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Maharashtra

Prajatantra 2024: Building Blocks of Democracy

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Prajatantra 2024: Building Blocks of Democracy

Mumbai : Prajatantra 2024: National Youth Festival was inaugurated today, marking the sixth edition of this annual celebration of democracy. Prajatantra offers Indian youth a distinctive platform to gain first-hand experience and understand how city governments operate. Participants take on the roles of fictional city government officials, such as Mayors, Chairpersons of Municipal Committees, and Councillors, to present their ideas, visions, and policies for effective governance.

This year, Prajatantra highlights the importance of Active Citizenship through the theme, ‘Citizen Participation: Building Blocks of Democracy’. Under this theme, participants are encouraged to envision how city governments can meaningfully involve citizens in local decision-making. They will propose policies on topics such as creating participatory budgets, integrating technology to make citizen engagement more accessible, developing civic engagement infrastructure, and actively involving marginalised communities, among other sub-themes.

Prajatantra 2024, is proud to host 418 teams, representing over 100 cities from 28 states and seven union territories, have registered for this event. These participants come from diverse educational and socio-economic backgrounds. Today, they gathered virtually for the Opening Ceremony. The event featured addresses by Ms Debolina Kundu, Director (Additional Charge) at the National Institute of Urban Affairs, Ms Parul Agarwala, Country Manager at UN Habitat, and Mr Nitai Mehta, Founder and Managing Trustee of Praja Foundation. They spoke on topics of governance and youth engagement.

“It is crucial for today’s youth to collaborate and engage with decision-makers like us to shape their future,” said Ms Agarwala in her opening remarks. “I am deeply committed to empowering young people, and through the mandate of UN-Habitat and all UN Agencies, we are dedicated to providing platforms and forums that amplify your voices on the global stage.” Ms Agarwala also praised the significant growth of Prajatantra over the years at the national level.

Mr Mehta shared, “Praja was established in 1997 with the mission to reform urban governance. It is vital that the three key stakeholders—elected representatives, the administration, and citizens—actively participate in dialogue to create solutions at the local level. Prajatantra brings young people together to develop these solutions. Every year, we witness remarkable ideas from youth across the country on urban governance.”

In her concluding remarks, Ms Kundu underscored the significance of urbanisation and the role of youth in this process. “Urbanisation is an inevitable trend, with an increasing number of citizens living in urban areas. The youth represent the largest demographic, and it is imperative that we harness their potential. How we can leverage this demographic dividend through employment and skill development is a key focus area for NIUA.”

Following the Opening Ceremony, Prajatantra participants will engage in competitive events throughout the weekend. The Qualifying Rounds will be followed by the Semi-Finals in September 2024. Finalists will convene in Lucknow in November for anin-person Grand Finale.

Maharashtra

Mumbai Police equipped with modern laboratories and technology: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis

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Mumbai: Mumbai Police has equipped itself with modern technology to curb cyber crime and cyber fraud. Accordingly, Mumbai Police inaugurated three cyber labs including a forensic lab, a special van, an intercept van and other modern equipment at the hands of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Speaking on the occasion, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the police has been modernized to curb cyber fraud and online fraud and the police will use these modern equipment to solve crimes ranging from cyber fraud to other crimes.

Fadnavis said that the way incidents like digital arrests are happening today by fooling people online, the police has brought significant revolution in the investigation methods and other things to curb these incidents. He said that special help rooms have also been set up in police stations to help women, in which women will get immediate help. He said that a special van has also been prepared for women so that they can get immediate help. Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Pansalkar, Special Police Commissioner Devin Bharti, Joint Police Commissioner Satyanarayan Chaudhary and senior officers were present at the event.

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Maharashtra

Bir Mecca Masjid bomb blast implementation of UAPA

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Mumbai: Police has implemented UAPA Act in the Bir Ard Masla Mecca Masjid blast case. On the midnight of March 30, Vijay Agon and Shri Ram Ashok placed a bomb in the mosque and exploded it. This explosion was done with the help of jetliner and detonator. In this case, the police had earlier registered a case under Arms Act and other sections, but after that Muslim organizations had demanded to prosecute the accused under UAPA Act and NSA.
The Beed blast was investigated by the local crime branch, in which the crime branch found that the explosion was very powerful and detonators were also used along with jetliner rods. On this basis, UAPA Act has been implemented on the recommendation of the Crime Branch. Police have registered a case against both the terrorists under sections 16 and 18 of UAPA. Since the Beed blast, Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) is investigating it along with the police. The ATS is investigating the connection and financing of terrorists in this case, including how jetliner rods were made available to the accused and who provided them jetliner rods without license or permit. Along with this, investigation is also going on to find out how many more people and conspirators are involved in this case. ATS said that investigation is going on every aspect and point of the Beed bomb blast, however, ATS has so far questioned many people in this case, including family members and well-wishers of the accused as well as their friends and acquaintances. ATS is trying to uncover the conspiracy before the blast in the Beed Mecca Masjid blast case because before the blast, accused Vijay Agon had released a video and uploaded it on the status threatening Muslims to remove the mosque and only after that the blast took place here. The local police had also registered a case of spreading religious hatred against the accused a day earlier and the mosque was blown up the next day.

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Crime

Actor Ajaz Khan’s Wife Fallon Guliwala Granted Bail in Drugs Case

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Mumbai: Fallon Guliwala, wife of actor Ajaz Khan, who was arrested in November 2024 after narcotics were recovered from her residence, has been granted bail by a special court in Mumbai.

Guliwala had been in custody for over four months. The court has imposed certain conditions for her bail, including the submission of her passport, a restriction on travel, and mandatory attendance before the investigating officer three times a week until the chargesheet is filed.

Her lawyer, Ayaz Khan, argued that she was unaware of the recovered items and that she was not the only occupant of the premises. He also mentioned that the CCTV system was turned off during the raid, and no videography or photography was conducted.

Special Public Prosecutor Vibhavari Pathak opposed the bail plea, stating that a prima facie case existed against Guliwala.

Considering that the seizure process had already been completed, the court granted bail but with strict conditions.

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