Page 18 - Maharashtra Government

Maha claims injustice to state students in NEET results; seeks cancellation

The Maharashtra government has sought immediate cancellation of the last month's NEET exam, alleging that its results have caused injustice to the students from the state. Several aspirants of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG), conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, have earlier alleged that inflation of marks has led to a record 67 candidates bagging the top rank, including six from the same exam centre in Haryana. The results of the exam were declared on June 4. The National Testing Agency (NTA), however, denied any irregularities and said the changes made in the NCERT textbooks and grace marks for losing time at the examination centres are some of the reasons behind the students scoring higher marks. Talking about the issue, Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif on Friday said, "The NEET exams were probably conducted after taking money. The results are such that no student of Maharashtra will get admission for the MBBS course in ...

One injured, 30 rescued in major fire at high-rise in Mumbai's Byculla

A 57-year-old man was injured while 25 to 30 persons were rescued after a fire broke out in a 62-storey residential building in south Mumbai's Byculla area around midnight, officials said on Sunday. The blaze erupted in a flat on the 10th floor of the Monte South building's A wing in the Khatao Mill Compound in Byculla at 11.42 pm on Saturday, a fire official said, adding smoke filled the entire floor. Some persons were stranded on the upper floors of the building, he said. The official said 25 to 30 persons were rescued through the staircase. A man, identified as Pandurang Shinde, was injured, he said. It was a "level-2" blaze which was confined to the electric wiring and installations, wooden furniture, household articles, wardrobe, mattresses, wooden beds, sofas, curtains, electronic appliances, false ceilings, doors, windows and modular kitchen of the 10th floor flat and curtains, window glass, etc of an apartment on the 11th floor, the official said. Eight water tankers and

Pune case: Will overhaul hospital system to make it foolproof, says Mushrif

Maharashtra minister Hasan Mushrif has promised to make the system at civil hospitals foolproof, an assurance coming in the wake of alleged manipulation of blood samples at Pune's Sassoon hospital in connection with the Porsche crash. The medical education minister was speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Thursday. Police have arrested Dr Ajay Taware, then head of the department of forensic medicine at Sassoon, medical officer Dr Shrihari Halnor and staffer Atul Ghatkamble for allegedly swapping the blood samples of the teenager, who police say was driving the Porsche. According to police, the minor driver was drunk at the time of the incident which resulted in the death of two IT professionals in the early hours of May 19 in Kalyani Nagar area of Pune city. The police found that Dr Ajay Taware was on leave on the night of the Pune accident and he got a call from someone. He accepted Rs 3 lakh, called Dr Halnor to manipulate the blood samples. This was absolutely wrong, Mushrif ...

Pune Porsche crash: Mother of teen appeals to cops to safeguard son

The mother of the 17-year-old boy who allegedly fatally knocked down two persons with his high-end car has appealed to the police to protect her son after a video purportedly featuring him, boasting about how he got away with the accident, went viral. In a video message, the teen's mother stressed that the clip had nothing to do with her son and that it was fake. The video which is being circulated is not of my son. That is a fake video. My son is in the detention centre, says the teen's mother in her message. Appealing to the police to protect her son, the mother breaks down, shows her video message. Unable to gather herself, she then walks away from the camera. A rap song purportedly featuring the teenager, boasting about how he got away with the car crash, went viral on social media, but Pune police have clarified that it was a fake account and that the teenager had no role in the video. Later, it was found that the rap video was of a social media influencer. A Porsche, allege

Illegal hoardings in Maha: 15 cases lodged; billboards, banners removed

As many as 15 cases pertaining to illegal hoardings have been registered in Maharashtra's Latur city, including 11 on a single day, civic officials said. The Latur Municipal Corporation authorities removed two hoardings and 15 banners from the city on Monday, they said. The action was taken against the backdrop of the collapse of an illegal hoarding in Mumbai on May 13, which claimed 16 lives and injured several others. The Latur civic body had given a deadline till Sunday for the removal of illegal hoardings from the city, an official release said on Monday. After the deadline ended, 11 cases related to illegal hoardings were registered on Monday, it said. Since last week (after the hoarding crash incident in Mumbai), a total of 15 cases have been registered, the civic body said. Deputy municipal commissioner Dr Punjab Khansole recently held a meeting with the officials concerned and instructed them to accelerate the process and file cases against violators. The corporation had

LS polls: Contest in Kalyan prestige battle for Maharashtra CM Shinde's son

Shrikant Shinde had comfortably won the Kalyan Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra in the last two elections, but the stakes are higher this time as his father, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, now heads a truncated faction of the Shiv Sena following a bitter split in the party. The constituency, part of the Thane district and close to Mumbai, contains densely populated urban areas and industrial belts. It will go to polls on May 20. Shrikant Shinde entered politics in 2014, contesting as a candidate of the then undivided Shiv Sena and won with a margin of 2,50,749 votes. He increased the margin to 3,44,343 in the 2019 general elections. But the political scenario has changed drastically since then, as his father rebelled against party chief Uddhav Thackeray and walked away to join hands with the BJP to become chief minister in June 2022. Uncertainty surrounded Shrikant Shinde's candidature this time as the BJP sensed the possibility of contesting more seats in Maharashtra, and its leader a

Hoarding collapse: DDMA orders removal of 8 oversized hoardings in Dadar

The District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) for Mumbai on Friday directed the Government Railway Police (GRP) commissioner to remove eight oversized hoardings installed by Ego Media Private Limited in Dadar area as they "may endanger the lives of general public," an official said. A hoarding installed by Ego Media collapsed on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar on May 13, killing 16 people and injuring more than 75. The official said that DDMA chaired by additional municipal commissioner Ashwini Joshi issued a notice to GRP commissioner and directed him to remove within three days eight hoardings on GRP premises. "It is noticed that, there are eight other oversized hoardings (i.e. more than (40ft x 40ft) erected on Government Railway Police premises within the Western Railway-jurisdiction of Railways, which are erected not in consonance with the policy of BMC i.e. (in terms of) location, size, type, structural audit etc," the notice read.

GRP allowed Bhinde's firm to erect four illegal hoardings in 2021: Somaiya

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Friday claimed that the Government Railway Police (GRP) had granted permission in 2021 for four more illegal hoardings in Mumbai to the advertising firm involved in the Ghatkopar billboard collapse. Somaiya said these hoardings have been installed at the Railway Police Colony near Tilak Bridge, Dadar. Four more hoardings illegal permission was given by GRP Railway Police of Maharashtra Govt to Bhavesh Bhinde EGO Media in 2021 (sic), Somaiya said in a post on X. Bhavesh Bhinde, director of M/s Ego Media Pvt. Ltd., which had put up the giant hoarding that collapsed in suburban Ghatkopar killing 16 people and injuring 75 was nabbed from Rajasthan and brought to the city early on Friday. The illegal 125 feet x 125 feet hoarding, which stood on a piece of land in possession of the GRP, crashed onto a petrol pump in the Chheda Nagar area on Monday evening when the city was hit by dust storms and unseasonal rains. Ex-MP Somaiya had alleged on Thursday that no

Handover the land for Bombay High Court building by September, says SC

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Maharashtra government to strive to handover by the end of September the first tranche of land for construction of a new Bombay High Court building. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud asserted that the state authorities need not wait till the end of the year to handover the entire land and smaller areas can be given as they become available. "We direct the Maharashtra government to make all endeavour to hand over the first tranche of land of 9.64 acre by the end of September 2024. The government of Maharashtra need not wait till December to handover the entire 9.64 acre and smaller areas could be handed over. All endeavour be made for 9.64 acre to be handed over by September 30, 2024," the court said. The top court was hearing a case under its suo motu (on its own) jurisdiction, initiated after taking note of an April 29 letter petition of Bombay Bar Association president Nitin Thakker and other bar leaders with respect to

Hoarding crash in Mumbai: Chances of finding survivors slim, says NDRF

Two more bodies have been located under the debris at the site of a giant hoarding collapse in Mumbai as the search and rescue operation continued more than 40 hours after the incident, officials said on Wednesday. The bodies were spotted last night at the hoarding crash site in Ghatkopar, but were yet to be pulled out, they said. The illegal hoarding that stood on a piece of land in possession of the Government Railway Police (GRP) crashed on a petrol pump in Chheda Nagar area on Monday evening when the city was hit by dust storms and unseasonal rains. Rescue teams had earlier extricated 89 persons from under the collapsed hoarding, of whom 14 were declared dead while the other 75 were injured, as per officials. National Disaster Response Force's (NDRF) Assistant Commandant Nikhil Mudholkar told PTI on Wednesday, "We have spotted two bodies stuck under the third girder (of the collapsed hoarding) but we are facing difficulties in reaching the spot. One needs to crawl to reach ...

Firing outside Salman's home: One more member of Lawrence gang arrested

The Mumbai Police have arrested one more member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in connection with firing outside Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's residence here last month, officials said on Tuesday. The accused, identified as Harpal Singh (34), a resident of Fatehabad in Haryana, was apprehended by a team of the Mumbai crime branch from his hometown on Monday evening, an official said. Singh was brought to Mumbai in the early hours of Tuesday and will be produced before a court later in the day, he said. This is the sixth arrest in connection with the firing incident. Two motorcycle-borne persons opened fire outside Khan's residence at the Galaxy Apartment in Mumbai's Bandra area on April 14 and fled the spot. Singh's name surfaced during the interrogation of accused Mohammed Rafique Chowdhary, another Bishnoi gang member who was arrested earlier this month in the firing case, the official said. Singh had asked Chowdhary to conduct a recce around Khan's residence and also gave Rs

Mumbai storm: BMC issues notice to ad agency for removal of 3 hoardings

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued a notice to an advertisement agency on Monday after the Ghatkopar billboard collapse incident, asking it to immediately remove the remaining three hoardings near the spot, officials said. The notice has been issued to M/s Ego Media for installing the hoarding that collapsed on the petrol pump during the gusty winds on Monday evening. According to police, eight persons were killed and more than 70 were injured in the incident. "The BMC has asked the ad agency to remove the remaining three hoardings immediately for not having valid permission," an official said. The Assistant Police Commissioner (Admin) had given permission for erecting the four hoardings on behalf of the Commissioner of Railway Police, Mumbai, including the one which collapsed on Monday, but no official permission or NOC was obtained from the BMC. The official said the land on which the hoarding was erected is the Collector land and it was in possession of Police .

Lok Sabha polls 2024: 30.85% voter turnout in Maharashtra until 1 pm

A voter turnout of 6.45 per cent was recorded till 9 am on Monday as polling was underway in 11 of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra during the fourth phase of the general elections, as per data shared by authorities. Polling began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm in Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Raver, Jalna, Aurangabad, Maval, Pune, Shirur, Ahmednagar, Shirdi, and Beed constituencies, an official said. Union minister Raosaheb Danve, BJP leader Pankaja Munde and actor-turned-politician Amol Kolhe are among the prominent candidates. A total of 298 candidates are in the fray with Beed constituency having the highest number of candidates at 41, while Nandurbar has the lowest number at 11. Altogether 2.28 crore voters are eligible to participate in the fourth phase elections in the state. They comprise 1.18 crore men, 1.09 crore women, and 1,272 third-gender voters. In the 11 constituencies, there are 23,284 polling centres, 83 of which are deemed critical. Voting is underway using 5

SC asks Maha govt to conduct safety audit of Bombay High Court building

The Supreme Court on Tuesday took note of concerns over the safety of the 150-year-old Bombay High Court building and the need for additional space, and directed the Maharashtra government to forthwith conduct a safety audit of the heritage structure. A special bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices B R Gavai and J B Pardiwala also asked the government to expedite drawings of the site earmarked for constructing new high court building in Mumbai. Observing that the state government must act with alacrity to fulfil the needs for facilities in the high court, the bench asked the state PWD to take up the matter in right earnest. It also said the high court may consult the state PWD and others on expediting the drawings. In order to ensure the structural safety of the existing premises, the State PWD will forthwith conduct a safety audit and apprise it on the next hearing of the steps taken on that regard, the bench said. The top court exercised its suo motu (on its own) ..

Mumbai to witness high sea waves till Sunday night, says BMC advisory

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday issued an advisory cautioning people against entering the Arabian Sea amid warnings about high tide till Sunday night. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information (INCOIS), the sea will witness a "swell of surge waves" from 11.30 am on Saturday to 11.30 pm on Sunday, the civic body said. During this time, the height of the waves will rise by 0.5 to 1.5 metres, it said. The BMC has also asked fishermen to exercise caution. BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagarin has asked civic personnel to coordinate with the police, and security guards at beaches in the city have been directed to stop people from entering the waters.

Maharashtra govt asks police to crack down on deepfake creators

The Maharashtra government on Friday directed the state police to take stern action against those creating deepfakes, saying such content is a cause for concern amid the poll season. According to an official release, the number of deepfakes and doctored photos being circulated on social media and digital media has risen during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Deepfake is a video of a person in which their appearance has been digitally altered so that they look like somebody else. Such manipulated content is being created using machine learning (ML) or artificial intelligence (AI), it said, adding that the use of this machinery during elections is a cause for concern. Deepfake content creates misunderstanding and is defamatory, said the government. The government has asked the Director-General of Police (DGP) to curb such practices and ensure a clean and transparent electoral process. The police have been asked to take stern action against anti-social elements making and circulatin

Apologise for seeking votes for Modi earlier, says Uddhav Thackeray

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said the Narendra Modi government has betrayed Maharashtra, and he apologises to the people for seeking votes for the prime minister in earlier elections. Thackeray and his Maha Vikas Aghadi ally and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar spoke at a rally at Ichalkaranji in Kolhapur district of western Maharashtra in support of Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from Hatkanangale constituency, Satyajit Patil. Talking about the circumstances in which his government fell in 2019, Thackeray said the Supreme Court had not delivered its verdict on whose Shiv Sena was the real one, but the "Election Commission and the arbitrator (Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar) who were working as their (BJP's) servants, gave their verdicts." "Now when PM Modi calls us fake Shiv Sena, he is putting pressure on the court," Thackeray said. Sharad Pawar said that Modi, during visits to Maharashtra, only criticises him (Pawar) and Thackeray instead of speaking about his ..

LS polls: Shiv Sena nominates Naresh Mhaske as its candidate from Thane

The Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday nominated former Thane mayor Naresh Mhaske as its candidate for the Thane Lok Sabha seat. Mhaske will take on Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate and incumbent MP Rajan Vichare. It also officially announced the candidature of CM Shinde's son Shrikant Shinde as its candidate from the Kalyan Lok Sabha seat. He currently represents that seat. Shinde's nomination had been announced by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as a candidate of the ruling 'Mahayuti' (grand alliance), comprising Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar, last month. Thane is known to be bastion of CM Shinde. He represents the Kopri-Pachpakhadi assembly constituency in Thane. The party is yet to announce candidates for the Nashik and Palghar Lok Sabha seats.

May 1 bank holiday: Are banks closed today? Check state-wise list

Banks will remain closed in some states on May 1 in observance of Maharashtra Day and May Day

IMD issues heatwave alert for Thane, Raigad, and Mumbai from April 27-29

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a heatwave alert for Maharashtra's Thane, Raigad districts and parts of Mumbai from April 27 to 29. IMD scientist Sushma Nair on Wednesday said there is an anti-cyclonic circulation over Thane, Raigad and parts of Mumbai which will lead to a rise in temperature. The temperatures are likely to peak on April 27 and 28. This is the second heatwave alert issued for Mumbai and neighbouring region this month. On April 15 and 16, Mumbai and its neighbouring areas had witnessed severe hot weather and temperatures in parts of Navi Mumbai reached 41 degrees Celsius. The IMD had advised people to avoid prolonged heat exposure, drink sufficient water and stay hydrated, wear light coloured, loose and cotton clothes, cover head or use wet cloth or hat or umbrella while going out during afternoon hours, and schedule strenuous jobs during cooler times of the day.