Final Bihar voter list to be published tomorrow; poll schedule announcement likely next week
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New Delhi (PTI): The final electoral roll of Bihar is set to be published on Tuesday, with the Election Commission likely to follow it up with the announcement of the poll schedule of the key state next week.
The poll authority is visiting Patna on October 4 and 5 to take stock of the poll preparedness.
The schedule for the assembly elections is likely to be announced next week, sources said.
The first phase of the elections is likely to be held soon after the Chhath festival in late October.
Four hundred seventy observers are being deployed by the EC for Bihar and some assembly bypolls.
A briefing of general, police and expenditure observers is also set to take place here on October 3.
The term of the 243-member Bihar Assembly ends on November 22.
The last assembly elections in Bihar were held in three phases amid the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The final voter list of Bihar is being published following the conclusion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls which was held after a gap of 22 years.
The draft electoral rolls were published on August 1 and were open for "claims and objections" by individuals and political parties till September 1.
There were 7.24 crore electors in the draft rolls.
The SIR has come under sharp criticism from opposition parties who have claimed that it will disenfranchise crores of genuine citizens of their voting rights.
The Commission has asserted that it will not allow any eligible citizen to be left out of the voter list and at the same time not let any ineligible person be on the list.
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At UN, India flags concerns over targeting of vessels in Strait of Hormuz
United Nations (PTI): Targeting commercial shipping, endangering civilian crew and impeding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is "unacceptable", India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Parvathaneni Harish has said.
Harish's remarks at a special meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNECOSOC) on safeguarding energy and supply flows came days after an India-flagged commercial vessel came under attack off the coast of Oman.
Omani authorities rescued all 14 crew members of the vessel sailing from Somalia, but it was not immediately known who carried out the strike.
In a post on X on Sunday, Harish said that at the UNECOSOC meeting, he shared India's approach to the recent energy and fertiliser crisis caused by the West Asia conflict.
"A combination of short-term and structural measures alongside international cooperation are essential to respond to the crisis," he said.
"Reiterated that targeting of commercial shipping, endangering civilian crew and impeding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, are unacceptable. International law in this regard must be fully respected," he added.
The attack on the India-flagged vessel on May 13 took place amid the fragile situation in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway close to the coast of Oman through which roughly one-fifth of the world's energy supplies pass.
It has been severely disrupted by the conflict in West Asia that started on February 28, with the US and Israel launching joint attacks on Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes.
Earlier, India had described the attack as "unacceptable".
At least two other Indian-flagged ships have been attacked since the conflict broke out.
According to the UNECOSOC website, the meeting, which took place on Friday, focused on “Safeguarding energy and supply flows: Supporting global development through international cooperation”.
