Mumbai Dec 18 PTI Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has involved common people in the governments fight against COVID-19 unlike other countries Speaking at an award distribution ceremony organised by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India here Shah said while the pandemic situation is fluctuating in many countries India is steadily coming out of it Many governments fought against COVID-19 in the world but in India Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured that people would join the governments fight against the pandemic Even at present many countries are reporting ups and down in COVID-19 cases but India is steadily coming out of it Shah said The Union minister also said that everyone in the world had expressed concerns over Indias population and the existing health infrastructure However we comparatively incurred fewer losses from COVID-19 he added He said Indias economic growth while coming out of COVID-19 has been promising The current growth rate is in a single-digit but I can assure you all that it would be in a double-digit by March 22 It is because we were trying to win the war against COVID-19 but the economic reforms that we had envisioned would need to overcome various challenges posed by the pandemic Shah added PTI ND NSK NSK

Mumbai Dec 18 PTI Maharashtra on Saturday reported eight new infections of the Omicron variant of coronavirus which took the total of such cases in the state to 48 the health department saidBut 28 of these patients have already recovered or have been discharged after testing negative for COVID-19 in subsequent tests it saidOverall Maharashtra reported 854 new coronavirus infections including eight Omicron cases during the dayOf eight new Omicron patients four were detected following RT-PCR tests at the Mumbai airport One of them is from Mumbai itself another is from Jalgaon in north Maharashtra and other two from Chhattisgarh and Kerala respectively officials saidTwo of them had travelled to Africa one to Tanzania while another had been to the UK All four are fully vaccinated and asymptomatic the health officials saidThree other new Omicron patients were a couple from Satara in Western Maharashtra and their 13-year-old daughterThe couple and their two daughters had returned from Uganda recently the younger daughter who is five years old was diagnosed with COVID-19 but not the Omicron variant district officials had said earlier in the dayThe health condition of all four from the family was said to be fineAnother new Omicron patient was a 17-year-old girl from Pune city who had come into close contact with an international traveler officials said PTI ND SPK KRK KRK

Mumbai Dec 18 PTI The ruling Shiv Sena and other organizations staged protests in Maharashtra on Saturday against alleged desecration of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Bengaluru and the Karnataka Chief Ministers dismissive remark about the incidentEarlier in the day Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who heads the Sena demanded immediate action by the Karnataka government regarding the alleged desecrationIn Mumbai Sena workers led by Pandurang Sapkal shouted slogans and held placards condemning the incident and Karnataka CM Basavraj Bommais alleged remarksMaharashtra minister and Sena leader Eknath Shinde had alleged earlier that Bommai termed the incident of desecration as minorSapkal warned the government of the neighbouring state of repercussions of the incidentProtests were also held in other parts of Maharashtra PTI MR KRK KRK KRK

Mumbai Dec 18 PTI Tata group firm Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd on Saturday announced an investment of Rs 5000 crore to develop a premium IT park project in Navi Mumbai as it expects demand for office and data centre spaces to rise in coming years In an interview with PTI Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd Managing Director MD and Chief Executive Officer CEO Sanjay Dutt said the company will develop 7 million square feet of area in this Grade-A IT park project Intellion Park in a phased manner over the next eight years He said the company will develop this project in partnership with UK-based investment firm Actis We have 471 acre of land located in Ghansoli Navi Mumbai On this land parcel we are doing 7 million square feet of development predominantly IT space and data centres with some complementary retail and non-IT office space Dutt told PTI The total investment on this project is Rs 5000 crore This is Tata Realtys largest single investment in office real estate he highlighted Once completed Dutt said more than 70000 people will work in this IT campus Actis has been roped in as investment partner in this project This is the third such partnership with Actis Tata Realty is a majority shareholder in this IT park project Dutt said but did not disclose the amount invested by the Actis group The total investment will be funded through equity and debt The construction work has started in the IT park project Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai laid the foundation of the project on Saturday In the first phase Dutt said the company is developing 5 lakh square feet 05 million square feet building The company has already started pre-leasing process of this 5 lakh square feet area The Navi Mumbai area commands a monthly rental of Rs 60-70 per square feetAround 2-3 million square feet office space gets leased in this area We are already in the market to pre-lease 5 lakh square feet or even more We can built to suit for corporates We are in discussion for development of data centres he said Tata Realty has involved reputed architects and consultants to design this IT park project Dutt said Asked about its existing portfolio he said Tata Realty currently has a rent-yielding commercial assets of 7 million square feet and almost all of these are office assets He highlighted that the company focuses a lot on sustainability environment and well being of employees We build for people and not for tenant So we focus on air quality sports recreational activities and healthy food in our campuses Dutt said Tata Realty he said gives a lot of emphasis on asset management to make office space efficient as well as cost effective Our buildings are intelligent collaborative and dynamic We keep modernising Dutt said the occupancy in its total portfolio currently stands at around 95 per cent Commenting on the partnership Ashish Singh Partner Actis India said Actis is proud to be associated with this state-of-the-art project which will not only provide an office destination of choice for tech companies to thrive in but also be a buzzing social place for their talent strengthening these companies ability to attract and retain top quality talent an increasingly important competitive advantage Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Sons has an extensive portfolio of over 50 projects across 15 cities Tata Realty has developed over 15 million square feet of commercial projects and has around 12 million square feet of projects under development planning PTI MJH MR MR