A healthcare worker administers a dose of Covid-19 vaccine to a beneficiary, at Gateway of India, in Mumbai. (PTI, file)Mumbai News Updates: Maharashtra on Sunday reported 2,946 fresh coronavirus cases, including 1,803 in Mumbai, and two fatalities, while the number of active cases rose to over 16,000, the health department said in a bulletin. With the fresh figures, the state’s COVID-19 tally rose 79,10,577 and the toll to 1,47,870.
In other news, NCP chief Sharad Pawar reacting to the BJP’s win with all three of its candidates winning the Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra, said, “The BJP succeeded in winning over some of the independents who were supporting us. This is the reason for the difference in votes. The MVA has received the support of all its MLAs. This miracle that has happened we need to accept this. This has happened largely due to Devendra Fadnavis’s ability to win over people with all the measures at his disposal.”
Meanwhile, keeping its official onset date, the Southwest Monsoon covered Mumbai, including the Konkan region and some parts of Madhya Maharashtra on Saturday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday declared the arrival of southwest monsoons over Mumbai.
At least 40 Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists were detained on Sunday by Mumbai Police for unlawful assembly and taking out a bike rally in suburban Trombay without permission to mark eight years of the Modi government. The BJYM activists were detained after they took out a motorcycle rally, a Mumbai Police official said. After the incident, BJP's Mumbai unit president Mangal Prabhat Lodha reached the spot.
The activists were detained at two police stations including Trombay. Trombay police station senior inspector Rehana Sheikh said, “We detained 40 BJYM workers, including a woman, under the Mumbai Police Act for unlawful assembly. They were later released," she said. (PTI)
The Maharashtra unit of the Congress on Sunday alleged that the ED's summonses to party president Sonia Gandhi and leader Rahul Gandhi were a result of "political vendetta", and said the grand old party will not bow down to any pressure tactics of the ruling BJP. The party also claimed that not a single paisa was misappropriated in the National Herald case.
"Congress will not bow to the oppressive tactics of the BJP. The party will hold an agitation on Monday in front of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) offices across the country, including in Mumbai and Nagpur," party's state chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said in a press conference here.
"The BJP government at the Centre has sent ED notices to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case out of political vendetta. Not a single paisa was misappropriated in this case and no director of the National Herald received any benefits or money," he claimed. (PTI)
Maharashtra on Sunday reported 2,946 fresh coronavirus cases, including 1,803 in Mumbai, and two fatalities, while the number of active cases rose to over 16,000, the health department said in a bulletin. With the fresh figures, the state's COVID-19 tally rose 79,10,577 and the toll to 1,47,870.
On Saturday, the state had recorded 2,922 COVID-19 cases and one fatality. The number of active cases stands at 16,370. Gondia is the only district in the state which didn't have any active case as of Sunday. Mumbai recorded 1,803 fresh cases and two fatalities. The case fatality rate in the state stands at 1.86 per cent. (PTI)
Located near the famous Linking Road, the Raosaheb Patwardhan Park is one of the oldest open spaces in Bandra. Spread across 15,000 square metre, it has over 109 full-grown trees, most of them indigenous.
Located between one of the most popular street shopping markets and a theatre, the park is an oasis amid the concrete high-rises and the cacophony of traffic noises coming from the Linking Road.
The recreation ground was developed in 1994 after years of disuse and encroachment. Since then, it has won an award for good maintenance from the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry. (Read more)
Union minister and BJP leader Narayan Rane on Sunday demanded Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's resignation over the Shiv Sena's performance in the Rajya Sabha elections, and claimed that his Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was in minority. Talking to reporters, Rane, known to be a bitter critic of the Shiv Sena and Thackeray, said the defeat of Sena's second candidate in the polls was an embarrassment for the chief minister, who is also the president the party.
In the fiercely-contested polls for the total six seats on Friday, Sena's Sanjay Pawar lost to BJP's Dhananjay Mahadik - its third nominee. Other MVA partners- NCP and Congress won one seat each. The BJP won all the three seats it had contested.
"They (Shiv Sena) didn't even get votes necessary to keep them in power. They did not even get the MVA alliance votes. The chief minister is in minority. You (Thackeray) resign and step aside. He has taken Maharashtra 10 years behind," Rane said. Taking a dig at Thackeray, Rane said he has no credibility and he cannot even take care of his MLAs.
"They (MVA candidates) did not even get enough votes that are necessary to ensure a majority (to form the government). Your MLAs defect and that shows that there is no credibility. You cannot take care of your MLAs but talk big. We (BJP), despite being in the opposition, got more votes than what you got," the former chief minister claimed. (PTI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday will inaugurate Saint Tukaram Maharaj Temple in Dehu, Pune. The inauguration will take place around 1:45 pm. Sant Tukaram was a Warkari saint and poet, famously known for Abhanga devotional poetry and community-oriented worship through spiritual songs known as Kirtans. He lived in Dehu. A Shila Mandir was built after his demise, but it was not formally structured as a Temple. It has been rebuilt in stone masonry with 36 peaks, and also carries an idol of Sant Tukaram.
While at 4.15 pm, Prime Minister will inaugurate Jal Bhushan Building and Gallery of Revolutionaries at Raj Bhawan in Mumbai.
Jal Bhushan has been the official residence of the Governor of Maharashtra since 1885. Upon completing its lifespan, it was demolished and a new building was sanctioned in its place. Foundation stone for the new building was laid by the President of India in August, 2019. All distinctive features of the old building have been preserved in the newly constructed building. (ENS)
The Bhiwandi police in Maharashtra have summoned suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma to record a statement on Monday in connection with her alleged objectionable remarks against Prophet Mohammad, an official said on Sunday.
Besides, expelled BJP functionary Naveen Kumar Jindal has also been asked by the Bhiwandi police in Thane district to record his statement on June 15 over his alleged controversial tweets against Prophet Mohammad, senior police inspector Chetan Kakade told reporters.
The Bhiwandi police had registered a case against Sharma following a complaint lodged by a representative of the Raza Academy on May 30, he said. (Read more)
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said if the control of the Enforcement Directorate is given to their party, then even BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis will vote for the Sena.
His reaction comes in the backdrop of Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Pawar losing the sixth seat in the Rajya Sabha polls from Maharashtra held on Friday, a contest which had become a high-prestige battle between the ruling Sena and the opposition BJP in the state.
Fadnavis, the leader of opposition in the state Assembly, is credited for the BJP's victory on the sixth seat, won by party nominee Dhananjay Mahadik by defeating Shiv Sena's Sanjay Pawar. Prior to the polls, Raut had alleged that the BJP was using central agencies to put pressure on independents and smaller parties to vote in favour of the BJP candidates. (PTI)
Even before the onset of monsoon, in the first five days of June, Mumbai had recorded 57 cases of malaria. Most of these cases are being reported from G South (Elphinstone) and E (Byculla) wards.
Suspecting a further rise in mosquito-borne diseases with monsoon arriving in the city on Saturday, BMC has instructed the people to avoid self-medication. “As cases of malaria are rising, all precautions must be taken to prevent breeding of mosquitoes. Use bed nets and window sheets,” the BMC advisory issued earlier this week added.
Till June 5, this year, Mumbai had reported 950 cases of malaria and 94 cases of dengue. No related deaths were reported. The BMC’s initial investigation shows that the cases are being reported from both residential areas and construction sites. Read more.
Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, declaring on Saturday that BJP winning three seats in the Rajya Sabha polls was only the beginning, set the pace for the upcoming elections in the state, including the Legislative Council polls scheduled for June 20.
The Council elections, in which 10 seats are up for grabs, is also set for a contest as the BJP has fielded five candidates while allies Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena have fielded two each. Also, BJP-backed candidate Sadabhau Khot, who heads Ryat Kranti Party, is in the fray. In all, 12 candidates are in fray for 10 seats.
“After the Rajya Sabha victory, our resolve to get all our candidates elected to the Council has multiplied… While we know it is not going to be easy, the unrest within MVA is making people look for an alternative in the BJP,” Fadnavis said. Read more.
A strategy to get sizeable MLAs from smaller parties and Independents supporting Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to vote for it, coupled with tactical vote transfer, helped the BJP get its three candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha on Saturday.
The elections for the six Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra took place on Friday. The fiercely contested sixth seat saw BJP’s Dhananjay Mahadik defeating Sena’s Sanjay Pawar. All three BJP candidates – Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik — won. As against the required quota of 41 votes to win a seat, Goyal polled 48 votes, Bonde 48 and Mahadik got 41 votes. Read more.
After Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Pawar lost in the Rajya Sabha elections, the party on Saturday alleged horse trading of legislators and claimed that six MLAs from smaller parties and Independents didn’t vote for Pawar, leading to his defeat. The NCP chief, Sharad Pawar, however, said that the election results have not come as a surprise to him.
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, meanwhile, said that the Rajya Sabha elections is the just beginning and the party will win the upcoming local bodies’ elections as well as Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in 2024. Read more.
WITH 1,745 new Covid-19 cases recorded on Saturday, the count of active patients rose to over 10,000 in Mumbai. The state, meanwhile, recorded 2,922 cases and one death.
A day after recording nearly 2,000 new cases, the daily caseload in Mumbai declined slightly on Saturday. This can be attributed to the drop in testing from 15,346 conducted on Friday to 14,227 tests on Saturday, said officials. The test positivity rate (TPR) — the number of positive cases out of the total tests conducted — increased to 12.26 per cent within the last 24 hours.
Of the 1,745 new patients, who tested positive on Saturday, only 99 (5.6 per cent) required hospitalisation. On Saturday, 66 patients were admitted to ICU and 34 patients were on oxygen support. The active cases in Mumbai stood at 10,047 on Saturday. Read more.
Mumbai on Saturday reported 1,745 COVID-19 cases and one death, taking the tally here to 10,78,944 and the toll to 19,571, a civic official said.
Of the new cases, only 99 required hospitalisation, of which 11 needed oxygen support, taking the overall number of such patients to 34, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said.
The recovery count increased by 888 to touch 10,49,326, leaving the metropolis with an active caseload of 10,047, up from 9,191 a day earlier, he said.
He said 14,227 samples were examined in the last 24 hours, due to which the overall number of tests went up to 1,72,74,399.
BMC data showed the recovery rate was 97 per cent, the overall growth rate of cases between June 4 and 10 was 0.122 per cent, while the caseload doubling time stood at 561 days.(PTI)
Mumbai police summons suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma on June 25 in connection with a case over her controversial remarks about Prophet Mohammad: official.(PTI)
Congress leaders and ministers in Maharashtra will stage protests outside the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) offices in Mumbai and Nagpur on June 13 against the Centre's 'dictatorship' in view of the anti-money laundering agency issuing notices to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her MP son Rahul Gandhi in a 'false' case, state unit president Nana Patole said on Saturday.
Talking to reporters here, Patole accused the Modi government of hatching a conspiracy to implicate Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in a false case.
The ED has issued summons against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald-AJL deal.
Patole said demonstrations will be held outside the offices of the ED in Mumbai and Nagpur wherein all senior leaders and ministers of Congress will be present.
He alleged the BJP government at the Centre is acting with a political vendetta against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
'As part of the Central government's ploy to silence the opposition by misusing the Central agencies, the ED has issued notices to Soniaji and Rahulji by implicating them in a fake case. To protest against this dictatorial attitude of the BJP, protests will be held in front of the ED offices in Mumbai and Nagpur on June 13,' he said.
The protest in Mumbai will be led by Patole and the one in Nagpur by Energy Minister Nitin Raut.(PTI)
In the wake of the BJP winning all three Rajya Sabha seats it contested in Maharashtra, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said saffron party leader Devendra Fadnavis succeeded in working the "miracle" of weaning away independent MLAs from rival camps using "different means".
The CIDCO on Saturday said it has evicted over 3,000 structures in the Navi Mumbai International Airport project area and the entire site of 1,160 hectares has been handed over to the concessionaire.
The CIDCO is developing the international airport project on an area of 1,160 hectares by acquiring 10 villages in Panvel taluka of Raigad district.
The development authority said the rehabilitation of more than 5,000 families from these villages is nearing completion, an official said.
At least 3,070 buildings in the airport core area have been evicted. Public buildings, churches and 56 temples have been relocated to the rehabilitation area, the official said. (PTI)
Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said the outcome of the Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra indicates that not only people, but even the MLAs of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) were unhappy with the Uddhav Thackeray-led dispensation in the state.
Taking a dig at the three-party coalition comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, he said if it can face a defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections, where the MLAs have to show their ballot papers to the respective party leaders, what would happen in the upcoming Legislative Council polls in the state, where voting happens in a secret ballot system.
The bitter contest for the six seats of the Rajya Sabha that went to the wire saw three candidates of the BJP - Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Mahadik - winning. The Shiv Sena (Sanjay Raut), NCP (Praful Patel) and Congress (Imran Pratapgarhi) came out victorious on one seat each. The contest was for the sixth seat - between BJP's Mahadik and Sena's Pawar, who lost.(PTI)
Describing BJP's victory on three Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra as the 'mandate of horsetrading', Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday accused the Election Commission (EC) of siding with the opposition party, which he claimed 'put pressure' on the poll panel.
Talking to reporters here in the afternoon, Raut who retained his seat, said ,'Some horses were up for sale at a higher price and shifted sides despite assurance of their votes to our candidate.' Raut said the defeat of Shiv Sena's second candidate Sanjay Pawar was not a setback.
'In fact, Pawar got 33 first preference votes, while BJP's Dhananjay Mahadik got 27. But Mahadik scraped through on the basis of the second and third preference vote,' he said.
Raut said the vote of Shiv Sena MLA Suhas Kande was disqualified, whereas BJP's two votes were retained even as the same mistake was committed citing which the Sena's vote was invalidated.
He said three MLAs of the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA), an independent MLA from Karmala Sanjaymama Shinde, Swabhimani Party MLA Devendra Bhuyar, PWP MLA Shyamsunder Shinde did not votfor the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) despite assuring to do so.
'We have taken note of this development,' he said adding that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was distressed over the defeat of Sanjay Pawar.(PTI)