Category Civics

In May 2015, a scorching heat wave killed more than 1,500 people as temperatures soared above 47ºC. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were the worst-hit regions with more than 1,100 deaths, mainly caused by extreme dehydration and heat stroke. Extreme weather conditions are set to become more common as greenhouse gases heat up the planet say scientists.

Earlier in the decade too (June 2010), a heat wave struck India and South Asia, when temperatures touched 53ºC, killing hundreds of people. Record temperatures in northern India claimed lives in what was believed to be the hottest summer in the country since record began in the late 1800s. More than 100 people died in Gujarat, 90 in Maharashtra, 35 in Rajasthan and 34 in Bihar.

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The last decade saw two general elections – in 2014 and 2019 – both of which witnessed the victory of the BJP-led NDA.

The 2014 election, held from April 7 to May 12 saw the BJP-led NDA win a sweeping victory gaining 336 of 543 seats of which the BJP won 282 seats (31%), whereas the Congress won 44 seats (8.1%). It was the first time in the history of the country that a non-Congress party had won a simple majority on its own. It was also the Congress’ worst defeat, as it could not qualify to be the official opposition party for which a party should have gained 10% of the seats.

The country went to polls again in April-May 2019. The results saw a landslide victory for the incumbent BJP-led NDA which won 353 seats (of which BJP won 303 seats, a clear majority), while the Opposition UPA –Congress and it allies – secured 9 seats (of which Congress won 52 seats).

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The Vyqapam scam broke out in 2013 after the Indore police arrested 20 people for impersonating candidates in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, popularly known as Vyapam (Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal). Vyapam held competitive exams for recruitment to government jobs and for admissions to state-run medical colleges. The scam involved recruitment of undeserving candidates who allegedly bribed politicians and officials to get high ranks in the exams. It got murkier when a number of people-whistleblowers, witnesses and alleged beneficiaries-died under mysterious circumstances during the course of the investigations which revealed large-scale fraud committed by multiple rackets for years. In February 2017, the Supreme Court cancelled the degrees of 634 doctors.

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In December 2012, Delhi witnessed a horrific crime that sparked anger and outrage across the country. A 23-year-old paramedic student, referred to as Nirbhaya, was gang-raped on a moving bus and assaulted by six persons before being dumped on the road. Nirbhaya did not survive the attack. Changes in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 to lay down stringent punishment for sexual offences against women followed. And that’s how the law came to popularly referred to as ‘The Nirbhaya Act’. Subsequently, the Nirbhaya Fund was created to be utilized for projects meant to improve safety of women in public places.

One of the six accused in the Nirbhaya case, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail. A juvenile accused was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term. A Delhi court issued death warrants all four convicts in the case and ordered they be hanged on Feb 1.

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