NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Mumbai, Nov 23 (PTI) Following are the top stories from the Western Region at 1700 HRS.

BOM7 MH-QUOTA-FADNAVIS **** Efforts on to give quota to Marathas, govt positive towards their demands: Fadnavis Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said the government is positive towards addressing demands raised by Marathas and efforts are underway to give reservation to the community. **** BOM8 MH-FIRE-LD BUILDING **** Fire in Mumbai high-rise; 9 people suffer from suffocation Mumbai: Nine people suffered from suffocation after a fire broke out in a 24-storey residential building in Byculla area of Mumbai on Thursday, officials said. **** BOM2 MH-MAHADEV APP-CASE **** Mahadev betting app case registered in Mumbai transferred to crime branch Mumbai: An FIR registered here pertaining to alleged illegal gambling and cyber fraud worth Rs 15,000 crore linked to Mahadev betting app has been transferred to the Mumbai crime branch for investigation, an official said on Thursday. **** BOM12 MP-EC-CHIEF SECRETARY **** EC rubbishes report of its nod for MP Chief Secretary's term extension; calls it 'fake news' Bhopal: The Election Commission on Thursday made it clear that reports about it giving an approval to extend Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains' term by a month were false. **** BOM13 MH-COURT-ED-PASSPORT **** Just being prosecuted for money laundering no ground to deny passport renewal nod: Court Mumbai: Merely being prosecuted on money laundering charges is not a sufficient ground to deny permission for passport renewal, a special court here has said while granting nod to former Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh's son to apply for renewal of his passport. **** BOM9 MH-FARMERS-TUNNEL-DEATH **** Two farmers who fell into river-linking tunnel in Pune found dead Pune: Two farmers, who fell into a 300 feet deep tunnel linking Nira and Bhima rivers in Pune district of Maharashtra and went missing, were found dead hours later and their bodies were fished out, police said on Thursday. **** BOM10 MH-COMMISSION-ANIMAL ACTIVISTS **** Maharashtra govt asked to pay Rs 2 lakh each to 5 animal rights activists assaulted by cop Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission has directed the state government to pay Rs 2 lakh each to five animal activists for “blatant violation of their human rights” after they were allegedly assaulted at a police lock up in Nanded in February this year. **** BOM11 MH-COPS-SUSPENSION **** Obscene dance at event held in Maharashtra village; 2 cops suspended Bhandara: A head constable and a constable have been suspended for allegedly being absent from duty during an event held in Maharashtra's Bhandara district where a woman and some other people indulged in an obscene dance, officials said on Thursday. **** BOM6 MH-ACCIDENT-BUS **** 3 of family killed, 9 others injured as bus overturns near Kolhapur Pune: Three members of a family were killed and nine others injured after a private bus overturned near Maharashtra's Kolhapur city in the wee hours of Thursday, police said. **** PTI RSY