Page 123 - Maharashtra

Sunstroke deaths: Politics prevailed over people's convenience, says Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday blamed the Maharashtra government for the death of 11 people due to sunstroke after attending an award function and claimed politics prevailed over the convenience of people. The 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award event in Navi Mumbai on Sunday turned tragic with the death of at least 11 people due to sunstroke as the function, attended by lakhs, was held in an open ground in Kharghar area of Raigad district neighbouring Mumbai. The function was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah who conferred the award on spiritual leader and social reformer Appasaheb Dharmadhikari. Speaking to reporters here, Raut said, The Maharashtra Bhushan award function could have been held in the evening, but Union minister Amit Shah had no free time. Thus, the programme was held during the day time and people got exposed to the scorching heat and sunlight." "Politics behind the award prevailed over people's convenience, the Rajya Sabha member said. He said ever

Amit Shah confers Maharashtra Bhushan Award to Appasaheb Dharmadhikari

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday conferred the Maharashtra Bhushan Award to spiritual leader and social activist Dattatreya Narayan alias Appasaheb Dharmadhikari and said it was very rare to see the tradition of social service being passed from one generation to another. Lakhs of followers of Dharmadhikari attended the grand function held on a sprawling 306-acre ground in Kharghar area of Raigad district. Flower petals were showered from a helicopter on the activist, dignitaries present on the dais and others who were part of the gathering. Dharmadhikari has a massive following in the state due to his tree plantation drives, blood donation and medical camps as well as de-addiction work in tribal areas. The ground was packed with people and equipped with audio/video facilities for followers of Shree Sadasya (Dharmadhikari's organisation) to witness the function. The Maharashtra Bhushan award was instituted when the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance came to powe

Maharashtra records 660 new Covid-19 cases, 2 deaths in a single day

Maharashtra on Saturday recorded 660 new coronavirus infections and two deaths, the health department said in a bulletin. A day before, the state had recorded 1,152 new cases and four fatalities. The COVID-19 caseload rose to 81,55,189, and death toll reached 1,48,477 on Saturday. State capital Mumbai recorded 266 fresh cases. Satara and Nagpur recorded one fatality each. The case fatality rate in the state is 1.82 per cent. With 539 patients recovering, the total of recoveries in the state rose to 80,00,665. Maharashtra's recovery rate is 98.11 per cent. There are 6,047 active coronavirus cases in the state now. The health department said 7,360 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking the tally of tests conducted in the state to 8,67,79,366. Maharashtra's coronavirus figures: New cases: 660; Deaths: two; Active cases: 6,047; New tests: 7,360.

Threat calls to Gadkari: Accused remanded in police custody till Apr 24

A man arrested for allegedly issuing threats to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and seeking several crore rupees in extortion was on Friday remanded in police custody till April 24, an official said in Nagpur in Maharashtra. Jayesh Pujari alias Salim Shahir, who allegedly made the threat calls to Gadkari from inside a jail in neighbouring Karnataka, has been charged with Indian Penal Code sections as well as the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and was being interrogated by senior officials from the city and state police and Central agencies, he said. Pujari, a murder convict, was taken into custody recently from Hindalga Central Jail in Karnataka's Belagavi district for making threat calls to the public relations office of Gadkari in Nagpur, and two mobile phones and an equal number of SIM cards were seized from him, the official said. The provisions of UAPA were invoked after a probe found his links to associates of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, operatives of t

Maharashtra records 1,152 Covid-19 cases, Nagpur reports 2 deaths

Maharashtra on Friday reported 1,152 COVID-19 cases, a rise from the addition to the tally a day earlier, and four deaths, a health official said. It took the tally to 81,54,529 and the toll to 1,48,475, he added. He pointed out that 1,086 cases and one death were reported on Thursday. Mumbai accounted for 284 cases, followed by 83 in Thane, 79 in Nagpur, 74 in Pune, and 66 in Navi Mumbai. Nagpur reported two deaths, while Mumbai and Sindhudurg saw one death each, the health official said. The recovery count increased by 920 in the last 24 hours to touch 80,00,126, leaving the state with an active caseload of 5,928, he said. As per state health department data, the recovery rate is 98.11 per cent, while 8,67,72,006 coronavirus tests have been conducted so far, including 15,849 in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra coronavirus figures for the day: Fresh cases: 1.152; Fatality: 4; Active cases: 5,928; Tests: 15,849.

Covid surge: Maharashtra records 1,086 cases, 1 death; active tally 5,700

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 1,086 COVID-19 cases and one death, which took the tally to 81,53,377 and the toll to 1,48,471, a health official said. It is the second consecutive day when the addition to the tally was above the 1000-mark, he pointed out. On Wednesday, the state had recorded 1,115 cases. Mumbai accounted for 274 cases, followed by 85 in Thane, 76 in Nagpur and 65 in Pune, while the sole death took place in Dhule, the official said. The recovery count increased by 806 in the last 24 hours and touched 79,99,206, leaving the state with an active caseload of 5,700, he said. So far, 8,67,56,157 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Maharashtra, including 16,011 in the last 24 hours, as per state health department data. Maharashtra's coronavirus figures for the day: Fresh cases: 1,086; Fatality: 1; Active cases: 5,700; Tests: 16,011.

'Securitisation of Samruddhi Expressway's rights will fetch Maha Rs 50k cr'

Maharashtra will earn Rs 50,000 crore from the securitisation of rights of the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway, which can be loosely termed as a sale, and it will ease the financial burden on the state over its construction, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday. The 701-kilometre six-lane corridor, which is being built at an estimated cost of Rs 55,000 crore, passes through 10 districts and the 520-kilometre Nagpur to Shirdi stretch was inaugurated in December last year. Speaking at an event organised by Marathi news channel Mumbai Tak, Fadnavis said, "By securitising the rights, which loosely can be described as sale, Maharashtra government will earn Rs 50,000 crore. With this, the state will be free in the next two years from the debt of constructing the Samruddhi Expressway." "It will remove the state's financial burden and the money raised through securitisation can be used for other issues," he added. Asked about Maharashtra lagging behind some other ..

Maharashtra single-day Covid-19 count crosses 1,000-mark after 7-month gap

The single-day coronavirus count in Maharashtra crossed the 1,000-mark on Wednesday with 1,115 fresh cases, while nine patients succumbed to the infection during the day, the health department said. The single-day case count has crossed the 1,000-mark after a gap of seven months as the state had recorded 1,076 cases on September 8 last year, an official said. With the new cases, the state's COVID-19 tally rose to 81,52,291 and toll to 1,48,470. On Tuesday, the state had recorded 919 cases and one fatality. Mumbai recorded 320 new cases and two fatalities, followed by 93 in Pune city that saw three deaths. Thane city reported two deaths, while Vasai-Virar region in neighbouring Palghar and Akola district recorded one fatality each. The case fatality rate in the state is 1.82 per cent. A total of 560 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative recovery figure to 79,98,400. The COVID-19 recovery rate in the state is 98.11 per cent. The state's

Govt asks Maharashtra to buy vaccines to meet demand amid rising cases

Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Haryana are some of the states to have brought back fresh Covid-19 protocol, especially the mask mandate

Maha to observe Swatantrya Gaurav Diwas on Savarkar's birth anniversary: CM

Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar's birth anniversary will be celebrated as 'Swatantrya Gaurav Diwas', Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced on Tuesday. The objective was to propagate his ideas, and several programmes will be organised for this, he said. Savarkar was born on May 28, 1883, in present-day Nashik district. State Industries Minister Uday Samant had written to Shinde stating that Savarkar's birth anniversary should celebrated on a grand scale as his patriotism, valour and progressive ideas will inspire the young generation. The move came days after the Shiv Sena-BJP targeted Congress and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena after Rahul Gandhi took swipes at the Hindutva ideologue.

Maharashtra sees 919 Covid-19 cases, one death; active tally at 4,875

Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 919 fresh coronavirus cases and one fatality that raised the tally of infections to 81,51,176, a state health department official said. With the latest fatality, the cumulative COVID-19 death toll rose to 1,48,461, he said. A day earlier, Maharashtra had seen a drop in infections as it reported 328 cases and one death. On Sunday, the state had logged 788 COVID-19 cases. Of the latest cases, Mumbai recorded 242 infections, followed by 105 cases in Nagpur city, 58 in Pune, and 57 in Navi Mumbai, a bulletin issued by the health department stated. The only fresh COVID-19 fatality in the state was recorded in Akola city. The count of recoveries in the state reached 79,97,840 on Tuesday after 710 patients recovered from coronavirus infection. The state is now left with 4,875 active cases. Maharashtra's current case fatality rate is 1.82 per cent, while the recovery rate is 98.12 per cent, the bulletin said. As many as 12,841 swab samples were tested in

Astec LifeSciences launches its R&D centre in Maharashtra's Rabale

Astec LifeSciences, a subsidiary of Godrej Agrovet (GAVL), on Tuesday launched its Research and Development (R&D) centre in Rabale, Maharashtra. The facility 'Adi Godrej Centre for Chemical Research and Development' will focus on innovation and developing sustainable and safe solutions for people and the environment and providing services to innovator companies in the contract development & manufacturing space, the company said in a statement. "The CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation) market for chemicals in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12 per cent as against the global rate of 10 per cent. This underlines the potential in this sector, and our new facility will enable us to expand our offerings specifically in CDMO space," Astec LifeSciences Chief Executive Officer Anurag Roy said. It will also make the company a partner of choice through its improved ability of providing end-to-end solutions to customers from the R&D stage to development to

Amit Shah to confer 'Maharashtra Bhushan' on Appasaheb Dharmadhikari

In view of the magnitude of the event, Shinde called upon the civic bodies of Panvel and Navi Mumbai, and even the health authorities to ensure full precautions for the mega-function

Shinde-led Sena denies connection with plea staking claim on UBT's property

"All the movable and immovable assets of shiv sena along with the frontal organisations and aligning organisations be transferred to the new party president as per the order of ECI," it stated

No Shiv Sena worker involved in Babri Masjid demolition: Maha BJP minister

Maharashtra minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Chandrakant Patil on Monday said not a single worker of the Shiv Sena was near the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya when it was brought down by the Bajrang Dal and Durga Vahini on December 6, 1992. Patil, minister of higher and technical education in the Eknath Shinde government and a former Maharashtra BJP chief, made the comment while speaking to a regional news channel. Incidentally, Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray has often been quoted as saying that he was proud if any of his Sainiks took part in the demolition of the disputed structure. "I was placed there by the Bajrang Dal for three-four months to facilitate kar sevaks arriving in Ayodhya. People participating were either from Bajrang Dal, VHP or Durga Vahini. Former Bihar state deputy CM (and senior BJP leader) Sushil Kumar Modi, legislator Harendra Kumar and I were given the task to manage the kar sevaks and ensure their safe passage," Patil claimed. "We three were

Maha govt releases Rs 177.8 cr for losses suffered by rain-affected farmers

The Maharashtra government on Monday said it has released Rs 177.80 crore relief to be disbursed to farmers who suffered crop losses due to unseasonal rains in March. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had earlier given instructions to officials to process the damage assessment claims and disburse financial assistance, a statement issued by the government said. After verification, the state government has disbursed Rs 177.80 crore to districts, where farmers suffered losses due to unseasonal rains last month, it said. As per the statement, the Aurangabad revenue divisional commissioner has received Rs 84.75 crore, followed by Rs 63.09 crore to Nashik, Rs 24.57 crore to Amaravati and Rs 5.37 crore to Pune.

Maharashtra sees 328 fresh Covid -19 cases, one fatality in a day

Maharashtra on Monday reported 328 fresh COVID-19 cases, a fall of more than 50 per cent compared to the previous day, taking the overall tally of infections to 81,50,257, the state health department said. With a single fatality in Mumbai city, the cumulative COVID-19 death toll in the state rose to 1,48,460. On Sunday, Maharashtra had reported 788 COVID-19 cases and a single fatality. With the new additions on Monday, the state is now left with 4,667 active cases. At 228, Mumbai circle reported the highest number of cases on Monday, followed by 50 cases in Pune circle, 18 in Nagpur circle, 10 in Akola circle, 8 in Latur circle, and five cases each in Nashik circle and Kolhapur circle, the department said. Mumbai city saw 95 fresh cases and a single fatality, taking the tally of infections to 11,58,060 and the COVID-19 death toll in the city to 19,750. Meanwhile, the use of face masks has been made mandatory for employees, patients and visitors in all civic-run hospitals in Mumba

Unseasonal rains damaged crops over 7,400 hectares in 5 districts: Fadnavis

Unseasonal rain in the last two days damaged crops over 7,400 hectares in five districts of the western Vidarbha region in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday. The intermittent showers affected crops in Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Washim and Buldana districts. Crops over 7,400 hectares are damaged. The damage assessment is completed on 3,243 hectares. The remaining assessment will be completed soon. As many as 7,596 farmers have been affected by the unseasonal showers, Fadnavis told reporters in Amravati district after holding review meetings. It is observed that certain villages in specific areas in the state have been frequently affected by unseasonal showers in the last few years. "We are working to find some solution to the new challenge of climate change, the deputy CM said. Fadnavis said the kin of those killed in the Akola tree fall incident would get financial assistance from the state. "The government has also decided to bear the entire med

Maha govt announces Rs 4 lakh compensation for Akola temple incident's kin

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced an assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased in the Akola Babuji Maharaj temple incident

7 killed, 37 injured after tree falls on shed in Akola temple; probe on

Seven persons were killed and 37 others injured when a tree fell on a tin shed under which people were standing in a temple premises after heavy wind and rains in Maharashtra's Akola district, officials said on Monday. The incident took place at around 7.30 pm on Sunday at Babuji Maharaj temple located in Paras village under Balapur taluka when the people had gathered for the 'maha aarti', Akola Collector Nima Arora said. State Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed grief over the incident which he termed as "very serious and unfortunate". Seven people were killed and 37 others injured, Fadnavis said, adding that he has given directions for an inquiry into the incident. The government will provide a compensation to the families of the deceased, he said. The district authorities said families of each of the deceased will be given a compensation of Rs 4 lakh and the injured persons will be given monetary assistance as per government rules. Due to the heavy wind and rains