Maharashtra

Unseasonal rain in the last two days damaged crops over 7,400 hectares in five districts of the western Vidarbha region in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday. The intermittent showers affected crops in Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Washim and Buldana districts. Crops over 7,400 hectares are damaged. The damage assessment is completed on 3,243 hectares. The remaining assessment will be completed soon. As many as 7,596 farmers have been affected by the unseasonal showers, Fadnavis told reporters in Amravati district after holding review meetings. It is observed that certain villages in specific areas in the state have been frequently affected by unseasonal showers in the last few years. "We are working to find some solution to the new challenge of climate change, the deputy CM said. Fadnavis said the kin of those killed in the Akola tree fall incident would get financial assistance from the state. "The government has also decided to bear the entire med

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced an assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased in the Akola Babuji Maharaj temple incident

Seven persons were killed and 37 others injured when a tree fell on a tin shed under which people were standing in a temple premises after heavy wind and rains in Maharashtra's Akola district, officials said on Monday. The incident took place at around 7.30 pm on Sunday at Babuji Maharaj temple located in Paras village under Balapur taluka when the people had gathered for the 'maha aarti', Akola Collector Nima Arora said. State Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed grief over the incident which he termed as "very serious and unfortunate". Seven people were killed and 37 others injured, Fadnavis said, adding that he has given directions for an inquiry into the incident. The government will provide a compensation to the families of the deceased, he said. The district authorities said families of each of the deceased will be given a compensation of Rs 4 lakh and the injured persons will be given monetary assistance as per government rules. Due to the heavy wind and rains

Additionally, scores of animals have also been killed or hit in these lightning strikes as the sporadic inclement weather wreaks disasters in different regions of the state since the past few weeks

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Monday took a swipe at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde after his Ayodhya visit, saying "conspirators, opportunists and backstabbers" cannot carry forward the legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray. Shiv Sena leader Shinde on Sunday made his maiden visit to Ayodhya after becoming the chief minister in June last year. He was accompanied to the temple town in Uttar Pradesh by thousands of Shiv Sainiks. In a tweet, Sibal said, "Shinde in Ayodhya: Lord Ram chose: Sacrifice, the path of truth, rectitude. Balasaheb also imbibed those attributes. "Conspirators, opportunists, backstabbers cannot carry forward the legacy of Balasaheb," the former Union minister said, attacking Shinde. The Maharashtra chief minister on Sunday said the ideology of his party and that of the BJP is the same and they will unfurl the saffron flag all over the state next year. "Our party's role is clear. The Shiv Sena has an alliance with the BJP. Our ideology, which is Hindutva, is t

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath has "revived the pride of our faith" and appreciated the development works undertaken by the state government in Ayodhya. Shinde and his team on Sunday paid a courtesy visit to Adityanath at his official residence here. Adityanath also hosted a dinner in honour of the Maharashtra chief minister and his entourage. The Shiv Sena leader was on a two-day tour of Uttar Pradesh during which he visited Ayodhya, his first since becoming Maharashtra chief minister last June. During their meeting with Adityanath, the group of ministers from Maharashtra shared their experience of visiting Ayodhya and appreciated the development works being undertaken in the city. Shinde said Adityanath has revived the "pride of our faith" and added that under his leadership, "the city of Lord Ram is touching new dimensions of development". According to a statement issued from the Chief Minister's Office here

Shinde expressed satisfaction that the dream of "Hindu Hriday Samrat" Balasaheb Thackeray and crores of Ram bhakts is being fulfilled

Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Sunday said the ideology of his party and that of the BJP is the same and they will unfurl the saffron flag all over the state next year. "Our party's role is clear. The Shiv Sena has an alliance with the BJP. Our ideology, which is Hindutva, is the same. We will go to our state with new energy from Ayodhya and serve the people. In 2024, the Shiv Sena and the BJP's 'bhagva' (saffron flag) will be unfurled in the entire state," Shinde said while addressing a press conference here. The Lok Sabha election as well as the Maharashtra Assembly polls are due next year. Without naming anyone, the Maharashtra chief minister said there are a few people who are "allergic" to Hindutva because if it (Hindutva) reaches every household in the country, their "shop" will be closed. Shinde is on his maiden visit to Ayodhya after becoming the Maharashtra chief minister in June last year. He has been accompanied to the temple town in Utt

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said those raising doubts about the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya were shown their way home as the process has started and the work is in full swing. After paying obeisance to Ramlalla and overseeing the construction work of the temple, Shinde said he is happy that the dream of "Hindu Hriday Samrat" Balasaheb Thackeray and crores of Ram bhakts is being fulfilled. "Everyone used to wonder when the construction work would start. Some used to say 'mandir wahin banayenge, par tarikh nahi batayenge' (the temple will be built there, but the dates will not be told). But Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got the work started and the dream of crores of Ram bhakts is being fulfilled.... Those asking for the dates have also been shown their way home," Shinde, who has been accompanied by thousands of Shiv Sainiks on his maiden visit to Ayodhya as the chief minister, said. His supporters were seen carrying saffron flags with the Shiv ..

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who arrived in Ayodhya on Sunday, said his faction of Shiv Sena got the symbol of 'bow and arrow' as the blessings of Lord Ram are with them

Maharashtra on Saturday recorded 542 new cases of coronavirus and one fatality, which raised the tally of infections to 81,49,141 and toll to 1,48,458, an official from the state health department said. There has been a drop in infections since Friday, when the state had recorded 926 cases and three fatalities. With 668 patients recovering from the infection in the last 24 hours, the count of recoveries has reached 79,96,323, leaving the state with 4,360 active cases, the official said. As per the health department's bulletin, Mumbai recorded 207 cases on Saturday, making it the fifth consecutive day that the city saw 200 plus infections. The only fatality of the day was reported in Amravati city, it said. The fatality rate in the state stands at 1.82 per cent, while the recovery rate is at 98.12 per cent. As many as 6,651 swab samples were tested in the state in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of tests conducted in the state to 8,66,94,304, the bulletin ...

Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Saturday evening embarked on the tour of Ayodhya where he will offer prayers to Lord Ram by boarding a flight for Lucknow from Mumbai airport. Shinde is accompanied by leaders of Shiv Sena, MPs and MLAs, and leaders of ally BJP. It will be Shinde's maiden visit to Ayodhya after taking charge as Maharashtra chief minister in June 2022 and after the Election Commission recognised the faction led by him as Shiv Sena and allotted it the "bow and arrow" poll symbol. Shinde will travel to Ayodhya from Lucknow on Sunday afternoon and perform a 'maha aarti' at the under-construction Ram temple with others and later at the Sharayu river in the evening. He is also scheduled to visit the ongoing construction of the Ram temple and will address a press conference in Ayodhya on Sunday afternoon. He will return to Mumbai on Sunday night, as per his aides. Speaking to reporters at the Mumbai airport, the chief minister said he would

At least 20 people were rescued after a major fire erupted in a 12-storey building in Bhiwandi city in Thane district of Maharashtra on Saturday afternoon, officials said. No casualty was reported in the incident, an official said. The building with 48 flats filled with smoke after the blaze erupted at around 2.15 pm and residents rushed out, the official added. "At least 20 residents stranded on upper floors due to smoke were rescued by Fire Brigade personnel," the official said. The blaze destroyed the electricity cable of the building before it was brought under control after two hours at around 4:15 pm. The exact cause of the fire is not known yet but a short circuit could be the trigger, the official said, adding that further investigation is underway.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has taken a swipe at the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray by asking them to heed the words of Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar on the Adani issue. United States-based Hindenburg Research had alleged large scale stock manipulation and accounting fraud in the firms of billionaire Gautam Adani, leading to strident protests by the opposition Congress and others against the Narendra Modi government. The group had refuted the allegations. In an interview to NDTV, Pawar came out in support of the Adani Group and criticised the narrative around Hindenburg Research's report on the conglomerate. "Such statements were given by other individuals earlier too and there was a ruckus in Parliament for a few days but this time out-of-proportion importance was given to the issue," he said. "The issues that were kept, who kept them, we had never heard of these people who gave the statement, what is the background. When they .

Crops on more than 60,000 hectares of land in Marathwada in Maharashtra have been damaged due to last month's unseasonal rains and a sum of Rs 84.75 crore would be needed to give compensation to 1.22 lakh farmers, an official said on Friday. Quoting figures from the crop loss assessment survey carried out by the state government, he said Nanded saw the maximum loss with crops getting damaged on 21,579.50 hectares and affecting 36,543 farmers. "In Aurangabad, crops were destroyed on 13,535.07 hectares and 35,015 farmers were affected. In Latur, damage was on 10,367.83 hectares affecting 22,565 farmers," he said. The official said the compensation needed to be paid in Nanded was Rs 30.52 crore, Rs 22.17 crore in Aurangabad, Rs 10.56 crore in Latur, Rs 3.67 crore in Jalna, Rs 4.37 crore in Parbhani, Rs 6.04 crore in Hingol, Rs 5.99 crore in Beed and Rs 1.39 crore in Osmanabad.

Maharashtra on Friday recorded 926 COVID-19 cases, a sizable rise from 803 cases added to the tally a day earlier, while the death toll increased by three, a health official said. The state's tally stands at 81,48,599 and the fatality count was 1,48,457, he added. Mumbai led with 276 new cases, a rise of 27 per cent from the previous day, while the three deaths were reported in Gondia, Kolhapur and Raigad districts, the official informed. The recovery count increased by 423 in the last 24 hours and touched 79,95,655, leaving the state with an active caseload of 4,487, he said. As per state health department data, the recovery rate was 98.12 per cent and the fatality rate was 1.82 per cent. So far, 8,66,87,653 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the state, including 11,881 in the last 24 hours, as per official data. At a COVID-19 review meeting chaired by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday, it was observed that Maharashtra was among the three states with 10 or

Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar on Friday said the state government should look into the COVID-19 situation immediately, as cases have been on the rise and apprise citizens. As per the state health department, Maharashtra had on Thursday recorded 803 fresh coronavirus cases and three fatalities that raised the tally of infections to 81,47,673, which includes 1,48,454 deaths. "During the recently concluded Assembly sessions, we had asked the state government about measures it was taking and the line of action it had decided to enable people's representatives to go back to their constituencies and work on dealing with the COVID-19 situation by taking officials into confidence," Pawar told reporters in Pune. During the Maha Vikas Aghadi rule, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government had been united in its fight against coronavirus. Expressing concern, Pawar said that while the number of infections was increasing by the day, no one seemed to be taking the situation seriously. "

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday flagged off a special train to Ayodhya carrying activists of his party Shiv Sena amid fanfare, two days ahead of his own visit to the temple town in Uttar Pradesh. Sporting a traditional saffron shawl, Shinde, accompanied by his son, Kalyan Lok Sabha MP Srikant Shinde, Kalyan unit in-charge of the Shiv Sena Gopal Landge, local leaders and hundreds of party activists, showed the green flag to the train at Thane station around 4.40 pm amidst slogans of Jai Shri Ram. Shiv Sainiks travelling by the special train, which was well decorated with a 'Chalo Ayodhya' board mounted in the front, will welcome their leader when he lands in the town on Sunday. Amid blowing of trumpets and music bands playing, the CM walked the entire stretch of the platform No. 5 accompanied by hundreds of Shiv Sainiks carrying saffron flags with pictures of Lord Ram and the party's 'bow and arrow' poll symbol printed on them. They also displayed placards ...

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Wednesday said a public meeting of party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is likely to be held in Nagpur between April 20 and 25, although the date is yet to be finalised. Speaking to reporters at the Nagpur airport, he also said that the date of their rally will be finalised during a meeting of the Congress's state executive to be held in Thane on April 10. Patole accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of ignoring the basic issues of people. Targeting the saffron party over taking out 'Savarkar Gaurav Yatra' to honour late Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, the Congress leader asked, "Did the BJP take out any yatra against the farmers' suicides happening in the state?" "Is Gaurav Yatra being taken out because farmers' electricity supply is being snapped and their produce is not getting good price?" he said, adding that the poor were unable to get proper food.

Referring to Fadnavis' claim that he was not a 'fadtus' (useless) - as labelled by Thackeray - but a "kartoos" (cartridge), Raut took a swipe, saying it was more like a "wet kartoos"