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Maharashtra

Mosques Turn To Low-Volume Tech And Mobile Apps For Azaan Amid Noise Rule Enforcement

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Mumbai: With mosques adopting new ways to summon the faithful for prayers after the enforcement of noise levels on loudspeakers, the sound of the azaan, or call to prayers, in Mumbai has become fainter.

Yusuf Ansari, who has an office in Govandi, said he cannot hear the azaan from the Madina Mosque, which is just 100 metres away. The mosque has replaced the loudspeakers with sound boxes that have lower volumes. The police commissioner of Mumbai has said that loudspeakers have been removed from 1500 mosques and other religious institutions to comply with the Bombay High Court’s directions.

After the enforcement of the noise rules, mosques that used loudspeakers to call devotees for the five daily prayers said they are adapting to the new requirements. While many have subscribed to mobile applications that allow mosques to send a live broadcast of the azaans on their phones, others are using sound equipment with sound levels below the legal limit. 

Bilal Mosque on Maulana Shaukat Ali Road (Grant Road), one of the largest mosques in the city, said the shrine is planning to buy new sound equipment that have noise levels lower than 55 dB (decibels) during the day, the legally permissible upper limit according to the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000. Aslam Lakha, mosque trustee, said that they are using microphones inside the mosque for prayers, but have stopped using loudspeakers for azaan. 

“The ban on loudspeakers has affected us, but we will have to follow the law. The trust is meeting to decide the next step. There is sound equipment that features noise levels up to 54 dB. We will install that,” said Lakha, who thanked the Mumbai police commissioner for handling the issue with sensitivity. “We have been told that we will have permission to use loudspeakers for festivals.”

Mahim’s Bismillah Mosque, one of the first to employ a mobile application that helps mosques play their azaans live to subscribers, recently shifted from a New York-based service to an app developed in India called ‘OnlineAzan’. Trustee of the mosque, Moinuddin Ali, said that around 225 people have subscribed to the mosque’s live azaans. “We also have our sound equipment, but adjust the noise to meet legal requirements,” said Ali.

The largest mosque in Mahim, the Juma Masjid, has registered with the same app. Till Monday, around 1200 devotees had subscribed to the service. Fahad Pathan, the mosque’s managing trustee, said that they preferred to subscribe to the Indian app after concerns about data stored in the service. “People were concerned about where their personal phone numbers and other data were going. This app is free and is financed by a Tirunelveli-based philanthropist,” said Pathan.

The meticulous registration process for the app means that data on the app is less likely to be misused. “Another feature is that the app only provides a live azaan service from the mosque of your choice. There are no advertisements or other services. You can leave one mosque and move to one closer when you are traveling,” added Pathan.

The enforcement of the noise rules created friction between the police and the Muslim community, with the former being accused of acting arbitrarily without warnings. A few residents of the city have filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court, seeking relaxation in the rules. Ansari’s Hazrat Khwaja Garib Nawaz Maharashtra Committee has collected 40,000 signatures from Muslims who want lenient rules. “We are also hoping that the Bombay High Court listens to the petition filed by community members,” said Lakha.

Maharashtra

Net Paper Leak: Gujarat connection Rohit Pawar’s new claim, politics intensified after tweet on X, paper leak revealed three days before exam paper

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Mumbai: Even after the protest of the Cockroach Janata Party at Delhi Jantar Mantar and the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, new revelations have started in the case of the Net paper leak. A sensational summary and explosion regarding the paper leak has been made by NCP Sharad Pawar group leader and MLA Rohit Pawar. Rohit Pawar has alleged in a tweet on X that the paper leak is connected to Gujarat because the NET re-exam paper was delivered to Gujarat three days ago and the paper was leaked from Gujarat. Rohit Pawar’s tweet on X has once again caused a stir. Rohit Pawar has written on X that the NET paper was leaked three days ago. This is news. It should be clarified. I have all the documents, links and WhatsApp chats related to this. Regarding this, Rohit Pawar has also shared a copy of an email on Twitter X, in which he has demanded an investigation into the entire matter, in which all the documents are also mentioned. On one hand, there is a ruckus in Parliament during the discussion on the Paper Leak Reforms Bill, and on the other hand, Rohit Pawar has made an explosive revelation regarding the leak of the NET paper that was being re-conducted, after which politics has also intensified in this matter.

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International News

UPI now accepted for online bookings at Burj Khalifa in UAE

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New Delhi, July 29: Indian travellers can now use the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to make online bookings for At the Top, Burj Khalifa, with the iconic attraction becoming the first in the UAE to accept the payment system for e-commerce transactions, NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) said on Wednesday.

The international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said the launch of the facility is in partnership with NEOPAY and Emaar Entertainment.

The move enables Indian visitors to book tickets and experiences at the world’s tallest building through the attraction’s official website using UPI-enabled payment apps before travelling to the UAE.

The latest integration builds on NIPL’s existing partnership with NEOPAY.

Since the introduction of QR code-based UPI merchant payments in the UAE in 2022, Indian travellers have been able to use UPI for payments at merchants across NEOPAY’s network. With the new rollout, UPI acceptance has now been extended to online bookings.

“Indian travellers are increasingly seeking payment experiences that are simple, familiar and seamless when they travel abroad. By enabling UPI acceptance for online bookings at At the Top, Burj Khalifa, we are making it easier for them to use a payment method they know and trust while planning their visit, even before they arrive in the UAE,” said Ritesh Shukla, Managing Director and CEO of NPCI International.

According to the company, the initiative addresses the growing demand for convenient and trusted cross-border digital payments while strengthening the digital payments bridge between India and the UAE.

Vibhor Mundhada, CEO of NEOPAY, said the integration marked a significant milestone in digital commerce between the two countries and made NEOPAY the first company in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region to enable UPI acceptance for e-commerce transactions.

An Emaar Entertainment spokesperson said the introduction of UPI for online bookings would make the customer journey simpler and more convenient for Indian visitors, who constitute one of the attraction’s largest international visitor segments.

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Maharashtra

Rising operational costs, payment delays sink 1.2 lakh MSMEs: Shiv Sena(UBT) in ‘Saamana’

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Mumbai, July 29: The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Wednesday, citing the Central government’s data presented in the Lok Sabha, said that in the last three years more than 1.25 lakh industries and factories in the country have shut down. Hundreds of thousands of young people have lost their jobs.

The Thackeray camp, in an editorial in the party’s mouthpiece, ‘Saamana’, claimed that this has completely exposed and stripped bare the government’s claims of bringing in thousands of crores in foreign investment and generating lakhs of jobs by establishing thousands of new industries.

“A sob story of industries — closing the old and starting the new — has been unfolding in the country for the last 12 years. Under a regime that fills the minds of youth with religious fanaticism instead of placing jobs in their hands, what else could possibly happen?” it asked.

The editorial said that, as per government data, a total of 1,21,805 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) units closed operations between 2024 and 2026. The MSME sector is widely regarded as the backbone of the Indian economy, serving as the second-largest employer after agriculture and contributing significantly to national exports. Despite its critical role, the rate of unit closures has seen a continuous upward trajectory over the past decade.

The shutdown of MSME units has hit several industrial states severely. Maharashtra recorded the highest number of closures, with 28,764 units shutting down. Tamil Nadu stood second with 14,176 unit closures. Gujarat reported 11,150 closed units. Rajasthan saw 9,881 MSME units permanently cease operations. These figures contradict the official claims regarding massive foreign investment inflows and large-scale job creation through new industrial ventures, noted the editorial.

According to the editorial, over the past 10 years, the government made available over Rs 35 lakh crore in loans to support startups and operations in the micro, small, and medium enterprise sector. However, business owners have struggled against mounting market challenges, rising operational costs, and persistent procedural bottlenecks. “Key factors contributing to early-stage business failure include inadequate or delayed access to bank credit at reasonable interest rates, prolonged payment delays from large corporations for supplied goods and bureaucratic delays in releasing payments owed by government departments,” remarked the Thackeray camp.

While state leaders and central ministers frequently engage in global outreach, including events like the World Economic Forum in Davos, to attract new industrial setups, critics point out a lack of concrete measures to revive ailing existing units, argued the editorial.

Citing the Maharashtra case, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena said that while the state registered over 75 lakh new enterprises over the last three years, it simultaneously lost more than 28,000 existing MSME units. “The absence of targeted rehabilitation programmes for sick industrial units continues to lead to rising Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) for banks and sudden job losses for young workers across the country,” it commented.

The editorial claimed that no measures are being taken at the government level to support them, rebuild them, or revive these sick industries. Due to this “fend for yourself” policy, not only are small industries sinking, but bank loans are defaulting, and the livelihoods of thousands of young people working there are suddenly snatched away.

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