MAHARASHTRA

Centres 5-step strategy to curb surge in Maharashtra districts

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At a review meeting conducted by the Centre on Saturday, officials from 25 districts in the state that account for 60% of the Covid-19 cases over the past week in the country were directed to isolate as many asymptomatic patients as possible in institutional facilities.

In a related development, the Centre declined to share results of the genome sequencing of 100 swab samples from Nagpur district, said sources in the Nagpur . The Centre also reportedly stated that there was no need for different standard operating procedures (SOPs) to contain the double mutant variant of the virus. It directed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation and District Administration to implement year-old SOPs in an effective manner.

The state task force too gave a slew of suggestions to contain the second wave, from closure of public places like Juhu beach to a limited lockdown in Mumbai. One member suggested reducing train Services to discourage travel for any reason apart from work or medical causes.

Maharashtra budget to be tabled on March 9

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The budget session of theMaharashtra legislaturewill be held from February 27 to March 25. The state budget for 2023-24 will be presented on March 9, a government release said.

This will be the first budget of the Shinde government and will be presented by deputy chief minister and state finance minister Devendra Fadnavis.

On the first day of the session on February 27, the newly-adopted state song ‘Jai JaiMaharashtraMajha’ will be played.
Thirteen bills will be presented during the session.

Covaxin wastage up in Maharashtra; Pune & Satara top the chart

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Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said on Saturday that Pune district is currently seeing a shortage of Covaxin doses for the 15-17 age group, but state data is showing that wastage of the vaccine has risen acrossMaharashtra, particularly in Pune and Satara.
NetCovaxin wastagein the state (till February 2) is at 1.54%, up from the 0.98% in November last year. The districts of Satara, Pune, Nashik and Gadchiroli are contributing the most to this wastage, Health department data showed.

Satara recorded a maximum net wastage of 5.72%, followed by Pune’s 3.59%.
Central guidelines permit a 10% wastage for Covid Vaccines. But it’s recommended that states or regions don’t come close to that level.

Maharashtra govt submits 25 ropeway proposals to Centre for nod

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The has sent about 25 ropeway proposals, including one at Sinhagad fort, to the central government in its bid to push for more such projects acrossMaharashtra, especially Pune, Mumbai, Satara, Raigad, Nashik, Nanded, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.

The proposals were sent last month under the Centre’s National Ropeways Development Programme, named ‘Parvatmala’. Once cleared, the central government would bear the execution cost of the projects, while the state government would provide the land, a senior official from the state public works department (PWD) said.

Dhule first district in north Maharashtra to be free of mucormycosis

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Dhule has become the first among five districts of north Maharashtra to be mucormycosis-free ever since the ailment was reported in the region in early May this year.

The data provided by the state Health department revealed that there are 51 active mucormycosis cases in north Maharashtra at present Nashik (23), followed by Nandurbar (14), Ahmednagar (13) and Jalgaon (1).

mucormycosis, also known as black fungus, created havoc during the initial period of the second Covid wave in the region after some Covid-19 patients or those who recovered from Covid were found infected with the disease. The symptoms of mucormycosis include headache, fever, pain under eyes, nasal or sinus congestion and partial loss of vision.

Will boost Namami Goda, ring road & IT park projects

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MinisterChhagan Bhujbalsaid that he will give a boost to the pending plans like the IT Park, Logistic Park, Namami Goda, and outer ring road project.

The newly inducted cabinet minister and MLA from Yeola state assembly constituency, Bhujbal said that his priority will be the development of the city as well as the district. He also said that he would undertake new Irrigation projects for the district.

The state industries minister,UdaySamant, had last year announced the plan to open up an IT park on 100 acres of land in Nashik. He had instructed theMaharashtraIndustrial Development Corporation (MIDC) to identify land for the park. However, the projectis yet to see the Light of day. Similarly, a park was also announced by the centre, but no progress has been made so far.

Maharashtra’s EV sale share zooms to 13% on favourable policies & infrastructure

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Maharashtra’sshare in the sales of battery-operated vehicles in India has risen to 13% from 4% in the last five fiscals, which experts have attributed to favourable policies and related .

According to data released by Vahan, a platform managed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Maharashtra accounted for 6,209 EV registrations in 2018-19, which was mere 4% of total sales in India.

The state reported a 208% year-on-year Growth in registrations of electric vehicles in 2022-23 to 1.6 lakh units. The EV policy and demand incentives provided by the Maharashtra government have played a pivotal role in accelerated adoption of EVs in the state.

Maharashtra is one of the six states in India to have allocated budgets and one of the eight states to have specific targets for electrification of fleets, a report by research-based consulting firm Climate Trends said.

Pune leads in teen vaccination in Maharashtra, Thane stands second

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Among all the districts inMaharashtra, Pune has managed to vaccinate the highest number of adolescents so far, covering more than 1.48 lakh (24%) of its 15-18 years Population with the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

The second spot in the list is occupied by Thane, which has immunized over 1.43 lakh teenagers.

The state has covered nearly 14.83 lakh or 24.48% of its adolescent population with the first dose ofCovaxinso far, state Health department data showed.

Punes eligible population in the 15-18 age group is about 5.53 lakh., while Mumbais is nearly 6.12 lakh.

Maha govts intention is to cut farmer suicide numbers: CM

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Chief minister Shinde on Sunday said that the state governmens sole intention is to bring down the number of farmer suicides in Maharashtra.

Farmers should become prosperous and their income should go up. We are constantly working to achieve this, he said while speaking to the media on the sidelines of the inauguration of the state-level agricultural exhibition at Sillod in Aurangabad district.

Shinde said his government has stood firmly behind farmers in Maharashtra during crises such as heavy rain. The state-level agricultural exhibition will benefit farmers immensely, he said.

Shine, who was scheduled to address a public rally on the occasion, cut short his visit due to a fire incident near Igatpuri in Nashik district.

Maharashtra: Parli thermal plant to use green coal with crop residue as base material

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TheMaharashtrastatepowergeneration company (MahaGenco) has decided to make use of green-coal at theParli thermalpower station in Beed district.

The state power utility has invited expression of interest from prospective bidders for the supply of briquettes bio coal for the boiler of one of the three units of the plant having individual power generation capacity of 250 MW.

While the coal for the Parli plant is arranged from mines near Hyderabad and the Vidarbha region, the proposed use ofgreen coalis expected to save huge transportation cost besides offering environmental benefits and providing supplementary income to the rural Population.