Iram Siddique

The state's nod comes as a response to a letter sent by the Central Railway (CR), which had sought the government's view, as rail officials were receiving appeals for such trains from public representatives.

The state government on July 29 had rolled out fresh relaxations to the lockdown norms and allowed malls and market complexes to reopen from 9 am to 7 pm across the state, including in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

“However, as regards to berth allotment is considered, the respondent Indian Railway is requested to re-prioritising the berth allotment by giving the highest priority to pregnant women, then to senior citizens and thereafter VVIPs,” the court has said.

With millions of people hopeful of undertaking the journey, the Saudi government is tightly regulating the entry for the pilgrimage to avoid crowding. Each country has been allotted a specific quota with India being eligible to send 2.3 lakh pilgrims.

This comes after the government, in its earlier guidelines, had allowed the sale of goats either online or through calls even as it did not allow the customary Deonar market to be held this year.

Iram Siddique spoke to some residents of these satellite towns who are spending more money and time to get to work everyday.

The Railway Board has urged officials to stop the use of these messengers, a practice dating back to the colonial era, and instead use video conferencing for any communication.

This comes even as the state government is yet to make an announcement and a nod is awaited from Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

The restriction on meat traders to sell their livestock only to local dealers and not allowing unsold animals to leave the mandi have been met with stiff resistance by the trader’s association.

The traders and mutton dealers have called the guidelines issued by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for Deonar as unreasonable and detrimental to business, pushing them to rely on the unregularised and underground markets that have mushroomed across the city.

The delegation, to be led by Rais Shaikh, Samajwadi Party MLA from Bhiwandi, is set to request Pawar to intervene to ensure the state government reviews its recent guidelines that have prohibited the sale of animals, for the purpose of sacrifice.

Lakhs of people from the districts of Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, who have migrated to other parts of the state, especially Mumbai, return to their home districts annually for the festival.

Instead of selling the cattle at the mandi, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has issued a set of guidelines stating that the sale of animals for the festival will be restricted to online or through calls while no mandis for sale of animals will be functional across the state

Kamaluddin has been working in Mumbai for over ten years in a pipe parts manufacturing unit in Andheri. He went home in January and was stranded there during the lockdown. He returned to Mumbai in spite of his family’s protestations in view of the increasing Covid cases because his savings had dried up.

As per existing rules, the protocol for moving on waterlogged tracks entails the motorman to halt the train for a full minute before moving ahead at a restricted, much slower speed.

At the entrance of the stations, as the ID cards will be scanned, the QR codes will throw up photographs of the essential workers to whom they have been issued, allowing the security personnel and ticketing staff to verify the same with ease.

The two coaches — one AC and the other non-AC — have been equipped with foot-operated wash basins and toilets while the air purifier has been modified to ionise the air, ensuring a non-conducive environment for germ growth, said officials.

The new dustbins, designed by Modern Coach Factory (MCF), are equipped with an in-built piston to crush garbage inside bins and create room for extra waste, thereby preventing spillage of trash.

While cab-aggregator firms are finding it increasingly difficult to stay afloat, poor demand, rising diesel prices, ambiguity in rules and regulations coupled with high commissions have become major deterrents for the drivers wishing to return to the business.

The 50 lakh power consumers in Mumbai, who are supplied power by Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited and Tata Power will have to cough-up up to 14 per cent interest on their instalments

The Railway Board has sent a detailed letter to various departments, urging them to review orders, contracts, review manpower requirements and bring down fuel and energy consumptions to curtail expenditure.

The toy train service was started on May 22 to provide essential food items to nearly 5,000 residents of Matheran, which is an ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) with restrictions on movement of vehicles.

Savitha Garje chose to become a police officer after learning that despite 18 per cent reservation for women, less than 10 per cent opted for it.

Close to 560 supervisors (hospitality) were roped in by IRCTC in 2018 to maintain quality checks on contractors assigned to cater food in trains equipped with pantries.