1. Uneasy Calm Breaks in 48 Hrs, Sena, BJP Spar Over CM Post
Chandrakant Patil claims that the party that wins the most seats will take the seat; Sena’s Ramdas Kadam tells the BJP it’s free to walk out of the alliance if it can’t fulfil its commitment towards rotational power share formula.
Barely 48 hours after the BJP and the Shiv Sena buried their differences, cracks appeared in the alliance on Wednesday over the power sharing formula.
The two parties are said to have finalised a pact that would allow both to take equal turns to occupy the chief minister’s. Mirror had on Wednesday reported this deal.
In an address to party functionaries on Tuesday, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had indicated that this was a done deal. “Since 1995, we have been following a formula where the party that gets more seats bags the CM’s post. But this time I have rejected that formula. I have conveyed this to the BJP. The chief minister made it clear that seats and all posts will be shared equally. This means that the next chief minister will be from the Shiv Sena,” he had said.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
2. Low-Intensity Blast in Kashimira; No Injuries
A low-intensity blast occurred on Wednesday at around 10.00 am at Thane district’s Kashimira area.
After a biker reported the explosion and flash on the road, police rushed to the spot and secured the area. “At the spot we found traces and seized particles of plastic bottle, metal balls and locally made jute fuse,” said the police.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team inspected the spot. Samples from the spot will be sent for forensic analysis. The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad is also present at the spot.
Police also said, “As per primary investigation, the device which caused the blast was very small and incapable to injure anyone. Further investigations about accused and his motive for the blast are going on.”
Source: Mumbai Mirror
3. Mumbai Monorail Phase II: CM Fadnavis Likely to Inaugurate Project by Month-End
AFTER GIVING more than 20 deadlines a skip, work on Mumbai Monorail Phase II is expected to start by February. The phase II of the project will connect Wadala to Jacob Circle. The monorail services will connect the Chembur-Wadala-Jacob Circle corridor.
A Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) official, without wishing to be named, told The Indian Express that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is expected to inaugurate the monorail phase II on February 27 or 28. “There are two tentative dates as the code of conduct for the 2019 (general) election is expected to be implemented from March 4 and no projects can be inaugurated thereafter,” the official said.
In February 2014, India’s first monorail service was launched between Wadala and Chembur. However, in its first phase, the monorail failed to attract a large number of commuters and the project ran into losses for years — daily losses were pegged at Rs 6.40 lakh.
Source: Indian Express
4. Fire Breaks out at Swanky South Mumbai Building, No Casualties
A fire broke out at a nine-storey building on Bhulabhai Desai Road in south Mumbai on Wednesday. Around 10 members of a family who stayed in the building managed to escape. A fireman, however, sustained leg injuries while trying to douse the blaze.
“As the fire fighting system of the building was not operational, a notice under the Maharashtra Fire Safety and Prevention Act will be sent to the owner,” said a fire officer. “Decorative paneling, use of Plaster of Paris, wooden furniture and other non-fire resistant material led to the spread of the blaze,” the officer added.
The nine-storey building has a laundry room on the ground floor, a tennis court, a swimming pool, a conference hall and a theatre room. Fire officials said the flames spread from the fourth floor to the topmost floor of the building.
Source: Indian Express
5. Devendra Fadnavis Secretary Is Mumbai’s New Additional Municipal Commissioner
Pravin Darade, a 1998 batch IAS officer, who is also the Chief Minister’s secretary, was on Wednesday named as Mumbai’s new Additional Municipal Commissioner.
Darade was previously holding the post of the Additional Metropolitan Commissioner of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), where he has been succeeded by 1994 batch IAS officer Sonia Sethi, who has returned from central deputation.
In Mumbai, Darade will be in-charge of big ticket projects. He will also oversee the implementation of the civic Budget. Not so long ago, Mumbai civic commissioner Ajoy Mehta (1984 batch) and Darade had differences over Darade’s occupation of a civic body-owned bungalow in Malabar Hill.
In a major rejig in middle-rung bureaucracy, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has transferred 15 other bureaucrats.
Source: Indian Express
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