A total of 74 cases of students using unfair means were reported across state during the Maharashtra HSC exams held on February 17, 2025, the officials said on Monday. The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education released the data following the morning session examination for Physics and Logic subjects. According to the board’s report, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar recorded the highest number of cases at 57, followed by Pune with 7 cases. Other divisions that reported malpractice cases include Nagpur (2), Mumbai (2), Amravati (3), Nashik (4), and Latur (4). However, Kolhapur and Konkan divisions did not report any cases. Audumbar Ukirde, Deputy Director of the Education Board, stated, “Pune division reported seven cases. A detailed report on the nature of these malpractices, such as how students were caught copying, is yet to be received and will be available tomorrow.” The board has emphasized that strict action will be taken against students found guilty of using unfair means. The board authorities have reinforced the importance of maintaining exam integrity and have deployed stringent monitoring measures to curb such incidents in upcoming exams. To prevent paper leaks, misconduct, and copying, the board implemented multiple preventive measures. However, 74 cases of malpractice were still recorded despite these efforts. Meanwhile, several students reported that the Physics paper was tough and lengthy.
17 February,2025 07:55 PM IST | Pune | Archana DahiwalA 28-year-old criminal was killed by his rivals in Sakkardara area of Nagpur, leading to the arrest of three persons, police said on Monday. The incident occurred following a drunken brawl between Kartik Choubey and others near the Shahu Garden area on Sunday midnight. Police said Choubey, who had multiple criminal cases, was recently released from jail. A drunken exchange escalated into a violent fight, leading to Choubey smashing a beer bottle on the head of one Roshan Gaikwad. In retaliation, Gaikwad and his accomplices stabbed Choubey multiple times in the neck and stomach, leading to his death, police said. The police are investigating the case further. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
17 February,2025 07:14 PM IST | Nagpur | PTIPhotos of terror organisation Hamas leaders were found displayed at the top of elephants during a cultural festival in the Palakkad district of Kerala, reported news agency ANI. The regional festival, called 'Thrithala' by locals, is organised every year. According to the locals, the annual event is organised by the residents under the jurisdiction of Thrithala panchayat.The organisers claimed that these photos were put by some of the groups which participated in the festival. The closing ceremony of the festival was held on Sunday and several groups came up to become a part of it.Reacting to the development, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kerala President K Surendran alleged that anti-national organisations and radical elements are working in the state of Kerala. According to ANI, he stated that all the activities are being done by the support of incumbent Communist Party of India (Marxist) government for the purpose of vote bank politics. Surendran said that only BJP is against the anti-national and terror activities in Kerala.While speaking to the media on Monday, the Kerala BJP President said, "Radical elements and anti-national organisations are working in the state with the support and help of the CPI-M government. The tragic incident happened to criminal radical elements for vote bank politics. So, only the BJP in Kerala is working against the anti-national and terror organisations."According to ANI, in an earlier post, the BJP leader had uploaded a video of the event and said, "One year ago, when BJP warned against a rally in Kerala where a Hamas leader virtually participated, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) govt took no action. Now, in Palakkad, at a Urus festival, terrorists who killed thousands were glorified, pictures of (Hamas leaders) Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar were paraded on elephants, in an event in which a Communist Minister and a former Congress MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) were also present." "What message is being sent here? Why is (Chief Minister) Pinarayi Vijayan silent again? If he has even an ounce of spine left, take action! If not, just resign and accept that you are a total 'Parajayan (defeated)'." (With ANI inputs)
17 February,2025 06:44 PM IST | Palakkad | mid-day online correspondentAndhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu convened a review meeting at his residence in Undavalli to assess the situation regarding Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) in the state, ANI reports. The rare neurological disorder has sparked concerns following the death of a woman identified as Kamalamma, marking the first reported fatality from the syndrome in the state. As per ANI, Kamalamma, a resident of Komarolu Mandal in Prakasam district, was undergoing treatment at Guntur Government General Hospital (GGH) but succumbed to the illness on Sunday. According to ANI, Kamalamma had initially developed a high fever and later experienced paralysis in her legs. As her condition worsened, she was rushed to GGH, where she was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Despite being placed on ventilatory support and receiving intensive treatment, she suffered a cardiac arrest due to the syndrome’s impact on her respiratory and cardiac muscles. GGH Superintendent Dr SSV Ramana, speaking to ANI, confirmed her death. "A 55-year-old woman from Prakasam district, named Kamalamma, passed away due to Guillain-Barré Syndrome. The condition affected her respiratory and cardiac muscles, leading to cardiac arrest." He also informed ANI that another patient, identified as John, is currently on ventilator support after being diagnosed with GBS. However, his condition appears to be stable. In response to the situation, ANI reports that medical teams have conducted extensive screenings in Alasandhalapalli village, Prakasam district. Following thorough examinations, doctors confirmed that no additional individuals in the area displayed symptoms of the syndrome. The emergence of GBS has raised concerns, with reports indicating that seven patients are currently receiving treatment at GGH, some of whom are in critical condition and undergoing intensive care. As per ANI, the Andhra Pradesh government has intensified its response following the first GBS-related fatality. Krishna Babu, Principal Secretary of the Health Department, visited the Neurology Ward at GGH last week to review the arrangements for treating the condition. He assured the public that there is no need for panic, as the state government is taking all necessary measures to manage the situation. GGH Superintendent Dr Ramana Yasaswi, quoted by ANI, urged people not to worry, confirming that seven cases have been reported in the past four days, with two patients already discharged. He advised individuals experiencing numbness or weakness in their limbs to seek immediate medical attention, reassuring the public that effective medical treatments for GBS are available. (With inputs from ANI)
17 February,2025 05:55 PM IST | New DelhiAs the Mahakumbh Mela 2025 approaches its final stretch in Prayagraj, another fire broke out in an empty camp in Sector 8 of the Mela area on Monday. On Saturday, a fire had broken out in Sector 19 of the Mahakumbh Mela area, affecting a camp run by Lavkush Seva Mandal. The incident occurred in the evening, damaging stored items, including tents, blankets, and grains, but fortunately, no casualties were reported. On the fire incident, DIG Mahakumbh, Vaibhav Krishna, said, "In Sector 19 of the Kumbh Mela area, Lavkush Seva Mandal used to run a camp in which some tents were kept; there was some grains, some blankets, etc in their store room. The material kept there caught fire; there was no loss of life or injury to anyone." "The Kumbh Police received information about the fire incident around 6:15 pm. Within 5 to 7 minutes, the fire brigade vehicle reached the spot and the fire was controlled," he added. Meanwhile, another incident of fire break out took place on Thursday in a vacant hut near Harishchandra Marg in Sector 18 at Prayagraj's Mahakumbh site. According to the fire department, the personnel deployed by the administration doused the blaze, and no injuries had been reported. This incident comes on the heels of yet another fire last week, where 15 tents in an open area in Prayagraj caught fire. The incident happened in the Chatnag Ghat Police Station area. Fortunately, no casualties were reported, and the fire was quickly controlled. The tents were later found to be unauthorised. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
17 February,2025 05:15 PM IST | Prayagraj (UP) | ANITwo persons were killed and four seriously injured after a truck collided with a crane in Nashik, a police official said on Monday. The incident took place at 10:30pm on Sunday on Manmad-Nandgaon road, he added. "A speeding truck hit a crane, which rammed into an electric pole and toppled. Charles Indri Francis (15) and Ajay Balu Pawar (22), both residents of Manmad, died on the spot from head injuries, while drivers of the truck and crane along with two others sustained grievous wounds," he said. The injured persons have been hospitalised and further probe is underway, the Manmad police station official said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
17 February,2025 05:10 PM IST | Nashik | PTIHealth Minister Satya Kumar Yadav on Monday said that a 45-year-old woman and a minor boy have succumbed to Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS), an autoimmune neurological disorder, in Andhra Pradesh in the past 10 days, reported news agency PTI. The Andhra Pradesh Health Minister noted that Kamalamma died at Government General Hospital (GGH) in Guntur on Sunday while the 10-year-old boy died in a private medical college in Srikakulam 10 days ago. "There are 17 GBS cases now. This is a non-communicable disease with an incidence rate of up to two per one lakh population. This is not a sudden spurt of cases, this is normal," Yadav told PTI while sharing an update on the GBS outbreak. According to Yadav, a total of 267 cases of this disease were reported in 2024 with 141 cases in the first half of the year and 126 in the second half, reported PTI. Noting that 25 cases show up per month on an average, the minister highlighted that most of them can be handled with regular treatment while some serious cases would require immunoglobulin injections and admission to ICU. Maharashtra's GBS tally rises to 207 The tally of suspected and confirmed Gullain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) cases in Maharashtra has reached 207 after two cases were detected, a health official said while sharing an update on the GBS outbreak. With the addition of the two new cases on Friday, the tally of confirmed cases stands at 180, of which 20 are on ventilator support, the official said. Meanwhile, though the official death toll remained unchanged at eight as per the state health department, a suspected fatality from the ailment was reported from Kolhapur. A district health official said a 60-year-old woman from Changid tehsil there died on February 13. "She suffered paralysis of the lower limbs and was first admitted to a hospital in Changid and then taken to neighbouring Karnataka. She was brought back to a hospital in Kolhapur on February 11, where she died two days later," the official said. GBS is a rare condition in which a person's immune system attacks the peripheral nerves, resulting in muscle weakness, loss of sensation in the legs and/or arms, and problems swallowing or breathing. (With inputs from PTI)
17 February,2025 01:26 PM IST | Amaravati | mid-day online correspondentThe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday launched a fresh attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its delay in announcing the Chief Minister and cabinet for Delhi, alleging that the saffron party lacks a credible leader to govern the national capital. According to PTI, senior AAP leader and Delhi’s acting Chief Minister Atishi, while addressing a press conference, criticised the BJP for not naming a leader even ten days after the election results were declared. She claimed that the delay reflected the party’s lack of a capable face to lead the government. "As per PTI reports, the people of Delhi expected the BJP to declare its Chief Minister and cabinet on February 9 and begin governance immediately. However, even after so many days, the BJP has failed to do so. It is now evident that they have no face to run the government," Atishi said. She further alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not have confidence in any of the 48 BJP MLAs elected in Delhi and that the party has no concrete vision or governance plan for the national capital. "The BJP knows that all they will do is exploit the people of Delhi. If they do not have a capable leader to run the administration, how will they fulfil their promises and work for the welfare of the citizens?" she questioned. The political tension between AAP and BJP has intensified following the saffron party’s historic win in the recently concluded Delhi Assembly elections. The BJP secured a decisive victory by winning 48 out of 70 seats, while AAP managed only 22. The results, announced on February 8 following polling on February 5, marked the end of AAP’s decade-long rule in Delhi. In the 2020 Assembly elections, AAP had secured a sweeping mandate, winning 62 out of 70 seats, while the BJP had only managed eight. However, the political landscape in Delhi has now shifted significantly, and with the BJP yet to announce its leadership, speculation over its next move continues to grow. (With inputs from PTI)
17 February,2025 01:03 PM IST | New DelhiThe Supreme Court on Monday deferred the hearing of multiple petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The Act, which was enacted to preserve the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947, has been the subject of extensive legal debate. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar announced that the matter required a three-judge bench. As the current bench had only two judges, the hearing was postponed to a later date, likely in March. “We will not take up the Places of Worship Act matter today. It is a three-judge bench matter. Too many petitions have been filed. List it sometime in March. There should be a limit to the number of intervention applications being filed,” Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna remarked, as per ANI. The case has seen intervention applications from multiple political and religious organisations opposing the petitions against the Act. Among those filing applications are the Indian National Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist), the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Asaduddin Owaisi, Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid (which oversees the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi), and the Shahi Idgah mosque committee of Mathura. According to ANI, these groups argue that allowing the petitions to proceed would open the floodgates to litigation over numerous mosques across the country. They have urged the apex court to dismiss the pleas challenging the validity of the Act. The Supreme Court is currently handling several petitions challenging Sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Places of Worship Act, 1991. The petitioners argue that these provisions violate the fundamental principles of secularism and the rule of law, which form the core of the Constitution’s basic structure. They also claim that the Act infringes on fundamental rights, including the right to equality and religious freedom. The 1991 Act strictly prohibits any alteration of the religious character of a place of worship and imposes severe penalties for violations. It also blocks the initiation of any new legal proceedings concerning places of worship that existed before 1947, except for the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, which was excluded from the law’s purview. On December 12, the Supreme Court directed all courts across the country to refrain from issuing any interim or final orders, including surveys, in pending cases regarding religious structures. It further ordered that no fresh suits related to such disputes should be registered while the apex court is deliberating on the constitutional challenge to the Places of Worship Act. Several individuals, including Maharaja Kumari Krishna Priya, a member of the Kashi Royal Family; BJP leader Subramanian Swamy; former MP Chintamani Malviya; retired army officer Anil Kabotra; advocates Chandra Shekhar and Ashwini Upadhyay; and religious leaders such as Swami Jeetendranand Saraswati and Devkinandan Thakur Ji, have filed petitions opposing the Act. These petitioners contend that the law unjustly deprives Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs of their right to reclaim their places of worship and pilgrimage sites that were allegedly destroyed by invaders. The pleas further argue that while the Act exempts the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, it does not extend the same exception to the birthplace of Lord Krishna, despite both deities being revered incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The petitioners maintain that the Act effectively strips them of their right to seek judicial recourse, thereby infringing upon their fundamental right to access the courts. As per ANI reports, the Supreme Court is expected to take up the case for hearing in March, where a three-judge bench will decide the next course of action regarding these legal challenges. (With inputs from ANI)
17 February,2025 12:52 PM IST | MumbaiThe police said that a family of four members were found dead at an apartment in Mysuru on Monday, reported news agency PTI. The incident happened in Vishweshwaraiah Nagar in the city. The deceased have been identified as Chetan (45), his wife Rupali (43), their son Kushal (15) and Chetan's mother Priyamvada (62) they said, reported PTI. Citing a preliminary investigation, a senior police officer said that Chetan may have fed his family members with poison and killed them before hanging himself, reported PTI. Speaking to reporters here later, Mysuru Police Commissioner Seema Latkar said that At Sankalp apartment in Vidyaranyapura limits, a family of four has died. They were living in two separate flats. While the mother resided in one, Chetan, his wife and their son were living in another, reported PTI. According to her, Chetan is basically from Gorur in Hassan, while his wife is from Mysuru. Chetan had called his brother (Bharath) in the US, who in turn called Rupali's parents to check on them and when they visited the apartment, the incident came to light. Police visited the spot to receive information. Chetan was a mechanical engineer and he worked in Dubai before getting shifted to Mysuru in 2019. He was a labourer contractor who used to send labourers to Saudi using an online process, she said. When asked about the cause of death, she said that the Forensic Science Laboratory and scene of crime officer's (SOCO) team are ascertaining and she would be able to tell after getting their opinion. "Yesterday (Sunday) the family had gone to the temple in Gorur and had dinner at Chetan's in-laws' place at Kuvempu Nagar in Mysuru," she told PTI. "The nature of death of all the four are still under investigation," she said. On September 17, 2021, five members of a family were found dead in their palatial house, within the Byadarahalli police station limits on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The police rescued a 2.5-year-old girl, Preksha, from the house. She was found in an almost unconscious state. The deceased included Preksha’s mother, Sinchana (34), her grandmother, Bharathi (51), her mother’s sister, Sindhoorani (31), and her mother’s brother, Madhusagar (25), all of whom were found hanging from the ceiling. The body of the nine-month-old baby of Sindhoorani was also recovered from the house. Preksha was discovered in the same room where Madhusagar was hanged. The police were astonished that she had survived for five days without food or water amidst the dead bodies of her loved ones. (With inputs from PTI)
17 February,2025 12:41 PM IST | Mysuru | mid-day online correspondentA court in Goa has sentenced a 31-year-old local resident, Vikat Bhagat, to rigorous life imprisonment for the brutal rape and murder of Irish-British national Danielle McLaughlin in 2017. The sentencing was announced on Monday by District and Sessions Judge Kshama Joshi, following Bhagat's conviction last Friday. According to PTI, the victim, a 28-year-old tourist from Donegal in Northwest Ireland, was found murdered in a secluded, forested area in Canacona village, South Goa, on 14 March 2017. The Goa police had charged Bhagat with raping and killing McLaughlin after spending an evening with her. As per PTI reports, he struck her with a stone, causing fatal head injuries, and left her body lying in a pool of blood. The court imposed a fine of ₹25,000 on Bhagat for the heinous crime and an additional ₹10,000 for the destruction of evidence. Additionally, he has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for tampering with evidence. However, both sentences will run concurrently, according to PTI. Vikram Varma, the lawyer representing the victim's mother, Andrea Brannigan, confirmed the sentencing and said that it marked a crucial step towards justice for McLaughlin’s family. The victim’s family had earlier released a statement expressing their gratitude to everyone involved in the case. Their message, read out by a representative, stated: "We, as Danielle's family and friends, are so thankful to everyone involved in our fight for justice. They have treated her like their daughter and have tirelessly fought for her." According to PTI, Police Inspector Philomena Costa, who led the investigation, credited the meticulous probe for securing Bhagat’s conviction. Speaking on the verdict, Costa said he was extremely satisfied that the court had delivered justice in the case. McLaughlin had arrived in Goa in early March 2017 and was last seen in Bhagat’s company before her body was discovered the following day. The case had garnered significant international attention, with calls for swift justice from her family, friends, and supporters. With the court’s verdict now delivered, the sentencing brings a sense of closure to the victim’s loved ones, though the tragic loss of Danielle McLaughlin remains deeply felt. (With inputs from PTI)
17 February,2025 12:38 PM IST | MumbaiADVERTISEMENT