Maharashtra News LIVE Updates: Three deaths from Delta Plus Covid-19 variant in Maharashtra

Maharashtra has recorded three deaths due to the Delta Plus Covid-19 variant, which is considered highly infectious, so far. In Mumbai, a 63-year-old fully vaccinated woman died on July 27 after testing positive on July 21. She had several comorbidities including diabetes, according to officials. Read story here

A special court on Thursday directed the Byculla jail authorities to ensure that adequate medical aid is provided to an alleged woman Naxal member, arrested in connection with the blast carried out in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli in May 2019, in which 15 security personnel and one civilian were killed. Nirmala Kumari Uppuganti is currently in judicial custody and lodged at the Bycullla prison in Mumbai. Read story here

The Crime Branch of Mumbai Police has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the pornography case in which businessman and husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty Raj Kundra is a prime accused, informed Mumbai Police on Friday.An officer of the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) rank will lead the SIT team in the case.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 229 points or 0.42 per cent at 55,073 while the Nifty 50 moved higher by 70 points or 0.43 per cent to 16,435. Among stocks, Bharat Petroleum Corporation gained by 1.9 per cent to Rs 456.80 per share. Hindalco was up by 1.4 per cent, Tata Steel and JSW Steel by 0.9 per cent each. The other prominent gainers were HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, UPL, Asian Paints and Hindustan Unilever.

Maharashtra higher and technical education minister Uday Samant on Wednesday said Nanded district could frame the formula for reopening of colleges in the state during the current pandemic. Read story here

Doctors at Kingsway Hospital claim to have recently conducted the first-ever sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNLB) of Central India. All the complications of breast conservation surgery were avoided in the technically advanced process. Read story here

Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, Chief of Air Staff attended the Commanders' Conference of Maintenance Command at Vayu Sena Nagar, Nagpur on August 11-12. In his address to the Commanders, Bhadauria noted the pivotal role of Maintenance Command in the meticulous management of the vast and varied inventory of the Indian Air Force (IAF). Read story here

A day after Nagpur bench of Bombay high court refused to grant him relief, a Gadchiroli sessions court on Thursday granted city’s lawyer Surendra Gadling a temporary bail on “humanitarian grounds” for completing the last rituals of his mother, who expired on August 15 last year. He moved HC with a prayer that he wants to attend her first death anniversary and religious ceremonies which are performed after the death of a person. Read story here

Police on Wednesday raided a private hospital in Ichalkaranji and detained a doctor over suspicion that he was involved in carrying out illegal sex determination and abortions. On Wednesday, the police and public health authorities from Ichalkaranji carried out a sting operation with the help of a pregnant woman. The accused doctor carried out the sex determination procedure and informed the woman that she is expecting a girl. Read story here

The state government has instructed the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education to submit a framework for conducting the board examinations for standards X and XII for the next year in order to avoid the confusion and to prepare students. Minister of state for education Bachhu Kadu conducted a meeting with all the state board officials recently. He said the announcement should beamed in advance so that there is no confusion and coordination between students and teachers regarding the scope of exam and evaluation is clear. Read story here

Officials have called the gender difference in vaccination statistically insignificant and in line with the state’s male-female ratio. But health experts have called for a district-wise analysis to find pockets where fewer women are getting vaccinated. They also believe fewer women have got the second dose. Read story here

The Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR) on Thursday registered 1,003 new Covid cases and almost half as many recoveries (555). The number of fatalities due to Covid-related complications dropped to single digit (9) here in the last 24 hours. The PMC areas added 226 new patients, while the Pimpri Chinchwad recorded 193 infections in the last 24 hours. The rural areas recorded 580 new patients. Read story here

Mall operators fear that business will not revive unless the state withdraws the fully inoculated rider and allows entry of visitors covered with the first shot of Covid vaccine. The Maharashtra government on Wednesday carried out a second round of unlocking, allowing the malls to stay open till 10pm and allowing entry to only the fully immunised visitors. Malls in Pune were, however, allowed to remain open till 8pm. Read story here

Vegetable and fruit wholesalers and grain sellers at the Gultekdi Market Yard have reported a 10-15% increase in business following the relaxations announced for restaurants and eateries this week. Read story here

The confusion over reopening of schools has left institutions, students and parents fretting over planning of classes. Last week, education minister Varsha Gaikwad had announced that in-person classes would commence in rural areas for students from Standard V to VIII and classes will be held for students from Stds VIII to XII. SOPs were issued on Tuesday for the reopening. Read story here

Private hospitals offering the Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V, are getting a steady response from beneficiaries. The shots are being offered by a handful of the hospitals and most of slots are booked for the next few days. Over 3,000 shots of the Sputnik V have been administered this week in Pune. Read story here