The incident took place on Saturday, the police official said, adding that the reason behind the attack was not yet known.

AURANGABAD:A woman has died after her boyfriend allegedly threw acid on her and tried to set her ablaze in Maharashtra’s Beed district, a police official said on Sunday.

accused has been arrested and directions have been issued to try the case in a fast track court”.

Night that the accused, identified as Avinash Rajure (25), has been nabbed in Nanded.

The incident took place on Saturday, the police official said, adding that the reason behind the attack was not yet known.

The woman, originally hailing from Shelgaon in Nanded district, was travelling from Pune to her native place along with the accused, he said.

They took a halt at a lonely spot at Yalamb Ghat in Beed where the accused allegedly attacked the woman with acid and later tried set her on fire by dousing her in petrol, another official from Neknur police station in Beed said.

The accused then fled from the spot, he said.

The woman was later taken to a hospital where she died, the official said.

The victim’s age was not specified by police.

“The incident took place around 3 am on Saturday and the police came to know about it in the afternoon. We took her to a hospital around 2 pm,” the official said.

“We took a statement of the woman on Saturday, but she didn’t tell anything about why she was attacked. She later died. A police team is going to the hospital to get further information,” the official said.

The Nanded police have also been alerted and teams have been sent out to nab the accused, he said.

A case has been registered Indian Penal Code Sections section 326A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid ,etc) and 307 (attempt to murder), the official said.

Places of worship geared up to re-open in Maharashtra from Monday with all SOPs in place for devotees visiting them amidst the Covid pandemic.

MUMBAI: Places of worship geared up to re-open in Maharashtra from Monday with all SOPs in place for devotees visiting them amidst the Covid pandemic. As per the Standard Operating Procedures  released by the Maharashtra government, religious places located out of COVID-19 containment zones will be allowed to remain open as per the timings decided by authorities, and devotees will be allowed inside in a staggered manner.

Face masks will be mandatory for devotees along with social distancing protocols. Earlier this year, all major organisers of the state’s biggest festival Ganeshotsav cancelled their celebrations and even the iconic Mohammed Ali Road street-food market remained shut during Ramzan due to Covid.

Sai Baba Temple in Shirdi, Dadgusheth Halwai Ganpati Temple in Pune are among the places of worship that will be opened for the people. “Devotees won’t be allowed to offer elaborate prayers. Only ‘darshan’ with COVID protocols permissible,” said a temple trust member of the Dadgusheth Ganpati temple. 

Similarly, the Shirdi Trust will only allow 6,000 devotees per day. Devotees can apply online for the ‘darshan’ besides the usual tokens from the counter. People above the age of 65 year and children below 10 will not be allowed entry, the Shirdi trust said.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government’s decision to reopen places of religious worship was neither a victory nor defeat of anybody. “The SOPs drafted by the government need to be followed strictly. There is no need to take credit. It was God’s will that people stay at home, and now it is God’s will that places of worship reopen with precautions,” Raut said. The BJP and various socio-religious outfits had been demanding that the government reopens places of worship for the devotees. 

Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya has alleged there were multiple land deals between Uddhav Thackeray’s wife Rashmi and Anvay Naik who allegedly committed suicide on May 5, 2018.

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Friday said allegations of land deals between the families of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the late Anvay Naik were attempts to change the direction of probe into the suicide of the Alibaug-based interior designe

The ruling party’s chief spokesperson, Sanjay Raut, hit out at the BJP and singled out for criticism its former MP Kirit Somaiya, who made claims of land deals between the two families on Wednesday and sought a probe.

Further lashing out at the main opposition party, Raut said, “We will ensure that the BJP remains out of power for 25 years in Maharashtra.”

Talking to reporters, Raut lost his cool and referred to the BJP as “shethji party” and called Somaiya a “vyapari” (traders).

“Spokespersons of the shethji party/traders are not ready to speak about a Marathi woman being widowed (referring to interior designer Anvay Naik’s wife).

“She and her daughter are crying for justice and when we are trying to ensure that they get justice, these people are making allegations to divert direction of the probe into the suicide. This is a serious matter,” said Raut, hitting out at the Sena’s former ally.

A land deal between the two families was done legally in 2014, the Rajya Sabha MP claimed.

“Is he (Somaiya) having a problem that a Marathi person did the deal,” he said, adding no matter what the Sena-led MVA government will last its full term (till 2024).

“We will ensure that the BJP sits out of power for 25 years in Maharashtra.

Our stand is to give justice to the family of Anvay Naik and punish those legally who forced him to take the extreme step of ending his life,” Raut said.

“Shethji’s party wants to protect the accused,” the Sena leader said in an apparent reference to TV journalist Arnab Goswami, who along with two others, has been charged with abetting the suicide of Anvay Naik and his mother over non-payment of dues by their companies.

“What 21 deals is he (Somaiya) talking about? Show me even five. There was one transaction which was absolutely legal,” Raut aid.

Asked about the demand for a probe by the Enforcement Directorate into the alleged land deals, Raut shot back, “Why only ED let there be a probe by the CBI. Go to Interpol, FBI, KGB, Interpol and the United Nations.”

Somaiya has alleged there were multiple land deals between Uddhav Thackeray’s wife Rashmi and Anvay Naik who allegedly committed suicide on May 5, 2018.

“How are you linked to the accused. Don’t you have any concern for the mother-son duo who ended their lives?” Raut asked, targeting the former BJP Member of Parliament.

Consultancy firm ANAROCK estimates that the sector is likely to face a revenue loss of Rs 90,000 crore in 2020

Hotels, restaurantsFor representational purposesBy Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, occupancy levels for hotels in India continue to remain at rock bottom. According to JLL’s Hotel Momentum India (HMI) report, the Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) across 11 markets crashed by a whopping 70-90 per cent in the April-June 2020 period compared to the previous year.

This RevPAR value has falled 52.8 per cent year-on-year in the January to September 2020 period.

In terms of individual markets, Mumbai continues to be the RevPAR leader despite a decline of 71.7 per cent year-on-year in April-June 2020, whereas Bengaluru saw the sharpest decline in RevPAR at 88.1 per cent decline compared to the same period of the previous year. Other markets such as Pune (86.2 per cent), Kolkata (82.6 per cent) and Goa (78.8 per cent) also witnessed sharp declines in RevPAR, according to the report.

Consultancy firm ANAROCK estimates that the sector is likely to face a revenue loss of Rs 90,000 crore in 2020. Hotel occupancy, it noted, has only improved from approximately 10 per cent in April 2020 to 26 per cent in September 2020.

“Saying that COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on the hotels sector in India is putting it mildly… Occupancy and average daily rate (ADR) are expected to reach pre-COVID levels by 2022 and 2023 respectively – assuming that a vaccine is in place by early 2021 and becomes widely available before the end of the year,” said Mandeep Lamba, President (South Asia) HVS Anarock.

The consultant also added that while over 11,500 rooms were expected to be added to supplies over 2020 and 2021, only 15-20 per cent of the anticipated 2020 supply is likely to come into the market, with the rest being postponed to 2021 and beyond.

It said that some properties are likely to be repurposed to other asset classes such as hospitals, student housing and co-living.