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Maharashtra

Maha: Hazare flays, AIMIM ‘dares’ CM, Dy CM to open shops selling wine

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Veteran social crusader Kisan Baburao alias Anna Hazare and the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) have strongly flayed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s decision to permit sale of wine through supermarkets and local grocery shops.

Going a step further, the AIMIM Lok Sabha MP from Aurangabad Syed Imtiaz Jaleel even threatened a ‘Shiv Sena-style’ of agitation if the state government insists on implementing the decision, announced last week.

“I am giving an open challenge to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar or any other ministers to come to Aurangabad and inaugurate the wine counter in a supermarket or shop. We shall strongly oppose and break it down if necessary. I will take full responsibility for this,” an aggressive Jaleel told mediapersons.

In Ahmednagar, Hazare issued a statement condemning the MVA decision as “unfortunate” and how it is “detrimental to public interest”.

He claimed that as per the Constitution, it is the duty of the government to discourage addiction of any types, including drugs and alcohol, and to create awareness about these, but it was sad to see how alcohol and addiction are being junked for getting financial gains.

Hazare pointed out how in the recent past, the state government had slashed the excise duty on liquors by 50 per cent, from 300 per cent to 150 per cent with the revenue expected to rise by increased sales.

“This means that even if the people of the state become alcoholics and get ruined, the government will insist on hiking its revenues… It’s indeed unfortunate how the government is giving priority to revenues although the masses are opposed to the move,” rued Hazare.

Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis had attacked the government decision, terming it as “MVA’s special love for the liquor industry”, and vowed that he would not permit Maharashtra to become a ‘madya-rashtra’ (wine-state).

In a significant step, the MVA government on January 27 decided to allow all supermarkets and walk-in stores with a minimum area of 1000 sq. feet sale wine through a shelf-in-shop, with certain restrictions and levies, ostensibly in the interest of the farmers, in the country’s premier wine-producing state.

The state government’s move came barely days after adjoining Madhya Pradesh also permitted liquor sales at all its airports, select supermarkets in four major cities and issuing home bar licences to those earning Rs 1 crore or more annually.

Maharashtra

Mumbai bus travel becomes more expensive, fares increase

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SOURCE: FREE PRESS JUORNAL

Mumbai : Mumbai citizens have been hit by inflation ahead of the BMC elections. The fare hike for BEST buses has been approved. An additional fare of twice the fare will be implemented from today, which will now mean that BEST passengers will have to pay an additional fare, which will affect the pockets of the passengers. The BEST administration has decided to implement the new fare from May 9. The fare has been increased for distances of 5, 10, and 20 kilometers.

The fare for a distance of 5 kilometers has been doubled. The fare for a distance of 5 kilometers has been increased from Rs 6 to Rs 12. No concession has been given in the fare for a 12-year-old child. The daily pass was previously Rs 60, but now the new fare has been increased to Rs 75. The monthly pass is from Rs 900 to Rs 1,800. The facility of Chalo Bus Pass has been provided for children of the Municipal Corporation. The increase in bus fares and tickets in Mumbai has put a burden on the pockets of the citizens. Shared taxis and auto rickshaws are also operated in Mumbai city and its suburbs, but due to the fare, many passengers are unable to pay for these shared means of transport and travel by buses.

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Maharashtra

The verdict in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case will be announced on July 31

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Mumbai: The verdict in the September 29, 2008 bomb blast in Malegaon will be pronounced on July 31. BJP leader and former MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt. Col. Srikant Prasad Purohit, former Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Swami Dayanand Pandey, Ajay Rahirkar, and Sameer Kulkarni are accused of being involved in illegal activities. A bomb was planted in Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur’s scooter, after which the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested 13 accused in the case and charged 7 accused. The hearing of the Malegaon bomb blast will be completed in April. The verdict was expected to be pronounced today, but the court gave the reason that more than one lakh pages are under study and therefore the matter has been adjourned till July 31.

A bomb blast in a scooter at Bhakko Chowk killed 7 people and injured 100. In this case, ATS Chief Hemant Karkare investigated and MCOCA was also applied to the accused, but this investigation was later handed over to the NIA in 2011. The NIA has sought death penalty for the accused in this case. Statements of 223 witnesses were recorded in this case and 23 witnesses defected in the court, including 8 witnesses from the army and defense department. The court has ordered all the accused to be present on July 31 and if anyone is absent, action will be taken against him. The court will pronounce its verdict in this case only on July 31 because the hearing of the case has been completed and the court has also reserved its verdict.

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Maharashtra

Digital Rakshak secures money of five complainants who were scammed in the name of Digital Arrest

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Mumbai: Five complainants who were scammed on social media in the name of digital arrest through the Mumbai Police’s Digital Rakshak (Digital Protector) have been protected by the Digital Rakshak. In Mumbai, CBI, ED and police officers send notices on social media and WhatsApp in the name of Digital Arrest, demanding huge money for video calling in the name of investigation and saving them from the case in the name of investigation. Accordingly, Mumbai Police has developed the Digital Rakshak app. The complaint of five victim complainants was processed on this helpline. In Mumbai’s Chembur area, a video call was made to an elderly person on social media calling him Digital Arrest and it was said that he had huge money in his bank account and his documents, Aadhaar card and PAN card were used in illegal activities.

The caller on the call told the elderly person that he was a CBI officer and demanded money without disconnecting the video call. During this, the victim When the daughter entered the house, she found her father scared and then she asked her father why he was scared. On this, the father told her that it was a call from a CBI officer and that he had transferred money in this matter. After that, the victim contacted the Mumbai Police’s Digital Rakshak helpline and then informed the police about this notice. After that, it was confirmed that this notice was prepared by the CBI and ED by creating a fake notice and sending it on WhatsApp. The police have resolved five cases of digital arrest and have appealed to the citizens that no security agency does digital arrest and neither is investigation done on WhatsApp, so be careful of such elements.

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