Daily bulletin: DUSU elections today; Bishop Franco says charges in Kerala nun rape case 'concocted'; day's top stories

23 candidates in fray today at DUSU elections; voting to begin at 8.30 am As many as 1.35 lakh students will decide the fate of 23 candidates in the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) polls on Wednesday. The voting is set to begin at 8.30 am. While the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) has promised the “Institute of Eminence” tag for Delhi University and thalis for Rs 10, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has promised to spend 50 per cent of the union’s budget on women and social justice-related activities, along with a special attention to promoting sports and installing sanitary pad vending machines on college campuses. The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) student wing, the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), and left-wing students’ outfit All India Students Association (AISA) are jointly contesting the DUSU polls. [caption id=“attachment_5143911” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Students campaign ahead of DUSU polls. Pallavi Rebbapragada[/caption] Fuel prices hit new highs Petrol and diesel prices hit fresh highs on Tuesday as the rupee plunged to an all-time low, making imports costlier. A 14-paisa per litre rise in petrol and diesel prices each took the rates to an all-time high. Petrol price in Delhi climbed to Rs 80.87 per litre, while in Mumbai it inched up to Rs 88.26. A litre of diesel in the national capital was priced at Rs 72.97 and Rs 77.47 in Mumbai. No progress on Kerala nun rape case by police; a****ccused Bishop Franco Mulakkal denies charges against him More than 75 days after the complaint was filed, the Kerala police have not made any progress on the Kerala nun rape case. Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar diocese in Punjab, who is accused of raping a 44-year-old nun, rejected the charges as “baseless and concocted” and said he was open for a probe.“If I am found guilty, which I am not, I am likely to be punished…I will appear before police if I am summoned. I am a law-abiding citizen,” he told television channels in Jalandhar. Accusing the nun of ‘blackmailing’ him, the Kerala priest also hit out at those protesting against him. The nun on Tuesday had petitioned to the Vatican representative in India to sack the clergyman, claiming he was using “political and money power” to ‘bury’ the case even as the Kerala government on Tuesday assured, “justice will be done”. Making a fervent plea for urgent intervention, the nun, in a scathing letter, also sought to explain her silence before coming out against the bishop, saying she had “tremendous fear and shame” and wondered why the church was “closing its eyes towards the truth”. Telangana Opposition demands President’s Rule ahead of Assembly polls Accusing the caretaker government of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) of ‘misusing’ powers, Opposition parties in Telangana Tuesday met Governor ESL Narasimhan and urged him to take steps to ensure that President’s Rule was imposed in the state in the run-up to Assembly polls. “Even if KCR (K Chandrasekhar Rao) is caretaker chief minister, free and fair polls will not be possible in Telangana. We demanded that elections be conducted after imposing President’s Rule,” Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N Uttam Kumar Reddy told reporters after meeting the governor. Earlier in the day, Congress, TDP, and CPI held preliminary talks to evolve a “grand alliance” for the coming Assembly elections in the state. Apple to unveil next generation of iPhone today Later on Wednesday, at 10.30 pm, Apple will unveil its next generation of iPhone, and not just one at that. Tonight, we are expecting to see three new iPhones, all featuring the iPhone X design language, which includes a notch with Face ID. Two of these phones are expected to feature dual cameras on the rear and an OLED display. The third phone is expected to be “cheap”, cutting costs by offering an LCD screen and a single rear camera. Besides the iPhone,  a new Apple Watch Series 4 is also expected – and maybe one variant with a round dial, the rollout of iOS 12 to all supported iOS devices and maybe even macOS Mojave rolling out to compatible Mac devices. Alongside these launches, we are hoping to also see updated AirPods with support for wireless charging as well as the much-vaunted AirPower wireless charging mat that was teased last year. There’s also a small chance that we’ll see a Face ID-toting iPad Pro with support for a brand new Pencil. Rupee hits an all-time low of 72.75 The rupee hit a life-time low yet again on Tuesday amid strong dollar demand from foreign banks, but the currency pared some of its losses later in the day following a Reserve Bank of India intervention. The rupee has been the worst performing Asian currency this year. Despite strong GDP growth, the currency has weakened about 12 percent this year amid higher oil prices and a broad sell-off in emerging markets, widening India’s current account deficit and a worsening balance of payments that slipped into the red in April-June for the first time in six quarters. After opening on a stronger footing on Tuesday, the rupee weakened to a record low of 72.75 to the dollar. It recovered some of its losses to close at 72.7075 after the RBI likely sold dollars in the market to stem the weakness.   Japan Open, Day 2 After the victories of PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy on the opening day of the $700,000 Super 750 event, the second day will witness Indian shuttlers taking part in the men’s and women’s doubles events at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza in Tokyo, with matches starting at 6.30 am IST.