"We cannot ban burqa-clad women in hospitals. This is not the solution. The women guards in hospitals conduct checks, so there seems to be no problem," Mumbai's Additional Municipal Commissioner A K Singh said
The 10-day Ganesh festival has begun in Maharashtra, with devotees welcoming Lord Ganesha into their homes and public pandals. The state government has declared the celebrations a state festival for the first time.
This would help provide proactive alerts by detecting any slippages early and thereby help applying mid-course correction.
Continuing its winning streak in Maharashtra, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday won Latur and Chandrapur municipal corporations, out of three civic bodies that went to polls on April 19.
Eight people were killed and over 60 injured on Monday when a huge iron hoarding collapsed on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar area of Mumbai amid rain and gusty wind, while several others are feared trapped, officials said.
The Muslim community in Sujanpur Tira town in Himachal Pradesh has withdrawn its objection to a proposed Maharana Pratap statue outside a mosque. The decision comes after a delegation of the community submitted a memorandum to the Hamirpur administration, asking it not to install the statue in the park being built outside the mosque. The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) had called on the administration not to go back on its decision to install the statue at the approved spot.
The number of suspected Guillain-Barr Syndrome (GBS) deaths in Pune district, Maharashtra, has reached six after a 63-year-old man died. The outbreak has been linked to water contamination caused by campylobacter jejuni, a common bacterial pathogen that causes gastroenteritis and can trigger GBS. The number of suspected GBS cases has risen to 173, with 140 diagnosed with GBS. 34 patients are in Pune Municipal Corporation limits, 87 from newly added villages in PMC area, 22 from Pimpri Chinchwad civic limits, 22 from rural parts of the district, and eight from other districts. Of the 173, a total of 72 have been discharged, 55 are in ICU and 21 are on ventilator support.
Delhiites on Sunday turned out in large numbers for the Municipal Corporation polls, the first for the trifurcated civic body, with an estimated 55 to 58 per cent exercising their franchise in a peaceful exercise. The fate of 2,423 candidates, vying for 272 wards of the three civic bodies -- East, South and North -- carved out of the existing Municipal Corporation of Delhi, was sealed in Electronic Voting Machines.
Thousands of fans thronged the Marine Drive in south Mumbai to witness the victory parade of the Indian cricket team on Thursday evening.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday attributed early arrival of the southwest monsoon and heavy rainfall in a short span for the inundation of low-lying areas in Mumbai, which disrupted road and railway traffic.
The scenic Powai Lake in Mumbai overflowed on Wednesday morning following heavy rains in its catchment areas for the last two days, a civic official said.
An angry Banerjee slammed a minister, a former Trinamool Congress mayor and a few bureaucrats for their "below-par performance".
Confirming the move, Bhole said all the BJP corporators submitted their resignations to him expressing their displeasure at the party asking Khadse to tender his resignation from the Maharashtra cabinet.
The opposition Trinamool Congress and Communist Party of India-Marxist failed to open their account in the AMC.
The AAP swept the municipal bypolls in Delhi winning four of the five seats while the Congress bagged one and the BJP drew a blank, prompting AAP chief and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to assert that the victory is an indication of the expected outcome of the MCD elections next year.
Once civic elections are done with, the system discards the voter from the realm of self-governance, the essence of the grassroots democracy. The voter's vote, it appears, has been subverted by a system, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday met Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray at the latter's residence in Bandra in suburban Mumbai.
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.
Ahmedabad civic authorities launched a massive demolition drive on Tuesday, razing over 2,000 illegally constructed houses and properties in the Chandola Lake area. The operation, which involved around 50 teams equipped with earthmovers and 2,000 police personnel, was carried out days after illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were detained from these settlements. The Gujarat High Court declined to stay the action, observing that the dwellings were situated on the periphery of the water body and therefore subject to demolition under the Land Revenue Code. Authorities also demolished the illegal farmhouse of Lalu Pathan, alleged mastermind behind the encroachments, who is suspected to have helped illegal immigrants obtain rental accommodation and Aadhaar cards.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has accused Bangladeshi migrants of seeking birth certificates illegally in the state to obtain voting rights, labeling it as "vote jihad part 2". He claimed that nearly 100 such cases have been reported in Amravati and Malegaon tehsil in Nashik. Fadnavis reiterated his government's commitment to combating anarchist forces and urged people to remain vigilant. He also lauded the BJP's performance in the recent assembly polls, attributing the victory to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
The deceased's family members also alleged that his kidney was removed during postmortem.
Activist Manoj Jarange vows to intensify his hunger strike for Maratha reservation under OBC, while the Maharashtra government seeks legal opinion on the issue.
Bangladesh's Election Commission has announced that general elections will be held in the first week of February 2025. The announcement comes amid concerns about ensuring a free, fair, and impartial election. The BNP is expected to participate, potentially without its former ally, Jamaat-e-Islami.
A bench of Justices SK Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia said the Centre cannot preclude reservation from being extended to women in civic bodies by saying it doesn't apply to tribal areas.
After a controversy arose over some civic bodies' plans to act against handcarts selling non-veg foods on main thoroughfares, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Monday had said the state government has no problem with people's food choices.
Chief Minister-designate Rekha Gupta and her Council of Ministers will take oath at the Ramlila Maidan on Thursday afternoon in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marking a return of the BJP in Delhi after 26 years.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has listed 11 pieces of evidence, such as reports of DNA and blood samples, in its charge sheet to hold arrested Kolkata Police civic volunteer Sanjay Roy as the 'sole accused' in the rape and murder of a woman doctor at the RG Kar hospital in Kolkata.
The establishment -- Vice-Global Tapas Bar -- against which the action was being taken, is located in Juhu suburb.
Allowing the petition, the court directed that polls be held by December following issuance of a fresh notification.
As the standoff over eviction of Campa Cola society residents stretched into the third day, Mumbai civic officials today said they would not hesitate to use force if they are not allowed to enter the complex to cut water and power supply to the illegal flats.
Under the Slum Prevention Programme, the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority will build 500,000 houses in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region over the next five years. Of this, 50,000 houses would be built over the next year, said metropolitan commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad. Under the SPP, 160 sq ft houses with attached toilets will be made available for a rent of between Rs 800 and Rs 1,500. The MMRDA had earmarked Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) for the SPP.
A year after a young woman doctor was raped and murdered in Kolkata, her parents express their disappointment with the investigation and their continued pursuit of justice.
In the first major test of popularity, the Trinamool Congress on Tuesday won the elections to three civic bodies and was leading in another while the Congress and Left Front major Communist Party of India-Marxist bagged one each in West Bengal.
A strong dust storm and gusty winds followed by rain hit Delhi-NCR on Friday evening, causing trees to be uprooted in several parts and leading to traffic congestion. Thunderstorms caused power disruptions in several parts of the city, primarily due to trees and branches falling on electricity cables. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert, recommending people stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel.
When there is a state government committed to development, it is important that Mumbai has a civic body that, too, shares that goal, Modi said.
The BJP, which exit polls predicted would suffer a massive defeat, put up a spirited fight.
A seven-year-old boy went missing in northwest Delhi's Ashok Vihar and his body was found hours later in a drain, with his mother alleging on Monday he lost his life because the drain was open and he would go there to relieve himself as the area lacks proper toilet facility.
A year after storming to power in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have suffered a considerable erosion of support base in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' home turf Vidarbha, losing to Congress-Nationalist Congress Party in the municipal council polls in the region.
The Mumbai civic body and police have advised all people in the city and surrounding areas to stay indoors as much as possible.
