S Somanath’s family celebrates his elevation as Isro chief at their residence at Ambalamukku in Thiruvananthapuram | express bhubaneswar l thursday l january 13, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Eminent Rocket scientist Somanath is new isro chief Dr S Somanath, who is at present director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, will take over from incumbent K Sivan on Friday Combined tenure of three years Played key role in chandrayaan-2 Somanath’s appointment as Space Secretary and Space Commission chairman is for a combined tenure of three years including extension. The post of ISRO chairman, Space Secretary and Space Commission chief is usually held by one person. Somanath did his B Tech in Mech Engg from TKM engg college Kollam and masters in aerospace engg from IISc Bangalore ■ ■ Among his achievements are the successful flight of an electric propulsion system in GSAT-9 and the development and qualification of CE20 cryogenic engine and the C25 stage Somanath was also instrumental in developing the GSLV Mk-III rocket, which was chosen to fly the Chandrayaan-2 mission 10th Somanath will be the 10th chairman of the premier space organisation CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI In season of Aaya Rams and Gaya Retail inflation at 6-month high Rams, another UP minister resigns expected to continue in January but the sticky core inflation and DEALING a twin blow to expec- adverse base effect poses risk of tations of a healthier economy the next reading being higher in the post-Covid era, than 6%,” said Upasna latest data showed reBhardwaj, economist, tail inflation is shooting Kotak Mahindra Bank. up while industrial acMeanwhile, the Index tivity is losing steam. of Industrial ProducAccording to figures tion (IIP), which measreleased by the National ures the industrial acStatistical Office on tivities in the economy, Wednesday, retail infla- World Bank grew the slowest in nine tion flared up again in projections months. The IIP recordDecember 2021 to 5.6%, ed an increase of 1.4% World Bank on higher food, clothing in November, down has retained and footwear prices. from 3.2% growth in India’s GDP This is the highest October. monthly retail inflation growth forecast Both mining and recorded in the past six for the current manufacturing growth months and is within fiscal at 8.3% in November showed a kissing distance from as the recovery tepid growth of 5.0% is yet to the Reserve Bank of Inand 0.9%, respectively dia’s upper limit of become broad- (11.3% and 2% in Octobased. It also 6%. ber). Electricity grew upgraded its According to ana2.1% in November. “It is very clear that lysts, low base effect growth forecast the GDP growth took a could have led to food for FY23 and serious hit in Octoberand beverages prices FY24 to 8.7% November 2021 and rising 4.5% in Decemand 6.8%, thus, the third quarter ber compared with 2.6% respectively, in November. However, citing improved of the financial year. I am confident that the economists welcome investment consensus of 6.3% y-o-y the softening of fuel, oil outlook growth forecast will be and fat prices. They also r ev i s e d d ow n a n d see broad-based moder,” ation in food prices in January 5-5.5% looks more likely said Nikhil Gupta, chief economist 2022. “The overall falling sequen- at Motilal Oswal Financial tial momentum on food prices is Services. E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ New Delhi N a m i ta B a j pa i @ Lucknow In what is being seen as a realignment of political forces in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, a second BJP minister quit the Yogi government in as many days, while the party poached a couple of lawmakers from the Congress and the Samajwadi Party as also a former MLA from Akhilesh Yadav’s party . A day after UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya created a flutter by putting in his papers, his colleague Dara Singh Chauhan followed suit on Wednesday Speculation about his . exit had started doing the rounds after Maurya left on Tuesday Both are . serial party-hoppers. Chauhan was holding the environment and forest portfolio in the Yogi cabinet. He had last defected from the BSP to the BJP in 2015 and was soon appointed chairman of the state backward commission. A sitting MLA from Madhuban in serial party-hopper does it again Dara Singh Chauhan represented the BSP in Rajya Sabha in 1996; SP in RS from 2000-2006; BSP again in Lok Sabha from 2009-2014; lost 2014 LS polls on BSP ticket before defecting to the BJP a year later Mau district of eastern UP Chauhan , is a prominent leader from the Most Backward Classes (MBC). In his resi g n a t i o n l a t t e r t o G ove r n o r Anandiben Patel, Chauhan accused the BJP government of ignoring Dalits and backwards and tampering with their reservation rights. While Chauhan had yet to reveal his destination, Akhilesh tweeted his photograph with Chauhan, welcoming him to the SP fold and calling him an apostle of social justice. For his part, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya urged both Maurya and Chauhan to recon- Delta continues to be the variant of concern for Odisha H e m a n t K u m a r R o u t @ Bhubaneswar If you think Omicron is driving the surge in new Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the year, hold on. It is the ferocious Delta that continues to be the dominant variant of concern for Odisha. As per the latest genome sequencing data of community samples, 74.5 per cent (pc) were found to be of the Delta variant and the rest Omicron. The samples were drawn from nine districts between December 29 and January 9 and sequenced at the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) here. The State has been witnessing the spike in new infections from January 1.     Of the 263 samples randomly drawn from the community 196 were , detected with Delta and its sub-lineages and 67 with Omicron. This was the first community sample sequenc- ing this year as the samples do not include any foreign returnee or travellers to other states. While the Delta sub-lineages included AY.44 and the original B.1.617.2 that had led the second wave, Omicron and two of its sub-lineages found among the community accounted for 25.5 pc samples. Seven samples were detected with BA.1, 25 with BA.2 and 35 with B.1.1.529. Most of the clinical cases in vaccine breakthrough were infected with the Delta variant. “The findings of the genome sequencing are indicative of Delta still dominantly circulating in the community. So there should not be any complacency in management and treatment of patients with a false impression of Omicron variant which is less likely to be severe,” said a scientist of the lab.    CONTINUED ON: P5 COME RAIN OR COVID Amidst intermittent showers, beneficiaries line up outside an office to avail BSKY smart cards and `1,000 livelihood assistance in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday | Biswanath Swain sider their decisions. “If any family member strays, it is very sad. I can only appeal... please don’t get on a sinking ship. Big brother Dara Singhji, please reconsider,” Maurya tweeted. Chauhan hails from the LoniyaRajput community a sub-caste of the , MBCs that constitutes 3% of UP’s population. They have clout in eastern UP. His joining the SP would strengthen Akhilesh’s efforts to bring non-OBCs on board to project his party as a rainbow of all castes. The Loniya-Rajput community is mainly concentrated in and around east UP districts of Ghazipur, Mau, Azamgarh, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Pratapgarh. As for the BJP’s acquisitions of the day, sitting MLAs Naresh Saini (Congress) and Hari Om Yadav (SP), and former SP MLA Dharampal Singh joined the party on Wednesday Both Saini and Yadav represent . P8 backward classes.  NATIONWIDE jan 11 jan 12 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 1,68,063 1,94,720 69,959 60,405 277 442 odisha jan 11 jan 12 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 7,071 752 01 8,778 949 0 Jab-o-meter Take your shot January 11 76,68,282 doses January 12 66,77,685 doses Total doses 1,54,50,27,669 Policy tweak lets mild cases leave in seven days E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi The Centre on Wednesday revised its hospital discharge policy for Covid-19 patients, categorising them as mild, moderate and severe, adding mild cases can be discharged seven days after testing positive without a repeat test. However, mild patients must be without fever for three consecutive days before discharge, the advisory stated. As for moderate cases, if there is resolution of symptoms and patients maintain oxygen saturation greater than 93% for three successive days without oxygen support, they can be discharged. ICMR director general Balram Bhargava said there was no need to test mild patients before home isolation as there is enough evidence to suggest that people do not spread infection after five days of infection, if they do not have symptoms. “Since RT-PCR tests are very sensitive—they continue to detect even dead viruses raising false alarms that a person is positive but that is not the case,” he said. The advisory comes as India added 1,94,720 new infections to its tally of Covid-19 cases. d a n c e o f De m o c ra c y Once a Red den, Swabhiman Anchal raring to vote D e b a P r a s a d D a s H @ Malkangiri There is a palpable excitement in the Swabhiman Anchal, the erstwhile cut-off region of Malkangiri district, over the ensuing panchayat polls. Electioneering activities have picked up pace and received with enthusiasm among the people. Political posters, banners, campaigns have begun to become increasingly visible across the villages. Discussions at markets, tea-shops and gatherings are now centered around the upcoming polls. “There is huge enthusiasm among the people of the region to vote. For the first time in over 10 years, the pollbuzz and people’s participation in the process is real. They will go out and exercise their franchise without fear,” says Ghana Muduli of Tablabeda village under Panasput panchayat. The dark shadow of Maoists on the region has been removed and the people are raring to be part of the mainstream. The entire region had been a Naxal hotbed for decades, depriving people of their voting rights and participation in democractic process. The situation has changed following drastic improvement in security scenario and fast-paced developmental activities including opening of the Gurupriya bridge in the last few years. There are nine panchayats in Swabhiman Anchal under Chitrakonda block which will go to the polls on The BSF check post at Gorasetu where Maoists had their base camp a few years back February 24. With a population of 31,730, the region has 18,989 registered voters. Amid deployment of Border Security Force (BSF) and strict vigil by the district police, both villagers and political leaders are showing a keen interest to participate in the rural polls. BJD workers were seen campaigning near the erstwhile Maoist base camp at Gorasetu Chowk within Jodamba police limits where top cadres including RK used to operate. The BSF has now taken over the rebels’ camp and set up its checkpost. “BSF and police have been successful in penetrating into eight of the nine panchayats in Swabhiman Anchal, thereby instilling a sense of confidence among villagers. People feel safe and want to vote in the panchayat elections this time,” said Shyam Sundar Golari, a former Gram Rakhi who had to quit his job due to Maoist threat a few years back.  CONTINUED ON: P5 E x pre s s rea d Supreme Court sets up panel to probe PM security breach New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday set up a panel to probe the security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab last week. The panel will be headed by former SC judge, Justice Indu Malhotra. Other members will be NIA DG or an IG level officer nominated by him, police chief of Chandigarh, ADGP (security) of Punjab and Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court | P7 To stay at LAC for as long as required: Gen Naravane New Delhi: Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane on Wednesday made it clear that while the Chinese have carried out a major enhancement of the troop level and built permanent infrastructure along LAC in eastern Ladakh, it remains to be seen if they permanently garrison themselves there or de-induct in the time to come. Till then, Indian forces will have to be prepared to stay there | P7 Myanmar insurgents planning attacks in Manipur: Intel New Delhi: With hardly a month left for Assembly polls in Manipur, security agencies have been alerted about a huge security threat of insurgents from Myanmar planning terror acts in the pollbound state. Highly placed sources said an insurgent group based in Myanmar was trying to carry out terror attacks in Manipur in coordination with Northeast-based insurgent groups | P8