1. Shiv Sena All but Wins the Thane Zilla Parishad Polls
The Shiv Sena, who is a junior partner in the state government and shares a love-hate relationship with the ruling BJP, has received a major shot in the arm as it emerged as the single largest party in the Thane Zilla Parishad polls. Shiv Sena won 26 seats out of 53 falling short of majority by just one seat. Sena had won 12 seats in the 2012 elections.
Though BJP managed to double its number of seats from seven to 14 this time, it is nowhere close to forming the government.
The credit for the Uddhav Thackeray-led party’s near-majority win is being given to Public Works Minister Eknath Shinde’s shrewd poll management. With this victory, its stranglehold over Thane is complete.
The Sena has been controlling Thane Municipal Corporation for last three decades, and now with the Zilla Parishad also in its pocket, it has extended its grip over rural areas as well.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
2. Elphinstone Road Fob Stampede: Treat Dead Bodies With Dignity, Says HC
The Bombay High Court has expressed concern over the issue which created an outrage among the kin of Elphinstone Road foot-overbridge stampede victims – numbering the dead on their foreheads. A division bench of Justices NH Patil and NW Sambre, on Thursday, came down heavily on the KEM Hospital and railway authorities for not handling the 23 dead victims with dignity.
“Certainly, this is not the way such situations are to be handled. You have to treat a dead body with dignity and adopt a humane approach. The first time a grief-stricken relative sees the body and it has such a mark on the forehead… common sense should prevail in such situations,” the bench observed.
The observations were made while the court was hearing a public interest litigation seeking to book the railway officials for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The PIL alleged that it was their negligence which had led to the incident.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
3. Twin Towers to Rise at Sion Hospital
The 70-year-old Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General (LTMG) Hospital, popularly known as Sion hospital, will undergo a major renovation, which will include the construction of two 14-storey towers to house nearly 3,200 patients. The current structure will be demolished in phases.
The civic-run hospital, which treats 90,000 in-house and 19 lakh OPD patients every year, opened its doors 70 years ago with just 10 beds. Currently, this number stands at 1,400.
Due to its strategic geographical location, the hospital is the first major referral center for most trauma and disaster cases, from both major highways (Western Express and Eastern Express Highways), as well as both major railway lines (Central and Western Railway).
Source: Mumbai Mirror
4. New Life for Love and Prince: Mumbai Conjoined Twins With Common Organs Separated
Nearly a year after a set of conjoined twins were born to a 26-year old mother at Parel-based Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital on September 19, 2016, doctors separated them on December 12, with a series of complex surgeries.
In what doctors call an extremely rare birth – one in over five lakh – the twins, Love and Prince also had a common liver, urinary bladder, intestines and fused pelvic bones.
“They had to be operated very carefully as we feared that they may suffer heavy bleeding or their blood pressure may dropp,” said Dr Pradnya Bendre, head of paediatric surgery, Wadia Hospital, who led the team of 30 doctors monitoring the children in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
“The surgery lasted for 12 hours. Giving anesthesia to children is always challenging, as one has to be very accurate with the dose,” she added. Doctors said the children are now in a stable condition, however, they have inadequate skin to cover the internal organs because of which they have used ‘prosthetic mesh’ and collagen, to prevent infections.
Source: Hindustan Times
5. CR to Hold 13-Hour Megablock on X'Mas
entral Railway will conduct a 13-hour megablock between Nerul and Belapur on December 25. The block –to conduct yard remodelling work at Belapur – will commence on the midnight of December 24 and will continue till 3 pm the next day.
CR will also conduct maintenance work on December 22 and 23 as well for the work.
As many as 64 local trains will be cancelled on December 22 and 23. “Only 12 trains will be cancelled on December 24. We chose December 25 for the megablock as it’s a holiday. The remodelling work in Belapur is essential for future harbour line development,” said a senior CR official. It is not clear how many trains will be cancelled on December 25.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
6. Traffic Woes to Ease as SV Road Widening Starts
The never-ending traffic woes on Swami Vivekananda Road, famously called SV Road, one of the busiest roads in western suburbs, will come to an end as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started road widening for the entire 18-20 km stretch from Bandra to Dahisar.
The 90-ft road will be widened up to 120 ft by acquiring setbacks at many places, demolishing some structures, and the travel time for motorists from Bandra to Dahisar is expected to be reduced by one-and-ahalf hour from a good three hours.
Besides easing traffic woes, crucial bottlenecks will be cleared from near Bandra fire brigade to Lucky restaurant junction, opposite Bandra talao, Milan Subway, NS Phadke Marg in Andheri (West), Irla Road junction, JP Road to Amboli junction and Behrambaug in Jogeshwari (West).
Source: Mumbai Mirror
7. 37 Kids Fall Sick After Eating Mid-Day Meal at Mumbai School
In what could be yet another case of food poisoning due to mid-day meals, 37 children from a Jogeshwari civic school fell ill on Wednesday immediately after consuming khichdi.
Doctors from the hospital said till late evening, 21 children from Balvikas Vidya Mandir school, Jogeshwari, were discharged, while the rest were still being treated at Konkan Hospital for vomiting, stomach ache and burning sensation in the stomach. Around 10.30am, a few of the children began complaining about a burning sensation in stomach and said they felt nauseous after eating the mid-day meal.
More students began complaining as time went on, after which they were all immediately rushed to a hospital.
“I was at work and got a call from my wife that my son had been admitted in a hospital. The school has been serving the khichdi, consisting of rice, pulses and soya beans, for the past five years. This is the first time the children have complained,” said Pandurang Lad, father of Rudra, who studies in Class 5.
Source: Hindustan Times
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