1. Two Co-Workers Held For Salon Employee’s Murder
Nearly seven weeks after Grant Road resident Kirti Vyas went missing while on her way to work, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Saturday arrested two of her colleagues for allegedly murdering her and disposing of her body.
On the morning of March 16, Ms. Vyas, 28, was picked up by Siddhant Tamhankar and Khushi Sajwani, her colleagues at Bblunt Salon in Andheri, from her home in Bharat Nagar, Grant Road. Her colleagues claimed they dropped her near Grant Road railway station, but she neither reached her workplace nor did she return home. Her family approached DB Marg police station.
The case was transferred to the Crime Branch in April after her family met Mumbai Commissioner of Police D.D. Padsalgikar claiming zero progress in the case. According to Crime Branch sources, the first breakthrough came when the police found bloodstains in Ms. Sajwani's car’s boot space. An officer said, “We took samples from the stains, and DNA samples from Ms. Vyas’s parents and sent them to the Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratories, Kalina for testing. The report came in on Friday, confirming that the blood belonged to a female offspring of the Vyases, confirming the murder.”
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Scares With Hired Choppers Prompt Govt To Buy Own
Following a series of near mishaps involving helicopters on lease assigned to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the state government has now decided to buy choppers.
It plans to procure by this year-end two helicopters — one in Mumbai for the CM and the governor, and a multi-role one in Nagpur that will largely assist in fighting Maoists in Gadchiroli district — from a shortlist of three recommended by a committee of experts.
The state civil aviation department began mulling over roping in experts to select Fadnavis’s helicopter after the chopper assigned on CM duty crash-landed in Latur last year.
The committee comprised experts from the Airports Authority of India, the Navy and the Coast Guard.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
3. Bank Asked To Pay Rs 10K To Doctor For Being ‘Rude’
In an order that can encourage many harried customers to take on discourteous bank staff, a consumer disputes redressal forum has asked a suburban bank to issue a written apology and pay Rs 10,000 litigation cost to an account-holder, who had filed a complaint against the bank’s employees for being rude to her.
While disposing of the complaint, a panel comprising president of the forum SD Madake and member SV Kalal observed that the employees of NKGSB Bank did not speak to their “valued customer” Irfana Siddiqui, a doctor, properly and hence, the bank should offer an apology and bear the litigation cost.
The order also says that it was imperative for the bank’s staff to speak politely with all customers and guide them.
However, the case was disposed as the two parties appeared to be ready for settlement, though they didn’t submit any application regarding the same to the forum.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
4. Public Accounts Committee Alleges Rs 200-Crore Scam In Water Meters
After the multi-crore road repair racket and desilting scam, the country's richest civic body has been hit by another scam. A recent report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has pointed out serious "financial irregularities" in a decade-old water meter project by the BMC. The committee concluded that the Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) project has failed completely and led to wastage of over Rs 200 crore of taxpayers' money.
Ironically, the Rs 316-crore AMR project was supposed to put an end to water pilferage and increase revenue through legal water connections. Instead, the PAC has labelled it a "complete waste of funds", and has hauled the civic body for alleged large-scale mismanagement and negligence.
PAC is a state legislature body headed by Gopaldas Agarwal, Congress MLA from Gondia. Speaking to mid-day, Agarwal said, "This project is a scam. BMC officials were more interested in the purchase of meters, rather than implementation of the project. "After the committee's detailed scrutiny, it was found that the project was a complete waste of funds. Considering the seriousness of the issue, the PAC has recommended a detailed inquiry under the additional chief secretary (Finance)."
(Source: Mid-Day)
5. Air India Crew Held For Molesting Colleague
Sahar police on Saturday arrested a 28-year-old Air India cabin crew for making lewd comments against his female colleague onboard Ahmedabad-Mumbai flight on May 4. The FIR was registered a day after the incident occurred mid-air.
Police said a verbal fight broke between the accused Zoyeb Khan (28) and the 40-year-old female cabin crew after the latter passed some comments.
“On May 4 the suspect and the complainant visited the police station with their senior of Air India national carrier and returned back without filing any complaint,” said a police officer of the Sahar police station.
Both the accused and the complainant hails from Mumbai. On May 5, the accused visited the Sahar police station and registered an FIR in the morning.
(Source: Times of India)
6. Teacher’s Reel Dream Turns Real: Film From Thane Village School Sizzles At Miami Fest
Lights, camera, action. The children of Pisavali village in Thane are quite familiar with the phrase, thanks to the initiative of a zilla parishad schoolteacher. His efforts have landed the children in various movies, and the latest was selected for the Miami film festival.
Teacher Ajay Patil, 35, had been interested in theatre from his childhood. “I am from a poor background. It was my mother and theatre that kept me in school and later made me a teacher. So, when I was posted in Pisavali village, I decided to introduce my children to theatre.”
In 2003, the first year, the children had put up a decent performance and soon they started to win accolades. “We won all district- and state-level competitions. We have been working on plays with social messages. I write and direct the play, other teachers help and the students perform,” Patil said.
Students of the primary and middle school have performed across Thane and Mumbai. “I realised that my students wanted to act in movies. But it’s not easy to explain these hard-working students that no one will come to Pisavali, a small village near Dombivli, to select actors,” Patil said.
This was when Patil felt that he should make movies. “I learnt the nuances from my theatre contacts. The first few movies were made with the help of affordable equipment. I paid for most expenses,” he recounted.
While the movies were lauded nationally, Patil’s happiness originated from the fact that his students were becoming confident. “My students used to compete with children from public schools. They all had a renewed wish to make something out of their lives,” he said.
Their fifth movie, about a teacher’s relationship with his students, has been selected at the Miami film festival. “The children in the movie have won awards nationally as well,” he said.
(Source: Indian Express)
7. Railways May Soon Switch To AC Coaches On Suburban Routes
The Railways may start manufacturing only air-conditioned coaches for its suburban routes after the phenomenal response to the first AC local train in Mumbai.
While the public transport behemoth plans to convert 80 Mumbai local trains into partially air-conditioned ones, it also aims to provide only AC coaches on suburban routes as it feels affordability is on the rise.
“The response from Mumbai has been phenomenal. We have a plan to make about 80 trains partially air conditioned. Of 12 coaches in a train, six will be air-conditioned. I think going forward, once we gain some experience, we will also take a call that in future, all EMUs (electric multiple unit ) will be manufactured on air-conditioned platform.
“My view is that gradually, you will see more and more AC coaches as prosperity and affordability goes up,” said Ravindra Gupta, member (rolling stock) of the railway board.
Gupta, who is responsible for the manufacture of different types of coaches under the railways, said extra coaches for existing lines of the Mumbai suburban route will start arriving by the end of this year and induction will be completed by next year.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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