The Evening Wrap: Turkey presidential race will go to second round on May 28

Turkey’s electoral chief said that the presidential race will go to a second round on May 28 as incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan fell just short of an outright victory. Ahmet Yener, the head of Supreme Electoral Board, said on Monday that even when the remaining 35,874 uncounted overseas votes were distributed, no one would secure the majority needed to win the elections outright. He said preliminary results showed Erdogan won 49.51 per cent, his main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu won 44.88 per cent and the third candidate Sinan Ogan won 5.17 per cent. Even if all uncounted votes went to Erdogan, his votes would move up to 49.54 per cent, Yener said. Turkey’s presidential elections appeared headed for a runoff on Monday, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pulling ahead of his chief challenger, but falling short of an outright victory that would extend his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade. The vote will determine whether the strategically located NATO country remains under the president’s firm grip or can embark on a more democratic course promised by his main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. While Erdogan has governed for 20 years, opinion polls had suggested that run could be coming to an end and that a cost-of-living crisis and criticism over the government’s response to a devastating February earthquake might redraw the electoral map. Sameer Wankhede and others accused of serious irregularities in Mumbai cruise case Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zone director Sameer Wankhede and two other officials have been accused of serious irregularities owing to which an “independent witness” in the cruise ship case had allegedly conspired with others to extort ₹25 crore from the family of Aryan Khan, according to the First Information Report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In its complaint, the NCB has alleged that on receipt of information about the consumption and possession of drugs by various persons on the Cordelia Cruise ship on October 2, 2021, Mr. Wankhede and the then superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh had formed a team for conducting search and seizure operation at the entry gate of the International Terminal Building of the Mumbai Port Trust and the Cordelia Cruise. Intelligence officer Ashish Ranjan Prasad was made the investigating officer, while Kiran Gosavi and Prabhakar Sail were taken as “independent witnesses” in one of the incidents in the case. The seizures and arrests were carried out under the supervision of the three NCB officials. Following the graft charge, the NCB conducted an inquiry and found that names of certain suspects had allegedly been dropped from the first information note and those of some others included subsequently through modification to suit the proceedings. The initial note contained 27 names and the modified one only 10. Several passengers were searched at the departure gate of the Mumbai Port Trust. During the exercise, one Arbaaz A. Merchant accepted that he was carrying “charas” hidden inside his shoes and it was seized. Centre against splitting Manipur: CM Biren Singh The Centre has ruled out splitting Manipur on ethnic lines, Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh said on May 15. He also said stern action would be taken against extremist groups under a suspension of operations (SoO) agreement for possessing weapons illegally. “We met Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi yesterday (May 14) to brief him on the situation in Manipur. He expressed sadness over the incidents and said the State’s territorial integrity will not be compromised,” he told journalists in the State capital Imphal. An ethnic clash between a section of the non-tribal Meitei and members of tribes belonging to the Kuki-Chin-Zomi group following a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ on May 3 left more than 70 dead and 1,700 houses destroyed. Behind this march was a Manipur High Court order seeking a push for a proposal to grant Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitei people. There has been a demand from the Kuki-Chin-Zomi people for carving out a separate community-based administrative zone. A section also sought the merger of the Kuki-Chin-Zomi areas with Mizoram. MEA faces tough choice as Taliban picks a new Ambassador for Delhi The Taliban regime in Afghanistan’s decision to recall Afghan Ambassador Farid Mamundzay and appoint the current Trade Counsellor Qadir Shah as the Charge D’ Affaires (Acting Ambassador) in his place has posed a tough decision for the government’s policy on the situation in Afghanistan and its engagement with the Taliban. The tussle between the two became public on Sunday, after Afghan media outlets published a letter from Afghans based in India accusing the existing Ambassador and other officials of corruption. In a response Mr. Mamundzay, who has been the Ambassador in India since 2020 and is presently in Delhi, issued a letter calling the allegations “one-sided, biased and untruthful”, and blaming the “collapse of the democratic system” in Afghanistan for the “extreme problems” that Afghans outside their countries face. However, trouble has been brewing within the Embassy over the past month, after the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)’s Human Resources Director issued a letter (Order No. 3578 dated April 25, 2023), recalling Ambassador Farid Mamundzay and asking him to report to the MFA in Kabul. Another order on the same date by Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said that Trade Counsellor Qadir Shah would “supervise affairs at the Afghanistan Embassy in Delhi, India” and report to the government in Kabul. The move appeared to mirror what the Taliban did in China in April 2022, when the serving Ambassador resigned after the Taliban appointed another senior diplomat serving in the Embassy in Beijing. Go First insolvency: NCLAT to pass order on aircraft lessors’ petitions on May 22 The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal will pass its order on May 22 on petitions filed by three aircraft lessors against Go First’s voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings. A two-member Bench headed by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan on May 15 reserved its order after completing the hearing on the the three petitions. The Bench also asked the parties to submit additional documents, if any, in the next 48 hours. The appellate tribunal was hearing a batch of petitions filed by SMBC Aviation Capital Ltd, GY Aviation and SFV Aircraft Holdings. All three lessors have leased out around 21 aircraft to Go First. So far this month, several lessors have approached aviation regulator DGCA for deregistration and repossession of Go First’s 45 planes. Cyclone ‘Mocha’ damages over 230 houses in Mizoram At least 236 houses and eight refugee camps have been damaged after super cyclone ‘Mocha’ struck several parts of Mizoram, officials said on May 15. A total of 5,749 people in more than 50 villages were affected by the powerful winds on Sunday, they said. However, there were no reports of fatalities. Super cyclone ‘Mocha’ made landfall along the Myanmar-Bangladesh coasts on Sunday, after intensifying into the equivalent of a Category-5 storm, causing extensive damage to the southeastern coastlines and forcing the evacuation of over five lakh people in low lying areas. Of the 236 houses, 27 were completely damaged and 127 houses were partially damaged, the officials said. In brief Dissident Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Monday (May 15) threatened to launch a massive movement in Rajasthan if action on his demands is not taken by the month-end. He also demanded disbanding of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) and its reconstitution, a compensation for those affected by government job exam paper leak cases, and a high-level probe into charges of corruption he has levelled against the previous BJP government. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the commercial head and production controller of India Ahead News in connection with its probe into the alleged Delhi excise scam, officials said on May 15. “Arvind Kumar Singh, the commercial head and production controller of the news channel, was arrested for alleged transfer of ₹17 crore to a company handling the Aam Admi Party’s (AAP) publicity campaign during the Goa elections through hawala channels,” they said. [logo] The Evening Wrap 15 May 2023 [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]( Turkey presidential election will go to runoff as Erdogan performs better than expected [Turkey’s electoral chief said that the presidential race will go to a second round on May 28]( as incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan fell just short of an outright victory. Ahmet Yener, the head of Supreme Electoral Board, said on Monday that even when the remaining 35,874 uncounted overseas votes were distributed, no one would secure the majority needed to win the elections outright. He said preliminary results showed Erdogan won 49.51 per cent, his main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu won 44.88 per cent and the third candidate Sinan Ogan won 5.17 per cent. Even if all uncounted votes went to Erdogan, his votes would move up to 49.54 per cent, Yener said. Turkey’s presidential elections appeared headed for a runoff on Monday, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pulling ahead of his chief challenger, but falling short of an outright victory that would extend his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade. The vote will determine whether the strategically located NATO country remains under the president’s firm grip or can embark on a more democratic course promised by his main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. While Erdogan has governed for 20 years, opinion polls had suggested that run could be coming to an end and that a cost-of-living crisis and criticism over the government’s response to a devastating February earthquake might redraw the electoral map. Sameer Wankhede and others accused of serious irregularities in Mumbai cruise case [Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zone director Sameer Wankhede and two other officials]( have been accused of serious irregularities owing to which an “independent witness” in the cruise ship case had allegedly conspired with others to extort ₹25 crore from the family of Aryan Khan, according to the First Information Report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In its complaint, the NCB has alleged that on receipt of information about the consumption and possession of drugs by various persons on the Cordelia Cruise ship on October 2, 2021, Mr. Wankhede and the then superintendent Vishwa Vijay Singh had formed a team for conducting search and seizure operation at the entry gate of the International Terminal Building of the Mumbai Port Trust and the Cordelia Cruise. Intelligence officer Ashish Ranjan Prasad was made the investigating officer, while Kiran Gosavi and Prabhakar Sail were taken as “independent witnesses” in one of the incidents in the case. The seizures and arrests were carried out under the supervision of the three NCB officials. Following the graft charge, the NCB conducted an inquiry and found that names of certain suspects had allegedly been dropped from the first information note and those of some others included subsequently through modification to suit the proceedings. The initial note contained 27 names and the modified one only 10. Several passengers were searched at the departure gate of the Mumbai Port Trust. During the exercise, one Arbaaz A. Merchant accepted that he was carrying “charas” hidden inside his shoes and it was seized. Centre against splitting Manipur: CM Biren Singh [The Centre has ruled out splitting Manipur on ethnic lines, Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh]( said on May 15. He also said stern action would be taken against extremist groups under a suspension of operations (SoO) agreement for possessing weapons illegally. “We met Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi yesterday (May 14) to brief him on the situation in Manipur. He expressed sadness over the incidents and said the State’s territorial integrity will not be compromised,” he told journalists in the State capital Imphal. An ethnic clash between a section of the non-tribal Meitei and members of tribes belonging to the Kuki-Chin-Zomi group following a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ on May 3 left more than 70 dead and 1,700 houses destroyed. Behind this march was a Manipur High Court order seeking a push for a proposal to grant Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitei people. There has been a demand from the Kuki-Chin-Zomi people for carving out a separate community-based administrative zone. A section also sought the merger of the Kuki-Chin-Zomi areas with Mizoram. MEA faces tough choice as Taliban picks a new Ambassador for Delhi [The Taliban regime in Afghanistan’s decision to recall Afghan Ambassador Farid Mamundzay]( and appoint the current Trade Counsellor Qadir Shah as the Charge D’ Affaires (Acting Ambassador) in his place has posed a tough decision for the government’s policy on the situation in Afghanistan and its engagement with the Taliban. The tussle between the two became public on Sunday, after Afghan media outlets published a letter from Afghans based in India accusing the existing Ambassador and other officials of corruption. In a response Mr. Mamundzay, who has been the Ambassador in India since 2020 and is presently in Delhi, issued a letter calling the allegations “one-sided, biased and untruthful”, and blaming the “collapse of the democratic system” in Afghanistan for the “extreme problems” that Afghans outside their countries face. However, trouble has been brewing within the Embassy over the past month, after the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)’s Human Resources Director issued a letter (Order No. 3578 dated April 25, 2023), recalling Ambassador Farid Mamundzay and asking him to report to the MFA in Kabul. Another order on the same date by Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said that Trade Counsellor Qadir Shah would “supervise affairs at the Afghanistan Embassy in Delhi, India” and report to the government in Kabul. The move appeared to mirror what the Taliban did in China in April 2022, when the serving Ambassador resigned after the Taliban appointed another senior diplomat serving in the Embassy in Beijing. Go First insolvency: NCLAT to pass order on aircraft lessors’ petitions on May 22 The [National Company Law Appellate Tribunal will pass its order on May 22 on petitions filed by three aircraft lessors]( against Go First’s voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings. A two-member Bench headed by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan on May 15 reserved its order after completing the hearing on the the three petitions. The Bench also asked the parties to submit additional documents, if any, in the next 48 hours. The appellate tribunal was hearing a batch of petitions filed by SMBC Aviation Capital Ltd, GY Aviation and SFV Aircraft Holdings. All three lessors have leased out around 21 aircraft to Go First. So far this month, several lessors have approached aviation regulator DGCA for deregistration and repossession of Go First’s 45 planes. Cyclone ‘Mocha’ damages over 230 houses in Mizoram [At least 236 houses and eight refugee camps have been damaged after super cyclone ‘Mocha’]( struck several parts of Mizoram, officials said on May 15. A total of 5,749 people in more than 50 villages were affected by the powerful winds on Sunday, they said. However, there were no reports of fatalities. Super cyclone ‘Mocha’ made landfall along the Myanmar-Bangladesh coasts on Sunday, after intensifying into the equivalent of a Category-5 storm, causing extensive damage to the southeastern coastlines and forcing the evacuation of over five lakh people in low lying areas. Of the 236 houses, 27 were completely damaged and 127 houses were partially damaged, the officials said. In brief [Dissident Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Monday (May 15) threatened to launch a massive movement]( in Rajasthan if action on his demands is not taken by the month-end. He also demanded disbanding of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) and its reconstitution, a compensation for those affected by government job exam paper leak cases, and a high-level probe into charges of corruption he has levelled against the previous BJP government. The [Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the commercial head and production controller of India Ahead News]( in connection with its probe into the alleged Delhi excise scam, officials said on May 15. “Arvind Kumar Singh, the commercial head and production controller of the news channel, was arrested for alleged transfer of ₹17 crore to a company handling the Aam Admi Party’s (AAP) publicity campaign during the Goa elections through hawala channels,” they said. 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