A 30-year-old man was arrested for the alleged possession of gutkha worth Rs. 6 lakh in the western suburb of Khar, police said on Tuesday.
According to police they got a tip from their sources and form a team with Mumbai police‘s crime branch on Monday and arrested the accused, from a parked van, which was loaded with the banned substance.
The accused identified as Abu Sahama Riyaz Ahmad Khan a resident of the Nala Sopara area. Police said, After interrogating with Khan, the crime branch team and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials raided two of his godowns in Khar and seized gutkha worth Rs 6 lakh.
Police have booked the accused under relevant sections of the FDA Act and further investigations are underway.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a status report within four weeks on the investigation conducted so far relating to the larger conspiracy behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
A bench of Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice Hemant Gupta asked the CBI to apprise it of the probe carried out till now on the conspiracy aspect behind the making of the belt bomb that killed Gandhi and several others, and foreign involvement in the assassination.
The investigation is being carried out by the Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA), headed by a CBI official. It also has officers from IB, RAW and Revenue Intelligence and other agencies.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by a convict, AG Perarivalan, seeking suspension of his sentence till the CBI concluded its investigation into the conspiracy behind making of the belt bomb that killed Gandhi and others.
Perarivalan had claimed that this aspect was not being probed properly. He added that he was held guilty for supplying two nine-volt batteries which were allegedly used in the improvised explosive device (IED) that killed Gandhi while the investigation by MDMA relating to the IED was still going on.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21, 1991, in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur town by a woman suicide bomber, identified as Dhanu, at an election rally. Fourteen others, including Dhanu herself, were also killed.
On February 18, 2014, the apex court had commuted the death sentence of Perarivalan to life imprisonment, along with two other condemned prisoners, Santhan and Murugan.
Despite heavy rains and floods this year, many parts of Maharashtra received deficient rainfall. 70 per cent area of the state falls under semi-arid region. Maharashtra has declared drought three times in the last five years. Even after spending thousands of crores on irrigation and drinking water projects, the drought leaves people in the lurch every year. Maharashtra has many big rivers like Godavari, Penganga, Wainganga, Wardha, Krishna, Koyana, Bhima, Indravati, Tapi, Purna, etc. But all rivers are rain fed. So, we need to use these precious water resources carefully and wisely.
In the backdrop of water crisis and drought, Israel can be role model for Maharashtra in water management. Farmers of the state have been irrigating their fields by flooding them, while Israel has invented drip irrigation technology which saves up to 75 per cent water. Drip irrigation also increases crop production by 15 per cent. Inspite of only 100 mm annual rain fall, Israel has no scarcity of water. 60 per cent area of Israel is desert and rest of the area is arid. Israelis use groundwater and lake water to fulfill their needs. They treat 80 per cent of their domestic wastewater. Recycled water is used for agriculture and constitutes nearly 50 per cent of the total water used for agriculture.
On the other hand, Maharashtra gets over 1,000 mm rain annually. It means that the state gets 10 times more rain than Israel. But it lacks effective water management and continuously facing water shortage and drought. Production of sugarcane is one of major factor for water shortage in Maharashtra. According to the Water and Irrigation Commission formed under former Central Water Commission chairman Madhav Chitale, sugarcane cultivation consumes 71 per cent of Maharashtra’s irrigated water. Therefore, Maharashtra government took step for saving water and promoted drip irrigation for sugarcane cultivation. Sugarcane was grown over 9.42 lakh hectares in the state in 2017-18 and mere 2.25 lakh hectares areas was covered by drip irrigation. As per available data, Konkan region receives 1500 mm to 3,005 mm rain, Marathwada 882 mm and Vidarbha receives 1,034 mm rain per annum. Thus, Marathwada and Vidarbha are drought-prone.
This year, six out of nine major dams of Marathwada are not at their full capacity. Major dams of the region are at 56 per cent of their live capacity, compared to 21% at the same time last year. As per latest data, Manjara Dam in Beed district is almost empty. Siddeshwar Dam in Hingoli is also empty. Lower Terna Dam in Osmanabad is at 33 per cent of its capacity. Sina Kolegaon Dam in Osmanabad is also empty. Lower Dudhana Dam in Parbhani is at 8.63 per cent of its live capacity.
It is remarkable that water availability per capita in India is continuously decreasing. It has come down to 1,540 cubic metres from 5,000 cubic metres in 1947. India receives 4,000 million cubic metres rain water annually. All possible efforts should be made to save and conserve this water. For this, every person, organisation, industry and government have to work together. Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat raised this issue in 13th World Aqua Congress recently. He warned that if water level continues to fall and the population continues to increase, a majority of India could face water scarcity.
Rapid urbanisation, increasing population and poor water management have worsened the situation in Maharashtra. Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur are over populated. Other cities and towns of state are also lacking proper infrastructures and basic amenities. All big cities face water supply cuts much ahead of summer season. In future, more industries will be established in Maharashtra, which will need water. People of other states are continuously coming and getting settled in the state in search of livelihood. In such scenario, water management of Israel will be very helpful in mitigating water crisis. Maharashtra receives more rain in comparison to Israel. Therefore, by creating awareness among people regarding stopping misuse of water, rain water harvesting, making drip irrigation mandatory, saving and conserving every drop of water, treating wastewater in every city and village, and using recycled water for agriculture, we can make Maharashtra Israel of India.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
The commercial capital of India is always like to be in news whether it’s related to politics, Bollywood, business or any other controversy. The city is also known as ‘Sapno ki Nagri’ (City of dream), where people come from various parts of the world to fulfill their dreams.
In Mumbai, nobody waits for anyone, as people are too busy in their personal and professional life. This is the city, which never sleeps. We all can find people on the road anytime, whether it is 4 a.m. or 1 o clock in the night.
Talking about the current scenario of Mumbai, the Mumbaikars are still witnessing heavy rain in the city. The monsoon, which is generally there for 4 months, is continuing in the city. According to the report, this year (2019) Mumbai rains have broken all past records. In the past 65 years, it has not rained like this in the metropolis. Reportedly, it has rained the highest after the Independence in Mumbai.
Due to heavy rains, the roads were flooded and turned into the river. The potholes on the road are dangerous to the life of people. In Mumbai after increasing the number of complaints with regard to potholes, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) launched a new app where people can register their pothole-related complaints.
A few weeks before BMC Standing Committee Chairman Yashwant Jadhav had said there were no potholes in the city. On that, the citizens slammed Jadhav and exposed the pathetic condition of Mumbai roads by posting pictures on social media which led to major embarrassment.
The BMC informed citizens about the new app through Twitter, they wrote, “We understand your concern regarding #potholes. So to smoothen the roads for you, we’ve smoothened the process of reporting and getting them fixed with Pothole Fixit app.”
As per the report, this is not the first time the BMC has introduced an app for potholes, reportedly there is already an app in place for the same. On the BMC new app for potholes, RTI activist Shakeel Ahmed had recently exposed the civic body for this. Reportedly, BMC spent nearly Rs 17,000 to fix a single pothole and that too with the substandard mixture is surprised at the move.
Its been reported that the civic body, in the previous 5 months, has at least received more than 54 per cent of complaints this year. It is been noticed that the maximum complaints of potholes came from areas like Andheri, Jogeshwari and Bhandup.
(This is the first part of the article and the remaining portion will continue tomorrow)
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
There is a new trend hitting the market known as e-cigarettes (electronic cigarettes), or vaping. Many people believe that e-cigarettes (electronic cigarettes) are better than the traditional cigarettes. But research shows just how unhealthy and harmful e-cigarettes are for everyone. Besides nicotine, e-cigarettes contain harmful and potentially harmful ingredients, including ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs.
The government of India has taken a very bold step in banning the manufacture, sale, import and export of e-cigarettes in the country. This decision taken by the government is to be lauded. By why ban just e-cigarettes? What about the other tobacco products like the regular cigarettes, gutkha and beedis? These too should be banned.
Life is precious and the youth of our country should know that cigarette smoking is injuries to health which leads to cancer of the lungs and several other health related diseases.
Jubel D’Cruz
Delhi residents having tough time breathing
Cricketers practising with masks, flights redirected to some other airports, schools and colleges shut, politicians on a blame game spree, drivers and owners of cars and vehicles pressurised to follow “odd even ” restrictions – well the last few days witnessed a series of action packed events in NCR Delhi which is suffocating with smog , the “villain” that has now made it a routine to visit the place during every November.
It’s like the people of Delhi and those visiting the state asking one another choking and coughing -“kya chal raha hai” and pat comes the reply out of the damaged lungs of Delhiites “smog chal raha hai.” Well sadly this is not a joke but something that has painfully made Delhi as a highly polluted city – one of the worst in the world and it’s really shocking that no serious measures were taken by the state or the centre though it was cent percent sure “smog” would attack Delhi this winter too.
Garbage burning, unchecked vehicular emissions, pyrotechnics and stubble burning are the main reasons for this condition but rather than long lectures and some actions and activities taken by those who should really care, nothing serious was done.
Measures on a war footing should be taken to find alternate ways for avoiding stubble burning, encourage the public to buy and use e-vehicles and this must be made mandatory. Global experts on pollution must be consulted on how to tackle this peril and above all the leaders must stop fighting with one another and stay united to fight smog. As the Supreme Court has put it – this can’t go on and the government at the centre and in Delhi cannot just pass the buck to each other, they should know that right to life is the most important and therefore urgent measures must be taken. The neighbouring states also should take measures to mitigate the menace.
M Pradyu
Restaurants should abolish service charges
It refers to highly irresponsible Guidelines No. J-24-9-2014-CPU(pt.) dated 21.04.2017 issued by Department of Consumer Affairs (Government of India) wherein consumers going to hotels and restaurants for enjoying food are advised to approach Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum against malpractice of certain restaurants and hotels charging compulsory service-charge in their invoices instead of the Department imposing ban on such levying of service-charges or even providing column for tip. Guidelines doubt of some under-the-table deal with associations of hotels and restaurants, because everyone knows that consumers go to hotels and restaurants for enjoyment and relaxation rather than fighting for their rights through cumbersome court-procedures.
If eateries are really sincere for staff-welfare, they can increase their wages at their own. Also since there is no limit on served food-prices, they can increase prices rather than adopting back-door route to fool consumers through unfair service-charge. Law must be tightened for incorporating prison-provision for eatery-owners levying service-charge in bills. Rather paying and accepting tips otherwise should be made an offence since gifts and tips are polished form of bribes. Provision of writing tip-amount on credit-card pay-slips must be abolished.
Central government should go ahead with its proposal to reduce GST on services provided by restaurants including also by air-conditioned ones to 12-per cent slab by abolishing corruption-generating provision of Input-Tax-Credit (ITC) of raw material. Any objection by restaurant-owners against abolition of ITC must not be entertained.
Madhu Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
A red sand boa snake, which is a protected species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, has been seized and one person arrested from Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai Township, police said on Tuesday.
According to police they got a tip from their sources and following which they kept a watch near a bus stand in the Panvel area of Navi Mumbai and seized the snake, worth around Rs 50 lakh in the illegal wildlife market. Navi Mumbai police’s assistant inspector Nilesh Rane said, the accused who was trying to sell the reptile, was arrested and booked under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Wildlife (Protection) Act. The accused identified as Prasad Jadhav (20).
Sand boas used for making certain medicines, cosmetics, and black magic, and are in huge demand in the international market.
Rand further said, “The non-poisonous snake has a blunt tail with a rounded tip. A rounded head similar to the shape of its tail gives rise to a misbelief that it has two heads and is used to cheat people by claiming that it will bring good luck.”
Currently, police are questioning the accused to whom he wanted to sell the snake.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday asserted that the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra will be from Shiv Sena only.
Addressing a press conference, Raut said, “The Chief Minister will be from Shiv Sena only. The face and politics. of Maharashtra are changing, you will see. What you call ‘hungama’ (commotion), is not ‘hungama’. It is a fight for justice and rights and the victory will be ours.”
Raut played coy upon being asked about rumours of Shiv Sena forming a government with the support of Nationalist Congress Party and Congress. The NCP won 54 and Congress won 44 assembly seats.
“The decision of Maharashtra will be taken here only. Uddhav Ji will do it. Have Sharad Pawar or Sonia Gandhi come out with a statement? In politics, rumours fly everywhere and there are also people who peddle rumours. That is all I have to say on this matter,” Raut said.
After meeting the Maharashtra Governor on Monday, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut stated that his party was not an obstacle in the formation of any government in Maharashtra.
“We are not an obstacle in the formation of the government of any party. Whosoever has the majority can form the government,” Raut said.
This comes when the BJP and the Shiv Sena are engaged in back-channel negotiations on the government formation and a positive outcome is expected to be announced in a few days, said BJP sources.
“The positive direction of backchannel talks has put an end to speculation about the government formation,” they said.
Sources also confirmed that initially, 12 to 14 MLAs will take oath as Cabinet ministers along with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Shiv Sena has said that the two parties had a ’50-50′ power-sharing agreement before the elections but Fadnavis has clarified that Shiv Sena was not promised the post of minister for two-and-a-half years when the alliance was sealed before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP has emerged as the single largest party by winning 105 seats in the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly polls while the Shiv Sena has got 56 seats in the 288-member state Assembly.
Passengers travelling to Mumbai will have to face disruption as the main runway of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport will remain closed from November 4 to March 28 for repair and maintenance work. The airport will be closed from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm from Monday to Saturday. The second runway of the airport will be operational during this time. Earlier this year, both the runways were closed from February 7 to March 30 due to maintenance work. Last time, more than 200 flights were cancelled in a single day due to closure of the main runway at Mumbai airport. Airfares had also increased by about 5-10 per cent for flights originating and landing at Mumbai airport during that period. Mumbai airport’s main runway to remain shut for six days a week from November 4. Closure of runway will result in cancellation of flights thereby paving way for increase in air fares. At a time when the new year is approaching increased fares and cancelled flights will cause huge inconvenience to passengers.
Airport official told Afternoon Voice, “There is no closure of runway, the airport is still operational. We have cross-runways; one is for maintenance and the other one for operations. The length of one runway is lesser than the other one. It is unable to accommodate the number of flights.”
The official further continued, “If the airport will close then we all will also suffer loss. But the safety is of prime importance. So we have shifted the operation of the first runway to the second runway. And the work is going on the primary runway.”
“The airlines have been informed about the unavailability of the primary runway at the Mumbai airport about a year back so that they could prepare their operations accordingly,” she added.
When asked about the increase in airfares she said, “Every authority is regulated and GVK controls everything. We will not allow any air companies to go beyond a certain margin.”
The Mumbai airport is the second busiest in the country and handles approximately 1000 flight movements in a day. Delhi is the busiest and handles nearly 1,300 flight movements daily. The primary runway at Mumbai airport can handle up to 50 arrivals and departure per hour.
Airhostess Kavina Joshi said, “The runway is closed due to maintenance so we can’t blame the authority. But yes because of closure of flights are getting delayed and cancelled. From the crew point of view, it becomes a little difficult for us to handle passengers because they get annoyed due to delay on the ground. However, after getting into the aircraft some understand that it’s not our fault but others simply try to remove their anger on us.”
“Due to maintenance work on the airport our duty time increases because of circling sometimes and not getting the slot for landing post closure,” she added.
The second runway will be operational during the stretch which can handle at least 36 flights an hour. During festival and holidays the main runway of Mumbai airport will be operational at all hours. According to a press release, the runway will be fully functional on December 25, January 1, February 19 and 21, March 10 and 25. With the partial closure, there will be a likely change in the routes of many aircraft. The timings of several international and domestic flights will be changed during this period.
Mumbai airport, the second busiest airport in the country, handled 48.5 million domestic and international passengers in 2018, according to data from the Association of Private Airport Operators. The airport witnesses more than 900 arrivals and departures every day. Due to monsoons, the runway maintenance work has been postponed, Mumbai airport operator GVK Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said. Earlier, the repair work of the runway was to start from November.
Shiv Sena is not in a compromising mood, and BJP is on their stand of making Devendra Fadnavis a chief minister for second term. Today Fadnavis met Amit Shah to intervene and talk to aligning parties. One thing is sure that the BJP will make its government, but no one knows on what terms and conditions.
Since the election results are declared, BJP and CM Devendra Fadnavis have always maintained that they are forming government with Shiv Sena but on the other hand, Sena demanded a written assurance from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Home Minister Amit Shah or incumbent CM Devendra Fadnavis on the 50-50 power sharing formula and said that Maharashtra should have a Shiv Sena CM for 2.5 years. Only after which the party will lend support to BJP in forming the government.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had called a party meeting to decide about government formation in the state. The BJP and Shiv Sena contested the Assembly elections together. While the BJP won 105 seats, it failed to get a majority in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. Shiv Sena registered a victory on 56 seats, including the Worli constituency, from where their leader Aaditya Thackeray has been elected the MLA. If Shiv Sena’s condition is considered by the BJP, the CM’s chair for 2.5 years will go to Aaditya. He will become the youngest CM of Maharashtra in that case.
Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik told media, “It was decided and promised by Amit Shah that 50:50 formula before the Lok Sabha polls, similarly both allies should get chance to run the government for 2.5-2.5 years. Uddhav Thackeray should get this assurance in writing from BJP. Every time there are verbal assurances but nothing comes to fulfillment. This time, we will not be compromising on our demands”.
Shiv Sena MLA Prakash Survey emphasised stating, “We want Aaditya as our CM. This is our first and foremost demand. Before assembly election, both BJP and our party had agreed on 50-50 power-sharing formula, which we want to be implemented in letter and spirit.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
BJP leader Vijay Goel, protesting the Arvind Kejriwal government’s Odd-Even scheme enforced from today in Delhi, drove out of his home in an odd-numbered SUV, painted bright orange with messages on it, as a mark of protest. Barely 100 metres from his home, the vehicle (2727), was stopped and the MP was fined Rs. 4,000.
To this dramatic protest, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) response was equally dramatic. As soon as Vijay Goel, armed with a placard saying “Odd-Even – A Political Stunt”, returned home after his act of defiance, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot reached with a bouquet of roses.
The minister, handing the roses, urged Mr Goel to support his government’s anti-pollution measure by not defying the odd-even rule. Goel also produced a bouquet.
With media cameras recording every second, the two rivals had a conversation that best showcased politics over how to combat deadly pollution in Delhi, where elections are due early next year.
” If stubble burning by farmers in Punjab and Haryana are the problem (AAP’s main complaint), then how will odd-even help,” Goel asked. Gahlot replied: “Even if 50 per cent vehicles are off the road, we can say pollution will be less.” After this back-and-forth, the two finally shook hands, smiled, and went inside for tea.
A 30-year-old man was arrested for the alleged possession of gutkha worth Rs. 6 lakh in the western suburb of Khar, police said on Tuesday.
The 
Despite 
The commercial capital of India is always like to be in news whether it’s related to politics, Bollywood, business or any other controversy. The city is also known as ‘
E-cigarettes are harmful for health
A red sand boa snake, which is a protected species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, has been seized and one person arrested from Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai Township, police said on Tuesday.
Passengers travelling to 
BJP leader Vijay Goel, protesting the Arvind Kejriwal government’s Odd-Even scheme enforced from today in Delhi, drove out of his home in an odd-numbered SUV, painted bright orange with messages on it, as a mark of protest. Barely 100 metres from his home, the vehicle (2727), was stopped and the MP was fined Rs. 4,000.