NATIONAL ELECTION WATCH – 7th NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ELECTORAL AND POLITICAL REFORMS – FEBRUARY 12-13, 2011 – IIT MADRAS
TENTATIVE PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
Feb 12, 2011 - DAY I
BREAKFAST - 8.30 – 9.15 AM - IIT MADRAS
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MORNING SESSION - 1 1/2 HOURS EACH 9.15 AM – 1.00 PM
1. Anthem of Tamil Nadu –
ADR/NEW – Conf Introduction – Prof. Chhokar, Prof. Sastry, Anil Bairwal, et al – 9.15 – 9.30 am
2. Inaugural Session – Dr. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Dr. S.Y. Quraishi – 9.30 – 10.30 am
Book Release and Website Launch
TEA BREAK – 10.30 – 10.45 AM
2. Subject: Electoral Integrity – A Shared Responsibility – 10.45 AM – 1.15 PM
Co-Chairs: Dr. SY Quraishi (Chief Election Commissioner of India), N.Gopalaswami (Former Chief Election Commissioner)
Programme
Introducing the Theme: M.G.Devasahayam, Forum for Electoral Integrity
Opening Observations by Co-Chairs (5 minutes each)
Panelists and Presentations (10-12 minutes each):
1. Constitutional and Legal Imperatives: NL Rajah, Senior Advocate
2. Election Commission measures to combat money-power: PK Dash, DG, EC
3. An effective State Election Machinery: Naresh Gupta, Former CEO, TN
4. Facilitating role by Media: Sam Rajappa, Senior Journalist
5. Role of Government Servants: Mr. Madhav Rao, Former Chief Secretary, AP
6. Youth and Civil Society: Prof. Trilochan Sastry, Dean, IIM, Bangalore
Floor Interaction (25-30 minutes)
Closing observations by Dr. S.Y. Quraishi (15 minutes)
Summing up and way forward: M.G. Devasahayam
LUNCH – 1.15 –2.00 PM
POST LUNCH SESSION – 2.00 – 6.30 PM
3. Recent and upcoming Election Bound States – Bihar(Anjesh Kumar), TN(Dr Sudarsan), WB, Kerala, Pondicherry (Mr. Victor), Assam(Ariful Hussain), Anil Bairwal, CHAIR - Mr. N. Praveen Kumar (CEO, TN)– 2.00 pm - 3.00 pm
4. STATE ELECTION WATCH REPORTS (Plan, Issues and implementation) –Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Chair – Dr. Ajit Ranade - 3.00 - 3.45 pm
TEA BREAK - 3.45 – 4.00 PM
4. MEDIA – Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Bhagwan Singh(Deccan Herald), V Eshwar Anand(The Tribune), K B Kothari(Rajasthan Patrika), Ms Seema Mustafa(NewsX), CHAIR - Srinivasan Jain(NDTV) - 4.00 – 5.00 pm
5. OPEN SESSION – 5.00 – 6.00 PM – Street Plays by University and Colleges students from Kerala, Puducherry, and TN
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7.00 PM – DINNER – IIT MADRAS
DAY II - FEB 13, 2011
BREAK FAST - 8.30 - 9.15 AM – IIT MADRAS
9.30 AM - 12.45 PM – MORNING SESSION
1. POLITICAL PARTY REFORMS: Inner Party Democracy and Financial Accountability – Prof. Jagdeep Chhokar (Chair) -, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman (BJP), D. Raja, T.K. Elangovan and Dr. Maitreyan, Dr. R. Balasubramaniam (Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement), Dr. Anbumani Ramadas (PMK), Gopal Jain (Senior Lawyer, Supreme Court), D Oza (former SEC, TN), Ms Kamini Jaiswal – 9. 30 – 11. 00 AM
TEA BREAK – 11.00 – 11.15 AM
PARALLEL SESSIONS (11.15 – 12.10 PM
2. ANTI – CORRUPTION: Issues and Tasks Ahead – Louis Menezes (Chair), Dr. V. Suresh, Nikhil Dey, M.N. Vijay Kumar, N. Sathiya Moorthy (Observer Research Foundation, Chennai), IC Dwivedi(former DGP, UP), Mr Ashok Aneja(former Income Tax Commissioner, Kerala)
3. IEC: INVOLVEMENT OF THE ELECTORATE – Ms. Amudha, (Addl CEO, TN), Jaskirat Singh (IT coordinator, NEW), P L Mimroth (Dalit Election Watch), N.L. Rajah, Aarti Mohan, et al
PARALLEL SESSIONS (12.15 – 1.15 PM
4. ROLE OF YOUTH IN DEMOCRACY – College and Student Groups – Vijay Anand, Josephine, Rajesh, Gilles Vernier, Mashqura Fareedi, Vaishnavi, Rihan, Vivek, Chetan, Jebakumar et al
5. THE ROLE OF NGOSand Community Organizations – Mr. Kris Dev (Chair) – Mr. Rangarajan, Ms. Annie George, Joseph Victor, Charlie Peter, Prahlathan, Ms. Saulina Arnold, Subramani. et al
6. STATE ELECTION WATCHES (Plan, Issues and implementation): Uttar Pradesh, J&K, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Tripura, Sudhir Pal (Chair)
LUNCH 1.15 – 2.00 PM
POST LUNCH SESSION – 2.00 – 5.00 PM
7. VALEDICTORY - PLENARY – ACTION PLAN AND RESOLUTION - WAY FORWARD – 2.00 – 2.45 PM
8. Certificate Distribution for essay, quiz and debate contest winners – 2.45 – 3.15 PM
9. CONCLUSION AND VOTE OF THANKS – 3.15 – 3.30pm
10. PRESS CONFERENCE 3.30pm – 4.15 pm
TEA BREAK - 4.15 - 5.00 PM
DINNER 7.00 PM – IIT MADRAS
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Regards,
Kris Dev & Sudarsan Padmanabhan - Coordinators, Tamil Nadu Election Watch, NEW, ADR
Gopalakrishnan Devanathan, CEO/MD/Director Life Line to Business
ICT Innovator & e-Gov Consultant
Creator of e-Administration Open Source Tool for e-Governance
Cell: 9840852132 Email:
a
Sudarsan Padmanabhan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Humanities and Social Sciences
IIT Madras, Chennai – 600036
Ph: 044-2257-4526/4500 Cell: 94447-82884
--- Directions --- Reaching IIT Madras
The IIT campus is located on the Sardar Patel Road, midway between the Raj Bhavan and Adyar bus terminus and is around 12 km from Chennai Central Railway Station. Other landmarks include the Guindy Snake Park near the IIT main gate and the Central Leather Reasearch Institute (CLRI) campus opposite the IIT campus.
If you have light luggage (a bag or an attache) you could consider taking a bus to IIT. The bus stop is just across the road from the Central Railway Station. You could use the subway to cross the road which is perpetually busy. There are direct buses to IIT, which start at the Central Station bus stop. If you take any of them, get down at Gandhi Mandapam, which is at walking distance from the IIT main gate. Otherwise, take any bus to Saidapet and from there, any bus heading for Adyar or Besant Nagar which will drop you right in front of the IIT gate. You could also take any bus to Adyar; there are frequent buses from Adyar Signal to the campus. Once you reach the In gate, there are buses to Gajendra Circle (near the administrative block and Central Library), the academic zone and the hostels (they are around 3.8 km from the main gate!) almost every 30 minutes.
From / To / Buses Nos. /Central Station / Gandhi Mandapam, IIT, Adyar / 18B, 19S
Saidapet / IIT, Besant Nagar / 5B, 23C, 47A, 47
Egmore Station / IIT, Adyar / 23C, 23E, 23A, 23G
Adyar Traffic Signal / IIT / 1LSS, 4LSS, 6LSS
If you have luggage, an auto-rickshaw or taxi would it would be the most comfortable option. The fare will be about Rs. 120 for an auto-rickshaw and Rs. 250 for a taxi. If you arrive at Egmore Station, you could take buses to IIT, Gandhi Mandapam or Adyar from where there are number of buses to the IIT. Current auto- rickshaw and taxi fares from Egmore are approximately Rs.100 and Rs.200 respectively.
Directions to the venue are attached at the end. People to contact for any queries:
Dr. Sudarsan Padmanabhan (9444782793, 9444782884), Josephine (09445482257), Mashqura(80103 94248)