Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has carried out its work not with an eye on elections or politics but for all round betterment of society, RSS general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi said.

Joshi, while addressing RSS workers on the occasion of Dussehra, said the administration cannot achieve various goals in diverse fields such as education, social, cultural and health on its own and what was needed was participation of all members of the society.

“In the last 90 years a lot has been done towards the society by the Sangh and a lot remains to be done in the coming years. We should work to ensure that the country becomes ‘Mahasatta’ (global power) in the world,” Joshi said.

“Political selfishness should not encroach upon the thoughts of nation’s interest and bright future,” he added.

“Social fabric, scientific basis, sanskar, education cannot be achieved only through law and from the administrative system. The preaching by social organisations has an immense importance in this process,” he said.

“The RSS believes that the entire society shall become adaptable, culturally strong. The RSS should believe that the society should be adaptable for the change and should come out of the dogmas which have divided the society and it has been working relentlessly for the last 90 years in that direction with a view to create strong Bharat(India),” he said.

“However, we know that though we have become successful in crossing all the barriers still there is lot to be achieved and there is a long way ahead,” Joshi added.

The General Secretary further said that the comparison of caste into high and low was a shame to the society and while removing this disparity politics should not come in the way.

“The division of society based on the caste is a stigma to the society, which is a big challenge and we sincerely believe that such issues should not be politicised. The national interest and betterment of future should be paramount aim of all of us and we should not allow politics to enter into this area,” he said.

“If we desire to have a politics of principles then the society should take lead and ensure that,” he added.

He also commented on the many castes trying to compete with each other for proving their backwardness and said we should not allow anybody to harbour such intentions.

A teenaged girl allegedly committed suicide due to constant harassment by her boyfriend after which he was arrested under abetment of suicide charge, police said on Thursday.

Kaushal DK was nabbed from Mira Road here last night by the district rural police on alleged charges of abetment of suicide of the girl, Mira Road police station sub-inspector S S Kadam said.

The minor girl allegedly committed suicide on Tuesday by jumping off the terrace of her residential building, he said, adding that the boy lived in the same locality.

The officer said the accused used to allegedly harass the victim through online chats and over mobile phone and she was deeply distressed by it.

On October 20, she left the house in the evening informing her uncle that she is going for tuition, but went to the terrace instead and plunged to death, Kadam said.

Based on the complaint lodged by family of the girl, Kaushal was arrested under IPC section 306 (abetment of suicide), he said.

Pulses worth around Rs. 125 crore, which were hoarded in various godowns, have been seized by the Thane Police and Supplies department.

In a joint raid conducted at five godowns in Sri-Raigad locality yesterday, huge stocks of pulses including tur, white vatana, urad, and masoor were seized and as per preliminary investigation, the stocks are worth nearly Rs. 125 crore, Thane Commissionerate PRO Gajanan Kabdule said.

He said the process of sealing the godowns and arrest of the owners was in progress.

The exact quantity of the seized stock is still being ascertained, he added.

Giving details, Kabdule said the teams seized goods worth Rs. 7.75 crore from Chamunda Warehouse, Rs. 45.20 crore from Laxmi Warehouse and stocks worth Rs. 40.94 crore from Trimurti Godown.
Goods worth Rs 25.04 crore were confiscated from RP Warehouse and of Rs. 3.55 crore from SD Warehouse.
Offences under relevant sections of Essential Commodities Act have been registered against the godown owners, he said.

Prices have shot up due to fall in output by two million tonnes in 2014-15 on deficient and untimely rain.

Pritam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Salim Merchant, Benny Dayal and others from the Bollywood music fraternity have expressed grief over the untimely demise of Punjabi singer Labh Janjua, who was known for his hit songs “London Thumakda” and “Jee Karda”.

Janjua was found dead at his home here today, according to police.

The singer died at his residence in suburban Goregaon, Additional Commissioner of Police (north region) Fatehsingh Patil said.

Pritam, who collaborated with Janjua on songs from films like “Singh Is Kinng”, “Pyaar Ke Side Effects” and “Haal-e-Dil”, tweeted, “RIP Labh Janjua. Can’t believe I have to write this. Can’t process the news. Rest in peace my friend. My Prayers are with his loved ones.”

“I am extremely devastated to know this. He was such a great musician,” Benny said.

Ashvini Yardi, the producer of Akshay Kumar-starrer “Singh Is Bliing”, for which Janjua record a song, “Dil Kare Chu Che”, tweeted, “Just got the shocking news that our ‘dil kare chu che’ singer is no more… RIP Labh Janjua.”

“Shockingly sudden death of Labh Janjua.. Really sad,” tweeted Sunidhi, who sang with Janjua the famous track “Dance Pe Chance” from “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi”.

She posted, “Punjabi singer #LabhJanjua no more!! Really shocking news! Life can be so unpredictable.

Music composer Armaan Malik wrote, “I’m devastated at this! Paaji Labh Janjua no more with us…”

Ehsaan Noorani, of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, tweeted, “RIP Labh Janjua loved your singing.”

Screenwriter-lyricist Mayur Puri, who worked with Janjua on “Pyar Ke Side Effects”, wrote, “Heartbreaking! The singer of ‘Tauba main Pyar karke Pachhtaya’ & #JeeKarda – #LabhJanjua is no more! RIP… I remember dubbing with him for #PKSE. He was the star of ‘Mundeya ton Bach Ke’ but he treated me like a star. Such a lovely person.”

Mumbai has been ranked 11th among the best value destinations in the world for an overnight stay at a four-star hotel that includes breakfast, according to a report.

As per TripIndex Breakfast 2015, a TripAdvisor cost comparison study, Mumbai ranks 11th among the best value destinations for an overnight stay with breakfast costing Rs. 9,343.92.

Accommodation without breakfast will cost Rs. 8,932.44 in the city, the report added.

The TripIndex Breakfast 2015 destination list comprises of 37 key cities within the top 37 most searched countries by global TripAdvisor users over the past 12 months.

The report has compared the cost of an overnight stay with breakfast versus an overnight stay with breakfast eaten outside the hotel at a local restaurant.

Research was conducted by Ipsos and prices were collected through telephone and online web search. Prices in each market were taken in local currencies between September 7, 2015 and October 1, 2015 and currency conversion rates were taken from xe.Com on October 1, 2015.

Buenos Aires (Argentina) is the best value destination in the world for Indians for an overnight stay at a four-star hotel including breakfast at Rs. 4,612.63, followed by Moscow (Russia) at Rs. 5,671.35, it said.

New York City (US) emerged as the most expensive hotel destination in this study with an average of Rs. 34,102.66 with breakfast.

When it comes to the cost of a hotel breakfast versus the cost of eating breakfast in a local restaurant, the cheapest hotel breakfast can be found in Istanbul (Turkey) at an average price of Rs. 397.12 while the most expensive, at an average price of Rs. 1,918.86, is in Zurich (Switzerland).

Warsaw, the capital city of Poland, has the cheapest local restaurant breakfast, at an average of Rs. 301.44, while Hong Kong offers the most expensive local restaurant breakfast at an eye-watering average of Rs. 2,382.25, it stated.

The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs detected five cases of gold smuggling at the Chatrapati Shivaji international airport here and seized 4.78 kg of gold worth Rs. 1.19 crore.

“These five cases were detected in the intervening night of September 21 and September 22,” said AIU Additional Commissioner Milind Lanjewar.

In the first case, the Customs intercepted Bansi Kothari who arrived from Bangkok. Officials recovered 5 gold bars of 100 grams each valued at around Rs. 12.48 laks which was concealed inside her undergarments.

In another case, four persons were arrested for smuggling three kilograms of gold worth Rs. 74.89 lakhs.

The official said that they initially intercepted passenger Aminahtuz Amri who had arrived from Kulalumpur and recovered two gold bars of one kilo grams each.

“On interrogation, Amri showed the picture of a person on her mobile, who was waiting outside the arrival to receive her. Customs officials later nabbed one Rajanish Tripathi who had come to receive Amri,” Lanjewar said.

Later it was revealed by Tripathi that there was another passenger on the same flight and the officials shortly intercepted Mangana Vasu and her accomplice Mohammed Ashraf. All the four persons were arrested.

In the third case the officials’ intercepted passenger Noorjahan Shaikh who had arrived from Dubai and recovered three gold bars weighing 349 grams worth Rs. 8.71 lakhs which was concealed in her undergarments.

The officials also said, in other two cases, the sleuths recovered gold from two passengers coming from Dubai and Muscat recovering around 1000 grams of gold from them.

The state unit of Congress filed a complaint against Shiv Sena for “insulting” President Pranab Mukherjee through an “objectionable” poster, which claimed that he “bowed” before the late saffron party supremo Bal Thackeray.

A delegation of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), led by party legislator Bhai Jagtap lodged the complaint at the Shivaji Park Police Station.

“The objectionable write up on the poster was close to the President’s picture. Mukherjee had visited Thackeray during the Presidential election campaign. In keeping with Indian culture and tradition, Mukherjee folded his hands on meeting Thackeray. But, a write up on the poster says the President bowed before him,” the complaint said.

Congress has accused the Sena of using the poster showing the President, who is the constitutional head of the country, for “political mudslinging”.

“This is a serious matter,” the party said.

The poster which was put up at Sena Bhavan in Dadar by the Shiv Sena’s East Mumbai unit, also showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi bowing reverentially before Thackeray.