1. Mumbai MRI Mishap: Arrested Doctor, Attendants Out On Bail
The doctor and two attendants from Nair hospital in Mumbai Central, arrested following the death of a 32-year-old man in the hospital’s MRI suite, were granted bail on Monday morning.
The trio had been arrested on Sunday on charges of causing death due to negligence, after Rajesh Maruti Maru got sucked into the MRI machine along with the oxygen cylinder he was carrying and died.
Dr Saurabh Lajrekar and attendants Vitthal Chavan and Sunita Surve got bail on surety as it was a bailable charge, the Agripada police said. Savalaram Agavane, senior police inspector of Agripada police station, said: “We had arrested the three based on a complaint made by the deceased’s relatives. We are conducting out further investigations.”
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. City Has Most Number Of Vacant Houses
While Mumbai continues to figure among the places with the highest rentals for residential and commercial properties, it has emerged that it also has the most number of vacant houses in the country.
At 4.8 lakh vacant units, Mumbai ranks higher than Delhi and Bengaluru, according to data collected between 2001and 2011and released on Monday by the Economic Survey 2018.
“The phenomenon of high vacancy rates is not fully understood but unclear property rights, weak contract enforcement and low rental yields may be important factors,” the report states.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
3. Woman Attempts Suicide After Police Fail To File FIR Against Her Daughter's Molester
High drama unfolded outside Vikhroli's Parksite police station late last night after an anguished mother attempted to kill herself by consuming an excessive amount of cough and cold tablets, when the cops allegedly refused to file a molestation complaint by her daughter.
The 42-year-old woman was then rushed to Rajawadi Hospital, where she is currently undergoing treatment.
According to the police, the incident took place around 10 pm last night, when Sheela Maurya, 42, a resident of Datta Mandir Chawl, stormed the police station, demanding why her daughter Komal's molestation complaint against their neighbour, Santosh Nigdekar, 32, had not been registered yet. "He has been harassing us for some time now, especially after we caught him stealing from our house. But, on Sunday, he crossed the limits when he said something inappropriate to my daughter," Maurya said.
Following the incident, Komal, 22, then approached the cops around 7.30 pm, to file a case against him. However, Maurya claimed that while the police took cognisance of the issue, they refused to register an FIR. Maurya decided to confront the cops, a few hours later. The argument, however, took an ugly turn, when she consumed several cough and cold tablets in front of the police. She was rushed to Rajawadi Hospital. "When I reached the hospital, the police on duty asked me why I had taken the drastic step. I told him the truth. It was only after this, that the police began the process of registering an FIR," Maurya claimed.
(Source: Mid-Day)
4. Bhima Koregaon: Prime Accused Milind Ekbote Moves Bombay High Court For Anticipatory Bail
Milind Ekbote, one of the prime accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, has approached the Bombay High Court seeking anticipatory bail. Ekbote’s plea was mentioned before a bench led by Justice B R Gavai on Monday after a sessions court refused to grant him any interim protection from arrest last week. The matter is likely to come up for hearing on January 31. Last week, a special court in Pune had rejected a plea for anticipatory bail filed by Ekbote, facing charges of inciting violence at Bhima Koregaon.
Two First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered against Ekbote and Manohar, alias Sambhaji Bhide, by Dalit activists, alleging their role in the violence at Bhima Koregaon when lakhs of Dalits had assembled at the “Jaystambh” in Perne village on the Pune-Ahmednagar road to mark the 200th year of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon.
(Source: Indian Express)
5. Opposition Calls Maharashtra Farmer’s Death A Murder, Slams BJP-Led State Government
The death of an 84-year-old farmer from Dhule, Dharma Patil, acquired a strong political hue on Monday as Opposition parties in Maharashtra slammed the state government for his death and called it murder.
Opposition leaders on Monday called it murder by government apathy and demanded that bureaucrats and ministers responsible be booked for murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.
A week ago, on January 22, Patil had attempted suicide by drinking a poisonous chemical outside Mantralaya as a protest against the inadequate compensation given for land acquired by the government for a power project in Dhule. Patil died at Mumbai’s JJ hospital late on Sunday.
Political parties alleged that state tourism minister and guardian minister of Dhule Jaykumar Rawal has been acquiring farmers’ lands illegally ever since the state began its land acquisition process, so as to make money. “Rawal and his companies have been buying land illegally from farmers at low prices so that they can claim compensation from the government at much higher rates. This is an unpardonable offence, and the minister should be booked for criminal offence,” said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and spokesperson Nawab Malik.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Hsg Society Wants To Keep ‘Common Folks’ Out Of Public Garden
Residents of this bustling metropolis are often deprived of open space due to many reasons -space crunch, rampant construction, and sometimes, like in this case, snobbery.
A recreational garden (RG) adjacent to the New Dindoshi Royal Hills Cooperative Housing society in Goregaon (East) will be inaugurated today. However, the society in question does not want to share this garden with the general public even though it is the property of MHADA. The secretary of the society, who wants to restrict the entry to the members of his society, has put three locks at the entrance of the garden to keep the public out.
As the entrance to the garden is inside the society’s main gate, people may not be aware that this is a public garden, and the society wants to keep it this way. The RG plot (Number 14) is divided into two parts. On one side is a children’s play area - a concrete wall has been constructed here without any permission. On the other side, a gymnasium has been constructed using Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s fund with proper permissions.
A stage has also been erected without permissions. When Mumbai Mirror visited the garden, we found three locks hanging on the gate of the park.
Ajit Jathar, secretary of the Royal Hills Housing society said, “Yes, I have locked the RG and I will not let any common people walk in unless MHADA orders us to do so.” A board has also been put up outside the park saying that as per the “rental agreement” the RG plot has been given to his society for “maintenance and beautification”.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
7. Farm Loan Waiver: The Internet Saves State Rs 9,000 Cr
The state government officials have said insistence on online filing of applications to avail farm loan waiver will save the government nearly Rs 9,000 crore. The reduced figure came about as the online format made it easier for officials to sieve through the applications, bringing down the number of eligible candidates to 55 lakh from the initial 77 lakh.
“The government initially estimated the loan waiver will cost the exchequer Rs 34,000 crore. Now, however, the number will come down to around Rs 25,000 crore,” a senior official from the Co-operation Department said. The government has already disbursed Rs 13,000 crore to around 34 lakh farmers
After the loan waiver was announced in August last year, the state government received a list of 89 lakh farmers from banks where farmers held accounts and could avail credit. However, the insistence on filing of online applications resulted in only 77 lakh applications received, thereby eliminating what the government officials claim were 11lakh bogus accounts.
Further scrutiny of the applications based on certain criteria, such as whether the applicants were government employees, current or former elected representatives, and if there was more than one loan availed per family helped bring down this number to 55 lakh, officials said.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
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