'We were discussing government formation with Sharad Pawar. We had even finalised portfolio distribution and guardian ministers' responsibilities'
Still reeling under a deadly second wave of Covid-19, Maharashtra may witness a third wave of the infection in July-August, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Thursday.
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday raided multiple locations in Maharashtra as part of a money laundering probe against state transport minister Anil Parab and others linked to alleged irregularities in a land deal in coastal Dapoli area of Ratnagiri district and other charges, officials said.
Amid nationwide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said there are no detention centres in the state and Muslim citizens need not worry under his regime.
Claiming taxes collected from the south were being distributed to north India and that the former were not getting their due share, Congress MP D K Suresh on Thursday said the southern states will be forced to demand for a separate nation if the 'injustice' was not rectified.
The BJP said Gandhi should explain why the Congress-led government in office before 2014 at the Centre had given land parcels to the Adani group.
No immediate relief appears in sight as the India Meteorological Department issued a red alert for six districts which have been already pounded by downpour, forecasting "extremely heavy" rainfall and recommending preventive actions.
In a statement after the apex court verdict, Thackeray said, "With folded hands, we request the prime minister and the president to take an immediate decision on Maratha quota."
Onion and potato production is expected to be down in the 2023-24 crop year, while the tomato output could be marginally higher, the Department of Agriculture's first advance estimates of horticultural output released on Thursday showed. "Production of onion in 2023-24 is expected to be around 25.47 million tonnes compared to around 30.20 million tonnes last year due to a decrease of 3.43 million tonnes in Maharashtra, 0.99 million tonnes in Karnataka, 0.35 million tonnes in Andhra Pradesh and 0.31 million tonnes in Rajasthan," the official statement by the department of agriculture said.
He questioned why only migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given citizenship under the amended law and not the Sri Lankan Tamils.
Thackeray also warned of stricter restrictions if the people did not observe COVID-19 safety protocol, it said.
As cases of 'black fungus' among COVID-19 patients in the country rise to cross 7,000, the Centre on Thursday urged all states and union territories to declare it as a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act to ensure mandatory surveillance to tackle the 'new challenge'.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Monday passed a resolution urging the Centre to provide the 2011 census data to enable the State Backward Class Commission to prepare an empirical data of the OBC population, in a bid to restore political reservations for its members in local bodies.
Though the mandate is seen largely an outcome of Banerjee's welfare schemes, she has promised to industrialise at a faster pace, or so read the manifesto.
The second phase of Covid-19 vaccination in India will begin from March ,1 in which people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities will be vaccinated, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Wednesday.
For the first time in Maharashtra, four patients of B.A.4 sub-lineage and three cases of B.A.5 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant of coronavirus have been found, the state health department said on Saturday.
The case was being probed by the Pune Police.
The former Congress president alleged that PM Modi had a "monopoly over corruption".
Thousands of protesting farmers who reached ITO from the Ghazipur border clashed with police. Many of them driving tractors reached the Red Fort and entered the monument.
Twenty-two proposals comprising 16 states and Union Territories and six ministries and departments have been shortlisted for participation in the parade after a series of five meetings.
Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore and Uttam Ghosh visit Parli-Vaijnath in Beed district of Maharashtra, where the sex ratio has dipped to abnormal levels over the decade, and rampant female infanticide has created an atmosphere of horror.
Onion supply in Nashik low but is expected to normalise in a couple of days
The query was put to the Centre by a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli which during the hearing said the central government has to either show some justification for this or "make amends" now that the situation has been brought to its attention.
The Vishwaguru who addressed the maximum rallies and boasted of being blessed with divine energy, who promised guarantees in his own name, turned out finally not invincible, points out Jyoti Punwani.
Ten states and Union Territories have so far detected the presence of the JN.1 sub-variant of the virus.
'The Maharashtrian Congressmen's decision to break away from their reluctant leaders in Delhi to side with the Shiv Sena is seemingly the first sign that the 'high command' is not as powerful as is believed,' says Amulya Ganguli.
The oxygen shortage was inevitable to an extent given the tsunami of Covid cases, but the problem is the lack of even basic preparation by both the Centre and states, notes Shyamal Majumdar.
The Centre asserted that it is regularly engaging with the states and Union Territories that are reporting a spurt in cases and those with a higher fatality rate.
The central government plans to increase the number of highly beneficial neem trees in the country from the existing one tree for every 50 Indians to one tree for every 10 Indians to meet the rising demand from different sectors for neem oil. Presently, India has 18-20 million neem trees in the country, of which 40-45 per cent are in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu, among others. To achieve the target, the number of neem trees has to rise to almost 140 million.
Several states have been reporting an uptick in the number of COVID cases over the last few weeks and nine states and Union territories have so far detected the presence of the JN.1 sub-variant of the virus.
Low pressure over south-central Maharashtra and south Konkan is likely to move over the Arabian Sea and intensify into a depression in the next 48 hours, the India meteorological department said on Thursday. Under the influence of this cyclonic circulation, heavy rains are expected over the ghat areas of Maharashtra, Konkan and south Gujarat during the next two days, the IMD said.
The Congress questioned the Maharashtra governor for the "arbitrary" allotment of time to the Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party to prove support for government formation.
COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 has spread to 15 states and Union territories with a total of 923 cases of the infection reported so far, according to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG).
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Centre to continue with the security cover for industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his family members in Mumbai.
Petitioners against remission in Bilkis Bano case are 'interloper', 'busybody', The Gujarat government told the Supreme Court.
"Some leaders from Dombivli are trying to create obstacles for the alliance for their selfish politics. I have no desire for any post. I will back whichever candidate the senior leadership of the BJP-Sena decides," he said.
Anand Rayate, senior IAS officer and state coordinator for the Talathi Recruitment Exam-2023, said the statewide test conducted with the help of IT major TCS started at 11 am, instead of 9 am scheduled originally, after the fault was rectified.
India recorded a single day rise of 3,998 coronavirus fatalities with Maharashtra carrying out its 14th Covid data reconciliation exercise, pushing the country's death toll to 4,18,480 while 42,015 new infections were reported, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The government said that in the thoroughly "misconceived, frivolous and motivated" PIL petition, where no violation of any fundamental right was even pleaded, the high court has sought to exercise its judicial review jurisdiction over a decision, which has been taken by trained experts on public order, individual and national security.
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