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A Village Burnt Overnight: Tears, Loss and Survival in Dhamangaon Blaze

  Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...

Uproar in Council over demand of CM Shinde’s resignation


The Legislative Council witnessed uproar when opposition members pressed to speak on the issue of allotment of land by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during his tenure as Urban Development Minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. The members of treasury benches strongly opposed the demand and the house was adjourned four times.

LoP Ambadas Danve gave a notice under rule no 289 to speak on the issue. Deputy Chairperson Neelama Gorhe asked to speak after Calling Attention Motion. When Danve rose to speak on the issue, the ruling party members started shouting and interrupted his speech.

The members objected that Danve was raising the issue again when DCM Fadnavis had already given a reply on it in the Council on Tuesday.

Narendra Darade, who was presiding over the House, adjourned the proceedings for 15 minutes.  When the House resumed, Fadnavis said, “The issue is sub-judice, then why are we discussing it in the House.”

As both sides refused to back down, Gorhe adjourned for another 15 minutes. Depty Chairperson Neelam Gorhe then adjourned the house and called the opposition members for discussion in her chamber. Later, it was decided that only Anil Parab would speak on the issue.


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