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Stop! Garbage burning could be killing you!

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
Rampant garbage burning along the highways in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad is posing a huge threat to people's health. A survey by the Awaaz Foundation to measure PM2.5 at some of these sites, has found that pollution levels had a direct co-relation with the size of the garbage dump being burnt. A dump at Bhiwandi showed the highest level of PM2.5. Air pollution is measured by quantifying total suspended Particulate Matter identified by the size of the particles. PM2.5 are minute particles of 2.5 micrograms or smaller. These particles contain a mixture of solids and liquids and include acids such as sulfates and nitrates, ammonium, carbon and mineral dust. The PM2.5 recorded at Bhiwandi was 612µ/mg3 (µ - microgram, mg3 - per cubic meter) while the permissible amount is 20µ/mg3. Sumaira Abdulali of Awaaz Foundation recently wrote to Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray highlighting the menace of garbage burning. Since 2016, Awaaz has documented numerous sites where garbage..
                 

Mumbai: Premal Udani retains Cricket Club of India top post

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
Premal Udani on Wednesday retained the presidency of the Cricket Club of India (CCI), with 1,746 votes, while his opponent Satyapal Jain managed to get 755 votes. The results of the election to the top post was announced late evening. Udani took over the reins of the CCI in 2018. The term of the CCI president expires in two years, but s/he can contest for another term. With Wednesday's victory, Udani will now be serving his second term as president of the prestigious SoBo club. "This has shown that members have reposed their faith in me and appreciated the good work in what has been a very tough year for the club, like it has been for everyone. Some of our facilities have reopened according to the guidelines. Priority will be given towards unlocking more facilities as we try to get back to normal, adhering to protocol. Then, we will look ahead," Udani said. Premal Udani, president, CCI Jain said that "starting my campaign for the [election to the] top post very late" was one of the rea..
                 

COVID-19: Numbers rise in Mumbai and state once again

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
After recording over 3,000 cases consistently in the past few days, the state on Wednesday recorded over 4,000 cases. The numbers in Mumbai too shot up and crossed 700 on Wednesday. The state recorded 4,382 new cases taking the total tally of Maharashtra to 19.54 lakh cases. The number of COVID-related deaths recorded in the state was 66 taking the total to 49,825 in all. The city recorded 795 fresh cases on Wednesday. The Thane Municipal Corporation, Navi Mumbai and Kalyan Dombivali Corporation recorded 142, 87 and 126 cases respectively in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Passengers at Dadar station being tested The state's recovery rate now stands at 94.87 per cent with 2,570 patients discharged on Wednesday. Mumbai's recovery rate stands at 93 per cent while the doubling rate is improving currently being at 365 days. The city's daily growth rate is now at 0.21 per cent as the total count stands at 2.96 lakh cases. The city has 7,480 ongoing cases. The mortality rate of the stat..
                 

Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
Meet the fruit ninja A man practises a few Shaolin-style moves on a road in Juhu. A Kipling keepsake Rudyard Kipling. Pic courtesy/Wikimedia Commons This month, British auction house Christie's will offer the collection of Mr and Mrs John H Gutfreund 834 Fifth Avenue across live and online sales. In the collection spanning fine and decorative art, jewels and books is a copy of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, illustrated by Paul Jouve and François-Louis Schmied that was completed in 1919. What's interesting is that it contains an original drawing by Jouve in India ink. The book is from the couple's library, and commenting on the apartment, Will Strafford, senior international specialist, European furniture and decorative arts, said, "It is one of the most iconic interiors in New York with each room creating its own individual visual statement." Saluting Astad Deboo As if 2020 wasn't bad enough already, it took away from us, contemporary dancer-choreographer Astad Deboo in Dec..
                 

Mumbai: BMC files police complaint against Sonu Sood for 'converting Juhu residential building into hotel'

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has filed a complaint at Juhu police station against actor Sonu Sood and his wife Sonali Sood for allegedly converting a six-storey residential building in Juhu into a hotel without the civic body’s permission. In the complaint, the BMC said that the actor and his wife violated the provisions of the Maharashtra Region and Town Planning (MRTP) Act by doing unauthorised additions/alterations to their property in the Shakti Sagar building in Juhu. BMC official Mandar Wakankar from K west ward has submitted the complaint to the police and requested to take cognisance of the matter and take legal action. Keep scrolling to read more news Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates. Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news..
                 

Eleven AC double-decker buses rotting in corner of Santacruz depot for over 2 years

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
Mumbai's love for its double-decker buses may be unflinching, but a corner of a Santacruz depot offers a stark contrast. Here a bunch of AC double-decker buses bought for tourist rides is rusting for over two years. While the vehicles have almost turned into junk, the MTDC said it is making an effort to revive them. "Here are eleven swank double deckers rotting. Mumbai has a special connection with double deckers. Something must be done to bring these back into service," bus enthusiast Shubham Padave said. The state bought the 'Hop On, Hop Off' or 'Ho Ho' buses in 2016 for about R8 crore. They ran between Mumbai CSMT and Sanjay Gandhi National Park. With 46 seats, the buses have an air-conditioned lower deck and an open-air upper deck. Each has all the amenities for a small party including a coffee making machine, a microwave oven and an entertainment system. At present Delhi, Goa and Chandigarh have Ho Ho buses. The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) earlier used BEST'..
                 

Can you choose your COVID vaccine? Experts weigh in

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
While FAQs of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) are silent on the issue of citizens' choice when it comes to being inoculated, ahead of a mass vaccine rollout, ethicists are raising the question of choosing between products. Medical experts and legal brains say that citizens should have the right to choose, especially since data of the trial run of vaccines has not been made public. Advocate Tishampati Sen, who practices at the Supreme Court and tribunals including consumer courts, said, "From a legal point of view there are some grey areas. Two vaccines have been approved by the DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) — Oxford-Astra Zeneca's 'Covishield' and Bharat Biotech's indigenous 'Covaxin' — based on information they have. The deployment of the vaccines is up to the government alone right now." "Even otherwise, the common man has no ability/criteria to choose a certain vaccine. Presently, the only choice they have is to get vaccinated or not," Sen sa..
                 

With no updates on school resumption, students worried about exam practice

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
The government has declared the tentative board exam dates, but students and teachers are worried about practising for them. After almost an entire academic year of online learning the board exams are to be held offline. But with no clarity on when schools are likely to reopen, students are missing out on practice sessions; under regular circumstances, each student appears for at least two prelims - one in school one at the coaching classes - before the board exam. Amid the pandemic, the education sector has suffered a major hit, and the most affected are those who have to appear for board examinations this year. They have had no practice to appear for the three-hour offline paper. 'Nothing is clear' The Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations are to be held in the month of April and May respectively. "But schools and colleges are closed until January 15 in Mumbai. And what happens thereafter is yet not clear. We have just two months in ha..
                 

Mumbai: Teen girl commits suicide by jumping off high-rise

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
A 16-year-old girl allegedly jumped to death from the 10th floor of a high-rise in suburban Khar here, police said on Wednesday. The victim had allegedly sent a message to her friend on WhatsApp before jumping off the building situated on 16th Road in Khar (west), on Tuesday afternoon, an official said. The girl was rushed to a hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival, while no suicide note was recovered from her home or her belongings, the official said. The deceased was a student, who belonged to a family of businessmen, senior inspector Gajanan Kandule of Khar police station said. An accidental death report has been registered in this regard and a probe is underway, he added. Keep scrolling to read more news Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates. Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest new..
                 

Railway passengers now have nine months to cancel tickets

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
The Indian Railways on Wednesday said it has extended the period for cancellation of tickets to nine months, as several people have not been able to cancel their tickets and get the refund within the current six-month period. "As number of passengers are yet to collect refunds for their booked tickets, several zonal railways made suggestions and requests. Following which, an extension was given [on Tuesday] for three months for cancellation of tickets and collection refund," the IR stated in a press release. Officials said passengers don't need to worry about losing money, as the IR will refund the full fare of trains cancelled owing to the pandemic. Passengers who have made bookings at the station can submit their tickets at the counter and collect the refund within nine months since the departure date. Those who have booked their tickets online would automatically get their refund whenever the IR cancels the Mumbai Central terminus to be renamed soon Arvind Sawant, Shiv Sena leader a..
                 

Mumbai: BMC wants a touch of heritage at Fort junctions, too

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation wants the Fort's rich heritage and architecture to be prominently displayed on the area's junctions. While A ward office has been making efforts to ensure that the streets reflect the architecture of the area, the BMC's heritage department has advised the traffic department to beautify the junctions and remove any eyesores. The Department of Road Traffic has thus planned to install at every Fort junction, its old and new photographs along with a trivia about it. The BMC will source the old photos of the Fort area and its junctions from its own archives. Also Read: Common man can be a strong custodian of heritage The traffic department was supposed to take care of the signage and boards in the Fort Precinct, when suggestions to add heritage value were made, said officials. However, they are yet to finalise the junctions for the project, they added. The display boards will be along the lines of the signage and boards installed near Mahalaxmi Te..
                 

Now more than ever, celebs need to act responsibly

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
The police registered an FIR against actors Arbaaz Khan, Sohail Khan and Sohail's son Nirvaan Khan at a BMC health official's complaint that the trio evaded institutional quarantine of seven days after returning from the UAE last month. Police said that on arriving in the city on December 25, they underwent COVID-19 tests at the airport and told the officials concerned that they were headed to hotel Taj Land's End for quarantine, but instead they went to their Bandra West residence. Now, widely followed reports state that the trio is in institutional quarantine at a Bandra hotel. There are reports too, that they attended their brother, actor Salman Khan's birthday in Panvel, though this was yet to be confirmed at the time of writing this. Civic authorities said that those who attended the party will now have to be traced. This is the second high-profile violation of COVID-19 protocols after Indian cricketers stirred up a huge controversy in Australia, where they were accused of breachi..
                 

Railway official develops mask to fight microbes

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
A senior grade railway official has developed a unique low-cost device to cater to the COVID-19 pandemic. Called the ‘Aexpirator’, the invention is basically a mask and microbes killing system to be worn by infected people. It costs 70 dollars. Binay Kumar, the inventor of Aexpirator, is presently working in Indian Railways and is a SAG (senior administrative grade) Officer. The Aexpirator is a result of almost 9-month long research. There is a large-scale fear amongst people and the world economy has shrunk and devastated due to the pandemic. The new mutant variant of the coronavirus is considered more infectious than the earlier known strain. Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates. Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news..
                 

Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation flattens its COVID curve

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
With more than 100 daily cases reported on just four days over the past one month, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) finally seems to have flattened the COVID-19 curve. The city has managed to keep the recovery rate above 96 per cent and currently only 1.78 per cent patients are undergoing treatment for the infection. The NMMC was hit hard by the pandemic with about 500 cases being reported daily around mid-August last year. As the civic officials worked hard to break the transmission chain, the daily count dropped gradually and post Diwali, it fell to under 150 daily cases. From December onwards the daily infections dropped further. Over the past one month, more than 100 daily cases were reported on just four days. Requesting anonymity, an NMMC official said, "There has been a consistent drop in the daily cases. Clusters of cases have almost vanished and those that are being reported are mainly people frequently travelling between cities or going to crowded places. The exte..
                 

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on death threats: Person used abusive language, said he would kill me

13 days ago  
News / Mid-Day/ Mumbai News  
The Mumbai police have registered a case following a complaint by Mayor Kishori Pednekar that she was threatened over a phone call and messages. Pednekar said the police have traced the caller. The mayor said she received the threat call on December 22 when she was busy in a meeting at the BMC headquarters. Pednekar said she approached the police after her assistant also received calls and messages from the same number. Pednekar said she got a few calls from an unknown number and she didn't attend them initially. "After two-three missed calls, I took it on speaker. The person used abusive language. He told me that he was from Jamnagar and would kill me if I informed the police." The mayor said she took the call seriously after learning that her assistant had also been contacted. "I tried to call on the same number after 8 to 10 minutes, but nobody answered. Though my number is easily accessible, how can a person get to know the contact number of my assistant?" After filing a complaint,..