The New Indian Express wishes its readers a Our offices and press will remain closed today and there will be no issue of the paper on Friday COIMBATORE  THURSDAY  JANUARY 14, 2021  `7.00  PAGES 14  LATE 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 | P11 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 Heavy rains lash southern Tamil Nadu EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Tirunelveli/Tenkasi Boost to indigenous defence manufacturing sector as Cabinet approves the procurement Torrential rains have caused flooding in most parts of Tirunelveli district. A view of the submerged Kurukkuthurai Murugan Temple in the district | V KARTHIKALAGU 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 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. 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, 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. 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  Single-engine aircraft with delta wing designed for air combat and offensive air support with reconnaissance and anti-ship as its secondary roles  Extensive use of advanced composites in airframe enhances strength to weight ratio, gives it longer fatigue life and low radar signatures (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. 6-DAY WEEK FOR SCHOOLS IN TN THE southern districts continued to be battered by the torrential rains for the third consecutive day on Wednesday The . overnight downpour added to the discharge into the Thamirabarani river from Manimuthar and Papanasam dams. This was the highest discharge into the river (53,273 cusecs of water), since the 1992 floods which killed nearly 17 persons. As much as 23,980 cusecs of the discharge came from the Manimuthar dam, and Papanasam dam added another 25,914 cusecs into it. PWD officials said that this could be recorded as the first unseasonal rainfall in Tirunelveli district in the month of January . Meanwhile, farmers claimed that over 6,000 acres of paddy fields near the river banks were inundated. Agriculture Joint Director Kajendrapandian said that inspections were carried 30-day notice under UP Special Marriage Act optional, says HC E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai N A M I TA B A J PA I @ New Delhi A day after announcing reopening of schools for students of classes 10 and 12, the State government on Wednesday released the official order regarding the same. According to the order, attendance to the school is not mandatory for students. However, if one does attend, classes will be held for six days a week. Additionally , each section of a class will be allowed to host a maximum of 25 students, said the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued on the day . The SOP also stated that intervals will be cut shorter and sharing of food will not be allowed among students. The GO said that 95 per cent of schools reported that the majority of parents have consented to the reopening. Dheeraj Kumar, principal secretary to the government, School Education Department, in a letter to all district collectors, requested the formation of a district-level coordination committee to monitor activities regarding the reopening. This includes conducting of health camps, operation of mid-day meal scheme, arranging public transportation, school disinfection, and installing hand wash facilities. Meanwhile, the health department started distribution of 10 multivitamin and zinc tablets for students. The stocks are being delivered to district CEOs, who will subsequently redistribute it. Additionally schools also start, ed disinfecting their premises on the day P5 . IN a big relief to inter-faith couples, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad H i g h C o u r t 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 to solemnise the marriage “without interference from state and non-state actors.” 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”, said the 47-page judgment. out across the district to analyse the damages which will be reflected after two days. The downpour at the Western Ghats also resulted in flooding at all the three major waterfalls in the tourist destination, Courtallam, in Tenkasi district. Traders who had hoped to get sizeable revenue by transporting vegetables ahead of Pongal suffered a loss as the major Alangulam and Pavoorchatram markets wore a deserted look following the heavy rains. EXPRESS READ CEO: `621 cr expense estimated for 2021 polls Chennai: Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo on Wednesday said the estimated expenditure for conducting the forthcoming Assembly elections in the State would be around `621 crore. He has written to the State government in this regard | P4 4 booked for revealing Pollachi victims’ identity Coimbatore: The police on Wednesday booked four persons, including the editor of a TV channel and DMK functionaries, on charges of revealing the identity of the Pollachi serial sexual assault and extortion case victims during a programme | P5