DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES SINCE 1932 BJP frowns, ‘tainted’ JDU leader out 3 days after swearing-in RACE FOR A COVID-19 VACCINE New phase 2 trial results of Oxford vaccine show success in older people Mewalal Choudhary quits as Bihar Minister, says cooperating with probe SANTOSH SINGH & LIZ MATHEW Hope for large, vulnerable group; breakthrough immune response CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 At the site of the encounter near Nagrota, on the outskirts of Jammu city on Thursday. PTI Mewalal Choudhary after taking charge on Thursday P5 4 Jaish militants killed; foiled plan to disrupt DDC polls: J&K Police ARUN SHARMA JAMMU, NOVEMBER19 THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW MANOJ KUMAR JHA RJD LEADER THE JAMMU and Kashmir Police claimed to have foiled a plan to disrupttheDistrictDevelopment Council (DDC) polls in the Union territory, starting November 28, with the killing of four Jaish-eMohammad militants near NagrotaontheoutskirtsofJammu city early Thursday morning. Two police personnel were injured in the three-hour encounter near the Ban toll plaza, on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, that involved the CRPF and Army along with police. IGP, Jammu zone, Mukesh Singh, said the four, who are yet tobeidentified,wereontheirway to Kashmir and, going by the quantity of arms and ammuni- China sees rising India as Need to reform banking, rival, wants to constrain be watchful on trade ties with US: State Dept protectionism: N K Singh EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 19 CHINA PERCEIVES a “rising India as a rival” and wants to constrain its strategic partnership with the US, its allies and other democracies,theUSStateDepartmenthas said in a report. It has underlined thatChinaintendstodisplacethe USastheworld'sforemostpower. The Chinese People's Liberation Army, the report said, recently provoked skirmishes along its disputed border with India, which killed dozens on bothsides,andremainsinatense standoff with India's military. The State Department’s reportcomesundertheleadership of Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo who has been critical of Beijing’s aggression in the last To stop manual scavenging, Govt to amend law, make mechanised cleaning must AVISHEK G DASTIDAR NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 19 AMEND THE Manual Scavenging Act to make mechanised cleaning of sewers and septic tanks mandatory, replace the word “manhole” with “machine-hole” in official usage, set upanational24x7helplinetoreport violations. These are some of the key measures that are being implemented by the Government with an aim to eliminate manual scavenging across the country by August 2021, according to senior officials. On Thursday, as part of this initiative, the Government launched a “challenge” for all states to make sewer-cleaning mechanised by April 2021 — if any human needs to enter a sewerlineincaseof unavoidable emergency,propergearandoxygentanks,etc.,aretobeprovided. The challenge will offer prize money in various categories totalling Rs 52 crore. “The actual on-groundassessmentof participating cities will be conducted in May 2021 by an independent agency and results will be declared on August 15, 2021,” said DurgaShankerMishra,Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Official records show that manual scavenging has led to 376 deaths over the past five years, including 110 in 2019 alone — a jump of 61 per cent from 2018. “We have instructed that the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 few months. In New Delhi last month, Pompeo said that Indian and US leadersandcitizensseewith“increasing clarity” that the Communist Party of China (CCP) is “no friend to democracy and rule of law”, and that the US would “stand with the people of India to confront threats to their sovereignty and to their liberty". The detailed policy document by the State Department highlights that China is undermining the security, autonomy and economic interests of many nations in the region. “China perceives rising India as a rival and seeks to impel it to accommodate Beijing's ambitions by engaging economically while constraining New Delhi's strategic partnership with the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 19 INDIA NEEDS to be watchful of the “transient” tendencies of trade protectionism emerging globally and the geopolitics surroundingtherecenttradegroupings, while keeping in mind that tradecontinuestoremainanimportant engine of growth, said N K Singh, Chairman, Fifteenth Finance Commission.The future of trade policy should become clear from January onwards when the new US government outlines its stance. Speaking at the Express eAdda (detailed transcript to be published next week) organised by The Indian Express Thursday, Singh stressed that a lot more CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 N K Singh at the Express Adda on Thursday tionseizedfromthem,wereplanning"somethingverybig".Eleven AK-47 rifles, three pistols, 29 grenades and other devices includingmobilephonesandmedicines with Pakistani marking CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 10 YRS MORE IN JAIL FOR HAFIZ SAEED KAUNAIN SHERIFF M NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 19 THE OXFORD-ASTRAZENECA Covid-19 vaccine candidate has triggered a robust immune response in older adults in phase 2 clinical trials, demonstrating its potentialusefulnessinprotecting asectionof thepopulationthatis among the most at risk of illness from the novel coronavirus. Preliminary findings published in The Lancet medical CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PUNE SURVEY SHOWS ‘NEUTRALISING ANTIBODIES’: STUDY P 7 E E X P L A I NE D PATNA, NEW DELHI, NOV 19 UNDERATTACKfromopposition parties over corruption allegations against him, JD(U) leader Mewalal Choudhary on Thursday resigned as Bihar Education Minister within an hour of taking charge. Choudhary is facing charges regarding allegeddiscrepancy in the appointment of assistants and scientists during his tenure as Bihar Agriculture University, Sabaur, Vice-Chancellor between2010and2015.Bookedby thepolice,hehadgoneabsconding till he got bail. Sources said the BJP expressed reservations over continuance of Choudhary in the Cabinet. The JD(U), however, maintained that he resigned on his own. Choudhary said, "I am `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Keyto India’s ● Covid fight SUCCESS OF the Oxford AstraZeneca candidate is especially important for India because Serum Institute of India already has 40 million shots ready, and is licensed to manufacture and distribute it in large volumes. Triggering an immune response in the elderly is a significant challenge that the vaccine candidate has overcome. Could seek govt nod in Dec, may cost Rs 500-600: Serum CEO PRABHA RAGHAVAN NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 19 SERUM INSTITUTE of India (SII) will likely apply to India’s top drug regulator next month for emergency approval for limited use of 'Covishield' on frontline workersandtheelderly,theCEO of the Pune-headquartered vaccine manufacturer said at a media summit on Thursday. Covishield is the name in India of the Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGE 12 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Cases up, Delhi reserves 80% pvt ICU beds, hikes fine to Rs 2,000 for no masks EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 19 FACING A sharp surge in Covid cases,DelhiChiefMinisterArvind Kejriwal said Thursday that all privatehospitalsinthecapitalwill have to reserve 80 per cent of their ICU beds and up to 60 per cent of normal beds for coronavirus patients, and defer non- critical surgeries. Kejriwal also saidthatthepenaltyfornotwearing masks has been increased four-fold,fromRs500toRs2,000. Hours after the announcement, the Health Department issuedanorder,directing42private hospitals to implement the decision,whichwillleadtoanincrease of 260CovidICU beds.In another order, 90 private hospitals have beenaskedtoreserve60percent oftheirtotalbedcapacityforCovid patients. Health Minister Satyendar Jain said this will lead to an increase of 2,644 beds. TheMinistryof HomeAffairs, meanwhile,advisedtheHaryana and UP governments to hold a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MORE REPORTS PAGE 3