A ticket collector checking the vaccination status of passengers, in Pune. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon)Pune Live News: On Wednesday, Pune reported 6,441 fresh Covid-19 infections and nine who succumbed to the deadly infection. Number of tests taken today stood at 22,183. Total active cases tally in Pune is 5,76,269.
Pune district recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases during the third wave so far, detecting 11,748 new infections on Tuesday. The district also reported eight deaths, taking the total to 19,310, the highest in the state. With cases in Mumbai showing a sharp decline, Pune has now emerged as the district with maximum daily case count in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, the ‘HAR Ghar Dastak’ Covid-19 vaccination campaign has resulted in more than 13 lakh doses being administered in the last two-and-a-half months in Pune district. Of the 13.60 lakh doses, more than four lakh were administered to first-time beneficiaries while the rest 9.5 lakh got their second dose of the Covid-19 jab. Also, a day after the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) said it will not allow unvaccinated commuters to travel in its buses, Tuesday it said it will make an exception to the rule for children.
Swarnav, a four year old, was kidnapped from Balewadi last week, has been rescued and reunited with his parents on Wednesday. Police suspects person who kidnapped the boy released him in the afternoon at a building in Punawale. The kidnappers are still untraced but the Joint commissioner of police Shisve said investigation is on and they would be solving this case “100 percent”.
A worker fumigates the premises of a circus tent before a show at Sinhagad road on Tuesday. (Express)
Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded 43,697 cases, 10 per cent more than the previous day, including 214 new Omicron infections, and also saw 49 fatalities linked to the infection, the health department said.
A total of 46,591 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours, taking the state's overall recovery count to 69,15,407. The COVID-19 recovery rate of Maharashtra stands at 94.4 per cent, it said.
Currently, there are 23,93,704 people in home quarantine and 3,200 people in institutional quarantine. (PTI)
Despite geographical advantages and favourable meteorology, air pollution is rapidly becoming a matter of concern in Maharashtra, a new analysis of regional air pollution levels by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a New Delhi-based research and advocacy organisation, has found.
Even though most cities in the state recorded a drop in pollution levels during the early months of 2020 when a strict lockdown was enforced, a rising trend in annual Particulate Matter 2.5 levels has been recorded since then.
The study analysed 40 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) in Maharashtra — one each in Aurangabad, Kalyan, Nagpur, Nashik and Solapur, two in Chandrapur, four in Navi Mumbai, eight in Pune, and 21 in Mumbai. Read more
On Wednesday, Pune city reported 6,441 fresh Covid-19 infections and nine who succumbed to the deadly infection. Total active cases tally in Pune is 5,76,269.
Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra minister Anil Parab on Wednesday claimed the results of the nagar panchayat elections showed that people favoured the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
Numbers were important in democracy and the ruling MVA alliance of the Sena, NCP and Congress won the highest number of seats collectively, he told reporters here after the results were announced. It did not matter which MVA constituent won how many seats, Parab said, adding that the result was a victory of the alliance.
The Sena also did well in the coastal Konkan region, its traditional bastion, he claimed. Of 1,649 seats in 97 nagar panchayats (local government bodies for small towns), the BJP bagged 384, NCP 344, Congress 316 and Shiv Sena 284. (PTI)
Members of city BJP unit along with chief Jagdish Mulik staged an agitation at Regional Mental Hospital Yerwada on Wednesday against Congress state chief Nana Patole on his recent comments on PM Narendra Modi. (ENS)
An industry-academic collaborative effort set up at the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) campus during the Covid-19 period is showing results as Tuesday marked a milestone when five apps were launched by the innovation lab to help digitise all functions of a small-medium enterprise.
The Center for Industry 4.0 (C4i4), set up under the Central Government's 'Samarth Udyog Bharat 4.0' initiative at SPPU, is working on digital innovations for SME’s, under which five apps were released for SME’s including those for e-scheduling, order traceability, shop floor planner, digital service management and sales configurator applications.
Union Heavy Industries Minister Mahendranath Pandey, who was speaking at the inauguration of the applications, said that India wants to become a manufacturing hub, adding that more than 155 projects are underway across India under the Department of Heavy Industries. Read more
Swarnav was kidnapped from the Saykar garden in Balewadi area around 9.45 am on January 11, by suspects who had used a scooter like two wheeler. The spot from where the kidnapping took place is located at a close distance from the Balewadi police chowki.
Massive search operation was carried out for the last few days by about 300 sleuths from the crime branch and the Chatushrungi police station. Cops checked several videos captured by CCTV cameras at different locations for getting clues about the abducted boy and the kidnapper. Police said there was no call made by the kidnapper seeking extortion money for releasing the boy.
It was a great sigh of relief for the parents of Swarnav, who has been missing since January 11. When contacted over phone, the father of the boy said, "My son is back and safe and he is with his loved ones now. That is all that matters right now." The worried father had in the meanwhile left posts on social media appealing the kidnapper to take money, but return his son. (ENS)
The Supreme Court Wednesday directed the Maharashtra government to submit data on Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to the SBCC to examine its correctness and make recommendations on their representation in elections for the local bodies.
The top court also directed the State Backward Classes Commission (SBCC) to submit the interim report to the authorities concerned in two weeks of receiving information from the state government.
The apex court clarified, however, that the list to be prepared by the state government concerning socially and educationally backward classes would be independent of the census carried out by the Centre.
"The information and data available to the state can be furnished to the dedicated commission which can take decisions about efficacy thereof and make recommendations to state government as may be necessary. This obviously would not complete the triple test exercise which has to be completed (as per 2010 judgement) before providing reservation of seats in local government for OBC category," said the bench, also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and C T Ravikumar. (PTI)
The 15th edition of Vasantotsav will be held at the Ganesh Kala Krida Manch from January 20 to 23 amid strict adherence of Covid guidelines laid out by the government and at only 50 per cent capacity, said the organisers of the event.
From an evening with violin maestro L Subramaniam to performances by vocalist Saurabh Kadgaonkar, the latest edition of Vasantotsav aims to bring back the music to a city that has battled a dreaded disease, mourned loved ones and continues to be in the grip of fear.
“Vasantotsav is a special event where we celebrate an array of musical genres by inviting some of the best artists. Read more
The police on Wednesday tracked down a four-year-old boy who had been kidnapped from Balewadi area in Pune over a week ago.
The boy, whose father is a 33-year-old doctor residing in Baner, was kidnapped from Saykar Garden around 9.45 am on January 11 by a suspect on a motorbike.
An FIR in this regard was registered at Chaturshrungi police station. Police teams were formed to identify the kidnapper and rescue the boy. The probe was being monitored by Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta and Joint Commissioner of Police Ravindra Shisve. Read more
The Congress has won a majority of seats in three nagar panchayats in Nanded ditstrict and four nagar panchayats in Latur district of Maharashtra, results for which were declared on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court on December 6 stayed till further orders the local body elections in Maharashtra on seats reserved for the OBCs. The apex court later directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to notify 27 per cent of seats in the local bodies, which were reserved for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), as a general category so that the poll process can be taken forward.
In Nanded's Naygaon nagar panchayat, Congress has won all 17 seats. The BJP won three and 14 seats in Nanded and Latur, respectively, an official said. In Nanded, voting was held for 51 seats in three nagar pancyats of Mahur, Ardhapur and Naygaon. (PTI)
After a gap of two years, Indian mangoes would cross the seas again and head to the United States of America. Sunil Pawar, Managing Director of the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) said this would be possible as the USA has agreed to send its phytosanitary inspector to oversee the process. The Covid-19 pandemic had brought to a halt the export of mangoes to the USA, which had been emerging as a preferred destination. As per the norms, the fruit has to be irradiated before it is shipped out of the country. A phytosanitary inspector from the destination country oversees the process. Read more
Active Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra prisons have risen from zero on December 31 to 246 in just under three weeks with 24 out of the 45 prisons in the state accounting for all these cases. Officials said that most of these cases are among the newly admitted convicts or undertrials and they have been isolated in temporary prisons or the dedicated Covid care centres for inmates.
Yerawada central prison (84), Mumbai central prison (35), Kalyan district prison (44), Byculla district (15) and Thane central (13) are some of the jails with a high number of active Covid-19 cases. Read more
Economist and political analyst Ajit Ranade will assume charge as the vice-chancellor of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune (deemed to be university) for five years from February 4. Dr Rajiv Kumar, vice-chairperson at NITI Aayog and the institute’s chancellor, appointed Ranade, who is presently the president and chief economist at the Aditya Birla Group. Read more
Symbiosis Law School is organizing a virtual book release and discussion on ‘Decoding Child Sexual Abuse – A Socio-Legal Analysis of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012’, authored by former Bombay High Court judge Dr Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi. The book will be published by Oak Bridge Publishing Pvt. Ltd on January 22. Read more
Three persons of a family in Pune district’s Baramati were killed and one more was injured after their car rammed into a sugarcane-laden trailer on the Pune-Baramati Road late on Tuesday night.
The police have identified the deceased as Ashwini Shrenik Bhandari (48), Milind Shrenik Bhandari (24) and Kavita Uday Shah (62). The injured person has been identified as Bindiya Sunil Bhandari (40). Officials said the family belongs to Baramati town where they own a jewellery business. Read more
Pune city's maximum temperature will increase owing to clear sky conditions on Wednesday. The IMD has forecast the day temperature to remain around 30 degrees.
The minimum temperatures remained marginally above normal, with Shivajinagar recording 12.2 degrees, Pashan - 13.3 degrees and Lohegaon - 13.3 degrees Celsius on the day.
The city's air quality will remain under moderate category and the AQI value is forecast to be 128.
Eight patients and 44 staffers have been infected with coronavirus since January 1 at the Regional Mental Hospital in Yerawada. Last year six patients died of Covid and 386 of them were infected at the regional mental hospital. Due to the transmissible nature of the Omicron Covid variant, authorities are taking extra precautionary measures by setting up separate isolation wards, one each for males and females. Another two quarantine wards have been set up for patients who are newly admitted to the hospital. Read more
The Bombay High Court ruling on Tuesday to commute the death sentence of two sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit to life imprisonment, brings yet another turn in the story that had shaken the country in the mid-90s. The two women are currently lodged in Yerawada Central Prison and who along with their now deceased mother were charged and convicted for kidnapping and killing several children between 1990 and 1996 at various places. Read more
The police in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad have intensified the crackdown against those not wearing masks in crowded places and have fined over 7,000 people over the last one week. Following the Maharashtra government’s order announcing stringent curbs amid surging Covid cases, the Pune city police and Pimpri-Chinchwad police had on January 10 issued executive orders imposing a night curfew between 11 pm and 5 am and restrictions on gatherings between 5 am to 11 pm. Read more