News Analysis India

Tag: Aurangabad

  • Maharashtra: Aurangabad zoo to trade pair of tigers for nilgais from Pune

    By PTI

    AURANGABAD: Siddharth Zoo in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad will trade a pair of tigers with the zoological park in Pune in exchange for a couple of nilgais, an official said on Wednesday. Aurangabad-born tigress named Bhakti and tiger Arjun will be sent to Pune’s Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park in exchange for a pair of nilgais, director of Siddharth Zoo Shahed Shaikh said.

    “Siddharth Zoo currently has just two nilgais and the new pair will help increase their population in the facility,” the official said. Zoo supervisor Sanjay Nandan said, “Five-year-old Bhakti and seven-year-old Arjun will be sent to Pune. The zoos had discussed about the exchange of animals and a proposal sent to the Central Zoo Authority last month has been approved.”

    Siddharth Zoo currently has 14 tigers, including five cubs, the official added.

  • BJP workers booked in Aurangabad for gathering to celebrate Bhagwat Karad’s appointment as minister

    By PTI
    AURANGABAD: An offence was registered against at least 50 BJP workers in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad for allegedly faulting the COVID-19 norms by gathering to celebrate the appointment of Rajya Sabha MP Dr Bhagwat Karad as a minister in the Union cabinet, police said on Thursday.

    BJP workers had gathered the party’s divisional office in Osmanpura area to celebrate Karad’s induction into the Union cabinet as a minister of state for finance on Wednesday, an official said.

    An offence has been registered against the party’s district secretary Sameer Rajurkar, other local leaders and workers under section 188 (disobeying orders duly promulgated by a public servant) and other relevant provisions of the IPC, he added.

    “We had gathered for the celebration. We had followed COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and no traffic was disturbed. We don’t know why the police registered the offence,” Rajurkar said.

  • FIR lodged for violating COVID norms at event in Aurangabad attended by AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel

    By PTI
    AURANGABAD: Police have registered a case for COVID-19 protocols violation in connection with a musical programme held over the weekend at Aurangabad in Maharashtra where local AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel was also present.

    When contacted, the Lok Sabha member refused to comment in the matter. The district administration had enforced a ‘weekend lockdown’ to check the spread of coronavirus infection. In a video which went viral on social media, Jaleel was seen present at the ‘Qawwali’ programme, held in the Abdimandi area under Daulatabad police station limits on Saturday night.

    He was also seen getting on to the stage and some people showering currency notes on the parliamentarian. A senior official from Daulatabad police station told PTI on Monday that they rushed to the place where the musical was being held and its videos went viral later.

    “We acted swiftly and registered an FIR against local residents Sohel Jakiuddin, Samir Sajid Builder, Naser Siddiqui and Rafiq Khan and 50-60 other unidentified people under relevant provisions. We are verifying the videos and if necessary, action may also be taken against Jaleel,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader and former MP Chandrakant Khiare hit out at Jaleel, saying while ‘warkaris’ (devotees of Lord Vitthal) cannot go to Pandharpur (in Solapur-for religious procession) due to the pandemic, the parliamentarian was “enjoying Qawwali by breaking the COVID-19 protocols”.

    “Some officials from the police department are supporting Jaleel,” Khaire alleged, and said he will meet the police commissioner and seek action against the Aurangabad MP in the case.

    Khaire also said the venue where the musical event took place was close to forest area and such programmes were not allowed there. “A probe should also be conducted against the land owner (of the venue) in this case,” he said.

    The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) also criticised the district administration over the issue.

    In a video message, MNS district president Suhas Dashrathe said, “On one side, the poor people are dying here amid COVID-19 restrictions, while on the other side, currency notes are showered on a public representative.”

    Dashrathe said they had demanded a relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions in Aurangabad for three more hours every day, but the administration did not consider it. “We now want to see what action the collector will take against the musical event organisers and those present there,” he said.

  • Home Ministry declares six Bihar districts Naxal-free

    Express News Service
    PATNA: The Ministry of Home Affairs has declared six out of 16 Naxal-affected districts in Bihar as Naxal-free, thus reducing the activities of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) in the state to only 10 districts.

    According to this new classification, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Jehanabad, Nalanda, Arwal and East Champaran have been cleared from the list of Naxal-affected districts. In the absence of any Naxal bases, security-related expenses in these districts will no longer be spent on the prevention of Naxal activities. 

    With the exclusion of these districts, only 10 districts of Bihar, namely Rohtas, Kaimur, Gaya, Nawada, Jamui, Lakhisarai, Aurangabad, Banka, Munger and West Champaran are currently in the category of Naxal-affected districts of the country. 

    Aurangabad district has been flagged as a ‘district of concern’ with regard to Naxal influences in the country.Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs had declared 7 other districts, namely Patna, Sitamarhi, Bhojpur, Bagaha, Begusarai, Khagaria and Sheohar, as Naxal-free.

  • Aurangabad records 157 new COVID-19 cases; seven casualties

    By PTI
    AURANGABAD: As many as 157 fresh cases of coronavirus and seven deaths were reported in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district, an official said on Wednesday.

    The latest cases and casualties recorded on Tuesday have taken the tally of infections to 1,42,889, while the toll reached 3,214, the official said.

    A total of 1,36,463 patients have recovered from the infection so far, leaving the district with 3,212 cases, he said.

    The district has conducted 11,57,953 tests so far, he said, adding that on Tuesday, the positivity rate in the district stood at 2.75 per cent.

    At least 108 ventilator beds and 2,204 oxygen beds are available in Aurangabad, the official said.

  • COVID-19 surge: Women cooks in Maharashtra hit hard by curtailment of wedding functions

    By PTI
    AURANGABAD: Women cooks, who used to earn a living by preparing food at marriage hall kitchens in Aurangabad, have been severely affected by the Maharashtra government’s new order restricting the timings and number of people at wedding events in the wake of the COVID-19 surge.

    These women say they are staring at a dark future as they are hardly getting any food orders now from wedding caterers and are unable to meet their daily needs.

    They have now appealed to the government to provide them financial assistance.

    Hirabai Pawar (60), who is in this profession here since the last four decades and lives with her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, told PTI that she never experienced such a crisis in her life.

    “My daughter-in-law worked in a beauty parlour, but they are also shut now. Till last year, I used to earn Rs 200 to 400 a day, but now that has stopped. I need at least Rs 2,000 per month for my medicines,” she said.

    Another local culinarian Jyoti Kathar also said she has no work and is in a dire situation.

    “My husband also does not have any income as the cloth shop where he worked is closed. Now, we cannot even provide milk to our two children as we have to curtail our expenses. They drink black tea now,” she said.

    Kathar said amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they also had to shift their children to a government school as they were not able to afford the high fees of their private educational institution.

    Another city-based cook Jijabai Pawar (45) said she never went to school, but used to be proud of handling food preparations at big kitchens of marriage caterers.

    “I used to take charge of things even if the caterer was busy with other functions. But, now my earning has stopped and our family comprising seven members is surviving only on the salary of one of my sons. A major portion of his income goes in paying our house rent,” she rued.

    Sharing similar woes, cook Sumanbai Suryavanshi (70) said she has been unable to pay her house rent for the last two months.

    “We live in Sanjay Nagar which was declared a COVID-19 hotspot last year. We took all care and none of my family members have got infected so far,” she said.

    But, she is not getting any food orders now since the state government announced that marriage ceremonies may be conducted only as a single event not extending beyond two hours with maximum of total 25 people attending the same.

    Cook Anita Khajekar said earlier when she used to work at marriage hall kitchens, she would bring the leftover food at home which would serve as her family’s meal for the day.

    “Now, I neither have the job nor that food, while my grocery expenses have almost doubled,” she said.

    Another local cook Kantabai Kale (70) said they have been suffering since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, but the government has not provided them any financial aid.

    “We heard the government has decided to help various stakeholders. The government should also look after us now,” she said.

  • Aurangabad authorities acquire oxygen plant to meet demand amid pandemic

    By PTI
    AURANGABAD: To meet the growing demand for oxygen at medical facilities, the administration in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district has acquired the oxygen plant of a steel factory here, an official said on Friday.

    Collector Sunil Chavan said a team of officials has been appointed to ensure smooth supply of the life-saving gas from the plant, belonging to R L Steel in Chitegaon of Paithan.

    “The plant has the capacity to produce nearly 500 oxygen cylinders per day. This facility will be used if there is a rise demand for oxygen and the existing suppliers cannot fulfill it,” an official from the monitoring team said.

    The demand for oxygen in the district was 59 metric tonnes on Thursday, and there are 85 COVID-19 facilities in the district currently treating infected patients, a senior official from the food and drug department said.

    Meanwhile, an oxygen plant in Beed’s Parli thermal power station will be shifted to Swami Ramanand Teerth Medical College in Ambajogai, an official said.

    The plant has a capacity to generate 86,000 litres of oxygen in an hour and produce 300 jumbo cylinders, the official from the Beed district administration said.

    Beed district currently has 33 medical facilities treating COVID-19 patients, and has consumed nearly 14.91 metric tonnes of oxygen, a senior official from food and drug administration said.

    To meet demand for the life-saving gas, district Guardian Minister Dhananjay Munde spoke to officials of the energy department and decided to shift the oxygen generation plant from Parli Thermal Power Station to Swami Ramanand Teerth Medical college in Ambjogai, the official said.

    “The unit was loaded in four trucks and has reached the medical facility in Ambejogai. The plant will be connected to the centralised oxygen system of the medical facility. The plant was procured last month and can generate 99 per cent pure oxygen,” Chief Engineer Mohan Awhad said.

  • COVID-19: ‘Partial lockdown’ in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad during March 11-April 4

    By PTI
    AURANGABAD: In view of the spike in coronavirus cases, the administration in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad on Sunday decided to impose a “partial lockdown” in the district between March 11 and April 4, as part of which markets, malls and cinema halls shall remain shut during the weekends, officials said.

    The world-famous heritage sites of Ajanta and Ellora, and other tourist spots in the district will also remain shut on Saturdays and Sundays, while marriages will not be allowed to be held in function halls during the lockdown period, they said.

    Colleges, schools and training institutes will remain shut, they said.

    The decision to implement this partial lockdown across the district was taken during a meeting of the ‘task force’ comprising Collector Sunil Chavan, Municipal Commissioner Astik Kumar Pandey, Police Commissioner Nikhil Gupta, Superintendent of Police Mokshada Patil and other officials.

    “The partial lockdown in Aurangabad district will come into force from March 11 and will continue till April 4,” collector Chavan told reporters after the meeting.

    “Markets shall remain closed on Saturdays and Sundays, but essential services shall operate on these days. Marriage ceremonies will not be allowed to be held at function halls and banquet halls during this period to avoid crowding. But the facility of registered marriage will be open,” he said.

    ALSO READ: After over five months, Maharashtra adds 11,141 COVID-19 cases in last 24 hours

    Malls and cinema halls will remain shut during the weekends.

    Restaurants and hotels can operate at 50 per cent of their seating capacity till 9 pm everyday and people can order food from them till 11 pm, he added.

    According to Chavan, online education shall continue as colleges, schools, and training institutes shall remain shut and libraries shall operate at 50 per cent of their seating capacity.

    “Political, religious, social meetings, marches will be prohibited during this period. Swimming pools, sports competitions shall not be permitted,” Chavan said.

    The world heritage sites of Ajanta and Ellora along with other tourist spots in the district shall remain closed on Saturdays and Sundays, he said.

    Industries will continue to operate in this period but the the workforce there will be instructed to undergo RT-PCR tests, the collector said.

    The administration has decided to shut Jadhavwadi market in Aurangabad city for seven days from March 11, he said, adding, “If traders from this market commit to follow guidelines we can rethink of this decision later.”

    “Bringing activities to a halt will not be done if partial lockdown works. If cases continue to go up, the option of imposing a stricter lockdown is open,” Chavan said.

    The district had reported 459 coronavirus cases on Friday, which took its overall infection count to 52,103 that day.

    Till Friday night, there were 2,910 active cases in the district, officials said.

  • Maharashtra: Power company employee caught taking bribe in Aurangabad 

    By PTI
    AURANGABAD: An employee of a power distribution company was caught while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2,000 for replacing a faulty electricity meter in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad city, an official from the Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) said on Wednesday.

    Parmeshwar Chavan (36), a contractual employee of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), was caught while accepting the bribe at the complainant’s home in Padegaon area, the official said.

    Chavan had demanded Rs 2,500 for changing a faulty electricity meter and after negotiations had settled for Rs 2,000, he said.

    An offence will be registered against the accused at Chavni police station, the official said.

  • Homecoming: 65-year-old woman freed from Pakistani jail returns to Aurangabad after 18 years

    By ANI
    AURANGABAD: 65-year-old Hasina Begum who had gone to Pakistan 18 years ago to meet her husband’s relatives but landed up in a Pakistani jail after she lost her passport, returned to India on Tuesday after Aurangabad police filed a report on the matter.

    She was received by her relatives and Aurangabad police officials upon her return here.

    “I went through a lot of hardships and I am feeling a sense of peace after returning to my country. I am feeling as if I am in heaven. I was imprisoned forcefully in Pakistan,” she said.

    “I want to thank Aurangabad police for filing a report in the matter,” she added.

    Khwaja Jainuddin Chishti, a relative of Hasina Begum, also thanked Aurangabad police for the help provided by them in bringing her back to her home country.

    Begum had lost her passport in Lahore after arriving there 18 years ago to meet her husband’s relatives.

    She was locked up in a jail in Pakistan for the last 18 years.

    According to the information received from the police, Begum who is a resident of Rashidpura area under the City Chowk police station limits in Aurangabad is married to Dilshad Ahmed who is a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur.

    She urged the court in Pakistan that she is innocent after which the court sought information in the matter.

    Aurangabad police sent information to Pakistan that Begum has a home registered in her name under the City Chowk police station in Aurangabad.

    Pakistan released Begum last week and handed her over to Indian authorities.