The Evening Wrap: Army issues notification for Agninath scheme

The Indian Army has issued the first notification for recruitment of Agniveers under the Agnipath scheme, with the process set to begin in July and the first set of Agniveers to join service by June 2023. The army has already stated that it would recruit 40,000 Agniveers this year in two batches. “The registration will open on July 1 and the first rally is expected to be held in mid-August. The first Agniveer will join the unit in June 2023,” an army official said. Candidates will be enrolled for a service duration of four years, which includes a six month training period. “Registration will be opened from July 2022 onwards by respective AROs [Army Recruiting Office] for Agniveer general duty, Agniveer technical, Agniveer technical (aviation/ammunition examiner), Agniveer clerk/store keeper technical, Agniveer tradesman 10th pass, and Agniveer tradesman 8th pass as per the ARO rally schedule,” the notification said. In accordance with the terms and conditions released by the army earlier, Agniveers’ rank will be distinct from any other existing rank; their insignia will also be different. On discharge after completion of four years, Agniveers will be paid a ‘Seva Nidhi’ package which would approximately be ₹11.71 lakh and they will not be entitled to any pension or gratuity. Upto 25% of them would be re-enrolled into the regular cadre. The ‘Seva Nidhi’ is accumulated by part contribution of Agniveers from their monthly with a matching contribution from the Government along with the accruing interest and would be tax free. Personnel enrolled through Agniveer Scheme will be required to undergo periodical medical check-ups and physical/ written/ field tests as governed by orders issued and the performance so demonstrated would be considered for “subsequent offer for enrolment in the Regular Cadre.” Army plans to conduct the rallies from July to November with induction into the training centres to be done in two batches, first batch of 25,000 Agniveers by first half of December and remaining in the second batch by first half of February 2023, Army has stated, and 83 are rallies planned across the country covering all states. On June 14, the Government announced the ‘Agnipath’ scheme for recruitment of soldiers with the age bracket fixed at 17 ½ to 21 years of age. Subsequently, the Defence Ministry announced a one-time upper age limit relaxation in the recruitment process through Agnipath scheme for 2022 to 23 years. Opposition huddles after Gopalkrishna Gandhi bows out of Presidential race Opposition parties went into a huddle after former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi declined their invitation to be the Opposition nominee in the Presidential race. Gandhi is the third public figure to back out of the fight after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) patriarch Sharad Pawar and National Conference leader and former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah. Gopalkrishna Gandhi issued a statement saying that the Opposition’s candidate should be the one who will “generate a national consensus” and a “national atmosphere beside Opposition unity”. “I feel there will be others who will do this far better than I. And so, I have requested the leaders to give the opportunity to such a person,” he said. Gandhi had contested the Vice-Presidential polls in 2017. The Opposition had a first round of meetings on June 15 and the next one is coming up on Tuesday (June 21). After the latest development, select Opposition leaders will have pre-meeting consultations on Monday night. The Left parties have been particularly keen on Gopalkrishna Gandhi’s candidature, with Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury framing the contest as “Gandhi versus Godse”, coinciding as it is with the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were banking on Pawar. But even before the first round of a joint Opposition meeting, Pawar declared that he would not contest. In the June 15 meeting of 17 Opposition parties hosted by West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC president Mamata Banerjee, political leaders again requested Pawar to reconsider but their effort failed to have any impact. The second and the final round of meetings is scheduled for Tuesday, and will be chaired by Pawar. With Gopalkrishna Gandhi counting himself out, Opposition parties are in a dilemma. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge at the June 15 meeting had said that the Opposition must be “proactive” and not “reactive”. With the final deadline for filing nominations just nine days away, a select few Opposition leaders will be meeting on Monday evening to come up with a name ahead of Tuesday’s meet. “There is a division among the Opposition parties. One section believes that we should wait for the government to declare their candidate and propose a suitable one to counter that. However, in such a case, we are letting the government set the narrative. In a battle where we do not have the numbers with us, at least we must control the narrative,” a senior Opposition leader said. The second meeting will try to ensure Opposition parties like the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which skipped the first meeting, are also be present. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had said he would send a representative to the first meeting but no one from the party attended. Central Vista Avenue will be opened in a few days, says Minister Central Vista Avenue, which has been closed to the public since February 2021 for redevelopment work, is set to open in the next few days, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri said on Monday. Puri, speaking at the launch of the National Initiative for Promoting Upskilling of Nirman workers (NIPUN) to train one lakh construction workers, said: “In spite of heavy rains and all impediments, Central Vista Avenue will be opened in the next few days.” The area, which is popular with Delhiites and visitors alike, was briefly unveiled for the Republic Day parade but was barricaded again after January 26 as portions of the redevelopment project were yet to be completed. The project was to have been completed in November 2021. Colombia elects Gustavo Petro as first leftist President Leftist Gustavo Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement who has vowed profound social and economic change, won Colombia’s Presidency on Sunday, the first progressive to do so in the country’s history. Petro beat construction magnate Rodolfo Hernandez with an unexpectedly wide margin of some 7,16,890 votes. The two had been technically tied in polling ahead of the vote. Petro, a former Mayor of capital Bogota and current Senator, has pledged to fight inequality with free university education, pension reforms and high taxes on unproductive land. He won 50.5% to Hernandez’s 47.3%. Petro’s proposals -- especially a ban on new oil projects -- have startled some investors, though he has promised to respect current contracts. Supporter Alejandro Forero, 40, who uses a wheelchair, cried as results rolled in at the Petro campaign celebration in Bogota. “Finally, thank God. I know he will be a good President and he will help those of us who are least privileged. This is going to change for the better,” said Forero, who is unemployed. This campaign was Petro’s third Presidential bid and his victory adds the Andean nation to a list of Latin American countries that have elected progressives in recent years. Petro, 62, said he was tortured by the military when he was detained for his involvement with the guerrillas, and his potential victory has high-ranking armed forces officials bracing for change. Petro’s running mate Francia Marquez, a single mother and former housekeeper, will be the country’s first Afro-Colombian woman Vice-President. “Today I’m voting for my daughter -- she turned 15 two weeks ago and asked for just one gift: that I vote for Petro,” said security guard Pedro Vargas, 48, in Bogota’s southwest on Sunday morning. “I hope this man fulfills the hopes of my daughter, she has a lot of faith in his promises,” added Vargas, who said he never votes. Petro has also pledged to fully implement a 2016 peace deal with FARC rebels and seek talks with the still-active ELN guerrillas. He had raised doubts about the integrity of the count after irregularities in congressional tallies in March, and earlier on Sunday urged voters to check their ballots for any extraneous marks which could invalidate them. Hernandez, who served as Mayor of Bucaramanga, was a surprise contender in the run-off and had promised to shrink government and to finance social programs by stopping corruption. He had also pledged to provide free narcotics to addicts in an effort to combat drug trafficking. Despite his anti-graft rhetoric, Hernandez is under a corruption investigation himself over allegations he intervened in a trash management tender to benefit a company his son lobbied for. France election: Macron looks to salvage a ruling majority as alliance falls short French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist camp secured 245 out of 577 seats in the country’s parliamentary election, falling short of an absolute majority, according to final figures from the interior ministry. Macron was faced with trying to salvage a ruling majority and with it his economic reform agenda after voters punished his centrist ‘Ensemble’ alliance. Ensemble secured the largest number of lawmakers in the 577-seat National Assembly in a vote that saw a leftwing alliance and the far-right perform strongly. The vote was a painful setback for Macron, 44, who was re-elected in April and wants to deepen European Union integration, raise the retirement age and inject new life into France’s nuclear industry. Macron’s options include forming a ruling coalition or presiding over a minority government that has to enter into negotiations with opponents on a bill-by-bill basis. The alternative if no agreement can be found is for the euro zone’s second biggest economy to be plunged into paralysis. “We will be working from tomorrow towards forming a majority of action... to guarantee stability for our country and carry out the necessary reforms,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said as results filtered through late on Sunday. Macron became in April the first French president in two decades to win a second term, as voters rallied to keep the far-right out of power. In Brief Sri Lankan Cabinet on Monday passed the 21st Amendment to its Constitution aimed at empowering the country’s Parliament over the Executive President and now it will be tabled in Parliament, a top Minister has said. The 21st Amendment is expected to annul the 20A to the Constitution, which gives unfettered powers to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had batted for the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, saying it will curb the president’s unlimited powers while enhancing the role of Parliament in governing the debt-ridden country which is also facing an unprecedented political turmoil. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 20 JUNE 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Army issues notification for Agninath scheme The [Indian Army has issued the first notification for recruitment of Agniveers under the Agnipath scheme]( with the process set to begin in July and the first set of Agniveers to join service by June 2023. The army has already stated that it would recruit 40,000 Agniveers this year in two batches. “The registration will open on July 1 and the first rally is expected to be held in mid-August. The first Agniveer will join the unit in June 2023,” an army official said. [Pressing ahead: Lt. General Anil Puri, Additional Secretary, Military Affairs Department, at a press meet in New Delhi. ] Candidates will be enrolled for a service duration of four years, which includes a six month training period. “Registration will be opened from July 2022 onwards by respective AROs [Army Recruiting Office] for Agniveer general duty, Agniveer technical, Agniveer technical (aviation/ammunition examiner), Agniveer clerk/store keeper technical, Agniveer tradesman 10th pass, and Agniveer tradesman 8th pass as per the ARO rally schedule,” the notification said. In accordance with the terms and conditions released by the army earlier, Agniveers’ rank will be distinct from any other existing rank; their insignia will also be different. On discharge after completion of four years,[Agniveers will be paid a ‘Seva Nidhi’ package]( which would approximately be ₹11.71 lakh and they will not be entitled to any pension or gratuity. Upto 25% of them would be re-enrolled into the regular cadre. The ‘Seva Nidhi’ is accumulated by part contribution of Agniveers from their monthly with a matching contribution from the Government along with the accruing interest and would be tax free. Personnel enrolled through Agniveer Scheme will be required to undergo periodical medical check-ups and physical/ written/ field tests as governed by orders issued and the performance so demonstrated would be considered for “subsequent offer for enrolment in the Regular Cadre.” Army plans to conduct the rallies from July to November with induction into the training centres to be done in two batches, first batch of 25,000 Agniveers by first half of December and remaining in the second batch by first half of February 2023, Army has stated, and 83 are rallies planned across the country covering all states. On June 14, the Government announced the ‘Agnipath’ scheme for recruitment of soldiers with the age bracket fixed at 17 ½ to 21 years of age. Subsequently, the Defence Ministry announced a one-time upper age limit relaxation in the recruitment process through Agnipath scheme for 2022 to 23 years. Opposition huddles after Gopalkrishna Gandhi bows out of Presidential race [Opposition parties went into a huddle after former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi]( declined their invitation to be the Opposition nominee in the Presidential race. Gandhi is the third public figure to back out of the fight after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) patriarch Sharad Pawar and National Conference leader and former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah. Gopalkrishna Gandhi issued a statement saying that the Opposition’s candidate should be the one who will “generate a national consensus” and a “national atmosphere beside Opposition unity”. “I feel there will be others who will do this far better than I. And so, I have requested the leaders to give the opportunity to such a person,” he said. Gandhi had contested the Vice-Presidential polls in 2017. [File photo of Gopalkrishna Gandhi.] The [Opposition had a first round of meetings on June 15]( and the next one is coming up on Tuesday (June 21). After the latest development, select Opposition leaders will have pre-meeting consultations on Monday night. The Left parties have been particularly keen on Gopalkrishna Gandhi’s candidature, with Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury framing the contest as “Gandhi versus Godse”, coinciding as it is with the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were banking on Pawar. But even before the first round of a joint Opposition meeting, Pawar declared that he would not contest. In the June 15 meeting of 17 Opposition parties hosted by West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC president Mamata Banerjee, political leaders again requested Pawar to reconsider but their effort failed to have any impact. The second and the final round of meetings is scheduled for Tuesday, and will be chaired by Pawar. With Gopalkrishna Gandhi counting himself out, Opposition parties are in a dilemma. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge at the June 15 meeting had said that the Opposition must be “proactive” and not “reactive”. With the final deadline for filing nominations just nine days away, a select few Opposition leaders will be meeting on Monday evening to come up with a name ahead of Tuesday’s meet. “There is a division among the Opposition parties. One section believes that we should wait for the government to declare their candidate and propose a suitable one to counter that. However, in such a case, we are letting the government set the narrative. In a battle where we do not have the numbers with us, at least we must control the narrative,” a senior Opposition leader said. The second meeting will try to ensure Opposition parties like the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which skipped the first meeting, are also be present. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had said he would send a representative to the first meeting but no one from the party attended. Central Vista Avenue will be opened in a few days, says Minister [Central Vista Avenue, which has been closed to the public since February 2021]( for redevelopment work, is set to open in the next few days, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri said on Monday. Puri, speaking at the launch of the National Initiative for Promoting Upskilling of Nirman workers (NIPUN) to train one lakh construction workers, said: “In spite of heavy rains and all impediments, Central Vista Avenue will be opened in the next few days.” The area, which is popular with Delhiites and visitors alike, was briefly unveiled for the Republic Day parade but was barricaded again after January 26 as portions of the redevelopment project were yet to be completed. The project was to have been completed in November 2021. Colombia elects Gustavo Petro as first leftist President [Leftist Gustavo Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement]( who has vowed profound social and economic change, won Colombia’s Presidency on Sunday, the first progressive to do so in the country’s history. Petro beat construction magnate Rodolfo Hernandez with an unexpectedly wide margin of some 7,16,890 votes. The two had been technically tied in polling ahead of the vote. Petro, a former Mayor of capital Bogota and current Senator, has pledged to fight inequality with free university education, pension reforms and high taxes on unproductive land. He won 50.5% to Hernandez’s 47.3%. Petro’s proposals -- especially a ban on new oil projects -- have startled some investors, though he has promised to respect current contracts. Supporter Alejandro Forero, 40, who uses a wheelchair, cried as results rolled in at the Petro campaign celebration in Bogota. “Finally, thank God. I know he will be a good President and he will help those of us who are least privileged. This is going to change for the better,” said Forero, who is unemployed. This campaign was Petro’s third Presidential bid and his victory adds the Andean nation to a list of Latin American countries that have elected progressives in recent years. Petro, 62, said he was tortured by the military when he was detained for his involvement with the guerrillas, and his potential victory has high-ranking armed forces officials bracing for change. Petro’s running mate Francia Marquez, a single mother and former housekeeper, will be the country’s first Afro-Colombian woman Vice-President. “Today I’m voting for my daughter -- she turned 15 two weeks ago and asked for just one gift: that I vote for Petro,” said security guard Pedro Vargas, 48, in Bogota’s southwest on Sunday morning. “I hope this man fulfills the hopes of my daughter, she has a lot of faith in his promises,” added Vargas, who said he never votes. Petro has also pledged to fully implement a 2016 peace deal with FARC rebels and seek talks with the still-active ELN guerrillas. He had raised doubts about the integrity of the count after irregularities in congressional tallies in March, and earlier on Sunday urged voters to check their ballots for any extraneous marks which could invalidate them. Hernandez, who served as Mayor of Bucaramanga, was a surprise contender in the run-off and had promised to shrink government and to finance social programs by stopping corruption. He had also pledged to provide free narcotics to addicts in an effort to combat drug trafficking. Despite his anti-graft rhetoric, Hernandez is under a corruption investigation himself over allegations he intervened in a trash management tender to benefit a company his son lobbied for. France election: Macron looks to salvage a ruling majority as alliance falls short [French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist camp secured 245 out of 577 seats in the country’s parliamentary election]( falling short of an absolute majority, according to final figures from the interior ministry. Macron was faced with trying to salvage a ruling majority and with it his economic reform agenda after voters punished his centrist ‘Ensemble’ alliance. Ensemble secured the largest number of lawmakers in the 577-seat National Assembly in a vote that saw a leftwing alliance and the far-right perform strongly. The vote was a painful setback for Macron, 44, who was re-elected in April and wants to deepen European Union integration, raise the retirement age and inject new life into France’s nuclear industry. Macron’s options include forming a ruling coalition or presiding over a minority government that has to enter into negotiations with opponents on a bill-by-bill basis. The alternative if no agreement can be found is for the euro zone’s second biggest economy to be plunged into paralysis. “We will be working from tomorrow towards forming a majority of action... to guarantee stability for our country and carry out the necessary reforms,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said as results filtered through late on Sunday. Macron became in April the first French president in two decades to win a second term, as voters rallied to keep the far-right out of power. In Brief [Sri Lankan Cabinet on Monday passed the 21st Amendment to its Constitution]( aimed at empowering the country’s Parliament over the Executive President and now it will be tabled in Parliament, a top Minister has said. The 21st Amendment is expected to annul the 20A to the Constitution, which gives unfettered powers to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had batted for the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, saying it will curb the president’s unlimited powers while enhancing the role of Parliament in governing the debt-ridden country which is also facing an unprecedented political turmoil. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow  Today’s Top Picks [[The Cup | Women Uninterrupted podcast - Episode 1] The Cup | Women Uninterrupted podcast - Episode 1]( [[Watch | Is tourism ruining the Arctic archipelago?] Watch | Is tourism ruining the Arctic archipelago?]( [[Telegram goes paid with 4GB file uploads, voice to text conversion features] Telegram goes paid with 4GB file uploads, voice to text conversion features]( [[A story of two votes — India’s Iran policy has come a long way] A story of two votes — India’s Iran policy has come a long way]( Copyright @ 2022, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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