There is a need to revive over 30,000 sick MSME units in Maharashtra as the sector is one of the largest contributors to the state’s GDP, Industries Minister Subhash Desai said.

“There are over 30,000 such sick units in the state and we want to revive them. My government’s focus is to give an impetus to the MSME sector, which is the largest contributor to the state’s GDP,” Desai said at Maharashtra Industry Summit.

He said these units are shut due to various reasons, including financial, lack of technological support or internal structural issues, but there is a need to revive them as they are the backbone of the state’s overall development.

“Make in Maharashtra programme will not be successful till MSME sector grows. And to give a boost to it, we are trying innovative ways like bringing on board industry players, educational institutes, engineering graduates and experts in the field to assist these industries to revive their businesses,” he said.

The Minister added that he will convene a meeting next week with them to find a solution for reviving the units.

He urged the banks to also come forward to provide financial assistance to MSMEs.

“We, along with SIDBI, have set up a Rs 200 crore venture capital fund to provide easy financing options to MSMEs. The government will contribute Rs 75 crore towards the fund,” Desai said.

He added that apart from SIDBI, other nationalised banks, including SBI and IDBI, have also shown keen interest in assisting these MSMEs.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra has also decided to come up with a dedicated industrial policy for MSMEs to provide them all the necessary incentives and facilities for setting up their businesses in the state.

A 35-year-old man from Thane west has been arrested for duping people on OLX website. OLX is an online classifieds platform for used goods to be bought and sold. A man identified as Satpalsingh Jagmohansingh Waliya was who hails from Thane was held for duping people online.

The man used to approach car sellers online pretending to be a potential buyer interested in the proposal of the used goods. He would then take them into confidence and take the car on some false pretext. Walliya would then pose as a seller to other people and show them the car. He would then take the token money and convince them into depositing the rest money into bank account and then flee with the deposited money.

Satpalsingh Jagmohansingh Waliya has duped around three to four people in similar fashion. The joint commissioner of police crime, mentioned that a complaint about similar incident was registered against the man. He would visit the OLX website pretend to be a buyer and take the car under false pretense only to pose as a seller to other people and dupe them by fleeing with their money without closing any deal.

The police suspect multiple cases of such fraud against Satpalsingh Jagmohansingh Waliya. When the police came to know about such incident, they set a trap to arrest the person who was duping people online. The police arrested the man near the Crawford market. The Mulund Police station is seeking Waliya after a complaint was received against him for duping a person in return for Swift Desire car. He would be now handed over to the Mulund police.

As many as 15 employees of the Local Body Tax (LBT) department of the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC) were suspended for alleged dereliction of duty by the municipal commissioner.

The order issued by the Ulhasnagar municipal commissioner, Manohar Hire, stated that the said employees were responsible for low collection of LBT in the corporation, and hence were being suspended.

The order further stated that the action was being taken as despite repeated instructions, there was no result, hence leading to losses for the corporation.

The Maharashtra Minister of State for Urban Development, Ranjit Patil, had recently directed the municipal commissioner to investigate the issue and take action.

A Gas agency worker has been arrested for allegedly raping a woman while three others on charges of threatening the victim, police said.
Madhav Jadhav, 37, who works with a Gas agency in Kasarwadavali area allegedly raped the victim, 40, also a resident of same area, on few occasions since 2011, Sub- inspector of Kasarwadavali Police Station Rupali Patil said.

Quoting the complaint lodged by the victim yesterday, the officer said Jadhav had first raped her in 2011 at her house.

The victim, who works as a domestic maid, was also allegedly raped by Jadhav later at a lodge and he also took victim’s obscene pictures.

He, along with three others identified as — Kondiba Gudme (52), Damo Wankhede (59) and Nitin Gaikwad (29), who takes runs private tutions — started threatening the victim that they will reveal the pictures to her husband and children if she disclosed about the rape.

Following the complaint, Jadhav, Gudme, Wankhede and Gaikwad were apprehended last night.

The four have been booked under IPC sections 504 (intentional insult), 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) rw 34, while Jadhav was also charged with offence under Section 376 (rape) of IPC.

A city-based builder allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself, apparently because he was fed up with government’s regulations and problems being faced by realty developers, police said.

The incident occurred this afternoon when builder Suraj Parmar, who was also the Thane unit President of Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry, was at a construction site office of his company, located within the limits of the Kasarwadavali Police Station.

Parmar fired a bullet from his revolver on his head following which he collapsed. He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead, Police PRO Gajanan Kabdule said.

According to police, a tablet PC has been recovered from Parmar’s office in which he has listed reasons for taking the extreme step.

In a note on the PC, the 48-year-old builder has cited reasons like government’s numerous regulations for housing sector and problems being faced by realty developers, among others, for ending his life, police said.

Maharashtra Development Forum (MDF), will be formed in New York by a group of NRIs, originally from the state, to assist government to initiate welfare measures for drought-hit farmers and kin of those who have committed suicide.

Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Ranjit Patil, who was in New York recently, said he interacted with about 30 prominent professionals from different sectors hailing from Maharashtra. The interaction took place at the residence of Consul General of India Dnyaneshwar Mulay.

“They wanted to be part of the development process back home and help drought-hit farmers. But were not sure how to utilise their money. I suggested that they set up a Maharashtra Development Forum and dedicate one day every week to discuss means to raise a corpus fund for welfare measures of farmers,” he said.

“I suggested they can adopt families or children of farmers who have committed suicide and fund their education,” Patil said.

The minister said the General Administration Department (GAD) has a separate social development desk with a dedicated IAS officer.

“The corpus from NRIs can be routed for farmers welfare through the official machinery. This desk can be trustee of the corpus fund and co-ordinate with MDF,” he added.

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday sought to know from a Special Investigating Team (SIT) of state CID what steps it has taken to arrest 2009 Goa blast accused Rudra Patil, an alleged member of right wing group Sanatan Sanstha and prime suspect in the murder of social activist Govind Pansare.

A division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Rajesh Ketkar directed the SIT to file a report stating steps taken by it to apprehend Patil by October 20. The direction was passed after the bench was informed that Sameer Gaikwad of Sanatan Sanstha, who was arrested recently in the Pansare murder case, was a friend of Patil. The court also directed CBI, which is probing the murder of another rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, to submit its investigation report by October 20.

The bench was hearing petitions filed by the kin of Dabholkar and Pansare seeking the High Court to monitor the probe. Both the agencies today submitted confidential reports to the court. After perusing the SIT’s report, Justice More said “the report is silent on what steps have been taken to arrest Rudra Patil.”

The court also expressed displeasure over the state’s failure to appoint a special public prosecutor in the case and said “it is really sorry state of affairs that in such sensitive cases special public prosecutors are not appointed.” Calling for fresh probe reports by October 20, the bench said “we want to satisfy ourselves that investigation is moving in the proper direction.”

The Bombay High Court today said it would take a decision on October 9 on a plea by German Bakery blast convict Himayat Baig, seeking transfer from Nagpur jail to a prison here or a nearby town.

The Maharashtra government, in a reply to the plea, said it would inform the court on October 9 whether it was feasible to shift Baig to Mumbai Central Prison at Arthur Road here.

A division bench of justices Naresh Patil and S B Shukre, currently hearing the case to confirm the death sentence awarded to Baig by the trial court, fixed Friday to hear the plea. The lone convict in the 2010 blast in Pune has also filed an appeal against the lower court’s verdict.

Currently lodged in Nagpur Central Prison, Baig is hearing proceedings through video conference.

In his plea, sent through the jail, Baig contended that he would like to personally attend the Bombay High Court proceedings so that he can interact with his lawyers. Hence, he said may be shifted to some prison in or around Mumbai.

A sessions court in 2013 sentenced Baig to death for his role in the bomb blast inside the iconic bakery in Pune on February 13, 2010 that killed 17 people, including five foreign nationals, and injured 58 others.