Vajubhai Vala, who took the jab at K C General Hospital in Malleswaram, Bengaluru; Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister K S Eshwarappa and his wife Jayalakshmi at the District Ayurvedic Hospital centre in Shivamogga; Agriculture Minister BC Patil (at his home in Hirekerur); and Wipro founder chairman Azim Premji, at Narayana Health City Bengaluru. , However, although the day saw a much higher number of senior citizens and those with comorbidities aged between 45 and 60, it was not without persisting technical glitches like on Monday. The CoWIN portal/app that is meant to ensure easy and quick registration and smooth flow of the vaccination process, continued to be dogged by glitches, making it difficult for senior citizens. Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and his wife Nutan Goel took the first dose of the indigenously developed vaccine Covaxin at the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute, a private facility . HATHRAS HORROR Molestation victim’s father shot dead in UP E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Lucknow THE henchmen of an alleged molester who is out on bail since 2018 in Uttar Pradesh’s lawless Hathras, shot dead the victim’s father in his potato farm as he refused to withdraw the case, triggering outrage across the nation. A day after the incident, the police on Tuesday arrested two of the four assailants even as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered that the National Security Act (NSA) be slapped on them. According to sources, Amrish Sharma, a resident of Nauzarpur in Hathras, had registered a complaint against Gaurav Sharma in July 2018 for allegedly molesting his daughter. Gaurav had been pressing Sharma to withdraw the case after coming out on bail in 2018. Hathras Superintendent of Police (SP) Vineet Jaiswal said on Monday the wife and the aunt of Gaurav picked up a heated argument with the daughters of Sharma at a temple in the village. “The accused and Sharma, too, arrived at the spot and joined the issue,” the SP said. Later, around 3.30 pm on Monday, Sharma was at his potato field when Gaurav and his three accomplices shot at him in front of his wife and daughter. Sharma sustained injuries in the head, chest and abdomen, and died on the spot. The police superintendent said special teams were on the lookout for the other two suspects. Sharma is associated with the Samajwadi Party and was planning to organise a Kisan Mahapanchayat in Tappal, in which the party chief Akhilesh Yadav is slated to par ticipate on Wednesday . India’s first spectrum auctions in five years ended on Tuesday with the government selling `77,815 crore worth of airwaves and Reliance Jio walking away with the lion’s share of winning bids worth `57,122 crore. The expensive 700 MHz and 2,500 MHz band did not attract any buyers 20 PER CENT OF SPECTRUM PUT UP FOR AUCTION SOLD Assets on offer Quantum: 2,308.8 MHz Reserve Price COMPANY-WISE BREAKUP RELIANCE JIO BHARTI AIRTEL Quantum 488.35 MHz Total amount Quantum 355.45 MHz Total amount `3.92 lakh crore `57,122.65 cr `18,698.75 cr Spectrum sold VODAFONE IDEA Quantum: 855.6 MHz Total bids Quantum 11.8 MHz Total amount `1,993.4 cr `77,815 crore `19,000-20,000 cr to be received by the government from spectrum auctions during the current fiscal year, with the rest to be paid later EXPRESS READ Tandav row: Amazon Prime issues unconditional apology New Delhi: Amazon Prime Video on Tuesday said it respects its viewers ‘diverse beliefs’ and apologises unconditionally to anyone who felt hurt by scenes in Tandav, a webseries that landed in trouble over allegations of depicting Hindu gods in an objectionable manner. Tandav premiered on January 15. In a statement, the streamer said it ‘deeply regrets’ the fact that viewers considered certain scenes to be objectionable. Landslide win for BJP in Gujarat civic body polls Ahmedabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party won all 31 district panchayats, 70 out of 81 municipalities and was far ahead of main rival Congress in 231 taluka panchayats as counting for the second phase of local body polls in Gujarat was underway on Tuesday. Shortly after the results, Congress state unit chief Amit Chavda resigned from his post. The success follows the BJP’s clean sweep in six municipal corporations last month More G23 meets lined up, but Congress wary of taking action R I C H A S H A R M A @ New Delhi THE group of 23 (G23) dissenters in the Congress is planning to raise their pitch against the high command by organising a series of meetings in other states on the lines of the one they held in Jammu recently . With four states and a Union Territory set to face Assembly elections soon, the party leadership is treading cautiously even as the G23 seeks to fan out in Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in the coming weeks. “These meetings will be held before the party’s presidential election, which is scheduled by May-end. Anand Sharma has been asked to arrange one meeting in Himachal Pradesh, Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Kurukshetra and Manish Tewari in Ropar or Anandpur Sahib,” said sources, adding that Hooda’s event may spell trouble for the party as he enjoys mass support in Haryana. The party leadership is wary of taking any precipitate action against the rebels ahead of the crucial election. “The build up by these leaders will fizzle out soon. Taking any disciplinary action at this moment (ahead of Assembly elections) will send a wrong signal to people and draw unnecessary attention. If the party does well in the Assembly election under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, it will automatically subdue the momentum these leaders are trying to build up before the presidential election,” said a party leader. At the Jammu meeting, the dissenters had said that the Congress was getting weaker and they were working to strengthen it. The party has refrained from making any harsh comments and instead urged them to work for strengthening the Congress ahead of the Assembly elections. As it is, the G23 has already weakened as some members are unhappy over a few of them articulating their misgivings in public. Ghulam Nabi Azad’s praise of Modi and Anand Sharma’s critique of the Left-Congress alliance in Bengal coopting the new Indian Secular Front floated by Abbas Siddique are the latest flash points. These meetings will be held before the party’s presidential election. Anand Sharma has been asked to arrange one meeting in HP, Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Kurukshetra and Manish Tewari in Ropar or Anandpur Sahib — Congress sources