1. Victim’s Kin Speak of Hope & Despair From the Mumbai Collapse Site
A four-storey building collapsed in Mumbai's Ghatkopar area on Tuesday morning, killing at least 17 people. The number is likely to rise as nearly 30 people residing in the building, Sai Apartment, remain trapped in the debris.
As soon as the BMC disaster control team received a tip, informing them of the collapse at about 10:40 am, over 14 fire engines, 15 ambulances and doctors were deployed at the site. Later, accompanied by NDRF personnel as well.
(Source: The Quint)
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2. Mill Land Development: After Losing 340 Acres of Land, State Returns to '91
After losing around 340 acres of prime land in south-central Mumbai, the Maharashtra government has now proposed a change in the land sharing formula for mill land development. It now wants to go back to the 1991 formula, according to which mill owners will have to hand over two-third of the entire mill land to the BMC and MHADA. According to a change in the formula in 2003, mill owners had to give two-third of only the open space on the plots, which meant only that area which was not covered by factory, sheds or any other construction.
However, activists say the latest reversal is a case of too little, too late as most of the 50 mill lands have already been redeveloped. Only two private mills and five mills owned by public sector company National Textile Mills are yet to be redeveloped. This will give the state only around 60 acres of land for open spaces and for development of affordable MHADA housing.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
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3. Powai Sodomy: 13-Yr-Old Victim Dies at Kem
The 13-year-old boy from Powai who had consumed rat poison on July 13 after being allegedly sodomised, died early on Tuesday at KEM hospital. He had slipped into a coma on Saturday morning, his liver having suffered severe damage due to the consumption of the poison.
The alleged sexual assault the boy underwent had led to sepsis, and the damage to his liver had in turn led to other organs of his body malfunctioning.
Police also exhumed the body of the 11-year-old boy on Tuesday morning, who died on July 13 itself, to determine if he too was sexually assaulted. The boys were both schoolmates and residents of Filterpada in Powai.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
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4. Kalwa Woman Gang-Rape: Housewife Cooked up Rape Story to Exact Revenge
The 32-year-old Kalwa homemaker who had levelled allegations of rape and chemical attack against six men on Sunday apparently cooked up the story to settle a score with them.
Her claim came undone after a medical examination, when doctors found only small injuries to her chest. She had claimed that a scalding chemical had been flung at her body during the assault. The doctors apprised the police of it, who then questioned the woman and her 14-year-old daughter separately. The woman had alleged that during the attack, the men had tied up her daughter.
Their differing statements on the size and the colour of the bottle containing the alleged chemical gave them away.
(Source: Mid-Day)
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5. BMC's Picks for Tree Care: Towing Firm, Plastic Seller
The city’s managers may blame weather or misfortune for the recent spate of tree collapses and casualties, but the real reason appears to be their decision to outsource the delicate task of tree care and safety to inexperienced contractors.
For over a year, private firms whose primary business is towing vehicles, manufacturing plastic products or construction have been checking stability of trees, chopping overgrown branches and carrying out replantation in several neighbourhoods.
The BMC hired a firm for “tree trimming and maintenance” in each of the 24 wards in May last year. Mirror has the entire list of the appointed companies, many of which are engaged mainly in real estate. The total cost of the tree maintenance contracts with them: Rs 94.66 crore.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
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6. Ex-FTII Chairman Gajendra Chauhan: Strikes Ended as Ftii's Basic Issues Are Resolved
Four-and-a-half months after his troubled tenure of a year and three months — as opposed to the stipulated three years — as Chairman of the Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) ended, Gajendra Chauhan looks back at the stint as “highly productive and controversy-free”. The actor, 60, whose appointment in 2015 fuelled an unprecedented uprising within the institute’s ecosystem with its prolific alumni taking it beyond its walls, believes that the furore eventually died as “all the basic issues at FTII have been resolved”.
Chauhan, who is now Chairman of the Evaluation Committee of the upcoming Doordarshan channel, Arun Prabha, brands his reign from June 9, 2015 to March 3, 2017, as “perfectly in sync with the ideologies of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and RSS (Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh)”. “A lot of work was done during my tenure. The students were on strikes because nobody was looking into their problems. They didn’t want me there so I was running the institute from Mumbai. I conducted four governing council meetings and you can see the results today,” he says.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
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7. Mumbai University Vice-Chancellor May Be Asked to Quit Over Delay in Results
Controversial Mumbai University vice-chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh is on his way out after he expressed, on Monday , his inability to declare all pending exam results by the July 31deadline set by governor and chancellor of the varsity Vidyasagar Rao.
If a senior BJP cabinet member is to be believed, when Deshmukh, in a meeting with the governor, told the latter that it would not be possible to declare all the results by July 31, it was felt it was high time Raj Bhavan secured his resignation in the "larger interest" of the once prestigious university .
(Source: Times of India)
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8. Rajkummar Rao's Omerta and Ali Fazal-Starrer Victoria & Abdul Head to Toronto International Film Festival
On Tuesday, the Toronto Film Festival (TIFF) announced its line-up for its 42nd edition and Hansal Mehta’s Rajkummar Rao-starrer terror-drama Omerta has been selected in the Special Presentations Opening Film category, with American Indie sweetheart Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird and Darren Aronofsky’s Mother!.
“I had begun my journey with Rajkummar Rao’s Shahid at TIFF and I am honoured to be going back with Omerta. It’s a relevant and chilling political- thriller, a story given to me by actor Mukul Dev in 2006,” Hansal says.
Stephen Frears’s Victoria & Abdul, featuring Judi Dench and Ali Fazal, will be screened in the Special Presentations Closing Film category, along with George Clooney’s Suburbicon, among others. Ali is flying to the US today to promote the period-drama and says, “We will be celebrating at the London premiere.”
Anurag Kashyap’s The Brawler and Bornila Chatterjee’s The Hungry will have their world premiere in Special Presentations category.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
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