PALGHAR: In a shocking act of violence, an autorickshaw driver allegedly attacked a four-year-old boy, lifting him by his legs, slamming him to the ground, and then smashing his head against an iron rod following a dispute with the child’s father in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, police said on Tuesday. The incident occurred on Monday night at a housing society in Vasai and was captured on CCTV. The accused, identified as Sandeep Pawar, has been arrested. According to police, the attack stemmed from a minor argument between Pawar and the child’s father, Atul Kondhare, which escalated dramatically.“The brutal incident took place around 8 pm on Monday. A minor argument between the accused autorickshaw driver Sandeep Pawar and the child’s father Atul Kondhare took a gruesome turn,” senior police inspector Balkrishna Ghadigaonkar told news agency PTI. The boy, identified as Vignesh, was playing inside a parked autorickshaw when Pawar approached, dragged him out by his legs, lifted him, and hurled him onto the ground. He then allegedly carried the child into the building and struck his head against an iron rod before throwing him down again.“But the brutality did not stop there. Pawar then rushed inside the building while holding the child, and smashed his head against an iron rod before throwing him to the ground again. This was done solely to avenge a fight he had earlier with the boy’s father over a minor issue,” Ghadigaonkar added.Sources have confirmed that the child’s grandmother, who tried to intervene, was also attacked. Sources also confirmed that the accused dragged him to his first-floor home.The injured boy was initially taken to nearby hospitals but was later shifted to a Mira Road hospital due to the severity of his condition, he remains admitted in the intensive care unit and is battling for life. Pawar was produced before a local court and remanded to three days of police custody. A case has been registered against him under Section 109(1) (attempt to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with relevant provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. Further investigation is underway.

MUMBAI: Ashwini Bhide, who played a key role in the construction of the underground Metro in Mumbai, was Tuesday appointed the city’s municipal commissioner, the first woman to head BMC in the history of the over-160-year-old corporation. The 1995 batch IAS officer retires in 2030, and thus could get a full three-year tenure as chief of the country’s richest civic body. Known as a task master and said to be close to CM Fadnavis, Bhide, who was an additional chief secretary in the CMO, took charge from Bhushan Gagrani Tuesday evening. She forms a triumvirate of women along with mayor Ritu Tawde and Leader of Opposition in the house Kishori Pednekar in BMC. “I thank the Maharashtra govt for entrusting me with this responsibility. I would also like to congratulate Bhushan Gagrani on his successful tenure at BMC. I joined the civil services inspired by him—he is from Kolhapur and I am from Sangli—so taking over from him is particularly meaningful for me,” said Bhide, who will continue to hold additional charge as MD of Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation.

Ashwini Bhide will be in charge of overseeing a massive budget of over Rs 80,000 crore for the city. Her primary hurdles involve time-bound execution of critical infrastructure works, premonsoon readiness, and longstanding civic issues. In the run-up to her appointment, a meeting between CM Devendra Fadnavis and deputy CM Eknath Shinde on Monday night is believed to have focused on transfers of senior IAS officers. Fadnavis is said to have backed Bhide’s candidature. Bhide is recognized for spearheading major infrastructure projects such as the underground metro. As additional municipal commissioner, she played a crucial role in implementing the Mumbai Coastal Road project as well. Speaking to the media after her appointment, Bhide addressed concerns over monsoon preparedness. She said she would soon review desilting work carried out each year before monsoons. “I will review the work and ensure it is completed at the earliest,” she said. When asked if she could assure that the city would not flood in the rains, she expressed confidence in ongoing efforts. “I’ve spent four crucial years in BMC, including during the challenging Covid period, which has been an invaluable experience…I look forward to navigating new challenges with my team and building on the work of my predecessors,” she said. With BJP now governing BMC in alliance with the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the opposition led by Shiv Sena (UBT) also represented by a significant number of corporators, Bhide will have to do a fair amount of political management through communication and outreach. She will have to tackle fiscal challenges and manage cash flows, specially since capital expenditure now accounts for around 60% of the total budget. Bhide said she is well-acquainted with the functioning of the civic body and its workforce. “I am familiar with how BMC operates and the people who drive it,” she said. On working with elected representatives, Bhide said collaboration is integral to governance. “Even in govt roles, we work closely with elected representatives. While the city has been under administrative rule for an extended period, I have prior experience working with corporators, including during the 2020-2022 Covid phase when meetings continued despite challenges,” she said. IAS officer Lokesh Chandra who was chairman and MD of MSEDCL replaces Bhide as additional chief secretary in the CMO.

DIGHA/KOLKATA: Actor Rahul Arunodoy Banerjee’s lungs were filled with seawater and sand, suggesting his death was caused by drowning and not cardiac arrest, police said on Monday, citing a preliminary post-mortem report.Officers said they are looking at a range of factors to identify what led to the death: absence of rescuers nearby possibly because a drone-shot was underway, how long the actor remained in water before being pulled out and whether the basic safety protocol was followed.Banerjee (43), a popular face in the Bengali film, OTT and TV industry, died on Sunday evening while shooting for a TV series named ‘Bhole Baba Paar Karega’ off the Talsari beach in Odisha, around 8km from Digha. Sources in the shooting crew said the camera was still rolling when Banerjee lost balance and fell in the water, while trying to save his co-actress, before being swept away. He was brought out of the water by crew members and a lifeguard and rushed to Digha State General Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.“Lots of sand and salt water entered his body, causing his lungs to swell to nearly twice the normal size. A significant amount of sand and water was also found in his food pipe. The findings indicate he remained underwater for a long time, and the death was caused by drowning, not cardiac arrest,” said a police officer of East Midnapore. Viscera samples will be sent for forensic tests to determine the cause of death.“We are probing. No complaint has been lodged,” said East Midnapore police superintendent Angshuman Saha.A police officer in Odisha’s Balasore district told ANI, “The team neither gave any intimation nor obtained any permission for the shoot. Talsari Police are coordinating with Digha Police for legal action.”The crew had been shooting at Talsari since Friday. Co-actor Bhaskar Banerjee, who had left the beach before the tragedy struck, said it was a “mystery” how a routine honeymoon sequence (featuring Banerjee and Sweta Mishra) in ankle-deep water took a fatal turn. “The scene involved the wife hiding and the husband searching for her, a routine moment in a TV serial. It remains a mystery how it escalated beyond that,” he said.Santanu Nandy, an executive producer of ‘Bhole Baba Paar Karega’, said a final drone shot was underway when both Banerjee and Mishra fell. “As they walked in ankle-deep water, the actress slipped. Rahul, too, fell while trying to save her. She was rescued quickly, but it took us some time to rescue Rahul,” Nandy said.Cops said the final moments were captured on camera. “Footage shows Banerjee and Mishra walking hand in hand into the water. Suddenly, the actress falls, followed by Banerjee. Crew members then rush into the water. A man runs in from the right, rescues Mishra and places her on a boat. Banerjee, however, cannot be located immediately,” an officer said.

Crew members said neither Banerjee nor Sweta could swim.Bhagirath Jana, a lifeguard, said: “I was on duty since noon. I warned them against going deeper. The weather was worsening, tide was rising and strong winds were blowing — so they probably couldn’t hear me. When they started drowning, I jumped in. I rescued the actress first and helped her get on a boat. Then I brought the actor out on my shoulder. He had swallowed a lot of water. We gave him CPR and tried to drain water from his body before taking him to the hospital.“Banerjee’s driver Bablu Das, who was at the spot, said the actor was alive when brought to the shore, but had stopped breathing by the time he could be taken to the hospital. “We saw him in knee-deep water, then suddenly only his head was visible. Technicians immediately jumped into the water. There was a strong current at that spot. He tried to come forward repeatedly, but the water kept pulling him back,” Das said.

Talsari resident Badal Gangei, who was also at the spot, said, “Water in those sand pockets can be 6-7 feet deep. The production team was nearly 400 m away, on the shore. It was the drone operator who first spotted them drowning and alerted everyone.” Furthermore, since the remote location at Talsari had no direct road access. Rescuers had to carry an unconscious Rahul a considerable distance on foot before reaching a vehicle. Cops said this delay proved fatal. Although he was first rushed to a local facility in Talsari, he was later shifted to the Digha State General Hospital, where doctors declared dead on arrival.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)’s new rules related to Form I-129 will kick in from April 1, 2026. Under the change, the immigration authority will stop accepting H-1B and other visa applications if it is received in the 01/20/25 edition of Form I-129. For those unaware, the Form I-129 is used by employers to file on behalf of a nonimmigrant worker coming to the United States temporarily to perform services or labor, or to receive training, as an H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, H-3, L-1, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-2S, P-3, P-3S, Q-1 or R-1 nonimmigrant worker.

What’s new in Form I-129

The latest edition of Form I-129 comes with significant changes to the H Classification Supplement for the fiscal year 2027 (FY27) H1B cap season under the new wage-weighted lottery system. The update form now asks employers to detail the minimum educational requirements for the position it is hiring for, along with other information like exact field of study, requirement of minimum experience and if the role includes supervisory responsibilities, among others. These are the same factors that the US Department of Labor uses to assign a wage level (Level I through Level IV) on the Labor Condition Application (LCA). The revised Form I-129 will now show two wage levels:

With the revised Form I-129, USCIS is now collecting this information directly o to verify that the correct wage level has been selected.

Here’s what USCIS’s alert on Form I-129 said

On Feb. 27, 2026, USCIS published a new edition of Form I-129 (edition date 02/27/26).Starting April 1, 2026, we will accept only the 02/27/26 edition. Until then, you can also use the 01/20/25 edition. The edition date is at the bottom of the page on the form and instructions. If you file Form I-129 please note that we will:

NEW DELHI: Playing alongside Sanju Samson for years, knowing him well, understanding his playing style, the areas he targets, along with his strengths and weaknesses, Riyan Parag had a clear plan in mind when he set the field against Samson, who is playing for CSK this season. Samson was traded from Rajasthan Royals to CSK last year.The moment Samson walked in to open alongside CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Riyan was quick to set the field according to the plan, and it worked perfectly in Rajasthan Royals’ favour.