Only those vehicles which are used for essential services have been kept out of the order. State highway tolls will also be closed from Monday midnight.
The day-long bandh has been called by the VHP to give vent to the feelings of Hindus over the unjust arrest of the Kanchi seer.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in which senior ministers including Revenue Minister Ashoka, Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar and Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, medical experts and senior officials participated.
Even as the lockdown remains in force till June 30, the Maharashtra government, as part of the phase-wise reopening of the economy and public activities under 'Mission Begin Again', has allowed private offices to resume operations with 10 per cent staff. Since the lockdown came into force in March, regular operations of BEST buses were suspended and services were available only for the essential services staff and health workers.
The Santacruz observatory recorded 286.4 mm rainfall during the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday, making it the fourth highest rainfall in Mumbai since 1974, an Indian Meteorological Department official said.
The CM said he spoke to the Mumbai Police Commissioner and was informed that traffic has been diverted at 25 places.
Maharashtra and Punjab, which are recording a surge in new COVID-19 cases, tightened curbs on Friday and the chief minister of the western state said lockdown is an option, as India added close to 40,000 cases in the biggest daily increase in nearly four months.
There are 1,53,106 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), while 1,69,797 people have recovered and a patient has migrated, according to the ministry data updated in the morning.
While there is no specific treatment for dengue, recovery primarily involves managing symptoms and preventing complications, says Dr Amit Sakaria.
Amid an increase in localised lockdowns across the country, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said there is no need for a loan repayments moratorium at present, stating that businesses are better prepared to face the situation. It can be noted that the RBI had announced a six-month moratorium in the early days of the national lockdown last year to help borrowers impacted by a chilling in economic activity. The entire state of Maharashtra is in a lockdown for non-essential services and localised and night lockdowns are being observed in many pockets of the country, including the national capital, to restrict the surge in cases.
'If there is a sudden drop or increase in the demand or supply in the grid, there could be disturbance in the grid frequency'
Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and its suburbs on Wednesday, causing flooding on roads and rail tracks and disrupting suburban train services as the south-west monsoon arrived in the city with a bang, while the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an alert for more downpour.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting of chief secretaries of all states and the cabinet secretary and the principal secretary to the prime minister. The districts where lockdown was announced include 10 districts each in Maharashtra and Kerala, six districts each in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, five each in Karnataka and Haryana, three each in Tamil Nadu and Punjab.
The hospital, in the commercial hub of Bandra-Kurla Complex, will serve as an isolation facility for non-critical COVID-19 patients. Expected to be ready in a fortnight, the new makeshift facility can be scaled up to 5,000 beds, if needed. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation will run the hospital that will have, among other things, oxygen facilities and pathological laboratories. Sohini Das reports.
"At least for 15 days if people stay strictly indoors, like last year, we may expect better results. Please advise your government," the high court said.
Railway services across city on the Western Railway and Central Railway came to a grinding halt at 10.05 am, as a result of the power outage.
From October 21, women can travel on suburban trains between 11 am to 3 pm and after 7 pm.
The first weekend lockdown in the state began at 8 pm on Friday and it will continue till 7 am on Monday.
In view of the surge in the coronavirus cases, a night curfew will be enforced in Bengaluru and six other cities in Karnataka from 10 pm to 5 am starting Saturday, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announced.
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.
Four people have died including one each in Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra.
Modi knows that the BMC elections are critical for his party which has never won a majority in the city's 227 wards.
"We are providing some relaxations now but if cases go up, we will have to resort to lockdown again. So I appeal to you to not invite another wave of Covid," Thackeray said.
The Supreme Court-appointed Justice Gita Mittal committee, set up to oversee relief and rehabilitation of the victims of ethnic violence in Manipur, on Monday submitted three reports highlighting the need for reconstruction of identity documents, upgradation of compensation and appointment of domain experts to facilitate its functioning.
Rejection of the three central agriculture laws is one of the three resolutions approved by the Maharashtra cabinet on Sunday which will be moved in the monsoon session of the state legislature beginning Monday, sources said.
Barring stray incidents of violence like stone pelting, the shutdown called by the MVA allies Shiv Sena, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party was largely peaceful.
According to the order, all factories producing essential goods and services will remain operational at full capacity.
Thackeray held a meeting on the issue and instructed authorities concerned to ensure there is no recurrence of the episode, an official statement said.
Mr Prime Minister, good economics and the welfare of the people are always good politics. If you follow my advice, you will be enthusiastically rewarded come election time. If you fail, history will hold you responsible, warns Kalyan Singhal.
Long queues outside grocery stores, inflated prices, difficulty in getting important items -- these were some of the problems encountered by people in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The total number of positive cases has increased by 106 in the last 24 hours to reach 1,024.
Anmol Ambani, the eldest son of industrialist Anil Ambani, has lashed out against a new round of lockdowns being imposed amid the surge in COVID-19 cases, saying such restrictions do not concern health but control and that they destroy the very backbone of the society and economy. The 29-year-old former executive director of Reliance Capital Ltd in a series of tweets lambasted the new semi-lockdown rules hurting small businesses and daily wage earners. "Professional 'actors' can continue shooting their films. Professional 'cricketers' can play their sport late into the night. Professional 'politicians' can continue their rallies with masses of people. But YOUR business or work is not ESSENTIAL. Still don't get it?" he said in a tweet.
According to officials, Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam and Telangana wanted the lockdown to be continued, some of them wanted the powers to decide the zoning of districts -- green, orange and red -- as per the COVID-19 situation.
The Civil Services of India continue to be a prestigious avenue for all those dreaming of 'making it'. Here's how you can be an IAS/ IPS officer.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated and laid foundation stones of development projects worth more than Rs 38,000 crore in different sectors in Mumbai, giving a big push to infrastructure, urban travel and healthcare ahead of civic polls in the city in which the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction will seek to showcase these ventures to take on their political rivals.
As the second wave sweeps through the country, restrictions on movement and public activity are not as strict, even though the caseload and death rate is worse than before, reports Abhishek Waghmare.
The MHA on Friday, while extending the lockdown for two more weeks till May 17, lifted many restrictions in green and orange zones. There are no restrictions on sale of non-essential items by e-commerce platforms in green and orange zones, a home ministry spokesperson said, adding barber shops and salons are also allowed to open in these areas.
The Mumbai police on Wednesday issued fresh prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC, banning assembly of five or more people at one place in the ity, to contain the spread of Covid-19, an official said.
Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday clarified that the government has no plans to bring back the recently repealed farm laws, and urged farmers to be wary of 'confusion' being created by the Congress on this issue.
The storm is likely to impact Mumbai, Thane and other coastal districts of Maharashtra like Raigad and Palghar along with Valsad, Navsari, Surat, Bhavnagar and Bharuch districts of Gujarat and Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Preparations for the impending cyclone were discussed at a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, a home ministry statement said.
