Thursday, May 2, 2019

UNSC:Masood Azhar global terrorist

Big vicyory for PM Modi a diplomatic win for India, Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar designated as a global terrorist by United Nations.
Masood Azhar is the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which carried out a suicide bombing in February killing 40 troops in Indian-administered Kashmir. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on UNSC listing #MasoodAzhar as a Global Terrorist: In India’s fight against terrorism, this is an important achievement. For the last one decade, India was making diplomatic efforts towards this goal. It’ll help bring Masood Azhar&JeM to justice.
The UN move comes after China dropped its objection to the listing. India hailed it as a diplomatic victory.
Masood Azhar will be subject to an assets freeze and a travel ban.
“Big, small, all join together. Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist in @UN Sanctions list. Grateful to all for their support,” Syed Akbaruddin, India’s ambassador to the United Nations, tweeted.

Agencies braces Cyclone Feni


Central and State agencies are fully geared to meet any eventuality arising out of cyclone Fani. Defence forces are prepared as Odisha braces for the cyclonic storm. 
The extremely severe cyclonic storm is likely to make landfall near Puri tomorrow with wind speeds ranging up to 180 kilometres per hour. 
The storm is likely to impact coastal districts of Odisha including Ganjam, Gajapati, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Balasore. 
Under the influence of the Cyclone, squally winds gusting up to 85 km per hour are expected tonight along and off the North Andhra Pradesh Coast.
The Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief and rescue operations. Army and Air Force units in the three States have also been put on standby. 
NDRF has deployed 28 teams in Odisha, 12 in Andhra Pradesh and 6 in West Bengal. Additionally, 32 teams have been kept on standby.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik reviewed the preparedness and said around eight lakh people will be evacuated from vulnerable areas to safe places by Thursday evening.
Special Relief Commissioner BP Sethi said, 880 cyclone shelters in coastal and southern districts have been kept ready to accommodate the evacuees. 
One lakh dry food packets are being kept ready at different places.
Leave of all doctors and health officials and police personnel have been cancelled.
74 trains have been cancelled under East Coast Railway Zone.
Educational institutions have been asked to remain closed for three days from today.
The Centre has directed that all necessary measures be taken to complete evacuation of people from areas in the path of the Cyclone. at the meeting of National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) in New Delhi yesterday, Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha again reviewed the preparedness of the State and Central Agencies concerned to deal with the situation arising out of the Cyclone. 
The NCMC will meet again today to take stock of the situation.

EU Ultimatum To Pakistan

51 members of the European Parliament, have expressed concern and sought and assurance from him that alleged persecution of religious minorities must stop immediately.
The letter, in fact, threatens Pakistan that if immediate steps are not taken to dismantle the bodies, which are targeting minorities, the European Commission would be compelled to suspend all subsidies and trade preferences given to Pakistan.
India is seeing this move in a positive light as the government is doing all it can to alienate Pakistan internationally. "It's a good move specially because the letter also talks about forcible conversion of Hindus. India also has been raising this issue for a long time now," a senior government official told NDTV.
The letter points out that women from minority groups are particularly vulnerable to abuse. "A report by the Movement for Solidarity and Peace in Pakistan found that at least 1000 girls belonging to Christian and Hindu communities, often minors, are kidnapped and forced to marry Muslim men every year," said the letter sent to Pakistan PM on April 30.
But what is important for India is the fact that the European Parliament now has acknowledged the growing influence of religious extremist groups, often with the support of the Pakistan government.
Recently India had sent a note verbale to Pakistan Foreign Office, after reports that two minor Hindu girls were abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to Muslim men.
The letter further highlighted that today's Pakistan is far removed from being the country that its founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, had envisaged. 

 
 
 
Naresh --

After the 2020 census, state legislatures will redraw district lines across all fifty states. We only have to look at the way those lines have shifted over the last few decades to infer that Republicans will feel comfortable using the redistricting progress to disenfranchise voters and ensure GOP majorities for the next decade.

Gerrymandering is a critical issue, and one that should define the 2020 election. I wasn’t at all surprised to learn that three of our Onward Together partner organizations have put their heads together and come up with a plan to ensure that Democrats win key elections next fall.

This week, our partners at Swing Left, Run for Something, and Arena launched the Grassroots Redistricting Project. They’re targeting legislative chambers in nine states to ensure that Democrats have a fair say in the redistricting process, but they’ll need the power of this team to make it happen.

Today, sign up to learn more about how you can get involved in the Grassroots Redistricting Project:
Learn more
I’m so proud of everyone taking part in this fight. Onward!

Hillary
Centre for Policy Research and Orient BlackSwan invite you to the launch of
 
Indian Environmental Law: Key Concepts and Principles
edited by Shibani Ghosh, Fellow, Centre for Policy Research
Shibani Ghosh will introduce the book, followed by a panel discussion.

On the panel:
Shyam Divan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India
Philippe Cullet, Professor, SOAS, University of London

Moderated by:
Bahar Dutt, Senior environmental journalist 
Friday, 3 May 2019, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. (tea at 5:30 p.m.)
 
Source
 

About the Book

For more than three decades now, the Indian courts have delivered far-reaching judgments on a range of significant environmental matters. In their effort to adjudicate complex disputes with serious environmental repercussions, the courts have developed a framework of environmental rights and legal principles. Indian Environmental Law: Key Concepts and Principles provides a critical analysis of this environmental legal framework. It studies the origins of environmental rights, substantive and procedural, and the four most significant legal principles – principle of sustainable development, polluter pays principle, precautionary principle and the public trust doctrine – and elaborates how Indian courts have defined, interpreted and applied them across a range of contexts.

As litigation and legal adjudication struggle to respond to worsening environmental quality, conceptual clarity about the content, application and limitations of environmental rights and legal principles is crucial for the improvement of environmental governance. With chapters written by Saptarishi BandopadhyayLovleen BhullarShibani GhoshDhvani Mehta, and Lavanya Rajamani, this book explores the judicial reasoning and underlying assumptions in landmark judgments of the Supreme Court, the High Courts and the National Green Tribunal, and aims to provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the framework of rights and principles.

About the Editor

Shibani Ghosh 
is a Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, where her research and writing focuses on environmental law and governance. She is an Advocate-on-Record at the Supreme Court of India, and practices before the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal.

About the Panellists

Shyam Divan is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India. His areas of practice cover most branches of civil litigation including banking, securities law, arbitration, administrative law and environmental law. He has appeared for citizens’ groups in a host of civil liberties and constitutional cases. Mr. Divan has co-authored Environmental Law and Policy in India (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., 2001), one of the leading texts on Indian environmental law.

Philippe Cullet is Professor of international and environmental law at SOAS University of London and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. He works on international and domestic environmental law, natural resources, water and sanitation and socio-economic rights and engages regularly with policymakers at the national and international levels. His latest edited books are Right to Sanitation in India – Critical Perspectives (Oxford University Press, 2019 – co-editors S. Koonan & L. Bhullar) and Groundwater and Climate Change: Multi-Level Law and Policy Perspectives (Routledge, 2019 – co-editor R. M. Stephan).

Bahar Dutt is a conservation biologist and environmental journalist, and the winner of over twelve national and international awards including the Ramnath Goenka Award for excellence in environmental reporting. She was previously the Environment Editor at CNN-IBN and a columnist for the Mint. She is the author of Green Wars: Dispatches from a Vanishing World (Harper-Collins, 2014) and the founder of the MITTI Project.
Prof. NK Goyal, President, CMAI Association of India & National Technical Education Empowerment Committee (AICTE) invites you as our VIP distinguished Guest in -
 
4th National Higher Education Summit for New Gen. Technologies i.e AI, ML, Robotics etc along with
13th National Education Summit & Awards 2019
 
Powered by
Truneek Informatics Pvt. Ltd.
 
At Hall no. 2 & 3
Vigyan Bhawan Main, New Delhi
10th May 2019, 10.00 AM Onwards 
 
We personally request to please give confirmation on email.
 
The Summit will be graced by:-
 
·       Hon’ble Mr. Asalf Habtegeorgis ,Minister Counselor, Embassy of the Federal Democratic  Republic of Ethiopia
·       Hon'ble Shri. Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe – Chairman, AICTE
·       Hon'ble Shri Antriksh Johri, Director-IT, CBSE
·       Hon'ble Shri. M.P Poonia, Vice Chairman, AICTE
·       Dr. MS Manna, Former Director, AICTE
·       Sh. Subhash Ghai, Indian Film Director
 
Request please join for morning networking tea along with Lunch. Please note this is a personal invitation without any financial obligations from your side.
 
Major Take Away from Conference –
 
Truneek Informatics Private Ltd. is exploring opportunity in opening up of Center of Excellence for IOT, AI and Augmented reality in Universities/Colleges/Schools. Interested Universities/Colleges please contact Mr. Navtesh at +91 9711 869 771 and navteshgoyal@yahoo.com
 
This is a unique platform to get connected with hundreds of Institutes/Universities and Higher Education Decision Makers, Government representatives , Principals, University Vice Chancellors and Private Managements running Institutes and decision makers available at one single point.
 
The summit will be joined by speakers from different backgrounds and will share their thoughts on upcoming New Gen Technologies i.e AI, IOT, ML etc in India and about it’s future.
 
Kindly find the invitation card at http://tiny.cc/67k05y in PDF version (request to please download and carry a copy of the card).
 
You are requested to kindly carry an ID Proof and copy of the invitation card for your smooth entry at the venue. Request to please send confirmation by email.
 
In case you have any queries or seek any clarifications, please call Mr. Navtesh at +91 9711 869 771.
 
We look forward to welcoming you on 10th May, 2019
 
Brief Agenda –
 
10.00 AM- 11.00 AM – Collection of Invitation card and parking stickers for entry at Vigyan Bhawan Main Gate, Gate no. 2
11.00AM- 12.00PM- Inauguration by Chief Guests & VC’s/Directors Conference on Education
12.00PM- 01.00PM- National Education Summit & Awards 2019
01.00PM onwards – Networking Lunch
 
Please note all participants will be given Certificate of Participation.
 
Warm regards

Navtesh
Executive Director
CMAI Association of India
Desk no. : 011-26266211
Handheld: +91-9711869771
Analysis of Funds Collected and Expenditure Incurred by Political Parties in the 5 State Assembly Elections, 2018 
- Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram & Telangana

For the complete report on state-wise expenditure incurred by National and Regional parties on various heads such as publicity and travel, refer to the detailed report attached herewith.  

Executive Summary

· Political parties are required to submit a statement of election expenditure to the Election Commission within 75 days of completion of Assembly Elections. Accordingly, the last date of submission was 25 February, 2019.
· The expenditure statement contains details of the total amount received as funds in the form of cash, cheque and demand draft and the total amount spent under various heads.
· The expenditure statement contains information on the amount spent on the following heads at the central, state, district and constituency levels by the party:
o   Publicity
o   Travel expenses
o   Other expenses
o   Expenditure towards candidates
·  Political parties submit these statements providing information of fundscollected and spent between announcement and completion of elections. This period could be between 3 weeks to 3 months based on the notification issued by the Election Commission.
· This report analyses the funds received and expenditure incurred by recognized political parties, during the State Assembly elections to Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram & Telangana held in the month of December 2018.

·  6 National Parties and 7 Regional Parties have been considered for analysis in this report.

·  10 Regional parties which have not submitted their election expenditure statements yet to the ECI are: JDU, SHS, RLSP, IUML, JDS, LJP, TRS, RJD, ZNP and NPP.

Details provided in the Election Expenditure Statement

Funds Collected and Expenditure incurred by political parties
·   The National and Regional Political Parties considered in this report are: BJP, INC, BSP, CPM, NCP, CPI, AAP, SP, AIFB, RLD, AIMIM, TDP and MNF.
·   AIFB had not declared any funds collected at the Central Headquarters and State Units during Madhya Pradesh and Telangana Assembly Elections, 2018.
·  Total funds collected by 12 political parties during Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram & Telangana Assembly Elections held in 2018 was Rs 826.76 cr and total expenditure incurred was Rs 337.84 cr.
·   Funds collected by the parties at the Central Headquarters was Rs 613.57 crand expenditure was Rs 89.95 crMadhya Pradesh State Unit spent Rs 138.16 crTelangana State Unit spent Rs 54.56 crRajasthan State Unit spent Rs 34.88 crChhattisgarh State Unit spent Rs 19.06 cr. while Mizoram State Unit spent Rs 1.226 cr.

image.png
Chart: Total funds collected and expenditure incurred by political parties during 5-state Assembly Elections, 2018

image.png
Chart: Funds collected and expenditure incurred by political parties during 5-state Assembly Elections, 2018


Expenditure incurred by political parties under various heads
·  Political parties declare their expenditure under the heads of Publicity, Travel Expenses, Other/ Miscellaneous expenses and Lumpsum amount paid to their contesting candidates.
·    Political Parties that contested in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram & Telangana Assembly Elections, 2018, spent the highest, Rs 185.65 cr on Publicity, followed by Rs 147.56 cr on Lumpsum amount paid to candidatesRs 108.08 cr on Travel expenses and Rs 37.75 cr on Other/Miscellaneous expenses.

·    Expenditure on Publicity is 38.75% of the overall expenditure declared under various heads.

·    Expenditure on Other/Miscellaneous is 7.88% of the overall expenditure declared under various heads.
image.png
Chart: Expenditure incurred by political parties under various heads during 5-state Assembly Elections, 2018

               Observations of ADR

·    The election expenditure statements of JDU, SHS, RLSP, IUML, JDS, LJP, TRS, RJD, ZNP and NPP are not available in the public domaindespite contesting elections, with a total delay of more than two months. 

·     The expenditure statements of BJP for Mizoram Assembly Elections and of AAP for Rajasthan Assembly Elections are not available on the website of ECI despite contesting elections in the respective states.

·    The expenditure statement of AIFB declared receiving no funds and incurred no expenditure from its Central Headquarters and State Units despite contesting elections in Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.

·   The expenditure statement of MNF and AIMIM declared receiving no funds and incurred no expenditure from their State Units despite contesting elections in Mizoram and Telangana respectively.

Recommendations of ADR

·    It must be made mandatory for all political parties to submit their statements of expenditure in the format given by the ECI, within the prescribed time limit. Political parties not submitting on time or in the prescribed format should be heavily penalized.
·    The details of all donors who contribute to national and regional parties exclusively for their election campaigns must be declared in the public domain irrespective of the amount donated.

·    format similar to the donations report along with the date of donations, submitted to the ECI on an annual basis, has to be prescribed for the expenditure statement so as to bring in more transparency in the finances of the political parties especially during elections when it is said that black money plays a major role.

·      Where possible, expenditure must be limited to transactions via cheque/DD/RTGS so as to reduce use of black money in elections, as per the transparency guidelines issued by the ECI.
·     Similar to the shadow observers of the ECI for monitoring expenditure of candidates, there must also be observers for monitoring the expenditure of political parties.


Contact Details

State Coordinators
Mr.Gautam Bandyopadhyay
Chhattisgarh state coordinator
+91-0771 4064-328
+91-98261-71304
Mr. Nikhil Dey
Rajasthan state coordinator
+91-94140-04180

Mr. Kamal Tak
Rajasthan state coordinator
+91-94134-57292
Ms. Rolly Shivhare
Madhya Pradesh state coordinator
+91 9425466461
Mr. Rakesh Reddy Dubbudu
Telangana state coordinator
+91-98854-19012

National Election Watch (NEW) & Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)

Media and Journalist Helpline

+91 80103 94248


Maj Gen Anil Verma (Retd)
Head - NEW & ADR

+91 8826479910



Prof Jagdeep Chhokar
IIM Ahmedabad (Retd)

Founder Member- NEW & ADR

+919999620944


Prof Trilochan Sastry
IIM Bangalore

Founder Member - NEW & ADR

+919448353285,

-- 
Association for Democratic Reforms
T-95, C.L. House, 2nd Floor,
(Near Gulmohar Commercial Complex)
Gautam Nagar
New Delhi-110 049

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