20 MAY 2014

Ø  The Election Commission has withdrawn the Model Code of Conduct, in force for over two months, during which the panel took several major decisions, including giving the nod to the government to appoint the next Navy and Army chiefs and asking it to defer notifying doubling of natural gas prices.

Ø  An army jawan was killed and two of his colleagues were injured in an attack by suspected Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT) which set off a mine blast and opened fire on a patrol party along the LoC 

Ø  Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, who is on his way to surpassing the tenure of the longest-serving Chief Minister of the country, will take oath. He is Sikkim CM from 1994.

Ø  In the 16th Lok Sabha, West Bengal will have the distinction of electing the maximum number of Muslim candidates. Eight of the 23 Muslim MPs (over 33 per cent) in the country are from the State.

Ø  Bihar SC and ST Welfare Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is set to be the new Chief Minister after Nitish Kumar on Monday picked him to be his successor.

Ø  George Harrison’s 1962 Rickenbacker guitar has sold for $657,000 at auction.