Mumbai Mar 25 PTI The Maharashtra government will soon set up a backward commission which will study the backwardness of the Maratha community state minister Ashok Chavan informed the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Friday He also said the state government and Centre can work together and find a way to give reservations to Maratha community The Union government needs to relax the upper limit of reservation which now stands at 50 per cent he said PTI ND BNM BNM BNM

Mumbai Mar 19 PTI Mumbai on Saturday reported 29 COVID-19 cases which took its tally to 1057534 while the death toll remained unchanged at 16693 a civic official said So far 1037642 people have recovered including 31 during the day leaving the metropolis with an active tally of 315 he said With 8708 samples examined since Friday evening the tally of coronavirus tests conducted in the city rose to 16475937 The citys recovery rate was 98 per cent while the caseload doubling time stood at 17444 days the official informed PTI ND BNM BNM BNM

Mumbai Feb 26 PTI Mumbai on Saturday reported 89 COVID-19 cases and no death the seventh time this month when the fatality slate was clean in the metropolis a civic official said The tally in the city now stands at 1056296 and the toll is 16691 while the discharge of 200 people during the day took the recovery count to 1035826 he said The active caseload of the city is 902 and 20073 samples examined in the last 24 hours took the overall number of tests to 16153525 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation data showed It also showed the recovery rate was 98 per cent caseload doubling time was 4450 days and the city did not have any sealed building or containment zone A civic official said no deaths took place due to the infection on February 1516 1720 23 25 and now 26 and this feat of seven clean slate days occurred in December 2021 as well PTI ND BNM BNM BNM

Mumbai Feb 18 PTI The Maharashtra and Union governments have spent less than 50 per cent of funds under the National Rural Health Mission to treat COVID-19 patients functionaries of healthcare initiative Jan Aarogya Abhiyan said on Friday The JAA an informal group of healthcare activists made the statement based on data shared by the Maharashtra governments health department on its portal Out of Rs 1583 crore for NRHM as states share only 323 per cent funds have been spent in 2021-22 The Union government likewise spent only 413 per cent Less than two months are left in this fiscal The overall expenditure of the health department is just 467 per cent while the medical education department has spent 497 per cent so far the JAA said It said Maharashtra had the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths but the states health department had spent just Rs 110 crore or barely 6 per cent of the proposed spending in the current fiscal of Rs 1733 crore The health and medical education departments had together allocated Rs 2077 crore for supplies and materials including medicines and oxygen during this year But only Rs 180 crore or 86 per cent of the budgeted amount has been spent which is deeply worrisome at a time when healthcare needs are higher due to the pandemic it said PTI ND BNM BNM BNM

Mumbai Jan 28 PTI A day after the Maharashtra cabinet allowed supermarkets and shops to sell wine with some conditions Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Friday said those opposing this decision are anti-farmer The state government had on Thursday said supermarkets and shops measuring 1000 square feet and above can sell wine by paying a licence fee though norms in place for liquor sale like minimum distance from schools and places of worship as well as local prohibition laws will have to be followed I do not know whether wine is considered liquor but it is made from farm produce With its sale farmers could earn more Those who are opposing it are in fact anti-farmer Raut told reporters Is there a liquor ban in the country Wine is produced from a range of fruits such as grapes guava chikoo etc It the state governments decision will give farmers higher returns and help in elevating their economic status The critics of this decision should understand the economics behind it he added He said the BJP-led Union government must also take such decisions courageously to help farmers PTI ND BNM BNM BNM

Mumbai Jan 25 PTI Dr Himmatrao Bawaskar whose path-breaking research on deaths caused by the sting of the red scorpion was appreciated by the medical fraternity worldwide was on Tuesday awarded the Padma Bhushan The 71-year-old physicians work on 51 such cases was published in the Lancet in 1982 leading to a spur in interest in the subject as well as appreciation for the meticulous way he went about researching it Bawaskar who after completing his MBBS from Nagpur joined as a doctor in a state run primary health centre in Mahad tehsil of Raigad district and continued to work there for 40 years said the award has made him happy enough to live another 20 years to continue my work in this field I thank my patients in an around Mahad which 40 years ago was a small remote place Superstitions prevailed among the people there but they trusted me Once I earned their respect they supported me with resources and more people from the medical fraternity joined me he said His getting the Padma Bhushan was a recognition for all the people who have worked with him and tried to do good for society the doctor said PTI ND BNM BNM BNM

Mumbai Jan 25 PTI The BJP held a meeting on Tuesday to chalk out plans for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls expected to take place in a few months time All MLAs and MPs as well as other leaders from Mumbai took part in the meeting chaired by former chief minister and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said city MLA Ashish Shelar All the plans related to campaigning and mobilizing of party workers were chalked out in the meeting The BJP will face the civic polls with fresh vigour We are all geared up to oust the Shiv Sena from the BMC and get the BJPs lotus to bloom Shelar told reporters The Shiv Sena had won 84 seats in the 227-member BMC body in polls held in 2017 while the BJP was a close second with 82 though the formers tally rose after six MNS corporators joined along with some bypoll wins The Sena has been in power in the BMC for nearly three decades The number of wards in the civic body are expected to increase from 227 to 236 which in turn may reduce the number of voters per ward from 54000 now to around 50000 The metropolis has 9455 lakh voters as per 2019 data and the redrawing of wards became necessary as the 2011 Census showed a decline in the population of the island city and an increase in that of the suburbs PTI ND BNM BNM BNM

Mumbai Jan 22 PTI The fire in a high-rise in Tardeo in Mumbai on Saturday morning that killed six people and injured 23 started on the 15th floor and went up to the 19th floor through a duct a senior police official said late evening Deputy Commissioner of Police Sourabh Tripathi said primary information indicates the fire started on the 15th floor and moved till the 19th floor which ended up as the most affected one Fire brigade and police personnel undertook a joint operation to get residents out of the ground-plus-20 structure safely he said adding that smoke continued to bellow out even after the blaze was contained A BMC official said the blaze which started at 728am was extinguished at 1220pm with the help of 15 fire-tending vehicles giving rise to suspicion if the five hours it took for the operation to get completed was a reflection of the poor state of equipment installed for such incidents in the high-rise PTI ND BNM BNM BNM

Mumbai Dec 28 PTI The number of crime cases registered in Maharashtra has come down from 509433 in calendar year 2019 to 458667 in 2021 so far a drop of over 50000 cases Minister of State for Home Shambhuraj Desai said on Tuesday Responding to questions raised by members in the state Legislative Council Desai however said he was not comparing figures of 2020 as that year had seen an unprecedented coronavirus-induced lockdown The calendar year 2019 saw 509433 criminal cases being registered by the police In the current year 458667 criminal cases have been registered so far which is a drop of some 50966 cases he said I am aware most of 2020 was under unprecedented lockdown Very few people stepped out Hence I am not using those numbers for comparison There are some 17-18 heads under which these cases have been registered Under most of these heads there is a drop in cases registered in 2021 in comparison to 2019 he informed the Council He added that cases under the SCST Prevention of Atrocities Act had dropped from 2800 in 2019 to 2628 this year PTI ND BNM BNM BNM

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