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Maharashtra

6,871 Officers and Employees Issued Notices for Absence from Election Duty Warning of Criminal Action Against Defaulters: Additional Municipal Commissioner Dr. Ashwini Joshi

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Mumbai: Under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation General Elections 2025–26, show-cause notices have been issued to a total of 6,871 officers and employees for remaining absent from their assigned election duties. Out of these, 2,350 officers and employees subsequently participated in the election process. However, police action will be initiated against 4,521 officers and employees who failed to attend training sessions, the actual polling process, or election duty despite repeated notices since Monday, 12 January 2026.

Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) Dr. Ashwini Joshi has adopted a strict stand and warned of severe action against those found negligent. In this connection, an important meeting was held on Saturday, 11 January 2026, at the Municipal Corporation Headquarters. The meeting was attended by Joint Commissioner (Taxation and Collection) Vishwas Shankarwar, Deputy Commissioner (General Administration) Kishor Gandhi, Assistant Commissioner (Taxation and Collection) Gajanan Bele, Zonal Deputy Commissioners, and Assistant Commissioners of all administrative departments.

As per the Mumbai Municipal Corporation General Elections 2025–26 schedule, polling will be held on Thursday, 15 January 2026. Attendance at training sessions was made mandatory for all officers and employees appointed for election duty. Those who remained absent from training were given a final opportunity on Saturday, 10 January 2026. Dr. Ashwini Joshi had earlier warned that strict disciplinary and legal action would be taken under the Representation of the People Act, 2020, against officers and employees who remained absent or showed negligence during the election process. Accordingly, action has now been initiated.

The ongoing action includes officers and employees of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation as well as those from nationalised banks, BEST, BSNL, HPCL, insurance companies, LIC, MHADA, MTNL, the Postal Department, Railways, RCF, NABARD, and other government, semi-government, and public sector undertakings.

Dr. Ashwini Joshi stated that elections are a constitutional and legal responsibility, and negligence in this regard is considered a serious offence. As per the directive, police notices will be served at the offices of the concerned 4,521 employees starting Monday, 12 January 2026.

For the Mumbai Municipal Corporation General Elections 2025–26, the total number of voters is approximately 1 crore 3 lakh 44 thousand 315 (10,344,315). Conducting an election of this magnitude requires a large workforce. Polling will take place on 15 January 2026, while vote counting is scheduled for 16 January 2026. The administration is currently facing a significant shortage of staff, making it necessary to take strict decisions.

The administration is committed to conducting the election process in a free, fair, transparent, and disciplined manner. Dr. Ashwini Joshi has therefore made it clear that any delay, negligence, or violation of instructions will not be tolerated. All officers and employees are directed to immediately accept and faithfully discharge their assigned election duties, failing which legal and administrative action will be unavoidable.

Maharashtra

Mumbai: Fake doctor arrested for cheating Rs 10 crore, used to provide medical services without a certificate, major action by Crime Branch

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Mumbai: Crime Branch has succeeded in arresting a fake doctor who has been practicing medicine without a certificate for the last 28 years. The Mumbai Crime Branch unit was busy in carrying out the investigation and received a tip-off that a suspected 50 year old man had prepared the documents of a fake doctor. By opening accounts in multiple banks, SSR deposits funds into these accounts. The accused also has a personal flat. He has committed a lot of fraud in the name of CSR Fund. He has committed a fraud of Rs 10 crore in the last three years in the name of Dr Dharinder Kumar. PAN card and identity card, visiting card had been prepared and medicines were also recovered from his stash, but the police found him a fraud. A case has been registered under the Medical Act and other charges and the court has ordered to keep him in police custody till July 16. This action Mumbai Police Commissioner Divine Bharti’s name is being helmed by Police Commissioner Anil Kambhare and DDCP Raj Takk Roshan.

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Maharashtra

‘Sack Dharmendra Pradhan, save Sonam Wangchuk’: Shiv Sena(UBT) in ‘Saamana’

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Mumbai, July 13: The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Monday launched a blistering attack on the Central government over its “callous silence” regarding the rapidly deteriorating health of innovator and activist Sonam Wangchuk.

In a scathing editorial in the party’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the Thackeray faction demanded the immediate resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the massive NEET-UG examination scam and called for a nationwide youth mobilisation at Jantar Mantar. Wangchuk, affectionately called the “son of the Himalayas”, has been on an indefinite hunger strike at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for 15 days, lending his moral weight to the ongoing student agitation.

The editorial painted a grim picture of the activist’s physical condition, warning that the government’s inaction is putting a national treasure at risk. ‘’His body is emaciated, his breathing is laboured, and his voice has grown faint. Yet, PM Modi continues to shield his inactive, incompetent Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan. Sonam Wangchuk’s life must be protected at all costs.”

The editorial emphasised that Wangchuk’s agitation is entirely noble, driven strictly by the welfare of India’s student community rather than personal greed or political ambition. It aggressively questioned why the Prime Minister has failed to engage in basic democratic dialogue, noting that while Wangchuk starved, PM Modi was busy touring four to five countries and collecting foreign honours.

At the heart of Wangchuk’s fast and the Uddhav camp’s fury is the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) crisis, which has seen repeated question paper leaks and arbitrary cancellations, throwing the futures of millions of medical aspirants into absolute chaos, said the editorial.

The Thackeray camp alleged that competitive exams have been reduced to a “horse-trading market” where question papers are openly auctioned for millions of rupees. Investigations into the paper leaks have exposed close ties between the accused orchestrators and the “BJP family”. The editorial slammed the government’s “bizarre and extreme” proposal to put the military and the Air Force in charge of securing future exam papers instead of fixing internal institutional rot.

According to the editorial, Pradhan, by appointing corrupt Vice-Chancellors to prestigious universities, “effectively destroyed” India’s higher education framework. “Dharmendra Pradhan is no titan of education,” the editorial remarked sharply. “He completely lacks the visionary leadership of his illustrious predecessors like Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, P.V. Narasimha Rao, or Arjun Singh,” it remarked.

Drawing a sharp historical parallel, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena called out the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its deep ideological double standards.

It recalled the 2011 anti-corruption movement when veteran activist Anna Hazare went on an 11-day hunger strike at Ramlila Maidan for the Jan Lokpal Bill under the Dr Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. At the time, the Manmohan Singh administration proactively sent multiple Union Ministers and emissaries to engage with Hazare, sustain open communication, and iron out solutions.

“Back then, the BJP actively supported Anna’s movement, loudly labelling it as ‘public outrage’ and the ‘voice of the people’. Today, sitting comfortably in power, they dismiss Wangchuk’s genuine, student-led protest as a ‘political conspiracy’. This is nothing but pure hypocrisy,” stated the editorial.

Reminding the ruling dispensation of its political roots, the editorial pointed out that it was the unified force of India’s youth that originally propelled Narendra Modi to power 12 years ago, sparked by his strategic campaign address to students at Ferguson College and his highly publicised Pariksha Pe Charcha programmes.

“Today, the integrity of those very exams has been thoroughly decimated, yet the Prime Minister refuses to even discuss it,” the editorial noted.

The Thackeray camp concluded with an urgent appeal to the nation’s conscience, invoking the spirit of veteran activists and urging the public to transform Wangchuk’s solitary fast into a mass movement. “If Anna Hazare’s spirit is alive, he must stand by Wangchuk in Delhi. The opposition must mobilise at Jantar Mantar, and the youth of this nation — for whose very future Wangchuk is risking his life — must awaken from their slumber. Chanting ‘Jai Hind’, young citizens need to hit the streets, break their silence, and hold this government accountable. Let Sonam Wangchuk’s fight become India’s collective struggle!”

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Business

Top 10 firms add nearly Rs 93,000 crore in market value last week

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Mumbai, July 12: The combined market valuation of four of India’s 10 most-valued companies increased by Rs 92,995.48 crore during the last week, with HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel emerging as the biggest gainers, even as the broader equity market ended lower.

During the week, the Sensex declined 194.52 points, or 0.25 per cent, while the Nifty slipped 63.95 points, or 0.26 per cent.

Among the country’s 10 most-valued companies, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) registered gains in their market capitalisation.

In contrast, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India (SBI), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and Hindustan Unilever together witnessed an erosion of Rs 49,294.13 crore in their market valuation.

HDFC Bank recorded the largest increase in market capitalisation during the week, with its valuation rising by Rs 35,808.09 crore to Rs 12,69,454.42 crore.

Bharti Airtel followed closely, adding Rs 34,896.92 crore to take its market valuation to Rs 11,98,774.22 crore.

LIC’s market capitalisation rose by Rs 16,065.5 crore to Rs 5,60,205.05 crore, while Reliance Industries added Rs 6,224.97 crore, taking its valuation to Rs 17,71,206.33 crore.

On the losing side, Hindustan Unilever registered the steepest decline, with its market capitalisation falling by Rs 12,088.65 crore to Rs 5,04,997.65 crore.

Larsen & Toubro’s valuation declined by Rs 11,040.23 crore to Rs 5,42,938.40 crore, while TCS lost Rs 8,574.87 crore in market value, ending the week at Rs 7,48,600.40 crore.

Bajaj Finance saw its market capitalisation shrink by Rs 7,813.58 crore to Rs 6,35,327.78 crore. ICICI Bank’s valuation slipped by Rs 6,315.32 crore to Rs 10,05,379.71 crore, while SBI’s market value declined by Rs 3,461.48 crore to Rs 9,56,430.44 crore.

Despite the mixed performance, Reliance Industries retained its position as India’s most-valued company by market capitalisation. It was followed by HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, TCS, Bajaj Finance, LIC, Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Unilever.

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