A health worker collects a sample of a traveler to test for COVID-19, at Dadar railway station in Mumbai. (PTI)Mumbai News Live: Maharashtra on Friday reported 8,067 fresh Covid infections including 4 Omicron cases in the past 24 hours. 8 deaths and 1,766 recoveries were also reported today. The state had on Thursday reported 5,368 Copvid-19 cases. There are 24,509 active Covid-19 cases in the state. In Mumbai alone, nearly 5600 Covid-19 cases have been reported.
According to the public health department, the state has so far reported 454 cases of Omicron including 26 out of state patients. 157 of the total cases of the new variant have been discharged.
Mumbai Police on Friday issued an order under section 144 of the CrPC, prohibiting people from visiting beaches, open grounds, sea faces, promenades, gardens, parks or similar public places between 5 pm and 5 am daily from today till January 15 in view of the prevailing Covid-19 situation.
Meanwhile, the Centre wrote to the Maharashtra government to enhance the surveillance in the five districts of Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Pune, Thane and Nagpur which recorded high test positivity rates in the last few weeks. Active cases in Maharashtra have been increased by 117.4 per cent since last two weeks.
According to the seven-day forecast by the India Meteorological Department, the minimum temperature will rise by one-two degrees Celsius over the next few days. (File)
An appeal filed by actor Kangana Ranaut against a magistrate court’s order seeking transfer of proceedings in a defamation case filed by lyricist Javed Akhtar from the court at Andheri, has been dismissed by the sessions court on Friday.
The criminal revision application filed on behalf of Ranaut was dismissed by additional sessions judge S U Baghele. The detailed order will be made available on Saturday. Read More
On New Year's eve on Friday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray urged people to be careful and to ensure their behaviour does not contribute to the spread of the coronavirus infection. We don't want to stop, but we need to be alert and cautious, no matter how many challenges come, a statement by the Chief Minister's Office said.
“May the New Year bring happiness and prosperity to all our lives. For this, let us resolve for better health,” the chief minister said. He appealed to the people to be careful, adding that crowds and their behaviour and carelessness must not contribute to the spread of infection. (PTI)
Mumbai's Juhu Beach wears a deserted look on New Year's eve as Mumbai Police imposed a curfew prohibiting entry to beaches, parks and other public places between 5 pm and 5 am till January 15 amid surge in Covid-19 cases. Express video by Amit Chakravarty.
Maharashtra on Friday reported 8,067 fresh Covid infections including 4 Omicron cases in the past 24 hours. 8 deaths and 1,766 recoveries were also reported today. The state had on Thursday reported 5,368 Covid-19 cases. There are 24,509 active Covid-19 cases in the state. In Mumbai alone, nearly 5600 Covid-19 cases have been reported.
Maharashtra Minister Yashomati Thakur says she has tested positive for COVID-19.
34 fresh COVID19 cases reported in Dharavi in the last 24 hours, active cases in the area rise to 95: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
The bodies of a 32-year-old woman and her four children including three daughters were found in a well in Maharashtra's Jalna district on Friday, with police suspecting that it was a case of suicide. The incident took place on Thursday at Ghungard Hadgaon village in Ambad tehsil, police said.
The deceased were identified as Gangasagar (Ganga) Dnayneshwar Adani, her daughters Bhakti (13), Ishwari (11), Akshara (9), and son Yuvraj (7). The woman had left the house with children on Thursday morning. Search began when they did not return till late in the evening.
The deaths came to light on Friday morning when the five bodies were spotted floating in a well in the field of one Ganesh Fiske. Officials of Gondi police station rushed to the spot and fished out the bodies. (PTI)
A sessions court in Mumbai on Friday turned down the plea of actor Kangana Ranaut challenging a lower court's order rejecting her application seeking transfer of the criminal defamation case filed against her by scriptwriter-lyricist Javed Akhtar to another court.
The detailed order passed by Additional Sessions Judge SU Baghele, however, is not yet available. In October, the chief metropolitan magistrate (CMM) had dismissed Ranaut's plea seeking transfer of the defamation case from the Andheri magistrate's court.
Akhtar had filed the defamation complaint before Andheri court in November, 2020 over certain statements made by Ranaut during a TV interview. Later, she moved a review application before the Dindoshi sessions court stating the CMM had failed to appreciate that the (Andheri) magistrate had "misused" his powers to cause intentional injury to the applicant (her case). Earlier, the actor claimed she had "lost faith" in the Andheri metropolitan magistrate's court as it indirectly "threatened" to issue a warrant if she failed to appear before it in a bailable offence. (PTI)
The Mumbai Police on Friday imposed a curfew prohibiting entry to beaches, grounds, promenades, parks and other similar public places in the city between 5 pm and 5 am till January 15 to prevent further spread of Covid-19 and its Omicron variant as the cases have seen a sudden spike in the city over the last couple of weeks.
However, restaurants, gyms, spas, cinema halls and theatres have been allowed to continue operating at 50 per cent capacity. Read More
Mumbai police ask people not to visit beaches, open grounds, sea faces, promenades, gardens, parks and similar public places between 5 pm to 5 am daily till January 15. (PTI)
A day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar said the BJP was eager to tie up with his party after the 2019 Maharashtra elections but he told PM Narendra Modi that he was not in favour of such an alliance, state BJP president Chandrakant Patil on Thursday asked why Pawar took so long to break his silence about the meeting with Modi. “Pawar revealed that Modi made an offer for a BJP-NCP alliance. If this were true, would Pawar — known for pragmatic politics — ever turn down such an opportunity?” Patil asked. Read More
With a witness in the 2008 Malegaon blast case claiming that he was pressured by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) to name five RSS members, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a BJP leader who is among those named by the witness on Thursday alleged that the Congress-led UPA government had forced the witness to “change the angle of the case” as part of its appeasement strategy. According to Sunil Deodhar, BJP national secretary and former RSS Pracharak, the pressure on the witness was part of a “larger conspiracy to coin the word Hindu terror.” Read More
2021 began with a surge of hope as the vaccination programme against Covid-19 was rolled out across India. But a deadly second wave of Covid-19, powered by the Delta variant, was the brutal reminder that the country had let down its guard too early. Mumbai weathered this storm better than many other parts of the country, including Delhi, but continued to be buffeted by headwinds of other kinds. A cyclone named Tauktae hit Mumbai on May 18 with wind speed of up to 117 kmph, the same day as India recorded the highest number of Covid-19 deaths. Two boats sank off the Mumbai coast, taking down 86 people, and triggering the biggest maritime rescue effort since the 1978 Air India Flight 855 crash. Read More
Amid the threat posed by the new variant Omicron and the rising Covid-19 cases, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has banned any kind of New Year celebrations – inside or in open spaces — in Mumbai. The Mumbai Police have also issued orders prohibiting New Year celebrations and gatherings in any closed or open space, including hotels and restaurants, an official said Thursday. The orders were issued Wednesday under Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) Section 144 by Deputy Commissioner of Police (operations) S Chaitanya. The order will be in force from Thursday till January 7, 2022, the official said. Read More
The state government cleared promotions of 55 Indian Police Service officers in a departmental promotion committee meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Debashish Chakraborty on Thursday.
The 2009 batch of IPS officers were promoted from deputy commissioner of police to selection grade DCP, and IPS officers of the 2008 batch were promoted as deputy inspectors general of police.
IPS officers of the 2004 batch were promoted as inspector general of police, and officers of the 1997 batch were promoted as additional DG of police. However, there are no posts of additional DG which are vacant and officers will be posted once ADGs get promoted and posted as DG. Read more
Activist Sudha Bharadwaj, who recently obtained bail in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, on Thursday sought permission from the special NIA court here to live in neighbouring in Thane instead of Mumbai.
Bharadwaj was released from prison earlier this month after the Bombay High Court granted her bail. The special court for National Investigation Agency (NIA), while passing the release order, had said that she shall not leave Mumbai without permission.
Bharadwaj's plea said she wanted to shift to a friend's place in Thane, as finding accommodation in Mumbai was expensive. In response, the prosecution said she should submit an affidavit of the person with whom she wished to live and residence proof. The activist's petition will be heard on January 5. (PTI)
Maharashtra reported 5,368 fresh Covid-19 cases, (more 1,468 cases than yesterday's numbers), 1,193 recoveries, and 22 deaths, taking active cases to 18,217. The number of Omicron cases rose to 450, with the state recording 198 cases of the variant on Thursday.
Thane police arrested two persons on Wednesday for allegedly planting 645 bear claws and teeth at a shop in Ulhas Nagar town to frame the shop owner over an old dispute.
The accused were identified as Anwar Abdul Rauf Khan, a scrap shop owner, and Mohammad Arif Sirajuddin Khan, who connived to place the animal body parts in the shop and tip off the police.
According to the police, on December 24 they received a tip off about animal body parts at a food outlet in Venus Chowk at Ulhas Nagar town in Thane. The central crime unit raided the premises on Sunday and seized the animal body parts. Read more
Mumbai on Thursday recorded 3,671 Covid-19 cases. In Maharashtra a total of 198 Omicron cases were detected. A 52-year-old man with a travel history to Nigeria died of a heart attack on December 28, 2021 at Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation's Yashwantrao Chavan Hospital. This patient has had diabetes for the last 13 years.
The death of this patient is due to non-covid reasons. Coincidentally, today's NIV report reveals that he was infected with the Omicron virus. (ENS)
Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's objections aside, the imbroglio over the new Maharashtra Assembly Speaker also has its roots in the differences within the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition.
As per the power-sharing formula between the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, the Speaker's post had gone to the Congress's share. In February, the Sena and NCP were taken by surprise when Nana Patole resigned from the post to “work for the party” (he was subsequently made the state Congress chief). The two parties did not take the move kindly as the Speaker holds considerable power in a House where the MVA retains majority by a thread.
To make their displeasure clear, sources said, the Sena and NCP ensured that there was no election to the post of Speaker all through the Budget Session and Monsoon Session. Read more