Current Affairs 2014: Political news in India and the World

The year that passed away saw a list of major events in politics in India as well in the world. The most important event that took place in India was the change of Central Government where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed its government in India. Narendra Modi from BJP became the Prime Minister of India and started various programmes for the development of the country.

Apart from India, national elections took place in a number of countries. Knowing all these things is important not only from an awareness perspective but also for admissions to desired colleges to pursue any dream programme. Various varsities in India offer admissions to students on the basis of entrance exam which includes General knowledge as one of the section. Read the General news of the year 2014 here.

So, in continuation to the general knowledge article series, here we bring top Political news of India and the world of the year 2014.

 

January

India

• A three-day meeting from January 13 to January 15, 2014 was held between India and United States intelligence services in New Delhi.

February

India

• Interim Union budget 2014 was presented by Finance Minister, P Chidambaram on February 17, 2014.
• Street Vendors Act, 2014 was passed by Rajya Sabha on February 19, 2014 after Lok Sabha passed it on September 6, 2013.
• Rajya Sabha passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014 on February 20, 2014.
• Law makers riot took place in the lower house of Parliament in protest of creating the state of Telangana. But the bill was passed for creating the new state.

International

• Despite warnings from China to cancel the meeting, The President of the United States, Barack Obama, met the Dalai Lama.
• Matteo Renzi elected the Prime Minister of Italy.

March

India

• In total 18 soldiers were killed in an ambush by Maoists in an Indian paramilitary force in Chhattisgarh.

International

• Russia was temporarily suspended from G8 by the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, and Canada during an emergency meeting.
• The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 68/262 which recognises Crime within Ukraine’s international borders and rejected the validity of the 2014 Crimean referendum.
• It is ruled at The United Nations International Court of Justice that Japan’s Antarctic whaling programme is not scientific but commercial and forbids grants for further permits.
• Same sex marriages took place in the United Kingdom after they were legally allowed to proceed in England and Wales.

April

India

• Indian general election – Phase 1, was held in Assam and Tripura on April 7.
• On April 9, Indian general election – Phase 2, was held in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram.
• Indian general election – Phase 3, was held in Andaman and Nicobar, Delhi, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Haryana, and Chandigarh on April 10.
• Phase 4 of Indian general election was held in Sikkim, Tripura, Assam and Goa on April 12.
• On April 12, in two separate Maoist attacks one in Bijapur district and another in Bastar district in Chhattisgarh seven polling staff and five CRPF personnel were killed. In total, 14 people were killed.
• Indian general election – Phase 5, was held in Jharkhand, Bihar, Karnataka, West Bengal, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh on April 17, the biggest day of voting during elections.
• On April 24, Indian general election – Phase 6, was conducted in 11 states for 117 seats and 180 million voters. Rajasthan, Puducherry, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu being few of the states.
• Five police personnel, two polling staff and a cleaner were killed by Maoists in an ambush in Dumka district in Jharkhand.
• Punjab, Daman and Diu, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir and Telangana were covered under Phase 7 of the Indian general election which were held on April 30.

International

• The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passed a resolution to temporarily strip Russia of its voting rights, its rights to be represented in the Bureau of the Assembly, the PACE
Presidential Committee, and the PACE Standing Committee, and its right to participate in election observation missions due to the 2014 Crimean crisis.
• The new economic sanctions of United States President, Barack Obama against Russia went into effect, targeting companies and individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Pervez Musharraf, former President of Pakistan survived an assassination attempt in Islamabad.

May

India

• Indian general election covered Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal in phase 8.
• Indian general election concluded on May 12 with last phase – phase 9 conducted in West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
• Result of elections 2014 were declared on May 16. UPA secured 61 seats compared to 218 in last elections. NDA’s seat count increased by 198, totaling to 335 in this elections, compared to 137 in last elections.
• Narendra Modi took oath as the 15th Prime Minister of India on May 26 along with his council of ministers. The swearing-in ceremony was the first ever one which was attended by the heads of all SAARC countries.

June

India

• According to Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh was split in two new states Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on June 2. Hyderabad will be the joint capital for them for 10 years. Thus, India now has 29 states and 7 seven union territories.
• Gopinath Munde, the newly appointed Minister of Rural Development, aged 64, died in a car accident.

International

• Aiming to capture the capital city of Iraq – Baghdad, a Sunni militant group called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (also known as the ISIS or ISIL) began an offensive through Northern Iraq. The group also aims to overthrow the government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
• King Juan Carlos I of Spain renounced his throne in favour of his son, who ascended the Spanish throne as King Felipe VI.
• Salvador Sánchez Cerén, Former Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front guerilla leader, was sworn in as the President of El Salvador.
• Former President of Turkey Kenan Evren, 96, punished with life sentence for his role in the 1980 Turkish coup d’état.

July

India

• Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget 2014-2015 in the Parliament on July 10 with motto “Sab ka Saath Sab ka Vikas” aiming for a poverty free India.
• In a border dispute with India over the Bay of Bengal, the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favour of Bangladesh.
• Dr Harsh Vardhan, Health Minister took a stand for the protection of rights for homosexuals in India.

International

• Around 30,000 soldiers were deployed by Saudi Arabia at the border it shares with Iraq after Iraqi government forces withdrew from the area.
• For the third term, Bashar Assad was sworn in to serve as President of Syria.
• For the first time in RIMPAC’s (Rim of the Pacific Exercise) history a nation (China) sent a surveillance vessel while participating in the naval exercises.
• Governor of Jakarta Joko Widodo has been elected as the new President of Indonesia.
• Fuad Masum sworn in as the 7th President of Iraq.
• Reuven Rivlin elected as the 10th President of Israel.

August

International

• The first US-Africa Leaders Summit began on August 4 in Washington, DC.
• For a second term, Juan Manuel Santos sworn in as President of Colombia.
• Decided at China’s Parliament, Hong Kong cannot freely choose its next leader in 2017.

September

India

• Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa and her three associates — N Sasikalaa, J Elavarasi and VN Sudhakaran sentenced to four years imprisonment in the Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets case. The court imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore on Jayalalithaa and Rs 10 crore on each of the other convicts.

International

• Ian Paisley, Former First Minister of Northern Ireland and Democratic Unionist Party leader dead at the age of 88.
• Ewa Kopacz became second female prime minister of Poland.
• Eric Holder resigned as Attorney General of the United States but effective only when a successor is confirmed by the Senate.
• Ashraf Ghani is the new president of Afghanistan.

October

India

• Bharatiya Janata Party’s Karnal MLA Manohar Lal Khattar, non-Jat is the new CM of Haryana.
• BJP won 122 seats in Final Maharashtra Assembly election. While Shiv Sena won 63 seats, Congress won 42 seats, NCP won 41 seats, MNS won 1 seat and Others 18 seats. BJP needs allies to form government.
• Bilawal Bhutto, Chief of Pakistan People’s Party, raised Kashmir issue once again to get political mileage in Pakistan.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched labour reform to achieve his dream of making India a successful manufacturing hub.

International

• Julia Pierson resigned as the Director of the United States Secret Service after a series of security breaches at the White House.
• Sweden’s new centre-left government created a surprise by announcing that the country will recognise the state of Palestine. It became the first European country to do so while being a member of the European Union.
• John Key sworn-in for his third term as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
• Estonia became the first former member of the Soviet Republic to legalise gay partnerships and grant equal rights to same-sex couples.
• Charles Michel is the new Prime Minister of Belgium leading a Coalition of four centre-right parties.
• President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, re-elected for a five year term, for the third time.
• Moderate conservative John Tory elected as Mayor of Toronto, Ontario.

November

India

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced at SAARC Summit that India would be giving business visas ranging from 3 years to 5 years to all SAARC countries.
• BJP defeated Congress in the Rajasthan civic body polls of the Lok Sabha elections. BJP won 25 out of the total 46 seats.
• Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) launched a five point programme for youth in Delhi to attract voters ahead of Delhi assembly polls.
• The name of Bangalore and 11 other cities across Karnataka were changed on the occasion of “Karnataka Rajyotsava”, state formation day.
• Find out which were the top political news events which made headlines in India.

International

• The 25th ASEAN Summit was held in the city of Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar on Nov 12, 2014.
• SAARC Summit took place on November 26 and November 27, 2014 in Nepal.