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Tuesday,16-September-2025
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Row of saffron hijabs herald Shiv Sena’s ‘maiden’ Muslim Sarpanch

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The sleepy Apta village erupted into celebrations when a demure, house-wife-turned politician Nazneen K. Patel, was unanimously elected the Sarpanch on Thursday.

She has created history of sorts — becoming the first ever Muslim woman Sarpanch of Shiv Sena in the state, and a first for the party in the past six decades since the Apta Village Panchayat came into being where the Peasants & Workers Party enjoyed unbroken control of its bastion.

The village had elected 11 members, including two from the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, in the 2021 Panchayat polls, swept by the Maha Vikas Aghadi, with Patel now getting the top post — reserved for women — in rotation from the PWP’s outgoing Sarpanch, Nikita D. Bhoir.

Scores of Muslim women Sainiks, sporting dazzling saffron-black ‘hijabs’ turned out to celebrate Patel’s election, who accepted and acknowledged their greetings and wishes, distributed sweets and goodness all around.

Taking charge on Friday, Patel said that her entire focus would be on developmental issues for which the entire village — with a population of around 10,000 comprising a mix of tribals, Marathas, Kolis, Brahmins, Muslims, etc., — has wholeheartedly supported the MVA.

“There are 14 tribal hamlets (wadis) which require several amenities, aanganwadis to be improved, maternity hospital where services have to be strengthened, and improving the conditions of several roads in and around Apta,” Patel told IANS.

Apta is a coastal village nestling on the banks of the Patalganga River where the PWP has held sway for past six decades, but now it has come under Shiv Sena’s control, said her husband, Khalil Patel.

Nazneen Patel’s elevation has charged the MVA allies — Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress — symbolising a whiff of fresh air in the toxicity of the so-called ‘hijab row’ affecting different parts of India.

Sena’s farmer face and MoS Kishore Tiwari said Patel’s election shows the “benign face of Shiv Sena under the leadership of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray” despite attempts by the Opposition to portray it otherwise.

“No matter how vitiated the religious scenario in the country, in Apta there is complete communal camaraderie, and it is with the full support of the three allies this ‘change’ was possible,” Panvel Congress Working President Abhijit Patil said.

Eminent lawyer and NCP former MP Majeed Memon said while the BJP is busy in toppling the MVA, the three parties are making “perceptible changes” at all levels in the polity with long-term implications.

“The BJP is unable to digest all the good work done by MVA and is hounding us with misuse of Central probe agencies, the Governor’s post and other forms of harassment… But developments like Apta village prove that the MVA is on the right track,” Memon asserted.

The Patel couple said with pride that Apta is an example of “how India lives harmoniously in the villages,” untouched by the communal monsters unleashed in many areas.

“We all celebrate Ganeshotsav, Eid, Diwali and other festivals of all religions joyfully together… Nobody talks of religious politics… The masses are only concerned with developmental issues,” smiled Nazneen Patel, with her 19-year old daughter Rukhsar and 16-year-old son Saad standing beside.

National News

‘Agar Hai Tumhari Aukat…’: AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj Slams Surya kumar Yadav, BCCI Over Pakistan Game In Asia Cup 2025

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Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi minister Saurabh Bhardwaj slammed Suryakumar Yadav, BCCI for playing match against Pakistan In Asia Cup 2025. He even challenged them to donate the money earned from the India-Pakistan match to the widows of the martyrs in Pahalgam attack.

Speaking at a press conference, he said, ” Suryakumar Yadav agar tumhari aukat hai, tumhari BCCI ki aukat hai aur tumhari ICC ki aukat hai toh tumhe dusri chunati bhi dete hai. Jitna paisa tumne iss broadcast rights se kamaya hai, advertisers se kamaya hai aur iss pure dhande cricket se kamaya hai dedo uss shahido ki vidhwao ko uss 26 aurto ko. Hum bhi maan jayenge tumne dedicate kiya hai.”

(If you have guts, if your BCCI and ICC have guts, whatever money you earned from broadcasters and advertisers, give it to the widows of the martyrs)

Suryakumar Yadav during the post match interview that his team stands in solidarity with the Pahalgam terror attack victims and dedicatd the win to the Pahalgam victims and armed forces. He said, Perfect occasion, taking the time out we stand by the families of the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. We express our solidarity. Want to dedicate the win to all our armed forces who showed a lot of bravery. Hope they continue to inspire us all, and we give them more reasons on the ground whenever we get an opportunity to make them smile,” 

There was a lot of chatter surrounding the India-Pakistan match, with social media being flooded with messages to boycott the match. The terror attack in Pahalgam in April saw 26 tourists lose their lives. In May, India retaliated with Operation Sindoor.

A day before the match, India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate also stated that his players are aware of the sentiments of the people back home and know their emotions. The beginning of the contest between India and Pakistan on Sunday saw no handshakes between Suryakumar

India registered a comfortable 7 wicket win over Pakistan on Sunday. However, the Men in Blue have now qualified for super 4 stage after Oman were eliminated by United Arab Emirates. Pakistan needs to beat UAE to have chance to play India once again.

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Business

Sensex, Nifty open higher as India-US trade talks set to resume

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Mumbai, Sep 16: The Indian benchmark indices opened higher on Tuesday amid mixed global cues, as US Chief Negotiator Brendan Lynch arrived in India to resume trade negotiations between the two nations.

As of 9.25 am, the Sensex was up 184 points or 0.23 per cent at 81,970, and the Nifty was up 47 points or 0.19 per cent at 25,117.

The broadcap indices outperformed benchmark indices, as Nifty Midcap 100 inched up by 0.26 per cent, and the Nifty Small cap 100 moved up 0.70 per cent.

Kotak Mahindra, Axis Bank and Hero Motocorp were the top gainers on NSE Nifty 50 index. Titan Company, SBI Life Insurance, Asian Paints and Tata Consumer Products weighed on the Nifty 50 index.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Media, the top gainer, jumped 1.08 per cent. Nifty Auto (up 0.65 per cent) and Nifty Oil and gas (up 0.57 per cent) were the other major gainers. Except Nifty FMCG and Nifty PSU Bank, which were marginally down, all other indices were in the green.

Analysts said that, from a technical standpoint, a sustained move above the 25,160 level could pave the way for a rally toward 25,250 and 25,500 zones. The immediate support lies at 25,000 and 24,900 zones.

“The bold reforms – both fiscal and monetary – implemented this year have started yielding results and is likely to gather momentum in near future. An India-US trade agreement without the penal tariffs can be a shot in the arm for markets,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

Major US indices ended firmly in the green zone overnight as the Nasdaq rose 0.94 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.47 per cent, and the Dow advanced 0.11 per cent.

Most of the Asian markets made strong gains during the morning session. While China’s Shanghai index dipped 0.1 per cent, and Shenzhen inched down 0.26 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.54 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index inched up 0.07 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi inched up 1.2 per cent.

The US markets are pricing in a 96.4 per cent probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut on September 17, with additional cuts expected through year-end.

On Monday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 1,268 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 1,933 crore.

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National News

Bandra Fair 2025: 12 Individuals Booked For Theft On Opening Day

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Mumbai: Twelve individuals from Mumbai and the Thane region, including two 17-year-old boys from Amravati and three women from Pune were booked under nine FIRs at Bandra police station on Sunday, the opening day of the week-long Bandra Fair that will continue till September 21. The suspects, aged between 17 and 35, are from Amravati, Pune, Nirmal Nagar (Bandra East), Santa Cruz and Ambivli in Thane district.

According to the police, the accused had travelled to the fair posing as devotees to steal mobile phones, gold chains and pickpocket worshippers. The Amravati teenagers were caught attempting to steal mobile phones, while the three Pune women who already have theft cases against them for incidents during the Dagdusheth Ganpati festival were nabbed while trying to steal gold ornaments.

Assistant Inspectors Vikram Patil and Bajrang Jagtap led a 35-member team from police stations between Bandra and Versova, working under the supervision of DCP-zone 9, Dikshit Gedam. Around 50,000 devotees visited the first day of the 300-year-old fair, which also marked the reopening of the restored Mount Mary Basilica.

Mumbai Police said they are developing strategies to counter organised thefts by criminals posing as devotees. In 2018, Bandra police had similarly arrested three women chain-snatchers from Chennai during the festival, for whom an interpreter was arranged as they spoke only Tamil.

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