Addressing the 3rd Conference of Heads of Election Management Bodies of the SAARC nations in New Delhi, the Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi held that practices like ‘paid news’ syndrome and use of money power have emerged as new challenges in the management of elections and it was crucial to curb such practices to ascertain free and fair elections to fortify democracy in the SAARC region. He opined that the voter education had assumed larger significance as an area to maximize participation by people in the electoral process.

• 3rd Conference of Heads of Election Management Bodies of the SAARC nations in New Delhi: The 3-day conference is aimed at discussing good electoral practices and sharing of ideas among member countries. During the conference, India will make a presentation on the use of IT in conducting elections in India.

India and Seychelles have inked 2 agreements in the fields of:-

1. Security cooperation
2. Sports and Youth Affairs

Both nations inked an MOU on co-operation on training of police personnel of Sychelles.

• India also extended $50 million line of credit and $25 million grant for the Indian Ocean archipelago.

The agreements were inked in Victoria following delegation-level talks by visiting President Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil and her counterpart James Alix Michel. Both the leaders expressed satisfaction at the present level of bilateral cooperation in the defence and security areas, especially in the context of combating piracy in the Indian Ocean region.
President Michel thanked India for its support in fight against piracy and said that he was looking forward the installation of new radar system which will better protect the Indian Ocean. He also thanked India for its critical support to legal, judicial and police sectors of that nation. Seychelles has constantly defended India’s candidacy for a permanent membership in an expanded UNSC.

President Ms Pratibha Devisingh Patil held that the re-entry of Seychelles as a member of the IOR-ARC (Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation) will further make the organization more representative and hoped Seychelles will benefit from it.

The Group of Ministers (GoM), meeting chaired by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, which reviewed the cotton exports situation has settled to allow fresh exports of cotton. It has also declared that a ban on suspension of fresh registrations be lifted. The GoM looked at the estimates of the cotton advisory board and the 3^rd estimates of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The government has withdrawn the suspension of registration of cotton exports. The Cotton Corporation of India has been assigned to build a buffer stock of 10 lakh bales to meet any emergency during the months of June, July and August 2012. The GoM would re-examine the position of the in 2-3 weeks time.

In order to clear space for stashing away fresh grains, several options are being considered by the Govt, including providing more food-grain into the PDS (Public Distribution System) and selling extra wheat via a re-worked open market sale scheme.

The government plans to push in an additional 14 million tonnes of grains in the PDS this year, over and above last year’s allocation of 56 million tonnes. A high-powered meeting on storage and procurement issues on April 30, 2012 is anticipated to discourse all alternatives to vacate storage space. It will be chaired by PM Manmohan Singh.

Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is under US protection in Beijing after a dauntless escape from 19 months under house arrest, in a drama that endangers to erupt new tensions b/w the two governments.

Who is Chen Guangcheng?

A civil rights activist in the People's Republic of China.

He drew International attention to human rights issues in rural areas.

Chen lost his sight at an early age.

• September 2005 to March 2006: Placed under house arrest for organizing and publicizing a class-action lawsuit against the government of Linyi Prefecture, Shandong Province, for excessive enforcement of the One-child policy, officially euphemistically called "family planning policy". Chen exposed harsh illegal measures by local authorities when enforcing the one-child policy, where family planning officials from Linyi municipal authorities in Shandong forced thousands of people to undergo sterilization or to abort pregnancies.

During his trial, Chen's lawyers were forbidden access to the court, leaving him without a proper defender.

Chen's case received sustained international attention, with the U.S. State Department, the British Foreign Secretary, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International issuing appeals for his release; the latter group designated him a prisoner of conscience.

• 2006: Named to the ‘Time 100’
• 2007: Laureate of the Ramon Magsaysay Award
• September 8, 2010: Chen was released from prison after serving his full sentence, but remained under house arrest or "soft detention" at his home in Dongshigu Village.
• April 22, 2012: Chen escaped his house arrest and was reported to have fled to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.