Mumbai: A BMC health worker collects swab sample of an outstation passenger for Covid-19 test at Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj terminus in Mumbai, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. (PTI Photo/Shashank Parade)Mumbai Live News: Maharashtra registered 36,265 fresh Covid cases on Thursday, with Mumbai recording a sharp 31.7% spike in daily cases within 24 hours. The city’s numbers include that of Dharavi, also Asia’s largest slum cluster, which recorded its highest-ever single day tally on Thursday.
As per the data provided by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), 20,181 new cases were recorded on Thursday in Mumbai, of which 17,154, or 85%, are asymptomatic while 1,170 had to be admitted to hospital.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra health department has directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) with the city reporting 20,181 fresh cases on Thursday.
Also, amid a surge in daily Covid-19 cases in Mumbai and a day after the Union Ministry of Health cut the isolation period for patients in home isolation to seven days, the BMC on Thursday released new home isolation guidelines for asymptomatic and mild cases.
At a Covid-19 center at Vashi Exhibition Complex in Mumbai.
Mumbai reported 20,181 new Covid cases and four death on Thursday. As reported by ANI, the active cases stand at 79,260.
A member of BJP’s social media cell in Maharashtra was detained for questioning by Mumbai Police Crime Branch’s Cyber Cell Thursday for his alleged controversial tweet on Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s wife Rashmi Thackeray.
The man, identified as Jiten Gajaria, had on January 4 posted a photo of Rashmi with the caption “Marathi Rabri Devi”. The caption was connected to the health issues of the CM implying his wife will take over his post like Rabri Devi had taken over in Bihar when her husband Lalu Prasad was forced to resign over the fodder scam.
Another tweet by Gajaria, a Mumbai resident with 18.9 K followers on the site, which too is possibly under the scanner was on Ajit Pawar.
A special court here accepted a plea made by two men admitting their guilt for joining the terror outfit ISIS in 2015 and convicted them on charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Special NIA judge A T Wankhede on Wednesday said he would hear the accused on the quantum of punishment on January 7.
Mohsin Sayyed (32) and Rizwan Ahmed (25) had approached the special court last month seeking to plead guilty in the case. On Wednesday, the court explained to the accused the charges they face and the punishment that can be imposed on them if convicted.
Under the UAPA and provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the duo can face a minimum sentence of three years and a maximum of life imprisonment. The accused informed the court that they were aware of this and were voluntarily seeking to plead guilty. The court then accepted their pleas and convicted them under the relevant sections of the UAPA and IPC. (PTI)
Mumbai is set to get two new administrative wards for better management of civic services and governance. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed to bifurcate and restructure K-east ward (Andheri east) in western suburb and L ward (Kurla) in the eastern part of the city.
While K-east comprises areas like Andheri east, Jogeshwari east, Vile Parle east and Marol, L-ward covers areas from Kurla, Chuna Bhatti, Sakinaka and Chandivali. Both are among the biggest administrative wards out of total 24 spread across the city managing daily services such as water supply, waste management, birth and death certificates, nullah cleaning and road repairs.
Read more
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, several experts had predicted that the infection could be particularly hard on tuberculosis (TB) patients who already have compromised lungs. However, TB patients in Mumbai largely escaped being co-infected with Covid-19, according to BMC data. The data shows that since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, only 462 such patients in the city contracted novel coronavirus while the fatality rate among the TB patients co-infected with Covid-19 stood at 8 per cent.
Experts attribute this to the regimen already followed by TB patients, such as frequent wearing of masks, and steps taken by the civic body even as they say more research is needed to understand the phenomenon.
Read more
Offline lectures in all non-agricultural universities, deemed as well as self-financed private universities, technical institutions and all colleges in Maharashtra have been discontinued till February 15, said state Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant during a Facebook Live session on Wednesday. Classes in online mode will continue.
All examinations will be conducted online during this period, Samant added. In the wake of rising cases of Covid-19 across the state, the minister had conducted a review meeting on Tuesday with 33 district collectors, six divisional commissioners, health department officials and vice-chancellors of all state universities, after which he made the announcement on Wednesday.
Read more
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pawar on Thursday said she has tested positive for coronavirus.
'Today my #Covid-19 test report has come out positive and I have quarantined myself at home. All those who came in contact with me in the last few days are requested to get their #Covid test done and follow the rules for prevention of coronavirus,' the minister tweeted. Pawar is the Lok Sabha member from Dindori in Nashik district of Maharashtra.
Earlier this week, Lok Sabha member from south Mumbai Arvind Sawant, Maharashtra minister Eknath Shinde and MLA Vidya Thakur (from Goregaon in Mumbai) had also tested positive. Last week, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said 10 ministers and 20 MLAs had tested positive for the coronavirus in the state. (PTI)
Amid criticism regarding his absence from public life following ill health, Shiv Sena president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said that he would respond to the Opposition at an appropriate time. Speaking at a virtual meeting with party functionaries from Mumbai, late Tuesday, sources said Thackeray asked Sena workers to gear up for the upcoming BMC polls. The party leadership has also sought a report on utilisation of funds from corporators, they added.
“We should continue to work for the people. I am taking the criticism quietly but will respond to them at an appropriate time,” Uddhav was quoted during the meeting. Thackeray, who underwent spine surgery last November, has been working from home as per doctor’s advice and didn’t attend the state legislature’s Winter Session last month.
Read more
The Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) Scheme implementing authority in Maharashtra, along with the state women and children development department, on Tuesday submitted an action plan before the Bombay High Court on how to deal with malnutrition issues faced by infants as well as expecting and lactating mothers in tribal areas, including Melghat.
The action plan, among other measures, stated that while there are severe and moderate acute malnutrition cases in Dharni and Melghat among infants, the anganwadis – through ASHA workers – are making efforts to identify pregnant mothers as soon as pregnancy is detected so that they can be enrolled for nutritional food supplements, which women currently can avail only from the third month of pregnancy.
Read more
After failing to end the ongoing strike of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) workers even after over two months, the transport body has decided to hire retired drivers on contract basis. The MSRTC strike entered its 71st day on Wednesday. Of the 92,666 staffers, only 24,329 are currently reporting to duty.
The MSRTC workers have been on strike since October 27 demanding merger of the MSRTC with the state government with a hope of getting the benefits of being government employees. Almost all 250 bus depots in the state have been shut since November 9 till recently, which almost paralysed the public transport services in the interior parts of the state. Owing to the strike, the general public in rural areas who were depending on the buses have been suffering.
Read more
A special court on Wednesday allowed a plea made by two men to accept their guilt for joining terrorist organisation Islamic State (ISIS) in 2015. The court held them guilty on charges including the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act based on their pleas. It will hear the accused on the quantum of punishment on Friday. It is the first case in the state where those arrested in connection with ISIS have pleaded guilty.
Mohsin Sayyed (32) and Rizwan Ahmed (25) had last month approached the court stating that they had reflected on their actions in the prison and wanted to plead guilty.
Read more
Taking note of complaints received against fake clean-up marshals, the BMC on Wednesday appealed to the people that before paying the fine, they should check if the person is wearing the correct uniform and if the name and the serial number of the concerned department/ward are printed on it. The civic body on Wednesday also released a toll free number – 1800221916 – for people to raise complaints against the marshals.
Appointed for fining people moving around without masks and spitting at public places amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the BMC’s clean-up marshals have been at the centre of controversy for allegedly harassing people. Several videos of verbal and physical fights between clean-up marshals and people over wearing masks have gone viral.
Read more
Mumbai recorded 15,014 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, the highest single-day surge witnessed since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. The daily positivity rate, too, shot up to 25%.
As the spread continues, officials at the public health department expects the city to record a further daily surge in cases over the next two weeks, which may even lead to increase in hospitalisation. With the advent of the Omicron variant, which is more transmissible than its predecessor Delta, the active Covid-19 cases have surged over 30 times in a month– from 1,922 cases recorded on December 1, 2021 to 61,923 on Wednesday.
Read more
With the surge in COVID-19 cases, bank unions on Wednesday demanded a five-day week for banking operations and capping the attendance of the workforce to 50 per cent in Maharashtra till the situation improves.
In a letter to the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC), the United Forum of Bank Unions (Maharashtra State) also urged to consider restricting banking hours till 2 pm.
This will help in reducing the customer interaction time at the branches/ offices and will, therefore, reduce the risk of contamination among the employees of banks and customers, it said.
Bank of Maharashtra is the SLBC convenor in the state.
The forum said the bankers, being in close contact with the public in general, are more prone to the infection, it said. (PTI)
An ACP-rank officer, named by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in his letter accusing then Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption, told an inquiry commission here on Wednesday that Sachin Waze was an "obedient" and "high-performing" officer.
Singh, in his letter to the Maharashtra Chief Minister, had claimed that Assistant Commissioner of Police Sanjay Patil was one of the officers whom Deshmukh had asked to collect money from bars and restaurants.
Testifying before the Justice (retd) K U Chandiwal commission which is probing these allegations, ACP Patil also said he had not come across any adverse remark about Waze from his superiors.
Patil also denied any knowledge of a meeting called by Waze or any other subordinate police officers under him to discuss the alleged extortion demand made by Deshmukh. Patil made these statements during cross examination by Waze.
There was a WhatsApp group of Mumbai crime branch officers, and everybody above the rank of unit in-charge were its members, he said. "Good work such as raids on hookah parlours and pubs was discussed in such groups, and efforts of the concerned officers were appreciated," ACP Patil said.
But superior officials also made adverse remarks some times for poor performance or misconduct, he added.
"Between October 2020 and March 2021, I had noticed good work of officers of the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU), including that of CIU officer Sachin Waze. Comments of appreciation were also made for Sachin Waze (on the WhatsApp group)," Patil said.
"I did not notice any adverse remarks to (made in respect of) Sachin Waze. It can be said that Sachin Waze is a high- performing and obedient officer as recorded in the WhatsApp group," he added. (PTI)
In view of the rise in COVID-19 cases, all non-agricultural, autonomous universities, technical and affiliated colleges in Maharashtra will be shut till February 15, Minister Uday Samant said on Wednesday.
The minister of higher and technical education said classes will continue online and examinations of all these universities and affiliated colleges will also be conducted online during this period.
The state government had arrived at the decision considering the rise in COVID-19 cases in the state, he said.
“Classes of all non-agricultural, autonomous universities, technical and affiliated colleges will be closed till February 15. During this period, education will continue online. Also, examinations of all these universities and affiliated colleges will be conducted online,” Samant said. (PTI)
Maharashtra reports 26,538 new cases, 8 deaths and 5,331 discharges today; Active cases rise to 87,505. State's Omicron case tally at 797 including 330 recoveries