Mumbai: The MHB police busted a hydroponic cannabis cultivation and production lab operating from a house in Borivli West and arrested a 30-year-old man, identified as Babbu Kamat, in connection with the case. Two other accused are reportedly absconding. Police registered a case on Aug 15 and are investigating the matter.Acting on a tip-off about the illegal cultivation and production of cannabis, the MHB police raided Kamat’s house in Ganpat Patil Nagar, Gali No. 4, near Jeevdani Mata Temple, Borivli West, at around 12.10 am on Saturday. The premises, located within the jurisdiction of the MHB Colony police, was allegedly being used as a hydroponic cannabis cultivation laboratory.During the raid, police seized equipment used for hydroponic cannabis cultivation, chemicals and other instruments, along with hydroponically cultivated cannabis plants and dried cannabis. The seized contraband included around 54 gm of dried cannabis, valued at approximately Rs 1.6 lakh.According to the police, Kamat worked as an electrician. Investigators were probing the source of the equipment and chemicals and the involvement of the two absconding accused.

Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe on Saturday stressed the need for “independence” in the food people consume, saying it should be healthy, safe and standardised rather than merely tasty.Speaking to reporters on Independence Day, Mundhe said the quality of food has a direct impact on public health and the country’s overall progress.“On Independence Day, I wish we shall have independence in the food we consume. The food should be good for our health, standardised, safe and not just tasty,” he said.Highlighting the link between healthy eating and national development, Mundhe added, “If we follow it, we will have good health, and if we consistently remain healthy, our country will also become one and progress further.”The FDA commissioner underscored the importance of consuming safe and quality food to ensure better health outcomes and contribute to the nation’s growth.

The civic improvements committee approved leasing BMC’s Century Mill land for thirty years.

MUMBAI: BMC’s proposal to lease its 6.17-acre Century Mill land in Lower Parel to Peddar Realty Ltd for 30 years, with an option to extend the lease by another 30 years, was approved by the civic improvements committee on Friday.The proposal drew opposition from Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, who said BMC was getting a raw deal on land it had reclaimed after prolonged litigation. They said the valuable parcel should have been used for a public amenity.Sena (UBT) corporator Vishakha Raut said the BMC should have at least ensured that the mill workers’ families got larger homes under the proposal. Sena (UBT) corporator Sachin Padwal asked why BMC had not made greater efforts to attract more bidders and whether the terms and conditions had been altered to favour a particular developer.After the proposal was cleared, Padwal and fellow corporator Vitthal Lokre tore up copies of the proposal in protest.Improvements committee chairperson Sandhya Doshi said efforts would be made to give mill workers’ families, who are Marathi people, homes at the same location.The committee also approved a proposal to delete the existing reservation for a sports complex/stadium on a portion of a plot in Mulund East and replace it with a petrol pump.The committee also approved a proposal to club nearly 9,000 sq m of BMC land in Lower Parel with an SRA scheme. In the arrangement, BMC will receive 189 rehabilitation flats and a 25% land premium.

IndiGo deplaned more than 100 passengers and removed two bags belonging to Anuj Jayaram Suvarna, a Versova resident travelling to Delhi for work. (Representative image)

MUMBAI: City police arrested a 55-year-old passenger who was deboarded from an IndiGo Mumbai-Delhi flight after allegedly joking there was a bomb in his bag, delaying the aircraft by about an hour on Aug 9.The incident took place on flight 6E333, scheduled to depart Mumbai at 8am. IndiGo deplaned more than 100 passengers and removed two bags belonging to Anuj Jayaram Suvarna, a Versova resident travelling to Delhi for work.After security checks of the aircraft and baggage, the flight departed at 9am without him.According to a complaint by airline assistant security manager Omprakash Rajbhar, staff were checking hand baggage and asking passengers about prohibited items.When asked whether his bag contained items such as a lighter, scissors, nail cutter, liquid or spray, Suvarna allegedly replied that it contained a bomb.Sahar police said the matter was reported to senior airline staff and the CISF, after which Suvarna was taken for questioning and handed over to police. IndiGo declared him an unruly passenger, and police said he may be blacklisted by the airline.An FIR was registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 125, for acts endangering human life or safety, and 351(2), for criminal intimidation. DCP Nimit Goyal said Suvarna claimed he made the remark as a joke. He was later released on bailThe incident occurred amid heightened security at major Indian airports ahead of Independence Day, with stricter checks expected until around Aug 20 at several key hubs

Suspension orders have been given to two Blinkit stores in Malad West and Ghatkopar, three of Instamart in Bandra West, Azad Nagar in Andheri West and Andheri East, three of Zepto in Andheri West’s Lokhandwala, Mulund and Goregaon, Bhagwati Stores in Jogeshwari.

MUMBAI: FDA on Friday suspended the food business licences of 14 quick-commerce delivery outlets across the state, including nine in the city, after hygiene violations were found during inspections.Suspension orders have been given to two Blinkit stores in Malad West and Ghatkopar, three of Instamart in Bandra West, Azad Nagar in Andheri West and Andheri East, three of Zepto in Andheri West’s Lokhandwala, Mulund and Goregaon, Bhagwati Stores in Jogeshwari.Bollywood Cafe, Studio Number 13, within Film City in Goregaon was fined for heavy fly infestation, sewage, filth and food residues in the kitchen. FDA officials said a hearing over the matter would be held in the coming days.At Blinkit’s Malad West and Ghatkopar stores, food safety officers found severe cockroach infestations, uncleaned storage racks, rotten vegetables, damaged ceilings, open toilet doors, expired packaged foods, temperature control failures and poor waste management.The required medical records of workers and drinking water test reports were missing.The three city stores of Zepto violated temperature norms for frozen items, stored hazardous chemicals alongside food products, and showed a severe lack of pest control.Instamart’s Andheri and Bandra hubs had rat droppings, broken pest-proofing, dusty air curtains and congested floor stacking.In all, 86 outlets were inspected. One of Blinkit’s in Karad was told to halt commercial operations and 60 were issued improvement notices.

Mumbai: In a relief for nearly 3,000 community health workers (CHV) engaged by the BMC, the Bombay High Court held that they are entitled to receive minimum wages.“Though branded as volunteers, CHVs almost work as workers of the municipal corporation. They do not merely ‘volunteer’ in a real sense but actually discharge vital duties for the municipal corporation for reward…The denial of minimum wages to CHVs is clearly against the legislative objective of the Minimum Wages Act,” said Justice Sandeep Marne on Thursday.He dismissed BMC’s petitions against Sept 7, 2020 order passed by the authority under the Act directing it to pay difference between the minimum wages and honorarium already paid to CHVs. Advocate for CHVs said following the state’s Feb 24, 2015 notification for paying minimum wages, CHVs moved the authority. BMC’s advocates, in the absence of employer-employee relationship, there is no question paying minimum wages. CHVs are currently receiving Rs 14,000 monthly honorarium for five hours services daily.Justice Marne said “mere branding of wages paid to the CHVs as ‘honorarium’ would not deny them the status of ‘employees’ for the purpose of payment of minimum wages.” He also said the mere grant of minimum wages does not make CHVs entitled to any other benefits nor can they claim absorption/ permanency in municipal service.He noted that CHVs were hired as part of 1998 World Bank funded project to supplement BMC’s health services and family welfare programme. “There appears to be no reason why the municipal corporation would discontinue offering health related services to the community. It is a commonly known fact that 40% of Mumbai city resides in slums,’’ he added. Justice Marne refused to stay the judgment for six weeks.

Mumbai: Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal claimed that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was not accepting the reality of the closure of businesses in the state, as revealed in Lok Sabha, and was making a desperate attempt to deny it.Sapkal claimed that as many as 36,211 private companies in the state have shut down over the past five financial years, including 12,181 companies in Mumbai, the country’s financial capital, which is extremely alarming. Sapkal said: “Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra provided the information on the number of companies that have shut down in Maharashtra in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. It has emerged that the Mumbai–Pune–Nashik belt has recorded the highest number of company closures.”Sapkal stated that the BJP-led Mahayuti govt’s claims of attracting investments worth lakhs of crores of rupees and creating employment opportunities exist only on paper, while corruption, commission-seeking and the hooliganism of people close to those in power are forcing industries in Maharashtra to shut down or relocate to other states.Sapkal said, “Fadnavis claims that the companies that have shut down are merely ‘defunct companies’, but the realty is that these companies became defunct and subsequently closed down.”He also demanded that govt cancel the decision to allot 1,500 acres of govt land on lease in Ahilyanagar district to a private company, allegedly close to a minister, for non-agricultural use for 50 years.