Mumbai News Highlights: Bus services between Maharashtra-Karnataka suspended as inter-state language dispute escalates

Sanjay Raut sought explanation from the organisers of the 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in Delhi regarding remarks made by Shiv Sena's Neelam Gorhe targeting the Shiv Sena UBT. Gorhe, who is the deputy chairperson of Maharashtra Legislative Council, had claimed that posts in Shiv Sena UBT were attained through monetary means, including gifts like Mercedes cars, news agency PTI reported. Raut wrote to Sahitya Sammelan chairperson Usha Tambe, claiming that it appeared that the event was "held under political pressure". While stating that the platform was "grossly misused", Raut said that if the programmes were not organised with proper approval from the Sahitya Mandal, an apology should be issued for hosting these events.

An 18-month-old boy was killed, and his mother seriously injured after a car rammed into them when they were sleeping on the footpath in Mumbai's Wadala, news agency PTI quoted a police official as saying. "Priya Nikhil Londhe (29) and her son Vardaan were sleeping on the footpath when a speeding car driven by Kamal Vijay Riya (46) hit them. The toddler died on the spot, while Priya sustained serious injuries. Riya was arrested under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions for causing death by negligence," the official said.

Despite the state government aggressively promoting Marathi, including making it compulsory in government and semi-government offices, the number of Marathi-medium schools in Mumbai has been on the decline: it has declined from 368 to 262 in 10 years.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation education officer Rajesh Kankal attributed the decline to changing parental preferences. “Most parents prioritize English-medium education. Those who don’t get admission there opt for Marathi medium as a second choice,” he said.

Read the full report here

Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday that the Centre's efforts gave momentum to the country's cooperative sector, and underscored its importance in making India a developed nation by 2047.

Addressing the valedictory function of the diamond jubilee celebrations of Janata Sahakari Bank Limited in Pune, Shah said the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi made India's cooperative sector marketable.

Separately, the Union Home Minister chaired the 27th meeting of the Western Zonal Council in Pune.

He urged the cooperative banking sector to embrace technology.

“In the last three years, the Centre has worked to give momentum to the cooperative movement in the country. We have made the model of India's cooperative sector marketable. We are empowering cooperative education by bringing a cooperative university bill,” said Shah.

Shah credited Pune MP and MoS for Cooperation, Murlidhar Mohol, for the establishment of the first regional branch of the Central Register of Cooperative Societies in the city. (PTI)

Granting bail to a man arrested for allegedly raping a minor girl in 2019, the Bombay High Court earlier this week observed that the girl, who was in love with the man, had voluntarily stayed with him and had “consensual encounter”.

The high court passed the order in the bail application of the accused who was arrested by the police in 2019, when he was 19, for the alleged offences of rape and kidnapping under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the POCSO Act based on an FIR filed by the father of the girl, then aged 14.

“No doubt that the girl was a minor. However, the facts of the present case indicate that she had sufficient knowledge and capacity to know the full import of her actions and what she was doing and had only thereafter voluntarily joined and stayed with the applicant for four days,” the single-judge bench of Justice Milind N Jadhav stated in the February 17 order. Read more

The people of Maharashtra have given a clear verdict on which is the genuine Shiv Sena and NCP by ensuring a massive victory for the Mahayuti in the assembly polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said here on Saturday.

The Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party split in June 2022 and July 2023, respectively, with a faction of each of the two parties joining the BJP-led Mahayuti and the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi.

The Mahayuti won 230 of the 288 Maharashtra assembly seats in the polls held in November, while the Sena and NCP factions led by Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, respectively, fared poorly.

Speaking at an event where sanction letters were allotted to 20 lakh beneficiaries and the first installment was disbursed to 10 lakh beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Shah said he was deeply grateful to the people of Maharashtra for the stellar support in the assembly polls.

"Your blessings brought the Mahayuti to power, leading to the formation of the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government. By giving a historic mandate, the people of Maharashtra also delivered a clear verdict on which Shiv Sena and which NCP are genuine," Shah said. (PTI)

A fire broke in a six-storey residential building at Marine Lines in South Mumbai on Saturday, officials said, adding that fire-fighting operations are currently underway. No casualties have been reported.

A viral video of the incident shows the building engulfed in a thick blanket of smoke, as the fire was being doused by authorities.

“The fire erupted on the second floor of the building around 12.40 pm and is confined within that area. The building has been evacuated and no one has been injured so far,” said an officer with the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB).

At present, five fire engines and five jumbo tankers have been deployed for fire-fighting operations.

Two men have been booked by the police in Palghar, Maharashtra, for allegedly transporting cattle without necessary permit.

The police also seized their tempo late on Tuesday after a patrol team on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway noted the vehicle, crammed with buffaloes and calves, was heading to Mira Road.

“There were 14 buffaloes and a few calves stuffed inside the vehicle. They were placed in such a way that it looked like the animals were struggling inside the tempo. On inspection it was found that the vehicle did not have the permit to transport cattle,” said an officer. Read more

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has begun work on alleviating power woes of Badlapur township in Thane district following a directive from the chief minister's office, an official said on Saturday.

The rapidly expanding township is facing power woes amid the construction of new housing complexes and industrial units, following which people gave a memorandum of demands to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis when he visited the area on February 19 on the occasion of Shivaji Jayanti, said former president of Kulgaon Badlapur Municipal Council and BJP leader Ram Patkar.

The letter from the state government has directed MSEDCL to take efforts to boost power supply in the township, which has 1.75 lakh electricity consumers, he added. (PTI)

A fire broke in a six-storey residential building at Marine Lines in South Mumbai on Saturday, officials said, adding that fire-fighting operations are currently underway. No casualties have been reported.

“The fire erupted on the second floor of the building around 12.40 pm and is confined within that area. The building has been evacuated and no one has been injured so far,” said an officer with the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB).

At present, five fire engines and five jumbo tankers have been deployed for fire-fighting operations.

Read the full story here.

A major fire broke out at a building in Mumbai’s Marine Line area on Saturday, following which fire tenders reached the spot to douse the flames, news agency PTI reported.

The Thane police have implemented traffic restrictions as part of the ongoing construction of a new bridge on both lanes from Desai Khadi to Katai village near Lodha Palava Junction in Dombivli, Kalyan East.

The temporary curbs from 11 pm and 5 am on certain routes until February 27 are meant to facilitate the installation of three cement girders on pillars with the help of cranes, Thane Traffic Department said in a statement.

Authorities have urged commuters, especially heavy vehicle drivers, to follow the prescribed alternative routes to avoid inconvenience.

Here are the entry restrictions and alternative routes

A 45-year-old woman was killed, and five people were severely injured after a truck rammed into vehicles at Rahud ghat on the Mumbai-Agra Highway near Chandwad in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, police told news agency PTI.

The brakes of a truck heading towards Mumbai failed on a slope, and it crashed into seven to eight vehicles, including cars and trucks, an official informed. A few persons sustained minor injuries in the accident.

The injured were taken to the Chandwad sub-district hospital, as per the report.

A day after a probe was ordered into the Rs 900-crore housing project approved by Eknath Shinde during his tenure as the Chief Minister of the erstwhile Mahayuti government, the Shiv Sena leader said on Friday that he should not be taken lightly as he could make or break governments.

Shinde made these remarks during his Vidarbha tour on Friday. Speaking to media persons in Nagpur, the Deputy Chief Minister said, “Do not take me lightly. I have already said this to those who have taken me lightly in the past. I maybe a normal party worker but everyone should understand that I am also a follower of Balasaheb.”

Hinting at his fallout with Uddhav Thackeray that led to the split in the Shiv Sena and the subsequent downfall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in 2022, Shinde said, “As promised,  we brought the government of common people to power in Maharashtra. I had said Devendra Fadnavis would get 200 plus seats. The Mahayuti got 232 seats in the 2024 Assembly elections.” Read more

Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Yogesh Kadam on Friday said several Shiv Sena (UBT) functionaries were quitting and asserted the fate of the Uddhav Thackeray-led party will be worse than that of the MNS in some time.

Kadam, minister of state for home in the Devendra Fadnavis government, also said Uddhav Thackeray was the son of late Bal Thackeray but he did not possess the ideology of the Shiv Sena founder.

"A lot of his companions have left and I think Uddhavji's (political) end is near. The situation of Shiv Sena (UBT) in the future will be worse than that of MNS. They will be finished in the local body elections," Kadam said.

No Shiv Sainik could digest Thackeray's meeting with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and his joining hands with that party to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Kadam added. (PTI)

The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination conducted by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) began on Friday, but an alleged question paper leak surfaced at an exam centre in Badnapur taluka, Jalna district, which falls under the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar division. However, authorities have refuted the claims of a leak, attributing the situation to a disturbance outside the centre caused by resistance to the strict anti-copying measures.

The controversy emerged after a viral video from a local news channel surfaced, alleging that photocopies of the Marathi question paper, along with answers, were available at a Xerox shop near the Zilla Parishad (ZP) School exam centre in Badnapur taluka. This occurred just minutes after the exam began at 11 am on Friday. The video also showed chaos outside the exam centre, fuelling further speculation. Read More

The Economic Offence Wing of the Mumbai Police arrested Abhimanyu Bhoan, the former CEO of New India Cooperative Bank, late Thursday in connection with a multi-crore scam.

According to the police, Bhoan was actively involved in the crime, having served as CEO between 2019 and 2024, when the misappropriation of funds occurred. The former CEO allegedly received around Rs one crore rupees from the misappropriated Rs 122 crore, making him a beneficiary of the scam.

The three accused — Hitesh Mehta, Dharmesh Paun, and Bhoan were produced before the court and remanded in police custody until February 28. Read More

Amid talk of a growing rift with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde on Friday said nobody should take him lightly, and made a veiled reference to the toppling of the MVA government.

It was a warning for those who are capable of understanding, he said, talking to reporters in Nagpur.

He had been a worker of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray and Sena leader late Anand Dighe, said Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena.

"In 2022, I toppled the cart of those who took me lightly, and we brought in a new government that stayed in the people's hearts," Shinde said, apparently referring to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Shinde had then become chief minister by splitting the Thackeray-led Sena and forming an alliance with the BJP.

"The double-engine government (headed by Shinde) ran at full speed, I and Devendra Fadnavis said we would win over 200 seats. We won 232 seats (in the 2024 assembly polls)," he said.

"Do not take me lightly. The hint is enough for those who understand it. I will continue to do my work," he added.

While both Shinde and Fadnavis have denied that there is discord, recent developments suggested there are simmering tensions. (PTI)

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) recently started work on the long-awaited extension of Palm Beach Road from Ghansoli to Airoli. The 3.47-km stretch, including a 1.9-km flyover, will improve connectivity and ease traffic congestion in the area.

The project, estimated at Rs 540 crore, is being jointly funded by NMMC and City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO). NMMC has already allocated Rs 372 crore for the extension in its 2023-24 budget. Originally, CIDCO had planned a 21.12 km road from Belapur to Airoli Sector 10 A, linking it to Mulund, Thane, and Mumbai.

“While 19.20 km of the stretch from Belapur to Ghansoli was completed, the remaining portion was stalled due to environmental restrictions on a 2-km stretch passing through mangroves,” said an NMMC official. Read More

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan at Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium on Friday. He said that the literary festival is happening at a time when India is celebrating 350 years of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s coronation. “During the long period of slavery, the Marathi language became the war cry in battle against the invaders, and warriors like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and Peshwa Baji Rao made the enemies bite the dust."

"Similarly, during the freedom struggle, Vasudev Balwant Phadke, Lokmanya Tilak and Veer Savarkar made the British bite dust,” PM Modi added.

He was accompanied by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, who is heading the reception committee for this year’s event. "On invitation from Sharad Pawar ji, I was able to join this glorious tradition. I would like to congratulate everyone, especially those who love the Marathi language, for organising this event," Modi said.

BJP MLA Suresh Dhas on Friday said embattled Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde should resign "for a few days" and make a comeback if he gets a clean chit in the Santosh Deshmukh murder-extortion cases and corruption allegations during his tenure as agriculture minister.

Munde, MLA from Parli in Beed, is under fire from the opposition and some Mahayuti colleagues after close aide Walmik Karad was held in an extortion case linked to the abduction and brutal murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in Massajog in Beed on December 9.

Dhas on Thursday levelled allegations of corruption to the tune of more than 180 crore against Munde and his associates in purchases made by the state agriculture department. Munde was agriculture minister between July 2, 2023 and November 2024.

"Munde must resign for few days. If no link is found between him and the cases related to Santosh Deshmukh and corruption, then he can make a comeback. Why is he sticking to the post of minister," Dhas said. (PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally inaugurated the 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, former Union minister Sharad Pawar among other dignitaries.

The sammelan was first held in 1878 with noted scholar and social reformer Mahadev Govind Ranade as its president. It has been held almost annually since 1926 and brought together scholars, critics and literary figures to deliberate on a range of issues, including the relevance of Marathi in changing times.

Well known expert of Marathi folk literature, culture, traditions and theatre artiste Tara Bhawalkar is the president of the conference.

The conference was last held in Delhi in 1954 with lexicographer Tarkatirtha Laxmanshastri Joshi as the president. The conference was inaugurated by the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

The sammelan will host a diverse array of panel discussions, book exhibitions, cultural performances, and interactive sessions with eminent literary figures. It will also celebrate the timeless relevance of Marathi literature and explore its role in contemporary discourse, including themes of language preservation, translation, and the impact of digitalization on literary works.

It will feature over 2,600 poetry submissions, 50 book launches, and 100 bookstalls among others. A special train from Pune to Delhi ferried nearly 1200 participants for the sammelan, showcasing the unifying spirit of literature. (PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to shortly inaugurate 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan.

Amid the discord in the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra over some of the decisions taken during the tenure of the previous government led by Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, state Transport Minister and Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik has now blamed the former regime for losses incurred by the state-run MSRTC.

Sarnaik was responding to a demand to extend concessions by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to journalists. Speaking at a press conference in Dharashiv on Thursday, he said, “Women and senior citizens were given concessions to travel. Fifty per cent discount in buses for beloved sisters, free buses for senior citizens… Due to this, the corporation is losing Rs 3 crore every day.  The situation has become like this due to this concession.”

“If we keep giving such concessions to everyone, I think it will be difficult to run the corporation, so I cannot consider this demand at the moment. MSRTC should reach every village. I will try to ensure that our buses reach new areas,” he added. Read More

Dressed in traditional attire and swaying to the sounds of drums, literature enthusiasts on Friday took out a ceremonial procession of books to mark the beginning of the 98th Marathi literary festival at the Talkatora Stadium here.

The 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan has returned to the national capital after a gap of 71 years and a year after Marathi was recognised as a classical language by the central government.

Over 3,000 writers, poets and literary enthusiasts have gathered here from across Maharashtra to take part in the festival that has a history of nearly 150 years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is formally inaugurating the sammelan in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, former Union minister Sharad Pawar among other dignitaries. (PTI)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair on Saturday the 27th meeting of the Western Zonal Council in Pune, which will provide a platform for resolving disputes and issues between the Centre and States in the region.

The Western Zonal Council comprises the states of Gujarat, Goa, Maharashtra and the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

The zonal councils hold discussions on a wide range of issues, including speedy investigation of cases of sexual offence/rape against women and children and implementation of Fast Track Special Courts for expeditious disposal of such cases.

Facilitation of banks/India Post Payment Bank branches within 5 km in each village, implementation of Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112), issues relating to infrastructure, mining, environment and forests, food security parameters and other subjects of common interest at the regional level are other issues discussed at the meetings. (PTI)

To provide direct access to Mumbai Coastal road and as a proactive measure against traffic bottlenecks in the future, Mumbai is set to get a new vehicular underpass running below the Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Road, connecting JK Kapur Chowk with the coastal road via the vehicular interchange at the Bindoo Madhav Thackeray Chowk at Worli Seaface.

Once the underpass is opened vehicles can travel into two directions, one will be towards the Bandra and the other will be towards Marine Drive/Nariman Point, ensuring a smooth flow of traffic.

Traffic coming from Atal Setu will merge into the proposed Worli-Sewri connector which will drop a few meters away from the JK Kapur Chowk, providing direct access for southbound vehicles. Read More

Maharashtra Cyber police has registered a case against at least four editors of Wikipedia for not taking down “objectionable” content on Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj from the open source encyclopedia, officials said on Friday.

The nodal agency had sent a notice to the California-based Wikimedia Foundation, requesting the removal of the content from Wikipedia. The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that hosts Wikipedia.

Maharashtra Cyber agency had also mentioned in the notice that the Wikipedia content was inaccurate and could potentially lead to a law-and-order situation in the state as Sambhaji Maharaj, the son of Maratha empire founder Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, is highly revered in India.

PTI

The Mumbai police on Friday arrested two men from Buldhana in connection with the email threat against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. An officer from Mumbai Crime Branch said the accused – identified as Mangesh Wayal, 35, and Abhay Shingane, 22 – are being brought to the city and will be produced before the court.

The India Meterological Department has forecast mainly clear sky in Mumbai and suburbs during the day. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 35 and 18 degree Celsius.

The 98th All-India Marathi Literature Conference will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi’s Talkatora stadium today. Accompanying PM Modi will be Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Pawar is the head of the reception committee this year. Poets, authors and prominent political figures from Maharashtra are expected to take part in the three-day conference.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police on Wednesday arrested 58-year-old Lallan SIngh who had been absconding in the Torres fraud case ever since the scam came to light.

Singh is alleged to have taken nearly Rs 14 crore invested by people into a group of companies and routed it back to Torres in legitimate currency. This is the seventh arrest in the case.

An official said the accused was arrested from Navi Mumbai and had been hiding in Prayagraj where the Kumbh Mela was in progress in the past few weeks. Earlier, the ED too had raided premises linked to Singh. Read More

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has reportedly received a threat from an unidentified person who sent an email on Thursday threatening to blow up Shinde’s vehicle. The Goregaon police are working to track down the person who sent the email.

The email was sent to several recipients including the Goregaon police, JJ Marg police station, state secretariat and two other locations in Mumbai. This is not the first time Deputy CM Shinde is facing threats. Just a month ago, he received another threat, which led to the arrest of a 27-year-old person.

Eknath Shinde was in Delhi on Thursday to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new Chief Minister of Delhi. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar are also in the national capital. Read More

Three persons were arrested allegedly with whiskers and canine teeth of tiger/leopard as well as pangolin scales in Maharashtra's Gondia district, a forest department official said on Thursday.

They were held from Sadak Arjuni range on Wednesday on a tip-off received by Divisional Forest Officer P G Kodape (Vigilance), he said.

"The arrested persons have been identified as Vitthal Mangru Sarati, Harish Laxman Landge and Ghaynshyam Brahmankar. We recovered 22 big cat whiskers, tiger/leopard canine teeth, pangolin scales and a country-made revolver. They were booked under Wildlife Protect Act and a court has remanded them in custody till February 21," the official said. (PTI)

Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate has been sentenced to two years in prison by a Nashik district court for his involvement in a 30-year-old document tampering and fraud case. The conviction is related to the illegal acquisition of two flats under the chief minister’s discretionary quota.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the NCP leader. His brother, Sunil Kokate, was similarly convicted in the case, which dates back to 1995. The case was initiated by former minister Tukaram Dighole , who accused the Kokate brothers of forging documents to fraudulently obtain flats in the Nirman View Apartment, located on College Road in Yeolekar Mala, Nashik. Tukaram Dighole, a three-time MLA and former Congress leader, was defeated by Kokate in the 1999 elections when Kokate won his first term as an MLA from Shiv Sena. Dighole passed away in 2019.

According to the charges, the Kokate siblings had claimed that they belonged to the low-income group (LIG) and had no other properties, which allowed them to secure flats under the chief minister’s 10 per cent discretionary quota. However, investigations revealed that they had falsified documents to receive these benefits. Read More

Embattled Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde on Thursday said he has been diagnosed with Bell's Palsy, a condition that causes sudden weakness in face muscles, which had severely affected his ability to speak.

Munde made the announcement on Facebook.

"Currently, I cannot speak properly for even two minutes, which has prevented me from attending cabinet meetings and public events," Munde said in his social media post.

Munde assured Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar that he was committed to overcoming his illness and returning to public service as soon as possible.

The minister had undergone eye surgery under Dr TP Lahane some 15 days ago, and he had been advised to stay away from bright lights, dust and sun exposure. Munde is under fire from the opposition and some Mahayuti colleagues after close aide Walmik Karad was held in an extortion case linked to the abduction and brutal murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in Massajog in Beed on December 9. (PTI)

The Maharashtra government has decided to fill all the 1,500 posts for Arts, Sports, and Computer instructors in Ashram Shala residential schools for tribal children, triggering backlash from the teaching community.

Many teachers’ unions have cautioned that the move could harm the holistic education these schools aim to offer and affect the quality of teaching.

The government has sanctioned a funding of over Rs 81 crore towards the salaries of these contractual teachers, which include 499 posts for each of the three categories. Read More

In January this year, a woman in South Mumbai was scouring the internet for ways to visit the Mahakumbh in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj when she chanced upon a website offering discounted helicopter rides at the pilgrimage site. The woman clicked on the link and paid more than Rs 60,000, only to realise later that she had been duped. In less than a month, the Cuffe Parade police solved the case – with a traffic challan in Bihar providing a vital clue.

“On January 17, 2025, a 35-year-old woman came across the fake website https://mahakumbhhelicopterservice-online while searching online. The site offered discounted rides for a group of 26 people, quoting a total of Rs 60,652,” a police officer said.

The woman made the payment via UPI but realised later that the money had been transferred to the bank account of a woman named Sonamuni Devi, not a legitimate company. When the website disappeared from the search results and the contact number provided on the site went unanswered, the woman realised she had been duped and approached the Cuffe Parade police station. Meanwhile, another resident from Colaba reported being scammed through the same website. Read more

The Maharashtra government appears to be facing a “diversity deficit,” as the representation of various minority communities in state government positions has declined significantly over the last decade. While the share of reserved categories increased from 68.4 per cent to 71.1 per cent between 2015 and 2023 in line with the affirmative action policies, the share of three minority communities — Christian, Muslims and Jains– in government jobs declined in the same period from 4.74 per cent to 4.08 per cent.

According to data from the Maharashtra Government’s Directorate of Economics and Statistics, the state’s total employee strength has decreased by 16 percent, from 5.71 lakh in 2015 to 4.78 lakh in 2023, it represents a 34% shortfall over the total sanctioned workforce of 7.24 lakh employees. In terms of workforce distribution, while 570 positions are sanctioned per lakh of the population, only 377 employees are currently working per lakh of the population.

In a bid to keep the faction united, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray will hold a meeting with party MLAs today, following the exit of key functionaries including former Rajapur MLA Rajan Salvi. A discussion is also likely on choosing the party’s leader in the state Legislative Assembly. A meeting of MPs will be held on February 25.

The India Meterological Department has forecast mainly clear sky in Mumbai and suburbs during the day. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 35 and 19 degree Celsius.

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