Page 22 - Maharashtra

ADB clears $350 million loan to improve road connectivity in Maharashtra

Multilateral funding agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday approved a USD 350 million (about Rs 2,900 crore) loan to improve the road connectivity of key economic areas in Maharashtra. The Connecting Economic Clusters for Inclusive Growth in Maharashtra project will further develop the state's core road network in the Ahmednagar, Hingoli, Jalna, Kohalpur, Nagpur, Nanded, Nashik, Pune, Sangli and Satara districts, ADB said in a statement. It will help connect underdeveloped rural communities with off-farm opportunities and markets, improve access to health and social services and improve agricultural value chains by reducing transport costs for small and medium-sized enterprises, it said. It will build on the Maharashtra State Road Improvement Project approved by ADB in April 2020 to upgrade state highways and major district roads, it added. It further said the project will upgrade at least 319 kilometres (km) of state highways and 149 km of district roads, incorporating ...

Maharashtra reports 230 new Covid cases, one death, 229 recoveries in a day

Maharashtra on Friday recorded 230 COVID-19 cases and one death, which took the state's tally to 81,32,954 and the toll to 1,48,391, a health official said. The addition to the tally is a dip from the 259 cases reported on Thursday, he pointed out. Mumbai led with 47 cases, while the sole death took place in Raigad district, he added. The recovery count increased by 229 in the last 24 hours to touch 79,82,858, leaving the state with an active caseload of 1,705, the official informed. State health department data showed the recover rate was 98.15 per cent and the fatality rate stood at 1.82 per cent. So far, 8,53,20,844 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the state, including 16,403 in the last 24 hours, as per official data. Maharashtra's coronavirus cases for the day: Fresh cases: 230; Fatality: 1; Active cases: 1,705; Tests: 16,403.

Centre approved projects worth Rs 2 trn for Maharashtra, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the central government has given a nod to projects worth Rs two lakh crore for Maharashtra. His statement comes in the wake of the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government coming under the Opposition's fire after some proposed big-ticket projects moved out of Maharashtra to poll-bound Gujarat and some other states. In a video message aired during the Maharashtra government's function held here for distribution of appointment letters as part of recruitment of 75,000 people, Modi said the state government's initiative was fulfilling the objective of employment generation. "The Centre has approved projects worth Rs two lakh crore for Maharashtra, which will create new opportunities for employment," he said. The state government has been drawing flak from the opposition after a consortium of European aviation firm Airbus and the Tata group selected Vadodara in Gujarat for a Rs 22,000-crore project to manufacture military aircraft. The ..

Maharashtra records 259 new Covid cases, one fatality; active count 1,705

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 259 fresh coronavirus positive cases and one death, which took its overall infection count to 81,32,724 and toll to 1,48,390, the state health department said. On Wednesday, the state had recorded 295 cases and two fatalities. A total of 211 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative recovery count to 79,82,629. The state's COVID-19 recovery rate is 98.15, it said. Maharashtra's fatality rate is 1.82 per cent and the number of active cases stood at 1,705. Mumbai recorded 62 new cases and one fatality. Pune city saw 35 new cases, followed by 23 in Thane, 22 in Navi Mumbai. As 18,011 tests were conducted in the state in the 24 last hours, the cumulative test count rose to 8,53,04,441. Maharashtra's coronavirus figures are as follows: Positive cases: 81,32,724, fresh cases: 259, death toll: 1,48,390, active cases: 1,705; recoveries: 79,82,629, tests so far: 8,53,04,441.

Inter-state school education disparity significantly down since 2017: Rpt

Kerala best state, Chandigarh best union territory (UT) for school education, says Performance Grading Index (PGI) released by Ministry of Education on Thursday

New Omicron variants not causing significant rise in infections: Experts

The new variants of Omicron, XXB and BQ.1, have not led to any significant rise in coronavirus infections and hospitalisations in Maharashtra, experts have said. The symptoms caused by these strains of the virus are mild, they noted. Dr Anita Mathew, Infectious Disease Specialist at Fortis Hospital, Mulund, said many of the new patients are asymptomatic. "Many people have incidental COVID-19. In other words, they are visiting the hospital for other health conditions and test positive for the coronavirus infection," she told PTI. Symptoms such as the loss of smell and taste, observed prominently in earlier infections, have not been noticed in many patients. Many of them report cold and cough, which is why there isn't a lot of testing or self-isolation, Dr Mathew added. She, however, stressed that vaccination against coronavirus was still important. "One should be careful so that the risk of infecting others decreases," she said. As per the state health department, 17 per cent mor

Maharashtra records 295 new coronavirus cases, two more deaths in a day

Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded 295 fresh coronavirus cases and two more deaths linked to the infection, while 201 patients recovered in the state, the health department said. With these additions, the state's overall COVID-19 tally rose to 81,32,465, while the toll increased to 1,48,389, the department said in a bulletin. The state had recorded 257 cases and one coronavirus-related fatality on Tuesday. Among the new cases, Mumbai accounted for 85 infections and one death, said the department. The second death linked to the respiratory illness in the last 24 hours was reported from Pune city, said the bulletin. It said 201 COVID-19 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 79,82,418 and leaving the state with 1,658 active cases. The coronavirus recovery rate in the state stood at 98.15 per cent, while the fatality rate was 1.82 per cent, said the department. The health department said 17,605 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, raising ...

We are moving towards new 'license-permit raj', says Prithviraj Chavan

Amid a controversy over Maharashtra losing some big-ticket industrial projects, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has claimed that the country is heading towards a new "license-permit raj". Political instability makes investors nervous, the former state chief minister told reporters here on Tuesday. The alliance government of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction and the BJP in Maharashtra is under fire after Gujarat bagged some mega-investment projects, allegedly at Maharashtra's expense. Recently, a Tata-led consortium and Airbus announced a military aircraft manufacturing facility in Gujarat. Chavan said, "The current Maharashtra government is not even able to form a full cabinet. That is not a good sign. The reasons (for instability) are change in the government, interference by Delhi and hijacking of the projects which should have come to Maharashtra." During the infamous license-permit raj of the pre-1991 era, the Union government could tell investors where they should inv

Voters being paid to choose NOTA in Andheri East bypoll: Uddhav-led Sena

The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray party on Tuesday alleged that voters were being paid to choose None Of The Above or NOTA option in the November 3 Andheri East Assembly byelection in the city. The campaigning for the byelection came to an end at 5 pm. The party has raised this issue with the Election Commission as well as the police, said its senior leader Anil Parab The election will have ramifications in the coming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election too as for the first time it will see the combined strength of Maha Vikas Aghadi allies (Thackeray-led Sena, NCP and Congress), Parab said. Some people are being paid money to choose NOTA," the former Maharashtra minister alleged. His party has video clips showing purported workers of the Republican Party of India (RPI) indulging in such acts, he said. The RPI (Athawale faction) is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction has fielded Rutuja Latke, the wife of ...

Thane records 43 new Covid-19 infections in a day; active tally at 300

As many as 43 new COVID-19 cases have been detected in Maharashtra's Thane district, taking the tally of infections to 7,46,733, a health official said on Tuesday. With the addition of the latest cases on Monday, the district currently has 300 active COVID-19 cases, he said. The death toll in the district remained unchanged at 11,965, he said, adding that the recovery count has reached 7,35,174.

Maharashtra pilgrims' death: CM Shinde announces Rs 5 lakh compensation

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced immediate assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased.According to officials, Chief Minister contacted the district administration and instructed proper treatment to be given to the injured.He has also directed an immediate inquiry into how the accident happened, as per officials.Earlier on October 31, seven pilgrims were killed and five others injured after a speeding SUV hit a group of 32 Warkari (pilgrims) near Sangole town in Maharashtra's Solapur district on Monday evening.According to Solapur Superintendent of Police Shirish Sardespande, "Accident took place around 6.45 pm near Sangola town on Sangola - Miraj Road near the border area of Solapur district, a group of 32 pilgrims (Warkaris) was on Pilgrimage to lord Vitthal temple in Pandharpur they started their walk from Jatharwadi in Kolhapur district."The injured persons were rushed to the hospital.The SUV was being driven by a 75-year-old man who rammed the ..

Govt announces electronics manufacturing cluster in Maha worth Rs 500 cr

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday announced that an Electronics Manufacturing Cluster will be developed in Ranjangaon, Maharashtra, at a cost of Rs 500 crore. The Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) is targeted to attract an investment of over Rs 2,000 crore, with a potential to generate thousands of jobs in the coming years. "To make Maharashtra into an electronics hub, we have approved an Electronics Manufacturing Cluster project in Ranjangaon, Pune. The total investment of the government will be about Rs 500 crore," Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Chandrasekhar said at a briefing. With this, Ranjangaon (Maharashtra) joins the growing roster of locations such as Tamil Nadu, Noida and Karnataka that are making an aggressive pitch to emerge as a vibrant electronics hub. The overall cost for development of the EMC is Rs 492.85 crore, out of which Rs 207.98 crore will be funded by the government of India and balance contribution of Rs 284.

Maharashtra minister blames MVA for Tata-Airbus project moving to Gujarat

Maharashtra Industries Minister Uday Samant on Saturday said the previous Maha Vikas Agahdi government under Uddhav Thackeray did not take any decision on the Tata-Airbus military transport aircraft project, the moving of which to neighbouring Gujarat had started a political slugfest in the state. Airbus and a consortium of Tata firms have chosen Vadodara in Gujarat as the site for the 22,000 crore project, leading to the opposition accusing the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party government of ensuring yet another big project had moved away from Maharashtra. Samant said no meeting on the project was held with Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, the state government's nodal investment promotion agency, while talks had taken place at the "local level" with MIHAN, also called 'Multi Modal International Passenger and Cargo Hub Airport at Nagpur. "No discussion was held by the (previous) government with regards to Airbus. I can say with responsibility there is no official .

State will get big-ticket investments in coming days: Maharashtra CM Shinde

Amid the blame-game between the government and Opposition over the 'loss' of Tata consortium-Airbus project, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said the state will get major investments in the coming days. The opposition has been targeting the Shinde government after a Tata-led consortium and Airbus chose Vadodara in Gujarat for its military aircraft project. Earlier, Vedanta-Foxconn had chosen Gujarat over Maharashtra for its semiconductor plant. In the coming days, the state will get major industries," chief minister Shinde said at a function here. There has been a discussion going on about the industries in the state and our industries minister is speaking on this issue. I don't want to comment on it. (But) The government will not fall short in generating employment for the youth, Shinde added.

36 cases of XBB found in Maharashtra; experts worry about long Covid

The number of cases of XBB subvariant of Omicron in Maharashtra has reached 36, the health department said on Saturday, adding that in most of these cases patients recovered in home isolation. The experts on the state government's COVID-19 Task Force, however, expressed concern about rising cases of 'long COVID' at a recent meeting, it said. Pune district has reported 21 XBB cases to date, followed by 10 in Thane, two in Nagpur and one each in Akola, Amravati and Raigad. Two of the XBB patients were in the 11-20 age group, 13 in the 21-40 segment, 14 in the 41-60 category and seven were over 60. The patients comprised 22 males and 14 females. "Nine of the 36 patients had some symptoms, while others displayed mild symptoms or were asymptomatic. A total of 32 patients recovered in home isolation and the rest four had to be hospitalised as a precautionary measure or due to lack of necessary conditions for home isolation," the release said. No "atypical" symptoms were found in any of

Maharashtra records 319 new Covid-19 cases, 2 deaths in a single day

Maharashtra on Saturday reported 319 new COVID-19 cases and two pandemic-related deaths, the state health department said. It took the tally of cases in the state to 81,31,458 and death toll to 1,48,385. On Friday, the state had reported 273 new cases and a single fatality. Among new cases, the highest 216 were reported from Mumbai circle, followed by Pune (62 cases), Nagpur (10), Akola(9), Nashik (8), Kolhapur (7), Latur (4) and Aurangabad (3). Both the fatalities were reported from the Mumbai circle. One took place in Thane city while another in Vasai-Virar area. The number of COVID-19 patients who have recovered in the state so far rose to 79,81,541 with 406 patients recovering since previous evening. Maharashtra has now 1,532 active COVID-19 cases including the highest 561 in Mumbai, followed by 307 and 294 active cases in Pune and Thane districts, respectively. Recovery rate in the state is 98.16 per cent and case fatality rate is 1.82 per cent. With 14,162 new coronavirus

Maharashtra: Fire breaks out at soap factory in Palghar; no casualties

A blaze broke out at a soap factory in Boisar area of Maharashtra's Palghar district on Saturday and no casualties were reported in the incident, police said. The fire erupted in the factory around 3.30 pm, following which the fire brigade and local police were alerted, an official said. A firefighting operation was initiated and the blaze was doused in an hour, he said. No casualties were reported in the incident, as the factory was closed at the time, the official said, adding that a probe has been launched to ascertain the cause of the blaze.

MVA cries foul as Shinde-Fadnavis govt slashes security of 25 oppn leaders

Amid stinging criticism over the state losing out mega-projects to Gujarat, the ruling govt of CM Eknath Shinde and Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis has slashed the protection accorded to 25 MVA leaders

Ajit Pawar flays Maharashtra government for losing major projects

Maharashtra's former Deputy Chief Minister and currently the leader of opposition Ajit Pawar criticised the Shinde-Fadnavis government after the state lost the Tata Airbus project to Gujarat

Maharashtra govt scales down security of several opposition leaders

The Shinde-Fadnavis government has removed the security personnel deployed for the security of several senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party, Congress Party and the Uddhav Thackeray faction