NATIONAL
SC upheld Validity of Right To Education Act
The Supreme Court on 6 May upheld the Constitutional validity of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. In its decision, the apex court explained that the Act is not applied to unaided minority institutions. The five-judge Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court in its decision also upheld the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010.
Govt Extends Ban On LTTE by 5 Years
The government has extended by five years the ban imposed on LTTE, a terror group that was behind the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and was decimated by the Sri Lanka military in 2009. India had banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after the assassination of Gandhi in 1991. The declaration of LTTE as an ‘Unlawful Association’ has been extended for a further period of five years with effect from 14 May 2014.
16th Lok Sabha Elections Results Declared
The Indian general election of 2014 was held to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha, electing members of parliament to all 543 parliamentary constituencies of India. Running in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014, this was the longest election in the country’s history. The results of the 2014 Lok Sabha election were declared on 16 May 2014. In the Elections 2014, The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), won a sweeping victory, taking 336 seats. The BJP itself won 282 seats, the first time since Rajiv Gandhi’s landslide victory in 1984 that an Indian party has won enough seats to govern without the support of other parties. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA), led by the Indian National Congress (INC), won 59 seats, 44 of which were won by the Congress.
President Pranab Mukherjee Dissolves 15th Lok Sabha
President Pranab Mukherjee dissolved the 15th Lok Sabha on 18 May. President dissolved the Lok Sabha on the advice of outgoing Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who resigned on 17 May 2014. Union Cabinet recommended the President to dissolve the 15th Lok Sabha as a follow up to the election results of 16th Lok Sabha election. This will make way to the formation of new government.