1. Bombay HC Questions State On Use of Loudspeakers
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the Maharashtra government why it was keen on permitting the use of loudspeakers in the state, after the government informed it that no silence zones existed in Maharashtra as of now.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbakoni told a division bench of Justices AS Oka and Riyaz Chagla that pursuant to an amendment to the Noise Pollution Rules of 2000, all areas declared silence zones in the past stand denotified.
As per amended Union government rules issued on August 10 this year, no area or zone can be considered a silence area or zone unless a specific declaration to that effect is made by the state government.
“All those areas which were considered to be silence zones, pursuant to an order passed by the High Court in 2016, stand cancelled. The state government will now carry out a fresh exercise identifying those areas which need to be notified as silence zones,” Kumbakoni said. The HC, in its 2016 order, said an area of not less than 100 m around hospitals, educational institutions and courts constituted a silence zone and hence, no specific declaration to that effect was necessary.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
2. Vile Parle Girl Missing For 6 Days; Cops, College Clueless
Swati Kange, a Std XII Science student, has been missing since August 16. Her desperate father, Dayanand Kange, owner of a general store in Vile Parle East, says, "It has been six days since she disappeared. We have filed a police complaint with the Andheri East police station. The cops have informed us that their investigations are going on."
Swati did not come home on August 16 evening. Says her father, "My daughter went to college at 11 am on August 16. She usually comes home late in the evening. She walked to a bus stop in the evening with her friend. Her friend took another bus home, while my daughter was supposed to take a different bus. She has not come home since.
Some college students told us that she arrived in college in the morning but did not attend lectures. She did, though, attend a small birthday party for friends in the college canteen and then disappeared. Then, she was seen again at the college gate in the evening."
Swati's father added, "She was not carrying a mobile phone with her. In fact, she misplaced her phone about 20 days earlier and we were planning to buy her one, soon."
(Source: Mid-Day)
3. Man Makes Lewd Gestures At Woman At Kalyan Station, Arrested
If you thought that perverts only preyed on women in empty railway compartments, an incident that took place at Kalyan station might make you think again. A 30-year-old has been booked under molestation charges, for making lewd gestures at a woman on a busy platform in Kalyan yesterday.
According to the Government Railway Police (GRP), the incident took place at around 5.50 pm, when a 28-year-old woman passenger was waiting for a local train on platform number 1. The victim, a housewife, was checking the indicator when she noticed that the accused, identified as Surendra Gautam, was staring at her. Before she realised, he had started making lewd gestures at her.
Instead of taking it lying down, the woman went up to him, caught him by the collar and dragged him to the nearest police chowki.
The entire incident was captured on video. The police later handed him over to the GRP, where the victim's statement was recorded.
(Source: Mid-Day)
4. Constable, Home Guard Dump Injured Commuter In Train, Leave Him To Die
Shocking CCTV footage has emerged of a home guard and a Government Railway Police constable dumping a badly injured commuter, who had fallen off a train, in another train and leaving him to his fate without making any attempt to provide first-aid or rush the victim to a hospital.
The unidentified man, who fell off a Panvel-bound train on the intervening night of July 22 and July 23 at around 12.59 am at Sanpada station, was dumped by the duo in another Panvel-bound train that arrived at 1.15 am. The train at Panvel was diverted to the yard for maintenance and the injured commuter was spotted only around noon the next day by the cleaning staff.
The victim was taken to the Panvel Grameen Hospital, where he was declared “dead on arrival.”
While the home guard’s services have been terminated, the constable has been suspended and an inquiry instituted against him. The Central Railway has not revealed their identities.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
5. Bandra-Versova Sea Link Finally On Track In Mumbai
The proposed Bandra-Versova sea link is edging towards reality with the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) asking the five shortlisted bidders to submit their financial bids for the Rs 5,500 crore-project. The sea link is expected to help resolve commuting woes in the western suburbs.
MSRDC recently sent a letter to the companies, requesting them to participate in the bid stage and submit their financial proposal.
As per the plans, a 17.17-km-long sea link will be constructed between Bandra and Versova at an estimated cost of Rs 5,516 crore. The bidder or the company that will bag the project will have to build the sea link within four years and maintain it for a period of 10 years.
(Source: Mid-Day)
6. Maharashtra Sees Most Number Of HIV Cases After Andhra Pradesh
The country reported a 38% drop in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections across nine years, according to data from National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). However, more than half the new infections is concentrated in three states—Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
While Andhra Pradesh (22%) has remained on top for recording most number of cases across the country, its followed by Maharashtra (19%) and Gujarat (13%). Together they constitute about 54% of the total cases across the country.
Responding to a Right to Information query, the Basic Services Division of NACO, mentioned that in 2016-17, 1, 84, 047 new HIV patients were identified at Integrated Counselling and Testing Centers (ICTC) as opposed to 2,99,015 in 2008-09.
There are 20,756 Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTC), mainly located in government hospitals of the country. An ICTC is a place where a person is counselled and tested for HIV.
Discussing the latest figures for 2016-17, officials revealed that major causes of transmission, as told by patients to the counsellors were heterosexual intercourse (157666), parent-to-child transmission (8511), homosexual intercourse (4051), infected needles and syringes (4011) and through blood and blood related products (1487).
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. FEMA case: Shah Rukh Khan gets four-week extension for appearance before ED
Actor Shah Rukh Khan has been granted an four-week extension for appearance in a connection with a FEMA violation case pertaining to alleged undervaluation of shares linked to his Kolkata Knight Riders team in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
He is likely to appear in person on September 20, said a source. Khan and his wife sought relief from Wednesday’s appearance before the adjudicating authority, a special director-rank officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is investigation the case.
The agency last month issued a notice to Khan, asking him to appear on Wednesday. “An extension was sought which has been granted for four weeks,” said a high-ranking ED officer.
Earlier in March, the ED sent a show-cause notice to the actor, his wife Gauri and actress Juhi Chawla. According to the ED, Red Chillies Enterprises Pvt Ltd (RCEPL) formed a special purpose vehicle, Knight Riders Sports Pvt. Ltd. (KRSPL) ,in 2008 to acquire IPL franchise rights of Kolkata Knight Riders.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. Ten Months After It Banned Toddy Sales, Maharashtra Govt Does A U-Turn
The Maharashtra government has reversed a ban it had imposed on the supply and sale of toddy in the financial capital. Last October, the Devendra Fadnavis government had enforced the ban, following an Excise department’s survey, which had found that one in five toddy depots in Mumbai had been selling toddy laced with deadly chemicals. A deadly cocktail of chloral hydrate and alprazolam was being served in the name of toddy in Mumbai and other urban belts, including Thane, Pune, Solapur and Nanded, among others, this survey had found.
While the adulterators were found to have mixed the chemicals to give sedative or muscle-relaxing effect to the consumers, senior government sources said the deadly cocktail can result in withdrawal symptoms among the addicts. In neighbouring Telangana where a similar racket was previously unearthed, some deaths were also reported owing to the adulteration. Startled by the revelation, the Fadnavis government had banned toddy sales in non-toddy growing areas. At that time, state’s Excise Minister Chandrasekhar Bavankule said the government’s new policy was to permit toddy shops only in talukas where toddy could be tapped.
(Source: Indian Express)
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