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Fire breaks out in 55-storey under-construction building in Mumbai
A fire broke out on the seventh floor of an under-construction high-rise in Prabhadevi area of central Mumbai on Monday, an official said. No casualties were reported in the blaze that erupted in the 55-storey India Bulls Sky Forest building on Senapati Bapat Marg around 8.40 pm, he said. The fire brigade was pressed into service and the blaze was extinguished around 9.10 pm, he said. Also read: Ensure footpaths in Mumbai are walkable, clear encroachments by hawkers: HC tells BMC The exact cause for the fire is yet to be ascertained, the official added. Meanwhile, a 16-year-old girl has gone missing after she allegedly left her house in Maharashtra's Thane district in anger at her brother snatching away her mobile phone, a police official said on Monday. A kidnapping case has been registered on the complaint of her kin on Sunday as the girl is a minor, the Badlapur East police station official said. "The Class VIII student lived with her two brothers in Mankivli. One of her brothers snatched her mobile phone on Saturday afternoon after he spotted her talking to some unidentified person. Two hours later, she went missing from the house," he said. Efforts are on to trace the girl and reunite her with her family, the official said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
06 February,2023 11:00 PM IST | Mumbai | Agencies
HC asks BMC to ensure footpaths in Mumbai are walkable, cleared of encroachments
The Bombay High Court on Monday asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ensure that the footpaths in the city are "actually walkable" for pedestrians and directed it to remove encroachments by unlicensed hawkers. A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale directed the BMC to file an affidavit by March 1 identifying specific problems and indicating the solutions it would offer to deal with the issue. Also read: PNB scam: Employee of Nirav Modi's firm gets bail more than four years after filing plea The high court had earlier this year taken up suo motu (on its own) the issue of unauthorised hawkers and stalls on footpaths in the city. The BMC's counsel S U Kamdar on Monday informed the court that several such hawkers were being removed by the corporation and specific hawking zones were being established to address the issue of encroachments. The bench, while appreciating the steps being taken, noted that because of such hawkers, footpaths in the city have become narrow and most of them cannot be used by pedestrians. "We need to ensure there are footpaths available for pedestrians, which are actually walkable. There are authorised or unauthorised structures on footpaths. The result is that because the footpath is narrow, pedestrians face difficulty," Justice Patel said. The court further said that the BMC must implement rules to make footpaths disabled-friendly and to ensure that elderly people can walk on them without any hassles. "One of the bigger problems is paver blocks. They keep on coming out and popping out and causing problems to pedestrians. We do not know what the technical difficulties are, but someone from the engineering department needs to look into this. Even senior citizens stumble despite walking with sticks. You should make the footpath accessible," the court said. The bench posted the matter for further hearing on March 3. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
06 February,2023 09:07 PM IST | Mumbai | PTI
PNB scam: Employee of Nirav Modi's firm gets bail four years after filing plea
A special CBI court granted bail to Kavita Mankikar, an employee of diamond merchant Nirav Modi's firm who is accused in the Punjab National Bank scam case, more than four years after she filed her plea. Special judge SJ Menjoge in his order said that the Bombay High Court had already held that her arrest was "illegal" and the Central Investigation Agency was given the liberty to re-arrest following the due process of law. "Till date she has not been arrested, but has been attending this court regularly. No purpose would be served by rejecting her bail," the special court said. Also read: Man seeks Rs 36 lakh compensation, alleges negligence at BMC-run Covid-19 centre In the bail application, filed through advocates Rahul Agarwal and Jasmin Purani, Mankikar had cited the high court order. She had prayed for bail, stating that the chargesheet has been filed in the case and the investigation was over. The probe agency had, however, opposed the plea on the ground that the further investigation was still underway in India and abroad. The court after hearing both sides allowed her bail plea. The special judge noted that the application has been pending since June, 2018. The chargesheet has been filed and considerable time has elapsed since the date of filing of reply (to the bail plea) by the CBI, the court said, but she has not been re-arrested until now. In a petition before the high court, Mankikar, had claimed that she was arrested by the CBI at 8 pm on February 20, 2018, contrary to the provision of law, which says a woman cannot be arrested after sunset. The accused was in jail for almost three months before the high court had declared her arrest illegal in May that year. The high court had then directed the probe agency to pay Mankikar a compensation of Rs 50,000 for the illegal arrest. Mankikar was Nirav Modi's executive assistant and authorised signatory of three of his group firms ¿ Diamond R US, Stellar Diamond and Solar Exports. According to the CBI, Mankikar had fraudulently signed the applications for issuance of letters of understanding (LoU). On January 31, 2018, the CBI had registered a case against Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi, the owner of Gitanjali Gems, and several others including PNB officials. In its FIR, the CBI had listed eight fraudulent transactions worth more than Rs 280 crore. But, based on further complaints from the bank, the agency said the quantum of amount in the first FIR was more than Rs 6,498 crore, involving 150 LoUs allegedly issued fraudulently. The remaining 150 fraudulent LoUs worth more than Rs 4,886 crore issued for Gitanjali Group of companies were part of the second FIR registered later by the agency against Choksi and his companies Gitanjali Gems, Nakshatra Brands and Gili. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
06 February,2023 08:59 PM IST | Mumbai | PTI
No new Covid-19 case in Mumbai; active tally at 14
No new case of coronavirus or casualty was recorded in Mumbai in the last 24 hours, a civic official said on Monday. The city has reported 11,55,262 cases, including 19,747 fatalities so far, he said. The count of recoveries has reached 11,35,501, leaving the city with 14 active cases, the official said. As per data from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the recovery rate is 98.3 per cent and the doubling rate of cases stands at 3,89,934 days. Also Read: PM Modi's visit: Police issues preventive order; bans flying activities in city A total of 1,87,23,581 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the city so far, of which 873 swabs were tested in the last 24 hours. The growth rate of cases between January 30 and February 5 was 0.0001 per cent, the civic data stated. Meanwhile, Mumbai had on Sunday reported three Covid-19 cases, which took the tally here to 11,55,262, while the death toll remained unchanged at 19,747, a civic official had told the PTI. The recovery count increased by two in the last 24 hours and touched 11,35,500, leaving the metropolis with an active caseload of 15, he had said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 February,2023 07:41 PM IST | Mumbai | PTI
Disqualified women fire brigade aspirants did not reach venue in time, says BMC
A day after several women seeking recruitment in the Mumbai fire brigade held a protest saying they were disqualified despite meeting the requirement, which led to a clash with the police, the civic body on Sunday said their applications were rejected because they neither reached the venue in time nor fulfilled the height criterion. A video of the incident that occurred at the recruitment venue at Dahisar west on Saturday shows several angry women aspirants protesting at the site. They also tried to enter the examination centre premises forcibly, but the police lathi-charged them to control the situation. In a statement issued on Sunday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the recruitment drive for women in the city fire brigade began on January 13. "On Saturday, all the candidates were asked to reach in time for the drive and whoever arrived there in time and fulfilled the height criterion were qualified for further process like ground test and physical fitness test," it said. Also Read: Survey to examine mental health begins in Mumbai, 3,600 people to be interviewed Those female candidates who did not meet the specified criteria, were disqualified. However, many of the candidates took advantage of the situation and tried to spread false information in the media, it said. The entire recruitment process is being video-recorded and the incident that occurred on Saturday was also video-graphed, the civic body said. The BMC assured that it would examine the video footage and whoever reached the venue in time as seen in the video will be allowed to take part in the recruitment process. More than 7,000 women aspirants were present for the recruitment drive for 273 posts. At least 3,318 of them, who fulfilled the height criterion were qualified for grounds tests, it added. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 February,2023 07:40 PM IST | Mumbai | PTI
Maharashtra: Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat writes to Kharge against Patole
Senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat has written to the party's central leadership citing his inability to work with Maharashtra unit chief Nana Patole due to the latter's "anger" towards him, an aide of the former claimed on Monday. Patole told reporters in Pune he didn't think Thorat had written any such letter, adding he would only be able to comment if he knew this "letter's contents". In his letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Thorat, a former state unit chief and minister, has also said he is not being consulted before decisions were being taken here, the aide added. "Thorat, in his letter to the Congress leadership, has expressed inability to work with state president Nana Patole saying if he (Patole) holds so much anger against him, then it would be difficult to work with him. Thorat has also complained of not being consulted while decisions are taken," the close aide claimed. Patole, speaking to reporters, said, "I do not know what letter Thorat saheb has written. I can speak on it if the contents are made available to me. I don't think Thorat has written any such letter." Also Read: Projects that moved away from Maharashtra didn't know govt was set to change: CM Eknath Shinde Patole added a meeting of the state executive committee of the Congress will be held on February 13 where several issues will be discussed to find solutions.The matter comes days after then Nashik graduates constituency MLC Sudhir Tambe, who is the brother-in-law of Thorat, declined to contest despite being the Congress' official candidate and got his son Satyajit Tambe to fight as an independent. Satyajit Tambe won the poll, results of which were announced on February 2. While the Congress was left red-faced due to the episode, the silence of Thorat, who is recuperating from a shoulder injury, was seen as silent support to the Tambe father-son duo, sources said. While Thorat did not take part in the campaign of Satyajit Tambe in the run up to the polls on January 30, several of the former's kin were present. The Congress has suspended Sudhir Tambe and Satyajit Tambe from the party for the MLC poll twist. Thorat has also said he was insulted by the (state) party leadership and statements were made against his family on the (Tambe) issue, the aide said quoting the letter. Some functionaries from Ahmednagar were punished over this issue, the letter to Kharge further said. Patole had, on January 26, disbanded the Ahmednagar district committee of the Congress for "anti party activities" as some of its members had reportedly campaigned for Satyajit Tambe instead of the candidate to whom the party had officially extended support. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 February,2023 07:10 PM IST | Mumbai | PTI
Projects that moved away didn't know govt was set to change: CM Eknath Shinde
The industries that were reluctant to come to Maharashtra and shifted operations elsewhere in the recent past did so due to non-cooperation from the then state government and were unaware change was set to happen, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Monday. The Shinde government came to power in June last year following his rebellion against then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, which also split the Shiv Sena. His government comprises the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Maharashtra, since then, has also been seeing a tussle between the ruling dispensation and the opposition parties over mega projects choosing to set base in other states. Notable among these were the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project and the Tata-Airbus military transport aircraft, both of which moved to neighbouring Gujarat. Also Read: Mumbai: Name coastal road after Lata Mangeshkar, her kin request government Speaking at the concluding function of the four-day CREDAI MCHI property exhibition, Shinde said, "Some of the industries that left the state did so due to non-cooperation by the then (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government over two-and-half-years. These industries were unaware the government here was about to change." "Now, they (opposition Thackeray faction of the Sena, Congress, NCP) are blaming us for industries moving away. Do industries move out in just two months? Our government has the full support of the Centre. We signed MoUs worth Rs 1.30 lakh crore at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos," he added. Asserting that good roads were a prime requirement for development, Shinde quoted former US president John F Kennedy who had said "American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because American roads are good". This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 February,2023 06:35 PM IST | Mumbai | PTI
Mumbai: Name coastal road after Lata Mangeshkar, her kin request government
Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar's family members on Monday requested the Maharashtra government to name Mumbai's coastal road, a major project underway to decongest traffic in the city, after her. The family members of Mangeshkar, who passed away on February 6, 2022 at the age of 92, were on Monday present at the ground-breaking ceremony to build a memorial of the late singer at Haji Ali in Mumbai. Speaking to reporters, the singer's nephew Adinath Mangeshkar said, "(Mangal Prabhat) Lodha ji (Maharashtra tourism minister) met Usha ji (younger sister of Lata Mangeshkar) to discuss about the memorial. It was also learnt that there was no formal request to name the coastal road." Also Read: PM Modi's visit: Police issues preventive order; bans flying activities in city So, it was requested to name the coastal road after Didi (Lata Mangeshkar). This is a humble request and the government should think about it, he said.To ease traffic congestion, the civic body is constructing the road along the western coastline of the city. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
06 February,2023 06:20 PM IST | Mumbai | PTI
Mumbai: NCP workers booked, BJP men detained, let off for separate protests
Workers of the Nationalist Congress Party were booked and those from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party were detained and let off with a warning for separate protests in south Mumbai on Monday, police officials said. Five NCP functionaries were taken into custody after the party protested against the ruling BJP in front of the Life Insurance Corporation building in south Mumbai over the stock market upheaval connected with Gautam Adani and the insurance behemoth's investment in the billionaire's group. Also read: Man moves HC alleging medical negligence at BMC run Covid-19 centre; seeks Rs 36 lakh relief Adani group stocks have taken a massive hit after US-based activist short-seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation. The group has dismissed the charges as lies. Opposition parties have alleged the value of shares held in Adani group firms by LIC and leading lender State Bank of India had eroded massively, which they claimed was a setback to taxpayers. A case was registered against the NCP functionaries for violation of the police commissioner's order restricting a gathering of persons under sections 37(1)(3) and 135 of the Mumbai Police Act, a Marine Drive police station official said. "The protesters were taken into custody after they shouted slogans outside the BJP state unit office near the LIC building this afternoon," the official informed. Meanwhile, 15 BJP workers were detained and let off with a warning for a protest outside the NCP office in Ballard Estate against MLA Jitendra Awhad for his alleged remarks on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
06 February,2023 06:13 PM IST | Mumbai | PTI
Pune Assembly bypolls: Amid CM's appeal, BJP & Cong candidates file nominations
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Hemant Rasne and Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar filed their nomination papers on Monday for the upcoming byelection to Kasba Peth Assembly seat in Maharashtra's Pune district. Besides, Ashwini Jagtap, the wife of late BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap, filed her nomination for the bypoll to the Chinchwad Assembly seat which represents the neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad township. Also read: PM Narendra Modi to visit Mumbai on February 10, here’s all you need to know The byelections to Kasba Peth and Chinchwad constituencies, scheduled for February 26, have been necessitated due to the death of MLAs Mukta Tilak and Laxman Jagtap, respectively. Both of them belonged to the BJP. The results of the byelections will be declared on March 2. The MVA has not yet announced whether it will contest the Chinchwad seat, and yes, who will be the candidate? The nomination of Rasne has raised eyebrows with the husband of the late Tilak on Monday saying the family members would have completed her work as MLA if given a ticket. State Congress president Nana Patole took a dig at BJP, saying it has forgotten freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the family of Mukta Tilak. She was the daughter-in-law (niece-in-law) of Jayantrao Tilak, who was Bal Gangadhar Tilak's grandson. Notably, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said he had requested Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar and Congress leaders to honour the political tradition in the state to ensure unopposed bypolls to the seats that fall vacant due to the death of sitting lawmakers. The Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena headed by CM Shinde shares power with BJP in Maharashtra. On Monday, Rasne filed his nomination in the presence of state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Pune guardian minister Chandrakant Patil. Congress candidate Dhangekar filed his nominations in the presence of Patole, senior leader Ashok Chavan, as well as leaders from the NCP and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena camp. Speculations were rife that the late Tilak's husband Shailesh Tilak might be the BJP's pick for the Kasba Peth seat. "The BJP has forgotten the family of Mukta Tilak and also Bal Gangadhar Tilak. The BJP is known for forgetting the people after the party's need is over," Patole alleged. Responding to a query on CM Shinde's appeal to MVA leaders for unopposed bypolls, Chandrakant Patil said it was the Opposition which wanted a contest for the Kasba Peth seat. "Nana Patole is now saying the Congress could have thought of an unopposed election had the BJP given a ticket to a member of Mukta Tilak's family. Had we given a ticket to Tilak's family would the Congress have ensured that the contest is unopposed?" Patil asked. Meanwhile, Shailesh Tilak, the husband of the late MLA, said, "Had the BJP given a ticket into the family, we would have got the opportunity to take my wife's work forward". He, however, added that the party's decision is accepted by the Tilak family. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
06 February,2023 06:05 PM IST | Pune | PTI
Mumbai
Man seeks Rs 36 lakh compensation, alleges negligence at BMC-run Covid-19 centre
A 54-year-old man from the city has approached the Bombay High Court alleging medical negligence at the civic-run COVID-19 jumbo centre and seeking Rs 36 lakh compensation for the ordeal he underwent. Deepak Shah, a resident of suburban Andheri, recently filed a petition seeking compensation for medical negligence, incompetent and improper medical treatment by the doctors at the BKC jumbo covid hospital run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in suburban Bandra. According to the plea, Shah had undergone hernia operation a few days before testing positive for coronavirus and was admitted to the BKC jumbo centre. Also read: PM Narendra Modi to visit Mumbai on February 10, here’s all you need to know The petitioner alleged that doctors did not treat him well medically, due to which he developed infection and had to undergo two more surgeries. The petition is likely to come up for hearing on February 9 before a division bench of the high court. As per the plea, Shah had undergone hernia operation in March 2021. In the surgery, doctors had inserted a mesh in his abdomen area, which required post-surgery care for six months. In April 2021, the petitioner tested positive for coronavirus, following which he was quarantined and admitted to the BKC jumbo centre. Shah's family members had informed the doctors at the centre of the surgery and the required care to be taken. However, the doctors and other medical staff at the centre did not pay heed and administered four to five injections on Shah's stomach area every day, the petition claimed. This resulted in an infection in the surgery area and pus had formed, it said. After being discharged from the centre, Shah complained of stomach/abdomen aches and consulted the doctor who had performed his hernia operation. "The petitioner (Shah) was admitted and had to undergo two surgeries to remove the infection pus and the mesh. The petitioner incurred substantial additional costs. The petitioner also suffered mentally, physically as well as financially," the plea said. It further claimed that Shah was no longer fit enough to work and is largely reduced to a bed-ridden state. Shah has appealed to the court to constitute an independent medical board to examine his case and to award compensation of Rs 36 lakh for the damages caused to him. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
06 February,2023 05:27 PM IST | Mumbai | PTI