Nationwide protests against the NEET paper leak have intensified across several Indian states, with demonstrators condemning the Delhi Police crackdown and demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The Congress party has called for further demonstrations, while various student and political groups have organised marches and sit-ins, some leading to clashes with police.
Mumbai and its suburbs experienced widespread pre-monsoon showers, offering relief from the recent heat and humidity. Several areas received moderate to heavy rainfall, with no major disruptions reported.
Trading activity was adversely affected at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market early on Wednesday because of thin attendance due to the Mumbai bandh called by the Opposition parties in the state.
Estranged Thackeray cousins -- Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray participated -- though not together -- in a morcha for the cause of textile mill workers in Mumbai on Thursday.
Marathas, a politically-influential community constituting around 30 per cent of the state's population, have been demanding reservation in jobs and education.
A man demanding reservation for the community jumped to his death in a river in Aurangabad district.
The Shiv Sena on Saturday decided to call off the August 1 bandh over the issue of houses for textile mill workers following Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's positive response to it.
The Bombay high court on Friday restrained political parties and individuals from proceeding with the Maharashtra bandh scheduled for August 24 or on any future date.
The move has come after an organization 'Matheran Paryatan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti' (Save Matheran Tourism Struggle Committee) has called for the indefinite bandh due to growing menace of horse owners operating in the hill station.
In a veiled attack on CM Shinde, Thackeray said the 'Kansa Mama', a reference to a character in Mahabharat, is busy getting rakhis tied on his wrists and asked when he will get justice for the nieces.
It has been little over three decades since the iconic mills of Mumbai, then a significant cog in the nation's commercial capital have closed down and gone silent. Many have been razed and replaced by malls, commercial and residential complexes.
Uttar Pradesh Energy Minister Arvind Kumar Sharma was forced to address an event in the dark in his hometown Mau due to a power outage. The incident, which went viral on social media, led to action against four power department officials, including the suspension of two. Sharma was in Mau for a three-day event marking eight years of the BJP government in the state. The power failure lasted for hours, causing inconvenience to the locals and creating an awkward situation for the minister. While some BJP workers alleged that the outage was deliberate, locals praised Sharma for his composure and humility.
Some pro-Kashmir resistance handles on social media have claimed that the citizens who were injured in the Pahalgam terrorist attacks were not 'ordinary', but connected with internal security and counter-intelligence agencies like the Intelligence Bureau (IB).
"The state-wide bandh will commence from 12 midnight," NCP spokesman and state minister Nawab Malik said on Sunday.
Normal life was hit on Monday in several parts of Maharashtra, particularly Mumbai where stone-pelting BJP and Shiv Sena activists tried to disrupt road and rail traffic during the 12-hour bandh called by the opposition to protest price rise.
Barring stray incidents of violence like stone pelting, the shutdown called by the MVA allies Shiv Sena, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party was largely peaceful.
Beleaguered Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde resigned from the cabinet on Tuesday, days after his close aide Walmik Karad was named as the mastermind in the murder of a village sarpanch and three months after the new Mahayuti government assumed office.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a forum comprising 40 farmer unions, called for a Bharat Bandh on Monday against the Centre's three agriculture laws. Here is its impact across the country:
Thackeray said the bandh should be "strictly" followed till 2 pm, ensuring that emergency services remain operational.
Violent protests erupted in Parbhani, Maharashtra, India, for the second day over the vandalising of a replica of the Indian Constitution. Prohibitory orders were imposed in the city, banning gatherings of five or more people in public places. A mob indulged in arson and vandalised the district collector's office. Police arrested a man in connection with the incident, but protests continued. Protesters demanded a thorough investigation and blamed the government's lax approach.
The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi has called for the statewide shutdown to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens. Barring stray incidents of stone pelting and attempt to disrupt road traffic in Mumbai, there was not much impact of the bandh in the metropolis.
With all the evasions, one assertion made by the Pune (Rural) police stood out: They had found no connection of the Elgar Parishad with the violent incidents of January 1, 2018. Yet, the case against the 'Bhima Koregaon 16', which is based on exactly this alleged connection, continues, and seven of the accused continue to be behind bars under the UAPA, explains Jyoti Punwani.
'The Dalits have always asserted themselves, but there has never been any gain for Dalits.' 'But now the most significant thing that has emerged, and which has got all the political parties in denial mode, is the assertion of smaller OBCs along with the Dalits.' 'I accept that the Dalits by themselves are not in a position to make a Mumbai bandh successful.' 'It was only because of the participation of the smaller OBCs that the bandh has become a success.'
Thackeray was referring to CM Shinde's claim that the protest was politically motivated and most of the protesters had come from outside.
Miscreants had also set fire to a police outpost.
Vishwas Chogule had worked two days at a stretch following the blast in Jogeshwari and the Mumbai bandh called by the Shiv Sena in protest against the blast.
The nationwide protests on Wednesday against fuel price hike and Foreign Direct Investment in retail brough life to a standstill in major cities. The strike call has been given by both the National Democratic Alliance and the Third front parties. Here's what the situation was like in major cities across the country.
'Farmers will block rail tracks in various places. Markets and transport services will be closed during 'Bharat Bandh'
The BEST services resumed after the shutdown ended around 4 pm.
The Badlapur school, where two young girls were allegedly sexually abused, preferred to cover up the crime instead of helping their parents file a police complaint, said Susieben Shah, chairperson of Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, on Wednesday.
Farmers gathered at several national highways, key roads and some railway tracks in Punjab and Haryana on Friday morning as part of their nationwide protest against the Centre's new agri laws.
As fuel prices continue its northward march with petrol and diesel being sold at Rs 80.73 and Rs 72.83 per litre in the national capital, at least 21 opposition parties, led by the Congress have staged a Bharat Bandh protesting the rise in fuel prices and depreciation of the rupee.
The Congress expressed its 'whole-hearted' support to the 'Bharat bandh' called by farmer unions against the new agri-marketing laws and announced that it will hold protests that day at all district and state headquarters in solidarity with the demands of the farmers. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the party rank and file would actively participate in the bandh to ensure it was a success.
The day-long Bihar bandh was called by various student organisations, particularly AISA, the student wing of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), an ultra Left party, to protest attacks on north Indian candidates during a railway recruitment examination in Mumbai.
Rediff.com brings you a combined update of the effect of Thursday's Bharat bandh, called by the National Democratic Alliance, Left parties and Samajwadi Party to protest against the latest hike in petrol prices, from various parts of the country.
In Nashik, around 200km from Mumbai, two groups clashed during a bandh called by the Sakal Hindu Samaj in protest against atrocities on minority community members in the neighbouring country, leading to tension in the Bhadrakali area, where police lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.
The bandh, called by Barak Democratic Front and supported by political outfits including opposition AIUDF and social organisations, was "total" and there was no report of any untoward incident from any district, another official said.
