vijayawada l thursday l september 21, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION Sc to hear challenge to quota beyond 10-yr cap for SC/STs IN LS The SC will hear pleas questioning constitutional validity of extending reservation beyond the 10 years to SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and assemblies Five-judge bench to hear from November 21 Right to choice, Equality violated: Plea A five-judge Constitution bench set November 21 to start hearing the plea. The validity of the 104th amendment of the Constitution in 2019 shall be determined to the extent that it applies to the SCs and STs. The amendment had extended the SC/ST quota by 10 years and specified 2030 as the end-year for the provision of reservation. The Centre defended its decision ■ ■ The bench comprises Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and justices A S Bopanna, M M Sundresh, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra The petitioner argued that grant of relentless and repeated extension to certain communities resulted in depriving the electorate of their right to choice in candidates and was violative of the right to equality Art 334 Scope of amendment to extend quota end-date under statute test CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Come Dasara, CM to begin functioning from Steel City Express News Service @ Vijayawada Union home minister Amit Shah (L) and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi participating in the debate on the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday | PTI 454 ayes. 2 nays. Women’s bill gets LS stamp. RS debate today 60 members of the Lok Sabha participate in eight-hour-long debate, 27 of them women P r e e t h a Na i r @ New Delhi The Lok Sabha on Wednesday made history by passing the Women’s Reservation Bill by an overwhelming majority of 454 votes. Only two MPs voted against the bill that seeks to reserve one-third of seats for women in Parliament and all state assemblies. While supporting the bill, the Opposition made a strong pitch for extending the quota to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and the immediate implementation of the legislation in the upcoming 2024 elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present during voting. “The proposal has been passed with more than twothirds majority of the members present in the House,” announced Speaker Om Birla after the vote. The bill will now go to the Rajya Sabha. Also, at least half of state assemblies have to ratify it to become law. relief for ts Krishna Board rejects AP’s IA against PRLIS Express News Service @ Hyderabad The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-2 on Wednesday dismissed the Interlocutory Application (IA) filed by the Andhra Pradesh gover nment against the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) stating that it has no jurisdiction to hear the petition. The AP government had filed the IA on December 8, 2022, requesting the Tribunal to restrain Telangana from utilising 90 tmcft of Krishna waters for PRLIS. Tribunal chairman Justice Brijesh Kumar, and members Justice Ram Mohan Reddy and Justice S Talapatra pronounced their verdict on Wednesday after perusing the voluminous documents filed by both sides and hearing their arguments. The Telangana government issued GO No 246 on August 18, 2022, to utilise 90 tmcft of water from Srisailam for PRLIS. “Restrain Telangana from utilising 90 tmcft for PRLIS from 75% dependable flows from Srisailam reservoir, pending disposal of the present reference to the KWDT-II under Section-89 proceedings,” the AP government’s IA had said. On February 2, 2023, Telangana filed its counter to the IA and Andhra Pradesh later filed its rejoinder. This was followed by the surrejoinder by TS. The hearings concluded on P6 July 14, 2023.  The bill will come into force only after the delimitation exercise which will be preceded by the decadal Census. Several women Parliamentarians participated in the eight-hour-long debate, which saw spirited exchanges from both camps. Initiating the debate, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi made a strong pitch for caste census and bringing OBC women in the ambit of the law. She also urged the government to implement the quota immediately as any delay would be “gross injustice” to women. Dispelling the concerns of the Opposition, Union home minister Amit Shah said the next government will conduct the Census and the delimitation exercise immediately after the elections and set in motion the process of reservation. Hinting that the bill will become a reality after 2029, Shah asserted that the BJP has given more representation to the OBCs than those claiming to speak for them. “Nearly 29% or 85 BJP MPs, 29 Union ministers, and 365 of its 1,358 MLAs, which is over 27%, are from the OBC category “ Shah said. , Several Opposition leaders including DMK’s Kanimozhi, TMC’s Mahua Moitra, NCP’s Supriya Sule and others demanded the immediate rollout It’s a big step. It’s not a small step... There is one thing in my view that makes this bill incomplete. I would like to have seen the OBC reservation included in this bill For the first time, it has been acknowledged in the House that it was not one particular family that got the bill for reservation for women in local bodies, but the government of Narasimha Rao Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Smriti Irani, Union minister of the reservation. While Supriya Sule termed the legislation a “post-dated cheque”, Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Badal targeted the BJP over its leaders being booked for crimes against women. On the demand for immediate implementation, Shah said it could lead to allegations of partiality He said that the mat. ter was best left to the delimitation commission, which would carry out the exercise with transparency Shah said the de. limitation panel was an appropriate forum as it would be chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge and have representation from political parties. AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi was the lone MP who spoke against the bill saying it would provide quota only to “upper caste women” and exclude OBC and Muslims who have little representation in Parliament. AIMIM has two members in the Lok Sabha. Indians not safe in Canada, hate crimes on the rise: MEA in advisory Y e s h i s e l i @ New Delhi Stepping up its diplomatic offensive against Canada, India on Wednesday issued an advisory for its citizens living in Canada and those planning to travel there “to exercise utmost caution”.   The strongly worded communique came a day after India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move and rubbished Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau’s charge that Indian agents killed Canada-based Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. “In view of growing anti-India activities and politically condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada, all Indian nationals there and those contemplating travel are Security beefed up around the High Commission of Canada, New Delhi | Parveen Negi urged to exercise utmost caution,’’ read a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs. The advisory cautioned that there has been a significant rise in threats targeting Indian diplomats as well as the Indian community. The statement urged Indian workers and stu- dents to register with the High Commission of India in Ottawa or the Consulate General of India in Toronto and Vancouver. Meanwhile, Canada’s Deputy Army Chief Major General Peter Scott is scheduled to attend a defence conclave in Delhi next week. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will shift to Visakhapatnam and start operating from there starting Vijayadashami (Dasara), IT and Industries minister Gudivada Amarnath announced on Wednesday . In an informal chat after the Cabinet meeting, Jagan informed his colleagues that he will be shifting to Vizag in tune with the plan to establish the Port City as the executive capital of Andhra Pradesh. Further, it has also been learnt that the Chief Minister asked the ministers to be ready for polls at anytime, keeping in mind the proposed One Nation One Election policy . Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Gudivada explained that Jagan has orally instructed the officials to form a committee to ensure that infrastructure required for the smooth functioning of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) is ready . Stating that Jagan had proposed Vizag as the executive capital, Gudivada said, “There is no rule regarding where the Chief Minister should function from. It is up to his discre- Other key cabinet decisions CM Jagan signing the register at the Secretariat in Velgapudi on Wednesday | EXPRESS govt inks mou with int’l Baccalaureate The State government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Baccalaureate (IB). The IB syllabus will now be available in government schools & help in introducing innovative questioning and answering methods tion. Whichever city the CM chooses to administer the State from, will be considered as the executive capital.” According to sources, CMO officials and other staff needed for day-to-day administrative duties would shift to the Steel City initially The Chief Minis. ter’s Camp Office and residence have been identified and readied. Major relocation of other departments might be  Nod to fill vacant posts in nursing colleges at Ongole, Eluru and Vijayawada  Construction of a convention centre on five acres in Vizag approved  Mercy plea of 9 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment accepted  Approval for shifting Kakinada Bulk Drug project to Nakkapalli in lieu with the Centre’s decision to set up the project on government land Appointment of 28 drivers in the High Court gets nod cabinet gives nod for gps bill E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Vijayawada Ahead of the State Legislative Assembly session on Thursday Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy chaired , the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday and approved a slew of decisions. The Andhra Pradesh Guaranteed Pension Scheme Bill 2023, which secured the Cabinet nod, will be tabled in the Assembly session on Thursday . Announcing a host of sops approved for government staff, Information and Public Relations minister Ch Venu Gopala Krishna told reporters, “It was decided that a permanent house site will be provided to the employees by the time they retire from service, and YSR Aarograsri scheme will be extended to the staff and their family members.” A total fee reimbursement scheme will also be introduced for their children, he added. The Cabinet also approved regularisation of contract employees, bills pertaining to amendment of AP Vaidya Vidhana Parishad, Endowments, Prohibition of Transfer (PoT) of assigned lands and Private Universities, APGST and Bhoodan Acts, besides tabling of the Andhra Pradesh Special Security Group (APSSG) in the Assembly . Further, the 45-day Jagananna Aarogya Suraksh programme, scheduled to begin from September 30, was also P4 approved. scheduled around December, they added. In the past, too, the Chief Minister has announced his plans to shift to Vizag. It may be recalled that the ruling YSRC in 2019 had proposed three capitals for the State—legislative capital at Amaravati, executive capital at Visakhapatnam and judicial capital at Kurnool—for decentralised administration and inP6 clusive development.  express read ACB court reserves orders on CID’s petition Vijayawada: The ACB Special Court reserved its orders on the petition filed by the AP Crime Investigation Department (APCID) seeking custody of former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is lodged in Rajahmundry Central Prison in connection with the AP Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) scam case | P6 Viveka murder case: Bhaskar Reddy gets bail Hyderabad: The Special Court for CBI cases on Wednesday granted conditional bail to YS Bhaskar Reddy in the YS Vivekananda Reddy murder case. Bhaskar Reddy is the father of Kadapa YSRC MP YS Avinash Reddy, who is also one of the accused in the murder case. The court decided to grant bail to him from September 22 to October 3 | P6 Warner Bros sets up Capability Centre in Hyd Hyderabad: Warner Bros. Discovery, the world’s leading media and entertainment company, inaugurated its Hyderabad Capability Centre. “I am proud to note that Warner Bros. Discovery with such brands in the media space has chosen Hyderabad for its development centre,” said IT minister KTR | P7 open season OMG! Zero in NEET-PG exam no bar for seat K a v i ta b a j e l i d at t @ New Delhi THE Medical Counselling Committee on Wednesday said it has slashed the qualifying percentile for NEET-PG 2023 to zero across all categories. The decision was taken following a recommendation by the Union health ministry . So, now all those who appeared for NEET-PG entrance will be eligible to participate in counselling. The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association said a large number of students will now fill up the seats, which oth- erwise went vacant. “Over the past years, we have witnessed a persistent challenge in the form of vacant seats in medical institutions across the nation even after multiple rounds of counselling for NEET-PG,” said the Federa- tion of Resident Doctors’ Association. However, the move ignited a fierce debate among the medical associations and practitioners. While some hailed it, others decried it, saying that it will bring down the quality of future doctors. Earlier, many medical associations had demanded that the cut-off be reduced to accommodate NEET-PG aspirants, as over 8,000 clinical and non-clinical seats in government and non-government colleges were vacant across the country . Dr Lakshya Mittal of United Doctors Front Association who had petitioned the government on behalf of Persons with Disabilities, who could not participate in the ongoing NEET-PG counselling session due to high cut-off, said it was a “big victory” for NEET aspirants. FAIMA (Federation of All India Medical Association) Doctors Association chairman Dr Rohan Krishnan said the decision will “kill merit”. “This is a very worrying trend,” he said. He said reducing the cut-off to zero is making a mockery of medical education in India and bringing down the healthcare P7 standard in the country  . chariot of pearls On the third day of the Srivari Brahmostsavams, Lord Malayappa Swamy blessed the devotees from Muthyapu Pandiri Vahanam in Tirumala | Express