Mumbai beat

Among those present at the release function at the Veer Savarkar Smarak Hall at Shivaji Park were former state chief minister Manohar Joshi, journalist and former Member of Parliament Narayan Athavale, and Executive Editor of the Saamna, Sanjay Raut.

Commuter hit by stone

A 20-year-old was hit below his right eye by a stone at the local train he was travelling in between Masjid and Sandhurst Road stations on the Central Railway on Saturday night.

According to the railway police, Rajesh Tukaram Dhampurkar, a resident of Sion, had boarded a Belapur local from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus at 8.40 pm and was seated near the window. As the train passed Masjid station near Carnac bridge, a commuter in a local train headed inthe opposite direction flung a stone at Dhampurkar.

He was administered first-aid and discharged. No arrests have been made by the railway police.

Ease pressure on students8217;

Education Minister Sudhir Joshi has called for an end to the undue pressure by parents and teachers on students to figure in the merit list of the Secondary School Certificate and Higher Secondary Certificate examinations. Speaking at the concluding function of the 75th anniversary of the Nashik Education Society and Pethe Vidhyalaya at Nashik, he questioned the need to publish the merit list at all. Wondering what purpose it served, Joshi said students who do not figure in the list are made to feel guilty. Topping the merit list is projected as a matter of life and death, he observed.

He also said that the state government plans to review its grant policy to educational institutions, wondering whether it was fair to place institutions which secure a 100 per cent pass percentage on par with those securing just 40 per cent.The government will take a policy decision soon, he added.

14 injured in Id procession

Fourteen persons aged between 14 and 18, participating in an Id-e-Milad procession, were injured after they came in contact with an electric wire at Vikhroli today.

Police say they were travelling on a truck carrying a flag tied to a metal rod, which struck an overhead wire at Kanamwar Nagar No 2 near Vikhroli station. Two persons sustained serious injuries. They were rushed to Rajawadi Hospital.

While five persons were discharged after first-aid, nine others are under observation in hospital.