Current Affairs For SSC CGL Exam

05 March, 2014

Lok Sabha elections, 2014

• The Election Commission has announced a nine-phase poll for the 16th Lok Sabha from April 7 to May 12. The counting of votes will be taken up on May 16. The model code of conduct has come into force with immediate effect. The Lok Sabha has a strength of 543 (excluding two nominated members) and the term of the present 15th Lok Sabha ends on May 31.

• The nine phases of polls are to be held on: April 7, 9, 10, 12, 17, 24, 30, May 7 and May 12.

• The elections to the 294-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly will be held on April 30 and May 7 along with the respective Lok Sabha constituencies in the State.

• It will be three phase poll in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, two phases in Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Rajasthan and Tripura. All the remaining States and the Union Territories wil have a single phase poll.

Sheila Dikshit : Governor of Kerala

• Sheila Dikshit, the Congress leader who served three terms as Chief Minister of Delhi, has been appointed the Governor of Kerala.
• The decision taken by the union government, which is led by Ms Dikshit's party, has ignited criticism from other political groups especially Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party or AAP.
• As Kerala Governor, Ms Dikhsit, who is 75, replaced Nikhil Kumar, a former police commissioner of Delhi who is likely to run for parliament from Bihar.

Provision of NOTA in general elections

• Voters will be able to exercise the “None of the Above” (NOTA) option for candidates in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
• Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath said the entire election will be held using electronic voting machines (EVMs), and that the NOTA option will also be provided.
• The option was first made available in the November-December assembly polls in five states last year.
• The Lok Sabha elections will involve a staggering 814 million voters, an increase of some 100 million from 2009, and a sharp rise from the 176 million in the first parliamentary polls of 1952.

100-day mark to World Cup

• Brazil is commemorating the 100-day mark to the World Cup by lighting up tourist attractions with the green and yellow colours of the national flag.
• Some monuments, bridges, theatres and World Cup stadiums were lit up across the country to celebrate the milestone.
• Among the stadiums illuminated with the national colours were the Mineirao in Belo Horizonte and the Maracana, which will host the final of football’s showcase event in Rio de Janeiro on July 13.
• The World Cup begins on June 12 with Brazil playing Croatia in Sao Paulo.

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