Mumbai: Gadchiroli’s Assistant Police Inspector Wasudeo Rajam Madavi - who has 58 encounters with 101 kills during daring anti-Maoist operations - has been awarded the First Bar to his Gallantry Medal, in the President’s Independence Day honours list this year. The 2026 I-Day honours list of 82 awardees from Maharashtra has 21 brave-hearts from Gadchiroli. This is the second coveted distinction in a single year for Madawi , months after he was decorated with the Gallantry Med

The Kumbh Mela is supposed to be a celebration of faith. But in Maharashtra, it is beginning to look rather too much like an opportunity for fraudsters. For the BJP-led Mahayuti, the alleged Kumbh Mela scam is a potentially damaging test of political credibility and an unwelcome headache for Minister Girish Mahajan. The arrest of Tanay Mahajan, described as a distant relative of the Minister, in an alleged racket involving fake Kumbh work orders has handed the Opposition an o

India’s renewable-energy story is moving beyond electricity access to protecting rural value by cutting waste and strengthening livelihoods. AI generated image For decades, the story of rural energy in India was about providing electricity to communities. But the next chapter might be something more practical: what power can really do for rural economies. In Maharashtra, solar electricity is being used to cool milk, which sounds like a simple task. Dairy collection centers in

Three aviation incidents at Baramati in seven months should be enough to make even the most complacent regulator nervous. Instead, the runway appears to have been allowed to deteriorate while promises of an upgrade gather dust. There is something profoundly disturbing about the latest aircraft incident at Baramati where the two pilots fortunately escaped unharmed. In January this year, a chartered aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others

The greatest challenge before Maharashtra’s first Deputy CM is not merely to govern, but to forge a political identity that is unmistakably her own. Politics often rewards the loudest voice. The modern political arena thrives on sharp sound bites, relentless television appearances and instant responses on social media. Yet, some leaders begin their journey not with thunder but with quiet resolve. Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar finds herself at precisely suc

The state’s warehouse boom is redefining its industrial growth while posing difficult questions about planning and sustainability. Discussions about infrastructure in Maharashtra almost invariably gravitate towards marquee projects like the Mumbai Coastal Road, the Samruddhi Mahamarg, the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link or the upcoming Vadhavan Port. They dominate headlines because they offer visible proof of progress. Yet another transformation is unfolding with far less public at

The CJP movement in Maharashtra exposes the limits of an older political communication model and signals a changing relationship between young voters and power. Every generation arrives convinced that it understands the country better than the one before it. Indian cinema has repeatedly captured this quiet conflict between inherited wisdom and youthful impatience. From Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar to 3 Idiots and Udaan, the message has remained remarkably consistent: older generati

Maharashtra sits at the heart of India’s ethanol boom, but climate change and groundwater depletion threaten the sustainability of its biofuel ambitions. Switching to E20 petrol, which is 20 percent ethanol, is one of India’s most ambitious energy reforms in recent times. The Ethanol-Blended Petrol (EBP) program has transformed the face of India’s sugar business by reducing crude oil imports and transportation emissions, increasing energy security, and raising farmer incomes.

Nihar Shembekar reimagines Marathi bhajans and Abhangas for the new generation. Born into one of Maharashtra’s most celebrated musical families, Nihar Shembekar has travelled a remarkable path—from singing as a child artiste in the Bollywood blockbuster Gadar: Ek Prem Katha to emerging as one of the most innovative voices in contemporary Marathi music. The grandson of legendary singer Jaywant Kulkarni, Shembekar has chosen not to merely inherit a legacy but to reinterpret it

A shocking incident in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has shaken not only Maharashtra but also the conscience of society. An underage student allegedly attacked his class teacher with a knife after being upset over failing the Class IX examination. Although the teacher sustained injuries, the deeper wounds were inflicted on our education system, the sacred bond between teachers and students, and the values that hold society together. This was not merely an attack on an individual-

Maharashtra’s enduring epidemic of farmer suicides is a saga of an agricultural policy that has repeatedly failed to reduce structural risk. Each election season, India’s farmers are the subject of political debate. Governments promise to write off loans, offer compensation packages, and set up new welfare programs. But as the ballots are counted, another grim statistic emerges from the villages of Maharashtra: another farmer has taken his own life. For almost three decades

The substantial showers over Maharashtra this year have predictably demonstrated that it is not the skies but the government that has failed the state. The intense downpour once again exposed the frailty of the infrastructure that the ruling establishment has been celebrating. From Mumbai’s paralysed roads to the shocking deaths in open manholes sans guardrails, to the collapse of transport links between Mumbai and Pune, the rains have held up an unforgiving mirror to officia

Maharashtra’s new policy promises to streamline its educational welfare institutions but leaves deeper structural flaws untouched. For years, Maharashtra’s alphabet soup of educational welfare institutions - SARTHI, BARTI, Mahajyoti, TRTI and AMRUT - has invited the same complaints. Students have grappled with differing eligibility rules, opaque procedures and uneven implementation. A unified policy governing these bodies, announced by the state government on July 1st, ought

As Maharashtra accelerates its industrial expansion, a debate over a PFAS-linked chemical plant in Ratnagiri compels politicians to face a difficult question: Can economic growth be achieved without compromising environmental security? Every industrial success story raises a similar question: who will pay the environmental bill of such growth? The issue has recently taken on a new urgency in Ratnagiri, with local residents and environmental groups protesting allegations tha

From Alpine resorts to India’s sacred hilltops, gravity-defying funicular railways are quietly transforming the way people climb mountains. For centuries, climbing a sacred hill has been regarded as part of the pilgrimage itself. Devotees have trudged up thousands of stone steps to temples perched on mountain tops, accepting the physical exertion as an expression of faith. But modern India is now discovering that devotion need not always be accompanied by exhaustion. Across M

Six decades after statehood, constitutional safeguards remain necessary to bridge the gap between western Maharashtra and the regions left behind. Maharashtra is often referred to as India’s economic engine. The state, which is home to Mumbai’s financial ecosystem and Pune’s industrial corridor, contributes about 14 percent to the GDP of India. There is a long-standing dispute behind this achievement that has affected state politics for decades. Is every district in Maharasht

As Maharashtra positions itself at the centre of India’s AI revolution, water security is emerging as an uncomfortable constraint. AI generated image The digital economy is often referred to as weightless. Streaming video from a smartphone. An artificial intelligence chatbot answers a question. A financial transaction takes only seconds to complete. A cloud server that contains millions of files. The average user views the internet as almost immaterial, in some virtual realm,

Mumbai: The political landscape of Maharashtra is currently witnessing a renewed surge of speculative ripples as whispers of a major leadership overhaul gain significant momentum. Prominent Shiv Sena ministers have begun to openly voice their aspirations regarding a potential restructuring at the highest echelons of the state government. At the heart of this unfolding political drama is the growing chorus demanding the elevation of the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to the

Mumbai: After a sensational debut in New Delhi, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) will launch its first protest in Maharashtra in Pune on Thursday, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over what it describes as the growing crisis in India's education system. CJP Founder-President Abhijeet Dipke announced the agitation on Monday with a terse welcoming message: “Let’s meet in Pune! Hail Maharashtra!” The peaceful protest, under the hashtag.

Unopposed victories and opposition withdrawals reveal the widening gap between Mahayuti’s organisational muscle and the MVA’s fading grassroots strength. As Maharashtra heads towards the Legislative Council elections for 17 Local Authorities Constituency seats on June 18, the political narrative appears to have been settled even before a single vote is cast. A supposedly keen contest between the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has instead