Porsche crashes in Pune, death of Iranian President Raisi, voter turnout of 61.2% in Phase 6 and more

(1) Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi dies in a helicopter crash

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died last Sunday when his helicopter crashed near the Iran-Azerbaijan border. The country’s foreign minister and others were also found dead. This came after Iran fired around 300 drones and several missiles towards Israel last month. Recently, tensions have been rising in West Asia, dating back to the Hamas attack in Israel in October last year. This has led to conflicts between Iranian and Israeli proxies on two opposite sides of the Hamas-Israel war. These circumstances could fuel conspiracy theories about Raisi’s death, which is why it is important for Iran to get to the bottom of the incident.

Furthermore, Raisi’s death has implications for who could become Iran’s next Supreme Leader after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the current leader. Raisi was considered the strongest contender for the post, given his position as president and Khamenei’s high regard for him. The presidential election, which will take place within 50 days of Raisi’s death, will be crucial in learning more about who could become the next leader. This election is definitely worth keeping an eye on, as the post of Supreme Leader carries a lot of weight within Iran’s government structure. The chart below shows just how powerful this post is.

Read also |What will happen to Iran after Raisi’s death?

(2) Car accident in Pune triggers political debate

Two people died when they were run over by a 17-year-old boy in his father’s car in Pune last Sunday.

Sequence

The accused minor visits two bars with friends and buys alcohol.

The defendant drives his father’s Porsche onto the street. The car does not have a permanent registration.

The defendant drives his car into a motorcycle, killing both passengers.

The accused will be handed over to the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), which will grant him bail after requiring him to complete an essay, presentation, community service, detoxification counselling, pay a security deposit of Rs 7,500 and provide an undertaking from his grandfather.

Pune Police asks JJB to review its bail order. After public uproar, JJB revokes bail.

The accident triggered a political slugfest, with the way the case was handled by the police and the juvenile court being questioned. Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) MP and Baramati MP Supriya Sule alleged that Vadgaon Sheri MP Sunil Tingre from the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party “helped in getting the minor driver released on bail”. Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra state Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar demanded a judicial inquiry. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut demanded the sacking of the police commissioner.

Aspects of the case that the opposition drew attention to included the minor’s consumption of alcohol before driving and the alleged interference of a member of parliament to mitigate the charges against the minor.

Following public outrage, the juvenile court revoked bail and remanded the youth in custody until June 5. The court will decide in 90 days whether the youth will be tried as an adult.

(3) Lok Sabha elections: 61.2% voter turnout in Phase 6

Phase 6 of the Lok Sabha general elections was held on Saturday, May 25. Of all the constituencies in eight states/UTs, Delhi recorded an approximate voter turnout of 58.7%, Bihar – where voting took place in 8 constituencies – recorded a turnout of 57.18%. Haryana, where voting took place in all constituencies, recorded a turnout of 64.8%. Jharkhand, where voting took place in Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Giridih and Dhanbad, recorded an approximate voter turnout of 65.39%. The approximate voter turnout in Odisha constituencies was 74.45%, Uttar Pradesh 54.04%, West Bengal 82.71% and Jammu and Kashmir (Anantnag-Rajouri only) 54.84%. The following maps show the voter turnout by constituency in the states/UTs during Phase 6.

(4) Intense summer heat in Delhi drives electricity demand to all-time high

Delhi’s peak power demand hit an all-time high of 7,717 MW on the afternoon of May 21 amid the prevailing intense summer heat, discom officials said. According to the real-time data from the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) Delhi, the city’s peak demand broke all previous records, reaching 7,717 MW at 3:33 pm, it said. The minimum temperature on May 21 was 30.7 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal, according to the IMD.

Delhi’s highest peak power demand to date was recorded on June 29, 2022 at 7,695 MW.

(5) RBI’s record dividend to the government

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on May 22 approved a dividend distribution of Rs 211,000 crore to the central government for 2023-24, more than double the amount it paid in the previous financial year 2022-23. The decision was taken at the 608th meeting of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India chaired by Governor Shaktikanta Das.

The government had estimated dividend payments of Rs 102,000 crore from the RBI, state-owned banks and financial institutions in the provisional budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025) presented in February this year. The dividend or surplus transfer from the RBI to the central government for the fiscal year 2022-23 stood at Rs 87,416 crore. The previous high was Rs 17,660 crore in the fiscal year 2018-19.

The central government’s goal is to limit the fiscal deficit, or the gap between expenditure and revenue, to Rs 17,340 crore (5.1 percent of GDP) in the current fiscal year.

The RBI Board also reviewed the global and domestic economic situation, including risks to the growth outlook. The Board discussed the work of the Reserve Bank in the year 2023-24 and approved its annual report and accounts for the last financial year.