Govt orders probe after 18 patients die in Thane civic-run hospital in 24 hours
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has issued a directive to set up an independent probe committee led by the commissioner of health services and comprising collector, civic chief, director of health services, an interventionist from the state-run JJ Hospital in Mumbai, and a civic surgeon.
Among the deceased, six were from Thane, four from Kalyan, three from Shahpur, and one each from Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar, Govandi and Saki Naka, while one patient is yet to be unidentified. The 500-bed hospital is located in Thane, which is a stronghold of the CM. According officials, there was a surge in cases at the hospital, due to the temporary relocation of Thane district hospital that is being redeveloped as a superspecialty hospital. They said many patients were rushing to Kalwa hospital, unaware of the district hospital being temporarily shifted.
BMC to crackdown on retailers using banned plastic items
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to crackdown on hawkers, vendors and small scale retailers for using banned plastic material while carrying out business transactions with customers from next week.
The civic body, along with officials from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and Mumbai Police, has formed 24 ward-level teams to take stringent action against retailers using banned plastic items and have maintained that ward-level action would be initiated from August 21 onwards.
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Former informer held for bid to extort money from inspector in Mumbai
Taking a dig at his opponents, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said many are trying to checkmate him since last one year but their dreams are not being realised.
Speaking in a video message for an event where grandmaster Viswanathan Anand was the guest, Shinde said he enjoys public trust. “Many are planning to checkmate me since last one year, but their dreams are not being realised. The opponents may use all their brains but I have the support and trust of people," Shinde said.
In politics, one has to fight many battles at the same time. Some use the manoeuvre of a camel (piece in chess) and move diagonally, some use the moves of a horse and elephant and work to checkmate the other, the CM said. “Today it is necessary for leaders like us to play chess to fight political opponents,” Shinde said. (PTI)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday evening will host a dinner party for the ministers in his cabinet in Bandra West. The ministers from BJP and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP will be invited for the dinner which is said to be aimed at ensuring the better coordination between the three parties in the government.
This is the first time that Shinde is hosting such dinner for his cabinet colleagues after Ajit Pawar and his supporter NCP MLAs joined the Shinde-BJP government. Currently, including Shinde faction leaders, Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis, there are total of 29 ministers in the cabinet.
'The government consists of three different parties and there is a need for a better coordination between the three parties and the legislators and hence to ensure that the dinner is organised. The dinner will create a better bonding between the cabinet ministers and will sort out the issues and friction between them if any during the informal event,'a source from Shinde-led Sena said.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not think the situation in Manipur important enough to visit the state. “Modi government has been a mute spectator to the goings on in the (Manipur) region,” Pawar told reporters ahead of his public rally in Maharashtra's Beed district on Thursday.
“The northeast region is important and sensitive. More attention needs to be paid to the areas bordering China,” the former defence minister said. The NCP chief claimed that “things happening and being orchestrated in northeast are extremely dangerous for the country.” “Manipur is an example,” he added.
Speaking about the Ajit Pawar-led split in the NCP, party MP Supriya Sule said difference of opinion does take place and it should be seen as a sign of a healthy democracy.
She said Saroj Patil, wife of late comrade Dr N D Patil, is a sister of Sharad Pawar but both the senior Pawar and N D Patil had stood against each other on several occasions. “That does not mean that our aunt's love for us has reduced. In our family, personal relations are on one side and political opinions are on the other side,” she said.
Despite the differences between “Pawar Saheb and N D Patil”, Sule said, Maharashtra accepted them and both leaders received love. “A similar situation has once again taken place in the state. If Dada (Ajit Pawar) thinks his political stand is correct, then in a democratic setup, it should be accepted. Our stand might be different from Dada and I do not see it as wrong in a democracy,” she said.
NCP leader Supriya Sule said that she is not aware of what transpired in last week's meeting between Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar at the home of a Pune businessman.
The meeting between NCP founder Sharad Pawar and his nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on August 12 at businessman Atul Chordiya's residence in the Koregaon Park area had sent political circles abuzz. “Even before my Dada's (Ajit Pawar's) birth, the Pawar and Chordiya families shared a good association as Mr (Atul) Chordiya's father and Pawar Saheb were together in college. So there is nothing to be surprised if both the families meet,” said Sule.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Rautclaimed that Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar will not join hands with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in his lifetime.
Talking to reporters, Raut further claimed a prime minister of the opposition INDIA alliance will hoist the national flag at the Red Fort in Delhi next year 2024 and the country is waiting for that “auspicious” moment. “I don't think Sharad Pawar will join hands with the BJP till the time he lives. He is rebuilding his party,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
A 17-year-old girl, who left home to attend a programme at her school on August 15 in Navi Mumbai of Maharashtra, has gone missing.
As per a complaint lodged by the teen's parents, she went out around 6.40 am on Tuesday saying she would be attending a cultural function at her school as part of the Independence Day celebrations. However, the girl did not return home till late in the night. When her parents failed to trace her they approached the Taloja police. (PTI)
A medium intensity tremor of 3.4 magnitude hit Maharashtra's Kolhapur district on Wednesday morning, the National Centre for Seismology said. The tremor occurred at 6.45 am, at a depth of 5 km, it said. There was no immediate report of any casualty or property damage.
After a purported video of a Muslim youth getting beaten up by a mob chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ outside the Bandra railway station in Mumbai surfaced on social media Tuesday, the railway police are set to register an FIR against the assaulters. The mob allegedly raised ‘love jihad’ allegations against the Muslim youth travelling with a Hindu girl. Read more
Manager and cook of a popular restaurant in Bandra were arrested on Monday after a customer complained of a dead rat in his food on August 13 night. An FIR was filed on Monday in the matter, police said.
When a customer ordered bhuna gosht and chicken dhaba, and while eating, he found an unusual piece in the chicken dish. He examined it carefully and was shocked to discover that it was a dead rat, states the FIR. Read more
Sejal Jobanputra, 45, is on dialysis since 2007 when her first kidney transplant failed. After years of waiting on the list for a donor, she finally withdrew her name from the list in 2018. “Years of dialysis have taken a toll on my body… now I am not healthy enough to undergo another transplant,” she said.
This is not an isolated case. At present, 4,046 individuals are waiting for organ donation in Mumbai, where, going by past records, around 200 may secure donors by year-end. Read more
The woman booked for allegedly abducting a Mumbai girl, who was missing for nine years, was denied bail by a sessions court here. The woman, Soni, and her husband Harry D’souza were arrested last year by the Mumbai police for the alleged abduction of the girl in 2013, when she was seven. Read more
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said the BJP and its allies are dividing people, when they have power in their hands and their role is to maintain unity in the society.
Pawar also said he has been meeting party workers across Maharashtra and will visit Beed on Thursday.
Two college students were arrested in Mumbai for posting a video clip of Pakistan's Independence Day celebration as their social media status, news agency PTI reported today. The teenagers had posted a clip of Pakistan's flag on their Instagram story status, the Colaba police said. A Colaba-based businessman brought it to the notice of the police, claiming this could affect the social climate.
Western Railway trains passing through Dahanu Road station in Mumbai will face delays due to upgradation work today. “Western Railway will have 3 hours mega block at Dahanu Road station for technical upgradation. This block will start at 8.50 am today and will be over by 11.50 am,” Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Sumeet Thakur told the news agency ANI. Some long-distance trains and Mumbai suburban trains are expected to be affected by this block.
Meanwhile, Maharasgtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will attend a BJP core committee meeting in Delhi to discuss poll plans for six states today. Fadnavis on Monday said that the state will play a significant role in accomplishing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious goal of making the country a five trillion-dollar economy. Addressing a gathering on the Independence Day after hoisting the national flag in his hometown Nagpur, Fadnavis said: “The PM’s dream is to make India a five trillion-dollar economy. I believe Maharashtra will play a leading role in realising this dream. The state’s contribution will be maximum to the one trillion dollar economy.”
Railway Protection Force (RPF) Constable Chetansinh Chaudhary, 33, who allegedly gunned down four persons on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express on July 31, is also alleged to have threatened a burqa-clad woman passenger and forced her to say “Jai Mata Di” at gunpoint, according to investigations.
Police sources said the Government Railway Police (GRP), Borivali, which is investigating the case, identified the woman and recorded her statement. She has been made a key witness. The entire episode was also captured by CCTV cameras in the train, said sources.
Chaudhary, who allegedly killed his senior, Assistant Sub-Inspector Tikaram Meena, and three passengers — Abdul Kadar Mohamed Hussain Bhanpurawala, Syed Saifuddin and Asgar Abbas Sheikh — is currently in judicial custody. (Read more)
(Express Photo: arranged)
Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) Headquarters at CBD Belapur was lit up today with tricolor lighting ahead of Independence Day Celebration.
(Express photo by Narendra Vaskar)
Navi Mumbai police conducted a special program for returned stolen property valuables worth Rs.5.41 crore recovered in 248 cases of thefts and robberies at Vashi in Navi Mumbai today.
(Express photo by Narendra Vaskar)
A day after 18 patients died in a day at Thane Municipal Corporation-run Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial (CSMM) Hospital in Kalwa, only four fatalities were reported in the hospital on Monday, even as the state health department has set up a committee led by state health commissioner, to probe the deaths with the directive to present findings by August 25.
Read on to learn about the panel and its members.
In an attempt to accommodate more commuters, the Western Railway has decided to convert 49 suburban local train services from 12-car to 15-car from August 15, an official said on Monday.
With this, the total number of 15-car services will increase from 150 to 199, though the total number of suburban services will remain unchanged at 1,394, which includes 79 air-conditioned trains, a release stated. (PTI)
Maharashtra has received 76 police medals as per the announcement made by the Union Home Ministry on Monday on the eve of Independence Day, including President's Police Medal for Gallantry for 33 personnel of Gadchiroli police for the Mardintola encounter in November 2021 in which 27 Naxalites were eliminated. (PTI)
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik, who was granted two months’ interim bail by the Supreme Court on medical grounds, is likely to be released today after completion of bail formalities before the special court in Mumbai.
On Monday, his lawyers submitted the order passed on Friday by the apex court. The special court directed his release on a bond of Rs 50,000 along with a surety. He has also been directed not to make any statement to the media.
Click here to know more about the bail conditions.
A huge security contingent makes a route march in Kurla, one of the busiest central railway stations in Mumbai, on the eve before Independence Day.
(Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
Six people, among them three children, received injuries after being stung by jellyfish at Juhu beach in Mumbai on Monday, a civic official said.
The people were stung while walking close to the water on the beach shortly after midnight at around 12.20 am, the official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.
Three children in the age group of four to six years and two women and a man in their early 20s were injured, he said.
They were rushed to the nearby Cooper Hospital and discharged after treatment, the official said.
In 2018, several people were stung by jellyfish at Girgaon Chowpatty when they entered the sea for the immersion of idols during Ganesh Chaturthi festival. (PTI)
ravelling in Mumbai’s local trains from Churchgate to Virar will become more comfortable as 49 suburban services will be augmented to trains with 15 coaches from the existing ones with 12 coaches, August 15 (Tuesday) onwards.
This step is expected to help with the dispersal of crowds at stations.
Western Railway (WR) Monday (August 14) said the 15-coaches train services will increase to 199 from 150.
WR operates a total of 1,394 local services daily, including 79 AC services. It caters to over 27.24 lakh commuters on its suburban network everyday.
Of the 49 suburban train services which have been augmented to 15 coaches mainly involve slow line services and just 15 fast line services between Churchgate to Virar.
Pawar’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) has expressed displeasure over the Pawar-Pawar meet, asserting that this is “tarnishing Sharad Pawar’s image” and creating confusion in the minds of people.
Over the past 24-hours, the island city of Mumbai recorded 0.75 mm of rain, while eastern and western suburbs recorded 3.59 mm and 2.74 mm each. The city is expected to experience light to moderate rains throughout the day in sporadic spells.
A day after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar met nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in Pune, he maintained his party would not join hands with Ajit’s ally BJP. But Pawar’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Congress and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) went into a huddle and asked him to clear the “confusion” such meetings create.