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EC gives voters right to reject

October 4, 2013

New Delhi, Oct 4: For the first time, the Election Commission will provide the ‘None Of The Above’ option in EVMs for the 11 crore voters who will exercise their franchise in the five States going to polls beginning next month.NOTA

Announcing the schedule for Assembly elections in Delhi, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath said in New Delhi on Friday that the Election Commission is taking necessary steps to make available the NOTA option for voters in the electronic voting machines.

“The Election Commission is working out details and steps for introduction of NOTA option in these polls itself,” Mr. Sampath told a press conference.

Till now, this option is not available to voters on ballot papers and EVMs. Voters so far had to register their option of NOTA in a register under Rule 49-O of the Conduct of Election Rules, thus compromising secrecy.

In its September 27, 2013 judgement, the Supreme Court had directed the EC to provide the NOTA option on ballot papers and EVMs.

The apex court had said that the EC should implement it either in a phased manner or at a time in assistance with the central government.

Below the name of the last candidate on the EVMs, the EC will now provide a button for the NOTA option for electors who do not wish to vote for any of the candidates in the fray in their constituency.

“The Commission is taking steps to bring this to the knowledge of voters and all other stakeholders and to train all field level officials, including polling personnel about the NOTA option,” Mr. Sampath said.

Former CEC S.Y. Quraishi had recently written an article about the NOTA option saying that such votes will be counted as “no votes” and would not affect the result of the poll.

“For democracy to survive, it is essential that the best available men should be chosen as people’s representatives for proper governance of the country. This can be best achieved through men of high moral and ethical values, who win the elections on a positive vote.

“Thus in a vibrant democracy, the voter must be given an opportunity to choose none of the above button, which will indeed compel the political parties to nominate a sound candidate. This situation palpably tells us the dire need of negative voting,” the Supreme Court bench had said.

Referring to another apex court judgement on filling all columns in election affidavit, Mr. Sampath said now it is obligatory for the Returning Officer (RO) to check whether the information required is fully furnished.

Now, if any of the columns is left blank by a candidate, the RO will issue him a notice to complete the affidavit. If the candidate fails to do so despite the notice, his nomination paper is liable to be rejected at the time of scrutiny.

In another first, the EC will now deploy ‘awareness observers’ who will oversee measures for voter facilitation with a view to motivate voters and increase turnout.

Awareness observers will be deployed in two phases of seven days each and will monitor steps being taken by the election machinery to bridge the gap in people’s participation in the electoral process.

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Agencies
May 19,2020

Lucknow, May 19: The administration of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) has ordered a probe into the cardiac procedure conducted on a corona positive patient in the hospital.

The patient underwent a cardiac procedure without being tested for corona before the surgery. He later tested positive for COVID-19, leading to panic among the staff and other patients.

The medical staff that came in contact with the patient were quarantined on Monday while the area was sanitized.

As per orders from the State Medical Education Department, even in emergency cases, patients are to be screened for Covid-19 before procedures are done.

According to the SGPGI administration, the incident took place late on Sunday night.

In an official statement, director, Prof R.K. Dhiman said, "The 63-year-old patient was a case of complete cardiac blockage and needed an urgent temporary pacemaker. The patient was admitted to the holding area of the institute and later shifted to the MICU for permanent pace making."

He said that when the patient's corona status was found to be positive on the Hospital Information System, she was shifted to the Rajdhani COVID Hospital.

The Director said, "Though the involved areas have been sanitized and healthcare workers were quarantined as per protocol, a probe has been ordered to investigate the lapses."

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Agencies
June 6,2020

Mumbai, Jun 6: Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami faces a new complaint, this time under the Cable Televisions Network (Regulation) Act, 1995, for allegedly running the television channel "to create communal hatred, religious polarisation and threatening national integrity".

Social activist Nilesh Navlakha last month lodged a criminal complaint with the Commissioner of Police, Pune, through his lawyer Asim Sarode, under Section 2 of the Act.

"We have narrated six prominent, recent debate shows conducted by Goswami in which his arguments and words used were communal in nature which he kept repeating in his shows. The words and tonality are intended to promote communal attitudes and news is based on religious innuendos and half-truths," Sarode contended.

This leads to propaganda based on hatred, religious polarization and communal divide, said Navlakha in a statement.

He further said that the misuse of freedom of expression by Goswami and his channel posed a serious threat before the independent media as it violates the freedom of expression of the viewers, as it is the viewers' right to get correct, complete and true information.

Elaborating about Goswami's behaviour, Navlakha said that he has created what is termed 'Impulse Control Disorder' in psychiatry.
Sarode said: "Intermittent Explosive Disorder is a kind of 'impulse control disorder' which involves sudden episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behaviour or angry verbal outbursts in which you react grossly out of proportion to the situation."

They said that there are some more media persons displaying such tendencies in Hindi and English journalism, showing whatever is convenient and blow it out of proportion to give meanings which are out-of-context and disrupts the fabric of democracy while not fitting into journalism's ethics.

The complaint also alleged that Goswami and his channel are actually into "brainwashing" the viewers in a way that they will get converted into haters of some communities and terror for some religions.

"This is not less than running an organised crime syndicate of making the human minds to follow a fanatic terrorist thought process. When WhatsApp group admins are being booked under the law, then why the CTNRA provisions are not being invoked against such tendencies," Sarode asked.

In the complaint, it is pointed out how eminent persons have walked out of Goswami's shows because of his name-calling tactics, like labelling cricketer Sachin Tendulkar "anti-national" in one of his shows.

Navlakha and Sarode claimed that Goswami has violated the Programme Code under the CTNRA, the channel has indicated it is against sovereignty, integrity and security as also against public order, decency and morality, making it a serious issue and a cognizable offence.

It urged the Pune police chief to take suitable action against the wrongs committed to disturb the peace, law and order in society and book Goswami under the CTNRA Section's 16, which attracts a jail term of two years plus fine.

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News Network
August 8,2020

The Kozhikode International Airport located at Karipur is not safe for the landing of flights in rainy season, according to an air-safety expert, who had warned the aviation ministry and the civil aviation regulator about this in 2011. 

The warning was particularly about the dangers of permitting passenger aircraft to land on runway 10 of the airport during rains and unfavourable wind conditions. 

Nine years later, on August 7, 2020, the warning became a reality when an Air India Express pilots landed in tailwind conditions and the aircraft overshot the tabletop runway to drop off the end and crash.

 “An aircraft landing on runway 10 in tailwind will experience poor braking action due to heavy rubber deposits … All such flights … are endangering the lives of all on board,’’ said Capt Mohan Ranganathan, in a letter sent on June 17, 2011 to then director general of civil aviation Bharat Bhushan and Nasim Zaidi, chairman of a civil aviation safety advisory committee, which was formed after the May 2010 Mangaluru air crash which killed 158 people.

“My warning issued after the Mangaluru crash was ignored. It is a table-top runway with a down slope. The buffer zone at the end of the runway is inadequate,” Capt Ranganathan said. Given the topography, he pointed out, the airport should have a buffer of 240m at the end of the runway, but it only has 90m (which the DGCA had approved). “Moreover, the space on either side of the runway is only 75m instead of the mandatory 100m,” he added.

Capt Ranganathan said there is no guideline for operations on a table-top runway when it is raining. “Runway 10 approach should not be permitted in view of the lack of runway end safety area (RESA) and the terrain beyond the end of the runway. RESA of 240m should be immediately introduced and runway length has to be reduced to make the operations safe,” his letter said.

If an aircraft is unable to stop within the runway, there is no RESA beyond the end. The ILS localiser antenna is housed on a concrete structure and the area beyond is a steep slope. “The Air India Express accident in Mangalore should have alerted AAI to make the runway conditions safe. We have brought up the issue of RESA during the initial Casac-sub group meetings. We had specifically mentioned that the declared distances for both runways have to be reduced in order to comply with ICAO Annex 14 requirement,” Capt Ranganathan said.

He said the condition of the runway strip was known to DGCA teams that have been conducting inspection and safety assessments. “Have they considered the danger involved? Did the DGCA or the airlines lay down any operational restrictions or special procedures?”

The letter also refers to Approach and Landing Accident Reduction (ALAR) training, which is supposed to be mandatory before every monsoon, but airlines don’t follow it, he said. “70% of accidents take place during approach and landing and that is why this training is essential,” he added.

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