Thane: A freak fire broke out at an empty wedding venue in the early hours of Sunday in Diva, gutting the nearly 2,400 sq ft stage area. No injuries or casualties were reported. The incident was reported around 4.30 am at the lawn located in Mannat Compound on Khardi Road, hours after a function the previous evening ended and the guests left. “There was no one at the location except a few staff who spotted the blaze and alerted the fire brigade, which rushed to the spot and controlled the fire,” said Yasin Tadvi, of the regional disaster management cell.
UAE authorities arrested 25 individuals of various nationalities for spreading misleading content and glorifying military aggression online/Image: WAM
Authorities in the UAE have ordered the arrest of 25 more individuals accused of spreading misleading and fabricated content online that could harm national defence efforts and fuel public panic. Officials say the suspects, who belong to different nationalities, will face an expedited trial after investigations revealed they used digital platforms to circulate manipulated footage and narratives linked to ongoing regional tensions.UAE Attorney-General Dr Hamad Saif Al Shamsi issued the arrest order after authorities carried out extensive monitoring of online platforms to track the spread of false or manipulated content. According to officials, the monitoring effort aims to curb fabricated information and artificial media designed to incite unrest and undermine public stability.Investigations and electronic surveillance found that the defendants were organised into three groups, each involved in different types of online activity.
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The first group was accused of publishing and circulating real video clips related to current events. These clips showed the passage and interception of missile attacks in the UAE’s airspace, as well as the impact of such incidents. Members of this group also filmed gatherings of people watching these events and added commentary and sound effects that suggested active military aggression. Authorities said such content could create unnecessary public anxiety and panic. Officials also warned that sharing such footage risks exposing the country’s defensive capabilities and could allow hostile online accounts to push misleading narratives.The second group allegedly shared fabricated visual material created using artificial intelligence or reused old footage from incidents outside the UAE while falsely claiming the scenes occurred within the country. Investigators said these clips often featured digitally created scenes of explosions and missiles. In some cases, national flags and specific dates were inserted into the visuals to make the false claims appear credible and mislead viewers.The third group was accused of posting content that glorified a hostile state along with its political and military leadership. According to the authorities, the posts portrayed the country’s regional military actions as achievements. This included praising its leaders and circulating propaganda that aligns with hostile media narratives and harms the UAE’s national interests.The Public Prosecution has opened investigations into the charges and ordered the preventive detention of the suspects while inquiries continue. Officials said the accused have been referred for a fast-tracked trial due to the seriousness of the allegations.Dr Al Shamsi stressed that such actions represent a serious violation of the law. He said spreading manipulated or misleading information online can misguide public opinion and trigger social unrest, particularly during sensitive security situations.The Attorney-General also warned that using cyberspace to distribute false information or footage that threatens public security or compromises the country’s defensive capabilities is a criminal offence. He added that the matter is especially critical in light of the military aggression currently faced by the state.He concluded by stating that anyone proven to be involved in such activities will be referred to the judiciary to face the penalties prescribed by law. Authorities said the legal action serves as a necessary response to attempts to distort facts or exaggerate events without regard for the country’s security circumstances.
Team India won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, after beating New Zealand by 96 runs in the final, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. The Men in Blue became the first side to win the competition in two back-to-back editions. They also became the first nation to win the tournament at home and won the title three times.
The celebrations have not been stopped as the cricketers are getting a grand welcome as they return to their homes. Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav were spotted visiting a mandir in Mumbai after the T20 World Cup win. There was a victory parade organised as well in Mumbai. Gambhir’s record of not losing an ICC knockout game remained perfect.
India’s unique World Cup connection
However, there has been an interesting thing connected to India’s success in winning the ICC World Cup trophy over the years. Since 1983 India’s first World Cup win, till the 2026 T20 World Cup, one Punjab-born cricketer and another Kerala-born cricketer have been in the squad every time the Men in Blue won the World Cups.
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In 1983, Sunil Valson and Balwinder Singh Sandu were present on the side; in 2011, it was Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth who were present. In the 2024 edition, Sanju Samson and Arshdeep Singh were present in the squad, and in this edition, Samson and Arshdeep were also present in the squad.
If there is Mallu in the Indian team, we will win the ICC Trophy- Varun Chakravarthy
During the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Naman Awards, Varun Chakravarthy took a funny dig at this unique connection. He said, “There was a meme going on, if there is Mallu in the Indian team, we will win the ICC Trophy so it was a master stroke to bring Sanju in the 11”.
Varun Chakravarthy said “There was a meme going on, if there is Mallu in the Indian team, we will win the ICC Trophy so it was a master stroke to bring Sanju in the 11”. pic.twitter.com/lVFNM3P821
Sanju Samson was excellent throughout the tournament. The wicket-keeper batter was the Player of the Tournament for his phenomenal run in the tournament. He was not part of the playing XI during the initial match; he was in and out due to Abhishek Sharma’s stomach bug. After India’s loss to South Africa, Samson was brought back into the side.
Sanju Samson is the hero for India’s success
After that, Sanju Samson never turned back, scoring three back-to-back fifties in India’s most crucial games, scoring 97* against the West Indies in a must win SUper 8 game, 89 in the semi-final against England, and 89 in the final against New Zealand. Sanju finished off the campaign as the leading run getter for India with 321 runs, with an average of 80.25.
Image Credits: Twitter/X
After scoring 321 runs, he also became the first batter to go past Virat Kohli’s most runs (314) in a T20 World Cup edition. Sanju will next be seen during the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) for Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Varun Chakravarthy also had a brilliant T20 World Cup, picking up 14 wickets and was the joint-highest wicket-taker in the tournament alongside Jasprit Bumrah. Chakravarthy and Bumrah will now be seen playing against each other for the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians.
Thiruvananthapuram: Jewellery worth over Rs 2 crore has allegedly been stolen from Kowdiar Palace, the official residence of the Travancore royal family. Based on a complaint filed by senior family member Asw-athi Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bai, Peroorkada police registered a case of theft. The ornaments, reportedly kept in an iron cupboard in the complainant’s bedroom, are suspected to have been stolen between Oct and Nov 2025. The family initially believed the jewellery had been misplaced. Among them were gold chains embedded with orange coral beads and gold pearls, anklets featuring the ‘pichipoo mottu’ design, and those studded with black and gold beads. Police suspect the theft has been carried out by persons familiar with the palace. They said videos of the interiors surfaced on social media, suggesting outsiders may ha-ve entered the premises.
Thane: A Lok Adalat in Thane on Saturday settled a motor accident claim, awarding compensation of Rs 2.1 crore to the family of a software engineer who died in a road accident on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway. The Lok Adalat also settled another accident claim, and awarded a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the family of an assistant security manager who was killed in a road accident in 2024, a court official said on Sunday. These were among the 83,424 cases settled, wherein settlements collectively worth Rs 187 crore were facilitated on Saturday. Omkar Joshi, a software engineer employed with a private automation company, was travelling with his colleague, when a speeding car rammed into their vehicle, leading to his death. The matter was settled through mediation, with the insurance company agreeing to pay the compensation to the victim’s legal heirs. In the second case, assistant security manager Anand Rajan Nadar was going on a motorcycle from his residence in Thane city to his workplace at Padgha in the Bhiwandi area. A speeding tempo coming out of a petrol pump crashed into his motorcycle. Nadar was rushed to a hospital in Bhiwandi where he was declared dead.Around 101 benches were constituted across the district, which took up over 5 lakh matters. Of these, 54,591 pre-litigation matters and 28,833 pending cases were disposed of. “Among the disputes resolved, electricity bill disputes accounted for the highest at over 2.6 lakh cases, while 3,966 bank recovery matters saw collective settlements worth more than Rs 62 crore. The MACT alone accounted for over Rs 35 crore in settlements,” said a statement issued by the TDLSA. (With inputs from PTI)
NEW DELHI: India today is in a far stronger position to handle disruptions in global energy markets than it was a decade ago, officials said on Sunday. While Strait of Hormuz remains an important chokepoint, India can reroute vess-els and shift strategy to other energy-exporting countries. In a world of increasingly uncertain supply chains, a wider and more diverse base of energy sources and partnerships has become an important safeguard for the country’s energy security. India used to import 55% of its crude from non-Hormuz routes before the military conflict began in West Asia a fortnight ago. Officials said the share has increased to 70%. India has also tapped additional countries to source natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, and cargoes through non-Hormuz routes have also started arriving. India imports nearly half of its natural gas requirement and about 60% of LPG. “By expanding domestic production, managing the tr-ansition to new energy sources and diversifying supply sources, Modi govt has redu-ced the country’s vulnerability to external shocks to its energy needs,” said an official. Officials said govt pursued a policy of multi-alignment, enabling India to cultivate deeper relationships with multiple states to advance its interests. This diplomatic outreach has expanded India’s crude sourcing base from 27 countries a decade ago to more than 40 today. Another major factor reducing vulnerability to energy imports is the 20% ethanol blending programme, which displaces 44 million barrels of crude oil annually. Govt also backed the development of the electric vehicle industry. EV registrations in 2023-24 increased nearly tenfold compared with 2019-20. In 2025-26, EV sales reached 2.3 million units, accounting for about 8% of total vehicle registrations.
Thane: Actor Vishakha Subhedar and her son Abhinay, met Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at his residence, on Sunday, and expressed their gratitude for facilitating Abhinay’s safe return from Kuwait. “The assistance extended to stranded residents was part of my responsibility to support citizens from Maharashtra who were in distress, whether in India or overseas,” Shinde said. Shinde and Shiv Sena functionaries took initiatives to assist 164 Indians stranded in Dubai to return safely amid tensions in the Gulf. Shinde also intervened to assist citizens from Maharashtra stranded in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir following a terror attack there last year.
Mumbai: A mangrove and coastline clean-up drive at Carter Road on Saturday saw volunteers remove nearly 250 kg of marine litter, including plastic debris, bottles and discarded bean bags, from the shoreline.The drive, held on March 14, was organised by Environment Life Foundation with support from Jotun India Pvt Ltd and the Mangrove Foundation.More than 35 volunteers participated in the initiative. Among the waste collected were large quantities of thermocol balls scattered across the shore, which volunteers said took considerable time to gather due to their small size and wide spread.Representatives of the Mangrove Foundation appreciated the effort and reiterated their support for initiatives aimed at protecting mangroves and coastal ecosystems.Dharmesh Barai, founder of Environment Life Foundation, said that the ecological importance of mangroves is not fully realised even to this day. “Rapid development is taking place, but mangroves are often cut without understanding their ecological value. These silent soldiers protect our coastlines and biodiversity. While planting mangroves is important, the least we can do is avoid polluting our surroundings,” he said. Barai added that a large portion of waste reaching the sea travels through drains, rivers and creeks, urging authorities to act. “We request the newly elected Mayor to take bold steps to stop waste before it reaches creeks and eventually the ocean,” he said.Madhvi Marathe, marketing head at Jotun India Pvt Ltd, said the drive helped participants better understand the role of mangroves. “After learning about the importance of mangroves through this drive, we feel motivated to contribute towards protecting this precious ecosystem,” she said.
NEW DELHI: Skyrocketing international airfares may lead govt to review its unstated policy of not enhancing flying rights of foreign airlines, in a bid to come to the rescue of the public. Indian carriers’ operating costs are going through the roof due to the sharp spike in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices, and the rupee crashing to new lows on a daily basis – along with a drop in the supply of seats offered by Gulf carriers – means international airfares are likely to remain high in the foreseeable future. Against this backdrop, industry sources say there may be a revision in bilaterals of some countries that have remained largely frozen for nearly a decade to increase supply to and from India and help douse the fares on fire. Places that have been seeking an upward revision include Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Since 2014, the Narendra Modi govt has focused on strengthening Indian carriers through a virtual freeze on bilaterals. That has borne fruit in terms of IndiGo becoming a giant; Air India group’s ghar wapsi to founder Tata Sons and now being flush with funds and fleet orders; and new carriers like Akasa, Star Air and Fly91 taking to the skies. Last year, Indian carriers added 80 additional aircraft to their fleet. “While we continue to bat for rationalising both the base pricing of ATF and the state (VAT) and central (excise) levies on it, there is a thinking now to consider reviewing bilaterals that haven’t been revised for a long time despite the increase in demand. (Except on ATF pricing) Indian carriers have got support in the last one decade. Now the time may have come to help lower fares by considering enhancement of foreign airlines’ capacity and increasing supply,” said an industry executive. With India getting a new airport in Navi Mumbai and the hugely delayed one in Noida likely to open this summer, some airport operators, including Adani Group, have been seeking a revision in bilaterals. The freeze in bilaterals means that new capacity can’t be added to places like Dubai, which was the biggest international destination for Indian globetrotters before the Israel-Iran war. Akasa, for instance, hasn’t been able to fly there as the bilaterals have been fully utilised by airlines of both sides. Indian airlines get cheaper ATF and higher yields for international flights. “Domestic airfares have been capped since the IndiGo crisis last Dec. But our operating cost has skyrocketed. To cap fares, cap costs too. This is what we have told govt,” said an official. On its part, the aviation ministry is trying to reason with the oil ministry to ensure rational ATF pricing as part of the crack spread – the difference between a barrel of crude oil and refined products like petrol, diesel and ATF produced from the same. Globally, ATF accounts for 20%-25% of airlines’ operating cost. In India, that percentage is in the range of 40%-45%. The ministry has asked states like Delhi and Maharashtra to lower VAT for close to two decades now. A revision at 11% excise has been requested too.
Mumbai: After 4 days of heatwave conditions in the first half of March 2026, ie on March 5, 9, 10 and 13, the city is likely to see near-normal temperatures in the coming week. The weather forecast issued for the next 5 days on Sunday also stated that dry weather conditions would persist.Daytime maximum temperatures recorded by the IMD Colaba and Santacruz observatories were 33.2 deg C and 31.9 deg C, which were 0.5 deg C and 1.3 deg C below normal.Night-time temperatures, meanwhile, remained on the higher side, with the IMD Colaba and Santacruz observatories recording maximum temperatures of 24 deg C and 23.5 deg C, which were 1.3 deg C and 2.6 deg C above normal. Relative humidity also remained on the higher side, with the IMD Colaba and Santacruz observatories recording 86% and 84%, respectively.The Air Quality Index (AQI) on Sunday was 92, which falls in the satisfactory range. An AQI reading between 0 and 50 is regarded as “good”, 51-100 is “satisfactory” (green), 101-200 is “moderate” (yellow), 201-300 is considered “poor” (orange), 301-400 is “very poor” (red), and above 400 the AQI is “severe” (red).Locations which recorded an AQI below 100 included Kurla (94), Powai (43), Vile Parle (50), Borivali (East) (100), Worli (95), Sion (117) and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) (96).
