MSEDCL employees’ 3 days protest against privatization is in progress at MSEDCL office at Rastapeth on Wednesday. Express photograph by Rajesh Stephan. 04/01/2023, PunePune News Highlights, 4 January 2023: The 72-hour long strike by workers of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited’s unions was called off following assurance by the Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on meeting their demands. Ishwar Wable, Secretary of Maharashtra Electricity Workers Federation said that Fadnavis has ruled out any move towards privatisation. The Maharashtra State Electricity Workers’ Federation had called a three-day strike from Tuesday midnight to oppose privatisation and the entry of Adani Transmission Ltd in power distribution. There are 32 lakh consumers in Pune zone of MSEDCL and according to an officialspokesperson, measures have been taken to ensure smooth power supply to consumers.
In other news, after multiple incidents of miscreants attacking and terrorising people with sharp machetes also known as koytas were reported in Pune, the Crime Branch of Police Tuesday said it will take stringent action against these criminal groups – known locally as koyta gangs. The issue was raised by Opposition leader Ajit Pawar in the Assembly recently.
The Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) dates have finally been announced. The fest will be held between February 2 and 9. The 21st PIFF, jointly organised by the Pune Film Foundation and the Government of Maharashtra, will be held at three venues in the city. PIFF was supposed to be held in the first week of January and the organisers have now clarified that it was postponed as the dates clashed with a scheduled G20 meet in the city and the state government had requested that the film festival be postponed.
Ravindra Ghenand’s wife Meena and son Nikhil sit next to his photo at their home in Dhanore. (Express Photo by Pavan Khengre)
Maharashtra on Wednesday logged 16 new COVID-19 cases, taking the overall tally to 81,36,725, while no fresh death linked to the infection was registered in the state, said the health department. The coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,417. On Tuesday, Maharashtra had reported 22 COVID-19 cases and zero fatality.
The Pune administrative circle logged the highest cases at seven, followed by five in Mumbai, two in Akola, one each in Nashik and Nagpur circles, said the department in a bulletin. An administrative circle consists of multiple districts and Maharashtra has eight such circles. (PTI)
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar, MP Supriya Sule, MLA Dilip Walse Patil, MP Sreenivas Patil, MLA Chetan Tupe and Prashant Jagtap participate in the ‘Jan Jagar Yatra’ organised by 'Rashtravadi Mahila Congress' (Nationalist Women’s Congress) against inflation.
Solapur-based Precision Camshafts Limited (PCL) will soon introduce retrofitted light commercial vehicles on electric drive trains for on-road testing. Yatin Shah, chairman and managing director of the company, while speaking to The Indian Express, said the on-road testing would help them collect crucial information before the company starts the commercial launch of such vehicles.
Retrofitting of old diesel vehicles to convert them into electric vehicles (EV), although quite common, is yet to become mainstream in India. Karan Shan, executive director of the company, pointed out PCL’s acquisition of the Netherlands-based EMOSS which allowed them access to niche technology which allows for retrofitting. Read more
Many industries in Bhosari’s S block and J block have received intimation that power supply might be disconnected after evening. Power outage is also being reported in Dehu Road and other areas.
Eminent paediatrician and neonatologist at KEM Hospital, Pune, Dr Sudha Chaudhuri was conferred with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the 41st Annual Convention of the National Neonatology Forum recently organised in Kolkata.
NNF National Neonatology Forum is the apex body of neonatologists and related professionals and is actively involved in advocacy, policy making, research and improving the quality of neonatal health care practices. Read more
Riteish Deshmukh’s directorial venture Ved is showing strong performance at the box office. Film trade observers say the film has earned Rs 13.02 crore in the first four days of its release, which is being seen as a great performance for a Marathi film. The audience also seems to be appreciating Genelia D’Souza’s first performance in a Marathi film. Read more
A 35-year-old school teacher died Tuesday evening after he fell from a cliff while taking a selfie in Varandha Ghat in Pune district, Maharashtra, the Pune Rural Police said. Following a search operation that lasted throughout the night, a team of trekkers recovered his body early on Wednesday.
The police have identified the deceased as Abdul Shaikh, a resident of Nasrapur town in Bhor taluka of the Pune district. He was a teacher at a school in Mandangad taluka of Ratnagiri district. Read more
Around 700 industrial units in Bhosari’s J block and sector 7 are without electric supply since morning.
Abhay Bhor, President of Forum of Small Scale Industries, said supply is down in Yamunanagar Nigdi and other areas. “The government’s claim to be prepared has collapsed. There is just a single officer in PCMC area who is in his office. Ground staff is no where to be seen,” he added.
Power outage in Salunke Vihar since 1.30 pm. An MSEDCL official said that the there was shortage of staff due to the strike and the power outage will be addressed in one or two hours.
Over 1,200 industrial units in Bhosari, Pimpri and Chakan area were without electricity for four hours. Sandeep Belsare, president of the Pimpri Chinchwad Small and Medium Scale Industries Association said their work had stopped from 8 am to 12.15 pm. "The senior officials of MSEDCL had assured there would be no outage but yet there was no supply for four days. If this is the trend for the remaining two days it would be difficult for us to function," he said.
At Bhosari MIDC around 1000 industrial firms suffering power cuts . In Katraj, Sinhagad road Wakad and Vishrantwadi civic areas are facing power cuts.
There is no power a t Sinhagad road, manikbaug areas since 3 am due to technical glitches. MSEDCL team is rectifying the fault.
The Pune zone of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd has undertaken emergency measures on a war-footing to ensure smooth and uninterrupted power supply in view of workers of MSEDCL unions calling a 72-hour strike post midnight on Tuesday. The Maharashtra State Electricity Workers’ Federation has called a three-day strike from Tuesday midnight to oppose privatisation and the entry of Adani Transmission Ltd in power distribution.
Jalna district police and Nagpur city police in Maharashtra have bagged the 'Best Police Unit' awards for 2021 in the state under different classes for maintaining law and order, use of modern technology, evolving community policing and administration.
The Jalna police got the award in 'Class A' and the Nagpur police in 'Class B', as per the winners announced on Tuesday by Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Kulwant Sarangal.
Police units with less than 6,100 Indian Penal Code cases are grouped in 'Class A', while those with more than 6,100 IPC cases are grouped in 'Class B', according to a police circular. (PTI)
Two youngsters, including a minor boy, allegedly murdered a woman at the Kondhwa area in Pune, Maharashtra, on January 1 following a quarrel that broke out after she demanded liquor from them, the police said.
Acting on a tip-off, the police nabbed two youngsters, including 20-year-old Jaid Shaikh of Shivneri Nagar, Kondhwa, and a minor boy on Monday. The police said that attempts are on to identify the woman. Read more
A man was allegedly cheated of Rs 11.25 lakh through an online offer of a "work from home" job in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Wednesday.
The police have arrested one person in this connection.
The victim had come across an advertisement on a social media platform about such a job offer.
He was directed to a link on an online messaging service where he was asked to make certain payments for the job offer and have a good income, a police release said.
The victim made payments worth Rs 11.25 lakh from time-to-time, it said.
When he did not get the job as promised, he lodged a police complaint on Monday. (PTI)
Thousands of employees of three state-owned power companies went on a 72-hour strike on Wednesday to protest against the privatisation of power firms even as the government invoked the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA), a leader from the employees' union said.
The government has asked the officials concerned to take all necessary steps to ensure normal supply of electricity in the state.
Thousands of employees of the three companies were participating in the strike which started from midnight, Krushna Bhoir, general secretary of the Maharashtra State Electricity Workers' Federation, told PTI.
The protest was going on peacefully across the state, he said, adding the protesting employees were sitting in pandals erected outside their establishments.
Bhoir said the state government has called them for a meeting and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will meet members of the action committee of the employee unions at the Sahyadri Guest House here at around 1 pm. (PTI)
The Anti Narcotics Cell of the Pune city police has arrested two suspects in their early 20s and seized 1.88 kg of charas worth Rs 16.3 lakh from them. They had smuggled it to Pune to be sold to peddlers in the city, the police said.
A team from the Anti Narcotics Cell of the Pune city police's crime branch was working on a specific input that some suspects were moving a large quantity of contraband drugs in the Tadiwala Road area. A trap was laid following the tip-off and two people who were riding a high-end sports bike were intercepted Monday. In their subsequent search, the police recovered the drugs. Read more
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said it was not wrong to think of the 17th century ruler Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj either as a saviour of religion or the protector of `Swarajya', the independent Maratha state founded by his father.
Controversy broke last month when Pawar's nephew and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar said in the Maharashtra Assembly that Sambhaji, the eldest son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was `Swarajya-rakshak' and not "Dharmaveer" (protector of religion) as portrayed by some right-wing Hindu groups. (PTI)
After multiple incidents of miscreants attacking and terrorising people with sharp machetes also known as koytas were reported in Pune, the Crime Branch of Police Tuesday said it will take stringent action against these criminal groups – known locally as koyta gangs. The issue was raised by Opposition leader Ajit Pawar in the Assembly recently.
Over the last few weeks, multiple incidents have been reported in Pune and its outskirts including in areas like Manjari, Bhekrai Nagar, Ambegaon Budruk, and Nana Peth in which gangs of miscreants, most of them youths, have terrorised people using sharp machetes. These gangs have gone on a rampage, vandalised properties and attacked people. Read more
The 21st Pune International Film Festival (PIFF), jointly organised by the Pune Film Foundation and the Government of Maharashtra, will be held between February 2 and 9, at three venues in the city.
The festival was to be held in the second week of January but was postponed earlier. The organisers have now clarified that the postponement was done as the dates clashed with a scheduled G20 meet in the city and the state government had requested that the film festival be postponed. Read more
Diamond and gold ornaments, and cash, including euros, worth over Rs 41 lakh, were stolen from a businessman’s house in Kothrud when he was out of the country recently, said the police.
The Kothrud police launched an investigation into the case on the complaint filed by the 79-year-old man who ran an automobile spares manufacturing company in Pune. The police said the complainant was out of the country for over two weeks and returned to Pune on December 31. Read more
Sitting BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap, who is credited with changing the face of the industrial city of Pimpri-Chinchwad, passed away after a long battle with cancer Tuesday. The end came at a private hospital in Baner where he was admitted more than two months ago. He was 59 and is survived by his wife, a daughter, and a son.
Paying tributes, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, “In Laxman Jagtap’s death, the BJP has lost a loyalist and a strong leader. He created his own space through his hard work and became popular." Read more
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the family of late BJP MLA Mukta Tilak who passed away battling cancer last month. He visited Kesari Wada and spoke to late MLA's husband Shailesh and other family members. Former MLA and Shinde loyalist Vijay Shivtare accompanied him.
One of the first batches of Agniveer recruits selected through the recently launched Agnipath scheme have started their training at the Bombay Engineer Group (BEG) and Centre from Monday. The recruits of the batch had started arriving at the formation from December 25 and subsequently completed their joining formalities.
Last year the Ministry of Defence had announced the Agnipath initiative for recruitment of soldiers across the three services. Under this scheme, while the initial appointment is for four years, around 25 percent of each batch of Agniveers will be enrolled into the regular cadre of the Armed forces and would be required to serve an engagement period of 15 years.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis arrived at MLA Laxman Jagtap's residence in Pimple Gurav to pay his last respects to the late leader.
Earlier, Fadnavis had said, "This is a sad day for Pimpri-Chinchwad as he was committed to its development. He had been battling with this illness for a long time. Just as we thought he had emerged from it, he had to get admitted again. His dedication to the party was evident during the voting for the Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Parishad by-elections last year when he turned up despite our urging him not to do so.”
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 6 lakh on Sharad Sahakari Bank in Pune for non-compliance with the directions issued by the central bank on 'know your customers' and 'interest rate on deposits'.
The central bank said this action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. RBI said the statutory inspection of the Bank was conducted with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2021, and an examination of the Risk Assessment Report and all related correspondence pertaining to the same was done. (ANI)
The partially-burnt body of a lawyer from the Kalewadi area of Pimpri-Chinchwad was found in Telangana near the Maharashtra border on Monday, according to the Pimpri-Chinchwad police. The lawyer was untraceable by his family, who then approached the police in the early hours of January 1 to file a complaint.
The body was found after a joint probe by officials from Wakad police station and Pimpri-Chinchwad police’s crime branch. The police have launched a murder probe and arrested the prime suspect. Read here.
Mumbai-based Nisha Castelino and Francis D’Costa’s decision to start Salsette Collection LLP in 2020 was a result of their years of exposure to handlooms and artisans and also their desire to make the fabric popular and affordable.
Both the founders had travelled to Kutch in Gujarat and their desire was to work with ‘kala’ cotton. This indigenous rain-fed cotton is grown in the dry Kutch region. Working closely with fair trade groups and artisans, the company managed to set up the whole value chain necessary from the procurement of yarn to the final product. Read more here.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will visit Pune to pay his last respects to BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap who passed away Tuesday morning. He is scheduled to visit the MLA's residence in Pimple Gurav at 2.30 pm.
Shinde will also call upon the grieving family of former BJP MLA and Pune Mayor Mukta Tilak who passed away last month.
BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap's body will be brought to Pimple Gurav's residence at 2 pm. It will be kept for public daraha from 3 to 6 pm. The funeral will be held at 7 pm, a family member said.
Jagtap, an MLA from Pimpri-Chinchwad passed away at the age of 59. Jagtap’s health had deteriorated in April 2022 and he remained in ICU for several days. After battling prolonged illness, he breathed his last in Pune's private hospital early Tuesday.
Tributes poured in for Savitribai Phule on her 192nd birth anniversary from across the country on Tuesday. Maharashtra CM Shinde, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar and others extended their greetings to the social reformer. Savitribai Phule was an Indian educationist and a feminist leader who had set up the first school for girls in Pune’s Bhide Wada along with her husband, Jyotirao Phule.
Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, in a tweet, wrote, "On the birth anniversary of the great social reformer and the first female teacher #??????????? #???????????_???? who overcame adverse circumstances and started the first school for girls, we saluted her image by placing a wreath."
"Serum Institute of India has approximately 20 million doses of Covishield and can supply them to the Government of India as and when required," official spokespersons said on Tuesday.
Last week, Pune District Collector Rajesh Deshmukh held a meeting of the Covid-19 District Task Force in light of the recurrence of the disease in some foreign countries and directed the authorities to prepare the health system in order to deal with the situation if the need arises.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Laxman Jagtap from Pimpri-Chinchwad passed away Tuesday at the age of 59. Jagtap’s health had deteriorated in April 2022 and he remained in ICU for several days.
In June 2022, Jagtap travelled to Mumbai to cast his vote for party candidates in Rajya Sabha and State Legislative Council polls despite being unwell. He had travelled in the ambulance to cast his vote in Mumbai, for which he had received high praise from BJP leaders. He was elected as corporator in 1986 in the first PCMC elections, and then won repeatedly till 2006.
Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, over Twitter, wished strength to his family to “recover from their suffering.”
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