The Evening Wrap: Congress wins three Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan, one goes to BJP

The Congress has won three Rajya Sabha seats and the BJP one in Rajasthan on Friday. Congress candidates Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari have been declared elected, while BJP’s Ghanshyam Tiwari won the fourth seat. BJP-backed independent candidate Subhash Chandra was defeated. The BJP, meanwhile, has suspended its MLA Shobharani Kushwah for cross-voting in favour of Mr. Tiwari, news agency PTI reported quoting party sources. The counting of votes has been delayed in Maharashtra and Haryana over alleged violation of rules. The counting was held up in Maharashtra after opposition BJP alleged three MLAs of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — Cabinet Ministers Jitendra Awhad (NCP) and Yashomati Thakur (Congress), besides Shiv Sena legislator Suhas Kande violated the model code for voting. “We have filed an appeal before the Election Commission of India, seeking that their votes be held invalid,” said a State BJP leader. The BJP has alleged that Mr. Awhad and Ms. Thakur handed over their ballots to their party agents instead of only showing them the ballots, while Kande showed his ballot to two different agents. The counting has been put on hold in Haryana for identical reasons. The BJP and the Independent candidate backed by it have urged the Election Commission to cancel the votes of two Congress MLAs. BJP nominee Krishan Lal Panwar and Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma shot off a missive to the EC, alleging Congress MLAs Kiran Choudhary and B B Batra showed their ballot papers to unauthorised persons after marking them and that the episodes were “duly captured” on cameras. The counting has been put on hold in view of the complaint made to the Election Commission, sources said in Chandigarh, adding further action will depend on the directions given by the poll panel. Polling was held on Friday for 16 Rajya Sabha seats — six in Maharashtra, four each in Karnataka and Rajasthan and two in Haryana. Supreme Court dismisses pleas seeking special stray round of counselling for NEET-PG The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea to direct the government and the Medical Counselling Committee to conduct a “special” stray round of counselling to fill up 1,456 vacant seats from NEET-PG 2021. A Vacation Bench of Justices M.R. Shah and Aniruddha Bose said another round of counselling at this point of time would affect medical education and create confusion, which, in turn, would affect public health. The Bench noted that the seats had remained vacant despite eight to nine rounds of counselling. They were hardly any takers for these seats, mainly for non-clinical courses. The counselling for NEET PG 2021 has now finally been closed. The 2021 academic year has already been delayed by 1.5 years. Now, the counselling process for NEET-PG 2022 is about to commence. Another round of ‘special stray’ counselling for the 1,456 seats may coincide with the upcoming PG 2022 counselling process and create confusion. Hence, the court said, the government and authorities had taken a conscious decision to stop the counselling process for PG 2021. “The Medical Counselling Committee and the Union of India have to adhere to the time schedule for completing the admission process and the current schedule of NEET PG 2021 which is already behind time schedule... not to have another stray round is in the interest of medical education. There cannot be any compromise on the quality of medical education as it affects public health,” the court observed in the order. The court noted that out of 40,000 seats up for counselling, only 1,456 had remained vacant, most of which were non-clinical seats. The Supreme Court on Thursday, while reserving the case for orders, had indicated that ‘stray’ rounds of counselling to fill up the vacant seats cannot go on forever. Additional Solicitor General Balbir Singh, for the Health Ministry, had submitted that out of a total 1,456 vacant seats in NEET PG 2021, over 1,100 were allocated to private colleges while the government had 300 vacant seats. Singh said seats were mostly for non-clinical courses. “These courses are mostly for those who prefer an academic life. They would not be medical doctors but would be qualified to teach subjects like anatomy, etc. Very difficult to get jobs. So students do not opt for these courses though there are seats available,” the law officer had explained. Singh had also noted that 76.7% of the vacant seats belong to private institutions and students did not find it feasible to enroll for expensive non-clinical courses in these colleges which would ultimately not even guarantee them employment. Advocate Gaurav Sharma, appearing for the National Medical Commission, had submitted that vacant seats in non-clinical courses was an annual phenomenon. The court, on Wednesday, on a petition filed by a group of doctors led by Astha Goel, led by senior advocate Rachna Srivastava, advocates Charu Mathur and Milind Kumar, had taken serious note of the 1,456 vacant seats. The petitioners had sought a “special stray” round of counselling to fill up these seats. The court, on Wednesday, had said that seats cannot be left vacant when the country, after a pandemic, cannot afford a dearth of doctors. However, after hearing the government’s version that such vacant seats were an annual feature, the Bench had agreed on Thursday that there ought to be a limit to the counselling process for the PG 2021, which should not interfere with the NEET PG 2022 process. Pervez Musharraf hospitalised in UAE, says family Pakistan’s former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf is hospitalised in the UAE after his condition deteriorated as he is going through a “difficult stage where recovery is not possible”, his family said on Friday amidst speculation about his well-being. Gen. Musharraf, 78, ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008. His family issued a statement on Twitter and said that he is “not on the ventilator”. “(He) Has been hospitalised for the last 3 weeks due to a complication of his ailment (Amyloidosis). Going through a difficult stage where recovery is not possible and organs are malfunctioning. Pray for ease in his daily living,” Musharraf’s family said. Amyloidosis is a rare disease that occurs when an abnormal protein builds up in organs and interferes with the normal function. Earlier, his close aide and former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that General Musharraf is critical and on a ventilator support in a UAE hospital. He said that he spoke to Musharraf’s son who confirmed his illness. Musharraf has been declared a fugitive in former prime minister Benazir Bhutto murder case and Red Mosque cleric killing case. The former President, living in Dubai since March 2016, was facing a treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007. Musharraf came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, deposing the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Facing impeachment following elections in 2008, Musharraf was forced to resign as President and went into self-imposed exile in Dubai. Indian crude oil basket touches 10-year high, petrol price unchanged The basket of crude oil that India buys has hit a decade high of $121 per barrel, but retail selling prices of petrol and diesel continue to remain frozen. The Indian basket on June 9 touched $121.28, matching levels seen in February/March 2012, according to data available from the oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). As per the PPAC, the Indian basket of crude oil averaged $111.86 per barrel between February 25 and March 29 — the immediate period after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent oil on fire. It averaged $103.44 a barrel between March 30 and April 27. International oil prices held near a 13-week high on Thursday, underpinned by robust demand from key buyers like the US. They, however, pared some gains on Friday, with Brent crude futures for August losing 81 cents to trade at $122.26 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude for July was at $120.72 a barrel, down 79 cents. Retail fuel rates, however, continue to be on a freeze in India. State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) are supposed to adjust petrol and diesel prices daily in line with the cost, but they have been since November 2021 moderating pump rates. India is 85% dependent on imports to meet its oil needs and so local pump rates are benchmarked against international prices. Industry sources said local pump rates are benchmarked to around $85 per barrel crude oil price but oil firms haven’t changed rates as they aid the government in trying to control inflation, which already is ruling at an almost eight-year high of 7.8%. Fuel prices, particularly diesel, have a cascading effect on inflation as an elevated price will lead to higher transportation costs, spiking prices across the board, including essentials like vegetables. The sources said the industry was selling petrol at a loss of about ₹18 per litre and diesel at ₹21 a litre. Petrol and diesel prices were last revised to align with the cost on April 6 and have been on freeze since then. Last month, rates were reduced after the government cut excise duty on petrol by ₹8 per litre and that on diesel by ₹6. Last week, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri stated that oil companies are responsible corporate citizens and that the government wasn’t dictating retail selling prices. Despite a surge in oil prices, the three state fuel retailers first froze petrol and diesel rates for a record 137 days beginning in early November 2021 when five states, including Uttar Pradesh, went to the polls and then went into a hiatus again in April that is now 65 days old. While state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) have maintained retail operations despite losses, private sector retailers like Reliance-BP and Nayara Energy have curtailed operations to cut losses. In some places, Nayara is selling fuel at rates that are ₹3 a litre higher than public sector competition. Petrol in Delhi currently costs ₹96.72 a litre and diesel is priced at ₹89.62. Supreme Court rules on ‘who can take better care of a child’ The Supreme Court on Thursday said it cannot be taken for granted that a relative with a big family, an independent income, and young can take better care of a child. A Vacation Bench led by Justice M.R. Shah was hearing a child custody battle between the maternal aunt and paternal grandparents of a child, who had lost both parents. The maternal aunt made a claim that she was unmarried, salaried and younger than the child’s grandparents. She also had the support of a bigger family, and due to all these reasons, she said she was better-suited to have custody of the child than the grandparents. But the court did not agree, saying these reasons may not be germane. “In our society still the paternal grandparents would always take better care of their grandson. One should not doubt the capacity and/or ability of the paternal grandparents to take care of their grandson. It is said that the grandparents love the interest rather than the principal. Emotionally also the grandparents will always take care better care of their grandson. Grandparents are more attached emotionally with grandchildren,” the court observed, retaining the custody of the child with the grandparents. However, the court said arrangements should be made for the maternal aunt to meet and interact with the child. “Income and/or the age and/or the bigger family cannot be the sole criteria to tilt the balance and not to give the custody of the grandson to the paternal grandparents,” the apex court observed. In Brief The House panel investigating the January 6 insurrection at the U. S. Capitol laid the blame firmly on Donald Trump on Thursday night, saying the assault was hardly spontaneous but an “attempted coup” and a direct result of the defeated president’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. With a never-before-seen 12-minute video of extremist groups leading the deadly siege and startling testimony from Trump’s most inner circle, the 1/6 committee provided gripping detail in contending that Trump’s repeated lies about election fraud and his public effort to stop Joe Biden’s victory led to the attack and imperiled American democracy. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 10 JUNE 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Rajya Sabha elections | Congress wins three seats in Rajasthan, one goes to BJP The [Congress has won three Rajya Sabha seats and the BJP one in Rajasthan]( on Friday. Congress candidates Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari have been declared elected, while BJP’s Ghanshyam Tiwari won the fourth seat. BJP-backed independent candidate Subhash Chandra was defeated. The BJP, meanwhile, has suspended its MLA Shobharani Kushwah for cross-voting in favour of Mr. Tiwari, news agency PTI reported quoting party sources. [Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Congress candidates Pramod Tiwari, Mukul Wasnik and Randeep Surjewala flash the victory sign during voting for the Rajya Sabha elections in Jaipur on June 10, 2022. ] The counting of votes has been delayed in Maharashtra and Haryana over alleged violation of rules. The counting was held up in Maharashtra after opposition BJP alleged three MLAs of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — Cabinet Ministers Jitendra Awhad (NCP) and Yashomati Thakur (Congress), besides Shiv Sena legislator Suhas Kande violated the model code for voting. “We have filed an appeal before the Election Commission of India, seeking that their votes be held invalid,” said a State BJP leader. The BJP has alleged that Mr. Awhad and Ms. Thakur handed over their ballots to their party agents instead of only showing them the ballots, while Kande showed his ballot to two different agents. The counting has been put on hold in Haryana for identical reasons. The BJP and the Independent candidate backed by it have urged the Election Commission to cancel the votes of two Congress MLAs. BJP nominee Krishan Lal Panwar and Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma shot off a missive to the EC, alleging Congress MLAs Kiran Choudhary and B B Batra showed their ballot papers to unauthorised persons after marking them and that the episodes were “duly captured” on cameras. The counting has been put on hold in view of the complaint made to the Election Commission, sources said in Chandigarh, adding further action will depend on the directions given by the poll panel. Polling was held on Friday for 16 Rajya Sabha seats — six in Maharashtra, four each in Karnataka and Rajasthan and two in Haryana. Supreme Court dismisses pleas seeking special stray round of counselling for NEET-PG The [Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea]( to direct the government and the Medical Counselling Committee to conduct a “special” stray round of counselling to fill up 1,456 vacant seats from NEET-PG 2021. A Vacation Bench of Justices M.R. Shah and Aniruddha Bose said another round of counselling at this point of time would affect medical education and create confusion, which, in turn, would affect public health. The Bench noted that the seats had remained vacant despite eight to nine rounds of counselling. They were hardly any takers for these seats, mainly for non-clinical courses. The counselling for NEET PG 2021 has now finally been closed. The 2021 academic year has already been delayed by 1.5 years. Now, the counselling process for NEET-PG 2022 is about to commence. Another round of ‘special stray’ counselling for the 1,456 seats may coincide with the upcoming PG 2022 counselling process and create confusion. Hence, the court said, the government and authorities had taken a conscious decision to stop the counselling process for PG 2021. “The Medical Counselling Committee and the Union of India have to adhere to the time schedule for completing the admission process and the current schedule of NEET PG 2021 which is already behind time schedule... not to have another stray round is in the interest of medical education. There cannot be any compromise on the quality of medical education as it affects public health,” the court observed in the order. The court noted that out of 40,000 seats up for counselling, only 1,456 had remained vacant, most of which were non-clinical seats. The Supreme Court on Thursday, while reserving the case for orders, had indicated that ‘stray’ rounds of counselling to fill up the vacant seats cannot go on forever. Additional Solicitor General Balbir Singh, for the Health Ministry, had submitted that out of a total 1,456 vacant seats in NEET PG 2021, over 1,100 were allocated to private colleges while the government had 300 vacant seats. Singh said seats were mostly for non-clinical courses. “These courses are mostly for those who prefer an academic life. They would not be medical doctors but would be qualified to teach subjects like anatomy, etc. Very difficult to get jobs. So students do not opt for these courses though there are seats available,” the law officer had explained. Singh had also noted that 76.7% of the vacant seats belong to private institutions and students did not find it feasible to enroll for expensive non-clinical courses in these colleges which would ultimately not even guarantee them employment. Advocate Gaurav Sharma, appearing for the National Medical Commission, had submitted that vacant seats in non-clinical courses was an annual phenomenon. The court, on Wednesday, on a petition filed by a group of doctors led by Astha Goel, led by senior advocate Rachna Srivastava, advocates Charu Mathur and Milind Kumar, had taken serious note of the 1,456 vacant seats. The petitioners had sought a “special stray” round of counselling to fill up these seats. The court, on Wednesday, had said that seats cannot be left vacant when the country, after a pandemic, cannot afford a dearth of doctors. However, after hearing the government’s version that such vacant seats were an annual feature, the Bench had agreed on Thursday that there ought to be a limit to the counselling process for the PG 2021, which should not interfere with the NEET PG 2022 process. Pervez Musharraf hospitalised in UAE, says family Pakistan’s former military dictator General [Pervez Musharraf is hospitalised in the UAE]( after his condition deteriorated as he is going through a “difficult stage where recovery is not possible”, his family said on Friday amidst speculation about his well-being. Gen. Musharraf, 78, ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008. [Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf. File] His family issued a statement on Twitter and said that he is “not on the ventilator”. “(He) Has been hospitalised for the last 3 weeks due to a complication of his ailment (Amyloidosis). Going through a difficult stage where recovery is not possible and organs are malfunctioning. Pray for ease in his daily living,” Musharraf’s family said. Amyloidosis is a rare disease that occurs when an abnormal protein builds up in organs and interferes with the normal function. Earlier, his close aide and former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that General Musharraf is critical and on a ventilator support in a UAE hospital. He said that he spoke to Musharraf’s son who confirmed his illness. Musharraf has been declared a fugitive in former prime minister Benazir Bhutto murder case and Red Mosque cleric killing case. The former President, living in Dubai since March 2016, was facing a treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007. Musharraf came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, deposing the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Facing impeachment following elections in 2008, Musharraf was forced to resign as President and went into self-imposed exile in Dubai. Indian crude oil basket touches 10-year high, petrol price unchanged The [basket of crude oil that India buys has hit a decade high of $121 per barrel]( but retail selling prices of petrol and diesel continue to remain frozen. The Indian basket on June 9 touched $121.28, matching levels seen in February/March 2012, according to data available from the oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). As per the PPAC, the Indian basket of crude oil averaged $111.86 per barrel between February 25 and March 29 — the immediate period after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent oil on fire. It averaged $103.44 a barrel between March 30 and April 27. International oil prices held near a 13-week high on Thursday, underpinned by robust demand from key buyers like the US. They, however, pared some gains on Friday, with Brent crude futures for August losing 81 cents to trade at $122.26 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude for July was at $120.72 a barrel, down 79 cents. Retail fuel rates, however, continue to be on a freeze in India. State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) are supposed to adjust petrol and diesel prices daily in line with the cost, but they have been since November 2021 moderating pump rates. India is 85% dependent on imports to meet its oil needs and so local pump rates are benchmarked against international prices. Industry sources said local pump rates are benchmarked to around $85 per barrel crude oil price but oil firms haven’t changed rates as they aid the government in trying to control inflation, which already is ruling at an almost eight-year high of 7.8%. Fuel prices, particularly diesel, have a cascading effect on inflation as an elevated price will lead to higher transportation costs, spiking prices across the board, including essentials like vegetables. The sources said the industry was selling petrol at a loss of about ₹18 per litre and diesel at ₹21 a litre. Petrol and diesel prices were last revised to align with the cost on April 6 and have been on freeze since then. Last month, rates were reduced after the government cut excise duty on petrol by ₹8 per litre and that on diesel by ₹6. Last week, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri stated that oil companies are responsible corporate citizens and that the government wasn’t dictating retail selling prices. Despite a surge in oil prices, the three state fuel retailers first froze petrol and diesel rates for a record 137 days beginning in early November 2021 when five states, including Uttar Pradesh, went to the polls and then went into a hiatus again in April that is now 65 days old. While state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) have maintained retail operations despite losses, private sector retailers like Reliance-BP and Nayara Energy have curtailed operations to cut losses. In some places, Nayara is selling fuel at rates that are ₹3 a litre higher than public sector competition. Petrol in Delhi currently costs ₹96.72 a litre and diesel is priced at ₹89.62. Supreme Court rules on ‘who can take better care of a child’ The [Supreme Court on Thursday said]( it cannot be taken for granted that a relative with a big family, an independent income, and young can take better care of a child. A Vacation Bench led by Justice M.R. Shah was hearing a child custody battle between the maternal aunt and paternal grandparents of a child, who had lost both parents. The maternal aunt made a claim that she was unmarried, salaried and younger than the child’s grandparents. She also had the support of a bigger family, and due to all these reasons, she said she was better-suited to have custody of the child than the grandparents. But the court did not agree, saying these reasons may not be germane. “In our society still the paternal grandparents would always take better care of their grandson. One should not doubt the capacity and/or ability of the paternal grandparents to take care of their grandson. It is said that the grandparents love the interest rather than the principal. Emotionally also the grandparents will always take care better care of their grandson. Grandparents are more attached emotionally with grandchildren,” the court observed, retaining the custody of the child with the grandparents. However, the court said arrangements should be made for the maternal aunt to meet and interact with the child. “Income and/or the age and/or the bigger family cannot be the sole criteria to tilt the balance and not to give the custody of the grandson to the paternal grandparents,” the apex court observed. In Brief The House panel investigating the January 6 insurrection at the U. S. Capitol [laid the blame firmly on Donald Trump]( on Thursday night, saying the assault was hardly spontaneous but an “attempted coup” and a direct result of the defeated president’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. With a never-before-seen 12-minute video of extremist groups leading the deadly siege and startling testimony from Trump’s most inner circle, the 1/6 committee provided gripping detail in contending that Trump’s repeated lies about election fraud and his public effort to stop Joe Biden’s victory led to the attack and imperiled American democracy. 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