India is not going back to era of ballot papers: CEC Sunil Arora
New Delhi, Jan 24: Amid renewed demands against the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on Thursday asserted that the Election Commission is not going back to ballot papers.
EVMs are being used as a "football" due to a "motivated slugfest", he said.
"I would like to make it very, very clear one more time that we are not going back to the era of ballot papers," Arora said, addressing a gathering ahead of National Voters Day.
He said the poll panel would not take the country back to an era where ballot papers were lifted by muscle men.
"We are open to any criticism and feedback. But we are not going to be bullied. We are going to keep using EVMs," he said using strong words to defend the machines.
His remarks came days after a self proclaimed cyber expert claimed the machines can be hacked.
Following his claims, several parties have demanded the use of ballot papers in the coming Lok Sabha polls.
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First direct US-Venezuela commercial flight in 7 years to land in Caracas
Caracas (Venezuela) (AP): The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela is scheduled to land on Thursday in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, seven years after the US Department of Homeland Security ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns.
The resumption of a commercial flight between the two countries comes in the wake of the US capture of Nicolás Maduro in a stunning nighttime raid on his residence in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, in early January.
It also comes a month after the US formally reopened its embassy in Caracas following the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country.
Flight AA3599 operated by Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was scheduled to depart from Miami at 10:16 a.m. local time and arrive three hours later in the Venezuelan capital, returning to Florida later in the afternoon.
Earlier, the airline said a second daily flight between Miami and Caracas will start on May 21.
In late January, US President Donald Trump said he informed Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez that he would open up all commercial airspace over Venezuela, allowing Americans to visit.
“American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela, and they'll be safe there,” Trump said at the time.
The flights mark the resumption of nonstop travel between the US and Venezuela for the first time since diplomatic ties were severed in 2019. For the past seven years, passengers have relied on international airlines and indirect routes through neighbouring Latin American countries.
In January, when the airline announced the resumption of flights it said it would give customers the opportunity to reunite with families and pursue new business opportunities.
American Airlines was the last US airline flying to Venezuela. It suspended flights in 2019 between Miami and Caracas, as well as flights to the oil hub city of Maracaibo. Delta and United Airlines pulled out in 2017 amid a political crisis that forced millions to flee the country.
