Page 3 - Maharashta

Mumbai to be transformed in 90 days under Swachha Maharashtra campaign: CM

Mumbai would undergo a transformation in 90 days under the new urban renewal plan unveiled by the state government, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said here on Friday. He was speaking after the launch of the Swachha Maharashtra Abhiyan (Urban) 2.0 here. Cleanliness in cities should become a mass movement, Shinde said, adding that sanitation workers are the brand ambassadors of the new campaign. His government has prepared an ambitious plan for Mumbai's transformation under which 450 roads will be concretised and the health infrastructure in the city will be strengthened, the chief minister said. Speaking on the occasion, deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said cities are centres of growth which generate employment. Under the Swachha Maharashtra campaign, the state's urban areas would be completely transformed, he said. The campaign is modelled on the Union government's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. It will be carried out from October 2 to December 31 and best-performing

'Full faith in judiciary': Uddhav on legal tussle over 'real' Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday expressed confidence that his faction will emerge victorious in the legal tussle with the rebel group led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. A Constitution bench of the Supreme Court is hearing an application of the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction seeking to restrain the Election Commission from deciding on the claim of the Shinde-led group over the "real" Shiv Sena. "I have full faith in the judiciary and we will win," former state CM Thackeray told the Sena workers from Osmanabad, which was renamed as Dharashiv in one of the final decisions of his government before it collapsed in June this year. He was addressing the cadre at his residence 'Matoshree' in Mumbai. The Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government had collapsed after a revolt by Shinde and 39 other legislators against the Sena leadership. Shinde was sworn in as the CM on June 30 along with BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy. On August 23, the Supreme Court ha

HC allows Uddhav-led Shiv Sena to hold Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park

In a shot in the arm for the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction, the Bombay High Court on Friday granted it permission to hold its annual Dussehra rally at the iconic Shivaji Park ground in central Mumbai. For the Thackeray faction the development has a symbolic value as Shivaji Park is associated with the Sena since its birth, and his group is locked in a tussle with the rebel group led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to establish itself as the 'real' Shiv Sena. The Shinde faction had also sought permission to hold the rally at the same venue on the same day (October 5), and opposed the Thackeray group's petition in the high court. Welcoming the ruling, Thackeray appealed his supporters to maintain discipline while attending the rally on Dussehra. Thackeray supporters celebrated the ruling outside the Sena's headquarters in Dadar, close to the Shivaji Park, as well as near Thackeray's residence Matoshree in Bandra and in neighbouring Thane. A division bench of ...

Maharashtra FDA axe Johnson & Johnson's baby powder manufacturing license

Maharashtra's Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) on Friday cancelled the baby powder manufacturing licence of Johnson & Johnson Pvt Ltd "in the interest of public health at large". In a release, the state government agency said the company's product, Johnson's Baby Powder, may affect the skin of newborn babies. Samples of the powder for babies did not conform to standard pH value during a laboratory test, the regulator said. The release said the action was taken after Kolkata-based Central Drugs Laboratory's conclusive report that concludes "the sample does not conform to IS 5339:2004 with respect to the test for pH. According to the release, FDA had drawn samples of Johnson's Baby Powder from Pune and Nashik for quality check purposes. The government analyst had declared the samples as "not of the standard quality" as they do not comply with IS 5339:2004 specification for skin powder for infants in the test pH, it said. Thereafter, FDA issued a show-cause notice to ...

Teaching should be such that there is no need for homework: Maha minister

Teaching at schools should be of such quality that there would be no need to assign homework to children, Maharashtra School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar said on Friday. He will speak to all stake-holders and see if some policy decision can be taken as children must not be "overburdened", he said, talking to reporters here. "My personal opinion is that children should not be over-burdened and their brains should be allowed to develop. Homework should not be an excuse for teachers. Whatever we teach for half-an-hour, it should be taught with full concentration so that there is no need of doing homework," he said. This is my personal opinion. I will talk to teachers associations and institutions and then take a decision, he added. Last month Kesarkar had said that the education department was thinking of adding blank pages to text books for taking down notes, so that children do not need to carry separate notebooks which make their school bags heavy.

Maharashtra: Heavy rains lash Thane, Palghar; low-lying areas inundated

Heavy rains lashed Thane and Palghar districts of Maharashtra on Friday, flooding several low-lying areas in the region, an official said. According to the administration, no untoward incident was reported during the day, except water logging and tree falls in some areas. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-Nashik highways witnessed traffic snarls amid the downpour due to poor condition of roads and potholes, officials said. Personnel from the Thane Municipal Corporation's regional disaster management cell (RDMC) and fire fighters attended to calls of water logging at several locations in Thane city. The road in front of Chitalsar police station on Ghodbunder Road was totally flooded and unfit for traffic movement, RDMC chief Avinash Sawant said. The district administration has alerted people living near Sapgaon bridge, as heavy rains lashed areas close to Bhatsa dam, it was stated. Thane city received 66.28 mm rains till 1.30 pm, with 22.86 mm rain recorded in the last one hour, ...

Maha transport department issues draft for fee hike of VIP vehicle numbers

The Maharashtra transport department has issued a draft notification to hike fees for VIP numbers for new vehicles, an official said on Friday. As per the draft notification, the number '0001' will have a proposed fee of Rs 5 lakh, up from Rs 3 lakh now for four-wheelers, while it will be Rs 1 lakh for two and three-wheelers instead of the present Rs 50,000, he said. Besides this, the 'three time basic fees' will be Rs 15 lakh for four or more wheeled vehicles and Rs 3 lakh for two and three wheeled vehicles if the '0001' registration number is unavailable in an ongoing series for that particular type of vehicle and it needs to be given from another series as per the rules, he added. Significantly as per the draft notification, in Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Pune, Thane, Raigad, Aurangabad, Nashik, Kolhapur and Nashik, where the demand for 0001 is high, the proposed fees is Rs 6 lakh instead of existing 4 lakh for four and more wheeled vehicles. Hence, an out of series VIP number will

Mumbai logs 203 new Covid-19 cases, 2 deaths; active tally at 1,461

Mumbai on Wednesday reported 203 new coronavirus cases, while two more patients succumbed to the infection in the city, the local civic body said. With these additions, the overall COVID-19 tally increased to 11,48,502, while the death toll rose to 19,721, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in a bulletin. On Tuesday, Mumbai had logged 193 COVID-19 cases, but zero fatalities linked to the infection. As per the bulletin, the new COVID-19 cases were detected after 9,281 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, pushing up their cumulative count to 1,81,97,513. A day ago, 6,691 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the financial capital. Mumbai's tally of recuperated cases rose to 11,27,320 after 314 patients recovered from the viral infection in the last 24 hours, the BMC said. The city has a coronavirus recovery rate of 98.2 per cent and is now left with 1,461 active cases, the bulletin said. Of the 203 new COVID-19 cases, only 11 patients were symptomatic, it said.

At least 19 dead in Maharashtra during immersion of Lord Ganesh idols

At least 20 persons died, 14 of them due to drowning, in various incidents that occurred during the immersion of Ganesh idols in parts of Maharashtra, police said on Saturday. The 10-day Ganesh festival, which had started on August 31, ended on Friday. In Wardha district three persons drowned at Sawangi, while another one drowned at Devli, an official said. Two persons drowned in a pond in Yavatmal district when they went for immersion of idols, he said. In Ahmednagar district, two persons died of drowning in separate incidents at Supa and Belvandi, he said, adding that two others died in Jalgaon district of north Maharashtra. One each died in Pune's rural part, Dhule, Satara and Solapur city, he said. Four persons died in a road accident at Sakkardara area of Nagpur city during Ganesh immersion, he said. In Thane, a 55-year-old woman was killed and four others injured after a tree collapsed on a Ganesh pandal in Kolbad area amid rains. The incident occurred on Friday night, a c

Mumbai sees 290 new Covid cases, two deaths; active tally at 2,236

Mumbai on Thursday reported 290 COVID-19 cases and two deaths, which took the tally to 11,47,331 and the toll to 19,716, a civic official said. This was a dip from the 316 cases and three deaths witnessed on Wednesday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official added. Mumbai has been reporting over 200 cases since the beginning of September, he pointed out. Of the 290 new cases, only 19 are symptomatic. The recovery count increased by 270 during the day and touched 11,25,379, leaving the city with 2,236 active cases, the official said. So far, 1,81,51,897 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the city, including 8,914 in the last 24 hours. This was higher than the 8,075 tests conducted in the previous 24-hour period. As per BMC data, the recovery rate was 98.1 per cent, while the overall growth rate of cases between September 2 and 7 stood at 0.028 per cent. The caseload doubling time was 2,471 days, as per official data.

Maharashtra CM Shinde takes gloves off, targets Aaditya Thackeray

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde seems to have changed his strategy vis-a-vis Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray and attacked him for criticising the rebel Shiv Sena leaders. Shinde, whose rebellion with 39 MLAs of Shiv Sena led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government in June, had always evaded making pointed comments against Uddhav and his son Aaditya who have been calling the rebels "traitors and backstabbers". Instead of responding to the criticism my work will speak for himself, he used to say. However, speaking to Marathi news channel ABP Majha on Monday night, Shinde appeared pulling no punches. He should know his age and speak accordingly. What we are today is because of the late Balasaheb Thackeray and his school of thought. But he and others drifted away from Balasaheb's thought for power which forced us to take this strong step (to rebel)," Shinde said when asked about Aaditya hurling "traitor" barb against the rebel MLAs. Aaditya, a former ...

Will defend border dispute with Maharashtra, says Karnataka CM Bommai

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said senior and experienced lawyers would be appointed in the legal team of the State to argue in the Supreme Court over the border row with Maharashtra. The border row between Karnataka and Maharashtra will come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on November 23. Senior andan experienced legal team will be appointed to effectively argue on behalf of Karnataka, Bommai told reporters at the airport here. The Chief Minister said the issue had been discussed with the Advocate General and a study done. On the order of the High Court of Karnataka to consider CET (common entrance test) marks for admission to professional courses, Bommai said the Advocate General has been instructed to study the order and submit a report. A decision on filing an appeal in the apex court would be taken after consulting legal experts.

Maharashtra logs 781 new Covid cases, 4 deaths; active tally below 10,000

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 781 fresh coronavirus cases, 638 of them in Mumbai alone and a steep drop from a day ago, while four more patients succumbed to the infection in the state, the health department said. With these additions, the state's overall COVID-19 tally reached 81,01,119, while the death toll increased to 1,48,251, the department said in a bulletin. On Wednesday, the state had recorded 1,600 cases and five fatalities due to the viral infection. Mumbai logged 638 fresh cases -- around 90 per cent of the statewide cases -- and registered all the four deaths in Maharashtra linked to coronavirus in the last 24 hours, said the bulletin. The state's COVID-19 fatality rate stood at 1.83 per cent. The department said 1,523 patients recovered from the coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 79,42,981 and leaving the state with 9,887 active cases. As many as 15,496 new coronavirus tests were conducted in the state, pushing up ...

After a decline in Covid-hit 2020, economic offences increase 19% in 2021

Rajasthan records highest number of cases, followed by Telangana

Aarey car shed work started with Uddhav's nod, says Maha Deputy CM Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday claimed that 25 per cent of work of the Mumbai Metro car shed in Aarey Colony was completed after Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had given his approval. Speaking in the Legislative Council, Fadnavis also averred that no more trees will be cut for the car shed project, and said he was ready to apologise for the sake of Mumbai's people if someone felt it was a crime to cut trees at night. During Fadnavis's tenure as chief minister, his government's action of cutting trees in the leafy Aarey Colony here at night after the court's nod for the car shed had come in for criticism. Thackeray, after he became chief minister in 2019, shifted the Metro car shed site to Kanjur as environmental groups were opposed to tree felling for the project in Aarey area. In-principle approval for the project was given by the Congress-NCP government led by Prithviraj Chavan, Fadnavis said. When Fadnavis became chief minister, he met ...

Classical language status for Marathi: Maha CM writes to PM for approval

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give approval for bestowing classical language status on Marathi. The matter has been pending with the Union Culture Ministry. In a letter to the PM, Shinde informed that the state government had sent a detailed proposal on the issue to the Centre on November 16, 2013. "The state has been regularly following up with the Centre about the status of the proposal. The people of the state conducted a signature campaign and collected 1.20 lakh signatures in support of the demand, which were sent to the President of India," the CM wrote in his letter. Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy had told the Rajya Sabha on February 3 this year that the proposal was under consideration. "The proposal has been under consideration for a long time and I request that the approval should be given at the earliest," Shinde said in the letter to the PM.

Maha Min says no child death due to malnutrition in 5yrs; NCP, Cong object

Maharashtra Tribal Development Minister Vijaykumar Gavit on Wednesday said in the state Assembly that there has been no child death reported due to malnutrition in the state in the last five years. However, members of the NCP and Congress objected to the minister's claim. Gavit said, As per information shared by the state health department with my office, there is no child death reported due to malnutrition in the state." "There are 16 districts in the state where tribal population is identified. No district has reported death due to malnutrition in the last five years," the minister said. However, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar objected to Gavit's response saying, It is a well-known fact that there have been cases of malnutrition in the state and many children die due to it every year." "In Melghat (Amravati district) alone, 18 children died between July 15 and August 15 this year, the NCP leader claimed. After a row over the issue, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar asked the min

Dahi Handi set to be celebrated in Maharashtra after Covid-induced break

Dahi Handi, which is part of Krishna Janmashtami festival, is likely to be celebrated on a grand scale across Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai and its neighbouring areas, on Friday after a pandemic-induced gap of two years. As part of the festival, youngsters (called Govindas), dressed in colourful attire, make human pyramids to reach an earthen pot containing buttermilk suspended mid-air, and break it. It symbolises victory through unity. The festival is celebrated on a large scale in Mumbai metropolitan areas. The Maharashtra government had last month announced that there would be no restrictions on celebrating religious festivals, including Dahi Handi and Ganesh Chaturthi, this year. In the last two years, the celebrations were hampered due to the COVID-19 restrictions. On Thursday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced in the state Legislative Assembly that the government has decided to accord adventure sport status to Dahi Handi. The adventure sport tag will allow young ...

NCP, BJP workers clash in Thane district; 2 FIRs registered, 16 held

Activists of the Nationalist Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday came to blows in Dombivali in Thane district of Maharashtra, following which 16 of them were arrested, police said. The incident occurred outside a gymnasium in the Bhopar area following a heated exchange between local leaders of both the parties over some issue, a police official said. Two cross First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered.

Independence Day: Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde hoists national flag

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde hoisted the national flag on Sunday midnight in Thane city on the occasion of Independence Day