Maharashtra

Mumbai, Jul 29 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Monday commuted the death penalty of two convicts in the 2007 Pune BPO gang-rape and murder case to life imprisonment on the ground that there had been an inordinate delay in executing them.

The convicts, Purushottam Borate and Pradeep Kokade, were to be executed on June 24, but the high court had said on June 21 that the execution should not take place as scheduled until further orders.

Thane, Jul 29 (PTI) A 36-year-old man from Thane in Maharashtra has been sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually harassing a school student three years ago.

In a recent order, special POCSO judge Dilip Murumkar also fined Sunil Gavhane, a resident of Kamathghar in Bhinwadi, a sum of Rs 2,000, Additional Public Prosecutor Ujjwala Moholkar said on Monday.

Mumbai, Jul 28 (PTI) For Nikkhil Advani nationalism is an inherent feeling and the "Batla House" director believes the term is "misused" a lot today.

And through his films, the director aims to make people realise the true meaning of loving one's country.

"My sense of nationalism is very personal but at the same time, I feel it is a word that is misused a lot today in this whole feeling of patriotism. And if you can correct it somewhere by making a film or whatever then why not you should do that," Advani told PTI in an interview.

Pune, Jul 28 (PTI) Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said his party and the Congress had come to an agreement on 240 of the 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra, polls for which are scheduled for later this year.

He also said the Raj Thackeray-led MNS was mulling boycotting the Assembly polls due to reservations about Electronic Voting Machines.

Akola, Jul 26 (PTI) A gang of eight people, two of them from adjoining Madhya Pradesh, was arrested for allegedly practicing black magic while looking for a "hidden treasure" here in Maharashtra, police said on Friday.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team went to Dahikhed village near here on Thursday and nabbed these people, all part of a gang, when they were conducting rituals at an agriculture field as part of black magic, Akot rural police station in-charge Inspector Dnyanoba Phad said.

Mumbai, Jul 24 (PTI) The Maharashtra government on Wednesday doubled the minimum wages of workers employed in shops and establishments across the state.

Talking to reporters, Labour Minister Sanjay Kute said the decision will benefit nearly one crore workers employed in 10 lakh shops and establishments in the state in 67 different types of employment.

"As per clause III of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the minimum wages are revised after every five years. However, they were not revised in the last nine years due to technical reasons," he said.

Pune, Jul 24 (PTI) A two-and-a-half-year old girl was allegedly raped and killed in Pune city of Maharashtra, a police official said on Wednesday.

The girl, daughter of a labourer, was abducted from a shanty at a construction site in Pimple Saudagar area on the city's outskirts on Monday when her family members was asleep, he said.

When the girl's family members were unable to trace her, they lodged a missing complaint with Sangavi police.

Mumbai, Jul 24 (PTI) Domestic equity benchmark BSE Sensex dropped over 100 points in early trade on Wednesday as investor sentiment dampened further after IMF cut India's growth outlook.

Massive foreign fund outflow too hit market mood here, traders said.

After swinging nearly 250 point in highly volatile opening session, the 30-share index was trading 104.13 points or 0.27 per cent lower at 37,878.61 at 0930 hours; and the broader Nifty also fell 38.30 points or 0.34 per cent to 11,292.75.

Mumbai, Jul 24 (PTI) The opposition Congress and NCP in Maharashtra have no dispute on nearly 150 out of the total 288 Assembly seats and would soon decide on sharing these for the state polls due later this year, a Congress leader said on Wednesday.

Senior leaders of the two parties met here on Tuesday evening to deliberate on the broad contours of seat-sharing arrangements for the forthcoming state Assembly polls.

New Delhi, Jul 22 (PTI) Investor wealth plunged over Rs 4 lakh crore in three days of market fall amid weak global trends and muted domestic sentiments.

Stock markets extended their losses for a third straight day with cumulative losses of 3.05 per cent or 1,184.15 points since July 18.

The 30-share index on Monday cracked 305.88 points or 0.80 per cent to settle at 38,031.13, a level not seen since May 17.