1. Dance Bar Timings: Maharashtra Govt Notification Draws Ire of Activists
A day after the government notified that shops and establishments in Maharashtra will be allowed to stay open for 24 hours, a notification by the labour department said dance bars would be allowed to run with restricted timings. Dance bars in the state were banned in 2005, and the subject remains under litigation.
According to the notification issued by the department on 24-hour operations of establishments, permit rooms, beer bars, dance bars, hookah parlours, discotheques and all other establishments where liquor is served will be permitted to function until 1.30 am in municipal corporation areas, and up to 12.30 am in municipal council areas and in the rest of the state.
For wine shops, the state has put a restriction of 11.30 pm in municipal corporation areas, 11.00 pm in municipal council areas and 1.30 pm in the remaining areas. Theatres and cinema exhibition houses should be closed by 1.00 am across the state, the notification says.
Source: The Indian Express
2. Bombay HC Allows State to Grant Liquor Licence for Sunburn Music Fest
The Bombay High Court Wednesday allowed the state to grant liquor licence for the upcoming Sunburn Music Festival in Pune after the Maharashtra government informed the court that it would grant the licence only after the organisers had all mandatory checks and security arrangements in place.
A bench of Justices Shantanu Kemkar and Rajesh Ketkar dismissed a Public Interest Litigation that sought that the state be directed not to grant a liquor licence for the event. The state government submitted an affidavit stating it would take all possible measures to ensure those below the permissible age are not served alcohol.
The state told the court it would grant a liquor licence only after the organisers follow the terms and conditions of the police and the state excise department. The government’s counsel Abhinandan Vagyani said, “In addition to the police, officials from the state excise department will also be present at the separate enclosure where liquor will be served if such licence is granted.” The organisers also gave an undertaking stating no illegal activity will take place at the four-day event scheduled at a resort near Pune from December 28.
Source: The Indian Express
3. Cops Rescue 90-Year-Old Trapped In House After Fall
A 90-year-old woman was yesterday rescued from her flat after she suffered a fall in her house and was unable to move for the past three days, a police officer said.
He said that Indira Shelar lived alone in her Vile Parle flat and the fall had rendered her immobile and she was unable to come to the door and reach out for help.
The police was informed about the incident by neighbours who grew concerned after not seeing Shelar around for the past three days, the officer said.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
4. Mumbai: 16-Year-Old Boy Held for 'Stealing 15 Bikes' to Take Joyrides
A college student was held in Malad on Tuesday for allegedly stealing 15 two-wheelers. He used to go on joyrides on stolen bikes and dump the vehicles after they ran out of fuel, police said. The Kurar police apprehended the 16-year-old boy a week after 23-year-old Malad East resident Ravindra Pawar reported to the police that his Honda Activa scooter was stolen from outside his home.
Vinaykumar Rathod, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone XII, said CCTV footage from the area where the theft took place and information gathered from informants led them to the boy.
Owners of ten of the bikes allegedly stolen by the boy had registered complaints at Kurar police station. The police said the boy stole vehicles from Appapada, Yuva Salvi Maidan, Narmada Hall and Shivaji Nagar areas in Malad East. Cases related to the theft of the other five two-wheelers are registered at other police stations, the police said.
Source: The Indian Express
5. Check, Mate: Chess Meet Logo Draws Sniggers
The unveiling of the logo for next year’s World Chess Championship, in London, on Tuesday, has unleashed a swarm of reactions, especially on social media. The reactions, which range from ridicule and mockery to good-natured wisecracking, take aim at the logo’s resemblance to a pose from the Kama Sutra.
The illustration for 2018’s Blue Riband event, in which Norwegian Magnus Carlsen will defend his title, shows two chequered bodies entwined around a chess board, their legs wrapped around each other. The image instantly went viral, with one response calling it ‘pawnographic’.
“We owe both chess and Kama Sutra to you (India),” Nigel Short, a former world championship finalist, told Mumbai Mirror.
“It is a ridiculous image and it deserves to be ridiculed. I have a problem with FIDE’s ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation) sponsors Agon, and they need to be ridiculed as well,” the British Grandmaster said.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
6. Nashik Arms Haul Case: Accused Wanted to Take Over Mumbai Underworld
The main accused, who was arrested along with two others in Nashik with a huge cache of arms – 25 rifles, 19 revolvers, a machine gun and 4,126 live bullets – stolen from an armoury shop in Uttar Pradesh nearly a week ago, was planning to take over the Mumbai underworld, police said. A resident of Sewri, Bazzu Uzman Akbar Badshah, alias Suka Pasha, was obsessed with the idea of being a don and frequently used to show off weapons in his possession on social media.
“He felt Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan have become old and that the time was right for youngsters to take over,” said a source familiar with the investigation.
However, investigators have not fully believed his claims and are looking into his phone calls to ‘relatives’ in Pakistan. “We are checking if these are indeed relatives or people associated with terror activities,” said a police official from Maharashtra ATS.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
7. Mumbai Crime: Minor Kills Student for Making Noise While Playing Cricket
The Mulund police have booked a 17-year-old boy for killing an 18-year-old student on Monday afternoon. The deceased, Alauddin Pathan, 18, was studying near his house, when the 17-year-old got into a fight with him over making noise. Alauddin, the elder son of Rafique Pathan, lived in Shankar Tekdi, Mulund Colony with his three siblings.
A student of FYBCom, he was studying at DAV College in Bhandup. The poverty stricken Pathan used to study near his home, where other boys from the locality used to play.
On Monday afternoon, when the 17-year-old boy was playing cricket, Pathan asked him to keep the noise down. The two got into a physical fight over this and the minor punched Pathan, who fell on a iron pillar and collapsed, a police officer said. "His friends took him to a private hospital, which referred him to the BMC-run MT Agarwal Hospital," added an officer. Pathan was, however, declared dead on arrival.
Source: Mid Day
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