Officials said the boy was stuck at a depth of around 20 feet in the borewell.Pune News Highlights, March 13, 2023: The five-year-old boy who fell into an uncovered 200-feet deep borewell on a farm in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district Monday afternoon was found dead around early Tuesday. The local police said the deceased boy has been identified as Sagar Budha Barela, whose family had temporarily migrated to Ahmednagar from the Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh and is employed by a sugarcane-cutting contractor.
Meanwhile, a year after the state government appointed an administrator to Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), political parties have called for early elections to “give a push to development” in the city and make the functioning of the administration “transparent and people-oriented”. Activists too say that even as elected corporators are responsible for the citizens, “loyalty of officials only lies with the state government”.
In other news, of the nine cooperative sugar mills recommended by the state government for the One Time Settlement (OTS) scheme of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), seven are those controlled by BJP leaders, said NCP leader Ajit Pawar. Some are controlled by former Congress-NCP leaders who joined the BJP, he added. Pawar was speaking at the ongoing session of the state legislature.
(Express Photos by Arul Horizon)
An offence has been registered in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar against suspended BJP MLA from Telangana T Raja Singh after a video of his vitriolic speech targeting Muslims went viral on social media.
The MLA was also recently questioned by Latur police in Maharashtra over another provocative tirade of his, officials said. (PTI)
Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) Fire Brigades have deployed at least eight tenders after a major fire was reported at a factory located at Ganesh Nagar in Dhayari area of Pune on Tuesday evening around 7 pm.
Operation to control the fire is currently underway. Officials from the Pune Fire Brigade control room said that multiple explosions of gas cylinders have been reported from inside the factory.
Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal commissioner Shekhar Singh Tuesday presented a Rs 5,298 crore annual budget. The total budget amount stands at Rs 7,127 crore after including state and Union government schemes.
Presenting his first budget as the administrator, Singh said his “focus is on ensuring better connectivity, providing better medical facilities, and uplifting the quality of education imparted by civic schools.” Read more
A man from Rajkot, who had arrived in Pune to appear for an interview at an MNC, went missing from the Pune Railway Station on March 9 and is yet to be traced by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP), said the man’s brother-in-law on Tuesday.
Alkesh Rameshbhai Vyas had arrived in Pune on March 8 to appear for an interview at Tata Consultancy Services, informed his brother-in-law Bhargav Joshi at a press conference. A complaint has been filed by Joshi at the Lohmarg Police Station. Read more
On the website of children’s footwear company Aretto, there are attractive shoes of different colours under the names such as Space Surfer Red, Firefighter, Submariner, and Candy Floss. While these are appealing to children, what is drawing their parents to Aretto is that the shoe size increases as the child grows up to three times, making the company the only one in the market with the know-how. Read more
(Express Photos by Arul Horizon)
Last year a Vikas Farmer Producer Company (FPC) in the village of Takli (B) in Maharashtra managed to procure around 5,000 tonnes of chana (Bengal gram) on behalf of the National Cooperative Agricultural Marketing Federation (NAFED) from more than 3,000 farmers located in the area in Latur district.
This season, the procurement is to start on March 14 and end on June 11.
However, the FPC has not been selected to procure the pulse even as its price continues to remain well below the government-declared Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 5,335 for one quintal. Read more
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At a time when the BJP has been deputing many of its senior leaders, including Union ministers, to Baramati as part of its special focus on the constituency for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule has invited Union Tourism and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy to her home turf so that the area’s tourism potential can be tapped. Read more
Suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and MLA T. Raja Singh has said India will be declared as “akhand Hindu rashtra” by 2026.
Addressing a programme organised by Hindutva bodies at Rahata in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra recently, Singh said the names of Ahmednagar and Hyderabad (capital of Telangana) cities will be changed to Ahilyabainagar and Bhagyanagar, respectively. Read more
In what could be a relief to diabetes patients, Pune-based biotech company Mylab Discovery Solutions will be partnering with a UK-based firm to develop a diabetic foot ulcer detection kit.
The MoU was on Monday signed between Mylab and DnaNudge, a pioneer of consumer genetics testing and medical diagnostics to develop next-generation molecular diagnostic solutions for diabetic foot ulcer detection and other key health conditions. Read more
The five-year-old boy who fell into an uncovered 200-feet deep borewell on a farm in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district Monday afternoon was found dead around early Tuesday.
The local police said the deceased boy has been identified as Sagar Budha Barela, whose family had temporarily migrated to Ahmednagar from the Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh and is employed by a sugarcane-cutting contractor.
Ahmednagar police officials said the boy fell into the borewell at around 4 pm on a sugarcane field owned by local farmer Kakasaheb Sudrik in the Kopardi village of Karjat taluka of the district. Officials said the boy was stuck at a depth of around 20 feet in the borewell. Read more.
The third edition of the France-led multilateral exercise La Pérouse is being conducted in the Indian Ocean region on Monday and Tuesday with participation by the navies of Quad countries—India, Japan and Australia and the US—and the UK’s Royal Navy.
The first edition of the France-initiated La Pérouse multinational exercise was held in 2019 and saw the participation of the navies of Australia, Japan and the US. In the second edition in 2021, the Indian Navy joined in for the first time. The third edition will witness the participation of personnel, ships and integral helicopters of the five navies. Read more.
A year after the Maharashtra Government appointed an administrator to Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), political parties have called for early elections. Opposition parties, including the NCP and Congress, have said the development of the city can be carried forward and the functioning of the administration can be made transparent and people-oriented only after corporators are elected.
On March 13 last year, the state government had announced that then municipal commissioner Rajesh Patil will continue to function as the PCMC administrator. This was after the five-year term of corporators came to an end on March 13, 2022. Patil, who took charge as the administrator, served for the next four months. After the Shinde-Fadnavis government took over in June, Shekhar Singh, who was the district collector of Satara, was appointed the PCMC administrator on August 16, 2022. Read More
Pune’s rental market saw a remarkable appreciation in 2022 and realtors are confident of the trend continuing this year.
Property consultant Anarock, in its report published last week, talked about a 20 and 21 per cent increase in monthly rental for the micro markets of Wagholi and Hinjewadi, respectively.
Rentals nationwide had taken a nose dive in 2020 and 2021 as the Covid-induced lockdown saw mass reverse workforce migration. As work from home became the new normal, most salaried families and individuals decided to return to their hometowns instead of staying in rental places. Pune was no exception, with blue and white-collared workers deciding to return home. Continue...
Standing tall, witnessing the passage of time through the ages, the forts in Maharashtra are said to be key to understanding the history of the Marathas. Equally important though is the history chronicled on paper, which is painstakingly housed in archives spread across the state.
One such institute, a treasure trove for historical researchers, is the Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal in Pune.
Tucked away in one of the forgotten lanes in Sadashiv Peth near Perugate, you are bound to miss the Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal unless you are looking for it. The beautiful stone structure boasts an archive of approximately 15,000 documents, storing everything from tales of bravery to the property sale of noblemen. Shalmali Bhagwat Reported
Shiv Sena MP, Sanjay Raut, has written a letter to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding an investigation by the CBI and ED against BJP MLA Rahul Kul for alleged financial irregularities in Bhima Shakar Sakhar Kharkhana. Raut has claimed that there is a Rs 500 crore scam in the Bhima Sugar Cooperative and that money laundering has taken place. He has urged the authorities to take immediate action and hand over the case to the central agencies for a thorough investigation.
This development marks yet another political battle between the Shiv Sena and BJP in Maharashtra, with Raut accusing Kul of being involved in corrupt practices. It remains to be seen how this matter will unfold and whether the central agencies will take up the investigation.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced a compensation of Rs 300 per quintal to onion-growing farmers in the state. The announcement was made during the state legislative assembly session. The decision was taken in light of the difficulties faced by farmers due to the fall in onion prices. This compensation is expected to provide some relief to the farmers and help them recover from the losses they have incurred. The move is also expected to boost the morale of the farmers who have been struggling with the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors affecting their livelihood. The state government has been taking several measures to support farmers and ensure their well-being, and this compensation is another step in that direction.
Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar has said that farmers committing suicide is not a new issue and such incidents had been happening for many years.
He was responding to a query by reporters who sought his comment on suicides committed by farmers in his constituency, Sillod, in Aurangabad district recently.
"The issue of farmer suicide is not new. Such incidents are happening for many years. I feel suicides by farmers should not take place anywhere in Maharashtra, including my constituency," said Sattar, a member of the Shiv Sena faction headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
At least two farmers had ended their lives in Sillod during March 3 to 12, police had said. However, sources claimed at least six agriculturists had ended their lives in Aurangabad district in the Marathwada region during the same period, prima facie due to indebtedness.
He said a committee has been set up under Agriculture Commissioner to study this issue.
Sattar on Sunday inspected losses caused to crops in Sillod due to unseasonal rains last week.
The minister said the government will work on the recommendations of the committee once it submits reports on the farmers taking the extreme step.
"The state government has taken numerous initiatives for farmers. We are giving them the crop insurance for just one rupee," he added.
In its maiden Budget tabled on March 9, the Eknath Shinde-BJP government has proposed a Rs 6,000 assistance to farmers and Re 1 crop insurance scheme. PTI
The Pune city police have arrested a woman for allegedly manhandling a woman inspector of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the Pune International Airport in Lohegaon Sunday.
The police have identified the accused as Gunjan Agarwal, 24, a resident of Howrah, West Bengal. The CISF inspector, 39, has lodged the First Information Report (FIR) in this case at the Vimantal police station. Read More
Rambo Circus was founded by P T Dilip, a daredevil who once chased away a leopard from a sugarcane field in Nashik’s Igatpuri almost single-handedly. “He was a dashing kind of guy from his childhood,” says Sujit Dilip, the present owner of Rambo Circus and Dilip’s son. Dilip’s father, P T Thomas was a staunch Communist from Karthikappally in Kerala’s Alleppey (now Alappuzha), who had left his Congress-supporting family to come to Maharashtra and settle down in Vengurla in the Konkan. Thomas began to work in the Sawantwadi Coir Cluster, and Dilip grew up here as a socially conscious boy who readily helped others.
Back then, there was a small, family-run circus in the area that was in a bad condition. “My father helped them out with fabric and other materials. He also gave them some profitable management advice. They were very happy and approached my father to manage the circus. Circuses in other cities also started coming to him,” says Sujit. Dipanita Nath reported
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