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Dhoble transfer issue hots up

Public support for recently-transferred cop increases daily; if probe absolves Dhoble of wrongdoing, he might be reinstated as ACP, Vakola.
by the Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Vasant Dhoble is one lucky man. Transferred by the Chief Minister following the death of a hawker during a hawker eviction drive last week in the suburbs, the controversial cop is receiving tremendous support from all quarters – most recently from the Congress’ ally in the State, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Yesterday, NCP leader and State Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had jokingly agreed to support CM Prithviraj Chavan’s decision to transfer Dhoble from Vakola to the police control room following the hawker’s death – the post mortem report reveals he died of a brain haemorrhage, and not of cardiac arrest, as originally surmised – but today, Pawar took a different line altogether. “We should not transfer a person wrongly,” he said. “If the probe (initiated into the incident by the Home Department) does not show that Dhoble was responsible (for the hawker’s death), he will be reinstated with immediate effect,” he added.

Interestingly, Home Department chief RR Patil, who also belongs to the NCP, had said yesterday that the decision to transfer Dhoble was a welcome one, since it would “help in an impartial probe’.

Meanwhile, the rabble-rousing cop himself has chosen to keep a low profile since his transfer, refusing to comment even on the support from such parties as the Shiv Sena and the MNS, which surprised all by actually uniting over the issue of his transfer.

‘Bring him back’

Residents and local corporators of the area under Dhoble’s purview as ACP have reacted strongly to the cop’s transfer. This morning, two separate ALMs in Vile Parle had initiated signature campaigns in support of Dhoble. The signatures are to submitted to the Chief Minister. “We are extremely pleased with his performance as a cop in our area,” said Vile Parle resident Rohini Gupte (53). “I have lived in Vile Parle all my life, and after Dhoble came here and started cracking down on illegal hawkers, we saw the footpaths on our streets for the first time. It is wrong to transfer a police officer who is doing his job for the betterment of an area.”

Senior citizens, especially, profess to be more than satisfied with Dhoble’s stint as ACP. “Even before, when he was posted at Goregaon, he was very popular with the local residents because he came down very heavily on wrong activities,” said MS Prakash (69). “If a police officer is carrying out his duties and he gets punished for it, then why should the police do any work at all? I strongly feel that the Government should reconsider and bring him back, instead of deputing him to some ordinary post.”

(Picture courtesy intoday.in)

 

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What your new rail fare will look like

Rounding off of fares and development charge removal may bring down some ticket prices after final calculations are done soon.

A new railway fare formula proposed by the Centre yesterday, in which development charges levied thus far per ticket would soon be abolished on every train ticket (whether local or long-distance) may bring down prices on the local routes in Mumbai. The final recalculations of fares are expected to be done soon.

Development charges of Re 1 are levied on second class tickets and Rs 2 on first class tickets; similarly, the charges levied on a second class pass are Rs 10 and they are Rs 20 for a first class pass. However, with the development charge now removed, ticket prices will come down by Re 1 and Re 2 respectively. Hence, a second class Borivali-Churchgate ticket, for example, will now cost Rs 10 from the earlier Rs 11. However, the fare for the same journey on a first class ticket remains unchanged.

The following are the expected (tentative) fare hikes on your commute:

WESTERN RAILWAY

FIRST CLASS monthly pass:

Churchgate to Virar: Rs 1,035

Churchgate to Borivali: Rs 650

Churchgate to Mumbai Central: Rs 285

Churchgate to Dadar: Rs 420

Churchgate to Bandra: Rs 425

Churchgate to Andheri: Rs 565

 

SECOND CLASS monthly pass:

Churchgate to Virar: Rs 270

Churchgate to Borivali: Rs 170

Churchgate to Mumbai Central: Rs 75

Churchgate to Dadar: Rs 120

Churchgate to Bandra: Rs 120

Churchgate to Andheri: Rs 155

 

SECOND CLASS suburban single journey:

Churchgate to Virar: Rs 15

Churchgate to Borivali: Rs 10

Churchgate to Mumbai Central: Rs 5

Churchgate to Dadar: Rs 10

Churchgate to Bandra: Rs 10

Churchgate to Andheri: Rs 10
CENTRAL RAILWAY
SECOND CLASS suburban single journey

CST to Panvel: Rs 20

CST to Kasara: Rs 30

CST to Byculla: Rs 5

CST to Karjat: Rs 25

CST to Kalyan: Rs 20

CST to Dadar: Rs 5
CST to Thane: Rs 15
CST to Kurla: Rs 10

(Picture courtesy en.wikipedia.org)

 

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Mumbai’s municipal schools are pathetic

…so says a Praja Foundation survey conducted in 2012. Survey results for the city’s BMC schools are far from encouraging.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Education is a free right for every child, and for a city like Mumbai, which has the richest municipal corporation in the country, the quality of education imparted to children in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)-run schools should be anything but mediocre, its results nothing short of excellent.

And yet, the actual realities are quite different. In a survey conducted across 15,191 households in Mumbai, 5,167 households had children going to school. Of the children surveyed in these households, 19 per cent children went to municipal schools. The survey was conducted in March and April of 2012, with Hansa Research. The research document is titled ‘White Paper on State of Education in Municipal Schools of Mumbai.’

As per the survey, “Between the years 2008-2012, the average percentage of students passing SSC from private schools was 82 per cent, while the average number of students passing from municipal schools has been a mere 58 per cent. This is after 61 per cent of BMC school children have been sent for private tuitions as well, another revelation from our city-wide survey this year. Of the 100 students who received a Government of India scholarship, only 9 were from BMC schools.”

The white paper goes on to reveal that the BMC actually spends more money on each child in municipal schools as compared to the fees charged by private schools – the BMC’s yearly spend on each municipal school child is upwards of Rs 50,000, while most private schools surveyed were charging students between Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000. However, this does not promise quality teaching, as the survey found out. “In a School Inspection Report for D Ward (Malabar Hill, Grant Road, Napeansea Road), over 85 per cent of teachers received good to excellent report on most teaching attributes like explaining the subject matter, teaching methods, etc. The passing percentage in D ward municipal schools is a mere 51 per cent and has one of the highest dropout rates at 11.5 per cent. Most inspection reports appear to be a mere formality as most teachers are rated good to excellent in most inspecting parameters.”

Even worse, the gap between performance of BMC schools and private schools in the last four years has been 24 per cent – a clear indication of this is the statistic that if 10 students appeared for SSC exams from BMC schools, six cleared the exams; this latter figure was eight for private schools.

Interestingly, even parents wished to send their wards to private schools instead of BMC schools – almost 89 per cent of families surveyed wanted to send their children to private schools, but the expenses inhibited them from doing so.

(Picture courtesy forbesindia.com)

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Mumbai shivers at lowest season temperatures

City temperatures are expected to rise after Monday morning. Saturday recorded the lowest-ever temperatures this season, at 12.4 Degree Celsius.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

For a city unaccustomed to shivering as it wakes up and huddling under blankets as it goes to sleep, Mumbai sure is picking up a few tricks this winter. For long, Mumbai’s winters have been known for their pleasant, cool breezes and a nip in the air in the early morning hours. During the last few days, however, the city has experienced some truly chilly weather, and will continue till Monday morning.

Or so the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Mumbai, says.

As per the update posted on the IMD website, the minimum temperature in the city till Monday morning would touch 11 Degrees Celsius, with slight departures expected up to 10 Degrees Celsius. The cold wave condition is likely to persist for 48 hours, starting from Saturday.

Maximum temperatures are expected to hover at around 28 Degrees Celsius.

(Picture courtesy blogs.sacbee.com) 

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Say hello to Magnetic Maharashtra

State Government launches a counter-tagline to ‘Vibrant Gujarat’. New industrial policy to focus on making Maharashtra a premier investment destination.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It’s a bit strange-sounding, but we can make do with it if it brings results: like ‘Vibrant Gujarat’, the catchphrase that signifies all things Gujarat, from investment to tourism, we will soon have our own catchphrase. It is ‘Magnetic Maharashtra’.

The State Government unveiled its new industrial policy yesterday. Aimed at maximising the State’s investment potential by attracting investors and promoting overall growth, the policy provides for incentive packages that will attract major industrial investments, and also accounts for provision of fiscal and land incentives to medium, small and micro industries. Further, there are incentives for those wishing to invest in less-developed and Naxal-infested areas in the State.

All of this will collectively be ‘sold’ under the catchphrase ‘Magnetic Maharashtra, Attractions Unlimited’.

The last industrial policy for the State was announced in 2006, and it mainly focussed on investment from major industrial houses. The new policy aims at an investment of Rs. 5 lakh crores and an employment generation potential for 20 lakh people. 60,000 acres of land will be set aside for setting up industries. Additionally, the Government will offer special rebates, waivers in electricity and stamp duty, and relaxation in VAT for units planning to set up shops in under-developed areas of Marathwada, Vidarbha and tribal districts.

The State plans to boost these plans further with increased intracity and interstate connectivity. The policy mentions the  development of the Mumbai-Pune-Solapur, Mumbai-Nashik- Aurangabad-Amravati-Nagpur, and Mumbai-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg corridors, in addition to the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor.

Other initiatives include providing for a single window clearance portal to build an investor-friendly climate. The policy’s mission is to “place the State amongst the most preferred investment destinations in Asia for global investors,” says Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.

If you want to read up on the new industrial policy:

The Times of India…CII welcomes Maharashtra’s new industrial policy

The Business Standard…Maharashtra’s new industrial policy to be announced today

MSN.com…Maharashtra’s new industrial policy on Thursday

 (Picture courtesy hindubusinessline.com)

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It was an accident

An unexpected twist in the death of Bidushi Dash Barde reveals that she died accidentally. Case will now be closed.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It was one of the most shocking incidents last year, adding to the numbers of women who died mysteriously or were killed in their Mumbai homes in 2011. Coming just a few months after the noted Pallavi Puryakastha case (the young lawyer was assaulted and killed by the building security guard), the mysterious death of 23-year-old model Bidushi Dash Barde in her Versova home in October pointed to foul play.

However, doctors at JJ Hospital have now concluded that the death was an accident.

The model lived in a rented apartment with her engineer husband Kedar. Bidushi had been ailing for a while before her death – she had diabetes and was prone to blood pressure problems, which caused her to faint frequently – and on the day of her death, Kedar found her with deep cuts to her neck and face, and cuts on her arm, a glass shelf shattered on the floor around her. Police instantly suspected Kedar in the death; it was reported widely that he had called her just once during that day, despite knowing that she was unwell, a domestic help working in that building had told police that she had seen a man in the flat that morning, and forensic experts said that it was practically impossible for Bidushi to sustain such severe injuries by falling on a glass shelf.

With the JJ doctors’ pronouncement, cops will now move to close the case and file a C-Summary report, ie for a case registered because of misunderstanding.

Investigations into the case did not yield any concrete clues to the mystery, from the start. There was no clear evidence to support the murder theory, and if somebody had assaulted Bidushi or pushed her onto the glass shelf, there were no clues pointing to this chain of events, either.

The doctors’ final report is awaited.

(Picture courtesy haryanaabtak.com)

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