PUNE: The city's morning humidity levels have been rising over the past three days, causing instances of late night and early morning haze. On Monday morning, the levels were 90-100% in all areas, India Meteorological Department (IMD) data showed. For instance, relative humidity in Shivajinagar on Monday morning was 96%, in Pashan it was 92%, and was as high as 100% in Lohegaon, Magarpatta and Chinchwad. In Lavale, it was 91%. On January 25, relative humidity levels were much lower in these areas, between 57% and 87%.Anupam Kashyapi, head of the weather forecasting division, IMD Pune, told TOI, "The comparatively high humidity levels and relatively lower minimums have resulted in formation of haze in Pune during late night and early morning hours. Relative humidity has been on the higher side in the city since the last three days, but the levels started dropping from Monday evening."Kashyapi said the humidity levels would drop further from Tuesday, causing a significant drop in minimum temperatures in the coming days as well as sunny skies, which means that there would also be a minimum chance of haze in the city from Wednesday. Haze was likely to be recorded on Tuesday also, he said."The high humidity levels were because of the increased moisture incursion over north-central Maharashtra due to a passing western disturbance over north India, and interaction of two wind regimes - northerly cold winds as well as southerly/south-easterly/south-south-easterly/easterly, which are comparatively warm ,moist winds," he said.As the moisture is expected to reduce, various parts of north-central Madhya Maharashtra (including Pune city and district) can also experience strong northerly wind flow, which will lead to a fall in night temperatures by about 3-4 degrees C in the coming time.An IMD forecast on Monday said the minimums could drop to 8-9 degrees C by February 2-3 in Shivajinagar and may lead to further reduction in relative humidity in the coming days. On Monday, the minimum temperature in Shivajinagar was on the higher side at 14.9 degrees C. It was 16.9 degrees C in Lohegaon.
PUNE: The minimum temperature in areas under the Met department's Shivajinagar observatory went up marginally to 12.2° C, which was above normal by 0.7° C on Sunday, as against the 11.3° C recorded on Saturday.The Lohegaon observatory recorded 14.9° C, which was above normal by 1.9° C. The day temperatures in the city were high, as Shivajinagar and Lohegaon observatories recorded 31.6° C and 31.1° C, which were above normal by 0.7° C and 0.1° C, respectively, Met officials said.However, India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said the night temperatures are expected to drop to single-digit figures this week.The interaction between southerly/southeasterly/south-southeasterly winds and northerly winds originating from north India had pushed the moisture levels over the state. As a result, several areas had experienced overcast conditions in the last few days, the Met officials said."From January 30 onwards, there is a possibility the interaction becomes eastward. It would result in the minimum temperature falling from January 31 onwards over the northern and central parts of the state, including Pune. The temperature is likely to fall to single digits on February 2 and 3 in some areas, including Pune," a senior Met official said.Barring Satara, where the night temperature was recorded at 12.9° C, which was above normal by 0.1°, all other weather stations, including Mahabaleshwar, recorded warmer nights in the Madhya Maharashtra region.Aurangabad was the coldest place in the state, recording 10.9° C, which was below normal by 1.7° C.
The ED said it has seized gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 2.72 crore. (File)New Delhi: The board of directors of the Maharashtra-based Seva Vikas Co-operative Bank, led by its former chairman Amar Mulchandani, "violated" all banking norms, deliberately sanctioned loans to shell entities and "siphoned off" funds, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged on Monday.A statement of the federal agency to this effect came after the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police arrested Amar Mulchandani and five of his family members for "obstructing" an ED raid conducted against the former bank chairman on January 27 and "destruction of evidence".The ED said it has seized gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 2.72 crore, about Rs 41 lakh in cash, four high-end cars, digital devices and "incriminating" documents during the searches.The money-laundering case of the federal agency stems from an FIR lodged by the Pune Police against Vinay Aranha of the Rosary Education Group and others for an alleged loan fraud. The premises of "Vinay Aranha (of Rosary School, Pune) and Sagar Suryawanshi, who have benefitted from this scam", were also searched by the ED last week.The agency said an audit of the cooperative bank found "gross fraud and misappropriation of funds worth Rs 429.6 crore, spread across 126 NPA (non-performing asset) loan accounts"."Board of Directors, led by Amar Mulchandani, had violated all banking norms and deliberately sanctioned loans to ineligible/shell entities to siphon off the funds."Based on this audit report, additional multiple FIRs were registered against the loan beneficiaries and bank management, including Amar Mulchandani. RBI has cancelled the licence of the bank," the ED said.The agency said, on January 27, an ED team, accompanied by bank "panchas" (witnesses) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, reached Mulchandani's residence in the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal limits, located about 150 kilometres from state capital Mumbai, and "faced stiff resistance" while entering the premises."ED team was given to understand that Amar Mulchandani was absent, and the remaining five family members lied and tried to mislead the search team.""All the family members, as part of a well-planned conspiracy, had obstructed the lawful search of ED and this time was used by Amar Mulchandani to erase his phones and destroy evidence," the agency alleged.It was subsequently found that Mulchandani was "hiding" in a room locked from inside.PTI had reported on Sunday that the ED had called a locksmith to open the lock of the room where Mulchandani was allegedly hiding.On a complaint from the ED, the local police booked all the six residents of the house -- Amar Mulchandani, Ashok Mulchandani, Manohar Mulchandani, Daya Mulchandani, Sadhna Mulchandani and Sagar Mulchandani -- under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and all of them have been arrested, the agency said.All of them are now in police custody, it added.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cancelled the co-operative bank's licence in October 2022.PromotedListen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.comThe bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects, the RBI had said.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)Featured Video Of The Day"India Has A Fearless, Decisive Government Today," Says President Murmu
New Delhi/Mumbai: The Maharashtra Police has arrested a former chairman of a state-based cooperative bank and his five family members after an ED complaint they were allegedly obstructing its raids and destroying evidence, officials said Sunday.The case pertains to an Enforcement Directorate money laundering investigation, linked to alleged irregularities of about Rs 494 crore, against the former officer-bearers of the Pune-based Seva Vikas Cooperative bank including its chairman Amar Mulchandani.The agency, according to official sources, raided the premises of Mulchandani in the Pimpri-Chinchwad area (near Pune), early morning on January 27, but its team could not get into his house as "no one opened the house." The ED subsequently called in a locksmith who breached the lock, following which ED officials found at least five people inside.Official sources said the occupants of the house informed ED sleuths that Mulchandani was not there, and their statements were recorded under the sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).ED officials, after about six hours of search, found a servant room inside the premises which was locked and when its keys were sought, the occupants expressed their inability to provide them.The locksmith, as per the sources, was again summoned and after the door lock was broken, the agency found Mulchandani "hiding" inside this room.The ED filed a police complaint against all the six people alleging non-cooperation during the searches and hiding/destruction of evidence following which all of them, including two women, were arrested by the local police, they said.The agency suspects that the former chairman of the bank "erased" chats and cloud data from the two mobile phones allegedly recovered from him.About Rs 2.73 crore worth of jewellery and diamonds and Rs 40 lakh in cash were recovered from the premises, the sources said.The RBI had cancelled the licence of the bank in October, 2022.PromotedListen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.comThe bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects, the RBI had said.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)Featured Video Of The DayOn Camera, Huge Clash At Ajmer Shrine Between Pilgrims, Officials
Two persons were killed in the accident, the official said. (Representational)Mumbai: Two persons were killed and 30 others received injuries when a bus overturned in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district today, police said.The accident took place at around 5.30 am when the bus driver lost control over the wheels while negotiating a sharp turn near the Gad river bridge in Kankavli, located 480 km from the state capital Mumbai, an official said.The luxury bus carrying 36 passengers was going from Pune to Goa, he said.Two persons were killed in the accident, the official said.PromotedListen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.comAll the injured persons were rushed to the civil hospital in Kankavli for treatment, he said.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)Featured Video Of The DayWatch: Mamata Banerjee Plays Drums In Meghalaya
LATUR: As many as 53 passengers were injured when the bus in which they were travelling in overturned in Latur district of Maharashtra on Tuesday morning. The mishap occurred near Borgaon Kale village at around 8.30am when the bus belonging to the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) was heading towards Pune from Nilanga via Latur, head constable Ratan Shaikh said. The bus was on a narrow bridge when its driver lost control over the wheels while trying to a collission with hitting another vehicle coming from the opposite side. As a result, the bus overturned, he said. Some villagers present at the spot immediately dialed '108' emergency medical service number. All the injured passengers were taken to a rural hospital in Murud for treatment. Later, 16 of them rushed to a government hospital in Latur for further treatment, the official said.(With inputs from PTI)
