WARANGAL  SUNDAY  FEBRUARY 07, 2021  `8.00  PAGES 24  CITY EDITION IN A FIRST, 34 WOMEN INDUCTED INTO CRPF’S ELITE CoBRA UNIT After a 3-month training, they will be deployed in Naxal-hit districts of Chhattisgarh like Sukma, Dantewada and Bijapur BREAKING GENDER-BASED STEREOTYPES 35 YEARS OF GLORIOUS SERVICE CRPF Director General A P Maheshwari underlined the induction as a step towards defeating gender-based stereotypes. An all-woman brass band of the country’s largest paramilitary was also commissioned at the force’s Kadarpur camp near Gurugram during a ceremony to mark the 35th Raising Day anniversary of its first women battalion known as the 88 | P7 ■ ■ Raised on Feb 6, 1986, 88 Mahila battalion has served the country with distinction for 35 years. It has been part of many UN missions. It comprises six units with over 1,000 women in each CoBRA was raised in 2009 for intelligence-based jungle warfare operations. It had been an all-male affair for this unit till now MARTYRS 7 PERSONNEL OF 88 BATTALION HAVE MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE SO FAR 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 SC judge heaps lavish praise on PM, creates ripples in legal circles K A N U S A R D A @ New Delhi DELHI KARNATAKA ODISHA (From left) Securitymen at the barricaded Ghazipur border in New Delhi during the farmers’ chakka jam on Saturday; police arresting agitators in Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar | PTI, ASHISHKRISHNA HP, BISWANATH SWAIN We will sit here till October 2. After that, we will do further planning. We will not hold discussions under pressure. Nobody can touch the farmlands. Farmers will protect them. Both farmers and soldiers should come forward - Rakesh Tikait, farmers’ leader Kisans ready for long haul, to protest till Oct Set Gandhi Jayanti deadline for govt to repeal farm laws; Tikait says won’t wilt, insists talks only on equal terms EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi ANNOUNCING that the agitation against the farm laws would go on till October, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait declared on Saturday that talks with the government would not happen under any pressure. Addressing farmers during the nation-wide chakka jam protest, Tikait said they were giving the government time till October 2 to repeal the contentious laws, till then they would stay put on the borders.It was not clarified if the deadline had anything to do with the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.He said there was no chakka jam in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand as they had inputs that some people might take advantage of the protest and could indulge in violence. “If the government is placing nails on our way then we will grow crop there. We are ready to talk but it has to be on an equal platform, no pressure tactics will work,” he said. In sharp contrast to the farmers’ tractor rally on January 26, which turned violent, Saturday’s protest was completely peaceful and took place under heavy security cover in Delhi and adjoining states. With the Capital, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand out of the ambit of the road blockade, vehicular movement was affected mainly in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. Roads were blocked in several places in Punjab and Haryana from 12 noon to 3 pm. Farmers parked tractors, trailers and other vehicles on national, state highways and oth- Chances of Telangana getting steel plant at Bayyaram seem bleak now V V B A L A K R I S H N A @ Hyderabad THE chances of Telangana getting a steel plant at Bayyaram in Mahabubabad district seems bleak with the Centre deciding to privatise public sector undertaking (PSU) Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. Also, there is talk of disinvestment of another PSU — Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). Though the Telangana government had once contemplated establishing the Bayyaram steel plant on its own, it changed its stance later and decided to pressure the Centre to fulfil its assurance of setting up the Why the demand may not be fulfilled The Centre is deciding to privatise PSU Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, the corporate entity of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. Also, there is talk of disinvestment of Steel Authority of India Limited plant as per the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. Later, as the Centre had assured it would set up the plant, the State government issued a notification in February 2015 for the reassessment of iron ore deposits across 100 sqkm in erstwhile Khammam and Warangal districts by the Department of Mines and Geology Telangana. The survey was , conducted for five years as part of an MoU with the Geological Survey of India (GSI). The State government had engaged M/s Mecon Ltd for drafting a techno-economic feasibility report for the proposed three million tonnes per annum integrated steel plant at Dharmapuram village in Bayyaram mandal of Mahabubabad district. But, preliminary reports stated that the iron ore deposits available in Telangana would be useful for manufacturing CONTINUED ON P4 pellets. er roads. Ambulances and school buses were not stopped. Women took part in large numbers in Sangrur and Ludhiana. Punjabi actors Binu Dhillon and Dev Kharoud with singer Pammi Bai participated in the blockade in Patiala. There were similar scenes in Rajasthan. Most cities saw tractor rallies on state and national highways. Meanwhile, farmers in Karnataka, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand expressed solidarity by staging protests in their P7 respective states. Hyderabad: The nationwide chakka jam protest did not have any impact in Telangna and it was business as usual in the State on Saturday. Traffic movement, including that of TSRTC buses, remained unaffected. While the ruling TRS did not extend its support to the protest, there were only sporadic protests by the Congress and Communist parties in Hyderabad and other parts of TS CONTINUED ON P4 Trump unfit to receive intel briefing: Biden @ T’Puram THE Congress in Kerala on Saturday released the draft of a law it promised to enact for the protection of traditional practices at the Sabarimala temple if it came to power. Releasing the document in Kottayam, senior leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said the law will ensure a two-year jail term for people violating the rituals of the hill shrine.The draft — Sabarimala Ayyappa Devotees (Protection of Religious Rights, Customs and Usages) Act, 2021 — proposes entry reCONTINUED ON P5 strictions. @ Hyderabad HISTORY-MAKER Joe Root celebrates after reaching a double century on day two of the first Test. His 218 is the highest by an overseas player at Chennai | BCCI | P11 AP SEC ORDERS DGP ‘CONFINE PEDDIREDDY TO HIS HOUSE TILL POLLS’ EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Vijayawada The wheelchairs have been lying unused at the Adikmet Community Hall in Hyderabad for years | ROSHAN The All India Disabled Rights Forum staged a protest at the community hall on Saturday demanding that the wheel- SC advocate Sanjay Hegde recalled when CJI M N Venktachaliah was sworn in, PM P V Narasimha Rao hoped for a cordial relationship between the judiciary and government. Prompt came Venktachaliah’s response that the relationship had to be correct, not cordial EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE community hall is occupied for no reason,” newly elected Adikmet BJP Corporator C Sunitha Prakash Goud said. RELATIONSHIP HAS TO BE CORRECT, NOT CORDIAL Sabarimala: Cong proposes 2-yr jail for offenders Over 1k wheelchairs bought during polls rust away IN a glaring example of how taxpayers’ money goes to waste due to the lax attitude of government officials, over 1,100 wheelchairs, which were meant to be distributed among differently-abled persons more than two years ago, are rusting away at the Adikmet community hall. The wheelchairs were to be distributed ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections. However, that did not take place and ever since, the government officials and local public representatives concerned have not bothered to give them to the needy . What is even worse is that around 25 wheelchairs have allegedly “disappeared”. “The wheelchairs are just dumped there, lying unused. Their condition is deteriorating and a large space of the CHAKKA JAM FAILS TO MAKE AN IMPACT IN TS IN another instance of a Supreme Court judge praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an open forum, Justice M R Shah described the PM as a “popular, loved, vibrant and visionary leader”. Speaking at the Gujarat High Court’s diamond jubilee celebration, which was attended by Modi also, on Saturday, Justice Shah said: “I feel proud and privileged to participate in this function to release the commemorative stamp of Gujarat High Court and that too, by our most popular, loved, vibrant and visionary leader, honourable Prime Minister Narendabhai Modi. I consider it a very special privilege to be a part of this function.” The effusive praises were mutual as Modi hailed the judiciary for performing “its duty well in safeguarding people’s rights, upholding personal liberty, and also in the situations when national interests need to be prioritised”. This is not the first time Justice Shah has praised the PM. In 2019, Justice Shah, while be- chairs be immediately distribu t e d a m o n g t h e e l i g i bl e beneficiaries. CONTINUED ON P4 ing sworn as the chief justice of the Patna HC, had termed Modi as a role model. Justice Shah was not the only one to lavish praise on Modi at the function. Gujarat HC chief justice Vikram Nath said the PM was popular because of his commitment to the country . Legal experts expressed reservation over sitting judges openly praising members of the political executive, saying the conduct of judges must be in consonance with institutional ethics. They said as the judiciary was the final arbiter of legality and the constitutionality of the executive’s actions such statements do not bring credit to the institution. Supreme Court advocate Sanjay Hegde said: “It reminds me of an effusive letter written by the late Justice P N Bhagwati to Indira Gandhi on her return to power. He was criticised for it. The wall of separation between the government and the judiciary must be maintained at all times.” Echoing Hegde’s sentiments, SC advocate Shwetank Sailakwal said: “The judiciary and executive are independent and function within a framework provided by the constitution. Beyond that any relationship, be it cozy or otherwise, shouldn’t be allowed in a P7 healthy democracy .” IN a move that may further widen the rift between the State Election Commission (SEC) and the Andhra Pradesh government, SEC Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar on Saturday directed Director General of Police Gautam Sawang to confine Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy to his residence till the end of the panchayat polls (Feb 21). The SEC further directed the DGP to ensure that the Minister does not have access to the media to prevent him from making possible ‘inciteful utterances’ that will have an adverse impact on the ongoing panchayat elections as well as on general law and order situation in Chittoor and elsewhere in the State. The SEC took serious note of Peddireddy’s warning to the Collectors and ROs while addressing the media in Tirupati on Friday. He reportedly asked them not to obey the SEC’s directions and if they follow the commission’s instructions (in preventing u n a n i m o u s p a n ch ayat polls), they would be blacklisted. The YSRC hit back at the SEC for acting in an unconstitutional manner. CONTINUED ON P5 IN a break from tradition, former US president Donald Trump will not be given access to classified intelligence briefings due to his “erratic behaviour”, US President Joe Biden said in a TV interview. “What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?” Biden said. Biden said he did not want to “speculate out loud” but made it clear that he thinks there is no need for Trump to have any more intelligence briefings. Early this week, the White House had said it was reviewing if Trump should receive the intelligence briefings. For weeks after the November 3, 2020 presidential election, Trump himself broke with tradition by not including his successor in security briefings. Trump’s own relationship with the intelligence community was not smooth and he went through six national intelligence directors during his stint. According media reports, Trump was not known to regularly read the President’s Daily Brief, a highly classified summary of nation’s secrets, when he was in office. ENS WITH THIS ISSUE THE K WAVE PLUS 12 PAGES