New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) The Election Commission of India has said that its contemplating postal ballots for overseas voters, an official statement said on Friday.
During his recent visit to South Africa and interaction with the members of the Indian community there, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra urged the community to register as overseas voters as the present numbers are abysmally low. He also shared with the members that extension of Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) facility to overseas voters is being contemplated.
The Election Commission delegation, led by the CEC, visited South Africa and Mauritius from April 9-19.
During this visit, a series of meetings were held with the Election Commissions of South Africa and Mauritius as well as interactions with the large NRI community in the two countries. Both Election Management Bodies are also MOU partners with ECI.
The three countries share a relationship which is fundamental, unique and rooted in the collective experiences and cumulative strength of their people, the statement said.
As the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB), which provides a unique platform for exchange of knowledge and information between its members, completes 10 years of its foundation and steps into a new decade, the meeting was positioned at the right juncture wherein it was time to reflect on the way forward for A-WEB as an organisation, it said.
"During the meeting, it was acknowledged that this umbrella organisation had EMBs with a lot of experience and expertise which could assist and advise those EMBs who were looking for further development and upgradation of their systems. It was felt that the focus must now be on increasing membership and enhancing the sense of belonging of the members. More avenues must be explored so that the members can interact and meet more often," the CEC said.
Sushil Chandra said that South Africa has made big strides in democracy and would be hosting the next General Assembly of AWEB in October 2022. India has a very intense and active association with AWEB and both it and South Africa are its founding members.
At the end of her visit to the national capital, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday that everyone must work together to save democracy in the country, besides stating that she would be visiting Delhi every two months.
The Safdarjung observatory, which recorded 72 mm rainfall for 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Friday, received 41.6 mm rainfall between 2:30 pm and 5:30 pm, data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed.
The deceased Rajesh Kumar sustained multiple injuries and died in Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH). Deceased's uncle Harendra Ram has alleged that Rajesh was having a love affair with a girl and her parents are involved in his murder.
A couple was found murdered at their residence while their ten-month-old son was spared by the killers. The incident took place on Wednesday in the Mani Ka Pura Mazra village.
Based on a tip-off, the Gujarat ATS arrested Sumra as he landed at Delhi Airport from Dubai. According to the Gujarat ATS, Sumra has been involved in four cases of peddling heroin and other narcotics substances worth Rs 2,500 crore.
After the meeting, she said: "We discussed issues related to road and infrastructure projects, including transport, road connectivity and manufacturing units of electric buses. We have also discussed building some flyovers in Kolkata."
