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.
All the victims were migrant workers from Chapra district Bihar and were asleep when the fire broke out. Barring one, the rest were between 23 and 35 years of age. Short circuit is suspected to have caused the fire.
After paying glowing tributes to legendary martyrs Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev here at state-level function in Hussaniwala, the Chief Minister unveiled the anti-corruption number -- 950 120 0200.
Interacting with family members of martyr Bhagat Singh, including Teji Sandhu, the wife of his nephew, Abhay Sandhu, the Chief Minister assured them that all efforts would be made to get status of the martyr for the legendary hero of Indian freedom struggle, who laid his life at a tender age.
It will impart job-related skills like electrician, welder, fitter, air-conditioning and refrigeration mechanic, information technology, web designing, coding, graphic designing, solar panel technician, junior nurses and hospitality.
Furnishing details, Additional DCP-I (Dwaka), Vikram Singh, said that a call about the robbery incident was received at 6 a.m. Tuesday, in which the caller claimed that four women had robbed him of Rs 2,000 near the Ganda Nala area.
"The office of the Commissioner for NRI Affairs Goa is already in touch with the Consulate General of India, Houston, USA for seeking their assistance for bringing the mortal remains of late John Dias to Goa, so that his family can have the funeral in Goa," he added.
