Mumbai reports 377 new Covid-19 cases, 2,432 test positive in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh's then personal secretary (PS) Sanjeev Palande on Monday told a special court through his lawyer that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested him in the money laundering case without allowing him to respond to the notice issued to him.

Phase 1 of the Navi Mumbai metro project, from Belapur to Pendhar, has received 'dynamic clearance certificate' from the Union ministry of telecommunications, which is an important step towards commissioning the line, a CIDCO official said on Monday.

Henceforth, all hearings and orders will be ‘in-camera' not in open court and judgments on merits of a case will not be uploaded, said Justice Gautam Patel laying down the guidelines.

Iconic Bombay High Court and Mumbai University buildings will now be open for tourists as part of Heritage Walks during weekends as the Maharashtra Tourism Department on Monday inked an agreement with respective authorities. The Maharashtra Tourism Department signed a heritage tour memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Bombay High Court and Mumbai University to allow tourists to visit these iconic buildings on non-working days -- Saturdays and Sundays, MTDC said on the occasion of the World Tourism Day. While Mumbai University will be open for tourists on Sundays and public holidays, and the tour will be conducted by TOGA (Tourist Guide Association) guides, it added.

Villagers from Thane district of Maharashtra were on Monday informed about the proposed Mumbai–Hyderabad High-Speed Rail or bullet train project, the feasibility of which is currently being surveyed. ​​I​​f given nod, the high-speed rail line will connect Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad through 11 stations in Maharashtra and Telangana, a National High-Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRC) official said.

Withholding of freedom fighter's pension, that too for such a long period--since his death in 1965—is not justified, said Bombay high court while hearing a petition filed by a 90-year-old widow of Laxman Chavan who took part in the 1942 Quit India movement. The HC asked the State government pleader Purnima Kantharia to obtain instructions from the concerned department and apprise it by September 30.

The overall Covid-19 death toll stands at 2,090 as no new deaths were reported in the lake city.

Maharashtra BJP MLA Ashish Shelar on Monday attacked the Mumbai civic body and the ruling Shiv Sena over pothole-ridden roads in the city and alleged a "big scam" in the amount being spent on filling the potholes. Addressing a press conference, Shelar said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC's) web portal says there are only 927 potholes on 2,000 km long roads in Mumbai. "If that is the case then it is ridiculous that the BMC allocates Rs 48 crore to fill up these 927 potholes," he added.

Mumbai city on Monday reported 377 new Covid-19 cases, taking the overall case count to 7,41,617.During the day, 334 people were discharged. So far, 7,18,336 people have been recovered. Whereas, seven people succumbed to the virus.

Waze, through his advocate Rounak Naik, sought house arrest for three months on the grounds that he underwent eight-hour-long open heart surgery on September 13, at a private hospital and will be discharged on September 28.

A 15-year-old boy was killed and two others were injured when their motorcycle skidded and hit a road divider on the newly-constructed Bandra Worli Sealink-BKC flyover here on Monday, police said.

Twenty-three cars worth Rs 72.90 lakh were recovered from a man accused of cheating a vehicle hire firm, Navi Mumbai police said on Monday. Police Commissioner Bipin Kumar Singh said Kharghar resident Sandeep Raghu Shetty was nabbed from Mumbai airport by a team from Vashi police station as he was about to flee to Dubai.

The Bombay High Court has asked the Maharashtra government to inform the court if any government hospital in Mumbai has "pacemaker implantation facility" that can be provided to businessman Rakesh Wadhawan, who is accused of money laundering in the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank fraud case. In an order passed on Friday, a single bench presided over by Justice Bharati Dangre asked the state prison authorities to inform it of the same by September 28.