Table of Contents
Prime Minister’s Office
• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people on the beginning of holy
month of Ramzan.
• “Ramzan greetings to everyone. We recall the pious thoughts of Paighambar Mohammad
Sahab, who highlighted the importance of harmony, kindness and charity. These are
also the virtues the Holy Month of Ramzan stands for”, the Prime Minister said.
Special Topic:
• The operative part of the Supreme Court’s order on Karnataka is curtailing the time
governor Vajubhai Vala had granted BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa to prove his
majority from the 15 days to just four.
• Yeddyurappa’s lawyer pleaded to give his client days: 10 if not 15, 7 if not 10, till
Monday.
• Process of agglomerating the extra support the BJP needs to prove a majority
over its own strength was not over.
• Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) have herded their flock to distant places,
to keep them insulated from BJP blandishments.
• The governor has appointed a pro-tem speaker K G Bopaiah, which worthy’s
disqualification of 11MLAs in 2010 had been ruled invalid by the Supreme Court
but months after that disqualification had helped Yeddyurappa survive a
noconfidence motion then.
• SC order does not, however, address the crucial question as to what is the proper
choice for a governor confronted with a hung house after an election
• Whom he should invite to form the next government, leader of the single largest
party or leader of a post-poll combination that commands a majority.
• If there were clarity on that, it would have a bearing on the time the leader
would have to prove his majority.
• In the absence of such clarity, the only purpose of ordering an immediate vote of
confidence would be to put to the test a claim of having already obtained the
support of a majority.
• It is surprising why a 2006 judgment of a Constitution Bench headed by then-Chief
Justice of India Y K Sabharwal on this very question is not being considered.
• The 2006 judgment, favouring a BJP-JD(U) combination, had said that if a coalition,
pre- or post-poll, commands a majority, the governor can do little other than to
ask its leader to form the government.
• We maintain our opinion that the best course of action in a hung house is for the
governor to convene the house and ask it elect a leader, so that the process of
accumulating a majority takes place among the elected representatives,
without gubernatorial interference.
Vice President’s Secretariat
• The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that cleanliness
ensures hygiene and disease prevention and it also creates a sense of social wellbeing
and good mental health.
• He was addressing the gathering after releasing two books – ‘A Treatise on
Cleanliness’ and ‘Waste Management, an Introduction’, authored by Shri Rajat
Bhargava.
• Cleanliness and waste management are not only linked to hygiene but
management of resources as well, he added.
• He further said that innovative methods to dispose of residential, commercial and
manufacturing waste need to be implemented across the country.
• A wide spectrum of issues surrounds the implementation of waste disposal and
thus, it is a great initiative to bring out a treatise on solid and liquid waste
management, he added.
• The Vice President said that waste treatment and disposal produces
significant green-house gas (GHG) emissions, notably methane, which is
contributing significantly to global warming.
Finance Minister
• Piyush Goyal today assured all possible help to strengthen the 11 public sector banks
placed under the ‘Prompt Corrective Action’-PCA framework by the RBI to check
their deteriorating financial health.
• Under the PCA, banks face restrictions on distributing dividends and remitting
profits.
• Mr Goyal met heads of eleven public sector banks in New Delhi.
• Mr Goyal said, the meeting was very useful to understand what has transpired over the
last 12 to 13 years in the banking system. MEA
• The government has said, efforts are on to save seven Indian nationals abducted in
Afghanistan.
• Government will do everything possible to ensure the release of Indian nationals who
were abducted earlier this month.
• External Affairs Minister and the National Security Advisor had discussed the matter
with their Afghani counterparts.
NASA
• Two NASA astronauts have successfully completed the fifth spacewalk of this year
aboard the International Space Station.
• Expedition 55 Flight Engineers Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold of NASA spent 6
hours, 31 minutes to undertake maintenance operations on the orbital
outpost.
• Space walkers have now spent a total of 54 days, 16 hours and 40 minutes working
outside the station in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting
laboratory.
Ministry of Earth Science
• A depression formed over Gulf of Aden in the evening of yesterday, the 16th May
2018.
• Moving west-northwestwards it intensified into a deep depression in the early
morning and further into a cyclonic storm “Sagar” at 0830 hours IST of today the
17th May 2018 over Gulf of Aden • It is very likely to intensify slightly further
during next 12 hrs.
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