Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's wife Varsha Raut arrives at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office after she was summoned by the agency in connection with the Patra Chawl land case, in Mumbai, Saturday, Aug. 6 2022. (PTI Photo)Mumbai News Highlights (August 7): Varsha Raut, wife of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, appeared before Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday in connection to a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of Patra chawl in Goregaon and related transactions. She was questioned for around 10 hours. The ED had arrested Sanjay Raut on Monday alleging that he and his family were “direct beneficiaries” of Rs 1.06 crore.
Meanwhile, the Gilbert Hill residence of the 16-year-old girl who was reunited with her family after nine years, was swarming with activity as mediapersons, local residents and relatives made a beeline to the Karnataka Milan Welfare society to catch a glimpse of “Girl no. 166”. Such was the crowd that the girl’s family had whisked her away to an unknown location fearing that she may be harmed or injured. Her paternal uncle told The Sunday Express, “There was so much crowd that our lawyer told us to ensure that she was protected. We then moved her away to another location and will produce her whenever the police want to talk to her.” This was a day after the girl, just seven when she went missing on January 22, 2013, was reunited with her family.
In other news, the Union government has put a stop to a three-year-old plan by Mumbai’s Byculla zoo to procure two zebra pairs from the Ramat Gan Safari Park in Israel. In 2020, the Byculla zoo, officially known as Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo, planned to exchange procured zebras with Sakkarbaug Zoological Park in Junagadh, Gujarat and Kamla Nehru Prani Sangrahalaya in Indore and receive Asiatic lions.
Maharashtra on Sunday reported 1,812 fresh Covid-19 cases and one pandemic-related death. According to the state health department 16 patients of BA.2.75 and three patients of BA. 4 and 5 sub-variants have been found in the state. All these cases are from Pune. As per IMD report Maharashtra received 27 per cent more rains than normal recorded in the months of June and July, despite the dull start to the monsoon season this year
While the cost of a life-saving bone-marrow transplant could be anywhere between Rs 10-12 lakh, underprivileged children from western India and suffering from Thalassemia and aplastic anaemia, could undergo the surgery free-of-cost at Mumbai’s Kokilaben Hospital. The cost of the surgery will be covered under the Centre’s pan-India programme— ‘Thalassemia and Aplastic Anaemia Bal Sewa Yojna’ (Read More)
Mumbai on Sunday reported 465 Covid-19 cases and one fatality. The recovery count increased by 321 during the day to touch 11,05,154, leaving the city with an active caseload of 2,734.
Civic data showed the recovery rate was 98 per cent and the overall growth rate of cases in the period between July 31 and August 6 was 0.033 per cent. (PTI)
Two men were killed after a tree fell on the bike they were riding on the Pune-Nashik highway in Bhosari Saturday morning, said the police. Officials said that though the two riders wore helmets, they suffered multiple serious injuries leading to their deaths.
The Pimpri-Chinchwad police officials said that the incident took place around 7 am near the Nashik Phata point, not far from the Bhosari police station. (Read More)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday urged the central government to increase the procurement limit for the minimum support price (MSP) be increased to 50 per cent of the production, and also sought its support in the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP).
Speaking at the Governing Council meeting of the NITI Aayog in New Delhi, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shinde highlighted the steps taken by the state for implementation of the NEP, and said his government was fully committed to effective rollout of this education policy.
He also said that the cost norms need to be revised to boost the horticulture sector. "In the mission for integrated development of horticulture, cost norms fixed in 2015 have not been changed. Project cost is significantly increasing due to the rise in prices of cement, iron and other raw material and it is no more affordable to farmers," he said. (PTI)
The doctors of a city-based civic hospital saved the life of a 22-year-old worker, who had suffered a critical injury after a steel rod pierced through his chest following a fall from a tree.
The doctors of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation-run Bhabha Hospital in Bandra here recently performed a complicated surgery on the worker and removed the broken steel rod that had got stuck in his chest, an official said.
The incident had occurred in the morning of July 26 in Bandra, when the worker was doing some work after climbing on the tree, he said.
He fell from the tree after losing his balance and landed on the fence of a building compound. A sharp steel rod pierced through his chest and a broken piece remained inside, he said, adding that the worker was rushed to Bhabha Hospital for treatment. (PTI)
Maharashtra on Sunday reported 1,812 fresh Covid-19 cases and one pandemic-related death.
A day earlier, the state had reported 1,931 Covid-19 cases and nine fatalities The department also said 16 patients of BA.2.75 and three patients of BA. 4 and 5 sub-variants have been found in the state. All these cases are from Pune.
The tally of BA.4 and BA.5 patients has risen to 275 and of BA.2.75 patients to 250. Maharashtra is now left with 12,011 active cases. (PTI)
The Shiv Sena on Sunday demanded strict action against the three men involved in raping a 35-year-old woman in Maharashtra's Bhandara district.
A three-member delegation of the party led by spokesperson Manisha Kaiyande visited the government hospital in Nagpur where the victim is undergoing treatment. The delegation also met the doctors and the police probing the case and demanded that the absconding culprits be arrested immediately.
The incident came to light on August 5. Three men allegedly took the woman to Kardha forest area and raped her. The woman, who is a resident of Gondia district, was living with her sister in Bhandara due to marital dispute. (PTI)
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday sacked the party's Nanded district chief Umesh Munde for indulging in "anti-party activities", a senior party leader said. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will be on a day's tour of Nanded on Monday.
A statement from Shiv Sena secretary Vinayak Raut said Thackeray took the decision to remove Munde as the party's Nanded district chief in view of his "anti-party activities".
In June this year, Shinde and 39 other Sena legislators had rebelled against the party leadership, leading to the fall of the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which comprised the Sena, NCP and Congress. (PTI)
More from Cities
Members of youth wing of NCP staged a protest in front of the IIT main gate . The protest is in solidarity with the students of IIT Mumbai relating to student fee hike issue .
Students at the premiere technology institute in Mumbai’s Powai area are raising their voice against the exorbitant fee hike in Master’s and PhD courses. As per the information provided by students, the fee structure for both is increased by 45 per cent, in the recently declared fee circular for the autumn semester. Students are complaining how the fee hike comes as a burden immediately after the pandemic.
It is difficult to find open places around Borivali, one of the busiest and most crowded areas in the western suburbs of Mumbai. However, MCF Jogger’s Park in Govind Nagar plays a felicitous role for people of all age groups with its lush greenery and calm vicinity.
A perfect getaway for citizens bored by the daily hustles and pollution of the city, the park has something to attract people of all age groups. (Read More)
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will visit Baramati in Maharashtra, the home turf of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, between August 16 and 18 to galvanise the BJP cadres ahead of the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly polls in 2024.
Highly-placed BJP sources told The Indian Express: “The party has decided to leave no stone unturned to lend its power to its Baramati unit, one of the most difficult seats…. the minister, during her two-day visit, will tour Baramati parliamentary constituency”. (Read More)
A Nigerian man, wanted in connection with a drugs case, was found dead after a police chase in a forest of Maharashtra's Thane city, an official said on Sunday.
The deceased, Joe Izzikil, had disappeared into the forest near Naglabunder while being chased by a police team on Friday morning, an official from the city police said.
Izzikil was later found lying on a pipe after a fall near a deserted house in the forest. He was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead, he said. Izzikil, a resident of Nallasopara, had several cases of drug possession registered against him, and his wife had also been arrested by the police in neighbouring Mumbai, the official said. (PTI)
Maharashtra has received 27 per cent more rains than normal recorded in the months of June and July, despite the dull start to the monsoon season this year, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.
As per the data compiled by the IMD, the state had received 677.5 mm rainfall till July 31, which is 27 per cent more than its normal figures, a senior IMD official said.
The southwest monsoon, which usually arrives in the state around June 7, was delayed till June 11 and it got off to a slow start. “By June end, the state's cumulative rainfall figures indicated that it had received 30 per cent less rainfall than normal. However, the intensity increased drastically and by July end, the state recorded excess showers,” the official said. (PTI)
The Social Welfare Department of the Maharashtra government has proposed an affordable housing scheme for the transgender community, a senior official said.
Transgender persons often find it difficult to buy or rent a house in a good locality because of the stigma attached to their gender identity, hence the scheme would be helpful, he said. Under the proposed scheme, around 150 flats of 450 sq feet each will be offered in a dedicated housing complex in Nagpur city for the transgender community.
"The Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) has ready flats available. It has agreed to sell them to us. Using the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) funds and taking rest of the funding from the state government, we will make these flats available to the transgender community. They will own these flats," said Dr Prashant Narnaware, Commissioner, Social Welfare. (PTI)
The Maharashtra cyber department has asked people to remain alert against online frauds and not to respond to video calls, friend requests from unknown persons and threatening calls from people posing as police officers.
The state cyber department has received several such complaints and also of people being duped under the pretext of electricity bills, through loan apps and online marketplaces, an official from the department said.
People need to be aware before applying for anything online or while clicking any link, he said. There have been cases of women seen in objectionable condition in video calls and then fraudsters posing as officers of Delhi cyber police to extort money from people, he said. (PTI)
The parents of a five-year-old girl allegedly beat her to death while performing 'black magic' on her to drive away evil forces in Maharashtra's Nagpur city, police said on Sunday.
The incident took place on the intervening night of Friday-Saturday following which police arrested the child's father Siddharth Chimne (45), mother Ranjana (42) and aunt Priya Bansod (32), they said. Chimne, a Subhash Nagar resident who runs a local news channel on YouTube, had gone to a dargah in Takalghat area along with his wife and two daughters - aged 5 and 16 - on Guru Purnima last month, a senior police official said.
Since then, the man suspected behavioural changes in his younger daughter. He believed she was under the influence of some evil forces and decided to perform 'black magic' to drive them away, the official said. The girl's parents and aunt performed the ritual in the night and also shot its video, which the police later recovered from their phone. In the clip, the accused were seen asking some questions to the girl who was crying. The child was unable to understand the queries and could not answer them, the official said.
During the ritual, the three accused allegedly slapped and thrashed the child severely, following which she fell unconscious and collapsed on the ground, the official said. The accused then took the child to a dargah in the morning hours of Saturday. They later shifted her to the Government Medical College and Hospital and ran away from there. Doctors at the hospital later declared the girl dead and alerted the police, he said. (PTI)
A tempo driver was injured when a group of three-four persons allegedly fired at the vehicle in an attempt to loot it in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Sunday.
The incident took place on Saturday evening on Bhiwandi-Kharbaon route and it was not known what the tempo was carrying, they said.
The accused intercepted the tempo and fired at it. When they failed to rob the vehicle, they ran away, Deputy Superintendent of Police Jitendra Agharkar said. (PTI)
The ethanol production in Maharashtra is likely to reach 140 crore litre next year, sugar industry representatives have said.
In future, the demand for fuel will be more than food. "Hence, the sugar industry in Maharashtra will also be called as the energy industry in times to come," National Federation of Co-operative Sugar Factories Limited Chairman Jayprakash Dandegavkar told PTI.
Ethanol is a by-product of sugar mills. Its production cycle is from December 1 to November 30. In 2020-21, Maharashtra produced 100.36 crore litre of ethanol through 78 establishments, as per a representative of the state cooperative sugar factories federation. (PTI)
After a brief lull, the Southwest monsoon revived over the west coast. Since Friday night, the city and its suburbs received moderate rainfall, which had recorded no or light rainfall since July 15.
The monsoon trough is active and lies south of its normal position, the India Meteorological Department said. “It will continue to remain so during the next four to five days. As a result, more rainfall is on cards for the city,” the IMD said.
The IMD said the city and its suburbs are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places till Wednesday. In 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Saturday, IMD’s Santacruz observatory recorded 24.6 mm of rainfall, which is categorised as moderate.