Mumbai: 5 accused of rape, murder break out of Karjat jail

Karjat: In a shocking incident, five accused arrested for rape, murder and on the charges of the Arms Act, 1959, have escaped from a jail in Karjat on Sunday evening. The accused broke the ceiling of the jail and escaped. The police have formed a special team to nab the accused and initiated an inquiry into the incident. The five accused were identified as, Akshay Ramdas Raut, Mohan Kundlik More, Gangadhar Jagtap, Chandrakant Mahadev Raut and Dnyaneshwar Tukaram Kolhe. Akshay, Mohan and Chandrakant are accused of murder, Dnyaneshwar was arrested...

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Delhi Election Results 2020 Updates: Counting of votes to begin at 8 am

Counting of votes to begin at 8 am The counting of votes for 70 seats of the Delhi Assembly will begin amid tight security today at 8 am. According to Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh, the counting of votes will take place at 21 centres. There will be a dedicated hall for every assembly constituency. A tight security net has been put in place to ensure the counting of votes takes place in a peaceful manner. Over 670 candidates are in the fray for 70 seats at stake in the country's capital. As much as 62.59 per cent voter turnout...

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Mumbai: Byculla Zoo to get 2 tigers in barter plan

Mumbai: After a long wait, a pair of tigers from Aurangabad’s Siddharth Zoo will finally arrive at Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan (Byculla Zoo) on Wednesday. Civic officials will reach Aurangabad on Tuesday to take the custody of the two felines. The two tigers from Siddharth Zoo will be sent to Mumbai in exchange for two pairs of spotted deers and two pairs of painted storks, a senior civic official told the Free Press Journal. The Siddharth Garden and Zoo, run by the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, was renovated recently and the tiger-bird...

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Mumbai: Cooler temperatures to return after two days

Mumbai: After a few days of chilly weather, there was a sudden rise in the maximum and minimum temperatures on Monday, making for an unpleasant start to the work week. However, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted cooler weather after two days. Meanwhile, health experts say this sudden change in weather has led to a rise in health issues. Experts have attributed the see-saw weather to the change in wind patterns. The Colaba observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 33 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal, while the...

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Mumbai: LBS road widening plan to finally kick start

Mumbai: The much-delayed project to widen the Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Road has finally got a push. Amid high tension and resistance from locals, the Brihamumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) demolished as many as 61 unauthorised structures in Ghatkopar, thus clearing 56,700 square feet of land for the widening project. BMC first mooted the project in 2012 but opposition from shop keepers delayed the road-widening work. Last year the municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi had directed civic officials to remove encroachments by December 15, 2019....

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BEST to fall back on retired staff to tackle manpower shortage

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking is suffering a shortage of manpower and has decided to reinstate its retired personnel as ground booking officers. In order to expand its services, the BEST management has confirmed the rolling out of 1,200 buses by March, on various routes of the city.But the cash-strapped undertaking does not have the manpower required to deal with its expanded service plans, since it has frozen recruitment. At its last committee meeting in January, BEST committee chairman Anil Patankar...

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Mumbai: Colleges conduct remedial classes for HSC students

Mumbai: With just a week before the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) board examinations, junior colleges have started special arrangements for students. Colleges have extended library timings for students to study and prepare, teachers are conducting ‘remedial coaching’ classes and are inviting visiting faculty from other colleges to explain the examination related procedures. Authorities of junior colleges revealed they are conducting special classes both for students who are weak in their studies and also for those who have performed well. Swapna...

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Mumbai: BMC to seek help to act against illegal eateries

Mumbai: After being summoned, the city’s municipal chief Praveen Pardeshi appeared before the Bombay High Court on Monday afternoon informing that help has been sought from the Maharashtra government to make the civic body more powerful to act against illegal eateries in Mumbai. The civic chief also assured the HC that the municipal body would be streamlined in order to properly assist the court. A bench of Justices Shahrukh Kathawalla and Burgess Colabawalla had summoned Pardeshi after the BMC counsels and officers failed to assist the judges...

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Mumbai: Soon, 17-storey hospital at Grant Road on private-public partnership basis

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in a private-public partnership, plans to set up a 17-storey hospital at Grant Road, where 54 beds in the hospital will be dedicated to palliative care of patients with end-stage cancer. A green signal from the civic architecture department is awaited for construction to begin. “The hospital will be constructed as an extension of the BMC’s eye hospital. A part of the building, which was in a dilapidated condition, was demolished a few years ago and now, the 2,000sq metre space will be used for...

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Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray picks Matoshree over Varsha

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday ended speculations that he might move to Varsha, the official CM residence located at Malabar Hill, stating that he prefers his home 'Matoshree' in Bandra over it. This was revealed by the CM himself during his felicitation programme held at his alma mater, Balmohan Vidyamandir, in Dadar. Along with him, Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil, who is also the alumnus of this school, was felicitated by the school and their batch mates. Thackeray had studied in the school till Standard...

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Anti-CAA: ‘Mumbai Bagh’ protestors demand prompt action against ward officer

Mumbai: A delegation of anti-CAA protestors from the sit-in demonstration at Morland Road, Nagpada – dubbed `Mumbai Bagh’ -- on Monday met BMC commissioner Praveen Pardeshi, demanding action against a ward officer whose complaint to the police prompted an FIR on February 7 against 300 unnamed women protesters for `wrongful restraint’. Late evening on Monday, the protesters also held a candlelight vigil at Morland Road, condemning police brutality on students of Jamia Milia Islamia University. Women from the different walks life gathered at the...

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‘To stop liquor smuggling, increase informer rewards’, says Dy CM Ajit Pawar

Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday asked the state Excise department to strengthen its informer network to curb liquor smuggling and increase the rewards given to them. Pawar, who reviewed the work of the department in a meeting, directed that the reward amount for informers be increased to five per cent (of the worth of the seizure) from the current two per cent, a state government release said. He said liquor smuggling was causing huge revenue loss to the state and, therefore, asked the Excise department to increase...

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Maharashtra: Daughter’s love marriage drives family to suicide

Mumbai: Even as the State was grappling with the demise of a young lecturer who was set on fire by a jilted suitor, a shocking news has emanated of a suicide by a family in Gadchiroli. Upset at their daughter's love marriage to a boy who they felt was lower in the social pecking order owing to his caste, the parents and her brother committed suicide on Monday by jumping into a well. Honour killings over inter-caste marriages are not new to the state and there have been instances of a girl’s husband being slain by an agitated parent or a brother...

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FPJ Exclusive: Phone tapping; Babus trying to scuttle probe?

Mumbai: The Maha Vikas Aghadi government is yet to issue a notification on the inquiry into phone tapping of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress leaders by the BJP-led government during the assembly elections last year. This, even though 10 days have elapsed since Home Minister Anil Deshmukh announced the formation of a two-member probe committee headed by additional chief secretary Shrikant Singh. It is reliably learnt that senior officers from the Home and the Revenue departments have swung into action to scuttle such a probe. Also Read: Maha Home Minister...

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Shocking claims by students, that they were ‘‘hit in private parts’’ during protest march to Parliament

New Delhi: Yet another protest – by hundreds of Jamia Millia Islamia students and local residents – turned ugly on Monday evening with reports emanating of several students being badly mauled in a scuffle with the men in uniform. Even more shocking were allegations in News 18 and India Today.com which quoted several students, some of them women, as claiming that they were ‘‘hit in their private parts’’. (FPJ is not running the quotes as these claims need to be corroborated). However, a Delhi Police official said that no protesters were lathi-charged. This...

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Daily Horoscope for Tuesday, February 11, 2020 for all Zodiac signs by astrologer Nilikash P Pradhan

Your business proposal may get approved by the higher authorities. Those who are in the real estate business should keep a check on their debts. Family life will be blissful. Tackling irregularities, bad habits, addiction and overcoming them would be your first priority today. You will realise the value of a disciplined life. This day may be one of the exciting days of your life. You will feel fresh and relaxed. You will expect your partner to understand your feelings. Be clear with your thoughts. Romance is in the air. Move your ideas and energy...

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MMRDA terminates contract of Metro contractors who fail to set deadlines

Mumbai: To complete the ongoing metro project work on time, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has been sending reminders to its contractors about the set deadline. In a recent move, the authority also terminated the contract with SIMPLEX and MBZ-RCC for carrying out the work at a snail's speed, setting a strong message among other contractors that they too might lose their job on similar lines. The contractors are asked to provide additional manpower to meet the project deadline. Commenting on the termination of work...

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Maharashtra cabinet divided over proposal of 100 free units of power

Mumbai" Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar has opposed the proposal of giving 100 unit power free of cost to domestic consumers. This has raised doubts on whether or not the government would implement the said policy. The proposal is expected benefit more than 1 crore consumers and is also expected to burden the exchequer with Rs 8,000 crore. Going by the current fiscal position of the state government, it will be a tough task to implement this proposal. The proposal to provide 100 unit power free of cost to domestic consumers...

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Mumbai: A ‘sleeper’ police complaint cell

Mumbai: The state government seems to be least bothered about complaints against the police department. This is because the sole authority that can hear grievances against the police, the State Police Complaint Authority (State PCA), which was established on the Supreme Court's directions, is defunct since January 2. Result: a complainant against the police has nowhere to go. The outgoing committee became operational on January 2, 2017, and it has run through its three-year tenure. However the government has not bothered to set up a new committee;...

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Another big day at race course

After the big showdown at the Mahalaxmi racecourse for the Ultra Indian Derby on February 2, the venue is set for yet another face off on the cards, this time the Poonawalla Breeders’ Multi Million, Grade One on February 23. This was announced by Zavary Poonawalla, chairman of the Royal Western India Turf Club, here on Sunday. In its 31st year, this race has come a long way since its inception in the year 1990, and has set many benchmarks in the three decade of racing in making the day at the course enjoyable for each and every one at the venue,...

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