Activist Manoj Jarange vows to intensify his hunger strike for Maratha reservation under OBC, while the Maharashtra government seeks legal opinion on the issue.
Scandals and civic bodies, given the official venality, political corruption and builder's avarice, are not far apart.
A proposed statue of Maharana Pratap in front of a mosque in Sujanpur Tira town, Himachal Pradesh, has sparked tensions between the Hindu and Muslim communities. The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has called for the statue to be erected at the approved spot, while a delegation of Muslims has submitted a memorandum to the local administration requesting it not to be installed in front of the mosque. The deputy commissioner has asked the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) to look into the issue and resolve it.
Mumbai, home to 1 crore voters and 420 candidates vying for 36 assembly seats, is gearing up for the Maharashtra Assembly elections on November 20. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has completed all preparations for smooth conduct of the polls, ensuring a robust security arrangement and dedicated facilities for senior citizens and differently-abled voters. The BMC has also urged citizens to exercise their franchise, emphasizing the importance of active participation in strengthening democracy.
The scenic Powai Lake in Mumbai overflowed on Wednesday morning following heavy rains in its catchment areas for the last two days, a civic official said.
A special court in Mumbai denied bail to businessman Sujit Patkar, an aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, in the alleged COVID treatment centres scam. The court found that Patkar played with the "life of people" by under-deployment of doctors and staff to generate proceeds of crime. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged that Patkar's firm, Lifeline Hospital Management, fraudulently obtained a contract for supplying medical staff at Dahisar and Worli Jumbo Covid facilities during the pandemic, resulting in the generation of proceeds of crime (PoC) amounting to Rs 32.44 crore. The court noted that there are ample statements of the witnesses to show that a list of more staff members was prepared than being deployed on the instructions of Patkar.
Bangladesh's Election Commission has announced that general elections will be held in the first week of February 2025. The announcement comes amid concerns about ensuring a free, fair, and impartial election. The BNP is expected to participate, potentially without its former ally, Jamaat-e-Islami.
To seek approval for about 2,084 political advertisements in the city, the BJP submitted nearly 517 applications to the poll body from March 13 till May 8, data accessed by PTI showed.
Coaching institutions across the national capital, some lined up in cramped lanes while others housed in lofty buildings in busy commercial areas, are risking the lives of students, with lack of fire safety measures, single entry and exit points, faulty wiring and overloaded electrical circuits among the most common problems.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday attributed early arrival of the southwest monsoon and heavy rainfall in a short span for the inundation of low-lying areas in Mumbai, which disrupted road and railway traffic.
The Muslim community in Sujanpur Tira town in Himachal Pradesh has withdrawn its objection to a proposed Maharana Pratap statue outside a mosque. The decision comes after a delegation of the community submitted a memorandum to the Hamirpur administration, asking it not to install the statue in the park being built outside the mosque. The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) had called on the administration not to go back on its decision to install the statue at the approved spot.
According to the official, an electric bus on Route 66 (from Ballard Pier in south Mumbai) was on its way to Rani Laxmibai Chowk in Sion when the incident occurred.
A year after a young woman doctor was raped and murdered in Kolkata, her parents express their disappointment with the investigation and their continued pursuit of justice.
The number of suspected Guillain-Barr Syndrome (GBS) deaths in Pune district, Maharashtra, has reached six after a 63-year-old man died. The outbreak has been linked to water contamination caused by campylobacter jejuni, a common bacterial pathogen that causes gastroenteritis and can trigger GBS. The number of suspected GBS cases has risen to 173, with 140 diagnosed with GBS. 34 patients are in Pune Municipal Corporation limits, 87 from newly added villages in PMC area, 22 from Pimpri Chinchwad civic limits, 22 from rural parts of the district, and eight from other districts. Of the 173, a total of 72 have been discharged, 55 are in ICU and 21 are on ventilator support.
The railways was not intimated about a Dussehra event along the tracks that led to the deaths of at least 61 people in Amritsar.
The first-ever Khelo India Water Sports Festival is all set to reveal the iconic Dal Lake in a new avatar.
With the total number of municipal wards set to be revised following the passage of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill-2022 in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, experts have said that the civic polls in New Delhi is unlikely to take place before a year from now as a fresh delimitation exercise will be required.
In a neck-and-neck electoral race, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won 1,443 out of the total of 3,351 wards while opposition parties including Congress and Independents won 1,908 wards in the Rajasthan civic body polls, results for which were announced on Thursday.
Ahmedabad civic authorities launched a massive demolition drive on Tuesday, razing over 2,000 illegally constructed houses and properties in the Chandola Lake area. The operation, which involved around 50 teams equipped with earthmovers and 2,000 police personnel, was carried out days after illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were detained from these settlements. The Gujarat High Court declined to stay the action, observing that the dwellings were situated on the periphery of the water body and therefore subject to demolition under the Land Revenue Code. Authorities also demolished the illegal farmhouse of Lalu Pathan, alleged mastermind behind the encroachments, who is suspected to have helped illegal immigrants obtain rental accommodation and Aadhaar cards.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued the final gazette notification for redrawing of municipal wards in Delhi, paving the way for civic polls in the city.
The TMC had swept all the 16 assembly segments in Kolkata in the last election.
The BJP secured a runaway victory in the Municipal Board elections in Assam, pocketing 72 civic bodies out of 80. The Congress, the principal opposition party of the state, could not even win a single civic body.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by Amit Maru, a resident of Tardeo and Arun Gaikwad from Kurla, alleging violation of legal provisions by the government while increasing the limit of floor space index. The FSI is an indicator of the amount of construction that is allowed on a particular plot. Higher FSI allows more number of floors.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday took serious note of the "pattern" of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai of issuing a tender, then cancelling it and again reissuing it leading to cost escalation and delay in completion of projects.
The 155-year-old Kendrapara Municipality, the oldest civic body in the eastern state, has even put up a 'Brahmin crematorium' signage at the entrance of the burning ghat at Hazaribagicha locality in the town.
Eight people were killed and over 60 injured on Monday when a huge iron hoarding collapsed on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar area of Mumbai amid rain and gusty wind, while several others are feared trapped, officials said.
Mangesh Kasalkar, an MNS worker, and RTI activist Iyas Khan had repeatedly warned the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation about the illegal extensions and violations by 1 Above, a rooftop pub inside the labyrinthine Kamala Mills in Mumbai's Lower Parel, where 14 people where died in a fire on Thursday night, but nothing was done.
Former MLA Harshwardhan Sapkal has been appointed as the new president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), tasked with reviving the party in the state after its crushing defeat in the last year's assembly polls. Sapkal, a veteran politician, replaces Nana Patole, who held the position since 2021. The Congress aims to rebuild its base and prepare for upcoming local body polls, including those in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, and Nagpur. The party will also need to work with its allies, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), to strengthen the opposition against the ruling BJP-led alliance.
Thousands of fans thronged the Marine Drive in south Mumbai to witness the victory parade of the Indian cricket team on Thursday evening.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has accused Bangladeshi migrants of seeking birth certificates illegally in the state to obtain voting rights, labeling it as "vote jihad part 2". He claimed that nearly 100 such cases have been reported in Amravati and Malegaon tehsil in Nashik. Fadnavis reiterated his government's commitment to combating anarchist forces and urged people to remain vigilant. He also lauded the BJP's performance in the recent assembly polls, attributing the victory to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
A Kolkata court rejected a petition by the parents of the R G Kar Hospital rape-murder victim to allow their lawyer to visit the scene of the crime, citing a lack of legal basis and potential violation of established procedure.
Chief Minister-designate Rekha Gupta and her Council of Ministers will take oath at the Ramlila Maidan on Thursday afternoon in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marking a return of the BJP in Delhi after 26 years.
A strong dust storm and gusty winds followed by rain hit Delhi-NCR on Friday evening, causing trees to be uprooted in several parts and leading to traffic congestion. Thunderstorms caused power disruptions in several parts of the city, primarily due to trees and branches falling on electricity cables. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert, recommending people stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel.
An angry Banerjee slammed a minister, a former Trinamool Congress mayor and a few bureaucrats for their "below-par performance".
MNS leader Raj Thackeray has sparked speculation about a potential political rapprochement with his estranged cousin and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, suggesting their past differences are "trivial" and uniting for the greater good of "Marathi manoos" is not a difficult task. The comments come amid a political landscape in Maharashtra where the Shiv Sena (UBT) is facing a tough battle to retain its stronghold in Mumbai in upcoming civic polls, with competition from the Shinde-led Sena and BJP.
Srinagar Municipal Corporation has on anvil plans to refurbish the corporation in a big way and is planning to use the experiences of Pune Municipal Corporation in this regard.
Election to the 122-member Nashik municipal corporation has thrown a hung house, but indications are that the new ruling disposition may be either a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena-Nationalist Congress Party combine or MNS-Bharatiya Janata Party tie-up.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has listed 11 pieces of evidence, such as reports of DNA and blood samples, in its charge sheet to hold arrested Kolkata Police civic volunteer Sanjay Roy as the 'sole accused' in the rape and murder of a woman doctor at the RG Kar hospital in Kolkata.
"We cannot ban burqa-clad women in hospitals. This is not the solution. The women guards in hospitals conduct checks, so there seems to be no problem," Mumbai's Additional Municipal Commissioner A K Singh said
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