Page 102 - Maharashtra

Hyundai signs deal to acquire General Motors' Talegaon manufacturing plant

Facility in Maharashtra has annual production capacity of 130,000 units

CCEA approves 7 multi-tracking projects to increase railway network

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved seven multi-tracking projects of Indian Railways at an estimated cost of around Rs 32,500 crore, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. The proposed projects will help increase the existing line capacity, smoothen train operations, reduce congestion and facilitate ease of travelling and transportation. The projects covering 35 districts in nine states -- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal -- will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by 2,339 km.

Hyundai Motor's India unit to buy General Motors' Maharashtra plant

The South Korean firm said it intends to upgrade the existing infrastructure at the Talegaon unit and start manufacturing in 2025. The plant currently has an annual production capacity of 130,000 unit

Sharad Pawar will not join hands with BJP in his lifetime: Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday claimed that Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar will not join hands with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in his lifetime. Talking to reporters, Raut further claimed a prime minister of the opposition INDIA alliance will hoist the national flag at the Red Fort in Delhi next year 2024 and the country is waiting for that auspicious moment. I don't think Sharad Pawar will join hands with the BJP till the time he lives. He is rebuilding his party, the Rajya Sabha member said. Sharad Pawar's party is an ally of the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress in Maharashtra. A meeting between Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who is his nephew, at the residence of a businessman in Pune on Saturday has created a buzz in political circles. Asked whether Ajit Pawar gave any offer to Sharad Pawar during the meeting, Raut said, When did Ajit Pawar become so big to give an offer to Sharad Pawar." "It is Sharad

'Secret meetings' between Pawars a matter of concern: Maharashtra Congress

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has said they not approve of meetings taking place "secretly" between NCP chief Sharad Pawar and state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and that it is a matter of concern for his party. Sharad Pawar is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP, while his nephew Ajit Pawar split the NCP last month to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-BJP government. Asked by reporters on Tuesday about Pawar senior meeting his nephew in Pune on Saturday, Patole said, It is a matter of concern for us and we do not approve of the meetings taking place between the Pawars secretly." "However, this matter will be discussed by the top Congress leaders. The (opposition) INDIA alliance will also discuss it, so it would not be appropriate for me to discuss it further, he said. Patole said the Congress has decided to join hands with everyone who is willing to oppose the BJP. "There is no grain of truth in the speculation tha

'Secret meetings' between Pawars is matter of concern: Maharashtra Congress

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Tuesday said it was a matter of concern for his party that NCP chief Sharad Pawar and state deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar were meeting secretly. Sharad Pawar is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP, while his nephew Ajit Pawar split the Nationalist Congress Party last month to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-BJP government. Asked by reporters about Pawar senior meeting Ajit in Pune on Saturday, Patole said, It is a matter of concern for us and we do not approve of the meetings taking place between the Pawars secretly. However, this matter will be discussed by the top leaders of the Congress. The INDIA alliance will also discuss it, so it would not be appropriate for me to discuss it further. The Congress has decided to join hands with everyone who is willing to oppose the BJP. There is no grain of truth in the speculation that Congress is thinking of contesting Lok Sabha elections without .

Free services at government hospitals in Maharashtra from Tuesday

Free treatment and screening or testing facilities became available at government hospitals in Maharashtra from Tuesday, officials said. An order to this effect had been issued on Saturday. All services at the hospitals run by both the state government and civic bodies will be free, it said. But the order is not applicable to hospitals under the control of the Maharashtra Medical Education and Research Department. A complaint can be lodged on toll-free number 104 if a government hospital covered under the order charges a fee. Among other things, common tests and screenings such as X-ray, ECG, blood tests and CT scans will be free. If medicines are not available at the OPD, they shall be purchased locally (by the hospital) and given to patients, the order said.

Maha: No need to read too much into meeting with Sharad Pawar, says Ajit

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said nothing much happened during his meeting with his uncle and NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Pune last week. Speaking to reporters in Kolhapur, he said there was no need to think too much about the meeting. "Pawar Saheb (Sharad Pawar) has already clarified. The media is giving different kinds of publicity to a meeting that took place between family members, leading to confusion. There is no reason to think that anything unusual transpired at the meeting," he said. On Saturday, political circles were abuzz after a "secret" meeting took place between Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar at a businessman's residence in Pune. Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Jayant Patil was also present. Asked about him leaving the premises 'hiding' in a car, Ajit Pawar said he was not there in the car. "I did not leave surreptitiously. I am someone who roams around openly. There was no reason for me to hide....I was not there in that car," he ..

After 18 deaths in 24 hrs, non-serious patients shifted from Thane hospital

In the wake of the death of 18 patients in 24 hours at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital at Kalwa in Thane, authorities have started shifting other patients, who are not in a serious condition and new admissions, to the Civil Hospital located nearby if they are willing to be relocated, officials said on Monday. Thane's Additional Municipal Commissioner (in-charge of health services) Sandeep Malvi said in the 24-hour period ending on Monday morning, three patients died at the civic-run Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (CSM) Hospital, while one patient was brought dead. The number of deaths at the Kalwa-based hospital has come down in the last 24 hours and the details are being compiled and analysed, he said. Earlier, the CSM Hospital reported 18 deaths in the 24-hour period between Saturday and Sunday, following which Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ordered setting up of an independent committee to carry out a probe into the clinical aspect of the deaths. Elaborate police security wa

Unsold homes highest in Maharashtra's Thane at 107,179 units: PropEquity

Thane in Mumbai Metropolitan Region has the maximum 1.07 lakh unsold homes at the end of June quarter, while Chennai has the lowest at nearly 20,000 units, according to PropEquity. Across nine major cities, data analytic firm PropEquity said unsold housing stocks declined 2 per cent to 5,15,169 units at the end of June quarter from 5,26,914 units at the end of March. "The largest share for the unsold stock among the Tier-1 cities is of Thane with 21 per cent. Chennai has the minimum unsold stock of residential units in Q2 2023," PropEquity Founder and CEO Samir Jasuja said. Housing sales in April-June across nine cities were 1,22,213 units, while new supply was 1,10,468 units. This led to a reduction in number of unsold residential units. As per the data, the unsold housing stocks in Thane were 1,07,179 units at the end of June quarter, down 2 per cent from 109,511 units at March-end. Mumbai saw a 3 per cent fall in unsold housing stocks to 60,911 units from 62,735 units. Howev

Maha political circles abuzz after 'secret' meeting between Pawars

NCP president Sharad Pawar and his deputy chief minister nephew Ajit Pawar, who heads the group of rebel MLAs of the party, are believed to have met at the residence of a businessman in Pune on Saturday, sparking a buzz in Maharashtra political circles. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Amol Mitkari said, "It could be a family meeting between the two leaders". Visuals aired by regional news channels showed Sharad Pawar arriving at the residence of the businessman in Koregaon Park area at around 1 pm. He left by around 5 pm. After nearly two hours, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was seen leaving the premises in a car at 6:45 pm while apparently trying to avoid cameras. The visuals showed the car brushing the gate. Maharashtra NCP president (Pawar faction) Jayant Patil is also believed to have attended the meeting. Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar were in Pune on Saturday to attend various programmes separately. BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar said, "It is better to ask them (the Pawar

Rs 4.82 lakh-worth food items made using fake FSSAI licence seized in Maha

Police have seized a stock of food items, including different edible oils, worth Rs 4.82 lakh from a godown in Thane district of Maharashtra, after it was found to have been manufactured and stored allegedly using a fake licence, an official said on Saturday. The authorities conducted a raid at the godown located at Daighar on Thursday, and a case was registered against its four owners, he said. "A leading manufacturer of asafoetida approached the police with a complaint that the accused were manufacturing the products with a fake licence. After that, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) officials raided the godown," the official of Shil-Daighar police station said. The FDA and police authorities seized various products, including compounded asafoetida, edible gum, mustard oil, cotton seed refined oil, refined rice bran oil along with some brown liquid. They used a fake licence of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to manufacture the products, he said. The

Money laundering case: SC grants two-month interim bail to Nawab Malik

The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail for two months to former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on medical grounds in a money laundering case. Malik had moved the top court against the Bombay High Court's July 13 order denying him bail on medical grounds in the case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi noted that Malik is in hospital for kidney disease and other ailments. "We are passing the order strictly on medical conditions and have not entered into the merits of the case," the bench said. The ED had arrested Malik in February 2022 in the case allegedly linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his associates. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader is in judicial custody and currently undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Mumbai. Malik had sought relief from the HC, claiming he was suffering from a chronic kidney disease apart from various other ailments. He also

After tomatoes, now onion likely to get costlier by September on low supply

Though India has a huge stock of onions, the high proportion of bad-quality onions due to excessive summer heat this year had led to an increase in the prices of good-quality onions

33 rice mills in Maha's Gondia blacklisted for supplying poor quality rice

As many as 33 rice mills in Maharashtra's Gondia district have been blacklisted for next three years as the rice supplied by them has been found to be inferior quality and not fit for human consumption, officials said. Gondia Collector Chinmay Gotmare issued an order to this effect on August 4. According to an official of the Food Corporation of India, during an inspection by an FCI team, the rice from these mills supplied to Beed, Nandurbar, Latur and other districts last year under the public distribution system (PDS) was found to be of inferior quality. The team subsequently submitted its report to the Gondia collector. Gomtare said these mills have been asked to provide good quality rice in the next six weeks, or else legal action would be initiated against them.

Most employees of BEST's private bus operators rejoin post strike in Mumbai

Most employees of private operators of BEST, Mumbai's civic transport body, re-joined duty by Wednesday evening, a day after their weeklong strike was called off, a senior official said. Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) spokesperson Sunil Vaidya told PTI that 100 per cent wet leased buses were operated with the drivers of private bus operators in the evening. In the morning, however, many contractual staffers were yet to return to duty, he said. At 10 am, the public transporter operated 97.5 per cent of the 3,040 buses in its fleet including the wet-leased ones and BEST-owned buses, Vaidya said. "However, 100 percent wet leased buses were operated with the drivers of private bus operators on Wednesday evening," he said. A BEST official said that some employees of the private bus operators did not re-join duty in the morning due to some confusion over fulfilment of their demands, but most of them rejoined duty in the evening session. So this is the first time sin

'Maharashtra recorded new Omicron sub-variant in May, but nothing to worry'

A new Omicron sub-variant, EG.5.1.1, was detected in Maharashtra in May, but there is no need to worry as it was the only case recorded, a health department official said on Wednesday. Babita Kamlapurkar, state's health surveillance officer, said it is necessary to exercise COVID-19 appropriate behaviour as June, July and August months record a spike in cases. "The variant, EG.5.1.1, was found in May and we have been monitoring it. It is not of any public health importance," Kamlapurkar said. She said only one case was detected in May. She, however, declined to share information on the person who was infected with regards to gender, age, travel history. "There is no reason to worry. The Centre has also said it has been continuously monitoring the variant and there is no need to worry," she said. Kamlapurkar added that regular surveillance of COVID-19 variants is on.

Dharavi residents demand Maharashtra govt handle redevelopment project

A section of residents of Dharavi in Mumbai on Wednesday demanded the slum sprawl redevelopment project be handled by the Maharashtra government. An agitation was held at a ground which was joined by local activists and Aam Aadmi Party. "Dharavi is the biggest land scam. We want a fresh survey on the eligibility criterion. We demand that all structures to date be considered eligible and residents be given 405 sq feet of houses in Dharavi itself. A survey conducted in 2008 identified 59,000 structures but this number has crossed one lakh now," Aam Aadmi Party activist Sandip Katake claimed. Organisers of the protest claimed to have secured prior permission from Mumbai Police for the gathering. Some of the protesters displayed placards opposing the Adani Group. Katake also demanded that SEZ be set up as Dharavi is a city within the city and is the hub for various small-scale industries and 80% of its population is dependent on local businesses. One of the protesters, Paul Rafale sa

Tata Power to invest Rs 13,000 cr in Maha for pumped hydro storage projects

Tata Power on Tuesday announced a Rs 13,000 crore investment for setting up two pumped hydro storage projects (PSPs) in Maharashtra. Without sharing a timeline for the investment, the company said the two projects will have a combined capacity of 2,800 MW. Explaining what is a PSP, a company statement said water will be pumped from a lower reservoir to a higher reservoir during times of excess energy, and the same water will be used to power turbines located lower down to generate electricity during peak demand. The two PSPs will be set up at Shirawta, Pune (1,800 MW) and Bhivpuri, Raigad (1,000 MW) and generate employment for 6,000 people. The company has been operating hydel projects in the state for over a century, having a presence in Khopoli, Bhira and Bhivpuri. Bhira includes a 150 MW PSP capacity. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the government of Maharashtra and the company on Tuesday in the presence of the state's deputy chief minister Devendra ...

Strike by drivers in Mumbai enters Day 7, 551 buses remain off roads

Drivers of buses wet-leased by Mumbai's civic transport utility BEST continued their strike for the seventh day on Tuesday and 551 of these more than 1,600 buses remained off roads in the morning, officials said. While citizens continued to face hardships, drivers of the private bus operators stuck to their protest over the demand for salary hike and pay parity with BEST employees. Notably, Mumbai guardian minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha on Monday said the affected BEST bus services will be restored in the next 24 to 48 hours. Commuters have been facing a tough time due to the strike. As the number of buses plying on roads has reduced, the service frequency has been affected, resulting in the buses which are operating being overcrowded. Some commuters also complained they were facing difficulty in getting auto-rickshaws and taxis to reach their destinations. Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) spokesperson Sunil Vaidya said the public transport body operated 645 wet- .