New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of the Vadhvan Port project in Maharashtra’s Palghar today. Vadhvan Port is located near Dahanu town in Palghar district and will be one of India’s largest deep-water ports.

According to Prime Minister Modi’s Office, Vadhvan Port will be built at a cost of Rs 76,000 crore and will provide direct connectivity to international shipping routes, reducing transit times and costs. Dubbed the “ultimate shipping powerhouse”, it will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure and will boast nine 1000-meter-long container terminals, multipurpose berths, liquid cargo berths, Ro-Ro berths, and a dedicated Coast Guard berth.

It will also feature efficient cargo handling facilities and modern port management systems.

“The port is expected to generate significant employment opportunities, stimulate local businesses, and contribute to the overall economic development of the region,” PM Modi’s office said in a statement.

The Vadhvan Port project incorporates sustainable development practices, with a focus on minimizing environmental impact and adhering to stringent ecological standards, it added.

Once operational, the port will enhance India’s maritime connectivity and further strengthen its position as a global trade hub, the statement said.

According to MyGov, the citizen engagement platform of the Centre, Vadhvan Port is poised to become one of the top 10 ports globally.

“Vadhvan Port will serve as India’s new gateway to global trade, creating a cumulative capacity of 298 MMT per annum,” MyGov said.

It is positioned as a hub port in the Arabian Sea and will forge trade links with the Far East, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and America.

The Vadhvan Port project, which is expected to create 12 lakh job opportunities, is scheduled to be completed by 2030. 

Palghar:

Nearly 250 students from 20 ashram schools in Dahanu taluka of Maharashtra’s Palghar district fell ill due to food poisoning and were rushed to nearby health facilities for treatment, a senior official said on Tuesday.

These students at ashram schools (residential facilities for tribal pupils) complained of health complications like nausea, vomiting and giddiness within a couple of hours of having dinner sourced from a central kitchen at Kalamgaon on Monday, district collector Govind Bodke told the media.

Nearly 250 students were rushed to nearby hospitals and health centres by their teachers, he said.

As many as 150 of them were still undergoing treatment at primary health centres (PHCs) and rural hospitals at Kasa, Talasari, Wangaon, Palghar and Manor, where their condition was stated to be stable, while others were discharged, said the collector.

A probe has been ordered, he maintained.

Bodke said after being informed about the incident, he, accompanied by senior officials of the district, visited health centres where students were admitted and also inspected the central kitchen from where food items were sourced.

State Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and police personnel collected the food samples and sent them to laboratories for testing, the collector informed.

He said the relevant sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) will carry out an investigation into the incident, while the FDA and police will conduct their independent probes.

The affected ashram schools were functioning under the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) and located in Dahanu, Palghar, Talasari and Vasai talukas of the district, Resident Deputy Collector Subhash Bhagade said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Palghar:

Around four years after a Nigerian man was allegedly killed by four persons in Nalasopara in the Palghar district of Maharashtra, police arrested one of the accused who was found to be living in the same town with a fake identity, a crime branch official said on Tuesday.

With the arrest of Kancha alias Roshan Bechain Mandal alias Asfaque Mohammad Sheikh, the number of the arrested persons in the crime has gone up to two, while two others are on the run.

The body of Joseph alias Chindiniju Amechi Wilson (35) was found lying on a road in the Pragati Nagar area of Nalasopara on October 16, 2019.

During the investigation, police identified four men for their alleged role in the crime and arrested one of them, Naseer Khan. A charge sheet was filed against him in the court, the Vasai crime branch (unit II) official said.

Meanwhile, police received information that accused Kancha alias Roshan Mandal moved to Bengaluru six months after committing the crime and is currently living in Nalasopara with a fake identity and arrested him, the official said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Palghar:

Five persons were arrested in Thane and Palghar districts in Maharashtra for allegedly raping a 35-year-old woman repeatedly after promising to remove “vastu mistakes” in her house and other “evils spells” through black magic, a police official said on Sunday.

The five persons who have been arrested are the victim’s husband’s friends and they told her that some evil spell had been cast on her husband and that to regain peace she would have to be part of some rituals, the official said.

“The accused started frequenting the house of the victim from April 2018 and would conduct rituals when the victim was alone. They would give her a spiked drink calling it ‘panchamrit’ and would rape her,” he said.

The accused also took gold and money from her claiming it was for various rituals that would ensure peace and prosperity and a stable government job for her husband, he said.

“She was raped in 2019 in Yeoor forest in Thane, then in a mutt of the main accused in Kandivali, in a resort in Lonavala. They took Rs 2.10 lakh as well as gold from her,” he said.

After the woman from Talasari, a predominantly tribal area in the district, filed a complaint on September 11, a police team arrested Ravindra Bhate, Dileep Gaikwad, Gaurav Salvi, Mahendra Kumavat and Ganesh Kadam for the crime.

“We are finding out if the five accused have used the same modus operandi on others as well,” Talasari police station senior inspector Vijay Mutadak said.

Palghar Superintendent of Police Balasaheb Patil, in an official release, said the five have been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (rape) 376(2)(n) (offence of committing rape repeatedly on the same woman) 420 (cheating).

The Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act 2013 has also been invoked, he said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)