Mumbai News Live: Drop in corona cases; Dilip Walse Patil new Home Minister

In view of two separate fireincidents at COVID-19 centres in the recent past, the Mumbai civic body on Monday directed to conduct the fire safety audit of all hospitals in the city.In its order, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has directed the chief fire officer to inspect all private hospitals, government hospitals and municipal hospitals, and submit a report within 15 days.

A Mumbai sessions court on Monday dismissed an application filed by actor Kangana Ranaut seeking suspension of all proceedings against her by the Andheri Magistrate court that is hearing a criminal defamation complaint against her filed by lyricist Javed Akhtar.Earlier on March 1, Andheri Metropolitan magistrate court had issued a bailable warrant against Kangana in a defamation case filed against her by Javed Akhtar after she failed to appear before the court despite being summoned.Kangana's lawyer, who was present at the court, said that they want to challenge the summons in a higher court.

While 70% of BEST’s frontline staffers have got the vaccine, some of the 30% who are yet to get it seem to be “reluctant”, an official from the undertaking said on Monday. The official said 34,000 employees registered for the vaccine, of whom 24,000 have got the jabs; 9,000 of them have got the second dose too.

Anil Deshmukh of NCP is the second minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government to resign in over two months.In February, forest minister Sanjay Rathod of Shiv Sena, who is facing allegations over the death of a 22year-old woman by suicide in Pune, tendered his resignation a day before the state budget session commenced. Read more

A five-hour search for a hospital bed for a septuagenarian Covid patient ended after municipal commissioner IS Chahal intervened and got her a bed in the BMC-run Seven Hills Hospital, Andheri, on Monday.Andheri resident Parveen Langrana (76) was admitted to a Juhu hospital for bronchial infection when she tested positive for Covid-19. As the hospital was not permitted to treat Covid patients, its authorities discharged her immediately. While out on the road searching for a hospital bed, her niece posted a tweet that went viral and caught the BMC commissioner’s attention. Read full story here

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday recreated arrested cop Sachin Vaze's moves at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus from the day he allegedly "handed over" Mansukh Hiren to his accomplice, post which the Thane-based businessman was found dead. According to a CCTV footage, Vaze was spotted boarding a local train at CSMT on March 4, a day before Hiren's body was found near Thane creek. Read full story here

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, who was scheduled to review the progress of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project later this week, has postponed his visit due to the rising number of coronavirus cases in Haryana.The visit, which was intended to review the ongoing work of the Expressway in Haryana's Nuh district, was scheduled to take place on Thursday."Due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases, media tours scheduled for April 8 and April 9 for inspection of sites by Nitin Gadkari on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway stands postponed," a district spokesperson said in a statement.

On the very first day of the restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the Maharashtra government amended its order and added Petrol pumps, government and private security services, and fruit vendors to the list of essential services. On Sunday, the state government announced a weekend lockdown and night curfew (from 8 pm till 7 am) during the weekdays from Monday (April 5) to April 30, in addition to a slew of other restrictions like the closure of private offices, theatres and salons. Read more

Hours after Anil Deshmukh resigned from his post, Maharashtra has a new Home Minister in NCP leader Dilip Walse Patil. Deshmukh, who is facing allegations of corruption levelled by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, tendered his resignation to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray after Bombay High Court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to start a preliminary inquiry within 15 days into corruption allegations. Read more

After reporting the highest COVID-19 cases on Sunday, Thane city saw a slight drop in new cases today. 1,580 people tested positive for the virus against 1,701 on Sunday, taking the overall tally to 85,424. Whereas, five people also lost their lives, taking the total death toll count to 1,413. Read more

Amid rising COVID-19 cases in the state, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to further lower the age group eligible for vaccination to 25. Maharashtra and Mumbai have seen a massive spike in new COVID cases with eight of ten districts with active cases from the state. Read more

Mumbai city saw a slight dip in new COVID-19 cases on Monday as compared to a record high of 11,163 cases on Sunday. On Monday, 9,857 people tested positive for the virus, taking the total caseload reached 4,62,302. Read more