An amended government order issued on Tuesday said Hindi will "generally" be the third language, instead of being mandatory, but gave an option to opt out if 20 students per grade in a school express the desire to study any Indian language other than Hindi.
When asked about Prahar Janshakti Party leader Bachhu Kadu's hunger strike, Fadnavis said district guardian minister Chandrashekar Bawankule will speak to him.
The end of the process to withdraw nominations for Maharashtra assembly polls on Monday left the Congress in despair in Kolhapur North seat after its candidate Madhurima Raje Chhatrapati withdrew, while the Bharatiya Janata Party managed to convince Gopal Shetty to opt out from Mumbai's Borivali.
The Bharat Mata controversy in Kerala shows how political and symbolic fights between the state and the Centre have taken attention away from education, throwing the state's oldest university into confusion and disorder, observes Shyam G Menon.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday asked what was the need to "impose" Hindi on students and appealed to schools in Maharashtra to foil the government's "hidden agenda to deliberately create a language divide".
Social media influencer Ranveer Allahbadia and other individuals associated with a YouTube reality show, "India's Got Latent, " face legal trouble after complaints were filed in Mumbai regarding offensive and vulgar content on the show. Two separate complaints, one with the police and another with a city court, were filed by members of the BJP and Congress, respectively. The complaints allege that the show promotes abusive language, vulgarity, and nudity. The YouTuber, with almost 16 million followers, has since apologized for his distasteful comments on parents and sex, which had sparked widespread outrage. The complaints seek action against Allahbadia, show host Samay Raina, fellow YouTuber Ashish Chanchlani, the show's makers, judges, and participants.
...'hum decide karenge kaun banega mukhyamantri. This decision is not to be taken in Mumbai.'
Maharashtra's caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who took ill at his native village in Satara district, is recovering and will return to Mumbai on Sunday evening, an associate said.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor welcomed the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 case, and said everyone associated with the conspiracy of the Mumbai terror attacks must face the court of justice. He described Rana's extradition as a "step forward for justice." Rana, a Pakistan-born Canadian national and close associate of David Coleman Headley, is being brought to India after his last-ditch attempt to evade extradition failed. Tharoor expressed hope that the interrogation of Rana would provide more details about the Mumbai attacks and said he was "very glad" that Indian authorities managed to get Rana's custody.
With more than 1.2 million Indians stuck in green card backlogs, investor-driven EB-5 programme sees rising interest as a secure route for migration to the US.
'The Election Commission is conducting the National Register of Citizens in Bihar through the backdoor.'
There is no guarantee that if we speak in only Indian languages, all our faults will be washed away and India will shine. Why then do they bully and belittle the English-speaking? asks Shyam G Menon.
Tamannaah Bhatia bagged an endorsement for Mysore Sandal Soap but not everyone's happy about it.
Even as parleys continue in both states, the grand old party is expected to contest less than 110 seats in the November 20 polls for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly.
'You've got to understand it is not easy to die by suicide.' 'People commit suicide only when they lose everything and find no other way to live.'
Convert the Haryana result into a blessing in disguise; make the calamity into an opportunity. Maharashtra was always the big ticket game in town; MVA must win it. The Congress should shift headquarters to Mumbai for the entire month. Show urgency and a hunger to win, asserts Sanjay Jha.
'Like me there are crores of Marathi people in the state hoping for this miracle to work.'
Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Ziauddin Siddique, popularly known as Baba Siddique, on Thursday said he had resigned from the party and will be joining the Ajit Pawar led-Nationalist Congress Party.
The Sena-UBT pointed out that the Congress only spoke about itself in the Ahmedabad meet, and INDIA or Bharat was nowhere in the discussion.
Former Maharashtra MLA and NCP leader Zeeshan Siddique has received a death threat via email, demanding Rs 10 crore and threatening to "kill him the same way" as his father, Baba Siddique, who was shot dead last year. The sender claimed to be a member of the D-company and warned Zeeshan not to contact police. Police have launched a probe into the death threat and extortion demand.
42 years of World Cup triumph: A Day that made Indian cricket what it is
Pawar recalled that he was a member of a delegation sent by former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao to the UN under the leadership of BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The firing took place outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddiqui's office.
In controversial remarks, Maharashtra Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Monday said terrorists have no caste or religion and questioned veracity of the claim that terrorists asked about faith of tourists before killing them in Kashmir's Pahalgam town last week.
Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are majority shareholders of Young Indian with 38 per cent shares held by each one of them. They were questioned for hours by the ED in this case a few years back.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it had filed a chargesheet on April 9 in a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper. Apart from Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the chargesheet also names senior Congress leaders Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey as co-accused.
NCP leaders including, Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal and Ajit Pawar were present at the Bada Qabrastan during the last rites of Baba Siddique.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet in the Associated Journals Limited-Young Indian-National Herald money-laundering case, seeking confiscation of assets worth Rs 661 crore and appending statements of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The agency has accused the Gandhis of orchestrating a conspiracy to illegally obtain the underlying assets of AJL by the beneficial owners of YI (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi). Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have denied any wrongdoing and said the takeover of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) by Young Indian (YI) was not for commercial purposes. The Congress has slammed the chargesheet, alleging that the ED action against its leaders shows panic and moral bankruptcy of the "despotic" government, while the BJP has continued to call out the role of the Gandhi family in the matter.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) transferred an assistant municipal commissioner after the demolition of a Jain temple in Vile Parle sparked a controversy. The demolition of the temple, which the BMC claimed was an unauthorized structure, led to protests from the Jain community. The transferred officer was in charge of the K-east ward where the temple was located.
India succeeded in busting the Pakistani narrative on Operation Sindoor, particularly among the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member nations, where Islamabad sought succour after carrying out terror activities across the border, Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde said.
Speculations about a rapprochement between Uddhav Thackeray and his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray are gathering steam, but leaders of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) acknowledge that personal ties and organisational synergy are significant hurdles that need to be overcome. While both parties have expressed a willingness to put aside "trivial issues" and unite, the prospect of a reunion is complex, involving family dynamics, ideological differences, and the potential for internal conflicts. The reunion buzz has come at a time when both parties are experiencing a political nadir, with the Sena (UBT) winning 20 seats and the MNS drawing a blank in the 2024 assembly polls. The prospect of the two cousins coming together has enthused supporters of both parties, but it might not be the case with a section of cadres and party leaders. Key concerns include seat-sharing agreements, potential conflicts in areas with strong bases for both parties, and ideological differences.
Speculation is rife in political circles over the past few days that he is likely to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
'In this assembly election, Muslims here will vote for one who works, but also one who safeguards their identity.' 'Their existence is more important they feel, than a faulty light meter. So yes, a Muslim representative will make a difference.'
The father of Murali Naik, a soldier from Andhra Pradesh who died during cross-border shelling in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch, said his son joined the Army despite his opposition as he wanted to serve the nation. Naik, a 23-year-old Agniveer, died in the line of duty on Friday. He was the primary breadwinner for his family, which has been living in Mumbai for the past 32 years. Naik's death has been mourned by politicians and officials, including Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The Bombay High Court has reserved its order on comedian Kunal Kamra's petition seeking the quashing of an FIR registered against him for allegedly making defamatory remarks against Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The court also granted Kamra interim protection from arrest.
Can a culture survive as a way of life, even as the language and writing at its core, alter with time? Can we be rational and Malayalee or do we have to necessarily be religious and proudly cultural to be Malayalee? asks Shyam G Menon.
Ajit's remarks came at a time when Maharashtra is witnessing heated political debates over the Mahayuti government's demand to remove Mughal empire Aurangzeb's grave from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Maharashtra recorded a voter turnout of 58.22 per cent till 5 pm on Wednesday in the elections to the 288-member state legislative assembly, with Gadchiroli district logging more than 69 per cent voting, poll officials said.
This will be the first major electoral test after the political realignment that emerged in 2019.
'Rahul Gandhi is showing an 'I-don't-care-attitude'.' 'He is showing the same attitude towards what is happening in Maharashtra or in various parts of the country.'
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