Columnists

Vivek Deshpande

Associate Editor

Congress, BJP leaders in NMC warn of no-confidence motion against Tukaram Mundhe

Fri, May 29, 2020

Two agitations have already been held against Mundhe in the city's Pandharabodi and Parvati Nagar localities, under the leadership of city Congress chief and West Nagpur MLA Vikas Thakre, and senior Congress corporator Prafulla Gudadhe-Patil, respectively.

Akola admn seeks permission for complete lockdown from June 1 to 6

Fri, May 29, 2020

Akola saw a spike of 72 cases on Wednesday, the highest one-day spike in Vidarbha, taking the total number of cases in the district to over 500. The district has reported 28 deaths, with two more Covid-19 deaths reported on Wednesday.

Sevagram Ashram chief removed over allegations of being ‘Godsewadi’, he strongly denies it

Wed, May 27, 2020

This is the first time in the Ashram's history that its president was "removed" before he could complete the five-year term. Prabhu, the president, rebutted the allegations against him and expressed his anguish at being "ill-treated, insulted, removed without giving any chance to defend myself.

Maharashtra: Govt asks Gadchiroli collector to defreeze accounts of 19 gram sabhas

Wed, May 27, 2020

"In the times of corona, the villagers have no job opportunities. Currently, they are collecting tendu leaves... Hence, to prevent a situation of hunger, their gram sabha accounts should be de-frozen," read the letter.

Maharashtra: After son ‘refuses’, Muslims from local group light 78-yr-old Hindu man’s pyre

Tue, May 26, 2020

The head of the sanitation department of the Akola Municipal Corporation, told The Indian Express, “The man’s son, who lives in Nagpur, refused to accept the body and perform the funeral. So, a local Muslim organisation, Akola Kutchhi Memon Jamaat, took over the responsibility."

Nagpur bench of Bombay HC rejects Saibaba’s plea challenging rejection of parole application

Fri, May 22, 2020

Saibaba, incarcerated in the Nagpur Central Prison for over three years after being convicted of alleged Maoist links by a Gadchiroli court on March 7, 2017, had applied for parole on the ground that his mother was ailing with cancer at Hyderabad and he wanted to be with her.

Gadchiroli collector freezes accounts of 19 gram sabhas

Thu, May 21, 2020

The villages have got community forest rights (CFRs) under FRA that empower them to manage the forest areas under their command and own forest produce in the area, such as tendu leaves and mahua flowers, which they can harvest and sell and use the money for village development.

Nagpur still in red zone till May 22, state govt will be notified: Civic chief

Wed, May 20, 2020

Nagpur Municipal Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe warned of strict action against those who break lockdown norms till further orders were issued.

Prey, predator estimation: Presence of 115 tigers, 151 leopards in TATR, says Report

Tue, May 19, 2020

The estimation was done as part of the ‘Long-term monitoring of tigers, co-predators and prey species in TATR’. As many as 88 tigers have been individually captured in trap camera pictures, the report states.

Maharashtra: On way back from Telangana, migrant dies 2 km from home in Gadchiroli

Mon, May 18, 2020

Rajbabu Samaiyya Gajjela, 35, was travelling with his wife and children in a hired vehicle from a village in Jagtial district in Telangana, where he had been working for a year.

Maharashtra: Two Gadchiroli policemen killed in Naxal ambush

Sun, May 17, 2020

While Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Shailesh Balkawde wasn't available for any comment, a senior police official said, "At least two policemen were killed and three others were reportedly injured in the ambush."

With 5000-bed Covid care centre, Nagpur authorities prepare for ‘corona peak’

Tue, May 12, 2020

Set up on the premises of the sprawling Radhaswami Satsang Beas, a spiritual organisation with centres across the country, the initiative by NMC 's Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe is aimed at being prepared to face the possible 'corona peak', as predicted by experts, after May 15.

Maharashtra: ‘Zero Covid’ Wardha records two cases, including one death

Mon, May 11, 2020

Wardha Collector Vivek Bhimanwar said, “The deceased was a 36-year-old acute asthmatic patient from Hivra Tanda village in Arvi tehsil bordering Amravati district."

Tiger kills tendu collector in Gadchiroli, first such incident in tendu season

Sun, May 10, 2020

This is the third tiger attack casualty in Gadchiroli since last month, the first two being reported on April 16 and 24 in the Armori range among mahua flower collectors.

Proposal to translocate Chandrapur tigers: Cannot be put in zoos, safaris, rescue centres, say experts

Sat, May 09, 2020

“I proposed about two months ago (before the lockdown) that about 50 tigers should be removed from the Chandrapur landscape to mitigate the man-tiger conflict, which is assuming greater proportions each passing year,” Nitin Kakodkar told The Indian Express.

Maharashtra: Tigress believed to have caused five human deaths caught

Fri, May 08, 2020

The three-year old tigress, N1, was caught in near Nawargaon reservoir in the district on Thursday evening, a press note issued by the department said.

Nagpur sees highest single-day spike, total cases cross 200

Thu, May 07, 2020

A PIL challenging Mundhe's action of en masse removal of residents of Satranjipura, along with 300-odd residents of Mominpura and about 100-odd more from Dhobi Nagar localities, was heard by the High Court bench in Nagpur on Tuesday.

Nagpur bench reserves verdict on allegations against NMC for illegally removing 1,408 people from containment zone

Wed, May 06, 2020

While the NMC defended its move in an affidavit filed in reply to a notice issued by the High Court on May 3, the petitioner’s lawyer argued that the civic body had violated ICMR guidelines by “treating the entire population of Satranjipura as high-risk contacts of coronavirus positive cases from the locality”.

Curbs in Nagpur to be partially lifted

Tue, May 05, 2020

The move was announced even as five lawyers moved the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday against Mundhe’s decision the previous day to not remove lockdown curbs in the city – even outside its nine containment zones.

Maharashtra: Wardha remains in green zone, courtesy slew of measures by district admin

Mon, May 04, 2020

Wardha is the only 'green zone' district in Vidarbha region besides Gadchiroli, while Washim and Gondia have seen a sole patient each being discharged.