Tharman Shanmugaratnam, an Indian-origin Singapore-born economist has registered a landslide victory in Singapore’s presidential election.

He won over 70 per cent of votes in the country’s first contested presidential polls since 2011.

The 66-year-old former senior minister bagged 70.4 per cent (1,746,427 votes) of the 2.48 million votes cast, while his Chinese-origin rivals Ng Kok Song and Tan Kin Lian received 15.72 per cent and 13.88 per cent respectively, the Elections Department said, PTI reported.

The result was announced by Returning Officer Tan Meng Dui at past midnight, making Tharman Singapore’s third Indian-origin president.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong congratulated Tharman, who served as Singapore’s Deputy prime minister from 2011 to 2019, on winning the presidential election.

“Singaporeans have chosen Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam to be our next president by a decisive margin. As head of state, he will represent us at home and abroad, and exercise custodial powers, including over the reserves and key appointments,” he said.

Lee noted that in Friday’s election, both voters and candidates showed a greater understanding of the roles and duties of the president, which bodes well for Singapore.

“I have every confidence that he will carry out his duties as president with distinction,” he said.

Earlier speaking at Taman Jurong Food Centre where his supporters had gathered, Tharman said he is “truly humbled by the strong endorsement” Singaporeans have given him.

“I’m humbled by this vote – it is not just a vote for me, it is a vote for Singapore’s future, a future of optimism and solidarity. That’s what it really is. My campaign was one of optimism and solidarity, and I believe that’s what Singaporeans want,” he said.

“I will honour the trust that Singaporeans have placed in me and respect all Singaporeans including those who did not vote for me,” Tharman said.

Prime Minister Lee’s People’s Action Party (PAP) had backed Tharman in the election.

Lee said he congratulated Tharman for his resounding victory to assure him of his government’s full cooperation.

“Tharman has also declared his intention to work closely with the Government. As head of state, the president has to be a unifying figure that all Singaporeans can look up to and identify with,” Lee said.

Tharman formally launched his presidential campaign in July with a pledge to evolve the country’s culture to keep it a “shining spot” in the world.

He joined politics in 2001 and has served in the public sector and ministerial positions with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) for over two decades.

Over 2.7 million voters cast their ballots. The voters started casting their ballots at 8 AM when polling stations opened. The polls closed at 8 PM (local time).

Incumbent President Madam Halimah Yacob’s six-year term will end on September 13. She is the country’s eighth and first female president.

This was Singapore’s first contested presidential election since 2011.

Singapore in the past has had two Indian-origin presidents.

Sellapan Ramanathan, popularly known as S R Nathan, a Singaporean politician and civil servant of Tamil descent served as the president of Singapore. In 2009, Nathan defeated Benjamin Sheares to become Singapore’s longest-serving president.

Chengara Veetil Devan Nair, better known as Devan Nair, served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resignation in 1985. Born in 1923 in Malacca, Malaysia, Nair was the son of a rubber plantation clerk, who was originally from Thalassery, Kerala.

source/content: outlookindia.com (headline edited)

The post office is located right on the edge of Pak-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) where the LoC divides the anxious nations.

The first post office in India, which was, until recently, referred to as the last post office, is located on the banks of the Kishenganga River near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Keran sector of Jammu and Kashmir. 

The post office, bearing PIN code 193224, is run by a postmaster and three mail runners. It was known as the last post office of the country until recently. Now the signboard near it describes it as the “First Post Office of India”.

The post office is located right on the edge of Pak-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) where the LoC divides the anxious nations. A stream passes between, known as Kishenganga River on one side of the LoC and Neelum River on the other. On the Indian bank of the river, stands the post office.

With the border ceasefire between India and Pakistan troops undisturbed in the past two years, the postmaster Shakir Bhat and three mail runners are distributing the mail with significant ease, without the fear of being caught in a border fire-fight or shelling.

Earlier, mail runners were hesitant in delivering mail to the army posted at the LoC and to the local population out of the fear of the barrage of bullets that were exchanged across the border occasionally.
The thawing of ice between India and Pakistan, with decreasing cross-border hostilities between the two nations, has made the life of the locals relatively easier. Those working at the post office echoed a similar relief.

It is a historic post office, being operational even before the two countries were divided in hate in 1947. The post office did not refrain from its duties towards the people and troops even as the hostilities between Indian and Pakistan forces reached their peak in 1965, 1971 and 1998 Kargil wars between the two nuclear-armed neighbouring states. 

The post office has been functioning out of the house of postmaster Shakir ever since 1993 when the post office was washed away in the flash floods. A local Tufail Ahmed Bhat said that the post office mostly received mail and speed posts for and from army personnel posted at the LoC.

It takes three days for speed posts to reach the Keran post office, from where postmaster Shakir and the three mail runners take them to their destination without fail. He said the post office has recently become an attraction for tourists, who are visiting Keran after the border area was relatively demilitarized and opened to visitors last year.

After the improvement in the ground situation in J&K and the cessation of India-Pakistan hostilities at the LoC, the authorities have thrown open many border areas including Keran, Karnah, Uri, Gurez, etc to visitors. Earlier, these border areas used to be completely inaccessible to outsiders and even for the local population.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

Decision comes amid increasing cyber and malware attacks on defence as well as critical infrastructure across the country.

n the face of increasing cyber and malware attacks on defence as well as critical infrastructure across the country, the Defence Ministry has decided to replace the Microsoft Operating System (OS) in all computers connected to the Internet with a new OS, Maya, based on open-source Ubuntu developed locally.

“Maya has the interface and all functionality like Windows and users will not feel much difference as they transition to it. To begin with, the direction is to install Maya on all computers connected to the Internet in South Block before August 15,” one official involved in the process said. In addition, an ‘end point detection and protection system’, Chakravyuh, is also being installed in these systems.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)