BMC spares NGO gets temporary HC relief over relocating paraplegic centre

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February 5, 2014

The Bombay High Court granted interim stay on the eviction notice issued by civic-run Sion Hospital against an NGO asking it to relocate its rehabilitation centre for paraplegic patients within the premises of the hospital.

A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha was hearing a petition filed by the NGO, ‘Paraplegics Foundation’, established in 1968, challenging the eviction notice issued on January 6.

According to the petition, the organisation provides post-operative and post-hospital care and rehabilitation to paraplegics.

“When the foundation was set up, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Dean of LokmanyaTilak Municipal General Hospital (Sion hospital) allotted partial space in the hospital premises. Later on, an entire barrack in the rear side of the hospital was allotted to the foundation,” the petition said.

The Foundation said it repaired the 14,000 sq ft premises through funds received from donations and made it suitable for paraplegics.

“However, last year the hospital authority decided to open a metro blood bank in the same premises and asked the petitioner to shift to another premise in the hospital. The alternate premise admeasuring 4,500 square feet is not suitable for persons with disabilities,” the petition said.

The petition sought for the eviction notice to be quashed and set aside.

The High Court today issued notices to BMC and dean of Sion hospital and asked them to file their affidavits by February 17 while staying implementation of the eviction notice.

BMC spares residents from fresh taxes in annual budget

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

Mumbaikars will not have to pay any new taxes during 2014-15. The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) commissioner Sitaram Kunte on Wednesday presented a Rs. 31,178 crore annual budget to the standing committee for the 2014-15 against Rs. 27,578.62 crore for 2013-14.

The civic body, in a bid to improve city’s roads, has proposed an allocation of Rs. 2,500 crore whileRs 500 crore on water and sewage disposal.

Kunte has proposed an assistance of Rs. 100 crore to BrihanMumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) which has to subsidize its loss making transport business. BEST is city’s life line and carries about 4.8 million passengers daily.

Further, the municipal commissioner has proposed an allocation of Rs. 541 crore on repairs and redevelopment of municipal buildings. This is in the wake of series of building collapse in the city.

The civic body has earned Rs. 3,400 crore during 2013-14 on account of premium paid by the realty sector towards fungible floor space index (FSI).

Kunte made it clear that the Octroi duty will not be replaced immediately by local body tax (LBT) as it needs the amendment to the civic act and its passage in the state legislature. He informed that the civic body has collected well over Rs. 6,500 crore of Octroi duty in 2013-14.

Navi Mumbai airport phase-I to be ready by 2018

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

The first phase of Navi Mumbai international airport will be complete by 2018 with an annual capacity of 10 million passengers.

The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), which issued the request for qualification (RFQ) for the airport project on Wednesday, hopes to acquire the 247 hectare by June.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said the bidders are expected to submit RFQ till June 18. The airport will be developed through public private partnership on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis.

The Navi Mumbai airport project will be developed on 1160 hectare and it is expected to have an ultimate capacity of 60 million passengers per annum.

CIDCO’s vice chairman Sanjay Bhatia clarified that the compensation for the project affected persons is not cash for land but it land for land.

Of the 2,268 hectares required for the airport project, 1,572 hectares is already in CIDCO’s possession. Earlier, CIDCO had projected phase I completion by 2017.

While the GVK group’s Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) has the right of first refusal in the bidding process and will be deemed to have qualified for bidding process on submission of a certification from Airports Authority of India for execution of Mumbai airport project.

However, the Tata group may not be able to participate in the project bid process because of a clause which restricts an airline or its associate company from holding more than ten per cent stake in the special purpose vehicle executing the project.

Tata group has a 51 percent stake in Tata-Singapore Airlines and holds 30 per cent stake in AirAsia India. Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited (TRIL) has been keen to participate in various airport projects and had tied up with Singapore’s Changi airport to develop and manage airports in India.

“We have not seen the RFQ document as yet. TRIL will consider bidding for the airport only after going through the bid documents in detail,” a company spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that the TRIL had not yet formed a consortium for Navi Mumbai project.

GMR group which manages Delhi and Hyderabad airport said it was evaluating the investment opportunity. GVK group and Reliance Infrastructure group did not comment. Essel Group too has shown interest in airport development projects in the country and has tied up with US based ADC & HAS Airports Worldwide as its partner.

Government clears a Shivaji statue in Mumbai

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

The government on Wednesday cleared a proposal to construct Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji’s statue in Mumbai. As a beginning the state cabinet at its meeting held on Wednesday approved an allocation of Rs 100 crore to complete initial formalities. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan however, declined to give further details with regard to the exact project cost.

He claimed that the proposed Shivaji statue will be the tallest one. The Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra proposes to project the Shivaji statue against the rival project of as one of the leading planks in the run up to the LokSabha polls. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s ‘Statue of Unity’, which is expected to come up on Sadhu Bet island on the banks of the Narmada River would cost around Rs 2,400 crore.

He said that the in principle approval was given last year by the former union minister for environment and forests Jayanti Natarajan. According to Chavan, further approvals will be sought especially with regard to coastal zone regulations.

The state government in the year 2009 had unveiled the digital design of this project. The proposal was for the construction of a 300-foot statue in Mumbai.

Chavan said the location in the Arabian Sea has also been cleared. The statue will be constructed on an artificial island a kilometre away in the Arabian Sea off the Marin Lines-Chowpatti shore of Mumbai. He informed that the government will invite global tenders for its construction.

Hundreds rush to Mantralaya for ‘Rs. 54,000 flats’ in Powai

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

Hundreds of people from Mumbai and adjoining areas have been thronging Mantralaya to submit forms for a low-cost housing scheme, which the Chief Minister’s Office said did not exist.

People filled the forms believing it would help them get a house in Powai for a meagre Rs. 54,000 under the so-called “low-cost housing scheme floated by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.”

After learning about those submitting the applications yesterday, the Chief Minister’s office issued a clarification that no such scheme had been sanctioned by the government and the so-called forms were bogus.

However, this hasn’t dampened the applicants’ spirits and the rush continued on the second day today.

A CMO official said an inquiry will be conducted to ascertain what exactly led to this bogus claim and the subsequent mad rush at Mantralaya, the state Secretariat.

One of the forms bore the Congress motto “Congress ka haath Aam Aadmi ke saath.” The form said, “I belong to the economically weaker section. Since the government is allocating houses to the economically weaker sections under its 1987 Powai Development Scheme, I wish to apply for the same 3,000 homes measuring 400 sq ft being developed by Hirandandani Builders under this scheme.”

Labour activist Milind Ranade said, “The poor need to know there are apartments in the Hiranandani complex which should have been rightfully theirs.”

In 1986, about 240 acres of surplus land was acquired by the state government under the Urban Land Ceiling Act (ULCA) and leased to the developer at a cost of 40 paise per acre. This was done under the ULC exemption clause as per which the developer had to construct modest sized homes of 400 sq ft and 800 sq ft. The ULCA, repealed in 2007, was meant to prevent concentration of land and housing in the hands of a few, he said.

Hiranandani amalgamated the flats to create sprawling 1,200 to 5,000 sq ft residences for high-end clients in over 70 residential and commercial towers, Ranade said.

“Fifteen% of the total apartments were to be handed back to the state government for the sake of public housing at the rate of Rs 135 per sq ft. The cost of each 400 sq ft apartment thus works out to Rs 54,000, which is what is printed on the forms,” he said.

Fraudster tampers ATM, withdraws Rs 26,000 from woman’s a/c

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

A woman lost Rs 26,000 as she fell prey to a fraudster who allegedly tampered with an ATM and siphoned off money from her bank account after she unsuccessfully tried to withdraw cash from an ATM kiosk in south Mumbai, police said.

Rita Yadav, who works with a law firm, had on January 18 evening walked into an ATM centre of ICICI bank in Fort area of south Mumbai to withdraw cash, according to police.

The 30-year-old customer of the bank inserted the debit card in one of the three ATM kiosks when the system got stuck and she pressed cancel button, before moving on to another ATM machine. However, she faced a similar problem following which she moved to the third machine, police said.

“A man, who appeared to have been in the ATM centre for a long time, advised me to use the third machine saying that the other two were not working properly. After withdrawing Rs 1,000 from third machine, I received a text message on my mobile for the same from the bank. Within five minutes of my withdrawal, to my shock I received one more text message which stated that Rs 26,000 had been debited to my account,” Yadav said in her complaint.

Panicked, Yadav rushed to the unmanned ATM centre to find out the suspicious cash withdrawer, but in vain. She rang up the ICICI customer care representatives, who claimed that the needful would be done, police said quoting her complaint.

However, when there was no response from the bank representatives even after six days, she visited the bank in Fort and went through the CCTV footage, in which two men moving suspiciously near the ATM were spotted, she claimed.

The CCTV footage showed that the man, who had informed her on January 18 that the two ATM machines were not working, had used the same machine soon after she had left the place, the victim claimed.

On January 25, Yadav lodged FIR with MRA Marg police station, which is yet to get a breakthrough in the case.

Police suspect that the ATM machine might have been tampered, so that it gets hanged when transaction is underway. As the customer walks away thinking the machine has hanged, the fraudster withdraws cash from the victim’s account.

“We sought the ICICI bank to share the CCTV footage of the ATM, but they are yet to respond. We are working on the case,” senior inspector Ashok Jagdale said.

Maharashtra nod for 5th Pay scale for junior college teachers

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

With teachers announcing boycott of the HSC board practical exams starting from Thursday, the state Cabinet approved their demand of implementing the three-tier pay scale as per the Fifth Pay Commission, from January 1996.

Members of the Maharashtra Federation of Junior College Teachers’ Organisation had decided to stage a ‘jail bharo’ protest at Azad Maidan in South Mumbai if the cabinet meeting failed to bring about a positive result.

Their demands include implementation of three-tier pay scale from January 1996 and restoration of 42 days’ leave from 1999.

The cabinet decision is expected to benefit around 20,000 teachers in the state, an official said, after the cabinet meeting.

“We have been demanding for our rights for several years and this year too, we informed the state about our boycott months in advance. They had to wait till the very last day to take any decision,” said Anil Deshmukh, general secretary of the organisation.

Members of the Maharashtra State Secondary and Higher Secondary School Principals’ Association met state education minister Rajendra Darda on Tuesday to discuss their demands.

The cabinet also approved the draft of the third state women’s policy which aims at ensuring measures for women’s development.

In another decision, aimed at providing relief to anganwadi workers who took out morchas and staged protest at Azad Maidan here for their demands, the state cabinet approved payment of Rs one lakh to kin of each deceased anganwadi worker. This measure will benefit around 2.06 lakh anganwadi workers in the state, the official said.

Roller coaster ride turns fatal for mother and daughter

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Prakash Jha

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February 5, 2014

Mother and daughter sustained injuries after a roller coaster derailed at 1 pm inside Imagica Theme Park, Khopoli. Purnima Rathi (32) and sustained injuries on her head and her 16-year-old daughter lower jaw was hurt. The duo was rushed to Jakhotia hospital.

An official from the Imagica Theme park said, “Although the ride is currently closed for safety precautions, the park is completely operational.”

Vincent Pijnenburg, Chief Operating Officer Adlabs Imagica said “We have always complied with the maintenance and operational procedures recommended by the manufacturers of every ride. The safety of our guests and employees is our company’s utmost priority.”

Ashutosh Kale, Assistant Vice President, Adlabs Imagica Safety and Security said, “In accordance with our daily safety procedures every ride is checked for safety and technical issues before being run for our guests. We had conducted three test runs on the ride prior to opening it for the guests. We are coordinating with the ride manufacturer to ensure that no untoward incident occurs in the future.”
The news of ride derailment spread like fire on social networking sites like Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter etc.

Superintendent of Police (Raigad), Ankush Shinde said, “We are investigating this matter. If anybody is found responsible for this incident then strict action will be taken against them.”

Congress insulted Pranab Mukherjee by denying him PM post: Narendra Modi

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

Bharatiya Janata Party Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the party’s call for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to West Bengal on Wednesday, attacking Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Third Front and the Congress. Modi hit out at the Congress saying President Pranab Mukherjee should have been made the Prime Minister after Indira Gandhi’s death in 1984.
“Pranab should have become the PM after Indira Gandhi’s death. In 2004, Pranab was the senior most. He should have been made the PM, not Manmohan,” Modi said addressing a rally in Kolkata.
Reacting to this, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari said, “It’s unfortunate that the CM of Gujarat is dragging in the august office of the President of India into controversy.”
Modi launched an all-out war against the Mamata Banerjee government and the Left parties in West Bengal. The Gujarat strongman exhorted the people to vote for the BJP if they wanted progress and development.
“India will only become a world leader if Bengal becomes the national leader,” Modi said to loud cheers.
“I promise you if you welcome BJP in Bengal, I will undo what has been done to Bengal in last 60 years,” he said.
Like Uttar Pradesh, for West Bengal also, he said, “If Gujarat can provide 24 hour power, why can’t West Bengal?”
Modi also took a dig at the Third Front saying the country will become third grade if a Third Front comes to power. He also added that the people of the country have already decided the outcome of the 2014 polls.

Sushma Swaraj insults North East community with ‘flat nose’ slur

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Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2014

Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sushma Swaraj inadvertently insulted people from India’s North East when she spiritedly defended them in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday with an inexcusable racial slur.

Swaraj who rose to speak about the death of Nido Taniam, a youth from Arunachal Pradesh, who was beaten to death in Delhi in a suspected racial attack, said ‘people with flat noses are as much Indians as those with sharp ones.’

The Nido Taniam incident is the latest opportunity for political leaders to join the blame game. Most have made a mad dash to get on the political bandwagon after the death generated anger, hurt and disillusionment in the streets and in the media after Nido’s tragic death.

As if being referred to by derogatory names and made fun of in their adopted cities wasn’t enough, Swaraj just casually established the very stereotyping the people from India’s northeast are trying to break. The ‘flat nose’ reference was not only unnecessary, but also in very poor taste, considering that Swaraj and her party wanted to be seen sympathizing with people from the North East. It’s as unforgivable as calling someone dark skinned even to defend them.

Even when she raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, Swaraj’s aggression was mainly aimed at political rivals than at those who lead racist mobs against innocent people or the policemen who refuse to take action against the perpetrators.

“Congress Vice President, Delhi CM are sitting on a dharna instead of ensuring people’s safety,” Swaraj said. “Arunachal Pradesh is also a part of India and children of the Northeast are as Indian as anyone else,” she said going on to suggest setting up of hostels where North East students could stay with people from other parts of India.

Ninong Ering Ninong Ering, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs and an MP from Arunachal Pradesh, asked leaders not to politicise the death of Nido Taniam. It doesn’t look like that is going to happen.
With Lok Sabha polls looming over the horizon like a large blimp, leaders will inevitably try to gain as much mileage as possible from incidents such as these. Don’t let them fool you into thinking that the concern stems out of a personal investment in important issues that affect the common man.

Rapes and attacks on people from the North East happened in the past. A 30-year old BPO employee from Manipur was gang raped by five drunken men in a moving vehicle in 2010. In 2009, A young woman pursuing Masters in Jamia Milia Islamia was waylaid and molested by a group of school boys while she was returning home after college. The international Business Times lists some more such incidents here.
But it took an election year for Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejrwal, who is also Delhi’s Chief Minister, to visit the venue of protests and promise action. Will the politicians ever get the fact that there is an urgent need to sensitize the common man, including the police forces that often choose to ignore complaints of racial abuse?

Swaraj owes an apology to the community for adding insult to their long festering injury.