tirupati l wednesday l december 16, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION 422 women officers eligible for permanent commission Of the 615 women officers considered for permanent commission, 422 were found fit by the Army Selection Board More officers under consideration ‘a milestone for women in services’ However, as many as 57 of the 422 opted out of PC. Of the 193 who were found ineligible, 68 are being released with pension, a senior Army officer said. And 106 others have been given a pensionable service extension of up to 20 years. Apart from the 615, another 42 officers, currently on medical leave, are to be considered for PC at a later date ■ ■ “This is another milestone for the women in services,” a serving women officer said. “Women at the junior level are going to rise and serve at the ranks of General in future,” she added The Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling in February, said women officers are entitled to permanent commission in the Army 10 streams of Indian Army opened to women officers CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Plot to confuse farmers on three laws, says Modi tell-all book Pranab’s son, daughter in Twitter spat over memoir Allays fears on land rights; unions write to govt rejecting proposal to amend the legislations, insist on repeal; allege bid to sow disunity E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Late for mer President Pranab Mukherjee’s son Abhijit and daughter Sharmistha, both Congress leaders, were on Tuesday locked in a Twitter spat over their dad’s memoir in which blamed party chief Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh for 2014 Lok Sabha elections rout. Days after Rupa Publications released excerpts of the fourth volume of Pranab’s The Presidential Years, Abhijit said he wanted to vet the book before it hits the stands in January. Hours later, Sharmistha told him off, asking him not to create hurdles in its publication. For its part, Rupa Publications declined comment. But sources in Pranab’s staff said that he has approved the final draft as also the book’s cover just before he was hospitalised in August last. “I, the son of the author of the Memoir ‘The Presidential Memoirs’ request you to kindly stop the publication of the memoir as well as motivated excerpts which is already floating in certain media platforms without my written consent,” said Abhijit, a former Congress member of Parliament. Sharmistha shot back saying, “I, daughter of the author of the memoir ‘The Presidential Years’, request my brother not to create any unnecessary hurdles in publication of the last book written by our father. He completed the manuscript before he fell sick. The final draft contains my dads’ handwritten notes and comments that have been strictly adhered to. The views expressed by him are his own & no one should try to stop it from being published for any cheap publicity That would be . the greatest disservice to our departed father,” she said. On a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the ongoing agitation against the three farm sector laws was instigated by vested interests, farmers dug in their heels, claiming their support base had actually expanded. While Modi said there was a conspiracy to scare farmers about their land holding, the protesting unions alleged that the government was trying to drive a wedge between them. Speaking in Kutch (Gujarat), Modi rhetorically asked: “When dairies get into contracts for milk, do they take away even the cattle?” He sought to allay the fears of farmers, adding land rights will be protected. @ New Delhi/Chandigarh @ New Delhi On the 20th day of their ongoing agitation, farmers squat at the Ghazipur border, in New Delhi on Tuesday | Parveen Negi Agitators harden stance Concrete proposals: Farmer leaders refused to yield, saying they will completely block the Chilla Border between Delhi and Noida on Wednesday. They said the govt consider their demands and offer concrete proposals Staying firm: “The govt is saying ‘we won’t repeal’, we are saying we will make you do it.... fight has reached a stage where we are determined to win no matter what,” said farmer leader Jagjeet Singh Dallewal Homage day: Union leaders on Tuesday gave a nationwide call to observe Shraddhanjali Diwas on December 20 from 11 am to 1 pm to pay tribute to the farmers who lost their lives during the ongoing protests AP, Telangana to get new CJs as collegium okays shake-up E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi/Vijayawada The high courts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Sikkim are all set to get new chief justices as part of a shuffle in the higher judiciary . Sources confirmed that the five-member collegium of the Supreme Court cleared the proposals on Monday. They also involve a swap between Sikkim High Court Chief Justice and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart, Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari. Delhi High Court judge Justice Hima Kohli is expected to be elevated as the Chief Justice of Telangana, replacing Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chowhan who has been reportedly transferred to Uttarakhand. Justice Chowhan was appointed Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court in June 2019. The collegium discussed the proposals for a long time, sources said, adding that it sent the recommendations to the government on Tuesday . Orders to this effect and official notifications are expected to be issued shortly after government approval Justice Maheswari assumed charge at the S Muralidhar to be Odisha chief justice Punjab and Haryana HC judge S Muralidhar is expected to be promoted as the Chief Justice of the Odisha High Court. He will take charge from Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq Andhra Pradesh High Court on October 7, 2019 as its first Chief Justice after the High Court of Judicature in Hyderabad was d i v i d e d between Andhra and Telangana. His tenure turned out to be eve n t f u l a s t h e h i g h court under his leadership handled some of the most sensitive cases, including the Jagan Mohan Reddy government’s move to have three capitals for Andhra Pradesh. Several observations and rulings of the court went against the government ruffling the feathers of its supporters. The most controversial of the rulings was a media gag order issued in a case pertaining to the Amaravati land scam by a bench headed by Chief Justice Maheswari. The prime minister emphasised that the new legislations has merely included demands of the farmers’ bodies to revloutionise the agriculture sector, adding they were advocated by opposition parties in the past as well. Later in the day farm, ers’ unions wrote to the Centre rejecting the proposal to amend to the three laws and insisting on their repeal. “We had already rejected their proposal. This evening, we wrote to them officially stating our position,” said Harinder Singh Lakhowal, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal). The unions also decided to observe December 20 as homage day as a mark of respect for support farm laws, shah requests cm E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada CM Jagan calls on Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Tuesday Approve revised cost of Polavaram: CM Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to direct the Jal Shakti and Finance ministries to approve the second revised cost estimates of `55,656 crore of Polavaram project as per 2017-18 Price Level, the CMO said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah reportedly sought the AP government’s continued support to the far m laws passed by Parliament. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who called on the Home Minister in Delhi on Tuesday night, held discussions for more than an hour during which Shah reportedly sought the support of the YSRC over the farm laws issue. The YSRC had extended support to the bills when they were introduced in Parliament. However, it backed Bharat Bandh of agitating farmers by partially closing government offices and suspending transport services on November 8. Amaravati must be only capital: JAC E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi takes out a padayatra on BRTS Road in Vijayawada on Tuesday | P Ravindra Babu Five mowed down by van, driver caught after a chase E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kurnool Five people, including four children, were mowed down by a speeding van at Yerraguntla village in Sirivella mandal on the Kurnool-Chennai national highway in the early hours of Tuesday . According to the police, the mishap occurred while a group of 35-40 people was going to sing carols in the village adjacent to the highway as part of pre-Christmas celebrations. After mowing down the group of children, the van driver sped away Locals chased and inter. cepted the van at Bathaluru village, which is a few kilometres away from the accident spot. They caught hold of the van driver and handed him over to the police. The van was going to Mydukur in Kadapa district from Hyderabad when the accident occurred. Allagadda DSP R Rajendra said the van mowed down the group of children at a high speed resulting in five fataliP5 ties.  Demanding the YSRC government to withdraw its three capital plan, the Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi Joint Action Committee, farmers’ organisations and political parties took out a padayatra in the city on Tuesday ‘Jai Ama. ravati - Save Amaravati’ slogan rent the air during the padayatra. Speaking on the occasion, the JAC leaders alleged that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government cheated the people of the State by taking a decision to shift the capital to Visakhapatnam from Amaravati unilaterally “The YSRC chief asked . for one chance to develop the State, but after winning the election, he deceived the people,” they said. The JAC threat- Meet at Amaravati village tomorrow Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi Joint Action Committee will hold a public meeting on December 17 at Uddandarayunipalem where the foundation stone for capital Amaravati was laid. 5 State Covid hospitals denotified With the decline in daily count, the government has denotified five State Covid-19 hospitals  Government General Hospital, Vijayawada  Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS), Visakhapatnam  Government General Hospital, Nellore  Padmavathi Hospital, Tirupati  Government General Hospital, Kurnool  Henceforth, these hospitals will provide regular medical services Covid test rates reduced The prices for Covid tests in private labs in the State have been further reduced `475 Samples (including pooled ones) sent by the government `499 Individuals who visit National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) the 20 protesters who have so far died. “This homage will be given in every village across the country on December 20. Around 20 farmers have died during protest,” said Inderjeet Singh, a farmer leader. Union minister for agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar continued to hold deliberations with a section of farmers, as he met leaders of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Kisan). “The farmers who came today support the three farm laws. They said they had been earlier misled because of the misconceptions,” Tomar told reporters. He had earlier met representatives of farmers from Uttarakhand and Haryana, who, too, pledged their support to the farm laws. Govt files addl affidavit in HC The State government on Tuesday filed an additional affidavit in the High Court stating that it is not prepared for the conduct of elections to local bodies in February as proposed by the State Election Commission. The district administrations and police are likely to be preoccupied with administration of Covid vaccine in February, it stated. ened to intensify the agitation if the government fails to make a statement that Amaravati will be the only capital of the State. The JAC will hold a public meeting at Uddandarayunipalem where the foundation stone for capital Amaravati was laid, on December 17 to mark the completion of one year since the announcement of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy that the State will have executive capital at Visakhapatnam, legislative capital at Amaravati and judicial capital at Kurnool. 8,76,336 8,64,612 Total cases 7,064 Total deaths Total recoveries 4,660 2,04,820 Active cases 1,09,37,377 Total samples tested Tests per million 8.01% Positivity rate Sources said amid the ongoing protests by the farmers’ associations, the Centre is firm on going ahead with the bills and garnering support of various political parties. Meanwhile, a CMO release said the Chief Minister urged Amit Shah to direct the Jal Shakti and Finance ministries to approve the second revised cost estimates of `55,656 crore of Polavaram project as per 2017-18 Price L eve l . Ja g a n a l s o sought reimbursement of LARR as per the Land Acquisition Act, 2013. “The number of submergence affected families have increased from 44,574 to 1.06 lakh and similarly the number of houses that will submerge. With this, the LARR cost has increased manifold,’’ Jagan told P5 Amit Shah. express read AP Police get 2nd rank in ICJS implementation Vijayawada: AP Police stood second in the implementation and utilisation of Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS). DGP D Gautam Sawang received the award from Union Minister of State for Home Kishan Reddy during a video conference on ‘Good Practices in CCTNS/ICJS’ held by the NCRB on Tuesday. 1,045 females per 1,000 males in State Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh’s sex ratio has widened to 1,045 females per 1,000 males as per the first phase of National Family Health Survey 5 (201920) of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In the NHFS 4 (2015-16), the sex ratio in the State was 1,021 females per 1,000 males. House site distribution for 15 days from Dec 25 Vijayawada: The distribution of house sites to beneficiaries in the State will continue for about 15 days from December 25, said Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister Botcha Satyanarayana. He directed officials to take steps to ensure the smooth conduct of the registration process.