2024 Lok Sabha election | Voting to be held from April 19 in 7 phases, results to be announced on June 4
The Election Commission announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls on March 16. The elections will be held in 7 phases with voting to kick off on April 19 to June 1. Thecounting of votes will be on June 4, the poll panel announced. The Model Code of Conduct came into effect immediately on the announcement of the schedule, the Election Commission said. The CEC said elections to 102 constituencies will take place in first phase, 89 in second phase, 94 in third phase, 96 in fourth, 49 in fifth, 57 in sixth and 57 in seventh phase. Click here for full schedule.
Assembly elections | Single phase polls in Andhra, Arunachal and Sikkimm; Odisha to vote in four phase
Assembly elections in Arunachal and Sikkim will be held on April 19, and in Andhra Pradesh on May 13; elections to the Odisha Assembly will be held in four phases on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. Bypolls will also be held for 26 Assembly constituencies simultaneously.
J&K Assembly elections will not be held along with Lok Sabha elections. Here’s why.
Elaborating on the reasons not to hold Assembly and Parliament elections simultaneously, despite the unanimous demand of political parties in the Union Territory (UT), Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said, “The J&K Administration told us [the ECI] that two elections can’t be held at the same time due to more security requirements.” However, Mr. Kumar indicated that an Assembly election could be held in J&K “soon after Lok Sabha polls”.
544 instead of 543: why the election schedule shows one additional constituency
While every constituency gets to choose its Member of Parliament on a single given day, Outer Manipur constituency alone will have elections on two days. This is done taking into consideration the recent ethnic violence in the north-eastern State. While Inner Manipur will be voting on April 19, outer Manipur will vote on two dates: April 19 and April 26.
Delhi court sends BRS leader Kavitha to ED custody till March 23
Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K. Kavitha, allegedly a key member of the “South Group”, which has been accused of paying the ruling Aam Aadmi Party kickbacks of ₹100 crore in return for a big share of liquor licences in the national capital, was on March 16 remanded in ED custody till March 23 in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi Excise policy “scam”.
Ajay Pratap Singh accuses BJP of indulging in large-scale corruption and protecting those who are corrupt; his Rajya Sabha tenure is coming to an end in April, and he was not given a ticket to contest Lok Sabha elections.
Jammu & Kashmir government approves 10% reservation for Paharis, new tribes; raises OBC quota to 8%
Jammu & Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha approved the proposal of the Social Welfare Department to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Rules, 2005.
Partly addressing a long-pending demand, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved a proposal for extension of “resettlement facilities” to cadets who are invalidated from military training on medical grounds due to the causes attributable to or aggravated by the training, the Defence Ministry said on March 16. However, this does not address the aspect of disability pension, which has been under consideration.
Indian Naval warship fired upon as it foiled piracy attempts using hijacked vessel Ruen
The Malta-flagged tanker, with 18 crew onboard, sent a Mayday message on December 14 indicating boarding by approximately six unknown personnel.
Retired bureaucrat Navneet Sehgal appointed as Prasar Bharati Chairperson
The Prasar Bharati chairman’s post has been vacant since A. Surya Prakash completed his tenure in February 2020.
Will fight Israel alone, Hezbollah tells Iran as all out war looks imminent
Over the past five months, Hezbollah, a sworn enemy of Israel, has shown support for Hamas in the form of limited volleys of rockets fired across Israel’s northern border.
IT Ministry replaces AI advisory, drops requirement of government’s permission
The March 1 advisory had come under fire for requiring Artificial Intelligence firms to seek permission from the government in order to avoid legal liability from chatbot responses and other generative content.
DGCA rejects airlines’ request to postpone new pilot duty norms
The DGCA’s new rules, providing for more rest and reduced night flying for pilots, are to be implemented from June; airlines say they will need 15% to 20% more pilots to comply with the norms.
As per the rule, the fielding side will have to start a new over within 60 seconds of the completion of the previous over.
