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A Mumbai court on Wednesday discharged BJP leader and former Member of Parliament (MP) Navneet Rana in a fake caste certificate case. Her discharge plea was allowed by Judicial Magistrate First Class (Mazgaon court) A A Kulkarni. A reasoned order was not available yet. However, the case against her father Harbhajansingh Kundless will continue as the court adjourned the matter to February 16 for framing of charges against him. Rana, who claims to belong to a Scheduled Caste, is a former Independent Lok Sabha MP from Amravati (2019-24) in eastern Maharashtra. She later joined the BJP. As per a complaint lodged at the Mulund police station in Mumbai, Rana and her father allegedly forged documents to obtain a caste certificate for her as the Amravati Lok Sabha seat, from where she contested, is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. The Bombay High Court in 2021 cancelled the caste certificate issued to Rana, saying it was obtained fraudulently using fabricated documents. However,
The Opposition has accused election officials of showing a partisan attitude during the scrutiny of nomination papers for the upcoming Thane Municipal Corporation elections after the documents of a few candidates were rejected. Rajan Vichare of Shiv Sena (UBT), Avinash Jadhav of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Jitendra Awhad of NCP (SP) addressed the media on Wednesday night, targeting the returning officer in the Wagle Estate area. The Opposition leaders alleged that the returning officer showed bias in rejecting the nomination papers of Sena (UBT), MNS, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and independent candidates contesting from wards 16, 17 and 18. According to MNS and VBA leaders, the nominations of Shinde Sena candidates Ekta Bhoir and Shilpa Wagh were accepted despite alleged discrepancies. The Wagle Estate area is considered a stronghold of the ruling Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. These officials have become servants of the ruling party and they work
Scrutiny of nomination papers for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections has led to the rejection of several candidates across parties due to incomplete documents, errors in forms and failure to submit mandatory certificates, election officials have said. A total of 2,516 nomination papers were filed till December 30, the final day. As the forms were examined on Wednesday, those of candidates from the Congress, BJP, AAP, NCP (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and several independents were rejected. As most parties finalised seat-sharing arrangements and issued A' and B' forms (key documents to file nominations) only in the last two to three days to prevent rebellion, a rush of nominations was witnessed on December 29 and 30. Officials said delays in finalising candidatures, last-minute documentation, non-submission of caste validity certificates and incomplete details were among the reasons behind the rejections. Officials said candidates whose nominations were rejecte
Four people, including three women, died and nine others were injured after a reversing bus of Mumbai's civic-run transport undertaking BEST knocked down pedestrians on Monday night, a police official said. According to the official, the incident took place at around 10pm at busy Station Road in suburban Bhandup (West) when the bus crashed into pedestrians while reversing. He said four people, including three women, died, while nine others were injured in the accident. The injured were admitted to a nearby hospital, said the police official. The bus driver was detained and process was underway to register an FIR against him, he stated. Even an hour after the tragedy, public relations department of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) did not confirm the accident. BEST public relations officer Sucheta Utale or its general manager Sonia Sethi were not available for comment. However, a senior civic official, who was not authorised to speak to the media, told PTI ..
With only two days left before the nominations process for the civic polls in Maharashtra closes, the ruling and opposition camps are rushing against time to form alliances and finalise seat-sharing agreements amid the shifting political dynamics. In a crucial development, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday announced an alliance between his NCP, a constituent of the ruling Mahayuti combine, and the NCP (SP), led by his uncle Sharad Pawar, for the Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls, saying the parivar (family) has come together. "For the sake of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections, the clock' and the tutari' have united. The parivar has come together, he said. Pawar urged party workers to work hard and refrain from making any controversial comments during rallies. "We are the ones who work for development. We will edge out those who tried to put this municipal corporation in debt," he said. Meanwhile, talks between the two parties are underway for a tie-up for th
Nine of the 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra going to polls on January 15 are from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), where urban challenges, centred on pollution, housing, water, sanitation and public transport, are expected to influence voter behaviour. Amid identity politics over caste, language, religion and the Marathi Manoos' narrative, candidates and political parties are recalibrating their platforms to address core civic issues. In the recent session of the state legislature, the state government announced an amnesty scheme to regularise over 20,000 buildings in MMR that lack occupancy certificates. A new regulatory framework has been announced to redevelop Mumbai's pagdi' buildings (tenancy rental model where the tenant is a part-owner of a house). In the nine civic corporations of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Vasai-Virar, Bhiwandi, Mira-Bhayandar, Ulhasnagar and Panvel, local socio-economic and infrastructure issues are taking centre stage in ..
Realty firm Keystone Realtors plans to launch a super luxury residential project in Mumbai next month with a revenue potential of about Rs 3,000 crore, a top company official said. Mumbai-based Keystone Realtors, which sells properties under Rustomjee brand, is one of the leading real estate developers in the country. In an interview with PTI, Keystone Realtors Chairman and Managing Director Boman Irani said the company is very bullish on housing demand and expressed confidence of easily achieving the sales bookings target of Rs 4,000 crore this fiscal year. The company has already sold properties worth Rs 1,839 crore in the first half of 2025-26, up 40 per cent annually. About new launches, Irani said the company is targeting to launch a super luxury residential project at Bandstand, Bandra, in Mumbai next month. "The gross development value (GDV) of this upcoming project will be around Rs 3,000 crore," he said. Irani said the company had given an annual guidance of launching Rs
Biopharmaceutical firm Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and IT services company Accenture on Wednesday announced the opening of a new AI-powered content hub, Mosaic, in Mumbai. The generative AI-enabled facility is designed to accelerate BMS's global commercialisation strategy through enhanced digital capabilities, enabling the rapid creation of hyper-personalised, patient-centric content tailored for healthcare professionals, according to a joint statement. The launch of Mosaic is a key component of BMS's ongoing USD 130 million strategic investment aimed at advancing its portfolio of AI initiatives and AI-enabled marketing capabilities. Mosaic will utilise enhanced digital capabilities, including generative AI, to identify physicians' needs in real-time, allowing BMS to quickly and effectively develop targeted communications. To date, the Mosaic content hub has been successfully piloted across three US brands (Reblozyl, Camzyos, and Cobenfy) with plans to onboard additional brands and
A goods train derailed near the Panvel railway station in Raigad district on Thursday afternoon, affecting railway traffic on the busy Mumbai-Goa route, a Central Railway (CR) official said. Nobody was injured in the incident, he said. "The derailment occurred at a crossing point near the Panvel railway station at 12.28 pm. One trolley of the goods train wagon going to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) derailed near platform number five," CR's chief public relations officer Swapnil Nila said. Due to the derailment, the movement of trains on the Mumbai-Goa and Mumbai-Panvel-Karjat routes was affected, the officials said. Panvel railway station is located around 50 km from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai. Further details are awaited.