Having benefited over 1.6 million handicapped individuals who all walk with dignity now, the world famous Jaipur Foot will be displayed in the Rotary International Celestial Convention in the American city of Atlanta. The four-day conference begins on Saturday.
Jaipur Foot which has a presence in 29 countries is developed and manufactured by the Jaipur -based Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS). It is a low cost but high in technology prosthetic developed indigenously. Various Rotary districts of the country had strongly recommended to the Rotary International that the unique artificial limb from India be displayed. The suggestion was appreciated and a suitable area was provided free of cost for display at the Atlanta Convention Centre.
 One hundred years ago, at the 1917 Rotary Convention in Atlanta, Rotary President Arch Klumph proposed creating an endowment “for the purpose of doing good in the world.” From the first contribution of $26.50, the Foundation has grown significantly and has spent more than $3 billion on programs and projects, a statement issued by BMVSS said.
“Let us celebrate in the city where it all began. We will look back proudly over a century of “doing good in the world” — and look ahead to the challenges Rotary will tackle in the century to come,” said Ratnesh Kashyap, a senior Rotarian who is also attending the Rotary International Convention. Largely because of his efforts, Jaipur Foot would now be seen by the 60,000 strong Rotarians from all over the world. 
A two-member team of the BMVSS, led by its honorary secretary Dr Deependra Mehta and Vimal Kumar Singhvi, is already in Atlanta to showcase the Jaipur foot. Dr Mehta said that the BMVSS has benefitted thousands of handicapped persons in the special camps organised in various parts of India by providing them the Jaipur Foot. Dr Mehta said that he was happy that Jaipur Foot will now be seen by a large gathering of Rotarians from all over the world who could help their country’s handicapped by holding fitment camps. The BMVSS will help in holding such fitments camps by providing material and manpower.

The Centre has failed to adopt an inclusionary and sustainable approach to development under its much publicized Smart Cities Mission which aims to create 100 `smart cities’ in the country by 2020, a study released by the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), India has said.  

As the Mission completes two years this month, HLRN’s report titled `India’s Smart Cities Mission: Smart for Whom? Cities for Whom?’ presents a human rights and social justice analysis of the process and guidelines of the Mission as well as of the 60 selected Smart City proposals.

The study finds that the positive components of Smart City proposals lie largely within the ambit of formulating technological solutions, developing renewable energy sources, and building resilience of cities. The proposals, however, lack a comprehensive vision for the future that omits the needs and aspirations of cities and their inhabitants, especially the majority who live and work in cities.

  “The entire notion of developing as ‘smart cities’ only 100 of India’s over 4,000 cities and towns appears to be discriminatory. The Mission promotes greater urbanization without addressing its structural causes such as the agrarian crisis, rural distress, failed land reform, and forced migration. Though the aim of promoting the development of small towns is noteworthy, the Mission does not seem to be the appropriate vehicle for achieving this objective,’’ the study points out

As 56 of the 60 shortlisted ‘smart cities’ are also included in the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), and since the allegedly richest municipality in the country—New Delhi Municipal Council—is also one of the ‘smart cities,’ the criteria for selection as well as the utility and benefits of the Mission are not clear, it says.

 Pointing out that the Mission and the Smart City Proposals fail to adopt a human rights approach, including with regard to gender equality and non-discrimination, the study says that there is a disturbing silence on the specific needs and rights of women, children, and marginalized groups such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minorities, migrants, domestic workers, and persons with disabilities. The lack of human rights standards and indicators to monitor implementation also raise questions about whether the Mission will be able to improve living conditions of all city residents, especially low income groups and other disadvantaged communities, the study says.

The composition of the Special Purpose Vehicle—the entity created under the Indian Companies Act to implement the Mission—and its potential to bypass elected governments and urban local bodies as well as its apparent lack of accountability, brings to light serious issues about the nature of governance being promoted, the study says.

The study further points out that despite raising the issue of housing for low income groups in their proposals, none of the selected cities have included operational plans on how targets will be met, neither have they incorporated housing standards to ensure the guarantee of the right to adequate housing. Instead, forced evictions and threats of eviction for ‘smart city’-related projects, already have been reported in Indore, Bhubaneswar, Delhi, and Kochi. Land acquisition for green field projects is also likely to result in loss of farmland and forests, and promote more displacement while threatening rural livelihoods and food security, the study says.

While the Mission places an overwhelming focus on digitalization and technology-driven ‘smart solutions,’ the study says it is important to note that technological innovations alone are not sufficient to solve the structural issues that plague urban India. Moreover, the creation of consolidated electronic databases of residents’ information could give rise to serious privacy concerns, identity theft, increased surveillance, data misuse, and security breaches.

 Dependence on foreign investment and the corporate sector for financing the Mission is high. The consulting firm Deloitte has estimated a requisite investment of 150 billion US dollars (120 billion from the private sector) for the realization of SCM targets. In addition to concerns about corporate control of city development processes, it is apparent that the corporate sector, including large multinational companies, is likely to be the greatest beneficiary of the Mission, the study alleges. 

Given the human rights issues and multiple challenges of the Smart Cities Mission, HLRN’s report has asked the government to incorporate a human rights and social justice approach in a; stages of Mission, while developing standards and human rights-based indicators to monitor its implementation and progress. Implementation of ‘smart city’ projects must not result in the violation of any human rights.

 The government must undertake comprehensive human rights and environmental impact assessments before any ‘smart city’ project is sanctioned. Ensure the free, prior, and informed consent of all affected persons before any project is implemented, and also revise the structure and operational principles of the Special Purpose Vehicle to ensure that it works within the framework of democracy provided by the Constitution of India, the study has said.

 Invest adequately in rural areas, and address issues of the acute agrarian crisis, land-grabbing, landlessness, internal displacement, and distress migration – through adequate budgetary and policy interventions, including through the Rurban Mission, and ensure comprehensive convergence of the Smart Cities Mission with other schemes, especially AMRUT, Housing for All–2022/Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission, and Heritage City Augmentation and Development Yojana (HRIDAY – which also includes four of the selected ‘smart cities’) are some other recommendations made in the study.

Importantly, it has asked the government to develop an overarching human rights and environmental framework to monitor all schemes. Link implementation of all schemes, including of the Smart Cities Mission, with the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement, and ensure compliance with India’s international and national legal commitments.

Regulating the role and functioning of the corporate sector and ensuring that all private and foreign investment projects comply with human rights and environmental laws and standards is also an important recommendation.

Shivani Chaudhury, Executive Director, Housing and Land Rights Network says: “Our analysis of the Smart Cities Mission highlights the glaring absence of a human rights approach and the lack of emphasis on inclusion, social justice, and equitable development. The undemocratic powers conferred on the Special Purpose Vehicle and the momentous role assigned to the corporate sector reveal the rise of two alarming trends: the corporatization of Indian cities and privatization of governance. The premise of the ‘smart city’—as a relevant model for India—needs a fundamental re-evaluation, especially when profits seem to prevail over people and technology over human rights. This is all the more urgent given the increasing levels of exclusion, impoverishment, unemployment, hunger, homelessness, forced evictions, and displacement of the urban poor in our cities.”

Concerned over the increasing antibiotic resistance among the patients, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has categorized antibiotics and announced a new advice on which antibiotics to use for common infections and which ones to preserve for the most serious circumstances. The new drugs and the advice has been added to the revised WHO Model List of Essential Medicines for 2017. Other additions include medicines for HIV, hepatitis C, tuberculosis and leukemia.   

The updated list adds 30 medicines for adults and 25 for children, and specifies new uses for 9 already-listed products, bringing the total to 433 drugs deemed essential for addressing the most important public health needs. The WHO Essential Medicines List (EML) is used by many countries to increase access to medicines and guide decisions about which products they ensure are available for their populations, a statement issued by the WHO has said.

Dubbed as the biggest revision of the antibiotics section in the EML’s 40-year history, WHO experts have grouped antibiotics into three categories—ACCESS, WATCH and RESERVE—with recommendations on when each category should be used. Initially, the new categories apply only to antibiotics used to treat 21 of the most common general infections. If shown to be useful, it could be broadened in future versions of the EML to apply to drugs to treat other infections, the statement has said.

“The change aims to ensure that antibiotics are available when needed, and that the right antibiotics are prescribed for the right infections. It should enhance treatment outcomes, reduce the development of drug-resistant bacteria, and preserve the effectiveness of “last resort” antibiotics that are needed when all others fail,’’ according to the WHO statement.

These changes are in line with the WHO’s Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance, which aims to fight the development of drug resistance by ensuring the best use of antibiotics.

The World Health Organisation recommends that antibiotics in the ACCESS group be available at all times as treatments for a wide range of common infections. For example, it includes amoxicillin, a widely-used antibiotic to treat infections such as pneumonia.

The WATCH group includes antibiotics that are recommended as first- or second-choice treatments for a small number of infections. For example, the use of ciprofloxacin, used to treat cystitis (a type of urinary tract infection) and upper respiratory tract infections (such bacterial sinusitis and bacterial bronchitis), should be dramatically reduced to avoid further development of resistance.

The third group, RESERVE, includes antibiotics such as colistin and some cephalosporins that should be considered last-resort options, and used only in the most severe circumstances when all other alternatives have failed, such as for life-threatening infections due to multidrug-resistant bacteria.

“The rise in antibiotic resistance stems from how we are using—and misusing—these medicines,” said Dr Suzanne Hill, Director of Essential Medicines and Health Products. “The new WHO list should help health system planners and prescribers ensure people who need antibiotics have access to them, and ensure they get the right one, so that the problem of resistance doesn’t get worse.”

The updated EML also includes several new drugs, such as two oral cancer treatments, a new pill for hepatitis C that combines two medicines, a more effective treatment for HIV as well as an older drug that can be taken to prevent HIV infection in people at high risk, new pediatric formulations of medicines for tuberculosis, and pain relievers.

These medicines are two oral cancer medicines (dasatinib and nilotinib) for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia that has become resistant to standard treatment. In clinical trials, one in two patients taking these medicines achieved a complete and durable remission from the disease; sofosbuvir and velpatasvir combine as the first combination therapy to treat all six types of hepatitis C (WHO is currently updating its treatment recommendations for hepatitis C); dolutegravir for treatment of HIV infection, in response to the most recent evidence showing the medicine’s safety, efficacy, and high barrier to resistance; and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with tenofovir alone, or in combination with emtricitabine or lamivudine, to prevent HIV infection.

Also in the list are delamanid for the treatment of children and adolescents with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and clofazimine for children and adults with MDR-TB; child-friendly fixed-dose combination formulations of isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and pyrazinamide for treating paediatric TB; and fentanyl skin patches and methadone for pain relief in cancer patients with the aim of increasing access to medicines for end-of-life care.

“Safe and effective medicines are an essential part of any health system,” said Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation. “Making sure all people can access the medicines they need, when and where they need them, is vital to countries’ progress towards universal health coverage.”

The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines was launched in 1977, coinciding with the endorsement by governments at the World Health Assembly of “Health for all” as the guiding principle for WHO and countries’ health policies.

Making tall promises for political gains in bettering the lot of the farmers and then brushing it under the carpet is bound to hurt not only the Narendra Modi government at the centre but also the BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.  
The agitating farmers in the two states have legitimate reasons to take to the streets in protest after a bumper harvest demanding loan waivers as the Narendra Modi government has done precious little in fulfilling its pledge of providing fifty per more over and above the minimum support price (MSP) for their produce. 
The farmers in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh believe their governments have been lackadaisical in considering the demands over the last three years. The agitators adopted aggressive posture even as the state governments in both the states tried to divide the farm leadership than being genuinely concerned. 
While in Madhya Pradesh the good crop of onions was left rotting on the streets, Maharashtra was witness to a healthy crop of tomatoes being strewn on the road. 
The farmer’s agitation at Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh led to five protestors being shot dead on June seventh threatening chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s core constituency of farmers which might become his nemesis. 
The state BJP believes it is now time to consider a change in leadership in MP especially if the saffron brigade wants to retain power in Madhya Pradesh in the assembly elections due in November 2018. Chouhan has survived many a crises including the controversial deaths of many Vyapam witnesses and corruption scandals. 
However, the present agrarian crises is not on account of natural causes but inept political and administrative management. The demand for loan relief has spread across several northern states after UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath fulfilled the BJP’s election promise with a Rs 36,359 crore waiver. 

Chouhan appears to have taken matters lightly pertaining to the farmers waiver demand of Rs 39,000 crores. Since the demonetisation on November 8 last year, cash transactions had fallen by 70 per cent at the mandis because of the liquidity crunch causing hardship to farmers. 
In Maharashtra the Fadnavis government can be in trouble with its ally Shiv Sena as its ministers boycotted the weekly cabinet meeting earlier in the week on Wednesday on the farmer issue. They made it clear they will not attend these meetings till a complete farm loan waiver is granted. 
Needless to say the farmers were deeply disappointed with the sops offered. Reneging on its promise, the ruling BJP leadership has made it clear that the Centre will not provide any help with loan waivers and that 50 per cent profit is not possible. 
Coupled with this is the heart rending increase in farmer suicides. The opposition has found a lever to stoke the discontent in the wake of drought for the last two years followed by a crash in crop prices. Compounding matters are the many unaffiliated farmers joining the strike blocking food supplies to cities. 
The BJP has reasons to be worried on the farmers front especially the loan waiver issue. Even as farmers in MP claimed that they had been fired upon, the state government insisted that the firing had not come from them but unknown quarters among the agitating farmers. 
On the other hand the chief minister claimed that the farmers had been incited by Congressmen who have been supporting the farmers agitation. Chouhan claimed that anti-social elements and not the farmers had fired upon the agitators. 
This was denied by MP BJP chief Nandkumar Singh Chouhan who said that he saw shots being fired by the administration. 
Farming being a state subject, the role of the states cannot be undermined. Carefully thought out farm insurance policies providing timely relief can mitigate the impact of adverse climate. 
The time has come for a national Agriculture policy to provide higher crop remuneration leading to an increase in food prices. In this clash between rural middle class interests, it is time for the Centre to evolve a formula that strikes a balance. 

NEW DELHI:  Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems Limited today announced the delivery of the first crown and tailcone assembly for the Indian configuration of the CH-47F Chinook helicopter. Manufactured by TASL in Hyderabad, the parts will be delivered to Boeing for final assembly of the 15 helicopters on delivery to the Indian Air Force. Â“This delivery is another significant step in our journey to increase defense capability and manufacturing capacity out of India with our strategic partners,” said Pratyush Kumar, President, Boeing India. “Tata Advanced Systems has demonstrated its ability to deliver high-quality components to the CH-47 Chinook program on schedule, which in turn helps Boeing meet commitments to our customers. We are clearly invested in leveraging the full potential of capability that exists in India to continue delivering greater value for less cost to our U.S. and international customers.” Sukaran Singh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, TASL, said, “We are proud to deliver the first crown and tailcone assembly for CH-47F Chinook helicopter. Undertaking the responsibility of complete manufacture and assembly for Boeing gives us an excellent opportunity to display our capability of development and assembly projects in high technology areas to global quality standards.” 
Defence Ministry finalised an order with Boeing in 2015 for the production, training and support of 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to enhance India’s capabilities across a range of military and humanitarian missions. Deliveries will begin in 2019, Boeing said in a statement here. 
TASL is already delivering crown and tailcones for CH-47 Chinook helicopters for the U.S. Army and international customers. The CH-47F Chinook is the advanced multi-mission helicopter which is being operated by the U.S. Army and 18 other defense forces around the world. Boeing’s network in India includes 35 direct and 120 indirect suppliers from India that manufacture advanced and complex components and sub-assemblies for a range of various commercial and defense aircraft.  

NEW DELHI: (India Science Wire): The much expected South West monsoon has arrived ahead of its scheduled arrival date and is begun its four-month long over the Indian landmass.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is tasked with keeping a track of the annual phenomenon and issue regular bulletins for the benefit of people. Since its inception in 1875, IMD has been striving to understand the phenomenon of monsoon and provide timely advance information on how the system wouldunravel.
In 1886, just 11 years after it was established,IMD came out with a monsoon forecast thus making India the first country in the world to introduce such a system of season-wise forecast. The model adopted for the forecast has been revised time and again as scientists keep acquiring newer knowledge on the science of monsoon system.
Scientists have predicted that the monsoon this year would be normal, with a rainfall of 96 per cent of the long period of average.
However, monsoon forecast is not the only forte of IMD. It has also been providing other short and medium range forecasts. Presently, the weather forecasters have a good skill for about four to five days. Efforts are underway to push the skills beyond to meet the requirements of various users.
Farmers particularly require weather forecast at the level of administrative block, which is one level higher than panchayat and one below the district. Presently, district level advisories are being issued. About 100 blocks would be covered by the end of this year and the rest will be covered by 2019.
In addition, the Department has been focusing on improving its capabilities for predicting severe weather events such as heavy rainfalls, severe convective storms and heat waves.
Rajeevan Madhavan Nair, secretary of MoES is an internationally acclaimed meteorologist. He says “there is growing evidence that extreme weather events are increasing. The world has already witnessed more hot days and heat waves since the 1950s and the fifth IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report of 2014 warns that we will see more changes to weather extremes by the end of 21st century”.
Apart from seeking to impart a quantum jump in weather forecast, the ministry has embarked on a mega project to explore and exploit deep oceans for living and non-living resources.
Noting that the oceans are full of mysteries and only five percent has been explored by human civilisation so far, Dr Rajeevan points out that oceans can be a good source for valuable minerals as well as for alternate energy sources. “Many geophysical activities, like under the sea earthquakes that trigger tsunamis take place at the bottom of the sea. We are planning a lab at the bottom of the sea”.
In the area of polar research too, research efforts would be stepped up. India has permanent stations in Antarctica, the Arctic and one in the Himalayas. “Among the large number of questions identified, temporal changes in the extent of sea ice and their influence on atmospheric and ocean circulation is a prime area of knowledge gap,” Rajeevan said. “Weneed to understand and document these changes and examine their possible effects on Indian climate using observations and models. The on-going scientific activities at Antarctic, Arctic and the Himalaya are, therefore, being further strengthened.”
Dr Rajeevan has over 30 years of operational experience in the different aspects of tropical meteorology. Before joining the Ministry, he was Director of Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology at Pune.
His main research contribution include understanding monsoon variability, development of monsoon prediction models, understanding extreme weather events like heavy rainfall, Heat waves also cloud radiation interactions. He has received various awards for his outstanding work, noted among them is Young Scientist Award in 2007 for his research contributions in Atmospheric Sciences.

NEW DELHI: The polling, if necessary, will be held on July 17 to elect the next President of India. The term of President Pranab Mukherjee, who is 13th in line, comes to an end on July 24. 
Announcing the poll schedule for the Presidential elections, the Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said that votes will be counted on July 20. The poll process will begin from June 14 with the issue of the notification for the Presidential polls, he said at a press conference which was also attended by Election Commissioners O P S Rawat and A K Jyoti. The last date for the filing of nominations will be June 28 and the scrutiny will be taken up the next day. 
Dr Zaidi said that Lok Sabha Secretary General has been appointed as the returning officer for the election to the country’s top post. ”The Election Commission, in consultation with the Central government, appoints the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, by rotation, as the returning officer. Accordingly, the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha will be appointed the returning officer of the present election,” the CEC  said.
Dr. Zaidi said that political parties cannot issue whip to their member to vote a particular person in the Presidential election.”It is clarified that political parties cannot issue whip in the matter of the Presidential elections,” he said.
Opposition parties, led by the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, have been making efforts to put up a joint candidate. The BJP has kept its cards close to its chest so far with the party chief Amit Shah giving an indication that the ruling party will be holding consultations to elect the next President. After its landslide win in U.P. assembly elections, the BJP and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are comfortably placed to get its nominee elected as the new President who would occupy the Rashtrapati Bhawan for the next five years. Negotiations of the BJP with regional parties have also been going on to enlist their support. 
The President is chosen through an Electoral College that includes national and state lawmakers.

NEW DELHI: Set up after the Modi government took office in May 2014, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) began carefully by taking baby steps like finding office space, arranging for logistics and infrastructure to make the newest kid on the block click. 
After two-and-a-half years of becoming operational, the Minister of State Rajiv Pratap Rudy who has independent charge of the MSDE can boast of taking big strides in setting up skill training centres across the country, turning around Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and making youth employable in a number of sectors. The MSDE has trained more than 1.17 crore aspirants in various skills since the inception of Skill India. This is apart from the numbers contributed through skill development schemes and initiatives under other Central Ministries.
Keenly aware of the cut-throat competition among job seekers, Mr. Rudy’s ministry is setting out new standards to vastly improve the quality of  new standards that would go a long way in revamping and toning up the quality of training being given in ITIs. 
“In July we are notifying new norms regarding building, equipment, training which all ITIs will have to confirm to,’’ Mr Rudy said here on Tuesday while addressing a press conference to mark the completion of the Modi Government’s three years in office.There are nearly 13,000 ITIs and the government wants them to do self-grading on at least 48 parameters. 
Mr Rudy said the policy makers had, over the years, done injustice to the ITIs, leading to deterioration in their quality, but his ministry was determined to see that the students passing out of ITIs come out well equipped both academically and technically.
Mr Rudy described his Ministry as  ”really a start up venture as it came into existence only two-and-half-years ago, but it had during this short period put up skill development infrastructure across the country.” The Minister said that industry linkage to skill development was the biggest challenge.
He said the Government had committed Rs 26000-crore for the Ministry.He said that his biggest partnership was with the Indian Army, which was the third largest in the world and whose 55000 personnel retire every year. The Ministry had trained 26000 retired Army personnel so far in various skills. 
Speaking about the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme as  being crucial for creation for a skilled workforce, he said the number of apprentices in India was very low as compared to other countries like Germany and Japan but the Government was now taking effective steps to see that companies took in more apprentices.
He said that India has partnered with 11 countries, including Germany, France , UK, Australia and China, in the skills agenda for training its workforce.These skilling will be in 86 trades at par with the transnational standards. 
Mr. Rudy said that Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), launched on July 15, 2015, alone has witnessed more than 26.5 lakh people getting trained in skills of their choice till date, of which 50 per cent are women candidates.
“The industry and private sector will only partner when they see quality workforce coming out from Skill India. We are seeing that transition happen gradually. More and more corporate are partnering with us on different levels whether is it on engaging with apprentices, extending infrastructure support, contribution through CSR funds and hiring of resources.”  
On keeping a check on fraudulent practices, Mr. Rudy said that a handful of organizations claiming to be PMKVY agencies promising jobs to unemployed youth were taking money and duping the youth in the name of MSDE. “Such advertisements were found more in vernacular dailies. We condemn such practices and have filed FIRs against them,” he said while cautioning the public at large to be vary of such frauds and join the right affiliated centres. 
The ministry officials stated that the effort was to move away from the supply driven skill development scenario to demand driven one.  More than 480 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras have been announced which would be model centres for skilling and would be in each district of the country and 162 are already been established. The officials said that more than 1381 new ITIs have been opened with nearly half a million seats. 
To cater to the increasing demand for drivers, MSDE also launched Driver Training institutes across India with the target to open 50 of them by this year-end. 

NEW DELHI: Two days after the Election Commission of India (ECI) held its open challenge to prove that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be tampered with, the CPI(M) which had showed up at the event termed the exercise “too restrictive.” 
“If the exercise conducted by the EC was for the purpose of increasing the confidence of the political parties, this exercise was too restrictive,” the CPI(M) said in a statement here on Monday.
As many as 13 political parties had questioned the reliability of the EVMs, but only two parties showed up and later opted out of the June 3 open challenge.  
Later, in a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi maintained that the EVMs used by the EC are “non-tamperable” and with 100 per cent use of paper trail machines in all future elections the issue of tamperability of the machines “stands closed”.
The CEC’s remarks cleared the air with the assertion that there would be no such challenge to the reliability of the EVMs used in the elections. He said though the NCP and the CPI(M) had reported at the challenge venue they had backed out of the taking up the challenge.
On the other hand, CPI(M) said that a technical team comprising hardware, embedded systems and security experts had visited the ECI offices on June 3 for participating in the EVM testing exercise. 
“The team wanted to check not only the EVM’s but how the EVMs can be used with a set of safeguards, including Voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT). The issue is not whether EVMs are hackable, the issue is the need to examine the system in its entirety, including the EVMs, the physical and human checks. This is why the CPI(M) team was participating in this exercise,” the party said in a statement.
“In order to make a deeper analysis of the EVM’s, the team wanted to attach hardware probes to the EVM motherboard to develop a better understanding and the potential for hacking of the EVM’s. In any case, no EVM can be hacked without analysing the EVM, and simply pressing buttons; or using external wireless devices.The EC denied this request, saying that it was not included in this Phase. Under such restrictive conditions, the team was unable to make an independent assessment of the EVMs, and hence suggest technical improvements or other safeguards,” the party said.
“While we can accept that the EC’s contention that the hardware of the EVM should not be changed, as this would make it a different machine, we are unable to appreciate why a physical examination of the EVM as outlined in EC’s Challenge II should not have included attaching instruments and generating a better understanding of the EVM and its communication within its various sub units,” it said.
The CPI(M) admitted that prima facie there are robust precautions, but without a detailed technical examination as asked for by the CPI(M)’s technical team, this remains to be independently verified.
The CPI(M) has maintained that VVPAT EVM should be used in all elections as per the Supreme Court mandate in 2013. It expressed disappointment over the fact that the government took this long to release funds for the procuring the VVPAT EVMs.
The CPI(M) believes that technical discussions between the EC, political parties and other stakeholders regarding current and future EVM design choices should be held on a regular basis. 
The Challenge, Counter Challenge and Hackathons as it is being done by certain parties and the EC, builds an adversarial atmosphere which is not conducive to building confidence in the electoral process, it said.   

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday ruled out any possibility of a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the forthcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit this month in Astana, Kazakhstan.  
“There is no proposal for such a meeting. Neither they (Pakistan) nor we have proposed a meeting at Astana,” she said while replying to a question at her annual press conference to mark the completion of three years of the NDA government in office. The Minister’s stand makes it clear that there would not be any chance for either a hand shake or a pull aside between Mr. Modi and Mr. Sharif at Astana. 
Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to attend the SCO summit at Astana beginning June 8 which will also be attended by Mr. Sharif. The two premiers had met briefly at SCO summit in Ufa, Russia in 2015. Besides Russia, China and Central Asian nations, SCO summit at Astana will formally admit India and Pakistan in the organisation. 
Tensions between India and Pakistan have been growing over the past couple of years, particularly after the Pathankot Air Force base terror attack and death sentence handed down to Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer who was reportedly picked up from Iran and taken to Pakistan. India had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague, alleging violation of Vienna Convention as Islamabad had repeatedly denied consular access to Jadhav. The ICJ had stayed the implementation of the death sentence to Jadhav till the world court delivers its final verdict. 
Maintaining that there was no flip-flop in India-Pakistan bilateral ties, the External Affairs Minister reiterated three principles on which relations with Pakistan could be judged. Both India and Pakistan will solve all issues through talks, the bilateral dialogue will not need any mediation or interference by a third party and terror and talks do not go together. She said the NDA government always applied these three principles while assessing India’s ties with Pakistan. 
She clarified that Prime Minister Modi had decided for a stop-over at Lahore in December 2015 in response to an invitation by Mr. Nawaz Sharif. It was an out-of-the-box goodwill gesture by Prime Minister Modi who was returning home after a visit to Afghanistan, she said. “But we got Pathankot terror attack in the new year,” she said.