MUMBAI: A social media post by the BJP’s Chhattisgarh unit contrasting two “Gen Z mindsets” has sparked a political row after Mumbai-based professional dancer and content creator Urwashi Palandurkar, whose protest video was used in the post, accused the party of using her footage without permission and responded with a sarcastic rebuttal that has since gone viral.The BJP Chhattisgarh post asked, “Which mindset Gen Z will you choose?” On one side, it featured a video of Palandurkar with the caption, “Babar ki virasat par thumke lagane wali Gen Z.” On the other, it highlighted 14-year-old national judoka Yogita Mandavi, who was recently conferred the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar by President Droupadi MurmuPalandurkar, who has over 3,00,000 followers on Instagram, first posted the protest dance video during the NEET protest, where it went viral and has since garnered more than 24 million views. Reacting after the BJP post on Instagram, she alleged that her video had been used without her permission. She said the post had led to her direct messages being flooded with people asking if she was okay. Her reaction reel carried the caption: “Please watch till end🙏 I AM NOT OKAY!!!! Not okay with reaching and being followed by the wrong audience 💀 The right ones please engage and help me get my cult balance back🥹🎀.” Beginning the video with a serious expression before bursting into laughter, she said, “No, I am not okay. I am that Gen Z student who is facing all this.”Calling it her “reaction video”, Palandurkar responded point by point to the BJP’s post.Mocking the caption, she said, “Your caption game is very weak. Your ChatGPT is not giving you good responses. What is ‘Babar ki virasat’? We can’t relate with it. Make it more relatable.”She also accused the party of trying to divide young people. “Divide and rule in 2026? You’re trying to divide the same Gen Z whose unity taught Parliament the term ‘Gen Z’. Logic is not logicing,” she said.Responding to the comparison between academic excellence and extracurricular activities, Palandurkar said both could coexist. “I got 93% in Class 10 and 93% in Class 12. I danced and created content throughout,” she said, showing photographs of medals and certificates displayed at her home. She added that the awards reflected achievements in academics as well as yoga, karate and other activities.“Extra-curriculars and academics can coexist, and I am living proof of it,” she said.Defending street performances during protests, she added that dancing in public had long been associated with celebration. “I’ve always seen people dancing on the streets after victories. I don’t know why it is not clocking.”She also joked about what she called the “brown girl trauma”, saying, “Being a brown girl, our parents have already taught us how to deal with trauma. You guys are not able to give trauma. Try harder.”Ending the video, Palandurkar acknowledged that she had approached the issue humorously despite its seriousness before signing off with a sarcastic remark, “Vastaguna huiya.”

The reel has gained traction online and entered the political discourse. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shared it on his Instagram Story, while Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav posted on X: “Those who are companions on the new path, don’t think that they are misguided.”The BJP Chhattisgarh unit has not publicly responded to Palandurkar’s allegations that her video was used without permission.

MUMBAI: A High Court bench of acting CJ Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad directed that suspension of Poornima restaurant be treated as an “improvement notice” till next Tuesday, with fresh inspection on Wednesday. “All litigants should be treated equally before the law. No special treatment to any, and FDA inspections cannot be lopsided,” the court said.The Udupi restaurant’s owner Pramod Nayak had challenged the July 23 suspension of its Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) licence. The state lawyer said Mantralaya’s canteens had received a 98% compliance report from the FDA team. The HC sought action by FDA against officials who completed the inspection at Mantralaya in 30 minutes and gave the high compliance report. Poornima said the inspection at its 600sqft area went on for five hours. HC pointed out that in the case of Park Inn by Radisson, the inspection went on for 8-10 hours.

Remarking that FDA officers have taken a “chance” with the court, the bench said they (FDA) did not expect that lawyers would be ready to visit the Mantralaya canteens.Representing Poornima, senior counsel Venkatesh Dhond, with Mayur Khandeparkar and Sameer Pandit, had questioned the variance at play. Dhond said “no food samples were taken during the inspection at Poornima, so how can they decide if food was unsafe”; FDA had cited hygiene issues and “fungal” growth on raw food like drumsticks and black spots on bananas. Dhond said uneaten bananas at his home turn black. Acting CJ Ghuge added, “Even at my home.”The bench said, “We must appreciate that FDA is taking action,” but added, “It must be equal to all.” State lawyer Pooja Patil said there was videography of the inspection…of the drainage condition. Justice Ghuge responded, “Show us the videography right now. Also show us the footage from Mantralaya.” Grilling the state and FDA lawyer, the judges said, “Under what circumstances are you giving improvement and suspension notices? Do you have parameters? Ask your officer why on the same day when inspection is done is a suspension notice given? Why is no improvement notice given first?”Patil then sought time and the matter was kept back for hearing post lunch when the advocates’ panel comprising Suresh Sabrad, Feroze Bharucha, Kainaz Irani and Swanand Ganoo submitted its report and photographs of the Mantralaya canteens. Holding up photos from Mantralaya and Poornima, HC said, “Tell us why suspension for some? If one is bad, so is the other.” The HC read the advocates’ report of 3 canteens (2 at Mantralaya, 1 at Vidhan Bhavan) and said 2-3 cockroaches were spotted on the wall. The state lawyer said the FDA was agreeable to an “improvement notice” to Poornima and the matter could be heard next week. The hearing is now on Aug 6. Meanwhile, three hospitality industry bodies-HRAWI, NRAI and AHAR-have petitioned the PM, state CM and FSSAI, seeking mandatory improvement notices, a review of the June 23 compliance order and restraint in premature public disclosure.

Mumbai: Even as the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation announced plans this week to develop its own Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) for the city, a toolkit for a different kind of CCAP was launched in Mumbai on Thursday.The Community Climate Action Plan, developed by the non-profit YUVA, is not a one-size-fits-all formula but an adaptable framework that identifies local climate vulnerabilities and builds tailored adaptation and coping measures around them.Roshni Nuggehalli, executive director of YUVA, stressed that climate action planning must be anchored in the realities of the communities most exposed to climate vulnerabilities — without that grounding, she cautioned, broad-based CAPs risk being ineffective.Having piloted the framework successfully in 2022 in Ambojwadi — an informal settlement of roughly 53,000 people in Malvani, Malad West — and later implemented it in three other informal settlements, the organisation has now launched it for public use.Unlike top-down city, state, and national climate plans, this ground-up model is led by local people’s collectives who engage local govt directly for targeted interventions.“Around 42% of Mumbai’s population of 11.8 million live in bastis, yet climate action often bypasses this large group,” said Dulari Parmar, project lead for climate justice at YUVA. “CCAPs connect neighborhood priorities with city CAPs and can complement them.” Informal settlements commonly bear the brunt of heat, flooding, rising AQI, landslides, and sea-level rise.The CCAP follows a four-step framework: climate hazard mapping, rapid assessment, community-based vulnerability assessment, and the CCAP itself, with staggered adaptation and coping measures planned across immediate, short-term, and long-term horizons. For water and heat stress in an informal settlement, an immediate measure might be cool roofs paired with strengthened water-rights advocacy, while a long-term goal could be permanent municipal water connections.The CCAP isn’t meant only for informal settlements, said Nuggehalli, but for any community looking to be proactive on climate planning.In Ambojwadi, community consultations identified flood- and sewage-prone areas caused by the absence of sewage lines and successfully advocated with BMC for drains. “We didn’t just go to the ward office with a problem — we brought solutions devised by the community itself,” Parmar says, noting that the settlement’s lack of land tenure rights often blocks access to basic civic services, even as govt has grown more receptive to climate framing.Kiran Dighavkar, associate municipal commissioner for solid waste management at BMC, acknowledged the need to integrate informal settlements more meaningfully into climate planning — but argued that community stewardship, especially around waste management, must go hand in hand with govt action. “Get people to demand segregation and processing centres in their bastis,” he said. “This too is climate action.”

Bhiwandi: A Good Samaritan who offered shelter to relatives, three daily-wagers from one family counting down the minutes to the end of the day’s work, and a wife struggling with survivor’s guilt. The building crash plunged many families into insurmountable grief.Shamim Ansari (32) did not even live in the building and had rushed to offer help to a relative, Mehtab Ansari (32), after learning that a pillar in the building was tilting and occupants were shifting out. He offered Mehtab and his wife a vacant house he owned until things settled. “He insisted that we leave immediately,” Mehtab told TOI.Shamim convinced the two to leave with him. After they gathered a few essentials and walked out, Shamim stayed back to speak to some labourers repairing the pillar. “Within moments, the building collapsed. We survived because of him, but he got trapped under the debris,” Mehtab said. Shamim leaves behind his wife and three children.Siblings Ashok Paswan (40) and Rakesh Paswan (25) and their cousin, Mukesh Paswan (30), who were hired for repairs undertaken over four days, were also buried under the rubble. Ashok’s wife and their three young children are staring at an uncertain future since he was the sole breadwinner. “The three left for work together like every other day. We never imagined they would all die in the same accident,” a relative said.Ranjit Singh (45) failed to make it out of the building in time, while his wife escaped just moments prior. “Why couldn’t it have been me instead?” the wife cried at the hospital repeatedly.Three others escaped in the nick of time. Brothers Abhay Yadav (26) and Deepak Yadav (25), who lived on rent, said they decided to vacate the house after the pillar tilted and as they were stepping out, the building collapsed. “I managed to run to safety, but suffered injuries to my leg,” said Abhay. Deepak said he was on the first floor when he found that the staircase had given way. “I had no option but to jump. I fractured my leg. There was complete chaos. The entire area was engulfed in dust within seconds.”Another survivor, Sangita Prajapati, said she lost consciousness while running towards the exit and the rescue team found her.

Mumbai: Saturday. Aug 4 1956. 3.45 p.m.Seventy years ago on this very day, as the monsoon was unleashing its full fury, India was rocketing into a new scientific era.It was India’s first nuclear reactor, Apsara —a pet project of Homi Bhabha—which attained criticality on that day at 3.45 p.m.In layman’s parlance, it means that this one mw reactor, which ushered in the atomic era not only in India, but also in Asia, had become operational. It was then formally inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru on January 20, 1957.Criticality in a nuclear reactor is attained when a self-sustaining fission chain reaction is achieved.The process begins when the reactor operators insert control rods. Then, at a certain point, these rods are withdrawn to initiate the process of starting the reactor.Former Indian nuke chief, R Chidambaram, recalled Nehru drawing a comparison between Elephanta Caves and Apsara. He remembered Nehru saying: “Both have their place and any person who ignores either of them misses an important element of life.’’The first attempt to make Apsara operational on July 31, 1956, failed due to technical reasons.In the second attempt on Aug 4, 1956, as the historic moment was nearing Raja Ramanna, the father of India’s nuclear weapon programme, who played a key role in the development of Apsara recalled in his autobiography, Years of Pilgrimage: “The event coincided with the heaviest monsoon in Mumbai. The roof was leaking, but so were the walls of the reactor hall.’’It was called a swimming pool reactor because, according to M R Srinivasan, former Indian nuclear chief, the core where the uranium chain reaction takes place is suspended in a pool of water.Six kg of enriched uranium fuel rods were imported from the UK.Bulk of the equipment, he said in his memoir, “From Fission To Fusion,’’ was obtained locally, with the New Standard Engineering Company at Chinchpokli, Mazagon Dock and TIFR playing a major part.Important visitors to Mumbai made it a point to visit Apsara, which included Chinese premier Chou-a-lai, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama.The role of the reactor was multipurpose—training scientists, doing experiments in what is known as neutron physics, the production of radioisotopes and studies in shielding of nuclear radiation.TOI spoke to two officials who worked in Apsara.Anil Anand, former director of BARC’s reactor projects group, recalled it was a rewarding experience doing experiments at Apsara as it helped in developing future projects.Mohan Phadnis, scientific officer, explained the significance of Apsara, saying that it marked the first step in India’s journey into the nuclear domain.A.C. Tikku, former director of the reactor group when Apsara was taking shape, has been quoted as saying that the commissioning of Apsara laid the necessary infrastructure for nuclear research in basic and applied sciences and isotope production.’’It was decommissioned in 2009, but almost a decade later upgraded and recommissioned in Sept 10, 2018.