Mumbai Apr 24 PTI Mumbai on Sunday reported 73 new coronavirus positive cases which took its overall infection count to 1059286 a civic official said The death toll in the metropolis remained unchanged at 19562 as nobody succumbed to the infection during the day he said On Saturday the city had reported 72 cases So far 1039203 persons have recuperated from the infection in Mumbai including 55 on Sunday which took the active caseload to 521 the official added A health bulletin issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC said 71 out of 73 patients were asymptomatic while the remaining two have been hospitalised and none of them require oxygen support Only 17 out of the 26044 hospital beds earmarked for COVID-19 treatment were currently occupied it added As 10496 samples were examined in the last 24 hours the overall test count in Mumbai rose to 16845984 As per the civic data the citys current COVID-19 recovery rate was 98 per cent the case doubling time was 10129 days and the overall case growth rate between April 17 and 23 was 0007 per cent The countrys financial capital is currently free from any sealed buildings and containment zones PTI ND NP NP

Mumbai Apr 21 PTI Ravi Rana an independent MLA in Maharashtra said he was firm on his plan to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside the residence of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray here on April 23 Speaking to reporters on Thursday he said I am going to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside the residence of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday He CM uses Hindus only for voting but opposes it when it comes to exercising religious rights in day-to-day life Rana had earlier announced that he along with his supporters would recite Hanuman Chalisa outside the residence of CM Thackeray on Saturday Thackeray did not give permission for recital of Hanuman Chalisa on Hanuman Jayanti April 16 and hurt the sentiments of many of his followers Hence we decided to recite the religious verses outside his house he said Rana comes from Amravati district and has won assembly election as an independent He had extended support to the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP-Sena government in 2014-19 Last week Rana had asked Thackeray to recite the devotional hymns at his residence on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti drawing severe criticism from the Shiv Sena which accused him of stoking communal disharmony in the state PTI ND NP NP

Mumbai Apr 21 PTI Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said he would take up with the Centre the issue of private power companies plans to raise electricity generation to meet the demand He made the statement after reviewing the power situation in the state which is currently witnessing load shedding in rural parts The meeting was attended by state energy minister Nitin Raut chief secretary Manukumar Srivastav and officials of power utilities The Maharashtra government will follow up the plans of the private power generation companies to expand their generation with the union government Shortage of power is witnessed in other parts of the country as well We need to explore all the options of making power available Thackeray said Municipal councils and other civic bodies should ensure that there will be no wastage of electricity used for public purposes Everyone needs to be vigilant about it he said The chief minister also asked the officials to communicate with other states about the judicious use of electricity Minister Raut said There are 27 other states in the country that are facing the same situation of power shortage Tenders are already floated for the imports of coal and we are trying to utilise maximum resources available to meet the demand PTI ND NP NP

Mumbai Mar 30 PTI Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut on Wednesday cautioned the people saying that the next two days are going to be crucial for the state as it did not receive enough coal supply amid the rising electricity demand due to the heatwave He said the state government is making efforts to avoid a situation wherein it has to impose load shedding The coal supply in the last two days has been very low which is creating a challenge before the state power generation company to meet the growing demand for electricity If we do not get enough coal the state would be affected Raut told reporters We are trying to avoid load shedding by exploring possibilities to increase the coal availability The state will procure more power from the exchange The current procurement of power ranges between 1500 MW to 2500 MW per day he said The data shared by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited MSEDCL says that its dues till January this year were Rs 64093 crore of which Rs 9176 crore are from various governments alone The electricity distribution company has taken loan worth Rs 47034 crore while the outstanding liability of it is Rs 20268 crore When asked about buying power at higher rates could put a financial burden on the state exchequer the minister said We have been buying electricity between Rs 3 to Rs 8 per unit Last year the state had to buy it at Rs 20 per unit But we will not hesitate to buy more power from the grid if the demand soars BJP leader and former state energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule hit out at the government and Raut saying The ministers excuses of shortage in coal availability are lame It is the collective failure of the state energy ministry as it never maintained proper coordination with power generation companies The ministers fallacy that he would manage everything is going to affect the state negatively he alleged PTI ND NP NP

Mumbai Feb 24 PTI Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil on Thursday said state minister Nawab Malik has no right to remain a part of the state cabinet following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate ED in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides He said that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also has no moral right to remain in power as the situation in the state is extremely chaotic Patil made the statements here while participating in an agitation against Malik Malik 62 was arrested on Wednesday after being questioned for about five hours at the ED office in south Mumbais Ballard Estate area and later produced before special judge R N Rokade who remanded him in the ED custody till March 3 Malik has no right to be part of the Maharashtra governments cabinet Also CM Uddhav Thackeray cannot remain at the helm of affairs Patil said The situation in Maharastra is such that it requires imposition of Presidents rule The situation in the state is extremely chaotic the former minister added After Maliks arrest the opposition BJP is vociferously demanding his resignation but the ruling NCP and its allies - Shiv Sena and Congress - have come out in support of the minister The parties have ruled out the possibility of his resignation PTI ND NP NP

Mumbai Jan 20 PTI Maharashtra minister Varsha Gaikwad on Thursday said the state government has allowed reopening of schools for Classes 1 to 9 for offline classroom sessions from January 24 Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has approved a proposal to this effect that was sent to him by the school education department she told reporters Written instructions on this will be issued either today or tomorrow the school education minister added Schools in Maharashtra were closed in the first week of January due to a spike in the coronavirus cases and in the wake of the emergence of the highly infectious Omicron variant However a number of parents activists in the field as well as teachers had strongly opposed the move to shut the schools saying it would adversely affect the students In Mumbai the local civic body had announced the closure of schools for Classes 1 to 9 till January 31 However the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations BMC assessment had indicated that the cases of Omicron infection are not on the rise and it had said that the curve was flattening It prompted the officials to propose the reopening of schools for physical attendance Our SOPs are very strict and clear We have given four days of advance notice to the management of schools to undertake vaccination and sanitisation and for preparation of time-table The timing and other necessary decisions will be taken by the local authorities such as district collector or municipal commissioner based on the local situations Gaikwad said On Wednesday she had said that a proposal to reopen the schools in the state had been sent to the chief minister for his approval Meanwhile Bhau Chaskar a senior activist in the education sector said It was an unfair decision to shut the schools when malls and restaurants were kept open It is imperative for children especially for the students of Classes 1 to 4 to develop learning skills social bonding which happens only when you attend classes in person Children who are deeply affected due to the prolonged suspension of physical attendance in schools need some time to come back on track of learning and socialising The schools were reopened in the first week of December but due to the rising Omicron cases the schools were shut arbitrarily The Omicron cases are restricted to limited cities but the entire state was made to suffer due to it he said Such decisions should have been taken with proper consultation There are many villages and towns where Omicron or Delta variant of COVID-19 was absent or has negligible presence The schools in such areas should have been kept open but bureaucracy failed to rise to the occasion Chaskar added Sulakshana Bhujbal a parent from Mulund area of Mumbai said We were a bit concerned when the schools were reopened in December first week but soon realised its importance My daughter after meeting her friends and attending her classes in the school was extremely happy But the decision of suddenly closing down the schools came as a shock for usNow we are happy that the decision to reopen the schools has been taken PTI ND NP NP

Mumbai Jan 20 PTI Maharashtra minister Varsha Gaikwad on Thursday said that schools for Classes 1 to 9 in the state can be reopened for offline classroom sessions from January 24 Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has approved a proposal to this effect sent to him by the school education department she told reporters Written instructions on this will be issued either today or tomorrow the school education minister added Schools in Maharashtra were closed in the first week of January due to a spike in the coronavirus cases and in the wake of the emergence of the highly infectious Omicron variant However a number of parents activists in the field as well as teachers had strongly opposed the move to shut the schools saying it would adversely affect the students In Mumbai the local civic body had announced the closure of schools for Classes 1 to 9 till January 31 However the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations BMC assessment had indicated that the cases of Omicron infection are not on the rise and it had said that the curve was flattening It prompted the officials to propose the reopening of schools for physical attendance Our SOPs are very strict and clear We have given four days advance notice to the management of schools to undertake vaccination and sanitisation and for preparation of time-table The timing and other necessary decisions will be taken by the local authorities such as district collector or municipal commissioner based on the local situations Gaikwad said On Wednesday she had said that a proposal to reopen the schools in the state had been sent to the chief minister for his approval PTI ND NP NP

Mumbai Dec 23 PTI Maharashtra minister Prajakt Tanpure on Thursday held the previous BJP-led government in the state responsible for the increase in the amount of pending dues of the power utility from agriculture consumers to Rs 40000 crore He was speaking in the Legislative Council while responding to a calling attention motion on the recent drive taken out by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd MSEDCL insisting farmers to repay their outstanding amount When the new government of BJP-Shiv Sena came to power in Maharashtra in 2014 the MSEDCLs outstanding amount from the agriculture sector was Rs 10000 crore The cumulative figure of the dues from all power consumers was Rs 20000 crore in the entire state at that time the minister of state for energy said The new government was formed in 2019 of Shiv Sena NCP and Congress and we inherited the MSEDCLs outstanding amount of Rs 40000 crore which was in the agriculture sector alone and the overall outstanding amount from all power consumers was Rs 60000 crore I do not want to go into political mud slinging but figures cannot be ignored he said Tanpure even accused the Devendra Fadnavis government of not helping the power utility in terms of financial infusion Other states like Uttar Pradesh Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu gave Rs 50000 crore Rs 76000 crore and Rs 30420 crore respectively to their power utilities Contrary to it the Maharashtra government gave slightly more than Rs 4000 crore during the 2014-19 period he alleged PTI ND NP NP

Mumbai Dec 23 PTI Mumbai on Thursday reported 602 fresh COVID-19 cases and one death which raised its overall tally to 768750 and fatality count to 16367 the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC said A total of 207 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day taking the cumulative recovery figure to 746991 There are 2813 active cases in the countrys financial capital at present the civic body said in its report As 39423 tests were conducted on Thursday the overall test count increased to 13331140 it said Mumbais recovery rate is 97 per cent while the case doubling rate has come down by 200 days to 1747 days in the past 24 hours the report said There are no active containment zones in the city and the number of sealed buildings is now 13 it said PTI ND NP NP

Mumbai Nov 19 PTI Welcoming the Centres decision to repeal the three contentious farm laws the Shiv Sena and the NCP which share power in Maharashtra on Friday said the government had to finally bow down before the agitating farmers The Congress which is the third partner in the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA alliance in the state alleged that the Centre had brought the three farm laws for the benefit of traders and not in the interest of farmers It also asked the ruling BJP to aologise to the country and farmers for creating a difficult situation by bringing the laws Addressing the nation on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti on Friday morning Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws which were at the centre of protests by farmers for the past year Reacting to the development Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said For the first time PM Modi has expressed the mann ki baat of people BJP leaders were openly calling these farmers Khalistanis and Pakistanis but the Union government had to bow before the farmers pressure More than 400 farmers lost their lives during the protests on the borders of Delhi Had Modi listened to our demands many lives would have been saved But the government was adamant and refused to listen to the farmers issues the Sena MP added Nawab Malik chief spokesperson of the NCP said in a tweet Jhukati hai duniya jhukane wala chahiye We salute all the farmers many of them gave their life The three farm laws have been withdrawn Talking to reporters later Malik said In last seven years PM Modi never spoke with any opposition leader or farmer leader regarding the three farm laws Now they have realised that a major political change is taking place in the country and its indications could be seen in UP elections next year We should not forget that in the last seven years no decision was withdrawn in this manner This is a major step from his Modis side the NCP leader said Congress leader and Maharashtra minister Balasaheb Thorat said The three farm laws were brought to protect big traders and not farmers The clauses in the farm laws were helping traders to become more powerful There was no legal provision to book traders who cheated farmers The laws did not offer any protection to farmers he said adding that traders were allowed to buy the farm produce in large quantity and hoard it for longer period Such provisions would have led to traders misusing it to book huge profits It also means that farmers as well as urban consumers would have felt the heat The traders would have procured the farm produce at lower rates from farmers and after hoarding it they could have sold it to urban consumers at higher rates The big traders would have become bigger and more powerful the revenue minister said The contract farming clauses were not properly explained or defined in these laws It could have further led to farmers losing their agricultural land he said The farmers protest was just and right Punjab farmers have huge contribution to this country The Union government is not even ready to speak about its early promise of giving 15 times the rates of minimum support price he said The BJP needs to apologise to the country and farmers for pushing them into such a situation It has to take the responsibility for its actions Thorat added Independent MLA Bacchu Kadu who is Maharashtras Minister of State for Water Resources said We should not get unnecessarily elated over the announcement to withdraw these farm laws The policy of the Union government is largely anti-farmers he alleged For instance the production of tur in the country is more than the actual requirement Despite that the Modi government is planning to import 10 lakh tonnes of tur which will result in crashing of the prices and ultimately farmers will suffer Such policies need to be changed which has long term effects on farmers Many farmers had been protesting and camping at Delhis borders since November 2020 with a demand that the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce Promotion and Facilitation Act 2020 Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities Amendment Act 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee MSP for crops PTI ND NP NP