Mumbai locals halted by signal fault; Karjat tree felling row; Rahul Gandhi acquitted in defamation case

Central Railway's suburban trains in Mumbai stood still for hours on Monday. A signal system fault between Mulund and Thane and between Kanjurmarg and Bhandup left trains halted in one place for several hours, and commuters had to walk. Movement on the fast line has now been restored, but the signal on the slow line is still faulty. A man died while changing platforms at Bhandup.

Aditya Thackeray was combative over the tree felling in the Karjat and Bhimashankar area. He said the forest must not be allowed to be touched, that the fight must not stop even if lives are lost. A young man entered his convoy and appealed to him to save Shivaray's Sahyadri and to save Karjat.

On the felling of trees at Sai Dongar in Karjat, actor Sayaji Shinde said that anyone who comes to cut trees should be treated as a disease more dangerous than Covid and driven away by banging plates and bowls. MNS spokesperson Sandeep Deshpande said the scene in Karjat is painful, with 150-year-old trees cut down. He asked whether the Chief Minister had become God, and how everything he says could be right.

Manoj Jarange Patil claims that the audio clip he played is genuine. According to him, a major national leader must be behind the speakers in the clip, and Fadnavis and Shinde should find out who. The alleged audio clip Jarange played at a press conference mentions Rs 500 crore. An SIT has been formed to investigate, to be headed by Police Commissioner Shailesh Balkawade.

Raj Thackeray said people cannot walk on footpaths, there are no parks or gardens, there are no good playgrounds, and yet they say the GDP has reached 7.8 per cent. He said Maharashtra is waiting for the day it hands power to him.

Satej Patil attacked the government. He said that rainfall is said to be low because of El Nino, while projects that devastate nature are being brought to Maharashtra in disregard of environmental rules. MLA Vishwajeet Kadam demanded that the state government take the drought seriously and ensure proper water supply to Palus taluka of Sangli, as well as Jat, Atpadi and Khanapur. He phoned the Chief Minister directly from the dry bed of the Krishna river.

Rahul Gandhi was acquitted in a defamation case. The case was filed over a statement made against Amit Shah. The judge told the complainant that cases should not be filed for false prestige. While Gandhi was travelling to appear in the Sultanpur court, vehicles in his convoy collided on the Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh.

The NGO Earth has demanded that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hold the winter session of the legislature in Mumbai instead of Nagpur, and that the Rs 300 crore to Rs 400 crore saved be diverted to drought victims.

In the Pradip Purnekar murder case, Ram Purnekar has presented new evidence. He also showed a video of Rajendra Shinde, husband of corporator Meenakshi Shinde, with the killers.

In cricket, Ishan Kishan has been ruled out of the third T20 as well because of injury, a worry for Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer. Kumar Kushagra is likely to get a chance.