Mumbai, Correspondent

Over the past seven years, Standard Chartered Bank has implemented various social initiatives in Maharashtra focusing on water security, healthcare, job creation, and climate change resilience. These initiatives have directly benefited over 8.3 lakh citizens in the state, making a valuable contribution to the state's development, stated Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Chief Minister Shri Fadnavis remarked that joint efforts between the state government and the private sector are ensuring that the benefits of development reach the underprivileged sections of society. The work done by Standard Chartered Bank in fields like water conservation, rural development, women empowerment, and healthcare complements the state's development goals.

Women constitute more than 52% of the total beneficiaries of the bank's diverse social initiatives, which heavily focus on water conservation, healthcare, and livelihood enhancement. These programs have been effectively implemented across 30 districts in Maharashtra, including **75%** of the state's aspirational districts.

 Comprehensive Measures for Water Security as follow A storage capacity of 1.06 billion liters of freshwater has been created. 45 Water ATMs have been installed in drought-prone areas. Water security has been strengthened across 271 villages, including those in Marathwada and Vidarbha. More than 8,000 farmers have been supported with water conservation measures and climate-resilient farming techniques. The plantation of 7 lakh trees marks a significant milestone toward mitigating the impacts of climate change.

 6,598 youths were provided skill development and employment training, out of which 63% successfully secured jobs.  Opportunities were created in diverse sectors such as Electric Vehicles (EV), automotive, Artificial Intelligence (AI), electronics, banking, and entrepreneurship.  The average annual income of the beneficiaries was recorded at ₹1.66 lakh. Women comprised 61% of the beneficiaries in this program, with special financial assistance provided to rural women entrepreneurs. Additionally, 758 women micro-entrepreneurs received support.

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Pune : Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has appealed to John Deere to take the lead in manufacturing smart machines based on advanced technology in Maharashtra to enrich the agricultural sector and make farmers prosperous. He was speaking at the inauguration of the Sanaswadi project of John Deere Intelligent Solutions in Shirur Industrial Estate.

Fadnavis stated that John Deere has made significant progress in Maharashtra, India, and globally while maintaining its values. He highlighted the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector and praised industrial organizations like John Deere for providing new technologies to support farmers. The Chief Minister emphasized the potential of artificial intelligence in agriculture, citing the recent agricultural hackathon held in Pune, where many innovative ideas were presented.

Fadnavis urged John Deere to convert these ideas into products and bring the advanced technological revolution to farmers. He assured the state government would cooperate in the expansion of the organization in Maharashtra. The Chief Minister also praised John Deere's policy of providing employment to 70% women and its adherence to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India', 'Design in India', and 'Make for the World' initiatives.

Rajesh Sinha provided information about the project, stating that John Deere India has made its fifth largest investment in Maharashtra due to the state's favorable industrial environment. The new project will help farmers produce better products using artificial intelligence in agriculture. John Deere has contributed significantly to India in agriculture and road construction over the past seven years, and the products manufactured in Pune are completely made in India.

The Chief Minister inspected the new project and took detailed information about the organization's activities. Fadnavis expressed confidence in John Deere's ability to drive innovation and bring about positive change in the agricultural sector.

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Pune: The police have taken very good action in the Vaishnavi Hagavane suicide case. The police have caught Nilesh Chavan, who was trying to flee to Nepal, on the Indian border. This entire trap was laid after receiving proper information. Therefore, he has also been detained. None of the guilty people in this case will be spared. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that no leniency will be done in the investigation and our efforts will be made to ensure that the guilty are punished severely.

Chief Minister Fadnavis was talking to reporters after a book launch event at Balgandharva Rangmandir. When asked about the allegations against Jalindar Supekar, Deputy Inspector General of Prisons, for helping the Hagavane family in getting arms licenses, he said, "Since there have been complaints about the Supekars, we have asked them to investigate the truth of the complaint."

We have taken some decisions to ensure that no one puts pressure on this investigation in any way. Meanwhile, when asked about the fact that more than six hundred arms licenses have been issued in Pune in the last two years, he said that an inquiry will be conducted regarding all these licenses and action will be taken against those who gave the permission in the wrong manner and they will be cancelled.

Speaking on the fact that 2,600 women are in government jobs under the Ladki Bahin Yojana, the Chief Minister said that some women who do not meet the criteria of the Ladki Bahin Yojana have applied and taken advantage of it. Therefore, we are continuously investigating this and reducing the number of women, this work will be completed soon.

Rupali Chakankar's important response in the Vaishnavi death case

The police have shackled Nilesh Chavan. Speaking on this, State Women's Commission Chairperson Rupali Chakankar said, "Action has been taken against those who helped the accused in the Vaishnavi case. Our role is to punish the accused and provide justice to the victim."

Speaking further, Rupali Chakankar said, "All of us should focus on getting justice for Vaishnavi. We should stand with her mother and family. I am sure that the accused will be punished severely. The police are investigating these matters very systematically.

Nilesh Chavan arrested

Six teams of Pimpri-Chinchwad police were searching for Nilesh Chavan. It was suspected that he was in another state. However, after receiving information that he was in Nepal, the Pimpri-Chinchwad police immediately arrested him. He will soon be brought to Pimpri-Chinchwad.

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