Mumbai Dec 30 PTI Amid intelligence inputs about a possible terror threat in Mumbai on the eve of the New Year the city police have beefed up security at railway stations and other public places and also cancelled the weekly offs of its personnel so that the entire strength remains available officials said on Thursday In order to maintain law and order situation police are on alert and keeping a strict vigil across the city on December 31 Considering the possibility of peoples gathering at prominent places like the Gateway of India Marine Drive a large number of personnel will be deployed in the city on the eve of the New Year a police official said As there were some inputs about a possible terror threat during the New Year celebrations and as railway stations are soft targets the security of prominent stations has also been increased another official said In the wake of emergence of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 the Mumbai Police have prohibited New Year celebrations and gatherings in any closed or open space including hotels and restaurants The orders were issued on Wednesday under Criminal Procedure Code CrPC Section 144 by Deputy Commissioner of Police operations S Chaitanya Mumbai police have prohibited all the new year gatherings and parties in closed and open places there is a possibility that people can gather in the groups not more than four persons the official said Besides the city police the Government Railway Police GRP have also stepped up security at prominent railway stations considering the threat and anti sabotage measures have been taken he added In a tweet Quaiser Khalid Commissioner GRP Mumbai said In view of the covid 19 situation we advise people to adhere to government directions on the issue We grpmumbai have deployed large manpower for checking frisking anti-sabotage measures at important Rly Stn We will enforce laws firmly We request peoples cooperation Khalid added in a tweet PTI DC NP NP

Mumbai Dec 30 PTI A sessions court in Maharashtras Sindhudurg district on Thursday rejected an anticipatory bail plea of BJP MLA Nitesh Rane in an alleged attempt to murder case Nitesh the son of Union minister Narayan Rane represents Kankavli Assembly seat in the Sindhudurg district He had filed a pre-arrest bail application in connection with an alleged attack on one Santosh Parab 44 Nitesh claimed in the application that he had been falsely implicated in the case and was being targeted due to political rivalry Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat argued before the court that police have collected enough evidence to show that Nitesh Rane was behind the attack The purpose of the attack was to terrorize people he claimed Ranes lawyer Advocate Sangram Desai alleged that he was being framed up in a false case so that he could not campaign in the election of the district cooperative bank Amid speculation about Nitesh Ranes possible arrest in the case Narayan Rane had on Tuesday claimed his son was being falsely implicated in the case and the MVA government in Maharashtra was misusing its power During the recently-concluded winter session of the Maharashtra legislature Nitesh Rane had allegedly mocked Shiv Sena minister Aaditya Thackeray by mimicking the cats sound on the legislature premises In August this year Narayan Rane was arrested in connection with his alleged slap remarks against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray The remarks had led to a war of words between Rane and Shiv Sena PTI AVI KRK KRK KRK

Mumbai Dec 30 PTI The new wave of the coronavirus pandemic could be worse than the earlier two waves Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said here on Thursday while appealing people to follow the norms The Maharashtra capital on Wednesday reported 2510 COVID-19 cases a big jump compared to 283 cases on December 20 The new wave could be more terrible therefore Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself was issuing alerts to the states Pednekar told reporters here Earlier variants of the coronavirus infected mostly adults but the latest variant is also infecting children she said Hence it is necessary to be careful she added Appealing people to follow COVID-19-appropriate behavior Pednekar said she herself would be avoiding weddings and other gatherings till the Omicron crisis recedes The civic body has ordered the closing of an illumination show on Bandra Reclamation as it was attracting crowds the Mayor informed PTI KK KRK KRK KRK

Mumbai Dec 30 PTI A man allegedly killed his younger brother an employee of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport BEST in suburban Vikhroli here over a property dispute on Thursday morning a police official said The deceased has been identified as 55-year-old Vijay Salvi he said The victims elder brother Uttam Salvi killed him using a sharp weapon following a heated argument over a property The accused worked as a security guard Police have nabbed him and a case under IPC section 302 murder has been registered against him the official said During the probe police found that the siblings used to frequently fight over a room located in a chawl he said PTI ZA NP NP

Mumbai Dec 30 PTI The rupee surged 29 paise to close at 7442 provisional against the US dollar on Thursday following year-end dollar selling by banks and exporters amid muted domestic equitiesAt the interbank forex market the local unit opened strong at 7456 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 7438 and a low of 7465 It finally settled at 7442 a rise of 29 paiseIn the previous session the rupee had settled just one paisa lower at 7471 against the US dollarRupee after Wednesdays pause started heading north to monthly high on expectation of better inflows going ahead and dollar selling from exporters on year-end Central banks remain aside from intervening and technical selling has been seen accelerated in USDINR on breaking of support 7450 said Dilip Parmar- Research Analyst HDFC SecuritiesOn the domestic equity market front the BSE Sensex ended 1217 points or 002 per cent lower at 5779432 while the broader NSE Nifty declined 965 points or 006 per cent to 1720395Meanwhile the dollar index which measures the greenbacks strength against the basket of six currencies rose 026 per cent to 9618Brent crude futures the global oil benchmark fell 068 per cent to USD 7869 per barrelForeign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 97523 crore as per exchange data PTI DRR DRR BAL BAL

Mumbai Dec 30 PTI The rupee appreciated by 15 paise to 7456 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday tracking gains in domestic equity marketsAt the interbank foreign exchange the rupee opened strong at 7456 against the American dollar registering a rise of 15 paise from the last closeThe rupee on Wednesday settled just one paisa lower at 7471 against the US dollarPositive moves in Indian equity indices aided sentiments forex traders said adding that trading is likely to remain range-bound this week ahead of the year-end holidaysHowever firm crude oil prices contained the appreciation bias in the local unit they addedThe dollar index which gauges the greenbacks strength against a basket of six currencies was trading 007 per cent higher at 9599 Meanwhile on the domestic equity market front the 30-share Sensex was trading 15231 points or 026 per cent higher at 5795880 while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 4005 points or 023 per cent to 1725365Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 032 per cent to USD 7948 per barrelForeign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 97523 crore as per exchange data PTI DRR BAL BAL

Mumbai Dec 30 PTI Actor Shilpa Shirodkar known for films such as Hum Khuda Gawah and Aankhen on Thursday said she has been tested positive for the novel coronavirusIn an Instagram post the 1990s popular star shared that she had tested four days agoCOVID POSITIVE day4 the actor who was the first Indian celebrity to receive COVID-19 vaccine wroteShirodkar who stays in Dubai with her family had received a jab of Sinopharm vaccine in January this yearStay safe everyone please get vaccinated and follow all the rules your government knows what is best for you Lots of love Getvaccinated maskon staysafe she saidBack in India especially Maharashtra the cases of COVID-19 are rising once againThe state on Wednesday recorded a spurt in new COVID-19 cases at 3900 including 85 of Omicron according to the state health department PTI KKP RB RB

Mumbai Dec 28 PTI A 30-year-old woman was killed when the car she was travelling in rammed into a private cab in suburban Ghatkopar here police said on Tuesday The accident took place on Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road on Monday morning an official said Based on a complaint lodged by the cab driver the police have arrested the victim Manju Pauls husband Santosh Paul he said The couple who hail from Khalapur had come to Mumbai for a joyride the official said While driving on the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road the victims husband lost control of the car and rammed into the cab he said The accused has been arrested under section 304-A causing death by negligence of the IPC and relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act further investigation is underway the official added PTI ZA ARU ARU

Mumbai Dec 27 PTI A member of the Maharashtra governments COVID-19 task force on Monday said curbs for a short duration of time would have to be considered if cases of the new coronavirus variant Omicron continue to rise in the stateDr Vasant Nagvekar who is also a consultant for infectious diseases at a city-based hospital said a rapid rise in the cases of Omicron classified as a variant of concern by the WHO will definitely pose challengesIf Omicron cases rise further its going to be challenging due to its faster spread We will have to deal with the prevailing situation and take decisions appropriatelyIf cases rise may be temporarily we may have to consider closure for a small period of time till the storm settles he saidOn Monday Maharashtra recorded 26 new cases of Omicron - 11 of them in Mumbai - taking the overall tally of the variant to 167The state has been reporting a steep rise in daily coronavirus cases in the last few days The tally of active cases has also crossed the 10000-mark in Maharashtra PTI MR RSY RSY

Mumbai Dec 27 PTI Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation has received 222 job applications in the compassionate grounds category by kin of staffers who died of COVID-19 in the last couple of years state minister Anil Parab said on Monday He was replying in the Legislative Council to a starred question raised by MLC Sadashiv Khot One person from the family of an MSRTC employee who succumbed to COVID-19 is eligible for a job in the undertaking under the compassionate principle The corporation has received 222 applications so far under this of which 34 requests have been sanctioned Of them 10 have been given jobs as well Parab said He said kin of 19 COVID-19 victim staffers have chosen to take Rs 10 lakh as compensation instead of accepting jobs and six such proposals have been accepted The kin of 81 deceased staffers have requested that their claim be reserved because their children are still studying In 120 cases kin have not yet submitted documents The corporation has also included five new posts apart from those in class 3 and 4 where the applicants can get jobs on compassionate principle Parab said The corporation has given Rs 50 lakh financial assistance to the family members of 10 employees he added PTI ND BNM BNM BNM