Thackeray said lockdown has been partially eased because economic activities need to continue as 'now we have to learn to live with the virus'.
Notwithstanding the Bombay high court order asking the protesting BEST drivers and conductors to call off their stir, the employees continued their agitation for the second day on Wednesday, inconveniencing thousands of commuters in Mumbai and suburbs.
In view of cases of the Delta plus variant of COVID-19 emerging in Maharashtra, the state government on Friday announced 'state-level trigger' for imposing restrictions in administrative units irrespective of weekly positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancy percentage.
According to reports, public transport and banking services remain partly disrupted for the second day in some states.
According to an Andhra government statement, Naidu 'reposed confidence' in the PM's leadership.
There is a lot of police action on the ground and even inter-state movement has been stopped, because of which deliveries of essential items via platforms, such as Flipkart, Amazon, Grofers, and Milkbasket, aren't happening. Food-delivery firms -- Swiggy and Zomato -- are facing similar challenges, according to the sources.
In six months, 2,000 mobile cell sites have been closed.
NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday reiterated that the Income Tax Department's raids on Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's relatives and aides came after his comparison of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre during the British rule.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will likely consider on Saturday a GST rate cut for Covid-19 relief essentials and drugs for treating the black fungus disease and might leave the vaccines untouched. The meeting is being held following a report submitted by a Group of Ministers (GoM) to the GST Council on Monday. The GoM, set up by the Council on May 28, was mandated to look at tax exemption and concessions on various Covid items including vaccines, drugs, and equipment.
Transporters on Thursday said they will surrender about 700 truck permits in the National Capital with the government toughening its stand and refusing to meet their demands as the strike entered the fourth day.
The general public is allowed to travel in the suburban trains from the time of start of services for the day till 7 am, from 12 noon to 4 pm, and from 9 pm till the closure of services for the day.
'The government never asked any transport association before making this law on hit and run cases.' 'MPs only clapped to Amit Shah's new law and never questioned him about this law.' 'Are these MPs not bothered about the lives of drivers?'
While the responses of the candidates were predictable, depending on which side they belonged to, an interesting point slipped through when Rahul Shewale cited the Dharavi Redevelopment Project as a scheme that would add to Mumbai's importance. No big infrastructural project in Mumbai, he said, could be successful without the Centre's nod.
Theatres, drama theatres will be shut, while film and television shootings will continue if there is no crowding. Parks and playgrounds will also be closed, he said.
Mumbai will continue to be in category 3 of the Maharashtra government's five-level unlock plan that seeks to ease coronavirus-induced curbs as per infection positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancy numbers, the BMC said.
A senior BEST official expressed hope of the stalemate getting resolved soon.
As the virus continued to spread its tentacles across India, several parts, including Kashmir valley headed towards a virtual lockdown with the administration restricting movement of people in several parts and banning all public transport in Srinagar city.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday said if north Indian-origin leaders in Mumbai did not stop making inflammatory statements, there would be "riots".
After Maharashtra, analysts expect more states like Karnataka and Haryana to slash stamp duty rates. However, analysts, do caution that it's still a long road to recovery for the realty sector.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved seven multi-tracking projects of Indian Railways at an estimated cost of around Rs 32,500 crore, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. The proposed projects, which will be fully funded by the Centre, will help increase the existing line capacity, smoothen train operations, reduce congestion and facilitate ease of travelling and transportation. The projects covering 35 districts in nine states -- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal -- will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by 2,339 km and provide employment of an estimated 7.06 crore man-days to the people of the states.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly confirmed that IPL 2021 will be held as per schedule despite the rapid rise of COVID-19 cases in India in the past few weeks.
In containment areas, movements of people is totally banned and essential services are delivered at the doorsteps.
Marathas, a politically influential community that constitutes around 30 per cent of the state's population, have been demanding 16 per cent reservation in government jobs and education.
Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena and Republican Party of India on Tuesday appealed to people of Maharashtra to observe bandh on May 31 to demand complete rollback of the steep petrol hike of Rs 7.50 per litre.
Maharashtra energy minister said the power breakdown in the metropolis was "not a small issue".
Significantly, the government has decided to do away stamping with indelible ink for domestic passengers arriving at different airports after COVID-19 testing.
It has also been decided to suspend the interstate bus services till March 31, the officials said. The decisions have been taken at a high-level meeting attended by chief secretaries of all states and the cabinet secretary and the principal secretary to the prime minister.
Over 65 lakh people in the metropolis have been hit by the strike by nearly 1,100 motormen.
Mumbai Dabbawala Association is skeptic about resumption of services in full capacity amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The voting will be held on November 30, December 7, 12, 16 and 20.
The Maharashtra government has announced a five-level plan to relax the coronavirus-induced restrictions in the state, based on the weekly positivity rate and the occupancy of oxygen beds.
Life in Mumbai was thrown out of gear as trains on the western and central lines of the suburban railway network were hit on Tuesday.
'Barber shops and salons will be allowed to open, but spas will remain closed'
Citizens who come to the civic-run vaccination centres to get their jabs from November 12 to 24 will get a chance to win these prizes, according to a release issued by the municipal corporation on Wednesday evening.
The court said people are losing jobs, while hearing a plea by lawyers seeking permission to board suburban trains.
All the essential services, schools and colleges have been excluded from the bandh.
A 90-year-old woman was discharged from the civil hospital in Thane in Maharashtra on Tuesday after recovering from COVID-19, the district administration said.
The Aam Aadmi Party supremo is trying to drum up opposition support over the Delhi government's fight against the Centre over an ordinance on the control of administrative services in the national capital.
Uttkarsh Chaturvedi, deputy news editor with ET Now, a leading business news channel, said he showed his press card, but that did not stop men in uniform from hitting him with sticks.
