Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and state party unit chief Ashok Chavan noted that the Congress will join hands with &quot;like-minded&quot; parties in Maharashtra to take on the ruling BJP.

Chavan spoke at a party meeting which was attended by senior Congress leaders of the state.

&quot;The prevailing social situation in Maharashtra, the political situation and the fight against the government in future was discussed at the meeting,&quot; Chavan said.

&quot;The problems currently plaguing the state, the prevailing political situation and the upcoming Budget session of the Maharashtra Legislature were discussed at the meeting,&quot; Chavan added.

Chavan noted that the Congress and the National Congress Party (NCP) have decided to put up a fight on issues like &quot;deteriorating condition of farmers in the state, issues being faced by middle class and rising dictatorship like the attitude of the BJP-led government&quot;.&nbsp;

In a separate meeting, Congress and NCP leaders met at the official residence of Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil in South Mumbai.

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

Chavan spoke at a party meeting which was attended by senior Congress leaders of the state

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and state party unit chief Ashok Chavan noted that the Congress will join hands with "like-minded" parties in Maharashtra to take on the ruling BJP. Chavan spoke at a party meeting which was attended by senior Congress leaders of the state. "The prevailing social situation in Maharashtra, the political situation and the fight against the government in future was discussed at the meeting," Chavan said. "The problems currently plaguing the state, the prevailing political situation and the upcoming Budget session of the Maharashtra Legislature were discussed at the meeting," Chavan added. Chavan noted that the Congress and the National Congress Party (NCP) have decided to put up a fight on issues like "deteriorating condition of farmers in the state, issues being faced by middle class and rising dictatorship like the attitude of the BJP-led government". In a separate meeting, Congress and NCP leaders met at the official residence of Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil in South Mumbai. (With inputs from agencies)

Congress to join hands with 'like-minded' parties to fight BJP in Maharashtra: Ashok Chavan

Around 11,700 staffers in the Maharashtra government may be running a risk of getting sacked after forging caste certificates to get employment under the Schedule Caste quota, reports said on Sunday.&nbsp;

Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharastra government will follow the SC order that directed dismissal of the staffers after the apex court passed the rule for dismissal of those who got government jobs or education through fake certificates.&nbsp;

The state&rsquo;s decision to conform to the SC order was confirmed by Chief Secretary Sumit Mallick after a meeting was held at the state secretariat on January 20, reports said.

It has also sought an opinion from the law and judiciary department and the advocate general (AG).

&ldquo;Both the law department and AG have opined there is no way to protect these employees. I don&rsquo;t have the number of employees against whom action has to be taken, but we will follow the SC order,&rdquo; Mallick said.

The government, so far, was reluctant to oust the employees as it would be one of the largest sacking exercises in one sweep.

It has also been reported that BJP MLA from Nagpur Vikas Kumbhare will meet CM Devendra Fadnavis on Monday to request him to ensure injustice is not done to genuine tribals.

Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharastra government will follow the SC order that directed dismissal of the staffers after the apex court passed the rule of for dismissal of those who got government jobs or education through fake certificates

Around 11,700 staffers in the Maharashtra government may be running a risk of getting sacked after forging caste certificates to get employment under the Schedule Caste quota, reports said on Sunday. Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharastra government will follow the SC order that directed dismissal of the staffers after the apex court passed the rule for dismissal of those who got government jobs or education through fake certificates. The state’s decision to conform to the SC order was confirmed by Chief Secretary Sumit Mallick after a meeting was held at the state secretariat on January 20, reports said. It has also sought an opinion from the law and judiciary department and the advocate general (AG). “Both the law department and AG have opined there is no way to protect these employees. I don’t have the number of employees against whom action has to be taken, but we will follow the SC order,” Mallick said. The government, so far, was reluctant to oust the employees as it would be one of the largest sacking exercises in one sweep. It has also been reported that BJP MLA from Nagpur Vikas Kumbhare will meet CM Devendra Fadnavis on Monday to request him to ensure injustice is not done to genuine tribals.

Maharashtra: SC/ST staff to get sacked after forging caste certificates

The 84-year-old farmer, who had consumed a poisonous chemical at the Maharashtra secretariat here on January 22 seeking adequate compensation for land, died at the J J Hospital tonight, police said.

The farmer, Dharma Patil, had consumed the chemical to protest low returns offered by state government while acquiring his land for a solar power plant.

He hailed from North Maharashtra.

&quot;Patil&#39;s postmortem was conducted at the J J Hospital. His body will be handed over to his family later,&quot; officials said.

Patil was rushed to a government hospital in south Mumbai after the suicide bid.

The farmer&#39;s family had claimed that he took the extreme step after several attempts to get appropriate compensation for his land did not yield any results.

The farmer&#39;s son Narendra Patil had told reporters that his father got only Rs four lakh compensation for his five acres of land.

The octogenarian had been visiting the state administrative headquarters for the last three months to complain about the inadequate compensation for his land, his son had said.

The Maharashtra government had offered an assistance of Rs 15 lakh to the farmer, but his son refused to accept it.

Meanwhile, Narendra Patil told reporters that the family members will not accept the body until the state government gives a written assurance granting a &quot;martyred status&quot; to the deceased and proper compensation for the five acre land.

Following the incident, the opposition Congress and NCP have blamed the government.

Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde said despite the farmer killing himself in Mantralaya, &quot;the government did not feel like giving him justice&quot;.

&quot;Only this government is to be blamed for the farmer&#39;s death,&quot; the NCP leader said.

Munde&#39;s counterpart in the Assembly and Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said the farmer died due to &quot;the government apathy and the anti-farmer policies&quot;.

&quot;The government is yet to wake up even after thousands of farmers have ended their lives,&quot; Vikhe Patil said.&nbsp;

The farmer, Dharma Patil, had consumed the chemical to protest low returns offered by state government while acquiring his land for a solar power plant

The 84-year-old farmer, who had consumed a poisonous chemical at the Maharashtra secretariat here on January 22 seeking adequate compensation for land, died at the J J Hospital tonight, police said. The farmer, Dharma Patil, had consumed the chemical to protest low returns offered by state government while acquiring his land for a solar power plant. He hailed from North Maharashtra. "Patil's postmortem was conducted at the J J Hospital. His body will be handed over to his family later," officials said. Patil was rushed to a government hospital in south Mumbai after the suicide bid. The farmer's family had claimed that he took the extreme step after several attempts to get appropriate compensation for his land did not yield any results. The farmer's son Narendra Patil had told reporters that his father got only Rs four lakh compensation for his five acres of land. The octogenarian had been visiting the state administrative headquarters for the last three months to complain about the inadequate compensation for his land, his son had said. The Maharashtra government had offered an assistance of Rs 15 lakh to the farmer, but his son refused to accept it. Meanwhile, Narendra Patil told reporters that the family members will not accept the body until the state government gives a written assurance granting a "martyred status" to the deceased and proper compensation for the five acre land. Following the incident, the opposition Congress and NCP have blamed the government. Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde said despite the farmer killing himself in Mantralaya, "the government did not feel like giving him justice". "Only this government is to be blamed for the farmer's death," the NCP leader said. Munde's counterpart in the Assembly and Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said the farmer died due to "the government apathy and the anti-farmer policies". "The government is yet to wake up even after thousands of farmers have ended their lives," Vikhe Patil said.

Farmer who attempted suicide at Mantralaya dies; Opposition blames govt

A US-based Indian engineer married his gay lover on December 30 in a traditional ceremony at Yavatmal, Maharashtra.

The two got married only a few days before the Supreme Court agreed to review criminalisation of homosexuality.&nbsp;

Yavatmal native Hrishi Mohankumar Sathawane (40) married Vinh, reportedly from Vietnam, at a hotel just a few steps away from the office of the superintendent of police.

Hrishi, who holds a BTech from IIT-Bombay, currently lives in California and has a US green card.&nbsp;

According to Hrishi&#39;s social media page, he got engaged to Vinh in mid-2017 and married later in October.&nbsp;

Although his parents were initially against his homosexual affiliation, he successfully convinced them and took their blessings before getting married.&nbsp;

The photo of the couple has made rounds on the internet.

Superintendent of Police, Yavatmal, Amarsingh Jadhav first said he did not want to comment, but later added he had ordered an investigation.

Yavatmal native Hrishi Mohankumar Sathawane (40) married Vinh, said to be from Vietnam got married at a hotel just a few steps away from the office of the superintendent of police

A US-based Indian engineer married his gay lover on December 30 in a traditional ceremony at Yavatmal, Maharashtra. The two got married only a few days before the Supreme Court agreed to review criminalisation of homosexuality. Yavatmal native Hrishi Mohankumar Sathawane (40) married Vinh, reportedly from Vietnam, at a hotel just a few steps away from the office of the superintendent of police. Hrishi, who holds a BTech from IIT-Bombay, currently lives in California and has a US green card. According to Hrishi's social media page, he got engaged to Vinh in mid-2017 and married later in October. Although his parents were initially against his homosexual affiliation, he successfully convinced them and took their blessings before getting married. The photo of the couple has made rounds on the internet. Superintendent of Police, Yavatmal, Amarsingh Jadhav first said he did not want to comment, but later added he had ordered an investigation.

US-based Indian engineer marries gay lover in Maharashtra

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday had a narrow escape in the helicopter he was flying in. The tail rotor of the helicopter got entangled in a cable while landing in Bhayandar on the outskirts of Mumbai. After having a safe landing the chief minister had to take a vehicle for reaching his destination.&nbsp;

This is not the first time when Fadnavis experienced such helicopter mishap.

Last year four of the helicopter he was flying in had suffered from technical issues.&nbsp;

On 9 December, his helicopter was landed midway because of overloading. The chopper was flown again after unloading some luggage.&nbsp;

On 7 July, he was rescued by security guards from getting hit by the chopper&#39;s tail roter after the piolet started the engine even before Fadnavis could board the chopper.&nbsp; He was saved by the security guards who pushed him out of the copter&#39;s way.&nbsp;

On May 25 , the rotor of the helicopter carrying him had crashlanded. The chief minister was again rescued unharmed.

On May 10, the helicopter that was alloted&nbsp;to him had undergone difficulties even before reaching the pick-up location.&nbsp;

The tail rotor of the Maharashta chief minister's helicopter got entangled in a cable while landing on the outskirts of Mumbai

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday had a narrow escape in the helicopter he was flying in. The tail rotor of the helicopter got entangled in a cable while landing in Bhayandar on the outskirts of Mumbai. After having a safe landing the chief minister had to take a vehicle for reaching his destination. This is not the first time when Fadnavis experienced such helicopter mishap. Last year four of the helicopter he was flying in had suffered from technical issues. On 9 December, his helicopter was landed midway because of overloading. The chopper was flown again after unloading some luggage. On 7 July, he was rescued by security guards from getting hit by the chopper's tail roter after the piolet started the engine even before Fadnavis could board the chopper. He was saved by the security guards who pushed him out of the copter's way. On May 25 , the rotor of the helicopter carrying him had crashlanded. The chief minister was again rescued unharmed. On May 10, the helicopter that was alloted to him had undergone difficulties even before reaching the pick-up location.

Devendra Fadnavis has another near-miss in helicopter, his fifth

Data procured by the&nbsp;home ministry has unearthed shocking facts about the rate of suicide&nbsp;in the country.

According to statistics, one student commits suicide every hour in India which amounts to close to 26 suicides committed in a day.

Going by the latest data, nearly 26,476 students took their life between 2014 and 2016. Around 9,474 students committed suicide in the year 2016.

Maharashtra and Bengal emerged on top with the highest number of suicides cases.

Lakshadweep, on the other hand, reported no suicide.&nbsp;

Research blames acute stress and depression for suicide among teenagers and young adults.

Data also attributes 10% to 15% of suicide incidents to drug and alcohol abuse.

Adolescence is a critical phase which can often get exceedingly overwhelming for some individuals.

World Health Organisation&#39;s &#39;Health for the world&rsquo;s adolescents&#39; report reveals depression as the predominant cause of &quot;illness and disability for both boys and girls aged 10 to 19 years&quot;.

&quot;Globally, depression is the number 1 cause of illness and disability in this age group, and suicide ranks number 3 among causes of death. Some studies show that half of all people who develop mental disorders have their first symptoms by the age of 14. If adolescents with mental health problems get the care they need, this can prevent deaths and avoid suffering throughout life,&quot; notes the WHO report.

President Ram Nath Kovind also addressed the issue recently urging students not to&nbsp;stigmatise mental health issues.

President Kovind spoke at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) on December 30 and asked people to talk openly about depression and mental health.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Going by the latest data, nearly 26,476 students took their life between 2014 and 2016

Data procured by the home ministry has unearthed shocking facts about the rate of suicide in the country. According to statistics, one student commits suicide every hour in India which amounts to close to 26 suicides committed in a day. Going by the latest data, nearly 26,476 students took their life between 2014 and 2016. Around 9,474 students committed suicide in the year 2016. Maharashtra and Bengal emerged on top with the highest number of suicides cases. Lakshadweep, on the other hand, reported no suicide. Research blames acute stress and depression for suicide among teenagers and young adults. Data also attributes 10% to 15% of suicide incidents to drug and alcohol abuse. Adolescence is a critical phase which can often get exceedingly overwhelming for some individuals. World Health Organisation's 'Health for the world’s adolescents' report reveals depression as the predominant cause of "illness and disability for both boys and girls aged 10 to 19 years". "Globally, depression is the number 1 cause of illness and disability in this age group, and suicide ranks number 3 among causes of death. Some studies show that half of all people who develop mental disorders have their first symptoms by the age of 14. If adolescents with mental health problems get the care they need, this can prevent deaths and avoid suffering throughout life," notes the WHO report. President Ram Nath Kovind also addressed the issue recently urging students not to stigmatise mental health issues. President Kovind spoke at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) on December 30 and asked people to talk openly about depression and mental health.

1 student commits suicide every hour in India, over 9,000 died in 2016: Report

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray slammed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government on Sunday over the proposed chemical industry projects in Konkan region of Maharashtra, saying that they would not let the party spoil Konkan and its beauty.

Pointing that the chemical industries were &quot;forcibly established&quot; in Maharashtra, Thackeray said that Gujarat, on the other hand, was reaping such benefits of development as the bullet train project.

&quot;Shiv Sena will not allow to spoil Konkan and its beauty and make Gujarat prosperous&quot;, Thackeray said at Global Konkan Mahotsav in Navi Mumbai`s CIDCO exhibition centre.

The Shiv Sena Chief was referring to the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project, the West Coast Refinery and Petrochemical project proposed to go on floors in Ratnagiri district along the Konkan coast of Maharashtra.

&quot;Appeals are made that development projects should not be opposed but why hazardous projects in Konkan? Shift these projects to somewhere else, who is preventing you?&quot; asked Thackeray and added, &quot;Mumbai, our Mumbai is not only the capital of Maharashtra but was recognised as the financial centre of the country, but now Gujarat is being made as the new business centre.

&quot;The Shiv Sena has been opposing both projects citing these are hazardous to the environment as well as detrimental to the health of residents of the region.

&quot;People are here, they have also their opinion, have you asked them what these people want? Every area has their own MPs and MLAs, and if their opinion is not taken or heard for development projects of their constituencies, then what is the point?&quot; asked Thackeray.&nbsp;

The Shiv Sena Chief was referring to the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project proposed to go on floors in Ratnagiri district along the Konkan coast of Maharashtra

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray slammed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government on Sunday over the proposed chemical industry projects in Konkan region of Maharashtra, saying that they would not let the party spoil Konkan and its beauty. Pointing that the chemical industries were "forcibly established" in Maharashtra, Thackeray said that Gujarat, on the other hand, was reaping such benefits of development as the bullet train project. "Shiv Sena will not allow to spoil Konkan and its beauty and make Gujarat prosperous", Thackeray said at Global Konkan Mahotsav in Navi Mumbai`s CIDCO exhibition centre. The Shiv Sena Chief was referring to the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project, the West Coast Refinery and Petrochemical project proposed to go on floors in Ratnagiri district along the Konkan coast of Maharashtra. "Appeals are made that development projects should not be opposed but why hazardous projects in Konkan? Shift these projects to somewhere else, who is preventing you?" asked Thackeray and added, "Mumbai, our Mumbai is not only the capital of Maharashtra but was recognised as the financial centre of the country, but now Gujarat is being made as the new business centre. "The Shiv Sena has been opposing both projects citing these are hazardous to the environment as well as detrimental to the health of residents of the region. "People are here, they have also their opinion, have you asked them what these people want? Every area has their own MPs and MLAs, and if their opinion is not taken or heard for development projects of their constituencies, then what is the point?" asked Thackeray.

Won't let them spoil Konkan, Uddhav Thackeray slams BJP-led chemical industry projects

The New Year couldn&rsquo;t have begun on a worse note than what we came across on the very first day of 2018. As the rest of the nation was indulging in a food and dance binge wishing even strangers with the cheers of &ldquo;Happy New Year&rdquo;, villagers from Koregaon Bhima, Pabal, and Shikrapur in Pune district of Maharashtra were pelting stones to hit the skulls of those with whom they might be living in harmony since generations. As the maelstrom subsided, one person had died and 25 vehicles were torched in clashes that broke out between villagers on 1st January over a celebration of a 200-yrs old &ldquo;victory&rdquo; of Mahars over Peshwa Bajirao II&#39;s Army on January 1, 1818.

The ripples of the incident travelled far and wide across Maharashtra with many incidences of violence in Nagpur, Aurangabad and Mumbai on 3rd January in a day-long state-wide shutdown called by various Dalit parties on Wednesday.&nbsp;

The question is what led to the violence?

It all started with Koregaon-Bhima, a small village in Pune district, where many members of Dalit communities gathered on January 1st on the dawn of the new year to commemorate the 200th-anniversary celebrations of a small Anglo-Maratha War fought on January 1, 1818, which some traditions claim that the British won. However, the war, otherwise fit for the footnotes of history, is important because it is flaunted as the victory of the &lsquo;Mahars&rsquo; over the upper caste Marathas. Hence, the incident fits perfectly in the jigsaw of &lsquo;Dalits vs Upper Castes&rsquo; narrative and finds instant takers by some opinion leaders.

A careful digging of history on this war may take you to the Poona District Gazetteer, which was compiled by an ICS officer James Campbell as part of the Bombay Presidency Gazetteers. The Gazetteer, mentions that as a part of the Third Anglo-Maratha War, a battle had taken place at the village of Koregaon, 16 miles northeast of Pune, where 834 British troops faced 28,000 Marathas on January 1, 1818. It would be interesting to delve a little deeper into it in order to debunk the various insinuations originating around it.

As per the official record, the British troop comprised of the second battalion of the first regiment Bombay Native Infantry of 500 soldiers led by Captain Francis Staunton who was assisted by 300 auxiliary horsemen and two six-pounder guns manned by 24 European and 4 Native Madras artillerymen. The troops marched from Sirur to Poona at 8 pm on December 31, 1817 and reached the Bhima River next morning to face the Peshwa&rsquo;s army of 25,000 Maratha horses.&nbsp;

However, Peshwa Bajirav-II sent only three small infantry units comprising 300-600 men each from the Arabs, Gosavis and native fighters, which under the support of the cannon and rocket fires, crossed the river from three sides and besieged the British troops in Koregaon village cutting off their food and water supplies.&rdquo; Devastated by hunger and thirst, the British thought of surrendering but held on to their position.

However, &ldquo;as night fell&rdquo;, the Gazette mentions, &ldquo;the attack lightened and they (the British) got water.&rdquo; By 9 PM the firing ceased and the Marathas left, fearing the rumor of arrival of a larger troop of General Smith, while Capt Staunton marched back to Sirur the next morning with his army carrying his near-death experience. The British record mentions that out of 834 British soldiers, 275 were killed, while the Maratha casualty was around 500 to 600. The above account is also mentioned by James Grant Duff in his book, &lsquo;History of Marathas.&rsquo;

&nbsp;

The East India Company, however, strongly praised the bravery of its soldiers and erected an obelisk in 1822 at Koregaon to serve as a &lsquo;victory tower&rsquo; for one of the &ldquo;proudest triumphs of the British Army&rdquo; in India.

&nbsp;

The Gazetteer doesn&rsquo;t mention a Maratha defeat, nor does it mention a British Victory. Secondly, the Gazetteer doesn&rsquo;t mention the caste composition of the British army. Some later descriptions mention that the British army consisted mainly of Mahars, although historical accounts revealed by Vasant Moon (Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Writing and Speeches Ed. 2003) that the British army under Capt Staunton consisted of native Parwaris, Marathas, Rajputs, Muslims and Jews, apart from Mahars. The inscription on the Koregaon obliske mentions the names of the 49 dead Indian soldiers of the British army and as per V. Longer in his History of the Mahar Regiment (1981), 22 were Mahars or Parwaris, 16 were Marathas, 8 were Rajputs, two were Muslims, and one or two were probably Indian Jews.

&nbsp;

So, let&rsquo;s summarise our lessons. First, no matter what the tradition says, it&rsquo;s a historical fact that neither side achieved a decisive victory in the battle. Second, it was not a battle between the Mahars at one side and the Marathas at the other, as both armies were a strategic potpourri of castes, races, religions and nationalities. Whereas the Marathas formed a part of the British army, some Mahars also fought from the Maratha side, as the Mahars had historically been a part of the Maratha armies.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

To quote R.K. Kshirsagar (Dalit Movement of India and Its Leaders: 1857-1956), Mahar warriors and leaders always played prominent roles during Shivaji, Rajaram and various Peshwa rulers. He mentions that Nagnak Mahar was prominent in the reign of Rajaram so was Shivnak Mahar, who was gifted the village of Kalambi by Rajaram, Rainak Mahar fought Raigarh and Shidnak Mahar saved the life of Peshwa general Parshuram Patwardhan during the Battle of Kharda in 1795. Third, the memorial at Koregaon has nothing to do with the glorification of the Mahars or has got least to do with the claimed &ldquo;victory&rdquo; of Mahars over the Marathas.

&nbsp;

Hence, the &ldquo;Them Vs Us&rdquo; narrative at Bhima-Koregaon is nothing but a mischievous spin-off of the Dalit identity movements of the first half of the 20th century, when Dalit leaders, especially Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, started visiting the Victory Tower of Koregaon from 1927 and propounded the theory in 1941 that the Mahars defeated the Marathas in the battle of Bhima-Koregaon. Thus, he appropriated a pure British legacy as a Mahar symbol and used the Victory Tower to give muscle and credence to his brand of identity politics.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The same brand of identity politics, i.e. demonisation of the Brahmins and the Upper Castes and presenting themselves as a victim of Brahmin atrocities, has been sequestrated by the contemporary Dalit leaders and leftist academicians who succeeded in marketing it well on the global forum.

&nbsp;

The narrative of atrocities has never been put to a rigorous academic scrutiny, which would reveal that caste atrocity is coterminous with caste hierarchy where any caste higher in the hierarchy than the others tends to oppress and exploit the latter. Even Mahars considered fellow Dalits, like Mang and Bhangis as inferior and polluted and didn&rsquo;t accept food from them till late. Further, as far the exploitation goes, they didn&rsquo;t allow a Mang caste groom to ride a horse during the Peshwa period and forced them to ride oxen during marriages.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Several studies point that many Dalit castes are rivals and communal tensions among them are frequent. A study by Prem K. Shinde found more than 900 Dalit sub-castes throughout India, with internal divisions, who compete among themselves for higher status and, claiming relative higher gotra status, refuse to dine and intermarry with lower gotras.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Although the Khateek (butchers) are generally viewed as a higher caste than Bhangis, the latter refuses to offer cleaning services to Khateeks, believing that their profession renders them unclean. They also consider the Balai, Dhobi, Dholi and Mogya as unclean and do not associate with them. A Dalit Sikh claims a superior status over the Hindu Raigars, Chamars and Ravidasis and refuses to intermarry with them.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Sociologists like M.N. Srinivas have showed that atrocities on Dalits are often more committed by the intermediate castes, like Vanniyar in the South and the land-owning Yadavas in the north. However, a &ldquo;Brahman Vs Dalit&rdquo; narrative sells well in the west that ensures flow of huge money from western Churches, donors and Foundations.

&nbsp;

Jignesh Mewani, Prakash Ambedkar, Kanhaiya Kumar and Chandrashekhar (Bheem Army), apart from many others, are some of the few claimants of that coveted narrative and its resultant benefits. Thus, with competing enthusiasm, such Dalit leaders have blamed the RSS for the violence against Dalits in Bhima-Koregaon. Rahul Gandhi has also remarked that RSS&rsquo;s vision is to keep Dalits on the bottom of society.

&nbsp;

The &ldquo;Brahman Vs Dalit&rdquo; narrative is not complete unless the fountainhead of Hindu unity and consciousness - the RSS - is dragged into the debate and run down as an anti-Dalit and pro-poor outfit. That&rsquo;s why there has been a conscious, deliberate and persistent attempt by the leftist and Dalit ideologues to denigrate the RSS and, through selective research and sponsored publications, besmirch its pro-Dalit credentials.

&nbsp;

Although this write-up is not about RSS or its activities, it&rsquo;s pertinent to mention that no organisation has done as much for the upliftment of the Dalits and eradication of the caste-system in rural India as the RSS has done. There are volumes of research and publication available to support how the top leadership from Golwarkar to Deoras to Mohan Bhagavat, have not only maintained it as an official policy but ensured that it translates into ground action.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Incidentally, defragmentation of Hindus and ending all forms of caste discrimination in the hinterlands of India has been fundamental to the RSS ideological core, i.e. Hindu unity. However, partially due to inability of the RSS to effectively dispel the canard by positive campaigning about its actions on the ground level and partly also because of the historical suppression of Pro-RSS research and publications in the left-dominated academia, the &ldquo;anti-Dalit RSS&rdquo; narrative has become the mainstream intellectual discourse, which is as mindlessly consumed by the masses as a fast-food delicacy.

&nbsp;

This doesn&rsquo;t, however, absolve &lsquo;Shivjagar Pratisthan&rsquo; President Sambhaji Bhide Guruji and &lsquo;Hindu Janjagruti Samiti&rsquo; President Milind Ekbote from their culpability in inciting the villagers around Bhima-Koregaon to attack the people participating in the January 1st commemoration.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The state government must deal the Hindu Ekta Manch goons with iron hands and RSS must intervene to reign in the two leaders, who are undoing many things that the RSS has been doing. Although much detail is not available on the exact sequence of action in Koregaon violence, but the acts of the followers of Sambhaji Bhide and Govind Ekbote are surprising as none of the two leaders have displayed any anti-Dalit approach in the past. Rather, many Dalits form the core of their respective outfits. Yet, the onus is on the state government to unravel the plot and punish the wrongdoers.

&nbsp;

However, various media reports point to the dubious role of Jignesh and Umar Khalid who made provocative speeches suggesting an open rebellion against the democratic process with a call to hit the streets. Such anti-democratic provocations appear to be the part of a larger conspiracy to defame and destabilise the elected governments. &nbsp; They create division among Hindus so that those surviving on identity politics could take advantage of it in 2019. The seeds of this divide-India conspiracy are being sprinkled since long, but the same sprouted during the Gujarat election and, with active incubation provided by the Congress, is fast taking roots all across India.

&nbsp;

There appears to be a well-orchestrated attempt to spread disharmony and create disaffection in society using few local freelancers of chaos like Jignesh Mewani, Hardik Patel, Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khaled, who have already showed their intent with slogans like &ldquo;Bharat ki Barbaadi tak jung rahegi jung rahegi&rdquo;.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The jung has begun and the Gujarat model is spreading its reach. Now, the onus is on the government to unravel the conspiracy and defeat these merchants of disintegration.&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

There appears to be a well-orchestrated attempt to spread disharmony and create disaffection in society using few local freelancers of chaos like Jignesh Mewani, Hardik Patel, Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khaled.

The New Year couldn’t have begun on a worse note than what we came across on the very first day of 2018. As the rest of the nation was indulging in a food and dance binge wishing even strangers with the cheers of “Happy New Year”, villagers from Koregaon Bhima, Pabal, and Shikrapur in Pune district of Maharashtra were pelting stones to hit the skulls of those with whom they might be living in harmony since generations. As the maelstrom subsided, one person had died and 25 vehicles were torched in clashes that broke out between villagers on 1st January over a celebration of a 200-yrs old “victory” of Mahars over Peshwa Bajirao II's Army on January 1, 1818. The ripples of the incident travelled far and wide across Maharashtra with many incidences of violence in Nagpur, Aurangabad and Mumbai on 3rd January in a day-long state-wide shutdown called by various Dalit parties on Wednesday. The question is what led to the violence? It all started with Koregaon-Bhima, a small village in Pune district, where many members of Dalit communities gathered on January 1st on the dawn of the new year to commemorate the 200th-anniversary celebrations of a small Anglo-Maratha War fought on January 1, 1818, which some traditions claim that the British won. However, the war, otherwise fit for the footnotes of history, is important because it is flaunted as the victory of the ‘Mahars’ over the upper caste Marathas. Hence, the incident fits perfectly in the jigsaw of ‘Dalits vs Upper Castes’ narrative and finds instant takers by some opinion leaders. A careful digging of history on this war may take you to the Poona District Gazetteer, which was compiled by an ICS officer James Campbell as part of the Bombay Presidency Gazetteers. The Gazetteer, mentions that as a part of the Third Anglo-Maratha War, a battle had taken place at the village of Koregaon, 16 miles northeast of Pune, where 834 British troops faced 28,000 Marathas on January 1, 1818. It would be interesting to delve a little deeper into it in order to debunk the various insinuations originating around it. As per the official record, the British troop comprised of the second battalion of the first regiment Bombay Native Infantry of 500 soldiers led by Captain Francis Staunton who was assisted by 300 auxiliary horsemen and two six-pounder guns manned by 24 European and 4 Native Madras artillerymen. The troops marched from Sirur to Poona at 8 pm on December 31, 1817 and reached the Bhima River next morning to face the Peshwa’s army of 25,000 Maratha horses. However, Peshwa Bajirav-II sent only three small infantry units comprising 300-600 men each from the Arabs, Gosavis and native fighters, which under the support of the cannon and rocket fires, crossed the river from three sides and besieged the British troops in Koregaon village cutting off their food and water supplies.” Devastated by hunger and thirst, the British thought of surrendering but held on to their position. However, “as night fell”, the Gazette mentions, “the attack lightened and they (the British) got water.” By 9 PM the firing ceased and the Marathas left, fearing the rumor of arrival of a larger troop of General Smith, while Capt Staunton marched back to Sirur the next morning with his army carrying his near-death experience. The British record mentions that out of 834 British soldiers, 275 were killed, while the Maratha casualty was around 500 to 600. The above account is also mentioned by James Grant Duff in his book, ‘History of Marathas.’ The East India Company, however, strongly praised the bravery of its soldiers and erected an obelisk in 1822 at Koregaon to serve as a ‘victory tower’ for one of the “proudest triumphs of the British Army” in India. The Gazetteer doesn’t mention a Maratha defeat, nor does it mention a British Victory. Secondly, the Gazetteer doesn’t mention the caste composition of the British army. Some later descriptions mention that the British army consisted mainly of Mahars, although historical accounts revealed by Vasant Moon (Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Writing and Speeches Ed. 2003) that the British army under Capt Staunton consisted of native Parwaris, Marathas, Rajputs, Muslims and Jews, apart from Mahars. The inscription on the Koregaon obliske mentions the names of the 49 dead Indian soldiers of the British army and as per V. Longer in his History of the Mahar Regiment (1981), 22 were Mahars or Parwaris, 16 were Marathas, 8 were Rajputs, two were Muslims, and one or two were probably Indian Jews. So, let’s summarise our lessons. First, no matter what the tradition says, it’s a historical fact that neither side achieved a decisive victory in the battle. Second, it was not a battle between the Mahars at one side and the Marathas at the other, as both armies were a strategic potpourri of castes, races, religions and nationalities. Whereas the Marathas formed a part of the British army, some Mahars also fought from the Maratha side, as the Mahars had historically been a part of the Maratha armies. To quote R.K. Kshirsagar (Dalit Movement of India and Its Leaders: 1857-1956), Mahar warriors and leaders always played prominent roles during Shivaji, Rajaram and various Peshwa rulers. He mentions that Nagnak Mahar was prominent in the reign of Rajaram so was Shivnak Mahar, who was gifted the village of Kalambi by Rajaram, Rainak Mahar fought Raigarh and Shidnak Mahar saved the life of Peshwa general Parshuram Patwardhan during the Battle of Kharda in 1795. Third, the memorial at Koregaon has nothing to do with the glorification of the Mahars or has got least to do with the claimed “victory” of Mahars over the Marathas. Hence, the “Them Vs Us” narrative at Bhima-Koregaon is nothing but a mischievous spin-off of the Dalit identity movements of the first half of the 20th century, when Dalit leaders, especially Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, started visiting the Victory Tower of Koregaon from 1927 and propounded the theory in 1941 that the Mahars defeated the Marathas in the battle of Bhima-Koregaon. Thus, he appropriated a pure British legacy as a Mahar symbol and used the Victory Tower to give muscle and credence to his brand of identity politics. The same brand of identity politics, i.e. demonisation of the Brahmins and the Upper Castes and presenting themselves as a victim of Brahmin atrocities, has been sequestrated by the contemporary Dalit leaders and leftist academicians who succeeded in marketing it well on the global forum. The narrative of atrocities has never been put to a rigorous academic scrutiny, which would reveal that caste atrocity is coterminous with caste hierarchy where any caste higher in the hierarchy than the others tends to oppress and exploit the latter. Even Mahars considered fellow Dalits, like Mang and Bhangis as inferior and polluted and didn’t accept food from them till late. Further, as far the exploitation goes, they didn’t allow a Mang caste groom to ride a horse during the Peshwa period and forced them to ride oxen during marriages. Several studies point that many Dalit castes are rivals and communal tensions among them are frequent. A study by Prem K. Shinde found more than 900 Dalit sub-castes throughout India, with internal divisions, who compete among themselves for higher status and, claiming relative higher gotra status, refuse to dine and intermarry with lower gotras. Although the Khateek (butchers) are generally viewed as a higher caste than Bhangis, the latter refuses to offer cleaning services to Khateeks, believing that their profession renders them unclean. They also consider the Balai, Dhobi, Dholi and Mogya as unclean and do not associate with them. A Dalit Sikh claims a superior status over the Hindu Raigars, Chamars and Ravidasis and refuses to intermarry with them. Sociologists like M.N. Srinivas have showed that atrocities on Dalits are often more committed by the intermediate castes, like Vanniyar in the South and the land-owning Yadavas in the north. However, a “Brahman Vs Dalit” narrative sells well in the west that ensures flow of huge money from western Churches, donors and Foundations. Jignesh Mewani, Prakash Ambedkar, Kanhaiya Kumar and Chandrashekhar (Bheem Army), apart from many others, are some of the few claimants of that coveted narrative and its resultant benefits. Thus, with competing enthusiasm, such Dalit leaders have blamed the RSS for the violence against Dalits in Bhima-Koregaon. Rahul Gandhi has also remarked that RSS’s vision is to keep Dalits on the bottom of society. The “Brahman Vs Dalit” narrative is not complete unless the fountainhead of Hindu unity and consciousness - the RSS - is dragged into the debate and run down as an anti-Dalit and pro-poor outfit. That’s why there has been a conscious, deliberate and persistent attempt by the leftist and Dalit ideologues to denigrate the RSS and, through selective research and sponsored publications, besmirch its pro-Dalit credentials. Although this write-up is not about RSS or its activities, it’s pertinent to mention that no organisation has done as much for the upliftment of the Dalits and eradication of the caste-system in rural India as the RSS has done. There are volumes of research and publication available to support how the top leadership from Golwarkar to Deoras to Mohan Bhagavat, have not only maintained it as an official policy but ensured that it translates into ground action. Incidentally, defragmentation of Hindus and ending all forms of caste discrimination in the hinterlands of India has been fundamental to the RSS ideological core, i.e. Hindu unity. However, partially due to inability of the RSS to effectively dispel the canard by positive campaigning about its actions on the ground level and partly also because of the historical suppression of Pro-RSS research and publications in the left-dominated academia, the “anti-Dalit RSS” narrative has become the mainstream intellectual discourse, which is as mindlessly consumed by the masses as a fast-food delicacy. This doesn’t, however, absolve ‘Shivjagar Pratisthan’ President Sambhaji Bhide Guruji and ‘Hindu Janjagruti Samiti’ President Milind Ekbote from their culpability in inciting the villagers around Bhima-Koregaon to attack the people participating in the January 1st commemoration. The state government must deal the Hindu Ekta Manch goons with iron hands and RSS must intervene to reign in the two leaders, who are undoing many things that the RSS has been doing. Although much detail is not available on the exact sequence of action in Koregaon violence, but the acts of the followers of Sambhaji Bhide and Govind Ekbote are surprising as none of the two leaders have displayed any anti-Dalit approach in the past. Rather, many Dalits form the core of their respective outfits. Yet, the onus is on the state government to unravel the plot and punish the wrongdoers. However, various media reports point to the dubious role of Jignesh and Umar Khalid who made provocative speeches suggesting an open rebellion against the democratic process with a call to hit the streets. Such anti-democratic provocations appear to be the part of a larger conspiracy to defame and destabilise the elected governments. They create division among Hindus so that those surviving on identity politics could take advantage of it in 2019. The seeds of this divide-India conspiracy are being sprinkled since long, but the same sprouted during the Gujarat election and, with active incubation provided by the Congress, is fast taking roots all across India. There appears to be a well-orchestrated attempt to spread disharmony and create disaffection in society using few local freelancers of chaos like Jignesh Mewani, Hardik Patel, Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khaled, who have already showed their intent with slogans like “Bharat ki Barbaadi tak jung rahegi jung rahegi”. The jung has begun and the Gujarat model is spreading its reach. Now, the onus is on the government to unravel the conspiracy and defeat these merchants of disintegration. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

Opinion: 'Brahman Vs Dalit' narrative sells well in the West

Dalit history by Dalit historians for Dalit consumers has always had a different perspective. Celebrating the victory of British-led Mahar Regiment against the Peshwas is not new but violence meted out to the Dalit on this occasion was first in the recent past. The violence in itself was a telling reminder of the fact that, in this country, the Dalits have an alternate perspective of historical issues and its engagement with Sanatan Dharma.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

There is nothing wrong in Dalits celebrating the victory as Peshwai, like many other medieval institutions, was casteist.

&nbsp;

The Dalits continue to be orphans in the Hindu pantheon. They are needed to gain numbers in electoral politics but are not accorded social, political and cultural space in our society. Seven decades into post-colonial India, the Dalits still don&rsquo;t have an intellectual or political say in what they consider to be the history of their own lived past.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Even to the &#39;Father of the Nation&#39;, matters concerning the Dalit community was not about the Dalits in the final analysis; it always had to be in a subsidiary position with the main concern being the integrity of the Hindu community at large. This mindset was amply evident in the conclusion of the Poona Pact.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Even now, Dalit issues get related to questions of conversion, purity, pollution and, lately, anti-nationalism. Consequently, political discrimination and violence does not remain limited to political space. Dalits continue to witness violence which manifests itself in the form of rape and public humiliation.

&nbsp;

The point is that, with Constitution, the rights of Dalits have been enshrined but its accommodation at the level of the leadership and sacred has not taken place. After Babu Jagjivan Ram, there has been no national Dalit national leader in post-independent India. Ambedkar, despite being the &#39;Father of the Constitution&#39; could not rally Dalits as a political constituency after independence. The community had already electorally invested itself with Gandhinian vision, and voted for the Congress party.

&nbsp;

A disillusioned Ambedkar converted to Buddhism. His disappointment was more than one; not only have the Dalits failed to emerge as a political constituency, the moral landscape also remained unaltered. Ambedkar died a bitter man.

&nbsp;

The violence in Maharashtra, specifically, has less to do with Hinduism and more to do with Hindutva. Shivaji, a fantastic historical figure, has been appropriated by the nationalistic discourse. So, in the process, he has been situated beyond criticism. The evaluation makes Shivaji a human being which ultimately deconstructs the macho nationalistic discourse because it thrives on fantasy. It is this fantasy which denies Dalits their right to breathe and live a different history.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;The violence by the dominant caste in this context should not be surprising. The dominant castes have been agitating throughout India on a number of issues over the past 10 years. Two things have happened simultaneously. Whether it is Patel in Gujarat or Jats in UP or Maratha in Maharashtra, all of them want jobs. The dominant castes have run their course in Indian contemporary history. This is the bitter truth. When India became independent, they were not well represented and still saw the world from the angle of socialist politics which was being led by OBC leaders who championed the agrarian cause.

&nbsp;

Within 25 years after independence, not only the dominant castes came to dominate the assemblies but also ended up controlling the land. India&rsquo;s Prime Minister Charan Singh heralded this shift. Despite being a Jat, he was far more focused building a broader alliance of backward leaders. From Laloo to Nitish, all started their careers under him.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;Today, the land is not giving money and the communities are not invested fully in other economic activities. On top of it, everyone cannot get reservation. Lastly, they have been Sanskritised and feel more at home with upper castes than Dalits under whose name the biggest of OBC politicians have done socialist politics in India.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

It is this tectonic shift which is visible through this violence. In desperation, it latches on to pride and past. It does three things: it discredits them; it tells us that how far dominant castes are removed from their point of political origin. The dominant caste movement, which was socialist and more agrarian in outlook under Charan Singh, today has become completely castist. The rest have been incorporated by Hindutva. &nbsp;

&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

There is nothing wrong in Dalits celebrating the victory as Peshwai, like many other medieval institutions, was casteist.

Dalit history by Dalit historians for Dalit consumers has always had a different perspective. Celebrating the victory of British-led Mahar Regiment against the Peshwas is not new but violence meted out to the Dalit on this occasion was first in the recent past. The violence in itself was a telling reminder of the fact that, in this country, the Dalits have an alternate perspective of historical issues and its engagement with Sanatan Dharma. There is nothing wrong in Dalits celebrating the victory as Peshwai, like many other medieval institutions, was casteist. The Dalits continue to be orphans in the Hindu pantheon. They are needed to gain numbers in electoral politics but are not accorded social, political and cultural space in our society. Seven decades into post-colonial India, the Dalits still don’t have an intellectual or political say in what they consider to be the history of their own lived past. Even to the 'Father of the Nation', matters concerning the Dalit community was not about the Dalits in the final analysis; it always had to be in a subsidiary position with the main concern being the integrity of the Hindu community at large. This mindset was amply evident in the conclusion of the Poona Pact. Even now, Dalit issues get related to questions of conversion, purity, pollution and, lately, anti-nationalism. Consequently, political discrimination and violence does not remain limited to political space. Dalits continue to witness violence which manifests itself in the form of rape and public humiliation. The point is that, with Constitution, the rights of Dalits have been enshrined but its accommodation at the level of the leadership and sacred has not taken place. After Babu Jagjivan Ram, there has been no national Dalit national leader in post-independent India. Ambedkar, despite being the 'Father of the Constitution' could not rally Dalits as a political constituency after independence. The community had already electorally invested itself with Gandhinian vision, and voted for the Congress party. A disillusioned Ambedkar converted to Buddhism. His disappointment was more than one; not only have the Dalits failed to emerge as a political constituency, the moral landscape also remained unaltered. Ambedkar died a bitter man. The violence in Maharashtra, specifically, has less to do with Hinduism and more to do with Hindutva. Shivaji, a fantastic historical figure, has been appropriated by the nationalistic discourse. So, in the process, he has been situated beyond criticism. The evaluation makes Shivaji a human being which ultimately deconstructs the macho nationalistic discourse because it thrives on fantasy. It is this fantasy which denies Dalits their right to breathe and live a different history. The violence by the dominant caste in this context should not be surprising. The dominant castes have been agitating throughout India on a number of issues over the past 10 years. Two things have happened simultaneously. Whether it is Patel in Gujarat or Jats in UP or Maratha in Maharashtra, all of them want jobs. The dominant castes have run their course in Indian contemporary history. This is the bitter truth. When India became independent, they were not well represented and still saw the world from the angle of socialist politics which was being led by OBC leaders who championed the agrarian cause. Within 25 years after independence, not only the dominant castes came to dominate the assemblies but also ended up controlling the land. India’s Prime Minister Charan Singh heralded this shift. Despite being a Jat, he was far more focused building a broader alliance of backward leaders. From Laloo to Nitish, all started their careers under him. Today, the land is not giving money and the communities are not invested fully in other economic activities. On top of it, everyone cannot get reservation. Lastly, they have been Sanskritised and feel more at home with upper castes than Dalits under whose name the biggest of OBC politicians have done socialist politics in India. It is this tectonic shift which is visible through this violence. In desperation, it latches on to pride and past. It does three things: it discredits them; it tells us that how far dominant castes are removed from their point of political origin. The dominant caste movement, which was socialist and more agrarian in outlook under Charan Singh, today has become completely castist. The rest have been incorporated by Hindutva. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

Opinion: Maharashtra violence shows Dalits have no history

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/4-dead-after-fire-breaks-out-at-maimoon-building-in-marol-mumbai-28478" target="_blank">Video: 4 dead after fire breaks out at Maimoon building in Marol, Mumbai</a>

Four people are dead and five injured after a &nbsp;fire broke out at the Maimoon building in Marol, Mumbai.&nbsp;

 
<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/chinese-road-building-teams-entered-1-km-into-arunachal-forced-back-sources-28477" target="_blank">Chinese road-building teams entered 1 km into Arunachal, forced back: Sources</a>

Chinese road-building teams entered around 1 kilometre inside Indian territory in Tuting area of Arunachal Pradesh last week but returned after being confronted by Indian troops, government sources said on Wednesday.

 
<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/maharashtra-protests-16-year-old-dies-fleeing-police-in-nanded-28486" target="_blank">Maharashtra protests: 16-year-old dies fleeing police in Nanded</a>

A 16-year-old boy died in Nanded on Wednesday during the Dalit protests.&nbsp;

News reports said the boy was part of a mob blocking the road. The reports said the protesters had run when police chased them. &nbsp;

Police said the boy, identified as Yogesh Jadhav, had run along with the other demonstrators. But that he lost his balance and fell and was crushed by other protesters.&nbsp;

 
<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-breaks-with-bannon-says-former-aide-lost-his-mind-28476" target="_blank">Trump says Bannon &#39;lost his mind&#39; after comments about Donald Jr</a>

President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon as having &quot;lost his mind&quot; in the fallout over damaging comments Bannon made about Trump&#39;s son Donald Trump Jr. in excerpts from a new book.

 
<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/indian-or-not-muslims-fret-amid-drive-against-illegal-immigrants-in-assam-28485" target="_blank">Indian or not? Fear in Assam over citizens&#39; register</a>

Marzina Bibi, a Muslim woman living in Assam, is petrified she will be declared stateless.

The 26-year-old&#39;s name was not on a preliminary list of citizens that was published at midnight on Sunday, although she holds a voter identity card and had voted in state elections in 2016.

&quot;Why are they doing this to me?&quot; Bibi asked, sitting beside a bamboo mat she was weaving outside her mud house in Assam&#39;s Fofonga village. &quot;They think I am a Bangladeshi. I was born here, my parents were born here, I am an Indian.&quot;

Video: 4 dead after fire breaks out at Maimoon building in Marol, Mumbai Four people are dead and five injured after a fire broke out at the Maimoon building in Marol, Mumbai. Chinese road-building teams entered 1 km into Arunachal, forced back: Sources Chinese road-building teams entered around 1 kilometre inside Indian territory in Tuting area of Arunachal Pradesh last week but returned after being confronted by Indian troops, government sources said on Wednesday. Maharashtra protests: 16-year-old dies fleeing police in Nanded A 16-year-old boy died in Nanded on Wednesday during the Dalit protests. News reports said the boy was part of a mob blocking the road. The reports said the protesters had run when police chased them. Police said the boy, identified as Yogesh Jadhav, had run along with the other demonstrators. But that he lost his balance and fell and was crushed by other protesters. Trump says Bannon 'lost his mind' after comments about Donald Jr President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon as having "lost his mind" in the fallout over damaging comments Bannon made about Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. in excerpts from a new book. Indian or not? Fear in Assam over citizens' register Marzina Bibi, a Muslim woman living in Assam, is petrified she will be declared stateless. The 26-year-old's name was not on a preliminary list of citizens that was published at midnight on Sunday, although she holds a voter identity card and had voted in state elections in 2016. "Why are they doing this to me?" Bibi asked, sitting beside a bamboo mat she was weaving outside her mud house in Assam's Fofonga village. "They think I am a Bangladeshi. I was born here, my parents were born here, I am an Indian."

WION Morning News Brief, January 4, 2018

A 16-year-old boy died in Nanded on Wednesday during the Dalit protests.&nbsp;

News reports said the boy was part of a mob blocking the road.&nbsp;

The reports said the protesters had run when police chased them.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Police said the boy, identified as Yogesh Jadhav, had run along with the other demonstrators. But that he lost his balance and fell and was crushed by other protesters.&nbsp;

&quot;He, however, lost his balance and fell on road. He suffered serious injuries to his forehead and other parts of the body as he was trampled upon by fleeing protesters,&quot; PTI quoted a police official as saying.&nbsp;

&quot;Jadhav was admitted in government hospital in Hadgaon, where he succumbed to his injuries,&quot; Hadgaon police station senior inspector Keshav Latpate told PTI.&nbsp;

PTI however reported another official as saying the protesters had alleged Yogesh had died in the police lathicharge.&nbsp;

Police said he lost his balance and fell, and was crushed by other protesters as they ran from the authorities

A 16-year-old boy died in Nanded on Wednesday during the Dalit protests. News reports said the boy was part of a mob blocking the road. The reports said the protesters had run when police chased them. Police said the boy, identified as Yogesh Jadhav, had run along with the other demonstrators. But that he lost his balance and fell and was crushed by other protesters. "He, however, lost his balance and fell on road. He suffered serious injuries to his forehead and other parts of the body as he was trampled upon by fleeing protesters," PTI quoted a police official as saying. "Jadhav was admitted in government hospital in Hadgaon, where he succumbed to his injuries," Hadgaon police station senior inspector Keshav Latpate told PTI. PTI however reported another official as saying the protesters had alleged Yogesh had died in the police lathicharge.

Maharashtra protests: 16-year-old dies fleeing police in Nanded

It is said that being a male is a matter of birth, being a man is a matter of age but being a gentleman is a matter of choice. Similarly for women: being a female is a matter of birth, being a woman is a matter of age but being a fine lady is a matter of choice. This notion was proved by none other than the Phule couple.

This British-era feminist was born on 3 January 1831, in Naigaon near Satara district of Maharashtra and was married to Jyotirao Phule a feminist man of that era at an early age of 9. She was a woman whose stature will remain unmatched with any of the modern twitter feminist.&nbsp;

Mahatma Gandhi gave a speech in about 1920, appealing education for women; his point was that it would be more fruitful than teaching men. 70 years before Mahatma, there was a lady who was headmistress of not only one but three schools!

Jyotiba Phule or Mahatma Phule, as he is called commonly in Maharashtra, did an applauding job by teaching his wife how to read and write. Savitribai was later trained at Ms.Farhar&#39;s institution in Ahemadnagar and Ms.Mitchell&#39;s school in Pune. She became the first female teacher of the school started by Mahatma Phule in Bhide Wada, Pune.&nbsp;

At that time there was a stereotype that education is meant just for boys of Brahmin caste. The orthodox used to say, teach a girl and then she will get hell for one birth. Savitribai used to tackle this insane rhetoric by saying, don&#39;t teach a girl she will get hell all the seven births.

Savitribai was so committed that by 1851 she had 150 female students in her 3 schools of which she was the headmistress. She also introduced the concept of stipends for sincere girls and the parents-teachers meet was done regularly.

Apart from being an excellent education reformer, Savitribai was an ardent social worker. Alongside her husband Jyotirao Phule, she was quite vocal about the atrocities of the upper caste over the lower ones. She spoke against the practice of tonsure and child marriage and supported the idea of widow marriage.&nbsp;

The Phule couple started a centre called Balhatya Pratibandhak Gruha to serve as a facility for rape victims, especially the widowed ones. She also adopted a child named Yashwant who was a son of a Bramhin widower.

During the plague epidemic, she asked her son Yashwant, who was a doctor, to give free treatment to the poor. It is documented that Savitribai used to carry the patients on her back all the way to her son&#39;s clinic. Eventually, Savtribai succumbed to plague herself.&nbsp;

The purpose of this piece isn&#39;t just to glorify the works of Savitribai Phule.

Yesterday, I went to Pune University campus and I was staring at the serious face of Savitribai on the statue. Even though I see Chanda Kocchar, Shikha Sharma, Sudha Murty, Sushma Swaraj, Mamata Banerjee as great achievers but I still felt a gloom on her face.

What happened at Koregaon Bhima was very shameful for Maharashtrians. Surely, incidents such as these would have pained the souls of Savitribai Phule, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Gopal Krishna Gokhle, Lokmanya Tilak and many more. &nbsp;

I won&#39;t point a finger at either the right-wingers or the Dalits. Each of them must have played a part to instigate violence. What is undeniable though is the incident is a blot on the peaceful image of Maharashtra and disgrace on the struggle of Savitribai Phule.

Even after 70 years of Indian Independence, 36% of women still don&#39;t know how to read and write. Only 13.4% of Indian women have regular salaried jobs. 51.4% of women of SC backgrounds are still illiterate. 41% of rural women are illiterate too. Too few women are in politics and mostly imbibed in this stream through nepotism.

Along the lines of the ideology of Phule couple, the government should increase their spending on education. Savitribai used to give stipends to sincere girls, so government should give stipends to sincere girls whose parents are illiterate. Free sanitary napkins must be given to girls who can&#39;t afford it. We can see girls regularly topping all sorts of exams. We have Tina Dabi, a Dalit girl, who is UPSC topper. So the situation is not entirely hopeless, and I can feel a smile on Savitribai&#39;s face.

&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

Alongside her husband Jyotirao Phule, she was quite vocal about the atrocities of the upper caste over the lower ones.

It is said that being a male is a matter of birth, being a man is a matter of age but being a gentleman is a matter of choice. Similarly for women: being a female is a matter of birth, being a woman is a matter of age but being a fine lady is a matter of choice. This notion was proved by none other than the Phule couple. This British-era feminist was born on 3 January 1831, in Naigaon near Satara district of Maharashtra and was married to Jyotirao Phule a feminist man of that era at an early age of 9. She was a woman whose stature will remain unmatched with any of the modern twitter feminist. Mahatma Gandhi gave a speech in about 1920, appealing education for women; his point was that it would be more fruitful than teaching men. 70 years before Mahatma, there was a lady who was headmistress of not only one but three schools! Jyotiba Phule or Mahatma Phule, as he is called commonly in Maharashtra, did an applauding job by teaching his wife how to read and write. Savitribai was later trained at Ms.Farhar's institution in Ahemadnagar and Ms.Mitchell's school in Pune. She became the first female teacher of the school started by Mahatma Phule in Bhide Wada, Pune. At that time there was a stereotype that education is meant just for boys of Brahmin caste. The orthodox used to say, teach a girl and then she will get hell for one birth. Savitribai used to tackle this insane rhetoric by saying, don't teach a girl she will get hell all the seven births. Savitribai was so committed that by 1851 she had 150 female students in her 3 schools of which she was the headmistress. She also introduced the concept of stipends for sincere girls and the parents-teachers meet was done regularly. Apart from being an excellent education reformer, Savitribai was an ardent social worker. Alongside her husband Jyotirao Phule, she was quite vocal about the atrocities of the upper caste over the lower ones. She spoke against the practice of tonsure and child marriage and supported the idea of widow marriage. The Phule couple started a centre called Balhatya Pratibandhak Gruha to serve as a facility for rape victims, especially the widowed ones. She also adopted a child named Yashwant who was a son of a Bramhin widower. During the plague epidemic, she asked her son Yashwant, who was a doctor, to give free treatment to the poor. It is documented that Savitribai used to carry the patients on her back all the way to her son's clinic. Eventually, Savtribai succumbed to plague herself. The purpose of this piece isn't just to glorify the works of Savitribai Phule. Yesterday, I went to Pune University campus and I was staring at the serious face of Savitribai on the statue. Even though I see Chanda Kocchar, Shikha Sharma, Sudha Murty, Sushma Swaraj, Mamata Banerjee as great achievers but I still felt a gloom on her face. What happened at Koregaon Bhima was very shameful for Maharashtrians. Surely, incidents such as these would have pained the souls of Savitribai Phule, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Gopal Krishna Gokhle, Lokmanya Tilak and many more. I won't point a finger at either the right-wingers or the Dalits. Each of them must have played a part to instigate violence. What is undeniable though is the incident is a blot on the peaceful image of Maharashtra and disgrace on the struggle of Savitribai Phule. Even after 70 years of Indian Independence, 36% of women still don't know how to read and write. Only 13.4% of Indian women have regular salaried jobs. 51.4% of women of SC backgrounds are still illiterate. 41% of rural women are illiterate too. Too few women are in politics and mostly imbibed in this stream through nepotism. Along the lines of the ideology of Phule couple, the government should increase their spending on education. Savitribai used to give stipends to sincere girls, so government should give stipends to sincere girls whose parents are illiterate. Free sanitary napkins must be given to girls who can't afford it. We can see girls regularly topping all sorts of exams. We have Tina Dabi, a Dalit girl, who is UPSC topper. So the situation is not entirely hopeless, and I can feel a smile on Savitribai's face. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL).

Opinion: Savitribai Phule and identity of backward castes in Maharashtra

A battle fought on January 1, 1818, between the British East India Company, containing Dalits in its infantry, and the Peshwas, who were upper-caste Brahmins, at Bhima Koregaon, has come to haunt the citizens residing in the 21st century.&nbsp;

On the 200th anniversary of the battle, clashes broke out between the Dalits and alleged right-wing groups on January 1, across towns and cities in Maharashtra. 
&nbsp; 
The Dalit protesters blocked major roads in Mumbai, disrupted road traffic and train services, bringing the life to a standstill after over 160 buses were damaged and heavy security was deployed to control the situation.&nbsp;

BR Ambedkar&#39;s grandson Prakash Ambedkar called for Maharashtra bandh on Wednesday, after the clashes killed one person and injured several others.&nbsp;

Groups of Dalit activists jumped on the railway tracks, raising slogans and waving flags to attempt a rail-blockade at Thane and Virar stations in Palghar.

However, they were prevented by the security forces and nearly 100 protesters were detained.&nbsp;

Commuters have been left stranded due to lack of mode of transport in the state today. Scores of people were witnessed waiting near Thane&#39;s Vartak Nagar.&nbsp;

Metro services between Asalfa and Ghatkopar Metro station in Mumbai were stopped by the protesters.

Violence spilled over to adjoining parts of Maharashtra after the right-wing groups were objecting to the observance of &#39;Victory Day&#39; since they considered it to be an anti-national celebration.

Even the Dabbawala association decided not to run its delivery service, fearing the law and order issues in the city.&nbsp;

The bus service towards Pune&#39;s Baramati and Satara and inter-state bus services from Karnataka-Maharashtra have been temporarily suspended till further order as a precautionary measure.&nbsp;

To prevent further damage the administration has also suspended internet services in Aurangabad.&nbsp;

Schools and colleges in Thane remain closed considering the safety and security of students.

Earlier, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Pravin Mundhe appealed to the citizens to carry on with their daily routine.&nbsp;

&quot;There will be peace in the city. Don&#39;t trust rumours being spread on social media,&quot; he added.

Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned today till noon after opposition including Congress and BSP, sought to raise the issue of caste violence in the state.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Clashes broke out between the Dalits and alleged right-wing groups on January 1

A battle fought on January 1, 1818, between the British East India Company, containing Dalits in its infantry, and the Peshwas, who were upper-caste Brahmins, at Bhima Koregaon, has come to haunt the citizens residing in the 21st century. On the 200th anniversary of the battle, clashes broke out between the Dalits and alleged right-wing groups on January 1, across towns and cities in Maharashtra. The Dalit protesters blocked major roads in Mumbai, disrupted road traffic and train services, bringing the life to a standstill after over 160 buses were damaged and heavy security was deployed to control the situation. BR Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar called for Maharashtra bandh on Wednesday, after the clashes killed one person and injured several others. Groups of Dalit activists jumped on the railway tracks, raising slogans and waving flags to attempt a rail-blockade at Thane and Virar stations in Palghar. However, they were prevented by the security forces and nearly 100 protesters were detained. Commuters have been left stranded due to lack of mode of transport in the state today. Scores of people were witnessed waiting near Thane's Vartak Nagar. Metro services between Asalfa and Ghatkopar Metro station in Mumbai were stopped by the protesters. Violence spilled over to adjoining parts of Maharashtra after the right-wing groups were objecting to the observance of 'Victory Day' since they considered it to be an anti-national celebration. Even the Dabbawala association decided not to run its delivery service, fearing the law and order issues in the city. The bus service towards Pune's Baramati and Satara and inter-state bus services from Karnataka-Maharashtra have been temporarily suspended till further order as a precautionary measure. To prevent further damage the administration has also suspended internet services in Aurangabad. Schools and colleges in Thane remain closed considering the safety and security of students. Earlier, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Pravin Mundhe appealed to the citizens to carry on with their daily routine. "There will be peace in the city. Don't trust rumours being spread on social media," he added. Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned today till noon after opposition including Congress and BSP, sought to raise the issue of caste violence in the state.

Maharashtra comes to standstill after protests over Bhima-Koregaon violence

Maharashtra remained on edge after the anniversary of a battle fought 200 years ago brought to fore simmering caste tensions even as a statewide bandh called today to protest the state government&#39;s alleged failure to stop violence witnessed stray protest by Dalits.

Dalit protesters tried to block tracks at the Thane railway station today morning, but they were chased away soon and the traffic on the Central Railway line remained uninterrupted, said a railway official.

Protesters also tried to block rail traffic on the Western line in suburban Goregaon, said a police official.

Today&#39;s Class 11 exams at St Xavier&#39;s College in South Mumbai have been cancelled, college authorities said.

Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) leader and Dr B R Ambedkar&#39;s grandson Prakash Ambedkar have called for Maharashtra bandh today to protest the state government&#39;s &quot;failure&quot; to stop the violence at Bhima Koregaon village in Pune district two days ago.

Ambedkar alleged that Hindu Ekta Aghadi was responsible for the violence.

He said Maharashtra Democratic Front, Maharashtra Left Front and some 250 other organisations have supported the call for shutdown.

While the state government clarified that it hasn&#39;t declared a school holiday, bus operators said they won&#39;t run school buses in Mumbai today.

&quot;We can&#39;t risk students&#39; safety and security. Will take a second decision at 11 am if we can run them in the second half, depending on the situation,&quot; a School Bus Owners&#39; Association spokesperson said.

Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, who was in Mumbai yesterday, alleged the attacks on Dalits in Pune district two days ago were carried out by supporters of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

&quot;These organisations are modern-day Peshwas, representing Brahminism in its worst form. Two hundred years ago, our forefathers fought against the Peshwas. Today, Dalits of my generation are fighting against the new Peshwas,&quot; he said.

&quot;Why can&#39;t Dalits peacefully commemorate the anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle? The attackers have resorted to such methods because they are scared of Dalit assertion,&quot; he said.

Pune police last night said they had received a complaint against Mevani and Delhi&#39;s Jawaharlal Nehru University&#39;s (JNU) student leader Umar Khalid for their &quot;provocative&quot; speeches at an event in Pune on December 31.

Mevani and Khalid had attended the &quot;Elgar Parishad&quot;, an event organised to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the battle of Bhima-Koregaon, at Shaniwar Wada in Pune.

Violence erupted in Pune district when Dalit groups were celebrating the bicentenary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in which the forces of the British East India Company defeated the Peshwa&#39;s army.

Dalit leaders commemorate the British victory, as it is believed that soldiers from the Mahar community - then considered untouchable - were part of the East India Company&#39;s forces. The Peshwas were Brahmins, and the victory is seen as a symbol of assertiveness by Dalits.&nbsp;

A statewide bandh has been called by Prakash Ambedkar, Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader and BR Ambedkar's grandson

Maharashtra remained on edge after the anniversary of a battle fought 200 years ago brought to fore simmering caste tensions even as a statewide bandh called today to protest the state government's alleged failure to stop violence witnessed stray protest by Dalits. Dalit protesters tried to block tracks at the Thane railway station today morning, but they were chased away soon and the traffic on the Central Railway line remained uninterrupted, said a railway official. Protesters also tried to block rail traffic on the Western line in suburban Goregaon, said a police official. Today's Class 11 exams at St Xavier's College in South Mumbai have been cancelled, college authorities said. Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) leader and Dr B R Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar have called for Maharashtra bandh today to protest the state government's "failure" to stop the violence at Bhima Koregaon village in Pune district two days ago. Ambedkar alleged that Hindu Ekta Aghadi was responsible for the violence. He said Maharashtra Democratic Front, Maharashtra Left Front and some 250 other organisations have supported the call for shutdown. While the state government clarified that it hasn't declared a school holiday, bus operators said they won't run school buses in Mumbai today. "We can't risk students' safety and security. Will take a second decision at 11 am if we can run them in the second half, depending on the situation," a School Bus Owners' Association spokesperson said. Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, who was in Mumbai yesterday, alleged the attacks on Dalits in Pune district two days ago were carried out by supporters of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. "These organisations are modern-day Peshwas, representing Brahminism in its worst form. Two hundred years ago, our forefathers fought against the Peshwas. Today, Dalits of my generation are fighting against the new Peshwas," he said. "Why can't Dalits peacefully commemorate the anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle? The attackers have resorted to such methods because they are scared of Dalit assertion," he said. Pune police last night said they had received a complaint against Mevani and Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University's (JNU) student leader Umar Khalid for their "provocative" speeches at an event in Pune on December 31. Mevani and Khalid had attended the "Elgar Parishad", an event organised to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the battle of Bhima-Koregaon, at Shaniwar Wada in Pune. Violence erupted in Pune district when Dalit groups were celebrating the bicentenary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in which the forces of the British East India Company defeated the Peshwa's army. Dalit leaders commemorate the British victory, as it is believed that soldiers from the Mahar community - then considered untouchable - were part of the East India Company's forces. The Peshwas were Brahmins, and the victory is seen as a symbol of assertiveness by Dalits.

Maharashtra on edge after Bhima-Koregaon violence, protests

Protesters in Mumbai <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/watch-protesters-in-chembur-disrupt-traffic-over-bhima-koregaon-clash-28335">disrupted traffic on Tuesday over the</a> death of one person in Pune yesterday during an event to mark the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle.&nbsp;

Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) leader Prakash Ambedkar has called for a strike in Maharashtra on Wednesday even as Mumbai&#39;s central railway suspended suburban services between Kurla and Vashi on its harbour corridor.

The protesters forced shops to close in Mumbai area and disrupted eastern suburbs of Chembur, Vikhroli, Mankhurd and Govandi.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in Priyadarshini, Kurla, Sidharth Colony and Amar Mahal areas on the Eastern Express Highway, took out processions and raised slogans against the government.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi blamed the BJP for the crisis, tweeting: &quot;Una, Rohith Vemula and now Bhima-Koregaon are potent symbols of the resistance.&quot;

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A central pillar of the RSS/BJP&rsquo;s fascist vision for India is that Dalits should remain at the bottom of Indian society. Una, Rohith Vemula and now Bhima-Koregaon are potent symbols of the resistance.
&mdash; Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficeOfRG/status/948158586676326400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Maharashtra: Republican Party of India workers protest in Thane <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BhimaKoregaonViolence?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BhimaKoregaonViolence</a> <a href="https://t.co/v9mMS2APNR">pic.twitter.com/v9mMS2APNR</a>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/948153436893167618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Police said that over 100 people have been detained from various locations. (WION Web Team)
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Congress president Rahul Gandhi blamed the BJP for the crisis

Protesters in Mumbai disrupted traffic on Tuesday over the death of one person in Pune yesterday during an event to mark the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle. Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) leader Prakash Ambedkar has called for a strike in Maharashtra on Wednesday even as Mumbai's central railway suspended suburban services between Kurla and Vashi on its harbour corridor. The protesters forced shops to close in Mumbai area and disrupted eastern suburbs of Chembur, Vikhroli, Mankhurd and Govandi. Hundreds of protesters gathered in Priyadarshini, Kurla, Sidharth Colony and Amar Mahal areas on the Eastern Express Highway, took out processions and raised slogans against the government. Congress president Rahul Gandhi blamed the BJP for the crisis, tweeting: "Una, Rohith Vemula and now Bhima-Koregaon are potent symbols of the resistance." A central pillar of the RSS/BJP’s fascist vision for India is that Dalits should remain at the bottom of Indian society. Una, Rohith Vemula and now Bhima-Koregaon are potent symbols of the resistance. — Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) January 2, 2018 × Maharashtra: Republican Party of India workers protest in Thane #BhimaKoregaonViolence pic.twitter.com/v9mMS2APNR — ANI (@ANI) January 2, 2018 × Police said that over 100 people have been detained from various locations. (WION Web Team) ×

Bhima Koregaon row: BBM leader calls for Maharashtra strike, Rahul Gandhi blames BJP

A massive fire broke out at the Kamala Mills complex&nbsp;in Lower Parel, Mumbai early Friday morning killing 15 people and injuring 12.&nbsp;

The fire was reported at 12.30 am Friday.&nbsp;

The fire is thought to have been caused by a short circuit in the 1 Above&nbsp;restaurant on the top floor of a four-storey building in the complex.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a>: Last night visuals of fire at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KamalaMills?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KamalaMills</a> compound in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mumbai?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mumbai</a>&#39;s Lower Parel, the incident has claimed 14 lives. <a href="https://t.co/Ud2s6QXTFF">pic.twitter.com/Ud2s6QXTFF</a>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/946569274868428800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Anguished by the fire in Mumbai. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. I pray that those injured recover quickly: PM <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@narendramodi</a>
&mdash; PMO India (@PMOIndia) <a href="https://twitter.com/PMOIndia/status/946589058225942528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Disturbing news about the fire in Mumbai. Condolences to the bereaved families and wishing the injured an early recovery. Commend the valiant efforts of fire-fighters and those in rescue ops <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PresidentKovind?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PresidentKovind</a>
&mdash; President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) <a href="https://twitter.com/rashtrapatibhvn/status/946572230653132800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Kamala Mills is an old mill complex which now houses commercial establishments.&nbsp;

Eyewitnesses said the fire spread quickly, leading to a stampede since no one knew where the fire escape doors were.&nbsp;

An FIR has been lodged against the 1 Above restaurant.&nbsp;

The FIR says 14 people&nbsp;died, of which 11 were men and three women.&nbsp;

It added that the transmission&nbsp;of a number of television channels which have their offices at Kamala Mills was affected.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The people&nbsp;injured in the fire had been rushed to KEM hospital.&nbsp;

&quot;All the 12 injured are out of danger now,&quot; ANI reported the Dean of KEM Hospital, Avinash Supe, as saying.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Doctors said the 12 people injured were now out of danger

A massive fire broke out at the Kamala Mills complex in Lower Parel, Mumbai early Friday morning killing 15 people and injuring 12. The fire was reported at 12.30 am Friday. The fire is thought to have been caused by a short circuit in the 1 Above restaurant on the top floor of a four-storey building in the complex. #WATCH: Last night visuals of fire at #KamalaMills compound in #Mumbai's Lower Parel, the incident has claimed 14 lives. pic.twitter.com/Ud2s6QXTFF — ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2017 × Anguished by the fire in Mumbai. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. I pray that those injured recover quickly: PM @narendramodi — PMO India (@PMOIndia) December 29, 2017 × Disturbing news about the fire in Mumbai. Condolences to the bereaved families and wishing the injured an early recovery. Commend the valiant efforts of fire-fighters and those in rescue ops #PresidentKovind — President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) December 29, 2017 × Kamala Mills is an old mill complex which now houses commercial establishments. Eyewitnesses said the fire spread quickly, leading to a stampede since no one knew where the fire escape doors were. An FIR has been lodged against the 1 Above restaurant. The FIR says 14 people died, of which 11 were men and three women. It added that the transmission of a number of television channels which have their offices at Kamala Mills was affected. The people injured in the fire had been rushed to KEM hospital. "All the 12 injured are out of danger now," ANI reported the Dean of KEM Hospital, Avinash Supe, as saying.

Video: 15 dead after massive fire breaks out at Mumbai's Kamala Mills

Maharashtra minister Vinod Tawde &amp; other dignitaries flagged off Mumbai&#39;s first air-conditioned local train today at the Borivali station.&nbsp;

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Mumbai: First air conditioned local train of India flagged off from Borivali station by Maharashtra minister Vinod Tawde &amp; other dignitaries <a href="https://t.co/LPzJ48wsq2">pic.twitter.com/LPzJ48wsq2</a>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/945175089305100288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Mumbai&#39;s first AC local train will run only over the weekdays with weekends reserved mainly for maintenance.&nbsp;

Eight out of twelve daily services will be operated on the congested Churchgate-Virar (Palghar) route while three services will be run between Churchgate and Borivali.&nbsp;

Train services will halt only at major stations with an exception to one service which will operate between Mahalaxmi and Borivali, halting at all stations.&nbsp;

 
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The train will run only over the weekdays with weekends reserved mainly for maintenance

Maharashtra minister Vinod Tawde & other dignitaries flagged off Mumbai's first air-conditioned local train today at the Borivali station. Mumbai: First air conditioned local train of India flagged off from Borivali station by Maharashtra minister Vinod Tawde & other dignitaries pic.twitter.com/LPzJ48wsq2 — ANI (@ANI) December 25, 2017 × Mumbai's first AC local train will run only over the weekdays with weekends reserved mainly for maintenance. Eight out of twelve daily services will be operated on the congested Churchgate-Virar (Palghar) route while three services will be run between Churchgate and Borivali. Train services will halt only at major stations with an exception to one service which will operate between Mahalaxmi and Borivali, halting at all stations.

Mumbai gets its first air-conditioned local

As many as 2,965 girls have gone missing from Maharashtra in the first six months this year, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday.

The number has gone up from 2,881 girls, who had gone missing between January 1 and June 30 in 2016, he said in a written reply in tabled in the state Legislative Assembly in response to a query by BJP MLA Randheer Savarkar.

The chief minister, who heads the home department, said, &quot;No case was registered against any particular gang in this connection. Some 12 police departments have been instructed to take immediate action against such activities.&quot;&nbsp;

According to Fadnavis, the union government formed www.trackthemissingchild.gov.in for tracking a missing girl child.

&quot;The Railways is also updating their portals www.shodh.gov.in for the same purpose. These websites have been helpful in detecting cases,&quot; he said in the reply.

The state government had undertaken four special drives, such as Operation Muskan and Operation Smile, which helped in finding 1,613 girls between January 1 and June 30, 2016. The drive also helped find 645 girls this year, Fadnavis said in the reply.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said as many as 2,965 girls went missing in the first six months of the year

As many as 2,965 girls have gone missing from Maharashtra in the first six months this year, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday. The number has gone up from 2,881 girls, who had gone missing between January 1 and June 30 in 2016, he said in a written reply in tabled in the state Legislative Assembly in response to a query by BJP MLA Randheer Savarkar. The chief minister, who heads the home department, said, "No case was registered against any particular gang in this connection. Some 12 police departments have been instructed to take immediate action against such activities." According to Fadnavis, the union government formed www.trackthemissingchild.gov.in for tracking a missing girl child. "The Railways is also updating their portals www.shodh.gov.in for the same purpose. These websites have been helpful in detecting cases," he said in the reply. The state government had undertaken four special drives, such as Operation Muskan and Operation Smile, which helped in finding 1,613 girls between January 1 and June 30, 2016. The drive also helped find 645 girls this year, Fadnavis said in the reply.

Maharashtra: Almost 3,000 girls missing in 6 months, says Fadnavis

After announcing the next-generation Snapdragon 845 SoC at the Snapdragon Tech Summit 2017 in Maui, Hawaii, Qualcomm&nbsp;has today detailed the features of the new mobile platform. The new chipset is based on the 10nm FinFET process with big.LITTLE architecture. Qualcomm has already mentioned that the new chipsets will be manufactured by Samsung Foundry. Here are the changes that the new chipset brings over last year&rsquo;s Snapdragon 835 SoC.

Kryo 385 CPU

The key enhancements over Snapdragon 835 comes in the form of better battery life and faster performance. The chipset is manufactured using Samsung&rsquo;s second-gen 10nm LPP FinFET process. The Kryo CPU architecture includes four performance cores (Cortex A75) clocked up to 2.8GHz with up to 30 percent performance improvement over Snapdragon 835. These performance cores are paired with four efficiency cores (Cortex A55) clocked at 1.8GHz, which Qualcomm says is 30 percent more energy efficient compared to its predecessor.

The Snapdragon 845 SoC comes with Quick Charge 4 support, which Qualcomm claims can take the battery from empty to 50 percent in 15 minutes. Also, on full charge, the chipmaker says that smartphones powered by Snapdragon 845 SoC can offer around four hours of Ultra HD 4K video playback, up to three hours of immersive unwired VR usage, and talk time of up to two days on VoLTE.

Adreno 630 GPU

The Snapdragon 845 SoC is paired with the Adreno 630 GPU, which Qualcomm says is faster and more efficient in processing. The new GPU is designed to offer 30 percent faster graphics, 30 percent improved energy efficiency and 2.5 times faster display throughput. It will also support 2K + 2K 120fps XR for virtual and augmented reality devices.

X20 LTE modem

The X20 is Qualcomm&rsquo;s second-generation Gigabit LTE modem with TrueWireless connectivity. It is designed to over 20 percent improvement over X16 modem on the Snapdragon 835 SoC. The X20 modem can offer maximum speeds of up to 1.2Gbps over 12 streams. It comes with 5 carrier aggregation with 4&times;4 MIMO technology. So, what do these specifications mean? Well, it can offer faster upload and download data speeds on upcoming 5G networks.

It also supports multi-Gigabit Wi-Fi with 60GHz range with ad baseband. The modem also supports Wi-Fi 802.11ac for 16 times faster connection setup and 30 percent efficiency. The X20 modem on the Snapdragon 845 SoC now supports dual-SIM 4G connectivity and Dual-VoLTE on both SIMs. It also comes with advanced Bluetooth capabilities to broadcast HD quality music or live audio to connect to multiple devices. Also, the modem is designed to consume 50 percent less power when using wireless earbuds.

Camera

The Snapdragon 845 SoC comes with Hexagon 685 DSP and Spectra 280 ISP (Image Signal Processing) for improved photography. The smartphone camera will also support capturing Ultra HD Premium videos at 60fps. Qualcomm has also made improvements to the ISP to correct the color gamut, color depth and luminance to make your captured photos look more lifelike.

It basically helps to correct the color volume, dynamic range and improve the banding. The new chipset will also support slow-motion video capture at 720p in HDR10 format, with a frame rate of 480fps. The chipset will also consume 30 percent less power when recording videos.

Most smartphones today come with dual-camera setups and they allow capturing photos with DSLR-like bokeh effects. The new Snapdragon chipset comes with &lsquo;Computer Vision&rsquo; for depth mapping and to add the depth-of-field effects even when using a single camera. It also supports Face scanning for biometric authentication and security.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (ML) is everywhere today, right from finance to healthcare, entertainment, insurance, and transportation. The Snapdragon 845 SoC is the third generation mobile AI platform from Qualcomm. With the new chipset, Qualcomm is moving intelligence from cloud to edge to improve low latency, privacy and reliability.

With AI integration, Qualcomm wants to offer richer and more personalized experiences. It works with multiple platforms, such as Android, Linux and Windows, and Qualcomm is working with a number of partners such as Facebook, Google, Amazon Alexa, Baidu, and more for improved experiences.

AI on Snapdragon 845 comes with features such as speech recognition, object detection, face recognition, single camera bokeh effects to your camera photos, landmark detection, malware detection and more.

Security

The security architecture on the Snapdragon 845 SoC comes with a secure vault. It is hardware based and comes with its own Secure Processing Unit to keep your photos, videos, content and other details safe and secure. We have moved from typing passwords to fingerprint scanning, iris scanning and face scanning biometric authentication systems. And because biometrics is important to us from a privacy viewpoint, the data is encrypted and validated in the secure processing unit, thus keeping it secure. Also, with mobile payments becoming increasingly mainstream, the integration of secure vault in the chipset will enable higher level of security of your biometrics.

Disclaimer: The correspondent Ritesh Bendre is in Maui, Hawaii on Qualcomm&rsquo;s invite. Qualcomm paid for his travel and accommodation in Hawaii. The article was originally published in BGR.in, <a href="http://www.bgr.in/features/qualcomm-snapdragon-845-soc-with-kryo-385-cpu-x20-lte-modem-ai-capabilities-launched/">click here</a> to read it.

Gujarat tops the list with more than three-fourths of its working population in the informal sector being blatantly vulnerable

After announcing the next-generation Snapdragon 845 SoC at the Snapdragon Tech Summit 2017 in Maui, Hawaii, Qualcomm has today detailed the features of the new mobile platform. The new chipset is based on the 10nm FinFET process with big.LITTLE architecture. Qualcomm has already mentioned that the new chipsets will be manufactured by Samsung Foundry. Here are the changes that the new chipset brings over last year’s Snapdragon 835 SoC. Kryo 385 CPU The key enhancements over Snapdragon 835 comes in the form of better battery life and faster performance. The chipset is manufactured using Samsung’s second-gen 10nm LPP FinFET process. The Kryo CPU architecture includes four performance cores (Cortex A75) clocked up to 2.8GHz with up to 30 percent performance improvement over Snapdragon 835. These performance cores are paired with four efficiency cores (Cortex A55) clocked at 1.8GHz, which Qualcomm says is 30 percent more energy efficient compared to its predecessor. The Snapdragon 845 SoC comes with Quick Charge 4 support, which Qualcomm claims can take the battery from empty to 50 percent in 15 minutes. Also, on full charge, the chipmaker says that smartphones powered by Snapdragon 845 SoC can offer around four hours of Ultra HD 4K video playback, up to three hours of immersive unwired VR usage, and talk time of up to two days on VoLTE. Adreno 630 GPU The Snapdragon 845 SoC is paired with the Adreno 630 GPU, which Qualcomm says is faster and more efficient in processing. The new GPU is designed to offer 30 percent faster graphics, 30 percent improved energy efficiency and 2.5 times faster display throughput. It will also support 2K + 2K 120fps XR for virtual and augmented reality devices. X20 LTE modem The X20 is Qualcomm’s second-generation Gigabit LTE modem with TrueWireless connectivity. It is designed to over 20 percent improvement over X16 modem on the Snapdragon 835 SoC. The X20 modem can offer maximum speeds of up to 1.2Gbps over 12 streams. It comes with 5 carrier aggregation with 4×4 MIMO technology. So, what do these specifications mean? Well, it can offer faster upload and download data speeds on upcoming 5G networks. It also supports multi-Gigabit Wi-Fi with 60GHz range with ad baseband. The modem also supports Wi-Fi 802.11ac for 16 times faster connection setup and 30 percent efficiency. The X20 modem on the Snapdragon 845 SoC now supports dual-SIM 4G connectivity and Dual-VoLTE on both SIMs. It also comes with advanced Bluetooth capabilities to broadcast HD quality music or live audio to connect to multiple devices. Also, the modem is designed to consume 50 percent less power when using wireless earbuds. Camera The Snapdragon 845 SoC comes with Hexagon 685 DSP and Spectra 280 ISP (Image Signal Processing) for improved photography. The smartphone camera will also support capturing Ultra HD Premium videos at 60fps. Qualcomm has also made improvements to the ISP to correct the color gamut, color depth and luminance to make your captured photos look more lifelike. It basically helps to correct the color volume, dynamic range and improve the banding. The new chipset will also support slow-motion video capture at 720p in HDR10 format, with a frame rate of 480fps. The chipset will also consume 30 percent less power when recording videos. Most smartphones today come with dual-camera setups and they allow capturing photos with DSLR-like bokeh effects. The new Snapdragon chipset comes with ‘Computer Vision’ for depth mapping and to add the depth-of-field effects even when using a single camera. It also supports Face scanning for biometric authentication and security. Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (ML) is everywhere today, right from finance to healthcare, entertainment, insurance, and transportation. The Snapdragon 845 SoC is the third generation mobile AI platform from Qualcomm. With the new chipset, Qualcomm is moving intelligence from cloud to edge to improve low latency, privacy and reliability. With AI integration, Qualcomm wants to offer richer and more personalized experiences. It works with multiple platforms, such as Android, Linux and Windows, and Qualcomm is working with a number of partners such as Facebook, Google, Amazon Alexa, Baidu, and more for improved experiences. AI on Snapdragon 845 comes with features such as speech recognition, object detection, face recognition, single camera bokeh effects to your camera photos, landmark detection, malware detection and more. Security The security architecture on the Snapdragon 845 SoC comes with a secure vault. It is hardware based and comes with its own Secure Processing Unit to keep your photos, videos, content and other details safe and secure. We have moved from typing passwords to fingerprint scanning, iris scanning and face scanning biometric authentication systems. And because biometrics is important to us from a privacy viewpoint, the data is encrypted and validated in the secure processing unit, thus keeping it secure. Also, with mobile payments becoming increasingly mainstream, the integration of secure vault in the chipset will enable higher level of security of your biometrics. Disclaimer: The correspondent Ritesh Bendre is in Maui, Hawaii on Qualcomm’s invite. Qualcomm paid for his travel and accommodation in Hawaii. The article was originally published in BGR.in, click here to read it.

Opinion: Gujarat is prosperous, but where is the job security

The people of Gujarat and the state administration today heaved a sigh of relief as Cyclone Ockhi dissipated over the Arabian Sea, sparing the poll-bound state. The cyclone was yesterday headed towards Gujarat after leaving a trail of destruction on the southern Indian coast.

The cyclone yesterday passed the Mumbai coast and much to the relief of the people in Maharashtra&#39;s capital, it just brought rains and there was no loss of life or damage to property.

As per an early morning release by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclonic storm first turned into a &#39;deep depression&#39;, then into a &#39;depression&#39; and finally into a &#39;low pressure&#39; area after midnight. &quot;The depression over east-central and adjoining north-east the Arabian Sea weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area over the east-central Arabian sea and adjoining areas of north-east Arabian Sea, north coastal Maharashtra and south coastal Gujarat at 23:30 hours yesterday&quot;, the release said.

The cyclone dissipated over the sea before hitting the Gujarat coast, said Jayanta Sarkar, the director of the MeT Centre here.&nbsp;&quot;The cyclone did not reach Surat at all. It dissipated into the sea before making a landfall on the southern coast. From deep depression, it became a depression, then became a well-marked low pressure. Now, it is just low pressure. It may bring light to moderate rain in some parts of the state today,&quot; added Sarkar.

As per the IMD release, the sea condition would be rough along and off south Gujarat and adjoining north Maharashtra coasts during the next 12 hours.&nbsp;&quot;Fishermen along and off north Maharashtra and south Gujarat coasts are advised not to venture into sea during the next 12 hours,&quot; the release said.

Until last evening, there was a fear that Cyclone Ockhi may hit Gujarat coast by midnight. However, the cyclone lost its strength and turned into a &#39;deep depression&#39; when it was around 240 km away from Surat.&nbsp;The cyclone later turned into a &#39;depression&#39; when it was still away from the coast and gradually weakened into a well marked low pressure by this morning.

To face the eventuality in view of the cyclonic storm, the state government deployed teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in several parts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra.&nbsp;The government also alerted the Air Force, Coast Guard, and Navy.&nbsp;Around 1,600 people were also shifted to safer locations, as a precautionary measure.

Amid his busy poll campaign schedule, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and state chief secretary J N Singh rushed to Surat yesterday to oversee the relief operations.

The fear of Cyclone Ockhi hitting Gujarat proved futile as the storm lost its strength over the Arabian Sea when it was 240 km away from Surat. The cyclonic storm first turned into a deep depression, then to a depression and finally into a low pressure area over the night.

The people of Gujarat and the state administration today heaved a sigh of relief as Cyclone Ockhi dissipated over the Arabian Sea, sparing the poll-bound state. The cyclone was yesterday headed towards Gujarat after leaving a trail of destruction on the southern Indian coast. The cyclone yesterday passed the Mumbai coast and much to the relief of the people in Maharashtra's capital, it just brought rains and there was no loss of life or damage to property. As per an early morning release by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclonic storm first turned into a 'deep depression', then into a 'depression' and finally into a 'low pressure' area after midnight. "The depression over east-central and adjoining north-east the Arabian Sea weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area over the east-central Arabian sea and adjoining areas of north-east Arabian Sea, north coastal Maharashtra and south coastal Gujarat at 23:30 hours yesterday", the release said. The cyclone dissipated over the sea before hitting the Gujarat coast, said Jayanta Sarkar, the director of the MeT Centre here. "The cyclone did not reach Surat at all. It dissipated into the sea before making a landfall on the southern coast. From deep depression, it became a depression, then became a well-marked low pressure. Now, it is just low pressure. It may bring light to moderate rain in some parts of the state today," added Sarkar. As per the IMD release, the sea condition would be rough along and off south Gujarat and adjoining north Maharashtra coasts during the next 12 hours. "Fishermen along and off north Maharashtra and south Gujarat coasts are advised not to venture into sea during the next 12 hours," the release said. Until last evening, there was a fear that Cyclone Ockhi may hit Gujarat coast by midnight. However, the cyclone lost its strength and turned into a 'deep depression' when it was around 240 km away from Surat. The cyclone later turned into a 'depression' when it was still away from the coast and gradually weakened into a well marked low pressure by this morning. To face the eventuality in view of the cyclonic storm, the state government deployed teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in several parts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra. The government also alerted the Air Force, Coast Guard, and Navy. Around 1,600 people were also shifted to safer locations, as a precautionary measure. Amid his busy poll campaign schedule, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and state chief secretary J N Singh rushed to Surat yesterday to oversee the relief operations.

Cyclone Ockhi dissipates, Gujarat spared

A sessions court here today awarded death sentence to three men convicted for the brutal rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Maharashtra&#39;s Kopardi village in 2016.

Additional Special Judge Suvarna Kevale awarded the death sentence to Jitendra Babulal Shinde, Santosh Gorakh Bhawal and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume.

The judge had on November 18 convicted the three men on charges of rape, murder and criminal conspiracy.

The incident had triggered widespread protests from the Maratha community, who took out marches across the state over it.

The victim, who belonged to the Maratha community, was found murdered after being raped on July 13, 2016 at Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district.

The accused also inflicted injuries all over her body and broke her limbs before throttling her, police said.

On&nbsp;October 7, the Ahmednagar Police had filed the charge sheet running into over 350 pages before the court in which the trio was charged under IPC sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape) and relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

A sessions court awarded death sentence to Jitendra Babulal Shinde, Santosh Gorakh Bhawal and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume convicted for the brutal rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Kopardi village in 2016

A sessions court here today awarded death sentence to three men convicted for the brutal rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Kopardi village in 2016. Additional Special Judge Suvarna Kevale awarded the death sentence to Jitendra Babulal Shinde, Santosh Gorakh Bhawal and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume. The judge had on November 18 convicted the three men on charges of rape, murder and criminal conspiracy. The incident had triggered widespread protests from the Maratha community, who took out marches across the state over it. The victim, who belonged to the Maratha community, was found murdered after being raped on July 13, 2016 at Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district. The accused also inflicted injuries all over her body and broke her limbs before throttling her, police said. On October 7, the Ahmednagar Police had filed the charge sheet running into over 350 pages before the court in which the trio was charged under IPC sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape) and relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Kopardi rape and murder case: 3 convicts get death sentence

The death toll in Bhiwandi building collapse in Maharashtra rose to four from one on Saturday.

A three-storey residential building collapsed on Friday morning in Bhiwandi in Thane district.

Many people were injured, while several others feared to be trapped inside the debris.

However, they were saved following a rescue operation.

The death toll in Bhiwandi building collapse in Maharashtra rose to four from one on Saturday

The death toll in Bhiwandi building collapse in Maharashtra rose to four from one on Saturday. A three-storey residential building collapsed on Friday morning in Bhiwandi in Thane district. Many people were injured, while several others feared to be trapped inside the debris. However, they were saved following a rescue operation.

Death toll rises to four in Mumbai building collapse

A policeman died in a landmine blast at&nbsp;Korchi&#39;s &nbsp;Kotgul in Maharashtra on Friday.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

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Maharashtra: 1 police jawan lost his life, 2 injured in a landmine blast in Korchi&#39;s Kotgul in Gadchiroli.
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/934107783728787461?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The blast occurred at&nbsp; Korchi&#39;s&nbsp;Kotgul in Gadchiroli.&nbsp;

Two other policemen were also injured in the bast.&nbsp;

Two other policemen were injured in the bast

A policeman died in a landmine blast at Korchi's Kotgul in Maharashtra on Friday. Maharashtra: 1 police jawan lost his life, 2 injured in a landmine blast in Korchi's Kotgul in Gadchiroli. — ANI (@ANI) November 24, 2017 × The blast occurred at Korchi's Kotgul in Gadchiroli. Two other policemen were also injured in the bast.

Policeman dies in landmine blast in Maharashtra

Google paid tribute to Cornelia Sorabji, the first woman to practice law in India, with a doodle on the occasion of her 151st birth anniversary.

Sorabji, born in Maharashtra&#39;s Nashik in 1866 is also recognised as the first woman graduate of Bombay University, the first woman to study law at Oxford University and first Indian national to study at any British University and first female advocate in India.

Sorabji was the first woman advocate to join Allahabad High Court bar, fought tirelessly for the rights of &#39;Purdanashins&#39;, veiled women forbidden by social custom from communicating with men outside their families.

&nbsp;Sorabji helped an estimated 600 women and orphans fight legal battles, sometimes at no charge.&nbsp;

She was barred from practising her profession in both Britain and India despite clearing the law examination in&nbsp; <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Allahabad-High-Court" pg="AS1_InlineMedia#AS1_https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/google-doodle-honours-cornelia-sorabhji-indias-first-female-advocate/articleshow/61654203.cms~Allahabad High Court-https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Allahabad-High-Court">Allahabad High Court</a>&nbsp;in 1899. 
 
Later, she became&nbsp;the legal advisor to the colonial government of India.

The doodle is designed by illustrator Jasjot Singh Hans, that shows Sorabji in front of Allahabad court, to which she was eventually admitted in 1923 when the ban on female lawyers was lifted.

&nbsp;

Sorabji was the first woman to practise law in India

Google paid tribute to Cornelia Sorabji, the first woman to practice law in India, with a doodle on the occasion of her 151st birth anniversary. Sorabji, born in Maharashtra's Nashik in 1866 is also recognised as the first woman graduate of Bombay University, the first woman to study law at Oxford University and first Indian national to study at any British University and first female advocate in India. Sorabji was the first woman advocate to join Allahabad High Court bar, fought tirelessly for the rights of 'Purdanashins', veiled women forbidden by social custom from communicating with men outside their families. Sorabji helped an estimated 600 women and orphans fight legal battles, sometimes at no charge. She was barred from practising her profession in both Britain and India despite clearing the law examination in Allahabad High Court in 1899. Later, she became the legal advisor to the colonial government of India. The doodle is designed by illustrator Jasjot Singh Hans, that shows Sorabji in front of Allahabad court, to which she was eventually admitted in 1923 when the ban on female lawyers was lifted.

Google doodles Cornelia Sorabji on 151st birth anniversary

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