Maharashtra

Mumbai, Mar 21 (PTI) Commercial establishments, corporate firms and manufacturing units in neighbouring Navi Mumbai will remain closed till further orders to promote social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, an official said.

Data centres, IT service providers will operate with only 10 per cent staff, while banks, insurance companies and internet service providers will function with essential staff only, he said.

Mumbai, Mar 19 (PTI) The Food and Drugs Administration personnel raided a hand sanitiser manufacturing unit in suburban Nahur and seized substandard sanitisers worth Rs 25 lakh, officials said.

The sanitisers were manufactured illegally and were being exported without any valid licence and necessary permissions, officials said on Wednesday.

Mumbai, Mar 19 (PTI) Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani on Thursday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in Mumbai in connection with a money-laundering probe against Yes Bank promoter Rana Kapoor and others, officials said.

The agency is expected to record the statement of Ambani under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The 60-year-old businessman arrived at the ED office in Ballard Estate around 9:30 am.

Kolhapur, Mar 19 (PTI) As a precaution against the coronavirus epidemic, under-trial prisoners at Kalamba Jail in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district will not be sent to the courts in person but will `appear' through video-conference.

With the state recording the highest number of coronavirus patients in the country so far, the government is stressing the need to curtail unnecessary traveling.

Mumbai, Mar 18 (PTI) Equity benchmark Sensex plunged over 1,709 points on Wednesday as talks of stimulus measures to cushion the economic blow of the Covid-19 pandemic failed to cheer markets across the globe.

The BSE barometer swung over 2,488.72 points in a highly volatile session, before ending 1,709.58 points or 5.59 per cent lower at 28,869.51.

Thane, Mar 18 (PTI) A case was registered on Wednesday against the owner of a furniture shop at Bhiwandi in Thane district for issuing a misleading advertisement which claimed that mattresses sold at his shop cure the coronavirus.

The accused, whose name was not disclosed by the police, owns two furniture showrooms in Bhiwandi.

Mumbai, Mar 16 (PTI) The Indian rupee continued its downward spiral and plunged 50 paise to 74.25 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday as concern over the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic outweighed the US Fed's emergency interest rate cut and the RBI's liquidity enhancing measures.

Forex traders said the fall in the domestic unit was in line with other Asian peers amid mounting fears of a coronavirus-led economic slowdown.

Gadchiroli, Mar 16 (PTI) Security personnel defused a landmine in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra following a gun-battle with Naxals and averted a major tragedy, police said on Monday.

The landmine was unearthed on Sunday in jungles in the Bodmeta area by a joint team of the Gadchiroli police and the CRPF, they said.

Mumbai, Mar 16 (PTI) A sessions court here on Monday issued a bailable warrant against BJP MLA Nitesh Rane and another accused for their alleged involvement in a riot outside a hotel in Worli in 2014.

There are 16 accused in the case, most of whom have been arrested. Rane was not with the BJP when the incident took place.

Mumbai, Mar 17 (PTI) Veteran devotional singer Anup Jalota on Tuesday said he is in isolation at a Mumbai hotel as a preventive measure in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 66-year-old singer, who was in Europe for a concert, landed in Mumbai early morning today, was soon taken to a hotel in suburban Andheri.