Mumbai : Sparking intense debate and deep unease among Muslims, the Maharashtra government has appointed a non-Muslim IAS officer as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the State Haj Committee (SHC), just as preparations for the annual Haj pilgrimage get underway.   According to official sources, Manoj Jadhav, a high-ranking IAS officer, is named the new SHC CEO, replacing Shaikh Ibrahim S. Aslam, who demitted office recently.   The appointment is being described by critics

Even as the digital age diminishes penmanship, handwriting remains a symphony of manual dexterity, emotional depth, and cognitive harmony, where the hand, the heart, and the mind create together. In an era defined by the rapid-fire cadence of keyboards and the constant glow of digital screens, the intimate habit of writing by hand is quietly receding into the shadows of daily life. Yet, handwriting is far more than a mere record of words; it is a profound, creative, psycholog

Wadale Lake clean-up rekindles debate on accountability and the timing of civic elections Panvel: The long-overdue cleaning of Wadale Lake, one of the oldest in Panvel, initiated after sustained persuasion by local citizens and environmental groups, has once again brought into focus an uncomfortable question: do civic bodies act decisively only when elections are around the corner? With municipal elections slated for January 15, the sudden urgency shown by the administration

Nearly 80 lakh passengers travel every day, often shoulder to shoulder, quietly relying on one another in moments that rarely get noticed. I’ve seen commuters lean forward to spot an approaching train, hesitate for a second, and then turn to a stranger for clarity. These small, instinctive interactions guide the city in real time. Long before apps existed, this was how information moved through shared awareness andhuman judgment. There’s a quiet resilience in how strangers st

Exam results do not measure a child’s worth. Character, skills, discipline, adaptability, and emotional strength decide how far they go. It is that time of the year again. For some children, it is board examinations. For others, it is annual exams, unit tests, assessments, revisions, and constant evaluations. But beyond the question papers, beyond the timetables and syllabi, something much deeper is unfolding quietly in our homes and classrooms. I am seeing children—very youn

In a world searching for meaning amid uncertainty, Vedanta reminds us that death is not an end, but a transition. In Indian philosophy, life and death are not seen as absolute opposites locked in endless conflict. Vedantic thought understands them instead as rhythmic movements within a larger, balanced cosmic order, where creation and dissolution exist in harmony. Rooted in the Upanishads, elaborated in the  Bhagavad Gita , and refined by generations of thinkers, Vedanta enco

The Indore water tragedy exposes a chronic failure of urban governance that sits uneasily with India’s 2047 development ambitions. The recent deaths in Indore following the consumption of contaminated drinking water shocked the country not merely because lives were lost, but because they were lost in a city celebrated for cleanliness and civic management. The incident led to hundreds of hospitalisations and multiple fatalities, with official and unofficial counts differing. T

Society thrives when individuals are not only intelligent and ambitious but also grounded, compassionate, and culturally rooted. In today’s fast-paced world, the younger generation stands out for its intelligence, efficiency, and adaptability. With instant access to information and a global outlook, they navigate challenges unimaginable to earlier generations. Yet, alongside these remarkable qualities, there exists a subtle but critical imbalance—a drift away from discipline,

Food Security with Nuclear and the Unreasoned Fear of Irradiated Food is an exceptionally well-crafted and timely contribution to contemporary discourse on food safety, public health, and the role of nuclear science in strengthening global food systems. The authors—bring together scientific clarity, historical depth, and policy insight to a subject long clouded by misconception and public apprehension. One of the book’s most significant achievements is its ability to demystif

In Vedic science, auspicious and inauspicious have little to do with divine approval and everything to do with energy cycles shaped by planetary movement. In my previous article, I discussed Hora and the movement of planets as understood through the concept of Varas. Building on that foundation, I had indicated that I would next turn to Muhurata and Choghadiya, two time-selection concepts that play an equally important role in traditional astrological practice. Since time imm

Mumbai:  Acclaimed IPS officer Sadanand V. Date, decorated with the President’s Medals and one of the heroes of the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes (2008), will take over as Maharashtra’s new Director General of Police on Saturday for a period of two years. Presently, Date is the Director-General, National Investigation Agency (NIA) and earlier he headed the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), besides serving as DIG, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and other crit

As we gear up to ritualistically welcome another New Year (2026) by instinctively flipping old calendars — virtual or printed paper — to the new year, exchanging greetings and making resolutions and plans for the year ahead, let us pause to think about what calendars truly mean and how profoundly they impact and shape our lives. Just as every citizen in a democracy has the right to vote, every person — whether lettered, illiterate, intellectual, or novice — uses calendar and

AI generated image Mumbai: Samskrit Bharati, an organisation affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has planned to develop the country’s third Sanskit Village in Muslim dominated Karimganj district of Assam. The organisation has already developed two Sanskit Villages in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. “Samskrit Village is a place where every villager irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, social and financial status or educational background converses in

The recent debate around the Aravalli Hills, India’s oldest mountain range, shows why development without ecological discipline is not progress at all. Let us be realistic at the outset by acknowledging that opposing mining outright is just a posture as fashionable as it is futile. Modern economies are built, quite literally, on what lies beneath the ground. Copper wires power homes, iron feeds steel mills, and silver hums quietly through electronics. To pretend that a fast-g

The end of one calendar year and the beginning of another invite us to reflect on the journey behind us and welcome the New Year with gratitude and inner peace. As the calendar quietly turns its final pages, we arrive at that tender, reflective space between what has been and what is yet to come. The year is drawing to a close, not with noise alone, but with meaning and quiet introspection. It is a moment that invites us to pause, to breathe deeply, and to acknowledge the jou

Pratibha Ray restores Draupadi’s voice, placing her inner life at the centre of the epic. Yajnaseni: The Story of Draupadi  by Pratibha Ray is a striking work of literary reimagining. First published in Odia in 1984 and later translated into English, the novel revisits one of India’s most complex figures in mythology through a deeply personal lens. A recipient of major honours such as the Moortidevi and Sarala Awards, Ray retells the  Mahabharata  not as a grand epic of heroi

Dr. Jayshree Pagare Dr. Vishal Kewari Neral (Raigad): The death of two-and-a-half-year-old Jaydeep Wagh from Kurkulwadi village in Karjat taluka has taken a troubling turn, with local citizens alleging grave medical negligence and deliberate suppression of evidence by health officials. Residents claim that official lapses at the Kalamb Primary Health Centre (PHC) not only delayed the detection of a suspected murder but also co

THE ETHANOL CONUNDRUM - Part - 3 Ethanol producers raced ahead of targets, but engine upgrades lag Kolhapur: The current crisis confronting India’s ethanol industry is increasingly being attributed to the automobile sector’s sluggish pace in upgrading vehicle engines. The Centre’s ambitious ethanol blending programme rested on two pillars — ethanol production and vehicle manufacturing. While the ethanol industry surged ahead, meeting targets well before schedule and expanding

Every Laturkar mourns the sad demise of legendary statesman Shivraj Patil Chakurkar. We express our heartfelt condolences and pray to the Almighty that 'May his soul attain Sadgati.' His long association and guidance to me and all people associated with him will always be remembered and will keep inspiring us in the service of the Nation. As we vividly walk down the memory lane we stand inspired with every gesture of respect and love Shri Patil Saheb treated us. On many Socia

The ethanol conundrum — Part 2 In just five years, grain-based ethanol availability rises to over 10.28 billion litres; policy incentives spur production, but industry walks a tightrope Kolhapur:  When the Narendra Modi-led NDA government assumed office in 2014, ethanol blending in petrol stood at a modest 1.5 per cent. By December 2025, that figure had climbed to 20 per cent — a steep rise over 11 years that has helped the country save an estimated Rs 1.4 lakh crore in forei