Maharashtra Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi has written a letter to the state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Minister of Minority Affairs demanding extension of the application date for scholarship 2025-26 for students pursuing higher education abroad through the Minority Department and Ministry of Minority Affairs. The last date is August 28, 2025. Azmi has demanded an extension till September 1. He said that there is a three-day holiday in Maharashtra in view of Ganpati festival and other festivals, so students will have difficulty in submitting applications. Therefore, keeping in mind the convenience of the students, the date for submission of applications should be extended till September 1 and the government should take a positive decision on this.

Palghar: The investigation into the collapse of the Ramabai building in Virar, which claimed 17 lives earlier this week, has been handed over to the Crime Branch Unit 3.

Initially, builder Nittal Gopinath Sane (48) was arrested in connection with the case. Following further inquiry, police have also taken into custody Shubhangi Bhoir (38), Sandhya Patil (35), Surendra Bhoir (46), and Mangesh Patil (35) — the daughters and son-in-law of the late landowner Parshuram Dalvi. All five accused are scheduled to be produced before the Vasai Sessions Court on Saturday.

According to investigators, Dalvi had entered into an agreement with developer Sane for the construction of the building between 2008 and 2011. In 2020, the municipal corporation had issued a notice citing the need for repairs. Officials have confirmed that the structure was illegal.

On Tuesday, tragedy struck when the building collapsed, killing 17 residents and leaving several others injured. The probe is focusing on negligence, accountability of the landowners, and the role of the developer in the unauthorized construction.

Mumbai: Local train services between Ambernath and Badlapur were severely disrupted on Friday morning following a technical failure in a goods train engine, causing inconvenience to hundreds of daily commuters on the Central Railway’s main line.

According to Central Railway officials, the incident occurred at around 5:42 am between Ambernath and Badlapur, bringing train movement to a halt in the section. The disruption led to delays and overcrowding on platforms during the crucial morning peak hours.

The Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of the Mumbai division took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) at 7:08 am to confirm the issue and assured that teams were working to resolve the situation.

“Due to a technical issue in a goods train engine between Ambernath and Badlapur, train services are affected between Ambernath and Badlapur. Our team is working to resolve the issue at the earliest. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused,” the post read.

The response from commuters on social media was swift and pointed. A user named Dhiraj Karande replied, “It happens every day. Trains are always late—technical fault, management failure,” highlighting recurring issues on the route.

Another commuter, Nitesh Singh, took a more sarcastic tone, posting, “Your patented comment ‘Kindly look into it’ is missing in this post… please post it…”

Railway officials managed to resolve the problem by 7:34 am, after which the DRM confirmed on X that services between Ambernath and Badlapur had been restored.

Passengers have called for better contingency planning and more transparent communication to avoid such early morning chaos in the future.

“The disruption once again highlighted the infrastructure and maintenance challenges faced by the suburban rail network, often referred to as Mumbai’s lifeline,” said Rajesh Kamble of Badlapur, a daily commuter of CR’s local train services.