Aaditya Thackeray at the conference in Mumbai on Thursday. (Express Photo by Pradip Das)Mumbai News Live Updates: Maharashtra Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday said that the state government was working on a plan to ensure that a single planning authority governs Mumbai in a year, to be headed by the mayor, who would be given enhanced administrative powers.
Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 231 fresh coronavirus cases and one more death linked to the infection, according to news agency PTI. With this, the state’s overall Covid-19 tally rose to 78,80,074, while the death toll increased to 1,47,851. Mumbai, meanwhile, recorded 139 cases in the last 24 hours, accounting for more than 50 per cent of the new patients in the state.
A day after the Maharashtra unit of the BJP tweeted an edited video of his speech and accused him of being a Hindu-hater, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday said he was reading out lines from a poem which presents the pain of the labourer class, but those who wanted to spread misinformation were free to do so. The @BJP4Maharashtra on Wednesday had tweeted a short video of Pawar’s speech in Satara, claiming that “atheist Sharad Pawar always hated Hindu religion” and he would not have achieved his political success without insulting Hindu gods and goddesses and indulging in casteism.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two aides of gangster Chhota Shakeel from western suburbs of the city for allegedly handling the illegal activities and financial transactions of the crime syndicate controlled by fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, an official said on Friday.
The accused, identified as Arif Abubakar Shaikh (59) and Shabbir Abubakar Shaikh (51), were placed under arrest on Thursday, he said.
'Both of them were apprehended from the western suburbs by an NIA team, which is probing the cases against Dawood Ibrahim's syndicate,' the official said, adding that the duo was closely associated with gangster Chhota Shakeel and were involved in the cartel run by Ibrahim.
Sources said that during the recent raids at multiple locations in Mumbai and Thane, the NIA had picked up many suspects for investigation. (PTI)