File photo of Maharastra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray pay tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Vidhan Bhavan on Marathi Bhasha Diwas. (Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)Mumbai News Live: The state Cabinet on Wednesday approved a Bill that proposes to make the use of Marathi language mandatory for official purposes in local authorities, including local bodies and state-run corporations. Sources in the government said the Bill is likely to be tabled in the state legislature on Thursday. Sources added that at present, under the Maharashtra Official Languages Act, 1964, the use of the Marathi is not mandatory in local bodies and state-run corporations and societies.
Meanwhile, after reporting less than 30 Covid cases for three days in a row, Mumbai logged 46 new infections on Wednesday, but no fresh death linked to the disease was recorded, the city civic body said. With this, the tally of cases jumped to 10,57,661, while the death toll remained unchanged at 16,693, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) bulletin said.
In other news, the Colaba police on Wednesday recorded the statement of senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla for the second time in the last 10 days. Shukla, who formerly headed the State Intelligence Department (SID) of the Maharashtra Police, is accused of tapping the phones of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and NCP leader Eknath Khadse. According to police officials, Shukla reached Colaba police station at around 11 am on Wednesday and she was questioned for two-and-a-half hours.
Children swim in the Arabian Sea on a hot summer day at Badhwar Park on Monday. (PTI)
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has stopped penalising citizens for not wearing face masks in public places as its contract with agencies hired for deploying clean-up marshals, who fined those not complying with the mask mandate, has ended.
According to officials from the BMC, the contract ended two weeks ago and now the civic body is reconsidering the decision of hiring clean-up marshals again. Read more
After recording below normal day temperatures this week, the maximum temperature in Mumbai recorded a steep rise on Wednesday.
The maximum temperature recorded by the India Meteorological Department’s Santacruz observatory was 38.2 degrees Celsius, which was 5.4 degrees above normal. In 24 hours, the day temperature increased by five degrees in the city. As the city had experienced heat wave conditions last week, the dip in day temperatures over the past few days had brought some respite. Read more
The Central Railway will run 18 additional special trains between Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Sawantwadi Road in Konkan to clear the extra rush of passengers due to Holi holidays.
For detailed timings and halts visit http://www.enquiry.indianrail.gov.in or download NTES App. Read more
The Colaba Police on Wednesday recorded the statement of senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla for the second time in the last 10 days.
Shukla, who formerly headed the State Intelligence Department (SID) of the Maharashtra Police, is accused of tapping the phones of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and NCP leader Eknath Khadse.
According to police officials, Shukla reached Colaba police station at around 11 am on Wednesday and she was questioned for two-and-a-half hours. Read more
A day after the ED provisionally attached 11 flats of Mumbai-based Pushpak Bullion at a real estate project developed by a company promoted by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s brother-in-law Shridhar Madhav Patankar, the CM on Wednesday told his Cabinet colleagues that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) governement would put up a strong fight against the Centre’s actions.
Thackeray later in the evening also met Sena ministers and legislators over dinner at his official residence Varsha. Read more
The Bombay High Court directed its Registry to distribute within two weeks ad hoc compensation of Rs 10 crore to over 900 fisherfolk families, who stay in and around Thane creek and have been affected by the construction of the six-lane Thane creek bridge III on Sion-Panvel highway.
The HC had on February 25 directed Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) — the implementing agency of the project — to deposit Rs 10 crore as interim compensation. Each family will get Rs 1 lakh. Read more
MORE THAN half of the approved posts of teachers in Mumbai University (MU) are vacant. Among the 368 approved posts, only 146 teachers have been appointed so far, according to information revealed during the question answer round in the MU Senate meeting last week.
At the meeting, senate member Sudhakar Tamboli had asked about total sanctioned posts of teachers and how many of them are vacant. As per the answer provided by the MU administration, there are 368 sanctioned posts of teachers in the 34 departments. Of these, full-time appointments have been made only on 146 positions while 222 remain vacant. Read more
The state Cabinet on Wednesday approved a Bill that proposes to make the use of Marathi language mandatory for official purposes in local authorities, including local bodies and state-run corporations. Sources in the government said the Bill is likely to be tabled in the state legislature on Thursday.
Sources added that at present, under the Maharashtra Official Languages Act, 1964, the use of the Marathi is not mandatory in local bodies and state-run corporations and societies. Read more
Members of the Naval Band played patriotic music on the occasion of 'Shaheedi Diwas', at Marine Drive in Mumbai on Wednesday.
(Photos: PTI/Shashank Parade)
A team of Mumbai civic body officials on Wednesday inspected for nearly three hours the premises of a building in suburban Santacruz where former city BJP youth wing president Mohit Kamboj lives and owns flats, to check illegal alterations if any, sources said.
A team of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) officials from the H-west ward began inspecting the premises of the 13-storey 'Khushi Pride Belmondo' building where Kamboj lives around noon, sources said.
According to sources, the team inspected the building's premises to determine if any illegal alterations have been made. The civic team is likely to prepare a detailed report based on the inspection, but it did not disclose if they found any violations during the inspection. (PTI)
BJP leader Mohit Kamboj at his residence in Mumbai, Wednesday (PTI)
Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 149 new cases of coronavirus and two fresh deaths linked to the infection, while 222 more patients were discharged following recovery, the state heath department said.
With this, the overall Covid count in the state rose to 78,72,817, while the death toll increased to 1,43,769, the department said in a bulletin. On Tuesday, the state had logged 156 coronavirus cases, but zero fatalities.
In Maharashtra, 19 districts and 13 municipal corporations did not report any fresh cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the bulletin said. Mumbai reported the highest Covid cases among the cities at 46. (PTI)
A nine-year-old boy, who ran away from his grandparents' home in Raigad district, angry over not getting money for buying sweets on Holi last week, has been traced and reunited with his family, a police official said on Wednesday.
Assistant Inspector Preeti Chavan (Child Protection Unit) said the child, originally a resident of Khardi in Thane district, had gone to his grandparents' house at Shelu in adjoining Raigad district to celebrate Holi.
He asked his grandparents for money to buy sweets and when they refused, the boy got angry and ran away from home. The boy then boarded a suburban train bound for Mumbai CSMT, Chavan said. (PTI)
A GRP constable on Wednesday saved a teenage boy's life by pulling him away from the railway track at Vitthalwadi station on Mumbai suburban network a few seconds before an express train passed the spot, a Government Railway Police (GRP) officer said.
The constable Hrishikesh Mane grew suspicious after he spotted an 18-year-old boy loitering on the railway platform for quite some time. The teenage boy jumped on the railway tracks at around 2.30 PM with an intention to commit suicide when Madurai Express pulled into the platform, the officer said.
"Without caring for his life, the police constable jumped onto the track and pushed the boy away from the train. He brought the boy back on the platform," he said, adding that the teenage boy was a resident of Camp No 5 in Ulhasnagar. (PTI)
The Maharashtra government has decided to suspend the "betterment" charges being recovered from farmers in the NAINA project in Navi Mumbai for time being, Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde told the Legislative Council on Wednesday.
The issue of development charges being recovered from the project affected farmers had become a major bone of contention in 152 villages located near the upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport.
Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA) was proposed in 2013 and the project gathered momentum when BJP was in power from 2014 to 19. The project is aimed at residential and commercial development of the area located near the upcoming greenfield international airport. (PTI)
After reporting less than 30 Covid cases for three days in a row, Mumbai logged 46 new infections on Wednesday, but no fresh death linked to the disease was recorded, the city civic body said.
With this, the tally of cases jumped to 10,57,661, while the death toll remained unchanged at 16,693, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) bulletin said.
Mumbai's daily Covid cases had been below 30 for the last three days and under-100 since March 2, 2022. Significantly, on 21 out of 23 days of March so far, the city has logged zero Covid deaths. (PTI)
Bombay High Court Judge S J Kathawalla, who in the recent past conducted hearings till midnight and on one occasion even till 3.30 in the morning, retired on Wednesday as he called his judicial journey a "pilgrimage".
At a farewell event organised by the Advocate Association of Western India (AAWI) here, Justice Kathawalla spoke of how his "pilgrimage" was ending. "To me, Judgeship was never a savvy career move or a professional high point. But in fact, it has been a pilgrimage that is coming to an end," he said.
Justice Kathawalla was known as a workaholic who worked even during court vacations. He will be remembered for the time he once sat in the court till 3.30 am in 2018 to conduct hearing in a case. During summer and Diwali vacations of 2021, Justice Kathawalla used to sit till midnight hearing matters. (PTI)
A civil court here on Wednesday rejected Salman Khan's application seeking an injunction order in a defamation suit filed by him against an NRI for allegedly making defamatory and derogatory remarks against the Bollywood actor and his family members regarding his farmhouse in Panvel.
The NRI, Ketan Kakkad, owns a piece of a plot on a hill next to Khan's farmhouse in Panvel in the Raigad district neighbouring Mumbai. According to Salman Khan's defamation suit, Kakkad had made defamatory comments against the actor while giving an interview to a YouTuber.
The actor in an application filed along with the suit had sought the court to grant an injunction against Kakkad from making any further comments against him or his family members. (PTI)
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Wednesday hit out at BJP MLA Nitesh Rane for demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray after the ED attached assets of a company owned by the CM's brother-in-law.
Patole said Nitesh Rane's father, Union minister Narayan Rane, a former Congressman, too, had faced corruption charges from BJP leader Kirit Somaiya and wondered what happened to the same. The state Congress chief asked whether those who join the BJP become "holy".
Kankavli MLA Nitesh Rane had pitched for Thackeray's resignation on Tuesday after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached assets worth Rs 6.45 crore of a company owned by Shridhar Madhav Patankar, Thackeray's brother-in-law, in connection with a money laundering investigation. (PTI)
A level-II fire broke out in a four-storey residential building in Byculla’s Saat Rasta on Wednesday afternoon.
(PTI photos)