THRISSUR l Thursday l January 14, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Trump on verge of second impeachment in house Democratic Party-controlled US House of Representatives is all set to impeach President Trump on Thursday morning Five Republicans will support the move Don takes no responsibility for riots 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 ■ ■ 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 UDF sounds the poll bugle: `6k per month to poor, no-bill hosps Mega L46K-cr deal for 83 LCA Tejas aircraft E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ T’Puram 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 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, developed and manufactured state-of-theart modern 4+ generation fighter aircraft. “It is the first “Buy Vehicles carrying boxes of Covishield vaccine leave the Kochi airport on Wednesday. Of the first batch which arrived in the morning, 15 and 10 boxes were taken to the Ernakulam and Kozhikode regional vaccine stores, respectively | A Sanesh shot in the arm: vaccine is here The first batch of Covid vaccine arrived in the state on Wednesday Multi-role fighter plane  Tejas is a light weight, multi-role supersonic aircraft (both fighter and trainer)  Designed to carry a veritable plethora of air-to-air, air-to-surface, precision guided and standoff weaponry IN a big relief to interfaith couples, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court Wednesday r uled publication of notice of intended marriages under the Special Marriage Act can’t be mandatory (Indian-Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)” category procurement of combat aircraft with an indigenous content of 50%, which will progressively reach 60% by the end of the programme,” the defence ministry said. About 560 large and small companies are contributing to the Tejas programme. “It is estimated that when the LCA MK1A programme kicks off, it will generate primary jobs to 5,000 people across the country , foster local industry and help skill up the Indian workforce,” added Madhavan. Walayar case Panel recommends action against SI, public prosecutors E XP R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ T’Puram The P K Haneefa Commission, which inquired into the incident where two minor siblings were found hanging in their house in Walayar, has recommended departmental action against former Walayar sub-inspector P C Chacko -who inquired the case -- for his failure to discharge official duties. The Commission also came down heavily on public prosecutors Jalaja Madhavan and Latha Jayaraj who failed to present the case properly in the court. The commission recommended induction training for public prosecutors appointed in Sessions Court at least two months before assuming charge. The Commission said Chacko has not incorporated the offences under IPC and the Pocso Act, and has not arraigned the accused for having committing sexual assault against the elder girl, which is a glaring lapse on the part of the investigating officer. The delay in taking action and producing the second girl before the Child Welfare Committee despite being convinced that the continued living of the younger girl in her house was not safe and that she was likely to be abused is unpardonable and unjustifiable, the Commission said. The state government has accepted the findings and recommendations in the Com● More on P4 mission report.  EXPRESS READ Azharuddeen hits 54-ball 137, Kerala win Kochi: Opener Mohammed Azharuddeen’s unbeaten 137 off 54 balls helped Kerala defeat Mumbai by eight wickets with 25 balls to spare in a group match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 national cricket championship in Mumbai on Wednesday. Kerala had defeated Puducherry in their opening fixture. P13 Liquor prices to go up by R35-40 T’Puram: The government has given its concurrence to the Beverages Corporation decision to up the liquor prices. The price hike in the C35- C40 range per brand will be in effect from February 1. The Bevco director board had decided to increase the purchase price by 7%. cr i cket at h eart Singer & wife build academy, for a cause K R I S H N A K U M A R K H @Kochi Forty-five cents by the side of the national highway in Kochi would qualify as prime property by any yardstick. Options would appear aplenty for a profitable venture. What does the owner do? Begins a cricket academy With indoor practice . facilities. While the decision would appear strange to many , the name of the centre – AKME – reve a l s t h e e m o t i o n a l connect. Parvathy the property owner, , and husband Vivek Anand were determined that whatever they do with the land at their disposal should be in keeping with Parvathy and Vivek Anand her late father's humanitarian interests. And AKME SpoArts was born, in memory of A K Muralidharan Elayadom, a businessman, who passed away in 2005 in a road accident. "He was into a lot of social activities. In tune with his spirit, we wanted to do something that would be useful for others 133 vaccine centres set up in the state Vaccine was distributed to the vaccination centres across state 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 no- N A M I TA B A J PA I @ New Delhi  Extensive use of advanced composites in airframe enhances strength to weight ratio, gives it longer fatigue life and low radar signatures T’Puram: All Saturdays, except public holidays, will be working days in the state from now. The general administration has issued an order in this regard. In view of Covid-19 spread, the state government had declared Saturdays as holidays for state government offices. Covishield vaccine were sent from the Pune-based Serum Institute. They reached Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram by air Saturday, Jan 16 Shot to be administered at all centres Court gives inter-faith couples relief  Single-engine aircraft with delta wing designed for air combat and offensive air support with reconnaissance and anti-ship as its secondary roles Govt offices to be open on Saturdays 4,33,500 doses of too," Parvathy told TNIE. Revenue was not a priority for the couple as they sat down to finalise the details of the centre, drawn by their common interests in design and construction. "The adjacent plot was sold for `50 lakh per cent. But we are not doing this to make money," said Vivek, a violinist and playback singer. Why cricket? "That's my passion," the husband said. "When I suggested the idea of a cricket training facility, Parvathy was supportive as it would offer a chance for children to channel their energy in a productive way  ● More on P5 ." 87L was the cost of the project When I suggested the idea, Parvathy was supportive as it would offer a chance for children to channel their energy in a productive way Vivek Anand tice 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. If elected, the UDF has promised to provide `6,000 per month to all financiallybackward people under the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) proposed by the Congress in its 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said here on Wednesday He added . more hospitals will be started to provide free treatment (nobill). He made the statement while announcing the draft policies of the UDF’s manifesto for the Kerala assembly elections. With just two months left for the Election Commission to come out with a notification for the poll, the UDF has decided to come out with a people-friendly manifesto with the slogan, “Clean and good governance”, laying thrust on “support, investment, labour and care.” Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi had proposed the NYAY scheme in the Congress manifesto in 2019. It guaranteed an annual income of `72,000 to every poor person. UDF’s focus areas More investment, more employment, more compassion Karunya Kerala Scheme to see people getting medical care and compassion Scholarships, Wages, Pension (SWP) programme for students, labourers, jobless and geriatric individuals D250/kg support price for rubber and comprehensive scheme for paddy farmers Chennithala exuded confidence that Kerala would be the first Indian state to launch NYAY in full throttle if the UDF is voted to power. Highlighting that the UDF manifesto would be “truly democratic,” Chennithala urged people to send their recommendations to aishwaryakeralam@gmail.com and peoplesmanifesto2021@gmail.com. The UDF meeting held on Monday, January 11, had decided to form an election manifesto sub-committee with former UDF convener Benny Behanan, MP as its chairman , and CMP leader C P John as ● More on P4 convener.