THURSDAY TRUMP ON VERGE OF SECOND IMPEACHMENT IN HOUSE 14 Democratic Party-controlled US House of Representatives is all set to impeach President Trump on Thursday morning JANUARY, 2021 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard twitter.com/TheMornStandard MADHYA PRADESH HOOCH TRAGEDY TOLL SWELLS TO 21 FIVE REPUBLICANS WILL SUPPORT THE MOVE Morena collector, SP shifted; committee to examine causes of the deaths A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 8  NEW DELHI   J8.00 While Trump’s first impeachment in 2019 brought no Republican votes, this time at least five Republican leaders have said they will support the Democrats. Trump is charged with a count of ‘incitement of insurrection’ for his actions on January 6, when he delivered a speech inciting his supporters PAGES 12 67% THE MAJORITY NEEDED IN THE SENATE TO REMOVE A SITTING U.S. PRESIDENT ‘Notice under Mega `45K crore deal for 83 Tejas fighters Spl Marriage Act ONE OF ITS KIND violates privacy’ Boost to indigenous defence manufacturers as Cabinet Committee on Security approves the procurement from HAL M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow IN a big relief to inter-faith couples, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court Wednesday ruled 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 to solemnise the marriage “without interference from state and non-state actors.” TESTING STATUS 37,812 RTPCR/CBNAAT/ TrueNat tests conducted 95,95,402 Total tests done so far 5,05,021 Tests per million DELHI COVID WATCH Made of carbon fibre composites, aluminium alloy and titanium alloy, the HAL-maufactured Tejas is considered to be the lightest multi-role supersonic aircraft of its class. If the couple did not make a written request for publication of notice, the Marriage Officer “shall not publish any such notice or entertain objections to the intended marriage and proceed with the solemnization of the marriage”, the HC ruled. The judgement comes against the backdrop of a recent controversial law enacted by the Uttar Pradesh gover nment which prohibits forcible conversion for the sake of marriage.’ The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, prohibits conversion of religion by marriage to be unlawful. In fact, Justice Chaudhary observed that the lawyers for the woman also stated the “situation may become more critical with notification of Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, as it prohibits conversion of religion by marriage to be unlawful”. “Personal liberty and privacy are fundamental rights including within their sphere right to choose partner without interference from state, family or society he said. ,” PA C K I N G A P U N C H Tejas — both fighter and trainer versions — is an indigenous, lightweight, multi-role, supersonic, fourth generation aircraft Designed to carry a plethora of air-to-air, air-tosurface, precision guided and standoff weaponry S P E C I F I C AT I O N S Length Span Height Max take-off weight Payload ADVANCED FEATURES INCLUDE BEYOND VISUAL RANGE MISSILE CAPABILITIES, AIR-TO-AIR REFUELLING AND AIR-TO-GROUND WEAPONS Is single-engine with delta wing, designed for ‘air combat’ and ‘offensive air support’ as main roles Aeronautical Development Agency is the designated project manager for the development of LCA for the Navy and the IAF Speed Radius of Action Take-off distance Landing distance Service ceiling 13.2 m 8.2 m 4.4 m 13.5 t 5.3 t 1.6 M (1 Mach= 1234.8 kmph) 300 km 1,700 m 1,300 m 16 km The HAL has already set up second line manufacturing facilities at Nasik and Bengaluru Equipped with the augmented infra, the HAL will steer production for timely deliveries Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister City schools reopen for Classes X, XII on Jan 18 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi AFTER a gap of almost 10 months, schools in Delhi will re-open on January 18 for Classes X and XII, who will be appearing for board examinations in May-June. “Keeping the CBSE boards examinations in view, the Delhi government has given permission to reopen schools from January for practicals, revisions and pre-board preparations. Students will be called with the consent of parents and (attending school) is not compulsory said Deputy CM ,” and Education Minister Manish Sisodia. However, teachers, students and other staff from containment zones will not be allowed STATUS OF CASES Today Cumulative RECOVERED 534 6,17,540 DEATH 11 10,718 ACTIVE CASES -2,991 TOTAL +VE CASES 357 6,31,249 PATIENT MANAGEMENT Total beds Occupied Vacant HOSPITAL 11,984 1,235 10,749 CARE CENTRE 7,392 38 7,156 HEALTH CENTRE 307 16 291 Critical operational capabilities include Active Electronically-Scanned Array (AESA) radar and Electronic Warfare (EW) suite 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 1,345 HOME ISOLATION *198 beds of CCC are occupied by persons under quarantine including travellers who came by Vande Bharat Mission and Bubble flights Source: Delhi health bulletin | January 13 in the schools. Udit Prakash, Director, Directorate of Education (DoE) said, “In the beginning, only Class X and XII students will be called to schools as they have to appear for board exams. The students of Class IX and XI will also be soon called to schools for classroom teaching.” “The syllabus for Class XII has been almost completed through online classes, but learning through physical classes is a very different thing. Extra classes and revisions will be given and the stu- dents will be prepared for practicals and pre-board examinations,” he added. As per the SOPs. the schools will maintain a record of students attending physical classed but attendance will remain optional. Extra-curricular and outdoor activities will remain prohibited. Thermal screening and hand sanitisation will be compulsory in classes, labs and public utility The schools . have been further directed to ensure six-feet social distancing and have staggered timings to avoid crowding. Keeping the CBSE boards exam in view, we gave permission to reopen schools from January... Students will be called with the consent of parents — Manish Sisodia, Deputy CM and Education Minister The schools were also told to conduct a special orientation programme to provide emotional support to students and teachers for ensuring strict adherence to the new normal of stringent physical distancing, face mask and hygiene rules. The CBSE examinations for Classes X and XII will commence on May 4. The practicals and internal assessment for Class XII will be held from March 1 while the pre-board exams will be conducted between March 20 and April 14. For Class X, the practicals will start in February and the preboards will be from April 1-15. The decision to re-open schools has received mixed response from stakeholders. CONTINUED ON P4 EXPRESS READ NCB nabs minister’s kin in drugs case Mumbai: NCB on Wednesday arrested Sameer Khan, the son-in-law of Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik, in a drugs-related case. NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede said Khan was arrested after an exhaustive interrogation. The arrest follows the confiscation of 200 kg ganja at Bandra West last week. 7 MLAs sworn in as Karnataka ministers HALL OF DUTY National Guard troops inside the Capitol Visitor’s Center to reinforce security at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday as the House of Representatives pursued an impeachment against US President Donald Trump | AP | P9 Bengaluru: Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa expanded his Cabinet on Wednesday, inducting seven ministers while dropping Excise Minister H Nagesh. Rajarajeshwari Nagara MLA Muniratna Naidu, who was part of a group 17 defectors, has been left out, but Yediyurappa assuaged him stating that he would be accommodated later. Owaisi may jump into UP panchayat poll fray EX PRESS N EWS SERVICE @ Lucknow IN its quest to become a national party, the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is likely to contest the panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh under an electoral pact with the regional outfit Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP). The Hyderabad-headquartered party is looking to expand its footprint after its success in Bihar where it had fielded 20 candidates and won AIMIM leader looking to expand his base Going by various reports, Owaisi has set his eyes on Gujarat, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. In November, Owaisi had announced that his party will contest the polls in Tamil Nadu in five constituencies. Owaisi had recently visited poll-bound West Bengal. The Bengal Imam Association had lashed out at Owaisi accusing him of creating a communal divide in the eastern state. In December, Owaisi had announced his plan contest the next state elections in Uttar Pradesh as part of the front led by the SBSP . Former UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar of the SBSP is trying to form a rainbow coalition of like-minded parties under the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha for the election. “Candidates belonging to Asaduddin Owaisi’s party are likely to be fielded in the pan- c h aya t e l e c t i o n s a s t h e Morcha’s joint candidate,” Rajbhar said, adding the Morcha constituents will hold meetings at all the 75 district headquarters on January 17. “A joint rally will be organised which will be addressed by Owaisi as well as other leaders of the front.” Uttar Pradesh has a total of 58,758 gram panchayats and as many panchayat heads. The five-year tenure of 58,660 gram panchayats, ended on December 25. Farmer union leaders burn copies of the farm laws at Singhu | PARVEEN NEGI Farmers burn 1L copies of agri laws on Lohri H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh DESPITE the Supreme Court suspending the implementation of the farm laws, the farmers are in no mood to scale down their protests. On Wednesday, they burnt over one lakh copies of the three legislations at the agitation sites on Delhi border as well as in villages across Punjab on the festival of Lohri as a mark of protest. Several bonfires were lit at the Singhu, Tirki and Ghazipur borders as farmers raised slogans, burnt copies of the laws, sang songs of resistance and hope and prayed for the success of their agitation. Farmer leaders including Balbir Singh Rajewal, Darshan Pal, Gurnam Singh Chaduni, Harinder Singh Lakhowal, Yogendra Yadav and others threw copies of the farm laws in the bonfire lit on the premis- es of the Kisan Andolan office at Singhu border. Sukhdev Singh, general secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ughrahan), said, “We celebrated Lohri at various places on the Delhi borders and in more than 1,600 villages across 22 districts of Punjab by burning the copies of the three ‘black laws’ as these are our death warrants. Marches were also taken out on the occasion.” The All India Kisan Sangarsh Coordination Committee claimed farmers burnt copies of the laws at more than 20,000 spots all over the country. It also appealed to all districts within 300 km of Delhi to mobilise tractors for the protest parade on Republic Day . The gover nment, meanwhile, asked the protesting unions to take part in the proceedings of the panel appointed P7 by the Supreme Court. called the decision a major boost in the atmanirbhar 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 stateof-the-art modern 4+ generation fighter aircraft. “It is the first “Buy (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, foster local industry and help skill up the Indian workforce,” added Madhavan. MINING Cabinet nod for big-ticket reforms EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ 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. 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. 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, highly placed 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 explained. The Cabinet also cleared introduction of an index-based mechanism by developing a National Mineral Index for various statutory payments. Last month, the government had said the mining sector will see “hectic activity” in the new year. BRRR... COLDEST NIGHT IN SRINAGAR IN 8 YEARS Waterbodies, including portions of the famed Dal Lake, remained frozen. MeT office warned that the night temperature may drop to -9 deg C | P8