A vacation bench of Justice Advait Sethna and Justice Ranjitsinha Bhonsale refused permission to the Mithila Chhath Puja Sangh to put up a temporary stage on the beach at Girgaon Chowpatty in Mumbai for two days. The bench recalled that the freedom of conscience and the right to practise religion under Article 25 of the Constitution are subject to public order, morality and health. Police had relied on a 1998 order of the same court that allowed only Ganeshotsav, Navratri Utsav, Ramlila, Krishnalila and Christmas programmes at Girgaon Chowpatty. That 1998 order had also set up a Monitoring Committee and made it a mandatory party to any plea seeking permission for events at the Chowpatty areas. The bench noted that the petition did not explain why the Monitoring Committee had not been made a party. It declined to pass orders at that stage, expressed no view on an alternate site, and left the petitioner free to pursue other remedies.
Constitutional provision:Article 25
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is Article 25 of the Constitution and the three limits written into it: public order, morality and health.
Mumbai will host the awards ceremony of the sixth edition of The Earthshot Prize on November 17, the first time the global environmental award is being held in India. Prince William founded the prize in 2020, and organisers announced the details on Thursday. The 15 finalists are in the running across five categories - Fix Our Climate, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Protect and Restore Nature, and Build a Waste-Free World. Each category produces a single winner, who receives £1 million to scale up the solution. Two Indian groups are among this year's finalists: Ahmedabad-based Mahila Housing Trust, for its heat-resilience model, and Mahindra Last Mile Mobility, for electric three-wheelers. Organisers say India has produced more finalists and winners than any other country.
Ceremony city:MumbaiFounded:2020Prize per winner:£1 millionFinalists:15
Why it matters for exams: The Earthshot Prize, founded by Prince William in 2020, is a recurring awards question; its first India edition in Mumbai is a likely current-affairs item.
Three beaches on the coast of Maharashtra have received Blue Flag recognition for the 2026–27 season, the first time any beach in the state has made the list. Ladghar and Guhagar lie in Ratnagiri district, while Shrivardhan is in Raigad district. In all, 22 beaches across India earned the label this season, including nine first-time recipients. The Blue Flag is a voluntary eco-label run by the Denmark-based Foundation for Environmental Education. To qualify, a beach must meet a full set of environmental, educational, safety and accessibility criteria, and keep meeting them through the award period. The flags will be brought from the Netherlands and handed over to the state's Department of Environment and Climate Change.
Beaches in India:22Season:2026–27Districts:Ratnagiri
Why it matters for exams: Blue Flag certification and the Foundation for Environmental Education (Denmark) that awards it are standard environment questions.
Maharashtra will go ahead with a 3,000-MW pumped-storage hydropower project at Saidongar in Karjat, the state's chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, has said. The plant is being developed by Torrent Power in the ecologically sensitive Sahyadri range. In such a plant, cheap solar power is used to pump water from a lower dam to an upper one when demand is low. The water is released to generate hydropower during peak demand, so the same water is reused through the year. The project needs about 233 hectares of forest land and the felling of 32,490 trees, which has drawn protests. Fadnavis said the company would take up afforestation to support the local ecosystem.
Capacity:3,000-MWTrees to be felled:32,490Developer:Torrent Power
Why it matters for exams: Pumped-storage hydropower is a key energy-storage technology for renewable integration, a frequent UPSC science and environment topic.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone has proposed a major expansion of Dighi Port in Raigad district. The plan would reclaim another 304 hectares and lift cargo capacity from 23.65 MMTPA to 140 MMTPA. The quay length would go from 1,625 metres to 7,000 metres, and a desalination plant is part of the plan. The proposal is before the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA); it was listed for its meeting on November 2 but was not taken up. In Raigad, fishing organisations have opposed the reclamation, as they have for the Vadhavan Port in Palghar.
Why it matters for exams: Major ports of the Konkan coast (Dighi in Raigad, Vadhavan in Palghar) and coastal regulation by the state CZMA are standard geography and environment questions.
Maharashtra is drafting a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), a common set of personal laws, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday. He said the Directive Principles of State Policy in the Constitution speak of the UCC, which makes it a constitutional responsibility of every state. He also noted that the Directive Principles, unlike Fundamental Rights, cannot be enforced by courts. He said implementing them therefore needs time and consensus among people. The remarks came after objections that the proposed law was outside the Constitution.
Law being drafted:Uniform Civil CodeConstitutional basis cited:Directive Principles of State Policy
Why it matters for exams: The UCC is in Article 44 among the Directive Principles (Part IV), which are not justiciable - a core polity question.
A Mumbai DCP has used the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 to order occupants of a Santacruz East flat to leave after their 36-month leave and licence agreement ended. A notification issued on July 31, 2026 made all 15 zonal DCPs of the Mumbai Police Commissionerate Competent Authorities under the Act. Section 24 lets a landlord recover residential premises once the licence period expires. Under Section 43, the occupant gets 30 days from the summons to seek leave to contest. Section 55 requires leave and licence agreements to be registered, and makes this the landlord's duty. The route covers only residential leave and licence cases, not ordinary tenancy disputes.
Act:Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999Zonal DCPs empowered:15Time to seek leave to contest:30 days
Why it matters for exams: The Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 and the leave and licence concept are recurring state-law and property-law questions.
Gadchiroli, where land has just been reserved for iron-ore mining, was formed on August 26, 1982 by dividing the erstwhile Chandrapur district. It lies in the Vidarbha region on the North-Eastern side of Maharashtra and shares borders with Telangana and Chhattisgarh. The district has forest over close to 76 % of its area, and it is known for Bamboo and Tendu leaves. Paddy is the main crop, and there is a Tussar Silk Worm Centre in Armori taluka. As per Census 2011, the population is 10,72,942, with Scheduled Tribes making up 38.7% and a literacy rate of 74.4%. Gondi, Madiya, Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, Bengali and Chattisgadi are among the languages spoken.
Why it matters for exams: District formation years, bordering states and the tribal and forest profile of Gadchiroli are standard Maharashtra geography questions.
Raigad, where a port expansion is planned and Shrivardhan beach has just won international recognition, is a district in the Konkan region of Maharashtra. The district was earlier known as Kulaba and is named after Raigad Fort, the capital of the Swarajya of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The Arabian Sea lies to its west and the Sahyadri ranges to its east. The forts of the district include Murud-Janjira and Sudhagad, and Matheran is its well-known hill station. The district has two of the Ashtavinayak temples, Varadvinayak at Mahad and Ballaleshwar at Pali, and the Elephanta Caves on Gharapuri Island. JNPA, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, and the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar University of Technology at Lonere also lie in Raigad.
Earlier name:KulabaMajor port:Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority
Why it matters for exams: Raigad Fort as Shivaji's capital, the Elephanta Caves and JNPA are recurring history, culture and port questions.