Maharashtra
For 2nd year Covid mars Janmashtami fests in Maharashtra, BJP protests
Token festivities marked the birthday of Lord Krishna — celebrated as ‘Janmashtami’ and ‘Dahi-Handi’ — owing to rains in most parts of Maharashtra coupled with the Covid-19 restrictions recommended by the Centre, for the second consecutive year here on Monday.
Scores of Krishna Temples in Mumbai, including the ISKCON Temples at Girgaum and Juhu were decorated with bright lights, flowers, the deities sporting brand new attires, though there were no devotees present for the celebrations on account of the Covid-19 protocols.
However, most temples have organised live ‘aartis’, online ‘darshan’ and donations and other facilities for devotees to celebrate the festival from their homes safely, as the Corona ‘third wave’ could be lurking close.
Protesting the continuous closure of temples and other places of worship, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party launched a ‘shankhnaad’ agitation all over the state demanding reopening of the temples.
Many BJP activists in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Pune, Nashik, Kolhapur, Aurangabad and other districts, priests, women devotees and others slammed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, raising slogans, carrying black placards and posters, for deliberately trampling upon peoples’ religious sentiments by keeping temples and other worship places shut.
The BJP agitation came barely four days after the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan’s missive to the Maharashtra government asking it to curb crowded festivities for the Dahi-Handi and Ganeshotsav festivals, both mega-crowd pullers in view of the potential threats from the Covid-19 ‘third wave’.
The state Health Minister Rajesh Tope has already warned that the third wave could be a possible ‘Tsunami’ over 6-million (60-Lakh) cases in the state, or triple the figures notched in the first wave in 2020, and higher than the figures recorded in the first and second waves.
In view of the potential threats sounded by the Centre and the state, the Congress Spokesperson Sachin Sawant has attacked the BJP for once again “playing temple politics”, and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar warned that even the ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatras’ could lead to a surge in Covid cases.
Some BJP activists alleged that while the shutters were downed on temples, other places of worship like mosques or churches were allowed to function as the MVA government wanted to appease minorities and threatened to forcibly enter temples.
Maharashtra
Maharashtra: Abu Asim Azmi presents bill in the House against religious hatred and blasphemy, application of MCOCA and UAPA also included in the draft bill

Mumbai: Nagpur Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi presented a private bill in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly against those who spread blasphemy and religious hatred. The bill demands action against hate elements and calls for action under MCOCA and UAPA against those who spread religious hatred, in addition to ten years of imprisonment and a bail of Rs 2 lakh so that sectarians do not get bail and such cases of spreading religious hatred are banned. He told the House that there has been an increase in cases of blasphemy in the country and in such a situation, tension arises in the country. Action should be taken against such elements to maintain law and order. This will be possible only when action is taken against such sectarians who promote a hate agenda under the guise of freedom of expression. He said that the Supreme Court had also issued an order for strict action against hate elements and miscreants and has banned inflammatory and hate speech. In such a situation, Maharashtra The bill has been formally introduced in the House to take action against those who spread religious hatred and incite hatred against important people. The draft bill proposes to register a case against communalists under the section of the MCOCA UAPA, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years, so that such elements cannot be granted bail.
Maharashtra
Mumbai fuel theft gang busted, 13 accused arreste, The gang of thieves had attempted to steal fuel in November

Mumbai: Police claims to have busted a petrol theft gang. The accused were arrested for attempting to steal petrol from BPCL company on November 14 at around 3:30 am under the limits of RCF police station in Mumbai. A complaint was registered for attempting to steal fuel from the underground 18-inch Mumbai Manmade Multi-Product pipeline on Mumbai Gadkari Road. Vinod Devchand Pandit was arrested from Chembur on November 17 on the basis of technical investigation and information from an informant. His investigation revealed that the mastermind of this racket, Riaz Ahmed Ayub (59), Salim Mohammad Ali, Vinod Devchand Pandit had hatched a plan to steal fuel. 13 accused including Gopal Narayan, Mohammad Irfan, Vinay Shashikant, Ahmed Khan Juman Khan, Nishan Jagdish, Mustafa Manzoor, Nasir Shaukat, Imtiaz Asif have been arrested. All these accused have been arrested from various areas. Their arrests were made from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and surrounding areas. This operation was carried out by Additional Commissioner Mahesh Patil and DCP Sameer Sheikh on the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti.
Maharashtra
Vasai-Virar Faces 50,000 Duplicate Entries In Voter Roll; Voters Asked To Choose Single Booth

Virar: More than 50,000 duplicate voters have been found in the Vasai-Virar city area. The Municipal Corporation has published a list of these voters on its website. The Corporation has appealed to those whose names appear in duplicate to visit and vote at any one polling center of their choice and inform the Corporation of their decision in advance.
More than 50,000 duplicate voters were found in the draft voter lists published by the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation. This large number of duplicate entries has created a major conundrum. To resolve this issue, the Election Commission has allowed voters with duplicate names to cast their vote at any single designated polling center.
Accordingly, the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation has published the list of 50,000 duplicate voters on the municipal website. Municipal Commissioner Manoj Kumar Suryawanshi has appealed to these voters to check their names, select one polling center, and vote there.
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