Page 150 - Maharashtra

Govt plans to auction 22 mineral blocks in 3 states within next two months

The government plans to auction 22 mineral blocks in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Goa in November and December. The mines to be auctioned include six iron ore blocks, three blocks each of limestone and gold, two blocks of bauxite, one block each of copper, phosphorite and glauconite, according to the mines ministry. The notice inviting tenders for the blocks were floated in September. While the mines in Maharashtra will be auctioned next month, those in Uttar Pradesh and Goa will be put on sale in December. So far, more than 180 mineral blocks have been put on sale since the system of auctioning of mineral blocks began. The government started the process of allocating mineral blocks through auctions in 2015-16. The ministry has expressed hopes of auctioning 500 mines by the end of 2024. The Centre is aiming to increase the mining sector's contribution to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 5 per cent from 2.5 per cent at present. The ministry has also notified the Mi

Maha cabinet allows home loan for police, speeding up Nagpur Metro project

The Maharashtra cabinet has cleared a proposal to allow police personnel to take home loans at subsidised interest rates. The scheme was earlier launched in 2017 and was implemented till 2019, after which it was discontinued by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government. The new Eknath Shinde government has decided to reintroduce the scheme for which the State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation will operate as the nodal agency, a government statement said on Tuesday. The cabinet also cleared a revised proposal of Rs 9,279.06 crore to speed up phase-1 of the Nagpur Metro project. The state has sanctioned Rs 622 crore interest free loan for the Nagpur Metro phase-1 project and also approved the land transfer proposal, the statement said. The cabinet has also cleared the pending project of transportation of the Krishna river water to Marathwada by sanctioning Rs 11,726.91 crore. It will benefit 33,945 hectares of land for irrigation in eight districts, the statement ..

Maharashtra's Thane records 40 new Covid-19 cases; active tally at 302

As many as 40 new COVID-19 cases have been detected in Maharashtra's Thane district, taking its infection count to 7,45,189, a health official said on Wednesday. With the addition of the latest cases on Tuesday, there are currently 302 active COVID-19 cases in Thane, which comes under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, he said. The death toll in Thane remained unchanged at 11,962, he said, adding that the recovery count has reached 7,33,653.

Ration card holders in Maha to get grocery package at Rs 100 for Diwali

The Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday decided to provide a package of groceries at Rs 100 to holders of the ration card in the state for the upcoming Diwali festival. The package will contain 1 kg of rawa (sooji), groundnuts, edible oil and yellow lentils. "There are 1.70 crore families or seven crore people who have ration cards and are eligible to buy foodgrains from state-run fair price shops," the statement said. The proposal was moved by the Department of Food and Civil Supply and Consumer Protection. As per the Reserve Bank of India's consumer price index, the country's retail inflation rate is 7 per cent. Against this backdrop, the state government's decision to offer essential items at subsidised rates will enable the economically-weaker sections to prepare snacks and sweets for Diwali using the package of groceries. Notably, many civic and local governing bodies, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, in the state are due for elections in the coming months.

HC grants bail to former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in ED case

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in an alleged money laundering case. Justice N J Jamadar pronounced the order. Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed the HC to hear and decide the NCP leader's plea expeditiously as it was pending for six months. His lawyers Vikram Chaudhari and Aniket Nikam argued that considering his age (72), health and the fact that he had no criminal antecedents he should be granted bail. Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), opposed the application arguing that Deshmukh did not suffer from any ailments that cannot be treated at jail hospital. Arrested by the ED in November 2021, Deshmukh is now in judicial custody. The ED booked him after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a corruption case against him following allegations made by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh. The ED claimed that Deshmukh misused his ...

Five reported dead, 1 injured in car-bus collision near Maharashtra's Latur

Five persons including two women were killed after their car collided with a state transport bus in central Maharashtra's Latur district on Tuesday morning, police said. The incident took place around 8.30 am at Haibatpur village on Udgir-Nalegaon road. Six people including two women were traveling in a car to Nanded after visiting a temple at Tuljapur when the car collided with an oncoming bus of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, said an official. The car turned turtle due to the impact, he said. The victims were rushed to a hospital in Latur where five of them were declared brought dead. Another passenger from the car was undergoing treatment, the police officer said. As per the preliminary probe, the car driver seemed to have lost control of the vehicle, he said. "We are conducting probe and a case will be registered," he added.

Welcome ban on PFI; strict action against supporters: Maha Dy CM Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday aligned with the Centre's ban on PFI and said that action will be taken against PFI supporters

Maharashtra sees 180 new Covid-19 cases, no death; active tally now 2,739

Maharashtra on Monday reported 180 COVID-19 cases, which took the tally to 81,22,432, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,347, a health department official said. It is a sizable dip from the 379 cases recorded on Sunday, which had also seen one death due to the infection, he pointed out. Mumbai accounted for 66 of the new cases, the official said. The recovery count increased by 357 in the last 24 hours and touched 79,71,346, leaving the state with an active caseload of 2,739. State health department showed the total number of coronavirus tests conducted was 8,48,50,798, including 8,511 in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate was 98.14 per cent, as per official data. Maharashtra coronavirus figures for the day: Fresh cases: 180; Fatality: 0; Active cases: 2,739; Tests: 8,511.

Dassehra rallies: Pawar advises Thackeray-Shinde not to 'cross limits'

As Maharashtra braces for an unprecedented political development of 'two Shiv Sena' Dassehra rallies crossing words and swords, Sharad Pawar advised both Shinde and Thackeray "not to cross the limit"

The hurdles delaying India's high-speed trains from running on fast track

The speed of Vande Bharat trains has been restricted to 160 kmph for now as the Railways has to upgrade the tracks and also build fences on both sides of the tracks to prevent trespassing

Maharashtra sees 379 Covid-19 cases, one death; active tally now 2,916

Maharashtra on Sunday reported 379 COVID-19 cases and one death, which took the state's tally to 81,22,252 and the toll to 1,48,347, a health official said. The addition to the tally on Saturday was 460 and the fatality count was three, he pointed out. Mumbai circle led with 171 of the new cases, followed by 95 in Pune circle, Latur (29), Nagpur (22), Nashik (20), Akola (17), Kolhapur (14) and Aurangabad (11). The lone death took place in Mumbai, the official added. The recovery count rose by 496 in the last 24 hours to touch 79,70,989, leaving the state with an active caseload of 2,916, he said. Pune leads with 954 active cases, followed by 699 in Mumbai and 327 in Thane. State health department data showed the recovery rate was 98.14 per cent and the fatality rate was 1.82 per cent. So far, 8,48,42,287 coronavirus tests have been conducted in Maharashtra, including 18,723 in the last 24 hours, as per official data. Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Positive c

Mumbai sees 102 new Covid-19 cases, one fatality; active tally at 699

Mumbai on Sunday recorded 102 new cases of coronavirus and one casualty that raised the tally of infections to 11,50,480 and toll to 19,733, an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said. There has been a slight drop in the daily cases in the city, which had recorded 130 infections on Saturday, he said. The count of recoveries reached 11,30,048, after 107 patients recovered from the infection, leaving the city with 699 active cases, the official said. As per the data provided by the civic body, a total of 1,83,22,248 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the city so far, including 6,715 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate in the city stands at 98.2 per cent and the overall growth rate between September 25 and Oct 1 was 0.008 per cent, while the doubling rate of infections is 8,427 days, it stated.

Threats to Maharashtra CM Shinde from unknown caller, security tightened

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's security cover was tightened after specific inputs indicating threats to his life through a mystery phone call

Maharashtra: Depressed by delay in getting iPhone, teenage girl hangs self

An 18-year-old college student in Nagpur city of Maharashtra allegedly committed suicide by hanging over her parents "delaying" the buying of an iPhone for her, police said on Sunday. The deceased girl was a student in the first-year degree course at Raisoni College in Hingna town in the Nagpur district. She hanged herself from a ceiling fan with a stole in the bedroom of her house in the Kharbi area of Nagpur city on Friday evening, a police official said. "As per the preliminary investigation, the teenage girl had repeatedly asked her parents to buy her an iPhone. Her parents, who run a 'Griha Udyog' , had promised to buy her one. However, due to the delay in purchasing the iPhone, the girl presumed that her parents were reluctant to fulfil her demand and took the extreme step on Friday," he said. Police have recorded the statement of the deceased girl's father and registered a case of accidental death.

Fake call centre cheating US citizens busted in Maharashtra; 16 arrested

Thane police have busted a fake call centre which allegedly duped US citizens after offering them loans and arrested 16 people in this connection, an official said on Sunday. Acting on a tip-off, the police raided the call centre located in Wagle Estate area of Maharashtra's Thane city on the intervening night of Friday-Saturday and nabbed the people working there, including three women, senior police inspector V B Murtadak said. He said the accused would contact people in the US and offer them loans. After obtaining their bank account details, the accused would siphon off funds from their accounts, the official said. An agent coordinating in the US would collect the money and transfer it to India through 'hawala' after taking his share from it, the police said. Hawala denotes illegal transaction of funds by skirting the legal banking channels. The 16 people arrested include the call centre owners - Siddesh Sudhir Bhaidkar (33) and Sania Rakesh Jaiswal (26), the official said. A

Over 700,000 Maharashtra vehicles plying without HSRPs, say RTO officials

Cocking a snook at the High-Security Registration Plates (HSRP) rule, more than seven lakh newly registered vehicles, including the ones used for VVIPs like the chief minister and deputy chief minister, in Maharashtra are plying without HSRPs, according to RTO officials. The HSRP rule has been in place for more than three and a half years intending to curb theft of vehicles and for standardisation. When asked about the reason for non-compliance, a senior official cited the absence of a specific rule to take action against a vehicle plying sans HSRP. Hence, they slap a fine of Rs 2,000 for spotting a fancy number plate. Another official told PTI some dealers of vehicles flout the HSRP rule and hand over new vehicles to customers without fitting these plates on vehicles, which is mandatory. Of the nearly 69 lakh new vehicles registered in Maharashtra since April 2019, only about 61 lakh vehicles are fitted with HSRPs, popularly called 'IND' or INDIA number plates. "As many as 7.68 l

Shinde camp appoints Yuva Sena members; most of them kin of rebel MLAs

The Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday appointed executive committee members of the Yuva Sena, the party's youth wing, and most of the new post-holders are kin of rebel MLAs. Aaditya Thackeray, son of former chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray who heads the other faction of the party, leads the Yuva Sena. Samadhan Sarvankar, Raj Kulkarni, Raj Surve and Prayag Lande were appointed in-charge for the Yuva Sena's Mumbai unit. Sarvankar, a former corporator of the Mumbai civic body, is son of Mahim MLA Sada Sarvankar, a key member of the Shinde-led rebel camp. Surve is son of Magathane MLA Prakash Surve, while Lande is son of Chandivali MLA Dilip Lande. Avishkar Surve, son of Maharashtra minister Dada Bhuse, was appointed in-charge for North Maharashtra, while Vikas Gogavale, Rupesh Patil and Ram Rane were named in-charge for Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. Gogavale is related to Mahad MLA Bharatshet Gogavale. Kiran Sali

Maharashtra: Thane records 43 new Covid-19 cases; active tally at 390

With the addition of 43 coronavirus positive cases, the overall infection tally in Maharashtra's Thane district has grown to 7,45,004, a health official said on Friday. These cases were reported on Thursday and there are now 390 active cases in the district, he said. The death toll remained unchanged at 11,962 as nobody succumbed to the infection on Thursday, while the count of recoveries has reached 7,33,377, the official added.

CM Shinde announces Diwali bonus for health workers, employees, teachers

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde on Thursday announced a Diwali bonus for health workers including Mumbai Municipal Corporation, BEST employees and teachers.

Lupin gets warning letter from USFDA for Tarapur API plant in Maharashtra

Drug firm Lupin on Thursday said it has received a warning letter from the US health regulator for its Tarapur-based manufacturing facility in Maharashtra. The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) inspected the site from March 22, 2022 to April 4, 2022. The company manufactures both fermentation-based and synthetic APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) at the plant. "The company does not believe that the warning letter will have an impact on disruption of supplies or the existing revenues from operations of this facility," the Mumbai-based company said in a regulatory filing. The drug firm is committed to addressing the concerns raised by the USFDA and will work with the agency to resolve the issues at the earliest, it added. Lupin did not share details about the issues flagged by the US health regulator. A warning letter is issued when the US health regulator finds that a manufacturer has significantly violated its regulations. The letter identifies the violation, such as