1. No Violation by State in Dutt’s Early Release: HC
The Bombay High Court on Thursday said it had not found any violation on part of the state in allowing actor Sanjay Dutt to walk out of jail eight months before the completion of his five-year sentence in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case.
A bench of Justices SC Dharamadhikari and Bharati Dangre observed that the state government had succeeded in backing its claims of impartiality in the case with valid documents from the Home department.
The court, thus, disposed of a Public Interest Litigation challenging the remission of Dutt’s sentence, and the “frequent parole and furlough” leaves granted to him while he was serving his sentence in the Yerwada prison in Pune.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
2. Budget Proves Modi Govt’s Commitment to Common Man, Says Maharashtra CM Fadnavis
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday hailed the 2018 Union Budget, presented by finance minister Arun Jaitley, as “historic and unprecedented”. The assurance to farmers of a minimum support price (MSP) 1.5 times the production cost and allocation of Rs 40,000 crore for Mumbai’s railway projects prove that the Modi government has kept its commitment to the common man, Fadnavis said.
“Through assurance that the MSP will cover the production cost, the government has fulfilled a demand that has been pending for two decades. It has also made sufficient provisions for irrigation projects as demanded by us. These announcements will give a major boost to the agricultural sector,” Fadnavis said after the Budget presentation.
Source: The Hindustan Times
3. Jaslok Hospital to Undergo Rs 400-crore Renovation
Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre at Peddar Road is all set to undergo a massive makeover over the next five years, at a cost of Rs 400 crore. The institution, which is run by a private charitable trust, plans to complete the phase-wise renovation project by 2023, when the hospital will complete 50 years. The new initiative could be seen as a response to other top hospitals in Mumbai - Bhatia, Nanavati and Breach Candy - making public their plans to add capacity.
“The hospital is almost 45 year old and in all these years refurbishing work has never been done except small repair work. The building needs to be strengthened,” Dr Tarang Gianchandani, CEO of Jaslok Hospital told Mumbai Mirror. “The idea is to improve the services, the condition and strengthen the infrastructure, making it more safe and operationally more efficient, with quality care.”
Source: Mumbai Mirror
4. MHADA Asks Dindoshi Society to Open Park and Gym to Public
Two days after Mumbai Mirror reported how the New Dindoshi Royal Hills Cooperative Housing Society was wanting to keep ‘common folks’ out of the Recreational Ground (RG) and gym, the Executive Engineer of Goregaon division of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has sent a notice to the chairman and secretary of the society asking them to keep the two facilities open for the public failing which MHADA would cancel the permissions given to the society for the property.
In the two-page notice, MHADA said that the notice was sent after the officers visited the property. “Your society by any means cannot stop public access to any government property, including RG plot number 14 and the gymnasium constructed therein. The MP fund has been used on the recommendation of the society but the use of the gym and garden plot can’t be the exclusive privilege of the society.”
Source: Mumbai Mirror
5. Refused Job by CISF, Man With Tattoo Gets Relief From Bombay HC
Granting relief to a man seeking a job in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Bombay High Court has held that the tattoo on his arm cannot be an impediment in his appointment.
With the CISF refusing job to Shridhar Mahadeo Pakhare, found medically unfit for having a tattoo on his right arm, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the agency to consider his claim for employment stating that it was an admitted position that he would be eligible for the job, except for the fact that he had a tattoo.
Pakhare approached the court after he was refused a job as a constable/driver in the CISF because he had a tattoo.
Source: The Indian Express
6. Man Orders iPhone Online, Gets Bar of Soap Instead
A 26-year-old man who purchased an iPhone 8 from a leading e-commerce website received a bar of soap neatly packed in the handset’s cover. The victim, Tabrez Mehboob Nagaralli, 26, has filed a case of cheating against the website which refused to compensate him claiming that he had signed the courier boy’s digital log after taking possession.
Tabrez placed the order to buy the iPhone 8, which was priced at Rs 55,069, on Flipkart on January 21. Around 3:30 pm the next day, he got delivery of the package at his office in Belvedre Hill Co-Operative Society in Mazgaon.
“The delivery boy left after taking my digital signature. A friend of mine and the watchman were near me as I unpacked the box. When I finally did, I was shocked to find a pink soap bar,” said Tabrez.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
7. MRI Death: Nair Hospital Radiologist Arrested
The Agripada police on Thursday arrested the radiologist who was in charge of the MRI centre at Nair Hospital where a person died in a freak accident on Saturday.
“We have picked up Siddhant Shah based on the statement given by Harish Solanki, one of the victim’s kin,” said a police official from the Agripada police station.
On Saturday, Rajesh Maru, a resident of Parel, was killed after he carried a cylinder into the MRI room at the hospital and got pulled into the machine due to its strong magnetic field.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
8. Mumbai Terror Attacks Trial: LET Operative’s Cousin Recognises His Voice
In a big push for the prosecution, a witness has positively identified the voice of alleged Mumbai terror attacks mastermind and LeT operative Sayyed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal from an audio recorded during the attacks.
The witness’s statement is a huge turning point for the trial as it is the first time that Ansari has been directly linked to the terror attack. The witness, a relative of Ansari, was made to hear a recording of an alleged conversation between one of the terrorists and their handler in Pakistan – Abu Jundal – taking instructions during the attack at Nariman House.
Ansari’s main defence, so far, has been that he is being mistaken for Abu Jundal, one of the four handlers from Karachi who was giving instructions to the 10 terrorists who attacked The Taj Mahal Hotel in Colaba, CST Station, Nariman House, Cama Hospital and The Trident Hotel on the night of November 26, 2008. The city was laid siege to for almost three days. 166 people had their lives in the barbaric attack.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
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