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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 18 May 2014

15th Lok Sabha dissolved

The formal process for constitution of the new Lok Sabha commenced with the full Election Commission handing over the list of members of the 16th Lok Sabha to President Pranab Mukherjee. The President also dissolved the 15th Lok Sabha.
The full Commission comprising Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath and Election Commissioners H.S. Brahma and Nasim Zaidi approved the Section 73 notification under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, notifying the names of the members elected.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the “due constitution” list was handed over to President Pratibha Patil on May 18, two days after the counting of votes.
This election, which has given a clear majority to a single party for the first time in three decades, would go down as one of the most intensely fought in the electoral history of Independent India. In 1977 and 1989, it was a case of the Congress vs. the rest of the political opposition. This time it was Narendra Modi vs. the Congress and the rest of the divided opposition.

The 16th Lok Sabha will have the highest number of MPs with criminal cases against them. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which analysed the election affidavits filed before the Election Commission, 34 per cent of the new MPs face criminal charges. The percentage in 2009 and 2004 stood at 30 and 24 respectively.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leads the table with all its four MPs facing criminal charges, followed by the Shiv Sena (15 of 18 MPs) and the Nationalist Congress Party (4 of 5 MPs). Over a third of the BJP’s new MPs are facing criminal charges and over a fifth face serious criminal charges. For the Congress, the proportion is lower at 18 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.
Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have the highest number of candidates with criminal cases against them.
The average Congress MP is worth over Rs. 16 crore while the BJP MPs, on an average, have assets over Rs. 11 crore. The CPI(M) has the poorest candidates, with average assets of Rs. 79 lakh. Trinamool Congress’ Uma Saren is the poorest MP with assets under Rs. 5 lakh.

Veteran Congress leader Nabam Tuki was sworn in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh for the second consecutive term at the Raj Bhavan in Itanagar.
Governor Lt. Gen. (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Tuki in an impressive function held at Darbar Hall of Raj Bhavan in Itanagar.

Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to introduce a minimum wage of 3,000 Swiss francs per month (4,500 dollars).
77 per cent of voters cast ballots against the measure.
At 25 dollars an hour, it would be the highest minimum wage in the world.
The referendum was launched by left-wing parties and trade unions, which argued that such a salary was necessary for making a decent living in Switzerland, where the cost of living is among the highest in Europe.
The government and employers associations had campaigned against the plan, warning that companies would shift operations to neighbouring countries and Switzerland’s important tourism sector would suffer.

Sri Lanka’s government marked the fifth anniversary of its civil war victory over ethnic Tamil separatists by displaying the country’s military strength, while preventing Tamil civilians from publicly remembering their dead. The government’s approach highlights the deep ethnic polarisation that remains in this island nation despite the end of the quarter-century civil war.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa presided over a Victory Day ceremony in the southern coastal town of Matara where military personnel paraded in the streets with tanks and artillery guns, while fighter jets flew overhead.
In the country’s ethnic Tamil-majority north and east, however, military troops surrounded political party and newspaper offices in an apparent attempt to prevent public memorials for those who died in the war.
Sri Lanka’s military defeated Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009, ending the long civil war. Heavy civilian casualties and allegations of serious human rights violations, especially in the final months of the fighting, prompted the United Nations Human Rights Council this year to sanction an international inquiry into the conduct of both sides.

Serena Williams won her third title of the season as she delivered a crushing 6-3, 6-0 defeat to Sara Errani to win a third trophy at the Rome Masters .
The world number one now heads to the French Open on solid form after winning the week in Rome after withdrawing from a Madrid semi-final last weekend with a thigh injury.
Williams becomes the first player on the WTA to lift three trophies this season after beating Italy’s Errani for the seventh time with the loss of just one set in that series.