Court reserves on anticipatory bail plea of Nirmal Baba

ARARIA: A local court on Tuesday reserved an order on the anticipatory bail plea filed by self-proclaimed godman Nirmal Baba in connection with a case of fraud and forgery. District judge Sanjay Kumar reserved his order on the anticipatory bail application of Nirmal Baba after hearing arguments by his counsel Dev Narayan Sen and the public prosecutor Laxmi Narayan.

SALEM GETS BAIL, WINS COURT’S PRAISE

Extradited gangster Abu Salem was on Tuesday granted bail in a 2002 extortion case by a Delhi court, which also praised his “above board” conduct in jail. Chief metropolitan magistrate Vinod Yadav granted him bail on a personal bond of R1 lakh and a surety of like amount. Salem would, however, still be in jail as he is facing trial in seven other cases for which he was extradited to India from Portugal.

Dhoble is upholding the law: RR Patil

Home minister breaks his silence on issue, defends Dhoble’s recent raids on city nightspots; insists complaints about his methods will be addressed

MUMBAI: ACP Vasant Dhoble’s actions are in keeping with the law, but the state home department will look into complaints about his raids, said home minister RR Patil on Tuesday, breaking his silence on the social service branch’s raids.
Assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Vasant Dhoble, social service branch head, has caused a furore with his raids on the city’s nightspots.
“Whatever Dhoble is doing is in keeping with the law and the sections under which people are charged are legally approved. I am of the opinion that the law should prevail,” said Patil when asked if he supported Dhoble’s actions.
Till now, Dhoble has booked establishments for staying open after its closing time, overcrowding, serving alcohol without licence, using footpaths as extensions, and has also booked patrons for consuming drugs and prostitution.

On Sunday, a march against the ‘ moral policing’ of Dhoble was held in Bandra, in which about 200 protesters participated. They were protesting against Dhoble’s crackdowns, which they claim is based on outdated and archaic laws.
Patil insisted his department would not do injustice to citizens. “If anyone has a complaint against Dhoble, they should send it to us; we will conduct an inquiry. Till now, I have received only one complaint and I have asked for a report from the police. As far as the case where two women were booked for prostitution, the court has given its verdict,” Patil said.
The social service branch, had raided Masala Curry, a restaurant in Andheri, on June 5.
Two sisters were among the 11 women picked up from the party, which the police claimed was a front for prostitution
When asked about Dhoble’s methods, — he is said to have carried a hockey stick to a crackdown on a juice centre — Patil declined comment. “I have left it to the commissioner of police (CP) Arup Patnaik”.

City MLAS poor performers in assembly: study

Majority of city MLAs continue to perform poorly in the state legislature, suggests a study conducted by Praja Foundation, a non-profit organisation.
The study used data of proceedings in the Vidhan Sabha, data from city and suburban collectors’ offices, Mumbai police and State Election Commission across three assembly sessions from November 2010 to March 2012. The data was released for 32 out of 36 MLAs of Mumbai, leaving out the four MLAs who are also ministers.
The study revealed that the overall performance of 59% of Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from Mumbai dipped, in comparison with that between November 2009 and March 2011. Ten of the 32 elected MLAs asked less than hundred questions pertaining to social, physical, economic and policy-making infrastructure in their regions during the sessions. While Congress MLA Chandrakant Handore asked only eight questions, MNS MLA Bala Nandgaonkar asked 1,165 questions of the total 11,049 questions posed during the three sessions.

“The performances have dipped on account of the quality of questions asked in the assembly and the criminal cases that have been filed against them during this period,” said Milind Mhaske, project director, Praja Foundation.
The parameters followed for the 100-point marking system included educational qualifications, filing of income tax returns, criminal record, number of sessions attended, number of questions asked, importance of questions asked, utilisation of the total local area development funds between November 2010 and March 2012 and perceived accessibility and level of corruption by voters in the constituency.
Based on these parameters, three MLAs emerged as top rankers: BJP MLA Yogesh Sagar, MNS MLA Mangesh Sangle and Congress MLA Amin Patel. “I am overwhelmed by this result. Such report cards help us assess and improve our work,” said Sagar. MNS MLA Nitin Sardesai’s rank dipped 11 points and to 29 this year. Sardesai refused to comment on the report.

MHADA LOTTERY FOR MILL WORKERS ON THURSDAY

In the first concrete development on the issue of housing for mill workers, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) is all set to allot them affordable homes through its lottery on Thursday.
However, various textile unions led by the Shiv Sena have threatened to disrupt the lottery process and had even challenged it in the high court on Tuesday. The court has refused stay the lottery.

Under the lottery, Mhada will allot 6,925 houses across 19 mills in the city. “Ours is the only state to give houses as compensation to mill workers, so this should be appreciated,” said Sachin Ahir, minister of state for housing. He appealed to the protesters to not disrupt the proceedings. The state also plans to deploy extra security at the Rangsharda Hall at Bandra – the venue for the lottery.
Only 48,000 mill workers are eligible to participate in this lottery for the houses, admeasuring 225 sq ft. The cost of the house is Rs7.5 lakh.
Sena-led union Girni Kamgar Sena and five other mill worker groups have planned a protest march on Thursday, reiterating the demand for free housing for mill workers. “This is cheating, mill workers can’t afford homes at such rates,” said Kishore Deshpande, president, Girni Kamgar Karmachari Nivara Kalyankari Sangh.

‘POWER OF ATTORNEY HOLDER CAN’T FILE COMPLAINT’

THE FORUM OBSERVED THAT THE COMPLAINT WAS FILED BY SHAIKH AND NOT BY PATEL, WHO WAS THE CONSUMER

MUMBAI: Only the affected party can file a complaint against a service provider, the south Mumbai district consumer court held last week while dismissing a case filed against an insurance company by a power of attorney holder.
The forum was hearing a complaint filed by Ashraf Shaikh, holding power of attorney on behalf of Inayatulla Patel, against an insurance company for deficiency in services.
According to the complaint, Patel owned a jeep, which was insured for Rs4.76 lakh. In July 2006, when the vehicle was being driven on Panvel express highway, it met with an accident when a lorry dashed into it.

Patel filed a claim with the insurance company, which rejected it on the ground that the jeep was being used for commercial purpose, though it was registered for private use.
Patel, who had been living abroad, then decided to move a consumer complaint through Shaikh.
The forum, after hearing both sides, observed that the complaint is filed by Shaikh and not by Patel, who is the consumer.
“In the definition of complainant under the Consumer Protection Act, a complaint through power of attorney is not included,” observed the forum, while dismissing the complaint and also questioned the authenticity of the power of attorney.

1st merit list: Cut-offs may be lower

Junior college cut-offs are likely to fall, given the way offline admission list cut-offs have fallen in the past ten days, said principals on the eve of the first merit list on Tuesday.
The first merit list is scheduled to be announced at 5pm on Wednesday.
Cut- offs for minority and in-house lists at top colleges across the city – including St Xavier’s, Jai Hind, Mithibai and Sathaye – fell, sparking speculation of lower first list cut-offs for the general merit lists too. This year, Class 10 state board (SSC) students scored less than last year, with fewer students scoring 90% and above.

“The trend in the minority lists showed a fall, so I think it might be a similar case for the general merit list,” said Swapna Durve, junior college coordinator at Mithibai College, Vile Parle.
In the first year two years of the online process in 2009 and 2010, announcement of the first list had resulted in chaos, with students being allotted wrong colleges, the server crashing and other technical difficulties.
However, on the eve of the first list, the education department appeared confident that the process would go off smoothly on Wednesday evening. “Results will be released in time, we are not expecting any problems,” said a senior official from the education department.
Students can check their status online, and colleges might also put up their merit lists on the premises.

Deceased patient’s kin attacks doctor

A week after relatives of a deceased patient assaulted a doctor at St George Hospital, a doctor at KEM Hospital faced a similar attack on Sunday.
On Sunday night, relatives of a tuberculosis patient assaulted a doctor at KEM Hospital after the patient died.
Alan Dias, a Mulund resident, was suffering from tuberculosis and hypertension and was admitted to the hospital’s ward number 11. On Sunday night, his condition deteriorated and his relatives started looking for the on-duty doctor. The nursing staff in the ward called the onduty doctor, Dr Ravi Thanage.

But before Dr Thanage reached the ward, Dias died. Aral Dias, 18, the son of the deceased, slapped Thanage and abused him before hospital security arrived.
“The patient was in a serious condition and the relatives were aware of this. Doctors cannot be assaulted for the death of patient,” said Dr Rakesh Waghmare, president, Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors, KEM Hospital.
A case has been filed against Alan at Bhoiwada police station. “He has been arrested. We will arrest his mother, Messy Dias also,” said Vikrant Patil, senior police inspector at Bhoiwada police station.

BMC mulls 10% water cut as dry spell continues

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is considering imposing 10% water cuts in city by the end of this week as the dry spell continues and the civic body has begun using reserve water from the Upper Vaitarana dam.
Hindustan Times had reported the possibility of water cuts considering the decreasing water levels of lakes which supply water to the city. The water department of the civic body on Tuesday sent the proposal of 10% water cuts to municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte for his approval.
“We are still working on all the available options. But there are no rains and we have begun taking water from the reserve quota of the dams,” said mayor Sunil Prabhu, adding that the final decision will be taken within a day or two.

“We are in the process of discussions. An official announcement will be made soon,” said Kunte, after publishing a book on water conservation, at an event at the BMC headquarters.
Every day city receives the water supply of around 3430 million litres, which means that the available water stock will last for next 20 days only.

Swabhiman Sanghatana chief Nitesh Rane, who had led the agitation against the tanker mafias in city, criticised the BMC for not taking action against the water mafia. “Out of the total water received by city, at least 24% goes to these mafias. If BMC could take action against them they could save 24% water per day,” he said, adding his organisation would stage agitations if a water cut is imposed.

ABU, LASHKAR’S CODE NAME FOR TERROR OPERATIVES TO INDIA

The method in the madness of Lashkar- eTaiba terrorists who target India has a name — Abu.
Intelligence agencies have identified that the Pakistan-based LeT makes Abu a part of the pseudonyms of operatives it chooses for terror operations in India as a mark of respect.

Abu means father in most Semitic languages including Arabic.

The latest instance of the LeT’s coding pattern has come to light with the arrest of Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, who is believed to be one of the handlers of the 10 terrorists who carried out the 26/11 massacre in Mumbai.

Incidentally, eight of the 10 terrorists who targeted Mumbai on November 26, 2008, also had the Abu pseudonym.

The sole surviving terrorist, Ajmal Kasab, was also known as Abu Mujahid, said an intelligence agency source, adding that two of the attackers not named Abu were possibly chosen at the last minute.
What’s more, 19 among 35 others wanted in connection with the 26/11 attacks also have Abu pseudonyms.

“LeT follows this practice of changing names of the terrorists they send to India,” said a former intelligence bureau official who did not want to be named. “Their handlers too get the title Abu.
For instance, top LeT operative Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi is known as Abu Wallid.

Another LeT trick is to name its leaders in India Abu Hamza. “This is why this name always crops up. If one Abu Hamza is caught, killed or replaced, another Abu Hamza takes over.”
Abu Hamza is among those wanted for the 26/11 carnage.