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!”

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.

Pune, July 12: The death toll in the Moshi garbage dump collapse in Pune’s Pimpri-Chinchwad has increased to eight after rescue teams recovered the bodies of seven more victims from the damaged administrative building of the Waste-to-Energy project on Saturday, officials said on Sunday.

Rescue personnel also confirmed that one person is still unaccounted for, and search operations are continuing to locate the missing individual.

The incident occurred at around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday when a massive mound of garbage gave way and crashed onto the administrative building located inside the Moshi garbage depot operated by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation.

At the time of the collapse, a total of 23 people were trapped. Of them, 22 were inside the administrative building, while one person was buried beneath a large heap of garbage adjacent to the structure.

Five individuals managed to escape safely immediately after the incident.

Following the collapse, authorities launched an extensive rescue operation involving personnel from the Indian Army, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) Fire Services and the police.

On the first day of the operation, rescue teams succeeded in pulling nine people out of the damaged building alive. Search efforts then continued to locate those who remained trapped inside the debris.

On Thursday, rescuers recovered Bhavesh Wani from the collapsed structure and immediately shifted him to a hospital. However, doctors declared him dead upon arrival.

The operation to reach the remaining victims continued over the following days, but rescue teams encountered major challenges due to the unstable condition of the damaged building, which posed a significant risk to personnel involved in the mission.

To facilitate the rescue work, heavy machinery, including 12 excavators, dumpers and JCB machines, was deployed to remove debris surrounding the building and create a safer passage for rescue teams.

Despite continuous efforts, the precarious state of the structure made it extremely difficult for rescuers to enter the building.

In a bid to accelerate the operation, two advanced demolition excavators were brought to the site on Friday night.

Working under the technical supervision of the NDRF, rescue personnel carefully dismantled the most hazardous concrete sections of the collapsed building in a controlled manner.

The process enabled teams to gain access to the interior of the structure and resume the search operation.

During the rescue operation on Saturday, teams located seven people trapped inside the building. All seven were immediately shifted to a hospital in Pimpri, where medical officers examined them and declared them dead.

With the recovery of these bodies, the overall death toll in the tragedy has risen to eight.

Meanwhile, one individual, believed to be buried beneath the garbage mound adjacent to the collapsed building, remains missing. Rescue personnel continue to carry out the search operation on a war footing.

Officials said NDRF dog squads, along with specialised search equipment, are being used to locate the missing person.