1. CM Devendra Fadnavis Skips Dahisar River March Amid Music Video Row
IN THE backdrop on the controversy surrounding the recently released music video, Mumbai River Anthem, featuring Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, State Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and bureaucrats — Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta and Mumbai Police Commissioner D D Padsalgikar — both Fadnavis and Mungantiwar skipped the Dahisar River March on Sunday.
The march was flagged off by Fadnavis’s wife Amruta who is the lead singer featured in the video. It was attended by hundreds of students, residents and nature enthusiasts.
The press invite sent out by the NGO mentioned the CM, his wife and State Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar as “guests”.
Source: The Indian Express
2. Bumpy Ride Ahead for Mumbai's Iconic Best Buses Due to Mounting Losses
The Mumbai civic body running the iconic BEST buses is having a bumpy ride due to mounting losses, prompting it to initiate reform measures.
However, these measures are facing a stiff resistance from employees and unions who feel they are a move towards eventually privatising the civic-run undertaking.
Run by the 112-year-old Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST), Mumbai's public buses have been a pride of the metropolis and acquired legendary status over the years for their prompt service and efficiency.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
3. Chhagan Bhujbal Admitted to J J Hospital With Pancreatitis
NCP LEADER Chhagan Bhujbal has been admitted to state-run J J Hospital for treatment of pancreatitis after the senior politician complained of abdominal pain on Saturday.
Doctors said Bhujbal was brought to the hospital on Saturday afternoon. He underwent a series of tests, including CT scan and sonography. The CT scan reports showed he suffered from pancreatitis. Doctors said the NCP leader was diagnosed with bronchial asthma due to weather changes and continued health problems. “He suffered from abdominal pain and breathlessness. He has been kept under observation in a cardiac care unit,” said a senior doctor.
Bhujbal was arrested in 2016 by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 880 crore to the state exchequer and has been lodged in Arthur Road Jail. The former deputy chief minister has already undergone a bypass surgery. Doctors said he also suffers from a skin condition, asthma and respiratory problems. “We have not decided the line of treatment yet. Clinicians are symptomatically treating him. He suffers from multiple conditions,” said a doctor.
Source: The Indian Express
4. Mumbai: Ladies Compartment to Sport City’s Skyline
FROM TODAY, the exterior of the two ladies compartments of the air-conditioned (AC) local train will sport Mumbai’s skyline, departing from the blue colour used thus far. The ‘Bombay-skyline theme’ is expected to facilitate woman commuters to identify the ladies compartment of the AC local.
The theme uses green colour to paint the city’s important landmarks, including the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and the Gateway of India, with a woman’s illustrated image imprinted on the coach. The two ladies compartments were coloured on Sunday.
“The AC travel is a premium service and we thought of painting it in vibrant colours to give it a new exciting look. We decided to start with the ladies coaches. And what better way to begin than using green that depicts nature and environment,” said Mukul Jain, Divisional Railway Manager, Western Railway.
Source: The Indian Express
5. Alternative Rooms Offered in Sion, Mahul Not Liveable: BMC Workers
Seventy permanent conservancy workers from the BMC’s Solid Waste Management Department could lose their jobs before the onset of monsoon if they don’t leave their dilapidated buildings in Sion Koliwada and shift to the alternative accommodations offered by the civic body.
The only problem is, the BMC wants these workers, also known as Class IV employees, to set up houses in (a) structures that aren’t even fully constructed, and (b) in the project affected people’s colony in Mahul, where thousands of people, residing cheek by jowl, are already struggling for the want of basic amenities.
The conservancy workers’ steadfast refusal to move out of their homes till they are provided with what they are calling “liveable” accommodations has resulted in all of them being suspended from work. The BMC has blamed the workers for letting the situation come to such a pass, saying the civic body was trying to convince them to move out since 2013.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
6. Cracks Within Union Threaten to Derail Protests at TISS
Cracks have emerged in the leadership of the Students’ Union of Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ (TISS) Mumbai campus, leaving the student protest it is spearheading in a limbo.
Students across four TISS campuses have been protesting against the withdrawal of financial aid to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students. Protesting students have been camping at the entry gate of the institute’s Mumbai campus since February 21.
On Saturday, after five out of the seven members of the union assented to a set of conditions put forth by the administration, Shalini Bharat, the institute’s acting director, issued a notification stating that the protest had been called off “with immediate effect”.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
7. Ex-CM’s Trust Loses Prime Bandra Plot
The suburban district collectorate has decided to take back 11,000 sq m of land in Bandra (East) that had been given to the Marathwada Mitra Mandal Mumbai in 1981.
The plot, located near Chetana College, was originally meant for a hostel and community centre for students from Marathwada.
The mandal, formed by ex-state chief minister Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar, who had been forced to resign in 1986 in the wake of the Maharashtra MD exam marks scandal.
A copy of the district collectorate’s order, dated February 26, is in possession of Mumbai Mirror. The land has been taken back allegedly for violation of its lease conditions, and for the fact that it had been kept vacant for more than three decades. When the land was originally granted in 1981, it was expected that the construction of the hostel and community centre would be completed in 11 years.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
8. TV Producer Commits Suicide by Jumping off Highrise in Mumbai
A 40-year-old television producer and art director allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the 16th floor of a highrise in suburban Malad in Mumbai, police said.
Police said that Sanjay Bairagi, a supervising producer with the television show "Ishqbaaz", jumped off the Silicon Valley building in Jankalyan Nagar locality in Malad on 2 March, Friday.
Bairagi was under depression due to issues on the personal front, which he has mentioned in his suicide note, police said.
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