Page 9 - Devendra Fadnavis

Centre announces $1 bn fund for creators' economy ahead of WAVES summit

The Centre on Thursday announced a USD 1 billion fund to give a boost to the emerging creators' economy in the country and reached out to envoys from over 100 countries seeking their participation in the first World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) to be held in Mumbai. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hosted the envoys here and sought their presence at the Roundtable of top media CEOs to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the WAVES summit. India is positioning WAVES to be held from May 1 to 4 as the first convergence platform for the media and entertainment sector on the lines of the World Economic Forum at Davos, a gathering of international leaders from governance and business. Fadnavis said Mumbai, the entertainment capital of India, was the perfect permanent venue for the WAVES summit like Davos is for the World Economic Forum and Cannes is

MPSC exams to be conducted in Marathi language, says CM Devendra Fadnavis

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 ...

Those responsible for flawed MSRTC tender will face action: CM Fadnavis

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 ...

Abu Azmi pays tribute to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj amid controversy

Last week, Abu Asim Azmi was suspended from the legislative assembly until the conclusion of the ongoing budget session on March 26 following his remarks praising Aurangzeb

Maharashtra CM Fadnavis supports call for removal of Aurangzeb's tomb

Statement of Devendra Fadnavis came in response to BJP's Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale, who has called for the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district

'Budget is for people', says Dy CM Eknath Shinde ahead of state budget

Shinde further stated that the Maharashtra government will continue to carry out similar work for the people of the state in the next five years

Gender equality only on paper, must be imbibed in families: Maharashtra CM

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

No intention to control media: Maha CM on setting up of monitoring centre

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

Maha to prevent Rs 60,000 cr sops 'stress' from hitting investments: CM

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 received record FDI in just nine months of 2024-25: Fadnavis

Maharashtra has received record FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows of the past ten years in just nine months of 2024-25, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday. Fadnavis quoted the Centre's DPIIT foreign investment report for December 2024 to back his claim. As per the report, Maharashtra has crossed the highest annual foreign direct investment in the last 10 years in just 9 months of the current fiscal, he said. A total of Rs 1,39,434 crore has been received in the first 9 months of the financial year 2024-2025, he said. This is the highest foreign investment received in Maharashtra in any single year in the last 10 years, he said. According to the data compiled by DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) for the end of December 2024, Maharashtra tops the country in FDI inflow, followed by Karnataka and Gujarat. In doing so, the Mahayuti government has broken its own record for the financial year 2016-17. Of course, there is still one quarter

'Marathi is Mumbai's language': Fadnavis amid row over RSS leader's remarks

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday asserted that Marathi is the language of Mumbai and Maharashtra and anyone who lives here should learn and speak it, after a Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA pointed to comments of a RSS leader. Fadnavis was speaking in the state assembly, in response to Shiv Sena (UBT) member Bhaskar Jadhav's demand that the government clarify its stand on senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi's comments that a person coming to Mumbai may not necessarily learn Marathi. "Mumbai does not have one language. It has many languages. Certain areas have their own language. The language of Ghatkopar is Gujarati. In Girgaum, you will have fewer Hindi speakers and more Marathi speakers. So it is easy that any individual coming to Mumbai may not necessarily learn Marathi," Joshi had said. As Jadhav sought the government's response on it in the assembly, Fadnavis said, "I haven't heard what Bhaiyyaji said, but the language of Mumbai an

Munde resignation eyewash, he'll be back after case cools down: Sena UBT

Neither Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis nor his deputy Ajit Pawar, who heads the NCP, can claim that resignation was sought on moral grounds,

Beed sarpanch murder causes political storm in Maharashtra: All we know

Deshmukh, a sarpanch in Beed's Massajog village, was tortured and murdered on December 9, 2024 by seven men

Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde resigns after aide held in murder case

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis confirmed the news, saying he had received the resignation of Dhananjay Munde

Raksha Khadse's daughter harassed in Jalgaon; seven named in FIR, one held

Union Minister Raksha Khadse on Sunday lodged a police complaint regarding the harassment of her daughter and some of her friends by a group of boys at an event in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, however, said that the accused belong to a political party, and some of them have been arrested. Khadse lodged a complaint at Muktainagar police station in connection with the incident that occurred at Sant Muktai Yatra in Kothali village in Muktainagar on Friday night. Talking to reporters, the Union minister and BJP leader said, "I was in Gujarat, so my daughter called me to ask for permission to go. I asked her to take a guard and two to three staff members along. My daughter and her friends were followed and pushed, and their photos and videos were taken. When my staff objected, the boys resorted to unruly behaviour, and a mob of 30 to 40 people gathered." Khadse said when she returned home this morning, her daughter told her that the same group of boy

Maharashtra bets on AI with M-Hub, innovation centre in Navi Mumbai

Fadnavis, who first became chief minister in 2014 and is now in his second term after a break, said the state will launch a startup incubator called M-Hub

French firm accuses MMRDA of corruption, seeks diplomatic intervention

The French company has alleged that MMRDA officials demanded benefits and intentionally delayed payments. Systra has raised these concerns with the Indian government and sought diplomatic intervention

Maharashtra will lead AI and technology revolution: CM Devendra Fadnavis

Chief Minister Fadnavis said that the level of digital services has increased in the state and most government services have become available online

Fadnavis asks to inquire Shinde's previous decision, hinting widening rift

CM Fadnavis issued an order in which he underlined some 'irregularities' in the state's Minimum Support Price schemes and selection of nodal agencies for crop procurement

Maharashtra's 'Ladki Bahin' scheme mainly benefits married women: Study

Married women make up as many as 83 per cent of the beneficiaries of the Maharashtra government's 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana', as per official data. The scheme, which is supposed to have played a role in the BJP-led coalition's victory in the November 2024 assembly elections, provides monthly assistance of Rs 1,500 to women aged 21 to 65 who are married, divorced, widowed, deserted, or destitute, and whose family income is below Rs 2,50,000 per year. The benefit is also provided to one unmarried woman per family. The scheme has, as of now, some 2.5 crore beneficiaries, though the government is now carrying out a scrutiny to omit those who are ineligible. Data indicates that married women constitute 83 per cent while unmarried women constitute 11.8 per cent of the beneficiaries, a senior official said on Thursday. Widows account for 4.7 per cent of beneficiaries, while 'divorced, destitute or deserted' women collectively make up less than 1 per cent of the cohort. ...