Page 29 - Maharashtra

Krsnaa Diagnostics enters B2C segment with chain of 600 diagnostic centres

Mainly a PPP and B2B player, the Pune-based chain offers disruptive pricing

PFI was planning 'something serious' in Maharashtra, says CM Eknath Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday welcomed the Union government's decision to ban the Popular Front of India, which has allegedly been involved in a series of violence, and said it has come to light that the organisation was planning "something serious" in the state. The organisation members had also tried to disturb peace in Pune, but swift police action foiled their bid, Shinde told reporters in Nashik and thanked Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the step to ban PFI and its several associates for five years. "The PFI and its allied organisations were found to be involved in serious crimes. The organisation recently became active in terror funding, murders, insulting the Constitution, disturbing the social harmony and unity of the country. It has also surfaced that the organisation was planning something serious in Maharashtra as well," the CM said. "The plans of anti-social elements to undertake anti-national activities and divide the society will never ...

Victory of democracy: Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena on SC ruling

The Shiv Sena rebel faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court's order as the "victory of democracy". Welcoming the SC's ruling that the Election Commission will continue to hear the plea of the Shinde faction seeking the poll symbol of Shiv Sena, its spokesperson Naresh Mhaske said, "the rights of the EC and its powers have remained intact due to the decision of the apex court". Kalyan MP and CM Shinde's son Shrikant Shinde hailed the ruling as the victory of democracy. "I hope they (Uddhav Thackeray camp) will learn a lesson. They will also realise which is the real Shiv Sena of Bal Thackeray," he added. Mhaske said 40 MLAs of Shiv Sena and 12 of the 18 MPs are with the Shinde group, besides more than 80% of the district chiefs, corporators and councillors in Maharashtra.

Birla Corp to invest $1 bn over eight yrs, raise capacity to 30 mn tonnes

Current consolidated capacity is about 20 mn tonnes; mix of greenfield and brownfield projects, de-bottlenecking existing operations to help add another 10 mn tonnes

SC allows EC to go ahead with hearing Shinde group's claim on 'real' Sena

The Supreme Court Tuesday allowed the Election Commission to go ahead with the hearing of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde group's plea seeking recognition as the real Shiv Sena and allocation of the party's bow-and-arrow poll symbol to it. Justice D Y Chandrachud, heading a constitution bench, rejected the plea of the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction seeking to restrain the EC from deciding the Shinde group's claim over the original" Shiv Sena. We direct that there would be no stay of the proceedings before the Election Commission, the bench also comprising Justices M R Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha said. PTI PKS http://ptinews.com/images/pti.jpg We bring the World to you" Disclaimer : This e-mail message may contain proprietary, confidential or legally privileged information for the sole use of the person or entity to whom this message was originally addressed. Please delete this e-mail, if it is not meant for you.

Police arrest 4 PFI activists from Thane over anti-national activities

Police have arrested four activists of the Popular Front of India (PFI) from different locations in Maharashtra's Thane district for alleged anti-national activities, an official said on Tuesday. The arrests were made on Monday night in a joint operation carried out in the district by local police and crime branch officials, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Laxmikant Patil said. Two of the activists were nabbed from Mumbra and one each from Kalyan and Bhiwandi towns, he said without elaborating. The PFI, formed in 2006, claims to strive for a neo-social movement ostensibly for the empowerment of marginalised sections of India, and is often accused by law enforcement agencies of promoting radical Islam In near-simultaneous raids across the length and breadth of the country on September 22, a multi-agency operation spearheaded by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) led to the arrest of 106 PFI activists in 15 states for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country.

Maharashtra to recruit 20,000 personnel in police force: Deputy CM Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said 20,000 personnel will be recruited in the state's police force, with advertisements for the first round of 8,000 posts already issued. The process for the remaining 12,000 posts will be out soon, he told reporters here. The state government is keen on strengthening and developing a robust infrastructure for cyber security as per changing times and technology. Fadnavis also pointed out his government was taking special efforts for 1,641 prisoners in various prisons who have received bail but have not been released because they do not have money to pay the bond. "There are some technical issues as well as they do not have money to pay for their bail bond. We have intimated some non-governmental organisations in this field to come forward and help these prisoners. Prisons are already crowded," he said.

Voting for gram panchayats rescheduled from Oct 13 to 16 in Maharashtra

The State Election Commission on Monday rescheduled the voting for gram panchayats in Maharashtra to October 16. The voting was earlier scheduled on October 13. The counting of votes will be taken up on October 17 instead of October 14, the SEC said in a statement. The polling will be held for the 1,166 Gram Panchayats or village-level elected governing bodies, which also include the election of sarpanches directly by voters. The voting will begin at 7.30 am and end at 5.30 pm. In the villages where Naxalites could affect the votingthe polling will be concluded by 3 PM, the statement said.

Maharashtra sees 541 Covid-19 cases, two deaths; active tally at 3,702

Maharashtra on Sunday reported 541 COVID-19 cases, including 108 in Mumbai, and two fatalities, taking the tally to 81,19,345 and the toll to 1,48,329, the state health department said. With 546 patients discharged during the day, the cumulative count of recoveries in the state rose to 79,67,314, leaving the state with 3,702 active cases, the department said in a statement. The two COVID-19 fatalities were reported from Navi Mumbai and Nagpur divisions. The case recovery rate in Maharashtra stands at 98.13 per cent and the fatality rate at 1.82 per cent. Mumbai's tally of infections rose to 11,48,859 and the death toll to 19,729. Mumbai region recorded 191 fresh cases, which raised the number of cases to 23,78,847 and the toll to 40,099. Nashik division reported 40 cases, Pune region 231, Kolhapur division 19, Aurangabad division 13, Latur division 14, Akola division 15, and Nagpur division 18. Maharashtra's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Total cases 81,19,345, fatalities 1,4

No decision taken on oil refinery plant location in Maharashtra, says Puri

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said the Centre has not taken any decision to set up an oil refinery project in any specific area in Maharashtra. Speaking to reporters in Chandrapur, he said the state government will have to discuss the project's location with the Central government. He alleged the erstwhile government (in Maharashtra) had allocated land for the project but later refused under the pretext of changing the location, which derailed the project. "Following this, the state (Maharashtra) and the country faced huge economic losses in the last two-and-a-half years," Puri alleged. Puri was apparently referring to the Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemical project, proposed to be built at Nanar village in Ratnagiri district in coastal Konkan, but it was scrapped before the 2019 polls at the insistence of Shiv Sena, the then alliance partner of BJP. Establishing a 60-million metric tonne per annum oil refinery will be the biggest plant in the world, Puri ...

Maharashtra sees 619 fresh Covid-19 cases, 3 fatalities in a single day

Maharashtra on Saturday reported 619 COVID-19 cases and three fatalities, taking the tally to 81,18,804 and the toll to 1,48,327, the health department said. A day before, the state had logged 611 infections and two deaths. Of the three fatalities, Kolhapur circle reported two and Mumbai circle one. Of the 619 cases, the highest 260 were reported from the Pune circle, and 219 from the Mumbai circle which includes the metropolitan region (MMR). Nashik (42), Nagpur (36), Kolhapur (24), Aurangabad (13), Akola (12), and Latur (11) circles reported less than 100 new cases. With 686 people discharged in the last 24 hours, the count of recoveries in Maharashtra went up to 79,66,768. Of the 3,709 active cases in the state, the highest 1,172 cases are in Pune, followed by 752 in Mumbai and 457 in Thane districts, the health department report stated. Maharashtra's recovery rate stands at 98.13 per cent and the fatality rate 1.82 per cent. With 22,872 tests conducted in the last 24 hours,

Wanted home ministry, but NCP 'seniors' said no: Ajit Pawar says in 'jest'

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Friday in a lighter vein said twice he became deputy chief minister of Maharashtra and on both occasions, wanted the home portfolio, but "seniors" in his party thought if he gets the key ministry, he would not listen to them. The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly made the comments during a meeting of the NCP's Pune unit where a functionary remarked that when the party becomes part of a government in the future, he (Pawar) should become home minister. "Last time, when I was made deputy chief minister, that time 'I told that make me home minister'. But seniors thought if the home minister's position was given to me, I would not listen to them," he said jokingly. Pawar said after Anil Deshmukh resigned as home minister in April last year, he once again asked the party to give him the home ministry, but he did not get the portfolio. Speaking to reporters later, the senior NCP leader clarified he had made the remarks about eyeing

Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train: NHSRCL floats tender for underground tunnel

National High Speed Railway Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) has invited bids for the construction of a 21-km-long tunnel, seven km of which will be under the sea, for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor. The work on the corridor has gained momentum after the change in government in Maharashtra, with tenders, which were previously floated and withdrawn, being renewed again, sources said. Considered the highlight of the project, the tunnel will be built between the underground station at Bandra-Kurla Complex and Shilphata in Thane district of Maharashtra. The tunnel will be built using tunnel boring machine and the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), according to the tender document. The seven-km undersea tunnel at Thane Creek will be the first undersea tunnel to come up in the country. In November last year, NHSRCL had invited bids for underground tunnelling works for the project. But it was cancelled this year with officials citing "administrative reasons". In 2019, NHSR

Confident that BJP won't oppose draft policy on wine sale: Maha minister

The Maharashtra government has received people's feedback on a draft policy allowing sale of wines in supermarkets and he was sure that the ruling ally BJP would not oppose it, excise minister Shambhuraj Desai said on Thursday. The previous MVA government had allowed wine sale in supermarkets but the BJP, then in opposition, had opposed it. "We had put the draft policy in the public domain to seek people's suggestions and objections. By July-end, we received suggestions and objections, however, due to the political developments I could not focus on it," Desai told reporters here. "Once I receive the details, I will further study it region-wise and check the opinions of people from rural as well as urban areas and then brief chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and then the draft will go to the cabinet," said Desai. He was confident that his colleagues in the BJP will not oppose the policy if it was in the interest of the state and benefited ...

Maharashtra records 550 new Covid-19 cases, 3 deaths; active tally 3,857

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 550 fresh coronavirus positive cases and three fatalities, which took its overall caseload to 81,17,574 and toll to 1,48,322, the state health department said. On Wednesday, the state had recorded 640 cases and five fatalities. State capital Mumbai logged 98 new cases and two deaths, while Chandrapur district recorded one fatality. Maharashtra's COVID-19 fatality rate stands at 1.82 per cent. The number of active infection cases stands at 3,857, the state health department said, adding that 740 patients recuperated during the day, taking the cumulative recovery count to 79,65,395. The state's recovery rate stands at 98.13 per cent. A total of 24,105 tests were conducted in the state in the last 24 hours, which pushed the state's overall recovery count to 8,46,18,216. The coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Positive cases: 81,17,574; new cases: 550; death toll 1,48,322; active cases: 3,857; tests so far: 8,46,18,216.

A dog temple that draws visitors, even Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel

Located in Khapri village, Balod district, the temple is known as Kukurdev Mandir

Maha Dussehra rally: Shinde faction MLA moves HC to block Uddhav's plea

MLA Sada Sarvankar, of the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena, filed an application in the Bombay High Court on Thursday, seeking the court to not hear or decide the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena's petition for permission to hold their annual Dussehra rally at the Shivaji Park in Mumbai. Sarvankar said if the HC passes any order on the issue, then it would cause impediment on the ongoing dispute on who represents the "real Shiv Sena". The application is likely to be mentioned on Thursday before a division bench of Justices R D Dhanuka and Kamal Khata, which is scheduled to hear the petition filed by Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and its secretary Anil Desai on Wednesday seeking permission to hold the Dussehra rally at the Shivaji Park on October 5. In his application, Sarvankar, the MLA from Dadar in Mumbai, said he belongs to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's faction, who is the "Mukyaneta of Shiv Sena". He claimed the petition filed by the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena is ...

Hold BMC, Maharashtra Assembly polls in 1 month, defeat us: Uddhav to BJP

Asserting that the bond between the Shiv Sena and Mumbai was unbreakable, party president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday dared the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) to hold Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections and Maharashtra Assembly polls in a month and defeat his outfit. Accusing the BJP, which is part of the state government, of speaking "blatant lies on the Rs 1.54 lakh crore Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor plan coming up in Gujarat, Thackeray attacked Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for sitting quiet over Maharashtra losing out on the project and prostrating before Delhi. The former chief minister, addressing party workers at suburban Goregaon, said the Centre is giving huge incentives to the project after it was moved to the adjoining BJP-ruled state. A blame-game erupted in Maharashtra following the announcement last week that the joint venture semiconductor project of Indian conglomerate Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, proposed to be set up near Pune city

We are true torchbearer of Balasaheb's ideals: Maharashtra CM Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday targeted Uddhav Thackeray for "betraying" the Hindutva ideology, even as he declared himself as the true torchbearer of the ideals of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray. Addressing a Shiv Sena function here, Shinde alleged that it was Uddhav Thackeray who betrayed the Hindutva ideology propounded by Balasaheb Thackeray by joining hands with arch-rivals Congress and NCP. We are being called 'gaddar' (betrayers). But it is we who took Balasaheb's ideals forward, while they shortchanged the ideals of Hindutva. Who is 'gaddar' and who is 'khuddar' (one having self-esteem), the people will decide, Shinde said. Shinde, who led a rebellion in the Shiv Sena ranks in June and became chief minister with the support of the BJP, was responding to the allegations made by predecessor Uddhav Thackeray at a rally in Goregaon in suburban Mumbai. Thackeray, who had dumped the BJP to become chief minister of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi governm

Maharashtra logs 640 new Covid cases, five deaths; active tally at 4,050

Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 640 new COVID-19 cases and five fatalities, which took its overall caseload to 81,17,024 and death toll to 1,48,319, the state health department said. As compared to the previous day, the state's one-day infection count witnessed an increase of 90 cases as it had reported 550 cases along with two fatalities on Tuesday. The Mumbai circle reported the highest 224 new cases, followed by Pune circle (219), Nagpur circle (52), Nashik circle (36), Latur circle (34), Kolhapur (29), Akola circle (28) and Aurangabad circle (18). Of the five deaths, Pune circle reported three and Mumbai circle two. The state's COVID-19 recovery count climbed to 79,64,655 as 801 patients recuperated from the infection during the day, the department said in its report. Maharashtra has 4,050 active COVID-19 cases and of those, the highest number of 1,238 cases are in Pune, followed by 845 and 577 cases in Mumbai and Thane districts respectively. Presently, Maharashtra's recov