Unanimous elections at MCC Bank: Anil Lobo to lead as chairman for next 5 years
Mangaluru: As all the 14 nominations filed for the directors' posts of the Mangalore Catholic Co-operative Bank Ltd (MCC Bank), were in order, Sudhir Kumar, Assistant Registrar of Co-operative Societies, who is the Returning Office, declared on 20th August 2023 all the 14 candidates who filed nominations as elected, after scrutiny of the nominations.
He added that the required quorum was available to form the board as per the provisions of co-operative act. The election scheduled on Sunday, August 27, for the post of directors will, therefore, not be conducted, said Sunil I Menezes, General Manager of The Mangalore Catholic Co-operative Bank Ltd, in a press release.
For the first time in the 111-year history of the MCC Bank, a unanimous election was held. The team led by Anil Lobo, Fermai, the incumbent chairman, will lead the Bank for next 5 years.
The Valencia team includes members from various regions: Gerald Pinto of Kallianpur, Roshan D'Souza of Mudipu, Harold John Montero of Kelarai, Joseph M Anil Patrao of Derebail, David D'Souza of Bajpe, Melvin Aquinas Vaz of Mangaluru, JP Rodriguez of Puttur, Andrew D'Souza of Moodbidri, Elroy Kiran Crasto of Gangolli, Gerald Jude D'Silva of Karkala, Vincent Anil Lasrado of Bantwal, Irene Rebello of Kulashekhara, and Frieda Flavia D'Souza of Balkunje.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Supreme Court rejects plea for reverting to ballots in elections
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to revert to ballot paper voting in elections in the country.
"What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs (electronic voting machine) are not tampered. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with)," remarked a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale.
Apart from ballot paper voting, the plea sought several directions including a directive to the Election Commission to disqualify candidates for a minimum of five years if found guilty of distributing money, liquor or other material inducement to the voters during polls.
When petitioner-in-person K A Paul said he filed the PIL, the bench said, "You have interesting PILs. How do you get these brilliant ideas?".
The petitioner said he is the president of an organisation which has rescued over three lakh orphans and 40 lakh widows.
"Why are you getting into this political arena? Your area of work is very different," the bench retorted.
After Paul revealed he had been to over 150 countries, the bench asked him whether each of the nations had ballot paper voting or used electronic voting.
The petitioner said foreign countries had adopted ballot paper voting and India should follow suit.
"Why you don't want to be different from the rest of the world?" asked the bench.
There was corruption and this year (2024) in June, the Election Commission announced they had seized Rs 9,000 crore, Paul responded.
"But how does that make your relief which you are claiming here relevant?" asked the bench, adding "if you shift back to physical ballot, will there be no corruption?".
Paul claimed CEO and co-founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, stated that EVMs could be tampered with and added TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, the current chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, and former state chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had claimed EVMs could be tampered with.
"When Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with. Now this time, Jagan Mohan Reddy lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with," noted the bench.
When the petitioner said everybody knew money was distributed in elections, the bench remarked, "We never received any money for any elections."
The petitioner said another prayer in his plea was the formulation of a comprehensive framework to regulate the use of money and liquor during election campaigns and ensuring such practices were prohibited and punishable under the law.
The plea further sought a direction to mandate an extensive voter education campaign to raise awareness and importance of informed decision making.
"Today, 32 per cent educated people are not casting their votes. What a tragedy. If democracy will be dying like this and we will not be able to do anything then what will happen in the years to come in future," the petitioner said.
