04 June 2014 Current Affairs Updates

1) 16th Lok Sabha met for the first time: The 16 Lok Sabha met for the first time on Wednesday but adjourned almost immediately as a mark of respect to Union Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde who died in a car accident in the Capital on Tuesday. With Munde’s death casting a shadow on the day’s proceedings, applause was muted when Prime Minister Narendra Modi walked into the House for the first time ever just before the Lok Sabha was convened. Before he took his place reserved for the Leader of the House, Mr. Modi -- escorted by Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu – walked across the floor to greet seniors from his own party and also the Opposition. The House was soon called to order by pro tem Speaker Kamal Nath and proceedings began with the observance of a minute’s silence to mark the solemnity of the first sitting of the 16 Lok Sabha. Lok Sabha Secretary-General P. Sreedharan tabled the list of elected members submitted by the Election Commission.

2) Kamal Nath sworn-in as Protem Speaker of Lok Sabha: Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath was on Wednesday sworn-in as the Protem Speaker of the newly constituted Lok Sabha by President Pranab Mukherjee. 67-year-old Nath, a nine-term MP, was administered the oath at a simple function in the Rashtrapati Bhavan which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of State (Parliamentary Affairs) Santosh K Gangwar.

Know pro-tem Speaker?

Pro-tem speaker is mainly an operating and temporary speaker. To conduct the works in the centre or in state legislatives, pro-tem speaker is appointed for a limited time period. Generally in such a condition when the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies have been elected, but the vote for the speaker and deputy speaker has not taken place, the pro-tem speaker is chosen. Pro-tem speaker is chosen with the agreement of the members of the Lok Sabha and legislative assembly, so that he can carry on the activities till the permanent speaker is not chosen.

3) India became the second largest exporter of textiles in the world: UN Comtrade: India is now the world's second largest textile exporter after China. China still maintains a heavy lead over India with its trade volume being almost 7 times as high. The data, released by the Apparel Export Promotion Council, states that over 55% of global trade relates to readymade garments. Italy, Germany and Bangladesh secured third, fourth and fifth ranks respectively.

4) BJP MP Sumitra Mahajan tipped to be next Lok Sabha Speaker: Senior BJP leader and eight-time Member of Parliament from Indore Sumitra Mahajan is most likely to take over as the next Speaker of the Lok Sabha, reports said on Wednesday. The election of the new Speaker will be held on Friday. If elected, Sumitra Mahajan will be only the second woman Speaker ever. Meira Kumar, who presided over the House for the last five years, was the first woman to grace the chair of Lok Sabha Speaker.

5)  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad re-elected: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has won a third term in office after securing 88.7% of votes in Tuesday's presidential election, the parliamentary speaker has announced. Earlier, Syria's Supreme Constitutional Court put the turnout at 73.47%. Voting took place in government-controlled areas, but not in parts of the north and east held by rebels. Tens of thousands of people have died in three years of civil war in Syria, with millions more displaced. President Assad's sole challengers, Hassan al-Nouri and Maher Hajjar, received 4.3% and 3.2% of the vote respectively.d