Pune, Aug 18: Two men were apprehended after police found stolen liquor from a shop in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar on Tuesday, officials said.

Six bottles of foreign liquor, valued at Rs 27,200, were recovered from the accused.

According to the officials, the youths were apprehended by a team from Yerwada police station near the GST office in Kalyani Nagar.

The investigators said that the accused have been identified as Rohan Ram Kamble (28) and Amit Mahadev Sitapure (27).

They also added that a case has been registered against both the accused under Sections 303(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

While patrolling the area on Tuesday, police personnel Sandeep Jaybhay received information that two suspicious-looking youths were standing near the GST office and might be in possession of stolen goods, the officials said.

Acting on this information, the police team arrived at the spot and intercepted the two youths. They failed to provide satisfactory answers during questioning. Upon searching the bag they were carrying, the police found six bottles of foreign liquor, the officials added.

The police took both individuals to the Yerwada police station for questioning, during which, according to the officials, the accused admitted that the liquor bottles had been stolen from the ‘Tonic Outlet’ shop in Kalyani Nagar.

According to the police, the recovered liquor is linked to a theft case registered at the Yerwada police station.

The officials said that Sub-Inspector Kishor Berad is conducting investigations into the matter to ascertain the nexus and see if the accused duo has been involved in similar incidents in the past.

Necessary legal proceedings have been initiated in connection with the case, the investigators said.

Mumbai, Aug 18: In a major consolidation of administrative authority, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has been granted legal power to intervene in and override decisions taken by any cabinet minister in Maharashtra, provided it is done in the larger public interest.

The state government officially notified the Maharashtra Government Rules of Business, 2026, which explicitly outline the administrative powers and procedures for the Chief Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Chief Secretary and departmental secretaries.

Published by the General Administration Department in the State Gazette under Article 166 (2) and (3) of the Constitution of India, the new framework supersedes all previous rules and procedures to streamline executive decision‑making across the state.

Under the newly notified framework, the Chief Minister holds explicit legal standing to alter, modify or overturn decisions made by any minister if deemed necessary for public welfare. Quasi‑judicial matters remain exempt.

Officials said the Chief Minister is legally required to record detailed reasons in writing for overturning a minister’s decision. The Chief Minister reserves the right to call for official documents, files or records from any department at any time, and respective ministers and departmental secretaries are legally bound to comply. Routine administrative work and primary responsibility of a department will continue to rest with the minister‑in‑charge.

Under Rule 13(5), the Chief Minister holds explicit authority to alter, modify or cancel decisions made by departmental ministers for the public good. Rule 2(c) formally defines a “case” to include digital notes, e‑documents and digital files processed within the state’s e‑Office system.

Rule 17(2) and Rule 39 mandate that no administrative department can issue orders involving financial implications, such as revenue abandonment, land grants, concessions or unbudgeted expenditure, without prior concurrence of the Finance Department. The Chief Secretary serves as the chief of civil services in the state and secretary to the Cabinet.

Under Rule 16(1), the Chief Secretary is mandated to advise the Chief Minister or Ministers if any proposed course of action violates statutory provisions or established policy. Departments are required to consult all affected ministries before making decisions. Any potential dispute or controversy involving the Government of India or other state governments must be reported to the Chief Minister and the Governor immediately.

The notification allows the state government to constitute Empowered Committees headed by the Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary or Principal Secretary to decide on designated subjects. The newly issued rules came into force immediately upon their publication in the official gazette on August 14, 2026.

Officials said the notification has raised eyebrows across political corridors regarding how this move will impact coalition dynamics within the ruling Mahayuti government. Portfolios in the state cabinet are shared among key coalition partners, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Sunetra Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Analysts suggest that if CM Fadnavis exercises this authority to reverse decisions taken by ministers from allied parties, it could potentially trigger internal political friction or debates within the alliance.

Mumbai, Aug 18: Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership, accusing the ruling party of “intellectual bankruptcy” and stirring up unnecessary political controversies surrounding the national song, Vande Mataram.

In a hard-hitting editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana, the Thackeray camp asserted that the BJP played no historic role in the Indian freedom struggle, national milestones, or iconic slogans such as Vande Mataram and Inquilab Zindabad.

The editorial targeted BJP founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, noting his involvement in the Muslim League-led Bengal cabinet and accusing him of advocating for the British regime to sternly suppress freedom movements, including the Quit India movement.

The party argued that rather than demanding apologies from political opponents, the BJP should apologise to the nation for historically betraying the freedom movement.

The attack comes amid heightened friction between the Opposition and the central government over parliamentary proceedings.

According to the editorial, the Congress-led Opposition recently disrupted Parliament to demand a statement and an apology from Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding an alleged pellet gun firing incident at Jantar Mantar.

The editorial claimed that Home Minister Shah evaded the parliamentary session, later labelling the Congress’s stance on Vande Mataram as “intellectual Naxalism” while demanding an apology. “To drag Vande Mataram into political battles and accuse opponents of ‘intellectual Naxalism’ reflects a sheer lack of historical awareness and political desperation,” the editorial stated.

The editorial outlined the song’s deeply rooted legacy within the Indian independence movement to counter the central government’s claims. In the 1896 Kolkata Session, Rabindranath Tagore first sang Vande Mataram at the Kolkata Congress session under the presidency of Rahamatullah M Sayani. When the British colonial government banned the song and arrested those who sang it, it was Congress members and leftists who went to jail to uphold it.

Following advice from Rabindranath Tagore in a letter to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, the Congress Working Committee—including Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Maulana Azad, Govind Ballabh Pant, and Acharya Kripalani— in 1937 unanimously adopted the first two stanzas of the song. Before Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his landmark Tryst with Destiny speech, Sucheta Kripalani rendered Vande Mataram in the special midnight session of Parliament, said the editorial.

The Thackeray camp also sharply criticised the current administration’s handling of national symbols and institutions.

The editorial accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of shutting down the historic Parliament building—where India’s independence was originally inaugurated—and replacing it with a structure it likened to a “private Gujarati marriage hall.”

Furthermore, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena highlighted that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological progenitor of the BJP, did not hoist the Indian Tricolour at its offices or branches on Independence Day for nearly 50 years post-independence.

Drawing further historical parallels, the editorial recalled Balajipant Natu lowering the Maratha flag to hoist the British Union Jack at Pune’s Shaniwar Wada on November 17, 1817. It noted that it was only on August 15, 1947, that freedom fighter Krantisinh Nana Patil lowered the Union Jack and raised the Tricolour at the historic site amid chants of Vande Mataram.

Invoking past statements by former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, the editorial emphasised that Vande Mataram should remain above political division, reiterating that freedom fighters and the Congress had consistently embraced the song throughout the independence struggle.