Of the 20 cases confirmed on Friday, 15 patients had a history of international travel while one had travelled domestically. The four others were high-risk contacts of already infected individuals. (Express photo by Pavan Khengre)Pune Live News: Maharashtra on Saturday recorded two new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus which took the tally of such cases in the state to 110, the health department said. As many as 57 of these patients have been discharged after testing negative for COVID-19 in subsequent testing, it said in a release here.
The two new patients are male, fully vaccinated against coronavirus, and belong to Aurangabad in central Maharashtra. One is 50 years old and another is 33 years old.
Maharashtra on Saturday reported 1,485 new coronavirus cases and 12 fatalities which took the caseload to 67,56,240 and death toll to 1,41,416, officials said. The tally of active patients in the state rose to 9,102.
Maharashtra reported 20 new cases of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron on Friday, six of which were from Pune. This has taken the total count of Omicron infections in state to 108. On Friday, 11 cases were reported from Mumbai, two from Satara and one from Ahmednagar. Of these, 14 cases were confirmed by the National Institute of Virology and six by Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) Pune.
The PMC has estimated water consumption of 1,479 million litres per day (MLD) by 2032 and 1,907 MLD by 2047. (Representative image)
Maharashtra on Saturday recorded two new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus which took the tally of such cases in the state to 110, the health department said. As many as 57 of these patients have been discharged after testing negative for COVID-19 in subsequent testing, it said in a release here. The two new patients are male, fully vaccinated against coronavirus, and belong to Aurangabad in central Maharashtra. One is 50 years old and another is 33 years old. (PTI)
Maharashtra on Saturday reported 1,485 new coronavirus cases and 12 fatalities which took the caseload to 67,56,240 and death toll to 1,41,416, officials said. The tally of active patients in the state rose to 9,102.
As many as 796 coronavirus patients recovered during the day, taking the tally of recoveries to 65,02,039.
The state recorded two new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus which took the tally of such cases to 110. As many as 57 of these patients have been discharged.
With 1,17,793 samples being examined in the last 24 hours, the number of coronavirus tests conducted in the state rose to 6,83,53,269. As per the official release, 92,048 people are undergoing home isolation and 887 are in institutional quarantine.
The state's recovery rate is 97.68 per cent and fatality rate is 2.12 per cent. (PTI)
A five-month-old child was kidnapped and killed by unidentified persons in Kalwa area of Thane district, police said on Saturday.
The parents have said their son Srikant Chavan was sleeping in their home in Mahatma Phule Nagar on Friday afternoon when he was kidnapped, a Kalwa police station official informed.
"On Saturday morning, the child's body was found in a water-filled drum in the neighbourhood. Teams have been formed the nab the killers. The child's parents are labourers," he said. (PTI)
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday hailed former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, saying that he was the only leader after Jawaharlal Nehru who was appreciated by people across the country, and added that the 'Sabka saath, sabka vikas' slogan truly suits him.
Raut's statement was apparently targeted at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had assumed office in 2014 with the motto of 'Sabka saath, sabka vikas' (collective efforts, inclusive growth).
Speaking to reporters, Raut said, "Atal Bihari Vajpayee played a pivotal role in cementing the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance. 'Sabka saath, sabka vikas' line truly suits him." The Sena MP was responding to a question related to Vajpayee on the late BJP leader's birth anniversary. (PTI)
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday warned officials against taking advantage of their posts like in case of the alleged malpractices in the Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) and asked them to ensure proper functioning of educational institutions.
Pawar was addressing a gathering at the inauguration of the Maharashtra State Faculty Development Academy (MSFDA) here.
The deputy chief minister referred to the recent arrest of Maharashtra State Council of Examination (MSEC) commissioner Tukaram Supe in connection with the alleged irregularities in TET, and warned officials not to take advantage of their position.
The state government will help provide infrastructure for institutes and organisations, but it is the responsibility of officials to improve and ensure smooth functioning of the same, he said.
"There have been instances where people who have been given responsibility have taken advantage of it. I also mentioned in the state Assembly that people involved in irregularities will face action. Nobody has the right to play with the future of students/candidates," Pawar said, referring to the alleged TET malpractice. (PTI)
Although his name is doing the rounds for Maharashtra Assembly Speaker’s post, senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday said the party has not discussed the issue with him.
“I know my name is being speculated. But I have no clue about being appointed or not appointed. No one has discussed the issue with me…” Chavan told indianexpress.com when asked if he would be the next Assembly Speaker. Read more
Pune got its first church way back in 1792 thanks to the generosity of a Peshwa — minister of erstwhile Maratha state — stemming from his desire to beef up the army. The inaugural mass there was held on Christmas day that year and another Christmas day, 229 years later, is a fitting time to revisit the church’s history.
Tucked inside the narrow lanes of Nana Peth, the Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception came to be known as City Church for it served as one of the entry points to then Poona. The land on which the church was built was gifted by the then Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao II in appreciation of the services of the Portuguese soldiers enlisted in his army.
At a time when the Peshwas’ powers had appeared to be on the wane, Sawai Madhavrao found a friend in the Portuguese empire in Goa to strengthen his army. The Portuguese and Goan officers who came to Pune needed a place of worship, and the Peshwa promptly gave them land for the purpose. Read more
Pune city police have arrested a history sheeter for allegedly stealing cell phones from people in Pune Railway Station area.
Police have identified the accused as Noel Alan Shaban (23), resident of Queens Garden Railway Bridge in Koregaon Park.
Police have recovered 17 stolen cell phones and four two-wheeler vehicles, all worth Rs 3 lakhs, from his possession. Read more
National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) aims to procure around 8 lakh tonnes of tur during this season at the government-declared minimum support price (MSP) under the Price Support Scheme.
SK Singh, Nafed additional managing director, told The Indian Express that this year the preparations for procurement are completed.
Farmers in India have taken the pulse over 48.24 lakh hectares this season. However, the pulse has been trading below its MSP of Rs 6,300/quintal. At Latur’s wholesale market in Maharashtra — one of the largest tur growing areas of the country — the average trading price of tur is around Rs 5,500/quintal. Traders, meanwhile, ruled out a sharp price correction. Read more
A total of 15,888 samples were tested on Friday compared to 11,409 the previous day. PCMC conducted the most number of tests at 6,234 followed by PMC (6,077), Pune rural (2,914), Councils (NP) (593), and Cantonment (70). With these tests, the district has now tested 89,71,981 samples in total.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has not only exhausted its budgetary provision of Rs 2.7 crore to meet the medical expenses of its corporators, it needs more to cover pending medical bills submitted by the representatives. The standing committee of the civic body has now permitted the administration to divert an unspent allocation of Rs 1.5 crore – which had been set aside to introduce smart health cards for citizens – to meet the expense.
Considering the total medical expenditure of the 169 sitting corporators so far, the average monthly expense of each corporator works out to over Rs 21,000 – more than their monthly salary.
There are 164 elected corporators and five nominated corporators in the PMC, which pays them a monthly salary of Rs 20,000, besides a remuneration of Rs 100 for each meeting of the general body.
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The Christmas Craft Carnival 2021 is your chance to stock up on hand stitched quilts, bags, accessories and terracotta jewellery, among others, while also being a part of an economically sustainable and socially empowered community for traditional Indian artisans. The carnival is organised with MotherQuilts and Ghongadi who are connecting these artisans to socially aware consumers worldwide.
From December 25-26, 11 am-9.30 pm; FC Road, Opp Hotel Vaishali. Entry: Free.
The Christmas edition of Deluxe Thali, which is an an all-day marketplace, features up-and-coming brands and a wide range of artists, from those creating machine tattoos and accessories to the masters of baking. The Strum Away Collective will offer solo and ensemble ukulele performances of your favourite Christmas songs. Read more.
Renowned playback singer and actor Ketaki Mategaonkar announced Thursday that she has donned the hat of a music director. Accompanied by her mother, Suvarna Mategaonkar, Ketaki released the first song of her debut album ‘Mai’, sung by Padma Shri winner Suresh Wadkar.
At a press conference at the Pune Shramik Patrakar Sangha, Ketaki said that all the songs in her album have been written by her great-grandmother whom she used to call “Mai”, thus the title. The album is based on the ‘spiritual genre’ and has songs sung by some of the most well-known singers in the country like Padma Shri winner Shankar Mahadevan, Suresh Wadkar, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Pt Raghunandan Panshikar, and her mother Suvarna Mategaonkar. The other artists in the album include Meenal Mategaonkar and Ashay Mategaonkar. Read more.
The Maharashtra government on Thursday issued guidelines restricting large Christmas celebrations. The guidelines mandate simple celebrations during Christmas following Covid-19 protocols and urge citizens to avoid crowding, both inside and outside religious venues.
The guidelines specify that churches can permit devotees only uptil 50 per cent of their capacity for the midnight mass on December 24-25 with facilities for sanitisation mandatory. Face masks have to be provided and physical distancing should be followed, the guidelines state. Read more
With a view to bring down the number of accidents taking place at the intersections on the old Mumbai-Pune highway, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) in association with a voluntary organisation and a leading car maker, has launched "tactical urbanism trials" at Karla Phata near Lonavala.
Tactical Urbanism (TU) trials are temporary, quick, and relatively low-cost interventions, which test out urban design, transportation planning, and infrastructural changes for improving road safety for all road users, especially the most vulnerable, like pedestrians, cyclists, and other non-motorised transport users, a release said.
As part of the 'Vision Zero Project' with MSRDC and SKODA Auto Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd, SaveLIFE Foundation is currently testing temporary design interventions to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users. (PTI)
Racing against time to complete its ambitious Rs 3,312-crore project to revamp the city’s water supply system, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has said that 35 per cent of the work is completed. Claimed to be the largest 24×7 water supply project in any city in the country, it intends to provide uninterrupted and equitable water supply across the city.
At a technical conference on 24×7 water supply systems organised by the Union housing and urban affairs ministry in Delhi on December 21, Aniruddha Pawaskar, in-charge of civic water supply department, informed that the PMC has completed 35 per cent of the work on the project.
The civic body has incurred an expenditure of Rs 592 crore of the total Rs 2,429 crore worth work order issued for the project, he said. Read more
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Maharashtra has issued an order, asking food vendors not to wrap any eatables in newspapers while selling them to customers as the ink used for printing is harmful.
Directing the vendors to stop giving food items like 'vada pav', 'pohe', sweets, bhel and others wrapped in newspapers to customers, the FDA also warned of a strict action if the practice is not stopped.
"While giving a food parcel, the vendors often wrap the items in a newspaper. Since the ink used for printing the newspapers is made up of chemicals, offering hot food items like vada pav, pohe, fritters, bhel, bakery products and several other such food items, wrapped in newspapers can be dangerous," the FDA said in a statement on Wednesday night. (PTI)
The officiating headmaster of a Zilla Parishad-run school in Maval tehsil of Pune district has been suspended and a police case filed against him for allegedly misbehaving with a girl student, officials said on Thursday.
According to the officials from the Pune Zilla Parishad (ZP), the headmaster has been suspended and an FIR registered against him at the Kamshet police station after the alleged incident came to light.
"We have asked the police to take strict legal action in this case," said Ayush Prasad, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Pune ZP.
However, he did not disclose when the alleged incident took place.
The CEO asserted the ZP has a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of "gender violence".
Prasad said an awareness and training programme has been organized for all ZP schools in the district to sensitise them about child sex abuse and preventing such cases.
"It is our commitment to ensure a safe environment for all children in our schools," he said. (PTI)
Referring to a report by The Indian Express on the Ayodhya land deals, Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna through its editorial Thursday debunked BJP and its Hindutva agenda and called the saffron party a “chor bazaar”.
“BJP’s Hindutva is a kind of a chor bazaar and it is increasingly becoming clearer. The Ayodhya deals are now a part of that chor bazaar,” the Sena mouthpiece said.
Wednesday, The Indian Express published an investigative report that elected public representatives and relatives of state government officials bought land parcels in Ayodhya after the November 9, 2019 Supreme Court verdict clearing construction of a Ram temple in the district. Read more
To beautify the industrial city, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will set up sculptures on various subjects along main roads, in prominent squares, and gardens. A proposal to this effect will be placed by the civic administration before the general body meeting on Friday.
According to the proposal prepared by the civic administration led by municipal commissioner Rajesh Patil, a provision of Rs 35 crore for this has been made in the 2021-22 budget. However, since the amount was falling short for the project, Rs 3.55 crore has been diverted from other development works.
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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.
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Traffic flow will be diverted around Pune University Square and connecting roads to Pashan, Baner and Ganeshkhind Road from December 23 due to the planned infrastructure construction in the area.
After the twin flyovers on Ganeshkhind Road — one at the Pune University junction and the other in front of E-Square theatre — were demolished, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) earlier this year approved a Rs 426-crore integrated infrastructure plan to construct a double-storey flyover along with three-grade separators and an underpass to resolve traffic issues in the area.
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The suspension of a government school teacher from Maharashtra's Pune district who had won a national award some years ago has led to controversy. Dattatray Ware or 'Ware Guruji', the officiating principal of a model Zilla Parishad school in Shirur tehsil, was awarded National Teachers Award in 2016.
He was placed under suspension by the Pune Zilla Parishad recently over alleged misuse of his position and financial misdemeanors. He denies all charges. The school, located at Wablewadi in Shirur tehsil, underwent a transformation after Ware took charge in 2012 with upgradation of the infrastructure and introduction of novel teaching methods.
Ayush Prasad, chief executive officer of the Zilla Parishad, told PTI on Tuesday that Ware was suspended in November following some complaints, and probe is underway. One of the allegations was that he asked for a donation of Rs 25,000 for enrolling a child in the ZP school. (PTI)
An international group of astronomers has obtained the first clues about extremely rare giant eruptions lasting 3.5 milliseconds that emerged from a magnetar located 13 million light years away. The team includes astronomers from Norway, Spain and the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital.
Magnetars are a type of isolated neutron stars that possess the most intense magnetic fields. They experience violent eruptions or intense bursts in the form of transient X-ray pulses which are several orders higher than that of the Sun. Even inactive magnetars can be thousands of times more luminous than the Sun.
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The Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of Pune Police recently arrested two persons from Pune station area and seized Mephedrone, also known as Meow Meow, worth over Rs 17 lakh from their possession.
ANC officials received a tip-off on Tuesday about two persons who were coming to a place near Pune station and were in possession of narcotic substances which they were planning to peddle. Subsequently, a trap was laid in the area on Tuesday and two persons were detained, and Mephedrone recovered from them.
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Amid increasing number of cases of Omicron variant of Covid-19 in India, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to extend by three months its contract with the agency running the dedicated Covid hospital (DCH) of the civic body in Baner. It has also decided to extend its contract with medical staff to overcome the shortage of staff in the civic health department.
The PMC had started a dedicated Covid hospital in Baner at the beginning of the pandemic last year. It appointed a private agency, Dr Bhise Multispeciality hospital, to operate the civic hospital, but the contract with the hospital expired on December 8 this year.
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The district of Pune recorded 269 new cases of coronavirus and one more death on Wednesday. With this, the total number of cases has risen to 11,61,597, while the death toll increased to 19,225.