
Central team to monitor Zika situation in Maharashtra
The Hindu
Case reported in Pune recently, says Health Ministry
The Union Health Ministry has rushed a multidisciplinary team to Maharahstra to monitor the Zika virus situation and support the State government in management of Zika cases. “A case of Zika has been reported in Pune district recently,” a Ministry release said on Monday. The three-member Central team consists of a public health expert from the office of the Regional Director, Pune; a gynecologist from the Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi; and an entomologist from the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), ICMR, New Delhi.
In , the grape capital of India and host of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela every 12 years, environmental concerns over a plan to cut 1,800 trees for the proposed Sadhugram project in the historic Tapovan area have sharpened political fault lines ahead of local body elections. The issue has pitted both Sena factions against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra. While Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief, and Uddhav Thackeray, chief of the Shiv Sena (UBT), remain political rivals, their parties have found rare common ground in Tapovan, where authorities propose clearing trees across 34 acres to build Sadhugram and a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) hub, as part of a ₹300-crore infrastructure push linked to the pilgrimage.












