1.75 Hectares of Forest Land to Make Way for ‘Missing Link’
Rs 5,000-crore project to connect Khopoli to Kusgaon on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway; it will shave off around 25 minutes from the travel time; environmentalists upset at loss of green cover.
Nearly 75 hectares of forest land will soon make way for the building of the ‘missing link’ of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The 13.3-km link will connect Khopoli through an interchange to Kusgaon at the Pune end of the Expressway. The link is expected to reduce travel time between Mumbai and Pune by around 25 minutes.
The project, which will be executed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), was cleared by the cabinet sub-committee last week. The cost of the project is approximately Rs 5,000 crore.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
2. Petrol at Rs 86.25/litre, Diesel at Rs 75.12 Burn Hole in Pockets
Fuel is set to burn a hole in your pocket with petrol and diesel prices hitting an all-time high at Rs 86.25 and Rs 75.12 a litre respectively in the city on Sunday. This has renewed the demand to bring fuel prices under ambit of goods and services tax (GST) or cut excise rates.
State-owned oil firms on Sunday hiked petrol and diesel prices by 16 paise and 31 paise respectively. This broke the last record of Rs 86.24 a litre for petrol and Rs 73.79 a litre for diesel on May 29.
In the past five months, petrol and diesel prices have gone up by Rs 4.66 a litre and Rs 6.35 a litre. The hike in fuel prices since June 15, 2017, is Rs 9.55 a litre and Rs 15.22 a litre as petroleum companies started revising fuel prices daily.
Source: Hindustan Times
3. From Technical Snag to TV Wires, Mumbai’s Monorail Goes Off Track Again
Just a day after the Monorail took off on the 8.9-km Chembur-Wadala route, two services were hit by a technical snag and hanging cable TV wires which got entangled with the door of a rake near Chembur on Sunday.
The technical snag in the Monorail’s automatic protection system occurred near Vashi Naka in Chembur around 2.45pm, when it was heading to Chembur station from Wadala. The other incident occurred when cable TV wire got entangled with a door of the Monorail between Chembur and VN Purav Marg stations at 3.30pm, while heading to Wadala.
“Monorail had to be stopped between Chembur and VN Purav Marg stations today as a cable TV network wire got entangled and obstructed the Monorail’s cruise.
Source: Hindustan Times
4. Mob Locks up City Cops in Rajasthan As Accused Flees
Four officials from Deonar police station were locked up by a mob in a Rajasthan village on Sunday. The cops had gone to Ajmer in pursuit of an accused in a theft case. The accused fled the village while the cops were locked in.
The local police registered a case against at least 70 people for obstructing a police investigation.
During Bakri-Id, many traders from Rajasthan had made their way to the slaughterhouse in Deonar. After the festivities, one of the traders lodged a complaint with the Deonar police that Rs 7 lakh cash had been stolen from him. During the course of the investigation, the name of a fellow trader, Manzoor Ali, 45, who was also in the city during the festival, came up as a suspect in the case.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
5. Versova: Three Boys Rescued From Sea, One Missing
Four boys who went to the Versova beach were pulled in by the waves on Monday evening. While three of them, residents of nearby Versova village, were rescued by local residents, 13-year-old Vaibhav Gaud remained missing till late Monday evening, said police. One of the boys was admitted to the Cooper hospital where his condition was said to be critical, said police.
Senior Inspector of Versova police station, Ravindra Badgujar said the incident took place around 5.50 pm on Monday when the four youngsters aged between 12 and 13 years went to the sea for a swim.
Source: The Indian Express
6. ‘Reasons Not to Be Here’: IIT-B Student Found Dead in Hotel
Jaideep Swain, 22, checked into the hotel 3 days ago. He had set a bleak WhatsApp status, which suggests suicide.
An IIT-B student was found dead in a hotel room near Jogeshwari on Monday afternoon, three days after he checked in. Jaideep Swain, 22, who was pursuing an M Tech in computer science, is believed to have committed suicide after popping several pills.
Jaideep’s body had started to decompose, which has prompted the Amboli police to believe that he ended his life soon after checking in at Treebo Hotel.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
7. 4 Held for Smuggling 8,000 Kg Shark Fins
DRI seizes consignment worth Rs 45 crore for China, Hong Kong; 15,000 sharks killed for it; used for shark fin soup in Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Mumbai unit on Monday arrested four persons and seized 8,000 kg of shark fins meant for export to countries like China and Hong Kong. The consignment, according to the DRI, is worth Rs 45 crore in the international market.
Calling the products dried ray skins, dried marine products and fish maw, the accused were allegedly trying to avoid detection and wanted to circumvent prohibition.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
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