HUMAN PLAY-NET

By Nirmal Anshu Ranjan New Delhi, March 9 (IANS)  If you are planning to apply online to get your name included in the electoral rolls for a Voter ID Card, hold on -- chances are your efforts may come to naught since the Election Commission (EC) says it is not accepting applications online, at least for now. This digital disconnect of the top election body of the country comes at a time when the Narendra Modi government at the Centre is betting big on its "Digital India" programme by putting more and more people-centric services online. An RTI application filed by me to know the fate of two online applications, including my own, threw up the startling revelation about one of the premier institutions of India, which claims to provide several citizen services at their doorstep. I had applied online for inclusion of my name about six month ago -- on September 2, 2016, precisely -- through the National Voters' Services Portal (www.nvsp.in), touted as the "...

PATNA: Defying call for a poll boycott by Maoists , around 52 per cent of the 98.44 lakh electorate cast their votes in 45 Assembly constituencies in Bihar in the second phase of elections which was marred by stray incidents of violence. The second phase of voting in crucial Naxal -affected districts of Bihar came to an end on Sunday. Minor incidents of violence though have caused some disturbance as three polling officials have been reported to be missing from a booth in the Sitamarhi district in Bihar. The overall voter turnout was 52 per cent. East Champaran saw the highest voter turnout at 58 per cent. Stray incidents of violence occurred in Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga districts. The Naxals who had called for a boycott of the polls set fire to an electronic voting machine and other poll material including voter identity cards. Heavily-armed Naxals raided a polling centre at Subaigarh in Runisaidpur constituency and burnt down the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) b...

SOMETIMES, GESTURES SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS: While Mr. Sharad Pawar had set his eyes on the Prime Minister's chair, Sonia Ma'am chose not to elevate the Maratha leader beyond the position of Agriculture Minister...a second time. So, Mr. Pawar's bafflement is understandable. Does the picture suggest this? Well, that I leave for you to decide.