hyderabad l saturday l may 16, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE City EDITION CJI likens some unemployed youth to roaches, parasites Likening unemployed youngsters to cockroaches, CJI Surya Kant said Friday they go on to “become” social media activists and attack the system lambasted for seeking better designation The comments came while a bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was pulling up a lawyer for “pursuing” senior advocate designation. It said there were “parasites” in society who attack the system and asked if the petitioner wanted to join hands with them. “The entire world may be eligible to become senior (advocate), but you are not entitled,” the SC said ■ CBI petitioner’s language cause of concern ■ A visibly anguished CJI observed that if the Delhi High Court would confer senior advocate designation upon the petitioner, the apex court would set that aside seeing his professional conduct The CJI referred to the kind of language used by the petitioner on Facebook. The bench later allowed withdrawal of the petition | P7 Could be asked to verify degrees of all those in black robes, says SC CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Petrol price at Hyderabad is now `110.89 | SRI LOGANATHAN VELMURUGAN Petrol prices in six metros City Hyd Kolkata Price `110.89 `108.74 Hike `3.39 `3.29 Mumbai `106.64 `3.1 B’luru `106.17 `3.21 Chennai `103.9 `3.1 Delhi `97.77 `3 VAT 35.2% 25% 25% plus `5.12 29.84% 13% plus `11.52 19.4% Hyderabad pays the most for fuel K h yat i S h a h @ Hyderabad Among the six metros in the country Hyderabad resi, dents now pay the highest fuel prices, with petrol costing `110.89 per litre after the latest revision. Industry representatives attributed the high prices largely to Telangana’s steep Value Added Tax (VAT), which stands at 35.20% on petrol and 27% on diesel — the highest among states. Fuel prices were revised amid elevated crude oil prices and supply concer ns linked to the ongoing West Asia crisis. Petrol prices in Hyderabad were increased by `3.39 per litre, while diesel prices went up by `3.26 per litre, the steepest hike among the six metros. Diesel now costs `98.96 per litre in Hyderabad. The price of XP100 petrol in Telangana stands at `163 per litre, while XP95 costs `120.33 per litre.  CONTINUED ON P2 Pay `3 a litre more for petrol, diesel Freight rates set to jump, analysts see 15-25 basis points hike in retail inflation Rakes h K u ma r @ New Delhi The inevitable finally happened on Friday with oil marketing companies , (OMCs) raising petrol and diesel prices by `3 per litre, while compressed natural gas (CNG) prices for automobiles were increased by `2 per kg. This is the first hike in petrol and diesel prices ever since state-run refiners suspended daily fuel price revisions in April 2022. The last revision came in March 2024, when prices were cut by `2 per litre ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Friday’s announcement comes amid disruptions in global oil and gas supplies following the escalation of conflict in West Asia after attacks by Israel and the US on Iran on February 28. The impact of the price hike is expected to be felt across logistics, transportation, freight and e-commerce sectors, as well as other industries. “We expect freight rates across sectors to increase by approximately 2.5-3% immediately said Ashok Goy,” al, National President of the All India Transporters Welfare Association. Economists and analysts expect the price hike to result in a 15-25 basis points increase in retail inflation. The full impact of the hike is likely to be reflected in June inflation numbers. “The pass-through effect of the fuel price hikes is likely to increase CPI inflation by 15 basis points,” said Megha Arora, Director at India Ratings and Research. She added that the diesel price hike would have a wider impact because of its extensive use in transportation, coastal fishing boats, tourism, e-commerce operations and by aqua farmers for running aerators. Analysts believe the fuel price hike will provide only limited relief to OMCs. According to Prashant Vasisht of ICRA, despite the hike, OMCs will continue to incur losses of about `500 crore daily on the sale of auto fuels and domestic LPG. Transporters will to partially pass on the burden to customers. We expect freight rates to increase by about 2.5-3% Ashok Goyal, prez, All India Transporters Welfare Association Costlier diesel to pinch Economists and analysts expect the diesel price hike would have a wider impact because of its extensive use in transportation, coastal fishing boats, tourism, e-commerce operations 2-state solution On Palestine, BRICS members reaffirmed support for a two-state solution and backed the creation of an independent Palestinian within the 1967 borders BRICS FM meet fails to issue joint statement Jaya n t h Jaco b @ New Delhi Foreign ministers of the BRICS grouping failed to issue a joint communique after a two-day meeting in New Delhi on Friday, with sharp divisions over the Iran and Gaza wars exposing geopolitical fault lines within the expanded bloc that now includes both Iran and the UAE. The breakdown in consensus was driven primarily by objections raised by Iran to key paragraphs in the draft outcome document dealing with West Asia, Gaza and maritime security sources said. , According to sources, Tehran opposed paragraph 26, which addressed the Gaza and Palestine issue, and paragraph 29, which referenced the importance of ensuring “the exercise of navigational rights and freedoms of vessels of all states in the Red Sea and Bab AlMandab Strait, in accordance with international law”. As a result, host India was forced to issue a chair’s statement and outcome document that mentioned “a member had reservations on some aspects of this paragraph,” without naming any country . Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi suggested that the UAE had blocked consensus language due to its alignment with Israel and the US. “There were differing views among some members as regards the situation in the West Asia/Middle East region,” India said in the chair statement. It also highlighted shared concerns over regional instability and stressed the importance of “safe and unimpeded maritime commerce through international waterways”. POCSO case: No interim order on Bandi son plea Bandi must hand over son to police: CM TG Na i d u @ Hyderabad Justice T Madhavi Devi of the Telangana High Court on Friday declined to pass any interim order in the anticipatory bail plea filed by Bandi Sai Bhageerath, son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in a case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The vacation bench clarified that orders on the anticipatory bail plea, including the request for interim protection from arrest, would be pronounced on the next vacation bench day, Thursday . The matter came up before the vacation bench as part of a criminal petition filed by Bhageerath seeking anticipatory bail in connection with the POCSO case registered at Pet Basheerabad Police Station. The interim application seeking protection from arrest had earlier been heard on Thursday and was posted to Friday for further hearing. After hearing arguments from all sides well into Friday night, Justice Madhavi Devi observed that it would not be possible to pronounce orders immediately from the bench and adjour ned the matter for orders. Senior counsel S Niranjan Reddy, appearing for the petitioner, urged the court to grant interim protection from arrest pending pronouncement of orders. He submitted that the petitioner was willing to cooperate with the investigation and appear before the police whenever required. The senior counsel argued that if the matter remained Bandi’s mom suffers heart attack Cases over revealing identity of minor Hyderabad: Bandi Shakunthala, mother of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, suffered a heart attack on Friday. Family members rushed her to a private hospital in Gachibowli. Doctors inserted a stent. Sanjay visited the hospital. Hyderabad: Pet Basheerabad police registered a case against several media and social media channels for allegedly circulating photographs, videos and other identifying details of a minor girl in a POCSO case involving Bandi Bhageerath, son of MoS (Home) Sanjay Kumar | P4 pending for another week, coercive action should not be taken in the meantime. He further submitted that the investigation could continue unhindered and assured the court that there would be no interference with witnesses or tampering with evidence. However, counsel representing the victim opposed the request for interim protection, contending that no such relief should be granted in a serious offence registered under the POCSO Act. The court accordingly adjourned the matter for orders. Judge raises concern over social media posts At the commencement of proceedings, Justice Madhavi Devi referred to social media posts and messages allegedly targeting her over the hearing of the case. Observing that she was disturbed by the developments, the judge addressed the coun- sels appearing in the matter and remarked that attempts were being made to attribute motives to her merely because she was hearing the petition in her judicial capacity . Addressing the courtroom, the judge reportedly asked the lawyers present, “How many of you are on social media? Have you noticed the smear campaign?” She said she was pained by the circulation of messages allegedly casting aspersions on her impartiality . Justice Madhavi Devi then asked Niranjan Reddy, appearing for the petitioner, Pappu Nageswar Rao who was appearing for the victim’s mother and Public Prosecutor for Home Palle Nageswara Rao whether they had any objection to her hearing the matter. The judge stated that she would not hesitate to recuse herself if any party had “even an iota of objection” to her continuing with the case.  continued on p4 I r e d d y S r i n i vas Re d d y @ Hyderabad Opining that Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar should answer questions publicly and produce his son before the police, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday termed the conduct of the MoS in the matter “morally wrong”. Defending the state government’s handling of the POCSO case, the chief minister said that Sanjay should cooperate with the investigation instead of all ow i n g h i s son to evade questioning. “There cannot be any exemption for anyone in cases involving crimes against women and minors,” Revanth said while addressing a private programme in Hyderabad. Stressing that crimes against women and minors could not be tolerated, he explained the timeline of the case in detail. According to the chief minister, the mother of the minor girl lodged a complaint at Pet Basheerabad police station on the night of May 8. Police began the inquiry on May 9 and later added POCSO charges based on the minor girl’s statement.  continued on p4 NEET re-exam on June 21, online test from next yr e x p r ess n e w s se r v i ce @ New Delhi EDUCATION Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday announced that the re-examination for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) Undergraduate 2026 will be held on June 21. The fresh exam comes after the original test was cancelled on May 12 following question paper leak. The re-examination will be conducted in the conventional pen-and-paper (offline) mode and will be available in 13 languages. The exam fee for the cancelled test will be fully refunded, and no additional fee will be charged for the re-test. Starting next year, the NEET-UG exam will shift to computer-based test mode, the National Testing Agency said. Briefing the media, Pradhan said, “The decision to cancel the NEET-UG exam was announced on May 12 only in the interest of meritorious students. We do not want any wrong candidate to take up the seat, which rightfully belongs to a genuine candidate, with the help of the machinations of education mafia.” In a significant change, the duration of the exam has been extended by 15 minutes. It will now be held from 2 pm to 5.15 pm. Admit cards, centre intimation slips, and other details will be released by June 14. Students can update their present address and select examination cities from May 15 to May 21 (up to 11.50 pm). Candidates can indicate their first and second choice of examination cities during this period. No corrections in other particulars will be permitted except for the present address and choice of centre. Requests for changes will be entertained till the May 21 deadline. E x p r e s s Re a d Stone laid for AMCA project at Puttaparthi Our priority is the future of students. I appeal to all students to appear for the exam without fear. We won’t let malpractice happen this time Dharmendra Pradhan, Education minister Kingpin arrested from Pune Three days into its probe, the CBI on Friday said it had cracked the NEET paper leak case with the arrest of a Pune-based Prof P V Kulkarni, the “source” of the leak. He is an expert on the panel that sets the NEET-UG question papers | P8 Anantapur: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said Andhra Pradesh will emerge as a major defence manufacturing hub with the establishment of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) project and several other defence industries in Rayalaseema. The chief minister, along with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, laid the stone for the AMCA project and other defence units at Puttaparthi | P5 Trump returns from China ‘empty-handed’ Beijing: Chinese and US leaders Xi Jinping and Donald Trump concluded a summit in Beijing with some symbolic wins that made for good optics domestically but produced few substantive agreements, analysts have said. The US president touted new “fantastic trade deals” and Xi called it a “milestone” summit, despite failing to reach concessions on core interests such as Taiwan or tariffs | P9 Stand ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’, says PM as UAE announces $5bn investment j aya n t h j aco b @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reiterated India’s support for the United Arab Emirates amid instability in West Asia, declaring that New Delhi stands “shoulder-toshoulder” with Abu Dhabi as the two countries signed a series of major agreements spanning energy, defence, trade, shipping and advanced technology, while the Gulf nation also announced investments worth USD 5 billion in India. During wide-ranging talks in Abu Dhabi with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Modi strongly condemned attacks targeting UAE and stressed that ensuring stability in the Gulf, particularly the security of the Strait of Hormuz, was a shared strategic priority . PM Narendra Modi with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan | PTI “The way the UAE has been targeted is unacceptable in any way,” Modi said during the meeting, held against the backdrop of rising tensions linked to the Iran conflict and growing threats to regional shipping and energy infrastructure. The visit, the first leg of Mo- di’s five-nation tour, highlighted how rapidly the India-UAE relationship has evolved from an economic partnership into a broader strategic alignment. A major focus of the visit was energy security. Among agreements signed was a strategic pact with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to expand cooperation on India’s strategic petroleum reserves and exploring collaboration in LNG and LPG infrastructure. The agreement will increase UAE’s participation in India’s petroleum reserves to 30 million barrels while also supporting the development of strategic gas reserves. Modi stressed that keeping the Strait of Hormuz “free, open and safe” was critical for global economic stability and energy security . MP HC: Bhojshala in Dhar a Saraswati temple A n u r aa g S i n g h @ Bhopal THE Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday ruled that the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Dhar district is a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, while simultaneously quashing a decades-old ASI order that allowed the Muslim community to offer Friday prayers at the site. The ASI had in April 2003 restricted the right of Hindus to worship within the Bhojshala complex. After hearing a batch of petitions and intervention applications filed by representatives of the Hindu, Muslim and Jain communities for 24 days following directions by the Supreme Court, a division bench of the High Court, comprising Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi, stated in its 248page order, “Historical literature established that the character of the disputed area at Bhojshala was a Centre of Sanskrit learning associated with Parmar dynasty king Raja Bhoj and the literature and architectural reference, including those connected with Raja Bhoj period indicate the existence of a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati at Dhar.” While allowing and disposing the petitions filed by the Hindu side — the Hindu Front for Jus- tice, Kuldeep Tiwari and others, the high court bench said, “The disputed area of Bhojshala and Kamal Maula Mosque is held to be protected monument under Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, with effect from March 18, 1904. The religious character of the disputed area of the complex is held to be a Bhojshala with a temple of Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati).” The bench clarified that the Muslim side may approach the state government for separate land in the district to construct a mosque. JMuslim petitioners set to move SC All the Muslim petitioners of the case on Friday said that they will challenge the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s decision declaring the disputed Bhojshala structure in Dhar district to be a Saraswati temple