Mumbai News Highlights: In I-Day address, CM Shinde says Samruddhi Expressway to be opened for public soon

Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said it was for his party to decide whether his son Jay Pawar will contest from the Baramati assembly constituency.

The NCP chief, who has been representing the constituency in Pune district for the last many terms, also said he was “not interested” in contesting elections anymore.

But state NCP chief Sunil Tatkare later said Ajit Pawar did not say that he would not contest the coming assembly elections.

Speaking to reporters, Ajit Pawar was replying to the question whether Jay will be fielded from Baramati as demanded by his supporters.

"It is democracy. I am not interested in that (contesting elections) as I have contested seven or eight elections. If the people and supporters think so, the (NCP) parliamentary board will discuss it,” he said.

Police have registered a case against an elderly man in Thane district of Maharashtra for allegedly molesting an 11-year-old girl, an official said.

The incident occurred in February and again on August 5 in the building where the accused and the victim live, he said. As per the complaint, the 61-year-old accused took the minor to the terrace of the building, located in Mumbra area, and the parking area and touched her inappropriately and molested her, the official said.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said more than one crore eligible women in the state will start getting Rs 1,500 financial assistance per month under the government's 'Ladki Bahin' scheme after its launch on August 17.

Speaking to reporters, he said some eligible women already received Rs 3,000 as the instalment for two months on Wednesday during the scheme's trial run. "The scheme is set to commence this Saturday. The state government expects that more than one crore eligible women will begin receiving Rs 1,500 per month," he said.

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The Bombay High Court on Wednesday instructed the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) to oversee the investigation into the deaths of a 26-year-old woman and her newborn at the Sushma Swaraj Maternity Home in Bhandup West in April. The court stressed that the probe must be “fair and impartial”.

The court also issued notices to J J Hospital and the Indian Medical Council (IMC) in response to a plea by the deceased woman’s husband, Khusruddin Ansari. Ansari had alleged negligence and misconduct by the civic hospitals, specifically citing the failure to provide medical records of the deceased within 72 hours of the request. (Read More)

The Coastal Road, being built to cut travel time between south Mumbai and the suburbs, will be extended up to Bhayandar in Thane district, covering the entire western sea-facing line of the metropolis, said Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

Goyal met with officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) here to discuss the extension of the Coastal Road and other potential measures to ease Mumbai's traffic. “The Coastal Road will now be extended till Bhayandar. There will be 4-5 packages to distribute the construction work. Once the entire stretch is operational, it will be a huge relief for Mumbaikars who commute daily by vehicle,” Goyal said.

A consumer commision here has dismissed a woman's complaint against cab aggregator Uber for its drivers refusing her rides when she was accompanied by her pet dog.

There is no law or legal provision in India regarding the transportation of pets in public vehicles, said the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Central Mumbai, in an order passed.

In her complaint filed in June 2022, the woman, a Wadala resident, stated that despite the company's pet-friendly policies, she was denied a ride by Uber drivers on two occasions after she informed them that her pet dog would be traveling with her.

The woman demanded Rs 10 lakh in compensation for "deficiency in service, unfair trade practices, mental agony, and litigation expenses". She also requested the commission to direct the company to take measures to allow commuters to travel with pets and stray animals in the cabs.

Police sub-inspector Dhanaji Honmane, who was martyred in an encounter with Naxalites in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra in 2020, was among the 17 police personnel from the state who have been selected for the Medal for Gallantry on the eve of the Independence Day.

The central government on Wednesday announced service medals for 1,037 police personnel of various central and state forces.

A total of 59 medals have been announced for the Maharashtra police force - 17 of them for gallantry, 3 for distinguished service and 39 for meritorious service.

PSI Honmane, who was in charge of Bhamragad Quick Response Team (QRT), was martyred along with C 60 Commando Kishor Atram in an encounter with Naxalites in May 2020 in Gadchiroli. He will be awarded the gallantry medal posthumously.

Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana’s youth wing president Mayur Borde on Tuesday was caught on camera slapping a bank branch manager in Maharashtra’s Jalna district multiple times alleging harassment to farmers.

The incident took place in the Warud branch of Bank of Maharashtra after Borde reportedly received complaints from farmers and others regarding the branch manager’s non-cooperation in availing various bank services such as crop loans, government subsidies etc.

The police have booked Borde who is likely to contest the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election from Bhokardan-Jaffrabad under which Warud village falls.

Read the full story here.

Mumbai is likely to witness partly cloudy skies with the possibility of occasional spells of light to moderate rainfall, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast stated.

The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 32 and 26 degrees Celsius respectively.

Doctors continued to hold their protest on Wednesday outside hospitals in Mumbai against Kolkata’s R G Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident, news agency ANI reported.

The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) continued its nationwide shutdown of OPD services over the incident.

The accused who ran over their SUV on two men sleeping at Versova beach on Monday morning were sent to five-day police custody on Tuesday by the Andheri court. 

The driver and his friend have been arrested on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

A 36-year-old man died and another person was injured in the incident.

Navi Mumbai Police has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against two women working at an autism therapy centre for allegedly burning a four-year-old boy with an incense stick. Based on a complaint by the child's father, the FIR was registered under the Juvenile Justice Act at the NRI Sagari police station, an official said.

The boy was undergoing therapy at the centre for the last two years, said assistant police inspector Kishore Khadke. The accused women, 32 and 35 years old, allegedly burnt him on the palm with an incense stick last week. After the child told the parents about the injuries, a complaint was lodged. No arrest has been made yet, inspector Khadke said.

Four police vehicles in Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's convoy rammed into each other in Jalgaon district but nobody was injured, police said.

Besides Shinde, deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were also travelling in the convoy, an official said. The incident took place near Kusumba airport.

Independent MLA Ravi Rana, who represents the Badnera assembly constituency in Maharashtra's Amravati district, has said he would take back the funds distributed to women under the 'Ladki Bahin' financial assistance scheme if they don't vote for him in the upcoming state polls.

Under the Eknath Shinde government's flagship 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana', eligible women in the state will be given Rs 1,500 per month.

Rana said, "After elections, I will seek to increase the amount from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 (per month). I am your brother...But if you don't give your blessing now, I will take back the Rs 1,500 from your bank accounts."

The Maharashtra cabinet cleared a proposal to convert class II land of more than one lakh acres in Marathwada into freehold, making the occupants complete owners.

Nearly 1.4 lakh acres of land in Marathwada, comprising eight districts, was classified as class II. The class II status was a hurdle for occupants wishing to develop these areas, a government official said.

Class II occupancy is a conditional holding where land is given to individuals for various reasons, including as rewards and to religious structures for their maintenance. The demand to convert the land to freehold is nearly 60 years old, he said.

In an effort to conserve rare species of wildlife, the Maharashtra government has approved breeding centres for otters, vultures, and wild buffaloes in the state, an official said.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde emphasised the importance of prioritising the protection and conservation of rare species in the state. As per a statement issued by the chief minister's office, Shinde also directed the effective implementation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Ek Paid Maa Ke Naam' (a tree in mother's name) campaign across all municipal corporations, municipalities, schools, and colleges in the state.

Shinde approved a proposal to set up breeding centres for otters in Pench Tiger Reserve (Maharashtra), vultures in Nashik, and wild buffalos in Gadchiroli, it stated.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has asked the Maharashtra Institute of Transformation (MITRA) to concentrate on infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, environment and energy sectors to achieve the aim of making the state a trillion-dollar economy.

Shinde underlined the significance of these sectors in guaranteeing general prosperity of the state as well as the well-being of its citizens, a statement issued by the CM's office on Monday said. The state government set up MITRA on the lines of Niti Aayog in 2022.

In a meeting of the think tank held on Monday, Shinde launched the Institutional Capacity Building Project, which provides funding of USD 188 million from the World Bank to support district-level development in Maharashtra. He also launched the Maharashtra Responsive Development Program, which receives USD 400 million from the World Bank to control floods in the Krishna Bhima basin, particularly in Kolhapur and Sangli districts.

Resident doctors in Maharashtra started an indefinite strike in support of the nationwide protests by their colleagues against the rape-murder of a post-graduate trainee at a medical college in Kolkata. All elective services in hospitals across the state have been halted, but emergency services will continue uninterrupted.

Protests were witnessed at KEM, Cooper, Sion, Nair and JJ hospital.

"The mentality of those who have the authority to provide justice doesn't seem like they are in the mood to do so. The crime happening and then justice getting denied or delayed; both of these things are heinous," says Dr Digvijay Jadhav on Maharashtra State Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) protesting in Mumbai over the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical Hospital.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday questioned Manoj Jarange-Patil for singling him out over the issue of Maratha reservation in the state after the activist said leaders of the community were being influenced by him.

While addressing his peace rally in Pune on Sunday, Jarange-Patil said Maratha community leaders like Narayan Rane were speaking against him “at the behest of Fadnavis”.

To protest the rape of a female doctor in Kolkata hospital, resident doctors in BJ medical college staged a protest and stayed away from all the services except emergency services on Tuesday.

There were long queues and huge rush at the OPDs due to the strike as residents doctors protest to show solidarity for their Kolkata colleague.

The Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA) held its inaugural governing council meeting on Monday, marking the launch of several ambitious projects aimed at long-term development and capacity building in the state.

The meeting addressed both strengthening district capabilities and managing flood challenges in western Maharashtra.

Police have registered an FIR against a man and his three other family members after he allegedly molested a 19-year-old woman and he and his kin thrashed her brother in Maharashtra's Thane district, an official said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Monday evening in Bhiwandi area.

The victim, a ragpicker residing in Sundar Nagar slum colony, was on her way to fetch water from a public tap.

Seeing her walking alone on the street, a man approached her, took her behind the bushes and allegedly molested her, the official from Narpoli police station said.