HYDERABAD  MONDAY  JANUARY 17, 2022  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION DJOKOVIC LOSES CASE, DEPORTED FROM AUSTRALIA World No 1 leaves Melbourne after the Federal Court upholds government’s decision to cancel his visa for the second time APPLICATION ‘DISMISSED WITH COSTS’ Chief Justice James Allsop dismissed the amended application with costs. It finally ended a 10-day legal drama since the the 34-year-old announced on social media that he had secured a ‘medical exemption’ to enter Australia. Djokovic could have technically appealed the decision at the High Court but decided against doing so | P11 21 SERBIAN ‘DISAPPOINTED’ ■ In a statement, the Serbian said he was disappointed. “I am uncomfortable that the focus of the past weeks has been on me." He also said he will now rest and recuperate ■ He had his visa cancelled as his presence could cause ‘civil unrest because he’s a talisman of anti-vaccination sentiment’ DJOKOVIC WAS GOING FOR A MEN’S RECORD 21ST SLAM TITLE 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 Though the sample size is small, the study is representative of Omicron surge in India Biker dies as kite thread slits throat EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Adilabad/Nizamabad ONE person died and another was injured in two separate but similar mishaps when the manja used to fly kites wound around their necks in Mancherial and Banswada. V Bheemiah, a 39-year-old daily wage labourer, died when Chinese manja used to fly a kite suddenly cut his throat as he was riding a bike, with his wife as pillion, in Mancherial on Saturday. He was on his way to his native village of Gollapalli in Jagtial district when the mishap occurred. Ironically , the accident occurred when he was returning home after undergoing treatment for a medical problem at a hospital. As the manja twined around his neck, he lost balance and fell from his bike and died on the spot. After the incident, the police raided shops selling kites and manja, and seized the material. In a similar mishap in Banswada town of Kamareddy district, youngster Mohammed Ajaz was injured. He has since been admitted to a private hospital in Nizamabad. Ajaz is a mechanic in Banswada and was riding a bike when he fell while trying to remove the thread that wrapped around his neck. He is reported to be out of danger. Hospitalisation under 4%, finds latest research S U M I S U K A N YA D U T TA @ New Delhi A raging fire engulfs the 144-year-old Secunderabad Club in the early hours of Sunday. Right, a view of the damaged structure after the firefighters brought the flames under control Heritage slips into oblivion as huge fire devours Sec’bad Club P I N T O D E E PA K @ Hyderabad A raging pre-dawn fire devoured a major portion of the 144-year-old iconic Secunderabad Club here on Sunday. The fire reduced 60 per cent of club’s main building, which also houses the offices of the club president and other functionaries, to ashes. As many as seven fire tenders from different parts of the city rushed to the club in flames in Secunderabad abutting the Rajiv Rahadari highway and brought the blaze under control after battling with leaping flames for hours. Though the fire was huge, it did not spread out of the building and to the club’s fuel station, located just a few hundred metres from the affected part. If the fire had spread to the fuel station, the damage would have been extensive, officials said. As a major portion of the building was made of wood, fire spread rapidly resulting in a huge property loss. The bar located in the ground floor of the building added fuel to the fire. As the fire occurred in the early hours and there was no movement of people, a major mishap has been averted, said fire officials. Area spread around 25,000 sq ft was gutted in the incident, they added. After serving members on Saturday, the club closed at 11 pm, after which the clearing up work continued for sometime. Around 3 am on Sunday, there were only security personnel and some kitchen staff on the premises. It was the security personnel who first noticed the fire and immediately alerted the police and fire departments. The staff who first saw the fire told officials that it spread from top portion to the lower parts of the building. Police and fire teams, who rushed to the spot, began battling with the rogue flames. Before the fire tenders a r r ive d , t h e c l u b staff tried to contain the blaze using the fire extinguishers, but to no avail as the fire was huge, which by then engulfed the building. Chandana Deepti, DCP North Zone, Hyderabad City Police told Express that the exact cause of fire is yet to be established as the building was badly damaged and is now in an unsafe condition to enter. Only the skeletal structure is left after the fire was brought under control and it can collapse anytime. “We are investigating various angles. Samples from the spot would also be sent for forensic analysis. The property loss is also yet to be ascer- tained,” he added. Police are also verifying if the club has a fire safety mechanism and whether fire safety drills were conducted at the place on a regular basis. Club president R Raghuram Reddy said that as soon as the Fire Department was called in, they came rushing to the spot and brought the situation under control. “It is very sad that the mishap of this scale had occurred. Right now, we cannot assess the damage in monetary terms. Only after the architects and structural engineers visit the place and assess the damage, we will get a clear idea on the damage,” he said. “The club has been functioning in compliance with the Covid-19 guidelines issued by the State government. Several programmes have been lined up for the festival season, but they were all cancelled as per the government instructions,” he added. Along with police, fire and electricity departments are also probing the incident. Meanwhile, it was informed that the club will remain closed for members till further notice.|P3 The 20-year-old, who is World No 17, has a definite chance of making a run for the top 10 spot soon. Covid cases notwithstanding, he will also take part at the Syed Modi meet, a Super 300 meet. Win there as well and it’s a possibility 17 The doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Chetty completed a sweet double from an Indian perspective with a fine win over Indonesia’s Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan RESULTS Lakshya is currently No 17 in the world (only Indians, all finals) Lakshya bt Loh Kean Yew 24-22, 21-17 Satwiksairaj/Chirag bt Ahsan/ Satiawan 21-16, 26-24 Lakshya Sen in action against Loh Kean Yew in the Yonex-Sunrise India Open in New Delhi on Sunday | BAI TS extends school, college holidays till Jan 30 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad HOLIDAYS for schools and other educational institutions, both private and aided as well as government, have been extended till January 30. Medical colleges, however, will run as usual, according to a GO issued by Sandeep Kumar Sultania, The staff who first saw the fire told officials that it spread from top portion to the lower parts of the building. Police and fire teams began battling with the rogue flames. Before the fire tenders arrived, the club staff tried to contain the fire using the fire extinguishers, but to no avail K U M A R V I K R A M @ New Delhi TOP 10 BECKONS YOUNGSTER SATWIK/ CHIRAG MAKE IT A SWEET DOUBLE Fire spread from top portion First dose to eligible populatin 59.9% Of world’s population has taken first shot Secretary of Education Department, on Sunday . The Sate government took the decision in the wake of steep rise in Covid-19 cases. Earlier, the government declared holidays for the educational institutions from January 8 to 16. As schools and colleges will be closed till the end of this month, the authorities are planning to rever t to online instruction. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will take a decision on what form of instruction should be followed as well as measures to rein in Covid-19 during a Cabinet meeting scheduled to be held on Monday . He will consider a report the Medical and Health Department will submit on the prevailing Covid-19 situation and depending on the gravity of the issue, the Cabinet will consider several options, including imposition of night curfew. THE Election Commission has created a separate cell dedicated to deal with matters pertaining to the criminal antecedents of candidates, in compliance with the Supreme Court’s order on the issue. The poll panel has mandated that candidates as well as the concerned political parties issue a declaration in the media about their criminal background. The poll panel has come up with a mobile application named ‘Know Your Candidate’, containing information regarding the criminal backgrounds as declared by candidates. Moreover, a dedicated fund has been created for voters’ awareness campaigns and to make available the criminal history of the contesting candidates to the general public. Any fine imposed by the apex court on political parties regarding non-compliance of its orders will be deposited to the above fund. Earlier, on August 10, the Supreme Court had said that parties will have to publish information regarding the criminal antecedents of candidates—including detailed NATIONWIDE Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 9.5% People in poor countries got their first does so far JAN 15 JAN 16 2,68,833 1,22,684 402 TELANGANA JAN 15 2,71,202 1,38,331 314 JAN 16 1,963 1,620 2 2,047 2,013 3 patients had been fully vaccinated with either Covishield or Covaxin. Another patient had received two doses of the Moderna vaccine and a third dose of Covaxin. Only three among the Omicron patients required hospitalisation, and each had other underlying health conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure. None of them needed ICU care. India US UK France Spain 90% 73.2% 75.9% 78.3% 84.7% Door-todoor drive in India since November enhanced single dose coverage by over 5%, full vax coverage by nearly 12% UP Police books Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel for flouting Covid norms while on a door-todoor campaign for a Congress candidate in Noida Page 7 CLOSER EC WATCH ON MUSCLE POWER IN ELECTION FRAY Worlds bronze-medallist beats world champion Loh Kean Yew in straight games to claim India Open title. A look at some of the talking points... The former junior World No 1 has always advertised his talents and he’s now making good on his promise. After reaching the final of the World Championships in December, he’s now won his first Super 500 crown The fire reduced 60 per cent of club’s main building, which also houses the offices of club president and other functionaries, to ashes. Though the fire was huge, it did not spread out of the building and also to the club’s fuel station, located just a few hundred metres from the affected part. If the fire had spread to the fuel station, the damage would have been extensive, a club official said It is very sad that the mishap of this scale had occurred. Right now, we can not assess the damage – R Raghuram Reddy, Secunderabad Club chief First Super 500 title for Lakshya BIG LAST FEW MONTHS Damage could have been extensive FULL vaccination against Covid-19 or previous infection may not offer any substantial protection against the highly contagious Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, but its hospitalisation rate is way low at less than 4%. These were the takeaways from India’s first epidemiological study on Omicron carried out by researchers associated with a leading government hospital. Their results, released on a pre-print repository of medical science, have also shown that Omicron was already in community circulation in Delhi in December — days after South Africa alerted the world about the variant — and underlined the limited impact of airport screening or curtailing flights from other countries. Researchers associated with the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in Delhi sequenced the genomes of 264 Covid-19 positive samples from five districts across the national capital and found 82 of them had Omicron. The rest were infected with the Delta variant that had fueled the devastating second Covid wave in India last summer. Though the sample size is small, the study is being viewed as a representative analysis of Omicron-driven surge in many parts of India. The analysis of 264 patients who had tested positive between November 25 and December 23 last year found that 72 (or 88%) of the Omicron-infected information on the nature of the offences, relevant particulars such as whether charges have been framed, the concerned court, the case number, etc.—on the homepage of their websites, along with the reasons for their selection and why other individuals could not be given tickets instead. Pressure to postpone Punjab elections Both the Congress and the BJP have urged the EC to postpone the Punjab Assembly polls slated for February 14 in view of the Guru Ravidas Jayanti on February 16 They also need to write to the EC within 48 hours of selection of such a candidate. The reasons as to selection must be with reference to the qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate concerned, not mere winnability at polls. This information also needs to be published in one local vernacular newspaper and one national newspaper as well as on the official social media platforms of the political party, including Facebook and Twitter. Denied ticket, Channi sibling to contest as independent E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ Chandigarh REVOLTS by netas denied poll tickets are no big deal, but when the brother of a chief minister throws a fit, it is bound to catch attention. Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s brother Dr Manohar Singh, who was denied a ticket to contest the elections, will fight as an Independent against the Congress candidate for the Bassi Pathana seat. Channi had unsuccessfully lobbied for his brother as the Congress refused to budge on the ‘one ticket one family’ formula. However, the party gave tickets to the relatives of a few leaders. For example, Kamil Amar Singh, son of Fatehgarh Sahib MP Dr Amar Singh, has been fielde d f r o m R a j ko t wh i l e Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary , son of Jalandhar MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary, was given the Phillaur ticket. Channi’s brother is a medical practitioner who had quit the Kharar civil hospital to enter the poll fray .