DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2021, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Vaccines cross 3 lakh; 2 deaths but no link: Ministry FARM HEARING ON JAN 20 SC:intervention misunderstood, policemusttake tractorrallycall Wardboy in UP, 43-yr-old in Bellary died of ‘cardiopulmonary disease’ KAUNAIN SHERIFF M NEW DELHI, JANUARY 18 AT THE end of three days of a nationwidevaccinationprogramme againstCovid-19,theUnionHealth Ministry on Monday said that while no case of severe adverse events following immunisation (AEFI)canbeattributedtothevaccines, two persons, who got their doses on January 16, reportedly diedduetocardiopulmonarydiseasenotlinkedtothevaccine. In the first of the two cases, MahipalSingh,a52-year-oldwho workedasawardboyinagovernmenthospitalinMoradabad,died onSunday,adayafterhewasvaccinated. “The post-mortem by a board of three doctors revealed EXPRESS NETWORK TN, KERALA, PUNJAB, CHHATTISGARH TOLD TO WORK ON VACCINE COVERAGE PAGE 9 death due to cardiopulmonary disease. There were pockets of pus in the lungs and an enlarged heart. The death is not related to thevaccination,”saidDrManohar Agnani, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW). The post-mortem procedure in the second case — that of 43year-old Nagaraju, an employee of the state health department Talks put off by a day; Tomar says solution if farmers discuss options EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, JANUARY 18 BACK TO SCHOOL Class XII students at the Kautilya Government Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Chirag Enclave, New Delhi, on Monday. Schools in the capital reopened for Class X and Class XII students after over 10 months. Praveen Khanna REPORT,PAGE4 Mamata back to where it started: from Nandigram India to send 20 lakh will fighttopollsher by more than 50,000 votes Suvendu vows defeat vaccines to Dhaka, Pak explores options CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, JANUARY 18 SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, JANUARY 18 WHILE INDIA plans to send 20 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Bangladesh, another neighbour, Pakistan, is exploring options to get made-in-India vaccines, either through a global alliance for vaccines or through the bilateral route, The Indian Express has learnt. On Monday, authorities in Bangladesh confirmed that on Wednesday, January 20, a specially equipped plane will carry 20 lakh doses of the Oxford- AstraZenecavaccine—manufactured in India by the Serum Instituteof Indiaunderthename Covishield — to Dhaka. The consignment will be handed over to the Bangladesh government by the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. Bangladesh has had more than 5 lakh cases of Covid, with about 7,900 deaths so far. Pakistan's move to source Indian vaccines comes after the country'sdrugregulator,theDrug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), over the weekend approved Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MAMATABANERJEEonMonday announced she would contest the Assembly election from Nandigram, the stronghold of Suvendu Adhikari, who abandoned the Trinamool Congress for the BJP last month. “What will happen if I fight (the election) from Nandigram,” Mamata Banerjee asked the crowd at a rally in Nandigram. Afterapause,shedeclared,“Iwill contest from Nandigram. My soul said to me, 'Nandigram is your lucky place, Nandigram is your holy place. You should fight fromNandigram.' Ithen decided to fight this election from Nandigram.” The Chief Minister added West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a rally in Nandigram on Monday. Express that she would give a good candidate at Bhabanipur, the constituency in Kolkata that she has represented in Vidhan Sabha NCLAT underlines IBC terms: can’t accept offer if it comes late WORLD AASHISH ARYAN NEW DELHI, JANUARY 18 IN U.S., FEARS OF INSIDER ATTACK AHEAD OF BIDEN INAUGURATION WEST TELLS RUSSIA TO FREE NAVALNY, MOSCOW HITS BACK PAGE 12 THE NATIONAL Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has ruledthattheNationalCompany Law Tribunal (NCLT) cannot accept a revised offer from a bidder whoentersthe fraylateeven if the offer is higher than that of other bidders that have adhered to the bidding timeline. The issue of revised offers af- ter the deadline for submission of bids has crossed has seen manyprolongedlegalbattles,including in the recent case of Dewan Housing and Finance Limited (DHFL) and an earlier case involving Binani Cement. The judgment, delivered on January 11 and made available lateronthewebsite,hasheldthat the only power the NCLT has is to adjudicate whether the bids that wereplacedintimeandapproved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of the corporate debtors stand the test of the rules of plan approval under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). “Weareoftheviewthatwhen the application for approval of resolutionplanispendingbefore theadjudicatingauthorityatthat time the adjudicating authority cannot entertain an application of a person who has not participated in CIRP (Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process) CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 since 2011. “Bhabanipur, please don't feel bad. I will give you a good candidate,” she said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Limitingroleof the tribunal WHILE IBC provides for the idea of maximisation of value of assets of a corporate debtor, it says all bids must be in by deadline. The NCLAT has limited the role of the tribunal to testing whether bids submitted within time stand the test of approval under the IBC. Jharkhand cracks down, HC: Republic, Times Now ran vicious key official suspended SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT COVERAGE campaign… coverage contemptuous OMKAR GOKHALE MUMBAI, JANUARY 18 RULING THAT "trialby media" of cases under investigation is an “interference with administration of criminal justice,” the Bombay High Court Monday said the reportage of Republic Television and Times Now in the Sushant Singh Rajput case was "prima facie contemptuous", PAGE 1 ANCHOR Media trial interference with justice…TV channels must follow Press Council guidelines on suicide: bench with both channels running a "vicious campaign" playing the roles of "the investigator, the prosecutor as well as the judge". RulingonPILsfiledbyformer police officers from Maharashtra, as well as activists, lawyers and NGOs, seeking restraining orders against a “media trial” in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, the bench of Chief Justice DipankarDatta and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ABHISHEK ANGAD RANCHI, JANUARY 18 STEPPING UP its crackdown, the Jharkhand government has suspendedakeydistrictwelfareofficial in Dhanbad for not following dueprocessandacceptingapplications without verification for the Centre's pre-Matric scholarshipsforpoorminoritystudents. This is the first punitive step taken by the state against any of its officials after it launched a probeintotheillegaldiversionof THE SCHOLARSHIP SCAM the scholarship, by a nexus of middlemen, school authorities, banking correspondents and government staff, based on the findings of an investigation by The Indian Express. Separately, the Jharkhand State Co-operative Bank has frozen the accounts of two CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EVEN AS the Government postponed the tenth round of talks withprotestingfarmersbyaday, the Supreme Court observed Monday that its intervention on the new farm laws has been “misunderstood”, and that the question of who should be allowedintoDelhitoholdprotests is a law and order issue that has to be handled by the police and not the court. As the Centre’s plea, seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor rally by farmers in Delhi on Republic Day, came up before thebench, Chief Justice of India S A Bobde remarked: “The question of entry into Delhi is a law and order situation that is to be determined by the police.” Later in the day, the Government said that the latest roundof talks,whichwasscheduledtobeheldTuesday,willnow EXPRESS NETWORK DISPUTE RESOLVED, CHADUNI TOTAKE PART IN TALKS PAGE 6 be held Wednesday. In a letter sent to representatives of 40 farm unions, Agriculture SecretarySanjayAgarwaldidnot cite any specific reason. “The meeting between CentralGovernment'sministerial committee and the agitating farmer unions was scheduled to be on January 19. Due to inevitable reasons, it has become necessarytopostponethismeeting.Nowthismeetingwillbeheld on January 20,” the letter said. Earlier, the Supreme Court adjourneditshearingtillJanuary 20 when it will also consider a plea seeking the reconstitution of the four-member committee CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Govt moves to wind up Devas, $1.2 bn award still pending AASHISH ARYAN, KARUNJIT SINGH & JOHNSON TA NEW DELHI, BENGALURU, JANUARY 18 ALMOST THREE months after a federal court in the US ordered ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix Corporation Ltd to pay $1.2 billion to Bengaluru start-up Devas Multimedia Private Ltd, the Ministryof CorporateAffairs has authorised Antrix to move a petition before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for winding up of Devas. In a notification issued Monday, the MCA has authorised Rakesh Sasibhushan, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Antrix, to present the petitiononthegroundsspecified under clause (c) of Sub-section (1) of Section 271 of the Companies Act. The clause states that a company can be wound up if NCLT, based on an application by a Centre-authorised person, is of theopinionitwassetupforfraudulentandunlawfulpurposes,orif persons concerned in its formation or management were guilty of fraud, misfeasance or misconduct, or if its affairs were conducted in a fraudulent manner. A government official, who did not wish to be named, said Antrix Corporation itself sought the authorisation to file a petition for winding up of Devas. He, however, did not mention if Devaswasprovidedanopportunity to be heard. OnOctober27,2020,afederal court in the US had confirmed a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BKU president Naresh Singh Tikait with his grandsons and a photograph of his father Mahendra Singh Tikait in Muzaffarnagar. Praveen Khanna REPORT,PAGE6 NIA casts net wide: A writer, journalists, traders and activists DEEPTIMAN TIWARY & KAMALDEEP SINGH BRAR NEW DELHI, AMRITSAR, JANUARY 18 AMONG THOSE summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a case of alleged terror funding by the proKhalistan organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) are farmers, shopkeepers,activists,andjournalists from Punjab and Haryana. The NIA, which is investigatingmultiplecasesagainstSFJ,registered a fresh case against the proscribed organisation on December 15, 2020. The FIR said SFJ was sending foreign funds throughNGOsto“pro-Khalistani” elements for “on-ground campaign and propaganda against Government of India”. All those summoned by the NIA in the case are united by theirassociation,insomewayor the other, with the farmers' protest against the three farm laws at the borders of Delhi. The agency questioned five people on Monday, officials said. Among those who have received notices from the NIA is Jasbir Singh Rode, a former Akal Takht Jathedar and nephew of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Rode, who says he is affiliated to the International Panthak Dal and Kisan Bachao Morcha, has been protesting at Singhu since December 2. Someof theotherswhohave receivedsummonsfromtheNIA are: ■Balwinder Pal Singh is a writer from Jalandhar who writes on Sikh and Dalit issues. “I got Covid-19 in October and Iam yet CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 His father’s dream comes to life on the biggest stage of them all SANDIP G & VISHAL MENON NEW DELHI, JANUARY 18 AFTERTHEhandshakesandhighfives, Mohammed Siraj broke awayfromhisecstaticteammates andtookamomentforhimself.In thegreatestmomentofhisyoung career, and his life, he missed his fatherMohammedGhouse,who hadpassedawayjustafewweeks beforeSirajmadehisTestdebutin Melbourne. An autorickshaw driver, Ghouse always managed to spare cash to fuel his son’s ambitious cricketing dream — even though that journey from Tolichowki in Hyderabad to the Indian Test team was uncharted and beyond his means. Today, Siraj is living that dream.AndafterDay4oftheTest, when his maiden five-for in Test cricket played a major role in giving India an outside chance of chasing 328 or managing a draw to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the 26-year-old was hiding tears behind the smiles. Dedicating his success to his father, he said: “My dad had wished that his son would play andtheentireworldwouldwatch him. This is because of his blessings that I have got a five-wicket haul in Tests. I can’t express my feelings in words.” But Siraj did manage to regain his calm, and even try some humour. Asked about special moments outside the ground, he replied: “Bubble meinkyapyaramomentshoga,sir? (Whatmemorablemomentscan one have in a bio-bubble, sir?)” The breakout star of the tour, Sirajhaswonalotoffans.Theimageof tearsflowingwhenthenational anthem was being played before his debut game — the Boxing Day Test - went viral. He receivedalotof supportwhenhe didnotreelundertheracialtauntinghewassubjectedtoinSydney. Indeed, Siraj embodies the raretoughnessthattheIndianside Mohammed Siraj at the Gabba, Brisbane, on Monday. AP has shown on this tour. He also breathes and wears an Old Hyderabad simplicity — shy but smart, reticent but not reluctant, soft-spoken but tough at heart. His brother Mohammed Ismailhadspokenaboutthedays followingtheirfather’sdeathand the call he received from his youngerbrother.“Hedidn’tspeak a word, he was just weeping,” he hadrecollected.Inthedaystofollow, Siraj would insist on speaking to their mother and that wouldbringpeace,helpingthem cope with the loss. Friend Mahboob says Siraj is very close to his family, and that he hasn't changed at all after his success — except on the field wherehehastransformedfroma gullycricketertoahardenedprofessional. “The Mohammed Siraj who picked up five wickets in Brisbane today is completely dif- ferent from the one who came to my academy many years ago. He leads a more disciplined life. He sleepsontime,takesgoodcareof his diet and is fit. He has changed for the better and it’s reflected in his bowling now,” he said. Siraj'sHyderabadRanjiteammate, C V Milind, talks about his discipline. “Today, everything fell inplace,andhewasrewardedfor being disciplined. Even after bowling somanyovers in this series, it was heartening to see him clock such impressive speeds on Day 4,” he said. In a previous interview, Siraj hadspokenabouthowhisfather used to give him Rs 70 as pocket money. “I had a bike and Rs 60 would go just on filling petrol. If the tyre got punctured, I’d call a friend, and if there was no cash, I’d borrow it with the promise of repaying it later,” he said. Itwasn’tuntilthe2017IPLauction, where a bidding war saw SirajgoforRs2.6croretoSunrisers Hyderabad,thatmoneyceasedto beaworry.WhiletheIPLallowed hiscareertotakeoff,itwasalways going to be red-ball cricket that definedhisdreams—orrather,his father’s. On Monday, Siraj put his handupinadressingroomfullof injured players. As Virender Sehwagtweeted,“Theboyhasbecome a man on this tour."