Navi Mumbai: Political activity intensified across Navi Mumbai ahead of the upcoming general elections, being held after a gap of 10.5 years, with aspiring candidates demanding that the Navi Mumbai police remain especially vigilant, increase security, and maintain law and order during the election process. For the last six to seven years, many aspiring candidates remained continuously active in their respective wards, and there was talk in political circles that crores of rupees were spent to attract voters through various social, religious and public programmes, development works and relief activities. Discussions on seat sharing between Shiv Sena, BJP and other constituent parties failed on Monday, which prompted the parties to go solo. “If anyone is facing pressure or threats to withdraw their candidature, they should contact the police. The police will maintain strict security arrangements to prevent any untoward incident during the elections,” said Pankaj Dahne of DCP, Zone-1.On the other hand, since the Mahavikas Aghadi also focused mainly on giving candidature to loyal workers, there was a feeling that many active aspiring candidates were denied candidature. Due to this, discontent was openly expressed within the party, and there were even hints of rebellion in some places. Many aspiring candidates prepared to enter the election fray as independents after not getting nominations from the parties. The recent murder of Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) leader Mangesh Kalekhe in Khopoli shook the political atmosphere across the entire state. Due to this, an atmosphere of fear spread among aspiring candidates. Office-bearers of various parties became staunch opponents of each other. Political criticism and comments reached a low level, and personal accusations and counter-accusations increased. Against this backdrop, there was a strong demand from aspiring candidates and political activists that the Navi Mumbai Police should be especially vigilant.

Hobart Hurricanes player Nikhil Chaudhary was forced off the field after picking up an injury while trying to take a catch near the boundary. The incident occurred during the match between Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Renegades, which is being played at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Monday, December 29.

The Hurricanes opted to field after winning the bat flip in their match against the Renegades. All-rounder Beau Webster returned to the Hurricanes lineup after being temporarily released from Australia’s Ashes Test squad. Matthew Wade and Hugo Burdon also came into the playing XI due to injury concerns.

Watch: Nikhil Chaudhary Suffers Injury Scare During BBL Clash

Nikhil Chaudhary picked up a serious-looking injury while fielding near the boundary during the ninth over of the Melbourne Renegades innings. The incident occurred when Oliver Peake hit a big shot off Rishad Hossain toward the deep.

Your daily dose of cricket!

Chaudhary ran across from long-on and jumped near the rope in an effort to take an overhead catch. He got his hands on the ball but could only push it over the boundary for six.

Chaudhary landed awkwardly on his right shoulder and stayed on the ground holding it, making it clear that something was wrong.

The physios rushed out to check on him as he struggled to move his right arm. After several minutes of treatment on the field, Chaudhary was helped off and taken into the dressing room for further assessment. The injury appeared serious and added to the Hurricanes’ growing injury concerns.

Watch the video of the same posted by BBL on X (formerly known as Twitter) below:

Nikhil Chaudhary has left the field following an injury sustained while attempting a catch in the deep. #BBL15 pic.twitter.com/JV8qqGEAkb

— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 29, 2025

Hurricanes Sweating on Nikhil Chaudhary Injury After Strong Bowling Show

The Hobart Hurricanes are concerned about Nikhil Chaudhary’s injury, especially with Tim David already ruled out for the rest of the tournament. Chaudhary has been among the runs recently, and the team will be hoping he can still play a role later in the match.

There is some hope that Chaudhary could still bat in the second innings. If the injury is classified as external, he would be allowed to bat anywhere in the order despite the time spent off the field. Otherwise, he would be restricted to batting at No. 7 or lower.

On the field, the Hurricanes delivered a strong bowling performance. After conceding 101 runs in the first 10 overs, they tightened up well and allowed only 61 in the final 10, as the Melbourne Renegades failed to build partnerships, with several batters getting starts but none converting them into big scores.

Playing XIs: Hobart Hurricanes vs Melbourne Renegades

Hobart Hurricanes: Mitchell Owen, Tim Ward, Beau Webster, Ben McDermott, Nikhil Chaudhary, Matthew Wade (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Chris Jordan, Nathan Ellis (c), Rishad Hossain, Riley Meredith

Melbourne Renegades: Josh Brown, Tim Seifert, Muhammad Rizwan (wk), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Oliver Peake, Hassan Khan, Will Sutherland (c), Andrew Tye, Gurinder Sandhu, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff

Also read: ICC gives ‘Unsatisfactory’ rating to MCG pitch after Ashes Test ends in just two days

MUMBAI: At least 4 people were killed and 14 others injured after a BEST bus driver lost control of the vehicle while taking a tight U-turn outside Bhandup (W) railway station and rammed pedestrians on the footpath late Monday, police said. The incident comes a year after the Kurla bus crash which claimed nine lives.Monday’s accident occurred when the bus, operating on route no. 606, hit a roadside pole and then mounted the footpath, mowing down several people standing outside the station premises around 10.05pm.

The bus involved was a wet-lease electric AC vehicle attached to Vikhroli depot, and the driver was hired on a contractual basis. Bhandup police have detained Santosh Ramesh Sawant (52) and are in the process of registering an FIR against him for causing death due to negligence and rash driving.The driver has been suspended, and BEST officials have ordered an internal inquiry into the incident. The BEST has suspended Santosh Ramesh Sawant (52), the contractual driver of the wet-lease electric AC bus that rammed into pedestrians outside Bhandup West station on Monday night, killing four and injuring 14 others. “We will inquire if the bus driver had proper training,” said a BEST official. The bus conductor was identified as Bhagwan Ghare (47).Also read: CCTV captures moment when BEST bus ploughed into pedestrians in MumbaiOf the four deceased, three were women. The deceased were identified as Mansi Gurav (45), a nurse at Sion hospital; Pranita Rasam (31), a small-time actress; Varsha Sawant (25), and Prashant Shinde, who worked with the traffic department. Mansi’s husband said after getting off the train, she would take the bus home every day. Pranita’s husband Sandeep said the last he knew of her whereabouts was when she was in Dadar for a shoot. Pranita’s nine-year-old daughter, who was with her at the time of the incident, sustained injuries.Police said it is early to determine the exact cause of the crash. “…We cannot say whether it was due to human error or a technical malfunction yet. We have CCTV footage of the incident,” an officer said. – Inputs by Eshan Kalyanikar & Somit Sen

SIR hearings underway in Bengal

KOLKATA: An 82-year-old jumped on the railway tracks hours before his scheduled appearance at a hearing for the special intensive revision of electoral rolls at Para in Bengal’s Purulia Monday. A septuagenarian from Howrah and another from Kalyani died after receiving SIR hearing notices. Family members of both blamed SIR stress for the deaths.As SIR hearings entered the third day, reports poured in of anxiety gripping “unmapped” voters being asked to appear before EC officials.A 96-year-old man in Cooch Behar, a 90-year-old woman in Katwa and a pregnant homemaker from Taki were among thousands who waited in queues for hearings. EC clarified that, on request, BLOs would visit homes of voters aged 85 and above, and those with disabilities and ailments.TNNElderly deaths, distress reported amid SIR hearings across Bengal Durjan Majhi, 82, jumped onto the railway tracks and was run over by a train at 8.30am, around 5 hours before he was to appear in an SIR hearing at the Para BDO office. His only son Kanai, who works as a day labourer, said, “My father had submitted the SIR enumeration form but his name was not on the draft voters’ list. His name was on the 2002 voters’ list, though. We don’t understand why he was called to a hearing. He had been anxious since getting the hearing notice on Dec 25.“Jamat Ali, 75, passed away at his home in Howrah’s Amta Sunday night, hours after receiving a hearing notice. Howrah DM P Deepap Priya said, “He was already unwell. His kin claimed he was anxious about the hearing. An inquiry is underway.”In Kalyani, Jaharlal Mahato (72) died of cardiac arrest on Monday, 48 hours after he attended an SIR hearing. Son Tamaghlal said, “He had been distressed since the hearing. His name was on the 2002 list, yet he was called to a hearing.At the Dinhata Block 1 BDO office in Cooch Behar, 96-year-old Nikhil Chandra Sarkar had turned up with his wife and son to appear before EC officials. He could barely walk because of his age and physical ailments. “I am the only one in my family to get the SIR notice. My name was not on the 2002 list. I gave them whatever documents I had,” Sarkar said, visibly frustrated.At Katwa I BDO office, one of the people in the queue was a 90-year-old bedridden woman, Muktibala Paramanik, whose house is 4km from the hearing venue. Grandson Paritosh Paramanik said, “This is just harassment. They asked her to sign some documents and let her go.”East Burdwan DM Ayesha Rani said, “We did not get any written instruction that hearings for elderly people should be conducted at home. Even so, I instructed that elderly and infirm people should not be called.”A woman from Taki, who is eight months pregnant, fell ill while waiting in a long queue at Basirhat Block II BDO office. Supriya Mondal got a hearing notice as her name did not feature on the 2002 list. Her mother, Khukurani Das, said, “After waiting for a long time in the crowd, my daughter suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed. Making her stand for hours at such an advanced stage of pregnancy is dangerous for her health.”Scenes in Kolkata were no different. A young woman had arrived at a hearing venue in central Kolkata with her three-month-old child. “We came here around 1pm. While filling the enumeration form, my wife had mistakenly entered her father’s details as per the 2025 voter ID card instead of the 2002 SIR electoral roll. She was called to the hearing because of the mismatch,” said her husband Md Hussain.

Sunil Gavaskar (File Image)

On This Day in 1983 – December 29, batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar achieved a major milestone in his career. Against the West Indies in the sixth Test in Chennai, Gavaskar scored a career-best 236 not out — then the highest score by an Indian in Test history — a day after leapfrogging Australian legend Don Bradman as the batter with the most Test hundreds (30).Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!A day earlier, Gavaskar had achieved a monumental feat, breaking Bradman’s long-standing record of 29 Test centuries, which had remained intact for more than three decades. Bradman retired from his celebrated Test career in 1948, and it took Gavaskar’s effort in 1983 to finally surpass the mark.

And on this day that year, Gavaskar’s highest individual score of 236 not out was five runs more than the previous Indian record of 231 by Vinoo Mankad against New Zealand in Chennai, set way back in January 1956. It remained India’s highest Test score for almost two decades before VVS Laxman’s epic 281 against Australia at Eden Gardens in 2001.Gavaskar went on to set the record for the most Test hundreds, retiring with 34 centuries in his 125-match Test career. He later became the first batter to score 10,000 Test runs in 1987, finishing his decorated career with 10,122 runs at an average of 51.12, including 34 hundreds and 45 fifties in 214 innings.Here’s how the India–West Indies match panned out, in which Gavaskar surpassed Bradman and registered the highest score by an Indian in Chennai:India entered the sixth and final Test of the series in Chennai trailing 0–3, after the visitors won the matches in Kanpur, Ahmedabad and Kolkata, while the Tests in Delhi and Mumbai ended in draws.The pressure was firmly on the hosts. West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd won the toss and elected to bat first on December 24, 1983. However, no play was possible on the opening day due to rain in Chennai, followed by a rest day on Christmas.

As a result, the match effectively began on Boxing Day, officially the second day of the contest.India managed to take five West Indies wickets that day while keeping the visitors quiet. The West Indies went into stumps on 207/5, with Jeff Dujon batting on 48 and Winston Davis on 4.Dujon went on to score a half-century the next day — the only batter to cross fifty for the Windies. With as many as nine batters reaching double figures, the visitors were eventually bowled out for 313 on December 27.For India, captain and pace spearhead Kapil Dev returned figures of 4 for 44, while spinner Maninder Singh picked up 3 for 41. Roger Binny also chipped in with 2 for 48, while Ravi Shastri (1/72) and Shivlal Yadav (1/96) were also among the wickets.India suffered a disastrous start to their innings, losing opener Anshuman Gaekwad and No.3 Dilip Vengsarkar for ducks to Malcolm Marshall, slumping to 0/2. Gavaskar steadied the innings alongside Navjot Sidhu (20), with the pair adding 54 runs for the third wicket.Andy Roberts broke the stand, and India lost another wicket in Ashok Malhotra (9) to Roger Harper before stumps on December 27, returning to the pavilion at 69/4.On December 28, India lost Shivlal Yadav (3) early in the morning session. From there on, however, it was hard toil for the famed West Indies bowlers. Gavaskar found an able partner in Ravi Shastri, and the duo frustrated the visitors with resolute batting.Gavaskar, who had already equalled Bradman’s tally of 29 hundreds, went past the legend with a superb century — his 30th in Test cricket. He also put on a massive 170-run partnership with Shastri, who scored 72 batting at No.7.The stand gave India a huge boost as they ended December 28 on 262/6, with Gavaskar unbeaten on 149.On the final day of the contest, Gavaskar completed his double hundred and added two crucial partnerships with Kapil Dev and Syed Kirmani. He added 39 runs for the eighth wicket and an unbeaten 143-run stand for the ninth wicket with Kirmani before India declared at 451/8.Kirmani contributed 63 not out, while Gavaskar remained unbeaten on his career-best 236, sealing the highest individual score by an Indian in Test history.The record stood for 18 years before Laxman’s iconic 281 against Australia at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2001.Today, Gavaskar’s famous knock ranks 15th on the list of highest Test scores by an Indian, topped by Virender Sehwag’s 319, followed by his 309. The third triple century belongs to Karun Nair, who scored an unbeaten 303 against England.Incidentally, both Sehwag’s 319 against South Africa and Nair’s 303 not out came in Chennai as well — a venue that has proven to be a happy hunting ground for Indian batters since that fateful day on December 29, 1983.

NEW DELHI: From French and Israeli-origin missiles to ‘Make in India’ kamikaze drones and counter-drone systems as well as range extension of existing missiles and artillery rockets, the defence ministry on Monday gave the preliminary nod to a slew of military modernisation projects worth Rs 79,000 crore. The biggest project to get acceptance of necessity, first step in long-winded procurement process, from the Rajnath Singh-led defence acquisitions council was Rs 30,000 crore purchase of a large number of missiles for Barak-8 medium range surface-to-air missile system, jointly developed with Israel, for IAF and Navy, sources told TOI.These missiles, with an interception range of over 70km, were used as part of the multi-layered air defence network that thwarted the multiple waves of Turkish drones and Chinese missiles fired by Pakistan during the cross-border hostilities in May. The DAC also approved the Rs 1,600-crore lease of two more MQ-9B ‘Predator’ high-altitude long endurance drones, which will add to the existing two being operated by the Navy for long-range surveillance missions, for three years. They will fill the gap till India gets the 31 armed MQ-9B remotely-piloted aircraft systems in 2029-30 under the $3.8 billion deal with the US in Oct last year. Another major project to get the nod was the long-pending over Rs 9,000-crore acquisition of six mid-air refuelling aircraft for IAF to extend operational reach of its fighter jets. “Under it, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will modify six second-hand Boeing 767 commercial planes into tankers. A fresh approval was required because the competition resulted in a single vendor situation,” a source said.Two crucial home-grown design and development projects to get the AoN were for range extensions of the Astra Mark-2 air-to-air missiles and Pinaka guided rocket ammunition. The Pinaka multiple launch artillery systems currently fire multi-calibre rockets with a variety of warheads up to ranges of 75 km. “Pinaka’s deep strike lethal capability is now being increased to 120 km. It was tested successfully on Sunday. In the future, it will be extended to 300 km,” a source said.DRDO is already working on enhancing the range of Astra missiles from the existing 100-km to 200-km. “IAF will initially order 600-700 Astra-2 missiles. There will also be a 350-km Astra-3 in the future. Indigenous long range air-to-air missiles are crucial,” another source said. “DAC also approved some additional French Meteor air-to-air missiles (120 to 150-km range) for Rafale fighters as well as Israeli guidance kits for Spice-1000 precision-guided bombs (125-km),” he added.AoN was also accorded for 850 kamikaze drones or loitering munitions for precision strikes for the Army’s new ‘Shaktibaan’ and ‘Divyastra’ artillery batteries for around Rs 2,000 crore. “They will be made in India either by domestic companies or with foreign collaboration,” the source said. The indigenous integrated drone detection & interdiction system Mark-2 (IDD&IS) systems, with 30-kilowatt lasers to disable, degrade or destroy small remotely-piloted aircraft and swarm drones at ranges up to 3.5-km, also got the green light.The overhauls of Mi-17 helicopters in Russia and T-90S main-battle tanks in India were also approved. So was the acquisition of low-level light weight radars, bollard-pull naval tugs, full mission simulators for Tejas jets, automatic take-off landing recording systems for IAF, and high-frequency software defined radios for long-range secure communications.