Maharashtra: 22 cattle died of lumpy skin disease in state in one month

At least 22 cattle have died of lumpy skin disease in Maharashtra over a period of one month, an official from the state animal husbandry department said on Monday. The outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD), which affects cattle, has been reported in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu-Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi.

In Maharashtra, the disease has spread in 133 villages of Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Akola, Dhule, Pune, Latur, Aurangabad, Beed, Satara, Buldana, Amravati, Osmanabad and Kolhapur districts, the official said.

"A total of 2,21,090 livestock in 622 villages, within 5 km radius of the infected areas, have been vaccinated. Of 1,224 infected cattle, 752 have recovered after treatment, while 22 have died so far," the official said.

A Delhi-Mumbai flight of Vistara airlines returned midway to Delhi on Monday after a "whistling" sound was heard on the right side of the Boeing 737 aircraft cockpit, a DGCA official said. The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has ordered a probe into the incident even as no structural deficiency was observed during preliminary ground inspection of the plane, the official said. Vistara -- a joint venture of Tata and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA) -- confirmed the return of its Mumbai flight UK 951 back to Delhi, saying that the pilot decided to do so after a technical snag was detected shortly after its take-off.

A total of 31,365 Ganesh idols were immersed in the sea and artificial ponds in Mumbai on the fifth day of the Ganpati festival, a civic official said on Monday. There was so far no report of any untoward incident following the fifth day celebration of the festival on Sunday, the official said. Till 6 am on Monday, 30,446 household idols, 27 Hartalika and 892 sarvajanik (public) idols were immersed, the official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

A debt-ridden man working with a chartered accountant has been arrested along with a colleague for allegedly stealing Rs 13 lakh from his employer in Mulund in Mumbai, a police official said on Monday. Mulund-resident Sumit Wadekar and Chetan Bhabhe from Dombivali in Thane district were held on Sunday and the looted amount has been recovered from them, he added.

The MSEDCL on Monday announced a new toll-free helpline number for 2.8 crore consumers -- 1800 212 3435 -- on which one can register complaints on power outages. One can also make inquiries on electricity bill, tariff etc, on the same number. This is in addition to other existing numbers 1800-233-3435 or 1912, the official said.

The NCP on Monday claimed the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government's decision to withdraw the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi's recommendation for nomination of 12 names as MLCs under the governor's quota was a bid to lure more leaders into the ruling camp.

The previous government led by Uddhav Thackeray had two years ago recommended 12 names for nomination as MLCs, but the file was never approved by Governor B S Koshyari.

Prominent among the 12 names suggested by MVA included actor Urmila Matondkar who had joined the Shiv Sena after quitting the Congress.

The Bombay high court on Monday said the condition of toilets in schools across Maharashtra was very bad, and asked the state government if it was powerless or waiting for some auspicious day to frame a policy on the issue. A division bench of Justices Prasanna Varale and Sharmila Deshmukh said it was "pained by the sorry state of affairs".

The court was hearing a petition filed by two law students Nikita Gore and Vaishnavi Gholave, raising concerns over the central and state governments not implementing effective menstrual hygiene management resulting in women, and particularly adolescent girls, facing problems.

The petition also pointed out the issue of unclean and unhygienic washrooms and toilets for girls in government aided schools.

Shiv Sena (rebel camp) MP Dr Shrikant Shinde hit back at opposition leader Ajit Pawar for his remarks against chief minister Eknath Shinde's Bappa tour. Pawar had said that the CM's Bappa tour was nothing but a showoff with cameras.

A special PMLA court in Mumbai on Monday extended Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's judicial custody by another 14 days -- till September 19 -- in the Patra Chawl land scam case. READ MORE