Page 8 - Maharashtra

Prez appoints 6 new governors; former SC judge S Nazeer named for Andhra

Four BJP leaders and former Supreme Court judge S Adbul Nazeer, who was part of the Constitution bench that upheld the archaeological report on Ayodhya, were among six new faces appointed as governors on Sunday. According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique, the resignations of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh R K Mathur have been accepted. BJP leaders Lakshman Prasad Acharya, C P Radhakrishnan, Shiv Pratap Shukla and Gulab Chand Kataria, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan, were nominated as governors in Sikkim, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Assam respectively. Koshyari was replaced by Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais, while Mathur's place was given to Governor of Arunachal Pradesh Brig B D Mishra (retd). Retired Supreme Court judge Nazeer was appointed governor of Andhra Pradesh and Lt Gen K T Parnaik (retd) governor of Arunachal Pradesh.

International Year of Millets: 4,000kg bhagar prepared in Maha's Nashik

Four thousand kilograms of 'bhagar' (dish with barnyard millet and vegetables) was prepared on Sunday in Nashik in Maharashtra in honour of the United Nations declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets on a proposal by India. Chef Vishnu Manohar said 400 kilograms of bhagar (barnyard millet), 250 kilograms potatoes, 37 kg salt, 125 kg oil, 2,700 litres of water, 400 kg curd, 100 litres of milk, 100 kg peanuts, 125 kg groundnut and 12 kg cumin seeds were needed by a team of 16 cooks to prepare the dish. The 10-foot radius pan in which the dish was prepared was brought from Nagpur and weighed 1.5 tonnes, while the three ladles weighed 22 kg each, he explained. The food was given to various NGOs involved in welfare of the poor as well as medical colleges and other such units.

National Lok Adalat in Thane settles 48,988 cases worth Rs 128.07 crore

The National Lok Adalat held in Thane in Maharashtra has settled 48,988 pending cases amounting to Rs 128.07 crore, a District Legal Services Authority official said on Sunday. The most number of cases were settled under the Negotiable Instruments Act, amounting to Rs 47.32 crore, or 36.95 per cent of all cases, said DLSA secretary Ishwar Suryavanshi. "This was followed by settlements worth Rs 35.07 crore in MACT cases, Rs 12.87 crore in cases under the revenue department. The amounts were Rs 6.78 crore and Rs 4.96 crore for cases under power and water supply departments," he informed. "Of the 2,29,589 matters that were taken up at the Lok Adalat here on Saturday, 48,988 were settled. Thane led with settlements worth Rs 47.89 crore, followed by Rs 30.97 crore for Ulhasnagar and Rs 11.30 crore for Belapur," he said. The settlement included one of Rs 73 lakh between Vilas Mhatre (43) and an insurance firm in a 2014 accident case at Kalyan panel, one of the 88 panels set up as part of

Maharashtra records 16 new Covid-19 cases in a day; active tally at 82

Maharashtra on Saturday reported 16 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 81,37,280, the state health department said. The COVID-19 death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,421 as no fresh fatalities were reported. Maharashtra is now left with 82 active cases after 15 patients were discharged during the day, taking the number of recoveries to 79,88,777, it said. The case recovery rate in the state now stands at 98.18 per cent and the fatality rate at 1.82 per cent, the department said. Mumbai reported five cases, which raised the overall count to 11,54,366 while the death toll remained 19,747. With eight new cases, the tally of infections in the Mumbai division rose to 23,88,293. Nashik, Aurangabad, Latur, and Akola divisions didn't report any fresh cases while the Nagpur division logged one case, Pune division 5, and the Kolhapur division 2.

Maharashtra govt is legal, will complete its term: Deputy CM Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said the Eknath Shinde-BJP government was legitimate and will remain in power, remarks viewed as a swipe at the Uddhav Thacekray-led Shiv Sena faction which has been predicting its collapse. He said the government, which came to power in June 2022, was formed as per Constitutional norms and rules. Addressing the state BJP executive in Nashik city in north Maharashtra, Fadnavis said he was confident that the Supreme Court will rule in "our" favour, a reference to the disqualification plea filed by the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction against 16 MLAs of the Eknath Shinde-led group. Without naming the Uddhav Thackeray faction, the senior BJP leader refuted the criticism that the government was illegal and that many members (of Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde) will be disqualified (by the apex court). "This message is being spread so that the remaining 10-15 MLAs (in the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena camp) do

Gemological Science International gets nod to import diamonds for grading

Mumbai-based Gemological Science International (GSI) Pvt Ltd has been allowed to import diamonds for certification, grading and re-export, according to an official notification. This will be the sixth agency permitted by the government for the work. The other agencies include Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Mumbai; Indian Diamond Institute, Surat; and De Beers India Pvt Ltd, Surat. "GSI Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, Maharashtra is added as an agency to import diamonds for certification, grading and re-export," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification.

Maharashtra ban on bike aggregators: SC refuses to grant relief to Rapido

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain an appeal filed by Rapido challenging the Maharashtra government's denial to grant two-wheeler bike taxi aggregator licence to the company

Maharashtra leader Balasaheb Thorat resigns as Cong legislature party chief

Maharashtra Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat on Tuesday resigned as the state legislature party head, a day after his letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over friction with state unit chief Nana Patole came out, party sources said. Patole, however, said he was not aware of any such move by Thorat and claimed that his predecessor doesn't speak with us, while the BJP said its doors are open if the Congress leader wishes to switch sides. Thorat, who represents the Sangamner constituency in Ahmednagar district, has sent his resignation to the party high command, said the sources. The Congress leader is the maternal uncle of Satyajit Tambe who recently won the Legislative Council election from the Nashik division graduates constituency as an independent candidate. An aide of Thorat had earlier said that the Congress leader had written to the Congress central leadership citing his inability to work with Patole due to the latter's "anger" towards him. Thorat also said he was n

Agriculture students must work for development of sector: Maha guv Koshyari

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Sunday said students of agriculture must work for the development of the sector instead of running after jobs. The governor was addressing students via video-conferencing at the 37th convocation ceremony of Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Agriculture University. Agriculture students should work for the country's agricultural development instead of just running after jobs, Koshyari said. "Agriculture education will never go in vain because agriculture is the biggest sector in the country. When all businesses came to a halt during the coronavirus pandemic, the agriculture sector never stopped," the governor said. Scientists of the university must take their research directly to the farmers, he said. Speaking on the occasion, vice-chancellor Dr Sharad Gadakh said in the future, one village from each district in the university's jurisdiction will be developed as a model village and agriculture and other development activities will be implemented ...

Will file complaint against BMC public utility: Somaiya on 'Covid Ki Kamai'

"COVID ki KAMAI" Exposing One more scam of BMC today. 2.30 pm today, I will be meeting Labour Minister Suresh Khade at Mantralaya Mumbai to submit a detailed complaint," the BJP leader said in a tweet

Maharashtra court rejects Raj Thackeray's discharge plea in 2008 case

A local court in western Maharashtra's Sangli district on Friday rejected Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's plea seeking discharge in a 2008 case related to a protest organized by his party's workers. MNS workers had staged protest in Shirala in the district against Thackeray's arrest in Mumbai, and a case under IPC sections related to unlawful assembly and breach of peace was registered. The FIR also named Thackeray besides nine others. Assistant public prosecutor Ranjit Patil opposed the discharge plea and stated that it can not be decided till all the witnesses depose. The court upheld his argument, Patil said in a statement here. MNS had staged a state-wide agitation demanding preference for Marathi youth in railway jobs and Thackeray had been arrested over the issue.

Friction arose with Prithviraj Chavan as he had no experience: Ajit Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar said on Friday that the reason for the discord between him and then Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan was that the latter had no experience of the state's politics. Pawar was deputy chief minister when Chavan headed the Congress-NCP alliance government between 2010 and 2014. Asked about the talk of discord between him and Chavan during an interview at an event organised by the Lokmat media group here, Pawar said Chavan had never worked even as an MLA in the state as he was mostly based in Delhi. "Prithviraj Chavan had never worked as an MLA here. He was not aware of what kind of treatment we had received from people in the power....He had no experience of the state cabinet," the NCP leader said. "He had been working in the PMO and there is a difference between the state politics and politics in Delhi," Pawar added. Chavan, who was a minister in the Manmohan Singh government, became chief minister after Ashok Chavan resigned .

Alerted Uddhav Thackeray about rebellion but he failed to act: Ajit Pawar

"...but Uddhav said he had full confidence in his MLAs and that they wouldn't take such an extreme step," Pawar said

Maharashtra tops list of states buying EVs through FAME scheme

In electric four wheelers, including cars, Delhi came top

Higher antibodies in those vaccinated with precaution dose: Mumbai survey

The second phase of the sixth sero survey in Mumbai has shown that persons who have received precaution doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have significantly higher antibodies than those who took two doses of the vaccine, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said on Friday. The second phase was conducted in the months of September and October last year and included a follow-up of those who had taken part in the first phase, a BMC release said. "About 88 per cent, or 2,733 participants in phase-I survey, took part in the second phase. This comprised 50 per cent front line workers and 50 per cent healthcare workers. Out of the 2, 733 participants, 59 per cent were aged 25 to 45 years, while 41 per cent were in the 45-65 segment. Of the total, 57 per cent were males and 43 per cent were females," it said. "Only 0.7 per cent participants had not received any dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 1.3 per cent had taken a single dose, 55 per cent participants had taken both the doses an

Pollution control, better health system should be in BMC budget: Maha CM

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde on Thursday directed the BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal to prioritise pollution control, strengthening of health system, administration transparenc

Karnataka CM pledges Rs 100 cr for Border Development Authority by March 31

The CM directed the authorities concerned to prepare action plans on these fronts

Will expose BMC's 'Covid Ki Kamai' today, says BJP leader Kirit Somaiya

Hitting out at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), BJP leader and former MP Kirit Somaiya on Wednesday said he will expose "one more scam of the BMC" later in the day

Maharashtra's community health officials to hold 1-day strike in Mumbai

A large number of community health officials posted in rural areas of Maharashtra assembled at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai on Wednesday for a one-day strike to press for their various demands including a permanent government job. Their other demands include reduction in workload, allotment of wages on time and insurance by the state government. Community health officers (CHOs) work in rural areas at primary health centres. They are currently working on a contract. Although their contracts get renewed, the CHOs have now demanded to make them permanent employees of the state government, sources said. The one-day strike will affect the basic check-up of patients for cold, cough, fever and routine maternal visits that are scheduled for Wednesday, claimed a government doctor from Latur, who has come to Mumbai to be a part of the strike. "The state government used to give a five per cent increase in monthly wages every year to CHOs, but it is not implemented since 2017. The government sho

Sugar mills in Maharashtra to close early as rain hits cane supply

India has allowed sugar mills to export only 6.1 million tonnes of the sweetener in the current season and, out of that, mills have already contracted to export 5.7 million tonnes