ECI to soon call all party meeting on EVM issue: Nasim Zaidi

April 29, 2017

Chandigarh, Apr 29: The Election Commission of India (ECI) will soon call a meeting of all political parties to assure them that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were tampering-proof and secured, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said today.

He also said that the commission intends to use Voter- Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in all coming elections to bring in more transparency and boosting the confidence of people in the electoral process.

"We will soon hold an all party meeting in which they will be told how our EVMs are non-tamperable and secured as per our administrative and technical safeguard system," the CEC told reporters here.

He was responding to questions about allegations levelled by various political parties against EVMs. Recently sixteen opposition parties had urged the ECI to revert to ballot system, claiming the faith of the people in EVMs had been "eroded".

Zaidi also said that the ECI is planning to "hold a challenge" for which time frame is being worked out.
The electoral body is planning to throw an open challenge, asking anyone to try hacking its EVMs to dispel doubts of any misuse, it is learnt.

The CEC also said that the ECI had placed an order for the supply of VVPAT machines for use in elections.
"For VVPAT, we have got all the funds. We have placed an order for the supply of 15 lakh VVPAT with two PSUs Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronic Corporation of India (ECI)," informed Zaidi.

He said it is expected that by September 2018, around 15 lakh VVPAT machines will be ready.
The Commission's objective is to use VVPATs in all the coming elections, he said.

India will "perhaps" be the first country where VVPAT will be used 100 per cent at all the poling stations. It will boost voters' confidence and will bring more transparency in the election process, he added.

Zaidi said that an awareness campaign will be launched to create awareness about the benefits of VVPAT.
VVPAT generates a receipt allowing voters to verify that the the vote went in favour of the candidate against whose name the button was pressed on the EVM.

After the Assembly elections earlier this year in five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur, many political parties raised their voice against the use of EVMs.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was vociferous alleging probable misuse of EVMs while BSP leader Mayawati, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had also raised question about the polling machines.

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Gautam Adani reclaims Asia's richest person title with net worth of USD 111 billion

News Network

June 1,2024

Gautam Adani, chairman of multinational conglomerate the Adani Group, has reclaimed the title of the richest person in Asia with a net worth of $111 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This came after the group's shares rallied up to 14 per cent on Friday.

With this, Adani has overtaken Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani after nearly 5 months. Ambani stands at 12th rank with a net worth of $109 billion. He had overtaken Adani in net worth after his conglomerate's shares crashed following the Hindenburg report last January.

So far in 2024, Adani’s net worth has jumped $26.8 billion while Ambani's wealth has increased by $12.7 billion.

Last week, Adani also expressed his optimism about the future of the group saying that its best days are ahead.

“The road ahead is paved with extraordinary possibilities, and I can promise you that the Adani Group today is stronger than it has ever been," he said.

2023 had been quite challenging for the Adani Group after the Supreme Court ordered a panel to probe the allegations in the Hindenburg report. Adani, who was the third richest person in the world before the report, slipped in the rankings rapidly after the group's shares saw a sell-off.

However, later the Supreme Court ordered the Securities and Exchanges Board of India (Sebi) to conclude its investigation into the Adani Group and said no more probes were needed. Sebi had said that it could not reach an outcome in its probe.

The shares of the Adani Group have rallied after the judgement. In January, Adani had overtaken Ambani after nearly 12 months but later the lead was taken again by Ambani. Now Adani has overtaken Ambani again.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed that currently, Bernard Arnault is currently the richest person in the world with a net worth of $207 billion. He is followed by Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos with total wealth of $203 billion and $199 billion respectively.

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