Mumbai: The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has opened bidding for the rights to run a new team in the esteemed T20 Mumbai League, which will expand the men’s league to nine teams from what was eight earlier this season.

The new franchise will represent the Navi Mumbai region, broadening the league’s presence and offering more opportunities for cricketers from Mumbai and nearby areas.

The league’s growth follows a successful fourth edition held in June, which attracted high fan engagement and showcased competitive cricket. This success continues to solidify its status as one of India’s top franchise-based domestic T20 tournaments.

Interested parties may pick up the bid documents at the MCA office located in the Cricket Centre, Wankhede Stadium, Churchgate, Mumbai, from August 10 to August 25, 2026, between 11 am and 6 pm.

Bid documents are available after paying a non-refundable fee of ₹2.5 lakh via Demand Draft payable to the Mumbai Cricket Association. Alternatively, payment can be made through bank transfer to the account listed in the tender notice on the Mumbai Cricket Association’s official website.

MSC Maratha Royals successfully defended their T20 Mumbai League title this season, defeating ARCS Andheri by eight runs in a thrilling final at the Wankhede Stadium. Batting first, the Royals posted 154/5, with Chinmay Sutar anchoring the innings with a composed 61 not out, while Siddhesh Lad contributed 33.

In reply, Andheri were led by Divyaansh Sksena’s 51, but the Royals’ bowlers kept striking at crucial moments to restrict them to 146/8. Tushar Deshpande, who took over as captain after Lad suffered an arm injury, played a key role with the ball and dismissed Shivam Dube.

Sksena finished as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 261 runs and claimed the Orange Cap, while Deshpande won the Purple Cap with 12 wickets.

Mumbai, Aug 9: Milk prices in Maharashtra will increase by Rs 2 per litre for both cow and buffalo milk from August 11 after the Milk Producers and Processors Welfare Association decided to revise retail rates, a move that is expected to impact consumers across the state.

The price hike comes amid ongoing debates over milk pricing and efforts to balance the interests of dairy farmers with those of consumers facing rising household expenses.

Producers and processors have argued that higher procurement and operational costs have necessitated the increase.

The development follows the Centre’s recent clarification that it has no proposal to introduce a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for milk, maintaining that prices will continue to be determined by cooperatives and private dairies based on prevailing market conditions.

In a written reply to a starred question in the Lok Sabha last month, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, also known as Lalan Singh, said milk pricing remains a market-driven process and that the government is not considering an MSP mechanism for the sector.

The minister said the government is implementing a range of measures aimed at safeguarding dairy farmers’ interests, stabilising milk prices, protecting consumers and strengthening quality monitoring across the dairy value chain.

According to the government, efforts are underway to bring more producers into the organised dairy sector.

As of March 2026, a total of 36,283 new village-level Dairy Cooperative Societies had been established, while 31,150 existing societies had been strengthened.

The government also created milk chilling capacity of 168 lakh litres per day and distributed 76,748 milk quality testing devices across the country.

In addition, projects with a combined milk processing and value-addition capacity of 418 lakh litres per day have been approved to enhance infrastructure and improve efficiency in the dairy sector.

The government highlighted the strong growth in India’s milk production over the past decade.

Milk output rose to 248 million metric tonnes in 2024-25 from 146 million metric tonnes in 2014-15, registering an increase of about 69 per cent.

Nagpur, Aug 9: In continuation of its operation against smuggling of precious metals, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized gold worth over Rs three crore from a train passenger at Nagpur in Maharashtra, officials said on Sunday.

Upon receiving a tip-off that gold, smuggled across the India-Bangladesh border, was being transported further by train, a DRI Nagpur team conducted an operation at Nagpur Railway Station and detained a passenger.

An official statement said that the passenger was arrested with 2.165 kg of gold. The estimated value of the seized gold is reported to be Rs 3.09 crore.

According to the intelligence received, the gold had been smuggled into India via the India-Bangladesh border. DRI officials subsequently learned that the gold was to be transported to its next destination by an individual travelling on the 12102 Dnyaneshwari Express.

Acting on this information, DRI Nagpur officials laid a trap at Nagpur Railway Station. The passenger was searched upon his arrival at the station, during which the concealed gold was discovered.

Officials have seized 16 gold bars from the accused passenger.

Recently, the DRI carried out a series of operations and arrested 20 accused, including five foreigners, seizing foreign-origin gold, heroin, MDMA and other contraband, an official said.

The seized articles included hydroponic weed, red sanders, prohibited wildlife products, e-cigarettes, foreign-origin poppy seeds and areca nuts, the DRI said in a statement, adding that around 9.5 kg of gold valued at around Rs 14 crore was seized and nine accused were arrested.

The arrest of 20 accused, including five foreign nationals, involved in smuggling and trafficking activities and exposed sophisticated concealment techniques employed by organised criminal syndicates, said the statement.

Sharing details of gold seizures, the DRI said that on July 29, two foreign nationals who had arrived from Dubai were arrested at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, leading to the seizure of 40 foreign-origin gold bars weighing 4 kg from cavities in their baggage.

In separate operations conducted jointly by DRI and Border Security Force personnel along the Indo-Bangladesh border, officers seized around 3.2 kg of foreign-origin gold, said the DRI.