PM announces national award in Netaji's name for disaster relief workers
New Delhi, Oct 21: A national award in the name of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose will be given every year to police personnel who do excellent work in rescue and relief operations during any kind of disaster, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Sunday.
The announcement came on the 75th anniversary of Bose's declaration of the formation of India's first independent government -- the Azad Hind Government on October 21, 1943.
"From this year onwards, we will give an award in the name of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose to police personnel who do exemplary work while rescuing and providing relief to people during the time of any disaster," the prime minister said in his address after dedicating to the nation a police memorial and museum here.
Modi said the award will be announced on January 23, Netaji's birthday.
The Prime Minister said the country cannot forget the services rendered by the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force personnel in rescue and relief works during the time of any disaster.
"These NDRF and SDRF personnel are our brave policemen. They are from police forces. The country will not forget their bravery, dedication and sacrifice. Many people even do not know who they are, when they rescue people and provide relief during the collapse of a building, when there is a fire or when there is a train accident," he said in a voice choked with emotions.
The NDRF and SDRF are constituted with personnel from the central paramilitary forces and state police organisations respectively.
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Rohit Pawar seeks probe into alleged acts of black magic near Ajit Pawar's residences
Mumbai, Mar 20 (PTI): NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar on Friday demanded a thorough probe into the incidents of black magic allegedly carried out near the residences of late Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar last year, and sought to identify the persons who commissioned these acts.
Ajit Pawar was killed in a plane crash in Baramati on January 28 along with four others.
Citing statements made by party colleague Amol Mitkari on X, Pawar said reports of alleged practices outside Ajit Pawar's residence in Sahyog Society on Bhigwan Road in Pune district and near the Devgiri bungalow in Mumbai, allegedly involving an astrologer from Nashik were "deeply disturbing".
"In a progressive state like Maharashtra, there is no place for superstition or such fraudulent practices. Yet, the information coming to light makes the matter appear extremely serious," he said.
The Karjat-Jamkhed MLA, who is the nephew of the Ajit Pawar, urged authorities to probe the sequence of events and identify those who commissioned these acts along with their political motive.
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In a post on X, MLA Mitkari earlier raised serious questions over alleged black magic rituals conducted in November 2025 in Pune district and sought a detailed probe into the matter.
He claimed that these rituals were purportedly linked to a 'Shivlika Ashram' run by self-proclaimed astrologer Ashokkumar Kharat, whom he described as a "fraudulent godman".
Kharat's VSR connection has come to light, Mitkari said, and questioned why Ajit Pawar flew in a VSR-operated plane on January 28, a day after his road travel to Pune by road on January 27 was fixed.
He asked on whose advice the plane travel made and also sought to know if any close associate of Pawar was a follower of Kharat.
Kharat, a retired Merchant Navy officer and self-proclaimed astrologer, was arrested in Nashik on Wednesday for allegedly raping a woman for over three years. He was remanded in police custody till March 24.
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