1. Fire Guts 18 Shops in Malad
At least 18 shops were gutted as a fire raged through Gupta Market in Malad West around 6.30 am on Tuesday. No casualty was reported as the market was shut at the time.
The fire broke out in a shop behind the popular MM Mithaiwala and took over four hours to douse. Abhay Kale, deputy fire officer, said the cause of the fire was being ascertained.
A shop owner said commuters usually cut through the market to get to the railway station, but fewer people were around that early in the day.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
2. Spare Coach Parked at Mumbai Railway Yard Catches Fire
A spare coach parked in the railway yard at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) caught fire on Tuesday afternoon.
The fire started at 3pm, and was doused by 3.40pm. Twenty fire-fighters and two water tankers were rushed to the spot to douse the blaze.
The Central Railway (CR) shut down the overhead railway equipment as a precautionary measure, so outstation trains did not depart from CSMT for a while; services resumed by 4.45pm.
While the sleeper coach was charred completely, the fire also damaged one of the air-conditioned coaches of Solapur Express, which was parked next to it. Officials managed to move the Solapur Express coach away from the burning coach before there could be more damage. Both coaches were unoccupied.
Source: Hindustan Times
3. Sheena Bora Murder Case: Defence Accuses Witness of ‘Cheating’ Indrani
Kajal Sharma, a witness in the Sheena Bora murder case, “cheated” Indrani Mukerjea by forging the latter’s signature and withdrawing money from her account, defence lawyers told the court on Tuesday. Sharma, a former secretary of Mukerjea, was being cross-examined by defence lawyers in the court of Special Judge JC Jagdale.
Earlier, Sharma told the CBI that Mukerjea had forced her to forge Sheena Bora’s signature on a resignation letter and on a letter seeking cancellation of Sheena’s leave-andlicence agreement with her employer. This purportedly happened after Sheena’s death.
However, yesterday, the defence claimed that Sharma did not forge Sheena’s signature; instead, she had cheated Mukerjea by forging the latter’s signature on cheques and withdrawing money from her bank account. Denying these allegations, Sharma said she had only copied Sheena’s signature “at the instruction of Indrani Mukerjea”.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
4. Property Tax: No Penalty for Illegal Flats up to 600 Square Feet
The penalty on property tax on unauthorised residential flats measuring 600 square feet or less across all the municipalities in the state has been waived off. The government first extended the sop to municipal corporations, including Mumbai, just before the civic poll season began. The state cabinet Tuesday approved the perk even for smaller municipal councils.
Reaching out to the lower and the middle class, the government had further decided that the concession would be applicable in retrospective effect for all municipalities from now onwards.
Replicating the formula applied earlier in case of Mumbai and the other municipal corporations, the government has said that the unauthorised properties measuring between 601 and 1,000 sq. ft will have to pay 50 per cent more property tax as penalty and those measuring more than 1,001 square feet will have to pay 100 per cent more tax.
Source: The Indian Express
5. Kamala Mills Fire: SC Rejects Bail Plea of Mojo’s Owner
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to grant bail to Yug Tuli, co-owner of Mojo’s Bistro and accused in the December 2017 fire that claimed 14 lives.
It, however, allowed him to file a fresh bail petition before the trial court three months later.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and MM Shantanagoudar heard Tuli’s petition challenging an order of the Bombay High Court denying him bail.
Tuli’s counsel Mukul Rohatgi said no case of criminal negligence has been made out against him as the tragedy occurred due to the “mistake” of the staff at 1Above, the adjoining restaurant that was gutted in the blaze. The inquiry reports of the police as well as the BMC state that the fire was caused by embers from a hookah that was served illegally at Mojo’s Bistro.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
6. Government Plans 40-year Toll Period for Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway Project
IN A controversial move, the Maharashtra government plans to allow private partners investing in the construction of the 701-km Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Corridor the right to commercially exploit the road for 40 years.
The project, which also involves the development of 25 new towns, is seen as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s pet infrastructure project. It is to run through 10 districts, 26 talukas and 390 villages.
On Tuesday, the state PWD tabled the draft of the concession agreement for the construction of the project before the state Cabinet. The agreement grants the concessionaire the right to collect user fees by levying toll for 40 years.
Source: The Indian Express
7. 91-year-old Woman Dies After Tree Branch Falls on Her in South Mumbai
A 91-year-old woman died after the branch of an Ashoka tree fell on her while she was out on her evening walk on Monday, near Banganga Tank, Walkeshwar.
Leela Gokuldas Sukhi, who suffered multiple injuries, was rushed to St Elizabeth’s Hospital on Malabar Hill initially, and later transferred to GT Hospital, where she died on Tuesday morning.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is responsible for trimming and pruning trees in public spaces across the city, said the tree was located inside the premises of Kavale Math, a cultural organisation.
Around 7pm, Sukhi was walking past the Math and was right under the tree when the branch fell from a height of 20 to 22 feet, officials said. A resident of Banganga, she lived with her brother and sister in Chhatri Niwas building.
Source: Hindustan Times
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