Nagpur bench ruling gives Fadnavis override power; SBL blast toll climbs to 19
Nagpur's Wednesday news cycle turns on the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, whose 2023 verdict has become the springboard for the state to give Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis express powers to review any minister's decision. In parallel, the Chief Minister has confirmed a heavy human toll at the SBL Explosives Company in the city, even as more than a dozen local schools spent the morning under a bomb-threat scare later declared a hoax. Beneath the day's big-ticket items, a new critical-minerals centre in Nagpur signals the city's continuing pull as an industrial anchor for Maharashtra.
Super CM! Fadnavis gets power to override ministers; Nagpur HC ruling behind key rule change
Nagpur Today lays out how a 2023 verdict from the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court became the trigger for a major administrative rewrite in Maharashtra. The state government has notified the Maharashtra Government Rules of Business, 2026, which now expressly empowers Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to review a decision taken by any individual minister and direct its modification if he considers it necessary in the public interest. The report traces the change to a dispute involving the Chandrapur District Central Cooperative Bank. In that case, the Nagpur Bench had set aside an order issued by then Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, holding that the Chief Minister did not have the authority under the prevailing Rules of Business to independently interfere with a decision taken by the minister concerned. The judgment underlined the distinction between the powers of the Chief Minister and those of a portfolio minister. The 2026 rules now seek to clearly address that grey area, moving beyond the earlier arrangement in which the minister in charge of a department was primarily responsible for the business allocated to that department. [5]
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis informs 19 people died in Nagpur SBL Explosives Company | Akashvani News
News On AIR carries a bulletin from Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis confirming that 19 people have died in the incident at SBL Explosives Company in Nagpur. The state broadcaster's report anchors the toll on the Chief Minister's own words, framing the announcement as an official update from the government. The Akashvani news brief places the tragedy in Nagpur's industrial cluster and marks it as the day's leading regional story on the outlet. In the portion available, the item does not detail the cause of the blast, name the workers who died, or describe the state's response at the site; what it does communicate is the confirmed number of fatalities and the fact that the Chief Minister has himself relayed the count. For families and residents tracking the incident, the News On AIR notice functions as the government broadcaster's channel for the top-line figure, with fuller reporting expected as investigations and rescue work continue in the coming days. The bulletin's positioning underscores that the toll is now formally on record at the highest level of the state government. [2]
Over 12 schools in Nagpur get bomb threat emails; police call it hoax after search
Moneycontrol reports that more than a dozen schools in Nagpur received bomb threat emails, prompting an intensive police search of the premises before authorities declared the threat a hoax. According to the outlet, the emails targeted over twelve schools in the city, triggering a coordinated response by law-enforcement teams. Officers conducted searches at the affected campuses and, on completing their sweeps, concluded that no explosives were present. The Moneycontrol brief frames the episode as another in a growing pattern of hoax bomb threats sent by email to schools across Indian cities, a trend that has forced authorities to develop rapid-response protocols even when calls turn out to be false. The report does not, in the portion available, identify the specific schools that received the emails, the language of the messages, or whether investigators have traced the sender. What is clear from Moneycontrol's account is that classes were disrupted, police were deployed at multiple sites, and the immediate all-clear was given only after physical searches. The city's schools return to normal operations after the false alarm was formally called. [7]
TEXMiN–MaxelS’ Nagpur Center of Excellence to focus on critical mineral value chains in Maharashtra
BusinessLine flags a new Nagpur-based Centre of Excellence set up by TEXMiN and MaxelS, focused on critical mineral value chains in Maharashtra. According to the report on the outlet's commodities desk, the centre will concentrate on the exploration, processing and downstream use of minerals identified as strategically important to India's energy transition and industrial base. The Hindu BusinessLine positions the tie-up within a broader national push to secure domestic supply of critical minerals, and marks Nagpur, a city long associated with mining, power and heavy industry in central India, as a suitable base for such research and applied work. The item indicates that the focus in Maharashtra will span the full value chain rather than a single stage, suggesting the centre will look at both upstream and downstream activities. In the portion available, the outlet does not spell out funding numbers, the specific minerals prioritised, or a target timeline for outputs. What comes through clearly is the establishment of a dedicated Nagpur node under the TEXMiN-MaxelS umbrella for work on Maharashtra's critical mineral chains and downstream industries. [6]
Sources: [5] Nagpur Today · [2] News On AIR · [7] Moneycontrol.com · [6] BusinessLine