UP flight attendant among victims in plane crash that killed Ajit Pawar; village plunged into grief
Jaunpur (UP) (PTI): Pinki Mali, a flight attendant from Bhainsa village in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, was among those killed on Wednesday in a plane crash that also claimed the life of NCP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and three others, officials and family sources said.
Pinki had been living with her family in Mumbai and was on board the chartered aircraft that crashed, they added.
The news of her death brought deep mourning to her native village, with residents gathering to console her grieving family.
According to villagers, Pinki's father Shivkumar Mali, an NCP leader, had moved to Mumbai several years ago with his family. Pinki completed her education in Thane and was married about a year ago in Gorakhpur.
Bhainsa village head Raju Pal mentioned that Pinki maintained strong ties with Bhainsa village, visiting every year during Durga Puja. She actively participated in the festivities and helped arrange the festival pandal.
Despite the family's current residence in Mumbai, their ancestral connection to Bhainsa village remained strong, with frequent visits, as locals noted.
As news of the crash spread, a pall of gloom enveloped Bhainsa village and the surrounding area. Family members were inconsolable, while villagers remembered Pinki as a hardworking, warm, and promising young woman.
Ajit Pawar, Pinki and three others -- Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had 15,000 hours of flying experience; co-pilot Captain Shambhavi Pathak, with 1,500 hours of flying; and Personal Security Officer Vidip Jadhav -- were killed in the plane crash in Pune.
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RBI keeps policy rate unchanged amid inflationary pressure
Mumbai (PTI): The Reserve Bank on Wednesday expectedly kept interest rates unchanged amid hopes of a global recovery on the back of ceasefire in the six-week-long US/Israel-Iran conflict.
The policy decision comes as a month and a-half-long West Asia conflict has disrupted energy supplies, shot up crude oil prices and created fiscal and inflationary pressures for import-dependent nations like India.
This is the first monetary policy review after the government announced a fresh inflation target for the RBI last month. The government has asked the RBI to maintain retail inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side for another five years ending March 2031.
Announcing the first bi-monthly monetary policy for the current fiscal, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has unanimously decided to retain short-term lending rate or repo rate at 5.25 per cent with a neutral stance.
The rate cut pause comes on the back of the consumer price index (CPI) based headline retail inflation that moved closer to the RBI's medium-term target of 4 per cent at 3.21 per cent in February.
Additionally, the rupee has depreciated by over 4 per cent since the war, which has consequences for pushing up import inflation.
However, the rupee has appreciated by 50 paise to 92.56 against US dollar following announcement of the ceasefire by the US and Iran.
Based on the recommendation of the MPC, the RBI reduced the repo rate by 25 bps each in February, April, and December 2025 and 50 basis points in June amidst easing retail inflation.
India's retail inflation dropped to a historic low of 0.25 per cent in October 2025, marking the lowest level since the Consumer Price Index (CPI) series was introduced.
However, the rupee declined to historic low and crossed 95 against a dollar last month making imports costlier, raising fears of rise in inflation. Rupee touched a record low of 95.21 on March 30, 2026.
