1. Pistols, Car Seized In Raid On Vaibhav Raut’s House
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Wednesday, for the second time, searched the bungalow of Vaibhav Raut of Hindu Govansh Raksha Samiti in Nallasopara and seized arms, ammunition and gadgets from it.
According to the ATS, four air pistols, 20 boxes of air pistol cartriges, a Toyota Innova car, a laptop, two CPUs, three mobile phones, two SIMcards, two notebooks and a diary were among the items seized by the search team.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
2. Marathwada, Northern Maharashtra Staring At Drought Once Again
Even as the rest of the state received normal rains, the eight districts of Marathwada region in central Maharashtra and five districts in northern Maharashtra are staring at drought once again as these two regions received less than average rainfall ranging between -3 per cent and -43 per cent. The farmers might be forced to sow for the second time as crops are facing the danger of drying up.
The Marathwada region, on average, receives 880 mm of rainfall but as on August 15, districts like Aurangabad received 43 per cent less rainfall. Jalna received 41 per cent less rainfall and Beed got 32 per cent less than the average rainfall. Nanded and Latur districts were luckier as they received 97 per cent and 82 per cent of the average rainfall respectively.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
3. CM Says Govt Will Look Into Food Prices At Cinema Hall
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has finally spoken on the issue of multiplexesfleecing moviegoers by not allowing outside food, saying his government will explore all options to ensure the price gap between food items sold at the theatres and outside is narrowed. “The government will try to take steps to ensure that things are sold at affordable prices at theatres,” Fadnavis told Mumbai Mirror.
While the chief minister did not specify what exactly will the government do to ensure this, and his statement cannot be construed as an assurance, the fact that the government is forced to address this issue could result in the multiplexes being reined in when it comes to pricing of food items.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
4. City’s Ex-pilot Behind Group Aiming To Bully ‘Media’ Into Submission
Two ultra-nationalists, an ex-pilot and aviation engineer from Mumbai and a Supreme Court lawyer from Delhi, have formed a group to monitor the media for “biased and fake news stories”, triggering concern among journalists of harassment and intimidation.
The group – India Against Biased Media (IABM) – has already filed 25 cases of sedition against Swara Bhasker in different police stations across the country, an equal number of complaints against an anti-establishment YouTuber with 700,000 subscribers, and lodged cases against multiple journalists for their tweets in the wake of an attack on Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Umar Khalid.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
5. Two Years After ‘Disgusting’ Remark On Woman, Mumbai Man Gets 1 Year Jail
A 31-year-old man was sentenced to one year in jail for verbally abusing a woman in September 2014.
The woman told the court that the accused, Rohan Rane, in an argument, called her a “bl***y high class person”, “disgusting” and a “nuisance”. Around 9.45am, the woman, who is a flight attendant, was waiting at Lamington Road in south Mumbai, for her pickup to arrive. Another car in the same lane was taking a reverse. In her testimony to the Girgaon court, she said, “The lane was empty when the vehicle was taking a reverse. At the same time, my pickup arrived. I asked the driver of the other car as to why he was taking so long to reverse his car?”
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Parents Protest, But School Stands Firm In POCSO Case
Nearly 50 people protested outside a suburban SSCschool for following mandatory procedure by reporting sexual assault by a 10-year-old male student against his classmate.
However, the school has refused to take back the case, and instead begun a sensitisation week, in which law enforcement officials are educating teachers, staff, students and parents about the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO).
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
7. Maharashtra Plans To Write Off Rs 118 Crore Tax Arrears For Big Winemakers
The BJP-led state government is set to write off tax arrears totalling Rs 118.30 crore owed by some of India’s biggest winemakers. The dues, proposed to be foregone, are arrears accumulated in excise duty since 2006. According to senior sources in the state’s finance department, it is perhaps the first time in the state’s history that a proposal to write off principal tax dues is being considered.
If the move is approved, the country’s biggest winery — Sula Vineyards Pvt Ltd, which alone makes up for over 65 per cent share in the domestic wine industry — will turn out to be the biggest beneficiary. Records from the state excise department reveal that Sula Vineyards alone has run into arrears totalling Rs 115.89 crore. Five other medium-sized wineries — Good Drop Wine Sellers Private Limited (Rs 1.32 crore), Seven Peaks Wineries Pvt Ltd (Rs 78.25 lakh), Vinland Wines Company Pvt Ltd (Rs 17.87 lakh), AD Wines (Rs 9.65 lakh), and Noble Wines (Rs 2.67 lakh), all in Nashik — will also benefit from the move.
(Source: Indian Express)
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