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Saturday,22-August-2026
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Political earthquake again in Maharashtra?

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Mumbai: -(Yusuf Rana) Looking at the turmoil going on in the politics of Maharashtra, it can be said that the game of winning and losing is going on in the political chessboard. After the rebellion in NCP, a faction of Congress is also preparing to join BJP. Activities are going on in Mumbai and Delhi regarding this. If this group comes together, then there is talk of giving them three ministerial posts. Due to which cabinet expansion and division of departments may be affected. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis have been called to Delhi immediately. According to sources, the issue of expansion of the state cabinet and allocation of portfolios to ministers, which has been going on since last week, has finally been resolved in Delhi. Last evening, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and NCP leader Praful Patel held talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi for about an hour. It is being said that both the problems of cabinet expansion and division of departments have been resolved in this meeting. The formula of 4, 4, 2 has been fixed for the post of minister in Maharashtra. According to which the cabinet will be expanded. Interestingly, in the absence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel have settled the dispute. Let us tell you that no result came out after the discussion between Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at Chief Minister’s residence Varsha Bangla for three consecutive days and three nights regarding cabinet expansion. On one hand, Eknath Shinde’s group was against giving the post of Finance Minister to Ajit Pawar. The controversy regarding the Ministry of Cooperative and Rural Development is not reducing. According to reports, during the meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel also discussed cabinet expansion, allocation of portfolios and other issues. According to the 4, 4, 2 formula, BJP and Eknath Shinde faction will get four ministerial posts each. While NCP will get two ministerial posts. That is, 10 ministers will take oath in the future cabinet expansion. Both these parties already have 10 ministers each in the cabinet. In this context, the number of ministers from both the parties will be 14. While NCP will have only 9 ministers in the cabinet. If he gets two more ministries, the number will increase to 11. After the meeting in Delhi, Praful Patel said that the conflict between the three parties of Maharashtra government is almost over. , That’s why the cabinet can be expanded today or tomorrow. Explain that the expansion will happen after the monsoon meeting, while the distribution of portfolios is expected today or tomorrow. However, now all the claimant MLAs are eyeing the cabinet expansion. In the new expansion, the ministerial posts with all the three parties will be reduced. Especially according to the 4, 4, 2 formula, Ajit Pawar’s NCP will get only two ministerial posts. This has increased resentment among NCP MLAs. NCP members are currently looking dejected as they have gone with BJP for power. However, now he does not seem to be getting a share in power. Due to this, three MLAs of Ajit Pawar group Azmani Rao Kokate, Atul Banke and Kiran Lahmte have expressed their displeasure over not getting ministerial posts. Significantly, not even two weeks have passed since the split in the NCP and anger has erupted. The upheaval that started in the Ajit Pawar faction has ended. In such a situation, it will be a big challenge for Ajit Pawar to convince these MLAs. On the other hand, the Shinde faction has opposed giving higher portfolios of ministries to the NCP. The Shinde faction has become aggressive on this issue. The Shinde MLA has taken a stand that he will not bow down to the NCP. This has increased the headache of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The difficulty before Shinde is whether he should listen to Delhi or his MLAs.

A group of 10 independent MLAs on Thursday decided to give up their bid for ministerial berths with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, claiming that they are upset with the current political developments in the state, according to sources. Independent candidates led by Prahar Janshakti Party chief and former minister Om Prakash B alias Bachchu Kadu said they are discouraged by the ongoing demand for cabinet posts, especially with the Nationalist Congress Party led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar joining the government. . After the meeting of Independent MLAs with the Chief Minister on Monday, his group will take a final decision on the matter.

Crime

Delhi Police arrest three in illicit liquor supply case

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New Delhi, Aug 22: In a major crackdown on the illegal transportation and supply of liquor, the Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS) team of the North-East District of Delhi Police arrested three persons and recovered 778 quarters of Haryana-marked illicit liquor along with two taxis allegedly used to transport the consignment.

The action was carried out on August 21, 2026, after Head Constable Deepak, along with Head Constable Anuj and Constable Mukesh, was conducting area patrolling duty near Maujpur Chowk.

At around 6:30 a.m., the police team received information from a secret informer that two taxis carrying illicit liquor from Haryana would arrive near Seelampur Metro Station. The taxis’ numbers were also shared by the informer.

Acting on the information, the police team reached the location. At around 7:30 a.m., both taxis arrived and were intercepted. Three persons were apprehended, while another individual reportedly managed to flee from the spot.

A search of the vehicles led to the recovery of 399 quarters of illicit liquor from taxi HR55AX3345 and 379 quarters from taxi DL1ZD5015, taking the total recovery to 778 quarters.

The arrested accused have been identified as Vinit Chauhan (35), owner of taxi bearing number — HR55AX3345; Akash Sharma (25), driver of taxi bearing number — DL1ZD5015; and Vishal (23), who was allegedly accompanying the other accused.

During interrogation, the accused reportedly disclosed information about the source of the illicit liquor. Police are verifying the information and conducting further investigation to identify other individuals allegedly involved in the supply chain.

A case has been registered as FIR No. 288/26 under Section 33 of the Delhi Excise Act at Seelampur Police Station. Police said none of the three arrested accused has any previous criminal involvement on record. Further investigation is underway, according to police.

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Business

Banks raise $72.8 billion in forex inflows till Aug 21, FCNR(B) deposits reach $65.4 billion: RBI

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New Delhi, Aug 22: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Saturday said that authorised dealer banks have raised a massive $72.848 billion in forex inflows till August 21, and a major chuck came from FCNR (B) deposits at $65.397 billion.

External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) and Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCBs) under Reserve Bank’s Swap facility helped raised another $7.451 billion till August 21.

RBI had introduced a special USD-INR forex swap facility covering FCNR(B) deposits, ECB and OFCB inflows on June 8, 2026.

“As already announced vide Press Release dated August 14, 2026, the Scheme is open till August 31, 2026 for FCNR(B) deposits, and up to December 31, 2026 for ECBs and OFCBs,” The Research Bank said in a statement.

The massive foreign inflows arrive as Indian banks have stepped up their efforts to attract FCNR(B) deposits by offering higher interest rates after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) suddenly cut short the deadline for its dollar-rupee swap window to August 31, from September 30.

The swap facility, announced in June to boost the inflow of dollars amid a weakening rupee, was originally available until the end of September, but the RBI abruptly shortened this by a month due to the “encouraging response” to the facility, which resulted in the required amount of foreign exchange flowing into the country.

While there may be valid reasons to justify an early closure of the RBI’s FCNR(B) deposit scheme, the most likely reason could be that the target for dollar mobilisation has already been achieved with inflows at $57 billion, and another $25-30 billion could easily flow in the remaining days of August, taking the total collections to around $85 billion, an SBI Research report said earlier this week.

According to the SBI report, “we don’t believe that the cost of swap could have been a constraining factor”.

“Our estimates show that the cumulative cost would amount to around 15 per cent of the corpus, or $10.5 billion. While this appears sizeable in absolute terms, it needs to be viewed against the scale of India’s foreign-exchange reserves rather than the FCNR(B) corpus alone,” the report argued.

Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves jumped $9.905 billion to $716.90 billion during the week ended August 14, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday. The latest increase comes a week after the country’s forex reserves had surged by $14.1 billion to $707 billion, marking their highest level in the current financial year.

The rise in reserves was supported by inflows under the RBI’s FCNR(B) deposit scheme, which began to reflect in the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

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National News

CJP vs villagers: Rajasthan school shifted within 24 hours in Jaipur

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Jaipur, Aug 22: A day after a dispute between the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and villagers of Rampura over an inspection of a government school in Jaipur escalated into allegations of assault, intimidation and a law-and-order breakdown, the government school was shifted to a building about 50 metres away, within 24 hours of Friday’s clash.

After the confrontation, CJP founder and convenor Abhijeet Dipke had warned of an escalation stating that he would sit on a dharna in Jaipur if steps weren’t taken within 48 hours to improve the condition of the school.

The Rampura government school was shifted to a house in the village on Saturday morning. More than 16 children were present at the new location along with two teachers.

The room being used for classes had previously operated as a grocery shop. At the time of inspection, some children were also seen studying outside in the Sun.

A blackboard had been placed outside one of the rooms, while the room itself contained a storage chest and other belongings.

Children also reported that the ceiling fan inside the room was not working, leaving them uncomfortable in the heat.

On Saturday morning, both sides filed complaints against each other at Shivdaspura police station, accusing one another of assault and creating a ruckus.

Both parties have also alleged that police personnel are putting pressure on them.

CJP national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka alleged that party workers were assaulted in the village on Friday and that their clothes were torn. He demanded the immediate arrest of those responsible.

Ranka further alleged that people from outside the village were brought in for the attack and claimed that some of those involved were later seen with local BJP MLA Kailash Verma. He described the incident as a “pre-planned attack” and alleged that stones were used with the intention of causing serious harm.

According to Ranka, police personnel were not present at the spot despite repeated attempts to contact them. He said the CJP has made videos of the incident public and demanded an impartial investigation by the Rajasthan Police.

Ranka also alleged that Pratap Nagar police were intimidating him and putting pressure on him. He claimed police personnel were questioning CJP workers about him and his family.

In their complaint to the police, villagers alleged that the CJP had disturbed the atmosphere in Rampura.

They claimed that the arrival of a large number of people, allegedly carrying weapons, created fear in the village and that children were now frightened to attend school.

The villagers have denied the allegations made by CJP workers and sought action over what they described as intimidation and disorder.

Villagers said they want the government to reconstruct the school building at the earliest so that classes can resume properly within the village.

Reacting to the developments, Ranka said the CJP would not be intimidated and would continue its ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign over the condition of government schools.

He alleged that Education Minister Madan Dilawar would face embarrassment over the condition of Rajasthan’s schools and said he would personally visit schools again.

Ranka also said the CJP’s demand could now extend beyond school-related issues to seeking Dilawar’s resignation.

Meanwhile, Dilawar posted on social media that continuous efforts were being made to strengthen government schools in Rajasthan, including infrastructure development, construction and repairs, smart classrooms, laboratories and other essential facilities.

The allegations made by both sides have yet to be independently established.

The police investigation and the FIRs filed by the two parties are expected to determine the sequence of events and responsibility for Friday’s clash.

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