An unemployed tribal youth, Lahanu Nagu Malekar, committed suicide by consuming poison at Malekarwadi near Wadiwarhe in Igatpuri tehsil on Saturday. Police say Malekar had passed the Higher Secondary Certificate examination but failed to secure a job for about a year.

About six months ago, he got married, which placed an added economic burden. He had also obtained a conductor's badge in the hope of landing a job with the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation. However, stress took its toll on Saturday, when Malekar swallowed insecticide and died.

Boy drowns in pond

An 11-year-old boy, Nandu More, residing at Prabuddha Nagar, Satpur, drowned in a pond on Ganesh immersion day on Saturday. More had gone to the pond at Shivaji Nagar to watch the immersion festivities, when he lost his balance and fell into the water.

In a separate incident, lightning claimed one life at Gangapur yesterday, when it struck the house of Hanumant Krishna Jadhav, causing ashort circuit and fire.

Morcha by tribal dept staff

Employees of the Tribal Development Department took out a morcha from the stadium grounds to the Tribal Development Commissionerate today, to focus attention on their demands. The employees have also been on an indefinite strike since Saturday.

Employees posted at government ashram schools are demanding a separate education cell to monitor education in ashram schools, greater promotional avenues, widening of the power of headmasters and creation of posts for research assistants to monitor funds and strengthening of hostel administration.

There are 412 ashram schools run by the government, 334 run by voluntary organisations aided by the government, and 168 government hostels in the state. Incidentally, employees from 12 ashram schools in Bhandara, 10 from Nagpur and 10 from Chandrapur districts have not participated in the strike, as they are affiliated to a parallel union.

Tension over stone-pelting

Tension has gripped Satana townin Baglan tehsil since Saturday, when a Ganesh idol immersion procession was stoned by some miscreants. A morcha, led by Satana Municipal Council President Vijayraj Wagh, was taken out today to protest against the incident and demand the vandals' arrest.

Wagh says the procession was passing by a mosque when stones were pelted at the revellers. Police, however, brought the situation under control.

Left parties' morcha on Sept 17

The Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and the Peasants' and Workers' Party (PWP) will take out a morcha to Mantralaya on September 17 to highlight the failure of the Manohar Joshi government on various fronts and to demand action against Shiv Sena leaders indicted by the Srikrishna Commission.

Secretary of the CPI's state unit, Govindrao Pansare, said left parties will launch a statewide agitation against the Joshi government, which has failed to control prices of essential commodities, provide jobs to the unemployed and freehouses for slum dwellers. The government has also neglected farmers and the working class.