Mumbai: BJP’s plan to provide tablet devices to all 237 corporators appears to have hit a procurement hurdle, with the civic administration finding it difficult to buy the devices through Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal.According to a BJP functionary, the tablets proposed to be purchased are of Chinese make. Since the particular Chinese-made tablets are reportedly not available for procurement through GeM, BMC may find it difficult to go ahead with the buy through the govt portal.BMC had in recent months decided to procure all of the civic body’s requirements through GeM, govt’s centralised public procurement platform. The portal is used by govt departments and public bodies to buy goods and services through an online system. The proposal to provide tablets to all 227 elected corporators plus 10 nominated corporators had drawn opposition from Shiv Sena (UBT), which had questioned the need for the civic body to incur expenditure on devices for elected representatives.BMC currently prints and distributes voluminous documents for the monthly civic House meetings as well as meetings of various statutory and special committees. These include standing committee, education committee, improvements committee, ward committees, works committee (city), works committee (suburbs), women and child welfare committee, law and revenue committee and health committee, among others.BMC official and BJP functionary Ganesh Khankar said, “Our aim to give tablets to all corporators was only to encourage paperless works. Our intent was good and it would have helped in ensuring that there’s no unnecessary wastage of paper. However, I have been informed that the administration may not be able to procure the devices via the GeM portal, in which case we will not be in favour of it as it was our govt that insisted on the use of the portal.” A dedicated application was proposed for the tablets, through which corporators would have been able to access the agenda and supporting documents.UBT leader and former mayor Kishori Pednekar said that she was opposed to the move since the beginning. “What is the point of providing tablets to all corporators when everyone today has a smart phone? Apart from it, we still prefer civic meeting agendas on paper so that later on it doesn’t give any scope to make any changes once the same is circulated,” she said.

Navi Mumbai: After a 24-year-old woman died by suicide after jumping from a moving local train between Vashi and Mankhurd near Vashi creek railway bridge on Aug 1, Vashi GRP has registered a suicide abetment case against a 17-year-old teenage boy hailing from Bihar.The deceased was identified as Priyanka Mithu Ram, who worked as a sales girl at an agritech platform store in Ghansoli and resided in Ghansoli with her widowed mother, elder brother, his wife and two children.Kiran Undre, senior inspector of Vashi GRP, said, The complainant, the deceased woman’s brother, Mahadev Ram Mithu (26), alleged that his sister killed herself due to mental stress. The accused juvenile, with whom she was in a love relationship, had allegedly refused to marry her and threatened her by sending her semi-nude video screenshots, for persuading him to marry her. The IT Act has been invoked since it includes the offence that punishes the violation of personal privacy.”Inspector Undre added, “The accused who has been working in Kalyan for past two months was detained and not arrested as he is a juvenile. Hence, he was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board at Bhiwandi that has sent him to juvenile shelter home. However, when the accused’s mobile was seized and checked, it was found that he had deleted the victim’s obscene images, which will be retrieved sending his mobile to the forensic lab.”As per the FIR, Priyanka and her accused lover were in a long-distance love relationship since April 27. They met when she and her mother had gone to their native place in Bihar for her cousin’s wedding.As her mother and brother agreed to their marriage and contacted the accused over mobile, he claimed that he is willing to get married only after one year as he wants to buy a house first; before that, he can marry Priyanka in a temple. Thereafter, Priyanka and her lover continued talking over mobile, but she started suffering from mental health issues as he had allegedly refused to marry her. On Aug 1, around 7:45 pm, while returning home from her workplace, Priyanka sent a voice recording message to her mother saying that she doesn’t want to live as she cannot survive without him and she is ending her life.Around 8:45 pm, Mankhurd GRP informed her brother Mahadev about Priyanka’s fall from a train and directed him to Vashi GRP, which in turn took him to NMMC hospital, Vashi, where Priyanka was already declared brought dead due to grievous head injuries after jumping off the moving train.On Aug 5, when Mahadev checked the Whatsapp of Priyanka and their mother, he found Priyanka’s obscene images sent from the accused’s mobile number. Acting on Mahadev’s complaint, Vashi GRP seized the mobiles of Priyanka and their mother as technical evidence against the accused and registered an FIR on Aug 7.

Pratibha Patil inaugurated the Women Graduates Union hostel in 1974

Not far from the bustling fish market in Sassoon Dock sits the Women Graduates Union building in Colaba, with its offices and working women’s hostel tucked into a leafy lane. The organisation, established in 1915, turns 111 this year.It plans to celebrate with a host of cultural events this month (and later in the year) and launch its annual scholarship scheme on Aug 18“We’ve been distributing scholarships since 1957. This year, Rs 25 lakh will be awarded to more than 100 students,” says Gauri Chhabria, the Union’s former president and Scholarship Committee chairperson.Among the thousands who received scholarships from the Union include deputy municipal commissioner, BMC, Chanda Jadhav, “We awarded her a scholarship when she was young and she went on to donate Rs 1 lakh to our scholarship fund later on,” says Chhabria.An initiative of the Association of British University Women in India, the Women Graduates Union is committed to women’s empowerment through education, skill-building and counselling.The Bombay Presidency Women Graduates Union —founded by Dr Annette Benson, a medical officer at Cama Hospital—was the precursor of the Women Graduates Union.Significantly, the first woman Bachelor of Arts graduate from Bombay Province was Cornelia Sorabji, who secured her degree in 1888. (Bombay University opened all its degree courses to women in 1883.)In 1921, Sorabji became the first secretary of the Federation of University Women in India, an institution which was renamed Indian Federation of University Women’s Association (IFUWA). The Women Graduates Union is affiliated with this body and with Graduate Women International.Since its inception, Women Graduates Union has consistently advocated for women’s rights: it secured seats for them in several male-dominated power centres, including the Bombay University senate and Bombay Municipal Corporation.It also secured women bed and board with a hostel, inaugurated by Pratibha Patil, minister for social welfare and cultural affairs at the time—and later President of India—on October 27, 1974.Today, the hostel accomodates more than 100 working women in 80 rooms. “They have to be working women with a monthly salary between Rs 15,0000 and Rs 50,000. Our hostelites include PhD scholars too. Admission is granted after an interview and verification of their jobs, salary and identification of local guardians,” explains chairperson of the hostel committee, Kanta Tripathi.Anushka (second name withheld on request), a scientist at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, says the hostel is an ideal place for working women. “It is a home away from home, safe and secure.”Besides the hostel which allows women to pursue careers and aspirations with confidence, Women Graduates Union also runs a counselling and guidance centre, a study centre for children from municipal schools and a balwadi for toddlers. “The aim is to provide a strong foundation in education to children in their formative years,” says honourary secretary Raka Ghosh.The organisation’s counselling centre, on the other hand, aims to build a strong emotional bedrock. “Our sessions on mental health teach our members breathing methods, relaxation and mindfulness techniques, how to manage stress and anxiety and cognitive exercises for the brain,” says counsellor and psychologist Rielle Martin.Women Graduates Union also hosts conferences and is invited by other women’s organisations to discuss critical issues of women’s welfare and empowerment, says former president Sabita Chuganee.Their 111-year journey has indeed been eventful.

Mumbai: Observing that proceedings for an offence under Securities and Exchange Board of India Act can be initiated only on a complaint by Sebi, Bombay High Court has quashed an FIR against former Axis Asset Management Company Ltd chief dealer Viresh Joshi in an alleged front-running case.Justice Ranjitsinha Bhosale on Aug 13 said, “It is the Sebi who has to take steps to initiate the proceedings.” Sebi is entrusted with the responsibility of regulating the market and safeguarding the investors and the securities market and “would have the expertise to analyse the allegations for offences under the Sebi Act.”The Dec 23, 2024, FIR was registered at Sion police station, and later transferred to Economic Offences Wing, under IPC, including criminal breach of trust, cheating and forgery.Complainant Soni Parmar alleged that Joshi shared in advance non-public information about substantial trades/large orders with co-accused and others. After the trades/orders were placed in the market, Joshi and his co-accused would then sell the shares they had bought. The information was shared through mobile numbers and WhatsApp calls. By this modus operandi—which comprised co-accused Sumit Desai, Pranav Vora, Vaibhav Pandya and Marfatia group—a huge profit was made, causing loss to Parmar and other investors. Parmar alleged Joshi cheated 66 lakh investors and caused a loss of over Rs 2.52 lakh crore. Enforcement Directorate’s advocate said the total fraud is Rs 93 crore, of which Rs 29 crore only has been secured.Senior advocate S Nagmuthu, for Joshi, argued that the offence of front running or passing of non-public information was an offence only under Sebi Act and not under IPC/BNS. Further, offences in the FIR are also not made out. Nagmuthu said Soni on Oct 3, 2025, consented to quashing the FIR on the ground that it was filed on some misunderstanding.Justice Bhosale agreed with Nagmuthu that Section 26 bars courts from taking cognisance of offences punishable under Sebi Act except on Sebi’s complaint. “The Sebi Act is a special Act… the same would prevail over general law,” he added. He said, considering the seriousness of the allegations, the gravity of the offence, if a prima facie offence is made out, and the adverse financial impact not only on the securities market but on the entire financial system, “this court trusts that the SEBI will take prompt, swift and effective steps and action” to protect the interest of the investors and integrity of the securities market.Quashing the FIR, Justice Bhosale said it will be open to Sebi to independently consider whether the allegations against Joshi make out a criminal offence under Sebi Act. He directed it to take necessary steps within 12 weeks.