The Evening Wrap: All set for vote counting on June 4 amid tight security

The fate of over 8,000 candidates in fray for the Lok Sabha polls 2024 will be decided on June 4 when the counting of votes takes place amid tight security in States like West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Even as he said that the Election Commission (EC) had a “robust” mechanism in place for the counting process, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on June 3 came down heavily on the Opposition parties for making allegations that Returning Officers and District Magistrates (DMs) were influenced to vitiate the poll process. The CEC dared them to share evidence of the claims made and alleged that a “fake narrative” was being set in the country about the electoral process. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi along with Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and S.S. Sandhu, Kumar said the Opposition should also tell the poll body about those trying to influence the process before the counting of votes begins. “You cannot spread a rumour and bring everyone under a cloud of suspicion”. The claim had been made by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh who had said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had been calling DMs and Collectors and indulging in “blatant and brazen” intimidation. The DMs and Collectors are the Returning Officers of their respective districts during an election. The CEC said that there had been a consistent effort to create a fake and mischievous narrative around the poll process which the EC was unable to counter. “We accept our failure”. He claimed that there was a pattern, and everyone fell for it. Kumar claimed that the poll body had expected that these attacks would come from outside the country. “We had made the arrangements. But this happened from within only,” he said, taking a dig at the Opposition parties. The CEC said that a total of 64.2 crore voters, who included 31.2 crore women, had exercised their franchise in these polls, which was the highest in the world. Over 68,000 monitoring teams and 1.5 crore polling and security personnel were involved in the electoral exercise. On preparations made for counting, Kumar said: “There is a very robust system. There are around 10.5 lakh booths. Each booth will have 14 tables. There are observers and micro-observers. Nearly, 70-80 lakh people are involved in the process.” EC sources told The Hindu that the commission had provided Central forces to many States to prevent any post-poll violence, based on assessment provided by the Central observers in these States. Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are the two States which have been provided with security forces for 15 days from the day of counting. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh have been provided with security forces for two days after counting. On another Opposition demand that postal ballots should be counted first, the CEC said the postal ballot scheme rule was formed in 1964. “There are not many postal ballots then. For an inclusive election, it is necessary that we extend this facility to senior citizens and people with disability.” “Rules clearly state [Rule 54A] that postal ballot count will start first. In all centres in the country it will start first, no doubt about it. After half-an-hour we start the EVM count. So, there are three countings which are happening simultaneously — it happened in the 2019 elections, it happened in all the Assembly polls held thereafter. It happened yesterday [on Sunday] also in case of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim Assembly [vote count]. We can’t change anything mid-course. Why can’t we change, because it is compliant with the rules,” Kumar said. The CEC also took a dig at social media memes which called Election Commissioners ‘Laapataa Gentlemen’. “We were always here, never went missing”. He said the commission would begin the process of Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir very soon based on the highest voter turnout in four decades at 58.58% overall, and 51.05% in the Valley there in the Lok Sabha polls. EC refuses extra time to Jairam Ramesh to back claims on attempts to influence DMs ahead of vote count The Election Commission of India on June 3 refused to grant additional time to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh to back his claims that attempts were made to influence 150 District Magistrates and Collectors ahead of the June 4 vote count for Lok Sabha elections. The poll panel asked Ramesh to submit by Sunday evening the details of the allegations that he made in a social media post recently. He wrote to the EC on Monday seeking a week more to submit his reply. In a letter to Ramesh, the ECI said, “The Commission hereby outrightly rejects your request for time extension and directs you to file your response along with the factual matrix/ basis of your allegation by 7 p.m. today — June 3, failing which it would be presumed that you have nothing substantive to say in the matter and the Commission would proceed ahead to take appropriate action.” The ECI said his allegation that attempts have been made to influence the District Magistrates of around 150 parliamentary constituencies, who are also the Returning Officers and District Election Officers, has serious connotation and direct bearing on the sanctity of the counting process scheduled for June 4. The poll agency said no DM has reported any such undue influence as alleged by him. Sensex, Nifty race over 3% to record highs as exit polls predict massive win for BJP-led NDA Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty rallied more than 3% to close at lifetime highs on June 3 following across-the-board buying as exit polls predicted a massive win for the BJP-led NDA in the general elections. The 30-share BSE Sensex soared by 2,507.47 points or 3.39% to settle at a new closing peak of 76,468.78, marking its biggest single-day gain in three years. During the day, the barometer jumped 2,777.58 points or 3.75% to hit a record intra-day peak of 76,738.89. The NSE Nifty climbed 733.20 points or 3.25% to finish at 23,263.90. During the day, it soared 808 points or 3.58% to hit a fresh intra-day all-time high of 23,338.70. A sharp rally in blue-chip stocks Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India propelled the indices to lifetime high levels. Strong GDP data also added to the buoyancy in equity markets. Shares of all Adani Group companies continued their sharp rally on June 3, with Adani Power surging nearly 16%, in line with a massive surge in the equity market. Among sectors, PSUs, Power, Utilities, Oil, Energy, Capital Goods, and Realty indices soared up to 8%. Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls. The counting of votes will take place on June 4. “The markets opened at new highs today largely because of Exit polls predicting landslide victory for the BJP-led NDA. This will result in a positive surprise of policy continuity with higher seats for the NDA government,” SAMCO Mutual Fund Fund Manager & Head of Equity Research Paras Matalia said. Among the 30-Sensex companies, NTPC, State Bank of India and Power Grid jumped over 9% each. Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel were the other big gainers. Sun Pharma, HCL Technologies, Asian Paints, Nestle and Infosys were the laggards. Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, “Exit poll has activated the optimism of a memorable win for the ongoing government, PSUs had a humongous rally, in anticipation of continuation of the reform gains, triggering further re-rate.” Supreme Court directs the Yamuna River Board to hold an urgent meeting on June 5 to address Delhi’s water crisis The Supreme Court on June 3 directed the Centre to hold an emergency meeting of its Upper Yamuna River Board with the States of Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to address water scarcity in the national capital amidst soaring temperatures crossing the 50-degree Celsius mark. A Vacation Bench of Justices P.K. Mishra and K.V. Viswanathan ordered the meeting to be held on June 5. “Tomorrow there will be too much heat,” Justice Mishra said, referring to the declaration of the Lok Sabha election results on June 4. Justice Viswanathan said, “People would be glued to the TV”. The Bench scheduled the case for June 6 and said the minutes of the meeting and the suggested steps to be taken by the stakeholders States should also be placed on record. It said the States, the Board and the Centre should address the issues raised by the Delhi government about water scarcity in the capital in “right earnest” during the June 5 meeting. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for both the Centre and Haryana, alleged that over 50% of the water reaching Delhi was diverted into the hands of the tanker mafia or “lost”. “If 100 litres come to Delhi, 48.65 litres reach the residents. The total water loss is 52.35%. Where does it go? Into the hands of the tanker mafia... You (Delhi government) have to tighten up,” Mehta alleged. Appearing for Delhi, senior advocate A.M. Singhvi countered the figures were wrong and the allegations baseless. “We just wanted the water level at the barrage of Wazirabad to be maintained. We are the capital. The heat is at an all-time high. There is migration into the capital,” Singhvi said, trying to bring perspective to the problem at hand. The Delhi government, in its petition before the apex court, said access to water was one of the basic human rights of an individual. “Access to water is an essential component of dignity and quality of life guaranteed under the Constitution... The current water crisis may only get worse due to the peak summer and ongoing water shortage. People of Delhi are unable to access even adequate clean drinking water,” the Delhi government argued in the apex court. Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Vijay Mallya fled India as probe agencies did not arrest them at proper time: Court Businessmen involved in multi-million dollar scams, such as Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya, were able to flee the country because probe agencies failed to arrest them at the proper time, a special court in Mumbai said recently. Special judge M.G. Deshpande made the remark while hearing a plea of an accused booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) seeking modification in his bail condition. The Court, on May 29, accepted the plea of Vyomesh Shah, an accused in a money laundering case, to drop the bail condition of getting the court’s prior permission to travel abroad. The detailed order was made available recently. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had argued that allowing Shah’s application would give rise to situations like Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and Mehul Choksi. Rejecting the probe agency’s contention, the judge said, “I thoughtfully examined this argument and felt it necessary to note that all these persons fled because of the failure of the investigating agencies concerned in not arresting them at the proper time.” On the contrary, Shah had appeared before the court responding to the summons, secured bail, and applied many times to travel abroad, he said. Shah’s case cannot be equated with the cases of Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Mehul Chokshi etc, the court held. Diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are prime accused in the multi-crore PNB scam. Modi is currently serving a prison sentence in the UK, while his uncle lives in Antigua. Mallya, currently in the UK, is accused in the over 900-crore alleged loan fraud case, being probed by the ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Ex-BrahMos engineer gets life imprisonment for spying for Pakistan’s ISI The Nagpur district court on June 3 handed life imprisonment to former BrahMos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. engineer Nishant Agarwal under the Official Secrets Act for spying for Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI. Agarwal will also have to undergo rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 14 years and was also fined ₹3,000. Additional sessions court judge M.V. Deshpande stated in the order that Agarwal was convicted under section 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code for an offence punishable under section 66 (f) of the IT Act and various sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA). “The court sentenced Agarwal to life imprisonment and RI for 14 years under the Official Secrets Act and fined him ₹3,000,” said Special Public Prosecutor Jyoti Vajani. Agarwal, employed in the technical research section of the company’s missile centre in Nagpur, was arrested in a joint operation by the military intelligence and Anti-terrorism squads (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra in 2018. The former BrahMos Aerospace engineer was booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the stringent OSA. He had worked at the Brahmos facility for four years and was accused of leaking sensitive technical information to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the military Industrial Consortium (NPO Mashinostroyenia) of Russia. Agarwal was granted bail by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court last April. Mexico elects Claudia Sheinbaum as its first woman president Mexico’s projected presidential winner Claudia Sheinbaum will become the first woman President in the country’s 200-year history. The climate scientist and former Mexico City mayor said Sunday night that her two competitors had called her and conceded her victory. “I will become the first woman president of Mexico,” Sheinbaum said with a smile, speaking at a downtown hotel shortly after electoral authorities announced a statistical sample showed she held an irreversible lead. “I don’t make it alone. We’ve all made it, with our heroines who gave us our homeland, with our mothers, our daughters and our granddaughters.” “We have demonstrated that Mexico is a democratic country with peaceful elections,” she said. The National Electoral Institute’s president said Sheinbaum had between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, according to a statistical sample. Opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez had between 26.6% and 28.6% of the vote and Jorge Álvarez Máynez had between 9.9% and 10.8% of the vote. The preliminary count, which started off very slowly, put Sheinbaum 27 points ahead of Gálvez with 42% of polling place tallies counted shortly after her victory speech. The governing party candidate campaigned on continuing the political course set over the last six years by her political mentor President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. His anointed successor, the 61-year-old Sheinbaum led the campaign wire-to-wire despite a spirited challenge from Gálvez. This was the first time in Mexico that the two main opponents were women. Shortly before electoral authorities’ announcement, Gálvez wrote on the social platform X, “The votes are there. Don’t let them hide them.” Sheinbaum is unlikely to enjoy the kind of unquestioning devotion that López Obrador has enjoyed. Both belong to the governing Morena party. In Mexico City’s main colonial-era main plaza, the Zocalo, Sheinbaum’s lead did not initially draw the kind of cheering, jubilant crowds that greeted López Obrador’s victory in 2018. In Brief: The Supreme Court on June 4 stayed a Bombay High Court judgment directing the State of Maharashtra to grant gangster-turned-politician Arun Gulab Gawli, who is serving life imprisonment in a murder case, the benefit of a premature release policy. A Vacation Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta froze the implementation of the High Court decision of April 5 while Maharashtra, represented by senior advocate Raja Thakre and Aaditya A. Pande, described Gawli as a “hardened criminal” who took to politics. A Maharashtra court had convicted Gawli under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for the murder of Mumbai Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar in 2007. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 03 June 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Election results 2024: All set for vote counting on June 4 amid tight security The fate of over 8,000 candidates in fray for the Lok Sabha polls 2024 will be decided on June 4 when the [counting of votes]( takes place amid tight security in States like West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Even as he said that the Election Commission (EC) had a “robust” mechanism in place for the counting process, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on June 3 came down heavily on the Opposition parties for making allegations that Returning Officers and District Magistrates (DMs) were influenced to vitiate the poll process. The CEC dared them to share evidence of the claims made and alleged that a “fake narrative” was being set in the country about the electoral process. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi along with Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and S.S. Sandhu, Kumar said the Opposition should also tell the poll body about those trying to influence the process before the counting of votes begins. “You cannot spread a rumour and bring everyone under a cloud of suspicion”. The claim had been made by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh who had said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had been calling DMs and Collectors and indulging in “blatant and brazen” intimidation. The DMs and Collectors are the Returning Officers of their respective districts during an election. The CEC said that there had been a consistent effort to create a fake and mischievous narrative around the poll process which the EC was unable to counter. “We accept our failure”. He claimed that there was a pattern, and everyone fell for it. Kumar claimed that the poll body had expected that these attacks would come from outside the country. “We had made the arrangements. But this happened from within only,” he said, taking a dig at the Opposition parties. The CEC said that a total of 64.2 crore voters, who included 31.2 crore women, had exercised their franchise in these polls, which was the highest in the world. Over 68,000 monitoring teams and 1.5 crore polling and security personnel were involved in the electoral exercise. On preparations made for counting, Kumar said: “There is a very robust system. There are around 10.5 lakh booths. Each booth will have 14 tables. There are observers and micro-observers. Nearly, 70-80 lakh people are involved in the process.” EC sources told The Hindu that the commission had provided Central forces to many States to prevent any post-poll violence, based on assessment provided by the Central observers in these States. Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are the two States which have been provided with security forces for 15 days from the day of counting. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh have been provided with security forces for two days after counting. On another Opposition demand that postal ballots should be counted first, the CEC said the postal ballot scheme rule was formed in 1964. “There are not many postal ballots then. For an inclusive election, it is necessary that we extend this facility to senior citizens and people with disability.” “Rules clearly state [Rule 54A] that postal ballot count will start first. In all centres in the country it will start first, no doubt about it. After half-an-hour we start the EVM count. So, there are three countings which are happening simultaneously — it happened in the 2019 elections, it happened in all the Assembly polls held thereafter. It happened yesterday [on Sunday] also in case of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim Assembly [vote count]. We can’t change anything mid-course. Why can’t we change, because it is compliant with the rules,” Kumar said. The CEC also took a dig at social media memes which called Election Commissioners ‘Laapataa Gentlemen’. “We were always here, never went missing”. He said the commission would begin the process of Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir very soon based on the highest voter turnout in four decades at 58.58% overall, and 51.05% in the Valley there in the Lok Sabha polls. EC refuses extra time to Jairam Ramesh to back claims on attempts to influence DMs ahead of vote count The Election Commission of India on June 3 [refused to grant additional time]( to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh to back his claims that attempts were made to influence 150 District Magistrates and Collectors ahead of the June 4 vote count for Lok Sabha elections. The poll panel asked Ramesh to submit by Sunday evening the details of the allegations that he made in a social media post recently. He wrote to the EC on Monday seeking a week more to submit his reply. In a letter to Ramesh, the ECI said, “The Commission hereby outrightly rejects your request for time extension and directs you to file your response along with the factual matrix/ basis of your allegation by 7 p.m. today — June 3, failing which it would be presumed that you have nothing substantive to say in the matter and the Commission would proceed ahead to take appropriate action.” The ECI said his allegation that attempts have been made to influence the District Magistrates of around 150 parliamentary constituencies, who are also the Returning Officers and District Election Officers, has serious connotation and direct bearing on the sanctity of the counting process scheduled for June 4. The poll agency said no DM has reported any such undue influence as alleged by him. Sensex, Nifty race over 3% to record highs as exit polls predict massive win for BJP-led NDA Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty [rallied more than 3% to close]( at lifetime highs on June 3 following across-the-board buying as exit polls predicted a massive win for the BJP-led NDA in the general elections. The 30-share BSE Sensex soared by 2,507.47 points or 3.39% to settle at a new closing peak of 76,468.78, marking its biggest single-day gain in three years. During the day, the barometer jumped 2,777.58 points or 3.75% to hit a record intra-day peak of 76,738.89. The NSE Nifty climbed 733.20 points or 3.25% to finish at 23,263.90. During the day, it soared 808 points or 3.58% to hit a fresh intra-day all-time high of 23,338.70. A sharp rally in blue-chip stocks Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India propelled the indices to lifetime high levels. Strong GDP data also added to the buoyancy in equity markets. Shares of all Adani Group companies continued their sharp rally on June 3, with Adani Power surging nearly 16%, in line with a massive surge in the equity market. Among sectors, PSUs, Power, Utilities, Oil, Energy, Capital Goods, and Realty indices soared up to 8%. Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls. The counting of votes will take place on June 4. “The markets opened at new highs today largely because of Exit polls predicting landslide victory for the BJP-led NDA. This will result in a positive surprise of policy continuity with higher seats for the NDA government,” SAMCO Mutual Fund Fund Manager & Head of Equity Research Paras Matalia said. Among the 30-Sensex companies, NTPC, State Bank of India and Power Grid jumped over 9% each. Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel were the other big gainers. Sun Pharma, HCL Technologies, Asian Paints, Nestle and Infosys were the laggards. Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, “Exit poll has activated the optimism of a memorable win for the ongoing government, PSUs had a humongous rally, in anticipation of continuation of the reform gains, triggering further re-rate.” Supreme Court directs the Yamuna River Board to hold an urgent meeting on June 5 to address Delhi’s water crisis The Supreme Court on June 3 directed the Centre to [hold an emergency meeting]( of its Upper Yamuna River Board with the States of Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to address water scarcity in the national capital amidst soaring temperatures crossing the 50-degree Celsius mark. A Vacation Bench of Justices P.K. Mishra and K.V. Viswanathan ordered the meeting to be held on June 5. “Tomorrow there will be too much heat,” Justice Mishra said, referring to the declaration of the Lok Sabha election results on June 4. Justice Viswanathan said, “People would be glued to the TV”. The Bench scheduled the case for June 6 and said the minutes of the meeting and the suggested steps to be taken by the stakeholders States should also be placed on record. It said the States, the Board and the Centre should address the issues raised by the Delhi government about water scarcity in the capital in “right earnest” during the June 5 meeting. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for both the Centre and Haryana, alleged that over 50% of the water reaching Delhi was diverted into the hands of the tanker mafia or “lost”. “If 100 litres come to Delhi, 48.65 litres reach the residents. The total water loss is 52.35%. Where does it go? Into the hands of the tanker mafia... You (Delhi government) have to tighten up,” Mehta alleged. Appearing for Delhi, senior advocate A.M. Singhvi countered the figures were wrong and the allegations baseless. “We just wanted the water level at the barrage of Wazirabad to be maintained. We are the capital. The heat is at an all-time high. There is migration into the capital,” Singhvi said, trying to bring perspective to the problem at hand. The Delhi government, in its petition before the apex court, said access to water was one of the basic human rights of an individual. “Access to water is an essential component of dignity and quality of life guaranteed under the Constitution... The current water crisis may only get worse due to the peak summer and ongoing water shortage. People of Delhi are unable to access even adequate clean drinking water,” the Delhi government argued in the apex court. Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Vijay Mallya fled India as probe agencies did not arrest them at proper time: Court Businessmen involved in multi-million dollar scams, such as Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya, were able to flee the country because [probe agencies failed]( to arrest them at the proper time, a special court in Mumbai said recently. Special judge M.G. Deshpande made the remark while hearing a plea of an accused booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) seeking modification in his bail condition. The Court, on May 29, accepted the plea of Vyomesh Shah, an accused in a money laundering case, to drop the bail condition of getting the court’s prior permission to travel abroad. The detailed order was made available recently. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had argued that allowing Shah’s application would give rise to situations like Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and Mehul Choksi. Rejecting the probe agency’s contention, the judge said, “I thoughtfully examined this argument and felt it necessary to note that all these persons fled because of the failure of the investigating agencies concerned in not arresting them at the proper time.” On the contrary, Shah had appeared before the court responding to the summons, secured bail, and applied many times to travel abroad, he said. Shah’s case cannot be equated with the cases of Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Mehul Chokshi etc, the court held. Diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are prime accused in the multi-crore PNB scam. Modi is currently serving a prison sentence in the UK, while his uncle lives in Antigua. Mallya, currently in the UK, is accused in the over 900-crore alleged loan fraud case, being probed by the ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Ex-BrahMos engineer gets life imprisonment for spying for Pakistan’s ISI The Nagpur district court on June 3 [handed life imprisonment]( to former BrahMos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. engineer Nishant Agarwal under the Official Secrets Act for spying for Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI. Agarwal will also have to undergo rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 14 years and was also fined ₹3,000. Additional sessions court judge M.V. Deshpande stated in the order that Agarwal was convicted under section 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code for an offence punishable under section 66 (f) of the IT Act and various sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA). “The court sentenced Agarwal to life imprisonment and RI for 14 years under the Official Secrets Act and fined him ₹3,000,” said Special Public Prosecutor Jyoti Vajani. Agarwal, employed in the technical research section of the company’s missile centre in Nagpur, was arrested in a joint operation by the military intelligence and Anti-terrorism squads (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra in 2018. The former BrahMos Aerospace engineer was booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the stringent OSA. He had worked at the Brahmos facility for four years and was accused of leaking sensitive technical information to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the military Industrial Consortium (NPO Mashinostroyenia) of Russia. Agarwal was granted bail by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court last April. Mexico elects Claudia Sheinbaum as its first woman president Mexico’s projected presidential winner Claudia Sheinbaum will [become the first woman President]( in the country’s 200-year history. The climate scientist and former Mexico City mayor said Sunday night that her two competitors had called her and conceded her victory. “I will become the first woman president of Mexico,” Sheinbaum said with a smile, speaking at a downtown hotel shortly after electoral authorities announced a statistical sample showed she held an irreversible lead. “I don’t make it alone. We’ve all made it, with our heroines who gave us our homeland, with our mothers, our daughters and our granddaughters.” “We have demonstrated that Mexico is a democratic country with peaceful elections,” she said. The National Electoral Institute’s president said Sheinbaum had between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, according to a statistical sample. Opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez had between 26.6% and 28.6% of the vote and Jorge Álvarez Máynez had between 9.9% and 10.8% of the vote. The preliminary count, which started off very slowly, put Sheinbaum 27 points ahead of Gálvez with 42% of polling place tallies counted shortly after her victory speech. The governing party candidate campaigned on continuing the political course set over the last six years by her political mentor President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. His anointed successor, the 61-year-old Sheinbaum led the campaign wire-to-wire despite a spirited challenge from Gálvez. This was the first time in Mexico that the two main opponents were women. Shortly before electoral authorities’ announcement, Gálvez wrote on the social platform X, “The votes are there. Don’t let them hide them.” Sheinbaum is unlikely to enjoy the kind of unquestioning devotion that López Obrador has enjoyed. Both belong to the governing Morena party. In Mexico City’s main colonial-era main plaza, the Zocalo, Sheinbaum’s lead did not initially draw the kind of cheering, jubilant crowds that greeted López Obrador’s victory in 2018. In Brief: The Supreme Court on June 4 [stayed a Bombay High Court judgment]( directing the State of Maharashtra to grant gangster-turned-politician Arun Gulab Gawli, who is serving life imprisonment in a murder case, the benefit of a premature release policy. A Vacation Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta froze the implementation of the High Court decision of April 5 while Maharashtra, represented by senior advocate Raja Thakre and Aaditya A. Pande, described Gawli as a “hardened criminal” who took to politics. A Maharashtra court had convicted Gawli under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for the murder of Mumbai Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar in 2007. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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