Growmoney Voice (Intra Day Tips Given for educational / academic purpose – see Notes given at the end of blog)

17/03/2017 (Intraday trading hours : 09.45 AM to 3 PM)

NIFTY Future:

Range :  9160 - 9191

Likely to open between  : 9168 - 9183

Buy above 9191 ; Tgts -  9211/9235/9259/9283  ; sl  - 9169

Sell below  9168 ; Tgts -  9148/9124/9100/9077  ; sl  - 9190

Break down -  9159 ;       Break up - 9191

FOR FULL DETAILS :

Click : http://growmoney-skhosla.blogspot.in/

Parrikar wins trust vote in Goa, one Cong MLA skips voting

Panaji, Mar 16 (PTI) The Manohar Parrikar government today proved its majority on the floor of the Goa Assembly by winning the trust vote with the support of 22 legislators in the 40-member House.

The opposition Congress could muster only 16 votes against the government with one of its legislators absenting from the crucial floor test.

The special Assembly session was convened to conduct the floor test following an order by the Supreme Court.

Parrikar, who resigned as Defence minister earlier this week, was sworn-in as the Chief Minister along with nine other MLAs by Governor Mridula Sinha on March 14.

The 61-year-old BJP leader proved his majority with 12 legislators from the BJP, three from the Goa Forward Party (GFP), three from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), three Independents and one from the NCP voting in favour of the trust motion.

The opposition benches included 16 MLAs from Congress, while its newly-elected member Vishwajit Rane remained absent during the voting.

The test was passed through a clear division which was ordered by Pro-tem Speaker Siddharth Kuncolienkar, a BJP member.

Senior Congress leader Pratapsinh Rane sought to raise a point of order when Parrikar moved a motion seeking vote of confidence.

The Speaker, however, did not allow Rane to raise the point of order and continued the voting process.

The Congress, despite emerging as the single largest party in the elections, could not form the government while the BJP made deft moves by securing support from regional outfits and independents.

Riding on the charisma of Parrikar, the BJP managed to cobble up an alliance of GFP, MGP and Independents.

An aggrieved Congress moved the Supreme Court on March 13 to stall the swearing-in of Parrikar with the claim that it should have been invited to form the government since it was the single largest party.

But the apex court refused to stop the swearing-in and ordered to hold the floor test today.

Ahead of the trust vote, all the 40 legislators took oath.

Later, the session was adjourned till March 22 when it will meet again to elect the Speaker. This would be followed by the Governor's address on March 23 and presentation of the state budget on March 24.

EC rejects Mayawati's charge, says EVMs fully tamper-proof

New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI) The Election Commission today rejected as "baseless and wild" the charge of BSP supremo Mayawati that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were tampered with and asserted these were "fully tamper-proof".

In a strongly-worded statement, the commission said, "Baseless, speculative and wild allegations are being made which deserve to be rejected." 

The sharp reaction of the poll panel came after Mayawati and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the machines were tampered with in recently concluded Assembly elections in five states.

The poll panel said it did not receive specific complaints or concrete material from political parties and candidates about alleged tampering of the EVMs during the election process, asserting that it is "fully satisfied with the integrity of electoral process using EVM".

It said the BSP's representation on EVM tampering was without any specific allegation and it had rejected the claim of the party. It did not mention Kejriwal in its statement.

"Such concerns about alleged tamperability of ECI-EVM have been raised earlier also since their introduction including before high court and the Supreme Court.

"These allegations have been dismissed. ECI unequivocally reiterates that given effective technical and administrative safeguards, EVMs are not tamperable and integrity of electoral process is preserved," it said.

The EC's rebuttal came a day after Mayawati said she will move court against the alleged tampering of the EVMs.

Kejriwal too had alleged that the EVMs may have been tampered with in Punjab. "It is about the credibility of the Election Commission and the faith of people in the electoral system. We have strong prima facie evidence of foul play," he had said.

Meanwhile, several former chief election commissioners said losing parties should not blame their loss on the EVMs.

Former CECs M S Gill, V S Sampath and H S Brahma told PTI that the machines are "reliable and tamper-proof" and political parties should not question their reliability if they lose elections.

Credibility of Electronic Voting Machines- regarding

Press Note

1.         The Election Commission has observed that after declaration of result of the recently held General Elections to the State Legislative Assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, some political parties have raised voice against the credibility of the ECI-EVMs, alleging tampering of EVMs during the said elections. One representation was received from National General Secretary, BSP without any specific allegation on 11.03.2017. ECI on 11.03.2017 itself has given detailed response to BSP rejecting the representation. ECI’s reply is available at www.eci.nic.in.

2.         Such concerns, about alleged tamperability of ECI-EVM have been raised earlier also since their introduction including before HC/SC. These allegations have been dismissed. ECI unequivocally reiterate that given effective technical and administrative safeguards, EVMs are not temperable and integrity of electoral process is preserved.

3.         It will be useful to once again recapture some facts on the subject for information of citizens and all concerned.

4.         Background of EVM

With a view to overcome certain problems associated with use of ballot papers and taking advantage of development of technology so that voters cast their votes correctly without any resultant ambiguity and removing the possibilities of invalid votes totally, the Commission in December, 1977 mooted the idea of EVM. The law was amended by the Parliament in December, 1988 and a new section 61A was inserted in the Representation of the People Act, 1951 empowering the Commission to use voting machines. The amended provision came into force w.e.f.  15^th March, 1989.

            Central Government appointed the Electoral Reforms Committee in January, 1990 consisting of representative of several recognized National and State Parties. The Electoral Reforms Committee further constituted a technical Expert Committee for the evaluation of the electronic voting machines.  The Committee came to conclusion that the electronic voting machine is a secure system.  The expert committee, therefore, unanimously recommended in April, 1990 the use of the electronic voting machines without further loss of time.

5.         Since 2000, EVMs have been used in 107 General Elections to State Legislative Assemblies and 3 General Elections to Lok Sabha held in 2004, 2009 & 2014.

6.         Judicial Pronouncements on use of EVMs-

The issue of possible tampering of EVM has been raised before various High Courts since 2001 as mentioned below:-

(a)    Madras High Court-2001

(b)   Delhi High Court-2004

(c)    Karnataka High Court- 2004

(d)   Kerala High Court-2002

(e)    Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench)-2004

            All the above High Courts after going into all aspects of the technological soundness and the administrative measures involved in the use of EVMs at elections in India, have held that the EVMs in India are credible, reliable and totally tamperproof.  In some of these cases, even Supreme Court has dismissed appeals filed by some petitioners against High Court orders.

The Hon’ble Karnataka High Court held that “This invention is undoubtedly a great achievement in the electronic and computer technology and a national pride”.   Both the Karnataka High Court and the Madras High Court observed that use of EVMs in election has several advantages over the system of ballot paper/ballot box election. The Hon’ble Madras High Court also categorically ruled out any question of tampering of the EVMs.  The following observations made by the Madras High Court may be taken note of.

“There is also no question of introducing any virus or bugs for the reason that the EVMs cannot be compared to personal computers.  The programming in computers, as suggested, has no bearing with the EVMs.  The computer would have inherent limitations having connections through Internet and by their very design, they may allow the alteration of the programme but the EVMs are independent units and the programme in EVM is entirely a different system.” 

In one of the cases, the Hon’ble High Court of Kerala in its order dated 6.2.2002 had recorded its appreciation on the efficiency of the mechanism.  The judgment of the Kerala High Court in the said Election Petition was upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal (AIR 2003 SC 2271).

 It is admitted before various courts that the data or technique brought in use in EVM in India were not subject to piracy as nobody knows anything about the contents of any type or has any unauthorized or free access to EVM.

Thereafter, the controversy was raised by political parties again after 2009 General Elections to House of People stating that EVMs were not fool proof and provide scope for manipulation. However, no specific allegation was raised nor could they prove before any court of law.

            Some activists approached Supreme Court in 2009 which advised them to go to ECI. It was then these activists opened dialogue and ECI threw open challenge to anyone to demonstrate how machine owned by ECI can be tempered. However, in spite of opportunities given by ECI, machines opened and internal components shown, no one could demonstrate any tempering with the machine in ECI HQ. There proceedings were videographed.

 In an extraordinary measure, the Commission invited those who had expressed reservations about the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) to come and demonstrate the points made in their allegations from 3rd to 8th August 2009. Those invited included political parties, petitioners before various courts and some individuals who had been writing to the Commission on this issue. One hundred EVMs brought from ten states namely, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, were kept at the Commission’s office in readiness for scrutiny and for any application to establish its alleged fallibility. The EVMs were offered for such demonstration in the presence of a technical experts group as well as engineers representing the EVM manufacturers, BEL and ECIL. The outcome of this exercise is that none of the persons, who were given the opportunity, could actually demonstrate any tamper ability of the ECI-EVMs. They either failed or chose not to demonstrate.

Some activists then showed on TV channel a ‘machine’ which they claimed can be manipulated. ECI countered allegation that the ‘machine’ was stolen from EVM warehouse in Mumbai, subjected to changes by activists and thus it was no longer the ‘machine’ used by ECI.

In 2010, all political parties except a few from Assam and Tamil Nadu in a meeting convened by ECI expressed satisfaction about the functioning of EVMs. At this stage, idea of VVPAT was moved for further exploration.

            In 2009, in a case before Delhi High Court, all earlier allegations about EVM temperabilities were raised. However, Delhi High Court satisfied with detailed reply of ECI why EVM cannot be rigged and about ECI efforts on developing VVPAT decided and disposed of the case in 2012 that VVPAT may be developed early in consultation with political parties.

7.         Technical Security of EVMs used by ECI

(a)                The machine is electronically protected to prevent any tampering/manipulation. The programme (software) used in these machines is burnt into a One Time Programmable (OTP)/Masked chip so that it cannot be altered or tampered with. Further these machines are not networked either by wire or by wireless to any other machine or system. Therefore, there is no possibility of its data corruption.

(b)               The software of EVMs is developed in-house by a selected group of Engineers in BEL (Defense Ministry PSU) and ECIL (Atomic Energy Ministry’s PSU) independently from each other. A select software development group of 2-3 engineers designs the source code and this work is not sub-contracted.

(c)                After completion of software design, testing and evaluation of the software is carried out by an independent testing group as per the software requirements specifications (SRS). This ensures that the software has really been written as per the requirements laid down for its intended use only.

(d)               After successful completion of such evaluation, machine code of the source programme code is given to the micro controller manufacturer for writing in the micro controllers. From this machine code, the source code cannot be read. Source code is never handed over to anyone outside the software group of PSUs.

(e)                Micro controller manufacturer initially provides engineering samples to PSUs for evaluation. These samples are assembled into the EVM, evaluated and verified for functionality at great length. Bulk production clearance by PSU is given to micro controller manufacturer only after successful completion of this verification.

(f)                The source code for the EVM is stored under controlled conditions at all times. Checks and balances are in place to ensure that it is accessible to authorized personnel only.

(g)                During production in the factory, functional testing is done by production group as per the laid down Quality plan and performance test procedures.

(h)               The software is so designed that it allows a voter to cast the vote only once. The vote can be recorded by an elector from the ballot unit only after the Presiding Officer enables the ballot on the Control Unit. The machine does not receive any signal from outside at any time. The next vote can be recorded only after the Presiding Officer enables the ballot on the Control Unit. In between, the machine becomes dead to any signal from outside (except from the Control Unit).

(i)                 Samples of EVMs from production batches are regularly checked for functionality by Quality Assurance Group, which is an independent unit within the PSUs.

(j)                 Certain additional features were introduced in 2006 in ECI-EVMs such as dynamic coding between Ballot Unit (BU) and Control Unit (CU), installation of real time clock, installation of full display system and date and time stamping of every key-pressing in EVM.

(k)               Technical Evaluation Committee in 2006 has concluded that any tempering of CU by coded signals by wireless or outside or Bluetooth or WiFi is ruled out as CU does not have high frequency receiver and data decoder. CU accepts only specially encrypted and dynamically coded data from BU. Data from any outside source cannot be accepted by CU.

8.         Uniqueness of ECI-EVMs

Some political parties have stated that some foreign countries have stopped using EVMs. The Commission has come across comparisons between          ECI-EVM and EVMs used by foreign countries. Such comparisons are both misplaced and misguided. ECI EVMs are Stand alone Machine. Therefore ECI-EVMs cannot be compared with machines of other countries.

(a)    Most of the systems used in other countries are Computer based with internet connectivity. Hence, these could be vulnerable to hacking.

(b)    As stated above, the software in the ECI-EVM chip is one time programmable (OTP) and burnt into the chip at the time of manufacture. Nothing can be written on the chip after manufacture. Thus the ECI-EVMs are fundamentally different from the voting machines and processes adopted in various foreign countries.

(c)    Any surmise based on foreign studies or operating system based EVMs used elsewhere would be completely erroneous. The ECI-EVMs cannot be compared with those EVMs.

9.         Procedural and Administrative Securities

The Commission has put in place an elaborate administrative system of security measures and procedural checks-and-balances aimed at prevention of any possible misuse or procedural lapses. These safeguards are implemented by ECI transparently with the active and documented involvement of political parties, candidates and their representatives at every stage to build their confidence on efficacy and reliability of EVMs. These safeguards are:

(a)               Before every election, a first level checking (FLC) is done for every EVM to be used in the election by the engineers of the manufacturers in the presence of political parties’ representatives. Any malfunctioning EVM is kept separately and is not used in the election.

(b)               Manufacturers certify at the time of FLC that all components in the EVM are original. After this, the plastic cabinet of Control Unit of the EVM is sealed using a “Pink Paper Seal”, which is signed by representatives of political parties and stored in strong rooms. After this stage, the plastic cabinet of control unit of the EVMs cannot be opened. There is no access to any component of inside of EVMs.

(c)                Additionally, at the time of FLC, at least 1000 votes are cast by the representatives of political parties on 5%of EVMs randomly selected by them. A printout of the results of this mock poll as well as a sequential print out of every vote polled during the mock poll at the time of First Level Checking of EVMs are taken out for at least 5% of EVMs and shown to the representatives of political parties.  Representatives of political parties are allowed to pick machines randomly for this purpose. In rest of the machines, numbers of votes polled during the mock poll are to the satisfaction of the representatives of political parties. Representatives of political parties are allowed to do mock poll themselves. It is all documented by DEOs/ROs.

(d)               Subsequently, stored EVMs are randomized by computer software twice once for allocation of machines to assembly constituencies and second to polling stations in the presence of candidates or their representatives before they are distributed for use in individual polling stations. Such lists of EVM containing serial number of EVM allocated to particular polling station are provided to the political parties/candidates.

(e)                Candidates and their representatives are allowed to conduct mock polls on EVMs at the time of candidate setting and also before the actual poll on the poll day to satisfy themselves about the satisfactory functioning of EVMs being used.

(f)                Once the candidate setting is done, the Ballot Unit of the EVM is also sealed with thread/Pink Paper seals so that nobody has access to the inside of the Ballot Unit too.  These Pink seals also bear signatures of representatives of political parties/candidate.

(g)               A printout of the results of mock poll as well as a sequential print out of every vote polled during the mock poll at the time of Preparation of EVMs and candidate setting are also taken out for at least 5% of EVMs and shown to the representatives of political parties.  Representatives of political parties are allowed to pick machines randomly for this purpose.

(h)               On the poll day, a mock poll by casting at least 50 votes is conducted at every polling station in the presence of the representatives of the candidates/polling agents with their signature and a mock-poll certificate to that effect is obtained from every Presiding Officer.

(i)                 After the mock poll is over, another thread seal and green paper seals are put on the EVM to block access to all buttons on the EVM, except those, which are used for the conduct of poll. These paper seals and thread seals are allowed to be signed by the polling agents. After the poll is over, the Presiding officer presses the “Close” button on the EVM in the presence of polling agents. Thereafter, no votes can be polled in the EVM.

(j)                 After this, the entire EVM is sealed. Candidates and their agents are allowed to put their signatures on the seals, which they can check for the intactness of the seal before counting. Candidates/representatives travel behind vehicles carrying EVMs from polling stations to counting storage rooms.

(k)               In addition to this, the strong rooms where EVMs are stored, for counting are also sealed and watched round the clock. The candidates and their representatives are allowed to put their own seals on the strong rooms. They are also allowed to keep a watch round the clock on the strong room. Security forces are deployed in multiple layers around storage rooms.

(l)                 The representatives of candidates of all political parties are given opportunity to participate in FLC, Preparation of EVMs before poll, mock poll, etc.

10.       VOTER VERIFIABLE PAPER AUDIT TRAIL (VVPAT)

            ECI based on consultation with political parties in 2010 considered to explore use of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) with a view to enhance transparency. Introduction of VVPAT implied that a paper slip is generated bearing name and symbol of the candidate along with recording of vote in Control Unit, so that in case of any dispute, paper slip could be counted to verify the result being shown on the EVM. Under VVPAT, a printer is attached to the balloting Unit and kept in the voting compartment. The paper slip remains visible on VVPAT for 07 seconds through a transparent window. Design of VVPAT made by BEL/ECIL was approved by ECI in 2013 and shown to persons who were pursuing matters in the Supreme Court. Rules were amended. ECI used VVPAT in Nagaland bye election in 2013 which proved great success. SC ordered introduction of  VVPAT in phases and asked Government to sanction funds for procurement.

             In this regard in June 2014, the Commission proposed to implement VVPAT at every polling station in the next General Election to Lok Sabha due in 2019 and asked for fund of Rs. 3174 cr from the Government. Hon’ble Supreme Court also permitted the ECI to implement VVPATs in phase manner.

            In an ongoing case in the Supreme Court, Commission in the month of March 2017,  has intimated the apex court that ECI will get requisite number of VVPATs  manufactured in 30 months time from the time of release of fund by the Government.

            ECI procured 20,000 VVPATs in 2013 and has since used VVPATs in 143 Assembly Constituencies. Further, 33500 VVPATs were manufactured by BEL in 2016 for further use of VVPATs. So far, VVPATs have been used in 255 Assembly Constituencies and 09 Parliamentary Constituencies. In Goa elections in 2017, VVPAT was employed in all 40 LACs. ECI employed about 52,000 VVPATs in five States where elections were held recently. Since 2014, ECI has been relentlessly pursuing with the Govt. for sanction and release of funds of Rs. 3174 cr requisite number of VVPATs so that they could be used in all PCs in GE to Lok Sabha in 2019.

As explained above, the Commission has put in place an elaborate technical and administrative system of safeguards to ensure error-free functioning of EVMs in elections. The Commission is thus fully satisfied with the tamper proof functioning of the ECI-EVMs. It may be stated that such allegations and suspicions have not been raised for the first time. Even on earlier occasions, the Commission has offered opportunities more than once to those alleging the tamperability of EVM, no one has been able to demonstrate to the Commission that the EVM with ECI and used in the country’s election process, can be manipulated or tampered with. The Commission does not find any merit in such allegations and reject all such allegations and suspicions raised by some political parties.

ECI assures all citizens that EVM of ECI are temper proof and fully satisfied with the integrity of electoral process using EVM. ECI will further enhance confidence of citizens in ECI’s electoral process by deploying VVPAT in phase manner.

            Further, ECI did not receive specific complaints or concrete material from political parties/candidates about alleged tempering of EVMs during recently held election process. At this stage, baseless, speculative and wild allegations are being made which deserves to be rejected.

However, if any specific allegation with material facts is presented to ECI, the same will be looked into with all seriousness on administrative sides.

The Election Commission would like to underline that it always had a firm conviction and complete satisfaction that EVMs could not be tampered with. Its faith on the machine has never wavered through the conduct of elections in the last many years including the nationwide general elections in 2004, 2009 and 2014. To date, no one has been able to actually demonstrate that EVMs used by the Election Commission can be tampered with or manipulated. What has been demonstrated or claimed to have been demonstrated is on a privately assembled “look-alike of ECI-EVMs” and not the actual ECI-EVM. However, the extraordinary measure of requiring demonstration in ECI HQ in 2009 was undertaken by the Election Commission in fulfilment of its responsibility not to allow even a small shade of doubt about any aspect of its operation and in order to set at rest any misgiving anywhere.

Today, the Commission once again completely reaffirms its faith in the infallibility of the EVMs. These are fully tamper-proof, as ever.

India - Celebrates World Consumer Rights Day 2017

PM salutes the consumer on World Consumer Rights Day; urges consumers to embrace digital transactions

Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has saluted the consumer urging him to embrace digital transactions on World Consumer Rights Day.

“On World Consumer Rights Day we salute the consumer, on whose purchasing power the growth of our economy rests.

Government of India is at the forefront of several initiatives that protect the rights of the consumer and ensure their grievances are solved.

This World Consumer Rights Day, I urge consumers to embrace digital transactions and join the movement to end corruption and black money,” the Prime Minister said. 

Department of Consumers Affairs Celebrates World Consumer Rights Day 2017 

The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan presiding over the World Consumer Rights Day Function 2017, in New Delhi on March 15, 2017.

Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution has said that the Government is already on the right track in facilitating the consumers to harness the full benefits of digitization and putting in place sufficient safeguards against risks associated with the online world. Sh. Paswan said that this is the age of technology, and educating the consumer and redressing his grievances in the digital world is a challenge. E-commerce companies are increasingly coming under our national consumer helpline convergence programme where consumer grievances entered online, are being addressed expeditiously.

Sh. Ram Vilas Paswan stated it in his presidential address on the occasion of the World Consumer Rights Day 2017. The Department of Consumer Affairs, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution, celebrated the World Consumer Rights Day 2017 with the theme “Consumer Rights in digital age” in New Delhi, today. The Programme was presided over by Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. Shri Ravi Shnkar Prasad, the Union Minister Law & Justice, Electronics & IT and was the Chief Guest of the event.

Shri Paswan mentioned that packaged commodities rules are being amended to mandate that e-commerce companies should display the mandatory declarations on their sites if they are offering packaged commodities for sale on online platforms; Shri Paswan suggested that both ministries, the consumer affairs and the Information technology, have to work in tandem to create digital awareness programmes and urged the NASSCOM to encourage companies to adhere to a code of ethics where they do not hide in fine print the consumer’s agreement to share his private data and make him sign inadvertently. Shri Paswan emphasized that openness of the Internet, the lack of identification and the low level of users’ understanding of security; particularly among the first time users is a major area that requires focused efforts.

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Union Minister of Law and Justice, Electronics and Information Technology in his speech laid stress on focusing on a digitally empowered society instead of digitally enabled society. Shri Prasad said that the focus of the government is digital governance, and service delivery systems using social media for good governance. He said that all information supporting public cause should be in public domain.

The National Building Code was launched on the occasion. The code marks culmination of efforts of more than 100 experts who worked for more than two years. The code contains provisions on use of new/innovative materials and technologies and on prefabricated construction techniques that can give fillip to speedier construction to meet the objectives of Housing for All by 2022.  It also contains administrative aspects prescribing norms for time bound building approval based on integrated approval process from all concerned agencies through single window clearance approach and adopting online process, thereby promoting Ease of Doing Business.

New initiatives of the Department on consumer grievance redressal and consumer education, leveraging new age technologies were  launched which included a hindi portal and web chat for grievance redressal, mobile App for CONFONET ( consumer for a network, a project that connects all Fora in the country and monitor the cases online) to enable track cases online, and  model approval for legal metrology , and  initiatives of Voluntary Consumer Organizations (VCOs) which included the survey report on consumer safety, QR code App for detecting fake /spurious products, and awards to five states Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana for their consumer friendly practices.

Shri C.R Chaudhary, the Minister of  Food & Public Distribution for Consumer Affairs said that recent promotion of less cash economy by the Government has opened new opportunities to millions of Indians to cross the digital divide and avail the vast potential offered by the digital economic grid. Hon’ble Prime Minister's move to incentivize digital payments will offer a strong support to our ongoing efforts in helping the country leapfrog the cash generation to digital payment solutions. Shri Chaudhary advised that a comprehensive approach is needed to address all the key elements of the financial systems in the digital world, including the data security, privacy, safety and grievance Redressal.

Shri Hem Pande, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs mentioned about efforts being made in the regulatory framework to enhance consumer protection in e-commerce sector which is expanding rapidly. The Government is coming up with a new Consumer Protection Bill which is in advanced stage of consideration and relevant Rules and Regulations will be notified after its enactment that will adequately address the issues of jurisdiction, scope of liability, executive action against unfair trade practices as well as alternate dispute resolution.

Smt Rekha Gupta,  Member NCDRC mentioned that world consumer day is an opportunity to promote basic consumer rights. Smt Gupta mentioned that the theme selected for the day is a relevant as the Hon’ble Prime Minister has launched the digital India initiative in July, 2015 with the vision of providing digital connectivity, services, e-governance and digitizing health and education areas. Security breaches, privacy data protection have become important areas that need attention to provide better consumer protection. She mentioned about many complaints received in consumer fora on e-commerce and on digital financial products like cloning of ATM cards, electronics transfer of funds and unauthorized withdrawal of money. She hoped that with the new provisions in the proposed CP Act amendment bill, many of the unfair trade practices and unfair terms and conditions of contract and digital fraud could be effectively tackled.

Shri R. Chandershekar, President, NASSCOM in his theme address briefed about the impact of digital technology on everything that is around us, consumer behavior and lifestyle etc. He mentioned about new digital technology that is riding on the internet and the importance of benefits and perquisites that accrue to the consumers, if this are being used positively for consumer information and education. He mentioned in this connection about user reviews of products in social media as best consumer protection channels.. He mentioned that the important thing is to convert the digital technology to the benefit of consumers information and education as an aware consumer is best protected. He suggested that we should look into the best international practices on how security  breaches in the digital area were tackled and minimized rather than going for a trail and error method.   He said that just as a consumer is able to buy products online sitting at home, he should be able to file complaints and get redress in same manner.

India tells Pak to rein in 'compulsive hostility' towards it

Geneva/New Delhi, Mar 15 (PTI) India today asked Pakistan to rein in its "compulsive hostility" towards it and fulfil its obligation to vacate illegal occupation of PoK, which has become a "hub" for the global export of terror.

Exercising its right to reply during a UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, the Indian Representative said Pakistan must rein in its "compulsive hostility" towards India.

"We ask Pakistan to stop inciting and supporting violence and terrorism in any part of India and refrain from meddling in our internal affairs in any manner," the official said.

Once again Pakistan's delegation has chosen to misuse the Council to make fallacious references about internal matters pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir, the diplomat said.

Emphasising that terrorism is the grossest violation of human rights and should be so acknowledged by any impartial and objective observer, the Indian side said a part of the territories of Jammu and Kashmir remain under the forcible and illegal occupation of Pakistan.

"We also demand that Pakistan must fulfil its obligation to vacate illegal occupation of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)," the diplomat said.

"It is unfortunate that in recent times the people of PoK have become victims of sectarian conflict, terrorism and extreme economic hardship because of Pakistan's occupation and discriminatory policies," the Indian side said.

"The Indian state of J&K is part of a pluralistic and secular democracy, where an independent judiciary, an active media and a vibrant civil society guarantee freedoms. In contrast, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is administered by a 'deep state' and has become a hub for the global export of terror," the diplomat said.

The Indian side asserted that India does not accept attempts by Pakistan to denigrate the democratic choice that has been regularly exercised by the people of J&K over the last six decades since our independence.

"Pakistan's continued support for terror groups operating in J&K is the main challenge to protecting the human rights of our citizens in the State.

"Pakistan's selective approach in tackling terror groups operating outside Pakistan and within, despite the numerous solemn promises made underscores the continuing unwillingness to acknowledge the truth," the Indian Representative said.

The Indian side said apart from becoming "world's terrorism factory", Pakistan has alienated its own people through continued mistreatment of Hindus, Christians, Shias, Ahmadiyas and other minorities.

"In this Council, Pakistan has referred to situation of minorities in India. Minorities in India have been Prime Ministers, Presidents, Vice-Presidents, senior Cabinet Ministers, senior civil servants, cricket team captains, Bollywood superstars-can the minorities of Pakistan claim even a shadow of this? All they have are blasphemy laws and relentless abuse and violation of their human rights," the Indian side said.

EVM issue: Mayawati to move court, Kejriwal cries conspiracy

Lucknow/New Delhi, Mar 15 (PTI) BSP chief Mayawati today decided to move court over alleged tampering of EVMs in the recent Assembly polls, an issue which led Delhi chief minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal to cry conspiracy.

Kejriwal also said that before 2014 Lok Sabha polls even some BJP leaders like L K Advani were not in favour of the EVMs.

The move by Mayawati and the comments by Kejriwal evoked derision from the BJP and its ally SAD.

As the leaders of BSP and AAP raised their pitch in questioning the reliability of the EVMs, BJP said there are "some defects" in Mayawati and not in the Electronic Voting Machines(EVM).

Kejriwal faced flak from BJP ally Akali Dal whose leader and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal advised the AAP chief to go for 'vipassana', a style of meditation, instead of casting aspersions on the reliability of the voting machines.

BSP was decimated in the recent Assembly polls in UP where it finished a distant third winning 19 seats in the 403 -member House while the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) making a debut in Punjab bagged 20 seats in the 117-member Assembly. The ruling SAD-BJP combine was trounced in Punjab.

Mayawati said the BSP has decided to observe a 'black day' every month against the "murder of democracy" by the BJP and charged that the saffron victory in UP smacked of "dishonesty" and "fraud".

"After we did not get a proper reply from the Election Commission on our complaint lodged with them soon after the results were announced on March 11, the party has decided to go to court in this matter so as to save (the country) from such a fraud in the future and save democracy," she said.

The BSP leader was speaking to mediapersons in Lucknow ahead of addressing partymen at a review meeting on the party's debacle. BSP had 80 MLAs in the outgoing Assembly.

"Our party has also decided to launch an agitation in Uttar Pradesh and other states to expose this fraud...the party will observe 'black day' at all the district headquarters in UP and state headquarters in other states on the 11th of every month, the date on which they murdered democracy, and the first demonstration will be on April 11," she said.

The BSP leader, who had alleged largescale tampering in the EVMs soon after results were announced on March 11, said that in order to hide its "dishonest victory", BJP has now taken refuge in saying had that been the case they would have done the same in Punjab, Goa and Manipur.

Kejirwal said EVM tampering may have led to AAP's poor showing in Punjab, alleging it could be part of a conspiracy to keep the party out of power in the state.

The AAP chief, whose party won 20 seats in the 117-member Assembly with a vote share of 24.9 per cent, claimed that around 20 to 25 per cent of its votes may have been "transferred" to the SAD-BJP coalition.

The poll result is "beyond understanding" and raises a "big question mark" on the reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs) as political pundits across the spectrum had "predicted a landslide" for AAP, he told a press conference in Delhi.

Kejriwal claimed that tampering with EVMs could have been done "selectively" in significant states like Punjab, where plans were to "keep AAP out of power". At the same time, the AAP supremo said he takes the "whole responsibility" of party's performance in the state.

The BJP ridiculed Mayawati's allegations of EVM tampering and asked her to "gracefully accept the people's mandate".

"When you win, EVMs are right. When you lose, EVMs are wrong. This shows that there are some defects in you (Mayawati)," Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters.

Harsimrat advised Kejriwal to go for 'vipassana' instead of casting aspersions on the reliability of EVMs.

Harsimrat, the wife of SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal, also said the Delhi chief minister may have "lost" his mental balance following AAP's poor show in Punjab.

"He (Kejriwal) has lost his mental balance so he is saying things like this. He did not say anything when AAP had won 67 seats in Delhi," she told reporters in Delhi.

She said the people of Punjab have thrown out the AAP and it would be better if Kejriwal focuses his energy to manage the party's affairs in Delhi. "He should do vipassana.

Inter-state River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2017 introduced in Lok Sabha

A Revolutionary step: Uma Bharti

Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti introduced Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in Lok Sabha today. Introducing the Bill the Minister called it a “Revolutionary step” towards the resolution of Inter- State River Water Disputes. 

 

Giving details of the Bill the Minister said the Bill proposes a Single Standing Tribunal (with multiple benches) instead of existing multiple tribunals, which shall consist of one Chairperson, one Vice-Chairperson and not more than six other Members. While the term of office of the Chairperson is five year or till he attains the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier, the term of office of Vice Chairperson and other member of tribunal shall be co-terminus with the adjudication of the water dispute.  

 

Sushri Bharti said the Bill also provides for the appointment of Assessors to provide technical support to the tribunal. They shall be appointed from amongst experts serving in the Central Water engineering Service not below the rank of Chief Engineer. The total time period for adjudication of dispute has been fixed at maximum of four and half years. The decision of the Tribunal shall be final and binding with no requirement of publication in the official Gazette. 

 

The Bill also proposes to introduce mechanism to resolve the dispute amicably by negotiations, through a Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) to be established by the Central Government consisting of relevant experts, before such dispute is referred to the tribunal. The Bill also provides for transparent data collection system at the national level for each river basin and for this purpose, an agency to maintain data-bank and information system shall be appointed or authorized by Central Government.  

 

  Inter-state river water disputes are on the rise on account of increase in water demands by the States. The Inter State Water Dispute Act, 1956 which provides the legal framework to address such disputes, suffers from many drawbacks. Under this Act, a separate Tribunal has to be established for each Inter State River Water Dispute. Only three out of eight Tribunals have given awards accepted by the States, while Tribunals like Cauvery and Ravi Beas have been in existence for over 26 and 30 years respectively without any award. Delays are on account of no time limit for adjudication by a Tribunal, no upper age limit for the Chairman or the Members, work getting stalled due to occurrence of any vacancy and no time limit for publishing the report of the Tribunal.

 

The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2017 proposes to streamline the adjudication of inter-state river water disputes and make the present legal and institutional architecture robust. 

Parrikar takes oath as Goa CM; to prove majority on Thursday

Panaji, Mar 14 (PTI) Manohar Parrikar, who quit as Defence Minister, was today sworn in as chief minister of Goa to head a coalition government of local allies and Independents, three days after the BJP ended up second behind the Congress in a fractured mandate.

Earlier in the day, the Congress suffered a setback in the Supreme Court which refused to stay 61-year-old Parrikar's swearing-in ceremony as sought by the party.

According to the directions of the apex court, Parrikar, who claimed to have support of 21 MLAs including 13 of the BJP, will have to prove majority on the floor of the assembly on March 16.

The decks for his swearing-in were cleared after a bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar refused to grant the stay on the Congress' plea and ordered a floor test.

The bench directed that the assembly session be called at 11 AM on March 16 exclusively for holding of the floor test after swearing-in of the members.

Parrikar returned to Goa as the chief minister for the fourth time, though he could not complete full terms in his earlier stints.

He had formally staked claim to form the coalition government on Sunday, following which he got an invite from Governor Mridula Sinha to prove majority in House.

At a function held at the Raj Bhavan, the governor administered the oath of office and secrecy to Parrikar along with nine MLAs including two members of the BJP, three of the Goa Forward Party, two of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and as many Independents.

They will be allotted ministerial portfolios after the floor test.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his best wishes to Parrikar on becoming the chief minister of Goa and hoped that he will take the state to new heights of progress.

Addressing reporters later, Parrikar exuded confidence that his government will last its full term.

"I would prove majority on the floor of the House on Thursday only after which the portfolios would be distributed to the ministers who are inducted in the cabinet. The day after tomorrow, the procedure of proving majority on the floor of the House would be completed," he said.

Parrikar said the regional parties have taken the lead to form this government and have requested him to head the dispensation by resigning as defence minister.

"My priority would be to retain speciality of Goa that is Goanness. The statement about the common minimum programme (CMP) would be issued within a month," he said.

The BJP leader, who is an IIT-Bombay alumnus, said they have the support of 22 MLAs in total.

"There was a speculation for last two days whether BJP really got the majority required to form the government and here we are, we have 22 legislators with us," he said.

Among the allies who took oath along with Parrikar are Ramakrishna alias Sudin Dhavalikar and Manohar Asgaonkar (both MGP), Vijai Sardesai, Jayesh Salgaoncar and Vinod Palyekar (all GFP), and Independents Rohan Khaunte and Govind Gawade.

The two BJP MLAs who were sworn in are outgoing deputy chief minister Francis D'Souza and Pandurang Madkaikar.

BJP president Amit Shah along with Union ministers Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari were present at the ceremony.