A serious case has come to light regarding the recommendations of political leaders for transfers of officers and employees of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation. The available list includes the names of 225 officers and employees, along with the names of ministers, MLAs, MPs, deputy mayors and corporators. The detailed list was provided to Right to Information (RTI) activist Anil Gilgali by the city engineer’s office.

A preliminary analysis of the political recommendations related to these 225 officers and employees shows that the names of some political figures keep coming up again and again. Eknath Shinde’s name has come up the most, 10 times. He is followed by Ramdas Athawale (recommended 9 times), while Girish Mahajan and Kalidas Kolambkar are mentioned 7 times. Similarly, the names of Mangesh Kadalkar, Anna Bansode, and Takaram Ket appear 6 times. Marji Patel and Dilip Lande are mentioned five times each. Meanwhile, the names of Narahari Zerowal, Sumit Wankhede, Rahul Shivale, Prakash Sarvo, Indraniil Naik, Santosh Bangar, Ram Kadam, Kisan Kathor, and Bachu Kadu appear 4 times each. Furthermore, the names of Chandrashekhar Bawankole, Hasan Musharraf, Bharat Sheth Gogawale, Uday Samant, Priyanka Phoka, Ravindra Waikar, Prasad Lad, Sunil Prabhu, Mahesh Sawant, and Praveen Drakar are mentioned 3 times each. Finally, Pratap Rao Jadhav, Pankaja Munde, Mangal Prabhat The names of Lodha, Raosaheb Danve, Sanjay Gadi, Rahul Narvekar, Jay Kumar Gaur, and Sana Malik have appeared twice each. Meanwhile, the names of Ravinder Chavan, Chandrakant Patil, and Sanjay Bansode have appeared once each.

Commenting on the list, Right to Information (RTI) activist Anil Gilgali said, “Transfers within the municipal corporation are expected to be made on the basis of administrative necessity, seniority, and transparent criteria. However, a list has surfaced in which the names of 225 officers and employees have been linked to the names of ministers, MLAs, MPs, and public representatives.” Gilgali said the municipal commissioner is expected to take disciplinary action against officials who exert political pressure in the matter as per the existing rules. The list includes officers and employees holding the posts of Assistant Engineer (AE), Sub Engineer (SE), Executive Engineer (EE), and Junior Engineer (JE). The names and related policy recommendations are as follows: They are: Ravinder Ghatge (Santosh Bangar); Sunil Shethe (Prakash Sarvo, Old Phookey); Deepak Nagasuge (Marji Patel); Gajendra Kakar (Mahendra Dalvi); Ravinder Drikkar (Anna Bansude, Prakash Sarvo); Anjali Dhore (Kishor Appa Patil); Sachin Mendhe (Varsha Gaikwad); Prashant Jagtap (Andarnel Naik, Hasan Musharraf); Nilesh Prab (Manisha Chaudhary, Girish Mahajan); Hemant Pant (Parveen Drikkar); Padmakar Chavan (Makrand Patil); Vishal Patil (Anna Bansude); Prakash Shingare (Meghna Bordekar); Sandeep Ghogre (Dr. Pankaj Bhuveer); Narayan Menghare (Santosh Bangar); Sagar Gaikwad (Sanjay Dina Patil); Rajendra Rathod (Shivendraraje Bhosle); Harish Chavan (Anna Bansude); Chetan Patil (Ram Kadam); Venkatesh Ole (Bachu Kiddo); Shubham Chavan (Marji Patel); Neha Nitin Sankhe (Uday Samant); Prasad Dhumle (Ravendra Waikar); Sunil Yamgar (Marji Patel); Prasad Patwardhan (Dhananjay Gadgal); Harshal Pimple (Kishan Kathore); Purnima Bhavir (Kali Das Kolambkar); Santosh Bhadwekar (Praveen Dariker); Vidyasagar Bhamawale (Prasad Lad); Nitin Chaudhary (Rahul Shivale); Jayant Borshe (Prakash Solanke); Sameer Samb (Sanjay Ghadi); Sachin Hanmadhar (Marji Patel); Siddhi Vinayak Khadapkar (Dilip Lande); Yogesh Parthi (Tikram Kate); Rupesh Bhandge (Sanjay Kelkar); Ramesh Sonawane (Ram Kadam); Kishore Khetri (Babasaheb Patel); Mayur Patil (Bharat Sheth Gogawale); Renuka Patil (Indarnel Naik); Vijay Shyamothy (Dilip Lande); Dinesh Nanche (Ramdas Athawale); Chetan Patil (Sanjay Dina Patil); Anoop Thakur (including Wankhede); Mahesh Nandkar (Radha Krishna Vikhe Patil); Sandeep Desai (Sanjay Sarasat); Abhay Sankhe (Chandrasekhar Bawankole); Sachin Dudh Bhate (India Sheth Gogawale); Ravindra Gawade (Kalidas Kolumbakar); Usman Sadiq (Sana Malik); Deepak Chogole (Dilip Lande); Siddharth Aggarwal (Harun Shaikh, Ranjana Patil); Sachin Dur (Suresh Koparkar); Sandeep Salunkhe (Kalidas Kolumbakar); Keshu Owe (Ramdas Athawale); Rahul Nagul (Captain Tamil Selvan); Vikas Sonone (Uday Samant); Vicky Salunkhe (Sanjay Rathore); Sainath Galwad (Dr. Bhagwat Karad, Girish Mahajan, Abu Azmi); Jameer Pathan (Sunil Prabhu); Roshan Jhamse (Eknath Shinde); Akshay Dudhan (Eknath Shinde); Prashant Pathare (Eknath Shinde); Angraj Ganpat (Eknath Shinde); Anand Jadhav (Eknath Shinde); Amit Gahane (Eknath Shinde); Praveen Turkikar (Eknath Shinde); Vivek Patil (Madhuritai Misal); Ravi Gupta (Chandrasekhar Bawankule); Yogesh Kokani (Prakash Sarva); Praveen Maluk (Prakash Sarvo); Madhav Bachwad (Ashok Chavan); Sheetal Kale (Sana Malik); Omkar Mane (Dr. Bhagwat Karad); Shalka Khade (Sanjay Bansode); Bhushan Gawli (Ramdas Athawale); Shahbaz Pirzadeh (Hasan Musharraf); Sandesh Wankhede (Kalidas Kolumbakar); Santosh Ghawre (Eknath Shinde); Sharita Thakur (Kishan Kathoor); Sagar Thet (Ravendra Vaikar); Khabbil Devrokhkar (Ramdas Athawale); Kartik Gandhi (Ram Pandagale, Indranil Naik, Meghna Bordekar); Sachin Sonawane (Manoj Jamsutkar, Manisha Chaudhary); Ramdas Kavdekar (Prasad Lad, Ramrao Vidkote); Walsangikar Abdul Mati.

Mumbai, Aug 31: Mounting a sharp offensive against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Monday said that if the RSS leadership expects its global message of “one humanity” to carry credibility abroad, the tolerant principles articulated on international soil must be actively practised and enforced within India’s domestic socio-political landscape. ​

In an editorial published in the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the Thackeray camp scrutinised Bhagwat’s recent address in New York, where the RSS Sarsanghchalak invoked ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ and declared that “if a Hindu feels that there should be no Muslims in India, then he is not a Hindu at all.” ​

The editorial characterised Bhagwat’s measured vocabulary in the United States as a carefully calibrated effort to align with Western democratic norms and global human rights frameworks, arguing that these statements stand in sharp contrast to ground-level developments inside India. ​

​The Thackeray faction accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders at the Centre and across various states of fostering an environment where minority communities face systematic exclusion, claiming their actions directly contradict Bhagwat’s public stance on Hindu-Muslim coexistence.

It cited a recent alleged “purification ceremony” conducted by local BJP activists in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, following a public address by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, pointing to it as evidence of a starkly polarised domestic atmosphere driven by political motives.

​”Such is the extreme nature of religion, caste, and inhumane behaviour within the BJP,” the editorial stated. “Do these antics fit into the Krishna Consciousness articulated by Bhagwat in America? Come to India and speak a bit about this as well.” ​

The editorial also drew attention to what it described as the RSS’s selective global posture, criticising its silence on major international humanitarian crises, including civilian casualties in Gaza, as a reflection of changing geopolitical calculations rather than universal human rights. ​

Taking aim at the ideological narratives presented during the American tour, the editorial alleged that the RSS chief deliberately shifted his focus away from Lord Ram to avoid uncomfortable questions regarding domestic governance and financial accountability.

​The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena claimed that the political utility of the Ram Temple movement had been exhausted for the ruling apparatus, accusing supporters tied to the Sangh ecosystem of financial mismanagement surrounding the Ayodhya temple project.

​”The Hindu community in America donated heavily for the construction of the Ram Temple, which was looted in Ayodhya. Neither PM Modi nor the Sarsanghchalak commented on this loot,” the editorial alleged, adding that Bhagwat “escaped accountability on American soil by speaking about Krishna’s ideas instead of Lord Ram”.

The Thackeray camp underscored the striking parallel between political developments abroad, noting that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged in high-level talks in Tashkent to elevate India-Uzbekistan ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Bhagwat’s US visit — organised as part of the RSS centenary outreach — drew active demonstrations, political pushback, and intense scrutiny over the gap between international rhetoric and domestic reality.

​Concluding with a reference to core tenets of the Bhagavad Gita, the editorial noted that true spiritual authority demands selflessness, equanimity, and the elimination of ego rather than social division or political posturing, urging the RSS leadership to match its global preachings with meaningful action at home.

Mumbai, Aug 31: The Indian Navy is set to commission INS Nipun, the second Diving Support Vessel (DSV) built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam, in a move aimed at strengthening the force’s deep-sea diving, underwater intervention and submarine rescue capabilities.

The Navy said the commissioning of the indigenous vessel marks another significant milestone in strengthening India’s maritime capabilities. Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, is presiding over the commissioning ceremony.

The Navy spokesperson said in a post on X: “Nipun is set to be commissioned into the Indian Navy today, with the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, presiding over the ceremony.

“The commissioning marks another significant milestone in strengthening India’s maritime capabilities.”

Speaking to media about the vessel and its capabilities, INS Nipun’s Commanding Officer, Captain L.S. Subramanian, highlighted its high level of indigenous content and its specialised role in deep-diving and submarine rescue operations.

“It is one of the indigenous platforms with more than 75 per cent indigenous content. This ship is one of its kind in the Navy, built for deep-diving operations and submarine rescue capabilities,” Captain Subramanian said.

He explained that the equipment installed aboard the vessel has been designed to support specialised diving operations and enable the ship to function as a platform for submarine rescue systems.

“Whatever has been fitted is meant for undertaking saturation diving, and it will serve as a mothership for embarking submarine rescue systems,” he said.

Captain Subramanian also spoke about the vessel’s operational role when asked about its weapons and equipment.

“When you talk about weapons, divers are our weapon and our rescue system. This ship is one of its kind, wherein we operate primarily for deep-diving operations,” he said.

INS Nipun is the second Diving Support Vessel constructed by HSL for the Indian Navy. The vessel has been designed to undertake specialised underwater operations, including deep-sea diving and underwater intervention, while providing a platform to deploy submarine rescue systems.

The induction of the vessel is expected to add to the Navy’s ability to respond to underwater emergencies and conduct complex diving missions in deeper waters. Its saturation-diving capability will allow trained divers to undertake prolonged underwater operations with the support of specialised equipment.

The commissioning also underlines the Navy’s focus on indigenous shipbuilding and development of specialised platforms for critical maritime missions. With more than 75 per cent indigenous content, INS Nipun reflects the growing role of domestic industry in building advanced platforms for the Indian Navy.

The vessel’s primary focus remains underwater intervention, deep-diving operations and submarine rescue, making its induction significant for enhancing the Navy’s specialised maritime support capabilities.