Two siblings drown in Aurangabad water-filled pit
A heart-wrenching incident unfolded in Aurangabad's Tola Varshi Veer village as a 4-year-old girl and her 2-year-old brother tragically drowned in a perilous water-filled pit. Their bodies were found on Wednesday morning, following their disappearance the day before. The children's father, an ice cream vendor, is inconsolable.
Tragic Incident in Aurangabad: Three Children Murdered by Uncle, Suspect Attempts Suicide
Patna, March 28: In a shocking incident in Aurangabad district, Bihar, three children were brutally murdered by their uncle on Friday. According to police reports, the attack occurred in the village of Khuthatan, located in the Haspur police station area. The suspect has been identified as Amant Pal. The accused allegedly entered the home and ... Read more Tragic Incident in Aurangabad: Three Children Murdered by Uncle, Suspect Attempts Suicide
Bihar Chief Minister Launches Over 690 Development Projects in Gaya and Aurangabad
Patna, March 21: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar visited Gaya and Aurangabad on Friday as part of the fourth phase of the Samriddhi Yatra and inaugurated numerous development projects. In Gaya, the Chief Minister laid the foundation for 140 projects and inaugurated 553 completed initiatives, dedicating them to the local populace. Local MP and Union ... Read more Bihar Chief Minister Launches Over 690 Development Projects in Gaya and Aurangabad
Beyond Mumbai: Top 5 fast-growing cities in Maharashtra for real estate in 2026
In 2026, Maharashtras real growth is no longer limited to just Mumbai. In the last few years, the state has experienced an immense boom in the housing sector. Today, cities like Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad, and Kolhapur, among others are also writing the next phase stories.
Let's See If We'll Live: 4 Bihar Girls Die After Consuming Poison Out Of Curiosity
Four teenage girls died after consuming poison in Moti Bigha, Aurangabad, Bihar. Conflicting accounts cite curiosity and social shame.
Siemens board decides to defer capex for setting up metro car assembly in Aurangabad
Due to continued delays in issuance of metro tenders
Bihar 'almost' rid of Maoist menace, no major incidents reported in last three to four years
PATNA: The Bihar government on Monday claimed that the State has 'almost' got rid of the Maoist menace. The number of Maoist-infested districts has declined from 22 to zero, with no major incidents reported in the past few years, according to Bihar Home departments additional chief secretary (ACS) Arvind Kumar Chaudhary. Stating that Naxal-related violence has not been reported in the past 3-4 years in the State, Chaudhary said the number of left-wing Maoist-infested districts has reduced to nil. The number of Naxal-infested districts used to be 22 in 2013, but now the number of such districts is nil because of anti-Naxal operations in the State. Now, there are only four districts of Gaya Ji, Aurangabad, Jamui and Lakhisarai which have been identified as legacy and thrust districts. Out of 1727 extremists/criminals arrested by STF, 141 extremists/criminals carried rewards on their heads, ACS revealed. A total of 220 Naxalites have been arrested, while one Naxalite has been killed in an encounter, Chaudhary said, adding that 59 regular arms, three arms looted from police, 496 country-made arms, 2166 cartridges, 299 kg of explosives, 135 landmine/cane bomb, 168 detonators have been seized, besides 20 mini gun factories were busted. The State has also witnessed a decline in the number of major criminal cases of murders, dacoity and riots compared to last year due to better and effective policing. Murder cases fell by 7.72 per cent, dacoity cases by 24.87 per cent and riot cases by 17.97 per cent in comparison to last year due to swift action by the police, he said while asserting that the decline in major criminal cases is significant. Combating Naxal menace a joint responsibility of centre and states: Bihar CM The polices swift action and strict vigil led to the arrest of 3.35 lakh persons between January 2025 and November 2025 in major criminal cases, he said. He added that 5620 persons were arrested in connection with murder cases, 1054 in dacoity cases, 2082 in loot cases, 3630 in SC & ST Act and in rape and kidnapping cases. Besides, police seized 4528 firearms and 28414 cartridges during the same period. A better intelligence gathering mechanism has led to a gradual reduction in incidents of communal tensions in the state, he said. Chaudhary was addressing the media persons here at Suchna Bhawan. He was accompanied by DGP Vinay Kumar, ADG (Law & Order) Pankaj Kumar Darad, Secretary & IG (Jail) Pranav Kumar, and Special Secretary K S Anupam were present during the Press Conference. A seperate cyber crime control unit to be set up With a view to give special thrust on rising cyber-related incidents, a separate vertical structure for the cyber crime control unit has been set up in the State, and it will be headed by an ADG-rank police official, DGP Vinay Kumar said. A total of 24.38 lakh cyber-related complaint calls have been received on the NCRP helpline portal till December 15, 2025, he said, while adding that 1.10 lakh online complaints and 24,100 online complaints relating to other cyber crimes have been reported on the NCRP portal this year. Prosecution For effective implementation of three new criminal cases, the prosecution directorate has been strengthened, for which various categories of 760 posts have been created for the Bihar Prosecution Service, DGP said, adding that the Bihar Electronic Order (for issuance, receipt and disposal) Rules 2025 and E-Sakshya Management Rules 2025 have been notified. A district prosecution directorate has been constituted in every district, he said, adding that Bihar has become the first state to launch trial in absentia following the implementation of new criminal laws of BNS, BNSS. Home Ministry declares six Bihar districts Naxal-free A total of 2,99,927 pending cases have been disposed of in the year 2025, he said and added that 1,43,878 accused persons have been sentenced in 1,05,291 cases. Four convicts were awarded capital punishment, while 1097 got life imprisonment, 533 got more than 10 years of imprisonment, 1410 received less than 10 years and more than 2 years of jail, while 1,37,983 convicts were fined/released on bond. Bihar has become the first state to get convictions of accused persons within 15 days of trial in connection with the Sidhwalia PS case 232/2024 in Gopalganj district. The trial was completed within a record time, DGP said, adding that the earlier record of completing the fastest trial was 48 days.
Fresh PIL in SC seeks law on menstrual pain leave for women
NEW DELHI: A fresh Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Union of India, States and Union Territories to frame laws or policies recognising the problems faced by women during menstrual pain and to provide necessary relief, including the grant of leave, in consonance with Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. The PIL has been filed by lawyer Shailendra Mani Tripathi, who has urged the apex court to intervene and address what he described as a legislative and policy vacuum affecting working women and female students. Issue directions to fill in the lacunae that exists regarding grant of relief in the nature of leave etc, to the working women & female students under exercise of power under Article 32 read with Articles 14, 21 and Articles 141 and 142 of the Indian Constitution, the PIL said. Tripathi highlighted in his plea that several private Indian companies have already introduced paid menstrual leave for their female employees. These include Ivipanan, Zomato, Byjus, Swiggy, Mathrubhumi, Magzter, Industry ARC, FlyMyBiz and Gozoop. He also pointed out that the Kerala government has granted menstrual leave to students in State universities, allowing them up to 60 days in a year. The prestigious institutions like NLIU Bhopal and MNLU Aurangabad have implemented menstrual leave policies. Punjab University has also approved and granted menstrual leave to the students, Tripathi said in the PIL. The petitioner further submitted that the menstrual status of a woman is a personal matter intrinsic to her privacy and must be treated with dignity and without discrimination. He argued that this requires the State to introduce measures that provide appropriate relief to women during menstrual pain so that they are able to cope with the suffering and protect their personal rights with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution. The petition, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, sought directions to all States to frame a policy for menstrual pain leave for female students and working women under the provisions of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. Earlier, Tripathi had filed a similar plea before the Supreme Court seeking directions on the issue. However, the court had asked him to approach the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), which could take an appropriate decision in the matter. After complying with the courts order, Tripathi submitted a representation to the WCD but did not receive any relief, following which he approached the Supreme Court again seeking redressal of his prayers. The petitioner has sought directions that during the menstrual period, if a woman suffers pain or other physical discomfort that makes it difficult for her to continue with her normal activities at the workplace, her request for leave or other suitable relief should be considered without discrimination, subject to reasonable and dignified conditions, keeping in mind that the issue concerns womens privacy. He also stressed that India has signed and ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which recognises the need for non-discriminatory practices and for treating women with dignity. Spain has recently enacted a law to introduce menstrual leave, thereby addressing the problem of menstrual pain. Vietnam has also enacted and implemented menstrual leave policies. Countries like the United Kingdom, Wales, China, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea and Zambia have different policies or laws on the grant of menstrual leave, he added in his PIL.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is among the 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra to which elections will be held on January 15, Wednesday. The counting of votes is scheduled for January 16, Friday, the State Election Commission (SEC) announced on Monday. Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar are among the other prominent civic bodies going to polls. He reportedly confirmed that the election code of conduct has now come into force in all 29 local bodies. As many as 2,869 seats in these municipal corporations will be up for grabs in these local bodies, where elections are due since early 2022. Maharashtra State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said the nomination process will begin on December 23, Tuesday with candidates allowed to make their submissions for a week until December 30. Scrutiny of papers will be done on December 31, and January 2, Friday, will be the last date of withdrawal of nominations, he said. Symbol allocation and the final list of candidates will be published on January 3. Polling in the 29 municipal corporations spread across Maharashtra will take place on January 15 and votes will be counted the next day, news agency PTI quoted Waghmare as saying. He said these 29 civic bodies, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), have 2,869 seats on offer and 3.48 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in these major urban centres of the state. After long and tiring political blame games and court battles, the Supreme Court had finally given the deadline of January 31 to conduct the polls, reported Marathi media. Full list of local bodies heading to polls: BMC Pune Municipal Corporation Nagpur Municipal Corporation Solapur Municipal Corporation Kolhapur Municipal Corporation Thane Municipal Corporation Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation Nashik Municipal Corporation Aurangabad Municipal Corporation Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation Amravati Municipal Corporation New Mumbai Municipal Corporation NandedWaghala Municipal Corporation Ulhas Nagar Municipal Corporation Sangli-Miraj-Kupwara Municipal Corporation Malegaon Municipal Corporation Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation Akola Municipal Corporation Bhayander Municipal Corporation Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation Dhule Municipal Corporation Jalgaon Municipal Corporation Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation Parbhani Municipal Corporation Chandrapur Municipal Corporation Latur Municipal Corporation Panvel Municipal Corporation Ichalkaranji Municipal Corporation Jalna Municipal Corporation Dates to remember: Application submission window: December 2330, 2025 Application scrutiny: December 31, 2025 Last date for withdrawal of candidature: January 2, 2026 Election symbol allocation and release of final candidate list: January 3, 2026 Polling date: January 15, 2026 Counting of votes: January 16, 2026
Licences of 176 retailers, 39 wholesalers cancelled over substandard medicines: Maharashtra Minister
Maharashtras Food and Drug Administration Minister said 36 samples were tested at 10 locations across Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Aurangabad and Nagpur divisions, of which 34 were found to be substandard
