‘No problem in family; politics not discussed at home’: Sharad Pawar after nephew Ajit Pawar’s rebellion

News Network
July 3, 2023

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Mumbai, July 3: A day after his nephew Ajit Pawar led a mutiny within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and joined the Eknath Shinde-led government with eight other party leaders, NCP chief and veteran politician Sharad Pawar said "there is no problem in the family".

"There's no problem in the family. We don't discuss politics in the family. Everyone takes their own decision," he said in a television interview.

Mr Pawar left for Satara this morning, where he would visit the memorial of freedom fighter YB Chavan. "I didn't approach anybody since yesterday. I haven't contacted anybody. I am just leaving now for Satara," he said.

Jayant Patil, MLA and Maharashtra chief of NCP, had yesterday said Mr Pawar will pay his respects to the freedom fighter and start working for the future of Maharashtra.

On the legal battles facing the party in the aftermath of Ajit Pawar's rebellion, Mr Pawar said, "About legal issues, I don't know, our state president Jayant Patil is consulting. This info will be available only with him at this point of time," he said.

The rebellion within the NCP has come at a time when the veteran politician is among the heavyweight leaders working to stitch a united Opposition front to take on the BJP in the 2024 general election.

Mr Pawar indicated that the mutiny in his party will not alter the joint Opposition front plans.

"The opposition meeting will happen in Bengaluru. Yesterday, those who contacted me include (Trinamool chief) Mamata Banerjee, (Bihar Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar, (AAP leader) Arvind Kejriwal, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, (DMK president) and MK Stalin. "We have discussed that we will meet, sometime between July 16-18. The meeting will decide the future course of action," he said.

In a shocking move, Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP leaders took oath in a hurriedly arranged ceremony at Maharashtra Raj Bhavan yesterday. They were accompanied by veteran party leaders such as Chhagan Bhujbal and Praful Patel, long-time aides of Sharad Pawar.

In a letter to Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais, Ajit Pawar has claimed that over 40 NCP MLAs and six members of Legislative Council back him, news agency PTI reported quoting sources.

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News Network
November 22,2025

The Karnataka government has announced a 50% rebate on pending traffic and transport fines. The discount is available from November 21 to December 12.

The rebate applies to all traffic e-challans and violation cases booked by the RTO between 1991–92 and 2019–20. Officials clarified that the offer is not applicable to pending tax dues and is restricted only to traffic-violation fines.

Across Karnataka, more than 4 lakh RTO cases remain pending, including those involving transport vehicles. While thousands of vehicle owners have already cleared their dues, the department expects to generate substantial revenue through this limited-period rebate.

How to Pay and Avail the Discount

There are three ways to check and pay your pending fines:

1. Through Mobile Apps
Available on both Play Store and App Store:
•    Karnataka State Police (KSP) app
•    KarnatakaOne app
•    ASTraM app

Steps:
•    Enter your vehicle number in any of the above apps
•    Verify the photo/details of your vehicle
•    Pay the fine with the 50% discount applied

2. Visit a Traffic Police Station

You can pay your pending fine at any nearby traffic police station.

3. Visit the Traffic Management Centre (TMC)

•    Location: First Floor, Infantry Road, near Indian Express, Bengaluru

Transport Commissioner Yogeesh A M said, “We don't issue e-challans, so there's no online payment system.”

The department estimates ₹52 crore in pending RTO fines up to March 2020. “With the 50% rebate, we expect to collect around ₹25 crore if all dues are cleared,” he added.

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News Network
November 21,2025

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Udupi: The Malpe Police have arrested two men from Uttar Pradesh for allegedly sharing classified information related to Indian Navy vessels with individuals in Pakistan, posing a serious threat to national security.

According to a complaint filed by the CEO of Udupi Cochin Shipyard, Malpe—an institution under the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways—the prime accused, Rohit (29), was working as an insulator through subcontractor M/S Shushma Marine Pvt Ltd. He had earlier served at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi, Kerala, where naval ships are under construction.

Udupi SP Hariram Shankar said the accused had unlawfully shared, via WhatsApp, confidential identification numbers of Navy-related ships and other classified details while working in Kerala, allegedly for illegal gains.

After joining the Malpe shipyard unit, Rohit reportedly continued collecting sensitive information through a friend in Kochi and circulated it to unauthorised individuals, violating national security protocols and potentially endangering India’s sovereignty, unity, and integrity.

Based on the complaint, Malpe Police registered a case under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923.

A police team led by Karkala Subdivision Assistant Superintendent of Police Harsha Priyamvada—along with PSI Anil Kumar D, ASI Harish, and PC Ravi Jadhav—conducted the investigation and arrested the two accused, identified as Rohit (29) and Santri (37), both residents of Sultanpur district, Uttar Pradesh.

The duo was produced before the court, which remanded them in judicial custody till December 3. Further investigation is in progress.

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News Network
December 5,2025

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New Delhi, Dec 5: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology this evening after more than a thousand flights were cancelled today, making it the "most severely impacted day" in terms of cancellations. The biggest airline of the country cancelled "more than half" of its daily number of flights on Friday, said Elbers. He also said that even though the crisis will persist on Saturday, the airline anticipates fewer than 1,000 flight cancellations.

"Full normalisation is expected between December 10 and 15, though IndiGo cautions that recovery will take time due to the scale of operations," the IndiGo CEO said. 

IndiGo operates around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily.

Pieter Elbers, while apologising for the major inconvenience due to delays and cancellations, said the situation is a result of various causes.

The crisis at IndiGo stems from new regulations that boost pilots' weekly rest requirements by 12 hours to 48 and allow only two night-time landings per week, down from six. IndiGo has attributed the mass cancellations to "misjudgment and planning gaps".

Elbers also listed three lines of action that the airline will adopt to address the issue.

"Firstly, customer communication and addressing your needs, for this, messages have been sent on social media. And just now, a more detailed communication with information, refunds, cancellations and other customer support measures was sent," he said.

The airline has also stepped up its call centre capacity.

"Secondly, due to yesterday's situation, we had customers stranded mostly at the nation's largest airports. Our focus was for all of them to be able to travel today itself, which will be achieved. For this, we also ask customers whose flights are cancelled not to come to the airports as notifications are sent," the CEO said.

"Thirdly, cancellations were made for today to align our crew and planes to be where they need to start tomorrow morning afresh. Earlier measures of the last few days, regrettable, have proven not to be enough, but we have decided today to reboot all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest numbers of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting from tomorrow," he added.

As airports witnessed chaotic scenes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stepped in to grant IndiGo a temporary exemption from stricter night duty rules for pilots. It also allowed substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period. 

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said a high-level inquiry will be ordered and accountability will be fixed.

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