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Maharashtra
All competitive examinations conducted through the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) will be held in Marathi, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said. Fadnavis made the announcement in the state legislative council on Wednesday while responding to a question raised by Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Milind Narvekar. Narvekar pointed out that some examinations related to agriculture and engineering disciplines were conducted only in English. He asked why the engineering-related exams were not being conducted in Marathi. Addressing the query, CM Fadnavis said, "These exams are already conducted in both Marathi and English. However, court had ruled in certain cases that some exams, particularly those related to agricultural engineering, should be conducted only in English." "When the matter was taken to the court, a discussion was held at the government level, and it was noted that textbooks for these subjects were not available in Marathi. This was brought to the court's ...
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday promised a probe into a tender process for leasing buses for MSRTC which is estimated to have caused a loss of Rs 1,700 crore. Speaking in the legislative council, he said work orders were issued at the level of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) through "collusion" with contractors, and action will be taken against those responsible within a month. Fadnavis was responding to a starred question raised by Congress's Rajesh Rathod. "The work orders for the tender process to acquire 1,310 buses were issued when the government formation was underway (after the November 2024 elections), a full cabinet was not in place, and neither the chief minister nor the deputy chief minister had approved it," he said. "This led to an estimated loss of around Rs 1,700 crore to the state exchequer. Following this revelation, the tender process was halted, and an inquiry was ordered under the additional secretary of the ...
Activist Anjali Damania on Tuesday said she would demand reopening of all criminal cases registered against Walmik Karad, the prime accused in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case. Talking to reporters, she said Karad faces multiple criminal cases. "As per my information, there were 16 cases and all of them have been disposed of except two to three cases. Hence, I am going to demand re-opening of all those cases against him," she said. All the disposed cases should be brought before the judicial committee again, she said. "I am going to write to the committee and have also asked (deceased sarpanch's brother) Dhananjay Deshmukh to do the same," Damania said. Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, was kidnapped and tortured to death in December last year, allegedly for thwarting attempts to extort money from a windmill company. NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, who hails from Beed district, resigned as Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Minist
The Maharashtra government on Monday proposed a 6 per cent tax on electric vehicles priced more than Rs 30 lakh in the budget for the fiscal 2025-26. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, tabled the budget and announced a 1 per cent hike in the Motor Vehicle Tax on CNG and LPG vehicles. The government has also proposed a 7 per cent tax on vehicles used for construction activities, which will generate additional revenue of approximately Rs 180 crore. The state government has proposed a 6 per cent tax on electric vehicles above Rs 30 lakh and a 1 per cent tax hike on individual-owned non-transport four-wheeler CNG and LPG vehicles. The move will generate an additional revenue of approximately Rs 150 crore in 2025-26. Pawar also announced a 7 per cent tax on light goods vehicles (LGVs) carrying goods up to 7,500 kg, which will earn the state Rs 625 crore. The government has also increased the maximum limit of the Motor Vehicles Tax from Rs 20 lakh t
More than 4.30 lakh crop insurance applications under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) were rejected in Maharashtra during the Kharif 2024 season due to irregularities, the legislative council was told on Monday. State Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate stated in a written reply that the rejections were primarily due to discrepancies such as insurance on government-owned land, municipal land, areas exceeding actual landholdings, and non-eligible crops. "No financial loss has occurred to the government as no premiums were paid for these invalid claims," Kokate stated while responding to a question asked by BJP MLC Chitra Wagh. As many as 4,30,443 crop insurance applications under the PMFBY were rejected during the Kharif 2024 season. In comparison, 2,85,468 applications were rejected during the Kharif 2023 season, the minister stated. Kokate said the scrutiny process had flagged several irregularities including fraudulent geo-tagging of non-agricultural land as ...
Four labourers were killed and 13 others injured when their speeding truck overturned in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in the early hours of Monday, police said. The incident took place in Pishor ghat section when the sugarcane-laden truck was going from Kannad to Pishor, an official said. As many as 17 labourers were travelling on the truck, he said. Its driver lost control over the wheels at the Pishor ghat and as a result, the vehicle overturned. The labourers fell down on the road and got trapped under the heap of sugarcane, the official said. Later, four labourers were found dead and 13 were pulled out alive, he said. The injured labourers were rushed to a hospital and were undergoing treatment, the official said.
Police have arrested a journalist with a local news channel for allegedly making derogatory remarks against an aide of Maharashtra minister Jaykumar Gore, and also booked him in a case of attempt to extort Rs 5 crore from the minister, officials said on Monday. The Satara police arrested Tushar Kharat, the editor of Lay Bhari, a local YouTube channel, from Mumbai on Sunday, they said. Some opposition leaders recently demanded Gore's resignation over allegations of him harassing a woman and sending objectionable photos to her. The state rural development minister has dismissed the charges. Last week, Gore submitted breach of privilege notices against Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar and Tushar Kharat, accusing them of defaming him. Gore last week said the court acquitted him of all charges in 2019 and directed that the material be destroyed. The BJP minister had said his image was maligned by raking up an old issue. "BJP's social media co-ordinator and Gore'
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday accused the BJP of poisoning society and asked his supporters to respond to the ruling party's favoured 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan with 'Jai Shivaji' and Jai Bhavani'. Addressing Sena (UBT) workers in the eastern suburb of Mulund, bordering Thane, he also drew a comparison between the current BJP-led regime and Nazi Germany dictator Adolf Hitler. If anyone says Jai Shri Ram, do not let the person leave without making sure that he says Jai Shivaji and Jai Bhavani. The BJP has poisoned our society. I am going to give the BJP a tough time for what they have done to our society, he said. Thackeray also questioned the BJP's commitment to the country, pointing to its stance on international sports events. He said that the BJP previously opposed sporting events with Pakistan, yet India now engages in cricket matches with both Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Sena (UBT) chief also responded to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's recent j
Gender equality is currently only on paper and there was need to imbibe it in families by teaching the value that girls and boys are equal, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Saturday. Interacting with journalists on the occasion of International Women's Day, the CM also said he was happy to be the parent of a girl, adding "daughter's are God's blessings" and that he was fortunate to have received it. "Gender equality is a value that needs to be taught from childhood that girls and boys are individuals who needed to be treated equally. Gender equality is only on paper and needs to be imbibed within families, while governments can make interventions," Fadnavis said. On the personal front, the CM said he never felt pressure from society or family since he only has a daughter. Asserting that his wife is an independent individual, Fadnavis said, "I may not agree with all her views and actions, but as an independent individual, she is free. She is often trolled and has
The Maharashtra government does not intend to control the media through the monitoring centre that it plans to set up, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Saturday while asserting the mechanism was to "take note" of what is printed and broadcast for response and clarification purposes. The media monitoring centre (MMC) to be set up under the state government's Directorate of Information and Publicity has come in for criticism and is being dubbed as a move to control the media. A government resolution issued earlier this week said the requirement of such a centre was felt because of the growth of publications, channels and digital platforms and there was need for monitoring under one umbrella how the news related to government schemes, policies are given. A professional consultant will be hired to collect government related news in PDF format and bifurcate into various categories like issues, individuals, departments, positive and negative, the GR stated. "We have no intention
Pre-election sops like the Ladki Bahin scheme is extracting Rs 60,000 crore from the Maharashtra government and attempts are being made to ensure that it doesn't impact capital investments, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said. Assembly elections were held in Maharashtra in November 2024. Days before the announcement of the state budget on Monday, Fadnavis said Maharashtra is trying to channelise the money paid to the beneficiary women into productive purposes by helping them pool the resources for sustainable businesses. "It is true that when you undertake such expenditure (on welfare schemes), it has a stress on the budget but we are able to manage it. And we are attempting that this does not impact our capital investments," Fadnavis said at a Moneycontrol event on Friday evening. "We are trying to balance budget without reducing the capital investment," he added. It can be noted that the sops have been widely credited for being among the factors leading to the MVA governme
Maharashtra's economy is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent as per the advance estimates of 2024-25, according to the government's pre-Budget Economic Survey tabled in the assembly on Friday. The report was tabled by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar who holds the finance portfolio. The survey said the Indian economy is expected to grow at 6.5 per cent during 2024-25. In the financial year 2024-25, agriculture and allied activities, industry and services sectors are expected to grow at 8.7 per cent, 4.9 per cent and 7.8 per cent, respectively, it said. The nominal GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) for 2023-24 is estimated at Rs 40,55,847 crore as against Rs 36,41,543 crore in 2022-23, said the Economic Survey. The real GSDP is estimated at Rs 24,35,259 crore for 2023-24 compared to Rs 22,55,708 crore for 2022-23, it said. As per revised estimates, the share of Maharashtra's nominal GSDP in the all-India nominal GDP was the highest at 13.5 per cent during 2023-24, said the survey.