1. Corporator Blames BMC, Says Garden Track Was Not Fixed
Colaba corporator Makrand Narvekar on Monday demanded the charge of negligence against BMC officials in the death of a six-year-old girl who fell off a horse during a joyride at the Cooperage garden on Sunday. He said the civic body had failed to repair the severely pockmarked track at the garden despite repeated reminders. The horse is believed to have slipped on the uneven surface, throwing off Janhavi Mistry, a first-grader from Girgaum. She crashed into a stone deck, suffering head injuries.
The Colaba police registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the horse rider, 30-yearold Sohan Jaiswal. Narvekar said officials of the BMC's garden department should also be booked in the case.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
2. Ghatkopar Building Collapse: Shitap’s Bail Plea Rejected
The Mumbai Sessions Court on Monday rejected the bail plea of Shiv Sena worker Sunil Shitap arrested in connection with a buildingcollapse here in which 17 people had lost their lives.
Shitap had approached the court seeking bail on the grounds that his custody was not required anymore as the police had filed chargesheet in the case. The court however rejected his plea holding that the charges against him were serious.
Shitap and others have been booked for a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder which attracts 10 years’ imprisonment.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
3. City Railway Network To Get 30 FOBs
The Railway Board has sanctioned 30 foot overbridges for the Mumbai suburban section on an out-of-turn basis. Of this, 14 FOBs will be built on the CR suburban section, and 16 under the jurisdiction of the WR. Also, wherever space permits, most of these FOBs will also be fitted with escalators, railway officials said.
According to a letter written by Ashish Kumar, director, Railway Board, to the general manager, WR and CR, on November 3, 2017, the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd (MRVC) assigned construction work on 30 FOBs in the suburban section of the city.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
4. ‘Laxman Rekha’ At Railway Stations For Hawkers
Lord Ram drew the laxman rekha to keep evil forces away from Sita. Cut to 2017 and the Hindu God’s signature move has inspired the BMC to draw demarcation lines outside railway stations to ward off the ‘nuisance’ of hawkers. After the Bombay High Court’s order banning hawkers from foot overbridges and from near railway stations, the BMC has chalked out 150-metre demarcated zones outside several railway stations, to keep vendors away from hawking in the restricted zone.
The BMC has already drwan up lines outside Mahim, Matunga, Dadar and Sion railway stations on Monday.
“We have drawn lines indicating a 150-metre perimeter around railway stations. We have deployed a special team comprising senior inspectors and four workers with a van to monitor hawker encroachment. Currently, they work in two shifts. But these nuisance detectors will work for 24 hours. We will also demarcate zones outside schools and religious places,” said Ramakant Biradar, assistant commissioner, G (north) ward.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
5. Woman, Daughter Found Dead In Thane
A woman and her 11-year-old daughter were found killed in their house in Pimprigaon on the Panvel road, city police said on Monday.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Zone-I D S Swami said, the killing might have taken place in the night of November 4.
An offence has been registered under section 302 (murder) of the IPC at Shil Daighar police station, said police.
The woman lived with her daughter and son in a flat at Pimprigaon, police said.
The DCP said police would be in a position to reveal further details only after investigations.
(Source: Mid-Day)
6. Activists Hail HC’s Historic Verdict, Say It Will Aid Maharashtra Women
Activists and legal experts welcomed the Bombay high court’s verdict on Monday, wherein the court allowed a 28-year-old Jogeshwari resident to abort her malformed foetus despite crossing the 20-week pregnancy deadline for abortion. While the abnormality was detected in the 22nd week of pregnancy, it took another three weeks to complete paper work before the woman moved high court on November 3.
Experts said the verdict is likely to benefit women from Maharashtra, who until now had been moving Supreme Court (SC) to abort abnormal foetuses beyond the permissible limit. Since January, 17 women from Mumbai and neighbouring areas moved Apex Court to obtain permission to abort foetuses with congenital abnormalities.
Dr Nikhil Datar, the prime petitioner in the case to make amendments in the country’s Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act 1971, so that the cut-off period for legal abortions is extended to 24 weeks of pregnancy, said after the 2008 verdict of Bombay HC, which denied Bhayandar couple Niketa and Haresh Mehta permission to abort 24-week foetus, they moved Supreme Court.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. BJP Minister From Maharashtra Apologises For Offensive Remark On Naming Liquor After Women
Maharashtra’s medical education and water resources minister Girish Mahajan on Monday apologised after his suggestion on Saturday that sugar factories name their liquor brands after women caused a huge row.
In a complete turnaround, Mahajan has now said that it is high time to reconsider the naming of liquor and tobacco brands after women.
Mahajan admits he made a mistake and said he is sorry if his statement has offended women. “It was a mistake I made while talking in a completely different background, and in a lighter vein. I did not intend to insult women. I tender my apology for the statement,” he said.
The fact remains, however, that most local liquor brands doing good business are named after women, Mahajan said, adding that the purpose of his statement was to highlight the fact that the naming convention is insulting. “There is a need to consider changing the names of these brands. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis may take a decision if a request is made to him,” he said.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. Century-Old Banyan Tree Back On Its Feet
A resident of Five Gardens in Dadar East has successfully transplanted a centuryold banyan tree that was uprooted in the floods of August 29 this year. Sheroy Davar collected around Rs 2 lakh in donations from neighbours and friends and managed to transplant the tree at the same location last week. The tree’s leaves are lush green, and experts say it has good chances of survival.
Every monsoon, the city loses hundreds of trees or branches. One of them was a decades-old banyan tree (belonging to the Ficus family) on the premises of a private building in Five Gardens area. The building is owned by the PN Kerawalla Charity Trust and has its tenants living there. The tree was uprooted in the August 29 flooding, tilting and collapsing on the premises of adjoining Bombay Parsi Panchayat buildings. The massive tree had about 20 per cent of its root system still in earth after the incident.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
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