Maharashtra

Aurangabad, Oct 9 (PTI) Eleven doctors of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here have tested positive for dengue, officials said on Wednesday.

From September this year, dengue has so far claimed the lives of at least seven persons in the city, they said.

"The number of dengue-infected people is rising in Aurangabad. Now, 11 doctors and medical students of the GMCH have tested positive for dengue," GMCH superintendent, Dr Kailas Jhine, told PTI.

Nagpur, 8 Oct 19, (UMMn): RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, speaking at the annual Dusshera event in Nagpur, described lynching as a "Western construct", and should not be used to defame the country.

Mumbai, Oct 7 (PTI) A total of 3239 candidates are in the fray for the October 21 assembly elections in Maharashtra for the 288 seats up for grabs where the BJP-led NDA alliance and the Congress-NCP combine are locked in keen contests marked by defections, rebellions and one-upmanships.

The Election Commission had received 5543 applications for all the 288 segments, an official said on Monday, adding that 3239 nominees are left in the race after withdrawals and rejection of 800 applications due to technical errors.

Palghar, Oct 8 (PTI) A court here in Maharashtra has awarded life imprisonment to a 50-year-old man for raping his teenaged daughter-in-law in 2015.

Additional Sessions Judge A U Kadam, in her order on Monday, said the accused, who worked as a driver in a government department and resided in Palghar, needed to be convicted with a strong sentence.

She pronounced the accused guilty under Indian Penal Code sections for rape and criminal intimidation and under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Akola, Oct 8 (PTI) For most of us, the festival of Dussehra is a day to celebrate Lord Ram's victory over Ravan, symbolising triumph of good over evil, but residents of a tiny village in Maharashtra's Akola district worship the demon king with equal fervour.

An enormous black stone statue of Ravan, with 10 heads and 20 arms, stands tall in Sangola village where, according to locals, the Lanka king is being worshipped for the last 200 years.

Pune, Oct 7 (PTI) Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil, who is fighting his maiden Assembly election, is up against a united opposition from Pune's Kothrud seat, and it will be interesting to see how he takes up the challenge.

The state minister, who is considered no. 2 in the Devendra Fadnavis Cabinet, is also facing the tag of being an "outsider", since he hails from Kolhapur.

He is pitted against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) candidate Kishor Shinde, who also has the backing of the opposition Congress and NCP.

New Delhi, Oct 7 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday restrained authorities from cutting anymore trees in Mumbai's Aarey to set up a Metro car shed.

A special bench comprising justices Arun Mishra and Ashok Bhushan said it will have to examine the entire thing and posted the matter for hearing on October 21 before its forest bench.

"Don't cut anything now," the bench said.

The felling of trees is being opposed by green activists and local residents.

Mumbai, Oct 5 (PTI) Inspired by a film, a candidate from Latur Assembly seat in Maharashtra paid the poll deposit amount in Rs 10 coins to highlight the fact that the coin is not being accepted as legal tender by local traders.

Santosh Sabde, who is contesting as independent from this central Maharashtra town, said Election Commission officials on Friday were hesitant to accept the deposit in coins, but "acquiesced eventually".

Aurangabad, Oct 5 (PTI) Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi on Saturday said a new "Father of the Nation" has come up with the emergence of new India, but the Mahatma could never have become the father of such nation.

He also termed as "sacrilege" the theft of an urn which was used for immersing ashes of the Father of Nation in Madhya Pradesh recently and slammed the governments at Centre and Madhya Pradesh for their "silence".

Mumbai, Oct 5 (PTI) Green activists suffered a second jolt in two consecutive days when the Bombay High Court on Saturday refused to stay ongoing felling of trees at Mumbai's prominent green lung, Aarey Colony, to make way for a proposed metro car shed.