General
Mandaviya reviews preparedness of states against Covid
In view of recent Covid surge across many countries, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday virtually reviewed the public health preparedness for management of Covid-19 and Covid-19 vaccination progress with States Health Ministers.
Health Minister referred to the message of Prime Minister from the high level review meeting held yesterday and advised States to be on the alert and keep all preparedness for Covid-19 management.
“Centre and States need to work in tandem and in a collaborative spirit as was done during the previous surges for Covid-19 prevention and management,” Mandaviya told the state health ministers.
Union Minister of State for Health Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar and Dr V.K. Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog were also present in the virtual meeting.
Mandaviya urged the states to strengthen the surveillance system for whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variants through Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network to ensure timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country.
Focus is to be given to health facility-based sentinel surveillance; pan-respiratory virus surveillance; community-based surveillance; and sewage/ wastewater surveillance.
Mandaviya said that irrespective of the new Covid variants, ‘Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate & Adherence to Covid Appropriate Behaviour’ continue to remain the tested strategy for Covid management.
This would facilitate undertaking of appropriate public health measures, he said.
States/UTs were also requested to expeditiously increase the rate of testing from the current rate of 79 tests per million, as on week ending December 22. They were further advised to increase the share of RT-PCR in tests.
The Health Minister advised the states/UTs to ramp up vaccination of all eligible population, especially of the elderly and vulnerable population group.
He cautioned against spreading of misinformation by ensuring dissemination of factually correct information in a timely manner.
In view of the upcoming festive season, he stressed on the importance of public awareness campaigns regarding adherence to Covid Appropriate Behaviour.
Mandaviya requested the state health ministers to personally monitor and review the preparedness of all infrastructure and ensure there is adequate stock of essential medicines.
Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangaswamy; Manik Saha, Chief Minister and Health Minister, Tripura; Manoj Sinha, Lt. Governor, Jammu & Kashmir; Parsadi Lal Meena, Health Minister (Rajasthan); Dhan Singh Rawat, Health Minister (Uttarakhand); Keshab Mahanta, Health Minister (Assam); K Sudhakar, Health Minister (Karnataka); Banna Gupta, Health Minister (Jharkhand); Prabhuram Choudhury, Health Minister (Madhya Pradesh); S Chetan Singh Jauramajra, Health Minister (Punjab); TS Singh Deo, Health Minister (Chhattisgarh); Sapam Ranjan Singh, Health Minister (Manipur); Anil Vij, Health Minister (Haryana); Thiru Ma Subramanian, Health Minister (Tamil Nadu); Vidadala Rajini, Health Minister (Andhra Pradesh); Veena George, Health Minister (Kerala); Chandrima Bhattacharya, Health Minister (West Bengal) and Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister (Delhi) joined the high-level review meeting here on Friday.
Maharashtra
40 rain shelters, 08 unauthorized shops, 30 hawkers, 06 vehicular paths removed, joint action by ‘T’, ‘S’ and ‘N’ departments of Mumbai Municipal Corporation

The Mumbai Municipal Corporation is implementing the ‘Pedestrian First’ campaign in the Mumbai region (Mumbai city and suburbs). Under this, 40 rain shelters, 08 unauthorized shops and 30 hawkers obstructing footpaths were removed today (August 11, 2026) in the Milind area. This action was taken jointly by the ‘T’, ‘S’ and ‘N’ divisions of the Municipal Corporation. As per the directions of the High Court, the Mumbai Municipal Corporation under the guidance of Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide is effectively implementing the ‘Pedestrian First’ campaign to immediately remove unauthorized hawkers and encroachments on footpaths and to make the footpaths free from obstructions.
In this regard, a joint campaign was conducted under the leadership of Assistant Commissioner (T Division) under the guidance of Deputy Commissioner (Zone-6) Santosh Kumar Dhonde. Assistant Commissioner (S Division) Samrin Syed, Assistant Commissioner (N Division) Jaideep More
The operation was carried out in the areas of Ram Ratan Trivedi Marg, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Sivaram Lalwani Marg, Ratanji Hirji Bhograj Marg, Jhaveer Marg and Ganesh Gawde Marg as well as Lokmanya Tilak Marg (West) in the ‘T’ zone of the Municipal Corporation. In this, 40 rain shelters built on the footpaths, 08 unauthorized shops, 30 hawkers and 06 carriageways that were obstructing the footpaths were removed. Apart from this, the material obstructing the footpaths was also seized.
The operation was carried out with the help of 10 vehicles, 05 dumpers, 05 JCBs and other equipment along with 13 secondary engineers, 07 licensing inspectors, 66 workers working in Zone 6. Adequate police security was deployed at that time.
Meanwhile, the municipal administration is committed to providing barrier-free and easy footpaths for pedestrians. However, no one should create obstacles on the footpath or carry out unauthorized constructions. The municipal administration is telling that strict action will be taken if this happens.
Maharashtra
Mumbai Mankhurd ATM card fraud two accused arrested

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police has claimed to have arrested two accused who committed fraud by changing ATM cards. On August 5, the complainant had gone to the ATM center at Mangal Murthy Junction to withdraw money. While withdrawing money from the ATM, an unknown person standing behind her saw the PIN of the card. After that, she cleverly changed the ATM rod and withdrew Rs 19,000. The police have registered a case of fraud in this matter and started investigating it. The police had seen three suspicious people from the CCTV footage of the scene who were found withdrawing money from the ATM card. After that, the police identified the accused with the help of CCTV footage. Later, they were arrested. The accused have been identified as Qasim Ali Barkat Ali, 30, and Parvez Akbar Ali Sheikh, 38, both residents of Kalyan. The police are investigating further regarding both of them. Along with this, the police are also finding out how many people they have cheated before. This action was taken by DCP Sameer Sheikh on the instructions of Additional Commissioner Dhananjay Kulkarni.
Maharashtra
7 accused arrested in cyber fraud case of over Rs 1 crore in Mumbai

Mumbai: The Cyber Police Station has claimed to have solved the mystery of a cyber crime in which the complainant was threatened with digital arrest on WhatsApp from April 2 to April 18, 2026, and was involved in a money laundering case and was defrauded of Rs 16.74 crore online by sending fake electronic documents. During the technical investigation, the police have arrested 7 accused, identified as Sanjay Hiralal, 57, who used to generate OTPs, the 32-year-old female accused used to hide the fraudulent money, Rishi Ramchandra Meena, 38, who used to transfer the fraudulent money to bank accounts, Naushad Ali, 31, who digitally arrested the complainant and the victim and worked in this gang digitally, Muhammad Khalid Hafeezuddin Saif, 27, a digital expert, Jogesh Mehta, 43, and Zubair Hussain, 27, who helped them deposit the fraudulent money in their accounts. 613 mobile phones, 2 laptops, 5 digital sign devices were recovered from the possession of the accused. SIM cards of several companies, 10 cheque books, 2 passbooks and 2 ATM cards have been seized. DCP Bajrang Bansode told the press conference that there is no such thing as digital arrest and in such a situation, do not keep in touch on unknown social media accounts. If someone threatens digital arrest, do not believe them.
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