The Bombay high court on Monday said when streets and footpaths are cleared for the prime minister and other VVIPs for one day, why can't it be done on a daily basis for everyone else too.
Former MLA Harshwardhan Sapkal has been appointed as the new president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), tasked with reviving the party in the state after its crushing defeat in the last year's assembly polls. Sapkal, a veteran politician, replaces Nana Patole, who held the position since 2021. The Congress aims to rebuild its base and prepare for upcoming local body polls, including those in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, and Nagpur. The party will also need to work with its allies, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), to strengthen the opposition against the ruling BJP-led alliance.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Thursday said the Mumbai civic body's decision to deny permission to it for Dussehra rally at the Shivaji Park was expected and claimed it was 'very bad script of the Bharatiya Janata Party'.
Incessant rains with intermittent spells of moderate to heavy showers since Friday morning have slowed down public transport services and traffic in Mumbai.
"Notice has been issued to Shah Rukh's Red Chilli Entertainment Pvt Ltd on Thursday for unauthorised change in user and violation of rules," MCGM commissioner Jairaj Phatak told media-persons in Mumbai.
In the wake of heavy rains over the last few days, the Tansa and Vihar lakes, the key sources of potable water for Mumbai, started overflowing on Wednesday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
The sero-surveillance started on June 3 and 6,936 samples out of an estimated 8,870 were collected from slum and non-slum population of three civic wards -- R-North, M-West and F-North -- in the first half of July.
On Sunday, the city had witnessed the highest-ever 11,163 new COVID-19 cases.
Amid a spike in coronavirus infection in parts of Maharashtra, Mumbai has witnessed 36.38 per cent rise in the active COVID-19 cases since February 8, as per the city civic body.
"Both the number of new patients and that of deaths are highest for a single day so far," an official said. 79 persons tested positive for COVID-19 during the day, taking the number of such cases in the country's financial capital to 775, the civic body said.
This will facilitate availability of at least 2,400 more beds for patients in the city, the BMC said.
In Mumbai, where the Shiv Sena-BJP combine pulled out all stops to retain power in India's richest civic body, the voting percentage was better than that in the last polls.
The Bombay high court on Monday directed the Mumbai civic body to clarify how it has issued a public notice seeking to cut 177 trees at the Aarey Colony area for a Metro car shed project when the Supreme Court in 2022 permitted felling of only 84 trees.
"Only 27 bodies can be kept in the KEM mortuary. But, all slots are filled with COVID-19 victims' bodies and other bodies have been kept in the corridor. There are some 15 bodies kept on stretchers on both sides of the corridor that leads to the second floor where the testing laboratory is located," KEM staffers' union leader Santosh Dhuri said. "Workers need protection kits and assurance of financial support in case of falling sick. These issues are not satisfactorily addressed by the BMC and the state government despite several reminders and agitations," he said.
Psychological disorders top patients' list at Mumbai civic hospitals.
There could be occasional gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph as per the weather bureau's prediction.
The survey was carried out in wards R-north (Borivali), M-West (Mankhurd and Govandi) and F-North (Worli and Lower Parel) in the second half of August.
Shops selling essential products in Mumbai can remain open till 4 pm on all daysfrom June 7 while non-essential shops can operate till 4 pm on weekdays.Malls, theatres, and multiplexes will continue to remain shut.
In a tweet on Monday, she said officials of the Sena-ruled civic body visited her office and may demolish the property on Tuesday.
No vaccination against Covid-19 will be held in Mumbai for the next three days as the existing stock of doses has been exhausted, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Thursday evening.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging the Bombay high court verdict that directed the Mumbai civic body to demolish the unauthorised construction at Union minister Narayan Rane's bungalow in the Juhu area, noting that there was a violation of the Floor Space Index and Coastal Regulation Zone rules.
A search and rescue operation was immediately launched. However, the rescue team has not been able to find the boy so far.
Deepak Amrapurkar, the Bombay Hospital gastroenterologist had slipped into an open manhole while wading through the water-logged streets near Elphinstone Road station.
This was the lowest daily COVID-19 count in nearly 70 days.
After rebelling against the Shiv Sena leadership, the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will face its first popularity test in the November 3 bypoll to the Andheri (East) assembly segment in Mumbai, which was represented by Shiv Sena MLA the late Ramesh Latke.
MNS leader Raj Thackeray has sparked speculation about a potential political rapprochement with his estranged cousin and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, suggesting their past differences are "trivial" and uniting for the greater good of "Marathi manoos" is not a difficult task. The comments come amid a political landscape in Maharashtra where the Shiv Sena (UBT) is facing a tough battle to retain its stronghold in Mumbai in upcoming civic polls, with competition from the Shinde-led Sena and BJP.
This is the first time that the city civic authority has suspended the inoculation drive this month due to shortage of vaccines.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking that drugs being used to treat COVID-19 patients be made available directly at hospitals, and isolation and quarantine centres where such patients are treated.
These projects will be undertaken by BMC, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation.
Raut said Sena-UBT has a positive approach towards an alliance with MNS, which is pronounced 'Manase' in Marathi, while attempting to make a wordplay with the party's name.
According to a BMC bulletin, with these additions, the city's coronavirus tally jumped to 9,69,989, while the death toll climbed to 16,426.
Interestingly, Kanal's crossover to Sena came on a day Aaditya Thackeray led a morcha against alleged scams and corruption in the Mumbai civic body.
Posters featuring Fadnavis and declaring 'ha shabda maza ahe (this is my word)' have been put up all over Mumbai to counter Sena posters.
Due to a sharp rise in Covid cases, Mumbai's civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, on Thursday imposed a weekend lockdown in the city until further orders.
A total of 3,380 people were discharged during the day, taking the overall number of recoveries in the megapolis to 3,40,935, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.
In keeping with the committee's directives, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has been asked to arrange for more beds and increase testing across Mumbai, Tope said, adding that tents can also be put up in open grounds if needed. The IMCT on Wednesday visited quarantine facilities and transit camps at Dharavi to assess the corrective measures taken by the state government.
A total of 5,263 patients were discharged from hospitals, which took the recovery count to 3,71,628.
The Sena also said the BJP leaders are creating sounds of empty vessels over the issue of who will become the Mumbai mayor.
In a subtle warning to the Shiv Sena rebels currently camping in Guwahati, party leader and cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray has said the road from Mumbai airport to Vidhan Bhavan, the state legislature complex in Mumbai, goes via Worli.
Taking potshots at estranged cousin and Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray's penchant for photography, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Monday said the former should concentrate on shooting the many potholes that dot the city. "Instead of shooting animals in other states, it would be better if one (read Uddhav) photographs potholes here. Then they would realise the shoddy state of affairs, all their doing," said Thackeray.
