BU News

Metaverse is the future of media , according to senior journalist Pankaj Pachauri

By Ashvin Soin and Divya Jyoti Everyone has high expectations of their time in college and it wasn’t different at the Times School of Media (TSOM). TSOM conducted its orientation for freshers from September 21 st to 23 rd . It was after two continuous years of lockdown that the freshers of TSOM experienced the orientation live. And as they say, the show was a hit. First-up formal introductions The freshers were given a warm welcome on their first day with formal induction to the school, the expectations, and introductions to the faculty members. Prof Sunil Saxena , Head of TSOM, spoke about the professionalism that was expected from the freshers and the concept of “learning by doing’. He talked of moving away from rote learning and taking the classroom outside with real experiences Seniors welcome the freshers with a big bang show Following the formal introductions, the seniors welcomed the new entrants with an ice-breaking session that included dance, music and stand-up comedy. The freshers were also given an opportunity to showcase their talents. The orientation hall was decorated with handmade decorations and buntings made by the seniors. The seniors had a selfie stand to showcase the school’s radio station and another backdrop with the newspaper, The Times of Bennett . Weeks of preparation finally led to a successful show. The missing of classes and staying up till 5 in the morning working on the décor and the perfect lighting was all worth it. The fresher’s orientation finally came to an end with a bang and the newcomers were left in awe with their grand welcome. “The orientation was amazing, more so because we didn’t experience it. It was fun organizing and preparing the orientation for the new batch,” said Smriti Goyal, a final year student. Dances, music and games The first challenge for freshers was to perform the hook step to well-known songs, and Shreya Talwar won the first game after wowing the audience with her dance styles. Then, the freshers had to identify the song by its tune called ‘Fill My Lyrics’. This was won by Chetan Anand. Time School of Media seniors put on their best performances for the newcomers from classical dancing set to Bollywood melodies, to a fun skit that had everyone in fits of laughter and songs that mesmerized the newcomers. The next game, Spoiler Alert , was essentially a heads-up for the upcoming college experience for first-year students with fun introductions on what they should expect from certain teachers. The much-anticipated event was the freshmen talent round. Rishi Bhushan, Chetan, and Sezal Sandhi enthralled everyone with their incredible voices. Shreya, Parul, Akshara, and Priyansh won the dance competition. “The orientation was beyond my expectations, to be very honest. It was so good! I was very nervous before my singing performance but everyone including the anchors comforted me so nicely. I felt grateful. It was a lovely experience.” says Sezal Kaur Sandhu, a BAJMC fresher. The Team in Blue put on a musical performance while third year students, Omji Dubey's rap performance got full applause. And the quiz ‘Geoguesser’ gave the first-year students a tour the campus with pictures from famous campus locations that they had to guess. Ready for the roller-coaster ride The day's final activity was the introduction of the radio club. The club planned a humorous competition called ‘Dialogue Baazi’ in which first-year students had to portray the well-known dialogue using various emotions. “The orientation served as a trailer that assured me of how great the upcoming years at Bennett are going to be. A blockbuster, FOR SURE” says Shreya Chogule, a BAJMC fresher. And here’s what a senior student advised the freshmen, “Just be strong and fasten your seatbelts because the ride from here on will be an emotional roller coaster.” (The writers are both students of BA JMC)

By Ritika Choudhary and Hadassah Mani Bandi It was night filled with pink, cotton candy, popcorn and topped off with a movie. Bennett ’s movie and fashion clubs, Sunset and Panache , made the quote “On Wednesdays we wear Pink” come to life by hosting a ‘pink’ themed movie night for freshers on September 21. Everyone was asked to wear pink for the club screening of the teen classic ‘ Mean Girls ’. Free popcorn and cotton candy was given to all those who complied with the dress code, making it a memorable night for the freshers. The freshers were given free entry to the screening along with popcorn and cotton candy. It was their first club event on campus. The movie started at 9:00 pm and around 100 people showed up, including seniors. “The movie was a lot of fun to watch with all my new batchmates. It was a good first event to attend on campus and I can’t wait for more such events,” said Pranavi, a first-year BAJMC student. Pink is the colour “We wanted our first event to have a spirit of fun, excitement and playfulness and there’s nothing more that brings a wave of brightness and positivity to the campus than seeing pink everywhere and the movie ‘Mean Girls’ perfectly captures the magic of young friendships,” said Sunset’s Secretary Shaurya Tomar. “It was great to see all the freshers enjoying themselves and we hope to keep providing more amazing events for our Bennettians ,” he added. “It was a lot of fun, we also got to eat lots of popcorn and cotton candy. ‘Mean Girls’ being a classic comfort movie for teenagers was perfect for the occasion as it was our first college event,” said Parul, a BAJMC fresher. “Overall, it was a great welcome for us,” she added. “I was jealous of the freshers at first, but for a movie, popcorn, and cotton candy, Rs 50 is nothing. And overall, the event was fun because I got to spend time with my friends,” said Sasha Rastogi a second-year BAJMC student. (Both the writers are students of BA JMC)

Emotional monologues of freedom fighters by Ansh captivates the audience at BU

As part of the the 'Har Ghar Trinaga' campaign, students participate in patriotic singing competition

Students toured the printing press and witnessed the various stages – prepress, press, and post press – of printing operations.

The first year BA(JMC) and BA(FTW) students, who took part in the workshop, traced maps using the tool OpenStreetMaps.

It is not always that a UN organization notices an academician’s work. It was therefore a matter of satisfaction and pride for Dr. Moina Khan, Associate Professor, Times School of Media, when UNESCO tweeted an excerpt from her research paper and also published it on its Facebook page . The excerpt was from a research paper, titled, Community Radio in Indigenous Languages : A Tool for Sustainable Development that Dr. Khan submitted to UNESCO. The research paper was invited by UNESCO to mark the beginning of IYIL2019 . The UN body had launched a global call inviting researchers to submit research papers on Indigenous languages that demonstrated a diversity of scholarship around the world. According to UNESCO, “Overall, 278 research papers were submitted in 2019, in English, French and Spanish by researchers, experts, and practitioners from 63 countries.” The research papers were reviewed by an international peer review team, including leading linguists, Indigenous researchers and experts with different specializations, under the guidance of a chief researcher and editor. “Each paper was reviewed by more than one expert and by the UNESCO IYIL2019 Secretariat. Through this process, 39 research papers (27 in English, 4 in French, 8 in Spanish) were selected for publication,” UNESCO stated. Khan’s research work uses case study methodology to examine the importance of local language-based media system in preserving and sustaining native language and culture. The publication can be accessed through UNESCO’s digital library State of the art of indigenous languages in research: a collection of selected research papers - UNESCO Digital Library Later, on May 20, Dr. Khan presented her research work at a webinar and engaged in a dialogue on the state of indigenous language research across various areas. The webinar was live streamed on UNESCO website. Says Khan, “The research papers in this collection contributed to the identification of existing knowledge gaps in sectors of indigenous languages, paving the way for new research routes within the broader context of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL2022-2032), for which UNESCO acts as a lead UN agency.” Join exciting programmes offered by Bennett University

Nitin Singh, EVP and National Director for Client Solutions, Mirchi , delivered a two-day lectures series on the Business of Radio to the BAJMC and BAFTW Semester II students. On the first day, the lecture was conducted online, and the second day was on the campus. The two sessions were divided into radio and non-radio business opportunities for a station. During these sessions, he spoke in detail about how the dynamics of radio business have changed with the advancing technology. While giving a background on radio industry growth in India , he explained the usage of editorial space and non-radio revenue streams being used for client integrations. Students were keen to learn some new concepts like activations, concerts, television properties, digital audio avenues, multimedia solutions and catalyst playing a significant role in business of radio. The interactive lectures, which were held on April 19 and 21 concluded with a question-and-answer session. Join exciting programmes offered by Bennett University

The Gandhi Darshan recently held a workshop on the Gandhian philosophy of non-violent communication , which was attended by the first year students of BA JMC . Shreya Mishra , in this video, talks about 5 facets of Gandhian non-violent communication . You can watch the video here. (The reporter is a first year student of the BA Journalism & Mass Communication Course at Bennett University ) Join exciting programmes offered by Bennett University

Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu inspires students with her story of winning the top beauty title

Harnaaz Sandhu interacts with students in a Q&A session at Bennett University

Harnaaz Sanshu visits Bennett University campus

Advanced social media workshop for Bennett University students by Stony Brook professor

The Advaita Club organized a musical evening Shaam-E-Sangeet 2.0 on May 5, 2022.

The highlight of the day were a group of South Indian students, wearing similar shirts with mundu.

Arunaraje Patil, eminent filmmaker and FTII alumnus, released the book “Balancing the Wisdom Tree - An Anthology of FTII's Women Alumni” compiled by Professor Gauri Durga Chakraborty on the occasion of International Women’s Day at the International Kolkata Book Fair. The book that acknowledges and celebrates the inspirations, challenges and achievements of the women alumni of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a treat for films lovers, film professionals and researchers. Published by FTII in association with Publication Division, the book has three segments which include conversations between alumni, personal reflections, and the work of 503 women who graduated from FTII between 1965-2016. Recording FTII alumni achievers Speaking during the book release function, Arunaraje Patil emphasized the requirement of recording the achievements of FTII’s women alumni in different fields such as direction, scriptwriting, cinematography, sound recording, production design, acting, production and animation, Prof Gauri Chakraborty, who is an FTII alumni and currently heads the Film Programme at Times School of Media , said “Work started in November 2020 and continued for more than a year. It was an arduous task to assemble the section on bio notes of all women alumni but the significance of registering the diversity of work by these women was important to the context of archiving.” She observed, “The material in the book will lead more researchers to look at the microcosmic aspects of gender and can create multiple possibilities of extending discussion on presence on women in mainstream and independent filmmaking.” Inspiration for women filmmakers According to her, “The book will give film lovers an opportunity to know the inspirations behind training in film from the first woman graduate Parvati Menon in 1966 to director Payal Kapadia, who was awarded at the Cannes in 2021.” Prof Chakraborty also explained the rationale behind the book’s name. She said, “The book instigates thought to move beyond gender equity and towards creating gender balance – and hence the title Balancing the Wisdom Tree.” The book’s foreword has been written by the internationally acclaimed actor and FTII alumnus Shabana Azmi. The book release function at Kolkata was attended among others by the Director General (East Zone) Bhupendra Kainthola, FTII Registrar, Sayyid Rabeehashmi, Associate Professor, Vikram Varma and three FTII alumni - Reena Mohan, Gissy Michael and Dorothy Varma.

What goes into writing a good script for a Bollywood movie

Using AI in news can help cutting out the clutter

Amazon .com is the new frontier for e-commerce managers, according to Mr. Sounak Majumder, Global e-Commerce Manager of Sennheiser. Speaking at the second National Seminar on Digital Media Marketing organised by Times School of Media’s Centre for Fact-checking and Social Media Studies on February 4, Majumder shared his insights as to how companies can transform their sales by leveraging the e-commerce potential of Amazon. At the online seminar, whose topic was Creating and Optimizing Digital Campaigns vis-à-vis Amazon, Majumder also examined the potential of e-Commerce in India . Further, while discussing the advertising strategies that can be used on Amazon, Majumder demonstrated the steps to set-up an advertising campaign . These included types of ads on the platform, ads solution, algorithms used to reach out to people, sponsorship ads and video ads. The seminar was attended by Academicians, Research Scholars, Marketing Professionals, Young Entrepreneurs , and students of the Times School of Media. Join exciting programmes offered by Bennett University

Hasgulla was organized on May 7 at the campus with the objective to create a fun and humorous environment.

All BU clubs got together to give the #freshers a feel of what it takes to be #Bennettian

Students of Club Alexis clean up the university grounds after the freshers party.

BAJMC’s Ashwin Soin and BBA’s Kanwaljeet Singh were crowned as the Ms. and Mr. Freshers 2022, respectively, by LIVA Miss Diva 2021 Finalist, Siddhi Gupta.

The 'double-engine' juggernaut of the BJP romped home to victory in four of the five states that had recently gone to polls in February and March 2022. Incumbent Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made history as he led the saffron party to victory in the country's most populous state a second time around. In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) scripted history as it won 92 of the 117 seats that had gone to vote, ousting the Congress which was reduced to 18 seats in the state with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) far behind at 3 seats. AAP's CM nominee Bhagwant Mann is likely to be sworn in as the chief minister of the state. In Goa, while the BJP did manage to take the lead, it fell short by one seat of having a full majority winning 20 out of 40 seats. In Uttarakhand, the BJP managed to retain power despite having changed three chief ministers in its previous outing in the hill state. The party won 47 of the 70 seats, even as the Congress won 19 seats in the state. Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami , however, did not manage to retain his seat. Prior to Pushkar Dhami, Trivendra Singh Rawat had been appointed as the chief minister after the 2017 elections. However, he was removed after two major decisions were found to be controversial and a corruption case rang the death knell for his government. Trivendra Rawat was replaced by Tirath Singh Rawat. Tirath Rawat was removed as chief minister primarily due to his statements against women and his decision to go ahead with the Kumbh Mela in the midst of the Covid second wave. The people of Manipur also voted in favour of the BJP, leaving Congress with only five seats in its kitty. The BJP managed to win 32 of the 60 seats in the Northeastern state, heralding a second term for sitting chief minister N Biren Singh . All the other contesting parties managed to win seats only in single digits. In Uttar Pradesh, even though the BJP won the state, it did so with a reduced number of seats - 255 - as compared to the 2017 when it had won 315 seats. The Samajwadi Party managed to make a comeback of sorts by gaining more than 70 seats and winning 111 seats in the state. The other major players, Congress and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) winning two and one seats, respectively.

By Brishti Ganguly The Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) is said to break the anti-incumbency trend in Uttarakhand as it eyes a second consecutive term in the hill state. With 48 seats, the BJP has won a clear majority in Uttarakhand, while the major opposition the Congress has managed to stay ahead with only 18 seats. The remaining four seats have been bagged by the BSP and other Independent candidates in the state. The early trends showed neck-and-neck competition between the two parties which was in line with Uttarakhand's anti-incumbency trend. The voters have always voted out the incumbent government every assembly elections since the state's formation in 2000. On one hand the BJP has managed to gain a majority of the 70 assembly seats in the hill state, it has also faced a drawback from one of the most prominent BJP leaders in the state. Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami lost his Khatima constituency by over 6,932 votes after getting trailed by Congress's Bhuwan Chandra Kapri. It was Dhami's third time contesting from this seat after having remained a two-time MLA from the area. Similarly, former chief minister and Congress heavyweight Harish Rawat has also lost his Lalkuwa assembly seat by a margin of over 16,000 votes from BJP's Mohan Singh Bisht. On the contrary, Rawat's daughter Anupama Rawat is leading by over 5,000 votes in the Haridwar Rural constituency. Harish Rawat has contested from this seat in 2017 but lost to BJP's Yatishwaranand. A total of 632 candidates contested the assembly elections this year in Uttarakhand. Neither BJP nor Congress declared their chief ministerial candidates in the state. Voting in Uttarakhand took place on 14th February, 2022 and the counting of votes is happening on the 10th of March. Uttarakhand is one of the five states that has gone to polls this year. The other states include Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.

By Urvashi Goyal Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accepted defeat for his party in the assembly elections. In his tweet on Thursday, Gandhi expressed gratitude towards all Congress workers for their dedication. "Humbly accept the people’s verdict. Best wishes to those who have won the mandate. We will learn from this and keep working for the interests of the people of India," Rahul Gandhi said. By early evening, INC secured only 13 seats out of 117 seats in the 2022 Punjab polls. Punjab was a bastion state for the Congress. Congress leader Charanjit S. Channi also congratulated Bhagwant Mann for his victory. “I humbly accept the verdict of the people of Punjab and Congratulate @AamAadmiParty and their elected CM @BhagwantMann Ji for the victory. I hope they will deliver on the expectations of people,” said Channi. Amarinder Singh, Punjab's former Chief Minister who joined the BJP during these polls, lost his constituency, Patiala Urban, to AAP’s Ajit Pal Singh Kohli. Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi also lost both his seats, Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur, to AAP’s Charanjit Singh and AAP’s Labh Singh Ugoke respectively. Congress candidate Malvika Sood, who is a film actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood's sister, lost the Moga assembly seat to AAP's candidate Dr Amandeep Kaur Arora. The official results are still awaited, but the winning party for the 16th Legislative Assembly Elections in Punjab is clear.

By Samriddhi Bisht Congress ’s Harish Rawat , one of the former chief ministers from Uttarakhand , has lost his Lalkuwa seat by a margin of nearly 16,432 votes, according to the data available on the Election Commission of India website. Conceding his defeat, the veteran Congress leader tweeted, "Only a formal announcement of my electoral defeat from the constituency is pending. I apologize to the people of Lalkuan area, which includes all the areas of Bindukhatta, Bareilly road, that I could not earn their trust and the election promises I made to them”. He added, “People of Lalkuan have chosen a better candidate than me. Many congratulations to him and the candidate selected by them and my best wishes for the future”. The political leader who has a five-decade-old political career has lost to the BJP candidate, Mohan Singh Bisht . Rawat who was earlier confident of his victory and has served the state as a chief minister is now seems to be knocked out. Earlier in the day, Rawat sounded confident of his party’s victory in the state. He had said, "I am confident of the victory of Congress in Uttarakhand. Everything will be clear in the next 2-3 hours. I have faith in the people of the state. I believe Congress will get close to 48 seats." Rawat was initially named to fight elections from the Ramnagar seat but was later shifted to Lalkuwa. At the same time, the BJP too incidentally shifted Mohan Singh Bisht to Lalkuwa making the battle tough.

By Supriya Chand The ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) is set to win Uttar Pradesh for the second time in a row. In Uttar Pradesh, a ruling party has returned to power for the first time in 37 years. Yogi Adityanath , the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, is leading in Gorakhpur. Yogi Adityanath first CM to complete tenure and win a second term On May 20, 1952, the first assembly of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, was formed. In the last 70 years, the state has had 21 CMs. Yogi Adityanath is fifth CM to win a second consecutive term Only five CMs in UP history have won a second consecutive term, including Adityanath. First CM to retain power in 37 years When the state went to election in 1985, ND Tiwari of the Congress was the chief minister of undivided Uttar Pradesh. The Congress was victorious, as was Tiwari, who was re-elected for the second time in a row. Since then, no CM has succeeded in retaining the CM's chair for a second consecutive term. Adityanath is the first CM to do so since then. First BJP CM to return to power So far, four BJP CMS have been elected in Uttar Pradesh. Prior to Adityanath, the position was held by Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta , and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh . However, none of them were able to serve a second consecutive term. Adityanath is the party's first chief minister. First MLA CM in 15 years Adityanath will become the first MLA (member of legislative assembly) chief minister in 15 years when he will take the oath of office for a second consecutive term. Third CM to complete tenure Adityanath has already made a public record in his name. Only three of the 21 CMS in the last 70 years have served the full five-year term. First CM to break Noida jinx With the BJP appearing to be on track for a second consecutive term in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have successfully busted the 'Noida jinx'.

By Ishan Saini Greater Noida: Punjab has chosen a former comedian to lead them. Bhagwant Singh Mann is to become the next CM. Mann garnered 82,592 votes in Dhuri, nearly 60,000 more than the Congress's Dalvir Singh as per Election Commission website. Mann, nicked named ‘Jugnu’, was a comedian and appeared alongside popular comedian Kapil Sharma in the show ‘The Great Indian Laughter’. Mann’s political career started in 2014 Lok Sabha election, where he won from the Sangarur constituency. AAP has already won 53 seats out 117. The Indian National Congress did not cross 20 till late afternoon. Mann has promised to make Punjab free from drug addiction if brought to power. Mann has often been at the centre of controversies and allegedly been called a ‘drunk’ in an interview with a news channel. “How can he run Punjab? He goes everywhere drunk! He goes to parliament drunk; he goes to the Gurudwara drunk. He starts in daytime,” said former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi in an interview to NDTV . Despite an attack on his image, Mann has emerged victorious. On the other hand, Navjoot Singh Siddhu , also popular for being a judge on comedy shows, has lost in the Punjab elections. In 2014, actor, comedian Javed Jaffery also contested the elections on AAP ticket. This is not the first time that a comedian will be in a position of power. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also a former actor and comedian. He’s recently seen leading Ukraine in a war against Russia.

By Hardika Gupta Incumbent Bharatiya Janta Party is all set to form the next government in Goa after emerging as the single largest party, winning 14 seats while leading in six. Meanwhile, the sitting CM, Pramod Sawant has won his assembly seat from the Sanquelim constituency for the third time in a row. As per the election commission of India (ECI) website, the main rival Indian National Congress could manage to win five seats and is leading in six constituencies at 4 pm. In a 40-member assembly, Aam Aadmi Party won 1 seat and is ahead in 1, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party is leading in 2 constituencies and the independents won 1-1 seat each. Congress candidate Michael Vincent Lobo won the Calangute constituency by defeating Joseph Robert Sequeira from BJP by a margin of 4979 votes. Independent candidate Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco defeated Congress candidate Moreno Rebelo with a margin of 5055 votes and won the Curtorim seat. CM Pramod Sawant defeated Congress candidate Dharmesh Saglani by a margin of 650 votes. After his win he said, "The credit for this win goes to the party workers...BJP will form the government in Goa”. Meanwhile, Utpal Parrikar who was contesting elections from the Independent Party loses the Panaji seat with over 800 votes. Parrikar expressed his disappointment and mentioned that as an independent candidate it was a good fight.He was defeated by BJP candidate Atanasio 'Babush' Monserrate. BJP is expecting support from the independent MLAs, firming up its majority in the assembly.

The Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP ) have fared poorly in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) elections. The Congress showed abysmal performance in the UP Elections , leading in only two seats in the 403 member assembly. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accepted his party’s fate and shared his thoughts on twitter. “Humbly accept the people’s verdict. Best wishes to those who have won the mandate. My gratitude to all Congress workers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication. We will learn from this and keep working for the interests of the people of India,” Gandhi tweeted. The other party that too was badly trounced was the BSP, which has once ruled in the state under the leadership of Mayawati . BSP got only one seat. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), currently, is leading by 244 seats with the Samajwadi Party (SP) emerging as a strong opposition party securing137 seats. The Congress campaign had been led by Rahul Gandhi’s sister, Priyanka Gandhi , with the party banking on her charisma to reach out to the electorate. The party had also fielded a number of women candidates, but the effort did not bear fruit. Celebrations by the BJP workers broke out in different parts of the state as soon as it became apparent that the party was going to retain power.

By ANISHKA SHARMA Greater Noida: Despite a turbulent tenure of five years in which the party changed as many as three chief ministers, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken a sizeable lead in the Uttarakhand assembly elections . As per the latest trends available at 4pm, the BJP has 48 seats in its kitty. The halfway mark is 36 seats for any party to form a majority government. The hill state has 70 assembly seats. In 2017, when the BJP came to power, it had appointed Trivendra Singh Rawat as the chief minister of the state. However, Rawat’s handling of the Covid-19 situation, which led to adverse situations in the state, led to his removal from the position after uproar from within and outside the party. Rawat was replaced by Tirath Singh Rawat , who was removed shortly after over his controversial statements against women. Rawat’s statements, such as, “If such women go out in the society to meet people and solve their problems, what kind of message are we giving to our society and our kids?” had led to mass uproar. Rawat was also accused of taking decisions that hampered the forward-thinking and liberal progress of the state. Shortly after he was allegedly caught taking bribes and was also accused of having been involved in black-money affairs, which led to his removal as chief minister of Uttarakhand for 4 months. Rawat was replaced by Pushkar Singh Dhami, the first CM of the state from the Kumaun region. Till date, Dhami has worked diligently to clear BJP’s name and to ensure that the party comes to power. A qualified lawyer, Dhami holds an LLB degree from Lucknow University . According to his affidavit filed during the 2012 Uttarakhand assembly elections, Dhami had listed his profession to be that of a farmer, which he changed to advocate in 2017. Compared to its neighbouring states, Uttarakhand has the biggest budget and has always chosen its chief minister from the Garhwal region.

By Saloni Singh Greater Noida : Yogi Adityanath is all set to continue as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh after leading the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) to a convincing victory at the hustings. The BJP led the polls by 250 seats till 3 pm according to the data published by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Yogi Adityanath is also set to win the Gorakhpur Urban seat with a lead of up to 44,000 votes against the Samajwadi Party’s Subhawati Shukla and Azad Samaj Party’s Chandrashekar Azad Ravan. Yogi Adityanath has also successfully ended what was dubbed as the jinx of Noida, a political superstition that gained currency after 1988 when chief minister Vir Bahadur Singh was forced to resign only a few days after his visit to Noida. Singh’s successor Narayan Dutt Tiwari lost power during the 1989 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. Tiwari too had visited Noida during his term. These sequential electoral defeats furthered the superstition. In November 2021, Yogi Adityanath, however, has stayed clear of the superstition. He dismissed the supposed ‘jinx’ by stating during the inauguration of the Jewar airport by PM Modi that, "My predecessors used to shy away from visiting this district (Noida, Gautam Buddh Nagar district) as their own life and position of power were more important to them."

By Mansi Yadav The heavyweights of the Indian National Congress including Charanjit Singh Channi , Navjot Singh Sidhu and former Congress leader Capt. Amarinder Singh , are trailing by a huge margin of votes ranging from 3,000 to 40,000, as per the Election Commission website. AAP is on the shores of victory even as it is leading on 90 seats with a total of 117 seats in the state. The party has managed to receive 42.2% of the votes while Congress lags behind with 23.1% votes. In the 2017 Assembly Elections, Congress bagged a total of 38.5% of votes. Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu is behind his AAP rival, Jeevan Jyot Kaur on his Amritsar (East) seat by a margin of 3,000 votes. Amarinder Singh trails on his home-turf Also, the former CM Captain, Amarinder Singh, who posted a picture of playing chess on Instagram seems to be trailing on his home-turf Patiala. He is lagging behind by a margin of approx 14,000 votes. The AAP candidate Ajit Pal Singh Kohli is leading at this seat. He has bagged in a total of 45.21% votes. Charanjit Singh Channi on verge of losing both seats The data from Election Commission website states that the current CM of Punjab and INC Candidate, Charanjit Singh Channi trails on his Chamkaur Sahib seat by a margin of 3,000 votes from Charanjit Singh of AAP. CM Charanjit is losing on his other seat Bhadaur to AAP candidate Labh Singh Ugoke by 20,000 votes. If the trends follow the same path, the CM will end up losing both of the seats. On the other hand, early celebrations have already started taking place at Former Comedian and AAP CM candidate Bhagwant Mann ’s house and the trends seem to justify the celebrations too. Bhagwant Mann is leading by a margin of 40,000 votes from his seat Dhuri. The INC candidate, Dalvir Singh Goldy is trailing with 19.9% votes.

By Nidhi Shanker Greater Noida: The Aam Aadmi Party is likely to sweep Punjab Assembly elections. It was leading in 91 seats out of 117 seats. AAP’s manifesto for change was the key factor that gave the party an edge. Punjab voted for change as the state has been ruled by the Indian National Congress (INC) for the last two tenures. AAP in its manifesto focused on the topics that the people of Punjab would relate to. The election promises that helped AAP beat the Indian National Congress in the elections were: Free electricity and proper supply of water Eradication of drugs Promised a slum-free Chandigarh Pollution free air Promised free treatment of the poor through ‘Mohalla’ clinics. Upon the early trends released Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted a photo of his with Bhagwant Mann showing a victory sign and congratulated the people of Punjab on their victory. It was later retweeted and the victory was termed as ‘PUNJAAP’.

By Parth Sharma Though the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) is winning in Uttar Pradesh , interestingly some key candidates who were expected to win in their own constituencies are trailing. Here is a list of four such candidates: Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya trails BJP candidate Keshav Prasad Maurya is trailing behind SP candidate Pallavi Patel in Sirathu seat of Kaushambi, which is considered one of the hot seats of the state. Keshav is trailing SP candidate Pallavi by 3,386 votes in the second round. Swami Prasad Maurya trails in Fazilnagar Swami Prasad Maurya, who has a special influence among the voters of the non-Yadav voters of UP, is still lagging in the trends by 15,000 votes. Swami Prasad Maurya was a cabinet minister in the BJP government. However, after the announcement of the election dates, he joined SP. Maurya had contested from the Fazilnagar assembly seat. Surendra Singh Kushawaha is the candidate from BJP. Rajendra Pratap Singh trails BJP candidate Rajendra Pratap Singh known as Moti is in the second position with 11,618 votes while SP candidate Ram Singh is currently in the lead in Patti with 15,085 votes. Congress leader Ajay Kumar Lallu trails Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Ajay Kumar Lallu is trailing in Tamkuhi Raj constituency in the Kushinagar district. BJP's Asim Kumar is in the lead, followed by SP's Uday Narayan.

Greater Noida: Early trends show that the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) is leading in four states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa – while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is at advantage in Punjab. The BJP is expected to make a comeback in Uttar Pradesh but with fewer seats compared to the 2017 Assembly elections. At the same time, the Samajwadi Party (SP) is leading in more than 130 seats. Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress are performing poorly with leads in two seats each. Uttar Pradesh has 403 constituencies and had voted in seven phases across February and March. In Uttarakhand, the saffron party is all set to defy anti-incumbency and return to power once again despite the hill state witnessing three different chief ministers in five years under the BJP rule. The trends till 4.30 pm indicate that the party has been able to lure the voters once again. It was leading in 48 seats at 4.30 pm. The Congress, meanwhile, is leading in 18 seats, having fallen short of its own expectations. Uttarakhand went to polls in a single phase for 70 assembly seats. In Goa, the BJP is ahead on 19 seats - just two seats shy of the halfway mark - with the Congress finding itself battling an uphill battle with 12 seats in its kitty at 4.30 pm. The regional parties are also putting up a good show with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and AAP leading in two seats each. Meanwhile, the Goa Forward Party opened its tally by leading in one seat. More than 300 candidates are contesting in 40 assembly constituency in the western coastal state. In Manipur, the BJP is leading stepped closer to victory with 30 seats in its kitty. The northeastern state has 60 assembly constituencies. The regional party, the National People’s Party (NPP) is leading in nine constituencies, while the Congress has taken the lead in 8 seats. Punjab’s early trends hints at a clean sweep by the AAP where it is leading in 90 out of 117 seats. The Congress is all set to lose another key state after Uttar Pradesh with leading in only 19 seats. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SKD) is leading in five seats. Punjab is the only state where the BJP has witnessed disappointment in this election with leads in only two seats so far.

By Namit Shah Greater Noida: Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party is likely to win a clear majority (59+ seats) in the Punjab assembly elections. Current CM of Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi appears to be fighting a losing battle as he is trailing in both constituencies namely Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur. In the early trends (as of 10:22 am), AAP was leading with a projected total of 88 seats, followed by INC with 13, SAD with eight and BJP with only five seats. It had been projected in the exit polls for AAP to achieve a landslide victory by capturing more than 100 seats out of a total of 117. People of Punjab clearly want a change in the 2022 elections. Punjab is battling with pollution and environment degradation as major issues in the agricultural state. Arvind Kejriwal promised increased in employment and betterment of livelihood of farmers if AAP wins. He also promised justice in cases of violence against farmers and make Punjab a drug-free state. Congress failed to bring a positive change in Punjab since winning the 2017 elections. Amarinder Singh miserably failed to keep his promises as the CM of Punjab such as 'Ghar Ghar Naukri', loan waiver, five-marla plots, ₹2,500 old-age pension and ₹51,000 'shagan'. After Singh came Charanjit Singh Channi, who also did nothing to improve the situation in the state but fight amongst the party members. Aam Aadmi Party is seen as a fresh ray of hope for Punjab. Bhagwant Singh Mann is likely to become the new Chief Minister of Punjab if early trends are any indication. Citizens demand change and are looking up to AAP to be the change Punjab desires.

By Abhimanyu Sharma The Aam Aadmi Party is likely to form a government in Punjab as it is leading in 89 out of 117 seats followed by the Congress that is ahead in only 13 seats. Ex-comedian Bhagwant Mann is likely to be the next Chief Minister of Punjab. This will be Kejriwal’s first major win outside Delhi. AAPs Bhagwant Mann was leading with 13,482 votes from Dhuri, while Dalvir Singh Goldy, Congress candidate had 4,762 votes in the first round of counting. Also, AAPs Jeevan Jotbkaur was leading with 5,999 votes followed by Bikram Majithia with 4,796 votes. And Navjot Singh Sidhu , another heavyweight Congress candidate was in third place with 4,743 votes in Amritsar East. Current Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was trailing in two assembly seats, Bhadaur and Chamkaur Sahib. Trends indicate a major defeat for Congress. The Congress will face a huge blow if AAP gets to win Punjab because the state is a bastion for the Grand Old Party. The ruling party Congress is facing a stiff battle from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ), and the Akali Dal-BSP combine. Additionally, the BJP is united with former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s party the Punjab Lok Congress . The former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who quit the Congress after incessant infighting created his political party called the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC). The PLC is battling the Punjab Elections in alliance with the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). The issues that rule this year’s Punjab Elections include employment problems, the situation of the state’s economy, drug problems, incidents of sacrilege, and agricultural issues.

The BJP is currently in lead in Uttarakhand but former CM Harish Rawat remains optimistic for his party, the Congress.

By Riti Ghai Greater Noida: With the early trends setting in, BJP is pushing towards victory with 26 seats In Manipur election 2022, according to Times Now as of 10:45 am. The Congress is leading in 11 seats. The regional parties like National People’s party ( NPP ) have achieved a surprising lead. Early trends in Manipur show that the NPP has already defied exit poll results by leading in 12 seats. The National People’s Front (NPF) is also leading in 4 seats. Even the Janata Dal United JD(U) is also leading in surprising 11 seats. However, BJP is not anywhere near crossing the majority mark. The regional parties would be the deciding factor in determining the winner of Manipur election 22. As of 10:45, CM Biren Singh is currently winning from Heingang constituency by 8000 votes while former CM O Ibobi Singh is marginally winning by 500 votes from Thoubal seat. Former Deputy Chief Minister (CM) of Manipur and NPP supremo in Manipur Yumnam Joykumar Singh is also marginally leading by 100 votes from Uripok seat. Congress has formed the ‘ Manipur Progressive Secular ’ alliance with six parties including the Communist Party of India (CPI) for this election. Once a force to be reckoned with in Manipur, CPI and the other Left parties refrained from fielding candidates and decided to support the Congress-led formation to regain lost ground. Even with an alliance, they have have failed to garner votes in large number, Manipur has 12 districts comprising sixty legislative assembly seats. The 60-membered state assembly of Manipur had gone to polls in two phases. The first phase had been held on February 28th for 38 seats while the 2nd phase had been held on March 5th for 22 seats. The state saw a voter turnout of 88.63 per cent in the first phase of polling and 76.04 per cent in the second phase.

By Shobhit Gupta Greater Noida: The Bharatiya Janata party ( BJP ) has crossed the simple majority mark after the completion of the first round of vote count in Uttar Pradesh, which is the biggest of the five states that went to polls in February 2022. The exit polls on Monday predicted a second term for Yogi’s BJP government with a clear majority while SP has been projected as the first runner-up with noticeable gains. Out of 381 seats in the 403-member assembly, BJP is leading with 246 seats while the Samajwadi Party- led alliance is leading at 119 seats. The Congress is leading on five seats while Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party is leading on seven seats, as per Times Now. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, “'Sepoys of democracy' return only with a certificate of victory!” Photo courtesy: Times Now As per the early trends, all the cabinet ministers of the state are leading in their respective constituencies. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath , who is contesting his first assembly election, is leading on Gorakhpur Urban seat. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is leading on Karhal though his BJP counterpart SP Singh Baghel is giving a tough fight. Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya is leading on Sirathu. Aditi Singh, who switched over from the Congress to BJP ahead of the polls, is leading in the Congress bastion, Rae Bareli. Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, contesting the elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party, is leading in Zahoorabad. Counting for 403 assembly seats began at 8 am on Thursday across Uttar Pradesh, which is India’s largest state in terms of electoral numbers. About 15 crore voters of UP decided the political fate of 4441 candidates.

Since its formation in 2000, the hill state has never voted a party for a second consecutive term. Early trends show that the BJP might break this jinx today.

By Saumya Mishra Greater Noida: The Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) is leading in 222 seats, crossing the halfway mark to get a simple majority in the 403 - member Uttar Pradesh Assembly . The Samajwadi Party (SP ) which is hoping to come back to power, is leading in 88 seats in early trends available from 323 assembly segments that were shown by Times Now. In the initial hours of the vote count, it appeared to be a fight between BJP and SP only, where BJP seemed to be having 1/3 rd of the seats. However, the scenario changed as the day progressed. Times Now Key Race Alert shows Akhilesh Yadav (SP) is leading in Karhal, CM of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath is leading Gorakhpur Urban. Brajesh Pathak from BJP is leading Lucknow Cantt. BJP seems to be leading in all three seats in Hathras, a much talked about place. BJP is sweeping the western Uttar Pradesh . According to the first EVM round from Uttar Pradesh BJP is leading followed by SP. The postal ballots indicated a good beginning for the BJP as it surged ahead SP in Uttar Pradesh. The UP map seems to be populated with BJP and SP whereas BSP and Congress losses are split with just six and five seats to these parties respectively. While the exit polls are predicting a victory for the saffron party, no state government has returned to power twice since 1985, and so it seems as per the counting trends that the Bharatiya Janata Party might just retain its power in Uttar Pradesh.

By Shreya Negi Punjab is all set to witness a keen electoral battle between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress which is banking upon Charanjit Singh Channi, who is the first Dalit Chief Minister of Punjab. On 20th February, Punjab went to polls for Assembly Elections 2022. The results for the same will be released on 10th March. With a total of 1,304 candidates in the fray for 117 seats, the halfway majority for the Punjab polls rests at 58 seats. Until now, Congress has had a powerplay in Punjab. But with a relatively new entrant, AAP coming up in the electoral arena with strong and compelling promises, the scenario seems to have shifted in their favour. The comedian-turned-politician, Bhagwant Mann who is the CM face of AAP in Punjab is likely to become the next CM if the AAP musters a majority in the state, as predicted by the Exit Polls on 7 th March. INC’s Charanjit Singh Channi has been constantly highlighting the development of Punjab under his tenure. But what has dented his candidacy is the arrest of his nephew by the Enforcement Directorate for money laundering in an illegal sand mining case. Current Political Line-up: Punjab is witnessing a four-cornered Assembly Election in 2022, with key political parties vying for representation in the state, by putting their best foot forward as the Chief Ministerial Candidate. The Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party coalition and the Bharatiya Janta Party-Punjab Lok Congress-Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) coalition are two recent alliances in the state. In addition to Sanyukt Samaj Morcha, a coalition of farm unions, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, are contesting individually. The Chief Ministerial faces are as follows: 1. AAP- Bhagwant Mann 2. INC- Charanjit Singh Channi 3. SAD-BSP Alliance- Sukhbir Singh Badal 4. BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) Alliance- Not yet declared Political powerplay in the 2017 Elections: The Congress, led by Captain Amarinder Singh , won a resounding victory in 2017 by sweeping 77 seats and securing over 38.5% votes. The INC returned to power in Punjab, after a ten-year absence. The runner up in Punjab was AAP, a newcomer in the Punjab elections. It had won 20 seats and secured over 23.8% votes. The BJP-SAD alliance ranked third by winning 17 seats and gathering 30.6% votes. Captain had lost the state's lengthy tussle and thus resigned in 2021. After this, Charanjit Singh Channi was sworn in as Punjab's new Chief Minister. Key issues: The two main issues on the limelight in the Punjab Assembly elections are unemployment, the delivery of justice in sacrilege cases, illicit sand mining, and the drug scourge. Other important themes echoing in the elections include the drug mafia, liquor mafia, transportation mafia, cable mafia, farmers' grievance, corruption and mounting state debt. Voting Demographics and Polling set-up: 1. Voter Count: According to Punjab Chief Electoral Officer S Karuna Raju, the state has 2,14,99,804 registered voters, with 1,12,98,081 males, 1,02,00,996 females, 727 third genders, 1,58,341 People With Disabilities , 1,09,624 Service voters, 1,608 Non-Indian Residents, and 5,09,205 voters over the age of 80 years. Punjab's voting turnout in the 2022 elections was 72 percent, the lowest in 15 years. 2. Religious communities: According to the 2011 census, Sikhs account for 57.69 percent of the 2.77 million people in Punjab. The Muslim population of Punjab is 1.93 percent, whereas the Christian population is 1.26 percent. Hindus have a prominent role in Punjab state elections, accounting for 38.49 percent of the overall population. 3. Polling set-ups: A total of 24,740 voting stations have been put up at 14684 polling locations, according to the S Karuna Raju, Chief Electoral Officer (Punjab). To ensure free and Fair elections, all polling booths were covered under webcasting. This was done in the presence of airtight security.

By Falguni Garg The counting of votes in Uttar Pradesh (UP) has begun. Counting in all the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh began at 8 am. Whether the ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ), will win with a large majority, whether Samajwadi Party (SP)’s vote tally will increase, the answers to these questions of course will become clear on Thursday, March 10. Polling in UP took place in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. According to the exit polls, nearly all the pollsters so far have predicted the BJP coming back to power in UP with a reduced majority. The Times Now-Veto exit poll says that the BJP will win once again in Uttar Pradesh with a win in 225 seats out of 403 seats, while the Samajwadi Party will be in the second position and is expected to win in 151 seats. The exit poll also predicts a poor show by Congress with a win in nine seats. When the voting begins at 8 am, first the postal ballots would be counted, and then the votes polled in the EVM said a PTI report. This time round, the BJP went in the polls with Apna Dal (Sonelal) and NISHAD party while Akhilesh Yadav joined hands with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and a number of regional parties, including Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP). The BJP has been the ruling party in the last five years, after winning majority of the seats and beating the Samajwadi Party (SP) in 2017. Before that, SP governed the state from 2012 to 2017. In 2017, BJP had won 312 seats on its own and with National Democratic Alliance it had 325 seats. The SP had won 47, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 19 and the Congress had won seven seats, two less than Apna Dal at nine. Given the fact how critical UP is for all the political parties, each of the party leaders campaigned aggressively. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav addressed 131 rallies, Mayawati of BSP, also campaigned on the streets for her party candidates. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra , who led the party from the front in UP, attended 209 rallies (source: Economic Times ). Women safety and security in Uttar Pradesh While people’s verdict will be out in some hours today, issues such as crime against women is still a big concern in Uttar Pradesh, as controversy and anger over the alleged gangrape of a Dalit woman by men in Hathras continues to smoulder. However, compared to 2012-2016 period, the crime rate has come down. As per the National Crime Record Bureau’s “Crime In India” report of 2020, 9,864 incidents were reported in Uttar Pradesh under the ‘Assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty’ category. Out of this, 3935 incidents were of sexual harassment and reported rape cases were 2,796 while rape with murder incidents were 31. And as per the National Crime Bureau’s report, from 2012-2016, as many as 16,321 incidents of rape were reported, during the regime of SP. Crime rate comparison between BJP and SP Voting behaviour While women safety continues to be a raging issue, there has been a slight shift in the voting behaviour of women. This time in Uttar Pradesh, women voters were almost neck-to-neck with men. Women’s lead over men in terms of turnout widened with each passing phase after February 20, with the sixth phase witnessing 62.62% polling percentage among women as against 51.03% among men overall.Women lead over men increased from 0.01% points to 3.89 in the fifth phase and 11.59% points in the sixth- however, the female turnout in all the six phases in UP has been lower than in 2017. According to The New Republic, while Indian women make up 48 per cent of the Indian electorate, they account for only 8 per cent of the total 1,271 candidates running for India’s lower house of parliament—the Lok Sabha. The number is even lower than in 2014 when, despite the enormous women’s vote, only 12.6 percent of the 545 seats in the House were occupied by Indian women. (That number was about half of the world average of 24.3 percent.) More women than men voting as polling moves east For the counting day a three-layer security set-up has been made comprising central police forces, PAC (Provincial Armed Constabulary) and the state police for the counting day. Also, 625 gazetted officers of UP Police,; 1,807 inspectors; 9,598 sub-inspectors, 11,627 head constables and 48,649 constables have been put on duty. While the exit polls are indicative of a trend, what the people of UP want will become clear on March 10.

By Abhimanyu Sharma Five of India’s key states are witnessing a pitched electoral battle in which the Bharatiya Janata Party is hoping to retain power in all these states despite stiff resistance from a resurgent opposition. The Assembly Elections polling is underway in 5 states comprising Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab , and Manipur . The voting for assembly elections is underway in 7 phases in Uttar Pradesh which began on the 10th of February and ended on the 7th of March. And Yogi Adityanath is the incumbent Chief Minister in UP. He is the head priest of the Goraknath Math, a Hindu temple in Gorakhpur. Additionally, Punjab, Goa, and Uttarakhand elections took place in a single phase. Manipur elections were carried out in 2 phases. One on the 27th of February and the other on March 3. Uttar Pradesh Elections Prominent parties in the UP Elections this time are the Samajwadi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress , and Bahujan Samaj Party. Out of which, the BJP is the incumbent government in Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party is hoping to wrest control to form its government. The Uttar Pradesh elections were held between the 10th of February to 7th of March 2022. Polling was held in seven phases to elect 403 members of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Yogi Adityanath contested from the Gorakhpur Assembly segment, even though there were speculations that he might fight the battle from Ayodhya. Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting from Karhal Assembly Constituency that falls under their traditional bastion of Mainpuri. Some of the most prominent figures in this UP Election is Dharam Singh Saini, a former government minister for Yogi Adityanath who defected to the Samajwadi Party just before the polls. Saini tried contesting from the Nakur Assembly Segment. Further, Mohammad Azam Khan a senior SP leader was fielded from his bastion Rampur while Suresh Khanna, UPs Finance Minister was fielded from Shahjahanpur. Punjab Elections Some of the most prominent figures in the Punjab elections are Captain Amarinder Singh who resigned from the Congress over certain differences and was replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi. And on the 2nd of November 2021, Captain Amarinder Singh founded a new political party called the Punjab Lok Congress. The Punjab Legislative Assembly was held on the 20th of February 2022 to elect 117 members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. And according to the Punjab Election Commission, Punjab has 2,14,99,804 registered voters and 1,304 candidates. Additionally, the Aam Aadmi Party announced Bhagwant Mann as their Chief Ministerial Candidate for the elections. Following which Congress leader Rahul Gandhi declared Charanjit Singh Channi as the Chief Ministerial Candidate on the 6th of February. Uttarakhand Elections The Bharatiya Janata Party is currently in power and is hoping to retain it. However, Congress is looking forward to making a comeback in these elections. The Uttarakhand elections were held on the 14th of February 2022 to elect all of the 70 members of the Uttarakhand Assembly. Some of the prominent figures in the Uttarakhand Elections are former Chief Minister Harish Rawat from the Congress, Yashpal Arya a former minister, and Ganesh Godiyal state union president. On the BJPs side, current Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and cabinet colleagues Dhan Singh Rawat, Satpal Maharaj, Yatishwarananda, Ganesh Joshi, Subodh Uniyal are prominent figures in the elections. Additionally, Aam Aadmi Party is the new entrant in the Uttarakhand Elections and Ajay Kothiyal is the Chief Ministerial candidate. Goa Elections Goa is currently undergoing a multi-cornered election contest, with parties like the Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, and other smaller parties trying to make an entrance into the electoral scene. The Goa Legislative Assembly Elections were held on the 14 of February 2022 to battle for 40 seats in the Goa Legislative Assembly. The most prominent parties in the Goa Elections are the National Democratic Alliance, United Progressive Alliance, Aam Aadmi Party, All India Trinamool Congress, and the Nationalist Congress Party. Some prominent figures of the Goa elections are current chief minister Pramod Sawant of the BJP, Amit Palekar the AAP CM candidate contested from St.Cruz, Churchill Alemao the former CM and leader of All India Trinamool Congress, and Digambar Kamat the former CM and INC leader contested from Margao. Manipur Elections The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) along with security issues dominated the political narrative in the run up to the Assembly Elections in Manipur. The Manipur elections were held in two phases between the 28th of February and the 5th of March to elect all 60 members of the Manipur Legislative Assembly. Some prominent parties and alliances in these elections are the National Democratic Alliance, Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance which combines the Indian National Congress (INC) and Communist Party of India. Followed by the Naga People’s Front and National People’s Party. The most prominent candidates in the Manipur elections are current Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Yumnan Joykumar the Deputy Chief Minister and NPP Candidate, Y Khemchand Singh the Assembly Speaker, and N Lokesh Singh the Manipur Congress President.

The Times School of Media is all set to host the third episode of the Box Office Talk Show on February 22. The show will feature the Badhai Do team comprising its Director, Harshavardhan Kulkarni, Writer, Akshat Ghildial, Actor Chum Darang, who plays the character Rimjhim in the film, and Subtitler Jahan Singh Bakshi. In the show, the panelists will share their experiences in making this highly sensitive and widely acclaimed film. The film, which has been produced by Junglee Pictures , has already evinced great response from the film goers. The film deals with the sensitive topic of lavender marriage and the protagonists’ everyday struggle of living with fear of being outed. Set against a middle-class backdrop in Dehradun and Haldwani, the film takes the audience through a journey of emotions. The Box Office Talk Show, which will be a conversation with the Badhai Do team, will be anchored by Prof Gauri Chakraborty of the Times School of Media. Also, on the panel will be Anup Pandey of Junglee Pictures, who played an important role in the script development of this movie and was deeply involved in casting and production/ post production process. The Box Office Talk Shows are a curated series on Film, TV and OTT organized by the Times School of Media to enable the students to interact with and listen to well-known industry professionals regarding the craft of film production and storytelling in India. Join exciting programmes offered by Bennett University

By Abhipsa Choudhury Leading RTI Expert and Activist Anjali Bhardwaj believes that in a democracy, there should be “very few secrets” and if the government is really ‘of’ and ‘by’ the people, then all the records that they generate should be available to the citizens at an arm’s-length. Bhardwaj made this observation while delivering a guest lecture on ‘RTI 101’, organised by Times School of Media on January 25. Bhardwaj, who is the founder of Satark Nagrik Sangathan, a citizens’ group working to promote accountability and transparency in governance, said that, “The ground problem has always been that information is absolute power, and governments don’t want to share that power with the citizens. If anybody went to a government office to seek information, he would never be provided that”. India among Top 10 RTI nations India is “among the top 10 countries in the world to have a highly progressive Right to Information Act”, because well informed citizens and NGOs played an active role in drafting it,” Bhardwaj said. Even though the law was passed in 2005, Bhardwaj said that the Supreme Court , from the 1970s-80s, had given many judgements in which it upheld people’s right to information and said that ‘Right to Information’ flows from Article 19 of the Constitution, which deals with freedom of speech and expression. What exactly is the RTI Act of 2005? According to Bhardwaj, ‘Right to Information’ means the right to all the accessible information that falls under this act, which is held by or under the control of any public authority and includes the right to: 1. Inspection of work, documents and records 2. Taking notes, extracts, or certified copies of documents or records 3. Obtaining information in the form of tapes, cassettes, floppies, discs, or in any other electronic mode or through printouts, where any such information could be stored in a computer or any other electronic device. Who uses the RTI Act and for what? Bhardwaj says that “each year, nearly 6 million RTI Applications are being filed, mostly by the poorest and the marginalised to access information about their basic rights and entitlements.” She also said that RTI law has empowered citizens to hold the government and its functionaries accountable and “is used by people to question the highest offices and unearth scams.” How accessible and practical is the RTI Act? This act, according to Bhardwaj, has made information universally accessible to the citizens of India, especially the poor. Also, 1. The fee to file an RTI application is low. 2. There are Assistant Public Information Officers at sub-district levels to facilitate filing of applications/appeals. 3. There’s no need to specify any reason for seeking information or other personal details. 4. There is a provision in the Act to provide all required assistance, including to ‘sensorily-disabled people’. 5. Information has to be provided in local languages for better comprehension. How can a RTI query be filed? 1. The RTI application along with the desired information that the citizen wants to know in a question format has to be submitted in writing, with prescribed fee to the regional Public Information Officer (PIO). The answerable information must be provided within 30 days. 2. RTI application can also be filed digitally on www.rtionline.gov.in by paying a nominal fee. Also, each state has its own dedicated site for easy filing in regional language as well. ( The writer is a student of Post-graduate Diploma in Digital Journalism.) Join exciting programmes offered by Bennett University