Thursday, November 26, 1998
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N A T I O N |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Book demolishes myth about
Indo-Pak war 'Rainfed
areas key to growth' |
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Postal
department pulled up for delay Congress
may review ties with RJD UNLF
admits links with ULFA |
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Voting gets techno-savvy in
capital NEW DELHI, Nov 25 — Techno-savvy voting has finally arrived.Voters who were used to the grind of glancing through the large ballot paper were today pitchforked into the cyber-age with the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) on an experimental basis in six Assembly constituencies in the Capital. EVMs were used in the Assembly constituencies of Sarojini Nagar, Gole Market, Minto Road, Kasturba Nagar, Jangpura and Delhi cantonment. The Election Commission of India has been trying to bring improvements in the election procedures taking advantage of the scientific and technological advancements. On a suggestion by the commission, two central government undertaking, namely, the Electronics Corporation of India Limited, Hyderabad (ECIL), and Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore, have produced EVMs. The commission procured 1.5 lakh EVMs at a cost of Rs 75 crore. The EVMs are now lying with various Chief Electoral Officers. These machines were used for the first time during the general election to the Kerala Legislative Assembly held in May, 1982. Thereafter, these machines were used in 1982-83 in 10 other constituencies spread over the length and breadth of the country. These were also tried in the difficult and tribal areas of the North-East. These machines could not, however, be used after 1983 as the Supreme Court ruled in the election appeal arising out of the election petition relating to the said election from the Parur Assembly constituency in Kerala that there should be a specific provision in the law providing for the use of EVMs in elections. The commission recommended to the government to amend the law suitably to provide legal sanction for the use of EVMs. The law was amended by Parliament in December, 1988, and Section 61-A has been inserted in the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951, empowering the commission to use voting machines in such constituency or constituencies as it may specify. The amended provision has come into force from March 15, 1989. The Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, had a “fine experience” with the EVM at the Nirman Bhavan polling booth in the Gole Market Assembly constituency where she had gone to cast her vote. A smiling Mrs Gandhi told reporters immediately after exercising her franchise that “it’s a fine experience to use the EVM.” She was the 17th person to cast her vote at the booth. The Chief Election Commissioner, Dr M.S. Gill, said political parties and their agents “are happy” with the EVMs. After casting his vote at a polling station in the Gole Market constituency, he said the EVMs would be used in a bigger way next year when Assembly elections were due in nine states, including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Orissa. The commission had installed standby EVMs at polling stations for use in case there was any breakdown. Dr Gill said he had talked to the agents of the BJP and the Congress near the polling station and they were satisfied with the functioning of the EVMs. Expressing the hope that the experiment would be a success, he, however, said the “final test is at the end of the day.” The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, also cast her vote through an EVM at the ITI-Nizamuddin polling booth of the Minto Road constituency. “It was a pleasant experience to vote through the EVM,” Mrs Dikshit said. The BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, cast her vote at Lodi Estate in the polling booth at Vidya Bhawan School where the EVM has been used. She was the first to cast her vote in the polling booth. Serpentine queues which were witnessed in most of the polling booths spread all over the Capital were much less in the polling booths where the EVMs were put to use. The EVM ensures that the polling takes place at a much faster pace. Certain voters to whom TNS spoke said they had anticipated a much more complex system. However, it proved to be much simpler compared to the traditional method of casting of vote on the ballot paper. Mr Sher Bahadur, a voter in the Minto Road constituency, said although he did not attend the camp where the method for using the EVM was explained, he did not encounter any difficulty during voting. “The EVM method is very simple as I had to only press a button alongside the candidate’s symbol for whom I wanted to vote”, he said. The machine, which consists of two parts — the control unit and the ballot unit — runs on batteries and is compact enough to carried in two suitcases. The control unit had been kept with the Presiding Officer at a polling booth who monitored the casting of votes. After each vote was cast, there was a long beep and till the presiding officer reset the “ballot” button for the next voter it was not possible for another voter to cast. Against each candidate’s name and election symbol, there was a blue button which a voter had to press and each ballot unit was able to accommodate 16 candidates. In case of more, another such unit was attached to the same control unit. The control unit also has a button which can display the results in a very short time, but access to this button was sealed. Only on the day of counting on November 28, this part will be unsealed and the vital button pressed for results. The batteries on which the
machine run are “reliable” and electricity did
not have a role to play in the operation. Thus, a power
cut could not make any difference to the polling process. |
Book demolishes myth about
Indo-Pak war NEW DELHI, Nov 25 — A popular myth about the 1965 Indo-Pak war going India’s way has been exploded with the release today of a book “Debacle to revival” which chronicles three years of the late Y.B. Chavan’s term as the country’s Defence Minister. The 320-page book, written by late Chavan’s Private Secretary R.D. Pradhan, who later retired as the Home Secretary, was released by the former Prime Minister, Inder Kumar Gujral at a function in India International Centre here today. Besides many important dignitaries including former Air Chief Arjan Singh and former Foreign Secretary, Mr A.P. Vekateswaran. The Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi was the guest of honour at the function. Introducing the book which portrays late Chavan’s three years from 1962 to 1965 as the Defence Minister of the country, a senior journalist, Inder Malhotra, said that “we created a myth that 1965 war was conducted brilliantly but it was some last minute luck which saved the situation”. Mr Malhotra said that the 1965 war in fact resulted in a stalemate between the two countries. A high point of the book
is the personal diary of late Chavan, which chronicles
the 1965 war, Mr Malhotra said and went on to add that Mr
Pradhan’s book would be source material for future
historians. |
Rainfed areas key to
growth, says ICAR NEW DELHI, Nov 25 — A second Green Revolution is possible only if adequate attention is paid to rainfed areas as 68 per cent of the country’s cultivated area is rainfed, the Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Dr R.S. Paroda, said here yesterday. Delivering a plenary lecture at the first international agromony congress here, Dr Paroda said agricultural research would have to make a model shift, moving from the “project mode” to the “programme mode” if the benefits of Green Revolution were to be translated to rainfed areas of the country. Cautioning that the “programme mode” should not restrict itself to specific crops and agroclimatic regions of the country, Dr Paroda urged agronomists to conduct research cutting across disciplines, commodities, divisions and institutions that “ensures diversification of agriculture”. Noting that 80 per cent of our food comes from about 10 crop species, Dr Paroda said crop diversification was important for decreasing the problems arising out of monoculture cropping. Dr Paroda said future
increase in crop production and ecological concerns would
necessitate “precision farming” i.e. the most
efficient use of inputs and agronomic practices. |
Postal dept pulled up for delay NEW DELHI, Nov 25 (PTI) — A city consumer court has pulled up the Department of Posts for delaying delivery of a money order worth Rs 2,000 by more than 11 months. The Mahrauli District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum pulled up the department for not delivering a money order (MO) on time and slapped a fine of Rs 300 for the inconvenience and harassment caused to a consumer. Mr Lesang Lama had sent a
MO on April 8, 1997, for Rs 2,000 from the Hauz Khas
market post office to Ms Neera Lama in Darjeeling in West
Bengal. When she did not receive the MO even after a
month, Mr Lama lodged a complaint with the post office on
May 13, 1997, and the Postmaster-General of Delhi ordered
to the post office on June 23, 1997 to issue a DMO.
However, the DMO was paid to the payee on March 23, 1998,
after the forum issued a notice to the post office. |
Congress may review ties with RJD NEW DELHI, Nov 25 (UNI) — Bihar Congress unit President Sadanand Singh said his party would have to review its relationship with the “tainted” Rashtriya Janata Dal if it wanted to regain its ground in the state. It would be difficult to resurrect the party unless it distanced itself from the RJD and the Samajwadi Party in the Hindi heartland of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, he said. The high command had been apprised of all pros and cons of continuation of ties with the RJD and the leadership is fully convinced that the party could regain its ground with a thorough revamp, he added. Stating that the state PCC would be soon revamped, Mr Singh said it would have more than 30 members state executive committee with 16 vice-presidents, 14 general secretaries and other office-bearers. Much to the embarrassment of the Rabri Devi government, the Congress, which is supporting it from outside is all set to launch an agitational programme to highlight the lapses of the state government. Though there is no official word from the party about such a development, Bihar Congress leaders who were here to mobilise support for the Congress candidates in Delhi Assembly poll maintained that the central leadership was now convinced about reviewing support to the Rabri Devi government. Some state leaders,
however, are sceptical about severing ties with the RJD
in near future as after the Assembly poll, the political
scene at the national-level might undergo a dramatic
change and could virtually compel the Congress to seek
support of RJD MPs.
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Basu was lone boy in girls’ school CALCUTTA, Nov 25 (PTI) — West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu began his schooling as the lone boy in a girls’ school and was a docile and obedient student. The city elite savoured nuggets of personal anecdotes like this and many more about the country’s longest serving Chief Minister when the octogenarian spoke in one of his rare, non-political public appearances here last evening. The die-hard Communist and “full time Chief Minister except when I sleep” took on a volley of personal questions from the state’s “women who matter” with characteristic humour and wit. “I survived the ladies then and I guess I picked up the art that early in life,” Mr Basu quipped at a meeting of the Ladies Study Group Charitable Trust last evening. When eminent actress Rupa Ganguly wondered whether the busy Chief Minister spent time with his grandchildren and wanted to be away from politics even for a while, he said,”I love them all but can only meet one of them who is here more often... she is growing up to be a brilliant actress like you. But I am a Chief Minister all the while, except when I am sleeping.” “But soon when I
retire from politics I think I will have more time than
today to indulge in the finer things of life. Yet I will
remain a Communist to my grave.” he said. |
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GUWAHATI, Nov 25 (UNI) —The banned United National Liberation Front (UNLF) of Manipur has officially acknowledged its close association with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). The official acknowledgement from the UNLF came in its annual statement on the occasion of the outfit’s 34th anniversary yesterday. “The UNLF also sends its revolutionary greetings to leaders and to all members of fraternal parties in the Indo-Burma region who have been working with us closely for a long time, namely the NSCN(K), ULFA and the Tripura People’s Democratic Front (TPDF). We are confident that we shall continue to join hands and struggle relentlessly for the liberation of the whole region,” the annual statement said. The UNLF also admitted an
axis it had formed in the Indo-Burma region with Prepak
and the Revolutionary People’s Front. |
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| Deposit racket unearthed, 2
held NAVI MUMBAI: The Navi Mumbai police has unearthed a Rs 96 lakh-racket involving promoters of a company who had collected deposits ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 5 lakh from more than 600 persons, promising them high returns. Senior Inspector, Mr Eknath Budhwant, said Sanjeev Nair and Mayur Ramayya, promoters of a company, “Fortune 2000”, had lured investors with a promise that their money would be doubled in months, tripled in a year and multiplied by four times in 15 months. According to the police they had made post-dated cheques signed by their accountant, but the accountant, Ms Parul Shah, smelt a rat and complained to the police. Both culprits have been arrested and the police has recovered cash, fixed deposits and gold worth Rs 72.37 lakh from them. —UNI Govt striving for peace: CM Bangla poetry fest
from Dec 6 Population rose
threefold in 57 years Advani releases
book on strikes 4 die in
jeep-tanker collision Trader robbed of
Rs 1.71 lakh 5 NLFT ultras
arrested Naxalites kill 2
informers |
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