1. BJP Retreats, Leaves Sena With a Shot at Forming Maharashtra Government
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari invited the Shiv Sena on Sunday evening to form the government after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) refused to stake claim to power earlier in the day. Shiv Sena, with 56 legislators, is the second-largest party in the state after BJP, which won 105 seats in the Assembly elections held in October.
A communique from Raj Bhavan said, “The Governor of Maharashtra, Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari today asked the leader of elected members of the second largest party, the Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde to indicate the willingness and ability of his party to form the government.” The Sena has until 7.30 pm on Monday to stake claim.
To be sure, the Sena alone cannot form the government, and it will need the support of the Nationalist Congress Party (54 seats) and the Indian National Congress (44 seats) to prove its majority in the 288-member house.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. ‘KEM Short-Circuit a Mere Accident, Can’t Blame BMC’
Even as a two-month-old child, Prince Pannelal Rajbhar, who suffered 22 percent burns as the ECG machine nodes melted after a short-circuit at the municipal King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital last week, could lose his right arm, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials have ruled out compensation, terming it a “mere accident”.
The infant was admitted to the hospital last Sunday, as he was diagnosed with a congenital heart disease and pneumonia in their hometown, Varanasi. He was kept on oxygen support in the paediatric ICU and ECG nodes were attached to his chest. On Wednesday, around 2.15am, a short-circuit caused the nodes to melt, burning the right side of his body, including his face.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Residents of Kumbharwada Walk 10 Minutes to Reach Nearest Toilet
The construction of toilets, which will cater to nearly 1,500 residents of Kumbharwada in Dharavi, is stuck owing to a land row between the Central Railway (CR) and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
A building comprising toilet blocks was constructed abutting railway tracks between Matunga and Sion about a decade ago to prevent nearby residents from defecating on the open on the tracks. The two-storey structure had 20 toilet blocks, of which 10 each were reserved for women and men.
In October last year, with the building needing urgent repairs, it was demolished. BMC went on to sanction Rs 80 lakh for constructing another structure with 36 toilet blocks — 21 for men and 15 for women — at the same site.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. BMC to Identify Blind Spots on Roads for Motorists
In a step towards road safety, the BMC is set to identify plantations on major road junctions across the city that act as “blind spots” for motorists. The civic body will make a list of all junctions where plantation or small gardens developed on the dividers are blocking the view of drivers.
Standing Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) chairman S R Tambe had raised the issue before BMC officials. STAC is a statutory body set to help BMC in road and traffic issues. Officials said that in a meeting last month, Tambe had expressed concern that non-implementation of rules on planting trees by the roadside results in blind spots, leading to accidents.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. One Year Course on ‘Social Reality’ for UG Students in College
To orient undergraduate students towards critical studies and research, Matunga’s Khalsa College, in association with Partners in Urban Knowledge Action and Research (PUKAR), has started a course – ‘Karke Sikho’ (learn by doing).
As part of the course, students will be exposed to a wide range of ideas — acceptance of diversity, understanding identity in the context of caste, religion and gender. A total of 80 students have been selected for the course and the initial few sessions concluded last week. “We realised students are not aware of social reality and end up learning their subjects in isolation.
Through this course, the idea is to orient them towards some of these issues,” said Dr Siby Abraham, head, department of Mathematics and Statistics, Khalsa College and the convener of the programme.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)