Indian tamasha at capitol Hill  About 20-25 people of Indian origin were part of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the US Capitol building on Thursday  But the one who caught the eye was Vinson Palathingal, who was seen waving the Tricolour (pic). He hails from Kerala tirupati l saturday l january 09, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 14 l anantapur EDITION day after riots Pressure UP to remove Trump from Oval office E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Amid buzz on the bumbling US President Donald Trump weighing options to grant himself an unprecedented pardon, pressure kept building up on his immediate removal from office, a day after the maverick’s supporters staged a failed coup by storming the Capitol Hill after his instigation. It now transpires that Trump later tweeted a video calling for peace and asking the mob to stand down only after White House counsel Pat Cipollone warned he would face criminal charges for inciting riots if he doesn’t do so. The Department of Justice is already preparing to go after the mob and all those who played a role in the riots, including Trump. While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saw Trump’s incitement as sedition and demanded his immediate removal from office, Senate twitter Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pressed for invoking the 25th Amendment — which allows the Vice President to take over if the President is incapacitated — while also threatening to introduce a second impeachment motion. But Vice President Mike Pence declined the proposal. Trump has less than two weeks to complete his term as Joe Biden is scheduled to take his oath of office as the next President on Janu- ary 20. But with Trump’s aides describing him as psychologically fragile, and one Republican likening him to mad King George, there were concerns over letting an unstable person stay at the helm even for a brief period. Be that as it may Trump will not , to be present at Biden’s swearing-in ceremony. “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,” he tweeted. The thought of self-pardon aparently crossed his mind when he offered clemency to a whole bunch of people in his inner circle, including his relatives. While there is no clarity on what he wants to legally firewall himself against, his dodgy income tax statements, a recent phone call he made to rig the ballot count in Georgia and Thursday’s incendiary speech to his supporters that led to the riots could qualify for criminal prosecution.  P9 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 SEC dares Jagan, notifies PR polls Releases 4-phase schedule from Feb 5 to 17; govt says it’s violative of Apex court order E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada On a day of dramatic developments, the State Election Commission (SEC) released the schedule for conduct of elections to gram panchayats in Andhra Pradesh. The panchayat elections will be conducted in four phases on February 5, 9, 13 and 17 and the results will be declared on the same day . State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar on Friday issued the schedule hours after a delegation of government officials, led by Chief S e c re t a r y A d i t ya Nath Das, met him following the directions of the AP High Court order and explained why the elections could not be conducted in February . As per the schedule, the SEC will issue election notification for phase-I on January 23, phase-II on January 27, phaseIII on January 31 and phase-IV on February 4. Last date for filing nominations will be January 27, 31, February 4 and 8 respectively for the four phases. Last date for withdrawal of nominations will be January 31, February 4, 8 and 12 (till 3 pm) respectively for the four phases. The Model Code of Conduct will come into force on January 9. Principal Secretary of Panchayat Raj Gopal Krishna Dwivedi said SEC Ramesh Kumar’s move is unilateral and shows his intransigent attitude. He recalled that the Supreme Court had directed the SEC to announce the election dates after consulting the State government and the High Court in its latest order also asked the SEC and the State government to sit together and take a decision on the matter. Even after the State government delegation explained the situation that due to Covid-19 vaccination, panchayat elections could not be conducted in February, the SEC released the schedule, which is nothing but violation of the Supreme Court order, he added. According to the Principal Secretary, the AP High Court directed the State government to submit its objections and reasons in writing to the SEC within three days of receiving P5 the order.   Elections to be held in four phases  Model Code of Conduct to be in force from Jan 9  Poll notification to be issued on January 23, 27, 31 and February 4 @ New Delhi / Chandigarh The eighth round of talks between protesting farmers and the Centre on Friday could not end the stalemate as both sides stuck to their stated positions. They agreed to meet on January 15 to continue the talks. According to sources, the Centre made it clear that it will not repeal the laws but is ready to make amendments. The government also claimed many farmer organisations have supported the laws. The agitating farmers were told the Supreme Court will decide how to break the deadlock, sources said. The SC is likely to hear the case relating to the farm protest on January 11. The meeting at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi ended in less than two hours. Following Centre’s statement, some farmer leaders lost their cool and told the ministers that they will fight till their demands are met. The union leaders also did not take break for lunch or tea while the ministers took frequent breaks to discuss the situation. Some farmer leaders flashed placards bill wapsi toh ghar wapsi (repeal the laws and we’ll go home) and jitenge ya marenge (we will win or die). While Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar expressed hope that there will be some breakthrough in the next meeting, most union leaders said they have no such hopes. Bharatiya Kisan Union, Punjab (Rajewal Group) president Balbir Singh Rajewal said, “We knew there will be no decision in this meeting as the government has been adamant, but still we came for the talks. We will attend the January 15 meeting too, as we don’t want the government to claim that we are running away from talks”. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada  Last date for filing nominations (four phases) January 27, 31, February 4 and 8  Appeal against rejection of papers before appellate authority - January 29, Feb 2, 6 and 10  Disposal of appeals - January 30, February 3, 7 and 11  Last date for withdrawal of nominations - Jan 31, Feb 4, 8 and 12  Publication of final list of candidates January 31, February 4, 8 and 12 (after 3 pm)  Election dates February 5, 9, 13 and 17 (from 6:30 am to 3:30 pm)  Counting of votes and declaration of results - February 5, 9, 13 and 17 (from 4 pm) Now, focus shifts to SC as talks with farmers on reforms fail E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e SIT formed to probe temple attacks from Sept 2020 Panchayat election schedule ‘Solution unlikely in next meet’ Farmers’ union leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said he doesn’t expect any breakthrough in the January 15 meeting with the government. “We told the government as you are not repealing the laws and not ready to talk, face the stir,” he said Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy lays the foundation stone for reconstruction of nine temples in Vijayawada on Friday | Express Govt to promote temple tourism in state in a big way E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy laid the foundation stone for reconstruction of nine temples in the city on Friday. These temples were demolished during the previous TDP government for constructing Kanaka Durga flyover and making arrangements for Krishna Pushkarams. The nine temples include Dakshina Mukha Anjaneya Swamy temple, Seethamma Vari Padalu, Rahu Kethu temple, Boddu Bomma temple and Goshala Krishnudu temple. These nine temples will be constructed at an estimated cost of `3.79 crore in the first phase. In subsequent phases, reconstruction of more temples, which were demolished during the TDP government, is expected to be taken up. Jagan also launched eight development works of Durga temple atop Indrakeeladri, which were taken up at a cost of `77 crore. Later, accompanied by Endowments Minister Vellampalli Srinivasa Rao, Municipal Administration Minister Botcha Temples to be reconstructed `70 lakh Rahu Kethu temple `9.5 lakh `31.5 lakh `2 crore Seethamma Vari Padalu temple Dakshina Mukha Anjaneya temple Saneeswara Swamy temple `8 lakh Boddu Bomma temple `20 lakh Anjaneya Swamy temple (near Durga temple) `10 lakh Dasanjaneya Swamy temple `10 lakh Veerabahu temple `20 lakh Venugopala Swamy temple Satyanarayana, Civil Supplies Minister Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao, Durga temple chairman P Somi Naidu, Endowments Secretary Girija Shankar, Commissioner Arjun Rao, Krishna District Collector A Md Imtiyaz and others, the Chief Minister visited Durga temple. Releasing a New Year calendar brought out by the Endowments Department with images of famous temples in the State, the Chief Minister directed officials to come up with an action plan to promote temple tourism in a big way . Speaking to mediapersons, Vellampalli said the Chief Minister had sanctioned `70 crore for development works as promised during his visit to Durga temple on the occasion of Dasara. “Durga temple can be developed further with the sanction of funds by the government. Reconstruction of nine of the 40 temples which were demolished during the Chandrababu Naidu government, was taken up. The CM also directed us to prepare a master plan for the development of Srisailam temple,” he said. He lashed out at TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and BJP leaders for trying to create communal disharmony through ‘temple politics’. “We will not let it happen. Those trying to disrupt communal harmony will be dealt with sternly he asserted. ,” A 16-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted by Director General of Police D Gautam Sawang on Friday to probe temple desecration cases in the State. The SIT will be headed by Additional Director of ACB GVG Ashok Kumar. Its members include Krishna district Superintendent of Police M Ravindranath Babu, Additional SP SIB, S Sridhar, Additional , SP, CID, LV Srinivas Rao, DSP C Narendranath Reddy DSP M Veera , Reddy, ACP West (Vijayawada) K Hanumantha Rao, ACP Dwaraka (Visakhapatnam), RVSN Murthy, Paderu CI P Pydipu Naidu, CI (Vijayawada) M Srinivas Rao, Podili CI V Sriram, Venkatagiri CI N N a g a m a l l e sw a r a Rao, ACB SI Satish Kumar, SI (Intelligence - Vizianagaram) GAV Ramana, Disha PS (Vizianagaram) SI P Ramakrishna and Kovuru SI K Venkataramana. The SIT will investigate all the incidents of temple vandalism that took place in the State from September 2020. The Director of FSL will accord top priority to the request of any forensic support by the SIT. The CID and Intelligence Bureau will also extend their full cooperation to the SIT in the course of investigation. Further, the SIT will coordinate with SPs, liaise closely with local police and identify the linkages by studying the pattern of the attacks on temples. The cyber crime police stations of CID in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam will assist the SIT in the probe, keeping in view the complexity of the cases. The DGP stated that the SIT chief can request him for supplementing additional officers and also for any logistics support as and when required. Further, he will periodically update the progress of cases to the Additional DGP (Law and Order). Babri case: AIMPLB moves HC against acquittal of 32 N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow Two Ayodhya residents on Friday moved a revision petition in the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court challenging the special CBI court’s acquittal of all 32 accused persons, including former deputy prime minister L K Advani, in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The special CBI judge S K Yadav had delivered the order on Babri Masjid demolition case on Septem- ber 30, 2020 — his last day in office. The plea states the trial court committed an error by not convicting the accused persons des p i t e a m p l e ev i d e n c e against them. “The judge did not appreciate the evidence of conspiracy in the right perspective,” the petitioners alleged. The petition was filed by Haji Mahboob (74) and Sayyad Akhlaq Ahmad (81) on behalf of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. The duo was also party to the Ayodhya title suit in the Supreme Court. They urged the high cour t to summon the records from the trial court, hold all the 32 accused guilty and extend punishment to them by setting aside the CBI court order. Other than former deputy prime minister Advani, the special CBI court had also exonerated Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharati, Kalyan Singh, Vinay Katiyar, Sadhvi Ritambhara, and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Representing the two petitioners, lawyer and convenor of Babri Masjid Action Committee Zafaryab Jilani said the revision petition was filed because the CBI did not file any appeal so far to challenge the verdict. devotion Donations to SRIVANI Trust exceed `100 cr B M u r a l i @ Tirumala Donations to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) through SRIVANI Trust (Sri Venkateswara Alaya Nirmana Trust) have crossed `100 crore with more than `10 crore pouring in during the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshan at Tirumala temple. Speaking to TNIE, TTD Additional Executive Officer AV Dharma Reddy said that the TTD Trust Board’s decision to allow Vaikunta Dwara Darshan for 10 days instead of two days and sale of tickets under the SRIVANI Trust scheme, enabled 13,000 devotees to have darshan. “By January 1st itself, the donations through SRIVANI Trust crossed the `100-crore mark,” he said. SRIVANI Trust was established with an objective to construct and maintain Venkateswara temples across the country, more so in places where the weaker section population is high. It is also aimed at propagating Sanatana Hindu Dharma. The objectives of the trust include renovation and preservation of ancient temple structures, which reflect the glory of Indian culture and tradition. Devotees who donate to the TTD through SRIVANI Trust get one time privilege to avail of VIP Darshan at Tirumala temple. The VIP Darshan provision was made on November 4, 2019 though SRIVANI Trust was floated a few months before that. The SRIVANI Trust scheme evoked a good response from devotees. The scheme has helped in preventing misuse of VIP Darshan facility, besides addressing the menace of middlemen, who take advantage of recommendation letters from law makers. “Now, the misuse of such recommendation letters is not there as devotees donating through SRIVANI Trust can avail of VIP Darshan,” says a TTD official. heavenly showers Despite rain, Sahasra Deepalankarana Seva being held to the processional deity at Tirumala on Friday | Express