Connect with us
Monday,07-September-2026
Breaking News

Maharashtra

In a first, 2 transgender named Maharashtra Congress secretaries

Published

on

Congress

In an effort to boost the aspirations of the marginalised communities, the Congress for the first time has appointed two transgenders as Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) Secretaries, top party officials said here on Friday.

The announcement came in a jumbo list of 190 office-bearers, including around 17 women, for the MPCC released by the Congress late on Thursday.

Two transgenders — Parvathi Parasuram Jogi and Salma Umarkhan Sakarkar — were the unexpected entrants as MPCC Secretaries in the list.

Besides, the state Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said that the party has named 18 vice presidents, 65 general secretaries and 104 secretaries.

Now, the MPCC has given representation to the people from 48 different communities including transgenders and is considerably ‘younger’ with an average age of 52 in which the oldest is over 70 years and the youngest being just 30 years old.

Among the major highlights are the appointment of Pradnya Satav, the widow of the late General Secretary Rajeev S. Satav — who died due to Covid-19 complications in May — as the MPCC vice president.

A close aide of the former central minister, the late Gurudas Kamat and the present Mumbai Congress Treasurer Amarjit Singh Manhas has now been elevated as the MPCC Treasurer.

MLA Dhiraj V. Deshmukh — the third son of the late CM and Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh — is now an MPCC general secretary. His other siblings are Amit Deshmukh who is a state cabinet minister and Riteish Deshmukh who is a well-known Bollywood actor and director.

MPCC President Nana Patole held a meeting of all party candidates who were defeated in the 2019 Assembly polls by very low margins, shocking many leaders.

This has drastically brought down the party’s victory tally, pushing it to the fourth position after the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party.

Around 15 party contenders had lost the polls with slender vote differences — mainly due to infighting and local rivalries — but now all must work hard to ensure victory in the 2019 Assembly elections, he added.

The new MPCC list with an army of office-bearers is expected to get to work in earnest for the upcoming civic body elections in the state, and the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in 2024.

Maharashtra

Man arrested in Mumbai, India, for promoting fake notes instead of genuine Indian notes

Published

on

Date Mumbai On 6th September, Crime Branch Unit 2 Mumbai received confidential reliable information that a woman and a man were keeping fake Indian currency notes near Metro Cinema, Vasudev Balwant Phadke Chowk, Mumbai and were selling them for Rs. 2 lakh in exchange for real Indian currency notes for their own financial gain in India. A trap was laid by the Crime Branch Unit 2 police at the said location. During this, a woman was found with 270 fake notes at the said location. She said that she had received fake notes of Rs. 500/- from a person. At the same time, the said woman was found near Kurla station and 1848 fake notes of Rs. 500/- were found in her possession. In this way, a total of 2128 fake notes of Rs. 500/- were found worth Rs. 10,64,000/- and a case of fake notes under Case No. 198, 180, 69(2), 3(9) BNS 2023 was registered at the Metro Police Station and further investigation has been handed over to Crime Branch, Unit 2.

The above excellent performance has been carried out by Police Commissioner, Mumbai Devin Bharti, Police Joint Commissioner (Crime) Anil Kumbhare, Mr. Additional Police Commissioner (Crime) Krishan Kant Upadhyay, Police Deputy Commissioner (Detection) Raj Tilak Roshan, Assistant Police Commissioner, Division Dinkar Shalvat, Police Inspector in-charge of Crime Detection Branch, Unit-2, Police Inspector Dilip Tenalkar, Police Sub-Inspector Sankalp Mukashi, under the guidance of

Continue Reading

Maharashtra

Mumbai: Gang selling Apple mobiles and its parts exposed, 64 stolen mobiles recovered, four arrested, further investigation underway

Published

on

Mumbai: Matarambai Ambedkar Marg Police Station has claimed to have unmasked a gang that buys stolen Apple mobiles from different districts of the state and from other states, removes their Apple ID, sells the mobiles outside the state and abroad, and sells the stolen mobile parts separately. A case of Apple mobile theft was registered in Matarambai Ambedkar Marg Police Station, Mumbai, in the year 2026. Technical examination conducted in the mobile theft case revealed that a SIM card was used in the stolen mobile. In a detailed technical examination conducted on this, 21 stolen Apple mobiles and 12 SIM cards were recovered from him after searching for the accused who used the SIM card in the stolen mobile. Further investigation into the case led to the arrest of four suspects of a gang that purchased stolen Apple mobile phones from different districts of the state and other states, removed their Apple IDs, sold them in other states and abroad, and, if the Apple IDs were not removed, separated all the parts of the stolen mobile phones and sold them in the market at a low price. A total of 64 stolen Apple mobiles and 20 stolen mobiles with separated middle body, display, battery, motherboard, logic board, etc., worth Rs. 44,78,400/- were recovered from them and cases of Telangana – 11, Delhi – 3, Maharashtra/Mumbai – 19, Karnataka – 2, Rajasthan – 1, Tamil Nadu – 1, Uttarakhand – 1 were revealed after recovering the stolen mobiles. The said operation was conducted under the guidance of Shailesh Balkode, Additional Commissioner of Police, South Regional Department, Mumbai, Manish Kalwaniya, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Mumbai, Nilesh Bagley, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Azad Maidan Department, Mumbai, Anil Molay, Senior Police Inspector, Farid Khan, Police Inspector (Crime), Matarambai Ambedkar Marg Police Station, Sub-Inspector Sushil Kumar Vanjari, Sub-Inspector Jalandhar. The team of Lambhe, Police Sub-Inspector Raju Salunkhe, Police Sub-Inspector Amul Chure, has carried out the operation.

Continue Reading

Maharashtra

MPSC aspirants stage massive protest in Pune over alleged exam frauds, demand reforms

Published

on

Pune, Sep 7: Thousands of aspirants preparing for the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) examinations took to the streets of Pune on Monday, staging a massive Akrosh Morcha to protest alleged exam irregularities, recurring paper leaks and corruption in the state’s recruitment process.

The march, which began at Omkareshwar Temple and culminated at the District Collectorate, drew widespread participation from students and support from opposition parties including the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), the Indian National Congress, and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).

Clad in a black shirt as a symbol of protest against the state administration and the commission, MLA Rohit Pawar addressed the overflowing crowd of candidates from atop a vehicle, launching a fierce attack on MPSC leadership.

Highlighting recent revelations surrounding the MPSC Excise (Departmental) Examination, Rohit Pawar alleged direct institutional complicity in administrative malpractices, pointing to reports implicating a high-ranking joint secretary-level officer in leaking exam marking patterns.

“It is deeply shocking that while students dedicate 20 hours a day to rigorous preparation, officials within the commission are allegedly selling exam materials. This injustice against hardworking candidates will not be tolerated. This march is not political; it is a fight for the future of our youth,” he stated.

The protesters have demanded the immediate removal and replacement of the current MPSC Chairman and Secretary and press for their replacement with officers of unblemished integrity, comprehensive criminal investigations and strict legal proceedings against all officials and middlemen implicated in scam allegations and pattern leaks and complete structural reform and cleansing of the MPSC examination and recruitment frameworks.

Dismissing allegations that opposition parties are politicising the issue, Rohit Pawar emphasised that the protest represents genuine public outrage. “Are the demands of students seeking fair opportunities political? These candidates have assembled of their own accord to protect their rights. People paying 50 to 60 lakh rupees to secure posts through corruption will not be accepted by these students or by the state of Maharashtra,” he added.

The massive turnout underscores the rising discontent among competitive exam aspirants in Maharashtra, with student bodies affirming that the agitation will persist until the state government addresses their demands and ensures an uncompromised recruitment process.

The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Harshwardhan Sapkal said that due to the paper leak, the hard work and future of lakhs of students have been reduced to ashes. With the resignation of the MPSC Chairman, the Congress firmly supports the massive outrage march in Pune for the students’ rightful demands, he added.

“It is essential that the functioning of an autonomous and sensitive institution like MPSC be transparent, impartial, and credible. Congress will not tolerate any compromise on the transparency and credibility of this process, which is linked to the future of students. Congress’s clear stance is that the exam must be transparent, the recruitment process must be fair, and students’ hard work must receive justice. To hold the government accountable for playing with students’ futures, Congress will stand shoulder to shoulder with the students and join this struggle. The students’ voice cannot be suppressed; their fight for justice will now become even louder,” said Sapkal in his post on X.

Further, the Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar alleged that the MPSC President and Secretary are responsible for the paper leak and the mega scam. This scam could not have happened without the direct patronage of the government. The paper leak has been government-sponsored. If this system had worked honestly, the paper leak would never have happened. He told reporters that the Mahayuti government has betrayed the trust of honest students by playing with their future! We will never tolerate this injustice.

“We fully support the students’ movement against the corrupt functioning of MPSC and against the government. For the rights of the students and until these corrupt officers are removed, we will not sit quietly. We will participate in this student movement with full force,” he said.

The state BJP chief spokesperson Navnath Ban claimed that the MPSC protest is not for the students but for Rohit Pawar’s political career. He further said that the Congress is firing guns off the shoulders of students.

Speaking to the media, Ban noted, “Rohit Pawar’s love for MPSC students is merely hypocritical affection. We will fulfil legitimate demands of the students; however, a fitting response will be given to political drama.”

Continue Reading

Trending