With a positivity rate of 1.29 per cent, the total Covid-19 cases as of Tuesday evening stand at 10,52,176. (Express Photo/File)Mumbai News Highlights: Mumbai reported 447 fresh Covid-19 cases and one death on Tuesday. The city recorded lesser than 500 Covid-19 for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, as on Monday Mumbai logged 356 Covid cases. With a positivity rate of 1.29 per cent, the total Covid-19 cases as of Tuesday evening stand at 10,52,176.
Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Tuesday hinted at further relaxation in existing curbs and said that the BMC administration is currently reviewing the situation. “Since daily cases have been on decline, Mumbai could be unlocked completely by this month end,” she said.
Maharashtra on Monday recorded 6,436 new Covid-19 cases, a steep fall of 3,230 from a day ago, and 24 deaths, the state health department said. Mumbai, on the other hand, recorded 356 new cases, the lowest daily spike since December 21, and five deaths.
On the weather front, Mumbai’s air quality on Monday beat even Delhi’s, with the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) soaring to 318 on the day and remaining in the ‘red’ or ‘very poor’ category. The city’s air quality was in the ‘very poor’ category for the second day in a row. The current high pollution level was due to the second successive dust storm that originated on February 3 from the border areas of Rajasthan, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The 5th and 6th lines between Thane and Diva on Central Railway's Mumbai network were commissioned after a 72-hour block, allowing for the complete segregation of suburban and long-distance trains, giving relief to passengers by way of more services and punctual operations.
The segregation of local and express trains is now complete between Kurla and Kalyan, two major junctions on the network, over a decade after the 5th and 6th lines were commissioned between Kurla and Thane in April, 2011, officials pointed out on Tuesday.
"Thane-Diva 5th and 6th line work has been completed successfully. The separation of the corridor will help improve punctuality of trains and allow us to have additional paths for more suburban trains," Shivaji Sutar, CR chief public relations officer said. (PTI)
A 29-year-old tailor was arrested Monday for allegedly sexually assaulting three girls aged below 10 years by luring them to play in his shop.
The incident took place at 3 pm when the three girls, aged nine, seven and five, were playing near the accused’s shop. He asked them to come inside his shop to play and shut the door from the inside, police said. He groped one of the girls and asked another to strip, police said.
Meanwhile, a brother of one of the girls saw the tailor molesting one of the girls through the window of the shop and rushed home to inform his mother, police said. His mother came running to the spot and rescued the three girls, police said.
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Mumbai reported 447 fresh Covid-19 cases and one death on Tuesday. The city recorded lesser than 500 Covid-19 for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, as on Monday Mumbai logged 356 Covid cases. With a positivity rate of 1.29 per cent, the total Covid-19 cases as of Tuesday evening stand at 10,52,176.
A 52-year-old man, who has a string of criminal cases registered against him in Mumbai and extended suburbs besides in Dubai, was arrested by Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police for allegedly attacking a 36-year-old woman doctor and robbing her of cash and valuables worth Rs 96,000, an official said on Tuesday.
The accused, Rashid Khan, was arrested from Kolkata in connection with the robbery he had committed at the clinic of the victim doctor in Bhayandar on January 23, the official said.
After evading arrest, Khan was finally held from Kolkata by a crime branch team, the official said.
He was earlier booked for robbing a 65-year-old woman of her jewellery worth Rs 1.50 lakh in Mira Road area. (PTI)
The Mumbai police on Tuesday arrested two persons for allegedly robbing at knifepoint students of IIT Bombay in Powai, an official said.
The accused, Ayush Radhyshyam Rajbhar (19) and Satish Santosh Yadav (21), were nabbed from Pipeline Road, where they had allegedly robbed two students of the institute, the official from Powai police station said.
The matter came to light when one of the students approached the police alleging that some men had accosted him when he was on his way to the campus on January 29, threatened him at knifepoint and forced him to make an online transfer of Rs 5,000 to their bank account, he said. (PTI)
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday told the Maharashtra government to prove that its decision to prohibit unvaccinated persons from travelling in local trains in Mumbai, though taken without maintaining any record, was in larger public interest and hence, must not be interfered with.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik gave the direction after the state government's counsel Anil Anturkar informed the court that though a meeting had been held last year to decide several SOPs amid the Covid-19 pandemic, no minutes of the meeting had been recorded when the state decided to prohibit persons who were yet to receive both doses of Covid-19 vaccine from using local trains.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation challenging the prohibition, claiming that it was arbitrary, discriminatory and in breach of one's fundamental right to move freely across the country as guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (d) of the Constitution. (PTI)
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has seized 13 pistols and arrested 11 persons from various parts of Mumbai and its suburbs, an official said on Tuesday.
Based on specific information, the Kalachowki unit of the ATS nabbed an arms supplier and raided various places in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane city in the last three days, he said.
During these operations, the ATS recovered 13 pistols and 36 bullets from the accused and arrested them, the official said.
Further probe is underway in this regard, he added. (PTI)
Art School's students are giving tribute to Lata Mangeshkar through their paintings in Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon.
The Bombay High Court issued a show cause notice to Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Tuesday in a contempt plea filed by Dnyandev Wankhede, the father of former Mumbai NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede.
The senior Wankhede claimed in his plea that despite an undertaking given to the court by Malik in December last year to refrain from making defamatory public comments and social media posts against his family, the NCP leader continued doing so.
In October last year, Sameer Wankhede led a raid on a cruise ship and drugs were claimed to have been seized on board. Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was among those accused in the drugs-on-cruise case. (PTI)
Mumbai has seen unusually high levels of pollution since Sunday (February 6), with its air quality index (AQI) reading frequently above 300, at times matching Delhi’s AQI.
An AQI between 301 and 400 is categorised as ‘red’ or ‘very poor’. The AQI in Mumbai touched 316 on Sunday, followed by 318 on Monday and 320 on Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday, the AQI in Mazgaon, the most polluted area in the city, rose to 495, a reading in the ‘severe’ category. At 1.30 pm, the overall AQI was in the ‘very poor’ category, worse than Delhi, Pune, and Ahmedabad, according to the Ministry of Earth Science’s System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting Research (SAFAR).
AQI is a mean of pollutants such as particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions, derived as a single value. The higher the AQI, the greater the level of air pollution and the more serious the health concern. (Read Sanjana Bhalerao's Explained here)
Mobile devices of seven accused in the Elgaar Parishad case will be submitted to the Supreme Court-appointed committee, which is looking into allegations of unauthorised surveillance using Pegasus spyware, after the seven requested the committee to call for an inspection of their devices.
Special Judge Dinesh E Kothalikar on Tuesday allowed the plea by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seeking permission for the devices to be sent to the Supreme Court panel that had sought for them after the accused wrote to it. The lawyers for the seven accused gave their no-objection to the devices being sent.
The devices in the custody of the court will be opened before the registry on Wednesday and then sent to the committee that will take digital copies and return them. (Read Sadaf Modak's full story here)
Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Tuesday said that in next few days Mumbai is expected to reach 100% vaccination for eligible population above 18 years.
Out of 92 lakh eligible population for vaccination (above 18 years) the BMC has so far vaccinated 96% citizens with both the doses. Also, the daily covid cases has declined to 356 on Monday with only 5000 active cases. During the peak of third wave in January due to new covid variant Omicron daily cases had reached 20,000 in Mumbai. (With Laxman Singh)
Mayor Kishori Pednekar has hinted further relaxation in existing curbs by month end. Pednekar on Tuesday said that BMC administration is reviewing the situation and since daily cases have been on decline Mumbai could be unlock completely by this month end.
"We are planning to unlock Mumbai further. The daily cases has dipped. However, people need to follow covid appropriate behaviour with masking and social distancing. It will help in preventing the virus further, "said Pednekar. (With Laxman Singh)
Citing non-availability of technology in India, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) has rejected a demand to run buses purely on solar energy generated from panels mounted on the roof of the vehicles.
Last year in October, BJP corporator and group leader in BMC Prabhakar Shinde had moved a notice of motion in the civic general body meeting to run BEST buses on energy generated through solar energy.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) spokesperson Sandeep Deshpande on Tuesday said the historic Shivaji Park should not be held hostage to ugly party politics. His statement comes after leaders of the BJP and Congress demanded a memorial for legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar at Shivaji Park.
Taking to Twitter, the MNS secretary wrote, “Dadar residents have fought for long to protect the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park from encroachment. They want the park to remain an open playground. It is my ardent appeal that Shivaji Park should not be sacrificed for petty party politics.”
IT WAS only after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by two retired Director Generals of Police (DGPs), Prakash Singh and N K Singh, in 1996, and directives given by the Supreme Court in 2006, that many states were forced to comply with seven binding directives aimed at kickstarting reforms in the police force, redefining the scope and functions of police, and stopping political interference in transfer and functioning of police officers.
It took the Maharashtra government eight years to clear the Maharashtra Police (Amendment) Bill 2014, which it claimed complied with the top court directive.
However, there have been constant accusations that the state has severely diluted and subverted the recommendations of the Supreme Court, which has culminated in the recent accusations against former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of influencing police transfers. (Read Mohamed Thaver's full story here)
THE BOMBAY High Court recently held that Airport Authority of India (AAI) had no power to cancel and substitute the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) granted for the reconstruction of a building in a cooperative housing society in Juhu area. The AAI replaced the NOC with a new one what reduced the height permission granted earlier, with retrospective effect.
The aggrieved housing society, along with the developer, approached the HC challenging the same. Juhu Geetanjali Vastushilp Co-operative Housing Society and the developer claimed that they had secured requisite permissions from other authorities based on the first NOC approving building plans of the redeveloped building up to 16 storeys.
A division bench of Justice Ramesh D Dhanuka and Justice Shriram S Modak was hearing the pleas on January 27. Senior advocate Veerendra Tulzapurkar and advocates Saket Mone, Subit Chakrabarti for the petitioners said that after the AAI granted NOC on May 4, 2021, for construction up to 57.13 metre above Main Sea Level (AMSL), they obtained further NOC from Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) on July 9 last year, and various authorities for carrying out the construction. (With Omkar Gokhale)
Mumbai's air quality remained in 'red' or 'poor' category on Tuesday. The Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded in Mumbai on Tuesday morning was 314.
Hitting back at Prime minister Narendra Modi for his comments that Congress was standing at Mumbai station and scaring innocent labourers into fleeing to their native states, the Maharashtra unit of the party on Monday said that on the contrary, the Centre ran away from its responsibility during the coronavirus pandemic whereas Congress facilitated the return of migrant workers. Leading the attack, Maharashtra ministers Balasaheb Thorat and Ashok Chavan termed PM Modi's comments in Lok Sabha "unfortunate" that did not behove his post. They said the Centre was trying to hide its failures.
"By blaming the Congress, PM Modi has shown his petty thinking. The Centre should have facilitated their (migrant labourers) return but it ran away from this responsibility," Chavan said and added that the prime minister's comments are unfortunate and baseless.
The Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai police raided three places in the city and seized banned drugs including charas, mephedrone, and LSD papers worth Rs 1.21 crore, an official said on Monday, adding that five persons, including a woman peddler, were arrested. The raids were conducted in the last two days by the Ghatkopar, Bandra and Worli units of the ANC, he said. Charas worth Rs 75 lakh was seized and three men were arrested from suburban Ghatkopar, the official said. (With PTI)