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Time of India
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Fadnavis says no Pakistani in Maha untraceable, deputy CM Shinde claims 107 elusive
1 2 3 Pune: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that reports of the state govt unable to trace several Pakistani nationals are 'baseless' and they have made all arrangements to ensure the departure of every individual from Pakistan. Fadnavis urged people to refrain from sharing misleading information. He was speaking to reporters in Pune after attending an event on 'Pune Urban Dialogue'. You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune "Reports of 107 Pakistani citizens reported missing are making the rounds. As the state's home minister, I want to make it clear that no Pakistani national is untraceable in the state. Every individual was traced, and we made arrangements to send them back. None of them will remain here. Their departure procedure will be completed by Monday morning," Fadnavis said. Foreign individuals are declared untraceable when they do not report to the Foreigners Registration Office under a police commissionerate and the office is unable to contact them. In a surprising contradiction just hours after Fadnavis spoke, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde , while addressing a public rally in Buldhana, claimed that 107 Pakistani nationals who entered the state on visas were untraceable. "Modiji and Amit Shah both asked Pakistani citizens to leave our country, and it is an order which every Indian wanted from their hearts. There are 107 Pakistani citizens missing in Maharashtra. I warn them to return to their country. Otherwise, police will track them down. People are angry," Shinde said. Minister of state for home affairs Yogesh Kadam told reporters in Pune on Saturday that there are around 5,000 Pakistani citizens currently in Maharashtra. This includes close to 2,800 individuals on Long Term Visas who will not be affected by the guidelines issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Kadam said that some Pakistani citizens have been residing in India for 8–10 years. Some have married Indian nationals, surrendered their Pakistani passports, and applied for Indian citizenship. As per the MEA guidelines, Pakistani citizens who arrived on short-term visas will have to return to Pakistan before Sunday, while those on medical visas can leave by April 29. Govt on Friday announced the suspension of short-term visa services to Pakistani nationals with immediate effect. The decision was taken in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack. MEA officials said that the decision will not apply to Long Term Visas (LTVs) already issued to Hindu Pakistani nationals which remain valid. Pune: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that reports of the state govt unable to trace several Pakistani nationals are 'baseless' and they have made all arrangements to ensure the departure of every individual from Pakistan. Fadnavis urged people to refrain from sharing misleading information. He was speaking to reporters in Pune after attending an event on 'Pune Urban Dialogue'. "Reports of 107 Pakistani citizens reported missing are making the rounds. As the state's home minister, I want to make it clear that no Pakistani national is untraceable in the state. Every individual was traced, and we made arrangements to send them back. None of them will remain here. Their departure procedure will be completed by Monday morning," Fadnavis said. Foreign individuals are declared untraceable when they do not report to the Foreigners Registration Office under a police commissionerate and the office is unable to contact them. In a surprising contradiction just hours after Fadnavis spoke, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, while addressing a public rally in Buldhana, claimed that 107 Pakistani nationals who entered the state on visas were untraceable. "Modiji and Amit Shah both asked Pakistani citizens to leave our country, and it is an order which every Indian wanted from their hearts. There are 107 Pakistani citizens missing in Maharashtra. I warn them to return to their country. Otherwise, police will track them down. People are angry," Shinde said. Minister of state for home affairs Yogesh Kadam told reporters in Pune on Saturday that there are around 5,000 Pakistani citizens currently in Maharashtra. This includes close to 2,800 individuals on Long Term Visas who will not be affected by the guidelines issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Kadam said that some Pakistani citizens have been residing in India for 8–10 years. Some have married Indian nationals, surrendered their Pakistani passports, and applied for Indian citizenship. As per the MEA guidelines, Pakistani citizens who arrived on short-term visas will have to return to Pakistan before Sunday, while those on medical visas can leave by April 29. Govt on Friday announced the suspension of short-term visa services to Pakistani nationals with immediate effect. The decision was taken in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack. MEA officials said that the decision will not apply to Long Term Visas (LTVs) already issued to Hindu Pakistani nationals which remain valid.
Indian Express
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Unfortunately India thought that urbanisation was a sin: Maharashtra CM Fadnavis
Mahrashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said since there had been a principle that 'India lives in villages', urbanisation was considered a sin in the country. Fadnavis was speaking at an event called Pune Urban Dialogue at Yashwantrao Chavan Academy Of Development Administration. 'If we see the history of the world, while countries or economies went from developing to developed, the route was only urbanisation. There is no developed economy that has been able to stop urbanisation. Unfortunately in our country we always thought that urbanisation is a sin, because we had a principle that India lives in villages. Which was true as well, India did stay in its villages. But we got stuck in the resolution that India will always live in its villages,' said Fadnavis. Fadvanis said that as urbanisation that comes with development was considered a sin, India did not have any facility to manage this urbanisation. 'Today we see that the cities of our country have become squalid. The reason is that when this urbanisation was happening, people came towards cities for education, medical reasons, pursuing opportunities, jobs and entertainment. In such a situation we didn't think about creating housing, and slums are created, encroachments are created,' he said. It was easiest to encroach around rivers and nallahs, said Fadnavis, adding that the creation of huge cities meant that garbage, drinking water, and liquid waste bacome a serious problem. 'And suddenly we realise that the city has become unmanageable and unsustainable. They have not remained liveable,' he said. 'Fifty per cent of Maharashtra's population lives in 500 cities and the other 50% lives in 40,000 villages. If we can change the face of even these 500 cities, we can provide a great life to half of our population. Therefore it is necessary to have this sort of a discussion,' he said. 'Maharashtra saw unprecedented urbanisation since the 1980s, but we realised that an urban challenge has appeared and urbanisation is inevitable in our country only at the end of the 1990s. Only two or three cities have been created as greenfields and the other cities have to be retrofitted instead of managing the urbanisation, which is the most difficult,' he said. The Chief Minister also claimed that the government was taking this issue seriously now. As an example, he talked about an upcoming app in Mumbai, where a traveller will be shown a comprehensive route plan from the person's location to their destination, which would include local trains, BEST buses, metros, and water taxis. He said, the commuter will not have to travel more than 200-300 metres to reach any one of these transport forms. Fadnavis said the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) was 'running very well' in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, and would be integrated with the Pune Metro. Earlier this month, The Indian Express had highlighted how the bus service needed an additional 2,000-4,000 buses on top of the current fleet of 1,900 buses. However, officials could not give a timeline for a substantial increase in the fleet number, which is expected to remain around the 2,000 buses-mark in 2025.
