The New Indian Express wishes its readers a Sankranti Our offices and press will remain closed today and there will be no issue of the paper on Friday tirupati l thursday l january 14, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION Trump on verge of second impeachment in house Five Republicans will support the move While Trump’s first impeachment in 2019 brought no Republican votes, this time at least five Republican leaders have said they will support the Democrat move. The article of impeachment charges Trump with a count of ‘incitement of insurrection’ for his actions on January 6, when he delivered a speech inciting his supporters to lay siege to the Capitol Democratic Party-controlled US House of Representatives is all set to impeach President Trump on Thursday morning Don takes no responsibility for riots ■ ■ Trump has taken no responsibility for the Capitol riots but cautioned that the impeachment move is causing “tremendous danger to our country, and it’s causing tremendous anger” More Republicans are expected to break away from party lines and vote to impeach Trump as US President 67% The Majority needed in the Senate to remove a sitting u.s. President 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 Mega L46K-cr deal for 83 LCA Tejas aircraft Multi-pronged strategy to combat temple vandalism: DGP Temple offences 207 163 139 143 123 (till date) Boost to indigenous defence manufacturing sector as Cabinet approves the procurement M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi In a big boost to the indigenous defence manufacturing sector, the Cabinet Committee on Security on Wednesday approved the procurement of 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, worth over `45,000 crore. In all, 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighters and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 trainers are to be bought at a cost of `45,696 crore from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Bengaluru, which is developing the aircraft. Besides, a `1,202 crore deal for the design and development of infrastructure for spares and repairs of Tejas was also approved. The first flight of the Tejas Mark 1A is expected by the end of 2022. The LCA is equipped with an Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar, Beyond Visual Range Missiles, Electronic Warfare Suite and Air to Air Refuelling facilities to enhance their combat ability and 177 6 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 maintainability . HAL chairman R Madhavan called the decision a major boost in the atmanirbhar (selfsufficiency) drive in the aerospace and aeronautics sector. “The production rate for this increased requirement by IAF is being augmented by HAL from 8 to 16 aircraft per year,” he added. The Mk-1A variant is an indigenously designed and manufactured state-of-the-art modern 4+ generation fighter aircraft. “It is the first “Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)” category procurement of combat aircraft...” the defence ministry said. E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada Police station level communal harmony committees and 23,256 village defence squads are being set up, besides roundthe-clock surveillance using CCTV cameras and regular policing, as part of a multipronged strategy to ensure safety and security of religious institutions in the State, DGP Gautam Sawang said. Speaking to mediapersons here on Wednesday, the DGP said the Police Department, which is duty bound to main- RP Thakur appointed APSRTC VC & MD E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada Senior IPS officer RP Thakur has been appointed the new Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC). The State government issued an order on Wednesday, transferring and posting Thakur, Commissioner, Printing, Stationery and Stores Purchase, in the existing vacancy . After the transfer of Madireddy Pratap Reddy, the post of APSRTC VC and MD fell vacant. Principal Secretary of Transport MT Krishna Babu was given additional charge as APSRTC VC and MD. Thakur has also been given full additional charge of Commissioner, Printing, Stationery and Stores Purchase, until further orders. mining Cabinet nod for big-ticket reforms E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi In a major step aimed at boosting mineral production in the country and bring more mineral blocks to the auction table, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal for doing away with the distinction between captive and non-captive mines. Captive mines are those that produce coal or mineral for exclusive use by the company that owns the mines, while non-captive ones those that produce as well as sell the fuel. With the distinction removed, now captive mines will also be able to sell their produce. These reforms will be carried out by amending certain sections of the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. A bill to amend these will be placed in Parliament in the upcoming session, sources said. Officials added that private entities will also be engaged in exploration works now. Simplification of exploration regime will be done to facilitate seamless transition from exploration to production, they said. Ravana Vahana Seva to the presiding deities being organised at Srisailam temple on Wednesday I Express Bhogi a big draw at Srisailam E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kurnool Authorities of Sri Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Swamy temple in Srisailam organised Bhogi in a traditional manner in the early hours of Wednesday In keeping with the tradi. tion, several families celebrated ‘Bhogi Pallu’ pouring berries on the heads of children blessing them. The temple witnessed a steady stream of devotees right from the morning. As part of the seven-day Sankranti Brahmotsavams, the priests performed special pujas such as Pratahkala puja and Maha Mangala Harati at the temple. Addressing the media, temple Executive Officer KS Rama Rao said the presiding deities were taken in a procession on Ravana Vahanam on Wednesday evening as part of the mega annual fete. He stated that they have made elaborate arrangements for the grand conduct of Brahmotsava Kalyanam to Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy and Goddess Bhramaramba Devi on Thursday . Celestial wedding today Brahmotsava Kalyanam to Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy and Sri Bhramaramba Devi will be celebrated in a grand manner on Thursday as part of the seven-day annual temple festival, the EO said. Power procurement Market purchase yielding results: Discoms E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @Vijayawada In response to the objections raised by stakeholders and State power engineers associations questioning the logic behind procurement of power from markets despite being a power surplus State, the power distribution companies (Discoms) have maintained that they were resorting to market as a source of purchase under “emergency conditions only with a dire requirement to avoid load shedding”. The Discoms also said that there was no loss to the State- owned thermal units as against the objection that power procurement from markets was “adversely” affecting them as they were being kept in reserve shutdown to enable market purchases. The Discoms filed their responses to the objections and suggestions filed by various stakeholders regarding the aggregate revenue requirement (ARR) and retail tariff supply for 2021-22 ahead of the public hearing scheduled by the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) from Monday . Replying to the submissions made by the stakeholders, the Discoms said market procurement was “certainly giving positive impact” by means of cost optimisation. “...the Discoms are resorting to market/bilateral agreements source of purchase under emergency conditions only with a dire requirement to avoid load shedding·and consequential inconvenience to the public,” the Discoms said, adding that market purchases are being done after exhausting the available committed sources. What Discoms say They are resorting to market as a source of purchase under “emergency conditions only with a dire requirement to avoid load shedding” There is no loss to State-owned thermal power units tain law and order, is leaving no stone unturned to ensure communal harmony in the State. “The government has already set up State and district level committees for commu- express read All set for vaccine drive Vijayawada: All set for the first phase of Covid-19 vaccination in AP starting January 16. A total of 3,87,983 health staff will be vaccinated in the first phase. The second consignment of 20,000 doses of vaccine also reached AP. Market intervention Vijayawada: In view of the distress of tomato growers, with steep fall in the prices of the vegetable across the State, the department of agriculture marketing has intervened to P4 address the situation.  nal harmony Taking it a step . further, we are setting up such committees at police station level, besides forming village defence squads,” he said, while seeking the cooperation of people to effectively maintain law and order in the State. As many as 15,394 village defence squads have already been formed and the remaining 7,862 squads will be set up soon. The aim of the defence squads is to rope in youth to keep a vigil on religious places and ensure that no outsiders resort to temple vandalism, he said. Taking exception to the aspersions being cast on the Police Department by some people, the DGP said in his 35 years of service he has not seen such allegations, which is very unfortunate. “Police go by and are governed by the Constitution and the law of land and not by any other factor such as caste, creed and region,” he said. The DGP who found fault with those who are making baseless allegations against the police questioning their efficiency, said the allegations are being made without getP4 ting facts right.  30-day notice under UP Marriage Act optional: HC N A M I TA B A J PA I @ New Delhi IN a big relief to inter-faith couples, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court o n We d n e s d ay r u l e d publication of notice of intended marriages under the Special Marriage Act can’t be mandatory as it violates the Right To Privacy . The court said publication of such a notice and inviting objections to it “would be an infringement of the fundamental rights of liberty and privacy”. It is up to the couple to decide whether to publish their notice or not, said Justice Vivek Chaudhary . The court passed the order while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a Muslim woman who had converted to Hinduism to marry a Hindu man. The petitioner said her father was not letting her live with her husband. The court also observed that the publication of notice 30 days ahead of the intended marriage will affect the couple’s freedom.