Latest news with #Petition
The Age
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
The Weekly Special: Which Perth dining icon is celebrating its 10th birthday?
Could you imagine Perth without the Siamese hedonism of Long Chim? The buzz and morning ritual of Telegram Coffee? The assured polish of Wildflower? The triple-threat of Petition? Dare we even try? In short, it's hard to imagine Perth without State Buildings standing tall on the Terrace, just as it's hard to imagine that, for almost 40 years, these historic buildings remained derelict until Adrian Fini and co resurrected them in 2015 as Perth's finest food and culture precinct (while simultaneously bringing Australia's first COMO hotel to Perth). To celebrate its 10th birthday, State Buildings is hosting a month-long celebration throughout October that, as you'd expect, features a big food focus. Collaborations with COMO's Singaporean venues are a key part of the program, from the team at Cedric Grolet Singapore staging a week-long afternoon tea residency at Cape Arid tea rooms – Grolet's reputation, and strong social media presence, is the result of artful, trompe l'oeil pastries – to Post hosting a pop-up starring Torno Subito, COMO Dempsey's retro-Italian restaurant opened by Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana and Netflix Chef's Table fame.
Sydney Morning Herald
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Weekly Special: Which Perth dining icon is celebrating its 10th birthday?
Could you imagine Perth without the Siamese hedonism of Long Chim? The buzz and morning ritual of Telegram Coffee? The assured polish of Wildflower? The triple-threat of Petition? Dare we even try? In short, it's hard to imagine Perth without State Buildings standing tall on the Terrace, just as it's hard to imagine that, for almost 40 years, these historic buildings remained derelict until Adrian Fini and co resurrected them in 2015 as Perth's finest food and culture precinct (while simultaneously bringing Australia's first COMO hotel to Perth). To celebrate its 10th birthday, State Buildings is hosting a month-long celebration throughout October that, as you'd expect, features a big food focus. Collaborations with COMO's Singaporean venues are a key part of the program, from the team at Cedric Grolet Singapore staging a week-long afternoon tea residency at Cape Arid tea rooms – Grolet's reputation, and strong social media presence, is the result of artful, trompe l'oeil pastries – to Post hosting a pop-up starring Torno Subito, COMO Dempsey's retro-Italian restaurant opened by Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana and Netflix Chef's Table fame.
CTV News
03-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
‘Save Scott's': Mattawa residents petitions to keep discount store
Residents of the Town of Mattawa are petitioning to save Scott's Discount Store, a 20-year staple set to close in August. Eric Taschner has more.
Hindustan Times
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Polling station clips may breach privacy of voters, says EC
The Election Commission of India has revised its rules for accessibility of video footage recorded during polls, saying that such footage cannot be viewed by anyone except a court hearing an election petition as it could breach privacy of voters and raise security concerns. Polling station clips may breach privacy of voters, says EC Sharing the footage — recorded through CCTVS, webcast or videography — would enable easy identification of electors by any group or individual, and would leave them vulnerable to 'pressure, discrimination, and intimidation by anti-social elements', officials familiar with the matter said citing the EC's communication. In a circular dated June 18, the commission directed all states and Union territories that the revised rule will apply to elections notified after May 30, 2025. '[The videos] shall be produced in original before the High Court adjudicating an election petition on its order and shall not be opened and their contents shall not be inspected by, or produced before, any person or authority except the High Court adjudicating the Election Petition,' the commission said in the circular, which also contained previous communications pertaining to the preservation of video. HT has seen a copy of the circular. The changes have come in the backdrop of a demand by the Congress and other opposition parties to release post-5pm CCTV footage from polling booths in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections. In December last year, the government tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV cameras and webcasting footage as well as video recordings of candidates to prevent their misuse. Based on the recommendation of the EC, the Union law ministry amended Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to restrict the type of papers or documents open to public inspection. The commission has also directed it officials to destroy such video footage after 45 days of declaration of results if the election verdict is not challenged in courts, a separate circular issued on May 30 and cited in the latest circular said. Since election results cannot be challenged beyond 45 days, retaining such footage beyond this period would make it susceptible to misuse for 'spreading misinformation and malicious narratives', an official familiar with the matter said. But in case an election petition is filed within the stipulated time of 45 days, the videos will not be destroyed and made available to the competent court, the official cited above said. Providing videos is akin to providing access to Form 17A (register of voters) — which contains information pertaining to the sequence in which electors enter a polling station, serial number of the elector in the electoral roll — under Rule 49L of the Conduct of Election Rules, the official said. 'Violation of secrecy of voting is a punishable offence under section 128 of RPA, 1951 [maintenance of secrecy of voting] with imprisonment for a term up to three months or fine or both. Thus, ECI is legally bound and committed to protect the privacy of the electors and secrecy of voting,' the official said requesting anonymity. A second official said that safeguarding the interests of its electors is 'of prime concern'. 'For the ECI safeguarding the interests of its electors and maintaining their privacy and secrecy is of prime concern, even if some of the political parties/ interest groups mount pressure on the Commission to abandon the laid down procedures or to ignore the security concerns of the electors. Maintaining privacy and secrecy of the elector is non-negotiable and the ECI has, never in the past, compromised on this essential tenet laid down in the law as well upheld by the Supreme Court,' the second official said, requesting anonymity. The move triggered a sharp reaction from Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who accused EC of 'deleting evidence' when it was required to 'provide answers'. 'Voter list? Will not give machine-readable format. CCTV footage? Hidden by changing the law. Election photos and videos? Now they will be deleted in 45 days, not 1 year. The one who was supposed to provide answers - is the one deleting the evidence,' Gandhi alleged in a post on X. 'It is clear that the match is fixed. And a fixed election is poison for democracy,' the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha posted in Hindi. Gandhi has been demanding voter lists, poll data and video footage from the election commission, alleging irregularities in Maharashtra assembly elections. While the ECI did not respond to Gandhi's comments, a third official said: '[Opposition's remarks] suit their narrative in making the demand sound quite genuine and in the interest of voters and safeguarding the democratic process in the country, it is in fact aimed at achieving exactly the opposite objective. What is veiled as a very logical demand, is actually entirely contrary to the privacy and security concerns of the voters.' Earlier in the week, a purported video showing two people standing at the EVM in a polling booth during the Visavadar assembly bypoll in Gujarat — held on June 19 — emerged on social media, with EC launching a probe into how the video was leaked.
Russia Today
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Baltic state's citizens push back against hosting foreign prisoners
Hundreds of Estonians have signed a petition protesting against a government initiative to lease space in a local prison to house criminals from Sweden. Last year, the Baltic state said it could allow domestic prisons to host criminals from abroad to generate income for the national budget. Sweden, which is facing soaring crime levels and an overburdened prison system, has shown interest in the scheme. In response, residents of the small Estonian city of Tartu launched a petition last week to demand the government stop the initiative. 'We stand against Tartu Prison being used to house dangerous foreign criminals,' the petition said. The scheme intends to house 'third-country nationals from its prisons, including those convicted of serious crimes, like rape and murder,' the petition said. 'We do not want our city to become a place of punishment for people who have no connection to Estonia,' the appeal continued, stressing that the people of Tartu do not want the town to become 'a risk zone.' The petition has gathered 889 signatures and needs 111 more to be submitted to the parliament in Tallinn. Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta first floated the idea of renting out jail space last year to utilize the nation's half-empty prisons to boost the Estonian budget amid planned spending cuts and tax hikes. Estonia has a comparatively low national crime rate. Last week, Stockholm announced that, starting in July of next year, it will send up to 600 criminals to serve sentences in Tartu Prison under the proposed scheme. They will be housed separately from local convicts, according to the plan. The agreement still requires parliamentary approval in both countries. Sweden has experienced a spike in gang-related violent crime in recent years. Tougher laws and harsher sentences have contributed to overpopulation in its prisons. This May, the Swedish prison system was overloaded with more than 7,000 inmates held in just over 5,000 cells – with an occupancy rate of 141%, Reuters wrote last week, citing statistics from the Swedish Prison and Probation Service. The overall occupancy rate was reportedly 96%, including standby accommodation. Sweden expects to be able to save an average of €11,500 ($13,100) a month per inmate by sending prisoners to serve their time in Estonia. In turn, Tallinn hopes to leverage its prison-renting plan to make some €30 million ($34 million) annually.
