A healthcare worker takes a swab sample of a woman at a school. (PTI Photo)Mumbai News Highlights:Mumbai on Saturday reported 198 Covid-19 cases, a slight dip from the 213 witnessed a day earlier. Only four of the 198 persons detected with the infection during the day needed hospitalisation.
The financial capital Mumbai has a generally cloudy sky on the forecast with a maximum temperature of 34 degree Celsius and a minimum temperature of 28 degree Celsius for the next 24 hours.
After two days of poor to very poor Air Quality Index in Mumbai, the pollution levels dropped on Saturday morning. The system of Air Quality Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) recorded an AQI of 197, which falls in the moderate category, a drop from 309 and 286 AQIs on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
In other news, more than six years after she was arrested for allegedly murdering her daughter Sheena Bora, former media executive Indrani Mukerjea on Friday evening was released from Byculla women’s prison. Mukerjea was granted bail on Wednesday by the Supreme Court.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said the Central government's reduction of excise duty on petrol and diesel was not enough and demanded that it be brought down further to what it was six or seven years ago.
In a statement, Thackeray criticised the Central government for minimal reduction of excise duty on petrol and diesel.
"Two months ago, the excise duty on petrol was hiked by Rs 18.42 per litre and today, it has been reduced by Rs 8, while the duty on diesel was increased by Rs 18.24 per litre and now it has been brought down by Rs 6. It is not good to make drastic hikes and then provide minimal reduction," the chief minister said. (PTI)
Mumbai on Saturday reported 198 Covid-19 cases, taking its tally to 10,62,674, while the death toll remained unchanged at 19,566, a civic official said.
The discharge of 131 persons took the recovery count to 10,41,897, leaving the metropolis with an active caseload of 1,211, he said. He said only four of the 198 persons detected with the infection during the day needed hospitalisation. (PTI)
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said the Maharashtra government should bring down the state taxes on petrol and diesel after the Union government offered a major relief.
In a social media post, Fadnavis said, "By reducing excise duty on petrol and diesel, the union government is going to bear revenue implication to the tune of Rs one lakh crore annually. Maharashtra government needs to follow suit and reduce state excise duty on petrol and diesel further." The state excise duty makes fuel rates in Maharashtra one of the highest in the country, and "political parties should take steps to offer further relief to people instead of organising protest rallies on the streets," the former chief minister said. (PTI)
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in a speaking order Friday asked Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her husband MLA Ravi Rana to remove an ‘unauthorised’ structure from their apartment within seven days from the receipt of the letter. The civic body said this in reply to a response submitted by the Rana couple on May 19.
Earlier, on May 10, the civic body had issued a notice to Member of Parliament (MP) Navneet Rana and Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Ravi Rana over unauthorised construction at their Mumbai apartment. Read More
A magistrate's court in Maharashtra has ordered a farmer who unintentionally triggered a massive wildfire to plant 1,000 saplings and take care of them.
Subhash Ramrao Patil, resident of Nandgaon village in Satara district, admitted to his guilt before a Judicial Magistrate First Class in Karad tehsil on Friday.
Magistrate S A Virani then ordered him to pay a fine of Rs 5,000, and also plant 1,000 saplings and take care of them. Patil was asked to submit a detailed report about the plantation and survival of saplings to the forest department's office at Malkapur. (PTI)
Maharashtra on Saturday recorded 307 Covid-19 cases, including 198 from Mumbai. So far, 77,32.792 persons have recovered from the infection,including 240 in the last 24 hours, leaving the state with an active caseload of 1,828.
A state health department bulletin said Satara, Sangli, Nandurbar, Dhule, Beed, Latur, Hingoli, Akola, Buldhana, Yavatmal and Gondia districts have no active case currently. The recovery rate in the state stood at 98.10 per cent and the fatality rate was 1.87 per cent.
The Congress has left its leadership issue unresolved at its Chintan Shivir held recently and the party's present condition is miserable, which is not good for the country's democracy, the Shiv Sena said on Saturday. (PTI)
After two days of poor to very poor Air Quality Index in Mumbai, the pollution levels dropped on Saturday morning. The system of Air Quality Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) recorded an AQI of 197, which falls in the moderate category, a drop from 309 and 286 AQIs on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
According to SAFAR’s forecast, the AQI is likely to remain in the moderate category for the next two days. “AQI of Mumbai indicates ‘upper end of moderate’ and likely to be within ‘moderate’ for the next 2 days,” SAFAR said. Read More
Over the last six decades, a statue of a farmer with maize in one hand and a pigeon in another at Cadell Road in Mumbai’s Prabhadevi has come to be known as the nagda putla or naked statue. Designed by noted sculptor Ramchandra Pandurang Kamat and set up in the 1950s, the statue has also faced some opposition from religious groups in the past but has managed to withstand it for over half a century now.
Vinayak Talwar, a volunteer with Khaki Tours who takes people on trips in the Prabhadevi area says the nagda putla is a popular local landmark. Mohamed Thaver writes..
TAKING UMBRAGE at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) decision to allow redevelopment of listed heritage grade-III structures and precincts without its permission, Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) has called for comprehensive guidelines for development work in these areas.
The committee has also recommended that the proposals of redevelopment in grade III and precincts should be sent before it until guidelines are formed. The issue has also been raised with municipal commissioner and administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal. Read More
IN ITS chargesheet against NCP Minister Nawab Malik, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed that “several rounds of meetings” were held among Malik, his brother Aslam, Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar, and 1993 serial blasts convict Sardar Khan over the Goawala compound in Kurla, in connection to which a money-laundering case has been filed.
On Friday, a special court took cognizance of the prosecution complaint (chargesheet) filed last month which has named Malik, Khan, Solidus Investments Pvt Ltd, and Malik Infrastructure, companies linked to the minister, as accused. Read More
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has denied allegations of Rs 9,380 crore scam in the construction of housing units for Project Affected Persons (PAP) on private land. In a statement issued on Friday, the BMC said that there is no financial irregularity in getting tenements for Project Affected Persons. Read More
The authorities of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district have relocated six elephants to Jamnagar in Gujarat for their "better health and management", a senior official has said.
The six elephants - four males and two females - were so far kept in Botezari Elephant Camp in Kolsa forest range in the TATR, Dr Jitendra Ramgaonkar, Chief Conservator of Forests of the reserve said in a statement.
Earlier, the elephant camp was at Moharli. Since all these elephants are of the same pedigree, there is a possibility of their offspring having serious defects, he said.
It was decided to relocate six elephants from the tiger project at Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust in Jamnagar. Permission was obtained from Project Elephant Department and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
On Thursday, all these elephants were sent from Botezari Hussey Camp of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Project to Gujarat in six vehicles under tight security.
After this, trained elephants will be brought from Karnataka, Ramgaonkar said. (PTI)
The Central Railway (CR) on Friday said it is running four extra shuttle services of the mini-train between the hill station of Matheran and Aman Lodge station on weekdays till the end of this month.
Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer of the CR, said services have been added to the existing 16 services till May 31, starting from Friday.
The step was taken considering the rush of visitors at the hill station situated about 100 km from Mumbai. The CR already operates 20 services of mini-train on weekends.
Neral-Matheran mini-train services have been suspended for long after the tracks were washed away due to landslides and floods, but Matheran-Aman Lodge service is in operation. (PTI)
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Friday announced that it would start free 'Shiv Yoga Kendra' in its 24 wards from June 1.
In a release, it said each of these free classes will have 30 persons, who need to apply to the local ward office in a set format.
"The Yoga classes could be arranged in open spaces, BMC schools, marriage halls, ward offices and any public area. They will be conducted from Monday to Friday. The BMC, in its budget for 2022-23, had announced the setting up of 200 Shiv Yog Kendras under its 'better health through yoga' plan," an official said.
The BMC has also made a provision of Rs 25 crore for capital expenditure and Rs 5 crore for revenue expenditure in the budget, he said, adding that the civic body will appoint a Yoga training organization to provide instructors to conduct these classes. (PTI)
Mumbai on Friday reported 213 Covid-19 cases, a slight dip from the 223 witnessed a day earlier. The recovery count rose by 155 to touch 10,41,766, leaving the metropolis with an active caseload of 1,144.
Of the 213 new cases, only nine required hospitalisation, including one needing oxygen support, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said. (PTI)