DUSU Election 2018: Delhi University Students' Union Election To Be Held Tomorrow

Delhi University Students' Union will go to election tomorrow. Students in both the 

campuses would vote to elect their representative for the academic year 2018-19.

Delhi University Students' Union will go to election tomorrow. Students in both the campuses would vote to elect their representative for the academic year 2018-19. The University Students' Union election is a microcosm of the larger democratic set up in our country and hence gives the students a hands on experience of how a democratic process of electing representatives works. 

Election will be held in colleges as well to elect the members of the Central Council. The voting process will start at 8:30 am and end at 7:30 pm. 

The counting for the votes will be one on September 13, 2018. The counting will begin at 8:30 am in the Community Hall, Police Lines, Kingsway Camp, Delhi. 

Students who will visit their respective colleges to cast their vote, must carry their identity card. No student will be allowed to enter the premises without their identity card. 

Every year simultaneous elections are held for the following in the Colleges/Institutions affiliated to Delhi University Students' Union:

(a) President of Students' Union of the College/Institution
(b) Member(s) of the Central Council of DUSU from the College/Institution and
(c) Office-bearers of the Delhi University Students' Union

Doorstep Delivery Of 40 Delhi Government Services To Start Tomorrow

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government had proposed doorstep

 delivery of services earlier this year and had alleged that Lieutenant Governor

 Anil Baijal was stalling it.

People in Delhi will get doorstep delivery of 40 government services, including obtaining a marriage certificate, driving license and new water connection, from Monday, an official said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government had proposed doorstep delivery of services earlier this year and had alleged that Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal was stalling it.

However, a five-judge Constitution Bench had on July 4 laid down broad parameters for governance of the national capital, paving the way for the government to proceed with the scheme.

"Doorstep delivery of services. A revolution in governance. A big blow to corruption. Super convenience for people. Happening for the first time anywhere in the world. Starts from 10th Sept (sic)," Mr Kejriwal had tweeted last month.

The government has claimed that no citizen of Delhi would have to stand in queues for the services listed under the scheme.

According to the plan, the Delhi government will provide 40 services such as caste certificate, driving licence, at the doorstep of people in the first phase. The services will be provided for an extra fee of Rs. 50.

In July, the government had approved Administrative Reforms proposal to give the work to a company, which will be an intermediary agency, to execute the project in the national capital.

According to the plan, Mobile Sahayaks (facilitators) will be hired through the agency that would set up call centres.

Various certificates such as caste, new water connection, income, driving licence, ration card, domicile, marriage registration, duplicate RC and change of address in RC, among others, will be covered under the scheme.

If a person wants to apply for driving licence, he or she would have to call a designated call centre and give the details. Thereafter, the agency would assign a Mobile Sahayak, who will visit the applicant's residence and get the required details and documents.

The applicant will have to visit the Motor Licensing Office (MLO) once for a driving test.

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In November last year, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said Mobile Sahayak would be equipped with all necessary equipment such as biometric devices and a camera, adding that for doorstep delivery of services, the applicant would be charged a nominal fee. 

Arpinder Singh Becomes First Indian To Win A Medal In IAAF Continental Cup

Triple jumper Arpinder Singh took home the bronze medal with a modest effort of 

16.59m in the IAAF Continental Cup.

Triple jumper Arpinder Singh on Sunday created history by becoming the first Indian to win a medal in the IAAF Continental Cup as he clinched a bronze but star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finished sixth with a below-par show. Arpinder, who had won a gold in the Asian Games in Jakarta, cleared a modest 16.59m in the first of his three jumps to be in the four-man semifinals. He could only clear a 16.33m jump in his next attempt to miss out on the two-man final jump. Nonetheless, he collected a bronze. The 25-year-old Arpinder was representing the Asia-Pacific team in the meet, held once every four years. He had jumped 16.77m in Jakarta and has a personal best of 17.17m which he recorded in 2014.

No Indian has ever won a medal in the Continental Cup which was known as the IAAF World Cup before 2010. Two top athletes from the four regions of Europe, Americas, Africa and Asia-Pacific were taking part in each of the 36 events in men and women sections taken together. Reigning Olympic and world champion Christian Taylor of the United States easily took the gold with a jump of 17.59m, which is one metre more than the best effort of Arpinder.

The 28-year-old Taylor beat World University Games silver medallist Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso, who cleared 17.02m, in the two-man final round. Taylor, who was representing the Americas, has a personal best of 18.21m.

In men's javelin throw, reigning Commonwealth Games and Asian Games champion Neeraj finished a disappointing sixth in the eight-man field with a best of 80.24m from his three throws. Neeraj began with 80.24m and then could only clear 79.76m in his second attempt. His third throw was a foul attempt. This was Neeraj's worst international performance this season. He had a 80.81m in the Eugene leg of the Diamond League Series.

In most of the other events, he has been consistently throwing above 85m. He had won the Asian Games gold with a national record throw of 88.06m last month. Reigning Olympic champion Thomas Roehler of Germany took the gold as he beat Neeraj's Asia-Pacific team-mate Chao-Tsun Cheng in the two-man final round. Cheng had a 81.81m while Roehler sent the spear to 87.07m to clinch the gold.

In a change of format by the IAAF, the athletics world governing body, every competitor (in horizontal jumps and throws) was given three attempts. The best athlete from each team from these three rounds gets a chance to have the fourth throw. The top two performers from the fourth round will each have one more attempt and the performance in that fifth and final round will determine the winner. The new format was introduced this year with an aim to make the event more interesting.

In men's 400m, national record holder Mohd. Anas ran with a good timing of 45.72 seconds but that was enough for a fifth-place finish. His Asia-Pacific team-mate Abdalelah Haroun of Qatar won the gold in 44.72.

Haroun had won gold in the Asian Games in 44.89 while Anas had settled for a silver with a timing of 45.69m. In men's 1500m race, Jinson Johnson finished sixth, clocking 3 minute 41.72 seconds. He had won a gold in the Asian Games in this event with a time of 3:44.72. Johnson had also competed in the 800m race on Saturday, finishing seventh in an eight-man field.

Sudha Singh, meanwhile, did not finish her women's 3000m steeplechase event. She had won a silver in the Asian Games. On Saturday, PU Chitra had finished a surprise fourth in women's 1500m race. She had won a bronze in this event in the Asian Games.

Congress Rules Out Tie-Up With Asaduddin Owaisi's Party In Telangana

The Congress also said its chief ministerial candidate will be decided upon after the

 elections and in consultation with the MLAs.

Days after dissolution of the Telangana Assembly, the Congress on Sunday ruled out joining hands with Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM for early elections in the state.

The Congress also said its chief ministerial candidate will be decided upon after the elections and in consultation with the MLAs.

Telangana Congress in-charge Ramachandra Khuntia alleged that TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao had dissolved the legislative assembly before the completion of its term to get the minority votes.

Then Mr Rao can join hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA in the Lok Sabha polls, he added.

"The Congress is ready to contest and win the Telangana Assembly elections," Mr Khuntia told PTI Bhasha.

He said the Congress will hold talks for a tie-up with the Telangana Jan Samiti, CPI and other smaller parties in the state.

"A (pre-poll) arrangement with the AIMIM is out of question," he said.

Speaking about the Telangana Rashtra Samiti releasing its list of candidates for the elections, Mr Khunti said, "The TRS is a party of one person and family. The Congress is a national party and candidates are decided after deliberations at all levels of the organisation".

"The names of candidates will be announced at the right time," he added.

Mr Khunti said only Congress president Rahul Gandhi could announce the name of the party's chief ministerial candidate.

"Rahul Gandhi has the right to announce the party's chief ministerial candidate. But the party normally does not do it," he said.

"The elections will be fought under the leadership of state Congress chief (N) Uttam (Kumar) Reddy. He will decide on the chief ministerial candidate after the elections, based on the opinion of the MLAs," he added.

He claimed that Muslims, scheduled castes and other weaker sections of society have no faith in Owaisi or Mr Rao because the two leaders are focused only on the prosperity of their families.

The Congress in-charge also accused Mr Rao of not fulfilling his promises.

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"Reservation was not granted to minorities in Telangana. The poor did not get houses. The area of influence of the land and sand mafias has grown. They (Rao's government) have made the state 'Telangana of KCR family'."

Rahul Gandhi Will Be Accepted "Automatically" By Other Parties: Leader

"When Rahul Gandhi is working, everyone is praising his work. Acceptability is there.

 Because of this, there will be automatic acceptance (of Rahul Gandhi's

 leadership) today or tomorrow," Mallikarjun Kharge said.

Amid efforts to unite non-BJP forces in the run-up to the 2019 parliamentary election, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said on Sunday that party president Rahul Gandhi would find "automatic" acceptance in the opposition ranks sooner than later.

In an exclusive interview to PTI, the Congress veteran said the people of India were looking up to Mr Gandhi to dislodge the BJP and his acceptance among the opposition leaders would ultimately materialise, today or tomorrow.

To drive his point home, Mr Kharge, a former union minister, asked which opposition leader, save Rahul Gandhi, had pan-India acceptance -- from Puducherry to Jammu and Kashmir?

"When Rahul Gandhi is working, everyone is praising his work. Acceptability is there. Because of this, there will be automatic acceptance (of Rahul Gandhi's leadership) today or tomorrow," Mr Kharge said, when asked if the Gandhi family scion will find acceptability among the larger opposition camp.

Asked who will lead the opposition in the 2019 parliamentary election, he said it would be decided after the election but the primary purpose now was to unite everyone to oust the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power.

Referring to Rahul Gandhi's assertion that the 2019 Lok Sabha election would be an ideological fight to dislodge the BJP first, Mr Kharge said, "We want to take the lead in dislodging the BJP. Our leader Rahul Gandhi is naturally leading this fight. We want everyone's support in this. We want everyone's cooperation. Everyone is coming together. Everything will get sorted before the election."

The veteran Congressman also said people's support for Rahul Gandhi would translate into his larger political support among opposition ranks as well.

"In this fight we want to dislodge the BJP from power for which we are all uniting. The truth also is that the people of India are looking at Rahul Gandhi, so this (his acceptability) will ultimately materialise," Mr Kharge said to another specific question on whether senior opposition leaders such as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Bahujan Samaj Party's Mayawati and Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar will accept a relatively young Gandhi the way they accepted former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi, 48, took over the mantle of the Congress party from his mother Sonia Gandhi in December last year.

"Our leader has acceptability and wherever he goes today people assemble and listen to him. Which other leader has such acceptability from Puducherry to Jammu and Kashmir? You tell me. Which leader has such acceptability from West Bengal to Gujarat? Tell me one name," Mr Kharge asked.

He said he did not want to "blame them (the opposition)".

"We don't want to blame them. We want to fight together first to dislodge the BJP from power as it is implementing wrong policies, destroying the Constitution, damaging institutions, autonomous institutions. We want to take the lead in dislodging the BJP. Our leader Rahul Gandhi is naturally leading this fight," he said.

He said Gandhi was seeking everyone's support for the task.

The Congress leader noted that all opposition parties were working together and are united in the fight against the BJP.

"They have all understood and have united. The Congress also has alliances in place with some parties such as RJD, NCP, Left parties, and more parties will come together once the election nears," he said.

He also said despite emerging as the single-largest party, the Congress gave away the post of chief minister in Karnataka in "national interest".

The comments come only two days after Trinamool Congress leader Chandan Mitra said the prime ministerial candidate after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will "surely be a regional leader because regional leaders are established in their domains" and that the "game has changed now".

Chandan Mitra was speaking at a panel discussion at the launch of a book by Congress leader Kapil Sibal.

Mr Kharge also lashed out at the BJP and Prime Minister Modi, saying he is an "autocrat" and wants to bring in his own ideology and constitution, replacing the country's secular, democratic fabric.

He said Modi is "finishing democracy" in the country as he leaves no scope for consultation or consensus and does not listen to others' views, which Rahul Gandhi does and is thus emerging forward.

Mr Kharge said under PM Modi rule, democracy and its values have no place and instead of uniting the society and the country, he is out to divide it on religious and class factors.

1 COMMENT

"We want all parties to join hands, people are also getting together and Rahul Gandhi is going to all states, as he speaks the truth, unlike Modiji, who gave false promises and never spoke the truth to people," he said.

Ban Cheese Imports? Pakistan Discusses New Ideas To Avoid IMF Bailout

While no decisions were made, the floating of radical measures to tackle Pakistan's ballooning current account deficit by the newly formed Economic Advisory Council (EAC) underscores the new government's determination to avoid another IMF bailout.

 

Pakistani economic advisors discussed banning imports of luxury cars, smartphones and cheese in a wide-ranging strategy session on how to avoid seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a senior government advisor said.

While no decisions were made, the floating of radical measures to tackle Pakistan's ballooning current account deficit by the newly formed Economic Advisory Council (EAC) underscores the new government's determination to avoid another IMF bailout.

The EAC held its first session last week, chaired by Finance Minister Asad Umar, who took office last month.

A lull in Pakistani exports and a relative spike in imports has led to a shortage of dollars in the economy, putting pressure on the local currency and dwindling foreign currency reserves.

That has prompted most financial analysts to predict Pakistan will turn to the IMF for its 15th bailout since the early 1980s. But new Prime Minister Imran Khan has criticised a culture of dependency and his party's officials have expressed concerns that the reforms and austerity the IMF might demand would strangle promised government spending.

Ashfaque Hasan Khan, a university professor who is one of more than a dozen EAC members, told Reuters that during Thursday's meeting, the focus was on outside-the-box ideas that would help curb imports.

"I didn't find any member (who) suggested that Pakistan should go to the IMF because there is no other alternative," he said. "We need to take some actions. 'Do nothing' scenario is unacceptable."

Umar could not be reached for comment on the EAC meeting. He recently told the Senate that while Pakistan needs to meet a $9 billion financing requirement, the IMF should only be a fallback option.

Imran Khan said the more radical steps discussed were a year-long ban on imports for cheese, cars, cell phones and fruit that could "save some $4-5 billion". A push on exports could generate up to $2 billion in extra inflows, he added.

"You see how much cheese is coming in this country from abroad," Khan said. "Market is full of imported cheese. Does this country, which doesn't have dollars, deserve this, that it is importing cheese?"

Last year, the previous government hiked tariffs by up to 50 percent on 240 imported items, including cheese and high-horsepower cars, and imposed regulatory duties on dozens of new imports. But no outright import bans were issued.

Umar recently said Pakistan would not rule out asking "friendly nations" - usually code for historic allies China and Saudi Arabia - for assistance to avoid going to the IMF, as well as raising money on international debt markets.

The current account deficit widened by 43 percent to $18 billion in the year ended June 30, hit by a jump in oil prices. Pakistan imports about 80 percent of its oil needs.

COMMENT

To ease current account pressures, Pakistan's central bank has devalued the rupee four times since December, while interest rates have been hiked three times this year.

Hardik Patel Leaves Hospital; On Facebook Live, Warns Hunger Strike Is On

The 24-year-old - who launched his indefinite fast on August 25 -- said he was

 firm on his demands, which includes a one-time farm loan waiver and quota for

 the Patel community.

Hardik Patel, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike demanding reservation for Patidars and loan waiver from farmers, was discharged from a hospital in Ahmedabad today. In a Facebook live message, the Patidar leader told his supporters that he would be continuing his fast from home.

The 24-year-old - who launched his indefinite fast on August 25 -- said he was firm on his demands, which includes a one-time farm loan waiver, quota for the Patel community in jobs and education, and the release of PAAS member Alpesh Kathiriya, who has been arrested on the charge of sedition.

His protest has the support of the Gujarat Congress, whose leaders held a 24-hour fast in solidarity on 

Thursday.

Mr Patel was hospitalised a day later, after he stopped drinking water as well when the government failed to initiate talks about his demands.

While the BJP government in the state has asked Hardik Patel several times to call off his fast, it has not responded on the Patel leader's demands. His organization announced a 24-hour deadline on Thursday, warning that he would intensify his protest if the government failed to respond.

Taken to a private hospital after he complained of breathing problems, Hardik Patel continued his hunger strike from the sick bed. A supporter said he lost over 20 kilos in the last two weeks and his kidneys and liver have been affected.

NDA ally Shiv Sena, which had extended support to the Patidar leader, said he should give up his fast and prepare for a long-drawn battle for the farmers' cause.

In a message last week, party chief Uddhav Thackeray said there was no point in "risking your precious life fighting against insensitive governments at the Centre and the state", the Sena leader said.

A message of support has also come from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who said the society was with him in his struggle for the farmers.

Today, media persons following Hardik Patel were stopped by police personnel deployed in large numbers on the road leading to his residence, reported news agency Press Trust of India. Some reporters were roughed up and baton charged by the police to prevent them from entering the residence of the Patidar leader.

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In a tweet, Hardik Patel alleged that a police officer has threatened to kill him.