MUMBAI: The state home department has asked the excise commissioner to direct all stakeholders in the liquor industry to stop home delivery of liquor, a service which was encouraged during the lockdown to ensure social distancing. The home department's letter to the commissioner suggests restoration of pre-pandemic practices of sale, thus indirectly putting an end to home delivery of liquor. "Owing to the withdrawal of protocols for Covid-related restrictions, the decision to allow home delivery stands automatically withdrawn as it was meant for meeting social distancing norms during the lockdown period only... all stakeholders should be intimated about this and related actions be taken," said the letter. However, the excise department has said the "government will take a call...after considering all legal and social factors" indicating that a rethink on discontinuing the practice is likely. Retailers continue to keep home delivery on and will seek the excise commissioner's directives before implementing a decision. Though consolidated data on home deliveries is not available, lakhs of consumers have taken to ordering liquor at home since the pandemic began. Bhavesh Patel, owner of the World of Wines chain, said he has a home delivery database of 9,500 customers at one store alone in Nariman Point. "Thousands of delivery and IT personnel will lose their jobs if home delivery of liquor stops. Our shop, for instance, makes an average 150 daily despatches from Colaba to Andheri. Today's generation is tech savvy and they prefer to buy online rather than stand in queue at the shop. Online, one can select from a range of options around the clock." Patel pointed out that Alcobev (alcohol beverage) retail home delivery was the first non-essential business to be opened up during the pandemic owing to public demand and the need for revenue. Principal secretary for excise Valsa Nair Singh said home delivery was approved only during the lockdown to ensure social distancing. "However, the government will shortly take a call on the future need to have a policy for home delivery or not after considering all legal and social factors surrounding it," she said, while speaking to TOI. Meanwhile, excise commissioner Kantilal Umap said the prior position before the first lockdown will be maintained till the time the government takes its final call. Sumit Chawla of Association of Progressive Liquor Vendors said as of now the home department's letter is to the excise commissioner to stop home delivery. "We will seek commissioner's guidance on Thursday before taking any decision," he added.
MUMBAI: The state home department has asked the excise commissioner to direct all stakeholders in the liquor industry to stop home delivery of liquor it had permitted during Covid lockdown. However, the excise department officials said that the 'government will take a call on its future after considering all legal and social factors'. Meanwhile, retailers said their home delivery was on as they will seek commissioner's directives on Thursday over the development. The fact is that lakhs of consumers are now used to ordering liquor at home instead of queuing up at the shops which was actually the reason behind starting home delivery during the pandemic period. Excise officials said except for initial days they had no count of day-to-day home deliveries in Mumbai or Maharashtra so far. The home department letter suggests restoration of pre-pandemic liquor sale practices thus indirectly putting an end to the home delivery liquor. Owing to the withdrawal of state protocol for covid lockdown, the decision to allow home delivery stands automatically withdrawn as it was meant for meeting social distancing norms during lockdown period only, stated the home department letter to the commissioner. However, the excise department officials' version saying that the government will take a call over future need of home delivery only after considering legal and social factors around it, has indicated that the government might soon rethink on its total withdrawal. Principal secretary for excise Valsa Nair Singh said home delivery was approved only during the lockdown to ensure social distancing. "However, the government will shortly take a call on the future need to have a policy for home delivery or not after considering all legal and social factors surrounding it," she said while talking to TOI. Meanwhile, excise commissioner Kantilal Umap said the prior position before the first lockdown will be maintained till the time the government takes its final call. Sumit Chawla of the Association of progressive liquor vendors (APLV) said as of now it is the home department's letter to the excise commissioner to end the home delivery as per its original mandate. However, we will seek commissioner's guidance on Thursday before taking any decision on closure of home delivery, he added. Bhavesh Patel, owner of World of Wines chain of wine shops, has a home delivery database of 9,500 customers in just one store in Nariman Point. "Thousands of delivery and IT personnel will lose their jobs if home delivery of liquor stops. Our shop for instance makes an average 150 daily despatches from Colaba to Andheri. Today's generation is tech savvy and they prefer to buy online rather than stand in queue at the shop. Online, one can select from a range of options around the clock. On the one hand, wines are now allowed to be sold in supermarkets, and on the other, liquor stores cannot even cater to consumers by delivering at home for their ease and comfort." Parmar points out that Alcobev (alcohol) retail home delivery was the first non-essential business to be allowed to be opened to people during the pandemic owing to public demand and the state government's need for revenue. (With inputs from Bella Jaisinghani)
MUMBAI: Maharashtra's economic survey released on Thursday has suggested that the cases involving cruelty by husbands and relatives against women have gone up in 2021 after a dip in the same in 2020. In 2020, the first lockdown year, 6,729 such cases involving cruelty against women by husbands and relatives were registered across the state as against 8430 in 2019. However in 2021, the second lockdown year, again around 8,024 cases were registered, equal to almost pre-covid level. The Maharashtra State Commission for women, a statutory body that regularly holds hearings / public hearings on complaints filed by women victims, has provided free legal aid and counselling services to the victims. An innovative initiative called ‘Women Commission at your doorstep’ was implemented extensively by organising division wise and district wise public hearings, with the primary objective to give victim women a platform to resolve their issues and interact unhesitantly, the report said.. The Commission also organised workshops, training programmes and seminars on women related issues viz. self defence programmes, awareness about gender equality, legal literacy, cybercrime, implementation of Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, 2005, Sexual harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, prohibition & redressal) Act, 2013, rehabilitation of acid attack victims, preparation of guidelines for crèche, etc. During 2020-21, expenditure of Rs 3.63 crore was incurred on these activities and during 2021-22 upto January, expenditure of Rs 3.92 crore was incurred on similar programmes, revealed the survey.
Mumbai: The state legislature joint select committee has recommended setting up of special police teams for every district or at commissionerates to investigate crimes against women as specified under Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill, 2020, also known as Shakti law. The team will be headed by an officer of the rank of deputy superintendent of police and will comprise at least one woman constable and women personnel shall be included, states the report submitted to the assembly on Monday by state home minister Dilip Walse-Patil.The bill was introduced in the assembly in December 2020 and referred to the committee both Houses for consideration. The committee held four meetings and finalised the report on March 3. It provides for capital punishment, life sentence, hefty fines and speedy trial for perpetrators of crime against women and children. It specifies a deadline of 30 days for completion of the probe from the day a complaint is lodged and puts the onus on social media platforms and Internet provider companies to share data for police investigations.The report states the investigation will be handed over to the special team by the police commissioner/superintendent of police after ascertaining the seriousness and sensitivity of the offence. The committee recommended that a single prosecutor handle all cases in a district was not feasible and hence has suggested that the bill allow for one or more special public prosecutors. tnn
The Congress currently shares power with the Shiv Sena and NCP in Maharashtra. (File)Mumbai: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the opposition of scaring migrant workers into fleeing to their native states from Mumbai during the COVID-19 pandemic, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Tuesday hit back claiming the PM's fixation with the 'Namaste Trump' event was responsible for the coronavirus spread in the country.In February 2020, the then US President Donald Trump had visited India and also addressed a public gathering at a stadium in Ahmedabad as part of the 'Namaste Trump' event.PM Modi said in the Lok Sabha on Monday that the Congress "crossed all limits" during the COVID-19 pandemic, and accused the party of instigating and scaring innocent labourers into fleeing to their native states from Mumbai.Mr Malik, who is also the NCP's chief spokesperson, on Tuesday said, “When the Maharashtra government was asking for a ban on international flights, your (PM Modi's) own health minister (Dr Harsh Vardhan at that time) was stressing that the coronavirus infection will not spread." "Modi, in his fixation with the 'Namaste Trump' event, invited people from across the globe to India and it spread the coronavirus infection in all parts of the country,” he claimed.“Prime Minister Modi is responsible for the spread of the coronavirus in the country,” Mr Malik alleged.The Congress currently shares power with the Shiv Sena and NCP in Maharashtra.“You (Modi) said that we paid for the tickets of migrants. It is true, but you organised the special trains and we paid for the tickets. We bore the cost of train tickets because you wanted to collect money from the migrant labourers and workers,” Mr Malik claimed.After the nationwide lockdown in 2020, the Indian Railways ran Shramik Special trains for the migrant workers.“When the migrant workers were walking to their native places, the Uttar Pradesh government had deployed buses for the first time to help the workers reach home. The Bihar government had also done the same. When the lockdown was imposed, you asked people to clang thalis,” the NCP leader pointed out.He further said that PM Modi had announced the lockdown "without any consideration or thinking about consequences of the decision. "Crores of people suffered because of such a decision,” he said.“The Maharashtra government provided food, water and even paid for their (migrant workers) tickets. You did not provide the train service free of cost,” Mr Malik said.PromotedListen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com“We even operated special bus services for the migrant workers so that they could reach their native places. We were the ones who stood by the migrant workers,” the minister said.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Priyanka Gandhi asked if PM wanted poor to be left helpless when they were returning to their homes.Panaji (Goa): Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's accusations that Congress gave free train tickets to migrants to leave Maharashtra which lead to the spread of Covid in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and asked if PM Modi wanted the poor to be left helpless when they were returning to their homes on foot.Speaking to media persons on Panaji, the Congress leader said, "People whom he had deserted, who had no way of returning to their homes, who were coming back on foot - did he want that nobody should help them? What did Modi ji want? What does he want?"What about the big rallies he did?" she remarked while alleging that PM Modi conducted rallies during Covid.Earlier on Monday, while replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister had said that Congress gave free train tickets to migrant workers to leave Mumbai which lead to the spread of COVID in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand."Congress crossed all limits during the first wave of COVID. During the first wave, when the country was in lockdown and when the WHO was advising everyone to stay wherever they are, Congress went to the Mumbai railway station to scare innocent people. They pushed labourers to go back to their states. As a result, COVID spread rapidly in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand," said PM Modi, calling it "paap" (sin)."You pushed labourers into crisis. In Delhi, the government went around slums in jeeps and announced on mics that whoever wants to go home, buses have been arranged. Infections then shot up in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, where the coronavirus had not even spread that much. What kind of politics is this? How long will these politics continue? The entire country is shocked by the behaviour of the Congress," he added."Now the Congress has made up its mind not to come to power for the next 100 years."In a veiled attack on Congress, the Prime Minister said the party was banking on its "divide and rule" policy and had become the leader of "tukde tukde gang".PromotedListen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com"Congress policy is 'divide and rule'. Congress has become the leader of the 'tukde tukde' gang. Congress won several elections due to their 'Garibi Hatao' slogan but failed to do that. Then the poor of this country voted them out. The opposition has raised the issue of inflation here, it would have been better if they have raised that matter while their government was in power. In the pandemic also our government tried to tackle inflation."(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
MUMBAI: Since March 2020 after the pandemic outbreak and subsequent lockdown, police stations across the state have collected fines amounting to Rs 206.97 crore. The money was collected as penalty from those who violated lockdown rules, including motorists who disregarded restrictions. Among those who paid up were people who did not follow Covid-19 rules (like wearing a mask, kept hotels/eateries open beyond stipulated time and unlawful assembly). Also, police across the state have caught 10,056 people in all for violating quarantine measures. Also, 63,102 people were arrested under bailable sections of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Epidemic Act, Disaster Management Act, and Maharashtra Covid-19 regulation, 2020. A total of 3.77 lakh cases have been registered in the state while 1.56 lakh vehicles were impounded. Also, 422 policemen were assaulted in the state and 124 personnel injured in this period, police said. A senior IPS officer said that a major chunk of the fines was collected from people from Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai — the biggest contributors to these statistics since inter-district and regular movement of people in these cities is high. A lot of people continued violating restrictions and the rules that are regularly updated and re-imposed by the government.
PUNE: Over two lakh eligible beneficiaries opted for the Covid vaccines’ booster shot in the state within four days of the launch of the precaution dose programme. The highest response was in Mumbai. Over 57,000 beneficiaries, including healthcare and frontline workers, and senior citizens (above 60 years age), took the precaution dose in the state capital. Pune (around 27,000 doses) and Thane (around 21,000 doses) followed Mumbai. The state immunisation officer, Sachin Desai, said no AEFI (adverse event following immunisation) case had been registered across Maharashtra pertaining to the precaution dose so far. Experts claimed that the nine-month rider for the precaution dose after the second shot of Covid vaccine was affecting the response to the new programme. Sachin Patil, chairman, IMA’s Hospital Board of India, Pune chapter, said it had resulted in less footfall in the drive. Maharashtra government has been struggling to increase its speed of vaccination and has taken several steps to bring it on par with the national average but many districts still continue to be on the bottom of the ladder.
Fresh Covid-19 cases in India breached the 1-lakh mark on Friday for the first time since June with over 1.17 lakh new infections, in a worrisome surge led by the more transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus.The Union Health Ministry is coordinating with health authorities to control the spike of Omicron cases which crossed 3,000 across India on Friday and pulled up nine states for low testing. As per the health ministry, the Omicron infection has spread to 27 states and UTs.Maharashtra and Delhi appear to be the worst-impacted states in this new wave as all-too-familiar curbs like weekend lockdowns and night curfews came back into force in states. Here is a look at the numbers from the worst-affected states.Also Read | India may see 10 lakh Covid cases a day by Jan-end: IISc-ISI modelMaharashtraIn a massive spike, Maharashtra logged 36,265 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, 36 per cent more than the previous day with Mumbai alone registering 20,181 infections, a fresh record for the city, while 13 more patients succumbed to the disease. The state has the most number of Omicron infections at 867 on Friday.To fight off this surge, the state has put restrictions on public gatherings, with Section 144 imposed in Mumbai till January 15.DelhiThe national capital reported 15,097 fresh Covid cases, the highest single-day rise since May 8, and six deaths, while the positivity rate mounted to 15.34 per cent.Also Read | Karnataka mulling issuing green passes for Covid-19 vaccinated people This rise is the highest since May 8, 2021, when 17,364 cases were reported with a positivity rate of 23.34 per cent. As many as 332 deaths were also recorded on that day. On Wednesday and Tuesday, 10,665 and 5,481 cases were recorded with a positivity rate of 11.88 per cent and 8.37 per cent, respectively, according to official figures.The national capital has 465 Omicron cases of which 57 have recovered.Health Minister Satyendar Jain said Delhi is expected to add 17,000 cases to its coronavirus infection tally with a positivity rate of around 17 per cent on Friday. The minister added that no lockdown is necessary for the capital yet, even as weekend lockdowns and night curfews during weekdays have been imposed. West BengalIn West Bengal, 15,421 people tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, taking the state’s tally to 16,93,744. This was a spike of 1,399 over the previous day.Also Read | Gujarat records over 5,000 Covid cases; schools shut for classes 1 to 9 The state's coronavirus death toll rose to 19,846 as 19 more patients succumbed to the infection. The state had recorded 20 Omicron cases on Thursday.Kolkata registered the highest number of new cases at 6,569, followed by 2,560 in neighbouring North 24 Parganas district and 1,248 in Howrah. Seven fatalities were recorded in North 24 Parganas and three in Kolkata, it said.The Mamata Banerjee government put in strict curbs for the state earlier this week, with schools and colleges shut and public places like cinemas and hotels operating at 50 per cent capacity.Tamil NaduTamil Nadu saw a new peak in Covid-19 cases on Thursday as 6,983 people tested positive, pushing the total caseload to 27,67,432 with 11 more fatalities taking the toll to 36,825. Eight districts, including the state capital, accounted for the majority of new infections which have been on an upward trend over the last few days. The sharpest increase in fresh infections was reported in Chennai with 3,759 cases. Chennai had reported 2,481 new cases on Wednesday. The state has recorded 121 Omicron cases so far.Also Read | Covid: Odisha closes colleges, varsities from Jan 10Chief Minister M K Stalin Thursday imposed a night curfew in the state and announced a complete lockdown on Sunday to stop the surge. KarnatakaWith 5,031 daily cases, Karnataka continued to witness a surge in numbers on Thursday, but it reported only one death, taking the count to 30,22,603 and the fatalities toll to 38,358. The state logged 4,246 on Wednesday. Of the new cases, 4,324 were from Bengaluru Urban that saw 172 being discharged. The total number of active cases is now 22,173. Karnataka on Friday reported 107 new cases of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus taking the total count to 333 in the state, Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said.The state had imposed a night curfew on December 28 to control Omicron surge during the New Year celebrations but extended it for two weeks in January in the wake of new rise Covid-19 cases. There is also a weekend lockdown in the state from January 7. KeralaKerala logged 4,649 fresh cases and 221 deaths on Thursday which raised the caseload to 52,58,939 and the fatalities to 49,116. Of the deaths, 17 were recorded over the last few days and 204 were designated as Covid-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court.Kerala recorded 50 new Omicron cases taking the total to 284 on Friday. GujaratGujarat recorded 4,213 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, taking its tally to 8,44,856, while one patient succumbed to the infection in the state. The Covid toll rose to 10,127 with one more death reported during the day (in Tapi district). As many as 1,835 new infections emerged in Ahmedabad city alone, followed by 1,105 in Surat city, 183 in Rajkot city and 112 in Anand district.The state, which is also under a night curfew, has 204 Omicron cases so far.JharkhandJharkhand added 3,704 fresh Covid-19 cases on Thursday, up from 3,553 infections reported the previous day pushing the caseload in the disease to 3,65,222. Five districts of the state accounted for a majority of the new cases.Ranchi reported 1,309 fresh infections as against 1,316 on Wednesday.The cumulative toll stood at 5,153 with four deaths reported during the last 24 hours. No deaths were reported on Wednesday.Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh recorded 3,121 fresh Covid-19 cases and one death due to the infection on Thursday.The new fatality, reported from Meerut, raised the death toll from the pandemic to 22,917 in the state. Among new cases, a maximum of 600 were reported from Gautam Buddha Nagar, 408 from Lucknow, 401 from Meerut and 382 from Ghaziabad, a health department release said.Omicron tally in Uttar Pradesh is 31.The rising cases prompted the state to shut all schools up to Class 10. The Yogi Adityanath government also extended the night curfew by two hours on Tuesday and is now imposed from 10 pm to 6 am.(With agency inputs)Watch the latest DH Videos here:
Bengaluru/Belagavi: Stating that it is "almost certain" that the third wave of Covid-19 is "inescapable", the Karnataka government on Sunday said it was looking at harsher curbs in the coming days and ramping up infrastructure to face medical exigencies in the state.After a meeting with CM Basavaraj Bommai earlier in the day, revenue minister R Ashoka said the state government will accept and implement recommendations of the Covid-19 technical advisory committee (TAC) in full.The night curfew that is in force is set to end on Jan 7. The high-powered committee on Covid-19 will meet on January 4 or 5 to discuss the need for more restrictions in the state."We'll soon impose more stringent restrictions across the state and urge people to cooperate with the government. Otherwise, we may have to force a lockdown on the state," said Ashoka. He cited the example of Maharashtra, where the situation is "worsening", and said the neighbouring state may announce a lockdown soon. "We want to avoid a similar situation by assessing the state's requirement in the coming days," he said.Bommai, in Belagavi, said the government was waging a two-pronged fight – augmenting the health system and imposing tough restrictions – against the virus."We're ensuring there are enough beds, ICU beds and adequate oxygen supply to save lives. I've directed the health department to increase the number of ICU beds and accelerate the vaccination drive. I've asked pharmaceutical companies to keep the production and supply intact," said the CM.Bommai said those coming into the state through Belagavi and Vijayapura districts will have to carry negative RT-PCR report and vaccination certificate and asked district administration to strengthen surveillance at the border checkposts."These checks will no doubt cause inconvenience for a few passengers, but we have to take this step to protect the people of Karnataka," said the CM.
