Against the backdrop of Maharashta government requesting cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood mega star Amitabh Bachchan to work for the cause of tigers in the state, NCP leader Sachin Ahir expressed reservations over two brand ambassadors for a single project.

Maharashtra Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had earlier said that he had written to the two icons seeking their involvement in the government’s efforts to save big cats and promote tourism in the tiger sanctuaries.

Bachchan had accepted the proposal and communicated his consent to Mungantiwar through a letter.

Sachin had also written to the minister on August 13 expressing his desire to work for the cause of tigers.

However, NCP’s Mumbai unit president Sachin Ahir today alleged that Bachchan was requested to be the brand ambassador of the tiger project to please the BJP’s political bosses.

Since Tendulkar was born in Mumbai, he should have been the first choice for the project, Ahir said.

“There have never been two brand ambassadors for one project. It seems that one ambassador has been appointed to please the people of the state and the other to please the BJP’s political bosses,” the NCP leader told reporters here.

“Sachin was born in Mumbai and if he was made the first option to promote the cause, it would have been better,” he said.

The Bombay High Court on Monday expressed displeasure over Maharashtra government’s failure to take a stand on whether the changes made to a structure in south Mumbai allotted to political party BJP in 1978, were legal or not.
A division bench of justices A S Oka and Revati Mohite Dere was hearing petitions filed by three residents’ associations seeking action against illegal structures constructed by political parties, including BJP, inside and near the Nehru Garden and other illegal shanties that have sprung up there. The court had on the last hearing, directed the state to examine if any changes were carried out by BJP, and if so, then whether the requisite permissions were taken.
The government on Monday filed an affidavit stating that there is nothing on record of the Public Works Department to show whether or when any change was made. The affidavit, however, states that BJP on June 8 submitted an application to the General Administration and Urban Development Department seeking rectification of the allotted area in the allotment letter as there is discrepancy in the area shown in the letter and the one which was and is actually in use.
After perusing the affidavit, the high court said, “In our order of April 16, we had directed the government to examine if any material changes were made to the area allotted. The government was today expected to file affidavit in respect to this. However, the government has not done so. The government is avoiding to take any specific stand.” “Pending hearing of this petition, we restrain the government to take any final decision on the letter dated June 8 written by BJP,” the court directed while posting the petition for hearing on September 7.
In August 2013, the high court had restrained BJP and all other political parties which have their offices there to not carry out any renovation work. However, last year, the petitioners’ advocate told the court that despite the stay BJP had carried out construction in their office premises. The court was informed that when the structure was allotted it was 2,686 sq ft and now it is 9,500 sq ft.

Urging the Centre to act swiftly on the issue of One-Rank One-Pension, the Shiv Sena said the way ex-servicemen demanding OROP were treated while protesting in Delhi on the eve of Independence Day was “shameful” and “disturbing.”

“The action of Delhi police seemed to suggest that they would be ready to even kick the ex-servicemen if they did not go away from the protest site. This incident, on the eve of Independence Day, was shameful and disturbing,” the Sena, which is an alliance partner in the BJP led Maharashtra government, said in an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

Justifying the OROP demand, it said, “If rank is similar, pension should be the same as well. This is nature’s law. But these people had to fight their own government to get justice. This demand is continuing from many years and it is also justified.”

The MPs, MLAs and government servants manage to get their salaries increased, but the government, instead of considering the demands of ex-servicemen who face bullets in extreme weather conditions, is being evasive on the issue, the Sena said.

It further said that it is the Modi government’s responsibility to ensure that injustice being meted out to ex-servicemen stops.

“After being chosen as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi had on September 15, 2013, while addressing ex-servicemen in Rewari, promised that his government would implement OROP. It has been one-and-a-half year since then. The Centre should take immediate steps on the issue,” it said.

The Narendra Modi government has been maintaining that it is committed to OROP, a key promise made during Lok Sabha polls.

A group of ex-servicemen have been on a protest at Jantar Mantar for two months demanding early implementation of OROP. On August 14, Delhi Police tried to evict them on the grounds of security ahead of Independence Day celebrations. However, later, Police Commissioner B S Bassi said they were allowed to continue with the protest.

The move by authorities was widely criticised after the ex-servicemen refused to go away and alleged that the policemen manhandled those protesting quietly.

Close to 22 lakh ex-servicemen and over six lakh war widows stand to be the immediate beneficiaries of the scheme, which envisages a uniform pension for the defence personnel who retire in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement.

An American woman has accused a man of indulging in vulgar act in front of her, leading the police to launch a hunt for him.

The incident took place at around 7.30 AM, when the woman was walking in Colaba area of South Mumbai, said police, who are yet to decide which IPC Section is to be invoked in the matter.

According to the woman, the man indulged in vulgar act in front of her and ran away from the spot when she confronted him. The foreign national approached the police and narrated the harrowing incident.

“Based on a verbal complaint by the victim, the police have initiated a search for the accused. However, we are yet to record the statement of the complainant to know what exactly happened. We will get a clear picture only when we record her statement,” said Vinay Gadgil, Senior Inspector of Colaba Police Station.

“As the victim’s statement has not been recorded yet, I will not be able to say that under which (IPC) Section the accused would be booked,” added Gadgil.

The incident came to public notice when the American woman tweeted about it, and her tweet soon went viral on social networking sites like Tweeter and Facebook.

The victim also mentioned about two men, who where passing-by and came to her help when she raised an alarm.

To get clues about the identity of the accused, police are going through a photo which the victim had managed to click, said Gadgil.

In a suspected dishonour killing, a 24-year-old man was murdered for marrying a woman against the wishes of her family, police said on Monday.

The incident took place last night at Jahu Nandurki village in Bhiwandi tehsil, when 17 people attacked Satyam Karbari using sharp-edged weapons, following which he died on the spot, PSI Vijay Shirsat of Bhiwandi Takula Police station said.

Karbari had married a girl three years back and since then her family had a grudge against him. The girl is the cousin of the prime accused in the case, Shirsat added.

The body has been sent for post-mortem and a case under Section 302 (murder) of IPC and relevant sections of Arms Act has been registered in this regard, police said, adding efforts are on nab the absconding accused.

A 14-year-old girl from the district was allegedly raped repeatedly by four youths on different occasions following which she became pregnant, police said.

All the four accused, including two minors, were detained last night, they said.

The girl had abruptly discontinued going to school prior to the alleged offence and used to be at home in Palghar town. A 22-year-old youth raped her several times during the past eight months at her place when the girl’s mother used to go out for work, assistant police inspector D R Salunkhe said.

During the same period, another youth from the locality also raped her a couple of times, he said.
Besides, on another occasion, two minor boys called the girl to their house on the pretext of allowing her to watch television and raped her, he said.

The girl had recently gone for a medical check-up when it came to light that she was 16 weeks pregnant, he said.

Subsequently, her parents lodged a complaint last evening following which the youths were detained, he said.

A case under IPC sections 376 (rape), 376(d) (gangrape) and relevant provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been registered, Salunkhe said, adding that investigation was underway.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Ramesh Kadam, accused of irregularities worth over Rs. 150 crore in the Maharashtra government-run Annabhau Sathe Development Corporation (ASDC), was today arrested from Pune by the CID.

“Kadam was arrested on Pune-Ahmednagar Road near Pune and is being brought here as the case has been registered in Mumbai,” said state CID chief Sanjay Kumar.

The alleged scam had taken place when Kadam, who represents Mohol constituency in Solapur district, was the chairman of the ASDC.

Kadam had allegedly transferred over Rs. 150 crore funds to the organisations headed by him. The money was meant for the welfare of backward communities for whom the corporation was set up, CID officials said.”

Apart from Kadam, three other people have been arrested in this connection,” Kumar said.

A case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Corruption Act had been filed at Dahisar police station against several persons, including the legislator, in this connection on July 19.

Investigations are underway and efforts are on to nab the absconding accused, the CID official added.