Maharashtra

Mumbai, Oct 4 (PTI) Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who is among the 49 celebrities against whom an FIR has been lodged for alleged sedition, on Friday said the case makes "no sense" as their open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi voicing concern over growing incidents of mob lynching was just an appeal and not any threat.

The FIR was lodged in Muzaffarpur against the celebrities that also included Anurag Kashyap, Aparna Sen, Mani Ratnam, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Soumitra Chatterjee, Shubha Mudgal and historian Ramchandra Guha.

Thane, Oct 4 (PTI) The police have arrested a man from Jalgaon in North Maharashtra for allegedly repeatedly raping his 15-year-old mentally challenged niece and impregnating her, an official said on Friday.

The accused later abandoned her at Kalyan railway station in Thane district, he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police of Zone III Vivek Pansare said the victim was found at Kalyan station on May 29, 2019.

Thane, Oct 4 (PTI) A Thane court has sentenced a woman to seven years rigourous imprisonment for sexually abusing the five-year-old daughter of her live-in partner.

District Judge D G Murumkar also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on the 33-year-old woman, a resident of Mumbra town in Thane district.

In the order on October 1, the judge observed that additional public prosecutor Ujjwala Moholkar successfully proved all charges against the woman under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Mumbai, Oct 4 (PTI) The Reserve Bank on Friday cut its key rates by 0.25 per cent to boost economy from six-year low saying reduction was necessary to revive growth.

With first quarter GDP growth plunging to 5 per cent, the RBI cut its estimate of economic growth in the current fiscal to 6.1 per cent from its earlier estimate of 6.9 per cent.

The repo rate, at which it lends to the system, has been brought down to 5.15 per cent to help reduce borrowing costs for home and auto loans, which are now directly linked to this benchmark.

Pune, Oct 2 (PTI) There is a need for an interfaith movement for world peace, former Union minister Karan Singh said here on Wednesday.

He was speaking at the `World Parliament of Science, Religion and Philosophy' organized by the MIT World Peace University on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary.

What we need today is an "inter-religious movement for world peace", Singh said.

Palghar, Oct 3(PTI) A newborn baby girl was found dumped in a dustbin by unidentified persons in Virar town of Maharashtra's Palghar district, the police said.

The child was found inside a gunny sack in a dustbin on a stretch of road between Global City and Narangi Phatak in the town on Wednesday afternoon.

Jalna, Oct 1 (PTI) A man was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly robbing six temples in Maharashtra's Jalna district, police said.

Babasaheb Narayan Wange, a resident of Sanjay Nagar here, had broken into Sai Baba temple at Ambad Naka, Tulja Bhavani temple at Golapangri and four others in Badnapur and Gondi villages, Crime Branch official Rajendra Singh Gour said.

"We have recovered ornaments of deities, temple bells, lamps, incense sticks and coconuts from the accused," he added.

Thane, Oct 2 (PTI) A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped at a creche by an ATM security guard in Maharashtra's Thane city, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Dashrath Kamble (42), has been arrested, a police spokesperson said.

The incident took place on Sunday after the girl's mother left her at the daycare facility located in Yashodhan Nagar area here, she said.

Aurangabad, Sep 30 (PTI) The All India Majalis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Monday announced another list of seven candidates for the October 21 Maharashtra assembly polls, taking the total till now to 24.

The latest list was released by state AIMIM president and Member of Parliament Imtiyaz Jaleel.

The Hyderabad-based party had earlier ended its alliance with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), led by Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar.

Mumbai, Oct 1(PTI) A special court in Mumbai on Tuesday refused to conduct an in-camera trial in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, in which BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur is one of the accused.

The court rejected an application filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seeking for the trial to be held in-camera.

Special NIA Judge V S Padalkar said conducting the trial in a "transparent manner" is among the reasons for rejecting the NIA's plea.