The personal secretary of former state home minister Anil Deshmukh on Friday approached the Bombay High Court questioning the validity of his arrest and seeking quashing of the complaint filed against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Sanjeev Palande, who was arrested June 26 by the ED – alleging his role in money laundering in connivance with Deshmukh – has questioned the validity of provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act under which he has been booked.
READ | Deshmukh’s secretary moves Bombay HC, questions validity of his arrest by ED
Sixteen people, including students and activists booked for holding a candlelight vigil “to show solidarity” in the aftermath of Delhi riots last year, on Friday moved the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the proceedings against them on grounds of wrong section under the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951 being invoked against them among others. The division bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice N J Jamadar, which is hearing the petition filed through lawyer Anandini Fernandes, asked the state government lawyer to respond to the plea.
READ | Post Delhi riots Booked for candlelight vigil, 16 move Bombay HC seeking quashing of proceedings
An all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday unanimously agreed that local bodies elections due next year could be “deferred for some time” until the State Backward Classes Commission (SBCC) completes the task of collecting empirical data for the purpose of providing OBC quotas. Thackeray said that instructions should be given to the SBCC to collect and prepare data on OBCs in Maharashtra at the earliest, and that the advocate general could provide guidance in this regard.
Mumbai on Saturday reported 416 new COVID-19 cases which took its infection tally to 7,45,850, a civic official said.
Four patients succumbed to the viral infection during the day while 382 people were discharged from hospitals, he said.
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The death toll due to the pandemic in the country's financial capital reached 15,991. As many as 7,23,840 patients - 97 per cent of the caseload - have recovered.
There are 3,561 active cases in the city now. As many as 46 buildings are currently sealed after coronavirus patients were found there.
(PTI)
Mumbai is predicted to witness moderate rains till September 5 and heavy rains between 6 and 8 September, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). For the next 48 hours, the city and suburbs are likely to witness heavy rains in isolated places.
AccuWeather meteorologist Jason Nicholls also predicted that the city will receive rains between Tuesday and Thursday.
Vile Parle police Saturday arrested a 42-year-old man from Pune for allegedly murdering the mother of his ex-wife on Thursday night because she refused to reveal the whereabouts of her daughter who had remarried while he was in jail.
The incident took place around 11.30 pm on Thursday at Pitlewadi on Hanuman Road in Vile Parle (East) where the deceased woman Shamal Shyam Shigam used to live with her daughter Leena.
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Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a fund of Rs 100 crore for Topiwala National Medical College and BYL Nair Hospital in Mumbai on the occasion of its centenary year.
Thackeray made the announcement while virtually attending the civic-run hospital's centenary celebrations.
The chief minister lauded the efforts of the institution in "adapting to modern technology while providing effective health care services".
"The COVID-19 pandemic was unexpected and unprecedented, and doctors are saving the lives of patients selflessly. It is because of them that the pandemic is under control," he said.
(PTI)
A nutrition awareness campaign will be organised among different sections of the society in various places of Mumbai on September 6, Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
Naqvi said the nutrition awareness programmes will be organised at Anjuman-I-Islam Girls School, S V Road, Bazaar Road, Bandra West; Mahatma Gandhi Sewa Mandir Hall, S V Road, Bandra West; Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Near Sion Railway Station and Parzor Foundation's The Dadar Athornan Institute, Firdausi Road, Mancherji Joshi Parsi Colony, Dadar, Mumbai on Monday.
(PTI)
A fire broke out on the top floor of a seven-storey residential building in suburban Borivali and a fireman was injured during the firefighting operation there, an official said.
The blaze erupted in Ganjawala Residency building in Borivali west around 7 am, he said.
"After being informed about the incident, some fire brigade personnel and police staff rushed to the spot and launched the firefighting operation and started rescuing people. Forty-three-year-old fireman, Nathu Sarjerao Badhak, sustained 8 to 12 per cent burn injuries during it," he said, adding that all the residents of the building were safe.
(PTI)
At least 291 out of 4,640 water samples collected in Maharashtra's Raigad district were found to be polluted, an official from the local administration said on Saturday. The water department of the Raigad Zilla Parishad had collected samples from all talukas to keep a check on illnesses caused due to polluted water in the region, the official said. Out of the 4,640 water samples collected by the department, 291 were found to be polluted, he said, adding that the samples were sent to a district-level laboratory and five other taluka-level testing facilities. (PTI)
An explosion in a factory in Tarapur Industrial area in Palghar led to the death of one person and injured 6 other employees working in the unit on Saturday morning. Palghar district Disaster Management Cell chief Vivekanand Kadam confirmed the incident and said that it occurred around 6 am. The unit is said to manufacture textiles.
A 25-year-old trader has filed a First Information Report at Navghar police station in Vasai (East) over being allegedly blackmailed by a woman he was friends with on Facebook. The woman had tricked him into recording an obscene video of his and was using it to extort money.
The complainant said that soon after obtaining his video, the woman, with the help of another person, tried to get money from him by threatening to leak the video on social media. Explaining the incident, he told the police that he has been on Facebook since 2010 and has over 2,000 friends. He had received a friend request from a woman on September 1 and after accepting it, both of them started chatting on the messenger. Read More
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), in its chargesheet that it filed this week in the Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case against the ten accused, has claimed that dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze “wanted to regain his clout” as an ace detective and encounter specialist by coming up with the conspiracy of planting 20 gelatin sticks inside a car parked outside the industrialist’s house. The central probe agency has filed a nearly 9,000-page chargesheet in the case naming Waze as the key conspirator. It has further stated that the vehicle that was used to plant the explosives and the letter was being used by Thane resident Mansukh Hiran, who was murdered on March 4. Read More
Over the last two days, Juhu and Versova, the city’s two most popular beaches were once again covered with sticky black tarballs that also gave off a foul smell.
The BMC removed 18 tonne or 18,000 kg of tar balls from the two beaches on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, the carcass of a finless porpoise covered in oil had also washed ashore on Juhu beach.
On August 6, BMC had removed 6,000 kg of tarballs from Juhu beach alone.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), in its chargesheet that it filed this week in the Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case against the ten accused, has claimed that dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze “wanted to regain his clout” as an ace detective and encounter specialist by coming up with the conspiracy of planting 20 gelatin sticks inside a car parked outside the industrialist’s house.
The central probe agency has filed a nearly 9,000-page chargesheet in the case naming Waze as the key conspirator. It has further stated that the vehicle that was used to plant the explosives and the letter was being used by Thane resident Mansukh Hiran, who was murdered on March 4.
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The Bombay High Court on Friday issued notices to the central and state governments on a petition seeking to include “sale of books” as essential services under the Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1968.
The division bench of Justice K K Tated and P K Chavan asked the central government through the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and the state government through its chief secretary to file their replies to the petition filed by Marathi Prakashak Parishad, an organisation of Marathi book publishers.
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Lockdown would not be imposed in Maharashtra in coming days, health minister Rajesh Tope said on Friday.
"There is no possibility of fresh lockdown in the near future. I appeal people to avoid crowding while celebrating the Ganesh festival. The celebration should be simple," he told reporters in Mumbai.
"The government has been issuing various guidelines and they should be followed all the time," he added.
Maharashtra reported 4,313 new Covid-19 cases and 92 deaths on Friday. (PTI)
Mumbai, on Friday, reported 422 new Covid-19 cases and three related deaths. This is the third straight day that the city has been reporting over 400 Covid-19 cases. The cumulative count now stands at 7,45,434, while the death toll has gone up to 15,987. Mumbai currently has 3,532 active Covid-19 cases after 303 patients recovered on Friday, pushing the cumulative count of recovered patients to 7,23,458.
With low-pressure areas likely to form over the Bay of Bengal, rainfall activity is likely to increase in Mumbai and neighbouring areas.
As per the district forecast and warning, Mumbai, Thane and Palghar are under yellow alert with forecast of heavy rain at isolated places likely on September 5.
In the south Konkan region of Raigad, Ratnagiri is under orange alert with warning of heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places on September 5.
“The monsoon trough is very likely to shift with the likely formation of a low-pressure area over north and adjoining central Bay of Bengal around September 6. Under the influence isolated very heavy falls are very likely over Marathwada and Konkan September 6 and 7 and over the ghat area of Madhya Maharashtra on September 7,” said IMD in its afternoon bulletin on Friday.
Two people were arrested for allegedly killing a Navi Mumbai resident and dumping his body in Vitthalwadi in Thane district, police said.
The body of a man was found in a lake near a crematorium on August 30 and a probe that followed found the deceased was Chandrakant Shelar (35) from Rabale in Navi Mumbai, a Vitthalwadi police station official said.
"We have arrested Sajan Kamble (26) from Ghansoli and Divine Gonsalves from Worli in Mumbai. Their interrogation is underway," he added.
(PTI)
The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) recently recieved two bids for its project to build a 7.2 km ropeway system, which aims to provide direct connectivity for residents of Gorai and Marve to Metro Line 2A between Dahisar(W) and Andheri(W), said MMRDA metropolitan commissioner DVR Shrinivas.
According to MMRDA officials, the aerial transport system was considered faster than the ferry system, which is currently in operation on this stretch. The MMRDA's plan was to connect the Charkop Metro station with Marve village and Mahavir Nagar Metro station with Gorai pagoda and village.
The Sahar police arrested two students from Tamil Nadu at the CSMT International Airport for carrying three 9 mm bullets as souvenirs in their bags while they were on their way back home after landing at the airport from USA.
The arrested accused are Praveen Kanakraja, 22, from Theni in Tamil Nadu and Sibu Sadasivam, 22, from Coimbatore rural. The two were studying business administration at a university in the USA and during their stay there had visited one Open Pay Firing club to learn shooting. At the time they took three bullets as souvenirs.
They were arrested and produced before a magistrate court and the police requested for their four days custody. The court sent them to police custody till September 6 for further probe.
To reduce crowding at Girgaum Chowpatty in South Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will allot time slots for immersion of idols. Girgaum Chowpatty is one of the major spots for immersion of popular idols like Lalbaugcha Raja, Ganesh Gully and others.
The 10-day Ganpati festival will begin this year from September 10. The idol immersion is conducted on the second, fifth and eleventh day of the festival, with the highest number of immersions on the last day of the festival.
The civic body this year will send QR codes as confirmation of time slots allotted to individuals or mandals for immersion through its mobile application. Currently, the online booking for immersions is only planned for Girgaum Chowpatty.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a charge sheet against dismissed police officer Sachin Waze and other accused in Antilia bomb scare-Mansukh Hiran murder case.
The central probe agency filed the charge sheet before a court. Besides Waze, former ''encounter specialist'' Pradeep Sharma and a few other former police personnel are also accused in the case.
The agency filed the charge sheet two days before the end of the 30-day extension granted to it by the court last month to complete the process, a defence lawyer said.
(PTI)
The Mumbai police, investigating a series of chain snatching incidents that took place on Rakshabandhan, arrested two persons in connection with the case.
Since women step out wearing jewellery on that day, generally there is a spike in chain snatching cases that have otherwise gone down in the city.
An officer from Pant Nagar police station in Ghatkopar said that there had been three cases of chain snatching registered under their jurisdiction.
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A 50-year-old man died, while two women were injured when a portion of a shanty collapsed on them in Bhiwandi town of Maharashtra's Thane district on Friday, a civic official said.
The incident took place around 10 am at Ajmi Nagar, where a part of the balcony of a ground-plus-one structure collapsed, said Santosh Kadam, the chief of the Thane Municipal Corporation's regional disaster management cell.
The victim identified as Rajak died on the spot, while two unidentified women sustained injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital, the official said.
Teams from the local police, fire brigade and disaster management cell rushed to the scene for rescue and relief operations, he said. The authorities have razed the remaining portion of the balcony, which was in a precarious condition, the official added. (PTI)
The Bombay High Court on Friday granted two weeks' time to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file its reply on the petitions of activists Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha, both accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, seeking clone copies of all the electronic devices seized from them by the central agency.
Bharadwaj and Navlakha had approached the high court last month seeking such copies. On August 20, the high court had directed the NIA to file its reply over it.
On Friday, however, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh told a bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar that the NIA's reply was 'almost ready' and sought an additional two weeks' time to file it.
The bench granted the central agency additional time after Singh said that it will continue with its oral statement made on the last date that charges in the Elgar Parishad-Maoists links case will not be framed before the special NIA court in the city until the next date before the high court on the above pleas. (PTI)
The Bombay High Court on Friday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit its affidavit on a petition filed by Sanjeev Palande, an arrested aide of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, that seeks to quash the money laundering case lodged by the agency.
Palande, an additional collector-rank official who was working as Deshmukh's personal secretary, was arrested by the ED on June 26 in the money laundering case. He is presently in judicial custody. In his petition filed earlier this week, Palande sought that the case be quashed. He also challenged the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), under which he has been booked.
The petition said that the FIR registered by the ED was 'politically motivated' and that the whole case is based on the vague allegations made by dismissed cop Sachin Waze, who has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), a central agency.
Palande further alleged that he has been booked and arrested only "with an intention to create false evidence against the former home minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh and to disrupt the stability of the state of Maharashtra."
When the plea came up for hearing on Friday before a division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar, additional solicitor general Anil Singh, appearing for the ED, sought time to respond to the plea. The court asked the agency to file its affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing on September 28. (PTI)
The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) has received two bids for its project to build a 7.2-kilometre-long ropeway to connect residents of Gorai and Marve to Metro Line 2A that runs between Dahisar (W) to Andheri (W).
In March 2020, a Request for Proposal for Implementation of the ropeway corridor from Mahavir Nagar Metro Station (Link Road) to Pagoda to Gorai Village was floated.
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A court in Maharashtra's Thane has acquitted two shopkeepers in Navi Mumbai, who were accused of assaulting local civic officials in 2016 and deterring them from discharging duty.
District judge P M Gupta, in the order passed last week that was made available on Friday, said the prosecution has failed to prove the charges against the accused duo - Bhagwan Pandurang Dhakne and Balchandra Sopan Nalawade - who run shops in Haware Centurion Mall in Nerul.
The accused were booked under IPC sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 34 (common intention).
Additional public prosecutor S M Dandekar told the court that some shopkeepers in the Nerul-based mall, including the two accused, had made unauthorised constructions in their shops, which were not removed despite the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) issuing notices to them. (PTI)
A 65-year-old woman was duped of Rs 5 lakh by a cyber fraudster who impersonated an executive from her mobile network service provider and tricked her into revealing her bank details on the pretext of updating her Know Your Customer (KYC) form. The senior citizen learnt about the fraud two days later when she went to her bank to update her bank statement.
The woman, a resident of Grant Road (east), approached the DB marg police on September 1 after which an FIR was registered against an unknown person. The woman told police that she received a fraud message on August 29 on her mobile phone purportedly sent by MTNL asking her to update her KYC form failing which her mobile number will be blocked. The message had a mobile number and the woman called on the number.
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The Mumbai Police crime branch has arrested one person for alleged involvement in manufacturing duplicate toners used in printing and passing them off as those manufactured by well known companies.
The police found that the group was involved in selling duplicate toners through e-commerce portals to other countries like Japan, Germany, Belguim, Spain and England. An officer from Unit X of the crime branch said that based on a tip off, they raided a godown in Goregaon on Wednesday and found duplicates of toners manufactured by HP and Cannon.
The total value of the duplicate toners seized was Rs 2.69 crore. An FIR was registered against the person at the godown, identified as Vipul Sandha (32), and he was placed under arrest.
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Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, during a press conference in Mumbai said that the Congress only sold only non core assests and said, "Our critriera was that core and strategic asssets would never be sold and loss making assets would be sold and units with miniscule market share were sold. But in the case of this government they are selling everything. There is no criteria on how this government is selecting assets that it is planing to sell. This government is planing to seel Konkan railway, Delhi Mumbai freight corridor is also going to be sold."
Senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram is currently addressing a press conference in mumbai.
'The Union Government is planning to dispose off assets built over 70 years. They call it monetisation, but the govt is selling off the countries assests,' he said. Asset stripping is a word in economics and that is what is happening here, he added.
The Indian Railways will be running eight special air-conditioned trains for Mumbaikars travelling to the Konkan region for the Ganesh festival.
The special air condition train service will be between Mumbai and Kudal in Sindhudurg district. Every year, thousands travel from Mumbai and its suburbs to the Konkan areas during the ten days of the festival. Ganesh festival celebrations will start from September 10.
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Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday stressed the need for a time-bound action plan to ensure tap water connection to every rural household by 2024.
He was speaking at a review meeting of the Jal Jeevan Mission, under which the state government is aiming to provide more than 1.42 crore water connections in rural areas by 2024, of which 65 per cent target has been achieved.
The Jal Jeevan Mission, a central scheme, aims to provide tap water connections to every rural household in the country by 2024.
Thackeray said his government will not let the water scheme suffer due to paucity of funds. Adequate financial assistance would be provided from time to time, he said. Thackeray directed the administration to provide adequate human resources for implementing the scheme and said the chief secretary should take regular updates on its progress.
Under the mission, Maharashtra has received Rs 7,064 crore from the Centre and the state government will contribute an equal amount. 'We will have a total of Rs 14,128 crore for implementing the water scheme,' he said. The target for Maharashtra is 1,42,36,000 tap water connections and till August 31, 65 per cent goal has been achieved, the CM said. (PTI)
A senior citizen who was employed with a central government service was cheated of Rs 1.14 crore by cyber criminals earlier this week. The fraudsters asked him to pay Rs 4.5 lakh to gain access to his insurance money but ended up defrauding him, police said.
The complainant, S Prasad, a Trombay resident, approached the East Region cyber police on Tuesday. An FIR has been registered against nine people who the police suspect are from outside the state.
According to the police, Prasad received a call on Monday from a person who claimed to be from the Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme (CGEGIS).
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The state government has directed district collectors to start the process of panchanamas of kharif crops damaged by heavy rainfall in eight districts of Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Thursday.
All guardian ministers have been told to visit their respective districts to review the situation, following heavy rain and thunder in Marathwada.
Pawar said, “The entire Marathwada region has received heavy rain. Preliminary reports show it has caused damage to kharif crop. It has also adversely damaged agricultural land. The state government has ordered district collectors to do panchanamas to ascertain the damage.”
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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will on Friday inaugurate one of the first small-scale and localised waste-to-energy plants near Haji Ali. It can process 2 metric tonnes or 2,000 kg of wet waste per day.
The plant, developed on an abandoned plot at Keshvrao Khade road near Haji Ali circle spread over 2,000 square feet, can generate 80 to 110 cubic meters of gas per day and 125 to 250 units of electricity per metric tonne of waste. Biodegradable kitchen waste like fruit/vegetable peels, tea leaves, coffee powder, egg shells, meat and bones, food scraps, leaves and flowers, which can be composted, is categorised as wet waste.
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The Maharashtra excise department has seized Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) worth around Rs 8 lakh in Palghar district of the state when it was allegedly being smuggled via Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, and arrested one person in this connection, an official said on Friday.
The action was taken on Thursday at a checkpoint at Dubalpada hamlet near Talasari, the official of the department's Palghar division said.
"A stock of 1,488 IMFL bottles of different brands and beer tins was seized from a vehicle that was going towards Mumbai. It was found that there was no permission to sell this stock in Maharashtra," he said. The vehicle was seized and its 19-year-old driver, identified as Vishal Dubla, was arrested, the official said.
An offence was registered under the Maharashtra Prohibition Act against the accused at Talasari police station in Palghar, he said, adding that the officials are trying to find out the source of the liquor and to whom it was meant to be delivered. (PTI)
The Maharashtra government has paid over Rs 14,500 crore since 2019 as compensation to families who had incurred losses due to extreme events triggered by climate change, like extreme and unseasonal rainfall, floods, cyclones and drought.
The environment department on Wednesday tabled the presentation in the state cabinet highlighting the need for a climate action plan. “Coupled impacts of climate change and overexploitation of existing water resources are worsening the situation,” stated the presentation.
Since 2019, the state government has paid Rs 14,529.5 crore in compensation.
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The Bombay High Court on Thursday said that it would consider the plea of a terminally ill accused in the Gadchiroli IED blast case seeking palliative care at a hospice, noting that she “needed a person to attend to her”, but asked why an application for bail was not filed in her case.
The division bench of Justice S S Shinde and N J Jamadar heard a petition filed on behalf of Nirmala Uppuganti, who is suffering from breast cancer, seeking to be shifted to a hospice from Byculla women’s jail where she is lodged. Uppuganti’s lawyer, Payoshi Roy, told the court that while she had contemplated filing for bail, the 59-year-old does not have any family members outside the prison and hence it would be difficult for her to manage on her own even if granted bail. Uppuganti’s husband, also an accused in the case, is in judicial custody. Roy told the court that this was the reason that the petitioner sought being shifted to a hospice cancer care centre where “she can be attended to in her final days”.
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In a bid to increase the number of fully vaccinated citizens in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has planned a special drive on Saturday for those eligible for a second dose.On September 4, over 300 civic and government-run centres will only administer a second dose.
“The state and the civic-run centres will not administer the first dose of vaccine on September 4,” said the civic body.
This follows guidelines issued by the state government last month that fully vaccinated citizens who have completed 14 days after receiving the second dose will be allowed to travel in Mumbai suburban local trains from August 15 and enter malls.
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The Maharashtra government has paid over Rs 14,500 crore since 2019 as compensation to families who had incurred losses due to extreme events triggered by climate change, like extreme and unseasonal rainfall, floods, cyclones and drought.
The environment department on Wednesday tabled the presentation in the state cabinet highlighting the need for a climate action plan. “Coupled impacts of climate change and overexploitation of existing water resources are worsening the situation,” stated the presentation.
Since 2019, the state government has paid Rs 14,529.5 crore in compensation.
Read more
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched a special project to find cases of latent tuberculosis (TB) infection in the city, it said on Thursday.
Relatives and others who come in close contact with active TB patients would be screened during the campaign, the civic body said in a release.
TB germs remain dormant or `latent' in the bodies of some people and they do not show symptoms immediately. But such persons are more likely to develop 'active tuberculosis' in future, the release said.
The project will help achieve the Union government's ambitious target of making the country tuberculosis-free by 2025, it said.
Share India, an NGO, is going to set up a laboratory at the civic-run KEM Hospital for 'Interferon Gamma Release Assay' test for detecting tuberculosis, the release added. (PTI)
In a move towards resolving the long-pending impasse with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on nominations to the Legislative Council, the delegation led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to Raj Bhavan on Wednesday submitted a letter dropping one name from the previous list and recommending a new name in its place.
With this, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government hopes to complete the nomination process to fill 12 vacancies in the Legislative Council, the upper house of the state Assembly.
Sources in the government said that Raju Shetti has been dropped from the list. He was an NCP nominee. The party has recommended a new name.
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A new variant of coronavirus - C.1.2 - which has been detected in South Africa and some other countries, could be more infectious than earlier strains and may evade vaccines, said an infectious diseases consultant who is also a member of the Maharashtra COVID-19 task force on Thursday.
Dr Vasant Nagvekar, an infectious diseases consultant with a Mumbai hospital and a member of the government task force on COVID-19, said the new variant also has mutation rate that is nearly 'twice as fast' as the rate of other variants.
It requires more detailed study as we know very little about it, he said.
"A new SARS-CoV-2 variant, C.1.2, just identified in South Africa and other countries with concerns that it could be more infectious and evade vaccines. What sets this variant apart is the speed at which it is mutating. This variant is changing and mutating at a rapid rate which are seen in many variants of concern and variants of interest," he said in a statement. (PTI)
The Bombay High Court on Thursday said that it would consider the plea of a terminally ill accused in the Gadchiroli IED blast case seeking palliative care at a hospice, noting that she “needed a person to attend to her”, but asked why an application for bail was not filed in her case.
The division bench of Justice S S Shinde and N J Jamadar heard a petition filed on behalf of Nirmala Uppuganti, who is suffering from breast cancer, seeking to be shifted to a hospice from Byculla women’s jail where she is lodged. Uppuganti’s lawyer, Payoshi Roy, told the court that while she had contemplated filing for bail, the 59-year-old does not have any family members outside the prison and hence it would be difficult for her to manage on her own even if granted bail. Uppuganti’s husband, also an accused in the case, is in judicial custody. Roy told the court that this was the reason that the petitioner sought being shifted to a hospice cancer care centre where “she can be attended to in her final days”.
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Mumbai Thursday reported 441 new Covid-19 cases, the second straight day of reporting more than 400 infections. The city reported three deaths taking the total fatalities to 15,984. Over 200 patients recovered from the infection. The total tally of Covid-19 cases in the financial capital of the country stands at 7,45,012.
In a bid to increase the number of fully vaccinated citizens in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has planned a special drive on Saturday for those eligible for a second dose.
On September 4, over 300 civic and government-run centres will only administer a second dose. “The state and the civic-run centres will not administer the first dose of vaccine on September 4,” said the civic body.
This follows guidelines issued by the state government last month that fully vaccinated citizens who have completed 14 days after receiving the second dose will be allowed to travel in Mumbai suburban local trains from August 15 and enter malls. There have been demands from several quarters for consistent free vaccination drives in the city, which is battling a short supply of vaccines.
The 2.9-km Ghatkopar Mankhurd Link Road Flyover, which is Mumbai’s costliest flyover so far, had to be partially shut down a month after it was thrown open to the public.
Its excessively slippery roads have led to a number of bikes skidding on the surface, which led to one person losing his life this week.
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Mumbai traffic police have put into effect road diversions in Dadar for six months to facilitate the construction of the underground Dadar metro station.
Traffic between Anna Tipnis Chowk (Steelman Junction) and Gadkari Chowk will be affected and the regulations will be in effect from August 31 to February 27, 2022.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will on Friday inaugurate one of the first small-scale and localised waste-to-energy plants near Haji Ali. It can process 2 metric tonnes or 2,000 kg of wet waste per day.
The plant, developed on an abandoned plot at Keshvrao Khade road near Haji Ali circle spread over 2,000 square feet, can generate 80 to 110 cubic meters of gas per day and 125 to 250 units of electricity per metric tonne of waste. Biodegradable kitchen waste like fruit/vegetable peels, tea leaves, coffee powder, egg shells, meat and bones, food scraps, leaves and flowers, which can be composted, is categorised as wet waste.
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The CBI told the Bombay High Court that it has received documents from Maharashtra government in connection with its investigation into allegations of corruption against former state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh as assured by the state government.
The CBI had sought from the state various documents including a letter/report by senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla regarding alleged corruption in transfers and postings of police officers.
A division bench of Justice SS Shinde and Justice NJ Jamadar was hearing an application filed by the CBI seeking documents pertaining to the FIR lodged against Deshmukh and others, stating that the state government was not cooperating in handing over documents.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has made RT-PCR tests mandatory for international passengers arriving at the city airport from September 3 after the discovery of a new strain of the coronavirus - C.1.2.
"RT-PCR test mandatory for international passengers arriving at Mumbai Airport from UK, Europe, Middle East, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe upon arrival at the airport at their own cost, in wake of the discovery of a new strain of Covid-19," the BMC said in a statement.
The new Covid variant C.1.2, which was first reported in South Africa, has not been found in India so far, government sources told ANI.
An average of 30 lakh people traveled in the Mumbai local trains per day in August. The daily number of passengers rose after the Maharashtra government reopened local train services to fully vaccinated commuters in the middle of the month.
On August 18, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had announced the reopening of train services from August 15 for people who have been fully vaccinated and completed 14 days after receiving the second dose of an anti-Covid vaccine.
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Activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case and currently lodged in Taloja prison, moved the Bombay High Court on Thursday seeking that he be placed under house arrest as part of his judicial custody, owing to his advanced age and medical ailments.
In his plea, Navlakha, 69, also sought that the HC direct authorities of the Taloja prison in neighbouring Navi Mumbai to get him medically examined for a lump developed in his chest.
His counsels, Yug Chaudhry and Payoshi Roy, told a bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar that Navlakha wished to be examined medically to rule out 'cancer'.
In his plea, Navlakha cited the Supreme Court's order issued in May this year, whereby the apex court had dismissed his default bail plea, but found merit in treating house arrests as an alternative form of detention, especially for such undertrials who are aged or suffering from serious medical ailments. (PTI)
Actor Armaan Kohli, who was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) with one gram of cocaine from his Andheri residence, was sent to 14-day judicial custody by an NDPS court Wednesday.
Kohli was sent to judicial custody after the NCB did not seek his remand, following which, the actor moved a bail application.
The NCB will now clarify in their chargesheet if Kohli will be charged for consumption or for being a part of a drug supply network.
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The Mulund police are in the lookout of unknown people who have allegedly stolen case papers from the storeroom of the Metropolitan Magistrate court in Mulund.
A case has been registered at Mulund police station by a court staff identified as Prasad Sawant. In his statement to the police, he said that on Monday, a lawyer, who had filed an application seeking a copy of the document of a court case, had come to him and inquired about it.
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Maharashtra cabinet minister Jitendra Awhad has said citizens are equally to be blamed for the menace of illegal hawking in Thane city and the civic body cannot be held responsible for everything.
He was talking to reporters on Wednesday night after visiting a hospital here to meet Thane civic official Kalpita Pimple, who lost three of her fingers and received head injuries when a hawker stabbed her with a knife at the Kasarvadavali junction during an anti-encroachment drive on Monday.
Terming the incident as 'unfortunate', Awhad said people raise concerns over illegal hawkers, but at the same time queue up to make purchases from them. People need to follow rules to ensure a safe society, he added. (PTI)
Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh has approached the Bombay High Court seeking to quash summons issued by Enforcement Directorate (ED) to appear before it in connection with a money-laundering and corruption case.
While the plea was listed for hearing before the single-judge bench of Justice Revati Mohite- Dere on Thursday, the judge recused and asked the petitioner to approach an alternate bench.
The ED has issued at least five summons so far to Deshmukh and had asked him to appear before it. Deshmukh, however, has not complied with any of them.
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Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday claimed discussions were good between Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari and a delegation led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over the state cabinet's request for the approval of 12 names as MLCs, and Koshyari should show his 'positive' intentions through his actions.
Chief Minister Thackeray and senior ministers met Koshyari at the Raj Bhavan here on Wednesday and requested him to approve the 12 names sent by the state cabinet last year to be nominated as MLCs from the governor's quota without further delay.
"We expect the governor to take a decision soon on approving the 12 names for nomination to the Legislative Council, as recommended by the cabinet. He said he is positive about it. He should show that through his actions," Raut told reporters here.
He said CM Thackeray, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and state Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat came out of the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday with a 'positive energy'. (PTI)
The property tax collection by the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) from April to August this year has gone up by 46 per cent as compared to the same period last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the civic said on Thursday.
In the last five months, the civic body here in Maharashtra collected property taxes worth Rs 160.64 crore as against Rs 110.22 crore in the same period last year, KDMC Commissioner Dr Vijay Suryavanshi said in a release.
There has been an extensive use of the digital platform which helped in increasing the revenue collection, he said. He also appealed to citizens to make maximum use of the digital platform for the payment of taxes to the corporation. (PTI)