ECI announces slew of measures to bring transparency in postal ballot voting in Tripura

Jan 25 In Tripura to bring more transparency in the postal ballot voting the Election commission of India has announced slew of measures. The Election commission of India is taking measures so that each and every person can get chance to vote in the upcoming Tripura assembly election through Postal ballot be it the polling officials within the state or Jawans from the state deployed outside. The Chief Electoral officer of Tripura Asutosh Jindal has said that the ECI like earlier has tied up with India Post so that around 3000 soldiers who are staying outside the state can get their postal ballot in time and also the same ballot reaches in Time before counting. He also informed that a guideline will be issued by the Election Commission of India on 28th of this month for the poll bound state with regard to the postal ballot voting.The CEO Tripura also informed that drop boxes will be placed in offices of every Returning officer for the Poll personals on the day of their departure to the respective polling stations. He said that the polling personals can drop their postal ballot on the drop boxes. Tripura goes to poll on 14th of next month. TN CM to PM: Immediately withdraw partial deregulation of diesel price & introduction of dual pricing policy Jan 25 Tamilnadu Chief Minister Ms.Jayalalithaa has appealed to Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh to immediately withdraw partial deregulation of the price of diesel and the introduction of a dual pricing policy. In a letter to Dr.Singh today, she said that due to the hike, the State Government had an extra burden of 750 crore rupees annually to purchase diesel for State Transport Corporation. Calling it a short sighted measure, Ms.Jayalalithaa said that the Centre has a responsibility to share the burden of the subsidy to provide affordable public transportation facilities of the State Governments At least 5 killed, 6 injured in Mumbai fire Jan 25 At least five people were killed and six injured in a fire that gutted over 50 hutments at Mahim in suburban Mumbai early this morning. AIR Correspondent reports that the fire broke out around 5 am in the Naya Nagar slum and quickly spread, catching the occupants unaware in their sleep. Seven fire engines and eight tankers rushed to combat the blaze and managed to control it after four hours. The cause of the fire is not yet known.  State News Back  National Girl Child Day celebrated yesterday in Haryana Jan 25 In Haryana, National Girl Child Day was celebrated yesterday throughout the state in a befitting manner with the objective to raise social awareness about girl child. At the State level function in Panchkula, the State Women and Child Development Minister Mrs Geeta Bhukkal stressed the need for social boycott of those indulged in crimes against women. As many as 29 girl students were honored for their outstanding achievements in various fields at the State level function organized by Haryana Woman and Child Development Department. 55th TN State Republic Day Sports Meet for school students starts Jan 25 The 55th Tamil Nadu State Republic Day Sports Meet for school students has begun in Thanjavur . More than 5000 students from 32 districts of the State like Tiruchirapalli, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli are competing in the three day event. Competitions are held in sports events like tennis, basketball, handball, football, kabaddi, khokho, ball badminton. The sports meet was inaugurated by School education secretary Devarajan and district Collector Bhaskaran. Special voter registration campaign launched for youths from Jan 6 in Punjab Jan 25 In Punjab, a special voter registration campaign was launched for the youths from January 6. This campaign is for those citizens, who had attained the age of 18 by 1st of January this year and had not yet registered themselves as voters. Identity cards are being given to new voters under this campaign. Functions are also being organised at district and sub division level to apprise youth about their right to vote. Earlier Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab invited claims and objections in October and 9 lakh 50 thousand claims and objections were received and new voter cards were distributed. Gujarat schools hold quiz contest on National Voters' Day Jan 25 In Gujarat, quiz contest on 'Democracy and Indian election process' was held in 1,361 primary schools in Ahmedabad district on the National Voters' Day today. Students, who stood first, second and third in the quiz were given merit certificates by the District Collector Vijay Nehra. Students of class VI, VII and VIII participated in the quiz with the aim to catch them young for making them more aware about the democracy. Addressing the media persons, Mr. Nehra said that special activities have been organized to mark the National Voters' Day on Friday wherein booth levels officers would create awareness at all 4,856 booths in the district both in the rural as well as urban Ahmedabad. He said that Year 2012 saw an increase of 1.12 lakh youths who became the first time voters in the recent elections in the state. These youths will be given badges and made feel proud as the young voters who exercised their franchise. Our Ahmedabad Correspondent reports that officers who did exemplary work during the recent State Assembly Elections have also been awarded today.