[Nasheman news] New Delhi The Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19 and the votes will be counted on May 23, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora announced on Sunday.

Calling the Indian parliamentary battle the “largest festival of democracy”, he said that 91 constituencies (spread across 20 states) will see polling on April 11, 97 constituencies (13 states) on April 18, 115 (14) on April 23, 71 (9) on April 29, 51 (7) on May 6, 59 (also 7) on May 12 and 59 constituencies (8 states) on May 19.

The staggered election will see about 900 million voters, up from 814.5 million in 2014, when Narendra Modi led the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to power ending a decade of Congress-headed UPA rule.

Of this, some 15 million will be first-time voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years.

Approximately 10 lakh polling stations, one lakh more than in 2014, will be set up and a total of 17.4 lakh VVPATs will be used with electronic voting machines (EVMs) in all polling stations, Arora told a crowded press conference.

“The Election Commission has attempted a very comprehensive preparation for the conduct of the election”, he said.

“The panel believes that purity of electoral roll is the foundation of fair elections,” he added.

[Nasheman news] New Delhi  The Model Code of Conduct came into effect on Sunday following the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule by the Election Commission.

[Nasheman news] New Delhi  The number of voters in the Lok Sabha elections will be around 900 million, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora announced on Sunday, calling the upcoming polls the “largest festival of democracy”.

There would be approximately 10 lakh polling stations this year, up from 9 lakh in the last general election in 2014.

Of the total electorate, 15 million will be in the age group of 18 to 19 years.

“The Election Commission has attempted a very comprehensive preparation for the conduct of the election,” he said.

[Nasheman news] New Delhi  President Ram Nath Kovind will confer the Padma Awards on March 11 and 15 in two investiture ceremonies at the Rashtrapati Bhavan as the Modi government has claimed to have transformed the national honours into “people’s choice” trophies by involving the general public in sending entries.

For the awards announced on the eve of Republic Day, the government received a record 50,000 nominations, 20 times more than the 2,200 entries in 2014.

The awardees include 12 farmers from nine states, 14 doctors from 11 states, nine sportspersons, 16 social workers and others representing various fields.

Of the 112 named for the awards, 56 will receive the honour on March 11.

Among those to be awarded on March 11 include Balasaheb alias Balwant Moreshwar Purandare from Maharashtra who will be honoured with the Padma Vibhushan. 

There will be eight Padma Bhushan honours to be given to John Chambers, Sardar Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan, Vishwanathan Mohanlal, Budhaditya Mukherjee, Karia Munda, Kuldip Nayar (posthumous) and Hukumdev Narayan Yadav.

The Padma award winners will interact with the winners of Padma Quiz organised by the government last week which saw participation by 35,499 people.

[Nasheman news] Ghaziabad Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded efforts of the Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) personnel in protecting the vital institutions of the country and said that the responsibility of safeguarding the modern infrastructure built for New India is in the safe hands of CISF.

“The CISF personnel are protecting the country’s developmental growth by maintaining round the clock vigil. As India grows, the roles and responsibilities of CISF will also grow commensurately,” he said, while addressing the 50th raising day ceremony of CISF here.

He said the VIP culture creates hurdles in security architecture and urged citizens to cooperate with the security personnel.

To create awareness among the general public regarding the role and functions of CISF, Prime Minister suggested the idea of starting digital museums at airports and metros, showcasing the work of CISF.

Hailing the organisation’s role in securing the critical infrastructure of the country, he said that the force is also involved in disaster response, ensuring safety of women and many other activities.

“The forces did a commendable job of disaster relief operations during Kerala floods and also during the Nepal and Haiti earthquakes,” he said.

Noting that duty is the festival for the armed forces, the Prime Minister said that the role of CISF has increased, due to the challenges posed by terrorism. 

He added that his government is committed towards eliminating terrorism.

[Nasheman news] New Delhi Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Pulwama terror attack,, pointing to National Security Adviser Ajit Dovals role in the 1999 release of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) head Masood Azhar.

Gandhi tweeted pictures of Doval accompanying the three militants in Kandahar, Afghanistan, who were released following the the hijack of the Indian Airlines Flight 814. 

“PM Modi please tell the families of our 40 CRPF Shaheeds (martyrs), who released their murderer, Masood Azhar? Also tell them that your current NSA was the deal maker, who went to Kandahar to hand the murderer back to Pakistan,” the Congress chief said in a tweet.

The JeM has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on February 14 targeting the CRPF convoy.

[Nasheman news] Gwalior The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday urged Ayyappa devotees in Kerala to continue their struggle to save the Sabarimala temple traditions and sought the country’s support in protecting the beliefs of the Hindu society.

At a three-day meet of its highest policy-making body the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) here, the RSS adopted a resolution saying there had been a “systematic design” by “vested interests” based on “a non-Bhartiya perspective” to insult and hurt Hindu beliefs and traditions. 

“The Sabarimala temple case is a recent example of this design. Hindutva is not a monolithic thought but a view of life manifested in diverse and varied ways of cultural expressions, characterised by uniqueness in modes of worship, local traditions and festivities. It is anomalous to impose monotonous homogenisation on the beauty of diversity in our traditions,” the resolution said.

The ABPS urged the devotees to continue their struggle to protect the temple traditions with restraint and sobriety. 

“The Pratinidhi Sabha urges the Kerala government to honour the beliefs, sentiments and democratic rights of the devotees and not perpetrate violence upon its own people. The Pratinidhi Sabha hopes that the Court will comprehensively consider all these concerns in the review and other petitions,” the resolution said.

The RSS body accused Kerala’s Left Front government of trampling upon Hindu sentiments under the pretext of implementing the Supreme Court verdict to allow women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple.

“It is unfortunate that the Supreme Court while reaching the decision did not take into consideration the nature and premise of the tradition that has been accepted and continuously followed by people for many years. 

“The version of heads of religious traditions was not taken into account and the sentiments of women devotees were also not heeded,” it said.

The RSS said the Left government’s attempts to sneak in “atheist, ultra-Left women activists” from the backdoor had hurt the sentiments of Ayyappa devotees. 

“This is being done to further the Communist Party of India-Marxist’s (CPI-M) petty political gains and opens another ideological battle against the Hindus,” the resolution read.

[Nasheman news] Srinagar A gunfight broke out on Sunday between security forces and holed-up militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, police said.

Security forces surrounded Pinglish village in Tral area of Pulwama following information about the presence of militants there.

“As the security forces tightened the cordon around the hiding militants, they fired, triggering an encounter.

“Intermittent firing exchanges are going on,” a police officer said.

[Nasheman news] Jaipur A Pakistani drone attempting to enter Indian territory across the Rajasthan border went back following its detection by the Border Security Forces (BSF), who tried to shoot it down, the BSF said.

This was another of the drones from across the international border that tried to enter Indian territory at around 5 a.m. at Hindumalkot border near Sriganganagar, a BSF official said, adding that the moment it was sighted the troopers started firing, forcing it to return.

Villagers residing along the western border also heard heavy firing.

The drone returned safely across the border to Pakistan, a BSF official said.