A healthcare worker collects a swab sample of a passenger at the Bandra station in Mumbai. (Photo: PTI)Mumbai Live News: On a day when Maharashtra reported seven new cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant that took the state’s tally to 17 and India’s to 32, the police in Mumbai ordered a two-day ban on large gatherings, news agency PTI reported.
The restrictions were imposed within the commissionerate limits of Mumbai, prohibiting rallies and protest marches involving people and vehicles over the next two days, an official told PTI. The order, issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), will be in effect for 48 hours on Saturday and Sunday, he said.
Four of the seven patients with Omicron are fully vaccinated, said state Health Department officials. Of the remaining three patients, one has received a single vaccine dose, one is not vaccinated and the third patient is three-and-a-half years old, hence not eligible for the vaccine yet. Four patients are asymptomatic while three have mild symptoms.
The state on Friday recorded 695 new coronavirus cases and 12 related deaths. The Mumbai division, which comprises the city and satellite townships, reported 327 cases and five deaths. The Pune division reported 214 new cases, Nashik division 68, Kolhapur 16, Akola four, Nagpur 10, Latur 33 and the Aurangabad division 23 new cases.
The sessions court in Maharashtra's Kalyan has sentenced three former Shiv Sena corporators of the Kalyan Dombivili Municipal Corporation (KDMC) to two years of rigorous imprisonment for disrupting civic demolition work. Additional sessions judge S S Gorwade convicted the accused on Friday for offences punishable under section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty) and other relevant provisions of the IPC.
Apart from sentencing them to two years of rigorous imprisonment, the court also fined them Rs 50,000 each, additional public prosecutor Sachin Kulkarni said.
According to the prosecution, the incident took place in 2006, when a KDMC team was demolishing unauthorised stalls at a complex in the Dombivili MIDC area. Former corporators Sadanand Sakharam Tharval, Tatyasaheb Jagannath Mane and Sharad Sakharam Gambhirrao arrived at the scene and prevented civic officials from razing the stalls. An offence was then registered against the trio at Dombivili police station based on the complaint by a civic official, it was stated. (PTI)
The Flora Fountain – the hand-sculpted monument to Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers – stands at the heart of Mumbai’s swarming business centre. The heritage site is also the location of an yet unsolved murder that had put Mumbai into the heart of a major diplomatic crisis.
In the early hours of November 27, 1984, Percy Norris (56), the British Deputy High Commissioner for western India, was shot and killed by two unidentified assailants near the Flora Fountain as he was being driven to his office from his residence at Altamount Road. Read More
BJP leader Gopichand Padalkar on Saturday criticised state Transport Minister Anil Parab, claiming that the latter was blaming employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to hide his own “incompetence”. Padalkar asked why the minister has failed to earn the goodwill of employees. Notably, the employees have been on an indefinite strike. Sympathizing with the employees, Padalkar said, “Even after three weeks, Parab has not been able to resolve the issues raised by MSRTC employees. Instead of taking the employees into confidence, the Shiv Sena minister is threatening to evoke the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA).” Read More
The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), which has taken up several mega infrastructure projects in and around Mumbai, will be appointing SBI Capital Markets Ltd for raising funds worth Rs 60,000 crore, required to complete the ongoing and upcoming projects. The decision about the same was taken during the 151st meeting of the Authority in October, chaired by Minister for Urban Development, Ekanath Shinde. Read More
Citing the spread of the Omicron strain of the Covid-19 virus and recent incidents of violence in Maharashtra’s Amravati, Malegaon and Nanded, the Mumbai Police on Friday issued prohibitory orders banning large public gatherings, like rallies, morchas, and processions for two days — Saturday and Sunday.
The action is being seen as a measure to prevent a third wave of the pandemic and to any threat to the prevailing law-and-order situation in the state in the backdrop of the protest rallies that turned violent in some parts of Maharashtra.
Maharashtra reported seven new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus on Friday including a three-and-half-year-old girl, the state health department said. The three patients from Mumbai were all men, aged 48, 25 and 37 with recent travel history of Tanzania, the UK and South Africa-Nairobi, respectively, the health department said. The new cases took the tally of Omicron patients in Mumbai to five.
A 31-year-old doctor working at a multi-speciality hospital was duped of Rs 53,000 while trying to place an online order for a birthday cake worth Rs 400. A cyber-fraudster impersonated the bakery’s employee and tricked the victim into sending the huge amount.
An FIR was registered at the DB Marg police station on December 10. The victim told the police she works at a multi-speciality hospital in Girgaon and wanted to order a birthday cake for her friend. The plan was to pick up the cake after completing the day’s work and celebrate her friend’s birthday on the night of December 7. That day, while she was at work, she Googled contact numbers of Merwan bakery situated in Girgaon. However, she was unaware that many cyber-fraudsters give their own numbers for wine shops, bakeries, online shopping portals, customer care services of banks, courier services etc, and have managed to dupe hundreds of people over the past few years.
In the backdrop of new Covid-19 variant Omicron, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is planning to procure 20 lakh Rapid Antigen Covid testing kits. Civic officials said the idea of procuring these kits is to ramp up testing across the city, especially in public places. Rapid Antigen testing kits are used for quick results, within half an hour, against the RT-PCR which takes at least 24 hours. However, RT-PCR is considered as the gold standard of Covid-19 test. The BMC will pay Rs 9 for one antigen test kit. A proposal to buy 20 lakh testing kits will be tabled before the Standing Committee for approval next week. Read More
The police on Friday imposed section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) within Mumbai commissionerate limits prohibiting rallies and protest marches involving people and vehicles over the next two days, an official said. The order, issued by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), will be in force for 48 hours on Saturday and Sunday, he said.
"It has been issued to prevent danger to human life from the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 as well as a threat to the law and order situation against the backdrop of violence that took place in Amravati, Malegaon and Nanded," he said.