JAB-O-METER TAKE YOUR SHOT Dec 10: 68,63,955 doses Dec 11: 81,08,719 doses TOTAL: 132,84,04,705 NATIONWIDE DEC 10 DEC 11 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 8,503 7,678 624 7,992 9,265 393 TELANGANA DEC 10 DEC 11 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths WARANGAL  SUNDAY  DECEMBER 12, 2021  `12.00  PAGES 24  CITY EDITION OMICRON IS MILDER THAN DELTA, S AFRICA DATA SHOWS Two weeks after the first case, statistics from South African hospitals show the new strain causes milder Covid than Delta 207 196 1 188 193 1 Scientists prepare samples for genomic sequencing in South Africa | AP MOST PATIENTS DIDN’T NEED HOSPITAL VISITS OMICRON SEVERITY AND VACCINE STATUS Only about 30% of those hospitalised with Covid in recent weeks have been seriously ill, less than half the rate reported during the first weeks of the country’s previous pandemic waves. And Covid patients spent only 2.8 days in the hospital on average, down from eight days. Doctors said even older or vulnerable patients are able to recover at their home in 10-14 days ■ ■ More than 85% of patients hospitalised in the country’s current wave weren’t vaccinated, and two-thirds of them were under 40 The data on Covid fatalities from South Africa, where Omicron is the dominant strain, is also encouraging: Just 3% of hospitalised patients died, compared with 20% from earlier outbreaks 33 INDIA’S OMICRON TALLY ON SATURDAY, AFTER A NEW CASE DETECTED IN DELHI 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 Club raided for obscenity, owners booked Govt goes slow on legislative biz after farm bills volte-face EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE M A N I S H A N A N D @ New Delhi @ Hyderabad COUNTRY Club in Begumpet has made the news for the wrong reasons again. The owners of Club Tollywood, a club within the property were tak, en into custody during the wee hours of Saturday for allegedly permitting their customers and female employees to carry out obscene acts. The owners, N Venu Gopal and Sai Baradwaz, have been charged under Section 294 (sing, recite or utter any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place) of the IPC. A total of 33 customers were taken into custody and handed over to the Punjagutta police for further investigation, while nine women employees were rescued. Earlier, a club named High Five Sky Lounge existed at the place where Club Tollywood now stands, whose owner Murali Krishna was charged with attempt-to-murder. A woman, along with her brother-in-law, met Murali to request CCTV footage of a man who had misbehaved with her at the club. However, Murali refused to give them the footage and instead, assaulted P3 the duo. Farmers leaving the protest site at Tikri border in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI Cryptocurrency bill unlikely to be taken up this week The cryptocurrency bill isn’t on the legislative agenda for next week. While the Union Minister for information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur has been evasive on its status during briefings, sources said it still remains at the drafting and inter-ministerial consultation stage HAVING burnt its fingers with hurried legislation on farm laws, the government appears to be going slow on fresh bills, with just nine days left in the Winter session of Parliament. During the commencement of the session, the government had unveiled plans to seek Parliamentary nod for a total of 29 bills, including three previously introduced in the lower House. The much-talked about cryptocurrency bill isn’t on the legisla- HAND OF GOD Maradona watch turns up in Assam P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati ALLEGEDLY stolen in Dubai, the late Diego Maradona’s heritage Hublot watch has been found in Assam’s Sivasagar after an international effort by police, authorities said. A 37-year-old man has been arrested over the robbery . Sivasagar’s Superintendent of Police Rakesh Roushan told this newspaper that the watch — specially-made with the football legend’s jersey No. 10 and signature inscribed on it — costs `13 lakh - `14 lakh. “The Dubai Police had shared information with an Indian federal law enforcement agency that one Wazid Hussein, son of Kalyan Hussein and resident of Sivasagar in Assam, had stolen some belongings of Maradona from his Dubai residence,” Roushan said. Police said Hussein had worked as domestic help at the Dubai home of Maradona, who died in November last year. Hussein, however, denied stealing the watch or even working for Maradona. He told the police the expensive item was a gift from a Nigerian friend. tive agenda this week, and the Lok Sabha bulletin shows only five bills to be taken up. These are the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, the Mediation Bill, the National Anti-Doping Bill, and the Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accounts and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill. The Lok Sabha has so far passed six legislative proposals out of 29 after the passage of the Farm Repeal Bill gave a stormy start to the Winter session. The ruckus in Rajya Sabha continues with Opposition MPs pressing for revocation of the suspension of 13 MPs and the government adamant on an apology from them. The current session, set to end on December 23, shows no sign of legislative hurriedness seen in previous sessions. The absence of Opposition MPs in Parliament could also be one of the reasons why the government is not keen in pushing its legislative agenda. ALL ULBs, UDAs TO FOLLOW LAND POOLING TEMPLATE W I T H T H I S I SSU E THE BODY SHOP The pandemic-driven digital revolution led to the launch of several AI-enabled fitness products, including in the virtual medium. The Omicron threat just upped the ante PLUS 12 PAGES TORNADO OUTBREAK LASHES U.S. S B A C H A N J E E T S I N G H @ Hyderabad THE State government has decided to adopt a land pooling scheme (LPS) for development of layouts in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Urban Development Authorities (UDAs) across the State, akin to the scheme taken up in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Region by HMDA to achieve planned development of peripheries and develop new growth corridors. The State government will issue necessary orders to this effect next week after the model code of conduct for the MLC polls is lifted. Until now, the scheme was limited only to HMR region. It is being extended across the State for creation of model layouts and townships, development of planned infrastructure, creating additional revenue, make litigation-free plots available, regulate prices and avoid illegal layouts. P4 70 feared dead after as many as 30 tornadoes strike several US states | P9