Every police station in Mumbai now has a separate mobile number for women to register complaints of harassment. These mobile numbers will be in addition to the general police helpline numbers and are meant to improve police response time in cases of crime against women and give them first priority. This is part of the Nirbhaya initiative started by the police following the Saki Naka rape case in September this year.
Joint Commissioner of Police (law & order) Vishwas Nangre-Patil said, “Every police station now has its own mobile number meant specifically for women to reach out if they face any harassment. It has been a week since the initiative began and we are publicising the numbers.”
READ | Each police station in Mumbai to have mobile number to report crime against women
Even as researchers are racing to detect Omicron, the latest SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern, by sequencing the genomes of coronaviruses infecting people, experts have raised a red flag as genome sequencing in Maharashtra has dropped by 58.6% since May. Genomic sequencing gives important information about the type of virus, its mutations, mode of attack and transmissibility.
Data shows that the total number of genome tests conducted in November in Maharashtra was nearly 58.6 per cent less than that conducted in May. As per the protocol, genome sequencing tests should be conducted on 5 per cent of total samples that have tested positive for Covid-19.
READ | Maharashtra: Genome sequencing down by 58.6% since May, experts call for stepping up surveillance
The state-level Shelter Monitoring Committee for Homeless on Thursday directed the state government to conduct a third-party inspection of all shelters for the homeless to check their facilities. The committee asked the government to submit a report by January 5. The directive came after five persons died in Nagpur, reportedly due to cold, over the last few days. The committee had also sought a report on the Nagpur incidents.
Amid concerns about a possible third wave with the rise in Omicron cases, nearly 45% posts in public health centres are lying vacant in Mumbai, according to the findings of the ‘Ideal Mumbai Public Health Manifesto’, a document jointly released by Mumbai First and Praja Foundation.
The document also says that only 20% of the health budget was allocated for revenue expenditure on primary healthcare.
As per National Building Code norms, which prescribe one dispensary for every 15,000 population, Mumbai requires 858 government dispensaries. However, the city only has 199 government dispensaries. Of these, only 15 dispensaries were accessible for 14 hours. Others were accessible for 5-8 hours.
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Amid rising Omicron cases in the state, the Maharashtra government has prohibited the gathering of more than five people in public places between 9 pm to 6 am. In the new guidelines, only 100 people are allowed in indoor weddings and not more than 250 in outdoor weddings. Gyms, spas, hotels, theatres and cinema halls in the state can only allow 50 per cent of the full capacity.
The Central Railway will be operating Mega Block on its suburban sections of Main line and Harbour line for carrying out maintenance work Sunday, December 26, a statement issued by the operator said.
Owing to the block, while a few trains on the Main line will be diverted, the trains on the Harbour line will be suspended. On the Main line, the block will be between the Up and Down slow lines between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Vidyavihar from 10:55 am to 3:55 pm.
Down slow services leaving CSMT between 10:48 am and 3:36 pm will be diverted on the Down fast line between CSMT and Vidyavihar and will halt at Byculla, Parel, Dadar, Matunga, Sion and Kurla stations and further rediverted to the Down slow line proper.
A 45-year-old pedestrian and a 21-year-old woman were killed after a 28-year-old driver of a speeding car lost control over the wheels on the Gorai Road in Borivali (West) late on Wednesday night around 11:30 pm.
The blood sample of the driver, identified as Rohit Mukherjee, has been sent for a test to ascertain if he was drunk.
Mukherjee has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, a provision rarely applied in fatal accidents unless it is a case of drink driving.
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A 56-year-old homemaker has lodged a theft case with the Andheri police alleging that her purse was stolen while she was travelling on a BEST bus in Andheri (East) Wednesday. No arrest has been made so far.
The complainant, a resident of Malabar Hill, is the wife of an IPS officer who currently serves as the Deputy Inspector General in Maharashtra Police. The incident took place on Wednesday between 11.50 am and 12.15 pm while she was returning home from Chakala on a BEST bus.
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Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Narhari Zirwal, on Friday asked the legislature secretary not to respond to the Supreme Court's notice on the plea filed by 12 BJP MLAs, challenging their one-year suspension. The 12 legislators were suspended on July 5 this year after they allegedly misbehaved with presiding officer Bhaskar Jadhav in the Speaker's chamber.
Zirwal directed the government to apprise the apex court of the developments that led to the suspension of these BJP members. BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar wondered how the government can hold speaker's election by keeping 12 voters suspended.
Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said the 12 legislators have applied to the speaker's office requesting their suspension be reconsidered. "I hope their suspension is revoked before the speaker's election next week," he said. Zirwal said that the SC notice was received by the legislature secretariat on December 21. (PTI)
After the commissioning of fifth and sixth railway lines between Thane and Diva station, more air-conditioned local train services will be operated under the Central Railway. Currently, there are only four local trains on the Central and Harbour lines due to space constraints. “The addition of the new train services on the central railways will only be AC in the future and it has been witnessed that the ridership of the AC local train is improving,” said Anil Kumar Lahoti, General Manager of the Central Railway.
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Samajwadi Party MLAs Abu Asim Azmi and Rais Shaikh staged a dharna on the footsteps of the Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai on Thursday over Muslim reservation. Speaking to the media later, Shaikh said they had protested inside the House over the same.
He said both Congress and NCP had earlier talked of Muslim reservation and now the latter says they can’t do so as the total reservation can’t exceed 50 per cent. “At the same time, the government went to the court for Maratha reservation. Why can’t the government do the same for Muslim reservation?” asked Shaikh. Two weeks ago, the AIMIM had taken out a tiranga rally to demand reservation for Muslims.
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The Indian Railways which had decided to redevelop the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) railway station on a public-private partnership (PPP) model, will now be developing it under a hybrid annuity model wherein the station will be leased out to a private developer for just 27 years, instead of 99 years.
Under the new model, the railways will initially have to invest 40 per cent of the total Rs 1,350 crore project cost and 60 per cent will be invested by the developer, which the railways will have to repay in the next 27 years before taking over the station, an official said.
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The state-level Shelter Monitoring Committee for Homeless on Thursday directed the state government to conduct a third-party inspection of all shelters for the homeless to check their facilities. The committee asked the government to submit a report by January 5. The directive came after five persons died in Nagpur, reportedly due to cold, over the last few days. The committee had also sought a report on the Nagpur incidents.
On Thursday, a report from Nagpur Municipal Corporation was submitted to the committee. As per the report, one of the deceased, Ashok Sontakke (53), died in a truck on December 20 under Kapil Nagar police station, while Uday Bhute (54) was found dead in a guest house on December 19 under Sonegaon police station jurisdiction.
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A 30-year-old writer tried to sell his old furniture online but was tricked into transferring Rs 40,000 by a fraudster who posed as a potential client. An FIR was registered at Goregaon police station on December 21. The complainant told the police that he had given an advertisement on OLX — an online marketplace — to sell his old bed and cupboard. He received a call from the fraudster who impersonated as a buyer and showed interest in buying the furniture. After bargaining, he had said that he would buy the furniture at Rs 10,000. The fraudster first sent him Rs 5 on an e-wallet and the complainant confirmed that he had received the money.
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Mumbai reported 602 Covid-19 cases on Thursday, the highest one-day count since October 6. Civic officials attribute the rise in cases to rigorous surveillance amid growing concern of the new Omicron variant.
On Thursday, of the 39,423 tests conducted, 602 individuals tested positive, which counts as 1.52 per cent positivity rate. This comes a day after the city recorded 490 Covid-19 cases on December 22 when 45,014 tests were conducted. The previous day, 327 people tested positive and 37,973 tests were conducted.
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A 25-year-old man, who works in a spare part shop, went on a call boy website in the hope of getting a job of a call boy and was tricked into paying Rs 1.54 lakh by two women and a man. The complainant later learnt that it was a phishing website and that he was conned by cyber-fraudsters. An FIR was registered at the Matunga police station on December 22. The complainant told the police that he logged onto the website on his mobile phone on December 5 to get a job as a call boy.
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The state-level Shelter Monitoring Committee for Homeless on Thursday directed the state government to conduct a third-party inspection of all shelters for the homeless to check their facilities. The committee asked the government to submit a report by January 5. The directive came after five persons died in Nagpur, reportedly due to cold, over the last few days. The committee had also sought a report on the Nagpur incidents.
On Thursday, a report from Nagpur Municipal Corporation was submitted to the committee. As per the report, one of the deceased, Ashok Sontakke (53), died in a truck on December 20 under Kapil Nagar police station, while Uday Bhute (54) was found dead in a guest house on December 19 under Sonegaon police station jurisdiction.
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CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), which is undergoing restoration, is ready to shed most of its scaffolding and unveil its newly refurbished building next month.
In January, CSMVS will commence its centenary year, and the Grade I heritage structure’s restoration was timed for this milestone. While the previous restorations focused on parts of the museum, the current project, the most extensive one since the museum opened in 1922, addresses the whole precinct.
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Amid the growing cases of Covid-19 in the state, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with the Covid task force on Thursday to take preventive measures to check the spread. With the coming Christmas and New Year celebrations, Thackeray suggested enforcing stringent guidelines. Restrictions will be imposed on crowd gathering in hotels and restaurants along with weddings and get togethers.
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Amid the growing cases of Covid-19 in the state, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with the Covid task force on Thursday to take preventive measures to check the spread. With the coming Christmas and New Year celebrations, Thackeray suggested enforcing stringent guidelines. Restrictions will be imposed on crowd gathering in hotels and restaurants along with weddings and get togethers.
A member of the Covid task force said that no discussion on lockdown or closure of schools was held in the meeting. “If cases keep increasing, certain curbs on travel and timing might be imposed,” said the officer.
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The Mumbai Crime branch on Wednesday laid a trap and arrested two persons for allegedly manipulating the Co-Win website and procuring vaccination certificates for people who are not vaccinated. The police said the mastermind of the scam is based in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh.
A healthcare worker would insert details of the applicant and obtain the certificate from the Co-Win website, the police said. The scam came to light early this week, when a police informer tipped off the Kurla office of crime branch unit V. Accordingly, a team led by assistant police inspector Amol Mali contacted health workers at the BMC L-ward office.
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Even as researchers are racing to detect Omicron, the latest SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern, by sequencing the genomes of coronaviruses infecting people, experts have raised a red flag as genome sequencing in Maharashtra has dropped by 58.6% since May. Genomic sequencing gives important information about the type of virus, its mutations, mode of attack and transmissibility.
Data shows that the total number of genome tests conducted in November in Maharashtra was nearly 58.6 per cent less than that conducted in May. As per the protocol, genome sequencing tests should be conducted on 5 per cent of total samples that have tested positive for Covid-19.
Read more
Every police station in Mumbai now has a separate mobile number for women to register complaints of harassment. These mobile numbers will be in addition to the general police helpline numbers and are meant to improve police response time in cases of crime against women and give them first priority. This is part of the Nirbhaya initiative started by the police following the Saki Naka rape case in September this year.
Read more
Maharashtra on Thursday became the second state in India after Andhra Pradesh to approve death penalty for heinous offences of rapes and gangrapes, with the Maharashtra Assembly unanimously passing the Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill. The Bill, which aims to curb crime against women and children, provides stricter punishment including death penalty in rape cases.
In December 2019, the Maharashtra government announced it would bring a law on the lines of the Andhra Pradesh’s Disha Act with a provision of death penalty for rape. In December 2020 a draft Bill making changes to existing laws on violence against women and children was presented by the government.
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Maharashtra reported 23 new cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 on Thursday, taking the state’s total case tally to 88, the highest in India. Of the 23 new cases, 13 are from Pune district, including three each from Pune city and Pune Rural, and seven from Pimpri-Chinchwad.
Five new cases were reported from Mumbai, two from Osmanabad, and one each from Thane, Nagpur and Mira- Bhayandar . Till date, a total of 88 Omicron cases have been reported in Maharashtra, said state Surveillance Officer Dr Pradeep Awate. Of these, 16 had international travel history and seven of the patients are their high-risk close contacts.
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The Maharashtra government Thursday announced that it will form a state-level special investigation team (SIT) to probe threats issued to politicians and citizens through social media or other means.
Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil made the announcement during a discussion raised by Shiv Sena legislator Sunil Prabhu on threats to Aaditya Thackeray.
“The sentiments expressed by members in the House and the grievances of different members have been taken into consideration. The safety of the life of a member of the legislature or an ordinary citizen is also equally important. A state-level SIT will be set up to study the issue and a comprehensive policy will be formulated…” said Walse-Patil. Read more
The death of four infants in the last four days at the BMC-run maternity home in Bhandup has triggered a protest by BJP corporators.
According to BMC officials, the infants died at Neo Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Savitribai Jyotiba Phule Maternity Home in Bhandup due to ‘septic shock infection’.
The issue was first raised in the Assembly by former chief minister and Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday. Following this, all BJP corporators held a protest outside the corporation hall in BMC headquarters in CSMT. BJP group leader and corporator Prabhakar Shinde said these deaths were clearly due to negligence of the hospital administration. Read more
A court in Mumbai on Thursday sentenced four men to life imprisonment for murdering a local Shiv Sena leader in suburban Malad in 2014.
Additional sessions judge L S Chavan held Sohail Ansari, Yusufali Wali, Imran Anwar Kazi and Gullu Wali, guilty for the murder of Ramesh Jadhav and pronounced the sentence. However, the court acquitted one Ruksana Kazi of all the charges.
According to police, Sena leader Ramesh Jadhav was stabbed to death with sharp weapons outside his residence by the convict after he intervened and tried to stop them from fighting with another group, which included a woman. The incident took place in October 2014. (PTI)
City police on Thursday recorded the statement of Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut for more than an hour in a case where she is accused of portraying the farmers' protest on Delhi borders as "Khalistani" movement.
The actor arrived at the Khar police station around 11 am and left in the afternoon, an official said.
Police recorded an over one-page-long statement, he added.
Ranaut's lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee said, "The next date before the High Court in our matter is January 25. We are confident that justice will be done."
The members of a Sikh organization had filed a complaint alleging that Ranaut, in an Instagram post, portrayed the farmers' protest against (now repealed) farm laws as a Khalistani movement. (PTI)
The minimum temperature in the city dropped to 17.9 degrees Celsius Thursday morning, the lowest this season so far.
According to the seven-day forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature will remain between 17 and 18 degrees Celsius over the next two days. The night temperature is likely to rise to 19 degrees Celsius after Christmas and stay above normal till the end of the year.
Before Thursday, the lowest minimum temperature was 18.6 degrees Celsius recorded on December 21 and 22. Read more
Mumbai has 602 new Covid-19 infections, with one death in last 24 hours. Maharashtra reported 1,179 new Covid-19 cases, along with 615 recoveries and 17 deaths in last 24 hours.
Two days after eight accused in the Elgaar Parishad case moved the Bombay High Court claiming ‘factual error’ in the December 1 verdict that denied them default bail, the court on Thursday refused to entertain their plea.
“What the applicants are seeking cannot be done through a praecipe for speaking to minutes, but has to be done through the due procedure. So, the present proceeding is disposed of,” stated the court, adding that the applicants can make a plea through due procedure such as review plea, if the same becomes maintainable.
A division bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice N J Jamadar, while granting default bail to accused lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj earlier this month, had rejected the default bail pleas filed on the same ground by Varavara Rao, Sudhir Dhawale, Vernon Gonsalves, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut and Arun Ferreira. Read more
Mumbai on Thursday reported 602 fresh COVID-19 cases and one death, which raised its overall tally to 7,68,750 and fatality count to 16,367, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
A total of 207 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the cumulative recovery figure to 7,46,991. There are 2,813 active cases in the country's financial capital at present, the civic body said in its report.
As 39,423 tests were conducted on Thursday, the overall test count increased to 1,33,31,140, it said. Mumbai's recovery rate is 97 per cent, while the case doubling rate has come down by 200 days to 1,747 days in the past 24 hours, the report said. (PTI)
The increase in commodity prices in the last one-and-a-half years is extremely "disruptive" and requires a lot of efforts to navigate and manage in such times, a senior executive of the diversified Mahindra Group said on Thursday.
The group is into various sectors, including auto, farm equipment and hospitality. Mahindra Group Executive Director (Auto and Farm) Rajesh Jejurikar said organisations need to work around creating resilience in supply chains and building agility and adaptability in the company.
He was attending as the chief guest a virtual session on 'Building Resilience in Supply Chains and Communities' at the POMS India International Conference on Thursday. The three-day conference, which commenced on Wednesday, has been organised by the SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR).
"Commodity prices have hurt us badly. We have in our business seen almost a 17 per cent inflation in commodity prices in the past 18 months. So, it is as significant as it can get. It's never easy because there is clearly a threshold to what customers can bear in our business," Jejurikar said. He stated that the business has not seen this kind of commodity inflation, probably ever. "This kind of an increase in such a short time is extremely disruptive. And, it does take a lot of effort to navigate and manage (the costs)." (PTI)
A departmental inquiry has been ordered against an assistant police inspector of the Vakola police station in Santacruz (east) after a video purportedly showing him assaulting the cashier at a Vakola hotel, for allegedly refusing to serve food and alcohol after midnight, surfaced on social media.
The alleged incident took place at ‘Swagat’ restaurant near the Vakola police station around 12.30 am on Thursday. As per the video captured on the CCTV camera inside the hotel, The officer in question, Vikram Patil, goes up to the cashier, pulls his shirt and slaps him. Read more
Mumbai Police have arrested a man from Bengaluru for allegedly threatening Maharashtra cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray, an official said on Thursday. The accused, identified as Jaisingh Rajput, was apprehended by the Mumbai crime branch's cyber team on Saturday and brought to Mumbai, he said. Aaditya Thackeray is the son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Rajput allegedly called the minister on December 8, but the latter did not receive the call. The accused then sent threatening text messages to the minister, the official said.
Actor Kangana Ranaut appeared before the Mumbai Police on Thursday in connection with an FIR registered against her for a social media post that allegedly linked farmers' protests to a separatist group, her lawyer said. Ranaut reached the Khar police station around 11 am. An FIR was registered there against her last month following a complaint by a Sikh organisation. Her lawyer Rizwan Sidiquee said she reached the police station to record her statement. The police earlier this month issued a notice to her for questioning.
Opposition members walked out of the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Thursday after claiming that a member from the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allegedly referred to farmers as "power stealers."
Later, speaking to reporters in the Vidhan Bhavan premises, Leader of Opposition in the Council Pravin Darekar said they had raised the issue of farmers' electricity connections being disconnected by the state power utility. "We wanted a discussion on the plight of farmers and sought some relief for the farming community. However, a member from the MVA asked what about farmers who steal electricity. Such a question was completely irrelevant as farmers have been severely affected because of various restrictions imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus," the BJP leader said.
Workers of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi were stopped at 10 metres away from the Vidhan Bhavan gate at Nariman Point in South Mumbai. They were protesting to demand reservation for OBCs in local self election.
A Delhi court has directed the CBI to probe the role of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in the alleged leak of the agency's preliminary enquiry (PE) purportedly giving clean chit to him. Special judge Sanjeev Aggarwal said that even though Deshmukh was not arrayed as an accused in the CBI's charge sheet in the matter, he may be the controlling mind of the larger conspiracy since he was the main beneficiary from the leak of the contents of the PE.
The court made the observation on Wednesday while taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed against the CBI's sub-inspector Abhishek Tiwari, Deshmukh's lawyer Anand Daga and the politician's social-media handler Vaibhav Gajendra Tumane for allegedly trying to subvert the Bombay High Court directed preliminary enquiry against the ex-minister.
The Bombay High Court (HC) has allowed the Maharashtra government to enter the 'disputed land' around the 'Jaystambh' at Perne village to make arrangements for the January 1 programme to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima.
As per the order passed by Justice Bharati Dangre on Wednesday, the government has been permitted to enter the 'suit land' to make necessary arrangements for the public to visit the victory pillar (Jaystambh) from December 22 to January 5.
“Upon the expiry of the aforesaid period, the state and its officials shall remove themselves from the site by restoring it to its original position as it stood, when the possession is taken over,” the order stated.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday extended the stay granted on proceedings in a criminal defamation suit filed against Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt, and authors S Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges, in connection with the upcoming Hindi film 'Gangubai Kathiawadi'.
A single bench of Justice SK Shinde extended the interim stay that the HC had granted in August this year. Bhatt and the others had moved the HC against the summons issued against them earlier this year by a magistrate court after one Babuji Shah, who claims to be the adopted son of Gangubai Kathiawadi, alleged some portions of the film were defamatory and tarnished the image of his late mother, a powerful madam from Kamathipura, Mumbai's red light area, during the 1960s.
Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 1,201 new coronavirus cases, a sharp rise of 376 from a day ago, and eight fresh fatalities, the state health department said. With these additions, the state's Covid-19 caseload increased to 66,52,166, while the death toll rose to 1,41,375, the department said in a bulletin. It said the state did not report any fresh case of the Omicron variant of SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. On Tuesday, 11 new Omicron cases were reported in the state, taking the variant tally to 65.