The Evening Wrap: States can postpone final year UGC exams, says SC

The Hindu Newsletter - Here are the latest updates and the big news stories to follow today [The Hindu Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( Friday 28, August 2020 [alt_text]( The Evening Wrap [Here are the biggest news stories of the day]( [alt_text]( Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. States can postpone final year UGC exams beyond September 30 but can’t promote students in that case, says SC The Supreme Court today upheld the validity of the decision taken by some states [to cancel final-year UGC exams]( due to Covid-19. These exams are supposed to be completed by September 30. The court, however, added that students cannot be promoted until they have given the exams. States can apply to the UGC for an extension of the exam deadline. Their request will be considered by the UGC at the earliest. “States and universities cannot promote students without holding exams,” the Supreme Court bench said. Besides Maharashtra and Delhi, other States that have cancelled the UGC exams include Odisha, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. A Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan held that the States’ Disaster Management authorities acted beyond their jurisdiction in seeking to promote final-year students without exams. The court, however, did not quash the UGC’s July 6 directive to hold exams before September 30. This case only referred to States that had unilaterally cancelled the UGC exams by using their powers under the Disaster Management Act. Six non-BJP States move SC against conduct of JEE/NEET Ministers of six non-BJP states have [moved the Supreme Court]( against the conduct of the JEE Mains and the NEET amid the pandemic, saying lakhs of young students should not fall prey to the Centre's “knee-jerk” and “haphazard” plans, which could prove “worse than the disease itself”. The National Testing Agency (NTA) had notified the JEE between September 1 to 9. The NEET is scheduled for September 13. The JEE is slated to be conducted over 660 exam centres with 9.53 lakh students taking it. This would mean roughly 1,443 students in every centre. Similarly, the NEET will see 15.97 lakh students in 3,843 centres across the country or around 415 students to an exam centre. West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Punjab moved the court through lawyer Sunil Fernandes. The petition from these states comes close on the heels of a meeting among Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and the chief ministers of these non-BJP States. Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday said the decision to hold NEET and JEE should be taken with the concurrence of students. “If any decision is to be taken regarding your future, it is important that it is taken with your concurrence,” Sonia said in a video message. In a separate vide message, former party chief Rahul Gandhi said the government should have a conversation with students and decide on holding the exams only after arriving at a consensus. Shinzo Abe resigns as Japan’s PM, citing health reasons Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving premier, today [announced his resignation]( citing poor health. This brings to an end an eight-year stint at the helm of the world’s third-biggest economy. “I have decided that I will step down as prime minister, with the belief that I cannot continue being prime minister if I do not have the confidence that I can carry out the job entrusted to me by the people,” Abe (65) told a news conference. He said he had decided to step down now to avoid a political vacuum as the country copes with its novel coronavirus outbreak. [ FILE PHOTO: Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ] FILE PHOTO: Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe “I apologize from the bottom of my heart that despite all of the support from the Japanese people, I am leaving the post with one full year left in my term and in the midst of various policies and coronavirus,” Abe said. It was the second time Abe has resigned as prime minister because of poor health. He similarly quit in 2007 after one year as premier, citing illness. He has battled the disease ulcerative colitis for years and two recent hospital visits within a week had fanned speculation that he would not be able to serve out his term. According to Reuters, former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba and former foreign minister Fumio Kishida both quickly expressed interest in the top job, media reported. Among others whose names have been floated is Abe's close aide, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. Covid watch: Numbers and Developments A record single day spike of 77,266 infections in a day, as reported in the Union Health Ministry data updated at 8 a.m. on August 28 marked the [highest single day spike for any country in the world](. According to JohnsHopkins University data, 77,255 new cases reported in the U.S. on July 17, 2020 was the previous high. India currently stands third in the number of cases after the U.S. and Brazil. In terms of deaths, India has recorded the fourth highest mortality, after the U.S., Brazil and Mexico. [ People wait to give their nasal swab samples to test for COVID-19 in Hyderabad on August 28, 2020. ] People wait to give their nasal swab samples to test for COVID-19 in Hyderabad on August 28, 2020. The number of reported [coronavirus cases]( from India stood at 34,56,147 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 62,708. The Supreme Court rejected a petition seeking to defer the Bihar Assembly elections due to the prevailing coronavirus crisis. The Assembly polls are scheduled to be held in November. The dates, however, are yet to be announced. “Covid-19 cannot be a ground for stopping elections and interfering with the powers of the Election Commission,” said Justice Ashok Bhushan. UN Secretary-General slams India’s push for fossil fuels such as coal United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday criticised India for subsidising fossil fuels and promoting coal auctions. His remarks were part of the Darbari Seth Lecture organised by The Energy Resources Institute, Delhi, which was also attended by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. “Clean energy and closing the energy access gap are good business. They are the ticket to growth and prosperity. Yet, here in India, subsidies for fossil fuels are still some seven times more than subsidies for clean energy. Continued support for fossil fuels in so many places around the world is deeply troubling,” he said in pre-recorded message. His criticism is significant in the light of Prime Minister Modi launching an auction of 41 coal blocks for commercial mining on June 18, as part of India’s Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan. At the launch, Modi had said that it marked not only the implementation of reforms to the coal mining sector but also the creation of lakhs of jobs and that it would liberate the sector from decades of “lockdown”. The government had decided to spend ₹50,000 crore on creating infrastructure for coal extraction and transport. However, there has been severe criticism of the decision to auction these blocks, with independent analysts pointed out that it would cause the destruction of the pristine forests in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh (which is where some of these potential blocks are located). Others have said that investing in polluting coal plants was an economically unsound policy. Ministry of Home Affairs notifies new rules for administration in J&K The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday notified [new rules for administration in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir]( that specify the functions of the Lieutenant Governor (LG) and the Council of Ministers. According to the transaction of business rules, “police, public order, All India Services and anti-corruption,” will fall under the executive functions of the LG, implying that the Chief Minister or the Council of Ministers will have no say in their functioning. [ ] The rules notified by Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla say that matters which affect the peace and tranquillity of the UT or the interest of any minority community “shall essentially be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor through the Chief Secretary, under intimation to the Chief Minister, before issuing any orders.” In case of difference of opinion between the LG and a Minister when no agreement could be reached even after a month, the “decision of the Lieutenant Governor shall be deemed to have been accepted by the Council of Ministers,” the rules note. In Brief: The government is looking to raise around ₹5,000 crore by [divesting up to 15% stake in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)](. The ‘offer of sale’ is being executed on Thursday and Friday. HAL said in a stock filing with the exchanges that the government would sell 33.43 million shares, amounting to a 10% stake, to institutional and retail investors on August 27 and 28. In case of over-subscription, a further 5% stake or 16.71 million shares would be offered. The floor price of the offer has been fixed at ₹1,001 a share, a 15% discount to Wednesday's closing price of ₹1,177.75. Congress MP and businessman H. Vasanthakumar [died of Covid-19 at a private hospital in Chennai]( on Friday evening. He was 70. He was working president of TNCC and represents the Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha constituency. He was earlier an MLA who was elected from Nanguneri Assembly constituency. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday [chaired a meeting of officials]( from both Houses of Parliament, the Health Ministry, and other agencies to finalise arrangements for the upcoming Monsoon Session. The session is likely to start from September 14 and conclude on October 1. Birla had also held a meeting with the secretary generals of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. IPL team Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be extending its quarantine period till early next week after [some members of the contingent tested positive]( for the coronavirus upon landing in Dubai for the IPL. While the franchise officials remained tight-lipped on the matter, Sportstar has learned that the test reports of at least ten members of the franchise — which includes a fast bowler who has played for India — have returned positive. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today's Top Picks [alt_text]( [‘Maa chose to serve her people. 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