The power station is proposed at Bund Garden weir in Pune city. (File)Pune Maharashtra News Highlights: Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in Maharashtra is all set to start its own hydroelectric power plant to reduce rapidly increasing levels of carbon emission by using the water from Mula-Mutha river that cuts across Pune city. The civic body is set to showcase its initiative at the national conference of municipal commissioners and at the G20 meet in the next few days. The power station is proposed at Bund Garden weir in Pune city.
Pune Airport officials are working towards persuading airlines to restart direct air service between Pune and Mumbai three years after this service was abruptly terminated with the closure of Jet Airways in 2019. Officials said that they have started working in this regard as there is considerable demand for such a service. They are also in contact with the Mumbai International Airport to gauge a time slot for the service. Aviation expert Dhairyashil Vandekar said that such a service is a need of the hour but would require AAI to adopt an encouraging policy to make it financially viable for the airlines.
As the ‘koyta’ gang has wreaked havoc in the city from the past two weeks, Pune City Police has invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against 13 members of the gang. Police have identified the gang leader as Samir Pathan (26), a resident of Malwadi. Samir has been arrested with nine aides in connection with an attempt to murder and rioting case lodged at the Hadapsar police station last month. Three more accused in this case are still on the run. According to police, Samit and his aides have been found to be involved in multiple criminal cases in the past, including robbery, rioting and others, lodged at different police stations.
A threat was made to blow up the Pune railway station on Friday night. The station was thoroughly inspected by the police this morning, but no suspicious object was found. The police presence at the station has been increased. Travelers have also been urged to be vigilant.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil attended the closing ceremony of the Maharashtra State police games at SRPF ground in Wanowrie, Pune.
Days after his controversial remarks about Dr B R Ambedkar and Jyotiba Phule, Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil on Friday said none of “our gods” or “mahapurush” (icons) were bachelors.
Addressing a gathering, Yuva Sanvad, organised on the occasion of National Youth Day in Pune, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said, “All our gods and icons (mahapurush) were householders. Everything can be done, including service, by leading a householder’s life.” Read more
Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited (RTSPL), which operates the bike taxi service under brand name ‘Rapido’, has given an undertaking in the Bombay High Court that it will suspend its operations in Pune and the entire state of Maharashtra.
The undertaking was given by RTSPL in the High Court during the hearing of its writ petition challenging the Pune Regional Transport Officer’s (RTO) decision to reject Rapido’s application for a bike-taxi and auto-rickshaw aggregator licence. Read more
A day after its official candidate withdrew from the race at the last minute, the Congress in Maharashtra has announced that it will not support Satyajit Tambe who has filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate for the election in Nashik Division Graduates Constituency of Maharashtra Legislative Council.
“We will not support the rebel candidate,” MPCC president Nana Patole told reporters in Mumbai on Friday. Read more
Pune’s Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital, a multispecialty tertiary care hospital, successfully saved the life of a 25-year-old girl whose covering of the skull, complete skin and ear got pulled off in an accident at a factory.
Saraswati, who hails from Karnataka and is the daughter of labourers, was working at a factory in Chakan when in September last year, she met with a freak accident while standing near a machine. “There was no power supply. Suddenly the power came back and my hair was near the motor. It got entangled and got pulled,” she said at a press conference held Friday. Read more
The Bombay High Court on Friday pulled up a Pune-based bike taxi aggregator for operating without procuring a licence from the Maharashtra government and directed it to suspend the services immediately.
A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and S G Dige warned Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited (Rapido) to either suspend its bike taxi services immediately or the court would have to issue directions to the state authorities to permanently exempt the company from getting any licence. (PTI)
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A fresh political controversy appears to be brewing in Maharashtra with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Amol Mitkari on Friday demanding that Pune be renamed as ‘Jijau Nagar’ to honour the memory and contribution of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s mother Jijabai Bhosale. The Hindu Mahasabha, however, said a monument should be built for her instead.
The demand was previously voiced by the Maratha outfit Sambhaji Brigade but had found no takers. Now, however, the demand comes from a mainstream political party. Read more
Ahead of G-20’s first Infrastructure Working Group meeting to be held in Pune, Maharashtra, the municipal commissioners of around 50 civic bodies across the country will Friday come together to attend a one-day seminar in the city on urban infrastructure.
The seminar is organised by the Union Economic Affairs Department in association with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), and Pune International Centre (PIC). Read more
A section of students preparing to appear for the civil services examination held by the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) have returned to the streets to protest against the implementation of the new examination pattern by the commission. They are protesting in Pune's Alaka Chowk which is in proximity to Sadashiv Seth, a hub of civil services coaching classes.The students are demanding that the new 'subjective pattern' - on the lines of Union Public Service Commission - be implemented from 2025 instead of the current year as it puts them (those preparing using the old pattern for several years) at a disadvantage.
Apart from Pune, similar sit in protests have been reported from Aurangabad, Nashik, and Nagpur. The agitation is being supported by the Indian National Congress.
Members of Christian community took out a protest march from City church to district collectorate on Friday against the atrocities on Christians and attacks on churches. The Mumbai Police ealier this week arrested a 22-year-old man for allegedly vandalising several crosses at the cemetery attached to the St Michael’s Church in Mahim on Saturday. Police also registered an FIR earlier this month in Mumbai after the Mount Mary church in Bandra allegedly received a “terror-threat” email warning of an attack by the Lashkar-e-Taiba. However, it was followed by an email claiming that the earlier one was sent by a child suffering from mental illness.
Express Photo by Arul Horizon
Its trailer was a heart-stopping look into an encounter between the police and Naxalites. Now, Nagraj Manjule has announced that the movie ‘Ghar Banduk Biryani’, which he has produced, will be released on March 30. The multilingual film will be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages apart from Marathi.
The film is directed by Hemant Awtade with Manjule as the creative director and stars Sayaji Shinde, Akash Thosar, Somnath Awghade and Pravin Dalimbkar, besides Manjule himself. Read more
In an embarrassment for the Congress in Maharashtra, its official candidate for the graduates constituency from Nashik, Dr Sudhir Tambe, failed to file his nomination papers before the 3 pm deadline on Thursday. Instead, Tambe’s son Satyajeet Tambe filed the nomination papers and declared himself as an independent candidate, but supported by the Maha Vikas Aghadi, and said that he would seek the support of all parties, including the BJP.
Sudhir Tambe had been thrice elected as MLC to the state legislative council from the Nashik graduates constituency. On Thursday morning, the Congress had again announced his name as its official candidate and had also given him the AB form. However, by the 3 pm deadline, his son Satyajeet, a Youth Congress leader, filed his nomination papers while Sudhir said he was withdrawing from the race.
Speaking to reporters, Satyajeet said, “Due to a technical problem, I have filed two nomination papers. I did not get the AB form from Congress before the deadline for filing nominations…I will be contesting the election as independent but I will be a Congress and MVA candidate.” Read More
After Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankar once again raised the issue of powers of the judiciary vis-a-vis the legislature Wednesday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said Governors must follow what the Vice President and the Lok Sabha speaker Om Biral are advising.
Dhankhar said all constitutional institutions are required to remain confined to their respective domains and conform to the highest standards of propriety and decorum. Similarly, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had said constitutional bodies should refrain from activism and stick to their responsibilities.
These statements, NCP national spokesperson Clyde Crasto, said should also apply to the constitutional position of Governors. “To maintain the dignity and sanctity of a constitutional position, all honourable Governors must follow and practice what the Vice President of India and Lok Sabha Speaker are advising,” he said. Read More
After the success and critical acclaim of his 2018 Marathi film Mulshi Pattern, filmmaker Pravin Tarde is planning to bring his social consciousness into play in a sequel titled Reti Pattern. “I am researching the subject at present. It will be a crime story and, like Mulshi Pattern, it will deal with the struggles of farmers in India,” said Tarde.
In 2018, Mulshi Pattern, both, entertained and shocked audiences with its stark portrayal of the fissures in society and their consequences. The story is based on the lives of farmers from Mulshi who had sold their lands in the 1990s and 2000s. Among the protagonists are Sakharam Patil (Mohan Joshi), who has sold his ancestral home and spent the money, and his son Rahul (Om Bhutkar), whose life takes a turn for the worse as a result of Sakharam’s actions. Soon, the father and son have to make ends meet by working as labourers but an incident changes things and puts Rahul on the road to crime. Read more
Stepping up its efforts to stem the rapidly increasing carbon emission due to urbanisation, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in Maharashtra is all set to start its own hydroelectric power plant by using the water from Mula-Mutha river that cuts across Pune city.
The civic body is set to showcase its initiative at the national conference of municipal commissioners and at the G20 meet in the next few days. Read more
Various trains will either be cancelled or delayed due to technical work undertaken by Solapur division of Railways,as reported by Loksatta. Services of Daund-Bhusaval, Nizamabad-Pune railways will be terminated for a few days from today. Nizamuddin-Pune railway will not be running till 26 January and Daund-Nizamuddin won't be running till 24 January.