Massive fire breaks out at the Veena Santoor Cooperative Housing Society in Mumbai’s western suburb of Borivali. (ANI)Mumbai News Highlights (October 23): Two people including a minor lost their lives while three others sustained serious burns after a massive fire broke out at the Veena Santoor Cooperative Housing Society in Mumbai’s western suburb of Borivali on Monday. The Mumbai Fire Brigade identified the deceased as Glory Walphati (43) and Josu Gems Robert (8). The three injured people are Lakshmi Bura (40), Rajeshwari Bhartare (24), Ranjan Shah (76).
In comparison to last week, Mumbaikars woke up to slightly better air quality this Monday morning with Air Quality Index (AQI) level at 127 in ‘moderate’ category. On Sunday, all 17 out of 22 air quality monitoring systems in Mumbai showed ‘moderate’ levels, while four pockets recorded ‘poor’ quality. Experts have said that ongoing construction works in the city and vehicular emissions were other key contributors to the current AQI status.
As the deadline of Tuesday (October 24) set for the state government to announce reservation for the Maratha community is set to expire, Manoj Jarange Patil, the Jalna-based activist, who became the face of agitation after he sat on hunger strike last month, has warned of intensifying the stir if the demand is not met by Tuesday. While he has announced that he would start fast-unto-death again, nearly 600 villages with sizeable numbers of Maratha community members have imposed a ban on politicians till the Maratha reservation issue is resolved.
In March this year, the BMC had released Mumbai Air Pollution Mitigation Plan (MAPMP) guidelines that laid down procedures to be followed during construction and other activities that cause dust and pollution. (Express Photo: Amit Chakravarty)
The Bombay High Court on Monday granted permission to Elgaar Parishad case accused Varavara Rao to visit Hyderabad for a week to undergo cataract surgery.
Rao, an octogenarian Telugu poet and activist who was arrested in 2018, had approached the high court with a plea to get cataract surgery done for free in Hyderabad. He had contended that he could not afford the surgery in a private hospital.
The high court said that once Rao returns to Mumbai after the first surgery, he can approach the trial court with the proposed dates of the surgery for the second eye for permission to travel again to Hyderabad.
A division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and S C Chandak passed an order in Rao’s plea which stated that the trial court failed to consider the grounds on which he sought permission and that the surgery was expensive in Mumbai. Rao claimed he was entitled to free medical treatment of up to Rs 2 lakh in Telangana as he is a pensioner. Read More
Maharashtra OBC Mahasangh president Babanrao Taywade said Monday the organisation has adopted the strategy of “wait and watch” while reiterating that there will be no change in its stand on Maratha reservation, for which the state government has been given an October 24 deadline by community leaders.
“The OBC is firm on its decision not to allow Marathas inclusion in the OBC quota. At this moment we are happy with the state government as it has assured us that the OBC quota will not be diluted,” he said.
But he added that the OBCs were closely monitoring the developments in the state. “And we cannot be caught unawares. We have to be ready to act if anything goes wrong,” he said. Read More
A level 1 fire has been reported from the residential Pavan Dham Veena Santur building on Monday. The building is located at Mahavir Nagar (Kandivali West) and the blaze has erupted from the first floor of the nine storeyed building. At present, fire fighting operations are underway.
Five people have been injured in the blaze. They have been sent to Shatabdi Hospital for treatment.
Nearly 17 lakh government and semi-government employees in Maharashtra have decided to hold a "Family March" in every district and tehsil of the state on November 8 to demand restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
Participants of the march, to be taken out with the slogan of 'My Family, My Pension', will reach the offices of district collectors and tehsildars to press for their demand, Vishwas Katkar, convenor of a coordination committee of various organisations of state employees, said on Monday.
The OPS was discontinued in the state in 2005. PTI
Ahead of their scheduled Dussehra rallies on October 24, both factions of Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, have released their teasers wherein they have taken potshots at the rival group.
After the split in Sena last year, engineered by Sena leader Eknath Shinde, two Dussehra rallies are being held in Mumbai by the two factions of Sena. While Uddhav-led Sena’s Dussehra rally will be held at Shivaji Park ground in Dadar, CM Shinde-led Sena’s rally will be held at Azad Maidan ground in South Mumbai.
Through the teasers and the rally, both Sena factions are staking a claim on the legacy of late Sena founder Bal Thackeray. Taking digs at each other through posters, both Sena factions are claiming theirs as the real Dussehra rally which follows the ideology of Bal Thackeray.
Maharashtra's Leader of Opposition in legislative assembly Vijay Wadettiwar alleges that the government's OBC department has only five officials at a time when the total strength is around 370. "This is nothing but the mockery of the cause of the OBCs. While the government makes tall claims about giving benefits worth crores to OBCs, it has no staff to implement schemes," he said.
Chembur had the worse AQI of 200, followed by 190 each in BKC and Borivali, 142 in Colaba, 131 in Malad, 127 in Mazagaon, 110 in Andheri, 106 in Bhandup and 99 in Worli.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and his estranged nephew Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar shared a stage for more than an hour on Sunday but avoided speaking to each other. The Pawars were present at the inauguration of the new building of the Anantrao Pawar English Medium School in a village in Pune district’s Daund taluka.
While Sharad Pawar inaugurated the new building named after Ajit Pawar’s father Anantrao Pawar, Ajit Pawar presided over the event at Swami Chincholi village. Several members of the Pawar family, including Sharad Pawar’s wife Pratibha, daughter Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra, were present at the event.
Read the full report here
Both Sena factions had staked a claim on Shivaji Park for holding their annual Dussehra rallies on October 24, setting the stage for a repeat of last year’s face-off. However, in a surprising move, Shinde last week announced that his party would not stake claim over Shivaji Park and would consider Azad Maidan or Cross Maidan for the rally.
The Bombay High Court recently raised concerns over 379 patients in mental health establishments across Maharashtra, who have not yet been discharged despite being in hospital for more than ten years. The court has asked the review board under the Mental Health Act to take up their cases on priority basis, noting that their continued association with other patients in such establishments may not be a healthy situation for them.
What else did the bench say?
Pune city police Saturday took custody of the chemical expert Arvindkumar Prakashchand Lohare (43), who allegedly conspired with drug racketeer Lalit Patil in Yerwada jail for setting up a Mephedrone factory in Nashik, to probe how he trained the drug racketeers in production of Mephedrone.
Lohare and Lalit (34) are among the 22 arrested by Pimpri Chinchwad police in connection with seizure of 20 kg Mephedrone worth Rs 20 crore from Chakan in October 2020.
Continue reading.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said the state government, led by him and the two deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, is committed to provide reservation to Marathas and implored the community members to keep patience and not take any extreme steps.
Shinde appealed to Marathas to give the government some time and assured them that the state will fulfill the promise of reservation to them.
Here's more on what CM Shinde said.
Thousands, including women and children, offered prayers at the Eidgah Maidan in Pune Camp for the Palestine citizens, in the view of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the ruling militant group from Palestine.
(Express Photo By Pavan Khengre)
Maharashtra State Commission for Women (MSCW) chief Rupali Chakankar demanded police action in a case of alleged stripping of a woman over a land dispute in Beed district.
A complaint has been lodged in this connection against three persons, including the wife of a BJP MLC.
Chakankar in a post on X said the commission will follow it up till the woman gets justice.
“I have come to know about the stripping of a woman over a land dispute in Beed district. I have personally sought details of the incident from the Beed police superintendent. A case is registered against Prajakta Suresh Dhas, Raghu Pawar, and Rahul Jagdale,” she said.
“The incident is outrageous. I have asked the police to take further action immediately,” Chakankar said.
Responding to the case against his wife, MLC Suresh Dhas told reporters, “The complaint is politically motivated. I will give a detailed reaction to it at an appropriate time.” (PTI)
A suburban train in Mumbai uncoupled, but no passenger was hurt in the incident, a Western Railway official said.
A Borivali-bound slow train departed from Churchgate station and uncoupled at Marine Lines around 11.02 am, the Western Railway's chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur said.
Three coaches from the rear end got separated from the rest of the train, he said.
A railway motorman told PTI that the incident might have occurred due to some problem with the coupler that connects coaches.
The Bombay High Court recently asked the Maharashtra government to consider and respond to various suggestions to help create awareness about existing medical boards set up under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 2021.
As per law, medical boards adjudicate upon cases of pregnant women seeking termination of pregnancy above 24 weeks, and whether the reason for seeking such termination is foetal anomalies. Medical boards comprise a gynaecologist, paediatrician, radiologist and other members notified by the state.
The HC order said...
Pimpri-Chinchwad BJP leader Eknath Pawar has resigned from the party in protest against the Maharashtra government’s alleged indecisiveness on the Maratha reservation issue. The BJP said the reason cited by Pawar for leaving the party does not sound convincing.
”I am resigning from the party’s primary membership from today itself. I will join the agitation launched by Manoj Jarange-Patil to get reservations for the Maratha community,” Pawar, a former city unit president, former PCMC Opposition leader and a party spokesperson, said at a press conference in Pimpri Sunday.
What else did Pawar say?
A video of a Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) bus being recklessly driven with passengers inside shouting for help has gone viral on social media. The police have confirmed that the incident happened on Saturday afternoon on Senapati Bapat Road and that the bus driver was arrested.
Read on.
The BMC on Sunday deployed Mist Spray Machine trucks to counter dust Pollution in the city. At present, these trucks have been made operational in south Mumbai locations like, Worli Sea Face, Haji Ali, Peddar Road, Girgaon and Nariman Point. The BMC's move comes two days after Indian Express published it's series 'Death By Breath' highlighting the rising menace of Air pollution in Mumbai.
(Express Photo by Pratip Acharya)
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the annual Dussehra rally held at the Shivaji Park in Mumbai has been a tradition and is a legacy of more than five decades, and claimed it is only a Thackeray who gives the vision and road map for Maharashtra and the country from the venue.
Talking to reporters, Raut further claimed that Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray's speech at the Dussehra rally will be the "beginning of a change" in the state and at the national level in 2024.
The Rajya Sabha termed the Dussehra rally to be organised by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as "duplicate", claiming it is acceptable only to "duplicate people in the BJP". (PTI)
Manoj Jarange Patil, the Jalna-based activist at the forefront of the Maratha community’s agitation for reservation in Maharashtra, reminded Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday that only two days were left for him to keep his word on the issue, prompting the Shinde Sena to say that the state government was committed to ensuring reservation for the community, “but one that will stand the scrutiny of the law”.
Read more.
One person was killed when a Gujarat state transport bus rammed into a crane on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway in Maharashtra's Palghar district on Sunday, police said.
The incident took place at around 3 am when the crane which had hit a road divider on the highway was being reversed, an official from Palghar police station said.
At that time, the bus, belonging to the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation and carrying 35 passengers, rammed into the crane from behind at Dapchari check post on Maharashtra-Gujarat border, he said.
The cleaner of the crane was killed in the accident. The body was sent to a government hospital for postmortem, the police added. (PTI)
Nationalist Congress Party MLA Rohit Pawar on Sunday alleged 26 works at under-construction government hospitals in Maharashtra were lying incomplete due to stoppage of funds by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on the orders of Devendra Fadnavis who wants to "control" his colleague.
These include under construction hospitals in his constituency Karjat-Jamkhed, alleged Pawar, who is part of the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.
"The construction work of government-run hospitals in Karjat and Jamkhed tehsils is partially completed. The work is now stuck because of the lack of funds. Ajit Pawar is finance minister, but BJP leader and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has instructed that funds cannot be released without his permission," he said on X. (PTI)
NCP MP Surpiya Sule told ANI, "Devendra ji (Fadnavis) should apologize... He is confused. I feel bad for him... The GR (Government Resolution) that he read, whose signatures were there in it? ... What was Sharad Pawar's role in that GR? When you make allegations, they should be substantiated. He misled Maharashtra, so he should first apologize..."
All 17 out of 22 air quality monitoring systems in Mumbai showed ‘moderate’ levels of AQI Sunday morning, while four pockets recorded ‘poor’ quality.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Mumbai recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 159, which is ‘moderate’. Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in the western suburbs recorded ‘poor’ AQI of 238 on Sunday morning, followed by 216 in Sion, 212 in Colaba and 211 in Mulund. Worli recorded ‘satisfactory’ AQI of 90.
Meanwhile, the overall AQI at the remaining 17 stations (Kurla, Powai, Vile Parle, Mazagaon, Deonar, Borivali, Malad, Navy Nagar, Andheri, Bhandup, among others) showed average AQI readings between 110 and 170. Read more
A trainer aircraft of a private aviation training company made an emergency landing in a village near Pune district’s Baramati on Sunday morning, injuring the trainee and the instructor, the Pune rural police said. This is the second such incident involving an aircraft from the same company in the last four days, the police added.
The latest incident took place around 6.45 am when the Tecnam aircraft VT-RBT made an emergency landing in Katfal village near Baramati on a field owned by Nandu Bhure.
“Initial information suggests that the trainee pilot, identified as Parvati Vinod Nair, and trainer pilot Ayan Amar Das were in the aircraft. Nair has sustained minor abrasions while Das is unhurt. Both were taken to a hospital in Baramati,” an officer from Pune Rural police said. Read more
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