Poll schedule for five states announced, UP votes in 7 phases

January 4, 2017

New Delhi, Jan 4: The high-stakes assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 11 and March 8, while Punjab and Goa will go to polls together on February 4, Uttarakhand on February 15 and Manipur in two phases on March 4 and 8, with counting to be held on March 11.

CECAnnouncing the poll schedule for five states, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said the seven-phased UP Assembly polls for 403 constituencies will be held on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, March 4 and 8.

He said over 16 crore people will participate in these polls for a total of 690 constituencies in five states, for which the Commission has set up 1.85 lakh polling stations, which are 15 per cent more than those set up in 2012 polls.

The CEC flanked by the two Election Commissioners A K Joti and O P Rawat announced that the poll process will commence with the issue of notification on January 11 for Punjab and Goa polls where candidates can start filing their nominations.

"The Model Code of Conduct will come into immediate effect and will apply on political parties and state governments concerned, besides the Central government in terms of announcements in these states," Zaidi told reporters.

The CEC said candidates will have to open a fresh bank account for all election expenses and all expenses above Rs 20,000 will be made through cheques from their respective accounts. He added that all donations will also be accepted through cheques.

The maximum limit for expenses for each candidates in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand is Rs 28 lakh, while that in Goa and Manipur is Rs 20 lakh, he said.

The first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections covering 73 constituencies in 15 districts will be held on February 11, while 67 constituencies spread over 11 districts will go to polls on February 15 in Phase II.

Similarly, for Phase III covering 69 constituencies in 12 districts of the states, polls will be held on February 19 and Phase IV and Phase V will be held on February 23 and February 27, covering 53 and 52 constituencies respectively.

Phase VI of UP polls covering 49 will be held on March 4 and the last phase covering 40 seats will be held on March 8.

The assembly polls in Punjab and Goa with 117 and 40 constituencies respectively, will be held in one go on February 4, with the poll process being set rolling on January 11 with the filing of nominations.

Uttarakhand with 70 assembly constituencies will go to polls in one go on February 15, while Manipur will have polling in two phases on March 4 and 8.

The poll process will start in Uttarakhand on January 20, while that for Manipur will commence on February 11 with the issue of notification, where the nominations will start.

Zaidi said the use of black money in these elections is expected to reduce post demonetisation, but use of other illegal inducements in different forms may see an increase.

He said for the first time the EC will issue Standard Operating Procedures for the first 72 hours of poll process after announcement of polls and for the last 72 hours before polling to ensure that the poll machinery is set rolling and activated.

The EC has also for the first time made it mandatory for every candidate contesting these polls to file another affidavit in the form of a "No demand certificate" declaring any pending electricity, water, telephone bills and rent for government accommodation in their possession in last ten years.

The CEC said candidates will also make a declaration while filing their nominations on their being a citizen of India and having not possessed citizenship of any other country.

The affidavit is in compliance with a Delhi High Court ruling in this regard and failure to file it will lead to defects of substantial nature during scrutiny of nomination papers, Zaidi said.

As part of another first of its kind initiative, the EC will accept online the service votes of defence, para-military personnel and those posted in missions abroad. This comes after the success of an experiment in Puducherry.

Zaidi said VVPAT machines will be used in increasing number in select areas during these assembly polls and Goa will be saturated with VVPAT.

While Electronic Voting Machines will be used in all polling stations, the ballot paper on EVM machines will for the first time carry photographs of candidates along with their names and poll symbols.

The Commission will issue photo voter slips to voters ahead of polls and will for the first time also distribute a colourful booklet that will guide the voters on date and time of polls and location of polling stations, besides Dos and Don'ts for them.

To encourage more participation of women in election management, the EC will also have some all-woman polling stations this time around, besides making all polling stations disabilities-friendly.

The tenure of Punjab, Goa and Manipur assemblies are ending on March 18, while that of Uttarakhand will end on March 26 and Uttar Pradesh Assembly on May 27.

Of the total 690 constituencies going to polls in these five states, 133 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 23 for Scheduled Tribes.

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Althaf
 - 
Wednesday, 4 Jan 2017

Abki baar say no to Fenku Sarkaar..

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Agencies
April 23,2020

New Delhi, Apr 23: With an increase of 1,229 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the total number of cases reached 21,700, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

The tally is inclusive of 16,689 active cases, 4,325 patients have been cured/discharged and migrated, while 686 patients who have died due to the deadly virus.

According to the ministry's data, Maharashtra is on the top of the list with most COVID-19 cases, 5,652 cases of which 789 patients have recovered and 269 patients succumbing to coronavirus.

Gujarat and Delhi are second and third on the list respectively with Gujarat having 2407 cases of which 179 patients have recovered and 103 deaths. Meanwhile, in Delhi, the tally stands at 2248 cases of which 724 patients have recovered and 49 patients have died from COVID-19.

Rajasthan's tally stands at 1,890 cases with 230 patients cured while 27 deaths have been reported as of Thursday.

Madhya Pradesh has 1695 cases of which 148 patients have recovered and 81 deaths reported. Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, stands with 1629 cases of which 662 patients have recovered and 18 have died due to the deadly virus.

Goa has seven cases reported of which all seven patients have recovered from the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on April 14, that the nationwide lockdown would be extended to May 3.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Lucknow, Mar 3: Two days after wife of Kafeel Khan, who is booked under the National Security Act, alleged that her husband faced a threat to life in Mathura jail, where he is lodged for anti-CAA protests, the District Magistrate claimed that Khan was 'fully secure' in the jail.

"Kafeel Khan, who has been booked under the National Security Act (NSA) for alleged inflammatory statements during an anti-CAA protest in Aligarh, is absolutely fine and fully secure in Mathura jail. Allegations of 'inhuman' treatment being meted out to him are baseless," Mathura District Magistrate Sarvagya Ram Mishra said on Monday.

Also Read: Kafeel Khan’s wife fears threat to his life
Senior Superintendent of Mathura district prison, Shailendra Maitrey, said that Khan's condition is being monitored every half an hour and the report is written in the gate book. He said, his ECG is normal and blood pressure was also in control.

He said that Khan was demanding checkup from a cardiologist.

"Since no specialist is available in the government sector here, his request could not be complied with. However, the jail authorities have sent his request to chief medical officer and have asked him to make a specialist available," the jail official said.

He said Khan is in barrack, which is fully ventilated, and he shares it with 50-60 'good behaviour' prisoners.

It may be recalled that in a letter to the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), and Director General (Jail), Shabista Khan, wife of the jailed doctor, had alleged that her husband was being treated inhumanely in the jail.

She feared that an attempt could be made on her husband's life inside the jail. She had demanded adequate security for him and had urged that her husband should be kept away from active criminals lodged in the jail.

Khan was booked by Aligarh police on December 13 for delivering a provocative speech in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) during an anti-CAA protest in the campus, a day earlier, and was arrested from Mumbai airport on January 29 by Uttar Pradesh special task force.

The Aligarh police had slapped the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against Khan on February 13 night, hours before he was expected to walk free from the Mathura jail, after he was granted bail by Aligarh's chief judicial magistrate on February 10.

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News Network
February 21,2020

Pune/Mumbai, Feb 21: A BJP youth wing leader from Pune on Thursday submitted a complaint application to the police against AIMIM leader Waris Pathan for his controversial remarks made recently in Karnataka.

Pathan has claimed he has been quoted out of context.

Parismal Deshpande, a BJYM worker, submitted the written application at the Deccan Gymkhana police station, demading action against Pathan for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups and outraging religious feelings of a community.

Deshpande, in his complaint stated, that Pathan reportedly said "15 crore hai lekin 100 crore pe bhari hai' (We are 15 crore but we can dominate 100 crore).

"The statement by Pathan promotes violence and create a divide between two communities.

"Because of such statements, there are possibilities of atmosphere getting vitiated. Hence, he should be booked under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups, 295A (outraging religious feelings), and 504 (provoking breach of the peace)," Deshpande said in the complaint.

An officer from the Deccan police station confirmed receiving the application.

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, the BJP slammed Pathan.

The saffron party on Thursday tweeted @BJP4Maharashtra saying, "Waris Pathan, who are you threatening to? Shiv Sena led government may tolerate your comments; but BJP and people of Maharashtra will teach you a lesson that your hate- mongering speeches will be shut."

However, Pathan has issued a statement to the media, saying he has been quoted out of context.

"I hereby wish to state that the media reports on TV channels showing my statement made in the public meeting at Gulbarga five days back have totally quoted me out of context," Pathan claimed on late Thursday evening.

"I wish to reiterate that I can never say anything intentionally or unintentionally that hurts the sentiments of any caste, community or gender. I am a proud Indian and respects the plurality of this country," he said.

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