Firemen rescue 582 stranded passengers after a Monorail rake got stuck between Bhakti Park and Mysore Colony for two hours on August 19, 2025

Mumbai: The President’s Medal for Gallantry has been announced for 13 fire officials and personnel, including the Chief Fire Officer of the Mumbai Fire Brigade, on the occasion of Independence Day for performing extraordinary duty and rescuing stranded passengers after a Monorail rake got stuck between Bhakti Park and Mysore Colony for two hours on August 19 last year.Officers and personnel of the Fire Department risked their lives to rescue as many as 582 passengers from the Monorail rake, which was at a height of 40 to 50 feet, and also ensured that there was no loss of life.Passengers were stuck and suffocating inside the Monorail rake, which was stranded due to a technical glitch that led to a power cut. While a few passengers fainted inside the rake, others were seen banging on the glass windows and pleading for help. It took about two hours to begin the rescue as the power supply had to be severed first.The fire brigade personnel who will receive the President’s Medal for Gallantry are RN Ambulgekar, AV Parab, MV Sawant, IK Kamble, YH Pawar, DA Bhosale, Rajesh Rane, Mahesh Gudulkar, Ramesh Koli, Harshal Katke, Chintamani Khandekar, Vicky Sarvade and Sudarshan Pavade.“This was the largest rescue operation in the world and it was the most difficult and complicated operation, as the Monorail rake had tilted completely and was likely to collapse. Passengers were trying to come out as they were unable to breathe and were suffocating. We first reached out to the passengers and assured them. Even installing ladders was a complicated task. We broke open the doors and first got the senior citizens, children and women passengers out, and then the young. But we got all of them out,” said Ravindra Ambulgekar, Chief Fire Officer of the Mumbai Fire Brigade.There was another incident involving a Monorail coach, which stopped abruptly between Acharya Atre and the Wadala Monorail station at 7.33pm on the same day. Passengers were stuck inside the Monorail, which was later towed to Wadala station after restoration of the electric supply. Around 200 passengers were rescued.

Mumbai: BMC on Friday launched its online single-window system for facilitating permissions to be issued to Ganeshotsav mandals and obtaining no-objection certificates (NOCs) from the local and traffic police through a computerised process. Ganeshotsav will be celebrated on Sept 14 this year.The civic system will remain operational from Aug 14 to Sept 13. Pandal permissions for Ganeshotsav will be valid till Sept 26.Mandals can apply through BMC website under the “For Citizens – Pandal (Public Ganeshotsav/Navratri Festival/Other Festivals)” facility. Applications will first be scrutinised by the concerned ward office, after which NOCs from the local police and traffic police will be obtained online.For new mandals seeking permission for the first time on public or private land, the application will subsequently be placed before the zonal deputy commissioner for approval. Once approved, the mandal will have to pay a Rs 100 fee, following which the ward office will issue the permission.The civic body has also provided an online renewal facility for mandals that already have five-year permissions. Their sites will be physically verified by the ward office to ensure that the location and area match the approved permission before police and traffic NOCs are obtained.Mandals that had obtained only a one-year permission in 2025 have been given the option of applying either for a one-year permission for 2026 or a five-year permission for 2026-30.The BMC has also made participation in a one-day training programme mandatory for two volunteers from every public Ganeshotsav mandal. The training will cover crowd management, fire safety and first aid, among other issues.Meanwhile, the civic body has reiterated that mandals must not dig holes on roads or footpaths to erect pandals. It has urged organisers to adopt techniques that allow pandals to be erected without excavation. Action will be taken against those found digging roads or footpaths for pandal construction.Mandals will also have to comply with fire-safety requirements, licensing and advertising regulations, as well as health-related directives issued by govt to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.For public Navratri celebrations, applications for pandal permissions can be submitted from Sept 10 to Oct 10, with permissions valid till Oct 21.

Mumbai: Bombay High Court on Friday granted interim protection from arrest till Aug 31 to a former student of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), who was booked for allegedly raising inflammatory slogans for the release of jailed UAPA accused Umar Khaled and Sharjeel Imam at an unauthorised campus event.Justice Prafulla Khubalkar continued interim protection granted to Kamakhya Das (24) by a sessions court and directed him to join the probe on Aug 19 and 24. He also directed him to remain present “as and when called” and disclose all information including documents.The Oct 10, 2025, event was to commemorate the first death anniversary of the late Delhi University professor G N Saibaba. The Oct 13, 2025, FIR alleged that 10-12 students assembled without permission, lighting candles, reading poems and raising inflammatory slogans. The sessions court granted bail to seven students except Das and another. Therefore, Das moved HC saying there was no evidence he raised the alleged slogans and that this case could “destroy his career.”Senior advocate Mihir Desai, for Das, argued that merely attending a commemoration or using phrases like ‘Rest in Power’ does not constitute a criminal offence. “What happens is sometimes at that age — Gen Z tend to be a little hot-headed and say things that they may or may not understand. Whether they should be jailed for that?” said Desai. He said Das has no criminal antecedents and has fully cooperated with the investigating agency. After the FIR, the sessions court had granted Das interim protection. Desai urged protection from arrest pending hearing of the petition.Public prosecutor Shishir Hiray said the investigation revealed a much deeper conspiracy involving secession of the nation. Forensic examination of electronic devices revealed deleted apps and electronic books advocating secession and the ideology of banned CPI (Maoist). He said Das’s custody was necessary; the material recovered was only a “tip of the iceberg.”Hiray said the nature of the material found instigates and aids illegal activities including division of the country. “This is the biggest sin that can be committed in this particular country. One may have a dispute about the system but that cannot mean that we can advocate the secession of the nation,” he added.Justice Khubalkar noted that since Das was on interim protection since October, HC would examine the material at a later stage. Considering the nature of the allegation and that Das’s laptop and mobile phone were seized, he directed, “At this stage, custodial interrogation need not be insisted upon.” “Hence interim protection granted by the trial court shall continue. The applicant shall not be arrested till the next date, Aug 31,” he added.

Mumbai: The state continues to be number one in industrial presence and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar should realise that 76% of companies that close down are defunct companies, said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday. He was responding to Pawar’s comment that the situation in the state was concerning as government data showed 36,211 companies had closed down here in the last five years.In a long social media post accompanied by multiple graphics, Fadnavis also explained what defunct meant: “Defunct means dysfunctional, meaning those companies that never even started!”At the same time, Fadnavis agreed that there were “some problems” in Chakan, a manufacturing hub near Pune, and said that he had directed industries minister Uday Samant to pay attention to these.The industrial data provided by the ministry of corporate affairs in Parliament that Pawar cited had also showed 20 companies were shifting out of the Chakan industrial belt due to traffic, pollution and utility deficits, affecting over 2,000 workers.The ministry had also noted a major impact on the city, Thane and Pune across manufacturing and business services.Fadnavis took to social media to put out figures countering Pawar’s claim that the situation was concerning.In his post, Fadnavis said: “In response to a question by MP Rajabhau Vaje in Parliament, some information was provided by the central govt. 36,211 companies in the state have closed, and so on… Some new leaders have conveniently interpreted this and posted on social media, and some media outlets have reported on it. But you are a sensible and senior leader who always thinks of Maharashtra’s welfare, so to ensure there’s no misunderstanding in your mind, here’s a bit of an elaborate explanation!”Fadnavis said there is a standard format for a question asked in Parliament and its answer, as also for a question asked under the Right to Information Act and its answer. He said only if the question is discussed in the house can other details be obtained. He said all information on industries is available on the ministry of corporate affairs website and even provided a link on his social media post.He said the media had created the impression that many companies have closed. “There are over 31 lakh registered companies in the country. Of these, about 21 lakh companies are currently active. In 2015-16, the number of active companies in India was 6,78,768; now it’s 21,17,747. That means in the last 10 years under Hon. Modiji’s leadership the number of active companies has more than tripled,” Fadnavis said.He said the state has the maximum number of companies (3,96,211) that are operational as of June 3, 2026. Delhi came next (2,72,342), and then Uttar Pradesh (1,85,982).Fadnavis said the state continues to be at the forefront of new companies being registered. Around a lakh new companies are registered in the country every year. Fadnavis said in 2025-26 the state witnessed 41,525 new companies being registered as against 20,272 in Delhi, 27,494 in UP, 17,857 in Karnataka, 17,024 in Tamil Nadu, 17,300 in Telangana, 14,666 in Gujarat and 10,598 in West Bengal.Excluding the period during the Covid pandemic, Fadnavis said on average 20,000-22,000 companies shut down every year, the reasons being defunct (76%), amalgamation or mergers (12%), liquidation (2%). He pointed out that in 2019-20 the ministry of corporate affairs ran a special campaign and struck off six lakh companies, adding that the number of closed companies is lower than the number of struck off companies.Referring to the Chakan industrial belt and the problems there, Fadnavis said that on the initiative of the MIDC a meeting was held on August 12 of all authorities concerned and a plan has been finalised with short- and long-term solutions to resolve these.“Our effort will be that not a single industry leaves from there. Maharashtra is industry-friendly after all. That’s why foreign investment keeps coming to the state consistently. We are consistently at number one and we will remain so,” said Fadnavis in his social media post.