Latest news with #Ajit
NDTV
14 hours ago
- NDTV
Man Killed, 3 Injured After Speeding Car Rams Them Outside Restaurant On UP Highway
A man was killed and three others seriously injured when a speeding car rammed them outside an eatery on a highway in Uttar Pradesh, shows a disturbing video. The incident took place on National Highway No 9 near Hapur late Monday night. Three men are seen languidly coming down the steps and suddenly a car appears out of nowhere, shows the video. One of the men, is able to get out of the way, while the two others were hit and tossed in air by the car, before it crashed into the restaurant wall, showed the video. Ajit, the man who died in the accident, was from Bulandshar. The car driver is missing. "The incident took place late on Monday night. Some people were leaving after having food. At that time a Swift, which appeared to have lost control, hit them. One person died in the accident, while three others were injured," said Vineet Bhatnagar, Senior Superintendent of Police, Hapur. The cop said that the car driver has not been arrested yet, but added that the police have the car number and he will soon be arrested. (With inputs from Adnan Khan)
News18
a day ago
- News18
Flying Car Jumps Steps, Rams Into Crowd At Hapur Hotel; CCTV Captures Fatal Crash
Last Updated: A man died and three others were injured after a car jumped the hotel steps and crashed into guests during a birthday celebration at Raja Ji Haveli in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur In a horrifying accident caught on CCTV, a speeding car crashed into the Raja Ji Haveli Hotel on National Highway-9 in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur on Monday night, killing a young man and injuring three others. The entire incident was captured on a security camera outside the hotel, and the disturbing footage has since gone viral on social media. According to Republic, the deceased youth, identified as Ajit Pal, had come to the hotel to wish his girlfriend on her birthday when the tragedy struck. The video shows a group of people standing casually outside the hotel when, within seconds, a car careens into the frame at high speed. The vehicle jumps the stairs, slams into a group of people, and crashes into a water fountain and boundary wall, throwing at least two individuals into the air. खौफनाक हादसे का ये वीडियो हापुड़ का है.. नेशनल हाईवे 9 पर बने राजा हवेली होटल में तेज रफ्तार कार लोगों को टक्कर मारते हुए घुस गई.. हादसे में अजीत पाल नाम के युवक की मौत हो गई है. होटल में अजीत पाल की प्रेमिका की बर्थडे पार्टी चल रही थी. अजीत प्रेमिका को विश करने वहां गया था. इसी… — Vivek K. Tripathi (@meevkt) July 1, 2025 According to Aaj Tak, four people were crushed under the car. While Ajit died on the spot, three others were rushed to the hospital with injuries. The hotel was reportedly hosting a birthday celebration for Ajit's girlfriend at the time. Police said the driver of the car fled the scene immediately after the crash. A manhunt has been launched to trace the absconding accused, and a detailed investigation is underway to determine whether the incident was purely accidental or involved recklessness or negligence. The case has reignited urgent concerns about the worsening menace of high-speed and reckless driving on Indian roads, particularly on national highways, where the risk to pedestrians and bystanders remains alarmingly high. In 2024 alone, over 1.8 lakh people lost their lives in road accidents across the country. Among them, more than 30,000 deaths involved two-wheeler riders not wearing helmets, and a staggering 66 per cent of the victims were aged between 18 and 34 years. Speeding continues to be the single biggest cause of fatalities, accounting for nearly 68 per cent of all road crash deaths in recent years. National highways, though comprising just 2 per cent of India's total road length, consistently account for close to one-third of all accident-related deaths, highlighting a disproportionate concentration of deadly crashes in these zones. Pedestrians remain especially vulnerable. In some urban areas, pedestrian fatalities rose sharply in early 2024, with a 27 per cent increase recorded in cities like Nagpur during just the first five months of the year. Across India, it is estimated that one in every five road crash deaths involves a pedestrian, many of whom are struck while waiting, walking, or simply standing along poorly secured highway edges.
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Business Standard
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Akasa Air's net loss widens to ₹1,983 crore in FY25 as costs, delays rise
Akasa Air's standalone net loss rose 18.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to approximately ₹1,983 crore in the financial year 2024–25, driven by rising employee costs, aircraft maintenance and airport charges, and a sharp increase in forex expenses, sources privy to the development told Business Standard. While Akasa slipped further into the red, the other three major Indian airlines — IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air India — fared much better in FY25. IndiGo remained highly profitable despite a slight year-on-year decline in profit, SpiceJet returned to the black, and Air India significantly reduced its losses while turning operationally profitable. Responding to queries on its FY25 results, an Akasa Air spokesperson said the airline does not comment on speculation, but added: 'It is important to note that the foundational years of any airline are dedicated to investing in its people, fleet, training, operating infrastructure, and network, and hence no airline registers P&L (net) profits in these years. Running an airline is a business of fixed costs and needs some scale before we turn profitable. This is neither surprising nor unanticipated. Our robust business plan provides for these losses.' The spokesperson added that Akasa remains 'net cash positive' at the operating level, and that 'financially, we are ahead of our plans and our investors have always believed in the long-term vision and fundamentals of Akasa Air'. The airline, which began operations in August 2022, saw employee costs rise by 36 per cent YoY in FY25, sources stated. Maintenance expenses grew by 26.6 per cent YoY, while forex costs surged by 181 per cent YoY, they added. Airport charges have increased 40.9 per cent YoY in FY25. Meanwhile, the airline is also seeing a leadership churn in recent months. Ajit Bhagchandani, Vice-President (In-Flight Services), stepped down recently. Confirming this, the airline spokesperson said: 'Mr Ajit Bhagchandani has decided to move on due to personal reasons. We respect his decision and are grateful to Ajit for his contribution in building Akasa.' As first reported by Business Standard on 26 May, three other senior executives had either resigned or were serving notice — Rishabh Dev, Head of Long-Term Operations and Strategy; Amol Mane, Vice-President of Aircraft Acquisition and Leasing; and Vineet Mishra, Deputy General Manager for Catering. This leadership churn comes at a time when the airline's expansion has visibly slowed. After rapidly ramping up from 36 weekly flights in August 2022 to 945 by June 2023, Akasa has managed to increase its weekly services by just 13.2 per cent over the past two years, operating 1,070 weekly flights as of June 2025, Cirium data shows. A major constraint has been delayed aircraft deliveries from Boeing. Out of 226 planes ordered, only 30 have been inducted so far. While 24 of them were added between June 2022 and June 2024, just six arrived in the past year, leaving a large section of the airline's pilot workforce underutilised and pushing up costs. The airline addressed this pilot issue in its response to the newspaper. 'We currently have 775 pilots hired to fly and despite the changes in the aircraft delivery schedules, more than 78 per cent of our pilots have begun to accumulate flying hours, which is a significant increase from 60 per cent in December 2024. By the end of this calendar year, 100 per cent of our pilots will be accumulating flying hours,' the spokesperson said. The spokesperson also reaffirmed the airline's confidence in its aircraft supplier. 'Our relationship with Boeing remains strong and collaborative. We have received three aircraft deliveries in the last six weeks, taking our fleet strength to 30, and are confident about receiving our planned deliveries this year.' Akasa said it increased its available seat kilometres (ASKs) by about 40 per cent in FY25 and is targeting similar year-on-year growth in the current fiscal. ASK is a standard measure of airline capacity, calculated by multiplying the number of seats available by the distance flown. 'We will receive 196 more aircraft over seven years. Aircraft deliveries will naturally translate to more SLB gains, and more cash flow. Our cost structure is well thought through, and we are incredibly disciplined in how we allocate capital,' the spokesperson said. SLB refers to sale-and-leaseback transactions, where the airline sells a newly delivered aircraft to a lessor and then leases it back — generating upfront cash while still retaining operational use of the plane. IndiGo, India's largest airline, posted a net profit of ₹7,258 crore in FY25. SpiceJet reported a standalone net profit of ₹61.9 crore for the year, marking its first full-year profit in seven years. Air India, while not disclosing exact figures, informed employees that it had turned operationally profitable in FY25, with its overall losses decreasing significantly.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Not in favour of making Hindi must, says Maha deputy CM Ajit Pawar
PUNE: Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar Saturday said he is not in favour of making Hindi compulsory from Class I, amid calls for a protest march by the estranged Thackeray cousins against the state govt's April 16 decision to introduce Hindi as the possible third language in govt schools from Class I. ' I made my stand on Hindi clear in Mumbai a few days ago. There is no opposition to Marathi being the compulsory language from Standard I, as it is the mother tongue of Maharashtra. Now, the trend of learning English has picked up. After Standard V, parents should be allowed to decide on the third language. Generally, in Maharashtra, along with Marathi and English, students choose Hindi as the third language,' he said. Amid growing protests, CM Devendra Fadnavis announced that Hindi would not be made compulsory. In a revised order, state govt said Hindi would generally be the third language, but in cases where a different language is preferred, a minimum of 20 students would need to opt for it. The Thackeray cousins have called on all political parties and Marathi celebrities to join their protest rally in Mumbai on July 5. Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS party workers have launched a campaign to mobilise a large crowd for the rally. In addition to social media posts, posters are being put up across the city. One such MNS poster features a photo of Ajit, implying that he supports their stance. Speaking to reporters in his hometown of Baramati, Ajit said, 'We will be discussing this issue in the cabinet meeting next week, just before the assembly session.'
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
How Sharad Pawar lost the plot in cooperatives where he called the shots
What was supposed to be a run-of-the-mill election to the Malegaon Cooperative Sugar Mill in Maharashtra's Baramati district has now become a talking point in state politics. With NCP president and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's panel bagging 20 seats in the 21-member board of the Malegaon Cooperative Sugar Mill in its elections, the development is being seen as a further erosion of his estranged uncle and NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar's grip on the cooperative sector in the state. For Ajit now appears to be dominating what was once Pawar's bastion. The Sharad Pawar-backed panel was routed in the Malegaon sugar mill polls. Pawar has always been connected to cooperatives – in areas ranging from sugar mills to banks – in the course of his decades-long political career. The Maratha stalwart inherited the legacy of political heavyweights like Vasantdada Patil and Yashwantrao Chavan, who had in the early period of Maharashtra nurtured the fledgling cooperatives sector. Pawar is credited to have strengthened the cooperatives sector, especially in ensuring its financial viability and building it up as a political powerhouse in the state. When Pawar decided to leave the Congress in 1999 to set up the NCP, a majority of the cooperative sugar mill barons in the state had backed him. A Maharashtra cooperative bank's former managing director said that Pawar has long understood the 'link between political power and the cooperatives sector'. 'Successful cooperative leaders were most likely to be successful politicians, especially in the sugar belt of Western Maharashtra. But for leaders to be successful, the cooperatives should have easy access to funds. Money is necessary to both keep the electorate happy and to ensure institutions are running well. And in the case of losses, help from the government in the form of easy loans, guarantees or favourable policies come in handy,' he said. The cooperatives have, however, been both power centres as well as weak points for Pawar. For instance, sugar mills on an average have voter bases ranging from 20,000 to 30,000, and a successful chairman or director would be able to command a sizeable share of them in the local, state or national elections. In the 2000s, the NCP was known as a Western Maharashtra party, given that most of its members and leaders were drawn from the cooperatives that lined this region. Ajit himself had started his career in the cooperatives sector, and it was here that he honed his skills as a politician and built his own support base that stood by him when he rebelled against Pawar in 2023. Ajit made his electoral debut in the cooperatives, winning his first poll to become the director of the Baramati Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee in the early 1980s. While Pawar became busy with politics at the state and national levels, local and cooperative politics were left to his nephew. From running the Malegaon Cooperative Sugar Mill to his directorship of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, it was Ajit who ruled the roost. Though cooperatives gave rise to a ready crop of leaders, they often sought proximity to power regardless of ideological affiliations. 'There is a simple reason for this – being near power allows for easy access to funds, which somehow always seemed too short for cooperatives,' said a managing director of a cooperative sugar mill, adding that aligning with the parties in power always helped in the state. Consequently, when power at the state level changed hands, the chances of cooperative leaders jumping ship would rise. 'If one analyses the leadership of the undivided NCP, it was almost a collection of leaders who had come together for power. The grassroots-level penetration of ideology or the support base depended mostly on the leaders. Barring a few, every one else was amenable to jumping ship,' the managing director added. When Ajit decided to split the NCP in 2023 and join the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra, a large section of the undivided party's MLAs and leaders also joined him. Ajit, among other cooperative leaders, was facing multiple cases of alleged financial irregularities involving cooperatives, including probes by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). After Ajit's revolt, only a handful of senior cooperative leaders – including former state ministers Jayant Patil and Balasaheb Patil – stood by Pawar's faction. The Malegaon sugar mill's election appears to have further dented Pawar's hold over the cooperatives sector in the state. 'The reason for the leaders' mass migration (from the Pawar camp to the Ajit faction) is simple – they wanted to be on the right side of power. If anything, the Malegaon results have cemented Ajit dada's base in the cooperative sector,' an NCP leader said.
