MAHARASHTRA

The government of India would soon come out with a policy to regulate commercial operations for space exploration, said Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) chairman S Somnath.

The premier space organization has already submitted a draft policy to the department of space, he added.

Isro already has established its commercial arm NewSpace India Limited to handle all its Marketing operations. The space agency has plans to launch Aditya Mission to place its spacecraft in the halo orbit between Earth and Sun, said Somnath, adding no such plan has been devised so far for asteroid.

The Isro also plans to set up a second launch station at Kulasekharapatinam in Nadu, he said.

Explaining the Isros roadmap for Amritkaal (2022-2047), Somnath said, The organisation is focusing on building reusable rocket, flexible satellite that would address complex Communication issues and spectrum, to continue with explorations including human missions with an eye on key emerging areas. We invest only in projects having utility and with defined goals, and not in show-off kind of things. We work on low-cost models. Isro has been working successfully in good science, with minimum Money.

Vaccination against Covid-19 reached two important milestones on Thursday.Maharashtrahit 11 crore vaccinationsthe second highest in the countrywhile Mumbai finished vaccinating 70% of its eligible Population with both the doses. It is the only district in the state and first among major cities to achieve that level of full vaccination.

The state has till now administered 11,00,26,925 doses, fully vaccinating 3.76 crore (41%) people and giving at least one shot to 7.23 crore (79%) of its eligible population. Around 9% of the 120 crore doses given in the country is from Maharashtra. UP, which is leading among states, has administered the highest doses (15.5 crore), accounting for nearly 13% of vaccination in India.

Mumbai, which is at the top of first and second dose coverage in Maharashtra, has administered 1,59,33,076 doses. Till now, 65,40,392 (70.3%) have taken both doses while 93,92,684 (101%) have taken at least one. Although the city accounts for 10% of the states population, it has administered 14% of the total doses given in the state.

With the to theBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporationscheduled to be held early next year, the state cabinet approved a proposal not to revise capital value of building orlandin Mumbai for 2021-22 in view of the pandemic. Under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, the capital value, based on which property tax is paid, is to be revised every five years.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had got numerous representations from elected representatives, citizens groups, seeking relaxation/waiver of property tax.BMCwill lose about Rs 1,042 crore in revenue. TheMMC Actwill be amended for the purpose.

Union minister of state for Health and family welfare Bharati Pawar on Wednesday said the Centre has earmarked Rs 23,000 crore as part of an emergency fund for Covid-19 under theNational Health Mission(NHM) for the entire country, and nowMaharashtrahas received the first instalment of Rs 123 crore for the purpose. The state should benefit from it by taking up health projects, Pawar said.

The Centre has sent the first instalment of Rs 123 crore to Maharashtra under NHM to enable the health department to carry out various health projects. The state should take up Covid management and other activities, said Pawar.

For financial year 2021-22, the Centre has approved a plan of Rs 4,500 crore on a 60:40 sharing formula, according to which, the Central government will provide Rs 2,700 crore and the Rs 1,800 crore, the official said, adding it will include a provision of Rs 1,300 crore for tackling Covid-19. The proposal was approved at a high-level meeting of the national project consultation committee before the beginning of the financial year.

undreds ofMES(MaharashtraEkikaran Samiti) activists gathered atRani Channamma Circlehere and marched to the deputy commissioner office for a protest on Monday.
They demanded that the government issue documents inMarathi. They raised slogans sand said if the is unable to take care of them, it must allow them to go to Maharashtra.
The activists gave a memorandum to the deputy commissioner, which said getting government documents in Marathi was their fundamental right as per Linguistic Minorities Act.

TheMaharashtraAssembly extended deadline for theJoint Committeeon Shakti Bill till the last day of the nextAssembly session.

The committee is preparing the final draft of the Shakti Bill and it has 21 members from all parties -14 members from theLower Houseand seven from the Upper House.

Notably, the Shakti Bill was drafted on lines of Andhra Pradesh’s Disha Act. The Bill was introduced on the first day of the two-day special Assembly Session called to pass the law pertaining to the safety of Women and children.

The Disha Act 2019, allows stringent punishment for crimes committed against women and enables the death penalty for rape and reduces the judgment period in such cases to 21 working days.

Live storage in several major Dams ofMaharashtra, mainly in Pune region as well as Konkan, has plunged lower than last year’s stock.

In Konkan, which includes dam projects in Palghar, Thane, Sindhudurg and Raigad, live storage is now 33% in comparison to 42% of last year’s same period. In Pune region, which includes major projects in Pune,Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur, live storage has dropped to 17% from last year’s 23 %.

The live storage in all major dams in the Amravati revenue region is 42%, slightly lower than 43% on the same day last year. In the Aurangabad revenue region too, the level is currently 39.56 % , as against 40.63 % recorded on May 29, 2022. The collective water stock in the four Pune dams (Khadakwasla, Varasgaon, Panshet and Temghar) was 7.07 TMC (24.24%) on Monday. Same period last year, it was 6.28 TMC (21.56%).

ThePune (PMC) has approached the State Government for the release of its share of stamp duty charges amounting to Rs 237 crore.

The civic body is suffering a revenue loss due to the pandemic. The civic administration should get its share from the state government. It will help carry out Covid-19 mitigation work.

According to civic officials, they had decided to reduce their budget expenditure due to poor revenue generation in 2020-21 and introduced a 40 % cut. Only essential Services, mandatory and emergency works were allocated funds.