National
Jarange-Patil's fall from grace: Maha SIT to probe 7-month Maratha agitation (Lead)
Mumbai, Feb 27 (IANS) In a new twist, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday said it will set up Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the seven-month-long Maratha agitation spearheaded by Shivba Sanghatana chief Manoj Jarange-Patil, and related aspects like funding, violence, and its purported master-mind.
The matter led to turmoil in both houses of Maharashtra Legislature during the Budget Session, after which Speaker Rahul Narwekar announced a probe.
The development marks an abrupt fall from grace for Jarange-Patil – who withdrew his fourth hunger strike of 17 days on Monday – after he lorded over the state political scenario for seven months from August last year.
On his part, Jarange-Patil, from a hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, denied the allegations against him and said “the government can freely conduct any probe against me, and also against the ministers”.
Handled with kid gloves for so many months, the iron fists suddenly came out after Jarange-Patil accused Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, of the BJP, of allegedly hatching a plot to eliminate him, after which the MahaYuti government toughened its stance.
Raising the issue in the Assembly, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar slammed the provocative language used by Jarange-Patil, questioned “who are people behind him”, and termed it as a conspiracy to create disturbances in the state.
Fadnavis said: “Jarange-Patil can make any wild allegations against me, but the entire Maratha community knows how I have been working for the reservation… We shall find out who is the mastermind. Burning down MLAs’ homes is not proper and a full-fledged investigation will unravel who were the real culprits.”
In the Council, BJP’s Praving Darekar made similar demands for a probe, arrest of Jarange-Patil and others demanded a narco-test.
Shiv Sena-UBT President and former CM Uddhav Thackeray said that when Jarange-Patil launched his agitation, three was caning and tear-gas shelling by the police, when farmers were protesting they were dubbed as terrorists, now the same is being with the Marathas.
After that, many Opposition leaders went and met him and the probe can check out phone-call records, “on which the current Director-General of Police (Rashmi Shukla) is an expert”, he added.
Nationalist Congress Party-SP MLA Rohit R. Pawar commented that when the SIT probe was announced, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was not in the house.
Rushing to defend Fadnavis and the government, Shinde said that when Jarange-Patil raised the demands for Maratha quotas, he had no political background, but now he’s speaking political language.
“I discarded all protocols and visited him twice (to break his hunger fasts)… Now, he is attacking the Deputy CM and other ministers. The language that he is uttering is not that of a (Maratha) activist but of a politician,” said Shinde, saying the SIT should be allowed to probe all aspects.
Shinde said that the government has unanimously given 10 per cent Maratha quotas in jobs and education which will stand up in the courts and this was appreciated by Jarange-Patil.
“The Supreme Court had observed that the Marathas are not backward, but the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) has conducted a massive survey and concluded that the community is socially and educationally backward. The reservations we have given will not disturb the existing quotas of any other community,” he declared.
The CM said that the Maratha quotas issue was pending for decades and they were denied the reservation though they are a backward community and he was committed to ensure that they get the quotas.
Among other things, Jarange-Patil used foul words, alleged that Fadnavis was ‘plotting to eliminate’ him by poisoning his saline and trying to smother his voice, and also targetted several ministers of BJP and ruling Shiv Sena, and also Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Fadnavis assured that the entire conspiracy behind the Maratha agitation would be revealed in the SIT probe, including the Beed violence (October 29), the arson on legislators’ homes, torching political party offices, the war-rooms in Thane and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, etc.
Jarange-Patil seemed to have lost the support of the Opposition parties too, with Congress leaders like Nana Patole, Leader of Opposition in Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, Balasaheb Thorat and others flaying the Shivba Sanghatana chief on various counts, and demanded that all allegation need to be probed.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Police on Tuesday booked Jarange-Patil and others under various sections for the latest agitation and road blocks in different parts of the state from February 24 which had led to massive traffic snarls and inconvenienced the public, especially students going to write their HSC exams.
(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in)
–IANS
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National
Defence Ministry: Year 2025 will be year of reforms
On Wednesday, the Defence Ministry announced that 2025 will be designated as the “Year of Reforms,” with a primary focus on establishing integrated theatre commands to enhance collaboration among the three branches of the military.
These reforms are aimed at transforming the armed forces into a technologically advanced, combat-ready force capable of executing multi-domain integrated operations, the ministry stated.
The initiative will emphasize emerging domains such as cyber and space, alongside cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, hypersonics, and robotics.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described the “Year of Reforms” as a pivotal milestone in the modernization of the armed forces.
“It will set the stage for significant advancements in the nation’s defense capabilities, ensuring the security and sovereignty of India in the face of 21st-century challenges,” he said.
National
A 3.2 magnitude tremor struck Gujarat’s Kutch district on Wednesday morning
A 3.2 magnitude tremor struck Gujarat’s Kutch district on Wednesday morning, according to the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR).
The district administration reported no casualties or property damage following the quake.
The tremor occurred at 10:24 am, with its epicenter located 23 kilometers north-northeast (NNE) of Bhachau, as per the Gandhinagar-based ISR.
Last month, the region experienced four seismic events exceeding a magnitude of 3, including a 3.2 magnitude tremor just three days ago, with its epicenter also near Bhachau.
Earlier tremors in the area included a 3.7 magnitude earthquake on December 23 and a 3.2 magnitude event on December 7, according to ISR reports.
Kutch was also jolted by a 4.0 magnitude earthquake on November 18, 2024. On November 15, a 4.2 magnitude quake hit Patan in north Gujarat, based on ISR data.
Gujarat is considered a high-risk earthquake zone, having experienced nine major earthquakes over the past 200 years, according to the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA). The 2001 earthquake in Kutch, which occurred on January 26, was the third-largest and second-most destructive in India in the last two centuries, according to the GSDMA.
National
Diljit Dosanjh faces legal action over concert songs
Singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh’s much-anticipated New Year’s Eve concert in Ludhiana faced legal hurdles after a complaint was filed by Punditrao Dharenavar, an assistant professor from Chandigarh.
Following the complaint, the Deputy Director of the Women and Child Department, Government of Punjab, issued a formal notice to Ludhiana’s District Commissioner, urging them to prohibit Dosanjh from performing specific songs during his live show on December 31, 2024.
The notice specifically targets songs accused of promoting alcohol, including Patiala Peg, 5 Tara Theke, and Case (Jeeb Vicho Feem Labbiya), even if the lyrics are slightly modified. The complaint points to previous warnings issued to Dosanjh by various commissions advising against performing these controversial tracks.
Despite these warnings, the singer allegedly continues to perform the songs with minor alterations. Dharenavar raised serious concerns about the influence of such music on young audiences, especially when minors are present at live events.
Adding to the controversy, Dharenavar referenced a 2019 Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling, which directed law enforcement to ensure that songs promoting alcohol, drugs, or violence are not played at public events, including concerts. This ruling underscores the legal basis for the complaint and has further intensified the scrutiny surrounding the event.
National
UP Minister’s convoy overturns, 5 person injured
Five people sustained injuries when a vehicle in the convoy of Uttar Pradesh Minister and Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad overturned into a ditch near Januan village in the Khejuri Police Station area of Ballia district late last night.
Sanjay Nishad shared details of the incident, stating that the accident injured five party workers, including four women.
“I was traveling with the convoy to participate in the Constitutional Rights Yatra organized by the party on Tuesday night. Near Januan village in the Khejuri area, one of the vehicles following the convoy lost control while trying to avoid an animal and overturned into a ditch,” Nishad explained.
The injured individuals have been identified as Rakesh Nishad, Ramrati, Usha, Geeta, and Iravati Nishad.
Senior police and administrative officials quickly arrived at the scene following the incident to oversee the situation.
National
Suchir Balaji’s mother alleges Murder
The mother of Suchir Balaji, a 26-year-old former OpenAI researcher found dead after accusing the company of copyright violations, has alleged that her son was “murdered” and called for a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe.
Poornima Rao, Suchir’s mother, claimed her son’s death was a “cold-blooded murder” that authorities wrongly ruled as suicide. She further disclosed that a private autopsy report conflicted with the findings of the initial police investigation.
Rao alleged that her son’s apartment had been “ransacked” and cited evidence of a struggle in the bathroom, including bloodstains that suggested he had been assaulted.
“We hired a private investigator and conducted a second autopsy to uncover the truth. The private autopsy does not confirm the cause of death stated by the police. Suchir’s apartment was ransacked, there were signs of a struggle in the bathroom, and it appears he was hit based on blood spots. This is a cold-blooded murder being misclassified as a suicide. Lobbying in San Francisco won’t deter us from seeking justice. We demand an FBI investigation,” Rao wrote on X.
Elon Musk reacted to Rao’s post, commenting, “This doesn’t seem like a suicide.”
Balaji was discovered dead in his San Francisco apartment months after accusing OpenAI of violating copyright laws during the development of ChatGPT, as reported by Fox News. Despite these claims, the San Francisco Police Department found no evidence of foul play and ruled the death a suicide.
On October 24, shortly before his death, Balaji voiced doubts about the “fair use” defense in generative artificial intelligence. “I recently participated in a NYT story about fair use and generative AI, and why I’m skeptical ‘fair use’ would be a plausible defense for a lot of generative AI products,” he wrote on X.
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