1. ‘Must Stop’: HC Pulls up State, NHAI for Recurring Potholes
Why does the “phenomenon of potholes keep recurring every year”, the Bombay high court asked the government on Tuesday, highlighting a problem that plagues both Mumbai and the highways leading out of it, every monsoon.
Acting on a public interest litigation complaining about potholes on long stretches of the Mumbai-Goa highway, the high court on Tuesday asked the state government and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to file undertakings promising they would not only repair the highway in a time-bound manner, but also appoint experts to find out why potholes develop on the stretch every year,. “You also know, this is an annual phenomenon, and for years this is happening on the Mumbai-Goa highway,” the division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Riyaz Chagla told the government pleader Abhinandan Vagyani.
Source: Hindustan Times
2. Dhangars Threaten to Intensify Agitation for ST Reservation
Amid the agitation over the issue of Maratha reservation, the Dhangar (shepherd) community has warned of intensifying its protest for reservation under the scheduled tribe (ST) category. Every district in Maharashtra will start agitation at local level from August 6, the community leaders have announced.
Giving reservation to the Dhangar community under ST category was one of the poll promises made by BJP and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in 2014, they said. At present, Dhangars are classified as nomadic tribe (NT) in Maharashtra. The Centre has included ‘Dhangad’ community in scheduled tribe list but excluded Dhangars. The Dhangar community leaders, however, claim that the two are same and the only difference is of pronunciation.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
3. Vijay Mallya Extradition Trial: UK Court Wants Video of Arthur Road Jail Cell
A UK court hearing the extradition case of Vijay Mallya on Tuesday asked the Indian government to submit a video of the cell at Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail, where the fugitive tycoon is proposed to be kept if he is sent back to India.
Setting September 12 as the date for closing arguments in his high-profile extradition trial, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London asked the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is representing the Indian government, to provide the video, shot ideally during midday with no artificial lighting, within three weeks.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
4. After Tug of War, Cuffe Parade Residents Get Their Garden Back, but…
A garden in Cuffe Parade, which became symbolic of a class tussle, will be handed back to the area’s wealthy residents, but with a rider. It must be open to the common public, including slum children, who were stopped from entering the garden last year, leading to a clash of sorts between the haves and the have-nots.
City collector Shivajirao Jondhale has proposed to the state government to hand over the Bay View Marina garden to Cuffe Parade Residents’ Association (CPRA) for 10 years and barricade the garden compound wall with an iron net to prevent slum encroachments. This decision was taken recently after the BMC rejected the proposal to maintain it as the civic body wasn’t the planning authority for the garden.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
5. 3 Stab 45-Year-Old Rickshaw Driver to Death in Mumbai
The Borivli police are on the lookout for three men who allegedly stabbed a 45-year-old rickshaw driver to death in Shimpoli, Borivli (West) on Monday night.
According to the Borivli police, the incident took place around 9.30pm in a garage near Shivaji Nagar slum.
Ambadas Shinde, 45, had six criminal cases registered against him. However, recently he had given up crime and was working as a rickshaw driver.
On the night of the murder, Shinde was with the three accused in the garage. The three men had a fight with Shinde regarding some differences pertaining to the rickshaw union. He also had a past personal enmity with the men.
Source: Hindustan Times
6. Faulty Ticketing Machines: BEST Asked to Recover Rs 212 Crore From Firm
The BEST has suffered huge losses on account of faulty ticketing machines, and now the BMC has directed the transport undertaking to recover Rs 212 crore from the company that was tasked with operating the machines.
The company, Trimax IT Infrastructures and Services Ltd, which was given the contract to design and handle ticket collection through electronic ticket issuing machines (ETIMs), on its part claimed that the life of the machines bought in 2010 had expired and that they were now beyond any repairs.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
7. NIA Court Frames Charges in Nagpada Daesh Case
A Special NIA Court in Mumbai on Tuesday framed charges under the Unlawful ActivitiesPrevention Act against an employee of televangelist Zakir Naik.
Arshi Qureshi who worked as a guest manager at Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), is accused of indoctrination of Kerala youths and motivating them to joining Daesh.
The case relates to Ashfaq Majid and his associates from Kasargod in Kerala who were indoctrinated into extreme Jihadi ideology allegedly by Qureshi and other members of the IRF who motivated and radicalised them to join Daesh.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
8. The Glitch Is, City Has Nowhere to Report Bad Roads
Bhavesh Purohit had only good things to say about the BMC’s promptness in addressing complaints. That endorsement, however, lasted less than a day.
The Kandivali resident reported a bad patch of road in Thakur Village on the BMC’s website — mcgm.gov. in — earlier last month. The following day, he was notified that the complaint had been forwarded to the assistant civic engineer (maintenance) of the ward and action had been taken.
Equal parts surprised and full of cheer, he set off for work and found that the road was still the same. He registered a complaint again. And twice more. Each time, the complaint was promptly closed with the notification: ‘Action taken’, and each time, the road was left untouched.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
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