kochi l tuesday l december 03, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Biden pardons son Hunter, says charges politically motivated Outgoing US President Joe Biden has issued ‘a full and unconditional pardon’ saying Hunter Biden is being targeted only because he is his son Hunter faced gun, tax evasion charges criminal records to be wiped clean Hunter Biden was convicted early this year on federal gun and tax charges and was set to appear soon in Delon, California, where he faced the potential of lengthy prison sentences. Prosecutors said Biden, 54, lied about his drug use on a federal form when he bought a handgun. He had pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges in Los Angeles in September | P9 ■ ■ The federal tax evasion case is about non-payment of $1.4 mn in income tax from 2016-19. He is charged with showing $5 mn spent on drugs, escorts, luxury hotels, cars, and clothing as business expenses The tax charges carried up to 17 years and gun charges 25 years jail term. The pardon means he won’t go to jail or have a criminal record U-turn Joe biden had repeatedly ruled out Presidential pardon to save his son 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 Oppn, govt find Vax death myth busted: No rise in mortality post Covid common ground, Parl logjam ends Unn i k r i s h n a n S @T’Puram Consensus emerges to hold discussions on Constitution in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Houses have lost almost all working hours due to protests by opposition parties demandTHE government and opposi- ing discussions on various istion parties on Monday agreed sues. The Congress has been to break the week-long Parlia- particularly vocal about the inment deadlock by holding a dis- dictment of Adani Group chaircussion on the Constitution to person Gautam Adani and othcommemorate the 75th anni- er company officials on charges versary of its adoption. of bribery and fraud by The breakthrough was US prosecutors. In adachieved in a meeting dition, intense opposiof floor leaders of varition protests over isous parties with the sues such as the Lok Sabha Speaker, Sambhal violence and where consensus the unrest in Manipur emerged to let both have led to repeated adCongress, Houses function journments in both the TMC differ smoothly from Tuesday Lok Sabha and the RaWhile the onwards. It was also dejya Sabha. Congress is cided to hold debates However, certain opkeen to push on the Constitution in position parties, notathe Adani row bly the Trinamool Conboth Houses. Parliamentary Af- in Parliament, gress, have prioritised fairs Minister Kiren Ri- the TMC feels other issues over the price rise and jiju later told reporters Adani controversy. that the Lok Sabha unemployment They have called for deare the more would hold discussions bates on unemployon the Constitution on pressing issues ment, price rises, and December 13 and 14, that should be the Centre’s alleged while the Rajya Sabha raised by Oppn bias against oppositionwould conduct the deruled states in fund bates on December 16 and 17. allocation. “The government has agreed Meanwhile, the BJP has acto this,” Rijiju said, adding that cused the Congress of violating he expected parliamentary pro- constitutional norms during ceedings to resume smoothly. its time in power. The BJP has Several opposition leaders who also emphasised that the attended the meeting expressed Narendra Modi government similar optimism. has upheld and strengthened Since the winter session constitutional principles durstarted on November 25, both ing its tenure of over 10 years. RA J E SH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi Five medicos die after car rams KSRTC bus E X P R E SS N E W S S E R V I C E @ Alappuzha Five medical students of Alappuzha Medical College died and two were injured after their car collided head-on with a KSRTC Superfast bus at Kalarkode Junction on NH 66 in Alappuzha town on Monday . According to police, the accident happened around 9.30 pm. The students were returning to their residence after duty at the hospital when the accident occurred. There was heavy rain at the time of the accident and poor visibility might have led to the accident, police said. All seven youths in the car were first-year MBBS students. One of them died on the spot while four youths succumbed to their injuries at Vandanam MCH. According to Additional District Magistrate Asha C Abraham, the deceased have been identified as Devanandan and Ibrahim, natives of Lakshadweep, Ayush Shaji, Sreedeep and Muhammed Jabbar, all from Kerala. Debunking the popular notion that Covid-19 vaccinations have led to an increase in deaths among young adults, state government data shows no significant change in the death rate in the 35-44 age group between 2019 and 2023. Mortality rates in this group have remained relatively consistent, at 3.30% in 2019 and at 3.13% and 3.23% in the postvaccination years of 2022 and 2023 respectively . Reports of heart attack in young people, often attributed to the side effects of Covid vaccine, appear to be unfound- ed. The data does not support any correlation between vaccinations and death rate in this age group. While there have been no substantial studies on premature deaths in the state, the available mortality data confirms health experts’ claims that the vaccines are safe. In Kerala, 1,29,45,396 individuals aged 18-44 have received the first dose of Covi d - 1 9 v a c c i n e, o f wh i c h 1,08,60,254 went on to complete the second dose. The death of youngsters, especially when it occurs suddenly and without an obvious cause during work or workouts often attracts public at- Valapattanam case Robber strikes it rich, but slip-ups give him away L a k s h m i At h i r a @Kannur It was the confidence from a prior successful theft and expertise in locker making that drove Lijeesh C P to steal 267 sovereigns of gold and `1.21 crore cash from the house of his neighbour Ashraf, a rice trader, at Valapattanam in Taliparamba on November 20. On Monday a special inves, tigation team arrested Lijeesh for the theft and recovered the loot that was hidden in a specially built compartment under his cot. Familiarity with the house’s layout, surrounding area, and CCTV placement had given the 45-year-old welding worker an initial advantage. However, minor oversights — such as leaving fingerprints and failing to fully conceal his identity — proved crucial in the police investigation, leading to his arrest. Ashraf, along with his family left , for a wedding in Madurai on November 19, which created a Lijeesh C P chance for Lijeesh to execute the robbery the next day. In a swift 40-minute operation, he entered the house through the kitchen window after cutting through its iron bar. Using his knowledge of the property’s CCTV locations, he attempted to redirect cameras to avoid detection. Despite his efforts, one camera captured partial footage of him, although his face was obscured by a mask. Assistant Commissioner of Police T K Retnakumar, the head of the investigation team, said Lijeesh’s skills as a welder and locker maker enabled him to bypass Ashraf ’s advanced locker system. After confirming his family was asleep, he moved gold and cash in sacks to his house, which he hid in a compartment under his cot. However, his plan unravelled when he left behind a chisel at the crime scene. The next day, fearing discovery, he returned to retrieve it but was unsuccessful. The chisel was later found by police, and the fingerprints on it became a key ● More on P4 piece of evidence.  16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express ahead of ‘Vijay Divas’ Heroes of 1971 war meet in Kumarakom, recall memories of decisive campaign A B HI L ASH C HA N D RA N @Kottayam On December 2, 1971, the Indian armed forces were instructed to prepare for war. Young officers, mostly in the 20s, energetically marched into battle the very next day . As the nation prepares to celebrate 53rd ‘Vijay Divas’ on December 16, commemorating India’s triumph in war of 1971 against Pakistan, that led to the formation of Bangladesh, some of those brave soldiers gathered on the banks of Vembanad Lake in Kumarakom on Monday to relive memo, ries of the military campaign. The group consists of 78 members, including war veterans, their wives and four ‘Veer Naris’, who are widows of fallen soldiers. Despite being scattered across the country, these courageous individuals, who first crossed paths at the National Defence Academy in the late 1960s, share a deep bond that tran- Col J S Patial sharing his 1971 war memories during the war heroes get-together in Kumarakom on Monday | Vishnu Prathap scends time and distance. They often come together in different locations to reminisce their shared experience. Commissioned as officers in the Army, Navy and Airforce in 1971, many of them served for more than 30 years in the Indian Ar med Forces. “We have always been a family The . bond we share is indescribable. I served in the Army for 35 years and retired in 2006. Given a chance, I would gladly return to the Army,” said Brigadier Ravi Velu who, along with wife Prameela, remains active members of the group. Interestingly , these officers are referred to as ‘born to battle’, as they bravely marched into war just months after being com● More on P4 missioned as officers.  Mortality rate (Age group 35-44) 2019 8,935 (3.30%) 2020 8,252 (3.29%) 2021 10,971 (3.23%) 2022 10,128 (3.13%) 2023 9,826 (3.23%) (Source: Department of Economics & Statistics) tention. However, health experts dismiss the assumptions linking such deaths to the vaccine. “The tendency is to attribute any young person’s death to the vaccine. It is also wrong to assume that vaccine- related risks persist. There is evidence that vaccination can cause some issues in young people, but these cases are extremely rare, and the mortality rate reflects that,” said Dr V Ramankutty, an epidemiologist and emeritus professor at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology . Dr B Ekbal, public health activist and head of the expert panel advising the state on Covid and elderly vaccination, affirms that Covishield is one of the safest vaccines available. “The death rate is likely to remain steady or increase as there are several reasons for people in the age group to die. They are at risk of death due to non-communicable and infectious diseases. People should be discussing poor diabetes control, obesity and post-Covid issues instead of vaccines which were rolled out long ago,” he said. Experts agree that premature deaths should be thoroughly investigated to determine their true causes. While vascular diseases have been the primary cause of death since 1995, cardiologists indicate that there has been no significant increase in heart disease cases among young people since the pre-Cov● More on P4 id period.  Low food weightage in CPI under new base yr Impact on RBI’s INFLATION targetING As inflation remains high, there was a suggestion to keep food inflation out of RBI’s inflation targeting framework to keep retail inflation at 4% (plus minus 2%) D I PAK M O N D A L @ New Delhi WITH the debate raging over weightage of food inflation in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), government sources said the weightage of food in the index would come down automatically once the new base year is adopted. The National Statistics Office is working on a new base year, which could be 202223 or 2023-24 and could kick in by late 2025 or early 2026. Currently, the government uses 2011-12 base year for inflation and GDP calculation. “The debate over the weightage of food items in CPI basket would be over once the new base year is adopted. The Household Consumption Expenditure Survey report of 2023-24 would be released in a few weeks. After that, we will decide on the base year,” said a senior official. According to the 2022-23 survey the share of food in house, hold consumption has fallen from 52.90% in 2011-12 to 46.4% in rural areas and from 46.62% to 39.17% in urban areas. The share of cereals from the consumption basket has fallen from 10.69% in 2011-12 to 4.89% in 2022-23 in rural areas and from 6.61% to 3.62% in urban. The 2023-24 survey saw further fall in the share of food items in the consumption basket. Currently, food has a weightage of 44.6% in the combined CPI. Cereals have a weightage of 10%. In October, the retail inflation crossed 6% after 14 months.