Move comes after threat perception report by central security agencies recommended a strong cover for Kumar amid preparations for seven-phase general elections that begin on 19 April.
Responding to pleas against 14 March appointments, govt submits that ‘it would have been humanly not possible for one chief election commissioner to discharge his functions alone’.
LS polls round the corner, CEC Rajiv Kumar now sole member of EC after Arun Goel resigned. SC had upheld constitutionality of single-member commission in TN Seshan & SS Dhanoa cases.
EBS is now gone, but ETS is still available, ECI should nudge political parties and the corporate world towards wider use of ETS. Then, at least one part of electoral funding can become cleaner.
During the event, Election Commissioner Arun Goel quoted the Vedas to emphasise that India was the world’s oldest, and not just the largest, democracy.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said 1991 Act on service conditions of CEC, ECs was a half-baked attempt and present Bill covers areas left out by previous legislations.
Bill, now passed in Rajya Sabha, seeks to negate an SC judgment on selection of the CEC and ECs in the Election Commission by replacing CJI in the panel with a cabinet minister.
Launch of S.Y. Quraishi’s book, India’s Experiment with Democracy saw Fali Nariman, Shashi Tharoor, Shekhar Gupta & Neerja Chowdhury discuss various aspects of the electoral system.
Making a jump from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles is the kind of romantic prospect that would appeal to India, which jumped from a shortage of landline phones to an abundance of smartphones.
RBI Wednesday banned Kotak Mahindra Bank from taking on new customers through digital channels & from issuing new credit cards. Violations had to do with strength of bank’s IT infra.
Another addition to military cooperation has been the Strategic Space Dialogue, inaugurated in Paris in 2023. Last month, India participated as an observer to France’s AsterX.
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