The initiative, launched earlier this week, has been taken up by a non-profit NGO, Friends of India Society, based in the United Kingdom. Its membership comprises people of Indian origin living outside India.

Pune district’s Swati Dabhade, who scored 537, is among the three toppers in this year’s Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) examination, results of which were declared on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Thackeray held discussions with NCP leader and Maharashtra’s former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on being a part of the Opposition’s alliance.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday held a formal meeting to discuss pre-poll alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

While the NCP is yet to officially declare Pawar’s candidature, senior leaders present at a meeting that Pawar attended on Thursday confirmed that he has agreed to contest.

According to the ED, DSK Group Chairman Deepak Sakharam Kulkarni, his wife, son and executive director of the group, Shirish, allegedly floated eight partnership firms in Mumbai, Pune and Kolhapur to collect deposits from “gullible investors”.

On December 12, 2015, the bodies of artist Hema Upadhyaya (43) and her lawyer Harish Bhambani (65) were found in a drain in Kandivali (East). After questioning, Hema’s ex-husband Chintan, himself an artist, was arrested along with four others.

The counsel for the BMC told the court that the experts will be appointed in a couple of days and in the first week of March, the Tree Authority will hold a meeting to discuss the application of the MMRC

Sancheti, appearing for petitioner Shukla, argued that the survey was conducted only on 43,000 families, covering two lakh people, which is not even 0.2 per cent of the total population of the state.

An officer said: “We have recorded the statements of her parents who have said that she was upset as they had scolded her. The mother had advised her to avoid being on the mobile phone.”

After the stay order, the civic body is being forced to put on hold the process of appointing contractors for upgradation of six sewage treatment plants.

Around 10,000 residents of 40 villages, a majority of whom are agricultural labourers and brick kiln workers, are sleeping in the tents, after the frequency of the tremors increased.

The maximum temperature, which touched 36 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, showed a drop. On Wednesday, the Santacruz station recorded a maximum of 33.4 degrees Celsius, 2 above normal.

The action came after three persons lost their vision and four others suffered partial vision loss due to botched-up cataract surgeries in a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation-run hospital.

“We found her body in three pieces. Parts of the body also bore cigarette burn marks. It is possible that she was raped before she was killed,” a senior officer said.

“We have pick-up vehicles to expensive bikes, and people have started coming in to ask about vehicles that they have lost,” said a police officer from zone 1.

According to the police, Todsam and his second wife Priya, who he claimed to have married two years ago, were attending the kabaddi tournament when his first wife, Archana, arrived at the venue along with a clutch of supporters, including some women.

The panch witness was a footwear seller on Mohammed Ali Road. He told the court that he used to sleep on a footpath near Suleman Bakery. But he doesn’t know what happened in the bakery.

“On one hand we have a visionary leadership in Modi, and on the other, we have Maha ‘thug’ bandhan,” Devendra Fadnavis said.

Sources say BJP to focus on increasing number of seats; even if it contests 143 seats, it can target 130-135 seats.

A meeting between Congress and NCP leaders for finalising seat-sharing remained inconclusive Wednesday. Another meeting will be held Thursday. 

NCP chief Sharad Pawar has hinted that he is considering the option of entering the fray from western Maharashtra’s Madha constituency, which he had represented in 2009.

According to the Air Intelligence Unit, the passenger carried 44 gold bars, each weighing 500 gm and worth over Rs 6.74 crore, concealed in underwears.

During investigation, police found Anuja was allegedly being harassed by her husband and in-laws which could have forced the woman to take the extreme step.