Bihar election: 18.31 pc turnout till 11 am, Lakhisarai records highest at 26.28 pc

Bengaluru, Apr 30: In a horrific incident, a quarrel between a 60-year-old woman and her 19-year-old daughter ended in the murder of the latter, after they both stabbed each other. The incident took place in Shastri Nagar in Banashankari police station limits in Bengaluru, on Monday evening.

The deceased has been identified as Sahitya, who had completed PUC this year. Her mother, who has sustained stab injuries, has been hospitalised. Police said the incident occurred around 7.30 pm, when a fight broke out between the mother and daughter at their house.

They both allegedly picked up knives and started stabbing each other. While the mother stabbed the daughter thrice in the neck and stomach, the daughter stabbed her mother four times. Hearing the commotion, the neighbours rushed to their house and alerted the police on seeing both of them lying in a pool of blood.

The police, who rushed to the scene, shifted both women to hospital, where Sahitya was declared brought dead. The mother, whose name was not revealed, is undergoing treatment. 

“As per the initial probe, only the two were living in the house. The reasons for the incident will be known only after the mother recovers and we record her statement,” the police said. The Banashankari police have registered a murder case and are further investigating.

Electronics Corporation of India Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd have refused to disclose the names and contact details of the manufacturers and suppliers of various components of EVMs and VVPATs under the RTI Act citing "commercial confidence", according to RTI responses from the PSUs to an activist.

Activist Venkatesh Nayak had filed two identical Right To Information applications with the ECIL and BEL, seeking the details of the manufacturers and suppliers of various components used in the assembling of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPATs).

The VVPAT is an independent vote verification system which enables electors to see whether their votes have been cast correctly.

The ECIL and the BEL, public sector undertakings under the Ministry of Defence, manufacture EVMs and VVPATs for the Election Commission.

Nayak also sought a copy of the purchase orders for the components from both PSUs.

"Information sought is in commercial confidence. Hence details cannot be provided under Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act," BEL said in its response.

A similar response was sent by ECIL which said the details requested are related to a product which is being manufactured by ECIL, and third party in nature.

"Disclosing of details will affect the Competitive position of ECIL. Hence, Exemption is claimed under section 8(1) (d) of RTI ACT, 2005," it said.

In response to the purchase order copies, ECIL's central public information officer said the information is "voluminous" which would disproportionately divert the resources of the Public Authority.

"Further, the information will give away the design details of EVM components. The same may pose a danger to the machines produced. Hence, the exemption is claimed U/s 7(9) and under section 8(1)(d) of RTI Act, 2005," ECIL said.

Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act exempts from disclosure the information, including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information.

Section 7(9) of the Act says the information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought unless it would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question.

"I don't know whose interests they are trying to protect against the right to know of close to a billion-strong electorate. ECIL said that disclosure of the purchase orders will reveal the design details of the components and this may pose a danger to the machines produced. ECIL did not upload even a signed copy of its reply on the RTI Online Portal," Nayak said.

He said it is reasonable to infer that the two companies are not manufacturing every single item of the EVM-VVPAT combo or else the two companies would have replied that they are manufacturing all these components internally without any outsourcing being involved.

"But the electorate is expected to take everything about the voting machines based on what the ECI is claiming in its manuals and FAQs," Nayak said.

The genocidal war on Gaza launched by Israel on October 7 last year, with the support of the US and its other Western allies, completes 200 days on Tuesday, leaving behind a trail of death, destruction, displacement and starvation.

These 200 days – between October 7, 2023, and April 23, 2024 – have been marked by unprecedented crimes against the people of Gaza, especially children and women, the bombardment of hospitals and schools, abuse and torture of women and abduction of young boys.

Human rights groups and international bodies have described the harrowing events unfolding in the besieged Palestinian territory as a textbook case of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Israeli regime’s key international allies – Washington, London, Paris and Berlin – have also been at the receiving end of massive public backlash for their continued military support for the regime.

The death toll in the apartheid regime’s genocidal campaign has already topped 34,150 since October 7, more than 75 percent of them being women and children, according to the Gaza government office.

The 2.3 million people in the besieged territory continue to deal with a catastrophic humanitarian crisis amid relentless bombings and crippling siege imposed by the Israeli regime with the backing of the US.

Following are the statistics related to 200 days of war waged by the Israeli occupation on Gaza. 

200 – the number of days of the latest Israeli genocidal war on Gaza

41,183 – the total number of those killed and missing in Gaza since Oct. 7

34,183 – the total number of fatalities in Gaza since Oct. 7 (confirmed dead)

7,000 – the number of people still under the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza (presumed dead)

77,183 – the number of wounded persons in Gaza since Oct. 7

3,025 – the number of massacres committed by the regime since Oct. 7

14,778 – the number of children killed since Oct. 7

30 – the number of children who died due to starvation and famine

9,752 – the number of women killed since Oct. 7

485 – the number of doctors and paramedics killed since Oct. 7

67 – the number of civil defense personnel killed since Oct. 7

140 – the number of Palestinian journalists killed since Oct. 7

72 – the percentage of children and women killed since Oct. 7

17,000 – the number of children who have lost one or both parents since Oct. 7

11,000 – the number of injured people who need to travel for treatment

10,000 – the number of cancer patients who face the risk of death

1,090,000 – the number of people with infectious diseases due to displacement

8,000 – the number of cases of viral hepatitis due to displacement

60,000 – the number of pregnant women at risk due to lack of healthcare

350,000 – the number of chronically ill patients suffering due to lack of medicine

5,000 – the number of people arbitrarily detained in Gaza since Oct. 7

310 – the number of health practitioners who have been arrested

20 – the number of known journalists arbitrarily detained since Oct. 7

2 million – the number of displaced people in the Gaza Strip

181 – the number of government buildings destroyed since Oct. 7

103 – the number of schools and universities completely destroyed since Oct. 7

317 – the number of schools and universities partially destroyed by the occupation

239 – the number of mosques completely destroyed since Oct. 7

317 – the number of mosques partially destroyed since Oct. 7

3 – the number of churches targeted and destroyed since Oct. 7

86,000 – the number of housing units completely destroyed since Oct. 7

294,000 – the number of housing units partially destroyed since Oct. 7

75,000 – tons of explosives dropped by the occupation on Gaza since Oct. 7

32 – the number of hospitals taken out of service by the occupation since Oct. 7

53 – the number of health centers that have become non-functional since Oct. 7

160 – the number of health institutions partially or fully destroyed since Oct. 7

126 – the number of ambulances destroyed by the occupation army since Oct. 7

206 – the number of archaeological and heritage sites destroyed since Oct. 7

$30 – billions in preliminary direct losses as a result of the genocidal war on Gaza