Mumbai this week: Designer arrested after Amruta Fadnavis’ FIR; state govt employees, farmers hold protests

Here are the other news highlights from the past week (March 13-19):

Irked by false govt assurances, farmers begin protest march

Six days after a farmers’ long march led by the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) started from Dindori in Nashik district and reached Mumbai’s borders, the protest was called off as the Maharashtra government accepted the majority of their demands.

The 17 point charter of demands included granting forest land titles to adivasis and crop compensation to onion farmers at Rs 600 per quintal (against the Rs 300 given) after unseasonal rain damaged their crops.. 58-year-old Pundalik Ambo Jadhav, a resident of a village near Dindori in Nashik, lost his life during the long march.

Maharashtra govt employees begin indefinite stir over OPS

Over 17 lakh government, semi-government, teaching, and non-teaching staff in Maharashtra Tuesday began an indefinite strike demanding the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).

A few days later, the Maharashtra cabinet cleared the decision to allow family pension schemes for those who joined service after 2005. The move was seen as an attempt to pacify the protestors and the government’s positivity toward their demands.

IIT-B student’s father’s demand for murder FIR refused

The request of father of Darshan Solanki, an IIT Bombay student who died by suicide, to register a murder FIR in the case of his son’s death was turned down. Meanwhile, anecdotes of discrimination shared by SC/ST students alleged that the failure of the existing support system led to Solanki’s death, even as the institute’s probe committee ruled out caste bias.

Daughter’s alleged role in mother’s death sends shock waves

The 23-year-old woman, arrested for allegedly murdering her 55-year-old mother, chopping her body and keeping them at their house in Lalbaug, used tea powder, 35-40 bottles of air fresheners and phenyl over a period of two months to suppress the foul smell.

Hot and cold within a week

At the beginning of the week, Mumbai started off as the hottest city in the country, recorded a maximum temperature of 39.4 degrees Celsius, also the highest day temperature the city recorded in 2023 so far. After a few days of winds, dust storms and scattered rain, the city by Saturday recorded its lowest maximum temperature during March in the past two years.

Other important news this week:

1. Jolt to Uddhav as loyalist’s son joins Shinde’s Sena
2. Jan Aakrosh Morcha calls for economic boycott of Muslims
3. Looking for a clean public toilet in Mumbai
4. G20 meeting in Nagpur: Cops start clearing streets of beggars, homeless people
5. 3 out of 5 Mumbai women suffer from brittle bones
6. 132-year-old all-boys school in Mumbai turns co-ed
7. For third consecutive year, more women diagnosed with TB than men
8. Amid rising cases, high price of flu shot a concern
9. IIT Bombay gets ready for its first queer festival
10. Nutrition experts, chefs to draw up new menu for mid-day meals

Photo of the week:

Massive fire gutted a part of the Oshiwara Old furniture market on Monday morning. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

News to watch out for next week

1. With the last week of the budget session of the state legislature set to commence, tensions are rising between allies, both on the ruling and opposition sides, over seat sharing formula for the Assembly polls.
2. In several districts across Maharashtra, results of transpersons who had appeared for physical exams for Maharashtra Police recruitment are likely to come out.

News from Mumbai: March 6-12

News from Mumbai: February 27 – March 5

News from Mumbai: February 20 – 26

News from Mumbai: February 13 – 19

News from Mumbai: February 6 – 12

News from Mumbai: January 30 – February 5

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