Jab-o-meter Take your shot Jan 16 39,46,348 doses Jan 17 68,95,050 doses Total doses 1,57,91,63,478 NATIONWIDE Jan 16 Jan 17 Fresh cases 2,71,202 2,58,089 Recoveries 1,38,331 1,51,740 Deaths 314 385 statewide Jan 16 jan 17 Fresh cases 4,570 4,108 Recoveries 669 696 Deaths 1 0 Samples tested 30,022 22,882 tirupati l tuesday l january 18, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Deadline for feedback on GM food norms extended People can now submit feedback on the draft regulations till Feb 5, the FSSAI said on Monday. Original deadline was Jan 15 DECISION AFTER pressure from rss outfit Blanket nod for use as ingredient? The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)’s decision to push the last date comes in the wake of protests from anti-GM groups, activists, farmers and NGOs. Last week, the RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), too, put its weight behind the anti-GM campaign shooting off a letter to the FSSAI asking it to withdraw its “irresponsible” proposals ■ ■ SJM co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan also launched an online campaign highlighting GM food’s impact on health and nature According to the draft norms, once the FSSAI grants approval, no other clearance is required for GM food to be used as an ingredient in any product, except infant food | P7 Nov 15, 2021 When the fssai released the draft guidelines on gm food 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 Jagan wants wait time for 3rd jab cut Says slashing interval between 2nd & booster doses from 9 months to 6 helps frontline warriors E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e STATE TIGHTENS COVID CONTROL @ Vijayawada birju Maharaj, kathak doyen, passes away Kathak maestro Birju Maharaj passed away at his home in Delhi early on Monday. Maharaj-ji, as he was popularly known, had been suffering from a kidney ailment | P5 express read TS to replicate Jagan’s Eng medium schools Telangana has decided to allocate `7,289 crore for providing basic amenities at all government schools under a new scheme, “Mana Vooru Mana Badi”. The State cabinet also decided to introduce English medium in all government schools. | P5 CHIEF Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will request the Centre to reduce the interval between the second dose of Covid vaccine and the precautionary dose to six months from the present nine months. Reviewing the Covid situation in the State on Monday the Chief , Minister opined that reducing the gap between jabs would help frontline workers and others to ar m themselves ef fectively against Covid-19, thus reducing their chances of hospitalization. Pointing out that five districts were lagging behind others in administering the second Covid vaccine, he directed officials to pay attention to ensure all the districts completed administering the second dose at the earliest. Nellore and West Godavari districts have achieved 100% administration of the first dose for adolescents aged 15 to 18. Detailing the preparedness in handling Covid, officials said 53,184 hospital beds have been arranged across the State. Only 1,100 people out of the 27,000 active cases were hospitalized and only 600 required oxygen support, and those hospitalised were being discharged after seven days compared to the earlier 14.  P4 Control rooms set up for students and parents School education: 7833-888-555 Intermediate: 9440-816-026 (10 am - 5 pm) NO ANNAPRASADA Temples told to stop distributing ‘annaprasada’ Religious institutions to ensure physical distancing of devotees, wearing of masks and proper sanitation CURFEW FROM TODAY As many as 61% of students attended classes on Monday | Madhav K Night curfew will be enforced in the State from 11 pm to 5 am till January 31 Online can’t replace offline classes: Min Two Indians killed in E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada AMID concerns over the rising number of Covid-19 cases, schools in the State reopened after Sankranthi vacations on Monday . The attendance in schools was low compared to normal days as it was the first day after vacation, and also parents preferring not to send their wards to schools. Even as the Opposition TDP, parents and teachers’ associations urged the government to postpone the reopening of schools, Education Minister Adimulapu Suresh tried to allay the fears, saying the decision to continue in-person classes was made considering the future of the students. He urged the parents not to worry about their children’s health. TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh--who tested MEDICOS TEST POSITIVE As many as 48 medical students of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Kadapa, tested positive for Covid-19. Separate arrangements have been made for them to write their exams positive for coronavirus on Monday--shot off a letter to Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, demanding the closure of schools to prevent exposing lakhs of students to the virus. Stressing the need for strong preventive measures since most school students were yet to be vaccinated, Lokesh urged the government to take all possible steps to prevent the third Covid wave from taking a severe form in the State. Minister Suresh, however, maintained that opening of schools and the spike in fresh inP4 fections were not related.  Abu Dhabi drone attack Dubai: Two Indians and a Pakistani national were killed and six others injured on Monday in a suspected Houthi drone attack near the Abu Dhabi airport that sparked multiple explosions in the United Arab Emirates’ capital. The explosions were caused by “small flying objects”, possibly drones, that hit three petroleum tankers in Abu Dhabi, police said. Another minor fire broke out in the new construction area of the Abu Dhabi International Airport, according to the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM). It said that the fire that broke out in the Musaffah ICAD 3 area near the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) resulted in the explosion of three petroleum tankers. Preliminary investigations suggest that the cause of P9 the fires are small flying objects, possibly drones.