Zeack News

Chennai, Jun 20 : Seeking to allay fears expressed by some political parties that the EVMs can be tampered with, former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswami today said the Electronic Voting Machines are "totally reliable".

"EVM is a stand-alone machine, which is totally reliable," Gopalaswami, who retired as CEC in the midst of the recent Lok Sabha elections, said.



Unlike in other countries, EVMs used in India are of the "single way communication" type, he said, adding that software in a chip placed inside the EVMs cannot be tampered with.



Only less than 0.5 per cent of the EVMs in the country reportedly malfunctioned in the recent General election, he said, speaking at a function on 'election 2009-an analysis'.



Referring to the general elections, he said out of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, 448 successful candidates secured only less than 50 per cent votes. Zeack

Berhampur (Orissa), Jun 20 : Train services between Berhampur and Vijianagaram stations were disrupted today following derailment of a goods train near Palasa, about 30 km from here, official sources said.

At least five wagons of the goods train jumped the rails, disrupting traffic on the route under Khurda road railway division of East Coast Railways.



Senior railway officers went to the spot in three rescue trains to clear the lines and restore the traffic. "The track is expected to be cleared soon," a senior railway officer said.



Several long distance trains had been delayed at different stations in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, while some trains including Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam Inter-City Express were cancelled for the day. Zeack

Mau (UP), June 20 : Three policemen including the Station House Officer lost their lives after the jeep in which they were travelling collided with a train at an unmanned railway crossing in Haldarpur, police said today.

Confirming the incident, SP, Ram Bharose said, "The incident took place at an unmanned level crossing in Haldarpur. A police jeep carrying three policemen including a station officer were killed after it collided with the train." Those killed include Station Officer of Haldarpur police station Virendra Singh, driver of the jeep Umesh Yadav and sipahi Arvind Yadav.



Meanwhile, senior officials rushed to the spot, which is 90 kms from Varanasi. Zeack

Palampur (HP), Jun 20 : A taxi driver and his friend, accused of raping a British teenager, were remanded three days police custody after being produced in a court here today, officials said.

Sub-Judicial Magistrate, Kanwar Pawanjeet Singh remanded the duo to police custody for interrogation after they were produced before him.



The main accused, taxi driver Rakesh Kumar and his friend Sunil Kumar were arrested yesterday by the Palampur police.



The two had allegedly raped an 18-year-old British girl, working with an NGO, on Thursday night when she had taken a taxi to return home after her work. Zeack

Lalgarh (WB), June 20 : A CRPF jawan taking part in the operation to free Lalgarh and surrounding areas in West Midnapore district from Maoist control died of sun stroke today, police said.

Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia said Nabakanta Ray, the jawan, fell ill at Pirakata while taking part in the operation against the Maoists.



Ray was rushed to Lalgarh Primary Health Centre, where he was declared brought dead, the IGP added. Zeack