The district's overall caseload rose to 14,49,518, while the death toll surged to 19,667. (File Photo)Pune News Highlights: Pune recorded 344 new Covid-19 infections and five fatalities in the last 24 hours. With this, the district’s overall caseload rose to 14,49,518, while the death toll surged to 19,667.
Families of more than 16,000 Covid-19 victims in Pune district have each received Rs 50,000 ex gratia from the state government. Over 4,500 are in the process of recieving it, officials from Pune district’s disaster management department said. “We have received 28,902 applications till date for compensation of Rs 50,000 ex gratia to the next of kin of Covid victims. A total of 20,792 have been approved and grievance redressal committees have been set up to personally hear the applicants whose claim has been rejected, ” said an official from Pune district’s disaster management department.
Yesterday, a fire broke out on the fifth floor of a residential building on Jambhulwadi Road in Pune. But no casualties were reported in the incident. Fire department officials said that the fire could have started from an electric water heater. The Pune Fire Brigade said its control room received a call regarding the fire around 12.15 pm.
A beneficiary gets a dose of Covid-19 vaccine in Pune. (Express Photo by Ashish Kale, File)
In yet another milestone in indigenous Quantum technology, a joint team of scientists from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, successfully demonstrated Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) link between Prayagraj and Vindhyachal in Uttar Pradesh, a distance of more than 100 kilometres.
QKD is primarily a mechanism to undertake secure communication which utilises a cryptographic protocol involving various components of quantum mechanics. The technology enables two communicating sides to come up with random secret keys shared by both of them and known exclusively to them, so only they can use it to encrypt and decrypt messages, thus achieving a very highly-secure communication.
In December 2020, the technology was tested for communication between two DRDO facilities in Hyderabad—the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) and Research Centre Imarat (RCI)—over a distance of 12 km. Read more.
A truck carrying ‘important and confidential papers’ of the upcoming Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination to Pune suffered heavy damage after it caught fire in the early hours of Wednesday on the Pune-Nashik Highway, said Ahmednagar Police.
Officials of the Maharashtra State Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) said they were in the process of taking stock of the situation and would share details on Thursday as to how this incident would affect the examination, which is set to begin in the first week of March.
Officials from Ahmednagar District Police said that the truck carrying HSC exam-related papers had started from a place in Madhya Pradesh and was on its way to Pune via the Pune-Nashik Highway. While sources said the truck was carrying HSC exam papers, both police and state board officials refused to confirm it officially. Read more.
A fire broke out on the fifth floor of a residential building on Jambhulwadi Road in Pune on Wednesday afternoon. But no casualties were reported in the incident. Fire department officials said that the fire could have started from an electric water heater. The Pune Fire Brigade said its control room received a call regarding the fire around 12.15 pm.
Fire officer Sanjay Ramteke said, “By the time we reached the spot, the fire had caused heavy damages. We controlled the fire before it could spread any further. It took us around 20 minutes to control the fire and then we conducted a cooling operation by spraying water to avoid any secondary fire.” Read more
Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik was produced before a special court here on Wednesday after the Enforcement Directorate arrested him in a money laundering case probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, his aides and the Mumbai underworld.
In the morning, Malik was taken to the ED's office in south Mumbai for questioning and he was later arrested.
The 62-year-old NCP leader was taken to the state-run J J Hospital in the afternoon for a medical check-up after which he was taken to the sessions court. Malik, clad in a white kurta, was brought to the courtroom of Special Judge R N Rokade, designated to hear matters related to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), at 4.50 pm and was made to stand in the witness box. (PTI)
Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) lead public awareness programs on hygiene on the occassion of Sant Gadge Baba Jayanti.
Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik, who was on Wednesday arrested in a money laundering probe linked to the activities of the Mumbai underworld, said he won't bow down.
"Will fight and win. Won't bow down," Malik said waving to waiting media as he stepped out of the ED office in south Mumbai after spending eight hours there. "Will expose all," he said, before being taken by ED officials in a vehicle for medical check-up.
The minister later tweeted a video clip of him making those remarks. His office also tweeted, "Main jhukega nahi! (won't bow down)."
The 62-year-old NCP leader arrived at the Enforcement Directorate office in south Mumbai's Ballard Estate area around 8 am and the agency officials recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. (PTI)
Police said that they had opened fire into the air after burglars who had broken into an unoccupied apartment in Pune threw a sickle and stones at them in the early hours of Wednesday. Neither the policemen nor the burglars, who fled the spot, sustained injuries, they added.
The incident was reported from a residential society in Chaphalkar Colony located in the city’s Satara Road area. The police said that around 4 am, the security guard of the society found some burglars breaking into one of the apartments and informed them.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Namrata Patil said, “After receiving a call about a suspected burglary, two beat marshals patrolling the area reached the spot within four minutes. Another officer on the night rounds also reached there.” Read more
After Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik was picked up by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with a money laundering case, leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government slammed the Modi government for “misusing the investigating agencies to target those who speak the truth”.
Leading the attack, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said those who speak truth are being harassed. “There is nothing new in this. We were expecting the action against Nawab Malik since he was openly expressing his stand. We were expecting that they would do something against him. Those who express their views openly against the BJP government and the investigating agencies, those who speak the truth, are being harassed,” he said.
“When I was the Chief Minister, I was also targeted in this manner. This is an attempt to defame those who speak out with a clear mind. This is a misuse of power,” Pawar added. Read more.
An employee of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), who was suspended from service, has been arrested for allegedly disturbing government work and threatening to die by suicide.
The police have identified the accused as Vinod Bhoju Rathod, 30, a resident of the ST Colony, Swargate.
MSRTC official Ashok Sot has lodged a First Information Report (FIR) in this connection at the Bhosari police station. Read more.
An employee of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), who was suspended from service, has been arrested for allegedly disturbing government work and threatening to die by suicide.
The police have identified the accused as Vinod Bhoju Rathod, 30, a resident of the ST Colony, Swargate.
MSRTC official Ashok Sot has lodged a First Information Report (FIR) in this connection at the Bhosari police station. Read more.
THE COVID-19 pandemic has hit Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) hard with a Rs 1,000 crore loss in revenue in the past two years.
Municipal Commissioner Rajesh Patil said that the PCMC budget figure has come down by Rs 600 crore, which reflects the impact of Covid-19. “The pandemic has affected everyone financially. Builders, industries, shopkeepers, traders, citizens everyone has been hit. There were Covid-19 restrictions in place for days during the last two years. As a result, our revenue collection has gone down by Rs 1,000 crore. However, the expenditure continued to remain high,” he said.
Patil was speaking to reporters on Monday on the budget provisions. The budget was presented by Additional Municipal Commissioner Vikas Dhakane last week as Patil was on leave. Read more.
THE HEARING on objections and suggestions received for draft ward delimitation plan of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation will take place on Friday. Commissioner of Coopertives Anil Kawde will hear the objections and suggestions during the day-long hearing at Auto Cluster from 10 am.
Balasaheb Khandekar, who heads the PCMC’s poll department, said they had received as many as 5,684 suggestions and objections from citizens to draft ward limitation by the last date of February 14. The schedule of the hearing has been given on PCMC website http://www.pcmcindia.gov.in. Read more.
The district of Pune recorded 387 new Covid-19 cases and three deaths on Tuesday, according to official data. With this, the total number of Covid cases in Pune rose to 14,49,174, while the death toll has increased to 19,662.