Mumbai Dec 22 PTI No new case of the Omicron variant of coronavirus was reported in Maharashtra on Wednesday the health department said a day after the state saw 11 such infections No new case of Omicron variant was reported in the state today Till date a total of 65 patients infected with Omicron variant have been reported in the state the health department said in a bulletin Of these total number of cases 35 patients have been discharged after they tested negative in the RT-PCR test Since December 1 a total of 150153 international travellers have arrived in the state from overseas Of these 21809 patients were from at-risk countries and RT-PCR test was conducted on all of them Additionally field surveillance of all international passengers who have arrived since November 1 is underway Through airport and field surveillance 632 samples have been sent for genome sequencing Results of 121 are awaited so far the bulletin said The Centre on Tuesday said there is a need to activate war rooms take pro-active action and consider night curfews amid the rise in the Omicron cases in the country PTI PR NP NP

Mumbai Dec 22 PTI The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation MSRTC to examine the health of employees who are attending duty and also others willing to join amidst the ongoing strike after it was told that many staffers are feeling depressed and developed suicidal tendencies The HC also directed the MSRTC to arrange for medical examinations to ensure the physical and mental well-being of its employees A division bench of justices P B Varale and S M Modak gave the order after it was informed by MSRTC workers counsel that many of the employees were in depression and had developed suicidal tendencies Gunaratan Sadavarte the advocate for the workers informed the HC that more than 54 employees had committed suicide over the last year Instead of terming it as a strike they prefer calling it being in mourning since several of their colleagues had taken their own life Over 48000 employees are still in mourning on strike because of the death of colleagues and hence they are not discharging their duties They are in depression and in suicidal tendencies said Sadavarte Staffers have been on strike since October 28 demanding the merger of cash-strapped MSRTC with the state government Their stir intensified on November 9 with bus operations at all the 250 depots of the undertaking getting affected The bench expressed sympathy for the employees but the judges said that the strike cannot continue indefinitely as the general public especially students senior citizens and patients in need of visiting hospitals healthcare centres etc were being inconvenienced With all humility and with all respect we may say that the loss of human life is painful but there cant be a stage of indefinite mourning the HC said Even religious faiths stipulate mourning of maximum 40 days And one has to move on in life Arrange for check-ups and medical aid for your working employees it said The bench said that it was aware of the situation faced by MSRTC employees but it cannot overlook the larger public interest The high court then directed the MSRTC to publish a notice at all of its depots intimating employees that they could be held to be in contempt of a previous order of the court directing them to call off the strike The HC also took on record the report filed by a three-member action committee that is looking into the issue of the merger of MSRTC with the state government The report without giving a final opinion said that such a merger would have larger implications and finances to the tune of Rs 360 crore are needed to make it possible The bench posted the matter for further hearing in January 2022 PTI AYA NSK NSK

Mumbai Dec 22 PTI The Maharashtra government on Wednesday tabled supplementary demands to the tune of Rs 3129826 crore for the current fiscal in the Assembly on the first day of winter session of the state legislature here with Rs 1000 crore earmarked for compensation to the kin of people who died due to COVID-19 and Rs 141081 crore for monetary aid to rain-hit farmersAn amount of Rs 1150 crore has also been allocated to the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation MSRTC whose employees are on a strike for more than 50 days now to press for their demand to merge the loss-making entity with the state governmentDeputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar who handles the finance portfolio presented the Rs 3129826-crore demands with major share going to the Public Works Department PWD at Rs 590906 crore followed by Rs 307704 for the Rural Development Department to be spent on road construction projectsA sum of Rs 435 crore has been given to the state OBC commissionOut of the total demands Rs 243561 crore has been kept for salaries and first and second installments of arrears under the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations and Rs 2100 crore for pension and other post-retirement benefits of government employeesAnother Rs 141081 crore has been earmarked to extend monetary relief for rain-affected farmers in the state and Rs 1000 crore for compensation to the relatives of people who died due to COVID-19A sum of Rs 115234 crore has been allotted for construction of new health units and their repairing in both urban and rural areasThe state government has allocated Rs 1150 crore to MSRTC and Rs 1000 crore for land acquisition by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation MSRDCAlso Rs 1000 crore has been set aside for promoting industrial units PTI MR RSY RSY

Mumbai Dec 22 PTI The Maharashtra government on Wednesday appointed Deepak Kapoor as the head of the Directorate General of Information and Publicity DGIPR The DGIPR is the publicity wing of the state government Kapoor who was the vice president and MD of the Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation MADC said after taking over the new post that apart from print and electronic media social media was also important The DGIPR should also make maximum use of social media to propagate government schemes and policies he said Kapoor takes over from Dilip Pandharpatte who has been appointed as the secretary EGS and Water Conservation department PTI MR NP NP

Mumbai Dec 22 PTI The Bombay High Court on Wednesday extended the stay granted on proceedings in a criminal defamation suit filed against Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt and authors S Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges in connection with the upcoming Hindi film Gangubai KathiawadiA single bench of Justice SK Shinde extended the interim stay that the HC had granted in August this yearBhatt and the others had moved the HC against the summons issued against them earlier this year by a magistrate court after one Babuji Shah who claims to be the adopted son of Gangubai Kathiawadi alleged some portions of the film were defamatory and tarnished the image of his late mother a powerful madam from Kamathipura Mumbais red light area during the 1960sOn Wednesday Justice Shinde said Shah had failed to prove so far that he was Kathiawadis legally adopted sonThe HC said the issue deserved attention since in a defamation suit only ones close relatives or family members have the right to raise a grievanceThe issue deserves attention since the right to raise grievances against defamation is limited to family members or close relatives hence it was important for Mr Shah to prove he was one of them the HC saidThe bench said prima facie on the face of it a case was made out for the grant of interim relief to Bhatt and the others and stayed the proceedings and summons against them till further hearing of their plea in the HC PTI AYA RSY RSY

Mumbai Dec 22 PTI Maharashtra Congress leader Naseem Khan on Wednesday demanded that the MVA government implement the 5 per cent quota for Muslims in jobs and education without further delay Khan who had served as a minister in the then Congress-NCP government before 2014 wrote to state Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat and other Congress leaders demanding that the incumbent MVA government take steps to implement this quota The Congress which is a constituent of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi should ensure that adequate funds are provided for various schemes initiated for the welfare of minorities Khan also stated that the Muslim quota had been upheld by the Bombay High Court but the previous NDA government did not implement it It has been two years now since the MVA came to power but no step has been taken in this direction he said Khan reminded that the MVA government was formed based on a Common Minimum Programme CMP PTI MR NSK NSK

Mumbai Dec 22 PTI Malayalam film Hridayam starring South actor Mohanlals son Pranav Mohanlal will release theatrically on January 21 next yearThe romantic drama movie has been written and directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan and produced by Visakh Subramaniam through Merryland CinemasMohanlal 61 shared the news of the films release date in a post on Twitter along with the official poster I am delighted to announce that Hridayam will release in theatres worldwide on the 21st of January 2022 through MerrylandCine in India and PharsFilm overseas Directed by VineethSreenivasan Produced by visakhsub Hridayam worldwidetheatricalrelease he wrote Pranav Mohanlal also shared the release date of the movie on TwitterI am so thrilled to finally announce the release date of my upcoming film Hridayam which is super close to my heart the 31-year-old actor tweetedCo-produced by Noble Babu Thomas through Big Bang Entertainments Hridayam also stars Kalyani Priyadarshan and Darshana Rajendran PTI KKP RB RB

Mumbai Dec 22 PTI A 34-year-old woman was killed by her husband with a sharp weapon at the Eidgah Maidan in suburban Jogeshwari on Wednesday over a domestic dispute police said Prima facie the man attacked Dilshad Khan as she had sought divorce from him a police official said Locals rushed Khan to a hospital where she was declared dead before admission She is survived by her three children born from her first husband the official said The accused is on the run PTI ZA NSK NSK

Mumbai Dec 22 PTI The rupee appreciated by 5 paise to close at 7554 against the US dollar in range-bound trade on Wednesday extending gains for a fifth straight session helped by firm domestic equity markets Lower crude prices in the international market and a subdued dollar overseas also supported the local unit forex dealers said The rupee resumed higher at 7556 per dollar against the previous close of 7559 at the interbank foreign exchange market and hovered in a range of 7548 to 7565 before settling at 7554 registering a rise of 5 paise Rupee continued its northbound journey for the fifth day in a row following the rebound in risk sentiments and dollar selling from exporters The market has also started pricing quarter and year-end rebalancing which may bring some extra dollar inflows Spot USDINR is expected to trade in the range of 7510 to 7570 in next couple of days ahead of the Christmas holiday The bias for pair remains slightly lower amid a recovery in risk assets and the lower dollar index Dilip Parmar- Research Analyst HDFC Securities said The dollar index which gauges the greenbacks strength against a basket of six currencies was trading lower by 004 per cent at 9645 Brent crude futures the global oil benchmark fell 026 per cent to USD 7379 per barrel Crude and dollar prices traded muted and secondary capital markets performance helped the rupee gain as capital markets showed strength for the last two days Going ahead rupee can be seen between the 7535-7585 range Jateen Trivedi Senior Research Analyst at LKP Securities said Emkay Global Financial Services in a note stated that after last weeks central bank policies there are hardly any positive surprises left for the USDINR spot Omicron continues to be a cloud of uncertainty and unless there is no sharp rise in death cases it can be looked past The focus will be on the upcoming US PCE release a stronger-than-expected PCE report will ignite further buying interest However the upside in USDINR spot will be capped by RBI intervention On the domestic equity market front the BSE Sensex ended 61155 points or 109 per cent higher at 5693056 while the broader NSE Nifty surged 18460 points or 11 per cent to 1695545 Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 120982 crore exchange data showed PTI BAL MR

Mumbai Dec 22 PTI In a range-bound session the rupee appreciated by 5 paise to close at 7554 provisional against the US dollar on Wednesday as a firm trend in domestic equities boosted investor sentiments Besides lower crude prices in the international market and a subdued dollar overseas also supported the local unit forex dealers said The rupee resumed higher at 7556 per dollar against the previous close of 7559 at the interbank foreign exchange market and hovered in a range of 7548 to 7565 before settling at 7554 registering a rise of 5 paise On the domestic equity market front the BSE Sensex ended 61155 points or 109 per cent higher at 5693056 while the broader NSE Nifty surged 18460 points or 11 per cent to 1695545 Brent crude futures the global oil benchmark fell 026 per cent to USD 7379 per barrel Meanwhile the dollar index which gauges the greenbacks strength against a basket of six currencies was trading lower by 004 per cent at 9645 Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 120982 crore exchange data showed PTI BAL MR MR