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The world's largest democratic exercise, the 18th Lok Sabha elections, concluded on June 1 after a marathon seven-phase polling process. The final phase witnessed 57 parliamentary constituencies going to the polls, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi among the 906 candidates in the fray. Over 10.06 crore electors were eligible to cast their votes in this phase.The election process was marred by a tragic incident as heatwave conditions claimed the lives of at least 61 people across India on May 31. Of these, 23 were poll personnel involved in the final phase of the election. The heatwave also led to at least 40 suspected heat-related deaths among poll staff in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.In the Northeast, floods and landslips killed 17 people in Assam, Manipur, and Meghalaya over the past 48 hours, bringing the rainfall-related death toll in the region to 17 since Wednesday.Despite the challenges, the Lok Sabha Secretariat took a host of measures to welcome the newly elected members of the 18th Lok Sabha. Guideposts were set up at all three domestic terminals at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport and railway stations from June 4 to June 9 to assist the incoming MPs.In international news, President Joe Biden detailed a three-phase deal proposed by Israel to Hamas militants that he says would lead to the release of remaining hostages in Gaza and could end the grinding, nearly 8-month-old Mideast war.The Congress party announced that it will not participate in any Lok Sabha exit poll debates on television channels, stating that it does not want to indulge in speculation and slugfests for TRP.In other news, former US President Donald Trump launched into attacks on the judge in his criminal trial and continued to undermine New York's criminal justice system as he tried to repackage his conviction on 34 felony charges as fuel, not an impediment, to his latest White House bid.A bomb scare on a Vistara flight from Delhi to Srinagar halted air traffic for two hours at Srinagar International Airport. However, the call turned out to be a hoax.In sports news, Dimitrios Diamantakos, the Indian Super League's Golden Boot award winner this season, will leave Kerala Blasters FC after two years with the club.