Maharashtra
Mumbai: Writing challenge for students as Maharashtra SSC Board exams return to pre-Covid norms

Mumbai: As the class 10 secondary school certificate (SSC) examinations return to the pre-Covid norms, city schools are faced with a distinct challenge: getting students to write for three hours at a stretch.
While studies like the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022 have documented the decline in reading and maths levels of school-going children during the pandemic, the schools also found them to be severely lacking in writing – a key skill for the state board’s pen-and-paper subjective tests for class 10. With the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Examination (MSBSHSE) withdrawing all the concessions given last year, including a home centre for exams, reduced syllabus and additional time, finishing the papers on time has become a daunting task for many, said the teachers.
Less than adequate writing practice a hurdle
According to school heads, most of the students didn’t get sufficient writing practice when schools switched from physical classrooms to digital modes of teaching for almost two years since Covid broke out in March 2020. “The biggest challenge we are facing is that the students are not able to write and complete the paper on time. Their writing process has gone for a toss… Many of them get tired after writing for an hour or so,” said Sangeeta Srivastava, Principal of The Kandivli Education Society’s SVPV Vidyalaya, Kandivali. “Everyone is good at typing, but they give up when asked to write,” she added.
Anjuman-I-Islam’s Allana English High School at Fort is also grappling with this issue. “The students didn’t get much writing practice when the school was shut, as there were no notebooks to be filled,” said Rizwana Satare, Principal of the school.
New measures in place for SSC Board Exams 2023
To make matters more difficult, the state board on Saturday announced doing away with the practice of giving question papers to students 10 minutes before the exam time. “Those 10 minutes were very precious and we had taught students how to take advantage of them. But we are now calling them back to school during their preparatory leave to brief them about this new development,” said Srivastava.
The schools are taking several measures to ensure that the students are adequately trained in writing before they enter the exam halls for their first-ever board test on March 2. While most schools are conducting extensive mock tests, some held special workshops and classes to improve writing skills.
“Post-Covid our students’ writing speed has slowed down to a great extent. Hence, we organised workshops where they were assigned writing practice. We also encourage them to write as many past papers at home as possible, even if that means copying answers from textbooks. This way, they will not learn their answers, but will also improve their pace and stamina of writing,” said Sudhir Ghagas, Head Master, Padmashri Annasaheb Jadhav Vidyalaya, Bhiwandi.
The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)-run Tilak Nagar Hindi School in Chembur has carried out multiple mock tests. “Students need to practice as they have lost their habit of writing during the past 2-3 years,” said the school Principal Gulabdas Achutra.
Maharashtra
Mumbai: Two arrested for drug trafficking worth over Rs 10 crore

Mumbai: Mumbai Police claims to have seized drugs worth Rs 10 crore. The ATC team of Mumbai Police’s Chuna Bhatti Police has arrested a suspect, identified as Rahim Majeed Sheikh, 30, of Dongri Link Road, Gujarat. He was arrested for selling one kilogram 907 grams of hashish, estimated to be worth Rs 19 million, in Mumbai. He was about to come to sell it in Mumbai city. He has been arrested and a case has been registered against him under the NDPS Act. In this case, the police conducted a raid in Gujarat’s Valsad and arrested Nitin Shantilal Tandel. 8 kilograms 164 grams of Afghan hashish, estimated to be worth Rs 8 crore, total value Rs 10 crore 56 thousand, was recovered from his possession. It is said that the two accused have been arrested and their investigation is underway. This operation was carried out by Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Pansalkar, Special Commissioner Devin Bharti, Joint Police Commissioner Satyanarayan Chaudhary, Additional Commissioner Dr. Mahesh Patil and Senior Inspector Nisha Jadhav under the leadership of DCP Nunath Dhole. Both the accused belong to Gujarat and both of them used to bring Afghan and high-quality hashish to sell in Mumbai.
Maharashtra
Zeeshan Siddiqui receives death threat, D Company targeted, threatening email probed

Mumbai: After the murder of NCP Ajit Pawar group senior leader Baba Siddiqui, his son Zeeshan Siddiqui has now received a death threat, after which the police have increased the security of the house and have registered a case of threat against an unknown person. In addition, a section of the IT Act has also been applied. Zeeshan Siddiqui has received a threat through an email, which has been asked to pay Rs 10 crore as ransom, otherwise he will face the same fate as his father. The police reached Zeeshan Siddiqui’s house and reviewed the security arrangements, as well as registered a case of threat and its investigation is underway.
The threatening email also mentions D Company. This threatening email was received two days ago, in which it was made clear that he should pay Rs 100 million and it would be mailed to him as a reminder every 6 hours. No clue has been found regarding the mail so far. The police have started an investigation. Baba Siddiqui was killed by the shooters of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang on October 12, 2024 and the attackers fled. In this case, shooter Shiv Kumar and 26 other conspirators have also been arrested and MCOCA has been applied against them. In this case, Zeeshan Akhtar, Shubham Lonkar are still absconding, while Lawrence Bishnoi has also been included in the list of accused. Lawrence Bishnoi had targeted Baba Siddiqui to terrorize Salman Khan, now Zeeshan is also on his target, but now D Company has sent a threatening email. Efforts are being made to find out whether the email was sent by D Company or someone used the name of D Company. The Mumbai Crime Branch is also conducting a parallel investigation into this matter.
Crime
Woman murdered by slitting her throat in Mumbai, police searching for accused

Mumbai, April 22: A woman has been murdered by slitting her throat in Vikhroli area of Mumbai. Vikhroli police have registered a case against an unknown person and started searching for the accused.
According to Mumbai Police, the deceased woman has been identified as Suman (36). She lived with her husband in Vikhroli East area. The murder was revealed when the woman’s husband returned home around 5:30 am on Tuesday after doing night duty. He found his wife lying in a pool of blood in the house.
After this, he immediately informed about the murder by calling the main control room of Mumbai Police. On receiving the information, Vikhroli police reached the spot and started investigating the case. Dog squad, fingerprint experts and forensic lab teams also reached the spot to search for the accused. In the preliminary investigation, the reason for the murder and the identity of the accused have not been clear yet.
Vikhroli police has started an in-depth investigation into the case and claimed to arrest the accused soon.
Let us tell you that recently a woman was strangled to death by unknown people in Thane district of Maharashtra. After the murder, the body of the woman was thrown by the accused on the roadside. According to the police, the age of the deceased woman was said to be between 35 to 40. The body of the woman was found in Thakurgaon area of Bhiwandi. However, the dead woman could not be identified immediately.
Initial investigation revealed that the woman died due to strangulation. An FIR of murder was registered at Kongaon police station. An officer had told that who is the woman? Police investigation is being done to find out who committed the murder. Further action will be taken after the investigation.
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